Uh.. noy sure I sent this the first time (network problems), and.. 
well.. better safe than sorry ^_^
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PART XIII
The eye of the storm.
================

"EEEEK!!!! PERVERT!!!!!" Shoko grabbed the shower rail and started
beating the offending person, before stopping to examine him. "Magical
Guy Makoto!!" She threw the rail over her shoulder and yanked Ryoga to
his feet. "I'm sorry! Can I have your autograph? My friends will never
believe this!!!"
Ryoga was thankful to a god others cursed for the fact that the girl
had a towel wrapped around her. "Sorry, can't now, gotta job to do."
He ran out of the room, only to be bopped over the head by an
invisible mini-Skuld shouting "Not that way, this way!! Honestly, I
thought I fixed your sense of direction!"
Shoko sighed happily. "What a dream..." 
Her happy memory was disturbed by the arrival of a bona fide hentai
leaping through her window with a cry of "Sweeto!"
"EEEEK!!!! PERVERT!!!!!"
Ryoga shook his head sadly and made his way to the roof. "So it's that
squelching, squid-blob we're after?"
Skuld nodded. "I don't recognise it, but it's showing up on my
scanners." The creature in question batted away the Hyperdoll flying
towards it and stood on Sailor Jupiter. "I'll bet that hurt."
"Amazing how many super heroes in this city are female," Ryoga
commented as Moldiver bounced off the creatures flesh with a audible
boing. He flapped at a small, yellow butterfly and a small, localised
rainstorm appeared over his head. "That's not funny." The rain turned
to hail. With a growl, Ryoga-chan pointed her wand at the cloud and it
faded out of existence. 
"Stop moaning at the butterfly and kill the creature."
"Nag, nag, nag." Ryoga-chan bounced from building to building, almost
crippling herself in her high heels, until she was directly above the
monster. "HEY, SQUID!" The jellyfish thing looked up and almost passed
out with a nosebleed. Ryoga-chan glowered at it. "PERVERT!!!!! CHAOS
SHAN HIGH BLAST!" Eye of God and Star Trek pretty lights and sounds
merged together and turned the squid-thing into enough fried calamari
to feed the whole of Italy, Sicily included. 
"Not bad," mini-Skuld commented. "You're getting better at this."
Ryoga-chan grinned a little. "Than...HEY!"
"HOTCHA!" Happosai glomped onto her leg.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!" Ryoga-chan smashed him over the
head with the wand a few times and a small vial of water fell from his
clothes. "What's this?" She bent down and picked it up. "Nyannichuan
water?" 
*poof* 
A small devil appeared on her shoulder, scaring the hell out of
mini-Skuld. "Pour it over him!"
*poof*
A small angel appeared on her other shoulder and mini-Skuld massaged
her head. "Uh.... I've got nothing to protest here, pour it over
him!!"
"That's for the curse and for Aiko," Ryoga-chan snarled, emptying the
vial over Happosai's head before booting her into the sky. 
A panting, red-haired woman ran onto the roof, followed by a handsome
young man. "Agents Mulder and Scully, FBI," the woman barked. 
Mulder ran forward. "Take me to Samantha."
"Samantha?" Ryoga-chan asked weakly.
Scully pushed him aside. "Does she look like a green, mutant turtle to
you?" She turned to Ryoga-chan. "How did you defeat that monster? What
is your involvement in the government, cover-up?"
"Uh..."
"Have you seen four, mutant turtle aliens anywhere around town?"
Mulder asked, shoving Scully aside.
"No..." Ryoga-chan flapped irritably at the butterflies flapping
around her head.
"Would you shut up about that?!" Scully snapped. "There's a perfectly
rational explanation for them."
A snow storm appeared above Ryoga-chan's head.
"Aliens!"
"Genetically engineered creatures!"
 The snow storm turned into a full blown blizzard and Ryoga-chan
 pointed her wand at it. "Stop that!" She glanced at the two arguing
 agents before jumping off the roof with a shrug. "Very strange people
 around here."

Shampoo was annoyed. What was it all the guys saw in these violent
brunettes anyway? Everything they could do, she could do better. But
last night, with her own eyes, she'd seen not only Ranma and Akane out
on a date, but Ryoga and Ukyo too. It wasn't fair! *Maybe violent
spatula girl bribe Ryoga into going on date...* After all, that was a
technique she'd used on several occasions to get Ranma to date with
her. It was also a technique she wasn't going to use any more, as it
had a tendency to backfire. *Yes, spatula girl bribed Ryoga. Shampoo
take him some nice ramen, show she forgive him.* That would be a nice
thing to do, after all. With a widening smile, she prepared a
delivery.
"Shampoo, my love! Where are you going?" Mousse asked.
"Go away, Mousse." Shampoo blocked him out as background noise.
"But we had no orders..."
"Shampoo said go away." She walked past him and out of the door.
Mousse stared after her. "She's going to see him again? But why?! He
doesn't love her! He is unfaithful to her!" Thunder crashed in the
background as Mousse raised his fist high. "Hibiki, YOU SHALL PAY!!!"
He flapped at the small butterfly fluttering nearby. "Go away." A
small lightning bolt shot out of the thundering clouds and struck him
on the end of his nose. "Ow!"
"Keep it down, Mr Part Time, you're disturbing my meditation," Cologne
grumbled. She slammed the door before he could detect the opening
theme to El Hazard on the television set.

Tsubasa walked into the okonomiyaki restaurant before taking a seat.
Ryoga-chan wandered over to her. "Are you here to eat?"
Tsubasa nodded. "I'll have a special."
"The gods must be smiling on me," Ryoga-chan muttered, noting down the
order.
"And I'd like to talk to you."
"With maniacal grins and voodoo dolls," she finished. "Is that talk as
in talk, or talk as in attempted murder?"
"As in talk!" Tsubasa snapped. He sighed and leaned on the table. "I
don't think darling Ukyo likes me."
"Well duh." Ryoga-chan shot him a dubious look. "What gave it away?"
Tsubasa ignored her comment and continued. "What is it though? What
did she see in Ranma? What does she see in you? I mean, I..."
"Wait a second!" Ryoga-chan held up a hand. "She doesn't see anything
in me."
"She went on a date with you, remember." 
Ryoga-chan groaned. "I'm trying to forget. Things were going so well until 
you and Mousse and Kuno and Shampoo turned up. I was having fun...
she didn't hit me once."
Tsubasa glared at him. "You don't have to rub it in!" He sighed. "I
know she's engaged to you, and I'd give up on her. But she's so cute
and kind and smart and a great cook..."
"Whatever." Ryoga-chan tapped her pen on the notebook, trying not to
think about Ukyo. *Sure, Ucchan may be smart and c-cy-cute... but
she's just so...* She finally focused on the enraged teen in front of
her.
"You don't like her?!!" A battle aura flared around Tsubasa as he
jumped to his feet.
"No! I-I mean yes! I mean..."
"CHARGE!!!!"
"DON'T ATTACK MY STAFF!!!" Ryoga-chan sighed in relief as a giant
spatula sent Tsubasa hurtling across the restaurant. Her relief was
short lived as the spatula crashed down upon her skull. "AND WHAT DO
YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T LIKE ME?!!!"
"I _DO_ like you!" Ryoga-chan rubbed her head. "Those rare moments
when you aren't trying to kill me, you can even be kinda kawaii. And
I'm sorry the date didn't work out." She turned to walk away, but
found her movement limited slightly by Ukyo's grip on the back of her
uniform.
"What did you say?"
"I said... oh." Ryoga-chan paused and blushed. "I said that aloud?
Hehehe ... umm... I've had my body taken over by an evil spirit doll?
I've been hypnotised? Possessed by a demon?"
"That's not funny," Ukyo snapped, remembering the events of a few
nights back. She turned Ryoga-chan to face her and smiled a little.
"It's OK about the date."
Ryoga-chan looked at the floor. "I really am sorry. I didn't expect
all those other people to turn up too."
"I said it's OK. Rush Hour's a popular film." She increased the
radiance of her smile. "Better luck next time, yeah? Now back to
work." She walked away quickly, leaving Ryoga-chan standing, slightly
stunned in the centre of the restaurant. *Oh my god! Did I really say
that?!!*
"Nihao Ryoga, spatula girl!" Shampoo crashed through the doorway,
flattening a few customers in the process. She walked over to the
still-dazed Ryoga-chan with a grin. "You not get to eat ramen in
hospital, I bring you some now."
She snapped out of her dream world and looked at Shampoo. "Oh.
Thanks!"
"Is OK."
Mousse burst through the doorway. "SHAMPOO MY LOVE!" he wailed,
glomping Tsubasa. "I'll save you!!"
"Who do you think you're calling Shampoo?!" Tsubasa growled.
"Sorry, miss." Mousse slipped his glasses back onto his nose.
"HIBIKI?!! YOU DARE TO EAT THE FOOD OF MY DARLING SHAMPOO WHEN YOU
FLAUNT AROUND WITH OTHER WOMEN?!!!" Weapons flew towards Ryoga-chan,
who dropped her ramen in surprise. "YOU SHALL PAY!!!"
Kuno strode in. "My bandannaed goddess! My love for you shall conquer
all!" He paused as a small, yellow butterfly alighted on his bokken.
"Curse thee, winged traitor! You pass through my barriers unto the
outside world and make thyself a public spectacle?" A hurricane wind
ruffled his hair. "Ah, but the blue thunder of Furinkan high shall put
thee back in thy place." 
The lightning flashed through the blue sky outside and Ryoga-chan
blinked in surprise. "Those butterflies... _that's_ how you manage
it!!!"
"Ignore me, would you?!!" Mousse snarled, running forward. 
Tsubasa joined him. "Your time has finally come!!!"
"My darling! Jump into my arms and let us flee together!!"
Ryoga-chan squeezed her eyes shut and a butterfly landed on her
shoulder. Her mind filled with chaos and all of a sudden, she knew how
it was done... "ICE STORM!!" An icy wind hit the three boys head on,
causing them to immediately turn tail and flee before they became
replicas of Frosty the snowman.
Ukyo blinked a few times. "How in the WORLD did you learn how to do
that?!!" 
"Uh..." Ryoga-chan tried to think of a reasonable excuse other than 'I learnt
it from the butterflies.'
Skuld jumped to her rescue. "I taught him how. Useful, eh?"
"Very." Ukyo and Shampoo nodded in agreement.

*Nerima attracts some very strange people,* Ryoga-chan reflected,
looking out of the window to the street outside. It was true, alien
activity was more than 50% above the average, and monsters and super
heroes attacked the city more times than there are parts to Friday the
13th. Once, a cat had walked in, introduced itself as Salem and
announced that he wanted a special and to rule the world. 
She idly wondered why she didn't get her family to wire Mr Tendo the
money and start wandering again when a white rabbit carrying a baby
with a cigar in its mouth charged past her view, shouting "I'm late!"
closely followed by a blond haired girl in a blue dress, only to get
squashed by a house falling on her head. 
Another girl exited the house and sighed. "Toto, I don't think we're
in Kansas anymore."
*Oh yeah. That's why. Whenever I leave the restaurant I get struck by
lightning, trucks or grand piano's falling out of the sky.* Very
strange. Nobody lived above Ucchan's and Ryoga-chan couldn't figure
out where on earth that piano had come from. *Probably just an act of
god to make sure I stick around to fight these weird demons.*
Ryoga-chan shook her head and handed two plates to the guys in front
of her. One was very tall and very serious looking, and was wearing a
pair of sunglasses despite the localised areas of freak weather. The
other one looked more her age and Ryoga-chan was slightly pleased that
he wasn't spending all his time with his eyes glued to her chest.
"Your orders."
"Thanks, babe," the boy said idly. He switched his attention back to
the tall man. "You need more attitude still, if you're gonna pass."
"No sweat, Jon," he said seriously. "Chill."
Jon grinned. "That's better."
The man stood up. "The T1000 is in the area. We should leave."
"Oh Shit!!"
Ryoga-chan looked at them both. "Leaving so soon?"
Jon reached into his pocket and handed her a fistful of notes. "We'll
take the food with us - it looks great. That should cover it." He
grinned. "This is a nice little place."
The tall man nodded solemnly. "Come on, Jon." He paused and looked at
Ryoga-chan. "I'll be back." They both roared away on a motorcycle. 
Ryoga-chan looked at the handful of notes and her eyes widened.
"Wow... what a tip!" She shrugged and began serving again. Eventually
there was a lull in activity and she sat down at the counter with a
groan. "I'm beat."
Ukyo sniggered. "I thought you were a big strong man. Cantcha handle a
few hours waitressing?" she teased.
Ryoga-chan glared at her. "I'm a girl right now," she mumbled.
"Besides, when you first hired me, I had three other people helping
me."
Ukyo pondered that remark for a second. "You're right. Maybe I should
hire some more help." She patted Ryoga-chan on the shoulder. "Howzat
sound?"
"Like heaven." She stood up and stretched. "_Please_ can I turn back
to normal now?" she begged. 
Ukyo thought about it for a moment before relenting. "OK. I'll close
up now and get started on my homework."
Ryoga-chan gave her a big grin. "Thanks! I'm gonna change back and
spar with Ranma." *And then Skuld's gonna tell me how I'm learning
other peoples techniques.* There was no way she was going near
Happosai or Cologne until she figured out how to stop it, otherwise
she could end up having to steal underwear to get her strength. Not a
happy prospect. But she wanted to try out some new tricks on Ranma.
She turned her back on Ukyo, not noticing the chef's battle aura
starting to glow. "It's been ages since I had a good fight."
*Oh, so he doesn't think I'm good enough to fight him?!!* Ukyo fumed.
She tensed up, reaching for her spatula. "Ryoga, you JERK!" she
howled, slamming the spatula into the ground where she'd been just a
second before. 
Except now, Ryoga-chan was a few feet away, with a big smirk on her
face. "Nyah, you missed me," she taunted, wiggling her tongue at Ukyo.
"Catch me if you caaaan!" With that, she raced up the stairs and into
the bathroom, leaping through the mirror just before the spatula
smashed down on the glass.
Ukyo stood panting in the bathroom. *Stupid, hentai JERK! I can't
believe I actually agreed to go out with him last night!!* With a
small sigh, she slumped down on the floor. (And I'm sorry the date
didn't work out...) The words echoed through her mind. *I guess... I
was having fun until it all went wrong...* she admitted to herself as
she climbed back to her feet. (Y-y-you look really n-nice... wanna get
some popcorn?) Expertly, she shoved the memory into the darkest
corners of her mind, although for some reason, an image of Ryoga
giving her an undeniably cute smile lingered in her mind's eyes. She
quickly replaced it with a picture of Ranma. *Ranchan... not that
idiot Ryoga.* She looked at the mirror, beginning to fume all over
again as she took in the fine spiderweb of cracks running through the
glass. *This is all Ryoga's fault!* she decided, walking away. At
least being mad at him helped block out the memory of him smiling at
her. A little. *I must be ill, thinking of him.*

Ranma sighed happily and relaxed even lower into the hot water. "This
is the life..." he murmured. After a few minutes of soaking, he
reluctantly stood up and began to get dried and dressed before his
father ate all the dinner again. He leaned forward to study his
reflection in the mirror. He frowned. *When did I get green eyes?!* he
wondered, then let out a yelp of terror as Ryoga-chan popped out of
the mirror.
"Hey Ranma."
Ranma backed away, tripping over a bucket of cold water. She angrily
flicked her red hair out of her eyes and glared. "What the hell are
you tryna do, scare me to death?!!" she ranted.
Ryoga-chan thought for a second. "Original and effective. Maybe I
should do that more often." She grinned slightly and landed on the
floor. "Let's spar. We haven't had a good fight in ages."
Ranma-chan thought longingly of dinner. "Not now, Ryoga," she decided.
*After all, if I don't eat now, I may be forced to eat Akane's cooking
again!* She went to move past Ryoga-chan.
"Wait!" Ryoga-chan moved forward to block her path. "Come on, Ranma!
What's the matter with you?!" She crossed her arms irritably. "What's
the matter, scared I'll beat you?" she taunted. "Biii! Surely der big,
bad Ranma Saotome isn't afwaid of widdle Ryoga-chan, is he?"
Ranma-chan turned a strange shade of purple. "Hey, you little...." She
began, little crosses of annoyance appearing on her head. Then an
image of Akane waving deadly weapons ... a mallet, and even worse, her
home cooking, appeared in his mind. "Look, Ryoga, I'll fight you." She
pushed past the smaller girl then turned to face her. "But not until
_after_ dinner, you got that?"
"You're no fun," Ryoga-chan mumbled under her breath as she followed
Ranma-chan to the kitchen. 
Kasumi looked at them both and smiled. "Oh my. Ryoga, would you like
to stay for dinner too?"
"N-no, that's OK..." Ryoga-chan stuttered, laughing nervously. "I
mean, I already ate."
"But you're a growing boy," Kasumi smiled, completely oblivious to the
fact that her statement happened to be untrue at the moment. "You need
all your food, right?"
"Uh...hehe..." Ryoga-chan scratched the back of her head. "No, really,
that's OK. I don't want to be a nuisance..." 
Ranma-chan shook her head and placed the kettle on to boil. Kasumi
continued to smile sweetly. "Really, I insist."
Ryoga-chan gave up. "Thanks, Kasumi. That's really nice of you." She
sat down next to Akane, who turned and smiled at her. "Hello Ryoga.
You and Ukyo got home safely last night, didn't you?"
Ryoga-chan blinked. "Well, uh.. yeah.. hehehe..." She scratched the
back of her head again with another nervous laugh, and tried to
concentrate on Akane's face. For some reason, she kept seeing Ukyo in
her mind, smiling at her... (Hey, sugar, I'll go with you.. after all,
if normal people get lost in cinemas, imagine what would happen to
you...) She shook her head and tried to focus on Akane. *I love Akane
I love Akane I love Akane I love* she repeated firmly in her mind,
gritting her teeth and closing her eyes. Big mistake. The moment she
closed her eyes, she was bombarded by the memory of Ukyo taking hold
of _his_ hand and walking with _him_ to get some popcorn. 
A hand rested lightly on her shoulder and Ryoga-chan almost jumped out
of her skin. "Aaah!" She whipped around to come face to face with
Akane.
"Uh.. Ryoga? Are you all right?" she asked in concern.
Ryoga-chan nodded numbly, a slight tingle running through her small
frame. *That was weird...* she thought to herself. Then the thought
was pushed aside by a more worrying issue. *I was thinking of Ukyo
while I'm here with Akane?!!* She forcefully pushed the memory aside.
*She must have hit me harder than I thought,* she decided dryly.
Ranma-chan picked up the kettle and poured it over her head. "Oh, that
feels so good," he muttered cheerfully, before holding out the kettle
to his best enemy. "How about it, Ryoga-chan? Wanna be a guy?" He
grinned as the small girl winced in internal agony. 
Ryoga-chan fixed him with a venomous glare. "How many times do I have
to tell you not to call me that?" she hissed.
Ranma shrugged. "I lost count after seven hundred and thirty eight,"
he quipped, before shaking the kettle a little. "So? D'ya want it?"
Ryoga-chan looked down at her waitress outfit. "I don't suppose there
are any of my other clothes here?" she asked hopefully.
"Nope. Sorry." 
Ryoga-chan looked at Kasumi, who shook her head, before giving up with
a sigh. "I guess I'd better stay like this then," she mumbled. "I
guess I need to get used to fighting in this body too."
Ranma grinned. "Hey, that's great!" He patted her on the shoulder, an
evil grin on his face. "Your girl side is _totally_ hot, y'know. Can't
wait." There was almost nothing Ranma liked better than winding up
Ryoga. He was a master at it, as he continued to prove. "It's almost a
pity you're not a real girl sometimes," he carried on, noting the
battle aura flaring around the girl and the utterly pissed off
expression on her face. With a huge smirk, he reached over and ruffled
her hair. "You're cute when you're mad, y'know," he taunted.
The next thing that struck him was completely unexpected. Actually, it
was a mallet.
"RANMA, YOU JERK!!!"
*WHAMMO*
Ranma reached up carefully and traced the mallet handle back to a hand
and grabbed it. "Jeez, Akane, I was only... gah!"
The hand he was holding wasn't that of  a certain young tomboy Tendo,
but rather, that of a certain shocked bandannaed lost girl who was
staring at the mallet with as much amazement as he was. "How did.. how
.. h-h-how..." Ryoga-chan stuttered, staring at her hands.
Nabiki grinned. "Well, Akane, looks like you've been upstaged." She
casually patted her sister on the arm. "Never mind, I'm sure you'll
find a new trick to beat up Ranma with." 
Soun Tendo appeared then, bawling his eyes out. (Boo hoo spat splat.)
"NABIIIIIIIKI!!!!!! How can you ENCOURAGE them fighting?!!!!!!" He
began to claw at his hair. "My BABIEEEEEEEE!!! Why must you fight with
your fiance?!!!!!"
Ranma shrugged and looked at the still stunned Ryoga-chan. "We weren't
fighting, Mr Tendo, we were talking about how Ryoga-chan here stole
Akane's technique."
"I DIDN'T STEAL IT...." Ryoga-chan began, before Mr Tendo grabbed her
by the arms and started shaking her. 
"WHY?!!!! WHY I ASK YOU?!!!! I'M BEGGING YOU, GIVE MY BABY GIRL BACK
HER TECHNIQUE!!!!!!!" he bawled.
Akane sighed. "Daddy, Ryoga didn't do anything wrong, he must have
just worked out how I do it," she said lightly. Inwardly she frowned.
Even _she_ wasn't sure where the mallet came from. Oh well, she was
sure it didn't matter. "Isn't that right, Ryoga?"
Ryoga-chan grasped the suggestion like a drowning man clutching a
straw. "Oh, yeah, that's right, I mean, I've seen you use that thing,
been on the receiving end a few times too, hehe..." She turned about
thirty shades of red. *Oh god, they're not buyin' it... what the hell
is going on here... oh man, I just don't _get_ this!!* 
"See? That's all." Akane smiled at her father, who still had tears
pouring down his face. "Oh daddy, must you over react?"
Ryoga-chan blinked a few times. *Wow... they're actually buying it!*
That was good. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain that
she was learning techniques from anyone who touched her.
Ranma gave her a dubious look. "I think you're not telling us
something, Miss Ryoga-chan." 
Immediately, a demon head loomed over Ranma, with forked tongue,
glowing eyes and fangs. "WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU?!!! HOW
MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT?!!!!!!"
Ryoga-chan roared. Then she realised exactly what she was doing. "Um..."
Ranma crossed his arms. "How did you do that?" he queried, looking
closely at Ryoga-chan.
Ryoga-chan put on her best cute face. "Me? I guess I picked that one
up from watching Mr Tendo do it to you all the time." She smiled
sweetly. "Not scared, are you? Want to fight still?"
Ranma glared at her. "Sure thing! As if a few new moves could make
_you_ any better than _me_!!"
"In the training hall, boys," Nabiki called out. "Or should I say girl
and boy?" She whipped out her camera for a few shots of Ryoga-chan in
the waitress outfit. "Don't create _too_ much damage!!"
Ranma grinned. There was one move certain to put Ryoga-chan out of it,
no matter _how_ many mallets she pulled. All he needed to do was make
her mad. "Hey, Nabs, don't suppose you could make me copies of those
photos, could you?" 
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!" Akane jumped to her feet, waving a large mallet
around. 
Ranma glared at her. "Akane, don't butt in! This is a man to man fight!" He 
glanced at the seething Ryoga-chan again. "Although it looks like only one of us 
is a real man!"
"DIE, SAOTOME!!!!" OK, yeah, it was an outdated battlecry. But it was
quick and straight to the point.
Ranma charged towards the training hall as the demon head loomed over
him. "What's the matter, lady, can't take the heat?! You make a  better girl than a guy, anyway!"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!" Ryoga-chan roared, swinging a mallet which
connected solidly with Ranma's skull, much to his surprise. 
*I forget... he's faster as a girl.* Ranma straightened up and began
taunting Ryoga-chan again, carefully leading her into a spiral. "I
thought you said that battlecry was outdated? What's the matter,
Ryoga-chan, something wrong? Why not stay a girl for the rest of your
life and find a real man to marry?" He could feel the heat of the
battle aura radiating from the girl. Boy, was Ryoga mad! Just a few
more steps and he'd have the Hiryuu Shoten Ha to end all. "I don't
know why Ucchan decided to stick with you, when she had a real man
like me around!" 
Ryoga-chan seethed with anger and renewed her attack. "Get back here,
you coward!" she raged, chasing after him. "Stop running away!"
The words clicked in her mind.
Ranma was... running away... running away in a spiral...
Time seemed to slow down as she realised she was being drawn into the
centre of the spiral. *Oh no! Not again! Not this time!* (It's nothing
more than a clash of temperatures.) She remembered helping Ranma train
with Cologne - she'd been the first one Ranma had unleashed his
greatest attack on. And she'd gotten herself mad enough to be blown a
few miles at least. Unless.... she could cool herself down. She
grinned. "ICE STORM!" Ranma's eyes widened as the cold air surrounded
him, cancelling out his twister. Then, before he could react, he was
hit by a flurry of punches. He staggered backwards before regaining
his composure. "H-how did you do that?!!" he whispered in awe.
Ryoga-chan smirked. "That would be telling. Come on, Ranma. Fight me."
She could _do_ it this time. She could defeat him! Ranma grinned. "OK.
For real. Winner takes all." He took a stance. "Let's go!"

Skuld glanced at the okonomiyaki chef as she worked through her katas
with her giant spatula, before swinging at an imaginary foe, muttering
under her breath. A grin appeared on Skuld's face as the words reached
her ears. 
"...Jerk! Pervert! Stubborn, stuck-up, pig-headed jackass!"
"He'll be back soon," Skuld called. 
Ukyo jumped around, a red flush covering her features. "I couldn't
care less where he is or what he's doing!" she growled. "Why should I
care anyway?!" She whirled around again and started the kata, smooth
and controlled. Her mind was in a state of chaos, though. She didn't
understand what was happening to her. She loved Ranchan, she knew
that. *So why am I worried about that idiot jackass Ryoga?* She
sighed. Well, if there was a question that needed answering, there was
just one thing to do.
Procrastinate. 
Procrastinate like you've never procrastinated before.
Skuld smiled knowingly and looked at the small pill she'd been given
by her sister, and held it up to the light. "Admit it. You like him."
"I DO _NOT_!!!" Ukyo screamed.
Skuld couldn't resist goading her a little more. "So how was your date
last night? Have fun? Was Ryoga a gentleman? I hear he leapt to your
defence pretty quickly when all out war broke loose."
Ukyo scowled. "I don't want to talk about it, so drop it."
Skuld relented. She genuinely liked the okonomiyaki chef and didn't
want to spoil the friendship they were building. "OK." She looked at
the pill again with a smile. *Love potion number 9.* Ryoga and Ukyo
were her friends. They deserved a little happiness after all the
recent mayhem and chaos. As a goddess, surely she could do that?
*Pride... it always gets in the way. Well, Urd, maybe your ideas
aren't as far-fetched as I originally thought.*

End Part XIII
Final Song - Another Day In Paradise
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ja ne, Kai-Chan
There's too much blood in my caffeine system