I know, I know.  Every time someone sees something new, they go
"Hey!  Wouldn't it be neat to cross that over with Ranma 1/2?"
and rush off to write a fanfic.  Yes, I despair slightly whenever
I see that.  Yes, I've just done it myself.

It's just that it seemed to fit so well.  It really did.  A few
ideas flowed and I wrote them down.

This is obscure.  I expect less than ten people to figure out the
crossover or even know what the heck I'm talking about.  :)  What
the heck; I had fun writing this up.

C&C of any kind greatly appreciated.

Oh, and the title sucks.  Yes, I know I say that every other
time.  This time I really mean it.  I'd love it if you could
think of anything better.

-Richard



"Where?"

"Somewhere in mainland China."

"Can you localize it?"

"Not really; I was focusing more on Japan.  It says something
about how powerful the blast was that I could detect it at all."

"Indeed.  So should we focus there?"

"I'm not sure that would do us any good at all.  China isn't
likely to let us go traipsing about the countryside."

"Damn.  This could get out of control very quickly."

"I know, I know.  Still, we've had more numerous incidents here
in Japan.  Soon."

"You hope."

"Yes.  I hope."

---

To Contain the Spirit

by Richard Lawson

---

Ranma dared to take a step back and wipe the sweat off his brow.
He paid the price when his opponent sent him flying.

Ranma landed with a jolt and growled.  Damn that old man's pipe.
"Heh.  That all you got?  Hell, Kasumi's hit me harder than
that."  It wasn't true, but it was certain to raise the other's
ire.

Happosai, however, was oblivious to the insult.  Ranma supposed
he'd been called so many names by so many people that words
failed to move him.  One way or the other.  "Now, Ranma, don't
you think this would look attractive on you?"  He held up the
lacy bra again.

"No, dammit!"  He'd had enough of wearing women's clothes to last
him for quite a while.  "Go away, I'm sick of looking at you!"

The geezer's eyes gleamed.  "Are you?  Then perhaps this will
help."  He reached inside his gi and pulled out a yellow object
with a brightly glowing wick.

Ranma leapt to the side, but too late.  The energy of the bomb
washed over him.  This was the strangest of all of Happosai's
tricks, this ability to use chi to make fireworks.  It felt...
weird.

As he rolled, trying to get to his feet, water was splashed on
him.  By guess who.

This was something else Ranma'd had enough of: the stupid curse
wreaking havoc with her life.  "Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!"
Ranma was furious now.  "You all want me to do things I don't
wanna do, and you keep trying to force things on me, and I'm sick
of it, LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!"

She didn't conciously remember summoning her own chi, but the
blast ripped from her and sped towards Happosai with frightening
speed.  Happosai didn't even have time to blink before he was
struck and sent hurtling away.

Ranma fell to her hands and knees, drained.  What had *that*
been?  Kind of like a Roaring Lion Bullet, but different.  She
shook her head slightly; it didn't really matter so long as it
succeeded in getting rid of the pervert.

A figure knelt and tried to support her.  "Are you okay?"

She looked out of the corner of her eye.  "Uh, yeah."  She stood
despite the weakness in her knees.  No matter what, she wasn't
going to look weak in front of Akane.  "Let's go home."

Akane frowned, looking concerned.  "Uh, it's still morning.  We
have to get to school yet."

Ranma drew a breath and tried to gather herself.  Yes, it had
been on the way to school that Happosai had waylaid her.  Just
another of the daily gauntlets.  "Okay.  Let's go."

They moved off together, Akane watching Ranma carefully.  Ranma
looked down at the ground, too tired to react overtly.  Inwardly,
though, she found a strange warmth in Akane's concern.

Ranma flexed her hand, trying to remember the chi leaping from
it.  Even now, it tingled a bit.  She wondered if she should be
worried about it.  She wondered where she could get some hot
water.  She wondered if Akane had stopped being angry so much and
would act more like she was right now.

With a sigh she lifted her head and decided to concentrate on
those things she had a modicrum of control over.  She headed
towards the locker rooms for a quick dowse before class.

---

He lifted himself off the ground, frankly surprised.  The
impertinence of the boy to attack him so!  *He* was the master of
the school.

Time to show the boy exactly what that meant.

With a joyful grin he walked towards the dojo to make
preparations.

---

Akane raised her arms over her head in a kind of happy stretch.
"School's almost done."

"Yeah."  Ranma sounded surprisingly unenthusiastic.

She resolved not to let him spoil her mood.  "We'll be seniors
next year.  We'll rule the school."

"Why would anyone want to?"  Ranma looked at her with just a bit
more animation.  "I mean, do you *want* to be like Kuno and
Nabiki?"

Akane decided to grin.  "I guess not."

Ranma, after a moment, smiled back at her.  "Good.  I'd never be
able to quote any of that poetry stuff."

Her smile widened.  She felt very good.  This could have become
another stupid fight and it hadn't.  Maybe, just maybe, they'd
never have to fight again.  That'd be nice.  "Ranma-"

"Ranma!"

She stopped abruptly and looked down the street.  Her heart sank
as she saw Happosai standing there, a fierce smile on his face.

Ranma groaned.  "Ah, c'mon, old geezer!  Ain'tcha had enough for
one day?"

"Ranma, my boy, you haven't begun to taste what I can 'have
enough' of."  He produced several of his chi-bombs and threw
them.

Akane turned to dive and found herself being assisted in the
maneuver by Ranma.  He threw her as she jumped, and she flew a
not-inconsiderable distance before rolling a few times and coming
to rest on one knee just as the bombs went off.

Ranma, in helping Akane get out of the way, had left himself
open.  The bombs struck him full blast and flung him violently to
the ground.

Akane cut off a scream and got to her feet.  She could see Ranma
moving, and slowly he gathered himself to turn and face Happosai.
"D-dirty trick, perv."  Akane felt chilled by the anger in
Ranma's voice.  "But it ain't enough.  You ain't gonna threaten
her ever again, you hear me?"

With that, he let loose a chi blast.

It was similar to the one he'd used this morning.  Akane didn't
have near the ability to manipulate chi the way Ranma could, but
she could feel the intensity of the blast like electricity on her
skin.  It sped towards Happosai.

And through him.

Akane blinked her eyes rapidly.  The image of Happosai faded from
where it stood, only to appear a few feet away.  Happosai
giggled.  "Neat trick, isn't it?"

Ranma merely gaped at him, looking completely stunned.

Happosai wiggled his fingers.  Something left his hand, a ray of
light that struck Ranma in the chest.  He gasped and fell to his
knees, the light seeming to bind him.

Akane clenched her jaw and began to stalk towards Happosai.

He saw her coming, and his giggles became more frenetic.  He
lifted his other hand towards her, and she, too, was struck by
something that came from him.  It seemed to permeate every part
of her and squeeze.  Akane clutched her head and screamed.

"No!"

She managed to turn her head to see Ranma struggling to his feet.
He looked to be in as much pain as she was in, and he seemed
exhausted on top of it.  But he doggedly took a step forward
before stopping to clutch his stomach.

Happosai hopped back and forth on his feet, still giggling.

Then something shot out from somewhere nearby and seemed to
explode over him, a ball of green radiance.  The light rays
immediately died out, and it took all of Akane's willpower not to
collapse.

She kept her eyes focused on Happosai.  Something strange was
happening.  His eyes blinked once, very deliberately.  He turned
his hands slowly so that he could see his palms.  In the same
stop-motion fashion, he turned to one side.

A second blast hit him head-on.  It seemed very similar to the
one Ranma had unleashed earlier, except a lot more powerful.
Happosai fell, again slowly, as if he were underwater.  He
bounced once on the ground and then lay still, his eyes closed.

Akane turned towards the source of the blast.

A young woman, in her early twenties, was walking towards them.
She was Western, with shortish blonde hair, and about Akane's
size.  She wore jeans and a black leather jacket.  She was lithe
and graceful as she walked, but with an assuredness that reminded
Akane a little of Ranma.

Her most startling feature was her eyes.  The were large and a
startling bright green.  They seemed to suck in the light, making
everything else drab by comparison.  They were seductive.
Powerful.  And very disquieting.

The woman approached Ranma.  He appeared to be just as dumbstruck
by her appearance.  This had the effect of shaking Akane out of
her own stupor.  It would be typical of this kind of situation
for the woman to announce that she was obligated to marry Ranma.

Akane had the dual sensation of wanting to attack the woman
before she could do so and being desperately afraid to try.

The woman stopped in front of Ranma, looking him up and down, a
neutral expression on her face.  She said something.  It sounded
like English, but Akane couldn't make it out.

Ranma appeared to have no better luck.  He just shook his head
dumbly.

The woman looked over at Akane and said something to her.  Akane
tried to say "I do not understand" in English, hoping the woman
got it.

The woman nodded, reached inside her coat, and pulled out a cell
phone.  She dialed a number, then held it to her ear.  Akane's
brow furrowed slightly; she was about to say something when the
woman looked over at her and raised one finger.  The weight of
the woman's gaze froze Akane.

The woman spoke into the phone for a couple of minutes.  Then she
held the phone out towards Ranma.  Ranma was still in his
shellshocked stage, however, and continued to stare mutely at the
woman.

Akane growled, annoyed at his stupid and irritating behavior.
Finally she strode towards him, trying not to look like she was
scared to get any closer to the woman.  Summoning all of her
courage she snatched the phone out of the woman's hand.  The
woman made no protest, and instead looked a little amused.

Akane brought the phone to her ear.  "Hello?"

"Hello?"  It was a man's voice on the other end, Japanese,
sounding a little high-strung.  "I'm sorry, I thought I was to
speak with a young man."

"You'll speak with me."  Anger was a good weapon to use against
the fear.  "What the hell is going on."

"Um... well, it's a bit complicated.  Could... could you and the
young man come to my lab?  We've got some things to talk about."

"What things?  What do we need to talk about?"

"Please... it's complicated.  And I'd like to talk to everyone at
once.  Please, it's important.  Very important.  Please?"

Akane shot a glare at the green-eyed woman, wondering what
exactly would happen if she refused.  Still, the man seemed
sincere enough.  It probably wouldn't hurt.  "Okay."

"Great!  Bring the old man, too."

"Don't try anything stupid or my father will kill you."  She
handed the phone back to the woman before the man could react.
Hopefully neither one of them knew how ridiculous the threat was.

The woman frowned slightly at the tone in Akane's voice.  She
spoke a few sharp words into the phone, listened, then shrugged,
said something else, and hung up.  She turned, and this time
Akane could understand her words enough to recognize the
invective.  Akane looked past the woman to see that Happosai was
gone.

The woman gestured at the spot and asked a question.  Akane
spread her hands and shook her head.  The woman cursed again,
then made a sharp gesture to indicate that they should follow
her.  Akane grabbed Ranma's arm and pulled him along.

At long last, Ranma found his voice.  "Who *is* she?"

"How the hell should I know?"  Akane bit her lip, then tapped the
woman on the shoulder.

The woman turned to regard them as she walked, the anger gone and
replaced by a quieter, more thoughtful expression.

She pointed at herself.  "Akane."  She squeezed the arm she was
holding on to until she heard a cry of pain.  "Ranma."

The woman smiled, adding another touch to her almost-surreal
beauty.  She tapped her breastbone.  "Aya."

Akane smiled back, doing her best not to make her lips tremble
with the effort.

Together, she and Ranma followed Aya towards downtown Tokyo.

---

"I am Dr. Maeda."

The words jilted Ranma a little of his daze.  He looked around to
see that he was in a small, cluttered lab of some sort.  Various
devices were quietly humming.  A few beakers, a few test tubes.
No metal rods arcing with electricity, though.

His eyes moved to the man who had spoken.  Average height, slight
build, short spiky hair, intelligent eyes looking at him through
a large pair of glasses.  Completely boring in every way.  Ranma
looked back over at Aya.  She was a lot more interesting.

She sat on a stool near the one Dr. Maeda was perched on.  Ranma
felt a strange twinge of jealousy.  He glanced over at Akane, who
was watching him intently and a little angrily.  Ranma swallowed
a feeling of guilt and tried to lean casually against a counter.
"Hiya, Doc.  I'm Ranma and this is Akane."

"And this," Dr. Maeda indicated Aya, "is Detective Brea.  She's
from the New York Police Department.  In America," he added.

"Well, duh.  So, like, what's going on?"

Dr. Maeda bit his lip.  "It's complicated."

"You keep saying that."  Akane's irritation was just one step
below a full temper tantrum.  "Just get on with it."

The scientist nodded.  "Yes.  Um.  Well.  Okay.  It all has to do
with mitochondria."

"Mitochondria," Ranma echoed.

"Yes.  They're subcellular structures that have formed a
symbiotic relationship with the cells of our bodies.  Er, you
know what symbiotic means, don't you?"

Akane flared.  "We're not stupid!"

Just ignorant, Ranma said silently.

"Right.  Okay.  Well, it's important to know a couple of things.
We didn't always have mitochondria in our bodies.  At first they
were free-floating organisms in the atmosphere.  As such, they
have their own DNA.  They didn't invade our bodies until about
200,000 years ago."

Ranma frowned.  "Invade?"

"Yes, well, it had benefits to both.  Our bodies provide them
with nutrients, they provide our cells with energy.  It's been
good for us.  Until recently."

Something in that made Ranma's skin prickle.  "What?"

"Something's changed."  Dr. Maeda took his glasses off and set
them on the counter.  "The mitochondria have begun using our
bodies for their own ends."

"How?"  Akane sounded a little skeptic and a little unsure.  "I
mean, how can such tiny little things have 'ends'?"

"They don't exactly think for themselves, that's true.  They
don't need to.  They can use our brains for their own thinking."

Ranma shuddered involuntarily.  That sounded... creepy.

Dr. Maeda nodded as if he understood what Ranma was thinking.
"Now, you have to understand that it just didn't happen all of a
sudden.  A few scientists, in an effort to study mitochondria,
ran some experiments... well, the details aren't important.  But
the effect was to awaken the mitochondria.  Change them from
symbiotes to parasites."

"Parasite Eve."

Ranma had almost succeeded in putting Aya out of his mind.  Now
he looked at her.  Her almost-luminescent eyes were unfocused.
Ranma could *feel* her thinking.  From the moment he'd first seen
her, he felt tremendous power, somehow barely contained in her
small form.  Now that power was churning with her troubled
thoughts, and he was afraid that if he touched Aya she would
erupt.

Akane seemed to feel it, too.  At least, Ranma could hear a faint
trace of fear in her voice.  "Who is that?"

"Twice the mitochondria have awoken sufficiently to completely
control their host bodies.  In both instances, they have called
themselves 'Eve'.  Detective Brea met and defeated the second
Eve.  And Eve's offspring."

Ranma bit back a question about who the father was.  "So what's
all of this have to do with us?"

Dr. Maeda sighed.  "Unfortunately, this was just the beginning.
The mitochondria have begun to awaken all around the world.
Detective Brea herself barely contained an outbreak at the
Metropolitan Opera."

"I still don't get it."  Akane appeared to have calmed down a
bit.  "I mean, what are the mito... mitochondria trying to do?"

"Supplant the human race."  Dr. Madea's face was grim.  "Replace
us with a species of Ultimate Beings."

"Ultimate Beings?"  Ranma cut himself off, tiring of playing
parrot.  "What can an 'Ultimate Being' do?"

Dr. Maeda lifted a corner of his mouth.  "Knock over the Statue
of Liberty."

Ranma's eyes bulged.  "Th... that was done by one of those
Ultimate Beings?"

"No.  That was done by Eve herself.  Thankfully, Detective Brea
was able to stop the Ultimate Being before it could do any damage
whatsoever.  If not, I'm certain we wouldn't be standing here
talking now.  I'm certain there wouldn't be any humans anywhere."

Ranma leaned heavily on the counter, trying to come to grips with
the implications.

Akane spoke quietly.  "How did Aya stop it?  What's special about
her?"

Dr. Maeda looked over at Aya.  "The mitochondria has been
awakened in her as well.  But she's got a genetic predisposition
to resist their efforts to take her over.  She can control it."

Ranma looked at her.  She was accepting their gazes quietly as
she perched daintily on the chair.  And Ranma could still feel
the incredible power bubbling just below the surface.

"You still haven't answered Ranma's question."  Akane moved so
that she was standing right next to him.  "What's this all have
to with him?"

Dr. Maeda put his glasses back on and turned towards a computer.
He activated it by tapping the space bar.  "We've been tracking
the release of what we called Parasitic Energy.  There has been
quite a lot of it here in Japan, where the first Eve was
awakened.  We've been refining our techniques, and have finally
found one of the sources."  He pointed.  "Ranma."

Ranma dropped his jaw.  "What?"

Dr. Maeda pointed at the computer monitor.  "You can release PE,
evidently at will."

"I ain't got no microwhatsis controlling me.  That's just chi."

Dr. Maeda shrugged.  "Chi.  Parasitic Energy.  Different names
for things we don't completely understand.  The point is, you've
got a lot of it.  That old man Detective Brea described must have
even more."

"Happosai," Ranma said automatically.  "But it's not controlling
me or nothin'."

"No, and that's why I asked you to come here."  Dr. Maeda leaned
forward, his hands clasped in front of him.  "You can control it.
So can this Happosai.  We'd like to know how."

Ranma hesitated, looking over at Aya.  She asked Dr. Maeda a
question while keeping her eyes on Ranma.  Dr. Maeda answered,
and she nodded.

Ranma looked down at his hands.  Chi.  Mitochondria.  Whatever.
He could summon it at will - well, almost.  His father had taught
him a bit of how to use it.  The old hag, too.  Heck, even the
pervert had shown him a couple of tricks.  Ranma had never really
questioned where the power came from - it was just there, ready
to be released.

He looked up again.  "I don't know how I do it.  I just do.  It
just happens the way I want it to."

"Hmm."  Dr. Maeda stood up and walked over to another counter.
"Mind if I take a blood and tissue sample?"

"Er... I guess not."  Ranma couldn't help eyeing Dr. Maeda warily
as he approached with a rather large-looking needle.

The scientist began preparing Ranma's arm.  "Have you noticed it
changing lately?"

"What?"

He tapped at Ranma's arm.  "The PE.  The chi."

"What do you mean?"

"Getting more powerful."  Dr. Maeda looked into Ranma's eyes.
"Getting out of control."

Ranma swallowed.  "It... in China, when... when Akane was
threatened, and Saffron... well, I had to come up with something
big.  And I did."

Dr. Maeda straightened.  "In China?"

Ranma nodded.

"Big?"

"Bigger than I expected."  Ranma looked over at Akane.  "I
remember being surprised... there was so much chi going around, I
felt like... like the whole world was going to blow up."

"I see."  Dr. Maeda bent over again, and Ranma felt a sharp
stabbing pain.
"Anything after that?"

"Fighting Happosai."  Ranma looked at the fluid filling the
syringe Dr. Maeda held.  "The chi blasts... they were more
powerful than I was expecting."

"Did you feel that it would get out of control?"

"N-no."  Ranma frowned.  "It just took more out of me than I
expected.  But I didn't feel like... well, I was angry enough
that I *wanted* to blast him as hard as possible.  It wasn't
doing more than I wanted it to."

"That's good."  Dr. Maeda handed Ranma a piece of gauze.  "Hold
that that against your arm.  Keep it elevated."

Ranma complied.  Dr. Maeda immediately went off to one side and
began to do things with what he'd extracted, separating it into
vials and putting them into various machines.  Akane was watching
with some interest but Ranma ignored it.  Instead his eyes
wandered over to Aya.

She was watching him as well.  She stood up and came up to him
and put her hand over his as it held the gauze.  He felt the
power flow through her and into him.  He gasped and felt a bit
flush.  When it passed, she lifted his hand away.  Ranma glanced
down, not at all surprised to see that the puncture wound had
been completely cured.

She asked a question.  Ranma shook his head, then heard Dr. Maeda
call from the other side of the lab, "Detective Brea is asking if
you have any healing abilities."

Ranma shook his head.  Akane piped up.  "He heals fast.  I mean,
bruises, cuts, scrapes... a day or two later and they're
completely gone."

Dr. Maeda translated the responses, or so Ranma assumed.  Aya
nodded, then reached up to trail her fingers along his forehead,
lingering on his temple.

As Ranma feared, Akane immediately shouted, "Hey!"

Aya looked over his shoulder at Akane, smiled, and backed off,
making vaguely apologetic motions with her hands.

"Look here."  Dr. Maeda's excited statement was a welcome
diversion.  Ranma grabbed Akane's forearm and pulled her over to
a screen Dr. Maeda was pointing at.  They looked at the images,
although not until after Akane had shot Aya one last glare.

Ranma couldn't make much sense out of the image.  Shades of gray,
blobs inside of blobs, some of them moving around excitedly.  He
looked over at Dr. Maeda.  "What is that?"

"Your cells.  Your mitochondria are *very* active."  He pointed
at some of the smaller oblong shapes.  "They're producing lots of
energy for you to use.  Almost as much as Aya's."

"Are..."  Ranma swallowed.  "Are they trying to take me over?"

"No.  Their movements are non-aggressive, non-invasive.  So far."

Ranma's skin prickled.  "So far?"

Dr. Maeda sighed.  "There's so much we don't understand.  It
appears to us, however, that the mitochondria are open to
suggestion, for lack of a better term."

Akane snorted.  "You mean they can be hypnotized?"

"Not exactly."  Dr. Maeda sighed.  "It's complicated.  Basically,
mitochondria are very simple organisms.  They can use our minds
to think, but *what* they think - that can take on any form.  The
scientists who originally performed the mitochondria experiments
that led to the formation of the first two Eves were highly
ambitious and very interested using that power for their own
ends.  Thus the mitochondria began to think like that."  He
shrugged.  "I think."

Ranma looked over at the scientist, suddenly feeling cold.  "So
if you think good thoughts, the mitochondria well act
benevolently?"

"Again, it's just a guess.  Also, there are other factors that
come into it.  I can't really explain it simply.  Just thinking
good or evil thoughts isn't enough."

"What if... what if someone had a lot of chi and... and they were
crazy?"

Dr. Maeda looked at him sharply.  "Crazy?"

"Mentally unbalanced."  Akane had picked up on Ranma's train of
thought.  "Prone to doing things for his own satisfaction, with
no thoughts of consequence.  Erratic in every sense of the word."

Dr. Maeda spoke slowly after a moment of thought.  "If that were
the case, and if certain other circumstances came to pass, the
mitochondria might create a fearsome creature out of him.  I
assume you're talking about Happosai."

Ranma and Akane nodded.

Dr. Maeda looked grim.  He began a conversation with Aya.  They
talked back and forth, Dr. Maeda sounding a bit frantic, Aya
answering calmly and professionally.

Ranma spent the time staring at the picture of his cells.  Chi.
Mitochondria.  He shouldn't be surprised by all this.  Not after
seeing the devastation that Ryoga and Happosai and Saffron could
wreak.  Not after seeing what he himself could do.

He shook himself out of his reverie.  Aya and Dr. Maeda appeared
to be having a bit of a fight.  Dr. Maeda ended up by waving his
arms above his head.  Aya sniffed and turned her head away.

After a moment of silence, Akane ventured a question.  "What are
you going to do?"

Dr. Maeda sat heavily on a stool.  "We have to find him.  We need
to find out how much of a danger he is, and if we can control
him."

Ranma nodded.  "Okay.  So what're you guys fighting about?"

"She wants a gun."  Dr. Maeda was clearly exasperated.  "I keep
telling her that she can't have one here in Japan.  She's not
happy."

"A gun?"  Ranma shook his head.  "All she can do, and she wants a
gun, too?"

Dr. Maeda nodded emphatically.  "That's what I keep telling her.
She just doesn't feel comfortable without one.  She needs time to
recharge her PE, so in America she uses a gun to buy her that
time."

Although Ranma didn't feel good about guns, he thought he
understood.  "Kinda like I use martial arts.  Tell her... tell
her I can run interference while she hangs back and blasts him.
I mean, if we need to."

Aya looked evenly at Ranma after Dr. Maeda translated.  She
walked up to him and swung her hand at his face.  He knocked it
aside, then grabbed her fist as she tried to follow with an
uppercut.

She smiled and nodded.  She said something that sounded
accepting.

"Okay."  Dr. Maeda sounded relieved.  "Let's plan this out."

---

Ranma came out from the dojo.  He looked at Aya and shook his
head.

She looked frustrated.  With a gesture she indicated the door.

Ranma nodded and called out to Akane.  "I'm gonna try some of the
public baths around here.  Give Aya a call if you see Happosai."

Akane nodded too, although a lot more sharply.  She had not been
pleased when both he and Dr. Maeda had insisted that she not go
with Aya and Ranma as they searched for Happosai.  She'd only
agreed to do so when Ranma had insisted that she needed to
protect the family if Happosai came back while they were gone.

Without further ado, he and Aya took off.  They walked side by
side down the road, Ranma keeping a sharp lookout.  Happosai was
either very easy to find - just follow the screams of outraged
women - or so well hidden he could be standing in plain sight and
no one would notice.  Mentally bracing himself, Ranma took them
towards the nearest bathhouse.

This went on for an hour without results before Aya pulled on his
arm.  She asked him a question.  Ranma shrugged and indicated
they should continue looking.

Aya shook her head.  She tapped her head.  "Happosai."

Ranma looked at her with exaggerated curiosity.

Aya now tapped his head.  "Happosai."  She closed her eyes and
furrowed her brow.  "Happosai."

Ranma was never one for charades, but he got the idea.  He closed
his eyes and tried to think about the old geezer.  Stupid old
man, came into their lives like a typhoon.  An *unwelcome*
typhoon.  Ranma'd gotten thrown out of the house because he'd
refused to bow to the pervert.  He was always dumping water on
Ranma, trying to make him wear stuff.  He'd also tried to force
Akane to fall in love with him with those pills.  Just one of
many tricks he'd pulled, Ranma hated his father's teacher.

To be absolutely fair, Ranma begrudgingly admitted to himself,
he'd done a good deed or two.  Sometimes without meaning too.
Heck, he'd saved Hinako-sensei's life when she'd been a kid.  But
that didn't exactly redeem-

A hand on his forehead, and suddenly his mind was invaded with
power.  It reached in, grabbed the image of Happosai, and shook
it around violently.  Ranma cried out and jumped back.

He opened his eyes to see Aya dropping her arm.  Her expression
was cold and a little distant, her eyes unfocused.  She turned
without comment and began to wander slowly down the sidewalk.

Ranma cursed and followed her.  When he saw Dr. Maeda again, he'd
have him lecture her on what was allowed.  Cuisinarting his brain
was definitely a no-no.

She kept wandering about, slowly, pausing every so often to stare
intently at nothing.  Ranma was a little alarmed to find that she
was heading somewhat back in the direction of the Tendo home.

They stopped, however, in an empty lot a few blocks away.  Ranma
looked around, recognizing it.  He'd had a few interesting things
happen to him here.

Aya led them towards a pile of crates at one end of the
mostly-fenced-in lot.  She reached down and grabbed at her waist,
cursing softly when it came away empty.  She glanced at Ranma and
pointed urgently at the crates.

Ranma nodded and jumped on top of them.  Aya's breath hissed in,
but he ignored her.  He looked down on the other side.

Happosai was there, sitting cross-legged.  He was mumbling
phrases that seemed nonsensical to Ranma.  Something about him
made Ranma feel quite uneasy.  Happosai had always seemed weird,
self-centered, and completely amoral.  But he'd never seemed
*really* crazy before.

Ranma thought it over, then called out.  "Hey, old man."

Happosai looked up, his eyes very wide.  "Ah, Ranma."

He tried to sound nonchalant.  "Whatcha doing?"

Happosai grinned.  "Thinking about how to punish you."

Oh damn.  "Ah, c'mon, I didn't mean nothin' by it.  I just..."
His imagination ran out.  How to explain trying to blast Happosai
without upsetting the geezer?  "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry?"  Happosai cackled.  "Yes, sorry, that's good."

Whew.  "Okay.  There's, er, this guy I'd like to have you talk
to."

"A guy?"  Happosai pouted.

"And a woman," Ranma shot out quickly.  "She's *real* pretty.
I'll bet she'll talk to you if you come."

"Oh, she'll talk to me."  Happosai's eyes gleamed.  "She'll talk
and wear nice clothes and-"

"Er, maybe."  Ranma smiled encouragingly.  "So, whaddya say?"

Happosai narrowed his eyes.  "And you?  What will you do for me?"

Ranma froze the smile on his face before it could become a look
of disgust.  How far was he willing to go to placate Happosai?
Man, this was hard.  "Okay... okay.  I'll change for you if you
like.  Will you come?"

Happosai nodded happily.  "Not a chance."

Ranma blinked.  "What?"

"You will do everything I want you to... but on my terms, not
yours."  Happosai gestured with his hand.

Ranma crashed hard to the ground with no clear memory of being
struck.  His body provided ample reminders that something bad had
happened to it very recently.  That had hurt.  Worse than before.

He struggled to his feet to see Happosai standing with shoulders
hunched, a gleam in his eyes and a smile on his face.  No, this
was definitely not good.

Aya called out, her voice ringing with authority.  Happosai's
eyes moved to gaze at her.  "My pretty!"  His hands gestured
again, and chi went flying, striking Aya hard.  While it dropped
her to her knees, Ranma could see a lot of the chi being
diverted, as if she was surrounded by a shield.

"Stop!"  Ranma bounded over to Happosai, hoping to get close
enough to do something before another chi blast would send him
flying.

Unfortunately, he forgot that Happosai was a good fighter, too.
Ranma was able to block a few punches before a blow to his jaw
dropped him, dizzy.

He looked up in time to see Happosai get hit by a chi blast.
Happosai groaned but kept his feet.  Ranma looked at Aya,
wondering in a detached way if he should call them PE blasts when
she used them.

Happosai began to laugh again.  Chi began to emanate from him, a
large fiery nimbus that made the sun appear to dim.  It gathered
itself in front of Happosai and went flying.  Ranma saw Aya try
to duck under it but still get struck.  She screamed once,
quickly cut off.

Ranma shouted.  In one, single quick moment, he gathered chi and
threw it at Happosai.  It wasn't well-focused, however, and
Happosai merely grimaced as it washed over him.

Ranma leapt at Happosai, tackling him and rolling over and over
on the ground.  Then Happosai began to burn.  That's what it felt
like to Ranma, anyway, and he cried out and flung Happosai away.
He realized immediately that this was a tactical mistake.  He
tried to position himself, make himself ready for whatever
Happosai tried next.

He didn't succeed.

The blast was much narrower than Happosai's previous blasts, and
it struck Ranma in the chest - and kept on striking.  Ranma
gasped, suddenly unable to breathe, and tried to block the chi
with his hands.  But he couldn't get his hands in front of it,
the blast appeared to be pure force, pushing out and away,
crushing his lungs.

Ranma looked up at Happosai, his vision going red.  He reached
out towards Happosai in a vague kind of plea.

Happosai grinned happily.  "Ready to bow to me now, Ranma?"

And then Aya attacked.

Ranma was at first only aware of a shimmering off to one side.
He looked in time to see a burned and battered Aya *change*.  Her
skin rippled and turned a light blue.  From her back two...
things emerged.  They looked like wings, wings with sparse
feathers of steel.  And her eyes glowed, a bright, bright green.

She floated slowly off the ground, then flashed across the lot
like quicksilver.  She hovered over Happosai as he gaped at her,
in apparently delighted surprise.  Then she folder her wings and
did a kind of rapid somersault in the air.  The sharp blades
struck Happosai.  He screamed, and tried to form a kind of
barrier, incidentally dropping his attack on Ranma.

Ranma fell to the ground, drawing huge gasping breaths.  Another
scream, however, made him look up.  He saw Aya flip in the air
again, her wings striking at Happosai.  Happosai was no longer
smiling; instead, he looked very frightened.

Ranma could understand why.

He staggered to his feet.  Aya struck again, and whatever barrier
Happosai had erected shattered.  Aya smiled slightly, and
gathered herself.

Ranma stumbled over and put himself between her and Happosai.
"Stop!"

She'd already begun her flip, but managed to twist herself
sufficiently so that her wings whipped by to one side of Ranma's
face.  Even a near-miss almost dropped him.  All the power he'd
felt from her before was nothing compared to whatever she'd
become now.

Ultimate Being.  Damn straight.

She hovered over him, her expression cold.  ~Move aside.~

Ranma felt his knees go weak.  She wasn't speaking - her mouth
didn't move.  But he could hear her, words that echoed within
themselves, and freaking him out even more than he already way.
"N-no.  That's enough."

~It is not enough.  You saw what he did.  He is too dangerous.~

"And you're not?"  Ranma bit back more words like that.  "You've
beaten him.  You don't need to kill him."

~He was killing *you*.~

"No he wasn't!  He just wanted to... to humiliate me."

Her eyes glowed a little more brightly.  ~Are you sure?  Do you
trust his control enough to say that he would not have killed
you?~

Ranma felt the automatic answer die on his lips under the glow of
her eyes.  "No."

~He must die.  Before his mitochondria get out of control.~

"No!  Dammit, there have to be other ways!"

~You weren't there, Ranma.~  Her 'voice' sounded a touch sad.
~You didn't see what Eve did.  The abominations she created.  And
the people - the people burned.  All around me, they burned and
died.  Or they melted.~

Her eyes dimmed, and Ranma could feel her pain like sandpaper on
his brain.  ~They melted, their mitochondria destroying them from
the inside.  Eve used their bodies to create a monster.  And to
birth the Ultimate Being.  People were just *clay* to her.  It
didn't matter that they died.~  Her vision returned from whatever
the past had been showing her and focused sharply on Ranma again.
~I cannot allow that to happen again.  No matter what.~

Ranma swallowed.  "Okay, that sounds bad.  But Happosai's
mitochondria ain't taking him over.  The Doc said that other
things had to happen.  He's just a little weird and perverted.
He's not a monster."

~The way he acted just now, and you do not see him as a monster?~

Ranma wiped his brow.  All this thinking was hard work.  "Well,
there's monsters and monsters.  I... I think we gotta do
something about him, you're right.  But we don't gotta kill him."

She spread her wings, and Ranma felt very much like an ant
underneath a magnifying glass.  ~I do not need your permission.
You could not withstand me.~

Ranma drew a breath, more frightened then he'd ever been in his
life.  "If you kill me and Happosai, who will be the monster?"

For long seconds, Aya didn't move.  For long seconds, Ranma
didn't breathe.

~You are right.~  She folded her wings and floated to the ground.
~Maybe you are right.~

Ranma let out a huge breath.  He dropped to one knee, his hand
over his face, completely spent.

A hand clasped his shoulder.  He looked up to see Aya looking
human again.  A very tired-looking human, but normal skin tones
and no wings made Ranma feel a lot better about her.  She tilted
her head at him inquiringly.

"I'm okay."  He stood up.  "Let's bring him to Dr. Maeda."

She nodded.  They gathered up Happosai and left the lot.

---

Ranma look up as Akane burst into the lab.  She looked a bit
frantic.  "Are you okay?"

He tried to hide his exhaustion with a smile.  "Yeah.  We got
him."

She didn't seem convinced, but thankfully didn't pursue the
subject of his condition, instead looking over to where Happosai
lay snoring.  "What'd you do to him?"

"Merely a sedative."  Dr. Maeda sounded distracted as he tapped
away at a keyboard.  "He'll be out for a few hours.  I think we
can find a way to limit the PE his mitochondria produce.  Before
he wakes up, I think we'll have him under control."

Akane spent a minute absorbing that.  "Is that... right?  Can we
do that?"

"We gotta."  Ranma spoke quietly.  "Dr. Maeda says that Parasite
Energy is on the rise all around the world.  The mitochondria in
Happosai is on the verge of taking him over.  And that would be
bad."

Akane spoke quietly.  "It... just won't seem like Happosai
without all his tricks.  I keep thinking that you'll be taking
the joy out of his life."

Ranma had been thinking about that himself.  "I know.  It's
just... there's tradeoffs.  It's either this or he gets out of
control and kills someone by accident.  Or by purpose."

"Or we can kill him."

Ranma glared at Aya.  "I said we don't do that."

"I know.  I was merely delineating the spectrum.  In the choice
of evils, this seems like the best one."

"I guess."  Ranma shook his head.  "Akane's right, though, it
ain't right.  We gotta find a better way."

"We have to find what's causing the mitochondria to get excited."
Dr. Maeda stopped tapping at his computer to turn and face them.
"If we can reverse that trend, these kind of measures won't be
necessary."

"I thought killing the Eves would have stopped it."  Aya shook
her head.  "But then the opera house... and now here in Japan.
There must be a reason.  We must find that reason."

"Yeah."  Ranma looked at the old man, looking much less fearsome
now.  "I keep thinking of what a world full of Happosais would be
like."

"Ranma."  Akane sounded troubled.  "What's going on?  How can you
understand her."

"Hmm?"  Ranma frowned.  "What?"

"Aya.  She's still speaking English but you seem to understand
her now."

"Oh."  Ranma shared a look with Aya.  "We... while fighting
Happosai, she and I shared a connection or something.  When she
speaks, I can understand her."

He expected Akane to get angry.  Instead, she looked a lot more
troubled.  And a little hurt.  "You said 'we'.  'We' have to find
a better way.  What's that mean?"

Ranma gathered himself mentally.  "It means that there're a lot
of people I know about who've got lots of chi.  You know - Ryoga.
Herb.  Saffron - he even does the physical transformation thing.
Aya and Dr. Maeda are gonna need help tracking 'em down and
figuring out if their mitochondria is getting outta control.  I
think I can do that.  I think I can help."

Akane sat down on a stool.  "Yes.  Yes, Ranma, you can help."

Ranma felt desperate for some reason.  "And this is real
important."

"Yes, it's very important."

"Akane..."  Ranma stood up and went over to her.  "I ain't going
nowhere.  I mean, we may need to go a few places but... but..."

Akane looked up at him calmly.  "But what, Ranma?"

Ranma swallowed.  "But home will always be with you guys."

The held each other's gazes for a long time.

Aya came up.  She clasped Akane's forearm.  "Do not worry, Akane.
I will watch over him.  I'll make sure he returns to you."  She
tapped Akane on the chest.  "To *you*."

Akane looked steadily at Aya.

Ranma cleared his throat.  "She said-"

"I know what she said."

Ranma blinked.  "You understand her English?"

"Ranma, there are some things that can be communicated without
words."  Akane looked back at him.  "Can we go home?"

Ranma heaved a silent sigh of relief.  "Well, I'd like to wait
until Dr. Maeda is finished with Happosai.  Then I'll bring him
home with me."

"That'd be good."  Akane stood up.  "I'll go on ahead and let
everyone know what's happened."

"Okay."  Ranma paused.  "See you later."

"Later."  Akane turned away and walked slowly out of the lab.

Aya smiled mischievously.  "She loves you, Ranma.  A lot."

Ranma frowned at her.  "No I don't!"

Aya laughed.  "Was I talking about you?"

"Hey!"  Ranma blinked.  "What?"

"Anyway, that's not important right at the moment."  Aya walked
over to Happosai.  "We have to find more people like Happosai."

"Yeah."  Ranma forced himself to calm down a little.  "If we can
find Ryoga, I'll bet he'll come in willingly.  He can be a pain
but he's become a lot mellower since he met his girlfriend.  He
won't be a problem."

"Good."  Aya sounded very contemplative.  "The fewer incidents
like this, the better."

Ranma ventured a question.  "What happened?  With the wing
thing?"

Aya took a moment to answer.  "It's what the mitochondria wants
to do to me.  I let it transform me, but I stay in control."

"Do you."

Aya tightened her lips.  "That's a question, isn't it?  I wanted
to kill him.  After what I went through in New York, I wanted to
kill him to make sure it never happened again.  But the question
is, was it me or the mitochondria that wanted to kill?"

"Will-"  Ranma forced the question out.  "Will what happened to
you happen to me?"

Aya smiled fleetingly.  "No.  I'm special.  I had doctors
experiment on me, don't forget.  And Dr. Maeda and I will be
watching you."

Ranma gave her a look.

She nodded and looked very grim.  "Yes, I know.  And part of your
job will be watching me.  Ranma, I want you to promise me that if
I look like I'm losing control that you'll put a bullet in my
brain and burn my body."

"I kinda don't think it'll come to that."

"I hope that you are right."

"I am."

She quirked a corner of her mouth.  "And modest."

"Modesty has always been one of my points."

"Has it?"

"Just not one of my better ones."

Aya chuckled.  "I think I'm going to like working with you,
Ranma.  I am so glad that there's someone in the world whose life
is just as strange as mine."

Ranma grinned.  "Two of a kind, eh?"

Beautiful green eyes smiled at him from underneath light blonde
hair.  "I had a sister once.  It'll be nice to have a kindred
spirit once more."

"Yeah.  Just don't do that angel thing too often, okay?"

"I promise.  Believe me, I enjoy it much less than you might
think."

It was Ranma's turn to laugh.  "Naw.  I mean, you don't have to
tell me about having your body change form ain't fun."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."  Ranma raised an eyebrow.  "Think the Doc can figure out
how to keep me male?"

Aya gaped.  "What?"

~*~

Author's Notes:  This is based on the so-called cinematic RPG
called "Parasite Eve" for the Playstation.  This fanfic turned
out to be a lot more talky than I wanted it to be.  I had to
provide too much background info and do too much explaining about
how chi is like Parasite Energy.

All of Aya's attacks in this fanfic are based on the game,
including the slowing of Happosai and the angel attack (it's
extremely powerful but uses all of your PE).

Some of what's said about mitochondria is true and some of it is
pure science fiction.  In fact, the game is a continuation of a
book published in Japan by the same name.  Thus the reference to
the two Eves - one's from the book, the other's from the game.

Cool game, btw.  And I really like Detective Aya brea.  Lara
Croft, move over.

Anyway, if you made it this far, thanks for reading.  Again, all
comments and suggestions very welcome.  I'd like to make this
better; I wanted it to work but I was very disappointed with the
result.  In short, I think this is one of the worst stories I've
ever written.  ^_^  But I'd like to improve it with your help.
I've been terrible lately about responding to comments, but I
promise I'll respond to everyone who writes me from now on.  :)

-Richard