Note: I toned down the number of lycanthropes in the
story...this makes it more manageable...sorry for
those that liked it the other way

"Mrs. Saotome," Theo said.  "When you hired the mage
to lock your...child's form, did you also have them
take steps to prevent him from inflicting the curse
form of lycanthropy on anybody?"

"I had thought such magic was merely a rumor," Nodoka
said, surprised.

"Ahh," Theo said in a resigned tone.  "I take it that
means no."

********

"So what is this spell for?" Ranma asked cautiously as
Dr. Diggers powered up.

"It is to make sure some of the less favorable aspects
of lycanthropy don't bother you," the mage said.  "Or
anyone else."

"Excuse me," Ranko said, sitting across the room from
Ranma.  "What less favorable aspects?"  As Theo
started to cast the spell, Nodoka explained the
inflicted form of lycanthropy.  Brianna walked in as
the explanation was finishing, and both younger
Saotome's looked pale.

"Hey, when you're finished here," Brianna said.  "Mom
wants to talk to both of them."

"What about?" Ranma asked, eyes narrowed.  Talking to
parents sometimes resulted in new fiancees.  

He glanced over at the mage who was casting what
seemed to be the same spell on his sister.  He tested
himself a little, running a mental catalogue, and
nothing seemed to be amiss after that spell.  He
didn't really think this mage would do anything, of
course, but paranoia saved pain later sometimes.

"She saw the recording of your fight with Pee Wee and
his Playmates," Brianna said.  "Wants to talk shop,
maybe spar."  Ranma perked up instantly.

"That sounds cool," Ranma said.  "She's supposed to be
really good right?"

"That's putting it mildly," Theo said.

"That's fine with me," Ranko said, somewhat less
enthusiastically.  Ranma put it off to left over shock
at the description of thralls and such.  After all,
she was him, just a female version.  She had to like
martial arts just as much as he did.  Assuming she
didn't turn out to be a crazy evil clone out to
destroy him that is.

"Good," Theo said.  "Then perhaps you can do that
while I speak to our guests."  He turned to his
daughter, speaking in English.  "Brianna, could you
tell Gina, and all our out of town visitors to come
talk to me?"

"Sure," Brianna said.  "You need me here too?"

"Did you get scratched by our friends here?" he asked,
indicating the Saotome's.

"Oh," Brianna said, in realization.  "Nope, no
scratches.  Doesn't matter with me anyway."

"Good, I just need you to have the other people talk
to me," Theo said.  "but let Mrs. Saotome and I
explain matters."

"Gotcha," Brianna said.  She turned to the twins and
switched to Japanese.  "You guys done?"

"I guess so," Ranko said.  "Is that it?"  Theodore
Diggers nodded.

"Well, let's go see what this lady's got then," Ranma
said enthusiastically.

********

"Nope, no cuts, no scratches, no bites," Gina said. 
"I stayed away from the fight.  I leave that kind of
stuff to Bri and Brit."

"Excuse me, why are you asking us this?" Akane asked,
confused.

"It seems that Ranma and Ranko are contagious," Theo
said.

"I thought you said it wasn't a disease," Ukyou said,
nervously.

"It isn't, really," the mage explained.  "But the
theory is that werecreatures were created from normal
humans long ago and that the original spell lies
inside them.  At least there is something in them that
causes a change in normal humans."

"It is something that civilized werecreatures take
careful pains to avoid," Nodoka said off to the side. 
"Accidents happen, however."

"So, what's so bad about being stronger and faster
than anybody?" Ukyou asked.

"Here it comes," Gina says.  "I tried to get them to
let Brittany scratch me once and..."

"It is wrong.  The true lycanthrope will have power
over the inflicted one," Nodoka said passionately. 
"Again, with accidents, civilized weres choose not to
exercise that power, but there are barbarians that
would use it.  To control the thrall's emotions,
loyalty, when they change, everything.  It is an
abominable and primitive practice."

"Yep," Gina nodded.  "Same lecture, different person
though.  Is there some sort of werecreature parent's
handbook I've never heard of?"

"We'd be...Ranma's...slaves?" Nabiki asked quietly. 
It was uncertain which part of that she disliked more.

"And that's why I haven't done a blood transfusion,"
Gina said.  An image flashed through her head of
Brittany asking to borrow money for a shopping binge,
and her just handing it over.  Of course Brit would
never do that, she was fairly certain anyway.

"Or Ranko's, if they chose," Nodoka said.  "Even if
they didn't, you'd feel very loyal to whoever it was
that inflicted it on you."

"So that's explained," Theo said, a little more
calmly.  "Other than the samurai I've already tended
to, have any of you been bitten or clawed by either
Ranma or Ranko in the last day or so?"

"So, it's curable then?" Kodachi asked, a thoughtful
expression on her face.

"Yes, but it's easier to stop it than it is to cure
it," Theo said.  "Now, did anyone get scratched or
bitten while they were tumbling around?"  Nabiki and
Akane's hands virtually shot up.  Ukyou and Kodachi
both held back.

"I do not remember taking any injury other than that
gaijin barbarian landing upon my head," Kodachi
professed.

"Yeah, nothing here either," Ukyou said.  "Except for
some flash burns."   Theo was about to question the
two girls again when Nodoka spoke up.

"I hope those Amazon's didn't get scratched at all,"
Nodoka said.  Mousse had vanished as soon as he woke
up.  "It would only encourage them to come after us."

"We can't control that," Theo said.  "And we won't
know until they show up."

"Yeah, that would be too bad," Nabiki said, not truly
concerned.  

"Is there perhaps anybody else he may have injured?"
Dr. Diggers asked.

"He went into Neko-ken earlier today," Akane said. 
"But he only attacked Kuno."

"That would explain why it was so advanced in the
boy," the mage said.  "Nobody else?"

"I don't think so," Ukyou said.  She yawned.

********

"Are you okay, Yuka?" Sayuri asked.  "You look
irritated at something."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.  "A just feel a little
itchy is all."

"You get into the wrong plants, or get a bug bite or
something?" Sayuri asked.  The other girl shook her
head.

"No, it's that scratch I got from Ranma when we were
pulling him off Kuno," Yuka said.

"Oh, that explains it," Sayuri said, waving it off. 
"Cats have poison in their claws you know.  A couple
other people got scratched too, and they all feel
itchy too."

"You know," Yuka said nervously.  "I just thought of
something, there's a werecheetah around."

"Yeah, but that was Ranma in Neko-ken," Sayuri said. 
"Not some horror movie monster."

"I guess so," Yuka said, sighing.  "So, who else is
coming to this sleepover?"

"A few other girls," Sayuri said shrugging as she and
Yuka continued walking down the darkening streets.  
"And watch it, you flail about in your sleep."

"I do not," Yuka denied, and the conversation
descended into good-natured juvenile denials and
accusations.

Ahhh.  Blessed ignorance.

********

"Now about those of us who were scratched..." The mage
smirked in amusement at the girl's attitude.  She was
trying to come across as merely irritated, and doing a
fair job of it.  Those other two girls were hiding
something though, and he thought it would probably be
a good idea to check them over anyway.

"Don't worry, this doesn't take long," Theo said. 
Nabiki tried to look unconcerned as the mage built up
power.  Then the light flashed around her, sort of
tickling.  The frown that appeared on the mage's face
froze Nabiki's blood cold.  He cupped his chin and
turned to Akane, incidentally forgetting about his
suspicions about Ukyou and Kodachi.  "Let me check
something real quick here."

"Oh kay," Akane said nervously.

"What's wrong," Nabiki asked, trying to sound
collected and cool as the mage cast a spell on Akane. 
After a moment he turned to face her.

"It seems there is a lycanthrope in your family
history at some point," the mage said.  "The
introduction of the lycanthrope curse to your system
is waking up the potential."

"Basically all the dormant genes carried over from
your family bloodline are being activated," Gina said.
 "With whatever's missing probably being filled in by
the magical gene-engineering programs designed into
the lycanthropic spell."  Everybody looked at her for
a moment and nodded, not all of them particularly
certain of what she said.

"You mean I'm going to become one of Ranma's groupies,
and you can't stop it?" Akane demanded.

"Hey!" Ukyou protested.  "Who are you calling a
groupie?"

"If the shoe fits," Nabiki said, struggling to
maintain her calm exterior.

"What is going to happen," Nodoka asked edging forward
nervously.

"By tomorrow, it's happening quicker for Akane," he
said.  "It'll be finished, but I can't say what'll
happen.  They could be like Brianna, or anything
really.  I doubt they'll be inflicted weres whatever
the case, most likely they'd be like you and your
children, full blown lycanthropes."  Nabiki felt an
immense relief at that, though the idea of being furry
was something of an annoyance.

"What kind of werecreature?" Ukyou asked, a hint of
jealousy in her voice.

"There's no telling yet," the mage said.  "Looks like
we'll have to wait a day to see."

"Why will it be quicker for me?" Akane asked, taking a
deep breath.

"Well, gee, Akane," Nabiki said sarcastically.  "Which
of us here has had more encounters with magic, you or
me?"

"Oh," Akane said, flushing in embarrassment.  "How
long before it happens?"

"Not long," Theo said.  "Lycanthropy is a persistent
magic, about the only thing that would have a quicker
effect would be taking a trip to Jade."

********

"I don't know what's going on," Ryouga muttered
angrily.  "But somehow it has to be Ranma's fault."

The wanderer was currently looking into a clear pool
at a furry face with a slightly extended snout and set
of sharp canine teeth.  Of course there was the long,
furry tail that was sticking out of his rear end,
folded over his pants waistband.

Of course there was the clothes problem.  He was huge,
and suddenly his clothes were ridiculously small on
his enlarged frame.  He looked sort of like a
combination of a mastiff, that sasquatch fellow he'd
run into last month, and a poorly dressed street
urchin that had just hit a growth spurt.

"Oh my," a voice said behind him.  There was
snickering.  "Would you look at that?"

"Sheila don't laugh at the poor boy," another voice
said.  This one was actually trying to hold in the
laughter.  "There's probably a very good reason he's
dressed like that."

"Definitely Ranma's fault," Ryouga muttered, eyes
narrowed.

********

"By the way," Theo said, noticing how all the people
from Japan seemed to be getting tired.  "It must be
getting fairly late at night in Japan, perhaps you all
should get some sleep."

"Is there enough room here?"  Akane asked.

"Oh, plenty," Gina said, smirking.  "Plenty."

"You are going to require that I and my brother remain
here?" Kodachi added.  She looked around.  "I suppose
the surroundings are somewhat up to my standards."

"I'm glad you approve," Theo said dryly.  "If you'll
excuse me, I have to attend to some other things.  I'm
sure Gina can direct you to some rooms."  As they were
leaving the room to be directed to some of the guest
quarters Nabiki pulled Akane back for a private talk.

"I think they're up to something," Nabiki said.

"Ukyou and Kodachi?" Akane asked.  Nabiki nodded. 
"What do you mean by they're up to something?"

"Think about it," Nabiki said.  "If another
werecheetah were to show up, who would Auntie most
favor a marriage with?"

"You think they got scratched and aren't saying
anything about it?" Akane asked.

"I think you should make a move, sis," Nabiki said. 
"After I've bled him dry for turning our lives upside
down again."

********

"Aren't you going to get in the conversation at all?"
Brittany asked Ranko.  Genn sat off to the side,
making conversation much easier by means of his ESP. 
Though he looked a mixture of bored and terrified at
the discussion of various ways to destroy a living
body with nothing but a human body.  

Genn was discovering just why those rakshasha that
warmed up ethereal energy in combat were somewhat of a
rare breed.  They probably all died very painful,
mutilated deaths.

"He can tell about the training as well as I can,"
Ranko said, shifting uncomfortably away from Brit. 
Ranma looked at her oddly for a moment and then looked
back at Julia.

�So are we just gonna talk or we gonna do some actual
sparring,� Ranma asked bluntly.  Julia smirked and
chuckled a little.

�HEY!� Akane snapped as she walked into the room. 
�Why don�t you ever offer to spar with me?�

�Ah, come on Akane,� Ranma said, almost whining.  �I
can�t do that.�

�Well, why not?� Akane asked, angrily advancing on
Ranma.  Ranma simply backed off, getting nervous. 
Ranko looked confused, Akane hadn�t been this volatile
in a while.  �I�m a martial artist too, and you have
to treat me like some sort china doll.�

�What�s the matter Akane?� Ranko asked.  A rather
amused and insulted laugh from the door brought the
attention to Nabiki.

�We just had some rather questionable news,� Nabiki
answered.  Akane looked at her and crossed her arms,
huffing.  �Apparently, the Saotomes aren�t the only
ones with a little bit of animal in their blood.�

�Huh?� Ranma said, confused.

�We didn�t...uh...infect you,� Ranko said after a
moment.  �Did we?�

�Yes and no,� Nabiki said.  �Like I said, apparently
there�s a family history that, after getting a little
cut up from the Ran twins, has decided to come out. 
So when we next wake up we�ll be all furry with tails.
  By the way, Ranma, how much do you owe me now?� 
Ranma flinched.

�But I�m the one...� Ranko started and cut off,
looking uncertain.  "Aren't I?"

"You can hardly blame Ranko and Ranma for your blood
line," Brianna interrupted, making sure to put Ranko's
name first as she saw the girl faltering.

"Akane?" Ranma asked nervously.  The girl looked at
him for a moment and then stormed off.

"Well," Julia said, crossing her arms.  Ranma looked
to her.  "Are you going to just sit there?  Go after
her, we can spar later."

"Uh, right," Ranma said, standing up and going after
Akane.  After a brief moment of confusion Ranko
followed along quietly behind.  Brianna worriedly
moved to follow Ranko.

"You and me have got to talk, girl," Julia said,
fixing Nabiki with a dissatisfied glare.  Nabiki
arched an eyebrow and stifled a yawn.

"She doesn't mean any harm, Mrs. Diggers," Genn said.

"Meaning harm and causing it are two different
things," Julia commented.  Nabiki shrugged and moved
out of the doorway to walk down the hallway.

"I'm going to bed, wake me up whenever," she muttered.

"That girl has a real attitude problem," Julia noted.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou called in a sing song manner.  "That
Gina girl said I should show you where your room is!" 
She entered the room and looked around.  "Wasn't he
just here?"

"He and his sister just left," Genn said.  He walked
up to Ukyou switching into a copy of Ranma as he
moved.  "But maybe I can help."  He smiled broadly.

"Uhhh," Ukyou backed off in a little shock.

"GENN!!" Brittany and Julia snapped angrily.

"What?" The Rakshasha asked.

"Am I, uh missing something?" Ukyou asked, resulting
in being treated to an explanation of feeding habits. 
Namely drawing ethereal energy from immobile beings
after tiring them out through exercise of one type or
another.

"Yeah, Genn gets kinda flirty when his power levels go
down," Brittany said.

"Very flirty," Julia added darkly, thinking of a time
she had caught the rakshasha in a failed attempt to
seduce her husband.

"Uh...heh," Genn-Ranma sweated nervously.  "I haven't
done that again."

"Fortunately for you," Julia said.

"Well, uh..." Genn-Ranma said nervously, turning back
to Ukyou.  "Are you interested?"  The rakshasha was
still using Brianna as his primary source of romantic
information.

"Sorry, no thank you," Ukyou said nervously.  "I've
got my Ranchan, and that's that."

~I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed,~ Genn
thought.  Julia arched an eyebrow and shared a look
with Brittany.

"Ranma-darling!" Kodachi cried out and then came into
the room, spotting Genn-Ranma.  "Ahh, there you are,
I'm supposed to show you the room that Gina person has
arranged for us."

"Actually, I'm not really..." Genn tried to say.

"Now, now," Kodachi interrupted.  "Now's not the time
to be shy.  Let us leave these peasants and attend to
our glorious selves."  Pretty much everybody bridled
at that one.

"Well, that's fine with me," Genn said.  "But, I'm
not..."

"Fine, then it's settled," Kodachi said starting to
pull Genn along with her.  "Let's go darling." 
Kodachi was gone in a flash.

"She's in for a surprise," Julia said, smirking.

"Isn't that a little bit mean?" Brittany asked.  With
the translator gone, Ukyou could only stare in
confusion.

"Hey," Julia said.  "Genn tried to tell the girl."

"What are you saying?" Ukyou asked.  "Never mind, I'm
going to bed."  She yawned and walked into the
hallway.

"What did she say?" Julia asked.

"Uh, she's going to bed," Brittany said.  "I think."

"Remind me to ask Genn to come with us," Julia said. 
"Now, excuse me, I have to...speak to your father."

"Come to think of it," Brittany said.  "I haven't had
much quality time with Stripe the last couple of
days."  Both women grinned broadly and then left to
track down their husbands.

********

Brianna easily caught up with Ranko in her human form
and put herself in between the girl and the leaving
couple.

"Whoah," Brianna said.  "Give them some privacy,
girl."  

"I don't know about you," Ranko said.  "But copies of
me tend to be demons out to kill people."

"Trust me, if there was anything malicious, Genn would
have spotted it," Brianna said.

"Yeah," Ranko said a little distrusting.  "Like we
were supposed to trust you with curing me."  Brianna
sighed and glanced around.

"We both know what this is really about," Brianna said
leaning forward.  Ranko stared at her through narrowed
eyes.  "So just one question."

"What?" Ranko asked dangerously.  She could get past
Brianna if she wanted to.

"Do you always dress like that?" Brianna asked,
indicating the Chinese clothes she had taken from the
small package of clothes Ranma had brought with him.

"I don't have many other clothes," Ranko said.  She
wasn't very good at being a girl.  The one time she
had tried to be what she thought a girl was supposed
to be, she had come off as some sort of deranged
mockery of a girl.  At least that's what she was told.

"Well, girl, you and me are going to take care of that
right now," Brianna said.  "Unless you need to sleep."

"No, I can go a few hours," Ranma said.  She glanced
down the hallway.  "Are you sure Akane'll be fine?"

"Definitely," Brianna said.  Ranko wasn't quite
certain she liked the smirk that accompanied that
statement.

********

"Akane, wait," Ranma said as he caught up to her.  She
whirled on Ranma, face angry.

"It's getting late," Akane snapped.  She started to
point out the window.  "Japan is thirteen hours ahead
of this place, baka, it's night there.  And I'm
getting tired, okay?"

"I'm just trying to see if you're all right," Ranma
insisted.

"I can take care of myself, Ranma," Akane insisted. 
"Stop acting like I need to be sheltered."

"Sheesh, just let me help you out a little," Ranma
said.  "You're helping me with all this stuff too, you
know."  Akane blinked and stared at Ranma.

"Ranma Saotome," Akane said in mock surprise. 
"Admitting he needed help for something.  Will wonders
never cease."

"Yeah, well its true," Ranma said.  "You know how much
of a relief it's been knowing there's someone there
who can pull me outta the neko-ken since this all
started?  Now, are you okay?"

"I don't know," Akane said simply.  "What am I going
to do?  What will dad say, or my friends?"

"I don't know," Ranma said.  "But...I'll watch your
back if you keep watchin mine, okay?"

"It isn't that simple," Akane said.  "And you've got
all those other girls after you..."

"That ain't my fault," Ranma said.  "And they don't
listen to me."

"You should try harder!" Akane snapped angrily.  "Now,
I want to get some sleep.  You should too."  Ranma
nodded but looked back and forth down the hallway.

"Good night then, I guess," Ranma said hesitantly. 
"Just one thing..." Akane sighed in irritation and
glanced at him.

"What?" she demanded.

Ranma fidgeted a little and then leaned in to kiss
her, Akane blinked in surprise and then hesitantly
leaned forward herself.  She was lost enough in the
kiss that she didn't notice the grey hair growing on
her face, or how she got slimmer suddenly, and her
ears got bigger.  The tail forcing it's way out of her
panties and curling out from under her dress was
enough to break her focus though.

"Now look what you did, baka," Akane said quietly,
breaking off from the kiss.  "I wanted to be asleep
when this happened."

"Sorry," Ranma said apologetically.

"It's fine," Akane said.  "I think that was better,
but, Ranma."

"Yeah," Ranma said nervously.

"Give me a warning next time, or I'll hammer you into
next week," Akane said with a smirk.  "Good night."

"Good night," Ranma said smiling.  Then Akane closed
the door on her room and he walked away feeling a
little bit better.

********

"Oww," a girl whined as she sat up.  Then she picked
up her pillow and thwacked the sleeping form on the
futon next to her.  This particular smack was more or
less just a general principle sort of thing.  Now that
she was awake enough to actually pay attention to the
act.

"Wha?" the target muttered from under her blanket.

"Sheesh, Yuka," someone else said.  "This is worse
than when Akane clubbed us all.  Don't you cut your
nails at all?"

"All night t-," Sayuri cut off as she turned to look
at Yuka.  "Uhh."

"Of course I do," Yuka muttered tiredly as she sat up.
 "I always cut my...why are you all looking at me like
that?"

"Uhhh, Yuka," Sayuri said.  "Have you looked at
yourself?"

"Why should I look..." she looked down. 
"...at...myself?"  Her hands were all furry with sharp
nails, more like claws than anything.  Then there was
the heavy thump behind her and she turned to see a
long spotted tail.  "AHHHH!!!"

********

Nodoka was sitting at a table watching the sun set
outside the window.  The sound of footsteps brought
her head around to show Gina walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello," Gina said.  "Getting up, or going down?"

"I'm just waking up for a moment," Nodoka said.  "I
plan to get a little more sleep later.  If I see Akane
I will suggest the same thing to her.  If we go to
Jade with my...children, then we should get used to
the proper cycle."

"Yeah, jet lag is a terror," Gina agreed, walking to
the fridge.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" Nodoka asked.

"Ah, it's barely six," Gina said.  She pulled a soda
out and sat down at the table next to Nodoka.  "I have
some experimenting to do."

"What sort of experiments are these?" Nodoka asked.

"Nothing great," Gina said, sounding disappointed. 
"Just testing some equipment for my next exploration."

"Where will that be?" Nodoka asked.

"The dark side of the moon," Gina said, getting a
blink from Nodoka.  "I thought I saw something there
when we passed it on the way to Aebra."

"Uh, I see," Nodoka said.  "I understand why you would
need to test your equipment."

"Yeah," Gina said.  "Unless you want to have a hull
breach halfway to the destination."

"I hope for your sake that you'll be more careful with
this than you were with my child," Nodoka said,
frowning.  Gina flinched.

"I'm really really sorry about that," Gina said.  "I
was sure I could do it without the side effect."

"Perhaps you are not the only one to blame," Nodoka
said after a long moment.  "I should have waited to
speak to your father at least.  Still, a warning at
the very least would have been appropriate."

"Yeah, sometimes I do get a little impatient," Gina
admitted.  Nodoka looked at her for a moment,
fidgeting uncomfortably and avoiding looking at the
woman.

"What is the purpose of your explorations?" Nodoka
asked.  "If I may ask."

"I don't know," Gina said shrugging and leaning back. 
"One day Brittany came in and told me I was wasting my
life away doing nothing, and she made sense. 
Especially about the men."  Gina smirked widely. 
"I'll say this, I've learned more in these
explorations than I ever did in the class room."

"So the whole Gold Digger persona on the news," Nodoka
let it trail off.

"Is the media playing up on how I choose to fund
myself," Gina said.  "I sell to museums and I don't
sell off the stuff that could be dangerous.  I'm not
some mercenary pirate.  I leave that to other people."

The conversation was cut off briefly by the sound of a
car pulling up outside.

"That's my Gina Mobile," Gina said, standing up and
walking to the front door.  Nodoka followed as well,
and they came to the front door in time to see Brianna
walk in.  "Brianna!  What are you doing!?"

"What, you think I don't know how to drive that
thing?" Brianna asked.

"That's not the point," Gina said.  "You don't have a
license!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brianna said.  "I didn't get pulled
over, so no problem."

"What are you doing anyway?" Gina asked.  Brianna
smiled and put up a finger then faded back a moment
and brought someone forward.

"Nodoka Saotome," Brianna said.  "May I present your
daughter."  The dye had been washed out of her hair
and she was wearing a long skirt and a rather loose,
but pretty blouse.  Over that was a light jacket.  All
done in shades of green to compliment her now blonde
and black hair.  Ranko's hair was down and cut short
with some face framing bangs.

"Oh my," Nodoka said, looking the nervous Ranko over. 
She stepped forward and took a closer look.  Ranko
flinched back a little but took a deep breath and
calmed herself.

"I wanted slacks," she said.  "But they didn't have
any that would fit me in both forms."

"You look...lovely, dear," Nodoka said.  Ranko blushed
and then yawned.

"Not overdone at all?" Ranko asked nervously.

"Not at all," Nodoka said.  "I wouldn't wear my hair
so short, myself."

"T...th...th...the dye wouldn't w...wash out of it
a...all," Ranko said nervously.  Nodoka stepped back
away from Ranko and the girl relaxed noticeably.  Then
turned to look at her feet.  "Sorry, Mother."

"It's fine, Ranko," Nodoka said in response.

Gina blinked and scooted up next to Brianna.  She
glanced at the bags of clothes and acquired a
distinctly nervous look.

"How much did this all cost?" Gina asked quietly in
English.

"I'll ask Brittany later," Brianna said.  Gina smiled
nervously and started to sweat.  "I'll pay her back. 
Don't worry."

********

Ranma stretched and yawned as he quietly padded down
the hallway, pausing at the door to the room Akane had
been given.  This was odd, she was usually up before
him.

"Akane, are you in there?" he asked banging on the
door.  After a moment the door swished open showing
Akane, still in her hybrid form, and looking very
tired.

"How do you do it?" she demanded.

"Do what?" he asked surprised.

"Change back," Akane said irritably.

"Oh," Ranma said and scratched his head nervously.  "I
guess I can show ya.  I think."

"You think?" Akane repeated.

"At least you're...uh...cute," Ranma said.  "And I
think we're supposed to stay in hybrid form while
we're at this other place."

"I'd like to be able to fit in with my normal friends
still," Akane said.  Considering events in Nerima, she
didn't really have to worry about this, but she didn't
know that.  "And...did you just call me cute?  Or is
that just the jet lag?"

"Uhh, jet lag?" Ranma suggested.

"Right," Akane said smirking.  "Now, how am I supposed
to change back?"

"Can I come in?" Ranma asked.  Akane nodded and Ranma
strode in, sitting at the empty desk in the guestroom
as it closed up.  "This place is bigger than the Kuno
mansion."

"Well?" Akane asked.

"It's like a focus," Ranma said.  "You know how you
visualize breaking the bricks before ya hit 'em
right?"

"Yeah," Akane answered.

"Same thing really," Ranma said.  "Just visualize what
it feels like to be human and everything.  See,
watch."   

Ranma took a breath and Akane watched him fill out the
baggy Chinese clothes he was wearing.  Fill them out
and stretch them.  Akane swallowed nervously and tried
to focus past "impure thoughts" as Ranma finished
transforming.

"So, try it," Ranma said.

"Excuse me," Akane said.  "What?"  She blinked and
lifted her eyes up to focus on Ranma's face.

"Are you sure you don't want to get some sleep first?"
Ranma asked, leaning in and sniffing.

~He really is well built,~ Akane was thinking, though
part of her was trying to annihilate those impure
thoughts.  Most of the rest of her was remembering
Nabiki suggesting she make a move.

"You even smell tir-mmph!"  Ranma blinked in surprise
as Akane wrapped her hands around him.  Then he
relaxed and circled his own arms around her.

They were interrupted by the sound of a pounding on
the closed door.

"Who is it?" Akane called out.  Ranma kept his mouth
shut.

"It's Auntie Saotome," Nodoka's voice came from the
other sign of the door.  Ranma and Akane instantly
separated.

"Oh, uhhh...can I do anything for you?" Akane asked.

"I was thinking to warn you that you should get some
more sleep," Nodoka's said.  "Apparently Jade operates
on the same day schedule as this place.  So you should
perhaps go to bed soon."

"Thanks," Akane said, nervously.  "I'll try to get
to...uh...bed right away."  Ranma looked extremely
nervous at that statement.

********

"I'll see you in the morning then, Akane-chan," Nodoka
said smirking as she walked along.

"Wasn't Ranma in there?" Ranko asked darkly next to
her.

"I certainly hope so," Nodoka said smirking.  Ranko
sighed as she remembered how odd her mother could be
at times.

"Does anybody else smell mice?" Brianna asked.  Ranko
glanced back at the door, but suffered to let herself
be dragged away.  Certainly Akane wouldn't let
anything happen.

********

Ranma released a long breath as they heard Nodoka and
the other sets of footsteps head away from the door.

"That was close," Ranma said.  "Want to save this for
tomorrow then?"  He sounded almost hopeful.  Akane
looked at him and then sat down on the bed sighing.

"I guess I'm not all that cute then," Akane said.

"What?" Ranma gasped.  "Where'd you get that?"  He
walked over and sat down next to her.

"Any time it gets close to something happening," Akane
said irritably.  "You back off and act like I've got
the plague or something.  Is there something wrong
with me?"

"No," Ranma said.

"Then why?" Akane demanded.  She didn't know whether
she was becoming more instinctual with her newfound
heritage or if Nabiki's warning was provoking her to
action or what.  She didn't really care either.  Ranma
mumbled something.  "What was that?"

"I don't want ta hurt you," Ranma said quietly.

"Hurt me?" Akane repeated darkly.  "What does THAT
mean?"

"Well, I told you," Ranma said.  "You're supposed to
save this stuff..."

"For someone you care about," Akane said, rolling her
eyes.  "I get it."

"Yeah, so why me?" Ranma asked  Akane blinked and
turned to Ranma in a little bit of disbelief, with a
mix of sudden realization.

"You mean every time you said that," Akane started. 
"You were wondering why I would care about you?"

"Uhh...yeah," Ranma said.  Akane blinked and stared
forward for a moment.

"Oh," Akane said.  A splash of blue in the room caught
Ranma's eyes and he glanced in that direction.

"What's that?" Ranma asked.  Akane glanced in that
direction and blushed, though it was hard to see under
the gray fur.

"My panties," Akane said, then cleared her throat. 
"They were a little too uncomfortable with the tail." 
Ranma seemed to blush at that point as well.

"Yeah, it's the same with me," Ranma said.  "But I
just slip it over the waistband and deal with it. 
What are you wearing if you don't have on the
panties."

"I could show you," Akane said quietly.  Ranma
suddenly looked tongue-tied.

"W...wh...whattya mean by that?" Ranma asked.  Akane
shuffled uncomfortably before leaning up and kissing
Ranma again.  They fell back on the bed, Akane landing
heavily on top of Ranma.  The kiss broke in the
landing and Ranma desperately sputtered out "don't ya
think we should wait til we get married?"

Akane didn't answer back, face just buried in between
Ranma's neck and shoulder.

"Akane?" Ranma asked worriedly.  His answer was a
snore.  Ranma sweatdropped and lay back with a mixture
of relief and frustration.
 
********

Nabiki stared at herself in the mirror.  She had no
problem recognizing what kind of werecreature she had
turned into.  Rounded ears, sharp front teeth, a furry
brown coat and a long slender tail.  She could just
hear the jokes already.

"Always knew she was a rat," Nabiki muttered as she
adjusted her clothes to be more comfortable with the
tail.

She stretched out and headed for the kitchen, after
figuring out where to go from the "you are here maps,"
on the wall.  She hadn't gone more than a mile before
she heard something she would have rather avoided.

"This infernal contraption will not contain the might
of the true scion of the house of Kuno for long," a
voice raged from the door she was walking by.

"Oh, wonderful, the Furinkan Flop's awake," Nabiki
said.  She considered that for a moment.  ~Hmm, and
all I have to do is tell the truth.~

"You foul sorcerers cannot keep me confined for long,"
Kuno shouted.  "Not matter that you have me locked in
a room without doors!"  Nabiki walked over and knocked
on the door.

"Hey, Kuno," Nabiki called out.  "Have you tried the
button marked 'OPEN' on the wall over here?"

"Of course I have not fallen for such a simple ploy,"
Kuno snapped.  "Who is out there that is trying to
fool the Blue Thunder so?"

"It's me Kuno Baby," Nabiki responded irritably. 
"Nabiki Tendo."

"Oh yes," Kuno said a little calmer.  "I should have
recognized the waspish personality.  Do you have a
cold, Nabiki Tendo, your voice sounds a little
squeaky."  Nabiki glared at the closed door.

"I'm fine, Kuno," Nabiki said icily.

"And just how did you escape the clutches of our
foreign captors?" Kuno asked.

"I pushed the OPEN button," Nabiki said dryly, tapping
her feet.  "Listen Kuno, I'm hungry, so unless you
have any other questions I'd like to walk the rest of
the mile to the nearest kitchen."

"Ah, yes, what news do you have of the werecheetahs
and that fiendish sorcerer Saotome?" Kuno demanded.

~Kuno, you are too predictable,~ Nabiki smirked.  "Oh
the werecheetahs are Ranma and his sister."

"I knew that fiend was nothing human, he shall yet
know fear at the righteous wrath of..." Kuno paused in
confusion.  "Sister?"

"Yes, I think you know her," Nabiki said.  "Ranko. 
The pig-tailed girl?" ~Hook.~  There was silence.

"That fiend has inflicted this hideous curse upon his
own sister!?" Kuno ranted.  "Release me from this cell
that I may correct this vile injustice!"

"Actually they were born that way," Nabiki said. 
"Just like Akane and me."  ~Line.~

"What is this you say about the beauteous Akane?" Kuno
asked.

"Well, apparently we have some family history," Nabiki
said.  "That reacted with getting scratched by
lycanthrope by...well, I guess it's better to show
you."  

She reached over and pushed the button to open the
door.  Kuno stood just on the other side of the door
and looked down at a furry, brown...person that
somewhat resembled a slimmer Nabiki.

"Nabiki...Tendo?" Kuno asked.

"You got it Kuno Baby," Nabiki said.  "Apparently
somebody in our family tree was a wererat, and well
when Ranma or Ranko scratched us, suddenly we're like
this."

"Hmph," Kuno said.  "I always knew that you were of
the darker nature, Nabiki Tendo, and now I see your
true colors...did you say we?  Do you mean that your
sister is equally afflicted?"

"Bingo, Kuno-chan," Nabiki said.  She watched his rage
build up with a smirk.  ~Sinker.~

"That fiend!" Kuno shouted.  "I shall send him
screaming back to hell for this effrontery!"  And Kuno
was gone down the hallway.

"Have fun Kuno-Baby," Nabiki said.  She shrugged and
started back on the trek to the kitchen, smiling in
amusement at the probable results of this
conversation.

********

"Oh, Ranma-Darling," Kodachi moaned as she woke up,
snuggling against Genn.  The rakshasha didn't think
she was quite awake yet. 

Unfortunately he hadn't had much choice other than
starve.  S�ance was in Jade and that left Brianna and
Gina.  Either of those two terrified him more than
Kodachi could.  She had the right attitude, she just
needed a few more years of experience.

"Oh, Raaanmaaa," Kodachi muttered again, laughing
amusedly.  

Genn sweated a little and worried that she might not
wake up before he went to sleep.  Which was about when
the beeping at the door was heard.  Sort of like some
trying to open the door to the room.  Genn looked up
and saw the hallway lights filtering in past a tall
silhouette.

"Ahh, there you are fowl demon!" the figure shouted,
waking up Kodachi who sat up and angrily covered
herself.  Genn grabbed his t-shirt and shorts to do
likewise.  "And what helpless woman is this that you
have dared to sully..."

"Brother-dear," Kodachi snapped angrily.  "Would you
please leave me and my Ranma-darling alone."

~Brother,~ Genn thought.  ~Uh oh.~

"Saotome�" Kuno growled.  "You dare to corrupt my
sister?"

"But I'm not Ranma," Genn said desperately.

"Brother, if you could please stay out of my affairs,"
Kodachi retorted.  "Now if you would-"

"Ahh, the sorcerer's might has clouded her-" Kuno
paused a moment.

"Pardon," Kodachi turned to face Genn.  "What was
that?"

"I told you this before," Genn said nervously.  "I'm
not Ranma."  His Ranma form faded into his neutral
body.

"I vaguely remember some sort of story about feeding
on my energy," Kodachi said dangerously, as she noted
Genn's shape changing.  ~And I thought that was Ranma
playing games.  On the other hand, I wonder just how
many shapes this being can take.  Hmmm.~    Genn
caught that stray thought and turned nervously to look
at Kodachi.

"At last you have shown your true colors demon!" Kuno
shouted as he saw Genn's horned form.

"What!?" Genn snapped.

"Have at thee, villain!" Kuno shouted charging
forward.  Genn ducked the bokken that seemed to come
out of nowhere and took to the hallway.  "You'll not
escape that easily!"  And Kuno was after him.

"Brother, why must you always interfere in my life?!"
Kodachi demanded as she started to gather her clothes
together.  She paused a moment.  "Though he did
deceive me, hmmm, perhaps a little retribution is in
order."

********

The sound of Genn being chased through the hallways
awakened almost everybody.  Akane, Ranko, and Ranma
were all deep enough into sleep that it would take an
earthquake to wake them up.  Gina had fallen asleep in
the lab and so wasn't near the commotion.  Theo and
Julia were, of course, in the actual mansion, which
put them a couple miles further away than Gina.

Kuno was made aware of this when he was suddenly
hanging in mid air, just when he had cornered the foul
demon too.

"What sorcery is this?!" Kuno demanded.

"That would be my doing," Stripe said behind Kuno, the
samurai turned about in the air to face the Kryn.

"Oh thank the heavens," Genn said, panting and going
down to his knees.  

The rakshasha looked past the floating Kuno to see a
rather irritable Brittany and Stripe.  Behind them
were Brianna and Nodoka.  Kodachi and another
werecheetah, probably that Ukyou girl, were a few
yards further back, trying not to be seen.

"Do you know what time it is?" Brittany said.  "What
are you doing?"

"I am seeking to do my righteous duty and smite the
foul Saotome, that I might free Akane, and the
pig-tailed girl from this vile curse that he has laid
upon them!"

"I didn't catch most of that," Brittany said.  "What
did he say?"

"Don't look at me," Brianna said.

"It is rather archaic, Nodoka agreed.  "I think he
believes that that small fellow is my son and that
killing him will cure Ranko and Akane,"  she paused a
moment to sniff the air.  "Could you two please come
forward?"

Ukyou flinched and then shrugged stepping forward to
speak to Nodoka.  Kodachi sneered and breezed forward.
 Both stopped as they saw each other.   Kodachi
growled irritably and Ukyou looked smug before they
continued forward.

"I thought you said you weren't injured," Nodoka said
coolly.

"Ah ha!" Kuno snapped.  "The foul being has enslaved
further women to his evil power."

"I'm not him!" Genn declared irritably.

"Forget it, Genn," Brittany said.  "He's an idiot."

"Never fear, fair lady," Kuno said.  "I shall endeavor
to free you as well, from the clutches of this evil
sorcerer who is no doubt an ally of the damned
Saotome."

"I think he just called you an evil sorcerer, Muffin,"
Brittany said angrily.

"Hey," Brianna said, yawning, before Stripe could
respond.  "While we're all up and you got him hanging
there, can I use him for target practice?"

********

Nabiki tapped her fingers against the table, bored out
of her skull.  So far the high point of the night had
been playing with Kuno's tiny mind.  Well, maybe not,
it might have been the sandwich she had made in the
Diggers' kitchen.  It was mind numbingly dull to be
the only awake person in speaking distance.

So she was incredibly glad to see Nodoka as the sun
was starting to rise.

"Oh good," Nabiki said.  "I was about to get
desperate."

"Nabiki?" Nodoka asked, looking the wererat over.

"That's right, Auntie, it's me." Nabiki said.  "I'm
sure a lot of people are going to think this is
appropriate."

"Your reputation is your own doing," Nodoka noted. 
She cautiously sat down across from Nabiki.  "So you
and Akane are rats, I thought I smelled mice."  Nabiki
blinked and stared cautiously at Nodoka.

"Not getting any...ideas," Nabiki asked.  "Are you?"

"Really, Nabiki-chan," Nodoka said.  "I am a
civilized, sentient being, not some beast."  She
directed a toothy smile at Nabiki, rather disturbing
even in her human form.

"I...uh think that Akane and I should be finding a
plane back to Nerima now," Nabiki said, sweating a
little.  She was heading for the door when Nodoka
burst out into laughter, Nabiki frowned and slowly
turned a glare towards Nodoka.

"That isn't funny," Nabiki said.

"Maybe you don't think so," Nodoka said, smirking. 
Nabiki crossed her arms irritably, and Nodoka
snickered a little before turning a little serious. 
"We should be getting started soon, could you go wake
up your sister?"

"I got that," Ranko's voice called from the hallway.

"I wonder how she'll react if Ranma is still in the
room," Nodoka said.  Nabiki blinked and stared at her.

~Where's my camera!~ Nabiki thought rushing out the
room after Ranko.

********

"Good morning," Akane said as she noticed Ranma waking
up.

"Uh," Ranma started nervously.  "Good morning?"  Akane
smiled like the cat that swallowed the canary.  Or
perhaps the mouse that belled the cat.  Ranma hoped
that meant she hadn't forgotten who had put them in
this situation.

"We didn't get anything done last night," Akane said,
which was about the point Ranma noticed that at some
point after he had fallen asleep she had taken off her
blouse.  

The transformation hadn't increased her bust much, not
like his fem-.  Not like Ranko or his mother, but she
was also slimmer.  The combination made it look much
more of an enhancement than it was in fact. 
Especially in a slightly too small bra.  

Ranma turned even more nervous as he realized that,
under the blankets, her skirt was gone too.  Then the
door wooshed open.

"Akane," Ranko called as she came in.  "Mom said we're
going to-"  Akane and Ranma stared at her wide-eyed as
she stared back.  A flash brought all three of them
out of their stupor.

"Good morning, um, sis?" Ranma said, still being very
careful of what he said.

"Now there's a Kodak moment," Nabiki said.

"Doesn't anybody bother to knock!?" Akane shouted.

********

Nodoka and Nabiki sat and watched Akane and Ranko
glare at each other.  Ranma sat nervously to one side.

"Some sort of family problem?" Julia asked as she came
into the room.

"Sounds like Ranko caught Ranma and Akane being good
fiancees," Brianna said quietly.  

"Do you think the girl's attracted to the Tendo
woman?" Julia asked, frowning.  Brianna shrugged. 
"Well, wererats, huh?"

"Yep," Brianna said.  "I can't wait for Brit to see
this."

"Oh, so that's where the smell's coming from," Stripe
said entering the small kitchen.  "Brittany's already
looking for them."

********

"Here mousey, mousey," Brittany called out, with
narrowed eyes as she snuck through the hallway.  She
had woken up with the smell of wererat hanging around
the hallways of the lab's living quarters.  "I know
you're around here somewhere."

"Uh, Brit," Gina said, rubbing the sleep out of her
eyes.  "What are you doing with that butterfly net?"

"Those wererats are back," she said irritably.  "Maybe
not the same ones, but there's a rat or two around
here somewhere."  She looked under an overturned
laundry basket that was there pretty much just to give
her something to turn over.

"Have you checked the upstairs kitchen yet?" Gina
asked.  She pointed to the security monitor.

"Huh?" Brittany asked.  She glanced at the security
camera long enough to identify a pair of wererats
sitting in the kitchen upstairs with her sister,
mother, and some of the guests.  Obviously plotting
something.  "Ah ha!!"  And Brittany was off.

"Brit! Wait!" Gina called out, then she smacked her
forehead and groaned.

********

"We have another problem too," Brianna said.  She
pointed to another corner to where Ukyou was sitting
down and also glaring at Ranma and Akane.

"Didn't she say they weren't cut?" Julia asked coolly.

"Yep," Brianna said.  "Dad's just gonna love this."

Then there was a rush of wind and a butterfly net
suddenly came down over Nabiki's head.

"Ah ha!  I got you this time!" Brittany said.  "No
bells around this cat's neck.  And don't you move
either girl, I got my...why's everyone looking at me
like that?"

"This is what they mean by karma," Nabiki said. 
"Isn't it?"

********

"This isn't a game," Dr. Diggers said seriously to the
two new werecheetahs.  Behind him preparations were
being made for the extended trip to Jade.  "You can
get into serious trouble as a werecreature."

"Oh, come on," Ukyou pleaded.  "Nobody is going to
mistake me for a guy like this!"  Sweatdrops abounded.

"If there weren't so few werecheetahs I wouldn't even
consider this," Theo said wearily.

"What?!" Gina snapped in shock.

"Wait a minute," Ukyou said smirking.  "Does that mean
I get to keep this?"

"Are you a fool woman?" Kuno demanded.  "The man is
offering you a cure for this affliction."

"Would that I had such an 'affliction' Brother-dear,"
Kuno said.  
 
"Hmph," Kuno snorted.  "No beauty could match the
fiery spirit of the pig tailed girl."  Ranko, who had
been avoiding looking at Ucchan and Kodachi, winced at
the sound of that.

"Would you lay off her, you jerk?" Ukyou demanded.

"Yes, Brother," Kodachi agreed.  "The girl does not
want your attentions, why not leave her be."

"See the foul sorcery has already afflicted your
mind!" Kuno declared.

"Can I stay like this or not?" Ukyou asked, ignoring
Kuno.  

Ukyou glanced past the mage and glared at Ranma and
Akane.  She hadn't really considered the effect
becoming a werecat would have on Ranma and Ranko. 
However, it was pleasant for the moment to terrorize
the "cheating" jerk.

"I'll have make sure you can't inflict anyone else,"
Theo said reluctantly.  Ukyou was leaping up and
cheering before he could go on.

"What happened to the whole lecture thing?" Gina
asked.

"It is not something I'd ever suggest inflicting on
yourself," her father said.  "But they've already
changed, and they don't seem to want to be cured. 
Which will make it quite a bit harder to do so."

"Uh huh," Gina said, already starting to pout.

"Besides," Theo said.  "I'm sure there are times that
an inability to handle silver would have caused you an
incredible amount of trouble.  Maybe even cost
something you couldn't get back."  He glanced to
Brittany who shuffled uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Gina said, sobering.  ~Not to mention all
those valuable silver trinkets.~

"Does this mean we are to accompany you to this Jade
place?" Kodachi asked.

"We are already bringing along four people new to the
realm," Julia said from where she was checking her
weapons.  "I don't want to try to keep track of more
than that."

"I can take care of myself," Ukyou retorted.

"I'm sure you can," Julia said, then went back to
packing.

"I'm sure Brittany can teach you the ins and outs of
being a werecreature," Theo said.  He glanced towards
Nabiki.  "Both of you."

~I have to teach them?~ Brittany asked.  ~Even the
rat?  Hmm...~

~Miss butterfly net is going to teach me?~ Nabiki
thought.  She looked at how Brittany was looking at
her and was actually nervous again.

"Leave my Ranchan with that home wrecker?" Ukyou
snapped.  Ranma winced at the glares he was receiving,
even from Ranko.

"Who are you calling a home wrecker?" Akane snapped
angrily.

"Who do you think?" Ukyou asked, taking a step
forward.

"Question," Kodachi put forward.  Theo turned to look
at her.  "Is that shapechanger leaving with you as
well?"  Sweatdrops again abounded.

********

Those staying on Earth waved good bye as the party
leaving for Jade walked through the dimensional
portal.  Then it closed and the room was just a room
again.  All involved watched the space where the
portal had been a little worriedly.

"At least this should be a simple deal," Gina said. 
"A week or two of training, and they're back.  No
attempt to take over Jade at least.  And no real
problems over here."  She sighed and turned around to
switch on the television and blinked at the news story
running on the TV.

"Since the first appearance in Nerima," the newscaster
was saying.  "There have now been five confirmed
reports of lycanthropy in the ward, all formerly
normal boys and girls.  Apparently they were involved
in a"

Hearing their town's name, Kodachi, Nabiki, and Ukyou
turned toward the television.  Brittany looked upon
hearing the report of a surge of lycanthropes, Stripe
along with her.

"Correction," Gina said.  "We've got a big problem."

********

"Children," Lord Gothwrain said angrily.  "I believe
you were in Japan when this catastrophe was arising."

"Uh..."

"Don't try to deny it," the elder wererat said.  "You
were caught on film."

"That guy is much better than Brittany Diggers," Lydia
said.

"Yes, I saw the footage," Gothwrain said.  "You
probably would have indeed been destroyed if you took
him on.  This situation, however, cannot be
tolerated."

"Are we supposed to kill ALL those werecheetahs?"
Romeo asked.

"We'd be like, ripped to pieces," Moisha said.

"Fear is not something that a wererat warrior should
experience," Gothwrain said irritably.  "It is
something they should invoke."

"Yes, Lord Elder," the three young rats said.

"Luckily these will almost all be inflicted
werecreatures," Gothwrain said.  "They can be cured. 
It is only those that do not wish to be cured that
will need to be dealt with.  Now, we must discuss the
matter of how you've embarrassed us in public."  He
gestured toward their engraved daggers.

********

"So what're we doing here?" Ranma asked.

"Well, first of all," Julia said.  "I would like all
of you to change to your hybrid forms."

"Do we have to?" Ranko asked, shuffling nervously.

"Yes," Nodoka said firmly.

"Why?" Ranma asked.

"You have to get used to it," Nodoka said.  "It is
your natural form now, and you must be able to live
with it."

"Plus, people in Jade tend to look at lycanthropes in
human form as you would a person carrying a hidden
weapon," Julia said.  "Lycanthropes are common place,
but people are more comfortable in knowing just what
kind of person they are dealing with."

"I don't have much choice right now," Akane said.  "Do
I?"

"Suits you just fine," Ranko muttered, shifting into
hybrid form.  She watched Ranma and her mother shift
as well and started to shake nervously.  

"What is that supposed to mean?" Akane demanded.

"What's it sound like?" Ranko asked.

"Hey," Ranma snapped.  "Why are you gettin after her?"

"Don't worry, BROTHER!" Ranko snapped.  "I'm not just
mad at her!"  For the moment anger seemed to overcome
fear.

"Ranko, stop this now."  Nodoka frowned and started to
approach her daughter, she stopped when Ranko flinched
back.

Brianna glanced between Ranko and Nodoka and then
walked over to the girl.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Brianna asked. 
"Over here."

"What about?" Ranko demanded.

"Your attitude," Brianna said, dragging along the girl
over for a private chat.

"This is going to be a long trip," Theo said under his
breath.

"That is the worst understatement I've ever heard,"
Julia said.

********

"Who are you to talk to me about my attitude?" Ranko
demanded.  "You don't even know me."

"Maybe I..." she stopped herself.  "No, I don't, but I
can tell when someone is being an ass."

"I'M being a jerk!" Ranko demanded.  

"Yeah," Brianna said.  "Are you jealous or something?"

"No!" Ranko insisted.

"Well you certainly act like it," Brianna said.

"And why would I be jealous of them?" Ranko asked. 
"Ranma is family...in a manner of speaking.  And Akane
is..." She fidgeted uncomfortably.  "Well, I don't
care what my pop had planned after the curse, I am not
like that."  Brianna released a long breath at that.  

"That's one less complication then," Brianna said,
then winced and looked to the glaring Ranko.

"You didn't really think..."

"No, of course not," Brianna said smiling nervously. 
"Why would I think that?"  Ranko frowned and kicked at
a rock.

"Because Ranma likes girls and I'm Ranma's girl side,"
Ranko said quietly.

"Nobody ever said anything like that," Brianna said
nervously.

"I'm not stupid," she snapped.  "Nabiki threatened
Ranma.  Akane yelled at Ranma.  Ukyou is after Ranma. 
My mom wanted me to be a 'man among men.'  Kodachi is
after Ranma.  Kuno hates Ranma."  She paused a moment.
 "Okay, those last two were bad examples."

"Well, your remember pretending to be Ranma," Brianna
tried.  "Why couldn't you just have been that good at
pretending."

"I make Ukyou look feminine," she said each word
deliberately, emphasizing the chef's name.

"She's the one I thought was a guy until I smelled
her, right?" Bri asked.  Ranma nodded, she looked down
and noted how she was shedding.  The added stress
wasn't helping her attitudes toward cats.

"Why don't I go bald?" she asked in a non sequitur.

"You heal too fast," Bri answered.  "Brit can even
style her hair just using her shapechanging and
regeneration."

"Really, that'll be neat," Ranko said, playing idly
with her hair.  "I kind a like this style though, it
has attitude."

"Yeah, it practically screams 'ultra cute and tough
anime chick,'" Brianna agreed.  Ranko nodded and then
scrunched her eyebrows together.  "But we're getting
off topic here."

"When did I start talking about fashion?" Ranko asked.

"About five paragraphs ago," Brianna said.  Ranko
blinked and looked at her.  "They were short
paragraphs."

"Can we not talk like this is all written down
somewhere?" Ranko pleaded.  "That thought really gives
me the chills."

"Yeah, loads of pale friendless virgins and dirty old
men reading about us in a room lit only by a computer
monitor." Brianna shivered as she spoke.

"Just waiting for me to jump back to Earth, infect
Kodachi, and engage her and Ukyou in an orgy of
gratuitous, mad passionate lesbian cat-girl sex,"
Ranko added, growling.

"Sounds like something written by that thrifty fellow
on the list," Bri finished.  "And you're still keeping
me off topic."

"Yeah, I know," Ranko said.  "It's just that...first
chance she gets to have Ranma without me and she's
acting like Shampoo.  I don't understand girls...or
guys for that matter."

"I thought you said you weren't jealous," Brianna said
crossing her arms.

"I'm not," Brianna said.  "But everybody..."

"You think they're trying to cut you out, huh?" Bri
asked.  Ranko muttered something unintelligible. 
"Well cut people some slack, okay?  There's a lot of
stress going around."

"Fine, I'll cut them some slack," Ranko said finally. 
"But I don't have to like it."

"Fair enough," Brianna said.  "Just remember that I
was born the exact same way as you.

"That mind reader isn't listening in on us," Ranko
asked.  "Is he?"  They traded looks and glanced to the
rest of the party and noticed Genn flinching.  Both
narrowed their eyes dangerously.

********

"Hey," Ranma said.  "Are you okay, dude?  You suddenly
turned really pale."

"I'm fine," Genn said nervously.  ~Until they get over
her and rearrange my body parts in ways I won't
like..~  The rakshasha swallowed as the two girls
stomped back.

"Everything taken care of?" Julia asked.

"Almost everything," Ranko said, crossing her arms and
staring at Genn.

"How do you expect me to translate for you if I don't
listen in?" Genn asked.

"I speak Japanese," Brianna reminded the rakshasha. 
"I don't need translation to talk to her."

"Ummm," Ranma said, pointing over the two girl's
shoulders.

"Not right now, Ranma," Ranko snapped.

"I think you should look," Akane said nervously.

"After we reprimand this eavesdropper," Brianna said. 
Genn swallowed nervously and glanced past them.

"What is it?!" Ranko demanded, she turned around and
winced.  "Oh, hi mom."  Brianna twitched and slowly
turned around to see her parents staring at her
crossly.

"Mom, dad," she said.  "Something wrong?"

"Are we finished with the pointless bickering?" Nodoka
asked, repeating Julia's question.  "Or should we
proceed to set camp for the night?"  Ranko was merely
chattering her teeth now staring wildly.  Nodoka
blinked as she recognized the signs and backed away
quickly.

"We don't have time for this, young lady," Theo
agreed.  "We need to get to the retreat as soon
as...Miss Saotome?"

"I think I may have forgotten myself," Nodoka said
sadly as Ranko stood there.

"Y..y..yeah," Ranma said.  "A..any more of that and
she'd have been gone."

"Dear," Julia said hesitantly.  "Perhaps it would be
best if she got a little rest to calm down?"  Ranma
and Akane, doubting her ability to calm Ranko down,
nodded fervently.

Several minutes later saw Brianna walking along behind
them with a loudly snoring Ranko on her back.

"Why do I have to carry her?" Brianna whined.

********

The Minister of Public Health in Japan was on the
verge of something similar to a cardiac arrest.  At
least that was his opinion of his current health.  He
wasn't really a doctor, though he played one quite
often in private, just a successful politician so he
couldn't really be sure.  However with all this junk
going on it couldn't have been anything but a coronary
that was giving him these headaches.

Yes, such are the wonders of politics and bureaucracy
that one can't tell the difference between a stress
headache and a heart attack.

At any rate, first it was those damn martial artists. 
The only good thing about that was that they had been
causing the Ministry of Public Works even bigger
coronaries.  NOW, however, there was an epidemic to
consider.  That was clearly his responsibility, so of
course he freaked whenever he got another call,
expecting to hear another increase in the number of
werecreatures.

He was fairly certain that they were quarantined, but
then again, it seemed to be a very virulent disease. 
If only he could figure out how it was transmitted. 
His employees had said something about claws and
teeth, but obviously they had seen too many gaijin
horror films.

Still, it was almost enough to make a person believe
in something like magic.  Or at least the ki stuff
those Nerimites were always talking about.

Politics and bureaucracy truly are amazing things.

He'd have to talk to his uncle about vacation time.

So is nepotism.

When the phone rang he could have slammed his head
into the ceiling above him.

"Yes, Ministry of Health!" he answered shakily.  "You
have a cure!"  He stood up and nearly shouted his joy
to the heavens until the person on the phone cut him
off.  "Your father has a cure, but you can find a
place to put the already infected people until he gets
back.  Okay.  I guess this means we won't have
defoliate the Ward.  When can you be over?  Great! 
We'll be waiting!"

********

"Hey, Brit," Gina said, looking confused as she sat
down the phone.  "Does plant killer do anything to
werecheetahs?"

"Makes us sick just like anybody else," Brittany said.

"It doesn't kill you, though?" Gina pressed further.

"Of course not, that would be stupid," Brit said.

"That's what I thought."

********

As the Minister of Health danced in victory at his
wondrous plan to end the epidemic, the phone rang
again.  He snapped up the phone in a very cheerful
mood.

"Ministry of Health," he said.  "Oh, don't worry, I've
got it solved."

********

"He, like, hung up on me," Moisha said.  "But he said
he'd, like, solved it."

"I guess we won't be able to go to Japan then," Romeo
said.

"Oh well," Lydia said sighing.  "That's that then."

"I shall inform Lord Gothwrain immediatel..."

"WAIT!! WAIT!!"

"Let's get packed," Lydia said reluctantly.

********

"Something smells good," Ukyou said.  Nabiki twitched.

"Like what?" Gina asked cautiously.

"Like her," Ukyou said pointing at Nabiki.

"Thank you," Nabiki said.  "We've all heard the joke."

"No, no, it's a little spicier," Brittany said,
tapping her chin.  "And there's something familiar
about it too."

"Can we just get on the plane before you guys scare
this poor girl to death?" Gina asked.

"I am not scared," Nabiki protested.  Then the stress
balloon in her hand exploded.  "I might be a little on
edge."

"I'll figure it out later," Brittany said, shrugging.

********

A few yards behind the Diggers and Nerimans, another
group was looking about nervously.

"AHHH!" Moisha whined.  "I'm like, all itchy and
junk!"

"Well get used to it," Lydia said.  "Or do you want
all those werecats to know what we are on the spot?"

"And if that doesn't work," Romeo said dryly.  "At
least we'll give them a hefty case of indigestion from
all these spices and pepper."

"I like, smell like Tex-Mex," Moisha continued to
whine.  "What if they just thinks that makes us just
yummy?"

"Well, you kind of are," Romeo said.

"Like�.DUHHH!" Moisha said.  "I KNOW that.  I meant
the other kind of yummy!"

"Just get on the plane before it takes off," Lydia
complained.  "And stop scratching before you hurt
yourself."

********

"This is quite a comfortable little town," Nodoka
admitted, sitting across from Genn and the elder
Diggers.  "But I was curious about why the people were
giving your daughter such evil looks as we passed
through."

"Last time Brianna was here there was some...trouble,"
Genn explained.

"I...see," Nodoka said.

"Time to talk strategy here," Julia interrupted,
before the conversation could get to far in the
direction of "how my daughter and her alter ego
rampaged through the sleepy town."

"What have you been doing yourself?" Theo asked.

"I have been trying to acclimate my...children," she
said.  She assumed that she had been working with both
since they shared memories.  "To their hybrid forms. 
I hope that when...they become used to their own
bodies that it will be easier to accept others."

Julia glanced over at Ranma and Ranko where the other
four people of their party were sitting.  The Saotomes
were sitting as far apart as their table allowed, but
they didn't seem to be all that terrified.  They did
look tensed to run though and couldn't seem to keep
from watching the other cautiously.

"How's that working?" she asked.

"Surprisingly well, actually," Nodoka said.  "When we
first started, Ranma could barely hold his own form
for a minute before I had to help him return to human
form."

"They seem to be handling themselves now," Julia said.
 ~Granted their tails are moving at about a league a
second.~

"It's a little shaky," Genn said.  

"They don't seem to be dealing well with others yet,"
Theo noted.

"Are there not spells to remove a person's fear?"
Nodoka asked.

"That isn't a good idea," the mage answered.  "It's a
crutch.  Magic can be as addictive as anything else."

"I wouldn't like anybody casting that on someone who
isn't suffering from a magical fear," Julia said.

"In other words they could grow dependent on the
magic," Nodoka said.  "I suppose we could start them
trying to get used to each other then, and myself, of
course.  And you mentioned something about meditation
techniques."

"I'd like to see how advanced their training is
first," Julia said.  "Neither seems the meditative
type."  Her husband cleared his throat and she
smirked.  "But neither am I so that's just fine."

"Oh no," Genn said.  "This is going to be bad."

"Excuse me," Nodoka said turning to the rakshasha. 
"But what are you talking about?"  Genn pointed and
all eyes turned to the other table.

"Tirga," Julia moaned.  "Just what we need."

********

"Well, isn't this a treat," Tirga said, smirking
broadly.  "Three very lovely ladies first thing in the
morning."  He didn't seem to see Ranma.

"Oh, Tirga," Brianna said in a sing song manner,
smirking.  "You're...personality is as...big as ever."
 She leaned forward on her elbows.  "So..." she
smiled.  "...How's Sheila?"

"Oh Sheila's just fine," Tirga said waving that off. 
"But let's talk about you and your friends here."

"Oh don't you think they're a little young for you?"
Brianna said in a pouty voice.  "Now what you need is
nice, energetic young woman that can REALLY put you in
your place."

"You can always try, Miss Diggers," Tirga said.  "And
I'd say you're the youngest here."

"I think I'm quite a bit more than you can handle,
cutey," Brianna purred.  Certainly Sheila had a thing
for the weretiger, whether she admitted it or not. 
That really didn't mean that Brianna couldn't toy with
him a little.  Besides, he WAS cute.  Tirga's response
was somewhat less than expected.

"Is there something wrong with your friend?" he asked.

"My friend?" Brianna repeated.  "OH!  Ranko!"  She
turned to see Ranko shedding loads of fur and her
eyebrows arched fearfully, teeth chattering and tail
fluffed out wide.  Glancing over she saw Ranma in a
similar state, though Akane was already calming him
down.

"Oh, Ranko?" Tirga said.  "What a lovely name for a
lovely young..." He softly took her head, bent to kiss
it in an overdone display, and was surprised as Ranko
opened her mouth and screamed.

"C..c.c.c.CAT!!!!!!!!" And suddenly she was on the
ceiling, and attracting a lot of confused stares. 
Aside from those that remembered Brianna's last visit,
and they were quite concerned at the odd behavior.

"Another one of them Earthers is goin berserk!!!"
somebody shouted before people started clearing the
tavern.

Ranma wanted to run, he REALLY wanted to run, but he
wasn't going to leave everybody behind with a giant
cat that could turn on them at any moment.  In
consequence he was currently digging furrows into the
tabletop.

"Would you just calm down?" Akane asked.  "It's just
an oversized pervert."

"Hey!" Tirga snapped back.

"Hey, Ranko, come back down here," Brianna shouted. 
"Tirga's too stupid to be a threat."

"HEY!" Tirga protested again.

"Can you change to your human form," Brianna asked
ignoring the were-tigers protest.

"What?"

"She requested that you change to your human form," a
voice said behind.  "So that you can stop terrorizing
my children."  He turned to see a rather angry looking
werecheetah and the Diggers.

"Umm...what?" Tirga asked, still completely confused
as to the situation.

"That's okay, Nodoka," Julia said, looking very cross.

"We�d like to talk to him for a moment anyway," Theo
said, head replaced by a flaming skull.  Brianna
paused in her attempts to get Ranko down from the
ceiling.  

"Oh yeah," Brianna said.  "I forgot to mention that my
parents were at another table."

"Uh...heh," Tirga said.  "Mrs. Diggers, Mr. Diggers. 
What's up?"

"You're not actually going try to protect HER from
HIM," Genn asked.  "Are you?"

"Maybe we should have a chat with you too, Genn,"
Julia said coolly.  The rakshasha flinched.

"Umm, nevermind," he said nervously as Tirga was
dragged away.

"Is..ss it g..g..gone?" Ranko asked quietly.  Her eyes
were closed and she was still gripping the ceiling.

"Yes dear," Nodoka said.  "He's gone.  You can come
down now."  Ranko creaked open an eye and saw her
family, Brianna and Akane in the near empty tavern. 
She swallowed and dropped to the ground.

"Sorry about that," Ranko said, quietly embarrassed.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Brianna said.

"That is correct," Nodoka agreed.  "It is your
father's fault."

"Ranma, will you let go of the table!" Akane asked.

"So much for acclimating them before they meet the
Edge Guard," Genn sighed.


=====
"Caffeinated Kender?  What's that, a berserk spell?" - 
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
"God has to have a sense of humor, it's the only explanation for sex." - my father
"I have to write a how-to paper for class, so I'm writing a paper on how to be psuedo-evil." - my brother

http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html

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