IMPORTANT!!!!!!! If this is the first time you're reading this fic, you must read starting from Chapter 1 completely first! This story will seem very ridiculous and out of place if you don't. This fic is a crossover with Ranma and the Tenchi OAV/Universe series. The rest of the Tenchi characters will be introduced in this chapter, and there will be a couple of fun surprises as well. Hopefully you readers know some basic knowledge about both Ranma and Tenchi:) Compared to movies, I would rate this as a "R" fanfic, because of some of the harsh language used. This ain't a lemon though, I don't plan on having any sex scenes at all. Here are a few things you must know while reading this: -The Ranma aspect of the story takes place after manga 38 and the Tenchi aspect takes place after the TV show/OVA. -At the end of manga 38 Ranma was at the end of his sophomore year in Furinken High School and the year is set to 1992. Don't ask why, I chose that particular date out of convenience. This is to punctuate the times that Akane and Ranma met during their lives. -Also Ranma still has his curse, but his female form has black hair (like the manga) and is now just as tall as his male form. -For now in this universe Ranma's curse is accepted just about everywhere with a quick explanation by Ranma. Don't ask why, it just makes the story easier to understand. -Ranma will seem very out of character, but you have to completely read from the first chapter to understand why. -SgtRanma Please visit my website at http://sgtranma.webjump.com! New fics will always appear there first! And I update often! ------------------------ Chapter 3: Meet the Family April 16th, 2001. Downtown Okayama Shopping District, Japan. 11:23 PM "Freeze you bastard!" Two figures were running down a street filled with businesses, people and bright neon signs. Downtown Okayama wasn't a bad place to be, there were a lot of things to do, a lot of things to eat and buy, and a lot of ways to have fun. Yep, it was a Friday night and EVERYONE had something to do around here. Unfortunately for JNSA MaxFor agent Captain Ranma Saotome, he didn't have the time right now to have fun. "Freeze means STOP you little bitch-ass motherfucker! You're under arrest!" screamed Ranma at the top of his lungs. Ranma was chasing after a guy who was selling some heroin in a little alley to teenagers who were looking for a quick fix. The assignment was simple enough, the objective was to stake out around popular places and look out for any suspicious activity. Even in a nice place like Okayama, there was still some crime element in the city. Unfortunately, the assignment was given to him the day before his "date" with Kiyone tomorrow, it was typical of Ranma, there was always some complication in his life one way or another. But Ranma knew better, he knew this was more than just a stupid drug bust. This was a standard procedure that all good law enforcement groups used, catch the small time drug runners so that they'll lead you to the big bosses, the ones who controlled all the little fish. Cut off the source and drug shipments will be cut down noticeably. It was something Ranma had done his first couple of weeks as a detective in the LAPD, and it wasn't much fun, it was something novices and rookie detectives usually handled. The only fun part was the beat down he would give to the suspect to get info out of him. What annoyed Ranma however about this assignment was that he had to have an undercover ID to work with the Okayama Police. He couldn't reveal to them that he was a government agent on special duty in their humble city. "Goddamn you, you little flying fuck! I'll beat the shit out of you when I get my hands on you!" yelled Ranma as he was running down the busy sidewalk. The guy wasn't that fast, and Ranma was really fast compared to most people. However there were too many people on the sidewalk to jump after him. Damn, thought Ranma. He didn't want this to happen the night before he met Kiyone. He won't be able to get much sleep tonight if he didn't get this guy fast. Ranma continued to struggle after the running criminal down the busy district, the guy was obviously an idiot, he had no idea where the hell he was running, and right now he was heading straight for an empty alley with a dead end. The drug dealer had no intention of getting caught by the damn po po's, he still hadn't gotten his fix yet, he wasn't going to refuse his boss' generous products. "Fuck you, you damn copper! You'll never get me!" Ranma sighed and shook his head, they never learn. What that guy needed right now was a good beat down to get his head out of his euphorichigh state. Ranma looked around the streets while he was running, when was the goddamn backup gonna arrive? He had called them on his cell phone's radio and had instructed them to block off the street. The pedestrians just watched in amusement as the handsome young man with the pigtail chased after the hoodlum in those crummy clothes. A lot of girls were swooning over the hunk that was running by so fast and effortlessly, albeit the fact he was knocking people down left and right. Ranma was wearing some trendy sneakers and dressed in some tan khakis and a light bluish gray muscle tee tucked in. Everyone could clearly see his large, well defined muscles bulging out as he ran past them. Ranma didn't have the luxury of being able to put on a bullet proof vest, he had to dress very discreet and casual to mix in with the public. Eventually the chase ended when the criminal ignorantly ran into a dead end alley with no one around. He was panting heavily and was very exhausted, and wasn't gonna go quietly there. Ranma on the other hand hadn't even broken a sweat and was grinning to the criminal. They were about fifty yards apart, and even in the shallow light the thug could see the expression on Ranma's face. "What the fuck are you smiling about you damn pig!" the criminal yelled. He noticed that Ranma was alone, and there weren't any fellow officers to help him out. He chuckled evilly and pulled out a big sashimi knife* from his dirty jacket. *A sashimi knife is a Japanese sushi knife that has a big 8 to 10 inch long thin blade with a big solid handle. It is so sharp that Japanese mafias, or Yakuzas, use them as weapons for they can slice through a whole person in half, and that's not an exaggeration. The blade is extremely sharp and the knife itself is very expensive for genuine ones. "Heh, heh, you're all alone eh? I'm gonna filet your ass and feed it the dogs!" Ranma huffed out a breath of frustration when he saw the drug dealer running toward him. Right now he just wanted to go home and get some sleep. He didn't have time to screw around with a stupid street punk when he had to prepare himself for tomorrow. Ranma sighed and pulled out his handgun from a hidden holster on the inside of his belt. He pulled out a small suppressor and screwed it onto the muzzle of his Sig Sauer P226. All this was done with his hands behind his back so that the thug couldn't see him. "I got you now fucker!" the criminal yelled when he was about twenty yards away. When the criminal was about ten yards away, Ranma brandished the now silenced handgun and shot three rounds onto the cement right in front of the suspect. Now just about everyone thinks that they know what silencers sound like because they've seen them before in American action movies. Movies portray them as tools that turn loud gunshots into tiny sounds of lasers blasting like in sci-fi shows. Ranma laughed at that thought as he saw the criminal frozen still in place with his blade sticking out in front of him in his hand. In real life a silencer is much louder, it sounds like someone slamming a car door really hard and a pneumatic staple gun shooting at the same time. It's made to disguise a gunshot to sound like something else. The thug was frozen stiff in fear, his eyes went wide as the smoking barrel of the gun was pointed in between his eyes. Ranma clicked a small switch on the right side of the gun with his trigger finger, and a bright red laser flashed on from the tip of the guide rod. The criminal's eyes were alternating between the smoking barrel illuminating the fine laser beam painted on his forehead and the smoking bullets that were stuck in the cement in front of him. "Plea...pl...please don't kill me!" stuttered the criminal in a panicked voice. Ranma only smirked, and in one lightning quick motion he shot the sashimi knife from his hand and shot it in the air repeatedly, making it look like the knife was dancing wildly in the air. When it landed on the ground, it was completely ruined and bent out of shape. "You and I have a lot to talk about my friend, and you're gonna pay for making me run that entire time," Ranma said as he walked toward the criminal. He unscrewed the suppressor to pocket it and holstered his gun. He pulled out some handcuffs to restrain the guy. "Don't move, put your hands behind your back and stay still. If you even twitch I'll put a new fucking hole in your fucking head," stated Ranma. Usually Ranma would have chosen a safer method by telling the guy to lie down on the floor so that he could search him for other weapons. However, he was just too lazy right now to do that. What could he possibly do that he couldn't handle? While Ranma was gripping the guy's wrists together, the thug made an evil smile with a sly look on his face. Just as Ranma was about to slap the cuffs the guy jumped away and tried to tackle Ranma. Ranma just sighed and gave him a good roundhouse kick to the back of the head as he stumbled down to his face unconscious. A bunch of police officers came into the alley at that moment with their batons drawn and tazers ready. They were surprised when they saw Ranma walking away from the downed criminal while carelessly yawning, it seemed they missed all the action. Okayama was a busy place for police work, but only for detectives, patrol cops didn't have much choice for action during their shifts. Ranma was very tired, but not exhausted. He needed some sleep for crying out loud! He was gonna be home very late before he finishes all the necessary propaganda for his case. A lone young man in a uniform came up to Ranma, curious about what had happened. "Do you know what happened here Detective Saotome?" Ranma just walked by and replied, "The guy tripped himself and fell flat on his face ." The young man was a little bull headed and was arrogant, he wanted to push Ranma to get more out of him. "Oh really? Why is it that his knife is abnormally warped with holes? Why are there bullet holes in the ground?" The kid snottily put his hands on his hips, "I think there's been some foul play here, don't you think?" Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes. He looked up into the sky, GODS, WHY must he be pestered by some snot nosed rookie RIGHT NOW? He looked down at his wristwatch and cursed. Damn, it was already 11:45. If it wasn't for the fact that his identity was supposed to be secret for most cops, he would have just smacked the kid hard across the head and get rid of him, but he had to take up the impression that he was a nice, reasonable, NORMAL cop. Ranma just twirled around and got into the young cop's face. He glared straight into his eyes and gave a menacing look, making him flinch. "Tell you what, you don't bug me for the rest of the night..." he pulled out his gun and pointed it right at the kid's groin so that no one else could see, "...and I'll let you keep your nuts intact for another day? Does that sound good to you?" Ranma said while cocking his gun audibly so the kid could hear. The young cop was stammering, he had no idea that the new detective would be this scary. The National Police rarely sent out armed detectives from their HQ, and this one was scary! "Get the fuck outta here you little shit, I do what I have to," said Ranma, glaring into the young cop. "Crime is a DISEASE, and I'm the CURE." "I'm sorry to bother you Saotome-sama...I'll be on my way..." the kid said, backing away slowly then sprinting off hard, away from Ranma. Ranma just rolled his eyes again, maybe he pushed that a little too far. Saotome-sama? He didn't want to hear those words again, especially with Kodachi still in his memories from years ago. Yeah, that sure was a great way to act like a normal cop, thought Ranma sarcastically. Ranma went over to a sergeant at the scene and instructed him to keep the suspect contained until next week. Ranma really wanted to get out of here. Cops were scurrying around, trying to do their best to look busy and act like they were doing something important. Ranma jogged back to a big parking lot about half a kilometer a way and got in his car. It was a LONG night. Luckily it didn't take as long as he had expected. He started up the Chevy and peeled out of there as quick as he could, racing to get home. By the time Ranma was home and ready for bed, it was about 12:30, around midnight. Ranma had set up all the clothes he would wear tomorrow, the alarm clock was set, and he had called the florists so that he could arrange to pick up a fresh bouquet of roses in the morning. Ranma smiled in anticipation of tomorrow, he would go on his first date in a long time. He didn't date much since Akane, it seemed girls in America weren't really too appealing to him. His mind slipped for a second and he growled with a frown. His heart still wasn't healed from Akane. Whether Ranma liked it or not, she would always have a place in his heart. Ranma went back to thinking of Kiyone, now was not the time to pine over the past, he'd done a lot of that before. He had the chance of starting over anew and he was given a perfect opportunity with Kiyone. It was bizarre, that girl just intrigued Ranma to all ends, she was interesting and very mysterious in her life force. Ranma had a pensive look on his face before he laid his head against his pillow as he fell asleep on his futon, dreaming pleasant dreams of nothing in particular. * * * April 16th, 2001. Kiyone and Mihoshi's Apartment - Okayama, Japan. 9:45 PM Girls are very fickle. Especially when it comes to guys. That sort of explained why Kiyone was trying to pick out something "cute" to wear for tomorrow. She was cautiously looking over several outfits to wear, and she was determined to look good. She did however make sure that all these outfits will go with her trademark bandanna. Mihoshi on the other hand, was baffled. Not the kind of stupidity and ignorance she was usually capable of, but real puzzlement. Most people often mistook Mihoshi as being a stupid, airheaded, ditz who possessed no knowledge or thinking power at all. Most of that was correct, only because she CHOSE to be a ditz. It was too hard to be sophisticated and overly clever like Kiyone was. It was much more fun (and simple) to be herself. After all, that's what made Mihoshi, well, Mihoshi. Mihoshi was pondering about Kiyone's weird behavior, she couldn't remember the last time she acted this way for ANY boy. Kiyone hadn't had a boyfriend since they got promoted from patrol cops to detectives (although they were still cursed to do patrol, to Kiyone's dismay). In other words, this was spooky. "Damn, I'm gonna have to choose between these two," Kiyone said, as she crossed her arms with one hand on her chin. She narrowed her eyes, debating which outfit would be better. She looked over to Mihoshi. Maybe it would be a good idea to get someone else's feedback. After all, during their earlier years as cops it was Mihoshi who seemed to be dating all the time, while Kiyone went steady and had short relationships with a couple of men. Despite being an idiot, Mihoshi knew how to dress and be social. At least in dating. "Hey Mihoshi, which one do you think I should wear?" Mihoshi just looked at the two outfits, one laid out on the floor, the other on Kiyone. The one on the floor was a very simple but nice dress that came down to your knees and was a nice, pale emerald green. It came complete with spaghetti straps and looked very elegant. The other outfit...well, it was something Mihoshi didn't expect Kiyone to wear for an occasion like this. The other was a set, complete with shorts, shirt and jacket. The shirt was a really small, white almost sleeveless t-shirt that would barely cover Kiyone. Then there was a tight but comfortable fitting denim jacket that accented off Kiyone's curves with her tight shirt. It was all finished off with some really short shorts, but not slutty shorts, that showed off Kiyone's legs. The outfit made Kiyone look like a really cute and HOT college girl, the kind that every guy dreams of going out with. Mihoshi examined the two choices, and gave the nod to the outfit Kiyone was already wearing. Kiyone looked at her questioningly, to see if she was sincere about her choice, and it looked like she was. Why did Mihoshi choose the more scandalous ensemble? Simple. It's what she would have worn if she were in Kiyone's shoes. A guy like Ranma was too cute to lose if she didn't put on the right moves. Kiyone put away her stuff and got ready to go to bed, satisfied with her choice of clothing, thanks to Mihoshi's advice. She decided she should plan carefully, she didn't want to come on to Ranma as a hussy. Mihoshi decided to execute her nightly ritual of eating something right before going to bed, to Kiyone's annoyance. It seemed every night she stuffed her face with sweets and goods before brushing her teeth. This ended up with them sleeping at almost eleven o'clock. Mihoshi would stumble and do something stupid requiring her to fix or clean something up. Tonight was no different. Despite Kiyone's good mood, Mihoshi still made her frustrated somehow at the end of the day. But this time at least, she had something great to look forward to. * * * April 17th, 2001. Okayama Mountains, Route 56 - Okayama, Japan. 8:45 AM The air was crisp, the sounds of wind whistling in the trees, and the breeze of cherry blossoms floating in the breeze gave Ranma a peace of mind he hadn't experienced since his training trips with his pop in his teen years. Ranma's training methods had changed, he was a much better fighter now than he ever could've imagined back when he was sixteen, but the nice atmosphere of being in the mountains just made him feel good. Of course it would be a lot better if the road was paved. The Chevy could handle the rough terrain with ease and gobble up the dirt like nothing because he was in a 4x4, but that didn't necessarily mean a smooth ride was provided. The Tahoe was a great cruiser on the streets, a decent off roader, and a kick ass police car, but it wasn't very comfortable out in rough conditions. The place was very remote, and Ranma couldn't see a single person anywhere. Maybe these damn roads probably discouraged people from visiting, or they took the bus to get here. Ranma saw one bus cruising down the mountain, but he didn't pay attention to see if there was anyone in it. Ranma pressed the screen of his LCD screen fixed on to the dashboard of his car. The screen lit up and had a huge logo that said GPS* on it with the picture of the earth behind it. The screen flickered again and showed a map of where Ranma's car was at and how long it would take to get to his destination. *Author's Ramble: GPS stands for the Global Positioning Satellite system, it's very common and is found every where, from cars to laptops. However civilian versions are accurate within 30 feet of the targeted locations, while military and government systems are accurate to 3-5 feet. I've heard rumors that this is actually a conservative number and the U.S. government uses systems that are accurate to ONE inch. Ranma read the statistics on the screen, his destination was exactly 9.897 kilometers away, approximate arrival time, 15 minutes. Ranma grinned at the amazing little computer attached to his car, he had never used a GPS system before, he'd heard of them but never imagined that they would be accurate down to a meter. Government technology kicked ass. Ranma looked at the destination once again, it read Masaki residence. Ranma thought back to the phone call Kiyone gave him a few days back about their plans for the weekend. It seems she's heading to her friends house in the mountains. The place wasn't that far from the city, it was a twenty minute drive with no traffic to irritate drivers, only the crude roads. Seeing that there would probably be no chance whatsoever of traffic coming his way, Ranma just floored the gas and engaged the four wheel drive. If he was gonna go on some bumpy roads, he might as well have fun. It was unusual to see a huge truck going so fast, but this one was packed with performance goodies and left a trail of dust in the air as it rushed by. After a few minutes Ranma could see a huge lake with a house nearby, with a sedan and van parked in front, and what vaguely looked like a crowd of people in front of the lake. ----------------------- April 17th, 2001. Masaki Home, Living Room - Okayama Japan. 8:30 AM The Masaki home hadn't changed much after the Jurai Civil War, after a month of living alone, Tenchi had been pretty bored with his regained peaceful life, but thankfully everyone had come back, starting with the reappearance of Ryoko and Ryo-ohki. That started a chain reaction in where everyone else came back, along with all the chaos. Tenchi enjoyed every moment of it. He looked over at the yard where all the girls were chatting along about something, giggling and joking around with each other. Most of the attention was focused on Kiyone, they were all fussing over her and talking about her. Tenchi had to suppress a possible nosebleed, Kiyone was looking VERY attractive in her small shirt and short shorts, all for a guy she had met. It seemed that the Masaki household was going to hold a big barbecue, all prepared by Sasami. Everything was set up, there was meat in the cooler, drinks in the ice chest, meat in the cooler, and another chest filled with various different alcohols, compiled by none other than Ryoko. He would never admit it to anyone, but he felt complete relieved when all the chaos returned. Life was too short to live a quiet life. Tenchi looked back at the girls who were still talking of their soon to arrive guest, Kiyone's new friend. Tenchi looked over at the laughing Ryoko and the giggling Ayeka, sooner or later he would have to choose one of those girls himself. It seemed even Washu had a liking for him and Sasami had a crush on him too. He loved them all, liked the interesting amount of adventure living with the girls brought, but he didn't like Ayeka and Ryoko fighting over him, sometimes it became too much to handle. It troubled him sometimes, he always wondered who he loved more. Luckily, however, Tenchi's grandpa, Katsuhito, had a little talk with the two and got their attention over who would get Tenchi. It was simple really, Katsuhito ruled out that whoever acted the worthiest in front of Tenchi would be worthy of having, or in other words, whoever was the least pain in the ass would have his blessing to marry Tenchi. It brought out a lot of interesting results, and amazingly, the plan worked beautifully. Sasami didn't change, she was polite and an angel like always, Washu however didn't change much and continued dragging Tenchi into her own fun and games experiments. But Ryoko and Ayeka... those two changed a LOT, and changed for the better. They became even closer friends, talked together often, and even though they weren't violent with each other, they still got into a fun spirited argument every once in a while to kick back, and they both treated Tenchi like a good friend and tried their hardest not to intimidate him. It was all perfect, Tenchi would have plenty of time to forget about everything, he could still live a sane life with the girls, and he could now concentrate more on school work too, after all, when they all first arrived, Tenchi had a handful trying to take care of everyone. Katsuhito had put in one more important rule for all the girls, to Tenchi's advantage. He was to wait until he at least graduated college, all FOUR years. And right now, Tenchi was still 18, with high school for him being over early, thanks to some advanced academic training from Washu. Hey, he took a shot at those gaijin SAT exams, he scored a 1600* easy, along with his perfect 5.0 GPA over here in the land of the rising sun. Although he was in danger of failing when all the girls came, thanks to some "cranial acceleration" programs invented by Washu, everything worked out fine in the end. *Hey, it could happen! His tutor is Washu! Meanwhile, over at the yard, Kiyone was busy babbling away about how everyone should act when Ranma arrived. Everyone was pleasantly surprised (shocked was more like it actually, although they didn't show it) that Kiyone was able to find someone and snag him before they could. "Okay, do all of you understand what not to do when he gets here," Kiyone said. They all nodded in agreement, even though some thought her logic didn't make sense, why couldn't she just tell the truth? "Let me get this straight," Washu interjected, "You want us to pretend to be earthlings in front of your new boyfriend and make sure we don't say anything unusual?" Kiyone blushed "He's not my boyfriend! I just invited him over that's all, but yeah, that's right. Make sure he doesn't find out we're all aliens. "Why are you trying to lie about this to him?" Washu asked. "I'm not trying to lie to him, I just don't want him to find out about how weird we are quite yet, that's all." Hmph. Yeah right, like that tactic is really gonna work thought Washu. Bad things always happen this way. "Whatever, but be careful of what you do Kiyone, it could backfire." Yep, and maybe it will, with a little help from me, thought Washu, as a small smile crept on her face. "So this guy is a cop, eh? I never did like coppers," quipped Ryoko. "Hey! I thought we were your friends Ryoko!" whined Mihoshi. "I'm just kidding you moron! how dimwitted can you be?" Kiyone just shook her head, her plan was going to fall apart, it would never work out with the way these girls were. Maybe she should just tell the truth. "Can you tell us what kind of person he is Kiyone-san?" asked Ayeka. "Well... first of all he's a cop, a high ranking one at that. He's a nice guy, he's dedicated to his work like me, and he's brutally honest about everything," said Kiyone, trying to think of something else to say about him. "And he's cute enough to make Kiyone blush!" Mihoshi blurted out. Everyone laughed as Kiyone turned a bright shade of red and started yelling at Mihoshi and chased her around. Everyone continued laughing, but it slowly died down one by one as they noticed a speeding black object coming their way. It left a trail of dust as it drifted up the mountain, taking on the rough dirt like a mountain goat up a steep hill. The car came to a graceful but hasty stop right next to Kiyone's Toyota, and everyone just stared at the huge, blacked out SUV in front of them. The door swung open, and a foot stepped out, planting itself on the ground. ----------------- "Whew!" sighed Ranma as he stepped out of the Chevy. He was glad that he was finally here, he was getting real bored driving all by himself in the middle of nowhere. He looked around his surroundings, and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, and man, was it glorifying. He spotted the staring onlookers, and he decide he should introduce himself. He put on the trademark Saotome look of arrogance and gracefully walked over to Kiyone. ------------------ Everyone stared as the handsome, well built man stepped out of the large sport utility vehicle, gracefully moving in every step. He wore a bright red silk shirt made in a Chinese design, loose black slacks that fluttered slightly in the breeze, and a shiny golden badge attached to his sash. He sported an unusual pigtail that only added to his charisma, adding to the charming and confident smile he had on his face. All the girls felt their heartbeats getting quicker and their faces growing hotter as he walked over. There was just something about him, he had that attractive appeal, similar to Tenchi. Kiyone felt herself blushing, but she tried to maintain her composure, it just wouldn't do if everyone saw that a mere guy could make turn her into putty. It would give the impression she was weak to men, didn't it? Ayeka and Ryoko were finding themselves entranced, something that didn't happen quite easily. Something that never happened actually, except for when they both met Tenchi. ------------------ Ranma casually walked over to everyone, and stopped when he was right in front of them. Something inside Ranma twitched, he didn't show it, but he was feeling something weird. He looked over at the beautiful purple haired girl in the kimono, and the cute little girl with the vibrant blue hair. They were radiating a powerful aura, almost majestic, it was so distinct and unusual, nothing like Ranma had ever seen. The little girl especially, she seemed to have TWO different auras at once, although one was hidden underneath, and was much harder to detect. Ryoko decided she would be the first to introduce herself, besides, she was the least timid person of the group. "So, you're Kiyone's new friend huh? I'm Ryoko, former space pirate and demon." Ranma chuckled and gave a warm smile, "Ranma Saotome, police detective and government agent." Ranma looked at Ryoko's eyes, and felt a panic attack as soon as he laid eyes on them. "Ahh! Cat!" screamed Ranma as he zoomed away from Ryoko. Ryoko closely examined Ranma as he backed off and turned pale in the face, what the hell was the matter with him she thought? Ranma regained his composure as he noticed everyone was staring at him strangely, especially Ryoko. He looked at her again, and relaxed. She wasn't a cat, it was only her eyes, they were feline. He tried to reintroduce himself again, "Anou... sorry about that... I thought Ryoko-san here was a cat, and I'm deathly afraid of them. I think we got off on the wrong foot." "That's quite all right Ranma-san, besides, Ryoko here is a beast that most scream at when they first meet," said Ayeka while smirking at Ryoko. "Hey princess, at least I had the DIGNITY to introduce myself, unlike some snobbish Juraian princess we all know!" Ayeka responded in mock anger, and tartly replied, "I don't think Ranma here would want to speak to a 5,000 year old mummy!" While the two playfully argued everyone else laughed, except for Ranma and Kiyone. Kiyone was just shaking her head, how stupid were those two? They practically forgot about keeping their identities a secret! Ranma just silently pondered what he just heard. Juraian princess? 5,000 year old mummy? SPACE pirate? What the hell was going on? He decided he should just keep quiet for now, and find out later. Ranma walked over to Kiyone, who was frowning about something. "Well, thank you for inviting me Kiyone. It's nice to be here with you." Kiyone broke out of her reverie and gave him a smile, "It's nothing. Besides, I haven't had fun in a while. I should thank you for coming really. We're gonna have a barbecue at noon, right here in front of this lake." "Great!" Kiyone chuckled, this guy was just SO cute, there was just something about him. "I want you to meet the family." Kiyone pointed out everyone to Ranma, "The girl you just met with the wild teal blue hair is Ryoko Hakubi, the girl she's arguing with is Ayeka Jurai, the little girl with the blue hair is Ayeka's little sister Sasami, and the girl with the red hair is Washu Hakubi." "Wow, are they all friends of yours?" "We weren't at first, but yeah, we are now. Sorta like family." Ranma introduced himself to everyone, they were all very nice and pleasant. Washu carefully examined Ranma, she had a mischievous smile on her face. My god, I must thank kami for dropping a boulder of gold in front of me. The boy was handsome, sure, and charming, but what caught Washu's attention was the boy's life force and his own aural signature. Washu recently connected her mental link to operate with all her science equipment and just about everything else in her dimensional lab. Things could be done quicker when you thought of doing them instead of doing them yourself. And right now, Washu's analyzers were going off the charts with different readings. Yep, it was time for Washu to add another guinea pig for her experiments. Ranma greeted everyone else and came to Washu. Strange little girl, thought Ranma, she must be a little sister of Ryoko. She sort of reminded Ranma of his female half back in high school, short, pretty, and cuter than a basketful of kittens. "Hi, you're Washu right?" Ranma stuck out his hand for a handshake. "Why yes, please call me Washu-chan!" Washu said in a cutesy voice with her index fingers pointed at her cheeks. "Are you Ryoko's little sister Washu-chan?" asked Ranma. Washu looked over at Kiyone who was behind Ranma, she was furiously nodding her head up and down, signaling Washu to say yes. Washu only smiled, and answered, "Not quite, I'm actually her mom." Kiyone slapped her forehead. "Shut up mom!" yelled Ryoko. "Her mom?! How is that possible? You look no older than 15!" "Well..." Washu transformed into her adult body in front of everyone, and made Ranma's eyes open wide like saucers. "I'm actually just hiding in a child body, but in reality I'm a grown up, voluptuous woman," said Washu in a husky voice. Ranma, however, was just too thickheaded and blind to see that Washu was trying to make a pass on him, and instead he just stared in awe at what just happened. "Ju...Jusenkyo?" "Huh? Jusenkyo? What's that?" asked Washu, she mentally operated her computers and searched for data on Jusenkyo. Meanwhile, Ranma was busy heating up a kettle with a burner that he got out of nowhere. Washu heard a couple of beeps, and information poured into her head in an orderly Washu fashion. "Aha! You were mentioning Jusenkyo Valley, China! A code black location kept secret by the Chinese gov-" Washu was cut off as some hot water cascaded down her head and drenched her completely. Ranma stopped pouring the water on her and stared. No change? Maybe she was in her original form. He hastily emptied the kettle and filled it with cold water from the lake, and splashed Washu with it. Still no change. Ranma sweatdropped. Washu had an annoyed look on her face, she just snapped her fingers and a circular beam of light passed through her and dried her off. "In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not cursed." "........" At that moment Nobuyuki, Katsuhito, and Tenchi were all outside, eager to greet the new guest. "So this is Ranma, Kiyone?" Tenchi asked. Katsuhito took a good look at Ranma, he could sense a strong aura from him, the strongest he'd ever felt from a human being. He makes Tenchi look like a damn weakling in comparison, thought Katsuhito. Maybe he was a martial artist, perhaps he could spar with him later on. Kiyone slumped her shoulders and gave up on trying to keep up her plan, what use would it be now? He already knows something is not right. She might as well tell him the truth and let everyone know about Ranma's curse as well. She got the kettle, which had a little bit of cold water left, and put it over his head. "Alright everyone, I might as well just break this to you right now." Ranma sweatdropped, "Kiyone, what do you think you're doing?" Kiyone just responded by dumping the contents of the kettle, triggering Ranma's curse. Everyone except for Kiyone and Mihoshi's eyes bugged out, where there was a handsome hunk standing at 5'11", there was now a voluptuous, six foot tall supermodel in front of them. Tenchi, Nobuyuki, and Katsuhito certainly noticed, they subconsciously had some drool forming on their chins. While the other Masaki residents were trying to puzzle out what just happened, Washu decided to explain, until she was interrupted herself. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Jusen-" Ryoko cut in before Washu could get any further, "YOU! What's the meaning of this! You're hear to steal Tenchi away from us aren't you!" yelled Ryoko. Ayeka stepped in too, "Yes you hussy, where did you hide Ranma-san? I will not tolerate this!" Both Ayeka and Ryoko were steaming red, the girl was so beautiful, it put both them AND Tsunami to shame. Ranma-chan just laughed her ass off, she knew this was to be expected. This fucking shit always happens, doesn't it, she asked herself. Well, at least it didn't have to do with his fiancée problems, it seemed this Tenchi fellow had his own problems. "Please," Ranma-chan waved her hands, "Let me explain, I am NOT here to steal your man," she stated. This seemed to delay Ryoko and Ayeka just enough for them to listen to what she said. "As I was saying, I'm not really a gir-" "NO, as *I* was saying, before I was rudely interrupted AGAIN," Washu said as she glared at Ryoko, "Jusenkyo is an ancient cursed training ground in southern China, and is a heavily kept top secret area by the Chinese government. However, it is also governed by an adjacent civilization called the Amazons." Ranma's eyes opened wide, while everyone else (except Kiyone and Mihoshi) just wondered in confusion. How the FUCK did she know about Jusenkyo? He better check her out thought Ranma. "And what does that have to do with any of this, Washu-chan?" Tenchi asked, his eyes too busy to look at her because he was mesmerized by Ranma-chan. Tenchi was always surrounded by beautiful woman in his household, he got annoyed by it sometimes, but right now he was staring at a beautiful goddess, and she made all of his raging hormones go into full gear. "Well..." Washu snapped her fingers and a little palm sized thermos popped out from a dimensional pocket. The thermos was unusual, it had a, thin, wide spout and had two buttons on it, red and blue. Washu lifted the thermos above Ranma-chan's head and pressed the red button. A smooth waterfall of warm water poured out of the spout and cascaded down Ranma-chan's head, triggering the transformation. Ranma transformed back into a boy, much larger and bulkier and without the ample chest. "This, is a curse of Jusenkyo, it is a valley filled with supernatural springs, transforming any person who falls into them. Anyone who falls into these pools transform into whatever drowned last in that spring," Washu said. This time Washu pressed the blue button and the thermos poured out cool (not cold) water over Ranma's head, transforming him back into a girl. "Ranma-dono here fell into the Nyannichuan. With cold water he turns into a girl, and with warm water he turns back into his original form," Washu finished, demonstrating the curse by quickly alternating between warm and cool water from the thermos. Everyone watched in amusement as Ranma seemed to Magically morph right in front of them. Katsuhito was amused by this interesting young man, he had a some peculiar traits, sure, but it was nowhere near as strange as the things that happened around the Masaki home. "How did you get this curse boy?" asked Katsuhito. "It's a long story, but I'll try to tell it to you quick..." -------------------- 30 minutes later... "Wow, so that explains why you were afraid of my eyes, I never met anyone who was afraid of cats," said Ryoko. Ranma was petting Ryo-ohki who was perched on his shoulder, she had accidentally spooked Ranma while he was telling everyone about how he got his curse, and he freaked out completely. However, he noticed that Ryo-ohki was a rabbit that had a cat face and a cat's meow, but it was not a cat. "My dad thought that the neko-ken would make me stronger," Ranma replied. "I still can't comprehend how your father sold you for food, and traded you off for his own greed," said Ayeka. "Well, Pop has always been like that, he was trained by a master who taught thievery, and he always thinks with his stomach instead of his brain," replied Ranma. "Would your mom really force you to kill yourself for not being manly?" asked Sasami. "Not really, when she found out I was 'Ranko' she forgave me because I acted manly even as a girl. She was disappointed more at my logic actually, the seppuku pledge was just something to keep my dad from doing stupid things, although even that didn't stop him. My mom told me she would never kill me over something so dumb." "Well you're curse isn't that unusual," said Tenchi. "It may be hard for you to believe, but I believe in magic and unusual stuff like that. I think it's interesting that you have a curse like that." "I'm not exactly crazy over it, but I don't hate it anymore like I used to," Ranma replied. "It's really handy for different police assignments." "So you're a cop eh?" said Nobuyuki. Ranma nodded, "How do you like your job?" "I like it, I never would've thought about becoming a cop back when I was a teenager because it doesn't really suit my personality, but it's actually great. I can do more as a cop than I ever can as a martial artist alone. I can SAVE lives as well as help them," replied Ranma. Kiyone was impressed with Ranma, he was a pretty smooth talker, he managed to get out of trouble from Ryoko and Ayeka without a scratch, and right now he was charming everyone else. Ranma was impressed with himself too, he was never a good talker back when he was a teen, he always put his foot in his mouth whenever he said anything. Ranma looked over at the Masaki residents, this entire time he was getting more and more curious about the aural signatures of everyone here, he decided he should get some answers. "Well, since I've told you people about myself and my peculiarities, would any of you like to explain why none of you are human?" Everyone froze at this comment, even Washu and Katsuhito were caught short with the comment Ranma had made. Katsuhito was the first to respond. "What are you talking about son?" Ranma grinned, "You know what I'm talking about, I can sense your auras, and they're nothing like anything I've felt here on earth. Especially Sasami over there, there's definitely something wrong when someone has two auras at once." Washu interjected before anyone else could try to conjure up a lie, "Yes, you're a clever boy, you figured out that we weren't human when we didn't even tell you." "It wasn't hard, all of you kept giving off clues, obvious ones," Ranma said, "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out, you guys even have a rabbit that looks like a cat, that's proof enough there." Kiyone decided she should be the one to explain everything, since it was her plan to begin with to hide the truth from Ranma. "Alright Ranma, this might take a while, but if you want I'll try to explain everything to you from the beginning." "Ok," Ranma said as he sat down on a picnic bench. "Alright, it all began 20,000 years ago when Washu..." ------------------- 45 minutes later... "Damn!" Saying that Ranma was overwhelmed would be an understatement, he learned more about the universe in the past half hour than his entire time in college. "So a couple months ago you guys just came back from a huge war?!?" "Yes, it wasn't too pleasant, but we won against Kagato again in the end and we all came back to earth because royalty was just too tedious," said Ayeka, chuckling. "What she means is she missed Tenchi so much that she just ran away completely from her duties to be with him, and I joined her!" exclaimed Sasami while laughing. Ranma tried to comprehend everything everyone told him so far, and it was a LOT to swallow. However, it wasn't as strange as it sounded, after all he had his own share of freaky adventures. Kiyone saw Ranma's face twisted in confusion and wonder with all the new info they had given him, she felt a pang of pain inside her heart, it seemed like Ranma wouldn't want anything to do with them after finding out how weird they were. A stupid curse based on magic was nothing compared to alien nations and galactic civil wars. "I guess you're not gonna want to hang around here anymore, now that you know that we're not from this planet," Kiyone said with her head was down. Ranma lifted his eyebrows at Kiyone, he wasn't expecting this. "What makes you think that? I think this is totally cool! I wish I could've been with you people! I've always dreamed of going out to space! I'd kill to have a spaceship!" exclaimed Ranma excitedly. "Wha-what?" Kiyone was caught off guard by Ranma's excitement, her jaw was hanging down, "You're not bothered at all by any of this?!" "Well..." Ranma pondered, "I've had some weird stuff happen to me too, since I didn't tell you every little detail of my life, I'll tell you later. I don't think it's that weird, at least now I know we're not alone in the universe. And, I could use some of your advanced alien technology, especially from Washu, if everything she says is true," said Ranma. "You've had weirder things happen?" asked Kiyone, flabbergasted. "Not weirder, but yeah, just as weird." Like fighting gods and defeating them, or battling princes with illusionary powers and moving islands, thought Ranma. Ranma shook his head in amazement of the universe, so many more advanced people and organisms than on earth, he never could've possibly imagined any of it. Maybe he could use some of that technology. He looked over to the diminutive redhead Washu, she was deceivingly cute and small, but she was the brains of the smartest person in the universe. Maybe he should have a chat with her, Ranma thought. "Excuse me, Washu?" he asked, tapping on her shoulder. Washu stopped talking to Katsuhito and turned around to face Ranma, who had a kind smile on his face. "What is it Ranma-dono?" "I understand that you're the smartest scientific genius in the universe, correct?" Washu nodded, "Is it possible you could help me out by using some of your technology for me?" Washu grinned, "Oh, you mean you would like to use some of my inventions," Ranma nodded happily, "Sure, you can have this for starters," Washu snapped her fingers and a blue thermos popped out from a dimension tunnel and into Ranma's hands. It was the same as the one Washu used on him earlier, except it had Ranma's name on it and was silver, with bigger buttons. "That little thermos has an unlimited supply of water, transported straight from my dimensional lab's storage." Ranma was looking at it very closely, amused that such a small thing never ran out of water. "It pours out clean water, so you can drink out of it too, and it never gets lost, it will always be in one of your pockets if you ever misplace it or lose it." Ranma frowned and stared at the little thermos, "How is that possible?" Washu grabbed it from his hands and chucked it as hard she could over the lake, it splashed and Ranma watched it sink. "Now check any of your pockets Ranma." Ranma cautiously checked his right pocket, and with wide eyes he pulled out his silver thermos. "......" "It automatically transports itself to it's owner!" "Cool," Ranma put it back in his pocket, and then took out his pistols which was hidden in a holster inside of his pants. "Could you possibly do anything to these maybe? Add on some cool tricks to them?" Ranma handed her the guns. Washu looked at them strangely, "I thought Japanese peace officers weren't allowed to carry firearms?" Ranma had his hand behind his head and was chuckling nervously, "Well, I'm supposed to be a special agent, one of six or seven organizations that are allowed to carry guns in Japan." Washu smirked, she observed the guns closely, at the same time accessing info from her computers through her mental link. "Aha! This is a Sig Sauer P226 and a Beretta 92FS! I guess I can do something with these inferior things, you want me to get you Galaxy Police weapons instead?" Washu asked. Ranma looked at her strangely, "No... I think I'll just use these, they're good enough for me, and I'm used to them." "Very well," she looked at the muzzles and noticed something, "These barrels are threaded, did you do that on purpose?" "No," Ranma took out two silencers from his left pocket and handed them to Washu, "They're for the suppressors." Washu threw them in the air where they all went into a dimensional pocket, then they popped out a second later into Ranma's hands, with the silencers attached. "What happened?" asked Ranma. "Well... I added a couple of cool features to it, first off the entire guns remade completely with indestructible parts and smoother mechanisms, also I made then much lighter, the barrels are reconstructed to be dead on accurate for three kilometers, and I designed the springs so that there will be no recoil at all!" Ranma's eyes went wide as he felt how light his pistols were, they were almost half the weight! "But that's not all, the internal lasers are also much brighter too, and they are Galaxy Police issue, meaning they are dead on accurate for 20 kilometers. But best of all, the magazines are linked to my dimensional lab's storage units, so they never run out of ammunition. I can't believe how inferior these things are! The rest of the universe would NEVER use something as cased ammo. By the way, that clip feeds special hollowpoint bullets with a special propellant all invented by me, and they're all top notch." Ranma's jaw had already dropped by the time she was done. Magazines that never run out? Recoilless shooting? What else could there be? "I'm not finished yet though," interjected Washu, she just loved it when people got a kick out of her stuff, everyone else usually took her for granted. Washu grabbed one of the pistols, the Sig Sauer, and pointed it at the lake. "Listen closely," she said, then pulled about five quick rounds at exactly one spot on the lake, perfectly every time. Ranma was impressed with how accurate the Sig was now and was impressed with Washu, but something seemed unusual, but he couldn't point out what it was. "What was so special about that? Except for the unbelievable accuracy?" Washu grinned, "You didn't notice how silent that silencer was?" Washu squeezed off a couple more rounds, and the only noise that could be heard was the clicking of the slide opening and closing. Ranma's jaw fell down twice that day. "What the hell!? That's fu-... I mean that's cool!" shouted Ranma. Washu smiled, such a simple request, these weapons were simply put, old-ass pieces of shit. The science academy had stopped using cased bullets a LONG ago for experiments, this planet was still pioneering them. "If you bring me your other weapons later I'll do the same for them." Ranma had a huge smile on his face full of gratitude, "Thank you Washu-chan!" Ranma started doing his own little victory dance, thinking of the possibilities he could do with invincible guns, it was almost like he was living in a comic book. Katsuhito walked up to Ranma and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, he figured there would be more than enough time to have a little sparring session with Ranma before having the barbecue. Ranma turned around to face Katsuhito, who had a smile on his face. "So you're into martial arts eh?" asked Katsuhito. "Yeah, I've been doing it all my life," replied Ranma. "Well then, how would you like to have a little sparring session with me and Tenchi? We could have it at the training ground, up at the shrine, I'd like to see how good you are." "Sure, I don't see why not," Ranma said, it would be great to have a sparring session with someone instead of beating up criminals. Tenchi smiled. He used to be a shy boy, insecure about his kendo training from his grandpa, he never believed he could be strong enough to take on a challenge from a fellow martial artist. But with the activities from the past year, he had beaten Kagato twice, took on hordes of soldiers, and saved many damsels in distress by himself, and a little help from his Juraian powers. Sparring against this Ranma fellow would be a joke, it would all be over in a few seconds. He wasn't the kind who like to brag, but he was confident enough about himself to take a little challenge. Everyone started heading up the steps to the Masaki shrine, Ranma and Kiyone were a couple meters behind them while everyone else was engaged in a conversation ahead of them. Ranma looked over at Kiyone, he hadn't noticed the outfit she was wearing, she looked more beautiful than Akane ever would, he blushed furiously when Kiyone caught him staring at her. Kiyone blushed too, she was a little disappointed when Ranma didn't notice her at first, but now she was flattered that Ranma had finally noticed her when they were alone. Ranma decided he should give her a compliment, anything to break the silence. "You look very beautiful Kiyone," he said, trying his hardest not to stutter, he still had trouble complimenting girls, after all, it did take him nearly a year to tell Akane that he loved her. Kiyone face turned redder at the comment, "Really? You think so?" she said little giddily, not caring what he would think. "Yeah, I like your outfit, it reminds me of Southern California in the summer." The two started conversing as the ascended the mountain, talking about each others lives and talking about different things they liked. Ranma learned about Kiyone and Mihoshi's home planet, the Galaxy Police, and even some secrets of the universe still undiscovered by humans. "Wow! So There are a total of 800,000 different planets that have civilizations?" Kiyone was enjoying this, it was fun when Tenchi had to learn of how insignificant the earth was compared to the rest of the universe, Ranma was even more fun. And he took it pretty well too, seeing how he had a pretty weird life himself. Kiyone learned more about Ranma's fiancée problems, the adventures he had fighting Ashura, the war god, Kirin of the Seven Lucky Martial Artist Gods, Saffron of Jusendo, and all the other pricks and weirdos he came upon . They all finally reached the shrine training grounds, Katsuhito decided that the plain in front of the shrine would be best for sparring instead of the regular balancing steps. Nobuyuki didn’t join them, he had to leave on a sudden business call and had to head to Tokyo for some kind of architectural disaster. "You two shall spar here," Katsuhito said, pointing out to the plain area in front of the shrine. "The rest of us will sit on the steps and watch you two. Ranma stood in the middle of the ground, waiting for Tenchi. Tenchi was getting two practice bokkens from the tool shed, he threw one at Ranma who caught it, and he readied himself in front of Ranma, drawing the bokken in front of him. "What's this for?" asked Ranma, lifting the bokken. "Don't you know kendo?" asked Tenchi. "I do, but I don't like using weapons, but you can though. I'm not good with them, that's all," Ranma said while laying the stick on the ground. Tenchi shrugged, "Are you sure?" Ranma nodded, "That's fine with me then." "Alright then, first one to get knocked down or gives up loses," Katsuhito said. Ranma and Tenchi faced up against each other, Tenchi had his sword drawn out in front of him like a samurai. Ranma was in a simple combat stance that defended his upper and lower body, his right fist was extended out while his left fist was in front of waist. Katsuhito sat down on the steps of the shrine with everyone else seeing that Ranma and Tenchi were both ready. "Okay, FIGHT!!" As soon as Ranma heard the word "Fight", he jabbed his right fist hard against Tenchi's left cheek, the strike was strong and lightning quick, Tenchi didn't even see it coming as he fell back on the ground, stunned. Ranma just shrugged and brushed off his fist, he didn't notice that everyone on the steps were staring in awe with their jaws dropped and eyes wide. Ryoko and Ayeka were a mix of emotions, they were furious, upset, stunned, and just plain confused. What the hell had just happened? "You!" yelled Ryoko, "How could you knock down Tenchi like that! He's way stronger than you!" "Yes, yes! You must be a demon! You put a spell on him to weaken him you fiend!" yelled Ayeka. Washu tried to calm the two down, while Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Katsuhito were staring at Tenchi in shock. Sasami was looking on in amusement, watching the action as if it was a movie. Kiyone and Mihoshi were impressed, Tenchi was one of the best fighters they knew, even without his lighthawk powers he was still formidable, but Ranma had taken him out like nothing. Katsuhito was confused, Ranma was a lot more skilled and powerful than he let on, perhaps he should spar against him himself. Tenchi recovered from the ground and got up, he wasn't mad or angry, but he was confused as to how that blow went by him like that, his cheek was throbbing and hurting like shit, yet he didn't even see Ranma's fist. "Wow, that was pretty good," said Tenchi, "But let's see you try that again." Tenchi steeled himself up against Tenchi, and got into a more aggressive stance. "Alright, let's dance," said Ranma, he didn't even bother to get into a stance, he just stood there. "Give me your best shot," he taunted. Tenchi's eye twitched, he was getting annoyed, this never happened to him before. He charged full on against Ranma. Ranma saw Tenchi dashing towards him with his bokken high above him, ready to strike, Ranma did nothing, his hands were behind his back. Tenchi swung hard and quick down against Ranma who dodged, Tenchi made a flurry of quick jabs and swings against Ranma, who was avoiding them all liquid smooth, like water forming itself into whatever it's contained in. Ranma ducked his head, and smoothly flipped backwards while Tenchi was still trying to hit him, "You know, a weapon restricts a martial artist from utilizing his full body motions and strengths, it is a major flaw in that a person who relies on their weapon is helpless when they don't have it," Ranma said. Tenchi, was mad, and that almost never happened. This guy was good, he was avoiding and countering around his attacks so easily and effortlessly. He was having trouble keeping up with him. Ranma decided he had enough fun jerking around Tenchi, when Tenchi swung high and missed Ranma dropped down and did a twisting swing kick at the bokken with one leg and hitting Tenchi's torso with the other leg, sending the bokken flying in the air and Tenchi tumbling on the ground, clutching his stomach. Ranma caught the bokken in the air, and jumped over to Tenchi who got up from the ground, recovering. He handed it over to Tenchi, who weakly grabbed it while one arm was clutched around his stomach. Ryoko and Ayeka were struggling in gags and ropes, they were restrained by Washu so that Ranma could have a fair fight with Tenchi. But it looked like Tenchi didn't stand a chance in hell after getting his ass kicked by Ranma right now. Ranma helped Tenchi over to the steps so he could sit down. Tenchi wasn't hurt at all, he was just in a lot of pain, both in his stomach, cheek, and pride. Tenchi had taken on some of the most dangerous criminals in the universe, and Ranma took him out like yesterday's trash. He was no match. Ranma gave Tenchi an honest smile, "You're pretty good, you still have a long life ahead of you so still have lots of time to get better," Ranma said. Tenchi gave him a weak but honest smile, Ranma had said those words without mockery or arrogance. "Maybe if you try hard for the rest of your life, you can be half as good as me," Ranma said, jokingly. Ryoko and Ayeka continued to struggle, Kiyone, Mihoshi, Washu , and Tenchi laughed playfully, and Katsuhito got up to walk towards Ranma. "Ranma my boy, I'm impressed with your skill, you took Tenchi out like fly with a swatter," Katsuhito said, sneaking a look at Tenchi who was laughing and sweatdropping. "Oh, don't worry about it, he has great skill and potential, he just needs to learn how to fight without weapons. It will limit his range of moves," Ranma replied. "Perhaps you would like to spar with me, what do you say?" Ranma nodded, "Then it's settled, this will be an all out, no holds, winner takes all fight. Anything goes," Katsuhito said. "Give me your best shot, boy!" Tenchi grinned when he saw his grandpa charging against Ranma in his Juraian unarmed combat form. Ranma would be no match against him in unarmed combat. What happened however, created a deafening silence in the entire forest. As soon as Katsuhito had reached Ranma, Ranma executed a blinding sweep kick tripping Katsuhito, then Ranma punched lightning fast against his body in midair, his arms were a blur to everyone else, and the only thing they heard was the furious yell of "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken". Katsuhito fell flat on the floor on his face, stunned and immobile, he couldn't move anything, he was completely paralyzed. All he felt was the burning pain of being hit hundreds of times all over his body, and the shame of losing to someone so young. "Grandpa! What happened?!" yelled Tenchi, he darted over to his grandpa's fallen form and flipped him over, he checked for injuries or any signs of blood, but there was none, and his grandpa was still breathing. Ranma walked over to Tenchi and Katsuhito, "Here, I'll fix him," Ranma poked a couple of pressure points on Katsuhito's chest and neck, "There, he should be better know, his paralysis is gone." Katsuhito popped right back up, bewildered and shaky, but otherwise fine. He was still sore, but nothing was hurt, except his pride. He looked over to Ranma, who had a small smile on his face. "So, you wanna go for another round, old man?" asked Ranma. Katsuhito debated with himself, the boy was DAMN good with his own strength, he wasn't even trying. He would be no match against Ryoko or Tenchi and himself with the lighthawk powers, but with raw skill and talent, the buy supplied ass whooping in extra large doses. Even in his younger days as Yosho he would be no match. "I think I'll decline, it's hard for me to admit this, but... you are far better than I'll ever be, or Tenchi ever will be..." Katsuhito chuckled as he saw one of Tenchi's eyes twitching. "Perhaps we can learn unarmed combat from you." Ranma laughed with a hand behind his head, "Well, I didn't get to see your fighting technique because you asked me to win the fight as fast as possible, but what Tenchi really needs to learn is to fight without that bokken. That's his only crutch." Tenchi sighed, the guy was a little arrogant, but he had the muscle and talent to back his words up, and he wasn't mean, he had kindly offered advice to help him out, and he didn't hurt anybody either. "I guess I'll have to train harder," Tenchi thought. Meanwhile over on the steps, everyone, including Washu, were absolutely speechless, they were dazzled, and they were amazed. Even Ryoko and Ayeka had stopped struggling, and even under their gags one could see that their mouths were hanging wide open to accompany their wide eyes. Sasami just clapped her hands and laughed in amusement next to Ryo-ohki, who was chomping down a carrot like nothing had happened. Washu was speechless, but her mind was going through a tornado of excitement and anticipation. Ranma was a gift from the gods! Imagine the experiments he could participate in! Maybe she could pattern out his martial arts style and sell it to anxious martial artists around the world! The possibilities were limitless, and it was looking good in the name of science. On another step, Kiyone was staring dreamily at Ranma as he took off his shirt to reveal a black tank top and showed off some simple katas and moves to Tenchi and Katsuhito. The guy wasn't just cute and charming, he was a damn hunk! She could see how cut and defined Ranma's muscles were as the bulged and moved around as he gracefully performed a kata. Sasami looked at the watch on Mihoshi's wrist, it was nearly noon already. Time to start eating and preparing. "Okay everyone, lets stop for today! It's time to start barbecuing!" said Sasami cheerfully. "Yeah!" whooped Ranma while rubbing his stomach, "I was getting hungry! Lets eat!" Ranma jumped over next to Kiyone and followed everyone else as they walked down the mountain to the Masaki Lake, chatting with each other. ---------------------- 7 hours later, 7:30 PM "Whoo! I'm stuffed! Thanks for the great meal Sasami!" said Ranma while happily laying back on the cool, green grass, next to Kiyone's lying body. "Thanks! It's amazing that you ate more than Mihoshi and almost as much as Ryoko! Although she's still going strong. I can't believe you guys are still eating that much after seven hours!" chirped Sasami. She was throwing all the dishes and equipment into a dimension hole that Washu had opened up, she liked washing the dishes and doing household chores, but on days like this Sasami wanting to kick back too. Ryoko was next to Tenchi trying to encourage him to get drunk, Tenchi drank since he was 18 now, but he drank in moderation. Ayeka was next to him too, she was full blown drunk, wobbling and slurring words, she was clumsily scolding Ryoko for being such a ruffian. Mihoshi was just dancing around them, her face red and her mouth around a bottle of tequila. She was laughing to herself maniacally, and saying gibberish. Katsuhito and Washu were talking amongst themselves, probably about Ranma. Ranma and Kiyone were perfectly content watching the sunset with each other in comfortable silence, they had both drank too, but not much. The entire afternoon was spent eating and playing games. Karaoke was an interesting event, Ranma had refused to sing as a guy, but he sang as girl, pretty well too. "Maybe we should do this again, do you think?" asked Ranma, too happy and content to blush or stutter. Kiyone smiled, and her heartbeat quickened, "Yeah, I like being with you. The fun never seems to end when you're around." Both of them laughed, they did have a lot of fun together. Ranma hadn't had this much fun since his senior year in high school with Akane. Ranma looked over to Kiyone, her green, teal hair contrasted beautifully with the green grass, the red sunset, and her lovely skin. She looked like a goddess, her long silky legs, slim waist, and large bust made her look like a supermodel straight out of heaven. He got up and brushed himself, he looked at his watch, it was getting a little late, and he hadn't planned to stay for so long. He had to stop by Ucchan's new restaurant and help her set up. "I guess it's time for me to leave," he said to Kiyone. "Kiyone lifted her head up to see Ranma smiling down at her, "Already? It's a Saturday night! You can stay longer," she said, too happy herself to blush or think twice of what she was saying. Ranma smiled, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting to stay this late, I promised to go help my friend set up her restaurant." "Oh, you're best friend Ukyo?" Nodding, "That's right. She has a grand opening of her restaurant tomorrow, you can come if you'd like." "Sure! I'd love it. I'm sure Mihoshi would love to try out some okonomiyaki, she loves 'em." "Just give me a call," said Ranma, walking over to his truck. Kiyone followed him so that she could say goodbye, and maybe give him a hug. "Wait!!" shouted Washu, running over to the two. "Before you leave, we need to take a picture of you two!" "Huh?" replied Ranma and Kiyone simultaneously. "Just look like a couple for crying out loud," pouted Washu, she took out a large camera with a big wide lens on it. Ranma and Kiyone stood next to each other, smiling, right in front of the beautiful sunset and the lake behind them. Washu took a picture, creating a bright flash and a laser zap, the camera printed out two sets of pictures, one for a wallet and one for a picture frame. "There! Computer enhanced especially by my special camera!" piped Washu, she handed Ranma and Kiyone their own sets. The pictures were perfect, without any glare, and perfect color and background. "Thanks Washu! I love them!" Kiyone said. "Arigato Washu-chan," said Ranma, "And thanks for modding all my guns and my truck." Ranma's Chevy looked the same as before, but Washu had instantly reconstructed it completely from scratch, now the car was somehow indestructible to any inferior earthling weapons, and the car would never ever run out of gas. Ranma liked Washu, she had a knack for making useful things. It was unfortunate for everyone else though, those who knew the terror that Washu could create. Tenchi and Katsuhito walked over to Ranma, along with a stumbling Ayeka and Mihoshi and a zig zagging Ryoko. “So you’re gonna leave?” asked Tenchi. “Yeah, I have to go to a friend’s restaurant and help her set up.” “Be shl-ure to come agi-i-n,” slurred Ayeka, she was really making a fool of herself for a polite princess. She had to learn to decline drinking challenges from Ryoko. “Yeah, sure...” Ranma said, backing away from Ayeka. “We’d love it if you came back, besides, I need to learn a thing or two from you,” said Tenchi, he stuck his hand out for a handshake. “I guess I’ll see you later too, and I’ll come back often,” Ranma grabbed Tenchi’s hand and gave him a good, solid, friendly handshake. Washu gave him a big smile, and made an abstract promise with him quietly, he agreed to participate in a couple of simple experiments for her, although he didn’t ask why. The Masaki gang said their byes, Tenchi was dragged off by Mihoshi, Ayeka, and a floating Ryoko, Washu walked back to the house with them with Katsuhito on her side, leaving Ranma alone with Kiyone. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kiyone said, looking into his eyes. “I guess so, I’ll be looking forward to it,” he was looking into her eyes too. Maybe he might give me a kiss, but that would be so weird on a first date, or get together, or whatever the hell this is, thought Kiyone. However, Ranma just smiled, he gently took Kiyone’s right hand and gave her a kiss on the top of the hand. The two blushed, and smiled, and Ranma got into the SUV. “See you tomorrow!” he said, a huge smile painted in his face. Ranma started up the Chevy, pulled out, and drove off, waving at Kiyone who was standing still with a smile on her face, waving back. “I can’t wait!” she whispered to herself, she couldn’t contain her overwhelming joy, she ran back to the house to join the others for another round of karaoke. * * * April 17th , 2001. Akane & Ryoga's Room, Tendo Home - Nerima, Japan. 8:46 PM "I can't believe how fast your arm healed after Ranma broke it, Ryo-chan." Ryoga's face twisted in anger, he still couldn't believe how easily Ranma took him out. "As soon as I find that bastard, I'm gonna beat him to a bloody pulp!" hissed Ryoga. Akane sighed, "I'm not sure about that Ryo-chan, Ranma was always better than you, and since he's gone off to the U.S. and come back, he's been training harder than ever, while you've gone lax," she gave Ryoga a kiss on the cheek. "Hmph. I'll show him, I'll just condition myself better! I swear I will!" Ryoga declared with his fist in the air in a dramatic pose. Akane was worried, she was hoping maybe she and Ranma could settle their differences, but Shampoo, Ryoga, Kuno, and everyone else had sort of pushed him to be violent. Deep inside, she knew she couldn't blame him, he could only blame herself and Ryoga, the humiliation and pain he must have felt must have driven him to the edge. But Akane never imagined that he'd change that much, Ranma was almost like a different person now, yet he was still the same as before. He was more arrogant than ever, but he was more mature as well, wiser, and an aura that seemed to distinguish itself without any introduction. It was like he wasn't the Ranma she knew. The door popped open in that moment with Nabiki in a stylish trench coat, on Saturdays Nabiki always visited home to stay with her family, it was a break from her job as a chief accountant with a huge corporation somewhere in Tokyo. She never really talked about her job, it was mostly kept out of topic. "Hey sis, guess what I found," said Nabiki, she had a big catlike smile on her face, the kind she wore when she found something she liked. "What is it oneechan?" Nabiki opened up her female business briefcase and pulled out a thick jacket folder and a couple of videotapes. The jacket had big red letters printed on it, Akane knew enough English to read what it said... [EYES ONLY! >TOP SECRET MATERIAL ENCLOSED<] Ryoga and Akane's eyes went very wide when they saw who's name was attached to it. Nabiki only grinned, "I found out all the dirty little details of the past five years of Ranma's life." [End Chapter 3] Disclaimer Bullshit: HA! If you think I’m gonna give you money for writing a lousy fuckin’ fan fic’, you can kiss my ass! HA! *Ranma, Tenchi, Sig Sauer and Chevy belong to their own, greedy-ass bigwig corporations. Author’s Ramble: I’m finally finished! This fucking fic took me nearly 4 weeks to finish! I was thinking of cutting short, but I wanted to have all the cool details of Ranma’s visit to the Masaki place. Author’s Notes: The intro may seem abstract and seem like a time wasting event, it is actually a crucial foreshadowing of what’s going to happen to Ranma in the next couple of weeks of his life. If you would like a hint of what’s going to happen, try watching the movie Lethal Weapon (the first one), then you’ll have a good idea of what’s gonna happen with that drug bust. As for the unusual scene where Washu gives Ranma that cool little thermos and those modified weapons, those parts are also crucial too for what I’m gonna write about in future chapters. Can you imagine what a person can do with automatic rifles that make almost no sound? How about a car that is indestructible (to earth’s inferior weapons ^_^ )? The criminals in Japan are gonna be in for a shock. The thermos is something I thought of to make Ranma’s curse more practical for him, and the fact that he can never lose it helps too. You can probably guess what a portion of the next chapter is gonna be about, but I’ll have something interesting I want to put in. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SEND ME FEEDBACK!!! I write way faster when people give me feedback! My e-mail is SgtRanma@yahoo.com Visit my website at http://sgtranma.webjump.com, or go to http://sgtranma.webjump.com/guns.html to take a look at some of the weapons Ranma uses in Officer Saotome. I always update there often, and fics always come there first.