Ranma 1/2 : Timelines by Mark Latus A fanfic in 5 parts People who don't belong in the regular Ranmaverse and where they came from: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoga 1/2 Timeline Ryoga Hibiki - aka Ryoga 1/2, Ryoga-chan. Has same curse as Ranma, uses the name Yuriko in his cursed form. Engaged to the Nabiki of his world and would rather be back there with her than stuck in this universe. This is his third encounter with alternate worlds and that's three too many. Currently claiming to be Ryoga's cousin Yuriko Hibiki while in female form. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryoga/Kodachi Timeline Ryoga Hibiki - aka Ryoga-K. Has the standard P-chan curse and is engaged to the Kodachi of his world. Lost a lot of his left arm in his previous adventure on an alternate world and really doesn't want to be here. Owns several prosthetics and is currently using the alias of Ryo Hibiki, Ryoga's other cousin (Yuriko's brother). Only known Ryoga with a sense of direction. Yohko Mano - Best ninja assassin in the "Order of the Purple Striped Dragon" which isn't saying much. Long ago the Mano clan was taken seriously in the days when they were Devil Hunters. But her ancestors sealed the demons' gateways permanently and their skills deteriorated from lack of use. Yohko dreams of somehow restoring the clan's glory days and carries their sacred Devil Hunter ring. Keiichi - Briefly a member of Yohko's ninjas before resigning having got Morisato tired of constant pummelings from the group's former target, Ryoga Hibiki. Currently attending Technical University which is where he met his strange girlfriend Belldandy. Belldandy - Member of the Norse Pantheon and Goddess of the Past. Due to Keiichi's hasty wish when he met her the two of them are now bound to be together by magic. Not that either of them mind. Currently Keiichi is the only one aware of her divine status. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guyver-Ryoga timeline Tatewaki Kuno - aka Guyver-Kuno, The Black Thunder. Has the incredible power of the alien battlesuit known of the Guyver but remains an idiot which limits its effectiveness. Has grudges against both the Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki of his world. The latter of these possess the only other Guyver suit. He is the only one of the six unaware he has switched worlds. He is also unaware that his Guyver symbiote is becoming intelligent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 4 - "Don't worry, we can handle this" After Kodachi's departure Nabiki booted up her laptop. She added an entry on cousins to Ryoga's file and considered what other changes to make. There was a fairly major change regarding him and her sister but she decided to wait on updating that part. It remained possible that Akane had gone insane in which case the commitment she had to worry about wasn't the romantic kind. She had considered the possibility that Shampoo had hit Akane with one of Cologne's never-fail love potions and then sent Ryoga over to see her. Except that Shampoo had shown up genuinely amazed to hear about Ranma and Akane splitting up and eager to take advantage of that fact. Shampoo was lousy at lying to her. If she'd been involved Nabiki was sure she'd have picked up on it. Besides those love potions always backfired somehow. The same logic applied to Kodachi. As for Ukyou that just wasn't her style. The next candidate was Ryoga. True this wasn't his style either but neither was overcoming his shyness enough to talk with Akane. Except that from her eavesdropping she'd had the feeling that Ryoga had shown up expecting to be rejected. Perhaps he'd finally found a girlfriend of his own but wanted to make sure everything was cleared up with Akane first. So when Akane threw herself at him he'd been shocked. Nabiki sighed and shut down the computer. Maybe this would make more sense in the morning. Or at least there might be fewer players in the game by dawn. Funny, all this worrying about other people's romances when she didn't have a boyfriend. Maybe she should start worrying about acquiring one. Let's see he'd have to be rich, good looking, easy to manipulate ... While Nabiki was listing the qualities of her ideal man things were happening. To be more specific, outside and overhead. The high degree of roof repairs in Nerima is blamed squarely on the number of martial artists in residence who prefer using rooftops rather than the public sidewalks. All attempts to pass civil ordinances against this behavior have been blocked by both the construction industry and the Police Union. The former is heavily reliant on repairing MAID (Martial Artist Induced Damage) to maximize its profits. The latter isn't about to try serving papers on those lunatics without heavy military backup and the Self Defense Forces don't want to get involved. So residents just have to live with overhead impacts knocking tiles off their roofs and paint and light fixtures from their ceilings. Plans to make it legal to add spikes to rooftiles are currently before the building code board though no decision has been made yet. Which is why Ryoga-K and Yohko were heading for the Tendos' house via this route. Right now he wasn't wearing his prosthetic as he didn't want to be identified as Ryoga Hibiki just yet. Once they were close enough to see Ranma wasn't around he'd slip it on and arrive with the arm wrapped around Yohko. With her blocking the view hopefully no one would realize it wasn't real. Akane's heart breaks, Ranma picks up the pieces and everything is back to normal. Which should change the future and send them all home. If his theory was correct. Still this afternoon's fiasco hadn't snapped them out of this world despite making a major change. No, the more he thought about it the more he was sure Xerxes had made them trigger the very sequence of events they were brought here to prevent. An incompetent god! Just what he'd needed to get mixed up with. From the shadow of a chimney Xerxes watched the antics unfold. It was always so much more fun when he made a few "errors" and convinced his pawns he was a fool. The split between the Ryogas was fascinating. So alike and yet so different. Not far away Ranma had stopped moving and was trying to think of some way to locate Ryoga. How do you find a guy who's only real skill is getting lost? Was he even in Nerima anymore? Turning briefly to Halifax, Nova Scotia: "Where is the Tendo Dojo?" "Somebody get that guy off the set! OK stand by for the first major SF film made in the maritimes." "I still think we could've chosen something better to remake." "Look this retro '30s pulp stuff is the next wave." "But didn't the Shadow die at the box office? And what kind of a name is Bunnylips anyway?" "Shut up! Paul you're on! Roll it!" "Curse you Rod Booster!" "CUT! It's Tod Booster you idiot!" Ryoga had wandered away during all this and was heading towards the airport. Leaving aside the question of just how he got to Canada so quickly and what that movie bit referred to we return the story to Nerima. Ranma had stopped to think when things suddenly became very familiar. He dodged aside as four axes attached to chains hurled downwards. Following behind the chains came a familiar figure. "Ranma, prepare to die." "This is a real bad time to bother me Mousse!" Actually Ranma felt a certain relief, since Ryoga was nowhere around he needed some way to vent some anger. Mousse would do just fine. Below them the houseowners watched the plaster raining down and decided to go take in a movie. Above them Mousse was throwing everything he had at Ranma. He hadn't fought so lethally since their early clashes. "Nothing personal but now your engagement to Akane is broken I have to remove you to save my darling Shampoo." Ranma wasn't listening. He needed to do something to keep his mind off how he felt. Beating the crap out of Mousse should do for a start. At least until he found Ryoga. Not far away Ryoga-K and Yohko had stopped to see the two shadowy figures fighting each other. Ryoga squinted to make out the details then muttered, "Good, Ranma's occupied. Which makes this a good time to visit the dojo." Mousse was getting worried. Ranma was smashing or dodging everything thrown at him. Worse, he looked a lot grimmer than usual. It was beginning to dawn on Mousse that this might not be the smartest thing he'd ever done. Ranma must have been enraged by Akane's rejection and he was looking to take his rage out on the first available target. Which Mousse had just provided. In desperation Mousse tried the "Swan Fist" technique. This was a fairly weird technique which consists of swiftly striking someone with a child's training potty shaped like a swan that is held concealed in your sleeves. As is the case with many of the more esoteric forms of martial arts who invented it and why remain unknown. Perhaps there is a martial arts school somewhere which you cannot graduate from without inventing a new technique. Although if hitting someone with some previously unused object is truly unique is questionable. At any rate it didn't work, at least not on Ranma. Ranma batted the potty away with ease and it flew across the rooftops. Ryoga-K saw it coming and dropped to the tiles. "DUCK!" "It looks more like a swan, ACCKK!" Yohko added this last exclamation when the potty bounced off her skull. She overbalanced and went over the edge of the roof. Ryoga cursed and dove after her. He grabbed her in midair draping her over his shoulder, somersaulted and hit the street feet first easliy absorbing the impact of landing. A fairly impressive feat from a man with only one complete arm and a heavy pack on his back. Unfortunately there were no spectators. "Yohko! Are you all right?" Even as he said it he knew it was a stupid question. "How badly are you hurt?" would have been more appropriate. He'd also just had a terrible feeling of deja vu to the way he met Kodachi. Luckily Yohko just groaned semi-consciously in pain. He sighed, it was pretty obvious the plan would have to be scrubbed for tonight. He'd better find somewhere she could recover. Carrying Yohko slung over his pack he walked off to find a hotel. From overhead came the sound of Mousse getting mercilessly beaten. Ranma was winding up for another punch when a hand caught his wrist. He turned to see Shampoo standing behind him. "Ranma, you no hit Mousse anymore!" Hanging limply by his collar from Ranma's other hand Mousse actually smiled. Despite the tremendous pain he was in his heart was lightened. Shampoo had just defended him. Ranma hesitated and Shampoo pried Mousse out of his grip. Tears ran down Mousse's cheeks, "Shampoo ..." Then she flung him off the roof and glomped onto Ranma. "Ranma no waste time on Mousse. Shampoo so happy Ranma dump Akane!" Below in an alleyway Mousse sprawled over a pile of refuse. He was sure Shampoo had deliberately aimed him at a pile of soft garbage to cushion his landing. Besides which she'd saved him from Ranma. As he passed out he was feeling so very happy. Which is why happiness can be said to be a relative state. Overhead Ranma was shouting angrily, "I didn't dump Akane! She dumped me! And for that loser Ryoga! Even Kuno would be better than that!" Shampoo's eyes got very big. "Ranma no want anything to do with Shampoo? Think Shampoo just nuisance?" "Uh, not exactly. It's just ..." Shampoo began to bawl and Ranma felt very awkward. He should try to cheer her up except that Akane would misinterpret that and she'd ... Ranma suddenly realized Akane was not going to show up and whack him with a mallet if she saw him with another girl. She didn't care anymore. Not that he ever cared what she thought it was just that ... He felt a sudden surge of jealous anger. Akane didn't care what he did, Fine! Why shouldn't he take advantage of all the girls who kept throwing themselves at him? Shampoo heard Ranma step towards her and reminded herself not to stop crying too quickly. Then she sensed incoming danger and leapt away fast. A line of razor edged spatulas embedded themselves in the place she'd been standing. Ranma turned the direction they'd come from and exclaimed, "UKYOU?" She ignored him for the moment as she glared at Shampoo. "Back off cat girl. I'm the only real fiancee left." Shampoo glared back, "Ranma is Shampoo's husband. By village law!" "That crazy rule doesn't apply outside your village. It definitely doesn't apply to anyone born outside that Chinese loony farm." "What you call Shampoo's ancestral home?!" "You heard me!" The tension was momentarily broken by a high pitched laugh and a storm of rosepetals as Kodachi arrived. "It seems I got here just in time. I'm here Ranma-darling! Tell these other creatures to depart now while they remain healthy." "Crazy girl get away from Ranma!" "Both of you back off, I'm the only one here actually engaged to him and with Akane out of the running ..." "Ranma-darling and I were engaged in a higher court when our two hearts first met." For a brief moment as she recalled this Kodachi actually looked cute. Then the familiar "Don't get in my way" look returned. "So unless you want me to hurt you in the name of our love step aside!" All three were glaring at each other and Ranma was standing in the exact centre of them. This was ridiculous, he didn't have time for this nonsense. He had to find Ryoga and give him the beating he was due. Time to defuse this, "Girls ..." "Yes, Ranma darling ...." "Ranma not talking to you!" "Back off Shampoo!" "You want kiss of death spatula girl?" "Any time you want to try amazon!" "Fine, you two kiss each other and I'll kiss Ranma." "Take one step forward and you're going down!" "Don't threaten me!" "Ranma is Shampoo's" "No he isn't!" The air seemed to glow with menace. They were watching each other so hard that Ranma was able to slip out of the circle unnoticed. First defuse this then find Hibiki. He cleared his throat. Everyone took that as a signal to attack and the rooftops exploded into chaos. Feeling rather like a bone a pack of starving dogs is fighting over Ranma watched in dismay. What was he going to do now? If he couldn't get Akane to change her mind he'd wind up choosing one of them. At which point the other two would kill him. Maybe he should just find his mother, tell her about his curse and save them the trouble. He needed to think. Ranma slipped away quietly. None of the three combatants noticed. In fact they were so intent on mangling each other that Ranma could have departed playing the bagpipes and no one would have noticed. The commotion attracted the attention of a threesome engaged in the novel exercise of actually walking around at ground level. Ryoga-chan recognised those yells and frowned. "Wait here, I'm going up to take a look." Without waiting for a reply she swarmed up the building. Looking around she saw the commotion to the east of her (or maybe it was to the west of her, could also be north, maybe even south ...) Ryoga-chan gave up trying to figure out the direction and just watched the commotion. Ukyou, Shampoo and Kodachi were engaged in furious combat. Damn, he'd been hoping the others wouldn't find out Ranma was single quite this quickly. Nabiki might have sold the information but he somehow doubted it. At bottom Ranma was a friend of hers and she wouldn't seek to profit on his obvious pain. Of course if the news was already out she wouldn't see anything wrong with profiting by confirming it. By her own code Nabiki was very ethical, you just had to puzzle out what it actually was. So it was common knowledge. Maybe Shampoo had dropped by the dojo, maybe Sasuke had been over to spy and carried the news back to the Kuno siblings. There were dozens of possibilities. So now what? If she tried to break Ukyou free of the pack they'd figure she was a new would-be fiancee and everyone would turn on her. Maybe she could use a couple of Shishi Houkoudans to blast Shampoo and Kodachi from a distance then drop out of sight. No, you needed a relatively stationary target for a chi burst to hit and they were bouncing all over the place. What the heck was she going to do? Ryoga-chan was so distracted she only picked up the attack at the last minute! A few moments ago Tatewaki Kuno had been proceeding along his rooftop route to the Tendo home. As always he was ignoring the crass peasants who kept yelling at him to stop knocking their tiles off or at least stop reciting bad poetry. Then he saw the shape ahead with its back to him. The outfit was unmistakeably Hibiki's. Excellent! He would defeat Hibiki and claim Akane Tendo. After which he would find and defeat Ranma and claim the pig tailed girl. Ignoring his unbroken record of past defeats Kuno charged forward. Ryoga-chan turned as Kuno swung his bokken downwards. She sidestepped enough to avoid being hit but the very edge caught her shirt. It was slashed open and it became clear to Kuno that his opponent wasn't male. He froze and a fairly major nosebleed developed. Despite which Kuno reached a hand forward and began, "Ah my goddess ..." Coincidentally Belldandy was also having hentai related trouble but we'll get back to that. "PERVERT!" Ryoga-chan's punch arced Kuno very nicely into the air. He crashed headfirst into the alley Mousse occupied waking the part-time duck up. Kuno staggered upright and proclaimed, "Ah my unknown beauty truly you are a tigeress. I WILL DATE WITH THEE!" Then his eye's rolled up and he collapsed. Mousse shook his head, muttered, "And people say I'm hopeless?", then faded back into unconsciousness. Ryoga-chan tucked her shirt together as best as she could. Well she might as well head back down before she lost the others. It was time to switch to plan B. Just as soon as she figured out what that was. Turning the clock back a few minutes we find Belldany and Keiichi watching Ryoga-chan's ascent. Unaware of the lurking terror that observes them from the shadow. It studies them and its' gaze fixes on Belldandy. Yes, that girl will make a suitable victim. A sudden rush and it is upon her! A blur shot by Keiichi and clamped onto Belldandy's chest. "Pretty lady!" Belldandy was rather astonished to find a wrinkled old midget attaching himself to her cleavage. That sort of thing just doesn't happen to goddesses! While she stood frozen in amazement Keiichi snapped into action. He grabbed the perverted elder and peeled Happosai loose. Holding him up to eyelevel he began, "Listen grandpa! ..." Happosai seemed to just tap Keiichi with his pipe. Keiichi dropped like a stone and Happosai muttered, "Kids have no respect for their elders these days!" Belldandy was still staring at the fallen Keiichi when he glomped onto her chest again. This time she was ready. There was a flash of light and Happosai was gone. Belldandy rushed to Keiichi's side and helped him up. As she did so she said, "You're all right Keiichi." It wasn't a hope it was an order. Keiichi suddenly felt the wooziness disappear. "Belldandy are you ... ?" "I'm fine, I was just a little ... astonished." Keiichi looked downcast. "I failed to protect you. I'm sorry Belldandy." "Keiichi it's ok. Despite appearances that man was a fearsome opponent. Besides it isn't your job to protect me." Ryoga-chan landed beside them. "What man? Did I miss something?" "Some short old guy tried to molest Belldandy. I've never seen a senior citizen move that fast." "Uh was he saying 'Panties' or 'Pretty lady' or something along those lines?" "Why yes." "Great, Happosai on top of Kuno. That's all I need." Ryoga-chan glanced around the darkened street. "Where is he?" Belldandy said simply, "I got rid of him." To elaborate on that a little we go to the summit of Mount Everest. Not surprisingly Happosai was rather surprised by the change in his surroundings. As he began to shiver Happosai decided the girl must have been some sort of supernatural entity. Still reflecting on the moment it had been worth it. And at least he hadn't left emptyhanded. Back in Nerima Ryoga-chan was studying Belldandy admiringly. She must be a lot more formidable than she'd thought if she'd managed to get rid of the old pervert. However Belldandy was looking uncomfortable. She excused herself and turned her back on both Keiichi and Ryoga-chan. She seemed to be fiddling with her top so they both turned around for decorum's sake. They heard an outraged scream then the street was filled with a blinding light. It faded and the darkness returned. Ryoga-chan turned around and saw Belldandy who once again appeared completely composed. She looked at Keiichi. "If I was to ask what just happened would the answer make me feel better or worse?" "Probably worse." "Okay never mind then. Tonight seems to have turned into a disaster. Let's head back to the van, plan our next move and get some rest." Keiichi and Belldandy agreed. So with Keiichi leading the way the trio headed back to the van Belldandy had appropriated earlier. Meanwhile back on Mount Everest Happosai's enjoyment of Belldandy's bra was interrupted by the arrival of a dozen very large, very hungry Yeti. On the rooftops of Nerima the threeway struggle continued though they were definitely slowing down. In a nearby hotel Ryoga-K was sitting on his bed aimlessly flipping channels. It was hard to concentrate on anything except the fact that he was stuck in the wrong universe and his only ally was comatose on the room's other bed. Yohko groaned again, twitched a little then became silent again. There had been a little trouble getting a room. On arrival in the lobby he'd dumped Yohko on a couch and asked the desk clerk for a room. The clerk had looked down at him and sneered, "This is a respectable establishment and I would say your girlfriend's too drunk to know where she is or what you're going to do to her. Besides aren't you two a bit young?" To understand what followed a little background on the Shishi Houkoudan technique is necessary. Like many of the more advanced martial arts techniques it is based on channelling your chi energy. Unlike many methods the focus is achieved by using negative emotions. Ryoga-K was no stranger to those. While he had lost his all consuming depression after giving up on Akane Tendo he had gained a bitterness against the world following his injury. Add to that a fury over being unable to avenge himself on the one responsible to his already unstable temper and you have a man who can focus negative energy with extreme speed. Ryoga-K was the wrong person to cross. Which is why it was almost involuntary that a chi sphere formed in his right hand and blasted a circular hole in the wall just above the clerk's head. He took a deep breath to calm himself and said, "One room, separate beds, now please." The clerk remembered the appropriate passage in the "Nerima Municipal Business Council Handbook on avoiding M.A.I.D. Namely, "If their demands are reasonable for God's sake cooperate. Remember calling in the police could well result in a battle that will destroy your establishment and everything within at least a block." So Ryoga got his room without further complication. He'd dropped Yohko on one bed, checked the bruise on her forehead and decided to wait. Hopefully she'd wake with nothing worse than a headache. He'd considered loosening her clothing but preferred not to do anything Kodachi might misinterpret at a later date. So he'd just removed her sandals and settled down. About an hour later Yohko awoke. By that time the fight had broken up and Shampoo, Ukyou and Kodachi had limped home. Yohko had opened her eyes, spotted Ryoga and registered the fact this was a hotel room. She gasped and tried to bolt upright. She didn't get far before the headache hit her. Sitting with her head cradled in her arms she heard Ryoga say, "If I were you I'd take it easy for the next little while." Yohko realized she was still fully dressed and relaxed a little. "What happened?" "You got knocked out, never mind by what. I decided we'd better find somewhere to hole up until morning. Hopefully by then you'll be able to try again." "Oh yeah, I remember now. Got any asprin?" "Here. There's a glass of water by the bedside. You'll forgive me if I keep my distance. I tend to get paranoid about cold water." "Thanks. You're not such a bad guy really." "Which was why you were trying to kill me a few months back?" "That was just business. Besides we never really got close did we?" For some reason Yohko felt moved to say, "Sorry about how I acted when I woke up but I was afraid you'd invalidated me." Ryoga looked puzzled. "You mean violated and I'm not that sort of guy." "No, I mean invalidated. I've still got a chance as long as I'm ... you know ... pure." "Sorry?" "Untouched ... inviolate ... oh hell, a virgin." "Huh? This something to do with your wedding plans?" "No it's got to do with getting the "Order of the Purple Striped Dragon to mean something again." Ryoga turned the TV off. "I have to admit you've managed to make me curious. Why is your clan heading a group known as the 'Purple Striped Dragons' anyway?" "It's a long story ... but I guess I've got nothing better to do. Besides I've wanted to tell somebody." "Go right ahead." "Okay, where to begin? Well long ago the Mano clan weren't ninjas. We were still fighters but we were something more. We were Devil Hunters." She paused and looked at Ryoga. "Go ahead, laugh." He shook his head. "I turn into a pig every time I get wet. It's very hard for me to laugh at the supernatural." "Right. Sorry it's just hard to get taken seriously with a story like this. Anyway we did this for generations, the family line passed through the women of the clan. There was only one Devil Hunter at a time because there was only one Soulsword. It's our sacred demon killing weapon and needs certain ... factors to activate it the first time. Well three hundred years ago Natsumi Mano sort of made a mistake. She killed the Demon Lord who had opened the gates between Hell and Earth. The gates closed permenantly. She also destroyed the dimensional weak point that had allowed the Demon Lord to slip through and create the original gates. Earth was saved from the threat of demonic invasion and she was celebrated as a great heroine. It was her daughter Miyuki Mano who found she had a problem. While she faithfully practised all the training rituals there was nothing to fight. Besides summoning the Soulsword for the first time requires three things. First possessing the sacred ring, second there must be demonic activity and finally you have to be a virgin. Her mother warned her to keep herself pure. While the gates were closed there might still be demons lurking in this world. In which case Miyuki would be the one to confront them. So she must be able to summon the sword. So despite being attracted to a lot of the men in her village Miyuki stayed celibate. Time passed. All her old friends got married and raised children. Remember back then you got married really young. But folks around there knew the Devil Hunters had their own rules and didn't push it. Finally just after her thirtieth birthday Miyuki screamed, "I can't take it anymore." She outfitted herself with the conventional weapons she used for practice, rounded up all the good looking men in the village and made them fill the central hall with supplies. Nobody argued with her. They'd all seen what she could do with those weapons over the years they'd watch her practice. Then she herded them inside, sealed the doors and embarked on a three week long orgy. After she emerged she convinced the richest man in town to marry her and join the Mano clan. I think she convinced him that if he didn't she'd be marrying the second richest man who would be the wealthiest living man in town. Anyway that preserved the ancestral line and for the next few generations the daughters of the Mano clan were Devil Hunters who had never met a demon. After Miyuki died no one was left who'd even seen a demon. People began to forget and stopped respecting the clan. Besides without the Soulsword it was hard to impress people. Then something happened. A real live demon was spotted ..." Ryoga broke in, "When was this?" "About two hundred years ago. Anyway this creature took the form of a dragon. A green dragon with purple stripes." "Ok I think I see where the name came from. So this dragon ... what did it look like? A huge fierce creature so there was an epic battle?" "Actually it was only about six feet long and had a severe case of asthma. Pretty wimpy monster really. Anyway Kaori Mano was still a virgin so she got given the ring and sent to confront the creature. Everything went perfectly, she confronted the creature and summoned the Sword. It panicked and begged for mercy. She was about to cut it in half when something occurred to her. This might be the last demon in the world. If she killed it how was the next generation of the clan going to summon the sword? So she chained it and dragged it home. They kept it hidden in a crypt below the Mano Mansion. Years later Miyu, one of Kaori's daughter went to confront it. While she successfully summoned the sword it was nowhere near as powerful as Kaori's had been. Her sister accused her of having fooled around and there was a big fight. After some thought they figured it out. The demon had been sitting down there unharmed for years. Without demonic rage to react to a full summoning was impossible. So Ami, Kaori's other daughter was sent in. Following her mother's instructions she took a club with her and whaled the crap out of the purple striped dragon. It cowered rather than attempting to attack but demonic fear seemed to do the job. Ami's sword still wasn't as powerful as the original but it was far more powerful than the one her sister summoned. So a new tradition began. When it was time for the eldest daughter to become wielder of the Soulsword (namely before she got too far with her boyfriend) she'd head down to the crypt and beat the demon to within an inch of its' life" "Good thing the SPCA never heard about you people." "I don't know if they cover demons. Anyway during this time the clan had changed tactics. Without demons to fight there wasn't much point in being known as Devil Hunters. But we had to keep things going in case the demons returned someday. So we became known as the head of a ninja group which we named ..." "The Order of the Purple Striped Dragon ..." "... after our founder. Only problem was over the years our skills deteriorated. With no actual demons, except the loser in the basement, to fight it all became abstract. We brought in outsiders to fill the ranks which diluted things further. If we hadn't had a magic sword no one would have taken us seriously. Then disaster struck in the 1930's. I guess Grandma really had the hots for Granddad because she gave the dragon one hell of a beating. Matter of fact she overdid it. The dragon died and that was that. So grandma delayed having children and hung on as swordholder as long as she could. The problems continued after my mother was born. Mom is a real skeptic and insisted Grandma prove demons existed. The dragon had dissolved after death so there were no remains to show her. Also Mom had a fairly active libido so she removed herself as a candidate pretty young. Things sort of fell apart after that and the order's reputation went into the sewer. Which is why we're a group of cut rate incompetent assassins." Ryoga was studying the unusual demon headed ring Yohko wore. "The sacred ring you mentioned ..." "Yup that's it. All my life Grandma's been pushing me to be the one to redeem the clan. She's also threatened to kill me if I lose my ... qualifications. Which is a bit tricky to explain to my boyfriends. But I don't have much luck with men anyway which is sort of lucky." "So any hope of finding a demon?" "Not really. I've actually tried demon summoning rituals with absolutely no luck. Life sucks!" Ryoga tapped his stump. "Tell me about it. Anyway get some rest. Tomorrow we'll see about getting back to our own world." Yohko settled down and Ryoga reflected he might be about to have another problem. Hopefully Yohko wouldn't figure out that since this was a different world maybe there were demons around. In which case she wouldn't be in a hurry to leave and he'd have another problem. Hell with it, worry about it in the morning. Elsewhere Belldandy, Ryoga and Keiichi were bunking down as best they could in the van. Belldandy reminded herself to send it back tomorrow. Its disappearance must have rather alarmed the owners. From a concealed spot Ranma watched the Tendo dojo. While Ryoga always got lost he always found his way back. When he did Ranma would be waiting. Ranma's temper had cooled from burning rage to an icy thirst for vengeance. He had actually been thinking. Beating the living shit out of Ryoga in front of Akane wouldn't get her back. But there was something that would work. Akane thought Ryoga was a real nice guy. When she learned that Mr. Nice Guy had been watching her undress and sleeping in her bed for months she'd have second thoughts. He clutched the handle of the bucket. Why should he keep Ryoga's curse secret any longer? Absolutely no reason. "Just you wait P-chan!" Inside the house Akane slept quietly. Xerxes watched her silently. The drug was wearing off, should he give her a second dose? No. He resealed the bottle and slipped away unnoticed. It should be a lot more fun when Akane returned to normal. The following morning Akane woke up feeling strange. She remembered a series of erotic dreams but didn't know who they'd been about. Details of her partner's face blurred. She yawned and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Ryoga. She snapped all the way awake and stared. Her room seemed to have been been plastered with pictures of Ryoga ranging from snapshots to fullsized posters. When the heck had this happened? Getting up she found a variety of extremely flowery and just plain bad poetry addressed to Ryoga scattered around the room. It read like the sort of thing Kuno would write. However it was her handwriting. So she must have written it but she had no memory of doing so. Except it felt like something in her dreams. Akane tried to remember what had happened yesterday but all the details seemed fuzzy. At last in frustration she pulled on a bathrobe and went down to breakfast. Ranma was missing from the table. Strange, he normally never missed a meal. Stranger still her father started weeping at the sight of her and Mr Tendo (in his panda form) turned away from her. Nabiki and Kasumi seemed to be studying her carefully. She sat down and said, "What's going on?" "After yesterday you have to ask?" Akane frowned. "Yesterday's kind of vague. What happened to my room and why is everyone acting so weird? Where's Ranma anyway?" Nabiki looked at her in amazement. "You really don't know do you?" "Know what? Did anything happen yesterday?" She saw a look pass between her sisters. Nabiki pulled her notebook and opened. "A couple of things of interest. Let's see ..." end of part four This whole mess gets concluded as Ryoga 1/2 and Ryoga-K get violent. Also Belldandy finally gets the chance to kick some ass Part 5 : "This is all your fault!" Trivia note : The movie being filmed was "Tod Booster : The Motion Picture" Tod Booster was a pseudo 1930's SF radio show on "Frantic Times" quite a few years ago on CBC radio. "Join us fifty years in the future where robots do the housework, people commute from Mars and Ronald Reagan is still alive ..." Lots of anachronism jokes Well I liked it.