The follow story is a work of fan fiction using characters that are copyrighted and/or trademarked. The purpose of this story is for fan enjoyment only free of charge. All original content is protected by Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.

oOOOo

Michael “TheZorch” Haney's

“Ranma Ascension”

oOOOo

Chapter 4

“Samurai, Pineapple Bombs and a Demoness. Oh my!”

“Are you sure you want to go to school so soon?”

Nabiki had voiced the question. The recipient of that question sat across the table from her with a cup in one hand and a large bottle of sake in another. She noticed that he was really downing a lot of sake lately but never showed even the slightest sign of drunkenness. One bottle or two of the rice wine and the fathers were three sheets to the wind, but not Ranma. His appetite hasn't been effected any by his “ascension” into godhood either.

Ranma downed a full glass and let out a satisfied sigh. “Might as well get it over with,” he replied. He knew he'd eventually have to go back to school. Belldandy would insist that he continue his education despite the fact that Urd already knew a great deal about a great many things. She hadn't been all-knowing but she did know a lot and he had access to all of her memories. Both the good ones and the bad ones. Luckily the good ones outnumbered the bad ones.

“Kuno-chan is going to go ape-shit over your girl side's new look,” she told him. “You know that.” His female form hadn't really changed all that much, her face was still the same except for the dark tan, her hair was no longer red but a bright platinum blond, and maybe her bust was slightly bigger. Those strange blue tattoos added an even more exotic look to his cursed form.

Ranma nodded, “That's what I meant.” Becoming a god slash goddess didn't effect the curse at all. It didn't really matter to him really, his new personality, a mesh of his old self and the Goddess Urd's, made him comfortable with both forms. And then there were these strange urges ...

Nabiki looked at him with an amused smirk. “Oh I am not going to miss this,” she said. And, I'm not going to miss on the opportunity to gather bets on the outcome of such an encounter either.

Soun and Genma weren't at the table. They were in the corner near the shoji doors overlooking the back yard. The shogi board sat untouched between them. Both were still brooding over last night's revelations. There was nothing they could do to get Ranma to do what they wanted. There would be no forcing him to marry any of the Tendo sisters unless he wanted to. Before she and Skuld has left for the train back to Nekomi, Belldandy told several stories to the family of Urd's many exploits before her assimilation with Ranma. They pretty much realized that angering Ranma wasn't healthy, as himself he already had a temper, but adding Urd to the mix was like merging the boy with Akane.

Speaking of Akane, there was also the fact that she has officially withdrawn from the agreement to join the schools. Though Ranma seemed to be forgiving of what she'd done to him, she still wasn't forgiving of herself. The fact that it didn't seem to bother Ranma any that they weren't engaged anymore was also troubling. Genma didn't have the nerve to wake the boy up for morning training either. He remember very clearly how easily Ranma vaporized that concrete ornament in the backyard yesterday.

“I wonder where Akane is,” Nabiki wondered out loud. It wasn't like her little sister to sleep in or miss school for no reason. Even when the Hentai Horde was in full swing she still attended school.

“She told me that she wasn't going to school today,” Kasumi said when she emerged from the kitchen and began setting the kotatsu for breakfast.

“Oh good grief,” Nabiki rolled her eyes and went upstairs.

“You should be going up there to comfort her, boy.” Genma groused, it was a momentary memory lapse induced by his need to boss his son around and show him who was in charge. It didn't last long.

Ranma held up two fingers, sparks of lightning flashed up them like a Jacob's Ladder. “What was that oyagi, I couldn't hear you?” he replied nonchalantly. Genma clammed up quickly and went back to sipping his tea. Ranma glanced his way and snorted indignantly.

oOOOo

Nabiki didn't bother knocking on Akane's door, she walked right up and slid it open. Never mind that she might be naked, dressing, or doing something naughty. Nabiki knew her little sister well, she knew about Akane's late night finger sessions. And she had the gal to call Ranma hentai. Akane though was doing neither, she was still in bed with the covers pulled up close to her neck and her curtains closed.

“Akane, its time to stop wallowing in your own self pity,” Nabiki grabbed for the covers but Akane held them fast.

“I'm not going to school today,” Akane groused under the covers.

The Tendo mercenary rolled her eyes. “Stop blaming yourself, you had no idea this was going to happen.” she tried to reassure her, but Nabiki knew it was a flimsy argument. She let go of the blankets, she knew how strong her little sister was so it would be impossible for her to pull them away.

Akane sat up and hugged her knees. “I never realized how often I got angry with Ranma over the silliest things until ...” she said wiping a tear from her eye.

“Well, he kind of deserved it most of the time,” Nabiki said in her defense.

Akane shook her head. “No, I just didn't have any patience,” she said. “With everything going on with Kuno and the boys at school, when daddy engaged me to Ranma and I found out he was really a boy and not a girl it all ... it all sort of ...”

“Overwhelmed you, and all you could do was lash out.” said Nabiki. For the first time she was finally starting to understand what made her sister tick. It frightened her a little, she herself played a part in Kuno's obsession with Akane and his eventual challenge to the school which gave birth to the Hentai Horde. It was a miracle something like this hadn't happened sooner to someone else, but that someone would have been dead forever. The consequences of that would have been too much for Nabiki to deal with, her influence only went so far.

“Please, just let me sort this out on my own,” Akane pleaded looking thoroughly miserable.

“I guess this means an end to the giri between the Tendo and Saotome clans,” Nabiki said as she turned to leave.

“If you want him I won't get in the way,” she heard Akane say.

Nabiki couldn't believe what she just heard and looked back at her sister in shock. “Nani?” she gaped at her.

“Daddy will probably transfer the engagement over to you or Kasumi sooner or later,” Akane went on sadly. Despite the situation she knew her father and how stubborn he could be. There was no way he was going to give up on his dream for anything.

“But,” Nabiki stammered and was actually blushing a little bit. The idea of having Ranma to herself was ... interesting. He was good looking, in both forms. She never admitted it to her family and only told a small select number of friends but Nabiki liked sitting on the fence, so to speak.

“Please go,” Akane laid back down and pulled the covers over her head.

Nabiki wanted to tell her not to give up on him but she held her tongue and closed the door. She went to her room, grabbed her school back, her special ledger, and went downstairs. Nabiki was surprised to see Ranma waiting for her at the genkan near the front door with his own book bag. Wait a minute, since when did he carry a book bag. She remembered he had one on the first day he came to the dojo but Kuno destroyed it.

“Lets walk to school together,” he said opening the door for her. “We need to talk.”

You bet your cute ass we need to talk, Nabiki replied silently as they left the house.

oOOOo

News of Ranma's miraculous recovery had made it to Furinken High and the compound of the Kuno clan. The heir of the Kuno fortune stood seething with rage at the thought. The vile sorcerer's survival was indeed evidence of his unearthly origins, there was no longer any doubt. Kuno Tatewaki knew what he had to do. Little did he know he was partially right. He would, however, not be ready to deal with the new Ranma.

oOOOo

“You know eventually our parents will try to force the issue of the engagement,”

Nabiki looked over at Ranma, he was uncharacteristically for him walking on the sidewalk next to her. She could see his eyes though quickly shifting around looking in all directions. He was scanning for trouble. She wasn't a martial artist and even she knew danger was in the air. Word of Ranma's recovery has bound to have reached his enemies by now.

“What about Akane?” she asked him. Nabiki knew what buttons to push when it came to Ranma, but this wasn't the same Ranma so she knew she was pushing it a little.

He looked sidelong at her sharply, “What about her?” The look wasn't exactly kind.

“I thought you'd forgiven her,” she even heard him say so the other day. He was actually going out of his way to be nice to her, why the anger all of a sudden? She been around them all day yesterday, when did they get into a fight?

“Only to a point,” he replied curtly.

Nabiki shrugged, “I guess you have a right to be mad at her a little bit, she did almost kill you.” Technically she nearly killed one person and indirectly caused the death of another. Well not really a death since Urd didn't technically die but she wasn't a separate persona anymore because of what Akane did. The whole thing was a bit confusing, even for her.

“I would have just dropped it because she was so distraught over what happened to 'us',” he said referring to the assimilation. “But when your dad got all hyper about imoutochan and Skuld yesterday, she got angry too. She says she wants to change but in reality she hasn't changed at all.” Even he knew Akane wasn't going to change overnight into a nicer girl, that was impossible. It was the fact that she got mad so quickly and it took her a while to finally cool down. She didn't yell at him or try to hit him but he could see that same soldering rage in her eyes. That same blind rage he saw the day his life changed forever.

“Saotome, you can't expect her to change overnight,” Nabiki grabbed his shoulder making him stop and face her.

She could see the sad look in his eyes when he replied, “I know, and she'll only change as long as we ... aren't ... engaged. With our baka parents always putting pressure on her, she'll never improve.” Emotional pressure equaled stress and the engagement has proven to be a a very stressful thing for Akane.

Nabiki sighed, “I guess you're right. Which means ...”

“Exactly,” Ranma interjected. “Sooner or later the issue's gonna come up, and the sooner I deal with it the better.”

Nabiki laughed and shrugged her shoulders, “You're a kami now, you can do whatever the hell you want. Daddy can't force you to marry one of us.”

“That first part is true,” he replied then gestured for her to continue their walk to school. “But there's an additional complication.”

Nabiki did a Spock Maneuver, “Nani?” What sort of complication? She wasn't aware of anything that would force him to have to fulfill the agreement. At least not anymore.

Ranma replied, “Technically Urd was a part of me since I was six years old. During that time I was one tenth Kami because my soul was sharing her spirit energy, and even a one tenth kami is still considered a kami.”

Nabiki shrugged, “What does that have to do with it?”

“A while ago I made a promise to your father that I would eventually fulfill the agreement to join the schools,” he explained, which was news to her. “I never said when I would fulfill giri or with whom but I did make a promise. It was back when I went off after that Musk prince.”

He stopped and lifted a single finger, “The number one most important rule is that if a Kami makes a promise he and/or she 'must' fulfill it no matter what.”

Nabiki didn't understand what the deal was, “But you weren't a kami then.”

“I was one tenth kami,” he said and saw the look of understanding in Nabiki's eyes. He knew she'd eventually get it, she was a smart girl. If only she put her smarts to work for a better purpose.

“Yeah,” she drawled and they continued walking. “I can see where that'd be a problem.”

After a bit of silence Ranma spoke up and asked, “So, I was wondering if maybe you'd like the honor.” The look on her face was priceless when she stopped in her tracks and gaped at him like a goldfish. Ranma suppressed an urge to burst out laughing, he was trying to serious here.

“Me?” she touched her chest incredulously. This was certainly a surprise, she didn't like surprises. This one was a whopper, although not really all that totally unexpected but still. The idea of being engaged to him had come up from time to time. Sometimes she'd imagine what it would have been like if she hadn't foisted him off onto Akane that first day.

“Kasumi-chan is in love with the doc,” he said. “I can't take her away from him, and knowing her she'd go along with an engagement with me despite her love for the doc out of a desire to maintain family honor. I can't do that to her.” It kind of touched Nabiki a bit there that Ranma's would actually care that much for Kasumi's feelings.

“You actually want to be engaged to me?” she asked him still unable to fully grasp the fact that Ranma was asking her to marry him. She half expected the world to end right there and then.

He smiled at her, “It could be fun.” She watched his eyes scan down her body lingering at her chest and legs for a few seconds each. For some really odd reason she felt very flattered that he found her attractive.

“And painful, for me, when the other girls find out. Unlike Akane I'm not a martial Artist.” she grouse folding her arms. She couldn't hold back the fact that her face was turning red no matter how hard she tried.

A dark cloud passed over Ranma's face, “The pain would be theirs.” The look on his face promised much suffering. Nabiki had seen Ranma look angry before but something in he eyes told her this was very different. He wasn't just talking, he meant what he was saying.

“Suppose I 'could' go along with this, what do I get out of it?” she asked him, her shrewd businesswoman instincts kicking in. There was lots of potential profit to be had from this relationship.

Ranma shrugged, “An iinazuke who's a kami, what more would you want?” Ask a stupid question ...

“I'll help you make money for the household expenses and then some,” he added raising one hand silencing what she was about to say. When Nabiki heard this her mouth fell open.

“Is that a promise, Saotome?” she winked at him. She wondered if he knew exactly how juicy a bait it was that he'd just thrown her. Of course, she was a master at hooking the one who cast the lure in the first place. Nabiki was going to get a quick course in just how well the new Ranma could think fast on his feet outside of a martial arts battle.

“Only if you make a solemn promise on your mother's memory that you'll take our relationship seriously and you won't abuse me for personal gain,” he countered. “You treat me with genuine respect and I'll do the same, and perhaps something more will come out of this later on.” Ranma knew how much the Tendo girls loved their deceased mother. Even Nabiki, as greedy as she could be sometimes, would never break a promise such as that. Unlike Genma, she wasn't a completely dishonorable and untrustworthy sonuvabitch.

He's got me and he knows it, Nabiki sighed inwardly. She looked back through the years and wondered how long it had been since she'd ever really been on a date. Once, only once, and it was with that guy with the butler puppet on his hand. The one who was a genius at getting what he wanted with other people's money, until he met her. That really didn't count as a date. Ranma had gone along as her protection. Being in her position was a lonely job, she had a reputation to uphold, but wasn't it possible for Ranma to be included in that also?

“Alright, I promise, I guess you've got a iinazuke.” she smiled and shook his hand. Nabiki was surprised again when he drew her to him and received a genuinely warm hug. It felt nice being in his arms, surprisingly nicer than she thought it would be. She couldn't hide the bright blush on her face. If this wasn't an example of just how much Ranma has changed, she didn't know what else could possibly serve as one. The old Ranma would never voluntarily do anything like this. This wasn't the old Ranma.

“I didn't mean to twist your arm like that,” he said meaning the promise involving her mother. “But I know you, so ...” He let his words trail off.

Nabiki moved back a little but didn't leave his embrace. “Don't apologize, I'm actually pretty proud of you Saotome,” she smiled. “And here I thought I was the top scam artist in this town. I think maybe this might work after all.” With his arm around her shoulder they continued on their way to school. They didn't speak for a while. It was going to take her a while to get used to this. This new Ranma might actually be nice to have as an iinazuke, she thought to herself.

“Love potions,” Ranma said out of the blue.

“Huh?” Nabiki looked at him questioningly.

“We could make a killing selling my love potions to the girls at school,” Ranma told her.

Ok, now this really got Nabiki's interest. “You can make love potions,” she said incredulously. But she did remind herself that she was talking to a “kami” who had his arm draped around her shoulder.

Ranma produced a small bottle from out of nowhere and handed it to her. It was a small brown glass bottle with a printed label showing a beautiful woman with platinum blond hair and dark ... skin? She looked at the bottle again and than back at Ranma.

“This was you ... her, I mean Urd?” she glanced at him.

Ranma nodded, “Yeah.”

“She was beautiful,” Nabiki admitted truthfully.

Ranma raised a finger to correct her, “And sexy, never forget sexy!” Nabiki promptly face faltered. Ok, there was no more doubt, this definitely wasn't the same Ranma anymore.

After her recovery they continued down the street and when the gates to the school came into view Nabiki asked, “I've really got to ask, what made you start drinking so much sake?” He downed several bottles yesterday and didn't once act tipsy. She knew of people who could handle their liquor but this was ridiculous.

“Its my power focus,” Ranma explained. “For imoutochan its sleep and for Skuld its ice cream.”

“Huh,” Nabiki muttered contemplatively. She really didn't understand what he meant by power focus but it sounded like it was important. Maybe it was a Kami thing. That was something she was really going to have to get used to, Ranma being a Kami and all. Nabiki had never been overly religious.

She looked at the tiny bottle in her hand. “This stuff really work?” she asked Ranma. He took the tiny bottle and looked at her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. She guessed this might be the Urd influence asserting itself.

“I think a little demonstration is in order,” he said then as they looked towards the school gates they both saw Kuno standing there with his ever present bokuto and beside him stood his twisted sister. “And there's our test subjects.”

A huge smile slowly appeared on Nabiki's face. She was beginning to like this new Ranma.

oOOOo

Habiki Ryoga recognized the skyline before him when he finally crested the hill he was climbing. His heart skipped a beat. His journey has once against lead him to the arms of the woman he loved more than anyone in the world. It had to be destiny. There was no other way to describe it. He had only one obstacle. Nerima was home also to Saotome Ranma. The perpetually lost boy clenched his fists and smiled. Finally, he was going to be able to try the new technique he learned.

“Ranma, this time I am finally going to beat you for good!” he yelled towards the city.

oOOOo

“AAAAAAACCHHHOOOO!” Ranma sneezed violently.

“Problem?” Nabiki wondered if kami were able to get colds.

Ranma rubbed his nose, “I think someone's talking about me.”

“SAOTOME!” came a cry from the school yard ahead.

Kuno stood at the gates to the school with bokuto in hand in his dark samurai hamaka. Upon hearing Kuno's outburst several other students came rushing to the gates and climbed to the tops of the wall to see. Word had reached the school of Ranma's near-death-experience and miraculous recovery. Now they saw him walking towards the front gates ... with his arm draped around “Nabiki's” shoulder? Nabiki notice them looking in her direction. A part of her wanted to jerk away from Ranma, another part of his made her blush a deep red. Her curiosity about that little bottle of love potion was just too powerful.

“I'm about to do something really bad,” Ranma laughed. “I hope father doesn't get too mad at me. Follow my lead.” He cupped his hand by Nabiki's ear and whispered. A broad grin crept across her face and she started to laugh.

He didn't take his arm from around Nabiki's shoulder as they approached the gates. He could hear the students talking in hushed tones and know that Nabiki was probably wishing she could crawl into a hole somewhere. The wannabe samurai looked at him with palpable disdain. His eyes flitted over to Nabiki and the look of hatred was very evident. It was no secret that the two were not friends by any short order and that Kuno only had dealings with her so he could get what he wanted. Ranma knew about the photos ever since that day he found pictures of his female self on Kuno about a year ago.

“Not only do you prove your unearthly origins by returning from the dead, but you now accept the company of this lowest of harlots.” Kuno spat looking directly at Nabiki. The middle Tendo felt Ranma stiffen at that. She looked at his face and could see the barely restrained rage in his eyes.

Kodachi whipped out her trademark ribbon and fell into a fighting stance. “Vile temptress, unhand my dearest Ranma-sama,” Kodachi demanded. “You besmirch him with your very presence.” Nabiki could feel Ranma starting to shake now. With as much power as he had, or she suspected that he know had, these two baka were dead if she didn't act.

Nabiki yanked the tiny vile from Ranma's and ran in between the two siblings. She held up the bottle for the two of them to see. “I've finally got it!” she proclaimed. The two Kunos looked at her curiously.

“What is that?” Kodachi asked before her brother could ask.

“Oh, no she has the source of my power,” Ranma said in a manner that was obviously fake, but the Kuno siblings weren't keen on subtly. In other words they fell for it.

“Tatewaki-san, if you drink only a drop of this you'll free the fierce tigress and the pigtailed girl from the vile sorcerer's grip,” Nabiki said to Kuno. The wannabe samurai's eyes went wide. He went to grab it out of her hand but she pulled it away and shook her finger.

“Now, now, Kuno-chan,” she tisked. “I've been trying to get this from him for a long time, and you only need one drop.”

Kuno drew out his wallet, “Money is of no object.”

“Ten thousand yen,” she told him. The baka slapped the bill in her hand and she handed the vile over to him. Kuno let one drop of the liquid drop on his tongue then handed it back to her.

She turned to Kodachi, “The truth is, the vile sorcerer is really that red headed vixen who is trying to steal away your beloved Ranma. He's under her power to do these things, if you drink one drop he'll be free of her forever.”

Kodachi made to grab the vile from Nabiki only to have it pulled away by the Tendo mercenary. “Oh, no, I went to a great deal of personal risk to get this,” she said.

“Parting with a trifle ten thousand yen is more than worth the price of freeing my beloved from the spell of that vile temptress.” Kodachi growled.

She pulled out a ten thousand yen note out of her blouse, received the vile and let a drop touch her tongue. Nabiki took the vile back and put the cap back on. She went back over to Ranma and turned to face them. According to what Ranma had whispered to her she didn't have much more time left.

“Now, look at each other and the curse will be broken,” she told them and pretended to act like she was trying to held Ranma from running towards them. “Hurry, I can't hold him back much longer!”

“No, do not look at each other, do not break the curse! Oh no!” Ranma deadpanned faking as if he was struggling against Nabiki's hold. Everyone knew Ranma could have torn through a solid brick wall if wanted to. Little Nabiki wouldn't have been a obstacle. A few students were already doubled over with laughter.

Ranma couldn't believe how easily these two baka were scammed. They had to be the stupidest people he'd ever seen in his entire life. Both his own and Urd's. The Kuno siblings mindlessly did as Nabiki said both thinking that they finally have what they wanted and their chief rivals would finally be out of picture. She knew she'd never win an Oscar for that performance but even a complete moron could have told she was acting.

She heard Ranma whisper something, “ 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1.”

The two Kuno's swooned slightly, putting their hands to their heads for moment. Both experienced a strange feeling of disorientation for just a moment and then everything came back into pure clarity. Both looked at one another as if seeing each other for the first time in a new light.

“Why have I not realized this sooner,” Kuno said as he slid his bokuto into his belt.

“I never have realized this before but,” Kodachi said as she put away her ribbon.

“I LOVE YOU!”

Ranma suppressed an urge to laugh his head off as the two siblings rushed one another. They flew into each other's arms and locked lips ... complete with tongue. Screams of shock and scandal echoed across the school yard. There were a few cat calls and a couple of isolated shouts of encouragement. Ranma couldn't help it anymore and doubled over laughing. Nabiki tried to keep up her emotionless mask but even she couldn't take it anymore and soon joined him on the ground. After a while they recovered, look at the two siblings making out in the middle of the school yard, suppressed another bout of uncontrollable laughter and headed for the school building.

“How long will they be like that?” Nabiki asked while still trying to hold back her laughter.

“Oh, in about ... 1, 2 ..”

“Brother what are you doing?!” WACK!

“Unhand me twisted sister, these lips are for the tigress Tendo Akane and the Pigtailed Girl!”

“Who are you calling twisted, you deluded imbecile?!” WHAM! BOOM!

“You, my sister of cluelessness!”

“Master, Mistress Kodachi please stop fighting!”

Pretty soon the rest of the students began to file out of the school yard leaving the bickering two alone. Ranma and Nabiki separated as they went to their different home rooms. They agreed to meet one another for lunch later in the day. Nabiki looked at the small vile in her hands when she sat down at her desk. The Kuno's reaction had been immense with just a single drop! It didn't last long like Ranma had told her but she could just imagine how much a while or even half a bottle would last.

“We're going to be stinking rich.”

oOOOo

If Ranma had trouble saying awake during class before he didn't stand a chance now that he was merged with Urd. Ukyo sat at her desk and noticed curiously Akane's absence. She wondered what happened. To her it didn't really matter one way or the other because Ranma was here in class. Though he was sawing logs like nobody's business. She was a bit afraid that he might soon catch someone's attention.

That someone noticed right away when she could no longer see Ranma's head among the rest of the students listening in on her lecture. Hinako-sensei sighed, she was pleased to see that Ranma was alright. The rumors she heard appeared to been correct, he had been at the hospital for some sort of injury but it was likely blown out of proportion by the students. He certainly didn't look like someone who had been near death to her. That still didn't excuse him for sleeping in class.

“Saotome-san,” she called from the front of the class.

A snore was his response. “Saotome-san!” she shouted hoping to wake him.

Against another snore. Instinctively she reached for a fifty yen coin but stopped herself. If he indeed had been either really sick or badly hurt then she couldn't risk hitting him too hard with her special ability. Unlike other people in this school whom she could name she actually cared about the students. Ranma to her was a special case. She knew he had the potential for greatness if only he applied himself more. He'd been the first student to actually defeat her. That impressed her a lot, if he put as much effort into school work that he put into defeating her special technique there would be nothing he couldn't do. Little did she know at the moment that he'd already gone beyond what any normal mortal being can achieve on their own.

“SAOTOME-SAN!”

“WAAAHH!!” Ranma sat bolt upright. Hinako-sensei lowered the bullhorn and walked back to the front of the class with a self-satisfied look on her face. The rest of the class looked at her in surprise, they half expected her to hit him with her coin technique. She always used it on Ranma, but why not this time?

“Please pay attention in my class, Saotome-san.” she said while looking straight at him then returned to her lecture.

oOOOo

When lunch finally came Ranma grabbed his bento and went out into the school yard looking for Nabiki. He found her sitting under usual tree surrounded by her female cohorts. When she saw him coming she put away her black ledger and beaconed for him to come over. The girls looked at her strangely, since when did they eat lunch with him? She'd neglected to tell them the change in the engagement, she was leaving that for when Ranma showed up. The looks on their faces were going to priceless.

“Boss, why are you calling 'him' over here?” one of the girls asked, her expression dour.

“You got something planned?” another asked her, an eager look in her eyes.

“Hi,” Ranma said as he sat down ... next to Nabiki. Curiosity flashed in the girl's eyes suddenly, they figured Nabiki must have something on him to get him to do this. If that were true what sort of profit were they going to make? Better yet, why didn't she tell them what she had planned?

“Ranma, since we're going to spending a lot more time together I think it would be a good idea if you got to know the girls,” Nabiki gestured towards the girls. There were five in all, they represented her inner circle, her most trusted subordinates. They all looked at Nabiki with slightly surprised looks.

Ranma noted that a few were actually pretty cute. Nabiki started from left to right, “These are Rei, Mina, Izumi, Katsumi and Innoue.”

Rei wore her brown hair short in style similar to Yuka's, she had an innocent “baby face” which made her popular with some of the boys thus making it easy for her to get money from them. Mina kept her long blond hair in a braid, she looked athletic. Basically she was a tomboy and the strong arm of the group. Izumi's hair was pink, her eyes green, and she seemed to always have a happy expression on her face. Beneath that cutesy facade was a girl who was a whiz with numbers and knew how to cheat at almost every kind of card game imaginable without getting caught. Katsumi had the aura of a miko around her which Ranma was able to sense. She was the tallest of the girls and kept her waist length black hair tied back into a pony tail. He'd often seen Katsumi doing fire readings for the students in the school yard, obviously she's had some priestess training. Innoue was quiet and polite, she had dark hair cut in a fashion similar to Akane and she wore glasses which added to her cuteness. She was a small girl, smaller than Ranma's own female half. He'd seen her coming out of the school's computer lab a lot, so she must be the computer expert of the group.

“Uh, boss what's going on here?” Mina asked.

“As of today, Ranma and I are officially engaged.” Nabiki came out and told them. She couldn't believe she was actually able to say it but she did. After having some time in class without him around to think on it she was actually starting to like the idea of being engaged to him. She was actually missing his presence in the classroom.

“NANI!” they all five gasped in surprise.

Nabiki raised a finger to calm them. “That's right ladies, and he brings to the table a rather interesting business proposition which I am certain will make us very rich.” With that said she takes out the potion bottle and begins to explain its effects omitting the part about Ranma being a kami. She figured they would never believe that part of the story.

“That's what made the Kunos go all loopy this morning?” Innoue inquired pointing at the bottle.

“When aren't they loopy,” Rei deadpanned.

“There is a strong aura of power around that bottle,” said Katsumi as he held her hands near the bottle.

“Where did you get it, boss?” Innoue asked Nabiki.

They all five knew magic was real. Each had come to terms with the reality of Ranma's curse over the course of working for Nabiki. The idea of a real honest to goodness love potion that actually worked wasn't much of a surprise to them considering all of the other stuff they've seen at Furinken High School.

“From Ranma,” Nabiki gestured his way.

Mina looked at him accusingly, “So that's how you got all those girls to chase you.”

Nabiki didn't have to look at Ranma to know he was getting mad. This was a totally different Ranma, he probably wouldn't have any problem with hitting a girl. Mina was tough, but she'd be flattened by Ranma.

“No they chase him due to other circumstances,” Nabiki corrected her. “And in the future I'd advise against insulting my future husband with false accusations in my presence. I hope I make myself clear on this.”

Mina turned pale and looked down at her hands. “Gomen,” she said in a softer tone.

“So, where did you get it?” Innoue asked Ranma.

Technically kami weren't supposed to lie, which never stopped Urd any. What Ranma said next wasn't technically a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either. “I found the recipe for it by accident,” he told her.

In translation, Urd found the recipe through trial and error over time. Never mind the fact that while testing her new potion she accidentally started a war on Earth which ended with the city of Troy being flattened. Mara would never let her live that one down. The demoness had token one look at the situation and fell over with hysterical laughter.

“Wow, I never figured you to be the type to be interested in making something like this.” said Izumi as she examined the bottle.

“Maybe we should tell them,” Ranma looked over at Nabiki who just shrugged her shoulders.

“Its you're call Ranma,” she replied. This was going to be interesting, she thought to herself. Nabiki wondered if the girls could actually handle the truth.

“Tell us what?”

oOOOo

Rei, Mina, Katsumi, Izumi and Innoue stared at Ranma in absolute shock. They were no longer in the school yard. It had become necessary to move their conversation to a more private area so that he could demonstrate for them evidence to his claim. Now he stood in the middle of the empty gym looking at them with a self-congratulatory smile on his face. Behind and above him, with her hands on his shoulders with black and white wings spread wide hovered World of Elegance. The Angel looked upon them with a placid expression. Even Nabiki had been taken aback by the appearance of this strangely beautiful creature. She had no idea that Ranma was carrying something like that around with him.

“Now, are there any doubts now?” he asked them.

All five girls shook their heads while still looking at the Angel that hovered just behind Ranma.

“You can go back now,” Ranma said to the apparition behind him and the Angel folded her wings and returned to where she emerged from the small of Ranma's back.

Nabiki pointed a shaking finger at him and asked, “You've been carrying that creature inside of you all of this time?”

“World of Elegance is my angel,” he explained. “Only the most powerful of kami have their own angels because they can be very hard to control at times. An angel that runs amok because its master can't control it is a very dangerous thing.” He could remember when he got his angel, well it was Urd's memory but to his current perception it was “he” who had gotten it. That had been a rather rough experience. The angel wouldn't come out for him after that until just before Mara pulled that whole Lord of Terror crap on him ... uh ... her. Now the angel came whenever called.

Innoue was the first of Nabiki's inner circle to speak. “But you can control yours,” she said.

“Yes I can,” he replied with a proud smirk.

“Whoa, Ranma is a kami,” Mina thought out loud. “A real honest to goodness kami. This really changes things big time!”

“Yet somehow I sense his divinity isn't exactly all that pure,” said Katsumi.

Ranma sighed, “That's because my father was a kami and my mother was a demoness.”

Nabiki immediately doubled over laughing. The girls and Ranma looked at her strangely for a moment and Ranma looked like he was starting to get peeved but the Tendo mercenary got a hold of herself and immediately calmed down.

“Gomen, Ranma, its just that Kuno keeps talking about the judgment of heaven and sending you back to hell,” she said trying to keep from laughing hysterically. “While the whole time you're actually ... HA HA HA ... a representative of both ... HA HA HA HA!”

Ranma nervously scratched the back of his head, “Actually I never thought of it that way.”

“So, this Urd, is she dead now?” Izumi asked him.

Ranma shook his head in response, “No, like I said I'm both Urd and Ranma combined. I guess I could call myself Urd but I'm sticking with Ranma. In some ways ya could say the old Urd and Ranma are gone, but they didn't die because they became 'me'.”

“Ah, boss, I think we got trouble coming this way,” everyone turned towards Mina who had moved to the door of the gym. She went to investigate a sound outside and opened the door just enough to look outside. What she saw she didn't like one bit.

Nabiki asked her, “What is it?”

“A whole bunch of students are outside the door and Principle Kuno is coming this way,” Mina replied.

The sound of a hand slap filled the large empty room. They looked at Ranma running his hand down his face in exasperation. “Oh great, now I gotta deal with pineapple breath.” he groaned.

“Open the door, the sooner I deal with this the better,” he turned Mina's way. The girl looked at Nabiki who gave her a stern look that said “do it or else”. I guess whatever he says for now on will carry the same weight as the boss' orders, she thought to herself. She did as he asked and soon the gym began to fill with students.

Ranma could hear with his sharp hearing what they were saying. Most were curious to see what the principle would do, most just wanted to see Ranma bash the coconut brained baka into unconsciousness, but many others were asked questions of how did he survive if his so called injuries had been so supposedly horrible as the rumors said that'd been.

If he was going to keep this from getting out of control Ranma knew he had to deal with this now. Having the palm tree baka involved just complicated things a little.

“Hey keiki, me got some questions for ya, yah.” the so-called principle in sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt said as he strolled into the gym.

“What do you want, coconut head?” Ranma groaned.

“Me hears dat you wuz on the death bed, me hears dat you get all manglied up by dis machine and the docs can no put ya back together,” Principle Kuno babbled as he walked around Ranma. “But ere you is, all bedda and no scratches. Now how that be, huh?”

Ranma laughed, technically he wasn't supposed to lie, but he could bend the truth just a little bit. “I guess its a miracle.” he said shrugging his shoulders.

“Da Big Kahuna be tinkin dat you be some monsta or ghost,” Principle Kuno whirled around and pointed his finger in Ranma's face. “The real Ranma be pushin up the daises, yah.” This sent a murmur through the assembled students, the seeds of doubt had been sown despite the ineptitude of the one of planted them.

“The only monster here is you,” Ranma roared in anger. “You coconut headed freak of nature!”

“I see, so the vile sorcerer Saotome has indeed finally fallen,” he heard Kuno Tatewaki laugh as he passed through the crowd. “And thus the denizens of hades hath sent this doppleganger in his stead to further torment us.” Ranma rolled his eyes at the clueless wannabe samurai as he drew his bokuto and stood off against him next to his father.

“Ah, it warms da Big Kahuna's heart dat his boy be standin by his side like dis,” Principle Kuno choked up.

“Stand with the Principle of this fine establishment of learning against this hellish evil I shall,” Kuno swaggered. “BUT I STILL REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE MY FATHER!”

“Man you two baka are really pathetic,” Ranma walked towards the pair. Nabiki saw the look in his eye and immediately start to step back. She'd seen that look before only one other time. The other girls noticing their boss moving away did the same.

“SILENCE SPAWN OF HADES,” Kuno cried holding his sword high. “THIS DAY THE WRATH OF HEAVEN IS UPON THEE! EN GUARD!” He rush at Ranma just as the baka beside him pulled out a pineapple bomb.

A smirk crossed Ranma's lips, “Wrath of heaven, eh?” His clenched fist at his side opened and tongues of lightning traveled up his fingers like on a Jacob's Ladder. Soon the tiny flickers of lightning became a huge ball of energy cupped in his hand.

“YOU WANT TO SEE THE WRATH OF HEAVEN,” Ranma shouted back at Kuno and thrust his hand forward just as the baka reached him. “BEHOLD THE 'REAL' THING! DESTRUCTIVE THUNDER!”

ZZZZZOOOOORRRRCCCCHHHHHH!!!!!!

Kuno stood there dancing like a puppet on a string and let out tiny gasps of pain until the torrent of shocks subsided. The lightning continued to wash over him making him jerk violently until they too faded. He stood there for a long moment, his hair standing up on end, his clothes charred and burned in places, and gray smoke rising from his head. The rest of the room was deftly quiet. Nobody know what to think of this, they'd seen Ranma do some amazing things before but this was way over the top even for him.

Kuno tried to speak but it just came out as a sputter, “... now you ... know ... the ... power ... of ... Kuno Tatewaki ... why is ... the gym ... spinning? Ugh.” THUD!

“You're next,” Ranma eyed the principle with a nasty grin on his face. The look in his eyes promised pain unimaginable.

“Ah, da Big Kahuna suddinly memba he gotta go sort his hula skirt collection, yah!” Principle Kuno bolted for the door tossing his pineapple bomb behind him. Ranma deftly deflected it and sent it in a direction where it would do the least bit of harm when it went off, then he sprinted off at the retreating palm tree haired man. Before he could catch up to the principle Ranma felt a presence, his danger sense went off like a bullhorn and he leapt high in the air. Below he heard a loud piping voice.

“Anything Goes Ten Yen Shiatsu!” SLURP! THUD!

He alighted next to a fully adult Hinako-sensei who was still standing with her hand out stretched with the coin between her fingers. To his surprise she looked at him, smiled once, then walked over to the fallen principle. She kneed down next to him with a very stern look on her beautiful face. A couple of boys standing nearby fell over from massive nosebleeds since her tiny skirt wasn't able to hide her panties at certain angles.

“Principle Kuno, as a dully appointed special investigator of the Tokyo Municipal School Board I officially relieve you of your duties as principle of Furinken High starting now.” she said in a loud voice so everyone could hear her. Loud gasps came from the assembled students, even a few cheers of joy.

Kuno lifted up his head and slurred, “Wat you say? You can no do dat. You work for dat Big Kahuna.”

“As a member of the Teacher's Union I work for the Tokyo Board of Education,” Hinako-sensei corrected him. “About a month ago I went to the school board with a number of complaints about you and discovered an entire filing cabinet filled with complaints filed against you dating back several years. After hitting nothing but stopping block after stopping block for a week by members of the board I went to one of the school system's biggest contributors. That would be the Fukuyama clan, and they used their influence to open an official investigation against you with me as its sole investigator with full cart blanch authority.”

“Holy shit,” Ranma heard Nabiki say out loud.

He learned towards her and asked, “What does cat branch mean?”

“Cart blanch,” she corrected him. “It means that whatever she says goes and the school board has no say in it what-so-ever.”

To add salt to the wound Hinako-sensei added, “I've taken many of the more serious complaints and brought them to the attention of the local authorities, and low and behold I discover that the ICPO has warrants out for your arrest in the United States for suspicions of child abuse and the local city prosecuting attorney would also like to have a word with you also.”

Four big, burly men in Nihon Police uniforms filed through the crowd of students, picked up the weakened principle, slapped him in hand cuffs and carried him away. As they left the students were quiet for a moment, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

“Principle Kuno is gone,” one of them said.

“PRINCIPLE KUNO IS GONE!” another cried out and a deafening cheer rose from the students. Friends hugged friends, some cried with joy, a few students found themselves being tossed up and down in celebration and the rest rushed to surround their savior Hinako-sensei.

Ranma strolled over to Nabiki who had a strange smirk on her face. “Something tells me you knew about this before hand.” said Ranma.

“Lets us just say that Hinako-sensei wouldn't have been able to pull this off without a little helping in finding the right allies to support her cause.” she replied.

“This Fukuyama clan,” he looked at her with a questioning nod.

“They weren't easy to find, apparently they keep their donations to the school board very hush-hush if you know what I mean,” Nabiki explained. “I think it has something to do with their son.”

Ranma tilted his head to the side, “Huh?”

She shrugged, “Lets just say he makes Happosai look like Mother Teresa and Buddha combined.”

oOOOo

Somewhere in another part of Tokyo a young man with blond hair and dressed in an all white boy's school uniform let out a huge sneeze.

Fukuyama Kazuharu rubbed his nose and sneeze again. “Hmmm, some lovely young lady must be talking about me. Maybe its that luscious young Koyomi or maybe that gorgeous Miharu!” he said out loud. He turned his attention to one of the girls in the classroom, a very pretty young girl with brown hair and excessively generous attributes.

“Or maybe Kirie is having dirty thoughts about me, maybe my manliness is finally breaking through that steel trap will of hers and now she wants me instead of that Chibi-nari” he drooled.

Kojima Kirie leapt from her seat and raced toward Fukuyama's seat at the back of the class.

“GO LIVE OUT YOUR DELUSIONS ... IN HELL!”

WHAM!!! THUD!!!

oOOOo

With the situation finally winding down the vice-principle who now suddenly found himself promoted to full principle declared that the students could have the rest of the day off. The staff planned to have a major party to celebrate Principle Kuno's departure and eventually extradition to the United States. Ranma and Nabiki took this opportunity to make an exit before the students could swarm them with questions. For one thing they were very interested in wondering why he was hanging out with Nabiki so much today. Ukyo was also pretty curious as to what the heck was happening between them. She knew about Ranma being a kami so the lightning didn't shock her much but when Hinako-sensei entered the picture she got floored.

The cheering of the students in the gym carried out into the street. A certain someone heard the commotion, felt the discharge of power and came to investigate. She watched as the mortal of her dreams strolled out of the front gate of the school ... with a girl on his arm?!

“What the hell is this,” she cried revealing herself to mortal eyes without realizing it. “Why are you hanging off of my Ranma-sama?!”

Ranma knew that voice, he knew that voice and he dreaded ever remembering it. Rivals he could handle, amorous girls he could handle, but this person belong to a whole different category. She wasn't someone he could just zap or blast into unconsciousness, well maybe he could, but this person had the power to back up whatever he could dish out and then some. He's almost totally forgotten a certain “fact” which existed at the back of Urd's memories. The memory that a certain rival who just happened to be a Demoness First Class Unlimited had a crush ... on HIM!

“Oh shit,” Ranma groaned and he pulled Nabiki over to his other side to get himself between her and the blond demoness.

Nabiki looked at the woman who just popped in out of nowhere. She was dressed in a weird outfit that look both gaudy and sort of almost looked like a uniform. She had cleavage but nothing too impressive and her face was pretty but not overly so. Her blond hair was waist length, and like Ranma she sported strange tattoos on her face. These though were very different. While Ranma's soft and nonthreatening this woman's facial tattoos were angular and dangerous looking. It gave the impressive that she was always pissed off, which wasn't too far from the truth.

“R ... Ranma, who is that woman?” Nabiki asked pointing at the blond who was staring daggers at her.

“Just say where you are,” he replied. “She's a Demoness First Class Unlimited.” He felt Nabiki's grip on his arm stiffen. A demon, a real demon?!

Mara's eyes went wide with surprise, “Huh? How do you know that?”

“I see you finally reconstituted yourself,” Ranma said to her. “I guess mom must be hard up for good workers or she wouldn't have let you come back to the mortal plane so soon after you screwed up the whole Lord of Terror thing.”

Mara slammed her fist into her open palm and raged, “It was all that Belldandy's fault, that no good do gooder goddess!”

“My guess is you've been demoted down to second class,” Ranma smiled at her.

“Damn that Hild! Can't she realize my genius, I was so close ...” she froze and looked at him with a look of shock and hurt on her face. “... there is no way for you to know that.”

“Take a good close look at me Mara,” Ranma told her. The demoness complied, for a moment she looked at him, licked her lips a bit, then jumped back with a look of absolute shock on her face.

“No, I can't believe this, I won't believe it,” she cried with tears pouring through her eyes. “How could this have happened?! No, please no!” She fell to her knees and start to weep uncontrollably.

“Sorry, I was kinda like dying so she had to finish the merger,” he explained to her while almost feeling sorry for the poor creature, almost.

Mara stopped crying and a rage filled look appeared on her face, “Who did it?”

“Who did what?” he asked her. He didn't like where this was going.

“Who tried to kill my Ranma-sama?” she asked in a tone dripping with venom. “I will not rest until I've found the fool who dared harm him. I will destroy them! Crush them! Make them pay!!!”

Nabiki sighed, “Why do I get the feeling that things are about to get really complicated?”

oOOOo

To be continued ...

Next time ...

Things at school have calmed down because of Hinako-sensei but Ranma's life has just gotten really complicated with the arrival of the blond bitch from down under, and I don't mean Australia. Mara finds herself torn between her unnatural love for the boy Ranma and her hatred for her perpetual rival Urd. Can the Tendo sisters handle a new house guest who is a “true” demon? Just how far can Kasumi's patience and kind nature be pushed before it breaks? Will Nerima survive?!

Next time in chapter 5 - “Look Who's Coming To Dinner or If You Can't Stand The Heat Get Out of the Lake of Fire!”

Notes:

I guess you can think of the extra long length of this chapter as my apology for being gone so long and as my early Christmas present to all of you who've been begging me to continue this story. Rest assured that its over over yet and more is one the way. I've got an update cycle going that I want to try out and I should be able to get new chapters of all of my fic out a little bit faster for now on. I hope.

The ICPO or International Criminal Police Organization is also know as INTERPOL. INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 186 member countries. Created in 1923, it facilitates cross-border police co-operation, and supports and assists all organizations, authorities and services whose mission is to prevent or combat international crime. To be a member of INTERPOL you must already be a police officer because you cannot join them ... they choose you and only the best are chosen to join their ranks.

If my next chapter previews sound like the next episode previews from the “Rocky & Bullwinkle Show” you're right. I'm a fan of the show, it was hilarious and little ahead of its time being that it was a political satire cartoon in the 60's and all. Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter and from me to you please have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.