Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications own Ranma 1/2. Kosuke Fujishima, Dark Horse Comics and Studio Proteus own Oh! My Goddess (Ah! Megami-sama). Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com) http://lavender.fortunecity.com/friday/573/anime.html * Previous chapters can also be found at: http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm http://home.earthlink.net/~tannim/rfics.html With thanks to all of my pre-readers, without whom this wouldn't be possible, here's the next chapter of my story: Wrath of Gods Chapter 5 "Great, now what're we gonna do?" Urd exclaimed, frowning. "Porky here screwed up big time, and we lost the element of surprise!" Ryoga tried to bite the goddess' hand for insulting him, but she was quicker, and managed to smack him upside the head to discourage any further attempts of the kind. "Um, Urd?" Skuld called out to her sister. "Actually, we had no element of surprise, since you attacked Ranma yesterday." The piglet did an approximation of a laugh, and Urd had to hold herself from zapping it. After all, there was only so much a small pig's body could take. Answering Skuld, she said "That may be true, but Ranma was confused at the time. The fact that he came back to Nerima shows that he felt it safe enough to return. Since your pig-boy here blew it, I've got a feeling we won't be seeing Ranma any time soon." "You've got that right!" a new voice suddenly said. As the goddesses turned towards the source of the voice, they saw a pretty girl about eighteen years of age step out of the shadows. Each goddess mentally berated herself for not checking the area for onlookers before trying to locate Ryoga. "Butt out, little girl," Urd said, the first one to come to her senses. "It'd be in your best interests to forget whatever you think you saw and heard here." "All right," the girl with the shoulder length hair replied amusedly. "I guess you're interested in Ranma's whereabouts, then." "What did you say?" Skuld asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously. "You heard me," the girl answered, returning the gaze in spades. Smirking when the young goddess looked away, she put out her hand in a friendly greeting and said: "Let's start over, shall we? My name is Nabiki Tendo, and I have some information that you might find very interesting..." The goddesses just stared dumbly at the girl in front of them. Urd had been wary of the girl ever since her appearance. Something just didn't add up. The girl, Nabiki, obviously wanted something, as her predatory smile would suggest. But, then again, she was trying to blackmail two people whom she probably knew to be full goddesses. Either the girl was very stupid, or she was playing some kind of scheme. This Nabiki probably had plenty of guts to just march up to them and give out her full name like that. While Urd had been contemplating her next move with caution, Skuld had no such qualms. This girl obviously knew where to find Ranma, which made her either an ally or an enemy. And either way, the Norn of the Future swore to herself that she'd make the girl tell her everything she knew. "Where is Ranma?" Skuld asked, stepping up to Nabiki. "My, my... so eager," Nabiki replied, her grin widening. Urd cursed under her breath, and decided to back her sister up, since the subtle approach was no longer an option. "Cut the crap. You know we want him, so what's the deal?" "Want him dead would be more accurate, wouldn't you say?" Nabiki purred, turning towards Urd. "It is none of your concern," Urd shot back. "Name your price." "Aww, no small talk?" Nabiki pretended to pout a bit, for dramatic purposes. Seeing a vein on the smaller goddess' head pop out, she decided to skip the pleasantries and cut to the chase. "Alright, we'll do this your way. I know everything. In fact, with the information I can provide you, the two of you could get the little demon by dawn tomorrow." "You still haven't told us what you want," Urd said as calmly as she could. "Yeah, what is it, money?" Skuld exclaimed, exasperated. She didn't like the way this girl was acting. All the scheming and spying... it reminded the goddess too much of Loki. "Not this time," Nabiki said, her face losing all signs of false happiness. "This time it's personal." Turning away from the goddesses, she extended her right hand, and started counting, pulling her fingers into a fist. "One; Ranma's a big bad demon. Two; Akane's his sidekick. Three; The both of them have done something naughty long ago. Four; They're back in action. Five; You want the two dead." Sharply turning back towards Urd and Skuld, Nabiki smacked her fist into the open palm of her left hand. "That's all very nice, but I'm afraid I can't let that happen." "What?!" the goddesses shouted in stereo. "Why you..." Skuld growled, as she reached for her shirt pocket to take out a bomb. "Wait." Urd's hand stopped Skuld, and made her look questioningly at her older sister. "There's more to it. She wouldn't have gone through all of this just to toy with us." "Indeed," Nabiki replied, the predatory smile returning to her lips, yet never reaching her eyes. "I'm willing to give you all the information you need to put Ranma six feet under... on one condition." "As I've told you before," the middle Tendo daughter continued. "I don't want any money from you. My condition is that you leave Akane out of your personal vendetta against Ranma." "Why?" Urd asked. "What is she to you?" "My sister, if you really want to know. I couldn't care less about Ranma, but I won't stand idly aside while my sister is hunted to the ends of the universe. She may be violent at times, but family is family, and it comes before business." "No deal," Skuld snorted. "We'll find that demon ourselves and kill him... and his guardian." "If you wait too long he'd be gone where you won't be able to find him!" Nabiki shouted, playing one of her aces. 'Damn! Why are they being so stubborn?!' she thought angrily. It was hard enough to do what she knew to be in her sister's best interest, and they dared refuse her offer? "What do you mean?" Skuld looked quizzically at her. "I mean that I know more than just his location. I also happened to overhear his plans. I'm more than willing to share that knowledge as well... provided that you promise to spare my sister and return her to her home, unharmed." 'She might be angry for a little while,' Nabiki mentally added to herself, 'but I doubt she'd like to see Ranma eloping with a goddess, not to mention constantly having the death warrant on her head.' Urd thought about the offer. Nabiki could've been bluffing them, but then again, she did know too much to be discarded lightly. The best way to approach this would be to think this over, preferably in private... "Alright, I promise! As long as you tell us where to find Ranma, we'll leave your sister alone," Skuld said, before Urd could stop her. "Damn it!" Urd cursed, not believing her sister's carelessness. Making promises to mortals was bad enough, but when the mortals were sneaky... the implications weren't pleasant. "Now listen here," the Norn of the Past immediately tried to run damage control. "You can't just expect..." Lightning struck the ground, leaving letters in its wake. Moving closer, Urd frowned at what the inscription read, while Nabiki smirked. Skuld was pretty much left out of the conversation at that point, and not too happy about it. "So, where do we go from here?" Nabiki asked, with a grin that would've made a Cheshire cat proud plastered firmly on her face. Sighing in exasperation, Urd replied. "Alright, you win. Your sister's safe. However, you must tell us _everything_." "I wouldn't have it any other way," Nabiki said, still smiling, while thinking, 'Well, I got what I wanted. There's no escaping it now. And after all... after all Ranma did offer to exchange his life for Akane's...' Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Nabiki continued, "Hmm, I guess it all started when this Belldandy woman came to our dojo..." "Wait!" a shout interrupted her story. Skuld interposed herself between the other girls, and proceeded to glare at Nabiki. "Did she appear to be in her early twenties, and have long brown hair?" "Pretty much. She also had those weird tattoos on her face." "Big sister," Skuld breathed out, taking a step back. "What did this woman do after coming to your dojo?" Urd asked, taking over the conversation once again. "I followed her until she met Ranma. That's how I know where he would be tomorrow - I overheard them when they set a meeting." The importance of the matter didn't escape Nabiki. She had her suspicions as to that woman's true identity, but recent developments suggested that she was related to the two goddesses in front of her. 'Two sisters want to kill him, while the other just wants him. Only with Ranma...' Nabiki shook her head to clear it, and mentally prepared to recite the encounter she had witnessed. After all, a deal was a deal. "Well, this Belldandy was doing something with a mirror, when Ranma appeared all of a sudden, and..." ***** Akane sat at the campfire, idly stirring it with a stick as she boiled herself some water for tea. 'Ranma is right,' she grudgingly accepted. 'I'm no help to him in this condition.' With her power as wild and unpredictable as it was, Akane would be a menace to the bystanders. She figured she could probably level a city block without even trying, and the guardian somehow knew that it wasn't even near her full power. And her human powers, even if she could constrain herself to use only them, paled in light of Ranma's own. She'd be a burden, someone for him to look after, and it bothered her to no end. 'Damn it! Why did this have to happen to us!' While their lives hadn't exactly been ideal, Akane felt somewhat content. Since regaining her lost powers the other day, she'd had a lot of time to think about them, and the conclusion Akane came to was that she hadn't missed them one bit during her life. However, from watching Ranma the day before, it became obvious to her that this hadn't been the case for Ranma. He acted as if he'd finally gained a new meaning in life, as if he was reclaiming something that was stolen from him a long time ago. Somehow, Ranma _was_ the demon that he'd become once again. 'Maybe he was destined to remember everything eventually?' Akane wondered, idly adding a log to the fire. The short-haired girl tried to remember as much of her current life as possible. The earliest memory she had was as a three-year-old, together with her mother. Akane was sure she was reborn as a human, but then, why did she become a guardian angel again? Was it because of the bond she and Ranma shared? Was it because of... something deeper? A fond memory resurfaced in her mind, of just the two of them on patrol, during a reconnaissance mission. She loved every minute of it, and Akane was sure that Ranma enjoyed the patrol as well. They would travel on foot, without the use of magic of any kind, to avoid detection. But despite the casual, carefree front that Ranma put out, Akane had known that deep down he was scared. And he had every right to be... * * * ..."Hey, Akane, over here," Ranma called out as softly as he could to his partner, standing on a tree branch high above the ground. With a nimble leap, she covered the distance between them and landed on a neighboring tree. "What's the matter, Ranma?" his guardian asked quietly, with a tinge of worry in her voice. Whether he noticed her anxiety and chose to ignore it, or had simply been concentrating too hard to read her emotions, Ranma disregarded Akane's tone of voice, and whispered to her, pointing his hand forward. "I think that's their camp." Following his hand, Akane saw several normal looking humans sitting around a fire. She was about to ask Ranma for clarification, when her magical sense flared up. Whatever those things were, they weren't human. And to top that all, they reeked of evil and malice. Noticing that, Akane became more than a little scared. Working for Hell, neither she nor Ranma qualified as saints, but she never viewed their actions as evil. To her, Hell was simply on the other side of Heaven, much like a rival organization. Minor skirmishes between a few loose cannons on both sides aside, things had always been peaceful among them, as the status quo was being preserved. Of course, the Doublet System might have something to do with that, but uncivilized beings, like a lot of the gods liked to describe their neighbors in Nifelheim, surely wouldn't have cared about that. These beings, whatever they were, hadn't come from their side, Akane had been sure of it. Since Ranma had been the only one fully briefed on their mission, all she had to go on were her own guesses, and as a combat specialist she knew that it wasn't enough. The only things keeping her going were her undying faith in Ranma, and the thought that should they fail, such evil would be unleashed upon the unprepared world. That made her shudder. Getting her thoughts back to the problem at hand, Akane jumped back to the surface, and went over to where Ranma had been feeling a canteen with water. "What's the matter, don't think you'd be able to muster a small water spell to teleport in the heat of battle?" Akane teased him, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere. Ranma didn't respond, but handed her the full canteen, and started filling another one for himself. "It ain't the fight with those guys that I'm worried 'bout. Whatever brought them here might still be around." Ranma stood up, adjusting the canteen to his belt and checking that it was secure, while continuing to talk. "For all we know, this whole thing might even be a trap, with dozens of those creatures ready to jump us. In case I'm right 'bout this, we should come prepared. And if we fail to take them out and get back safely..." Akane paled at his words. "Y-You think this is a t-trap? A-And that the one r-responsible for bringing t-those creatures here will h-hit the area with a... a Dispel Magic spell?" she stuttered, her fear threatening to overwhelm her. Ranma came over her and put his arms around his guardian. "Don't worry 'bout it. We've been in tougher spots, and always came back in one piece. Besides, I'm just being cautious, that's all," he said in a soothing voice. "A-All right, Ranma. I believe in you," Akane replied, looking into his eyes. "Hey, isn't this s'pposed ta be 'I believe you', Akane?" Ranma teased her, smirking. "T-That too," the girl replied, averting her eyes with a heavy blush on her face. Akane couldn't understand what possessed her to say such a thing, and before an important battle, no less. For quite some time now, she'd find herself looking in Ranma's direction more and more often, and for the life of her, couldn't figure out why. Whenever Ranma caught her at that, he'd always joke about it, and she'd look away, flustered. This frustrated Akane to no end, because she was sure guardian angels weren't supposed to act like that. Then again, that tramp Holy Bell always tried to snatch her Ranma... 'Hey, where did that thought come from?' Akane wondered, shocked. "Yo, Akane, no time for daydreaming now." Getting her attention, Ranma continued. "Now, we can't let them roam free like that, so we've got ourselves baddies to trash, and then we're going straight back to H to make our report. Is that clear?" "How are we going to approach them?" Akane asked. "There're three of them in the open, and two more hiding nearby. I'll attack them head on, and try to take out as many as I can before they even know what hit them. You're my reserve." Seeing Akane about to protest, Ranma held up his hand. "Don't even bother protesting. Remember our discussion from earlier? If it turns out a trap, you're to provide cover for us while we regroup." Akane nodded reluctantly, and donned her cloak. Before she was covered in it completely, the guardian stopped and looked at Ranma. "I have a bad feeling about this one," she said, gazing into his grey- blue eyes. "You'll be safe, Akane, I promise. I'll always protect you," Ranma replied seriously, flashing her a reassuring smile at the end. Akane's knees melting, she used all of her will to continue standing straight, and before Ranma could do anything, she reached out with her right hand, putting it on his cheek, and kissed the demon on his lips. Parting after a short moment, she looked away, blushing again, and said timidly, "For good luck." Before Ranma could start moving again, Akane threw the rest of her cloak on her, and became effectively impossible to detect by either magic or technology of Midgard, which was undoubtedly primitive when compared to the wonders of either Asgard or Nifelheim. * * * Taking to the tree tops, Ranma quickly closed the distance to the clearing, and sprang into action, without wasting any time. A flying kick from above took out one of the creatures, with Ranma rebounding back into the air, a pair of throwing knives materializing in his hands. The daggers became embedded in the second creature's throat a moment later, and as its lifeless body fell on the ground with a loud thump, Ranma landed next to it, already facing his third opponent. As the young demon was about to give the creature in front of him the thrashing it so righteously deserved, an arrow embedded itself in his right shoulder. Crying out, more out of surprise then pain, Ranma looked around for any other opponents. Finally, seeing that the monster in human guise that he was facing looked just surprised as he were, the demon finally noticed that the arrow was red. "Why did you do that, you tomboy?!" Ranma shouted into the forest. "It hurt, you know!" A slightly peeved disembodied voice answered him, "I was just trying to help, you jerk!" "Do I look like I need any help?" Ranma yelled in anger. Idly backhanding the creature, which tried to take advantage of its opponent's distracted state of mind, he continued, "Did I ask for help? No! How many times do I have to tell you to butt out of a demon to monster fight!" In the next five seconds Ranma was forced to dodge a volley of arrows, raining on him from almost any possible direction. For some particular reason, most of them were directed below his waist, one even coming so close as to graze his pants on the inside of his thigh. When the barrage stopped, Ranma decided to finish his opponent quickly, so that he'd be free to have some words with his guardian. Turning around and seeing a humanoid porcupine, the demon dismissed that idea, musing that the creature probably shouldn't have tried to jump him from behind and directly into the path of the arrows. Shrugging, Ranma turned away and called out, "Akane, come here, will'ya?" As his guardian materialized a few meters away from him, taking off her cloak and dismissing it, Ranma sighed and approached her. "Akane, didn't I tell you to stay in reserve?" he asked in a reproaching voice. The only answer he got was in the form of a 'Hmph'. Ranma continued to stare at her, until Akane blurted out angrily, "Why should only you have all the fun?!" "You call this fun?!" Ranma asked incredulously. "Yes. Don't you?" "Well..." Ranma started saying, rubbing the back of his head, before changing the subject. "But that's beside the point. You were given orders, and you disobeyed them. Now we have to either track down the remaining monsters or retreat." "I'm... I'm sorry," Akane replied, bowing her head. "But I just wanted to try out my new bow." "And that's another thing," Ranma said. "You know you're lousy with that thing. I mean, you'd have a better chance hitting your target blindfolded." "I hit that creature, didn't I?" Akane replied indignantly, with her hands on her hips. "Were you actually aiming for it?" Ranma countered, crossing his hands in front of his chest and matching his guardian's gaze. "Um... never mind that now. So, what's the new plan?" Akane said sheepishly, quickly changing the subject. "Ah, what's the point in plans with such a sloppy guardian around." Smiling after receiving Akane's Glare of Doom, Ranma finally replied, "Alright, no plans this time. Let's just kick their ass," before turning in the direction of the closest remaining creature, and starting to jog. Akane was hot on his trail with a matching smile. * * * Two shadows slipped through the forest with unearthly grace, going so fast that they would've appeared as blurs to an untrained eye. The black clad one formed a glowing energy sword in his hands at the apex of a particularly high jump, and brought it down with all his might on a vague shape which lurked below. The creature was cleaved cleanly in half, dead before it could even scream. A croak a short distance away informed Ranma that Akane had taken care of the final monster. Turning in her direction, he nodded in response to her victory sign. The demon was about to give the signal to retreat, when the sky above them turned purple. Ranma felt as if he were struck by needles all over his body, and immediately knew what happened. Cursing under his breath, Ranma frantically signaled for Akane to cloak herself and make a break for it, before falling into a defensive stance as almost fifty of the same kind of creatures he'd just slain with his guardian surrounded them. The situation was dire, he realized, as he and Akane were now largely outnumbered, and didn't have the element of surprise on their side any more. This meant that all stops had to be pulled. Ranma crouched low, his hands almost touching the ground, large claws glowing with a golden light superimposing themselves on them. The demon's eyes narrowed, and started emitting the same light as his newly formed claws, while Ranma's stance became more and more like that of a wild cat. With a thundering meow Ranma leapt at his opponents, tearing them apart. Moving at speeds that put his previous attacks to shame, the demon desperately clawed at the creatures closing in on him from every direction. Over two dozen of them fell by his claws before any of the monsters got in range for their own attacks. Armed with swords, spears and daggers, the unholy creatures attacked the young demon relentlessly, pushing Ranma to his limits, as he twisted and wove between the attacks with an inhuman grace. In the meanwhile, Akane was having problems of her own. While the bulk of the enemy had concentrated their attack on Ranma, several of them surrounded her, circling the guardian warily. Despite her partner's insistence that she retreat and let him handle everything, Akane couldn't do it. It might've been treason, but there was no way in Hell she'd leave Ranma to face these monstrosities alone. With a pair of short blades, Akane charged the closest creature, cutting it to several pieces before it got over its surprise at her attack. She grinned grimly, as the other beings circling her decided to jump her all at once, and raised the swords in a defensive position. As Akane was dealing with her share of the creatures, Ranma was fighting while calling upon his last reserves of power. There were less than ten of the monsters around him now, which at the moment decided to regroup before a final all-out attack. Ranma never took his eyes off them, crouched in his stance, this time leaning on the ground with his hands to support him in a somewhat vertical position. The multiple cuts and bruises he sustained during the melee weren't serious on their own accord, but the severe exhaustion from having to fight so intensely combined with the accumulated blood loss caused Ranma to appear in less than his top shape. He sighed, as the worst case scenario became a reality. With the dreaded Dispel Magic put on the clearing in which he and Akane were facing off the creatures, their combat and healing spells were useless. Seeing that the creatures were ready to resume their attack, Ranma pulled himself to his full height, preparing to give this last fight his utmost all. Having finished off her opponents, Akane leaned on a nearby tree for support, breathing heavily. One of her swords had been broken at the hilt, and she herself hadn't escaped the battle unharmed. Her right arm was probably broken in several places, and the last sword thrust had almost took out her head, nicking the guardian on her neck. Looking to see how Ranma faired in his battle, she gasped. Aside from hundreds of small bleeding wounds, a huge diagonal gash ran across Ranma's chest, starting at his right shoulder. Weakly smiling, the demon flashed her a victory sign, before collapsing to his knees. Barely holding her tears in check, Akane rushed to him, mentally berating him all the time. Why did he have to act so brave?! They could've faced the creatures together, but no, he just had to fight them all on his own. That stupid, stubborn demon! A whooshing sound registered in her mind, just before something heavy impacted against Akane, sending her stumbling to the ground. Once she got her bearings again, the guardian gasped as she saw Ranma sprawled protectively over her. An arrow protruding from his back, stopped a short distance away from Akane's heart. "Why did you do it?! Why did you take that shot for me?! Why?!" she demanded, crying out in agony, heedless of the several hundreds of the dark minions closing in on them; the second wave neither Akane nor Ranma had any chance to defeat in their current predicament. "You're... my angel. My... best friend," Ranma gasped, struggling with the words. "I'll always protect you... with my last breath..." As Ranma's eyes started to close, a deep anger engulfed Akane. Standing up, shivering of the intense coldness gripping at her heart, she kept her head bowed, lest the creatures got the pleasure of seeing the agony plainly written on her face. Ranma was slipping away, and they couldn't teleport with the whole area acting as one gigantic magical inhibitor. Akane came to the realization that she... failed. Failed her sworn duty as a guardian, failed her friendship, and her... her... A sickly green glow surrounded Akane at that point, growing more and more intense with every passing moment, as her fury and despair increased exponentially, welling up inside her. The creatures, who were confident in their victory until that point, sensed that something was wrong, and let loose with a barrage of arrows, darts, throwing stars and even a few throwing daggers. All of the weapons literally burned out of existence after coming to within several centimeters of the raging inferno of heavy emotions surrounding Akane, who was standing over Ranma's fallen form. Their usually dormant danger senses flaring up, the monsters let out yelps of panic and charged at Akane, determined to stop her before she attacked them with whatever she had up her sleeve. During all of this, Akane was dead to the outside world. As the heavy emotions within her reached a critical point, her mind buckled under the stress, and she shouted out in agony, "SHI SHI HOKODAAAN!!!" A green projectile of extreme proportions shot into the air, hanging weightlessly for a brief moment, before coming down on Earth in a spectacular explosion... * * * Akane opened her eyes, wondering why she was still alive. Looking around, she saw that in the place of the clearing there was now one enormous crater, littered with... something. Upon closer examination, the guardian came to the understanding that those were the bodies of her would-be attackers. Looking down at her feet, she saw Ranma, who still appeared to be alive and, like her, not even singed. Akane was about to cry that after all this, Ranma was still going to die in this no man's land, when she noticed something. Or, rather, that something was missing. Looking up, the guardian noticed for the first time that the spell upon the clearing had been lifted somehow. That meant she still had a chance to save Ranma! She eagerly grabbed at his canteen with her good hand, only to find it empty, the water having long since drained away after a sword cut a whole in the canteen. "No, I refuse to lose you! Not after all this!" she yelled in defiance. Remembering that Ranma insisted on her taking a full canteen of water as well, for emergencies, Akane's heart filled with hope. That hope was short lived, as she saw that the canteen was leaking from a hole that was inflicted upon it during the battle. Unscrewing the lid frantically, Akane prayed there would be enough water. Not having any other options, she poured the canteen's contents on Ranma, and quickly chose a destination. Whether she liked it or not, that was Ranma's best, and probably only, hope of survival. Chanting a spell to direct the teleport, as Ranma was in no position to do it himself, Akane crossed her fingers that the water was enough to transport both of them A moment later, Ranma and Akane disappeared from the forest with a flash of angry scarlet light... ***** "Listen, Ukyo, do you want to find out where your dear 'Ranchan' is, or not?" Nabiki asked, idly twiddling the telephone cord around her index finger. Waiting a few moments for the answer, she smiled and continued, "The information is solid. I got it first hand from Ranma himself. And the best part is that it'll only cost you fifty thousand this time!" Removing the phone from her ear as what suspiciously sounded like loud profanities came through, Nabiki sighed and waited for Ukyo to calm down. "All better, now? If you think it's too much to pay for information about Ranma's whereabouts, you don't have to do it. Even though it is your last chance to find him, before he disappears from the face of the Earth. But you've already searched ten years for him once, you could do it again, right?" As another set as profanities filtered into the room, Nabiki frowned and waited for Ukyo to cool off. The others didn't cause such troubles, so why was the okonomiyaki chef so intent on giving her a headache? Noticing that the stream of expletives had stopped, Nabiki moved the phone's handle to her ear once more, and listened to Ukyo. "You'll pay? Wonderful! Now listen here, Ranma and Akane are going to be at Susano's shrine at Mt. Fuji tomorrow at dawn. Did you get that?" Hearing Ukyo's reply, Nabiki smiled. "Good. And one more thing. If you try to hurt Akane in any way..." Leaving it at that, Nabiki hung up the phone, and prepared to dial the next number, when a voice stopped her in her tracks. "Did I just hear you correctly, Nabiki?" 'Damn it!' Nabiki swore, calculating the losses of profit. 'Oh well, one of the downsides of having guests.' "Yes, Auntie. I've found Ranma's location," Nabiki she said out loud, hoping that the woman won't ask any more questions. "How did you learn this?" Nodoka asked, leveling a gaze at the middle Tendo daughter. Slightly averting her eyes, Nabiki replied, "I saw him talking with one of his friends today, and that's when they set the next meeting." "I... see. And whom did my son meet?" Nodoka asked sternly, fingering the wrapped bundle in her arms. Gulping, Nabiki decided to humor her and give the older woman the information she wanted, so that she'd be able to get back to business. "He called her 'Belldandy'. Is that all you wanted to know, Auntie?" "Y-Yes, thank you. I must go now," Nodoka replied, gripping her sword tightly, and swiftly left the house. Shrugging, Nabiki picked up the phone again. 'That woman sure is weird! I thought she'd be jumping in joy, ranting about her manly son.' "Oh, well," Nabiki sighed, dialing the Kuno estate. "Kuno baby? It's me. Have I got news for you..." ***** End of Chapter 5.