Ihadurca was doing exactly what Ryouga had done to her.  Ignoring 
him completely.  Now that she was free, she had her own agenda.  Though 
that Akane girl had intrigued her, she wasn't about to allow some 
backwards hick dictate where she went or what she did.
	The only reason she'd lost her war so long ago was because she 
had inferior minions and her apprentice had double-crossed her.  Now, 
it was time to rebuild her army with more powerful slaves.
	//Hey, I thought you were gonna get me some lezzie lovin'!//
	However, she refused to be connected to that disgusting talking 
ass named Ryouga Hibiki.  Just a few peeks into his memory had shown 
her things that were so wrong, even she was disgusted.  For one thing, 
one didn't try to physically dominate a woman one lusted after.  One 
MAGICALLY dominated said woman with magical potions or spells.
	So, she needed a method of separating them without killing her.  
Her spirit and body would be feeble shortly after such a separation, 
while Ryouga, who's spiritual energy had slowly been feeding Ihadurca's 
reserve, would be much stronger.  Meaning that Ryouga would be free to 
do whatever he wanted to her after they'd separated.  If she could 
convince him to look after her for a few days while she recovered her 
spiritual strength, she would be strong enough go about her own 
business.
	The biggest obstacle was that Ryouga liked her body, even if they 
didn't like each other.  He would likely protest the separation and 
that could drain her spiritual reserves to lethal levels.  Finally, a 
plan formed.
	"Listen, Ryouga.  I've got a means of separating us.  If you can 
look after me for a few days, though, I'll be fine enough to send you 
back to Jusenkyo to get another female body." Ihadurca inquired.
	//No way, beeatch!  You gots some fine ol' titties!  I ain't 
giving them up!//
	"I can improve your stature afterwards." Ihadurca told him.
	//..... bigger than yours?//
	"If that's what you want, yes." Ihadurca responded, trying hard to disguise her total disgust.
	//DEAL!//
	Ihadurca smiled.  Things were FINALLY going her way.

	Cologne gathered Ranma-chan and Akane in the backyard.  The grass 
had been cleared and two campfires had been started next to the pond.
	"This is the first training technique all Amazons undergo.  It's 
known as the Kachuu Teshin Amiguriken.  One takes a bag of chestnuts 
and dumps them into the fire." Cologne explained, opening a plastic bag 
of chestnuts and dumping them into the first fire, "Then, the trainee 
tries to pluck the chestnuts from the fire without getting burned."
	"Is that even possible?" Akane inquired.
	"Yeah, you sure you ain't pullin' our legs?" Ranma-chan asked.
	Cologne turned to the fire.  A blur of green cloth later, Cologne 
held up the slightly roasted chestnuts.  Both Ranma-chan and Akane 
whistled with appreciation.
	"You amazons must be fast if this is a first level training 
technique." Akane stated.
	"Indeed, try your hands at it.  You'll probably get burned the 
first ten to twenty times, but your fire and heat resistance will also 
go up dramatically." Cologne explained, placing the chestnuts back into 
the fire.
	"Right!" Ranma-chan said, driving her hands into the flames, 
trying to imitate the speed she'd seen.
	Ranma-chan yelped, spun and drove her hands into the pond.  Akane 
winced, but it was a valid training technique if most of the Amazon 
tribe knew it.  Cologne dumped a bag of chestnuts into the second flame 
and gestured for Akane to try her hand at it.  With an aire of 
determination, Akane kneeled in front of the fire, focused herself, and 
thrust her hands in.
	"YIPE!" Akane yelped, pulling her hands out quickly.  She had two 
chestnuts, but her hands were lightly burned.  She leapt over the fire 
and dunked her hands into the pond, just as Ranma-chan had, sighing 
with relief as the pain faded.
	"Give it another go.  I'm sure you two will pick it up fairly 
quickly.  Just don't do it more than five times a day or else your 
hands might not be useable for a little while." Cologne advised them.
	The two girls nodded vigorously.

	Kasumi hummed to herself as she headed to her father's room.  
Ranma and Akane had gotten up early to do some sort of training 
excercise with Cologne, and the unusual nature of the training had 
caught her attention.  Nevertheless, she had to wake up her father or 
he'd sleep until noon and stay up way too late.
	An established sleep cycle should never be changed without a good 
reason or else bouts of insomnia might ensue.
	"Father?  It's time to wake up." Kasumi called, just as she 
opened the door.
	She blinked as she saw the futon was still made as neatly as it 
had been last night.  There was no way that could've happened unless...
	Then, Kasumi saw the note laying on the pillow.  She picked it up 
and read it, "Oh dear... I guess I'll have to give father's portions to 
Ranma and Mr. Saotome."

	Ihadurca waited until Ryouga was out of the room.  She was NOT 
going to spend even a day in Ryouga's 'care', which included stripping 
her down, fondling her and then placing her on a bed.  She still had 
her connection to magic to use.  She just had to find someone else to 
take his place while giving him something to do.
	The problem was figuring out what "to do" she should give him to 
deal with.  He had many enemies, but most of them wouldn't deal with 
him properly.  And if he came back and saw someone else taking care of 
her, he might think she was backing out on their deal (which she was).  
That meant she either needed a superior guardian or a vicious 
engagement to deal with him.
	She reached out to the proximity of the apartment.  She felt a 
few strong fighters nearby.  Yes, they would do as guardians.  However, 
she did not want to be overt about it.  A few Call To Arms spells in 
their minds to pull them to her should she want to be rid of Ryouga 
before she was ready, if he threatened or humiliated her, or if she was 
simply in need of something urgent.  They would come over on the idea 
that they were just being neighborly.
	But, she would need some righthand people, ones totally devoted 
to her in every possible way...
	She recalled one of the plots of a cartoon Ryouga had seen a long 
while ago.  He'd been using it as wank material, but the premise was 
solid enough for her to use: The creation of a physical body using an 
unreal templated person.
	Cartoon logic simplified it as people leaping out of a monitor 
into the real world.
	She was certain she could pull it off.  She'd once managed to 
turn a bunch of crude cave drawings into an emergency guard.  It had 
slowed her pursuers long enough for her to flee.  The problem was that 
she didn't want simple creatures like the cave drawings, which had been 
too stupid to effectively fight and had only truly managed 'stump' 
level of deterrent.
	There had been an invention called 'Video Games'.  From what 
Ihadurca had pulled from Ryouga's mind, they'd ranged from crappy block 
things (no better than the cave drawings) to fairly realistic 
renditions of humans and animals.
	Ihadurca sensed someone nearby who's brainwave activity was on 
par with that of a slave doing menial, but enjoyable, work.  Usually 
that of cooking, but she could sense he was not in the right mindset 
for food.
	She cast a Clairvoyance spell and gazed through the wall to see 
a somewhat husky japanese teenage boy holding a grey device in his 
hands that had a long black cord reaching towards a much larger grey 
device, which itself had cords reaching towards a TV.
	She couldn't see what was on the TV, but she figured out rather 
quickly that the smaller grey device was a game pad (or joypad as 
slang) and the large grey device was a game system.  She decided to go 
for a full Astral Projection.  Rising out of her body, her spirit 
walked into the boy's room and glimpsed at the TV.
	"Impressive..." Ihadurca commented, seeing a fairly realistic 
female falling in slow motion to the deck of a flying ship-like vessel.
	"It ain't bad." the teenager responded.
	Ihadurca looked at herself.  She shouldn't have been visible or 
audible.  Which meant the boy was either a psychic or someone who had 
spiritual attunement.  Neither were particularly impossible.  She'd run 
into numerous people like that back in her hayday.
	"So, who is she?" Ihadurca inquired.
	"Tifa Lockheart.  She's got max materia and all her Limit 
Breaks." he responded.
	"Is this the usual for graphics nowadays?" Ihadurca inquired.
	"No, this is an FMV.  They spend most of their time making this.  
The graphics the rest of the time ain't so good." he answered.
	"Hmm.  Then I should probably make her when her graphics are 
best." Ihadurca muttered.
	"Make her?" the boy asked, turning his head to look at her with a 
confused look on his face.
	"Yes.  Make her." Ihadurca responded, waving a hand towards the 
game system.
	The game disk reversed to play the FMV.  When Tifa's entire body 
was visible, a life-sized replica of said body appeared before the 
teenager, who yelped out as he scrambled backwards, "HOLY SHIT!"
	"I would call it something better than that." Ihadurca responded.
	"Uh... yes'm." the boy answered, switching to be a very polite 
tone for the CREATOR OF TIFA LOCKHEART.  He'd already elevated her 
mentally to Goddess as he began prostrating himself at her feet.
	"Tell me more about Tifa and about some other powerful girls in 
video games..." Ihadurca prompted him.
	"Yes, my goddess." the boy answered.
	Ihadurca smiled.  It was nice to be recognized for her greatness, 
even if it was just a man.

	"Say, Ranma, I'm going to be going to an ice rink this afternoon, 
did you wanna come?" Akane inquired.
	"Ice skating?  Why?" Ranma asked.
	"Well, I'm going to be training to deal with varied footing.  Ice 
skating helps in that.  Besides, I think the cold air might be good for 
our hands." Akane replied.
	"Might be worth it." Ranma responded, watching her go.
	The sound of someone knocking on the door alerted Ranma to 
company.  He hurried over to the door and opened it to reveal two 
teenage girls.  One had long turquoise hair and the other had short 
blonde hair.  Ranma recognized the blonde, "Haruka!" 
	"Ranma, good to see you." Haruka responded.
	"Good to see you too.  Who's your friend?" Ranma asked.
	"This is Michiru." Haruka said, introducing the two.
	Ranma nodded to her as he let the two girls inside.  The instant 
the trio were seated in the living room, Haruka's face changed from 
neutral to restrained anger.  Haruka wasted no further time on 
pleasantries, "You saw Ryouga?"
	Ranma nodded, "He's been here and at Furinkan High."
	"Do you think I can take him?" Haruka asked.
	"If you've kept up with your martial training, I think you can 
take him easily.  He's going to have a lot of endurance, though, and 
possibly a few surprises." Ranma responded.
	Haruka nodded solemnly.
	"But whatever you do, Haruka, make sure not to get in over your 
head.  Even the biggest moron in the world can be very dangerous when 
he's backed into a corner." Ranma warned her, "If he gets to be too 
much, get away and look for me, you got that?"
	Haruka nodded.  Ranma held her eyes with strict stare for a few 
seconds longer to make sure that the blonde knew that he was serious.
	"If you need me, I'll be at the ice rink this afternoon and back 
here in the evening.  If I ain't here, my pops or Mister Tendo'll be 
glad to help ya." Ranma informed her.
	Haruka nodded again.  Ranma was more than reluctant to let his 
friend simply go around hunting Ryouga Hibiki.  Regardless of how easy 
he'd taken Ryouga before, Ryouga could be a real monster when he 
actually got mad.
	Still, he had a promise to Akane to keep, for today anyway.  
Tomorrow, he was going to dedicate himself to helping his friend hunt 
down Ryouga.
	"Actually, if you wouldn't mind, we'll come with you." Michiru 
told him, "When dealing with someone as notorious and unpredictable as 
Ryouga Hibiki, we wouldn't want to be too careless."
	Haruka seemed a bit startled, but agreed.  Ryouga had caught her 
offguard once.  She never wanted that to happen again.

	There was a small town in the United States of America where a 
girl was packing for a trip.  She was furious, embarrassed and 
depressed all at the same time.  Nearby, a cat sat on her dresser, 
looking at her forelornly.
	"I wish you would reconsider this." the cat spoke.
	Yes, talking cats were indeed rare.  However, they were not 
entirely uncommon in the underground circles.  All of them were clever 
enough to keep quiet until around trustworthy people.
	"No.  I was an idiot for ever revealing my true nature." the girl 
responded.
	"But consider what you're doing.  You're leaving the COUNTRY and 
going to a country you can't even speak the language." the cat 
protested.
	"Look, I can get by, all right?  I'm not the idiotic little girl 
you saw when I first came here." she answered.
	"But, Sabrina..." the cat prodded.
	"NO, Salem!  I am NOT staying!  I can't be around Harvey, 
okay?!" the blonde girl snapped angrily.
	The cat shrank away at the fury in her voice.  She glared angrily 
at the cat for a few seconds, her blue eyes meeting his brown, before 
her face softened, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."
	The black cat sighed, then hardened his own face, "That's why I'm 
trying to point out that this decision is a bit hasty."
	"I can't be around him.  He doesn't see me anymore.  All he sees 
are my powers." Sabrina sighed, then feigned a bad imitation of 
Harvey's voice, "'Hey, Sabrina, conjure me up a burger, 'kay?', 'Hey, 
make that chick into a total hottie!', 'Sabrina, I want that, zap it 
up, 'kay?', 'Make me a millionaire, toots'."
	Salem winced, "He really said all that?"
	"Every word is verbatim." Sabrina responded.
	Salem sighed.  One of the dangers of the magical world was that 
interaction with the non-magical humans usually resulted in awkward 
break ups.  Sabrina had a few non-magical friends who didn't care if 
she was a witch or not, and those sorts of people were prized friends.
	There were people who reacted poorly to magically talented 
families, seeing such magically skilled people as pests and cheats, who 
didn't have an honest bone in their bodies.
	Then, there were people like Harvey, who saw a friend who had 
magical powers and thought of them as a servant genie, there only to 
grant whatever desires they had.
	Salem sighed.  With the second and third category, there were 
usually only four real ways to deal with them: 1) Kill them, 2) Erase 
their memories, 3) Change them into something that couldn't speak until 
they promised not to tattle or 4) Move.
	Option 4 was always the most difficult as it left behind whatever 
true friends the person had gained.  During the witch hunts, option 4 
was a necessity quite often, with a dose of option 2 and 1 mixed in, 
depending on the situation.
	"Well, I suppose it is necessary... just so long as you come back 
if you feel lonely.  We'll do what we can to straighten Harvey out." 
Salem offered.
	"No magical reformations.  We both know that sort of thing never 
works out in the end." Sabrina told him.
	Salem sighed deeply, then nodded.  It was always sad seeing a 
good witch leave the nest, but this was a step that Sabrina needed to 
take to clear her head.  Otherwise, it might lead to her delving into 
what he called the "less pleasant" arts, often involving demon 
summoning and trying to break up romances that reminded the witch of 
her own lost chance at happiness.
	"Besides, I have the translation spell." Sabrina told Salem.
	"Yes, but you have to have fresh clay for that.  Do you know how 
much clay might cost over there?" Salem asked.
	"No.  That's why I'm having it sent to me dirt cheap from Magic 
Components R Us." Sabrina explained.
	"Well, if you've got everything figured out... good luck, 
Sabrina." Salem told her as she turned to leave.
	The instant he heard the front door close, Salem shook his head.  
He'd thought better of Harvey, but that was probably why they'd never 
confided in him.

	Haruka Ten'ou had many secrets, one of which was being Sailor 
Uranus.  She would have preferred any other name, given the terrible 
pun attached to the planet's name, which was why she went by the title 
of Sailor Meteor.  Given that none of her attacks required her to shout 
out her planet's name and the only indicator that her name was 
something other than Sailor Meteor was her transformation phrase, she'd 
managed to keep it under wraps.
	Of course, there was now an inquiry from the Inner Senshi to Luna 
as to how many Senshi there were and Luna was still trying to figure 
out where Sailor Uranus was, seeing as even Sailor Saturn had been 
located and revealed.
	Though she wanted to go out and beat the ever-living shit out of 
Ryouga Hibiki, she'd accepted that she should wait until Ranma was 
available to help out.  She knew Ranma could defeat Ryouga, but she 
wasn't sure if she could beat Ryouga.
	Which was why she, Michiru, Akane and Ranma were all skating.  
Haruka was wearing a white sweater with black slacks while Ranma wore 
his only long-sleeved shirt (blue) and his traditional black pants.  
Michiru wore a dark maroon skating leotard to Akane's violet skating 
leotard.
	Michiru was a swimmer, but she was also an excellent skater.  
Akane and Haruka only had memories of ice skating from other lives, so 
they were a bit rusty, but quick to relearn.
	Ranma was like a carp on dry land: Trying to move as he had prior 
to the environment change.
	With three people who had skating experience helping him, though, 
he quickly learned at least how to stand up and how to move 
forward.  They were still working on stops when Ranma accidentally 
knocked Akane backwards.
	Akane yelped as she slid away, trying desperately to recall how 
to stop when moving backwards while panicking.  Just as she was about 
to collide with the wall, she felt herself get scooped up.  At first 
glance, the white sweater indicated that Haruka had saved her.
	However, Akane saw to her disgust that it was, in fact, the same 
jerk who'd caught her outside of the grocery store.
	"Again, you fall into my arms.  Fate must be keeping us 
together." Mikado Sanzenin said, smiling sauvely.
	Most romance-starved girls would have fallen for that line, but 
Akane was smarter than that.  She curled herself so that her feet 
caught the side of Mikado's head.  His grunt and slackening of arms 
proved that Akane had struck hard enough as she managed to twist and 
land feet first on the ice.
	Akane turned to tell him to piss off when she noticed that an 
alley cat had clamped onto his head and was digging it's claws into his 
skull.
	"What the hell?" Akane asked no one in particular.
	"Pierre!  What are you doing on Mickey's head?" came a voice the 
spoke both of bubbles and air residing within the owner's skull as a 
girl with light wavy brown hair and a pink leotard slid between Haruka 
and Ranma, sending the pig-tailed boy to greet the ice backfirst once 
again.
	"HEY!" Haruka growled after the rude girl.
	The girl plucked the cat off of Mikado's head, ignoring Mikado's 
screams as the cat pulled some flesh with it.  Not enough to bleed, but 
more than enough to hurt.
	"YOU STUPID COW!  KEEP THAT DAMN FLEA-BITTEN HAIRBALL AWAY FROM 
ME!" Mikado roared at his partner.
	"It's okay, Pierre, I'm right here." his partner responded, 
ignoring him completely while petting the alley cat, which looked like 
it wanted to return to the alley whence it came REALLY BADLY as she 
hugged far too tightly for any animal to be comfortable.  It's hoarse 
rasps for air had Akane ready to save the poor creature.  Alley cat or 
no, being crushed to death was not a fitting end for any animal.
	Mikado interupted Akane by sliding over to her, "Forgive the 
intrusion, Hanako.  My partner's name is Azusa Shiratori and she can be 
quite rude at times.  How about that kiss?"
	He cupped her chin and puckered his lips while closing his eyes, 
whic was mistake #5.  His first was getting his partner to knock her 
over, his second was trying to kiss her, his third was showing up 
again, his fourth thinking she owed him a kiss, his last was trying to 
get said kiss when his partner was killing an animal.
	Strike 5, he was a dead man.  And she'd get his idiotic animal-
abusing partner too.
	Akane decided on her favorite routine.
	She punched him in the face, kneed him in the balls, then as he 
keeled over clutching himself, she combined a hammer blow with a rising 
knee.  Mikado collapsed to the icy rink.  She would have followed it up 
by grinding his face into the ice, but skate blades were poorly suited 
to the task.
	Akane then snatched the alley cat away from Azusa.
	"GIVE PIERRE BACK TO AZUSA!" Azusa cried as Akane skated 
backwards away from the girl.
	"Want him?  Come get him." Akane told the girl flatly, holding 
the cat to her left, like a matador and his cape.
	Azusa charged, moving as fast as she could.  Akane spun, then 
lashed out with a sweeping kick that sent Azusa toppling forward.  She 
quickly rose and finished Azusa off with an elbow to the back of the 
skull.
	"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the conclusion of today's 
broadcast.  Good night." Akane declared haughtily.
	Haruka whistled appreciatively.  She was impressed with the skill 
Akane had shown.  A bit vicious, yes, but she herself would have laid 
into either one of the two idiots.  Michiru was amazed that Akane had 
managed such grace into her finale.  Ranma sighed and wished people 
would stop souring Akane's mood so he could try and ask her out on a 
date.
	Akane cradled the cat in her arms, "I'm going to go and call an 
animal hospital.  Even if it's put to sleep, it would be far more 
humane than leaving it in their care."
	"Right.  We'll deal with Tweedle Dumber and Tweedle Jackass." 
Haruka agreed.
	Michiru and Ranma nodded.  Ranma wanted to know why Mikado had 
called Akane 'Hanako', but decided that he could find out later.  It 
was more important to get the cat some medical attention.  Akane smiled 
and headed for the rink edge.  The instant she was out of eyesight, 
Mikado managed to return to his feet.
	"Where did Hanako go?" Mikado groaned.
	"Geez, talk about thick.  Listen, jackass, she's not 
interested." Ranma growled.
	"And who might you be?  Her boyfriend?" Mikado huffed, regaining 
his composure.
	"Ranma Saotome, her fiancee." Ranma told him.
	"Fiancee?  Then, I presume you two have kissed?" Mikado inquired.
	"Well..." Ranma floundered, before snapping, "that's none of your 
damn business!"
	"I can tell that you haven't by your avoidance of the subject.  
Very well, then, I shall duel you for her first kiss." Mikado declared.
	"Bring it on, jerkwad!" Ranma snarled, leaping into the air and 
lashing out at the arrogant jerk with a jump kick.  Mikado chuckled and 
slid aside, causing Ranma to smash into the ice.
	"Amateur." Mikado snorted.
	Then, he felt Ranma's hot breath behind him.  He spun away 
quickly as Ranma punched at where he had been.  However, his shirt was 
torn in the exchange.
	"Hey, cool!  That guy's taking on Mikado!" a bystander noted.
	Haruka turned to him, "Is he any good?"
	"Good?  He's the smarter half of the Golden Pair, Kolkolz's 
martial arts skating team." the bystander responded.
	"Martial arts skating?" Haruka inquired.
	"Yeah, people ain't been very interested in sports for the last 
decade or so, so a lot of the schools have been adding the title 
'martial arts' and allowing fighting between competitors.  Gymnastics, 
bowling, soccer, baseball... that sort of stuff." the bystander 
responded.
	Haruka wondered what martial arts bowling would be like as she 
watched Ranma try five more haphazard strikes.
	Michiru massaged her forehead, "He's not learning very well, is 
he?"
	"Give him time.  He'll see it." Haruka responded.
	Ranma climbed out of the sixth crater he'd made in the fight and 
glared at Mikado, who hadn't even broken a sweat.  The only attack that 
Ranma had successfully launched had torn the guy's sweater and that was 
it.
	"Enough of this.  You're just damaging the rink and wasting time.  
I didn't want to use this on someone so unskilled, but you've been a 
nuisance long enough." Mikado declared, before spinning in place.
	Ranma blinked as he saw Mikado's arms and legs move up and down.  
There was no way to attack head on without being bashed aside.
	"Ranma!  Look for his weakness!" Haruka called.
	Ranma glanced at Haruka.  If she could see the guy's weak point, 
so should he.  But if a dedicated martial artist like Ranma couldn't 
spot it at first glance, it had to be something fairly obvious.  Common 
sense, Ranma reminded himself, was always the difference between 
victory and defeat.  It was one of the most brilliant pieces of advice 
he'd picked up from a non-martial artist.
	Mikado was spinning.  Spinning in place.  That meant he couldn't 
move or adjust himself.  He was on skates, which were difficult to 
balance on.
	Ranma grinned as he picked up a fragment of ice and pitched it 
hard against Mikado's skate.  It caught Mikado's skate just as his toe 
was beginning to face toward Ranma.  The momentum shifted Mikado up 
onto his toe, which was on the precarious piece of ice.  He was pitched 
forward and onto the ice.
	Mikado growled as he rose back to his hands and knees, ready to 
go pummel the insolent fool for what he'd done when Ranma's flying 
descending elbow slammed into his left kidney, forcing the pompous 
skater back against the ice, where the anvil and hammer-esque meeting 
with his kidney between them caused him to black out.
	"Good work, Ranma." Haruka called.
	The crowd cheered, especially the guys who'd lost girlfriends to 
Mikado and the girls who'd been dumped by Mikado.

	Ihadurca smiled.  Her servant, Toshi, was quite useful in 
selecting powerful warriors.  With luck, her army would be great enough 
to take on the world within a week.
	If only.
	Each of the women she'd brought to life retained all the skills 
and 'stats' that they'd had in the game.  Their intelligence at first 
seemed quite limited.
	Apparently, as Toshi explained, what they understood came from 
the game and non-game situations were difficult for them to comprehend.  
Like a person who'd lived alone in a hole in the ground all their life 
suddenly being brought above ground to live in metropolis with planets 
and animals.
	They would need time to learn how to interact with non-game 
situations and environments.  Then they would be ready.
	Tifa Lockheart and Yuffie Kisaragi of FF7 were the most 
experienced; followed by Rose and Shana of Legend of Dragoon; Rosa and 
Rydia of FF4; Garnet and Beatrix off FF9; the Ninas of Breath of Fire 1
&2 (they would need to figure out how to tell the two apart); Riona, 
Selphie, Quistis and Fuujin from FF8; Terra and Celes from FF6; and 
Reina and Faris from FF5.
	After that, the list sank pretty quickly.  Most of the girls from 
fighting games like King of Fighters 96 and X-men Versus SNK were 
completely unsure as to what to do.  They'd never been able to do much 
outside of fighting and making speeches at endings.
	Luckily, Ihardurca had been able to create a sub-dimensional 
mansion where the girls would spend time with Toshi learning how to do 
things outside of the games.
	If things went well and the memorization spells Ihadurca had 
placed on them worked fast enough, she might be back to where she had 
been at her height in about a year.

	Akane looked through the phone book.  She should have found an 
animal hospital or shelter, but it was her ninth time flipping through 
the 'animal' section.  It was like something was distracting her from 
being able to read the words.
	"AHEM!  Perhaps my distraction spell didn't catch your attention.  
There's no need to call for a vet." the female cat told her.
	Akane blinked and looked at the cat with a questioning look on 
her face.  She glanced around for someone else, but she was alone, save 
for the cat.
	"I said 'there's no need'.  I'm fine." the cat reaffirmed.
	"Oh...kay..... so you're a talking cat.  How come I never noticed 
one before?" Akane asked the cat.
	"Security reasons.  Anyway, Miss 'Tendo', my name is Bast-" the 
cat began.
	"Like the Egyptian Goddess of Cats?" Akane inquired.
	"Yes, except I _am_ the Egyptian Goddess of Cats." Bast 
responded.
	Akane looked at the cat, "Then why didn't you take care of 
Azusa?"
	"Because Miss Shiratori would have been prematurely placed into 
an asylum otherwise." Bast responded.
	"Prematurely?  It's way too frickin' late if you ask me." Akane 
retorted.
	"True, her record isn't exactly a clean one.  Listen, normally, a 
goddess such as myself wouldn't have even inhabited this body.  This 
poor soul has been on the verge of dying a number of times and the 
stress of being an avatar is likely going to be the final straw for her 
body.  But, I needed to talk to you concerning a little mishap." Bast 
began.
	"Mishap?" Akane asked.
	"You see, your prior body was due for a wish on your twenty first 
birthday.  Ordinarily, despite the body transference, the wish goes to 
the proper party." Bast explained, "However, at approximately 4 to 8 PM 
on April 16th, your body stopped existing and the wish was used under 
your original account."
	"What do you mean 'stopped existing'?  And how could the wish 
have been used with my account?  I haven't used the words 'I wish' in 
over two weeks." Akane demanded.
	Bast sighed, "Your body is no more.  We don't know the method, 
but the circumstances are tied to the wish used, meaning we would have 
to look up said wish's file in order to find out what happened.  And as 
for the actual wish file... well, we're not proud of the fact, but even 
in heaven, there are bugs.  One of these bugs became rather large and 
tampered with the wish records, so right now, we're forced to re-sort 
every wish application since 1803 AD to the present.  And there are 
more than you can shake a finger at before it falls off."
	"Why didn't you tell me before now?  I mean, it's been four 
days!" Akane asked, exasperated.
	"To be honest, we thought you would appreciate privacy in this 
matter, seeing as you are Akane Tendo now, not who you were before.  I 
would stay longer, but..." Bast began, before shifting into the form of 
tall cat-headed woman wearing a white touga-esque gown, "...I'm needed 
to help in the sorting.  We apologize for this fiasco and if you 
discover what occurred, here's my personal phone number.  Use it ONLY 
once and for that matter as the number will become inaccessable if you 
try to call it second time."
	"...." Akane responded, nodding as Bast vanished, taking the 
cat's body and soul with her.

=======================================================================

	Chapter 4, Complete.

	Stay tuned!

	Next chapter:
	Sabrina Spellman In Japan!
	Battle With Hibiki!
	The Return Of Tendo!

	Sidenote: I'm unsure how many people are familiar with the Sabrina storylines.  Frankly, I barely follow them.  The one I'm using is BASED ON the animated series that I saw the Disney channel running.  For example, since I believe pirate skulls are indistiguishable from normal skull and miniature dragons can't be that common, a gateway to the nether-realm would be nigh impossible.
	Thus, I'm altering mainly the magics, but a few other things.  Like the boy Sabrina had an immense crush on, Harvey, is now a grade A jerk.