Notes : This is set six months after the end of the manga. Meaning
        the characters are a little more grown up, especially Ranma,
        and there are a few things that happened in-between that
        you�ll find out as the fic goes on. Comments are welcomed at
        ranma_666@hotmail.com, and flames can be sent at
        someone@who-cares.com. Thank you. I�d like to thank all of my
        pre-readers for their help and support. You can archive this
        fic if you want (as if!) as long as it�s not changed and I�m
        given credit. Enjoy.

******

Disclaimer

Ranma characters are not mine.
The Sliders idea isn�t mine. (sigh) I�ve changed the timer concept,
mainly so that Ranma goes, which is the main idea of the fic.
Other disclaimers to follow.

�   � spoken
�   � thought

******


     Slider Ranma

     Prologue


     In the small vacant lot not too far from the dojo, Ranma
was enjoying what little spare time he had alone. It was a rare feat
to be alone for him, and to be seen with a genuine happy smile, but
sometimes he just had to sneak out of the weirdness that seemed to
revolve around him.

     Out of nowhere, a blue vortex appeared. Ranma sat, curious,
but not too surprised. Stranger things had happened. Four people
came out of it, one after the other, slamming on the ground, all
groaning. Three men, one woman, all japanese, looking around 25
years of age.

     The smartest looking one was holding a remote of some sort and
punching buttons. He looked at the others with a smile. "Guys, I
think this is it. We're home." The three others hugged each other.
Ranma jumped from his perch in the tree and stood next to the man
with the remote. "Hey, who are you guys?" He received blank looks.

     "Eh... I'm Yoshi, this is Ken, this is Daisuke and that's
Shori. We're... emm... travelers." Ranma nodded slowly. "Yeah, I
saw you. Travelers from where? Or maybe when? Or maybe both?" he
asked, hand on chin. Shori put a slender hand on Yoshi's arm.
"Yoshi dear, are you sure we're in the right dimension?"

     The man pushed buttons again on his remote. "Yeah, the numbers
are right. This is the right place." Ranma slowly nodded. "Don't be
bothered by me. I've led a weird life. I guess now I've seen all
kinds of travelers." He shrugged. "What's the others dimensions
like?"

     "Just like this one, except the 'what ifs' did happen. And
sometimes, they're millions of years old." Yoshi slapped Ken on the
shoulder. "It's not that simple, man." He turned to Ranma. "You
see, it's like this, --" Ranma raised a hand to stop him.

     "I get it. Either the dinosaurs didn't go extinct, or aliens
invaded the earth, or somebody got the big career break they always
wanted, or you asked this girl out instead of that one. Things like
that, right? That's not really weird. Can I try?"

     "Not weird?" Daisuke said. "Not weird?" he repeated, voice
getting loud. "Not weird?!?" he shouted, this time shaking Ranma by
his shirt. "You haven't seen it, pal!!! It's inhuman, I tell you!
Inhuman!!"

     Ranma calmly distangled his shirt from the enerved man's
grasp. "Could it be weirder than a guy who turns into a girl
with cold water, has four fiancees, blew up a mountain fighting a guy
with wings in his back and returned to life, all the while fighting
off about twenty guys out to kill him? I don't think so. So I ask
you again. Can I try?"

     Yoshi looked at his remote, at Ranma, at the others, and at
Ranma again. "Well, I don't think I want to go back. If you want
it, you can have it, but you need a few explanations." He got near
Ranma and showed him the remote nearer.

     "This is the timer. It counts down to the next time you can do
the portal. If you miss it, it's 29.4 years to the next. You have
to press here. If you let it, it gets to a random universe. If you
enter a series of numbers in this screen, you can select your
universe of destination. Okay?" Ranma nodded.

     Yoshi took a pen from his pocket and wrote a very long string
of numbers on the back of the remote. "That's this dimension's
number. Don't lose it, or you'll never come back here without
someone who knows how to slide."

     Ranma nodded, accepting completely what was said. It was the
only way for him to remember something scientific. "Also, don't
lose or damage the timer." Yoshi added, hitting the remote with a
finger.

     Ranma took the timer and looked at it. "Is there a place in
the frame where I could make a hole? I'd pass a cord so I could
hang it around my neck." The four looked at each other. "Why didn't
we think of that?" "Yeah, it would've saved us a lot of trouble."
"Guys, let's stop worrying about that. We're home, and it's his
problem now." The three men nodded. "Good luck, man. You'll need
it." Ranma shook his head. "When you're a martial artist, luck has
nothing to do with it."

     "Yeah, well, you'll still need it. By the way, the timer is as
compact as it can be. No places for holes. And remember, this trip
*can* be one way. Think about what you're leaving behind." With
that, they all left towards downtown Tokyo. Ranma looked at the
timer while walking back to the dojo.

     �A change would do me good, but... leaving everyone... ...
Then again, they won't be able to pursue me...� He smiled slightly
at this thought. Maybe a change of pace would be good for him. And,
as his father would put it, make him appreciate what he had.

     �Ah, why not? I can come back whenever I want. I'll just tell
them I'm going on a training trip, alone. If they push anyone on
me, I'll lose them with this.� He slowly shook the timer. �I'll do
it. Besides, I might meet someone who can teach me a thing of two.
And it'll really be training, on my social skills.� He smiled.
�Meeting myself might be fun, too.�

     He looked at the time. He had about ten hours, plenty of time to get 
ready tomorrow morning. He sighed and decided to get a good night's sleep.

     But sleep didn't want to come. Ranma was too 'giddy' about a
trip to the unknown to rest. As quietly as possible, he put the
last things to complete his always-ready backpack, placed his lucky
shirt on his desk, covering the timer, and got downstairs for a
snack.

     Every once in awhile, his insomnia could be cured by filling
his stomach. Except this time, he was having butterflies. "I can't
believe it!" he whispered to himself harshly. "Ranma!" He knocked
his head. "Get a grip! Nothing makes you nervous! Nothing!"

     Upstairs, in her room, Nabiki listened incredulously, pressing
one side of her earphones to her head. She had never seen, or
rather heard, Ranma act that way. Something was happening.

     Hearing only Ranma-vacuum (TM) downstairs, she listed
possibilities. Ranma is choosing one girl. Near impossible. Ranma
is running away. Infinitesimal chance. Ranma is going on a training
trip, alone. Possible, but not something that would make him so
jumpy.

     Whatever it was, it was going down soon. She would follow him
tomorrow, the entire day if need be. Her movement alarm flashed,
putting Ranma on his way up. She quickly closed her equipment and
got to bed.

     She fell asleep a second before Ranma put his foot on the
second floor. Her ability to fall asleep whenever wherever was
something she took pride in. Feigning sleep was something too
dangerous sometimes, for discovery was worse than humiliation.

*******

     Genma woke up, as usual, way before the sun, thus five minutes
before his son. He quickly brushed his outfit, did a few stretches
to warm up and a few sit-ups to put on a little sweat. His
masquerade now on, he could wake up Ranma yelling he was awake for
a good hour.

     Except when he turned to face the boy, he was already sitting,
arms crossed and eyes showing no more than slivers. "Eh eh, son,
it's time for practice. You still have much to do before besting
me."

     Ranma nodded in a way only Nabiki would know he was mocking
his old man, and rose. �If I can prove just how worthless he is as
a teacher,� he thought, �he won't object too much to my training
trip.�

     And so, for the first time since the big China incident, Ranma
prepared himself to give it all. Before Genma jumped outside, Ranma
helped him, pushing him outside in mid�flight. Once a good ten feet
from the house, just as Genma began to get a grip on his son, he
suddenly changed directions at a sharp angle, slamming in the
ground, rock right in the middle back.

     He barely groaned before Ranma too turned a sharp angle in the
air, foot colliding right over where the rock was. Genma was sure
he felt a few ribs crack at that one. Before he could recover, he
was very hard-kicked in the pond.

     Finally getting his second breath, even if he was in panda
form, he jumped out, only to see Ranma twenty feet away one moment,
and in his face the next, doing a two-punch combo in the stomach
followed by a roundhouse that went right through his best defense,
knocking him out faster than Ranma had moved.

     Ranma took one deep breath, steadied himself, and retrieved
his father from the wall. After dumping him in plain view in the
courtyard, he went upstairs, and checked the timer. Two hours. One
until breakfast, and forty minutes after that. He slipped in his
usual black pants and carefully put on his lucky red shirt. He hid
the timer inside, patted the spot, making sure it didn't stand out,
and sighed.

     Through controlled breathing, Ranma opened all of his senses,
and set out to do one last tour of the house and dojo. Very
quietly, eyes closed, he walked around the house, taking in all the
sounds; Akane snoring, Nabiki breathing lightly, Kasumi getting up,
barely a whisper, the house settling, wood cracking here and there,
Soun Tendo talking in his sleep, of a future Ranma would shake his
head to, taking in all the smells; the newly accumulated dust, the
smell of cleanliness from the kitchen, the bubbles from the
bathroom, and, as the birds sang outside and the sun slowly got up,
Ranma was truly at home, truly at peace with his outstanding life
and typical weirdness.

     As he sat there, on the rock near the pond, Ranma withdrew
himself from the world, this time exploring mentally the places he
could not visit before his trip. His best friend's restaurant,
okonomiyakis tasting better than they smelled while cooking. The
usual ramen chinese�style softly boiling while a few spices were
added, sometimes magical, sometimes not. The school, a very used
fighting spot, and home to more than a few awkward moments. He
triggered all his memories, of his home, of his district, making it
very precise in his mind. When he came back, he would know
instinctively he was home.

     Nabiki saw all of this; so did a small purple cat. The cat
only put it in Ranma's calm side. After all, everyone needs a
little calmness once in a while. The cat purred lightly and ran
back home, getting ready for her daily morning glomp. The other
girl, however, didn't dismiss it so easily. Combined with the
night's events, she was now sure Ranma was going away on a training
trip. It just seemed, however, that he wasn't coming back.
Nabiki didn't understand completely her instincts, but she trusted
them fully.

     She returned to her room and wrote herself a sick note. The
school would know it was fake, but they would never *dream* of
contesting it. She put a pair of long jeans and a blue sky shirt
under her school dress, and instead of books put in her school bag
camera, a few roll of films, her laptop and a few other musts for
a decent stalking expedition. Ranma was planning something, and
something was telling her he wasn't going too far. Nabiki opened
her secret drawer and took a few wads of bills, just to be sure. On
a whim, she took a little more.

     A gentle, soothing voice came from downstairs, and Nabiki
quickly tied her runningshoes before going down for breakfast.
Akane was silent, probably because of something Ranma said, while
he was silent too.

     She noted Genma was still unconscious outside, and her father
looked pretty upset about it. After a delicious breakfast, Ranma
got up solemly and looked at Soun. "Mr. Tendo, my father has
finally proved to be useless in my training. I'm going on a
training trip on my own for a little while."

     To the surprise of everyone, Soun merely nodded. "Of course.
Would you consider taking my daughter with you?" "Dad!" an outraged
Akane replied, but she was dismissed. "Mr. Tendo, it's important
that I go alone. Besides, I believe my father is now free of any
students. I volunteer Akane as a student." "Hey!!" once again, but
she was listened as much as the previous time. "Very well. You have
my blessing, as long as you come back." "I promise I will." Ranma
bowed to Soun, and went upstairs to get his pack.

     He reached the outside door with Akane, who looked at him full
of hope and sadness. "You're really going, aren't you?" He nodded.
"I have to go. To get away from everything here. When I get back,
maybe I'll stop dragging all of you girls around." At that, Akane
pulled back and crossed her arms.

     "Why don't you just go ahead and run to one of your other
fiancees." He smiled, but shook his head. "Because I have
conflicting feelings, and I don't know what love is." She blinked,
as well as the eavesdropping Nabiki. For Ranma to be philosophical,
or as close as he could get, something big had to be about to
happen.

     "And," he added thoughtfully, "just in case you don't believe
you have as much chances as the others..." he trailed off, but
didn't have to continue. They locked eyes, and with a hand on her
cheek guided her head to meet his in a sweet kiss. Neither heard
the camera click from inside the house.

     After a moment Ranma broke the kiss. He felt happy, relieved,
heart light for finally it had happened. Akane was torn between
Heaven and Hell. Ranma was finally showing some feelings, and he
was going away. "Ranma, can't I go with you?" He shook his head.
"Bye."  he said after a tender moment, and walked away in a
different direction than the school. Akane sighed, looked at the
sky, mouthed 'Why?' and walked to school, almost sulking.

     Nabiki wasn't sulking, however. She was almost jumping of joy.
She had just gotten the photo of the year. She followed Ranma as
soon as Akane was out of sight. After awhile, she quickly entered
an alley and dumped her school dress. She continued her stalking,
slinging her school bag on her shoulders Ranma style. Five minutes
later, Ranma got to the vacant lot, and leaned against the single
tree. He sighed loudly.

     The sky so blue, the air somewhat pure, and Akane's lips still
fresh on his own, Ranma smiled and looked at the timer. Twenty-five
minutes. Even with taking his time, he still had to wait. "Damn,"
he mused to himself, "I didn't think it would be so hard to leave
her behind."

     Nabiki, behind her wall, smiled. Ranma was waiting for
something -- or some*one*. There was still somewhat of a crowd on
the streets, so she got a little money out and bought herself a
magazine. She leaned on the wall and pretended to read it.

     Time passed, ever so boring, and finally the timer reached for
the home stretch. As it hit the zero mark, Ranma pointed it at
nowhere and pressed the button. Two electrical arcs came out of the
end and joined to form a blue portal, opening to places unknown.
Ranma put the timer back in his shirt, steadied himself, and jumped
in.

     Nabiki's eyes were the size of plates as she saw Ranma jump
and disappear in a vortex. She wasn't much into science, but she
was sure it was very hi-tech, and leading not quite here. Out of
curiosity, she slowly approached it. There was a slight wind
leading in, but nothing dangerous.

     As much as curiosity killed the cat, she had to touch it. A
slender hand reached in, and touched the blue something. She felt
energy crackle through her finger, a wonderful feeling, and reached
somewhat deeper. It was only when her hand began to enter that she
felt the pull. She tried to remove her hand, but too late. Nabiki
was sucked in just as the vortex closed, with a loud yell of
"Damn!!!!"

*******

     In Ranma's home dimension, in a not-too-much frequented hotel,
four weary travelers woke up in a familiar yet constantly different
large suite. Yoshi held his aching head up as he surveyed the
others, also with headaches. "What happened? Huh, who has the
timer?"

     One by one, they all got up and began searching first
themselves, then the room. "Damn," Daisuke said, "those pills hit
hard. I hope we don't ever go to a world like that again. I totally
freaked out, man. I could *swear* I just saw an anime character."

     The two guys snickered, but Shori's eyes went wide. "Eh, guys,
we have a problem." Three pair of disbelieving eyes turned towards
the girl. "What now," asked Ken, "you're having your period again?"
Shori got up, went to him, and slapped him, hard. "No. Daisuke's
right. We did meet an anime character." The guys blinked. Shori
started screaming. "We gave the timer to RANMA SAOTOME!!!!!"


     End Prologue

*******

     Chapter 1


     The blue tunnel seemed impossibly long yet unbelievably short.
Ranma promptly fell unceremoniously to the ground. He groaned. "Why
the hell did I do this?" he muttered to himself, face in the dirt,
and started to pick himself up. Then, a dead weight fell on him.
"Ouch!" Face in the dirt again, Ranma lowered his eyelids. He could
recognize that voice anywhere. "Nabiki, get off me."

     She promptly did, and Ranma got up as well. He shook the dirt
off his clothes, and glared at her. Then he noticed her glazed look
at the surroundings, and looked around himself. They were in the vacant
lot they started in, that much was evident, but the rest was
definitively not the same.

     Everything was destroyed. Only the base of walls and remnants
were left. All around them, no building had a roof, or a first
floor. Everything was scorched black, even cement walls. Ranma
jumped high, and turned around. At first he saw the burroughs, and
the devastation grew lighter near the horizon. He could see a few
two�story buildings still standing. Then he turned towards the city
itself. Buildings grew nearer the ground, until he saw an immense
crater, easily one kilometer in diameter.

     Right in the middle of what had once been downtown Tokyo. And
Ranma understood what the bad feeling he had had since he arrived was. 
Radiation.

     He barely touched the ground before taking Nabiki in his arms,
not hearing any protests she might have, and Ranma ran faster than
he ever had, directly away from downtown Tokyo. "What are you
doing? And why are you glowing?" Ranma kept his breath. "Ranma!"
Her cold eyes and icy tone made him talk before he realized it.
"Atomic bomb. Downtown Tokyo. Chi to protect from radiation. Stay
close."

     She blinked, got big eyes and held herself closer to his
chest, trying to focus what little energy she still had from her
training all those years ago. Very faintly, she glowed a deep blue,
which quickly turned green as Ranma fed her a small flow of chi to
help.

     Buildings grew in height, and pretty soon Ranma took a turn
into a well-conservated three-story building. He got to the
basement and thanked the gods it was an appartment building. In the
most central room, he gathered things to surround themselves in.
Blankets, mattresses, he even went in the upper appartments to get
enough. He gathered, and Nabiki organized. Not a word passed
between them, and it didn't take three minutes for them to be
surrounded.

     They found themselves on a kingsized mattress, surrounded by
smaller ones, even as a roof. Blankets covered each 'wall',
interior as well as exterior. A couple of red pillows on a corner
and two still working flashlights were the icing on the cake.
Finally, Ranma breathed in, breathed out, and stopped glowing.

     Neither talked, still stunned by the event this world had gone
through. Finally, Ranma checked the timer. He groaned. "We have two
days and a half before the next jump." Nabiki sighed. "So, this is
your training? Going to parallel earths?" He turned a flashlight on
her, and she raised an arm in her eyes' defense. "Yeah. Social
training. I didn't get any from pop, you know. And how come you're
here?"

     "I was curious, okay? I touched that vortex thing, and I was
sucked in." Ranma chuckled. Nabiki controled herself. �No,� she
thought, �for once I have no reason to hold it in.� "Funny?!? You
think this is funny?!? Tokyo was hit by an A-bomb, Ranma!!! Do you
realize how many people died?!?!?" she finished on all four,
face-to-face, inches away from him. He looked at her straight in the
eyes, and as moments passed, in the darkness, flashlight
illuminating an empty corner of their makeshift housing, he slowly
took her in his embrace, and began rocking her slowly.

     "It's okay, Nabiki... Let it out..." He heard a sob, and
smiled ever-so-slightly. "We're all right, Nabiki, we're alive...
We'll survive, and get away from all this..." Nabiki cried
silently. Ranma rocked her, rubbing her back gently, and finally
she disengaged from his embrace, sitting slightly away from him,
eyes red. "Thanks..." she said faintly, and his answer was a
blanket. He took a few pillows and laid them out. "Rest, Nabiki,
and we'll continue later."

     She slowly got comfortable, even under his gaze, and as he
turned off the flashlight she got into a foetal position, on the
side. He sighed, wondering where this side of her came from, where
the Nabiki he just calmed down fitted into the always-in-control
Nabiki everyone saw all the time. He shook his head, and turned the
question on himself. He never could face an angry or crying girl
before. Why now?

     Still wondering, he decided to heed his own advice and got to
sleep, still sitting.

*******

     This time, Ken slapped Shori. "Get ahold of yourself, girl! Do
you realized what you're saying?" The girl fell on her knees. "We
gave the timer..." she said softly, and head in hands started
crying. Daisuke slipped an arm around her to comfort her. Yoshi
started thinking. "At least, if I remember correctly, I gave him
the right number of this dimension. He should be back in a few
weeks."

     Ken shook his head. "Are you saying we're actually in a
cartoon dimension?" His face showed the disbelief as well as the
hope in his eyes. Yoshi put a hand on his shoulder. "In this
dimension, more than anything, you are not to interfere. More
importantly, we are *not* playing matchmakers. Ranma has to decide
by himself which fiancee he loves." Ken began sulking, and then his
face lit up. "No," Yoshi continued, "you are not meeting anyone of
the cast. An outside influence could be catastrophic. I'll go talk
to Nabiki, to find out when we are in the story, and what could
happen with Ranma's disappearance. You three hide here."

     He calmly walked outside, direction Furinkan High. Somehow, he
just knew he'd meet someone, most probably Ryoga, on the way. Ken
shook his head and sighed. "Who died and made him boss?" he
snickered, and received two hard glares. He promptly showed
embarrassment.

*******

     Nabiki slowly woke up and stretched, and all notions of dreams
disappeared when she opened her eyes. The dark was silent. �Now if
only *this* could be a dream.� she thought bitterly, and started to
pat the mattress around her for a flashlight. Turning around in the
dark, she stumbled on Ranma, once again finding herself in his lap.
She slowly pulled herself up, leaning on him, never really wanting
him to wake up. She berrated herself for losing control like she
did.

     She took the flashlight in Ranma's hand, and looked around
their camp. Pillows, blankets, and their packs. Ranma's breathing
seemingly regular, she inched towards his backpack and went through
it. Not much food, she noted, only instant ramen. It wasn't worth
anything without a fire. A sleeping bag, a tent, a lighter, a few
clothes, a swiss knife, and a small wad of bills. She looked at
him, and shook her head. He really could travel light.

     Her watch told her it was midafternoon. Not enough time had
passed, if you asked her, but the sooner they got away from Tokyo,
the better. With a sigh, she shook him by the shoulders. No
response. Miffed, she prepared herself to slap him. "That won't be
necessary, Nabiki." he said, amused, as he sat correctly to face
her. "I've been awake for awhile now."

     She blinked, trying to come up with a reason for her search,
but only shrugged. "Come on, Ranma. I think it'd be best if we got
farther away." He nodded. "Put your bag in my backpack, and we'll
run like this morning." She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

     "Trying to take advantage of me, Ranma?" Nabiki said with a
smirk. "What would Akane say?" "I-I-I--" "Just teasing you." She
did as told, and helped him put the pack on. Finally, Ranma, still
crouching, took her in his arms like before, and started concentrating.
He quickly started glowing a light yellow, so did Nabiki. "You don't
have to do it for me, you know." He looked at her. "Yellow protects
better than green or blue. Unless you want to get irradiated." He
promptly kicked a 'wall', and before everything collapsed ran out.

     He ran out of the city until the sun came down. All the while,
Ranma explained what he knew about the timer, and she found out
just what some other buttons were there for.

     Came dusk, they were very far away from the city. They had
entered the forest a few minutes before, and decided to make camp
surrounded as much as possible by vegetation. Nabiki prepared the
site while Ranma went to get food. Once again, no words were
spoken, and dinner was silent.

     "So," Nabiki said, "we're stuck here for another two days?",
motioning to the surroundings. "Apparently." he agreed. "There's
not much we can do. It's not that recent, so we won't find anyone
before we have to go. And I want to stay in the Tokyo area. We seem
to stay in the same place when we travel between earths, and I'd
like to meet myself."

     She just shook her head. Ranma had no idea of the consequences
involved in meeting himself. No matter. "By the way, we're no
longer in the Tokyo area. We're at least 100 km away." He shrugged,
and finished his cup of water. "It's not too far away, Nabiki. Only
a few hours' worth of running. We can always hitch a ride, once on
the next earth." She nodded, and silence came. Soon, the only light
came from the fire.

     "You know, I don't think the number that Yoshi guy gave you
was right." "You don't?" he asked, incredulous. "But if it's not
the right number..."

     "Don't worry, Ranma. There's a function on this thing for the
last dimension's number." He sighed audibly. She pressed it, and
took down the numbers. She frowned, and tapped the timer. She
pressed the button two times, but no change. "Ranma, we have a
problem. The last digit disappeared."

     Ranma dismissed any concern in her voice with a shrug. She
idly wondered where this feeling of security came from. "So? I was
planning for a few weeks, at least. We'll do a couple of jumps, and
when we tire we'll go for home-D. There's only ten possibilities,
after all." She smiled slightly. "You're impossible, Ranma. What
makes you think that I'll come with you?"

     Ranma held up three fingers while gulping down a cup of water.
"One: you were curious about my trip. You'll get to know first hand
my experiences. Two: you're in this mess because of that curiosity
of yours, and I have no intention of going back only for that.
Three: we make a terrific team for this kind of voyage. I can
handle anything physical, and you are a master of everything
intellectual. Together, we're unbeatable."

     She blinked at his assessment. "You forgot one thing." She
replied, beginning to smile. He cocked his head. "This might be
fun." He smiled, and started laughing. After awhile, she joined him.

*******

     Yoshi waited, and waited, and waited, but he never saw Nabiki
get out of the school. After an hour, he headed for the famous
Tendo dojo. Nothing unusual happened on the way, and Yoshi almost
felt like he was really home. Almost. It seemed like a split second
before he was standing before the dojo. He looked for a tree on the
other side of the stone wall, and went over it there. Once safely
inside, he dropped an inappropriate ear.

     Everyone was quietly eating dinner. Akane seemed slightly
depressed, and that gave joy into two old men's hearts. If Akane
realized just how much she needed Ranma to be around, maybe Ranma
would do the same, and they would finally agree to get married.

     One member was missing, however. Nobody knew where Nabiki was,
but nobody would question her absence. She was almost constantly
out on business meetings. Soun was proud of his middle daughter.
She would make a fine businesswoman one day.

     Only Yoshi made the connection. Ranma must have acted somewhat
strangely and she followed him. As to what happened after that,
only kami-sama knew, though it surely involved a curious Nabiki.
Akane sighed audibly. "Are you all right, Akane?" Kasumi asked in
her sweet, melodious voice.

     "I'm all right. I just... wonder where the jerk went." the little
girl answered, and the two fathers started dancing of joy with each
other. "We should get them married as soon as he returns, Saotome!"
"I agree, Tendo! This wedding should go better than the first!"

     While Akane argued her point, that is, not getting married to
an 'insensitive jerk', Yoshi smiled and returned to his hotel. "At
least," he thought, "we're not disturbing the storyline. Everything
already happened."

*******

     Ranma slowly got out of his sleep, but knowing there wasn't
any point in getting up decided to stay in bed. He turned on his
other side, replaced his blanket and readjusted his soft pillow.

     Something felt wrong. He quickly sat up, now fully awakened.
He was in a room, no windows, something like a door with a slit in
it on the far wall. There was a counter, with kitchen appliances,
a sink, a small table with two chairs, a few lamps, some drawers
directly in the wall and a blue, soft light in a corner.

     He noted his backpack, untouched, leaning on the wall near the
bed. He also noticed his clothes, neatly arranged, on a chair. Down
to the boxers. He then noticed the contents on the other chair, and
turned to his bed companion. Luckily, she was not sleeping on her
back, for with his movements she was showing some skin. He quickly
got up and dressed, took a second to adjust his armbands, and threw
the other's clothes as hard as he could at her.

     "Hey!" she replied sharply, even if only half-awake. "What do
you think you're doing?" Then she raised herself with her arms, and
noticed what was hanging. "What did you..." she started, but never
finished. "I woke up same as you." Ranma said. "Get dressed." and
he turned his back at her after turning a few lamps on. She
promptly did and passed him as she went through the kitchen
supplies. She quickly found some instant coffee and as soon as the
water was hot she swallowed two cups.

     "Eh... You all right, Nabiki?" She turned an eye on him that
made him step back. "There's no end to the weirdness around you, is
it?" she said coldly, and he shrugged. After her third cup, he
pointed to the door. "You want to bust out, or do we wait for an
explanation?" That made her smile. The fact, pure and simple, that
together, every single possibility was more than just that. It was
doable. "Check the timer." she replied, and Ranma was relieved to
find her words light, bare of any hidden feelings.

     "One day and a half." he answered, and she nodded. "Just for
the heck of it, what happens if we miss it?" He looked at her with
a smile, wondering just how much coffee she could drink. "We wait
for the next one," he sensed her tension drain off, "in 29.4
years." She visibly tensed. "There's no way," she added, pointing
with the index of the hand holding her cup, "we're missing that
thing. I'm not spending 29.4 years in this messed-up world." He
nodded his agreement. "Me neither. What do you say we go do a
little exploring?"

     Ranma barely finished the words when the door opened sideways
and a short man in a military uniform entered, holding a pad in one
hand. His black boots resonated on the hard, carpet floor. Ranma
strongly suspected there was metal underneath, and it proved true,
for the hallway outside sported no carpets. "Good morning." he
said, emotionless. His military professionnalism was cristal clear.
"I'm private Hibiki, first class. I'm here to guide you to the
general."

     They exchanged looks, nodded, and after Ranma hid the timer in
his shirt they both followed him in silence. The hallway was
metallic, the floor was sometimes see�through, pipes visible under
the grid, as well as the ceiling. They sometimes led into the
walls, always near doors similar to their room's. They finally
reached the end, and the private slipped a magnetic card in a slit
in the wall. The whole end wall raised, leading to an elevator. The
three entered and Hibiki pushed the lowest button. They all felt a
jerk and they started going down.

     A few minutes after, it stopped and the door raised again.
Another hallway, about 200 feet long, and a man at a desk at the
end, with another door. They walked all the way, and the two men
saluted. Private Hibiki slipped his card in a slot again, and the
door opened. The three entered the office.

     It wasn't much, barely larger than the room Ranma and Nabiki
woke up in, walls decorated with maps of Japan, Tokyo and other
major cities, all with marker drawings on them, describing the
destruction. The bombing, it seemed, hadn't stopped at Tokyo. There
was the japanese flag on one side of the desk, and a completely red
flag on the other. Ranma and Nabiki stopped side by side, ten feet
from the desk. A large man, bald, was quietly smoking a cigar,
quite comfortable in his large cushioned chair. Ranma started
coughing.

     The general took a good look at Ranma, got up, went around his
desk and stood in front of him, faces inches apart. "Who are you?"
came in a menacing tone, and there were no more doubt in either
travelers' mind who this man was. Genma Saotome. Before sounds came
out of Ranma's mouth, Nabiki stopped him with a hand on his
shoulder. "We are travelers, sir. What do you want from us?" The
glare shifted from him to her. "I wasn't talking to you,
disrespectful little slut. I'm talking to this... man here."

     Ranma casually extended a hand and took hold of the man's
shirt. Without even the slightest strain, he raised the large man
from the ground. "Apologize to the lady, mister." The general
motioned to Ranma with his head. Private Hibiki approached Ranma,
and put a menacing large hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Put the general
down, sir, or I'll have to arrest you."

     The smile on Nabiki's face was of genuine amusement as Ranma
looked over his shoulder. "Say what, pal?" Hibiki replied with a
punch directed at Ranma's face. He promptly dropped the general to
catch the fist in his hand, and turned around. The two other hands
joined and a power struggle began. It was even matched, for awhile.

     "Say," Ranma asked with a smile, " your name wouldn't be
*Ryoga* Hibiki, now, would it?" The boy in uniform smiled back.
"You've heard of me?" Ranma's face became confused. "Why would I
hear of you?" Ryoga got angry while the general laughed. "I'll have
you know, boy, that you're struggling against the strongest guy on
the base, and my bodyguard." Ranma snickered. "Is that all? For
awhile, I was afraid he was a martial artist." He forced and drove
Ryoga backwards. A flex of his wrists made the soldier fall on his
knees, pain evident on his face.

     "Ranma, stop it. You're better than this." Ranma smile
dropped, and after an internal struggle decided to let go. Ryoga
shook his wrists. "General, apologize to the lady." The large man
bowed slightly to Nabiki. "Sorry, ma'am." he said, all the while
eyeing Ranma. "Now," Ranma continued, "who are you?" The general
glared at him even more. "I'm general Genma Saotome, in charge of
this Survivor Center. Now, who are you?"

     Nabiki took a step forward, putting herself between the two.
"As I said, general, we are simply travelers. Our caretaker died a
few months ago and we were going back to Tokyo."

     Genma chuckled, and returned to his seat. "I'm afraid, miss,
that Tokyo no longer exists. It's been two years and a half since
the United States dropped the bomb on it." Nabiki gasped, looking
shocked, even if Ranma knew it was fake. He only sighed and lowered
his head. "Oh well," he said, trying to remember his acting, "we
never knew them all that well anyway, Nabiki. It's been ten years,
you know." She continued looking shocked, but he could see the
glint of amusement in her eyes. "Sir, if you don't mind, we'd like
to get out of here and return to the surface."

     A very unfamiliar yet frightening sound was heard, and they
both turned to see Ryoga pointing a gun in their direction. "I'm
afraid I can't do that, Ranma. The surface is irradiated for miles
around, and we're further away from ground zero than where we found
you. You're stuck here." He pressed a button on his desk. "Now, let
me tell you about the Center while your escort gets here." The
large man sat on the corner of his desk and lit himself another
cigar.

     "It may have looked large, but we have very limited space.
Most of it is for growing food. Everyone lives in twos in cubicles
like the one we put you in. We," he paused, taking a puff of cigar,
"strongly encourage each couple to have children. The surface will
be habitable in a couple of years, and we have a nation to
repopulate. You two seem close, so we'll make a couple out of you."
They got big eyes and looked at each other. 'One day and a half!'
was on both their minds.

     "Now. You'll be escorted to the doctor, to get a physical.
Then we'll leave you in your quarters with maps of the Center and
the rules to live here. At twenty hundred hours, after supper,
we'll take you to the mew members sector. Tomorrow, you'll begin
working."

     At the mention of work, Nabiki's face showed more surprise and
shock than when she was told Tokyo had been nuked. "Ranma my boy,
you'll be assigned to the furnace. We've just had an accident there
and we're shorthanded. You, however... Nabiki, was it? You don't
seem like a manual worker. I can't appoint you to administration
but you can help at the daycare center. That's the best I can do.
Working days are eight hours, eight to four, and two days a week
are six hours, usually nine to three. Since you're new, tomorrow
will be a six-hour day, ten to four." The door opened, revealing
four soldiers with machine guns. "Ah. Your escort is here. I'll see
you this evening."

     With a gesture, Ranma and Nabiki were forced out and all the
way back to the elevator. It went up, higher than their quarters,
and the door opened to three hallways, where everyone was either in
lab coats or in patient robes. As they went through a series of
hallways, they could see some patients moaning in their beds, many
of them having breathing problems. Some were roaming the corridors,
IV unit in tow, shaking their heads at the new arrivals. In a
corridor they could see through the small windows operations taking
place, and when they saw some organ getting out decided to stare at
the floor for the rest of the way.

     They finally reached what looked like a normal examination
room, with a doctor and a nurse waiting for them. "Hi," the man
said, "I'm doctor Ono. This is nurse Yuka. If you would please sit
here, mister and miss..." he trailed off, patting the examination
table. They presented themselves, first names only, and did as
told.

     They passed usual tests, respiration, reflexes, height,
weight, eye test, and a battery of other tests, some related to
their gender (namely prostate and vagina exam). After a few hours,
they both looked bored and somewhat humiliated, sitting on regular
chairs in front of the doctor's desk. "All right," he said, "all I
need now is some information to complete your file. Ranma." He
looked at him. "Last name?" Ranma suddenly looked like a deer
caught in headlights. "Eh..." A light bulb appeared. "Takashi."

     "Very well... Nabiki?" "Kuji." "Date of birth?" They both
answered. "The Center supplies your clothing, so Ranma, size shirt
and pants." "Large and 28." "Nabiki, your three sizes." She crossed
her arms, looked dangerously at Ranma, and sighed. "35-23-34." The
doctor nodded, and silently took it down. "Any child diseases?"
They both shook their heads. "Good. Allergies?" Negative answers
too. "Impressive. I look forward to seeing your children."

     Both blushed, but for the sake of not creating trouble stayed
silent. "That's it. You can go. Good luck." They shook hands and
were escorted back to their quarters. Finally alone, even with four
guards out of their door, they both dropped to the ground.

     "I feel... so violated." she said, and he could only agree
silently. "Why didn't you let me beat them up?" he muttered, and
she got off the floor. "Because I doubt you can live with bullet
holes in your body." He got up himself. "Good point. Let's see
those maps." he offered, and they went quickly through them.

     The Center was two kilometers long by one wide, and one and a
half deep. Apparently, the top floor was five kilometers from the
surface. They could see most of the space as agricultural, and
there was even a section for apple trees. About a third was
left for quarters, offices, the hospital, daycare, nursery, and every
other service usually found in a city, except the degrading stuff,
such as bars.

     "Well, you're in luck, Ranma. The furnace is on the top floor.
You'll have to look for a way up. I'm waayyyy down." He nodded.
"Yeah. But we have plenty of time to worry about that after 'work'
tomorrow. What bothers me is tonight. That 'new members sector'
worries me, especially with all their talk of couples and babies."

     "I have my own suspicions, but we've got one hour before they
come. I suggest you prepare dinner, fast." Ranma pulled back, hurt
look on his face. "Why me?" he said meekly, and she glared at him.
"Because you're the cook. Besides, I'll go through their rulebook
while you're at it. Unless you *want* to read legal babble." With
a small sigh, he set to work. He came up with a decent plate of
spaghetti in twenty minutes.

     "There's not much entertainment here." she mentioned after
awhile. "I would hate it to live here permanently." Ranma shrugged.
"All I need is a little space. There's enough in here. But
controled like that, I'd bust out in a week." He waved around with
his fork. "This must have been a nice place to go for the
survivors, though. I mean, after seeing a big mushroom cloud over
Tokyo, the sky is not something you can easily look at."

     They finished dinner and washed the dishes in silence, and at
the second the clock indicated eight o'clock, the door opened and
four different guards entered. The general followed. "All right,
you two, let's get you married." Neither showed too much surprise,
they had expected it, but still managed to look shocked. "You can
change into these." he snapped, and another soldier brought in a
black costume and a white dress. Not something for an usual
wedding, but close and classic enough. "You have five minutes."
They all got out.

     Ranma started by hiding the timer. "Well," he commented, "at
least it won't be worth anything in home-D." She smiled slightly.
"What makes you think that?" He froze. After a good thirty seconds,
she smiled. "Kidding, Ranma, I'm kidding. I don't want to be
married either." They finished dressing, back facing each other,
and he took a little something from his backpack before joining the
exiting Nabiki.

     They went down the other side of the hallway, also leading to
an elevator, but this one had no security checks. They went about
three floors up, and exited the other side of the elevator. The
door opened to a room, somewhat large, but bare of anything except
a podium a few stairs up and about ten folding chairs. On each side
of the podium, a man in a black suit and a woman in an ugly blue
dress waited, each holding a gold ring.

     Ranma and Nabiki walked down the 'aisle' and stood between them,
while the general went at the podium. "We are gathered here today to
marry these two." The 'couple' cringed at his rudeness. "Nabiki, do
you want to take Ranma for your husband?" After an uncomfortable yet
short moment she said "Yes." "Ranma, do you want to take Nabiki for
your wife?" He hesitated as much. "Yes."

     The best man and maid of honor presented the rings, and with
a slight blush of embarrassment they slid each other the ring. "You
are now man and wife, you may kiss the bride." They turned to each
other, and with a deeper blush did so very quickly. "Now, come over
here to sign the marriage certificate." They went around the podium
to see a piece of paper on it, laying on a screen. Ranma signed,
then Nabiki, at the 'X', and the screen under showed their
signature too. It promptly fell to black, and guessing the paper
was for themselves Nabiki took it. So used to signing they were
that they didn't notice they didn't sign their fake names.

     With a smile, the general pushed a small button on the side
wall, and a panel came up and another out, revealing two glasses
and a champagne bottle. He filled the glasses and handed them to
the newlyweds. "Drink this, to celebrate." They looked at the
glasses, at each other, and deciding they really needed a drink
emptied them in one shot. "So," Ranma said after handing his glass
to a soldier, "this is the new members sector?"

     With a shake of his head and a push of a button on the
podium's side, the whole back wall lifted to reveal a red and pink
room, covered with hearts, and a large, fluffy bed, also heart-shaped.
"No. There's still the matter of the honeymoon. The doctor
told me your period is in a few days, Nabiki, so we hope for the
best. Make us proud and prove you two are really members of this
Center."

     After they finished staring, both turned, glaring at the
general. "Do you really think you can force us to have sex?" Genma
smiled, familiar with this kind of response. "The 'champagne' you
just drank is in fact a mix of chemicals and hormones that will
basically make you *need* to have sex. You can resist it, of
course, but the last couple to have tried is still in a coma. Good
night." and with a bow, everyone left them.

     They stared at each other, not wanting to do 'it' but not
having much choice, as they each began to feel arousal. "Do you
feel it?" Nabiki asked, and he gulped audibly. "Yeah." he managed,
while beginning to blush. "Would you really get pregnant?" She
nodded. With a mischievous smile, he got out of his pocket a dozen
or so condom packs. "I was afraid they'd make us do something like
that." and with a resigned sigh started to remove his shirt.

     "What are you doing?" she asked, fearful he was already
blinded by lust. "Nabiki, I can feel it rising in me, and if I hold
back until lust take over, I figure it's gonna be a very painful
experience for you. We better start while we're still in control.
We can't stop it, but at least you won't get pregnant."

     With another resigned sigh, Nabiki let the foreign part of
herself take control and started undressing. "At least," she mused
to herself, "with that curse of his he should be an excellent
lover." Once naked, she looked at him. She could see the stranger
in his eyes as well as he could see hers.

*******

     Both naked and covered in sweat, on the big, giant heart bed,
Ranma fell on Nabiki, breathing heavily, but not as much as her.
After awhile, he rolled off her, and they panted side by side.

     A long moment passed, and they slowly regained normal
breathing. The room was silent, but was now smelling something that
almost made return the lust in their veins. "I think it's gone."
Ranma said, and Nabiki merely stayed silent in agreement. "How'd
you know to bring condoms?" she asked, and he tried to smile. He
was barely able to speak. "Had a feeling." "I meant for the whole
trip." "Oh."

     He swallowed, and looked at her. "Remember two months ago,
when Shampoo fed me that love potion?" He saw her nod. "Ever wonder
why I stayed put until I got the antidote? What I ate was as bad as
what they made us drink. It was all I could do to control it. Ever
since, I carry condoms. If it happens again, on either side, at
least there won't be any consequences."

     She smiled. "You're smarter than I thought. If it wasn't for
that, we'd be parents. We have to remember to thank Shampoo for
that little stunt." He nodded, smiling, and extended an hand,
reaching for the blankets. He finally found a grip, and with a
large movement managed to cover both of them and roll on his
stomach. Before she had a chance to thank him, she heard him snore
lightly. With a snort, she joined him.

*******

     Ranma woke up, typically, wishing it was all a dream. When he
saw Nabiki come out of where the bathroom probably was, in a
bathrobe, hair wet, and walking in a way indicated she was hurt
between her legs, he fell backwards with a loud sigh.

     "Don't worry, Ranma. I don't remember much of it anyway. We'll
put it behind us and never speak about it again." Ranma got up,
looked down, and sighed. "You walk funny, Nabiki. You all right?"
His concern was evident even through his blush. "It's just sore. I
was a virgin, after all." She sniffed. "You need a shower worse
than I did. Shoo. We have to 'work' in one hour."

     Ranma was barely out of the shower when two soldiers with guns
entered, followed by a civilian. She had long, brown hair, a pretty
face and a blue outfit. Ranma could swear it was Ukyo. "I'm here to
serve breakfast to the new couple." she said cheerfully, and as she
approached the bed her nose wrinkled. "Gee, something fun happened
here." Both blushed. They ate in silence, and were escorted
their room to get properly dressed. On the way, everyone they met
either cheered of wolf-whistled, to their greatest embarassment.

     Arrived 'home', they both changed clothes. Nabiki put on the
same outfit she came here with, while Ranma put an old pair of
black pants and a white tank top, along with his armbands. Once
outside, they took different directions. Nabiki went left, while he
went right, both escorted by one guard.

     Nabiki led the way, for she knew where she was going. Two
floors down, two hallways, another elevator, five floors down too,
and another hallway led to the daycare center. She looked at the
toddlers, the two year olds in a corner playing bricks to the five
year olds playing cards on a small table, and sighed. She let go a
breath of relief when she saw Kasumi stroll in. �Kasumi?!?� she
yelled mentally, freezing up.

     The girl too froze up, and brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh
my! Who are you?" Both looked at each other, perplexed, and Nabiki
decided to keep the facade. "I'm Nabiki Kuji. Nice to meet you."
The girl relaxed. "Nice to meet you. I'm Kasumi Tendo. I'm sorry,
it's just that you look like my late sister." She got close. "It's
astonishing! You could be my sister's twin!" She chuckled
nervously. In a way, she *was* her twin. "Yeah, well, you know what
they say. There's someone out there who looks just like you." She
received a smile. "I didn't know that." Kasumi replied, but stayed
cheerful and kept the smile. "What do you say we entertain those
kids now?"

     Ranma was having a much better time. At first, he went to the
next-to-last floor to get an access card. That took a good half-hour.
Then he went all the way up, to the furnace. The other side
of the elevator opened, and it led to a totally different world.

     His eyes enlarged as he saw the open, large cavern. There was
an huge furnace, old style, in the middle, door wide open to see
the fire inside. The noise of the fire almost covered the sounds of
work. It was the only light source, and everything looked red. A
few workers were shoveling coal inside from huge piles. About a
hundred feet behind, a large black wall was being mined at the pick
and shovel. The mine cart didn't have long to go.

     All around the cave was a steel rail, with a few guards
posted. Ranma noted the large ventilation shafts near that level,
as well as the two huge ones over the furnace. Then Ranma smiled.
What the general had said about the surface being irradiated wasn't
totally true, since the Center was taking its air directly from the
surface. Which also meant he could go up and out.

     The soldier waved to a worker, and he came. A tall, muscular
man, in his forties, with a large mustache and long brown hair a
little scorched. Ranma could swear he knew him. "Boy," the soldier
said harshly, "this is the supervisor. He's your boss." He put a
solid hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the man.

      Ranma managed to put a foot in front of him to stop falling,
and rose to meet the supervisor eye-to-eye. "Hello young man. I'm
Soun Tendo." Ranma decided here and there he went up to hell. "I'm
Ranma Takashi. Pleased to meet you."

     "Don't be so formal, son. We workers here stand shoulder to
shoulder. Now, what do you prefer? Shoveling or digging?" Ranma
looked at the furnace, and the large amount of sweat on the guys.
He then turned to the far wall, and saw a man work without any
tools. He was intrigued. "I'll go dig for now."

     When Ranma walked towards the wall, he observed the man. He
first noted his chains, up to a picket in the ground. Then he
noticed the two guards constantly holding guns to him.

     As the guy reared one hand, finger alone, Ranma smiled as his
intuition was correct. He saw the finger enter the wall and a
rather large section collapsed. �Breaking point.� his mind said to
him. Ranma picked up a shovel and started digging, somewhat close
to the man. It was a strain, but Ranma managed to keep a nice
rythm. He also managed to observe the man's technique. Not much
could be noted down, though.

     And then Ranma got too close to him while reaching for some
coal, and was suddenly held hostage-like. "Nobody move, or I
break his neck." Ranma suddenly felt very nervous being at gunpoint
and in Mu Tsu's hold.

     "Let go." he said, and the man laughed. "What makes you think
you have any say in it?" he mused, and Ranma returned the taunt
with an elbow in the stomach and a roundhouse to the face. He
blocked the punch but the element of surprise was still with him,
and replied with a punch to the face that put the man down.

     He faked a punch to the stomach to get close to his ear. "I
want to break out too stay down we'll talk later." Mu Tsu nodded
slightly while Ranma raised a hand to prevent the soldiers from
shooting. "He's down." he said loudly. "He's down."

     The two soldiers promptly came to him and led him away from Mu
Tsu. "Don't hit him!" came from the other side of the cavern, and
the guards put their feet down. Soun ran to the boy's side. "He's
too valuable. We need him in good shape." he drilled to the guards,
and they only snickered, muttering something about foreigners and
slaves.

     "You all right?" Soun asked him, and he slowly nodded. He
patted the boy two times on the shoulder and helped him up. He then
turned to Ranma. "I never saw somebody move like that, son. Are you
a martial artist?" He nodded. "Good. If he ever does that again,
I'm counting on you. But don't rough him up too much." He turned to
the room at large. "Back to work!"

     Ranma picked his shovel up and returned to work, still close
to Mu Tsu. After the guards dropped their attention, he turned his
head. "So you know the breaking point?" he whispered. "Yes. How did
you hear about it?" "A rival of mine was taught by an old chinese
woman. Cologne, I think." Mu Tsu's eyes widened. "You mean Khu Lon?
That's impossible! She would never teach that to a foreigner!!"

     He waved his head, motioning for him to lower his voice. "Any
way, could you teach me? I could really use it." He received a
snort. "We'll see. How do you intend to break out? I must have
tried about a dozen times."

     Ranma looked behind his left, behind his right, and returned
to his whispering. "Ventilation shafts." The chained man chuckled.
"That's five k, man. It would take hours, and they've got five
elevators all around it for maintenance." Ranma shook his head
slightly and blinked as another breaking point made dust fly. "What
other firepower tricks did that old ghoul teach you?" "None."

     "Well I got one I think would be great. Ever heard of the
Hyryu Shoten Ha?" The man coughed, having suddenly choked on
something. "You know. That would blast us all the way up, and maybe
destroy the general's lies about the surface. One catch, though.
It's tonight."

     "Got no problem with that. Time?" "Six. Think you can make it
here?" Mu Tsu smiled. "My prison is in that cave over there." Ranma
nodded, and returned to work. Not another word was said, but on the
other side of the room Soun eyed the two suspiciously.

     Pretty soon came lunch, and Ranma went in another cavern with
Soun. They all fell in line and received a lunch made of one white
pile of something, one green pile of something and one red pile of
something.

     Ranma sat down and began eating. It was bearable. "So, Mr.
Tendo, how do you find life here?" He looked at him curiously.
"You're a newbie? How did you survive?" "Traveler. How's life
here?"

     Soun looked up at the ceiling, and sighed. "It's not bad. Of
course, I may just be saying that because it keeps me occupied."
Ranma nodded slightly, already doubting why. "You have any family?"
Soun took a few mouthfuls before answering quietly. "I have one
daughter left. The war cost me my two youngest." Ranma nodded. To
hear Akane and Nabiki died, even if not his own, was sad. "I'm sorry. Who's
your last daughter?" Soun smiled. "Kasumi, my oldest. She's a sweet
girl. She works at the daycare center."

     Ranma pulled back. "Daycare center? Well what do you know? My
new wife is working there." he said, somewhat cheerful, and managed
to rub some of it off on the old man. "Really? Well, that is a fine
coincidence. Imagine that. Your new wife, you say?"

     Silence fell and stayed until they had to return to work.
Ranma returned shoveling near Mu Tsu. "Care to teach me?" he asked,
and he received the basics. Empty the mind, concentrate, see the
point with the mind's eye.

     He nodded and went to take a pickaxe, and started further down
the wall. He extended an arm and felt the wall, trying to find a
crack, a weakness to exploit. A very small depression formed under
his touch. Both hands now on the tool, he raised it high and
prepared the strike. He closed his eyes and tried to do as Mu Tsu
had told him. He could feel something about where the depression
was, and struck it with the pickaxe. A large portion came off in
small chunks. He smiled, and only looking at the wall now raised
his weapon. Like everything else, this needed practice.

*******

     Surprisingly, Ranma and Nabiki bumped into each other in front
of their door. They entered silently and Ranma went into the
shower, not bothering with modesty. He came out to be greeted by
food, and he happily dug in. Done before her, he filled her in the
details of his plan. She nodded.

     "And how did your day go?" he asked, finished with the plan.
"I met Kasumi." she replied. He nodded, unresponsive. "I met your
father and Mousse." he added, and she copied his response.
"Mousse's gonna help us break out." They both let the silence drop,
and after a few seconds he added, "And he taught me the breaking
point."

     That got her out of her stupport. "You know the breaking
point?" she asked, incredulous. "Do you realize how Ryoga will
react back on home-D? He'll be even more depressed. He could even
explode. Why'd you have to do that?" He blinked. "It can help us
break out. And who said anything about telling poor old Ryoga?"

     She smiled. Somehow, this trip was bringing out the
deviousness out of Ranma. Then again, it could simply be the fact
he was planning a jailbreak. They checked all their stuff, and
after checking the timer, they calmly sipped a cup of tea. They
still had two hours and a half before the jump, and forty-five
minutes before escaping.

     Time passed, silently. Even the clock was silent, then again,
it wasn't supposed to tick. They both calmly waited, not even
exchanging pleasantries. After last night, talking to talk wasn't
really something to do. Finally, the big hand moved one last time
to stand directly over the six. Only wind marked their presence in
the now empty, and ravaged, room.

     "We'll have to get you a backpack." Ranma managed between
strides, breathing audibly. His backpack was stuffed to the point
of near explosion, while she only carried her school bag. "I'm not
as strong as you." she replied, and stopped ahead of him to
slip the magnetic card. After a few seconds the door opened, and they
both entered.

     The way up seemed impossibly long, and before they reached the
top the light faded and turned red. "Attention. Attention all
personnel. We have a commotion in the furnace room. We need
reinforcements. Repeat. We need--" Communications must have been
cut off, since only a buzzing sound and some distortion came out of
the speakers. "Damn. Mu Tsu's ahead of us." Ranma cursed, and
silently thanked emergencies didn't lock up the elevators.

     Finally the door opened to reveal a chaos scene if there ever
was one. There was dust everywhere, probably from a certain finger
going berserk, red lights flashed in addition to the furnace being
apparently broken open, since a raging fire could be seen spreading
through piles of coal.

     Screams of pain and machine gun fire were randomly heard, as
well as long shouts before the ground shook slightly and even more
dust became airborne. Ranma took Nabiki by the hand and ran
headfirst into the dust. "Mousse! Under upward vent!" he yelled at
large, hoping the man could understand.

     "Right behind you!" came the call, and two men screaming
followed. Ranma looked around, trying to get his bearings, and
spotted the furnace itself through the fog, if it could be labeled
as such. He approached it, heat rising with each centimeter, and
looked upwards.

     Two large ventilation shafts headed straight up. He smiled and
ran under the left one, still dragging the girl. He dropped his bag
and positioned himself. He took a deep breath, concentrated, and
began doing random blocking moves while going backwards. Nabiki
could see the circle he was doing.

     She spotted a running man coming their way, and she met him
halfway. "Mu Tsu?" He nodded. "I'm Nabiki. Ranma is over here." He
followed her to see Ranma walking backwards. "Is he doing..." he
asked, pointing. "Yeah. Pick up his backpack, and start following
him."

     He promptly did, and totally confused as to what Ranma was
doing could relate to the famous final technique Cologne was
boasting about, followed him. Ranma finally came to a stop, in the
middle of his circle, directly under the ventilation shaft. As he
punched upwards, Nabiki jumped between the men, taking Mousse's
hand and a hold of Ranma's other wrist.

     "Hyryu Shoten Ha!!!" Ranma shouted, and out of nowhere the
wind rose. In a flash the wind became deafening as it formed a mini
twister. Metal began groaning, and with a sound of thunder the
whole ventilation shaft tore from its hinge and opened the way to
the surface. With a loud yell Mousse rose from the ground,
taking Nabiki with him, and ultimately, though very slowly, Ranma.

     Wind rushed, their ears popped, and opening the eyes only got
people dizzy as not only the trio but a couple of guards as well
were tossed up in the ever rising twister.

     Sheet after riveted sheet passed, and the occasionnal air
duct, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, out of the
overhead darkness, Ranma could see a large grid, probably as an air
filter. "Damn!" Ranma thought. "The twister didn't destroy it. We're
gonna be sliced food!" He desperately thought for an idea. And got one.

     Removing one arm from around Nabiki, fe pointed a finger upwards.
"Moko Takabisha!" A finger-wide yellow beam came out, heading straight
for the grid. It hit, but nothing happened. Ranma swore, and began
praying to whatever god there was up there.

     Then, just before they hit it, a light flashed and the grid
turned to small metal scraps. They got a few cuts but managed to
pass still alive. Finally, after another few minutes, the blue sky
showed itself over their heads, and suddenly they were aware of the
speed they were going.

     Yelling all the way, they popped out of the shaft, over the
surface, and a good few hundred feet up, before having a descending
arc. They yelled even more because all they saw was green under
them. Then, suddenly, the real wind picked them up and led them
over a lake.

     Three splashes promptly disturbed the calm lake, and the small
waves quietly went away, returning the calm to the lifeless
surroundings. Then, three shadows rose up to the surface. Two girls
popped their heads out of the water, followed by a white duck.
Girl�type Ranma looked at the duck and started laughing.

     Nabiki shook what water she could out of her hair and looked
at the other girl. "What's so funny?" she asked, not understanding.
The girl turned to her 'wife'. "Even in this dimension, Mousse
managed to fall in the spring of drowned duck!" She turned over and
fell backwards, head under water. The girl quickly redressed
herself, coughing water, while the duck was quacking about
something. "Ranma, stop laughing and get our stuff at the bottom."

     That got the redhead out of it. She handed Nabiki the remote,
took a deep breath and disappeared. The two others swam to the
shore. Once out, she checked the timer. "Fifteen minutes?!?!? Damn!
It took us an hour and a half to get out of there!" The duck
quacked in surprise, and shook itself of water. Nabiki looked
around and spotted a dead tree.

     She ran over there and quickly gathered a few dry sticks, and
with two rocks tried to start a fire. All she managed to do before
Ranma came back and explained the curse to a duck was hurt her hand.
Ranma began to relax but shook her head to get rid of a small buzzing
in her head.

     Finally the redhead lost her patience and moved the girl
aside, and extended a hand. A small, red beam shot out and ignited
the branches. She then rummaged through her backpack, and got out
a cooking pot, still full of water. In two seconds Ranma used a few
branches to hold it over the fire, and sat down next to it.

     "So you see, Mu Tsu, we'll be going in about ten minutes. I
managed to find your clothes, on the plus side." The duck nodded,
and they all watched water boil. Then, Ranma took it off the fire
and mixed a little cold water with it, and turned herself back to
male. He then dumped the rest on the duck, who now human quickly
dressed. As both Ranma and Nabiki stood, him with his backpack, her
with the timer, Mousse looked at them.

     "Where are you going, exactly?" Ranma turned to him with a
knowing smile. "Well, it depends how you see it. For us, it's one
step closer to home. For you," at these words, Nabiki pressed the
button and the vortex appeared, "it's another dimension." Nabiki
jumped, and Ranma, after waving once, did a backflip into the
thing. The chinese boy only looked in amazement.


     End Chapter 1

*******



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