INTRODUCTION Let me tell you a story. Yes, I know that this is the exact same way that I started off "Together Again: 2937 Chapter" a few months ago. And for all I know, it will be the way I start "Together Again: Silver Millenium Chapter" a few months from now. I hope not ... because this is going to be a weird little story about a weird little event. Quite recently, a young author -- the same young author as before -- had almost finished the first part of his latest epic. There remained only one last scene to write, and what was going to happen in it was clear in my mind. And so, pleased with himself, the young author decided to go and enjoy a little recreation. It so happened that the young author had not been inside a bookstore recently, so he decided to go and look at the new books. He was mildly interested to see that an author whose early works he had enjoyed had released a new novel, and so, picking it up, examined it to see what it was about. "A Novel of Good and Evil", read the small writing above the title. He examined the final chapter. "Tuesday, July 5", stated the bold letters on the page. A small tremor ran up his spine. He casually leafed to the front of the book. "Friday, July 1" was the date given for the beginning of the first part. The author stood in the bookstore for a long moment, holding the book. With a faint heart, he checked the jacket. The word "demon" leaped out, screaming. The author's smile was fixed as he marched to the counter, and purchased the book. He had somehow spent two months working on a story which a New York Times Best Selling Author had already written. "Bet you wish I'd spoken up sooner," said the malevolent voice of his muse. "Sir, please don't talk to yourself out loud," said the check out girl. Okay, okay, the last part didn't happen. But I did discover, just as I was putting this one to bed, that Terry Brooks had released "Running With The Demon", a novel of contemporary dark fantasy, which takes place over the course of five days -- just like this story will -- involving a fundamental conflict between good and evil -- just like this story will -- and a demon and a supernaturally invested champion of good -- do I need to say it again? It's more than likely that Terry Brooks has been working on his story for a long while, and so the fact that our themes intersect is one of those annoying coincidences that give writers their shortened life expectancy. Ah well. In any event, Brooks' plot owes most of its inspiration to Steven King -- particularly his "Dark Tower" cycle and "Needful Things" -- and to the first "Tales from Crypt" movie; whereas I am drawing for inspiration on ... other things, among them John Milton's "Paradise Lost", which I failed to cite in my first and only trailer for the story. Once more, while the five big series, this time combined with a number of characters of my own invention, will be the focus of most of the story, others will feature as well. If someone seems familiar, he or she probably is. In any event, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my world. C(hristopher) Richard Davies, September 14, 1996. (Early again. This is getting to be a habit.) An Inevitable Outcome Feature Written and Directed by C. Richard Davies TOGETHER AGAIN 1996 Chapter Based on the works of Naoko Takeuchi, Rumiko Takahashi, Kosuke Fujishima, Matsumoto Izumi, Masaki Kajishima, and various interpretations therof. Incorporating original characters created by C. Richard Davies Dedicated to John Biles, Frank Herriot, and Larry Mann. ACT ONE Establishing Shot: Nerima at high noon. The sun is shining brightly, and the whole neighborhood seems almost polarized into light and darkness, as if to create a black and white image. As we move closer, we see little bits of colour, but until we approach the Tendou dojo, with its walls and garden, it still seems fairly bleached. As we draw even nearer, we hear voices uttering low battle cries. Finally, we enter the doors of the Tendou home, moving slowly, listening to the battle cries grow louder as we approach the training hall proper. Inside the training hall, TENDOU SOUUN is watching as his latest class of pupils works through the beginning exercises of the Musabetsu Kakuto style. The students are a mixed lot, as one might expect -- they range from teenagers to men in their early middle ages. Most seem to be in better than average shape, though not remarkably so. They are all dressed in white gi. >From the rear, we see a young man, also dressed in white gi, with a pony-tail, advising a number of the students on their exercises. He gestures cleanly and forcefully as he does so. In the distance, the phone rings. SOUUN looks up as he hears the noise. He starts to count on his fingers. He starts out with seven, drops two immediately, slowly lowers two others, and then stares at the three fingers he has left. He looks at the young man, looks down at his hand again ... and then a look of great realization crosses his face. SOUUN Ah! Kasumi has gone shopping! SOUUN pushes himself to his feet, and starts to rush off out of the dojo. We see the young man -- who is beyond any doubt, SAOTOME RANMA, though slightly more mature than he was at the end of his story -- look over his shoulder and roll his eyes. We see SOUUN arrive at the telephone, which has been ringing constantly over this, place his hand over the reciever, cough into his fist, and pick up the phone. SOUUN Moshi moshi. Tendou no dojou. SOUUN seems startled to hear whatever he hears on the other end of the line, and his mouth spreads in a large smile as he does. AKANE (V.O.) It all started when my father got a phone call from -- no, wait a minute. The scene freezes in the middle of SOUUN's exclamation. AKANE (V.O.) Strictly speaking, it didn't begin there. I could say that it began nearly two decades before that, when the man my father had been speaking to had first met our family. Or a decade before *that*, when he first came to Japan; or three decades before that, when ... and so on, back to the very first moment. But to be even a little bit accurate, it had begun a few hours before that. Cut to a city street in chaos. Fires are burning, sirens are screaming, so are people. The side of a building explodes, and a man -- shaved bald, wearing bulky black armor, with an eyepatch targeting device over one eye, carrying a huge bazooka-like device -- laughs madly at the carnage he's causing, as do his several colleagues, each cast from a similar mold. The man looks for another target ... and then freezes, visibly paling as he looks down the street. He anxiously gestures for his colleagues to look where he's looking, and they all react with intense fear. Down the street, a man (early thirties?) is standing against the rising sun. His hair is a dark black, his skin tanned. He stands above average height, and his black trenchcoat hides the details of his slender yet muscular build. He wears glasses. We close in on his eyes for a moment -- they are gray, with strange flecks of gold in the iris. He reaches up with his gloved left hand to remove the glasses, flicking the frame shut as he pulls them away. He deliberately assumes a martial arts stance. KENT You're under arrest. For a second, nothing happens ... then, roaring, the criminals charge towards him ... And KENT wakes up. He blinks as he lies in bed, staring at the clock on his bedside table, the red numbers "0628" illuminating his glasses. KENT sits up in bed, his shirt and boxers showing off both his *very* muscular arms and legs, and the large number of scars from old injuries on his limbs and chest. He picks up his glasses, puts them on, and gets out of bed. We see him, wearing a red robe and slippers, wandering down a darkened corridor towards a lit room, which has the look of a kitchenette -- a sink, stove, refrierator and cupboards. A man (ANDREW DELAFONTAINE, early fifties?), with a bushy moustache, mostly bald with wisps of hair on the sides of his head, wearing blue mechanic's coveralls, is sitting at a table in the room. He does a crossword puzzle in pen while taking occasional drinks from a cup of coffee. He looks up at KENT as he enters the room. ANDREW speaks in a New Yorker accent that screams "fake". ANDREW Mornin'. Coffee? KENT shakes his head, and walks to the refrigerator, opening it up to take out a carton of orange juice, and getting a glass out of one of the cupboards at the same time. ANDREW shakes his head, and tsks. ANDREW That stuff'll kill you. KENT pauses, sets down the cup, opens the carton, and drinks directly from the carton. ANDREW watches. KENT finishes the carton, sets it down, and comes to sit/slump at the table. ANDREW folds up his copy of the New York Times. ANDREW That bad, huh? What was it, Sheila? KENT shakes his head. ANDREW Theresa? KENT shakes his head. KENT The one where I'm a supercop. ANDREW An' I still say that ain't that different from what we do. KENT And I still say it is. So what's on the agenda for today? ANDREW Nothin' planned, but the Austrians been askin' us to do somethin' about the dragons in their -- KENT Unless they produce some evidence the the tatzelwurmen are of xeno- or magical origin, we do nothing. Same with the kraken in the Baltic ... on the other hand, it might do to examine that a little more closely, if there seems to be an increase in cult business there. KENT falls silent, and ANDREW just stares at him. ANDREW Nobody should remember all that. You need a vacation. KENT Secret Masters of the World don't take vacations. I'd like a few days off, but -- ANDREW Who's gonna tell you no? KENT What if something happens and I'm -- ANDREW Welcome to the era of global communications! If you are on the planet Earth, there's nowhere we can't get in touch with you! KENT And how long will it take to -- ANDREW Welcome to the era of having more cutting edge vehicles than the US Air Force! KENT appears to consider the idea for a moment, lost in thought. ANDREW drinks the last of his coffee. KENT All right. ANDREW Seriously? KENT If I recall correctly, there's nothing coming up in the next few days -- ANDREW Great! We can head up to Alaska, get some fishing done -- KENT continues as though he hadn't been interrupted. KENT -- that my duly designated second in command can't handle. ANDREW gapes. KENT smiles thinly. ANDREW Dirty pool! KENT It was your idea. And until -- and unless -- McGovern comes back, you're the only operator on staff with the experience to handle it all. ANDREW Awww, shit. KENT stands up, and stretches, seeming somehow more vital and energetic now that he's made his decision. KENT Guess I'd better get packed. ANDREW So where you goin'? KENT Back to Japan, I think. Maybe I'll pop in on my old teacher. I think a week should be enough, and we have to address the UN Security Council Monday after next anyway, so ... ANDREW Right. I'll keep things on an even keel here. KENT starts to walk out of the room. ANDREW Give my regards to Lum. KENT Ha ha. If I meet *any* aliens over there, they had best keep the hell out of my way. KENT exits. He walks down the hallway, with decidedly more spring in his step. NINIANE (O.S.) Running away? KENT pauses, and turns to look back the way he came. NINIANE is a tall woman (late twenties?) with very light (almost white) blonde hair to her waist and deep blue eyes. Her expression is hard and unfriendly. She wears a white shawl over a grey sweater, a tan skirt that extends to her ankles, and red shoes. Her face is noticeably barren of makeup and jewelry. KENT I don't see why taking a vacation is considering running away. NINIANE You are once more trying to avoid your destiny -- KENT -- which you refuse to tell me anything about, Niniane. NINIANE Why should I explain that which you seek so avidly to avoid? KENT Got me there. He starts walking away. NINIANE I did a divination about you. KENT pauses. KENT And? NINIANE Do you want to know the results? KENT I can tell that you're just burning to tell me, so yes. NINIANE "Three will go in. Two will come out." KENT turns to look at her. KENT I see. You realize, of course, that this is one of those prophecies that is doomed to be remembered only after it's too late to do anything about it? NINIANE Yes. But I felt obligated to report it all the same, even if you will ignore it. KENT Ah yes. Doubtless it's your destiny to report useless prophecies to those who won't listen -- in which case, of course, you mustn't run from it. After all it's fate. KENT turns and walks down the corridor, turning a corner as he does. NINIANE follows him with an impassive expression. NINIANE I daresay he thinks he won that little exchange. How cute. NINIANE turns and walks down the corridor to the kitchenette. A young woman (PATRICIA DELAFONTAINE, late teens?) steps out of one of the other rooms (which we can distantly see is a bathroom). She has short red-auburn hair and amber eyes, and is wearing a short bathrobe over pyjamas. She nervously looks down the corridor the way KENT went. PATRICIA Running away? She starts down the corridor after him. KENT, now dressed in casual clothes -- a black vest over a white shirt and blue jeans -- and carrying a suitcase in one hand and a brown leather jacket slung over his shoulder, walks up a staircase. PATRICIA appears at the bottom. PATRICIA Kent? A look of annoyance mixed with something else -- longing, perhaps? -- crosses KENT's face. He doesn't stop. PATRICIA continues to follow him. PATRICIA Kent, I need to talk to you. KENT So talk. PATRICIA Look, I know that you're upset about my practice scores, but -- KENT Then you know more than I do. PATRICIA pauses. PATRICIA You're not upset about my practice scores? KENT I didn't say that. PATRICIA Then -- KENT Right now, Patricia, I don't *care* about your practice scores. I am on vacation. They arrive at the top of the staircase, and KENT taps in a security code at the door. It opens into a huge parking garage/hangar bay -- filled with various high tech vehicles: cars that look like they belong in a science fiction movie, black helicopters, a flying saucer (a closer look will reveal it to be the Avro Arrow), vehicles from Supermarionation shows G.I. Joe gear; and not far away, a Chrysler Cordoba. A young man (perhaps 13) with purply-black hair and a bored expression is dusting the windshield. He looks up as KENT and PATRICIA approach. PATRICIA Vacation? Where are you going? KENT Japan. I'll be back in a few days. He takes a look at the Cordoba. KENT Looks good, Mr. Stengovitch. STENGOVITCH Thank you sir. KENT pops open the trunk, and goes to slide his suitcase in. PATRICIA Um, so you'll be back in a week? KENT That *is* what I said. PATRICIA Right. Uh, there's something we need to talk about. KENT Go ahead. Talk. KENT closes the trunk. PATRICIA Well, it's kind of hard to talk abo-- uh, to you when you won't stand still. KENT comes to a dead stop and turns to look at PATRICIA with an incurious expression. KENT I'm waiting. PATRICIA Uh ... well ... we haven't had a lot of time to talk about what happened on -- KENT I should not have had sex with you whem we were on Dr. Michel Andro's island headquarters three weeks ago. STENGOVITCH stops pretending to pack up his vehicle cleaning kit while eavesdropping on their conversation and just plain listens in. PATRICIA blinks, a shocked expression on her face. PATRICIA ... had ... sex? KENT That is what you were trying to avoid talking about directly, is it not? PATRICIA Uh. Well. I ... wouldn't have put like ... that. I would have said when we ... KENT Boinked? PATRICIA is blushing ferociously. PATRICIA Um, no ... KENT Screwed? F-- PATRICIA Made love! KENT's face is expressionless as he tosses his jacket in the car. KENT We didn't do that. PATRICIA Kent, I really want to talk about our relationship, but you're -- KENT Our relationship is extraordinarily simple. I am the Commanding Officer of the Planetary Defense Force; you are one of my agents. The fact that we have had sexual intercourse complicates matters. I am doing my best to pretend it never happened; I suggest that you do the same. KENT slides into the car's driver seat. PATRICIA I can't pretend it never happened! I *wanted* -- KENT turns to look at her with an annoyed, disdainful expression. KENT Don't be ridiculous. You aren't in love with me, and I'm certainly not in love with you. So just give up on those silly, pointless romantic dreams you've been having about me since you got here; they aren't going to happen. Stop being such a child, for God's sake. PATRICIA reacts as if she's been slapped a few dozen times. KENT stares up at her with a disgusted look on his face, then slams the car door shut, and starts the engine. He drives towards an upward leading ramp as PATRICIA stands at watches, her mouth half open. As he disappears out of sight, she appears to find her voice. PATRICIA OH YEAH?! OH YEAH?! KENT, YOU ... ... YOU ... BIG MEANIE! PATRICIA abruptly notices that STENGOVITCH is staring up at her with a fascinated expression, and realizes that she's still in her pyjamas. She flushes. PATRICIA So I don't have a snappy comeback. Sue me. She marches off towards the exit. STENGOVITCH smiles, and keeps packing his gear. We see KENT driving up a steep inclined tunnel, a look of intense self-loathing on his face. He presses a button on the dashboard. We see a flat, deserted landscape, late at night. A section of the ground pulls away to reveal the end of the tunnel, just as the Cordoba emerges from the darkness. The Cordoba drives onto a public right of way, and heads down the road. It approaches a chain fence with a single gate, patroled on both sides by armed security guards, one of whom waves it to a stop. KENT slows down to a crawl, holding up to the window an unusual badge whose principal element is a pyramid with an eye at the top. The security guard blanches, almost saluting, and waves KENT through the gate. KENT drives past a sign which reads WARNING RESTRICTED AREA USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED KENT drives. AKANE (V.O.) It's strange to think about Kent Masefield, because in a way I feel that I know him as well as I know myself, but in another way I realize that I never knew him at all, and that I never will. He drove all night through the desert of Nevada, until he came at last to Las Vegas. Making arrangements for his trip to Japan took a few hours, but he was finally booked for a flight that would arrive in Tokyo International around eleven A.M. When the rising sun finally dawned over Japan, he was on his way. That morning, I was getting packed to head home for a brief visit with my family. I was looking forward to seeing my sisters and ... well, I wanted to see Ranma again, too. But the way that I started my day was fairly boring. Cut to a shot of KASUGA KYOUSUKE brushing his teeth while looking in the mirror. He bends down and (out of shot) spits out the toothpaste. In the bedroom of their hotel room, AYUKAWA MADOKA is buttoning up her shirt and looking at herself in the mirror. MADOKA So what was the dream about, anyway? KYOUSUKE starts to shave with an electric razor. KYOUSUKE Well, I'm never really know what my dreams are about until after they've come true ... and every time I make a guess, I wind up getting egg all over my face ... like that time I saw you acting submissive in a bunny suit. MADOKA pauses as she brushes some lint off her short skirt. She directs an *extremely* unpleasant look towards the open washroom door. KYOUSUKE comes out of the door, still shaving, and stares at her uncomprehendingly. KYOUSUKE Is something wr-- He pauses, and the hand that moves the razor is momentarily stilled. KYOUSUKE I never told you about that, did I? MADOKA Good guess. KYOUSUKE I intended to. Really I did. I had this marvellous image in my head of us laughing our heads off over it. Of course, we were both into our twilight years in my image -- MADOKA's lips turn up in a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. MADOKA Cute. Now, what did you see in your dream, *this* time? KYOUSUKE relaxes. KYOUSUKE I saw a little man dancing around on a hill. He reminded me of that one character on that show -- uh, "Many Mountains"? MADOKA Twin Peaks? KYOUSUKE And then I heard a great booming female voice say "Three will go in, two will come out." MADOKA Did it sound like my voice? KYOUSUKE Nooo ... not like any woman that I've ever met. But then the darkness above the dancing man grew very dark, and a great male voice cried out. KYOUSUKE is silent. MADOKA Cried out what? KYOUSUKE "Get your butt down here or you and your family are on CNN." MADOKA CNN? KYOUSUKE I just have them, I don't make them up. MADOKA looks dubious. Cut to a shot of the Masaki household, looking peaceful. There is a sudden crashing noise from the kitchen. Cut to a shot of SASAMI sitting on the floor of the kitchen, quietly crying into her hands, as she sits in front of a pile of shattered dishes. TENCHI enters the kitchen at a run, and blinks in shock at what he sees. TENCHI Sasami-chan?!? SASAMI looks up with a humiliated and exhausted expression. SASAMI I'm sorry, Tenchi-niichan. I broke the dishes. TENCHI bends down to speak to her eye to eye, a gentle, worried expression on his face. TENCHI Hey, it's all right. It was an accident, right? It's not your fault. SASAMI nods, not looking directly at TENCHI. TENCHI Sasami-chan, is something wrong? You've been looking awfully tired recently. SASAMI Well ... AYEKA comes into the kitchen, looking curious. She's startled to see SASAMI on the floor. AYEKA Sasami-chan? What happened? SASAMI doesn't look at her older sister. SASAMI Oneechan, I ... I broke all of Nobuyuki-ojichan's dishes ... TENCHI Sasami-chan, it's not that bad, we've still got plenty of other dishes. AYEKA Were you hurt? SASAMI shakes her head. TENCHI I'll clean this up, Sasami-chan, you go take a rest. SASAMI But I made the mess, and -- TENCHI It's okay! It's not such a big mess. SASAMI nods sadly, and gets up. She walks to the door, followed closely by AYEKA, who pauses to look over her shoulder as TENCHI starts to pick up the pieces of the dishes. He notices. TENCHI Ayeka-san, could you look after Sasami-chan? She seems a little tired today ... AYEKA Certainly, Tenchi-sama. He smiles at her, and goes back to work. AYEKA spends a few more seconds looking longingly at him, then turns to follow SASAMI into the living room. In the living room, SASAMI has plopped down on the couch, looking depressed. Above, RYOUKO has curled up in her usual spot to take a catnap. AYEKA comes into the room with a serious expression. AYEKA All right, Sasami, what happened? SASAMI Oneechan, I -- AYEKA I've seen you carry larger loads of dishes than that without trouble. But you look terribly exhausted. Tenchi said -- RYOUKO's right eye pops open. SASAMI looks shocked. SASAMI Oh no! I ... Oneechan, promise! AYEKA Promise what? SASAMI I don't want to worry Tenchi-niichan with my problems ... promise me that you won't tell him about them! AYEKA Well ... SASAMI Promise! AYEKA All right, I promise that I won't tell him ... SASAMI holds up the little finger of her right hand. SASAMI Pinky swear! AYEKA stares at her, baffled. AYEKA Whaaat? SASAMI I read about this in Nobuyuki- ojichan's manga -- people who swear an oath by linking their pinkies have to keep it, or else. AYEKA Or else what? SASAMI The one who didn't break the oath can stick red hot needles in the oathbreaker's eyes. AYEKA Sasami! SASAMI lowers her hand. SASAMI All right. I've been having trouble sleeping. AYEKA Why? SASAMI Well ... I've been reading one of Noboyuki-ojichan's manga. AYEKA The one with the red hot needles? SASAMI Oh, no. That's a nice one. This is one about these two secret agents who go around finding out monsters. It's kind of ... creepy. AYEKA What is this manga? SASAMI It's called, "The X-Files". And ... well, I've been ... having night- mares about it ... I wake up in the middle of the night, and I'm too scared to go back to sleep. AYEKA Oh, Sasami ... why didn't you wake me up? I would have helped you ... SASAMI Well, you were kind of ... um ... you always sounded like you were having *really* nice dreams about -- AYEKA colours. Above, RYOUKO controls her amusement with effort, grinning evilly. AYEKA I see. Well, Sasami, you should still have woken me up ... and after all, I never remember my dreams if I don't wake up in the middle of them. So, if you had woken me up, I would have been able to comfort you, and you would have helped me have a wonderful memory. SASAMI Really? AYEKA Yes. Now, why don't you go get this manga that's been causing you night- mares? I want to have a look at it. SASAMI Okay! SASAMI hops off the couch, seeming a little more invigorated. AYEKA watches her dash away with a small, quiet smile. AYEKA Well? RYOUKO abruptly materializes just behind her. RYOUKO So how long did you know I was here? AYEKA Long enough. You realize, of course, that she extracted no promise from you to not tell Tenchi about her problems? RYOUKO blinks, and then a slow, ironic smile crosses her features. RYOUKO Verrrry sly, brat princess. AYEKA I'm learning from you, withered mummy. They pause, turn to look at one another, and smile large, insincere smiles that don't even begin to reach their eyes. Then revert to normal. AYEKA Only if this doesn't get better in the next few days. RYOUKO Sure. Believe me or don't, Ayeka, but I do like your little sister, and I don't want to see her in pain like that. AYEKA I don't, of course. RYOUKO Of course. So, what *are* YOUR dreams about MY Tenchi like? AYEKA is visibly shocked. AYEKA You *must* be joking. RYOUKO You owe me one -- AYEKA Even if I were to *lie* to my little sister when I said that I couldn't remember my dreams, do you seriously imagine that I would under any circumstances confide their content to you, you ... you ... BANE OF MY EXISTANCE? RYOUKO is silent for a moment. RYOUKO I'll tell you about mine. AYEKA LEAVE! RYOUKO gives AYEKA the hairy eyeball, and dematerializes. AYEKA looks up to check her usual perch, and sighs in relief that RYOUKO's not there. SASAMI comes into the room, holding the manga tankoubon in her hands. SASAMI Here it is, oneechan. This isn't one of the really scary ones ... AYEKA takes the tankoubon, and begins to leaf through it. She pauses. AYEKA Aha. I think I know why you like reading this, Sasami-chan. SASAMI blushes, and giggles. AYEKA He *is* a very handsome hero. Hum ... "alien abduction". Oh, how silly. We have this system under a complete quarantine. SASAMI Then it's just made up? The text at the back says that people say these things really happened to them. AYEKA begins to flip to the back of the tankoubon. AYEKA Well then they are *lying*, Sasami- chan. There are no civilized races in this part of the galaxy who would do such things, and -- AYEKA stops abruptly as she looks down at the tankoubon. Everything is very still for a moment. Then the tankoubon slips out of her fingers. SASAMI Oneechan! AYEKA turns to look at SASAMI with a calm expression. AYEKA Yes? SASAMI Uh ... a-are you all right? AYEKA Perfectly fine. Sasami- chan, I don't think you should read anymore of this manga, if it's giving you nightmares. SASAMI But -- AYEKA No buts. Mother Funaho and our Mother would be *furious* with me if they knew that I was letting you read things which caused you to have nightmares. Now, I think you should rest for the rest of the day, like Tenchi asked you to. AYEKA heads off. SASAMI But ... I'm supposed to do the shopping today, with Mihoshi. AYEKA's face goes horribly panic-stricken, and then calms down as she turns to look at SASAMI. AYEKA I'll do it. I have some things I want to do in town today anyway. SASAMI Really? AYEKA nods, and turns to go away, with a look of mortal terror on her face. She walks into the foyer of the house just as NOBOYUKI is coming down the stairs. NOBOYUKI Ah, Ayeka-san, come to see me off to work? How kind and -- AYEKA Ahem. Ojisan, I was hoping that you could tell me about this manga. She hands him the tankoubon. He peers at it. NOBOYUKI Ah, yes ... this is the one that's based on that American TV show ... very popular. Oh, this is the one with the text piece about the aliens ... NOBOYUKI suddenly blinks, and realizes exactly to whom he is speaking. AYEKA gazes at him wordlessly. NOBOYUKI But of course, real aliens are nothing like that ... AYEKA I was wondering, ojisan, do you have any of the other tankoubon in this series? NOBOYUKI No, the store in town doesn't carry this publisher. I bought it the last time I was in Tokyo. I didn't really like it, so -- AYEKA Tokyo? Oh dear. NOBOYUKI Uh, is something -- AYEKA Oh no. No, but ojisan, Sasami found this manga, and the things she saw in it caused her to have nightmares. When you get back from work this evening, could you do something to ... um, *organize* your collection so that anything that a ... tender impressionable young girl might not be ready for is out of the way? NOBOYUKI immediately strikes a dramatic pose. NOBOYUKI Never fear, Ayeka-san ... I shall strive with every breath in my body to guard the fragile and delicate dreams of your dear, sweet, cute little sister. So swears Masaki Noboyuki! AYEKA has her hands clasped together. AYEKA Ojisan! NOBOYUKI drops the pose. NOBOYUKI Well, I'm off. He heads out the door. AYEKA, still holding her hands clasped together, visibly gags. We watch, from high above, as NOBOYUKI walks down the path leading to the gates of the Masaki shrine. AKANE (V.O.) From the descriptions of him that I've been given, Tenchi's father seems a lot like my own -- they both like to project the image that they've been dropped into a strange and unfathomable situation, but the truth of the matter is that they're enjoying every second of it. But in any event, my story now turns to someone who reminds me of me. Cut to a shot of a pair of feet in red high-heels, one of which is tapping impatiently against a floor. Between the legs, beyond a ventilator, we can see the tarmack of an airport. AKANE (V.O.) In fact, when I first met her, I wondered if that was what I'd look like if I kept my hair long ... We see RAYE HINO turn to look over her shoulder, her face locked in a frown. She is dressed in a red jacket over a pale pink shirt, and tight black pants. RAYE It's bad enough he's coming at all, can't he be on *time*? Our view changes to show MINAKO AINO (jean jacket, yellow blouse, denim skirt) and LITA KINO (white overalls over a green blouse) standing a few steps behind RAYE. MINAKO Raye, don't you think you're being just a little too concerned? RAYE No. I don't think I'm being "concerned" enough. I can't believe that you invited him to come *visit* ... LITA Well, he did kind of take me and Mina in out of the kindness of his heart -- RAYE Ha! LITA -- when we went to Canada a couple months ago. Don't you think we ought to return the favor? RAYE Oh, yes, what a brilliant idea. Having escaped his snares -- MINAKO He was never even *around*. RAYE -- let's invite the monster to come try again on our home ground. God. MINAKO and LITA lower their heads in an exasperated sigh. MINA lifts her head first. MINAKO Raye ... what is *with* you? RAYE Gee, one of my friends is dating a vampire -- MINAKO VampYre. And it's not really *dating* -- we've talked on the phone a few times ... he's a *really* NICE guy, Raye, if you'd just give him half a chance -- RAYE He'll use whatever hypnosis trick he's used on you to bend me to his will. MINA Raye ...! LITA Raye, come on. So you sensed evil from Aethan when you met him three years ago ... he's probably done a lot of things he's not proud of in his life, and he's lived an awful long time. RAYE Correction: I didn't *just* sense evil from him, I sensed *incredible* amounts of it! MINA Fourteen *hundred* years, Raye. Don't judge a man until you've hatched! LITA That's "until you've walked a mile in his shoes", Mina. MINA Yeah! That too! RAYE What I don't get is why *you're* standing up for him, Lita. You've never met him, and -- LITA But I *have* spoken to him on the phone. He seemed like a nice, friendly guy, Raye, and -- RAYE He reminded you of your old boyfriend? LITA's face goes very still, and very cold. She turns abruptly, and walks away from where RAYE and MINA are standing. MINA Way to go, Raye. Are you so pissed off about Aethan coming to visit that you forgot that the reason we went to Canada in the *first* place was for Lita to be with her sempai as he died? LITA! She dashes off in the direction that LITA went. From RAYE's stricken expression, she clearly *did* forget that. RAYE Dammit. Behind RAYE, outside the window, we see a plane descending to land. Cut to the inside of WASHUU's workshop. She is busily typing on her terminal. We see a close up of the plane. KENT is in one of the window seats, looking out. We see WASHUU typing. The plane lowers its landing gear. WASHUU types. The plane lands. WASHUU jerks at her seat, standing stock still for a moment. WASHUU No. Not here. Not this country. Not this *planet* ... Not while *I'm* here ... She taps out a certain code on her keyboard. A holographic sign with the word "SEALED" on it appears. Cut to the outside of WASHUU's laboratory in the Masaki household. AYEKA approaches the distinctively crab-marked door ... just as it vanishes. AYEKA blinks, and taps the wall where the door used to be. Nothing. AYEKA slowly turns and walks around to the staircase, looking very uncertain. Cut to the exterior of the Masaki home. MIHOSHI, dressed in casual clothes, walks towards the van parked in the driveway, followed closely by SASAMI. SASAMI Mihoshi-neechan, please make sure that my sister doesn't get into trouble in town? MIHOSHI Of course, Sasami! As a Galaxy Police Inspector, I must defend and support the innocent whenever -- SASAMI holds up her small hands. SASAMI But ... try and stay out of trouble yourself, too, okay? I don't think oneechan would like being involved in a high speed chase like the last time we went for groceries. MIHOSHI B-but Sasami -- I'm a Galaxy Police Inspector ... I *have* to -- SASAMI I know, I know ... but ... ... isn't there something in the Galactic Legal Code about how Inspectors are supposed to make a formal offer of assistance to local authorities before you start helping out? MIHOSHI Uh ... well ... I'll have to check. But ... Sasami, if I make a formal offer of assistance to the police in town, won't that break the quarantine? SASAMI You're right, Mihoshi! Oh dear! Do you realize what this means? MIHOSHI Yes! I'll have to ask Tenchi for permission before I make the offer. SASAMI lowers her head and lets out a deep sigh. Inside the house, TENCHI is heading for the front door. He opens it to see SASAMI standing beside the van, while MIHOSHI is in the driver's seat. SASAMI Tenchi-niichan! Have you seen oneechan? TENCHI No ... shouldn't ... He hears the sound of someone coming down the stairs behind him. TENCHI turns to look over his shoulder ... and boggles. He turns completely around. AYEKA is wearing a black school uniform (if perchance the viewer has seen Tenchi Muyo: In Love, the viewer will recognize the style at once as that worn by Tenchi's mother, Achika) as she descends the stairs. She smiles demurely at TENCHI, who is beyond shocked. TENCHI A-a-a-yeka-san ... AYEKA I hope that you don't mind my borrowing one of your mother's old school uniforms, Tenchi-sama ... I know how precious her things are to you ... TENCHI Uh. Uh. Uh, w-why? AYEKA Well, my usual kimono is all right for here -- even if any guests of your father or grandfather should come, I can explain it as the vestments of a shrine maiden for this shrine ... but if I'm going into town, it's hardly appropriate, is it? Achika-sama and I were almost the same size ... TENCHI It looks very good on you, Ayeka-san! AYEKA blushes. There is the sound of a honking horn. MIHOSHI (O.S.) Ayeka-saaaan! AYEKA Well, I must be off. She starts towards the door. TENCHI follows her with his eyes, and just as she crosses the threshold, he visibly gathers his courage. TENCHI Ayeka-san. AYEKA turns with a hopeful look on her face. AYEKA Yes, Tenchi-sama? TENCHI Please try very hard to not damage my mother's dress. AYEKA's face collapses for a moment, and then she smile strainedly. AYEKA I will try ... And then she walks out the door. TENCHI continues to follow her with his eyes. RYOUKO materializes behind him, her face twisted into a mask of jealousy and anger. Her teeth are clenched, and her fangs prominent. TENCHI sighs, and turns in the direction where she happens to be standing. TENCHI YAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Outside, AYEKA sits in the passenger seat of the van, and smiles politely at MIHOSHI. MIHOSHI smiles back sunnily. They sit still for several moments. AYEKA Mihoshi? Shall we go? MIHOSHI Uh-huh! As soon as you do up your seatbelt. AYEKA blinks, and then nods. AYEKA Yes. Yes, of course. She clumsily gets the seatbelt to work, encountering a fair amount of difficulty as she does so. Finally, she is all buckled up, and MIHOSHI starts the engine. Outside the car, SASAMI waves at her older sister, who waves back. The car takes off with a jump forward, driving off the screen. There is a brief squeal of brakes, and then the van begins to back up. AYEKA is wearing a look of utter terror. MIHOSHI Sorry, sorry! I *always* forget to put it in reverse, sorry! >From high above, we see the van eventually get turned around and start heading for the open road. AKANE (V.O.) By the eleventh hour on that first day, things had begun to start moving ... which brings us back to the beginning ... In the airport, we see KENT approach a bank of phones, carrying his luggage in his left hand and wearing the jacket. He picks up the phone, inserts a phone card, and dials a number. Cut to the Tendou Dojo, where SOUUN is watching RANMA teach the class. In the distance, the phone rings. SOUUN looks up as he hears the noise. He starts to count on his fingers. He starts out with seven, drops two immediately, slowly lowers two others, and then stares at the three fingers he has left. He looks at RANMA, looks down at his hand again ... and then a look of great realization crosses his face. SOUUN Ah! Kasumi has gone shopping! SOUUN pushes himself to his feet, and starts to rush off out of the dojo. We see the RANMA look over his shoulder and roll his eyes. We see SOUUN arrive at the telephone, which has been ringing constantly over this, place his hand over the reciever, cough into his fist, and pick up the phone. SOUUN Moshi moshi. Tendou no dojou. KENT (PHONE) Tendou-san. I hope I find you well. SOUUN seems startled to hear KENT's voice, and his mouth spreads in a large smile as he does. He speaks in badly accented English. SOUUN Mister Masefield! It is a good day indeed! KENT (PHONE) I am very glad to hear that. I'm visiting Japan for a few weeks, and I hope that I'll be able to stop by for a visit. Cut to the airport. SOUUN (PHONE) Visit? No, no! I insist that you stay here! KENT Tendou-san, I couldn't impose on you like -- SOUUN (PHONE) Impose?! Never! It is the least that I can do for an old student! KENT If I don't, you're going to that demon head technique on me when I visit, aren't you? SOUUN (PHONE) I am wounded! Wounded by your lack of regard for my hospitality! KENT holds the phone a ways away from his face as the sound of SOUUN sobbing his heart out explodes forth from it. His face is that of a man who has been through this several times before. After a few moments, the sobbing dies down to a bearable level, and KENT brings the phone back to his face. KENT Gomen nasai, Tendou-sensei. I will be honored if you would permit me to rest beneath your roof. SOUUN (PHONE) Ah, but I am honored even more by your presence! Cut to the Tendou home, where SOUUN is grinning like a maniac. KENT (PHONE) If you insist, Tendou-sensei. SOUUN When will you arrive? KENT (PHONE) Ano ... maybe an hour, if traffic is as heavy as the last time I was in Tokyo. SOUUN We shall all be waiting! KENT (PHONE) I am looking forward to seeing you and Rumiko-san again ... until then. SOUUN Until th-- Ru-- Kento-san! There is an audible click, and a beeping noise ensues. SOUUN looks aghast. SOUUN Oh dear ... KASUMI (who at 22 looks even more lovely than she did at 19) walks into the kitchen, carrying a large bag of groceries which she begins to unpack. SOUUN comes into the kitchen, looking by turns anxious and exuberant. SOUUN Kasumi. KASUMI Yes, father? SOUUN Do you know where Nabiki is? KASUMI She told me that she would be dealing with several of the local businessmen today ... something to do with tomorrow's tegasajutsu tournament. SOUUN Did she tell you whether or not she would come home for lunch? KASUMI No, she didn't ... NABIKI is standing behind SOUUN. She looks tired, and is dressed in fashionable clothes -- a pair of pants, a beige blouse, and a red tie. NABIKI But I decided to anyway. SOUUN jumps, his fingers in the "shock" position. SOUUN Ah! Nabiki, please don't startle your poor old father like that! NABIKI Sorry. SOUUN I need to speak to the two of you, and also to Ranma. NABIKI About ... ? SOUUN grins in response. NABIKI stares blankly at him for a moment ... then a look of raw panic suffuses her features. NABIKI Oh god. No. Don't tell me that you agreed to marry one of your *other* daughters to another one of your old friends' sons and he just showed up today ... SOUUN Nabiki! How can you say such a thing?! KASUMI comes over and consoles her father. NABIKI rolls her eyes. SOUUN straightens. SOUUN No, no prospective fiancee has come calling. But I would rather wait until Ranma is done with the lesson. RANMA strolls into the room, having changed out of his gi, taken a quick bath, and changed into his usual red chinese shirt and black trousers. RANMA Well, I am. SOUUN Ah! Ranma -- RANMA Pretty good class, I think. Most of them are getting something out of it. SOUUN Ranma -- RANMA Only a couple are really good, though. SOUUN Ranma -- RANMA And I think that Yuusaku guy is crazy. SOUUN Ranma! RANMA "I have to be the strongest man in New York?" What's up with *that*? SOUUN's head swells up to several times its normal size, his skin turns green, and his tongue vibrates in the wake of his yell. SOUUN RANNNNMAAA! RANMA looks up at the demon head with vague interest. RANMA Yo? SOUUN reverts to normal, and just looks annoyed. SOUUN I need to speak to the three of you. A moment later, KASUMI, NABIKI, and RANMA (in that order) are sitting on the opposite side of the breakfast table from SOUUN. SOUUN Ahem. An old student of the Tendou Ryuu of Musabetsu Kakutou is coming to stay at the dojo for a week. KASUMI An old student of yours, father? SOUUN Yes, from America. NABIKI America? Wow. RANMA Just 'cause he's from America doesn't mean he's great or nothing. NABIKI and KASUMI slowly turn to stare at RANMA. Then they exchange a look. NABIKI Scary, isn't it? KASUMI I think it's *sweet*. RANMA Huh? NABIKI Private joke, Ranma. SOUUN AHEM. This student's name is Kenneth Masefield. KASUMI Mr. Masefield? SOUUN You remember him, Kasumi? KASUMI Oh yes! He lived here when I was four, and you were only two years old, Nabiki. I didn't know that he was one of Father's students, but I suppose it's not surprising -- he was so kind, and gentle, and brave, and handsome, and -- NABIKI This explains *so* much ... SOUUN Yes, he was a good friend to both me and to ... RANMA starts to roll his eyes in disgust. SOUUN looks up, holding back the tears. SOUUN ... to my beloved wife and our children. RANMA is visibly startled. SOUUN And that is why I have gathered you here. After Mr. Masefield left the dojo, I lost track of him, and so he does not yet know of ... our loss. I believe that he will be shaken by this event, and not wish to intrude on our grief. But he has been too good a friend to the Tendou family -- of which you *will* one day be a part, Ranma -- RANMA looks as though he is going to momentarily protest, but finally settles down. SOUUN -- to let him go elsewhere for lodging. So, I would ask the three of you to spare no effort to make him feel welcome in our home. RANMA Excuse me, honored father, but this *isn't* my home ... so what -- SOUUN Ranma, I ask only that you make him feel welcome in the dojo. If he should wish to spar, you should spar with him. I think that you will find the experience to be one of great interest to one of your skills. RANMA Uh, right. So when does he get here? SOUUN Very shortly ... Cut to the airport waiting lounge. RAYE has been joined again by MINA, LITA (who is standing as far from RAYE as she can), AMY (wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt and blue skirt), DARIEN (wearing his trademark green jacket, black shirt, and grey trousers) and SERENA (wearing her black and white high school uniform). RAYE So when does he get here? MINA Very shortly ... I saw that his plane had just arrived. SERENA Do I have time to get another ice cream? DARIEN looks embarrassed, while RAYE glowers at her. RAYE Sure. Fatten yourself up for the monster -- SERENA RAAAAYE! Why are you being so mean to Mina's boyfriend?! RAYE gets in SERENA's face. RAYE Because her boyfriend is a VAMPIRE, you *idiot*! SERENA promptly sticks her tongue out at RAYE, who retaliates in the same way, signalling the start of yet another one of RAYE and SERENA's tongue wars. The others watch with an almost jaded attitude. AMY I asked Reenie once if they were still doing that in Crystal Tokyo. She told me that I didn't really want to know the answer to that question ... MINA In other words, yes? AMY She seemed to be implying that, yes. LITA Depressing thought ... SERENA finally breaks off the war. SERENA Well, I don't care if he is a ... one of those things. If Mina likes him, that's good enough for me. And it ought to be good enough for *other* people, even perpetual grouchin' machines. RAYE snorts and looks away. SERENA And now, I feel proud of myself for having stood up for my friend's boyfriend, so I shall reward myself. A nice hot fudge sundae will do nicely. She dashes off, not watching where she's going -- and slams into AETHAN DEGALES, who is wearing his usual gray trenchcoat. They are both knocked down. AETHAN recovers first. AETHAN Ms. Tsukino. We *must* stop meeting like this ... MINA rushes over to help AETHAN to his feet, while DARIEN does the same for SERENA, and the others gather around. RAYE stares hostilely at AETHAN as MINA gives him a big hug. MINA You're here! You're really here! AETHAN Well, yes. Did you think I would be elsewhere? MINA Smart ass. AETHAN Ladies ... and gentle*man*. Most of you I know by reputation, at least. Ms. Kino and I *almost* met in Vancouver ... LITA And I'm sorry we didn't. That would really have made that trip more interesting. AETHAN Yes ... um, my much belated condolences, by the way. LITA Thanks. AETHAN And you are Ms. Mizuno, if I'm not mistaken. AMY Correct. I'm glad to make your aquaintance, Mr. DeGales. AETHAN Ms. Tsukino and I met briefly the last time I visited Japan -- RAYE What? AETHAN She was shopping with Minako-chan and they ran into me. Well, *she* did ... SERENA Okay, okay, okay, no need to drag things like that up ... AETHAN And you are ... Ms. Hino, correct. RAYE Yes. AETHAN stares at RAYE with a confused expression, which she returns as an almost angry glare. AETHAN Very nice to meet you. RAYE Likewise, I'm sure. AETHAN blinks before turning to look at DARIEN who is standing behind SERENA. AETHAN And ... you ... you are ... um ... DARIEN I'm Darien Chiba. AETHAN Ah yes! Cape Boy! DARIEN flinches, MINA blushes heavily, while everyone else stares. AETHAN What? Mina, when you said that you all called him that -- MINA *Kind* of a joke ... AETHAN Oh. Uh ... my apologies ... DARIEN Never mind, no big deal. Um, I take it that you *know* ... AETHAN Yes. You need not worry, however; I've much practice in keeping secrets. Yours are safe with me. LITA Of course they are! We trust you, *don't* *we*, *Raye*? RAYE is idly fiddling with one of her ofuda behind her back. RAYE Sure. Cut to the parking lot of a supermarket, as AYEKA and MIHOSHI walk out, carrying large bags of groceries as they walk to the van. AYEKA Are you sure that we got everything, Mihoshi? MIHOSHI Yep! I wish we hadn't forgotten the list, but I'm pretty sure that I remember everything that was on it. They put the groceries in the back of the van, and MIHOSHI hops into the driver's seat. AYEKA appears to be thinking very intently as she walks around to the passenger's side. Just as MIHOSHI starts the van -- AYEKA Mihoshi! I just remembered! MIHOSHI Huh? What? AYEKA Sasami told me to pick up something that she had forgotten to put on the list that she gave you. MIHOSHI She did? What was it? AYEKA Uh ... well ... Haggis! MIHOSHI Oh, wow! I've never even heard of that ... is it any good? AYEKA Well, I've never had it either ... and we won't unless I go get it! MIHOSHI I can -- AYEKA No, no, Mihoshi, I should have remembered, so I'll go get it. You just stay right here until I come back. AYEKA smiles sunnily at MIHOSHI, who smiles right back. Then AYEKA hops out of the car, and heads off towards the market. MIHOSHI Gee ... she's so nice to help me out like this. MIHOSHI does not notice AYEKA stealthily heading out of the market almost immediately after she went in. We cut to the ticket window of a train station, and watch as AYEKA buys a ticket for Tokyo, and boards the train a few moments later. She watches the country side flit past as she sits in her seat, a nervous expression on her face. AKANE (V.O.) I can only imagine what that train ride -- the first that she'd ever taken, according to her -- was like for Princess Ayeka. By this point, I was almost finished packing my luggage for my own trip home. I still had no idea what was going on there -- for some reason, my father completely forgot that I would be coming back the next day, and so hadn't called me to tell me about our guest. A taxi cab pulls up to the gates of the Tendou home, and KENT steps out, his suitcase in his hand. He approaches the gates, and ****. The door flies open, and SOUUN stands there, beaming, with tears flowing down his face. SOUUN AH! KENT MASEFIELD HAS AT LAST RETURNED TO MY HUMBLE DOJO! KENT doesn't even blink at SOUUN's rampant overemotionalism. He bows, politely. KENT Konbonwa, sensei. You are well, I hope. SOUUN Indeed, yes! Come in, come in! KENT follows SOUUN into the house, admiring the garden. KENT Nothing's changed ... SOUUN I wouldn't say that. KENT Well, everything looks more or less as I remember it -- Off to the side, there is a sudden splash. KENT What was that? RANMA (now female and drenched) and NABIKI come around the side of the house. RANMA I can't believe you *did* that! NABIKI Your fiancee paid for quite a few dunkings. Just business, nothing personal. KENT Ah, this must be Nabiki. SOUUN nods enthusiastically, while NABIKI is brought up short by the comment. RANMA snorts, unsurprised. NABIKI Uh ... Mr. Masefield? KENT Yes, Nabiki-san. NABIKI How ... how did you recognize me? I mean, I was only two years old when you were here ... KENT Yes ... the "terrible twos". Most children go Go through a period where all they say is "NO!" when anyone says anything to them. You were going through that stage when I was here. Except all you said was, "Pay me!" NABIKI looks horrified. RANMA looks nonplussed. NABIKI That was an attempt at humour ... right? KENT Well, you did it a small number of times. NABIKI sighs with relief. KENT When I was present, at least. NABIKI looks faintly ill. KENT turns to look at RANMA. KENT And ... you're ... Akane? RANMA Uh ... no. No. I'm Ranma, Akane's fiancee. Dead silence descends on the area. SOUUN looks up at the sky in a mournful manner. KENT turns slowly to look at him. KENT I had no idea you were so broad- minded, Sensei. NABIKI Oh, Ranma-chan ... RANMA remembers, and face faults. KENT Well, it's not that big a deal, if your daughter is -- SOUUN Nonono! You see, Ranma is cursed! KASUMI (O.S.) Just a moment. KASUMI, wearing a *spotless* apron, her best slippers, and a small amount of make-up (MUCH more than she usually wears) comes out of the house carrying a kettle, which she promptly splashes on RANMA. The well-known transformation takes place. KENT blinks. KENT Well, well ... very interesting. KASUMI Konbonwa, Masefield-san. KENT turns his attention to KASUMI, and smiles politely. KENT Konbonwa, Kasumi-ch-- No, I should call you "Kasumi-san", now. KASUMI No, no, if you would rather call me Kasumi-chan, please do so, for are you not our guest? KENT All right ... but then you should call me by my personal name as well. KASUMI takes a deep breath. KASUMI K-k-k-k-kent. RANMA and NABIKI are staring at this, slightly apalled. RANMA She's acting like Tofu did whenever she was around. NABIKI Has he been released from that sanitorium yet? KENT turns back to SOUUN. KENT So, Sensei, where is -- SOUUN Well, don't stand out here in the garden, come in, come in! KASUMI takes another deep breath. KASUMI Father. SOUUN pauses in his attempts to push KENT into the house as he stares confusedly over his shoulder at him. SOUUN coughs into his hand. SOUUN Masefield-san ... I must admit something. KENT What? SOUUN My wife ... my dear, dear wife ... Tears are flowing down SOUUN's face, and KENT looks at him in shock. KENT Sensei ... can it be that Rumiko-san has ... SOUNN nods once, and KASUMI and NABIKI solemnly bow their heads. KENT ... has left you? SOUUN nods again, while NABIKI looks up with the sick expression of one who can see a train wreck about to happen. KENT I know that your arguments were at times intense, but -- SOUUN looks up, horrified. KENT -- I never in my life dreamed that Rumiko-san would *divorce* you, or -- NABIKI and RANMA both lower their heads, making disgusted noises. SOUUN NO!!! Not that kind of leavetaking! KENT suddenly understands. KENT She is ... oh, Sensei, forgive me! Had I known, I -- SOUUN I regret that you did not give us an adress where you could be reached, Kent-san ... KENT But ... Sensei, I did. I remembered, on my last day in Japan, that I hadn't given you a way to stay in touch, so I tried to reach you, but ... you were out. So I got in touch with your friend, Mr. Saotome, and gave him a paper with my address on it, and -- SOUUN AGGGGH! Cut to a brief shot of the Tokyo Zoo Panda Enclosure. A rather large panda appears to sneeze. Cut to RANMA leading KENT (who has hung up his jacket) into the dojo. KENT looks around, with a fond expression on his face. RANMA So what do you do, anyway? KENT Hm? RANMA In America. What do you do? KENT appears to give the question a great deal of thought. KENT I ... I work for the government. RANMA Doing what? No, wait, lemme guess ... you could tell me but then you'd hafta kill me. KENT Yes. So you're going to inherit this dojo? RANMA Yep. What do you practice? KENT Oh, a little bit of a lot of things. A bit of kickboxing, some capoeira. I got started learning Jun Fan Kung Fu ... RANMA Jun Fan? Hey, wasn't that the one that -- KENT Yep. That's why I got interested in "Anything Goes". RANMA Huh. Wanna spar? KENT gives the question some thought, then shrugs. KENT All right. I'm a bit out of practice, though. RANMA assumes a ready stance. KENT slowly, and with the same movements as in his dream, removes his glasses, setting them down on the floor alongside the wall. RANMA You can see all right without those, right? KENT Yes. Whenever you're ready. And the sparring match begins. Initially, RANMA is holding back quite a bit, out of overconfidence -- after all, his opponent is older, has bad sight, and has described himself as being out of practice. A few minutes into the fight RANMA begins to re-assess the situation; KENT hasn't laid a blow on him, but he hasn't been able to score a significant hit either. RANMA frowns, and ups the intensity of his assault just a bit. KENT is blocking or dodging everything RANMA throws at him. His style is a bit less flamboyant than RANMA's usual means of fighting, but considering that they're indoors, RANMA isn't doing most of his usual acrobatics. Cut to the dining room, where SOUUN is listening with a pleased air to the sounds of the fight in the distance. NABIKI is munching at an apple. NABIKI So this Kent guy is good? SOUUN Oh yes. Ranma will get quite an education out of this. The boy needs a lesson in humility. NABIKI He's that good? Seriously? SOUUN The best student I ever taught. NABIKI Huh. So, you think he can win, even if Ranma pulls out his special maneuvers? Like, say, his ... what's it called again? Hiryuu Shoten Ha? SOUUN starts. The kiai noises from the dojo are getting even louder, as if the fight is growing more and more intense ... NABIKI Be a shame if the dojo was blown up as part of a lesson in humility. SOUUN grows very pale, and stands. RANMA (O.S.) KACHUU TENSHIN AMURIGAKEN! SOUUN starts running out of the room. NABIKI watches with vague interest. NABIKI On the other hand, when you think about the insurance we have on that part of the house -- KENT (O.S.) [SECOND HAND OF THE PHOENIX!!!] NABIKI starts at the words shouted in Cantonese. Cut back to the dojo. RANMA is performing the Tenshin Amaurigaken, and staring in shock as KENT's hands move just as fast, blocking every punch. RANMA finally disengages and steps back to start something else, and KENT does a fairly spectacular jumping spin kick that comes within a milimeter of RANMA's nose. RANMA jumps back, now *very* wary, his red battle aura much in evidence. KENT's aura is also glowing, but less intensely. It is gray. Outside the doors to the Dojo, SOUUN arrives at a run. RANMA (O.S.) Okay. No more foolin' around. MOUKO -- SOUUN flings open the door. SOUUN RANMAAAAA! RANMA TAKIBASHA! The bolt of Ranma's ki leaps forth from his hands. KENT's eyes grow wide in shock as it comes toward him. He holds out his hands ... ... and the "Roaring Lion Bullet" slams into those hands, forcing KENT's elbows to bend under the pressure. His teeth clench, and sweat runs down his forehead as he struggles to keep his arms steady against the force of the shrinking ball of vital energy -- and slowly but surely loses the struggle. The "Bullet" is no larger than a ping-pong ball when his arms finally press into his chest, throwing him backwards into the wall of the dojo. There is a loud crunch, and KENT slowly slides to the floor, his head slumped. RANMA has been watching this with an amazed expression. For a moment, he and SOUUN stand in shock at what has just transpired. Then KENT lifts his head, and makes a vague sigh/gasp of relief/pain. His eyes are very blurry. SOUUN KENT! KENT Dit shomeone git the number of dat freight drain? SOUUN and RANMA both rush forward. KENT's eyes start to clear. SOUUN RANMA! THAT WAS THE MOST IRRESPONSIBLE -- KENT Sensei? SOUUN -- FOOLISH ACT OF PETTY -- KENT Tendou-san. SOUUN is distracted from his harangue of RANMA. KENT I'm okay. I was a little out of it for a while, but I'm okay now. KENT slowly pushes himself to his feet, his slow and delicate movements giving his words the lie -- he's obviously in some amount of pain. KENT That was probably the best work-out I've had in ages ... SOUUN Are you sure you're all right? KENT Sensei, you *know* that I'm a fast healer. I didn't break anything, so I should be completely fine in a few hours, assuming I get some rest. SOUUN Very well. Ah, Masefield-kun, the shame I would have known had you perished within my home, on the first day of your visit to Japan, no less! KENT gives RANMA a bemused look. RANMA looks back at KENT in shock. Cut to the inside of the baths. RANMA is already seated in the tub, casting occasional glances over his shoulder. The faint sound of scrubbing can be heard, followed by a splash. Then a pair of feet walk over to the tub, and KENT steps in, giving the obligatory buttshot. He settles down into the tub with an *immense* sigh of pleasure. RANMA Ummm ... KENT Yes? RANMA Those ... little round scars on your chest. Are those from bullets? KENT I think so. It was a long time ago. RANMA Man ... what kind of -- KENT You had it right the first time, Saotome-san. RANMA blinks, and then screws up his face to think. Then he realizes. RANMA "You could tell me, but then you'd have to kill me?" KENT Or make sure that you wouldn't tell anyone else in some other way. RANMA But if that's the kind of life that you've been leading, then -- KENT Then what? RANMA Then you should've been able to wipe up the floor with me! I mean -- KENT Kid, you're better'n me. It's just that simple. I'm good, but you're tougher, faster, you know more wild stuff than I do, and you're younger. Hell, if I'd been as good as you are when I was your age ... on second thought, let's not talk about that. RANMA But you shoulda been able to pick up more stuff, if you've been leading that kind of a life for -- KENT Let me guess, your life has been one long martial arts duel, right? RANMA Uh, pretty much. I've been training since I was about three -- KENT Hoo boy. RANMA -- and I've been pretty much the best around here for the last three years. Well, except for the Old Ghoul and the Old Lech. KENT I refuse to say "Huh?". Well, anyway, while I *have* been at this for longer than you've been alive, I didn't start as early as you, and not everyone that I've run up against has been a martial artist. Some have had other ways of doing things that were just as deadly. RANMA Yeah, right. A true martial artist can take anybody -- KENT slaps the side of his chest where RANMA was gazing earlier. KENT These say you're wrong, Ranma. The arts are invaluable, but they can't win every fight. Suppose that someone sent a ninja after you. RANMA I'd fight 'em. KENT But ninjas don't engage in standup fights. They use stealth and trickery to get close to their victim and strike a lethal blow. RANMA But you learn to anticipate attack when you're a martial artist. KENT Yes, but that doesn't always work. I mean, you didn't notice that there was a ninja over there until I said so, right? RANMA spins around to look where KENT indicated, obviously startled. From behind a convenient cloud of steam steps KONATSU, carrying a steamer such as beekeepers use. KONATSU Good day, Saotome Ranma. RANMA Oh. It's just you, Konatsu. KENT mouths the words "it's just you" with a confused expression. KONATSU Indeed. Just me. RANMA Haven't seen you in a long while. Whatcha been -- KONATSU produces a scroll from somewhere in hir blouse. KONATSU I am bid to give you this message, Saotome Ranma, written by the hand of your fiancee, Kuonji Ukyou. RANMA Ucch-- Ukyou? KONATSU Indeed. Ukyou-sama. Take the scroll, Saotome Ranma, take it that I might leave your presence and return to bathe in hers as I tell her of its arrival in your hands, and recieve the greatest gift in all the world -- the words "Good work," from Ukyou-sama's lips. RANMA, who snatched the scroll somewhere around "Take the scroll" and started to read it, ignoring KONATSU, looks up suddenly. RANMA Uh, I really don't think Ukyou wrote this, Konatsu. KONATSU Wh-wh-at? RANMA Well, for starters, Ukyou would never start a letter off with "I love you, I love you, Ukyou-sama, I know that it's wrong, but --" KONATSU lets out a girlish cry of shock, and grabs the scroll from RANMA's hand, colouring as s/he quickly ascertains its contents, then grabbing another scroll from hir blouse. A quick check, and then it is handed to RANMA, who reads it. KENT is watching this exchange with a confused yet amused expression. RANMA So Ukyou wants to meet with me, huh? KONATSU If that is what she wrote, that must be what she wishes. RANMA is silent for a long moment. RANMA So how's she doing? KONATSU Never better. RANMA Come on, Konatsu, the last time I saw her was over a year ago at the wedding. Where's she been? The Ucch-- her restaurant was closed last time I checked there, but now she's back? What's been going -- KONATSU It is not for me to say, Saotome Ranma. If you would know, come and speak with her. RANMA stares at KONATSU's unmoving face. RANMA Okay. Tell her I'll come down tomorrow, after the tournament. KONATSU I shall. RANMA Unless you'd like me to write it on a scroll so there'd be a chance you'd screw up and give your declaration to her? KONATSU gazes at RANMA with something akin to hatred in hir eyes. RANMA So why didn't she send it by way of okonomiyaki, anyway? KONATSU She was concerned that you would be upset in rememberance of the okonomiyaki which she brought to your aborted wedding. RANMA Huh. Makes sense ... anyway, see you around, Konatsu. KONATSU Not if I see you first, Saotome Ranma. KONATSU releases another burst of steam from the can, and when it disperses s/he is gone. KENT What an interesting young man. RANMA nods, and then does a double take. RANMA Wait a minute. Young *man*? How -- KENT Well, it's kind of obvious from the ... you know -- and the ... well, you know ... RANMA No. I *don't* know. I never knew until after I found out that he was a guy. How do you *know*? KENT I ... I thought it was obvious, really. RANMA Just a minute. RANMA stands up, and steps out of the shot. There is a sudden splash. KENT's eyes bulge. RANMA (FEM) (O.S.) Okay, male or -- KENT Please put some clothes on. Cut to the interior of a manga shop in Jyuuban. It is the Japanese equivalent of a "hole-in-the-wall" comic book store run by a fan -- in this case, an overweight, sweaty otaku who is busily reading "I *Will* Forgive You", an *extremely* ecchi parody of the magical girls fighting team genre. He doesn't even look up as the bell rings announcing the arrival of a customer, nor when the customer's shadow falls across him. AYEKA (O.S.) Excuse me. The OTAKU looks up with a bored expression, which quickly turns into a leer as he sees AYEKA's face and figure. OTAKU Yeeeeeesss? AYEKA Um ... I was wondering if you have any tankoubon of the "X-Files"? OTAKU "X-Files". Ah yes, we do. It's an okay book -- AYEKA Thank you. She heads off to look in the stacks for it, but the OTAKU keeps talking. OTAKU -- but that's not what aliens are really like. AYEKA Oh really. She starts to search the titles. OTAKU No, they'll probably be more like the Angels. Or maybe like the Demon Beasts! AYEKA I'm sure that I wouldn't know. OTAKU Hast thou never seen "Demon Beast Invasion"? AYEKA Can't say that I have. Why don't you -- OTAKU The Demon Beasts are the original inhabitants of this world, but it long ago ceased to be suitable for them to live on, so they left. But in this age, they have returned with a way to make this world fit for them. AYEKA is suddenly interested ... this sounds somewhat familiar. AYEKA And that way is? OTAKU By taking human women and RA-- RAYE (O.S.) AHEM. AYEKA and the OTAKU look over at RAYE, who is standing in the doorway with a disgusted expression. OTAKU Hi-hino-san. RAYE -san. I believe that I told you that recounting the storyline of "Demon Beast Invasion" was not nice, nor a good way to keep your customer base intact. OTAKU Uh ... well, she asked for it. RAYE You *asked* for a description of one of the most perverted anime ever made? AYEKA CERTAINLY NOT! I was only trying to ... ahem, I have no interest in that sort of thing at all. I will leave at once. OTAKU But -- but -- but, miss, what about the manga you *were* aft-- AYEKA I've no doubt that I can acquire a copy of the X-Files in a different store, which store will have a proprietor who treats his customers with *respect*. She storms out the door, leaving RAYE behind. RAYE waves "bye-bye" with a cold, satisfied smile, and heads out after her. OTAKU Out of all the manga shops in all the world, why does she have to *keep* coming into mine? He doesn't notice the ofuda pasted to his shop door. Outside, AYEKA is walking away with an embarassed expression on her face. RAYE catches up with her. RAYE Listen, there's a *much* better store not too far from here. I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to find whatever it is that you're after there. AYEKA <*slightly* suspicious> Ah. Thank you. RAYE No problem. I really hate that jerk back there ... he's such a pig. He used to go out of his way to scare his female customers by coming onto them ... until he tried it with me. AYEKA Why would he be so foolish as to try and drive away half of his customers? RAYE Like I said, he's a chauvinist pig. He'd probably prefer it if girls were barefoot and illiterate, and the only reason he doesn't complete the triangle is that he's a wuss in that department. A fair amount of that goes over AYEKA's head. She smiles confusedly and nods. RAYE stares at her a bit oddly, then notices her uniform. RAYE I don't recognize your colours. What school do you go to? AYEKA I ... I am here in Tokyo on a field trip. RAYE Oh, cool! My class went to Osaka for our trip. So you want me to show you this store? It's right by this place where I'm headed anyway. AYEKA That would be very nice. Masaki Ayeka. RAYE Hino Raye. Pleased to meet you. Come on. RAYE indicates the direction that they should go with a nod of her head, and starts off. AYEKA follows, with a surprised expression on her face. We change to a view of them from above. AKANE (V.O.) It's important to realize that Princess Ayeka's exposure to people from Earth up until this point had been more or less limited to Tenchi, whom she preferred to see as a Jurain, and his father, whom she basically viewed as a nuisance. The handful of visitors to the secluded Masaki shrine hadn't really given her any idea what ordinary people were like. Raye Hino is an incredible contradiction at times -- she likes to present the image of being haughty and even mean-hearted, but she is actually very kind and friendly. If she reminds me of me, sometimes, she reminds me of Ranma a lot too. Speaking of whom -- Cut to a shot of RANMA taking *great* pains to eat slowly, almost as though he's pacing himself ... which isn't too surprising when one considers the huge banquet that is set on the Tendou table. NABIKI is seated beside him, staring at the huge outlay with small eyes. SOUUN is eating with dignity and decorum and drinking a lot of sake. KASUMI is staring at KENT with an anxious expression as he chews a bit of sukiyaki. He swallows, and turns to meet KASUMI's gaze. A long silent moment passes. KENT Delicious. Beyond any doubt, some of the finest sukiyaki that I've ever tasted. KASUMI Really? NABIKI and RANMA are watching this exchange with faintly ill expressions. KENT Kasumi-san, in all my years, I have tasted better sukiyaki than this once. And do you know who made *that* sukiyaki, Kasumi-san? KASUMI Mother ... KENT lowers his head ... in embarassment, we realize a moment later, as SOUUN has begun to bawl once more across the table. He recovers fairly quickly. RANMA So, anyway, what exactly was Mrs. Tendou like? SOUUN begins to tear up again. RANMA I can't get a straight answer from anyone here, you see. KENT Rumiko-san ... well, as I've just said, she was one of the best cooks I've ever known. She could make anything taste good. He smiles at NABIKI. KENT Most Japanese housewives handle the family finances -- Everyone looks at SOUUN who is sobbing. KENT -- for ... lots of reasons. But Rumiko-san was even better than normal at it. She was also one of the best *accountants* I've ever known. NABIKI looks a strange combination of startled and pleased at this knowledge. KENT She wasn't really interested in martial arts. RANMA nods decisively. A tiny crayon drawing appears over his head. A little figure marked MRS. TENDOU -- who looks frighteningly like AKANE -- is dressed up in a gi and tries to break a playing card with a chop. Her hand rebounds and is very swollen and red. MRS. TENDOU OWIEOWIEOWIEOWIEOWIE! AKANE (V.O.) Baka. KENT's next words shatter RANMA's dream. KENT Which was probably for the best. I hate to admit it, but Rumiko-san had a *terrible* temper. RANMA looks shocked. KENT If she *had* had training in the arts ... she would have been an unstoppable elemental force! RANMA has another vision of a crayon version of the dojo in ruins, and MRS. TENDOU chasing SOUUN around with a huge mallet. MRS. TENDOU SOUUN NO BAKA! AKANE (V.O.) If I'd been there, listening to this and watching Ranma's expression, I probably would have followed my mother's example at this point. KENT But she was usually justified in her outbursts -- forgive me, Sensei, but you tended to do a lot of things to irritate Rumiko-san very easily. SOUUN looks up with a tearful expression. SOUUN Yes. You need not ask for forgiveness, Kent-san, what you say is far too true. Oh, I would give anything to hear her yelling at me for a fool once more! KASUMI Oh father! Oh mother! NABIKI Oh God I'm never getting married, *ever*. RANMA Great, I hadda get the one who got the temper. Could things get any worse? The sliding door to the dining room slams open, revealing a VERY angry HAPPOSAI. RANMA I just HAD to ask. HAPPOSAI SOUUN! SOUUN Ah! Master! What a pleasant -- HAPPOSAI You have insulted and dishonored your master! Moreso than I have ever been dishonored before! RANMA Hey, jiji. What're you talking about? HAPPOSAI A year ago it was! Then did I seek to slake my thirst on a jug of water which had been set aside for me, as befits my status and reputation. KENT (O.S.) Kasumi-san, who is this person? HAPPOSAI And what was done to me after I had slaked my thirst? Foul hands were placed upon my person, and I was cruelly prodded to force me to regurgitate my drink. I took an appropriate vengeance -- and for that was I punished further. HAPPOSAI points at SOUUN, doing a mediocre job of impersonating the wrath of God. This next sequence is dominated by HAPPOSAI's face and upper body. He either ignores or pretends to ignore the comments interspersed with his rant. HAPPOSAI And then did *this* *one* set upon me in a moment of weakness -- RANMA (O.S.) How come nobody told me about this? HAPPOSAI -- beguiling me with a faded but still great beauty -- SOUUN (O.S.) Your mother asked me not to. HAPPOSAI -- and seized me and bound me in chains I dared not break, for fear of destroying something of precious value! NABIKI (O.S.) So that's what happened to all our underwear. HAPPOSAI I was then placed in a shipping box, and sent on a slow boat to China! NABIKI (O.S.) Why not airmail? HAPPOSAI And thence to Jyusenkyou! NABIKI (O.S.) Oh, right. "Thrift." HAPPOSAI Condemning me to the foulest of foul fates! KENT (O.S.) Jyusenkyou is where Ranma was cursed, right? HAPPOSAI For in the letter attached to the crate was adressed to the Guardians of Jyusenkyou! KENT (O.S.) I think I can guess where this is going now. HAPPOSAI And it read "When the springs settle down, please drop this crate in --" I shudder to even think it! RANMA (O.S.) Oh, man, couldn't you think of something better to do than give him my curse so that he'd be occupied with groping himself all the time? HAPPOSAI "-- in the spring of the drowned EUNUCH!" Dead silence. RANMA (O.S.) O-kay, forget I said anything. HAPPOSAI Fortunately, you reckoned without the naivete of the younger Guardian of those Cursed Springs. RANMA (O.S.) Oh, man, he went after Plum? That's just sick. HAPPOSAI Believing me to be a confused and senile fool -- NABIKI (O.S.) My what a stretch. HAPPOSAI -- she freed me from my chains, and I rewarded her with a gentle pat on the head, and was off to seek my revenge! You will bow down before me, Souun! Bow! SOUUN whips around, the devil's head in full swing. SOUUN Never! HAPPOSAI is startled by this sudden display of spine. SOUUN returns to normal, and stands to stare HAPPOSAI down. SOUUN For a year you lived here, engaging in your perversions, terrorizing my daughters, intimidating me, and freeloading on our home! No more, Happosai! No more! Hencefore, YOU SHALL PAY RENT! Dead silence descends as RANMA, NABIKI, KENT, and (yes, even) KASUMI stare at SOUUN with odd expressions on their faces. NABIKI Dad, he has no income. Neither SOUUN nor HAPPOSAI give any sign of having heard. HAPPOSAI So? And how will you enforce this new law upon me, *student*? SOUUN I have with me now the two greatest students of the Musabetsu Kakutou whom I have ever trained! Alone each is your equal! Together, they will bring you to heel! HAPPOSAI Ha! You are drunk, *student*! So you see double, for there is only Ranma here, and -- SOUUN In fact no, master, I have not touched sake all evening! NABIKI Now that's a lie. SOUUN Behold the other greatest student of Anything Goes Martial Arts -- KENT MASEFIELD! KENT finishes chewing something, and swallows. KENT Hi, pleased to meet you. HAPPOSAI stares at KENT with saucer wide eyes. He looks up at SOUUN. HAPPOSAI Souun ... my boy ... you joke with your poor master, right? In hope of averting my terrible wrath upon you and your house by teaching me to laugh once more? SOUUN No, *master*, I -- HAPPOSAI YOU TAUGHT THE SECRETS OF THE ARTS TO ONE OF *THEM*? Everyone blinks. HAPPOSAI TO AN AMERICAN? KENT sets down his chopsticks, and starts to clean himself up. HAPPOSAI It cannot be ... that we have forgotten this much. That we have forgotten what they did! SOUUN Master, that was so long ago ... KENT begins to stand. KENT I cannot blame him for his anger, Sensei. Perhaps I should l-- HAPPOSAI We cannot have forgotten how they LET THEIR WOMEN *BURN* THEIR *BRAS*! Dead silence once more. KENT sits. KENT Then again, maybe I can. HAPPOSAI If we had not known that they were uncultured barbarians, that would have proven it! RANMA stands up. RANMA Oh, for pity's sake -- HAPPOSAI Ah, Ranma m'boy! You will eject this boorish outsider, won't you? RANMA "Boorish outsider" meaning you? RANMA cracks his knuckles. HAPPOSAI Ranma ... you cannot mean to take the part of this gaijin against your master? RANMA First, you ain't my master. Second, I don't need to be taking anybody's part to have a reason to kick your butt. Third, nobody here cares about underwear war crimes but you! And as for the "gaijin" bunk, jiji, I've fought this guy. He's good, not as good as me, but it's got nothing to do with where he's from. I have one hell of a lot more respect for him than I do for you, master or no! HAPPOSAI looks genuinely shocked. HAPPOSAI I was wrong. I was wrong when I said that I had never been so insulted as when I was punished in that way. *NOW* I have never been so insulted and dishonored. HAPPOSAI leaps up into the air. HAPPOSAI HAPPODARIAKIN! The bomb flies out of his hand towards the table -- And everything freezes, turning a cold shade of blue. AKANE (V.O.) Even now, after I know how Kent Masefield was able to do what he did then, it stuns me. The only things in the room that are not the same cold blue are KENT's eyes. They flicker up to the Happodariakin that is hovering beneath Happosai's arm. KENT (V.O.) Bomb. His eyes flicker to the left. Something catches his attention, and he blinks. KENT (V.O.) Yes. He blinks again. Everything begins to move again, in VERY slow motion. KENT begins to jump to the left the instant motion begins, as the bomb drops with mercurial slowness. We see the shock on NABIKI's face, the disappointment of KASUMI, the horror on RANMA and SOUUN's faces, and the savage exultation that HAPPOSAI is clearly feeling. And then KENT slowly stands up, holding a broom, which he swings, as though he were moving through thick water, towards the bomb as it falls. The combs of the broom smack into the Happodariakin, sending it looping back out of the dining room, through the still open sliding door that leads to the garden. Everything speeds up to normal. The Happodariakin explodes harmlessly in the garden. HAPPOSAI lands on the table, startled. He looks around. HAPPOSAI Boom? Where boom? RANMA grabs him, his face a mask of rage. RANMA BOOOM! HAPPOSAI blinks. RANMA You sick, twisted, evil little man! Do you have any idea what you almost *did*? The CODE! WE DO *NOT* USE SPECIAL TECHNIQUES ON THOSE WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK! KASUMI Oh. I'm sorry, ojiisan, Nabiki and I should have left when you began shouting. I think that I will faint now. And she does. RANMA God, Plum was right, you *are* a senile idiot! HAPPOSAI Ranma ... RANMA walks out into the early evening air. RANMA Get the hell away from here, and never come back, you *freak*! HAPPOSAI Ranma, you will take that back, or I will wreak a terrible -- RANMA dropkicks HAPPOSAI into the air. HAPPOSAI goes sailing off into the sky. HAPPOSAI (O.S.) -- VEEEEEANNNNGEAAAANCE! RANMA Yeah, right. NABIKI is still seated stock-still at the table. Her eyes resemble saucers. NABIKI He tried to -- KENT But he didn't, and he's gone now, Nabiki-san. It's all right, isn't it, Sensei? KENT turns to look at SOUUN ... who fainted some time ago. KENT quite visibly bites something back. NABIKI comes unsteadily to her feet. NABIKI I think I'm gonna go make like 'neechan and dad ... but up in my room ... RANMA comes back in and plops himself down to finish his dinner. RANMA Okay. If you're not gonna finish your sukiyaki, can I -- KENT stares at RANMA, appalled. NABIKI Sure, Ranma ... RANMA No charge? NABIKI No *shit* there's no charge you goddamn insensitive baka hentai *bastard*! RANMA is a bit startled by NABIKI's vehemence. She slowly walks away as he and KENT stare. RANMA Geez ... KENT Ranma, out of curiousity, do your encounters with that person usually end with you kicking him away as he screams vengeance? RANMA Yeah, pretty much. KENT And he usually comes back? RANMA pauses before the food gets to his mouth. RANMA Uh ... yeah. Every time. KENT So, in other words, there's a fairly good chance that he'll come back this time too? KENT glares at RANMA for a few moments, then stands and heads out after NABIKI. RANMA is still for a bit after that. RANMA Shit. KENT catches up with NABIKI as she's going up the stairs. KENT Are you going to be all right? NABIKI Of *course* I'm not. A deadly master of ancient martial arts has just sworn vengeance on my father's house, and that includes me. I have *got* to get out of this place. KENT You're an adult. Why are you still living here? NABIKI Whenever I thought about the future, I always saw myself as a financial bigshot. But it's a hell of a long way from being the school gossip monger and selling photos to per-- people, to being on Fortune's Five Hundred. I'm making money, but not enough to live on my own *and* finance my education. Can I ask you something? KENT It seems a fair exchange. NABIKI Uh ... anyway, what was the code that Ranma was yelling at the old freak about? KENT It's a discipline that most of the really powerful martial artists of the world subscribe to. It's more of a code of proper conduct than any sort of moral code ... one of its tenets is that it's improper to use special fighting techniques against someone who can't use something roughly equal. I don't know when it started, but it's the reason that a lot of martial artists train in remote places -- so non-martial artists won't get hit by a stray hadouken or something like that. NABIKI So what happens to people who break this code? KENT Nobody who follows it will train or spar with them. NABIKI looks at him expectantly. He looks back with an expressionless face. NABIKI That's it? KENT nods. NABIKI They don't attempt to punish the violator? KENT Being excluded from honorable competition is thought to be -- NABIKI That is a *dumb* code. KENT It's the only one we've got. NABIKI Well, I'm going to go try and not have a nightmare filled sleep now. You can go back and be all solicitous to Kasumi, now. KENT Solicitous? NABIKI gives him a weary, disgusted look. NABIKI "The best sukiyaki I've ever tasted"? What, like you're some conoisseur of sukiyaki? KENT I don't claim to be a conoisseur, but -- NABIKI Unless they've got kickass sukiyaki restaurants in ... where are you from again? KENT I was born in Kansas, but I moved to New York when I was a few years old. These days I live in -- NABIKI I don't *care*. You're trying to pull something on my sister ... how many times can you have had sukiyaki, anyway? KENT slowly steps up closer to NABIKI. KENT For the first, I'm not. Your older sister has a crush on me, and I'm trying to deal with it as best as I can. But her cooking is marvelous. And as for the second ... I think I had sukiyaki for the first time when your father was only about four years old. NABIKI Oh, come on ... you're only, what, thirty, thirty-five? KENT I'll be fifty on July first of this year. I age very well, but my family's just like that. NABIKI is startled. NABIKI No way. You can't be -- you've got to be lying. KENT I don't lie. NABIKI You and every politician in the -- KENT Nabiki. I don't lie. NABIKI stares at him, scared a bit. NABIKI What are you? KENT Just a traveller, that's all. I've been other things, but all that I am now is a traveller. NABIKI swallows and starts to head up the stairs. KENT You don't have to worry about the old man, Nabiki. He only wants revenge on Ranma and me. You can sleep peacefully. But if you have any dreams about this Kunou fellow, try and work out of them, he doesn't seem like a healthy person to be attracted to. NABIKI halts in midstep, and turns back to look ... but KENT has already walked away silently. Cut to a shot of an outdoor cafe, with AYEKA and RAYE sitting and enjoying some nice iced tea, and laughing their heads off. An X-FILES tankoubon is held in AYEKA's hand. AYEKA ... but the good part was watching her doing the dishes for a month! HAHAHA! RAYE Heheeh! Oh, wow, that's funny! I wish life at our temple was anywhere nearly as interesting. AYEKA Oh, don't sell yourself so short. That account of the young man there and how he became so maniacally jealous when he saw you with that ... very *handsome* woman was just as amusing. And he sounds *very* ardent, too. RAYE Oh yeah. But ... he's just not my type. I'm still looking for my type. AYEKA Well, I've found him. Now if we could just find time to be together without interruptions. RAYE Yeah. It's terrible when people just ... won't leave you in peace to be with the one you really care about. AYEKA And then try to monopolize him and steal him away! RAYE nods, solemnly. AYEKA looks for a moment like she's about to start ranting ... then collapses. AYEKA If I could only be *sure* of how he felt. RAYE Let me guess, he keeps everything under a tight lock and doesn't even hint at how he feels? AYEKA Nnnno ... not really. It's just that he's so different from what I was expecting. I thought that love, when if finally came to me, would be a great, mighty, proud hero. And what I got was an ordinary, gentle, humble, sweet man. But brave. Very, very brave ... just as brave as the hero of my dreams. Maybe braver. RAYE's eyes are far away. RAYE Love always surprises ... you think that someone is the last person on Earth that you'd ever want to be with ... and one day you'd realize that you'd give anything to be able to say how you really feel. And it scares you to think how much you love ... AYEKA Yes. But I can't be forceful about it, or he'll think I'm just as bad as *she* is ... There's a sudden beeping noise. AYEKA starts. RAYE Oh! Sorry, my watch is set to go off every night at seven, to remind me that I have to do a ceremony. But Chad said he'd do it for me, tonight, so I'll let him -- AYEKA Seven o'clock? RAYE nods. AYEKA Oh dear. Cut back to the street by the supermarket. MIHOSHI has started to eat the groceries as she stares nervously at the doors of the supermarket. A man comes out lock the doors, and then walks away. MIHOSHI I think something's wrong. Cut back to the cafe as AYEKA stands quickly, startling RAYE. She drops a few coins on the table. AYEKA I'm very sorry, Hino-san, but I have to hurry, or I'll get in trouble with ... my tour group. RAYE Yeah, I understand. Ayeka-san? AYEKA Yes? RAYE Um ... well, I sometimes do fire readings for romance ... if you could come by the temple while you're in Tokyo, I'd be glad to find out if this Tenchi guy really does love you. AYEKA Oh. Uh ... well, I'll try, but I have such a busy schedule! So, I can't really say. I will try, though. Thank you for all your help, Hino-san. RAYE No problem. AYEKA Good bye! RAYE Bye ... RAYE smiles suddenly. RAYE Nice girl. Really ... a little *stiff*, but... AYEKA dashes through the streets of Tokyo, coming at last to the ticket window of a train station. She gasps for air. AYEKA Huh ... hwh ... hwhen does the next train for ******** leave? TICKET CLERK Last train already left. Doesn't start again til tomorrow morning, around 5. AYEKA WHAAAAAAAAAAT? Cut to the TENCHI household, with TENCHI standing in the doorway looking anxious. TENCHI Dammit ... Mihoshi-san and Ayeka-san should have been back by now ... There's the sound of a phone ringing in the house. TENCHI turns and runs back into the house, but SASAMI gets to the phone before he does. SASAMI Moshi moshi? Mihoshi-neechan! Where are you? What? Mihoshi ... Mihoshi, I can't understand you ... please, Mihoshi, stop crying! She stares at the phone for a moment, then looks up at TENCHI with a pained expression. SASAMI Tenchi-niichan, could you ...? TENCHI smiles wearily, and takes the phone. TENCHI Mihoshi-san? The *wail* that comes from the phone at that point is so intense that TENCHI holds the phone away from his ear and looks rather dazed for a moment. He brings it back up as the wail subsides. TENCHI Mihoshi-san, what's wrong? No, Mihoshi, I'm not ... No! I promise that I won't yell at you. I *promise*. No, I won't pinky swear, because we can't link our pinkies over the *phone*, Mihoshi. Please, just tell me what has happened, so that I can -- TENCHI is silent for a long time as he listens. TENCHI What?! No, Mihoshi, I'm not yelling at you. Really! Mihoshi, just come home. No, nobody here is mad at you. Just come home, so we can figure out what happened together, okay? Yes, see you soon. He hangs up, avoiding looking at SASAMI. SASAMI Tenchi-niichan? TENCHI Sasami-chan, your sister went into the supermarket to get some food that they'd forgotten to get the first time they went in ... and she never came out. And the store is closed now, and Mihoshi is in a panic. SASAMI Oneechan? TENCHI Don't worry, Sasami ... I promise you that nothing is going to happen to your sister -- Cut to WASHUU's laboratory. She is working furiously at her console, a terrified expression on her face. A monitor displays what is going on with TENCHI and SASAMI. TENCHI (MONITOR) -- is going to happen to your sister because ... because she doesn't have anything to be afraid of -- WASHUU Boy are *you* wrong. Okay. Okay. For once, Mihoshi's dumb luck is working on my side, blocking Ayeka's call home like that, too bad for her but hey can't play koshi without killing a few storns. And a simple button will mangle her phone card when -- She idly casts a look at the monitor, and sees TENCHI holding onto SASAMI, who is crying freely. TENCHI is only barely holding back his own tears of fear. WASHUU I have to do it. We can't get involved, I'm just trying to protect you all, Ayeka has made her own bed -- Her hand is hovering over a button, but she doesn't look at it, staring at the monitor instead. RYOUKO materializes on the scene. RYOUKO (MONITOR) Hey, what's wrong? TENCHI (MONITOR) Ayeka has ... vanished, Ryouko. There is a brief silence. RYOUKO (MONITOR) And? SASAMI (MONITOR) RYOUKO! RYOUKO holds up her hands. RYOUKO (MONITOR) Hey, hey, calm down, I'm joking! SASAMI (MONITOR) IT'S *NOT* FUNNY! The phone rings. WASHUU realizes that she still hasn't pressed the button. On the monitor, RYOUKO picks up the phone. RYOUKO (MONITOR) Mo-- AYEKA? WASHUU No ... RYOUKO (MONITOR) Where *are* you? WASHUU NO! WASHUU stabs down the button. RYOUKO (MONITOR) Tokyo?! Hello? Ayeka? TENCHI (MONITOR) Ryouko, what -- RYOUKO (MONITOR) It got disconnected! WASHUU I'm sorry, I'm sorry, daughter, but you don't know what you're getting into if you go to Tokyo right now. The price is too high ... Cut to a gray, formless place. TSUNAMI stands before a portal, watching WASHUU. TSUNAMI Oh, Sister, you know not what you do ... this makes it all inevitable. AKANE (V.O.) If it was hard to write calmly about what happened with my family the night before I came home, it is harder yet to write about what Washuu-chan calmly admitted to doing to Ayeka-san, or what Sasami-chan told me about Tsunami. I don't think I'll ever understand how these godlike beings can find themselves so helpless ... but in any event ... Cut to a park bench in Tokyo, later on in the evening. AETHAN and MINAKO are sitting close together, looking up at the sky. MINAKO I wish we were out in the country. Then we'd be looking up at the stars instead of all this light pollution. AETHAN Truely. MINAKO You know ... my parents are out of town again ... so you could stay at my place, instead of that hotel. AETHAN I doubt that the guardian of your virtue would approve. MINAKO Artemis can go take a hike on a short pier. I mean, just because you're at my house doesn't mean anything would happen ... AETHAN Minako, I appreciate the offer, but I've already booked the hotel room for a week, and it would be terribly rude to cancel now. Besides, I'd rather not have to share a bathroom with you ... MINAKO Well, how are you gonna cope when we're living together? AETHAN gives MINAKO a slightly shocked look. AETHAN When was *this* decision made? MINAKO Well, I mean ... look, I think that I love you -- AETHAN I love you too, but -- He is suddenly crushed by MINAKO's wild embrace, and she kisses him with passion. AETHAN's eyes are wide. This goes on for several minutes before she releases him. AETHAN -- but don't you think that you're moving just a little too fast? Evidently not. MINAKO Aethan, I've told you about Crystal Tokyo, right? How I'm going to be alive a thousand years from now? AETHAN Yessss? MINAKO Well, ever since we met, I've been giving it a lot of thought. I don't want to fall in love with someone who's going to die hundreds of years before I do ... and you don't age. I want a man who will always be with me and our chil-- AETHAN I'm sterile. MINAKO blinks a few dozen times. MINAKO What? AETHAN Minako, I cannot father children. MINAKO Are you sure? AETHAN Very sure. I spent the better part of twenty years trying without success, several hundred years ago. MINAKO Really? AETHAN Would you like details? MINAKO No! No. Well ... that's not such a big deal. You're still the only person I want to spend eternity with -- AETHAN Yes. *Now.* MINAKO What? What do you mean? AETHAN Minako, I'm over fourteen hundred years old, and in those centuries I've changed more than I would have thought possible. At *this* point, now, you love me. Can you be sure that you still will in a thousand years time? I've never seen anyone whose love lasted that long. MINAKO But I *have*! And yes, I *do* believe that in Crystal Tokyo I will still want to wake up and have you be the first thing that I see. AETHAN reaches out and takes her hand in his. AETHAN And I want to believe that, too, but the point is -- The point is in fact lost to history as an ofuda streaks out of the darkness and slams into AETHAN's face, right between the eyebrows. MINAKO stares at it, confused. AETHAN slowly reaches up to tear the scroll off of his face, and stands, his fangs clearly in evidence. AETHAN Do you *mind*? RAYE is standing a few feet away. RAYE Stopping you from putting the moves on my friend? Not at all, gaki. AETHAN Oh, gods' sakes ... MINAKO also stands, her face very angry. MINAKO Raye! You promised that you weren't going to do this sort of thing! RAYE I said I wouldn't do it unless he showed signs of getting out of control. He was -- MINAKO He was *holding* *my* *hand*. RAYE Sure, first he holds your hand, then he's clasping your shoulder, then it's down your shirt -- MINAKO RAYE! AETHAN Good night, Minako. He starts to walk away. MINAKO Good n-- wait a minute! AETHAN No, Minako-chan, I've had a very long day, and I need my rest. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning, say sevenish, all right? MINAKO But -- AETHAN Ja ne. AETHAN suddenly turns to mist, which flows away. RAYE He even *runs* like a Negasleeze -- MINAKO looms over RAYE. MINAKO RRRRAAAAYE! RAYE Hey, I'm just looking out for you -- MINAKO The hell you are! Do you think it's not as obvious as a fiddler on the roof what you're doing? RAYE Obvious as a what? MINAKO Are you so *jealous* that you can't stand the thought of me finding someone to be with? RAYE Jealous?! MINAKO Yes! Jealous! Serena has Darien! Amy has Greg! Lita has ... anyway, this is the only relationship I've had with a guy other than my *cat* for over four years, and you're trying to ruin it because *you* don't have anyone! RAYE stares at MINAKO with a shocked look. RAYE Girl, you are *so* far out of it that it's not even funny. MINAKO Oh, am I? Oh, *am* I? RAYE Yes, you are! MINAKO Fine. Then stay the hell away from my lover! Who he is or what he is are none of your business! She storms away. RAYE stands alone for a moment. RAYE Lover?! The scene begins to shift to an aerial view of the city. AKANE (V.O.) And so, almost all the players were on the field, though only a small handful knew that the field existed. There remained only two final events of relevance to this story on that first night, each tied intimately to the other. They began in the vicinity of a certain temple in Nekomi. Cut to the front of the temple in question, then to the garage. MORISATO KEIICHI heads towards his motorcycle, zipping up his jacket as he does so. He climbs on. KEIICHI Belldandy? BELLDANDY (O.S.) Coming, Keiichi-san! She walks out, wearing a fashionable skirt and blazer, and slides easily into the sidecar. KEIICHI and BELLDANDY share a quiet smile before he guns the motor, and heads out towards the temple's main doors, which URD -- wearing a microminiskirt and halter -- is holding open. KEIICHI pulls to a stop just before heading out to speak to her. KEIICHI Um, Urd ... I don't want you to think that I don't trust you to not fight with Skuld -- URD Fight? Me? Would I do that? KEIICHI's long-suffering expression gives all the answer anyone could ever need for that particular question. KEIICHI -- well, anyway, I'd like to see the temple in one piece when we get back from our date. URD Of course! Don't worry about a thing, K-1. You two just have fun! KEIICHI still looks nervous, but BELLDANDY is smiling sunnily as they drive off. URD waves. URD And have wild kinky sex while you're having fun ... ah, if only Urdesiac Number 98 was ready to go. URD wanders back into the temple, and spies SKULD working hard on KEIICHI's scratchbuilt computer. The monitor displays what looks like a map of Tokyo with a number of blinking dots on it. URD heads over. URD Hey, brat, whatcha doin'? SKULD My *job*. You remember, what we *should* be doing instead of wasting time with Keiichi -- and in your case, aiding and abetting his efforts to get his hentai hands on Belldandy? URD is interested despite herself. URD So those are concentrations of bugs? SKULD Uh uh. Worse. Even a concentration of bugs with about the same density as a planet wouldn't produce these kinds of readings -- these are nexi of improbability. URD Ooh baby baby! I remember those ... aren't they supposed to be little pockets of chaos left over from the time of the Elder Gods? SKULD Supposedly. If you're dumb and superstitious enough to believe in the Elder Gods, at least. URD and SKULD trade hairy eyeballs. SKULD Anyway, what's *really* odd about the particular nexi that I'm tracking is that they seem to be mobile, although they have ... places that they "like" to be. Take this one in Jyuban, for instance -- it moves around a lot during the day, but during the evenings it seems to stay at *this* location. But the even *scarier* one is this one in Nerima -- it wasn't there when I checked yesterday, but there was a *smaller* one in that same location, and it seems to be combining with that one. URD How do you know that it's not just the same one that got bigger for some reason? SKULD Because if a nexus of improbability started growing at an exponential rate -- which it would *have* to in order to become that big -- every divinity in Heaven would be down here trying to contain it, and I'm *pretty* sure that we would have been ordered back home by now. So no such luck ... URD So now what? You gonna just boot this information upstairs? SKULD Well, only First Class Divinities are supposed to do investigations of nexi of improbability. URD In other words we should get Belldandy to do it. SKULD Right. URD Yawn. Boring. The two of us can handle it -- SKULD Oh no you don't, Urd! If you wanna get yourself in more trouble with the Almighty than you already are, go right ahead, but include me out! URD Welllll, when you put it like that ... SKULD What? URD I guess we'll just have to tell Belldandy all about it when she gets home from her date tonight ... who knows, maybe we'll even be able to check it out this very night ... SKULD Uh-huh ... URD Keiichi will probably insist on coming along though. You know, if I recall correctly, my first major discipline violation involved a small nexus ... yeah! It was in a nexus of improbability that I first met that hunk Sobekh and lost my -- SKULD plugs her ears. SKULD I do not want to *hear* this story! URD Wouldn't it be great if Keiichi and Belldandy wound up in a nexus together and got inspired to -- SKULD Okay! Okay! OKAY! I'll help you out, just quit putting disgusting images in my head! URD Game, set, and match. Okay, let's go out to Nerima tomorrow then. Cut to high above the Temple. MARA -- a pale-skinned woman with a symetrical tatoos on her brow and cheeks, dressed in clothing that is even more outrageously exploitative than URD's -- is floating and looking down. MARA Ah-ha! So, going to check out a nexus, are they? Well, they will learn the hard way that such things can be easily used to grant me my vengeance on those rotten godesses! So says Mara! Demon First Cla-- Huh? MARA's gaze is suddenly drawn in the direction of Mount Fuji. She stands stock still for a moment, then slowly begins to shake her head, clearly shocked by something. MARA No way ... NO WAY! Immediately, she is flying at top speed towards Mount Fuji. MARA I don't believe this! How could anyone, even a *mortal*, be so stupid as to try *that* summons? Not even the Queen of Hel is that crazy, and -- A small pebble hurtles up from the city to strike MARA between the eyeballs, stunning her in mid monologue, and causing her to drop like a rock. She crash lands in an alley, coming to rest on a pile of garbage. We see her from the perspective of someone standing on the roof of a building overlooking the alley. FEMALE VOICE (O.S.) How appropriate. The point of view shifts to look at the gathering clouds over Mount Fuji. Cut to the someplace high on Mount Fuji, a barren rocky clearing. A crude *inverted* pentagram has been drawn in the ground, with a fire in the middle. HAPPOSAI is dancing around the pentagram, chanting in Old Tibetan. His chanting grows fervent, until at last he stands before the apex of the pyramid. HAPPOSAI And now ... the sacrifice. Tears begin to flow down his face. HAPPOSAI Forgive me this, my darling one! >From within his shirt he draws a *huge* bra, and *tries* to fling it into the fire. But he can't bring himself to do it. He tries several times, and he cannot do it. He clutches the bra to himself. HAPPOSAI If there were any other way ... I would take it! But I know of no other way to accomplish my -- no, *our* vengeance! So I *MUST*! And with a horrid cry, he flings the bra into the fire at the centre of the pentagram. It turns black and begins to crumble quickly. HAPPOSAI COME FORTH OH LORD OF DARKNESS! The fire blazes up suddenly, burning so brightly that HAPPOSAI has to look away. Our point of view is from a position somewhere along the midpoint between him and the centre of the pentagram. The fire dies down swiftly, but an immense shadow grows up from the shadow of the flames. HAPPOSAI turns to look at the source of the shadow ... and pales. HAPPOSAI Um ... gee. I was expecting someone ... smaller. THE ADVERSARY WHO CALLS? HAPPOSAI straightens. HAPPOSAI I, Happosai, Master of the School of Musabetsu Kakuto, have called you here! THE ADVERSARY WHY? HAPPOSAI You will give me the power I need to avenge myself on my disobedient student, Saotome Ranma, and on one who has aided him, an American named -- THE ADVERSARY MASEFIELD. HAPPOSAI seems ... shaken by that. HAPPOSAI Uh -- I ... I take it that you've heard of him? THE ADVERSARY YES. HAPPOSAI So much the better, for you will be avenging yourself on your enemy as well as mine! Such a good deed ... ahem. I offer as payment for your services the souls of all who stand with our enemies and against us! THE ADVERSARY INTERESTING. HAPPOSAI Then you agree? THE ADVERSARY I SPOKE OF THE WAY IN WHICH YOU SOUGHT TO SUMMON ME. THE SACRIFICE OF A VIRGIN IS MEANT TO BE SYMBOLIC NOT ONLY OF LOSS OF PURITY, BUT ALSO OF THE EXTREME DANGER WHICH AWAITS ANYONE WHO TRAFFICKS WITH DEMONKIND. AS REDUCING THE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL BREEDING FEMALES THREATENS THE FUTURE OF YOUR SPECIES, SO DOES THIS RITUAL. BUT INSTEAD YOU GAVE UP THAT WHICH YOUR DISEASED MIND VIEWS AS THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN THE UNIVERSE ... WHICH IS ALSO THE SOURCE OF YOUR POWER, PLACING YOURSELF IN JEOPARDY. HAPPOSAI Uh ... yeah! I thought the book meant a virgin white -- The shadow moves up higher, almost touching HAPPOSAI as he looks away for a moment. When HAPPOSAI realizes what has happened, his eyes get wide as saucers again. HAPPOSAI Hey! How -- you're not supposed to be able to leave the pentagram without my permission!! THE ADVERSARY YES. THE BINDING SPELL YOU USED WAS WELL DONE ... IT WOULD INDEED HAVE KEPT ME IN THE PENTAGRAM INTO WHICH YOU SUMMONED ME. IF YOU HAD SUMMONED ME. AS I SAID ... INTERESTING. And the shadow rushes even higher as our point of view comes into an extreme close up on HAPPOSAI's shocked face. HAPPOSAI Oh my. Everything goes black. AKANE (V.O.) And that was the beginning of the War against the Adversary. TO BE CONTINUED