Ouch!  I wrote this, and then it vanished after I quit PINE, but 
before I could send it.  I'm not sure this version is as good as the one 
I just wrote, but...

	P-chan ran through the house, and he didn't get lost.  Akane had 
recently painted a series of snout-high arrows along the wall.  All the 
little pig had to do was follow them and he could go anywhere he wanted 
to on the first try.  In this case, he wanted to go to Ranma's room.  _No, 
it's not Ranma's room, not anymore.  It's my room now.  Now and forever!_
	A hot teakettle sitting on a low table was P-chan's objective.  
He upended the furniture, transformed, and dressed as quickly as he 
could.  "Ranma, prepare to die!" he shouted.
	Ryoga ran back out into the hall, this time following the arrows 
painted on the ceiling.  They led him to the staircase, where he saw 
Kasumi and Soun.  The weak, older man was leaning on his daughter; he 
needed all his strength to keep from falling down.  _Ranma, you'll pay 
for making Mr. Tendo get out of bed!_ Ryoga vowed.
	A red-haired girl wearing nothing but a towel launched a fist at 
Ryoga's face, shouting, "Rematch time, Mr. Hibiki."
	Ryoga saw spots, and responded with a blow that would have ground 
her bones to dust had it hit.  Normally the eternally lost boy would have 
died before attacking a girl, but that restriction did not hold against 
Ranma or his Amazon allies.  They deserved everything they got.  "Die, Ranma!"
	"Who are you calling, 'Ranma?'"   The girl punctuated her words with 
a kick to the jaw.
	"I'm not falling for your tricks, Ranma.  Your disguises won't 
fool me this time.  This is the end!"
	"Yo, Ryoga," Ranma called from the bottom of the stairs.  "Stop 
picking on my daughter.  If you want to fight me, I'm down here."
	Ryoga's mind was a mass of confusion.  _That's Ranma down there.  
But I'm fighting Ranma.  Are there two Ranma's?  No, then one of them 
would be a boy, and these are both girls?  I know Ranma has a brother. 
Does he have a sister, too?  OhMyGosh!  What if I've attacked an innocent 
woman?_  "Who are you?"
	"I'm Ranko!"  She punched Ryoga in the kidneys.
	"Are you related to Ranma?"
	"Yes!"  She punched him again.
	Ryoga sighed in relief.  She was guilty, then, by association.  
His conscience clear, the bandana-clad warrior kicked Ranko in the stomach.
	Akane ran between the combatants.  "You leave my daughter alone!"
	_Akane is defending this girl?  The Amazons must have brainwashed 
her again.  They'll pay for that, too!_  Ryoga pushed his girlfriend 
aside so that he'd have a clear shot at Ranko.
	Akane didn't like that.
	She hit Ryoga.
	Hard.
	Ryoga's heart of glass shattered.

* * * * *

	Tachi felt her blood run cold.  Nabiki was discussing the end of 
the world with some ancient Amazon, and the mercenary Tendo girl was 
treating it like a business deal.
	"So you're trying to tell me that everyone and everything now 
belongs to another universe?  I don't buy it.  I mean, I still have all 
my old memories."
	"My great-great-granddaughter was the nexus of this change.  You 
and all those who encountered her have remained unaffected."
	"Well, then, this hasn't done you much good.  Everyone who's 
anyone has had a run-in with Spring.  I know Ranma certainly has."
	"True, Nabiki Tendo, true.  But now, _I_ have the power.  I will 
become the nexus of the new reality.  Son-in-law is not here; he will 
remember only the world I want him to remember."
	"What about Ranma's other children, or my daughter, Tachi?"
	"I do not know.  Perhaps they will return to their own worlds.  
Perhaps they will cease to exist."  Cologne's lack of emotion made it 
clear that either outcome was acceptable to her.
	"I know you're the new nexus.  I'll remember everything."
	"Perhaps," whispered Cologne, "or perhaps not."
	"Time out here!  No need for threats.  What do I care if Ranma 
marries Shampoo and moves to China?  Spring is a nice enough girl, a bit 
short-tempered, true, but that's genetics for you.  No, you're plan sounds 
fine to me.  I've got it on good authority that my future looks bright, no 
matter which reality I live in."
	Tachi gasped.  Her mother had just sold out the entire universe.
	"I had not expected you to be so... reasonable, Nabiki Tendo."
	"Please!  I know a winning side when I see one."
	"True.  Shampoo, please show our... ally to the door."
	Tachi frantically scrambled away from the keyhole, but there was 
nowhere to hide.  Light from the living room caught her, framing her like 
a model posing for a photographer.
	"What you doing here?" Shampoo demanded.
	"Uh, Girl Scout Cookies?" Tachi bluffed.
	"You spy!  You die!"
	Tachi drew her bokken.  "You won't find the Shooting Star of Furinkan 
High to be easy meat."  Outside, lightning ripped the rain-filled sky apart.
	"Kids these days," Nabiki sighed as she slipped past the combatants.
	Tachi spun her sword in a slow circle, waiting for Shampoo to 
make the first move.  The future girl knew she was good, perhaps even 
great, but Shampoo was a legend.  _At least I'm armed._
	Shampoo's first attack knocked the bokken from Tachi's hands.
	_So much for that idea._  Tachi closed her eyes and prayed.  She knew 
exactly how much of a chance she had against Shampoo in unarmed combat.  A 
snowball in Avernus would last longer.
	"Meow!" screamed a very angry cat.
	"Don't just stand there," Nabiki said as she dropped a now-empty bucket 
over Shampoo.  "Run!"
	The two girls raced through the Nekohanten.  "I thought you'd 
betrayed us," Tachi sobbed with relief.
	"Oh, please.  What kind of a businesswoman would I be if I 
couldn't lie convincingly at will."
	"You no be dead," Spring answered.
	"Time for plan 'B,'" Nabiki decided.  She yanked the door of the 
linen closet open as she ran past, and Mousse flew out.  The blind duck 
arrowed in on Spring like a heat-seeking missile.  "That should buy us 
some time," she said as Mousse and the Amazon collided.
	Once outside, the two girls ran for the dojo as fast as they 
could.  "How much did you hear?" Nabiki asked her daughter.
	"Everything."
	"Good.  We'd better split up, then."  Nabiki shielded her eyes with 
her hand, trying her best to see through the downpour.  "At least one of us 
needs to make it back to Ranma; we're both way out of out league, and 
he's the only one with a chance of stopping Cologne."
	Tachi smiled.  "Mom, for the first time today, I think I agree 
with you."

* * * * *

	Ryoga stood frozen as his life crumbled around him.  _She hit 
me.  Akane hit me._  "A- Akane-chan, why?"
	"I told you to leave my daughter alone."
	"Your... daughter?"
	"Yes, my daughter."
	"Mom, would you please get out of the way?" Ranko complained.  
"I'd like to finish the fight."
	"Your... daughter."
	"Hey, Akane, how hard didja hit him?" Ranma asked.
	"Ranma, shut up," Akane snapped.  "Ryoga, are you all right?"
	"No," Ryoga managed to say.  Then the eternally lost boy ran down 
the hall, crying.  There was a loud crash, and a gust of cold, wet air 
blew through the house.
	"Come back here!" Ranko shouted.  "We have to finish our fight!"
	Akane grabbed her daughter by the ponytail as she ran past.  "You are 
not going outside dressed like that, young lady."
	"But, Mom!"
	"No 'But's.'  Get dressed."
	"Now she decides to act like normal," Ranko grumbled as she 
marched back to the bathroom.
	Below them, Soun swooned.  Today had just been too much for the 
man's frail constitution.

* * * * *

	Tachi splashed through the wet streets.  _Why didn't Aunt 
Kodachi have any practical shoes?_  Ahead of her, she could just make out 
the Tendo dojo.  "I'm almost- Oof!"  The future girl tripped over 
something small and landed face first in a large puddle.  That much water 
shorted out her umbrella-field, and Tachi's new clothes were soaked through.
	"Damn.  What did I trip over?"  Tachi turned around and saw an 
unconscious pig.  "That looks like Mr. Hibiki."  She picked P-chan up by 
a bedraggled bandana.  "It _is_ Mr. Hibiki.  What is he doing out here?"
	"Nosey cousin want put pig down now?" Spring asked.
	Tachi's next few thoughts did not bear repeating.
	"Let's not even pretend that I am going to put up a fight," she 
said.  "Why don't you just take me back to the Nekohanten and let your 
Great-great-grandmother deal with me?  Does that sound good to you?"
	Spring thought for a moment.  "Oh Kay," she decided.  "But you no 
try trick Spring."
	"I wouldn't dream of it."  _Mom was right.  They _are_ dumb as 
sheep.  And this way I get to bring Ryoga with me..._
 ______
{B-{=__

	If I've timed this right, part 21 should be it.  I'd have part 20 
done tonight, except for my unfortunate lack of saving the file...