(Previously:  The intangible Legionnaire named Apparition has 
wandered into Nerima.  She naturally met Ranma, and was able to get a 
phone message through to her comrades.  Meanwhile, the mysterious 
villain's plots proceed.)

			THEIR NAME IS LEGION
			by Scott K. Jamison
			(DC/Takahashi disclaimer)
    Chapter Three:  Nice to Meet You!  We Get A Lot of That Around Here

	"Well, yeah, me and Akane have some rough spots sometimes," 
explained Ranma as he hoisted himself off the ground.  Akane had thrown 
him there after he'd unflatteringly compared her with a haircare 
product.  Or at least that's what Tinya *thought* he'd said.  Even with a 
translator, some things didn't quite make sense.
	"So," Tinya said, trying not to make too much of it, as her hosts 
weren't, "you were engaged against your wills?  Even my mom never tried 
that."
	"It wasn't our mothers," replied Akane.  "It was our fathers.  
Some sort of big honor thing."
	"Like Pop had any honor to begin with."
	"Ranma!"
	"C'mon, Akane, the guy's totally irresponsible!  He dragged me 
away from Mom at age five cause he thought she'd make me weak, then 
screwed me up so completely it's taken over a year to get to the point 
where I don't totally embarrass you.  Not to mention what he did to--"
	"Ranma!  Ixnay onway ethay otherway ianceesfay!"
	Tinya decided she should pretend that she hadn't understood that 
last sentence.  She probably didn't want to know.  Her mother had always 
described her father as totally irresponsible too.  If she'd been born a 
boy, would he have dragged her off to practice whatever-it-was he did for 
a living?
	"We didn't get along at all at first," continued Akane.  "And 
circumstances just kept on getting us mad at each other.  Especially 
since our baka fathers just kept on pushing us to get married right 
away." 
	"Aren't you kind of young yet?" asked Tinya, thinking of Saturn 
Girl and Cosmic Boy, who looked to be headed for the altar themselves, 
and way too fast for her tastes.
	"Yeah.  But after the sun went out a few weeks ago, we spent some 
time figuring out what we'd like to do with our lives.  And we decided 
we'd like those lives to include each other."  Ranma grabbed the last 
cookie.  "So, what's your Mom like?"
	"Well...she's a big shot ambassador back home, and helps 
President Brande run the government.  She's very strict, and always 
expected me to behave like a proper young woman.  Sometimes it seemed 
like nothing I did would ever be good enough for her.  She disapproved of 
all my interests, but I wasn't any good at anything she liked.  She went 
through the roof when she learned I joined the Legion."
	"Aw man, that sounds awful."
	"It got better, though I had to die first.  We're pretty much 
reconciled now.  I just wish..."  She shook her head.  Too many wishes.  
			*		*		*
	The next morning dawned with the crimson clouds of Akane's name.  
Tinya anxiously surveyed the sky.  At last a speck appeared in the east, 
slowly enlarging until it became recognizable as the Legion's cruiser.  
She had to admit Jo had done a good job of putting it together.
	Ranma and Akane were sparring in the dojo, but emerged as the 
craft landed in the Tendou's back yard, narrowly missing the koi pond.
	The hatch opened, and three people came out.  The first was 
Luornu, Triad, who seemed angry.  Furious enough to split, in fact, and 
she did.  Her orange, white and purple costume became orange and white on 
one body, purple and white on the second, and remained normal on the 
third. 
	"Can you *believe* the nerve of that jackass Superboy, giving his 
ring to that--that girl!" ranted Triad-Purple.
	Triad-Orange cringed at the anger her triplet was displaying.  
"Maybe she needed it for an emergency?  Superboy can fly himself, you 
know." 
	"Knock it off, you two," instructed Triad-Neutral.  "We'd better 
recombine."  With that, the three girls merged into one again.
	Apparition noted that Ranma and Akane had their mouths open in 
shock.  Apparently there were *some* things they hadn't seen before.
	Ferro, Andrew, followed rather shyly, the sun glinting off his 
metal mask.
	And then came the person Tinya wanted most of all to see.
	"JO!"  They hugged, or at least gave the illusion of holding each 
other. 
	"Hey, don't go runnin' off like that, hon, you scared me half to 
death." 
	"I'm sorry, Jo.  I just got so jealous because Shvaughn can do 
physical things with you and I can't!"
	"You know there are physical things I'm never going to do with 
her, Tinya.  She's just a bud.  So, who's your friends?"
	Tinya stood back and reflexively tried to smooth out her 
uniform.  
	"Jo, everyone, these are Saotome Ranma and Tendou Akane, the 
house we're next to is the Tendou home.  Ranma, Akane, these are Triad, 
Ferro and my boyfriend Ultra Boy."
	The two groups exchanged greetings.
	"You guys do martial arts?" asked Jo.  "I used to work with a guy 
who was really into that stuff."
	"I'm the heir to the Saotome Style of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, 
and Akane's heir to the Tendou Style of the same thing."  Ranma grinned 
broadly.  "I'm the best martial artist around."
	"Really?  I could use a good workout."
	"Anytime you're ready!"
	"Not now, baka!" Akane protested.  "At least give the rest of us 
a few moments to get acquainted."
	Tinya noticed Luornu giving some strange looks to Ranma.  That 
would be Triad-Purple again, with yet another crush on a handsome boy.  
She'd better quash that fast.
	"Triad, did I mention that Ranma and Akane are engaged?"
	Some mixed emotions flashed across the Carggite's face, which 
finally settled on resignation.  "A girl can dream, can't she?" 
	"So why the helmet?"  Ranma was asking Ferro.  "The rest of you 
Legion guys don't wear masks."
	Ferro was obviously not comfortable with the question, and Jo came to 
the rescue.  
	"Ferro's from Earth, so he's got a secret identity to protect."  
Unspoken was the fact that Andrew's face was hideously deformed, making 
normal life impossible for him.  Also deliberately hidden was the fact 
that Ferro was the only Legion member from the Twentieth Century.  The 
knowledge of time travel would be very dangerous to reveal to just 
anyone. 
	After some brief small talk, the crew moved into the dojo.  Ranma 
adjusted his Chinese outfit, and asked, "So Ultra Boy, what's your 
style?" 
	"I don't have one.  I picked up fighting on the back streets of 
Rimbor."  Jo rubbed his stubble.
	"Are you sure you want to do this then?"
	"I useta spar with Val all the time.  I can take it."
	So they began.  It quickly became clear to Jo that Ranma was an 
extremely skilled martial artist, perhaps even on a level with his old 
teammate Karate Kid.  But where Val Armorr had been all smooth, flowing 
like water, Ranma was like fire, dancing and burning.
	Not that Ranma was having it all his own way.  Ultra Boy had 
indeed learned to fight well in "the armpit of the galaxy" as he fondly 
referred to his home planet.  And his natural brawling skill was 
supplemented by his ultra powers, switching from strength to speed to 
invulnerability as quick as thought itself.
	Ranma finally pinned Ultra Boy with a double-reverse hold, and 
the two boys slapped each other on the back.
	"Man, you are *good*!  And you can really take a punch."
	"Natural talent.  And you still won," Jo pointed out.
	"I think they're both yummy," crooned Triad-Purple.
	"Triad!" gasped a shocked Triad-Orange.  Tinya sometimes wondered 
how Triad-Orange always managed to be shocked by Triad-Purple.  They were 
the same person, after all.
	"I practice Trijitsu, myself," put in Triad-Neutral, "though I'm 
not nearly that good."
	"Trijitsu?  I've never heard of that one."  Ranma was obviously 
interested. 
	"It's a Carggite martial art designed to take advantage of our 
multiple bodies," Lu explained.  "I mostly started learning it for the 
exercise, but since I joined the Legion I've been studying the combat 
side of it more."  
	Tinya knew that Lu wasn't mentioning that the authorities 
wouldn't *let* her study combat trijitsu in the asylum she'd been sent to 
for Multiple Personality Disorder.
	"Akane, why don't you take this one?  You can probably go easy on 
her."  Ranma moved to the side and sat down.
	Tinya noted that Akane had a very powerful look to her in a gi.  
The Triads joined her in the center of the dojo.
	This match was much more decisive than the last.  Despite Triad's 
ability to merge and split at will, Akane was faster, hit harder, and 
seemed to know where all her attackers were at once. 
	"Wow," said Ferro.
	"Akane specializes in techniques against multiple opponents.  She 
used to have to fight off half the male population of our school every 
morning." 
	"You're kidding, right?"
	"Look at her and tell me you think I'm kidding."
	Ferro blushed behind his mask as he realized that Akane had a 
wild kind of beauty that was very attractive.
	"Besides, she's just naturally violent."  Ranma dodged a punch 
from his fiancee.  The visitors relaxed a bit when they saw the unlikely 
couple were both smiling.
	Everything was going great.  Which made it inevitable that 
something was going to go horribly wrong.
	There was a faint rumbling noise from outside, growing in volume 
and sympathetic vibrations as it got nearer.
	"Sounds like a tsunami," observed Ranma.
	"Can't be, Ranma, we're miles inland!" Akane pointed out. 
	They left the dojo, and determined that the noise was coming from 
the south.  Going out through the back gate, the Nerimans and their 
visitors were surprised to see there actually seemed to be a small 
tsunami surging up the street towards them.
	More surprisingly, there appeared to be someone surfing on the 
wave, without the need for a board.  And the water wasn't being diverted 
by any of the side streets.  Fortunately, most of the people in the area 
were able to get away.
	"Principal Kunou?  Nah, no palm tree."  The Legionnaires were 
left completely in the dark by this comment of Ranma's.
	As the wave came closer, it slowed, until it resembled one of 
Hokusai's paintings.  Then a surge of water lashed out from it, deluging 
Ranma. 
	As the now female Ranma sputtered, ignoring the incredulous 
stares of those Legionnaires who hadn't seen the transformation before, 
an evil chuckle was heard.
	"Heheheheh.  So, we meet again, Crossdresser Lad."
	"Pantyhose!"

TO BE CONTINUED


SKJAM!
(Note:  Ranma fans may be asking "where in the manga did the sun go 
out?"  It happened after the events in the manga, when the Sun-Eater 
attacked on the same day the Legion arrived in the Twentieth Century.)