Part 2

"Mrs. Saotome," Theo said. "When you hired the mage to lock your...child's form, did you also have them take steps to prevent him from inflicting the curse form of lycanthropy on anybody?"

"I had thought such magic was merely a rumor," Nodoka said, surprised.

"Ahh," Theo said in a resigned tone. "I take it that means no."

"So what is this spell for?" Ranma asked cautiously as Dr. Diggers powered up.

"It is to make sure some of the less favorable aspects of lycanthropy don't bother you," the mage said. "Or anyone else."

"Excuse me," Ranko said, sitting across the room from Ranma. "What less favorable aspects?" As Theo started to cast the spell, Nodoka explained the inflicted form of lycanthropy. Brianna walked in as the explanation was finishing, and both younger Saotomes looked pale.

Ranma glanced over at the mage who was casting what seemed to be the same spell on his sister. He tested himself a little, running a mental catalogue, and nothing seemed to be amiss after that spell. He didn't really think this mage would do anything, of course, but paranoia saved pain later sometimes.

"Hey, when you're finished here," Brianna said. "Mom wants to talk to both of them."

"What about?" Ranma asked, eyes narrowed. Talking to parents sometimes resulted in new fiancees. Worry about the mage neatly sidetracked by the bigger problem.

"She saw the recording of your fight with Pee Wee and his Playmates," Brianna said. "Wants to talk shop, maybe spar." Ranma perked up instantly.

"That sounds cool," Ranma said. "She's supposed to be really good right?"

"That's putting it mildly," Theo said.

"That's fine with me," Ranko said, somewhat less enthusiastically. Ranma put it off to left over shock at the description of thralls and such. After all, she was him, just a female version. She had to like martial arts just as much as he did. Assuming she didn't turn out to be a crazy evil clone out to destroy him that is.

"Good," Theo said. "Then perhaps you can do that while I speak to our guests." He turned to his daughter, speaking in English. "Brianna, could you tell Gina, and all our out of town visitors to come talk to me?"

"Sure," Brianna said. "You need me here too?"

"Are you a full human that got scratched by our friends here?" he asked, indicating the Saotome's.

"Oh," Brianna said, in realization. "I guess that I don't have to worry about that." She laughed once nervously.

"I wouldn't think so, I just need you to have the other people talk to me," Theo said. "but let Mrs. Saotome and I explain matters."

"Gotcha," Brianna said. She turned to the twins and switched to Japanese. "You guys done?"

"I guess so," Ranko said. "Is that it?" Theodore Diggers nodded.

"Well, let's go see what this lady's got then," Ranma said enthusiastically.

"Nope, no cuts, no scratches, no bites," Gina said. "I stayed away from the fight. I leave that kind of stuff to Bri and Brit."

"Excuse me, why are you asking us this?" Akane asked, confused.

"It seems that Ranma and Ranko are contagious," Theo said.

"I thought you said it wasn't a disease," Ukyou said, nervously.

"It isn't, really," the mage explained. "But the theory is that werecreatures were created from normal humans long ago and that the original spell lies inside them. At least there is something in them that causes a change in normal humans."

"It is something that civilized werecreatures take careful pains to avoid," Nodoka said off to the side. "Accidents happen, however."

"Usually the clans have a mage to ward the children," Theo explained further. "Though apparently Mrs. Saotome did not know of them."

"I have been a little out of the loop," Nodoka admitted.

"So, what's so bad about being stronger and faster than anybody?" Ukyou asked.

"Do you not know the stories?" Kodachi demanded.

"Stories?" Ukyou repeated, confused.

"Koda-chan," Nabiki said. "If you haven't noticed already, Ranma and his friends have spent most of their lives fairly separate from most of the rest of the world. Magical shapechanging cats generally are not well regarded, but that's all old stories."

"Which is why Kodachi is probably the only one who brought it up," Akane said irritably.

"There is another problem as well," Dr. Diggers said.

"Here it comes," Gina says. "I tried to get them to let Brittany scratch me once and..."

"It is wrong. The true lycanthrope will have power over the inflicted one," Nodoka said passionately. "Again, with accidents, civilized weres choose not to exercise that power, but there are barbarians that would use it. To control the thrall's emotions, loyalty, when they change, everything. It is an abominable and primitive practice."

"Yep," Gina nodded. "Same lecture, different person though. Is there some sort of werecreature parent's handbook I've never heard of?"

"We'd be...Ranma's...slaves?" Nabiki asked quietly. It was uncertain which part of that she disliked more. Kodachi blinked and sat up straight.

"Hmmmm." All eyes turned to the slightly flushed noblegirl and sweatdropped.

"And that's why I haven't done a blood transfusion," Gina said. An image flashed through her head of Brittany asking to borrow money for a shopping binge, and her just handing it over. Of course Brit would never do that, she was fairly certain anyway.

"Or Ranko's, if they chose," Nodoka said. "Even if they didn't, you'd feel very loyal to whoever it was that inflicted it on you."

"So that's explained," Theo said, a little more calmly. "Other than the samurai I've already tended to, have any of you been bitten or clawed by either Ranma or Ranko in the last day or so?"

"So, it's curable then?" Kodachi asked, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Yes, but it's easier to stop it than it is to cure it," Theo said. "Now, did anyone get scratched or bitten while they were tumbling around?" Nabiki and Akane's hands virtually shot up. Ukyou held back.

"I do not remember taking any injury other than that gaijin barbarian landing upon my head," Kodachi professed.

"Yeah, nothing here either," Ukyou said. "Except for some flash burns." Theo was about to question Ukyou again when Nodoka spoke up.

"I hope those Amazons didn't get scratched at all," Nodoka said. Mousse had vanished as soon as he woke up. "It would only encourage them to come after us."

"We can't control that," Theo said. "And we won't know until they show up."

"Yeah, that would be too bad," Nabiki said, not truly concerned.

"Is there perhaps anybody else he may have injured?" Dr. Diggers asked.

"He went into Neko-ken earlier today," Akane said. "But he only attacked Kuno."

"That would explain why it was so advanced in the boy," the mage said. "Nobody else?"

"I don't think so," Ukyou said. She yawned.

"Are you okay, Yuka?" Sayuri asked. "You look irritated at something."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "A just feel a little itchy is all."

"You get into the wrong plants, or get a bug bite or something?" Sayuri asked. The other girl shook her head.

"No, it's that scratch I got from Ranma when we were pulling him off Kuno," Yuka said.

"Oh, that explains it," Sayuri said, waving it off. "Cats have poison in their claws you know. I got scratched by angry cat once and it burned for hours."

"You know," Yuka said nervously. "I just thought of something, there's a werecheetah around."

"Yeah, but that was Ranma in Neko-ken," Sayuri said. "Not some horror movie monster."

"I guess so," Yuka said, sighing. She slipped a small amulet over her neck and brushed her hair back over the chain.

"What's that?" Sayuri asked.

"Oh, it's a family heirloom," Yuka said. "Mom found it some of my father's things and thought I should have it." She took a deep breath and slipped the little amulet into her shirt.

"Oh, sorry," Sayuri said. Yuka waved her off.

"That's okay," Yuka said. "I kind of wish Akane were here to talk about it though."

"It was kind of weird looking, what was it?" Sayuri asked. Yuka looked back and forth for a moment and then leaned close to Sayuri.

"It's from Africa," she said.

"What was one of your ancestors doing in Africa?" Sayuri asked.

"They were born there," Yuka whispered. "Came over with a load of exotic animals in the early eighteen hundreds."

"Yuka, this isn't feudal Japan anymore," Sayuri said. "Gaijin blood isn't THAT big of a deal."

"Yeah, says you," Yuka said. She glanced around quickly again and then calmed down. "So, who else is coming to this sleepover?"

"A few other girls," Sayuri said shrugging as she and Yuka continued walking down the darkening streets. "And watch it, you flail about in your sleep."

"I do not," Yuka denied, and the conversation descended into good-natured juvenile denials and accusations.

Ahhh. Blessed ignorance.

"Now about those of us who were scratched..." The mage smirked in amusement at the girl's attitude. She was trying to come across as merely irritated, and doing a fair job of it. Ukyou was hiding something though, and the arrogant one seemed to be rather shifty as well. He thought it would probably be a good idea to check them over anyway.

"Don't worry, this doesn't take long," Theo said. Nabiki tried to look unconcerned as the mage built up power. Then the light flashed around her, sort of tickling. The frown that appeared on the mage's face froze Nabiki's blood cold. He cupped his chin and turned to Akane, incidentally forgetting about his suspicions about Ukyou and Kodachi. "Let me check something real quick here."

"Oh kay," Akane said nervously.

"What's wrong," Nabiki asked, trying to sound collected and cool as the mage cast a spell on Akane. After a moment he turned to face her.

"It seems there is a lycanthrope in your family history at some point," the mage said. "The introduction of the lycanthrope curse to your system is waking up the potential."

"Basically all the dormant genes carried over from your family bloodline are being activated," Gina said. "With whatever's missing probably being filled in by the magical gene-engineering programs designed into the lycanthropic spell." Everybody looked at her for a moment and nodded, not all of them particularly certain of what she said.

"You mean I'm going to become one of Ranma's groupies, and you can't stop it?" Akane demanded.

"Hey!" Ukyou protested. "Who are you calling a groupie?"

"If the shoe fits," Nabiki said, struggling to maintain her calm exterior.

"What is going to happen," Nodoka asked edging forward nervously.

"By tomorrow, it's happening quicker for Akane," he said. "It will be finished, but I can't say what'll happen. They could be like Brianna, or anything really. I doubt they will be inflicted weres whatever the case, most likely they would be like you and your children, full blown lycanthropes." Nabiki felt an immense relief at that, though the idea of being furry was something of an annoyance.

"What kind of werecreature?" Ukyou asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"There's no telling yet," the mage said. "Looks like we'll have to wait a day to see."

"Why will it be quicker for me?" Akane asked, taking a deep breath.

"Well, gee, Akane," Nabiki said sarcastically. "Which of us here has had more encounters with magic, you or me?"

"Oh," Akane said, flushing in embarrassment. "How long before it happens?"

"Not long," Theo said. "Lycanthropy is a persistent magic, about the only thing that would have a quicker effect would be taking a trip to Jade."

"I don't know what's going on," Ryouga muttered angrily. "But somehow it has to be Ranma's fault."

The wanderer was currently looking into a clear pool at a furry face with a slightly extended snout and set of sharp canine teeth. Of course there was the long, furry tail that was sticking out of his rear end, folded over his pants waistband.

Of course there was the clothes problem. He was huge, and suddenly his clothes were ridiculously small on his enlarged frame. He looked sort of like a combination of a mastiff, that sasquatch fellow he'd run into last month, and a poorly dressed street urchin that had just hit a growth spurt.

"Oh my," a voice said behind him. There was snickering. "Would you look at that?"

"Sheila don't laugh at the poor boy," another voice said. This one was actually trying to hold in the laughter. "There's probably a very good reason he's dressed like that."

"Definitely Ranma's fault," Ryouga muttered, eyes narrowed. He turned around to face his tormentors. "Stop laughing at me! Damn you, Ranma! Somehow this is your fault! Where is Tokyo!?"

"I've never heard of the..." the cat-girl stopped as she got a better look at Ryouga.

"Werewolves are banned from this world," the taller werecat said. He had the same pattern of circles and spots as the girl. Ryouga guessed they were related, though he was certain that that was a little beyond his ability to tell for sure.

"Werewolf?" Ryouga asked. He paused a few seconds, blinking. "RANMA!!!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"

"By the way," Theo said, noticing how all the people from Japan seemed to be getting tired. "It must be getting fairly late in Japan, perhaps you all should get some sleep."

"Is there enough room here?" Akane asked.

"Oh, plenty," Gina said, smirking. "Plenty."

"You are going to require that I and my brother remain here?" Kodachi added. She looked around. "I suppose the surroundings are somewhat up to my standards."

"I'm glad you approve," Theo said dryly. "If you'll excuse me, I have to attend to some other things. I'm sure Gina can direct you to some rooms." As they were leaving the room to be directed to some of the guest quarters Nabiki pulled Akane back for a private talk.

"I think they're up to something," Nabiki said.

"Ukyou and Kodachi?" Akane asked. Nabiki nodded. "What do you mean by they're up to something?"

"Think about it," Nabiki said. "If another werecheetah were to show up, who would Auntie most favor a marriage with?"

"You think they got scratched and aren't saying anything about it?" Akane asked.

"Maybe, at least one of them, if not that, then maybe looking for a way to get accidentally infected later. I think you should make a move, sis," Nabiki said. "After I've bled him dry for turning our lives upside down again."

"Aren't you going to get in the conversation at all?" Brittany asked Ranko. Genn sat off to the side, making conversation much easier by means of his ESP. Though he looked a mixture of bored and terrified at the discussion of various ways to destroy a living thing with nothing but a human body.

Genn was discovering just why those rakshasha that warmed up ethereal energy in combat were somewhat of a rare breed. They probably all died very painful, mutilated deaths. He had to remember to thank Brittany for sparing him in their first meeting

"He can tell about the training as well as I can," Ranko said, shifting uncomfortably away from Brit. Ranma looked at her oddly for a moment and then looked back at Julia.

"So are we just gonna talk or we gonna do some actual sparring," Ranma asked bluntly. Julia smirked and chuckled a little.

"HEY!" Akane snapped as she walked into the room. "Why don't you ever offer to spar with me?"

"Ah, come on Akane," Ranma said, almost whining. "I can't do that."

"Well, why not?" Akane asked, angrily advancing on Ranma. Ranma simply backed off, getting nervous. Ranko looked confused, Akane hadn't been this volatile in a while. "I'm a martial artist too, and you treat me like some sort china doll."

"What's the matter Akane?" Ranko asked. A rather amused and insulted laugh from the door brought the attention to Nabiki.

"We just had some rather questionable news," Nabiki answered. Akane looked at her and crossed her arms, huffing. "Apparently, the Saotomes aren't the only ones with a little bit of animal in their blood."

"Huh?" Ranma said, confused.

"We didn't...uh...infect you," Ranko said after a moment. "Did we?"

"Yes and no," Nabiki said. "Like I said, apparently there's a family history that, after getting a little cut up from the Ran twins, has decided to come out. So when we next wake up we'll be all furry with tails. By the way, Ranma, how much do you owe me now?" Ranma flinched.

"But I'm the one..." Ranko started and cut off, looking uncertain. "Aren't I?"

"You can hardly blame Ranko and Ranma for your blood line," Brianna interrupted, making sure to put Ranko's name first as she saw the girl faltering.

"Akane?" Ranma asked nervously. The girl looked at him for a moment and then stormed off.

"Well," Julia said, crossing her arms. Ranma looked to her. "Are you going to just sit there? Go after her, we can spar later."

"Uh, right," Ranma said, standing up and going after Akane. After a brief moment of confusion Ranko followed along quietly behind. Brianna worriedly moved to follow Ranko.

"You and me have got to talk, girl," Julia said, fixing Nabiki with a dissatisfied glare. Nabiki arched an eyebrow and stifled a yawn.

"She doesn't mean any harm, Mrs. Diggers," Genn said.

"Meaning harm and causing it are two different things," Julia commented. Nabiki shrugged and moved out of the doorway to walk down the hallway.

"I'm going to bed, wake me up whenever," she muttered.

"That girl has a real attitude problem," Julia noted.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou called in a sing song manner. "That Gina girl said I should show you where your room is!" She entered the room and looked around. "Wasn't he just here?"

"He and his sister just left," Genn said. He walked up to Ukyou switching into a copy of Ranma as he moved. "But maybe I can help." He smiled broadly.

"Uhhh," Ukyou backed off in a little shock.

"GENN!!" Brittany and Julia snapped angrily.

"What?" The Rakshasha asked.

"Am I, uh missing something?" Ukyou asked, resulting in being treated to an explanation of feeding habits. Namely drawing ethereal energy from immobile beings after tiring them out through exercise of one type or another.

"Yeah, Genn gets kinda flirty when his power levels go down," Brittany said.

"Very flirty," Julia added darkly, thinking of a time she had caught the rakshasha in a failed attempt to seduce her husband.

"Uh...heh," Genn-Ranma sweated nervously. "I haven't done that again."

"Fortunately for you," Julia said.

"Well, uh..." Genn-Ranma said nervously, turning back to Ukyou. "Are you interested?" The rakshasha was still using Brianna as his primary source of information on how to come on to someone. Which is too say he was about as subtle as brick. Unfortunately he wasn't as comfortable as Brianna so he was also about as effective as a brick in attracting people sometimes.

"Sorry, no thank you," Ukyou said nervously. "I've got my Ranchan, and that's that."

I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed, Genn thought. Julia arched an eyebrow and shared a look with Brittany.

"Ranma-darling!" Kodachi cried out and then came into the room, spotting Genn-Ranma. "Ahh, there you are, I'm supposed to show you the room that Gina person has arranged for us."

"Actually, I'm not really..." Genn tried to say. Ukyou gave a wide smirk and snickered.

"Now, now," Kodachi interrupted. "Now's not the time to be shy. Let us leave these peasants and attend to our glorious selves." Pretty much everybody bridled at that one.

"Well, that's fine with me," Genn said. "But, I'm not..." He was cut off when Ukyou grabbed his arm and snarled at Kodachi.

"Buzz-off and leave me and Ranchan alone, Kodachi," Ukyou snapped.

"But I'm not..." Genn said desperately before Kodachi grabbed his arm back.

"Leave Ranma-sama and me to our business," Kodachi snapped, starting to pull Genn along with her. "Let's go darling." Kodachi was gone in a flash, Ukyou standing back and crossing her arms triumphantly.

"She's in for a surprise," Julia said, smirking.

"Isn't that a little bit mean?" Brittany asked. With the translator gone, Ukyou could only stare in confusion.

"Hey," Julia said. "Genn tried to tell the girl."

"What are you saying?" Ukyou asked. "Never mind, I'm going to bed." She yawned and walked into the hallway.

"What did she say?" Julia asked.

"Uh, she's going to bed," Brittany said. "I think."

"Remind me to ask Genn to come with us," Julia said. "Now, excuse me, I have to...speak to your father."

"Come to think of it," Brittany said. "I haven't had much quality time with Stripe the last couple of days." Both women grinned broadly and then left to track down their husbands.

Brianna easily caught up with Ranko and put herself in between the girl and the leaving couple.

"Whoah," Brianna said. "Give them some privacy, girl."

"I don't know about you," Ranko said. "But copies of me tend to be demons out to kill people." Brianna winced.

"Yeah, well," Brianna scratched the back of her head as she struggled to answer that. "Trust me, if there was anything malicious, Genn would have spotted it. We have some experience with this sort of thing."

"Yeah," Ranko said a little distrusting. "Like we were supposed to trust you with curing me." Brianna sighed and glanced around.

"We both know what this is really about," Brianna said leaning forward. Ranko stared at her through narrowed eyes. "So just one question."

"What?" Ranko asked dangerously. She could get past Brianna if she wanted to.

"Do you always dress like that?" Brianna asked, indicating the Chinese clothes she had taken from the small package of clothes Ranma had brought with him.

"I don't have many other clothes," Ranko said. She wasn't very good at being a girl. The one time she had tried to be what she thought a girl was supposed to be, she had come off as some sort of deranged mockery of a girl. At least that's what she was told.

"Well, girl, you and me are going to take care of that right now," Brianna said. "Unless you need to sleep."

"No, I can go a few hours," Ranma said. She glanced down the hallway. "Are you sure Akane'll be fine?"

"Definitely," Brianna said. Ranko wasn't quite certain she liked the smirk that accompanied that statement.

"Akane, wait," Ranma said as he caught up to her. She whirled on Ranma, face angry.

"It's getting late," Akane snapped. She started to point out the window. "Japan is thirteen hours ahead of this place, baka, it's night there. And I'm getting tired, okay?"

"I'm just trying to see if you're all right," Ranma insisted.

"I can take care of myself, Ranma," Akane insisted. "Stop acting like I need to be sheltered."

"Sheesh, just let me help you out a little," Ranma said. "You're helping me with all this stuff too, you know." Akane blinked and stared at Ranma.

"Ranma Saotome," Akane said in mock surprise. "Admitting he needed help for something. Will wonders never cease."

"Yeah, well its true," Ranma said. "You know how much of a relief it's been knowing there's someone there who can pull me outta the neko-ken since this all started? Now, are you okay?"

"I don't know," Akane said simply. "What am I going to do? What will dad say, or my friends?"

"I don't know," Ranma said. "But...I'll watch your back if you keep watchin mine, okay?"

"It isn't that simple," Akane said. "And you've got all those other girls after you..."

"That ain't my fault," Ranma said. "And they don't listen to me."

"You should try harder!" Akane snapped angrily. "Now, I want to get some sleep. You should too." Ranma nodded but looked back and forth down the hallway.

"Good night then, I guess," Ranma said hesitantly. "Just one thing..." Akane sighed in irritation and glanced at him.

"What?" she demanded.

Ranma fidgeted a little and then leaned in to kiss her, Akane blinked in surprise and then hesitantly leaned forward herself. She was lost enough in the kiss that she didn't notice the grey hair growing on her face, or how she got slimmer suddenly, and her ears got bigger. The tail forcing it's way out of her panties and curling out from under her dress was enough to break her focus though.

"Now look what you did, baka," Akane said quietly, breaking off from the kiss. "I wanted to be asleep when this happened."

"Sorry," Ranma said apologetically.

"It's fine," Akane said. "I think that was better, but, Ranma."

"Yeah," Ranma said nervously.

"Give me a warning next time, or I'll hammer you into next week," Akane said with a smirk. "Good night."

"Good night," Ranma said smiling. Then Akane closed the door on her room and he walked away feeling a little bit better. She's still cute when she smiles. She smells good too. Ranma stopped walking and looked down at his grumbling stomach.

"Oww," a girl whined as she sat up. Then she picked up her pillow and thwacked the sleeping form on the futon next to her. This particular smack was more or less just a general principle sort of thing. Now that she was awake enough to actually pay attention to the act.

"Wha?" the target muttered from under her blanket.

"Sheesh, Yuka," someone else said. "This is worse than when Akane clubbed us all. Don't you cut your nails at all?"

"All night t -- ," Sayuri cut off as she turned to look at Yuka. "Uhh."

"Of course I do," Yuka muttered tiredly as she sat up. "I always cut my...why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Uhhh, Yuka," Sayuri said. "Have you looked at yourself?"

"Why should I look..." she looked down. "...at...myself?" Her hands were all furry with sharp nails, more like claws than anything. Then there was the heavy thump behind her and she turned to see a long spotted tail. "AHHHH!!!"

Nodoka was sitting at a table watching the sun set outside the window. The sound of footsteps brought her head around to show Gina walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello," Gina said. "Getting up, or going down?"

"I'm just waking up for a moment," Nodoka said. "I plan to get a little more sleep later. If I see Akane I will suggest the same thing to her. If we go to Jade with my...children, then we should get used to the proper cycle."

"Yeah, jet lag is a terror," Gina agreed, walking to the fridge.

"Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?" Nodoka asked.

"Ah, it's barely six," Gina said. She pulled a soda out and sat down at the table next to Nodoka. "I have some experimenting to do."

"What sort of experiments are these?" Nodoka asked.

"Nothing great," Gina said, sounding disappointed. "Just testing some equipment for my next exploration."

"Where will that be?" Nodoka asked.

"The dark side of the moon," Gina said, getting a blink from Nodoka. "I thought I saw something there when we passed it on the way to Aebra."

"Uh, I see," Nodoka said. "I understand why you would need to test your equipment."

"Yeah," Gina said. "Unless you want to have a hull breach halfway to the destination."

"I hope for your sake that you'll be more careful with this than you were with my child," Nodoka said, frowning. Gina flinched.

"I'm really really sorry about that," Gina said. "I was sure I could do it without the side effect."

"Perhaps you are not the only one to blame," Nodoka said after a long moment. "I should have waited to speak to your father at least. Still, a warning at the very least would have been appropriate."

"Yeah, sometimes I do get a little impatient," Gina admitted. Nodoka looked at her for a moment, fidgeting uncomfortably and avoiding looking at the woman.

"What is the purpose of your explorations?" Nodoka asked. "If I may ask."

"I don't know," Gina said shrugging and leaning back. "One day Brittany came in and told me I was wasting my life away doing nothing, and she made sense. Especially about the men." Gina smirked widely. "I'll say this, I've learned more in these explorations than I ever did in the class room."

"So the whole Gold Digger persona on the news," Nodoka let it trail off.

"Is the media playing up on how I choose to fund myself," Gina said. "I sell to museums and I don't sell off the stuff that could be dangerous. I'm not some mercenary pirate. I leave that to other people."

The conversation was cut off briefly by the sound of a car pulling up outside.

"That's my Gina Mobile," Gina said tightly. She stood up deliberately and stalked to the front door, gritting her teeth. Nodoka followed as well, and they came to the front door in time to see Brianna walk in. "Brianna! What are you doing!?"

"What, you think I don't know how to drive that thing?" Brianna asked.

"That's not the point," Gina said. "You don't have a license!"

"Yeah, yeah," Brianna said. "I didn't get pulled over, so no problem."

"What are you doing anyway?" Gina asked. Brianna smiled and put up a finger then faded back a moment and brought someone forward.

"Nodoka Saotome," Brianna said. "May I present your daughter." The dye had been washed out of her hair and she was wearing a long skirt and a rather loose, but pretty blouse. Over that was a light jacket. All done in shades of green to compliment her now blonde and black hair. Ranko's hair was down and cut short with some face framing bangs.

"Oh my," Nodoka said, looking the nervous Ranko over. She stepped forward and took a closer look. Ranko flinched back a little but took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"I wanted slacks," she said. "But they didn't have any that would fit me in both forms."

"You look...lovely, dear," Nodoka said. Ranko blushed.

"Not overdone at all?" Ranko asked nervously and then yawned.

"Not at all," Nodoka said. "I wouldn't wear my hair so short, myself."

"T...th...th...the dye wouldn't w...wash out of it a...all," Ranko said nervously. Nodoka stepped back away from Ranko and the girl relaxed noticeably. Then turned to look at her feet. "Sorry, Mother."

"It's fine, Ranko," Nodoka said in response.

Gina blinked and scooted up next to Brianna. She glanced at the bags of clothes and acquired a distinctly nervous look.

"How much did this all cost?" Gina asked quietly in English.

"I'll ask Brittany later," Brianna said. Gina smiled nervously and started to sweat. "I'll pay her back. Don't worry."

Ranma stretched and yawned as he quietly padded down the hallway, pausing at the door to the room Akane had been given. This was odd, she was usually up before him.

"Akane, are you in there?" he asked banging on the door. After a moment the door swished open showing Akane, still in her hybrid form, and looking very tired.

"How do you do it?" she demanded.

"Do what?" he asked surprised.

"Change back," Akane said irritably.

"Oh," Ranma said and scratched his head nervously. "I guess I can show ya. I think."

"You think?" Akane repeated.

"At least you're...uh...cute," Ranma said. "And I think we're supposed to stay in hybrid form while we're at this other place."

"I'd like to be able to fit in with my normal friends still," Akane said. Considering events in Nerima, she didn't really have to worry about this, but she didn't know that. "And...did you just call me cute? Or is that just the jet lag?"

"Uhh, jet lag?" Ranma suggested.

"Right," Akane said smirking. "Now, how am I supposed to change back?"

"Can I come in?" Ranma asked. Akane nodded and Ranma strode in, sitting at the empty desk in the guestroom as it closed up. "This place is bigger than the Kuno mansion."

"Well?" Akane asked.

"It's like a focus," Ranma said. "You know how you visualize breaking the bricks before ya hit 'em right?"

"Yeah," Akane answered.

"Same thing really," Ranma said. "Just visualize what it feels like to be human and everything. See, watch."

Ranma took a breath and Akane watched him fill out the baggy Chinese clothes he was wearing. Fill them out and stretch them. Akane swallowed nervously and tried to focus past "impure thoughts" as Ranma finished transforming. She had a sudden image of running wildly through tall grass with someone stalking her. Of course the disturbing thing was she wouldn't mind being caught, was even considering turning around to make the chase shorter.

"So, try it," Ranma said.

"Excuse me," Akane said. "What?" She blinked and lifted her eyes up to focus on Ranma's face.

"Are you sure you don't want to get some sleep first?" Ranma asked, leaning in and sniffing.

He really is well built, Akane was thinking, though part of her was trying to annihilate those impure thoughts. Most of the rest of her was remembering Nabiki suggesting she make a move.

"You even smell tir-mmph!" Ranma blinked in surprise as Akane wrapped her hands around him. Then he relaxed and circled his own arms around her. Ranma's stomach growled loudly and Akane snickered.

"You know," she said saucily, borrowing a tone voice she'd heard Shampoo use. Or maybe it was Nabiki. "I wouldn't mind you eating me, as long as it was done right." It produced a really weird image in her mind, and she suddenly wondered if she had just said something perverted.

"Ummmm," Ranma blinked. "What?" Akane blushed enough that her temperature rose.

"It's hard to explain..." she said. Especially when I'm not certain about what it is.

They were interrupted by the sound of a pounding on the closed door.

"Who is it?" Akane called out. Ranma kept his mouth shut.

"It's Auntie Saotome," Nodoka's voice came from the other sign of the door. Ranma and Akane instantly separated.

"Oh, uhhh...can I do anything for you?" Akane asked.

"I was thinking to warn you that you should get some more sleep," Nodoka's said. "Apparently Jade operates on the same day schedule as this place. So you should perhaps go to bed soon."

"Thanks," Akane said, nervously. "I'll try to get to...uh...bed right away." Ranma looked extremely nervous at that statement.

"I'll see you in the morning then, Akane-chan," Nodoka said smirking as she walked along.

"Wasn't Ranma in there?" Ranko asked darkly next to her. Nodoka glanced at her, concerned.

"Does anybody else smell mice?" Brianna asked. Ranko glanced back at the receding door.

"Brianna-san," Nodoka said. "I need to speak to my daughter for a moment."

"Sure." Brianna said after a moment.

"Do you...have feelings for Akane?" Nodoka asked cautiously.

"What do you mea -- " Ranko's went wide. She couldn't really guess that. "Not like that!?"

"Then you have to expect that they'll pay more attention to each other at times," Nodoka said. "And it's about time."

"But..."

"Now, we should get back to bed," Nodoka said, apparently unaware that there was any further problem.

"Yeah, I guess," Ranko muttered.

Ranko was soon in her room, laying on her bed and thinking about Akane. She didn't know what she felt for Akane any more. She didn't really feel attracted to any of the girls, but she didn't feel attracted to the guys either. In fact, other than Akane, she, and she assumed Ranma, had never really felt attracted to anybody since Jusenkyo. Before that, well it had been a long time alone with their pop.

The only other exception was when Ryouga had hit her with that fishing rod. Though she was a little flattered at some of the attention she had gotten. Or she would have been if most of it hadn't been forced on with metal girdles or drugged tea or stupid poetry or whatever.

"You'd think Jusenkyo had us all screwed up or something," Ranko muttered quietly and tried to go to sleep and NOT think about what might or might not be happening in Akane's room between her "brother" and the girl she...was really confused about.

Ranma released a long breath as they heard Nodoka and the other sets of footsteps head away from the door.

"That was close," Ranma said. "Want to save this for tomorrow then?" He sounded almost hopeful. Akane looked at him and then sat down on the bed sighing.

"I guess I'm not all that cute then," Akane said.

"What?" Ranma gasped. "Where'd you get that?" He walked over and sat down next to her.

"Any time it gets close to something happening," Akane said irritably. "You back off and act like I've got the plague or something. Is there something wrong with me?"

"No," Ranma said.

"Then why?" Akane demanded. She didn't know whether she was becoming more instinctual with her newfound heritage or if Nabiki's warning was provoking her to action or what. She didn't really care either. Ranma mumbled something. "What was that?"

"I don't want ta hurt you," Ranma said quietly.

"Hurt me?" Akane repeated darkly. "What does THAT mean?"

"Well, I told you," Ranma said. "You're supposed to save this stuff..."

"For someone you care about," Akane said, rolling her eyes. "I get it."

"Yeah, so why me?" Ranma asked Akane blinked and turned to Ranma in a little bit of disbelief, with a mix of sudden realization.

"You mean every time you said that," Akane started. "You were wondering why I would care about you?"

"Uhh...yeah," Ranma said. Akane blinked and stared forward for a moment.

"Oh," Akane said. A splash of blue in the room caught Ranma's eyes and he glanced in that direction.

"What's that?" Ranma asked. Akane glanced in that direction and blushed, though it was hard to see under the gray fur.

"My panties," Akane said, then cleared her throat. "They were a little too uncomfortable with the tail." Ranma seemed to blush at that point as well.

"Yeah, it's the same with me," Ranma said. "But I just slip it over the waistband and deal with it. What are you wearing if you don't have on the panties."

"I could show you," Akane said quietly. Ranma suddenly looked tongue-tied.

"W...wh...whattya mean by that?" Ranma asked. Akane shuffled uncomfortably before leaning up and kissing Ranma again. They fell back on the bed, Akane landing heavily on top of Ranma. The kiss broke in the landing and Ranma desperately sputtered out "don't ya think we should wait til we get married?"

Akane didn't answer back, face just buried in between Ranma's neck and shoulder.

"Akane?" Ranma asked worriedly. His answer was a snore. Ranma sweatdropped and lay back with a mixture of relief and frustration.

Nabiki stared at herself in the mirror. She had no problem recognizing what kind of werecreature she had turned into. Rounded ears, sharp front teeth, a furry brown coat and a long slender tail. She could just hear the jokes already.

"Always knew she was a rat," Nabiki muttered as she adjusted her clothes to be more comfortable with the tail.

She stretched out and headed for the kitchen, after figuring out where to go from the "you are here maps," on the wall. She hadn't gone more than a mile before she heard something she would have rather avoided.

"This infernal prison will not contain the might of the true scion of the house of Kuno for long," a voice raged from the door she was walking by.

"Oh, wonderful, the Furinkan Flop's awake," Nabiki said. She considered that for a moment. Hmm, and all I have to do is tell the truth.

"You foul sorcerers cannot keep me confined for long," Kuno shouted. "Not matter that you have me locked in a room without doors!" Nabiki walked over and knocked on the door.

"Hey, Kuno," Nabiki called out. "Have you tried the button marked 'OPEN' on the wall over here?"

"Of course I have not fallen for such a simple ploy," Kuno snapped. "Who is out there that is trying to fool the Blue Thunder so?"

"It's me Kuno Baby," Nabiki responded irritably. "Nabiki Tendo."

"Oh yes," Kuno said a little calmer. "I should have recognized the waspish personality. Do you have a cold, Nabiki Tendo, your voice sounds a little squeaky." Nabiki glared at the closed door.

"I'm fine, Kuno," Nabiki said icily.

"And just how did you escape the clutches of our foreign captors?" Kuno asked.

"I pushed the OPEN button," Nabiki said dryly, tapping her feet. "Listen Kuno, I'm hungry, so unless you have any other questions I'd like to walk the rest of the mile to the nearest kitchen."

"Ah, yes, what news do you have of the werecheetahs and that fiendish sorcerer Saotome?" Kuno demanded.

Kuno, you are too predictable, Nabiki smirked. "Oh the werecheetahs are Ranma and his sister."

"I knew that fiend was nothing human, he shall yet know fear at the righteous wrath of..." Kuno paused in confusion. "Sister?"

"Yes, I think you know her," Nabiki said. "Ranko. The pig-tailed girl?" Hook. There was silence.

"That fiend has inflicted this hideous curse upon his own sister!?" Kuno ranted. "Release me from this cell that I may correct this vile injustice!"

"Actually they were born that way," Nabiki said. "Just like Akane and me." Line.

"What is this you say about the beauteous Akane?" Kuno asked.

"Well, apparently we have some family history," Nabiki said. "That reacted with getting scratched by a lycanthrope by...well, I guess it's better to show you."

She reached over and pushed the button to open the door. Kuno stood just on the other side of the door and looked down at a furry, brown...person that somewhat resembled a slimmer Nabiki.

"Nabiki...Tendo?" Kuno asked.

"You got it Kuno Baby," Nabiki said. "Apparently somebody in our family tree was a wererat, and well when Ranma or Ranko scratched us, suddenly we're like this."

"Hmph," Kuno said. "I always knew that you were of the darker nature, Nabiki Tendo, and now I see your true colors as one of the Nezumi...did you say we? Do you mean that your sister is equally afflicted?"

"Bingo, Kuno-chan," Nabiki said. She watched his rage build up with a smirk. Sinker.

"That fiend!" Kuno shouted. "I shall send him screaming back to hell for this effrontery!" And Kuno was gone down the hallway.

"Have fun Kuno-Baby," Nabiki said. She shrugged and started back on the trek to the kitchen, smiling in amusement at the probable results of this conversation.

"Oh, Ranma-Darling," Kodachi moaned as she woke up, snuggling against Genn. The rakshasha didn't think she was quite awake yet.

Unfortunately he hadn't had much choice other than to starve. Séance was in Jade and that left Brianna and Gina. Either of those two terrified him more than Kodachi could. She had the right attitude, she just needed a few more years of experience.

"Oh, Raaanmaaa," Kodachi muttered again, laughing amusedly.

Genn sweated a little and worried that she might not wake up before he went to sleep. Which was about when the beeping at the door was heard. Sort of like someone trying to open the door to the room. Genn looked up and saw the hallway lights filtering in past a tall silhouette.

"Ahh, there you are foul demon!" the figure shouted, waking up Kodachi who sat up and angrily covered herself. Genn grabbed his t-shirt and shorts to do likewise. "And what helpless woman is this that you have dared to sully..."

"Brother-dear," Kodachi snapped angrily. "Would you please leave me and my Ranma-darling alone."

Brother, Genn thought. Uh oh.

"Saotome..." Kuno growled. "You dare to corrupt my sister?"

"But I'm not Ranma," Genn said desperately.

"Brother, if you could please stay out of my affairs," Kodachi retorted. "Now if you would -- "

"Ahh, the sorcerer's might has clouded her -- " Kuno paused a moment.

"Pardon," Kodachi turned to face Genn. "What was that?"

"I told you this before," Genn said nervously. "I'm not Ranma." His Ranma form faded into his neutral body.

"I vaguely remember some sort of story about feeding on my energy," Kodachi said dangerously, as she noted Genn's shape changing. And I thought that was Ranma playing games. On the other hand, I wonder just how many shapes this being can take. Hmmm. Genn caught that stray thought and turned nervously to look at Kodachi.

"At last you have shown your true colors demon!" Kuno shouted as he saw Genn's horned form.

"What!?" Genn snapped.

"Have at thee, villain!" Kuno shouted charging forward. Genn ducked the bokken that seemed to come out of nowhere and took to the hallway. "You'll not escape that easily!" And Kuno was after him.

"Brother, why must you always interfere in my life?!" Kodachi demanded as she started to gather her clothes together. She paused a moment. "Though he did deceive me, hmmm, perhaps a little retribution is in order."

Ukyou snapped awake to the sounds of "Stop vile sorcerer!" and "I'm not him!!" She rubbed at her eyes and yawned. She could already tell that it wasn't Ranma and was probably just some poor schmoe that Kuno had mistaken for Ranma. A shout about "defiling my sister" brought it all together for Ukyou.

"I should probably make sure he doesn't hurt the weird guy," Ukyou sighed. "I sound funny." She felt a little strange too, and her clothes were really tight. She sat up and watched with a little wonder as a long tail curled around and settled in her lap. She blinked for a couple seconds and grew a huge a smile.

"YEESSS!!!"

The sound of Genn being chased through the hallways awakened almost everybody. Akane, Ranko, and Ranma were all deep enough into sleep that it would take an earthquake to wake them up. Gina had fallen asleep in the lab and so wasn't near the commotion. Theo and Julia were, of course, in the actual mansion, which put them a couple miles further away than Gina.

Kuno was made aware of this when he was suddenly hanging in mid air, just when he had cornered the foul demon too.

"What sorcery is this?!" Kuno demanded.

"That would be my doing," Stripe said behind Kuno, the samurai turned about in the air to face the Kryn.

"Oh thank the heavens," Genn said, panting and going down to his knees.

The rakshasha looked past the floating Kuno to see a rather irritable Brittany and Stripe. Behind them were Brianna and Nodoka. Kodachi and another werecheetah, probably that Ukyou girl, were a few yards further back, trying not to be seen.

"Do you know what time it is?" Brittany said. "What are you doing?"

"I am seeking to do my righteous duty and smite the foul Saotome, that I might free Akane, and the pig-tailed girl from this vile curse that he has laid upon them!"

"I didn't catch most of that," Brittany said. "What did he say?"

"Don't look at me," Brianna said.

"It is rather archaic, Nodoka agreed. "I think he believes that that small fellow is my son and that killing him will cure Ranko and Akane," she paused a moment to sniff the air. "Could you please come forward?"

Ukyou flinched and then shrugged, stepping forward to speak to Nodoka. Kodachi sneered, glanced in the direction of the motion and froze. Kodachi growled irritably and Ukyou gave her a smug look.

"I thought you said you weren't injured," Nodoka said coolly.

"Ah ha!" Kuno snapped. "The foul being has enslaved further women to his evil power."

"I'm not him!" Genn declared irritably.

"Forget it, Genn," Brittany said. "He's an idiot."

"Never fear, fair lady," Kuno said. "I shall endeavor to free you as well, from the clutches of this evil sorcerer who is no doubt an ally of the damned Saotome."

"I think he just called you an evil sorcerer, Muffin," Brittany said angrily.

"Hey," Brianna said, yawning, before Stripe could respond. "While we're all up and you got him hanging there, can I use him for target practice?"

Nabiki tapped her fingers against the table, bored out of her skull. So far the high point of the night had been playing with Kuno's tiny mind. Well, maybe not, it might have been the Swiss cheese sandwich she had made in the Diggers' kitchen. It was mind numbingly dull to be the only awake person in speaking distance.

So she was incredibly glad to see Nodoka as the sun was starting to rise.

"Oh good," Nabiki said. "I was about to get desperate."

"Nabiki?" Nodoka asked, looking the wererat over.

"That's right, Auntie, it's me." Nabiki said. "I'm sure a lot of people are going to think this is appropriate."

"Your reputation is your own doing," Nodoka noted. She cautiously sat down across from Nabiki. "So you and Akane are rats, I thought I smelled mice." Nabiki blinked and stared cautiously at Nodoka.

"Not getting any...ideas," Nabiki asked. "Are you?"

"Really, Nabiki-chan," Nodoka said. "I am a civilized, sentient being, not some beast." She directed a toothy smile at Nabiki, rather disturbing even in her human form.

"I...uh think that Akane and I should be finding a plane back to Nerima now," Nabiki said, sweating a little. She was heading for the door when Nodoka burst out into laughter, Nabiki frowned and slowly turned a glare towards Nodoka.

"That isn't funny," Nabiki said.

"Maybe you don't think so," Nodoka said, smirking. Nabiki crossed her arms irritably, and Nodoka snickered a little before turning a little serious. "We should be getting started soon, could you go wake up your sister?"

"I got that," Ranko's voice called from the hallway.

"I wonder how she'll react if Ranma is still in the room," Nodoka said. Nabiki blinked and stared at her.

Where's my camera! Nabiki thought rushing out the room after Ranko.

"Good morning," Akane said as she noticed Ranma waking up.

"Uh," Ranma started nervously. "Good morning?" Akane smiled like the cat that swallowed the canary. Or perhaps the mouse that belled the cat. Ranma hoped that meant she hadn't forgotten who had put them in this situation.

"We didn't get anything done last night," Akane said, which was about the point Ranma noticed that at some point after he had fallen asleep she had taken off her blouse.

Akane's slimmed down waist and hips, combined with a slight increase in size, gave her a much better endowed image. Especially in a slightly too small bra.

Ranma turned even more nervous as he realized that, under the blankets, her skirt was gone too. Then the door wooshed open.

"Akane," Ranko called as she came in. "Mom said we're going to -- " Akane and Ranma stared at her wide-eyed as she stared back. A flash brought all three of them out of their stupor.

"Good morning, um, sis?" Ranma said, still being very careful of what he said.

Ranko stared forward in total shock and disbelief, an expression actually mirrored by Ranma earlier. The difference being Ranma's expression hadn't faded quiet so quickly, and it didn't fade into anger.

"Now there's a Kodak moment," Nabiki said.

"Doesn't anybody bother to knock!?" Akane shouted.

"SORRY TO INTERRUPT!!" Ranko responded and whirled around to walk out. "Out of the way Nabiki!!" She nearly shoved Nabiki out of the way and would have slammed the door close if she could. She settled for denting the wall.

Nodoka and Nabiki sat and watched Akane and Ranko glare at each other. Ranma sat nervously to one side.

"Some sort of family problem?" Julia asked as she came into the room.

"Sounds like Ranko caught Ranma and Akane being good fiancees," Brianna said quietly.

"Do you think the girl's attracted to the Tendo woman?" Julia asked, frowning. Brianna shrugged. "Well, wererats, huh?"

"Yep," Brianna said. "I can't wait for Brit to see this."

"Oh, so that's where the smell she's talking about is coming from," Stripe said entering the small kitchen. "Brittany's already looking for them."

"Here mousey, mousey," Brittany called out, with narrowed eyes as she snuck through the hallway. She had woken up with the smell of wererat hanging around the hallways of the lab's living quarters. "I know you're around here somewhere."

"Uh, Brit," Gina said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing with that butterfly net?"

"Those wererats are back," she said irritably. "Maybe not the same ones, but there's a rat or two around here somewhere." She looked under an overturned laundry basket that was there pretty much just to give her something to turn over.

"Have you checked the upstairs kitchen yet?" Gina asked. She pointed to the security monitor.

"Huh?" Brittany asked. She glanced at the security camera long enough to identify a pair of wererats sitting in the kitchen upstairs with her sister, mother, and some of the guests. Obviously plotting something. "Ah ha!!" And Brittany was off.

"Brit! Wait!" Gina called out, then she smacked her forehead and groaned.

"We have another problem too," Brianna said. She pointed to another corner to where Ukyou was sitting down and also glaring at Ranma and Akane.

"Didn't she say she wasn't cut?" Julia asked coolly.

"Yep," Brianna said. "Dad's just gonna love this."

Then there was a rush of wind and a butterfly net suddenly came down over Nabiki's head.

"Ah ha! I got you this time!" Brittany said. "No bells around this cat's neck. And don't you move either girl, I got my...why's everyone looking at me like that?"

"This is what they mean by karma," Nabiki said. "Isn't it?"

"This isn't a game," Dr. Diggers said seriously to the new werecheetah. Behind him preparations were being made for the extended trip to Jade. "You can get into serious trouble as a werecreature."

"Oh, come on," Ukyou pleaded. "Nobody is going to mistake me for a guy like this!" Sweatdrops abounded.

"If there weren't so few werecheetahs I wouldn't even consider this," Theo said wearily.

"What?!" Gina snapped in shock.

"Wait a minute," Ukyou said smirking. "Does that mean I get to keep this?"

"But, fair damsel," Kuno said. "Can you not see that the man is offering you a cure for this affliction."

"Would that I had such an 'affliction' Brother-dear," Kuno said. "Certainly the serving maid has used unfair means to ATTEMPT to match my beauty."

"Hmph," Kuno snorted. "No beauty could match the fiery spirit of the...spotty girl. Certainly her change in appearance is a sign of her breaking away from the evil sorcerer's power" Ranko, who had been avoiding looking at Ucchan and Kodachi, winced at the sound of that.

Yeah, Ranko said. Like Ranma doesn't have the same hair color now.

"Would you lay off her, you jerk?" Ukyou demanded.

"Yes, Brother," Kodachi agreed. "The girl does not want your attentions, why not leave her be."

"See the foul sorcery has already afflicted your mind!" Kuno declared.

"Can I stay like this or not?" Ukyou asked, ignoring Kuno.

Ukyou glanced past the mage and glared at Ranma and Akane. She hadn't really considered the effect becoming a werecat would have on Ranma and Ranko. However, it was pleasant for the moment to terrorize the "cheating" jerk. Not too mention the position this put her in with Akane. She smirked as she considered playing a little cat and mouse, in a very different way from the Akane's ideas for Ranma.

"I'll have to make sure you can't inflect anyone else," Theo said reluctantly. Ukyou was leaping up and cheering before he could go on. "It would take a much more serious injury for you to do that, but just in case."

"What happened to the whole lecture thing?" Gina asked.

"It is not something I'd ever suggest inflicting on yourself," her father said. "But she's already changed, and she doesn't seem to want to be cured. Which will make it quite a bit harder to do so."

"Uh huh," Gina said, already starting to pout. "And the whole slave thing?"

"Of course, if whichever one it is decides to take control of her," Theo said seriously. "Then we'll have two problems to take care of."

"Besides," Theo said. "I'm sure there are times that an inability to handle silver would have caused you an incredible amount of trouble. Maybe even cost something you couldn't get back." He glanced to Brittany who shuffled uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Gina said, sobering. Not to mention all those valuable silver trinkets.

"Does this mean I get to go to?" Ukyou asked.

Julia thought about it a moment, but was cut off.

"There is a limit to the number of people I can transport myself," Theo said. Julia gave him a sidelong glance, but only for a moment.

"I'm sure Brittany can teach you the ins and outs of being a werecreature," Theo said. He glanced towards Nabiki. "Both of you."

I have to teach them? Brittany asked. Even the rat? Hmm...

Miss butterfly net is going to teach me? Nabiki thought. She looked at how Brittany was looking at her and was actually nervous again.

"Leave my Ranchan with that home wrecker?" Ukyou snapped. Ranma winced at the glares he was receiving, even from Ranko.

"Who are you calling a home wrecker?" Akane snapped angrily.

"Who do you think?" Ukyou asked, taking a step forward.

"Question," Kodachi put forward. Theo turned to look at her. "Is that shapechanger leaving with you as well?" Sweatdrops again abounded.

"So why did you lie to that girl?" Julia asked curiously. "We could have handled one more person."

"Oh don't you know?" Theo asked, smirking.

"I say it would be to give those kids time away from a few romantic complications," Julia said, smirking. "Still the same old romantic, eh?"

"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black," Theo asked with a smile.

Those staying on Earth waved good bye as the party leaving for Jade walked through the dimensional portal. Then it closed and the room was just a room again. All involved watched the space where the portal had been a little worriedly.

"At least this should be a simple deal," Gina said. "A week or two of training, and they're back. No attempt to take over Jade at least. And no real problems over here." She sighed and turned around to switch on the television and blinked at the news story running on the TV.

"Since the first appearance in Nerima," the newscaster was saying. "There has now been a confirmed reports of lycanthropy in the ward, a formerly normal girl. Apparently she was involved in a scuffle between of the ward's resident loonies and a cheetah. To be specific she dragged the cheetah off so that she could beat on the individual herself, along with several other students. The girl in question has vanished and authorities are now looking for other people involved in this potential health crisis."

Hearing their town's name, Kodachi, Nabiki, and Ukyou turned toward the television. Brittany looked upon hearing the report of a new lycanthrope, Stripe along with her.

"Correction," Gina said. "We've got a big problem."

"Children," Lord Gothwrain said angrily. "I believe you were in Japan when this catastrophe was arising."

"Uh..."

"Don't try to deny it," the elder wererat said. "You were caught on film."

"That guy is much better than Brittany Diggers," Lydia said.

"Yes, I saw the footage," Gothwrain said. "You probably would have indeed been destroyed if you took him on. This situation, however, cannot be tolerated."

"If the press knows about one, there's probably lots!" Romeo pointed out.

"We'd be like, ripped to pieces," Moisha said.

"Fear is not something that a wererat warrior should experience," Gothwrain said irritably. "It is something they should invoke."

"Yes, Lord Elder," the three young rats said.

"Luckily these will almost all be inflicted werecreatures," Gothwrain said. "They can be cured. It is only those that do not wish to be cured that will need to be dealt with. Now, we must discuss the matter of how you've embarrassed us in public." He gestured toward their engraved silver daggers.

With a shaky grasp the three wererats prepared to hold the blades to their throats until Gothwrain gave leave to set the silver down.

"Maybe we should stay in Japan a little bit longer," Pee Wee smiled as he listened to the news.

"So what're we doing here?" Ranma asked.

"Well, first of all," Julia said. "I would like all of you to change to your hybrid forms."

"Do we have to?" Ranko asked, shuffling nervously.

"Yes," Nodoka said firmly.

"Why?" Ranma asked.

"You have to get used to it," Nodoka said. "It is your natural form now, and you must be able to live with it."

"Plus, people in Jade tend to look at lycanthropes in human form as you would a person carrying a hidden weapon," Julia said. "Lycanthropes are common place, but people are more comfortable in knowing just what kind of person they are dealing with."

"I don't have much choice right now," Akane said. "Do I?"

"Suits you just fine," Ranko muttered, shifting into hybrid form. She watched Ranma and her mother shift as well and started to shake nervously.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Akane demanded.

"What's it sound like?" Ranko asked.

"Hey," Ranma snapped. "Why are you gettin after her?"

"Don't worry, BROTHER!" Ranko snapped. "I'm not just mad at her!" For the moment anger seemed to overcome fear.

"Ranko, stop this now." Nodoka frowned and started to approach her daughter, she stopped when Ranko flinched back.

Brianna glanced between Ranko and Nodoka and then walked over to the girl.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" Brianna asked. "Over here."

"What about?" Ranko demanded.

"Your attitude," Brianna said, dragging along the girl over for a private chat.

"This is going to be a long trip," Theo said under his breath.

"That is the worst understatement I've ever heard," Julia said.

"Who are you to talk to me about my attitude?" Ranko demanded. "You don't even know me."

"Maybe I..." she stopped herself. "No, I don't, but I can tell when someone is being an ass."

"I'M being a jerk!" Ranko demanded.

"Yeah," Brianna said. "Are you jealous or something?"

"No!" Ranko insisted.

"Well you certainly act like it," Brianna said.

"And why would I be jealous of them?" Ranko asked. "Ranma is family...in a manner of speaking. And Akane is..." She fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't care what my pop had planned after the curse, I am not like that." Brianna released a long breath at that.

"That's one less complication then," Brianna said, then winced and looked to the glaring Ranko.

"You didn't really think..."

"No, of course not," Brianna said smiling nervously. "Why would I think that?" Ranko frowned and kicked at a rock.

"Because Ranma likes girls and I'm Ranma's girl side," Ranko said quietly. "Mom wondered about that too."

"Nobody ever said anything like that," Brianna said nervously.

"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "Nabiki threatened Ranma. Akane yelled at Ranma. Ukyou is after Ranma. My mom wanted me to be a 'man among men.' Kodachi is after Ranma. Kuno hates Ranma." She paused a moment. "Okay, those last two were bad examples."

"Well, that doesn't mean anything," Brianna tried desperately

"I make Ukyou look feminine," she said each word deliberately, emphasizing the chef's name heavily.

"She's the one I thought was a guy until I smelled her, right?" Bri asked. Ranma nodded, she looked down and noted how she was shedding. The added stress wasn't helping her attitudes toward cats.

"That's her," Ranko said.

"No one is going to mistake YOU for a guy," Brianna assured her.

"Actually," Ranko said. "I am one...sort of...I think. Anyway everybody is going to think I'm RANMA no matter WHAT I am!!"

"Well," Brianna said nervously. "That might be a problem."

"You think?" Ranko asked.

"But that's not the problem your worried about," Brianna said.

"Yeah, I know," Ranko said. "It's just that...first chance she gets to have Ranma without me and she's acting like Shampoo. I don't understand girls...or guys for that matter. Neither does Ranma actually."

"I thought you said you weren't jealous," Brianna said crossing her arms.

"I'm not," Brianna said. "But everybody..."

"You think they're trying to cut you out, huh?" Bri asked. Ranko muttered something unintelligible. "Well cut people some slack, okay? There's a lot of stress going around."

"Fine, I'll cut them some slack," Ranko said finally. "But I don't have to like it."

"Fair enough," Brianna said. "Just remember you're not the only one to suddenly pop into existence like that."

"That mind reader isn't listening in on us," Ranko asked. "Is he?" They traded looks and glanced to the rest of the party and noticed Genn flinching. Both narrowed their eyes dangerously.

"Hey," Ranma said. "Are you okay, dude? You suddenly turned really pale."

"I'm fine," Genn said nervously. Until they get over her and rearrange my body parts in ways I won't like.. The rakshasha swallowed as the two girls stomped back.

"Everything taken care of?" Julia asked.

"Almost everything," Ranko said, crossing her arms and staring at Genn.

"How do you expect me to translate for you if I don't listen in?" Genn asked.

"I speak Japanese," Brianna reminded the rakshasha. "I don't need translation to talk to her."

"Ummm," Ranma said, pointing over the two girl's shoulders.

"Not right now, Ranma," Ranko snapped.

"I think you should look," Akane said nervously.

"After we reprimand this eavesdropper," Brianna said. Genn swallowed nervously and glanced past them.

"What is it?!" Ranko demanded, she turned around and winced. "Oh, hi mom." Brianna twitched and slowly turned around to see her parents staring at her crossly.

"Mom, dad," she said. "Something wrong?"

"Are we finished with the pointless bickering?" Nodoka asked, repeating Julia's question. "Or should we proceed to set camp for the night?" Ranko was merely chattering her teeth now staring wildly. Nodoka blinked as she recognized the signs and backed away quickly.

"We don't have time for this, young lady," Theo agreed. "We need to get to the retreat as soon as...Miss Saotome?"

"I think I may have forgotten myself," Nodoka said sadly as Ranko stood there.

"Y..y..yeah," Ranma said. "A..any more of that and she'd have been gone."

"Dear," Julia said hesitantly. "Perhaps it would be best if she got a little rest to calm down?" Ranma and Akane, doubting her ability to calm Ranko down, nodded fervently.

Several minutes later saw Brianna walking along behind them with a loudly snoring Ranko on her back.

"Why do I have to carry her?" Brianna whined.

The Minister of Public Health in Japan was on the verge of something similar to a cardiac arrest. At least that was his opinion of his current health. He wasn't really a doctor, though he played one quite often in private, just a successful politician so he couldn't really be sure. However with all this junk going on it couldn't have been anything but a coronary that was giving him these headaches.

Yes, such are the wonders of politics and bureaucracy that one can't tell the difference between a stress headache and a heart attack.

At any rate, first it was those damn martial artists. The only good thing about that was that they had been causing the Ministry of Public Works even bigger coronaries. NOW, however, there was an epidemic to consider. That was clearly his responsibility, so of course he freaked whenever he got another call, expecting to hear another increase in the number of werecreatures.

He was fairly certain that they were quarantined, but then again, it seemed to be a very virulent disease. If only he could figure out how it was transmitted. His employees had said something about claws and teeth, but obviously they had seen too many gaijin horror films.

Still, it was almost enough to make a person believe in something like magic. Or at least the ki stuff those Nerimites were always talking about.

Politics and bureaucracy truly are amazing things.

He'd have to talk to his uncle about vacation time.

So is nepotism.

When the phone rang he could have slammed his head into the ceiling above him.

"Yes, Ministry of Health!" he answered shakily. "You have a cure!" He stood up and nearly shouted his joy to the heavens until the person on the phone cut him off. "Your father has a cure, but you can find a place to put the already infected people until he gets back. Okay. I guess this means we won't have defoliate the Ward. When can you be over? Great! We'll be waiting!"

"Hey, Brit," Gina said, looking confused as she sat down the phone. "Does plant killer do anything to werecheetahs?"

"Makes us sick just like anybody else," Brittany said.

"It doesn't kill you, though?" Gina pressed further.

"Of course not, that would be stupid," Brit said.

"That's what I thought."

As the Minister of Health danced in victory at his wondrous plan to end the epidemic, the phone rang again. He snapped up the phone in a very cheerful mood.

"Ministry of Health," he said. "Oh, don't worry, I've got it solved."

"He, like, hung up on me," Moisha said. "But he said he'd, like, solved it."

"I guess we won't be able to go to Japan then," Romeo said.

"Oh well," Lydia said sighing. "That's that then."

"I shall inform Lord Gothwrain immediatel..."

"WAIT!! WAIT!!"

"Let's get packed," Lydia said reluctantly.

"Something smells good," Ukyou said. Nabiki twitched.

"Like what?" Gina asked cautiously.

"Like her," Ukyou said pointing at Nabiki.

"Thank you," Nabiki said. "We've all heard the joke."

"No, no, it's a little spicier," Brittany said, tapping her chin. "And there's something familiar about it too."

"Can we just get on the plane before you guys scare this poor girl to death?" Gina asked.

"I am not scared," Nabiki protested. Then the stress balloon in her hand exploded. "I might be a little on edge."

"I'll figure it out later," Brittany said, shrugging. "So how are those rich kids getting back?"

"They have their own plane," Ukyou said.

"And 'Nezumi' are not welcome," Nabiki added.

A few yards behind the Diggers and Nerimans, another group was looking about nervously.

"AHHH!" Moisha whined. "I'm like, all itchy and junk!"

"Well get used to it," Lydia said. "Or do you want all those werecats to know what we are on the spot?"

"And if that doesn't work," Romeo said dryly. "At least we'll give them a hefty case of indigestion from all these spices and pepper."

"I like, smell like Tex-Mex," Moisha continued to whine. "What if they just thinks that makes us just yummy?"

"Well, you kind of are," Romeo said.

"Like....DUHHH!" Moisha said. "I KNOW that. I meant the other kind of yummy!"

"Just get on the plane before it takes off," Lydia complained. "And stop scratching before you hurt yourself."

"This is quite a comfortable little town," Nodoka admitted, sitting across from Genn and the elder Diggers. "But I was curious about why the people were giving your daughter such evil looks as we passed through."

"Last time Brianna was here there was some...trouble," Genn explained.

"I...see," Nodoka said.

"Time to talk strategy here," Julia interrupted, before the conversation could get to far in the direction of "how my daughter and her alter ego rampaged through the sleepy town."

"What have you been doing yourself?" Theo asked.

"I have been trying to acclimate my...children," she said. She assumed that she had been working with both since they shared memories. "To their hybrid forms. I hope that when...they become used to their own bodies that it will be easier to accept others."

Julia glanced over at Ranma and Ranko where the other four people of their party were sitting. The Saotomes were sitting as far apart as their table allowed, but they didn't seem to be all that terrified. They did look tensed to run though and couldn't seem to keep from watching the other cautiously.

"How's that working?" she asked.

"Surprisingly well, actually," Nodoka said. "When we first started, Ranma could barely hold his own form for a minute before I had to help him return to human form."

"They seem to be handling themselves now," Julia said. Granted their tails are moving at about a league a second.

"It's a little shaky," Genn said.

"They don't seem to be dealing well with others yet," Theo noted.

"Are there not spells to remove a person's fear?" Nodoka asked.

"That isn't a good idea," the mage answered. "It's a crutch. Magic can be as addictive as anything else."

"I wouldn't like anybody casting that on someone who isn't suffering from a magical fear," Julia said.

"In other words they could grow dependent on the magic," Nodoka said. "I suppose we could start them trying to get used to each other then, and myself, of course. And you mentioned something about meditation techniques."

"I'd like to see how advanced their training is first," Julia said. "Neither seems the meditative type." Her husband cleared his throat and she smirked. "But neither am I so that's just fine."

"Oh no," Genn said. "This is going to be bad."

"Excuse me," Nodoka said turning to the rakshasha. "But what are you talking about?" Genn pointed and all eyes turned to the other table.

"Tirga," Julia moaned. "Just what we need."

"Well, isn't this a treat," Tirga said, smirking broadly. "Three very lovely ladies first thing in the morning." He didn't seem to see Ranma.

"Oh, Tirga," Brianna said in a sing song manner, smirking. "You're...personality is as...big as ever." She leaned forward on her elbows. "So..." she smiled. "...How's Sheila?"

"Oh Sheila's just fine," Tirga said waving that off. "But let's talk about you and your friends here."

"Oh don't you think they're a little young for you?" Brianna said in a pouty voice. "Now what you need is nice, energetic young woman that can REALLY put you in your place."

"You can always try, Miss Diggers," Tirga said. "And I'd say you're the youngest here."

"I think I'm quite a bit more than you can handle, cutey," Brianna purred. Certainly Sheila had a thing for the weretiger, whether she admitted it or not. That really didn't mean that Brianna couldn't toy with him a little. Besides, he WAS cute. Tirga's response was somewhat less than expected.

"Is there something wrong with your friend?" he asked.

"My friend?" Brianna repeated. "OH! Ranko!" She turned to see Ranko shedding loads of fur and her eyebrows arched fearfully, teeth chattering and tail fluffed out wide. Glancing over she saw Ranma in a similar state, though Akane was already calming him down.

"Oh, Ranko?" Tirga said. "What a lovely name for a lovely young..." He softly took her head, bent to kiss it in an overdone display, and was surprised as Ranko opened her mouth and screamed.

"C..c.c.c.CAT!!!!!!!!" And suddenly she was on the ceiling, and attracting a lot of confused stares. Aside from those that remembered Brianna's last visit, and they were quite concerned at the odd behavior.

"Another one of them Earthers is goin berserk!!!" somebody shouted before people started clearing the tavern.

Ranma wanted to run, he REALLY wanted to run, but he wasn't going to leave everybody behind with a giant cat that could turn on them at any moment. In consequence he was currently digging furrows into the tabletop.

"Would you just calm down?" Akane asked. "It's just an oversized pervert."

"Hey!" Tirga snapped back.

"Hey, Ranko, come back down here," Brianna shouted. "Tirga's too stupid to be a threat."

"HEY!" Tirga protested again.

"Can you change to your human form," Brianna asked ignoring the were-tigers protest.

"What?"

"She requested that you change to your human form," a voice said behind. "So that you can stop terrorizing my children." He turned to see a rather angry looking werecheetah and the Diggers.

"Umm...what?" Tirga asked, still completely confused as to the situation.

"That's okay, Nodoka," Julia said, looking very cross.

"We'd like to talk to him for a moment anyway," Theo said, head replaced by a flaming skull. Brianna paused in her attempts to get Ranko down from the ceiling.

"Oh yeah," Brianna said. "I forgot to mention that my parents were at another table."

"Uh...heh," Tirga said. "Mrs. Diggers, Dr. Diggers. What's up?"

"You're not actually going try to protect HER from HIM," Genn asked. "Are you?"

"Maybe we should have a chat with you too, Genn," Julia said coolly. The rakshasha flinched.

"Umm, nevermind," he said nervously as Tirga was dragged away.

"Is..ss it g..g..gone?" Ranko asked quietly. Her eyes were closed and she was still gripping the ceiling.

"Yes dear," Nodoka said. "He's gone. You can come down now." Ranko creaked open an eye and saw her family, Brianna and Akane in the near empty tavern. She swallowed and dropped to the ground.

"S...s...sorry about that," Ranko said, quietly embarrassed. She was still shedding loads of fur and visibly shaking though.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Brianna said.

"That is correct," Nodoka agreed. "It is your father's fault."

"Ranma, will you let go of the table!" Akane asked.

"So much for acclimating them before they meet the Edge Guard," Genn sighed.

"Do we understand each other then?" Julia asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Tirga said.

"We're crystal clear," Theo double-checked, tapping his elbow.

"Yes, sir," Tirga said. "No seducing your daughters, got it. But, uh, what if they come to me?"

"If you get into a relationship with Gina or Brianna, Tirga," she said. "You better be serious about it, or you and I are going to 'spar'."

"And I'll prepare the field," Theo added, head still wrapped in the illusion of a flaming skull. Tirga swallowed nervously and nodded, or tried to.

"And then I'll talk to Sheila," Julia said. "I'm sure she would be upset with you for toying with her friends."

"Gotcha," Tirga said nervously. "Can I get up now?"

"Considering how fast you heal, I would say it's likely," Julia said. She casually dropped his arm and stepped off of him, stretching. Tirga sat up and gingerly rotated his shoulder.

"What was wrong with that other girl?" he asked seriously. Julia took a deep breath and scratched her head in frustration.

"She and her brother are afraid of cats," Julia said.

"But they're werecheetahs," Tirga said, sounding very confused.

"Yes," Dr. Diggers said. "But they only just discovered that."

"How do you 'just discover' something like that?" Tirga asked.

"It doesn't matter," Julia said. "What matters is that if you try something like that again it could be bad."

"Got it," Tirga said reluctantly. Well, there's still that tasty smelling girl.

"Where's the rest of the Edge Guard?" Theo asked. "We should talk to them too."

"I don't know for sure," Tirga said. "We sort of split up for a little bit."

"Something going on?" Julia asked.

"Gar and Sheila ran into a werewolf mage a little bit ago," Tirga said. "Before they could explain he shouldn't be here he blew up the area he was in with some sort of spell and then vanished."

"Was anybody hurt?" Julia asked, concerned.

"Nothing major," Tirga said. "We split up to locate the asshole before something else happens. He was looking for somebody named Ranma."

"Did you say Ranma?" Theo asked.

"Yeah," Tirga said. "Kind of like the skittish girl out there."

"Right," Julia said. "That would be her brother, you know, the young man that you apparently didn't notice."

"There was somebody else there?" Tirga asked.

"Who are these people!?" Ryouga wondered frantically as he hid in the upper boughs of the tree. "Everywhere I go it's people with strange ki attacks and lots of sharp pointy silver things."

"I thought I saw him go this way!" someone shouted. Pretty soon a collection of people out of some sort of renaissance festival passed underneath him.

"Where on Earth am I now!?!" Ryouga shouted after he was certain they had gone by.

"Hey he's over this way," a voice said behind him. Ryouga froze and turned around to see that girl that was laughing at him before. He didn't look to see who else she was with before taking off.

Ryouga went barreling past a sign and up a rocky path. A few seconds later Sheila paused and turned back to the barbarians she was working with. She pointed to the "danger: falling rocks" sign.

"Either he's smart, crazy or just stupid," Sheila said, shaking her head. "I got this."

"Are you sure you can take him alone?" somebody asked.

"If he causes a landslide, I KNOW I'll live," Sheila said. "Besides, I don't think he's really trying to cause problems. I don't even think he knows where he is."

It was several minutes of tracking later when she heard the piercing scream, and then she found the remains of the landslide. She looked over the side of the cliff and slowly shook her head, tsking and smirking.

"That must have hurt," she said before starting to climb down. The signs of the landslide fell all the way into the river beneath. She saw the werewolf's pack and the rather too-small clothes, but no oversized panicky werewolf. "Okay, so maybe I'm looking for a wolf now."

"Arwee?"

Sheila whirled toward the sound and saw a cute, furry...something dragging itself out of the water. She walked over and scooped it up.

"Some sort of wizard's experiment?" she asked.

The thing was about the size of a large cat, with relatively long legs, and hoofed feet. There was a piggish snout, triangular furred ears, thick black fur and a long canine tail. It seemed to recognize the fact that Sheila was talking about him a grumbled a little irritably.

"Smart little thing. Say...you wouldn't be our errant werewolf, would you?" The canine-pig shook his head fervently. "Well, it's the booby prize next to kapowieing that jerk we've been chasing all over the place." The pig winced. "You're pretty cute little runt, too bad I can't keep a pet really."

Sheila bent down to pick up the clothes and had to set the pig-thing down again. She still couldn't pick the pack up. She bent up and frowned.

"Great," she muttered.

She shifted into her human form, growing in a couple of ways. She bent down again, bending at the knees and inadvertently giving the cursed Ryouga a good view of her hindmost quarters. Even in her human form she found it incredibly heavy.

"What the hell does he have in this pack?" Sheila asked. She slowly bent down to pick up the unconscious pig-dog and suddenly found the load on he back shifting. After she landed on the pig-thing with the pack on top of her she took a moment to growl. It was a funny sound in her human form. "I'm really gonna kapowie him before we send him back to Earth."

"Hey, where's Ranma?" Brianna asked as she came downstairs.

"They thought that maybe some sparring would calm him down," her father explained. "Your mother, his mother and Genn took him outside town to do that. How is his sister?"

"Akane's staying up with her to calm her down," Brianna said.

"I thought they weren't on civil terms with each other," Theo said.

"She wouldn't try to start a fight right now," Brianna said. "Would she?"

"Which one are you talking about," her father asked. "None of these kids are the most level-headed people I have met." Brianna thought about it a moment.

"Maybe I should go back and check on things," she decided.

"Are there gonna be any rules?" Ranma asked.

"Do you need any?" Julia asked.

"Not particularly."

"Then let's get started," Julia said, smirking.

"All right," Ranma said with a matching smirk. He cracked his knuckles and slipped into stance.

"We should perhaps stand a little further back," Nodoka suggested as the two warriors started facing off in earnest. Genn looked at her and blinked. "You are the mind reader I believe, what would you say?"

"It's just hand to hand sparring," Genn said. "Right?"

Julia and Ranma stared at each other for several moments before either moved. Ranma, still a little edgy, lost his patience first and struck out in a probing series of jabs. The toned down attack received a welcome quite similar to what Brittany got when she underestimated her mother.

Ranma found himself being pulled forward, smirked a little as he hopped up into the air. Unlike Brittany, Ranma maintained most of the control of his flight. He twisted about pulling his legs down, intending to kick into Mrs. Diggers. His hand was released and his target rolled back. As his feet contacted the ground he immediately lifted off the ground again to avoid the expected strike.

It continued, counter versus counter, with no real successful action for quite a while. Each of them was a living encyclopedia of martial arts techniques and their counters. It was almost a full minute before any solid strike was landed.

In the end it was Ranma's habit of going airborne that was his downfall for once. Julia held down the werecheetah in the lock she had landed them in, smirking.

"You can't use all that speed when you're in the air," Julia pointed out as she let him up and stretched out the kinks.

"I don't need all my speed," Ranma protested, not looking so pleased anymore.

"I noticed you thought that," Julia smirked. "Shall we try this again?" She invited Ranma to come at her again. Ranma thought about it a moment before moving forward.

"This is going to take a while," Genn sighed.

"They do seemed fairly well matched," Nodoka noted.

"I can't do this," Ranko said, pacing frantically. "H...he touched me and I j...just couldn't take it...I'm gonna...I'm gonna..."

"Ranko," Akane said. "Sit down!" She stood up and forcibly sat the pacing werecheetah down on the bed. "You're driving me crazy!"

"That's right," Ranko said. "Crazy, just be a c...c...c..." Akane slapped her and she blinked and suddenly her eyes snapped clear. "Why did you do that?" she demanded angrily.

"You're being hysterical," Akane said. "You just saved this inn a fortune on carpeting." Ranko looked down to see the thick piles of fur on the floor.

"How do you expect me to act?" Ranko demanded. "I mean, all he did was touch me and I freaked. Actually, I freaked when he was talking to Brianna!"

"Well, Ranma was freaking to," Akane said. "But he's okay now, and you're still on edge."

"He didn't want to do to Ranma what he wanted to do to me," Ranko reminded her. "In case you haven't noticed."

"Okay, I noticed," Akane said irritably. "You're NOT Ranma. You're just a lazy tomboy! You didn't even practice today!!" Ranko sputtered for few seconds.

"Who are YOU calling a tomboy!?" Ranko demanded, ignoring the comment about her lack of practice. "You're stronger than a rabid gorilla with a temper to match!!" Akane's first statement came out of frustration with Ranko's attitude. Her response to the same insults coming out of Ranko was widely disproportional considering her already irritated state.

"I have nothing on you, girl!" Akane snapped back. Stepping forward and backing the taller werecheetah down. "You talk like a boy, you walk like a boy, you eat like a starving wolf, and you have no sense of modesty! The only thing you have that's feminine is your body! So don't YOU call ME a tomboy!"

"And now you hit me, right!?" Ranko shouted back angrily, tears in her eyes.

"What?" Akane asked, surprised. The door to the room swung open and an angry Brianna strode in.

"What's going on in here?" Brianna demanded. She stomped over to the other two girls.

"I..." Akane hesitated, thinking about what she had just said. "Should go before I do something else stupid." Akane walked toward the door out of the room. "Sorry, Ranko." She said before leaving the room completely.

"What did she do?" Brianna asked sharply.

"She just yelled at me," Ranko said, sitting down. She looked over her knees and sighed. "I don't want to be a tomboy." Brianna sat down next to her.

"What do you want to be?" Brianna asked, Ranko shrugged. "Why don't you go take a soak in the hot-springs and relax?"

"Sure," Ranko said.

Tirga stretched his shoulder a little as he was walking through the hallway. He blinked when he noticed a door standing ajar. A quick sniff told him exactly who was in there. The weretiger smiled and groomed himself before walking inside.

"I just did someth -- " Akane was saying as she heard Tirga step into the room. She stopped, if the sight of Tirga weren't enough evidence she had his scent as well. Akane's eyes narrowed angrily. "You're not Ranma."

"I'm sorry for intruding miss," Tirga said, smiling broadly and examining Akane's form. "I just saw the door ajar and..." He didn't notice the mallet hand flex.

"Almost there, Sheila," the jagwere was telling herself as she trudged on towards the inn with that pack on her back and that animal in her arms. By this time the pig-dog thing was acting very apologetic, but Sheila was too tired to notice. She stopped in the road to make a turn towards the inn when something came flying out of one of the upper stories.

"PERVERT!!!" somebody shouted along with the sound of broken glass. Sheila took a breath and glanced up in time to see Tirga landing on her.

"Man, who would have guessed that that little girl could pack such a punch," Tirga wondered as he sat up.

"Why don't we find out?!" a muffled voice shouted underneath him. "Get your useless bulk off me before I kapowie you into the next kingdom!!" Tirga stood up and looked down as a human form Sheila woozily stood up to glare at him.

"This just isn't my day," he sighed. Sheila grabbed at his tunic and pulled him down to look at her. He could hardly miss her pulling her hand back.

"I swear," Akane huffed as she looked out the window. "Some of these perverts are just unbelievable." She turned away from the window, mallet leaning on her shoulder, as the sound of a heavy thwack rang through the air.

"Akane! Are you..." Ranma stopped short at the sight of the mallet. "Uh...are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" Akane said, frustrated as she set the mallet down. "Just that pervert from before." She sat down on the bed and lay back. Ranma moved to sit at the side of the bed, moderately confused by Akane's behavior.

"Are you okay, Akane?" Ranma asked. "You've been acting sort of funny."

"So have you," Akane said. "I mean before you found out about this." Akane cut him off.

"Yeah, well..." Ranma shrugged. They were both thinking it, but neither needed to say it. Jusendo.

"I don't think I'm going to be welcome in the room with Brianna and Ranko," Akane said.

"Huh?" Ranma asked. "Why not?"

"I got in a fight with Ranko," Akane said.

"About what?" Ranma asked.

"It was my fault," Akane said. "I said something stupid, so she said something else, and I started yelling." She looked at Ranma sidelong. "I called her a tomboy."

"So, you did to her," Ranma said slowly. "What you're always complaining about me doing to you."

"I'm panicking here!" Akane said. "I'm not thinking!" Ranma glanced toward the door and fidgeted a little. "You want to make sure she's okay, don't you."

"Yeah," Ranma said.

"Then go do it," Akane said. "And tell her I'm sorry."

"Y...yeah," Ranma said before going out the door.

Down beneath Ranma's room Sheila was catching her breath as she stood over a much-abused Tirga.

"I thought I heard you out here," Brianna said as she came out. "Did Tirga tell you about the Saotomes?"

"Brianna?" Sheila blinked looking to her friend. "What are you doing here?"

"Aiding the mental health of a couple of kids," Bri said. "Hey Tirga, I guess you met Akane?"

"Who is Akane?" Sheila asked. Tirga rolled his eyes and pointed up. Eyes turned to look at the broken window.

"So that's how you got thrown out of the building," Sheila said.

"Oh yeah," Brianna said. "My parents want to talk to you about this werewolf running around."

"I had him until he escaped into a river," Sheila said. "At least SOME of us are actually working." She glared at Tirga.

"I looked for him," Tirga protested. "He just didn't happen to be where I was looking." Sheila glared at him.

"Chasing the wrong tails, tiger-boy," Sheila muttered before bending down and hefting Ryouga's packed. "Here! You can carry this for now!" She passed the pack to Tirga and snickered as the weretiger grunted in accepting it. "Okay, I can get out of this form now."

"Wait!" Brianna said. "Stay in human form!"

"What!? Why?" Sheila demanded. She blinked and looked around. "Did anybody see a weird little pig-dog thing running around here?"

Ranko was standing in the hot-springs as evening started to settle. She grumbled wordlessly for another few moments before finding somewhere to sit down and relax in the water.

Aside from her, the springs were empty. She leaned back and just tried to relax, it was a couple of minutes later when she detected the familiar, if altered scent. She blinked open an eye and saw a strange looking creature jump into the hot springs in front of her.

An instant later a large, furry and definitely male figure erupted out of the water, glaring at her.

"Ran -- EEEK!" the shout was cut off by Ranko's swift kick to a rather vital region.

Ryouga's eyes bulged as he doubled over and fell back into the water. By the time he fell Ranko had zipped out of the water, and put on her towel. She was glaring angrily at the pained intruder, and then blinked.

"Ryouga?" she said surprised. "What happened to you?"

"What did you do that for?" Ryouga squeaked. "And what did you do to your hair?"

"Oh, you like it?" Ranko asked, brushing at her hair.

"You didn't hit your head again, did you?" Ryouga asked warily.

Ranko frowned and started to stomp forward. In two steps her towel fell down giving Ryouga a full view. Ranko froze and immediately covered herself. Ryouga, used to the idea that Ranma's girl form wasn't a real girl, snickered at his rival's predicament.

Ranko growled, and zipped behind a rock taking her clothes with her, a moment later she was back, in a green skirt and a grey blouse. Ryouga blinked at the outfit as Ranko dragged him out of the pool.

"I'm Ranma's sister, jerk," Ranko said simply. "Think about it, hot water, girl. I'm not upset about it. STYLED HAIR!"

"Come on, Ranma," Ryouga said. "You've tried this before. You don't have a sister. And I recognize the smell from being P-Chan so I KNOW it's you."

"Hey, Ranko," Ranma's voice called out from outside the actual bathing area. "Are you in there? Brianna said you were."

"You can come in, Ranma," Ranko shouted, smirking triumphantly. Ryouga swallowed as he glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Ranma walk in.

"Akane told me what she...WHOAH!!!" Ranma flinched back when he saw Ranko in the water with a naked. Bandana? "Ryouga? What the hell happened to you?"

Glancing back at Ranko and realizing that these were two separate people. A trickle of blood appeared at his nose and then he fainted.

"Ummm, did I interrupt something?" Ranma asked hesitantly.

"With Ryouga?" Ranko asked. "Why would you..." She glanced down "...think...that?" then snapped her face right back up, dropped Ryouga into the water, and zipped behind Ranma.

"Uhh...uhh...uhh..." Ranma stuttered. Ranko looked up for a moment and then jumped away from Ranma. Her brother almost mirroring the action.

"Don't get so close!" they both yelled at once. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

"We should get him some clothes," Ranma said, finally. "I could get some of my clothes."

"He's a little...bigger than you," Ranko said, nervously.

"Hey!"

"Well he is," Ranko snapped back.

"Let's go check anyway," Ranma said. "Akane wants to apologize anyway."

"Why didn't she come then?" Ranko demanded, angry at a reminder of that argument.

"I don't know," Ranma said. "Ask her that!"

"I think I will," Ranko said. They stared at each other for a moment, completely forgetting Ryouga. "You go first."

"Why don't you go?"

"Because you'll be right behind me, idiot!"

"Let's go at the same time then!"

"Fine!" The two werecheetahs began sidestepping along the hallway, keeping a close eye on each other. They were long gone when a gurgling sound and rush of water signaled Ryouga's coming too.

"What, what!?" Ryouga looked around and saw nothing, but did smell Ranma and...Ranko. "I could have DROWNED!! RANMA!!! RANKO!!!"

He started to charge off after the scents, until of course he remembered his state of dress, or lack there of.

"Where do I get clothes?" Ryouga whined. Then he saw a huge...person walk in wearing a robe. The person hung the robe up on a peg and headed for the water.

"Excuse me," the ogre said in a grumbling voice before walking into the water, not paying any more attention to Ryouga.

"You have to be kidding," Sheila said. "A couple of werecheetahs afraid of cats."

"She's not kidding," Tirga said. "All I did was touch the girl and she jumped for the ceiling." Sheila and Brianna looked at him for a moment.

"THAT'S not proof of anything," Sheila said. "Where are your parents anyway?"

"Hmm," Brianna said. "I guess they went to their room. Anyway, Ranko and Ranma really are afraid of cats. They won't even relax around each other."

"So just how bad is this so-called fear of cats?" Sheila asked as they turned into the hallway leading to the rooms, and saw Ranma and Ranko inching along the hallway keeping an eye on each other.

"What's going on?" Brianna asked.

"We're getting Ryouga some clothes," Ranma said.

"That's not what I...who's Ryouga?" Brianna asked.

"One of my...one of RANMA's rivals," Ranko said. "He popped up in the baths without his pack or clothes."

"Is it anything like that pack?" Sheila asked, pointing to the item Tirga was carrying. Both of them moved their eyes to the side to see the pack in question.

"Yeah, that's..." and eyes traveled to see Tirga in his hybrid form, after all, he couldn't have carried it otherwise. Both of them winced and then zipped down the hall yelling "CAT!!"

"Okay," Sheila said, blinking. "Maybe you're not kidding."

"Told ya," Brianna said.

"Wait, did they just say that..." Sheila started.

"The springs!" Tirga finished, and both started rushing for the springs, dropping the pack. Brianna blinked as it imbedded itself in the floor.

"How heavy is that thing?" she asked.

Ranma and Ranko zipped into Ranma's room and closed the door behind them.

"What the -- ?" Akane blinked. "What's wrong with you two?"

"There's a cat back there!" they both shouted, then glanced at each other and parted. "Stop that!"

"EVERYBODY STOP IT!!" Akane shouted, feeling herself get frustrated again. Everybody paused and glares were passed around. "Okay, let's actually think about this, before we have another fight, okay?"

"Fine by me," Ranma said.

"Of course you'd agree with her," Ranko snapped.

"Are you kidding!" Akane snapped. "How often does he agree with me!"

"More than you notice!" Ranko snapped back.

"Oh yeah," Akane answered back. "Like when!?"

"Like when -- "

"Isn't this what we wanted to not do!" Ranma shouted. Everybody shut up again.

"This is going to take a lot of doing," Akane sighed.

"Well, he was here," Sheila said. "I can smell him."

"That doesn't smell like a wolf," Tirga said. "More like a dog." He laughed a little.

"Dog, wolf," Sheila shrugged. "Whatever. He's out somewhere running around naked."

"You sound expectant," Tirga said.

"What's the matter, Tirga," Sheila asked. "Jealous?" Sheila merely smirked, not saying anything.

"Hey, that little creep stole my robe!!" an ogre bather shouted.

"So much for running around naked," Tirga said, smirking at Sheila.

"Damn, it'll make him harder to find," she said, ignoring Tirga's innuendo deliberately.

But first she acted like she was interested, Tirga thought, confused. Now she's not? What?

Part 3   |   Anime@Fan.Fic