Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ One-Half a Wing and a Prayer ❯ Falling into Place ( Chapter 31 )

Author’s Note: The cast of Ranma ½ are the work of Rumiko Takahashi, and were distributed by Kitty and Viz. I am not Takahashi sensei and claim no IP rights. Personally I’m glad because the crew of OHWP thinks she’s twisted. As always, a warning for naughty bits ahead, sex, violence and the like. No minors or easily offended people allowed.
P.S.: Janice is still the driving force behind this, but now I write for the fans of the story as well.


Shampoo considered her move carefully.

She had already established a perimeter, and even though her opponent held a confident smile, she knew that Kodachi Kuno was not the tactical warrior that she was. Granted, her idea of tactics was frontal assault all the way, but Nabiki was slowly showing her that subtlety was just as devastating.

Confidently, she made her next move.

“E-7.”

Scowling, Kodachi picked up a red peg, “You sank my carrier! Is Nabiki helping you?”

“Don’t drag me into this,” Nabiki said from across the room. “You’re the one who said playing Monopoly against me was a waste of time.”

Ranma also looked up from his hand, grimacing at the fact that Akane and Nabiki were still walking all over him at UNO, “Look, I know it’s a little dull, but Alexis said that she’d be right back after she met with Dizzy. We just need to kill another hour or so.” He winced again as Akane tossed down a wild draw four and sighed aloud, “At least it isn’t Old Maid.”

Akane growled lightly, “You trying to say something?”

“No, no,” Ranma answered, waving his hands defensively, and allowing Nabiki a good look at his cards, “I just have bad memories of that game.”

Nabiki smiled, “We could always get Twister out. That could be…entertaining.”

“Not with two gymnasts, a cat girl, and a pack of perverts it won’t,” snapped Akane as Nabiki skipped her.

Kasumi smiled as she set a tray of drinks down in the middle of the table, “At least none of you challenged Father again.”

“Your old man spent way too much time around mine,” grumbled Ranma as he surveyed his hand, “He is way too good at cheating for any of us to beat.”

“B-4,” Kodachi said, getting back to her own game.

“Miss.”

“Damn!”

One Half a Wing and a Prayer
By Seth

Chapter 31
Falling into Place


Despair sat in her neatly tailored business suit sipping from the tea provided by the helpful attendant at the open air café that her sister had told her to meet at. She understood Alexis’ need to meet in a public place, especially after the fiasco the other night.

The interrogation of her team had been a slow, annoying process as none of the assassins were quite sure how it had all happened, and at least one of them would be unfit for duty for quite some time. He also seemed to be unfit for normal communication and was continuously babbling about laughter, clutching his ears.

She sighed aloud, “How the hell did all this happen?”

“Rough morning, Sis?”

Despair looked up to see Alexis, in new attire, slide into the seat across from her. She had traded cutoffs and a t-shirt for a new outfit of tight leather hot pants and a red leather bra.

“Nice look,” Despair commented, “and rougher then I’d like, yes. Do you know what happened?”

Alexis leaned back grinning and chirped, “Of course. I sent those punks of yours in to get slaughtered. Ranma seems to be quite inspired when it comes to annoying people, doesn’t she? And she picked out the outfit to boot.”

For a moment, the older succubus thought her pink haired sister was joking, but the smile on Alexis’ face was full of mirth that wouldn’t have been there normally after a botched mission. Carefully, she took another sip of her tea and considered her sister.

Finally she asked, “What’s going on here, dear sister?”

“I tried to warn you,” Alexis shrugged, “Ranma wants nothing to do with the Guild. She was also pretty straight forward about what she thinks about Daddy. Ahem, and I quote, ‘The ol’ basterd can sit on a cactus for all I care.’ Graphic, but it gets the point across.”

Despair blinked for a moment, then collected herself and sighed, “You seem to be taking this rather…lightly. Can I assume that you are also going to say something I won’t like?”

“Sorry Dizzy,” and surprisingly, there was sorrow in the young demon’s voice. “You were the one to tell me all about Amnara. And now, here’s a new version of her with Master Happosai. You know how I feel about him. I didn’t really mean for it to go this way, but Ranma showed me something that really shook me.”

Despair asked sternly, “And what could she possibly say that would make you betray Father?”

Alexis sighed, “Her soul.”

Silence fell over the table for several long moments, than Despair said softly, “It wasn’t, you know. It was probably just residue from when she became one of us. From what the Amazon told us, the imprint of the demon transformed her. That would have destroyed her soul.”

“No,” Alexis said confidently, “I saw it, and its power. The transformation took place, sure, but Ranma is still human in her core. From what I found out, it’s because Amnara found her soul before she died all those years ago.”

Despair shook her head, “You can’t truly believe that, can you? Amnara betrayed me…us all those years ago. She was a runaway who got herself killed by weak little humans. What you’re talking about is fantasy.”

Alexis nodded, “Master Happosai thought you’d say that. So did Ranma. That’s why she asked me to deliver this to you.”

The pink haired girl slid a folded note out of her jacket and passed it to her sister who opened it without hesitation.

“Dear Dizzy,” she read aloud, grunting in annoyance at the nickname. “By now you’ve been told a lot of things that you are not going to believe, so we’ll make this simple. I, Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School and inheritor of the form of Amnara Nightbane formally challenge you to one on one combat tonight at midnight on the grounds of Furinkan High School. If I win, you will listen to what I have to tell you with an open mind. If I lose…well, Alexis has told me that you’ll likely try and kill me, so I’ll be dead if I lose. Looking forward to bashing your face in over the whole William thing. Love, your sort of sister, Ranma.”

Despair folded the paper closed again and looked Alexis in the eye, “You have to be joking.” Alexis shook her head, and Despair continued, “She sends a challenge, and wants to meet in some schoolyard at midnight?” Alexis nodded. “Who does this little bitch think she is?”

“A martial artist,” Alexis answered, “and she takes her honor very seriously. Doing anything less under the circumstances would be blasphemous to her. What should I give to her as your answer?”

“Stop joking,” Despair growled out, “and take me to her now so I can rip her so called soul out and present it to Father as we were told to do.”

“No.”

“No?”

A lexis nodded, “Sorry, this is how it goes down. And before you accuse me of anything, let me tell you this. I’m letting the Guild rot without me, and so should you if you want to survive.”

The older demoness’ eyes flashed red for a moment, showing her anger at her sister’s flippant remark. She quickly gained control over herself however, and sat back to really consider the past few moments.

Finally, she softly spoke, “Very well, I’ll meet Ranma tonight. But after that, you had best hope she has killed me, because I’m going to have to come after you. You know the price you must pay for breaking from the Guild.”

“Bull shit,” Alexis said bluntly. “The Guild has lied to us for years, and what’s worse, even Daddy would be thrilled to kill us just for fun if it suited him. I never wanted that life, and neither did Amnara. And you know what? Deep down, neither do you. You’re just too scared to admit it.” Alexis stood and turned to leave, but looked back and added, “Ranma can offer something Daddy…no, the Guildmaster never could. She can make us a family.”

The pink haired girl strode away, leaving her sister almost shaking in rage.

Despair tried to calm herself, but the idea of both of her younger sisters walking away from the Guild in such a dramatic fashion gnawed at the edge of her mind. Amnara had walked away the first time for love, and had fled the second time due to hatred of her father. Now Alexis was making a similar mistake by trying to flee the Guild because of some misguided idea that a demon could possess a human soul.

It would be easy to follow Alexis back to the Tendo Dojo with a squad of assasins and finish the job right, but she knew that an assault right now would rob the lesser demons of their advantages in the dark.

She sat back to finish her tea and considered another plan. To bring down Ranma and Alexis, she would need to bring considerable force to bear. She had no illusion that she would face the combined might of whatever forces were assembled in the Tendo compound, and she would need to call in an equal number to destroy them. Double that number if she wanted to do it right.

Ironically, it was one of Amnara’s own lessons to her that led to this strategy.

“When subtlety fails,” the redhead had once said, “bash their head in with a wooden plank.”

As Alexis walked back to the Dojo she knew that her sister would be scheming up ways to counter perceived threats at the match tonight, or even figuring a way to sabotage the entire event by striking from unexpected directions. She had told Ranma all this, pointing out that Despair was not above using assassins and other underhanded tactics.

But her new big brother only smiled and told her, “She may fight dirty, and I can too if I have to. But if I do it won’t do anything to convince her I’m different, and I have a code of honor that won’t let me go back on my word. I’ve challenged her, and it’s up to her to honor the challenge.”

It didn’t matter how hard Alexis had argued with him, he had made his mind up, and she found no help from anyone else in the Tendo house.

“Bloody martial artists,” she grumbled to herself as she turned the last corner leading to the Tendo home. She stopped as she approached the gate, taking in the very well built boy standing in front of the closed entrance, staring blankly at the sign.

Sliding silently up to the lost looking male, she took in his rugged, all be it dirty, appearance. A battered yellow shirt and lose green pants tied at the bottom with yellow string. Fighting slippers similar to the ones Ranma usually wore, and a black spotted yellow bandana around his head.

He also looked like he was trying to make a decision that he really wanted to put off.

She was about to clear her throat to get his attention, and see if he would be good for a ride, when he suddenly looked skyward and sighed, “This is all Ranma’s fault.”

With a smile, Alexis chimed in, “How’s that?”

Without looking back at her the young man continued, “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I just would have bashed him into a pulp a long time ago and been done with it. But no, he has to go ruin everything by being so damn forgiving. I could just kill him for it, if it weren’t for all the other crap.”

Now genuinely curious, especially since the boy had just admitted to wanting to kill her ‘brother’, Alexis asked, “What other stuff is that?”

“The bastard is…” he paused and started again, “Why are you so curious?”

He turned around, and took in Alexis’ smiling face. She was a little shorter then Ranma’s girl form, and her hair was a few shades lighter, making it pinkish in color, but her frame and posture were almost identical to his rival. Her wardrobe on the other hand made Ryoga Hibiki blush ferociously.

After all, with the slight height advantage he had, it was almost unavoidable to look down her rather exposed cleavage.

Acting quickly, Ryoga pinched his nose and spun away from the girl, forcing the creamy soft skin from his mind.

Like that would work.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no, no,” Ryoga managed to get out, “but shouldn’t you be wearing some clothes or something?”

Alexis smirked, but decided to have a little fun with the shy boy, “What, you think I’m unattractive? Am I so hideous you can’t stand to look at me?”

“No, it’s just…I…um…erk?”

“Good one, Porky. ‘Erk’ will really win her over.”

Alexis and Ryoga looked up to see Ranma sitting on the compound wall smiling down at the two of them. He jumped down and landed lightly between the two of them, wrapping his arm around Ryoga and pulled him in conspiratorialy.

“Best bet to get back on her good side is to butter up her big brother,” he told Ryoga in low tones.

The lost boy took this as good advice and asked, “Who’s that?”

Ranma flipped away to land next to the pink haired girl and gave a huge smile, “Me.”

Ryoga slumped, “I hate my life.”

“I do too,” chirped Ranma. He then added, “So what you doing here anyway?”

Ryoga twiddled his fingers for a moment and kept glancing at the dojo until finally Ranma cleared his throat. The lost boy looked up again and sighed deeply.

“I’m here to do what you told me,” he admitted. “I’m going to tell Akane about…well, you know…”

Ranma’s smile became wider at this, “Glad to hear. I think that neither one of us wants this to keep going on like this. But it’s going to be rough; you spent so much time around here as P-Chan she may not forgive you. You know that, right?”

“You’re not making this any easier, you know! She’s the first REAL girl I’ve had feelings for. If she rejects me…I don’t think I can handle it,” Ryoga said, ending almost in a whisper.

“Oh, isn’t he so cute when he’s down on himself,” cooed Alexis making Ryoga blush. “If the hammer happy tomboy doesn’t want him, can I suck him dry?”

“I really didn’t need that image,” mumbled Ranma. He took a deep breath and added, “I’m glad you worked up the guts, especially since Nabiki was running out of patience. We’ve been a little busy around here, and having one less thing to worry about is gonna help a lot.”

Ryoga blinked at this and forced a snarl down, “What could possibly be wrong with your perfect little life? Gained another superpower? Or did you find another girl to worship the defiled ground you walk on?”

“Look douche bag,” growled Ranma, “if you want to take that attitude I can momentarily forget my promise not to fry you where you stand. We got hit by demon assassins last night, and their boss lady is meeting me tonight for a showdown.” He paused, and at the look of disinterest in Ryoga’s face added, “They took a shot at Akane too, numb nuts.”

That got Ryoga’s attention and the fanged youth marched up to Ranma, grabbing him by the collar, “What did you do this time, Saotome?”

“You really want to put my brother down,” Alexis said softly. Ryoga turned to bite off a sharp remark, but found he was drowning in swirling blue eyes fixed on his. With a sigh of contentment, he let Ranma go. The pink haired girl that filled his vision gave him a small smile that caused a small leak of blood to dribble out his nose, and he was about to stammer out a greeting to the girl when she reared back her fist and socked him right in the mouth.

Alexis let him out of her hypnotic gaze and turned to Ranma, “So who is this guy anyway?”

Ranma sighed, “An old friend, sort of. He’s got no sense of direction, or of how to deal with women, but he’s as strong as an ox. Too bad he has a temper to match.”

“I’m right here you know,” Ryoga snarled. He then turned to glare at the pink haired girl and continued, “How the hell did you do that anyway? I thought only demons could do that.”

The smiles returned to the two ‘siblings’ and Ranma pulled Ryoga into the Tendo compound, closing the gate behind them. He then nodded to Alexis who, much to the surprise of Ryoga shrugged off her jacket and sprouted a pair of wings identical to the ones Ranma had in his female form.

The bandana wearing martial artist looked over at Ranma and asked calmly, “Did you do that to her?”

“I’m a succubus, not a vampire or werewolf,” said Alexis as she folded her wings away and put her jacket back on. “I was born with this, just like Ranma was in her past life.”

“Her past life?”

“Buddy,” Ranma declared, “we have a LOT to catch you up on.”

With that he led Ryoga into the house, careful to keep a hand on his one time friend’s shoulder so that he didn’t wander off in the middle of the story. Finding seats at the living room table, where Nabiki gave Ryoga a hard look and a grunt before turning back to a book, they told him all he had missed in the last few days.

As Ryoga herd about Amnara’s life, his face darkened and he asked solemnly, “This Guild killed everyone around her?”

Ranma nodded in reply, “That’s why we have to be a little more direct with these people. Alexis has been looking for an out, and I want nothing to do with the bunch of them. But as long as they think they can walk all over humans they’re going to keep believing that they can get their way.”

“Ranma’s right, Hibiki,” Nabiki said from behind her book. “Take your bread feud with Ranma and amp it up by a hundred fold. It’s just a matter of time before things get deadly around here, so all we can do is fight back.”

Ryoga considered the psychic’s words, and sighed deeply. But before he could get anything out, Akane entered the room and he froze in place.

“Oh, Ryoga,” they youngest Tendo greeted. “Did you come to help out against Ranma’s evil demon sister?”

Ryoga looked at Alexis with a sharp glance, and she quickly answered, “Wrong one. We have an older sister. She’s the one Ranma’s fighting tonight.”

“So it went down like I thought,” Nabiki said more then asked. She closed her book and her eyes, and concentrated for a moment. As if summoned, the rest of the household drifted into the living room and found places to sit.

Ryoga looked around at the serious expressions, especially on the faces of Soun, Happosai and Cologne; he could only come to one conclusion.

This was a council of war.

Alexis started, “Despair is going to show tonight, but she’s already plotting, if I know anything about her. She’s probably going to show in force, and send a second team here to kill off anyone left behind. She really likes being thorough.”

“Then it’s a good thing I do too,” Nabiki added. “If we all just go, they’ll trash this place and just come up behind us. But splitting our force too much could leave us vulnerable at the fight. I doubt that Ranma can keep this honest on his own.”

Cologne spoke next, “Happi and I can stay here. Unless they send an army, the two of us should be able to handle them.”

“The three of us,” Soun added. When the others looked at him, he looked down, “This is our home, and while my children are going off to battle, I know that they can take care of themselves. I have no place in that battlefield, and the Master and I have spoken about this already.”

“Soun is going back into training,” Happosai said to the surprise of everyone at the table. “While I have declared Ranma my heir, the school will still need superior teachers. The fact that he has let his skills degrade for so many years means that I need to keep an eye on him till I deem him ready to resume his place as a Master of the School.”

“That almost sounded like you care about your students, Gramps. Better be careful there,” Ranma scolded. Happosai turned up his nose at his young apprentice, and got a chuckle from most of the room.

“The rest of us are going to the fight to make sure that it stays one on one between Ranma and Despair,” Alexis continued after a moment.”

Shampoo spoke next with a question, “What we expect from eldest demon sister?”

“She’ll bring in troopers this time,” Alexis answered, and Happosai nodded his agreement. “The assassins you fought before were all about speed and stealth. The Guild foot soldiers are a lot tougher. They may not be as strong as a full demoness, but they are more then enough to wipe out groups of normal humans single handedly.”

“It is a good thing then,” Kodachi said with a cold voice, “that none of us are quite ‘normal’ as it were.”

Ryoga looked around in confusion at the dynamic that seemed to have developed in the household. He knew that Ranma and Nabiki had unusual powers, and Kasumi and Kodachi had their gymnastics training. But that didn’t seem like it was going to be enough to take on a pack of demons.

“Um,” he spoke up, “are all of you nuts? You’re talking about fighting things that are going to be trying to kill you. And most of you aren’t martial artists. Shouldn’t you let the police, or someone else, handle this?”

“Actually,” Ranma said with one of his infuriating smirks, “I was going to ask you to tag along. You probably have more brute strength then any of these jokers, and almost as much skill as I do. Add in the fact that none of them know a thing about you, and we get a little element of surprise in too. What do you say?”

Ryoga growled out, “Why on earth should I help you?”

Ranma took in the other boy’s mood and was tempted to hold the revelation of his curse over his head. He shook his head at that, realizing that that was something his father would do. Closing his eyes, he thought for a moment, and then spoke softly.

“A debt of honor.”

Ryoga blinked at that. Ranma had effectively just offered him a carte blanche favor that he would be obliged to repay on his oath. The lost boy took a moment to consider this carefully as the others around him continued making battle plans. Standing, he made his way, with subtle guidance from some of the others, to the porch looking out over the back yard. Sitting down outside, Ryoga took a deep breath and thought. He really didn’t have a problem with helping Ranma, and his fear that the pig tailed boy would reveal his secret was now placed by the wayside. What bothered Ryoga was far more primal.

Fear.

He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but his one battle with an enraged demonic Ranma had shook him deeply. Sure, he had faced more then his share of challenges, and had even been in life risking situations more then once. But the cold look in Ranma’s glowing red eyes still haunted him.

To fight a small army of demons seemed like pure madness to him.

Dusk was beginning to fall, and he still had yet to make up his mind on the matter. He saw that most of the rest of the group had left, most likely to get some rest before the battle.

“Yen for your thoughts?”

Ryoga looked up to see Akane doing some simple stretches on the lawn. Even in her plain gi, Ryoga was entranced by the girl, but shook it off as he realized that this was what he had come for. Standing he walked out and stood across from Akane, his nerves on edge.

“Actually,” he started, “I wanted to talk to you. I had no idea all of this was going on, and if now isn’t a good time…”

Akane stopped, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just another crazy fight in the life of a Tendo. I’ve been training a lot more recently, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.”

“That’s something I don’t get,” Ryoga commented. “You and Ranma never seem to really get along. Why are you helping him?”

The short haired girl actually laughed at that, “For a while, I wouldn’t have. But Nabiki loves the creep, and he’s looked out for her. He also seems to take this very seriously, and you can almost feel sorry for him after everything he’s gone through. You and I are lucky. We don’t have to worry about demon heritages and curses.”

Ryoga gulped loudly, and fought his first impulse to run. “Actually, it’s funny you mention that,” he stammered out. He took a deep breath, and dropped to his knees. Akane seemed shocked at the look of despair on his face, and move forward to comfort the boy. But before she reached out to him, he held up his hand.

“I’ve done a terrible thing, and it’s taken me so long to admit it because I was scared.”

Akane looked down at the boy in worry and asked, “Why are you scared?”

“I’m afraid because if I tell my secret, then someone I may have feelings for will hate me forever. After the way my first…crush turned out, I don’t think I can handle rejection like that.”

Akane knelt in front of the lost boy and took his face in her hands, “No one could hate you, Ryoga. Sure, you’re a little rough, but you’re a kind person. After what Ranma did to you, I understand if you’re a little nervous, but you can’t let that stop you. If you do, then you lose before you start.”

“Thank you, Akane,” Ryoga said in a low voice. Taking a deep breath he collected his nerves and stood facing her. “I’ve wronged you. I hid something from you that you should have been told. Ranma and Nabiki have given me this chance to come clean so that I can salvage what’s left of my honor. They kept my secret at my request, and I ask that you don’t hold them responsible for that.”

Akane looked at the boy and asked, “What are you talking about? What could be so bad that you kept it from me?”

Ryoga walked to the edge of the koi pond and looked down, “Two and a half months ago, Ranma passed through China. At the time I was following him to get my revenge.”

“I remember you talking about that,” Akane told him. “You wound up seeing Ranma’s girl form. Does this have something to do with that? You didn’t sleep with her, did you?”

“No, no, no!” Ryoga calmed himself, and fought down the images of a nude redhead in the Tendo bathroom. After a long pause he continued, “It was when I saw her the first time. I was standing on a cliff over a valley, trying to get my bearings. Ranma, in girl form and barely dressed, came out of the woods. You know what happened to my feelings then, but what you don’t know is what happened to the rest of me. I lost my balance on the edge of the cliff…and fell into the valley below.”

“Oh,” gasped Akane, “were you all right?”

“Yes,” Ryoga answered, then managed to get out, “the spring water broke my fall.”

“Thank goodness,” Akane sighed. She was about to ask him to continue when she noticed his despondent and expectant look. Figuring that he must have said something of importance she thought back over what he had said. He had been in China…following Ranma…and fell off a cliff into a valley…and landed in a spring.

Akane moved and dipped her hands in the koi pond, cupping them and bringing a small amount of water out. She turned back to face Ryoga, and saw the boy wince at what she intended to do. But he knuckled down, and with clinched fists at his sides and eyes squeezed closed, he awaited the inevitable.

Akane lifted her hands and slowly let the water pour over the form of Ryoga, and as she feared he began to change. A quick and drastic reduction in size caused him to be swallowed by his clothes. As they fell, a small thump could be heard on the ground, and Akane kneeled once more. She moved the yellow shirt Ryoga habitually wore and found what he had been transformed into.

Her hands went to her mouth as she gasped in realization as her pet piglet sat before her, still wearing Ryoga’s bandana and clinching his large eyes closed. A small and pitiful piggy whine was the only sound that disturbed the moment.

Then there was silence again.

Ryoga risked opening an eye to look up at the young girl, and what he found made him hunch down even lower. Akane was almost glowing in fury, her hand raised with a flaming mallet, shaking in mid air. After a few moments, the mallet had refused to move, and Ryoga looked up as the girl seemed to control her anger.

Her next declaration voided this hope however, “Damn it Nabiki, get out of my mind!” Ryoga whipped his head around to look at the porch, and saw the middle Tendo sister with her eyes closed, holding up a hand in a warding gesture. The middle Tendo sister walked out to where Akane still struggled to smash her mallet down and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“We need him,” Nabiki said calmly. “Besides, do you really want to give into that anger?”

Akane yelled out, “Yes! What’s the use of all that time with a god damned shrink telling me that people aren’t perverted, and I find out that a boy has been sleeping in my bed?! God, I snuggled with that little piglet! Why shouldn’t I be mad with him?! And you, and Ranma for that matter!”

Nabiki winced, but collected herself quickly and looked Akane in the eye, “We made a few bad choices, I won’t deny it.” Akane gave a snort of disgust, but Nabiki continued on, “But do you really think I would let anything like that happen to you? Ryoga enforced his secret on Ranma because Ranma felt guilty about what happened. But neither of us gave Ryoga an inch. Did he ever really look at you in a perverted way? Did he treat you poorly? Did the little swine even look at you while you changed?”

Akane wanted to fume, to let the anger consume her, but Nabiki wouldn’t let her, and an icy blanket wrapped around her mind, letting her take a moment to think. She knew that Nabiki was stealing her anger, but she also knew that her sister wouldn’t invade her mind like that unless there was a point to be made, so she used her moment of clear thought to look back at her times with the cursed martial artist.

“No,” she whispered out in answer to Nabiki’s questions.

A small thermos floated out of the house and into Nabiki’s hand as the coldness left Akane’s mind, and Nabiki opened it over the black piglet, returning Ryoga to his birth form. Quickly the boy pulled his clothes back on.

“So now the two of you need to talk,” Nabiki said sternly. “I want you to talk until there is nothing left to say, but remember, you don’t have much time. We move out at fifteen till midnight, and I want you both rested and ready. Got me Hibiki?”

“I haven’t even said I’d help yet,” grumbled Ryoga.

“Please,” Nabiki smirked, “Ranma going toe to toe with a high demon who was her sister in a past life. Add in a horde of skilled warriors to fight against. Plus a chance to mitigate the damage you’ve done. Need I go on?”

Sighing, Ryoga mumbled, “Fine, I’ll be there with freaking bells on.”

“Good,” Nabiki chirped in a happy voice, spun on one heel and marched into the house, leaving the two teens to work through the new twist in their relationship.

Heading into her room, she saw Shampoo sleeping comfortably in her cat-girl form, rolled up into a ball on Nabiki’s bed as Ranma simply sat on the edge of the bed, lightly petting the blue haired girl and staring out the window into the dark sky.

“It’s taken care of,” she said quietly as she joined the redhead. Ranma only nodded as she continued to gaze out the window, and for a time, all was peaceful as Ranma and Nabiki, their hands intertwined, stroked the softly purring form between them. There was no real need for words between them, it had all been said, and they drew comfort from each other’s presence, and the bond they all shared.

Ranma felt the warmth of Nabiki’s confidence and control within her, just as she felt Shampoo’s determination and playfulness, even as she slept. The redheaded demoness knew that they would fight along side her with pride and strength, and afterward would stand beside her in love and friendship. It was the most wonderful thing Ranma had ever felt, and right then and there she vowed to herself that she would win that night, if for no other reason then the love of the two beautiful girls with her at that moment.

The soft buzz of Nabiki’s alarm shock her from her revere and awoke Nabiki, who had drifted off, leaning across Shampoo’s back. The cat-girl was also roused, and stretched out with a silent yawn. The Amazon then sat up and gave a warm kiss to each girl.

Ranma stood, and announced, “Let’s get ready.”

She was about to disrobe and change when Shampoo placed a hand on her own and spoke, “You no do that.”

“Shampoo’s right, lover girl,” Nabiki added with a smile. “It’s tradition that the servants prepare the master for battle.”

Ranma was about to object, but a kiss on each cheek by her two lovers silenced her, and she merely mumbled out, “Fine. What am I going to do with you two?”

“Love us forever,” Shampoo whispered in her ear as she began to undo Ranma’s tunic. Nimble hands undid the simple ties that held the red shirt closed. Once the last was undone, Shampoo pulled it open, and Nabiki took the collar from behind as Ranma shrugged out of it. Then Nabiki knelt behind the girl and wrapped her arms around the small waist of the redhead, deftly undoing the tie holding her pants up. Pulling them slowly down, along with Ranma’s boxer shorts, Nabiki lightly kissed Ranma’s backside as it was exposed. Shampoo held Ranma’s hands as she stepped out of her trousers, and the two girls moved about, preparing Ranma’s leathers for dressing.

The corset was placed on Ranma first, each girl lightly licking a breast before they placed the cool leather against Ranma’s skin. They moved behind the demoness as Ranma raised her arms, allowing them to work the garment on. With care, the two girls laced the leather along Ranma’s back, making sure that it would not impede the appearance of her wings. They then kissed Ranma on the shoulders as the redhead lowered her arms again, their lips briefly making contact with her neck, causing a small shiver to run up the girl’s spine.

Next came the gloves. Each girl took an arm, sliding the silk up on both arms and taking care to tug it snugly so that the elbow length garments would stay on in the battle. Once they were on the girls moved on to pick up Ranma’s boots. Shampoo led Ranma to sit down in Nabiki’s desk chair and the psychic girl knelt in from of Ranma. The middle Tendo sister kissed Ranma lightly on the top of each foot before pulling the boots on, and was glad they had spent a little time polishing the leather as it gleamed in the moonlight that filtered in through the window.

Once the heeled boots were on, Ranma was allowed to stand once more and Shampoo traded places with Nabiki, who stood to offer her hands in support as Shampoo held the back leather thong out for Ranma to step into. As she did so, Shampoo allowed her hands to run over Ranma’s thighs, guiding the small garment into place. But before she tucked the thong into its final place, shampoo gave a long and deep kiss to Ranma’s lower lips, sending yet another shiver of pleasure along the demoness’ spine.

With a final tug, the small piece of leather was secure, and both girls stood once more before Ranma. Nabiki moved forward and moved her hands around Ranma’s neck, securing the black choker Ranma wore into place, its dark material a contrast against Ranma’s light skin. Nabiki then embraced Ranma and gave the shorter girl a deep, searing kiss that lasted for a good long while.

She then stepped back and Shampoo took her place. The Amazon knelt in front of Ranma once more and used a small fastener to attach Ranma’s whip to her side, ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. The blue haired girl then stood again and copied Nabiki, giving the redhead a passion filled kiss that left both girls dizzy for a moment.

Ranma smiled as her two loves stepped back, and bowed slightly to her, and she returned the gesture.

Minutes later, a gathering took place in the back yard of the Tendo house. Happosai, Cologne and Soun stood on the porch as the teens gathered to go off to battle. Kodachi and Kasumi stood in matching leotards, black roses adorning the tight outfits. Akane wore her gi, and was flexing her hands, testing the weight of her hammer for the coming battle. Alexis leaned against the tree, wearing her red leathers and nervously flicking a small knife into and out of her jacket pocket. Ryoga stood to one side, gazing into space, and avoiding looking at any of the girls in the yard.

At last, Nabiki levitated down from her room clad in kung-fu slippers, low riding black tights and a black sports bra, the mark that proclaimed her bonded to Ranma proudly displayed on her bare skin. Shampoo dropped down next to her once she landed showing off her feline grace as well as an identical outfit with a hole cut in the bottoms for her tail and her feet uncovered allowing her enlarged claws freedom. Her own brand was exposed as well, and both girls wore identical black chokers that bore a single red stud.

Finally Ranma left the second floor of the Tendo house and rode the wind down to meet the war party. As she touched down, she had to hide her smirk behind a serious expression as Ryoga quickly slapped a hand over his nose, but not before a small drip of blood leaked out.

“All right,” Ranma said, addressing the group. “We all know that the Guild is planning on waltzing all over us tonight, but that’s not going to happen. We have the skill, we have the power, and we have something worth fighting for. Something they don’t understand. We’re family. It may not be by blood,” Ranma nodded to Kodachi and Ryoga, “or by choice for that matter,” he looked at Akane and Ryoga and saw Akane pointedly looking away from the lost boy, “but I feel we are family none the less. And I want you all to know that I’d march up to the Devil himself and kick his ass for each and every one of you. All I ask of you tonight is keep the small fry off me so I can deal with the boss lady. Anyone want out?”

There was silence.

“Wrecking Crew…its show time!”

With that, the teens jumped up, Ranma and Alexis spreading their wings as the rest took to hopping up to the rooftops and running along the tiled peaks at breakneck speed.


To be continued.

Endnote: Place your bets folks. This one is going to be the biggest fight I’ve ever written, and I still haven’t planned it out yet. Next time we see Dizzy in action for the first time, and Ranma and Alexis are going to be hard pressed to stop her, I guarantee that. Until then enjoy some light music (puts on Slayer). Bye bye.