Ranma glanced at the line of approaching dawn far out on the horizon. Not even Kasumi usually got up this early, he should have plenty of privacy. Just to be certain he had moved to the vacant lot. He took in a deep breath, released it, and took another. After so many near-misses and temporary cures he hadn't been about to get excited about another apparent cure until he was certain the cure was permanent. Fortunately, having to keep an eye on Ranko had made it fairly easy to keep himself calm on the matter, not to mention the repeated attempts to start training Akane in the Amaguriken. Now it certainly appeared that his miserable life as a half-man was over, for good. He released another breath, and ignored the shimmering red aura that was building up around him. He took in another breath. "YES!!!" the shimmering red aura blazed, momentarily bright and festive, as he rose his arms to the sky. "I'M NEVER TURNING INTO A GIRL AGAIN!!!" "Ranma," he turned to see Akane looking at him with that cute smile of hers. She rushed forward and hugged, not glomped, the surprised martial artist. "You're finally free." She let him go and they stared at each other for a long moment before either of them spoke. "Uh…hi Akane…what are you doing up this early?" "Baka," Akane laughed. "Is that all you can ask?" "Hey, I'm not good at this stuff," he said blushing, then looked past Akane and sighed. "Great just what I need." "So am I some sort of ordeal then!" Akane demanded angrily. "Huh? What? NO! Look over there." Akane turned to see where Ranma was pointing. "That's were he went," Akane said. "That just leaves Ranko to find, hey he's carrying something." "Wait a minute, why is Pops heading to the canal?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kasumi sat up and looked out the window, daylight was just barely streaming in from the half-risen sun outside. She stretched and yawned before standing up and walking to her dresser drawer. Yesterday had been a little hectic for her taste. Though everything seemed to have settled down by the time dinner came around. Akane and Ranma for once sat on either side of the self-proclaimed "Ranko," for which the nervous Genma was extremely grateful. Ranko, for her part, refrained from attacking Genma constantly. Though the presence of Akane and Ranma to keep her from doing so might have had something to do with that. Soun read his paper as usual, probably for the fifth time that day. Kodachi sat opposite from Soun at the other end of the table and ate while glancing at Ranma questioningly. Nabiki had eaten in silence, paying nominal, for her, attention to the discussion. "Well, it had to be said," Kasumi hmphed. Nabiki couldn't go on dwelling on that…untoward fantasy. As long as Nabiki was convinced that Shampoo did not reciprocate the feelings nothing more would happen along that path. She would eventually forget about that and find a good husband as was proper. Kasumi dressed quickly and efficiently, she had already wasted enough time this morning sleeping in. Even if the rest of the family slept through until noon she had things to do. The eldest Tendo girl paused at Nabiki's room to check on her sister. She found it locked. "Nabiki," Kasumi called quietly, and not hearing anything. Kasumi couldn't sense much past the various charms she had placed about Nabiki's room. Last night she had thought there was almost something, but it was finished almost before she completely woke up. She remembered at the time wondering if perhaps Nabiki had tried the astral barriers. Now, however, she considered other possibilities. Extreme emotion could have produced the same straining effect. Recently, Nabiki had, in her opinion, failed her family, the person she thought she loved, and generally had her ego smashed many times over. Despair had been the dominant emotion in her mind. That was not good. Kasumi quietly scolded herself for not checking on her sister immediately. She knocked solidly. "Nabiki, are you in there?" Kasumi yelled a little louder. Nabiki wouldn't do anything rash, not while she thought it possible to fix some of the damage. Besides she was a rather untraditional girl in many ways, ritual suicide was too impractical for her tastes. Despite these self-assurances, Kasumi breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she heard movement in the room. "What is it Kasumi," she heard Nabiki call out. "Its early and no school for two more days." There was some more motion behind the door. It sounded almost like a flurry of motion actually. Kasumi stepped back and straightened, considering this, her eyes narrowed. "Your door is locked," Kasumi said, calmly. "I was concerned." "Concerned about what?" Nabiki asked evenly from behind the door. "I thought perhaps that you had….done something rash," Kasumi admitted. There was a long moment of silence. "I'm going back to sleep Kasumi," Nabiki said firmly. Kasumi did not fail to note that Nabiki had not moved to open the door at all during the conversation. "Breakfast will be ready soon," Kasumi said by way of slight apology as she moved downstairs. "Do something rash," Nabiki hmphed as she slipped her pajamas on. "I wonder what she means by that?" "Maybe she think you seppuku?" Shampoo asked quietly, pausing in her search for where her pants had ended up. Nabiki looked up and the comment on her tongue died as she saw the worried expression on Shampoo's face. "I was that bad," she said, in a shocked voice. Shampoo sat down next to her again and gingerly circled her arms around Nabiki's shoulders, and kissed her cheek. "Not now?" Shampoo asked quietly, and then snuggled closer kissing Nabiki's neck. "You fine now?" Nabiki giggled quietly and turned to kiss Shampoo in return. "I'm fine," she agreed, smiling. "But if we try this now, we'll get caught." "Shampoo need get back home," the Amazon nodded. They made no move to separate, though, just staring at each other for a long moment. Then Shampoo reluctantly let go of Nabiki and glanced to the pile of gathered blanket, finally seeing her pants. "We'll need to talk about things," Nabiki whispered, finishing her redressing. "But right now, you have to get out of here before anyone notices." She paused, considering each person's probable reactions. "Too much could happen." "Be soon, before Great-grandma say time to kill girl-type Ranma," Shampoo noted. "Park on my lunch?" "I'll get there, and bring the water of drowned girl," Nabiki said. "Duck-boy drink his," Shampoo said. Nabiki looked at her in disbelief, too bad for Mousse that Genma had managed to destroy most of her extras. "Somebody was bound to get stuck," Shampoo helped her stand up from the bed, and held her as she grabbed the crutches. "Thanks." Shampoo waited until she was settled on the crutches before letting go, and kissing Nabiki again. After a long moment she pulled away again. "Go now, before she comes and checks on me again," Nabiki whispered, smiling and almost giggling. Shampoo smiled and dropped quietly from Nabiki's window. "Nabiki, could you come downstairs please?" Nabiki froze, Kasumi's voice had come from…she hobbled to her window and looked down to see a Shampoo staring to a spot on the walkway that passed beneath Nabiki's room. The amazon's face looked mildly shocked to say the least. "How she get there?" Nabiki found herself sitting next to a nervously fidgeting Shampoo, while Kasumi came as close as she could to a glower. Anybody who didn't know her would assume that she had burnt a cake or something similarly trivial. This being because they would not know that Kasumi burning anything, that she didn't want burnt, would be a sign of the end of the world. Kasumi, for her part, noted that Nabiki was much more like her normal self, and she reluctantly admitted that she was glad of that. She was not glad of the apparent source of the recovery. "Breakfast is going to be late," she sighed with what sounded like mild frustration. "Excuse me, Shampoo, I would appreciate it if you were to leave." "Shampoo no leave yet," the Amazon insisted, glancing protectively at Nabiki. Nabiki glanced back and smiled. "Very well," Kasumi said, folding her arms into her laps. "I am not going to ask what was happening in my sister's room last night, but it is not going to happen again." "I told you yesterday, this is none of your business," Nabiki insisted. Kasumi blinked, she'd seen Nabiki's back up before, but never against her. Then again, she'd only rarely been in a situation where she had to put her foot down. There really wasn't anything she could do, not legally anyway, and she wasn't about to tell her father about this. She certainly wasn't going to provoke anything between Akane and Nabiki by mentioning that incident. "I suppose this means that you'll be giving up on Ranma?" Kasumi asked calmly as she poured a cup of tea, perhaps this would work. Shampoo flinched, and Nabiki watched her cautiously. "Is law," Shampoo admitted. "Shampoo need marry boy-type Ranma." "And what is my sister then?" Kasumi asked calmly, taking a sip of tea. ~Sorry, Nabiki, you have to hear this.~ Nabiki glared at her sister. "Nabiki think of something," Shampoo said with all confidence. "Besides, amazon womans often have girlfriend aside from Airen, mens is for babies." Nabiki and Kasumi both looked at Shampoo a little confused, every time they thought the amazons couldn't get any stranger, one of them did or said something to change their mind. "I see," Kasumi said, taken aback. "And if it came down to a choice between Ranma and Nabiki?" "Nabiki," Shampoo said, without pause. Kasumi noted that her sister's face lightened up considerably at the choice. "Ranma no like Shampoo, is fun to tease though." "I could always find my own place," Nabiki said idly. Kasumi blinked at the suggestion. One of her family, outside her care? It was unthinkable, at least while they were all so young. And then she wouldn't be able to convince Nabiki to give up this…oddity she had picked up from somewhere. "That won't be necessary," Kasumi said. She couldn't stop this now, but if she kept Nabiki around then maybe… "There will be no….activity where anybody else can see you though. And I'd appreciate it if you would refrain from troubling me with it as well." Kasumi stood up, ignoring the victorious expression her sister only thinly veiled. "Now I have breakfast to make, and…she should probably be getting to work." Kasumi had her back turned but she heard the quiet kiss as Shampoo stood up. Nabiki smiled as Shampoo waved goodbye and left. She hadn't wanted to upset Kasumi, but she had been left with little choice in the matter. Kasumi might not like the situation, but she wouldn't hurt anybody, much less someone her sister cared about. Nabiki was expecting to see Kasumi play matchmaker though. Nabiki schooled her face into a normal bored expression as she heard the door slam open and then closed. She heard the door open twice more as Genma flew through the main room out into the courtyard. Nabiki blinked, what was he doing up so early? "Get back here Pops!!" Ranma shouted. Close behind him was Akane, mallet in hand. "How anybody could be so low!" "It’s a legitimate training technique," Genma claimed as he rushed down through the dining area out to the pond. Nabiki was about to ponder what the idiot had done now, fortunately the answer presented itself in the form of a sopping wet Ranko. The girl was trying to hop through the living area while venting a vitriolic sounding stream of angry Chinese. The reason for her hopping being the ropes that encircled her several times. Nabiki wrinkled her nose as Ranko passed by, it smelled like she had been dumped in the canal. "Yeah, teach her to swim without hands and feet right?" Nabiki smirked as Soun came down, it suddenly seemed like just any other day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Where have you been granddaughter?" Cologne demanded as Shampoo entered the Nekohanten. "Tendo dojo," Shampoo said without hesitation. She had two very good reasons, as far as Cologne was concerned, to be there. Ranma and Ranko. "And did you learn anything?" "Girl-type Ranma not like panda-man," Shampoo said, she had caught enough of the activities before people went to their beds to know that. "The groom's fool of a father excels at alienating people," Cologne noted. "That is hardly a surprise." "Violent-girl and Ranma keep water-girl from attacking Genma," Shampoo noted. "And crazy-girl learning from Akane." "Has the groom taken part in the Kuno-girl's tuition at all?" Cologne demanded as she took a moment to examine her great-granddaughter. "He watches," Shampoo confirmed. "This is not good," Cologne narrowed her eyes. "They have taken a student and both take part in her teaching. This cooperation is not good for our cause. They seem to share responsibility for the twin girl as well. Is there any indication of…other activities between the two?" "Ranma too big prude," Shampoo waved that one away. "Don't be too happy about that," the elder amazon snapped. "If the boy had grown up in a normal society he would be much easier to entice." Cologne admitted, however, that he might not also possess his natural talent for martial arts if that were the case. "Yes, great-grandma," Shampoo said cheerily. Cologne glanced at her curiously as she stepped to the back to get dressed for work. "You seem quite satisfied with yourself this morning," Cologne noted. "I guess so grandma," Shampoo shrugged as she came out again, dressed for work. "Is good day." Cologne narrowed her eyes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Are you still conscious?" Ryouga asked nervously. Ukyou's muffled groan came from somewhere in between her face and the rock she was swinging with. "You're getting the hang of this quicker than I thought." "Huh?" Ukyou blinked, and peeled her head off of the rock. "Eh? What?" "How many fingers?" Ryouga asked. Ukyou focused, or tried to. "Two," Ukyou said. Ryouga always held up two fingers, it was no great trick to convince him that she was fine. Besides she'd almost figured it out that last time. "Nope, sorry," Ryouga said. "What?!?" Ukyou snapped. "You always hold up two fingers." "I didn't hold any up this time." Ryouga said simply as he held the rope Ukyou dangled from and unworked the ropes tying the boulder into the contraption. "That's NOT fair!" Ukyou snapped as the boulder tumbled to the ground. "I almost had it!" "Well, when the concussion clears we can start again," Ryouga said. "I was close," Ukyou growled as she was lowered down to the ground. "Now I'm going to have to start from scratch again." Ukyou looked around as she hit the ground worked her way out of the bindings. Now all she had to do was stand up and she'd give that overprotective pig-boy a piece of her mind. Which is when she found out that standing up wasn't quite an option. "Just..sit down," Ryouga said as he landed next to the boulder. "Try to clear your head." ~Yeah, I'll clear my head,~ Ukyou thought, considering that it was rather difficult to come up with clever retorts at the moment. "How many times was that anyway?" "That was the twenty-sixth time," Ryouga said. "You started to get dazed around nineteen." "I was close right," Ukyou demanded. "I know I was close." "No…you were concussed," Ryouga said. "But it took a lot longer for you to start really getting hurt. Besides you need to do this part too." "Huh? This part?" Ukyou blinked. "What's 'this part'?" "I asked about that after the old ghoul finally admitted what the point of the technique is," Ryouga said. "She said something about accelerating the body's healing processes to keep up with the enhanced endurance and durability." "And if I didn't do this part?" Ukyou asked. "Imagine that black eye taking a year to heal." Ukyou blinked, and shook her head. "Oh…" she noticed that things had stopped spinning. "Clear your head, focus on just clearing your head and letting the pain fade." "Oh and how do I do that?" Ukyou demanded. ~Just wait until its my turn to do some training.~ She smiled mischieviously. "You can channel battle aura right?" Ukyou nodded. "Same thing, just concentrate on healing instead of fighting." Ukyou rolled her eyes, but went with it anyway. She closed her eyes and took a moment to translate the instruction into action. Surprisingly enough the dizziness seemed to fade rather quickly, well quicker than she expected it too anyway. "Hey, that actually works," Ukyou said cheerfully. She looked up to see Ryouga giving her that shy smile of his. "I guess the chi exercises while on 'vacation' worked a little too," Ryouga said. "That only took an hour." "An hour!?!" Ukyou face faulted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You have done well, my good Sasuke," Kuno smiled as he flipped through the pictures. "Finally, we have proof of the evil Saotome's mistreatment of the pig-tailed goddess." "I assume this means that you two will cease lying low," Kuno turned to the feminine voice and raised an eyebrow. She stood in a corner, her face hidden in shadow. "The great Tatewaki Kuno has no need to 'lie low'," the samurai insisted. "But we thank you for your aid in our surveillance of the evil Saotome." "I'll send the chief your regards," the girl smiled. "And she'll send you her bill." "Have no fear, once I recover my fortune, she shall be paid for her services!" the samurai struck a heroic pose. "Such is the word of Tatewaki Kuno the Blue Thunder! Come Sasuke! We must make plans!" "As you wish master," the ninja bowed as he followed Kuno out of the warehouse. Behind them the girl stepped out of the shadows and smiled evilly. The light glinted off two horns emerging from her forehead. She was almost sorry to see him go, there were times that his "surveillance" had been quite pleasurable actually. Giving the lecherous samurai proof of how irresistable he was had certainly been easy enough. The collected evidence would certainly be of use later. "This will show that bitch," the girl smiled. "I'm twice as smart as Sayuri and Yuka, hell, I'll bet I'm smarter than her." She sat down as that feeling of dizziness came over her again. That had been getting worse, much worse over the past week or so. One of her friends had said something about her looking pale too. She ignored the feeling, again and stood up, grabbing the hat to hide her horns. She hadn't figured out where those had come from, they had come about the same time she had decided to show up Nabiki. All she really knew was that hiding them would be a necessity, that and staying out of the sight of Nabiki and any martial artist. As Kuno left for whatever it was he was planning to do, the girl walked, stumbling at times, away from the samurai's hiding place. ~I've almost used this one up.~ She stopped and looked about as she heard the voice. ~Too bad I was already kicked out of the samurai once.~ "Now I'm hearing things too," she shook it off. Looking up she saw some of her so-called "friends" eating lunch and gossiping. Probably about her, about how she was such a loser. Well soon they'd see what a loser she was. She nearly growled in pleasure at the thought. That's when things started darkening around her. "Hey, look something's wrong with Mura!" One of the girls called out. The three of them stood up at once and rushed to where their friend was dropping, behind some bushes. They didn't notice the giggling beach ball leave her head and drift upward and away. "Somebody call a doctor!" The oni floated on the air currents, looking for another ripe target. Not another one of those schoolgirls though. There had been two many close calls with getting discovered in that group. The next thing after he was discovered would be another round with Ranma Saotome and his companions. That had gone badly enough the first time, he didn't want a second time really. ~What do we have here?~ The oni stopped and hid in the folds of the tree watching a dark haired girl sparring with a bespectacled young man. It seemed more like a training session than a full out spar actually. The girl's style was on the verge of an artistic nature, usable if not overly efficient in full combat. That wasn't what attracted the oni's attention to her, however. ~She's completely open.~ The oni smiled, well smiled wider anyway, and considered the possibilities. A host that he didn't just direct, a host that he controlled! A host that had no way of fighting back against him. Most importantly, a host that it would be impossible to just kick him out of by hitting them. This was a wonderous discovery. He noted a flash of chi as she turned and then frowned, or at least adopted a less silly smile. Now all it had to do was get that amulet from around her throat. ~Well, I have a solution for that.~ He giggled madly as he drifted down and popped into Mousse's head as the two leaped past each other in an attempt to reposition. As usual with martial artists, and that damn schoolgirl for some reason, the oni found himself having to work to break into the young man's mind. It took a full second during which Mousse looked blankly into space and tried to locate the hostile spirit in his head. The oni found the martial artist's subconscious before the man's active defenses could find him and effect a real fight. A low evil chuckle escaped Mousse as he turned to face Kodachi. "Kodachi, did you know how beautiful you are," he asked. "I can hardly…" *THWAP* "I'm over here, Baka," Kodachi snapped angrily. Then she blinked as the giggling beach ball left Mousse's head and floated away. "What by the heavens is that?" ~Damn it, now he's an unusable choice as well.~ The oni snarled, though in its current state the sound came out a giggle. He had perhaps another day to get that "Kodachi" girl to take off that amulet, after that her chi flow would heal and she'd be like anybody else. Mousse got back up in time to catch the silly image of the oni drifting away. He considered the evil thoughts that had just been running through his head, and a story he had heard about a possessed Kasumi. It did not take him long to figure out what had occurred. Then he remembered what Dr. Tofu said about the state of Kodachi's mental defenses, making her a ripe target. "This is going to be fun," Mousse sighed. "It would be convenient for someone to, inform me as to the nature of that…object" Kodachi noted. Mousse walked into his trailer and came out with a book apparently written in Chinese. "That's a pretty neck…urk!" the oni floated out of the now unconscious bystander. Kodachi regarded the man under the training potty curiously. "This demon dares to press a claim on my…" Kodachi looked at the amulet, losing her illusions hadn't done much to alter her mode of speech as it turned out. Meanwhile, she still had a headache, which was only manageable because said amulet kept her free-flowing thoughts under control. She was moderately irritated. "Hmm…this could cause complications." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Are you certain you want to try this," Ranma asked as he piled up the wood. "You're always saying I could use more speed," Akane responded. "Hey!" the pouting Ranko shouted from the side. "You're teaching her the Amaguriken!" "Yeah, so?" Ranma asked, eyeing the girl carefully. He had a suspicion about her. "How do you know it!?!" "Can you say anything quietly?" Akane asked. Ranko returned to pouting. "Do you know the Amaguriken?" Ranma asked with an arched eyebrow. "Well," Ranko sounded embarrassed, as if admitting to something she shouldn't know. "Yes…" "How about the Baksai Tenketsu or the Hiryu Shoten Ha?" Ranko stared at him open mouthed. "I've…seen them," she admitted. "How do you know about them?" "He's mastered the Hiryu Shoten Ha," Akane explained, now similarly suspicious of the girl. Ranko's jaw dropped. "And a friend of ours uses the Baksai Tenketsu often enough, he's off somewhere teaching it to his girl friend right now." Ranko face faulted. "Akane, would you mind sparring Ranko for a moment?" Ranma asked. "Sure, why not," Akane shrugged. "Why would I want to spar her," Ranko snapped, crossing her arms. "Definitely a Saotome," Akane noted dryly. "Huh?" both responded in confused chorus. "Definitely." Ranma took a moment to work out whether that was an insult or not. Ranko decided to forgo working it out and just assumed it was. "Okay, you want a fight? You got it!" She stood up and moved to the center of the vacant lot, Ranma beat her there. "You're half-me right?" Ranma asked quietly noting Akane stalking up behind him nervously. "So you keep saying," Ranko grumbled. "Okay, then we're blood relations, and Akane's my fiancee," Ranma noted. "That makes her family to you as well…got it?" The flash of understanding behind Ranko's eyes had Ranma convinced of his suspicion, but he wanted further proof. "Yeah, yeah, friendly match," Ranko grumbled. "What are you two whispering about?" "He's making sure I don't give you the Kiss of Death if by some miracle you happen to beat me." "Ah ha!" Ranma and Akane pointed at the red head and then stared at each other, blinking. "What did I say?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nabiki set down the phone and glowered at the wall. The information was sketchy, but it certainly explained a few things. Most glaring was just how Kuno had managed to stay hidden from her eyes all this time. He hadn't avoided her eyes, one of her eyes had turned blind for some reason or another. She wouldn't judge on that matter for the moment, considering Nerima there was always the chance of extenuating circumstances. Besides the girl's condition was critical, and, though her minions were unable to get any specific information, that indicated that she perhaps didn't hide the samurai out of choice. The only reason they knew Kuno was involved were some fevered mutterings from the girl before the ambulance arrived. "Things are still out of control," she sighed, and picked up the phone again. "Nekohanten, how may I help you?" "Hello Cologne," Nabiki said. There was a long silence. "Is Kodachi or Mousse there?" "This is the part-timer's day off, Tendo," Cologne answered warily. "If you or Shampoo see them before I do, perhaps you could warn her that her brother is back," Nabiki requested tightly. "Is that all you called for?" ~Hell no, I'm not about to let anything slip to anyone else.~ Nabiki thought. "Yes. I have no wish to be annoyed with another surprise from that psychotic. Ukyou was plenty." "I see," Cologne didn't believe her, but that was to be expected. "I shall try to pass the message along." The line disconnected and Nabiki slowly set the phone back in the cradle. She didn't bother to call Ukyou and Ryouga, they were out of town, and out of reach. She had people looking for Kodachi already, both Kunos really, but she would consider herself very lucky if anyone saw Kuno before he made his move. "Two hours until Shampoo's lunch," she noted irritably. "He'll have done something by then." She started to limp towards the door, Ranma and Akane were at the vacant lot with Ranko. It was on the way from where Mura had been found, and those were Kuno's three main targets. Chances were he'd show up there soon. "Where are you going?" Nabiki released a sigh of frustration. She turned to face her older sister. "Kuno's back," she answered simply. "I'm going off to tell Ranma and Akane." "You are going to stay right here and get some rest," Nabiki did not need to here the phrase: ~Where I can keep an eye on you.~ It was perfectly obvious. "Why not ask one of your girlfriends to deliver the message?" "Funny joke, sis…" "Joke?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes and then slumped. Nabiki turned back to face the door and walk toward it. "Nabiki, get back…" "Talking now would be a bad idea," Nabiki whispered, before opening the door, and walking outside. "Why did she get upset like that…" Kasumi blanched as she realized her earlier choice of words. "Oh my, that was certainly…thoughtless." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ranko stared blankly up at the sky, trying to figure out what had just happened. The black-haired girl's moves were rather raw and easy to predict. Akane had a tendency toward doing maneuvers technique perfect, with very little blending. So it wasn't like she couldn't see her coming, the problem was that Akane was a lot faster and stronger than she had expected. A LOT faster and stronger. Finally, Ranko settled on attempting the Amaguriken to win, but Akane didn't show up where Ranko thought she'd show up. At least that's what she assumed happened, setting into the Amaguriken stance was the last thing she remembered before she found herself thrown against the fence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ranma meanwhile had been clinically watching the entire match. Mostly Ranko, Akane's fighting style he knew almost as well as he knew his own and Ryouga's. Superficially Ranko fought with the same style of fighting he did. On the other she kept breaking the loose stance and lazy-seeming motions with hard, direct straight-line motions. Standard, basic, amazon style, very basic. At the end she had dropped into the raw stance for the Amaguriken, which would have virtually screamed what was coming to anyone who'd lived in Nerima the past year or so. "Should have noticed that right off," Ranma shook his head, it probably wouldn't take much work to fix the problem. Then again, this was probably a product of her mixed up memories, then the poorly combined styles could be very ingrained. "Hey, I won!" Akane shouted, catching her breath. She must have gotten more out of the fight with Kurumi and Natsume than she had assumed, or, more likely, that recent fight with Ken. "Don't get too cocky Akane," Ranma interrupted. "You still telegraph like anything, and you're fighting a girl with a memory that makes as much sense as a little kid's painting." Ranma looked back to the two girls in time to prepare for flight. "BAKA!!" Ranma cringed as they chorused their displeasure. "STOP!" They all turned to see Nabiki rushing over on her crutches. "Uh…Nabiki," Akane started, confused. "What's the problem?" "Kuno's been spotted," Nabiki explained quickly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "This is getting very tiresome," Kodachi said as she thwapped the most recent possession victim. "Is that contraption of yours almost ready?" She shifted the unfortunate off to the pile of recoverees and prepared for the next one. "Yes, I got it!" he shouted. He then brandished the box in his hands. "All we have to do is catch him coming out of the next victim and get him in this box." "Will these charms work on a Shinto demon?" Kodachi wondered. "It should," Mousse said doubtfully. Another formerly average person sporting horns appeared. "Use the ribbon!" "Do you not believe that I can figure that out for myself?" Kodachi asked calmly as her ribbon whipped out and pulled in the oni-possessed person. "Why aren't you doing any of the fighting?" "You need the work." Kodachi arched an eyebrow and rubbed her head, she couldn't wait for her chi flow to heal itself so all these memories and the accompanying headaches would leave. Well, she hoped the memories didn't leave, she just hoped they returned where they belonged. If they left again she'd be left with those…delusions. "I want that necklace, it's so COOL!!!" the horned teenager declared. "Ready?" Kodachi asked, Mousse nodded. The gymnast struck the other kid on the head and then waited for the oni to pop out. As it did, Mousse and Kodachi looked up, and up and up and a rather large, red monster. It looked sort of a like a brain with huge arms, stubby legs, big horns, and large bulging eyes. Oh yeah, teeth, lots of sharp, pointy, white teeth in a huge gaping mouth. "Uh….not ready for that," Mousse swallowed. "Now, I shall have that girl's body as a vessel for spreading chaos and evil, and you cannot stop me! Try and fight me if you will, it shall do you no good." Kodachi and Mousse blinked and used the Saotome school of anything goes final technique. The oni watched confused as the dust clouds departed. "Hey where do you think you're going!"
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