Ranma 1/2: Grand Tour 1 B
	R.Takahashi owns the Nerima bunch. Aramar and
the Ninefold Worlds are my creation. No money made on
any of these though i may eventually try to do 
professional stories set in Aramar. My other works can
be found at the RAAC or on my website at 
http://members.aol.com/Metroanime/main.html
i can also be e-mailed at Greggsharp@aol.com
    =============================
_/Nichieju, China,  Earth 2003 AD, Prime +314156\____
	Light flared. Two figures dropped to the
ground from a swirling hole.

	A woman in a stretch pantsuit looked out
over the devastation. "Aiyaaa. What happen?"

	Her companion, a tall man with silver hair
sniffed the air. "The fires were a long time ago. I'd
say the area has been abandoned for roughly five
years, maybe a little more."

	"Five year..." Shampoo looked out over
her ruined village. "Why we here, where is Ranma?"

	The man sighed and pointed to the 
ground. "This is why. This is where you died on
this world. Don't forget, this may not be your own
world. If it isn't we can rejoin the others and I can
do a Recall at the next weak point. We can then 
try again next year."

	Shampoo stared at the scattered bones
and broken bonbori lying there on the shelf.
"Shampoo dead here?"

	"Afraid so." Frostbite rarely blinked,
even when in human form. "This is your home
village, right?"

	Shampoo nodded, tears streaking
down her face as she looked at the ruins.

	"Any idea who would have done 
this? It almost looks like fire dragons went 
through here. Look, that patch of ground over
there was fused to glass. That would have to
be magical fire or plasma weapons. Any idea?"

	Shampoo slumped to the ground,
not speaking for several minutes. "Phoenix
Mountain. They stopped by Ranma, though."

	"Here, I guess, they weren't." He
flicked some errant hairs back  out of his 
face. "Well, come on, let's go down there."

	"...I..." Shampoo shook her head.
She remembered her first fight, there by what
was now a patch of black glass. She knew
the number of steps to the Elder's auditorium,
which was that collection of burned out 
beams and supports clawing at the sky. She
remembered taking her meals over by that
scarred pit that was once a grove of trees.
And she remembered meeting Ranma at the
challenge log, which was one of the few 
things left standing.

	"Come on, Shampoo. They 
deserve a burial, a bit late, but it is better
than never." Frostbite held out his hand,
waiting for her to take it, before turning to
the task before them.

Three days previously: (subjective time)
_/Sea Of Shadar, Aramar 7th Age, Prime Nexus 4\____

	A dragon with scales the color of pewter flew
over seas that looked tropical, the blue-green spotted
with areas of coral and other areas of deep blue-black
that spoke of unplumbed depths.

	Nabiki noted that at a height of what she 
estimated to be 3000 feet, that the air pressure was 
higher than she expected though still less than what 
she had experienced earlier.

	The eerie trick of the horizon seeming to curve
UP still failed to resolve itself. "Hey, Frosty!"

	Their ride dipped slightly as his massive head
craned back to glare at the figures on his back. *Must
you?*

	Nabiki ignored him. There was some irritation
in the dragon's mental "voice" but also an undercurrent
of amusement. "Exactly when and where are we, anyway?"

	*You are on the plane of Aramar, in an area 
known as the Shadarian Empire, over a portion of ocean
declared as Territory of The Dracokin, in the Seventh
Age Of Man, Fifty seventh year.* The dragon turned his
head back to flying and the ride immediately smoothed
out.

	"So how far in time did we travel? We're 
obviously not on Earth." Ukyou didn't doubt she could
make it here, with okonomiyaki you could make a living
anywhere.

	*Exactly? I'm not sure. Calenders change and
empires rise and fall. Even the definition of a year or
an Age Of Man varies.*

	"Stop evading." Nabiki knew an evasion when she
heard it. She did enough of them herself.

	*If you insist. If you came from the same basic
timeframe that I think you did, then it has been well over
one hundred seventy five billion years.*

	A brief moment of silence, one that the dragon
appreciated. "Can't be, the universe..."

	*Yes, child. Your universe has collapsed and
expanded again. The Mu refer to this as the 'Heartbeat
Of God' - and which god they refer to is probably not
one I'd want to meet. I know that many of the races
were supposedly crafted by humans in the First Age, 
though each of the races denies this, of course.*

	"Including dragons?"

	*No. Dragons were formed from elemental magic
when this universe was being ripped asunder. More detail
on that, you'll have to go to a priest or historian. It
was not one of my better subjects.*

	"What of other amazons?"

	The dragon paused then shared a memory.
---FLASHBACK--------
	The dragon waited for his riders to dismount,
then shifted to a human form, completely out of his
harness. He stretched out on the sands with a sigh.

	The two tall  women looked a little 
startled and reached for weapons, only to stop as the
transformed dragon got up and started gathering 
firewood.

	"Hope you don't mind. My wings were really sore
after that flight. My human form's also a bit more 
compact and it's easier to find shelter this way."

	The oriental looked at her taller companion
and finally shook her head.

	"Good. Say, I'm new to this courier duty stuff,
what say you tell me about your adventures while we set
up camp? Heck, I still don't know why I've got to carry
you clear from Nihon to Cross Isle."

	"We just completed Boot Camp, and we're new
recruits for the Imperial Guard, Shipcrafter's 
Division." The oriental said after a slight hesitation.

	"Really? I thought that Cross Isle only had the
amazons of the House of Southern Cross."

	"That's Lydia here," the oriental jerked a 
thumb at the redhead. "She's House Southern Cross. I'm
of Rising Sun. While it is true that Cross Isle is the
headquarters for Southern Cross, they are not the only
one of the Twelve Houses to dwell there."

	"Ah," Frostbite said. He pointed a palm at the
stack of driftwood and incanted a brief verse. Flames
appeared, slowly crawling along the drier pieces.

	"So you're a priest," Lydia remarked. "I'm an
apprentice mage but I recognize that from the temple.
Which of the powers do you serve?"

	"Etragar the Healer."

	The two stared for a moment and started 
laughing. "A dragon who's priest of a god of healing,
whose priests are allowed only the weapons that nature
provides them, oh that's a good one." Lydia chuckled.
----End Memory-------------
	*I've been friends with them as they grew up,
and have some ties to both clans now that they are 
elders within their Houses.*

	"What that?" Shampoo pointed towards a tower,
alone on a small island that seemed mainly composed of
jagged rocks.

	*That is the home of a great wizard who does NOT
get along with amazons of any House. He had a bad run-in
with a group of amazons known as the Feryl when he was
younger, and it has left him scarred and twisted in more
ways than just physically.*

	"Is he powerful enough to get us home?" Nabiki
looked at the tower and noted that the shadow seemed to
indicate that the tower didn't quite touch the ground.

	*Possibly.* The dragon hesitated. *I would not
try to intrude there, though. If it were just Ranma and
I, it would be something to look into. If you could play
the part of slaves to Ranma, it might work. That mage
was tortured for years for the crime of being male, and
any female seen that even looks like she might be in 
command of a man could cause the old insanities to 
bubble forth anew. Too risky.*

	"What, he'd kill us? Doesn't make him any better
that those Feryl, does it?" Ukyou tried not to look 
down. Flying had never been a big problem before, but
this was on something that was actually alive and 
beating wings, and the sensations were completely 
different.

	*No. He isn't quite sane, but he's never gone
THAT far.* Frostbite paused again. *The clan of amazons
known as Rising Sun based quite a bit of their culture
and philosophies on ancient videos and stories of what
their ancestors supposedly were like. Their main 
language is similar to your own. The name THEY give to
that wizard, is Hentai.*

	"Eeeewww." Nabiki glanced back. The thought
occurred to her that if she could get some of this 
mage's stuff back home, she could make major profits.
Still, the thought of some of the possible 
interpretations she could make out of that nickname was
sufficient to curb her curiosity.

	"...so why go so near?" Ukyou thumped the
dragon on the shoulder nearest her saddle.

	*Hentai built his tower along a feng shui,
one of the lines of power that crisscross this area.
If I use it, we can cut some time off our journey.*

	"You not going to do what I think you are."
Shampoo clutched her saddle tightly. "I getting airsick
enough. You no want to..."

	Cold. Dark. Nabiki looked around. The sun and
sea and everything had been replaced with an airless
darkness. She gasped for the air that suddenly wasn't
there. Closing her eyes, she gripped the saddle.

	"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa."

	Nabiki's eyes shot open. The sensation of air
moving had come at the same moment as Ukyou's shriek
and the muted sounds of Shampoo throwing spectacularly
up over the dragon's side. Nabiki glared at Shampoo, as
her own saddle was placed almost directly behind the
amazon, with predictable results.

	"What was the damn hurry," Nabiki thumped the
side of the dragon. It did wonders for calming her 
nerves.

	*Needed to get you here before the Changes set
in.*

	"Changes?"

	*Anyone who comes to a high-magical energy 
universe from a low energy universe gets changed by
their mindset, personality force, whatever. Sometimes
it is just the way the universe pigeon holes you. I
wasn't always a dragon, you know.*

	That was a disquieting thought. Nabiki wanted
to ask more but some odd flashing from a castle below
them caught her eye. What the heck was the castle made
of anyway? Quartz crystals?

	*Hang tight. I've been given permission to 
land.*

	"What do you mean hang tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggghht!"
Ukyou hadn't started out airsick but was rapidly getting
there.

	Ranma howled with pleasure, this was better
than a typical roller coaster ride. They'd gone from
a near-stall to a power dive, Ranma estimated the
speed as well over 90mph. Nothing compared to the
speed of a bullet train, but when what you're riding
is alive and is dropping almost straight down, it was
a completely different sensation.
-------"now"--------
_/Juuban, Tokio, Japan,  Earth 2003 AD, Prime +314156\____
	Ranma slammed into the ground, turned
and saw the little grave. "Oh shit. This isn't the right
Reality."

	The clue was easy to see. A small, child
sized grave, with a marker that read Ranma Saotome.
Ranma read the date of death.

	"Shit, that would've been around the
time...that Pops locked me in with all those c-c-cats."

	Ranma spent a few minutes in the knowledge
that his father's desire for training him, really had killed
him in at least one life.

	Taking out a sheaf of papers from his 
pocket, he finally turned away from the tiny grave.
"Ok. If it isn't our home reality, we're to meet at 
the front gate of the Tendo dojo at sunrise. If we
can't meet there, we notify people of where we'll
be by posting memos on the bulletin board near
the train station.  If neither of these is suitable,
then watch for Frosty to show up on the local
news then head there."

	Ranma shrugged. "Simple enough."
With a last glance behind him, Ranma jogged
out into the evening.
---------------------
	Nabiki looked at the face in the mirror
and wondered what the hell had happened. She
was older, and hadn't weathered the intervening
years well. She looked...worn down. 

	Then there was this apartment. Squallid
was the first thing that came to mind. The sound
of some massive pump nearby indicated she was
near some construction site.  Bottles of cheap 
sake everywhere, stuff that you wouldn't even 
feed to Happosai.

	The only thing not looking cheap
and tattered in the apartment were the clothes.
Nabiki looked at some of the garments and 
blushed. No way could she ever wear THOSE.

	Sitting on the edge of the bed, 
and trying NOT to think about the last time
it was cleaned, Nabiki started analyzing the
situation and started coming up with some
answers she didn't like.

	The calendar, for example, read
October 13, 2003. So they had gotten very 
close to their own time, a mere eight years
had passed since they'd fallen into the 
mirror in that antique shop. Considering
how far they had to go, that was very very
close indeed.

	There was a heavy scent of 
disinfectant, a small stove, and she was
apparently living off of Top Ramen. A
quick search of the room also yielded a
small ID badge. She worked at the large
Bank Of Nerima, apparently.

	Her pupils shrank when she
saw the job description. OL. She was
an Office Lady. The automatic reflex
of grabbing a bottle and knocking back
a slug of the stuff caught her by surprise.
She coughed a fair amount of it up when
she realized what she had done.

	Nabiki shuddered. There had
always been the possibility that, even
if she could finagle college somehow,
she'd end up as one of the low paid
little "office dolls" who were stuck 
for life in their regimented little duties.
No matter how brilliant or business
saavy you were, there was always 
this sort of hell awaiting those whose
luck had failed them.

	"I should have at least 
been able to get to college with what
I made off of Ranma," growled Nabiki.
She unconciously took another drink.

	The phone rang, just about
sending Nabiki into a coronary. After
the third ring, the answering machine
picked it up.

	"Ah, Nab-chan." Nabiki 
shuddered at the name the male caller
used.  He had a greasy sound to his 
voice. "When you wake up, you 
might want to put something 'special'
on. You wouldn't want to disappoint
my...friends, would you? I shall bring
my boy by later, he deserves a reward.
You understand, don't you? Nabbi?"

	Nabiki looked at the phone
as if it had been transformed into a 
venomous snake. When you "jumped" 
into one of your Analogues or other
world selves, it took time for memories
to filter from the native to the traveller.
Strong emotion would bridge the gap.

	Revulsion and shame brought
back the image of the Yakuza boss who
had been amused at Nabiki blackmailing
one of the Furinkan students. One of the
Furinkan students who had turned out to
be related to said boss. Her continued
day-to-day survival hinged upon some
things that she DIDN'T want to dwell on.

	Shuddering for a few moments,
Nabiki got up, put on some of her drabbest
clothing, and left. She had no idea yet,
how long she'd be here, but she wasn't
going to wait for assimilation between
the native and the travelling Nabikis.
--------------------------------------- 
	Ukyou found herself in a 
similar situation in Kansai. In an obviously
illegal casino operating in a "love hotel"
in Osaka, as a near naked okonomiyaki 
chef whose battered appearance was
sufficient to keep her from being "tonight's
special" at least.

	That didn't keep her from being
fondled on a regular basis. The first flash
of memories that had hit her had caused 
her to run to the nearest ladies room. 
Memories of her father's yattai, of meeting
a nice young man, of finding herself with
child as the young man turned out to be
not so nice. Of her family disowning her.

	Which brought her here. As
soon as she could, she snuck off, found
the locker room and changed. She had no
wish to be around here any longer than she
had to, and if were much longer, she'd kill 
the next person who tweaked her breasts.

	Ukyou didn't know what 
reality this was, she didn't care. She wanted
out, NOW!
-----------------------------------------------
all for part two of chapter one. the world
without Ranma brought to you by a 
story idea from Ukyousama@aol.com
though i have taken it in a much different
direction than she did. 
  Musk Dynasty cutting a deal with the
forces of Phoenix Mountain? Why not.
Phoenix Mountain can always betray the
Musk later. Saffron has destroyed 
Juusenkyo, and the Nichieju and sister
villages. The survivors are prisoners of
the Musk Dynasty.
  There's still a LOT of closed doors for
women in Japan, and the Yakuza really
doesn't like competition. Hence Nabiki's
predicament.
  Frankly, I really like Ukyou, but without
Ranma she wouldn't have developed her
fighting skills to the extent she has, and
might have turned out a lot less forceful
in personality or physically.
  Ranma got off easy. He was merely 
killed as a child, and finds out that his
parents seperated immediately afterwards.

 Ja ne, next chapter they leave this world,
and go somewhere much happier. 

gregg