I finally got around to revising this, in preparation for posting to
RAAC. Please tell me what you think and point out any changes, major or
minor, that could improve it. All C&C and any other feedback will be
appreciated! If there are no major changes, I'll be posting this on RAAC
in a few days.

The plot is essentially the same. The text has been changed somewhat so
that (hopefully) it flows better; a lot of re-paragraphing has taken
place. A major mistake concerning the anatomy of the story's main
antagonist has been corrected, thanks to Jorge "Zephyr" Pratt. Other
things have been fixed up as pointed out by readers (see, I *do* read
and consider all of your comments ^_^ ) and I noticed some myself.




			     POOLS OF HORROR

			 A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction
			     by Gary Kleppe

This is a sequel (written with permission) to the story "Cursed" by
Richard Lawson. It is summarized below for those who haven't read it.
"Cursed" was based on an idea from Benjamin Franz's story "Hello
Again". I highly recommend both of these fine works. "Hello Again" was
in turn based on an episode of Ranma 1/2 Nettouhen, which (the series,
not the particular episode) was based on the manga by the esteemed
Rumiko Takahashi-sama, which of course I also recommend (as if you
needed to hear that from me).

The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful property of
Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission. This story may
be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered substantially or
used for profit in any way.

Comments, criticisms, and all other sorts of feedback are welcomed and
appreciated!

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: Ranma awoke one day to find strange thoughts in
his mind. There was someone else in his head; someone who was neat and
tidy and disliked violence. He sought out Cologne, only to find that
Shampoo and Mousse were acting like their cat and duck cursed forms.
This, Cologne said, was the second-stage result of their Jusenkyo
curses. In the same way, Ranma's mind was being replaced by that of the
girl who drowned at Jusenkyo fifteen hundred years ago. Cologne took
Shampoo and Mousse back to China in hopes of finding a cure, while Ranma
struggled inside to hold on to who and what he was -- a struggle that
was abruptly cut short as Akane angrily splashed him with cold water.


			PART ONE: LILI'S STORY

Feng Lili moved through the woods as quickly as she could, looking for
a road or anything else that would show her the way out of the
wilderness that she was lost in. The sky was darkening, and if she were
not out of this woods by then, she would be spending the night. That
thought terrified her. Alone here, her life expectancy was short. Her
sixteen years of growing up as the daughter of a well-to-do merchant had
given her little experience that would help her survive alone out here.

Lili wished she had not had to come on this trip, but it had been
necessary. This was a time of great turmoil in China. Her father, a
well-to-do merchant, had been forced to pack up his business and family
and move north to Xi'ning. Happily Yang Wei, the man who worked for her
father, had come with them. He was a handsome man of noble bearing;
Lili's fondest wish was to someday become his wife. Unfortunately, Yang
Wei didn't seem to notice her much. Probably because of her unattractive
scrawny body, she thought. To make up for that, she liked to make
herself appealing by always dressing in fine clothes. She had also
become an expert in cooking and all the other duties a good wife ought
to be able to do.

A gang of bandits put an end to Lili's plans. They attacked her father's
caravan, and one of them chased her into the woods. Having heard tell of
the things bandits would do to a captured young girl, she ran as fast
and as far away as she could. Unfortunately, she never found her way
back to the caravan, or even the road.

The sky was almost dark. Lili wandered into what seemed to be a
clearing, framed by mountains on the other sides. She could barely see
the moonlight reflecting off of something in the clearing. Water? A
lake? She went in for a closer look.

Lili heard a sound and turned. A pudgy bald man in peasant clothes was
standing next to her, close enough for her to smell his breath.

"Why have you come here?" the man said. "This is a dangerous place. It
is very strange for you to be here."

Was there mockery in the man's voice? Or was that just the imagination
of a frightened girl? Lili looked, trying to see what was so dangerous,
but it had abruptly turned dark. "I'm lost! Can you show me the way to
--" She turned back to the man, but he was gone without a trace.

Lili moved, trying to remember from what direction she had come, not
wanting to stay in such a place. She prayed to any gods that might be
listening. She wanted to get out of this place. She wanted to be clean,
with clean clothes, and not be a scrawny little kid anymore, and not
need to be afraid, and marry Yang Wei, and have him protect her forever,
and live a peaceful life far away from whatever horror there was here.

A misstep in the darkness plunged Lili into water. She fell, splashing
around under water, desperately trying to hold her breath.

For her sixteen years of growing up as the daughter of a well-to-do
merchant had given her little experience at swimming...

***

Fifteen centuries later in a place not too far away, the old woman
called Cologne carried a cat into her bathroom, setting it down in the
tub. Its contented purring changed abruptly to angry hissing as it
noticed a kettle of steaming water that sat on the sink.

"Now, now, your elders know what's best for you." With incredible speed,
Cologne's hand struck a point on the cat's body, causing it to instantly
fall asleep. It was a pressure point technique, modified for the feline
anatomy; something that Cologne frivolously referred to as shi-cat-su.
She had developed the technique in case she ever again had to fight
Ranma under the influence of his neko-ken training. That was not going
to happen, not with the way things were turning out.

The hot water was poured over the unconscious cat, magically
transforming it into a very shapely young woman. Shampoo. It had been
Cologne's stupid blunder that made her like this. Cologne had taken her
to Jusenkyo for retraining, heedless of the legend of the place, and
Shampoo fell into one of the pools. The spirit of a cat that had drowned
at the place became fused with her. She became a cat, first in body but
later in mind as well. All because some foolish, stubborn old woman
hadn't bothered to find out the truth.

Your elders know what's best for you... how stupidly wrong that was.

That was not the first mistake Cologne had ever made. Still, she had
done a lot of good for her Amazon sisters over the years. It was a good
life, lasting as it did over a hundred years.

Cologne unscrewed the top from another container of liquid, a small
flask. This was half of the amount she had been able to get of the
magical water, the precious liquid that would allow her to atone for her
mistake. The other half was on its way to Japan, to a certain man whom
she had known in her youth. It was an offering, a final chance for him
to make something useful out of his life, which was due to be over soon
anyway; a way to be remembered for something noble instead of as just an
annoyance.

The old woman poured the liquid over her great-granddaughter. The
cat-spirit became instantly visible in Cologne's mind's eye, outlined in
psychic fire. Her powerful spirit reached out toward the cat.

Here, kitty kitty...

***

Lili awoke. She was distressed to see that the sun was already risen.
She was still only half-conscious, feeling as if she had slept the
longest sleep in her life. She did not like to sleep too much. Getting
up early always helped her finish her assigned chores around her home
more quickly, which pleased her father.

It became at once obvious to her, even in her half-asleep state, that
this was not her home. The room was in disarray, with clothes and
various other unrecognizable objects left randomly about.

She noticed her clothes. This wasn't something a girl like her could
wear! Then she noticed herself. There was no more thin and scrawny young
girl. She was strong, muscular, and full-chested. How? How long had she
been here?

Lili thought back. The last thing she remembered was walking in the
dark. Water. She had fallen in water. Then there was a dream. A dream of
being someone else. She strained to remember, but could not; the dream
had disappeared. She thought that perhaps she had been kidnapped by
bandits and brought here, wherever this was. Or perhaps she had simply
gone mad and been locked away here? Perhaps both?

A muffled noise was heard. The sounds of someone breathing? Lili turned
to look. It came from some large object covered by a sheet next to where
she had been sleeping. Slowly, with trepidation, she lifted up the sheet
to see what it was.

She saw a panda.

She pulled the sheet back down over it, covering it completely, as if
that would mean that it wasn't there anymore. How? How could she have
been sleeping next to a dirty, smelly animal?

The girl moved from the bed and stood up, trying not to disturb the...
thing... under the covers. She had to try to get out of this place.
Clothes. She would need clothes. She searched for something suitable.
The closet was full of things a boy might wear. In the very back was a
dress. It would have to do. It was nothing like what she was used to,
but at least it somehow felt feminine. At least wearing it didn't make
her feel like she was wearing boy's clothes. Underneath she still had on
what she had been sleeping in, but that couldn't be helped for now.

Cautiously, Lili made her way downstairs. She didn't know who or what
might try to stop her from escaping. Hopefully she could slip by without
them noticing her.

A woman waiting at the bottom of the stairs had noticed Lili. The woman
smiled warmly. She spoke, with words that Lili was unfamiliar with.
Strangely, Lili began to comprehend the speech. The woman was telling
her that she was late, that she was supposed to be somewhere, handing
her some sort of container and pointing her out a door.

Lili went out the door. She had understood a good part of the words, but
had no idea what they referred to. She wondered if she was still insane.

***

Elsewhere, a young man walked through a crowded shopping center. He had
come so that he could be among people. He didn't generally like people
all that much, but the urges that had recently started within him
threatened to overpower his mind when he was alone. His intelligence was
something he valued strongly. He had to try to save it.

Of course, people had never done much for him. His whole life had been a
disaster from day one. He thought of the old man, and the urges grew
stronger. One word. The old man had completely and utterly ruined his
life with one carelessly-chosen word. Yes, everything was the old man's
fault. He could give into the chaotic urges and start destroying
everything. People would run screaming, people who never did anything
for him anyway, they would run in terror, and the old man would look at
everything and realize whose fault it all was...

The young man jumped into the shopping mall's decorative fountain. The
urges were too strong to resist. He rose, transformed into a
multi-tentacled minotaur-like creature. At that moment Pantyhose Taro
was no more.

The crowd ran from the creature, screaming.

***

This was the strangest place that Lili had ever been in.

The first thing she had noticed was the cars. People rode inside metal
creatures, or perhaps magically-propelled carts, to get where they were
going.

Then she had found the shopping place. An incredible selection of goods
was available, including many things that Lili did not understand at
all. She purchased a set of underwear that felt properly feminine to
her, using some monies that were in the bag she carried. Everyone seemed
to have enough money to buy things. There was no peasant class, at least
not in this place; perhaps all of the peasants were kept in other
places.

Lili spent hours just walking, looking for anything familiar. She
desperately wanted to find her way home, or at least back to any place
that she knew. At least, she thought, she did not need to worry about
being molested by bandits here. Surely such a thing would not happen
amidst so many people.

Without warning, something jumped out from behind a bush, attaching
itself firmly to Lili's chest.

It was an old, very diminutive man. "Hi there, sweetie!" he said in the
strange language of this place as he fondled Lili's breasts.

"Eeeeeeeee!!!!!" Lili screamed an uncontrollable, hysterical wail.

She fell to her knees, crying, the old man still attached. This was
simply too much, she could not deal with any more. She wanted to go
home. She wanted her father, or Yang Wei, to come and rescue her, take
her from this mad, insane place. But deep down she knew that wouldn't
happen. She was damned to here for an eternity, and would never see
anyone she knew again.

A hand grabbed the old man by his garment, pulling him away from the
girl. "I shall not allow you to terrorize innocent women, not while I
stand," a new voice said. Lili could not stop crying.

"It's just a bit of fun," the old man said innocently. "A training
exercise. C'mon and catch me, Ranma!"

Happosai paused. Something was obviously wrong with Ranma. He should
have been enraged, should have been chasing the old man trying to make
him regret what he did. Instead Happosai's victim seemed on the verge of
a complete breakdown. Before him was not a martial artist, rather a
young girl with terror in her eyes.

This wasn't fun anymore. There was a serious problem here, one that the
old lecher did not want to involve himself in. He bounded off in search
of other pursuits. Someone else would figure out what was wrong with
Ranma.

"Are you all right, my love?" Lili's rescuer asked.

She slowly looked up, trying to believe that it would be all right now.
The man wore robes and carried a wooden sword.

"Fear not, no harm shall come to you. You are under the protection of
the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!"

Lili looked up further, finally able to see the man's face. It was him.
It was Yang Wei.

Or at least it looked like him. "Are you really Yang Wei?" she asked in
Chinese, a glimmer of hope in her soul. The man obviously did not
understand, and she repeated the question in the strange new language
that she somehow knew.

"Ah, but the encounter with the vile lecher has left you stunned, for
you could not forget that I am Tatewaki Kuno, your most humble and
faithful admirer. To you, pig-tailed girl, am I devoted with a love that
I could feel for no other."

Tatewaki and Lili then noticed that they were being stared at, by a
short-haired girl with an angry expression.

***

It had not been a good day for Akane Tendo.

It was the day of her Trigonometry exam. Ranma had agreed to study with
her the night before. Instead, all he did was babble gibberish at her
all evening long. Then he fell asleep, and Akane's dad had to carry him
up to his room. In the morning he didn't even get up out of bed for his
exam. Akane waited for him to get up, and finally had to leave without
him. Even so, she was late and the Principal made her scrub out all the
toliets in the first floor ladies' room before her exam.

On her way home from school, Akane spotted Ranma talking to Kuno. He was
in his girl form, as he had been in all of last night since she had
angrily splashed him that afternoon. He wore a dress, the same one he
had worn as "Ryoga's finacee". What scam was he trying to pull with Kuno
here?

Akane glared at Ranma and Kuno, clearing her throat to get their
attention. "Ranma! What are you doing here?!?"

Ranma backed away towards Kuno, as if expecting the kendoist to protect
him. "You must be mistaken," he said timidly. "My name is Feng Lili. I
am..."

"You could've at least gotten a decent disguise this time. Did you
honestly think you'd fool anybody with this act? Is there anybody who
could be stupid enough to fall for this?"

"Please calm yourself, Akane Tendo," Kuno said. "The pig-tailed girl is
obviously distraught. This does not lessen my passion for you! Be not
jealous!"

"JEALOUS??!?" Akane kicked Kuno away. Ranma looked at her with what
appeared to be fear in his eyes. Akane grabbed him by the arm and strode
forcefully toward home.

***

Police officer Usugurai wasn't worried.

His sources all told him that the people who frequented the Tendo Dojo
redefined the word eccentric, but that they were top-notch fighters, and
always came through when there was a crisis. Which there was.

At least the sensei seemed to accept his story. It was the truth, but
even he had trouble believing that it wasn't just a dream or the plot
from a movie.

"You've come to the right place," Soun Tendo reassured the policeman. "A
monster tearing up the suburbs, eh? We'll soon put a stop to that. We
happen to have one of the finest young martial artists in Japan here at
the dojo. If anyone can sort out this monster, he can."

Kasumi looked out the window. "Oh look! Akane and Ranma are home!"
P-chan ran towards the door with an excited Bweeeee!!!

The two young people came in the door. One of them, the short-haired
girl, was forcibly dragging the other along. The girl with the pig-tail
was protesting frantically. "Let me go!"

"Officer Usugurai, please allow me to introduce my daughter Akane," Soun
said. "And this is Ranma Saotome, the young man who will be able to
defeat your monster. If he can't do it, no one can."

"Er... 'young man'?" Usugurai did not need to use his police observation
training to discern that the person the sensei had pointed out was in
fact a young woman.

Akane was paying no attention to her father at the moment. "All right,
Ranma. I've had enough of this! Just what the hell is your problem??"
Meanwhile, P-chan jumped happily into her arms.

"Stop -- stop pushing me around!! I just --" The pig-tailed girl
struggled to speak, on the verge of tears. "I just can't deal with
violence!!"

Now Usugurai was worried.

***

For the readers' information:

		       WHO IS PANTYHOSE TARO?

Pantyhose Taro is a young Chinese man who, as a baby, was baptised by
Happosai in the "spring of drowned yeti riding bull carrying crane and
eel." This gave him a cursed form that is a minotaur-like monster, but
with wings and an eel's tail. Happosai gave him the name "Pantyhose
Taro", which he hated. Only Happosai, who gave him his name, could
change it; so he came to Nerima in search of the old lecher, where he
fought Ranma and friends. He later returned to Jusenkyo to splash his
back with "spring of drowned octopus" water, which gave him giant
tentacles; he then fought Happosai and the others again. In his final
appearance in the series, he was attacked by an Indian girl named Rouge.
She had fallen into a spring that turned her into Ashura, a three-headed
six-armed flaming warrior demon of incredible power.

The reader may assume that this history from the original series
happened in this alternate universe as well. For more information, the
Pantyhose Taro FAQ by Blade is recommended.


			PART TWO: FROM BAD TO WORSE

Lili and Akane glared at each other with looks of mutual hurt. "I
suppose you think this is funny, don't you," Akane said. "Well, enough
is enough!"

"I told you. Why won't you believe me? I'm not this person you think I
am. My name is Feng Lili."

"Fine. You be Feng Lili today if you want, Ranma. Maybe tomorrow I'll be
Feng Lili. And maybe Feng Lili can explain to the officer here why we
have to just let that monster go around destroying things, because the
person who could have stopped it is pretending to be a scared little
girl right now."

A voice came from the corridor. "Akane!"

"Ryoga?" Akane said. He had not been seen for the past several weeks.

"Akane, Ranma's not acting. It's the curse! His Jusenkyo curse has taken
him over! I was with him yesterday when it was happening!"

"So it's true." Everyone turned to see Nabiki, who had just come in the
front door.

"What's true?" Akane asked in an irritated tone.

"I just checked our mailbox." Nabiki held up a letter. "This is from
Cologne. She's closed up the Nekohanten and taken Shampoo and Mousse
back to China. According to her, those two have both acquired the minds
of their cursed forms. They are a cat and a duck mentally as well as
physically. She says that it's the inevitable latter stage of the curses
of Jusenkyo.

"She also says that the same thing was happening to Ranma. You're not
talking to Ranma here. You're talking to the girl who drowned in that
spring hunderds of years ago. That girl's mind, or spirit, has taken
over Ranma's body."

Lili jumped up from her chair. "NOOOOO!!!! That can't be right! This is
ME!!"

She found a mirror and stared at herself in it. A thing like that just
*couldn't* happen! But... was there any other explanation for the things
that had happened? Was there any other way that this insane world, and
the insane things that were happening to her in it, made sense?

Lili looked into the mirror, desperately looking for herself. A stranger
stared back.

All of which went well over the head of officer Usugurai. "Folks, I
don't want to be rude, but I need to know if you'll be able to help us
with this monster or not. If not, I need to try to locate someone else
who can."

"On the honor of the Anything Goes School, we will do what we can," Soun
said, without optimism.

***

Shortly, a police car sped down the road, its siren blaring, as the
other cars cleared the way. Usugurai drove, with Soun next to him in the
passenger seat.

Akane was in the back seat. She didn't know what to make of what Nabiki
had said. Maybe Ranma *wasn't* acting. Was this another of Cologne's
plots to force him to marry Shampoo? Did she do this to him, perhaps
using some sort of mind-altering drug? Would she offer some sort of
cure, one that would only work if Ranma went to China with her and
stayed there?

Lili's mind was numb. She closed her eyes and wished she was back with
her father. It didn't work.

P-chan, in his human form as Ryoga, sat in the back between Akane and
Lili-Ranma. He didn't like being in his human body, this big clumsy
thing. But Akane was the one who had taken him in and given him a home.
It was his duty to protect her from whatever this monster was. Or from
Ranma -- Lili -- whatever her name was, if it came to that. Right now,
this was the body that he could do that best in.

Soun broke the silence. "What sort of monster is this, anyway?"

"Something resembling a minotaur." Usugurai drove the car across a Do
Not Cross line, onto an evacuated street. "But it has a tail like an
eel, and on it's back are --"

"Pantyhose," Akane said.

"No, wings. It has wings."

"She means the monster is named Pantyhose," Soun corrected. "It's a long
story."

"Whatever it is, it moves too fast for us to shoot it," the officer
continued. "It seems to be carrying out mindless vandalism, destroying
everything. We managed to get all of the civilians evacuated from the
area, but not before several people were injured. One of them's a girl
named Mako who just turned thirteen today. She's critical right now, but
she should make it to fourteen."

"Could Pantyhose's mind have been taken over by his curse?" Akane asked.
"Like the others supposedly were?"

"It's possible." Soun looked worried. "If that's the case, then things
have gone from bad to worse. I can't think of a tougher, more dangerous
opponent than him."

"Wasn't Pantyhose's cursed form made up from multiple creatures? Which
one will be in control?"

"Good question. Maybe none of them. Maybe the conflict between the minds
of the several different constituent forms is what's causing his current
behavior. We might be able to use that to our advantage." Heaven knows
they would need any advantage they could get, Soun thought. Facing an
opponent as powerful as Pantyhose, with most of their fighting force
gone or disabled, they were... what was the expression Soun had heard
Ranma use? They were in deep shit.

Usugurai pulled the police cruiser over to a stop, and the occupants got
out. "The creature is around here somewhere. It hasn't been spotted
leaving this area." He and Soun moved off to one side to search. Akane
moved in another direction, with Ryoga close behind.

Lili leaned up against the police car, hoping that this would all be
over soon and she could go back to somewhere safe - if there was
anywhere that could be called safe in this insane place. She knew
nothing of monsters, save some stories of demons that her mother had
told her.

Her mother... if what these people had told her was correct, then her
mother was dead now. So was her father, and everyone she had ever known.
And she herself. She was dead, a ghost trying to live a life in a stolen
body. One that she would gladly give back, if she only knew how.

Lili noticed that she had been left behind at the car, by herself. That
brought back the frightening memory of being alone back in the
wilderness of China. She stepped away from the car, looking down the
block, trying to spot where the others had gotten to.

Something touched Lili's waist. She looked down. Something long and
slimy was wrapping itself around Lili's body. It was followed by
another, and another...

Lili screamed.

***

Soun Tendo rushed down the street with officer Usugurai, toward the
scream they had just heard. The monster that had once been Pantyhose
Taro had its tentacles around Ranma. Ranma looked absolutely terrified.
The monster let out a noise, something vaguely resembling an evil,
gutteral laugh. The policeman drew a gun and pointed it directly at
where the monster's heart ought to be.

"No," Soun said. "If you fire that at him... it, it will kill him. Her."


Usugurai was a good enough shot to take down a normal man instantly with
a single shot. But what, if anything, would a gunshot do to this
creature? He lowered his gun, watching the thing intently.

Akane and Ryoga ran onto the scene, stopping in their tracks when they
saw what the situation was. A triumphant laugh-like noise issued forth
from the monster's mouth. His pig-tailed captive pleaded helplessly. If
this was an act, it was the best acting Akane had ever seen, she
thought. She had watched an anime called Iczer-One a few days ago, in
which a girl named Nagisa had been attacked by some sort of slime
creatures. Ranma was freaking out ten times as much as Nagisa had.

Then another police car pulled up.

Nabiki Tendo came out from the passenger's side of the newly arrived
vehicle. The driver's side window was partially rolled down, and a gun
barrel could be seen, directed toward the creature.

"Nabiki, no!" Soun cried out. "If we try to shoot it, it will kill
Ranma!"

"Oh, I shouldn't worry," Nabiki said unperturbedly. "This gun is not
exactly standard police issue."

"What do you mean, not standard police issue?" Akane asked, hardly in
the mood for games.

"It's a super-soaker. Now!" A stream of steaming water issued forth from
the gun. Instantly the monster was gone, replaced by a naked young man.
Lili-Ranma, noticing that the tentacles that had been holding her had
disappeared, dove away from her former captor and fell to the ground
sobbing. Soun and Ryoga wrestled the now-human Taro to the ground before
he could escape.

Soun went to comfort Ranma. "It's okay, Ranma, it's all over. Please
stop crying. It's not a dignified thing to do." He turned to his middle
daughter. "Thank you, Nabiki."

"Always glad to help when my dear old dad rushes out of the house with
no idea what he's doing. You'll be getting my bill," she said with a
smirk.

"It is all over, isn't it? I mean the fighting," Akane said. "Or is
there something we're forgetting?"

"Well, I want to thank all of you," Usugurai said as he forced the
handcuffed Taro into the back of his car. "Fighting monsters is not
something I'm trained to deal with. It's funny, I was watching an old
monster movie last night. The people didn't know what to do about the
monster that was attacking them, until a couple of little kids came up
with an idea that they needed."

"Your department will *definitely* be getting a bill," Nabiki said, "and
for more than just the ice cream cone or can of coke that kids like that
would have asked for."

"It's okay. The kids' idea in the movie didn't work as well as yours
did. Luckily in the movie, another monster showed up. Gamera the flying
turtle fought the first monster and saved everyone. By the way, ma'am,
if you're not busy, I'd like to thank you personally for your help, by
taking you out to dinner."

"Well, all right. I should warn you that my tastes run toward the
expensive, though. Wasn't there a delightful little foriegn restaurant
in this neighborhood? A friend took me there last month, and I had some
of the best flambeed.... Say, do you smell smoke?"

"Now that you mention it.... Someone probably forgot to turn something
off when this area was evacuated. I'll call in the fire department, have
them check it out. We don't want this whole area going up in flames --"
Usugurai's thought was never finished. All eyes looked up as a brilliant
red ball of light erupted into the sky. Something solid became visible
in the center, as the ball of fire began coalescing into a shape. Three
people. No, it was one humanoid thing, a female with three faces and six
arms.

Another monster had shown up.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" it said. "Ashura has returned, little ones!"

The policeman in the second car raised his gun and fired a stream of hot
water at the demonic creature. The water turned into steam before it
could get within two meters of its target. Ashura laughed again, pointed
one of her six hands, and instantly the car was set aflame. The officer
jumped out frantically, rolling on the ground to extinguish his burning
clothes.

Lili looked at the demon in the sky. Happosai, Akane, Pantyhose... none
of them were a tenth as frightening as the thing she saw before her.
Deep inside her mind, some small not-yet-extinguished vestige of what
was Ranma Saotome saw and understood the situation...

They were in deep shit.


			PART THREE: THE GATHERING

There was once a girl called Rouge. A native of India, a shy, beautiful
girl, a Virgo with blood type A; at least that was how she would
introduce herself.

One day, Rouge fell into one of the cursed pools of Jusenkyo. From then
on, contact with cold water would turn her body into that of the
three-headed six-armed fire-wielding demon known as Ashura.

Time passed. The nature of the curse subsequently changed. The spirit of
Ashura awoke, and engulfed the young Indian's mind. There was no longer
a girl called Rouge. There was only Ashura.

"Ashura has returned, little ones!"

The two policemen and the five representatives of the Tendo Dojo watched
the flying demon intently, waiting to see what it would do. Pantyhose
Taro, in human form, handcuffed, and locked into the back seat of a
police car, could only look at Ashura and growl.

Ashura swiveled around in midair, surveying her surroundings. One of her
heads fixed its gaze on Pantyhose. "Ashura has come looking for you,
vulgar one. You once stole something from her during her sleep time.
Something that she no longer needs. Still, you deserve to be punished."

The other two heads looked toward Soun Tendo and Police officer
Usugurai, who were standing next to the car. "Ashura suggests that you
step back, little ones." The two men dove away from the vehicle. A
column of fiery energy came from the demon, consuming the helpless Taro.

A moment later the car's gas tank exploded. Ryoga quickly moved himself
to shield Akane as everyone was thrown back by the shock wave.
"Interesting," the demon said. "Ashura did not know that that would
happen."

A ball of light began forming around her, quickly increasing in
intensity, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. "Ashura wishes to
spend some time observing this modern world before she decides what to
do with it. Should any of you little ones wish to challenge her, she
will be at this location at noon tomorrow. Do be warned that Ashura is
not in the habit of showing mercy to her foes." She laughed as the
miniature sun around her flared even brighter, until it suddenly
dissipated, Ashura nowhere to be seen.

Nabiki was the first to stand. "I'm going to call Kasumi and have her
start calling for help. We're going to need everyone we can get on this
one."

***

Kodachi Kuno was practicing her gymnastics routines. She was bored. The
team from Makeru High School had had to forfeit their match against her
team that was to take place tomorrow, due to a sudden mysterious
outbreak of diarrhea among its members. That left her with nothing
interesting to do.

Earlier she had gone to Furinkan to look for her beloved Ranma, only to
find that he was not there. Not only that, but he had not been seen all
that day, and the day before he had left school early without
explanation. Something was evidently amiss with him, and the Black Rose
would have to find out what.

One of Kodachi's clubs emitted a short, muffled ringing sound. She
pressed a hidden stud on it, revealing it to be a concealed cellular
phone. "Yes?" she said into it. "I see. What exactly is the situation?"
Kodachi paused in her routine to listen to the caller's explanation.

"Very well, Kasumi Tendo. I, the Black Rose, shall attend your little
gathering. I shall also speak to my brother. For now I bid you au
revoir." She put down the phone and leapt up the stairs.

Kodachi's brother, Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno, was sitting in his
study, reflecting on the events of the day. He had helped the Pig-Tailed
Girl as she had been menaced by the vile pervert Happosai. For the first
time, she did not put her boot in Tatewaki's face or throw him down the
street. For once she seemed grateful for his help, perhaps even
appreciative of his attentions.

The Upperclassman was certain that he had seen, for the first time, a
glimmer of the Pig-Tailed Girl's true self. Would she finally be able to
cast off whatever sinister control the vile Ranma Saotome had on her?

She had finally used a name of her own, instead of calling herself Ranma
Saotome as she had always done in the past. Tatewaki couldn't remember
what it was, but she had used a different name. Obviously the malevolent
influence of Saotome was indeed beginning to fade.

But what of Akane Tendo? She had seen the Pig-Tailed Girl's attraction
to him, and pulled her away. A most jealous reaction. Clearly Akane did
not want him dividing his affections between the two of them.

And was that not to be expected? Was not it reasonable for a woman in
love to resent having to share her man's devotion with another? Perhaps,
the Upperclassman thought, he was insane for expecting to be able to
have both of them. Was there ever any person anywhere more insane than a
man who could believe such a thing?

"Brother, dear!" Kodachi opened her brother's door without knocking.

"Yes?"

"Kasumi Tendo just phoned. She requests that we join a fighting force
being assembled by the Tendos. They require help in dealing with a
six-armed flaming demon creature."

"Inform her that the Blue Thunder pledges his full skill and resolve to
the cause. As long as there is life within me, I, Tatewaki Kuno, shall
fight on, until the evil is vanquished."

"That's nice, brother. Be at the Tendo residence in two hours. In the
meantime, I leave you to continue meditating on your two lady loves."

"How did you know I was..."

"Why brother! What *else* would you be doing? OHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Kodachi
closed her brother's door and bounded down the stairs, laughing all the
way.

Tatewaki frowned. Had his behavior become... predictable?

No matter. He would have both of the objects of his affection. He had no
idea how it would happen, how he could get them to agree to it, how he
could commit such an act of bigamy and still satisfy his honor. But he
knew that it would happen, simply because it was right and proper that
it should. He would have them both. It was only a matter of time.

***

Two hours later, the Tendo family had gathered together in their living
room, along with Lili-Ranma, Ukyo Kuonji, and the two Kuno siblings.

"This is it, huh?" Ukyo said. "Where's Ryoga? You told me he was here,
and we could really use the big lug's help. Is he lost again or
something?"

The truth was that P-chan had gone back to pig form as soon as the group
had gotten home, and was resting on Akane's lap. When the time for the
fight came, he would be there, but for now he wanted to spend as much
time as he could in the body that was comfortable to him; especially
since he knew that he might not survive the battle.

"I'm sure Ryoga will turn up tomorrow," Kasumi said. "He's always there
when we really need him. I also called Doctor Tofu. He can't be here
right now because of his patients, but he'll be with us for the battle
as well."

"That still leaves us with a pretty small fighting force," Akane said.
"We're going up against Rouge. She was powerful enough to beat Pantyhose
in his monster form. She might be the most powerful opponent any of us
has ever faced. It couldn't get much worse than this."

"I hate to be the one to say so," Nabiki said, "but it *is* worse than
that. You're not fighting Rouge, a girl who has Ashura's body and has
learned a few tricks that she can do with it. You're fighting Ashura
herself. You're going to be fighting a demon, maybe even a goddess, who
knows exactly what she can do and is fully experienced in using her
powers."

Tatewaki raised his bokken defiantly. "Though our numbers be few and the
peril dire, fight we must and fight we will; for our cause is noble and
right, and we will win because we are right."

Nabiki started to think of a witty remark to add to Kuno's speech, then
decided to keep quiet. A little mindless optimism might not be a bad
thing at the moment, considering how they seemed to be up the proverbial
creek without a paddle. Kuno-chan was certainly a better cheerleader
than she could be right now.

"If Ran-chan were here, he could find a way to beat this demon thing. I
don't know how, but he could." Ukyo saw the sorrow in Akane's eyes. "Oh,
damn, I'm sorry, everyone, I didn't mean to remind us. I think I'll go
bash myself upside the head with my spatula now."

"Where *is* Ranma?" asked Kodachi. "I for one have not been told, and I
would like to know."

"I'm afraid Ranma is... not well." Kasumi thought back to a time when
she had had to explain to a very emotional six-year old sister that they
wouldn't ever be able to see their mother anymore. It didn't hurt any
less now. "It... it looks like he might not be coming back at all. I'm
sorry."

Lili watched with a feeling of helplessness. As usual. There was nothing
she could do to help, no way for her to help against the fire-demon or
to bring back this Ranma whose body she now possessed. Still she felt as
if she should be blamed for the whole situation.

This was the oddest-looking group of people she'd ever seen gathered in
one place; Lili was fairly certain that she would have thought this even
without the cultural differences between this place and her home. The
girl Ukyo carried items that were more like cooking utensils than
weaponry. Her manner seemed to vary continuously; she would be as rough
as a boy one moment and properly ladylike the next.

The man, Tatewaki Kuno, reminded Lili so much of Yang Wei, her love
interest from so long ago. But she also saw in him something akin to
herself. Like her, he seemed to be someone who was trying to do what was
right, but whose sensibilities were geared towards another time, another
culture.

Tatewaki's sister, the girl called Kodachi, frightened Lili, as so many
things she'd seen since waking did. The insane-sounding way Kodachi had
laughed earlier, the way she casually walked around in what seemed to be
her underwear, made it seem like she was not afraid of anything. What
were the objects she carried? One of them was circular, about an arm's
length in diameter. Lili took a closer look.

"Be careful, pig-tailed girl. This is one of my razor hoops. If you grip
it anywhere other than in the right place, it will cut your fingers
off."

Lili recoiled back into her chair. Then she wondered if it could cut her
heart out, or perhaps slice all the way through her neck. She wouldn't
have to live anymore in this place that wasn't hers, where her very
presence brought pain and disaster. Just slice the razor hoop through
her neck, that's all it would take.

Except that it wasn't really hers. It wasn't her body. If she died, what
would that do to Ranma? Wouldn't that ruin any possibity of getting him
back? Anyway, it wouldn't do anyone any good. She may or may not have
caused the situation they were in, but now all she could do was stay and
wait her chance to do something to help.

"Good heavens!" Kasumi exclaimed. "I forgot about Mr. Saotome! He'll
want to help us, I'm sure!" She went upstairs, quickly followed by the
others.

Nabiki, finding herself the last one left in the living room, was about
to follow when her attention was diverted by a persistent knocking on
the front door.

***

A familiar panda was sitting in the Saotomes' bedroom. Everyone noticed
the presence of an overpowering stench in the room. "Geez!" Ukyo said.
"This room smells like someone took a --" She paused, searching for a
more polite way to express what she wanted to say.

"That's because someone did," Kasumi said. With several paper towels,
she proceeded to pick up a mass of what had to be panda droppings from a
spot nearby where Genma was sitting. "Oh dear. Oh dear. Mr. Saotome's
become a panda."

"You mean... SAOTOME!! My best friend!" Soun held the panda and sobbed
uncontrollably.

The panda merely grunted, not understanding the reason for all of the
excitement. He only hoped that someone would bring him some food soon.

It's true, Akane thought. It's really true.

Up until then, she had still believed that the whole thing might have
been some elaborate hoax. Some plot by Cologne to try to force Ranma
into going off to China with Shampoo. No, she thought. Ranma is dead. He
was doomed the moment he fell into that damned cursed pool.

Why was it so much easier now to feel for him? When she and Ranma had
been together, they spent most of their time trying to push each other
away. Now he was gone, and she felt that if she could have him back,
she'd marry him in an instant, and they'd love each other forever.

How much easier it was to love a dead man. A dead man wouldn't be
unfaithful, wouldn't call her an uncute macho sexless tomboy when she
wanted a tender moment, wouldn't give her any of the trouble that two
real people trying to share a life together would always give each
other. If she could bring Ranma back, would this experience of having
lost him make her appreciate him the way she did now? Would the same be
true the other way around? Or would they be back to the same old
fighting?

Uncute macho sexless tomboy. Akane wanted so much for someone to call
her that right now.

***

"I'm sorry," Nabiki said, looking quizzically at the strange woman on
her doorstep. The woman appeared to be in her twenties, with a slim
well-toned form. She was wearing clothes similar to Shampoo's battle
dress.  "We didn't order any cologne."

"No," the woman said in heavily accented Japanese. Her name was Ti Pi.
"I have *express letter* for you from someone *name* Cologne." Working
for Amazon Express was never easy, especially considering the guarantee
that a late delivery gave the recipient the right to marry the delivery
girl. That would have been a particularly horrifying fate with the
customer whom Ti Pi had delivered to before this one.

"Oh, duh, of course, you'll have to forgive me. It's been a really bad
day," Nabiki signed the receipt form and took the letter, convinced that
she had just won the Understatement of All Time Competition. Ti Pi
bounded off gratefully as Nabiki examined the letter.

"Well, well..." she said to herself. Maybe here was the proverbial
paddle.

She walked upstairs. Everyone else was there, just standing, as if at a
loss for what to say or do. "I'm sorry, people," Nabiki said, "but there
needs to be an emergency Tendo family meeting. Right now. Would the rest
of you please excuse us?"

"Very well. Let the rest of us go into the dojo and spar," Kodachi said.

"Good idea," Ukyo said. "I have a serious need to work off some
tension."

Tatewaki balked. "I should fight with women?"

"Ashura is a female, brother dear. Did you not plan to fight her
tomorrow? Come along. You also, pig-tailed girl."

"No, I can't. I..."

"It's all right," Nabiki said. "Ran -- Lili, you come with us instead.
This concerns you, too."

Akane whispered to Kodachi, "She's not a fighter. She's a Chinese girl
from the fifth century..."

"You need not explain such things to me, Akane Tendo. Come, Ukyo. Come,
brother." Kodachi understood. She knew full well the terrible emotions
that came from losing a loved one. This girl had been in love with
Ranma. Obviously the knowledge of his death, or whatever horrible fate
was now his, perhaps coupled with some guilt of hers in the matter, had
driven the pig-tailed girl insane.

Kodachi knew that she have to make the girl pay if it turned out that
she had had anything to do with the death of Ranma, no matter what her
mental state. Clearly now was not the time for that, though. This demon
called Ashura was a threat to them all, and Kodachi would not be any
safer than anyone else until it was destroyed. Kodachi had been called
insane by many, but one thing she was definitely not was stupid. 

"Very well," Tatewaki said, as the three headed down the stairs, toward
the combat area. "I have not had the pleasure of making your
acquaintance before, Ukyo Kuonji. It is an honor. One of the students at
my school in the class beneath mine is, I believe, your brother."

Shortly, the Tendos and Lili were assembled in the living room. "Okay,"
Soun said. "Now what is it, Nabiki?"

"It's nothing definite, but I just found out that there *might* be a way
to help Ranma."

Everyone's eyes lit up, with various cries along the lines of "Help
Ranma? How?"

"That's the problem. I don't know. This letter from Cologne was just
delivered. It says that there's a way to draw out Ranma's curse,
bringing him back to who and what he was. Doesn't say what it is or how
to do it, only that Cologne's sent the means to a certain person around
here."

"Who?!?" Akane asked. "Who is that person?"

The outside door opened. Happosai entered carrying a sack over his
shoulder, looking like a miniature Santa Claus. "Hey ho, everyone! Who's
up for a panty raid tonight?"

Happosai stood on the room's central table. For some odd reason,
everyone was looking at him.


		      PART FOUR: DESPERATE MEASURES

"Here is legendary training ground. Cursed springs of Jusenkyo. This
place very dangerous. You very strange ones to come here."

The pudgy man in the seventies-style Chinese uniform stepped to the side
and pointed into the clearing without looking. In that place were
hundreds of small springs with long bamboo poles sticking out of them.
Each of the pools had its own horror. There was some terrifying creature
at the bottom of each one, ready to spring out onto any unsuspecting
victim. Akane couldn't see them, but she felt their presence. In her
mind she knew that they were there.

"Let's go, Ranma." Akane jumped up onto one of the poles. Her fiance did
likewise. She faced him, assuming a combat-ready stance. "I won't make
things easy for you."

"Hey, like you ever did?" he sniggered. "Just don't make me eat any of
your cooking!"

"JERK!!" Akane swung her mallet, knocking Ranma off of his pole and
sending him plummeting below.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!" Ranma cried, as he fell, tumbling down to the
ground in slow motion. Akane strained to see him in the dim evening
light (hadn't it been daytime moments ago?) as she heard a splash from
below.

She jumped down from her pole to the ground below. "Ranma?" Bubbles rose
from the spring next to her. She turned...

... and a skeleton rose from the pool. A skeleton wearing Ranma's gi
bobbed up, empty eye sockets gleaming in the moonlight.

Loud, uncontrollable laughter was heard. Akane looked toward the source.
It was the Guide, his face obscured by the darkness. Akane said angrily,
"You never said anything about --"

He stepped into view. He now had the face of Principal Kuno.
"HAHAHAHA!!! 'Ey, wahine, we wen' made one o' dese springs fo' you too,
yeah!"

Suddenly, Akane found herself immersed in water, the laughing Principal
visible above the water surface. Akane, being unable to swim, splashed
around helplessly, slowly sinking to the bottom.

Desperately holding her breath, she reached the bottom. Her powerful leg
muscles pushed, propelling her upward. After long seconds she reached
the surface...

... and the surface was covered by some transparent barrier. Akane
struck the barrier, again and again, as hard as she could, but it did
not budge. She struggled desperately, as the last traces of air were
gone from her lungs, and the water would be denied entrance to them no
longer, and the man kept on laughing, and laughing, and laughing...

... and Akane woke. She was wet; at first she thought it was from the
pool, then she realized she was covered in her own sweat.

Then her door opened.

***

Shampoo woke. She checked her watch: Seven A.M., Japanese time. The "Red
Eye" flight she was on from Beijing to Tokyo would be landing soon. She
was sad about her great-grandmother, but there was nothing that could be
done for her now. She was also sad to have had to leave her amazon
sisters so soon after recovering. But she had to come to Japan, to see
if she could help Ranma.

Meanwhile, back in Shampoo's village, Cologne, eldest and most respected
of the amazons, was contentedly lapping up a saucer of milk.

***

It was seven A.M. in the Tendo living room. Happosai stood on the table,
petulantly pacing back and forth. The scene had been going on for hours.
They were at an impasse.

"Please, master," Soun pleaded. "You've got to help Ranma!"

"Or what?" Happosai snapped. "Or you'll all hate me forever? You
probably will anyway!"

"Or... or..." Soun turned to his middle daughter. "Tell him, Nabiki."
Nabiki would be able to persuade him, she had to be.

The old man jumped onto Nabiki's lap. "Okay, or what? Come on, tell me!"

Nabiki thought for a moment. "Nothing," she said weakly.

Soun gaped. "What??"

"I said nothing!! None of you can outfight him, can you? And you just
can't blackmail someone who doesn't give a damn about anything!"

"So," Happosai said with a smug air of superiority, "we finally have
that straight."

"Master Happosai," Kasumi said, "won't you help Ranma? He was your
friend. I'm sure you want to see him back as much as the rest of us do!"

"Yeah, that's what I don't get," Nabiki said. "Why don't you want to
help him? If nothing else, he was a playmate of yours; and Ashura might
come for you if he isn't around to get in her way."

"You think it's that easy, eh?" Happosai sounded a little offended.
"Think that the only reason Happosai won't help is that he's an evil,
cruel man? Apparently you have no idea what you're asking.

"Yes, I did receive a delivery from Cologne-chan. A special variety of
'raw' Jusenkyo water. When a curse victim is doused with this water, it
causes a sort of ionization, a temporary separation of the curse spirit
and the host body. A special technique, with which I am familiar, can
then be used to mentally reach in and pull out the curse spirit, thus
bringing the host completely back to normal."

"But Master, then why..."

"Don't get it, do you? The curse spirit must have a host! If I reach in
with my mind and yank it out, it attaches itself on to me. To free Ranma
from his possession, I would have to get possessed myself! Totally and
permanently!

"Now... is there anyone here who'll call me an evil, cruel man for not
being willing to make that sacrifice?"

No one spoke up. No one could think of anything to say.

Lili quietly slipped out of the room and up the stairs. She had heard
enough. If it would help, if it were possible, she would gladly agree to
let her spirit be moved to the old man's body, or even be sent off to
oblivion. But it made her feel so bad to be treated as a parasite to be
gotten rid of, some unwanted pest who brings nothing but misery.

Passing Akane's room, she heard a cry of agony from within. Perhaps she
could help, she thought. She opened the door.

Akane was obviously startled. "Couldn't you have knocked?! This is my
private room! Don't you understand that?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Lili said meekly. "I guess I wasn't raised with
the concept. I heard you call out and thought I could help. I'm sorry to
intrude on you, I'll go."

"No, wait. Please stay," Akane said. She had done it again. Though Ranma
was gone, maybe forever, she was still chasing him away when he was
trying to be nice. "I was just having a nightmare. How did I get up
here, anyway? Last I remember we were downstairs with Happosai. What
happened? What's the situation?"

"Your friend Ukyo went to sleep in your sister Kasumi's room. The
others, the ones named Kuno, went home to rest. You fell asleep in the
living room around three o'clock, and your father and sister carried you
up here. The rest of us have been up all night trying to convince
Happosai to help, but so far he won't. I'm sorry. If there were anything
I can do, I would. I never wanted any of this to happen."

"I know. I'm the one who should be sorry. Sorry for yelling at you just
now, and yesterday too. I just didn't understand... I didn't know, I
thought you were Ranma... oh God he's really gone....

"We never even said goodbye! The day before, I was just yelling at him,
over some petty little annoyance, and he just kept on saying 'I'm
sorry'. That must have been the last time I talked to him. Wherever his
spirit is now, he's going to remember me as the girl who hated him. The
one who could only scream at him when he needed help.

"Why is it so much clearer now that he's gone? Oh, Ranma, if there's any
of you left in there that can hear me, I don't hate you. I love you!"

Lili held Akane in her arms, not knowing what else to do. "He knows,
Akane. I'm sure he knows."

***

Kasumi changed her clothes and headed back downstairs to get started on
the day's breakfast. She heard Akane from outside her door, talking to
Lili. She thought about going in to try to help, but decided against it.
What could she do? Reassure her sister that everything would be all
right? It seemed very much that everything would not be all right.

She thought about Akane and Ranma. The pain of losing a loved one was
enormous; Kasumi knew that all too well from the time when her mother
had passed away. How much more painful it must be to lose a loved one
before having expressed your true feelings to one another.

She thought about the upcoming battle, which any or all of the
combatants might not survive.

Then she went to the phone. She hoped that Doctor Tofu would be awake
already.

***

Soun was the last one left with Happosai in the living room, Nabiki
having gone to catch some sleep. He didn't know what he could or should
say to his master, but he felt obligated to stay and try to think of
something.

"Let me talk to him, Dad," Akane said upon entering the room. She was
freshly dressed after a morning shower. "I think I can get him to help
us."

"Akane? You weren't here to hear. To help us, the master would have to
--"

"Lili explained everything to me. Trust me. I need to talk to Happosai
alone."

"If you think it will do any good, all right. I could use a little sleep
myself right now."

"Thanks, Dad," she said, as Soun wandered sleepily up the stairs.

"Well?" Happosai asked as the two were alone. "What now? You have
something to say that's supposed to convince me to help?"

"Maybe."

"Feh. Don't waste your breath," Happosai said with contempt. "You never
liked me. Isn't that so?"

"Right." There was no point in trying to deny the obvious.

"You know, I've seen you around your school. You're attractive, popular.
The kind of girl who could end up with any guy she wanted."

"Maybe."

"Ranma, too. He's the kind of boy who has girls crawling all over him."

Akane looked somewhat annoyed. "Your point being?"

"I've always had what you might call a fetish. Pretty women, and some of
the things they wore, have always been the most wonderful, the most
magical things for me. All I wanted was for one of them to be my friend,
and I would have been content. Just one of them to take pleasure in my
touch, instead of recoiling back in disgust.

"But," Happosai continued, "and you may not believe this, I was always a
short, unattractive kind of fellow. I wasn't rich either, and I didn't
have any kind of important social standing. Beautiful women like
Cologne-chan never wanted anything to do with me. For a long time I
hated women because they denied me what I wanted the most; maybe I still
do."

Akane wondered why anyone wouldn't believe that about Happosai. She kept
her mouth shut and let him continue.

"I became a martial arts master so I could take what I wanted. No, I
never raped anyone; I stole a lot of undies and other things, I copped a
few feels, but that was it.

"Now you want me to give up my life for Ranma, someone who's had a whole
life of women trying to force on him the things I never had? Well,
forget it. I'm not that kind of person. I'm not a hero. That's not what
life's made of me. What have you got to say to me now, hm?"

"One thing...."

***

It was seven forty-five. Kasumi came down into the kitchen. "Good
morning!" she said cheerfully to Ukyo, who was there cooking okonomiyaki
in one of Kasumi's frying pans.

"Morning. I just came down to do what I do best. Wanna try some when
it's ready?"

"Why yes! Thank you!"

"I gotta admit, I was pretty skeptical at first. I wondered if this
whole business with Ran-chan wasn't just an act."

"Goodness! What changed your mind?"

"A lot of things. Taro. Rouge. Genma. And talking to that girl, Lili. I
know a little bit about the history of certain kinds of foods. She knows
things about fifth-century cooking that Ran-chan couldn't have known."

Ukyo sighed. "I guess I always thought in the back of my mind that
Ran-chan and I would end up together. I mean, nothing against Akane, but
she always seemed so... violent. But now it's not going to happen. It
just makes me so MAD! I want to find the person responsible and...
and..."

"And do violence to him? Oh my! But I'm afraid it's too late for that.
Mr. Saotome is the one who knocked Ranma into that spring, and he's
already suffered the same fate as his son."

"Ranchan told me there was a guide at Jusenkyo. I'm betting that he
knows something about who created that place, and who allows it to stay
there. Maybe it's him. If I survive against Ashura, I'm gonna close my
shop and go hunt down whoever is responsible for those cursed pools."

"Oh, dear. Ukyo, please be careful. You could end up in one of those
springs and coming back in someone else's body in the year 3500."

There was a knock on the kitchen door. "Come in!" Kasumi said brightly.
Lili entered.

"Ranch- er, Lili! Want some breakfast?"

There was a look of pleading in Lili's eyes. "Please, both of you, I
need your help. I need to know everything you can tell me about this
person Ranma Saotome."

***

Ten thirty. Nabiki entered the kitchen and found the three girls
talking. "Kasumi," she asked, "what happened to Happosai?"

"Goodness, I don't know. Isn't he still out in the living room with
father?"

"No, Dad is in his room sleeping."

"Happosai probably went with Akane," Lili said. "She said that she was
going to persuade him to help get Ranma back, and that she would have to
take him off somewhere private."

"WHAT?!?"

"Calm down, Nabiki!" Kasumi said.

"The hell I will! Don't you realize what's happening? At this very
moment our sweet, naive, stupid little sister is being... de-flowered!
By that... that old..."

"Nabiki, you don't know for sure that that's what she meant," Kasumi
said evenly. "We have to trust Akane to look after herself."

"Yeah!" Ukyo added. "And besides, if it helps Ranchan, isn't it worth
it? I mean, if I had to to get him back, I'd screw a --"

"Happosai doesn't have a shred of honor. You should know that. After
he's had his little fun, he'll just go on his merry way. DAMN! I ought
to --"

"Oh dear. Have you any idea where they might be?" Kasumi asked
matter-of-factly.

"No," Nabiki grudgingly admitted.

***

Eleven thirty.

The demon Ashura fought with various units of the Japanese and American
military above the suburbs of Tokyo. Shells and gunfire were unable to
penetrate a globe of fire that the demon surrounded itself with.
Missiles and other long-range weaponry were simply unable to hit the
swiftly moving creature. When the military men had exhausted their
ammunition, they were decimated by flaming energy blasts.

At eleven forty, a pair of heat-seeking missiles were launched. Ashura
gestured with two of her arms, and a troop-carrying vehicle became
white-hot, causing the missiles to home in on it instead of her. The
demon laughed wildly as the vehicle exploded.

By eleven fifty-five, the battle was already over. Unequivocally,
undeniably, indisputably, the military had lost.

Ashura flew, surveying the landscape to see if anyone else would be
challenging her. One lone figure caught her attention. As she flew down
closer, she saw that it was a teenage boy. He wore what her host body
knew to be old-style Chinese clothes, with his hair tied into a pigtail.

"Do you wish to fight Ashura, little one?"

"All right, you big JERK!" the boy said, his tone trying to hide the
fear that was obvious in his aspect. "I, Ranma Saotome of the Saotome
School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, challenge you!!"

"Then DIE!" Ashura lobbed a fire blast toward the boy.

***

Lili leaped. Her legs, the legs of the magnificently-toned body that she
was an involuntary guest in, propelled her away with incredible velocity
toward the next building as the demon's blast struck the place where
she had just been.

It was a desperate plan. If Ranma was the only one capable of defeating
this demon, and he could not be brought back, then Lili would have to be
him. She was in his body, hot water having transformed it back to his
gender. She had listened to his friends tell of him; so that she had
some idea of how to act like him, if only she could manage it.

Ashura moved and threw another fiery bolt. Lili leapt again, her legs
moving before she was even consciously aware of it. She was operating on
instinct. However much of Ranma Saotome had been lost, there was still
some underlying subconscious part of him left. It was what allowed Lili
to speak Japanese. It was also a basic instinct that would, if not help
her fight, at least hopefully allow her to survive long enough to do
what she had to do.

"You are swift, frightened one," the demon said in its eerily
synchronized triple voice. "Perhaps you will be what they call 'fast
food' for Ashura?"

Lili was frozen with fear for a moment, gripped by the icy fingers of
the demon's words. Ashura was right; she *was* frightened. It was so
foolish of her to think she could be Ranma just because she wore his
form. She found her legs and bolted away, not waiting for Ashura to fire
again, desperately leaping and running to get away as fast as she could.

***

On the waterfront, not far away, Nabiki could see boy and demon heading
rapidly towards her location. She looked at the assembled group. Oddly
enough, Tofu wasn't freaking out in Kasumi's presence; rather, he just
gave a slight smile everytime he looked at her. Maybe it was the
seriousness of the situation, Nabiki thought.

"Okay, gang. Time for the pre-fight pep talk. Ashura's going to be here
any minute. Remember that we've chosen this battleground for a reason.
Anyone who gets set on fire will be able to jump in the water to put it
out. What's more, if we can dunk Ashura in the water, her aura will heat
it up and she'll transform back into human form. No way she'll be able
to boil away a whole section of ocean. If that happens, get her out of
the water right away before it cools and changes her back.

"Lili's leading Ashura here to us right now. When she gets here, hit
hard and fast. Hopefully that won't give Ashura time to utilize her
chief advantage, which is range. Range and power. Her two chief
advantages are range and power. And mobility. And stamina, and
resilience, and --"

Kasumi interrupted. "That's enough pep talk, Nabiki."

"Very well, then, the Blue Thunder shall be the first to strike!" With a
spirited yell, Tatewaki leapt into the air to intercept the flying
demon. His bokken struck the shell of solidified flame that surrounded
Ashura. The shell wobbled a bit, but the blow seemed to cause no
appreciable effect other than to get the demon's attention. She laughed
as she turned toward the young kendoist. Her flame aura became a cone
that blasted outward, striking him, knocking him down the shoreline,
stunned.

Lili leapt off of a building, only to find that there was no adjoining
structure to land on. She traveled uncontrollably through the air,
screaming helplessly, until she was caught safely by Ukyo.

It was Ryoga's turn to attack. Without a sound, he jumped up to where
Ashura hovered. She restored her defense just in time. Ryoga landed on
top of her flaming bubble and struck with pulverizing force.

Kodachi watched from the sidelines, studying to discern her opponent's
techniques and limitations, using her stealth training to try to erase
any sense of her presence. She knew that raw rage would not win the day
for her side. Watching her brother's defeat had given her vital
understanding of the demon, which she intended to put to use.

She marveled at the disguise that made the pig-tailed girl look exactly
like Ranma. She would get the girl to teach her to conceal her own
identity in such a manner if they were to both survive the battle.
Surely it would be an immensely useful skill. Yet for all of the girl's
skill at disguise, she lacked ability as an actress; it was obvious by
her movements, her body language, that she was not truly Ranma.

Kodachi readied one of her razor hoops. She just had to wait for the
right moment.

Ryoga slammed his fist into Ashura's globe of solid fire a second time.
He could feel it begin to weaken. Ashura merely laughed, and continued
laughing as the sphere of energy around her focussed into a ball between
her and Ryoga. She prepared to blow the boy away...

... when Kodachi flung her razor hoop. The hoop cut through one of
Ashura's shoulders, neatly severing it and sending the no longer
attached arm tumbling lifelessly down to the ground below. The trio of
laughing voices turned to screams. The unthinkable had happened. Someone
had hurt her.

The Black Rose laughed, imitating the sound of the demon from mere
moments ago. An enormous burst of energy from the creature struck her,
slamming her into the shore, head first. The hapless Ryoga was flung in
the opposite direction by the recoil, hitting the water and seemingly
vanishing.

Kodachi felt the pain of a serious head injury. But she had drawn first
blood. She had succeeded where the others had failed. As her world went
black, she laughed, and laughed, and laughed...

The now five-armed Ashura flew to the now unconscious gymnast. Regrowing
a limb would require a great expenditure of time and energy. For
damaging her, this girl would have to pay.

"Oh no you don't!" Ukyo's combat spatula slammed into Ashura, knocking
her off balance before she could blast Kodachi. Ukyo had missed the
beginning of the fight, having gone over to save Lili. Now it was up to
her. She struck with her spatula again, hitting the demon's flaming
aura. Ashura was unprepared for the speed and strength of the attack,
and was flung towards the water.

Ashura dipped deep into the power of her ki, using it to turn her
momentum by ninety degrees. She flew up and stopped, hovering, and let
off a wide-angle fire blast that engulfed Ukyo.

Meanwhile Doctor Tofu was examining Kodachi with Kasumi's assistance.
"It's serious, but it could be worse." The plan was for Tofu's combat
abilities to be kept in reserve. His shiatsu techniques were only useful
at close range, and might not be effective at all against a demonic
creature like Ashura. He was more useful as a healer for the moment.
"She's out of the battle, but if we get her to a hospital before too
long she'll be all right. Anyway, she'll live."

"No," Ashura said. "She will die." Lili watched as the laughing demon's
aura began coalescing into a massive ball of fire. It would fry her
three friends!

Time froze as realization struck the young girl in the young man's body.
The aura! Ashura needed to take down her flaming shield in order to
attack! She could be hit now! But there was no one left standing to hit
her. No one except... no! Lili had never hit anyone! Not EVER! She
COULDN'T!

The flaming ball was glowing with a blinding brightness. "Now, little
ones, time for you to feel Ashura's wrath!"

Lili slammed her fist into Ashura. It was a sloppy, half-hearted blow,
but backed by the strength of Ranma. The attack of the frightened girl
took Ashura by surprise. Her concentration interrupted, the fireball
exploded in her hands. Ashura and Lili took the force of the blast,
recoiling in opposite directions.

Lili was thrown out into the ocean and landed in the water, instantly
changing back into her normal body. She splashed about wildly,
desperately, crying for help. This had been how it all started. This
would be how it would all end.

For Lili had little experience at swimming...


			  PART FIVE: SACRIFICE


Lili drifted down towards the ocean floor, holding her breath
desperately, her arms and legs flailing wildly, randomly, in some vain
attempt to keep from drowning. This had happened before. Part of her
wanted to just let go and drown again; but she had no idea what kind of
hell she might wake up in next time. That thought made her panic even
more, which didn't seem to help her attempts at swimming.

It was no use. She had held out much longer this time, but her body's
demand for air was strong. Stronger than the will of a weak little girl.
The world around her was starting to fade, becoming unreal. She felt
something on her back. Was she moving? Or was the whole thing just a
dream...

***

Lili's limp body was pulled onto the shore. Nabiki rushed over, trying
to see what had saved the girl. It was P-chan! The black piglet shook
the water from himself vigorously, wetting Nabiki as she knelt down to
resuscitate the girl that he had pulled from the ocean.

Nabiki put her mouth over Lili's and breathed for her, in and out. It
would work; she would live. That was, assuming that any of them would
after the battle.

There had been hope when Lili's unexpected hit made Ashura take the
brunt of her own attack. Doctor Tofu then joined up with Ukyo and
Kuno-chan to try to pound Ashura while she was momentarily off-balance.

Then she struck back. It was as if she had been toying with them up to
that point and was now going to get serious. She spun in the air, and up
popped an enormous flaming whirlwind. Under her command her fire tornado
moved rapidly into the group attacking her, tossing them around like
bowling pins.

Now, things looked pretty hopeless. "Are there no little ones left to
challenge Ashura?" The demon hovered, smiling maliciously and
triumphantly. "Very well, Ashura will accept your surrender if you offer
her a sacrifice."

"Don't... listen to her, damn it... we're not beat yet," Ukyo said. Yeah
right, she thought to herself. Tough words from someone who was barely
managing to stand up. Ukyo suppressed a twinge of jealousy she got at
the sight of Nabiki giving mouth-to-mouth to Ran-chan. She asked herself
how she could think about that at a time like this. It wasn't really
Ran-chan, anyway.

Tatewaki suddenly pulled himself from the ground and launched a
rapid-fire series of bokken strikes against Ashura. "Tatewaki Kuno
fights on!". Ashura gestured. A vertical column of fire roared up from
the ground where Tatewaki stood, engulfing him. He cried out in agony as
he dove wildly into the water.

Nabiki turned her full attention to Ashura, as Kasumi went to help
Kuno-chan. Lili was breathing on her own; she'd be all right. "What do
you mean by 'sacrifice'?" Nabiki asked, to play for time if nothing
else.

"One of you must die, for the glory of Ashura. The others will then be
allowed to live as her servants. A fitting penalty for the destruction
of one of her limbs, yes? Except that the arm will eventually be grown
back."

Nabiki's mind raced. She was being offered a chance to sell one of her
teammates down the river, to buy a chance for the rest of them to strike
back later. Which one? Kuno-chan, the useless idiot, maybe? Or his
insane sister?

No. "No deal, Ashura," she said, trying to put on her usual businesslike
manner. As inane as some of her friends were, Nabiki couldn't let them
die if there were still a chance for everyone to come out of this alive.
"I'm afraid your terms are unacceptable. None of us are going to give up
our lives, or each other's lives, to you without fighting you every inch
of the way; and we'll defeat you."

"Fools! Ashura is a force of nature. Ashura is entropy, unstoppable and
inevitable!"

"You were stopped before. Or did you just drown in that Jusenkyo pool by
accident?"

"Ashura's fellow gods had grown fearful of her power. They would have
destroyed her, had she not bargained with the power controlling that
place to have her essence transferred to a statue of her, then stored
away at Jusenkyo . Now it is the other gods who are no more.

"If you will not choose a sacrifice, then Ashura shall." She floated
over and pointed. "You!"

Nabiki gaped. "Kasumi! NO!!"

Ashura laughed evilly as she quickly built up a massive ki bolt. It was
perfect. None of them would be able to stop her before she annihilated
this one. She knew from her host's memories that this one was kind and
innocent, one that they all cared for. Her death would destroy the
others' morale utterly. She prepared to launch the attack.

Somewhere, a shy, beautiful girl (a Virgo with blood type A) said: No.

Ashura's attack fizzled.

This was distressing. Having a conscience was not a beneficial thing,
not for a warrior demon goddess. She would have to take measures later
to eradicate her host's personality completely.

Tofu took advantage of her hesitation. "KILL KASUMI??" His left hand
grabbed Ashura by two of her arms. He struck again and again with his
right, aiming for where her shiatsu points ought to be.

"Away, insect!" Ashura shouted, as her ki power blasted Tofu towards the
ocean. Her body felt strange. What had he done to her? She was having
trouble moving properly.

This was it, Nabiki thought. She had brought a little surprise for
Ashura. With her aim, though, she normally wouldn't have had much chance
of hitting her with it. Now, maybe she could. Nabiki hated getting
personally involved in fights; but in for a penny, in for a pound. She
only hoped she wouldn't be in for a pounding. She held up a cannister
and pulled the lever on it. Foam squirted over Ashura.

Ashura started to twirl around rapidly, centrifugal force flinging away
the fire foam. "ENOUGH!!" she said, sounding exasperated. "Feel Ashura's
power!" Another flaming tornado, this one larger than the previous one,
appeared instantly and tore through the ranks of the group.

A voice was heard, its tone insolent and mocking. "Hot and fast. That's
the way I like it, honey!"

Ashura turned to see Happosai. "Have you come to die for Ashura, old
one?" He answered by letting his battle aura expand, growing into a
colossal manifestation of himself.

"Ashura is not impressed, little man," the demon said. Her flaming aura
expanded, until she too was surrounded by a giant copy of herself.
Gigantic manifestations of Happosai and Ashura now faced each other.

Lili had recovered consciousness. She sat and watched, her attention
transfixed by the sight of the two giants staring each other down. It
was a battle of the gods, clearly something that mortals such as her
ought not to be allowed to witness; but still she could not take her
eyes off of it.

For seconds that seemed to stretch into hours, the stand-off persisted.
Then Ashura's aura expanded. Her fire slowly but deliberately reached
out, surrounding the giant manifestation of Happosai. The giant little
old man struggled, but Ashura's fire was engulfing him, consuming him.
Moments later, the fiery giant faded, leaving only a broken down
Happosai and a triumphant Ashura.

As Ashura laughed over the defeated old man, an arrow suddenly whizzed
past her field of vision. All eyes turned to see Soun Tendo. He was
dressed in his samurai armor, armed with bow, sword, and mallet.

Ashura laughed even harder.

Lili could watch no more. She closed her eyes and silently wept. Mr.
Tendo would not fare any better than the others. If the old man with his
obvious great power had failed, who could be found to help them now?

Then she was hit from behind by water.

***

"Is this a joke?" Ashura cackled, looking at Soun.

"Dad!? Where have you been?" Nabiki asked. To her ears it had sounded as
if there were traces of exhaustion in the demon's multiple voices, but
she knew that that was probably just wishful thinking. Or maybe Ashura
was getting bored.

"I was getting some last-minute help," Soun replied, trying to sound
dignified.

"Who?" Nabiki asked.

A figure stepped out from behind Soun, a young girl. She held out a
small coin with one hand, and traced an imaginary circle in the air with
the other. "HAPPO GOEN SATSU!!"

***

Lili was disoriented. She felt as if she were in two places at once, had
two different existences. She was male and female, at the same time,
without being both.

She felt the presence of another mind. It called to her spirit,
summoning her to join it. Was it the old man? It had not the raw power
that she would have expected from his mind; but Lili could sense its
powerful emotion. What a feeling it was, this deep and strong emotion;
emotion of a depth she had never known in her life of running scared and
seeking nothing more than peace and security. Lili felt as if she had
never truly lived, never experienced the joy of what life is, until this
moment.

The other mind carried Lili away, away from this body that was never
hers. She was swept out, as helpless as a pebble in a tidal wave.

***

Meanwhile, the now-adult Hinako and Ashura stood on opposite sides of a
circle drawn in the air, engaged in a metaphysical tug-of-war. Hinako
was trying to absorb Ashura's power. The demon goddess was resisting.

"She's weakening! This is our chance!" Soun said, charging in with his
samurai sword.

Two of Ashura's arms grabbed Soun, throwing him into Hinako. The two
crashed to the ground.

***

Ranma woke. Sleep was one of his favorite things, and he normally
begrudged its end.

But not this time! He was alive, and he was himself!

How had it happened? He remembered from when he was Lili, Happosai
saying that he had a way to transfer the curse to himself. Had someone
finally convinced the old man to do it?

He saw Ucchan attacking and being blasted by Ashura. There was no time
to think about how he'd been brought back.

"ASHURA!!"

All eyes turned. It was Lili, they thought. She found some hot water,
and was courageously trying to bluff Ashura again. But the boy's stance,
his determination, his eyes seemed to belie that explanation. Everyone
felt a glimmer of hope that they dared not voice.

Ranma picked up a large piece of debris, the roof from some army vehicle
that had been blown off during the earlier battle. He flung it into the
air like a discus, towards Ashura.

A fire blast reduced the thrown object to ashes. "This is supposed to
hurt Ashura, little man?"

No, Ranma said silently. This is. His feet slammed into one of Ashura's
faces. He had been behind the roof he had thrown, using it as cover to
gain an opening. He planted his feet onto the demon's head, and his
fists struck her in rapid-fire succession.

Ashura cried out in pain as she flung Ranma off of her. He landed in the
shallow part of the ocean. He stood, checking himself in the chest and
elsewhere. He was still male! His curse had been removed completely.
There was no time to think about how, though.

Sunlight shone through the clouds of the Tendo Dojo team's despair.
Ranma Saotome was back. Ranma Saotome was fighting on their side.

That meant that they could win.

Ashura spat an energy blast towards Ranma, but Ranma dodged expertly.
"You cannot keep this up forever, little one!" she said. But the trace
of weariness in Ashura's voices suggested that maybe she couldn't
either.

Ranma picked up P-chan from where he lay on the shore. "Sorry to do
this, Mister P." He dipped the pig in the water where Ashura's heat
blast had just struck, pulling out a naked Ryoga.

"Will you be running from Ashura the entire fight, frightened one?" the
demon taunted. Then she was hit from the side by a familiar bonbori. It
was Shampoo.

"Ranma no run from you. We defeat you, Ashura!" she said.

Ranma began building a Moko Takabisha. "Shampoo? You're not a cat no
more?"

"Great-grandmother use transference water. Take curse instead of me!
Give up her life for mine!"

"Fools!" Ashura laughed. "Do you not know when you are beaten?"

Then IT rose.

It moved steadily toward Ashura. It was an undead thing, clothed in
tattered rags, a body covered from head to toe in skin so burned and
blistered that it should not have held together. It spoke:

"TATEWAKI... KUNO... FIGHTS... ON!!!"

Ashura gaped in disbelief. Was this mortal simply too stubborn to know
when he ought to be beaten or dead? Tatewaki's bokken struck rapidly.
Then he was flung away by a massive burst of fire energy.

Ranma saw his chance. He let loose his ki blast. It struck Ashura with
devastating force, sending her reeling back, seemingly stunned.

"Now's our chance!" Ranma leapt to one side of Ashura, joined by
Shampoo, Ryoga, and Ukyo. The combination of bonbori, spatula, and two
sets of fists slammed into the demon, knocking her into the water. The
enormous splash was followed by massive clouds of steam, as large
quantities of water boiled off due to Ashura's heat aura.

"Get her out of the water, quick!" Ranma said.

"Ryoga?" Shampoo said. "You no wearing clothes!"

P-chan wondered why Shampoo was telling him something so obvious. Before
any of them could move, something rose from the steam. Something
spinning in the air, something fiery, with three faces and five arms.
Ashura.

It hadn't worked.

"HAHAHAHA!!!" Ashura cackled gleefully. "Little fools!

"Ashura delayed fighting with you until today for a reason, mortals! It
was so she had time to locate a certain artifact called the chishuitong,
and splash herself with water from it. She will not be changing into her
mortal form, now or ever! You have lost!"

Ashura began whirling around and around, faster and faster. Red and
black thunderclouds abruptly appeared in the sky, blocking out the sun.
"It is time we ended this little game, little mortals. Feel Ashura's
Rain of Fire Attack!"

The sky was suddenly filled by streams of light. Streaks of white-hot
energy looking like tiny meteorites, or enormously giant fireflies, came
down everywhere, tearing unhindered through all obstacles, their touch
causing blistering agony.

Everyone screamed in pain. Nabiki dove for the water, to find it offered
little protection. Others followed. Ranma leapt towards Ashura, to try
to cut off the attack at its source. The fireballs were more numerous as
he got closer. He felt several of them pass through his leg at once, and
he fell, collapsing onto the unconscious Kodachi.

The attack ended. It had accomplished its purpose. Ashura floated in the
air triumphantly. Her opponents had been reduced to burned and bleeding
husks scattered on the ground. "Time... to end this," she said, panting
with exhaustion.

Ranma rolled off of Kodachi, his every movement a new adventure in pain.
By trying to get to the center of the storm, he had suffered the worst
of it. Get up, he told himself, you're not gonna let her win. But his
legs didn't want to listen.

Ashura raised her hands, and an incandescent ball of energy began
forming between them, glowing brighter and brighter until its brilliance
rivalled that of the sun.

This is it, Ranma thought. She must be putting everything she has into
this attack. It would annihilate him and all of his friends. The whole
neighborhood would probably go with them. Damn it, there was nothing he
could do! He could barely move his legs, much less attack!

Ranma remembered what Akane had said. *If there's any of you left in
there that can hear me, I don't hate you. I love you!*

No way was he going to give up now!!

He took one of Kodachi's razor hoops, being careful to grip it in the
right place. One last chance.

The miniature sun glowed to blinding brightness, as the last of Ashura's
remaining energy was put into it. "Time to die, little ones." The energy
globe began to descend.

Ranma flung the razor hoop.

The hoop flew through the air. Ashura did not even see it coming as it
sliced through her neck.

The globe of power fell, as it began to pulsate chaotically. It was no
longer constrained by its creator's will; Ashura no longer had the
strength. The sky filled with light. Everyone below shielded their eyes
as the energy ball fell into the body of the five-armed goddess.
Ashura's decapitated head screamed with terror as her body was consumed
by the fire, by the unstoppable, inevitable force of nature. The energy
dissolved Ashura into it. 

Then the fireball collapsed, imploding into itself. Suddenly the sky was
clear. Ashura was no more. Ashura was entropy.

"WE WON!!" Ranma shouted. His triumphant shout was met by sighs of
relief from the others.

He planted his good leg on the ground and pulled himself up to look
around. His friends were groaning, in pain, but they were alive. It
looked like everybody had made it through the ordeal alive!

Happosai was there, unconscious. Had he done for Ranma what Cologne had
done for Shampoo? Taken the curse to himself, given up his life so that
Ranma could be himself again? Then why wasn't he a girl now?

He looked over to see Akane. She looked mostly unhurt, only a few marks;
she was probably only caught by the edge of Ashura's fire storm. "Akane!
We won!" he cheered as he hobbled over to her.

 Akane just looked at him. "R-Ranma, I..."

Something was wrong, very wrong. Her half-smile and fearful, teary eyes
said that she was happy that they'd won, but that she had something to
tell him, something really bad. Ranma looked into the depth of those
eyes...

... those eyes, those pools of horror...

... and someone else looked out. Someone who he had never met, but whose
presence he knew intimately.

Ranma put his head on the girl's shoulder and cried. "Oh no... Akane!!
Akane... you didn't have to... not for me! Akane! Oh, Akane..." He kept
crying, long into the night.

Lili, looking out from her new body, held Ranma in her arms. She didn't
know what else to do.

***

Morning.

It was quiet around Nerima, as it had been every morning since last
month's battle against Ashura. Though everyone had been released from
the hospital, they all spent most of their time resting at their
respective homes.

Shampoo sat in the Tendo dojo back yard, thinking to herself. She wasn't
sure whether she should be there. How would Ranma react if he saw her?
He'd been so depressed when they had been in the hospital, so sad about
losing Akane. He just lay in bed, speaking very little to anyone. He
even refused to eat the hospital food; he said it reminded him of her
cooking.

Contrary to what some people thought, Shampoo wasn't stupid; but she was
used to a simpler life. Life in her wonderful amazon home was always
clear-cut. Black and white. When you had a battle to fight, you fought
it. When you had a task to accomplish, you did everything you could to
accomplish it. Obstacles were to be removed. It was that simple.

Akane had been an obstacle to Shampoo's task of getting Ranma to marry
her. Many times Shampoo had wished her gone, and tried to remove her.
Now she had been removed, though not because of anything Shampoo did.
Shampoo should have been happy about this, but she could not help
regretting the loss of Akane, a girl whose tenacity and fiery spirit
could have qualified her as an amazon. Shampoo actually felt sorry about
having wished her rival dead, and that didn't make any sense to her.

Things were so complicated in this place, this place so far away from
home. Shampoo wanted Ranma to be her husband. She knew that she would be
a good wife, a wife who would make her husband happy. Now Shampoo
realized how very unhappy Ranma would have been if she *had* managed to
get rid of Akane. He would have hated her for it. Perhaps he hated her
now just for having wished Akane dead. She decided to go before...

"Yo, Shampoo."

"... Ranma?"

"Hey, it's good to see you. I thought you mighta gone back home or
somethin'."

"I stay to tell you I sorry, Ranma. Great-grandmother not plan this way.
Not expect this happen."

"Hey, I know that. Is she ...."

"Great-grandmother a cat now. She take curse to save Shampoo. I miss her
very much. She sometimes tell me do wrong thing, get me into trouble,
but Shampoo love her."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ranma said. He thought of his Pop, who he
had just been to visit at the local zoo, whom he felt the same way
about. "Man, so many people are gone... Pop, Ryoga, Mousse too... all
because they fell in those damn pools! I oughtta go find that guide who
runs that place and --"

"Ranma, Shampoo's amazon sisters go look for Jusenkyo last week. It
gone! It vanished! They not can find cursed springs!"

"It figures, I guess. That place is a nightmare. One'a those things that
comes in the night when you're not ready for it. You don't find them,
they find you."

"You be okay now, Ranma?"

"I guess so. For a while it was like I didn't want to do anything except
lie there. But you gotta go on, y'know? I guess we all just gotta keep
goin' on. I'm really glad for the friends I got left. You, Ucchan, the
Tendos, even the Kunos. I'm sorry about Cologne, but I'm glad you're all
right now, and I'm really glad we didn't lose any more than we did."

"I glad for friends I have left too. Shampoo be seeing you, Ranma!" She
gave a warm smile and left through the gate, waving back at him. She
would be staying in Nerima, for a little while at least. Maybe a week or
a month from now, she would go back to her sisters; or maybe she would
go back to trying to get Ranma to marry her. But for now, she was going
to be a friend to Ranma, because right now Ranma needed her as a friend.
It was that simple.

***

Lili walked out, shutting the door behind her. She wore a light blue
flowered dress, the one that she had worn earlier in Ranma's body. She
carried a suitcase in one hand, with P-chan cradled in the other arm.

She couldn't stay here. She liked the Tendo family, and they would never
have forced her to leave, but she just couldn't stay with them. Not
while she wore the body of Akane. Every day of looking at her would be
another cruel reminder to them of what they had lost.

Ranma was outside. He saw the girl struggling with her suitcase, and
went over to her. "Here, lemme help you with that. Hey, y'know that
dress looks really good on you."

"Thank you," Lili said, a little uneasily. "I'm sorry I caused you so
much trouble." Her presence in Ranma's life had brought him so much
hardship and sorrow; she couldn't blame him if he hated her.

"So, looks like you're leavin', huh? Keep in touch, wherever you go, and
let us know if you ever need anything."

"Thank you. I spoke to the Tendos. I think they understand why I have to
go."

"Y'know, it was quite an experience," Ranma said. "Y'know, having your
body for a while. Uh, you know what I mean. I hated it at first, but
when I got a little used to it, it was... interesting... to find out
what it was like to be a girl." Lili laughed awkwardly.

"G'bye, widdle P-chan," Ranma told the pig, scratching him under the
chin. "You'll look after your mommy, and be there when she needs you,
right?" P-chan nodded in assent.

"G'bye. Lili," Ranma said. Lili smiled. It was a big, cute smile, one
that took Ranma back in time to when he first met Akane, to those rare
moments when they weren't arguing, and Akane would smile at him, and
he'd tell her that she was cute when she smiled. She was.

Ranma remembered the things Akane had that morning. The last time she
ever talked to him. *We never even said goodbye!* *If there's any of you
left in there that can hear me, I don't hate you. I love you!*

There was.

Ranma gazed deep into Lili's eyes, and spoke.

Suddenly, Lili's body was no longer under her control. Her arms moved
involuntarily, taking hold of Ranma.

She kissed him.

They held each other in a long, slow embrace. In that moment, time
stopped. The moment was all that had ever existed, and all that would
ever be. The feeling was back; emotion so strong, so deep, that Lili
knew once again what it was like to be alive. Somehow, someday she would
find the courage, the spirit, to feel this way about someone herself.

Soon Lili's muscles were hers again. She gently broke off the embrace,
and left Ranma with a wave and a smile. Ranma just stood and watched her
go, the last words he had said to her echoing in his mind.

"I love you too, Akane. Goodbye."


			       EPILOGUE

Lili walked down the street, toward a certain estate. The thought of
being on her own, especially in this world, frightened her too much. She
needed a place to stay, and there was only one place to go.

Upperclassman Tatewaki Kuno opened his front door, only to see Akane
Tendo standing there. "Please," she said to him, "I need a place to
stay. Can you help me?"

Tatewaki kept his voice somber and sympathetic, as Akane was obviously
distraught over something. "The house of Kuno is open to you always. My
home is your home, and while in it you are under the protection of the
Blue Thunder."

"Thank you," she said with a smile, and entered. Then Tatewaki looked
into her eyes, and he saw. It had happened. He did not know how, but he
knew that somehow it had.

He had them both.

He had always known that he would.

				END

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was based on "Cursed" by Richard Lawson, and "Hello
Again" by Benjamin Franz, and it is dedicated to these authors with
gratitude and admiration for these fine works. Thanks to Richard for
giving me permission to do this sequel. Benjamin, I hope we'll see more
from you soon!

I originally got the idea for this sequel in January, when "Cursed" came
out. Because I had "Lost" and other projects to work on, this one got
put on the shelf. My interest in this got renewed by a bit of spam on
the fanfiction mailing list noting that there are many fics where Mousse
gets Shampoo, but none where Kuno gets Akane. As you've seen, this is
(sort of) a Kuno gets Akane fic. (It's not Akane's mind, you say? Picky
picky!) Moreover, the premise behind it was Benjamin's and Richard's, so
one can hardly accuse me of having contrived the whole fic just to get
those two together in the end. (I hope it should be obvious, though,
that Akane getting Kuno was not the ONLY reason I wrote this. Not even
the main reason.)

In case anyone is wondering, Happosai did NOT take advantage of Akane in
the way that Nabiki thought he would in part 4. They went off together
simply so he could teach her how to use the transference water. Nabiki
was wrong. Hey, nobody's perfect!

Many people asked me about where the Musk Dynasty would be in this
alternate universe. Good question. Since in this universe the Jusenkyo
pools absorb and transmit entire personas, it would seem to me that any
given pool would only work once until someone else drowned in it. If
Herb and co. exist at all in this continuity, their story will be quite
different. The same for Saffron and friends. Kima could not have made an
Akane-niquan as in the original series, since this would have killed
Akane and put her consciousness into Kima. (Of course there is some
possibility of something along these lines happening AFTER the events of
this story, given how it ended...) So dealing with Herb, Saffron, etc.
was beyond the scope of this story. It might be material for a sequel to
this, though I probably won't write one.

Many thanks to Lawson-sensei and the Newbie Forum members for
pre-reading and encouragement, and thanks to everyone on the FFML who
commented on the various sections. That's what kept me going. Your
comments are welcome too!

Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics