Yeeehawww! It's back!

Hi all,

It's been a while, huh?  Work has been draining my creative energies for
many months now, so my writing productivity has been all but dead.

Yes, I couldn't help but notice. :) Nice to see you back on the writing
wagon. I'll personally plug the series now as being my favorite, and be done
with it.

*** Earth  0.000,0.000  (-3,852.73611 Years)

The ever-present sands began to shift and blow once again as the golden
light of the brilliant sun rising from the eastern horizon began to
heat the air, casting its increasing fierceness upon the desiccated
remains of a body.  The work of scavengers and vermin had further
ruined the already blasted corpse, and the sun would spend another day
leeching its few remaining fluids.  The sand had already partially
consumed it, and the coming storm that could be seen in the distance
would surely finish the job.

Many years later, Brenden Faser would dig up the body of the mummy, and boy,
would things get hairy then. ^_^

A man stood near the corpse, his body swathed in the common fashion of
the desert nomads of this region,

Which meant a G-string pasties. While it was common fashion for the nomads
in the region, such garb had little popularity elsewhere. ^_^

Those few who had encountered him spoke of him in the very quietest of
whispers.

It was the magical laryengitas field around him. It was the primary reason
he won so many arguments as well.

 as to its bounties.  He spoke equally to both wise men and fools in his

many travels, counseled commoners and kings, solemnly moving among them
all like a thief in the night and vanishing quietly after his words had
been delivered.  But he himself remained a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

Seer: Enigmas are wonderful protection against both heat and cold. I
recommend wrapping oneself in them whenever you can.

For long moments he had been caught up in rapture, feeling something
akin to awe at witnessing the spectacle of timelines as they bifurcated
constantly, each instance giving birth to numerous possibilities that
then further diverged away from each other.  Few of these offspring
timelines survived for long, most fading away in some rough equivalent
of biological natural selection, merging with others and yielding up
their energies and possibilities to be subsumed by their surviving
cousins, maintaining a rough sort of semblance of order in this chaotic
maelstrom of warring possibilities.

Interesting way of it working.

It was at that moment, as he strained his abilities to their utmost,
that he saw what horrors the future had almost held for him.

Seer: Not Barney, the Purple Dinosaur! NOOOO!

 His own

personal future was normally a blind spot in his Sight, as it was with
all Seers.  But this blind spot would allow his once-future aspect to
be captured by Oblivion, a lesser avatar of that ultimate qliphothic
entity, the Solipsist, the Anti-Creator, the sum of all negations in
the multiverse.

Oblivion: We like to think of it as ultimate peace. Now cease to exist,
would you? It'll be better for everything.

^_^

every Seer walked, the roll of the dice whenever someone was made aware
that the future could be seen and could be changed.  That was why he
was circumspect in his revelations, working to delicately adjust events
behind the scenes, choosing his words carefully.

Sometimes it didn't work, though. He tried that Napoleon fellow to get over
his height issues, but that didn't work. He tried telling Nero to take up
the harp and give up smoking. Again, nada. Ghengis Kahn becoming a pacifict.
Nope. Now that he thought about it, maybe he should be just a wee bit more
blatent.

Casting his Sight further towards the future, he was astonished to see
a vast singularity forming,

Meaning Bareny would win in the end, consuming the souls of all.

pulling innumerable timelines into itself.

Pain surged within his skull as his Sight beheld just the edge of the
silent darkness within that singularity, as he strained his abilities
farther than he had ever done before.  The effort had cost him most
dearly, but he had caught a glimpse of what lurked far in the future,
waiting to consume worlds without end, a power that could devour whole
both gods and mortals alike.  The multitude of images were

multitude...were. Might be multitude... was, though I'm not sure.

A ghost of a smile crossed his face.

Despite the stakes, and the price he had already paid, this promised to
be interesting.

And take a lot more chapters. :)

The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth  0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):

Yes. Too much to tell in a handful of paragraphs. I am considering making a
'datafile' if you're interested.

point separating it off from the "Shampoo 1/2" timeline.  Gosunkugi has
cast his spell, but the results were not quite what he expected.  Ryoko
Masaki told the tale of her family in this altered history, and Ryu
Kumon began to adjust to his new life.

Tarou: He's gonna be my bitch now. And he sure does have a pretty mouth.

^_^

Chapter 18 - The Dragon's Apprentice

*** Earth  0.000,0.000

For the vast majority of the Empire's citizenry, nighttime was that
period of rest and relaxation from the day's labors.

Obviously this does not apply to hookers.

 However, for

those select and dedicated individuals toiling on behalf of the Mobius
Institute, the time between dusk and dawn was their busiest time of the
day.  And

extra space. Also I think you can combine the sentences. 'day, and...'

Director Kasuga paused and set aside the latest piece of paperwork that
was marked "For Your Eyes Only" that eternally seemed to flow across
his desk,

Actually it did. Some wise ass had twisted it into a Mobious loop and it had
no 'end', just the same pages over and over again and again.

 >

Moments later, a somewhat bruised and bedraggled Ayaka Kisaragi made
her way into the Director's office.  After bowing once, she quickly
slumped down into a chair opposite him with an exhausted-sounding sigh.
The battle drugs she had taken, seemingly an eternity ago,

Like years. Well, it seemed like it to me. ^_^

had left her

with an aching weariness that felt like it would require a solid week's
worth of sleep to ever dissipate.

'ever' seems wordy. I'd lose it.

  Unfortunately for her, she had to be

at the Academy in a few hours,

can always call off sick.

Director Kasuga nodded once, grunting out a gruff "Good."

gruff, "Good."

He then sat

back and waited for the rest of Ayaka's report, watching the woman
gathering herself back together.  A slight twinkle flickered in his
eyes, belying the professionally-stern expression he wore.  Despite his
occasional jibes at how she lived her personal life, he knew her to be
a good woman, not to mention also being one of his best agents.

And one hell of a lay.

 He had

developed a paternal sort of caring for her over their past few years
of working together, and he kept hoping she would finally break herself
free of her self-destructive pattern of falling for a parade of playboy
types, men of handsome exteriors but weak characters, who used her to
satisfy their egos or their lusts.

Ayako: Not that I do the same with them. Nononono.

 >

Realizing that Director Kasuga was studying her with the usual austere
look he always gave her, she continued on with her report.  But, even
as she spoke, a modest portion of her thoughts continued to worry at
the night's earlier events and their aftermath.  In her mind, she
examined the possible reasons for not bringing the Belldandy entity
straight into Institute custody or making any efforts at neutralizing
it.

One would assume they've had encounters with Goddess Relief Types before and
have since learned messing with them is very bad. Best to leave them alone
since they themselves are benign and tend to leave shortly after they
arrive. Bell only stuck around to see the wish through. Not like Goddess
Relief types tend to hang around for long.

As to Lt. Godai, he had seemed to be remarkably ordinary for having
attracted the attentions of such an extraordinary being, even if Ayaka
was still a bit troubled by the nature of his wish.  If she had read
that entity's power levels correctly, whatever this "Belldandy" was,
she was more than capable of leveling the Imperial capital city if she
but set her mind to it.

Hmm. I don't think Bell's power is ordinarily on that scale. She can tire
herself out quite easily when she expends lots of power.

  The sooner she was removed to a more secure

facility, like the heavily-warded vaults beneath the Institute, the
better it would be for everyone.

Err, not if there are others like her who would miss her. you think Ayaka
would be smarting and be thinking of how to send her back where she came as
quickly as possible.

"How is my grandson, Kisaragi?" the Director interrupted suddenly.

Ayaka: Not as good a lay as you. But he's young, and has a lot to learn.

Director: I meant who is he 'doing'.

"Be that as it may," said the Director, apparently not having heard
Ayaka's mutterings.  "This incident shows that young Minami needs a
little career guidance and some personal attention for the time being.
The girl obviously needs a mentor.  So I'm entrusting you with that
task, Kisaragi."

Heh. More work for her.

The Director raised an eyebrow.  His voice took on a more thoughtful
tone.  "Oh?  Well, I suppose I could find someone else to do the job.
I understand that young Sakuranbo-san is free for an assignment now.
Perhaps I could assign her to the Academy as a nurse or something."

Hmm. Not familiar with that one.

Director Kasuga folded his hands and watched in quiet fascination as
the mere mention of the name of the former director's niece could
elicit such a reaction from the woman in front of him.  After all, not
too many years past, Ayaka and Sakura had been assigned together as
partners, one of several such teams that the Institute maintained.
Despite both of them having rather lackluster scholastic records at the
Institute's Academy, they had somehow managed to set standards for
performance and case resolution that still stood to this day.

However, all of their cases seemed to conclude with sometimes quite
significant collateral damage, earning them the nickname 'The Dirty
Pair'

Heh

"This is blackmail," growled Ayaka.  Her headache had suddenly returned
with full force.

"Yes, it is," agreed Director Kasuga mildly.

Ayaka: As long as we're in the open about it, okay.

Ayaka knew she was beaten, but she summoned up what dignity remained to
her.

awkward. I'd dump the 'to her.' or change it in some way.

"Excellent."  Director Kasuga looked Ayaka squarely in the eyes.  "I'll
expect regular reports on young Minami's progress at controlling her
youthful impulses,

Ayaka: I don't control my youthful impulses. What makes  you think I can
help her control hers.

Director: I meant youthful impulses other than drinking and sleeping around.

Ayaka; Oh, why didn't you say so?

 as well as how she and the others are adapting to

life amidst the normals at the Academy.  And please keep an eye on my
grandson.  As you said, he has a fine future ahead of him, and I will
see it fulfilled.

Director: Especially when it comes to marrying that Mano girl and bringing
the her Devil Hunting Line willingly into the Mobius Institutes' ranks.

A sleep inducer was a relatively simple device whose plans had been
"borrowed" from the Russians a few years ago, consisting of a voltage
regulator and electrodes that were taped to the eyelids and the nape of
the neck, passing a rhythmic current between them.  This caused the
brain to enter into a state resembling deep sleep.  They weren't very
healthy to use for extended periods of time,

People that used them for more than a week at a time tended to see things
and develop psychotic urges. Aside from that, they worked fine, though.

Ranma blinked and slowly removed his hand from the inner latch of the
gate to the grounds of the Tendo training hall.

Dream sequence. So to speak. :)

 He could not at first

recall where he was or how he had come to be here as he looked around
briefly, but he was quickly regaining his bearings.  He saw that it was
a beautiful spring day, the breeze mildly warm from the sun, with the
air smelling of a recent rain.  He shaded his eyes and looked briefly
upwards, seeing clouds moving off and clearing.  As he did so, his
thoughts seemed to clear even further, and he knew where he was now.

I'd drop the 'now' as being unnecessary.

Martial-Ranma, who had been focussed

focused

shoulder, leaving him off-balance and reeling.  And then the fierce
combination attack was finished off as the girl's other leg delivered a
powerful ax kick that dropped down across his shoulder with sufficient
force to slam him to the dojo floor, where he lay still for several
moments, stunned.

Flawless victory. 2000 bonus points. :)

"He's... gone," replied Ranko after a moment, her gaze shadowed as she
looked at him a bit uncomfortably.  "That's what I wanted to talk to
you about."  She pointed at the other Ranma, still watching them from
within the dojo.  "He's the only one here now, other than you and me.
The other one integrated with him towards the end of the last time you
slept."

Heh. They want to be able to take her two on one from now on. :)

"It's kinda weird," said Martial-Ranma, walking towards the pair.  "Up
until I started sparring with Pop over Jusenkyo's pools, our lives were
the same, near as I can tell.  But after that point, I can remember his
life and mine moving down different paths, all 'cause of what happened
with Shampoo in his life.  Or was it mine?"  Martial-Ranma, not used to
thinking too deeply about such things, paused to try and sort things
out.

He would remain there for the next five chapters, not having moved a muscle.
:)

While he did so, Ranko turned her gaze back to Ranma and said, "I think
since it was such a recent change in events, they were already pretty
much the same.  In a way, it's a relief, since it means that your brain
is still sorting out all the new memories it got saddled with, even on
a subconscious level, and that's a pretty good sign that your psyche is
healing.  I'd be a bit more worried if your brain wasn't going through
some sort of integration like this."

Well, it's her brain too. Wait until she's 'intergrated'. :)

"Yeah," agreed Ranma, studying his female counterpart.  "It makes sense
and all, but it's still worrisome.  When all this is over, how much of
me is going to be left?"

Ranko: Uh, some?

He smiled briefly, a Cheshire Cat sort of grin, as the last of his self
faded away.  And then he was gone.  There was a momentary silence, and
then a brief breeze whirled through the space where he had just been
standing, carrying with it a few stray cherry blossoms.

Well, that answers that. Ranko shouldn't take that much longer to be
integrated. :)

"Stupid," she muttered.  Her eyes began to fill with tears, and she
angrily began brushing them away.  "You've been fighting with me since
I became part of you.  I'm more like you than those other two idiot
analogs, and you reject me because I'm a girl.  You're afraid of me."
Her body began to be wracked with sobbing.  "You hate me."

I think she's used to playing guys for suckers.

"S-sure," he replied, looking down at her.

Incestuous lech. :)

Ranma was surprised when Ranko suddenly lifted up on to her toes and
kissed him.  It was a tender feeling, just a gentle touching together
of lips-

Such a naughty boy, he is. Having relations with himself. :)

A glint of moonlight reflected off the silvery CD-ROM sitting on his
desk, attracting his attention.  Since he wasn't going to be getting
any more sleep, he decided to make productive use of the time.  He had
been neglecting this particular mystery for too long.  He also needed
to finally pick up the files he had managed to obtain from the Security
Directorate.  They had been shifting from cache to cache around the
world, mixed in with the normal data traffic.

Yeah. Who did send him those? Hinako?

Ranma sat down at his desk and powered his Navi on,

No! Don't enter the Wired. It's too surreal!

"First thing is to get those files before somebody stumbles on them,"
he murmured, routing himself out through a pathway that should enable

think you should drop 'should' or use 'would' instead.

Within a few minutes, it was done.  Ranma blurred out his electronic
footprints carefully before disconnecting, cleaning up behind himself,
even unplugging his system from its physical connection to the Imperial
datagrid.  Then he took out the small slip of paper that had arrived
with the CD-ROM, its words quite obviously meant as a challenge to him:
"Are you smart enough to break the code?"

Of course, one would assume whoever sent the files wants to find the info on
them as well. I suppose the easiest way would be to break in and steal them
off his computer.

Ranma sat back and ran his hand across his jaw, thinking.  This was a
cipher code that he had never worked with before.  He was even more
intrigued now than ever by whatever was in those files, but he could
not ignore the nagging possibility in the back of his mind that this
could be some kind of honeyed trap, one possibly even set for him by
the Security Directorate.  He even wondered if Soun Tendo could be
behind this.  The man obviously had some sort of an agenda concerning
him

Oh? Why would Ranma be so suspicious? I don't recall anything tipping him
off.

"Argh!" he finally growled.  "I gotta know what's on here!"  Tapping
some more keys, he called up one more codebreaking tool, one based on
chaos theory that he had tested but had never actually needed to use
before.  The algorithms were extremely complex, and he had used some of
them to hack into and set up his private data caches in a number of
secured systems around the world.  It had been a game, ghosting in and
out of supposedly 'impenetrable' computer systems.  With a sigh, he
unknowingly set it off

'set it up' perhaps?

 >

After a time, he heard a single beep from his computer.  He opened his
eyes, and they widened at what he saw on the screen.  He had not been
expecting anything like this.

*PROJECT PHOENIX: IMPERIAL HUMAN ENHANCEMENT EXPERIMENT
*SUBJECT FILE NUMBER 3256: SAOTOME, RANMA (NEWTYPE HUMAN)

Hmm. Odd that would pop up, unless that's the only file.

Once that initial stage was complete, the symbiote began spreading very
quickly throughout the host in a delicate, fibrous mass, forming a sort
of web within the host's body, but it stopped growing when it reached a
bit over a kilogram.  The host's newly-recoded DNA was then locked in
as the basal pattern, and the symbiote would begin to aggressively hunt
down and consume anything that did not match that pattern, such as any
cancerous cells or infectious agents.  It basically acted like a model
tenant, one who kept its residence in absolutely perfect working order.

Of course the primary problem with this is that also means genetically the
infected creature will never evolve beyond its current type. While it would
get rid of the all bad mutations, it would also eradicate any beneficial
ones.

One side effect of the symbiote's presence caught Ranma's attention as
he read, an attraction factor it caused with those of the opposite
gender who also had a symbiote.  Apparently, the organism's presence
caused a slight modification in the pheromones given off by the host's
body, igniting a favorable response in those of the opposite gender,
and an unfavorable one in those of the same gender.  That revelation
gave Ranma a very cold feeling.  That would explain the odd sensations
he had been experiencing when he was around Akane, Kodachi, Nabiki,
Ukyo, and even Utena.

Hmm. Didn't think he'd discover the truth so soon, but oh well.

His analogs had not experienced such feelings, and he couldn't recall
responding in such a way when he had been around Kasumi.  That could
mean that he wasn't really falling for any of the girls, but that his
body was merely reacting to certain biochemical cues they were giving
off, like some kind of love potion at work.  In a sense, his DNA was
calling out to theirs, and vice-versa.  That knowledge was a bit of a
relief, but it also left him even more in doubt of his own feelings.

As well it should. I wouldn't have him ease his doubt over this easily. Best
to have him be concerned about it for a while.

After the overview, he came across the results of a physical exam given
to one Ranma Saotome, age five.  An exhaustive battery of tests was
listed, both physical and mental, including a full genetic analysis.
No abnormalities or defects had been found.  He had been deemed to be
somewhat above-average, both physiologically and neurologically, but
otherwise a basically normal and healthy boy, suitable for induction
into Project Phoenix.  His own father had even approved his admittance,
as well as his mother.

Why not just combine that into 'Both his parents had approved...'

A quiet sigh escaped Frost's lips as she began to gently clamber off of

can drop 'of'

She could see that Hikaru was thin, somewhat pale and wan, with rather
plain facial features, but that description could be used for many of
her sorcerous peers at the Institute, both male and female.

Yes. 'Magic Geeks' does spring to mind. :)

  She noted

the box of take-out noodles on his desk, wrinkling her nose slightly at
the sight, and she decided that her new husband deserved much better
fare than that.  She decided to start cooking his meals as often as her
duties allowed her, thus ensuring that he had proper nutrition.

And maybe put some meat on his bones. :)

Martial-Nabiki turned to look at her.  She smiled once again.  "You'll
beat Ranma Saotome and show him who the true heir to the Anything-Goes
School is.  I have faith in you."  Then she paused, feeling the last
bits of herself slipping away.

Hmm.  Interesting that it took less time for Nabby to intergrate her halves
than it took for Ranma.

Nabiki smiled wolfishly as she headed for the bathroom to prepare for
her day, knowing she had to hustle.  Business had been falling off, and
none of her cronies could explain it.  So today she was going to school
early and start making some more pointed interrogations.  Somebody was
moving in on her territory.  She could feel it.  But they were messing
with the wrong girl.  She was going to show them that, for she was her
father's daughter.

Yes, but Kinnosuke is the same, and his daddy was tougher than hers. :)

Ranma got up from his place at the table, lightly kissed his mother on
the cheek, and gave Genma a deadly look when Nodoka's back was turned
as she got up to get him his lunch.  He held the look steady as Genma
swallowed nervously.  He had let himself be distracted for too long.
He had to get rid of this idiot who had taken his father's place, and
send him back where he belonged.

Yes. We must resolve some of the subplots before too long. :)

As she waited for signs of life from her son's small bedroom, the front
doorbell rang, startling her.  Hitomi lowered the heat on the stove and
hurried to answer the door, absently wiping her hands on the front of
her apron.  She heard the sounds of paper crinkling in one of the front
pockets, suddenly remembering that was where she had placed the glossy
pamphlet she had been perusing earlier.  She would look at it again
later, after Hikaru had gone to school.

That means it's something bad.

"Good morning," she said warmly, but her bright smile suddenly turned
plastic when she recognized who the figure standing out in the hallway
was.  Her rigid smile remained forced-looking as she bowed slightly in
greeting.

Heh. Not wild about Minami, I see. :)

In the kitchen, Hitomi's hand felt the rumpled pamphlet in her pocket,
and she pulled it out.  Genom's logo was proudly displayed in large
print across the front, as well as their corporate motto: "More Human
Than Human."

Going to try to buy a Catgirl for her son? :)

be unfaithful.  The only problem was that she wasn't certain she could
afford one, and she hoped they had financing options.  But no matter
the expense, a Lilith was certainly a much better prospect than having
her beloved son marry some bullying shrew like Manami Minami.

Heh.

Hikaru Gosunkugi laughed triumphantly as Ranma Saotome fell before him,
even as he unleashed another barrage of lightning from his fingertips
for good measure.  The still-smoking corpse of Kodachi Kuno rested just
behind Ranma, her eyes wide open and unseeing, and her limbs all askew.
Off to one side, both Akane Tendo and Manami Minami watched Gosunkugi
with adoration sparkling in their eyes, bearing loving witness to his
inevitable victory.  Both girls were dressed in silky wisps of outfits
that left very little to the imagination.

Hmm. Didn't think he was attracted to Minami.

from his fingertips.  This was how it should be, he mused, feeling both
Akane and Minami hugging him, pressing their nubile bodies against his
own slender frame.  But in the back of his mind, he wondered why Minami
was there.  His true love was his warrior goddess, Akane Tendo.  And to
prove it, he drew Akane in for a deep kiss-

                    ******************************

Minami had been leaning over Gosunkugi's slumbering form, preparing to
slug him on his shoulder with her fist and yell into his ear to wake

Heh. What timing.

him up, when he suddenly sat up and she found herself grabbed into a
hug.  Before she could respond, Gosunkugi drew her close and kissed her
quite deeply.  Minami's eyes went wide, and she felt her strength seem
to abandon her for a moment.  It wasn't her first kiss with a boy, but
it caused the world to take on a hazy, pleasant sort of quality, and
she quickly found herself leaning into the embrace.

"I love you, Akane Tendo," Gosunkugi murmured when his lips finally
released hers.

And now he dies.

-and his clothing disintegrated from the last lingering traces of the
raw magics they had been hit with.

Oops.

Anger began building up inside her again, and Minami's tears began to
stop.  She was not going to give up.

Of course not. She's just barely gotten started. :)

Wait.  Nabiki Tendo?  Akane Tendo?  Minami blinked, and then her eyes
narrowed.  She had heard Akane's name before, from her new friend
Yohko, that the girl was a violent sort by nature.  She had also heard
from the young Devil Hunter that Akane had fairly recently developed a
fixation on the other new annoyance in Minami's life, Ranma Saotome.
Because of that jerk, she huffed, her perfect debut at the Imperial
Academy had been ruined.

Hmm. Really need to reread previous chapters. That one eludes me.

An evil smile lit Minami's face.  It was all so very clear to her now.
Her initial notion of frying this Akane Tendo bimbo down to bone and
gristle, while a pleasant one, was set aside.  Instead, she was going
to become Akane's good friend, and she would help the little thug win
Ranma.  That should eliminate her rival for Hikaru's heart, and be a
very wonderful form of revenge on that creep, Saotome.

Well, her plan has merit on the surface, to be sure. It'll help fuel Gos's
fantasies as well if the two are working together. ^_^

Will get right on to the next part.

D.B. Sommer

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