Disclaimer: All characters that are used belong to their respective creators. I do this for fun and do not take any money off of it. Please don't sue me. The stories are mine, so please don't use them without asking me.
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    Kasumi shuddered a bit as she saw Ranma form out of the smoke.  Even though she had seen it before, it disturbed her.   The young genie knelt before her master and spoke.

    "What is your wish, master?"

    *That has got to be bothering Ranma,* Kasumi thought. *Having to call anyone master.  And now, he's bowing to Akane.  I wonder how much worse it's going to get.*

    "My wish? I was just letting you out.  I guess I could put you through training and help you become better,"  Akane hesitantly said.

    "Maybe I should go, Akane.  I have to talk to Nabiki in private."

    "Return soon, Kasumi."

    "Don't worry about that.  I will," Kasumi assured.  *The training the both of you are doing should remain private to you two.*

    Leaving the house, Kasumi headed for home.  After her sister had left, Akane thought of something.

    "Ranma, I'm going to apply my will and move you around.  Fight back as hard as you can.  If you go into the Neko-ken, I want to be able to stop it before it gets out of hand.  Right now, I'm not skilled enough to stop that."

    Since Akane had ordered this before Ranma had regained her senses, the young genie accepted the order without question.

    "Yes, master," Ranma said in a monotone.

    Akane looked at Ranma and concentrated on putting Ranma through various dance steps.  After an hour of doing so, Akane sank to her knees in exhaustion, her skin covered with sweat.

    "That is a lot harder than I thought," Akane muttered.

    She waited until the genie regained her senses before talking.

    "I'm sorry, Ranma.  But as long as Shampoo still has her curse, there's a chance you might go into the Neko-ken.  A Neko-kenned genie is not something I want on the loose."

    Ranma was about to yell an angry response and then stopped. *It's part of who I am.  I have to get used to it.*

    "Never mind, Akane.  It's time for me to teach you my pop's styles.

    "Right," Akane replied.  "Let me catch my breath first."

    The genie pointed at Akane and said, "I have to tell you, Akane, that this training will be difficult."

    Akane just nodded and stood up.  After doing so, the two made their way to the backyard to train.
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    A man in a heavy winter coat and carrying a teakettle stepped into an old warehouse in the Nerima area.

    "It is time," the man said.

    He quickly grabbed his head and went down onto his knees and elbows.

    The man whispered through clenched teeth, "Arrgh.  The pain.  When will it stop?"
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    *I need to get out of here, so I can protect Akane from Ranma,* P-chan thought as he paced around his cage.  *Damn you, Ranma!  It's your fault I can't sit for a week.*

    The black piglet looked closely at the lock on the cage and thought.

    *Maybe I can use the Exploding Point Touch to get out of here.*

    Putting his plan into motion, he touched his snout to the lock and nothing happened.

    "Squeeeeeeeee!" Ryoga cried in frustration.  *I never used it while I was a pig.  I'll have to adapt it.  This is going to take a while.*

    During the next six hours, Ryoga kept trying to use the Exploding Touch on the lock.  Every time he failed, but he felt he was getting closer.  He closed his eyes and touched his snout to the lock one more time and caused the metal to shatter in a small explosion.

    "Bweee!" P-chan cried out in pain, as the metal shards were a lot sharper than rock shards and his pig form was less damage resistant.

    Shaking off the pain, the piglet rushed towards a window and smashed through it.  Ryoga started his search for Ranma by heading straight into the Tokyo Zoo.
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    Ranma-chan sat down on the grass and looked at Akane.  Twice she had to stifle her exasperation at Akane's slowness at learning the techniques.  She had no desire to see her master upset.

    "Akane, take it easy," Ranma said.  "You're not me or Ryoga.  You have to practice these movements."

    "I guess you're right," Akane admitted, breathing heavy from the exertions.

    Akane followed her genie's example and sat down.  Staring at her hands, she recalled her first few times at practicing martial arts.  She shook her head at the memories of constantly falling, during those early sessions with her mother. *I'm not Kasumi or Nabiki either.*

    "Thanks for teaching me, Ranma.  I guess I should also practice cooking and sewing, since I'm on my own."

    Akane covered her smile when she saw Ranma start to panic.

    "I've always thought cooking and sewing were things you just knew how to do," Akane continued. "I see that they are also skills that are just as difficult in their own way."

    The genie stared at her master with puzzlement on her face.  Seeing this, Akane nodded.

    "I figured it out when you were teaching me your father's techniques.  It took me a long time to get as good as I am at martial arts, but I had to practice daily.  Kasumi did the same with cooking.  And, both of us did the same thing with drawing."

    Ranma looked away at that last part and said, "I can't draw."

    "I thought you were good at everything."

    "No.  Just martial arts and what is needed to survive in the wild.  Cooking being one of them," Ranma said while plucking at her silk pants.  "Everything else was a waste of time to Pops."

    "Don't you have any hobbies, besides martial arts?"

    Ranma shook her head. "Unless it was necessary for survival or could enhance my skills, I didn't learn it."

    Akane bit her lower lip and thought, *No wonder he's such a jerk at times.  He has nothing.*

    Without realizing it, Akane rubbed the gem of her ring while lost in thought.  Ranma sprang up and stood at attention.

    "What is your wish, master?"

    "I'm sorry, Ranma.  I didn't mean to do that to you," Akane said, and stopped.  Thinking about their conversation, Akane commanded, "Ranma, I wish to know what sort of non-martial art, non-survival skills you have picked up."

    Ranma spoke in a monotone. "Magic."

    *That's it?  Nothing more?* Akane thought sadly. *The only hobby he can have is to be a slave to whoever wears this ring. If I find out who did this to him....*

    Akane let that thought fade as she asked a question that had been bugging her.  "Ranma, why are you staying in your genie clothes.  I'm not forcing you to stay in them."

    A long silence greeted Akane before Ranma spoke.  "The clothes are comfortable while I'm a genie and since there is no one around, I don't mind wearing them.  There is also the fact that while I'm in the ring I have to wear these clothes.  So, I've kind of gotten used to them.  Besides, I enchanted them so that I could change them to whatever I wanted no matter what form I am in."
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    "Errrgh!" Ukyo declared as she smashed a boulder with her spatula.  "Where's Ran-chan?"

    Slumping down on an unshattered boulder, Ukyo cast her gaze over the ocean. Pursing her lips, she tried to think like Ranma to figure out where he was hiding.

    *Thanks to that damn furball, Ranma can't be found half the time.  I should pound Genma because of that.*

    A strange sight distracted Ukyo from her thoughts.  A middle aged man was shuffling along the beach.  He was wearing a three piece suit that was composed of the following items: lime green trousers, a hot pink vest, and a fluorescent orange jacket.  He was also wearing mirrored sunglasses.  Ukyo also noticed that on each side of his head, right below the hairline, were four bleeding scratches.  The scratches looked like he had raked his fingernails down the side of his head.

    "Soon, soon," the man muttered. "My pain will go away and your influence will spread."

    Ukyo ducked down behind her boulder and watched the man traipse by.  She noticed that the man had dark skin, but wasn't black.  He had a scraggly black beard and mustache.  At first, she mistook what was on his head as bandages.  But, a closer look showed that it was a hat made up of a long, thin piece of cloth.  The odd hat was adorned with a red stone set in a gold circle.

    *I hope he leaves soon.  He's scary.*

    After a minute the mutterings and chucklings faded into the distance.

    Looking the way the man went, Ukyo muttered, "That was weird.  Oh well.  He has nothing to do with us."

    The chef looked around and headed back into the city.

    *I think I'll feel better if I'm back home.  I'd better cook up some special food just in case that guy bothers me."
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    Still sitting outside, Akane looked at Ranma and stood up.  She extended her non-ring-wearing hand to Ranma to help her up.

    "Come on, Ranma.  Let's go inside," Akane said.

    Deciding it would be best, Ranma accepted the proffered hand and was helped to her feet.

    "Why?"

    "There's a couple of things that we need to do inside.  I'll explain in a bit."

    Shrugging her shoulders, the genie followed her master into the building.  Once they were inside, Akane closed the door and stared at Ranma.

    "Ranma, I know this is going to be tricky, but I'd like you to try," Akane said and took a deep breath.  "I wish that if anyone tried to eavesdrop or spy on this house, they would see and hear nothing."

    As soon as she heard the wish, Ranma felt a warm glow inside her.  She mentally reached inside herself and pulled the energy up.  As the magicial force left, her eyes flared red.

    "Wish granted."

    "I should have thought of that earlier," Akane stated.  "Now, then.  Ranma, why haven't you changed back into a boy?"

    The genie shook her head and replied, "I didn't feel like it."

    A bit concerned, Akane asked, "You're not thinking about staying a genie forever, are you?"

    Blinking a bit, Ranma said, "What?  No.  I just didn't feel like worrying about getting sprayed by water."

    Ranma closed her eyes and the clothes she was wearing shifted into her standard black pants and red shirt combo.  She walked over to the sink and got some hot water.  Splashing the water on herself, she changed back into a boy.

    "See, Akane.  I just wasn't in the mood to dodge water," Ranma said.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going upstairs to do some katas."

    Akane let him go as she thought about the problem.  *I've got to get better at those techniques.*

    Akane went into the front room  and started mentally reviewing the three Saotome techniques.

    *I might not be Ranma, but I can learn this if I keep at it.*
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Tom Mathews a.k.a Disruptor

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