...That's better.

"Perversion Incarnate."  Ranma grumbled.  "His name is Happosai.  He's 
the 
Master of the School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, but mainly he's a 
big
pervert."  

"You mean that thing was human?"  Akiko said with disgust.

"We're not sure about that...."  Nabiki answered.  

"Ugh."  Akiko replied.  "I think I need a bath...."

------------------------------------------------------------

It was later decided by Akiko that the twins would stay in the basement,
Nozomu having assured the Tendos that they could work it into a second 
guest
area.  That being settled, Ranma and Nozomu retired to the dojo to spar.

Ranma and Nozomu faced each other on opposite sides of the dojo.  Ranma 
still wore his traditional outfit, while Nozomu had switched to a black 
t-shirt and red camoflague fatigues, kind of like a reversed effect. 
Nozomu, knowing the limitations of his abilities compared to Ranma, was
equipped with both chainblades.  

Ukyo, as acting referee, stepped between them,  carrying one of her 
throwing
spatulas in her hand.  Silently, she tossed the spatula into the air.  
both
fighters watched, almost transfixed, as it fell to the floor.  the 
second it
imbedded itself into the floor of the dojo, Ukyo jumped back out of the 
line 
of fire.  Nozomu flung out the first chainblade at a mid-level flight. 
Ranma 
sidestepped the attack and ducked the return strike.  Nozomu rushed 
forward, 
catching the disc as it flew back, and launched a flying kick at Ranma.  
Ranma jumped over the attack and flipped over, kicking Nozomu in the 
back of
the head.  Nozomu rolled to his feet and threw both chainblades out to 
the 
sides, then rushed forward again,  Ranma kicked at him, but he ducked, 
pirouetted, and came across with a roundhouse kick on his way back up.  
The 
chainblades circled around and came at Ranma from the sides.  Ranma 
instinctively jumped straight up to avoid the strikes, but the weapons 
turned 
upwards and came after him.  He kicked one of them away, but the other 
caught 
him under the chin.  Nozomu jumped after Ranma, grabbed his neck, and 
slammed 
him back to the ground.  

Ranma got up as Nozomu recalled his chains.  They circled around, sizing
each other up, <His skills are pretty basic,>  Ranma thought, <But he's 
good.  It's those seeker attacks that keep getting his opponents.>

<He's not gonna fall for the chainblades for long.>  Nozomu 
concentrated.
<And he's much too fast for me like this, not to mention the fact that 
he
hits like a Brodkil.  Guess it's time to up the ante then!>  His right
gem flared, and he was surrounded by his battle aura.  

Ranma took a step back.  <So you wanna play that game, huh?>  Ranma 
gathered
his confidence, allowing his battle aura to visibly grow.  Concentrating 
a
little of it into a ball, he unleashed a small ki-blast.  "Moku 
Takabisha!"

Nozomu tried to block the attack, but somehow it obliterated his aura, 
and
knocked him back to the wall.  His body seemed to ripple as something 
popped
out of his chest.  He crumpled to the ground, knocked out.  

"Nozomu!"  Akiko cried, rushing to her brother's side.  once she touched 
his
cheek, he awakened.  "Are you okay?"

"Uhnn...."  Nozomu groaned weakly.  "What the hell was that, Ranma?"

"That was just a weak Ki-blast, there's no way that should've happened!"

Nozomu got to his feet.  "Ki?"

"Yeah,"  Ranma replied,  "Kind of like your life force, or something 
like
that."

"Hmmmm....  Ranma, hit me with another blast, a stronger one."

"Are you crazy?"  Akiko protested,  "That last one could have killed 
you!"

"That attack pierced my offensive aura like it was nothing,"  Nozomu 
shouted, 
"And now I can't call it back up!  If I have a critical weakness, I
need to know just how bad it is."  Turning back to Ranma, his blue gem
flared, and a blue aura surrounded him.  "Do it, Ranma."  

Ranma charged his Ki again, gathering it into a ball.  Silently, he let 
it
loose.  The ki energy slammed into Nozomu's arua with the force of a 
pickup.
The field dispersed the blast with a discordant shudder, but the aura 
winked
out.  "What the-"

Nozomu winced, then smiled.  "Ki seems to disrupt my auras.  The Defense
aura can stop it, but..."  Nozomu's eyes went wide.  "...I can't use my
Battle Aura!"  He suddenly reached into his chest, his body rippling 
like
water as he moved it around.  "Where's my crystal?"

"was that that thing I knocked outta ya when you got hit?"  Ranma asked.

"You knocked something out of me? Where?"  Nozomu searched around the 
dojo,
finally coming up with a large amber crystal the size of a small 
football.
"Well that explains a lot."

"What is that?"  Nabiki asked.

"It's a long story."  Nozomu replied, "When I was little, I found two
crystals and the gems in my parent's room.  When I touched them, the
crystals entered my body, and the gems fused to my hands and forehead."
He pressed the crystal to his chest, and it sank into his body with a 
soft
rippling.  A deep, melodious tone rang out, and was answered by the 
amber
gem.  With a final resonation, the offensive aura returned, flaring for 
a
second, then subsiding.  "The crystals are a part of me, and the source 
of
my power, the gems are like a conduit of that power.  The question is, 
why
does Ki energy disrupt it like that?"  After a silent moment of thought,
he shrugged.  "Eh.  I'm hungry, let's have dinner!"

Everyone save Lina, who was in complete agreement, facefaulted.

------------------------------------------------------

Later that evening, Akiko and Nozomu were preparing for bed.  Akiko was 
dressing in the changing area between the bathroom and the hallway, and 
Nozomu
was inside, having just finished his bath.  Lina and Ukyo had already 
gone 
home, the three of them still going through a little portal-lag.  

"So how long before we gotta take Saotome with us?"  asked Nozomu.  "And 
better yet, how are we gonna get him to go?"

"We have until the end of Summer, and I dunno.  We'll figure it out when 
the
time comes, maybe he'll just agree to go."

"You mean like Lina 'Start-Talking-Before-I-Tac-Nuke-Ya' Inverse?"

"Hey, we did convince her to go."

"And we're gonna be losing our allowances for a year over that too."  He 
hung his head, sighing.  "Mama's gonna kill us!"

"Hey, Turner-sama'll reimburse us!" Akiko replied.  "Besides, we got a 
load
of people to collect from this universe."

"Really?  Okay.  G'night, sis."

"Goodnight."  They finished dressing and exited the bathroom.

Downstairs, Ranma and Akane were having their late-evening argument,
followed
by Ranma's late evening flight across town.  Genma-Panda and Soun were 
once
again playing shogi on the porch while Happosai was glomping his way 
across
the United States of America on his way back.  With the exception of the 
twins 
sleeping soundly upstairs, it was a normal night at the Tendo household.

==========================================================

Somewhere above the Tendo home, a lone female figure(insert wolf whistle 
here)
appeared in mid-air.  She looked down upon the scene below and smiled.

"So it's begun already.  I hope Nova knows what he's doing."

A ball of Dark Fire erupted next to her, unseen by human eyes.  

"And when have I not?"  Nova asked as he appeared in the fireball's 
wake.
Nova was a dark being in almost every sense of the word.  His skin, 
hair, 
and cloak were a shade of black normally reserved for black holes.  his 
pale 
white eyes and the fact that he was wearing a chrome-silver suit of 
armor was 
the only way the woman could see him against the night sky.  

"Do you really want me to count?"

"Please, Urd-Sama, I get enough of that from Turner."  Nova groaned. 
"Besides, if anything happened to them, their mother would kill me!  So, 
you gave up that monitor teleportation bit?"

"Oh, so you found him already?"  the goddess asked.  "And of course not.  
I've been here as long as they have, just invisible."

"Didn't your sister tell you?"  Nova replied, "I actually found him 
before
I knew it was him."

"Small Megaverse."  Urd smiled.  "Can I help, Nova-chan?"

Nova scowled, shaking his head.  "Last time you 'helped' me, I ended up
with four girlfriends of diverse species.  And don't call me 
'Nova-chan!'"  

Urd smiled, then quickly took a sadder, more serious tone.  "You do 
realize 
their presence could shatter her world.  She's worked so hard for this, 
and 
I don't think she'll like it when those kids let her secret out."

"I'm sorry, but I don't see any other way.  Maybe it's for the best."  
With 
another flare of black fire, Nova vanished. Urd faded away a moment 
later.

Somewhere in a truly _massive_ labratory, a scientist checked her 
sensors.  
Sure enough, ther was a spike in the dimensional barriers on this plane, 
and
something powerful had come through into Tenchi's dimension.  For some 
reason, the signature seemed a little familiar...

============================================================================

And we're done with chapter one.  This is my second fanfic, and a 
continuation of the first one, taking place a few years after the end of 
Bubblegum Rift.  As a result, it contains a few spoilers, naturally.  
Mainly
who survived, at least long enough to hook up and have kids.  Three 
guesses
to the parents of the twins, and you'll need all three of them.  (The 
first 
two might be obvious, but you never know ^_^.)

So how did they meet Lina Inverse, and how did they convince her to come 
with them?  And what do Nova and the twins want with her and Ranma?  I'M 
NOT 
TELLING!  NYAH, NYAH!  Well, I'll tell eventually, but not now.

Comments go to SAMAS_1@Hotmail.com.  Flames go to the fireplace, it's 
cold 
outside.




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