"There can be no doubt of who's blood is the strongest of us," Zues proclaimed proudly.

"Indeed not," Poseidon agreed. "My children have long proven to be the greatest of the Greeks."

"Monsters," Zeus snapped back. "You most certainly have to be joking. Your blood has not had half the impact of my own, who gave rise to Persia and Rome."

"Rome comes from the loins of your son," Poseidon countered.

"Who is of my blood," Zeus added.

"Neither would have amounted to much without the wisdom of Minos and Theseus, or the valor of Achilles, if you wish to include further descendants."

"Impotent old men and reckless adventurers," Zeus said dismissively.

"You're one to speak of reckless youths," Poseiden snapped.

"There is a way to settle this argument," a soft voice added from the shadows.

The elder pair of gods turned toward their neice's face and silently questioned Hecate on her meaning.

"You can't really compare your respective bloodlines to date," Hecate said.

"And why is that?" Zeus asked.

"Because to date," she said. "You have not born children of the same woman."

"You propose that we share a lover with each other?" Zeus said, curious.

"We choose one mortal female," Hecate said. "And the three of us seduce her and each make her fertile with one child. This way the children are even born at the same time."

"And why should we include you?" Poseiden asked.

"How would you even sire a child on a mortal woman anyway," Zeus asked.

"The how is bounded in the secrets of my arts and magics," Hecate said. "And the why is obvious. There is no other way to test the blood strength of my father. You don't expect him to take part in this, do you? In addition, I can insure the cooperation of the chosen woman without the sort of fuss that would attract certain eyes."

"This is interesting," Zeus admitted.

"There must be no interference in the life of these children," Poseidon said. "We must test their strength, not the strength of our own plots."

"Agreed," Hecate said quickly, quietly holding her own counsel on the matter.

"And what shall be the measure to judge by?" Poseidon asked. "Or the prise in this venture."

"Boons," Zeus said quickly. "Now, who is to be the mother? That is the only question that remains."

"Ranma Saotome?" Poseidon scoffed. "That's a man. A boy actually."

"A powerful warrior," Hecate noted. "With a curse that leaves him open to our little wager."

"How often do we have a chance at such an exceptional female that isn't being watched by certain others," Zeus agreed approvingly.

"I wouldn't worry about watchers, uncle," Hecate said. "I can hide us from view. For a full day."

"We still haven't found a measure to judge by," Poseiden noted.

"Something will present itself," Zeus noted. "Something always does with such half-divine children."

Poseiden grudgingly nodded in response to that.

"Now, let the game begin," Zeus said eagerly.

*****

Ranma dazedly watched the black-haired woman step away from the bed. The woman didn't even bother to pick-up the nurse's uniform that had given her privacy with the beleagured redhead. With each step she simply faded further and further away into the darkness, as if the shadows were an endless road away from her.

As the third of her violators vanished and the room's shadows returned to normal and faded in the light of the coming dawn, Ranma knew she should have been angry or something, but she wasn't. Laying naked on the hospital bed, she could only pick out a vague feeling of physical pleasure and sensation. Later, though, she knew, whatever had been done to her would wear off and this day would become one she never wanted to think about ever again.

She knew none of the three that attacked her were normal people. No, they were had powers of some sort. If her unwilling enjoyment and lack of resistance weren't enough proof of that, there were other, more blatant proofs.

The first had come with the thunderstorm that opened the day, arriving with a burst of thunder and disappearing the next instant, taking Ranma with him. After that, Ranma couldn't remember anything specific, just a series of assaults of sheer, physical pleasure and muttered compliments from her attacker. The fuzziness in her mind had started there.

After that attacker had left, she'd gathered her clothes and wandered unfamiliar streets until she'd wandered out into a bay of some sort. Maybe she had some idea of cleansing herself, but more likely she had been drawn there as well, because that was when she'd been attacked the second time.

The enspelled martial artist had first seen a shark, but at some point, she was sure the attacker was human, or at least human-shaped. The first attacker had made a point of driving her to mind-numbing pleasure, but this second seemed to have no such concern or conceit. With her emotions as they were, however, even the pain of that attack had felt pleasurable.

When she'd finally been released by the shark and washed up on shore amidst the excited chatter of some language she couldn't immediately recognize. That's when they'd brought her to the hospital for treatment and recovery.

Ranma had known from her continued fuzzy mental state that it wasn't over yet, and, when night came and the beautiful nurse had come to "examine" her, she knew what was coming and still could do nothing to resist as this third demon assaulted her with unwanted sensation and invasion.

Now, her mental fuzziness was fading, but the precise memories were too and the day was rapidly dwindling into an uncertain nightmare on the edge of her mind. The day was mercifully vanishing from her mind.

A sing song voice announced the presence of another nurse as the door to Ranma's room opened. She couldn't understand the exact words, but the cheerful tone came through until the motherly old woman caught sight of the physically spent Ranma amidst the scattered clothing.

"Someone hurt me..." Ranma whispered, anger and sorrow finally working its way into her voice as the woman called security.