Twister Alright! I've had it with editing! This thing is DONE! :) I've spent more time on this one than the first and I hope you people reading it like it. At least I made a little C program to make posting and mailing this thing easier... MAJOR, GIGANTIC, STUPENDOUS thanks to Rogue1 for being super-editor for me. :) You comments helped A LOT. (his fanfics a pretty GOOD too :) I think we went through this thing 3 times... ack. But it _is_ large and I'm still new to this so be prepared for a few grammar errors and possible spelling errors even though I tried to fix them all. Owch. Points: This was done after the first so I was experimenting. Specifically, I was attempting to create a lot of new characters for a story. I didn't name the college since I don't know Japan that well and better no name (and imagination) than a big goof up. One name I made up. I HOPE it's a girl's name, but too late now. Azuka was in Ranma so I assume it could be. Start is a little long, but I'll shorten the next one I do. If you like this story, but haven't read the first, then (preferably) ftp at ftp.std.com /archives/anime-fan-works/Ranma/ranma.twisted.path.gz or if you don't have ftp...e-mail me at umsteff2@cc.umanitoba.ca. Well, I think that's it. I hope you enjoy it. (You'd better... grrr. ^_^ Kidding.) And now...on with the show! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twisted Path - What to Prepare For. A Story Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 by Darren Steffler Story so far: ------------- Twister was once an ordinary computer science student who loved science fiction and fantasy. He had just gotten hooked on a popular anime and manga series called Ranma 1/2. In another universe, where the characters of this series were quite real, Ranma had just gotten old Happousei very angry at him. Happousei attempted to summon a demon to torment Ranma forever, but Ranma interrupted his spell and the casting went awry. It picked up Twister and an arch-demon going by the name of Malkon. Malkon learned about Happousei's weakness for female undergarments from Twister and later threw Twister into an extremely powerful phenomenon called the Event, source of all Mind and Magic powers everywhere, to ensure his own survival. Malkon, having escaped and finding the unfortunate martial-artists to be no match for him, was still planning what to do with them when Twister appeared. The angry, young man had been dramatically changed in appearance and in power as a result of the Event he had somehow escaped. This made for a merciless fight against an unprepared Malkon and he was soon defeated. Twister collapsed upon seeing Ranma change and they took him to the Tendo home to recover. When he woke up, he was himself again but confused and unsure of his power; he had little memory of the fight and none of the Event. He attempted to adapt to his new home and started having encounters with other characters of the Ranma story he had known. Unfortunately, the arch-demon Malkon was still very much alive and only weakened for the moment. He had his own ideas about Twister's new nature and acted on them. Twister was recovering from a bout with one of the Golden Pair when Happousei drenched him with cursed spring water that had been sent from Malkon. The effect was not a normal one, for Twister did not change immediately due to his magic immunity. However, his repressed Magic side came to the fore and warred with his Mind side to overcome the resistance. The conflict was dramatic, but the Magic side won because of Twister's new nature. He became an almost exact double of Ranma in female form. Depressed at this, Twister wandered a bit and found out from an encounter with Gosunkugi that she could use magic and thus found out _why_ Malkon had sent the water. Later, Twister in male form had a dream about the future that was a vision of Malkon's plans for him, but Twister decided that future could be changed. About two weeks later, Malkon attacked and Twister was captured in female form. Nabiki, who was becoming very close with him, had been just told by Twister what to do in case this happened. Twister's plan was revealed and a party consisting of Ranma, Akane, Ukyou, Shampoo, Kunou, Kodachi, Mousse, and Ryouga was prepared. A captured Twister located a spot for the party to appear and activated one of two dormant spells. The party teleported to the spot. While Twister was taken to Malkon, the party fought demons and enchanted fighters of the Seven Lucky Gods martial arts school with their demon-enchanted weapons. Ranma broke through the ranks and managed to help free Twister, who then proceeded to defeat Malkon again. However, Malkon asked for help from his own Master, an Overseer of Hell. A being much more powerful than Malkon who sent him back while arriving himself to destroy Twister. In desperation, Twister dug deep into his own nature to find a way to defeat this being...and succeeded. The strain made him extremely weak and the party was unable to go back home for a while. About two weeks after coming home, Twister threw a surprise feast in thanks to those who came to rescue him. Later, he asked Ranma to teach him martial arts for something to do. This will not keep Twister busy for long though... And now, another story of...The Twisted Path. This continues soon after the first story. Chapter One ----------- A bed held a figure that had no covers on it due to the warmness of the night. It was a handsome looking, brown haired young man whose face appeared to be of Western origins. Hazel eyes opened and the person sat up and sleepily looked outside. It was a beautiful dawn Twister woke up to. The sky was emerging to become delightful blue with a few wispy clouds occasionally dotting the artist's canvas of an atmosphere. A day like this was rare in Japan. In fact...rare _anywhere_. *Ah, _lovely_ day out.* Twister blinked sleep from his eyes as he continued to look at the azure sky through the window. *I just gotta go outside and enjoy it.* Putting on some shorts and a T-shirt, Twister went outside. When the Saotomes came out, they saw Twister sitting in a chair that he had found somewhere. He was inhaling the morning air deeply, with a small smile on his face, and looked like he was enjoying himself doing nothing but gaze up at the sky. The T-shirt was off now, likely because it was just warm enough outside to do so. "Whatcha doing, Twister?" Ranma called out. "Just relaxing and taking in this great morning outside for a change," Twister grinned before closing his eyes, trying to enhance the feeling of the outdoors he was getting. Ranma shrugged, not caring much right now, and started practicing with Genma. Unfortunately, Happousei was up early as well. He was sneaking out on the roof when he saw Twister relaxing in the chair...with his shirt off. "Hmm..." Happousei had come to lose his initial fear of Twister when he had seen more of the boy so his scheming mind worked its usual mischief. "Well, this looks like a perfect opportunity. Hehehehe!" Grinning, Happousei left the roof as he gleefully thought about what he would do. When it was almost breakfast time, Nabiki woke up and came down. Grumpy as usual. She saw the usual morning practice of the Saotomes...and Twister sitting in a chair. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely as he stretched his arms wide. "Great. A true _morning_ person." Nabiki just could not see how anybody could look that happy this early. She was about to call out something to Twister when she spotted another person in the yard. *What's Happousei doing with that bucket? Ranma is likely to get wet anyway...* Suddenly, Happousei, bucket, and an eyes-closed, _topless_ Twister, clicked. "Oh no. TWISTER!" Jolted by the shout, Twister quickly opened his eyes and sat up...just in time to get doused by the bucket of water Happousei carried. Twister was surprised as he sputtered from the unexpected splash. "Phtt!! What the heck is...AGGHHH!!" The reason for the cry was Happousei, hugging her, with his head on her bare chest. "Ah! Another lovely girl for me! Hehehe!" Unfortunately for Happousei, Twister was very strong, even in girl form. She stood up, ripped Happousei's grip apart, and tossed him with all her strength away. As Happousei went flying, Twister shouted, "HENTAI!" She picked up her shirt from beside the chair and put it on. "Jeez! Can't I enjoy the morning in peace?" She walked over to the table and sat down, fuming a bit at the old hentai's interruption. "Not with Happousei around," Nabiki chuckled. "He _would_ have to finally lose that fear of me _now_," Twister sighed. "Oh, well." She heard a splash and turned to see that Ranma had been dunked. "I now have partner in misery," Twister smirked. A soggy, glowering Ranma-chan walked out of the pond. "Want a blow-dry so you don't miss a hot breakfast?" queried Twister as the wet martial artist reached the entrance to the house. Ranma-chan brightened up. "Sure! I can take a bath later." Then she frowned, "You're a girl now though." Twister grinned, "Makes it easier." She thought for a second and then said: "Winds blow hot to dry your defeat, For breakfast time is time to eat." A warm wind blew though Ranma-chan's practice gi and dried it quickly. Looking more comfortable, Ranma-chan smiled, "You're getting better at making on-the-spot rhymes." "They may not be classics, but they work," Twister chuckled. Nabiki was thinking back to when she saw Twister stand. "Twister... have you been tanning lately? It looks like you did." Twister blinked in surprise. "Huh? I haven't..." Twister looked at her body since the mentioned tan had carried over. "What the...? I _do_ have a tan! And all over?? That's not right!" She was confused by the instant tan. "I _did_ think about tanning when I had my eyes closed, but it's too early for that. Besides, it also looks like I've been tanning for at least a week!" "Maybe it's because you were _wanting_ a tan, like you _want_ no one to see you sometimes. It's likely that if you can Heal your body by concentrating, then maybe you can tan without sun." Nabiki reasoned. Thinking about it, Twister had to agree, "Yeah...that makes sense. There's no _way_ to tan _this_ much for the time I was out there. I guess it's a Mind thing. Must have more control over my body than I thought." Everyone else came to eat then, and they started breakfast. Half-way through, however, Twister felt something odd. Like something was approaching. *Must be my magic senses. I really have to work on them, but what...?* Then the doorbell rang. Running though several possibilities before Kasumi answered it, Twister came up with the one person who would _ring_ a doorbell for _this_ dojo. *Oh, jeez. If I'm right...* Suddenly, Twister filled a glass with water and threw it in the face of Genma. "Grmpth!" Genma-panda shouted, shocked at the sudden splash. "Twister! What are you doing?" Akane was surprised. Ranma-chan laughed at her panda-father's surprised expression. "Shhheeeee's heeerree." Twister said in a quiet voice. "Who are you...." Nabiki started to say, then her face showed comprehension as she deduced Twister's actions for herself. Everyone else was still wondering why Twister had done that until Kasumi came in with the visitor. "Hello, everyone!" The visitor said as she bowed. "Auntie Saotome!" Akane, Ranma-chan, and Nabiki said in unison. "I thought I would surprise you by coming today. I came early, hoping to catch Ranma and Genma," Nodoka said as she smiled. "You just missed them," Twister smiled back. Mrs. Saotome was surprised at Twister's presence and looked over at Ranma-chan, aka 'Ranko'. "You never told me you had a twin sister, Ranko." "Probably embarrassed. I like to make practical jokes sometimes," Twister grinned. "Hi. I'm Itazuka." Nabiki silently chuckled. *Quick thinking, Twister. At least now we have a name to call him while he's a girl.* "Well, you two _do_ look very alike, except for Ranko's hair." Mrs. Saotome looked a little sad. "So you say I missed them?" 'Ranko' and the panda looked a little nervous. "Those two wake up pretty early. They left a while ago to train." Twister tried to get off the touchy subject. "So _you're_ Ranma's mother. It's nice to meet you," she smiled. Looking at Twister, Nodoka smiled as well, "And you too, Itazuka." Soun nervously asked, "Did you just drop by or did you want to stay a while?" "If it's not much trouble. I thought that if I stayed a few days I might catch them." *'Catch' is definitely the word.* Twister thought. Kasumi realized something, "Where shall we put you? Ah...Itazuka is in the other guest room." "Really?" Nodoka looked curiously at Ranma-chan. "Why isn't she with you and Mr. Panda?" "Ah...er..." Ranma-chan sweated a bit. Twister quickly supplied a reason. "I'm always afraid that panda of hi..hers will roll over at night and suffocate me. _That's_ why!" "That's right!" Ranma-chan exclaimed as she and Genma-panda nodded vigorously together. Nabiki spoke up. "She can bunk with me while Mrs. Saotome visits." Everyone except Nodoka stared at Nabiki. "That's fine then. As long as I haven't caused any trouble," Mrs. Saotome said. Twister was blushing fiercely as Nabiki said, "No trouble at all. Maybe you'd better start now, Itazuka." The last part was said with a smirk. Quickly, Twister stood up and walked away towards her room. *Oh, boy. I _guess_ this is the best way, but Nabiki...the same room??* Chapter Two ----------- Twister had just finished moving everything over to Nabiki's room when she came in. "Why did you _say_ that?" Twister blushed as she spoke. "Well, it was likely to be either me or Mrs. Saotome." Nabiki replied, unruffled by Twister's response. Calming down, Twister sighed, "You're right. This is _not_ going to be very comfortable though." "Why, Twister! I thought you liked me." Nabiki raised an amused eyebrow. "I do! This is a little heavy right now though." She sighed again, "At least I'll be in girl form all the time." "More's the pity." Seeing Twister's face blush even more, she laughed. "It won't be _that_ bad. Besides, you can practice magic while you're like that." "Hmm. True. I _did_ want to work on a few things. Like clothing that will adjust to me when I change. That would be a plus." Twister chuckled, "And for Ranma too." She turned to Nabiki. "Would you mind helping me with that project? I've never been big on fashion." Nabiki's eyes gleamed. "Work on something magical for clothing? _This_ I _have_ to be a part of, since you'll be wearing it." "Well, no time like the present." Twister selected some of her own clothes. "We'll work with _this_ first, I guess..." It was lunch before Nabiki and Twister finished one complete set of clothing. You could tell it was magical...if you really looked at it. The others at the table gaped a little when they saw Twister come down. Twister had decided on color-coding this particular set of clothing. A rich purple material made up shirt and pants. The top was the same shade of purple as the pants. It fit well on her body and was very versatile for it didn't restrict movement at all. The shoes matched the pants in color and seemed to absorb light with their purpleness. It seemed that the material shimmered a bit and a blue tinge lurked within the material, hidden but sensed. Twister had also added a few..._features_ that were not visible. "Those clothes are _very_ nice, Itazuka. Very striking. It suits you well." Mrs. Saotome commented with an approving eye. "Thank you, Auntie Saotome. I like it too." Nodoka smiled warmly at the title. "When did you get _that_?" Akane said, eyeing the material. "A _little_ while ago. Nabiki helped me get it," Twister grinned, "though I talked with Ranko before deciding about it." Ranma-chan silently inquired with an eyebrow and Twister answered with a brief nod. "But you really shouldn't wear something new like that to eat," Kasumi said, distressed. "Oh, I wouldn't put much worry to that. I made sure something like that wouldn't happen with this." "Really? How did you do that?" Mrs. Saotome inquired curiously. "I have a few talents." Twister smiled mysteriously. Mrs. Saotome smiled and nodded. "I guess we all do." Later, Twister got Ranma-chan to go to Ukyou's together. "I'll show you there." Twister chuckled on the way, guessing the question that was on Ranma-chan's mind. When they entered, Ukyou smiled at them both. "Hi, Ranma! Hi, Twister! Why are you both like that?" She looked at the pair and had to smile. "You look very cute together," Ukyou chuckled. "Thanks, Uc-chan." Ranma-chan sourly said. "Ah, well. Notice the new duds?" Twister pointed to herself. "I did. They look impressive. Where did you get those?" Ukyou examined the clothing from where she stood. "Made 'em with Nabiki's help. They fit my special needs for clothes. Can I borrow some hot water to demonstrate?" Ukyou looked puzzled, but complied and handed Twister the requested liquid. "I'll just duck in back and be right out." Twister smiled as she disappeared behind a curtain that separated the kitchen from the dining area. A few moments later, Twister came back out in male form, looking very different. He was now in a similar style of suit, but one of a deep blue color that hinted at purple. It fit this form perfectly too. Ukyou gasped and then applauded. Ranma-chan looked at the altered garments with a happy look. "That's amazing! You _must_ have used magic." Ukyou exclaimed. "Uh, huh. Only way to do this without a whole bunch of problems and it fits in _both_ forms, which makes it great," Twister grinned. "I'll do some for Ranma soon. I need to find out how to make it permanent though. Right now this thing would only last a month if I didn't recharge it. But that's a reasonable time." "Any other surprises?" Ukyou smiled. "Of course! You doubt me?" After those words, Twister started floating up. Ranma-chan wasn't impressed. "So what's the big deal? You've flown before." "True...but I'm not flying by my own power now." "You mean you can fly using _that_?" Ranma-chan gaped. "Yup. Now I can fly in both forms. Also, it's stain and water proof. It uses a thin film of air to protect it _and_ its practically unrippable." Twister bowed in mid-air. "Anything you ever wanted in clothes in one package. I'll likely need every feature." "Wait a minute! Aren't you immune to magic?" "Yes...but me and Nabiki accidently found out that I could control the flying part of the enchantment as a guy. I must be broadcasting my commands and the suit picks them up because the magic isn't being worked _on_ me." Twister frowned slightly, "Though as a girl I'm affected by the flight spell as well. Just the clothes fly when I'm male. Pinches a bit." "The size changes are all I need though." Ranma-chan said. "You sure?" "Of course I am! Why would I need..." Her voice trailed off as Ranma-chan realized how many shirts, and occasionally pants, she had gone through in the past few months alone. "Um... Maybe I will after all, but not the flying part." "Sure thing. I had a feeling you would want the other options." Twister grinned and came back down to earth. "I'll need some cold water now. Ranma's mother is visiting and she saw me in female form first. We are now officially twins." Ukyou's eyes widened in realization. "So that's why you were both like that!" She turned sad eyes on the now depressed Ranma-chan. "Poor Ranma. I'll get that water for you, Twister. And some okonomiyaki for Ranma!" Ranma-chan brightened visibly as Ukyou went into the kitchen. *She definitely knows how to cheer Ranma up.* Twister inwardly smirked. A few minutes later, the two almost look-alikes were walking back home. "When do you think your problem with your mother will be solved?" Ranma-chan sighed. "I don't know. That stupid promise of Pop's is the whole problem." "I believe he's made a lot of those." Twister commented. "Tell me about it." Ranma-chan growled. "I don't think that..." Twister started, but was interrupted by a shout behind them. "Pig-tailed goddess!" A familiar voice called out. "Oh, no." Groaned Ranma-chan as she turned around to face the owner of the voice. Twister just chuckled and wisely kept facing forwards. "Ah, my love! I have found you! I have walked many paths just to hear your sweet voice tickle my ears with its vibrant tones of paradise calling." Kunou was standing before Ranma-chan who had her eyes half-lidded with resignation. Twister couldn't see this, but she could imagine and was waiting for the inevitable sound of Ranma-chan sending Kunou into orbit. Unhappily, Kunou asked, "But who accompanies you, fair one?" *Oh, _no_. Please Life, don't do this to me.* Twister prayed. It was unanswered. Kunou managed to slip around Ranma-chan and faced Twister. He was a little surprised. "What is this?! Has nature produced _two_ such flowers of the same beauty? It must be so, for the generousness of Heaven is unbounded and I, Tatewaki Kunou, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, is undoubtedly twice blessed for such to occur." About halfway though this, Twister put her hand on her face and sighed long and deeply. This time Ranma-chan chuckled behind her. *Oh, just great. Now Kunou might want to date me too. Just super.* Twister wearily thought. *_Now_ what do I do?* Twister thought for a second and decided to wing it. "So _you're_ Kunou." She said in a resigned voice. "My fame precedes me!" Kunou grandly said. "Actually, _she_ just told me about you," Twister replied while nodding towards Ranma-chan. Kunou naturally turned to Ranma-chan again. "Ah, my pig-tailed Venus. You have told of my prowess with the blade to your lovely sister? And sister she must be in order to have the same lustrous eyes and tho..." POW! Kunou went flying as Ranma-chan hit him hard with her fist. "I was wondering when you would do that," Twister grinned. "I can only take so much from him," Ranma-chan growled. "We'd better get out of this area or he'll find us again." She started running home. Twister followed, not exactly eager to face Kunou again in this state. Getting home, the two finally sighed. They were safe. "When did you want to give me another lesson?" Twister asked Ranma-chan. "You want to?" "Well, since I have to be this way anyway..." Twister shrugged. Thinking about it, Ranma-chan nodded, "Sure. I did agree in any case. I'd say in about an hour and a half." "Ok. I'll find something to do till then." Twister smiled and went up to her room. Which had Mrs. Saotome in it. She was sitting and looking thoughtful. "Whoops! I forgot!" Twister was embarrassed. Nodoka smiled. "That's all right, dear. It's understandable." Twister was about to close the door when she said, "Would you mind coming in here and chatting for a while? I would like to talk to someone for a bit." She smiled again. Nervous, Twister nodded, "Um...sure." She went in and sat down opposite Nodoka. "What did you want to talk about?" "I gather you've just visited the Tendo's recently. I was just wondering what you thought of Ranma when you've seen and talked to him." Twister thought a bit before answering Nodoka, "I think he's a pretty nice guy overall. A little clumsy around girls, but he's okay." Twister mentally snorted to herself, *Like I'm any better than Ranma in that department.* Nodoka looked very happy. "I'm glad that you like my son. It helps me in finding out how good of a man he is." Her expression turned a little sad. "I have not seen him for so long you see." The sadness in Nodoka's face generated sympathy in Twister for this mother's plight, but as she knew about Genma's promise... Twister didn't want to lose a friend if Nodoka wanted to hold the male Saotomes to it. *Wish I could be sure...* "Why haven't you?" "My husband persuaded me that our son would be a much better man and martial artist if the two of them trained together. Alone. I only let him take Ranma away when he gave me his promise that he would succeed, or else both he and Ranma would commit seppuku..." Nodoka pulled out a long bundle and unwrapped it to reveal a very sharp looking sword. "...with this blade." Eyes fascinated by the blade, Twister nevertheless spoke up, "Ah... How old was Ranma at the time?" Wistfully, as she casually held the long sword, Nodoka said, "Seven. It's been hard to not see my son for such time." "Yeah. Pretty young to hold him to something like that though." "Yes, that is true," Nodoka sighed. "But family honor is at stake here," she mused out loud before Nodoka saw 'Itazuka' trying to hold back an expression of disbelief. "Something wrong?" Nodoka smiled. "But he's your son!" Twister blurted out. "And I have not seen him for more than ten years." Regarding the blade she held, Nodoka seemed to weigh it before going on. "My son was a fine child before my husband took him training and I do not think he could have changed so much that I, his mother, would be forced to use this blade. Do you think I would have to?" "Hardly." Nodoka really smiled then, "I thought not. I once had a dream about my son as I imagined him now. After that dream, I decided that, whatever I thought of my son, this blade would not be used." Carefully re-wrapping the sword, she went on, "Honor is important, but being a mother is far more." Seeing Twister's face, Nodoka queried, "Are you all right?" "Yes. Just something in my eye..." Chapter Three ------------- Ranma-chan was wondering what was keeping Twister when she rushed in with a practice gi on. "Whoo! Just about didn't make it. Sorry to keep you waiting." "No prob. Didya want to start off where we were from last day?" queried Ranma-chan. "You're the boss. It's up to you." Ranma-chan sighed and continued the lesson from last time. An hour later, they stopped. Ranma-chan watched Twister wiping sweat off her forehead. "You sure learn quick. I can't believe the rate which you're picking this stuff up." "Must be because my reflexes are very good," Twister grinned. "I'm pretty fast, but much less experienced at fighting. That experience is what I'm lacking mostly. The moves seem to come naturally." She looked thoughtful, "Like a smooth wave of movement... Hmm. Ah, well. I guess I'll be able to spar with you soon. That should be interesting." Twister's teacher was looking a little dubious. "Yeah..." "Oh, come on! I'm sure you'll kick my butt for a long time to come! I may be picking this stuff up pretty quickly, but _you're_ the one who can think in fighting terms right now." Twister shook her head. "I just know the moves. I realize _that_ by itself isn't enough." Looking a little better, Ranma-chan smiled, "You're right. I don't know why I feel like this." Twister arched an eyebrow, "It _might_ be because you see me as being better than you in martial arts in picking this up so fast. I wouldn't worry about it. The only reason I'm likely going so fast is the Event. That's something that gives me a pretty big advantage. Almost like cheating. Think of it like that. Though it was a risky sort of cheating I'll admit," Twister grinned. Ranma-chan rolled her eyes, "Okay, okay! You've made your point!" Twister bowed for Ranma-chan to leave the practicing room, "That accomplished... After you...'sister'." She smirked. Looking briefly like she wanted to whack Twister for that comment, Ranma-chan just left out the door with Twister chuckling behind her. As they went to their rooms, Twister and Ranma-chan spotted Akane walking in the direction of the kitchen. "Where are _you_ going, Akane?" Ranma-chan looked a little nervous. Akane glared at her, "Mrs. Saotome asked me if I wanted to practice some more cooking with her. You got a problem with that 'Ranko'?" "Why? Did something happen to Kasumi? That's the only reason I would think we would be desperate enough to do _that_." Ranma-chan sarcastically said. Looking like she was about to attack Ranma-chan, Akane was interrupted by Mrs. Saotome who was coming down the stairs. "Now, Ranko, that's not nice. Akane just needs a little more experience in the kitchen, that's all." "Make that a _lot_ more," Ranma-chan muttered. Hearing this, Akane got even madder. "I'll show _you_ Ranko! I'll..." Mrs. Saotome interrupted, "Calm down, Akane. Let's go into the kitchen and start right away." She led Akane away from Twister and Ranma-chan. They heard Mrs. Saotome faintly say to Akane, when they entered the kitchen, "We'll just give what doesn't work out to Mr. Panda..." Ranma-chan sighed with relief, "At least _we_ won't have to suffer for _her_ bad cooking." Twister smirked, "Just 'Mr. Panda.'" She chuckled evilly before thinking about something different altogether. *I can't stand having Mrs. Saotome just keep waiting like this. She's too nice a lady to do it to. I think she could accept Ranma's curse after hearing what she told me earlier, but Genma wouldn't exactly help persuade Ranma to tell his mother.* Twister mentally sighed. *Maybe the next time she visits I can figure out a way to help Ranma. He's not very happy about it either.* *Next time...* Supper was about a half-hour away and Twister was laying down on the temporary bed in Nabiki's room. Just thinking. *Sigh. I'm learning fast, but once I get pretty good..._then_ what? I can make diamonds, but what do I want to _do_ here? I don't go to school, I don't have a job, so what am I supposed to do??* Twister sighed out loud. *I need _something_ to occupy my life, now that the worry of Malkon is pretty much over.* Anger flashed in her eyes briefly at the thought of the arch-demon. *That bloody gown....AGGHH! That _still_ ticks me off!* She shook her head. *Get it out of your mind and focus on what you were thinking on, Twister. I can't really go home because I'm not sure _how_ to do that and also because of my...changes. What _should_ I do?* Twister draped an arm over her head and sighed again. "And what are _you_ moaning about?" Nabiki's voice smiled from the doorway. Slowly lifting her arm, Twister looked at Nabiki, who was leaning on the inside section of the portal. "Oh, I was just thinking about what I'm going to _do_ with myself. Just practicing martial arts isn't exactly what I feel like doing for the rest of my life." Twister sighed. "It's good for me to do, but..." "It's not what you feel is right for you?" Nabiki looked curiously at the downcast Twister. "What do _you_ think you should do?" "I don't know! That's the whole problem!" Twister exclaimed. "I don't go to school so it's not like I'll be able to do much professionally." "Maybe you should then," Nabiki calmly replied. "Huh? Nabiki, it's a little late for me to go to school now. It's almost the end of the year for you!" Twister looked confused. Nabiki smiled, "Not school. _College_." She raised an eyebrow. "With that 'perfect memory' you always say you have, you should have no problem passing the college entrance exams. Once you've read all of the texts needed, of course." After staring at her for a few seconds, Twister slowly said, "True, but I don't have a high school diploma to back me up." Waving her hand loftily, Nabiki looked confident, "No problem. If you do as well as I think you will do, then it shouldn't take much. I think I can manage to get you a chance," she smiled wickedly. Twister chuckled, "I'm sure you can, if I know you." She sighed. "Ah, well. So much for a lazy summer." Nabiki snorted as she turned, hearing Kasumi cry lunchtime, "If I'm going to be busy, then so are _you_, buster." Rising to join her, Twister sighed again, "No pity. No pity at all." Nabiki chuckled all the way downstairs. The next day, Mrs. Saotome left and things went back to they were before...with a few exceptions. Twister started reading every book that Nabiki had ever read, and was going to need to read, in order to prepare himself for the college tests. In between books, however, he started experimenting with making things other than diamonds with his mind. Basically, just purifying and shaping metals into little statues. It took a little while, but eventually he was making things almost lifelike in their detail. He, of course, used Nabiki as a model when she had the time. The results made her very happy. The day of the exams soon came and, thanks to Nabiki, Twister wrote them. He came out feeling rather relieved since he had known every point that required remembering something. With the problem solving parts, he had no trouble since not knowing the correct formulas had always got him before. The appointed time when the results came up proved him right. In fact, he had gotten a nearly perfect score which annoyed a few other students who had never seen Twister before. Nabiki just smirked, "So you thought you would have a _few_ troubles?" She looked at his score, "Few is right." Twister sighed, relieved, "_That's_ out of the way, at least." He smiled at Nabiki, "I didn't think you would have much trouble either." She waved her hand, "No problem. The hard part is doing the moving _after_ the tests." Nabiki began making arrangements to get living quarters for Twister and herself. From reports she had received, she figured that renting rooms outside the college dorms would be best, due to their needing more privacy. After a moment's hesitation, Nabiki sorrowfully arranged for separate places, as well as roommates to share costs, for each of them. She persuaded Twister to make some expensive looking artwork to sell. He complied with this logic, having an idea of what everything would cost in the end, and wishing for some cash himself. The results, when he applied himself, were astonishing. Twister had decided on oriental dragons and had gone to the library to look at pictures for some examples. He expanded on those by working on them in his mind and then making the finished product with a few hours work. Twister used his TK to polish the all-metal bodies so that they shimmered in the light. Making some of all sizes, colors, and poses, he gave them to Nabiki after signing them with a small image of a tornado underneath one foot. Everything about each dragon looked lifelike and had a fierce, restrained energy about them. Nabiki was surprised at how _good_ they were and actually complained a little to Twister about how hard it would be to sell them. He calmly replied, with a hint of a smirk showing, "Well, you _said_ to make them look expensive. Ask, and ye _shall_ receive." Sighing dramatically, Nabiki had shaken her head and smiled, "Good thing no one has likely ever seen things like these or we'd be accused of stealing." She took one of the smallest ones to an art dealer and asked him on a price. The dealer looked at the figurine very carefully and grew very excited over the exacting detail and aliveness the dragon displayed. Nabiki saw this and smiled when the dealer mentioned in a trying-hard-to-be-calm voice that he would be _very_ interested if she had more and _who_ had made the dragon. She had sorrowfully said that the artist wanted to remain anonymous and that the person had given her _quite_ a few dragons to sell for them. The dealer looked happy at the thought of the commission he would get and agreed to keep quiet about who had given him the dragons. One dragon was displayed in artistic circles and when it was said they would be auctioned off, many interested parties came to get what they could. Each dragon in the auction was bid upon for a long period of time, but the lucky parties who got them were not disappointed in the price. At the end, the result of the auction gave Nabiki and Twister, the dealer, and the auctioneer, quite enough for all their needs. However, there _was_ a dark side. After the auction, several attempts of robbery were attempted at the dealer's place, due to the fact that the dragons had been sold at a very nice price. Nabiki and Twister had expected that however, and were prepared. Twister had not gone to all that trouble with dragons to leave them to just Mind and he had extremely vivid images of them for use with Magic. Thusly, every attempt to steal the money met with the same result. Policemen found the thieves pale and shaking on the floor of the broken-in dealer's shop, whimpering, "Dragon! Don't let it get me! Dragon! Don't..." After this occurred three times, the superstitious thieves stopped trying to steal 'The Dragon's Hoard', as it was now called. Nabiki showed up eventually and the relieved dealer handed over the money, minus his commission. He made no comment about the mysterious dragon guardian. The soon-to-be college bound pair were delighted over the amount that the dragons had earned. Nabiki embraced Twister and kissed him for a very long time. After separating, Twister commented, "Well! If it hadn't been that much trouble, we should do that more often." With glowing eyes, Nabiki looked at the amount of money before them, "It was certainly worth it." Twister sighed, "Unfortunately, we can't use too much right away." Nabiki looked disappointed, but nodded knowingly, "You're right. Two ordinary." She looked at Twister briefly, "Well, _one_ ordinary girl and one extra-ordinary...person," Twister smirked at her, "couldn't possibly make _this_ much money. People would think we're gangsters." "Yup. College will take a fair chunk of this away anyway since we're _both_ going to be using it." He smiled at Nabiki, "Of course, that doesn't mean that we can't splurge a bit once in a while." "Ranma and Akane have certainly been busy as well this summer," Nabiki smirked. Shaking his head, Twister had to agree, "Those two and the others sure haven't settled things much have they? Shampoo, Kodachi, and Ukyou are still after Ranma, while Kunou and Ryouga still after Akane. Mousse just wants to remove Ranma out the picture to get Shampoo. What a mess." He glanced at Nabiki, "Hit me if that happens to me." Nabiki arched an eyebrow and mock-threateningly said, "It had _better_ not." Twister laughed before asking Nabiki something else that he had been wondering about. "Who _did_ you set me up with? I've been so busy with other stuff that I never got the chance to ask." Smiling, Nabiki replied, "Well, since you decided to go into the realm of programming computers I found someone who was going into the same field. From what I've heard, he's in a wholly different world sometimes...which should be perfect for you. Also, from what you've said, I think he likes most of the things that you do too so you shouldn't have much of a problem." He chuckled, "Whoo! I would say...perfect! As are most things you do. I gather you found a match for yourself?" Twister shook his head. "Of course you did! Duh!" "Actually, she's not going into Business like I am. I think it was Engineering or something similar like that." Twister blinked. "Hm. Unusual. Well, we ain't in the stone age. Still...she must be a excellent student." Nabiki nodded, "Yes, I heard she's pretty good, but a little too ...um...trusting sometimes." "Aha! That's how you got her to bunk with you! OW!" He said as Nabiki hit him in the side. "Kidding! Kidding!" Twister waved his hands in surrender to stave off further attacks. "You had better be," Nabiki mock growled then chuckled. "But you _are_ right. She's never heard of me and I don't think my reputation will increase very much now anyways." "With 'The Dragon's Hoard,' I should hope not," Twister chuckled. "You like that name, don't you." It was not a question. "A well deserved name that one was, from conception, protection, and denomination." Nabiki smiled beatifically, "True." "We'd better go home and get ready since we don't have a lot of time." He gallantly held out his arm to Nabiki and she accepted it with a smile. They soon got ready to leave. Soun was crying, as usual, since one of his daughters was going to college. Nabiki was holed up with Akane and Kasumi, talking about writing home and other stuff. Twister was talking with Ranma while waiting for Nabiki to come down. "On the rooooaaad again..." Twister mock-sung out. Ranma grimaced at the voice, "Better work on your singing, Twister." "Critics! Always critics around me!" "More like realists, Twister." Nabiki called down from the top of the stairs where she was talking to her sisters. Twister sighed. Ranma was grinning, "Well, you'll likely have a fun time at college anyway." "Oh, joy. Homework again. I can't live without it." Twister dourly said, then a sinister gleam lit his eyes, "But soooon, it will be _your_ turn. Bwahahahahahah!" He cackled the last part. This fact caused Ranma to protest, "No, it won't!" Twister's eyebrow arched, "Oh, no? Well, despite the fact that you _can_ teach martial arts, and I will teleport in every once in a while to continue those lessons, I believe you lack some experience in _running_ a dojo. Of which, if you ever marry Akane in this lifetime, you _will_ be doing quite a bit of the work in doing so. Also, going might curb that bit of aggressive behavior you sometimes show." Ranma had been downcast at the sudden realization that he might _have_ to go to college, but when he heard that last he got a little angry. "WHO'S AGGRESSIVE!?" He shouted, fists balled. Glancing at Ranma's fists, Twister chuckled, "Point in fact." Deflating at that, Ranma grudgingly admitted, "All right. You _might_ have a point." "Success! I hath broken though!" Twister cheered. "Just think you're punching Kunou in the face when you work on those 'dumb' dojo-related problems," Twister smirked. "Besides, you might lose a few 'girlfriends' if you go," Ranma brightened at that, "...or not." The lights dimmed. Ranma sourly said, "Thanks a lot." "All part of the service, my dear chap!" Twister saw Nabiki was finally coming down and he picked up their bags, "And now we must say farewell! So long! Till next time! When next we mee...urk!" Nabiki pulled Twister away from the house interrupting him. "I think a simple 'good-bye' will suffice, Twister." She commented while waving to her family. "But that's no fun! Heh. Kidding." He waved one last time before they both got in the cab they had called up and headed for the train station. The pair reached the station on time and boarded the train with minutes to spare. After several hours of being on the train, while talking about what how college would be like, they arrived at their destination. They got their baggage and got into another cab. "We'll go to your place first, Twister, since it's closer." Nabiki looked a little excited. "Enjoying the new sights, are we?" Twister chuckled. "Ah, soon you shall know them well." "True. I wonder how badly I'll miss being home," Nabiki sighed a little. "Hey! That's no worry! Just call Twister Express!" He grinned. Nabiki smiled. "Right! I forgot. You _are_ handy at times." " 'At times' she says. Sheesh!" Twister rolled his eyes as Nabiki smirked. She looked out the window and commented, "I think we're almost there." "Hmm. I guess my new roommate will be there first." The cab stopped in front of a small apartment building. "Ding dong! This must be the place. Not bad. Fairly new building." He stepped out and retrieved his luggage. "You sure you'll be able to handle your stuff okay when you get to your place?" Nabiki grinned, "I'll get the cab driver to help me." *Heaven help him if he doesn't.* Twister thought amusedly. Chapter Four ------------ After receiving instructions from the landlord on how to find the place and going there, Twister paused at the entrance to what would be his new home for a while. Finding that the door was open, he entered with a grand flourish. "What ho, new roommate! What be thy reaction to mine presence in our new abode?" Twister grinned as he looked around the apartment. *Nice place.* The person seated at a newly-installed computer system on a desk by the wall turned around with a surprised look. He wasn't bad looking with black hair, brown eyes, and for a computer user he actually looked fairly fit. Also, he was little shorter than Twister and looked friendly. At the moment he was wearing blue jeans along with a black T-shirt that had an Eastern-looking dragon on the back. Luckily, the apartment was already furnished. Or perhaps not...since Nabiki likely thought that Twister didn't want to look for such things yet. The desk and computer had to be his roommate's and was situated by the wall, to the left of the door, beside a TV and mini-stereo system that were also likely his. The apartment's furniture consisted of a couch against the wall opposite the TV and stereo, a padded chair just to the right of the door, and a small table with a set of chairs visible behind a divider to the kitchen. A bedroom door was right beside the couch while another was in the middle of the open hallway, opposite of the kitchen, with the bathroom being at the end of the hallway on the same wall. A window was visible on the far wall and the place likely had windows in the two bedrooms and bathroom for sunlight to fill the apartment. Nothing was on the walls and some empty grocery bags suggested that Twister's new roommate had already done some shopping to put something in the kitchen. "Well, that girl _told_ me 'I'd know him when he comes'." Twister's new roommate looked amused now. "Gah! She knows me too well." Twister sighed sorrowfully. "There goes my dramatic entrance. Ah, well. The name's Twister. And you?" "No last name?" Twister shrugged. "Hm. I'm Yasuro Fujita." Twister looked at the system Yasuro was sitting at. "Nice system. What is it? 386? 486?" "Nope!" Yasuro grinned, "New Pentium chip processor with 32 Megabytes RAM." Arching an eyebrow, Twister replied, "Yowzers. Power to burn. What the heck are you using it for?" Grinning sheepishly, Yasuro said, "Well...do you know Doom II?" Twister looked incredulous. "Ya! All you really need is a 386 with 8 Meg for THAT game! Trying for virtual reality? Talk about overkill." Yasuro sighed. "True, but it's an addictive game and I wanted to see it on this system." He rubbed the back of his head. "It's...uh...sightly too fast right now." He looked up at Twister. "You bring a system?" "Nope. I may have to lease something soon though, unless you mind me using yours." "Not at all. Don't mind me sometimes though. I can get a little...um ...absorbed in what I'm doing." He waved his hand. "Come on in. It's _your_ place too." He pointed at the door beside the couch. "I took the other bedroom so that one's yours." "Thank yew." Twister lifted his stuff easily and walked in. He paused as he spied a rack of books on another wall. "Ah. Something else for me to drool over," he chuckled. Yasuro turned back from the computer to see what Twister was talking about. "Looking at my book collection? Go ahead and read them if you want. I've read them several times already." He turned back to face the computer again. "A man after my own heart." Twister happily said as he entered his new room. *Nice guy,* Yasuro thought to himself. *I guess I got a good choice of roommates from what I hear elsewhere. Sure is muscular for someone in computers though.* He wondered at the deep blue 'special' clothes Twister had been wearing. *Where did he get those clothes? Looked good, wherever he got it.* Someone knocked on the door that Twister had left open. Yasuro looked away from his computer again, and smiled at what he saw. Leaning casually on the door frame was a dark-haired, somewhat lean young man with a grin on his face. He too wore jeans, but wore a nice plaid shirt with a brown jacket worn overtop. "Discovered all the other perverts in this town yet, Morio?" "Hey! You may be a friend of mine, but that's getting a little rude!" Morio grinned, "Besides, I've only found half so far." Yasuro sighed wearily and gave it up as a bad job, "Well, try not to do _too_ much havoc here, ok?" "I'll keep it to a minimum...until I know the ropes around here." Twister poked his head around a door. "Bungee or jumping? Who may you be?" Morio looked at Twister, then Yasuro, "This is your roommate?" Yasuro nodded. "I like him already." He turned back to Twister. "Hi. My name's Morio, I'm a friend of your new buddy here and I also live down the hall with _my_ old buddy." He sighed. "If they allowed three people in a room here then _this_ fellow," Morio pointed at Yasuro, "would have been with us." Twister chuckled. "I guess I got very lucky." "Depends on what you call 'luck'," Morio grinned. "If you don't mind the 'stone sentinel' sitting here some of the time, then that's it. "Hey!" Yasuro looked a little indignant at the comment. "It's better than being banned from the pool because _someone_ poured a fabric dissolver into the filter system and waited outside with a camera." Morio made a face. "Yeah. That _did_ kinda give it away." Looking a little confused, Twister wondered out loud, "'Fabric dissolver'?" Yasuro sighed, "My friend here has a penchant for trying to obtain photographic momentos of private female body parts and articles containing them." "Oh, just _say_ it, Yasuro! I'm not ashamed of it." He grinned at Twister. "What your roommate is trying to say, and so delicately too, is that I'm a hentai, and proud of it because I do it in clever and sneaky ways. I don't go and be obvious about it, but I do it. With some sophistication as well." Morio looked at his watch. "Hmm... I have to run. I'll drop by occasionally. Places to go, people to see. Female preferably!" Morio walked out and closed the door behind him. "Hm. Now there's an...interesting personality." Twister mused. "Yes, he certainly is, but he's a nice guy usually. He only gets in trouble when he gets caught, which is rare." Yasuro sighed and looked at _his_ watch. "I have some things to do too. Settle in while I'm gone. I likely won't be back for hours." He turned off the system and got up. "I'll show you the computer later as I'm sure you'll be busy enough getting accustomed right now." "Roger, wilco. I'm sure that you're right that I'll be busy if I'm right and so on, and so on....," Twister grinned. Yasuro left smiling and shaking his head in amusement. As Twister watched the door close, he chuckled, *Hm. looks like things are going to be interesting around here. At least Morio doesn't look half as bad a hentai as Happousei.* He walked back to his new room. *Now...let's try to do some things thought out before we start here. Nabiki left _me_ with the money from the dragons because I could better hide it even though she wanted to keep it around her.* He smiled at the thought. *Ah, well. Better find a place to put it and make a spell or two to guard it.* Twister spied a storage trunk in a corner of his room. *Perfect! I can put other things as well as clothes in there too. I'd better make a few more magical changeable clothes too, later, and make the styles different this time. The fact that both forms of _this_ pair look similar is _bad_ now that I think about it.* Twister thought about it for a moment and then nodded. *Good for now. Better get started...* A few hours later, Yasuro returned. In no particular hurry he unlocked the door to the apartment now shared and opened it . The sudden movement he heard inside as he opened the door startled him. "Twister? You here?" He called out. No response, but he heard the bathroom door suddenly close. "Twister?" Getting a little concerned now, Yasuro cautiously went in the direction of the bathroom as he heard water running. He heard another sound behind the bathroom door as he reached his destination. He opened the door to the bathroom. What he saw confused him a bit. Twister was there, but his head was soaking wet and water was dripping down his clothes. Twister looked nervous. "Uh...hi. Um...sorry I didn't say anything." "What are you doing?" Yasuro said as he watched Twister shut off the hot water in the sink. "Ahhh...I was just going to try some...styling gel! Yeah, that's it! I've never used it before so I thought I'd give it a try. You need to get your hair wet first." He still appeared a little nervous to Yasuro's eyes. He let it drop. "Ok. I was just worried there for a minute. I thought someone had broken in." "Nope. Just me crashing around." Twister smiled now, relieved. Yasuro left to go back onto his computer. *What was he doing, I wonder? Never saw anything like _that_ before.* He shook his head. *I guess my new roommate had to have a _few_ quirks. Wait a minute!* Yasuro's eyes widened. *His clothes weren't even _wet_ and yet it looked as if he had just doused himself standing up. How did he do _that_?* His new roommate was starting to arouse his curiosity. Twister let out a relieved sigh after Yasuro left. *Whoo! That was close! I don't know if I want him to know about me yet, or at all. I just met him and that's not enough time.* Twister dried his hair as he thought. *I needed to be female to do the spells, but I forgot all about Yasuro. Good thing I finished in time and heard him unlocking the door.* His stomach growled. *Oh, jeez. I can't believe I used _that_ much energy. Then again, I haven't eaten that much lately since making the dragons, and I _did_ use a fair bit of power to protect my stuff. Ah, well.* Twister walked towards the kitchen. *I wonder if Yasuro stocked up a reasonable larder?* Looking through the kitchen signaled the affirmative. *Yup. He's packed it full so I'll make up something to eat. Guess I'll shop next time. Ice cream, donuts, etc.... Yaright.* He chuckled and started making something for the both of them. *Hope he likes it...* An hour later, Yasuro finally had his awareness diverted from the computer by a most delicious smell. *What the heck is Twister making?* He got up, stretched, and went towards the kitchen. What he saw amazed him. The table was all set with a full meal, ready to eat. "Ah, good! I guess I don't have to drag you from your computer." Twister grinned. "I figured, since you had stocked up the kitchen, that I might as well use it. I'll shop next time." He waved a hand at the table. "Sit! Dig in! I know _I_ am." Twister sat down and started getting stuff for himself. Stunned, Yasuro sat down and stared at the food. "This smells delicious! How did you know how to make it all? I smells like something my mom made once on a special occasion." Twister was still gathering his bounty. "Really? The place I stayed at always had something like this. The person _there_ was a great cook I'll tell you. I decided to watch her for a while and she didn't mind. I just happen to have a perfect memory so making what she did is a snap." He grinned. Getting out of his stunned state, Yasuro started to get his own food. "You have a perfect memory? Must be nice." He had to chuckle, "The other guys down the hall must be smelling this and wondering where it's coming from." Twister laughed at that. "We'll know they know where if they start knocking on the door." "You sure made a bunch though." "I need a _lot_ of food sometimes. I have a funny metabolism and it seems like I will never become truly full. Sometimes I don't need to eat at all. Depends if I exert myself." He shrugged. "Well, I'm all for it if you make stuff like..." Yasuro waved his hand at the food before them. Twister just chuckled and ate. Chapter Five ------------ Twister woke up early, as usual, and started getting ready for college. From what he had heard from Nabiki, when she had phoned last night, freshmen had to get there early, or all the courses you wanted would be taken. He passed Yasuro's room in his preparations and saw him still asleep. He crept in, quietly viewed the unconscious figure for a moment, and then shouted, "Up and at 'em campers!" Yasuro's eyes went wide open and he sat up straight, yelling. "Yah!!!!" Twister chuckled, "Better get ready in a flash today. This _is_ registration day you know." Normally calm Yasuro gave Twister the Evil Eye. "I _know_ that. But could you have woken me without _scaring_ me half to death!" Unrepentant, Twister smiled, "It seemed the fastest way. Better hurry!" Grumbling could be heard from Yasuro's room as Twister made a little something for breakfast. When he emerged, Yasuro saw the prepared food and the angry glare faded away. "Thanks. I guess we _should_ better go early." "That's the spirit! We can leave later on other days, but not this one." They finished Twister's little breakfast snack and left together. Snores could be heard from the room where Morio and his friend were. Yasuro chuckled. "This gets more appealing every minute." When they arrived they were not the first in line, but they were pretty close. Twister looked for Nabiki, but she wasn't there yet. *Ah, well. She never _was_ an early riser.* Elsewhere, in a position that allowed someone to view the entire row of freshmen at once, someone was intently going over each person in the line. The someone was female, beautiful, raven-haired, and looked very mysterious. This person was a Professor Miyabi Kitamura and she was scanning for students for her 'special course' for 'gifted' students. Miyabi was a skilled sorceress and was always searching for new students to teach the mysteries and powers of magic. Whether they wanted to or not. *Hmmm. Looks like the usual crowd of freshmen. I probably won't find much more than one full class this year. Again.* She looked at the special mystic device she had created to search more accurately for prospective students and frowned. *Odd. That attractive young man over there indicates _very_ highly on my magic scanner, but I can sense _no_ mystic aura about him. Very strange indeed.* Miyabi peered closer at the student and spotted his clothing. *Now _that_ is definitely magical, but that is not enough to even come close to what my reading says. He must be cloaking his magical aura somehow. That means he must have _some_ knowledge of magic at least.* She smiled. *Better than none at all. I think he indeed qualifies.* She walked towards the registration desk as Twister came close to it. *Let's see how hard it will be to snag this one.* Miyabi waited until Twister came up to the desk and listened in. What she heard made her smile. *No high school diploma? Excellent test results though. Yes...this should be _very_ easy.* She stepped up to the desk and spoke up. "I think this young man deserves a place in _my_ class, gentlemen." She looked calmly at the suddenly nervous registration people at the desk. "I'm sure you can find a place for him there." "Uh...y-yes I t-think we can manage that." One of them stammered. Twister was sightly confused, Yasuro had gone first and was now gone, leaving him with no support. "Huh? This doesn't sound like normal registration." He looked at Miyabi. "Who are you?" She smiled gently, "I'm Prof. Miyabi Kitamura. I teach a special class for gifted students and your scores definitely fit into that category." Miyabi disturbed Twister for some reason, "Uh, thanks, but I'd rather just take the normal courses I selected, thank you." The smile just became deeper, "It's not an option...," she glanced at his forms, "Twister. I can prevent you from entering this college without a high school diploma and I don't think you want to do that." *Oh, great. An influential teacher wants _me_ in her class.* He sighed, "I guess I don't have much choice." "I thought you would say that." She purred. *Shades of Shampoo.* Twister glumly thought as he finished the registration with the 'special' course in place of another. He started walking away, but Miyabi caught his arm and pulled him to the side where no one could hear them. She looked a little more serious, but not by much, "I look forward to teaching someone with your mystic power." The shocked look Twister gave Miyabi confirmed her theory and she was pleased. "However, I will not allow the cloaking of your mystic aura in class, for you will need to demonstrate your progress from time to time." She smiled and started to walk away into the shadows. "See you there." Twister regained his senses and quickly tried to follow, but she was gone. *Oh, shock. Just great. I'm not _hiding_ it in this form! Gah!* He walked back to where the line was and waited for Nabiki. *Just what I needed to happen to me. I wonder if what Ranma has is contagious.* Twister sighed morosely. When she finished her registration, Nabiki walked back down the line and spotted Twister, leaning on a wall, looking depressed. *What happened to him? He's usually too _cheerful_.* She started getting worried and walked up him. He looked up when she came near. "Ah, Nabiki. I carry a tale of woe indeed. May I share it with thee?" Twister sarcastically said. Wondering what was up, Nabiki nodded, "Sure, Twister. What happened? Didn't get a course?" He sighed. "Yes...and no. I got all the courses I wanted except one, because me and my roommate got here early. Unfortunately, when my roomie had left and I was finishing, some female professor came along and forced me to sign up for _her_ class. So now I have her class instead of the one I wanted." Nabiki frowned, "That's odd." "Wait. It gets better." Twister paused before continuing. "When I was done, she dragged me off to the side and said that I shouldn't mask my mystic aura in class since I would have to demonstrate my progress." He looked Nabiki in the eye. "I _think_ this is a class for teaching _magic_." Wide-eyed, Nabiki looked at Twister, "Does she know about your two forms?" She answered herself immediately. "No, of course not. She wouldn't have said it _that_ way then." Nabiki tapped a finger on her chin and sighed. "You've got a problem, Twister." "No kidding." He sighed as well. "I don't have a choice actually. I have to go or she'll drop me out of college. She also mentioned I had a 'powerful' aura. I don't think that will help my position in class either. _And_ I'll have to switch every time to go to it from my other classes as well." Twister shook his head. "I think I'm going to be busy tonight thinking on how to get this to work." "I don't envy you," Nabiki chuckled. "You'll find out more about magic anyway." "That thought does _not_ lighten my mind." He sighed again. "At least it's the last class of the day. Ah, well." He smiled at Nabiki. "How's your roommate?" The change of topic relieved Nabiki. "She's nice. She got me to wake up early, thankfully." "Ah, good. I was worried about that. OW!" He chuckled as he rubbed his shoulder that Nabiki had hit. "I had to wake up _my_ roommate too. He too was thankful...after he stopped cursing me that is." Twister grinned. Nabiki smiled and shook her head, "Come on. Let's get something to eat. It's almost lunch." "Ok. Let's go terrify an all-you-can-eat place. I found out yesterday that my energy reserves are low and I feel I'm going to need all the power I can get tomorrow." Hooking an arm through his, Nabiki led him on. "Then let's go. You can tell me what happens after classes." She smirked, "Especially that professor's expression when you first walk in." That made Twister chuckle. "Now _there's_ a cheering thought..." Chapter Six ----------- Miyabi was enjoying just looking at her new class the next day. *Almost a full room. It's been a good year.* She smiled. *Most of them even came willingly.* Then she frowned as she scanned the room with her eyes. *Where is that Twister boy? I didn't think he would miss this class after my little warning at the desk. Well, it's not class time yet so I can wait.* Her attention was soon captured by a female student walking towards her. *Funny, I don't recall 'inviting' this one.* The student was soon standing right in front of Miyabi, waiting. "Hello, Professor Miyabi." Miyabi frowned. "Who are you? I don't recall you being asked to be in this class." The red-haired student smiled broadly and spoke softly so only Miyabi could hear her, "Well, you did, and in this class could you call me Itazuka Tendo, please?" The magical professor looked confused. "_I_ invited you??" Twister continued, "You _did_ tell me to not 'cloak' my aura. I didn't have much choice about this." She chuckled at Miyabi's face and went to sit down by a friendly-looking girl. Miyabi was in a state of shock. *TWISTER???? How?? Why??* After a minute, she broke out of it and checked the red-headed student's aura. It was exactly as strong as she had thought Twister's to be. *That's impossible! How could Twister have done this?! He...she doesn't look that experienced. There _must_ be something more to this.* She forced the confusing thoughts out of her mind and began the class with one final thought. *I _will_ find the reason for this...* *Well, _that_ made up a little for forcing me into this class,* Twister smirked inwardly. Miyabi started the class by stating that people did magic in different ways when they first started magic. One way may work for another, but not for someone else. The different ways included gestures, puzzles, rhymes, and others. After she that, she asked the class if anybody in the class had done magic successfully before. Twister's was the only hand up, which caused her a little embarrassment as the rest of the class looked curiously at her. With a large smile, Miyabi asked Twister what she had found out about magic and what she had all done. Reddening under everyone's view, Twister started. "Well, I found that my rhymes weren't the critical factor in a spell. Visualization of what you _want_ seems to be the most important part even though the rhyme has to be close to it. As well, you can choose how _much_ power to put into a spell when you cast it. Spells that you cast, unless it is to enchant an object, you can cancel mentally at any time. That's what I've found about magic so far." The professor was little surprised at how _much_, for a beginner, Twister knew. "Did someone teach you this?" "No. I figured it out on my own. There are still a few things I have trouble with though." After that surprising statement, Miyabi queried, "What spells have you successfully cast?" The length of time Twister thought about it intrigued her before Twister started the list. "I guess I'd better start in order. Um... Light, anti-scrying field, message spell, having weapons attack holder... Hm. Then I did a bunch. Flying belts, shockwave maces, powders bag,..." Miyabi held up her hand to stop Twister. "I think that's enough for now. How long did it take you to create these spells?" Twister shook her head, "A pretty long time. I goofed up on most when I first tried making them. I'm still trying to work out visualization. Only a few spells I've done came out right the first time...and that was because I had a vivid image to use." Now Miyabi smiled, "That is what this class will help you with. You are correct in that visualization is vital to a spell. The correct amount of strength is important as well or the spell will not work out as you expect." "My enchantments faded after a time. Is there a way to make a permanent magic object?" "Yes. There are ways to do that and some will be covered this year." Twister sighed gratefully. "Great. It's a pain to redo some things." The class continued from that point with no actual demonstrations given, but Miyabi promised that a student from the second year class would come to demonstrate. She hinted that 'Itazuka' might help as well since 'Itazuka' already had experience casting spells. When class was dismissed, Twister left quickly, due to the fact that Miyabi was eyeing her strangely. She had just left the room when her shoulder was tapped on by someone's finger. Twister turned around to see who it was. It was the friendly-looking girl Twister had sat down beside in class. Her hair was... Well...Twister had known that some people in this universe had unusual hair colors. This girl was one of those because she had _blue_ hair. It _did_ look very nice on her. She smiled, "Hi! My name's Yuriko." "Ah...hi. Mine's Itazuka." Yuriko looked a little excited, "So you've actually cast spells before? I didn't even realize _I_ could be able to until Prof. Miyabi told me yesterday." Twister smiled at the cute girl's energy, "Yes, I have. It's kinda fun unless you do it for something serious." Her face darkened as she remembered Malkon. "I came up to you because I was wondering if you could help me with my own stuff when I start trying out spells on my own." Yuriko smiled. "We could talk about it in study hall or in my place when my roommate is out. She goes out for long periods of time working on her 'future goals'," Yuriko giggled slightly for a second, "or to go with some guy she called 'Twister'." Twister tried not to freeze at this. *Gah! I should've guessed this would happen. Of _course_ Nabiki's roommate would be in the same magic class and approach _me_. Ah well, she's Nabiki's roommate after all.* Out loud Twister said, "Sure. Once we figure out what _kind_ of magic you have it shouldn't be too hard to help you along, though I think we both could use help from class. Have you ever tried rhyme?" Yuriko shook her head, "Nope! I've haven't tried anything yet. I could try now..." "Whoa! Not here! Let's go somewhere private first." "Ok!" As the two left, a figure wrapped in a brown, monk-like robe slowly walked into the room where the class had been. It moved silently behind Miyabi and waited. When she turned around and saw the dark figure, she started. And then turned angry. "Takaya! I've told you _not_ to do that!" "Sorry, professor." The figure pulled back the hood to reveal a young man with sandy blond hair who was smiling slightly. "Habit, I suppose." "Habit my foot! You like doing that and that's that." She looked quizzically at her third year student. "Why are you here anyway?" "I'm just looking at the new students. Some look quite promising." She snorted. "For you that is. You always try to get too much power, Takaya." He chuckled softly. "One day I may even succeed." Takaya looked thoughtful. "Who was that red-haired one? She looked very strong for a first year student." Miyabi arched an eyebrow, "I wouldn't try _that_ one, young man. She's already cast spells before. Very talented that one is." *Unusual too,* she thought to herself. "Hmm. Maybe. Maybe not. I'll look around first before deciding what I will do." He bowed to Miyabi before exiting. As he left, he thought to himself, *The red-haired one has the strongest aura I've seen in this college! Including Miyabi! I _must_ find a way to get her cooperation, or her power.* He smiled widely before his hood covered his features again. Twister and Yuriko found an empty classroom to quickly test Yuriko. She looked a little nervous, but Twister calmed her down. "Relax. All that's going to happen with this spell is a light and that's _if_ you can do rhyme magic. Ready?" Yuriko nodded. "Ok. Repeat this spell..." Twister spoke the rhyme she had read from a beginner's magic book and the young girl before her repeated it exactly. After she finished, Yuriko looked to the left and right and didn't see anything. Disappointed and sad, she looked at Twister. "I guess rhyme isn't my way after all." Chuckling, Twister said, "BUZZZ! Wrong! Try again for the correct answer." Seeing Yuriko's confused look, Twister smiled and pointed above the girl's head where Yuriko's eyes looked up at. Floating above Yuriko's head was a rose-colored ball of light. Her eyes widened and she broke out in a big smile as she shouted,"Yay!" Yuriko clapped her hands together happily. Laughing now, Twister asked her to will it out and she did so. "I guess rhyme _is_ your thing," Twister remarked. "Great! Then you _can_ help me with the class! I'm glad." Yuriko smiled happily. She then glanced at her watch. "I have another class soon so I'd better get going! I'll see you next time!" With that last statement she was out the door before Twister could manage a reply. Looking at the spot where the excited girl had last been, Twister arched an eyebrow, "Hmm. Now _there's_ a bundle of energy if I've ever seen one. Oh, well, nice to be needed anyway." Thinking of going home, she thought for a second, *I guess I don't need to do elaborate protections today and I don't feel like dunking myself _here_ right now. I'll go home, change, and take a nap, I think. It's been a busy day.* She sighed and started for her new home. Yasuro had met up with Morio and his other friend Hito, who shared the other apartment with Morio, while Twister had been in Prof. Miyabi's class. Hito's brown hair was in the slight disarray it was always in as he walked with the other two. Right now they were walking back to their apartment building. Their current point of discussion was Twister's cooking. "So it was _your_ place that produced the smell that tortured us?" Morio said incredulously. "Yes. Twister surprised me by making something for both of us." Yasuro smiled at the looks he saw on the other two faces. "Man! You lucky stiff!" Hito exclaimed. "Having a roommate that can cook like that!" "Hmm. Looks like we'll have to visit occasionally, Hito." Morio smiled devilishly at his roommate. "You bet! Especially when _Twister_ cooks!" "If you two do, please tell us ahead of time. I don't think Twister would mind since he prepared enough for us _and_ you two as well that time." Yasuro shook his head. "He sure can eat a lot though." Morio chuckled, "With that kind of a body, I'm not surprised. If _I_ looked that good, girls wouldn't mind me half as bad." "That reminds me. Are you done with my miniature electronic camera yet?" Hito queried. "Almost. Almost." Morio smiled. "I won't even ask _what_ you two are planning," Yasuro sighed. "Oh, it's not _that_ bad! Well...maybe so, but the results will..." Morio stopped as he looked towards their, now close by, apartment building entrance. "Now _who_ is _that_ delectable creature?" He breathed. Yasuro and Hito both looked away from Morio and saw what he was talking about. A very cute-looking redhead was standing in front of the apartment entrance and was almost in. The clothing she wore outlined her impressive figure nicely and the three boys looking at her were all staring at the sight. When she entered and disappeared out of sight, they snapped out of it and Morio led the rush to the door. As he frantically tried to open the door, Morio excitedly said, "I don't remember seeing her yesterday, but I believe I'll be seeing a lot more of her soon." "Oh, come on, Morio. You don't even know if she'll like you." Smiling now, Yasuro continued, "Most girls _don't_ after a while." "Details, Details! Even if she doesn't, I'll _still_ be seeing a lot more of her!" Morio grinned at Hito, "Still got all that spying equipment that I used last year?" "You bet! I wouldn't mind seeing pictures of _that_ one!" Hito grinned back at Morio as the latter finally got the door open. Yasuro just shook his head as he followed the other two into the building. They looked at the first floor hallways, but she wasn't there so they tried their second floor level. Morio caught a hint of red hair disappearing into a doorway before it closed. "There! She went into _that_ room," Morio cried. As they approached the door, they realized something. Yasuro frowned, "Hey! That's me and Twister's apartment. He must know the girl." "Good. Then I'll be able to find out more about her," Morio grinned broadly. They slowly approached the door and Yasuro open the locked door with his key. When they all quietly entered, there was no one in sight. Puzzled, they looked around, wondering where the girl had gone. Twister's voice called out from his room. "That you, Yasuro?" Grinning, Morio headed towards Twister's room, "And company!" He quickly opened the half-closed door and was confused. Twister was there all right, lying down on his bed and just relaxing. Alone. Twister looked puzzled, "What are you doing?" Hito walked up to Morio and shook his head. "Nobody else in the apartment," he confusedly said. "Was there anybody else in here just a few moments ago?" Morio demanded of Twister. Twister shook his head. "Nope. Just me. Why?" Yasuro commented from his computer, "We thought we saw some red-headed girl come in here a minute ago. Very strange. Morio was anxious to meet her." "Well, it's just me here." Twister confidently replied with a small smile on his face. Twister looked a little too amused for Morio's taste, but he let it lie. "Maybe I saw something else then. Come on, Hito." He left with the other hentai following him. When they were in their own apartment, Morio commented out loud, "I am _sure_ I saw _someone_ with red hair enter that apartment, and Twister looked like he knew something about it. Something funny is going on around here." "What should we do?" "We'll look around the college and see if that girl appears there. If so," he grinned, "we will try our best to catch her off-guard." Hito grinned with Morio. *Whoo! That was close. I think I'd better be more careful from now on.* Twister thought as he lay on his bed. He called out to Yasuro, "How did your first day go? I got homework in almost every class." "You're lucky. I got homework in _every_ class." Yasuro sighed, "I wonder who that girl was..." "Got _me_. I wasn't with you." Twister replied a little nervously. "Whoever it was, she sure was cute. I don't think Morio will give up that easily now that he's seen her. _That_ is _fact_." Twister softly sighed, *Great. Another worry.* Shaking his head, he asked, "What _are_ those two going into anyway?" "Well, Morio is _very_ good with chemistry so he's doing that. Remember the pool incident I mentioned?" When he heard Twister's affirmative he went on, "Well, that's not the only time he's used chemicals to do stuff. Smoke bombs, acids, and other things to help him on his...um...quest." He heard Twister's snort and smiled. "Hito is into electronics in a big way. He lets Morio use most of the stuff he makes because it tests it pretty well. Another reason is that Morio lets Hito look at what he's managed to get with the equipment." "Deadly combination. Together those two must be a terror when they work on something." Yasuro chuckled, "They are indeed. I've helped them once in a while too when something required a computer on their little jaunts, but only because they are my friends. Perverts though they may be." *Great. The dynamic hentai duo.* Twister groaned softly. *_Just_ what I needed...* Chapter Seven ------------- Soon it was time for Prof. Miyabi's class again and Twister sat down by Yuriko. They talked a bit about how to practice magic at home before a stranger to the class came in. Prof. Miyabi stood up and introduced the stranger. "Class, this is the second year student who will be demonstrating a spell for us today. Her name is Natsumi." Natsumi was a beautiful girl with an attempted air of mystery about her. Twister saw that she wore quite a bit of make-up to try to enhance the Mystery Effect. Her clothes were shaded darkly and her skirt seemed made of a billowy satin-like material. She also had a superior air about her in addition to the one of mystery. Her long black hair was in the same style Miyabi used. This was most likely intentional. *So. This is the batch of new students.* Natsumi thought contemptuously. *I doubt any of them compare to _my_ level when I was in first year.* She didn't even bother to look at the class. Prof. Miyabi went on, "She will demonstrate an illusion spell and then we will compare it to one of Itazuka's to see the difference." She wasn't expecting Itazuka's spell to be very good so she wasn't worried. Natsumi watched as a red-headed girl stood up and came down to stand by the desk. *Hm. This one does look pretty cute, but she cannot compete with _me_. I come from a _long_ line of magic-users and this apparent newcomer will be no match.* She smiled nastily, *It should be amusing to see the soon-to-be obvious differences in the quality of our illusions.* Feeling the malice in Natsumi's smile, Twister and the rest of the class looked a little nervous. "Being a popular choice among people who use magic we shall try... dragons." Twister perked up a little at this though Miyabi didn't know why. "I realize this is a little difficult to try, but it certainly fits the subject. Natsumi, you may begin." She turned to the class. "Natsumi's way of magic is in her gestures. This is a hard form of magic, but she has mastered the art of gesturing." Making sinuous motions, Natsumi confidently started her illusion spell. A mist started forming in front of her and started shaping itself into a draconic form. Four legs appeared, then the body, and finally the head. Color started appearing on the image as it started losing its transparency. When Natsumi was done, a five foot high frozen image of a dragon was standing quietly in front of the class. It was a good likeness in Twister's eyes and the class applauded the result. Turning to Twister, Natsumi smiled wickedly, "Now... Let's see _your_ little attempt at illusion." Twister fumed a bit at that remark, but held her temper, "I _do_ have an illusionary dragon spell, but I don't think I want to scare the class with it." The class whispered softly behind her as they wondered what Twister was doing. Raising an eyebrow before Prof. Miyabi could say anything, Natsumi laughed at Twister, "You think you can do better than _me_? I doubt _that_ very much." She smiled mockingly. Hearing her patience TWANG in an almost audible snap, Twister chuckled a bit. "Alright, frosting-face. Don't say I didn't warn you." As Natsumi sputtered, Twister walked towards the chalkboard and got ready. She whispered the rhyme she had devised to protect the money from the auction while standing guard over it and used the same vivid picture for the spell. It had taken a while to get it right when making it, but once she had... Another mist formed from the ground, but this one did not create a dragon. Instead it climbed up the chalkboard and covered a fair portion of the wall. The class was wondering what Twister was doing as Prof. Miyabi looked on in curiosity and Natsumi in angry contempt. Mist parted in a circle at the middle of the cloudy covering and the gap slowly grew. It revealed a pitch black darkness that the eye could not penetrate. Being closer to the illusion, Prof. Miyabi and Natsumi were startled when they started smelling sulfur. Miyabi was about to ask Twister something when two glowing eyes opened in the darkness. These eyes were alive and held a fiercesome light which illuminated them from within. They looked hungry and slowly moved back and forth in the darkness as if looking at the tasty morsels seated beyond the darkness. Then they moved forward. As they approached the light of the class room, what the eyes were attached to revealed itself. A dragon's head came out of the darkness and the class gasped in their stunned silence. This was not the still image of a dragon like Natsumi had made, nor was it as small. It was twelve feet above the ground and barely fit into the classroom. The face was moving and animated as it focused on one person. Natsumi. Said person was slowly stepping back with a look of horror on her face as the rest of the dragon squeezed out of the hole in the mist. It was incredibly detailed and something more than just normal life seemed to radiate from the drake. A fierce energy was present in every movement. Natsumi was now backed up to the first desks and couldn't go back any further. Other students had rapidly left their desks and gone to the back of the room with haste. Most people saw the calm Prof. Miyabi and a grinning Twister and were calmed a bit. But the dragon inspired a terror all on its own. The dragon's head stopped within a meter of Natsumi and it filled her frightened eyes as it contemplated the little creature before it. Apparently deciding something, the dragon inhaled suddenly with a sound like a bellows. Natsumi had a sudden image of being toasted to a crisp. She was about to scream when the dragon stopped inhaling and spoke in a deep, ancient-sounding voice. "Gotcha!" With that said, the dragon turned into mist and was sucked back into the darkness of the hole from which it came. The misty curtain closed the opening and dissipated. Leaning on a wall, Twister calmly said, "Was _that_ good enough?" She smiled wickedly then. The class laughed as they realized the joke Twister had played on Natsumi and returned their seats, albeit with a few nervous looks at the chalkboard. Natsumi was still shaking from the scare the illusionary dragon had given her, but she had recovered enough to give a venom-filled glare towards Twister. Twister mentally slapped herself. *Dang. I shouldn't have done that. Now I have an enemy for life.* She sighed. *Why do I _do_ these things? Simple answer: she was begging for it.* "Ah..." Prof. Miyabi tried to recover her disrupted class. "Now you have seen the difference between a good illusion and," she glanced at an innocently looking Twister, "an extremely well done illusion. Not quite the way I had planned it, but you have seen the differences yourself and one day, hopefully, you too may be able to do that." She waved at the chalkboard. The class looked _much_ more excited now. *Well, that didn't go as I wanted it, but it seems to have got their interest all right.* Miyabi smiled slightly. *Natsumi needed to be taken down a bit anyway. I just hope Twister can handle her.* She looked at the blackboard. *Though from what I just saw, I don't think that will be a problem. I still want to know more about Twister though. There is more to that one than meets the eye.* Natsumi angrily stormed out of the room and almost ran into a robed person who had been looking through the classroom window. She immediately recognized the individual and flushed. "Takaya! I didn't know you would be here!" Pulling off his hood, Takaya smiled at the girl, "Ah, Natsumi. I was just looking in and seeing how the first year class was coming along." He glanced at the door. "I see that one in particular is progressing remarkably well." Natsumi turned red with embarrassment as she realized that Takaya had likely seen the whole thing with the dragons. He continued thoughtfully, "Even _I_ would have a hard time making such a detailed illusion. Complete with illusionary smells and sounds too. Very impressive for a first year. Talented, I should say." Takaya stared at the door as he contemplated something. Realization dawned on Natsumi, *He's interested in her! In that...that...smug little _nobody_!* Her vision turned red with anger. *Not only does she publicly humiliate me, she does it in front of Takaya! I can _not_ let her go unpunished for this!* Seeing that he was still staring at the door, Natsumi angrily stamped away from the robed, young man. *We shall just _see_ who is the better magic-user and _that_ will show Takaya who to watch!* When class ended, Twister and Yuriko walked out together, talking about the class. "That dragon you did was so _real_! How did you do it?" Twister shrugged, "I've done it before and I had a very good model of a dragon to look at. It took a little time, but you don't forget something like _that_ once you get it right," she chuckled. "Well, that other girl certainly deserved the scare you gave her," Yuriko firmly said. "Looking down on all of us like that wasn't very nice." "True. I just hope she doesn't try to get revenge." Twister paused. "Strike that. I _know_ she'll try." Seeing Yuriko's concerned look, she smiled. "Don't worry. I'm ready if she tries anything." *I hope.* "Ah! The talented red-haired girl. Greetings." The two girls started and turned to face a person dressed in a monk-like robe. "Impressive display. I applaud your skill." Removing his hood, he smiled at them, "I am Takaya. I'm in the third-year class." "Um...hi." This person didn't exactly inspire trust in Twister. "The name is Itazuka and this is Yuriko." Yuriko smiled nervously. "Congratulations on such a well done spell. Not many would be able to accomplish such a display this soon." Twister was getting increasingly nervous at this smiling young magic-user, "Thanks, I've had practice." Suddenly, Yuriko shouted, "Oh, no! I forgot a book in the classroom! I'll be right back, Itazuka!" With that, she ran back to the classroom. "Good. Now we can talk alone." Takaya smiled a little more broadly. The truth dawned on Twister, *Oh, no. I think this guy wants to date me or something similar.* She stared back a little, "Talk about what?" "I was wondering if you had a boyfriend. If not, would you like to go out with me?" *Bingo.* Twister thought sourly before replying, "No, I don't have a boyfriend," *However, a girlfriend, yes...* "and no, I don't think I want to go out with you. No matter what." Unflustered, Takaya started a response, but Yuriko came back quickly, ran up to Twister, and started dragging the startled girl away while apologizing, "Nicetomeetyou! Gottarun! Bye! ComeonItazuka!" Unable to muster much of a resistance, Twister was soon helplessly dragged out of Takaya's sight. He smiled at the departing girls, *Well then, if she does not want to join me willingly then I shall have to find a way which will allow me to use her power _unwillingly_. So be it. I do not care to waste time on the apparently non-existent chance that she _may_ change her mind.* Takaya softly chuckled as he walked away. Twister had recovered and was now trying to slow Yuriko down. "Whoa! Halt! Use the brakes already! What's going on?" After stopping, and panting with the effort of dragging Twister, Yuriko told her, "I...overheard...Prof. Miyabi talking...to herself. She was muttering something about...summoning a demon to find out something about a person called 'Twister'." She looked worried. "That sounds like my roommate's boyfriend. What should we do?" Looking grim, Twister calmed her down, "Don't worry, Yuriko. I'll take care of it. You'd better go to class." Seeing Yuriko's unconvinced face, Twister smiled. "Don't worry about it! Hurry, or you _will_ be late!" "Ok, Itazuka. Be careful!" She ran off. *Now why does Prof. Miyabi want to talk to a demon about me? Time for hot water and a little follow-the-leader to find out. Better activate that anti-scrying diamond I made earlier too. Made it just in case someone got curious about me. Good thing I did. I don't think that Natsumi will be idle for long.* Twister headed towards a hiding place she had found nearby. Later that day, Miyabi was kneeling in a protective circle in a darkened portion of her home and quietly muttering a spell to summon a demon for her needs. She did this rarely and was being _very_ careful to get the correct spell completed. Finally, she was done and soon the expected blood-red flames flared in the Place of Arrival. The demon had come. It was ugly to look at with it's red hide and multi-fanged jaws but the sorceress ignored these facts and stated her question before the demon could respond. "By the power of your true name, I command you to tell me what I wish to know." She intoned. The demon looked like it wanted to tear her apart, but complied, "Yes, Mistress. What do you wish to know?" "Tell me about one known as 'Twister'." Miyabi asked the demon. She did not expect it's reaction. "TWISTER?! I cannot answer your question, Mistress," the demon actually appeared nervous, "but if you wish...another will take my place to answer that which I cannot. It is his punishment." Miyabi was startled, this had never happened before! However, she _did_ want to know about Twister. "Very well. Do so." The demon bowed and the flames reappeared. This time they burned for a long time before another form appeared. She stared at the individual. *This is a demon?* She wondered. The being before her bowed with a sigh. "Greetings, Lady. I am here to answer any questions you have about Twister. I am the arch-demon Malkon." As Miyabi paled at the thought of an arch-demon in her presence, a shout of anger startled her and appeared to cause the arch-demon considerable distress. "MALKON! YOU DAMNED ARCH-DEMON!" Twister came out of the shadows with his eyes glowing blue. An azure glow formed between his hands and a diamond sword came into being from within the light. Gripping the crystalline blade, Twister growled out, "Shall we continue where we left off?" Trapped in the containing wards, Malkon couldn't escape. "Ah, Twister. So nice to see you again. No hard feelings, I hope?" He smiled weakly. Twister narrowed his eyes and advanced upon the arch-demon. Recovering from the shock of the arch-demon appearing and Twister's display of power, Miyabi shouted, "HOLD IT! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" She looked at the now calming down Twister. "What are _you_ doing here?" Rage vanished to form embarrassment, "I heard you were going to ask a demon about me and I was curious as to what it would say. I did _not_ expect," he glared at Malkon, "_this_ one to come." "_What_ is going on here?" Miyabi demanded again, crossly. Seeing that Twister was not going to take him apart, Malkon spoke up, "_That_ is why _I_ am here, I believe; to answer your questions with what I know." He chuckled at Twister's glare. "Oh, come now, Twister, you are a civilized being. Surely you have forgiven what I did by now." "Not by a _long_ shot," Twister muttered. "All right! That's enough! _You_," Miyabi pointed at Malkon. "Tell me just _what_ exactly is going on here," she commanded in a firm voice. Malkon sighed and shrugged at Twister, smiling, "Well, since I have no choice..." Twister threw up his hands in disgust and sat down while Malkon recalled everything that he had done to Twister. Twister didn't want the professor mad at him so he let Malkon recount the tale. That didn't mean he had to enjoy it though. Miyabi got her information all right, and a lot of it surprised her. She was amazed that Twister had survived the Event and a little shocked at the level of psionic power he had used on Malkon. The part about the cursed springs and the duo nature of Twister's power cleared up quite a few questions she had. "So _that's_ why you came as a girl." Miyabi commented. Twister blushed a bit. The capture of Twister and the magical items he had given his friends intrigued her. What really shocked her to the core, however, was Twister's destruction of the arch-demon's Overseer Master. "You did _what_!?! How did you do that?!" "Very painfully." Twister shrugged, "I didn't know I could do what I did till I tried myself. Besides, I had a tremendous headache and an aching body for a week! I'm _not_ doing that again unless I _really_ have to, if ever." "Small comfort," Malkon sighed. "The other Overseers partly blamed me for my Master's death. That is why I find myself here." "Very well. You have answered my questions. I will send you back now." Miyabi prepared herself. "Oh, one more thing, Twister..." Malkon smiled broadly. "You _did_ look _very_ nice in that gown." He chuckled at Twister's look of outrage as he disappeared. "Gah! I'll _get_ him for that someday!" Twister fumed at the now-empty place where Malkon had been. Miyabi stood up and stretched to relieve the cramps in her legs. "Well. That certainly answered my questions about you, Twister." She smiled. "Very interesting indeed. I have one or two things that you can help me with, once you get better at magic. I've left them for _far_ too long because I was unable to do them myself." She looked knowingly at Twister as she continued. "But now that I have an excellent _protege_, I think that they should be possible to accomplish now..." "Protege?" Twister sighed wearily. *Oh, boy...* Walking over to Nabiki's place, Twister mulled over recent events. *Oh, well. At least she isn't power hungry like Malkon. Hmp. I wonder what those 'one or two projects' were that she mentioned.* He sighed. *I have a feeling I might not like it when she tells me.* When he reached Nabiki's apartment building, he punched her room code on the intercom and waited. The speaker buzzed with Nabiki's voice. "Yes? Who is it?" "Avon calling! Did you want the gold or the money colored lipstick?" He heard Nabiki's chuckle and a female giggle in the background. "Come on up, Twister." The door buzzed and he entered the building. Knocking on the door resulted in Nabiki quickly opening it and kissing him, which surprised him a little. After recovering from the kiss, he smiled. "What was _that_ for? Not that I mind..." "I haven't seen much of you since I've been busy getting used to the routine around here." Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she smiled. "I missed you a little." "A little? I'm crushed. My heart hath been broken by my fair lady's sad words of despair," he sighed dramatically. A person came near the door and giggled, "You must be Twister. Nabiki's told me a little about you." Yuriko said. "I deny everything she said!" He paused. "Even if it likely _is_ true." Twister chuckled. "And who may you be?" He snorted mentally, *As if I didn't know.* "I'm Yuriko." she said smiling. "Ah! The roommate who is going into Engineering. Good luck to you." "Thanks! I'm also thinking of something else at the moment though. It looks pretty exciting." She enthused as she went on, "I have a new friend in that class who promised to help me even. Have you met her? Her name is Itazuka." Nabiki stiffened at that last statement. "Ah...yes. I know her. I haven't seen her for a while though." Twister tried not to look nervous. "Oh, good!" Yuriko clapped her hands together happily. Nabiki started to pull Twister outside, "You haven't taken me out yet, Twister. Shall we do so _now_?" She stressed the last word. "Huh? Oh! Sure! Nice meeting you, Yuriko!" He called out as Nabiki led him outside. "Bye!" Yuriko called out happily. When they were walking outside, Nabiki stopped and faced Twister, "All right. _What's_ going on here?" She didn't look too pleased. Twister wasn't feeling very hot either, "Um..." He sighed and started explanations, "Since I was the only one in the class who had cast a spell before Yuriko asked me if I could help her. She said something that told me _you_ were her roommate so I said yes." He chuckled, "Luckily we found out that _she_ can do rhyme magic as well. Helping her will be a _lot_ easier. Besides," Twister continued as Nabiki looked mollified, "She helped _me_ today by overhearing the professor muttering about asking demons for information about me and I went to see what went on." Concerned now, Nabiki queried, "What happened?" "Prof. Miyabi eventually got my _dear_ friend Malkon," He growled. "Apparently the other Overseers gave him the punishment of having to personally answer anything concerning _me_. Prof. Miyabi barely stopped me from taking him apart then and there." "So she knows about you now?" "Yup, and now she wants me to be her protege apparently." Gloomily, he muttered, "Joy and rapture." "Well, she was _bound_ to find out sooner or later." Nabiki sighed, "Being a teacher of _magic_, she was going to anyway. It's not like she wants to kill you or anything." She chuckled. "Um. True. Someone _else_ will be trying that." Nabiki stared at Twister, who wasn't looking at her, "What _else_ happened today?" Twister related how he had scared Natsumi and also the brief meeting with Takaya. She shook her head, "You're getting as bad as Ranma." She chuckled, "At least you're not having to worry about fiancees." She arched an eyebrow at him, "You'd _better_ not anyway." Trying to forget the day's events, Twister went off topic, "Did you want to visit your family this weekend? I wouldn't mind seeing familiar faces and getting another lesson with Ranma." "Sure thing!" Nabiki smiled, "Cuts down on traveling costs and I might as well do so now before my workload increases." Grinning, Twister added, "And _this_ time I send a note ahead of our arrival..." They both laughed together then. The figure hidden in the shadows of the night watched the pair walking back towards the apartment building. A voice whispered softly to itself in the silence. "Yessss. Sshe will make a fine addition to the other Chossen oness." A slightly hissing chuckle emerged from the hooded cloak the figure wore before the being vanished. Chapter Eight ------------- The last day of the first week finally arrived and Twister was feeling cheerful as he walked down the hall. *Ah. Just peace today. I can handle that.* Twister was whistling as he entered his apartment. Inside he saw something, however, that puzzled him. Yasuro, Morio, and Hito were sitting on the floor, looking very gloomy. "What's with you guys?" Twister queried. Yasuro looked at Twister and sighed, "These two, along with a couple of other friends that we know, made a bet with another group of guys who are all going into physical education." "Huh? What kind of bet did you make? It had to have been something you were sure about for you to have done it in the _first_ place. So _why_ do you look so depressed?" Sighing, Morio spoke up, "We _were_ sure, until we saw _their_ champion eating." Twister didn't look enlightened so Morio explained. "It's an eating contest basically. Whoever loses has to do whatever the other team wants tomorrow. We have someone on our team who eats a _lot_, but when he saw the other guy eat at lunch today..." Morio shook his head. "He doesn't think he has a chance after he saw that. And I'm inclined to agree. The amount of food that guy ate was unbelievable! That was just his _lunch_ too!" "What's he do?" Twister was a little amused. "He's a sprinter, and skinnier than you." The surprised look Morio received made him nod. "Yes. He doesn't look it, and that's what got us into this trap. I heard later that this group has done this before. They won easily. Apparently, this guy is _really_ hyper-active and has a super-fast metabolism. He eats an enormous amount of food every day. It's a good thing his family is well-off or he'd starve." Morio sighed. "It does not look good." Chuckling softly, Yasuro said, "This guy almost sounds like _you_, Twister." Morio froze when he heard that. Turning to Twister, Morio warmly smiled, "How much _can_ you eat?" Twister shrugged, "Um... I really don't know. I've never _been_ full before. Believe me, there are quite a few all-you-can-eat places that have regretted that fact. Why?" The other three on the floor all smiled broadly. An hour later, Twister was sitting in front of a large table waiting for the other person in the eat-off. *Great. If I become full then I won't be able to take Nabiki to Ranma and the others because I'll be stuck doing whatever the other team wants my team to do. How did I get talked into this?* He sighed. *Well, if I _do_ win then I'll likely have energy to burn. It's a good thing I think my power is low right now.* Twister stopped to consider the challenger who just walked in. The others just knew him by the name 'Legs' and he certainly looked like a runner. His frame had _no_ excess fat on it and his strong-looking leg muscles showed outstandingly as he wore running shorts. 'Legs' moved constantly and rapidly. Face animated and had both arms waving as he conferred with the rival group. Soon, he came over to sit opposite Twister. Legs smirked at Twister, "So you're my rival? You certainly don't look like it." His hands twitched rapidly on the table and Twister could hear his feet constantly tapping on the floor. Twister raised an eyebrow at the comment, "I'd get a mirror before you say _that_ again." "Very true." Legs smiled confidently as he waved his hand, "Let's begin. The first to quit loses. Enjoy your future stomach ache." Twister just smiled. Equal portions of noodles were placed in front of both eaters. They were replaced only after both had finished. Legs ate at a comfortable rate for a few minutes, but after he saw Twister matching him he sped up the pace. Realizing that finishing first gave more time to digest, Twister matched him every time Legs increased his eating so that they both finished their portions at the same time. They waited a minute for the next serving and continued like this for some time. Those cheering the eaters slowly stopped doing so and just stared after a while. The eater's hands were blurring with their speed and they were still increasing the pace. Legs finally decided to stop accelerating, since Twister seemed able to keep up, and settled for just out-lasting his rival. This went on for an hour. Both had consumed vast quantities of noodles and both were finally starting to show signs of slowing down at last. Legs was forcing food into his mouth while Twister looked nauseous. When they had finished their current portion, Legs spoke up. "You... eat...very...well." He gasped from exertion. Twister wasn't very tired because of the energy he kept getting from the food, but he was gasping too. "Not...bad...yourself. Will...thou... admit... defeat?" "Only...when...I...drop!" Legs looked determined, "I...have...never... lost...and I...do not..plan to...start now!" Twister sighed and they started eating again. After another half hour, Legs' prediction came true and he fell face first into his noodles. Twister's group cheered while the other looked stunned. Morio whooped and pounded Twister's back. "Yes! You did it!" Looking at Twister's face, Yasuro looked worried, "Did you eat too much, Twister? You don't look so good." Trying not to throw up, Twister commented, "No, I don't even feel like I'm getting full yet." This stopped Morio's cheering when he heard that. "What's wrong then?" Glaring at the two, Twister groggily got out, "_You_ eat nothing but noodles for an hour and a half and see how _you_ feel! Gah! I need to lay down somewhere." He groaned. "I don't want to see a noodle for a _long_ time." Morio, Yasuro, and Hito looked incredulous. Yasuro looked more closely at Twister. "Hm. You _do_ look like you've gained a bit of weight. You have one funny body, Twister, but then again, so did that Legs guy." He shook his head. "At least I won't have to eat too much for a while." Twister weakly grinned. "You guys enjoy the fruits of my labour tomorrow. I'll be going somewhere else with Nabiki." He got up, recovering from the noodles. "I'm going to bed." Twister started walking away. Hito rubbed the back of his head, "Now _that_ is one weird guy. _Nice_, but weird." Twister exited through a door into an empty hallway beyond. The others were startled to hear a large BOOM! on the other side of the door. Hito rushed to open the door to see what had happened, but saw nothing in the hallway at all. There wasn't a sign of Twister. Morio and Yasuro looked out with him. "What was _that_ and where did Twister go?" Hito was puzzled. Morio just shook his head. "I don't think I wanna know." He smiled then and turned towards the other group, dragging Hito with him. "Right now we have more enjoyable things to decide on... Like what we will do tomorrow with the losers." He grinned as Hito lost all interest in the hallway and looked eager at the idea. Yasuro stayed by the door and watched the hallway silently as he thought, *Wet hair sometimes, perfect memory, strange metabolism, disappearing red-headed females, and now _this_.* He pondered these facts about his roommate. *Just _what_ exactly _are_ you, Twister?* Opening his eyes the next morning, Twister checked the time. *Gah! An hour earlier than usual! Must be all those noodles I ate yesterday.* He felt vaguely nauseous as he remembered. *I won't be able to eat...no, make that _look_ at another noodle for a while. Maybe making breakfast will shake that thought out of my mind. Then I'll go to Nabiki's and 'depart' back to the dojo. Be nice to see them all again.* Twister smiled. An hour later, Yasuro was lured from sleep by Twister's cooking and joined him for breakfast. When Yasuro smiled and queried, "What? No noodles?" Twister almost hit him with something large and heavy. After eating, left saying that he likely would be back that night. After picking up Nabiki, they walked to an out-of-the-way spot and he sent a letter ahead of them. Five minutes later, and checking that no one saw them, Twister teleported them both. With a BOOM they appeared in the dojo. Akane and Kasumi rushed up to Nabiki and hugged her. "Nabiki!" Kasumi smiled happily, "How is college so far?" "'Sokay right now." Nabiki smiled back. "Has Kunou done anything yet there?" Akane queried. Twister started. "Gah! Right! I haven't seen or heard of him yet." "He's in some of _my_ classes Twister. He's going into Business, too." Walking in, Ranma smiled with great pleasure, "At least he's not _here_. I don't have to fight him every second day anymore or put up with 'Oh, my pig-tailed goddess'." Chuckling, Twister agreed, "Too true. Shall we have another lesson while I'm here?" Ranma snorted, "At the rate _you're_ learning, you'll have to go to Cologne to keep advancing." Twister mused about that thought, then shrugged, "Well, I'm not _that_ good yet." He grinned. "Shall we start sparring then? Since you seem to hold me in such high regard..." "Okay..." Ranma chuckled, "But you'd better get ready to be beaten." "No problem..." CRASH! "Owch! _Big_ problem!" cried out Twister as she hit the wall, limbs spread out. She peeled herself from the deep dent in the wall and considered the new depression while rubbing her back. *No _way_ is my body close to what I _used_ to think was normal. I should be pizza, but then, this happens to Ranma all the time.* "You ok, Twister?" Ranma-chan was smiling slightly while in a fighting pose. "Takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'." Twister responded. "And you were worried about _me_ catching up with _you_?" Ranma-chan chuckled, "You _are_ pretty good now. Maybe around Akane's level, but I'm guessing there since I've never really fought her without holding back a fair bit. The fact that I know you're just a guy, like me, frees me of that." "Hm. I didn't realize I was _that_ far ahead. Also, the fact that I can Heal myself probably makes things easier on you as well." Twister chuckled while starting to get back into position. "That's true. Hm?" Ranma-chan was curious after looking a little closer at her student, "You gain some weight, Twister? You certainly look like it." "Gah. Some of the guys I've gotten to know in my apartment building got me to be their champion for an eating contest. My rival was appetite incarnate. I won, but we ate for an hour and a half before that happened. Gave me energy to burn though. I'm going to see if I can do something special with all of it." Incredulous, Ranma-chan stared at Twister, "An _hour and a half_??" She whistled softly, "Whoa. I knew you could eat a _lot_, but...," she shook her head. Twister grinned, "I have great ways of burning it off." She inhaled and got into position again, "Ready to go again, partner." Smiling, Ranma-chan attacked as Twister tried to defend herself. A half-hour later, they called it quits. Twister was sore all over and Ranma-chan was sweating a little. "Uhhh... This reminds me of when I was bedridden for a week." Twister shook her head and looked around. "I think we trashed the place a little much though." Holes and large dents covered the walls of the training room. Debris littered the floor where the two had accidentally demolished some of the few objects in the room. Ranma-chan finally took a good look at the room, "Uh, oh. I think we might have trained a bit too hard." Looking thoughtful, Twister muttered out loud, "Hm. I don't think I've tried this before." She smiled. "No time like the present." "What are you talking about?" Ranma-chan absently said as she contemplated the damage. *Mr. Tendo is _not_ going to like this.* Ignoring the question, Twister thought of a quick rhyme and tried to visualize the room as it had been _before_ they demolished it. After a minute, she spoke the spell. "Room once whole that now lies wrecked, Time to have the damage checked, Wood now mend and stone be one, For cleaning up is so much fun." A soft purple glow illuminated the damaged parts of the room and a funny thing happened before Ranma-chan's startled eyes. Like reversed explosions, the debris in the room flew towards the walls and objects where they had originated from. The jigsaw puzzle of the pieces slowly joined up together and filled in the holes in the walls. The bent pieces straightened out. Soon, everything was reconnected seamlessly together and the training room was as undamaged as when they had entered it. Rubbing her hands together, Twister chuckled, "Well, I guess _that_ worked pretty well." "Now _that's_ handy," Ranma-chan told Twister as she viewed the now whole room in relief. "Twister the fixer-upper, that's me! I'm surprised I didn't think of doing something like this before. Saves on repair bills anyway." Akane walked in dressed in a practice gi herself and saw the two standing in the middle of the room. "You finished?" She looked around the dojo. "Doesn't look like you practiced very hard, considering it's _you_, Ranma." "Yeah? Well, _some_ people are more skilled than others, Akane." Ranma-chan stuck her tongue out at Akane. Now looking angry, Akane heatedly replied, "Are you implying that I'm _clumsy_?!" Ignoring Twister's warning glance, Ranma-chan smirked, "Of course not. Just that a tomboy like you breaks things easily, that's all." "Ranma no baka!" Akane punched Ranma-chan through the roof and the latter flew off into the distance. Twister sighed as she looked at the new hole, "So much for my repair spell." "Repair spell?" An angry light dawned in Akane's eyes, "So you two _did_ damage the room! Ooooh! That Ranma!" "You should have seen it before. Holes everywhere. Ranma _is_ very good and he sure showed it." Twister looked inquiringly at Akane, "Ranma mentioned that I was about as good as _you_ now, Akane. Do _you_ think so?" "Really?" Akane calmed down a bit and smiled, "Do _you_ want to try me on?" Thinking about it, Twister nodded, "Sure, I guess. I'm still sore, but I think I can manage." She walked over to the center of the room and assumed a fighting pose and grinned. "Be warned, however. Unlike Ranma, I believe a far bit more in equality of the sexes. More so since I'm both now." Akane mirrored her and smiled, "That's fine with me..." When Ranma-chan finally came back a half-hour later, she spotted the two who had been left in the training room. Akane looked tired and a little wobbily, but satisfied. Twister, on the other hand, was lying down on the floor, looking very much like she was going to regret it if she moved at all. Ranma-chan shook her head at the sight, "Don't you two think you pushed it a little too long? I knew Akane was stubborn Twister, but you too? And after _our_ session?" Ranma-chan smirked. Twister wearily raised her head off the floor. "Well...after your comment before...we decided to test it." Twister paused, "I think...you were right." Her head dropped back to the floor as Twister got ready to stand again. "That...was a...good match." Akane panted as she watched Twister slowly, and painfully, get up. She smiled. "Thank you, Twister." "You're welcome and thank _you_. I guess I shouldn't have done that. Ow. But I'll soon be better. Whoo! Hot water time. I've got bruises on top of bruises now. Good thing I can Heal or I'd be moaning about this for the next few days." Seeing Akane waver a little, Ranma-chan looked a little concerned, "You okay, Akane? Not that I'm worried or anything." She hastily added. Akane sighed, "I'm fine, Ranma. I just need to take a bath now." She quickly smiled at Ranma-chan, "Thanks for asking though." Embarrassed, Ranma-chan rubbed the back of her head, "Uh...sure. No problem." She was silent as she watched Akane leaving. Twister came up to Ranma-chan and smiled, "Sooooo... How goes _your_ love life?" "What?! Twister!" Twister just chuckled as she painfully walked away to get some hot water, leaving a flustered Ranma-chan behind. Chapter Nine ------------ Soon, lunch came and went. Twister went to Ukyou's for a quick visit when he was done. After being happily greeted by Ukyou, they chatted for a while with Twister eating occasionally. When he finally noticed the time, Twister said good-bye to Ukyou and returned to the dojo. Before dinner, he cornered Ranma and talked to him about what to do for college when, or if, he went to college next year. Ranma did not look too thrilled with the idea. Nabiki had spent most of the day talking with her sisters and was looking content when they got ready to go after dinner. "Come back soon." Kasumi smiled as Twister and Nabiki got ready to leave. Nabiki smirked and pointed a thumb at her traveling companion. "With _this_ big lug? No problem." "I'll definitely be back next weekend for another lesson, Ranma." smiled Twister. "No problem. Keeps me in shape." "Thanks." Looking around, Twister continued with a chuckle. "Hi ho, hi ho, it's time to go you know?" Twister waved at the gathered Tendo and Saotome clans. They waved back as the duo disappeared with the usual BOOM. When they reappeared at the spot where they had vacated that morning, Twister quickly looked around. "I'd better find a few good places to teleport safely. Don't want anyone to notice my comings or goings." Nabiki nodded, "Good idea." She hooked her arm around his and smiled. "Walk me home?" "But of course, my lady." They walked back to Nabiki's apartment in comfortable silence. When Nabiki separated from Twister to enter the building, she stopped and quickly turned around, scanning the street nervously. Twister was worried, "What's wrong?" He looked where Nabiki was looking with both his eyes and his still untrained psionic senses. Nothing. Nabiki shivered, "I had the oddest feeling that someone unfriendly was looking at me. Weird. Oh, well." She shrugged it off and smiled at Twister. "Taking me home was nice, Twister. Thank you." Twister bowed to hide his blushing face, "My pleasure, my lady. Till next time." He stood up and smiled. Nabiki waved and entered the building. Sighing happily, Twister started home. *Well, I have homework to finish tomorrow and time to complete my protections from magic. It _was_ nice to go back for a while.* Pondering something, Twister nodded to himself, *Since she's declared I'm to be her protege, I think I'll query Prof. Miyabi with a couple of magic questions. Most predominantly, the question of Time between universes. I hope I like the answer...* Twister kept thinking about what to say while walking away. He didn't notice the dark, patient, and cloaked form that reappeared to continue watching Nabiki's building. Sunday passed by quickly and Twister was able to complete both his homework as well as a few other assorted minor magical goodies. He didn't want to make much more until he found out how to make the enchantments permanent. When Yasuro came in, with a laughing Morio and Hito, late at night, Twister asked them what was so funny. Yasuro just shook his head and replied that Twister didn't really _want_ to know. Morio and Hito cracked up again and left while snickering apologies to him. The latter was baffled and decided that Yasuro was right. Anything that _those_ two thought _that_ funny he didn't think he wanted to know either. When the next magic class came, and back in female form, Twister gave one of the magical items to Yuriko. It was a diamond crystal hanging on a medium sized chain. She was happy with the gift, but puzzled, "What sort of crystal is this? Is it magical?" "Uh..." Twister didn't want to explain the diamond so she skipped the first question. "Yes, it's magic, but the enchantment will only last about a month, I think." Twister sighed. "Since Natsumi probably knows I'm friends with you she may try something so I put some things in the necklace to help hide you if she does anything. No one will see it when you wear it." Yuriko smiled happily and thanked Twister, "Oh! Before I forget! Could you come over to my place and help me a little in starting to cast spells after I finish today? Apparently my roommate has some business to attend to tonight so it should be okay." "Um...sure. I want to ask the Professor some things anyway. I'll come over around five. That okay?" "Great!" She enthused as the class began. Prof. Miyabi had given out a bunch of different spells last class to get the students to find out their own forms of magic over the weekend. She was now calling out each person's name to find out which kind of magic each student could use. She understandably didn't call out Twister's name for obvious reasons. There were a few of every type and the ones who could do rhyme spells were starting to look at Twister. Seeing what she had done in the last class made them feel pretty confident while the others were still a little uncertain. This was changed by Prof. Miyabi saying that it was the caster's imagination that truly made the difference in the quality in spells. Not the way it was cast. That evened out the uncertainty in the class. This had taken up most of the class so not much was discussed that day. When class was dismissed, Twister came up to ask the professor a few questions of her own. Prof. Miyabi looked up when Twister approached her and smiled, "Ah, Tw...er...Itazuka. Did you want to ask something?" "Yes, I do have a few questions to ask. Do you mind?" Twister stood by the room's desk, looking a little determined. "But of course, if it helps my new protege. What do you want to know first?" Miyabi smiled and got ready for Twister's questions. "You know where I come from." Miyabi nodded. "How is Time affected between universes? Is it constant? Varied? I need to know." Looking understanding, the professor answered with reassurance, "Time between two universes is only constant when they have a link between them. When they do not, one can leave one universe to another and return at almost the exact same time they left. I don't think you have to worry about links between your home universe and this one. You could return just after you left." She smiled. "You have plenty of time." Miyabi didn't mention that it took most magic-users decades to centuries to even _look_ at another universe. But with Twister she wasn't sure; the Event might have attuned Twister to forces that made universe-crossing much easier. It was best not to feed negative advice in any case. Sighing with relief, Twister continued, "Great! That takes a load off my mind. I can't return like this for a while anyway." She took a breath and went on, "The other question is: how you make a magical enchantment on an item permanent?" Thinking a bit on this one Prof. Miyabi finally replied. "Well, many things can make an item permanently magical. One is the complexity of a spell. Power doesn't make something permanent, but a very complex spell will cling to an item and make it so. Also, the material of the item can help as well...if it is very strong and durable." Miyabi concluded with, "Quite a few things such as rarity, uniqueness, and other methods can accomplish what you want. I was planning on showing the first years how to make a pseudo-permanent item that expends it's magic in one shot as an introduction to that sort of thing. The more advanced classes will be told more." "Hm. That's good." Twister smiled at the professor. "Thanks for the info, Professor." Miyabi arched an eyebrow."I will be interested in seeing what you plan to do with it. My curiosity has been aroused by that last answer you wanted." "You'll see!" Twister called out as she quickly left. *Now I wonder what _that_ one is up to.* Miyabi chuckled to herself. *Whatever it is, it will likely surprise me again. Seems to have a penchant for that,* she smiled humorously. As Twister left the room, she failed to notice a familiar person following her. Natsumi had started to listen in on Twister's conversation with the professor. Fortunately, when she had heard that Miyabi considered Twister her protege, Natsumi had gone red with rage and had missed whatever else the two had talked about. *Protege?! _That_ little nobody?! Never!* Fumed Natsumi, *I'll show _her_ what a _true_ magic-user can really do.* Natsumi followed 'Itazuka' now because she had some form of protection around her preventing scrying of her movements. Natsumi had tried earlier that day and merely got a fog. *The little witch had prepared herself for _that_, but there are other ways of finding out where you live.* She smiled viciously. Twister was walking quickly as she went around buildings, trying to find a good place to use some hot water from the thermos she was carrying in her backpack. Natsumi was half-running, trying to keep up with the fast pace the other girl was using. She lost Twister for a half-minute before she spotted the red-head disappearing around a building a little ways off. This time Natsumi ran in order to keep her quarry in sight. However, when she quickly ran around the corner of the building, a now-male Twister, just finished drying himself off, was standing in her way and they collided. Surprised at the sudden impact, Twister fell, with the equally startled Natsumi on his chest. He hit the grass lying upwards, saving Natsumi from most of the impact of hitting the ground. "Yah! What the?!" was what Twister shouted after he had recovered his wits. Natsumi was shaking her head to clear it from the initial collision. "Oh! My apologies! I was in a hurry." Then she saw the face, and body, of the person she had run into by accident and purred out, "But then, fortunate things _do_ happen once in a while." Thoughts of the red-headed girl fled her mind for the moment as she studied what she could see of the handsome young man she had ran into. This close scrutiny unnerved Twister as he lay there, temporarily stunned for a second, before the idea of this girl lying on top of him reached his brain. "Ah...I don't mean to offend, but...this _is_ an awkward position." "Of course. Let me get up." Slowly, Natsumi got off Twister and smiled at the young man's discomfort of the unhurried pace of the removal. When Twister got up in turn, he finally got a good look at the girl who had run him over and almost yelled in surprise. His face showed it plainly. *Gah! Natsumi! Notgoodnotgoodnotgood...* Was all he could think of in his shock. Thinking his surprise was due to her good looks, which was understandable, Natsumi's smile grew broader. "My name is Natsumi. I'm terribly sorry about this." Twister had to remind himself to pretend they had never met. "Ah... I'm Twister." Trying to get her mind off of examining him, which was extremely unnerving, he queried, "Um...what were doing in such a rush anyway?" Reminded of the purpose of _why_ she was running, Natsumi remembered about 'Itazuka' and quickly asked, "Did you see a red-haired girl go by here?" *Ah, ha! Following me, is that it?* He smirked inwardly at this bit of information to remember as he replied, "Yes, I did...but at the rate she was going I don't think you'll catch up to her now." To his surprise, this did not exactly dismay Natsumi. "Hm. Well, another day then." She looked at the now sweating Twister and smiled broadly at him. "Right now... I wouldn't mind to get to know _you_ better now." *Uh, oh. Whatever Ranma has _is_ catching, dang it.* However, before he could reply to her comment, he was interrupted by another angry voice. "So! There you are!" Thankfully, it wasn't Nabiki's. When he turned around and looked at who said it, he wasn't very thankful because, while he didn't know the name of the person, he recognized the face. As well as the other fifteen guys with the guy. It was the rival group that had been at the eating contest. The _physical education_ group. *Oh, boy.* Twister didn't like the look of this. "Uh...hi! What can I do for you?" Natsumi had retreated to the wall of the building and was watching with interest at the goings-on, curious at why these people were mad at this one person. Another guy spoke up from within the group. "We have a bone to pick with you." Scratching his head in puzzlement, Twister called out, "Hold it! Why are you guys so angry? I just won the eating contest, that's all. What's the big deal?" A third person angrily spoke up, "Not _that_! What happened later!" "Later? What are you...talking...about." Comprehension came to Twister, "Oh, right! I was wondering why Morio and Hito were laughing so hard. What did they do to you?" He paused, "Then again, maybe I don't want to know with _those_ two involved." The first guy spoke again, "We are _not_ going to say what we had to do!" He glared at Twister, "_You_ are the one who enabled them to win so we decided to get _some_ measure of revenge back!" Raising an eyebrow, Twister replied, "Considering who _you_ had, I would say you got your just deserts." He looked at the group. "Where is he anyway?" "He's still recovering from the contest so he managed to escape what happened to us," number two said. "_You_, however, will be a lot longer recovering." The group of athletes got ready and Twister did the same. *Oh, jeez. I'd better make sure I don't accidentally boost myself. I think the training Ranma's given me has given me enough self-control to control _that_ at least.* He grinned. *Then again, after the results with that bout with Akane I don't think I'll need to. None of these guys look like they know too much about martial arts and they're all first-years like me. This should be interesting with my altered body. They certainly deserve _something_ for going after me like this.* They all rushed in at once, trying to overwhelm him by numbers, but Twister just jumped and flipped over them as they stampeded under him. Both they and Natsumi were surprised at this display of ability. Twister landed and cheerfully shouted out, "Toro! Toro! Sorry I don't have my red cape guys, but it's still at the cleaners." The group turned to face him and advanced a little more cautiously, but still sure their superior numbers put them ahead. *BUZZZ. Try again, guys.* He waited for the first to attack him. He wasn't disappointed. "I am the best boxer in my class!" With this said, the boxer launched a series of punches and jabs at Twister. Not impressed, Twister dodged each fist as it came at him. "Ah! So you package things in cardboard boxes do you? Very good!" Enraged, the boxer threw himself at Twister to try to get a good hit in. However, a fist belonging to the opposition gave the boxer's sport a whirl...and succeeded with admirable results. The boxer flew backwards into his fellows, unconscious. Seeing the lack of success of the one-on-one conflict, the other fifteen guys slowly encircled Twister and closed in, ready for Twister to jump this time. *Hmm. Well, I've had enough. That punch wasn't boosted by my power so I believe it's under control. Therefore, these yo-yo's are about to become Twisted.* Before they got too close to restrict movement, Twister launched himself at a nearby follow and used a kick to the diaphragm to make him appreciate the wonder of breathing. Whirling around quickly, he jumped in the exact opposite direction and grabbed the shirt of a startled attacker as Twister passed over him. A body flip onto hard ground created another initiate for the Temple of the Breathing Miracle. Twister knocked out nine more of his foes before he accidentally left himself open to get tackled by a quarterback. The remaining three, who were also football players, piled on the startled Twister to avoid the fate of their buddies. Natsumi, who had been watching in wonder at Twister's display of skill, was a little disappointed that he had been defeated at last. When the pile of four bodies moved, she was startled. Twister had finally gotten a foothold and just stood up. This action dragged the astonished tacklers up since they were each holding a part of Twister's body firmly as they all instinctively held on. Now amused by the self-image of a human christmas tree, Twister called out, "Time for the Twister Twirl!" Figuring he was hidden by the mass of bodies, Twister used some levitation to start rotating in place rapidly. Strong as the football players arms were, they couldn't hold on long with the amount of centrifugal force pulling at their bodies. One by one, all four flew off and landed hard in separate locations. Twister immediately slowed down and stopped to clear his own head of spinning motion. *Dang! Akane could've leveled these guys without getting caught like that.* The bruises from the tackle could be Healed later. *We _are_ pretty close in skill now, but that's in my female form and I'm more used to fighting with _that_ body, not this one. At least I'm certain I can control the psionic boost now. As for my opponents...* He saw that all the members of the group were either unconscious or unable to stand up at the moment, and smiled. "Well, I've always heard revenge isn't what it's cracked up to be." Looking at the amazed Natsumi, Twister said, "I'd better go before Rematch Part II!" He waved, picked up the backpack he had dropped before the fight, and ran off. Swifter than Natsumi could hope to try to attempt. Therefore, he missed the look of greedy acquisitiveness Natsumi gave him as Twister ran off. *'Twister', I think you will be seeing more of me.* She smiled seductively. *Even if I have to use magic to do it.* Softly, Natsumi laughed. Chapter Ten ----------- After making sure no one had followed him, Twister teleported home to do some things there before getting ready and teleporting again to a protected area around Nabiki's place. Twister then used a cold water thermos to change into a girl. She walked the rest of the way to the apartment building and buzzed for Yuriko. A sudden thought struck her then. *Hey! I thought I couldn't affect water! How did I teleport it in the thermos?? Hmm... Maybe I just affect space-time and not...* "Hello? Is that you, Itazuka?" said Yuriko's familiar cheerful voice. Twister decided to think about the water-teleport problem later and answered Yuriko, "Yup. You ready?" "Sure thing! Come on up!" The entrance door buzzed and Twister went in. After welcoming Twister in, Yuriko moved her to sit down on a couch. The enthusiastic beginner of magic rushed into the kitchen. "What did you want to drink?" she cried from the kitchen. "Just a soft drink. I don't care which, I'm not fussy." "Okay! I'll be out in a minute." Twister shook her head in amusement as she thought about what things to try to practice doing with spells. The spells Twister did may be easy for _her_ to visualize, but Yuriko might find it harder to do at first. She was still contemplating how to go about it when Yuriko came back into the room with a tray. Unfortunately, Nabiki neglected to mention to Twister how clumsy her roommate could be at times...and had a few stained shirts to prove it. The stain came from Yuriko's favorite drink, hot lemon tea. Halfway to where Twister was seated, the natural law for Yuriko kicked in and she tripped, spilling the closed soda can and spraying hot beverage towards her seated guest. The 'deep in thought' Twister became the 'deep in pain' Twister. "OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" cried the shocked Twister as said person jumped around in an attempt to cool off. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so clumsy at times!" Yuriko was looking down at the floor, picking up the soda can. She straightened to comfort the injured Twister. "I really am sor..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at the familiar looking male in her room who was starting to slow down. "Jeez! That was hot! That...was....hot." What he was saying dawned on Twister and he looked at Yuriko for confirmation. Yes, she was indeed staring at him. "Oh, boy." "T-t-t-twister? H-how? W-why?" Yuriko was in shock. Sighing, Twister tried to wipe the lemony liquid off his face and sat down again. Arching an eyebrow in Yuriko's direction, he answered her, "You are in a _magic_ class and you ask _how_?" He chuckled. "But _why_?" Yuriko cried out. "To quote Doctor McCoy: 'She drafted me Jim!'" Twister smiled. "Prof. Miyabi didn't give me much of a choice once she found out I had magical ability." Getting out of her shock, Yuriko giggled a bit at the quote, but was still confused. "Then why did you come as a girl to class?" He groaned, "_That_ is due to the fact that I _cannot_ make magic while in _this_ form." Understanding shone in Yuriko's eyes as he went on, "I can only do psionics as a guy and magic as a girl. The Professor told me I had better not cloak my mystic power in class so I came the only way I could. Gave _her_ a shock I can tell you." They both laughed at that. "But how come you switch in the first place? Why did my drink change you?" Now past her shock, Yuriko was fascinated by Twister's form-changing. "That's a bit of a long story." Twister telekinetically lifted the soft drink from a startled, then delighted, Yuriko and brought it to him. Opening the can and taking a sip of the drink he continued, "In order to keep it short, I'll tell you the condensed version. I was a normal person before some crazy old hentai screwed up a summoning spell. It yanked _me_ and...someone else into the Void. The other guy wasn't so nice and threw me into something called the Event, an immensely powerful thing which is the source of all Mind and Magic powers. I was not expected to survive, but somehow I did and arrived here to beat the living tar out of the other guy. I was a little mad." Yuriko giggled at this obvious understatement. "It changed me into what you see now, but I didn't change into a girl then. _That_ was the result of the other guy finding some cursed spring water that gives the form of a girl when doused in it. The water and my own new nature combined so now I can do both psionic and magic powers in different forms. Cold or room temperature water changes me into a girl. Hot water..." He waved at himself. "That's an exciting story, Twister." Yuriko smiled happily. Ruefully, Twister smiled, "I'm glad you liked it." A thought entered Yuriko's mind, "Does Nabiki know?" "Yup. She's known me practically since I was brought here." He sighed happily. "She doesn't seem to mind it. Of course, with _her_ family I'm not surprised. She's had plenty of time to become adaptable." Twister chuckled at Yuriko's curious look. "I won't even _try_ to explain that last part." He rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, I came here to help you with _magic_. Where's the bathroom so I can change back to help with that?" Smiling, Yuriko pointed in the direction of a door which Twister went into. When she emerged, Yuriko clapped her hands in delight. "That's _so_ neat." She gushed. Twister snorted, "Well, it makes life interesting anyway." She sat down again in a place opposite Yuriko, who was looking at Twister's clothes with interest. "You enchanted your clothes to fit both as a girl _and_ a boy?" With Twister's nod she continued, "It's not even stained by my tea!" "I have a _very_ thin layer of air clinging to my clothes. Makes it waterproof and unstainable and also has..." Still in a sitting position, Twister started floating up. "An extra option in fashion necessities." Wide-eyed at the floating Twister, Yuriko breathed, "Will _I_ be able to do that soon?" Floating back down, Twister nodded, "Most likely, though it may take a while. I seem to have a knack for this stuff. Likely from my 'accident'." Yuriko looked dreamy, "If I can do _that_, this would be all worth it." "Then let's get busy. Spellcasters, ho!" Nabiki returned to the building around eight and felt that same sense of someone watching her. Whirling around, she tried to find the source, but, of course, no one was there. A little unnerved, Nabiki quickly entered the building. When she reached her apartment, the sounds of Yuriko giggling brought a small smile to her lips. *That girl is _always_ so happy! I wonder what got her attention _this_ time?* She thought amusedly. When she opened the door, Nabiki froze in astonishment. Yuriko had persuaded Twister to start with simple spells of levitation with objects. Thinking this harmless, Twister had complied. After an hour of bizarre results, Yuriko had finally got the correct visualization technique. She had then proceeded to practice on almost everything in sight. This resulted in the room looking like a scene from the space shuttle in orbit as objects hung floating in mid-air everywhere. Twister was trying hard not to burst out laughing as she sat on a floating couch. Quitting when she had started getting pretty tired, Yuriko happily giggled as she viewed what she had done. The noise of the door opening brought both magic-users attention to the stunned Nabiki. Twister got a good look at her and failed utterly in preventing helpless laughter with Yuriko joining in. "Oh...jeez! Your...face...Nabiki!" Got out Twister. This broke the paralysis. "_What_ are you _doing_?!" Shouted Nabiki when she closed the door behind her. Laughter stopped, but still amused, Twister tried to calm her down, "Don't worry about it, Nabiki. Yuriko needed the practice. I'll catch it with my TK when she cancels each spell so everything doesn't crash down." "But you're a gi..." Nabiki stopped and looked at each of the floating pair. "Wait a minute! She knows!?" Twister sighed and nodded, "Yup. She tried for the Olympic record for hot tea-tossing earlier so I told her about my powers." Yuriko blushed and looked a little guilty through her elation of getting the spell to work. Nabiki slapped herself on the forehead, "Oh, right! I knew I had forgotten to tell you something!" She looked in amusement now at the floating objects. "I think you'd better start dropping things before someone notices." "Your wish is my command." Twister flew through the room towards the bathroom. *I _knew_ things would start getting weird around here.* Nabiki sighed inwardly. After Twister had changed back to a guy, he caught the objects that Yuriko mentally canceled the spell for with his TK and slowly brought them down. He, of course, only did this for heavy stuff like the couches. The smaller objects were easily caught by hand. When they were done, Twister smiled at Nabiki and started getting ready to go. "I still have a few things to do tonight so I'd better run." He turned to Nabiki and smiled, "Sorry to have to leave so soon." "You'll make it up later." She smirked. Rolling his eyes, Twister continued, "I _do_ need to talk to Kunou if I get done on time. Do you know where he lives?" "Kunou? Sure." Nabiki told him the address and apartment number with a little curiosity. "Why do you need to see him?" "Advice on a project." Twister smiled mysteriously. "_Why_ do I ask?" The memory of being watched returned and she asked, "I felt those eyes on me again tonight as I came in. Do you have anything to help me with that?" Looking concerned now, Twister nodded, "Yeah. I have a necklace that might do it." He gave her a spare enchanted diamond necklace that was exactly like the one he had given Yuriko. "This _should_ help if it's magical. The enchantment isn't terribly strong, but it should mislead and some other stuff as well." "Thank you, Twister." Nabiki looked at him with relief. Embarrassed, Twister started going, "Uh...no problem. See you!" He quickly left. Yuriko walked up to stand by Nabiki, smiling, "He's such a sweet guy, Nabiki. You sure got a nice boyfriend!" She giggled. Nabiki smiled, "Yes, I think I did too." The project Twister was planning on doing was for his Magic half. He could always create a weapon in his Mind form, but for the magic half he needed something that would always be available. He had decided on creating a sword for himself, but needed some raw materials. The methods for making a strong, flexible sword he knew from reading a lot of fantasy novels, as well as from books in the library, which described the different processes. Making the sword should not be too hard, but Twister knew that a sword needed to be balanced correctly. For _that_, he would need Kunou to guide him when he was almost finished the thing. How he would _make_ it was something he had planned in the back of his mind for the past week. At the apartment, he quickly found a large, spare diamond he had made and what was left of some gold he had TK'ed from the ocean a while ago. Twister left before Yasuro could ask what he was doing. He flew to a nearby dump site and played with different steel mixtures he found in minute amounts until he sensed that he had found what all he needed. That was what Twister proceeded to collect for his sword. When he had enough together and TK'ed it into two large masses, he started making the blade using a folding method for increased strength and flexibility. Using the process he had read about in the local library, he folded the metal for the blade over one thousand times while heating it and hammering it with his telekinesis. The normal total of folds for a sword made normally was below two hundred. It was _much_ easier to do with his abilities. The blade was soon deemed ready so he shaped and polished the finished result. On the two-sided blade's cutting edges, Twister sharpened them to the molecular level, making it as ultra-sharp as his diamond blades. Fashioning a hilt was easy and onto it he placed the diamond as the pommel, letting molecules migrate between stone and metal to weld them together. Also, he shaped the sword guards into the forms of dragons. Finishing the sword, he joined hilt and blade together and coated portions of it with gold. Twister looked at the completed sword in satisfaction. It was as beautiful as it was sharp. *Now to get it balanced.* He ran to Kunou's residence since the time was now approaching eleven at night. After a bit of haggling, he finally got into Kunou's apartment. Kunou faced him with some irritation. "Why did you deem it necessary to interrupt Tatewaki Kunou from his nightly rest? The heavens favor not those who are not at their peak at all times and the bounty of the world becomes inaccessible." His personal ninja looked bored, sitting at the side of the room while listening to this speech. It wasn't Sasuke because he had stayed back with Kodachi to protect, *Yaright...,* the younger Mistress. Rolling his eyes, Twister told him, "I made a sword for a friend who wants it pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if it's balanced correctly or not. I believe it's kinda important for a sword. Knowing that you were an expert with such matters, I came to you to adjust it correctly." Kunou looked indignant. "Of _course_ a blade must be properly balanced! Balance is the way of the universe which..." His speech drifted off as Twister pulled the almost done sword out of some newspaper he had found in the dump. When Twister carefully handed the sword hilt first to him, Kunou reverently gripped it as he studied the detailed dragons on the hilt of the blade. Kunou softly uttered, "A sword of the heavens indeed. It would be a travesty if such a blade were not balanced." He agreed to help in other words. "It's a straight blade so will there be a problem for you to...?" "You think Tatewaki Kunou cannot balance this?! I, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High, shall prove you wrong!" Twister rolled his eyes and sighed, *You're in college now, idiot. Guess he hasn't figured out a new title yet. Oh, well.* Under his direction, Twister altered the length of the blade an extremely small bit at a time before Kunou deemed the sword perfect. When he reluctantly gave it back, Twister could now tell how badly off the sword had been. Twister smiled in relief, "Thanks, Kunou." He chuckled. "And for a special treat..." Placing the sword on the floor and using his TK, he started engraving dragon designs he had worked out before along the length of the blade that Twister had gold-plated. Kunou and his now excited ninja watched in awe as incredibly detailed designs, not possible by hand, appeared on the fantastically sharp blade. A complete dragon with background was soon done on one side and Twister flipped the blade over to do the other side in a mirror-like manner. When it was done, Twister grabbed the hilt and smiled. "Now, just two things left to do on this part. First, condense the sword's matter so it shrinks. Second, strengthen the molecular bonds to increase the strength of the blade further and prevent corruption, like rust." Kunou frowned. "Shrink? Is this not for a man?" "Nope. It's for a girl I know fairly well." He shrugged. "I owe her a favor and no, it's not Nabiki." Twister had seen the question coming. *And I found out earlier how much I would have to shrink it to fit my female form.* "Such a fair blade must be for a fair creature indeed." Twister chuckled, "I guess she is." Then he concentrated on bringing the molecules of the sword together enough so it would fit his female half perfectly. The sword was outlined in blue fire that came from Twister's hands and shrank until he stopped the process. Then he willed the molecules of the sword to strengthen their bonds and he actually felt the sword become harder and sharper. "As if it wasn't sharp enough already." Twister mused to himself. He turned to Kunou and bowed to him. "Thank you for your help, Kunou." Kunou waved his hand, "The pleasure was mine for helping in the creation of such a magnificent blade. May it do wonders for it's intended wielder." Red with embarrassment, Twister rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I only made it tonight, but thanks all the same." He chuckled. "Wonders it will do indeed." He waved good-bye and left as Kunou stood in stunned surprise. The ninja murmured with wonder, "That blade made just _tonight_? A mighty person indeed." Kunou nodded. "I have seen his full power once. He is indeed one favored by heaven and an enemy of demons. For just as I..." The ninja sighed to himself. It looked like it would be a long night. When Twister came into the apartment he found that Yasuro had, wonder of wonders, gone to bed early for once and was not stuck in front of his computer. This suited Twister just fine as he planned to be very busy in his room for a while. He filled a large glass of cold water in the kitchen, went to his room, and quietly closed the door behind him. *Now, I've done the _easy_ part I think. Prof. Miyabi said that a spell had to be _complex_ in order to become permanent.* He smiled. *This thing is going to be just that. I guess I should call it the Dragonsword since it looks the part now.* Twister got ready and used half the water to become a girl. Holding the sword, Twister smiled as the size and balance felt perfect to her. *Two points. I wonder if I should ever ask Kunou for lessons like I get from Ranma.* Twister shuddered. *Somehow, I don't think so. He's good, but I'd worry if I approached him in female form. 'Oh, date me!' Phtt. Not. Male would be much better, but I might get wet, somehow, around him. I think I'll wait and hope I find someone else as good.* *Well, time to play.* The rhyme was correspondingly lengthy in size in relation to the complexity of the spell. Metal seemed to be more resilient to the strain of power so the sword _should_ be able to handle it, but it would be close. Twister began the rhyme and noticed the power drain halfway through the spell. This was going to take a _lot_ of power that she hoped she had. Mystic senses let her see a complex web of energy forming around the weapon before her on the bed as she drew near completion. A tendril of the web touched her for a second, turned her color of purple, and transmitted the shade throughout the web. Finally, Twister was done and a rush of power flowed from her body into the web. It pulsed once and slowly sank into the metal of the sword. The sword glowed brightly. Twister feared that she had done too much, but the purple light slowly faded to nothing. Twister was almost totally drained. Only the fact that she had been in that eating contest, gaining a _lot_ of energy, had enabled her to make the spell work. *Oh, man. I'm beat and hot. I didn't realize how warm tonight was.* She wearily looked at the cool glass of water. *I'd better warm the glass up and use it before going to sleep. First, however...* Twister carefully tested the blade with a finger and smiled widely at the results. *It works! Time for bed now...after I warm the glass and use the water.* Twister did so and proudly hid the sword under the bed before taking off his sweaty shirt and falling swiftly asleep on the bed. Chapter Eleven -------------- Early next day, Yasuro woke up hot, but refreshed. For a long time he had not been going to bed very early. Being on the computer made him lose track of time. Yesterday had been an exception since he had wanted to get up without having Twister wake him up for once. *I'm sure he means well, but getting up like that almost every day is a little nerve-wrecking.* He smiled slightly as he remembered Twister's usual wake up call. Twister's _loud_ and _startling_ wake up call. Sighing, he got up and listened for his roommate's movements. Nothing. Blinking in surprise, Yasuro got out of bed and went to peek in Twister's room. Amazingly, there was a prone figure, without a shirt on, still dozing away on the bed. *Smart idea. I wonder why he's still sleeping. Must have got home pretty late. He _did_ seem to be in a rush.* An idea came to him and he smiled as he contemplated it. *Should I? Yes, I think I will.* He softly chuckled while going into the kitchen. *It will make up for waking me up all the time and it _is_ hot.* Returning with a big bowl of water with ice cubes, Yasuro looked at the peacefully sleeping Twister before gleefully throwing the contents of the bowl at him. The reaction he got was the expected one. Another reaction caught him entirely by surprise. "YAAHHH!! That's cold!" Twister shouted as her sleep was rudely interrupted. Shaking her head free of ice-water, Twister glared at Yasuro, "Couldn't you have found a less _shocking_ way to wake me up? Like a foghorn perhaps?" Then she saw Yasuro staring at her chest region and realized with shock what had happened. Blushing, Twister covered her now-present breasts with an arm. "Oops." *Jeez! Another person finds out in as many days.* Snapping out of it, Yasuro blushed in turn and averted his eyes to look instead at Twister's red-hair framed face. Both comprehension and confusion showed on his face. Finally he spoke out, "So _you_ were the girl we saw enter the apartment! That explains the wet hair you have some of the time. But how...?" Fumbling for the shirt she had discarded last night, Twister sighed, "Long story." Twister's stomach rumbled. "Ah, during breakfast, alright? I need some food pretty badly if I can hear _that_." Yasuro rubbed his head and leaned on a wall, "I guess so." He watched the female Twister leave for the kitchen. *This is definitely not what I had expected this morning.* He thought. Struggling with the story he had just heard, Yasuro viewed the still female Twister eating with ravenous hunger. "So you got splashed by some _magically_ cursed water and _this_ happened?" Twister nodded while eating. "And you can do magic yourself while being a girl and psionics in boy form?" He received the victory sign as confirmation and Yasuro sighed while rubbing his eyes, "This sounds like one of my science fiction books." Swallowing, Twister commented, "Don't forget fantasy too!" She grinned. She had to admit that he was taking this well. Yasuro had to laugh at that, "True. At least I finally know what all the weird things about you have been about. It _had_ been irritating me." Finally finished eating, and feeling one hundred percent better, Twister sighed, "That's better. I really drained myself last night." She looked at Yasuro, "How do you feel about this?" "Well, you're definitely easy to look at..." Yasuro grinned as Twister flushed red. "Relax, I'm joking. I'm okay with it and I won't tell anyone about it." He laughed, "But it sure makes reading my books more interesting. Though...you'd better watch out for Morio and Hito. I don't think they've ever given up on finding your girl half." Looking resigned, Twister glanced at a clock, "Joy and rapture. I guess I'd better change back and get ready for classes." Yasuro nodded. "Me too. By the way..." Twister looked inquiringly at him, "I've heard that in that English class you've taken you are doing extremely well. How come?" Twister smirked, "That's my primary language, remember? I learned _Japanese_ from that arch-demon's spell." Yasuro looked disgusted and Twister laughed. Finishing the first few classes in the morning, Twister sat down to have lunch. Halfway through this, Yasuro, Morio, and Hito came by and joined him where he was sitting. "Hello there! I hear you've been working with the ladies already, Twister!" Morio smirked. Blinking at this, Twister replied with an intelligent, "Huh?" Hito excitedly explained, "That great-looking second year student! You know! Natsumi!" Twister had been drinking his beverage as he listened, but he choked when he heard the name. Getting his breath back, Twister denied it, "Wait a moment! Why on Earth do you think _that_?" "She's been asking a lot of first year students about you today in classes and she looked like she wanted to do more than just _talk_ to you." Morio saw Twister's pale face and added mildly, "I take it you aren't interested." "Gah! Of course not! Firstly, Nabiki would _kill_ me! Secondly, I've seen her from...afar, and I think she's a little _dangerous_ if you know what I mean." Twister grimaced, "'Predatory' is another word that comes to mind." "Well, she certainly has gotten a high opinion of you somewhere. Do you know why?" Yasuro queried. Light dawned in Twister's eyes and he smacked his forehead, "Oh, right! She saw my little 'argument' with that group you guys made that bet with. They were a little peeved at what you guys did to them." The others were wide-eyed at this, "You mean _that's_ why all of them look like they've been through a wringer today?" Hito exclaimed. "How did you manage _that_ neat little trick?" Morio asked curiously. He looked amused by the news. "None of them asked me if I knew martial arts." Twister grinned. "I have a friend who's been teaching me. He's _very_ good and I learn fast. Much to that group's disappointment. It helped that I'm stronger than I look." Yasuro chuckled, "They certainly picked the wrong target." "I'll say! They didn't look very happy I'll tell you that!" Hito gleefully laughed. Morio chuckled with him, "True." Then he looked thoughtful, "That Natsumi girl was also looking for a red-head that matches the description of the one that _we_ saw in our building. Nobody she asked seemed to know about her, which made her a little angry it seemed." Morio thoughtfully smiled, "At least we know her name now. I wonder where this 'Itazuka' lives..." Twister and Yasuro both tried to look innocent. "Ah, well. I _do_ know _one_ class she is in now." Morio grinned, "Soon we'll see just what she's like. Right, Hito?" "You bet!" *Oh, boy.* Twister groaned inwardly. Yasuro looked halfway concerned and halfway amused. Thankfully, the rest of the day passed without incident though Twister had to quickly dodge Natsumi every once in a while. This was done fairly easily since she seemed to be gleefully thinking about something else besides hunting for Twister. When he was done classes, he went to an all-you-can-eat place to restore his energy levels. After leaving the place, with several fascinating expressions on the staff's faces behind him, Twister went home. He finished some homework, talked to Nabiki over the phone for a nice long time, and finally went to bed. The next day was fine...until halfway through Prof. Miyabi's class. The class had been moved to a larger, amphitheater-like room since Miyabi figured that they would need the extra space soon. Probably the result of Twister's huge illusion that she had done before. Miyabi was right about needing the space. That was when Natsumi had decided to openly attack Twister with a magical creation she had been making for some time using one of her family's ancient scrolls. It had taken her almost four days to quickly finish it for battle with her red-haired adversary and Natsumi was sure it would punish 'Itazuka' effectively. "Now I shall show you, Itazuka, what a _real_ use of magic is!" Natsumi laughed as she entered the large area in front of the class. "I challenge you to face my creation!" Twister sighed and waited for the professor to do something, but Miyabi just shook her head when Twister looked at her. "I cannot interfere with a challenge, Itazuka." She looked apologetic. "It's a tradition that _has_ to be obeyed." "Oh, joy. Playtime with Miss Wonder Wizardess." Twister sighed again and walked down to the area where Natsumi, fuming at Twister's comment, waited. She turned to face Natsumi and spread her hands, "Ready when you are," Twister said as she smiled sardonically. Smiling a wicked smile, Natsumi took something from a pocket and carefully placed it on the floor. Twister wondered what she was doing until Natsumi made a few gestures directed at the small object and it started to grow. And grow. And grow some more. It stopped at around eight feet in height and was humanoid shaped. It was also made entirely of iron. Recognizing the thing from descriptions in fantasy novels and AD&D monster descriptions, Twister groaned in disbelief, "An _iron golem_??? Now _how_ did you make _that_?" A little shocked that Twister _knew_ what she had made, Natsumi still smirked at Twister, "An old family recipe. We still had the mold even." She smiled, "And iron nowadays is _very_ easy to find." Her face was gleeful as she pointed at Twister and shouted, "Attack!" The golem moved with surprising swiftness at Twister in an attempt to grab her. Twister was disinclined to accommodate it so she dodged to the side as the massive construct passed by her. The class was getting a ringside seat to this spectacle. The watchers were feeling mixed fear for Twister and thrilled excitement at the combat. Yuriko was worriedly watching Twister and hoped that the fight would go well. Turning to face it's opponent again, the iron creation slowly advanced on Twister who carefully backed away. Not caring to have a long prolonged fight in front of people who might get hurt, Twister decided to try out her newest 'toy'. "Been a busy gal, haven't you, Natsumi?" She replied while ducking a grab from the golem. Natsumi smirked, "I have indeed. You will, of course, lose in the end, little girl. My creation cannot tire and is impervious to most magics. I see you must know that since you have not tried anything upon it yet." "Yup!" Dodge. "But you know," Leap. "_I_ haven't been idle either. Whoop!" Twister flipped backwards to avoid getting caught, and to put a little distance between her and the golem. "Oh, so?" Natsumi called out contemptuously, "And _what_ do you think _you_ have done will help you now?" Smiling broadly, and silently praying that it worked, Twister called out while raising an open palm, "Just this! Dragonsword! I call thee to _me_!" It wasn't necessary to speak, but Twister was feeling dramatic. A purple glow of energy appeared just above Twister's raised palm. It lengthened and stretched into an outline of a sword. With a POP!, the dragon illustrated blade Twister had made a few nights earlier appeared and she grabbed the hilt quickly before it fell to the floor. It worked. Natsumi was surprised, but didn't show it. "Am I supposed to be impressed by a _teleportation_ spell? Just _how_ do you suppose you will be able to do anything with just a mere sword?" Nevertheless, Natsumi was getting a bad feeling about this. "As a friend of mine once said: 'Just step back and watch me work.'" Twister replied cheerfully as she held the hilt of the sword with both hands. The golem relentlessly advanced with one hand outstretched, reaching for her. Ducking the hand, Twister swung at the arm it was attached to. The sword went through as if cutting a piece of soft toffee and the arm fell off where it had been cut. Twister stopped the swing before the blade hit the floor. She hadn't been prepared at how _well_ the sword did. She had increased it's cutting ability still _further_ with it's enchantment. *Talk about overkill, but good thing I did anyway. The golem had magical protection from normal swords, I guess, from the resistance I felt.* Twister thought. Staring with disbelief, Natsumi saw her magnificent creation disarmed. Literally. She then reddened with rage as Twister stepped back and regarded the sword's work with a grin. "It slices! It dices! It's the amazing ginsu sword! It never dulls even after the toughest battles! Buy now while offer lasts." Twister chuckled. Blind with rage now, Natsumi screamed out, "The battle isn't over _yet_! FIRE!" Responding to it's Mistress's command, the golem opened its mouth and a roaring torrent of fire spewed forth, engulfing Twister. The class and the professor looked on in horror as the form of Twister vanished in the thick sheets of flame. After ten seconds of this, Natsumi had regained control of herself and, smiling gleefully, told the golem to stop. As the fire slowly stopped coming from the golem, everyone numbingly prepared themselves for what they knew they would find. Finally, the flames died and a form appeared. Twister was completely untouched by the fire and ticked off to boot. Eyes almost glowing in anger, Twister ground out, "I call this blade 'Dragonsword' for a _reason_, Natsumi. That includes _fire resistance_!" *And _damned_ lucky I put it in too!* She turned her attention to the golem, "Say bye-bye to your toy!" Stunned by this, Natsumi could only watch as Twister leaped at the golem and, blindingly fast, sliced her painstakingly made creation into little iron chunks of metal with the unbelievably sharp sword she held. When done dissecting the golem, the angry Twister was _still_ not satisfied. She leaped towards _Natsumi_, sword raised high above her head, before anybody could stop her. Seeing this, Natsumi had time to raise her arms in futile self-defense and scream as the blade swooped down towards her helpless form. Everybody turned their heads to avoid the sight just before the scream died. Professor Miyabi was feeling sick as she quickly ran over to where Twister was standing above the fallen girl. "What have you _done_?!" Miyabi shouted out as she stared at Twister in shocked anger. Surprisingly, Twister chuckled, "Scared the _hell_ out of one vindictive know-it-all," *'Bitch' is another word I could use,* Twister thought as she went on, "is what _I_ would say I have done." She grinned at the professor, "Did you _really_ think I would kill her?" Surprised, Miyabi looked down and saw, not the bloody form she expected to see, but rather an unconscious Natsumi with her dress cut in half all the way down the middle. "How...?" "Among fire resistance, the blade will pass harmlessly through human flesh, even though it will stun the person temporarily if it hits the head." Twister chuckled, "I did _not_ want to cut myself on _this_ pig-sticker!" She glanced at the split clothing. "Um. I think a little embarrassment will also make up for what she _tried_ to do." A gleam appeared in her eye as an Evil Idea formed. "Do you mind if give her to someone who can take her to the nurse's office?" Considering the prone form at her feet, Miyabi silently debated for a few seconds then nodded, "Very well. Come back soon." "Yes, ma'am!" Twister grinned as she effortlessly lifted the unconscious girl onto a shoulder and walked out of the room. When she was outside the room, she spied the two boys she had half-expected to be there and grinned nastily. "Excuse me!" Two heads lifted and brightened as they saw who had called them. Before they could speak, however, Twister interrupted them. "Could you take this girl to the nurse's office? It's nothing serious, but I have to go back to class right away. Please?" She smiled cutely. Unable to refuse, one of the boys uncertainly replied, "Ah, sure! But..." "Great!" Twister quickly took Natsumi off her shoulder, and into the other boy's arms, before running back to class. "Thanks a lot! Bye!" She closed the door behind her. "Well. That was a brief discussion, I must admit." Morio mused out loud as he stared were the girl had gone. Hito was still holding Natsumi in his arms. "Yeah. Could you help me here? I'm not very strong you know and...urk!" Turning around at his friend's sudden sound, Morio wondered what had happened now. "What's the matter?" Then he saw himself. Morio remembered the girl as that beautiful Natsumi girl who had been after Twister before, but that was not what had shocked Hito. The cut, that divided her clothes and was now causing them to all fall off, was the true reason. Hito was having a terrible time trying to get handhold on her without causing articles of clothing to fall off. He wasn't having much luck and Natsumi was now half-naked as a result. Luckily, she was not apparently waking up anytime soon. Smiling broadly, Morio contemplated the scene before him. "Well, well, well... Opportunity knocks, I believe. Good thing we brought our camera." He grinned as Hito struggled with the still form of the girl. Coming back to class, Twister smiled at the clapping students and picked up her sword that she had dropped before leaving the room. Twister flourished the sword in a grand gesture as she bowed to the class, "Thank yew." Eyeing the sword with interest, Prof. Miyabi spoke up, "Is _that_ why you asked me about permanent spells for items?" "Uh, huh. I think I'd better put it away though." Speaking to the sword, Twister said, "Go home now." And with a purple flash, it was gone. "Hm. Just like a pet." "Except a pet normally cannot slice apart an iron golem with ridiculous ease." Miyabi commented with slight irony. Embarrassed, Twister rubbed the back of her head, "Well, I think I overdid the cutting power of the sword a bit." She shrugged. "Oh, well." With that, she went back to her seat. Looking worried, Yuriko whispered to Twister, "I thought she had _killed_ you!" "Almost _did_ the stupid... I was bloody lucky I put that fire resistance part into the enchantment." Twister shook her head in irritation. "She really ticked me off there. At least no one was hurt, thankfully." Yuriko calmed down a bit and smiled, "You _do_ fight well." Before stopping the conversation, Twister quickly got out, "Maybe, but I _still_ have to learn how to _use_ a sword properly," she chuckled. Looking incredulous, Yuriko stared at Twister as Prof. Miyabi started the class up again. Elsewhere at the moment, a person was searching through various arcane books with great care. Takaya smiled as he found what he had sought for in an ancient tome. *At last! I have found the best way to use Itazuka's power for my own! Now all I have to do is find a way to make her do it.* He chuckled. *I had not planned on ever doing this, but if it _truly_ lets me access her power freely then I certainly will do so.* Closing the book, Takaya mused over the method he had found. *Now, how _shall_ I force her to marry me?* Chapter Twelve -------------- Yasuro was listening to Twister's account of the fight with Natsumi as Twister inspected the Dragonsword for any possible scratches. "So she brought an _iron golem_?!" Yasuro shook his head in wonder. "That's right out of the AD&D role-playing games I play sometimes. How did your professor explain the fire damage?" Twister smirked, "_What_ fire damage? One spell from the Professor and it was fixed." He carefully set down the sword, after seeing that nothing was wrong with it, and pointed at it. "It's a good thing I made this. Otherwise, I might have been a crispy critter." Looking at the sword, Yasuro could only agree with that. "True. Natsumi's really going to be out for your blood now." "Don't I know it." Twister sighed. "What did you do with her after the fight anyway?" Smirking at the memory, Twister said, "Well... I sort of _gave_ her to Morio and Hito, who were waiting for _me_ outside, to take to the nurse's office." Wide-eyed, Yasuro choked out, "_Morio_ and _Hito_?? With her clothing cut open in the front all the way down the middle??" Twister nodded and Yasuro started laughing. "Oh, jeez! That's _cruel_, Twister!" Twister snorted, "At the moment, I have _no_ sympathy for her." He stretched his arms and legs as he lay on the couch. "She'll likely be a week or two trying to recover from that little duel hopefully." Facing his computer again, Yasuro talked to Twister in amusement. "Natsumi won't likely attempt your _female_ side, Twister, but as you are _now_... And only a few people saw the fight you know." This truth dawned on Twister and he closed his eyes in denial, "No! Nonononononono!" He sighed wearily as he nodded reluctantly, "You're right. She doesn't know about me being 'Itazuka' and only the _magic_ class saw her being defeated. She won't want to return _there_ too quickly, but my other courses _and_ between them... I still have to dodge her then. Joy." Twister put his hands on his face and shook his head. Just then, there was a knock at the door. When Yasuro got up and opened it, a happy Morio walked in. "Hello, you two! You'll never guess what happened today!" He saw Twister with his hands still on his head and cocked an eyebrow. "What's up with _you_, Twister?" Removing the hands, Twister sourly looked at Morio, "One word. Natsumi. I've had to dodge her every once in a while now for the past few days. Except later today for some reason." *Which I know all too well why.* Gleefully, Morio rubbed his hands, "I can answer that. Me and Hito saw that cute red-head today, but before we could really talk to her she dumped an unconscious Natsumi on us to take to the nurse. Since she _said_ it was nothing serious, we...took a few pictures of her...ah...au naturalle you might say." Seeing Yasuro's shocked look, Morio shrugged innocently, "Well, she _was_ halfway to that state anyway." His face turned thoughtful, "I wonder _how_ her clothes got split down the middle anyway. Might be useful to know someday." Suddenly, an idea came to Twister, "Hm. Could _I_ get a few copies of those pictures?" Seeing the other two's surprised faces, he hastily added, "Not to _look_ at, you guys! If she ever finds out about Nabiki I might need something to get her off Nabiki's back." Twister slapped his forehead. "Gah! I'm thinking like Nabiki now! Bad sign." Chuckling, Morio nodded, "Sure. Why not? It's for a good cause. But you'll owe me one so be warned." Twister arched an eyebrow, "Ha! What about the eating contest and the reprisal afterwards! I'd say _you_ owe _me_ bucko!" "Oh, alright. We'll be even then since you're counting." With Twister's snort, Morio grinned and closed the door on his way out. "Planning ahead, Twister?" Yasuro inquired. "Ohhh, yes. It worked with the sword so it likely will work now. I just hope I won't need to." Twister sighed once more. "Wishful thinking..." Thursday afternoon brought no joy to Natsumi. She was still fuming over her defeat by 'Itazuka', and the state of her dress when she came to in the nurse's office. *If I find out _who_ removed and stole my bra they will find out just _what_ it means to get me angry.* She murderously thought to herself. After interrogating one or two of the weaker-willed students of the first year class, she had ruled out 'Itazuka' as the culprit. *Those fools said she returned after a minute so it could not have been her, but she has _still_ truly earned my wrath.* Suddenly, her anger collapsed as she thought about the fight. A slight depression filled her as she thought on, *Just _how_ did she _create_ such a weapon as obviously powerful as that sword? The illusion of that dragon and now _this_ points to her being more than just an average student, but _where_ did she _come_ from!* Natsumi gritted her teeth in frustration, *Even asking other students from first year failed to find out much about her. It's as if she only comes to that _one_ class and with that damnable protecting spell I can't follow her with magic. I must think about this further before trying any sort of action against her.* She spotted a familiar looking person walk by where she was hiding and smiled. *I believe _he_ should be a welcome distraction to get my mind away from that little witch for a while.* Leaving her spot, Natsumi followed her objective and planned on how to corner her prey. Twister was almost at the place where he and Nabiki had planned to meet when he had a faint sense of dread creep over him. He paused and wondered what the feeling had been about. *That's odd. Now why...?* Looking ahead, he didn't see anything wrong besides Nabiki not being there yet. When he looked behind, he found out why he had gotten the feeling of dread. *Oh, no. I have _got_ to work on my extra senses to warn me about these things _earlier_.* He steeled himself as Natsumi realized he was looking right at _her_. She started walking towards Twister. Natsumi finally got to the spot where Twister was nervously standing and smiled at him in a seductive way, "Hello again...Twister, was it not?" "Um...yes." Twister was trying to think how to get out of this so he stalled for time. "I heard that you were asking about me. I didn't think I was so interesting that a chance meeting like the one we had would get you so curious about me." The young sorceress smiled a little wider and stepped closer to Twister as she replied, "It was not the meeting itself as the _fascinating_ show you put on with those other boys. Quite a remarkable feat. You are _very_ good." "I have a good teacher and he's much better than _me_ right now." That raised an eyebrow. "Your teacher must be amazing then from what _I_ saw _you_ do." She slid closer to Twister while looking him straight in the eye. Twister was frantically screaming inside. *Helphelphelphelp!* Sweating heavily now, he tried to stay reasonably calm, but was failing, "Yes, I guess you could say he is." Twister was knocking his head mentally trying to find a way out of this mess when Life sent him a reprieve. "Twister!" A familiar voice called out. Arriving at the meeting place, Nabiki had been wondering where Twister was when she spied him nervously standing in front of another girl she didn't remember ever seeing before. Noticing the predatory gleam in the girl's eye, she immediately deduced what was going on and anger rushed to the fore. *Now just _who_ is _that_ trying to snare Twister?* She mentally growled before striding purposely towards the confrontation. When she shouted out Twister's name, the look of relief on his face as he turned towards her took away most of the anger, but not all. "Ah! Nabiki! I see you made it. I was wondering what was holding you up." Reluctantly remembering Natsumi, Twister hurriedly introduced them, "Nabiki, this is _Natsumi_." He stressed the name. "She literally ran into me a couple of days ago." Twister made a false chuckle and hoped Nabiki recalled the name. She did. That didn't stop her from trying to needle Natsumi. "Ah, yes, now I remember. The one who doesn't look where she's running." Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she looked at the sorceress, "Better not use so much makeup there or your face will disappear. Which might be an improvement now that I mention it," she added with amusement. Natsumi was not amused. Roaring mad was closer to the mark as she angrily viewed the strange, confident-looking girl standing beside Twister. *So. This one already _has_ a claim on Twister? Not for long, I think.* She made a magical shooing away gesture to make this 'Nabiki' forget this meeting and walk away. Suddenly, there seemed to be a brief flash of light around Nabiki's neck area which startled Natsumi. The spell seemed to have failed for Nabiki was staring at her with some confusion. Knowing the significance of the gesture Natsumi had made, Twister decided to beat a hasty retreat while she was still surprised. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, but me and Nabiki have to run. Bye!" He almost had to drag the reluctant Nabiki away from the confrontation. Swiftly, he found a good secluded spot and teleported to Nabiki's apartment before Natsumi could follow. Breaking out of the shock of having a spell fail on her, Natsumi ran to try to catch the pair again, but could not find a trace of them. She didn't connect the slightly muffled bang she had heard a few seconds ago with the pair's disappearance. *Where? How?* She was getting angry again. *Not another failure! How did my spell fail? Everything seemed alright and then...* Natsumi saw the flash in her mind again. *Protected! That...that obnoxious girl is protected by _magic_! Where could she have got such...a...spell.* Flames fairly flashed before her eyes as realization came to her. *That little _witch_!! She heard about my interest in Twister and decided to protect that girl from me!* Natsumi wanted to scream in rage as she thought about her foe's cunning. Calming down sightly after a while, she tried to think rationally about her problem. *I am not succeeding with head-on attacks. I must be more _subtle_ in my approach against her.* Natsumi grimaced as she knew from painful experience that subtlety was not something she could do easily. *I need help, as much as it pains me to admit it.* She finally decided. *Now who would willingly help me put down that little witch?* The apartment that Nabiki and Yuriko shared was quiet and peaceful at the moment. Yuriko was reading a textbook on the bed in her room and just enjoying the silence, smiling. BOOM! "EEEEK!" Yuriko screamed as the sudden, loud sound scared her from the state of calm she had been in. "Oops! Sorry, Yuriko! I guess I'd better see if I can make my entrances quieter," called out the voice of Twister from the main room. "I would say that is a wise statement," smirked the voice of Nabiki. Slowing her beating heart, Yuriko leaped from her bed and ran out to meet her friends. "You scared me half to death!" she scolded as Twister's face showed his embarrassment. "Welll... Maybe I can try teleporting the air I displace back to where I depart at the same time I leave. That might help." Twister chuckled at Yuriko's now slightly mollified expression. Both he and Nabiki sat on a couch and Yuriko on a chair. "Good!" Yuriko then giggled slightly, "That certainly does announce that you've come." Rolling her eyes, Nabiki agreed, "Yes, but the first time he did it, it blew me off my feet!" "Alright, alright! I'm just glad we got out of there before Natsumi recovered from her surprise and tried something else that my necklace might not have handled." Nabiki was startled, "She cast a spell at me?" Twister nodded, "Yup. That's why she was surprised that it failed." "Does _she_ know about your two selves?" Yuriko asked worriedly. Grimacing, Twister shook his head, "I seriously doubt it. Natsumi would have been trying to kill me rather than pick me up then." He considered the two choices, "If she had tried to _kill_ me, I would have had an easier time." _Now_ Yuriko was laughing, "She was trying to pick you up!?" The look of amusement on her face told the others she thought the whole thing very funny. Nabiki sighed, "You're like Ranma, Twister. You both have a tough time defending yourself against _that_ sort of attack." She leaned towards him on the couch they were sharing together, grabbed his startled head, and kissed him for a fairly long time before releasing him. Nabiki smiled at his stunned, but happy face, "I rest my case." "The verdict is: guilty, on all charges. I won't deny it." Snapping sorrowfully out of his blissful state, Twister asked Nabiki, "By the way... Have you been feeling those eyes still?" With a relieved sigh, Nabiki shook her head. "Thankfully, no." She fingered the diamond she wore on her neck, "This seems to be doing the trick." "That's good." He pursed his lips together as he thought about something that worried him a little. *If the crystal is preventing whatever it is from seeing Nabiki that means it's _magic_, but from who? And why?* "Is it Natsumi?" Yuriko threw in fearfully when she saw Twister's thoughtful face. "Unfortunately not. She didn't even know about Nabiki when the 'eyes' started lurking." Twister sighed, "I think I'll have to try to find out who _is_ doing it fairly soon. It's not nice to do something like this." He turned to Nabiki, "If you see or feel _anything_ strange, Nabiki, you too Yuriko, call me." Twister suddenly stood up and smiled. "Well, I've got to get back and do some homework for tomorrow. I'll try doing it 'stealth mode'." He grinned. "Okay! You'll help me again with rhymes soon, right?" Yuriko looked pleadingly. Twister laughed, "Of course I will. See you later! Oh, and thanks Nabiki for that timely rescue from Natsumi." Nabiki smiled, "It was my pleasure." With a sight look of concentration, Twister stood for a few seconds and then vanished without a sound. Yuriko and Nabiki started. "I don't now which is _worse_. The noise or that unnerving departure," Nabiki mused and Yuriko giggled at the comment. Twister silently appeared in his room. He could hear Yasuro tapping away on his keyboard in the main room. *It worked! Great. Now I can stop being a baby boomer.* He grinned as an idea came to him. *I haven't done the 'unnotice me' trick for a while. Should've used it on Natsumi a _long_ time ago but I grew accustomed to not using it anymore. Time to change that...* Opening his door quietly, while using his old trick, Twister walked across the room and peered over Yasuro's shoulder. Playing Doom again. Twister shook his head and waited for an appropriate time to reveal himself. Unfortunately, someone chose to knock on the door and Yasuro answered it. "Hello! Is Twister here?" Morio walked in, Hito trailing behind him. He spied the paused game and smirked, "Playing that _again_? You're gonna fry your eyeballs out if you play that much longer." Yasuro crossly defended himself, "It's a good game and it's _my_ system. Why did you want Twister? He hasn't come back yet." Morio waved a packet in his right hand, "Too bad. I've got those pictures of Natsumi he wanted." This news caused Twister to eagerly grab the packet out of a now-extremely startled Morio's hand. "Thanks! I think I'll need these soon." "Yah!" Hito jumped backwards towards the kitchen table as he finally noticed Twister. *Oops.* Looking surprised and confused, Yasuro blinked, "How did you do _that_? I didn't even notice you come in!" "Never mind coming in! How did you just stand there without us noticing you?!" Hito exclaimed. *Uh, oh.* With an assumed nonchalance, Twister calmly replied, "Oh, just something my martial arts teacher taught me. He said extremely few people could do it, but he felt that I could and trained me in it." Twister smiled. "I do it very well. I was just practicing in preparation for using it to avoid Natsumi. Sorry if I startled you." The smirk belied the words. "Interesting trick." Morio appraised Twister, "_Very_ handy I would say. Care to go on a trip with us?" He grinned. "Ladies change rooms..." Hito, from his position beside the kitchen table, grinned along with Morio. "Sorry. I have homework to do. Nice try though." Twister waved to the three and went into his room. Morio eyed Twister's closed door thoughtfully, "Hmm. I wonder if I could get him to change his mind someday." "Not likely. I think he's pretty shy around women sometimes. At least that's my impression from what he's said during the conversations we've had." Yasuro replied fairly confidently. Sighing sorrowly at opportunity lost, Morio nodded his defeat, "Too bad. Ah, well. I've delivered my package so let's be off, Hito!" He strode out the door with Hito quickly following. Yasuro closed the door after them, shaking his head in amusement, "Those two..." He then went over to Twister's door and called out, "They're gone." With a sigh of relief, Twister opened the door, "Gah! I can't believe I did that! At least I covered myself fairly well." "What _did_ you do anyway?" "I tried a different kind of teleport and got to my room without making that darn boom that used to announce me." Twister smiled. "I recalled then that I hadn't tried an 'unnotice me' trick for a while and decided to practice it a bit. I really am going to use it to lose Natsumi though. _That_ part is definitely the truth." He shuddered. "She just met Nabiki today while trying to corner me. It was almost hate at first sight." "Did Natsumi try anything? She sounds the type." "Ohhh, yes. I'm not sure exactly _what_ she was trying to do, but the necklace I gave Nabiki managed to defeat the spell she cast." Twister chuckled at the memory. "Was _she_ surprised! I got me and Nabiki away before she recovered, thankfully." He smiled at the memory of Nabiki kissing him earlier. Something was starting to nag him though, it was a combination of past memory and something _else_. It was beginning to annoy him. *Bug me.... Oh, no!* Twister started wandering around the room and found that the feeling got worse only in one spot. *Oh, yes.* Twister sighed mentally. *Right around where Hito was standing too.* Yasuro was noticing Twister's sudden change in behavior and was about to comment when Twister held up a hand for silence. "I was thinking Yasuro..." Twister started talking as he bent closer to whatever was causing the strange feeling. "How small _can_ you make BUGS!?" The last word Twister, in his suddenly angry mood, said was somehow unconsciously amplified by his telekinesis and the result sounded like it came out of a megaphone. It rattled the small kitchen table which had some plastic flowers on top. The two occupants of the apartment heard a BOOM somewhere in the building. The strange feeling died satisfactorily and Twister soon found the electronic listening device in the flowers. It looked like it had burnt out from the overloading of the sensitive microphone. When displayed to Yasuro, he was a little peeved, "Those two...! Bugging _our_ place!" "Time to visit _theirs_ I think." With Yasuro following angrily behind, Twister left the apartment and checked the two privacy-breakers door. Apparently, they had forgotten to lock the door in their hurried walk back so Twister opened it and walked inside. He immediately saw Morio staggering a little as he emerged from another room. Morio looked like he had been caught in a small explosion. He had a slightly stunned expression on his face which had a little soot on it. His hair was blown back like Morio had been in a wind tunnel and applied styling gel. The picture would have been hilarious had Twister and Yasuro not been in an angry mood. "Something you heard didn't agree with you?" Twister eyed the dishevelled Morio. Sounds from the hallway outside indicated that Yasuro was talking to the landlord, who was likely concerned about the loud noise he had heard. Yasuro seemed to be mollifying the landlord's concerns pretty well from what Twister heard. "What?" Morio put a hand to his ear in stunned confusion. Twister sighed as he waited for Yasuro to enter. Yasuro had just finished with the landlord and was now standing in the doorway, staring at Morio and trying to decide whether to say anything quite yet. "Better come in. I don't think he'll be capable of rational thought for a few minutes." Twister commented as he gazed around the room. It was partly a haven for various assorted, or unsorted, electronic gadgets. Half of the devices Twister couldn't identify offhand. The other part was typical enough for the hentai pair. Big posters of almost naked ladies on the wall and smaller ones, that Twister avoided looking too carefully at, that removed the 'almost' and that could be taken off in a hurry in case the landlord came up. As Yasuro finally entered, Twister wandered into what he guessed to be Hito's room. It currently looked like a bomb had been detonated inside it. He found an unconscious Hito, looking similarly blackened as Morio, lying on his back, about halfway on the bed. The remains of what used to be a very complex-looking receiver, tape recorder, and speaker system, lay in the center of the blast damage. Twister pulled out the ninety-minute tape he found in it, which looked like it was half-full on one side, and made sure there were no leads going to a back-up recorder. Deciding that a little more damage wouldn't do much, Twister put the tape on the destroyed system and mentally had the tape to heat up. It melted most satisfactorily. *Well, so much for _that_. If they had done it earlier then I would likely have felt the same feeling and found something. Must have _just_ planted the sucker.* He contemplated the dormant figure of Hito. *I wonder if they'll remember much of what I said. The shock may have caused them to forget.* Twister sighed, *Unfortunately, that's wishful thinking.* Walking back to the main room, he asked Yasuro, "How's he doing?" Yasuro's anger was down a very large degree by now and he had walked the still-stunned Morio to a couch and laid him down on it. Yasuro looked down at his soot-faced friend, "Hm. Might come out of it soon. What did you find?" "One expensive-looking rig that doesn't look so expensive anymore. They must have been eagerly listening to what we were saying with the speakers jacked up loud to hear us talking. When I...ah...commented about bugs, it appears that the extremely _loud_, sudden signal overloaded the system, blew the speakers rather dramatically, and toasted the system in between them even further." He smirked, "The tape I found had a 'meltdown' with some help from me. Though I think," Twister snickered, "what probably was a minor EMP weapon for half a second likely fried whatever was on the tape anyway." "But take no chances." Yasuro regarded the now-groaning Morio. "I don't think I really need to say anything now. They've been 'hoisted by their own petard' I believe the quote goes." "Rather well fitting too," smirked Twister before he got a slightly concerned look. "I hope their ears weren't damaged." Before Yasuro could comment, Morio groaned out, "Ohhh... Have I got a headache." He opened his eyes and saw the two half-angry, half-concerned people he had attempted to bug watching him. Morio weakly grinned. "Hi, guys." "Hi yourself, Morio! Why did you bug us?" Yasuro angrily said. A look of puzzlement came over Morio's face before understanding hit and his eyes grew wide. "No!" He whispered as he lifted a hand and started snapping his fingers. Understanding turned to panic. "I can't hear it! I'm deaf!" Twister motioned the approaching-panic Morio to look at him. Pointing to his mouth he slowly said, "Do your ears hurt?" Morio carefully watched Twister's mouth and nodded. "Yes. It feels like something hurts," he pointed to his ear, "inside." "Oh, no." Twister said involuntarily. Yasuro wasn't mad anymore. Now he was concerned about his friend, "What? Is it bad?" "He _may_ have a ruptured eardrum if he feels something _inside_ his ear hurting, but I'm not sure." Twister sorrowfully looked at Morio. "It _is_ likely." Coming to his own conclusions, Morio swallowed, "My eardrum's ruptured. Oh, damn. Deaf for life." Debating with himself for a short time while the other two were silent, Twister sighed and spoke slowly so Morio could read his lips, "Maybe not." "What? What do you mean?" Morio demanded as Yasuro looked on in puzzlement. With a half-smile, Twister reached out and firmly grasped Morio's soot covered hand, "You have to see it to believe it." Quickly checking that the door and windows prevented anybody from looking in, Twister started Healing. Twister had done this to himself with extreme ease without any real understanding of how he did it. Now that he tried Healing someone else, it was another matter entirely. Fortunately, it was quite simple when he had a healthy specimen to compare to, which was himself. Scanning Morio's head, he saw that the inner ear on both sides of the head had ruptured. Using TK, he mended the damage by comparing it with his own inner ear that he could feel as well. No fluid had leaked into the ear which was good. He completed the Healing by telling Morio's body to accelerate it's healing abilities until all possible damage had been repaired. It had not required much power so the blue aura had not appeared, but the concentration it took was mentally fatiguing so Twister sat down after releasing a surprised Morio's hand. It had taken a half-minute to do. Wonderingly, Morio snapped his fingers and his face brightened, "I can hear it now!" He looked at Twister with surprise and relief. "How did you do that?" Twister rubbed his temples, "With great suffering, I can tell you. I've never Healed anybody else before and I found it's a _lot_ harder." Sighing, he got up and started towards Hito's room, "Hito's probably the same, if not worse, so I'd better do him now." As Twister walked away, he could Yasuro calmly starting to talk, "Well, now that you are alright again... I can shout at you for bugging our room!" Yasuro finished angrily. Smiling, Twister missed Morio's apologetic reply as he focused his attention on Hito. Chapter Thirteen ---------------- All four guys walked back to Twister and Yasuro's apartment as the one they had been in was a bad reminder to what had happened. Morio and Hito had cleaned up and changed clothes so that they would not mark up the furniture with soot. Both were sheepishly sitting on a couch. Yasuro was contemplating the pair from his chair at the computer and Twister leaned on a wall, looking slightly amused by the two hentai's discomfort. He spoke up. "Get more than what you were looking for?" Morio jumped a little. "Ah...I guess you could say that." Morio was trying to decide on what to say next as Hito looked down at his hands folded together on his lap. Yasuro addressed the two with some heat, "_Why_ did you decide to bug us anyway?" Mumbling, Hito said, "Morio thought you two were hiding something and thought it was about that red-haired girl." "Well, you found out _something_, all right. Not what you expected, but you found something." Twister had to chuckle at the two's predictable behavior. "If you _do_ attempt spying again, I'd try to avoid the possibility of something blowing the system. I know better than to ask you not to give up on it and since finding out that I can sense bugs you won't try _us_ again." Turning his head to Yasuro, Twister waved a hand at the seated pair, "Ease up on them. We should have known they would try _something_ after seeing that red-haired girl." With some relief, Morio saw Yasuro reluctantly nod in agreement. "Thanks, Twister. But do you know _why_ she was here?" Hito looked up in eager anticipation. Prepared for this, Twister had a story ready, filled with half-truths. "Maybe to confuse Natsumi." Seeing questioning gazes Twister explained, "Well, since you know I can do a few psionic tricks I might as well tell you some more stuff which I think you should know about." He paused to take a breath and continued, "Natsumi and the red-headed girl can use magic, apparently, from what I've discovered." Seeing Morio and Hito's disbelieving faces, Twister nodded and went on. "It's true. Now what's going on is that Natsumi was shown up a bit by the red-head in some way and is _really_ mad now. Natsumi had challenged the red-head to some sort of magical contest and lost, resulting in the state you received her in. You seeing her here was likely an attempt to trick Natsumi by some method." He didn't mention that Natsumi hadn't even _met_ the 'red-head' at the time. Thoughtfully, Twister added. "Oh, by the way. I'd recommend burning any 'souvenirs' if you took anything from Natsumi. She might trace them and you might not like what would happen next." The duo turned pale and Hito rushed out of the room in a _big_ hurry. Recovering some color, Morio asked, "How did you find out all this? This isn't exactly well-known information, I gather." "Nabiki's roommate is in the same magic class and when she heard Natsumi was after me... Well, she decided to tell us everything that had happened." To himself, Twister added, *I'd better tell Yuriko and Nabiki later about this, in case Morio looks for them and asks them anything.* Digesting this information, Morio sighed. "Ah, well. Sorry about the eavesdropping you two, but we just _had_ to know." He smiled then. "At least we know where to get rapid transport if we need it." Yasuro snorted in amusement and Twister chuckled as Morio waved good-bye and started to leave. Before he left, however, he turned with a fairly serious look on his face. "Oh, before I go... Thanks, Twister, for fixing our ears. I don't know what we would have done then." Looking a little embarrassed, Twister replied, "No problem. It was _partially_ my fault anyway." He raised an eyebrow. "Not by _much_, but a _little_ of it." Morio grinned at that and left. Waiting a few seconds to make sure Morio had gone, Twister sighed deeply in relief and sagged a bit. Yasuro smiled at him from the chair. "Quick thinking in explaining away the 'girl'." He chuckled. Standing up straight, Twister just shook his head in resignation. "Yeah. Great. Now _those_ two know _half_ of it. At least it was the better of the halves." He yawned. "It's gotten late and I need to sleep. Night." Yasuro echoed Twister as the latter left to go into his room and collapsed onto his bed. Morio entered his slightly blasted apartment to see Hito cutting the bra they had taken from an unconscious Natsumi into little pieces. He was burning each small section carefully. "Well, considering everything that happened, I think we came out fairly okay." Morio mused out loud. Hito raised his head and stopped burning pieces to stare at Morio incredulously. "Okay? We almost lose our hearing, might possibly be targeted by an angry junior witch, and _I_," Hito pointed towards his blasted room, "lost a pretty expensive electronics setup." He shook his head, "I think going after that particular red-head is a bad idea, Morio." "Hmm. I'm tempted to give up too." Morio paused, and then grinned, "But not without one last try." Hito groaned as Morio resolutely went on. "Not when we've finally tracked her to her classroom. I've got _just_ the trick to try too. It's subtle and invisible." "Huh? What are you talking about?" Hito was puzzled. Walking over to a personal storage container, Morio started searching for something while he explained to Hito. "A few years ago, me and another friend of mine, a fellow hentai, started talking and came up with this idea. He was interested in biology, female mainly, and was explaining how animals of either sex attracted each other by means of a complex chemicals called 'pheromones'. These aromatic scents are an irresistible lure for most species that use them." Now Hito was getting interested, "And what did you two do?" Morio's voice smirked though the deep hole he was digging through the objects of the container. "I asked him if it were possible to create something like that for humans. He thought about it, and said it was likely. With that positive thought, I attempted to create something to attract the female of _our_ species, with help from my friend, of course. After many failures, we finally got a _very_ nice chemical scent that worked _quite_ nicely. It didn't last long in the air, but while it did we were irresistible. Only a few unforeseen complications made us stop." "Which were?" Hito was fascinated by the story. "_Every_ girl within scent range flocked towards us. A pleasant thought but _very_ uncomfortable in reality. Also, when the scent wore off after a half-hour, the girls came back to their senses in various unclothed states and deduced, quite correctly, that _we_ had done something to them. It was a little painful. Thirdly, there were their _boyfriends_ and other males who were a little annoyed by our stunt. After two tests, we decided not to use the scent again unless we were desperate, and _very_ sure it was safe." Fear forgotten, Hito was now excited by this idea. "This stuff sounds great!" His expression clouded, "But how can we prevent those bad things you mentioned from happening?" An exclamation of discovery announced the finding of the sought-after item and Morio pulled himself out to brandish a vial of a clear liquid with a cheerful chuckle. "Careful planning, my dear Hito! Careful planning!" "Ah! Not a bad day to end the week, I must say." Twister sighed happily after she and Yuriko got out of the magic course the next day. Her companion giggled. "You're just happy Natsumi hasn't bothered you all day." "Yes, that did put me in a good mood, even though I worry about what she's planning _next_...as I'm _sure_ she is." Twister sighed as they walked down a hallway. Something caught Yuriko's attention just then. "Is that guy signaling _us_?" Twister followed her gaze and spotted Hito in a doorway, trying to be subtle about catching their attention. She sighed and started leading the two of them towards Hito. "I think so. Remember that pair of guys I mentioned before class today?" Comprehension was starting to show in Yuriko's eyes as they stopped in front of the doorway the nervous Hito was standing in. He started to talk to Twister. "Uh, hi. My name's Hito. I don't know if you remember me, but I was one of the guys who took that other girl to the nurse's office two days ago." Pretending to recall, Twister smiled at him, "Oh, right! I remember now! Why did you call us over, and so nervously?" "Um. It's something we found out about that girl." Hito quickly scanned the hallway as if looking out for somebody. "Could we talk in the room? My friend is in here too. We don't want anybody listening in to our conversation." Twister and Yuriko looked at each other and shrugged. With a little bit of worry about what could be bothering Hito, Twister said, "Sure. You might as well come in too, Yuriko." With some relief, Hito fully opened the door and let the two girls into the empty classroom. Cautiously, he locked the door so they wouldn't be disturbed. While he was facing the door, Hito quickly opened a small capsule and applied the contents on his face and neck. Putting the capsule away, he turned around to look at the girls again. The starting reactions that the girls were beginning to display brought credence to Morio's claims about the chemical which Morio had applied to himself a few minutes ago to let the scent fill the room. Hito smiled at the two cameras that they had brought, with the expectation that both rolls of film would be used up. Smiling, Morio started the conversation, "Ah. Thanks for coming in. The reason we wanted to talk is that we learned a few...things about that girl we carried to the nurse." "What things would that be?" Twister questioned as she looked around the classroom with a puzzling feeling of restlessness. Also, there was this funny odor in the room that she couldn't remember ever smelling before in her life. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just...odd. Yuriko looked just as restless too, increasing her puzzlement. Waving his hand carelessly, Morio answered her query, "Oh, that she has some abilities that might make it hard for us if she found out that _we_ carried her. After all, she might have some odd notions about what we did during the trip." He smiled as saw the scent starting to take effect. Interrupting suddenly, Yuriko spoke with an intent look at a smiling, but now nervous again Hito, "Do you find it _hot_ in here, Itazuka?" She was starting to pick at the blouse she was wearing with her fingers and licking her lips slightly. "Uh...just a little, Yuriko. Do you guys find it hot?" Morio's face was starting to captivate Twister as she indeed noticed that it _did_ seem rather warm in the room. That odd smell was _really_ noticeable now. She lowered her gaze to Morio's torso. *Hm. I wonder what he would look like with that shirt off...* _That_ thought brought her crashing suddenly to her senses. *_What_ am I _thinking_?!? Why am I feeling this strange attraction for Morio? Yuriko is also acting strange towards _Hito_. Is it something in the room?* The answer flashed though her mind, *That _smell_! It _must_ be some sort of chemical, and just _who_ is very good at that sort of thing? Morio.* A bit of anger fought off the effects of the chemical, buying some time to act on the knowledge. *Well, gentlemen, I think we've had enough of _attraction_. Let's try _repulsion_ now...* Yuriko was making motions to remove her blouse so Morio and Hito's attention was all on the starting striptease act when Twister whispered out a rhyme. "The emotion love has been abused, So let another now be accused, Hate to love and love to hate, Change effects upon this bait." Almost immediately after the spell was finished, Yuriko froze halfway in the act of taking off her blouse. Looking at Hito with revulsion now, she quickly jerked the garment back into place and stared with loathing at the disappointed Hito. Twister was not immune to the new affects of the scent and regarded the startled Morio with some contempt. "So, you're too helpless to defend _yourselves_, huh?" "N-no," Morio started backing up from the angrily advancing Twister, totally confused, "We just thought..." "Hah! That's a surprise!" The herding Twister was attempting on Morio was successful and he now stood by a totally frightened Hito, who was paralyzed with fear from the truly _unnerving_ look of obvious hatred given by the normally cheerful Yuriko. Barely keeping herself in check, Twister smiled a most wicked smile and raised her hands, "Shall we _try_ some of those abilities you mentioned? Hmmmmm?" That last was a cruel purr. Hito broke out of his fear, unlocked the door, and both he and Morio ran in a panic outside. Lowering her hands with a malicious chuckle, Twister turned to the still furious Yuriko. "We'd better get out of this room before we _really_ do something. That scent lure I changed is _potent_ stuff, even reversed." That brought Yuriko back, reluctantly, from her fury. "You mean it was a _chemical_ that made me feel that...other way _first_ and now _this_ way?" She looked ready to murder the two fled hentai. Dragging Yuriko out of the room, Twister nodded, "Yup. I had to reverse it quick before I went under too. My resistance is understandable, but I _still_ almost fell for it. Like I said, potent stuff." Once out of the scent-filled room, Yuriko immediately started to become her old self again. She blushed, "Did I really start to...?" Smiling, Twister nodded, "Darn near came close myself. Born male or not, that stuff sure has an effect on the female body." She smiled at a commotion at the far end of the hallway. "They must have put it on _themselves_ and since I _reversed_ its _very_ strong effect..." She smirked. Yuriko put a hand to her mouth as she started laughing, "You don't mean..." Sounds of anguish echoed down the hallway. "Uh, huh. Until that stuff wears off, every female within sniffing range of them is going to want to pound the stuffing out of them." Considering for a minute, Twister nodded to herself. "I'd better leave and try to see if they have more of that stuff in their apartment. That is _not_ a good thing for _those_ two to have." Blushing again, Yuriko fiercely nodded her head. "_No_. Definitely not." She sighed, "Nabiki isn't going to believe this." "She should, and if she doesn't, we can give _her_ a whiff." Twister paused at that thought, "Gah. That might be good or bad. I'm not sure. Oh, well. Gotta run." She waved good-bye at a freshly giggling Yuriko and left quickly. *Ah! I've got you _now_, you half-cyborg demon lord!* Yasuro gleefully thought to himself as he dodged another volley of missiles from said game monster. He had finally gotten to the final level in the second part of Doom at the highest difficulty and was almost dead, but he _knew_ the boss monster would soon be toast. His concentration was minimally disrupted by Twister's return to the apartment, but that didn't worry him since Twister obviously knew better than to distract him by speaking. Suddenly, a final bazooka blast made the boss keel over. "YES!" The usually calm Yasuro whooped with joy and raised both hands with the victory sign. Twister was smiling behind him. "Got him did you? Good job." He fiddled with a vial filled with a clear liquid. This caused Yasuro to stop his rejoicing and regard the vial with a still happy eye. "What's _that_ you've got?" With a wry tone, Twister answered him, "_This_ was Morio's attempt to get the red-head on film in a...uh...revealing position." Yasuro's raised eyebrows prompted further explanation. "I think it's some kind of pheromone attractant that only works on females. It's...um...rather effective, but fortunately I was able to smell it for some reason and I countered it's effects in time." He rubbed the back of his head as he went on, "I didn't want Morio to keep _this_ stuff around so I 'ported in and sniffed around their place while opening vials to find the rest of the stuff. I found it, thankfully." Whistling in amazement, Yasuro said, "Hard to believe that stuff is _that_ potent." "Oh, it _is_," Twister smirked. "I countered it by _reversing_ it's effects so you'll be able to tell how well it works by the number of injuries those two have when they stagger back." Yasuro laughed out loud at that. "Fitting. Nasty, but fitting." "It was the first thing that came to mind. I didn't realize what would happen when they left the room after I cast the spell." Twister shrugged as he glanced at a paper Yasuro had bought that day. His attention was caught by a photo in the front page of the newspaper. In his startlement, he spoke out loud as he grabbed the paper. "What the? What's this?" "Oh, the photo? That's to do with an article about some valuable piece of art being stolen from a collector's place." Yasuro stood up and looked at the picture again as Twister read said article. "It sure is a nice work of art. You'd almost believe that was a real dragon. The only funny thing about the theft was that _it_ was the only thing taken. Nothing else." Reading the article, Twister spoke out loud, "It says: 'The object was made recently by a mysterious artist of remarkable ability. It can be identified by this picture and by the artist's signature, a tornado-like image on the right foreleg...'" He stopped reading with a sigh and dropped the paper. "Well, _that_ confirms it." Twister sighed again and sat down on the couch contemplating something. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" "What's the matter? It's just some stolen artwork." "I guess it _is_ nothing." Twister stood up. "I'd better put that stuff away before the pounded pair return." That said, he went into his room. Picking up the paper when Twister had left, Yasuro re-read the section Twister had spoken out loud. *'A tornado-like image'? Tornado...* A sudden thought struck him. *Or a Twister?? Must be. Now why...?* He chuckled a bit. *At least I know why it looked so life-like. With that TK of his he likely didn't _use_ fingers to make it. Much better than any tools I would guess.* Yasuro gazed off into the distance as he pondered this. *I wonder why he seemed disturbed. _He_ likely doesn't know either, I bet.* The sounds of weak groaning outside in the hallway stopped his train of thought and he grinned as he recognized the voices of Morio and Hito. *Yes, I guess that stuff _was_ potent.* In a vast, darkened warehouse, (where else?) black robed figures were gazing at an object on a pedestal. They were gathered in a circle around it. One in particular, who had a much finer made robe, was standing in front of the object in question. It was the stolen dragon statue that had caused Twister a little distress before. When he had started this particular statue, Twister had decided that, since it would be the last he made, _this_ one would be extra-special, and it showed. The statue practically breathed with life for all that it was immobile. Scales gleamed when small holes in the warehouse roof shone sunlight upon them. The entire body seemed ready to stand up and reign regally over the poor mortals who looked upon it. And the eyes... You could not look at them for long before fearfully turning away. Impressive it was and Twister had been _very_ happy with the results. After examining the statue minutely for ten minutes, the apparent leader of the group stood up with great satisfaction. "Perfect! This will do excellently for the ritual! You have done well, my followers." The robed ones around him hissed with pleasure. "In one week, the time will be right and we can begin." His gaze traveled over seven particular robed ones. "Have you selected the Seven yet?" Six hissing voices replied the affirmative while the seventh stirred restlessly in worry. The leader noticed this and was angry. "Why have you not yet!? We _cannot_ delay this!" He shouted this out as his followers drew back a little in fear. The seventh robe haltingly replied, "I _had_ ssselected one. Now, however, sshe sseemss to elude my magical ssight." The voice within the shadowed hood was nervous as it went on. "Sshe wass perfect! I do not know what to do now." Visibly holding back anger, the leader questioned the seventh, "Does she live with anyone?" A nod. "Did you notice any Power about that one?" Another nod. "Powerful?" This time a negative response. "Has anyone _else_ visited her home?" "There wass one who sseemed _very_ powerful, but she did not look very experienced sso I took no notice of her." "Idiot! _She_ was likely the one who has given the chosen one protection from your eyes." Pausing to think, the leader went on. "We have no time to look for another. We _must_ have her. When the time comes, _we_ shall go to collect her. No young magic-user will be able to keep _me_ away from my goal." A slow, evil laugh oozed out from the leader's hood. Chapter Fourteen ---------------- On Saturday, Twister teleported to the Tendo dojo for another lesson from Ranma. Nabiki was too busy with homework and meeting new friends to join him this weekend, but she was planning to go back on the next weekend or the one after that. Twister had spent a fair amount of time the day before going over all that he had been taught. In male form, since a perfect memory helped a lot. Twister also went over that little battle with the physical education group. As a result of all this, he was a little improved than where he had been the week before, which surprised Ranma slightly. Twister managed to get a few good hits in before quitting and Ranma-chan looked impressed. "What did you do? Practice every day?" "No. I just tried going over everything you have taught me." Twister was in female form as she was accustomed to practicing with it. She had not told Ranma-chan about the little fight she had in male form since Twister was still a little uncertain about fighting like that. "It works." Ranma-chan chuckled, "At least we didn't destroy the practice room this time." "Do you mind if I stay around for another lesson Sunday?" "What's the rush? At the rate you're going, it'll only take a few more sessions before I have to start you on 'special' moves. _Then_ these fights will get really interesting." Looking a little worried, Twister sighed, "It's just that I feel like I'm going to _need_ the extra practice. Ah, well, it's likely nothing." Not terribly convinced, Ranma-chan let it go. "All right." With more cheer, Twister smiled, "Anyway, I had the thought of going to Shampoo's restaurant after I change. I'm hoping the noodles there will restore my faith in pasta. Care to join me?" She grinned. Ranma-chan winced and looked sourly at her, "I'd better stay here, thanks. Akane's still steamed. Stupid tomboy." Twister was curious about, but decided she really didn't want to know right now. A bell called out the entrance of a new customer and Shampoo looked up eagerly. She was disappointed that it wasn't Ranma, but still happy to see someone she thought of as a friend. Despite the fact she had wanted to kill him for a while. "Twister! Shampoo happy to see!" He smiled back at Shampoo. "Me too. It's been a while." Twister sat at a table. "Care to take an order? I decided to have something here since I didn't recall ever eating here." Shampoo nodded. "Shampoo not recall Twister do so. What like?" Smiling, Twister told her what he wanted and she quickly walked away into the back. He looked around, but failed to see Mousse anywhere. *Hm. I guess he can't be in here _all_ the time.* A delicious smell drew Twister's attention and he saw Shampoo come out with a steaming bowl of noodles. The aroma dispelled any revulsion he might have felt towards the great-looking pasta dish. She placed it in front of him and smiled as he slowly and delightfully finished the meal. Twister sighed happily. "Ahhh. My condition against noodles is cured." "Condition?" Shampoo puzzledly asked. "Long story." He held up an empty glass that was on his table and smiled. "Could you get me some water, please?" Still puzzled, she nodded, left for the kitchen, and returned with a big pitcher of ice water. As Shampoo poured, Mousse suddenly rushed in crying Shampoo's name. He quickly ran past her, bumping her in the process, and hugged a startled customer who was about to leave. This resulted in Mousse receiving a slap and an angry retort from the girl. With a little contempt, Shampoo addressed Mousse, "Should wear glasses, stupid duck-boy." Mousse did so and spied who was sitting near where Shampoo was standing. "Ranma! You dare come near my future bride!" Shampoo started and looked at where she had accidentally spilled cold water from her pitcher. Before Mousse could attack, the now-female Twister calmly said, "Try it and I'll drag you through town again for _another_ three hours, Mousse." Seeing the absence of a pig-tail and hearing Twister's response, Mousse immediately calmed down. "Oh, it's just you, Twister." Shampoo was looking apologetic. "Shampoo sorry, Twister. Clumsy Mousse cause Shampoo to get Twister all wet..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Twister's still dry looking clothing. "Clothes _not_ wet! How Twister do that?" "Just enchanted them so that a very thin layer of air protects them from spills and such. No biggie." Twister shrugged as she stood up. "Mind if I go in back for some hot water?" Looking envious, Shampoo agreed, "Not mind. Wish Shampoo could use for own clothes." An idea struck her. "Can Twister make same for Shampoo? Pay for meal." Thoughtfully, Twister pondered the question. "I don't see why not. I'll just enchant some salt. A tablespoon should manage _one_ set of clothing in a large amount of _warm_ water. After it dries, it'll work for about a week, or so I imagine. Just don't try more than one tablespoon since I think that might make it last longer." Twister thought to herself about the spell, *The Professor described this sort of one-shot enchantment recently in class so the salt itself should keep the magic, until used of course.* Excitedly, Shampoo led Twister to the back and found a fair bit of salt to her to enchant. That done, Twister used some hot water and changed back. With a happy good-bye, Shampoo waved to Twister as he left. She smiled. "Now Shampoo not worry about clothes in kitchen." Sitting at a table, Mousse had heard their conversation about the spell and got an idea. He sneaked into the kitchen with a small smile. About an hour later, Mousse returned to the restaurant. Wearing his glasses for once, he called out, "Shampoo! I will kill Ranma today and then there will be no obstacle between you and I!" Furious, because this was the second time today Mousse had barged in like this, Shampoo came out with a pitcher of water. "Shampoo not think so, duck-boy!" She swiftly threw the icy contents at the confident Mousse and splashed him. No effect. Smiling now, Mousse reaffirmed his promise, "I now have the means to do so! I will be back soon!" He left the store and was out of sight when Shampoo ran out to find him. She was shocked at the lack of success of the cold water. *Now how did Mousse do _that_?* Thinking back, she tried to remember what Mousse could have done to prevent the change from happening. Then it hit her. *Mousse's clothes were not _wet_!* Shampoo mentally kicked herself. *Of course. Mousse was here when I asked Twister for that enchantment.* Rushing to the back she saw that a third of the enchanted salt had been taken. *Must have used it all to take a bath.* Eyes narrowing, Shampoo started getting angry. *So Mousse stole from me? Two can play the same game.* Ranma and Twister were sitting by the pond, just talking. "So Akane's peeved at you now?" Embarrassed, Ranma looked away, "Now why should I care what that tomboy thinks of me?" Twister wasn't convinced, "Riiight. Sure. I believe you." *NOT!* "How mad is she?" "Pretty mad." Ranma sighed as he threw a small stone into the pond. "I checked at her window and she threw her desk at me without a word." "Desk?! How...?" Twister shook his head over geometric impossibilities. "Never mind. Hm. I would say that's pretty mad." He saw Ranma's depressed face. "You know... For someone you keep saying you don't like, you sure don't look too happy about it." Starting to deny it, Ranma was interrupted by a voice rapidly approaching them. "RANMA! Prepare to meet your doom!" Both Ranma and Twister leaped into the air as various bladed projectiles landed in the general area where they had been. "Yow! Watch it, Mousse!" Twister exclaimed as he landed near the house. "_Must_ you play with sharp objects? And why did you try to hit _both_ of us?!" Ignoring Twister, Mousse focused his attention on Ranma, who landed near the pond's opposite edge. "Now I will finally defeat you, Saotome!" Ranma was not impressed. "Give it a rest, Mousse! How many times must you keep doing this?" "If destroying you is the only way to make Shampoo forget you, then I will do what I must." As Mousse and Ranma did the customary exchanging of various assorted insults prior to fighting, Twister casually leaned on the side of the house. *This is fun. I can see it now. '_See_ the fight of the century! _Watch_ as the combatants try to pound the other into a pulp. _Hear_ the endless chatter before the fight even begins!' Jeez, I wonder if they've memorized this stuff by now.* The racket by the pond was now catching the interest of Genma and Soun, who finally looked up from their game of Go to watch the coming fight. Also, while Kasumi stayed in the kitchen, Akane finally came down to reluctantly see what was going on with Ranma. As she came up to stand by Twister, she asked, "What's with Mousse, Twister?" "Dunno. He seems pretty confident for some reason." Ranma and Mousse apparently had finished the preliminaries and Ranma waited for Mousse to make the first move. Surprisingly, Mousse jumped to clear the pond towards Ranma. Ranma jumped to counter him, *What's he doing? Isn't he worried that he'll get wet and change?* When they were about to collide, Ranma kicked out at Mousse. In another surprising move, Mousse merely dodged and grabbed Ranma's leg. They collided and momentum to carry them to safety died. Both dropped into the pond with a splash. Ranma-chan came up sputtering and looked around to shout at Mousse-duck. Nothing was floating on the pond though. She was puzzled. *Where'd he go?* A disturbance in the water before her caught her attention. Slowly, before everybody's astonished eyes, a still-human Mousse stood up from the pond and smiled. "Now you will truly pay, Saotome!" He leaped from the pond towards Ranma-chan who scrambled out of the way, too surprised to do much. "How did Mousse manage not to change?" Akane got out in her shock. Getting no response, she looked at Twister and got another surprise. He was pale and staring at Mousse. "Dry. Still dry. Oh, no." Twister was muttering. "That idiot." Akane looked at Mousse again and saw that Twister was right. Even after being dipped in the pond, Mousse was still completely dry. *What on Earth?* Meanwhile, Ranma-chan was really starting to get pounded because she was still surprised over Mousse not changing into a duck, distracting her. The kicks she _did_ land on Mousse didn't seem to effect him quite as much as they used to either. This surprised Mousse a little as well, but he decided to take advantage of the fact as he continued his assault. Worriedly, Akane watched. "Ranma's blows don't seem to affecting Mousse as much anymore." Groaning, Twister explained what must have happened, "Akane, I was at Shampoo's today to try the noodles there. When Shampoo saw my water and stain-proof clothes, she asked if I could make something to protect her own because of the kitchen. I agreed." He sighed. "All it does is protect anything totally immersed in the solution with a thin film of air. Mousse was there at the time and must have taken some of the stuff I enchanted. Also, the reason the blows aren't affecting him as much is that the film of air is cushioning him slightly." With growing horror, Akane heard this story, "So Ranma is at a disadvantage right now! What should we do?" "MOUSSE!" Raising his eyebrows, Twister remarked, "I think the injured party who just arrived will save Ranma's bacon." He saw Shampoo biking rapidly towards the two splashing fighters. "After all, it _was_ intended for her clothes." A thrown mace that hit Mousse in the head got his attention and distracted him enough for a battered Ranma-chan to kick him to the other side of the pond. Coming back up, Mousse faced an angry Shampoo who jumped off her bike and leaped into the pond. She too didn't change. "Uh, oh. She's on the rampage." Twister fairly accurately stated as Shampoo's face revealed her anger. From the Go table, Soun calmly said, "It's a good thing the fish are not in the pond right now." Genma nodded, "Indeed." "Ranma nearly gets killed and all you can think about are fish?!" Akane shouted to the seated pair. "They _are_ hard to replace." Soun shrugged. Mt. Akane was ready to blow when Twister chuckled, "No fish? Hmm. I think it's time to stir the pot then." Turning, she saw Twister intently looking at the pond. Akane was puzzled, "Twister, you can't affect water. Remember?" "Who said anything about the water? It's the _rocks_ I'm heating up in a hurry." Mist was starting to form above the pond as a tired Ranma-chan, and an angry Shampoo fighting a reluctant Mousse, waded in it. Groggily, Ranma-chan wondered at the change of temperature in the water. *It is just me or is the water getting warmer?* Forming mist helped bring Ranma-chan to full awareness. *It is! But...* She saw a concerned Akane and a staring Twister and realized what was going on. *He's heating the water somehow! Yes!* Ranma-chan dived under the water when it started feeling warm. Shielded by their films of air, Shampoo and Mousse didn't really notice the water temperature difference. Neither had really injured the other just yet because of the dragging effect of the water and their thin shields of air. With a SWOOSH, Ranma in male form suddenly shot up right beside a startled Mousse and put all his remaining strength into a surprise punch. Mousse was knocked out of the water and landed flat on his back, dazed. Sighing with relief, Ranma collapsed on the edge of the pond and lay there breathing heavily. Twister, Akane, and Shampoo rushed up to see if he was okay. Shampoo looked embarrassed, "Sorry, Twister. Mousse stole clothing protector when I not looking. Bad for Ranma." "Ranma? Are you okay?" Akane kneeled over an eyes-closed Ranma. He weakly opened his eyes, "I'm okay. Just tired. What's with Mousse anyway?" He shakily sat up. "And Shampoo for that matter." "My fault. I made something to help save Shampoo's clothes from kitchen accidents, but Mousse found another use for it." He saw Shampoo's still sad face, "Don't worry about it. In fact, I'm sorry to say, you and Mousse have already paid a fairly high price. How much did you use on yourself?" "Two teaspoons. One for clothes and one for Shampoo." She looked puzzled now. "Mousse used much more than that, Shampoo think." Regaining his strength, Mousse stood up, "What are you talking about? I see no price for this!" With a smirk, Twister walked over to face an uncomprehending Mousse. "Ah, but there _is_ Mousse. Shampoo's second skin will last a week. Yours... Much longer depending on how much you used. I _did_ mention something about it lasting longer if you used more." He walked back to stand by a now upright Ranma, who had with Akane supporting him. "The _least_ is that the skin feels a little...confining as I tried a much shorter lasting enchantment once. Too uncomfortable for me and it wouldn't work on this form anyway. Another, is the slipperiness of the air skin. Shampoo must have had a hard time coming here on her bike with her mace and _you_, Mousse, couldn't aim your weapons very well for the same reason. I'm amazed Shampoo managed to hit you with her mace. You both must`ve found everything slightly slippery." Shampoo and Mousse reluctantly nodded at that truth. Taking a deep breath, Twister broke the bad news, "The _worst_ part is that _water_ can't touch you!" Everybody looked confused as Twister explained, "It's _fine_ for a day or two on humans, but this spell was for _clothes_! YOU CAN'T CLEAN YOURSELVES OFF!" Comprehension dawned on everyone as Mousse and Shampoo started to look horrified, "After two or three days, you two will...um...be a little noticeable. Shampoo will only have to deal with it about four or five days. _You_, however, Mousse, will have to deal with it a lot longer than that. Maybe two weeks or more. I'm not sure." "Can Twister not disenchant?" Shampoo looked desperate. He shook his head, "I tried that once on a diamond. I disenchanted it all right. Unfortunately, I also _disintegrated_ it too. I'm still new at this." Mousse took the news quietly before replying, "I see. Then I will train outside town as best I can until this spell wears off. I am sorry to have stolen your spell from Shampoo, Twister. _But_, I will be back to be with her once it has." He abruptly turned around and walked away out of sight. "Sorry, Shampoo." Twister apologized. Sighing, Shampoo shrugged, "Is price must pay for carelessness. Besides," Shampoo added with an imp-like gleam in her eye, "Shampoo think likely great-grandmother can disenchant. Too bad Mousse leave before Shampoo think about it." She smiled a little wickedly. "True. Cologne might be able to do that, but I _will_ make some new stuff that will only work on clothes. I should have put _some_ thought into that first spell." "Shampoo thank Twister. Now..." A implike gleam shone in Shampoo's eyes as she looked at a recovering Ranma. "Shampoo get thanks from Ranma." Rushing up before Akane could react, Shampoo hugged Ranma and kissed him. Twister held back Akane with a smile and whispered, "Wait..." Shampoo looked like she was in bliss, but awareness came quickly as she realized something with horror. Releasing Ranma, she ran to the bike, carefully got on, and biked away, leaving a laughing Twister and a puzzled Akane and Ranma behind. Confused, Akane asked Twister, "What happened to Shampoo? That wasn't what I expected her to act like." "Remember that film of air?" Twister got out, "She couldn't feel Ranma's lips _at all_. Just the pressure of them. Must have felt like kissing a greased pole." He continued laughing. Nodding, Ranma agreed, "That's pretty close. I could hardly feel much though it." "So Shampoo can't kiss Ranma now." Akane smiled. "Yup. Ah, well. I'll have to think a bit more about my spells now." "I don't mind." said a now widely-smiling Akane. "She needed _something_ to happen to her after _last_ time." "Ah! So _that's_ why you were mad. Well, what goes around comes around." He viewed Ranma carefully, "Almost feeling human?" Nodding, Ranma managed to start walking towards the house. "I'm okay now." With a small tap, Akane hit Ranma and he fell over. "Okay, huh?" She said sarcastically. "I _would_ be if a certain tomboy would stop doing that!" Twister put a hand on Akane's shoulder to prevent her retort, "Let's get the helpless invalid to bed, hmm? There you two can rant and rave at each other in the privacy a room and not disturb the players over there." He gestured at Genma and Soun. "Thank you, Twister. That's very considerate of you." Genma said from his contemplation of the Go game and Soun nodded. Rolling his eyes, Twister got Ranma back up and he and Akane got him moving. The two were glaring at their fathers as they were guided by Twister upstairs. They got to the room and carefully set down Ranma. Quickly, before either could react, Twister did a silent teleport and came back just as quickly with a small device. With a slight smile, he pressed the play button on the tape player and shouting voices came out of the device. "Pervert!" "Tomboy!" "Peeping Tom!" And so on... The voices were obviously Twister and Nabiki's. Seeing Akane and Ranma's outraged faces, Twister grinned and explained. "Nabiki and I thought that it might be easier for you two if we did a substitute recording argument for you two to play. _That_ eliminates a lot of the effort, don't you think? See ya!" He teleported to the guest room in a hurry. Laughing. Sunday rolled around and Ranma appeared okay enough to practice with Twister. He and Akane seemed pretty quiet today compared to yesterday's hate-fest. Apparently the tape recording worked like he and Nabiki had planned. The two's constant and exactly the same arguments _were_ a little repetitive. Must have gotten it through their heads. Finally. And maybe something else... After practice, Ranma-chan and Twister just sat in the training room, resting till Ranma-chan got enough energy to leave the room. She sighed and rubbed a bruise from the fight with Mousse, "I guess college is a lot calmer than around here. Right, Twister?" The helpless laughter this provoked from Twister surprised her. "I guess not." "Whoo!" Twister calmed down. "Anything _but_! Whatever you got Ranma, I think I caught it. 'Dull' it is not." She proceeded to describe the various events that had happened to her since getting to college. Twister concluded with, "I think the most unnerving thing was the attempt those two hentai pulled to try to get pictures of me undressed. If I hadn't smelled the chemical I wouldn't have been able to counter it in time. Born male or not." "You're pulling my leg." said a disbelieving Ranma-chan. "Aha! I knew you wouldn't believe it! I've have to bring the vial sometime to prove it. It's _potent_. Even _you_ would be affected. I know _I_ would have soon, knowing or not." Ranma-chan snorted. "Hmp. That I'd like to see." Twister just smiled. Around midday, Twister left back for college after saying his good-byes. He was getting better at doing silent teleports and could do them almost as fast as the normal ones he had done before. Yasuro looked around from his computer screen when he heard Twister's door open. "Have fun visiting?" "A fair bit. Some excitement happened, but that's the usual there." Straight-faced, Yasuro turned back to his computer. "Not at all like here, of course." He got a cushion in the head for that one. Chapter Fifteen --------------- Another school day passed and on Tuesday, Natsumi was still trying to think of who could help her with her problems. She was passing though the hallways when she spied Takaya, identifiable by his monk's robe, sitting in the library by himself, seemingly just thinking. Suddenly, he seemed like the perfect person to help her if he wanted to. She took a deep breath and started walking towards him. *He just might. It depends on what exactly he sees in that Itazuka.* Natsumi sat down by the silent figure. This time Takaya was the one startled, instead of the other way around. He had been deep in thought, trying to find a way to get the red-head to marry him. Not very many workable ideas had come to mind. He looked to see who wished his attention and smiled at the sight of Natsumi. "Ah, Natsumi. What can I do for you?" She appeared a little nervous for some reason. "Takaya... I was wondering if you could help me with a few troubles I've been having." Inwardly, he smiled, *Hmm. An opportunity to have her owe me something sounds good to me. I wonder what she wants.* Then memory struck and he frowned. "If you want to kill the red-headed one then I'm not interested." She shook her head. "I only tried that because I was so angry. What I _really_ want is to teach her a lesson, but I don't think I can do it myself." Natsumi glanced at Takaya. "What do you see in her anyway?" Takaya softly laughed, "Just her Power. I want to use it as my own. Unfortunately, the only way to do _that_ is to have her marry me." He smiled. "A difficult task, I think." This statement opened doors of understanding about Takaya for Natsumi and she almost shivered. *He only wants her Power! And to think I wanted him to notice me... Close call, I think.* A nasty smile appeared upon Natsumi's face. "Why don't you help me with another problem and then I can help you with your own. I think tricking her into marrying you would be good enough for me." *Hmm. This sounds promising. It would heighten my chances to have an ally.* Takaya queried Natsumi as to what the other problem was, "Is this problem magical?" "In a way. I found this _fascinating_ boy who isn't magic-talented, but is very good-looking and talented in other ways. Unfortunately, it seems he has a girlfriend who appears to be protected, by something magical, against magic." She smiled widely. "If he's alone I can get him on my own." Takaya nodded, "That seems simple enough. Done then. I think that if we briefly get the girlfriend and find out what protects her then we should have no trouble 'suggesting' her to leave him." He contemplated that plan and then smiled, "Yes, that should do. I would say Friday night would be a good time." Natsumi nodded. "Of course. We should be ready by then and after that... we can focus on Itazuka." They both slowly smiled at each other. Three more days passed and Twister was starting to become a little nervous. Not a peep had come up about Natsumi or, less importantly, Takaya, with whom he didn't think he had seen the last of. Still, he hadn't wasted the week. Prof. Miyabi's class _was_ helping him by giving him new ideas to expand upon and improve in. There was a _long_ way to go, but he was much further along than anyone in the rest of the class. Yuriko was not the only one who asked him for help now and they sometimes got together to discuss topics Miyabi mentioned in class. In other classes, Twister wasn't worried at all since his perfect memory gave him a large advantage, though he still attended them. Magic wasn't so easy since it was more art than merely memorizing topics. He'd had experience in art too and it showed. So did his sense of humor sometimes, which lightened the mood frequently. There were _many_ humorous and time killing ways to use magic. Friday was a free day and he went home to the apartment to get ready to go out on a true 'date' with Nabiki. She had finally gotten tired of his shyness to ask her and so _she_ asked _him_ out. The fact that both she _and_ he had been busy with homework and other things they had to do hadn't helped before either. *Heh. Definitely a woman of the sexual revolution. I guess we _have_ been moving kinda slow. We've been together before, true, but nothing _I_ really considered a date. _This_ will be a date.* He smiled at that thought. As he sorted though his clothes for something suitable, he checked to see how his power level was since it didn't hurt to check. He did this by just feeling with his psionic senses to check it, something Twister had figured out from curiosity. *Hm. Pretty high. I guess I _have_ been eating a lot to practice magic, but I didn't think I had stored _that_ much.* He checked a nearby mirror to see if he could notice it and, yes, he could. *Hmm. Must be more than what I had after the eating contest. I guess all those sweets I've had more than made up for just plain noodles. Still, I have _no_ fat when I'm drained. I can't believe I managed to put that much power into that sword. Have to try the other things I added as well. Sometime.* He was still going though clothes when the phone rang. Letting Yasuro get it, Twister continued until his roommate told him it was Nabiki. Quickly, he picked up the phone, "Yello! Twister's Torture Treats. How may I help you?" Nabiki's voice was anything _but_ amused, "Remember when you asked us to mention anything weird?" Shifting from Funny to Serious gears, Twister seriously said, "What's up?" "The dia...crystals on the necklaces are glowing continuously for some reason...and I'm starting to feel those eyes again." *Oh, shoot. Someone's intensifying _whatever_ they're doing.* Sounding reassuring, Twister talked back to Nabiki, "Okay, I'll just get dressed and 'port over there in a few minutes, alright?" "You'd better make it snappy, Twister. These crystals are _bright_." "Be there in a flash." With that he hung up and hurriedly started to put on some of his enchanted clothing, just in case. "What's up?" Yasuro inquired as he heard Twister's rushed preparations. "Something's going on at Nabiki's and I'm busting my butt to get ready." "Hm. Good luck." "I may need it." While the shadowy figure was not standing outside Nabiki's apartment building, two other figures were. "This is the correct place?" Takaya curiously asked his companion. "That's what I was told." "Hmm." He frowned as something brushed his mystic senses. "Odd. There is something happening around here." Natsumi looked at his worried face, "Like what?" "Whatever it is, it's powerful." Considering a minute, Takaya added, "And apparently very, very evil." "Oh, that's _just_ what I wanted to hear." Natsumi muttered. "I just want to remove a rival. Not wind up face-to-face with something out of our league." Takaya chuckled, "I, as well. Still... It _could_ be the reason the girl was protected by magic in the first place." He continued talking thoughtfully as he stared at the window of Nabiki's apartment, "However, I don't think the protection will last long." Startled, Natsumi thought about it. *Takaya could be right. Maybe it _wasn't_ me that she had been protected against.* "It just failed." Takaya commented. There was a moment of silence. A window suddenly exploded outwards towards the street with a loud boom. A girl's screams could be heard briefly, then silence, followed by another boom. The pair on the street stared at the open window. "Well, I guess that solves your problem." Takaya dryly remarked. Natsumi just kept staring at the window, wondering how Takaya could be so calm about it. As she was about to turn to him, another boom came from the exposed room. A faint voice drifted down to them. Then a shout. "Nabiki!" "Twister?!" Natsumi was shocked. "The boy you wanted? Now how did _he_ get up there?" Wondered Takaya with some curiosity. Another shout. "All right then! Time to get a big shot!" A departing boom sounded out again. Rubbing his shadowed chin, Takaya queried Natsumi, "Do you mind waiting another fifteen minutes? I have a feeling this is not over yet." Natsumi could only nod in confusion. Twister was mad. Simple word, but when faced with a mad Twister you don't argue. This was what Prof. Miyabi did when Twister appeared in her home where she had summoned the demon and called out for her. She was still dressed, as it wasn't that late out yet, and rushed to see what Twister had come for. In simple, brief sentences, he described what Nabiki's apartment had looked like when he had arrived and, grimly showed her some spilled blood he had found. Green blood. Her mystic senses recoiled at the first touch of the stuff and she immediately started preparing herself to go with Twister to the ruined apartment. The evil she had sensed was very strong in magic and malice. With a small bag of various items quickly gathered, she announced she was ready and Twister teleported them back to Nabiki's apartment. Prof. Miyabi started to work. Impatiently, Twister watched his professor use various items to scan the apartment. Finally, she sighed and stood up straight. As if about to face something. "Well?" "Most of it is unfamiliar, but the most powerful trace I've come across before. I'd hoped he would never be able to return. Apparently, he _has_. More's the pity." Not concerned with history at the moment, Twister quickly asked, "Can you _find_ her?" "I think so, if we hurry." She quickly walked towards the hallway. "I'll have to do it on the ground." Twister followed as he entertained himself about what he would do to whomever did the kidnapping if Nabiki or Yuriko was harmed. He was puzzled, however, when Miyabi stopped just outside the building. "Takaya! Natsumi! What are _you_ two doing here?" Totally calm, Takaya stepped forwards with Natsumi nervously behind him. "Just doing some research, Professor, when we saw, and sensed, some form of disturbance up in that apartment. Unfortunately, we didn't see anything. We only heard a scream." The magic duo started when Twister's eyes flashed blue briefly. *What on Earth?* Miyabi and Twister were skeptical, but the professor nodded anyway, "Come on then. We'll need all the help we can get if I'm right about this." She continued swiftly walking away, eyes half-closed, with the other three following. Scared, Natsumi wondered to herself, *_What_ is going _on_?* *_What_ is going _on_?* was Nabiki's thought when she woke up in an uncomfortable position. She tried to speak and found that she was gagged. She was supported in an upright, standing position by bonds to her wrists and ankles. The...getup she was wearing was a transparent, billowy thing which wasn't exactly the warmest piece of clothing in the world. Looking around, she found she was not alone in her predicament. Six other young girls she recognized from her Business courses were joining her in waking discomfort. Not finding Yuriko at first, she saw the helpless young mage tied up, and gagged, slightly behind her and out of the way. Sardonically, she muttered to herself, *I _wonder_ what _this_ could be. I think my first guess would be virgin sacrifice. Lucky me if I'm right.* Now gazing forwards, she saw many dark robed figures gathered around a slightly taller, robed figure. _His_ robes were made of a black, higher-quality looking material with detailed designs barely visible on the cloth. He, in turn, was facing a familiar looking statue. *So _that's_ who stole it. Great, sacrificed to something Twister made because I asked him to. Poetic justice I guess.* Sighing to herself, Nabiki wearily thought on, *This stuff happens to Akane. Why _me_? And doesn't she usually get threatened with marriage and not sacrifice? I hope Twister is as punctual as Ranma. He's better at thinking things out fortunately.* The one who appeared to be the leader walked towards the now-awake captives and pulled off his hood. The other six gasped through their gags. Nabiki had seen worse, but not by much. The man's face seemed etched by Time into a mask of pure evil. A cruel sneer was permanently on his face. It was complemented by a scar on his face that had almost claimed his left eye and stretched down to his mouth. He leered at the helpless girls. "_You_ are the lucky ones to be chosen to be the Seven in our ritual." *We're all thrilled, as you can tell.* Nabiki thought sarcastically. "My Master will be pleased at his receptacle and you Seven will make Him even happier." *Overflowing with joy. That's us.* "I recommend you praying to whatever deities you worship while you can." *I think Money is out. There _is_ one thing better than that though. The big lug.* Now frantic in her thoughts as the leader went back to the statue as mentally screamed out. *TWISTER!* KA-BOOM!!!! A door on one wall of the large warehouse blew inwards in a big ball of fire. Incredulous, Nabiki thought, *Whoa. Ask and ye _shall_ receive.* The startled dark robes turned at the sound of the explosion and saw who entered their domain. An authoritative, beautiful woman strode in followed by a young man in a brown robe, a girl Nabiki recognized as Natsumi, and, as per one prayer request, a relieved Twister looking in her direction. The leader furiously turned around shouting, "Who _dares_ intrude..." His voice trailed off as his eyes found Prof. Miyabi. With a cold voice, she answered his question, "_I_ do, Outcast. What do _you_ think you are doing?" "Is that any way to answer an old _friend_, Miyabi?" The Outcast spat out viciously. "After you and those other mage friends of yours banished me into that prison dimension, I would _think_ you would call me by name!." "Your name is no longer yours, Outcast. _How_ did you escape your cage?" Miyabi's eyes were icy rage as the two users of magic talked to each other. The other three who had come in were doing various things as they were unnoticed for the moment. Takaya was scanning the unknown quantities of dark robes and preparing himself for the battle he _knew_ must be coming. Natsumi was a little scared, she had never been in a large battle. That man the professor was talking to looked like pure evil. Her frightened face caused Twister to have some pity for her. He whispered to her, "I'd get ready. Those two are going to be either duking it out or mister fight-face will send his goons out. They're not human, I think. Green blood. I'll free the girls." Using his 'unnotice me' trick he quickly started towards the captive audience of frightened girls. The professor and the Outcast were still spitting out insults as he cut Nabiki free from the bonds. They hugged briefly and Twister blushed as Nabiki wasn't too decent right now. He quickly gave the very sharp, diamond dagger he had made to Nabiki and whispered to her, "Get Yuriko free and cut down the others. I'll keep watch." As the dagger was one of his quickly made diamond creations, Twister had tried to stabilize it enough so that Nabiki would be able to free the others before it came apart. It was much smaller than his diamond swords so it was easy. The rescue efforts didn't go unnoticed, however, and the Outcast decided to end the reunion. He waved to his followers. "Kill the intruders!" "No you don't!" Miyabi shouted and she launched a bolt of energy at the Outcast. He sneered as two of his followers blocked it with their magic. *Damn! I'll never get him with this interference!* She prepared herself as the Outcast turned to the dragon, ignoring her. Miyabi would have to deal with the Outcast's followers before facing him. The dark robes rushed forwards as the Outcast started chanting at the dragon statue. A misty haze slowly formed above it which was slowly being sucked into the dragon form. The others were a little too busy to notice this sight, however. The dark robes turned out to be some form of snake-man and they all appeared to have magic powers. The more powerful ones struck at Miyabi while the lesser went towards Takaya and Natsumi. Seeing that the girls were not being attacked, Twister ran over to protect the overtaxed and inexperienced Natsumi. When he attacked with hands and feet, his 'unnotice me' trick failed and he startled the snake-men with his sudden appearance. This gave Natsumi time to blow a few away with a fire spell as he attacked the snake-men with fists and feet. The black robed magic-users couldn't seem to stop him because their magic didn't affect him at all and they sorely lacked physical skills. Takaya was hard pressed, but was doing well. Casting a protection spell before the attack had given him plenty of time to cast offensive ones. The experience gave him a chance to really cut loose and he did so with pleasure. Miyabi's battle was something to behold as she fought several attackers at once. Waves of darkness against walls of light. Spiral energy clashing with straight energy. Even in all the confusion of power, Miyabi was obviously winning, and was doing so more rapidly with each attacker down. Soon there were no more serpent-men left. Where _was_ one problem, however. "It is _done_! The binding to your new form is complete, Master!" The Outcast shouted with malicious glee. "Awaken!" "New form?" Nabiki questionably said to herself as she freed the third girl. "That little thing?" The statue started to enlarge and she rolled her eyes. "Of course. It just _has_ to grow." The growth grew more rapid as the statue's eyes opened to examine the lair the huge statue found itself in. Balancing itself as it slowly stopped growing, the statue gave out an amused chuckle. The statue Twister had made was now truly a dragon. "WHAT DESTRUCTION. HOW...HUMOROUS." It dismissed Miyabi, Takaya, Natsumi and Twister as inconsequential and spoke to the Outcast. "YOU PICKED A FINE FORM INDEED. NEVER HAVE I HAD A MORE FITTING FORM FOR MY DRAGON SPIRIT." The head swiveled towards the fear-paralyzed girls that had halfway freed themselves. "AH! THE CUSTOMARY SEVEN." It inhaled in bliss. "AND WITH AN AROMA OF WEALTH TO GO WITH THEIR YOUNG BODIES. TRULY SOMETHING TO SAVOR OVER." The eyes fixed on Nabiki. "I THINK I SHALL START NOW." *Bad mistake.* Nabiki thought through her sudden fear. "Hold it!" Twister shouted as he stepped between Nabiki and the dragon. The others looked on in horror. "No _way_ am I going to let you do that!" Casually, the dragon moved with surprising speed for such a large beast and hit Twister with the back of a forepaw. Hard. Twister went flying towards a thick, brick wall and crashed, with a painful sound, through it. The drake chuckled, "SUCH AN AMUSING INSECT. NOW..." It viewed Nabiki again. "LET'S START THIS AGAIN, SHALL WE?" "Pardon me dragon, but I _really_ think you should know something." Nabiki spoke with a slowly rising confidence. "DINNER THAT WANTS TO SPEAK." The head graciously nodded, "VERY WELL. SPEAK!" It roared out. "I _think_ you may have gotten Twister mad. Big Mistake." BAWOOOOM!! A ball of blue fire shot out from the new hole Twister had made and sizzled the same forepaw that had hit him moments before. The dragon roared in surprised pain. "AGH!! WHAT?! I AM IMPERVIOUS TO MAGIC!" Twister shot out of the hole, flying at the dragon. His eyes were glowing blue and the same color aura surrounded him. With a boosted kick increased by levitation and telekinesis, he hit the dragon on the side of the face. This rocked the mammoth creature. "AGGH! THAT HURT!" It swung its head to face a hovering Twister. The wall behind him had nobody near it. Deciding that enough was enough, the dragon inhaled quickly and blasted Twister with fire. The Outcast smiled at the assured defeat of the surprising young man and turned towards Miyabi with glee. "There goes your last hope, Miyabi!" Miyabi mearly smiled at him. The lack of dismay made him uneasy and the reason for the smile soon became obvious. The dragon stopped blasting and flames died to reveal an unharmed Twister. He had raised an air shield and kept the air around him cool, though it had started getting warm. A diamond sword appeared in outstretched hands and Twister came in close to attack. With the dragon distracted by Twister, Miyabi decided it was time to finally attack the Outcast. His surprise enabled her to get a good shot in and his left shoulder was hurt. Growling, he also started fighting in earnest. Takaya and Natsumi stayed out of the way of the two masters of magic and just watched the surprising show of power Twister was displaying while he engaged the dragon. Takaya was puzzled at this, *What _is_ he using? It's not magic yet it certainly seems somewhat effective against that dragon.* He thought for a second before a likely answer came to mind. *Perhaps...psionics? Well, it certainly isn't magic.* Dodging the dragon's quick swipes at him, Twister finally got close enough to take a swing at an arm. The diamond sword had a blade edge sharpened to the molecular level and could cut through pretty much anything normally. Unfortunately, the dragon's hide was protected by magic and the sword merely bounced off, surprising Twister momentarily. This gave the dragon time to get an accurate hit in which sent a slightly battered Twister flying a little ways before stopping in mid-air. He had barely used his telekinesis in time to protect himself like when the dragon had hit him through that brick wall. "HAH! YOU THINK A MERE SWORD CAN HARM ME?" The angry dragon scoffed. Twister raised his eyebrows, "Oh, really?" Blue flames suddenly sprang up around the diamond blade. "Let's try that again, shall we?" Commencing the same attack run, he flew rapidly towards the dragon again. When he got close enough, he duplicated his previous swing. With much better results. "AGGHH!" Normal blood did not flow from the wound the sword had made, but rather energy that slowly escaped from the slice Twister had made. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT, WORM!" "Visa or Mastercard? Besides, I thought _you_ were the wyrm!" Twister chuckled as he dodged away. Anger had finally fled and he was thinking normally now. Well, as normal as a boosted mind can get. He was thinking faster and better since he was accessing his greater Mind powers. The result of which...was that he wasn't sure what to do. The dragon was _massive_! Sooner or later, someone else would get hurt accidentally and he didn't know how to end the fight quickly without doing _major_ damage around them. The dragon decided to give fire a try again, but this time Twister was more than ready. As the wyrm inhaled, air gathered around Twister. When the giant mouth gaped open, he shouted an old attack he had used once before as he threw a fist forwards. "HURRICANE WALL!" An almost-solid wall of air roared forwards to meet the dragon's flaming breath. Flame deflected in all directions as the wall slowed a bit, but still managed to reach the dragon's open mouth to create a bit of a backlash effect. The dragon stopped the assault, sputtering and gasping in fury. Twister hovered, thinking, *How can I _stop_ this thing?* Spying Nabiki who was watching on the ground, he shouted, "Any ideas, Nabiki?" "It's _your_ statue! How am _I_ supposed to know?!" Head snapping up, Takaya's eyes opened wide as he digested that bit of information. While the dragon was still sputtering, he called out, "Twister! Come down here! Hurry!" Surprised, Twister quickly touched down in front of the third year magic user. "What's up? Got something that'll help with that thing?" "It will if you _really_ made the statue the dragon spirit is currently inhabiting." When Twister nodded the affirmative, Takaya rushed on, "Good. It means you have some power over the spirit since you created the form it now wears. Normally, a mage can forge a mystic link with minor spirits, inhabiting objects they make, to force them to do his will. The link and a greater mind are all that is required." He glanced at the dragon who was almost recovered. "Can you do that with that power of yours?" "I can try." Twister walked up close to the fuming dragon so that he didn't have to concentrate on flying. *Link. That means telepathy. I've never liked the idea of reading other people's minds so I've never tried it, but I believe I have it. Time to see if I do.* The dragon watched warily as Twister stopped in front of it. "SO. YOU HAVE SOME FORMIDABLE POWER OF YOUR OWN, MORTAL. I'VE NEVER ENCOUNTERED IT BEFORE SO I AM ILL PREPARED FOR IT. HOWEVER, I DO NOT THINK YOU CAN TOTALLY PREVENT ME FROM HARMING YOUR COMPANIONS IF I SO WISH." "Maybe, but I don't think so now. You see, I _created_ the form you wear." "INDEED? I MUST COMPLEMENT YOU THEN. I DO REALIZE THAT A LINK MAY GIVE YOU POWER OVER _LESSER_ SPIRITS...BUT AGAINST _ME_? I THINK NOT. MY MIND IS GREATER THAN YOURS COULD POSSIBLY BE." "Wanna bet?" Using his power, Twister stared at his opponent's enormous eyes and tried to reach the ancient mind of the beast. His eyes started to faintly glow blue as he felt the unfamiliar sensation of a direct contact mind-to-mind. The link was established. Both of the physical forms of Twister and the dragon went still as they withdrew from the physical plane into the mental one. Natsumi turned to Takaya with worry on her face after seeing both combatants go still, "Can't we _do_ anything?" "The dragon may be distracted, but it's mystic defenses are still quite strong enough to easily ignore any attempts to help Twister. We can only wait." He looked over at the battle still raging between Miyabi and the Outcast. "As for the Professor...I think it would be wise not to interfere in that as well." That didn't help dispell the feeling of helplessness Natsumi was experiencing. On the mental plane, Twister could mentally 'see' the defenses the dragon had around its vast mind and heard its mental chuckle. A pressure slowly started building around Twister as he started to 'see' things clearly now. A darkness was all around him as he stood on a 'flat' surface. A blue glow radiated from him as a representation of his unconscious defenses. As they were now, however, they were slowly being forced towards what he viewed as 'him'. The time to fight back was _now_, Twister decided privately. That said, Twister accessed his psionic powers slowly and carefully. What he was going to attempt was new and he didn't know what would happen. His defenses stopped shrinking as they started glowing brighter. They were crude shields, but with the mental power Twister now had, they were enough for now. Ideas for future improvements for them started forming as Twister continued to use more of his power. Thoughts became clearer, better, and more far reaching in scope. He could tell his mind was losing extraneous, clouding emotions in the process of boosting his mind. Now, the ability of thinking of more than one thing at a time started up and an active attack upon the dragon began as Twister's mind continued to grow from the power he used to expand it. The dragon was puzzled when the shields surrounding the mortal's mind stopped their collapse. Also, the mind within the shields was visibly starting to _grow_ impossibly. Panic started to grow within the great beast when the mortal's shields started to expand _during_ it's assault. The mind was on a par with his _own_ now and _still_ growing. Suddenly, bolts of mental power shot out at _his_ shields and weakened them a little bit. *IMPOSSIBLE!* The dragon thought as more bolts started tearing at his shields, *HOW CAN THIS BE?* It paused for a second. *VERY WELL. NO MORE PLAY. I WILL CRUSH THIS MORTAL NOW.* The dragon spirit gathered it's mental power and threw a massive bolt at the crude shields of it's opponent. Twister mentally staggered back from the powerful psionic blast. His mind, now computer-like, assessed the damage. *Analysis: Shields weakened 32% Recommendations: Improve shielding using information sensed from enemy mental assault. Increase attack on dragon spirit. Build shields back up. Execute.* The escalation of the, surprisingly still intact, mortal's assault told the dragon how effective it's bolt had been. *THE MORTAL'S SHIELDS ARE WEAKENED, BUT FAR LESS THAN I HAD THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE. MY OWN HAVE GONE DOWN TOO MUCH FOR COMFORT. THE TIME TO FINISH THIS IS NOW.* Gathering it's strength, the dragon started throwing more bolts of the same power as before. To it's astonishment and dismay, the other's shields stayed up and continued to stay up while the dragon spirit's own shields were becoming dangerously low. At the current rate of loss, the dragon's shields would fall first. Unacceptable. The dragon decided to use it's own considerable experience in the mental plane to recover and to try to gain an advantage. Twister was sensing that the other's shields were approaching collapse when suddenly they, and the dragon's mind, vanished. Surprised, Twister stopped throwing bolts and started analyzing what had happened. A bolt came out of nowhere and brought Twister's shields dangerously close to failing. The dragon had hoped to take out Twister with most of his remaining power in the surprise attack. It had almost succeeded, but while the dragon was extremely powerful in magic and had considerable mental power, Twister still had a very large store of psionic energy remaining. He had been unsure of how to use it in the, never before experienced, mental plane and had used what he thought he could handle. Now, Twister decided to use it all to defeat the dragon. He now had new ideas to use, due to his mind being boosted throughout the mental conflict. One thing he did first was to immediately use a powerful scan that pierced the dragon's little cloaking trick it was using. Then Twister let 'er rip. Multiple attacks started hitting the dragon's shields at the _same_ time. More bolts, power-draining whirlwinds, even mind-constructs started attacking him, with only the dragon's defeat desired in their created forms. Quickly, the dragon's defenses crumbled in this multiple assault and the mortal seized control of the tired dragon's mind. Twister stopped expansion of his mind's thinking abilities and decided what to do next. Twister blinked and saw a _very_ worried Nabiki in front of him. "Hi honey, I'm hooome." He chuckled as she hugged him in relief. Something struck Twister then as he looked at the now-normal dragon statue, "You know what?" "What?" Nabiki said with some relief since the battle was over. "That was _very_ tiring to do." Nabiki's hug became a hug of support as Twister, once the wave of exhaustion hit him fully, sagged in her arms. "You may be a big lug, but do you have to show me you're a _heavy_ one too?" Nabiki sighed in amused exasperation as she adjusted for his weight. Twister gave his weary response in a bad Terminator imitation. "I need a vacation." Chapter Sixteen --------------- Seeing the two people in front of him, Takaya marvelled a bit at the recent turn of events. What he and Natsumi had set out to do that night had been shunted to the sidelines as they had been swept up into a brief, but potent, encounter with a major magical force. The professor had continued to battle the one called the Outcast while Twister confronted the dragon. The silent battle between man and dragon had started out normally with both suddenly becoming very still. That had changed when Twister's eyes started glowing a slowly increasing blue. The dragon had started to twitch its front limbs and the body shifting lightly. These motions had stopped suddenly with the entire body going limp in defeat. When that had happened, the various serpent-men had turned into smoke and were sucked into a swirling dimensional disk. The duel between the still battling magic-users had come to a sudden stop when a screaming and cursing Outcast was dragged into a black rectangle that seemed to match his aura. He vanished with the magical portal. This had surprised Prof. Miyabi who had been about to cast another spell before her opponent had been forced to withdraw. The still figures of Twister and dragon seemed to satisfy the puzzlement Takaya had seen in her eyes. All of them had been relieved when the dragon started to shrink back into the statue from which it had originally been. Wounds from Twister's attack vanished as the statue became just that again. With the dragon gone, Twister's eyes slowly came back to normal as the girl, Nabiki, he recalled, in that rather revealing gown, quickly came over to worriedly stand in front of the still figure. Worry became relief when Twister stirred and smilingly made that joking comment before the girl embraced him. Takaya wasn't surprised that Twister sagged with exhaustion in the girl's arms a second later. Defeating that powerful spirit's mind must have taken a lot of effort. Glancing at Natsumi, he was a little surprised at what he found there. Natsumi was sadly staring at the two hugging in front of them. In her quest to become a great magic-user, like all those in her family before her, she had never really been very attracted to boys she occasionally dated. Only for their good looks had she been interested in them, as well as the prestige of showing the current choice to other acquaintances. Friends she had had no time for. However, this battle she had just been involved in had shaken Natsumi to the core. The power that had been displayed here had shown that she had only made a minor contribution to the efforts made by the group. The power Twister had displayed had _really_ shocked her. He had not used magic at all and defeated a supremely powerful, _magical_ foe without it. Even without the surprising fact that he had _made_ the statue, Natsumi had numbly thought that the dragon and Twister had almost seemed equal for a time. The automatic defense of Nabiki and his helping _Natsumi_ when they had both been in trouble had unplugged Natsumi's ears to some things inside _her_ that were crying out to be heard. The sorrow, shock, and confusion she was feeling now was a direct result of these acts. She felt and looked lost. The almost forgotten Yuriko, who had been standing far out of the way with the freed and frightened girls, noticed Natsumi's expression. She could sympathize with Natsumi right now on that point. She too felt a little lost after this rapid turn of events, but felt compelled to see if the other girl was okay. Quietly she went up to Natsumi while a curious Takaya looked on. "You okay?" Yuriko softly smiled at Natsumi. Natsumi started slightly and turned her head to blankly look at Yuriko. In a confused voice, she asked, "What?" "Are you okay? I know _I'm_ feeling a little out of my depth here, but then I'm probably more used to it than you." Yuriko sighed and looked around the big warehouse. "All this is _definitely_ beyond me. I just wanted you to know you're not alone right now." A thankful smile started forming on the normally aloof Natsumi's face. "Thank you. I'm just feeling...small. It's...disorienting." Hearing the conversation, Twister gently broke off he and Nabiki's embrace since he had recovered enough to stand on his own power. Smiling in their direction, he softly spoke to Natsumi and Yuriko so that the scared business students couldn't hear him. "Maybe doing something familiar will help. Putting those _much_ more disoriented students to sleep for the moment would help. I'm sure Yuriko would love to join you. Great experience for her." "Sure! Come on, Natsumi! You can teach me how to do that!" With that said, Yuriko dragged the still disoriented Natsumi away. The small smile on Natsumi's face that promised a future lightening of her attitude. The professor rejoined them after examining the statue and the area around it minutely. She raised an eyebrow at the departing girls. "Hmm. _That_ one may brighten Natsumi's spirits. Finally." Turning to Twister, she smiled. "I _do_ hope you realize that the dragon was just toying with you before your fortunate link with it." Nabiki was about to object, but Twister just nodded. "Yeah. I found that out when I looked in it's mind. It didn't want to expend powerful magic at such a...minor annoyance." He chuckled. "It might have been surprised at the results with most spells if it _had_ done so. Still...it was fortunate that I was able to send it back that easily." Nabiki snorted, "_Easily_ he says." Looking down at herself she reddened a bit and added, "Can we go home soon? This...thing isn't much to wear." "I noticed." Twister smirked before she hit him in the side, causing him to lose his balance briefly since his tired state made him a bit unsteady. At Miyabi's amused chuckle, he turned to _her_. "Are you going to try to remove this night's experience from those girls while they're sleeping?" The professor nodded. "Yes. I think that would be best." She heard thunder outside and grimaced. "Getting them home will be another matter in the rain. We'll have to change their clothing as well." "That should be quite simple, professor." Takaya confidently said. Yuriko and Natsumi returned from the now-sleeping girls. Natsumi sarcastically said, "I didn't know you were such a _women's_ fashion expert, Takaya." This caused chuckles all around when they saw Takaya realize that his experience with such things was practically nil and looking bemused as a result. "Well, you guys dress 'em up and I'll help with teleporting them to a close spot to where they live." Twister sighed wearily, "One heck of a Friday night." A fact was remembered and he slowly turned to look at Natsumi and Takaya. "By the way... _Why_ were you two by Nabiki's apartment again?" Nabiki raised a suspicious eyebrow at that. "Ah...we were involved in a research project, I believe." Takaya said as Natsumi looked faintly guilty, a fact which surprised many present. "Right." A glance in Natsumi's direction created more guilt there. He just sighed. "A little more than that I think, but...all right." Twister started towards the statue, but stopped halfway. "Hm. Better just leave that and phone the police anonymously. To think that such a smallblubbb!!!" Rain had gathered on the roof of the old warehouse and had nowhere to go due to stopped up drainage devices. The weight had finally caused a series of events which resulted in a downpour of rainwater falling right where Twister happened to be. The others laughed out loud at Twister's drenching. This stopped when half realized what had happened and the other half stared at Twister's change. Dripping water, Twister progressed through various feelings in a very short span of time. First, horror at the badly timed change, then a resigned expression as if she knew this would occur. Finally, a peeved look filled her face as she shook both hands above her. "Did that _really_ have to happen?! Gah!" She looked very weary and just sat down at that spot, head sagging tiredly. A similar change of emotions was showing on Natsumi's face now as well. Shock, furious anger, puzzlement, and calmness showed in progressive order. The calmness slowly changed into a slightly hysterical laughter. "So...much for...your plan...to _marry_ 'Itazuka'," she chortled at a mightily shocked Takaya. Twister's head snapped up at that and focused on the male magic user. "Marry?!" Her eyes narrowed. "Not that 'marriage to get wife's magic' ploy. I've already gone through _that_ once. I'd rather not do it again, thank you very much." An angry expression was on her face as she stood up and started to stalk Takaya. "Calm down, Twister. I think that particular idea just got shot down anyway," smirked Nabiki as she regarded a weakly grinning Takaya backing up from Twister's stormy advance. Stopping, Twister eyed Takaya before reluctantly nodding. "True. At least it _better_ be. Sometimes the fact I can only do magic in this form really gets complicated." "So you're really a _guy_, 'Itazuka'?" smirked out a calming Natsumi. "Yup. Had to come to class like this though." "_That_ had been a surprise," Prof. Miyabi sighed. "I think we had better finish things _here_ first." With a sloppy salute, Twister got to attention, "Yes, ma'am!" Rolling her eyes, Miyabi muttered, "This is going to be a long night." Since hot water was unavailable, and no one wanted to tire Twister any further, the group had to rely on the more experienced magic-users to transport the now-normally clothed girls back home, sans memory of the night's traumatic events. Takaya was still in a state of shock over Twister's unintentional revelation of his dual nature. A changed Natsumi accepted this fact a lot better. Likely due to Twister's performance against the dragon which gave him a _lot_ of status in her eyes and made her previous defeats _much_ more acceptable. When they returned to Nabiki's apartment, they found that the disturbance had amazingly not been noticed yet. This gave them time to fix up the damaged apartment quickly. With her usual pleasure at doing such, Yuriko happily found out how to do most of the clean-up magically since she knew better than anyone else what everything looked like before. She went to bed very quickly after finishing though. The professor decided that she wasn't needed anymore and went home with a smile before disappearing. The same thought hit Takaya and he vanished as well. That left Nabiki, Twister, and Natsumi. "So I guess I don't have to worry about you trying to fricasee me again?" Twister inquired Natsumi. He had found hot water and was back in male form again. He and Nabiki, who had found normal clothes, were sitting on a couch, facing a blushing Natsumi. "Ah... I was very angry then, Twister. Sorry about that." Twister waved a hand. "The sword thing wasn't very nice of me either and..." He blinked. "Oh, jeez. I'd forgotten all about those. Be right back." Vanishing silently, Twister soon reappeared with a thick envelope which he handed to a puzzled Natsumi who opened it. "Um... This was when I thought you were trying to kill me." Natsumi became very red and slightly angry. "TWISTER!!" "Are they _that_ bad?" "You didn't look at these?" The thought made Natsumi calmer, but she was still slightly red. Nabiki was curious at the other girl's reaction, "What are they?" "Ah, the two guys I gave Natsumi to were hentai's who were waiting for _me_ to come out. I was a little mad at the time." Twister rubbed the back of his head. "I found out they took photos and asked for an extra set. Just in case. I don't think I really need them now." He sighed. "They tried again, but I think they've given up on me. Hopefully." "If _they_ took my bra..." Natsumi slowly gained a humorless smile as she forced herself to look at the photos. Shaking his head, Twister replied, "You won't have much luck there. I think they burned it when they found out how far-reaching you can be." Disappointed, Natsumi pleaded to him, "_Who_ are they then?" Twister laughed at that. "_Mud_ I would say. When I reversed the effects of a pheromone they used, every girl in smelling range wanted to pound on them." Natsumi was barely mollified when she heard that. "I don't think you need to do anything else to them. Besides, they're friends of mine. Unfortunately at times." "Well, I don't know about you two, but I know _you're_ beat, Twister, and it's late." Nabiki stood up. "You also have your usual lesson with Ranma tomorrow." "True. I really need some shut-eye." He smiled at Natsumi. "Thanks for helping tonight, Natsumi. Ta!" He vanished. Natsumi sighed, "I'd better go too." "Just a second. Before you go I just want to know something." Nabiki crossed her arms. "You and Takaya were planning on 'changing' my mind, am I correct?" Thinking about denying it for a second then giving up, Natsumi sighed and nodded. "We were. I won't try that again." A slow smile grew on her face after that statement though. "I guess I'll have to try it by non-magical means then. I'm new at that, but I can learn! Bye!" Before Nabiki could retort, Natsumi slowly vanished like a Cheshire cat. Narrowing her eyes and smiling, Nabiki spoke to empty air, "We'll just see about _that_." With that pleasant thought, she got ready for bed. When Nabiki went into her room, an invisible Natsumi opened the front door and slipped out. She wasn't too good at teleporting like Miyabi and Takaya. Fortunately, Nabiki mistook invisibility for teleportation as she didn't know what Natsumi could do. While it couldn't be seen, Natsumi wore a large smile on her face. *I guess we _will_ see, but _this_ time you don't.* When Twister 'ported into his room, he walked out to see how Yasuro was doing. The person in question turned around at Twister's door opening. "Everything turn out okay?" Seeing Twister collapse laughing on the couch after hearing that answered his question. "I guess so, but I gather it must have been interesting." Twister chuckled while still on the couch. It was very comfortable and he was very tired. "Oh, fun and a half. An insane, evil mage, serpent-men mages, and, joy of joys, one powerful dragon spirit inhabiting a statue, with whom I had a _fun_ time fighting with. I would say it was an interesting evening." Smirking at a gaping Yasuro, he added, "Care to join us next time?" Closing his mouth, Yasuro stared at Twister. "No thanks, I'll pass." He blinked. "_Dragon_??" "Don't worry. They're gone. Had help from my professor of magic, Natsumi, and Takaya, which helped a _lot_." Twister mused out loud. "At least I don't have to worry about Natsumi trying to kill me now. Darn rain." "So she knows now?" "Yup. I'm going to sleep. Just thought you might want to know." That said, Twister fulfilled his statement and went back to his room after regretfully leaving the comfortable couch. Yasuro shook his head as he turned back to his computer. "That guy has more things happening to him..." Twister poked his head out between his door and added, "Oh, by the way... How are the trouble twins?" "Still in unbearable pain and agony I heard last. Of course they came over to complain about their woes. They looked like they were surviving." He chuckled slightly. "Then again, I don't think they feel like it right now." Twister laughed as he closed his door again. Chapter Seventeen ----------------- Days passed, and then weeks as Twister and Nabiki studied. Twister was doing very well in all his classes as he continued to study magic in the 'special' one. Surprisingly, or maybe not given what happened in the old warehouse, Yuriko and Natsumi became fairly close friends. The second year Natsumi started helping the eager Yuriko with magic along with Twister since she had experience with what they were learning already. A now different Natsumi smiled a lot more and didn't use as much make-up. She also wasn't as forceful to get Twister, but she did still indicate interest at a lower level which didn't scare him away, much to Nabiki's annoyance. Nabiki and Twister were going on more dates now and their feelings towards one another were beginning to deepen, much to Natsumi's annoyance. This emerging triangle was starting to give Twister some worries. The trips back to the Tendo home gave him some relief from the tensions it was causing. Eventually, Twister became almost as good as Ranma and was satisfied with that. Ranma did decide to teach him one of the special techniques that he knew so that their practice fights would be more interesting. Twister liked it because he thought it was neat and it would be a nice thing to have for his female side to use. Fighting each other released a lot of stress for both fighters. At some point, Twister decided to use his male body in their practices and they found out that, when he first arrived, he had been unconsciously using his psionic abilities to slightly boost himself. That explained why he had seemed stronger than Ryouga and Shampoo before, as well as faster than Ranma. With his improved control from martial arts training, Twister didn't do that anymore. He gave Ranma a good fight, but still lost. One embarrassing time was when Twister brought along a sample of the pheromone to prove to Ranma that he hadn't been lying about the stuff. Unfortunately, he had left a closed sample vial and Ranma-chan alone in a room when Akane and Kasumi wanted a telekinetic hand with _something_, he didn't know _what_, that Akane had made in the kitchen. A chuckling Twister and a miffed Akane had returned to the door of the room a little later to see the proof of how potent the chemical was. When Twister opened the door they froze in the doorway at what they saw. Reacting quickly, Twister had pulled Akane back from the door and slammed it shut. While Akane was still stunned, he ran back to the kitchen and got some hot water. He returned to the door, used his 'unnotice me' trick, and went inside. A minute later, both he and a _very_ embarrassed, now-clothed Ranma emerged. Before Ranma or Akane could say anything, Twister had said, "I _told_ you that stuff was _powerful_! Don't drop a glass vial like that while looking at it next time, hmm?" Ranma had flushed at that and then Akane when Twister added, "At least you had been looking at Akane and not _me_! Good thing you weren't _both_ in there." He would have continued, but the two threw him into the pond. After several months into the college year, Prof. Miyabi told Twister to wait for a minute after the period was over. All through class Twister wondered what it could be and was itching to know when class finally ended. After the students left, including Yuriko, Twister walked up to a smiling Miyabi. "What's up?" Standing by the chalkboard, Miyabi started to talk, "Remember when I mentioned a while ago about some 'things' I had to do, but could not accomplish on my own?" Thinking for a moment, Twister finally nodded, warily. Miyabi sighed, "Well, apparently one of those tasks needs to be done very soon from the information I received yesterday." She paced the floor now. "There is an evil spirit who is bound in a magical trap in China. Every thousand years or so, the main component that binds the creature needs to be replaced as the creature strives to corrupt it in order to free itself. It is a crystal that must be found naturally and is enchanted to become a powerful transportation device. The power of the enchanted crystal keeps the spirit trapped in one spot. Unfortunately, it takes at least four powerful magic-users to make it, and they must be female as well. The Guardian of the creature is an old teacher of mine and I promised that when I found a powerful enough apprentice that we would help her and _her_ current apprentice create a new crystal." Miyabi frowned now as she continued. "However, she and I have had trouble _finding_ apprentices with a powerful enough mystic aura to do the job and the current crystal is nearing it's breaking point. In desperation, she has taken _two_ apprentices, instead of one, in order to get enough power for _her_ half. _You_, Twister..." She smiled, "You have a powerful enough aura more than necessary to be one of the magic-users so all together we should not have any trouble." Walking up to Twister, she laid a hand on each shoulder. "I _need_ you to come with me on Friday night." Twister smiled wryly, "Doesn't sound like I should _not_ go. I'm in." She raised an eyebrow. "How do we get there?" With relief, Miyabi answered that question easily, "I have a stone from the village to home in on and I know the place to go to. Getting back is easy." Thoughtfully, she looked at Twister. "You had better stay as a girl, just in case." "Huh? Why?" "The village is called the 'village of the Amazons' for good reason and..." She noted Twister's pained look. "You know their laws of combat there then?" Twister sighed and nodded, "I've heard of it from someone I know..." The next few days Twister ate furiously in order to make sure he had enough energy for what he would help Miyabi with when he left on Friday. He told Nabiki that he was going to go help the professor with something magical, but wisely refrained mentioning _where_ as it would only worry her. When Friday afternoon finally came, he sent a letter to Ranma saying he couldn't make it that weekend and got ready to go. The Dragonsword he took with him for helping with the enchantment of the crystal. An option Twister had put in the sword was to make it a _focus_ for mystic power to make the use of magic easier. Another option let Twister shrink the sword to fit into a special holder he had made for it under his shirt. With that done, he was finally ready and teleported to Prof. Miyabi's. In the village of the Amazons, worried eyes viewed a once-pure crystal, the old village scrolls said it had indeed been that way, that was now black as coal. *I hope that old friend of Mistress Perfume gets here soon with her new apprentice. The crystal won't last another week, I think.* The person contemplating the enchanted crystal was a very lovely young girl whose long brown hair framed her face beautifully. She was standing in a magically protected room that had a large, flat, circular stone in the middle. It was pitch black and matched the color of the crystal that hovered above the center of the stone. Her brown eyes regarded the crystal with concern. Another girl confidently strode into the room and spoke to the now tense occupant mockingly. Not willing to give the raven-haired girl any satisfaction at seeing her so nervous, Lotion chuckled as she kept her eyes on the crystal. Lotion didn't see the fiery flash of anger in Masque's eyes, but she could sense it all the same. The slightly taller and older apprentice gave out a lot of insults, but didn't receive them too well. Masque's voice was angry as she spoke again, She snorted. A voice from the only door to the room quelled Lotion's response. An ominous light was present in their Mistress's eyes as she arched her eyebrows at a nonrepentant Masque. The Mistress of magic was very old, but did not show her true age thanks to magic. Tall and regal she stood, confident in her formidable abilities. Perfume's beauty was enhanced by the wisdom found in her eyes. She turned to Lotion. Lotion shuddered at the idea. Perfume turned around and was about to leave when they heard a loud pop outside. She smiled. With an eager Lotion and a smirking Masque behind her, Perfume regally walked outside to meet the new arrivals to the village. Lotion was wondering what the new apprentice would be like. *I hope she's not like Masque. It's not likely since she is as new as I am. I wonder if she's pretty...* She blushed at that thought. One reason she had accepted Perfume's offer of apprenticeship after finishing third at the last martial arts competition was that she didn't want to have to follow the village laws about being defeated by an outsider. That had happened to the best, Shampoo, a few years ago by that girl who had wandered in that Lotion had been so attracted to. The village was still puzzled over Shampoo, Mousse, and the old martial arts Mistress, Cologne, staying in Japan. Shampoo was apparently having trouble getting that male Ranma to marry her and nothing was being said about that female Ranma that had defeated Shampoo before the other Ranma did. The two sisters, Linlin and Ranran, had gone to check, but they weren't saying anything. Very curious indeed. She sighed. *When I found out my...tastes were different, I decided not to take the chance of getting married to some man I don't want _or_ having to kill a girl I _do_ want. Magic allows me to escape that martial arts fighter's rule for outsiders by simply not fighting. No one usually _wants_ to physically fight a mage. I hope so anyway.* There was a commotion outside when the three wielders of magic left their large home. Their new guests were surrounded by angry villagers with the reason being obvious once they looked at the two new arrivals. Lotion was shocked. *It's that same girl who beat Shampoo! She looks taller now and filled out a bit more, but it's _her_! Is _she_ the apprentice??* A momentarily taken aback Perfume paused for a second before striding into the circular crowd. She and her two apprentices were almost into the center when they heard a loud and frustrated voice speaking in Japanese. "For the _last_ time! I am _not_ Ranma!" Finally through, the three saw the reason for the red-headed girl's shout. The two girls, Linlin and Ranran, were standing a short distance away from the newly arrived pair and looked ready to attack the girl with the red-hair. A worried Miyabi was looking around and spied a bemused-looking Perfume standing inside the circle with relief. "Perfume! Could you get those girls to calm down and not attack my apprentice, please?" Regaining her composure, Perfume looked at the angry, red-haired girl and saw the very powerful mystic aura surrounding her. Perfume had witnessed the female Ranma defeat Shampoo and had discretely checked for mystic ability, to prevent cheating. She had seen nothing there except an advanced martial artist's focused aura. This was not the female Ranma. Raising her hands, Perfume shouted out to the gathered villagers around her. Turning a questioning gaze to the red-head, she asked in perfect Japanese, "What _is_ your name?" "Twister," she sighed with relief. "Thanks for the save. Two points." Twister warily watched a disappointed Linlin and Ranran walk away into the crowd. Miyabi raised an amused eyebrow at Perfume. "I didn't expect _this_ kind of welcome, Perfume." With a bow of apology, Perfume smiled slightly at Miyabi and Twister. "Forgive my village. Your apprentice looks exactly like a girl who defeated the champion of a martial arts contest a few years ago." Twister snorted. "Hmp. I didn't think they would be _that_ mad. Shampoo didn't look like it." That caused Perfume to blink. "You know Shampoo? Has she found and killed the female Ranma yet?" *Eep! I guess Shampoo and the others haven't said anything about Ranma's curse. Shoot.* She shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know anything about killing a _female_ Ranma, just that she's still trying to catch a _male_ Ranma. Cologne's helping. Mousse is there as well." "Mousse?" Perfume chuckled mirthfully. "That could explain the delay. My sister is sure to speed things up though." "Sister??" Looking at the beautiful sorceress before her, Twister was understandably startled. "You two certainly don't look it...er...I mean..." She stopped to prevent further embarrassment. Perfume laughed. "One of the many benefits of magic you shall find." Remembering the purpose that the two had come for, Perfume went on, smiling, "But now I must introduce you two to _my_ apprentices." She waved the two standing behind her forward to be presented. "This is Lotion and Masque. They shall both be helping with the new crystal. I had been worried about the strength of your student, but I need not worry about that now. She is quite strong I see." Twister blushed at the praise as Lotion looked at her with curiosity and something else. Masque was not gazing with the same friendliness as Lotion and had a rather annoyed look about her as she heard Perfume's statement at the new arrival's power. "Shall we start the preparations then, Perfume?" Miyabi was anxious to start. "Yes." Perfume turned to address her students. That said, she and Miyabi walked off into the large house, leaving an awkward feeling Twister behind. "Come then. Not stand like dumb statue," Masque impatiently said as she too went into the large building. "Sheesh! Hold your horses." Twister smiled at the curious Lotion. "Do you mind leading the way?" She noticed that Lotion was still looking at her. "Hello?" Starting, Lotion quickly bowed to hide her blush and swiftly turned to lead the way into the house. "Of course. Follow Lotion." As she walked towards the house Lotion sighed to herself. *Such a cute looking girl. Too bad she won't be here long...* Inside the house, Masque was maliciously plotting. *So. The new 'prentice is stronger than me in magic is she? We'll just see how _smart_ she is.* She smiled wickedly as she recalled Lotion's ill-concealed expression when she had seen Twister. *And I think I can teach that uppity Lotion a lesson as well.* Her wicked smile broadened. Chapter Eighteen ---------------- As it was late when they arrived, Twister merely had a quiet dinner with Lotion and Masque and retired to bed early. When she woke up the next morning, Twister realized that there really wasn't anything for her to _do_. *Great. Even homework would be good for something. Hm. Maybe not...* She sighed. *Maybe I should just practice martial arts and also try my sword-swinging ability.* With that decided, Twister took out the shrunken sword and had it return to normal size to use. *Let's see if I can use this thing any better...* Masque had left Lotion to watch the crystal as she went to check on the new guest. Her plans for Lotion and Twister were still, as yet, unformed, but she was sure something would come up. Hurried sounds of movement inside the guest room made her wonder what Twister was doing. When she opened the door, what she saw surprised her. Whirling around with amazing speed was Twister, with a finely-crafted blade in her hands. She appeared to be pretending to fight a horde of imaginary attackers. The expression on her face seemed to be a mixture of frustration and determination. This puzzled Masque, for the speed of the sword made it just a blur, but the reason soon became clear as she noticed that Twister's swordwork didn't look practiced, just random. Twister finally noticed her audience and immediately stopped swinging the sword around. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't see you." "Not problem." Masque cocked her head curiously. "That nice sword." Sighing, Twister idly swung the sword around, "It is a nice sword, but I've never been trained for it's use. Useful though." _That_ made Masque's eyebrows shoot up. "Apprentice with sword strange to Masque. How well sword cut?" Smirking, Twister found a towel nearby and placed it over the sharp edge of the sword. It immediately parted in two from the combination of gravity on both halves of the towel and the sharpness of the sword. "Pretty good, I'd say," said Twister chuckling. "Good thing it doesn't touch human flesh." "It magic too?" Masque was starting to feel more than a little jealous about this girl. Strong magic and owning a sword that was beautifully made, uncannily sharp, and magic as well. *I just _have_ to do something to this one, but what can...* An idea formed in her head and she smiled to herself. Bowing, Masque backed out of the room. "Masque must go now. See Twister in little while." She left. *Hm. What was _that_ about?* Twister wondered at the uneasy feeling she had. Around noon, Twister finally left the guest room and looked for someone to talk to. No one seemed to be around which puzzled her. Hearing a crowd outside, Twister went out to see what was going on. Once out the door, however, she faced an angry looking mob of women which surprised her. *Huh? I thought that Ranma look-alike business was over.* One of the women stepped forward and gestured angrily at Twister to come with them. Puzzled greatly, Twister decided to follow the woman to find out what was going on. They walked a little ways, with the mob angrily surrounding them, until they reached an large, open area with a rope suspended log over a steaming? pool of water. *Uh, oh. Hot water.* Twister scanned the crowd. *What _is_ going on?* "TWISTER!" cried a familiar voice. "I challenge you!" *???* Surprised at the voice, Twister called back. "Lotion?? What's going on?" Lotion jumped onto an end of the suspended log with a quarterstaff in her hands. She looked spitting mad and Twister was _wondering_ like mad why Lotion was acting thus. "I _not_ let Lotion _or_ village be insulted by Twister!" She expertly spun the quarterstaff in her hands. "Twister must pay!" "Say what?! But..." Twister's protests were ignored as she was herded towards the log. Before they dumped her in the water, Twister did a high, expertly done leap and landed on the opposite end of the log. This display of ability surprised Lotion and the others watching. "Mind telling me what this is about now?" "Lotion not talk! Lotion will fight Twister!" She started to approach cautiously, having seen Twister's leap. *Oh, boy.* About three steps away from Twister, Lotion lunged forward with the quarterstaff, aiming to knock the red-head unconscious. It was avoided by a swift dodge to the side that blurred Twister with the speed of the move. The young, Chinese magic-user, who had not neglected her martial arts skills, started using rapid-fire lunges to try to hit the, frustratingly hard to hit, target. Twister was used to speed. Training with Ranma made sure of that since the practice fights they had made Twister mostly focused on trying to avoid, and hit, the lightning-quick Ranma. Fortunately, Lotion wasn't as fast, but dodging her staff took a fair bit of concentration. Seeing her lack of results, Lotion stopped her attack and moved in closer, weapon humming as she spun it through the air in practiced patterns. Her expression showed her controlled fury at whatever she thought Twister had said. On the other hand, Twister was _thinking_ furiously. *Okay, let's think about this. Nothing I said _yesterday_ seemed to offend anybody _this_ badly...so it must have happened today. Who did I speak with today....?* Realization hit as she warily watched Lotion's quarterstaff coming closer. *Masque!! Why that little..!!* Twister spared a little attention from Lotion to scan the crowd for Masque, and found her. Smiling widely where everyone else was frowning. Turning hastily back to Lotion, Twister started talking. "Well, Lotion," she ducked to avoid the staff, "apparently, I've unknowingly said _something_," make an attack with a quick leg sweep that Lotion jumped to avoid, "to offend you. Or _have_ I?" Lotion was starting to look confused as she continued attacking. Not wanting to fight Lotion because of some misunderstanding, Twister hadn't really tried to hit Lotion, but to stop her attacking and get her to listen... Twister took a chance and managed a kick that hit the staff in the middle and broke it in half. While Lotion paused in shock, Twister sighed, "Consider who _told_ you this and see _who_ is laughing at this pointless fight." Lotion was confused for a moment. Then a horrible realization started coming over her and she turned her head to stare with great shock at the smiling Masque. The two pieces of her quarterstaff were held loosely in her hands. Twister didn't know if Lotion would feel honor-bound to finish the fight or not, so she swiftly used a roundhouse kick to hit Lotion in the head just hard enough to dislodge her from the log and into the hot spring. As the surprised Lotion hit the water, Twister finally remembered something she had forgotten, due to martial arts conditioning for finishing fights with Ranma. Something _very_ important. *OH, NO!!!! Damn!* With one hand holding the sword, Twister slapped the other hand to her forehead. *I forgot those rules about outsiders!* Angrily, she turned to look down at a grinning Masque. "Having fun over _starting_ this mess?" "Masque have _great_ fun, Twister! Stupid Lotion actually believe Masque!" She laughed gleefully as the crowd started to slowly realize what had happened. About to continue, Twister was interrupted by a splash and a thump. Turning to face Lotion, she was surprised when Lotion sadly kissed her on the cheek. Moving away from the kiss, Lotion looked at Twister silently, but her eyes showed sorrow and remorse over what had happened and what she had to do. That brought Twister over the edge. "That's it!" she cried angrily, startling everyone. Stepping off the log, Twister dropped into the hot water below the log and was quickly below the surface. The watchers were wondering what Twister was doing when a larger and more powerful looking form shot out of the water in a great leap and landed in front of the now-shocked Masque. Twister was now a handsome, muscular _male_. Smiling wryly, Twister said, "Surprise!" and swung the Dragonsword swiftly down on Masque's head to everyone's horror. Especially Masque's, before the sword passing through her head and body rendered her unconscious. He had freed and expanded the sword just before hitting the water. "_That_ should teach you a lesson for a while." He snorted. "Until you wake up likely." Twister looked around at the stunned faces of everyone present and grinned. "I'm going to dry off. Ta!" That said, he teleported into the guest room he used. The frozen Lotion, who was still standing on the log, slowly came out of the shock Twister's change had caused. A thoughtful expression came to being on her face and stayed there a while as she gazed at the unconscious Masque. Then another kind of expression went onto her face. She smiled broadly and her eyes drooped seductively. Not a good sign for Twister. *Well, that was incredibly stupid,* Twister sighed mentally as he dried himself off with TK-controlled air. *Though, thinking back on it, I don't know how I could have avoided that. I was confused by the challenge and too angry when I realized that Masque had set us both up. Must be something going on between her and Lotion, even though Lotion doesn't seem to be one who initiates this sort of thing.* With an amused, but weary chuckle, he went to the kitchen to find some water to change back. *They're used to me the other way.* Perfume and Miyabi were tiredly going into their own rooms after completing the preparations for the crystal. They had stayed up all night and used a fair portion of their strength to do so. Nevertheless, Perfume reacted swiftly when she saw a strange person walking in her home. She cast a paralysis spell at the unknown, young man before Miyabi could say anything and confidently strode forward to question him. Perfume was shocked beyond belief when the intruder, who should have been made completely immobile, blinked and smiled at the two approaching women. "Finished, Professor? Perfume?" Before a shocked Perfume could say anything, Miyabi quickly nodded, "Yes, Twister. We were just going to get some rest for tomorrow." She cocked an inquiring eyebrow at the male Twister. "Why are you like that? Did something happen?" Twister sighed and nodded, "Yup. I think Masque told Lotion that I said something _bad_ about her and the village for some reason. Lotion was furious and challenged me. I defeated her." Miyabi just shook her head. "Well, I was confused and angry! I didn't know _what_ Lotion was so mad about until I saw Masque, smiling like a maniac when everybody else was frowning, and put two and two together. This made me _very_ angry when I saw how sorry Lotion looked when she realized what had been done so I jumped into the hot water we were fighting above and gave Masque something to remember me by." Twister shrugged. "Too late now. I'm going to change back since I came that way." That said, he walked away towards the kitchen. Disoriented by the torrent of information, Perfume turned inquiringly at Miyabi who sighed and started telling her about Twister. When dinnertime came around, everybody who was going to be involved in the changing of the crystals was sitting at the table. Perfume and Miyabi had gotten some rest and looked more alert then when Twister had last seen them. Masque had changed clothes, since Twister's slice had split her garments in half, and was sullenly refusing to look anybody in the eye, just concentrating on her food. The person who was making Twister nervous was Lotion. Twister had thought seeing her 'future husband', Twister winced inwardly at that thought, as a girl would disappoint her. Such was not the case. On the contrary, Lotion was looking at Twister in a very lazy manner, which unnerved Twister to no end throughout the meal. The nervousness Twister showed was noticed by Lotion, making the Chinese apprentice smile lazily. A reprieve came after everybody finished and Perfume clapped her hands to gain their attention. She spoke calmly, "The new crystal had been made ready for the power we shall give it tomorrow morning. I suggest we all retire early now to be at our peak for the energization of the new crystal. We must all be careful, for this time the restraining crystal is very weak and near the breaking point." Perfume looked around the table at everyone. "_Very_ careful." That said, she stood up and went to retire for the day. Twister agreed wholeheartedly with that statement and quickly left for her own room, Lotion's eyes following her all the way. Around midnight, something woke a groggy Twister from her sleep, but she wasn't sure what it was in her sleep-drugged state. Half-opening her eyes she took a brief look around the room before closing her eyes to contemplate the scene viewed. Nothing had been moving and everything had seemed to be in their proper place. Twister sighed and thought that her mind must be playing tricks on her. With that settled, Twister let her mind drift back towards sleep as the sigh beside her corresponded with the arm just under her breasts tightening around her slightly. *SAY WHAT?!?!* That fact woke Twister to full awareness in a hurry as her eyes flew open and her head turned to view the arm's sleeping owner beside her. Lotion had slipped under the covers that she was using and was now closely nestled beside Twister with a contented smile on her face. In a detached thought, Twister mused, *Hmm. Shampoo did this to Ranma too, I think. Must be something to do with the customs here.* She blinked her eyes to gather her thoughts back into something approaching calm to figure out how to deal with this 'little' problem. Lotion apparently felt her movements, likely due to the very close proximity to Twister, and opened her eyes to smile dreamily at the nervous red-head. Trying to keep it together and not panic, Twister calmly said, "Um... What are you doing, Lotion?" "Rule of village say Lotion and Twister must be married now since marriage law more important than one of death." This, unfortunately, did not seem to distress Lotion. _Trying_ to distress Lotion, Twister replied, "Doesn't it bother you that I change forms? And that I'm female now?" "Not bother Lotion. It good since Lotion not have to kill Twister now." *I'd make that _try_ to kill and this definitely is not good. Does it get much worse than this? Nabiki's gonna _KILL_ me,* Twister mentally groaned inside. "As for being female, Lotion like _much_ better than male." She directed a steamy look at Twister. *Urk!!!!* The meaning of what Lotion had just said wasn't lost on Twister. This, combined with all the other distressing thoughts racing through her mind, managed to temporarily short-circuit her mental processes. In other words, Twister fainted. Thinking Twister was tired and had gone back to sleep, Lotion smiled a little more and snuggled closer to the unconscious Twister. The next morning found the five enchanters standing on the edges of the black, circular stone where the evil spirit was imprisoned. Hovering over the center of the obsidian seal was the old, blackened crystal. It seemed to be wavering in its place. Perfume told them this was a sign of its upcoming destruction. Twister had brought along her Dragonsword to help focus her power, but she realized that it had never been tried that way yet. Now was _not_ a time to see if it worked. She was also trying, and failing, to not think about her trouble with Lotion. Getting up silently and leaving before Lotion woke up had been a major accomplishment. A nerve wrecking one as well. Twister had managed to divert her thoughts by cooking something big for everyone since she had gotten up early, the usual when she had a large store of energy. The large meal prepared had surprised everyone, but Perfume had wisely nodded saying that they could use the extra energy. An unfortunate result was that Lotion seemed even more happy with Twister when she tasted the food. Perfume brought Twister's thoughts back to the present as she slowly walked towards the old crystal. Taking a bag from her belt, she opened it and took out a wondrous looking crystal. It was sapphire blue in color, but a very pure form of the shade. Viewing it brought forth memories of clear blue skies on summer afternoons when a person didn't have a care in the world. Unusually, the crystal could not be seen through. Even at the thinnest parts of it. Perfume carefully held the new crystal above the old one. Holding it in place for a few seconds, she suddenly released the stone. It hung in place above the corrupted one as she returned to her original position in the ring. Perfume spoke, "Now we shall start filling the crystal with power. I shall go first, then Miyabi, Masque, Lotion, and then Twister. Continue to do so until I tell you to stop. We will be finished then. Just imagine a flow of energy going from you to the blue crystal and the crystal shall do the rest. To stop, merely stop visualizing. Now we begin." Raising both hands towards the crystal, Perfume effortlessly started filling the crystal with power by means of a tan colored beam of energy connecting her with the crystal. Miyabi was next and with a little effort managed an orangeish beam to the crystal. Masque and Lotion took longer to start, but soon candy-apple red and emerald green beams came from them respectively. Now it was Twister's turn. *Here goes.* She took a deep breath and started concentrating as she raised her hands into position. As soon as the imaginary conduit was created in her mind, Twister felt a slow, drawing away of energy and she saw a purple beam was connecting her to the sapphire colored crystal. Absently, she noticed that her's was the largest beam by a sizable amount with Perfume and Miyabi close seconds. Lotion's beam was slightly larger than Masque's which seemed to put the owner of the red beam off a bit. Meanwhile, the new crystal was starting to spin and glowing from a place deep inside it. For half an hour, the five let the crystal drain their mystic energies so that it could complete the purpose of its creation. Finally, the crystal, which was a spinning blur by now and shining brightly enough that the watchers had to turn their heads away, started to slow down and shine less brightly. "_Stop_!" cried Perfume as her beam quickly vanished. The others rapidly did the same. Watching the blue crystal, Perfume carefully waited until the spin stopped and the glow died to a faint luminescence before saying with a relieved sigh, "It is done. The new crystal is in place where the old crystal was when _it_ was put in. The evil is contained safely again." Walking towards the center again, she went on, "Now we must carefully dispose of the corrupted crystal..." An uneasy feeling that was familiar gripped Twister. *What?! What's wrong?* She tried focusing the feeling and noticed it came from straight ahead...in the direction Perfume was walking in. The feeling was getting awful strong my the time Perfume reached the center. Suddenly, realization struck. "The _crystal_!!" Twister shouted aloud as she instantly started running to a startled Perfume. Masque and Lotion were puzzled, but Miyabi understood Twister's sudden panic and she started forwards too. Twister was by Perfume when blood red cracks started to appear on the corrupted stone. By the time Miyabi reached them, the old crystal shattered. Not in a normal way, however, did the crystal break. Instead of exploding _outwards_, the shards of crystal were sucked _into_ a spot of evil red light, glowing malevolently where the heart of the corrupted crystal had been. The implosion's force was great near the center. Twister had to hold Perfume and Miyabi tightly to prevent them from being sucked in and consumed in the light. Masque and Lotion looked on in helpless horror, while barely staying where they were. If either tried to move towards the three, they might not be able to stop and thus doom them all. The red light pulsed once and, involuntarily, beams of power came from Perfume, Miyabi, and Twister, to connect with it. *It's that evil spirit bastard!* Twister thought as she struggled from the implosion with the two she was holding on. *It's corrupted and _taken over_ the old crystal. The crystal controlled _space_ and its sucking everything around it into some kind of portal created by the remaining energy of the old crystal. Couldn't prevent the new drain with _this_ as a distraction!* The red light was getting stronger and the blue crystal above it was very slowly coming down. *No! If _that's_ destroyed...* Feverishly Twister thought and came up with a desperate idea. *If _that_ thing can take over the crystal, then so can I! There's already a link, albeit unwillingly done, so...* Managing to focus as she held the other two in place, Twister concentrated on the angry red spot in the center of the effect. Gah. Watched too many Star Trek reruns. Demanded an ancient and angry mind who had primary control over the crystal. She started to battle for control over the energy of the old crystal. The mind chuckled evilly. The other mind was too strong for her. In her other form she could have enhanced her mind to defeat him, but that was not possible now. <_We_ shall see to that.> Called out two new minds. Twister got new hope. Perfume's mental voice chuckled. Together, the three friendly minds forced the strong, but single mind slowly away from his control over the energy of the old crystal. Realizing that his hold was weakening, and that it would be gone before freedom would be gained, he howled in rage. Deciding on what to do, he did the one thing he could. Before they could try to stop it, the evil spirit gave a powerful command to the corrupted crystal's energy with which it was so familiar with. The implosion effect stopped and the three staggered as the force that was pulling them in disappeared. The red spot was quickly glowing brighter and Twister, from an accidental slip the spirit made in its rage, knew what was about to happen. Knowing she couldn't move quick enough, Twister instead flung Miyabi and Perfume mightily towards a stunned Masque and Lotion before the red energy struck. _Something_ swiftly flowed out of the center of the evil red glow and enveloped Twister in it's Otherness. The flow was erratic and caused Twister's mind to become chaotic as well. Memories and past experiences rushed by painfully and Twister's senses reeled at the onslaught. She screamed. Struggling to get her confused mind into some kind of order, Twister focused on one particular memory that felt stable enough to concentrate on. With most of the power left in her, she _threw_ that destination at the glowing red spot with all her might. The power that Twister had left was formidable, even after the new and old crystal's draining. The desperate unleashing of Twister's power released the red spot from the off-guard, evil spirit's control. The spot's color went from evil blood-red to purple. Unfortunately, the process that had started was unstoppable now and could only be redirected to the destination Twister, in her scattered frame of mind, had given it. Also, the now-purple spot was unstable as well. With a final burst of purple light, the purple spot and Twister, still encased in Otherness, vanished. All that was left in the center of the room was the softly glowing blue crystal. Miyabi, Perfume, and Masque, were speechless with shock. Lotion slowly fell to her knees and stared, with tears starting to form in her eyes, at where Twister had been last. Now just empty space. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- End 'o story two ------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------ You want to shoot me now don't you? -------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, that's story two. I'm still writing story three, but I have to say that it's not the Ranma universe. Most of these stories I'll be trying something different in mind. Whether it's a particular series, adjusting tone, or just something I haven't done before. E-mail address is umsteff2@cc.umanitoba.ca -- ============================================================================== Darren Steffler a.k.a "Twister"- mail at ==============================================================================