I forgot to send the new version of this. I changed something so that an 
element I added later on would work.

 

Other than the small change, it's no different. [I omitted references to 
Akari.] If you read the earlier post, there's no need, but if you haven't read 
it yet, this is the one you should read.

 

    Insertion

 

    Part 66

 

    The price of womanhood.

 

++++++++++++

 

    Ranma Saotome, the Lord of Nightmares and
ruler of 
the entire universe stared down into the
pool in front of him and chuckled as 
he watched
the scene play out before him.

 

    "You know they hate us," said Ranma flatly.

 

    "Yeah, we'll get over it," said Carrot calmly.

 

    "I don't mind," said Xianfu with a small
shrug.

 

    "You're just happy because you finally got
your way," 
said Dan calmly.

 

    "Maybe we should stop letting Carrot do so
much," 
whimpered Pissant.

 

    "Hey, you know my plans always work out
towards 
something," said Carrot irritably. "As
much as I'd enjoy doing this for no 
reason, I do
have a master plan."

 

    "Yeah, a master plan to see how much you can
get away 
with," snorted Ranma.

 

    "Look, It'll work out, I promise. Besides, she
did it 
on her own. I just made sure she had the
opportunity. That's all," said 
Carrot defensively.

 

    "You probably enjoyed it too," said Dan as 
he
narrowed his eyes.

 

    "She was the only one awake," said 
Carrot
irritably.

 

    "He's right," admitted Ranma. "He was kind
enough to 
make sure we didn't wake up." He didn't
sound too happy with what had 
happened himself
though.

 

    "What is the point of this?" snorted Dan.

 

    "Well, I want them to do something in
particular, and 
I'm hoping this will be enough to
put the idea in our head," said Carrot with 
a
shrug.

 

    "Idea?" muttered Ranma.

 

    "I knew it, you pervert," snorted Xianfu.

 

    "Not that idea you bitch!" snapped Carrot.
"Jeez, I'm 
not like that!"

 

    "What idea are you talking about?" asked
Ranma.

 

    "Honey, I..." Hotaru walked into the room and
looked 
down at the pool for a moment. She blinked
and looked up at her husband for a 
moment. "What
the hell are you doing?"

 

    "Nothing dear, It's all part of our..." They
backed 
away suddenly as the woman got a fierce
look in her eyes.

 

    "What the hell did you do to them?" 
snarled
Hotaru.

 

    "Wait! It's important, I needed them too..."

 

    "You had some fantasy, and you couldn't tell
me about 
it? Is that it? I can see why you
wouldn't...but..."

 

    "No! It's not like that!" cried the god
fearfully. 
"Look, they weren't even awake! It was
just her, honest!"

 

    "Her?" Hotaru looked at them for a 
moment.
"Xianfu?"

 

    "Yeah, I mean," the god calmed slightly.

 

    "Hey, it's been almost a thousand years," said
the 
feminine voice with a small shrug. "I got
needs too ya know."

 

    "I thought you'd been hanging around Zocite
and 
Kunzite a bit much lately," said Hotaru as she
narrowed her eyes.

 

    "What?! Stop that! We don't have those kinds
of 
desires!" cried the god in defense of himself.

 

    "Wait a minute! What do you mean a thousand
years?" 
said Dan as he realized what the woman had
said.

 

    "Well, I was in heaven for a while. I got
drunk at a 
party, and Thor thought I was pretty
cute. So one thing led to another 
and..."

 

    "We don't need to know any more," said Carrot
as he 
turned towards Hotaru.

 

    The woman was simply staring at them with a
blank 
looking expression on her face. "Well, those
springs of yours still work. I 
suppose if it would
make you happy..." She blushed and got a 
slightly
disgusted look on her face.

 

    "You'd do that?" muttered Xianfu in wonder.

 

    "NO! Hell no!" screamed the others all at
once.

 

    "The whole point of this was to avoid things
like 
that! Jeez, wasn't that enough?" said Carrot.

 

    "What? After a thousand years of nothing, you
think 
once is going to be enough?" said Xianfu
flatly.

 

    "Well, err..." muttered Ranma.

 

    "She's got a point," said Pissant.

 

    "Who's side are you on?" growled Dan angrily.
"Hey! I 
bet you were awake for that!"

 

    "I was not!" cried the voice angrily.

 

    Hotaru wasn't sure if she should be angry with
them 
for being perverts, or sympathetic with them.
She sighed and turned away. 
"Look, when you get
this sexual frustration out of your system, I'll
come 
back."

 

    "Wait!" cried Carrot as he stumbled over the
pool and 
fell face first on the floor.

 

    The door closed in their faces as their wife
left 
them alone.

 

    "Great, it's all your fault everyone thinks
we're 
gay," said Carrot angrily.

 

    Xianfu shrugged. "You can't fault me for not
being 
gay."

 

    "The hell we can't," snapped Dan. "If you
were, our 
lives would be much easier."

 

    "He's got a point," admitted Ranma.

 

    "Well I'm not, deal with it," she said curtly
in 
reply.

 

    "Shouldn't we be making sure we don't kill
anybody?" 
said Pissant quietly.

 

    "Oh, right," said Carrot.

 

++++++++++++

 

    Yusaku woke up from a wonderful dream. The sun
was 
warm in his face and he felt so refreshed.
Everything about the morning 
seemed so right, and
now. He turned his head slightly and his 
face
fell.

 

    Yohiko was looking at him.

 

    Yohiko wasn't speaking.

 

    Yohiko...did not look happy at all.

 

    "Um. Did we...?" he ventured quietly.

 

++++++++++

 

    "NO! NO! NO! NO!" muttered Ranma in a mantra
as his 
brain completely shut down.

 

    Dan hadn't spoken yet, well, not if you call
an 
animalistic growl not speaking.

 

    Carrot was simply too stunned to move. He had
managed 
to pull the sheets over their body and
move up against the wall.

 

    Xainfu was feeling quite satisfied with
herself. 
"Take that," she said merrily.

 

    Pissant did the dumbest thing he possibly
could, he 
spoke what was on his mind out loud.

 

    "Why does our mouth taste funny?"

 

+++++++++++

 

    Yusaku was feeling a sort of fearful joy at
that 
moment. It seemed his dream had become a
reality. If that was true though, 
why was he
feeling the overwhelming sense of dread? Why was
every muscle 
in his body screaming for him to run
away as fast as he could and not look 
back. Why,
was Yohiko glowing?

 

    "SHI SHI HOUKOU DAN!!!"

 

+++++++++++

 

    Usagi blinked as an explosion rocked her out
of bed. 
She hit the ground headfirst and sat
upright immediately. "Huh? What the 
hell?" She
quickly stood up and rushed out of her room.
Xellos was sitting 
at the table drinking coffee
and she gasped as she saw sunlight outside. 
"I
slept in?" she muttered under her breath. "This
has got to be a dream, 
mom would never..."

 

    "Your mother isn't home," said Xellos calmly.

 

    "She's not?" said the girl in wonder. "Where
is 
she?"

 

    "I think that's her screaming in the hallway
now," 
said the man as he calmly sipped at his
drink and continued to read the 
paper.

 

    Yohiko blinked as she opened the door and saw
her 
mother rush by in the nude, with only a sheet
covering her body. She was 
screaming bloody murder
and turned into the bathroom.

 

    "Um...Mom?" said the girl tentatively as she
walked 
over. She stepped back as the sound of
someone becoming violently sick 
suddenly came from
one of the toilets.

 

    She turned stepped out of the room and 
noticed
Yusaku's door looked like it had been ripped out
of the wall. She 
wasn't sure what to make of that
and walked back into the bathroom again. 
She
blushed when she saw her mother kneeling over one
of the 
toilets.

 

    "Mom?" she muttered as she stepped closer.

 

    "It isn't true, it can't be," said her mother
in a 
sort of mad mumble. She was repeating it to
herself over and over.

 

    "Mother, are you all right?" she asked as she
put her 
hand on the woman's shoulder. The woman
jumped suddenly and pushed herself 
against the
wall as she jerked away.

 

    "Mom? Is Yusaku dead?" said the girl quietly.

 

    "God I hope so," said the woman with a fearful
look 
in her eyes.

 

    Usagi nodded and turned away. She walked out
into the 
hallway and noticed everyone looking at
her from their doorways. "You'll all 
pretend
nothing happened if you know what's good for you,"
she called out 
to everyone.

 

    The doors quickly shut and the hallway 
became
empty.

 

    Usagi sighed and walked into the man's room.
She 
looked around for a moment and surveyed the
damage. The wall to the outside 
was completely
gone, nothing more than a smoking hole. Yusaku was
not 
inside the room, but she could see him
sticking his legs out of a hole in the 
ground
about twenty yards away from the building. He was
naked, and 
occasionally one of his legs would
twitch.

 

    "Oh my," she said under her breath as she
frowned. 
"Mom? What on earth did you do?" Her mind
went back to the Bakusai Tenketsu, 
but this was
far beyond that level of destruction. It had to be
something 
else, something she hadn't seen yet. She
idly wondered just how powerful her 
mother really
was. With a small sigh she jumped down into the
yard from 
the hole and wandered over to Yusaku's
twitching form.

 

    "Hey, Godai, you alive?" she asked as she
poked him 
in the leg with her finger.

 

    He moaned painfully and she pulled him out of
the 
hole. With a slight blush she tossed a towel
she had grabbed from his room 
over his more
personal areas and kneeled down next to him.
"Listen, I know 
you like her, but whatever you did
to mom, you'd better not do it again. 
She's real
upset." She frowned deeply and growled at him as
he lay there 
smoking. "Jerk, I'm sure not gonna
help you get any more dates. That's for 
sure."

 

    He moaned painfully, unable to respond to
that.

 

    Usagi sighed and picked him up carefully. She
was 
hoping it wasn't what she thought it was, if
it was, she'd help her mother 
kill him. Still, she
didn't know everything yet, and Uncle Xellos
always 
told her it was bad to act without knowing
as much as you could. No matter 
how upset you
were.

 

    She came through the doorway and found her
uncle 
watching her with an unreadable expression
on his face.

 

    "So, what do you think happened?" she 
asked
him.

 

    "Not much, they probably had sex," he replied
with a 
small shrug. "She seems to be taking it
well."

 

    Usagi blinked and looked towards the bathroom
again. 
She could still  hear her mother retching
violently. "She is?"

 

    "Well, the building is still here," replied
the man 
with a small shrug. "In any case, it would
be a bad idea to bring him into 
your apartment.
We'd best put him back into his own room until she
calms 
down a bit."

 

    Usagi sighed and nodded her head. "Mom
probably got 
drunk."

 

    "Most likely, that young lad isn't stupid
enough to 
initiate something like that on his
own," said Xellos with a short nod. His 
knowing
grin widened a little as she carried Yusaku
through the broken 
remains of his door. "Well,
isn't this interesting?"

 

++++++++++++

 

    Several hours later...

 

++++++++++++

 

    Yohiko staggered through the streets of Tokyo
with a 
numb look on her face. After she'd finished
throwing up in the bathroom, 
she'd walked out,
reverted to her male form, and simply walked 
in
silence.

 

    The sun had set a short time earlier and 
she
continued to walk. "We missed work today," said
Carrot as he looked up 
at the sky.

 

    "We'll handle that later, that idiot principal
won't 
pose much of a problem," commented Dan.

 

    The pair were strangely calm, there was a
boiling 
rage somewhere in the back of their
consciousness though. The had no idea 
when Ranma
was going to make his presence known again and
release that 
anger.

 

    "Where are we going?" asked Xianfu.

 

    "Shut the hell up," snapped Carrot bitterly.

 

    "Still haven't forgiven me?" she asked coldly.
The 
situation seemed almost amusing to her.

 

    "I wouldn't be worried about us, when Ranma
finally 
snaps out of his little quiet time, he's
going to do something we'll all 
probably regret,"
replied Carrot calmly. "We aren't going to stop
him 
either."

 

    "You claim to be angry," snorted the 
woman
hatefully.

 

    "Ha. Claim my ass lady, we're all pissed,"
snorted 
Carrot.

 

    "You seem calm enough," said the woman.

 

    "That's because I'm still planning what I'm
going to 
do with you," said the voice as a sudden
chill fell over them.

 

    "What can you do?" she snapped. "You have no
right to 
be angry."

 

    "No right, you..." snarled Dan as his own
temper 
surged up. "How dare you..."

 

    "How dare I what? Do the exact same thing
you've been 
doing to me since we all
became...this...whatever we are?" she 
snapped.
"Now you know how I feel!"

 

    "Lady, you have no idea what you've just
fucked 
with," said Dan coldly.

 

    "I think I do," she replied calmly. "Where the
hell 
are we anyway?" She paused as she looked up
at the building in front of them. 
There was a
vicious smirk on their face as they stared up into
the windows 
of a small mansion. The windows in the
building all had a red glow to them. 
"You
wouldn't!" she gasped in horror.

 

    "He Dan, feel like asserting our manhood?"
said 
Carrot with a small chuckle.

 

    "You know it," said the man as their smile
grew 
sinister.

 

    "Help me stop them!" snapped Xianfu angrily as
she 
struggled with their body.

 

    Pissant said nothing and remained hidden away.

 

    Ranma's consciousness surfaced suddenly and
the woman 
gasped.

 

    "Let's go," he said to the other two men.
Waves of 
anger and rage were pouring from his
spirit.

 

    "Oh god no," muttered the woman in horror.

 

+++++++++++

 

    They entered the building and smirked at the
woman 
who approached them and took their coat.

 

    "Welcome," she said seductively.

 

    "Hello," he replied coldly. His smirk fell a
bit as 
she saw her shrink back ever so slightly.
The anger that they were putting 
off was making
the half-dressed women around them uncomfortable.
None of 
them understood why, but he managed to
quell it quite a bit and he could feel 
them relax.

 

    "What is your desire?" she asked him with a
smirk on 
her face as she led him towards the group
of girls sitting off to the 
side.

 

    He snorted and handed her a large roll of
money. "I'm 
going to be here a while tonight."

 

    "Think you can handle it?" said the woman as
she 
snorted in amusement. She'd seen men come in
like this before, all of them 
were quickly
humbled.

 

    "You four," said Dan as he pointed at a
particularly 
attractive group of females that were
sitting together.

 

    They looked at one another and smiled wickedly
as 
they stood up and moved towards the handsome
man who stood waiting for them. 
As they moved
around him and grabbed his arms he turned his head
and 
smirked at the woman who had greeted him.
"Later."

 

    She wasn't sure if he was naming her as a
potential 
target, or saying goodnight. She blinked
and shook her head as the girls led 
him up the
stairs to one of the rooms.

 

+++++++++++++

 

    The three of them stood up and dressed
themselves as 
they stood over the exhausted
prostitutes that lay across the bed they had 
used
for most of the night. Their gaze was cold and
firm as they willed 
their clothing back into a
neat and pressed appearance. It 
shifted
accordingly and they started towards the door with
a snort.

 

    "Heh, they weren't expecting that," said
Carrot 
calmly as he glanced back at them.

 

    "Having the three of us here does have 
it's
advantages at times," agreed Dan with a short nod.

 

    There was a soft whimpering in the back of
their head 
and they all pushed it out of their
minds.

 

    As they walked down the stairs and smirked at
the 
surprised gasp of the woman who had greeted
them, they stopped and grabbed 
another girl by her
arm and turned her around. "Hello."

 

    Kung stared them in the face with a sort of
dull 
looking fear. She was dressed as a prostitute
and forced a smile on her face. 
"This one is
interesting."

 

    "Y-yes," stammered the woman in disbelief. The
four 
girls he had chosen were all experienced,
very experienced. They should have 
accompanied him
out of the room at the very least. He looked as
fresh as 
when he'd entered, not even his clothes
were disheveled.

 

    "Well, are you going to show me to a room, or
stand 
there with your mouth open?" said the man as
he grinned at her.

 

    "R-right," muttered Kung as she led him
towards the 
stairs with a carefully concealed
panic on her face. "Shit. Someone would 
have to
pick me," she thought angrily. Her eyes darted in
the direction 
she was moving when he'd stopped
her. A small wooden door that supposedly led 
to
the basement of the building. "What should I do
with this idiot?"

 

    She opened the door and led him into the 
room.
Without a word he closed the door behind them.
Kung whirled around 
with her leg extended into a
kick aimed for his head. She was hoping for 
a
quick knock out, but spied a nearby metal
candlestick just in 
case.

 

    Her expression changed to one of fear as she
stared 
at the man in front of her in horror. He
was standing with her ankle in his 
hand and
looking at it in annoyance.

 

    "Tell me why you're here Miss Kung," he 
said
calmly.

 

    "You know me?" said the woman as she backed
away from 
him.

 

    "I grow tired of saving you Kung, every time I
see 
you, someone is trying to kill you. You're
either very stupid, or there's 
something people
don't like about you," said the man as he crossed
his 
arms in front of his chest.

 

    "Who?" she muttered as she backed away. "You!"
Her 
eyes went wide as she saw his eyes, two
metallic silver orbs stared her down 
coldly with a
familiar intensity. She pulled a camera from out
of a small 
handbag she had at her side and took a
picture.

 

    "Of course, it could be both," said the man as
he 
narrowed his eyes at her in irritation.

 

    "I've got you now! I know who you really are!"

 

    "And I know who you really are, what will you
do if I 
tell the people down there about you and
your occupation?" he replied 
calmly.

 

    "I might escape," she said as she moved
towards the 
candlestick.

 

    "I'd thought of that," he replied with a
shrug.

 

    "This is the biggest story of my life, I've
got a 
picture of the real you. I can't just give
that up!" she said angrily. "You 
understand, I've
got to think about my career."

 

    "What makes you think I'm stupid enough to
show you 
the real me Kung?" asked the mirror image
of her that appeared in front of 
her where the man
had once stood.

 

    She gasped and stepped back. "What the? What
the hell 
are you?"

 

    "I'm the Shadow, and I always know," he
replied 
calmly as he narrowed his eyes at her.
"You're here, stupidly enough, to 
report on the
illegal operations below this building. However,
you only 
know about the counterfeiting."

 

    "Only?" she muttered dumbly.

 

    "You didn't know about the drug lab in the 
sub
basement, and the fact that you would have been
killed if you had 
wandered down there dressed that
way. The prostitutes don't work there, and 
they
aren't allowed near that door. You were making
that Madam down there 
suspicious."

 

"How do you know?" she muttered halfheartedly.

 

    They smirked as Xellos's image faded from
sight. He 
closed the laptop computer that was
resting in front of them and winked as he 
finally
vanished.

 

    "Do I really have to answer that Miss Kung?"
he said 
with a smirk on his face.

 

    "So these pictures of you are useless," she
muttered 
irritably as she looked at her camera.

 

    He held a roll of film in front of her and
smirked. 
"I'd still rather people didn't know
about this. I may need to use this alias 
again one
day."

 

    "When did?" she muttered in shock as she
lowered the 
camera.

 

    "In any case, I should make it easily enough,"
said 
the Shadow as he raised his arm and inspected
the new tattoo that had 
appeared there. It was
from a local Yakuza faction. "I suggest you 
leave,
it's going to be rather noisy."

 

    "Only if you promise me an interview," she
said 
calmly.

 

    "No," he said calmly as he strolled by.

 

    "How about a date then?" she pressed. "Come
on, give 
me something!"

 

    The man paused and looked at her for a moment.
"I 
imagine it would be virtually the same thing."

 

    She blushed and turned away. "So?"

 

    "I'll think about it," he replied with a sort
of 
casual smirk.

 

    "Asshole!" she snapped as she stomped her foot
on the 
ground. He had already left the room.

 

    She cussed and walked down the stairs. There
were a 
few customers mulling about the area with
women on their arms. With a small 
sigh, she walked
up the Madam and coughed into her hand.

 

    The woman turned to face her and frowned. "Who
are 
you? You're not..."

 

    "I suggest you get your girls out of the
building," 
said Kung calmly.

 

    "Why is that?" asked the woman.

 

    "Things are about to get messy," said Kung as
she 
started towards the door. "For someone who
relies on shadows and stealth, he 
sure is messy."
she thought to herself as she walked into 
the
street.

 

    The woman blinked and looked around at the
women who 
were now staring at her in confusion.
Her mind went back to the young man who 
had
entered the building and taken four of her girls
upstairs. She hadn't 
noticed the tattoo on his
arm, but he had made it past the door 
unmolested.
She didn't recognize him from anyone else in 
the
organization..."

 

    Finally it hit her and her eyes went wide.
"Oyabun 
knows!" She whirled around and faced the
girls. "Get everyone out of the 
rooms now!"

 

++++++++++++++

 

    Carrot smirked as they walked up to the
doorway and 
opened it with a casual arrogance
about them. No one tried to stop them. He 
did
notice the armed man sitting behind a small corner
that couldn't be 
seen until you were at the
doorway. He turned and smirked at him as he 
opened
the door with a sort of cruel ease.

 

    The man did nothing, he acted just like any
other of 
the Oyabun's men would have, and he had
seen the familiar markings on his arm 
for a
moment. "Dey's all jerks," he muttered under his
breath before 
returning to his lazy half napping
state again.

 

++++++++++++++

 

    The man sitting behind the that sat in front
of the 
printing press stood up. He looked to be in
his early twenties, and had a 
good build about
him. He was obviously someone who had moved up
from being 
muscle for someone smarter. "Who?"

 

    "I was sent to check up on things," said the
man who 
stood before him with a sort of cold ease
about him. His hands were locked 
behind his back,
and he was dressed in neat looking silk clothes.

 

    "Check on what?" asked the man.

 

    "Your books, they seemed a bit off recently.
I'm here 
to check on them, clear up the mistake if
there was one," said the man calmly 
as he strolled
forward and smirked at him.

 

    The man nodded and pulled out a thick looking
paper. 
"We're putting out the bills required,
we're not making any more than that 
either. I've
got invoices for all the paper delivered, and the
ink. It's 
more trouble than it's worth to try to
get my hands on that grade of paper. 
It'd cost
more than I'd print with it anyway."

 

    Ranma leaned over the man's desk and looked at
the 
pages for a moment. He saw the man's eyes dart
down at his tattoo for a 
moment and smirked as he
stood up. "Where are the other books, Jiro?"

 

    "Other books?" asked the man calmly.

 

    "Yes, the books for..." Ranma's foot slammed
into the 
ground suddenly and the man jumped back.
A hole crumbled away down into the 
room below them
revealing another room. Several men were working
below at 
what looked like some sort of chemistry
lab. They were coughing from the dust 
and
muttering in confusion. "That," finished Ranma as
he pointed down the 
hole.

 

    "Oh shit," muttered the man as he sat back
down and 
looked at the man standing over him in
horror.

 

    "Jiro, the Oyabun doesn't know," said Ranma
calmly as 
his smirk widened slightly.

 

    The man relaxed a great deal and wiped the
sweat from 
his brow. "Oh kami...you scared the..."
His voice trailed off as he saw 
something new
standing in front of him.

 

    It was a huge man in a black cape. A red 
scarf
covered his face and a wide brimmed hat rested on
top of his head. 
"The Oyabun doesn't ever have to
find out about this either. If you turn 
yourself
over to the police, confess what you've done and
rat your friends 
out. Or I'll personally deliver
the message to the Oyabun about what you've 
been
doing. I'll tell him that you endangered his most
successful printing 
operation because you got
greedy and made a drug lab beneath it. I'll 
tell
him that I would have ignored it if it wasn't for
the drug lab. Do 
you want me to tell him that,
Jiro?"

 

    The man was staring at the figure in front of
him in 
terror and shook his head from side to side
violently. "Prison sucks, Jiro, 
but think of what
the Oyabun will do if he finds out about this.
What will 
he do to you? What will he do to your
family? What will he do, to torture you 
before he
kills you?"

 

Jiro was pulling desperately at the handgun in the
drawer now, but it 
seemed like it was super glued
to the bottom of it. He screamed as he 
struggled
to budge it.

 

    The Shadow chuckled and leaned forward. "Are
you 
having trouble Jiro? Maybe I can help you."

 

    His ears filled with the sound of wood tearing
itself 
apart as the gun was ripped from his hands
by an unseen force. The thing 
standing over him
chuckled as it stood upright with his gun in 
it's
hand.

 

    "Now, I suggest you leave, and tell the police
about 
what you and your friends below have been
doing, before I get impatient," 
said the thing
coldly.

 

    The man screamed and started running as he
stumbled 
up the stairs.

 

    The shadow turned and smirked as he saw a
group of 
armed men climbing through a trap door in
the floor. They were glaring at him 
angrily, and
had apparently overheard the conversation he had
just had 
with their boss. Most of them had a
firearm of some sort in their 
hands.

 

    The Shadow faced them and they all paused
suddenly. 
He was holding only a lighter in his
hand. They looked at each other in 
confusion and
started to train their weapons on the man. His
appearance 
changed suddenly, it was as if he had
suddenly been covered in some sort of 
liquid
metal. Then the lighter fell from his fingers and
into the lab 
below.

 

++++++++++++

 

    Kung blinked in surprise as a man came out of
the 
building screaming in terror. He paused only
long enough to turn and 
continued in a mad search
for the nearest police officer. The whores 
stood
around her as they watched the building in silence
from across the 
street. Police sirens started
sounding in the distance and they began 
to
disperse.

 

    "That was relatively painless," muttered Kung
with a 
small shrug.

 

    The madam stood next to her and sighed. "That
was a 
good job too."

 

    They were both knocked off of their feet as
the 
building exploded in a spectacular ball of
flames.

 

    "Whoa!" cried Kung in awe as she shielded her
face 
from the heat as best she could.

 

    Both women managed to stagger to their feet
after a 
moment and watched as the building burned.
It started to collapse into itself 
as the flames
reached higher and higher. They both watched in a
sort of 
horrified awe as a figure walked from the
flames. he seemed to reflect the 
light as if
covered in a sort of metallic armor. It slowly
melted away, 
revealing a huge man dressed in
black. He looked at them for a moment and 
then
jumped away, vanishing onto the rooftops and into
the shadows.

 

++++++++++++++

 

    Jadeite cursed as he jumped down and dodged
the 
umbrella that passed over his head from the
rooftop. He landed in the 
alleyway and chuckled to
himself as he found himself cornered.

 

    "You won't get away!" cried Sailor Moon as 
she
appeared at the front of the alley.

 

    "We have you!" snarled Ryoga as he landed just
in 
front of her.

 

    "Fools, haven't you learned you can't trap me
by 
now?" snarled Jadeite as he vanished in another
flash of light.

 

    "Damn! How does he do that?" snarled Ryoga as
he 
stood upright and stared at the spot where the
boy had vanished.

 

    "You...saved me again," said Usagi as she
turned to 
face him with a gentle smile on her
face.

 

    "Yeah, I guess," he muttered as he turned away
from 
her.

 

    The girl frowned slightly at his reaction and
sighed. 
"Do...I bother you Ryoga?"

 

    "Huh? No! That's not it at all! I mean..." he
blushed 
and stepped back a little. "It's just
that..."

 

    "What? You can tell me!" said the girl as she
moved 
towards him.

 

    "It's nothing. I should get going," said the
boy as 
he started walking towards the dead end.

 

    "Wouldn't going out this way be easier than
climbing 
high enough to jump onto the roof again?"
asked Usagi in confusion.

 

    "Huh?" Ryoga blushed as he realized she was
right. He 
struggled for a moment and came up with
an explanation. "I forgot my umbrella 
up there."

 

    "Wait here!" she said with a grin forming on
her face 
as she jumped up and stopped suddenly as
her ribbons grabbed the walls on 
either side. The
started to move like the arms of a giant spider
and she 
climbed the rest of the way up. After a
moment of glancing around, she 
spotted her target
and rushed over, picking it up into her arms.

 

    Ryoga blinked as she came back down and handed
it to 
her. "Thanks."

 

    "You should thank me," she said as she leaned
in and 
smirked at him. She puckered her lips and
closed her eyes.

 

    Ryoga froze and stared at her dumbly. "I
can't! I 
mean...Akane...I...Forgive me!"
Finally he closed his eyes and leaned 
forward,
meeting the girl's lips.

 

    Sailor Moon pushed into him, clutching his
shoulders 
and forcing him to be more aggressive.
She broke the kiss and smiled at him 
again. "It's
cute that you're so shy, but you don't have to
be."

 

    He staggered back and turned away from her. "I
should 
go."

 

    "So should I," she admitted with a 
slight
disappointment in her voice.

 

    "Goodbye," the muttered in unison. They
blushed and 
turned away from one another before
going their separate ways.

 

++++++++++++

 

    Ryoga found himself brooding again, he'd been
doing a 
lot of that since he met Sailor Moon. He
always seemed to just stumble across 
her at just
the right time. Right when she needed help. "Damn,
I've never 
been able to find someone this much.
Not that I've been looking..." He 
frowned, he knew
he'd actually started seeking her out lately.
"This is 
strange, I think I love her.
Akane, but...Damn. He growled and turned his 
head
in disgust with himself. "I'm such a bastard, I'm
no better than 
Ranma, or Kuno. How could a girl
like that care about a guy who's a pig 
anyway?"

 

++++++++++++

 

Ranma lay in his bed staring at the ceiling.
Occasionally, they'd wipe 
another tear off their
face as Xianfu's crying continued. She hadn't 
said
much since they'd entered the whorehouse. There
was no other 
expression on the face though.

 

    They were in relative silence, until it was
finally 
broken by Pissant. "Maybe we went too
far..."

 

    "No!" was the unanimous reply from all three
of the 
others.

 

    "But..." muttered the gentle voice guiltily.

 

    "If she tries something like that again, the
next 
time I'm gonna find me one of those bondage
holes, and we'll keep going every 
night for a
week!"

 

    "We almost killed Yusaku," said Pissant 
in
irritation.

 

    "He deserved it," snorted Ranma angrily.

 

    "I don't like him much, but I'm not so sure of
that," 
said Carrot begrudgingly.

 

    "What do ya mean?" snorted Dan.

 

    "We've known he's had the hots for us for some
time 
now. Horny the happy here might have used
that. I won't kill him for it 
unless he tries to
do it again. I sure as hell ain't apologizing for
what 
we already did either."

 

    "That seems unlike you," muttered Pissant.

 

    "Even I can't be a bastard all the time, that
takes 
all of us," said Carrot with a small snort.

 

    "Yeah. I hate us more and more every day,"
agreed 
Dan.

 

    "We can't go on like this, we've got to think
of 
something," said Pissant. "It isn't fair to
her."

 

    There was a pause in Xianfu's sniffling, and
complete 
silence.

 

    "There ain't much we can do," said Dan. "I
ain't 
willin to give up women, and I ain't willin
to compromise on fuckin men. It 
sucks to be her,
but there are more of us guys in here."

 

    "He's right. As much as it sucks, this is a
case 
where the needs of the many outweigh the
needs of the few," agreed 
Carrot.

 

    "What do we do then?" asked Pissant. "I wish
there 
was a way too..."

 

    Carrot shushed him suddenly as they sat up in
bed 
with an unusual expression on their faces. "I
can't believe I never thought 
of this before."

 

    "What's up?" asked Dan in confusion.

 

    "I think I may have at least a partial
solution to 
our problem," said Carrot. "I'm not
sure if it'll work though, but there's no 
reason
not to try."

 

    "I'm listenin," said Ranma as he made them
frown in 
thought.

 

++++++++++++++

 

    "So, what do we do?" asked Dan as he stood in
the 
middle of the empty lot in front of them. It
was late at night and the ground 
they'd chosen was
surrounded by a fence on every side. There was a
little 
grass, and a few small piles of junk, but
it was mostly clear.

 

    "This isn't going to be easy, but it just
might 
work," said Carrot as he spread their feet
apart and pulled their fists up at 
their sides.

 

    They began to glow with power, and a strained
look 
appeared on their faces. Slowly, the glow
died down as their concentration 
deepened.

 

    "Keep it going," said Carrot to them all.

 

    "I don't feel anything," said Ranma 
in
frustration.

 

    "How many times can we do something the first
time we 
try?" asked Xianfu.

 

    "Not very often," he admitted with anger clear
in his 
voice.

 

    "Dang," said Dan irritably. "We should try
again 
tomorrow."

 

    "Well, it worked this time," said 
Pissant
lazily.

 

    "Huh?" said everyone dumbly.

 

    "You idiots don't even realize you're not
talking to 
each other inside our head anymore do
you?"

 

    Everyone opened their eyes and saw two other
Yohiko 
Hibiki's staring back at them.

 

    "It worked?" muttered Ranma dumbly.

 

    "Yeah," said Dan as he looked at the other two
in a 
sort of awe.

 

    "We're free?" said Xianfu in a sort of 
amazed
shock.

 

    "Don't get ahead of yourself. We don't know
how long 
this lasts," said Carrot firmly.

 

    "Where did you learn this technique?" said
Ranma as 
he tried to think back.

 

    "Dragon Ball," replied Carrot.

 

    "Dragon Ball?" muttered Dan dumbly.

 

    "Well, every other technique we've tried from
that 
show has worked so far," replied Carrot with
a shrug.

 

    "Wait. Why are there only three of us?" asked
Xianfu 
in confusion as she glanced around.

 

    Dan snorted as he shifted to a male body.
"I've got 
Pissboy right now. He said something
about not being strong enough to handle 
his own
body. He's the only one of us who can't move the
body on his own, 
so it makes sense I guess."

 

    Carrot shifted to a male body as well before
he 
spoke. "Right, and Ranma and I are permanently
joined, because of what Hild 
did to us to make us
a hellspawn, and a demon," said Carrot with a
shrug. 
"We couldn't separate if we wanted to."

 

    "Huh?" said the Xianfu in confusion.

 

    "Didn't you notice that Ranma and I always act
as a 
pair? I get hungry, so does he, we sleep on
the same schedule. Things like 
that, Ranma and I
are closer to one being than two, because of Hild.
We 
figured it out a while back, that's part of how
we were able to distance 
ourselves from you while
we were gathering power to become the Lord 
of
Nightmares."

 

    "Right, back when you had Xellos running
around on 
Earth stealing the crystal and raising
Metallia," said Dan as he remembered 
it.

 

    "Yeah, something like that," said Carrot.

 

    "You realize what this means? Even if it only
lasts a 
few hours or so, we can..." started Xianfu
with a joyous look on her 
face.

 

    "Finally get some payback," said Dan with a
smirk on 
his face.

 

    "I was thinking the same thing," agreed
Carrot.

 

    Xianfu blinked and looked at the other two for
a 
moment. "Huh?"

 

    "Xianfu! Dan! Prepare to die!" screamed Carrot
as he 
dove for them.

 

    "Fat chance loser boy!" snarled Dan as he met
the 
charge head on.

 

    Xianfu was trapped in the middle.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAH! You 
bastards! I'll kill you both
for this!" She screamed as she managed to 
regain
her footing after they both slammed into her sides
at full 
force.

 

+++++++++++++

 

    Dan was looking up at the stars, they had been
at it 
for the past two and a half hours now. For
the past half-hour or so, he was 
simply lying on
his back looking at the sky.

 

    Xianfu and Carrot were still making quite a
bit of 
noise as they struggled with one another in
the dirt a short distance 
away.

 

    "Mr. Dan...Ummm...why did we stop?" 
asked
Pissant.

 

    "Because I got tired of beating on them for a
little 
while," replied Dan angrily.

 

    "Not because she hit us in our..." said the
voice 
fearfully.

 

    "Well, that too. She's pretty strong,"
muttered Dan 
painfully as he put his hand on his
crotch and felt it throb in pain for a 
moment.

 

    "Maybe we should get some ice? I mean, Carrot,
Ranma, 
and Xianfu are still fighting..." said the
voice nervously.

 

    "Those three stopped fighting a half hour
ago," said 
Dan irritably. "I'd leave, but I'm
afraid to stand up."

 

    "They did? Then what's that noise?" said
Pissant 
obliviously.

 

    "Somethin we're better off not lookin at,"
said Dan 
as he purposely turned his head in the
other direction.

 

    Pissant blushed badly and gasped. "Oh my!"

 

    "Hey, it's been what? Two thousand years or
somethin 
like that for her? Did ya think that one
time would be enough?" snorted Dan 
irritably.

 

    The noise to his right stopped suddenly and he
waited 
a minute or two before turning his head and
looking at the pair as they both 
remained sprawled
out on the ground growling at each 
other
painfully.

 

    "Bitch," grumbled Carrot.

 

    "Dick," snarled Xianfu.

 

    "You two finished yet?" said Dan irritably.

 

    "Shut up!" the cried as they sat up.

 

    "I hate you," muttered Carrot angrily as he
narrowed 
his eyes at Xianfu as she casually pinned
her hair behind her head 
messily.

 

    Her arm shot out in a right hook that slammed
across 
his jaw and she went back to fixing her
hair. "Tough."

 

    "Can we go home now?" said Dan flatly as he
slowly 
stood up.

 

    Xianfu smirked as she noticed he was a 
little
bowlegged still.

 

    "Laugh it up bitch," snarled Dan.

 

    "Well, damn," said Carrot as he looked down at
his 
hand. It was starting to fade away as his
exhaustion finally caught up with 
him.

 

    "What's it been?" said Dan as he noticed the
same 
thing.

 

    "About two and a half hours," said Xianfu as
she 
turned away from them.

 

    "Well, we were using up a lot of energy
fighting as 
well, we could probably go three or
four if we weren't doing that. Plus we 
need to
figure out a range we can go as well." said Carrot
as he calmly 
allowed his body to dissipate. The
world went gray, and then refocused from 
another
perspective.

 

    "Everybody here?" asked Ranma.

 

    There was a collective muttering from within
them and 
they stood up painfully. They promptly
collapsed onto the ground again.

 

    "I wasn't hurt this bad!" muttered Dan in
pain.

 

    "Our injuries are compounded," grumbled Xianfu
as she 
gasped for breath.

 

    "Man, that was really stupid," muttered
Carrot.

 

    "Are we going to miss work again?" 
whined
Pissant.

 

    "Yes," said everyone else hatefully.

 

    "We need to test this out tomorrow. For god's
sake, 
no fighting!" snapped Carrot. "We need to
know our limits before we can screw 
around like
this again."

 

    "Yeah, no fuckin either," said Dan with a
small 
snort. "That goes fer all of us."

 

    "Fine," agreed the others.

 

    "We'll separate right away, and start walking.
I'd 
like to know if this has some sort of distance
range as well," added 
Carrot.

 

    "After that, we'll stay home and see how long
it 
takes after we use this up for us to be able to
do it again," said 
Ranma.

 

    "That's a good idea too," agreed Carrot.

 

    "Even if we can only do it for three hours a
day," 
said Xianfu cheerfully. "This will solve
everything!"

 

    "Yeah right," muttered Carrot lamely. "Since
when 
have our problems been this easy to fix?"

 

    "Still," said the woman cheerfully.

 

    "Maybe we can make it last longer with
practice?" 
said Ranma.

 

    "Maybe, but I don't think we'll ever be able
to hold 
it more than a few hours at most. I don't
think we'd let us do it for more 
than that,"
warned Carrot. "Don't get your hopes up."

 

    They struggled to their feet, and started
walking 
back towards their home again. For the
first time in days, their spirit was 
somewhat high
on the whole.

 

    Carrot and Ranma were having a conversation of
their 
own though.

 

    "Why didn't you let me?" snarled Ranma.

 

    "You saw what happened when we went back to
normal," 
said Carrot calmly. "I was being careful
and it paid off."

 

    "So I can't kill her?" asked Ranma angrily.

 

    "No," said Carrot firmly. "It could kill us
all if 
you do, and we'd just end up back together
when we died. Don't forget 
that."

 

    "So, I'll bet we can do this as long as we
like after 
that," said Ranma.

 

    "No. You're wrong. One of the reasons I wanted
to try 
this, besides the obvious of course, is
that we'd only let ourselves do it 
here, if we
couldn't do it as L-sama."

 

    "Can't do? I thought we were all powerful 
or
something?" said Ranma.

 

    "Maybe we are, as a collective," said Carrot.
"We 
don't know what could happen if we separated.
It could be really messy to the 
universe as a
whole. Or maybe we do know what would happen,"
said Carrot, 
"and that's why we won't."

 

    Ranma growled under his breath and sighed.
"So, I 
can't ever kill her."

 

    "Not unless you're willing to give everything
else up 
on this world," said Carrot with a shrug.
"Besides, she wasn't all that bad 
after..."

 

    "So," muttered Ranma in embarrassment.

 

    "We'll worry about it later," replied Carrot
with a 
shrug.

 

    "Yeah, later," grumbled Ranma lamely.

 

    TBC...

 

    Next Time: Return To Nerima!

 

 

 

 

 

Perfect Carrot- Consuming the universe, one Aspect at a time.


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