Okay, this chapter is a little more serious than CMD21, but hopefully has 
a good mix of humor thrown in.


Any and all C&C is welcome.





=======================================================================
Childhood of a Modern Dynasty
Chapter 22: Too Many Piggies in Nerima

Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko
Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission

Childhood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and
copyright 1998-1999 by Jim Lazar

An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime.

<Speech text in angle brackets is thought by character.>
"Speech text in double quotes is spoken as Japanese."

E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net

Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for
all released CMD stories, graphics files, and other information:
http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime/md
=======================================================================
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:


October 7, 2057

     I walked towards Akane's house with Hanaki. Since she didn't have
any Task Force assignments this morning, I was glad to have her company.

     As we approached the house, I cleared my throat to break up the
kiss that Akane and Sanma were in the middle of.

     Sanma looked over at me. "You really should get that cough looked
at, James." He winked.

     "Very funny." I looked over at Akane. "Good morning."

     "Morning, James, Hanaki." She gestured at a chair near her.

     As I sat down, I noticed the koi pond was empty. "Why is the pond
empty?"

     Akane smiled. "Don't want to take any chances with Sanma getting
wet. He might like to live dangerously, but I prefer to keep him a man
as long as possible."

     Sanma acted nonchalant. "Feh, I've told you not to worry about
that, Sparky. I'll break my record this time."

     "What's your record?" I asked.

     "One hundred and twenty-eight days as one-hundred percent man!"
Sanma thumped his chest.

     "Wow, that's a lot of sex." I smirked at Akane.

     Akane frowned. "Yes... but it was before I married Sanma."

     That's another foot tasting I've given myself. "I'm sorry... didn't
mean to bring up a sad subject."

     "It's okay, I think I've gotten... what? Forty-seven days straight
out of my man here once?" Sanma nodded his agreement to Akane's inquiry.
"So what did you want to talk about today?"

     "Well, you and Shashiki covered Ranma and Sanma getting out of
their respective Amazon entanglements. So what about telling me about
what happened when they returned to Nerima?"

     A knowing grin appeared on Akane's face. "Well, they didn't exactly
come back at the same time." She glared at Sanma, who gulped loudly.

     "Really? I'd have thought they would be in a rush to get back to
you."

     "Yeah, me..."

     Akane was interrupted by an alarm going off followed by a voice
calling out from one of the myriad of hidden speakers. "Matriarch,
incoming avian directly toward your house. It's a big one." All around
us, tactical holo-displays popped up.

     Three heads snapped upwards. My gaze was slightly behind theirs,
but after I looked skyward, I saw a large, black shape shooting towards
us. Fast. Very fast.

     Akane went into action without any hesitation. "Hanaki, protect
your husband. Sanma, let's flank it."

     "Right!" Sanma took off running towards the south, while Akane
scurried away from the house a dozen or so meters and took up an
offensive posture with her hands held high. A chi ball flickered to life
between her hands.

     As Akane took her position, I heard her shout out a rapid series of
instructions to the unseen control personnel. "Control, have two teams
approach from the north and south in case it gets by us. Get the
children out of harm's way, of course."

    "Already working on that. All normal defense procedures initiated.
Two teams... E.T.A. two minutes."

     Hanaki pulled me into the house. "James, stay close to me and do
exactly what I say."

     I nodded. "I will."

     Hanaki reached over and tapped the wooden wall beside us. A panel
in the wall slid down and revealed a keyboard and other controls.
Several tactical holo displays appeared around us. She keyed in a few
commands and three video views of the attacking avian and a couple
tactical maps appeared. "Damn..."

     "It's only one..."

     "One large avian can do a considerable amount of damage."

     The avian was like the others that I've seen pictures of. Unlike
the 'ground variety' of Buyierfei, the avians were always visible. It
had a central body mass that extended into two flat, leathery 'wings'.
It looked a little like a stingray, but with two tails trailing behind
it from the tips of the wings instead of a single one from the middle.

     One of the displays caught a shot of the huge maw that formed the
creature's mouth. It was filled with dozens of tentacles lashing about
as if seeking to devour everything in its path. At the moment, that path
included my wife and me, so I sincerely hoped it was a vegetarian.
"Um... shouldn't we be getting out of here? That thing is headed
directly towards this house."

     Hanaki shook her head. "We'd be too exposed out in the open and the
avians aren't too picky as to their targets. Let my aunt and uncle take
care of it. We'll be okay."

     I trusted Hanaki's judgment, but her voice did have a slight waver
in it that showed she was worried.

     In the distance, I could see all sorts of activity from the
compound. Large towers, which almost looked like castle turrets, rose at
the edge of the Compound and the wall surrounding the Compound tripled
in height. Maybe Imoki was right, the Compound was a fortress after all.

     Akane suddenly yelled out, "Moko Takabisha!!" and the large chi
ball she had been generating shot into the sky. It was followed by
another chi ball from Sanma, who I could just see in the distance.

     "Again!! I'll do a shift-blast this time!" Akane shouted and ran to
a new position to avoid a large piece of leathery flesh that fell from
the sky. I guess they must have winged it. Akane seemed to key something
on her wristpad and then started generating a chi ball in front of her.

     "Understood!!" Sanma replied from his position. I strained my neck
trying to see him or the enemy, but couldn't see either from my
position.

     I must have stuck my neck out too far, because Hanaki pulled me
back and whispered to me. "Keep back."

     I nodded, moved back a bit, and then looked back at Akane. I gasped
when I saw the huge chi ball she was generating. It was several meters
in diameter and totally obscured her form. Yohachi had told me a while
ago that size doesn't matter, but I could almost feel the massive
amounts of power within this chi ball. It was unlike anything else I've
ever seen any of the task force members generate and it made my hair
stand up straight. It might have been static electricity causing that...
or sheer terror. It's hard to tell which at times like this.

     Suddenly, Akane released her ball into the sky and I saw her
collapse to the ground. My first instinct was to run to help her, but
Hanaki had a firm grip on my arm and was scanning the skies and the
displays for signs of trouble. Two of the video displays were blank,
possibly damaged. The third was panning across the sky, trying to locate
the avian.

     Akane wearily rose on one knee and looked up. Instantly, her
fatigue seemed to leave her and she snapped her head in our direction.
"Out of the house... NOW!!"

     Hanaki didn't hesitate. She grabbed my hand and took off running
for the open door to the porch, dragging me behind her.

     As we ran, I saw Akane and Sanma running towards us and blasting
away at something behind us with smaller chi balls. I wasn't about to
stop and look to see what it was. I wasn't curious enough to know to
risk my life over it.

     "Get down!!" Akane yelled.

     Hanaki and I hit the deck as two medium-sized chi balls shot over
us. I looked back just in time to see the chi balls impact the large
avian, which already looked badly wounded even before they hit. After
they hit, the creature screamed a horrible grating sound that will
probably haunt me until I die. Parts of its wings and body fell off and
impacted the ground around us. After it expelled one last warbling
grunt, the central mass of the creature dropped out of the sky and
crashed onto Akane's house.

     "Shield!"

     I didn't know what Sanma's shocked cry meant, but Hanaki did. "Wrap
your arms around me!" She slipped in front of me and folded her arms
around her chest. "Quickly!!"

     As I wrapped my arms tightly around my wife, a misty green aura
formed around us. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Akane and
Sanma had taken up similar postures, except separately.

     And then the shock wave hit. Debris flew everywhere as a wall of
pure energy erupted from the location where Akane's house used to stand.
I had a feeling that whatever Hanaki was doing was keeping me from
feeling the full force of the blast, since I could feel something
pushing us backwards but we weren't being tossed around like the shrubs
and trees around us.

     After almost a minute or so of this, the force pushing us
disappeared and the green haze died down. A gentle breeze caressed my
face once again. "Are you okay, Hanaki?"

     I grew a little worried after Hanaki didn't respond right away, but
then I saw her head rise from her chest. "Yes... just... a little
tired."

     I helped her up and looked around. Akane's house was half gone. It
must have been built very solidly to even partially survive that huge
blast. The steel girders that were visible were bent in all sorts of
directions. Considering that Akane's house looked like a rather typical
Japanese wooden house, the use of steel beams in its construction
indicated it was built to stand up to a lot of abuse. Of course,
everything has its limits and this time the house lost against the large
avian. Not that the avian was in any condition to gloat over it's
destruction of the house. It was in even smaller pieces.

     The force of the blast had ripped most of the trees and shrubs out
of the ground and even the heavily fortified main dojo looked to have
taken some damage. Normally you wouldn't be able to see it from where we
were standing, but with the newly created hole in Akane's house, you
could now.

     I looked around to see Akane run up to me. "Are you both okay?"

     "Yes."

     "Thanks to my wife... what was that green mist?"

     "Chi shield... helps deflect chi attacks and withstand the worst of
nearby explosions," Akane quickly explained.

     "Handy technique."

     Akane smirked. "Yes, most of us wouldn't be here if we hadn't
developed it."

     "Looks like your house got the worse of it."

     Akane sighed and nodded her agreement to my observation. "Yes, but
it isn't the first time my house has been destroyed over the years."

     I nodded my understanding. The attack she told me about yesterday
had caused an appreciable amount of damage.

     "And probably not the last." Akane frowned and she looked around.
"Sanma?"

     I realized I hadn't seen him since the blast. We all looked around
for him.

     "Oh my." Hanaki suddenly gasped.

     I followed her gaze to a little potbellied pig that was pulling
itself out of the stream. It shook itself dry and then started walking
towards us with a very angry look on its snout.

     "Well, nine days isn't that bad, honey." Akane picked up the pig
and kissed it on its snout. As she stroked it, I noticed a red swirl
pattern that ran down the pig's back.

     "Huh?"

     "James, do I really need to introduce you to my husband again?"

     I looked down at the pig. "Sanma?"

     The pig grunted in disgust.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

October 8, 2057

     After the dust settled yesterday, we had barely made sure that
everyone in the Compound was okay before the repair crews descended on
the debris. They immediately went to work cleaning up and repairing the
damage caused by the Buyierfei attack. It looked like they were used to
making repairs to the Compound, but that really didn't surprise me
considering their history.

     Unfortunately, Akane's house was almost a total loss and it would
probably take a while to rebuild. The up side of this was that I now
found her as my neighbor, which will at least make it easy to conduct my
interviews for the next few weeks. The down side of that is that they
kept banging on my wall last night when Hanaki and me were...

     Anyway... we invited Akane over for breakfast this morning. I don't
think Sanma was amused at the bowl of vegetables Hanaki prepared for
him.

     "But, Uncle, you have to eat your veggies to grow up big and
strong." Hanaki smiled.

     Sanma, who was still a pig of course, snorted and looked at his
wife and let out a few short squeals.

     Akane nodded and reached into the bag she brought along with her.

     "Don't tell me you understood him?" I asked.

     Akane shook her head. "Not exactly, but I've gotten used to the
different sounds and I can kind of figure out what he wants by the tone
and duration."

     "So what was that one about?"

     "He wants his keyboard."

     I frowned. "Keyboard?"

     Akane finished pulling out the object from her bag. "This." She set
it down in front of the pig and hit a power switch on it. Sanma
immediately started to hit various keys on it.

     It did look like a keyboard, but had larger keys than normal and
were arranged in a half circle. It wasn't a kanji keyboard or even an
English keyboard. The symbols were unfamiliar to me and it had about
half as many keys as a standard keyboard. "What's that for?"

     "It's so I can tell your wife that I don't like vegetables. I'll
have the same miso soup you're all having. Please."

     My jaw dropped at hearing Sanma's female voice. I looked around to
find the source of the voice, but couldn't. "Who said that?"

     The pig clicked a few keys. "Me."

     "Sanma?"

     The pig nodded.

     Akane smiled. "It's his keyboard. Since he'll be a pig for at least
a few days, we've came up with a way to communicate a long time ago."

     "Convenient. The voice sounds perfect."

     "Almost perfect. I can tell the difference between his real voice
and the artificial one generated by the keyboard."

     "So why a female voice?"

     Sanma answered via his keyboard. "You spend enough time as a woman,
you kind of get used to the sound of your voice. My male voice sounds a
little strange to me after spending so much time as a woman. Not that I
don't enjoy the times I get to spend as a man, but... you know."

     I nodded my understanding.

     Hanaki put down a big bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice next to
Sanma. "There you go, Uncle."

     More hooves on keys. "Thank you."

     I leaned over to Akane and whispered to her. "Is it my imagination
or is Sanma more polite as a pig?"

     Akane grinned. "The keyboard is programmed to be polite. The Rei's
added that feature, much to Sanma's chagrin, the last time he cycled
through his blessings."

     I chuckled and tried not to burst out laughing. It wasn't easy.

     Sanma tapped some more keys. "By the way, Hanaki, that vegetable
joke is getting a little old."

     Hanaki smiled and knelt down at the table.

     Akane let out a laugh. "You should have heard all the jokes about
Mousse's name back in my day."

     "Worse than my failed Shampoo pun?"

     "Much worse."


***********************************************************************
July 1-9, 1999 - Nerima, Japan


     "I can see the head!!"

     "Gross!"

     "Here it comes... it's a boy!!"

     "It's so cute!!"

     "Ah, there's the next one!"

     "Twins?"

     "Well duh, Ranko. Of course there is going to be more than one
baby."

     "Well, how the hell would I know that, Nabiki?"

     "You know, you really need to pay more attention in school."

     Akane put a small wrapped bundle into Ranko arms. "Here take this
already, I've got to help Kasumi with the next one."

     Ranko frowned. "Next one? Triplets?"

     Akane rolled her eyes. "Five to six is normal."

     "What?!" Ranko frowned and looked at the little bundle in her arms.
The two little newborn piglets squirmed around in the towel. "They kind
of look like Ryoga."

     Akane handed another piglet to Ranko. "I doubt very much Ryoga is
the father, he's not that kind of a man."

     "Don't you mean 'that kind of a pig'?" Ranko remarked, grinning
slyly.

     "No, I don't. Here's number three and four."

     Ranko looked down at the piglets in her arms. "It sounds like
you've forgiven Ryoga."

     Akane nodded while handing over one more piglet. "Yup. I guess I
can't hold a grudge forever." She suddenly gave Ranko a very scolding
look. "Otherwise, I'd have never married you, would I?."

     Ranko smirked. "True. And it's a good thing mallet blows don't
really hurt me... or I'd be dead."

     Akane stuck her tongue out at Ranko.

     Kasumi finished with her work and looked up. "That's all. Just
five. We'd..."

     Ranko interrupted her. "Just? I hope I don't end up having five
babies!" She started to absently prod the piglets with one of her
fingers.

     Kasumi smiled. "I doubt that. Unless one is hiding from the
ultrasounds, your baby is all alone in there." She gently patted Ranko's
stomach, which clearly showed that she was six months pregnant.

     "I hope so... Ouch!!!" Ranko screamed when one of the piglets
attached itself to her finger. "Get it off!"

     Kasumi and Akane helped get the piglet off Ranko's finger and then
laid all five of them next to the mother.

     Ranko rubbed her sore finger. "Damn, they sure bite like Ryoga."

     Kasumi smiled. "Ranko, they don't even have any teeth yet."

     "It still hurt," Ranko muttered and looked down at the newborn
piglets, which were sucking away on P-chan's engorged teets. "Gross."

     Akane smiled. "Not to long until YOU'LL be breast feeding too,
Honey."

     "No way!!"

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     "Would you like some Outback Fries with that?"

     "Kang?" Ukyo gasped.

     Kang looked behind the customer he was serving. "Ukyo?" He quickly
did his best to hide his uniform using a serving tray. The uniform for
the burger joint he was working at was styled after the clothes worn by
Crocodile Dundee. In short, it looked pretty much like what Kang
normally wore. Not that Kang would ever admit he usually dressed like a
stereotypical Australian, of course. And therein lay the source of his
embarrassment.

     "Kang, I didn't know you were still in Japan! You should have come
over."

     Kang quickly took care of his current customer and then answered
Ukyo. "Um... yeah... well I decided to stick around for a bit. Got a job
here... err... to just earn a little extra spending money." He didn't
want to tell her that he was flat broke and trying to scrape up enough
money to get home. Besides, there were a lot of cute girls around.

     "Oh, I could have given you a job at my restaurant."

     Kang frowned. "I don't think your boyfriend would like that."

     Ukyo sighed. "No, probably not. At least come over sometime and we
can talk. We are still friends, after all."

     Kang smiled slightly. "If you're sure your boyfriend won't mind...
Okay, thanks, I'll do that. Why are you here, anyway?"

     Ukyo blushed and looked around awkwardly. "I'm sort of... checking
out the new competition."

     Kang nodded his understanding. The restaurant Kang was working in
had just opened. Or reopened. It used to be a greasy burger joint, but
had reopened with an Australian themed menu--although the burgers were
still greasy. Needless to say, Kang fit in extremely well there. Not
that he was greasy, mind you, just that he was born and raised in
Australia. That didn't keep him from getting sick of saying "G'day mate"
in English to every customer.

     Kang leaned forward and whispered to Ukyo. "Don't worry, the food
is no where near good enough to pose any real competition to your
okonomiyaki."

     Ukyo smiled. "Thanks, Kang. Um... just give me what ever is most
popular so I can check it out for myself."

     "One Kangaroo Burger and Outback Fries coming up." He noticed Ukyo
grimace suddenly. "Don't worry, it's not real kangaroo."

     Ukyo relaxed. "Thank goodness."

     "Kangaroo meat is too tough and tastes kind of bland."

     Ukyo's face went pale. "Err... wasn't your mother raised by
Kangaroos?"

     "Just kidding." Kang winked.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     That night, Ryoga was by himself trying to control the chi blast he
had managed to form during the battle in the Amazon village. Before
leaving the village, he had talked to Ranma about the blast. Ranma
believed it was related to the Moko Takabisha, but also seemed a little
more like the Aikizuna Mokoutsu technique Akane had developed, since it
had traces of red sparks in the blue beam.

     He stood on the roof of Ucchan's and held out his hands. He
concentrated on Ukyo and his love for her, causing a small chi ball to
form. He concentrated harder, but the ball wouldn't grow or produce a
beam. Reluctantly, he let his focus shift and the ball suddenly filled
with a tremendous amount of energy. He was both surprised and horrified
when his theory was confirmed. <Why... why can I only generate this much
energy when I think of her?> With one last push with his mind, he sent a
beam of pure energy screaming into the night.

     "Wow."

     Ryoga looked back and flinched. "Ukyo! Hi.... um... I wasn't doing
nothin'!" He quickly erased all other thoughts out of his mind, as if
Ukyo could read his mind. He should have been more concerned about
wiping the guilty look off his face.

     "Relax, my sweet piggy, I just wanted to see what you're up too."
Ukyo wrapped her arms around and gave him a long kiss. <What could he
have been doing that he's so embarrassed about?>

     Ryoga smiled after the kiss broke. "Just practicing that blast I
discovered during the battle... it's easier to form than the Shishi
Houkou Dan... not as depressing either." He chuckled nervously.

     Ukyo smiled. "Good, I like it when you're not depressed. Want to go
for a training walk before bedtime?"

     Ryoga nodded, took Ukyo's hand, and walked towards the stairs.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     "Where are we now?" Ukyo asked, not for the first time since she
started dating Ryoga.

     Ryoga looked around. "Paris?" He motioned towards the spotlight-lit
Eiffel Tower.

     "Nope, that's Tokyo Tower." Ukyo smiled and slapped Ryoga on the
back. "Way to go, Pig-boy, you kept us inside Tokyo this time."

     Ryoga grimaced. "Ukyo, could you please stop calling me that?"

     "Calling you what?"

     "Pig-boy."

     Ukyo smiled and looked into Ryoga's eyes. "Awwwww, it's just a pet
name."

     "I am not a PET!!" Ryoga screamed and hit the wall beside him with
his fist. Unfortunately, he hit a water pipe and was suddenly sprayed
with cold water. "Bweeeeee!"

     Ukyo looked down at her boyfriend, who was struggling out of his
clothes. "I'm sorry, Ryoga." She bent over, picked up the pig, and
collected his clothes at the same time. "I didn't know you were that
touchy about it." She gave the pig a kiss on his snout, earning some
stares from some passing tourists.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     The next day, Sanma walked up to the door of the Tendo house
carrying a bouquet of roses in his hand. He had been a little surprised
to see the new fence and Amazon warriors surrounding the house, but
fortunately they recognized him and let him pass. Of course, they
thought he was Ranma. <What was that crystal rod they touched me with
anyway?> He shrugged and decided it wasn't important.

     Sanma took a deep breath. <Well, here goes nothing. Your man is
back, Akane.> He reached up to knock on the door, but paused when he
felt something on his hand. He shrugged and knocked on the door. After
feeling the drops again, he looked up into the sky just before the rain
started pouring down on him through the holes in the little awning
covering the steps.

     Sanma suddenly found that he was shorter than he had been. He
looked around and wondered what happened. He looked down at his body,
only to see a black pot belly. And hooves. "Bweeee?" His eyes went wide
at the sound of his squeal, which should have been his voice. <What the
hell is happening?>

     As he crawled out of his clothes, he ended up pushing them and the
roses off the side of the steps.

     Before Sanma could figure out what had happened, Kasumi opened the
door and looked around. "Hmmm? No one here?"

     Just before she was going to close the door, an insistent
"Bweeeee!" was heard. She looked down to see a little pot-bellied pig on
the stoop. It had a red pattern on its back and seemed to be confused
and upset.

     "Ryoga? No... the markings are different." Suddenly, a smile grew
on Kasumi's face. "I know who you are." She bent down to pick up the
pig.

     Sanma was shocked and confused at what was happening, so he figured
he'd be better off letting Kasumi take him inside. <I'll have to get to
some hot water as soon as possible... I can't believe I managed to
become a man again, only to end up with a pig curse like Ryoga.> He
tried to figure out if that was better or worse than being a girl full
time, but couldn't decide.

     Kasumi didn't notice the clothes and roses as she walked back
inside the house with the pig in her arms. "Have to dry you off before
you catch cold."

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Kasumi walked into the family room carrying a wet pig in a blanket.
"Guess who I found on the doorstep?"

     Akane looked up and saw the pig. "Ryoga?"

     Ranko looked closely at the pig. "No, the markings are different."

     Akane took the pig from Kasumi and looked at it. Instead of yellow
dots, it had several red swirl patterns running down its back. Suddenly,
she gasped. "Maybe he's the father?" She held up the pig and confirmed
its sex. "See?" The pig squirmed a little. <Damn... that's pretty
impressive for a little pig.> Akane tried not to blush.

     Kasumi nodded. "That's what I guessed, too."

     "Ha! Come to see your new family, huh, piggy?" Ranko chuckled, and
reached for the pig, who snapped at her fingers. "What is it about pigs
and my fingers?"

     Sanma couldn't believe this was happening to him. He tried to think
of some way to let them know who he was. But while he was clutched in
Akane's bosom, there wasn't much he could do. <I can see why Ryoga liked
this.> Sanma snuggled in a bit, relishing the scent and feeling of being
close to Akane. It was a feeling he had missed desperately over the past
couple of months.

     Akane cradled the new pig in her bosom, stood up, and walked to the
little storeroom under the stairs where the mother and piglets were. She
slid the door open and approached the cardboard box where P-chan was
feeding her babies. Ranko and Kasumi looked in behind her.

     Akane showed the pig the babies. "See, you're the proud father of
five beautiful babies."

     "Aren't we getting a few too many pigs around here lately?" Ranko
wryly commented.

     "Who's a pig!!"

     They all looked over to see Ryoga and Ukyo in the doorway.

     Ranko smirked. "Well, you are. But relax, Ryoga, you're off the
hook. The father of P-chan's babies just showed up." She gestured
towards the pig.

     Ryoga took a look at the pig. "Hmmmm, never saw him around here
before. He's not one of the local pigs."

     "He's so cute! Can I hold him?" Ukyo said and reached for the pig.

     "Sure." Akane handed the pig over.

     Ukyo took the pig and hugged him tightly. "What a cutiepie!"

     "You have a pig-fetish, Ukyo?" Ranko remarked.

     Ukyo blushed. "No, he's just so cute."

     "Well, just dump Ryoga and he's all yours."

     Ukyo flinched. "Ranko!!" She awkwardly handed the pig back to
Akane. "What's its name?"

     Akane frowned. "No idea, he just showed up. Hmmmm, how about
S-chan?"

     "S-chan?" Ranko asked, confused by the choice.

     "Yes, S for STUD." Akane smiled broadly.

     Ukyo burst out laughing. "Well, he did get P-chan pregnant, the
little stud!"

     Ryoga and Ranko looked at each other and shrugged.

     "Must be a girl thing," Ranko commented.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     That night, Ranko walked into their room and stopped at the sight
that greeted her. "What's with the pig?"

     Akane stroked S-chan, who was curled up on her chest. "Well, he
doesn't seem to want to sleep with his girlfriend and the babies, so
he'll be staying in here. He has been acting so cute all day, doing
little dances and acting like he can write... just such a cutie pie."
She gave the pig a quick kiss on his snout.

     A warm feeling rushed through Sanma's body. <Wow... that almost
felt better than kissing as a human.>

     "Hmmm, I'd kind of gotten used to sleeping with you alone." Ranko
meant without P-chan, since the pig had been sleeping alone since she
became very heavy during the pregnancy.

     Unfortunately, Sanma took it to mean that Ranko liked not having to
sleep with Ranma and himself in the bed. <Where is Ranma anyway? He
should have made it home before me.>

     "Well, it won't be for long. Ami said she can help find some homes
for all the spare pigs we've seem to have attracted." Akane gently
stroked S-chan who was looking very content resting in Akane's bosom.

     Ranko slipped off her bra and sighed as she cupped her breasts in
her hands. "Damn, these things are getting heavier every day."

     "Are you boasting about your breasts being bigger than mine?" Akane
slyly asked.

     Ranko gasped. "No! I just meant that the weight is straining my
back."

     "I know... I was just kidding. Now, stop fondling yourself and come
and fondle me."

     "As soon as you lose the pig, I will." Ranko grinned.

     Akane smiled seductively and placed the pig on a pillow against the
wall.

     S-chan looked on horrified at the scene that unfolded in front of
him.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     The next day, Akane finished undressing and was about to slide open
the inner door when she heard some scratching on the outer door. "Yes?"
There was a soft squeal in response. She held a towel over her body and
peeked out the door. "S-chan!" She smiled and let the pig in before
closing the door and going into the inner bath.

     The pig silently watched her wash up and while she slipped into the
tub. She looked over at S-chan. "Hop in!"

     Akane smiled as the little pig made its way towards the hot water
with a very determined look on its face. "You are so different than
P-chan. He never tried to take a bath with me... oh, that was Ryoga back
then. Silly me."

     S-chan made it to the rim of the tub and prepared to dive in.
<She'll freak, but I have to become a man again, if only to make sure
I'm still wanted here. I haven't heard her mention Ranma or me once
since I got here. Has she forgotten about us already?>

     Akane held out her hands and called S-chan. "Come on, S-chan, come
to mommy!"

     Sanma blushed at the sight of the woman he loved in front of him.
<Man, woman, or pig, I love you, Akane!> The pig jumped into the hot
water with Akane.

     Akane smothered S-chan between her breasts. "Oh, what a strong jump
that was."

     Sanma was very confused. He liked the sensation of where he was
being cradled, but he was still a pig. Tears started to flow from his
eyes. <Shit... I'm stuck as a pig full time! I'll never be human again,
male or female.>

     "Awwww, is the water too hot?" Akane asked, noticing the tears.
S-chan shook his head 'no', so Akane squeezed him into her bosom again.

     Although he was glad to be near Akane, despair at his fate slowly
started to eat into Sanma. <Just another way life has screwed me over.
Throw me a cure and then lock me into the form a pig for the rest of my
life.>

     As Akane and her former fiance, now pet, soaked together, Sanma
started to realize exactly why Ryoga had gotten a crush on Akane. <I
can't believe how pleasurable it is to be held and stroked like this.
Maybe being Akane's pet for a while wouldn't be that bad. It's more than
I'd have right now if I was a human, after all.>

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     About a week later, a white duck strained at the bars on the steel
cage he was in. He quacked loudly when a young shorthaired girl walked
by. The duck squinted trying to make out the girl. <Damn, how can I find
my way back to Nerima without my glasses?>

     The girl smiled. "Awwww, don't worry, Mr. Duck, the vet who is
taking care of the hospital while the Doctor is away will be here
shortly to do the operation that your owner asked for."

     The duck went pale, not a small feat for a white duck. <Damn, if
only I didn't lose my glasses, that old woman would have never have been
able to catch me.. Wait a second... what kind of operation do I need
anyway? There's nothing wrong with me.>

    The girl put some food in the duck's food dish and smiled. "Clipping
your wings is a simple operation, so don't worry."

     <Clip my wings?> The duck suddenly went paler than pale and almost
became translucent.

     Ami turned around and went to feed the rest of the animals. <And as
soon as the vet gets here, I can head home and pack for my trip to
China. I can't believe Yukiko is the leader of a tribe of female
warriors. That is so cool!>

     The duck started desperately trying to get out of the cage. He
started going through his feathers looking for something to escape with.
He was amazed at all the junk he had accumulated. <Have to clean out my
wings one of these days.> After a while of searching, he finally found
something that he had forgotten he had and went to work on the cage's
bars.

     Later, Ami walked back into the room and gasped when she saw the
duck's cage. She rushed over and looked through the melted bars. "How
did this happen?" She spied a little acetylene torch on the bottom of
the cage. "Err... that's the first time that's happened. At least since
I've been here."

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     The duck, wearing a pair of glasses he had found in one of his old
hiding places, flew through the pouring rain towards the Tendo house.
Suddenly, he had to swerve to avoid the hail of arrows that were shot at
him. <Oh, yeah... those Amazons are still here. Well, I'll try her
restaurant first.>

     The duck veered off and headed east towards Mon Canard.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Nabiki lay on top of Tomu and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
"What are you thinking about?"

     Tomu smiled. "I was wondering when you are going to introduce me to
your family."

     Nabiki's eyes widened in amazement. "I'm laying on top of you,
naked, and that is what you're thinking about?"

     "Well, not all I'm thinking of." He winked.

     "Good. Why are you always asking about that anyway?"

     "Well, I just think it's time that I met the family of the woman
I'm sleeping with."

     "Trust me, Tomu, my family is not exactly normal."

     "You don't really expect me to believe all those things you've told
me, do you?"

     "Yes..." She kissed his lips. "I..." She nibbled his neck. "Do."
She nibbled his chest.

     Tomu rolled over, pinned Nabiki under his body, and kissed her
deeply.

     The kiss was interrupted when the window shattered and a very angry
white duck swooped in and extended his wings. Held between the feathers
of the wings were several small throwing knives.

     Tomu backpedaled against the far wall and looked at the duck with a
mixture of shock and confusion. "What the..."

     Nabiki looked over at the duck and gasped. "Mousse, NO!!"

     "Moose? It's a duck, isn't it?" Tomu suddenly had to dodge a series
of knives that were thrown at him. He managed to twist out of the way of
all of them, including the one that embedded itself in the wall right
between his legs. Since he was naked, it was a very close call indeed.

     Nabiki jumped up and put herself between Tomu and the duck.
"Mousse, stop it!!"

     The duck started quacking angrily and readied another set of
knives.

     "You made your choice! And I made mine!" She looked back at Tomu
briefly. "I tried to tell you that Shampoo already had someone she
loved, but you wouldn't listen... you just flew off into that bim... her
arms!"

     The duck quacked once.

     "Don't give me that! I've had enough of you, my family, and all the
craziness! I love Tomu, so leave!" The duck started to shake. "NOW!!"

     The duck suddenly produced a bouquet of roses from under one of his
wings.

     Nabiki slapped them away.

     The duck produced a diamond ring.

     Nabiki paused briefly to look at the ring, but then slapped it
away.

     The duck produced a Mercedes Benz 300SL.

     Nabiki was so stunned, she didn't even try to image where he could
have hid that. "You can't buy my love!!"

     "Nabiki?"

     Nabiki looked back at Tomu. "Yes?"

     "What's the deal with the duck?"

     "That's my ex-boyfriend." She turned and glared at the duck. "Did
you hear that, Mousse? My *EX*-boyfriend!"

     Tears came to the duck's eyes. Suddenly he took to the air and flew
out the window.

     Nabiki ran to the window and looked at the receding duck. "He gave
up a little too easy I think." She wiped the single tear that formed in
her eye before turning around and rushing to Tomu's side. "Are you okay,
Mousse?"

     "Err... it's Tomu."

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     "Now, Father, you promised," Kasumi said, helping Soun sit up near
the family room table. She positioned him in the little chair that made
it possible for him to sit up straight despite his paralysis.

     "I know... but why can't I wait to meet him until I can walk?" Soun
replied irritably.

     "Because Nabiki wants you to meet her new boyfriend tonight. She
said she had something important to talk about. Since she moved out,
you've only seen each other a few times, so you should be glad she's
coming over."

     "I am, but... it seems like I'm losing all my daughters at once."

     "Well, me and Akane are both still living in the house. And I won't
be moving out until I get married."

     Soun looked up at his eldest daughter. "Has he asked you?"

     Kasumi blushed and nodded. "Yes, but we didn't want to say anything
until we had decided when. Probably not until after I finish with
college."

     Soun reached up and gave Kasumi a hug. "Congratulations, Kasumi. I
hope you'll be happy together. He's a fine man."

     "Thanks, Father." Kasumi straightened Soun's shirt and then stood
up. "Just don't be too hard on Tomu."

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Sanma, in pig form, walked in the Tendo's garden and thought about
the past week. Despite his best efforts, he had been unable to change
forms. He tried all sorts of combinations. Hot water, cold water,
alternate hot and cold water, luke-warm water, warm water, warm water
that was not quite hot, and even frozen water. Spending an hour sitting
on top of a solid box of ice was not very pleasant for Sanma, but not as
unpleasant as being stuck as a pig.

     After being unable to become human again, Sanma found himself
growing more and more concerned over the fact that Akane never mentioned
him. Not once did he hear her ask about when either he or Ranma would be
returning to Nerima. <Over a week now and still she never mentions me.
Can she really have forgotten Ranma and me so quickly? I can understand
Ranma, but me?>

     Not once.

     Not once in the week he'd been there.

     Sanma sighed. Which sounded more like a snort in his pig form. <Can
I really stay here and just be her pet? But what else is there for me to
do? None of my attempts to get them to realize who I was succeeded and I
don't even know if I want anyone to know I'm a pig anymore.> He had
given up trying to get people to realize who he was shortly after he
found that he was stuck in his pig form. <Why bother... If I can't be
human anymore why am I still here?>

     It wasn't until he had unknowingly walked several blocks away from
the house that he realized he had made his decision. <I have to find a
way to be human. To pretend I'm her pet would just be another deception
on my part. I won't hurt her like that anymore!>

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     "What a fine lad you are, Tomu," Soun said as dinner drew to a
close.

     "Thank you, Mr. Tendo," Tomu said, bowing slightly. "Your daughter
speaks highly of you too."

     Soun looked at Nabiki briefly, a little amazed that his middle
daughter would praise him at all. <She always acts like she thinks I'm
an old fool.>

     Tomu looked at Ranko. "So, when are you due, Ranko?"

     Ranko blushed. "Err.. October."

     Genma laughed. "Yes, my son here will give us a nice strong
grandson!"

     Nodoka put a hand on her husband to calm him down. "It could be a
girl, dear."

     "Ha! No son of mine will give birth to a girl!!"

     "You tell them, Pop!" Ranko agreed.

     "Son?" Tomu asked.

     Nabiki leaned over and whispered to Tomu. "I'll explain Ranko's
gender problems to you later."

     Tomu nodded and then looked around the family room. "So, what did
you say you did, miss?"

     Ukyo looked up from the stain she was trying to get out of Ryoga's
shirt. "I run a okinomyaki shop... and go to high school of course."

     Tomu slapped his hand. "Ah! That's the little shop that Nabiki
keeps saying is her only real competition."

     Nabiki blushed. <Sometimes Tomu talks to much.>

     Ukyo beamed. "Thank you, Nabiki. I've noticed a slight drop in
nighttime customers since you opened myself."

     Nabiki shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, with most places around here
serving food like that awful Australian place that just opened up, we've
pretty much got the market for good food split between the two of us."

     Ukyo smiled. "Yeah, I checked that place out too. Pretty bad.
Speaking of which, Kang is working there."

     Ryoga coughed and ended up spilling some more juice on his shirt.
"Kang is still in Japan?"

     Ukyo smiled. "Yeah, but don't worry, Ryoga, he's just a friend."

     Ryoga tried to act unperturbed. "I knew that. I was... just amazed
he was still around." Ukyo wasn't fooled.

     "Who's Kang?" Tomu asked.

     Ukyo gulped. "Sorry, he's a friend of ours that we met in Australia
when we went down to find Shampoo's great-grandmother."

     "I see. Is he a good fighter like the rest of you?"

     Ukyo nodded.

     Nabiki suddenly cleared her throat. "Actually, that reminds of
something I wanted to mention tonight. Mousse is back."

     Various gasps and signs of shock went around the room.

     Ranko spoke first. "Really?"

     Nabiki nodded.

     Akane clutched her chest. "Did he say where Ranma and Sanma are?"

     Nabiki shook her head. "No... he was a duck at the time. From what
I could gather, Shampoo dumped him just like I expected. Problem is,
Mousse thinks I'm going to take him back. He almost killed Tomu
yesterday."

     Akane gasped. "Did he hurt either of you?"

     Nabiki looked at Akane. "No. Akane, I hate to say this after the
way I stormed out of here after the Amazons took over... but I need your
help. I need to make sure Mousse won't hurt Tomu."

     Tomu kind of looked nervous. "Well... I was just shocked. I'm sure
I can protect us if he comes back again."

     Nabiki put her hand on Tomu's arm. "No offense, Tomu, but you've
only seen a small part of how bad the fights can get around here."

     Ryoga nodded. "Yeah, you should have seen that huge fight over in
China we just had. Those Buyonegetonefree creatures were tough bastards
to kill."

     Ukyo smirked. "That's Buyierfei, Honey. We did beat them pretty
soundly."

     Tomu had been listening to this exchange as he ate. He lifted his
rice bowl and prepared to use his chopsticks to pick some rice out when
a knife embedded itself in the bowl. "Huh?"

     Everyone looked to where the knife had come from and saw Mousse
standing on the patio with a handful of throwing knives ready.

     "Mousse!" Ranko exclaimed, getting shakily to her feet.

     "I will get Nabiki back!" Mousse screamed and unleashed another
volley of knives.

     The knives never reached their target. Instead, they were vaporized
in mid air. Mousse's fast reflexes allowed him to get a duck shaped
training potty out from his robe and in front of him before the black
ball of chi vaporized it just like the knives before it. The force of
the blast sent Mousse crashing outside and into the back wall. Stunned,
Mousse rebounded and fell into the koi pond and transformed into a duck.
The duck lay unconscious at the edge of the water.

     Everyone looked back to find the source of the black chi ball and
saw Tomu standing with his arms outstretched. His eyes were completely
black.

     Nabiki looked at Tomu and frowned. "Tomu?" Nabiki cringed backwards
after seeing his black eyes.

     Tomu glared at Nabiki. "Shut up... you have served your purpose."
He pushed Nabiki violently away, sending her crashing through the doors
leading into the side hallway. Then he looked in Ranko's direction. "You
all could have enjoyed a long life as collectors, but you had to meddle.
Now you all shall die."

     "No!!" Akane gasped and started to rise.

     "He's being controlled!" Ranko shouted and pushed Akane down to the
floor as a ball of black energy flew from Tomu's body directly at them.
The black ball missed them by a hair, but it didn't miss the wall
leading to Soun's room, his room, or the bathroom, which were all
reduced to rubble. Parts of the second floor suddenly made their
appearance on the first floor.

     From the floor, Ranko shot off a quick one-handed blast. It hit
Tomu and pushed him away from the others.

     Everyone, except Soun of course, jumped to their feet after the
blast. Ranko and Akane played a brief game of 'I'm protecting you... no
I'm protecting you' as each of them tried to keep the other behind them
and out of the line of fire.

     Ryoga and Ukyo were faster to respond, since they didn't have to
worry about a baby. Ukyo flipped the table up and into Tomu's face,
distracting him. Ryoga followed with a series of fast punches and a
savage kick. Tomu went flying into the garden and made a sizable
indentation in the back wall when he hit it.

     Ryoga and Ukyo jumped outside. Genma made to follow, but turned
back inside. "Get Soun, the women, and my grandson out of here!"

     Nodoka shuddered. "No! Genma, you're still hurt!" Although Genma's
wound was mostly healed, she was overprotective like most wives.

     Genma ignored his wife and jumped into the Koi pond, transforming
into a panda.

     "What are you doing, former husband of mine?" Nodoka dryly asked,
suddenly wondering why she had been so concerned over her foolish
husband.

     The panda held up a sign reading, 'Confusing the enemy!' Then he
leapt over the wall and disappeared into the night.

     In fact, Tomu did briefly follow the panda with his eyes, allowing
Ryoga and Ukyo to get some solid hits in.

     Nodoka made a quick mental note to sharpen her katana later and
then started to help Kasumi get Soun into his wheelchair so they could
get him away from the fight that was raging outside. He wasn't exactly
helping by trying to do it all himself. "Soun, stop it! This isn't the
time."

     Nabiki had stumbled back into the room and looked out at the
garden. She shuddered as she saw the black aura surrounding Tomu. "What
is he?"

     Akane and Ranko broke out of their attempt to keep the other from
joining the fight just long enough to explain.

     "He must be possessed like the Elders in the Amazon village were,"
Akane suggested.

     "Yeah, that's why I have to help! I'm the only one around who can
do the fire and ice dragon blast!" Ranko insisted, itching to get into
the fight.

     "But you need two people for that! You should have taught me!"

     "Well, err... I can still help!" Ranko made to leave again, but
Akane stopped her.

     "No! Your baby comes first!"

     "But..."

     Nodoka looked over at her daughter and daughter-in-law and then
shouted to interrupt their ill-timed fight. "Stop it! Ranko, you'll come
with us to protect us as we get Soun out of here. Akane, you see if you
can help Ryoga and Ukyo kill that thing that has possessed Tomu."

     Ranko clenched her fists and started towards the back yard. "No way
am I letting Akane fight that thing alone!"

     "This is not the time to be pigheaded, my son!"

     Ranko flinched at her mother suddenly calling her 'son'. Her mother
usually called her 'daughter' since the split and this sudden change
make Ranko stop in her tracks.

     "A husband and father has to protect his children first." She
paused to glare at the wall the panda had bounded over just a second
earlier. "In this case, you are carrying your child... so protect it.
Akane can handle herself in battle, can't she?"

     Ranko felt backed into a corner. She knew Akane was good, but not
as good as she was. She had learned not to mention this, of course. But
most of all, Ranko didn't want to chance Akane getting hurt and that
usually meant sticking close to her in battle. "I guess."

     "Good, lets get going then!!" Nodoka shouted and, with Kasumi's
help, pushed the wheelchair Soun was in. She pulled on Nabiki's arm to
get her away from the spot where she just stood and stared at the battle
outside in shocked bewilderment.

     "I'll be okay. Just take care of everyone." Akane gave Ranko a
quick kiss and jumped outside and into the middle of the battle.

     Ranko brought up the end of the evacuees, still looking like she
wanted to help in the fight. She knew that she had to keep her family
and, most importantly, keep her baby safe. That understanding still
didn't make her feel good about leaving Akane to fight by herself.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     After Tomu crashed into the wall, Ryoga and Ukyo flanked him from
two sides. Ryoga started firing chi balls using the technique that he
had been practicing since he had first been able to use it in China. "I
really have to think up a name for this technique!" he shouted, firing
another blast.

     Ukyo was whipping spatulas at Tomu, but most of them were deflected
easily by the possessed man. "This is not the time to be worried about
that!"

     Tomu was holding up well under the onslaught. The throwing spatulas
were but a mere nuisance that he swatted away casually. The chi blasts
from Ryoga were more damaging and had kept him from forming another
black blast. So far.

     Akane jumped into the fray and sent a huge chi ball directly into
Tomu's chest.

     Tomu was blasted backwards and crashed through the already damaged
wall into the street beyond. He rose from the pavement. "Ah, the
Un-cute-one. You will die first for your part in destroying our nest."
He held up a hand and a black ball formed.

     Akane jumped out of the way of the chi ball that flew at her.
Instead of hitting her, it hit the house and vaporized the room where
the Saotome's lived. Or used to live.

     It was after the explosion subsided that what Tomu had called Akane
finally sunk in. "Wh... why did you call me un-cute?" She punctuated her
question with an angry red chi ball, which looked vaguely like a mallet,
aimed directly at Tomu's head.

     Tomu dodged the ball and glared at her. "It's what the male
collector called you when you invaded our domain," he explained, while
absently defending himself against Ryoga and Ukyo's attacks.

     <Ranma...> Akane swore internally, but pushed that thought deep
down inside her in order to concentrate on the battle at hand. She
charged up a chi ball between her hands and then leapt at Tomu,
intending to ram it down his throat since he was able to avoid her long
distance blasts.

     Tomu passed his hand slowly in a sweeping motion, as if brushing
aside an unwanted pest, and a wave of energy pushed his three attackers
backwards.

     Akane crashed into the wall behind her and the chi ball she was
generating exploded in her hands, burning her arms. "Ahhhhhh..."

     "Fools." He generated a large black chi ball and aimed it for
Akane, who was still on the ground after being hit hard by the energy
wave.

     Suddenly, Tomu found himself pinned under a big furry butt. His
blast skewed wide of its intended target and screamed off into the
Nerima night sky.

     "Father-in-law?" Akane gasped.

     The panda held up a sign reading, 'Genma to the rescue!'

     Three Amazons leapt onto Tomu and started hacking away with their
weapons, barely letting the panda get out of the way before he became
panda burgers. Suddenly, a large aura surrounded Tomu and the Amazons
were thrown in all directions.

     Akane and Ryoga took this opportunity to hit Tomu with their
respective blasts.

     Tomu was forced back from the blasts, but still seemed to be
resisting the constant attacks without too much trouble. He wiped some
black blood off his lip and then sneered at his attackers. "You can't
kill us!!"

     "Us? There's only one of you!"

     "To your pitiful eyes, maybe. But we are five hundred times
stronger in this shell, than as in our solo forms." Tomu finished by
throwing a dozen or so baseball sized chi balls at his attackers.

     Akane dodged to the side and landed besides Ukyo. "I think he means
there are something like five-hundred Buyierfei inside Tomu."

     "Then we just have to wear him down just like the others did to the
Elders."

     Akane nodded. "I wish Ranma and Sanma were here... this would be so
much easier."

     Soapring suddenly landed beside Akane. "Leader, the perimeter is
holding, but I don't know how much longer we can hold off the
attackers."

     "Huh?"

     "Invisible Buyierfei are trying to tear down the outer fence.
Fortunately, the furry-one alerted us to your need here."

     "Damn." Akane muttered and shot off a Moko Takabisha blast at Tomu,
which he dodged. She followed Soapring to avoid Tomu's follow up blast.
"Let's leave them to your warriors for now and concentrate on taking out
Tomu here. He's possessed by the Buyierfei."

     "According to legend, cutting off a possessed person's head was the
fastest way," Soapring informed Akane, straight-faced and hefting her
sword in front of her.

     Akane grimaced and looked at the frail looking warrior. "Lets try
to keep Tomu alive and just destroy the Buyierfei inside, okay?"

     Soapring nodded. "Yes, Leader." She started barking out a series of
instructions to her warriors and the started to take turns at attacking
Tomu. One warrior would attack with a blunt instrument such as a bonbori
or mace and then another would follow up. In between Akane would try to
hit Tomu with a chi blast. It was slow going, but they seemed to be
wearing Tomu down.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Kang had just closed the restaurant he worked at and was walking
away when the building exploded behind him. He was thrown across the
street by the force of the blast, which was caused by a large black chi
ball that hit the Australian restaurant.

     He coughed a few times and then looked up to see that his
workplace, make that former workplace, was now a pile of debris. "Eh?
What the hell happened?"

     He stood up and brushed off his clothes. He looked to the north
when he heard a distant explosion. "What is that?" He ran over to the
scooter that his boss was letting him use and grabbed his giant barbecue
fork. He jumped on the scooter and drove off toward the sounds of the
distant explosions.

     When he reached the fence that the Amazons had erected, he saw a
very unusual sight. The Amazon warriors were fighting... nothing.
"What?" Suddenly Kang saw a black creature with tentacles flash into
existence at the end of a sword of one of the Amazons.

     That was when Kang made the connection to the stories Ukyo had told
him about the invisible Buyierfei she and the others had fought in
Australia and then China. <Hmmm... I bet I can impress those babes if I
fight alongside them.>

     He grinned broadly and drove towards the fight, his giant barbecue
fork held in front of him like a lance. Amazingly, by luck or skill, he
had managed to spear two invisible Buyierfei by the time his fork
slammed into the wall. The two creatures thrashed around trying to break
free of the fork that held them to the wall, their tentacles were
flaying wildly. An Amazon warrior landed by Kang's side on the end of a
bungee cord and quickly dispatched the two wounded Buyierfei.

     "Thanks, what's going on?" Kang asked the woman in front of him.

     The purple haired woman replied in Mandarin, then grabbed him and
jumped up to the top of the fence using the bungee cord. When the
reached the top, she gestured towards the area below and pointed at his
fork.

     "I guess I'm drafted, huh?" Kang smiled and took up a defensive
position. <Have to learn Mandarin in order to pick up these chicks, I
imagine.> He scanned the area around him and could see that the Amazons
were spread out across the walkway that topped the fence. They were
doing their best to keep the hordes of Buyierfei out of the makeshift
compound created by erecting the fences.

      The first task, of course, was to find the enemy. With normal
enemies this was easy, but not with invisible ones. One of the ways the
Amazons accomplished task was by randomly tossing darts at the area
surrounding the fence in hopes of hitting the attacking Buyierfei, which
they occasionally did, and letting the black blood give away the
location of their enemy. The sharp spikes that were randomly scattered
across the surface of the wall also helped cause wounds to reveal the
position of the invisible creatures. Why they were scattered randomly
and not in neat rows--that logic would dictate would be more
effective--was lost as the technique was handed down generation to
generation.

     The second task was to kill the Buyierfei once they were visible
due to their wounds. Since the Buyierfei didn't seem to be able to climb
well, they became targets for arrows and other long-range weapons. When
they managed to get by the arrows, swords and spears took over.

     So far, the Amazons seemed to be succeeding in keeping the
Buyierfei out of the area inside the fence. Of course since the
uninjured Buyierfei were invisible, there was no way to be sure none had
slipped by, but they were doing their best. The collection of black
leathery pieces at the base of the fence proved that at least.

     Kang spotted some black blood to his left and thrust at it with his
fork. He could feel the prongs hit something and a split second later he
saw the creature he had speared. He grimaced at the apparition in front
of him. In one swift movement, he twisted his fork and then sliced
upwards to gut the creature using the sharpened edge of his weapon.

     The Buyierfei crashed to the ground below and sprinkled black blood
as it fell. The drops of blood splashed against several invisible
creatures coming up the wall. The blood dripped off the creatures making
them invisible again, but the brief glimpse Kang got indicated he had
his work cut out for him. <There has got to be a better way to pick up
chicks than this!>

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Ranko lead the way away from the house until she saw the Amazons
atop the fence were obviously trading fire and blows with Buyierfei.
"Damn, the Buyierfei are attacking from the outside as well."

     Soun frowned. "Tomu must have come in to try and take out the most
powerful of us or at least distract us while the others attacked from
the outside."

     Ranko nodded her agreement to Soun's assessment. "Yeah... there's
no way out for us then. Let's get over..."

     Ranko was cut off by an urgent scream. "Look out, they're breaking
down the fence!!"

     They all looked over and saw the nearby fence start to buckle. More
surprising was who they saw on top of it.

     "Kang?" Ranko muttered softly, then raised her voice. "Kang, what's
going on?!"

     Kang looked down at Ranko and the others. His face was dirty, his
shirt torn, and one of the tines on his fork was bent. "Ranko, get
clear... they're breaking down the fence!"

     Ranko snapped into action. "Get Mr. Tendo out of here... NOW!!" She
pointed away from the fence and away from the Tendo house.

     Nodoka put her hand on Ranko's shoulder. "What about you?"

     "Mother, don't argue with me this time!! I'm the only one here who
can stop them from getting in and killing everyone!"

     Nodoka nodded and ran off with others. <Please stay safe, my manly
son. And keep your baby safe, my daughter.>

     Ranko took up a position in front of the rapidly crumbling fence,
held out her hands towards it, and started generating a chi ball. "Kang,
are there any Amazon's in the way?"

     "No, it's clear!!"

     Ranko grinned and let the chi ball fill with energy until the fence
gave way. It crashed to the ground in front of her. She shielded her
eyes briefly from the dust and when she opened them, she could see a
hoard of bloody Buyierfei rushing through the breach. "Moko Takabisha!!"

     The large chi ball flew from her hands and incinerated the
advancing creatures, both those that could be seen and those that
couldn't. She also vaporized the remains of the fence and parts of
several nearby houses. Ranko exhaled deeply and then built up another
chi ball.

     While she did so, Kang and the Amazons dropped down to ground level
and took up positions around the gap in the wall, hoping to catch any of
the intruding creatures that had survived.

     Ranko let loose again, this time using a wide beam of chi energy
and fanning it across the opening. Several creatures could be seen
flickering and dying as she did so.

     Then Kang and the Amazons then started picking off the ones that
got by the chi blasts. The ones that they could see, that is.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Nodoka and Kasumi wheeled Soun down the street that was now
enclosed inside the Amazon's fence.

     Soun looked around. "We should go to the former Takahashi house.
It's furthest from the battles and is a western-style house with thick
walls. We can fortify the doors and make a stand until the children take
out those creatures."

     Kasumi smiled. "That's a brilliant plan, Father."

     "My legs might be useless, but my mind is still sharp."

     Nodoka smiled at the sudden spirit she saw in Soun. <Courage in the
heat of battle.> She turned around to address Nabiki. "Nabiki, lets..."
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that Nabiki wasn't there.
"Oh my!"

     Kasumi turned around. "Where is she?"

     "I don't know. Damn... maybe she's worried about Tomu." Nodoka made
to go look for Nabiki, but was stopped when Soun grabbed her arm.

     "Don't, it's too dangerous. She'll be okay." Soun wished he felt as
confident as his words indicated. He was worried as well, but separating
was a bad idea and Nodoka wasn't likely to be able to help much anyway.
"Lets go." Inside, Soun decided that he had to protect the two women he
found in his care, no matter what the cost.

     Nodoka reluctantly agreed with him and they continued down the
road.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Akane gasped for breath and struggled to get out of the vise-like
grip that Tomu had on her throat. She was kicking and punching Tomu with
all her strength, all to no avail.

     Ryoga and Ukyo were slumped against the remains of the Tendo house,
apparently unconscious. Nearby, a panda and all the Amazons except for
Soapring were unconscious or dead; it was impossible to tell which.

     Soapring hacked at Tomu's arm with her broken sword, but was unable
to break his hold on Akane's neck.

     "Tomu, stop!!"

     Tomu looked over at the source of the voice. "Eager to die, are
you? Just a moment while I put this one down and then I'll be glad to
strangle you."

     Nabiki flinched. "Tomu... fight the beast within you..."

     Tomu raised a hand towards Nabiki. "You pathetic... urk..." He was
silenced when a series of small throwing knives hit him from behind. He
flinched, dropping Akane in the process. He reached behind him trying to
extract the daggers from his back.

     Nabiki looked behind Tomu to see who had thrown the daggers and
gasped when she saw a duck swoop in and a release another volley.
"Mousse?" Suddenly, she looked around the area, as if searching for
something.

     Tomu staggered under the impact of the second set. Abandoning his
attempts to extract the daggers, he spun around and shot a black chi
ball at the duck.

     The duck barely dodged the blast, but singed his feathers during
the near miss and crashed to the ground.

     Tomu grinned and picked up the stunned duck by its neck. "Even a
lowly bird dares to attack us?" He squeezed the ducks neck and brought
his other hand up to snap it. Before he could, he was drenched in hot
water.

     Tomu lashed out and knocked Nabiki away from him. She dropped the
empty kettle and impacted a nearby light pole, getting the breath
knocked out of her.

     Tomu suddenly felt the duck's neck grow in size and looked around.
He was startled to find a naked man in his grip instead of the duck.
Unable to hold onto the thicker neck, Tomu dropped Mousse and the sudden
shift in weight caused him to fall backwards.

     An unsteady Mouse opened his eyes and glared at Tomu. "Die, you
girlfriend stealing asshole!!" He flicked his hands and produced two
handfuls of throwing knives. A split second later, they embedded
themselves in Tomu's body.

     An inhuman cry of pain emanated from Tomu's throat. He took a long
look at Mousse before speaking. "You... you... you've been touched!!"
Blackness swelled up inside Tomu's eyes and a black ball formed in one
of his hands. He held his arm towards Mousse. Just as he released it, a
large blue chi ball hit him from behind. Tomu collapsed to the ground.

     The black chi ball went wide of its intended target, Mousse's
stomach, but it did manage to graze Mousse's side and hip. The force of
the blast pushed him against an already damaged wall, which promptly
collapsed and buried him.

     Nabiki turned around to find the source of the blast, but could
only see a little black pig that in the darkness she mistook for P-chan.
She could still see Ryoga was unconscious, so she guessed that the blast
must have been a stray one from Ranko. <I hope they are okay out there.>
She rushed over to Akane and tried to help her sister up. "Akane! Akane,
get up!"

     Tomu staggered to he feet. His skin had an assortment of black
splotches covering it and was starting to flake off. "We will not be
defeated by the likes of you!!" He was then sent flying backwards by a
chi ball that came from the direction of the pig.

     Before Sanma, who had run back to the house after hearing all of
the explosions, could blast Tomu again, a tentacle wrapped itself around
his potbelly and lifted him off the ground.

     Sanma let out a pained squeal and tried to bite his captor, but
couldn't. Even though he was in contact with the Buyierfei, it remained
invisible. A fleeting thought that the creatures only turned visible
when in contact with a human flashed though Sanma's mind. <Dammit... I
don't have time for this thing. Akane!!>

     "I shall end this!!"

     Nabiki snapped her head around at hearing the raspy voice and saw
Tomu just as he released a large ball of chi energy in her direction.
She gripped her younger sister and closed her eyes expecting to die.

     She didn't.

     Soapring had thrown herself between Tomu and the two sisters. She
screamed in pain as the black energy enveloped her and burned her skin.
She collapsed to the ground, still smoking.

     Growing weary, Tomu dropped to his knees and held out a shaky hand
towards Akane. He started crawling slowly forward attempting to reach
Akane. Before he could reach her, a large explosion assailed him and
bits of Buyierfei were scattered across the yard.

     Tomu looked over at the source of the explosion. Before he could
react, a pig tackled him. It snarled and bit angrily into his shoulder.
With the last of his strength, Tomu pulled the pig off him and flung it
away.

     Sanma flew through the Tendo yard and into the ruins of the family
room where he was immediately buried under rubble from the collapsing
second floor. A water pipe from the ruined bathroom poured water down
over the pile of debris. Cold water.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Kasumi and Nodoka finished moving a large chest in front of the
door and then returned to Soun's side.

     Soun looked around the small bedroom they had barricaded themselves
in on the second floor of the house. "This'll have to do. Kasumi, can
you reach under the chair... there is a package strapped to the bottom."

     Kasumi did so and pulled the long package out. "Here you go,
Father. What is it?"

     Soun took the package and opened the end. He slipped out a short
sword. "Insurance."

     Nodoka smiled. "So... you hid a weapon on the infernal contraption
you swore you would never use, did you?"

     Soun became evasive. "Um... that... um... came with the
wheelchair."

     Kasumi kissed her father on the cheek. "Of course, Father."

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Ranko released another blast at the hole and then slumped to the
ground, exhausted. She looked to see if anything was hit by her most
recent blast. Her spirit, but not her energy, was revived when she saw
no Buyierfei flicker. "Was that all of them?"

     Kang rushed up to Ranko, the remains of his torn shirt falling from
his shoulders as he did so. "I think we got them all. I just hope none
of them got by the chicks and me."

     Ranko smiled weakly. "Take it from me, Kang, you might want to
avoid getting too close to the Amazons... they are kind of obsessive."

     "If you say so." Kang looked around. "So what happened here?"

     Ranko stood up. "The Buyierfei possessed Nabiki's boyfr... AKANE!!"
She suddenly took off towards the Tendo house. She couldn't quite manage
a run in her condition, but she made an impressive dash down the street.
Impressive for a pregnant woman, that is. Actually, it would be
impressive for most women period, but it wasn't as fast as Ranko
normally could run.

     A confused Kang followed, leaving the small group of Amazons to
check for more Buyierfei.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     The door to the room shook, causing Soun to grip the sword in his
hand tighter. Nodoka and Kasumi were behind him, each holding a wooden
chair that they had found in the house.

     The door splintered as a bloody mass of tentacles crashed through
it. The wounded creature advanced on the three, leaving a trail of black
blood behind it.

     As it got within range, Soun swung his sword and grazed its skin.
His follow-up swing went wide and he found himself picked up by a pair
of tentacles and thrown across the room.

     Nodoka and Kasumi backed up as the Buyierfei advanced on them. They
took turns bashing it over its... central mass with their chairs, but
they didn't even faze it.

     Kasumi let out a scream as the creature grabbed her with it's
tentacles.

     "Leave my daughter alone!!"

     Kasumi and Nodoka looked over at Soun and gasped.

     Soun stood shakily on his feet with the sword held in front of him.
He tried to take a step forward, but only managed to slide his right
foot forward an inch or two.

     Recognizing Soun as a more immediate threat, the Buyierfei released
Kasumi and lashed out at Soun with its blood-covered tentacles.

     Soun swung the sword and sliced the tentacles off. Unfortunately,
the momentum of his swing sent him crashing to the ground. Relying on
the instincts he honed with a lifetime of martial arts training, he
rolled to the side as he hit the floor and swung upward with the sword.

     The Buyierfei had been closing in for the kill, but instead was
sliced in half. With a last inhuman scream it became opaque and fell to
the floor in pieces.

     Kasumi and Nodoka quickly rushed to Soun's side.

                    -C-           -M-           -D-

     Ranko rushed into the area and saw Tomu slowly crawling towards
Akane and Nabiki. "Stop!"

     Tomu paused and looked around. "How... how do you collectors manage
to survive against our superior might and numbers?"

     Ranko smirked. "You're dealing with the greatest martial artists in
the world, that's why!" She held out a hand and sent a chi ball racing
towards Tomu.

     Tomu rolled out of the way. As he rolled, he grabbed a large chunk
of the demolished wall that was almost twice his size and tossed it at
Ranko.

     Ranko dodged the large chunk, but didn't see the second one that
Tomu had thrown after the first. The smaller chunk hit Ranko in her
stomach and sent her crashing to the ground. She clutched her stomach in
pain and glared at Tomu. "You bastard!" A chi ball flew from her
outstretched hand to punctuate her anger.

     Tomu flinched under the impact of the blast. "You... will...
not..." His declaration of superiority was cut off when Ranko blasted
him again with another blast.

     Ranko waited for Tomu to collapse to the ground. "What the fuck is
keeping this bastard going?" She grimaced at a sudden pain that shot
through her body and she clutched her stomach. "No..." She looked down
at her stomach with a look of pained concern on her face. Her expression
changed to one of anger and a dark red aura formed around her body. "If
you've hurt... my baby, I'll kill you!!" Her arms shot out in front of
her and Tomu was blasted with a beam of powerful energy that Ranko
projected from her outstretched arms.

     This blast was more than enough to finish off the Buyierfei
possessing Tomu. His black skin dissolved into black powder and his body
collapsed to the ground, as if he was a puppet and his strings had been
cut.

     "Akane!" Ranko ignored the shooting pains from her stomach and
stumbled over to Akane. She took her wife into her arms. "Akane!"

     Nabiki shakily rose to her feet. "I think she's okay. But I don't
think Soapring is."

     Ranko followed Nabiki's gaze and saw the Amazon lying in front of
them. The burned woman was still alive, as evidenced by her short
shallow breaths, but Ranko had trouble even identifying the burned mass
as human.


***********************************************************************
>From the personal journal of James Davidson:


October 7, 2057

     "Akane, you constantly manage to surprise me. I had no idea there
was an attack by the Buyierfei in Nerima that early in the year."

     Akane nodded. "Yes, the authorities put it off as a gas explosion.
That's actually partly true, since we did hit some gas lines during the
battle. The gas company actually ended up paying for all our damages...
the material ones at least."

     "Did Nabiki arrange that deal?"

     "No, she had other things on her mind."

     I nodded. "Of course. So what about..."

     "I'll tell you the rest tomorrow, it's getting late." Akane stifled
a yawn.

     "Okay. That'll give me time to look up the official records on the
'gas explosion'."

     "Ironically, except for the actual mention of possessed people and
demons from hell, those records are fairly accurate."

     "Nabiki didn't do any alterations then?" My mind was rapidly
filling with the implications of seeing unaltered records for once. So,
far many of the records my research uncovered ended up being modified or
even created outright by Nabiki or other Tendo family members.

     "Nope... there was no reason to change them. Like the authorities
in Hawaii, the Nerima authorities chose the story that was the easiest
for them to cope with and ran with it."

     "Well, it seems like they had always turned a blind eye to the
weird goings on in Nerima."

     Akane sighed at the memories my comment must have reawakened in
her. "Yes, I guess they did."

     "Hmmmm... I'll still look at the records tonight. Maybe I can get
some idea of the extent of the damage and details on the wounded."

     "Unfortunately, that battle caused wounds worse than the physical
ones," Akane remarked as she rose to leave.

     "Much worse," Sanma added from his keyboard


[End - Chapter 22]


Coming soon: Chapter 23: The Heartbreak of Love; the Sorrow of Death;
the Children of Tomorrow
=======================================================================
The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings:


Okay... exhale.


I'd like to thank my pre-readers David Johnston, Michael A. Chase, EBJ,
ReiNoTenchi, and Jyh-I Lu for helping me find and fix problems with this
story. Thank you all. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched
characters are my fault.


Revision 0.0 - Rough draft (June 27, 1999)
Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft (August 30, 1999)
Revision 0.4 - FFML draft (September 11, 1999)

-=-
Jim Lazar

E-Mail - mailto:jimlazar@earthlink.net
FanFiction - http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlazar/anime