Ixnay on the Ixioran

Insert the standard disclaimers etc.

Chapter 2 Heir today, gone tomorrow

Two girls in Furinkan uniforms raced down the street, long ponytails trailing behind them. The one with half-pink, half-white hair grimaced and checked over her shoulder. She gave a relieved prayer that she didn't see the weirdo that had grabbed her out of the blue.

"I think we lost him," Ranma slowed down. "What's the big idea jumping me like that?"

"That guy was definitely a pervert!" Akane also checked over her shoulder. "Did you see his face? It was weird. Brrr! Creepy!"

"I didn't notice. I was too busy trying ta get him off me," Ranma rubbed her arms at the goosebumps the imaginary feeling of roaming hands raised. "Freaking weirdo! That guy was too good at that! You'd think he knew the Saotome Puppet technique or something! I couldn't shake him."

"He acted like he knew you? Did he call you Birdy? Who's that?"

"Damned if I know," Ranma shrugged as they slowed to a casual stroll. "Maybe I look like someone he knows?"

"Maybe."

The engaged teens continued on in silence, neither really knowing what they should talk about until a familiar panda was seen sweeping the yard to a clinic. "Would ya look at that!" Ranma exclaimed crossing the street. "Yo Pops!"

Genma-panda paused mid-sweep and raised a panda-sign. "Hello, girl. Akane."

Ranma frowned at the slight before exclaiming, "Oh, Daddy got a job! I'm so proud of you!" Sugary-sweet Ranma returned as she bounded up to Genma. She smiled and gently slapped a hand to Genma-panda's back sending the large animal face first to the concrete. A panda-sign rose shakily. "Did you doubt your old man?"

"Not at all!" Ranma gushed and proceeded to grind a foot on Genma to hold him down. She relented after a few seconds from her acting and stepped off the temporary panda-rug.

"You're working here Mr Saotome?" Akane stepped up to stand beside Ranma as Genma picked himself off the ground.

"That's right," he panda-signed.

"Like that'll last," Ranma muttered, arms folded across her chest. With a clack, a bony hand landed on her shoulder. With the recent groping still fresh in her head the touch of a hand startled Ranma so much she shot into the air with a shriek, blowing up dust with almost a sonic boom. The leaves Genma had swept into a pile scattered to the four winds.

"Oh dear, I didn't...mean…to…" A tall man with glasses, holding a skeleton, trailed off as he watched the girl jump up, up, up and away until she was a mere speck in the sky. He blinked and held a hand over his eyes to block the sunlight as he looked up after the rocket girl. "My, she's...um...certainly healthy," He absently rubbed his neck as she started her descent.

"Oh, Dr Tofu!" Akane greeted with a blush and went all timid. Ranma landed in a superhero landing before snapping into a ready stance with both hands ready to karate chop her attacker.

"Don't cha try nothing!" The cursed boy snarled.

"Easy there!" Dr Tofu looped his arms under his skeleton's armpits to wave his palms at Ranma in a placating manner. "Betty and I didn't mean to startle you."

"Bullshit!" Ranma snapped, treating Dr Tofu like he was a cobra readying to bite.

"Okay, maybe I did just a little," the doctor chuckled. Ranma eased up her stance but continued to eye him with suspicion. Dr Tofu smiled at her. "So you must be Ranma Saotome."

"How'd you know?" Ranma resumed operation treat touchy feely men with suspicion.

"Exotic looking girl with half pink hair," Tofu recited. "Nabiki explained some things about you, which I frankly found unbelievable. But I trust her, so I wrote out the doctor's note she asked for. You're really a boy when hit with hot water right?"

"Yeah, cursed at Jusenkyo," Ranma nodded.

"So I've heard. Jusenkyo, I've only read about that. Something about cursed springs. Not much else."

"Yeah, it's basically if you fall in a spring you get cursed to turn into whatever drowned there last," Ranma indicated her father. "Pops (moron that he is) threw me in the spring of drowned girl who fell from sky."

"It was an honest mistake!" a panda-sign stated.

"Fell from sky?" Dr Tofu adjusted his glasses. Akane blinked at that information.

"Dunno what extra that means, but the guide said it was a very recent spring."

"You'll have to show me the curse in action sometime," Dr Tofu smiled. "I'd love to see it."

"Maybe some other time," Ranma nodded. "But not while I'm wearing Kasumi's old uniform. Ain't nobody wants to see that!" Ranma laughed.

"Kas—Kas—Kasumi's? You're wearing her uniform?" Tofu stuttered as his glasses steamed up while he stared through Ranma. He giggled and began inching towards the pink haired girl.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ranma edged away and brought her hands back up defensively. Something about the way Tofu's outstretched fingers began wiggling gave her the willies.

"I t-t-think we sh-sh-should do an exam don't you think B-B-Betty? Please t-t-take off your clothes, and we'll examine them!"

"Gottagobye!" Ranma fled, going from nought to sixty in less than a second.

Akane stared at the giggling Dr Tofu in horror as he revealed a perverted side she didn't believe he had, then a numbness settled in the pit of her stomach and spread through her body. Her fantasy world shattered because of Ranma, and this time she couldn't even fault the cursed boy. She would have fled as well. With a lump in her throat and watery vision she took off at a jog towards home, bag held against her chest.

The journey home passed in a blur and before she realised it, Akane stood outside the front door. Her eyes felt itchy and hot. She wiped an arm across her face before she cracked open the door. Stepping inside she removed her shoes, before standing in the hallway not seeing.

"Whattaya mean I need more girl clothes!" Ranma's voice cried out from deeper in the home. Akane raised her eyes and grimaced. Ranma caused all this chaos. Since the boy/girl had arrived, everything had changed or fell apart. Akane growled at the back of her throat and as stealthy as she could, moved towards the voices. She peeked around the doorframe to the living room to see Kasumi and Nabiki in a combined confrontation with a certain pink-haired menace.

"I'm only wearing this uniform until I get new stuff!" Ranma huffed, arms folded under her breasts and a petulant lip sticking out, making her look cute instead of angry.

"Oh really?" Nabiki drawled.

"Yeah really!"

"Right, like the teachers, will allow you to wear boys' clothes to school when YOU went willingly as a girl and now everyone thinks you ARE a girl? And now they know you have a uniform!" Nabiki delighted in pointing out that this was Ranma's own fault. The faces the pseudo-girl pulled were hilarious. Ranma couldn't hide her emotions whatsoever. It was more fun than teasing her little sister.

"B—b—but If I explain…"

"Oh right," Nabiki pointed at Ranma and posed like she were a boy. "Hey everyone I'm really a boy, and I only turn into a girl! Do you really want people to know you as the guy proposed to by Kuno?"

"Urk!" Ranma flinched away.

"And let's not get started on how long it would take for somebody to start changing you on purpose with water? Some guys will do anything to see a cute girl naked. Imagine the showers," Nabiki smirked as Ranma's resolve began to crumble.

"I'll just have to beat them…up until they…stopped…" Ranma paused in her come back as she realised to actually punish anyone who tried stuff like Nabiki was describing she'd have to hit them. "As a guy?" she tacked on.

"Oh, so the big bad martial artist is going to beat someone up for getting him a little wet? Besides, Akane does that every day and has that stopped them?"

Ranma looked downcast at the floor as Nabiki countered every one of her arguments. "Can't I just keep borrowing Kasumi's stuff?"

"I'm sorry Ranma-chan, but I can't let you do that. We've not got that much money for clothes, and I only have a limited supply," Kasumi pointed out. She also felt rather uncomfortable at the thought of a boy wearing her clothes, even if he was a girl in form at the time. The uniform was one thing as she wouldn't ever wear it again.

"So how am I going to buy clothes? Not like I have any more money than you," Ranma sighed.

"I've been saving a bit, I'll lend you the money," Nabiki grinned. She didn't mention the fact the money was coming from Genma anyway.

"That's so kind of you Nabiki," Kasumi smiled at her little sister.

"It's no big deal, in fact, I've wanted to go on a shopping trip anyway. I just need Ranma's three sizes, and I'll go grab some stuff for her."

"I don't want girly stuff!" Ranma declared.

"Don't worry, do I look like I wear girly stuff?"

"Um, no."

"See. Relax."

"Raise your arms Ranma-chan," Kasumi pulled a tape measure out. She proceeded to take Ranma's measurements.

"So this is my three sizes thing?" Ranma blushed as Kasumi's hands brushed her anatomy. "Do girls let boys know them? Guys asked me for them the other day."

"Um…No Ranma, you wouldn't. Unless you liked the person enough, then I suppose you could," Kasumi answered.

"Oh Ranma, you are far too innocent," Nabiki smirked and ironically said, "Good thing you've got me to watch out for you!"

Akane decided she'd heard enough and backed away from the door. She needed to let off some steam.

Ranma poked her head around the door to the dojo, curious about the sound of breaking bricks. She saw Akane in her yellow doji crouched before a pile of rubble, her shoulders shook, and she sniffled. She's crying? Ranma didn't understand why her fiancée was crying, but she immediately wanted her to stop. The pseudo-girl wandered over to the other girl.

"Hey, whatcha doing?" Ranma asked.

Akane cringed at the sound of Ranma's voice before she turned watery eyes to her. Akane took in her so-called fiancé's appearance. She wore an old beige pair of Kasumi's shorts and a faded sailormoon t-shirt stating "Moon Princess". With her arms behind her back, and concerned expression she was as cute as a button. It only reminded Akane of why she was upset. Ranma had destroyed the almost perfect image she had had of Dr Tofu when he had turned into a raging pervert at the mention of Kasumi's clothes.

"What do you want?" Akane wiped her sleeve across her face, trying to hide the fact she was crying.

"I heard...um bricks breaking and wondered if you were training. I thought we could train together or something?" Ranma poked her pointer fingers together and glanced to the side.

"You want to train with me?" Akane's anger faded, replaced more by slight annoyance. Just how the hell can a boy be so cute? Was Nabiki right and Ranma was just too innocent for his own good?

"Well yeah," Ranma went from finger poking to rubbing the back of her head and laughing nervously. "I mean with Pops refusing to train me and all."

"Oh! So I'm just second best!"

"Don't feel bad. Pops is just way better-whoa!" Ranma ducked the kick that was aimed to take off her head.

"Why you!" Akane attacked, and Ranma dodged, leading the other girl around the dojo.

"That's more like it!" Ranma laughed.

"Stand still!"

"How're you going to get better if I did that?" Ranma argued, sticking her fingers in her mouth and tongue out. "Nah, nah, nah! Can't hit me!"

"Arrgh!" Akane lashed out, and Ranma danced aside.

"Stop!" Genma's voice startled the pair into breaking apart and turning to face him.

"What do you want?" Ranma frowned.

"You're letting your emotions control you, girl," Genma walked over.

"You going blind as well as senile, old man?" Ranma rolled her eyes. Genma regarded her for a moment. He pushed his glasses up. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Eh?" Ranma stepped back in surprise.

"A vital part of Anything Goes, whether the Tendo or Saotome school relies on controlling the fight. That means keeping your cool and making your opponent lose theirs. An angry opponent may be powerful, but they'll be sloppy too," Genma explained to Akane, ignoring Ranma.

"Really? Daddy never told me that," Akane looked at Genma uncertainly.

"How much training did my buddy actually give you?" Genma studied Akane. "You barely seem to have the basics of Anything Goes down."

Akane growled but didn't deny it. "Dad…he stopped teaching us after Mom went away."

"Hmm. And I suppose you've only fought bricks since then," Genma nodded. "Tell me, would you like to learn the real thing?"

"What are you trying to pull old fart?" Ranma stomped over and grabbed a fistful of Genma's doji.

"I'm training an heir to the school. If you're not suitable any longer due to this weak attitude you've developed, then it'll fall to the other heir. At least she's willing to fight, girl!"

"I'm your heir!" Ranma snapped.

"Prove it!" Genma challenged. "My son would've pounded me into the dirt by now."

Ranma's fist tightened. Akane stepped back fearing what this confrontation was leading up to. Then Ranma relaxed and held her eyes down, her fringe falling over them.

"I thought so," Genma stated taking Ranma's fingers and prying the loose digits away from his dogi. Ranma stepped away, head still held down. In a voice barely audible she whispered, "I ain't going to ruin anyone else's life."

"R—Ranma?" Akane flinched and stepped back from the intensity of the look, Ranma sent her way. It chilled her to the bone. She'd never noticed until that moment that Ranma's eyes were catlike. Not until they were filled with resentment. The cat-eyed girl averted her eyes and backed away, then without another word she turned and walked stiffly out the dojo.

Ranma didn't look back. Emotions she didn't know she had swirled in her head and her chest felt heavy. Her father just didn't understand or didn't care. He wasn't the one that had to feel the guilt over what she had done. Ranma wished she didn't feel it, and that moment she wanted to cease feeling anything. The way her father was treating her hurt more than any of his stupid training ideas. Well, maybe not as much as the neko-ken, but it ranked right up there.

Ranma stalked through the home, fists tightly clenched. She was so frustrated, she missed the odd crackle of electricity that jumped from her fists. She passed through the living room, not noticing the television developed interference as she passed by. It was only when she reached for the door to the guest room and the resultant flash of discharged electricity on the metal handle that she noticed anything weird.

"What?" Ranma pulled her hand back as if bitten. She sniffed at the smell of ozone. "What the heck was that?" Holding her hand up, she wiggled her fingers making certain they all still worked. They didn't hurt, but there was a fading tingle in them. A frown marred her face as she went over the feeling in her head. Reaching out carefully again she gripped the handle and held it. Nothing happened. Genma was forgotten for the new mystery. Ranma raised her hand again and examined it, focusing on the feelings she had felt before the sparks had flown.

Her hand felt tingly and pressure built up as she focused her concentration on the appendage. A static discharge leapt from finger to finger, and she flinched away in surprise. She held her hand away from herself like it was a poisonous snake.

"Okay, what is this?" Ranma clenched her fist before her face. Forcing the feeling again she was rewarded by the crackle of static popping around her fist. She relaxed, and the energy faded away. Ranma focused on the tip of her finger and moved to touch the door handle again. An arc of electrical discharge leapt the small gap from her fingertip to the door handle, only stopping when she relaxed. "Ooooh!" Ranma forgot all about being upset at discovering a new trick. She whipped around and raced outside, passing Kasumi who called out. "Ranma-chan! Dinner will soon be ready!"

"Thanks! I'll be back soon!" Ranma called back before hopping out the door and leaping off into the distance.

Despite her promise, Ranma hadn't returned by the time everyone else had sat down for the evening meal. The Tendo's exchanged small talk about the day, while Genma sat quiet and contemplated the empty spot Ranma should have occupied. Perhaps he had pushed the boy too far. A thump on the roof made eyes look up. Ranma's torso popped over the lip of the door in from the garden, and she waved, long ponytail dangling down.

"Hey everybody!"

"Welcome back Ranma-chan," Kasumi greeted as the pseudo-girl gripped the top of the doorframe and flipped herself down from the roof, slowly, displaying a control and strength usually reserved for professional gymnasts. Ranma landed effortlessly and zipped over to slide into a kneeling position at the table.

"Man, I'm starving!" Ranma declared and began grabbing food and piling her bowl up while ignoring Genma. Akane blinked at the entirely different mood Ranma was in from when she last saw her. Nabiki paused in her chewing and studied Ranma, wondering what she was planning. Ranma began scarfing down her food, barely stopping to chew.

Genma frowned. This wasn't the reaction he expected from his son. "So, daughter, where have you been?"

"This is great Kasumi!" Ranma sprayed.

"At least close your mouth, moron!" Akane snapped. Ranma paused, closed her mouth and chuckled as she swallowed before looking sheepish.

"Sorry! Just so hungry. Working out like I just did really burns through energy I noticed!"

"Been lifting buses Ranma?" Nabiki half-joked.

"Nah. Figured a cool technique out with this body," Ranma grinned while pointing her chopsticks. "And the best thing, I don't need to actually punch anyone to use it!"

"Bah! Sounds like a weak girls' technique," Genma snorted.

"It'll be a perfect anti-pervert defence as well once perfected!" Ranma grabbed a second helping, and that vanished as quickly as the first. She moved on to a third bowl, to the raised eyebrows of the others at the table.

"My, somebody's hungry," Nabiki watched in awe.

"Haha! Ranma's a growing boy…I think?" Soun laughed.

Genma pressed a finger to his forehead in thought. It seemed he would have to actually go ahead with step two after all. "Say, old buddy," Genma started, turning to Soun. "I've been thinking—"

"A first time for everything eh Daddy!" Ranma chirped.

"—how would you feel about me taking Akane on a training trip?" Genma ignored Ranma's interruption. Akane blinked in surprise and snapped her head towards Genma. Ranma paused and eyed her father from the corner of her eyes. He's trying to make me mad, Ranma thought. Well, he ain't going to win.

"A training trip?" Soun studied his friend and glanced over at Akane who looked surprised and interested. "I'm not sure old friend. Your last one ended up a little…strangely."

"Hahaha! Don't worry Tendo! I was only thinking of a week in the mountains. Put her through her paces in the fresh air. I think it'll be good for the schools if both our…children…had a decent grounding in the other school."

"Can I Dad?" Akane asked, her face a picture of hope and excitement at the thought of getting real training.

"Well…"

"Please!" Akane dragged the word out and gave her father the puppy eye treatment.

"I don't see a problem with that," Soun relented.

"Excellent!" Genma nodded.

"Hey, did I ever tell ya guys about the Neko-Ken training?" Ranma piped up, timing her moment to perfection.

"Now, now, girl, no need to bring up that…" Genma tried sending a look saying shut up. Ranma sat calmly eating with her eyes closed.

"Or how about the time with the wolves?"

"Wolves?" Soun's eyes bored into Genma.

"Motivation training! Remember our own, old buddy?" Genma waved his hands to defuse the situation.

"And what about the time you tossed me off that cliff?"

"Cliff?" Soun growled.

"Or the—"

"Ranma, be a dear and shut up!" Genma grabbed Ranma in a one armed hug, trying to strangle her in the crook of his arm so she would shut up. Ranma just appeared annoyed, then she smiled. It was an evil smile, and along with the way her hair started to float around her head as if full of static made the image far more disturbing.

The Tendo's all flinched back from the table when the air crackled and popped with discharging electricity. Genma's entire body locked up as high voltage was pumped through him, unable to even shout out. It was only for a second, but it left him frozen in place, and the faint smell of fried food drifted about. Ranma calmly removed the arm from around her shoulders and shuffled back into her spot. Genma coughed and fell over like a redwood in a lumberjack contest.

"You going to eat that Pops? No? Thanks!" Ranma grabbed her father's helping and devoured it.

"Did…did you just electrocute him?" Nabiki asked leaning over the table to get a good look at the downed Saotome.

"Yep. Ain't it cool?" Ranma grinned.

"How?"

"Dunno. I just figured out I could do it," Ranma shrugged.

"Oh Ranma-chan, I don't think it's very nice to electrocute your father," Kasumi said.

"Don't worry, I can actually control how much power I use as it takes concentration to charge it up, unlike punching things," Ranma grinned.

"That's a pretty useful ability," Akane stated and wished she could do that to the boys at school. Ranma gave Akane a blank look before she looked away from the other girl. Akane noticed the way Ranma avoided looking at her or answering and frowned. Surely she's not that upset that Mr Saotome wants to train me?

"Hey Ranma, when summer comes fully around can I borrow you as a bug zapper?" Nabiki asked with a chuckle.

"Haha," Ranma drawled. "This opens up some cool new moves for me, though. I can already see combining it with light palm strikes and blocks. Just think, a style where an attacker hurts themselves when they hit ya or needing only a touch to disable them? I could call it Gentle Fist and annoy Pops even more! Bwahaha!"

"Unless they're wearing rubber boots," Nabiki pointed out.

"Hmm, you're right. Have ta make a counter to rubber soles," Ranma agreed already working on ways to get around insulation.

The Tendo home sat in darkness. With not a cloud in the sky, the temperature had fallen a good few degrees, although not cold by any means it was chilly enough that anyone outside would want to wear a coat. A dog could be heard barking in the distance as Tuto walked up to the gates to the Tendo's home. The AI studied the sign and cocked his head to one side.

"The Tendo Dojo. To defeat the owner in savage combat use the rear gate? What?"

Tuto logged into the ship and used its long-range scanners to double-check he had to correct location. After his brief 'encounter' with Birdy, he began questioning the many teens for information on a pink and white haired girl. He was disturbed to find out she had made quite a name for herself in only two days of attending the school under the name Ranma Saotome. Taking a moment, he hacked into the primitive computer system in the school and dug up all the records he could on this 'Ranma'.

There wasn't much and what there was indicated the youth was a boy and looked nothing like Birdy. His confusion grew even further as the school hadn't even double checked the records and just changed the gender on the file for Ranma Saotome. He supposed that could only be expected from a primitive backwater planet that the Federation had no real interest in. The reason they were here after all. The lack of interest made Earth of interest to those with more nefarious ideas.

Birdy's lack of concern over her drawing attention to her abilities drew Tuto's ire. She had always been impulsive, a trait he had been assigned to try and temper, but this was her being downright stupid. Unless she had suffered a head injury and forgot who she was, that was the only explanation he could come up with. Until he had her back on the ship and in a healing chamber to examine her, he had to operate on the assumption she didn't remember. If it came out she was doing this willingly, her punishment would not be mild. Tuto cared for his charge, even if he was only emulating the feeling, it was real to him, and he didn't want Birdy to be brought up on charges.

"Okay Birdy, where are you?" He scanned the home and located her bio-pattern. She appeared to be sleeping, which was perfect. He would just sneak in, sedate her, and teleport her back to the ship. The plan was simple. What could go wrong?

Tuto jumped and caught the top of the wall. He pulled himself up with ease. His disguise body was nowhere near a top combat model, but that didn't mean it was as weak as it appeared. Crouching on the wall, he scanned the garden. A pond with native fish sat in the middle of the grounds as a feature. A large building to the side of the house must be the dojo. Seeing no activity, he dropped down silently on the inside of the wall.

Like a ninja in the night, if the ninja was all gangly, awkward, and exaggeratingly gay, he moved across the garden until he found a doorway inside, nearest to Birdy's location. He cracked the guestroom door open and peered through the inch gap. Night vision mode activated he spotted the gently snoring form of Birdy.

"Birdy," he whispered and slid the door far enough aside to squeeze in. He shut it and double checked he was alone. He paused at the sight of giant black and white furry creature sleeping beside Birdy. "What…is that?" Tuto wondered and quickly looked it up. A panda bear. An endangered species of Ursidae, native to China. Tuto noted that coincidence down. It seemed China was involved a lot with Birdy's disappearance, reappearance, and subsequent behaviour.

Tuto crept across the room and crouched down near 'Birdy'. He pulled a small auto syringe and went to use it on 'Birdy'. 'Birdy' twisted out of the way and he missed, injecting the pillow instead. He tried again, and she moved again, rolling aside and bumping into the panda.

"Hold still Birdy! This is for you own good!" He hissed. A low rumble of a growl made him glance to the side. The panda was awake and staring at him with a sign raised. Tuto read the words, "Who the hell are you?" before the sign slammed into his face. Tuto's head separated from his body and flew out the window. He quickly reverted to his natural blue and white squid-like form with a pop and regained control of his unplanned flight.

"Well, I never!" He exclaimed before deciding tonight was a bust. Spinning in the air once, he sighed before zipping away.

Genma Saotome woke up from his son, sometimes daughter, driving an elbow into his furry hide. One advantage to his curse was that fur was warm, so sleeping as a bear on cool nights was quite comfortable. He growled as he sat up, only to pause at seeing some strange man, and he meant strange in more than one way, hovering over Ranma with some type of small gun.

Genma whipped out a sign as the man spotted him and whacked him in the face. He never expected the man's head to fly out the open window. Genma went totally white, and his fur stood on end as the body felt for its head for a moment before falling over with a thud.

"Oh, kami! I've killed a man!" He panda signed, not that anyone saw it. I'm a murderer! Genma thought in terror. Think Genma! What to do? What to do? He began panicking. I know, I gotta hide the body!

Genma-panda hopped out of bed, flung the strangely non-leaking corpse over his shoulder, and fled the room.

Ranma was dreaming. He knew he was because this dream had been a constant nightmare he had off and on ever since the neko-Ken training. Absently, at the back of his mind, he knew this dream had been brought on by his own mention of it during the day. Once again he was a child, in the dark, but not alone. The smell of animal waste, mixed with blood and fear filled his nose, choking him, while all around him half-seen shapes moved around, like snakes on his peripheral vision. Hissing and growling filled his ears.

He looked up at the square of light and cried, "Dad! Don't leave me again!"

A moment passed and then Genma's face appeared in the light above. He looked down into the pit in contempt. "Well, it seems you're too weak to learn the neko-Ken," Genma spat. "But that's okay, I've found a new heir. So long girl!" He slammed the trapdoor shut, plunging the pit into total darkness.

"No! Dad! Come back! Let me out! I'll be good! I'll learn! I'll learn!"

The hissing grew louder and slowly transformed into a new sound. Sounds of heavy machinery filled the air, mixed with a yowling. Ranma folded himself into a small ball, clutching his hands onto his head, tears streaming. Strangely the claws did not follow, and he raised his eyes to see the once pitch black the pit had been bathed in the eerie red glow of emergency lighting. All around him he saw the cats melt and grow into machines on four legs, as large as cars. Their glowing red eyes swinging back and forth like searchlights. The pit swelled around him, growing larger before his eyes. He blinked as something felt off. He glanced down and saw he was a girl all of a sudden. His cursed form, but as a child.

"No. No. No." Ranma chanted. This was all wrong.

An explosion rocked the world. Ranma stumbled to her feet to see a shadowed female form walk calmly away from the flames, swatting the cat-machines aside like flies. Ranma felt herself jump to her feet as her heart soared.

"Birdy! Get away from here! Now!" the woman called out.

"Violin!" Ranma felt her body move by itself, as she was only a passenger. As she moved she realised she was holding something round to her chest. She watched in awe as the woman charged into the monsters fearlessly. She leapt high into the air, avoiding the machine gun fire from their faces and came down like a bomb on one of the machines. It was destroyed in a single blow, body parts scattering. She proceeded to utterly humiliate the monsters, running in low circles around them, shattering their limbs with brutal efficiency as she passed. She dodged, flipped and kicked them apart, avoiding all the gun fire. Charging through them she raced up the walls to take out the ones crawling on there and the ceiling. Finally, she dropped to the ground and stood calmly amid the carnage.

Ranma took in the battle that lasted mere seconds in awe. The ground vibrated as something massive took a step towards them. It's enormous form obscured by the smoke. A pair of glowing red eyes flashed, as the behemoth slowly revealed itself, towering high above them both.

Ranma screamed and sat up. Her breathing heavy and her heart pounded in her chest. For a moment she was disorientated, then she realised she was in the Tendo's guest room. She clutched at the covers as fear, anger, and an overwhelming sadness filled her. Her cheeks felt wet, and a tear fell onto the blanket.

"What the?" Ranma touched her face feeling the tears falling freely. "Why am I crying? It's only a stupid dream…" But she couldn't stop. Glancing at the empty bed beside her, she was glad her father wasn't there to see her curl up in a ball. Why did she hurt so much?

Ranma didn't know how long she stayed curled up. She slowly worked to get her emotions back under control. Akane's shriek and a splash drew her back to reality. Ranma dragged herself to her feet and wandered over to crack open the sliding door to the garden. She peeked a red rimmed eye out to see Akane shouting abuse at Genma who calmly led the soaking wet girl around the yard, blocking her clumsy attacks and flipping her onto the grass. Jealousy pierced Ranma heart, the sadness forgotten. That should be me! Stupid macho girl! Stupid panda!

She snarled and slammed the door shut with a splintering of wood. She was too annoyed to care at the damage. Ranma grabbed a towel from the small dresser and stalked to the furo, avoiding any other members of the house. She stripped off the sweaty t-shirt and shorts, tossing them in the laundry hamper. She washed herself off and climbed in the furo, reverting back to male form. He sighed as the ritual of cleaning and changing back to normal flushed his raging emotions away. Ranma leant his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"Why does my girl-form have to be so emotional?" Ranma asked the empty room. He soaked and wondered how to get his other form under control, and why the neko-ken nightmare had changed. "Who was Violin?" Ranma wondered. "Was she really real? I've never seen those things or movements like that before." His analytical mind replayed the battle from his dream, absorbing the moves and planning to try to emulate them soon, as he was certain his girl-form had the strength and speed required to pull them off.

Having soaked for long enough, Ranma got out the furo and grabbed his towel to dry with. He caught his reflection in the mirror and wondered if he should just say screw it all and reveal the curse at school and take the guaranteed embarrassment. He could try and avoid cold water and stay a boy as much as possible and then everything would go back to normal. His father would train with him again and…and he would have to give in and admit his father was right. Ranma growled at the thought of having to humble himself like that, especially as he knew his Father was wrong.

"Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!" Ranma declared. "I'll show that panda. I'll get this thing under control! I don't need him to train me! And then I'll take him down a peg or two!" He reached for the cold water tap and twisted it before using his hands to splash water on his face. She turned the taps off and wiped her face dry. Determined sea-blue eyes stared back at her from the mirror.

The door opening drew her attention away. A muttering, dirty, grass-stained Akane limped into the room and froze at the sight of Ranma. It was almost an exact repeat of last time, except this time Ranma's expression hardened as she looked over at Akane.

"I'm done now," Ranma stated going to wrap her towel around her waist, paused as she remembered and instead wrapped it over her chest.

"You! You! You pervert!" Akane finally managed to reboot her mind. She was already annoyed and frustrated at being thrown around all morning, and now she found the boy turned girl she was engaged to staring at her naked body. She charged and punched at Ranma's face. Ranma didn't dodge. She didn't redirect the blow. She didn't take it. She blocked it with an open palm, then closed her fingers. Akane hissed through her teeth as bones were pressed together just enough to hurt. Ranma twisted them around and pushed her back against the mirror. The chill of the glass on Akane's back barely registered as the taller and stronger girl held her in place. Ranma loomed over her, her eyes cold. Akane paled as she realised what she had just done and how outclassed she was.

Ranma's gaze bore into Akane's eyes, daring the other girl to try something. She could hear the raised heart rate and smell the girl's fear. She didn't know how she knew it was fear, as Akane was doing pretty well at keeping it off her face by looking angry. After holding her captive long enough for her to get the message, Ranma snorted, let go and pushed passed the angry girl.

"How dare you!" Akane found her voice, although it sounded shaky. Ranma paused in the doorway, one hand on the frame. She glanced back over her shoulder and levelled a cold gaze at Akane.

"How dare I? How dare you?" Ranma asked calmly and let energy crackle around her fist. "Next time you try ta hit me you better be ready for a shocking experience."

"Y—you wouldn't dare…"

"Try me," Ranma challenged. "You an' me? We're not friends. You're a rival."

Akane had the good graces to look troubled as Ranma slammed the door shut behind her.

A floating blue mechanical squid shaped AI waited patiently in the living centre of Birdy's Federation cruiser. The room like the rest of the ship was modelled in an organic fashion. Structurally the ship was shaped similar to an orca externally, and internally as well. The walls were coated in a holographic display which was currently dark, but when an organic was inside often showed undersea like displays, along with relaxing ocean sounds. In front of the wall, displays were leaf-like patterns in yellow and blue hues. Small lights embedded in the floor supplied illumination.

A chime brought Tuto out of sleep mode, and he quickly spun to the face the primary communication device. The circular base lit up, and the holographic display flickered into existence. An alien that looked suspiciously like a giant praying mantis in long robes was revealed.

"Tuto, I apologise for the wait."

"I understand completely, Captain Megius," Tuto dipped in the air as if nodding.

"Your report both fills me with happiness that Birdy has apparently survived, yet worries me far more with your concern she doesn't seem to recognise you or respond to your communication efforts."

"It concerns me as well, as so far I've been thwarted in my attempt to bring her back to the ship. Our reports of this planet never indicated an intelligent bear species."

"Yes, I've asked to have some of the Earth immigrates messaged about these panda bears. Does Birdy seem well? Aside from the obvious?"

"Yes Sir, she appears physically healthy, and according to what information I've gathered from the locals, quite the spectacle."

"I'm relieved, yet worried about the attention she is drawing to herself," Megius paused with multifaceted eyes upwards. He refocused on Tuto, "I need you to get her onto the ship for an examination. I suggest infiltrating the school to keep an eye on her. Posing as a teacher should allow you get close and spend time with her. If you get a chance to convince her to come willingly do it. If that fails then…do what you must to get her back."

"Sir!"

Breakfast at the Tendo's that day was a little tense. Ranma sat and gobbled down her food, pointedly ignoring her father and Akane. Akane did her best to bore holes into Ranma with her eyes. Genma attempted to swipe food from Ranma, who ended the attempt with a glass of water and an electrical discharge leaving one very round and fluffy, slightly singed, fuzz ball of a panda. Nabiki swept her eyes between the three martial artists and smiled to herself. Soun buried himself behind his paper and tried to ignore the tension.

"Akane," Kasumi broke the silence. "Would you take this book I borrowed back to Dr Tofu for me one your way?"

"I guess," Akane took the book. Ranma turned to watch and added her thoughts. "That dodgy doctor?"

"Dodgy?" Kasumi swung her face towards Ranma in surprise. Nabiki sat up a little straighter and took an interest in what would happen next.

"Dr Tofu is not dodgy!" Akane slammed the book on the table, rattling the chinaware.

"Fine. He's the creepy chiropractor," Ranma snorted. Akane's glare grew intense. Ranma grinned back. "The perverted practitioner?"

"Ranma!" Akane dragged out the word like she had found something disgusting on her shoe.

"Oh my, why would you call Dr Tofu such names, Ranma? He's always been sweet, if a little odd around me," Kasumi said with a finger to her chin.

"Has he asked you to strip for him?" Ranma asked.

"What?" Kasumi reared back in surprise. "No. I—I mean I could see him asking that during an examination."

"Ranma! Shut up!" Akane snapped, although she refrained to anything more physical as Ranma's earlier threat was still fresh in her mind.

"This was in the middle of the street. Therefore, he's a pervert," Ranma made her point before beginning on another helping.

"He—he did what?" Kasumi looked scandalised.

"Really?" Nabiki smirked towards Kasumi. "I thought he only had eyes for one girl. Geez Ranma, you are popular aren't you?"

"Feh, I'd rather not be popular. At least not with all the weirdo's like Akane!"

"I am not…" Akane frowned as she realised Ranma's words were likely true. "Grr! I'm leaving!" The girl grabbed the book, turned her nose up and strode away. Ranma ignored her and continued eating.

"Well, I need to get moving too," Nabiki got to her feet. "You coming Ranma?"

"I'll be there in a bit, there's food to eat first."

"You'll be late."

"Not the way I travel," Ranma grinned between bites.

"Well, I should get to work." Genma-panda signed. "Have a lovely time at school, girl!"

Ranma looked at Genma out of the corner of her eyes and snorted, "See ya, old fart."

Once Genma had left, Soun excused himself and vanished into the house. Kasumi began gathering the bowls and left-overs up while.

"Thanks, Kasumi," Ranma nodded as she stood up.

"Oh, you're welcome. Have fun at school Ranma-chan!"

"Meh, maybe I'll get a nap," Ranma shrugged and walked to the front door. She grabbed her shoes and slipped them on before exiting. She stood for a moment to breathe in deeply, then leapt away in the direction of the school. Taking a straight line over the rooftops cut her journey down to mere minutes. On the final approach to the school, Ranma glanced down in mid-leap and noticed that the boys waiting for Akane (and possibly herself) were already engaged in combat with Akane.

"She's being extra brutal today," Ranma muttered wincing in sympathy at Akane groin-stomping a downed ruby player. Kuno stepped out from a tree in time for Ranma to land in front of him. Kuno stepped back in surprise but quickly recovered as his insanity did its job of rewriting reality.

"Oh! The fierce tigress Ranma Saotome appears before me! Diving from the heavens like the Valkyries of legend, come to carry me away, held to her bosom!"

Ranma smoothed down the annoying skirt, ignored the annoying prattle, and glanced over her shoulder at the battle still raging. Akane wasn't doing as well as usual, probably due to the slight limp and not being used to having a morning spar with Ranma's father. The other girl was already showing signs of slowing down and sloppier than usual movements. For a moment, Ranma almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

"Oh my strawberry parfait haired girl! Come face me in battle so that I may date you!" Kuno raised his bokken.

"One moment," Ranma held her palm towards him in a halt right there

That actually looks like it might be good enough for training, Ranma thought as she continued to watch the various boys from Furinkan sports clubs press their attacks. As if sensing Akane's struggle to hold them off as effectively as normal, they surged, putting her on the defensive.

"Hey Kuno," Ranma turned to the deranged kendoist.

"Yes my fierce pink tigress?"

"You said that if anyone wants to date Akane, they had to defeat her in combat first right?"

"That's is true. How could one as strong as she consider dating someone weaker than herself?"

"So…if I defeat her, then if anyone wanted to date her they'd have to beat me for the right correct?"

Kuno cocked his head to one side as he pondered Ranma's words. "Hmm, indeed that would be true."

"Cool. Oh, Kuno?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Hold my hand for a moment," Ranma held her hand out as if she were greeting a friend with a handshake. Kuno, of course, took it to mean something else.

"Oh, how I've waited to hold your hand in mine—ayayayayayaaa!" Kuno spasmed as Ranma zapped him like she was Jack Nicholson's Joker.

"Idiot," Ranma let go of the crispy kendoist, who promptly fell flat on his face. "I…fight…on…" Kuno mumbled into the ground as steam wafted off him.

"Right, now, time to set up a training regime!" Ranma rubbed her hands together and cackled. She waited until an opportunity presented itself to insert herself into the fight. It soon happened as she spotted a hockey player charging Akane from behind. Ranma grinned as she ran forward, dodging through the downed boys and those still standing. The cursed boy slid into position to catch the hockey stick as it descended upon Akane, she also bumped the other girl with her hips. Akane yelped as she was thrown off balance from the unexpected bump. She stumbled and only just blocked a soccer ball to the face by crossing her arms. The youngest Tendo punched the soccer player in the face, dropping him and spun around to see Ranma swiping the legs out from under the hockey player with his own stick she had confiscated.

"What are you doing moron!" Akane shouted when she realised it was Ranma.

"Having fun," Ranma grinned back and jumped over a charging rugby player, who forced Akane to dodge a tackle into the path of a charging sumo wrestler. Akane heard something whizzing through the air and turned before a hockey stick took her legs out from under her. She yelped at the impact and sat frozen in horror as the shadow of the sumo wrestler covered her when he jumped into the air and performed a perfect belly flop. The descent was stopped as a pink-haired menace executed an almost perfect rendition of Dirty Dancing's signature move, holding the massive sumo wrestler in the air with her hands. She smirked and spun him around overhead like she was making pizza dough, before tossing the wrestler into the remaining charging boys.

"Well, that was fun," Ranma clapped and rubbed her hands together. She faced Akane and smirked. "Only one person left to beat up Tendo!" Ranma went into an exaggerated crane stance, broadcasting her intentions to the entire school. Akane sat and gaped like a fish out of water before she responded with a snarl. "Are you serious?"

"Are you saying you're turning down a challenge? Heh, my old man would be beside himself if he could see ya. Pretty pathetic for an heir of Anything Goes, right?" Ranma taunted. "Come on, fight me!"

"What are you trying to pull?" Akane hissed as she climbed shakily to her feet.

"What's the matter? Afraid? I guess you could give up now, letting everyone know you're a coward. In front of the entire school…Chicken! Nya! Nya!"

"Ranma!" Akane charged, leading in with a punch. Ranma flowed out of her exaggerated stance and blocked the blow with her forearm, smirking at the other girl.

"That's not much of a punch ya know," Ranma blocked the follow-up fist with her arm again. She backed up slowly, blocking each of Akane's attacks that she swung at Ranma with all her might. Akane grit her teeth in frustration and against the pain of feeling like she was hitting iron bars instead of an arm. Her breathing became laboured as all the extra activity of the morning took its toll on her endurance.

Ranma decided she had made her point as Akane's attacks lost most of their power. With a flourish, Ranma ducked under the next attack and grabbed Akane's arm. She twisted around, coming to a stop behind Akane, pulling the other girl's arm into a painful hold behind her back. Ranma pushed Akane to her knees with as little force as she could, which still caused the dark haired girl to gasp from the impact of knees to concrete. Akane hissed as Ranma pressed a knee again her back, pinning the girl in a position that even if Ranma weren't massively stronger would have robbed Akane of all leverage.

"Ready to submit?" Ranma asked as she pushed Akane's head down until her forehead touched the ground. Akane growled and struggled against Ranma's hold to no avail. Her eyes burned from the tears she shed in a mixture of pain, frustration and embarrassment.

"You win," Akane whispered through her teeth.

"What's that? I can't hear you. Neither can all your admirers," Ranma said in her ear. Her breath sending unpleasant shivers through Akane at the closeness and her feeling of utter helplessness.

"I said you win!" Akane snarled in defeat.

"And I'm better than you?"

"Fine! You're better than me!"

"Cool," Ranma smirked and released the other girl from her painful hold and stepped back. She looked around at all the boys who had been dragging themselves to their feet or watching the confrontation unfold before them. Ranma cracked her neck from side to side before raising a hand to point at the sky. "All right you losers, listen up!" She declared, her voice raised so as many could hear her as possible. "Akane has been kicking ya butts for a while now, and now that I've beaten her you know what that means right?"

The crowd muttered between themselves before someone got the courage to speak up. "You're going to ask her on a date?"

"Two girls? Hot!" Somebody piped up.

"Wrong!" Ranma whipped her arm down to point at them. "From now on, as I'm the best fighter here, if ya want to date Akane you have to beat me for the right to ask her out. Not that any of ya got a chance at that."

"What if we want to ask you out instead?" Some brave fool asked.

"As if any of you losers could manage ta beat me," Ranma scoffed.

Before anyone could make another comment, the school bell rang out, informing everyone in the yard they were late.

"Oh, guess that means bucket duty again," Ranma sighed.

"So, Saotome, old friend, what's the real reason you wish to take Akane on a training trip?" Soun Tendo asked as he sat before the shogi board, arms folded, back straight and an intense look of concentration on his face.

"Real reason?" Genma asked mirroring his friend's pose, although with a slouch.

"Come know, I can tell when you're up to something, old buddy."

"Heh, you know me too well Tendo," Genma chuckled. "Our plan to get our children married is in danger, all because of Jusenkyo."

"Hmm? I admit your curses are awkward, but I don't see it as a barrier to the joining of the schools?"

"I thought the same once the shock of the change wore off," Genma nodded. "However my boy…since getting the curse has changed. He's become quieter, reserved at times, and refuses to strike an opponent. He's becoming a pacifist. Worse…I think he may actually be becoming a girl…"

"Hmm…I see that Ranma deciding to be a girl could ruin the wedding."

"It's worse than that Tendo. We can always use hot water to get the wedding to go ahead no matter what, but I made a vow to Nodoka. One that Ranma doesn't know about."

"A vow?"

"Yes, I had to promise her that if Ranma didn't grow up to be a man among men, we would commit seppuku. It was the only way I could get her to agree to taking him on a training trip."

"Oh…oh dear…" Soun leant back, taking his eyes off the board for a moment, allowing Genma to re-arrange a few pieces to give him an advantage. "What are you going to do? From what I've seen you've only made things worse, old friend. Hmm? When did?"

"Already working on it Tendo," Genma adjusted his glasses with a finger. "Give me a week in the mountains with Akane, and when we get back, Ranma will have to change his mind."

"I don't like it Saotome, but if it's the only way…"

"Believe me, I've tried everything else," Genma muttered. "When did you get a tanuki statue Tendo?"

"What statue?" Soun glanced around Genma to the garden. He didn't see any statue, but he did notice a recently dug patch in his lawn that was lumped up as if something was hastily buried there. "Has somebody been digging in my garden?" Soun rubbed his chin. Turning back to the board he noticed his position had become worse than before.

"Digging?" Genma glanced about anywhere but Soun's face. Soun quickly sorted out the issue of him losing. Both of them went back to silence as they re-focused their attention to the board. Soun caught a movement from the garden in the corner of his eyes. He raised them from the board to see a dirty hand sticking out of the dirt mound. His eyes widened as another arm burst out the ground, before a headless body sat up, dirt pouring from the corpse as if it had been commanded by Zeus to wise from its gwave.

Soun's posture and face remained stoic while his hair stood straight up, defying gravity, as the headless zombie climbed to its feet.

"Saotome! A zombie!"

"Nice try Tendo," Genma smirked. Soun grabbed his friend's shoulders and spun him around in time to see the corpse walk robotically towards the wall. Genma's face went white at seeing the body he had disposed of up and walking again. The two master martial artists watched in silence as a portal of darkness opened up in front of the zombie and it stepped through before the portal closed up leaving the garden empty.

Akane Tendo sat at her desk and fumed. The expression on her face caused those closest to her to shuffle their desks as far from the occasionally growling girl as they could. Since they had been let into the class, she had glared across the room at Ranma and muttered various tortures under her breath. Ranma meanwhile, lazed in her seat and wrote down answers to the maths questions in her book. All the time she smirked like a cat that had gotten the cream. Ranma glanced her way and had the audacity to wink. Akane's pencil snapped between her fingers as they clenched automatically.

How dare he do this to me? Akane scowled back at the cursed boy. Who does he think he is? He's as bad as Kuno! Sweeping in and taking over my life!

"Okay, class!" The teacher's voice snapped Akane out of her thoughts. "Looks like it's time to break for lunch." The teacher glanced up at the clock mere seconds before the bell rang. Akane sighed and closed the unmarked page of her maths book. She packed the books back into her book bag and pulled out her bento.

"Hey Akane," Sayuri greeted as she and Yuka pulled over their chairs to sit with Akane.

"Hi," Akane greeted without any enthusiasm in her voice.

"Are you okay?" Yuka asked, sitting down.

"Oh, I'm just fine, aside from my whole life getting more messed up every day."

"So did you say yes when Ranma asked you on a date?" Sayuri giggled.

"No! He didn't ask me! And I wouldn't date that boy anyway!"

"Boy?" Both her friends asked looking at each other with mirroring expressions of surprise.

"Ack! I meant…a…tomboy! Yeah! She's a total tomboy!" Akane floundered and congratulated herself on recovering from her mistake. She tittered to herself, keeping her eyes averted.

"And you'd know if anyone was a tomboy," Yuka giggled.

"Oh shut up," Akane muttered without any heat. "I just can't believe he—she would embarrass me like that!"

"Hey, look at it this way, Ranma's helped you out."

"I don't see how Yuka."

"The way I see it, Ranma's made herself the target for the boys. In that way they won't bother you while they're focused on her, right?" Yuka explained. She looked over to Ranma's desk and watched the exotic looking girl talk with the several boys and girls that surrounded her and were asking questions. Akane and Sayuri followed her gaze. Ranma laughed at something while holding a hand behind her head, her face a picture of innocent amusement.

"You know I'm a little jealous of her. She's tall, pretty, confident, and cute as well," Yuka stated. "No wonder she's getting so much attention."

"She's not cute!" Akane growled. Ranma was anything but cute when she had you pinned to the ground in a painful hold. "She's the opposite of cute…totally uncute! Yeah, she's an uncute tomboy!"

"And why would I want ta be cute?" Ranma called across the class as everyone heard Akane's outburst. "At least I'm not a top-heavy macho chick."

"Who are you calling clumsy you—you—uncute flat chested tomboy!" Akane jumped to her feet and slammed her palms on the desk. Knocking over hers and Yuka's bento. Sayuri had had the sense of mind to grab hers the moment Ranma returned the insults. Yuka's face fell as most of her lunch ended up on her dress.

"So what? I'd be happier if I was actually flatter," Ranma waved off the insult. She smirked as she saw Akane grind her teeth.

"Okay you two, stop fighting like an old couple," Sayuri interrupted.

"We're not a couple!" Ranma and Akane shouted in stereo.

"Yep, definitely like a couple," Sayuri said before popping some food into her mouth.

The chime of school bells signalling the end of the day rang out as a rugged dark haired boy stood before the gates and scrutinised the slow exodus of students from the building. He got a few odd stares as they noticed the huge backpack and larger umbrella strapped to the top of it. Ryouga Hibiki took an idle scratch at the bandage taped to the side of his face where the meteorite had landed. Just another one of the many problems he blamed on Ranma Saotome, the person he was seeking. Which was why he was stood outside of the school.

Ryouga had caught wind of a rumour that a Ranma Saotome was going to a Furinkan High School, and so he had spent the last week going from school to school searching each one for his bitter rival. As one of the boys leaving the school passed him, Ryouga snapped his arm out and caught the boy by his shirt, halting his passage.

"Where is Furinkan High?" Ryouga asked the surprised boy as he yanked him over.

"What?" The boy's startled expression became bewildered before he pointed towards the sign on the wall. Ryouga swung his head around and read the sign that proclaimed that the school was Furinkan High. Without a hint of shame, Ryouga returned his eyes to the boy and asked, "Where is Ranma Saotome?"

"Ranma?" The boy blinked away his disbelief before he looked across the yard in the direction of the doors. "Ranma's just come out the doors over there."

Ryouga turned his eyes to the doors and frowned as he saw nobody that fit with his memories of the cocky young boy he had fought with in middle school. The only people he saw exiting the building was a dark haired girl and another taller one with half white, half rose pink hair, both seemed to be arguing over something.

"Are you making fun of me? I'm looking for Ranma Saotome," Ryouga growled as he pulled the boy close to his face.

"Hey man! Calm down," the boy raised his palms to ward off violence before he shouted. "Hey! Ranma! Over here!"

Ryouga looked over as the pink haired girl looked over at them with curiosity before she angled her approach towards them. The other girl scowled at her back and followed. Various other students stopped and watched on as the school's latest celebrity was called for.

"Hey Hiroshi, right?" Ranma asked as she stepped up to them. "What's up man?"

"This guy wants to talk with you Ranma, I think?" Hiroshi explained.

"Really?" Ranma studied Ryouga with her head to one side. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place him. "I'm Ranma Saotome, ya want something?"

"You're Ranma Saotome?" Ryouga said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "But, you're a girl."

"Debatable," Akane snorted.

"Um…yeah," Ranma ignored her fiancée. She placed a finger on her cheek. "Do I know you? Ya seem familiar."

"Can you let me go now?" Hiroshi inquired.

"Sorry to bother you, miss," Ryouga released Hiroshi and turned to leave.

"Ryouga right? Ryouga Hibiki! I knew I recognised ya!" Ranma exclaimed. Her face lit up as she bounded over and threw a friendly arm around Ryouga's shoulders. Ryouga froze as he was unable to figure out what to do when a cute girl actually talked and touched him. "Oh man! How've ya been?"

"You know this guy?" Akane eyed Ryouga with suspicion.

"Yeah! This is Ryouga Hibiki, my best buddy from middle school!" Ranma explained. "He was the only guy that could keep up with me back then. We used to spar all the time and fight over the last bread of the day. Of course, I'd win, but Ryouga was almost as good!"

"Really…" Akane frowned. The crowd of curious observers grew around them.

Ryouga finally snapped out of his stupor and shrugged Ranma's arm off. He faced her and looked at her with a half glare, half puzzled expression. "You're really Ranma Saotome? The Ranma Saotome that ran out on our man to man duel?"

"Man to man duel?" Somebody in the crowd asked.

"You mean the one I waited for three days for you to show up at?" Ranma folded her arms over her chest and scowled.

"Did I hear right? He made a girl wait for three days for him to show up?" A random girl asked.

"How could he?"

"What a jerk!"

"Hey!" Ryouga snapped at the crowd. "I thought she was a boy! And when I arrived on the fourth day he—she had run away like a coward!"

"Like that makes it better!"

"Ryouga, the empty lot you chose was right behind your house," Ranma deadpanned.

"How did it take him four days to find an empty lot behind his own house?" Akane queried as the crowd muttered similar thoughts behind them.

"Ryouga's got a seriously bad sense of direction," Ranma explained. "It's how I met him at school. He was lost in one of the stairwells. After we had fought and I found out he couldn't find his way around, I offered to walk him back and forth to school and classes so I could get a decent sparring partner."

"Nobody's that bad."

"Aww, that's so sweet! And now he's tracked down his childhood crush!"

"Sounds more like he's dead set on a fight instead of love."

"You know, they say fighting is the first sign of love!"

"Damn you Ranma! You ruined my life, and now I've finally found you, you're a girl!" Ryouga shouted, before deflating into a slouch. He clenched a fist that shook in frustration. "I can't get my revenge on a girl."

"Why are you so upset? How exactly did I ruin your life?" Ranma asked, genuinely not understanding as she had thought of Ryouga as a really good friend. "Is it about the bread?"

"It's not about the bread!" Ryouga snapped.

"The duel then?" Ranma pushed. "Cause that's my old man's fault for knocking me out and dragging me off ta China."

"You still don't get it? I followed you all the way to China to find you!"

"You did?"

"And because of that, I've seen hell!" Ryouga snarled and pointed at her.

"W—wait a minute! Did you follow me to Jusenkyo?" Ranma took a shocked step back. Before Ryouga could reply, she rushed forward and grabbed his arm. "Come on, we need to talk."

"Hey!" Ryouga attempted to pull away from Ranma, but to his surprise found her grip on his arm stronger than he thought possible. He stumbled when she began to drag him with her as she headed away from the school. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Ryouga planted his feet and tried to resist her, only to find to his surprise she continued to drag him along. "Let go of me!"

"No way! I'm not risking ya getting lost," Ranma continued to drag Ryouga. Akane rushed up behind them. Ryouga ground his teeth in frustration. It seemed the entire world was out to get him. He had finally found his hated rival, only to find out he was a girl. The world was mocking him, he was certain. His honour meant he couldn't attack a girl, no matter how freakishly strong she seemed. Ryouga knew he was considered incredibly strong compared to normal people, but Ranma was making him rethink his own position on the human strength scale. Finally, he had enough of being dragged, and with a supreme effort, yanked back and managed to pull his arm free.

"Hey!" Ranma yelled as she was caught unprepared for Ryouga to actually break free from her grip. She caught herself from stumbling and then turned to give Ryouga a speculating gaze. The directionally challenged boy rubbed his wrist and sent her a dirty look. "Wow, you must be pretty strong."

"What?" Ryouga groused.

"Sorry, I've not met somebody anywhere near as strong as me for a while."

"How strong are you?" Akane asked.

"Strong enough," Ryouga smirked, then added a bit quieter. "Or so I thought." He eyed Ranma.

"What did you do to get strong?" Akane studied Ryouga's arms. He wasn't massive, but his muscles appeared solid.

"Well, I carry all my stuff with me all the time," Ryouga shrugged and pulled his umbrella off his pack. "I also had this made specially for training."

"An umbrella?"

"Can I try it out?" Ranma grabbed the umbrella off Ryouga and gave it a few experimental swings. She frowned at how light it was. "Meh, not that great after all." She went to hand it back, but Akane stepped in her way.

"Hey, let me have a try," Akane held her hand out.

"Yeah right, I don't think ya want to try it," Ranma snorted.

"Hey! I'm a martial artist too, you know!" Akane grabbed the handle with both hands and tried yanking it from Ranma. Ranma snorted again.

"Fine, watch ya toes," Ranma stated as she let go. Akane yelled in surprise as both her arms were yanked violently forward. The tip of the umbrella slammed into the ground with a bass thud. Akane grimaced and grit her teeth as she struggled to keep the handle from slipping from her grasp. She could barely hold up half it's weight even with both her arms. She let go and stepped back in awe.

"What? It's so heavy!"

"Well, yeah," Ryouga picked it up and casually rested it on one shoulder. "It needs to be so I can use it for training."

Akane looked between Ranma and Ryouga, then hung her head. She sighed. Why is everyone so much stronger than me? Don't I train?

"So Ryouga, you're not going to wander off or anything right?" Ranma tugged on his shirt.

"Of course not!" Ryouga waved her hand off him. "You still owe me for ruining my life!"

"Right. I ruined ya life," Ranma snorted. "Ya better explain that when we get home."

"Oh I will," Ryouga slipped his umbrella back into its place on his backpack.

For the rest of the trip back to the Tendo home, Ryouga followed the two ponytailed girls. He wondered what he would do now that he didn't feel comfortable taking his vengeance out on a girl. At least he could get the duel he had wanted, he guessed. Akane had her eyes down and stayed silent, while Ranma kept checking over her shoulder to make sure Ryouga was still there.

"Here we are," Ranma said as they stopped at the gates to the Tendo's home. Ryouga read the sign and smirked at the words. "Come on, we'll go to the dojo and talk." Ranma pushed the gates open and led them into the yard.

"What's that noise?" Ryouga asked as they approached the house.

"Dunno," Ranma frowned at the idle petrol engine noise.

"Hiya!" Genma shouted as he dived off the roof and slapped a paper ward on each of their foreheads. "Be cleansed!"

"What the hell ya old fart!" Ranma yanked off the ward and glared at her father, who she noted, had two lit candles strapped to his head. Genma pushed his glasses up his nose and as if nothing was wrong replied. "I'm making certain none of you have been possessed or are undead."

"Oh…kay…" Ranma's eyebrows rose. This was a new level of weirdness for even her father. Ryouga and Akane removed the wards from their own heads and watched on, confusion evident in their faces. Soun appeared from around the corner decked out in full samurai armour and waving a war banner covered in wards.

"Saotome! I've purified the dojo!"

"Good going Tendo! Soon we'll be safe from the undead hordes!"

The three teens exchanged looks of disbelief at the bizarreness unfolding before them. Then Kasumi walked out from the around the rear of the house, a shotgun strapped to her back with a homemade harness assembled from belts. She carried a running chainsaw.

"Dad, Uncle Saotome, I've checked around the house and didn't find any corpses that needed chopping up," Kasumi stated with a cheerful smile that raised goosebumps and revved the chainsaw.

"Is that a chainsaw?" Ryouga pointed.

"Oh, my, a guest," Kasumi noticed Ryouga. "Are you a friend of Ranma-chan's?"

"He might have been my friend big sister," Akane grumbled. Why was everything centred on Ranma? And when did they have a chainsaw?

"Oh, don't be silly. Everyone knows you hate boys and would never bring one home," Kasumi smiled and shut off the chainsaw. Akane sighed and hung her head in defeat.

"Right, this is my best buddy from middle school. We're having a catch-up," Ranma indicated Ryouga. "We're going ta be in the dojo. Come on Ryouga," she tugged Ryouga's arm.

"Whatever," Ryouga eyed Kasumi warily before following after the dual-coloured haired girl. Akane decided the lesser of the two weirds was to follow Ranma.

"So…you went to Jusenkyo," Ranma started once they entered the dojo. She turned around to face Ryouga. Akane paused by the door, before walking in to stand nearby the pair.

"Yeah, I chased you all the way there," Ryouga growled. "And when I arrived you had already fled. Again!"

"Hey! I didn't flee anywhere ya idiot," Ranma disagreed. "I didn't even know ya were chasing me. Seriously!"

"Boys eh, Ranma," Akane sniggered. Ranma pulled a face at Akane's comment but didn't reply. Instead, she asked Ryouga the important question.

"Did you fall into one of the pools?" Ryouga just growled in reply. "You did, didn't you."

"If you know about the pools then you know what they do. Because of you, I ended up in that cursed place, and it's destroyed my life!"

Ranma sighed. "How…how did it happen?"

"I chased after you on the cliffs above Jusenkyo. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath. I heard a scream, and then the ground shook like there were an earthquake and the next thing I knew the cliff crumbled under my feet and I fell. Then I was in hell!" Ryouga finished by shouting in Ranma's face. Ranma stepped back and looked horrified. Ranma's expression caused Ryouga to pause, as she looked genuinely upset.

"Oh, kami…it was my fault…" Ranma whispered. She remembered being in a rage right after finding she had become a girl. Before she had realised how strong she was, she had clumsily chased her father. A jump made her overshoot him by miles, and she had slammed face first into a cliffside. In her frustration, she had slammed her fist into the cliff. Ranma had stared in surprise for a moment as she buried her arm up to her elbow in the rock. It had taken her the good part of half an hour to dig herself out from under the rubble which had buried her. Snapping back to the present she stared at Ryouga. "Ryouga…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Ryouga's anger faded from a seething boil to a just a simmering heat. He had expected to find a cocky boy who didn't give a damn about his suffering. Instead, he found a girl, who despite having a certain amount of the expected cockiness, seemed to genuinely be upset over her actions. He wasn't entirely certain how he should proceed anymore. Why did Ranma have to be so inconsiderate and not act or be the way he expected?

"You're sorry? How does that help?" Ryouga growled.

"I…guess it doesn't," Ranma muttered. She looked thoughtful for a moment before stating, "You chased me because of our duel right? You got cursed because of me, so I guess if it makes you feel better, hit me." Ranma indicated her cheek.

"What?"

"I deserve it right?"

"But…you're a girl…"

"Hey! I'm stronger than you! I'd probably not even feel it," Ranma declared with fists on her hips. "Come on, I'm waiting."

"I'm not hitting a girl."

"What's the matter? Afraid of little ole' me? Coward!" Ranma pulled her lower eyelid down and blew him a raspberry.

"Damn you Ranma!" Ryouga snarled and charged her, throwing a punch into her face. Ranma grunted, surprised she actually felt the impact, even if it only felt like a light tap. Ryouga growled as he held his fist against her cheek.

"Feeling any better now?" Ranma asked as Ryouga pulled his hand back. He hissed through his teeth and clutched his throbbing hand.

"What the hell are you made of?" Ryouga asked, flexing his hand to make sure none of his bones were broken. "I can punch through walls without much trouble."

"Dunno," Ranma shrugged. "I'm just a bit of a freak."

"Wow…" Ryouga rubbed his hand. They fell into an uneasy silence.

"So…what pool did you fall into?" Ranma asked after they had been quiet for a short while.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Ryouga bellowed in her face.

"Geez! Sorry, I asked!" Ranma held her palms up to ward off Ryouga. "It must be terrible."

"It is! It's a horrific form! You have no idea of the hell I've seen because of it!"

"Let's find out," Akane broke into the conversation by dumping a bucket of water over Ryouga's head. The boy vanished, and his clothing fell into a wet pile. "What the?" Akane blinked at the disappearance. From how Ryouga had been talking she expected him to change into something big and monstrous, not disappear.

"That wasn't very nice, ya know?" Ranma looked at Akane with half-lidded eyes.

"Well, he was just being too dramatic!"

"Still wasn't nice," Ranma stated as she crouched down to examine the pile of clothing. She noticed something small moving around. "Hey, Ryouga? You in there?" She began to carefully pull the clothing away from the struggling shape. Akane kneeled down and helped until they finally revealed the small black piglet wearing Ryouga's yellow and black patterned bandana around its neck.

"Ryouga?" Ranma stared at the piglet.

"Bweeee!"

"Oh, he's sooo cute!" Akane laughed. She leant over Ryouga and poked his nose. "Wow, ironic curse. A boy who turns into a piggy! How you doing P-Chan!"

"P-Chan?" Ranma asked while Ryouga made a cute little piggy growl.

"Yeah! P as in pig, and Chan as in little! P-Chan! Haha!" Akane pointed at Ryouga. She squealed in pain as the pig bit down on her finger. "Ow! You damned porker!" Akane yanked her hand back before she threw her fist at the boy turned pig.

"Hey! Leave him alone ya big bully!" Ranma deflected Akane's fist and swept Ryouga up into her arms to protect him from Akane. "He can't defend himself like this!"

"He bit me!" Akane snarled.

"So? You were making fun of his curse! How'd you like it to be turned into something so small and defenceless against ya will?" Ranma asked.

Ryouga went from mad to surprised in Ranma's arms as he heard her words in his defence. She had protected him from being flattened by Akane as well. Nobody had even shown him kindness like Ranma. Most of his interactions with people just seemed that they were always annoyed at him when he asked them for directions, or wanted to get rid of him quickly, or worse made fun of his lack of sense of direction. No, he realised, when they had met, Ranma had actually stuck around and made sure he could get to school, unlike everyone else at the time. Even if Ranma always managed to get the last bread and rub it in his face, she had still been there to help him home. Ranma was the reason for his curse, but she was so upset over it as well that he couldn't stay angry with the girl, and strangely, he felt safe in her arms. Especially as he was pressed into those comfortable, warm pillows.

Ryouga blinked for a moment before realising what those pillows were. He squealed as a spurt of blood shot out his nose, and he passed out. Ranma blinked at the unconscious piglet in her arms.

"Ryouga! Ryouga! Akane! You've killed Ryouga!"

End Chapter

Just a little author's notes here.

Sorry, this took longer to get done than I expected. I'd hoped to try and get a chapter out every two to three weeks, but stuff came up, and I struggled with the middle of this part, actually cutting out the bit I struggled with and moving on without it. I'm not entirely happy with the pacing of the character changes. Not sure if they're going too fast.

Anywho, this chapter turned out to be more set up for how the character's relationships will be different in this. Pretty much this fic started out as a thought of how would Ranma act if he got a girl curse that was powerful in such a way he didn't mind it? It's veered slightly away from that with Ranma having a hard time controlling some of the abilities, but he's a fast learner.

My first thought was doing the well-worn Tenchi idea of Ryoko's form, but that's been done quite a bit. Then I decided to use Birdy instead as it was one of my early anime favourites. Actually, I took a random chance at buying the oav's after it being described as Ranma 1/2 with aliens. Expecting something like Ranma I was surprised it turned out to be a pretty interesting action series with cool characters, villains, robots, and plot, even if Tsutomu could be annoying.

So here I'm furthering the original thought and thinking how would a Ranma who wasn't so uptight about being female get along with the other characters? Which led to Genma acting up and leading into having Akane as a rival/love interest instead of just being the girl he is expected to marry who can't keep up. As this is Ranma 1/2, there's plenty of ways for Akane and Ryouga to close the gap in power between them and Ranma right now. There's also certain mad scientist types in Birdy the mighty to draw upon as well.

I'm amused by the idea of Ryouga falling for female Ranma even if he has no chance with him/her. The thought of him acting like he does in the manga around Akane with Ranma, and Ranma being utterly clueless and just thinks Ryouga is being his best buddy is amusing. And having Akane and Ryouga at each other's throats over Ranma could be fun as well.