Behold! Attached find the latest chapter of Hybrid Theory, apparently in a 
more internet friendly format. I still recommend visiting our website for 
the best version plus all the bonus material.

www.bladeandepsilon.com

-------------------
Epsilon



-- Attached file included as plaintext by Ecartis --
-- File: ffhybridtheory09.txt

Greetings, my name is Nodoka Saotome. I want everyone to know I am here 
under
protest; I really want nothing to do with the awful man who is inhabiting 
that
equally awful girl who is ruining my son's life.

Look at the trouble Ukyou keeps getting my darling son into! She gets him
involved in some foolhardy scheme to win my affections, and explodes at
everyone, including her closest friend Akane, when it doesn't go her way!

Then there are the nasty people Ukyou hangs around with. Like that boy 
Chris. He
keeps trying to fool me by being sympathetic when he talks to Akane or 
fights
monsters, but I can see past him! I just know he's going to mean trouble for 
my
precious child down the line.

Plus there is that girl my son is supposed to be engaged to, Nabiki. Which 
is
all Ukyou's fault, I would like to point out. Nabiki seems to be getting 
into
quite a snit with everyone else. Plus now she has access to most of Ukyou's
notes about the future. And there is that youma-girl Tethys, who is still 
alive
and I just KNOW is going to be nothing good for dear Ranma. And speaking of
nasty girls, apparently this one named Shampoo is on her way to Nerima along
with her great-grandmother.

I can't seem to blame that on Ukyou... but that's only because I'm not 
trying
hard enough!

So, you'll have to agree with me: Ranma would be much better off if Ukyou 
just
vanished. Well, let's hope that will happen this chapter, shall we?



			      C&A Productions Presents

                          A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


                                   Hybrid Theory


                             Chapter 9: Hit The Floor



	"Ah, Akane Tendo, my one true love. Come, now that your oafish companion
is no longer here, there is nothing preventing you from..."
	"Could you leave this until later?" Akane asked, allowing only a hint of
her exasperation to surface. Even with all he had done to her, Akane made it 
a
point to at least be civil to Kunou. "I really just want to get home..."
	"Then allow me to escort you, my lady fair!" Kunou shouted as he swung
himself in front of her. His arms opened wide, as if he expected her to leap
into them.
	"No, Kunou, I'd rather be alone..." Akane kept her voice level. She was
really not in the mood for Kunou's own special brand of idiocy today. After 
what
had happened yesterday... no, don't think about that. Let Ukyou apologize if 
she
really wanted to. Akane wasn't going to dwell on how much of a jerk the girl 
was
turning into.
	"Foolishness! Am I not Tatewaki Kunou, the scion of the great Kunou
legacy, the unrivaled master of the great art of Kendo, the undefeated 
master of
the martial arts? Surely that is so! So there can also be no doubt that, in
comparison to any other situation, my presence can only improve a person's 
life.
Who, then, would turn down the chance to be near my magnificent visage? 
None!
None I say! Therefore, you must be mistaken and in fact, truly desire to be 
with
me this day."
	Akane opened her mouth to reply to that. She closed it when she couldn't
really think of anything to say. There were times when Kunou said something, 
and
the best option was to just smile and nod and back away slowly.
	"Thus I shall accompany you back to your abode. And perhaps there I
shall inform your father that I intend to woo you. Thus can our true 
courtship
begin..."
	"Kunou!" Akane raised her voice just enough to catch the upperclassmen's
attention. "I just want to be left alone today. I had a very hard night last
night and I need to think about it, alone."
	"A hard night..." Kunou mused. Then he leaned forward, his eyes
squinting as he deeply examined her face. Akane backed away, not really sure 
if
she wanted to be close enough to feel Kunou's breath on her cheek. "I see... 
you
have been crying, and deeply. Truly the tracks and shadows on your face tell 
the
dark tale of yesterday."
	"What?" Akane reached up and touched her cheek. It was times like this
that Akane wondered if Kunou was actually very observant, and just refused 
to
exploit that talent for some reason.
	"It must be... that you had a fight with that vile cad, Ukyou!" Kunou
declared as he snapped his body into a heroic pose. Akane grimaced. That was 
a
little too close to the truth for her taste. "Fear not, fierce tiger Akane
Tendo. I shall always be here with open arms for you!" Akane guessed what 
was
coming, but still wasn't fast enough to avoid it. Before she could protest,
Kunou was enveloping her in a fierce embrace, his arms forcing her face
against his shoulder. She could feel more than see the tears rolling down 
his
cheek. "Cry on my shoulder! Unburden your wounded heart to me, my love, and 
I
shall bathe you in the hot passionate healing energy that is my pure 
emotion!"
	Kunou folded up nicely when Akane smashed her fist into his gut. His
grip loosened up just enough for her to smash her forearm into his chest,
sending him tumbling away. Akane growled something she would never admit to
saying and flipped one of her long forelocks back over her shoulder. Kunou
remained sprawled on his back only briefly, unfurling from the ground to his
naturally impressive height in a matter of seconds. He smirked at her in
that way she hated the most and brushed a hand through his short black hair.
	"I see being subjected to that fool Kuonji's presence has not dimmed
your spark overmuch, my dear."
	"Just get lost, Kunou. You're not half the man Ukyou is." She smirked
herself. Even if Kunou didn't get the joke, Akane found it personally 
amusing.
Especially since, from what she had seen, it was mostly true.
	"You two there!"
	Akane jerked her head as a new voice broke into her confrontation. It
was deep, but strangely hollow. Kunou followed her gaze as well, and saw the 
new
figure standing in the school gate. For a brief moment he was silhouetted by 
the
sun, and all Akane could make out was that he was tall and clad in a bulky 
coat.
	"Did you say the name Ukyou? Ukyou Kuonji?"
	"Yes..." Akane answered slowly. Her suspicions rose. It seemed unfair,
but every time something had happened because of Ukyou it had led to 
trouble.
And... Akane was worried about her. If this person was here to hurt Ukyou, 
Akane
would stand between him and her friend. No matter what problems they might 
be
having just at the moment.
	As the man stepped forward, the first thing Akane noticed was the mask.
It was rather hard not to, after all. He was wearing some ridiculous 
children's
mask, an octopus face with giant eyes and a snout, complete with a silly
headband tied into a neat little bow. His upper body was clad in a checked 
coat
that seemed a size too large for him, and dipped down almost to his knees. 
On
his back was a bizarre apparatus whose purpose Akane could not immediately
guess. It resembled some cross-breed of a screwdriver and a club, with a 
huge
weighted end and a long slender spear coming from the other end. One of his 
arms
was held crooked to his side, and on that arm rested a tiny octopus no 
larger
than a pet cat.
	"Tell me... tell me where Ukyou is, right now!" he demanded in that
strange echoing voice.
	"Heh, you are too late," Kunou said as he strode forward. Akane blinked,
having forgotten for a moment that he was still there. "I have run that
miscreant out of town."
	Despite his eyes being hidden behind that huge childish saucer of his
mask, Akane could feel the newcomer measuring up Kunou quickly. Then he 
leaned
back, and Akane could hear the smirk in his voice. "I don't think so."
	"You would call me a liar?"
	"I'd say you aren't a very honest person. I can tell by your stance that
you aren't a match for Ukyou."
	"Tatewaki Kunou shall not stand for such an insult! Defend yourself!"
	Akane frowned. Kunou was moving slightly slower today. She could easily
follow him as he drew his bokken and sprinted across the field towards the
newcomer. She remembered watching many of Kunou's fights with Ukyou, and how 
she
could barely follow most of Kunou's strikes. It had annoyed her at the time,
proving how far behind she was compared to all the serious fighters in the
district.
	Apparently the masked man was at least as quick as Akane. He hopped back
and casually freed his strange weapon from its harness. Kunou swung his 
sword
down with all his strength, and Akane could see the wind ripple and snap in 
his
wake. That attack could shatter concrete from ten meters away. And still the 
boy
deflected it with an deceptively elegant swipe of his cumbersome weapon. 
Akane's
frown deepened. He was no ordinary fighter.
	"Just as I thought," the boy chuckled darkly. "You're nothing but
form."
	"I have mastered the subtle perfection of Japanese swordplay," Kunou
growled as he forced the boy into locking up with him. Kunou growled and 
shoved
with all his might, but against the boy's implacable strength it was in 
vain.
"It is the greatest technique in all the world, and nothing can stand 
against
it."
	Akane blinked. She hadn't seen the masked boy move, but somehow Kunou
had ended up flying over his shoulder to collide with the wall. The boy 
swirled
his weapon in one hand... and it was only then that Akane realized he hadn't 
yet
moved his other one. His pet octopus hadn't even been disturbed by the 
fight.
	"Unfortunately for you, I've studied the technique of Kendo and I know
all its flaws. You don't stand a chance against me using such a rigid 
style!"
	Kunou pulled himself free of the wall, leaving behind a man-shaped dent
in the concrete. "Ha! I hardly felt that." With a graceful flourish Kunou 
spun
to face his opponent again. Then with a fierce kaia the taller boy charged 
in
for his classic Kendo overhand strike. The masked boy shifted his stance,
gripping his weapon by the very tip and met his charge with a single thrust.
	Kunou's sword came down in a powerful chop... only to find itself
hovering in the air a good four centimeters from the tip of the mystery 
boy's
'snout'. Kunou, meanwhile, was dealing with the massive bulk of the warclub 
that
had crashed into his chest. Kunou's mouth worked silently for a few seconds.
Finally his eyes rolled back into his skull, and he collapsed.
	"Heh, too easy." The mystery boy shouldered his weapon again. "With the
reach of his weapon, he was no match for me."
	"W-who are you?" Akane called, impressed despite herself. She had seen
both Ukyou and Ranma defeat Kunou, and beyond that had fought real monsters, 
but
the sheer casualness of that fight had been surprising.
	"My name is Hayato Myoujin," the boy introduced himself. "I have come
for Ukyou, and won't leave until I defeat her and pay her back for this 
face!"
He gestured angrily towards his mask. Akane blinked. Then she heard a sharp
crack and saw a small line bisect his mask. "What... my mask? The air 
pressure
from his strike..." Desperately Hayato reached up with his free hand and
clutched the mask, holding it together.
	"Your face... what did Ukyou do to your face?" Akane wanted to believe
that Ukyou would have not done anything bad to this man... but she 
remembered
hearing about her brutal battle with Jadeite, and found her mind filling 
with
doubts.
	"Damnit, this mask is useless now..." Hayato growled and looked at her.
"You're Ukyou's friend, aren't you?"
	"I..." Akane knew she was, but didn't feel like saying as much now. She
was still mad at the girl, after all.
	"Tell her to meet me here tomorrow, or I'll destroy everything she holds
dear!"
	Before Akane could say anything, the boy vanished. Akane blinked. She
had seen nothing more than a blur of lines, like the afterimage of a
photograph, then Hayato was gone. Her eyes then came to rest on Kunou, who 
was
laying spread-eagled upon the pavement. Finally her eyes settled on the 
crowd.
At least half of the student body had stuck around after school just long 
enough
to watch the show. Akane sighed. She was right: it seemed that everyone who
showed up looking for Ukyou was nothing but trouble.

*

	"Don't turn your back on me, Saotome!"
	"Look, Ryouga, I really don't need this right now," Ranma informed his
old rival, not turning around. "I have to find somebody, so if you could
just..."
	"NO! We've already delayed your defeat long enough!" Ryouga cried.
"Vengeance demands blood!"
	"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ranma grimaced. "I got it just as
bad as you at Jyusenkyou, if not worse."
	"You dare compare your tragedy to mine? I'll show you tragedy, Ranma!"
Ryouga roared. Ranma heard the boy's feet shift and was already starting his
dodge by the time the first of Ryouga's footfalls fell like hoofbeats behind
him. The air behind him ripped and tore, violent gusts teasing at Ranma's 
shirt
as he nimbly avoided the strike. The sky and ground somersaulted in Ranma's
vision before he landed behind his opponent. Ryouga wore the same 
travel-worn
shirt and pants as always, and his left hand held tightly to the deceptively
heavy bamboo umbrella he used as a weapon.
	Ranma danced back on his heels, raising his arms loosely before him.
Ryouga was already turning to face him, but had made a mistake and came in
facing right instead of left. Ranma grinned. He stepped forward. His fist 
lashed
out. Ryouga's head snapped back and the heavier boy followed it a second 
later.
	Ranma didn't give him a chance to recover. His fists blurred out and
caught Ryouga on the chin once, twice, three more times. Finally Ryouga
collapsed. The heavy umbrella rolled from limp fingers. His body was 
shuddering,
but the fight had leaked out of him. Still, he was trying to rise to his 
feet as
best he could. Ranma shook his head and decided to take pity on the poor 
guy. He
was obviously out of his element.
	"C'mon Ryouga," Ranma crouched down and offered his hand. "Let's call it
even. I'll even swear to help you out with your curse, kay?"
	"Don't touch me!" Ryouga snarled and slapped his hand away. He did a
sloppy push-up followed by a tighter forward flip to land on his feet. "This
fight isn't over!"
	Ranma leaned back, feeling only another harmless puff of air as Ryouga's
fist sailed over his head by inches. Man, when had Ryouga gotten so slow? 
When
they'd fought only... three weeks ago? Well, when they'd last fought, Ranma 
had
been pushing himself to the limit to stay a step ahead of him. In 
comparison,
Ryouga was fighting underwater today.
	"Man, you got real slow real fast, pal," Ranma pointed out as he
crabcrawled back away from a devastating looking axe-kick from the lost boy.
Ryouga snarled wordlessly, his tiny fangs poking over his lip. "No offence 
or
nothing, but are you sick today? Maybe we should hold this off?"
	"First you ruin my life, and then you mock me!" Ryouga charged forward.
Ranma turned his crabcrawl into a backflip, staying a half-meter away from 
all
of Ryouga's wild strikes. Oops, that wall was coming up fast. That might 
have
been a problem for a lesser man, but for Ranma Saotome, it was an 
opportunity!
"I don't care you fast you've gotten, I still only need one clean hit!"
	"That ain't happenin'!" Ranma informed him. At the last second, Ranma
sprung back and planted both feet against the wall. Rebounding like a 
superball,
Ranma shot over Ryouga's head. Ryouga was a black and yellow blur under him 
as
he tried vainly to halt his forward momentum. "An opening!" Ranma declared.
Moving with fluid grace, Ranma somersaulted in mid-air and pistoned both 
feet
into Ryouga's broad back. For some reason, Ranma swore he saw a flash of 
light
just as his feet struck.
	The wall exploded as Ryouga cannonballed through it. Bricks and mortar
started pelting the ground, but Ranma avoided the debris with almost 
unconscious
ease. He was guessing that his little joyride wouldn't be enough to take 
Ryouga
out, and he would have been right. But when the dust cleared, there was no 
sight
of his rival. Not even his stupid bandana.
	 Ranma sighed and poked his head into the massive hole. No water, so
Ryouga's curse hadn't been activated. Ranma had been surprised to learn 
about
his old friend... er, enemy's condition. Mostly because he hadn't even 
thought
Ryouga would be stupid enough to follow him all the way to China. Heck, even
Shampoo appeared to have given up now that he was safely out of her 
homeland,
and she had some crazy blood feud thing going on.
	The only other conclusion was that Ryouga must have gotten lost. Ranma
never really had a hard time believing that. He'd heard people that claimed 
that
Ranma, and the people he hung around with, were 'weird'. But he really had 
no
idea what they meant. To him, Ryouga's direction sense, Ukyou's 
cross-dressing
and mood swings, and even Akane's perversions and temper... they were all 
just
normal. Like his mother. Ranma shuddered. Best not to think about that for 
now.
	"Hey, Ranma!"
	Ranma looked up. He knew the girl approaching him, but couldn't place a
name. She'd been with Akane and that Sailor chick when he'd woken up at the
airport. She was still wearing her ridiculous blue life-preserver vest and 
had
a huge camera dangling from her neck.
	"Uh... hey... uh..." Ranma rubbed the back of his neck.
	"Ran, Ran Hibiki," the girl introduced herself with a short giggle. She
was kind of cute when she laughed, Ranma noted. "Thanks for the shot, by the
way."
	"The shot..." Ranma blinked. "Oh, you mean you were taking photos of my
fight?"
	"'Never miss the good shots!'" she replied while thrusting her finger
into the air.
	"Uh, right..." Ranma decided to let that one slip by. After all, she was
just acting like pretty much everyone else he had ever met.
	"Mind if I ask you a few questions about the fight? Gotta flesh out the
article with something resembling the truth," she said, with a grin to show 
she
was kidding. Ranma shrugged and told her fine, but it would be best if they
could talk while they walked. He was busy today.
	"So, who was that you were fighting, anyway?"
	"Name's Ryouga..." Ranma trailed off and looked at her. "Hey, you don't
happen to be related to a Ryouga Hibiki, do you?"
	"Huh? No." Ran paused and tapped her pen idly against the pad she had
produced from one of her numerous pockets. "I have a cousin Ryuchiro, but 
he's
like sooo over the hill, almost thirty. Definitely not a young stud like the 
guy
you were fighting. So, his name's Ryouga Hibiki?"
	"Yup."
	"Hah! Must be a curse on the Hibiki name. The other biggest loser in
martial arts also has that last name," Ran commented idly as she wrote 
things
down furiously. Ranma tried to see what she was writing, but couldn't make 
out a
word of it. "Good thing I decided to dedicate myself to journalism first."
	"Nah," Ranma shrugged. "Ryouga's a decent fighter. One of the best I've
ever seen, really. He just ain't no match for Ranma Saotome, but then, no 
one
is."
	"Wow, humble and arrogant in the same breath," Ran giggled again. Ranma
shrugged, not sure what she meant, so he assumed it was a compliment. "So 
why
were you fighting?"
	Ranma opened his mouth, remembered his promise not to spill Ryouga's
secret, and closed it again. "Personal reasons," he replied easily when Ran
repeated the question.
	"That sounds like a challenge!" Ran grinned and Ranma could see a
twinkle in her eye. "But if you don't have anything else to say, I should 
get on
to my real business."
	"Oh?"
	"Have you seen Ukyou around? I really need to talk to him."
	Ranma deflated a little. He would never tell his best buddy Ucchan that
her getting all the headlines in the local papers was a bit annoying. 
Because it
wasn't, really. Ranma didn't need recognition for the fact that he was a 
better
fighter than her. Just that it would be nice to have been mentioned in more 
than
passing in any of the articles.
	"Actually, I'm looking for he...him myself," Ranma informed her as they
approached the Furinkan campus. "After what happened yesterday, I really 
need to
talk and..." Ranma trailed off, realising that Ran was writing all this down 
in
a flurry. He wasn't sure if he wanted his personal life splashed all over 
the
papers. Even if it was just school rags.
	"So that was you three yesterday? Fighting the giant water monster in
Shinjuku?"
	"We did what to the who in the where now?" Ranma blinked.
	Ran snapped her hands and produced a newspaper. Ranma blinked again.
Where the heck had she been keeping that? She handed it to him wordlessly. 
Ranma
skimmed over the article which was plastered all over the front page. Some 
sort
of monster made of water, fought by a bunch of martial artists, a guy in a
trenchcoat, and a paramilitary group?
	"Uh... this wasn't me or Ucchan," Ranma pointed out. "We were busy
with... personal business yesterday."
	"What about Akane or the Sailor Senshi?"
	"I'm pretty sure it wasn't Akane," Ranma mused, scratching the side of
his neck. "The girls in the skirts could have been some of the Senshi, I
suppose. I don't really know them personally."
	"Ah... damn," Ran muttered. "Still, my nose for news is twitching. And
your friend is news, whether he likes it or not. Mind if I stick around with 
you
until we find him?"
	"Uh, I don't see why not." Ranma wasn't really sure he had much choice
in the matter. If he wanted to ditch Akane, he could just go roof-hopping. 
But
from what he's seen, Ran could keep up with him if he tried that.

*

	"Hayato Myoujin
	First Appearance: Volume 30+
	Age: Sixteen
	Features: Mask, Pet Octopus, Takoyaki utensil (giant)
	Class: MADM..."
	Nabiki frowned. She had seen that term "MADM" written out in English on
quite a few of the entries, but she still had no idea what it meant. The 
rest of
the entry was laid out much the same. There was even a well-done sketch of 
the
boy that had only been partially burned away, which made it impossible to
mistake him for anyone else.
	Nabiki had watched the confrontation in front of the school with a great
deal of interest. Normally she would have been long gone by the time Akane 
and
Kunou had begun their little dance, but lack of petty cash had forced her to
take her own turn in cleaning up the classroom. When everyone had paused to 
gawk
at the fight, Nabiki had as well. Of course, none of the other students
had a file folder full of information to consult so they knew exactly what 
was
going on.
	According to the files, the boy was a former enemy of Ukyou's, a master
of a martial art style based on the preparation and use of takoyaki balls. 
It
sort of made sense, Nabiki supposed, since takoyaki was made from much the 
same
ingredients as okonomiyaki, which was Ukyou's culinary specialty. The 
problem
was that the data seemed to indicate that his goals were pretty standard. He
wanted to defeat Ukyou to resolve an old debt concerning his face mask, and 
that
was it. Which meant that he was useless to Nabiki.
	She needed someone who was both strong, and easily manipulated. Someone
who hopefully had a reason to dislike Ukyou or his friends from the start. 
She
needed, in other words, a patsy. Which the book seemed to be full of, but 
only
one had actually appeared so far.
	Nabiki flipped pages in the book until she came to the entry for one
Ryouga Hibiki. A cruel smile curled across her lips as Nabiki ran her finger
down the partially obliterated data. This boy would be perfect for her. 
Now...
how to find him?
	Nabiki had never been a big believer in Fate. If pressed, she might have
said that life sometimes threw people the oddest curves of coincidence on
occasion. But Fate was a concept which made her skin crawl. Nabiki's future
would be determined by the actions and choices of Nabiki Tendo, and no one 
else!
Yet, in the next six seconds, she would have reason to question this 
conviction.
	Because, even as she was closing the file folder and turning the last
corner on her way home, Nabiki ran into Ryouga Hibiki. At first she didn't 
know
who she had run into. She was far too busy cursing herself for not paying 
more
attention to where she was walking. Not that she was doing so externally.
Externally she put on her most disappointed frown and began to quietly 
gather up
the scattered sheets of papers that had fallen out of her folder.
	"Can I help you with that, Miss?"
	Nabiki nodded. "Sure, if you wouldn't mind." She didn't really recognize
the voice, but it sounded familiar somehow. Nabiki was thus defaulting to 
her
most polite and deferent tone. The boy crouched down beside her and began to
gather up the papers in his large, calloused hand. Nabiki could just see the
yellow edges of his sleeves.
	"I'm very sorry about that," the boy told her, in a voice that was deep
but trembling. Like that of a boy who had been thrust into manhood far too 
soon.
"I have this... problem with directions, and I guess I didn't see you 
because I
was paying too much attention to my map."
	"It's fine..." Nabiki grumbled. Some of the papers had landed in a
gutter that was still half-full of rainwater from yesterday. She hissed in
disgust and began to fish them out and dry them out as best she could. This 
was
just great... "Hey, could you get some of these papers out for me? I really
don't want them to be ruined, and they're already kind of delicate."
	"Uh..." a nervous tremor entered the boys voice. "I'm... busy with these
ones here!" He spoke in a rush, and Nabiki turned to give him a dark glare. 
She
was not in the mood for some boy who was just using this as an excuse to 
crouch
behind her and peek up her skir...
	"Ryouga Hibiki!" Nabiki gasped before she could stop herself.
	The boy stared at her in confusion. He had a wide, honest face with
thick, wild black hair that was only partially tamed by the orange and black
checked headband he wore. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" Ryouga asked between a
pair of startled blinks. One could just make out his fangs.
	Nabiki spent a few seconds catching her mental balance and studying him.
He wasn't at all bad-looking. His features were just wild enough to be 
called
rugged, but not so messy that he looked like he had never been taught about
hygiene. Despite wearing a pair of loose black pants and a long-sleeved 
orange
tunic, Ryouga's muscular figure was quite obvious. Nabiki smiled. Well, if 
he
wasn't that bad looking, this would be much easier.  She took a quick glance
around: the two of them were alone in the street.  Perfect.
	"R-Ryouga..."  she put a deliberate catch in her voice. As the boy sat,
expression totally clueless, Nabiki carefully arranged her own face into an
expression of wide-eyed devotion. She dropped her papers almost carelessly 
and
clasped her hands beneath her chin. Bat the eyes. Smile. Blush. Force out a
crocodile tear by biting lightly into her tongue. Perfect.
	"Uh... Miss..." Ryouga stammered.
	"You... you don't remember me?" Nabiki turned her face away and looked
into the pavement. "I guess. I guess I understand."
	"What?" Ryouga gasped. "No! I... I remember you! You're... you're..."
	"Nabiki Tendo," Nabiki eased out her name like she was fanning a small
flame. "You... you rescued me from a fate worse than death!"
	Before Ryouga could react Nabiki 'fell' forward and leaned against him.
Ryouga had gone stiff as a board. Thankfully he couldn't see her vicious 
grin.
Maybe someday Nabiki would thank Ukyou for telling her, in a roundabout way, 
of
how hopeless Ryouga was with girls. But then again, maybe not.
	"I've been dreaming about you ever since," Nabiki stage-whispered. "Your
flashing smile, your thick hair, your..." Nabiki blinked. Oh damn, what 
color
were his eyes? Forget it, cover yourself quickly. "Your strong arms...
encircling me..."
	"Ah! Ah!" Ryouga seemed incapable of actual words at this point.
	"I've been trying to think of the best way... the best way to reward you
for your selfless actions..." Nabiki pulled back and artfully bit her lower 
lip.
She could see Ryouga still crouched nearby, looking like nothing so much as 
a
pole-axed cow. "But I don't have anything to offer you..." Nabiki had 
already
started her skillful maneuver before pulling back, so that her hands were 
now
resting on her shoulders without making it seem like she had placed them 
there
deliberately. "Except... except..."
	"Except..." Ryouga choked out. A thin red trickle was running from his
nose.
	"Except... for my body..." Nabiki cried and pulled down her blouse in a
single, seemingly spontaneous and apparently unpracticed motion. There was a
thick liquid gurgle, followed by a thud. Nabiki had closed her eyes (it was
expected) and when she opened them, she saw that Ryouga had collapsed 
face-first
into the pavement. A thick pool of blood was growing around his head. Nabiki
smiled and carefully pulled her blouse back up over her exposed bra. 
Thankfully,
she had been wearing one of the frillier and skimpier ones today. "What a 
dope,"
Nabiki muttered to herself.
	Now all that she needed to do was move him to the next location for part
B of her plan and... and...
	"What the...?" Nabiki tugged on the boy's arm again, but he refused to
budge. She licked her lips and set herself with both feet this time. A few
seconds of heaving later and all Nabiki had accomplished was gaining a sheet 
of
sweat on her face and losing her breath. Growling, Nabiki shifted her stance
again. What was this guy made out of? She doubted Akane could move him!
	Nabiki was getting desperate now. She needed to move him to the next
location... or her entire plan would fall to pieces. Taking a deep breath, 
she
curled her fingers into the fabric of his tunic. It was coarse, but the 
texture
was oddly comfortable. She spread her feet as wide as her hips would allow. 
She
pulled in a deep breath and tried to recapture those lessons in the martial 
arts
that Daddy had taught her so long ago. She would not let this lump ruin her 
plan
just by being heavy!
	With an almost primal roar Nabiki pulled... and for a second she felt
the body shift. Then she realized that it wasn't Ryouga moving, it was his
sleeve. She wasn't sure if she heard the rip or her own curse first, but 
either
way she fell ass-first into the gutter before she could recover. A small 
cloud
of grey water erupted around her. Nabiki sighed... that was just her luck.
	"This is all your fault..." Nabiki began to berate the unconscious
Ryouga, only to realize he was no longer there. Instead, buried partially 
under
his huge backpack and the empty folds of his clothing was a small black 
piglet.
It was dripping wet. Nabiki opened her mouth, and sat there for a second. 
Her
finger came up, then down. Finally she closed her mouth.
	"I see... just like Ranma and his father, huh?" Nabiki laughed. Well...
that was actually a bonus. It would make things work much more smoothly. 
Nabiki
reached down and jerked her new pawn free. Yes, much more smoothly.

*

	"Would you come here for a moment, Momiji?"
	Momiji smiled and nodded as she walked across the room. Mrs. Matsudaira
was smiling in a pleasant manner, which she seemed to do a lot when she 
wasn't
frowning in concentration at the computer screen or one of her numerous 
research
projects. Mrs. Matsudaira was a older woman, clearly past her prime but
retaining most of her youthful beauty. She might have looked better, but she 
had
a distracted quality to her, and her clothes and hair seemed to always be
maintained at the minimum level of cleanliness to not be considered actually
disheveled. That, and she always had subtle bags under her eyes from the 
many
sleepless nights she spent up studying the latest data on the Aragami.
	Momiji really didn't know what the woman found so fascinating about
science or her research, but didn't begrudge her that fascination. Momiji 
had
sometimes wished that she had the kind of ambition that Mrs. Matsudaira had,
towards something. It would have made her feel more useful when surrounded 
by
such a group of competent professionals.
	"I have some presents for you," Mrs. Matsudaira explained as she reached
under her desk and began to pile a variety of bizarre (to Momiji's layman 
eyes)
devices on the surface.
	"Oh... wow... I don't know what to say?" Momiji said as she watched
the woman place more and more objects on the table. Was she supposed to know
what most of these things were? Did she miss some pamphlet along the way
explaining what she was supposed to do with them? She was curious about what
most of it did, but after yesterday's disaster with Ms. Sagakuchi's personal
arsenal, Momiji was just slightly afraid to touch anything until she knew
exactly what it was.
	"These will help us track down and deal with the Aragami," Mrs.
Matsudaira explained. "It's all highly experimental, but quite 
sophisticated."
	"Oh!" Momiji exclaimed with relief. So she wasn't expected to know what
Mrs. Matsudaira was talking about here. Momiji smiled keenly and nodded
vigorously as her colleague explained what most of the stuff on the counter 
did.
She used a lot of jargon and technical talk that Momiji hadn't the slightest
hope of understanding, so Momiji just tried to appear cheerful and 
attentive.
She even carefully packed each piece of equipment into her backpack, where 
she
would probably never touch it again. Except maybe to show it off to 
Kusanagi.
That would show that big jerk that she was an important part of the TAC!
	"There you two are..."
	Momiji turned and called out a happy good morning to her host and boss.
Mr. Kunikida was still mostly a mystery to her. He looked like a decent 
enough
man. Definitely approaching the distinguished end of the age spectrum, with 
a
growing widow's peak and a long face. Momiji could never look him in the 
face
for too long without staring at the giant wart on the side of his nose, so 
she
tried to look away a lot without seeming to. He treated her well enough, but
there was always a hint of sadness behind his smiles and encouragement. Was 
he
seeing her sister when he saw her? The sister Momiji herself had never 
known?
Was Kusanagi?
	"I somehow knew you would be here, Matsudaira, and I think I'm going to
have to get used to you showing up early, Momiji," Mr. Kunikida laughed.
	"Just doing my duty!" Momiji called and tried to snap into something
resembling a disciplined military stance. Not that she was that sure that 
the
military was disciplined, after spending yesterday with Ms. Sagakuchi...
	"But seriously, Momiji, you have to wait for the rest of us to leave
before coming here. As much as I appreciate your efforts, I don't want you
walking the streets alone, even if it is just to work and back," Mr. 
Kunikida
declared in his most somber tone. That was the other thing that put Momiji 
ill
at ease with her mentor... his sudden shifts in mood. "Anyway, I was 
wondering
if you two would come up to the office for a few minutes; I have something I
want to discuss with the entire staff."
	"Uh, yes, of course..." Momiji declared cheerfully. She heard Mrs.
Matsudaira agree from just behind her as well. Before Momiji knew it, she 
was
back upstairs in what passed for the TAC's office. When Momiji had first
arrived, the place had been a mess of papers and garbage and other assorted
knickknacks. Her first duty, and the one she still relished because it made 
her
feel... useful, was to clean the place up. Everyone but Ms. Sagakuchi had
thanked her for that. A short glance at the buff redhead confirmed that they
probably still weren't on the best of terms. Momiji just flashed her a 
smile.
She had really hoped to use yesterday to clear up any bad air between them, 
but
then the Aragami attack had come along and... oh well. Maybe tomorrow?
	"Is everybody here? Good." Mr. Kunikida sat behind his desk at the head
of the office and leaned forward. "Everyone please have a seat. I have 
something
I want to ask you all about." Momiji noticed that he had set up a small
television and video player behind his desk. She briefly wondered why as she 
sat
behind her own desk.
	"I hope that this doesn't take long. I have important research to get
back to," Mrs. Matsudaira pointed out.
	"It won't take long," Mr. Kunikida pointed out. "First, let me bring
everyone up to speed. Yesterday, Momiji and Koume encountered an Aragami."
Everyone nodded. "At the same time they met up with our mysterious 'friend'
Kusanagi, and a trio of new faces."
	"Ah, I see where this is going," Ms. Takeuchi said, nodding to
herself.
	"Yes. During the confrontation with the Aragami, this trio displayed
superhuman physical prowess and an ability to sense the movements and... 
moods
of the Aragami. They also attempted to capture the mitama for themselves, 
but
were prevented from doing so by the intervention of Kusanagi, am I correct?"
	It took Momiji a second to realize he was addressing her. Repressing the
urge to gulp or grin nervously, Momiji nodded.
	"Yeah," Ms. Sagakuchi drawled while stretching in her chair. "So what's
your point, boss-man? We told this to you yesterday."
	"I was just making sure that everyone knew what had happened," Mr.
Kunikida informed her. "Now, I want you all to take a careful look at the
following tape. Tell me if anyone you saw on it was at all familiar."
	Without looking, Mr. Kunikida pointed a remote over his shoulder and
clicked a button. He stared forward at them intensely as the word "Erase" 
began
to flash quickly in the corner of the otherwise black screen.
	"Uh... Mr. Kunikida..." Momiji trailed off, not quite sure what to say.
	"Boss," Mr. Yaegashi cleared his throat quickly. "I think you hit the
wrong button."
	"I... did?" Mr. Kunikida turned to look at the screen. His eyes bugged
out. He shouted something very naughty that made Momiji blush. He began to 
beat
on the tape machine and yell for help. Mr. Yaegashi ran to his aid, while 
Ms.
Sagakuchi nearly fell out of her chair laughing. The other two members of 
the
TAC seemed to be more blase about the affair, though Ms. Takeuchi looked 
mildly
concerned.
	A few minutes later Mr. Yaegashi had cleared up the problem. He even
did something to fix the damaged portions of the tape. This time Mr. 
Kunikida
allowed him to run the machine.
	Momiji wasn't sure what she was seeing at first. It was a long grey
field with a large group of people walking across it. Teenagers, about her 
age
from the looks of it. Three guys and four girls. Three of the girls were 
dressed
in similar... uniforms. Though Momiji wasn't sure she would call them that.
True, she wore a short skirt with her TAC uniform... but at least she wasn't
wearing it over a body-hugging leotard. Then the area seemed to fill with a 
fine
mist and the view panned left to show a large number of humanoid... things
climbing out of the bay and...
	"Hey, that's Narita Airport!" Ms. Takeuchi pointed out.
	"Indeed, this was taken about ten days ago," Mr, Kunikida pointed out.
	"That would make it..." Ms. Takeuchi trailed off and Mr. Kunikida
nodded. Momiji briefly wondered what they were talking about... then it hit 
her.
The terrorist attack! The heroic face-off between that boy - what was his 
name?
- and the Evil Kingdom! It had been all over the news for almost a week.
	"Everyone please pay attention," Mr. Kunikida pointed out. They all did.
Momiji found herself enthralled by the events that unfolded on the screen. 
She
had seen the pictures in the paper and read the stories, but there was 
something
different about seeing the (almost) real thing. She found herself cheering 
when
the boy and his allies foiled another one of the evil mastermind's plans, 
and
wincing in sympathy as the monstrous man vented his anger on the young hero. 
She
couldn't watch when the man had him held in the air, torturing him. And even
though there was no sound, she swore she heard the final snap. But good
triumphed in the end. And even when the hero had the villain at his mercy, 
he
chose to let him live. Even if one of the woman in the mock-school uniforms
decided to take matters into her own hands. The tape continued past a
confrontation between the schoolgirls and the heroic boy that Momiji had 
never
read about in the papers, and then stopped.
	"What... where did you get that?" Ms. Takeuchi asked once Mr. Yaegashi
had popped out the tape.
	"Connections," Mr. Kunikida explained. "The important question here is,
did any of you recognize any of the people on that tape from the fight
yesterday?" The question was addressed to the group, but he was looking 
directly
at Momiji when he said it. This time she did gulp, a little. She had never 
seen
Mr. Kunikida so... intense.
	Surprisingly, it was Mr. Yaegashi who answered. "The girls in the
school uniforms are called the Sailor Senshi." Everyone turned to look at 
him.
His face burst out in a fierce blush and he began to twitch and stammer as 
they
continued staring. "They... uh, they're kind of superheroes... uh... that 
is...
not really superheroes... they don't fight crime... just monsters, really...
and... they... well..."
	"And how do you know so much about them?" Ms. Sagakuchi asked in a
suspicious tone.
	"I'm... kinda a fan," Mr. Yaegashi pointed out. He was sweating slightly
now. Mr. Yaegashi was a short, unassuming man; the kind your eyes would have
passed over without pause in a crowd. He wore a neat suit, a neat pair of
glasses that seemed one size too small for his face, and had a neat, 
unassuming
hairstyle. "Well, not really of them, but I'm a big fan of Sailor V! And 
it's
almost the same thing..."
	"Sailor V?" Mr. Kunikida asked with a frown.
	"I know that one," Momiji declared. "Sailor V is a character from a
popular comic and animation series! She even has video games, and they're
supposed to be working on her movie." Momiji had never really been into the
'magical girl' genre, but it was hard for a girl her age to not be familiar 
with
the Sailor V phenomena. Especially how it had appeared out of virtually 
nowhere
only a few months ago. Well, at least to Momiji it had.
	"Actually, her exploits are based on those of an actual girl from
England," Mr. Yaegashi pointed out. He gestured to a small statuette of a 
girl
in a comically sexy sailor suit uniform on her desk with huge opera glasses.
"She fights crime and monsters there, just like the Sailor Senshi do here. 
Some
people think that the Senshi based their own uniforms off of hers, due to 
the
obvious similarities..."
	"Yes, I see... but you didn't see either them or this Sailor V at the
fight yesterday?" Mr. Kunikida interrupted him just as Mr. Yaegashi began to
trail off.
	"Nah," Ms. Sagakuchi pointed out. "Two of the girls wore weird outfits,
and the third was in a leotard, but nothing like those Sailor Scouts..."
	"Senshi," Mr. Yaegashi corrected her.
	"Whatever," Ms. Sagakuchi rolled her eyes. Momiji wouldn't have accused
anyone else of dressing in a weird manner if she habitually walked around in 
a
pink jumpsuit, but wasn't about to say as much. "My point is, I didn't see 
them,
or any of the people on the tape there."
	"I see..." Mr. Kunikida leaned back and cupped his hands together in
front of his mouth. "So... it appears we have more of these... meta-humans 
out
there. Three more, plus this Sailor V girl, if Yaegashi's claims can be
believed."
	"If I may ask, sir... what is the point of this?" Ms. Takeuchi was
always all business. Her dress-suit was all business. Her personality was 
all
business. Her actions were all business. Even her hairstyle was almost all
business, except for a long bang which seemed to have gotten out of her 
control
and covered half her face.
	"I was hoping one of you could tell me," Mr. Kunikida explained with a
soft chuckle.
	"Well, from a scientific standpoint it really is quite intriguing," Mrs.
Matsudaira pointed out, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "The people on that
tape seem capable of performing feats of strength, speed and energy 
manipulation
that quite exceed even the most well-trained Olympic athletes or combat
experts." She turned to Ms. Sagakuchi. "No offense intended."
	"What? By Jojo the jumping man and his girlfriends in the skirts of
fetish fantasies?" Ms. Sagakuchi laughed. "I don't think that any of them 
are a
match for an AK-47 or even a good Glock, much less a TOW missile."
	"Uh... yes..." Mrs. Matsudaira coughed. "I would love to know more about
how they accomplished those feats. Or whether they are even human at all. 
After
all, the only beings we have encountered who can exceed conventional 
abilities
so far are the Aragami. However I wouldn't even want to speculate on how 
they
accomplish what they do, or whether they are connected to the Aragami, 
without
more evidence."  She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "Though, actually, 
I'm
not surprised. If the Aragami exist, can it really be that much of a stretch 
to
posit the existence of other seemingly mystical forces in this world?"
	Momiji found herself nodding along with Mrs. Matsudaira's words. Even if
she had no idea what 'posit' meant. Then again, for her, all of this was 
new. It
was only two weeks since she had first even heard the word "Aragami", much 
less
found herself helping a (semi-) secret Japanese agency fight them. She 
wouldn't
have been that surprised at this point if Buddha himself had appeared before
her.
	"Nonetheless, the evidence exists. These people are real, and powerful,
and potentially dangerous..." Mr. Kunikida was back to frowning now.
	"Once again, sir. What is the point of this exercise?" Ms. Takeuchi
broke in.
	"Hmmm?"
	"It's not our job to worry about random supernatural beings," Ms.
Takeuchi explained. "Our mission mandate is the find a way to defeat the
Aragami and protect the Kushinada." She smiled at Momiji when she said that 
last
part, and Momiji smiled back. Okay, maybe Ms. Takeuchi wasn't ALL business. 
"The
fact that these people exist is irrelevant. Until and unless they begin to
interfere with our mission, that is."
	"I see..." Mr. Kunikida nodded. "So you're suggesting we just sit on
this for now?"
	"Precisely," the woman nodded. "The ones that Momiji and Koume
encountered yesterday seemed to be on our side, at least. But we can't 
really do
anything until we know more, anyway."
	"You have a good point..." Mr. Kunikida trailed off. Momiji could sense
something else on the tip of his tongue, but he cut himself off. 
"Nevertheless,
I would like you to do me a favor, Ryoko."
	"Yes, sir?" Ms. Takeuchi responded.
	"Contact your friend Sugishita at the police department," Mr. Kunikida
said as he stood up. "I want to find out everything I can about the person 
all
those articles talked about at the airport..." He paused and consulted a 
small
notebook. "Ukyou Kuonji." Ms. Takeuchi nodded. "Good. Even if this isn't 
part of
our mandate... I'm still concerned because we have had people step into the
fights with the Aragami. If it happens again... I trust you can handle this
little side project without it interfering in your duties here. You've never
disappointed me in the past."
	"I understand, sir," Ms. Takeuchi said with a deep smile. Momiji stared
at her for a moment. Was she blushing? Could she be...? Nah.
	"Good," Mr. Kunikida said, then started smiling again. "Now let's all
get back to work. We have a country to save, after all."

*

	Link regretted the fact that they'd never gotten the chance to look at
Momiji's mitama.  Chris had described them: a blue, seed-like object in the
shape of half of a yin-yang symbol.  But that wasn't the same as actually 
seeing
it, feeling it... Link felt vexed once again over what had happened the day
before.  Not just that that orange-skinned man had so callously killed the
aragami - his own kind! - but the reactions afterwards.  Even her sister 
didn't
understand the importance of what was lost, and that undead monster 
certainly
couldn't.  If a child was killed, did you say "That's all right - there's 
plenty
more"!?
	She stared down at the chrysanthemum.  It was beautiful, well-cared-for,
and yet seemed so... inadequate.  She could feel its life, its simple wants 
and
desires, but all she could think of were those -others-.  Those plants that 
were
mobile like animals, and whose thoughts... if not on the level of humans, 
were
close enough.  They could SPEAK, not just convey primal desires.  She and 
her
sister had been developing and experimenting with plants all their lives.  
They
were considered geniuses, their creations nothing short of astounding.  But
this... this was beyond anything she'd ever dreamed.  Ever even conceived 
of.
	How could she have possibly never heard of these before?
	The sound of a throat clearing interrupted her thoughts.  Turning, she
saw Tatewaki Kunou standing in the entrance to the room.  They hadn't had 
much
contact with the dead girl's brother since arriving; Chris had introduced 
them
as 'my dear friends from China' and laughed in a disturbing fashion.  She 
later
explained that that would keep Kunou from bothering them.  It seemed to have
worked - since then, the extent of their interaction had been a curt nod in
passing in the hallway.  So what did he want now?
	For a few moments, there was silence as Kunou merely stared probingly at
her.  She had almost decided to ask him what the hell he was doing when he
finally spoke.  "Are you the one named Pink?"
	Link frowned.  Pink was, as usual, out in the gardens, but it wouldn't
be very safe for Kunou to go there.  "No, I'm Link.  My sister is busy.  
What
did you want her for, over?"
	Kunou seemed to consider his words before speaking slowly.  "My sister
is... unwell.  She requested that I bring the one called Pink to her."
	Link felt her frown deepen.  If Chris was unwell, why would she ask for
Pink?  Healing illness wasn't her sister's specialty - and what illness 
could
affect a dead thing, anyway?  She made a decision.  "Where is she, over?"
	"In her room."  Link knew the way, but allowed Kunou to lead her.  He
kept glancing at her as they walked, but said nothing.  Did he think she and 
her
sister had something to do with 'Kodachi's' illness?  Link could almost have
laughed.  The illness Kunou's sister had was incurable.
	They reached the door to the dead girl's bedroom, and Kunou stepped
aside to let Link enter.  Inside, the room was dimly lit.  She could make 
out a
form on the bed, presumably Chris, hidden behind gauzy curtains.  Link's 
nose
wrinkled.  There was an unpleasant odour permeating the room.  It reminded 
her
of meat that had been left out too long and spoiled-
	Oh.
	"Please close the door."  Chris's voice sounded wet, almost choked, like
she had a bad cold.  Link complied with the request, feeling somewhat numb.  
Of
course, the undead had told them about this, but smelling... she felt 
nauseous.
What did Chris look like?  And how fast had this happened?  Link hadn't 
noticed
any particular odour the day before.
	"Thanks," the moist voice responded as Link turned to face the shadowy
figure again.  "As you can see, a bit of a problem has..." she paused, and 
Link
say her silhouette shift.  "You're Link.  Did Kunou get confused?  I asked 
him
to get your sister.  Sorry if he bothered you."
	Link shook her head, trying not to think about the eyes watching her.
"No, my sister is occupied in the garden.  When he said you seemed unwell, I
thought I'd come see what was wrong with you, over."
	Chris paused for a moment before responding.  "Well, thank you.  I
appreciate the thought."
	"It was habit, over," Link replied coldly.  She was not this
abomination's friend.  "I had forgotten about your...problem."
	A moist chuckle, and a shadowed hand reached to the curtain.  "So had I,
almost."
	The curtain peeled back, and Link steeled her expression, staring
impassively.  It wasn't as hard as she feared it would be.  The creature 
that
stared out at her was not quite the putrid, rotting corpse she had 
anticipated.
But she definitely was not well, either.  The skin of Kodachi's body was no
longer uniformly pale, but instead was covered by multiple dark, 
wine-coloured
blotches.  The hand touching the curtain was not the smooth, supple one Link
remembered; the skin had shrunken back around the fingers and split in 
several
places.  Indeed, all of Kodachi's skin seemed to hang almost loosely, as if 
the
muscles underneath had shrunken overnight.  And her eyes...that almost did 
make
Link shudder.  They were milky white, the pupils and irises all but 
invisible
behind the necrotic coating.  They were now truly the eyes of a corpse.
	"As I was saying, and as you can see, there is a problem.  Not
unanticipated, but unwelcome nonetheless."
	"Yes, I see that.  So what did you want my sister for, over?"
	The dead girl spread her hands.  "I figured Pink would be more
comfortable.  But I wanted to tell her, and let her know I had to go out.
And..." she hesitated.
	"Going out, over?" She knew why.  She could hardly have forgotten.  But
she needed to hear.  Hear it from the monster's own mouth.
	The milky eyes stared unblinkingly at her for a few moments, then
closed.  "Going out.  I'm going to need...I need a new body."  She opened 
her
eyes again.  "I'm sorry."
	Link repressed another shudder.  'Need a new body'...it sounded so
casual, like needing new clothes.  Has this walking corpse looked at them
hungrily, considering how well -their- bodies would fit?
	No.  No, that wasn't possible.  Chris wanted them to help her, that was
why she had found them.  Except... they hadn't even TRIED to do anything to
preserve the body yet, and even with this happening, Chris didn't seem 
upset.
Unhappy, yes, but she had not even mentioned preserving the body since 
they'd
met in China, and she didn't seem even slightly resentful now.
	But if getting them to try to preserve her body wasn't that high a
priority for Chris, then why did she seek them out in the first place?
	At that point the door banged open, and Link spun to see Pink stride in,
smirking.  "So there you are," she began, and then looked at Link.  "And you
too.  This is a surprise, over."  She raised an eyebrow inquiringly.
	"I had asked Kunou to get you, but Link came instead," Chris explained.
"She said you were occupied."
	Pink shrugged.  "I was out in the garden, but I finished." She grinned,
adding, "Now I just need someone to test it out on, over."
	"That'll have to wait," Link said. "There's something that needs to be
dealt with first, over."
	"Wait, over?" Pink grinned.  "No need.  Someone left a perfectly good
brother out in the hallway, over."
	Chris chuckled.  "Nothing lethal involved, I hope."
	"Hard to tell until it's been tested, over."
	"Stop it," Link snapped.  It was so hard to get Pink to take anything
seriously sometimes.  Except Shampoo, of course.  "I told you, there's 
something
we have to deal with first, over."
	"Yeah, yeah, I noticed.  It stinks in here, over."  Pink wrinkled her
nose.  "You should thank me.  Before I took care of him, that Kunou guy was
trying to listen at the door."  She put her hands on her hips and stared at
Chris expectantly.  "Well, over?"
	The dead girl blinked.  "Well... what?"
	"The urgent problem is obvious - you told us about it before.  We'll
have to go get you a new body.  So are we leaving or what, over?"
	Chris chuckled wetly, seeming to find her reaction amusing.  "Well,
there's a few things to be taken care of.  You two should get your things
together.  I'll go out and see about the body situation, and when I get 
back,
we'll have to head out."
	"Wait a moment," Pink said.  "Why are we leaving?  The only person that
lives here is Kunou, right?  It'd be easy to take care of him, so why not 
stay,
over?"
	The dead girl sighed.  "Yes, we could do that, but that would hardly be
very nice to him, would it?"
	"Neither was killing his sister, over," Link interjected coldly.  Not
that she really cared about what happened to Kunou, but it was disgusting
watching this monster quibble about what was 'nice'.
	Chris looked at her expressionlessly, and she met the undead gaze
without flinching.  "You are, of course, correct.  Thus, it is all the more
important that we don't do anything else to him."
	"So what are WE going to do?" Pink complained.  "You brought us here, so
it's your responsibility to get us a place to stay, over."
	"Don't worry about it," Chris said.  "I was dealing with that most of
the morning, after I realised what happened.  There won't be any problems."
	"All right," Pink said.  "Link and I will get some things together, and
then we'll go, over."
	"We?" Chris replied, arching an eyebrow.  "I was thinking I'd go alone
on this one."
	"Won't do, over," Pink said.  "You'll be gone goodness-knows-how-long,
and you won't be coming back as Kodachi.  Kunou already saw you, right?  So
he'll be suspicious, and you didn't want us to do anything to him.  If his
sister vanishes after speaking to us and then some strange person shows up,
there'll probably be trouble, over."
	Link stayed silent during this.  She'd agreed (reluctantly) to this
before they had even arrived in Japan.  Pink wanted to see 'how she did it'.
Link didn't want any part of this, but... it would happen anyway.  At least 
she
wouldn't have to watch.
	Chris looked hesitant.  "You have a point, but still..."
	"What are you worried about?" Pink interrupted.  "We -know- what's wrong
and what you're going to do.  Why get so squeamish about it now, over?"
	"It's more consideration than squeamishness," the dead girl drawled.
"But fine.  If you want to come that badly, I can certainly use that."  She
turned towards Link.  "Maybe we can find someplace for you to stay..."
	"No," Link said immediately.  "I'll stay with you, over."
	"Are you sure?" Chris asked, obviously surprised.  "I didn't think you'd
want to..."
	"Don't worry about me," Link snapped.  It wasn't any of this creature's
business.  "I can take care of myself.  So let's just hurry up and go, 
over."

*

	"The sky was a dagger of clouds, stabbing into the horizon. It was going
to rain. The citizens of the city stared up at the dark storm with rueful
apprehension. Everyone could feel the tension in the air. That tingle on the
tiny hairs of your arm that sweeps in just before the big one. But there was
something beyond the storm, something everyone could sense but no one could
name.
	"Life-stealing monsters in Minato ward. 'Terrorist' explosions
destroying schools and offices around Mount Narisawa. Sentient tsunamis 
tearing
up the Tokyo Dome. Ghosts haunting the national museum. UFO's spotted in the
vicinity of the bridge that was destroyed last week. But look even further 
out
and see the chaos expand. Occult slayings throughout London. The White House 
and
Library of Congress destroyed by 'freak lightning storms'? A valley in 
Romania
where they say the sun hasn't shone for over a month!
	"We can all feel it, tickling at the back of our skulls. That strange
sensation that the Americans call 'someone walking on your grave'. And maybe
that's exactly what's happening. Some primitive reptile brain reaction to 
the
supernatural in our world? Could that be the reason for the anxiety I see in 
the
face of my father when he opens his copy of the paper in the morning? Is 
that
the only reason for the blank stares I see staring at the evening news as 
the
talking heads tell us how the amount of violent death in Tokyo over the last
three months has now equaled that recorded over the last three decades?
	"Or maybe it's because we realize that we are just seeing the first
gusts. That the few squalls that have hit our shores are nothing more than
warning signs. We as a race have always been fascinated by stories about the 
end
of the world... why should we act so surprised when it seems the harbingers 
of
the apocalypse keep popping up in prime time?
	"But I personally don't believe this is the end. I think there are
people out there, standing against the storm. You've heard the rumors, 
probably
know someone who knows someone who was there the day the Sailor Senshi 
destroyed
a monster, or the night the stranger in the white gi destroyed a Shadowloo 
cell.
But perhaps the best known of the stormwardens is Ukyou Kuonji. The hero of
Narita. The saviour of Cherry Hill. A man of mystery. A man of few friends 
and
many enemies.
	"And now, Ukyou has vanished.
	"Fear not. This mystery shall not go unsolved! This reporter will dig
into the soft loam of this enigma and unearth the truth! Has Ukyou fallen 
foul
to the forces of darkness? Or perhaps he has abandoned his protection of our
city?"
	"Hey!"
	"Or maybe its something more prosaic? A good old-fashioned romantic
tryst with one of the many female admirers..."
	"Hey! Ukyou ain't like that!"
	"...female admirers all across Tokyo. Or it could be that Ukyou never
intended to save us, that maybe he is just as much a victim as..."
	"You shouldn't be talkin' about Ukyou like that."
	"Shush, you! I'm trying to do the dramatic narration!"
	Ran snapped off her recorder and glared at Ranma for all she was worth.
Her hands were on her hips and her face in the innate feminine expression of
disdain. She had known that expression to cow even the most macho jerks into
silence. But apparently Ranma was a step above your usual macho jerk.
	"I didn't agree to let you tag along so you could write some stupid
trash story about my friend!" Ranma started waving his arms around in
frustration. Ranma wasn't tall, or TOO handsome. His hair was mussy and his
clothes travel-worn. But on the other hand, his body was taut with muscle 
and
his
motions as smooth and hypnotic as a cat's. If Ran had to think of a single 
word
to describe him... it would be... 'sidekick'. He just didn't seem like the 
kind
of guy who could carry his own stories. But as the friend of a main 
character?
Yeah, Ran could see him like that.
	"You're just afraid of me unearthing the truth!"
	"No I ain't!" Ranma shot back. "Listen, Ukyou just had a bad day
yesterday and she probably needed a day or two to cool off. I just wanted to
find her and offer my support."
	"A likely story," Ran murmured as she adjusted her equipment. She wasn't
really paying attention to Ranma. He was making a bit too much sense. But 
Ran
NEEDED this story. For nearly a week she had seen her name in the big 
papers.
She had talked with eager editors, been interviewed live on national TV and
written enough follow-ups that her poor old typewriter had finally conked 
out.
	Then... the stations and syndicates had figured out the truth: it had
been a fluke. She had just happened to be in the right place at the right 
time.
Ran had sat by the phone for three days straight, like a pathetic 
ex-girlfriend.
No one had called. None of the promises of contracts had panned out. She had
blown all her advances on a fancy new computer and professional photography
equipment. For everything she had earned, she had practically nothing to 
show
for it.
	Ran needed a story. Any story. But something preferably big. She was not
a one hit wonder. She would prove those idiots wrong about that. They would 
rue
the day they doubted the talent of Ran Hibiki. She would show them, she 
would
show them all!
	Wait. Where had Ranma gone?
	Ran spun around on her heel. Then blinked as she heard a creak overhead.
Pivoting her neck back she saw Ranma clinging to a lamppost right above her. 
His
eyes were quivering like jell-o molds and his pig-tail standing straight out
from his neck.
	"Hey, what are you doing up there?" Ran asked slowly.
	"N-nothing! I certainly wasn't afraid of your laughter, if that's what
you're implying!"
	"I didn't imply that at all..." Ran blinked. Laughter. Well, she had
been chuckling a bit.
	"Good. Because I wasn't," Ranma said as he landed beside her.
	"If you say so," Ran muttered and shrugged.
	"I damn well do say so!" Ranma growled as he waved his fist at her.
	"Woah, yeah, yeah!" Ran backed off and waved him calm. "I believe you...
you must have really been... uh... been..."
	"Getting a bird's eye view of the area!" Ranma insisted vehemently.
	"That's it exactly!" Ran agreed.
	"Because that would help me look for Ukyou!" Ranma added, just as
forcefully.
	"Makes perfect sense," Ran nodded.
	"Good... just keep that in mind," Ranma muttered and started down the
street again. Ran discreetly made a note about his violent bouts of 
paranoia.
Was that related to Ukyou's disappearance? Possible. Must investigate 
further.
	While she was writing and catching up with him, Ranma had entered a
large complex. Well, large for Japan. It appeared to be a form of 
traditional
dojo. There was even a sign asking all challengers to please use the back
entrance. Cute.
	"Oh, Ranma, you're home!"
	The voice belonged a tall brunette with a willowy figure and a
conservative dress. She was pretty, in that way someone's mother was pretty. 
Her
face contained the kind of smile which you couldn't doubt she used often and
without restraint. She approached Ranma, who paused uncomfortably in the 
middle
of the main path. For some reason, he wasn't able to look her directly in 
the
face.
	"Yeah, Kasumi. I actually came to see Akane. She back from school yet?"
	"She actually just got back a few minutes ago. She's in the dojo, I
believe."
	"Thanks!" Ranma started to run past her.
	"And who's your friend?" Only to find himself tripping over his own feet
as Kasumi's question caught off guard.
	"Huh? Wha? Oh, you're still here?" Ranma blinked as he looked back at
Ran.
	Ran gave him her best feminine scorn look again, but it was like water
off a duck's back with Ranma. "Of course I'm still here! I still haven't 
gotten
my story."
	"I thought you weren't going to write any more lies about Ukyou!"
	"I don't lie in print!"
	"Would you like some tea?" Kasumi asked in the middle of the shouting
match.
	"Oh no, thank you very much for asking," Ran smiled and bowed to her.
"You won't threaten me away from this story!" Ran shouted at Ranma strongly
enough that his face became covered in a fine layer of spit.
	"Gah! I didn't threaten you, crazy chick!"
	"You're interfering with my right to a free press! I'll have you
charged! I have friends in big places!" After all, Ran had only told him she
didn't lie in print. In person was a whole other kettle of fish.
	"Ah! You're impossible! Fine, you can tag along." Ranma threw up his
hand in defeat.
	"Victory!" Ran shouted, jumping lightly.
	"You don't have to rub it in," Ranma grumbled.
	"But where the fun in that?"
	Ranma apparently had no reply to that, so he just turned and walked past
Kasumi and towards the dojo. Ran, grinning like the Cheshire Cat, followed 
him.
She vaguely heard Kasumi saying something about not being introduced behind
her...
	In the dojo proper was Akane. Akane looked at first glance to be a
traditional Japanese schoolgirl. Even when she was wearing her bright yellow
workout gi, she looked very... normal. Her face was a kind of neutral 
beautiful,
the kind of face that looked just at home whether it was smiling or 
screaming.
That was until you scratched under the surface and found out she was a 
martial
arts expert with an iron will and a personality that was best described as
explosive.
	"Ran!" Akane called out happily. "Wow, what are you doing here? I
haven't seen you in ages!"
	Ran found herself resisting the urge to struggle against the sisterly
hug Akane bestowed upon her. But Akane let her go quickly enough and backed 
off.
She actually liked Akane, mainly because Akane seemed to like her a great 
deal.
Ran guessed you earned that kind of adoration when you saved a person's 
sister
from a Fate Worse Than Death. Not that Ran liked to think about that. She 
was an
objective observer. She reported, she didn't participate. As far as the 
world
knew, Akane had saved her sister all on her lonesome. And Ran was quite
comfortable letting them believe that.
	Plus, she had promised herself never to save Akane's sister again. Lest
she tempt fate to have Akane send her another batch of 'thank you' brownies.
	"Just following my nose for news, Akane," Ran replied easily. Ranma gave
a terrific snort at that, but Akane ignored him. Akane, from what little she 
had
seen of her, was very good at ignoring Ranma.
	"She's helping me find Ukyou," Ranma spoke up when it became clear Akane
wasn't going to acknowledge him. The long-haired girl's face darkened. 
Ohhh...
now what was that about?
	"I see..." Akane knelt back down behind a pile of concrete blocks.
"Ukyou's very popular recently, it seems." With a loud kiai Akane smashed 
all
five cinderblocks to a fine mist. Ran, who had seen people summon lightning 
from
their fingers and drive volleyballs through brick walls, was only slightly
impressed.
	"Yeah, and... uh... seeing as how you're Ukyou's... girlfriend, I
thought you might know where... he is?"
	Ran glanced sharply at Ranma. The boy had to be the worst liar she had
ever heard. Even as she watched him, his face broke out into a cold sweat, 
and
his grin grew until it swallowed up most of his face. He stopped blinking
entirely.
	"Uh... right..." Akane sighed. "I'm not really sure if that's true
anymore."
	"What?"
	"Ukyou... he made it clear he didn't think much of me last night," Akane
muttered as she finished setting up another five blocks. They followed their
brethren into that great dust cloud in the sky. Literally. Ran had to pinch 
her
nose to keep from sneezing.
	"Wait, what do you mean? Ukyou yelled at you, too?"
	"Did she tell you off?" Akane asked with a blink.
	"No... more my mother..." Ranma's body pulsed as a shiver ran up and
down the length of his body. "And a buncha girls she wanted me to date or
somethin'..."
	Ran drifted back and started taking notes.
	"Well, I don't know where Ukyou is. Last I saw, she was still at Dr.
Tofu's."
	"Nah, I tried there, first. Tofu said she wasn't in her room this
morning. He also wants to talk with her really bad, but he wouldn't tell me
about what."
	Akane sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Of course." She sat
back. "I guess I can't stay mad at Ukyou about last night. How many times 
have
she calmed the two of us down? Maybe I should find her with you and we can 
talk
about-"
	"Oh, Ranma!" The voice was Kasumi again. "A kind lady is here, and she
says she's your mother. Isn't that nice?"
	"GAH!"
	Ran blinked. Then she rubbed her eyes. Then she blinked again. Yes,
Ranma had really disappeared. Ran hadn't thought anyone could move faster 
than
her eyes could follow. Ran shrugged and looked around, quickly locating the
young martial artist clinging to the ceiling directly above his former 
position.
She sighed. The boy had a lot to learn about a successful vanishing act if 
that
was the best he could think of doing.
	"Ranma, what are you doing up there?"
	"SHH! I don't want her to find me!" Ranma hissed insistently.
	Akane was now looking up at him as well. "Don't want who to find you?"
	"My mother!" Ranma hissed back down at her.
	"Wow, some juicy family problems you have?" Ran grinned as she whipped
her pad and pencil into her hands.
	"Ran!"
	"Sorry, Akane. Force of habit." Ran put away her pad. She did not,
however, turn off her tape recorder.
	"Why wouldn't you want to see your mother?" Akane asked with a tilt of
her head. Her tone adopted a wistful sadness as she continued. "I would give
anything to see my mother again..."
	"Yeah, well your mother ain't no psychopath!"
	"And yours is?" Akane shot back, raising one eyebrow in a challenging
manner.
	"The woman wanted me to... ya know... well, she was telling me to... it
was three girls... at once..."
	"Most guys would see that as the perfect mom," Ran pointed out with a
laugh. Then the expression on Ranma's face told her he hadn't been joking.
"Wait, you're not kidding?"
	"No! I don't think its a joke when your mother starts herding you and
the girls upstairs!" Ranma growled out. "She was practically undressing us 
the
whole time..."
	"Wow..." Ran blinked. She had never quite heard of mothers that bad
before. A few dads, maybe a grandfather or two... but no mothers. "So you 
and
your mother were undressing with three girls upstairs..."
	"No! I didn't want to have nothin' to do with any of 'em!" Ranma shouted
as he tugged at his hair in frustration. His expression went from frustrated 
to
panicked quickly when he realized that he had just lost his handholds on the
ceiling. His arms pinwheeled crazily for a few seconds before he was able to
recover his old position. "I just wanted to go find Ukyou. But Mom has this
thing against Ukyou. I think it was the whole killing girls with the ninjas
thing..."
	"Wait... Ukyou kills girls?" Ran coughed out.
	"NO! That's just the thing! She doesn't, but that's why Mom's so mad at
Ucchan..."
	"So your mother was trying to get Ukyou to kill girls, and you to have
sex with three of them?"
	"Huh?"
	Akane, who had been growing steadily more red as the conversation
continued, decided to break in at this point. "For crying out loud, Ranma! 
Are
your whole family perverts!?"
	"Hey! Are we forgetting who molested who when I first showed up?"
	"I thought you were a guy!"
	"I was a guy!"
	"That isn't what I meant!"
	"Is it, Akane? Is it really?" Ranma asked sagely.
	Akane threw a cinderblock at him. Somehow Ranma managed to dodge while
still clinging to the ceiling.
	"Isn't that expensive?" Ran said, pointing to the new skylight.
	Akane threw up her hands in frustration and stalked away to the other
end of the dojo.
	"But anyway, that isn't the worst part. It all went downhill when
Mom found out about my curse when I went to chase after Ukyou, and that was 
when
she got all those weird ideas about those three-"
	"Curse?" Ran perked up.
	"Uh... nevermind!" Ranma gulped and rubbed the back of his head.
	"Never mind what?" Ran narrowed her eyes and stared directly into
Ranma's. Somehow, despite her being three feet below and in the wrong
orientation, he managed to shrink back from her glare. She smirked. She 
hadn't
lost her interrogator's edge.
	"Just never mind!" Ranma snapped back. "The point is that she can't know
I'm here!"
	"Who can't know you're here?" a new voice announced to Ran's right. Ran
looked over her shoulder to see a tallish, matronly woman wearing properly
coifed hair and a expensive but threadbare kimono. Ran's keen photographer's 
eye
immediately processed her soft features and noted the resemblance to 
Ranma's.
	"M-mom!" Ranma gasped. "What are you doing here?"
	"Well, I was having a nice tea with this darling young woman Kasumi,
waiting for you to come out and greet me. I came to check when you took so 
long,
and was ready to be quite cross. But I see you had a good reason to be so 
busy."
The woman nodded happily. "I commend your technique, son. But if you want to
look down a woman's shirt, you have to make sure she doesn't notice you."
	Ran stared at the traditionally dressed woman for a second. Then turned
her stare to Ranma. He was suddenly blushing. Then Ran looked down. Yes, 
from
that angle he would have just enough clearance to...
	"YEEK!" Ran leapt away, clutching her collar tight with one hand.
	"MOM!" Ranma cried. "Will you stop it with the girl stuff?"
	"But Ranma," his mother cried back earnestly. "I just want what's best
for you. And with your condition, you need all the manly reinforcement you 
can
get!"
	"Condition?" Ran, who had calmed down, asked casually.
	"Oh, my son turns into a girl when you splash him with cold water," the
perky woman explained. "But he can fix it with some hot water, so don't let 
that
scare you off... Miss...?"
	"Oh! How rude of me!" Ran stepped forward and clasped her hands in
front of her before bowing slightly. "Ran Hibiki, Ace Reporter! At your
service."
	"Nodoka Saotome," Ranma's mother introduced herself with a slightly more
curt bow.
	"I'm Akane!" the long-haired girl introduced herself with a cheerful
smile and a bow.
	"Pleased to meet you both," Nodoka said with genuine good cheer. "I'm
glad to see my son is still able to attract such beautiful young women, 
despite
his condition."
	"I wouldn't say beautiful..." Akane stammered, blushing. Ran smirked at
her embarrassment.
	"I'm not dating them either, Mom!" Ranma shouted again.
	"Dear, why don't you come down from the ceiling? I'm getting terrible
neck strain talking to you like this."
	"Oh, sorry." Ranma monkeyed himself down to the floor. "Better?"
	"Much."
	"Now... where was I?"
	"You aren't dating us," Ran helped.
	"That's it exactly!" Ranma shouted into the air.
	Ran tilted her head to the side, watching as a robust man in a dirty
white gi stepped into the dojo. He was wearing a kerchief over his baldness 
and
a pair of wire-rim spectacles which he was adjusting with one hand. His 
mouth
opened to say something...
	"Are you saying, Ranma... that you aren't interested in girls?" Nodoka
spoke softly and began to stroke a wrapped bundle on her back. Ran did a 
double-
take. How had she not noticed that before? Replaying her memories, Ran 
realized
that the woman moved so easily with the bundle that it almost seemed a part 
of
her. The room had gone quiet in the wake of Nodoka's question, except for 
the
near-inaudible sound of a pair of glasses falling to the floor.
	Ran turned to see that the heavy-set intruder had vanished from the
doorway, leaving behind only his glasses on the threshold.
	"Huh? No! That ain't what I'm sayin' at all!" Ranma beat his chest with
one fist. "I'm as red-blooded as any guy! Why, I even find Akane attractive, 
and
she's barely a girl!"
	Ranma rocked forward as Akane beaned him on the scalp with on fist.
"Gee, thanks," Akane said acidly, veins bulging on her forehead.
	"Well, that's good..." Nodoka said in her usual perky tone. Ran shifted,
wondering why the room suddenly felt like a lot less oppressive then it had 
a
few seconds before. "It means that your nasty curse hasn't messed with your
mind. But we have to be thorough in stamping out any womanly impulses! 
That's
why you have to start fooling around as soon as possible!"
	"I ain't foolin' around with nobody!"
	"Nonsense, you have two perfectly attractive young women here to fool
around with!"
	"Hey! Leave me out of your Saotome perversions!" Akane shouted.
	Ran wondered if it was a good idea to do a quick fade. She backed up to
the wall, trying to get out of Nodoka's line of sight. She was beginning to 
see
what Ranma's point about her was. As she pressed against the wall, she could
just barely hear a pair of voices coming from the house.
	"...what are you doing, Saotome?"
	"Just packing up, Tendo."
	"I see. Why?"
	"Going on a quick training trip. Nothing to worry about, certainly no
reason to tell anyone which direction I went in at all!" This was followed 
by
nervous laughter.
	"I see. That explains why you are packing. But not why you are packing
up MY things."
	"I am? Oh, sorry, Tendo. Force of habit."
	"Speaking of your curse... where is your father? I really came to speak
with him..." Nodoka asked casually. Ran shivered. That oppressive feeling 
was
back in the air now.
	"I dunno. Off somewhere, I guess," Ranma shrugged. He seemed to have
calmed down, now that the subject had moved off his sex life.
	"I guess I'll have to look for him," Nodoka frowned. "You three have fun
now. And remember to be safe."
	"Be safe with what?" Ranma asked as Nodoka walked out. Then his face
turned red when it hit him. It took a few seconds for it to return to normal
once she had left. "Man, I'm glad Pop has to deal with her and not me. I 
can't
take anymore of that girl talk..." Ranma's voice changed pitch in 
mid-sentence
and he trailed off as he realized he was now a she.
	Ran stared, fascinated, as she replaced the cap on her water bottle.
"Wow, she wasn't kidding. You really do turn into a girl!" Ran reloaded her
camera with a practiced flick of her wrist and began to buzz around her,
snapping pictures. "This is amazing! How do you do it? Does it hurt? Where 
do
you put all the extra mass? Is the change just physical?"
	"ARGH!" Ranma shouted and threw his much more slender arms into the air.

*

	Nabiki was quite satisfied with how her preparations had turned out. One
of Akane's uniforms had been torn up artfully and tossed at the foot of the 
bed.
It would have been her own, but Nabiki was nothing if not pragmatic. Her own
clothing was stored safely in a small duffel bag in the closet, except for 
her
underwear, of course. The bed looked suitably... abused. And the seedy motel
room she had found was both dirty and battered enough that it would be
impossible to tell if there had been a tornado inside it, much less a 
struggle.
	Satisfied with the room, Nabiki examined herself in the full-length
mirror. Stripped to her underwear, with her bra barely hanging on by one 
strap,
she cut quite the fetching figure. She fingered the torn strap, making sure 
it
looked authentic. It wouldn't do for Ryouga to think it had ripped merely 
due to
neglect, rather than violence. She also schooled the smirk from her face,
forcing herself to feign shock and dismay. It looked pretty good, if she was 
a
good judge of facial expressions (and she was). The creative use of make-up 
to
give her a black eye and a bit of a bloody lip only helped to add to the
illusion she was projecting.
	That left only one ingredient yet to be added. The pig was sleeping
peacefully next to the bed. Nabiki had worried the cursed boy might stir 
while
she prepared, but he had been strangely quiescent. In fact, things had been
going very well for her today. First, everyone had become so distracted by 
that
Hayato boy to notice her sneaking off. Then she had found Ryouga; then she 
had
found this place and everything had fallen into place without a hitch. If 
Nabiki
believed in luck, she would have been thanking her stars.
	Nabiki gently slipped the boy-pig under the sheets and used a small
glass of water to gently turn him back into a man. Once again she found 
herself
almost entranced by the transformation. It happened so fast that her eyes
couldn't catch more than a flicker of motion; a brief afterimage of pig that
lingered for a fraction of second where the boy now was. The blankets were 
only
now settling down, having been billowed into the air by the sudden 
introduction
of Ryouga's mass.
	Ryouga hadn't woken up, which was good. Nabiki took a moment to study
his features. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, not much like the
confusion or anger that had dominated his face all the other times she had 
seen
him. He looked so... gullible. Nabiki chuckled. Just like a child. A naive,
trusting child.
	Nabiki slipped under the sheets with him, making sure she wasn't
touching him. She cringed herself into a fetal position, erased her pleased
expression with one of fear and began to shiver. It took a few minutes for
Ryouga to notice the vibrations in the bed. When he did, he came awake 
slowly
and groggily. His hands fumbled out awkwardly, pawing at the blankets and
pillows and finally trailing his fingers along her naked back.
	That's when he froze.
	"Wha-what?" Ryouga's voice was strained and still groggy. "Where? Who?"
	Showtime.
	"NO! Please! Please don't hurt me again! I'll do whatever you want! Just
don't hurt me!"

*

	"So there you are..."
	Ukyou glanced over her shoulder as Doctor Tofu walked up behind her. She
didn't deign to respond with anything more than a nod. Her headache was 
making
it hard to think, and the fucking voice in her skull just wouldn't shut up,
which made it worse. She rubbed her temples, trying to will Aaron silent, 
but he
wasn't cooperating today. His thoughts kept running a mile a minute. They 
had
been ever since last night.
	"You haven't been sleeping," Tofu noted chidingly.
	"Inde..." Ukyou cut herself off. "No, I haven't."
	"You need to rest. It's beginning to effect your judgment..."
	"NO!" Ukyou shouted. Tofu went silent. Aaron was pointing out how the
man just wanted to help her. Well, what did he know that could possibly help
her? Aaron had no answer to that. He wanted to sleep even less than she.
	"Fine," Tofu said as he eased down next to her. They sat in silence for
a few minutes, looking out over the length of Tokyo. Ukyou wondered briefly 
how
the man had known to look for her here. She had come to this park 
specifically
because it was nowhere near her usual stomping grounds. It was a quiet 
place,
far from Nerima and Juuban, far from the hell that was her life. It should 
have
been a place where she could relax her guard, let herself be... normal for a 
few
minutes.
	But even as she had arrived she had seen her. Sailor Pluto, in the near
distance. The woman had been in her civilian form, and from the way she 
noted
Ukyou and left, must have thought Ukyou didn't recognize her. But she did. 
She
always did. Not a day had gone by when Ukyou hadn't seen some sign that the 
so-
called "Guardian of Time" was nearby. Just waiting for a chance to kill her.
	Why?
	Fuck that. Who cared about why anymore? She could just join the list of
enemies. Sailor Pluto and her stupid vendetta. The Dark Kingdom and their 
insane
plans. Nabiki and her irritating snooping. Tsubasa and his annoying 
obsession.
And Chris...
	Chris.
	Ukyou released her grip on the arm-rest. The metal had twisted and
deformed in her hand. Aaron was always silent on the subject of Chris. He 
knew
how dangerous his former friend was... but refused to condemn him. Why 
couldn't
he just go along with her on that one judgment?
	Because...
	Because there was something deeper to her hate than just Chris's
condition and his deeds. Aaron knew that. Aaron had an all access pass to 
the
deepest secrets of her soul. He knew what she wouldn't admit to herself. And
because he knew, Ukyou knew.
	"We need to talk," Tofu said finally.
	"I'm sorry about last night... I just need time to think about what I
did... find some way to make it right with you and Akane..."
	"That isn't what we need to talk about," Tofu noted simply.
	"Oh so?" Ukyou felt relief and apprehension stirring in her gut. Relief,
because Tofu had distracted her and Aaron from a confrontation that Ukyou 
did
not want. Apprehension, because his tone did not carry the hint of good 
news.
	"I've been looking into what you did the other day, and I think there is
something... special about you."
	"What I did?" Ukyou sighed. There were so many things she did. She was
having trouble keeping track of them now. It was getting hard... hard to 
tell
the lies from the truth.
	"With the water, when we tested your chi," Tofu explained.
	"Oh... that," Ukyou responded flatly. Aaron's interest perked up,
however. Ever since Tofu had told him about his 'theory', the young man had
become... curious. It had amazed him that Tofu had come up with a way of
explaining the working of chi that was not seen in any anime, manga or video
game that he had ever seen. Oh sure, there were plenty of justifications 
that
came close... but none were quite the same.
	Plus, the fact that his five elements theory matched the one Aaron had
come up with in his world was also interesting. And not that it matched it
slightly, or that it used similar terms. It was the fact that it was 
perfectly
the same. Aaron had brainstormed that system over a few weeks, cobbling 
together
bits and pieces from a variety of role-playing games, anime and myths into 
what
he saw as a coherent whole. He had grown quickly enamoured of it, and had
planned on using it as a basis for the powers in one of his online games...
until his accident.
	It struck him as awfully convenient that Doctor Tofu, a previously
fictional character to him, had stumbled upon exactly the same explanation,
without any of the references.
	"What you did was simply impossible," Tofu pointed out. "You tapped into
two types of chi at once, on the primal level."
	"Isn't it possible to do that, though?"
	"No... not on the unconscious level. We all have a balance of chi within
us. One of the chi aspects is always dominant. Even if they all were in
perfect balance, your chi should have read as Void, which it didn't. It read 
as
some combination of Void and Wind..."
	"What are you saying?" Ukyou had a pretty good idea why she could
accomplish the 'impossible' in this case, but wanted to hear his thoughts.
Maybe, a part of herself that might have been her, or Aaron, or maybe both..
maybe they should tell him the truth.
	"I think I know what might be wrong with you," Tofu pointed out. "Why
you have seizures and injure yourself when you tap into your deepest 
wellspring
of energy." Ukyou held her breath. "Your spirit... is touching into a new
level."
	"A new level?" Ukyou blinked. This was beginning to sound like a bad
Dragonball Z episode.
	"Somehow, your spirit is channeling something that isn't chi...
something that I can't sense or even understand. Something that your body is
rejecting. You've tapped into a force I've never even heard mention of 
before,
and if you continue to tap into it... it will tear you apart."
	Ukyou and Aaron thought back and forth furiously for a fraction of a
second. To Tofu, they would have just looked thoughtful and distant. "Can I 
cut
it off?"
	"I don't know..." Tofu said. "I don't even know what caused it, or what
it is."
	"Can I push it out?" Ukyou hissed, determination filling her voice.
"Excise it? Like a tumor? Is there some way you can slice it out of my 
soul?"
	"What? I'm not sure what you mean..."
	"Nothing... I... nevermind..."
	"Ukyou... I just wanted to tell you for now, that you can't use that
energy like you would chi. It's dangerous."
	Yet he didn't say we couldn't use it, just that we couldn't use it like
chi, Aaron thought before she could stop him.
	"Ono... I think I need to tell you something now," Ukyou sighed. "It may
help you-" Ukyou cut herself off in mid-sentence. Aaron had sensed 
something. He
had been pushed to the back of her mind so much, that his attunement with 
her
senses had perhaps become deeper than her own. Ukyou snaked a hand into her
trenchcoat, and waited for him to spot it again. Tofu went silent, sensing 
the
sudden tension in the air as easily as she did.
	"There!" Ukyou shouted, releasing a spatula towards the flitting shadow
in the nearby bushes. There was a meaty thunk as the metal collided with
something fleshy, followed by a bizarre squeal of pain. Ukyou shot to her 
feet.
Her long strides carried her to the bushes before the squeal had even died 
down.
She flicked her hand out, grabbed something small and rubbery within the
shadows, and dragged it into the light.
	"An octopus?" Ukyou blinked.
	The creature in her hand was about the size of a human head. It looked
like nothing so much as one of those monsters from the Zelda games... then 
it
clicked.
	"HAYATO!" Ukyou shouted and held the animal up in the air. "I know you
aren't far away! Come out and face me in the open!"
	"What's going on?" Tofu had risen to his feet. His face had become
pinched and his eyes flickered around the park. Was he afraid?
	"Some jerk is trying to be cute..." Ukyou growled. Damn that bastard for
showing up now. Ukyou had hoped to have... a good twenty or thirty volumes 
worth
of time before she even needed to think about him. "Hayato, if you don't 
come
out, I swear I'm going to make sushi out of your pet." Ukyou was not in the 
mood
to deal with him. She had enough problems on her own. Plus... Tofu had 
sounded
like he might be onto a breakthrough.
	"You can put Patoratsyu down now," an unfamiliar voice told her coldly.
	Ukyou spun on her heels. Somehow Hayato had managed to appear in the
center of the park without her noticing. Her eyes narrowed. Once she could 
see
him, the image clicked in Aaron's memory. Parka-like shirt, bulky pants, 
giant
takoyaki-balling awl/screwdriver thing and, of course, that stupid kiddie
octopus mask all became instantly familiar.
	"You still haven't taken that stupid thing off, I see," Ukyou sighed and
tossed the octopus across the air towards him. Hayato snapped out one hand 
and
easily caught his pet. The thing shivered in his grasp as Hayato soothed it 
with
calm strokes of his hands before placing it on his shoulder. Once placed, 
the
thing started glaring at Ukyou. How on earth did octopi glare?
	"I see you remember our battle," the boy hissed in a peculiar, vaguely
muffled voice. "Which is good, because I have been forced to think about it
every day since then!"
	"Actually you haven't, you're just an idiot who takes childhood promises
too seriously and..." Ukyou trailed off.
	"You just don't understand what I've been through," Hayato told her. He
shifted his stance, spinning the giant awl from his back and pointing its 
tip at
her. "This is about more than a promise now!"
	"Whatever," Ukyou sighed. She eased herself into a fighting stance.
"Let's get this over with, then..." Ukyou knew that this wasn't really a
problem. She'd throw the match to him, let him get his revenge and that 
would be
the end of that.
	"Heh. Not today, Kuonji," Hayato spun his weapon back into its harness.
"I don't want anyone to think I weaseled you out of victory because you 
weren't
ready for me. I'm sure the 'hero of Narita' isn't afraid of making this 
match...
a little more public?"
	Ukyou frowned. What did she care about losing? She had never asked to be
glorified in the press, or by anyone else. So why did the thought of 
throwing
the match to him in public make her stomach quiver uncomfortably?
	"Fine, name the time and place and I'll be there," Ukyou grunted.

*

	Ryouga finally stopped running when he felt the asphalt turn to grass
under his feet. He opened his eyes, looking around, hoping for the first 
time in
his life that he was lost. There were trees and the sky was dark with 
clouds. It
was threatening rain. His umbrella... it was gone. Lost somewhere between
meeting her and... and...
	"NO! It didn't happen!"
	Ryouga fell to his knees. He needed to think. His hands gripped at his
temples, fingernails digging uncomfortably into his scalp. Maybe the pain 
would
clear his mind, let him focus.
	But everytime he tried to think back his mind kept flashing to that
face. That battered face, staring at him with horror and shame. Could he 
have
really...
	No. Ryouga didn't... couldn't think of himself like that. He wasn't a
monster. He was a victim, but he was a good person despite that. Sure, Ranma 
had
ruined his life, and that guy Ukyou had been dicking around with him and he 
was
angry about that and he knew that he tended to underestimate his own 
strength...
but he couldn't have!
	Ryouga looked up. He had heard the first few drops of rain falling to
the ground. The sun had fallen, and now the skies would weep. Maybe it would
feel better, to be an animal for a little bit. Just like when he had been
fighting Ranma and...
	The fight. The fight this morning. Ryouga had finally returned to Nerima
and found Ranma. He had been so excited. He could feel his heart race at the
very thought of the battle. It always felt so good to be filled with the
righteous anger. The anger that cleansed away fear and doubt and sadness. 
And it
was so easy to give into it because it was so right. You didn't have to 
think.
You just had to be RIGHT.
	Then the fight had turned against him. Ranma had been so fast! He was
mocking Ryouga, taunting him as he slipped through Ryouga's guard and away 
from
his best strikes. Ryouga had felt a deep thrill run through his body at that
time. The thrill of battle against a superior opponent, he guessed. But then
there had been that voice in the back of his mind, the voice that sounded
mysteriously like Ranma's friend.
	("If you lose this fight, that's it.")
	But Ryouga knew that even if he lost, Ranma wasn't that far beyond him.
Maybe he could train, come back stronger and faster and better overall...
	("If you do that, everyone will know your secret.")
	And that had been it. The turning point. Because if Ryouga lost his
fight with Ranma, there would be no second chance. There would be only
humiliation and then... what? Beyond that... what?
	So Ryouga had fallen through a wall, and spotted a small trickle of
water. A single, thoughtless, action later and Ryouga had vanished. How 
could he
be expected to fight as a pig? Obviously the fight was over, but there had 
been
no victor. He could challenge again, later, when he was better. He had 
thought
to himself at the time that it had been an accident, a lucky break.
	But he knew it hadn't been. He had deliberately reached out, he had
deliberately vanished. He had run away.
	He had run away, because losing was unacceptable.
	If he was capable of that... what else was he capable of?
	The downpour came and Ryouga barely noticed the change. He crawled out
of the puddle of his clothes. He wasn't even sure where he had gotten them. 
All
he could remember was the girl, Nabiki... her name was Nabiki. All he could
remember was the look on Nabiki's face and the fact that he had woken up...
excited. Then everything was a blur. Somehow he had run away, gotten 
dressed,
arrived here.
	But he couldn't run away from his own conscience. The longer he sat
there, on top of the soaked pile of clothing, feeling the heavy drops pound 
into
his skin, the more convinced he became that he really had done that. He 
couldn't
remember it. He couldn't even think about it. He must have lost control, 
like he
had sometimes lost his temper. Except this time someone had been hurt.
	Well... Ryouga wasn't going to live as an animal. Even if he looked like
one. He was a human being. He would find her. He would apologize. He would
accept whatever punishment she and society deemed necessary. There was no
forgiving what he had done... but Ryouga wasn't going to let himself run 
from it
either.
	Setting his eyes in what he hoped was the direction of Nerima, Ryouga
began to walk.

*

	Pink sat in the bushes, watching with interest as Chris twitched.  She
had observed the dead girl fairly closely in the week they'd been together.
This was partially for self-preservation purposes: the existence of one 
undead
body-swapper implied there might well be more, and Pink wanted to have a 
more
reliable method of detecting such irksomely poison-resistant creatures than 
the
paleness of their skin.
	One of the more noticeable things Pink had observed was the dead girl's
lack of unnecessary movements.  No blinking (except when surprised) she had
expected, as well as the lack of breathing at any time Chris wasn't actually
speaking.  But those could be easily faked by a savvy undead.  The other 
strange
behaviour - or lack of it, more accurately - seemed more promising.  Chris
didn't MOVE like a living being.  A normal person would cough, fidget, tap 
their
foot, shiver, or twitch their fingers... any of a thousand little 
unconscious
movements.  Chris, however, did none of those.  When she stood, she was 
truly,
unnaturally still, with only a slight movement of their air through her long
black hair distinguishing her from a statue.
	But not now.  The dead girl couldn't seem to stop moving: shrugging her
shoulders repeatedly, shifting her sitting position, and clenching and
unclenching her hands.  It looked as if she had an itch deep inside and 
couldn't
scratch it.
	Hmm.  So the dead couldn't be poisoned, but COULD be made uncomfortable.
Pink considered what sort of plant could take advantage of that. Perhaps
something to create an irritating powder?  No, she remembered Chris saying
something about how physical sensations were dulled for her.  So she'd need 
to
go to the source somehow, accelerate the rotting process.  That would take 
some
experimentation.  She wondered if there were many rats or domestic animals 
on
the loose in Tokyo.
	Putting that thought aside for the moment, she looked at Chris again.
The three of them were hidden in a copse of trees on a small hillock 
overlooking
the street.  Chris, for all her fidgeting, appeared to be intently focused 
on
watching the road, a somewhat disturbing sight with her milky white 
corpse-eyes.
"I'm curious, over," Pink said in a low voice.
	She couldn't see the eyes move, of course, but the undead's head turned
in her direction.  "This person we've come for," Pink continued.  "Who is 
it,
over?"
	"That's a pretty ghoulish question," Chris gurgled.  Her voice was
getting worse.  She sounded like someone choking to death on noxious fumes.
Pink giggled a little at the thought.  Too late.
	"No more ghoulish than what we're here to do, over," she responded,
still smiling.
	"Touche," replied Chris.  Pink blinked.  What language was that?
French?  Before she could ask, the dead girl continued.  "Well, I'd have had 
to
tell you sooner or later.  The person we're waiting for is a man named 
Sentarou
Daimonji."
	"A man?" Link said, turning suddenly to face them.  "Why a man?  What
were you when you were alive, over?"
	"I was also male," Chris said.  "Not that it matters much now."
	"I suppose not," Pink said.  "So, this guy... does he have a nice house
too, over?"
	"As it turns out, yes," Chris replied.  "But it doesn't matter, since we
won't be staying there."
	"Why not, over?"
	The dead girl - boy - waved his hand.  "It's dangerous there.  Not so
much for me, but I wouldn't want to put you two in any danger.  Don't worry,
I'll make sure we're set up properly."
	Pink noticed Link had once again turned away, looking intently at one of
the trees.  Her stance was stiff and cold; Pink could tell her sister was 
even
less happy knowing their ally was actually male.  But it wouldn't be a 
problem.
She turned back to the undead.  "So how'd you pick this Daimonji guy, over?"
	Chris shrugged.  "I knew how to find him, and he fit my criteria."
	"So he's an evil person, over?"
	"Yes, he is," Chris said.  He paused a moment, as if thinking.  "He's
ruthless and amoral, with no care for anyone in the world but himself.  He'd
kill his own fiancee without hesitation, just because he saw a girl he liked
more."
	"Sounds like scum," Pink agreed.  "I've been thinking about that.  If
it's only evil people that you're willing to kill... why don't you just let 
us
kill Shampoo, and then take her body, over?"
	"I have my reasons."
	"And what are they?" Pink smiled.  "Shampoo is just as evil as these
people, right, over?"
	Chris smiled slightly.  "Possibly, but beside the point.  No Shampoo-
killing on my watch.  That was the deal, after all.  Besides," he noted, 
leaning
back, "killing her, while no doubt satisfying, is a poor repayment for years 
of
suffering, isn't it?  Think about it.  After you do it, what then?  It's 
over,
and you've taken years of torment and exchanged it for a few minutes.  When 
it
comes down to it, wouldn't it be more satisfying - more RIGHT - if she had 
to go
on, a proud warrior having to live with the shame of knowing she'd been 
beaten?"
	"Yes, yes, you've given us that line before.  Sounds marvellous, until
Shampoo comes back and beats us up, over," Link groused.
	The corner of Chris' mouth quirked.  "Yes, well, we'll see about that.
At least you're safe with me around."  Link made an inarticulate growl, but
Chris smoothly continued, "Plus there's those mitamas you're interested in.  
I
can help you with those, remember."
	Link glowered, but fell silent.  Pink decided she'd have to have a talk
with her sister.  At first her irrational hate for their ally had been 
amusing,
but now it was starting to become annoying.  It was as if Link wanted to 
drive
Chris away.  Wanted to, when he was providing them such a service for
essentially nothing!  Link needed to remember what was important; then she'd
come around.
	Pink stared at Chris speculatively, watching the dead man in the female
body shudder and twitch.  Why WAS he so set against killing Shampoo?  He 
didn't
seem to object to classifying her with the other 'evil' people he selected 
as
victims, so what was saving her?
	Her musing was interrupted by a commotion from down the street; people
shouting in surprise and alarm, and some sort of repetitive clicking sound 
Pink
couldn't quite place.  Chris's head snapped to the side, the dead eyes
narrowing.  "At last," he breathed.
	Chris stepped to the edge of the trees.  His movements, despite the
condition of his stolen body, were once more fluid and graceful; the 
twitching
had vanished.  As Pink moved up behind him, the reason for the noises and 
the
shouts become apparent: there was a rider on a horse barrelling full-speed 
down
the street, forcing pedestrians to leap out of the way.
	As the rider drew near, Chris held up a small cloth pouch.  Just as the
rider passed below them, Chris hurled the pouch.  Pink saw the man on the 
horse
suddenly look up towards them, but he was too late to react as the 
projectile
struck the ground in front of them.  Instantly both man and beast were 
enveloped
in a thick cloud of noxious green smoke.  As it cleared, she saw both bodies
sprawled on the pavement, unmoving.
	Chris wasted no time in slashing out with Kodachi's ribbon.  The long
strip of cloth wrapped around one of the fallen man's arms, and a single 
yank
sent him flying towards them.  As the unconscious man hit the ground, Chris
quickly dragged him into the copse of trees, which gave Pink a chance to get 
her
first good look at him.
	Sentarou Daimonji (or so she assumed) was a young Japanese man, fairly
tall, fairly handsome, not outstanding in either respect.  He wore 
old-fashioned
Japanese clothing and sandals, and his plain black hair was in a bowl cut.  
His
eyes were closed, and he appeared to be sleeping deeply.
	"Why put him to sleep?" she asked the undead.  "Just poisoning him in
the first place would have made more sense, over."
	Chris shook his head.  "That only makes more sense if I'm willing to
risk poisoning any bystanders, not to mention the horse.  This was safer."
	Pink shrugged.  "Whatever.  So now what, over?"
	Chris reached into a pocket of his jacket and retrieved a small, opaque
bottle.  "You should know," he said shortly.
	Pink watched with keen interest as Chris opened Sentarou's mouth,
unscrewed the top of the bottle, and carefully poured the liquid inside.
Holding the unconscious boy's nose and mouth shut, the undead then massaged 
his
throat until he swallowed.  Then he sat back, expression unreadable, and
waited.
	It only took a few moments before Sentarou began convulsing.  Chris
watched this for a second, then suddenly swore (in English, how odd) and 
whipped
his leather jacket off, shoving one sleeve into Sentarou's mouth.  "Won't do 
me
much good if the tongue's bitten off," the undead said, mostly to himself.
	All told, it took about two minutes.  Pink was impressed - a normal
human would have been dead in under fifteen seconds.  Chris hadn't 
exaggerated
about the resiliency of these 'martial arts death machines'.  The dead 
man-in-
woman's-body crouched grimly over his victim, holding down the spasming 
limbs
and keeping the jacket shoved firmly in his mouth.  The unconscious man's
flailing, Pink noted, knocked several large gouts of earth from the ground.
Chris had picked well.  Despite his unassuming appearance, this Sentarou was
obviously formidable.
	Then, all of a sudden, it was over.  Chris seemed to know instantly when
death occurred, stepping back and releasing Sentarou even as the boy was 
still
twitching.  He removed the jacket from the mouth; Pink noted idly that it 
had
teeth marks embedded deeply in it and was flecked with foam.
	Pink felt... strange.  Of course, she'd tested out many deadly plants
and poisons before, but Link was just as assiduous in using her medicines 
and
cures to save those victims.  Aside from the odd small animal, this was the
first time one of her lethal creations had been permitted to run its natural
course.
	This was the first time Pink had watched a human being die.
	Standing there, looking down at the corpse, she felt somehow distant,
detached, as if her feet were a hundred miles away, and she was staring down
from the clouds.  She couldn't see Link, but could feel her presence, her
closeness, strangely strongly.  She had to know what happened.  A tingling 
ran
through Pink's limbs, electric, as if she was awaking from sleep.  All of 
it,
the confused mix of feelings rushing, the sensations, made Pink feel almost
light-headed.  She wondered what Chris felt like when he killed someone.  
Was it
like this?
	And just as that thought crossed her mind, Chris collapsed in a heap,
like a puppet whose strings had been cut.  Except that was no longer Chris, 
but
Kodachi, for at that moment Sentarou's eyes snapped open and he sat up.  The
corpse wrapped his arms around himself, closing his eyes again, whispering a
quick, fast mantra to himself.  "Ohgodohgodohgodohgod..."  The language was
English, this time.
	"Are you all right, over?" she asked.  Chris seemed to be... something.
Upset?  Relieved?  The dead man opened his new eyes once more and looked at 
her,
but as usual, there was nothing to be read in his gaze.
	"Better than fine, really," he said.  The new voice was somewhat high-
pitched for a man, but not unpleasant, especially compared to the sickly 
wetness
of moments before.  "It feels so...solid.  So real.  I didn't realise how 
far, I
mean, I didn't realise how empty it was..." he shuddered, then quickly stood 
up
and moved his arms and legs experimentally.  "But I'm fine now.  This worked
great, thank you."
	Pink heard the sharp intake of breath from her sister, saw her spine
stiffen.  She could almost feel the wave of anger flow hot, as if Link was
glaring at her back instead of facing resolutely away.  Pink ignored it.  
There
was no reason for her sister to be upset.  She'd just indebted their ally to
them a little further, that was all.
	Smiling secretly to herself, Pink turned back to Chris.  "So what do we
do now, over?"
	"Well, first, I'm going to have to deal with Kodachi," he said, glancing
down at the crumpled corpse.
	"Why bother?" asked Pink.  "Just leave her here for the police to find,
over."
	Chris shook his head.  "They'd investigate.  And Kodachi's been actually
dead for so long, and yet still walking around... I don't know what they 
would
do, but it's probably best avoided.  Besides..." he paused, and then spoke 
in a
softer tone, "It's kinder to her brother this way.  More practically, it'll
hopefully ensure he doesn't come looking for us."
	"You mean he'd come looking for US," Link noted acidly, still not
looking at them.  "He wouldn't have any reason to be looking for 'Sentarou',
over."
	Chris sighed.  "True, but on the very off-chance that ever happens, go
ahead and tell him the truth, and then he can come for me."
	Pink laughed.  "I doubt it'll be a problem.  That idiot couldn't track
anyone down.  Besides, he only knows our names, over."
	"You'd be surprised how persistent people here can be," Chris noted,
then shrugged.  "But I agree, it probably won't be a problem."  Kneeling 
down,
he scooped up his formed body, placing the jacket over her staring eyes.
"Thanks for your help, by the way."
	"No problem, over," Pink said, and almost rolled her eyes as her sister
spun to face her.  Of course, Link knew it already, but this confirmation 
seemed
to have enraged her even further. "What is it, Link, over?"
	"You...you HELPED this..."
	"Correction," Pink broke in.  "Chris was looking for a suitable agent
that would not harm the body, but could deal with someone this strong, 
over."
She held up a hand to forestall Link's response.  "Sister.  He would have 
died
anyway.  All this did was make it quicker and safer.  And the better shape 
the
new body is in, the longer until he needs another one.  Everyone wins, 
over."
	He sister didn't have a reply to that, turning away again.  Pink smiled
at her back.  All this protest was silly.  There was no question of being 
more
or less deeply involved with this.  Once they had agreed to take the 
undead's
help, and help him in turn, they'd become involved.  The reward was worth 
it.
	Link would realise that.  Sooner or later.

*

	"It is hard to find a more excited crowd then the one that has gathered
here today. The entire student body of Furinkan High School must have come 
to
this deserted construction site to witness what will surely be an epic 
struggle
between two lifelong, bitter rivals.
	"Awaiting the challenger is none other than Ukyou Kuonji, the hero of
Narita. He stands in the center of the site, away from all the crowds. His
friends and proteges, Ranma and Akane, also wait along with the others..."
	"Protege?" Ranma snapped at Ran. "What do you mean, protege?"
	"It means you're his student and stuff like that," Ran explained
carefully as she waved her tape recorder at him. "Now shush, I'm trying to 
write
a story."
	Akane giggled at Ran's teasing. Doctor Tofu just sighed and adjusted his
glasses. Akane was standing next to him, just enjoying his presence. Even if 
he
barely noticed hers.
	"But I'm not really Ukyou's student!" Ranma protested. "I'm actually the
better fighter!"
	"Whatever you say, stud," Ran giggled.
	"No, really, watch!" Ranma picked up a I-beam and threw it into the air.
"I'll break this thing in half with one punch!"
	"NO! Don't kill me!" The I-beam pleaded.
	"Huh?" Ranma blinked and stopped dead. That was when the beam landed on
his foot. Ranma's eye bugged out as it toppled off him. Seconds later he was
hopping around, clutching his foot and howling.
	"Impressive," Ran deadpanned. But Akane could see the twinkle in her
eye.
	"You jerk, you scared me half to death!" the I-beam complained. Akane
gave it a level glare, but could see Ran glancing at it curiously. Seconds 
later
Ran's curiosity was answered as Tsubasa unzipped himself from his newest
costume. Ran took the scene of a cute young girl climbing out of a giant 
metal
bar rather well, Akane thought.
	"Uh... who are you?" Ran asked, thrusting her recorder into Tsubasa's
face. "And how did you do that?"
	"Ohhh... you're with the press!" Tsubasa cried happily, his face looking
much too cute to ever be mistaken for a guy's.
	"Well, yes..."
	"I..." Tsubasa cleared his throat and posed dramatically with one foot
on the pile of I-beams. "I am the one and only true love of Ukyou Kuonji." 
He
drew a microphone out of somewhere and began to talk into it. "The lovely 
and
talented master of disguise, and the only person worthy of Ukyou's heart: I 
am
Tsubasa Kurenai!" Tsubasa paused then pulled the recorder from Ran's 
suddenly
nerveless fingers. "Take that, Usagi! I got here first! Nanny nanny poo 
poo!"
	"Give me that!" Ran shouted, snapping the recorder from Tsubasa's hand.
"I recognize you now, from the fight at Narita..."
	"That's right!" Tsubasa tried to wrestle the recorder from Ran's hand
again, which was turning out to be more difficult than it looked. "You see 
I,
unlike certain blonde-haired bimbos, am willing to fight beside my one true
love!"
	"Get off!" Ran shouted, trying to dislodge Tsubasa with one foot while
viciously clinging to her recorder with both hands. Veins were bulging in 
her
forehead and her teeth were grinding together. "What are you, a lunatic?"
	"I won't let go until you agree to print my interview verbatim!"
	"This isn't an interview, this is assault and theft!"
	Akane turned her attention from the impending catfight back to Ranma,
who had returned. Ranma shook his head. "Man, this place just keeps getting
nuttier."
	"I should say," Akane sighed. "You should see this guy Hayato; he's even
loonier than Tsubasa."
	"Hey, I resent that remark!"
	"Stop shouting into it! You'll ruin the mic!"
	"Children, if you don't stop you'll hurt each other," Doctor Tofu
pleaded.
	"Whatever. I bet I could beat this jerk Hayato with one hand tied behind
my back," Ranma grumbled and crossed his arms. Ukyou looked up sharply at 
the
mention of Hayato's name. Akane nodded to her, and Ukyou barely acknowledged 
her
presence. Akane still hadn't found a chance to talk to her. Doctor Tofu had 
told
her about the fight this morning, and that Ukyou was back at the clinic... 
but
Akane hadn't had the time to get away from school until now. Ranma would 
have,
but he had spent the day hiding in the school from his mother.
	"Oh yeah," a guy that Akane vaguely recognized from her class called
from nearby. "Prove it, Saotome!"
	"Nah," Ranma waved his hand dismissively. "This is Ukyou's fight. I
wouldn't even think of stepping in."
	"So you think Ukyou's going to win?" Ran asked in her 'reporter voice'.
	"Of course," Ranma chuckled, leaning back against a pile of I-beams.
"I've had my doubts about Ukyou's fighting spirit since we met each other 
again.
But back at Narita, s... he was the only one still fighting. There is a 
strength
in Ukyou I don't even think he realizes he has. I don't just think Ukyou 
will
win, I -know- it. I believe in Ukyou."
	Akane could only stare at Ranma. Ran was also speechless, unable to do
anything but move her tape recorder away from him. Ranma was staring across 
the
site, straight into the eyes of Ukyou. Akane could see the young woman's 
face
had gone slack. She had heard every word he said. And it had hit her like a
physical blow. Why?
	"Are you ready?"
	Everyone looked up to see a large figure standing on the second story of
the skeletal construction. The angle of the sunlight was just perfect to 
cast
his face into shadow, except for the gleam off the tiny eyeholes in his 
mask. In
one hand he carried his strange awl-like weapon, and on the other hand he
supported his pet octopus.
	Ukyou stood beneath him for a long time. She was dressed for battle, her
legs clad in loose denim slacks, her body wrapped in the rippling folds of 
her
trenchcoat. Her long hair billowed gently behind her in the stiff breeze, 
and
her bangs fell forward, covering her eyes. She wasn't even looking up at 
him.
Instead her gaze seemed fixed on some invisible point between her feet.
	"I don't have all day," Hayato growled. "The only reason I brought all
these people here was so that your defeat could be as humiliating as you 
made
mine!"
	"I'm ready to fight," Ukyou said in a soft voice that carried
surprisingly well. When she looked up, he expression was hard and cold. She
reached behind her and pulled out a long wooden staff, taller than her. 
Akane
had never seen Ukyou with such a weapon before, and briefly wondered where 
Ukyou
had acquired it. "I have friends who believe in me. I'm ready to fight you 
with
everything I have." The air whined as Ukyou spun her staff in a tight circle
before gripping it behind her back. Her free hand came up and she gestured 
in
the universal signal for "come on" at her opponent.
	"About time," Hayato grumbled. He lowered his arm and let his pet crawl
away to safety before leaping down in front of Ukyou. His stance was 
strange,
not quite like anything Akane had ever seen before. There was a flash as Ran
documented the moment. "You don't stand a chance, Ukyou. I know exactly how 
to
defeat you!"
	"Just shut up and attack me," Ukyou growled.
	So he did.
	Akane gasped as Hayato sprinted across the dirt towards Ukyou. The girl
barely brought up her staff in time to deflect his first three strikes and
couldn't reverse her parry fast enough to avoid the third. A meaty smack 
echoed
across the construction yard as Ukyou was propelled into the air. The crowd 
sat
in silence for a second, then erupted in a chorus of cheers.
	The only ones not cheering the battle were herself, Ranma, Ran... and
one other. Across the yard Akane could just see Nabiki standing on the edge 
of
the crowd. But then she vanished from Akane's thoughts as the din of battle 
drew
her attention back to Ukyou.
	Somehow Ukyou had recovered and was now dancing along the girders,
Hayato in hot pursuit. Akane could see that he was taking two meters for 
every
meter she travelled - there was no way Ukyou could get away. Akane turned to 
ask
Ran what she thought, only to find the girl gone. A quick scan showed that 
she
had leapt up to the second story herself, her body spinning acrobatically,
camera flashing nearly continuously as she did.
	"Happiyaku Randa!" Hayato screamed as his hand flashed. A swarm of tiny
balls streaked through the air at Ukyou, threatening to catch her in 
mid-leap.
Ukyou only smirked and kicked out, catching a beam and bouncing clear. Akane
blinked as the balls drilled dents into the thick steel girders. Ukyou 
didn't
even give them a second glance before landing on the third story of the 
building
to be.
	Hayato hesitated for a moment, then leapt to join her. He shifted his
grip on his weapon, clutching it by the needle-thin point. He landed and 
began
to swing his weapon like a mace. Ukyou backflipped, avoiding each strike by 
a
hair's breadth. Metallic clangs echoed across the yard as his misses knocked
welts into the I-beams.
	"We better get moving," Ranma sighed as he leapt up. "We'll miss
everything unless we keep up!"
	"Hey! Wait for me!" Akane frowned. He knew damn well she couldn't leap
that well.
	"Hurry up, Akane," Ran called down as she sprinted after the departing
fighters. Akane could hear the crowd moan and whine in disappointment. Well, 
she
wasn't going to hang around to bear the brunt of their complaining. Sighing
Akane adjusted the weights on her arms and jumped... only to land easily on 
the
second story. "Stop looking so shocked," Ran called back as she continued to
pursue the battle.
	"Uh... right," Akane mumbled. It was only a second before she caught up
with everyone else. Ukyou and Hayato were now fencing back and forth on the
third level.
	"You can't run away!" Hayato shouted as he drilled his needle at Ukyou.
Ukyou only smirked and faded to the right. The dodge took her feet off the 
beam,
but she just let herself drop. A quick flip of her staff and it caught 
firmly
between two beams. Ukyou spun, looping around her weapon like a gymnast and
launched herself airborne again. Hayato had already leapt down to pursue 
her.
Akane almost regretted not being able to see his expression when her feet
rocketed into his gut.
	"What's the matter, Hayato?" Ukyou called as she landed easily on the
fourth story of the building. This level was only half-completed, and huge 
gaps
existed between several of the upright beams. Hayato had still managed to 
land
on one of them. He crouched there, clutching his gut and glaring at her 
through
his mask. "Afraid I might leave the site, and take away your advantage?"
	"W-what?" the boy shouted.
	"You don't think I didn't know your plan?" Ukyou sneered. "You knew I
was at a disadvantage here, that's why you set the fight in this site."
	"I see..." Hayato chuckled. "You saw through my plan. But you still
can't win. I've spent eight years studying your style! You can't possibly 
defeat
me!"
	Hayato exploded from his perch. His needle drove towards Ukyou's chest,
and she casually snapped her bo to intercept. Hayato crowed in triumph and
twisted his weapon, spinning it so fast Akane only saw a blur. Ukyou's staff
spun with it, and for a moment Akane thought the spin had wrenched it out of 
her
hands. But Ukyou didn't look like she had been caught off-guard. In fact, 
she
was already dropping to her knees and driving a perfect sweep into Hayato's
unguarded shins.
	"NO!" Hayato shouted as his balance left him. He released his needle,
and grabbed desperately for the beam. His hands grabbed it just seconds 
before
Ukyou finished her second rotation, swinging her other leg up into his face.
	The retort of her foot driving into his mask echoed in the silence of
the yard for a second. Then Hayato started shouting in pain as he flew 
across
the site. Still he managed to right himself and land on his feet instead of
dropping four stories to the ground. Ukyou was already leaping down, 
retrieving
her bo staff before it clattered to the floor.
	"Go Ukyou!" Akane shouted. She had landed next to Ranma, but could see
him looking on with a frown on his face. "Hey, what's the matter, Ranma?"
	"Huh? Oh... nothing..." Ranma mumbled in distraction.
	"How...?" Hayato adjusted his mask as he began to walk towards Ukyou. "I
know all your moves..."
	"You knew the moves I used ten years ago, idiot," Ukyou chuckled. "Did
you really think I wouldn't improve in the meantime?"
	"I guess I underestimated you," Hayato called back. Akane could hear the
smirk in his voice. "Then this time, no fancy tricks!"
	Akane could only barely follow as Hayato sprinted across the beams
towards Ukyou. Ukyou met him, blocking a flurry of punches and kicks with 
her
nimble staff. Akane cheered. Ukyou was holding her own, even beating him 
back!
	Then Ukyou rocketed back, her body going limp until it collided
perfectly with a horizontal beam behind her. Hayato was left standing, his 
fist
extended from his punch. He drew back his hand even as Ukyou slid down to 
sit
straddling another I-beam. Hayato was massaging his knuckles.
	"We should step in, Ukyou's in trouble," Doctor Tofu said, startling
Akane with his proximity.
	"What? But she's doing so well..." Akane responded.
	"No, watch the fight. Ukyou's just... weaker than Hayato," Tofu answered
softly. Akane turned to Ranma, but she could see him staring intently at the
battle. His fingers quivered, wanting desperately to form into the fists 
that he
was refusing to let them. "Hayato is faster and tougher; stronger, too, from 
the
looks of it."
	"You're wrong," Akane hissed back. "Ranma just said that he knows Ukyou
can win."
	"Ranma doesn't know what I know," Doctor Tofu informed her. "She could
win. But her heart isn't in this battle. She's not willing to risk what it 
would
take to achieve victory. And that's a good thing."
	"I hope you're wrong, Doc," Ranma muttered. Nearby, Ran only took
pictures. But her expression was worried too.

*

	Ukyou leapfrogged over Hayato's kick. Her staff sung through the air.
Its arc should have connected with Hayato's temple. Somehow, he blocked with 
one
forearm, leaving the other arm free to grab her ankle. The world flashed and
spun as he threw her towards the ground. Aaron regained his balance before 
her,
and turned a potential face-first crash into a merely painful feet-first
collision. They'd managed to hold onto their staff, however.
	Acting on instinct, Ukyou rolled forward. The ground gave off an almost
musical crash behind her. Aaron could feel Hayato, like a breath of hot air,
turning to strike them. Ukyou flattened them against the ground and felt
something heavy pass through her hair. Hayato had retrieved his needle-like
weapon, it seemed.
	Ukyou handsprung backward, hoping to catch Hayato off-guard. She almost
did. Her foot connected with his chest, but it didn't drive him from his 
feet.
Bouncing off his rock hard muscle, Ukyou spun in the air to land a few 
meters
away, facing him.
	Hayato wasn't taunting now. His needle came in fast and often. Its
vicious metal point scrapped the fabric of her coat as she backpedalled
furiously. Her counterstrike drove Hayato back. He backflipped away as a 
cloud
of dust billowed in the wake of Ukyou's slash.
	Unwilling to surrender more of the momentum, Ukyou charged. Aaron had
trained with the staff, and Ukyou knew the fundamentals from her own polearm
techniques. That was the reason they had paused to purchase this weapon 
before
the fight. It had been a strange impulse, considering that until Ranma had 
made
his speech they had been planning on throwing this fight. But now she was 
just
as glad she had given into that impulse.
	Hayato was now on the defensive. The synergy of her and Aaron's skill
was something Ukyou could draw on. It allowed her to spin the weapon about 
her
and strike from odd and deceptive angles. Again and again she seemed 
committed
to an attack, only to halt the motion with one of her own limbs and suddenly
reverse it back at him. The staff bent and warped like a piece of rubber in 
her
grip and Hayato's cumbersome needle could barely keep up.
	But it WAS keeping up.
	Ukyou knew she wasn't getting anywhere three seconds into her assault.
When her arms began to tire and the breath in her lungs began to burn, she 
knew
she had to change tactics. But she couldn't think of anything else to do. 
Hayato
knew all her okonomiyaki-based tricks, and had trained for years 
specifically to
defeat them. Aaron was no help, his vaunted tactical expertise having failed
them.
	He was too fast to catch! Maybe... maybe with Aaron's chi supplementing
her own Ukyou could meet or exceed his speed. But it wasn't worth it. It was
just Hayato. Even if she lost, it was just humiliation that awaited her. So 
what
if she disappointed Ranma? Killing herself to defeat one man was not a good
bargain.
	When Ukyou made her first clean miss Hayato punished her with a vicious
thrust to the gut. Even as pain exploded through her brain Ukyou was 
grateful
she had forced him to switch to his blunt end. Her face and side screamed 
and
burned as she was sent skidding across the dirt.
	Ukyou clawed into the ground, dragging herself to a stop. She was
already rolling to her feet as she did, and thus avoided a swarm of takoyaki
balls. Unthinkingly she snapped her hands into her pocket and flung some of 
her
spatulas in return. She didn't even see how Hayato dodged them, she just 
assumed
he did. Even as she threw she turned her roll into a backflip.
	The world rolled as she arched up into the second story. The metal she
landed on quivered. She couldn't see anything except the stretch of the 
girders
in all directions. Then Aaron felt her danger sense twitch in the back of 
her
neck and she ducked.
	A second later she was tumbling forward to the ground. As she did she
saw Hayato with his needle jammed into the girder she had been standing on. 
The
veins in his neck bulged as he tried to withdraw it. He was vulnerable!
	Acting on impulse, Ukyou swung her staff in a tight circle and flicked
it towards him. The bo spun in the air like a buzzsaw. Hayato gasped a 
milli-
second before it collided with his face. Ukyou smirked in victory. 
Thankfully
Aaron had the presence of mind to finish their tumble and land feet first on 
the
hard-packed dirt.
	Hayato was plummeting in front of them, stunned by the face shot. Ukyou
could see their weapons tumbling just behind him. She dashed forward, 
ignoring
her weapons, hoping to catch him still vulnerable. She saw his face jerk in
her direction too late, and his kick caught her dead in the chest.
	Ukyou stopped cold. The air had been driven from her lungs and her
breasts had exploded in agony. Hayato wasn't finished. He caught her chin 
with a
simple but effective haymaker. Ukyou collapsed, flashing stars blurred
everything out of her vision. Somehow she found the presence of mind to roll
away. All she needed was a few moments to catch her breath. Just a few 
moments!
	Amazingly, she found them. Ukyou blinked the stars from her eyes, and
gulped air until her lungs felt steady. She rose to her crouch, then, using 
a
beam for support, fully to her feet. She even managed to pull herself into a
competent stance once the world stopped rocking under her feet.
	"I'm very impressed, Ukyou," Hayato called from behind her. Ukyou turned
around to face him. He had retrieved his weapon and stood with it balanced 
on
his shoulder, samurai style. Ukyou narrowed her eyes, able to see her own 
staff
lying in the dirt at his feet. "You want this?" Hayato nodded his head 
towards
it. Ukyou paused, unsure how to react. "Have it."
	Hayato kicked the weapon into the air and Ukyou caught it just before it
collided with her. She spun it a few times and then settled herself down 
with
one tip pointed straight at him.
	"Thank you," Ukyou said sincerely.
	"It won't matter," Hayato replied with a chuckle. "You fight with it
like an amateur!" Ukyou felt anger rising in her chest. "In fact, this style 
you
are using now... you're even more sloppy with it than you are with your old
one!"
	"If the only reason you stopped was to make fun of me, we might as well
begin fighting again," Ukyou growled.
	"I'm not making fun of you," Hayato switched to an aggressive stance.
"I'm just honestly curious about why you would abandon your art. I thought 
your
family's art meant something to you. I thought this fight was about a noble
dedication to your fighting and your cooking. But you have abandoned that."
	"Abandoned..." Ukyou gasped. "I haven't abandoned my cooking! It's still
my dream to open an okonomiyaki restaurant!"
	"Is it?" Hayato cocked his head to the side. "Maybe it is, but you
certainly don't have the respect for it you once did! I bet your cooking is
terrible."
	Ukyou felt her knuckles straining as she gripped her staff tightly. How
dare he! What did he know about her life? He couldn't judge her and her
dedication to cooking! She loved cooking. She just... hadn't had enough time 
to
focus on it. It just... didn't seem as important anymore.
	"Listen, Hayato," Ukyou strained out. She was getting angry, and she
knew that probably wasn't healthy. She pulled the rage back. Forced it down,
deep into her soul and buried it. She didn't want to lose her temper over 
this
jerk. "Listen, Hayato," she repeated much more calmly. "This fight is
meaningless. I came here intending to throw it. It's only about a stupid
childish promise. I have no grudge with you, and you have no reason to fight 
me.
If it makes you feel better, than consider this my submission. You win the
fight. Now you can take off that stupid mask."
	Ukyou breathed a sigh of relief. She could see that her words had caught
Hayato off-guard. He was standing there like a man who had just had just
discovered his most trusted ideals were a pack of lies. Ukyou didn't really 
care
about what he thought. This fight was over. She wasn't going to get beaten 
up
anymore over it, and she couldn't win. So why bother?
	Ukyou turned away. She could see her friends gathered nearby now. Akane
and Ran and Tsubasa and Tofu and, especially, Ranma. Ukyou wasn't sure if 
that
was disappointment or relief she saw on Ranma's face. She wasn't sure if it
mattered. Either one struck her to the core. But she knew that it was 
pointless
to continue. She wasn't the hero. There was no need to win this battle. 
There
was no point...
	"FINE! Abandon your honor, you asshole!"
	Ukyou glanced idly over her shoulder. Hayato had steadied his stance.
Now his shoulders quivered and his head shook with rage. Ukyou could even 
see
it, his aura, rippling lightly around his body, a deep and angry red.
	"You're right, I was stupid to come here. I was stupid because I
expected to meet an honourable opponent! I thought you would be the same 
fighter
who defeated me all those years ago. I thought you would be proud and 
dedicated
and strong in your belief. I didn't come here to challenge you just because 
I
wanted to get rid of this mask!" Hayato jerked a thumb towards his face. 
"What
do you think I am? A fool? Sure, every day I lived with this thing on my 
face
was a year in hell. But I endured it! I endured because I believed that it
reminded me that you were out there, ahead of me. I knew that when you 
defeated
me that day, it was because you had achieved a higher level of commitment to
your art than I had.
	"How could I ever take this mask off, until I had achieved that same
level of commitment? That same level of attunement to the essence of cooking 
and
fighting that you had? I wore this mask because I respected you too much to 
ever
take it off. Everyday I woke up with it on, I knew I had yet to exceed you. 
I
respected you, I admired you... I think, a little bit, I wanted to be you. 
But I
see that was a lie."
	Hayato's voice had grown melancholy as he spoke. Ukyou could only stare
at him. There was nothing like this from Aaron's manga memories. There was 
no
depth to Hayato beyond his joke and his fighting style. Was there?
	"Seeing you like this... I know how pathetic you really are. You're a
fraud, Ukyou!" Ukyou staggered as if struck. Hayato's voice contained so 
much
menace. "The warrior I once knew is dead, if that Ukyou ever even existed."
Ukyou stared at him. Her mouth opened...

	(Kodachi froze.  "The Chris... you knew..." she repeated slowly.  "Who's
the Chris you knew?  Who the fuck ARE you?")

	"I AM UKYOU KUONJI!" Ukyou roared. She could feel her temper
unraveling, slowly, like a fruit peel. And she didn't care.
	"You may be," Hayato spat. "But you aren't the person I grew up with.
You're a fraud, and an embarrassment to the memory of your ancestors."
	"SHUT UP!" Ukyou screamed, her voice cracking hoarse. Aaron moaned in
the back of her mind. She could feel his anxiety, feel him getting wrapped 
up in
her anger. He knew what was coming, but like Ukyou could do nothing to stop 
it.
It was like watching a train wreck, unable to stop it, too horrified to turn
away. She could feel darkness creeping in at the edge of her awareness...
	"Don't like to hear the truth?" Hayato said with a sneer in his voice.
"Now you know how I feel. I believed in you, Ukyou, even as I hated you. 
Imagine
how I feel, knowing that I spent my life dedicated to the defeat of a person 
who
no longer exists."
	In the stories, when the hero finally snaps, finally loses all control
it is usually accompanied by words like 'explosion', or 'inferno' or even
'break'. The hero usually feels that mental snap, like a twig cracking in 
their
mind. Then it's all screams and roars and bloody battle to the death.
	But Ukyou was no hero.
	She recognized this feeling. This odd disconnect that came over her.
She couldn't remember from where, but it must have been one of Aaron's 
memories.
It was like all her rage, her pain had been snuffed out at once, leaving 
only a
icy emptiness. The world, her problems, everything... it was like they had
suddenly become crystal clear. Everything seemed so simple, so small and
pointless. Even Aaron's presence, his incessant pressure in her brain, had 
been
eased. He was still there, but it seemed like they were clashing less. Then 
she
realized why... they were thinking less contrarily now. Not two minds in 
one,
constantly battering thoughts and emotions and impulses off each other. 
Instead,
it was like they were running along the same tracks now. Beyond the darkness 
she
felt suddenly free from anger and fear and pressure.
	She liked it.
	When Ukyou began to laugh, Hayato stopped cold. Ukyou dropped her eyes
to the ground and closed them, still chuckling. What did she care what 
Hayato
thought now? What did she care what anyone thought? Even Tofu. She could 
feel
that place inside her now. The strange energy that she had called Aaron's 
chi
throbbed there. It seemed to be... resonating with her thoughts. With 
Aaron's
thoughts as well.
	Hayato dodged Ukyou's attack, but only barely. Her staff cut the air,
shaving a few hairs from his head. Ukyou could see the air ripple, then 
break
before the force of her attack. She stared, fascinated. The wind was ripping
apart in front of her. It wasn't some cheap special effect. It was the very 
air,
parting for her strike!
	Hayato thought she was vulnerable and stabbed his needle at her side.
Aaron smoothly rolled their staff into position to block. Hayato was moving
slower now; it was easy to deflect his attack. Even as he did so, Ukyou 
shifted
her weight. Hayato stumbled, suddenly thrown off-balance as his staff was 
caught
and released. Then Ukyou stepped behind him and elbowed him in the spine.
	The boy's feet floated off the ground, a bubble of dust blasting out in
front of him as his body went limp. Aaron knew Hayato was going to fly 
forward
any second, but before he did Aaron drove a vicious palm into his kidney. 
The
palmstrike was like a cannonshot, and Hayato flashed across the construction
yard. He crashed face-first into a horizontal beam, just like Aaron had 
planned.
	"Ukyou, no!"
	Ukyou turned to see Tofu running towards them. His face was so
concerned. Ukyou turned away from him and began to walk towards Hayato 
again.
Aaron had seen him stirring. It looked like she would get to beat him up 
some
more. She smiled at the thought.
	"Ukyou, you have to stop using that power!" Tofu grabbed her shoulder.
"It'll kill you!"
	"Remove your hand," Ukyou informed Tofu coldly. "I have a fight to
finish." Hayato had already risen to his feet. Somehow he had managed to 
retain
his hold on his weapon, and he was using it to brace himself.
	"Ukyou, you have to stop... you're already bleeding..."
	Ukyou rubbed her lips with the back of her hand. The blood she saw
smeared on her fist confirmed his statement. She couldn't keep this up much
longer. But everything was working now...
	"Ukyou, if you keep using that non-chi you'll kill yourself!"
	"Thank you, Doctor," Aaron said slowly, then removed Tofu's hand. That
was it. It wasn't chi. They couldn't use it like chi. In fact, they 
shouldn't be
able to use it like chi. Ukyou started them forward. She could see the anger 
and
fear radiating from Hayato in waves.
	Aaron concentrated, focusing chi through their body. In a moment they
could feel it seeping out of their skin. Their aura must have become visible
just then. Their muscles and nerves sang as they became supercharged. Then 
Aaron
focused that strange energy... and he felt no more chi seeping from Ukyou's
skin. It wasn't chi. But it was altering the chi... forcing it through 
channels
that Ukyou had never conceived of before. It wasn't working like chi, it was
altering the way chi worked... that's what was hurting them.
	"So I see you were a fraud all along," Hayato hissed once they were
within earshot. He had managed to regain his balance, and stood ready to 
face
them. "Come on then, let's finish this!"
	"Yes... let's," Ukyou murmured. Aaron already had an idea. A dangerous
idea. But neither of them could care less if it turned back against them. 
They
laughed. "Come at me, Hayato. I'll finish this fight with one blow!"
	"So will I!" Hayato screamed and dashed towards them. He was no longer
moving in slow motion, now that they had stopped forcing their chi to work 
ten
times as hard. His speed was startling, and Ukyou could see the glint of his
needle as he drove it at her. Aaron reached out; he could still see the 
angry
chi radiating from Hayato. He could touch it, moments before Hayato himself
approached.
	It was a bit more Wind Scar than Hiryuu Shoten Ha, but Aaron let the
energy collide with Ukyou's. Hayato's hot spirit rolled and sparked against 
the
cold detached energy that flooded Ukyou's body and her aura. It formed a 
crack,
a void where the hot and the cold cancelled each other out. Aaron drove his 
own
chi into that crack like a wedge, felt it widen as the Hayato's aura split 
apart
around him. It was working! The power of Hayato's aura swirled around them, 
a
plume of dust tracing its path as it spiraled away from Ukyou's outstretched
hand.
	"It's over!" Hayato shouted as he reached them. His needle thrust
forward, coming within an inch of Ukyou's stomach before she completed the
technique. It took only one uppercut, a single strike with all her chi 
focused
right through that crack!
	"SPIRITUS FRACTA TURBONIS!"
	Ukyou timed her attack just right. Her strike not only caught the crack,
but flashed past and impacted dead center on Hayato's mask. For a fraction 
of a
second, time seemed to stand still as the boy hung in the air on the edge of 
her
fist. Then the maelstrom came. To call it a whirlwind would have been an 
insult.
The air literally sheared apart, forming a funnel of complete emptiness 
around
which the winds of the earth shrieked and circled. Hayato floated for a 
second
in that void, the flakes of his mask falling from his squashed and ugly 
face.
His mouth gasped for precious air that wasn't coming... then the laws of 
nature
reasserted themselves and all the air rushed in to fill the vacuum Ukyou had
created. For Hayato, it must have been like being hit by a Mack truck from 
every
direction at once.
	Ukyou threw her hand in front of her face, her feet digging briefly into
the ground as it threatened to drag her in. Then the maelstrom ended, and 
there
was a deceptively quiet thump as Hayato collapsed to the ground. Ukyou 
pulled
down her arm and looked at him. He was finished. His eyes were still open, 
but
he had curled up into the fetal position and was moaning in agony.
	"You... won..." Tofu called out breathlessly.
	"Woah... Ukyou... how the... how did you do that?" Ranma cried as he ran
over. Ukyou just stared at him, feeling odd as she watched him approach. He
seemed so excited, so proud, so curious all at once. But for some reason 
Ukyou
didn't feel as... concerned about his feelings as she had before. She 
realized
the mental numbness was only now beginning to wear off. She felt... woozy 
and
strange.
	"That was quite the finishing move," Ran said as she moved in behind
Ranma.
	"It's... not over..."
	Ukyou looked down. Hayato had grabbed weakly at her ankle. His face was
squashed and covered in dark circles and smudges from the years it had spent
hidden by his mask. Thin red lines oozed across his cheeks from where 
Ukyou's
attack had driven shards of the plastic into his skin. He had crawled over 
to
her on his belly, like a worm. She felt a flare of hot annoyance and a bit 
of
fear.
	"I won't let a fraud like you... beat me..." Hayato gasped. "I'll be
back... stronger..."
	"No," Ukyou informed him. She kicked her ankle free and raised it up. It
was really the only convenient solution to the problem. "You won't." With a
brief burst of Aaron's chi, she drove her heel straight into his spine, 
right
at the shoulders. The crack was almost silent, and yet echoed deafeningly 
across
the yard. Hayato's mouth opened but no sound came out. His eyes seemed to 
fade,
then he collapsed in front of her. Ukyou pulled her foot away.
	"UKYOU!" Tofu shouted. He moved faster than Ukyou had ever seen him
move, virtually materializing by Hayato's side. "He's... not dead..." Tofu
sighed in relief as he checked the boy's vitals.
	Ukyou didn't mention how she had altered the trajectory of her kick at
the last second. It would have been so easy to kill him. But breaking his 
spine
would be just as effective in getting rid of him. Still... Ukyou didn't feel
right. The numbing cold had mostly vanished from her brain. The action she 
had
taken a few seconds ago had seemed so logical, so right... now... now...
	"My god, Ukyou, you broke his spine!" Tofu looked up and glared at her,
and she couldn't meet his accusing eyes. "He was defeated! You didn't have
to..." Tofu trailed off.
	"I... didn't mean to..." Ukyou lied. Aaron shuddered inside her mind.
They had meant to. They had meant to do more than that, but hadn't. Thank
whatever gods existed, they hadn't.
	"Ukyou..." Akane's voice was full of fear. Ukyou couldn't look at her
either. She stumbled away. She felt nauseous. Her staff was lying nearby, 
and
for some reason she tumbled to her knees beside it. She had dropped it 
before
her final attack. "Ukyou, what happened there, it was like you became a
maniac..."
	Before Aaron's final attack! It had been his idea! He was to blame!
	(And who decided to break Hayato's spine?)
	"SHUT UP!" Ukyou shouted to the air.
	She turned, realizing that the others must have thought she was talking
to them. She could see everyone standing away from her. Even Ranma. Sweet,
forgiving Ranma. He was looking at her in a way he never had before. She
couldn't stand that look in his eyes. Unable to endure their stares, Ukyou
scooped up her staff and fled.


				To Be Continued...



Author's Notes:


Blade: Well, there goes our readership.

Epsilon: What readership?

Blade: The readership we had that though the fanfic was too dark back in
chapter, I dunno, three.

Epsilon: Maybe if we start with Ukyou having hawt lesbian SEXXORZ each 
chapter,
they'll come back!

Blade: What an odd suggestion, coming from you.

Epsilon: Well, since I don't have any interest in sex, I don't write the sex
scenes, which means you have to, which means less work, which means... 
BONUS!

Blade: ...

Epsilon: In other news, I remember promising you (the readers, that is, not
Blade) way back in Chapter 1 that I'd explain any of the special move names 
that
needed to be translated.  Sure, it wasn't in Japanese, but hey, if you're 
going
to have a pretentious move name, why not have it in the most pretentious
language of them all: LATIN!

Blade: ...

Epsilon: Spiritus Fracta Turbonis means "Spirit-Breaking Tornado", or close
enough.  So now you know!

Blade: ...I hate you.

Epsilon: Apparently I have to do all the talking this time, so I'll also 
point
out that we've now added summaries at the top of each Hybrid Theory chapter,
some of which are amusing!  Assuming you find our brand of humour amusing.

Blade: ...I still hate you, you spine-snapping jerkoff.

Epsilon: Also, we've gotten someone to reformat the fics so they are legible 
on
fanfiction.net and its ilk.  Not that we LIKE that formatting, and we still
encourage people to come to triple-w dot bladeandepsilon dot com (spelled 
that
way because fanfiction-net strips out URL, even non-clickable ones) and see 
the
PROPER book formatting, as well as all our neat extras... but at least if 
you're
reading from ff.net and other such places, you can actually READ it now.  
Which
has to be considered an improvement.

Blade: Thanks to David Barbour for his hard work and tireless attempts to 
tell
me that it doesn't matter how its formatted!  Okay, only for the former.  
Thanks
also to anybody who actually had the tenacity to read it on these sites up 
until
now, because god knows -I- wouldn't have.  Also, I still hate you.  By 
"you", I
mean Epsilon.

Epsilon: I'll live somehow.

Blade: Next time we meet in the fic, I'm TOTALLY going to kick your ass.  
Again.

Epsilon: Sure.  Perhaps that will happen... NEXT CHAPTER!?




	HER 'OLD FRIEND' OCCHAN HAD A FUCKING SPATULA FOR A HEAD! Where did he
put his goddamn -brain-!?


		 Hybrid Theory Chapter 10: One Step Closer



Blade: Wait.  That's it?

Epsilon: I thought it was poignant and moving.  Also, everything else is a 
big
spoiler.

Blade: ...I hate you.























































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