Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications own Ranma 1/2. Kosuke Fujishima, Dark Horse Comics and Studio Proteus own Ah! My Goddess (or Oh My Goddess!, whatever). I'd like to also thank all my pre-readers, as without them you'd be stuck with the version they had to put up with. ^_^ Dave Menard Gary Kleppe GunKnight Jay La Valley Jeremy H. Fogelman Paul Steele Slyke Thomas Hackwood Thanks for reading and, hopefully, I'll be able to send the next chapters every two-three weeks. Private and public C&C would be most welcome, of course. Oh, and please ask me if you want to post it somewhere. Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il) Wrath of Gods Chapter 1 Urd was bored. Actually, bored didn't even begin to describe the excitement of filling in at the Goddess Relief Office. Ranting about it didn't help, unfortunately, but she'd been doing it the better part of the day anyway and wasn't going to stop. 'Where is the fun in that?' she reasoned with herself, before trying to come up with new and exciting ways to execute her revenge against the sneaky bureaucrats that roped her into this. The annoying ringing of the phone shook the Goddess of Love out of her reverie. Oh, well, it was time to work. "Hello, you have reached the Goddess Help Line. A representative will be with you shortly." 'Great, a client. I wonder who is it this time. Well, only one way to find out..." And with that thought, Urd disappeared through a strategically located television set. Of course, there were always other ways of learning about the people who made the call, the Yggdrasil directory being one of them, but Urd was always one for the direct approach. * * * "What was all that about?" "You got me there, Ranma," Akane replied to him. "I just had this flashback, and the number I dialed was there. I just had to try it." "Well, who answered you?" "That's the weirdest part of it all. They called themselves the 'Goddess Relief Office' Can you believe that?" Pointing a somewhat shaky finger at an electronics shop a few meters away from them, Ranma replied: "Actually, I'm willing to believe anything at this point." Akane followed Ranma's gaze and saw a scantily clad woman in her mid twenties climb out of a television. The woman's flowing white hair accentuated her tanned body, which was curved in all the right places. "Another one of your girlfriends?" Akane growled at Ranma, trying very hard not to show any signs of jealousy towards the newcomer's physique and failing miserably. "No, no, it's nothing like... oh, hell," Ranma replied dejectedly, his shoulders slumping. The sad thing was that with his luck, she probably was another fiancee. The strange woman approached the pair by that time, and decided to jump right into their discussion, her green eyes sparkling with excitement as she regarded the pair, her eyes staying on Ranma more than Akane would have liked. "Hi, there. Let me introduce myself. Norn of the Past and the Cupid of Love, but you may call me Urd." Akane looked thoroughly at the card the woman gave her, before handing it to Ranma. "A goddess with a business card?" Urd turned towards Akane, and shrugged. "We hear it all the time. Now, there are a few things you need to know, like the reason I came here. I can grant you one wish, and one wish only. I am also allowed to read your thoughts during the transaction." 'I wonder why?' Akane thought, before realizing that it was just as discreet as yelling it on the top of her lungs. The whole situation seemed surreal to her, with the enigmatic visions, newly discovered memories and goddesses coming out of television sets. "My guess is as good as yours. It is probably to make sure that your wish would come from the heart. They are usually the best kind," the goddess replied nonchalantly. 'Show off,' Akane snorted mentally. Urd smirked, and turned to look at Ranma for the first time. A cute guy, no doubt about it. Under different circumstances, she might have even made a pass at him but, unfortunately, work came first. And she was on probation as it was. "Um, excuse me... Urd, isn't it?" Akane asked tentatively. "Yes?" the goddess replied, doing her best to appear interested. "I just realized something. Did you say you were here to grant me a wish?" Akane inquired, wringing her fingers. "Like I said, you get one wish and that's it, so if I were you, I'd think carefully before asking for something," Urd answered the question. When Akane became quiet and started pondering on her upcoming wish, finally having realized the situation she was in, the Norn goddess gave their companion another appreciative glance. Yes, it was indeed most unfortunate that she was occupied at the moment. Maybe she should ask the girl for his address and visit him later. Hacking the Yggdrasil for personal info seemed like overkill, considering that this Akane probably knew him. 'Hmm, this guy does look kind of familiar. Maybe it's that pigtail of his. But the clothes seem all wrong...' Urd narrowed her eyes and regarded the pigtailed youth. Now she was sure she had seen him somewhere before. A picture of the teenager, clad in black, flashed before her mind's eye, too fast to be perceived properly. Urd wasn't even sure whether it was her own memory, or one of the stray thoughts from her mental link with Akane. "I... I know what I want to wish for," Akane said shakily. Having so much power at her command was intoxicating, and quite frightening. When the goddess had mentioned the destruction of the world, Akane had thought that she was joking. But whether that was true or not, the impression that statement had made on Akane had been profound. Gathering her thoughts, Akane stated: "Lately... well, you see, we've been having these strange visions, and... I really wish for all of us to know what they mean." The Goddess of Love was so preoccupied, that she almost missed Akane's wish. It wasn't one of those materialistic ones, nor did she ask to destroy the world, for which Urd was extremely grateful. Although Yggdrasil was supposed to screen the wrong type of people out, accidents did happen from time to time. Saying, "wish granted," Urd started to float, a beam of light shooting from the markings on her forehead heavenwards. While she was floating and the wish was going through the proper channels, Urd thought about it and smiled inwardly. The girl's wish was a simple request of information. Well, she certainly came to the right place, for there was no bigger source of information than the Yggdrasil directory. Suddenly, the two teenagers started to glow as well. Ranma's clothes shimmered, and became identical to the black outfit he wore in his dream. Akane grew black, bat-like wings and donned black, tight-fitting body armor, her presence becoming obscured by shadows. Surprised, Urd stared wide-eyed at the two when, suddenly, it hit her. The guy's name was Ranma! She absentmindedly wondered how come she didn't find that out before granting the wish, but now it was too late for this kind of thoughts. With a cry, Urd broke her uplink to the Yggdrasil mainframe prematurely, dropping to the ground. The light disappeared instantly, and the glow around her companions faded away, the wish not fulfilled in its entirety. Boring into Ranma with hate-filled eyes, she growled. "You!" Without further delay, she charged him, lightning blazing. Ranma, who was immensely tired from the recent experience, escaped the attack unharmed only due to his superior martial arts training. While he dived to the side, Akane blasted Urd with a bolt of swirling darkness. The goddess hit the building she was flung at head on, creating an impact crater of an impressive size, with a thin cobweb of cracks spreading across the wall, before slumping to the ground in a heap. Urd watched Akane advance on her position slowly, visibly charging up for another shot, when a hand landed on her shoulder. Akane stopped, and looked at the person who touched her. Seeing Ranma, she gazed questioningly between him and the crumpled form of Urd, before setting her eyes on his face patiently, as if awaiting his instructions. "No, I won't kill anyone," Urd could hear him say. Akane's eyes, completely black and without pupils, betrayed no emotion. After a moment, she told him that leaving a goddess aware of their existence alive was a mistake. Urd noticed that her voice has changed, and was different somehow, more guttural and inhuman, strangely befitting her current form in some way. Ranma sighed, and bowed his head. "The last seventeen years had quite an impact on me, Akane, and I know you haven't escaped this experience unharmed yourself. We are not the same as before, and we will kill only as a last resort, in self defense, but certainly not someone who is down already." During the last part Ranma leveled his gaze onto Akane's eyes. Apparently, this little gesture did the trick, as Akane's visage changed before Urd's eyes. Akane blinked, and looked questioningly at Ranma and Urd, visibly confused. Her brown pupils were back once again, and stared innocently at the scene before her. Bat wings retreated into her back, and the whole aura of 'wrongness' around the girl dissipated into nothing. Akane was back. "Ranma, I... I don't know what came over me. Thank you," she softly said, hugging him. The evil that controlled her actions was gone, but the damage has been done. Akane was terrified of what almost happened, of what she would have done if not for Ranma. And the thing that frightened her most was that she was doing it all for him. That goddess wanted to hurt him, and Akane acted purely on reflex, with only one thought running through her mind - protecting and defending Ranma, guarding him no matter the cost. "That's ok, Akane. We'll go through this like we always have in the past." Urd managed to recover somewhat during this exchange, and decided to make a run for it while Ranma and Akane were distracted. She charged a lightning bolt and threw it towards them, while running back to the electronics shop that she emerged from. Ranma, his danger sense kicking in, pushed Akane out of the way, and took to the sky. As he floated several meters above the ground, Ranma watched Urd make her getaway, not even trying to go after her. Once the goddess was gone, he touched down on solid ground once more, and helped Akane to her feet. "Come on, let's get out of here, before she comes back with reinforcements." Having said that, Ranma left the area, with Akane by his side. ***** "So, Akane, do you feel any different?" "I guess so. It feels like I have a volcano about to erupt inside of me..." "Your whole body is on fire, and the heat is so intense that you can almost feel your bones melting. You have to stay alert at all times, because a lapse in control, even for a fraction of a second, might unleash all that power into the world." Ranma spared a glance at Akane, and asked: "Am I close?" "You too, huh?" "Yep, multiplied tenfold." "You don't say?" "Well, it figures, Akane. I'm supposed to be this spawn of evil, so vile that a goddess second class would charge recklessly on her own." "Goddess second class? What does that mean?" "How should I know that?! It just popped into my mind, that's all." Akane thought about it for a moment, before realizing that what Ranma said was true. After their encounter with Urd, more memories have been unlocked. "I've been wondering," she said, more to herself than to her companion, "what we are... or were." "That Urd character was a goddess, right? The opposite to god is a demon, so that would be my guess." "Unless you are the big man himself," Akane half-joked. "What? The Devil himself? Nah, I doubt it. Although, judging by the expression on her face, I'm probably up there with the big guys." Ranma chuckled at his attempt at a joke, trying to lighten the mood a bit. "Shouldn't it be 'down there' instead, anyway?" Akane replied. She would be damned if Ranma got all the fun (and the really awful puns). "Ugh, hell. And it's probably hot and everything down there. How can people stand that stuff?" "Well, technically, they wouldn't be people, but rather souls, and demons and all sorts of mystical creatures we would never have believed existed until this day." "Right." Ranma sighed, and continued to walk towards Dr. Tofu's clinic. Currently, there were only three people who might help them, but Happosai, and especially Cologne, couldn't be trusted to genuinely help them without some hidden agenda, which left good old doc Tofu as their last resort. Before the discussion could be continued, an outraged cry of 'Ranma! Prepare to Die!' abruptly ended it. * * * Ryoga didn't know where he was, which upon itself wasn't that unusual. And, of course, it was all Ranma's fault. Why, if that bastard wouldn't have tried to get married to Akane, Ryoga wouldn't have come to crash the wedding, and wouldn't subsequently get lost trying to get back to Akari. Oh was it all because of the man-to-man fight that Ranma skipped out on? Ryoga's head hurt thinking about it, so he opted to just accept the general concept that everything was always Ranma's fault, which made life incredibly easy. Well, as easy as life could be with two curses and a mortal enemy... And then, the gods must have smiled on him, because his most hated enemy, the bane of his very existence, Ranma Saotome, was just across the street, walking with Akane. Wait, make that walking hand-to-hand with Akane! The bastard must have forced himself upon her! And what was she wearing?! How dares he take advantage of her sweetness to make her dress that way?! Now, not only would he kill Ranma, but also save Akane from his clutches, who surely would be grateful to him... The only things keeping his nosebleed in check being an extensive lack of sleep and the lousy mood he was in, both caused by the bad week he was having, Ryoga grabbed his bamboo umbrella and charged his arch- nemesis, crying out: "Ranma! Prepare to Die!" * * * The moment she heard those words, Akane's eyes became as black as night. Instead of jumping away she moved directly into the path of Ryoga's descending umbrella. Even before the poor guy could see that he put the source of his obsession in danger, Akane's hand shot up, with the palm pointed towards the tip of the umbrella. A dark whirlpool formed in the space between them, and the umbrella shuddered violently, before crumbling into dust. The backlash of the strike caused Ryoga to fly backwards, while Akane's heels dug a few centimeters into the pavement. Even Ranma, who has landed a few meters away in a ready stance, felt a shockwave going through the air. Ryoga slowly rose to his feet, and looked at Akane in disbelief. What he saw looking back at him frightened him to no end. While he was still stunned, Akane close the distance between them with one leap, and picked Ryoga by the collar of his shirt with one hand. "Stay away from Ranma," she growled in a low, menacing tone, pronouncing every syllable, before throwing the lost boy down the street. Ryoga landed in a heap, and didn't get up. The shock from the recent events has taken its toll, and he lost consciousness, which considering his options was probably the best course of action for him. The last thing he saw was Ranma racing towards him... Ranma was worried. That was the second time his friend has lost control like that, but this time their opponent has been a mortal. Even though the Bakusai Tenketsu training gave Ryoga increased durability and strength, it was also probably the only thing that prevented him from any serious injuries, other than a few bruises. Standing away from Ryoga's body after finishing his examination, Ranma contemplated their options. They could take Ryoga along to Dr. Tofu, but once he woke up, the lost boy would undoubtedly find some stupid reason to try and attack them again, which could end up in a serious injury for someone. 'And that someone would probably be Ryoga,' Ranma mused, 'if this poor excuse for a fight is any indication.' "Akane!" They had to get out of here fast, but Akane made no move after throwing Ryoga. She just stood in the same place, her eyes never leaving her target. "Akane! Snap out of it!" The short-haired girl shook her head, as if fighting for control, and when she looked at Ranma, the old Akane was back, if only slightly disoriented. "Ranma, what happened?" "Later. We have to get to the doc now!" Ranma ran to Akane and took her hand. She looked worriedly at Ryoga, who laid sprawled on the ground away from them. "Don't worry about pig-boy, I checked him out. He's alright, and will be his usual obnoxious self soon." "Ranma, you jerk! Don't pick on Ryoga!" Akane made an attempt to hit Ranma on the back of his head, but her fist stopped at the last possible moment. She seemed just as puzzled by that fact as Ranma was, but didn't try to hit him again. Ranma, for his part, was just relieved to shake Akane out of her stupor, as they had no time to waste on useless discussions. Ignoring what had almost happened in light of the bigger problems they had, Ranma and Akane took to the rooftops, on their way to the clinic. ***** "Dr. Tofu? Are you here?" "Yeah, Doc, are ya in?" Suddenly, a bony hand landed on Ranma's shoulder from behind. Before anyone had a chance to breathe, he turned with inhuman speed, thrusting his open palm directly into the creature's ribcage. Dark purple lighting blazed around Betty-chan, promptly eradicating her from existence. A moment later not even dust remained of the unlucky skeleton, whose only mistake was only being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Um, yes. I've been, uhh, meaning to get a new skeleton anyway," Dr. Tofu said with a touch of nervousness in his voice, scratching the back of his head. Ranma smirked, and swept his left hand to indicate Akane by his side, while saying: "Well, you can probably guess the reason for our visit." Akane meekly smiled at Dr. Tofu's questioning gaze, and shrugged. "What he said." Twenty minutes later... "So, let me get this straight. You believe that you," Tofu pointed at Ranma, "are some kind of powerful demon, reborn as Ranma Saotome, son to Nodoka and Genma." Ranma nodded. "And you, Akane, are his, for the lack of a better word, sidekick?" Akane scowled at first, but nodded nonetheless. Ranma at this time decided to point out their main problem. "But you see, doc, Akane is... unstable." "Oh?" Dr. Tofu raised an eyebrow. Having a practice in Nerima made him meet many things considered mystical by regular humans, but Ranma's story was pushing it a bit. If not for the little display earlier, he might have dismissed it all as accumulated stress, but for now Tofu was willing to go along with it. "Yes. Her control is slipping. It already happened twice since that phone call." "I... see. And do you know what triggered those events?" Akane picked that moment to join the conversation. "The first time was when that goddess tried to blast Ranma with some lightning bolt." "Yeah, and the second one was with Ryoga." Seeing Dr. Tofu's worried expression, Ranma quickly added: "Don't worry, they're both fine. As for pig-boy, he just shouted his usual 'Die Ranma!' or something, and Akane met him head on. I think the shock got to him or something, and he fainted." "Hmm, so according to you, every time Ranma was in danger, your 'programming' kicked in?" "Hey, I wasn't in no danger from Ryoga!" Ranma protested rather loudly. Akane, who contemplated Tofu's theory, ignored him. "Unfortunately, since there were only two incidents, we can't be sure about this," she finally replied. "How about we test this?" Ranma asked, after listening in on their conversation. "Hey, Doc, why dont'cha call Kasumi and ask her out? I hear she's got the hots for ya!" he said to Dr. Tofu, winking conspiratorially. "Ka... ka... sumi..." "Ranma! What are you doing, you idiot?!" "Chill, Akane. Either he was right, and we'll find out now, or he'll snap out of it in a few minutes and we'll think of something else." "But what if I accidentally blast him?" "Oops." While the above exchange of words was taking place, Tofu was dancing with a broom he found somewhere, swinging his arms and legs around dangerously. His erratic trajectory brought the doctor on a collision course with the couple. Akane suddenly clutched her head, and doubled over in pain. A deep scarlet aura erupted around her, and she floated a few meters into the air, bathed in it. Ranma was taken aback by this display of power, and even Dr. Tofu was shaken out of his Kasumi-induced trance. "Ranma... is it the way Akane acted previously?" Tofu asked with a touch of nervousness. "No," Ranma replied, edging towards the doctor, "the last two times it was just raw power, completely uninhibited. This time she's in control." A stray lightning bolt hit the examination table, leaving a large scorch mark. "Well, she's mostly in control," Ranma amended his earlier statement. At that point Tofu decided to check whether Akane needed any help. "Akane-chan, are you feeling all right?" "I'm fine, Dr. Tofu, thank you for asking." Akane was about to power down, when Ranma decided to take back control over the conversation. "Say, Akane, can you stop showing off for a moment and come down to Earth? As in literally?" Maybe it was the tone, or maybe it was just the force of habit, but there was no way in hell Akane would pass it up. "Shut up, you jerk! It was all your fault to begin with anyway!" "Was not, you uncute tomboy!" "Why, you..." "Children, please!" Dr. Tofu cut in, feeling the need to stop the argument before it went any further. With their newfound powers, Akane and Ranma could seriously hurt someone unintentionally. 'Sorry' sounded simultaneously from both directions, and Akane approached Dr. Tofu and Ranma, still floating. The aura flickered a few times before being absorbed into Akane's body. "Cool trick, Akane," Ranma commented upon seeing this. Akane, ignoring him for the moment, touched down. "Dr. Tofu, this time something must have triggered my memory. I remember things more clearly than ever now." "Ah, so that's why ya clutched your head, right?" Ranma stated the obvious. "How would you like to have centuries of memories downloaded into your brain in the space of a few seconds?!" Akane retorted angrily. "Centuries? Wow, you age really well, for a tomboy that is." Dr. Tofu cringed and stepped back, fully expecting Akane to use his much abused examination table on Ranma's head. However, in a rare act of control, she managed to compose herself and decided to give Ranma one more chance. Deliberately talking in a slow voice and pronouncing every syllable clearly, Akane explained to Ranma that it was in his best interest to shut up. Survival instincts kicking in at full force, he gulped rather audibly and nodded his head in agreement. "Now, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted," Akane continued, shooting Ranma a withering glare, "I received memories of my past life. Although they hardly cover even a small fraction of it, we still might learn something useful from them." "Alright, Akane. Tell us what you remember," Tofu urged her, smiling reassuringly. "Allies, enemies, battles and adventures. Power beyond belief." Akane's gaze became distant at this point. "And I also learned of my duty, my role in the greater scheme of things." "Oh?" Dr. Tofu raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be, dear?" "To guard someone. You might say I am his... guardian angel." Tofu was puzzled by Akane's tone of voice, but Ranma replied, smirking, without paying much attention to it. "Angel is hardly a word to describe you, Akane." "Shut up, you idiot! I can't believe I am your guardian!" "Wha..." Ranma was shocked beyond belief. He hadn't been taking her seriously up till this point, and so wasn't prepared for this sudden revelation. While Ranma was trying to close his mouth in vain, Dr. Tofu nodded knowingly. Indeed, this was the last piece of the puzzle that occupied his mind ever since Akane and Ranma have showed up at his doorstep with their 'little problem'. The way Akane kept her anger in check, always stopping herself from hitting Ranma, the way she converted into her 'protection' mode once he was in danger... Tofu berated himself for not seeing this earlier. "Let's stick to 'guardian' for now, all right?" Akane suggested irritably, trying to steer the conversation the right way. "But why would demons have guardians?" Dr. Tofu chose that moment to ask. "Gods have their guardian angels. Well, mature ones anyway," Ranma amended himself. "What, why are you all looking at me for?" he exclaimed, uncomfortable under the collective gaze of Akane and Tofu. "You're not the only one with the flashbacks and all, y'know," Ranma shot defensively at Akane. "Yes, that sounds reasonable. Now, does anyone of you have any clues as to why you were here in the first place?" Ranma briefly glanced at Akane, before shrugging and uttering 'no clue'. "Well, I think that would be enough for now. We all need some time to think about what we have learned, and you probably could do with a rest from all those flashbacks." Upon receiving nods from both Ranma and Akane, Tofu Ono continued. "So, what do you plan on doing now? Are you two going to school?" "No, it's too dangerous. What if Ryoga picks another fight and Akane loses control? Or if that psycho goddess shows up and starts blasting? A lot of innocent people would get hurt... we can't afford that." Once again, Akane chose to nod in reply. "The Tendo Dojo is out of the question either. We have to go away for a while, until we have more control over our powers." Ranma paused for a few moments, his brow furrowed in thought. "Hey, Doc, could you tell old man Tendo and Pops that we went on a training trip together?" "Of course, Ranma. I'll stop by the Tendo Dojo and deliver your message. But what about your rivals and, err... suitors?" "Oh, hell, I forgot all about them. Well, we have no choice. As soon as they hear that we left, everyone will try to follow us. We'll just have to hope they won't find us." Akane seemed angry at the mention of the various people after 'her' Ranma, but upon hearing that he gave the other girls no consideration placated her to no end. And the strangest thing to her was that she wasn't sure who irritated her more - the people who wanted to marry Ranma, or the ones who were trying to kill him. She had to straighten out her feelings towards him, and this training trip was a great opportunity for it. What was she feeling? Love? Or was it a mix of devotion and friendship? And how could she truly find an answer to all those questions without truly knowing who she is? ***** Tatewaki Kuno, age eighteen, was strolling the streets of Nerima in his righteous quest to vanquish the evil sorcerer Saotome and make him relinquish his control over the fair Tendo Akane and the fiery pigtailed goddess Tendo Ranko. Whenever he went, people cowered before his mighty prowess, clearing the way for him. All around the peasants covered their mouths in awe and lowered their voices as their unworthy eyes lay upon him, no doubt to spare his superior intellect of their lowly chatter. Searching for Saotome proved to be difficult, as he undoubtedly used his unholy magic to avoid the divine judgement the scion of House Kuno was set out to bring upon his head. Turning to go towards the school, where the foul sorcerer would surely show up to make mockery of him with dishonorable tactics, Kuno saw his two loves appearing from around the corner. Both had substantial packs slung around their shoulders, which only helped show their great strength. His very essence rejoiced, as he found no sign of the enslaver of women in their divine presence. Kuno's heart fluttered upon witnessing this magnificent sight, and he decided to grant his goddesses the magnificence of his awesome presence. And so, with a mighty war cry, he launched himself at them... * * * Ranma and Akane were headed to the train station, from where they would go to Mt. Fuji. It seemed to be the perfect, nice and quiet place for them to take back control of their lives, where they could avoid pursuit if the need arose. Besides, their first choice, Juban, was too dangerous for them to be in. It was too close to Nerima, and besides, there were other... complications. After thanking Dr. Tofu for the backpacks and the provisions he provided them with, Ranma used a cup of cold water to trigger his transformation, not forgetting to pack a thermos with hot water. It was decided unanimously that since his curse had been picked up in the past year, and not in what they called their 'past life', the change might throw the goddesses off track. It was worth a try anyway. But since his male side had other advantages, and hot water was hard to produce on demand, the thermos was a backup in case something goes wrong. Everyone hoped things wouldn't come to that, however. And as it happened to be, Ranma-chan and Akane were just discussing the effectiveness of their disguise, which in Akane's case consisted of a large scarlet cloak she produced out of thin air, that covered her entire body. Suddenly, a deranged cry, which could have only come from one individual, registered on their senses. Both shuddered at the mention of 'his loves', and Akane powered up to kick the nuisance into what was commonly known in Nerima as low earth orbit. Of course, with her powers she would actually be able to send Kuno there for real, but fortunately for him, that was not his fate that day. Instead of a trip to the stratosphere, Kuno was greeted by his goddess' proclamation of love. "Moko Takabisha revised: Lecher Blaster!" A ball of dark red ki five meters in diameter shot at an amazing speed at Kuno, completely enveloping the unfortunate kendoist before he could even blink. Once Tatewaki was inside of the ki ball, it imploded upon itself, resulting in a massive explosion. As the dust picked up by the blast settled, the only thing still visible on the scorched ground were Kuno's shoes, miraculously intact. The boy, however, was nowhere in sight. "Don't worry, Akane, the blast wasn't designed to kill Kuno, just hurt him. A lot." Ranma flashed her a winning smile. "I don't think we'll hear from him anytime soon." "But where is he, then?" "Oh, I thought he might need some medical attention afterwards, so I directed the blast towards the ground. Kuno is currently flying to his mansion, courtesy of 'Pigtailed Goddess' airlines." Ranma smirked at the irony, while Akane simply huffed and muttered something unintelligible about 'baka hentais'. "Well, that was fun. What do you say we go on our way now?" Ranma offered over his shoulder, starting to walk away. Akane grumbled something unintelligible, but followed him anyway. She was pissed off - at that pervert Kuno for trying to molest Ranma, at the said jerk for showing off... Akane was also angry with herself for not reacting sooner. Her reawakened memories insisted that she was Ranma's shadow, always at his side and practically inseparable from him. But now, she realized the thing that has pleased her the most was gone. She was Ranma's guardian, and he usually let her deal with minor threats and put her in charge of their security, while working from the shadows. The 'new and improved' Ranma, however, put himself at the front in each battle, no matter its significance. This Ranma was the master of his family's martial arts school, and good at the Art. Really good. There was no need for her anymore. Akane was obsolete. To claim otherwise would be to delude herself and Ranma, and Akane would be damned if she lived in a fantasy world! As she thought of ways to explain all this to Ranma, Akane started wondering whether she could leave him at all. After all, she was his guardian angel. Her memories didn't tell her what happened to guardian who weren't needed anymore. 'Did they go back home, wherever 'home' was? Did they get reassigned?' Akane gulped. 'Did they die?' The last thought made Akane understand that this was a decision that could not be rushed. She hoped that new memories would reawaken to guide her at her time of need. It always worked for the good guys; all she had to do was remain optimistic. The excitement was promptly quelled as Akane realized that she wasn't sure they were the 'good guys' anymore... ***** Skuld was on her way to exchange a few words with Urd. Her sister's talent of getting on her nerves has been somewhat infamous, but this time she had gone overboard. The Norn of the Past had gone AWOL again, leaving her desk at the Goddess Relief Office unmanned. This would usually mean yet another probation for her, but no, this time was different. This time they had called Skuld, a busy debugger, to do a desk job! And all because Skuld was her sister and Belldandy was unavailable at the moment. What a lame excuse! She couldn't be angry with Belldandy - after all it wasn't her fault, and besides she was too nice to fight with. The management had already gotten their part. Now it was Urd's turn, and the thought brought a spring to the young goddess' steps. Reaching the door to Urd's apartment, Skuld knocked several times, getting no answer. Deciding that the idiot probably skipped work to get drunk, and lay passed out inside, Skuld chose a new approach. Brandishing her hammer, she tried a few swings before impacting its business end on the door. Admittedly, knocking down a door in heaven with a heavy blunt object wasn't one of Skuld's better ideas, but she was quite mad at Urd, and could almost imagine the look on her sister's face when she woke up to the racket. "Rise and shine, Urd!" Skuld yelled at the top of her lungs, upset that her impressive entrance hadn't drawn a sound from her sister. The only response was a low moan and some rustling noise. Skuld suddenly began having second thoughts about her plan. There was, after all, another possible explanation for Urd's disappearance from work - her oldest sister wasn't called the Goddess of Love for nothing. She hoped that she was wrong about this with all her heart, because then that shameless tramp Urd would never let her live it down. The Norn of the Future recalled that she was supposed to be very angry with her sister, and found the courage to pass the threshold, forcefully purging all of the possible scenarios of Urd's conduct out of her mind. As she approached the source of the noise, which originated near the TV set in the room, the sight of her sister sprawled on the floor greeted Skuld. Urd, sensing her sister more than actually noticing her, began to mumble something. The smaller goddess knelt down next to her, and before putting her ear closer warned her sister that it better not be a prank. "Ranma... Ranma is back..." Urd managed to repeat, before passing out. * * * The three Norns were gathered in Urd's apartment, with the owner of said apartment lying in her bed resting. All of the goddesses wore serious faces, after Urd has told everyone of her encounter with Ranma and his guardian. "So, he didn't hurt you, big sister?" Belldandy queried, having heard the story. "What are you talking about, Belldandy?" Skuld exclaimed, not believing her ears. "Well, if I understood Urd correctly, it was in fact his guardian who shot her wasn't it?" After receiving a confirmation nod from her sister, Belldandy continued. "In fact, he seemed very intent on stopping any further harm from coming to Urd. Stopping a berserker and unstable guardian, letting Urd make her getaway... he even said that he was not going to kill anyone!" "I can't believe I'm hearing this! This is Ranma we're talking about!" Skuld took a deep breath, which did nothing to help her reach her center, in a futile attempt to relax. "Skuld-chan, he has changed. I know he has!" Belldandy pleaded with her younger sister. "You're letting your emotions rule you! I know what's going on!" Skuld exclaimed, jumping up from the chair she was sitting on. "You still have feelings for him, don't you?" Belldandy looked away, and said quietly: "It doesn't matter." "Look me in the eyes and say that!" When Belldandy's refused to make eye contact with Skuld, the Norn of the Future suggested that the matter of how they were going to handle this situation be put to a vote. With her and the Norn of the Present in opposite camps, it was Urd with the deciding vote. Looking apologetically to her sister, she said that Ranma was a threat and not to be trusted. Urd believed that they should take him out the next time their paths crossed. The decision made, and binding all three sisters, Skuld left the room to work on some new gadgets that would help them locate Ranma's signature. Belldandy remained seated, not having moved an inch since hearing Urd's vote. She looked crushed, and neither of her sister's attempts to strike a conversation were successful. After a few minutes of just sitting and staring at a point in space, she got up, determination etched on her face, and walked through the mirror without a word. Left all alone, Urd sighed and slumped back in her bed. She never wanted it to come to this, but sometimes you had to choose the lesser evil. And eliminating Ranma was definitely one of those times. It troubled her that Belldandy took their decision much harder than she would have thought, but no matter how much Urd wanted to ease her sister's pain, she couldn't do anything about it. Closing her eyes to get some rest, Urd's final thought before she fell asleep was: 'Damn you, Ranma! Why couldn't you just stay dead...' ***** "Damn you, Ranma Saotome! This is all your fault!" It appeared that not only Urd was venting her anger and frustration at a certain pigtailed martial artist. At that very moment Ryoga Hibiki, a.k.a. 'P-Chan', was picturing how much the world would be a better place without the bane of his existence. 'How dare the vile Saotome run away from our duel!' Ryoga fumed, before realizing what he had just thought. A new thought promptly formed in his mind and replaced the old one: 'Got to stay away from Kuno, I think what he's got is contagious.' His thoughts wondered once again to the latest challenge he had issued Ranma. The bandanna-clad boy was still furious that his arch-rival would stoop so low as to use his fiancee as cannon fodder. 'Why, if Akane hadn't caught the umbrella...' Ryoga was about to wonder how exactly could Akane gather enough strength not only to stop his umbrella in mid-swing, but shatter it as well, when it got through to him that Akane could have been hurt. No, make that Akane should have been hurt from his strike. Words came rushing in at that moment, fragments of conversations he'd had over the course of the past year. People warning him that he might hurt innocents, Ranma's warnings and his own hasty replies. Ryoga remembered how set he was not to let anything come between him and his quest for vengeance against Ranma And what had that quest brought him but pain and misery? He ended up throwing years of his life and his education away, got cursed to turn into a black piglet with water, and up until a year ago never stayed at one place long enough to make any friends. Even now, the only one he considered a true friend was Akane, and he had been lying to her about his curse all along. During his first battle with Ranma at Furinkan High, where Ryoga had met Akane for the first time, she had been hurt. In spite Ranma's best efforts to put himself in danger to protect her, she sprained her ankle avoiding one of his bandannas, and another had accidentally cut her long, beautiful hair. Had that one been a couple of centimeters to the side... Ryoga shuddered. He wasn't a killer, and he certainly didn't want to hurt a bystander. But something within Ranma provoked such feelings of hatred in him that he had been barely able to decide on battle strategy, instead of simply going all out at random. And he was successful... most of the time. Besides his arch-rival, the only other person he had feelings so deep for was Akane. Sure, he loved Akari, but he felt a connection to Akane. Maybe it was the time he had spent bonding with her as her pet piglet, P-Chan. Perhaps he had never gotten over her, despite having a girlfriend who loved him and accepted him for what he was. The matters of the heart existed under a different set of rules than common sense, and he could hardly have any control over whom he loved. Did Akane have to die before he would start noticing his surroundings? Or Akari, or anyone else he cared about? Did it even matter who perished? Ryoga didn't think it mattered. After thinking things through, he was confident that he could add the blind rage that regularly clouded his mind during his meetings with the annoying pig-tailed martial artist as another curse to his ever-growing arsenal. Sure, it was all probably Ranma's fault, but Ryoga would handle it as the man he was. Otherwise, he would become exactly the opposite of the man he thought himself. The man that would be worthy of Akane or Akari. 'It's too bad I can't have them both..." Ryoga mused shortly, before shaking his head wearily. "Yes, I definitely have been spending too much time around Kuno..." ***** It took them a several hours of hiking, but Ranma-chan and Akane had finally arrived at their desired camping area. Neither had said much during their train ride from Nerima after their encounter with Kuno, both of them trying to get to their destination as quickly as possible. They didn't want to risk being seen by another one of their 'associates' in Nerima. Fortunately, it seemed that the girls had decided to give Ranma some time to cool off, but luck was a fickle thing, especially when it came to the aforementioned martial artist. "Ok, Akane, why don't you set up our tents why I make dinner?" "Hey, you jerk! I'm a good cook, you know!" 'Like hell you are!' Ranma thought bitterly, remembering all the times Akane got 'creative' with her so-called 'food', but went along with it nonetheless, repeating a silent mantra in his head: 'It's just instant ramen. Everybody can make it.' "All right, then you start on our dinner while I set up our equipment." Akane beamed and started collecting firewood. Seeing her go Ranma sighed, and continued to work on their camp. She hoped with all her heart that Akane won't try to 'improvise', or they would die for sure. Of course, this would save some work for their multiple enemies, but Ranma intended to give them all a good fight, if nothing else. Half an hour later the girls sat down near the campfire, each feasting on a cup of noodles. "Wow, Akane, they are really good!" Ranma exclaimed between bites. Akane blushed a bit before responding. "Well, they were almost ready when I decided to add something and..." Akane looked strangely at Ranma, who was frozen in mid-motion, a loose noodle slipping from his chopsticks. "Hey, Ranma, are you ok?" Akane asked worriedly. After all, she had only added some salt and paprika for taste. She even, for some reason she couldn't understand, had tried the food on herself before serving it. Ranma couldn't believe what her mind was telling her. She ate food that Akane had improvised with and was still alive. Furthermore, she didn't even feel the usual aftereffects. After the initial astonishment resided, Ranma wondered how one improvises with a cup of instant ramen. She quickly decided that she didn't want to know. "Um, Akane?" Ranma started saying tentatively. "Oh, Ranma, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to poison you..." Akane's words subsided to leave only mumbled speech and tears in their wake. Ranma, who always had trouble seeing a girl in tears, started jumping around the place, all the while waving her arms frantically in a desperate attempt to appease her. Apparently, it worked, as Akane eventually wiped away her tears and even chuckled at the hysterical redhead's antics. "I'm alright now, Ranma," she said to the smaller girl, snatching up her pigtail to hold her in one place. "Wha? Oh, right," Ranma rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, noticing that Akane was now smiling at her. "Anyway, what I wanted to say is that the food was great!" "Really?" Akane asked with shining eyes. "Umm, yeah." "I guess it really does help to taste the food while cooking it," Akane remarked thoughtfully. "..." Ranma tried to find a suitable response to that, she really did, but her mind came up blank. ***** After Dr. Tofu's announcement, chaos ensued in the Tendo Dojo. Moving over to the doctor to get more details out of him, Nabiki stayed clear of the two drunken men, who were dancing and weeping in joy. However, Nodoka beat the middle Tendo daughter to him. "Excuse me, Dr. Tofu, but is it true that Ranma and Akane are going away together, just the two of them?" the proud mother asked, beaming at the thought of her manly son. When he nodded, Nodoka left Dr. Tofu be, and went to the kitchen to help with the dinner. Nabiki, seeing her chance at finding out some juicy gossip, saw her chance and seized it. "Say, Doctor, would you happen to know where they went?" she asked, taking out a notebook. Before Nabiki could produce a pen, Kasumi came out of the kitchen, and asked Dr. Tofu if he would like to stay for dinner, smiling at him pleasantly. "Oh, Kasumi, fancy meeting you here!" he exclaimed, grabbing Nabiki's notebook and shredding it mercilessly to little pieces. "How nice of you to stop by!" By the time he had finished the last sentence, Dr. Tofu's glasses had completely fogged up, and he was laughing, all the while scratching the back of his head. Nabiki knew better than to stick around him, while the doctor was in that state, and edged away in the meanwhile. "Dr. Tofu, you're so funny!" Kasumi giggled. "Would you like a cookie while you wait for dinner?" she said, holding out a tray of freshly baked pastry to him. While all this was taking place, three additional sets of ears were picking up the bits and pieces of conversation from the Tendo Dojo. Although it wasn't a simple task, each of the uninvited guests managed to get the gist of it. None of them believed that idiotic excuse about a training trip, Ranma might as well have said that he wanted Akane there for her cooking. No, something was going, and it revolved around Nerima's number one martial artist. The onlookers quickly made their departure, careful not to blow their cover. There were a lot of preparations ahead...