Notes : This fic starts six months after the end of the manga, which
means characters are a little more grown up, especially Ranma,
and there are thigns that happened in-between that you'll find
out as the fic goes on. Comments at ranma_666@hotmail.com, and
flames can go at someone@who-cares.com. I thank my pre-readers
for their help.

Warning : This Chapter is dark. Not by its actions, but by the
Activities described in the past. The faint of heart refrain from
imagining the events while they are being mentioned. Thank you.

*******

What happened before:

Prologue : Ranma gets the timer from another sliding team, and Nabiki
unexpectedly tags along.

Chapter 1 : On a world devastated by nuclear warfare, Ranma and Nabiki
are forced into marriage. Ranma learns the breaking point by an enslaved 
Mousse before escaping.

This chapter starts on the third day of Ranma and Nabiki's travels.


"  "  spoken

'  '  thought

*******

     Slider Ranma

     Chapter 2 : Darkness

*******

     With a yell of surprise Nabiki fell once again on the
ground, but knowing what was to come quickly moved as Ranma followed,
hitting the dirt where she did. She looked around, and smiled. Same
place, different earth, indeed. They were once again next to a
lake, but this time, instead of a barren land, they were surrounded
by a lush forest full of life. She sighed and once again began
looking for dry sticks. Ranma sighed too and began unpacking his
necessities to make camp. This time, he bothered to make the tent.

     She came back to find everything ready, down to the fireplace,
pot already hanging. She placed the wood and he ignited it, placing
not long after the instant ramen in the boiling water. Not a word was
exchanged in the uneasy silence, not even when they split the noodles.

    Ranma was half-eating, half-playing with his ramen, not sure what
to do or say. He had no idea how to act towards Nabiki now. Technically, 
they were married. But that had been forced. They had... been intimate, 
though that had been forced too. Well, he was pretty sure the last go hadn't 
been quite that necessary, but...

     He shook his head slightly to clear his mind. It wouldn't do to
let his thoughts wander that way. The truth was that he was married to 
Nabiki. No, wait. They had signed their fake names. No, that didn't matter, 
it still had been them at the altar. Not to mention in the bed.

     So what was he to do? He knew that Nabiki didn't want to be
married, even less to him. As for himself? He didn't know. Since a
night he didn't want to remember over a month ago, he wasn't sure of
any of his feelings. That was the only reason he had been able to talk so 
clearly to Akane the morning he had left. He had no idea how he really felt 
about anything.

     Conclusion? Defer to Nabiki. He was sure she'd call the whole thing off 
as if it had never happened, anyway. He'd just wait for her to breach the 
subject. Yeah. That was it. He glanced at her quickly, as he took a 
mouthful. He had to stop himself from breathing for a few seconds before 
regaining control.

     Nabiki seemed as deep in thought as he was, twirling her golden
ring, which was still on her left ring finger. Ranma was surprised she 
hadn't removed it. Could she actually want to be married? No, that was 
ridiculous. But why hadn't she removed it yet? If anything, Ranma was even 
more confused.

     Idly twirling the gold ring with her thumb, Nabiki wondered just
what significance it had. No, she knew what it meant; she just wasn't
sure of what it represented to her. Was it a fluke, just another weird thing 
so easily associated with Ranma, that had no value afterwards? Or was it 
something real, with every possible meaning that usually came with the act?

     She honestly didn't know. She had never been quite in touch with
her feelings, and she was pretty sure such a decision should be based
on them. Then again, marriage was also based on objectivity. Did she
actually want to be married to Ranma? She didn't know. Before, she
would have flat out refused, but now that it had been said and done,
she was uncertain as to what her reaction should be.

     Ranma was a fairly handsome young man; in fact, she knew that he
had half of the female school population secretly pinning for him. Not a 
week went by that another girl came to her to get a date with him by 
whatever means necessary. They were all turned down, however. It was much 
more trouble to set up than it was worth, and the chances that it carried 
out smoothly were infinitesimal. Still, he was attractive.

     There was also his somehow naive attitude concerning women, not
to mention his inherent niceness. The Saotome charm Genma was always
boasting about had to hold some truth, because even though Ranma had
gotten his mother's good looks, there was no way Genma could have
charmed Nodoka without some help. Some serious help.

     But she was digressing. Ranma was still lacking two of the
foremost things on her list; smarts and money. No, that was not
completely true. Since the wedding incident, Ranma had matured, albeit 
slowly, and that had had repercussions on all aspects of his life. His 
grades had slightly improved, with no small prompting from his mother, and 
he was more sure of himself when dealing with others.

     As for the money thing, while he had none now, he was bound to be a 
successful dojo master in the future. For a month or so after they returned 
from China, Ranma had gone on unchallenged. The entire thing had been kept 
secret - she had been sworn to secrecy herself - and that had only added 
more to Ranma's ever-growing reputation. So much that the dojo now had two 
classes, each taught by one of the fathers. The extra money had allowed her 
to stop blackmailing Ranma, and they had slowly gotten along better. They'd 
been not exactly friends, but more than acquaintances. But now...

     Now, she just wasn't sure how they should act towards each other. 
Husband and wife? Lovers? Close friends? If anything, Ranma was the only 
friend she'd had in a long time, and she didn't want to lose him. What was 
the best way to make sure of that? Of course. Go with what he wanted. She 
didn't particularly like not being in control, but to keep a good friend 
like Ranma, she would. Whatever he decided was fine with her.

     Finished eating, they rinsed the bowls with a little water before 
letting them dry near the fire. They spared a nervous glance at each other, 
locking eyes ever-so-quickly before immediately casting their gazes on the 
fire.

     Ranma finally broke the uneasy silence. "I wonder where we are."
he said, as much to himself as to her, as an attempt to have some
conversation.

     Nabiki jumped on the opportunity. "Lucky for you," she replied
quickly, opening her school bag, "I always invest in the best and
prepare for every possibility." She took out her laptop, unzipped the
plastic bag around it and turned it on.

     "What are you doing?" he asked, always wary of technology. Not
that he had anything against it, but he had learned to be cautious
around things he didn't understand. And he certainly didn't understand 
computers.

     "I have a cordless modem." she began, hoping that her counterpart had 
the same ISP and password. If not, she knew the school's vice-principal's, 
and that was less likely to be different. "I can access a sattelitte that 
will tell us where we are on a map of Japan." He nodded, only understanding 
the last part, and said "Cool." She shook her head, smiled as she received 
access and began hacking into the Global Positioning System.

     After a few minutes, she turned her laptop so he could see it.
"We're 146 kilometers south-west of Tokyo." He looked up from his
drawing in the dirt and examined the map. He nodded and she closed
it. "That's almost two days walking." she added.

     "One day running." he said evenly. Her laptop was almost
completely in her bag when, without breaking her stride, she got it
out and turned it on again.

     Back on the World Wide Web, she accessed some of the cab
companies in town and calculated what it would cost her not to be
in Ranma's arms again. Not that it was unpleasant, but the closeness
would be rather uncomfortable. She found it acceptable and logged in to make 
the reservation. With a satisfied smile, she closed her computer and put it 
safely away.

     "Well, I just booked us a cab. It should be on the 106 north
of here at seven thirty tomorrow morning." He continued looking down.
"That's nice. Thanks. It'll only take us half an hour to get there,
and two hours of road. I'll split the cost, if you don't mind."

     "Ranma, I checked your backpack, and you don't have enough." He
showed little surprise.

     "I'll pay what you'll let me. I can't let you do it all." Nabiki
sighed to herself. Ranma was getting depressed, or something like
that, and even more she was doing all the planning, thereby hurting
his pride. She had to do something that would boost his morale. She
yawned. Well, it'd have to wait for tomorrow.

     "Come on, Ranma. Let's get to sleep." She removed her shirt and
pants, hung them near the fire and dried herself before entering the
small tent. 'No reason to be shy.' she thought bitterly, trying not
to think of the reason for it.

     Ranma looked at her get in the tent. Was it him or had there been a 
gleam in her eyes? No, that couldn't possibly be true. He removed his 
clothes and hung them next to Nabiki's. He put his armbands next to the 
fire, toweling himself dry afterwards. He then spent a good minute staring 
at the tent. "Are you coming or what? We have to get up early tomorrow." 
Resigning himself, though with no small amount of hesitation, Ranma entered 
the tent and laid down.

     Back to back, the two were quite aware of the other behind them.
Neither moved, nor had their eyes closed. It was more than the warmth
or the closeness of the other that caused the discomfort. It was the
memory of the previous night, and the feel that the chemicals weren't
completely gone. Eventually, their fatigue overcame their nervousness
and they fell asleep.

*******

     Ranma got out of the cab while Nabiki paid, and observed the
district. 'One week here shouldn't be so bad.' He thought, and began
wondering what was different here. 'Nah,' he ended, 'let's find out
the hard way.'

     The cab finally left some of its tires on the street and
disppeared from view. Ranma readjusted his pack and turned to her.
"So, what do we do? Personnally," he suggested, "I want to jump
right in." She crossed her arms and leaned on one leg, in the
process showing off her hips.

     "And traumatize everyone?" she replied dryly, and he shamely
hung his head. "I think we should spy on the dojo first. Hearing
our fathers conspiring to marry your counterpart to Akane should
help us know what happened here."

     "Unless I'm not engaged to Akane or I'm already married."
Ranma countered. Nabiki looked surprised but quickly recovered. Too
slow. "Didn't think of that, did you? That's also one of the
reasons I decided to try this. To see the 'what ifs' of my own
life. Maybe help with the decision I can't seem to make."

     Nabiki nodded at this. "Pretty clever, Ranma. Didn't think you
had it in you." He looked at her. "Well, okay. You *have* been
getting wiser since you came back from China." she conceded. "So if
you planned this, where do we go?"

     "Don't know." he admitted. She almost snorted. "But I guess
there's no place like home. I *do* agree with your idea of spying
before, though. Know what we're getting into. That's something that
could have helped me in the past."

     "Make that 'would'." Nabiki replied. "Like the time you
thought Akane was kidnapped again four months ago and she was
planning her friend's birthday party." she added, smirking.

     Ranma flushed of embarrassment. "Don't remind me. How was I
supposed to know they were all wearing negligees?" he whined as
Nabiki laughed.

     "Ah, save it, Ranma. You liked that and you know it. So are we
going or not?" He answered with a small grunt as he turned and
began walking. Nabiki laughed again as she followed.

     It took walking down one block for them to notice. There was
no activity around. Nothing at all. It seemed as if the whole block
was dead, and they suspected the district itself, from the double-take the 
taxi driver had made when he had heard their destination
and the way he had driven off.

     "Where's everybody?" Ranma asked, looking around. He jumped on
the fence to take a higher look. "There's nothing nowhere."

     "That's nothing *any*where, Ranma, and I don't know. We just
got here, remember?" She looked around herself. After living there
all of her life, or someplace eerily similar, it felt unnaturally
weird to not see any sign of life. The 'fun' part of this adventure
now practically disappeared. It would have completely if she didn't
have Ranma with her. She now understood why Akane had said she never
had been really worried each time she had been kidnapped. Still, he
felt too far for her. She kicked the fence. "Get down here."

     The chainlink fence was shaking like a leaf, yet Ranma still
managed to keep his balance. "What for?"

     "We should know what we're getting into before we're spotted
by whatever scared the people of *Nerima* away." He shrugged in
acknowledgement and hopped down the fence, looking at her. "Now, we
look for people. Dr. Tofu's is close, so let's go there."

     "Okay." Ranma followed her from a few steps behind, looking
around, this time for threats. He knew Nabiki was counting on him.
Nabiki could defend herself, if she absolutely had to, but anything
that would scare off the people of Nerima would be way out of her
league. Then again, this wasn't their Nerima, so the weirdness that
they were familiar with perhaps never came in this world.

     Still, that didn't mean whatever was out there wasn't
dangerous. Ranma's danger sense was coming up with nothing,
however, so he allowed himself to relax ever-so-slightly. Once
they found someone, he'd know about the threat and could focus his
efforts.

     They found the clinic abandoned, though practically devoid of
dust, and missing a lot of equipment. The place where the Ucchan's
had been was a small kissaten, closed and barricaded. They had both
blinked and made a comment about different worlds, then continued.

     But it was where the Nekohanten once stood that managed to
shock them. There was nothing but burned wood and ashes, with the
odd object here and there, the only thing making the rubble
recognizable being the sign, usually above the door, now broken in
two, laying in front of the whole mess. "Holy crap!" Nabiki
exclaimed first. "What the hell could have caused this?"

     Ranma had also been shocked, but there was something else that
had also caught his attention. There was... a sensation in the air,
a feeling he couldn't quite identify. Wordlessly, he jumped in the
middle of the ruined building, where the feeling intensified. He
looked around, noticing the very faint circular pattern in the
rubble, now evident as he stood in the center.

     "Hiryu Shoten Ha." he whispered to himself, not quite willing
to believe. Yet that feeling in the air was more than proof, as he
could now associate it with the same he had had the last time he
had performed the technique.

     Despite the softness of his words, in the surrounding silence
Nabiki managed to hear him. "Hiryu... Ranma? Are you saying
that..." She wasn't willing to continue with the thought, as the
consequences weren't particularly hopeful.

     "Yes." he answered, his thoughts on the same trail. "And it's
recent, too. I can still feel it." He crouched and took a small
amount of ashes in his hand. "Cologne ripped apart her own
restaurant fighting whatever scared everyone off, and it happened
last night." He threw the still warm ashes downward forcefully as
he stood up. "I don't see any bodies here, so it's safe to say
there are still survivors. Let's check your house, it makes a
rather nice stronghold."

     Nabiki nodded and started walking, joined on her side by Ranma
soon after. If Cologne had had to do *that* to save herself, then
whatever was out there was very strong, possibly even too much for
the great Ranma Saotome himself. She gave a mental snort at that
thought.

     Still, she was even more glad then before to have Ranma with
her, stuck on this crazy world. She wasn't about to blame Ranma for
her being in danger in the first place, though. She was more
level-headed than Ranma's other 'friends', and could admit to herself
she was at fault in the first place.

     But she'd never say it to him unless he was on a guilt trip,
something rare, but if she was hurt by any threat on any world,
he'd probably flip on her. She should probably ask him to train her
a little, especially in defense, while on their journey. She knew
enough to protect herself against normal people, especially
bullies, but anything that Cologne had problems with was out of her
league by a long shot.

     They finally reached the Tendo residence, which seemed a
little better from their point of view, but it could simply be the
fact that this house had seen a lot less destruction. They both
blinked at the spirit ward on the door in confusion before knocking
loudly.

     "Who's there?" came the rather quick reply, with an edge in
the voice Ranma was quite familiar with. He gave a quick look to
Nabiki, asking silently what they should say.

     Nabiki shrugged, not really knowing anymore than him how to
say they were counterparts from a parallel Earth. The very amount
of explaining to do told her just how Ranma had planned to improve
his social skills. Still, by the amount of staring he was doing
towards her, she guessed Ranma wanted her to do the first step.

     "Hum... Hi. We're travelers from a very different--" Nabiki
was interrupted by a very enthusiastic Akane opening the door and
glomping on her 'sister', shouting an overjoyed "NABIKI!!!" for
everyone to hear.

     Frozen in place by surprise and confusion, Nabiki was, for the
first time she could remember, speechless. She looked at Ranma, who
shrugged and shook his head in a 'don't ask me' manner.

     The glomping girl registered her victim's movement and turned
to see. "YOU!!!" she growled as loud as she could, letting go of
Nabiki and charging Ranma like a maniac. Despite his surprise,
Akane was too angry to properly attack, so he evaded easily.

     "What's -- your -- problem?" he asked in-between mad swings,
finishing with a long jump backwards, using the respite to throw
his backpack away.

     Akane stayed put, looking at him with deep hatred and barely
restrained fury. Then she fell unconscious on the ground, hit by a
figure behind her with a certain cane. Ranma relaxed his ready
stance and looked at the old Chinese woman oddly.

     "You have a lot of explaining to do, Ranma." she told him,
breaking the silence. "If that's who you really are." she added,
observing him.

     Ranma sighed. Back to the main problem, explaining who they
were. "I'd be glad to explain this, but I think we should get her
somewhere comfortable first." he said, pointing to the prone figure
on the ground.

     "She will have to wait, for the moment." Cologne replied. "I
am not letting you or your companion inside this house before I can
confirm your intentions."

     "Oh, boy." Nabiki commented to herself, almost rolling her
eyes. "Listen, Cologne, if we actually intended you any harm, we'd
be already fighting." She waited a moment; no reply. "All we want
is to know what the hell is going on in this crazy world of yours."
She glanced at Ranma, judging what his face was saying. "And help,
if we can." she added, noting the small smile rising on his lips.

     Cologne observed the two, pondering what information she had.
The two seemed sincere, and she was feeling no magic around them
that could indicate control or brainwash. The girl looking like
Nabiki was harmless, but it was the boy that was the threat. But
still, it didn't make any sense to send spies looking like them,
and the Ranma look-alike had yet to even appear to attack.

     She made her decision. "Very well." she finally said. "Let us
take this discussion inside." Still not trusting completely the
two, she carried the unconscious girl inside herself.

     She unceremoniously dumped Akane on the couch. "So, who are
you?" she asked, turning to face them. She noted they were familiar
with the house, wasting no time getting cushions and making
themselves comfortable. She sat herself.

     "We're travelers from another Earth." Nabiki said bluntly.
Ranma gave her a look of surprise and she shrugged in reply. She
didn't really see another way of saying things.

     Cologne's eyes widened but she quickly recovered. "I see... Do
you have any proof of your claims?"

     Ranma raised his hand in front of Nabiki before she spoke. She
closed her mouth, and with a smile and a wave of her hand, gave him
the floor. "If I know you as well as I think I do, Cologne, you
should be able to tell who we really are just by looking at us. Or
rather, at our chi."

     "Oh, really?" Cologne feigned surprise and confusion as she
checked. "And how would you know?"

     He considered his answer. ""Because I can tell myself." he
replied. "I've begun seeing auras with a little concentration since
I k-- for the last six months or so." Nabiki was the only one who
caught his slip of the tongue. "I noted every person is slightly
different. We should have the same chi pattern as our counterparts
since yours is the same as your counterpart in our world." He
altered his vision slightly to check just to be sure of his claim.

     "Indeed." Cologne acquiesced, satisfied with her examination.
"You are indeed who you claim to be. How did you come to this
world?"

     "That's a loaded question." Nabiki answered.

     "Yeah." Ranma added. "I'd prefer knowing first who attacked
you last night that needed the Hiryu Shoten Ha to keep you alive."

     "You know the technique?" Cologne asked, one eyebrow raised.
Inside, she began fitting pieces together. Knowing the technique
meant her other self trusted the boy enough to teach him. And the
strength needed to learn it was far above the Ranma she knew had.

     "It's been useful at times." Ranma replied off-handedly. "So,
who was it?"

     Storing his nonchalancy away for later, Cologne cleared her
throat. "Ukyo Kuonji." She stopped, waiting for the travelers'
reaction.

     "What?!?" Ranma blurted out, shocked beyond belief. "But you
could beat her in your sleep!" he quickly added.

     "Maybe your version of the girl, but not ours. After Genma
abandoned her ten years ago, she somehow managed to contact demonic
forces." Ranma and Nabiki went pale. "She made a deal and either
was possessed or was given demonic powers as a result. I do not
know the exact extent of her powers, but she is limited to darkness
and the cycle of the moon."

     "Cycle of the moon?" Ranma raised a hand to scratch the side
of his head. "But it's a crescent."

     "What? It was a full moon last night, Ranma." Nabiki said. "I
clearly remember seeing the moon in the sky before going to sleep."

     "But I saw the crescent the night before we were kidnapped in
the last world." Ranma countered. "That doesn't make sense."

     "Unless time is not a constant in your travels." Cologne
interjected. The two looked at her, Nabiki with understanding and
Ranma with confusion. "But we can talk about this later. I believe
we were talking about our current threat?"

     The two nodded. "Good. As I said, she is governed by darkness
and the moon, or more precisely, she can only endure natural light
from the full moon. She can only come out the night of the full
moon and of the new moon."

     Ranma blinked. "I've fought demons before, and they were all
perfectly happy to go after me in broad daylight. Why's she
different?"

     "I am not sure, but let us not look a gift horse in the mouth.
If we could destroy her hideout, the light would seriously weaken
her, and we would be able to destroy her."

     "Whoa! You want to *kill* her? Wouldn't defeating her be
enough? And you could exorcise her after or something? I don't want
to kill her. I-" Ranma's voice broke as he looked at his shaking
hands. "I won't kill. I won't." His hands clenched into fists, no
longer shaking, as he looked up at Cologne with fire in his eyes.
"Not again."

     Cologne found herself unable to disagree. "I believe I have
the proper rituals somewhere. I will look." she quickly said before
retrieving herself. "But we still have to find her hiding place
first. I have tried every night for the last two weeks, but I have
been constantly interrupted. Perhaps with you around, things will
be different tonight."

     "They will." Nabiki said calmly, putting a hand on Ranma's
shoulder to calm him a little. "Now maybe you could tell us what
happened to make this Akane so... emotional."

     "That is also a loaded question," Cologne replied with a
smile, "but for your continued safety I will answer. A month ago,
at night of course, Ukyo came to get her fiancee, Ranma. He wasn't
there, so she took Nabiki as an hostage, to guarantee Ranma would
be there two weeks later. When she came back, she only said she had
bigger plans for her, meaning she is alive, for the moment."

     "Meaning we have to get her out of the hideout, before blowing
everything up. Okay, we can do that, what's next?"

     "Well..." Cologne looked down. "Two weeks ago, she returned.
I... underestimated her greatly, and thought my help wasn't needed.
Shampoo was the first to die at her hands." The two travelers
gasped, wide-eyed. "Mousse went crazy and attacked her, with the
obvious result. Ukyo got hold of Ranma, and started the spell to
take control of him. Akane attacked her, and Ryoga took the lethal
blow meant for her as retaliation. She was only knocked out."

     "She finished her spell on Ranma, and decided to have a little
fun with the remaining occupants. She killed a cowering Genma for
pure revenge and removed Soun's eyeballs because his crying annoyed
her. She then decided to test Ranma's loyalty to her."

     "It was, sadly, Kasumi's turn. She had been constantly trying
to soothe Ukyo and convince her that violence was not a solution.
Ukyo said that since she wasn't willing to see the world as it was,
she shouldn't see at all. Ranma pierced her eyes with a knife."

     "Oh god." Nabiki said, while Ranma's eyes and fists only
clenched more.

     "My tale is, sadly, not finished. It was right after this that
Akane decided to wake up. Ukyo decided to have Ranma... rape her."

     Nabiki clamped a hand over her mouth so not to scream, but
Ranma had no such reservations. He shot up and grabbed the
Old woman by the shirt. "NO!!!"

     "YES!!!" came the reply, from the newly woken Akane. She
jumped from her position, separated Cologne from Ranma and smacked
him a good one right on the jaw, sending him soaring outside.

     Ranma backflipped, landing easily on his feet, position at the
ready. "I'm not your Ranma!" he said quickly, without much success
as she rushed him. He sidestepped with a twist, gently pushing her
with a foot all the way into the pond.

     Not knowing how to swim, the girl began thrashing wildly,
screaming for help between large gulps of air. Ranma watched this
in confusion, as he knew from experience the pond was only waist
deep. "You can stand." he finally said to her.

     She stopped, understood her position and flushed of
embarrassment. Then she remembered who was standing right in front
of her and got angry again. She climbed out of the pond and rushed
him once more. "I'll kill you!"

     Inside, Cologne and Nabiki watched this with resignation.
"When do you think she'll calm down?" the latter asked.

     "I have no idea." the former replied. "She has been getting
angrier than usual whenever Ranma was mentioned since... And now,
she has him, or rather his counterpart, right in front of her. I'd
say a few hours, unless Ranma decides to fight back."

     "Then we have a few hours to spare." Nabiki concluded. "So
where are Soun and Kasumi?"

     "They are at a physiotherapy clinic for the day with Dr. Tofu,
to accustom themselves to blindness." She began walking back inside.
"Now, about this method of travel of yours..."

******

     Back on the travelers' home dimension, Akane was feeling,
slowly but surely, worse. Ranma's departure had been rather private,
and without Nabiki to back her up, nobody believed what she was saying. They 
all had their own twisted version of why Ranma had left, and they all blamed 
her for it, of course. No matter what she said, they wouldn't listen to her.

     On the second day, Kuno had made a speech that, somehow, motivated the 
old Akane Tendo Fan Club to reassemble and restart the morning fights for a 
date. She had beaten them into the ground faster than she ever had before. 
Still, Kuno had also improved, and she had almost lost. Not by injuries, but 
by fatigue. She hated to admit it, but the training Ranma had been giving 
her lately had been more than useful.

     On the third day, Shampoo and Ukyo had attacked her, demanding to know 
what she had done to Ranma. The rain had taken care of Shampoo, while a 
lucky disarming kick had left Ukyo an easy target. But that was the easy 
part.

     The worst had come at dinner on the fourth day. They were finally 
concerned enough about Nabiki's sudden disappearance to try an in-depth 
search around, when Kasumi had made a simple observation. "The last we've 
heard of Nabiki was the morning Ranma left. Could they have run off 
together?"

     She had been so shocked that the others' reactions had been
totally lost on her. And now, she was on her bed, hugging her pillow,
wishing she had P-chan to comfort her. She was still too much in shock to 
have any other kind of reaction. The thought of Ranma and Nabiki as a couple 
was simply too mind-boggling.

     Slowly, Kasumi's words penetrated her higher brain functions, and she 
managed to accept the possibility. 'He... he said I had a chance!' was the 
first thing that popped into her mind. 'He told me I had as much chance as 
the others! And then he runs off with my *own*
*sister*!!!' At this point, the pillow in her hands was seriously
twisted.

     Akane refused to believe it. Ranma never lied. In fact, he tended to 
blurt out the truth whenever possible, usually in the worst way. While it 
was true that Ranma had problems when talking about his
feelings, he had been so calm that morning that he couldn't have lied. It 
simply wasn't possible. But all the evidence pointed to that fact.

     It was at that point that the second implication hit her. 'He left me!' 
That thought hit her almost as hard as Kasumi's words. 'He... he left me... 
After all that's happened, he left me...' The tears started to flow. 'But 
I... I l-... I lo-... I like him... How could he leave me?' She buried her 
head in her pillow to hide the sobbing.

******

     Ranma looked at the dimming light over the horizon, wondering what 
hardships he would find in the darkness of night. He stood in the dojo's 
only entrance, the rest of the building having been heavily fortified to 
make sure the disruptor could only come through the door.

     And for the first time, he found himself eager to fight, a thin
smile on his lips. For his opponent was to be himself. Yes, it was a
Ranma with over a year of skill and training behind, not to mention
certain special techniques, but he was hoping that the strength, speed and 
resistance added by the demon, as Cologne had mentioned, would compensate. 
True, he had fought copies of himself in the past, but they had been merely 
that, copies, and didn't stand up to the original. But his adversary was as 
much an original as he was.

     And so Ranma contemplated. He was hoping the shock of seeing a
double of himself would cause the other Ranma to hesitate long enough
for him to gain the advantage, but he had fought long enough to know
not to rely on such thoughts. He calmly stood, seemingly unprepared as he 
leaned against the doorframe, but underneath, every muscle was
tense, at the ready, every sense stretched out, registering beyond the usual 
five, hundreds of battle scenarios and opportunities playing in his head.

     For when it came to battle, none were as prepared as Ranma
Saotome.

     And so it came to surprise to him when Cologne stepped out,
standing next to him. "Are you ready, Ranma?"

     "I thought you knew me." Ranma replied, deviating from his
previous position only by a smirk. The old woman smiled knowingly,
nodding. "What about you, old-- I mean, Cologne? Everything ready back
there?"

     "Indeed." she said, turning to look at the horizon. "I am simply
waiting for the right time to begin. But my question was not directed
towards your physical readiness. I would never doubt it. I was
referring to your state of mind." Ranma didn't move. "Or, more
precisely, the state of your marriage."

     "What?!?" Ranma jumped from his position to face the old Amazon.
"Who said I was married?" he asked incredulously, pointing at her with his 
left index. In the silence that followed, Ranma turned his left hand 
slightly, showing the plain band of gold on his ring finger. "Oh. Eh... He 
he he..." Left hand now behind his head, he began laughing uncomfortably.

     "Don't worry about it, Ranma. Nabiki told us all how you two
preferred not to reveal you were married in your travels." Ranma froze in 
shock, a myriad of questions popping into his mind. "She was also shy and 
nervous when mentioning your marriage. It is perfectly normal for newly 
married couples, Ranma. But I felt a tension between you two at dinner, and 
I fear such a distraction may prove problematic tonight. Perhaps I could 
help you."

     "Oh, eh, well..." Ranma was still trying to grasp the concept of
Nabiki actually wanting to be married, and to him, no less. Then again, she 
usually used some kind of suggestive approach with him in their dealings, 
private or not, and he did remember a slight blush on her cheeks when she 
had walked in on him a little while ago. Was he to conclude that Nabiki 
secretly had feelings for him? No, that was
ludicrous. But she said to everyone here that they were married, so...

     "Ranma? Are you there, sonny boy?" Cologne was waving her staff in 
front of his vacant eyes. He shook his head and slapped the weapon
away. "Ah! Good. You zoned out for a minute, there. Are you all right?"

     "Yeah, yeah, I'm all right." Ranma waved it off. "Just thinkin'.
What else did Nabiki say about us?"

     "Not much, only that you were recently married. Are you sure there is 
nothing you would like to say? Unburden yourself with? I can give you advice 
on many things." The smirk that ended that phrase showed just how many 
things she was thinking of.

     "No, no, I'm fine." Ranma repeated. "Just a... minor
miscommunication problem. You know how that goes." Ranma returned to
his position, leaning on the dojo's doorframe. "We just need to have a long 
talk to clear things. It's nothing you should concern yourself
with." He looked back at the horizon, noting there was nothing left of the 
sun's light. 'Man, it's only been a few days and Nabiki's rubbing off on 
me.' He thought to himself. 'I wonder how much of me is rubbing off on 
her...'

     "Very well, then." Cologne concluded, turning back to enter the
dojo. "I will attend to my own, and you make sure nobody, and I mean
*nobody*, goes through this door."

     "Yeah, yeah." Ranma replied offhandedly. In his mind, the woman
was working herself up over nothing. How could she doubt that he
wouldn't perform? The thought of losing was simply ridiculous. And that 
thought was shaken by a staff to the head.

     "Do not take this matter lightly, boy. I am running out of
components for this particular ritual. With you here, I am expecting
peace and quiet on my end so that this can finally succeed. Am I
understood?"

     Ranma knocked the annoyance away. "Yeah, yeah. Geez. Would you
stop making a big deal out of this?" His reply was an incredulous
glare. "Oh. Right. This is a big deal. Okay then." Ranma straightened
himself. "On my honor as a martial artist, none shall come through this door 
until your ritual is done. Is that satisfactory?"

     A bit surprised by such a response, Cologne simply nodded and went 
inside. If this Ranma was anything like the one she knew, then she pitied 
the one who tried to enter the dojo.

     Later...

     "I can't believe you had trouble with this guy, Cologne." Ranma
said, entering the house while rotating his left arm. "I mean, he was
a little stronger than me because of the demon, but I still had the
edge in speed and skill. It was just a question of getting through
his goddamned stone skin." He shook his hurting knuckles. "He was
tougher than Ryoga..."

     "I never said I had problems fighting your counterpart, Ranma."
Cologne replied, following him to the kitchen. "It was simply a
question of getting through the ritual undisturbed. Which I've finally been 
able to do, thanks to you."

     Ranma paused just before the water bottle touched his lips. "Uh?
But you said it failed, right before he vanished in that black smoke."

     "Of course I said it failed." Cologne smiled. "If I had said the
ritual had succeeded, the demon would have moved before we had the
time to strike. As long as she believes we do not know of her
location, she will stay where she is, and we will have time to
properly plan our attack."

     He put the empty bottle on the counter. "So you're saying we have to 
keep the facade until we're ready." She nodded. "No prob. It'll get me a 
chance to try out a few moves I came up with." He yawned loudly. "Well, it's 
really late. I'm gonna hit the couch."

     He had time to take three steps before Cologne reacted. "You
won't be sleeping with your wife?"

     Ranma froze and blinked. "My wife?" A few seconds passed. "Oh,
my wife! Yes, hum, well, I, hum..." Ranma had a hand behind his head
as he thought. "It's that, hum, we haven't had a chance to, hum, talk
yet, so I'd rather not take my chances with--"

     "Say no more, Ranma, say no more." Cologne interrupted, laughing
as she pogoed away. She stopped and turned to look at him over her
shoulder. She shook her head and resumed laughing as she walked away.

     Face flushed in embarrassment and anger, Ranma stomped to the
couch and flopped on it. "I definitively need to talk to my 'better
half' about this." he muttered as he buried himself in the couch.

******

     "So, how do we go about this?" Ranma asked Cologne, observing the two 
eager students. Both had different looks in their eyes, but both made him 
nervous.

     "Well, if this morning is any indication," Cologne began with a
smile, referring to Akane jumping on the sleeping Ranma to strangle
him on the couch, "you should teach your wife and I will handle Akane."

     Ranma took one look at Nabiki, standing feet together and hands
in front of her, looking so shy and demure, with a twinkle in her
eyes. 'She's acting, she's acting, she's acting...' he constantly
told himself.

     "Well, hum, actually, Cologne," Ranma said hesitantly, "I think
Nabiki would benefit more from an experienced teacher like yourself."
Cologne raised an eyebrow at him. Ranma began sweating. "And, hum,
Akane needs to work out her anger if she's gonna be level-headed
against the demon, and I'm the perfect target, aren't I?" he added
nervously.

     "Indeed." Cologne simply said, smiling at the underlying reasons. "You 
are aware, however, that training Akane requires you hitting her?"

     He froze at that. Did it? Of course it did. It simply couldn't be 
otherwise. One look at the hopefully acting Nabiki, however, convinced him 
of the wisdom of revising his rule about hitting girls. Maybe he could add a 
clause about martial artists or something. Yeah. He could do that. 
Approaching Akane nervously, Ranma was only sure of one thing. Whatever his 
conscience did to him for striking Akane, it
couldn't be worse than what Nabiki had in mind for him.

******

     A world away, another Akane was having her own set of problems.
"For the last time," she screamed at the other two fiancees, "I
haven't done anything to Ranma! He took off on a training trip!"

     "Shampoo no believe violent girl." She brought her bonbori up at
the ready, Ukyo copying the movement with her own weapon. "What you do to 
Ranma?"

     "I told you, I haven't done anything! Now go away, I'd like to
eat my lunch in peace!" Akane sat forcefully on the ground, turning
her back to the two girls as she leaned on the tree with her left
shoulder. She had time to open her lunch bag and take out an apple
before the girls circled her.

     "This is your last warning, sugar. Tell us what you did for
Ranma, or you're in for a world of pain."

     Akane's barely controlled anger started boiling, and she stood
up, aura flaring to life as she turned madder than hell. "You want to
know?!? Fine!!! Ranma ran off with my sister!!!" At this point, she
didn't care about the implications of screaming that bit of
information in the schoolyard. Nearly the whole school heard.

     "What?!?" the two martial artists screamed in shock. Shampoo was
the first to recover. "Ayah! Shampoo find hard to believe Ranma run
with nice-nice girl Kasumi."

     After getting up from her facefault, Akane growled at the Amazon. "Not 
Kasumi, you bimbo! Ranma ran off with Nabiki! They both
disappeared four days ago!"

     The three of them stood there, two shocked, one glaring, as the
students in the schoolyard began talking amongst themselves about this 
latest piece of gossip. And boy was it a juicy one.

******

     The training session done, Ranma waited for Akane to leave,
limping, before rubbing a bruise on his jaw, carefully moving it. It
had been the only time Akane had connected, the final hint that their
sparring had become something more. He had finally been forced to
attack without holding his punches and kicks, since a mad Akane had a 
practically endless energy supply.

     "So, how did it go?" Cologne asked, walking in. Ranma gave her a
look. "I see. So you've finally managed to hit back, eh? I must say,
you've made the decision at just the right time. Or was it simply a
survival instinct, a reflex?"

     "I'm not sure." Ranma said, scratching the back of his neck. "I
didn't have much time to think once I realized she was fighting for
real. I knew what I was doing, but I didn't do anything to stop it.
It was kinda weird."

     "I see." Cologne said, nodding. "Then you will keep 'practicing'
until your misguided attitude has left your subconscious. It is
fortunate that you are here for a week. I will have time to search for an 
exorcism ritual while you train. Otherwise, I would go after the demon right 
away."

     "You sure you'd win? I mean, you used the Hiryu Shoten Ha in your own 
restaurant and she's still alive."

     "That is the main reason I am waiting after you. While I now know the 
demon's attacks and what to expect, with you at my side, the fight shouldn't 
be too difficult. That is the only reason I am exploring the possibility of 
exorcising the demon."

     "Well, I guess I owe you one for that. I believe we still have an hour 
before lunch, though, so how about you tell me what you can about the demon. 
Lives are at stake, here, so I'd prefer if I knew what I'm getting into."

     "Of course," Cologne replied, taking a step back and a ready
position, "but I believe it is better shown than told."

     With a grin, Ranma also stood at the ready, nearly five yards
from her. He was ready for anything the old ghoul could throw at him.
He and her had fought often before, and he was pretty sure he had
seen the majority of her repertory. And so he was completely surprised when 
Cologne let go of a rather large blue chi-blast at him.

     Not having the time to completely move out of the way, Ranma
gathered as much chi as he could in his short second and launched the
yellow ball against the blue one. "Moko Takabisha!"

     The two blasts met a few feet in front of him, and while his own
wasn't strong enough to counterreact the other fully, what was left
was sparce enough to only blow a strong wind past him, which he
protected his face from with his arms.

     "That was a mean trick, Cologne." he said once the air was clear. "If I 
had dodged that, you would have blown a hole in the wall."

     "The dojo is hardly of any importance, Ranma, and walls can be
repaired." She pogoed closer to him. "What I really wanted to know was if 
you were capable of chi manipulation. The demon is quite powerful in that 
area and I wished to make sure you were capable of defending yourself."

     Ranma grinded his teeth. That sounded very much like his own
Cologne, devious and tricky. "And did I pass your test with
satisfactory results?" he asked sarcastically through clenched teeth.

     Cologne laughed. "Yes, yes, above and beyond. But your speed
needs to be worked on. You had more than enough time to overpower such a 
weak blast."

     Only Cologne could stay unharmed after such a declaration. Ranma
also knew that he was rather new at this area of martial arts, while
she had hundreds of years of experience. "Okay, then. What kind of
'exercise' do you suggest?"

     "Exercise? With chi? Do not be ridiculous, young man." Cologne
said, smirking. "You would exhaust yourself before making any serious
progress, especially since you are only starting." She shook her head. "No, 
there are no specific exercises for this."

     "So how the hell am I supposed to get better if there ain't
exercises for this kinda thing?"

     "There is one special technique that would allow you to properly
open yourself to the flow of chi in your body and give you more control, 
amongst other things." She saw the eager gleam in Ranma's eyes. "However, it 
is a prized Amazon technique taught to only the most worthy of warriors."

     Ranma rolled his eyes. "Cologne, your stupid Amazon pride didn't
stop you from teaching me the Amaguriken, the Hiryu Shoten Ha and
helping me on dozens of occasions, even when it guaranteed I wouldn't
marry Shampoo as a result. And now you're saying you won't teach me
something that could help tremendously against a demon? This isn't
just for the tribe, Cologne, it's for the world's common good. So
shove your pride somewhere, show you're human and teach me the goddamn 
technique, all right?"

     Cologne chuckled. "I never said I would not teach it to you,
Ranma, I only wanted to make sure you would be discreet in your use
and mention of the technique, especially back on your own world."

     "Eh eh eh. Sorry." he said meekly. "So, hum, anyway, what's the
technique?"

     "The technique is called the Amazon Splitting Cat Hairs. If your
world is as similar as mine, then you should remember it from the
first day we met."

     The memory came with a little thought. "Yeah! You were circling
me with about a dozen images of yourself. You mean you did that with
chi?"

     "Yes. This technique requires ultimate control over your chi, as
you must be able to make it take shape and move as you desire outside
of your body. The first step is this..."

******

     The night fell on Ranma's fifth day in that crazy world. Like any other 
day back in his home dimension, martial arts had dominated his time. Train 
Akane, train with Cologne, train Akane, practice alone, spar with Cologne 
until he dropped on the couch. He hadn't spoken one word with Nabiki since 
he had arrived there, since Nabiki had decided to declare them married.

     Everytime he thought about her, a weird feeling entered him, one
he could not quite place, and though he knew he had to face her some
time, he preferred to focus on the matter at hand. Training to defeat
the demon was far more important than a dispute. At least, from his
point of view.

     Cologne came out of the dojo to stand next to him, watching as
well the fading light at the horizon. "Are you ready?"

     Ranma snorted. "You have to ask? I've beaten the guy easily the
last three times. Have some faith in me, Cologne. Just make sure your 
performance is believable. I don't want her to make fools out of us."

     "Do not worry, young man. This deception only has to last one
more night, maybe two, and we will be ready to attack."

     "Two more nights? That's cutting it a little close. Nabiki and I
are leaving in four days, you know, and the cave where Ukyo's hiding
is rather far. I'd like to have a good night's sleep and be back here
before sliding."

     "Do not worry yourself, my boy. Everything will go according to
plan." She looked at the horizon. "The moon is rising. Be ready." And
she returned inside.

     "'Everything will go according to plan...'" Ranma repeated to
himself. "Where have I heard that before?" His time for musing was
over as his counterpart appeared on the rock near the pond in a puff
of black smoke. Ranma looked at the evil grin on the other's face,
thought of how he'd wipe it off and let out a grin of his own. "Time
to fight."

******

     Seventh day, after lunch...

     "So we're going after her tomorrow, huh?" Cologne nodded. "Well,
that's fine and dandy, but like I said before, I'd like to get a good
night's sleep before we slide the day after. Getting there is long
enough, but we don't know how long the fight or the exorcism are gonna 
take..."

     "Do not worry, young man. The good doctor has volunteered to
provide us with some transportation. At the very worst, everything
should be done by the next dawn, giving you plenty of time to rest.
Now, do you wish to train?" She motioned towards the dojo. "You have
the technique down, but you still need some fine-tuning to properly
have the benefits."

     "Well, not today, Cologne." Ranma replied, somewhat hesitantly.
"There's something I'd like to work on before I forget it, and I have
to be elsewhere. You work with the girls, I should be back before
supper."

     "Oh? And what would this 'something' be?" Cologne asked, curious. She 
had never known Ranma, this one or the other, to turn down training.

     Ranma fidgeted in place. "Well, it's something that could be
really useful if I can do it again, but I'd rather not get your hopes
up right now. I'll tell you at dinner how it works out. See ya." With
a two-finger salute from the top of his head, Ranma took to the
rooftops and soon disappeared.

     Cologne turned to Nabiki across the table. "Nabiki, do you know
what he was talking about?"

     She shrugged. "Not really. It could be something about the
breaking point, though. He learned it in the last world, and knowing
him he probably improved on it already."

     "Yes, child, that he may have." Cologne turned her head to look
outside. "Though he should have asked me about it. I know the few
variations of the technique." She smirked. "Then again, this is Ranma. 
Stubborn man never asking for help."

     "Maybe yours, but not mine." Nabiki countered. "For the last six
months, he's managed to swallow some of his pride and actually ask."

     Her head cocked sideways. "Six months? I've heard this number
before. Tell me, what exactly happened to Ranma six months ago?" She
leaned forward.

     "Hum, well..." Nabiki wasn't sure if Ranma would appreciate. Then 
again, he might not hear of it, and it would prevent Cologne from asking 
him, which would make him even more uncomfortable. "Ranma... well, it's 
rather long and complicated, and I don't have all of the information, but 
what it comes down to is that Ak-" Nabiki stopped herself, hiding it with a 
cough. If they were married, it didn't make sense that Ranma had done this 
for her sister. She'd have to switch roles with her.

     "Excuse me. As I was saying, I was in mortal danger, and the only thing 
that stood between Ranma and my cure was this Saffron guy." Cologne's eyes 
widened at the name. "So... Ranma killed him."

     Akane, the only other one present, gasped, while Cologne managed
to control her reaction. "Saffron... As in Saffron, king of--"

     "Yes, Saffron, king of Phoenix Mountain. And I'd appreciate it if you 
would leave it at that, no mention to Ranma that I said this, okay?"

     "If what you say is true, then I have no desire to anger your
husband." Cologne said evenly. "But let us keep to the matter at hand. Which 
one of you would like to train this afternoon?"

     Nabiki and Akane looked at each other. "I will." the latter said, 
reading the look in the other's eyes. "I just need to talk to my sister for 
a second."

     "Very well." Cologne turned and hopped out. It had surprised her
that the Tendo girls had considered the second Nabiki their sister,
but she left such matter to philosophers. Then again, if an Amazon
came from another world, she would treat her as one. But family? She
wasn't sure she would act that way herself.

     The old woman gone, Akane turned to face Nabiki. "Nabiki, hum..." she 
began shyly, voice soft. "Did he really kill a man to save your life?"

     She raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Yes. He did. What about it?"

     "Then... I'm happy for you, Nabiki. If Ranma is willing to do that for 
you, he must love you very much."

     Nabiki looked down, blushing from embarrassment. She hadn't
thought her little lie would have gone this far. "Hum... Thanks." A
few seconds passed. "Does this mean you'll stop attacking him randomly in a 
blind rage?" she asked, looking up with a smirk.

     Akane laughed as she got up. "I'll try. It's just..." She looked
down, face sad. "It's hard to forget."

     "I understand." Nabiki said softly. "Just don't kill him, okay?"
she added with a small smile.

     She copied it. "I won't. Just promise me you'll hang on to him,
no matter what."

     "I promise." Nabiki said, without thinking, the words surprisingly easy 
to come out. "You just go practice now." With a nod and a smile, Akane 
walked out, leaving her sister to ponder her feelings for the umpteenth time 
in the last week.

******

     "Well, isn't that peculiar." Nabiki said, the first to speak
after Dr. Tofu had presented them their ride to the demon's cave. A
jeep. The kind of jeep you can just take apart for a sunny day, and
this one had all of the detachable elements missing. No doors, no top, no 
windshield, only the bar in the middle, supporting spotlights.

     "How the hell are we supposed to fit in this thing?!?" Ranma
screamed to no one in particular, waving at the jeep. "We're five and
we'll have three more passengers coming back, and that's not
mentioning the baggage!"

     "I'm sorry, Ranma," Tofu replied, not at all offended, "but it
was the only thing available. Most of the rentals aren't back yet
from the big move three weeks ago."

     "Oh." Ranma said sheepishly. "All right, then. Let's see if we
can make this puzzle fit together." He grabbed a bag and loaded it
into the jeep.

     It took them half an hour, but they managed to find a way to pack all 
of them in the jeep with the bags without the chance of losing anything -- 
or anyone. Ranma had been curious as to the inventory in the many bags, but 
had retracted his question halfway through the list -- on both Tofu's and 
Cologne's parts. And then there was his backpack and Nabiki's schoolbag, 
just in case things took too long.

     Weither it was an actual demon or an altered Ukyo, she still had
chosen her hideout well. Two hours of road had led them to a gravel
trail twisting and turning in a constantly more suffocating forest, up to 
the point where a person couldn't have walked in the middle without watching 
out for branches. And then, two trees were close enough together to prevent 
going forward.

     "It would seem we are walking from this point on." Cologne
observed, jumping off the jeep. "It is fortunate that the cave is not
far off." Along with Akane and Nabiki, she began removing bags from
the jeep.

     After going through the branches, Ranma joined them. "Really? How far 
is it?"

     "A mile and a half." she answered, smirking. Ranma glared at her
after picking himself up from the ground, and picked up the heavy
medical supplies bag.

     "I'll take point." Instead of going around the jeep, Ranma went
over it to avoid branches. One hand holding the straps over his
shoulder, Ranma used the other to clear the path of small branches
with the Amaguriken, keeping his pace fast and steady.

     He nearly didn't avoid the waterfall that suddenly appeared out
of nowhere. Carefully choosing his stepping stones, he shouted a
warning to the others before returning on his way. As he walked, Ranma 
wondered. 'If this had been my world, I would have been splashed for sure. 
So why wasn't I here? It's still me, I still have the curse... It doesn't 
make sense.'

     He pulled his head back at the last second before hitting a tree
dead on. "Whoa... Back home, I *would* have hit that... Could it be
that finally...No, that can't be true... But there's no other
explanation... So that means... I'm finally lucky! I finally have good
luck!"

     In his joy, Ranma bent his back backwards as he stretched his
arms to the sky, a happy smile on his lips. Inadvertently bending a
strong branch until it whipped over his fist and smacked him right in
the back of the head, sending him stumbling forward until he tripped
on a tree root and fell face first in a small mudhole.

     He raised his head from the mud, using his free hand to wipe off
what he could. "Well, maybe not good luck." he reasoned. "I'll go with less 
bad luck and see where it leads me first." After getting up and wiping his 
face with a few large leaves, he continued down the dirt trail.

     Another half hour of walking brought him to a small clearing, the 
beginning of a stone mountain at the other end, where a dark hole lay hidden 
in the shadows. "Bingo." He put down his bag, spotted a rather large tree 
and went to rest under its shade.

     Hands behind his head as he leaned against the strong, dark bark, Ranma 
sparred a look towards the cave. A rather flat section of grass grabbed his 
interest, to be discovered as a fallen wooden panel. Curious, he went over 
it and raised it to see what was on it.

     "Warning: abandoned mine shaft. Do not enter." he read aloud. He
pushed it back so it leaned against a large stone, almost vertical.
"Damn. This is gonna be tougher than we thought." he said to himself,
putting his hands on his hips.

     "Why do you say that?" a voice behind him asked, and he twirled
into a ready position to face whoever it was. The rest of the group
had finally caught up, Akane in the lead.

     "I say that because this 'cave' is an abandoned mine shaft." he
answered, pointing at the panel and staring at Cologne. "This thing
has enough twists and side tunnels that we'll die of hunger before we
find her in there."

     Cologne hummed. "I admit that such a situation has us at a
disadvantage. To properly search we would need to split up, thereby
making us vulnerable. Very clever."

     "If I may?" Nabiki piped in. Cologne gave her the stage with a
wave of her hand. "Ranma, what do you remember of the last demon
Happosai sent after you?"

     Ranma's hand went to his head as he tried to remember. "Uh, do
you mean the giant crab thing with the head of a dragon or the big
dog with three heads?"

     "No, those were monsters. I'm talking about a demon. You know.
Ten feet tall, black and blood red skin, horns and claws, wrists
bigger than my waist..."

     "Oh! You mean Maxwell, the guy Happosai sent after me a month
after we came back from China?" Nabiki nodded. "How could I forget?
First major thing that happened after that. What about him?"

     "Do you remember how he acted?"

     "Yeah, sure. Typical demon. Humiliate, torture and kill all who
stand in his way. Whatcha getting at?" Ranma understood before she
could reply. "Okay. I get it. The labyrinth of the mine is meant as 
humiliation." He continued slow as he made the reasoning. "And the
best way to humiliate us from getting lost in there would be to hide
in the obvious place, which would be the end of the main shaft."

     "And that's where we need to go." Nabiki finished joyfully. "So
shall we?" She turned to face the others with a beaming smile.

     Who were, quite predictably, staring at the two of them,
dumbfounded. "Am I the only one missing something here?" Akane asked
after a few seconds.

     "I am afraid not, child." Cologne answered. "The ease with which
they speak of such experiences is disturbing, to say the least, but it is 
the last of our concerns for the moment. We should select what
baggage we are taking inside before we proceed."

     They decided to travel light. Akane was to carry the items
necessary for the exorcism, while the good doctor took with him
supplies to treat serious wounds quickly, minor ones were to be tended to 
outside of the mine. Nabiki would thread the rear with a map and a compass, 
to try to pinpoint their location. With large flashlights, Ranma and Cologne 
led the group inside, carrying a length of rope each.

     "Oh, crap." Ranma said after awhile, once they were deep enough
to no longer see the entrance. His spotlight was stopped on a large
puddle of water, drops coming from the ceiling adding to it. "This
cave is full of water. I can't afford to change here."

     "Do you really think you can keep avoiding water all day long?"
Nabiki asked, amused, voice echoing from the rear. Since glaring at
her was mostly pointless because of the darkness, Ranma decided to go
with a low growl, to which she laughed.

     "Please, *children*." Cologne interrupted. "We do not wish to
warn the demon of our coming. Be quiet." She spoke with a finality
that was hard to resist.

     The five made their way deeper into the mine, going down old
moldy ropes and across small gaps. The mine was old indeed, for the
cave was far from regular, and some very rusted shovels and pickaxes
could be found here and there.

     The mine was as deep as it was old, apparently, for it took a few long 
hours for them to get anywhere interesting.

     "I am born, live and die an unlucky number of times each year.
What am I?" Ranma read aloud, from the flat black surface that had
suddenly blocked the way. It was obvious the black wall had been added 
recently, and the riddle written on it seemed to be the key.

     "Interesting riddle." Cologne remarked. "Were it someone else who was 
asking it, however, it would be more difficult. The obvious link is a rather 
idiotic flaw." Cologne turned around to look at the
others. "Would you like time to reflect on this or would you rather
continue right away?"

     "Think on it." came Akane's quick reply, currently leaning on a
wall, breathing heavily, heavy pack at her feet. She hadn't minded the 
weight at first, but it just had seemed to get heavier and heavier as they 
had progressed.

     Tofu also put his bag down. "I do believe some rest is in order." he 
commented, glancing at Akane. "Besides, if the demon deemed necessary to put 
a barrier here, she must be nearby, and we must be ready once we face her."

     Nabiki just shrugged and found a not too damp rock to sit on as
she studied the topographic map with her small flashlight. If she had
calculated her distances and directions correctly, the area they were
in had an abrupt descent overhead, putting the surface not as far as
it seemed. Besides, she had figured the answer to the riddle seconds
after hearing it. It was rather simple.

     Ranma just stood there, spotlight illuminating the writings,
scratching his head. The unlucky number was obviously 13, but the
described cycle was eluding him. 'Born, live and die... 13 times a
year...' He snapped his fingers. "That's it!"

     "Shut up!" Akane snapped back. It was more in the interest of
resting quietly than thinking about the problem, however. She didn't
really care, as it was a minor obstacle that the others obviously knew how 
to solve. Besides, she'd hear the answer once the door was opened.

     A few minutes went by in silence as a bottle of water was passed
around. Finally, everyone returned at the ready, Cologne uttered the
answer loud and clear and the wall faded into nothingness. Seeing no 
complications ahead, the group pressed on.

     As they walked further and further, they could hear screams and
moans, at first faintly, but the sounds grew louder as they
progressed. The mine shaft finally opened to a large cave, roughly
twenty-five feet in height, thirty wide and about a hundred deep.

     In the far left corner, a human shape seemed to be shackled to
the wall, on its knees, but the bad lighting of the cave made it
impossible to observe in more detail. On the wall to the right stood
what looked like a crude altar, with candles, drawings, statuettes and vials 
covering every inch of it.

     And in the middle of the cave, where the moans and screams were
coming from, there were moving white sheets with two spots of black
over a king-sized mattress. At that point, a long and particularly
meaningful moan rose from the moving heap, and everyone understood
just what was going on.

     Akane immediately turned away from the sight, face red with
anger. She didn't want to look at a reminder of a rather bad memory of hers.

     Ranma took a few seconds to identify the parties involved, and
immediately blushed and took a step back, looking away.

     Cologne and Tofu looked at the scene with calm and serious
expressions. "It is most fortunate that they are... distracted at the
moment." the former said.

     After managing to pry her eyes off the show, Nabiki took one good look 
at the dimensions of the cave before returning to her map. She checked her 
compass to verify something, looked at her watch, then grabbed Ranma by the 
shirt and pulled him away so they could talk.

     "What is it?" he whispered, glancing once in the cave's
direction, mindful of the strength of his voice.

     "That thing you went off to practice yesterday afternoon, was it
anything regarding what you did in the ventilation shaft on the last
world?"

     "Um, yeah. Long distance breaking point. But I still haven't
perfect--"

     "Doesn't matter if it's not perfect, can you do it?" she asked,
enforcing her words by tapping her fist on the small pad holding her
map.

     "Yeah. Why?"

     "If my calculations are correct," she began, "and they always
are," she added under her breath, "there should be only about ten feet of 
rock between the back upper right corner of the cave and the
surface. If you could blow a hole there, we could have some sunlight
inside the cave to weaken her."

     "Yeah, but the sun would have to be that way." Ranma said,
pointing to the end of the cave. In response, Nabiki showed him both
her watch and her compass. The time was 6:34 and the direction was
west. Ranma smiled and went back to the cave's entrance.

     "We have a plan." Ranma said as he handed his rope to Dr. Tofu.
"As soon as the sunlight gets in, jump on them and tie them up while
they're confused. Since they're already distracted, it shouldn't be
much of a problem."

     "That's very good, Ranma, but where do you plan on getting the
sunlight?" Tofu was answered by Ranma taking a ready stance, hands
cupped in front of him, as he gathered a small ball of chi between
them.

     "Moko Takabisha!" The small ball became an even smaller beam as
the yellow chi flew straight for the upper right corner of the far
wall. As it hit, a rather large section of rock flashed yellow once,
but nothing else happened.

     "Impressive, but what were you trying to accomplish, young man?"
Cologne asked, looking at the affected area.

     "Well, like I said to Nabiki, it's not perfected yet." As he
finished, the section of rock flashed again before exploding, a large
amount of small rocks pouring down from the hole, sunlight visible
through the dust-filled air.

     Sunlight that happened to illuminate the center of the cave
floor, where two lovers had gone on unnoticing exterior events until
now. They barely had time to remove the sheets from over them to look
around before being quickly hog-tied by strong rope.

     Akane and Nabiki, who had stayed behind in the charge, quickly
walked to join the victors, while the victims were rapidly covered
with the sheets. Hands and feet tied behind their backs, sunlight
pouring on them, neither victim could do much more than lay still and
let go of an interminable string of curses. "Time to exorcise."
Cologne said, beginning to unpack her things.

     "Hello?" a weak and hesitant voice said, from the far left corner. 
"Could- could you help me?"

     Ranma immediately brought up his spotlight to illuminate the
person. The woman had short, dark hair that was in dire need of a
wash, pale skin that spoke of weeks away from the sun, clad in
underwear that threatened to fall apart at any moment, and a rather
large, round belly that gave no grounds for uncertainty as to what
it was.

     "Nabiki?!?" the five chorused.

*******

     Dawn broke in the small clearing near the hole, as black smoke
rose from Ukyo's body and formed the shape of a demon's head, silently 
screaming in pain. Then, in a light show that would have been great had it 
been in any other color but black, the smoke vanished upon itself, and the 
ritual was complete. The demon had been exorcised, and Ukyo was free.

     The girl slowly started crying, small sobs and tears at first,
which turned into a full scale wail as she cried for her 'mommy' in a
most childish manner. With a few well-placed taps of her cane, Cologne sent 
the girl to sleep.

     "What's with her?" Ranma asked, the only one beside Cologne still 
awake, as he had had to help her with the ritual.

     "She has been possessed by a demon for nearly ten years, Ranma."
Cologne explained. "It may have been a mutual agreement at first, but
the demon slowly ate away the poor girl's defenses until it took
control completely, destroying whatever sanity she still had, up to
the point that all that was left was a frightened little child, too
weak, confused and innocent to understand what was going on."

     "Oh." was all Ranma could say after that. He tried to change the
subject. "What about... the other Nabiki? Is she all right?"

     "She will be, given time. And the baby inside her no longer has
demonic traces, before you ask. It will be perfectly healthy and
completely human. The accelerated pregnancy has no side effects that
Dr. Tofu or I can find."

     Ranma let go of a breath he didn't know he had held. "That's
good. But... why did Ukyo need her? I mean, she was also a girl."

     "Yes, but a possession makes the body sterile. And before you
ask, yes, it means the baby is both Ranma's and hers. It is fortunate
they were engaged and getting along well before this, else there
would have been more complications than I care to handle right now."

     "I see." Ranma managed to say evenly, hiding his surprise that he had 
been engaged to Nabiki in this world. It seemed it wasn't so
similar to his own world after all. He yawned loudly. "I'll go get
some sleep before it gets too bright."

     "Good idea. We shall be leaving slightly before noon, and should
be getting back to the dojo in time for you to slide."

     "Nice to know. Later." Curled up under a large oak tree, Ranma
closed his eyes and went to sleep.

********

     Ranma woke to find a blanked draped over him. He removed it and
looked around. No one. He looked at the sun. Noon had passed long ago. "What 
the hell..."

     "Finally awake, huh? I was just about to wake you up." He turned
to face the voice. Nabiki had just gotten out of a group of bushes,
and was now smirking at him.

     "What happened to the others?" he asked, getting up and
approaching her, blanket over a shoulder.

     "Well, we figured my counterpart had had enough problems without
the shock of seeing the both of us, and since the jeep is small enough as it 
is, I figured here is as good a place to slide for the next world as 
anywhere. I went back to the entrance of the mine to get our stuff and 
returned about an hour ago. We slide in about ten minutes, by the way."

     "Ten minutes? Damn, I needed that sleep more than I thought. And, hum, 
how are they doing? You know, our counterparts and Ukyo?"

     "Your counterpart has no memory of anything that's happened since the 
demon took control of him. Ukyo is basically a scared five-year-old in the 
body of a teenager, and my counterpart... well... I guess you could say 
she's in denial. It's as if nothing bad happened in the last five weeks. 
She's acting all nice and loving with Ranma and she's constantly rubbing her 
belly affectionately." She shivered. "Creeps me out. Dr. Tofu and Cologne 
both agreed she needs therapy, but it'll have to wait until the baby is 
weaned first, because she could actually go to a mental hospital once she 
begins facing what happened to her."

     "Damn." Ranma said softly, looking down. A few moments passed in
uneasy silence, both pained by the events that had occured over the
last few weeks in this strange world.

     "Strange that it turns out I was engaged to you in this world,
huh?" Ranma asked out of the blue, trying to change the mood, which he 
didn't like one bit.

     "Yeah." Nabiki replied, looking up at him. "I honestly hadn't
considered the possibility, but come to think of it, since I was the
one to be kidnapped, it makes sense I had to be your fiancee."

     Ranma nodded, staying silent. "Speaking of which..." she
continued.

     He looked up at her with a small smile. "Yeah. I know. We have to 
talk." He motioned at the timer in her hand. "Let's go to the next
world first, okay?"

     "Sure. There's only twenty seconds left, anyway." The two picked
up their bags, got ready, and when the big blue vortex appeared in
the air, jumped in without hesitation.

*******

End Chapter 2


Ramblings:

I am aware that I can�t avoid comments on the ffml. I just want to say that 
this isn�t Ukyo bashing, because every character in this world gets 
something. I intend for every fiancee to be the bad guy at some point in 
this fic. My idea developed on its own, and Ukyo just happened to be the bad 
guy here.

And one thing. This world is not that different from canon Ranmaverse. All 
it took was for a demon to listen at this place and time instead of another 
to hear Ukyo and decide to �help� her. Demon-Ukyo started following Ranma 
and Genma early, never catching up but causing a lot of destruction. Ranma 
noticed the papers mentioning destruction in the town he�d just been to, and 
by following this became a little smarter by constantly reading the papers, 
being engaged to Nabiki later because of this. Anyways, just my two cents.

Next chapter will take some time. I�m trying to work on �Leaving� now,
because this chapter took all of my imagination, and it�s about 50% done. 
Next chapter should be at the pre-readers in a month, and it�s another week 
from there. Here�s to hoping.

Later!






______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com