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[Well, everybody, here's the first official chapter to NerimaCraft (Because you guys wanted it so bad!). I hope you like it, even though I was getting a little lazy. If you have antything to say, be it good bad or ugly, shunt it to Big_Joe@n2.com and I promise I'll read it. If you want to see more of my works, go to http://DUNOTS.tripod.com and I promise you'll see my website. Anyhow, here's the story!]
NerimaCraft
Chapter One: Here's Kasumi!
"And in other news, Kasumi Tendo is still missing. She was last seen leaving her home in Nerima a week ago, and the police have no leads. If anybody has any knowledge about her whereabouts, please, call..."
Nabiki shut off the TV, tired of hearing the same words over and over. In the week that followed Kasumi's disappearance, nearly every citizen of Nerima had come to her aid, or at least tried. Akane and Ranma were searching the hardest, claiming it was their fault. Mr. Saotome would have helped (or so he claimed), but he was too busy consoling father. Nabiki had let Genma by on this one, considering the magnitude of that job.
And then there was Dr. Tofu, who was quickly depleting his life savings hiring teams to search for her. It was all a terribly sad state of affairs. Nabiki was beginning to feel her grasp on her objectivity falter, and didn't know how much longer she could manage affairs. Of course, if worse came to worse, she could hire Cologne to take over. While Cologne had no real reason to care about Kasumi's safety, she would probably help out on general principle, if not for the money.
<Don't worry about me.>
Yes, of course Kasumi would try to stop them from searching for... WHAT? Eyes widening, Nabiki spun, looking for the source of the voice she had just heard.
"Kasumi?"
<I'm fine... just be sure to do the dishes.>
It was at this point that Nabiki realized two things. The first was that these were thoughts, not words. The second was that the origin of these thought must, in fact, be Kasumi. No one else would have telepathically asked her to do the dishes.
<Where are you?> Nabiki thought as hard as she could, squinting her eyes in the process.
<I'm with some new friends, so please, don't worry.>
Nabiki thought again, this time less forcefully. <When are you coming back?>
<In a few weeks.>
Several times after, Nabiki tried to resume communication, but found it useless. Whatever means had enabled Kasumi to think to her was apparently gone. While she mistrusted it, Nabiki found herself believing what she had heard. When one gets an ultimatum by Kasumi, one follows. That, Nabiki had learned, was one of only four fundamental constants in the world.
"I can't believe we let her go like that!" Akane shouted, pounding the pavement.
Ranma bent down and picked her form off of the street. "It wasn't like you LET her go. She left a note. You wouldn't have been able to find her anyway..."
"And I suppose you could have done something?"
His eyes closed as he sighed, "I should have at least tried... I'm sorry."
"We're both sorry," Akane said as she leaned on him for support.
Suddenly, Ranma picked Akane up and leapt onto a nearby roof. From all around where they had just been, hideous insect-like beasts erupted from the ground, hissing and growling loudly. Scanning the area, Ranma was able to discern two types. The smaller ones looked vaguely like some dinosaurs in that movie "Jurassic Park," but the bigger ones were almost beyond description. They had a long tail instead of legs, and cutting blades instead of arms. The most creepy facet was that their lower jaw would periodically split and pull away, revealing a smaller jaw beneath.
"Wh... What are those things?" Akane shouted, clinging to Ranma for dear life.
"How the hell should I know?" He shouted back, boggling as dozen upon dozen emerged from hiding. He heard a clatter behind him, and turned to see several of the creatures reaching the roof. Jusging by their attitude, they certainly weren't friendly, and neither were they pushovers.
<Come.... with...>
Ranma blinked as thoughts invaded his mind. Above him, he saw a huge, bloated form with dangling legs floating quietly. Without warning, a gigantic beast fell from its interior, a sight which was more than a little sickening. This new beast seemed to be half elephant and half cockroach, but all fury.
<Come... with...>
The thought came again.
"Ranma... what's wrong?" Akane asked, staring at his blank face.
"These things want us to come with 'em," He answered, taking up a defensive stance.
<No... just... you...>
"No way! I ain't leaving Akane behind!" Ranma roared at the floating behemoth.
Akane, obviously now more confused than ever, asked, "What are you talking about, Ranma?"
"We gotta get outta here! NOW!"
Moving to leap to another rooftop, Ranma paused to fire a moko takabisha at the flying sac. It burst open, making a hideous roar and scattering warm, sloppy entrails everywhere. Ranma noticed that Akane, too, was having trouble with nausea at this point. Luckily for him, he was toughened by Akane's meals...
<Stop... or... we... force...>
"I'd like to see ya try!" Ranma exclaimed, landing on the ground, away from the horde.
Suddenly, a row of spikes raced toward him at incredible speed. Rolling, he dodged them by inches. Suddenly, he saw five more approaching from all directions, and decided that the roof may have indeed been a better choice.
"Get help!" Ranma told Akane as he set her down on the rooftop they had just landed on.
"But..."
Ranma pushed her away, "No! Just go! Come back with help! Please!"
"Alright!" Akane said meekly, but then visibly gained resolve and leapt off towards the dojo.
"Now it's just us..." Ranma said, smiling as a wave of the small creatures fell under a series of Kachuu Tenshin Amagurikens.
"Dear God, NO!" Genma cried in anguish.
Kneeling over a puddle of blood, Genma Saotome started to sob quietly, holding his son's favorite shirt in his hand. Akane had tried to get them there as quickly as possible, but it wasn't fast enough. All that remained to tell of the battle were a few pieces of clothing, various visceral organs, and a long trail of blood fading into the concrete. This was more than enough proof for Genma to assume that his son was dead.
Soun Tendo also assumed the worst, as always, and began bawling with more force than normal, which was saying a lot. Akane would have done anything, but she was too much in shock to stop staring at the bloodstains. The first person to actually say anything coherent was Happosai, after he was done eyeing and sniffing the ground carefully.
"Ranma is NOT dead."
Even Soun looked up at Happosai hopefully. "How... how do you know?"
"If you'll notice," Happosai continued, "most all of this blood is just slightly the wrong color to be human. On top of that, it doesn't smell like Ranma. Only a very small part does, but it's not nearly enough to have killed such a tough lad."
Finally, Akane managed to speak. "Ranma was... he was saying something about them wanting him to go with them..."
"My son isn't dead!" Genma shouted with relief, "Just kidnapped by monsters! ... Wait, that's almost just as bad..."
"Akane, what kind of monsters were they? If they were able to make such short work of Ranma, we need to know everything we can." Happosai asked, taking the role of leader.
"They... they were like lizards... or bugs... and there was a flying one, and a big one... and they came out of the ground..." Akane tried to explain with little success.
"Hmm...." Happosai interrupted, "The way I see, it, we have two options. First, we can try to follow this trail of blood back to where these things took him and..."
Everyone started shouting their approval of this plan.
"Will you let me finish?" He chided, "and all die at these monsters' lair."
The approval rating dropped. "What's the second?" Genma asked.
"Second, we can go back to the dojo and try to gather as much information as we can, to avoid doing anything stupid."
"Good old master!" "I knew he'd lead us well!" "Prudence over valor!" "Think before you leap!" Genma and Soun cheered, backing away from the scene slowly.
Happosai and Akane big sweated, feeling an rare sympathy for each other.
"In your mind?" Akane asked Nabiki, still not quite believing it.
Apparently Kasumi had telepathically communicated with her just before Ranma was attacked, and hadn't been able to tell anyone before they all blew out to Ranma's rescue. While this was somewhat of an incredible story, it wasn't much more incredible than anything else that went on in Nerima, so it was slowly accepted as truth.
"Exactly," Nabiki answered calmly, obviously frustrated by everyone's refusal to believe her, "She said for us not to worry, and that she's just fine."
While Akane looked somewhat concerned, Soun, Genma and Happosai seemed very relieved.
Soun saw his daughter's concern and quickly began to pat her on the back. "Now, Akane, if your sister says that she's just fine, she's just fine. Has she ever been wrong before?"
Akane gave her father a bewildered look, but simply nodded her assent. Apparently he was cracking up because of Kasumi's absence, and she didn't want to destroy his escape from reality. It was still creepy to see him calm, though.
"So, do you think these are the same things that kidnapped Ranma?" Happosai asked of Nabiki.
"I don't see how they couldn't be. That being the case, they probably want Ranma for a similar reason to why they want Kasumi."
Happosai nodded. "If that's the case, Ranma is in no real danger. It would be us who stood to perish if we attempted a rescue. In fact, that might even cause them to panic and execute the hostages, as it were."
"And Kasumi did mention that she would return soon," Nabiki added, "So I think we ought to just wait."
"Right you are," Happosai agreed, nodding as one with Nabiki.
Akane suddenly sat up and noted, "I just noticed something. You sure are being helpful, grandfather... I can't help but wonder why."
"Kasumi and Ranma are in danger, and you question my motives?"
Nabiki gave Akane a scathing glance. "Not even the old goat needs a reason to help Kasumi, so I hope you'll stop being paranoid."
Akane cringed a little, rubbing the back of her head.
"No Ranma too!" Shampoo shouted in despair.
Mousse tried to comfort her, but just got a fist for his efforts.
"Shampoo kill whoever do this!"
Cologne interrupted suddenly, "I doubt you could, great-granddaughter. If what Happy says is true, these creatures have a number advantage we could not possibly overcome."
"But... but what about airen?"
"It seems he is in no danger that we know of, and many signs point to his eventual return. Have patience, Shampoo."
Shampoo began to cry into Cologne's robes, "Shampoo try..."
"While it is indeed a misfortunate happenstance that gentle Kasumi Tendo should be spirited away, the fall of Saotome calls for a celebration! A celebration, I say!" Tatewaki Kuno shouted, giddy with the news Sasuke told him.
A celebration at the Kuno mansion was held, but Sasuke was the only guest. Tatewaki didn't even notice.
"What?!?" Ryoga shouted in disbelief, "Not Kasumi!"
Akane nodded her head slowly. After mulling things over in his head for a short while, and listening to the rest of the story, he had figured the situation out.
"This is all Ranma's fault!"
Akane interrupted, "He was kidnapped, too."
"Wh... what?" Ryoga couldn't comprehend anyone being able to best Ranma, not even a horde of monsters.
"He was attacked and dragged away... I couldn't even help him..." Akane said, obviously trying not to cry.
At this point, Ryoga passed out as all the various stimuli proved too much for his powerful, yet simple, cognitive resources.
And the rest went as expected.
The weeks passed, just as they always do, but something was wrong, and everybody knew what it was. It wasn't just the random monster attacks that were terrorizing the countryside, or the absence of Nerima's greatest fighter. It wasn't even that gentle something that permeated the whole town whenever Kasumi was there. Most likely, it was all of these things together, along with an underlying tense anticipation that slowly, silently ate away at the sanity of certain citizens of Nerima.
Akane was certainly not the least of said citizens. Over the following three weeks, she spent many a night awake and staring at the ceiling. When she left the company of others, her mind free from the worries and concerns of every day, she would feel thoughts and emotions wash over her. Things she had wanted to say without even knowing it would bring themselves to the tip of her tongue, only confusing her more. Every day, the previous night made it harder and harder for her to continue, to appear normal.
Ukyo, whom Akane had always thought of as a friend when not a rival, became even closer to her, and at times they would talk about what had happened, but never actually refer to it. They would sometimes just sit and not say a word, waiting for something to happen. It was a hard time, but things began to gradually assume a new status quo. Even the roving bands of beasts were coming to be accepted.
That is, until one day, nearly a month after Kasumi's disappearance.
In a far-off lair, a bizarre chrysalis began to stir, bumping into the one next to it. Surprisingly, a muffled cry of, "Excuse me," could be heard from within. Zasz's brood was at this point nearly twice as big as any of the other cerebrates', and with good reason. As the creature within began to truly awaken, the ties to the Overmind, which had been forged during its slumber, were activated, empowering its open potential. When the correct moment came, Zasz began to concede control of its minions to the new cerebrate. Half of Zasz's swollen brood was eventually ceded and under the care of the newest arm of the swarm.
What happened next, however, was not in the plan.
Never, ever, in the history of the Zerg had a hive been described as 'Spic and span.' On that fateful day of the infested Kasumi's awaking, that changed. Also, the words, 'cute,' 'cozy,' and 'tidy' were added to the Overmind's already vast vocabulary. The Overmind was the sum total of the will of the swarm, and that will now contained... doilies! Somehow, she had created doilies! Part of the Overmind embraced this. Part of it was horrified. The greatest part, however, was confused. Until it had more information to go on, the Overmind decided not to act, and to instead continue as originally planned, even if that did include... doilies.
Akane winced as a spine penetrated her shoulder. An unusually large group of the large, spitting type of creature had attacked, and she and Ukyo were doing their best against the monsters. Only a month ago, Akane wouldn't have stood a chance, but now she had over a hundred kills under her belt. Necessity can work wonders.
Ukyo was faring a little better, given the large spatula she used to block the slimy projectiles, but was still looking haggard. However, their numbers were thinning, and Shampoo and Mousse were doing well at the other end of the horde. Just when victory seemed within their grasp, Akane heard something which brought a lump of terror to her heart.
The roar of the giant beasts. Behind her, Akane could see not one, as they usually sent, but five of the elephant-sized monstrosities which crushed all in their paths. Akane finished the spitter immediately in front of her just in time to dodge a huge tusklike blade. Akane could probably take one of them out, especially with Ukyo's help, but five? Five? That was just too much. It was then that Akane gave up hope.
It was also then that all the creatures suddenly changed color. Not their whole bodies, but just certain distinctive areas. Akane had noticed before that some were marked green, or brown, or red, though green and brown were far less common. She had never seen them change, though, and she had certainly never seen them change... pink?
All the beasts around them suddenly became still, even the ones getting savaged by martial artists. Akane noticed immediately, but it took the others a moment to notice that their opponents were doing everything short of smiling while they were being pummeled. Being the first to wonder what was happening, Akane was also the first to see a huge pink floating creature approaching. Normally, when one of these showed up, it meant that it was about to give birth to some horrible monstrosity, or so Akane had reasoned. This, as far as she could tell, was how they reproduced.
Indeed, something did fall from its underbelly as it lowered to the ground.
"Oh, dear. I'm glad I got here before these ultralisks could hurt you."
Akane's eyes became as wide as her gaping jaw. "K-Kasumi?"
"Yes, Akane?"
On the verge of tears, Akane ran to her sister, ignoring all the creatures around her. It was only after she had been hugging Kasumi for almost a full minute that she noticed that something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. Pulling back somewhat, she looked into Kasumi's smiling, greenish face.
Something about that previous sentence was really and truly amiss. Smiling fit in with the Kasumi norm, but greenish was new. So were the assorted lines on her face. In fact, Akane noticed as she stared at Kasumi in shock, there were whole lot of new additions, not the least of which being the sweeping winglike limbs which hung low around Kasumi's sides. The segmented, antenna-like hair was also a recent addition, even though it was done up in the same style. And even though she was wearing her standard dress, (somehow tailored to fit her form) plates of chitinous armor peeked into view at various hem lines.
Akane's conscious thought processes decided that they had put up with just about enough and took the opportunity to leave swiftly and quietly.
"I certainly hope Father takes it better," Kasumi noted as several small creatures caught Akane's falling form.
"My... my little Kas..." Soun Tendo uttered as he fainted again.
That was the third time so far. Mush like everybody else, he was overjoyed to see Kasumi again. Unlike most, however, he had passed out repeatedly. Shockingly, it was Genma who had adjusted the quickest, requiring only moments to accept this new reality. Her entire family, which contained Mr. Saotome, as far as she was concerned, was gathered to listen to her story, and her father was unconscious. That was about as much of that as she could take. Using all of her telepathic might, she blasted a thought into his head.
<WAKE UP, FATHER!>
"Gaah!" he cried as he shot up. Kasumi just sat, smiling. "I'm up! I'm up!"
Genma raised an eyebrow at him. "It's about time, Tendo. Now listen to what your loving daughter has to say, and... DON'T PASS OUT AGAIN!"
Soun laughed sheepishly, "It's just a little hard to take... heh, heh, oh, well...."
"So can you tell us exactly what the holy hell is going on, now?" Nabiki asked, obviously irritated.
"Of course. You see, it all started when I met a nice group of people called the Zerg..."
Kasumi pretended not to notice the looks everyone was giving one another.
"So that's the name of those monsters?" Akane inquired, remembering the bloodstains for the thousandth time.
"Oh, we aren't monsters. We are a race pure in essence, destined to achieve perfection!" Kasumi boasted proudly.
"WE?!?" echoed through the room, coming from no one in particular.
"Yes, I am Zerg now, but I'm also still human... like Ranma will be."
Akane shot forward, putting her head immediately in front of Kasumi. "Ranma's still alive? Where is he?"
"Now, don't worry," Kasumi answered, "He's just being infested, like I was. he should be out within the week. He's very strong."
"My son the insect..." Genma said slowly.
"The only problem is that he might not remember anything..."
Once again, the chorus shouted, "What?"
Kasumi resumed, "Well, you see, I am what is called a Cerebrate. We control broods of Zerg much as a brain controls a body. They may be separate creatures, but without their cerebrate, they can barely eat on their own..."
"So I take it Ranma's not going to be a 'Cerebrate,'" Nabiki said dryly.
"No, the Overmind wanted him to be a prototype for a new kind of Zerg; to be a Terralisk. Because he's just a drone, he probably won't have a mind of his own."
"No..." Genma wept, "I'd rather see him die!"
Kasumi brought herself to continue, though their empathic pain was beginning to break through her defenses, especially Akane's. "But luckily, he's been assigned to my brood, so I think we can help him. His mind won't be gone, just buried, and with your help, I'm sure I can make him his old self again."
"Just like you are?" Nabiki asked sarcastically.
"Now, Nabiki, I know what you're thinking," Kasumi replied, "Literally. Im the same Kasumi you grew up with, just with some new... abilities."
"Don't forget the tentacles."
Nabiki was beginning to pick at Kasumi's defenses against the Zerg fury of her minions that was seeping into her mind. "Shut up, Nabiki. We have bigger problems now than your image of me! If I hadn't become a Cerebrate, the Zerg would have overrun all of Japan by now!"
Everybody gasped, mostly because of Kasumi telling Nabiki to shut up.
"They... they're invaders?" Genma asked blankly.
"Well, the Zerg came to Earth to find me and Ranma first and foremost. Now that we have us, the Overmind plans to make Earth a Zerg colony. At least, it was. Even though I am Zerg, I grew up here, and I love this world... I won't let one person die, if I can help it! We are going to live here peacefully, and with your help, and Ranma's, no one has to be hurt for that to happen! I hope that one day, people will smile when they see a zergling playing with a child, or be glad to see a hydralisk stopping a robbery!"
"What's a hydralisk?" "Shh..."
"Oh, but I wonder what can be done about the creep?"
Soun looked at her. "What's creep?"
"The creep," Kasumi answered, "Is what we live on. It's a kind of purple substance that exudes from all of our buildings... I suppose people could eat it, after it's been prepared correctly..."
And so it went.
For the next few days, almost everyone in the entire town stopped by to say hello to Kasumi, except for one notable absence. Dr. Tofu sent his greetings by way of a card, but failed to ever approach the dojo. This was because he had heard about Kasumi and snuck a look at her before going to speak to her. Needless to say, his feelings were a mess. He decided that until he knew what he felt, he wouldn't even see her.
Not seeing the huge hive that lie in Nerima, on the other hand, was a total impossibility. An outlying vacant field had been covered by a gigantic, seething, living building and all of its satellite buildings. The sludgy carpet of creep continued on for a good quarter mile, and this alone was enough to discourage all but the most stalwart visitors. Of course, not many people tried to visit Kasumi. She spent most of her time visiting them, as she had almost a month to catch up on.
The Zerg themselves were another story. It was easy for Nerima to accept the changes to Kasumi, but the recent attackers still got pummeled every few hours. Soon, everybody knew the names of the types, from the lizardlike zerglings to the spitting hydralisks to the hovering Overlords and more.
Which brings us to six days after her return.
Akane opened the door to Kasumi's smiling, if green and infested, face. How one could beam while half insect, Akane didn't know. "Hi, Kasumi."
Kasumi nodded her greetings and came inside, as she always did in the morning. While she had to spend the nights and the afternoons at the hive, she insisted on still playing the same role she always did at the dojo. Humming to herself, she made for the kitchen. Something about her was different, though, and it wasn't just the infestation. Upon closer inspection, Akane could see that she was clearly excited about something. In fact, she was so cheery, or maybe nervous, that her 'wings' were moving slightly to the beat of the tune she was humming.
It was all very eerie.
"Um, are you alright, Kasumi?" Akane asked, genuinely concerned.
Kasumi reeled about, nearly slicing Akane's gut open with those same happy 'wings.' "I've got some wonderful news! Ranma's coming home today!"
It was at this point that Akane became oblivious to all else in the world. Ranma, after having been dragged away from her, after having been dead for all she knew, was returning. He was returning to her. For some reason, she felt anxiety coarse through her body when she thought about seeing him again. It was only the heat of a tear rolling down her cheek that broke her reverie.
"...So there's a good chance that we can snap him out of it," Kasumi continued, oblivious to Akane's wandering mind, "Akane, are you crying?"
Akane wiped her face a bit and blushed when she realized that she was. Still adjusting to her sister's psychic powers, Akane gave a start as she felt Kasumi's mind touch her own.
"Oh dear," Kasumi said, brining a hand to her mouth, "That certainly will help us get him back."
"What will?"
"You'll see," Kasumi said, almost mischievously, which was odd, given that this was Kasumi.
Everyone Ranma knew and loved... actually, everyone that knew and loved Ranma stood near Kasumi's hive, waiting for Ranma's return. Speculation had floated about as to what he might look like, and the overall outlook was more realistic than optimistic. Nabiki's betting pool saw to that. Akane had her money on "greenish and armored."
Most hoped to give him their best wishes the moment they saw him, but the Tendos and the other Saotome knew better than that. They had found out that he would be another mindless warrior for the time being. Kasumi had already detailed her plan to them for recovering his self, but nobody else knew of the unpleasant reality. It might be funny to see them find out firsthand.
Suddenly, a horde of polite zerglings cleared a path in the creep for people to step through. Most people were still wary of the Zerg, but had nearly accepted them as a fact of life. Several hydralisks followed, leading the way for Kasumi herself. In the background, two ultralisks and an Overlord towered majestically. Striding to the front of her crowd, Kasumi began to address the throng.
"I know that everybody is here because they care about Ranma so much!" She said cheerfully, genuinely happy over the turnout, "And he will be here in just a moment, but I must give you a warning. At first, he will not be the same Ranma. Right now, he's just another Zerg in my brood, so I need everybody to hold all comments and glompings until he's back to normal."
The potential glompers milled about, not liking the sound of that. "How long will that take?"
"That depends on many factors. It could be a few minutes, or it may never happen," Kasumi said as the crowd shouted in protest, "But I'm sure it'll be just fine."
For some reason, this appeased the crowd. It was Kasumi after all.
"So, keeping that in mind, here's Ranma."
Stepping to the side, Kasumi motioned to the entrance to the hive. After nearly thirty seconds of waiting, a figure burst out from inside until it came to a screeching halt immediately in front of Akane.
It was Ranma.
While half of her wanted to hug him, the other half knew that he wouldn't do anything. Plus, Akane had won the pool. His flesh was not quite as green as Kasumi's, and looked somewhat thicker. His tentacles nee hair were still braided, but it just wasn't the same. While he wore his red shirt and black pants, it was obvious that he had far more armor than Kasumi. Most noticeable, however, were the four long, clublike limbs which fanned out from his back, each at right angles to another. While they were similar to Kasumi's 'wings,' Akane couldn't tell what purpose they served.
When they curved around his side and formed a set of two exo-arms, it was pretty obvious, especially given the huge spikes on their tips. Apparently Ranma had sensed something that made him apprehensive. He suddenly leapt through the crowd, ignoring everyone he blew past. Finally, he found what had disturbed him.
After a few seconds, little remained of the stray cat. Akane couldn't help but grimace. She noticed many others doing the same. On the plus side, however, this meant that his old mind was still there, waiting to surface. Glancing into Kasumi's eyes, she saw the signal to begin.
"Ranma," she called, getting his attention, "Do you remember me?"
He stared at her blankly and finally shook his head.
"I'm your fianc�e, Akane," she said to him softly, stepping nearer, "And... I... I can't bear to see you like this..."
He cocked his head slightly at this. Surprisingly, he formed a word. "Why?"
Everyone else gasped in silence as Akane continued with tear-filled eyes.
"Because I... I... l-love you, Ranma..."
Next time on NerimaCraft:
Will they fix Ranma's brain? Does Akane really mean that? If so, how will she deal with the fact that he's a monster? How will anyone deal with any of this? Why is Akane petting a zergling? And who's that shadowy figure nobody can quite see?
Next time: Chapter two: Z-Z-Z-Chan! He's good for nothing!
[I love putting previews in my stuff... Anyhow, that's the first real installment in a payment plan of pure evil. I know it's twisted, but, meh. If anybody wants to proofread or otherwise hassle me about it, please do. Otherwise, I doubt I'll ever revise it.
Either way, next chapter should be more interesting. A new status quo will be established, only to be shattered not far in the future. And if you're wondering about the Akane/Ranma relationship, or the Tofu/Kasumi one, don't worry, I'll get to those but good. This does indeed put a strain on them, but, hey, since when are they normal?
-Forrest "DUNOTS" Walker]
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"I thought it was just more training," Ranma said. "I didn't
know anything was wrong until the damn thing penetrated."
-Excerpt from "Ranma's Horrible Secret." (Which is funny in or out of context)