Bert: Greetings folks! We're at it again!  (Impressive size for something
that started as a few joking lines in an email, isn't it?  ^_^)

Darren: Now THERE'S an understatement if I've heard one. -_^  Started
out small, but grew into this monster. Hope you faithful readers enjoy it.
And now........

Bert & Darren: IIIIIIT'S SHOWTIME!!!!

------------=========================================---------
----

          TWISTED PATH 4 - NERIMA KNIGHTS

                    Written By:
        Darren Steffler and Bert Van Vliet
                         

Part One - What Knight be this?
-------------------------------

     It was quiet inside the simple room used for housing the Amazon
magess Perfume's guests. The futon on the floor was made and, strangely,
a chair split in twain was set aside on the floor near one corner of the
room.
     Suddenly, flames burst into existence in the empty area's center.
This was no ordinary fire, for it blazed a purple color and left the
floorboards untouched. The flickering flames rose to new heights, then
died out as quickly as they'd erupted.
     Two beings now stood revealed in the room.
     The Chinese village of the Amazons might not be home, but for
Darlene, the name Twister had gotten used to calling her female form, it
was a welcome sight for sore eyes. It had been a long time away for her
and, while she had left some dear friends behind in the other universe,
coming back through the Void was an achievement that she was now
pretty certain she could repeat if needed. Given enough practice.
     "Are we...back?" the other person she had brought with her asked
hopefully.
     "Yeah, I think so, Ryouga," she replied, sighing and smiling with
relief as she looked back at her trans-universal companion. Somehow,
Ranma's rival for Akane had wound up in the universe that, for her, she
had been thrown into two years ago. Exactly how that had happened was a
mystery, and Darlene idly pondered whether it had anything to do with
wormhole theory. After a moment, she dismissed that speculation and just
wrote it down as part of Ryouga's strange ability to wander anywhere.
     "I'll change and send you to the Tendo dojo." Seeing the
bandanna-wearing young man drift off into love-lorn visions of Akane,
she shook her head and shrugged off the backpack she wore, dropping it to
the floor. Rummaging through the pack produced quick results; she made
a pleased sound and took an invisible object from it.
     One mental command later, and the red-headed girl was shrouded
in darkness. Split seconds after that, the diminutive red-headed female
was replaced by a tall, armour-clad form. The armour was crystalline in
appearance, and apparently modeled after ancient medival knight armour.
Black plate etched with silvery designs was interconnected by a fine
shimmering mesh. It was an impressive sight in the mostly empty room.
The sudden appearance of the armour suit immediately jarred Ryouga out
of his wistful trance.
     Inside the armour, Darlene had become Twister, the male side of
his forms. He had originally started out as male, but some major events in
his life had blessed, or cursed depending on your point of view, him into
switching back and forth between the two sexes. He had mostly gotten
used to his female side during his stay in the Bubblegum Crisis universe.
Mostly.
     "Okay, Ryouga, I'm going to send you to the dojo," Twister's
distorted voice told his companion; it was the Crystal Knight's voice when
he wore the magical armour. "Please don't mention our little... trip, okay?"
     Ryouga stiffened indignantly. "Do you doubt my hon..." His voice
ended abruptly as he had vanished due to Twister's teleportation power. It
was rude, but the psionist had no desire to delay his own agenda. He
wanted very much to see Nabiki again and there were a few minor matters
to attend to first before he could do that.
     "Minor?" the Crystal Knight muttered aloud, shaking his armoured
head disbelievingly as he went over that last thought. 
     "I wish it were...."

SOMEWHERE ELSE.....IN A UNIVERSE NOT-SO-FAR AWAY....

     A loud, droning whine carried over the muted grumble of the late
afternoon traffic choking the streets of downtown Mega-Tokyo. A few
pedestrians noted the noise as they shoved their way through the milling
throngs of people on the sidewalks, and looked around for the source. The
noise grew louder, beginning to override everything. A few car drivers
even leaned out through their open windows, thinking perhaps that a jet
plane was coming down overhead. The drivers immediately in front of the
rubbernecking motorists were not happy, as loud bangs announced the fact
that a few collisions had just occurred because of it.
     With the roar of powerful jet turbines, a silver-bedecked figure
shot down the length of the street, flying at about fifty feet above street
level. The brightly shining figure was humanoid in shape, looking vaguely
like a robot of some kind: heavy armour plating covered it entirely,
coloured mostly silver, with some blue plating on the shoulders and torso.
Its head had a v-shaped slot where its eyes should be, the slot glowing a
bright red colour and seeming to glower ominously at everything. Blue
`wings' jutted out from the sides of the head, approximately where the ears
on a human would be. Short wings stuck out from its back, and people
with really sharp eyesight were able to discern jets of some kind on the
figure's back.
     After a casual glance, it became obvious to even the most callow
observer that the flying object was a powered armour suit: a hardsuit. It
appeared to be completely oblivious to everything on the ground below it,
concerned only with its flight. When it reached the end of the street, the
gleaming hardsuit shot into the high skies. The silver vision vanished
within moments into the low-level clouds and towering peaks of the city
skyscrapers, leaving the commuters below to ponder the strange sight
they'd briefly witnessed.
     SkyKnight cast a last glance over his armoured shoulder at the
rapidly receding traffic below, grinning to himself. While he wasn't
supposed to be buzzing the everyday traffic when out for a `leisure flight',
at times it was just too much of a temptation. The looks on the faces of
some of the civilians when he flew by were priceless. He chuckled again
to himself, remembering some of the more shocked expressions he'd seen.
     The silver-clad Knight Saber banked sideways as a radio
transmission antenna whipped past him. He weaved a tortuous path at
breakneck speeds through some of the nearby rooftop structures, just for
the hell of it. Bert grinned to himself; God, he loved flying!! It had been so
long since he'd just gone flying for fun, he couldn't remember any of the
details. All he knew now was that it felt fantastic, and nothing was going
to ruin his enjoyment of the moment.
     There was a loud, crashing explosion of some kind that rocked the
air behind him, the noise fading out into a sullen rumble.
     "Aw hell," SkyKnight muttered to himself, casting a glance at the
gloomy-looking sky overhead. "Bloody thunderstorms. Great." It was
funny, though; he'd checked the weather forecasts before becoming
airborne, and there hadn't been any mention of rain. Oh well, time to head
home then, and....
     The world suddenly seemed to blow up. A loud, almost electrical
crackle filled the air around him, and SkyKnight suddenly found himself
bathed in coruscating purple light.
     The air seemed to become uncomfortably hot; energy sizzled and
spat around him, every warning light his hardsuit possessed flashing into
life on his viewscreen. Shutdown warnings, overload warnings, collision
warnings... What the hell was going on?! Had he been caught in a
lightning strike?! Impossible, his mind answered a moment later; if it had
been lightning, he'd have been dead. Besides, who'd ever heard of
PURPLE lightning before?
     SkyKnight threw full power to his jets, trying to outrun whatever
had overtaken him. For a moment, it seemed as if he'd been successful, as
the radiance filling his sight seemed to diminish a bit. Then it was back,
along with something else.
     Something started dragging him backwards through the air.
     "What the hell is going ON here?!?!" the silver hardsuit roared,
thrashing around in midair. He was very definitely being dragged
backwards now, when according to his readouts, he should have been
hurtling forwards at better than 500 km/h airspeed. SkyKnight looked
behind him to see what, if anything, had a hold on him.
     When he saw what it was, he immediately wished he hadn't
looked: a huge, pitch black rift was apparently floating in midair about
twenty feet behind him, and long tongues of purple-white energy were
streaming from the rift. The energy streamers were licking like hungry
flames on a piece of wood on his hardsuit exterior, although there didn't
appear to be any effects incurred as a result. Air howled into the void with
the roar of a speeding freight train, and it appeared to be adding the
mysterious suction that was slowly drawing him in.
     "Oh my God, this isn't happening! PLEASE tell me this isn't
happening!!" Bert prayed fervently; no divine entities appeared to be
listening to him, however. Instead of an answer appearing, or the
phenomenon disappearing, a bright pinpoint of purple light began to grow
in the center of the gaping hole in the fabric of reality. He stared numbly
at it, dry-mouthed with fear as it swelled and grew; part of his mind was
screaming in anguished protest at what was happening. It just wasn't
possible; it defied all earthly logic! It was insane!! It....
     "AAAAAAAAARRRGH!!!" The agonized yell was torn from the
silver hardsuit as, with an echoing boom, a violently flaring burst of
purple-lit energy shot from the void in front of him, and slammed square
into his chest. Knives of pain seemed to slice through him instantly as the
energy wave washed through him, searing every fibre of his being with a
fiery-feeling shock. The wave passed through him like he hadn't been
there, continuing on to loop around behind him in midair, almost like a
snake curling around on its prey.
     SkyKnight fought desperately to escape the impossibility that was
happening to him. Jets screamed tormentedly, trying to wrench him loose
from the inexorable pull that now had him less than ten feet from the rift.
His mind shuddered away from the brief glimpse he'd had of ...of ... his
mind refused to put a definition to the whirling images he'd seen inside of
it, instead opting for gibbering in fear. He had to get away!!!
     The curling energy bolt behind him seemed to pause briefly, then it
pounced on the struggling Knight Saber mercilessly, enveloping him
completely...and shoving him forwards into the blackness of the rift with
its impact. There was another rolling detonation, and the rift collapsed,
leaving no indication that it had ever existed at all.
     Below, the sprawling metropolis continued to hum with its normal
activities, unaffected and uncaring.
     SkyKnight, however, had vanished with the rift.

RANMA UNIVERSE...

     Several minutes had passed since the disaster occurred, and Prof.
Miyabi still couldn't believe what had happened.
     She had asked Twister to come with her to the village of the
Amazons to help in the creation of a new sealing crystal. The crystal kept
a powerful and evil spirit bound into black stone, stone that she currently
stood upon. It was the duty of the chief magic-user of the Amazons to
renew the crystal when it became too corrupted by the evil of the spirit.
     Perfume, who was the current Master and an old friend, had asked
her for help; a great honour for Miyabi who knew the elder magess'
standards. A female apprentice of some power had also been requested, a
role Twister fit perfectly despite being male half of the time. They had
come and, after a few minor mishaps, completed the crystal. Miyabi
bitterly remembered her sense of accomplishment and pride when they
had finally finished that task.
     Unfortunately, the older crystal had been left for too long, and it
was only with Twister's warning that they had been even half-prepared
when the crystal imploded. The spirit had taken over its power and tried to
destroy the new lock to its prison. Miyabi, Perfume, and Twister had
succeeded in driving back the evil, but not before it had done one last bit
of revenge: Twister had been sucked into a rift and, with all the free power
in the room fouling her mystic senses, there was no possible way to track
her.
     "<She CAN'T be gone!>" Lotion cried out in Chinese, wrapped in
Perfume's arms as she feebly tried to get to the place where Twister had
disappeared. Masque, Perfume's other apprentice, kept silent as she stared
at where Twister had vanished.
     Perfume knew Miyabi did not know Chinese, so her response was
in Japanese. "I'm afraid she is, child. And without some kind of link, it
will be nearly impossible to track her...if she survived. Inter-dimensional
travel is very hard for magic-users in any case without some help."
     Miyabi rebelled at this appraisal of the situation. "But it HAS been
done!"
     "Yes," Perfume agreed. "And do you know any beings that would
help you, willingly? I do not; it is no light task." Lotion looked up
hopefully at Miyabi.
     The Professor slumped in defeat. "None, right now," she admitted
reluctantly. Lotion's face fell at her admission, and she buried her face
against Perfume in despair, weeping.
     "MAY I LEND ASSISTANCE?" boomed a voice. Startled, all
whirled towards the source, and eyes widened with surprise at what they
saw.
     "Who are you?" Perfume demanded of the powerful looking form.
     "I BE THE CRYSTAL KNIGHT," Twister responded. "I WILL
HELP THEE."

IN AN UNKNOWN PLACE, SOMEWHERE OUT THERE....

     Endless tracks of light blurred past, whipping streamers of
illumination that were nearly impossible to see. Whirling nebulae of
brightly glowing mists peppered the stark blackness of the void, flashing
by at speeds that defied the imagination, and description. There were
invisible zones of blast-furnace heat, followed by regions of cold that
made the Arctic seem temperate by comparison. It was impossible to tell
if time was passing or not, since there was nothing, no solid, fixed,
familiar point of reference he could use to judge by. There was only a vast
blackness, terrifying in its immensity. 
     The Void, in its immensity, has many regions. Darlene knew of
only the white featurelessness of a totally empty `area'. Bert, on the other
hand, was going through a more `cluttered' area, thus the blackness.
     SkyKnight tumbled through the blackness of the void, a flickering
silver speck caught by forces beyond his comprehension. A pulsing purple
glow surrounded him, and extended out behind him like a comet's tail,
marking his trajectory for any beings that were watching.
     "Come on, Bert," he muttered to himself. "Wake up, dammit! This
isn't happening!! You're dreaming! For God's sake, WAKE UP!!!" His last
statement had more the sound of a desperate plea for help, and he shut
himself up before he could completely panic. It was only through sheer
willpower right now that he was staying calm...well, mostly calm, anyway.
     The void surrounding him was so featureless, he couldn't really tell
if he was upright or upside-down, although he had a vague impression of
being spun around every so often. There was also the feeling of fantastic
speed; even though he had nothing to base it on, he had a hunch he was
flying faster than normally possible. He again experienced a surge of
angry frustration over his predicament, the feelings of complete
helplessness not improving his frame of mind in the slightest.
     He tried again to see if he could break free of whatever had a grip
on him, but it was a futile effort; his suit refused to move, or even respond
to him. It wasn't a malfunction, he was sure of that much at least. It was
just like...like technology didn't work here, or something was preventing
its function. His viewscreen was working, allowing him glimpses of the
rare sights that there were to see out here... wherever `here' was.... but his
suit was frozen solid; he couldn't move a finger now if his life depended
on it. The only other thing he could see was the pulsating purple glow that
was all around him.
     The silver-and-blue battlesuit sped onwards into the darkness of
the strange, somehow dimensionless void, like a piece of paper caught in a
tidal wave, trailing purple streaks of light.

RANMAVERSE...

     Perfume warily looked at the armoured form in front of her. Even
with the fog of leftover power from the incident, she could sense the
mystic power of the being's armour. However, what was disconcerting was
the fact that she could not sense the being himself, or itself; it was as if the
being WAS the armour. Stranger things had been birthed by magic,
however, so it was entirely possible. In any case, she felt no evil in the
creature, so she did not attack.
     "You wish to help find our missing apprentice?" Perfume asked
cautiously.
     "YES, I DO. HOWEVER, T'WILL TAKE MUCH TIME."
     "In your terms or ours?" Prof. Miyabi queried; some beings had
different preceptions of Time than humans.
     "MINE. UNKNOWN FOR THY HUMAN SCALE." The stranger
shrugged. "T'WILL BE FASTER USING PERSONAL EFFECTS, AND
WITH THY," he pointed at a startled Miyabi, "HELP. YE BE HER
MENTOR?"
     The Professor nodded. "I am."
     "THEN I WILL START. I WILL NEED THY HELP IN THE
FIRST. NONE OTHER WILL LOOK, OR LONGER IT WILL TAKE. WE
GO NOW." Surprised, Miyabi began to protest, but both she and the
stranger vanished before she could say a word.
     "<Why do most non-human powers do that?>" Perfume said
sourly. Having someone just pop into and out of rooms without so much
as a greeting or farewell was extremely annoying.
     Surprisingly, the black and silver form reappeared, and spoke to an
amazed Lotion, whose tears were still flowing. "DO NOT WEEP, LASS. I
BE SURE THE...LOST ONE IS UNHARMED."
     "R-really?" the young woman sniffled.  The helmet nodded,
although it seemed oddly hesitant to Perfume. "Then I thank you." Lotion
sniffed once and smiled.
     There was a pause, then the armour vanished again.
     "<Strange...>" Perfume muttered, brows furrowing. She shook her
head after a moment, and decided to dwell upon it later. "<Come you two;
we have much to do.>" She left the room and her two apprentices
followed.
     Lotion turned back once for a long moment, before reluctantly
turning away.
                       *****
     Miyabi raised an eyebrow when she realized that it was her own
house that she now stood in. The strange being hadn't followed, but her
own pack, and Twister's, had. Another, larger backpack that she didn't
recognize also sat with the bundled belongings.
     The armoured being then appeared, and she was willing to swear
that she heard it sigh. Nonsense. "All right, where do we start then? I don't
want to waste another minute," she said impatiently.
     "WE BEGIN," the being loudly began, then its voice went down to
a normal volume, "with a confession."
     "What?!"
     A dense black cloud shrouded the armour briefly, startling Miyabi,
and then disappeared, leaving behind something that startled her even
more. Her jaw dropped, almost to the ground, and her eyes widened.
"TWISTER?!?!?" Darlene's shoulders slumped.
     "Yes. I..." She didn't get a chance to say more, for Miyabi rushed
up and hugged her tightly, cutting off what she was going to say. Darlene
smiled and hugged the relieved Professor back. "It's good to be back."
     Miyabi released the young woman and held her arm's length away
from her, as if she was disbelieving her own eyes. "How...how did you get
back? And why like THAT?" The fact that she meant the `powerful being'
act was obvious.
     "Took two years," the red head muttered, eyes downcast. "I finally
got around to it from the place where I ended up."
     "Two..." Miyabi began, then frowned as she looked at Darlene
carefully. "That's far too short a time to come up with something like
trans-universal travel, especially at your age. Age... You don't... You
haven't changed at all!" she accused.
     "Well, that's two things to blame on the Event: an easier time
casting spells, and a lot longer lifespan," Darlene said bitterly. At the
Professor's questioning frown, she wryly added, "I found out a few things
about what had happened to myself when I was away."
     Prof. Miyabi could tell this was a touchy subject for her student so
she changed the topic...for the time being, anyway. "Why didn't you tell us
who you were at the village?" Seeing Darlene's sudden hesitation and
slight blush gave her the answer.
     "Twister!" she scolded Darlene, who looked down at the floor,
shamefaced. "It's because of Lotion, isn't it? That was NOT a nice thing to
do, AND," she stressed, as Darlene was about to say something but closed
her mouth with a snap, "you're only avoiding the issue."
     "Can you bloody well blame me?!" Darlene protested indignantly,
temper rising. "Sure she's a lovely girl and, from what I could tell in the
brief time we met, she's a very nice person! I guess I SHOULD be flattered
that she's also attracted to me! BUT WHEN I'M FEMALE?! AND THAT,"
Darlene was shouting now, making Miyabi recoil in surprise at the
outburst, "IS WHY I'M SO BLOODY AFRAID OF HER!!!" She stood
there, panting when she was finished, glaring at Miyabi.
     "You don't need to shout to answer me," the Professor said in a
deceptively mild tone, rebuking the angry young woman. The red-head
visibly deflated at her words.
     "Sorry." Darlene blushed in embarrassment as Miyabi continued to
look at her silently. "My personality in this form changed a little while I
was away. I'm...a little more emotional now."
     "So I see."
     "I just... I just need more time to think about what I'm going to do
about Lotion."
     Miyabi raised her eyebrows. "And what about Natsumi and
Nabiki?"
     "I love Nabiki, not Natsumi," Darlene said without thinking, then
her eyes widened, slapping a hand over her mouth, as she realized what
she had said in front of her magic professor.
     "At least you can make up your mind on one thing, and shows why
you don't want to face Lotion if it's another you love. I mean, besides the
other reason. Can't you just tell her no?"
     Darlene gaped at her incredulously. "You've never tried dissuading
an amorous Amazon whose attracted to someone, have you? Trust me, if
she's ANYTHING like Shampoo, no will not work. DEFINITELY not
work," she said glumly, depressed.
     Miyabi shook her head. "Well, at least you're back safely, even if
the others don't know yet. After being gone so long I'd better just tell you
to go home, unpack, and try to get ready for classes tomorrow." Miyabi
smiled, with a familiar gleam appearing in her eye. "You can tell me what
happened to you after classes. It's not every day I get to talk to someone
who has been to another universe and I'm very curious as to how and why
you made that armour." Seeing Darlene's hesitation, she smiled again with
more humour and waved at the red-head to move. "Go on, get out of here."
     Darlene smiled back, more reassured. "Okay. It's great to be back,
but I think I'll run. I've done enough non-leg transportation for today." She
hefted her bag, and, acquardly, the larger backpack that she had brought to
carry mementos back from the Bubblegum Crisis universe.
     Before she left, Miyabi keeping the door open, Darlene hesitated
and said, "Professor?"
     "Yes?"
     "Um, could you please call me Darlene when I'm female?" she
asked quietly. Seeing Miyabi's startled look, the red-head explained
further. "I used that name for my female half in the other universe,
and....I've gotten used to it."
     "Very well...Darlene."
     Darlene smiled her thanks, and rushed off, eager to return to her
apartment.
     Miyabi shook her head and had to agree that...Darlene did seem
different in personality.
     At least her story promised to be an interesting one.

SOMEWHERE, SOMEPLACE....

     Time becomes meaningless after a certain point in a journey,
moreso when the traveller has no idea where he is, how he got there, or
where he is going. SkyKnight was discovering that first hand; with nothing
to use as a frame of reference, not even his suit chronometer, he felt like
he'd been hurtling through space indefinitely. In fact, he was beginning to
think he'd died, and had been sentenced to fly uncontrollably forever
through the hereafter, alone. The long journey was starting to wear on his
mind, driving it close to the breaking point as the lack of scenery began to
border on sensory deprivation; it had gotten worse when the blackness
turned into an even worse, blank whiteness. He was morbidly sure that, if
something didn't happen soon, he was going to lose his mind and go
crazy...if he wasn't already insane and hallucinating all of this.
     The minute Bert realized he'd spoken that aloud, he wished he'd
kept his mouth shut: he was now hurtling towards some kind of a swirling,
multicolored cloud, one that seemed to crackle with energy. SkyKnight
began to sweat as he saw blue lightning bolts play over its surface
periodically, and he went dry-mouthed with fear. He was never going to
be completely easy around electricity again; Hollister and his torture
device had seen to that. Whatever that cloud was, he had no desire to see
it up close.
     With frantic desperation, SkyKnight tried to move...and yelled in
surprise as his sudden, violent motion turned his trajectory into an
end-over-end, high-speed cartwheel, as if he was spinning around his
center of gravity. Overcoming his surprise at being able to move again, the
silver-clad hardsuit fired his jets, trying to halt his forward motion.
     Nothing happened; his jets didn't respond.
     "Aw goddamn it! NOW what?!" he snarled to himself. SkyKnight
tried some of his other systems as a check: scanners, lasers, beam sabers,
emergency thrusters, railgun launcher ... all of them refused to function.
Damn it, everything should have been working! All his status readouts
indicated normalcy, and apparently everything was functioning....except
the chronometer, he suddenly realized. Time was definitely NOT on his
side, but had appeared to have taken a holiday; the clock LED readout was
very firmly stuck on 12:00 AM, like a VCR after a power outage.
     Floundering around, Bert was able to stop his tumbling motion
after a lot of trial and error, and resume what he thought was an upright
position. The cloud loomed larger and larger on the `horizon' the entire
time, and he was sure he could almost feel an atmosphere of .... expectant
waiting?
     With terrifying swiftness, SkyKnight shot into the cloud. As he hit
the fringes of the phenomenon, he thought he glimpsed something `far' off
to the side of his current position. He had the brief impression of a huge
maelstrom of energy that was emitting a raging torrent of purple and blue
light. That was all he had time to see as the cloud swallowed him
completely.
     There was the instant feeling that he'd stopped, somehow, almost
as if he'd hit a spongy wall. Everything was bathed in a diffuse white
glow, with other speckles of colour occasionally flashing into brief view.
Bert looked down at himself, and noted that his suit was still outlined by a
purplish glow. That was all there was to see; the rest was a vast expanse of
whiteness unlike the Whiteness of the Void outside.
     "YOU ARE NOT YET READY." The voice, if it was a voice,
throbbed with power and authority, almost rattling his teeth. It seemed to
come from everywhere at once.
     "What the hell's that supposed to mean?! Who are you? Where am
I?!" he shouted back, feeling suddenly very lost and alone. His amplified
voice sounded in his ears like a very poor imitation of the voice that had
spoken.
     "YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE."
     "Well then send me home, dammit!!" he yelled. "I didn't ask for
this!! Just get me out of here!!" SkyKnight looked around again, and still
couldn't see anything.
     "IT IS TOO LATE, THE DIE IS CAST." SkyKnight was almost
willing to swear he heard the voice sigh before it continued. "YOU HAVE
THE POTENTIAL, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE."
     "Now wait just a minute," SkyKnight countered. Sweat began to
drip down his face inside his helmet; he didn't like the implications of `it
is too late'. "What are you talking about?!" He wished his suit systems
were working; it would be so reassuring to have workable particle lasers
right now.
     "PREPARE YOURSELF, KNIGHT. FROM THIS ROAD, THERE
IS NO TURNING BACK."
     "HOLD IT!!!" SkyKnight bellowed. "What the hell do you mean?!
What are you going to ...do...to...me?" his voice trailed off, as he noticed
the purple radiance surrounding him began to get brighter and brighter.
Nameless terror suddenly gripped him.
     "NO!!!" he shouted to the presence that was out there. "Whatever it
is, I want no part of it!! Leave me out of it!!"
     "YOU HAVE NO CHOICE. THERE IS NO ONE ELSE." As if the
words had been a signal, it began.
     "AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!" SkyKnight screamed helplessly, as
the purple light flared to a white-hot intensity, and began burrowing into
him. He could feel it as it tunnelled, feeling like it was slowly stripping
away his molecules one at a time.
     He held a hand up in front of his visor, and watched as his gauntlet
and arm became translucent with glowing energy. When he looked down
at himself, he could see the same thing happening to the rest of his body;
it was almost like he was looking at a purple and white x-ray photograph
of himself, with the white representing his bones. The remorseless energy
continued to sink into him, driving towards the core of his being.
     "NOOO!! P-P-Please, s-s-stop!!!" he pleaded, shaking as waves of
pain raced through him. "Don't want.....can't handle......" He clutched at his
helmeted head as it suddenly seemed to be filled with a welter of strange,
incomprehensible knowledge about all kinds of subjects. Somewhere in
the whirling mix of images, he recognized some of his hardsuit ideas,
circuit diagrams and schematics from past upgrades, and ideas for future
upgrades. All the data churned through his mind at dizzying speed, almost
like someone had thrown his mind into a blender and hit the high-speed
switch. His creativity was in a wild overdrive mode!
     The ordeal had yet another phase; as he felt the energy still seeping
into him, he suddenly realized that he could somehow... sense... his
hardsuit, almost like he was becoming part of his suit. It was an utterly
alien feeling, cold and frightening: in place of nerves, it felt like he had
wires; in place of his skin, he could feel hard armour plating. In place of
his mind....
     "NOOOOO!!!!!!" He howled, fury and stark terror igniting within
him. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!" He was not going to just sit there while
some...some....some THING decided to alter his very being. He was never,
ever going to be forced to do something he didn't want to do, or to become
something he didn't want to be. In the depths of his mind, SkyKnight
grabbed onto that spar of stubborn, angry defiance, and began using it like
a crowbar to force back, somehow, the energy affecting him.
     "MORTAL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the voice asked
suddenly, sounding worried.
     "I. Will. Not. Be. Controlled. By. ANYONE!!" Bert snarled back
through clenched teeth. He didn't really understand how he was doing it,
but it felt like he was succeeding in reversing what was being done to him.
The pain was incredible, though; he felt like he was being flayed alive.
     "YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS WILL BE DIRE INDEED
IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT YOUR FATE."
     "Fate?!" the silver Knight Saber howled. "FATE?! This isn't fate!!
I'm being railroaded, you bastard!! I don't want whatever it is you're trying
to foist off on me!!" There was a moment of silence in which everything
seemed to freeze for an instant. When the reply finally came, it was utterly
final.
     "IT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED. YOU *MUST* ACCEPT THE
CHARGE THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU."
     The energy enveloping SkyKnight suddenly squeezed agonizingly,
gouging into him again and destroying the foothold he'd gained against it.
As he thrashed helplessly, barely hanging on to consciousness from the
pain, he heard the voice again.
     "I AM SORRY, BUT YOU NO LONGER HAVE A CHOICE IN
THE MATTER."

RANMAVERSE...

     Twister's roommate Yasuro looked up from his computer when he
heard the door open, and raised his eyebrows when he saw who stood in
the door. "That's dangerous, Twister. You shouldn't come in like that," he
advised, waving at Darlene's female state as she quickly walked inside and
closed the door.
     Darlene sighed as she dropped her stuff on the floor. "Well, I was
going to change at Nabiki's, but nobody was there and I wanted to get back
in a hurry to relax."
     "How was the trip?"
     "Oh, eventful," Darlene said, grinning tiredly at the massive
understatement. "I got chucked into another universe for a few years and I
just got back." Yasuro had been turning back to his computer, but he did a
double-take when he heard that.
     "Another...universe? Years?" he said hesitantly. The red-head
didn't look any different to Yasuro, but he'd learned his roommate was
odder than most people.
     "Yup!" She smiled impishly at her roommate before picking up her
stuff again. "It's happened to me before, as you well know, only this time I
managed to make a spell to get back to this one."
     "I... see." Yasuro rubbed the back of his neck as he digested this.
"In that case, will you be going back to your home universe?"
     "I..." Darlene paused at the question, then walked into her room to
drop off her stuff before coming back to drop down on the couch with a
heavy, heartfelt sigh. "I'm not sure. I guess I should." She threw up her
arms. "But I just got back to THIS one!" she said, finishing with a yawn.
"And it wasn't easy, so I'll be around for a while."
     "Never mind the fact that Nabiki's in this universe. Right?"
     Blushing furiously, startling Yasuro at the large display of
emotion, Darlene ducked her head. "That's also true," she said in a low
voice.
     "Aren't you going to change back?" he said, changing the topic.
"Not that I mind having my roommate looking like a cute girl." Darlene
blushed again as she scowled at him.
     She stood up, yawning once more. "Yeah, I'd better. I got used to
being female most of the time in the other universe. I'll tell you about it
later. Right now, I need sleep."
     "I guess I can wait." Yasuro grinned as the suddenly weary Darlene
stumbled for the bathroom for hot water, thinking that his roommate
certainly wasn't dull. Not by a long shot.
                       *****
     The rest of the week was blissfully ordinary. The only problem
was that Nabiki seemed to have her hands full until the weekend, and even
that message was given by Yuriko, Nabiki's roommate. The blue-haired
girl also happened to share the same magic class with Darlene and was a
good friend with both of the two. Natsumi, a magic-user and Nabiki's rival
for Twister, tried to take advantage of Nabiki's absense, but she seemed to
sense that Twister had realized some time ago whom he really loved. She
tried to hide her disappointment, staying friends with him, but she never
asked him for a date anytime that week.
     Finally, Saturday arrived and Twister teleported to Nabiki's place
to pick her up so they could both go to the Tendo Dojo. The first thing
they did upon seeing each other was kiss deeply, Yuriko enviously sighing
when she saw this.
     "My," Nabiki said with a warm smile when they separated, still in
each other's arms, "you're certainly enthusiastic today."
     "It's been some time since I saw you last," he replied truthfully
enough.
     "How was that trip you went on with your professor?"
     "Long," he sighed.
     "Hmm. You'll have to tell me about it some time." She smiled.
     "Uh, yeah. We'd better get going though. See you later, Yuriko."
Their blue-haired friend waved at them and they disappeared.
     They were happily welcomed by everyone when they arrived at the
Tendo Dojo, although Twister had to dodge Happousai's welcoming pail
of water. The old hentai was promptly blasted away by his
newly-developed pure-TK energy blasts, the only thing he had cause to
thank Madagan for showing him the ability during his stay in the
Bubblegum Crisis universe.
     Twister soon found himself in his old room, thinking. It hadn't
been meant to be a guest room, originally, but with all the people arriving
in and out of the dojo since Ranma's arrival, it had been deemed
necessary. He had been placed in it when he had first started living at the
dojo, so there were quite a few pleasant memories associated with the
now-empty room.
     He had come here to try to figure out when the best time to tell
Nabiki what had happened would be. Some things were best left
unmentioned, like the time he had been nearly killed and had an arm and a
leg blown off; he wasn't sure how she would react to that. He wasn't sure
he wanted to know.
     "Argh. When should I tell her? I can't keep it a secret forever," he
said aloud, quietly talking to himself. He shuddered at the thought of
telling her about Lotion; maybe that was one thing best left unsaid. He
sighed, and reached for the ceiling, stretching a bit.
     "Well, at least nothing else could happen...."
     He should've known better.

SOMEWHERE....CLOSE....

     "IT IS DONE."
     "No," SkyKnight croaked weakly. "Damn it, no...." He felt
absolutely horrible, almost like he'd been torn apart and glued back
together with five-minute epoxy. Every muscle was stiff and sore, and he
desperately needed a drink of water. He tried moving, but found he still
couldn't; he'd been immobilized at some time during the `process' that had
been inflicted on him.  He had the impression of floating, but couldn't
really say why.
     "I CANNOT DETERMINE IF YOU HAVE INJURED
YOURSELF BY YOUR STRUGGLE," the voice boomed. "HOWEVER,
THERE IS NO MORE TIME IN WHICH TO DO SO. YOU MUST GO,
NOW. FAREWELL."
     "Wait a minute," SkyKnight rasped, trying to look around. "Go
where?! Damn it, what is going on here?!" A loud roar began to sound in
his ears, and he suddenly felt like he was being sucked into a vortex of
some kind. The multicolored cloud around him began to recede.
     "Goddamn it!" SkyKnight yelled at the retreating cloud. "What is
happening?!"
     The silver-garbed Knight Saber never received an answer.

RANMAVERSE...

     The moment after Twister uttered the words, he regretted them.
Somebody, somewhere seemed to have heard the words that were a Very
Bad Thing To Come From One's Mouth.
     He was abruptly glad he had been standing close to the door, for in
the middle of the room, a...a rip, for lack of a better term, in the fabric of
space/time opened wide on the floor, jagged waves of purple light lining
the disturbing sight. A purple light that suddenly seemed very, very
familiar to the psionist. He felt his stomach sink with a premonition of
impending disaster.
     Then he heard a voice beginning to come from the hole.
     "........aaaaaAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMNNNNNNN
IIIIITTTTTT!!!!!"
     Something large, metallic, and glowing purple was spat upwards
from the gap-in-space near the floor; the portal closed instantly with an
echoing rumble, almost like thunder.
     The object the rift had spat out almost hit the ceiling before gravity
finally stopped its ascent, pulling it into the floor in a heavy-sounding
crash. The humanoid shape hit face down with a metallic clang, and also
an audible grunt of pain. Purple radiance limned the shape for a moment,
then disappeared, the energy seeming to soak into it as it vanished. During
the entire time, the shape twitched as if connected to an electrical current.
     Looking at it closely, Twister recognized it as some kind of
hardsuit, or its equivalent, wherever it came from. The wings built into the
shoulder blades, and the jet pack assembly, similar in configuration to a
Boomer's, suggested flight capabilities, although short or long range he
didn't know. Its coloring was dark blue and silver, the blue mostly on the
shoulderpads, and silver for the rest of the body.
     If it weren't for the fact that the contours of the hardsuit suggested
a man, and that he'd never heard of anything remotely resembling this
strange design that looked similar to old-fashioned knight's armour,
Twister would've thought this stranger was a Knight Saber. A little
belatedly, he visually checked for weapons, and saw twin muzzles on
either arm, apparently apertures for some kind of energy weapon. There
were twin objects mounted on its shoulders that were likely weapons as
well, but he was disinclined to scan the suit with TK. That would be rude.
     "Ohhhhh," the hardsuit groaned, as it struggled to get up. The
silver-garbed form unsteadily weaved to its hands and knees, "DAMN but
was that a rough ride!" it said in Japanese. The armoured shape slowly
straightened up. "I've got to get those stabilizers checked." There were
some cracks and pops from the silver figure as it stretched cautiously.
     "If you're okay, do you mind telling me who you are and how the
heck you got here?" Twister asked mildly, speaking for the first time since
the new arrival's entrance.
     The helmet jerked around to look at him, and he was instantly
reminded of an old television show, Battlestar Galactica, with the evil
Cylons and their glowing red visor eyeslots: his visitor sported a glowing
crimson, V-shaped slot in his visor. While the strange traveller didn't seem
evil, he prepared himself for a fight, just in case.
     "How I got HERE?? Where the hell IS here?!" the figure
demanded, a hint of panic in his voice as he waved powerful-looking arms
around to indicate the general area. The helmet on the suit swivelled
around, as if trying to find something familiar-looking.
     "This is the Tendo Dojo. Nerima, Japan," Twister said, answering
him before repeating his own question. "Who are you?"
     "Uh? Oh, I'm....SkyKnight," Bert answered distractedly, still a little
dazed from the express trip, and the sudden stop he'd taken.
"Tendo...Tendo... Now why the hell does that sound so damn familiar?"
     On a hunch, Twister started giving names. "Nabiki Tendo, Akane
Tendo, Ranma Saotome, Genma..." When he saw SkyKnight slap hands
on his helmet, he stopped the recitation.
     "R-R-Ranma?! RANMA 1/2????" Bert gaped inside his helmet. No
way!! It was impossible!!
     "I take it you've seen the show," Twister said wryly, beginning to
become curious, as the stranger had used the anime and manga's more
popular title. That meant he came from a place that had the show.
     "Me? What about you?? Who are you?!" This was getting crazier
by the minute; first that rift with its purple energy bolt, then the ride to end
all rides, now THIS! Bert tried futilely to wring some kind of sense from
everything that was going on.
     "My name's Twister. I got dragged into this universe by a miscast
spell," the young psionist replied. Immediately, he could almost feel the
disbelief from the silver figure when he mentioned that word. "Yes, it was
magic, and along the way I got altered by something so that I don't need to
worry too much about the fights that usually happen around here." He
demonstrated by snapping off a few punches and kicks that Bert had
trouble seeing at all. "What's your story?"
     "Oh, what the Hell." Bert shrugged mentally; he'd have to tell
someone so he could get home, and this guy seemed to be friendly
enough. "My real name is Bert, and I was...not dragged really, even though
I don't know how it happened, taken from my universe and landed in
another."
     "Wait a second," Twister frowned. "You make it sound like this
isn't your first time."
     "It isn't. My first experience with inter-dimensional travel was a
helluva lot nicer than this one. Just poof, and there I was. This last one
though..." He rubbed the side of his helmet, trying to remember what had
recently happened.
     Unfortunately, there were some large gaps in his memory, holes
where...nothing seemed to exist. He could remember some parts of his
journey, like the really hair-raising near-collisions with what had looked
like large asteroids, but the rest was...hazy, indefinite. He... he just
couldn't remember much between his disappearance from Mega-Tokyo,
and his reappearance here.
     There was also the fact that he felt...odd. He absolutely ached all
over, almost like every muscle in his body had been cramped up for a long
time. At the same time, however, he felt... felt... he couldn't quite pin
down what he was feeling, but it was definitely different. He noted that
Twister was waiting patiently, tapping his foot, and pulled his mind off of
considering his condition, and continued explaining.
     "I was just flying along, minding my own business, and then this
crazy bolt of purple lightning, or something, hits me from out of this rift
that appeared out of NOWHERE. The next thing I know I'm on the
rollercoaster ride from Hell," he fumed. "I mean, I LIKE speed, but that
ride was...hey, you okay?" he said, a little concerned when he saw
Twister's face develop a sickly, ashen pallor.
     "Did you say PURPLE lightning?" the psionist said, dreading the
answer.
     "Yeah, purple. It was bloody weird." Seeing Twister groan and
cover his face with his hands, Bert started getting suspicious. "Hey....you
didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"
     "I'm afraid I think I did," the young, brown-haired man replied. He
detected an almost instant rise in SkyKnight's emotional temperature, and
raised his hands to forestall an angry reaction, trying to explain what he'd
meant to the displaced silver hardsuit.
     "The same thing that changed my body and made it tougher, also
gave me powers, psionic and magical powers," the young man explained,
sighing. "Up until a little while ago, I was in the Bubblegum Crisis
universe and I....accidentally drew more magical power, Wild Magic, than
I could handle safely. I released all that I had in order to get rid of it, and it
vanished into a rift of some kind. Wild Magic is what magical energy in
its raw form is called, I've found out." Twister sighed again, and looked
directly at Bert.
     "And it looks like that bolt wound up hitting you, I'm afraid."
     "Oh, that's just perfect," SkyKnight retorted. "You always fling
trans-dimensional, reality-distorting bolts of magic through the Void or
something?!?"
     "Hey, it wasn't exactly _planned_ at the time," Twister said,
defending himself.
     "And that's supposed to make me feel better?!"
     "I can try sending you back," Twister offered.
     "No thanks," SkyKnight snorted. "I'll walk. I don't need a grand
tour of the cosmos, all expenses paid."
     "Look, I'm really not that bad at handling magic."
     "From where I'm standing, you're not that good, either."
     "Okay, okay! Time out!" Twister shook his head. "We're not
getting anywhere with this."
     "Gee, you mean you noticed?!" Bert blinked as Twister narrowed
his eyes at him. "Geez, you remind me of Sylia when you do that," he
muttered.
     Twister stared. "Wait a minute... You know Sylia?? As in the
Knight Sabers?!"
     Bert pointed to the lettering on the side of his helmet antenna
wings. "Where else did you think I got a hardsuit? K-Mart? Been with
them since 2032."
     "I thought so but... I don't remember you. Wait..." Twister slapped
his forehead. "Oh, right. Infinite possibilities. Must be two completely
different BGC universes."
     "You've been to Mega-Tokyo too?"
     Twister nodded and smiled. "And friends with the KS. That's
where I...er...lost it and released that energy."
     "Why?"
     "Madagan."
     "Yeah, that would do it." SkyKnight suddenly chuckled, adding "I
think Priss would make a good second reason at times." They both
snickered for a moment. Bert sighed, glancing around at the room. The
floorboards creaked ominously under his armoured weight, and he briefly
hoped he wasn't going to wreck the place accidentally; he knew the Tendo
family had enough repair bills as it was with Ranma around.
     "The main question," he noted, "is what do I do now? I can't
exactly walk around here in my armour all the time. Besides the fact that
it's obviously technology years beyond what they have here, it's more than
a little noticeable."
     "No!" Twister exclaimed dryly. "And here I thought everyone had
silver-and-blue hardsuits in their closets!"
     "I need some helpful ideas," Bert growled irritably, "not smart
remarks. I get enough of that from Priss or Linna, thanks." Twister grinned
briefly, then turned thoughtful.
     "Hmm. I think...." he started, when a loud yell from the hallway
drowned out all other sound in the house.
     "Ranma!! You JEERRRRRKKK!!"
     "Uh oh." SkyKnight started to turn around, when a running young
man with black hair, blue eyes, and Chinese clothing darted into the room,
moving almost inhumanly fast. He was evidently fleeing someone's wrath,
because he didn't even notice the hardsuited figure standing next to
Twister. Instead, he ducked behind SkyKnight's armoured form.
     Unfortunately, this left Bert standing in the direct line of fire for
what happened next.
     "COME BACK HERE YOU JERK!!!" Akane's voice hollered from
outside the room. In the next instant, she came through the door with a
flying kick that was evidently intended for Ranma, but instead connected
with the displaced silver Knight Saber. There was a loud clang, and a brief
"Oh shiiiit!", as SkyKnight flew backwards, smashing through the wall
into the back yard beyond.
     "Oh boy," Twister sighed, covering his eyes with a hand as a loud
clang followed by a splash sounded from the yard. Deathly silence fell for
a moment.
     "What the heck was THAT thing, Twister?" Akane asked, puzzled,
having regained her composure for a moment. Ranma didn't say anything;
he was nervously watching Akane to make sure she wasn't going to belt
him.
     Twister started to answer, but then there came the sound of a
surging blast that resolved into a howling drone of some kind from the
backyard. A moment later, a dripping and slightly dented silver-clad form
loomed in the hole in the wall. Akane and Ranma backed away a step as
SkyKnight clambered back into the room through the hole. The
balefully-glowing eyeslot on his helmet swung over to regard Twister.
     "I've changed my mind," the armour-clad figure told him. "I'm
leaving the suit on; it's MUCH safer. For me, I mean." The helmet
swivelled to pin Ranma with a red-lit glance.
     "You're Ranma, I presume," Bert inquired. Ranma nodded.
     "Good," SkyKnight said. "I have some advice for you: don't get me
involved in your fights. I don't need the hassle. As it stands now, I think I
owe you at least...this!"
     The silver Knight Saber's hand flashed forwards, grabbing Ranma
by the tunic front. Before anyone else in the room could react, SkyKnight
casually pitched the young man out the hole in the wall, headfirst. A loud
splash sounded again.
     "Now we're even!" SkyKnight called out the hole. Akane stared at
him incredulously.
     "You're not going to have problems fitting in," Twister assured
him, shaking his head with a wry grin. "The only problem you may have is
staying in one piece."
     "You asked for it, you creep!!!" Ranma-chan's angry voice sounded
from below as running footsteps pounded up the stairs.
     As SkyKnight readied himself for an attack, Twister stepped in
front of him and started to shout to Ranma. "Forget about it, Ranma! The
guy's just a little mad right now."
     "A little?" murmured Bert.
     "So calm down and..."
     Drenched from the pond, Ranma-chan hadn't listened and came
tearing into the room, starting to leap at the target of her anger. However,
Twister had began to walk closer to the door and both were unprepared to
prevent a collision. They collided with a wet smack and Ranma-chan,
being somewhat airborne at the time, hit high enough so that Twister's
face was in the middle of her chest as they both toppled over.
     SkyKnight winced inside his armour. If he had been hit by
someone going as fast as Ranma-chan without his armour, he would have
expected _something_ to be hurt on his person. Fortunately, he had been
told by Twister that changes had been done to the psionist's body that
allowed him to be able to survive things that happened routinely here.
Indeed, he chuckled a bit when he noticed one of Twister's hands, fingers
drumming the floor impatiently after a second when Ranma-chan didn't
move. This was because of the argument that she and Akane had started
up when Ranma-chan, who hadn't bothered lifting herself off of Twister,
continued unabated.
     "Baka! Look what you did!" AKane yelled.
     "Hey! It's not _my_ fault Twister got in the way!"
     "Stupid! You're the one who wasn't looking!"
     "Hey, you uncute tomboy, look who's talking!"
     "You ducked behind that guy!"
     "Hah! I..."
     "Ahem," SkyKnight interrupted, and when both angrily looked at
him, he mutely pointed to the drumming fingers. Ranma-chan now
remembered her position on top of Twister. Red-faced, she hurriedly
scrambled to get off of him. However, he wasn't a he anymore as a result
of Ranma-chan's wet clothes soaking Twister enough to trigger the
change.
     Darlene sucked in a huge breath and sat up panting. "Finally! I
breathe once more."
     Still flushing, Ranma-chan said, "Gomen. Why didn't you say or do
something?!" Her `twin' snorted a little.
     "I was afraid of being punched through the floor considering where
my face was, that's why," Darlene said as she stood up.
     Needless to say, Bert was just a tad bit surprised when he saw
Twister had become a look-alike of Ranma-chan. He was ready for
Ranma's change, but not this one. "What the...? You too? Hey, shouldn't
you look like a female version of yourself?"
     Darlene sighed. "Complications. Something else affected the curse
and I'm not sure myself what all the ramifications are."
     SkyKnight affected a thoughtful pose. "Well, at least now I know."
     "Know what?"
     "How they manage to get shots of both Ranma and his female side
in the same picture." He had to laugh at the look on Darlene's face.
Ranma-chan stared in confusion from the silver-armoured stranger
doubled over in howling laughter, to Darlene, who had an expression
wavering between serious irritation and grudging amusement.
     "What's he talking about?" she inquired. Behind her, Akane had a
similar puzzled look.
     "It's a long story," Darlene sighed, covering her eyes with a hand.
"I can explain later. Will you knock it off?!" she snapped to the
still-laughing SkyKnight. "It wasn't that funny!"
     "You didn't see the look on your face," he replied, snickering. At
length he regained control of himself, looking over at Darlene. "Seriously,
though, I'm going to have to take the suit off soon and power down. I'll
have to risk getting knocked through the wall again, I guess." The helmet
cocked in a sideways glance at Akane, who flushed guiltily.
     "Well, if Akane can hold onto her temper for once, it shouldn't be a
problem," Ranma-chan assured him. Darlene smacked a hand over her
face, again, looking imploringly at the ceiling.
     "What do you mean, `if I can hold onto my temper'?" Akane asked,
eyes narrowing angrily. "I wouldn't have to worry about losing it if you'd
stop being such a jerk all the time!" Ranma-chan stalked over to stand
nose-to-nose with her.
     "Well if you wouldn't overreact all the time to everything I say..."
     "QUIIIIEEEEETTTT!!!!!!!" SkyKnight thundered, cranking his
helmet amplifiers to maximum, almost blasting everyone out the door
with the sound shockwaves. Stunned silence filled the room for a moment.
"Thank you! Could we PLEASE shelve the bickering?! You two sound
worse than chickens on a manure pile!!" Darlene burst out laughing at his
comparison; Ranma-chan and Akane glanced at each other quizzically,
and then nodded. With blinding speed, they both kicked the silver hardsuit
back out the wall in a perfectly synchronized set of double kicks. There
was another clang and splash. Ranma-chan stuck her head out the hole.
     "Who asked you to butt in, you tin-plated creep?!" she yelled.
"I...YEEEE-IPE!!!" She ducked as a blindingly bright red energy blast
slammed through the hole, barely missing her, opening a new skylight in
the roof. There was the angry roar of jet turbines from outside, like
someone had just landed an F-16 on the lawn. Scant seconds later, the
hole in the wall became slightly larger as SkyKnight bashed through the
suffering edifice.
     "I don't normally fight women," he snarled at Ranma-chan,
"especially wet-behind-the-ears twerps like you, but in this case, I think I
can make an exception." Ranma-chan's blue eyes flared angrily, and she
got set in a ready stance.
     "I'm a guy, you oversized, chrome-plated, bolt-bucket!!" she shot
back. The two began circling each other warily, and Darlene realized she
was going to have to intervene, and fast, as the two combatants flicked
punches at each other, ducking and weaving at flashing speeds. Akane had
backed against the wall, out of the way of the rampaging pair.
     Darlene's mind raced, trying to come up with some kind of spell to
stop them, but she couldn't think of any made to stop fights peacefully. Oh
well, she was going to have to wing it. She squared her shoulders and took
a deep breath, as SkyKnight and Ranma-chan stepped apart for a moment.
As they got ready to go at it again, she chanted:

     "Before this spat gets out of hand,
      Fighters now freeze where all you stand!"

     Instantly, SkyKnight and the red-headed, pig-tailed girl froze, like
sculpture. Frost appeared on SkyKnight's armour plating and
Ranma-chan's clothing as they stood there. Oops, she'd thought of just
making them immobile but an image of ice statues had crept in. They
couldn't move, which was good, but their temperatures seemed to be
dropping rapidly.
     "Now then," Darlene said, dividing her glare between Bert, Akane,
and Ranma-chan. "Can we all behave like adults now?" She mentally
cancelled the spell before the two immobile forms got too cold, and both
stumbled when released.
     "D-d-d-id y-y-you have t-to s-stop us t-that way?" Ranma-chan
chattered through her teeth, hugging herself for warmth. Darlene didn't say
the spell hadn't exactly done what she had wanted.
     "It worked didn't it? You seem to not be wanting to fight
anymore."
     "I n-need to s-soak in the b-bathroom." Forgetting all about
SkyKnight and Akane, Ranma-chan rushed out of the room.
     "Interesting way of stopping a fight," SkyKnight commented.
     "Err...yeah. Normally I don't do that, but you're new here."
Darlene's brow furrowed. "You don't sound like you're cold."
     "I was," SkyKnight said smugly. "but my suit's environmental
sensors re-activated after you unfroze us and thawed me out a little with
my heating systems."
     Darlene blinked. "I didn't realize I did that. Still...I guess I realized
your suit needed to be frozen too."
     "Um..." Akane wasn't sure what to make of the silver armoured
figure. "Who are you anyway?"
     "I'm called...SkyKnight," Bert boomed dramatically through his
speakers with his modulated voice.
     "I can see you don't like the name, but we can call you something
else if you want..." Darlene offered, grinning.
     "A-HEM!" SkyKnight cleared his throat, glaring a little at the two
whose lips were twitching with amusement. "But you can call me Bert."
He flipped up the helmet visor, revealing snarled red hair and
greenish-brown eyes. He smiled at Akane, making her feel more relaxed
now that she could see his face. He looked at Darlene. "Until I can return
back to the universe from where I was _yanked_ from, that is. Hint, hint."
     "I get the point," Darlene sourly said. "I _said_ it was an accident.
And I _have_ successfully travelled from one universe to another, on my
own for once. It shouldn't be too hard sending you back to the right BGC
universe. It'll just take me a little time figuring out how to send you to a
universe that I've never been to."
     "And in the meantime...?" inquired Bert.
     "Well...me and Nabiki are living by the University now so I'd
imagine... Umm... Akane...?"
     She nodded. "Sure. He can stay with us until you can send him
back." Akane smiled at Darlene. "We survived having you here so he
shouldn't be any problem."
     "Thanks...I think." Darlene looked up at Bert's face. "Well?"
     "Do I have a choice?"
     "Not really, no."
     "Then I accept your kind offer to grant refuge to this errant Knight,
M'Lady." Bert bowed deeply to Akane, who blushed from his thanks.
     "Gmph," Darlene struggled not to laugh.
     Akane whirled on her. "What's so funny?!"
     "Just imagining what would happen if Kunou or Ranma saw Bert
doing that to you. Probably over-react, as usual."
     "Over-react?" Bert queried, looking from Darlene to a now
concerned-looking Akane, who nodded.
     "Ranma tends to act without thinking..."
     "I DO NOT!!!!" blared a voice from the bathroom.
     "...and he might misinterpret your actions, meaning a fight." she
finished, ignoring the interruption. "Kunou, well... Kunou challenges
everyone who even speaks to me to a fight. He's the fencing champion of
my high school."
     "Fencing, huh?" Bert grinned evilly, as his right arm came up.
"Wonder what he'd think of...this!" A crackling snap-hiss split the air, and
a humming, blue-white blade of energy sizzled into existence. Akane
shied backwards in shock. After a moment the blade disappeared with
another snap-hiss. Darlene stared, jaw hanging.
     "Was that a ...?"
     "Yup. An elegant weapon, from a more civilized age," Bert stated
airily, grinning fiendishly. He sighed a moment later. "Don't worry though,
I'd never use it on a person, even if they do chop through concrete walls
with a wooden sword." Something suddenly beeped audibly in his suit.
     "Damn," he muttered, then looked at Akane. "I think you'd better
show me that room, quick. I'm five minutes from total shutdown."
     "Okay," she agreed. "Follow me." She left the room. Before he
followed, Bert looked over at Darlene.
     "Since you're the resident magic whiz around here, could you
magic up a few clothes for me?" he asked. "I'm not exactly packed for the
occasion."
     "No problem," Darlene nodded. "Any preferences?"
     "Jeans and a sweater, with running shoes. That should about cover
it," Bert replied, before squeezing through the door to follow Akane,
armour clanking.
                       *****
     "Well whaddaya know?" Darlene quipped from where she was
leaning against the corridor wall as Bert re-emerged from the guest room.
He was now clad in blue jeans, a dark blue long-sleeved sweater and white
sneakers. "There was actually a human being under all that iron!" Akane
had a faintly appraising look in her eyes as she looked him over; he was
tall and broad across the shoulders, and not exactly unhandsome-looking,
either.
     "Ceramel."
     "Huh?!" Akane and Darlene glanced at each other, confused.
     "I don't use iron," Bert explained. "It's too heavy. My armour uses
high-impact plastics, polymers and ceramic-metal alloys." Darlene gaped
for a moment, then slapped a hand over her face.
     "I was joking!" she sighed. "Don't tell me you couldn't tell?!"
     "I knew," he replied blandly, amusement flickering briefly in his
eyes. "However, watching your jaw drop when I got technical was much
more fun."
     "You're sure you want to put up with this guy?" Darlene asked
Akane again, as they turned to go downstairs. The black-haired girl
nodded, grinning.
     "He couldn't possibly create more problems than you and Ranma
combined," she deadpanned. Bert burst out laughing as Darlene flushed
bright red.
     "Of course," he noted a moment later with a wicked grin, "I haven't
been here that long yet!" They passed the bathroom door, and Darlene
ducked inside. Twister re-emerged a moment later. Strangely, he wasn't
wet. Bert put it down to magic, even though thinking about `magic' per se
was enough to give him the creeps.
     "Hey! Long time no see!" Bert cracked with a grin. "What kept
you?"
     "Just give it a rest, will you?" Twister asked plaintively. Bert
chuckled.
     "I'll try," he promised. "But don't expect miracles."
     "Well, you're going to have to watch it with the smart remarks
around here," Twister informed him. "My sense of humour got me into all
kinds of problems the first time I arrived, and from what I can see, your
sense of humour is as bad, if not worse, than mine."
     "What a horrible thought," Akane commented impishly. "Another
person just like Twister." They both started a retort, when Kasumi's voice
floated up from the dining room, calling out "Dinner!".
     "Aha!" Bert exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "Methinks I
dost hear a summons worthy of being answered!"
     "Oh brother..." Twister groaned, looking towards heaven for some
kind of guidance as Akane burst out laughing.
     "_You're_ one to talk, Twister," said Nabiki as the three entered
the dining area and sat down at the table. "I've heard similar things coming
from you." She just smiled as a raised eyebrow turned in her direction.
     "Do you want me to stop?" Twister said as he leaned a little closer
to Nabiki, a slightly mischievous smile on his face. She leaned forward as
well.
     "Oh, I didn't say _that_. Merely stating my observations from our
close contact." A lazy smile grew as they leaned further.
     "Should we get closer? For... more accurate conclusions?" A sigh
interrupted the two and they were suddenly reminded where they were.
Both straightened, Twister slightly red and Nabiki merely smiling.
     "Who's your friend?" she inquired curiously.
     "His name's Bert and he...ah...just dropped in," Twister replied.
     Bert sighed again, staring off into space with a gloomy expression.
"I hope I get back soon. I miss Nene already."
     "Nene?!?" Twister cried disbelievingly. "You mean....?" Bert
seemed to come back from somewhere infinitely far away as he looked
over at him.
     "Yes, we're going out. Does that sound so strange?"
     "Well...I guess not." Twister shook his head. "It's just that I've been
her friend for such a long time... uh..." He cast a suddenly nervous glance
at Nabiki who seemed to have lost her amusement; the others were just
wondering what he and Bert were talking about.
     "I'm dating a different Nene but I guess they should be pretty
similar. Um..." Bert looked at Twister, then Nabiki, then Twister again.
"Am I missing something?"
     "Ah..."
     "Yes, I think we are," Nabiki said in a slightly chill and threatening
tone of voice. Bert's eyes widened as the light dawned; he'd heard that
tone of voice from Nene occasionally. "Just _when_ exactly did you meet
this `Nene', Twister?"
     The focus of Nabiki's frosty gaze squirmed a bit. "Ah...that
weekend I helped Prof. Miyabi. Sorta."
     Inquisitor Nabiki turned to Bert. "And you're from another
universe? Like Twister?" He nodded uncertainly and wondered where this
was leading.
     She faced Twister again, food forgotten. "I remember you once
telling me that one could leave a universe for a very long time and come
back at almost the same time they left." Bert brightened at that; he
wouldn't be worrying the Knight Sabers with a protracted absence.
     "Yes... That's true..." This was dragged out reluctantly from
Twister.
     Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "How long?"
     "Nabiki, I was going to tell you..."
     "How... _long_...?" There was steel in her voice now.
     "A few, um, years." Everyone gaped at this admission, except
Nabiki.
     "Why?" She seemed only to be able to speak in one syllable words.
Everyone around the table was surprised at her behaviour, as this wasn't
usual Nabiki style. She seemed quite mad though she kept it well in
control.
     Twister sighed in resignation. "An accident happened and I was
thrown into another universe. I found out my magic was a little off-kilter
from what threw me out of this universe so I didn't attempt to return until
some time after Sylia, another friend, gave me advice to correct it. Nene
and Linna found me when I appeared without my memory, which I got
back quickly. I had to stay female most of the time there and making a
spell to return on my own wasn't easy in any case." He rubbed the back of
his neck. "I guess I felt a little embarrassed when I got back so I didn't say
anything."
     "How long after you got the advice from this `Sylia' person did you
wait?"
     "Several months," Twister admitted slowly, not meeting her eyes.
"I just couldn't pack up and leave at the time."
     "Why not?"
     "Because by then he felt responsible for a lot of what was
happening," Bert interrupted quietly as Twister opened his mouth. He
cocked his head sideways, regarding Twister with a searching gaze, an
expression of complete understanding on his face. "If you were there for a
few years," he continued, "long enough to become friends with all of the
Knight Sabers, then it follows that you also built yourself a hardsuit and
were helping them out from time to time. If I'm not completely out in left
field, I'd say your suit was probably patterned after a medieval armour
suit, and you were playing the chivalric knight type."
     "Is he right?" Nabiki demanded. Twister sighed again.
     "Mostly," he conceded. "It's a long story, but I was helping out the
Knight Sabers. Quite a bit, actually." His gaze narrowed as he half-glared
at Bert. "Just how did you know that?"
     "I guessed," Bert admitted calmly. "However, you're looking at
another `noble knight' type. Priss's favourite joke is calling me `The
Knight-in-shining-armour', because that's the way I conduct myself, most
of the time. My chivalric ideals were the basis for my SkyKnight designs.
I recognized some of your quirks as being similar to mine, and figured that
you'd done exactly, more or less, what I did."
     "Uh, excuse me?" Ranma interrupted, a slightly stunned expression
on his face, an expression mirrored by almost everyone else in the room.
"What are you talking about? Who are these `Knight Sabers' you keep
mentioning?" Bert and Twister exchanged a glance; Bert shrugged, and
Twister decided to start from his end first. Before he started his tale,
Kasumi interrupted.
     "You'd better eat before it gets cold," she reminded everyone.
Servings were quickly dished out, and Twister got ready to start over
again. This time, Bert interrupted.
     "Uhh, sorry," he said, red-faced, holding up a pair of chopsticks.
"Anybody got a fork?"
                       *****
     Happousai listened carefully from behind the door. He hated not
eating one of Kasumi's meals, but since Twister was here that would be a
bad idea as the two did not get along for several reasons.
     None of them Happousai's fault of course.
     It was so frustrating to fight the young whippersnapper. While he
seemed to be reluctant to use those mind powers of his in fights, he made
Happousai the exception. That he didn't need to come close to the old
hentai to beat him senseless or punt him into the sky was a source of
endless frustration, and thus his caution.
     He could wait for his revenge. Sooner or later, everyone became
vulnerable sometime.
     He could wait.
     But now it was time to collect more PANTIES!
                       *****
     "Between the two of you, you've had quite a time," Akane
remarked as Bert concluded his story with getting yanked out of a
leisurely flight over Mega-Tokyo by some strange energy field. Twister
shook his head disbelievingly, but didn't comment. The rest of the Tendo
family was pretty much speechless, and Ranma's father looked like he was
in the same state. The two different Knight Saber sagas that Twister and
Bert had revealed had some basic similarities in the two universes, but
diverged sharply at certain key events.
     Bert hadn't told them everything, however; he'd left out a few key
events that had happened to himself, and the results they'd had on him. At
the moment, he didn't trust anyone enough to reveal the fact that he still
had a few....problems. Sure, he trusted Twister, at least, he thought he did,
but there were some things he just was not going to discuss openly. Bert
concealed the brief flash of fury that flashed through him, and he tried
hard not to think about Hollister; he'd been doing that way too much
lately, even before his current predicament had happened. The last thing
he needed right now was to lose control...
     "What I can't believe," Ranma spoke up, unknowingly interrupting
his line of thought, "is just how much alike you two are. That's scary."
SkyKnight's gloomy thoughts receded, and his lurking sense of humour
briefly appeared again.
     "Be afraid! Be very afraid! You are about to enter a region where
time and space as we know it does not exist," Bert intoned sonorously.
     "You are about to enter.." Twister continued, glancing at Bert with
a crooked grin, as they both chorused, "The Twilight Zone!" A chorus of
groans answered them.
     Kasumi began clearing the table, and Genma and Soun vanished to
somewhere else in the house. Probably so they didn't have to sit looking at
the new extra-dimensional traveller, Bert figured glumly, his momentary
cheer disappearing. Twister evidently had picked up on his mood shift.
     "Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed. "It's a Saturday night, so why don't
we go downtown for a while? Maybe see a movie or something."
     "I'm broke," Bert replied absently, chin propped on his hand.
"Unless they take credit cards from 2034."
     "Don't worry," Twister assured him. "Money's no problem. Come
on, you can't sit here and brood all night."
     "I suppose you're right," he sighed, stiffly unfolding himself from
his cushion, and standing up. Several pops sounded from his knee joints
and back as he stretched, briefly towering over everything. Everyone else
also stood, minus the sound effects.
     "You're a walking noisemaker," Twister grinned.
     "_You_ get injured so many times that your doctor now lives in a
four-car garage, and then we'll see what you sound like," Bert complained.
     "I think I'll stay home," Nabiki said with a cool tone, and left the
group. Twister didn't move but sadly watched her leave.
     "Twister," Akane started to say, "why didn't you..."
     "I'd better leave her alone right now," he sighed. "I should've told
her about my little trip sooner."
     "What movie didya want to go to?" Ranma interrupted, making
Akane give him a quick glare.
     "I'm not sure," Twister admitted.
     "Any Star Wars films playing?" Bert said half-heartedly.
     Twister eyed him strangely. "Actually, there's going to be a
showing of the Star Wars trilogy at my university in one of the bigger
classrooms. Subtitled, of course."
     "Really??" An odd, almost insane, light grew in Bert's eyes as he
smiled. "Let's go!! Hey..." He frowned. "How far is it? How do we get
there?" The other three smiled.
     "It's called...the Twister method," grinned the brown-haired young
man.
     "Huh? What..."
     They vanished.
                       *****
     "...do you mea...erk!"
     The room had changed from the Tendo residence dining room to a
smaller one that had a computer on a desk by one wall. Bert slowly felt a
couch that was by another wall, confirmed it was real, and sat on it.
     "You can tel...teleport that fast, and _other_ people too?" He said
faintly.
     "I didn't mention that, did I?" Twister grinned as he looked around.
"My roommate isn't around. Hm. Too bad. He's a nice guy. You'd like him.
Actually," he commented, "it's good we came here. Otherwise, we
would've either been attacked, or have Ranma shanghaied."
     "Shanghaied?" Bert repeated, glancing over at the black-haired,
blue-eyed young man. "What's that supposed to mean?"
     "Never mind," Ranma told him, flushing and glaring briefly at
Twister. "It's a long story, and one I'd rather not hear repeated right now."
     "Come on," Akane said. "If we want to get to these shows on time,
we'd better get going."
     "True," Twister grinned. He swept open the room door, grandly
proclaiming "Ladies first." Akane swept primly out of the room, stifling a
grin. Ranma looked skeptically at the grinning brown-haired young man
by the door, but he wisely didn't comment, and followed Akane out.
Twister glanced over at Bert, who was still trying to wrap his mind around
the `teleportation' concept. From the look on his face, he wasn't having
much luck; he looked like he had acute indigestion.
     "Coming?" Twister inquired pointedly. Bert started, then grinned
ruefully and ducked out the door. Twister followed, closing and locking
the door behind him.
                       *****
     "Hito?"
     "Hmm?" Hito looked at his friend who sat beside him. "What is it,
Morio?"
     "Why are we sitting here watching Star Wars?"
     The hentai duo were sitting in the auditorium that was doubling as
a theatre for the viewing of the trilogy. Having brought their own
refreshments they had plenty of food with them. However, they weren't
getting into the spirit of things, unlike someone else in the room who was
quoting many of lines in very good English.
     Hito shrugged. "Because we weren't doing anything else?"
     "Exactly!" Morio said triumphantly. "We've lost our energy, our
purpose of life! Of late we've been getting less and less enthusiastic about
school and our normal social lives."
     "Normal?" Hito wondered at that coming from Morio.
     "And I know the reason!" Morio stated. "It's because we've not
been following our true hentai natures! We haven't done anything worthy
of hentai vision in so long we are losing our energy, the blood that flows
through our bodies." Abruptly he stood up. "Come on!" he commanded his
partner.
     "Where are we going?" Hito inquired.
     "First, we'll walk into the women's changerooms for the gym; the
female volleyball team should be in there tonight and it'll give us a
jump-start to fuel our hentai energies."
     Hito's heart raced at the thought of it and he realized that Morio
was right. It HAD been too long. "And then?"
     "Then we get to work!"
     Sitting by Bert, Twister saw two figures leave the room. Hito and
Morio he noticed, but gave their departure no significance.
     "Once I was the student, now I am the Master," Bert said in a low
voice beside him and Darth Vader echoed him a half-second later.
     Twister rolled his eyes and forgot about the two.
                       *****
     "We didn't need to see the movies," Twister wryly commented as
they left the auditorium. "You're a walking dialogue library by yourself."
Bert grinned sheepishly as Akane and Ranma snickered.
     "Sorry," he apologized. "I've seen them several dozen times, and I
love a lot of the quotes."
     "We'd noticed," Akane remarked dryly. Bert flushed again, but
didn't reply. They walked through the doors to the outside, Bert and
Twister unconsciously sweeping the doors open for Akane.
     "Would you two quit that?!" Ranma demanded in exasperation.
"It's only Akane!"
     "Hey!! A few manners wouldn't hurt YOU any!" she flared, glaring
at him.
     "Hold! Cease fire!" Bert intoned, stepping (perhaps unwisely)
between them. "Wouldn't you much rather argue in private?" he inquired.
They both flushed, and looked away, refusing to look at each other.
Twister sighed, looking heavenward. They never learned.
     The small group started moving across the campus. It was a fairly
scenic locale, with trees and shrubs tastefully arranged in small planters
along the paths, and some small park areas interspersed between the
buildings. As they walked, Bert looked around, admiring some of the
scenery. He wasn't really watching where he was walking, though, and he
crashed into someone a moment after Twister, Akane and Ranma all
yelled "Look out!"
     "Damn it!" he swore under his breath, reeling backwards and
gingerly feeling his nose, which had preceded him in the collision. At the
same time, he heard a VERY pompous voice saying, "What stumbling,
uncoordinated, benighted knave dares to so rudely collide with Tatewaki
Kunou?" Oh shit, part of Bert's mind noted, as he blinked, clearing his
watering eyes. Akane stepped between him and the irate, dark
brown-haired kendo champion.
     "It was an accident, Kunou," she told him. "He's new around, and
he didn't..."
     "Akane Tendo!" Kunou exclaimed, sweeping her a deep bow.
Ranma looked half resigned and half angry at Kunou's predictable
behaviour; Twister just shook his head. "Truly, this day has brought me
unlooked-for pleasures! I had not thought to behold your radiant
countenance so soon!"
     "Give it a rest, Kunou," she said impatiently. "I've heard it all
before."
     "Ah, but it bears repeating! I shall trumpet your praises to the
heavens," Kunou declared. Striking an impressive pose, he cleared his
throat:

     "Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note;
      So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape..."

     "Good God, it's a Shakespeare library on legs," Bert muttered to
himself. He suddenly found the business end of a wooden sword, a
bokken, under his nose. His eyes crossed as he tried to focus on it.
     "And who are you, insolent knave?" Kunou snarled imperiously. "I
would have your name before I run you through!"
     "His name is Bert," Akane cut in, trying to defuse a suddenly tense
situation; Kunou ignored her.
     "Know then, knave, that I am Tatewaki Kunou, the ...."
     "The Blue Blunderer of Furinkan High," Bert finished flatly for
him. The pompous twit standing in front of him, threatening him with a
stick had finally ticked him off.. A part of his mind noted that he was still
out-of-sorts from being very far from home, and that he really should back
off and apologize, but he ignored it. At the moment, the very ugly urge for
a fight was prodding him onwards, and his temper was snarling in the
back of his mind, driving that urge forwards with implacable intensity.
     Ranma and Akane were staring at him like he'd gone insane,
wide-eyed, and Twister was only slightly less incredulous. He grabbed
Bert's arm, dragging him backwards a step. As he grabbed the red-head's
arm, something else flashed across Bert's face, and for a second Twister
had a flash of something... a... a feeling of some kind; it wasn't quite
prescience, but he'd had the very brief impression that Bert had been about
to lash out at him for an instant.
     "Are you bloody nuts?!" he hissed, brown-green eyes staring into
the similar colored, but defiant, ones of Bert. "You haven't got your suit
for one thing, and from what you said, that's your main advantage in a
fight! He'll kill you if he connects with that sword; you're not as damage
resistant as everyone else here is!"
     "If he be too cowardly to accept my challenge," Kunou's voice
declared from behind them, "I will accept a sincere apology for his
boorishness." Oh no, Twister groaned, as he watched Bert's gaze turn as
hard as flint chips at Kunou's words; Kunou apparently couldn't have
found a worse word to use on Bert than `cowardly', even if he'd searched
for years. Spinning towards the black-haired young man in the kendo
outfit, Bert jerked his arm free of Twister's grip, and stepped past Akane,
coming almost nose-to-nose with the irate swordsman. Kunou had to look
up slightly to meet the red-haired young man's fiery gaze.
     "Okay, Mr. Pompous Ass," Bert replied tightly, clenching his fists.
"You're on; I accept your challenge."
     "Excellent! Prepare to defend yourself!" Kunou leaped backwards,
his sword coming to the `en guarde' position. Bert shifted his feet, hands
open, and arms down slightly. Ranma sighed and turned away, shaking his
head; in his opinion, the fight was already over. Akane stood watching,
wide-eyed, and trying to decide if she should step in. Twister was in a
similar bind; he couldn't use magic in his current form, and he didn't want
to openly flash his psionics in public; some passers-by were stopping to
watch. He could possibly slip Bert some unnoticed TK `assistance', but he
hadn't tried that too often.
     Kunou leaped forward, the air in front of him becoming a blur of
flickering wooden sword blades. Bert ducked a few, but not all of the
strikes; several sharp cracks echoed along the sidewalk, and a pained look
flashed across his face briefly. Kunou retreated for a moment, looking
surprised that his foe was still standing. Bert's gaze was now very angry,
and the air around him suddenly seemed to smolder.
     Twister blinked, shaking his head. When he looked closer he
realized the air around Bert WAS shifting. He took a quick glance at
Ranma and Akane, but they hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss. He
looked back at the embattled young man, trying to figure out what was
going on.
                       *****
     Somewhere across the city, a futuristic armour suit with
silver-and-blue armour plating stood quietly in the corner of a room, as if
on sentry duty. Kasumi finished dusting off the now-gleaming suit,
shaking her head at the strange things Twister occasionally brought inside.
She gathered up her cleaning stuff, and left the room, missing completely
the strange, faint purple glow that began to outline the suit.
                       *****
     CRACK!
     Twister winced again as Kunou's sword slapped Bert's ribs. He
couldn't possibly see how the red-head could stand getting hit so many
times, and not have collapsed yet. He also hadn't figured out just what was
wrong with him; he was still seeing some kind of disturbance around Bert.
As Twister stared harder, it suddenly seemed to him that he could discern
purple flashes in the disturbance. Purple... MAGIC flashes?! How in
the...?!
     Kunou leaped forwards again, sword blurring mercilessly through
the air, but this time he was in for a surprise.
     Moving with a swiftness born out of pure, white-hot fury, his
red-haired opponent ducked inside the swing and clocked Kunou square in
the bottom of the jaw with an uppercut. Kunou's head snapped back, and
his attack faltered. Bert seized his wrist with his left hand, and hoisted the
kendo champ off of his feet by the shirtfront with his other hand. With
some kind of a spinning throw, he jerked Kunou into the air and
slam-dunked him into the mouth of a nearby garbage can. Kunou lost his
grip on his sword, and it clattered to the pavement. Two long legs were all
that could be seen of the offended kendo practitioner, sticking ludicrously
out of the garbage bin.
     "Screwball in the corner pocket," Bert declared, putting his hands
on his knees, gasping, with his head hanging. His face became slightly
more relaxed, the boiling rage that had been fuelling him apparently gone.
"I think that counts as a win." In Twister's sight, the disturbance around
the tall red-head vanished. Maybe he'd been hallucinating. The only
problem was that he didn't GET that sick as a rule. He walked over to the
doubled-over young man, Akane following. Ranma was standing, staring
slack-jawed and speechless at Kunou, or what could be seen of him
anyway.
     "Hey, are you all right?" Akane asked worriedly. "Didn't those hits
hurt?"
     "They do now," he assured her from between clenched teeth,
sweating. "They didn't at the time; adrenaline is a marvellous thing." A
pained smile flickered across his face.
     "Very. Hold still," Twister sighed, reaching out and grasping Bert's
shoulder. "They shouldn't hurt for much longer." He closed his eyes,
concentrating on Healing his new friend. A moment later, his eyes flew
open in shock.
     "It's not working!" he exclaimed. "I can't seem to get it to affect
you!!"
     "Huh?!?" chorused Akane and Ranma.
     "Then, perhaps could you get me to a doctor?" Bert asked, his tone
a little too calm, as he wrapped his arms over his much-abused chest,
wincing as he accidentally hit one of the many sore spots.
     "Where's the nearest doctor, Twister?" Akane asked as she
worriedly looked at the occasionally gasping Bert.
     Still very surprised over his inability to Heal Bert, Twister
muttered to himself. "Why would I not be able to..." He snapped out of his
musings. "Oh! Right! Doctor! Hm. The only one I know of is Doctor Tofu.
I passed by his clinic once so I guess I should teleport us near there."
     "Please do," Bert groaned out, not concerned about teleporting at
the moment as his body screaming its displeasure had captured most of his
immediate attention.
     "Let's get to a place where I can take us without being seen." Being
the next tallest after Bert, Ranma and Twister supported Bert as Akane
scouted ahead for a suitable place to teleport.
     "One positive note," Twister suddenly chuckled.
     Bert looked over at him with pain-filled eyes. "_What_ could be
positive about this??"
     "Oh, not your duel with Kunou. No, I was referring to the fact that
Akane hasn't punted Ranma across town yet. It's a miracle!"
     "Hey!" Ranma glared at Twister, who gazed back with amusement.
     Bert was shaking... with painful laughter. "Please...don't. My ribs
hurt too much now. Please. Not now."
     "Did you hear the one...." Twister stopped with a grin when he saw
Bert glaring up at him with a look that promised dire consequences if he
continued.
     "Just kidding," Twister grinned, shrugging in mock innocence.
                       *****
     From his inverted vantage point, the once-again conscious Kunou
watched them walk away.
     "We shall meet again, vile ally of Ranma Saotome. Did you truly
think I would miss the foul stench of your sorcery that enabled you to
defeat I, Tatewaki Kunou, he who was the Blue Thunder of Furinkan
High? The next time I see your evil face both you and the vile captor of
the pig-tailed one shall fall before me. Ahhahahahahahahaha!!!!"
     Suddenly, a group of students came by and, ignoring him
completely, filled the rest of the can with garbage, concealing Kunou's
face and most of his body.
                       *****
     That evening had Twister and Bert sitting in the psionist's
apartment near the university. They were here because of Nabiki's still
rather frigid demeanor, and Twister felt it was safer here. Despite his new
friend's nervous protests, they teleported into the living room area. Bert's
upper torso was now wrapped in bandages but he seemed rather cheerful
after getting over his reaction to the teleport, considering. He rotated a
shoulder.
     "That Dr. Tofu is something else. I felt like he was killing me there
for a second, but now I feel great! Aside from the ribs that is."
     "Be very, very thankful Kasumi didn't show up," Twister advised.
At Bert's inquiring glance, he shuddered a bit. "Trust me, you don't want to
know."
     Dubious, Bert let it go. "Ooookay. What was that you tried to do
for me after the fight? Heal me, you said?"
     Twister frowned. "Yes. I can Heal myself fairly easily for broken
bones or skin and doing it for someone else is much harder. But," he
emphasized the word, "I couldn't, for the life of me, Heal you. My power
just...couldn't affect you. I could see what was wrong, but I couldn't do a
thing about it."
     Bert had a skeptical expression on his face. "How do you explain
being able to teleport me then?"
     "I think I don't affect you, really, but just bending space/time so
that..."
     "STOP!! I don't think I wanna hear it!!" Bert ordered, holding up a
hand, his face abruptly looking like he was holding back panic. "Do you
think this might present a problem in getting me back?"
     "I'd like to know how _this_ happened first, even though I have
this sinking feeling I do. Unless you know of anything else psionic or
magical that might account for this."
     "Oh, sure, I deal with that kind of stuff every day....NOT!" Bert
took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Let me guess: that mighty
bolt-o-purple-power of yours that dragged me here?"
     "I _did_ seem to see flashes of purple around you when you fought
Kunou," Twister admitted, reluctantly.
     Bert was wide-eyed at that information. "Flashes...? What _else_
do you think happened to me?!?"
     Twister sighed. "Not a clue. It was Wild Magic that hit you.
Which, by definition..."
     "Translation: You don't know," Bert interrupted.
     "Correct."
     "Swell," Bert sighed, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly.
"Marvellous, even."
     "Come on," Twister retorted defensively. "You don't know
everything about hardsuits and boomers, do you?"
     "No," Bert admitted. "Sylia's still the resident genius in that
department. I've got a boatload of innovative ideas that I use for the suits,
but any real scientific advances in some of the tech areas belong strictly to
her."
     "Well then?"
     "All right, I'm sorry. I'm just...I just feel disjointed, I guess.
Universe-hopping must have its own form of jet-lag." Silence fell for a
few moments. Bert leaned back on the couch, folding his arms behind his
head.
     "Something I meant to ask you about," Twister said hesitantly. At
Bert's nod, he continued. "When Dr. Tofu was examining you, I noticed
you've got some pretty good scars there. How did you get those?" The
scars in question had been four diagonal lines across his chest, slanting
downwards from right to left.
     "Ambush," Bert replied shortly, swallowing as a pained, far-away
look of remembrance flashed across his face. "My SkyKnight escapades
had attracted the attention of some rather unscrupulous people with access
to Doberman boomers. I got attacked before I even knew what the hell
was going on." His hand scrubbed at his ribs in a vaguely-remembered
gesture. "I only survived because the rest of the Knight Sabers were able
to show up and pull my bacon out of the fire." He shook his head
suddenly. "God, seems like decades ago now. I still get nightmares
occasionally about that sort of stuff. Anyhow, it brought home a few
realities about the heroing business, and I've tried to be reasonably careful
since then."
     "Could've fooled me," Twister noted. "Challenging Kunou wasn't
exactly what I'd call being careful."
     "Occasionally I backslide a bit," Bert conceded blandly. "Besides, I
don't think it hurt Kunou any to learn a little humility, or manners for that
matter."
     "He may have gotten the message," Twister grinned, "but I
wouldn't bet on it."
     "I'll worry about that later, after my ribs have quit complaining that
is."
     "I guess fighting Kunou wasn't all it cracked up to be, was it?"
     "Don't," Bert warned with a glare. "No jokes, please. I'd hate to
have to strangle someone who's trying to help me out." Twister grinned,
then looked at the clock.
     "Well, I guess you can bunk on the couch tonight," he said. "I'm a
little low on energy to teleport us back to the dojo right now so I'll phone
Kasumi not to expect us. I can give you a tour of the university tomorrow.
It's the weekend so we have plenty of time."
     "Sounds okay," Bert replied. "I just hope nothing eventful happens
tomorrow; I've had enough excitement for now."
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi Kitamura sat back in her desk chair, frowning.
She'd earlier sensed some kind of a magic flare nearby, and had
unsuccessfully tried to track down the source. It had been highly unstable,
and she wanted to find what the source was in the eventuality that it
presented a danger to the campus. At the same time, the magic had
seemed familiar somehow. Shrugging mentally, she turned her attention
back to trying to locate the source of the erratic emissions again.
                       *****
     "Hey! Who're you?" a surprised voice asked.
     Bert stopped his preparations upon the couch and turned around to
look at a rather confused, black-haired young man with a short hair cut
who was staring at him.
     "Oh, hi there. Well, uh, I...."
     Twister stepped out of his room at the sound of the voice and
smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Yasuro, my friend here needs to use the
couch tonight and you weren't here so..."
     Yasuro shrugged. "I don't mind."
     Bert stepped up to the new arrival and stuck out a hand. "Name's
Bert, and you're Yasuro?"
     The hand was accepted. "Yes. Nice to meet you." Yasuro's
expression was one of curiosity. "When did you meet Twister?"
     "I..." Bert started.
     "After he came to this universe," Twister interrupted. At Bert's
surprised glare, he shrugged. "He knows about me already and it'll make
things easier."
     With new interest Yasuro looked at Bert. "So you're like Twister?"
     "NO!!!" Bert shouted, then grinned a little at the other's slightly
hurt expression. "Sorry there. I don't change into a cute red-head and I
don't do psionics or magic." Under his breath he muttered, "Not yet, at
least, the way things are going."
     "No, he's just someone who usually flies around in high-tech
armour battling cyberdroids," Twister retorted.
     "You did a variation of the same theme for a few years too," Bert
shot back, "_and_ doing exactly the same thing _and_ brought me here."
     "Peace!" Yasuro held up a hand before the two could argue further.
Interested from the mentioning of the word `high-tech' he looked at
Twister. "You mentioned something about going to and coming back from
another universe last weekend, but you never said it was a high-tech world
and," he peered closely at Twister, "for a few _years_? You haven't
changed at all from what I can tell."
     Bert blinked. "He hasn't?" Having just met Twister he wouldn't
have been able to tell, but it would explain how he had gotten away with
not having to tell anyone about the long trip he had made.  Bert himself
was certainly feeling the effects of Father Time from all his injuries,
although they hadn't been bothering him quite as much lately.
     "You know I have a funny metabolism," Twister uncomfortably
said.
     "But to not age, Twister??"
     "I am aging. Just...very, very slowly."
     "How slow?" Bert curiously asked.
     Twister sighed. "About a day for a period of one to two years."
     Yasuro and Bert gaped. Stuttering, Bert got out, "That's around a
lifespan of forty thousand years!!"
     "About right." Then, muttering below his breath, Twister said
quietly, "I wish."
     "Considering all the universe hopping you seem to go through, that
almost seems reasonable," Yasuro commented. Bert just continued to stare
at the now-grinning Twister.
     "With all the things I've FACED I'm surprised I've lived this long."
He shrugged. "Oh, well. You win some, you lose some."
     Bert shook his head. "I suppose I really should have expected this.
Somehow." He looked at the calm Yasuro. "You seem pretty blase about
this."
     "With all he's told me, that's the _least_ startling thing." Yasuro
started ticking off fingers. "An arch-demon of Hell, iron golem of an angry
magess, spirit dragon wanting to take over everything..." He shrugged.
"The longer lifespan is tame in comparison."
     Twister grinned at Bert's suddenly blank look. "Gee, Brain, what
do you wanna do tonight?"
     Bert shook his head, appeared to try to figure something out, shook
his head again, and then flung his hands over his head in a `I give up
already' gesture, saying, "The same thing we do every night, Pinky, try to
get some sleep." So saying, he dropped onto the couch and closed his eyes,
trying to block out the world around him.
     "I don't think that's quite right, Bert," Twister grinned.
     "Tonight, it is. Good _night_, Twister."
     "Okay." Chuckling for some reason, Twister walked to his room,
saying, "Don't stay up too late, Yasuro. Good night."
     Bert wondered what Twister had meant by that until the rapid
tapping of someone using a keyboard began echoing throughout the room.
Apparently, Yasuro used the computer in the room often and late at night.
     "When do you plan on quitting?" Bert mumbled.
     "Oh, maybe three or four. I don't need much sleep."
     It was midnight right now. Which meant three to four hours of
constant tapping. *Oh God!! Japanese keyboard torture!!* Bert mentally
wailed, but did his best to try to fall asleep.
     "Try? There is no try. Only do; or do not," Yoda's voice prodded
him from the depths of his imagination. Bert sighed; the Dark Side was
winning at the moment.

THE NEXT DAY ....

     "Good morning!" Twister grinned cheerily. A bleary-eyed,
smoldering glare from across the table was aimed at him.
     "And just what is supposed to be good about it?" Bert growled.
"My ribs feel like they've been used as tackling targets, and I got maybe
four hours of sleep, tops, thanks to your Doom-crazed friend. I managed to
restrain myself from killing him, though." He poured another cup of tea
from the pot sitting in front of him, plopping a generous spoonful of sugar
and dollop of milk into it. He quickly stirred it together, and proceeded to
drain the mug at one draught. He repeated the process a couple of more
times as Twister incredulously watched. Bert's mood began to visibly
lighten and smooth out as the booster shots of caffeine began to take
effect.
     "Um, yeah," Twister said, shaking his head at the pace with which
the tea was disappearing. "Bodies in the apartment are a little hard to
explain, Chiun. You like tea, don't you?"
     "Coffee gives me heartburn," Bert replied obliquely, slowly
inhaling another mugful. "I usually need a gallon or so of tea in the
mornings to at least look civil."
     "You sound like some of the people here at the university. Some of
them think caffeine is one of the essential nutrients for a healthy life."
     "I know what that's like; I was in university for five years, and
some of the habits, or addictions, you never lose." Silence fell for a
moment. Finally, Bert straightened up with a sigh. "So what's on the tour
itinerary for today, O wise and enlightened one?"
     "Breakfast first," Twister replied. His stomach suddenly and loudly
snarled in agreement. He grinned sheepishly, flushing. "A large one."
     "Lay on MacDuff," Bert grinned back. "Let's chow down before we
fall down."
                       *****
     Yasuro was in Hito and Morio's room, mostly because Bert had
seemed to not enjoy being kept awake most of the night; the restrained but
murderous look the tall red-head had given him that morning could have
sizzled steel armour plating. Twister might be able to handle it, but
himself...
     It was a good thing he had come over, though. After being fairly
inactive for the past month or so, his hentai friends now seemed eager to
make up for wasted time. All sorts of test tubes belonging to Morio were
set up around the room and Hito had created several circuit diagrams,
some remarkably complex, which were located both on the floor and
taped to the walls.
     "You know," a bemused Yasuro observed, "if you guys put as
much effort into school as you do with your...hobby, you would both have
A+ averages."
     From where he was writing chemical equations, Morio waved
away the comment. "No challenge. And the rewards aren't nearly as fun."
     "Getting slapped by women?"
     "That's failure," Morio corrected him.
     Looking around, Yasuro noted the absence of his other friend.
"Where's Hito anyhow?"
     Morio smiled. "He needed some parts so he went out to visit his
parent's company."
     "Oh." Yasuro shook his head. "I still can't believe they don't do
anything about his hobby. Yours either," he said to Morio.
     "Well, they ARE busy most of the time, and the fact that we
occasionally make something either chemically or in electronics that's
valuable enough that they can use it in their companies and make money
off of it could have something to do with it," Morio noted with a grin.
     "That could be it," Yasuro said with a resigned sigh.
                       *****
     "This is a fairly nice place," Bert remarked as he and Twister
strolled across one of the playing fields near the Athletics Complex.
Twister nodded.
     "Yeah, it's a good place," he agreed. "It's kinda quiet right now, but
during the week it really hums at times."
     "Yeah? Major or Minor scale?" Bert asked interestedly. Twister
winced, and decided not to dignify the joke with a reply.
     They walked along for a few more minutes, Twister occasionally
pointing out other things of interest. A small group of young men suddenly
appeared in the distance, heading towards them. Bert hadn't really noticed,
and Twister himself only gave them a cursory look. It was when one of
them shouted "Hey, there he is!!" and started charging towards the pair of
young men, being followed by the rest of the pack, that Twister realized
he did know them once he got a better look: it was that Phys Ed group,
evidently still seeking to avenge the loss of the eating contest a while
back. They'd evidently recovered from their earlier defeat, and had worked
up the courage to try him again.
     "Friends of yours?" Bert calmly asked, surveying the howling mob.
     "Distant acquaintances," Twister corrected him, "unfortunately,
not nearly distant enough to suit me."
     "We're gonna get you!!!" the lead athlete howled. "You and your
friend!!"
     "Hey wait a minute!!" Bert yelled, stepping back and pointing at
Twister. "Attack him, not me!! I'm innocent, whatever it was!!"
     "Oh, thanks a lot...OOOOFF!" Twister's breath whooshed out as
one of the charging group tackled him, bowling him over, surprised. Idiot,
he briefly berated himself, keep your mind on your opponents! He worked
at prying himself loose and getting room to manoeuvre for some martial
arts as he watched Bert dodge around some of the other young men trying
to grab him.
     "Now look here, guys," Bert panted, ducking sideways. "I'm new
here!! I don't know what your beef is, but I'm not involved!! Let's just call
it quits, okay? AAAARGH!!!" A large person with a linebacker build
suddenly slammed into the tall red-head, just as Twister succeeded in
belting his current opponent into the middle of the next week.
     Twister quickly ducked, back-flipped and swept the legs out from
under another boy as he watched a second wave of irate athletes swarm
over Bert. He tried to go to the assistance of his friend, but was prevented
by a couple more of the athletically-inclined leaping at him. Twister
helped one continue on his journey, introducing him to the nearby
fencepost, while ducking the other one's wild karate-chop. As he prepared
to give the creep an express trip to the twilight zone, something flashed at
the edges of his sight, a purple something that began to get brighter.
     BOOOOOM!!!!!!
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi jerked back from her desk, reeling in pain at the
thunderclap that had just assaulted her magical senses. Scraping together
her scattered wits, she began trying to concentrate on teleporting herself to
the general area where the erratic magical emission she'd earlier detected
had apparently turned critical and blown up. She hoped that no one had
been nearby; in a blast of that scale, someone was bound to get hurt.
                       *****
     Twister shook his head, trying to clear the dancing spots from his
eyes and the ringing from his ears. Around him on the field, some of the
Phys Ed team was laying unconscious from his attacks; the rest were
scattered widely outwards in a circular pattern from where the explosive
blast had come from. He still couldn't quite see what was going on.
     "They shouldn't have pissed me off," a deep, electronically
modulated voice stated from off to his left. Vision clearing, Twister
looked over to see a towering, silver-and-blue armour suit standing,
flexing its gauntleted hands. A burning red eyeslot surveyed the prone and
unmoving forms. Twister's jaw hit the ground in disbelief, although
dawning comprehension of what had just happened began to flicker.
     "Uh, Bert?" he queried cautiously. "Are you sure you're all right?"
     "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" SkyKnight retorted, waving a hand
irritably. "I.....oh sheeee-it," he said, finally noticing his armour-clad state
as he stared first at his hands, and then down at the rest of himself.. "What
the hell is going on, for God's sake?!?! How the hell did this get here?!?
My hardsuit can't teleport!! What...why..?" SkyKnight's voice trailed off in
utter confusion. Twister was about to reply, when an authoritative
woman's voice cut across the field of scattered bodies.
     "All right, hold it right there!" Twister and SkyKnight swung
around to see an older woman come charging across the playing field
nearby, a very angry expression on her face.
     "Hi, Professor!" Twister grinned weakly, trying unsuccessfully to
look innocent. "What brings you here?"
     She was furious at seeing him. "Twister! What in all magic's
incantations are you doing?! Is _this_ yours?" Miyabi jabbed a finger at
SkyKnight.
     "Well, in a way..."
     "Hey!" shouted SkyKnight, still a little angry from the attack. "I am
NOT a thing!!"
     His objection startled her. "Is it human?"
     "I think many people are still trying to determine that, Professor,"
Twister replied with a straight face, losing a brief skirmish with his sense
of humour yet again.
     "HEY!!" the armoured battlesuit involuntarily let loose a laser bolt
near one of Twister's feet at the remark as its gauntlets clenched into fists.
It took a step towards Twister as the debris from the resultant ground
explosion bounced of an invisible shield; the young psionist had been
expecting a reaction of some kind. "I object to that slander!!"
     "I was just kidding, Bert," Twister tried soothing him. When he
didn't get a response, he curiously said, "Bert?" Still nothing. Now he was
getting concerned. "Hey, are you all right?"
     "Twister," Miyabi ominously said, reminding him of her presence.
"I'm holding your ... acquaintance with a spell to keep him from doing any
more damage."
     "That's not going to improve his temper."
     "Too bad. He can wait. Now, I hope I do not have to repeat myself
a third time so ... _what_ is going on here?" She flicked back her long,
black hair and gazed narrowly at her student with her dark green eyes.
     Twister looked around at the now-groaning students. "Uh...maybe
we'd better do this somewhere less...conspicuous?"
     Miyabi had to concede that point, and nodded. "Very well.
Teleport all three of us to the classroom. It will be empty there."
     Sighing, Twister complied and they vanished without a sound.
                       *****
     Wide-eyed, Hito watched them vanish. He had happened by when
the fight had started but had wisely kept out of sight, knowing his fighting
skill was next to nonexistent. Evading, yes. Fighting, no. Anyhow, he
knew Twister had beaten the group before and seemed quite capable of
doing it again from the looks of things. The tall fellow wasn't familiar, but
appeared to be with Twister.
     Then the SUIT came.
     Hito's eyes almost bugged from their sockets once he saw that
powerful exoskeleton. It was a thing of beauty to his engineering eyes!
True, he was mostly into electronics, but he had forayed into mechanical
systems with great success. But the SUIT was lightyears ahead from
anything Hito had ever seen.
     He saw it had weapons, but nothing like he had ever seen before
save in sci-fi flicks. Energy weapons maybe? Miyabi's arrival didn't even
impinge on his awareness.
     Until they all disappeared.
     He almost leapt to where the SUIT had been but stopped himself.
Thinking clearly again, he realized Twister must have teleported them
away. Hito knew his friend had psi-powers but didn't often see him use
them. Did HE make the SUIT?
     He sighed; he didn't know enough to make any guesses. But he did
know one thing; he would be watching for an opportunity to see that SUIT
again.
     Right now he had to get back to Morio.
     They had lots of hentai stuff to do yet.
                       *****
     "You did _WHAT_?!?"
     Bert winced at the volume Miyabi put into the last word of the
shout. His helmet was off and laying nearby on the floor where he had
awkwardly managed to sit down. It had taken Twister a few minutes to
convince Miyabi to release him and another few to calm the furious
Knight Saber-errant down. Now Twister was explaining Bert's presence to
his magic-teaching Professor.
     Twister's face had an uncomfortable, pained expression on it. "I
had gone insane after becoming enraged in female form and taking in an
enormous amount of magical energy from the Event. Got rid of it to
become sane again, but somehow it homed in on SkyKnight and brought
him here."
     "You...you..." Miyabi put her hands on her forehead in frustration.
"The sheer joy of having such a powerful magic-user as one of _my_
students." She then placed her hands on the classroom desk and looked at
him in a way that made him want to plead innocent. "What else, besides
producing a magical disturbance equivalent to a sonic boom when
teleporting his armour to himself, has he done?"
     Twister shrugged. "The only other thing is that I can't seem to
affect him with my telekinesis...unless swallowing enough tea to wake up
Rip Van Winkle counts, which," seeing Bert's glare on him, he concluded,
"I guess doesn't."
     "I very much doubt those will be the _only_ effects that massive
blast of wild magic will produce." Now she directed her attention totally
on Bert, who felt that there was some uncanny resemblance in her manner
to Sylia's. "Being as powerful as he is when female, the amount of energy
to drive him temporarily insane, even unprepared," she cast a glare on
Twister before turning back, "is enormous. I'm not sure how much of it
was expended in crossing the Void and bringing you here, but I am fairly
certain that it would have affected both you _and_ that futuristic piece of
armour you now wear." She rubbed her forehead in memory. "That was
definitely proven when you called for your armour and it came."
     "But I didn't call it," protested Bert.
     "If you've worn it for a long time, then you likely desired it
unconsciously, especially when you were angry and being attacked."
     While Bert pondered that, Twister nodded. "Yes, it almost
happened when you were fighting Kunou."
     The hardsuited red-head looked up with a grin. "That certainly
would have surprised the pompous bastard," he chuckled, Twister
agreeing with a wide smile. Looking down at himself, Bert sighed. "I
guess I'd better get this off."
     "I suggest leaving it at my house," Miyabi interjected. When Bert
and Twister looked at her in surprise, she explained. "Studying the armour
may give me an idea of whether or not the effects are permanent and what
other properties it may have. The results of such an uncontrolled
enchantment..." She shook her head. "In any case, I _highly_ recommend
you, Bert, staying near the University when not in Twister's vicinity in
case something...unpleasant begins to manifest so I can help you, if I can."
     "You know, that makes me feel _so_ much better," Bert said
sarcastically and not without a little uneasiness.
     "I'm sorry, Bert." Twister looked kind of low as he was responsible
for Bert's predicament in the first place.
     Trying to cheer them both up, Bert shrugged. "Shit happens.
Besides, when I get back I'll certainly have a story to tell the others.
Whether or not they'll believe me is the question." Something occurred to
him then. "Hey, I wonder where my clothes went?! I'm just wearing my
softsuit under the hardware, and that isn't exactly presentable dinner
attire."
     "They're probably back at the dojo; that's where your suit was."
Twister's eyes suddenly widened. "Uh, oh. There was quite an explosion
when it arrived, but when it left..."
     "Oh, boy. You might be right."
     Miyabi spoke up. "I suggest you two make sure everything is all
right before dropping off the armour at my house."
     "Want a lift?" Twister inquired. The professor merely smiled as a
corkscrew of bright light suddenly swirled up from her feet, enveloped her
completely, and then vanished, along with the magic teacher.
     "That's even more disturbing than the psionic method," commented
a wide-eyed Bert.
     Twister grinned. "We'd better be certain though." He waited until
Bert's suddenly panic-filled eyes saw his grin before he teleported them
away to the dojo.
                       *****
     They arrived at a scene reminiscent of `Gone with the Wind';
everything in the room that hadn't been tied down had been blown around
as if by a small tornado, all of it finally landing in a heap in the far corner.
It took Bert's mind off their disturbing means of arrival.
     "Oy vey," SkyKnight observed, looking around; he'd slapped his
helmet back on after arriving from force of habit. "It does look a little
messy now, doesn't it?"
     "You can say that again," Twister agreed, staring at the mess.
     "Okay. It does look a little messy now, doesn't it?" he repeated,
chuckling when Twister's elbow smacked into his armour plating.
     "Ow! Geez, that tin suit's hard!" he briefly complained, rubbing his
elbow.
     "Wouldn't be much good if it was soft, now would it? Well, I guess
we'd better clean this up."
     "Hold on; I've got a faster way," Twister instructed. He frowned in
concentration, and all the dislodged items like strangely unbroken vases,
towels, spare clothes and such lifted into the air and floated over to their
proper locations, settling down without a bump.
     "Neat trick," SkyKnight observed. With a sigh, he clanked over to
the pile of now folded clothes, and dug out a clean set, tucking them under
an arm.
     "Got a duffle bag?" he inquired. Twister nodded, puzzled for a
moment.
     "Sure, but what for?"
     "Something to carry my clothes in while I fly back to that
professor's house."
     "You don't have to do that," Twister said. "I can teleport it there
and...."
     "Sorry, but not this time. I've got something I've got to check out
first on the suit, and doing it myself is the only way. I'll come back here
after dropping it off, and then we can decide just what to do next."
     "Okay," Twister conceded reluctantly. "You sure you know how to
get back here?"
     "Trust me," SkyKnight assured him. "I know what I'm doing." A
few minutes later, they stood in the backyard of the Tendo house.
Incredibly enough, no one was around or seemed to have noticed the
disturbance in the bedroom from earlier. Probably because the household
was almost always going nuts, Bert figured sardonically, slinging the
nylon rucksack securely over an armoured shoulder. He looked over at the
young brown-haired man standing next to him. Twister looked vaguely
unhappy about something, but wasn't saying much.
     "I guess I'll see you later," he said. With that, flight wings snapped
out into extension on his suit's shoulders, and SkyKnight shot airborne
with a screaming roar of jet turbines. Twister watched the silver-clad
figure vanish into the blue sky overhead.
                       *****
     "I am not going to panic. I am not going to panic," SkyKnight
snarled to himself over and over again as he hurtled through the air on
defiantly howling jet turbines. He felt like he was just barely keeping from
dropping off of the thin edge of what he considered his sanity at the
moment.  The initial disorientation of being transported to another
dimension had been bad, but that was nothing compared to what he'd been
through lately. For someone who put complete faith in science and logic,
having to suddenly confront magic, something he'd never really put much
stock into and not quantifiable by scientific thinking, was bordering on
terrifying. That he'd somehow been altered by the aforementioned magic
was not helping to ease his mind any. He felt completely powerless,
vulnerable to anything and everything, and he didn't like it.
     What was worse was that the stress was eroding his self-control on
the rest of his actions. Several times he'd had to throttle down the reflex
retaliation that had plagued him almost constantly a few weeks ago. He
hoped Twister hadn't noticed, but he'd very nearly struck out with lethal
force when he'd been swarmed. It was a miracle that he hadn't injured
someone when his suit had arrived.
     For several minutes, the silver-and-blue garbed hardsuit zipped
across the skyline of the city, trying to lose himself in his usual high-speed
flying thrills, but it didn't work as well as it had in the past. He stifled the
sulphurous swear words that came to mind, and began tracking through
the skies towards the sprawling university campus, following the
directions Twister had given him.
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi almost fell out of her chair in shock as
SkyKnight rocketed through the open bay window of her study, slamming
to an abrupt halt in mid-air and dropping heavily to the floor in front of
her desk with a blast from snarling jet thrusters, all in perfectly timed
precision. She recovered her composure, and her suddenly scattered
paperwork, giving the armour-clad young man a withering glare. She
couldn't tell whether or not he'd been affected by it because his helmet
visor was down.
     "I don't suppose you've heard of using the front door?" she asked
acidly.
     "I have," his electronically modulated voice replied, "but that's also
just a little too conspicuous, especially given my current state of dress."
     "Oh, I see," she returned sarcastically. "And blasting through
someone's front window isn't?!"
     "I was moving too fast for visual ID," he replied calmly. "Trust me.
Now where did you want me to put my suit?"
     "In the next room, over by the lamp." She sat back, green eyes
suddenly thoughtful, and curious. "What will you be doing during the
week?"
     "I haven't got the faintest idea," SkyKnight replied, shrugging.
"Alternating between frustration and boredom probably."
     "Hmmm. I have a partial solution to the boredom problem. In
order for me to fully ascertain what has happened to you, I'll need to have
you present for some of the testing of your suit. I can get word to you
which days I'll be testing it, and then you can drop by."
     "Joy," SkyKnight replied in a flat tone. Miyabi frowned.
     "You don't sound overly happy," she observed.
     "If it gets me home, then I'm happy. Excuse me for a moment."
Miyabi watched the silver suit disappear into the next room. Some
metallic clacks and pneumatic hisses sounded, then a few minutes of
silence. After a few more minutes a long-faced, red-haired young man
re-appeared, and she regarded him thoughtfully. He was taller than
Twister, a little heavier across the shoulders, and had similar coloured
eyes. There was an air of barely-concealed nervous agitation and tension
about him. She stood up as he came back into her study, sighing and
looking over at him.
     "Okay," she said. "I'll transport you back to...."
     "NO!!" he almost shouted, a sudden, absolutely panic-stricken look
flashing across his face. "I'll walk!! It's not a problem!!" With that, he dove
past her, down the stairs, and out the front door. She caught a glimpse of
him running hard up the street as she heard the front door bang closed.
     "Now what was that all about?!" she wondered aloud. "Was it
something I said?!"

Part Two - Sky's the Limit! 
---------------------------

     Twister absently looked around the room where SkyKnight's
armour once stood to make sure he had put everything back the way it
should be. Still, Bert's dilemma bothered him. It didn't seem like the
person from another universe of Knight Sabers was handling the concept
of magic and teleportation very well.
     "Why should it?" he sighed out loud. "Both, in a way, dragged him
away from home and friends and affected him in ways unknown. Not as
severe as my own changes, but still..."
     "Talking to yourself, Twister?"
     Whirling around, Twister saw Nabiki standing in the doorway of
the room and seemingly calm as well.
     "As long as I don't answer myself I should be okay." Not yet
willing to talk about his `little' trip in detail to her, Twister tried to change
the subject. "Where is everyone? The house was empty."
     "Kasumi and Akane went shopping together since Akane wants to
cook tonight. The rest...well, you know what their reaction would be after
Akane told them she would be cooking," she said with a half-smirk.
     "Run for the hills!" Twister jokingly said.
     "Right. And if you think trying to get me to think of something else
other than your little `jaunt' will work you are sorely mistaken." Seeing
Twister's face fall a little, her humour vanished as she walked up to him
and stared up into his face with a mixture of anger and disappointment.
Nabiki rarely let her emotions show often so it was a measure of how
much he had distressed her that she now did so. "_Why_ didn't you tell
me?!"
     Twister looked away from her face. "I just got back last weekend,
Nabiki! Finally getting back was mixed with half relief and half...sadness.
I'd gotten to know a few good friends there, but I missed being here
and...you." That last brought a smile from Nabiki that lifted Twister's
heart. "There were a few complications..." He stopped when Nabiki
dragged his unresisting head down for a long kiss.
     Disengaging, they looked at each other for a while before Nabiki
nodded with a mischievous smile. "Seeing as you're not hurt, I'll forgive
you..."
     "My Lady is gracious."
     "...and you can also tell me about all that advanced technology you
and that Bert guy told us about."
     "My Lady is greedy."
     "Comes with the package," she said with a smirk.
     "I wouldn't change you a bit."
     "Who said you had a choice?"
     Twister gave up; he was losing the battle to Nabiki's superior
comebacks. Instead, he just smiled down at her while she waited for his
next remark. She started melting as his calm, smiling, brown-green eyes
looked into her own. They reflected a more experienced soul to Nabiki as
she gazed into them, definitely a positive result of his trip. She shook her
head; this was making it too easy for him.
     She stepped back out of his arms. "Oh no, buster. You don't win
that easily."
     Twister grinned. "It was worth a try."
     A little more bold too, Nabiki thought. A definite improvement.
     A shouting from downstairs surprised them. "Hey! Where is
everyone?! Is this because _I'm_ cooking lunch?!? Raaaanma! You better
be here!"
     "Now, Akane, I'm sure they just stepped out for some fresh air,"
Kasumi's ever-innocent voice said.
     Nabiki rolled her eyes while Twister grinned at her expression.
"Sometimes, Akane..." she said with some exasperation.
     He wagged a finger in front of her. "Practice makes perfect."
     "Yes, but a perfect what?" Nabiki shrugged. "Oh, well. I guess we
should...attempt to try whatever it is she makes. IF it looks edible, that is."
     At least it'll take my mind off Bert's problem, for a little while,
Twister thought before waving Nabiki forward. "After you," he chuckled,
bowing with a flourish.
     Nabiki's look was somewhat sour as they left the room. "Somehow,
I fail to see the chivalry now..."
                       *****
     Akane anxiously looked on at the dinner table where Nabiki and
Twister sat. Why weren't they eating? They just stared at what she had
made.
     "Is... is there something wrong?" she nervously asked. She'd
worked so HARD on it and had insisted that she do it all by herself.
     Nabiki just continued to stare as Twister cleared his throat and
calmly began addressing the worried, would-be chef.
     "Akane, there are many ingredients one can use to make up a dish.
Some are hot, some tangy, some to add color." He paused, then shook his
head in disbelief. "But _how_ in the _world_ did you get _this_," he
waved at what lay before him, "to _glow_?!?!"
     Indeed it was. The dish sprouted recognizable bits of fish, rice, and
noodles. Those were the parts he knew. The rest... were strange bits of
what may have been part of a food group at one point in time. It was all
contained as one mass by some unknown green substance that had caused
he and Nabiki to stare, for it pulsed an evil-looking, sickly-green light
from within. This was _not_ normal behaviour for lunch. Maybe at a
nuclear waste plant, but not here.
     "You didn't happen to find some glowing green rock in a crater
outside and decided it might taste good, did you?" he inquired, not really
conscious of what he was saying as he stared at the blob.
     ***WHAM!!***
     "I expect that of Ranma, not you!!" an angry Akane said, lifting her
Ranma-smashing-mallet off of Twister's head, he seemed a little dazed
from the blow.
     "Owwwww....."
     Nabiki stood up and crossed her arms, looking up at Akane. "Can
you tell me your source at the nuclear power plant? There's money in
radioactive substances."
     "Not you too, oneesan!" Akane's angry face looked ready to burst
into tears. "I worked so _hard_ on it too. What are you doing??" Akane
demanded, seeing Twister poking at the glowing green disaster.
     "What _did_ you use, Akane?" He didn't feel like joking around
now, not when he had this sneaking suspicion...
     Nabiki caught his strange expression. "What's up?"
     Twister stood up, dubiously looking at the table's contents. "I won't
know until Akane shows me what she used and I examine the kitchen.
This might and might not be Akane's fault. You might be used to Akane's
strange dishes..." Seeing Nabiki's grimace, he amended, "Well, seeing
them that is, but this kinda stretches my belief." He waved Akane into the
kitchen. "Now, what did you use again?"
     Not knowing what was going on, Akane, with noticeable
confusion, complied.
     "Well, I started with the flour..."
                       *****
     Akane was even more confused now.
     "I put everything that I used on the countertop, Twister. Now can
you please tell me what...?" he silenced her with a raised hand as he
carefully examined each item.
     The countertop was littered with dozens of ingredients and
cooking utensils, leaving no room left for anything else. Nabiki and
Kasumi curiously looked on, wondering what Twister was up to. Finally
he straightened, nodded to himself, and went over to the kitchen sink to
fill a glass of water.
     "What are you..." Akane stopped as she saw Twister pour the cool
water over his own head. "_Why_ did you do that for?" She was rapidly
losing her patience with his behaviour.
     "Testing two theories in one shot," Darlene explained
mysteriously, making Akane even more frustrated and piquing Nabiki's
curiosity further.
     Nabiki was quick to figure out what the now red-headed
magic-user had planned. "You think one of these things is magical?"
Akane's eyes widened at that; maybe it wasn't her fault after all that her
dish had failed!
     "That's one theory," Darlene agreed. Before a puzzled Nabiki could
inquire as to the second theory, she began the spell.

     "Magic, magic, where do you lie?
      Invisible to the untrained eye,
      I seek you now, don't pass me by,
      Brightly glow, to make me sigh."

     Everyone in the room breathlessly waited for something to happen.
     Nothing.
     Nabiki tilted her head in puzzlement, then said, "Either your spell's
a bust or this stuff isn't magical."
     Smirking, Darlene turned to her. "It's the second. And that's
because the other theory is the winner." She pointed beyond the kitchen
door and the three sisters followed the direction where they could now see
a purple glow.
     Surrounding the dish Akane had made.
     "Waitaminute!" Nabiki blurted in obvious confusion as Akane
stared, incomprehension plain on her face, at what she had made. "If none
of the things Akane used was magical, but that green thing she made _is_,
then...then..." Her eyes widened as she came to the same conclusion
Darlene had made a few minutes ago.
     "Yup," Darlene nodded as Akane whirled to face her, a little
crazy-eyed. "Then Akane is a cooking magic-user like I'm a rhyming one."
     Akane stared at the smiling Darlene. She stuttered out, "But... I...
That's..." Her eyes rolled up and she fainted.
     "She took the news well," Nabiki noted dryly, helping Darlene
catch her younger sister before she could collapse onto the kitchen floor.
     "I guess she wasn't expecting something like that," Darlene said as
they carried Akane out to the dining room, propping her up in a chair. "I
certainly wasn't, at first. We're going to have to look into this a bit further
later on; I've never heard of anything like this before." The red-haired girl
looked down thoughtfully at the comatose Akane. "We'd better take it
slow for a while first, and not rush her. Maybe Professor Miyabi can help
figure this out." Darlene grinned suddenly. "She's going to hate seeing me.
First SkyKnight, and now this!"
     As if uttering the name of his alter-ego had been a spell, Bert
lurched through the door to the room. He was walking stiffly, with a very
deliberate and careful step. His hair was absolutely plastered to his brow
with sweat, and his sweater was also damp with perspiration. His
breathing was laboured to say the least and his gaze was very firmly fixed
dead ahead. He walked blindly past a wide-eyed Darlene and the puzzled
Nabiki into the kitchen. They heard the taps run briefly, then the sounds of
someone gulping back a glass of water. The sounds repeated a few more
times as Darlene and Nabiki swapped a puzzled glance.
     "What's with him?" Nabiki asked. "He looked like he was on
autopilot, or something."
     "I'm not sure," Darlene said slowly. "But I've got an idea...." She
cut off as Bert came back into the dining room, looking a little more
normal. He finally noticed the scene in the dining room and his expression
became slightly concerned.
     "Hey, what happened to Akane?!" he queried. "Is she sick?"
     "No," Darlene cut in before Nabiki could reply. "She just got some
shocking news, and she didn't handle it too well. I can tell you later what it
was. What happened to you? You looked like you'd just staggered in from
the desert, or something."
     "You alternately run and walk the ten miles from the university to
here and we'll see just how good your condition is afterwards." Darlene
and Nabiki gaped incredulously at him.
     "You walked?!" Darlene asked disbelievingly. "Couldn't Miyabi
teleport you back here instead?" It was the wrong thing to say; Bert's
expression froze instantly, like he'd been dipped in liquid nitrogen.
     "She offered to, but I refused," he replied shortly. "I needed the
exercise anyway."
     "You could have taken the bus, instead," Nabiki pointed out.
     "Like I said I needed......the.......exercise...." Bert's voice trailed off
as he finally noticed the glowing plate of food sitting on the dinner table.
He turned green himself, almost the colour of Akane's magical
preparation. "Excuse me," he said weakly. "I think I need to lie down." He
walked jerkily past them, vanishing up the stairs.
     "Oh great," Darlene groaned, covering her eyes with a hand. "Just
great."
     "Hmm..." Nabiki considered this new development. "Twister, you
better go help your new friend. We'll stay with Akane and talk to her when
she wakes up." The so-far silent Kasumi nodded, supporting her sister.
     "Think you can calm her down?" When Nabiki nodded, Darlene
grinned. "Teamwork, gotta love it." After giving her a peck on the cheek,
startling the brown-haired middle sister, Darlene rushed over to the stairs
and bounded up them in a flash.
     Nabiki placed a hand on the cheek as she watched her `boyfriend'
go. The red-head seemed more high-spirited than she recalled. What else
is there that happened to him? she wondered.
                       *****
     Sprawled across the bed, Bert miserably stared up at the ceiling in
the room Kasumi had prepared for him. Apparently, it had been Twister's
before he had moved to the university area along with Nabiki. Something
else was on his mind at the moment, however...
     Magic, magic, magic, magic! Everywhere I turn there's something
magical staring me in the face, he mentally snarled. Even his armour had
become a part of this craziness. Talk about adding insult to injury!
     There was a knock on the door; Bert just wanted to ignore
everything at the moment and didn't reply. Maybe whoever it was would
think he was asleep; he was certainly tired enough for it. Then there was a
second, more insistent knocking and he sighed disgustedly; they weren't
giving up, whoever it was.
     "Come in," he called out reluctantly, sitting up.
     The door opened and a bright-eyed Darlene stepped in. "Hi! How
are you?"
     "Oh, everything's just perfect. Fine. Lovely," he sarcastically said.
     "Not," she countered, losing the bounce in her step, correctly
interpreting his mood. Closing the door behind her, Darlene walked over
to the opposite side of the room and leaned on the wall to face him. "How
did leaving your suit at Miyabi's go?"
     Bert chuckled, his foul mood briefly lightening. "She took it fairly
well, considering I flew in through her roof opening at a pretty high
speed."
     Darlene gasped. "You didn't!"
     "I'm an expert on flying my suit, don't worry." Seeing her dubious
look, he added, "Trust me." The cute red-haired girl shook her head.
     "She should be more pleased when I bring Akane as a potential
student. I hope," Darlene sighed, then frowned as she saw Bert stiffen.
"Coming back to the reason I came up here in the first place; what's up
with you? You ran rather than saving a lot of time and teleporting here.
THEN you blanched when you saw Akane's...er...creation. I can
understand you being a little afraid of mag..."
     "A little afraid?!" Bert mildly said, interrupting her. His voice
began to rise, sounding like he was on the thin edge of blowing up. "A
_LITTLE_ afraid?!?! Something that defies all logic, drags me across
dimensions like a goddamn leaf in a hurricane, has somehow affected my
suit, and mostly likely _me_ as well, in ways unknown and you think I'm a
_LITTLE_ afraid of it?!?! It warps sane, logical reality into bloody
pretzels where ever I go! Of _course_ I'm afraid of it! It's totally irrational!
It's...It's..." Bert gave up talking as he was starting to ramble incoherently
and panted for breath.
     Darlene was completely still, looking very calm, and said, "Get
over it." in a slightly tight voice. Her blue eyes seemed to suddenly glitter
icily.
     He glared back at her. "_You_ get over it."
     "I have...mostly," she said, still apparently calm, and Bert blinked.
"Haven't you wondered how _I_ got this way?" She lazily waved a hand at
herself. "You've never asked."
     Bert blinked again, and looked over her, admittedly attractive,
body. "I thought you'd somehow got dumped into the same pond Ranma
had."
     "But the exact same body? And the psionics? And the magic?"
Darlene prompted.
     Bert nodded slowly. "Well, that _has_ gotten me wonder..."
     "BECAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE EITHER!!" Darlene
screamed at him, shocking Bert backwards as she quickly stepped over to
the bed, standing over him and clenching her fists. It almost looked like
her eyes were glowing, which Bert nervously realized they might actually
be doing. In a marginally quieter voice, she furiously went on, "_You're_
not the only one who was dragged from their home by a miscast spell! In
_fact_, my chances of _surviving_ that which changed me and gave me
first my psionic and then magical powers were probably _orders_ of
magnitude _less_ than yours! You _probably_ weren't in any danger at all
since _I_ was the one that channelled the power and likely affected it
some ways!" She was literally shaking with rage as Bert frantically looked
around for an avenue of escape in case Darlene did something he wouldn't
want to stay around for.
     She went on. "And illogical?! Hah! Do you think psionics is
logical? Do you?!?" Darlene demanded of Bert, fury still her voice.
     "Ah, um, err, well..." he stammered. Darlene narrowed her eyes
and he scrambled frantically to answer her. "Yes! Yes, it is! It at least
obeys the laws of physics from what I understand."
     "Well, I've got news for _you_, bucko! At some point magic and
psionics can merge! I've done it _myself_ once! Just because it may
_seem_ chaotic doesn't mean it _has_ to be. Sure it can be irrational!
Like," Darlene faltered, "when I went...insane and...almost hurt a...lot of
people because," she lifted trembling hands in front of her face, "I got
angry...when female..." Her face crumpled, anger vanished like the wind.
Darlene sank down to her knees and started sobbing.
     Bert stared for a moment, taken by surprise by the radical change
in Darlene's mood. He started to move forwards hesitantly, instinct
prompting him to comfort the sobbing girl somehow. He froze solid a
moment later, remembering that she wasn't really a girl all the time. How
was he... she going to react to a stranger suddenly putting his arm around
him...her?! What the hell was he supposed to do now?!
     As he stood there, floundering in a mental quandary, the door flew
open, and Nabiki stood in the doorway. Her brown eyes flared in anger as
she gazed at the crying girl on the floor, and the red-haired young man
with a confused expression standing awkwardly nearby. She immediately
hit the wrong conclusion.
     "What did you do to her?!" she snapped, quickly going over to
Darlene, kneeling, and wrapping her up in a hug. Darlene sobbed
uncontrollably onto her shoulder as she glared up at Bert. "Get out," she
told him glacially. "I don't want to hear whatever the excuse is; she was
trying to help you, and this is the thanks she gets?! Get out before I really
get mad at you."
     "But I didn't...." Bert's voice trailed off as Nabiki's furious glare
lanced into him. A trace of confusion and hurt flickered across his face,
quickly becoming walled-off as his face settled into a stony mask. "Fine,"
he replied flatly. "I'm leaving. Don't worry; I won't darken your doorstep
again." Nabiki didn't watch him leave, being too pre-occupied with trying
to soothe the still-crying Darlene.
                       *****
     Bert stalked down the front steps of the dojo, ignoring Kasumi's
startled inquiry as to where he was going at suppertime, and stormed
down the front walkway, out into the street. Fuming, he started striding
like a runaway thunderstorm down the sidewalk.
     He had to go somewhere, anywhere, just as long as it was away
from the dojo. Some of the pedestrians who saw the grim-faced young
man coming immediately crossed the street, getting out of his way; there
was an almost visible cloud of anger and frustration hanging over his
head.
     Well, he asked himself, now what, genius? You've managed to
alienate most of the people who were trying to help you. Congratulations!
Keep it up, and maybe they'll kill you before you get homesick. It was the
thought of home more than anything else that cleared his mind somewhat,
allowing him to examine himself and the causes for his vile mood.
     Partly, it was indeed homesickness; he was missing everyone,
Nene especially, with an intensity that was almost palpable. He didn't
really know a soul here, with the possible exception of Twister, and he felt
isolated and alone; he didn't fit in here, even slightly. It was made worse
by the fact that, for the moment at least, it didn't appear that he was going
to be going home anytime soon. As a result, he'd lashed out at anyone
trying to get through his emotional barriers.
     A portion of his disquiet was because he still wasn't fully
recovered mentally, at least, not enough to be able to handle the
strangeness he was all too often confronting now.
     The last factor contributing to his upset state was, being brutally
honest about it, fear. He'd been uprooted by something that defied all
logical explanation: magic. Every time he thought about it, he wanted to
run screaming away from the idea. Because of his unease, he supposed
he'd been unconsciously blaming Twister for his current problems. It
wasn't entirely fair, but he hadn't been in a frame of mind suited for
fairness.
     Twister's....no, Darlene's outburst had brought to light a couple of
points that he hadn't been aware of before. Namely that she hadn't had a
choice either about what had happened to her... him... whomever!!! At any
rate, she'd mostly accepted what had been done to her, although he wasn't
really sure why she'd suddenly collapsed, crying. If he got the chance, he'd
have to find out what that was all about.
     Like it or not, however, he was going to have to just grit his teeth
and bear with the current situation; whining and carrying on about how
much life sucked and was being unfair to him wasn't about to solve his
problems. Bert sighed again, straightening up and squaring his shoulders,
feeling a little better that he'd managed to clear his mind somewhat. Now
the question was: what did he do in the meantime?
     The first thing he was going to have to do was try and get at least a
basic understanding of magic, even though his mind wanted to shut down
at the concept. If he could figure out how it worked, then maybe he might
be able to help find a way to solve his predicament. All right, he told
himself as he walked along, start from first principles.
     Now then, magic appeared to be SOME form of energy. Energy
behaved according to certain rules, or should, at least. Somehow, magical
energy was manipulated by the spellcaster to produce the desired effects.
Now how was it shaped? Spells, of course.
     Spells were rhymes, at least it was in Darlene's case, that focused
the caster's will, meaning that the caster had to have the correct mental
image firmly in place in order to produce the desired effect. It was the
combination of the structure of the poetry, such as rhyme and meter and
so forth, that forced the mind into the proper state to be able to channel
magic.
     That being the case, it followed that magical energy was directed
by thought patterns. Thought patterns in the brain were electromagnetic in
nature, although perhaps electrochemical might be a better term. At any
rate, since different people had different mindsets, and, apparently,
different magical aptitudes, it made sense that the magical energy was
controlled by their thought patterns. Ergo, magical energy might be able to
be manipulated by electromagnetic forces.
     Bert grinned to himself suddenly, feeling better for having come
up with at least a partial theory on what magic was. There was still a large
unknown operating in his equation, but at least he had a basis to start
from. All he had to do was conduct a few experiments somehow. Well,
since Prof. Miyabi had said that some testing of his suit was necessary, he
supposed he could start there. She could conduct her tests and HE could
use his suit sensors to conduct a few of his own at the same time. That
wasn't going to happen until tomorrow at the very earliest, though.
     He slowed his pace, thoughtfully gazing around at the small park
he'd wandered into: it appeared to be deserted. He sighed suddenly, and
slumped into a nearby bench. Might as well get comfortable, he told
himself, you're going to be here for a while.
     He sat there, mind wandering aimlessly, as darkness began to fall.
                       *****
     "Feeling better?" Nabiki asked, handing another Kleenex to
Darlene. The red-haired, blue-eyed girl nodded wordlessly, taking the
proffered tissue and blowing her nose. She added the sodden wad to the
steadily growing pile in the wastebasket.
     "A lot better now, thanks," she sniffled. "You're a great comfort,"
she added, a faint smile appearing. Nabiki smiled back, relieved that the
crying storm was over, and hoping some kind of explanation was
forthcoming. Darlene's next question wiped the smile off her face again.
     "Where'd Bert go?" Darlene asked. Nabiki's expression turned
stony.
     "I don't know, and I don't really care," she replied coldly. "If all he
can do is say things that are going to upset you that badly, then I don't
think we need him around." Darlene became wide-eyed and worried at the
same time.
     "Oh no!! What did you say to him?! It wasn't his fault! Well,
maybe in part, then again maybe not, but still..."
     "Stop!" Nabiki shouted. Startled, Darlene stopped her babbling,
mouth still open. "Was it, or was it not his fault?" she asked.
     Darlene slowly shook her head. "No, it wasn't."
     "Oh, boy," Nabiki sighed. "I practically tossed him out after I saw
you." When a panicky Darlene tried passing by her to try to catch Bert,
Nabiki grabbed an arm in a firm grip and whirled Darlene around to face
her. "If it's not _his_ fault, then _why_ were you crying like you had lost
your dearest friend in the world?? I've _never_ seen you act this
emotionally before," a stray recollection came to her mind, "and you were
perfectly fine when you were your old self..." She frowned at the red-head,
who looked away. "It's something to do with your female half, isn't it?
Why you, when Ranma isn't..." Nabiki turned Darlene's head around with
her, surprisingly gentle, hand. There was a slightly concerned expression
on her face. "Come on, Twister, please answer me."
     Darlene looked down at the floor, a little ashamed that she had
worried Nabiki. "I think it might be a combination of the change...and the
Event. Makes me more emotional when female. It slowly crept up on me
before I realized what was happening. I...also went a little berserk in the
universe that I was in and perhaps very, very lucky that I didn't hurt
anyone...badly when my rage exploded. I...," Darlene looked on the point
of tears again, "somehow tapped into the Event when it happened and
went temporarily insane...until I got rid of it all, creating the bolt of
magical energy that brought Bert here. He was just complaining,
justifiably, about magic and his troubles, which got me angry till I
remembered about...the incident. The memory hit me harder that I
expected."
     Nabiki stared at the red-headed girl who was also the man she
loved before shaking her head. "You never have it easy, do you?"
     Darlene sighed. "I guess not. Speaking of which, how's Akane
doing?"
     "Once she got used to the idea, pretty well actually. Cheerful, in
fact," Nabiki replied, grinning slightly.
     Darlene blinked. "How so?"
     "She feels that this will give her something to compete with
Ranma's other `fiancees'. Akane's always felt that she had nothing to offer
Ranma personally, now she has."
     "Not unless she can cook something else other than Superman's
funeral cake." Darlene grimaced. "You'd better tell her to keep quiet about
it until she can. I have to find Bert." She hesitated, glancing at Nabiki.
     It was seen. "I'll apologize if that is what's bothering you."
     "It's not that..."
     "What then?"
     "I...um...mentioned that I had picked the name Darlene Stefenson
during my...ah...confession for my female form." Darlene shyly said.
     "So? You said you were amnesiac when you picked it," Nabiki
curiously said. "Oh...you prefer it now? I guess it's better than Itazuka."
     "Yes...but there was a reason I picked that one even so. My
_name_ is Darren Steffler, Nabiki," she finished in a rush.
     Blankly looking down at the expectant Darlene for a second,
Nabiki slowly began to smile. "And...am I the first you've told your real
name to after your change?"
     Darlene simply said "Yes." with a smile.
     Nabiki's smile grew very happy, but with a hint of a grin. "Seeing
your current status, I'll kiss you later. But for now..." She hugged Darlene
tightly, and said, "I love you."
     "And I love you too," Darlene softly replied, deciding that the
feelings of warm comfort and being sheltered she felt while being hugged
by the currently taller Nabiki could be accepted without confusion for the
moment.
     She could certainly reverse positions easily enough.
     Then her eyes widened as she remembered something. Or rather
some_one_.
     *Oh, no! I still have to find Bert!*
                       *****
     Bert started awake; he had dozed off but something had awakened
him. It was still a little light out, but the park lights had come on already.
He wondered why he was on the park bench before he remembered
Nabiki's icy departure notice and mentally groaned. Then something else
caught his attention. He thought he was alone in the park, but he could
swear he could hear...faint, but definitely insane...laughter?!
     What the hell?!
                       *****
     Kodachi tried to stifle her laughter; stealth was essential to her
plan, but merely thinking about her latest plan to bring her darling Ranma
into her loving arms increased her joy.
     Soon, my darling! Soon we will be together forever!
     Carefully, Kodachi patted down the earth where she had
transplanted the plants she had grown from seeds from their birthing pots.
She had selected an unused section of the park to plant her little pets as
she did not want unwanted bodies littering up her trap.
     The man I bought those wonderful seeds from told me that this is
the highest the plants will grow, but that they will more than make up for
it with their magic! He didn't specify how, but one set of plants will
ensnare anyone within range and the other will put the victim into a
hypnotic trance. Anyone save the one who grew them.
     Hohohohohohohoho, she mentally laughed. I will bring all those
hussies that are after my dear Ranma here and then they will be at my
mercy! And if my love doesn't see the wisdom of my actions, well, maybe
I will bring him here too...
     "Hey, who are you and what the _hell_ are you doing??" a voice
rudely demanded behind her.
     Startled, Kodachi stood and turned around to see a strange, tall,
red-headed young man. She stood rooted to the spot in shock for a
moment, speechless.
     "Well?" the young man asked again. "Who are you, lady? Do you
usually sneak around public parks at night, cackling like brooding
chickens?" He cast a greenish-brown-eyed gaze at the strange-looking
plants. "And I don't think that the Public Works department, assuming
there is one here, will appreciate your planting thistles, or whatever the
hell they are, in the parks, either."
     "Who...who are you?!" Kodachi finally found her voice. She hadn't
noticed anyone in the park earlier. In her glee at having a foolproof plan to
get Ranma, she'd evidently missed seeing him around. Drat the luck! Her
mind raced as she tried to think of a way out of her current dilemma.
     "My name's Bert. Now who are YOU?" he replied impatiently. "I'd
kinda like to know who is nutty enough to sneak around planting noxious
weeds for the hell of it."
     Kodachi managed to throttle down her anger at his unflattering
description of her lovingly tended beauties.
     "My name is Kodachi," she replied, trying to appear charming,
primping her hair a bit. "I'm not harming anyone, really, and they're not
weeds. They blossom into beautiful flowers whenever someone
approaches them. Why don't you look closer, and see for yourself?"
     "Proximity-sensitive flowers?" Bert said skeptically. "Yeah, sure,
tell me another one!" Nonetheless, he did start to bend closer to have a
look at the strange, dark-green plants with the peculiar-looking pods on
the ends of the stalks; his curiosity had been piqued, even though he was a
lousy botanist. Kodachi stepped back slightly, a triumphant grin spreading
across her features.
     "They don't appear to be......what the?! Ackpphhhtfhthtp!" Bert
surged upright, snorting and sneezing in surprise as the twin plants
suddenly swivelled like gun turrets and spat a cloud of strange,
faintly-glowing pollen into his face from two pods. He doubled over
again, wheezing and gasping; whatever the stuff was, it was stinging his
lungs like fire, and spots were beginning to dance in front of his eyes.
     "Don't you feel much better now?" Kodachi cooed. "You're going
to forget all about this now, aren't you?"
     "That's what you think, lady," Bert wheezed, anger beginning to
kindle as he dropped to his knees, unable to breathe. He'd never had an
allergic reaction to pollen of any kind before, but he was pretty sure that
was what was happening now; it couldn't be anything else. Great, his hazy
mind noted sardonically, just great. Here he was, dragged thousands of
miles from home by goddamn magical forces that he didn't understand,
homesick and alone, and he was suffocating because he'd been poisoned
by some deranged, cackling girl who'd planted killer weeds. "I'm not
feeling better, and I'm sure as hell not going to forget it!" He gritted his
teeth, trying to force himself back to his feet. Purple sparks began to flare
in his vision; he figured his air was running short.
     Kodachi frowned in sudden doubt; the effects of the plants were
supposed to have been immediate, but the stranger who'd confronted her
didn't appear to be affected, not in the manner she wanted, anyway. That
meant she'd have to take care of him the old-fashioned way, then. As she
stepped forwards, a massive flare of purple-white light accompanied by a
concussive blast of air split the night sky, throwing her hurtling backwards
into the bushes, and briefly etching sharp shadows through the small park.
     BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
                       *****
     "AAAAAAAAGGHH!!" Darlene screamed, throwing her hands
over her ears, doubling over in pain, almost falling to her knees. A very
surprised Nabiki caught her arm, and hauled her back to her feet.
     "Twister?! I mean, Darlene, what's wrong?!" She looked around,
mystified, at the empty street they had been walking down; there was
nothing within sight that could have caused that kind of reaction. A faint
rumble in the background faded.
     "You didn't hear it?!" Darlene asked dazedly, shaking her head.
There was a deafening ringing going on inside and she wished someone
would answer the phone so that she could at least hear again. After a
moment, it died down a little, very little.
     "Hear what?" the brown-haired girl replied concernedly. "There
was nothing to hear! You just folded up, screaming!"
     "But it was deafening!" Darlene protested. "How could you
not.....uh-oh." Her face suddenly blanched.
     "What?! What is it?!"
     "If only I heard it, in this form," Darlene said slowly, "then it was
inside my head, and so the sound was magically produced, which
means..." Her head snapped up, a worried light igniting in her blue eyes.
"It's Bert; something must have triggered his change to SkyKnight."
     "What?!" Nabiki said confusedly. "You mean he can instant
change like you and Ranma?"
     "Not quite," Darlene sighed. "I'll explain later. Right now we've got
to go find him, quick. Something that loud on the magic spectrum will
probably bring a few people running." The two women began running
down the street as Darlene continued to steer them in the direction her
little tracking spell that she'd whipped up was pointing. No one else could
see it as she didn't want people staring.
     "Is ... is... it .... much.... further?!" Nabiki panted after several
blocks. How far away had he gone, anyway?!
     "Just up ahead," Darlene replied, running easily and ignoring any
physical discomforts that manifested themselves. "He's showing up like a
beacon right now."
     They pounded down the empty street and rounded a corner in time
to hear a loud, sizzling and crackling boom, as if someone had temporarily
unleashed lightning in the neighbourhood. A blinding crimson aura sprang
into being briefly in the air around a small public park up ahead.
     Darlene tried to run faster, praying that everything was okay. They
ran through the gates of the park, heading for approximately where they'd
heard the explosions emanate from. Darlene and Nabiki skidded to a halt
as they reached the approximate center of the park, and stared around in
stunned amazement at the swirling chaos that now occupied the normally
tranquil area.
     Leaves swirled everywhere, being lofted around by lingering
vortices of air. A dusty, smoky haze drifted through the air in some places
and there was the smell of charred vegetation. As the two girls stared
around, it became evident that some of the devastation originated from a
central location; the way some of the bushes and small trees had been
levelled indicated an outward-moving blast. They moved forward
cautiously, nervous about what they might find.
     As they passed a drunkenly leaning tree, a staggering, silver-garbed
armour suit became visible. Tortured hacking and coughing could be
heard coming from SkyKnight, but they couldn't see an apparent cause. It
was evident that he was at ground zero of the disaster; all the plants in the
area were laying flat in an outwardly radiating spiral from him.
     "Bert!" Darlene called, relief surging up. "Are you okay?! What
happened?" She ran over to him. Nabiki followed more slowly, looking
around at the surrounding havoc, suddenly unsure of herself.
     "Just.... a .... second....can't ....breathe," SkyKnight rasped. He
reached up, and yanked off his helmet. Spinning around, the red-haired
Knight Saber was suddenly violently sick on a nearby patch of scorched
earth. Coughing weakly, he managed to get himself under control as
Darlene stared, wide-eyed. Concerned, she started to move forwards to
give him a steadying hand, but he waved her off, staggering back up to his
feet.
     "Better," Bert said hoarsely, wiping his mouth on the back of a
gauntlet. He cleared his throat a few times, and sneezed a couple more
times before he seemed to recover from what had been bothering him. His
bloodshot, greenish-brown eyes blinked a few times, and he took a deep,
grateful breath.
     "Aaaaah!" he sighed in relief, slapping his helmet back on, but
leaving the visor up. "Much better. You never realize how much you miss
breathing until it's not there."
     "Would you PLEASE tell me what happened?!?!" Darlene
demanded, fuming in exasperation. Bert looked at her in surprise, finally
realizing who had come charging into the park. His gaze flicked over
towards Nabiki. Darlene had the sudden impression of shields snapping
into place, but Bert still answered her, not quite meeting her gaze.
     "Some bloody witch suckered me into looking at some stupid
plants and the goddamn things tried to poison me, that's what happened.
Whatever those plants shot at me damn near suffocated me; I guess my
suit reacted to my state of mind, which was alternately scared and furious
over the trick. Anyhow, whatever those plants were, they won't be
bothering anyone ever again." He pointed, and Darlene finally noticed a
large, smoking crater nearby. It was the crater that the smell of charred
plants was coming from.
     "So who was this `witch'?" she asked curiously. SkyKnight
shrugged irritably.
     "I don't know," he answered. "Some black-haired nutbar who
cackles insanely and talks to herself. She's back there somewhere," he
added, gesturing vaguely in the direction he'd seen her go flying in the
blast that had accompanied the arrival of his suit.
     "Uh-oh," Nabiki said. "That almost sounded like Kodachi."
     "Who?"
     "Kodachi. She's Kunou's sister, and she's mad about Ranma."
     "Another one?!" SkyKnight shook his head. "I could almost feel
sorry for the guy. I..." He stiffened suddenly. "Kunou's SISTER?! Oh
bloody great! Now I've probably got the whole family mad at me!!"
     "That is the least of your worries, mister," a woman's voice with
barely controlled anger put in from behind him. SkyKnight turned around
as Darlene stepped around him to see who it was. A furious older woman
with green eyes and raven-black hair was standing at the edge of the
disaster zone, glaring at them.
     "Hello, Professor," SkyKnight sighed. "Something I can help you
with?"
     "Well, one thing you could do is...STOP CALLING YOUR
ARMOUR!!" Miyabi yelled furiously, glaring at the slightly cringing Bert
in his SkyKnight hardsuit.
     Bert rallied his own anger. "I didn't have a flying choice in the
matter! I was att...att...achoooo!!!" he sneezed explosively, almost falling
down. "Damn. What _was_ that pollen?? I've never been allergic before."
     "Pardon me, Professor," Darlene interjected, saving Bert from a
blistering retort from Miyabi, "but if whoever attacked Bert was Kodachi,
and given her fixation on flowers and poisons it likely was, then it's not
really his fault."
     Miyabi glared at Darlene and Bert for a moment, then visibly tried
to relax. "I'm sorry, Bert. When you do that it gives me an awful headache
and when it happens so unexpectedly...I get irritable. If something gets
you mad enough to summon your armour then there must be a reason."
     "Thank you," Bert nodded at the apology.
     Darlene rubbed her forehead. "But next time, Bert, try to do it
when I'm male please? God, that hurt."
     Bert was surprised, then concerned. "You too? Sorry about that."
     "Screamed and almost collapsed when it happened," Nabiki
remarked, making Bert even more worried.
     Miyabi nodded. "She would've. Considering how _I_ feel and how
much more sensitive she is, I would suspect it hit twice as hard."
     "It's okay," Darlene reassured Bert, who had been about to
apologize again. She turned to Nabiki, who seemed to sense what Darlene
planned to say next and was looking this way and that. "Nabiki...? You
wanted to say something?"
     Nabiki's shoulders went up and down as she sighed deeply and
walked over to the armoured Bert, who stiffened a bit at her close
proximity. She looked somewhat hesitant as she started. "I'm...not used to
this as I'm usually good at...assessing a situation, but..." she frowned
suddenly and accusingly pointed at a startled Bert's hardsuit. "It would
help a _lot_ if you weren't wearing that tailor-made tank," she complained.
     "Nabiki..." Darlene reminded her. Bert had to grin a little; the
armour could intimidate people at times.
     "Oh, all right! I _am_ sorry for thinking you were responsible for
what happened and for throwing you out." Nabiki looked away,
embarrassed. "I guess I wasn't thinking very calmly then."
     Bert thought about what his own reactions would be if he had seen
someone standing over a crying Nene. Not very good ones, he admitted to
himself. Actually, Nabiki probably handled it much more calmly than he
would have in her position. You never do think very rationally when it
comes to the ones you love, he mused, glancing at Darlene, even if they
are a little strange.
     He smiled at Nabiki, who appeared relieved at his reaction.
"Apology accepted."
     "I'm sure someone will explain what you are talking about?!"
Miyabi demanded. "It's getting late so let's conclude this quickly. You
two," she pointed at Nabiki and Darlene, "have classes tomorrow,
remember?"
     Darlene sighed. "I told you my emotions in female form intensified
during my...ah...trip, Professor, and I'm still trying to get used to them.
Sometimes...they get a little out of control." She looked embarrassed. Bert
rolled his eyes at the understatement, but didn't add any extra comments.
     "Ah yes, I'd forgotten with this matter with Bert, but then," Miyabi
looked very amused, "you _were_ rather in a hurry to leave the..."
     "Yes, yes!" Darlene, in a panic, interrupted her frantically. "Well,
like you said, it's late. Me and Nabiki gotta go back for some hot water, so
I'll teleport to your place and pick up Bert. Okay, Bert? Great! See you in a
bit. Come on, Nabiki!" Darlene practically threw Nabiki over her shoulder
as she dragged the startled young woman behind her in her mad rush back
to the dojo.
     Very surprised, Bert watched them leave. Why does she remind me
of A-Ko right now? he mused. Shrugging, he turned to the still smiling
Professor. "Now what was _that_ all about?"
     "It seems my young pupil hasn't told Nabiki about what happened
in the village of the Amazons yet," Miyabi chuckled.
     "Amazons..." Memory tickled Bert's mind until it hit him like a
sledge hammer. "Wait... Don't tell me she got into a fight...and won?"
     Miyabi arched her eyebrows in surprise. "You know their
customs?"
     "Just that one about male-marry, female-kill. Hoo, boy. There's
trouble brewing I would imagine."
     "Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned it, but it will come out soon
enough. Like all in their village, Lotion is a very determined young
woman. Fortunately, she's nicer than most. _Very_ fortunate, since she's
also studying magic."
     "Oh, boy." Bert said worriedly. "That _is_ trouble. I hope Nabiki
isn't in danger."
     "Perhaps," Miyabi's lips twitched in amusement, "but not the type
of danger you mean." Before Bert could inquire further, she briskly said,
"Now, returning your armour: How shall we do this?"
     Bert grinned. "I can suggest one method..." he started, slapping his
helmet visor closed. Instantly, the red helmet eyeslot flared into
eerily-glowing life, and a low thrum began to pulse through the air. His
wings snapped out behind him as Miyabi looked at him dubiously.
                       *****
     Darlene screeched to a halt when they reached the dojo, panting
heavily and not just from exertion.
     Nabiki's hair had seen better days as it stuck out in random
intervals. "I think we could've _slowed down_ a little," she complained,
straightening out her clothes and checking out her normally flat hair.
     "Sorry, but Bert can move _fast_ in that suit of his. Didn't want
them to wait too long," Darlene explained, thinking quickly.
     "You still have to walk back," Nabiki pointed out. "He seems
rather...reluctant about your teleports."
     Darlene's face fell, then grinned. "_That_ is easily taken care of."
     Nabiki held her hands up. "I don't want to know."
     "Chicken."
     "Practical," Nabiki countered as they finally stepped into the
house.
     Everyone seemed to be back; Soun and Genma were playing Go,
as usual; Kasumi cleaning up the table with the remnants of supper; faint
sounds from the training hall indicating Akane was smashing bricks; and
Ranma...
     "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" came a feminine scream from
upstairs. WHAM! BANG! "Come _back_ here you old pervert!!" CRASH!
     "Ranma's playing with Happousai again," Nabiki commented
redundantly.
     "Hmm... I need to tell them not to get Bert mad," Darlene said.
"Better change first." She headed towards to kitchen.
     "I'll check up on Akane," Nabiki called out, and started towards the
training hall.
                       *****
     "But this bra would look so good on you!" Happousai petulantly
cried out as he dodged Ranma-chan's furious kick, said bra in hand.
     "Forget it, you old lech!!" the furious red-head shouted.
     Twister watched them for a moment as the two bounced around in
the upstairs hallway. They didn't notice him because he was using his
`unnotice me' trick. He sighed. There was only one thing he could do to
make them listen, but he really didn't like to do it.
     Oh, well.
     Ranma-chan stopped in mid air during her next assault on the old
hentai, startling her considerably. "What?!?!"
     "Sweetums!" Happousai leaped in joy as Ranma-chan tried to
frantically backpedal in mid-air. Then Happousai was caught in mid-air
also, a few scant feet away from a now-relieved Ranma-chan.
"Noooooo!!!!" he cried in anguish.
     "Oh, come on. It's not _that_ bad," Twister griped.
     Both suspended martial artists somehow whirled im mid-air to
look at the calm face of the brown-haired psionist.
     "I don't need your help, Twister..." Ranma-chan started.
     "I needed to get your attention somehow." Twister shrugged. "This
seemed best as I'm in a hurry."
     Ranma-chan folded into a cross-legged, sitting position. "So what
did you want to say?"
     "The guy who's going to be staying here..._don't_ get him mad.
Please. For his sake _and_ yours."
     "Even if he beat Kunou, what's all the fuss?" Ranma-chan wanted
to know.
     "His armour was affected when he was brought here and whenever
he gets really angry it's summoned to him. Explosively. Think of two of
Happousai's bombs going off point-blank in your face. He ran into
Kodachi and she tried something on him that Bert found hyper-allergenic.
His suit came, Kodachi went flying, and Bert nuked the plants she used
with his on-board weapons. You'd have a _very_ tough time avoiding
damage from laser and particle-beam weapons," he added for Happousai's
benefit.
     Suddenly, Happousai pulled out a bucket and splashed a surprised
Twister with water. Ranma-chan dropped to the floor, hard, as the
telekinetic force keeping her up vanished, but the old hentai was ready
and bounced to the wet Darlene, or, more accurately, her breasts.
     "AAHHH!!" she screamed in shock, then more angrily, "FREEZE,
PLEASE!!"
     Happousai went stiff as a board, still clinging to the angry mage
until she pulled him off. His eyes still moved back and forth frantically.
     She dropped him, not caring about the floor, and he landed with a
thunk. "Argh! He just can't give up, can he?" Darlene spat furiously.
     "Happousai?? Yeah, right." Ranma-chan cheerfully strolled over
and poked at the living statue. "Is this the same thing you did to me?"
     "Yes, except he won't freeze; he just can't move." Darlene
grimaced. "I've got to get going. See you later." She turned and left for the
kitchen.
     Ranma-chan kneeled down to look directly into Happousai's still
moving eyes. Grinning, she dangled the bra in front of him and the eyes
filled with tears.
     "Guess we're gonna have some fun, don'tcha think, Gramps?"
     Somehow, the eyes conveyed a great sense of panic.
                       *****
     When Twister arrived in Miyabi's workshop, Bert was pacing the
floor. Seeing Twister's face, he sighed. "Finally!" Then he frowned.
"What's with the getup? And why does it seem so damn familiar?" Twister
was dressed in a dark blue riding outfit and holding a motorcycle helmet
in one arm.
     "Well, seeing you don't seem to like teleportation..." Twister
started.
     "I'm getting more used to the concept," Bert interjected, even
though he still looked queasy at the prospect.
     "...I brought other transportation." Twister finished, and held up
what appeared to be a small model of a motorcycle, much to Bert's
disbelief.
     "Surely you don't plan on shrinking _us_?!" When Twister rolled
his eyes Bert sighed with relief.
     "I shrunk my bike I built in Mega-Tokyo and brought it with me.
All you need to do is speak a word and it'll grow back to normal. Don't
worry about a helmet for now; if you're not safe with a telekinetic biker,
who is?" Twister grinned slyly, adding, "And don't call me Shirley." Bert
grimaced at the joke, and returned to examining Twister's clothing.
     "That getup you've got still looks damn familiar...." Bert snapped
his fingers when it came to him. "That's Priss' getup and..." He peered at
the mini-bike. "..her bike too!"
     Twister shrugged. "I copied it. And...had some fun with her." He
grimaced. "Even though she got me back many times because of it."
     "Oho!" Bert grinned evilly. "This I've got to hear! Come on, spill
it! And don't leave anything out now!"
     "Me and my big mouth," Twister muttered to himself. He glanced
at the grinning red-head, sighed, and began his narrative as he led the way
out of the room. Bert listened attentively as he followed.
     "Well, one night I was driving down the Bayshore Highway of the
city, when..."
Part Three - School Daze! 
-------------------------

     "What's the matter, Pop?" Ranma's voice taunted. "Gettin' SLOW
in your old age?" There was a loud splash immediately after that
statement, and a moment later what sounded like a large animal snarling
could be heard.
     "Looks like you're all washed up!" Ranma's voice hooted. "Guess
you'd better.... AAHHH!!" There was another loud splash, and then an
angry young girl's voice shouted, "Hey!!! That's cheating, old man!!"
     Bert gritted his teeth in profound irritation, rolling over on the bed
and pulling a pillow down over his ears, trying to muffle the noise from
the early morning practice session that Ranma and Genma were having.
He cracked an eyelid open, gazing blearily at the clock. It wasn't even
seven o'clock yet!! Hadn't they heard of sleeping in?! A voice in the back
of his mind reminded him that it was a school day, and that meant that
pretty much everyone in the household had to get up fairly early. It also
pointed out the fact that the two Saotomes always had an early morning
brawl... err... training session. Great, just great.
     With a disgusted sigh, he threw off the blankets and got up. After a
quick clean-up and shave in the bathroom, he tidied up his room and made
the bed. Mentally bracing himself, he took a deep breath and marched the
final mile down to the breakfast table.
     "Good morning!" Kasumi's cheery voice greeted him as he
lumbered into the dining room. The eldest daughter looked, as always,
friendly and cheerful, wearing a sunny yellow dress with a crisp white
apron over top of it. Mr. Tendo merely grunted something that sounded
like "uhmhmm" from behind his morning paper, but didn't look up from it.
     "Morning," Bert sighed, trying to at least appear civil; he was a
lousy morning person, and being rudely awakened by the martial artists in
the back yard hadn't helped his disposition any. Kasumi didn't seem to
notice his glowering thundercloud status at the moment. As he sat down,
she placed a VERY large mug of steaming tea in front of him, placing
sugar and milk nearby. Bert glanced from the beer-stein-sized mug to
Kasumi, faint surprise showing on his face.
     "Twister warned me that you were a big tea drinker," she
explained, correctly interpreting his puzzled look. "Although he described
your consumption as a `massive chemical kick-start'."
     "That's not too far from the truth," Bert grinned sheepishly. "I
usually can't make it through the morning without at least one cup of tea."
He added milk and sugar to the steaming concoction in the desired
amounts and began slowly working his way through the caffeine cocktail.
As the liquid level in his mug lowered, his mood lifted appreciably,
making the day ahead seem not as threatening. As he was drinking, Akane
came in and sat down at the table with a cheery "Good 'morning!".
     " 'Morning," he replied, taking another cautious sip at his mug.
"How are you feeling today?"
     "Pretty good," she replied between bites of breakfast. "After school
today I'm going to be dropping by the university to meet this professor of
Twister's."
     "Professor Miyabi," Bert absently corrected, his mind suddenly
leaping ahead to his own plans for the day. Sometime during the day he
had to go and see the professor so that they could discuss his suit, and his
rather unique problem, in detail. He suddenly woke to the fact that Akane
had said something, and he'd missed whatever it was. She was looking at
him curiously.
     "Sorry," he apologized, flushing. "My mind wanders in the
morning; what was that you said?"
     "What are you going to be doing today?"
     "I'm not too sure," he admitted. "Sometime today I've got to go see
that professor myself; the rest of the day I'm kinda vague on what things to
do." Silence fell for a few long moments, during which Bert wolfed down
a few pieces of toast with cheese. The noises from the backyard,
thwacking and slapping sounds, continued for a while.
     As Bert washed down the last of his breakfast with another mug of
tea, the short, red-pigtailed figure of Ranma-chan came in through the
back door, straightening out her gi. A large panda loomed in the doorway
behind her; the floorboards creaked ominously as the huge animal
waddled across the dining room and sat down at the table. Ranma-chan
also sat down, giving him a brief nod by way of greeting. Bert returned the
nod, and continued to quietly sip at his drink. Silence seemed to hang
oppressively over the table as everyone else quietly ate, and Bert knew it
was at least partly the family's discomfort at having a total stranger at the
table, although he wasn't really a complete stranger anymore.
     As he sat, quietly drinking, he couldn't keep from glancing
sidelong at the massive bear sitting nearby. Genma, in his bear form, was
huge, and seeing a panda sitting at the dinner table using cups and plates
like normal people was almost enough to provoke hysterical laughter. He
resisted the impulse to say anything, however; he was just going to have to
grin and bear it.
     "So whatcha doin' today?" Ranma-chan asked him finally.
     "Looking around, probably," he replied. "I guess I need to find a
job, or at least something to keep me occupied for a while. I don't really
know how long it's going to take to find a way to send me home, so I've
got to do something or I'll go nuts." He clamped down ruthlessly on the
panic that erupted in the back of his mind at the thought of not being able
to go home; there had to be a way to do it. There just had to be!
     "Maybe there's something at the university you could look into,"
Akane suggested. "Twister's said a few times that they're looking for
people for various jobs in the labs."
     "I'll look into it," he promised, "but I'm not going to rush things
yet; I've only just arrived, and I don't want to jump headfirst into things."
     "Unlike some people we know," Akane remarked dryly, looking at
Ranma-chan. The red-pigtailed girl flushed, blue eyes narrowing angrily.
Oh Lord, Bert groaned to himself, here we go again. Sighing, he knocked
back the last of his drink, trying to ignore the calls of "uncute" and "jerk"
that volleyed back and forth across the table. As the shouting match
escalated Bert gave brief thanks that he was going to be elsewhere during
the day.
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi looked up from her desk as a tall young man
loomed in the doorway of the lecture hall where her class was due to start
shortly. She frowned for a moment; he didn't look like one of her students.
In fact, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else BUT in the room at
the moment. It was when the young man sighed and took off the white
baseball cap he was wearing that she recognized Bert, relaxing her
caution. Curiosity nudged the back of her mind slightly; given the way
he'd reacted to magic earlier, seeing him enter one of her classes was the
last thing she would have expected. She sat back, placing the papers she'd
been marking to the side as she watched him approach.
     "Good afternoon," he quietly greeted her, greenish-brown eyes
flicking a nervous glance around the room. "You're a hard person to find."
     "Oh? What makes you say that?" she inquired.
     "Your courses aren't in the school calendar, and I really had to prod
the registrar's office before they'd even admit that you were on the
campus. Any particular reason for the `hard-to-get' routine?"
     "Think about it for a moment," she suggested dryly. "I'm teaching
courses on something most people prefer to believe does not exist. Magic
is something that violates reality as most normal people perceive it, and
revealing it to the general public would cause some problems. Why do you
think I prefer to avoid open displays of power? Secondly, putting `Magic
101' on the course calendars would look like a joke. I have an
understanding with the registrar's office: I don't bother them, and they
leave me to instruct as I wish, recruiting the students for my courses as I
wish."
     "Sounds reasonable," Bert admitted, then smiled slightly. "I can
just imagine the kinds of problems you could give them if you felt like it."
The professor smiled back briefly, then turned serious again.
     "What did you need to see me for?" she queried, watching him
closely. To her, it looked like he had clamped an ironclad grip on his
nerves in order to remain in the same room as her. A few students started
to trickle in through the doorway behind him.
     "When did you want to try testing me and my suit to see just what's
going on?"
     "Hmmm," she looked at him thoughtfully, considering. "I'm free
after this next class; we can see what develops from there."
     "Okay, that's fine with me," he replied, then hesitated, looking like
he'd just swallowed something distasteful. "Would you ... mind... if I just
sort of parked myself in the back of the classroom and eavesdrop?" he
said, forcing the words out. "I'll keep my mouth shut and I won't do
anything."
     "Why?" she asked directly, meeting his greenish-brown eyed-gaze
with a clear, level green-eyed one of her own. "Are you thinking of
learning magic?"
     "NO!!" he snapped in a strangled voice, just shy of actually
shouting. He made a harshly-checked, slashing gesture of denial as he
struggled to get a grip on himself. Miyabi watched as he took a few deep
breaths, visibly forcing himself to calm down.
     "Sorry," he apologized a moment later. "I don't want to learn
magic, but I think I've got to at least partly understand what it is in order to
keep from dropping off the deep end and going nuts. If I can understand it,
maybe I can help figure out how to get myself home."
     "It's not a bad idea," she admitted. "This class might not be the best
one to sit in on, though: it's all the upper year students. Maybe you should
sit in on Twister's...."
     "I appreciate the thought, but no," Bert interrupted. "I've already
disrupted his life as it is; I'd rather not extend that to include his classes,
too."
     "All right," she reluctantly conceded. "Just find a seat in the back
then. We can go check your suit afterwards."
     "Thanks." Bert turned, and walked to the back of the classroom.
Some of the entering students gave him a look of frank curiosity, but he
avoided meeting their gazes and passed them by, sitting down at a desk in
the shadows of the back corner of the room. Professor Miyabi thoughtfully
looked at him for a moment, then turned her attention to the class as the
last few stragglers came in and found seats.
     "Good afternoon," she greeted the body of students. "I hope all of
you have studied the items I requested the other day..."
                       *****
     Bert stifled another yawn, glancing sidelong at the clock hanging
on the wall near him. The lecture had been going on for an hour, and he
was bored absolutely stiff. Having someone ramble on about
vaguely-understood concepts for a long time was the fastest way he could
think of to put someone to sleep. Professor Miyabi was a marvellously
clear and concise speaker, but his mind was having problems accepting
some of the lecture material, and as a result he was beginning to nod off as
his attention wandered. He was trying to think of a way to sneak out of the
room without attracting a lot of attention to himself when one of the
Professor's statements about casting spells grabbed his notice.
     "One thing you must exercise at all times," she stated, "no matter
what the situation may be, is control of your emotions. If you don't, then
there is a very strong possibility that they will drastically affect how some
of your spells respond. For example, if you try to light a candle while
angry, there is the possibility that the spell will produce a fireball instead
of a match flame. Your state of mind can influence how much, or how
little, power goes into a particular spell."
     Bert's mind cartwheeled off into another direction as the Professor
continued her lecture at that point, dwelling on her remarks about
emotions. Her statements made sense, and fit with his rudimentary theory
of what magic was. The brain produced different electrochemical
reactions based on the state of a person's emotions, therefore it followed
that some of those reactions would affect how magic was controlled,
adversely or not.
     He abruptly realized that the professor had also unknowingly
explained why his suit arrived in the spectacular fashion that it did; so far,
it had been summoned whenever he was angry, and that could mean that
his anger was `over-powering' the summoning process, creating the
explosions and shockwaves. While he didn't cast spells, he DID seem to
be exerting unconscious control over the forces that had affected him and
his suit. He supposed that her explanation applied to him as well.
     Bert gazed unseeingly across the lecture hall, mind racing. Maybe
his suit could be summoned when he was relaxed? If that was the case,
then getting to it if he needed it in a non-critical situation would be a lot
easier, not to mention quieter for all the magic-sensitive people in the
area. The main question was: just how did he summon his suit when he
was mad?
     Bert frowned to himself, concentrating and trying to remember as
Professor Miyabi called for a volunteer from the class to demonstrate a
spell for animating objects. He briefly wondered why the topic of cartoons
had entered a magic class, then dismissed the thought as irrelevant. Now,
each time he'd called his suit so far had been a situation where he'd been
angry, and in real danger. Each time, he'd immediately envisioned himself
in his suit, responding to the threat to himself somehow, usually with his
weapons. Somehow, that had translated into a process that had teleported
his suit instantly to him. Now what if he envisioned a more gradual
change? Would that quietly summon his armour to him?
     Bert watched as a young woman with long black hair and dark
clothing stood up near the front of the class. He'd seen her entering earlier
when he'd been talking to the Professor, and at the time, she'd given him a
faintly appraising look that had made him nervous. Now, it appeared that
she was going to do the demonstration for the Professor. He turned his
attention back to his contemplations, although he noted in the back of his
mind that the black-haired girl was drawing a circle on the floor around
what looked like a small stone statue, wondering what she was going to
do.
     Bert looked down at his hands, flexed them a couple of times, and
took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he put his head back and
concentrated on forming an image of his suit in his mind. He knew every
contour of the armour intimately, and it didn't take long to form an image
of the silver-and-blue hardsuit. In his mind, he began mentally picturing
himself stepping into his suit and starting the closure processes.
     At the front of the classroom, the black-haired girl started weaving
complicated patterns in the air with her hands.
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi concealed an irritated frown as she glanced
around the classroom; there was an aggravating, low-pitched, almost
subliminal hum emanating from somewhere in the room, and she couldn't
seem to locate the source. The noise, while not loud, was annoying
enough that it could possibly distract someone while casting spells, which
would not be a Good Thing.
     Reminded of what was going on, she returned her attention to
Natsumi, who was casting a spell to animate the small stone gargoyle
statue sitting on the floor. A rudimentary spell at her student's level, it
nevertheless required great precision to cast properly. As she watched,
Miyabi noted that a few of the other students had noticed the hum, and
were fidgeting. It suddenly hit her that all of the ones fidgeting were the
ones in the class that were the most magic-sensitive, and she started
keeping a close eye on Natsumi to try and determine if the black-haired
girl was affected. Natsumi finished the closing gestures of the spell, and
pointed at the statue. The chalk circle on the floor glowed briefly, and
then the small statue began to move.
     It also began to grow.
     Miyabi stared disbelievingly at the rapidly growing gargoyle as
Natsumi backed away in utter shock; that spell shouldn't have had the
effect it was having now! The small statue was only supposed to have
walked a few steps around the circle, and then stopped moving. It was
now about four feet in height, proportionately broad, and still growing
fast. Stony eyes on the gargoyle opened, revealing an evil, pulsing purple
glow, and clawed hands flexed menacingly.
     Shock snapped Miyabi back to the peril of the situation. Bracing
herself, she snapped out a quick counterspell to eliminate the one that had
animated the statue, but it had no effect at all. As the professor tried to
think of a more powerful spell to use, the gargoyle stepped across the
chalk circle, beginning a slow, rumbling approach towards Natsumi,
flexing stony claws and wings. It was around ten feet tall now, and
appeared to have stopped growing.
     As if the stone monster's menacing approach had been a signal, the
remainder of the class bolted, pouring out the doors of the classroom in a
barely-controlled escape. Miyabi envied them briefly; she had to stay and
stop the monster before it could get out and cause damage that could lead
to awkward questions. Natsumi was still seemingly paralyzed by fear; the
young woman had tried cancelling her spell herself, but nothing had
happened. She was staring like a trapped rat at the grey creature as it
loomed over her.
     "Look out!!" Miyabi heard someone shout, then a moving blur
dodged past her. As she watched, Bert ducked under the gargoyle's wings,
and snatched Natsumi barely out of the way of a hissing claw swipe. He
ducked another strike at himself and shoved Natsumi ahead of him, trying
to get her clear of the ponderous stone juggernaut. She stumbled and fell,
and Bert tried to pull her up and drag her with him as he retreated from
the slowly advancing stone statue.
     Miyabi muttered another counterspell, unleashing it on the
gargoyle again. Again, nothing happened; it was as if there was some
other kind of magic interfering with her spell. She watched in helpless
frustration as Bert tried again to get Natsumi out of the way, but failed.
Natsumi was too scared or stunned to co-operate in his efforts to get her to
move, and was tripping them up.  As the stumbling pair barely avoided
another raking swipe, Bert suddenly shoved Natsumi out of the way, and
turned to face the gargoyle, taking a wide-legged stance.
     "Bert!!" Miyabi yelled, face paling as she recognized a
combat-type stance. "Don't do it!! You don't know...." She cut off the
shout as a swirling purple glow suddenly enveloped him, coalescing into a
silver-and-blue armour suit. There was no deafening magical explosion
this time, just a muffled "whoomp" noise and a quick breeze. She stared
incredulously, a look mirrored by the surprised Natsumi from where she
was sprawled on the floor. However, Miyabi's surprise was more from the
manner in which it had been accomplished; how had he managed that
trick without levelling the surrounding area?!
     "Hold vile monster!" SkyKnight's electronic voice boomed
suddenly. "Here endeth your foul advance!"
     The gargoyle was unimpressed, and its stony claws speared
towards the silver armour suit. Lightning-quick, SkyKnight slapped the
thrusting arm aside, following through with an uppercut to the gargoyle's
head. There was a loud CLANG, and the stone leviathan rocked slightly,
but that was it. The punch, even though backed by the hardsuit's
considerable strength, hadn't even scratched the statue's rocky hide.
     "Oops! Oh shit!!" SkyKnight ducked another claw swipe. This time
he grabbed the monster's arm and jerked it up into the air, spinning around
and throwing it over his back. The stone creature smashed the front row of
desks into pulverized debris as it landed on top of them, and Professor
Miyabi had to duck flying splinters. She quickly got out of the way of the
two combatants, retreating to where Natsumi was standing, the younger
woman staring agape at the silver-armoured figure.
     "Okay, buster," SkyKnight addressed the gargoyle. "Let's see you
take this for granite, then!" His arms snapped up, and twin, coruscating
bolts of crackling crimson energy slammed into the gargoyle with a
thundering blast, gouging huge holes into its hide. The monster snarled, a
noise reminiscent of a landslide, and lunged towards the silver hardsuit.
     "Uh-uh, ugly," SkyKnight said. "I've got your number now! No
more Mr. Gneiss guy!" The silver-clad Knight Saber wound up and
smashed the gargoyle sprawling with a tremendous roundhouse punch.
The gargoyle flew into the few remaining intact desks in the room,
demolishing them. As the stone behemoth awkwardly tried to get back to
its feet, SkyKnight cut loose with all of his onboard particle lasers. Four
searing beams of red-white energy hammered into the stone monster,
spraying red-hot chunks of rock everywhere. Miyabi and Natsumi ducked
the flying shards, coughing in the acrid smoke that began to fill the room.
     "Anyone for some spare gravel?" SkyKnight's voice asked, the
silver suit suddenly looming out of the drifting haze in front of them. The
professor couldn't answer for a moment, being still busy coughing. The
helmet on the suit swivelled to regard Natsumi.
     "Are you okay, M'Lady?" he asked courteously. She nodded
uncertainly, not quite sure what to make of the towering armoured figure.
     "Who are you?" the wide-eyed, black-haired girl finally asked.
     "_His_ name," Miyabi, having cleared her throat, stated before
Bert could proclaim his name in a suitably chivalrous, and impressive,
manner, "is Bert, which will soon become _mud_ unless he tells me how
he brought that blasted armour so silently this time."
     "That's not very polite, Professor. I didn't have a chance to
introduce myself," Bert protested. He relented under her stern, unwavering
stare. "Oh, okay! I got the idea listening to a part of your lecture, all
right?"
     "_My_ lecture?? Which part? And take off that helmet so I can see
your face; I hate talking to a blank piece of plastic."
     "Ceramics, not plastic," Bert corrected as he took off the helmet.
He dusted off the helmet as best he could and tucked it under his elbow,
grinning innocently at the aggrieved professor.
     "I don't know which is worse; the magical headaches that armour
can cause, or the puns," Miyabi muttered loudly. Bert put on a hurt
expression, but was ignored. "Just _when_ were you experimenting with
this `idea'?"
     Bert frowned; what was the point of this? "It was around the time
when that stone stooge ...started...going...amuck..." The resigned
expression that appeared on Miyabi's face when he passed the mid-point
of his sentence caused him to reflect upon his strangely altered armour.
The sinking feeling in his stomach that abruptly developed as the light
dawned must've been how the Titanic felt when it developed a romantic
attachment to a fickle iceberg. "You don't think that I ...I ... ayeeee..."
     "...accidentally caused the spell to go out of control? Very likely,"
Miyabi confirmed his dread. "You forget that it was uncontrolled magic,
or rather Wild magic, that affected you and your armour. And your trying
to activate that Wild magic seems to affect spells cast within range. It
seems to have many odd effects."
     "Oh, great," Bert moaned, closing his eyes, and slapping a
gauntleted hand over them. "I try to do something magically constructive
and I almost wipe out your class. Just perfect." He just couldn't seem to do
anything right in this wacko magic universe.
     "Don't be too hard on yourself," purred a close, female voice. "You
fixed your mistake _very_ well."
     Startled, Bert snapped open his eyes, lowering his hand, to stare
into the attractive brown eyes of the girl that had conjured the gargoyle.
She was very close, and smiled winningly up at him, making the
red-haired young man suddenly very nervous. "Ah... um... I'm sorry, I don't
know your name, M'Lady," he stammered, flushing self-consciously. He
realized a moment later that he shouldn't have said `M'Lady' to her again,
as her smile warmed up even more.
     "It's Natsumi, and _you_ rescued me, my magical and quite
formidable knight," she said seductively, lazily blinking up at a now
panicky Bert.
     "H-hey! Hold on a second! _I'm_ the one who _caused_ the
accident!" he blurted.
     Natsumi tilted her head, thinking that over. "True, but seeing you
in action, protecting me from harm, more than makes up for that, I think."
Standing stock-still in shock, Bert stared at the smiling young mage as she
intertwined her fingers behind his back, drawing closer to his armoured
form to derive more comfort from it. He was saved by Professor Miyabi
who had watched Bert flounder and decided to spare him, for now, from
Natsumi's attentions.
     "I thought you were going after Twister, Natsumi," Miyabi
casually observed. The younger mage flushed red with embarrassment and
quickly untangled herself from Bert, much to his relief.
     "I... I am... I mean... I _was_, but..." flustered, Natsumi stopped
short, unable to continue. She didn't know what had happened during that
trip he had taken with the professor, but Twister seemed to have
consciously or unconsciously decided on Nabiki, not Natsumi, to be his
only love. Even if the other two didn't know it, _she_ could tell by the
signs he had displayed. In other words: she was free. Also, her attractive
rescuer _did_ seem similar in personality, if not in appearance, to Twister,
whom she did like a lot.
     That fact resolved her. "Yes, I guess I _was_. Not anymore
though..." Her steamy look gave no doubts as to whom her next vic... er,
target was.
     What is _with_ this place?!? I'm barely here for half a week and
I've already got some girl wanting me to be her boyfriend?! Bert mentally
fumed. Then again, that seems to be the norm around here for some
people, Ranma being the prime example. I hope to hell it's not catching,
but I don't think I'm going to get that lucky; hopefully it'll only be a mild
case. He sighed to himself, noting briefly to himself that, despite Natsumi
targeting him for future romance, his tension levels seemed to have
dropped considerably as a result of his skirmish with the gargoyle; the
hidden blessing to this mess.
     "You two can resolve this later," Miyabi stated firmly, cutting in.
"Bert, as you have nothing better to do, you can help me clean up the
wreckage; this class seems to have been cancelled for today. However, the
next will be coming soon. Twister's, in fact."
     At that reminder, Natsumi quickly stepped up to Bert, pulled his
head down before he could react, and kissed him lightly on the lips before
running to the room's exit.
     "We'll meet again, my knight in shining armour!" she cried before
leaving.
     Bert stared after her, slack-jawed, then groaned. "Why me?" he
demanded of whatever gods would listen. No one answered him; either
the heavenly court was currently adjourned, or else all the lines were busy.
Miyabi's clearing of her throat caught his attention.
     "Once you've helped me with this mess...do you know if you can
_return_ that armour? _And_ bring your clothes _back_?" she queried
archly.
     "Um...no." Bert grinned sheepishly.
     "That's what I thought," Miyabi sighed; this day was going to be an
interesting one.
                       *****
     I can't _believe_ he's doing this, Darlene thought disbelievingly for
about the hundredth time during the class, staring at the sight in the front
of the class.
     Standing absolutely still in a front corner of the room, imitating its
ancient forebears in museums, was the armoured form of SkyKnight.
Professor Miyabi completely ignored the incongruous intruder as she
continued lecturing to the class. She hadn't given any sort of explanation
when Darlene had walked in, only to jerk to a stop and stare at the
technological knight. Miyabi had pointedly ignored her wide-eyed,
quizzical stare, indicating that she was to sit down. The others in the
classroom figured that the unusual sight was an illusion or something
leftover from the previous class as the professor didn't seem overly
concerned about it.
     Darlene knew better, but wasn't sure what to do about it.
     This is going to be an interesting story to hear.
                       *****
     Bert almost sagged in relief; the class was over and he would soon
be free to move again. It had been an eternity standing like a statue doing
nothing, but it was the best way Miyabi could think up to disguise him on
such short notice as students had started coming in. He still didn't like
teleportation, and had adamantly refused to be `ported to her house.
     One good thing about this being a magic class at least, he mused.
No one thought having me standing in the front of the class was terribly
strange.
     He had occupied himself by running diagnostics on his suit over
and over again. Fascinating how the some of the systems were now
changing minutely every few minutes in terms of the power output,
possible indications that a tune-up was needed. He'd have to examine it in
detail later, if he could get the right tools.
     Darlene had been quite surprised at his appearance; the look on her
face had been comical to say the least. Bert had stifled an impulse to wave
at her at that point. She'd glanced at him periodically during the class,
shaking her head, and he'd grinned to himself as he imagined what must've
been running through her mind.  He'd also resisted the admittedly
mischievous impulse to use his helmet speakers and sound system to
`punctuate' the professor's lecture with appropriate sound effects; he didn't
particularly want to find out what being turned into a REAL statue would
be like.
     As the class filed out, Darlene stayed behind after saying
good-byes to a cute, blue-haired girl whom she seemed to be friends with.
When everybody save Professor Miyabi, Darlene, and SkyKnight were
gone from the room, Miyabi closed the door and sighed as she looked at
Bert, who had started moving again.
     Darlene stepped over to him. "Why...? You looked like... I..." she
began haltingly, then gave up and doubled over laughing hysterically; she
couldn't help it, it just struck her as suddenly being funny.
     Bert stretched his armoured arms with relief, while being irritated
at being the source of her amusement. "There was a little accident," he
told her. "When we finished cleaning up it was too late to do anything but
pretend I was some kind of magical experiment, as suggested," he
finished, waving at Miyabi as the source of said advice.
     "But why _stay_ like that??" Darlene managed to get out. She took
a deep breath to calm herself, but still snickered a bit every so often. It
made her currently female chest bob when she did.
     Turning his helmeted head to try to get rid of the distraction of
seeing Darlene's current... endowments, Bert muttered mentally to
himself, she's a _guy_; why should I feel an attraction? Right, a guy who's
a cute, red-headed 100% female at the moment. God, I hope I get out of
this universe soon; my mental health may depend on it. Aloud, he said, "I
didn't know if I could get my clothes back the same way I did with my
hardsuit. I don't really care to be buck naked at the moment. And
teleportation is out," he ended fairly firmly.
     "If you don't mind, Twister, change and get his clothes from my
house, then teleport his suit back," Miyabi requested.
     Darlene rolled her eyes. "This is getting to be a habit." Then she
snapped her fingers. "Bert, did Akane say if she was coming to Miyabi's
today?"
     "Yeah, she mentioned she was," he replied.
     "What's this?" Miyabi curiously inquired.
     "Well, I discovered that a friend of mine seems to be able to make
magic by cooking, she might be pretty strong too; she made her dish
_glow_ and it wasn't a pleasant sight."
     Miyabi frowned. "Bad cook?" When Darlene nodded, the frown
deepened. "Odd, the methods beginning magic-users use are usually
aptitudes that come easily to the caster. You cast rhymes, Natsumi
gestures, and so on." She turned thoughtful. "I've also never heard of a
_cooking_ one. Most strange. And you are right; for a failed recipe to even
glow, she must be either strong-willed or strong in power."
     "Likely both," Darlene muttered under her breath.
     "Ah... not that I want to rush you, but..." Bert asked.
     "Oops. Be back soon!" Darlene rushed out the door.
                       *****
     Bert sat back uneasily in a padded easy chair, a steaming mug of
tea in one hand, looking around the book-strewn library as if he expected
the aged volumes to leap at him. From a shadowed corner of the room,
light glinted off of his hardsuit plating. The sight of his suit made him feel
a little more secure.
     "Relax," Professor Miyabi advised. "I just want to know now
EXACTLY what you did in the classroom today; then, we'll... I mean, I'LL
cast a couple of detection spells, and that will be it for today. After that,
you can leave if you wish, or you can wait for Twister and Akane. We may
be a while on that score, however; I can't recall ever having heard of
anything remotely close to what Akane can do before." She stopped
talking, and sat down behind her desk, waiting.
     "Well," Bert began slowly, "I was sort of listening to your lecture,
although I was getting kind of bored in spots, not because of you," he
added hastily, looking sheepish. "I just didn't understand a lot of the
material..."
     "I believe I warned you about that possibility," she remarked.
     "True," he sighed, taking a swig from his mug. "Anyhow, it was
your mention of how emotion could affect your spell results that got me
thinking..." He continued, explaining his rudimentary magic theory to her,
and how emotions had figured into his equation. He then quickly
described the process he'd used to summon the suit, emphasizing the fact
that he'd been calm and controlled. The urge to protect Natsumi had also
helped somewhat, giving him something to focus on. The
`damsel-in-distress' reflex, he noted wryly to himself.
     "For someone who claims to not really believe in magic," Miyabi
noted, staring intently at him, absently running a hand through her hair,
"you've come up with a remarkably compact and workable basic theory of
how magic works. I'm impressed."
     "I didn't think it was that good," he muttered, flushing. "There's
holes a mile wide in it."
     "I didn't say it was perfect," she told him, smiling faintly. She
stood suddenly, a commanding aura seeming to become palpable around
her. "We'll run those tests now. Go stand by your suit."
     Shrugging, he complied as Miyabi came out from behind her desk.
She assumed a look of total concentration, and raised her hands. Bert
tensed despite himself and tried not to look too panicked. Miyabi didn't
notice and chanted a brief spell under her breath, pointing at Bert and his
suit. There was no visible reaction, visible to him, at least, and she
frowned.
     "Nothing," she stated. "It's as if there's nothing there at all." She
folded her arms, scowling at an innocent spot on the floor as she pondered
what to try next. Her green-eyed gaze suddenly snapped up to pin him to
the spot.
     "Think about your suit," she directed. "I want you to form a
complete image of it, but don't complete the summoning `process', if you
can help it."
     "I'll try," he sighed, spreading his hands helplessly. "I can't promise
anything, though."
     "Fair enough," she replied. Bert closed his eyes, and again formed
the mental image of his armoured alter-ego. Miyabi cast the spell again.
     WHOOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!!!!
                       *****
     "AAAAAAAAGH!!" Darlene shrieked, shaking her head groggily
as she staggered drunkenly around the kitchen. Akane grabbed her in
surprise, helping her to stand upright.
     "Darlene!! What's wrong?!"
     "Don't tell me you didn't hear it?!" the red-headed girl gasped,
shaking her head again to try and clear it.
     "I heard a muffled bang," Akane admitted, "but nothing loud
enough to make me scream and stagger around."
     "Well it sounded like a gunshot right in my ears to me," Darlene
declared. A sudden, worried look appeared. "Oh no," she groaned. "That
was the noise that usually accompanies Bert's suit appearing!" She tore out
of the kitchen at top speed and bounded up the stairs, leaving Akane to
follow a little more slowly behind her. Rounding a corner of the long
upstairs hallway, she ran into the Professor's study.
     Professor Miyabi was groggily picking herself up off the floor
from in the middle of a pile of books, but she appeared unharmed. Darlene
ran over to her.
     "Professor!!" Darlene panted. "What happened?! Where's Bert?"
Miyabi winced, holding a hand to her forehead.
     "Please! One question at a time, and not so loud!" she requested.
She lowered her head to her hands for a moment as Darlene stared around
at the now empty bookshelves. All the books in the room were now strewn
all over the place, but Bert's hardsuit stood seemingly unaffected in the
corner. As she looked around, a pile of hardcovers near the suit stirred,
and a dishevelled-looking red-haired young man crawled out from under
them on his hands and knees.
     "Anybody got some Aspirin?" Bert requested. "My head feels like
it got used as a golf tee."
     "You heard the explosion?!" Darlene asked in surprise.
     "I was in the middle of it," he corrected dryly, wincing. "The
professor cast some kind of a testing spell, and something didn't like it."
     "There was a tremendous Wild Magic aura that sprang up when
you started concentrating on your suit," Miyabi informed him. "It reacted
adversely to my investigative spell."
     "Adversely?!" he repeated incredulously. "You call that just an
`adverse reaction'?! I'd ....Owwww, shit that hurts!" he groaned suddenly,
dropping his head to his arms. "Could I PLEASE get that Aspirin now?!"
he pleaded from between clenched teeth.
     "Find the bottle," Miyabi directed Darlene. "I may need the rest
myself before we're through here." The red-headed girl nodded, and
sprinted from the room, just as Akane entered the disaster zone.
     "What happened?!" she asked, staring wide-eyed at the wild chaos
rampant in the room. Miyabi sighed, and stood up, staggering slightly and
placing a hand to her head.
     "It's a long story," she sighed. "Let's just say that I'm going to have
to be very careful when investigating Bert and his suit; the two have
become magically linked somehow, and there's a lot of raw power in the
bond. However, it's not evident unless he concentrates on his suit; if it's
not directed at something like summoning his suit, it seems to create a
magical field that interferes with everything else even slightly magical,
hence the explosion that resulted. It may even stay around after the suit
has been summoned, but I don't know that for sure yet."
     "So how come I've got the Boston Pops playing the 1812 overture
in my skull?" Bert asked from where he was hunched over on the floor.
"I'm not magic sensitive; I shouldn't have heard a thing."
     "Feedback, I think," the Professor replied, "but I don't know for
sure. Wild magic is just that: wild, uncontrollable, and unknown. There's
no predicting the effects it can have on people."
     "Is it possible that Wild Magic interference is why I couldn't Heal
Bert earlier?" Darlene asked, coming in with a large bottle of painkillers,
and two glasses of water on a tray. Miyabi swallowed a couple of tablets
with a swig of water before replying.
     "It's possible," she admitted. "Again, I don't know."
     "I'm getting so SICK of hearing those words," Bert gritted from
down on the floor.
     "Well, do you know anything we don't?" Darlene put in quickly as
the professor's expression turned stony.
     "No..."
     "Well then?" Darlene waited, tapping her foot impatiently, holding
onto the other glass of water. Bert sighed, and forced himself to his feet,
squinting against the pain in his head. She herself swallowed five tablets;
because of her unusual metabolism she needed more. Her taking the
painkillers reminded him of how sensitive to the blasts she was, and
pointed out that he wasn't alone in having a headache.
     "I'm sorry," he apologized, sighing. "I didn't mean it; it's just that
pain makes me irritable." Darlene handed him some Aspirin tablets, and
he quickly washed them down with a long draught of water. The
professor's expression lightened somewhat.
     "Apology accepted," she told him. Sighing, she straightened out
her clothes, brushing the dust off of them. "Now then, enough of Bert's
problem; time to go downstairs and look into Akane's talents now."
     "Are you sure?!" Darlene asked in surprise. "I mean... I... are you
up to it right now, after the explosion and all?" she stammered as Miyabi
turned a cool glance at her protege.
     "I'm fine now," she assured the diminutive red-head. "That was all
the testing we were going to do for now anyway." She winced, rubbing her
head again. "It was instructive, if destructive, to say the least; I've got a lot
to consider."
     "I hate to seem rude," Bert put in, "but I think I'll go for a walk and
check back with you in a little while. I need some air after all that." He
visibly pulled himself together, squaring his shoulders and taking a deep
breath. Giving a concerned-looking Darlene and Akane a smile intended
to be reassuring, he stepped past the women, and vanished downstairs. A
moment later, they heard the door bang shut behind him.
     "Well," Miyabi said brightly, rubbing her hands together. "Let's get
started, then."
                       *****
     "Why did you just pour hot water over yourself?" Miyabi inquired
curiously. As soon as they had entered her kitchen, Darlene had rapidly
searched cupboards for a glass and had quickly filled it with hot water to
use it to change back to male form.
     The three had walked downstairs and Miyabi had led them into a
remarkably normal, if spacious, kitchen. Perhaps not so remarkable, since
visitors not knowing of Miyabi's unusual profession might want to look
around. There were a few out-of-place items not normally seen in a
Japanese kitchen, which reminded Twister of an aunt's kitchen that, while
small, had held quite an assortment of unusual spices and equipment.
Perhaps the professor had travelled a bit to acquire it all.
     "I figure someone has to be magically immune while we do this..."
Twister began, drying his hair with some wind.
     "WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?" Akane shouted angrily.
     "...and I wanted to get rid of that headache," he finished calmly,
flashing blue for a half-second, then sighing with relief. "Much better. I'd
forgotten I could do this when I was female then realized a solution was a
glass of hot water away."
     "Answer my question," Akane demanded.
     "Magic can be hazardous, Akane, if you're not sure what's going to
happen." Miyabi nodded, causing Ranma's fiancee to cool down and even
blush a little. "Take Bert for example, and what happened upstairs. If
anything happens here I won't be affected directly and if you accidentally,
say, _animate_ something, I can hold it off while Miyabi casts a spell to
deal with it."
     "It sounds like you're _expecting_ trouble, Twister," Miyabi
commented, "which can be a good thing; you never know what might
happen. Now," Miyabi smiled reassuringly to Akane, "do you have
anything you would like to make? I confess I've become quite the
chocolaholic so if you wish to make a dessert there's lots of chocolate for
you."
     Twister's eyes brightened. "Any chocolate chips?"
     "Yes, why?"
     "I knew the recipe for chocolate chip cookies off by heart even
before my encounter with the Event." He grinned and turned to the
would-be mage. "If you want, Akane, I'll show you how. It's an easy, but
good one. I'll tell you as you go as I have to do it by memory," Twister
offered. And I'll make sure you don't mess it up... He felt faintly guilty at
the thought but it was important to find out if Akane really was a
magic-user cook.
     Akane, on the other hand, was debating his offer. If I can really do
magical cooking, I'll be able to finally prove that I can offer something to
Ranma besides the dojo, and maybe... Visions of Akane laughing at
Ranma's other fiancees as she grandly waved a hand appeared; Shampoo
gains a collar that is attached to a chain Mousse is holding and makes
starry eyes at the happy Mousse; Ukyou forgets all about marrying Ranma
and becomes a good friend and ally to Akane; Kodachi is transforms into
a black rose bush that has her laughing face on every flower. Ranma
enters her vision as a girl and Akane waves again; he turns permanently
male and leaps into her loving embrace, kissing her passionately.
     "Ah, Akane? Hello?"
     Twister's voice disrupted her daydreaming. Startled, Akane looked
up at his face; one eyebrow was arched in amusement as if he had guessed
what she had been thinking. He doesn't have to guess, she realized. Even if
he doesn't use that mind power of his, and I know he won't, he knows me
and my problems well enough to _know_. She blushed furiously, then
turned determined. And it's not like any of the others haven't tried often
enough to do the same to ME.
     "Yes, I'd like that a lot," she answered finally.
     "Good," Miyabi said. "Before you begin, as you are a beginner, I
want to tell you to visualize your cookies turning, hm, let's make it green
as I am told the last dish you made was that color." Her voice turned stern.
"And _try_ not to think of anything else. When you have successfully
completed the cookies what you have visualized _should_ be the result."
     "Thank God we're not making Devil's food cake then," Twister
quipped.
     Miyabi paled a little. "That is not even remotely funny, Twister,
even though you do raise a point for caution."
     "You like Angel's food cake better?" The narrow look he got from
the professor told him he'd better stop. He sighed. "Oh, well. Better put an
apron on, Akane, let's get you cooking."
     "Right!" She found an apron and tied it firmly behind her. "What
do I do first?"
     "Let's get out all the ingredients we need..." he started, and they
were off.
     It was fortunate that Twister watched Akane with hawk-like
vigilance; she constantly tried to mess things up for some bizarre reason.
He didn't know what was wrong with her; even when he told her not to
include the _shell_ of the first egg, she tried to do it again for the second.
Things got weirder when Akane tried to beat the eggs.
     "Akane! You don't use a _hammer_!"
     "But it works on Ranma!"
     "Argh. You're missing the point. You do it like _this_." He
demonstrated, using the proper utensil.
     "Ohhh!! But why did you tell me to beat them then?"
     And so on...
     When the first batch of cookies were ready to come out, Akane
anxiously waited for Twister to take them out of the oven. After all he had
prevented her from doing he didn't trust her near the oven and Miyabi
quickly agreed that it wasn't necessary for Akane to do. 
     She also wanted her kitchen intact.
     The psionist opened the oven using his TK and carefully took the
tray full of hot cookies out and placed them on top.
     He took a sniff. "Hey, not bad! They smell great, Akane."
     "Really??" The aroma reached her. "They do! Oh, thank you,
Twister!" She hugged him tightly, in relief that they had turned out okay
and for his help.
     "You're welcome," he gasped; she had a strong grip. "Can I breathe
now?" Twister was released by a grinning Akane.
     Miyabi, however, was frowning. "Yes, they look _normal_, don't
they? Perhaps you should cool them off, Twister, to see if anything
happens."
     "Roger." He concentrated and the tray plus cookies cooled down
instantly. Now they could be picked up and carefully Twister did so with
one cookie. "I see what you mean; it's not green." He wandered over to the
window to look more closely at the cookie.
     "Did you visualize your cookies turning green all the time like I
asked?" Miyabi demanded of Akane, who was happy the cookies had
turned out okay, but slightly disappointed that the magic hadn't worked.
Then she remembered something, and blushed a little.
     "Well, not _all_ the time. My mind wandered...once." she
admitted.
     "What did you..." Miyabi began.
     BBOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
     Twister flew backwards as the blast's sound roared through the
kitchen to the accompaniment of shattering glass. Miyabi and Akane fell
to the floor from the force of the explosion as Twister hit the opposite
wall of the kitchen where a person-height cupboard was and smashed into
it. The contents of the shattered shelving scattered everywhere, mostly
onto his unconscious form.
     Miyabi cautiously picked herself up off the floor as the dust
settled. "What is it with me and explosions today?" she muttered,
exasperated. Noticing the wide-eyed Akane, who was looking around the
messed-up kitchen with surprise, she rather dryly said, "I guess I don't
need to ask you what you were thinking up that _one_ time."
     Akane lowered her head, ashamed. "I'm sorry." Her head snapped
back up when she and the professor heard a groan.
     "Twister!!" they chorused, and rushed to check on the one who had
faced the detonation point-blank. They found that he was partially
embedded in the cupboard that he had crashed into. He seemed okay and
was only, understandably, dazed.
     "Anybody got the license number of that cookie?" he woozily said
as the other two pulled him out carefully, and pulled him upright. Twister
shook his head and winced at the new headache. He Healed himself and
felt much better. "Now THAT was a surprise filling!" he managed to joke.
     "What did you do?"
     "I thought that maybe something inside the cookie would show me
something so I broke it in half. It showed me something all right," he said
ruefully. "How to fly involuntarily."
     "Oh, I'm sorry, Twister. I shouldn't have let my mind wander."
Akane was gripping her hands together, tears beginning to fill her eyes.
     Miyabi sighed and shook her head. "You're just beginning, Akane.
Though this was a rather ... unique accident." She chuckled. "Exploding
chocolate chip cookies indeed. Something new every day."
     "That's Akane for you, violence in everything she touches,"
Twister grinned in a Ranma-like manner.
     "HEY!!" Akane had her hammerspace-mallet raised above her
head before she realized it. Her target, however, had vanished.
     "That's better." Twister said, now standing over by the remaining
cookie dough by means of teleportation. Akane lowered her hammer,
realizing that he had insulted her on purpose. "You shouldn't get
depressed; it was just an accident, Akane. You'll improve." He studied the
dough warily. "I wonder if it required cooking or if it's just much less
sensitive in this state. Maybe I should experiment..."
     "You can take it with you. I'll dispose of the baked cookies,"
Miyabi firmly stated; she wanted no more explosions in her house today.
"As for you, Akane, I think this demonstrated, however done, that you
_are_ a cooking magic-user. Therefore, if you _do_ wish to practice have
either I or Twister around when you do so. There are worse things than
explosions," she cautioned, and was satisfied at Akane's careful nod; the
girl appeared to have more respect for magic now. She did make one
surprising request.
     "Could I take the unbaked dough?" Akane asked innocently.
     Miyabi blinked. "If you wish, but whatever for?"
     "Oh, I just want to see if they're all as powerful as the one Twister
blew up," Akane grinned.
     Twister lifted his head to look at Akane with a surprised and
slightly suspicious expression. 
     Uh oh, he thought. What's she up to?
                       *****
     Bert walked aimlessly all over the campus, his mind shifted into
neutral. Walking around looking at the scenery was oddly relaxing, and he
realized that he wasn't as upset at his recent proximity to magical
phenomena as he'd been in the past.
     "Must be getting used to it," he muttered to himself, shaking his
head bemusedly. He wandered on, glancing briefly at the sky, where the
sun was slowly setting in rosy splendour.
     "Well, hello there," a seductive, well-remembered voice purred off
to his left. Spinning towards the voice, he saw the attractive, black-haired
young woman he'd rescued earlier coming towards him from a large
building nearby. Natsumi had a couple of books in her arms, which
indicated she'd just been in the library.
     "Uhm, er, ah, hi," he stammered, flushing uncontrollably as she
came up to him. "Natsumi, right?" Her alluring smile warmed up a few
more degrees, and Bert began to feel trapped.
     "That's right, my heroic knight-in-shining-armour," she breathed,
looping her left arm through his right as if it was the most natural thing in
the world. "Would you like to walk me home?" she asked, gazing
innocently up at him with her brown eyes.
     "Uhh, well, you see..."
     "You wouldn't let a poor, defenceless, young lady walk home
alone, now, would you?" she asked, a slight pout appearing. Bert's
miserable defenses crumbled under the onslaught.
     "No," he sighed, mentally wishing his chivalry would bugger off so
he could just run away before he got himself into any more trouble. "I'd
be, ah, honoured to escort you home."
     "Thank you," she replied, leaning into him as they started walking,
still holding onto his arm. Bert tried desperately to control the feelings she
was stirring in him. Her proximity alone was enough to start him
sweating; having her... body... pressing against him was unnerving him
completely. He felt like he was being set up for something, and he had a
sudden feeling that it wasn't going to be an easy night.
                       *****
     They arrived at the apartment building complex where Natsumi
was living just as dusk was settling over the city, sending inky tendrils of
darkness through the air. It had been what felt like the longest walk of his
life to Bert; he'd tried walking fairly briskly, but the black-haired girl
clinging possessively to his arm had protested that she couldn't walk that
fast, and he'd been forced to slow down. He didn't believe for a second
that she couldn't walk faster; she was using every available opportunity to
bump into him or move closer.
     She hadn't said too much during their walk, either, which was a
good thing. She was unsettling him so much, he didn't think he'd be able to
put together a coherent sentence at the moment. He wasn't about to try
initiating a conversation either; he didn't know just how much she knew
about Twister, and didn't want to reveal anything that might prove
awkward or dangerous, although the last item was the least likely of any
of the possible outcomes. Natsumi didn't appear to mind his silence; she
was content to walk along next to him, every so often giving him a lazily
seductive glance that turned his mouth dry.
     At long last, they came to the front door of the building. Bert took
a deep breath, feeling like a condemned man given a stay of execution as
he saw the end to his ordeal appear. The stay of execution was suddenly
whipped out from under his feet.
     "Would you like to escort me up to my apartment for a minute?"
Natsumi asked, coyly fluttering her eyes at him. Bert's mind raced
frantically, but he couldn't come up with a polite way of saying no that
wouldn't make him look rude.
     "Uh, sure. No problem," he managed to get out, mentally swearing
at himself the entire time. He held the door open for her; she smiled
winsomely at him and walked through. He swallowed, trying to relax, and
followed her in.
     After a short elevator ride, and an even shorter walk, they stood
outside the door to her apartment. Natsumi turned towards him, and he
braced himself.
     "Thank you very much, my heroic knight," she told him, moving
closer to him. "I felt very safe during our little stroll together." Bert
valiantly resisted the urge to retreat from her.
     "Uh, my pleasure," he told her, flushing. "I enjoyed it," he said,
before he could think to stop himself. At the same time, he also realized
that he HAD enjoyed it, in the back of his mind. What the hell was the
matter with him?! He was in love with Nene! He couldn't.... couldn't.....
His thoughts scattered like feathers in a gale as Natsumi's smile became
very, very seductive, and she stepped right up to him, putting her arms
around his neck, pressing her shapely body tightly against him.
     "I enjoyed it too," she breathed. She pulled his head down, then
gave him a very passionate kiss. Her lips felt warm and soft on his, and....
and.... Bert gasped for air as she pulled back, and started backing off like
he might retreat from a homicidal boomer when unarmoured.
     "I'm, uh, glad you , uhm, er, ah enjoyed it," he stammered. "Maybe
we'll...I'll, uhm, see you around sometime?!" He didn't wait for a reply, but
bolted frantically back down the hallway as if fleeing from rabid animals.
Natsumi watched him go, sweeping her black hair back over her
shoulders, a slightly smug smile appearing on her lovely features.
     "Oh, don't worry; we'll meet again, my knight," she sighed. She
could see she was going to have to work on him a bit.
                       *****
     "Do you think he got lost?" Akane asked Twister as they walked
quickly along the sidewalk. Twister shrugged helplessly.
     "He shouldn't have," he replied, glancing around again. There was
no sign of their red-headed friend anywhere. "The university isn't that big
a place, and he has been around enough to be able to figure out how to get
around." He glanced at the small paper bag Akane was carrying very
carefully; proximity to cookie dough that made a good substitute for C-4
plastic explosive was making him nervous, and that was something he'd
never thought he'd have said about chocolate chip cookies. He wasn't sure
he wanted to find out what Akane had planned for it.
     "Could he have run into Kunou or Kodachi again?"
     "I don't think so. If that had happened, his suit would have
vanished from the professor's house. It was still there, so he's obviously
safe, wherever he's gone to. We'll look around a bit more. If we can't find
him, then I'll teleport us back to the dojo. Maybe we'll run into him before
long." As it turned out, he wasn't too far from the truth.
     As the two friends rounded a corner, desperately running footsteps
could be heard. It sounded like someone fleeing a pack of hungry
predators. A high-speed blue blur shot out of the darkness ahead, resolving
into a blue tracksuited Bert, running hard. He saw the two of them at the
last second, and tried to put on the brakes, failing miserably.
     "OOOOFFFF!!" Twister's breath deserted him instantly as the full
inertia of Bert's movement smashed into him. He was smashed over
backwards, and they both toppled over onto the pavement in a wildly
flailing tangle of arms and legs.
     Twister found himself, after the world stopped spinning, flat on his
back, a lump rising on his forehead, and some very sore bruises
complaining from other parts of his anatomy. A groan from nearby
indicated that Bert was also not in great shape. From his vantage point,
Twister could see a horrified Akane staring at the two prone young men.
     Concentrating for a moment, Twister Healed himself, and sat up,
looking over at the very feebly moving Bert. Sighing, he stood, and helped
the battered red-head to his feet. Bert acknowledged the help with a brief
nod, then sagged against a nearby lamppost, clutching at his right
shoulder, which appeared to have taken the brunt of the impact.
     "We've got to stop meeting like this," Twister observed dryly,
looking his friend over. "What was the emergency?"
     "I thought... I should hurry or I'd be late," Bert replied, still faintly
winded from running and the collision.
     The psionist looked skeptical. "Uh huh. You were, and what were
you doing that made you so late?" The panic that flickered across Bert's
face for an instant before the red-head checked his expression made
Twister raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Bert? What the heck happened?"
he said, concern in his voice.
     Bert groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. "There's some
girl called Natsumi I, uh, met, and I think she's trying to seduce me."
     "Natsumi?!?" Twister shouted in surprise. "Why...?! Oh boy," he
added with even more concern as he remembered how the female magic
user went after someone she WANTED. "You're in trouble. What did you
do to attract HER notice?"
     "You know her?" the tall Knight Saber asked, then hit his forehead
as he recalled something.  "Oh yeah, that's right! Miyabi mentioned that
she was after you too."
     "Not anymore it seems," the brown-haired young man replied. Bert
saw that the fact did not bother Twister very much, and grimaced at the
meaning of that reaction. "Still, I can be friends with her; she IS a
basically decent person and I like her now. I just hope she doesn't revert
back to the way she was before. Natsumi used to be pretty ruthless when
she's after something or someone, but now she's not so bad."
     "You sure as hell could've fooled ME!" Bert shot back. The other
sighed.
     "Look, let's go back to the dojo and talk about this there," he
suggested.
     Waving his hands in the air, the red-head agreed whole-heartedly.
"Fine. Great. Let's just get going!" Seeing Twister's sudden grin, Bert's
eyes widened in panic. "Waitaminute!!! Don't..."
     They vanished and reappeared in Twister's old room that was now
serving as Bert's.
     "...teleport and why do I bother?" he finished disgustedly, fuming.
"Damn it, you KNOW I don't like that!!"
     "I don't know why you don't, Bert," Akane said, honestly puzzled
as she opened the door. "Nothing happens and it's quick."
     "It's the principle of the thing. You shouldn't break the laws of
physics like that!" Bert vehemently retorted. Akane just shook her head,
and left.
     "Be careful with that cookie dough!" Twister called out, sighing
when he heard Akane's protest that she wasn't clumsy. "I just hope it
doesn't go off."
     " `Go off'? " Bert wasn't sure if he had heard correctly, and looked
at Twister inquiringly.
     "Imagine hand grenades baked to a golden brown that taste great;
that's the kind of cookie Akane made. What a waste of chocolate chips,"
he sighed, then chuckled at Bert's disbelieving stare. "It's magic," he
obliquely added.
     Bert walked to the futon and flopped onto the cover, grabbing a
nearby pillow and wrapping it around his head, like he was trying to shut
everything off. "Can't I escape from that insanity?" he mumbled into the
pillow, sighing deeply. "This is worse than trying to figure out what the
government is up to."
     Thoughtfully, Twister studied the prone form of the hapless person
he had accidentally dragged into this universe. Slowly, he sat cross-legged
near the futon and fell silent. After a minute of this behaviour, Bert peered
out from under the pillow, curious.
     "What are you doing?" he queried.
     "Thinking."
     "About?" Bert prompted.
     "Feathers."
     "Feathers??" Bert stared incredulously at him. "Why are you
thinking about feathers??"
     "Wood."
     Bert shook his head. "And just what does wood have to do with
feathers?"
     "The reason for life," Twister calmly replied.
     "You're joking."
     The psionist grinned. "Actually, yes, I am."
     Suppressing the sudden impulse to hit the young man sitting in
front of him, Bert grated out, "And would you mind enlightening me as to
just what was the purpose of that?!" It might have been the light, but for a
moment Twister thought he saw sparks flash in Bert's eyes. Purple sparks.
     Twister sighed. "Bert, you should take advantage of your situation
and not mope about it." The derisive snort from the red-head made him
elaborate. "Look, you're not in the universe you want to be in, but being
OUTSIDE of it gives you time! I mean it! You can think about all the
troubles you have there without worrying that you'll get distracted by them
all; even with the short version of events you told everyone here, I can tell
you have a lot of worries." He held up a hand to prevent Bert interrupting.
"I'm not saying you should stay for a long time, but you have an advantage
here your enemies don't. Use it. Relax! Until I find a way to send you back
you'll have lots of time." Twister grinned suddenly. "If you don't exploit
this opportunity, I'll keep teleporting you over the Tendo pool until you
grow gills," he threatened.
     Bert snorted, though he was unsure whether or not the
brown-haired young man seriously meant it or not. "Forced relaxation?" he
observed sarcastically.
     "If you want to call it that," Twister calmly answered him, sighing.
"Mega-Tokyo is a lot more grim than this universe. You definitely NEED
to unwind. Here you can, but you need to want to unwind and until you
do..." Twister shrugged helplessly. "Just stop moping about and being
useless."
     THAT got Bert's fires going. "I am NOT useless!" he snapped,
making as if to rise.
     "Right. Just dimensionally impaired then," Twister shot back.
"Will you at least try?"
     "Okay, okay! I get the picture!" Bert sank disgustedly back down.
     "I'm SO glad."
     "All-RIGHT already! I said I got it!" SkyKnight glared darkly at
the psionist. "You've definitely been around Nabiki too long."
     "And Priss, and Sylia, and Linna, and Nene," Twister added
helpfully, reminding Bert that Twister knew the Knight Sabers as well as
he. In different ways, perhaps, but he still knew them. "But now that I've
got that out of the way, I'd like you to help me with something."
     "Oh?" Bert sat up on the bed, interested in what Twister wanted,
although he was a little surprised; he hadn't thought there'd be anything
around here he could help with. "And that would be...?" he asked,
narrowing his eyes suspiciously as a sudden thought seized him.
     "Nothing to do with magic," Twister reassured him, and the
red-head visibly relaxed. "It's my psionic powers."
     Bert blinked. "What do you need my help with that for?"
     "Well... I hate blinking like a flash bulb whenever I Heal myself
and I was wondering whether you had any ideas on how I could stop doing
that. I also want to try using telekinesis on energy, not matter, and I could
use help devising and implementing tests. In addition, I plan to make a
small optical computer and you're free to use it whenever you want you
when I finish it. It won't take long," Twister assured him, in fact he had
already started but he did not mention that little fact. "What do you
think?"
     The red-headed Knight Saber pondered these options, but the one
that had gotten his attention was the computer Twister had mentioned.
The psionist had mentioned building some type of light-based computer
before, and Bert knew that such a computer would be much faster than
normal computers, more powerful if large enough. A computer WOULD
be nice; he could use it to try out some of his ideas in simulations. The
problem with that idea was that he had a full set of algorithms and
programs back home, but nothing here. Maybe he could improve the
programs and make some new ones...
     "Ah... That computer..." Bert said, musing. "What kind of
programs are you going to put on it?"
     Twister's response was more than satisfying. "Considering that the
Bubblegum Crisis universe was more advanced in programming, I should
be making an operating system similar to what you've been using in your
own BGC so that's not a problem. And I have to mention that Nene taught
me quite a few things in the realm of hacking, after that I went out into the
system and learned a lot more, even made up a few new tricks. As for
hardsuit design...." Twister looked thoughtfully at Bert. "I never really
tried my hand at that, perhaps I should have, but I do know all the specs
and programs Sylia used. I... ah... peeked in once and a perfect memory
helps a LOT. They might be slightly different than your universe, heck it
sounds like your BGC universe is even more of an arms race than mine so
they'll likely be less powerful. But I think I can tweak them to your
standards."
     "I really appreciate the `arms race' description," Bert said rather
sourly.
     Twister's face was apologetic as he shrugged. "Sorry, but it does
sound like it."
     "I suppose," Bert sighed heavily, reluctantly agreeing with the
assessment, mentally castigating himself for having been a contributing
factor, even though there'd been no way around it. "So when do you plan
to start..."
     "HEY!!" Akane's shout drowned out the rest of Bert's sentence.
"GIVE BACK THOSE COOKIES!!!"
     Twister and Bert started, then both exclaimed, "Oh, SHIT!!" They
rushed out the door and downstairs, but they were too late. Akane, and
whomever had stolen her cookies, were gone.
     "Oh perfect," Twister groaned. "Just perfect. Where did they go,
and WHO went?"
     Kasumi came out from the kitchen, and looked around. "Oh, my.
Was that Akane and Ranma?"
     Twister raised his eyes to the heavens mouthing "Why?" while
Bert rounded on Kasumi. "Was it only them who left?"
     Kasumi cocked her head, considering. "Well... I thought I heard
Master Happousai a few moments ago; he might have left as well."
     "This gets better and better by the minute," Twister said, a hint of
resignation in his voice. "We'd better find them, and fast. Those cookies
are DEFINITELY not to be fooled around with, much less eaten. Shoot,"
he added, and his brows furrowed with extra worry, "we'd better find them
REAL fast."
     "Why?" Bert asked. "What else are you worrying about?"
     "If Ranma, Happousai, and Akane are running around town..."
Twister hesitated, then went on, "...then they'll start attracting the others."
     " `Others'?"
     "Shampoo, Mousse, Kodachi, Ukyou, not Kunou since he's at the
University...hopefully, Ryouga..."
     "All right! All right! I get the point! Let's go then." Bert looked at
the psionist thoughtfully. "You've seen this before, I gather."
     Twister shook his head, sighing. "Too many times. Let's move." As
they left, running, Twister muttered, "I hope things don't get TOO crazy."

Part Four - COOKIE CHAOS! HAPPOUSAI'S ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE
COUNTERED?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

     "Hee hee! Come and get me!" Happousai chortled as he bounced
down one of the streets of Nerima. He held a box in one hand and several
assorted pieces of ladies undergarments in the other. The box held many
delicious-looking cookies within that Happousai couldn't wait to try, but
Akane-chan and Ranma were chasing him because of the thef...ahem,
acquisition of said cookies. He'd seen the delectable-looking edibles
before the box had been closed, so he knew Akane hadn't made them,
meaning they were therefore edible; even Happousai was leery of Akane's
idea of home-baked food.
     "Come back here!" Akane shouted angrily, running to keep up with
the old Master.
     "Yeah! Give them back, y'old goat!" Ranma echoed beside Akane,
keeping pace with her.
     "Why did he have to take MY cookies?" Akane loudly grumbled.
Ranma stumbled hearing that, but quickly caught back up with Akane, a
slightly uncertain look on his face.
     "Did YOU make those cookies? I thought Kasumi did."
     "Yes, I did! Why?!" Akane narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Are
you going to insult my cooking again?"
     "No, no!" In a panic not to get clobbered, Ranma waved both
hands denying it, and Akane settled down, slightly mollified. "I saw them
too. They looked great." Akane was actually starting to look pleased: it
didn't last long. "Who helped you?"
     "What do you mean `Who helped you'?!"
     "Aw, c'mon, Akane. I haven't seen you practicing or anything so
you have to have been somewhere else, right? It just figures."
     Akane blinked; Ranma was actually making sense. For once.
"Actually, Twister did help me over at his magic teacher's house," she
confessed.
     Ranma almost stumbled again when she said that. "Magic? Why
were you there?" he said, some measure of dread arising from within as
some instinct told him he was going to hear something very, very bad.
     "None of your business, Ranma!" Akane flared, not wanting him to
find out about her magical talents yet.
     "But there's nothing WRONG with them... right?" he pressed.
     This time it was Akane who was hesitant when she replied,
"Well...theydokindaexplode," she said quickly.
     "What?" Ranma said, having not caught the rapid-fire reply.
     "Never mind! Let's just get the cookies back!" Akane said. Still,
she paled a little when she thought of all those cookies going off at the
same time. Just one had knocked Twister unconscious; all together they
might...
     Maybe keeping the dough and making more cookies hadn't been
such a good idea, after all.
                       *****
     Ahead of the pursued and pursuers, a familiar bandanna-wearing
person drudged down the street. Amazingly, given this particular being's
directional sense, or rather lack of such, he was facing the direction of the
oncoming Happousai. Seeing the old hentai, and his beloved Akane
angrily chasing the old man, he could do only one thing.
     Happousai never saw the fist rocketing towards him until it was
0.0005th of an inch away from his face, a little late for him to block unless
the fist has a panty, which this one did not. "Awk!" was all he got out as
he momentarily hung from Ryouga's powerful fist, still holding the box of
cookies high in one hand.
     "How dare you steal from Akane!" the fanged young man angrily
shouted at the dazed Happousai. With his free hand he swiftly plucked the
box from the old man's hand before the aged hentai slid to the ground.
Ranma and Akane finally arrived then.
     "Ryouga!" Akane exclaimed, happy to see Ranma's friend and at
the recovery of the cookies.
     "A-A-Akane!" Ryouga stammered as Ranma, disgusted, looked on.
"A-Are these YOURS?" He smiled foolishly as he held up the purloined
box.
     "Yes." Relieved, Akane held a hand to her chest and sighed.
     "So," Ranma strolled over, smirking. "You finally found your way
back, P-chan?" He dodged a furious Ryouga's swipe.
     "DON'T CALL ME THAT!" the bandanna'd martial artist
bellowed. The box wobbled in his hand and Akane paled.
     "Um...could you give me back my cookies, Ryouga?" she asked
carefully.
     "C-Certainly!" Using both hands, he stiffly extended the box
towards Akane, in such a jerky way that the lid popped up, making Akane
flinch back a little.
     Then Ranma noticed something. "Hey, where'd the old man go to?"
he said, scanning the ground where Happousai had landed.
     "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!"
     All three looked up to see the old Master standing on a rooftop and
smiling evilly at them. "If those cookies can't be mine, then perhaps I
should use my ultimate technique!" he cried gleefully and whipped out
one of his firecracker-bombs proudly, fuse burning.
     "Oh, shit!" Ranma shouted, and grabbed at the nearest available
object for something to knock the bomb out of the old man's hand.
     So he grabbed one of Akane's circular cookies.
     And threw it.
     Time slowed down before Akane's horrified eyes. The cookie
rotated in the air as it flew towards the bomb. Happousai, seeing the
tasty-looking treat heading his way, shifted so that his mouth was wide
open and ready to receive it. Akane's eyes widened even more when she
realized what he was planning to do. Her shouted "No!" was slow, and she
knew it was too late even as she yelled. The deadly cookie came closer
and closer and....
     There was a gleaming flash that shot through the air and suddenly
a huge explosion erupted a hand's span from Happousai's face, tossing him
off the roof. There was a second explosion from behind the house as the
bomb he'd held went off as well. Akane was surprised and relieved, while
Ranma and Ryouga were slack-jawed.
     "Wa-Was that your cookie, Akane?" Ranma asked, casting a
nervous glance at the box a suddenly pale Ryouga held. Akane was about
to answer him when someone else beat her to the punch.
     "Whoa! Twister wasn't kidding about those cookies, was he?"
Ukyou said as she came up to the trio. Her giant-size spatula was strapped
to her back, as always, and her bandoleer of throwing spatulas was across
her front. One of them was missing, having been used to detonate the
thrown cookie before it met with Happousai's attempt to eat it. "That was
close. Though I wonder if I really should have done it. Oh, well." She
shrugged.
     "How did Twister get you to come, Uk-chan?" Ranma asked his
childhood friend.
     Ukyou gave the cookies, which Ryouga was still holding
nervously, a quick glance before giving Ranma a beaming smile. "Oh, he
and some tall red-headed guy he called `Bert' ran into my restaurant a little
while ago. Twister told me that the cookies were dangerously explosive,
although I was a little skeptical at the time about that, and that you and
Akane might cause them to explode while chasing the old lecher. He said
he needed more people looking, so of course I agreed and went in another
direction. Lucky I found you first, huh, Ran-chan?" She edged closer to
Ranma with a smile.
     No one saw a new arrival land on the other side of a roof, listing
intently.
     "You bet!" Ranma heartily agreed, not seeing Akane sizzling at his
comment. "What should we do with Akane's cookies anyway? Can't have
Ryouga hold them forever." He smirked at the white-faced Ryouga, who
could only give him a quick glare for fear of dropping the explosive
package he held.
     "Akane Tendo's cookies?" The hidden figure said quietly, then
fingered a pole with a ribbon attached to it.
     "So, Akane..." Ukyou smirked at the youngest Tendo sister. "Just
what did you use to make THIS batch?" she said with the hint of smugness
of someone who knows their cooking skills are far better than the other
evident in her voice.
     Akane flushed slightly. "That's my business!" she angrily retorted.
"I..."
     A ribbon snapped down from nowhere and wrapped itself around
the box, closing the lid in the process. Before the startled four could react,
the box was yanked from Ryouga's hands and flew up, up, and into female
hands. A female who was wearing a black leotard with the design of a
rose pattern on the front.
     Black Rose Kodachi laughed triumphantly. "Hohohohohoho! Your
cookies are mine once again, Akane Tendo!" She had stolen cookies made
by Akane before in the hopes that Ranma would come for them; it had
worked that time and she thought it could work again. "Come and get
them , Ranma-dearest!" she said coyly, and then started bounding away.
     "Hey, wait!" Ranma shouted before jumping up to the rooftop and
pursuing Kodachi, Akane and Ukyou close behind and Ryouga not long
after them. "Kodachi! Stop!"
     "Crazy idiot!" Ukyou shouted at the gymnast, but Kodachi was too
far away to hear. "You'll get yourself blown up!"
     Akane said nothing, but she was wishing she had let Professor
Miyabi dispose of the cookies after all. She had been so SURE that she
could handle them with no problem. Happousai had quickly proven her
wrong, and now things were getting more and more complicated.
     Ryouga followed the frantic group, wanting to make sure that
nothing happened to Akane and, if necessary, protect her with his life if
need be.
     And so the chase was on once more.
                       *****
     "Wait! Whoa! Time out!" Bert panted breathlessly, and Twister
reluctantly slowed down. "We're not getting anywhere," he gasped, trying
to get his breath back. Actually, he'd lasted much longer than he had
thought he could, a positive effect of his changes, at last, he sourly thought
to himself.
     Twister had to nod. Bert noted with a faint twinge of envy that the
other wasn't even breathing hard. "You're right. It'd be easier from the
rooftops, but..." he hesitated.
     "But I'm slowing you down, right?" Twister's embarrassed look
made Bert growl, "It's not MY fault I'm not a bloody leapfrog. I fly, not
jump!" He paused. Bert was sure Twister's look of realization was echoed
on his own face. He slapped his forehead, disgusted with himself.
     "Oh bloody hell, I should've thought of that sooner."
     "This isn't Mega-Tokyo; there aren't many flying hardsuits about to
remind you," Twister said helpfully. "And a hardsuit WOULD be
noticeable."
     "In THIS town??"
     Twister paused, then smirked wryly. "I guess I have to agree with
you on that."
     "All right then," Bert suddenly developed a wide, crooked grin,
and Twister, for some reason, developed a sinking feeling in his stomach.
The tall red-head stepped back a pace and spread his arms; an instant
later, a purple glow erupted, racing over him, enveloping him from head
to toe in a glowing nimbus of light. A second later, the light died, leaving
the familiar, silver-and-blue armoured form of SkyKnight.
     "You know, I could almost get to like that," Bert's modulated voice
said. The silver suit flexed its arms a couple of times, and shifted around,
settling the armour on more comfortably. Short wings snapped out on the
battlesuit's shoulderblades, and a low hum throbbed through the air.
     "And now," SkyKnight declared, a grin evident from the sound of
his voice, "Up! Up! And Awaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!!!" The silver hardsuit
shot skywards with a roar, flipping around in midair a couple of times,
then arrowed away over the city. Twister was almost positive he could
hear `Off we go, into the wild blue yonder!' coming from the silver Knight
Saber, and he suddenly wondered if things had just improved, or gotten
worse. Shrugging to himself, he sprang into the air and started bounding
across the rooftops. 
     He could've flown too, but there were two reasons why he did not.
The first was that he might miss something if he went up high until it was
too late. The second was that he still did not like heights that much. There
were a few times in Mega-Tokyo when he had to, but more pressing things
had been on his mind then.
     Sighing, he continued searching.
                       *****
     "But, Shampoo! Why won't you go out with me?" Mousse pleaded,
quickly walking behind his beloved as she rode her bike.
     "Shampoo busy," the purple-haired amazon haughtily replied.
"Have to find husband say great-grandmother."
     "HOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" a cackling voice cried as a familiar,
leotard-clad figure bounced across the street ahead of them. Shampoo
braked immediately in puzzlement and Mousse came up to stand beside
her.
     "Was that Kodachi I heard?" Mousse wondered, adjusting his
glasses.
     "Come back with my cookies!" Akane shouted as she appeared,
obviously in pursuit of the nutty gymnast. Quickly vanishing, she left
behind confused looks on Shampoo and Mousse's faces.
     But then Ranma came, close on the heels of Akane. "Hey, wait up,
Akane!" he shouted, then vanished like the Tendo sister. Surprisingly,
Shampoo instantly made a 180 degree turn after seeing Ranma and tore
off down the road. This caught Mousse off-guard.
     "Shampoo? Where are you going?" He knew better than to think
she was running away from Ranma. Therefore, when he saw Ukyou and
Ryouga in the chase he decided to silently follow, knowing that he would
have a better chance of catching up with his love.
     As he started running, he wondered what was going on.
                       *****
     Looking behind, Kodachi saw that her Ranma-sama was still
following, but so was the hateful Akane Tendo. "Come, my beloved!
Come after me!" she laughed aloud, going down to street level. Suddenly,
a tire loomed in front of her and landed on her, along with the bike it was
attached to. "Awk!" she managed as she was flattened to the pavement.
     Said bike's amazon rider smiled wickedly; the short cut she had
taken had got her ahead just in time. "Aiya! Should not get in Shampoo's
way, crazy girl. Shampoo now take bad girl's cookies." She snatched up
the box of cookies in Kodachi's twitching hand "Now," she said musingly,
"what Shampoo do with violent tomboy's cookies?"
     "YAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Akane descended from the rooftop and
landed on the ground. "Shampoo! Please! Give me back my cookies.
They're dangerous!"
     The amazon smiled wickedly. "If Akane make, then Shampoo have
no doubt of that!"
     Akane glowered at the smirking girl. "That's NOT what I meant!"
she snapped. Ranma arrived then, landing beside her.
     "Shampoo!" Ranma grinned in relief. "You got the box away from
Kodachi! Great!"
     "Ranma!" Shampoo cried and flew off her bike to rush her love,
box in hand. She skidded to a halt when all color fled from the other two's
faces. "What wrong?" she said uncertainly, wondering at their reactions.
     Then Ukyou and Ryouga arrived, Mousse hid for the moment.
"Oh, great! You got the exploding cookies away from the nut!" Ukyou
said, relieved. "Now what do we do with them?"
     "Explode... cookies?" Shampoo slowly said, starting to figure out
what was going on. Curiously, she opened the box and plucked a cookie
out to examine it. "Look normal to Shampoo," she commented, and before
anyone could react, tossed it down the street with Amazonian strength.
     BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
     The explosion surprised Shampoo considerably as it made a crater
in the street. "What know," she said wonderingly, "Violent tomboy's
cooking just as violent as tomboy!"
     "WHAT WAS THAT?!?" Akane shouted, face red with anger.
However, she calmed down quickly when she saw Shampoo's face; the
amazon was smiling, and it was not a nice smile.
     And then she plucked another cookie from the box.
     "Uh, Shampoo... What are you doing?" Ranma nervously asked.
He was answered when Shampoo threw the cookie straight at Akane.
     "Look out!" Ranma tackled Akane to the ground while Ryouga did
the same with Ukyou. The explosive projectile flew overhead and blew up
against the building's wall behind them, punching a hole in the bricks.
     "You okay?" Ryouga queried Ukyou, and got a whap on the head.
     "I CAN take care of myself, Ryouga," she retorted tartly, shoving
him off of her.
     "Then you'd better start now!" he told her, eyes wide at an
incoming cookie missile. Both jumped out of the way in time, as the
cookie detonated where they had been before.
     Meanwhile, where they had landed Ranma was asking Akane,
"Are you all right?"
     "No! She's using my own cookies to try to kill me! How would you
feel?!" Akane angrily retorted. She was surprised when Ranma scooped
her up and leaped, but knew why when an explosion occurred where they
had been moments before.
     Shampoo was enjoying herself immensely as she started tossing
cookies at Akane, Ukyou, and Ryouga, making the surrounding area look
like a war zone.  Akane was hard to hit because Ranma was holding her,
but if an explosion got them apart... And the delicious irony was that the
cookies were the violent tomboy's!
                       *****
     In the clear sunny skies above Nerima, a shining hardsuit banked
around as the sounds of shattering explosions sent clouds of smoke
pouring into the air, like smoke signals.
     "Uh oh," Bert muttered, as he noted the commotion. "Looks like
the party's begun already."
     Jets roaring, SkyKnight headed for the melee below.
                       *****
     Shampoo was startled when a ribbon came out of nowhere and
snatched the box of volatile cooking out of her grasp. She had totally
forgotten about crazy girl Kodachi! Big mistake.
     With tire marks down the middle of her face, Kodachi's eyes
burned at the purple haired amazon. "How... DARE... you... mar my
BEAUTIFUL FACE!!!" she screamed, and having observed the effects of
the cookies proceeded to throw several at Shampoo.
     Mousse jumped out of the shadows and heroically shielded his
love. "Don't worry, Shampoo! I'll save you!"
     His love, being smarter, jumped away. "Stupid Mousse! Shampoo
can take care of self!"
     Just before the cookies hit, Mousse, from somewhere within his
robes, pulled out a big and thick metal blast shield. However, when the
cookies hit, they blew the plate, and Mousse, backwards and into a wall
with a resounding clang. Mousse was not to be seen, but cracks in the wall
suggested that he was now embedded in it; when the plate toppled over,
the spread-eagled and dazed form was revealed. His glasses were slightly
cracked.
     "Stupid Mousse," Shampoo muttered, landing beside the hole her
would-be husband had made.
     "Great," Ranma said sourly, standing with the others in a nervous,
loose group. "Kodachi's got 'em now and she knows what they can do." He
turned to Akane. "How many cookies WERE there in the box, Akane?"
     "Four or five dozen," Akane nervously replied, watching Kodachi
hurl another chocolate-chip laden explosive at Shampoo.
     "So Shampoo used about two dozen, leaving two to three dozen
left," Ukyou reasoned. "Just perfect. So what now?"
     Like an answer from the Gods, a rising whine heralded the arrival
of a large, silver-colored humanoid form that landed on the street with a
loud clank. Short wings snapped down to a folded position on its back as
it spun towards the leotard-clad gymnast with the cookie box. Ryouga,
Shampoo, and Ukyou stared agape at the armoured form, not really
believing what they were seeing; Ranma and Akane had seen Bert's
hardsuit before, and were a little less openly shocked. Facing Kodachi,
SkyKnight's electronic voice boomed out from his speakers.
     "Okay, lady, give me the cookies nice and easy and there'll be no
trouble," he directed.
     Kodachi was surprised at this new arrival, then she frowned. "I
know you..." she said slowly, then her eyes widened with realization.
"You!!! YOU were the one who destroyed my precious flowers!"
     Inside his suit, Bert swore fulminantly. She must've seen him
destroying those damn flowers in his armoured form after the arrival of
his suit threw her away. He couldn't bring himself to actually HURT the
girl but...
     "NOW I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!" Kodachi shrieked,
interrupting his thoughts, and hurled SIX of the cookies at him.
     Time seemed to slow down as SkyKnight's combat reflexes took
over. An icy clarity dropped across his mind as his eyes quickly flickered
across his suit viewscreen's readouts.
     A bit beyond the silver Knight Saber and the enraged Kodachi,
Ranma and the others were diving for whatever cover was available as
they saw the small swarm of explosives flung at SkyKnight. They almost
missed seeing twin launchers of some kind spring up on the silver-blue
battlesuit's shoulders, and fire a spray of some kind of projectiles at the
incoming biscuits.
     However, the effort wasn't quite good enough; two of the cookies
blew up in midair, and detonated the rest just as they reached SkyKnight.
     "AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!"  The agonized yell
volleyed over the roaring, expanding cloud of smoke and flames that burst
outwards from the blast center. Well away from the fringes of the blast,
the Black Rose continued to laugh maniacally, clutching the box of
cookies in triumph. After a few moments, the swirling cloud of acrid
smoke dissipated, revealing a pile of crumbled rubble; the wall that had
been behind SkyKnight. Of the silver hardsuit, not even a trace could be
seen. With a very nasty glint in her eye, Kodachi turned towards the
cringing group of friends.
     "And now," she cooed, "I can get rid of you meddlers and have my
darling Ranma all to myself!"
                       *****
     Several streets away, A lone figure was approaching the fight area,
bounding from rooftop to rooftop, and homing in on the columns of
smoke from the explosions. Twister saw and heard the sudden, tumultuous
detonation, and the agonized bellow that mingled with it. Swearing to
himself, and worrying over what might have happened, he tried to pick up
the pace. Then, after a few seconds debate, used his levitation to fly
towards the trouble.
                       *****
     His breath rasped and bubbled liquidly in his lungs as he tried
vainly to shift the mass of rock and rubble pinning him down. He quickly
stopped trying to move as he felt a deep, fiery ache spread outwards from
his stomach again; he could feel the piece of his hardsuit armour that had
been driven into his guts shift, enlarging the wound it had made.
     Bert cautiously opened his eyes, but them met mostly blackness.
His suit was effectively dead; the cookies had torn holes in his armour and
him, and then buried him under a mound of collapsed building. Just
perfect. He'd survived killer boomers and GENOM, only to get killed by
some crazy nutbar hurling grenades disguised as baked goods.
     A cough racked him, and he tried desperately to suppress it before
it could convulse him in pain again. The effort left him weak and gasping,
and he wished there was some way out of his current predicament. It was
so hard to think though, all he wanted to do was rest.
     Alarm coursed through him as he recognized the fact that he was
dangerously close to the edge of passing out. In desperation, born out of
the frantic desire to live, he reached deep into himself and braced himself
for one last try at getting free.
     What he found deep inside himself wasn't what he was expecting,
however.
     Warmth and relief flooded through him, and everything seemed to
become surrounded by a soft glow. He had the sudden sensation of
floating, and seemed to hear again an authoritative, reverberating voice.
     "YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL."
     The potential for WHAT?!?!?! his mind screamed back.
     "YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I. WHY WILL YOU NOT ADMIT
IT? I HAVE TOLD YOU ALL THAT I MAY. THE REST IS UP TO
YOU."
     Anger kindled. He hadn't been told anything!! He'd been forced
into whatever had happened to him. It goddamn wasn't fair!!!!! Without
even realizing he was doing it, somehow he reached into the depths of the
glow he'd found, and briefly accessed whatever it was.
     And for one moment he knew exactly what it was, and how to use
it.
     Seizing it like a lifeline, SkyKnight drew on the power pulsing
there, feeling it rush into him. Instantly, the agony eating at him vanished;
he could feel his muscles, organs and skin slithering oddly as they re-knit
together, expelling the shrapnel that had injured him. At the same time, he
could somehow sense that his suit was re-building itself. Within seconds,
he was healed and uninjured. Power coursed through him, wrapping
around him and supporting him with a warm, somehow friendly feeling.
     Underneath the pile of crumbled rock and brick, SkyKnight began
to laugh.
                       *****
     "N-n-now look, Kodachi," Ranma stammered. "Why don't you put
the cookies down, and we'll discuss this?" He sidled around, putting
himself between the crazy gymnast and Akane. She was watching
Kodachi, wide-eyed, and getting ready to jump out of the way of any
incoming projectiles. Shampoo, Ukyou, and Ryouga were doing the same.
Mousse was still stuck to the wall like some strange art form.
     "There's nothing to discuss, Ranma dear," she purred back, her
eyes seemingly lit with dancing flames. "I want you, and I'm going to
eliminate all these hussies who are distracting you from your true love.
Me!" With that, she scooped more of the explosive goodies from the box,
and hurled them at her oppressors. Everyone dodged frantically as
explosions tore through the already suffering suburb.
     "Okay! Kodachi! Hold it!!" Ranma shouted, frantically leaping
aside, hauling Akane with him. The cookie salvo halted briefly, and he
sighed in relief.
     "Okay, look," the black-haired martial artist said, sweating at the
thought of what he was about to propose. "You stop trying to kill everyone
else, and I'll go with you. Okay? Just leave Akane and everyone else
alone."
     "Are you crazy?!?!" Akane angrily hissed in his ear. "She's not
going to buy that! Besides, there's no WAY you're going with her!!"
Ranma didn't reply, watching Kodachi for her response.
     "I don't think so, Ranma dear," the black-clad gymnast cooed
lovingly. "They'd still be around, trying to distract you and take you from
me. No, this way is MUCH better!"
     "Put the cookies down, Kodachi," a new voice interjected. "You
don't know what you're playing with; you could get hurt." A hurtling,
brown-haired figure landed smoothly on the pavement between Kodachi
and her targets, coming up into a ready stance. "Now come on, be
reasonable."
     "Boy, is SHE the wrong one to say that to!" Ukyou muttered from
behind Ryouga. Luckily, no one overheard her.
     "Twister," Kodachi grinned nastily. "I don't think even you could
survive getting hit with these. Stand aside; Ranma is mine, and I intend to
take him!" Twister rolled his eyes; he'd survived a lot more than what the
cookies could do. He was going to take them from her using psionics
when...
     "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!" The deep, echoing
laughter suddenly reverberated everywhere in the narrow street.
     "Somebody's been taking lessons from Kodachi on laughing,"
Ranma muttered, looking around. Twister was frowning to himself;
something about that laugh sounded familiar.
     "Who DARES to laugh at the Black Rose?!?!" the infuriated girl
shrieked, whirling around. "Show yourself!!"
     With a grating rumble, the pile of rock behind her shifted, and
began to move. For a brief instant, a purplish glow beamed out from all of
the cracks and crevices in the rubble heap. Chunks of brick cascaded to
the street as a towering, silver-blue hardsuit shoved it's way out of the pile,
pushing the debris aside until it stood on the street again, facing the young
woman wielding the explosive cookies. Twister blinked in shock; he
hadn't known that Bert had arrived before him.
     "You survived?!" the black-haired gymnast said incredulously.
     "I have survived more than thou shalt ever know, or couldst hope
to know," SkyKnight's voice rang hollowly, dropping for some reason into
an archaic mode of speech. "Surrender up to me that which hath been
plundered, or earn my wrath."
     "You've been taking speaking lessons from my dear brother," she
sniffed, then her eyes narrowed angrily, and her teeth clenched. "I WILL
have my revenge on you for killing my poor, defenceless beauties!!"
Before anyone could move, she pitched another pair of cookies at
SkyKnight, hitting him square in the torso armour.
     The silver hardsuit was flung backwards, landing on the pavement
with a clang. After a moment of pained floundering, he rolled over stiffly,
and forced himself upright. The shocked onlookers noted that there was
now a gaping, bloody hole in his armour, low and on the left side.
     "I didst warn thee," the silver-blue battlesuit rumbled, clenching its
fists. There was the sudden sound of air rushing in, and SkyKnight
straightened up, as if gaining in strength. "Now thou hast awakened my
ire!!"
     A purple glow, tinged with faint, almost invisible flickers of red
flashed suddenly, bathing the silver battlesuit from head to foot in magical
light. As the stunned observers watched, metal plating flowed and rippled
like waves of water; within seconds, the silver battlesuit was unmarked
and apparently unharmed. He stretched, and the purple glow vanished.
The ominously glowing helmet eyeslot swung to regard the dumbfounded
gymnast.
     "So be it!!" SkyKnight barked harshly. "Thou hast proven thyself to
be unworthy of the courtesy due to a proper lady, and as such, I am
justified in doing....THIS!!!" One of his shoulder guns snapped up and
targeted the young woman. Kodachi's eyes widened, and she grabbed for
some more cookies.
     She never made it; there was a loud, muffled `THWUMP' noise
and a loud splattering sound. Kodachi was hit with balls of some kind of
greenish goop that knocked her backwards, sticking her helplessly to the
wall behind her. She sat there, glued down like a bug on flypaper, the
hand holding the box still slightly stuck out. She glared impotently at the
silver hardsuit as it walked up to her calmly; one of the globs had hit her
in the mouth, rather effectively shutting her up and sparing everyone the
customary threats of revenge.
     "Thus hath that which was purloined been redeemed," SkyKnight
remarked as he gingerly removed the box from her grasp.  Turning, he
walked over to the group of people clustered defensively behind Twister.
With an elaborate bow, the towering silver hardsuit presented the box of
volatile cookies to Akane.
     "Your cookies, M'Lady," his voice boomed. "I wouldst recommend
that thou dost dispose of them in as safe and expedient a manner as can be
found, lest they tempt more people into rash acts of violence." The young
black-haired woman reached out and cautiously accepted the proffered
box, looking at the armoured form in front of her curiously.
     "Thank you. I...are you okay?" she asked. "You looked hurt
earlier."
     "`Twas nothing, M'Lady," the hi-tech knight proclaimed. "A minor
injury of no significance."
     "Uh, Bert?" Twister spoke up, frowning as he regarded his
armoured friend; he had been tempted to interfere because of Bert's odd
manner, but had trusted the Saber to prevail. "Are you SURE you're okay?
You don't need the courtly speech anymore."
     "And what, pray tell, dost thou find peculiar about my verbiage?"
the silver figure demanded, wheeling towards him. "I..." he suddenly
stopped, and then staggered, lurching suddenly as if he was passing out.
"I... don't feel so good," SkyKnight's voice stated, sounding less hollow
and more human suddenly. It was still electronic, but it seemed to lose the
detachment he'd had a moment ago.
     "I think you'd better get your suit off and quick."
     "Yeah..." SkyKnight muttered faintly. "Yeah, that sounds like a
pretty good idea right now." A familiar purple glow surrounded the
futuristic armour, then faded, leaving behind a none-too-steady-looking
Bert, who's eyes didn't seem to be focusing properly at the moment.
Finally locking on to the concerned Twister, Bert calmly said, "I think I'm
going to be absent from the realm of consciousness for a while." Then his
eyes rolled up and he started to collapse but Twister and Ranma quickly
caught the big red-head before he hit the ground.
     "Damn," Ranma told Twister as they gently put Bert on the ground,
"Kodachi really did a number on him with Akane's cookies."
     "Doesn't look injured," Twister commented after scanning the
unconscious Knight Saber, but he still sounded worried. "Unfortunately,
that only makes me feel worse about it since no one simply collapses for
no reason. Akane?" he asked the worried-looking Tendo daughter.
     She started. "Yes?"
     "Do you still want those cookies?"
     "I... No," she finished rather forcefully, not liking what her cooking
had done to Bert. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Twister grinned
slightly at the look on her face.
     "Good," he said, and the box Akane was holding vanished. "I'm
pretty sure getting dumped in the ocean will defuse the things. Right
now," he turned back to the comatose Bert, "I'd better get our
Knight-errant to the Professor." He scanned the watching group of martial
artists with his eyes, and sighed. "I'm not going to bother to ask how
everyone else got involved in this, but what happened to Happousai?"
     "The old pervert? Blasted himself with those bombs of his," Ukyou
informed him, then muttered, "Might be a day or two before he recovers,
the lecher."
     "At least something good came out of this," Twister observed
wryly. "But I'd better get Bert to Professor Miyabi quick. See you later."
And with that, both he and Bert vanished.
     "Hey!!" Ranma belatedly protested to empty air. "What about us?"
     "More walking isn't going to kill you, Ranma," Akane said
irritably.
     "Aiya!" Shampoo immediately glomped onto a surprised Ranma.
"Shampoo take husband to restaurant and make usual delicious meal to
eat."
     "Hey!" Ukyou protested angrily, whipping out her mega-spatula.
"If Ran-chan eats anywhere, it'll be at MY place!"
     "Ranma!" Ryouga bellowed, reaching for his umbrella. "How dare
you ignore Akane!"
     "Saotome!" a slightly shaken Mousse said as he weaved his way
towards the others. He trailed plaster behind him, a reminder of being
implanted into a wall. "Leave my Shampoo alone!" Assorted weapons
sprouted from his voluminous sleeves.
     Akane took this all in, saw Ranma sweating heavily as the others
closed in on him, and decided she'd had enough for today. She turned and
walked off, looking curiously at the still-stuck Kodachi on the wall as she
passed by. She couldn't resist a small smirk before leaving the gymnast
behind, the sticky stuff still rendering her mute as she renewed her
struggles to free herself.
     "Akane! Wait!" she heard Ranma call after her. She almost
stopped, but she rapidly increased her pace when she heard the next voice.
     "How fortunate, foul sorcerer Saotome, that I should encounter you
on my visit to my sister. And betraying the fair Akane as well! Defend
yourself, villain!" Kunou exclaimed before the sound of fighting drowned
him out.
     Sadly enough, just another normal, relatively normal, day in
Nerima.
                       *****
     Bert's awakening to the land of the living was progressive...
initially. He moaned slightly, twitched his arms, and started to open his
eyes.
     Then...
     Greenish-brown eyes shot open to their widest extent when IT
registered.
     "OH, MY GOD!!!!!" he screamed, recoiling frantically AWAY
from WHATEVER was underneath his nose that stank like... like....
HELL! There WAS no comparison, and he prayed he NEVER smelled
anything ever again that even came CLOSE to this Smell!
     " 'e's awake, Professor. Peeze 'ap 'hat 'ottle," pleaded a gasping
Darlene who was over to a far side of the room. Her voice was muffled
because she had clamped one hand on her nose, and the other over her
mouth.
     Miyabi, who somehow managed to breathe the incredible stink
without passing out, calmly screwed the cap back on the glass container.
"As he's awake, I see no need to subject myself to it any longer, but I
highly recommend you use my bathroom in the hallway before you throw
up, Bert," she advised politely.
     He was already out the door.
     Emerging ten minutes later, the red-headed and slightly pale
Knight Saber glared balefully at a calm Miyabi. "WHAT by all that smells
nice and clean in the world WAS that stuff?!?" Darlene was behind the
teacher-mage and seemed to be sucking in great quantities of fresh air as
if to clear out her sinuses of the offending and offensive odour.
     "It's an old recipe that is quite effective for bringing magic-users
out of unconsciousness after they've depleted themselves far more than
they should, which you apparently did.  Otherwise, it could take days, or
even weeks for a mage to wake."
     "Oh."
     "Try smelling it with a nose as sensitive as mine sometime,"
Darlene complained, rubbing her nose. "And tell me again why I had to be
in my female form? I could've filtered that... that ODOUR with my TK."
     Miyabi sighed. "There are several ways to wake someone who has
over-used their powers, and this," she held up the glass bottle, "was one of
the better and safer choices. However, if it had failed I would have
required magical help in trying another."
     Bert rubbed his face wearily. "If that was the best way, then thank
God I woke up."
     "Now that you are, perhaps you could explain just HOW you got
like that in the first place?" Miyabi arched an eyebrow when she saw Bert
immediately place a hand over his lower torso reflexively.
     "What I did? I'm...not sure." He proceeded to explain how he
thought he had healed himself and his suit, omitting the fact that he had
heard a voice in his head because of the simple fact that he had no
conscious memory of having heard it. Nor did he recall anything concrete
of the differences in his mode of speech immediately after, but Darlene
did. It was that gap in his memory that gave him the most concern. He'd
had trouble with controlling his temper and rage before, but this was a
truly different slant on things. "I was talking in an archaic way, you say?"
     Darlene nodded, concerned. "Yeah, it was really weird, and it
sounded like you were someone else wearing SkyKnight's armour."
     "That's... not very comforting," he observed, looking decidedly ill.
     "Sorry."
     Miyabi was frowning. "I do not like the sound of this new
development at all. If the bond between Bert and his armour is beginning
to affect his mind..." she trailed off as she contemplated options, then
shook her head. "I need more information, and this matter seems urgent.
Therefore," she gazed sternly at the two, "I want you two to come back
later tonight so we may try again to determine what exactly has happened.
And I highly recommend you try to catch some sleep before then, Bert."
     "I don't think," Bert yawned, "that will be difficult."
     "Very well. I will contact you both when I am ready."
     "C'mon, Bert. Let's go," Darlene sighed, then wrinkled her nose, "I
can still smell that stuff."
     "Makes scents," Bert deadpanned and dodged the irritated swipe
Darlene made; obviously, she was not in the mood for jokes. "You're right,
I'm sorry for the pun-gent joke. I couldn't help myself; it was in-stinktive."
     He didn't miss the second blow.
     Owww...
                       *****
     Shampoo sighed; she wasn't in a very good mood when she got
back to the restaurant. Her face was dusty, clothes slightly torn from
near-misses of spatulas, she was sweaty, and Ranma had slipped away
from her sight while she was fighting her spatula-wielding rival.
     At least Mousse wasn't following her right now, as he had been hit
by a water hose sometime during the melee and turned into a duck. His
constant begging her for a date would have earned him a low-altitude orbit
given her current state of mind.
     "<Great-Grandmother, I'm home.>" she called out tiredly as she
entered the door. Cologne hopped out into sight, and took in her
great-granddaughter's current state.
     "<Welcome back. I would ask how things went today but I can see
for myself that things did not go well.>"
     Shampoo heaved a deep breath. "<No. I tried to get Ranma here,
but too many people got in the way.>"
     "<Just as well,>" Cologne replied calmly.
     "<What?>" the purple-haired young amazon said in confusion. Not
being able to bring Ranma here was what she wanted? "<Why,
Great-grandmother?>"
     "<We have a guest,>" Cologne smiled and hopped out of the way
so that someone else could come into the room.
     Shampoo blinked in surprise at the new arrival, then broke into a
wide, happy smile and rushed to embrace the other with a powerful hug,
which was returned with just as much enthusiasm despite the amazon's
current state. The purple-haired girl laughed, "<What are YOU doing here,
cousin?>" She looked at Cologne, puzzled. "<I thought you didn't want her
around anymore.>"
     "<Her aunt and I have patched our differences because your cousin
has found a husband. Isn't that right, Lotion?>"
     The beautiful, brown-haired amazon apprentice mage nodded
happily, but with a hint of sadness on her face. "<Yes,
Great-grandmother.>"
     Overjoyed, Shampoo hugged her cousin again. "<That's wonderful!
But why are you here?>"
     Cologne explained, "<There are some problems that my sister did
not explain in much detail. However, she felt that would be best if Lotion
were sent over here, as she was not improving anyone's mood in the
village,>" she finished reprovingly, making Lotion flush.
     "<At least I'll have someone I can spar with. What's your husband's
name?>" Shampoo asked curiously.
     "<Twister,>" Lotion replied, and smiled a little at the other two's
surprised expressions. "<He did mention he knew you.>"
     "<How did Twister get to the village? And why?>" Cologne
demanded.
     "<He came, as a female, with a foreign magic-user to help with the
Trapped One.>" The two younger amazons shuddered a little at the name.
"<Masque tricked us into fighting and I was defeated.>"
     "<Masque always was a bitch,>" Shampoo snorted.
     "<The Trapped One... If he is male, then that should be impossible.
Shape-change or no. Perfume would have seen that in his aura. But he
WAS before Happy doused him with the cursed water. Odd, that he was
able to,>" Cologne mused to herself.
     Shampoo frowned. "<So why aren't you chasing him?>"
     "<I don't know how to find him,>" the sad magic-user replied,
looking down at the floor.
     This made Shampoo even more confused. "<But he's in the city! I
saw him just today!>"
     Lotion froze, then slowly raised wide eyes to that of her puzzled
cousin's. She couldn't believe what she had thought she had heard. It was
an eternity before she could ask the question.
     "<What did you say?!>"
                       *****
     "That feels much, MUCH better," Bert sighed tiredly, shoving his
dinner plate away, oblivious to the slightly incredulous stares he was
getting from the rest of the table. He'd opted to join the Tendo family for
dinner before taking the Professor's advice to get some sleep, and no
sooner had he smelled what was available, then his stomach had started
snarling like a den of starving lions. Several platefuls later, he felt
comfortable again, and could feel the sweet siren call of sleep pulling at
him now. He drained the last of his mug of tea, and set the mug down.
     "Looks like you've got some competition now, Twister," Ranma
noted, shaking his head, then wincing; some faint bruises were still
showing on the young martial artist, and he had a bandage over his
forehead. Except for the groggy red-head, and Twister, who was looking
thoughtfully at Bert, everyone else grinned.
     "No more then you, Ranma. Maybe we should set up an eating
contest," Nabiki suggested slyly. "Noodles, perhaps?" Twister turned
slightly green at her words.
     "No," he said firmly. "I'm never going to go through anything like
that again. Once was enough; I'm retired from the noodle-eating business."
     "Retired? Guess you're pasta your prime, huh?" Bert remarked with
a feeble smirk. He was leaning on the table with his elbows, and he
seemed to be sinking lower as time passed. The young psionist winced at
the joke, and he wasn't alone. The only person apparently unaffected was
Kasumi, who was efficiently and speedily clearing the table. "I don't
normally eat that much," the red-head added a moment later. "Don't know
what came over me; sorry."
     "I think you just really over-exerted yourself," Twister reassured
him. "I've got to do the same thing when I get low on energy. And
speaking of energy: you'd better get to bed before you hit the table." The
displaced Knight Saber nodded, then with what seemed like a superhuman
effort of will, stood, and staggered off upstairs. 
     Twister watched him leave, still vaguely concerned. He felt a
distinct foreboding when Bert left. Precog or not, there was something
disturbing going on with the red-head.
     He hoped it would not disastrous.

Part Five - Between the Hammer and the Anvil
--------------------------------------------

     "Professor," Twister yawned, belatedly covering his mouth with a
hand, "just why are we on the Athletics field at 3:00 AM?" He yawned
mightily again, a gesture that was echoed by Bert, who was off to his left.
His red-haired friend was unhappy to say the least; it was bloody early in
the morning when he'd have preferred to be in bed, especially given what
had happened earlier in the day. He hadn't had any breakfast, and he
desperately needed a cup of tea, preferably many more than just one. The
professor was unsympathetic to both of them.
     "This is the only time we can do this without worrying about stray
people," she told them briskly, brushing her black hair back over her
shoulders. She appeared to be unaffected by the lateness, or earliness, of
the hour, depending on the viewpoint, and was striding across the cool,
dew-damp field with undiminished vigour. "Given what happened before,
I'd rather not conduct this particular test inside my house."
     "Hold on a second," Bert interrupted, looking worried. "Just what
are you planning to do?!"
     "I've worked up a spell that SHOULD determine just how you and
your suit have been affected by the Wild magic that hit you; because the
link appears to be so powerful, I'd rather do this out in the open where
there's no buildings nearby. I presume I don't have to explain why."
     "Nope," Twister agreed, remembering the carnage, and the
headaches, literal and figurative, that had developed as a result of the last
test. Bert nodded wordlessly, evidently trying to remain calm at the
prospect of facing magic again.
     They reached the center of the football field, and Professor Miyabi
stopped suddenly. The two young men following her looked around; they
were standing at the center of the fifty-yard line.
     "Somebody going to toss a coin?" Bert asked grumpily. "Heads, I
go home to bed; Tails, I go home to bed." Here it was blasted early in the
morning, and he was standing in the middle of a cold, and very empty
football field. Life was so unfair at times.
     "Quit griping," Miyabi retorted irritably. "This shouldn't take long,
and then you can go back to bed." She waved a hand, muttering
something; a haze they hadn't even seen seemed to lift, and there was
suddenly a small stack of equipment nearby. Standing in the middle of the
pile was the familiar silver-and-blue SkyKnight armour. Bert brightened a
little at seeing his suit.
     "Uh, professor," Twister asked, noting that there were thermos
bottles in the equipment pile, "what's in the bottles?"
     "Hot and cold water," she replied, arching an eyebrow quizzically.
"What did you think they'd be?"
     "Never mind," he sighed tiredly. "You want me to change form and
use my magic for this too, right?" It was the only logical explanation there
could be.
     "I see my classes are fine-tuning your perception," she replied
dryly. "I also want someone around who isn't affected by magic, just in
case; you fill both those bills, quite nicely. Twister didn't reply, but
walked over to the cold water jug. He opened the lid, and splashed some
of the chilly liquid on himself. Darlene shivered as the cold night air
gleefully attacked her wet skin.
     "All right," she sighed. "Let's get this over with."
     "Hey, that's my line," Bert said. "I'm the one about to get fried
here." Darlene noticed his hands were shaking slightly as he stood
watching the Professor lay out a pair of circles of intricate design on the
ground. His suit was already at the center of one of them, and it didn't take
a huge leap of logic to know what the other circle was for. Bert clenched
his hands into fists and stuck them in his pockets when he noticed the
red-headed girl watching him. The Professor had overheard his remark,
however.
     "This is perfectly safe," she assured him. "Don't worry, nothing
will happen."
     "I've heard that before," the tall red-head sighed. "All right; I stand
over there, right?"
                       *****
     "Perfect," a smoothly smiling, red-skinned being stated as he
calmly watched a shimmering disk of energy floating in midair before
him. The strangely silvery, mirrored surface of the disk showed an
overhead view of a grassy field, and the darkness of the scene indicated it
was nighttime. In the center of the image, three people were visible. One
was a young, red-haired girl with blue eyes, the second was a much older
woman with long black hair, and the third individual was a tall,
broad-shouldered young man with unruly red hair.
     It was the third person in the party that held Malkon's attention.
He'd felt the arrival of this `SkyKnight' when it had happened, mostly
because it had been accompanied by a magical disturbance with a very
familiar feel to it. Malkon had immediately recognized Twister's
`signature' in the magic field that had brought SkyKnight to his current
location, and curiosity had led him to investigate further the new arrival.
     It had been pure luck that he had detected the mortal's arrival,
really. The magical construct that had been formed of Wild Magic and
had caused such destruction in his domain in Hell hadn't initially led him
to believe it was Twister's doing; an arch-demon had many enemies in
Hell and the power of the thing had been far beyond the younger human.
But those same enemies wouldn't take such a risk to use Wild Magic; it
was just too unpredictable and easily turned on the caster. Finally, he had
been forced to believe it WAS Twister's doing; the power DID have his
female side's `flavor' to it, he reluctantly concluded.
     Despite the damage, there was a more pleasant aspect to Malkon's
situation. Those same enemies in Hell, who had been likely to attack him
since he was Masterless still and thus without protection of a higher level
demon, seemed to have stopped their plans to attempt to destroy him.
Apparently, they were either fearful of getting caught up in a battle with a
being who wielded Wild Magic of such strength, or else they were
interested in what Malkon would do next, such entertainment being rare in
Hell. The arch-demon did not have many options now: either defeat
Twister and gain control over his magic, or be destroyed by bored rivals.
     Malkon had started cautiously spying on Twister, using
sophisticated spells to avoid detection of any sort, while using divination
spells to find out why Twister had attacked him; it hadn't seemed like his
style.
     What he'd found was a situation ripe for taking advantage of: a
dimensionally displaced person, totally unfamiliar with his new
surroundings, who also appeared to have acquired a smaller measure of
power from the Event. Malkon had heard every word of Darlene's
explanation of what had happened in Mega-Tokyo, leaving the
arch-demon satisfied and intrigued over that event. Malkon had studied
the situation a bit, and finally decided that, somehow, SkyKnight had
become a magic sink, and the power he appeared to be storing and
occasionally accessing, had once belonged to Twister.
     Which meant that Twister might have been weakened somehow, a
thought Malkon found immensely satisfying because of the destruction the
psionist had caused him personally. The Arch-Demon grinned at the
image of Bert in his viewing portal. Since the mortal's precipitous arrival,
Malkon had carefully and covertly probed into SkyKnight's psyche, and he
believed he now knew all he needed to now about him: he was dealing
with a headstrong young man who was absolutely terrified at the thought
of having been affected by magic, even though he wouldn't admit it out
loud.
     "So you don't want the magic you have acquired?" he mused to
himself. "Then I shall help relieve you of it. A burden such as that should
not be borne by one so ....inexperienced at dealing with power." Malkon's
eyes glowed redly. The information he'd gleaned on SkyKnight would
make it easy to trick him into releasing his accidentally acquired power.
     And when released, Malkon would take possession of it.
     It was absurdly simple.
     So why was there this nagging feeling that he'd missed something
bothering him?
                       *****
     His guts feeling as tightly strung as piano wire, Bert stood at the
center of the rune-inscribed circle, watching as Miyabi conferred with
Darlene in low tones a few feet away. Part of his mind was frantically
wishing this was some way out of this. He'd never been comfortable
around magic, especially since he'd found out what it had done ... was
doing to him; he just wanted to get rid of it somehow, and go back to
being his normal self. Fat chance, his mind noted sourly, you're just not
that lucky. He took a deep breath, trying to control his racing heart as the
two female magic users turned towards him.
     "Relax," the Professor tried soothing him again. "Nothing will
happen, I promise." He nodded, not fully trusting his voice at the moment.
His hands were still in his pockets, tightly clenched into fists.
     The Professor nodded to Darlene; raising their hands, the two
women started spell-casting. Miyabi chanted a very complex-sounding
spell, while the younger Darlene cast one of her rhyme spells that the
Professor must have instructed her to use. He couldn't understand half of
what the Professor was saying, and wasn't really sure he wanted to know.
Darlene, from what he could tell, was apparently doing something simpler
for the shielding circles, lessening Miyabi's burden, although the thought
of how she was doing this, he shied away from. Bert clenched his jaw
tightly, taking large breaths and trying to keep from fidgeting nervously.
     A softly-glowing purple light sprang up from the rune-marked
circles surrounding his suit and himself, and he suddenly found that he
couldn't move. He stopped himself just short of dropping off the edge into
panicking and summoning his suit at that realization. He had to trust them
and try and relax; calling on anything even remotely connected to his
`power' right now would horribly warp and distort anything magical near
him. He really didn't want to be inside of another explosion like that last
time; given the implied scale of magic involved this time around, it would
probably be like sitting in the middle of a small nuclear reactor if it
became disrupted.
     The glow from the circles intensified, and stretched upwards,
enveloping the red-haired Knight Saber and his hardsuit in translucent
columns of light. Beyond the purple photonic haze, he could still see the
Professor and Darlene gesturing. So far, everything appeared to be going
okay.
     Abruptly, a bright white light flared in his vision, obscuring
everything.
                       *****
     "And....now," Malkon breathed, a smug smile of self-satisfaction
flitting across his demonic features. A brilliant shaft of magical energy
lashed out from his taloned hand, and vanished into the silvery viewing
field that hovered in front of him. The disk turned a murky white. His
smile vanishing, the Arch-Demon concentrated on adding to his power
base.
                       *****
     Bert groggily shook his head, trying to clear the flashing sparks
from his mind and eyes. Whatever that spell effect had been, it had been
blinding, and he still felt a little...strange? He opened his eyes, suddenly
realizing that something wasn't quite right. When he looked down at
himself, fear sliced through him with the keenness of razor blades.
     He was sitting in a wooden chair, and very tightly lashed to it, with
his arms tied behind him. Swallowing against a suddenly very dry mouth,
he strained at the ropes binding him. It couldn't be, not again! Good God,
PLEASE not that again!!!!!! his mind shrieked. The ropes held, and he
slumped back against the chair, his breathing harsh with
stomach-wrenching fear.
     "So you're awake again at last, huh?" a smooth, cultured-sounding
voice inquired, the voice he usually only heard in his worst nightmares.
"Good. Now maybe we can get back to where we stopped our discussion,"
Hollister remarked conversationally, sitting on the edge of a table. His icy
blue eyes glittered sadistically, a sly, taunting smirk on his face. The
grey-suited, blond-haired man was sitting next to an awfully
familiar-looking amplifier unit, and SkyKnight could see the wires
running from it.
     Attached to electrodes that were stuck on him.
     "No," he breathed hoarsely, sweating as he pulled frantically at the
ropes again. "This isn't happening! I escaped!!!" Hollister snorted
derisively, shaking his head in mockery.
     "You tried, you mean," he corrected. "A valiant effort, but
pointless really. No one gets away from me." Hollister reached out and
patted him insultingly on the head. "You might have made it, if you hadn't
insisted on trying to rescue the sexaroids."
     "You're lying!!" the tall red-head snarled, shaking his head in
violent denial and straining to break free again. "This isn't happening!!!"
     "Still a bit delusional, I see. Well, that's to be expected; most
people are dead after three days of what you've been through. Stubborn,
aren't you?" Hollister smiled in what was supposed to be a genial way;
however, all the teeth he was showing made it resemble the bared fangs of
a rabid wolf for a moment. "Let's resume where we left off, shall we?"
SkyKnight writhed helplessly, howling in agony as his tormentor flicked
the switch on the electrical amplifier.
     "Go .... to .... HELL!!!" he hissed through his teeth, shaking from
the pain that coursed through him. He didn't know what was happening to
him, but it was impossible that this was happening now. He'd escaped
Hollister, and succeeded in rescuing his friends. There was no way that
he'd just hallucinated everything that had happened to him in a brief
period of unconsciousness, especially not the inter-dimensional landing in
Twister's universe. His subconscious wasn't THAT weird.... he hoped,
anyway.
     "I'll need a better answer than that," Hollister said suavely. He
tabbed the switch again.
     "AAAAAAARRRRGHH!!!" SkyKnight convulsed again, almost
crying from the pain. This couldn't be happening, damn it!! Anger
suddenly ripped through him, overpowering everything else. Without even
realizing he was doing it, he reached inside of himself for what he'd
briefly had access to earlier.
     It was there, faint and pulsing, a warm glow that promised power,
the power to free himself and strike back at his foe, but it was tenuous at
best. Something was interfering with his access to it. He squirmed
frantically in his bonds, trying to establish a firmer hold on it.
                       *****
     "AAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!!!!!!!!"
     Accompanying the pained scream, a flaring explosion of bright
white and purple light burst from the twin circles inscribed on the turf of
the athletic field, completely obscuring the red-headed Knight Saber and
his silver-enamelled armour. Darlene and Miyabi were flung backwards
by the blast, and both mages lay stunned on the grass for a moment, their
magical senses momentarily blinded and dazed by the eruption. The
nimbus of light concealing SkyKnight throbbed and pulsed angrily,
seeming running through the entire spectrum of colours as it hummed like
a high-voltage wire.
                       *****
     All over the city, anyone with even the slightest trace of magic
sensitivity was rudely jarred out of a sound sleep by a violent blast of
noise that transcended normal hearing. Harsh and brutal, the noise was
terrifying in its intensity, like being next to a volcano when it erupted.
     With a strangled shriek, Natsumi sat bolt upright in her bed, her
green eyes wide with fear. Shivering uncontrollably, she lay back,
gathering the blankets around her again, trying to seek the solace of sleep
again. Whatever had caused the massive disturbance was still out there
somewhere; there was the sense of an oppressive magical field, like the
low pressure region of a thunderstorm, but it was muted now with
distance.
     She closed her eyes trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling and
relax enough to fall asleep again. She started dreamily thinking of `her'
knight-in-shining-armour, trying to soothe herself with thoughts of the tall,
red-haired young man, and how handsome he'd been.... Her eyes abruptly
flew open again as she suddenly recognized the `feel' of the magic
disturbance that had woken her.
     Sleep forgotten, Natsumi leaped out of bed, and started throwing
on whatever clothes she could find.
                       *****
     Groggily, Darlene rolled over and painfully crawled towards the
Thermos bottles laying nearby. The emanations from the magical field a
few metres away clawed at her, trying to drive her back into
unconsciousness. She grimly fought back against it, finally reaching the
bottles. She shakily uncorked the hot water bottle and slopped the hot
water on herself. Twister sighed in relief as his reversion to his
magic-immune form silenced the magical shockwaves crashing around in
his head.
     Professor Miyabi didn't have the luxury of magic immunity
however, and was on her knees clutching at her temples in severe pain,
just barely hanging on. Twister immediately sprinted over to her, and tried
to project a shield that would screen out the wild magical emanations
from SkyKnight.
     "What....what's happening?!" she gasped, clutching at him as he
tried to help her to her feet. "The spell wasn't supposed to produce
anything even like this! What went wrong?!"
     "I don't know," the young psionist replied helplessly, "but we'd
better come up with a way to shut if off, and fast. I don't know what's
going on in there, but it didn't sound pleasant."
     "THIS IS NOT WHAT WAS INTENDED!" a powerful voice
boomed from the depths of the magic field, startling them both. Harsh and
resonant, it rattled the teeth of any nearby listeners with its unquestionable
authority. "AND IT WILL END. NOW."
                       *****
     Malkon smiled to himself; everything was working perfectly. He'd
managed to slide his little spell into Miyabi's, unnoticed by anyone. She
and Twister might be powerful mages, but the Arch-Demon had centuries,
millennia even, more of experience at being devious; it had been
childishly easy to magically link his mind to SkyKnight's, and start
extracting what he wanted.
     He glanced down at the form he was `wearing' at the moment. It
was interesting how someone as vicious and evil as Hollister seemed to be
could look so harmless on the exterior. He'd almost forgotten how
treacherous mortals could be. He'd have to look up this `Hollister' fellow if
he ever got the chance; the man had potential.
     The Arch-demon returned his attention to his prey, watching the
magically trapped Knight Saber writhe as he tried to access the power he'd
been imbued with. Like Malkon had figured, resurrecting the spectre of
his interrogation ordeal had driven him almost frantic with fear. As a
result, he'd instinctively tried drawing on the power, wanting to free
himself and get away.
     Malkon smiled again, raising a hand before his eyes, watching the
growing purple aura surrounding him become brighter yet; what
SkyKnight didn't realize was that in reaching for the source of his
new-found powers, he'd allowed Malkon access to it as well, making it
easy for the Arch-demon to start diverting it to himself. As a result,
despite his tortured straining, SkyKnight was helpless to do anything while
Malkon gained in strength. The demonic being resisted the urge to start
laughing triumphantly; it wasn't in keeping with his image at the moment,
and it could disrupt his spell.
     The power flow suddenly ebbed, and actually began to reverse
itself. Frowning, Malkon traced the power flow back to its red-haired
source, wondering what the problem was; it was impossible that the
mortal he was draining could do that. He was untutored, and hadn't even
the barest amount of control necessary to control his energy like that.  The
head of the uncontrollably shaking young man suddenly snapped up to
regard the disguised Arch-Demon. With something akin to a shock,
Malkon realized that SkyKnight's eyes were glowing incandescently
purple.
     "YOU OVERSTEP YOURSELF," a voice thundered, apparently
coming from his captive. "INTERFERENCE IN THIS MATTER WILL
NOT BE TOLERATED."
     There was a loud, echoing thunderclap that smashed the
Arch-demon backwards, reeling in pain. Before his amazed sight, a
towering, silver armour suit coalesced into existence around the
red-headed young man as the chair and ropes that had been binding him
disintegrated.
     "And now, thou lowest of life forms," SkyKnight snarled,
advancing menacingly on what he thought was Hollister. "Thou shalt taste
the fires of vengeance!"
     Malkon immediately cut off his linking spell and retreated,
vanishing a split second before a crimson and purple energy bolt spat
through where he'd been standing. There would always be other
opportunities....
     And obviously more mysteries and secrets to discover than he had
originally thought.
                       *****
     Twister winced, squeezing watering eyes shut as he threw an arm
over his face to shield it from the solar-intensity light that erupted anew
from the area of the magic spell, accompanied by a sound reminiscent of a
sonic boom. Professor Miyabi did the same, stifling an agonized groan as
the magical interference again pounded at her; even shielded by Twister,
she was still feeling the shocks from the stray Wild Magic in the area.
     The brown-haired young psionist lowered his arm cautiously,
watching disbelievingly as the energy field suddenly shrank, sinking in on
itself like an implosion of space-time. The seething energy dimmed as it
retreated, vanishing into the armoured figure standing at the middle of the
energy disturbance. SkyKnight's silver-armoured form was shaking
violently, as if he'd been directly connected to a high-voltage line.
     "SkyKnight?! Bert?! Are you okay?!" Twister shouted, sprinting
towards his friend. The glowing eyeslot in the silver helmet lifted, looking
at him.
     " `Nothing will happen.' Right," his voice came faintly. The knees
on the silver suit buckled, and he pitched over on his face with a loud
clang before Twister could catch him. Just as the psionist reached the
fallen suit, jagged white cracks of light raced across the armoured form.
Just as he skidded to a stop, the silver armour sizzled, then burst asunder
in a spinning spray of redly-glowing pieces, leaving an unconscious
red-haired young man laying unharmed on the grass. Twister's stomach
dropped lower than his shoes as he watched the hardsuit disintegrate, the
pieces vanishing before they could hit the grass.
     "Somehow, I don't think this is a good sign," he understated as
Miyabi unsteadily came up beside him. "Do you think it's all right to move
him?"
     "At this point I don't think things could get worse," Miyabi sighed.
     "Bert! BEEERRTTT!!!" a female voice that sounded like it was
getting closer cried out. Natsumi.
     "Of course I have been wrong before," she added wryly, then
weaved unsteadily on her feet. Twister caught her, concern in his hazel
eyes.
     "Maybe I should Heal you; we were both pretty close to the `blast'
of energy." Miyabi hesitated for a moment then nodded her acquiescence.
Blue energy shone where his hands supported her and a few seconds later
the magic teacher's face wore an expression of bliss as the pain
disappeared.
     "Thank you, Twister," she said gratefully, and, able to support
herself, removed his hands. "I must have one of the few students in the
world who can both cause or remove headaches." Both chuckled a bit at
her statement, then, more seriously, turned to Bert, who still lay silent.
     Just then Natsumi came running up to the pair, and took in the still
figure of the tall red-head on the ground. Whirling to Miyabi, she began,
"He's not..." Her teacher shook her head.
     "No, just unconscious." The younger magic-user relaxed even as
Miyabi frowned at the silent form. "I just can't understand what went
wrong to create such a disaster like this. I suppose every magic-user in the
city must have felt the blast of magical energies." She sighed. "I'm going
to have a lot of explaining to do over the next week. You'd better take him
home, Twister, I suspect he's going to be weakened after this so he'll need
rest."
     After picking up the big red-head, Twister sighed. "It's going to be
interesting explaining what happened to his suit. See you later, Professor,
Natsumi." And silently, he vanished with his unconscious passenger.
     "I hope he'll be all right," Natsumi said, worried, unconsciously
wringing her hands.
     "He should be," Miyabi replied distractedly as she walked into the
circle where Bert had lain, studying the ground intently to she if she could
find anything wrong.
     Wait...
     Miyabi straightened, thinking she had imagined smelling the
extremely faint odour. She tried inhaling deeper, and again it was there.
     Brimstone?
     Unnoticed by anyone, a shadowy shape that was lurking at the
edge of the athletic field sighed wearily, then vanished.
                       *****
     Out of darkness blissfully free of dream or nightmare, Bert
registered that he had woken up without opening his eyes. Where am I? he
thought, confused and disoriented for a moment. Then memory painfully
returned and he snapped his eyes open in shock, closing them immediately
when the bright light seared his optics.
     "Oh God, turn off that damn sun already," he groaned weakly. "I've
got enough on my mind now."
     "Kinda hard to turn off a fusion reaction on the spur of the
moment, Bert, even for early morning risers."
     Twister's familiar voice directed Bert into an ugly frame of mind,
even for his usual morning self. "What the HELL happened last nig... Oh,
so sorry, god damn it, this MORNING?!?" He squinted his eyes open and
could see the brown-haired psionist looking at him in concern.
     "You probably know more than we do."
     Not wanting to remember the unpleasant details of THAT episode,
Bert started feeling the state of his body registering at last and it didn't
improve his mood in the least. "Dammit! I can barely lift my own arm!"
And it was true, the feeble attempt under the cover that had been placed
on him only showed a shaking attempt to raise his limb. Concerned,
Twister frowned.
     "That's not good. Whatever happened must have really wiped you
out."
     "Brilliant observation, Sherlock," the prone red-head snarled,
making Twister shake his head.
     "You'd better go down and get something to eat, and lots of tea for
you."
     "And just how, oh wise one, do you propose I do that if I can't even
lift my own bloody arm?!?" Bert snapped.
     Twister tried some humour. "Ve hav vays ov makink you valk." he
said in a phony Russian accent. It failed miserably.
     "Oh, bloody perfect," was the growled response.
                       *****
     After the third LARGE tankard of steaming tea, Bert's mood
improved remarkably. He just wished that whatever had caused him to
wake hadn't been so bloody eager to jump the gun. Christ, Ranma and
Genma had just started sparring and Akane hadn't returned from her early
morning jog yet. Kasumi was preparing breakfast, after making some tea
for Bert, in her usual cheerful manner. The only ones at the table were
him, Twister, and Soun. Nabiki was doing what more sane people did at
this time: sleeping.
     God, he felt lousy. Even drinking was an effort. It wasn't helping
Bert any either to have Twister watching him like a bloody hawk all the
time. He shivered at the image the predator metaphor brought to mind.
Hollister.
     "You okay, Bert?"
     Bert looked at the psionist. Twister couldn't touch him directly
with his powers, but he had made the way downstairs ten times easier by
using air held in place to support the red-head. It had been eerie, being
supported by thin air, literally. Rock-hard at the onset, but almost like a
cushion when Twister had loosened his hold on the air molecules. The end
result was that it had looked like Bert had walked down on his own, if
barely, rather than his real jello-like condition.
     "Yes, Twister, I'm fine. Other than feeling like a run-over moose
that had the semi that did it back up over me and do it one more time to
make sure it got the job done. Sure. I'm juuust fine."
     Twister snorted, amused. "I thought caffeine IMPROVED your
mood in the morning."
     "Har har har, hardy har-har," was Bert's sour reply. "And how come
YOU look so awake? You must've been watching me all night." Twister
shrugged helplessly.
     "Haven't a clue. I just wasn't tired."
     Bert sighed, disgusted. "Perfect."
     Nabiki made her semi-awake appearance and sat down at the table.
"Glumphorning," she grunted out.
     "I'll save my `good morning' until I'm sure it'd register," Twister
said with a smile. Nabiki turned to Bert, eyes half-open and filled with
early-morning grumpiness.
     "Should I do something horrible to him later to pay him back for
that remark?" Bert grinned, cheered for the first time that day.
     "Go ahead."
     Twister sighed theatrically at the unfairness of being outnumbered,
Soun not being counted of course. Akane, flushed from the exhilaration of
her jog, arrived then.
     "Hi, Bert, are you okay? I heard that this morning didn't go too
well."
     "That's putting it mildly. I can barely move, but yeah, I'm okay."
     "HEY, LET GO, OLD MAN!!" Ranma's voice volleyed through the
back door of the dojo. A moment later there was a thundering explosion of
water in the backyard pond, followed by the sounds of someone hacking
and coughing. "Dammit!" Ranma-chan's voice angry voice came to them.
A low, threatening growl was Genma's response.
     "Oh good, Ranma and Mr. Saotome are done," Kasumi observed
brightly. "I'll bring breakfast out."
     Bert's stomach grumbled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't
eaten for a while and that he had been through a lot lately. "Thank God,"
he mumbled, taking another large gulp of tea. Then Ranma-chan stepped
into view and he choked on said gulp.
     "Damn it, old man, I HATE getting wet!" she protested, wringing
her top again in her hands to get the water out. It being in her hands, there
was nothing on her torso which was the cause of Bert's intense startlement
and subsequent coughing fit.
     "Hey, are ya alright, Bert?" she queried and stepped beside him to
pound on his back. For some reason, this only made things worse as Bert's
face turned crimson, being level with Ranma-chan's breasts.
     "Ranma, turn around already before you make him die from
embarrassment," Twister said, trying not to laugh. Nabiki had a smirk on
her face, while Akane looked angry.
     "Huh?" Ranma-chan blinked in confusion, then comprehension
dawned at last. Red-faced, she stepped back and turned around to put her
wet top back on. It dried quickly when Twister used his TK to blow hot air
through the material.
     "Recovered, Bert?" Twister asked when the red-head finally
calmed down.
     Coughing one last time, flushing redly, Bert said, "Ye...Yeah. The
breast...uh," he reddened more when he realized what he just said,
"...um...TEA went down wrong tube! Yeah, that's it. That's all." God,
could the day get any worse? he thought angrily to himself, trying to drive
away the mental image of the half-naked Ranma-chan as it was STILL
making him blush.
     "Couldn't you have left your shirt ON, Ranma? We DO have a
guest, you know!" Akane told Ranma-chan angrily.
     "Hey, I'm a guy, remember!"
     "Not right now, you stupid pervert!"
     "Why you...."
     Thankfully, Kasumi put the food on the table just then, forcing the
two to limit their insults as they ate.
     Bert was still bright red when Twister helped him back upstairs,
having failed to rid himself of images of the half-naked Ranma-chan.
Unfortunately, the sight had prompted him to remember the time he'd
accidentally stepped in on Nene when she had been showering.
     Just bloody perfect.
                       *****
     "Doesn't she, HE I mean, know how bloody distracting that is to
any red-blooded male?!?" Bert exclaimed from the bed, putting a hand on
his forehead tiredly.
     "Not really," Twister admitted. Bert peered suspiciously at him.
     "YOU weren't embarrassed."
     "Normally I am rather body-shy, but not with Ranma," the psionist
said. "The fact that it feels like I'm looking at a mirror whenever he is a
she helps quite a lot," he admitted.
     Bert smacked his head, and said, "Doh!" remembering that Twister
and Ranma shared the same cursed form and... He mentally groaned when
double-images of Ranma-chan sprang up, then Nene too.
     This isn't working, he thought, frustrated at his inability to clear his
mind. "What happened outside during that so-called `harmless' spell,
anyhow?" he quickly asked the brown-haired psionist, who furrowed his
brows in remembrance.
     "Everything seemed to be under control till you screamed, then me
and the professor were flung backwards. No, we landed okay," he said,
seeing Bert's look of concern, "but the usual magical shockwave that
always accompanies one of your magical blasts resulted, and kept on
going continuously. I managed to reach a hot water thermos before I was
knocked unconscious, and Professor Miyabi wasn't far behind me. We
couldn't do much but wait and hope you were okay. When the light
stopped," Twister hesitated and looked at Bert for a moment before
continuing, "you were in the SkyKnight armour."
     "Yeah, I think I remember wanting it, vaguely," Bert interrupted.
He stopped when he noticed Twister's uncertain look and felt the other
shoe was about to drop.
     "You fell unconscious, started to fall, and..." the psionist took a
deep breath, "...and the armour cracked open, flying apart into pieces
which disappeared. Miyabi contacted me while you were out and she can't
find it anywhere." He paused, letting it sink in.
     "I think it's destroyed, Bert."
     Bert stared at him with wide-eyed shock. "Des...troyed?" he said in
a stunned manner. How could his armour have been destroyed?? It was the
toughest hardsuit he and Sylia had created yet; that it could crumble like
tinfoil in the way Twister described was just plain IMPOSSIBLE!
     And just WHAT since he had come to this crazy place HADN'T
been impossible?! he snarled in his thoughts, anger easily surging to the
fore. The only thing that he had of home TOTALLED, with absolutely
NOTHING left of it because of the insane magic that had been dogging
him since getting here!!!
     Twister noticed the almost instant change in his mood. "Are you
okay?" he asked, plainly concerned.
     "Leave," the red-head said flatly.
     "What?"
     "I said LEAVE damn it! Get OUT!!" Bert shouted, causing the
psionist to recoil. Bert didn't really give a damn what the other thought at
the moment, since all he represented was another reminder of what had
happened. Twister seemed to sense this, or didn't know what to say. In
either case, Twister left the room with an unreadable expression.
     Good.
     He slammed his fist down on the bed as hard as he could, given his
current state.
     "DAMN IT, WHY!?!?!?"
                       *****
     Outside the door, Twister winced from the guilt he felt when he
heard Bert's shout. He could imagine how much the suit had meant to his
new friend, especially now being so far from home. It was also a symbol
for Bert, and for it to be destroyed without any means of building another
at the moment...
     "Damn."
     "What happened?" Nabiki's question startled Twister, who then
gave a long sigh.
     "His armour was essentially disintegrated because of what
happened this morning," he informed her. That widened her eyes.
     "I guess he's upset."
     "Since nothing like that was supposed to happen, yeah, big time."
He sighed. "I'm not sure what to do right now."
     "Let it lie for a day," Nabiki waved her hand. "Right now it's a big
shock to him, later he'll be more rational."
     "You sure?"
     "Works with Akane."
     He sighed. "Well, I have nothing better off hand so I'll wait for
tomorrow. I'll ask Kasumi to take a lot of food up since he's still
recovering; I suppose it wasn't a good idea to take him down for breakfast
in the first place." He raised an eyebrow at Nabiki's amused face.
     "Not after seeing Ranma anyway," she noted.
     They exchanged a grin.
                       *****
     Twister returned to his apartment and, as Yasuro was not there,
worked on a few things to take his mind off Bert's problem. There was
plenty to do: finish a bit more of that optical computer; create a small,
magical base for it's future power needs; practice low-power psionic
effects with the tricks he'd seen Madagan do and duplicated; try mental
discipline damping his aura when trying something above-normal psi; and
so on. It kept him busy and didn't tire him as all of it was mostly easy
practice. Still, Twister worried about Bert.
     As it turned out, he had a right to be.

THE NEXT DAY.....

     Sunlight slashed through the slats in the blinds on the windows,
relentlessly penetrating the gloom of the darkened room. The stray light
streams gently fell across the closed eyes of the lightly-snoring red-headed
young man sprawled untidily in the bed. The warmth of the sunlight was
what initially roused him from slumber, and when he unwisely opened his
eyes, the photons assaulting his retinas completed the job. Bert gave a
pained yelp, and threw an arm over his sight, as his eyes watered from the
brilliant haze that appeared to be floating in his eyeballs now.
     Rolling over onto his side so that he wasn't being blinded anymore,
he carefully opened his eyes and looked around. The clock on the wall
indicated that it was about 6:00 AM. Perfect; he'd woken up again at a
hellishly early hour. Normally, he wouldn't have minded, except for the
fact that here he had nothing, absolutely nothing to do.
     He sat up on the bed, or tried to; an incredible weakness rushed up
and seized him in its talons, making anything other than rolling over
almost out of the question. Instantly, irrational anger surged from the
depths of his mind; bad enough his suit was destroyed, he could still
barely move!!!!
     As he lay there seething mentally over his bed-ridden condition,
the restless desire to move washed over him again. Once again, he tried to
move...and promptly fell of the bed. It wasn't a long drop, but it still hurt
to land in a sprawled heap on the floor. It looked goddamn undignified to
boot.
     Frustrated almost to the point of crying over his incapacity, Bert
gritted his teeth as he tried to shove himself off the floor. Damn it, with
everything that had been done to him, why couldn't he have been given a
power that was USEFUL?!?! Healing would have been a nice one to have
for example....
     SkyKnight stiffened as he was suddenly enveloped by a racing red
aura for a split-second. Gasping for air, he slumped back to the floor,
raising a trembling hand and wiping away the sweat from his forehead.
For a moment, it had felt like he'd been baking in a kiln. Sitting up, he
winced and stretched, then froze abruptly. He was moving normally again!
How in the...?!
     Mind whirling in confusion, he staggered to his feet, and over to
the bedroom door. After listening for a moment, he cautiously made his
way to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. Running
the sink full of cold water, he splashed it all over his face, trying to clear
his mind and refresh himself. He stared into the mirror as he took a deep
breath. Think logically....one minute he'd been unable to move, the next
he'd been back to normal. Had he healed himself?
     In the back of his mind was the hazy memory of doing so once
before, but he couldn't remember how he'd done it. Just like a few minutes
ago, his mind was blank when it came to the question of how he'd done it.
Magic was undoubtedly the cause, but he couldn't even begin to explain
how he'd done what he'd done.
     Slamming his hand down on the edge of the sink as he leaned on
it, Bert continued to stare at his reflection in the mirror. Why, why, WHY
couldn't he remember what had happened when he'd been inadvertently
using his `power'?!?! Was it affecting his mind? His temper, easily roused
lately, began to flare again.  WHY had this been done to him?!?!
     As he raised clenched fists in frustration, intending to bang them
on the bathroom counter again, he caught sight of his reflection.
     And saw RED balefully glowing eyes staring back at him from the
reflective glass.
     "NO!!!" He was across the bathroom, his back plastered to the far
wall before he even realized it, cold sweat breaking out all over him.
Unable to tear his gaze away from the mirror, he watched as the red glow
faded from the eyes of his panicked reflection.
     The minute the glow disappeared, he was out the door and down
the hallway. A few scant minutes later he was dressed, and walking
rapidly down the hallway as quietly as he could. The calm facade he was
trying to maintain cracked when he reached the top of the stairs, and he
was down them in three long-legged bounds. As he sprinted for the front
door of the dojo, cutting through the dining room, Ranma stepped into the
room, adjusting his gi in preparation for his usual morning practice
session.
     "Hey Bert, what's the rush? Where are you going?" The young
martial artist looked surprised to see him up, and moving, but his tone
sounded friendly enough. Bert, however, wasn't in a frame of mind suited
for talking, and didn't stop.
     "OUT!!! Leave me alone!!" he snarled as he blindly shot past the
young Saotome.
     Ranma watched the agitated red-headed young man run from the
dojo as if being pursued by a pack of demonic fiends, a slightly puzzled
frown on his face. After a moment, he shrugged and went to meet his
father for practice.
                       *****
     Somewhere else in the city, a shadowy, insubstantial figure
stiffened and lifted its head as if scenting something disturbing. It cocked
its head in a listening posture, then sighed deeply, sounding old and tired
for some reason.
     "Begun now it has," the figure muttered to itself quietly. "And
unforeseen the results."
                       *****
     "Just leave the pot," Bert told the waitress, his voice hoarse. "I may
need another one in a few minutes." The young waitress nodded
dubiously, giving him a look that plainly said she thought he was nuts.
Shrugging to herself, she turned to serving the other patrons of the campus
donut shop, leaving the nearly full coffee pot sitting on the table next to
him.
     Bert was unaware of her leaving; his gaze was fixed on the mug of
coffee he was holding a white-knuckled grip around. The wrappers from
half-a-dozen donuts sat in a crumpled wad nearby. With iron control, he
lifted the mug and took a drink, trying desperately to keep his hands from
shaking.
     He'd spent the last two hours trying to convince himself using a
combination of caffeine and sugar that he'd been dreaming about what
he'd seen when he'd looked into the mirror, but it hadn't worked. Instead,
all he'd done was terrify himself further at what was happening to him. It
seemed to him as if the magic he'd been `given' was not content to merely
strip him of his hardsuit, but now it was working on changing him inside
somehow. He didn't want that.
     In the back of his mind, there was a shrieking, raging defiance that
was railing against what had been done to him, but with no real outlet for
it, he felt helpless. How could you fight against something invisible and
intangible? Especially when it was something inside yourself? He took
another draught of coffee, emptying his mug. He refilled it and resumed
drinking as his mind ran in screaming circles.
     "So, knave, we meet again!" The pompous voice was
unmistakable; Bert didn't have to look over to know that there was a tall
young man with a wooden sword, wearing a purple kendo outfit standing
next to his table: Tatewaki Kuno. He didn't reply, and kept his gaze on his
mug, hoping that he'd take the hint and leave.
     No such luck.
     "Are you afraid to face me, you rogue?! Stand, for I would look
you in the eyes when I challenge you!" Kuno commanded. "The vengeance
of heaven is slow but sure: I intend to demand satisfaction for my honour,
and for the honour of my poor sister, whom you assaulted unjustly the
other day!"
     "Unjustly?!" Bert was unable to keep the derisive snort from
escaping, as he spared the angry kendo practitioner a sideways glance.
"Defending yourself against a lunatic with explosives is unjust now, is it?"
He turned his attention back to his drink, topping off his mug with the last
portion of coffee in the pot. As he added cream and sugar, stirring them in,
it he became dimly aware that the coffee shop had become curiously
vacant all of a sudden.
     "And you add slander to your list of crimes as well!" Kuno
proclaimed in a disbelieving tone. "Stand, you villain!"
     "Kuno, don't make me angry," SkyKnight warned in a suddenly
glacial voice. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." In the back of his
mind was a dim sense of alarm; it was almost like someone else had
spoken. He clamped down on the rising irritation within him; he couldn't
afford to lose his temper, especially since he wasn't sure what the
consequences would be. He raised his mug to take another swig.
     And ended up with half a mug of hot coffee spilling into his lap as
Kuno's wooden sword sliced through the mug before he could get it to his
mouth.
     Bert stoically bore the painful burning from the coffee soaking into
his jeans as he very slowly stood and dropped enough change to cover his
tab on the table. He was just barely holding himself in check as he turned
away from Kuno, intending to just walk away. He didn't want a fight; all
he wanted was some time to be alone so he could think some more. He
started walking towards the door of the coffee shop.
     "Don't you walk away from me, you coward!! Stand and fight!!"
Some vague sixth sense warned SkyKnight, and he started to spin back
towards the irate swordsman when there was a loud thwack, and pain
exploded in his side, just below the ribs. The force of the strike hurled him
sideways, sending him smashing into a cluster of large planters near the
counter. The tall red-head went down in a tangle of slender tree trunks,
leaves and dirt, and lay very still. Kuno regarded the prone form for a
minute, then lowered his sword, nodding to himself in satisfaction.
     "Thus is justice served," he proclaimed, "and honour satisfied."
     He was more than a little surprised when Bert's eyes snapped open,
revealing an incandescent red glow. The glow quickly suffused his body,
and he stood easily, with no apparent injury from Kuno's blow. The glow
remained, however, and began to intensify.
     "I warned you," the cold voice came from the red-head. "Reap now
the fruits of your heedlessness." SkyKnight was absolutely coldly furious;
he'd tried to avoid it, but the thickheaded numbskull had pushed the issue
beyond the point of reason. No longer resisting, he embraced the
thrumming power he'd tapped into again somehow, drawing it into him.
     Kuno backed away, his face a study in dumbfounded surprise, as
red lightning began to crackle in the air around his opponent. The air in
the coffee shop turned hot and stifling as the energy haze became more
and more intense. Anything electrical within twenty feet of the enraged
Knight Saber suddenly overloaded and exploded.
     In the center of the developing energy storm, Bert was lost in an
almost indescribable feeling of euphoria. It felt.....awesome!!! Why the
hell had he been resisting it?! His anger snarled in savage exultation at the
back of his mind, released from its usual constraints and glorying in the
heady feelings of the power he now seemed to be wielding. Now he could
extract some measure of revenge for everything that had been done to
him, starting with the pompous jerk with the sword. The only thing
detracting from his moment of triumph was the absence of his suit.
     Glowing red eyes abruptly widened in surprise, and a huge grin
spread across his face as a thought that had never occurred to him before
cropped up. Magic had destroyed his suit, so wouldn't it follow that magic
could rebuild it? He had nearly limitless energy at his disposal now, so
why not make use of it?! SkyKnight's fists clenched as he bent his will to
modulating the raging magical energies within him. He delved back into
his memory of two nights ago, when the professor's spell had backfired,
trying to see the instant when his suit had been disintegrated.
     And within seconds, he knew how to do what he had to do; instant
understanding of the spells and processes that had taken place that night
was in his mind as soon as he concentrated on it.
     "YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!" The exultant shout, and the brilliant
red-lit thunderclap that followed it blasted the glass from the windows of
the coffee shop, showering the street outside with jagged fragments. Kuno
staggered out the gaping doorway a moment later, shaking his head
dazedly and trying to clear his thoughts.
     A towering robotic shape, covered in brilliant silver armour plating
shouldered through the door a moment later, wrenching the door frame
from the brickwork at the same time. The recreated hardsuit stretched
luxuriantly for a moment. SkyKnight's glowing red eyeslot flashed, a
bright red energy aura still humming gleefully around him as he looked at
the flabbergasted Kuno.
     "What was that you were saying about wanting a fight?" SkyKnight
chuckled malevolently.
                       *****
     "Well, I don't know where the heck he could have gone," Twister
sighed, glancing around the empty bedroom. Beside and behind him,
Ranma and the three Tendo sisters crowded the hallway, looking
anxiously into the deserted room. The place was a little disorderly
looking, like someone had left in a hurry.
     "Well, the few things he did have are still here," Kasumi noted
quietly. "Maybe he'll be coming back."
     "I dunno about that," Ranma said dubiously. "You didn't see the
look on his face when he left. He was ... upset."
     Twister didn't mention the obvious: for Bert to have had his
hardsuit, the only really tangible link to his home universe that he'd had,
destroyed by supposedly harmless magical testing was bound to have been
upsetting. Although `upsetting' was perhaps too mild a term for his
probable emotional state.
     "What I don't get," Nabiki spoke up, "is just how did he suddenly
walk out of here? You saw him yesterday morning: he barely had the
strength to crawl, let alone walk. It's impossible that he could have
recovered that quickly....isn't it?" Twister started at her comment, as a
sudden idea struck him.
     "Wait a minute," the brown-haired young man said slowly. "His
suit was destroyed, but we never did determine what effect the magic had
on him, or even if it was still there. Maybe it cured him, and he just
needed some time to recover a bit..."
     "Is that possible?" Akane asked, wide-eyed. "I thought you could
only Heal psionically?" Twister shook his head.
     "We're talking about Wild Magic, Akane," he reminded her.
"So-called `regular' magic can do almost anything, and Wild Magic
doesn't operate under the same `rules', if you can call them that. No one's
ever studied that area of magic because of its unpredictability; it makes it
a very dangerous area to study." He hesitated a moment. "And we have
seen him do it before, so I think that's what may have happened."
     He was about to search the room further, to see if perhaps Bert had
left behind some clue as to where he might have gone, when a woman's
voice called urgently from the downstairs portion of the Tendo home.
     "TWISTER!!!!" Professor Miyabi's voice shouted, sounding
panicked. "Get down here!! Hurry!!" The urgency in her voice was such
that he didn't even walk, but teleported instantly to the dining room. The
black-haired professor whirled as he materialized, and he could see
something he'd never seen in her green eyes before: fear. She was
wild-eyed, and her clothing and hair was in complete disarray.
     "What's up, professor?" he inquired, noting her expression. She
lunged forwards, grabbing his shirtfront, and he blinked in surprise.
     "You've got to stop him!!!" Miyabi blurted. "Hurry, before he
levels the entire university!!"
     "Before who levels the university?" he asked, a queasy suspicion
forming.
     "SkyKnight!!!!" she half-shrieked, hands clenching unconsciously.
She abruptly seemed to remember who she was, since she released
Twister's sweater, and tried to present a calm facade again. Her hands
were visibly shaking as she smoothed out her hair and clothing. Twister
was trying to reclaim his stomach from the abyss it had dropped into at her
words, and it took him a moment to get together enough wits to speak
again.
     "Bert?!" he asked incredulously. "That's impossible! The only way
he could do something like that was if he had his suit, and it got destroyed,
remember?" On the tail end of his sentence, the rest of the Tendo clan and
Ranma ran into the room, everyone shouting variations of "What's going
on?!"
     "He's got it back somehow!" the professor informed him, ignoring
the questions and pacing in her agitation. "I don't quite know all the
details, but Kunou appears to have been the triggering cause. Whatever
happened, he's in his suit, and he's blasting whatever happens to annoy
him right now, and that's turning out to be anything that moves." Silence
fell for a moment.
     "Couldn't you stop him?" Akane asked finally. "He's not all that
powerful, is he? I mean, it's just his suit, right? Couldn't you freeze it like
Twister did once?"
     "He may not have been that strong before," Miyabi replied darkly,
"but he is now. My spells went awry when I tried to subdue him. It's not
quite wild magic anymore that is coming from him, but it's something
else....and given his current frame of mind, I couldn't break through the
magical aura that's surrounding him."
     "Aura?!" Twister repeated in surprise. Miyabi nodded impatiently.
     "Yes, I said aura!" she snapped. "We don't have time to chatter
about it!! Come with me now, before it's too late! You can analyze him at
the scene!" Her hands lifted, preparatory to casting a teleportation spell.
     "We're coming too," Ranma spoke up before Miyabi could cast it.
"Maybe we can help." The dark-haired magic teacher looked thoughtfully
at the young Saotome for a moment, then nodded.
     "Agreed," was all she said, before a white glow swept everyone
save Twister in the room away.
     In the next instant, he vanished too.
                       *****
     "Come on, Mr. High-and-Mighty!!" SkyKnight snarled, a
metal-clad fist again smashing a stumbling and bleeding Kunou
backwards with a contemptuous backhand slap. "Let's see you run me
through!! Come ON, you bastard!!! TRY IT!!!"
     The battered kendo champion gathered his reserves, and tried
again to leap forwards. His wooden sword blurred through the air....and
was caught neatly by SkyKnight, the wooden blade meeting the metal
gauntlet with a loud thwack.
     "Not so hot when the odds are even, are you?" the modulated voice
gloated. SkyKnight's grip clenched, and the practice sword shattered into
flying splinters. Kunou staggered backwards, his only thought now to
escape.
     The remorseless, silver-clad gladiator stalked after him, grim
intent in every line of his posture. A punishing crimson glow limned his
armoured form, but he remained oblivious to it as defiant, uncontrollable
rage continued to roar deafeningly in his ears. The noise numbed
everything else in his mind except for the need to strike back, to somehow
retaliate against what had been done to him.
     "Sorcery..." Kunou gasped again, as the silver-blue hardsuit
stepped up to him, and grasped him by the front of his clothes. A derisive
snort escaped the silver helmet.
     "Try Science, fleabrain," SkyKnight retorted, grip tightening.
"Have a nice flight."
     "Flight?! Wha...AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Kunou's scream
faded into the distance as the silver battlesuit easily hurled him off into
the horizon, like a helpless rag doll.
     "Don't bother to write!!" Bert called mockingly after the departing
figure, then he began to laugh. He held up an armoured arm in front of his
eyes, clenching his gauntlet into a fist, laughing exultantly as he felt his
suit hum and throb with power. It felt fantastic! He felt refreshed,
energized and revitalized somehow. His suit was performing better than it
ever had, and wasn't straining at all from some of the energy demands he'd
made of it. Gone were the ephemeral worries about what was happening
to him, washed away in the bright glow of the energy enveloping him.
     YES!!! POWER!!! something shrieked in the back of his mind. No
more did he have to worry about being singled out as the punching bag for
somebody's crazy plans of conquest, or being number one on someone's
hit list. If they bothered him now, he had the means to...
     "BERT!!! For God's sake get a grip on yourself!!!" a horrified voice
intruded on his thoughts. SkyKnight whirled swiftly.
     "YOU!!!!!!!!!!"
                       *****
     Twister stared disbelievingly at the smoking wreckage scattered
around what used to be the small park that had been in front of the
university coffee shop. The trees were now smoking stumps, and the park
benches were twisted, blasted lumps of metal and charred concrete. The
nearby buildings hadn't fared much better, sporting huge holes in their
brickwork. Twister was also willing to bet that there wasn't an intact
window within a mile of him right now; the sound and shockwaves that
had been rolling through the air had been loud and devastating.
     Further compounding his shock was the sight of a familiar,
blue-and-silver hardsuit standing triumphantly in the middle of the
disaster area, laughing evilly. What was unfamiliar about SkyKnight at the
moment was the blazing red aura of light that was pulsing brightly around
him. Electric humming throbbed in time with the fluctuations of the
coruscating energy sheathing the hardsuited figure, and the physical
ionizing effects of the raw, unrestrained magic in the air made the young
psionist's hair start to stand on end.
     It was SkyKnight's behaviour that was the real worry right now;
never had Twister seen Bert display the casual disregard for someone
else's welfare that he just had in sending Kunou into orbit. Luckily, he'd
been able to catch the hurtling Kendo champ with his TK before he'd
actually hit escape velocity, and had lowered him to the ground, well out
of sight of the rampaging Knight Saber. Sure, he could understand why
Bert didn't like Kunou, but he didn't know why his red-headed friend had
tried to kill him; it was a side of him he'd never seen before.
     And uncomfortably similar to one of his own.
     "My God, he's gone insane!" Ranma whispered in a strangled
voice, his stunned gaze raking the destruction around them. Akane and
Nabiki were equally speechless. Kasumi had uttered a quiet "Oh dear..."
then also fallen silent.
     "Now you know what I was talking about," Miyabi spoke up
quietly, directing her comment mostly towards Twister. "Whatever
happened the other night, it's affected him more deeply than we realized.
We have to get him back under control; if this goes on for much longer, it
will create problems that no amount of magic or explanations will ever
solve."
     Even for THIS town. "All right," Twister sighed, squaring his
shoulders. "This is my job; everyone else, stay back. This is going to be
ugly." Before he could step forwards, Nabiki suddenly grabbed him, and
gave him a long kiss. Twister gasped a bit for breath as she pulled back,
worry written all over her face.
     "Be careful," she admonished him. He nodded wordlessly. While
normally no one would have worried, given his own power level, what
they were seeing went beyond what they'd thought SkyKnight capable of.
He didn't want to hurt the displaced Knight Saber, but right now, he didn't
see how it could be avoided. He waved everyone else back further, then
turned towards the armour-clad figure that was laughing maniacally in the
center of the ruined park.
     As he walked slowly towards the silver-garbed hardsuit, Twister
began boosting himself with his TK; he wanted all the speed and strength
he could get right now, since getting tagged with a particle beam would
not be fun, not even for him. As an added precaution, he even raised a
shield. The fact that he wasn't glowing blue would've pleased him before.
Not now, though. Taking a deep breath, he got ready.
     "Bert!! For God's sake, get a hold of yourself!" he called. With
surprising speed, the silver armour suit spun towards his voice. Twister
noted uneasily that the glow from SkyKnight's helmet eyeslot matched
exactly the pulsing magical aura around him, which might imply that the
suit was no longer merely just enchanted technology. Not good.
     "YOU!!!" SkyKnight's electronic voice snarled, suddenly sounding
white-hot for some reason. "This is YOUR fault!!! You and your goddamn
magic!!!" The silver suit blurred forwards in a motion that Twister didn't
need prescience to see coming; he ducked the blistering, roundhouse right
that Bert launched at him, then flattened him with his own powered-up
punch.
     The silver battlesuit skidded backwards along the asphalt, sparks
flying from his suit. He hit a nearby wall and crashed through it. The
building decided that it had suffered enough renovation, and collapsed
inwards with a roar. Dust and bricks flew through the air, as the walls
came cascading down in a crashing, rumbling shower of shattered
masonry.
     Silence fell for a moment, as Twister cautiously approached the
crumbled building, gingerly feeling his knuckles. Belting SkyKnight's suit
had hurt, a lot; evidently, it had been enhanced a bit by the magic field
surrounding it and while magic couldn't affect him, it could certainly
reinforce things enough to make things tough. There was still no
movement from the rock pile, and he began to wonder if perhaps he'd won
after all.
     Not.
     "AAAAAARRRGHH!!! I'm going to -KILL- you!!" SkyKnight's
muffled voice bellowed, as the entire rock pile turned cherry-red, and
exploded outwards, showering hot chunks of stone everywhere. Twister
backpedaled frantically, but wasn't able to dodge the charging silver form
that blasted from the smoldering building wreckage; he was body checked
into a flying fall, and he rolled smoothly to his feet twenty feet from his
previous position, dropping again into a defensive stance. SkyKnight
advanced on the young, brown-haired man menacingly.
     "Bert, snap out of it!!" Twister pleaded. "Come on, you're not
solving anything this way! I...."
     "This is all your fault," the silver suit snarled venomously, ignoring
his entreating tone. "First you drag me from home against my will, altering
me magically at the same time, and then get one of your cronies to finish
the job! I'm going to take it out of your hide, one piece at a time."
Twister's prescience screamed at him urgently, and he dropped flat as
SkyKnight's arms snapped up to point at him. Four crackling particle laser
beams lashed out, singeing the dodging young man.
     "All right!" Twister spat, leaping to his feet again. "That's
ENOUGH!! Stop it right now or I'll.....ARRRRGHH!!!" He convulsed as
another withering barrage of laser energy hammered into him, clawing at
his shield. Some of the ravening energy leaked through his shield, burning
him. He gritted his teeth and squinted against the pain for a moment;
seconds later, a blue flash bathed him, and he sighed in relief as he Healed
himself.
     The moment it had taken him to Heal himself had cost him,
though. There was a jarring impact, and he felt himself get knocked
through the air again. Spinning in midair, he landed on his feet, and tried
to get his bearings.
     Another battering storm of punches lashed out at him, and his sight
cleared enough to see that SkyKnight was looming right in front of him,
trying to pound through his force barrier through sheer power alone. Good
luck trying, he grimly thought. Setting his teeth together, Twister reached
out with his mind, trying to shut down Bert's suit so he could at least
reason with him, while keeping his shield up at the same time.
     The shock came when he found that, according to his psi-senses,
SkyKnight's hardsuit wasn't there.
     *Now how the hell can that be?!* he wondered in surprise. *I can
see the bloody thing right in front of me! How come I can't detect it?!* All
he could sense was one young man in the grip of a blind, unreasoning
fury. *Oh no. Please don't let it be...* he suddenly prayed, hoping he was
wrong, but knowing now that he wasn't.
     SkyKnight and his hardsuit had fused magically somehow, there
was no real boundary between the two anymore. It was the only logical
explanation; before, Bert and his suit had been magically linked only, with
Bert able to exercise very limited control in summoning it to him when
necessary. Now, it seemed as if the process had gone to completion, the
hardsuit becoming a magical construct, and an extension of SkyKnight's
will.
     "So how the hell do I stop him without killing him?!" he muttered
to himself. He tried using a TK barrier to hold the raging hardsuit in
check, but encountered the same problem he'd had when he'd tried
Healing Bert; his TK couldn't seem to `lock on' to him. He could sense
perfectly his enraged friend (although he really didn't need psionics right
now for THAT), but he couldn't get his TK to directly affect him. Well,
there WAS one power that had worked before...
     There was a bright flash coupled with a loud bang, and SkyKnight
disappeared abruptly. Across the park, a whooshing explosion surged
through the air as water fountained out of a small, decorative pond. A
moment later, a dripping, silver hardsuit rose from the water, but he didn't
appear to have been cooled off any by the sudden bath. Twister nodded to
himself; he still could teleport him, but that appeared to be it.
     "Resorting to cheap tricks, are we?" SkyKnight snarled. "Suits me
just fine." Another crimson laser beam lanced through the air. Twister
dodged easily sideways...and got clobbered by the falling lamppost that
SkyKnight had just shot off.
     "NOT good," Twister groaned, shaking his head to clear it of the
ringing bells the impact had jarred into existence. He shoved the lamppost
aside, and ducked the murderous sword swipe that whistled through the
air, almost giving him a very short brush cut. He hit SkyKnight in the
helmet with everything he could throw into a rapid punch, and tried
frantically to think of a way to down SkyKnight for good, and preferably
non-lethally. Just battering at him wasn't going to work; his hardsuit made
him incredibly resistant to any physical force that he had access to right
now.
     SkyKnight rolled upright again, a little slower than the last time.
Twister didn't believe for a minute that he was hurt; it couldn't be that
easy.
                       *****
     "Oh, this is rich!!" Malkon grinned to himself.  "This is turning out
better than I'd have believed possible!"
     The scarlet-skinned Arch-Demon sat back in his chair, chuckling
quietly as he watched Twister duck under another attack from SkyKnight.
Malkon grinned at the image hovering in midair before him, savouring the
chaos that passed before his eyes.
     Originally, he'd been utterly furious about his failure to siphon off
the stray magic that had attached itself to SkyKnight. Imagine, a pathetic
mortal actually being able to thwart him! If it had been Twister, at least
he'd have been able to say it was a being of comparable power that had
foiled him, but that hadn't been the case. He'd been stymied in his quest
for power by a mere human who didn't even belong to the dimension he'd
found himself in.
     Disgusting.
     The Arch-Demon had probed the red-haired Knight Saber after his
abortive attempt to wrest the Wild Magic from him, trying to find the
cause of his failure. Instead, he found a situation that promised to be
vastly amusing.
     It had become apparent to Malkon almost immediately that
SkyKnight and the Wild magic were now inseparably fused; because he
was more experienced with magic-related phenomena, he'd realized that
much almost immediately after a simple scan. Based on his knowledge of
SkyKnight's emotional makeup, he'd also realized that it was only a matter
of time before the burden of suddenly having power would snap his
tentative grip on his sanity. When that happened, the potential for an
out-of-control rampage became a certainty.
     Which meant that Twister would be forced to fight his friend, and
there was a very good chance that SkyKnight wouldn't survive the
encounter.
     Malkon laughed again; if Twister won by killing SkyKnight, then
the young psionist would be miserable for days, plagued with intense
guilt. If he didn't kill SkyKnight, but still won anyway, then both of them
would be wallowing in assorted varieties of guilt for a while. If SkyKnight
won, somehow, then he'd be despised by almost everyone, especially the
few friends he'd managed to make, and he'd still be sunk in guilt. That
would probably destroy what was left of the silver Knight Saber's will to
keep going.
     Whatever the results were, it promised to be a very amusing
afternoon. Malkon grinned to himself and sat back to watch the show.
                       *****
     He'd been right: easy it hadn't been.
     The two combatants were apart at the moment, catching their
breath. It was a strange change for Twister; usually he held back a lot in a
fight but this time was different. Granted, he wasn't on the offensive a lot
for fear of killing Bert but in defense he had to keep on his toes. The
surrounding area was even more torn up, fortunately Ranma and the others
had retreated further away for safety. Still, nothing had changed; Bert was
madder than ever and Twister was at a loss. That damned SkyKnight
hardsuit was...
     Waitaminutehere.
     SKY-Knight.
     It wasn't a total solution, but at least it would get them away from
people until he got an idea. He sighed mentally; the only thing wrong with
his `plan' was that he wasn't fond of heights.
     Oh, well.
     "Well, SkyKnight," he finally said, addressing the angrily glowing
figure in front of him, "you fight well. Now, shall we see how a sky knight
deals with a twister in the wild blue yonder?" He started rising into the air
and heard a growl from the silver hardsuit.
     "Fine by me, you ASSHOLE!!" SkyKnight shouted, and wings
snapped out from the back of the hardsuit as jet turbines started roaring.
Twister took that as his cue and rapidly accelerated skyward. Bert shouted
his rage as his jets echoed him, rocketing him up to pursue his foe as they
climbed into the stratosphere.
     It was an odd battle they fought in the sky; Twister was more
manoeuvrable with his levitation but he lacked the air combat experience
SkyKnight had, and the misplaced Knight Saber used that advantage
relentlessly. However, having an opponent who could stop on a dime, do
ninety degree turns, and other aerodynamically impossible things made
targeting frustrating to the silver-clad warrior. He kept on relentlessly
though, and managed to tag Twister's shields a few times. The psionist
knew he couldn't keep this up forever, but he still didn't know what to do.
     Perhaps boosting my mind would help, he thought as he dodged
another volley of particle-laser fire and proceeded to access his power to
increase his intellectual capacities. Despite his control, his eyes began to
glow blue. As a result of his expanded mental acuity, his dodging began
improving exponentially.
     Correlating the data on his problem became simple, and one
conclusion quickly came to be the most predominant.
     Fact: Darlene form had lost rational control when infused with
Wild Magic; it would take centuries, if not millennia to gain the required
experience and control to be able to handle the power, even with her
instinctive talent to wield magic.
     Fact: Bert now had the same problem, despite the fact that he had a
much lesser amount of Wild Magic in his system, and had finally gone
amuck like Darlene.
     Fact: Without Darlene's abilities, Bert would not be able to return
to his senses on his own, which presented a conundrum.
     Fact: Twister/Darlene had opposite powers of mind and magic. A
balance between the two, for which reasons were still unknown, was
apparently essential to remain stable.
     Fact: Opposites implied that Twister could access higher Mind
abilities, but likely in a different manner. However, those energies would
likely be a stronger version of Mindfire, and results of that accessing were
unknown. Possibly the result could be a total loss of emotion.
     Fact: Bert needed a counter, a balance to the wild power raging
inside him. It was an imbalance that needed to be corrected.
     Conclusion: Inject Mindfire into Bert's system.
     Results: Either Bert would be cured and rid of his powers, or else
the two forces would combine. Either case gave increased odds of sanity
returning.
     Implement.
     Whether the process would destroy Bert or not was uncertain, but
it was the best option. There was some mild hesitation at first, but as
Twister summoned Mindfire, it vanished. The process needed to be done,
and it was the best course to take.
     If SkyKnight knew that his fate was being dispassionately decided,
he wouldn't have cared. All he knew was the burning rage towards his
enemy as he tried to vaporize his foe with his particle-lasers. But even in
his current state he became wary when he saw the change in the psionist's
expression. His eyes were burning an intense blue, but the face was an
expressionless mask, something SkyKnight had not seen on Twister's face
before.
     Even in his rage he knew something was very wrong when Twister
made a sudden course correction, aiming straight for SkyKnight as his
outstretched hands began to burn with blue flame. Let him come and try,
he snarled to himself; all the better to rip his head off. He fired at the
accelerating form, and every shot was avoided with milliseconds to spare
each time. Then Twister collided with him with all the force of a
locomotive, palms first. Despite his armour, there was a whoosh of breath
being forced out of SkyKnight's lungs.
     "Implementing Mindfire infusion," the psionist said in a
passionless tone, his hands flaring blue where they pressed against the
silver hardsuit.
     "What?!?!" SkyKnight snarled, winded but getting ready to crush
his adversary's skull. Then, where his world had seemed red, it abruptly
turned bright blue. Something that felt like liquid nitrogen poured in
through his chest. I thought he couldn't affect me with his psionics?! Bert
thought in confusion, not realizing that the rage that had been powering
him had fled in his observations of what was happening to him.
     The cold energy flow went straight into the core of his being,
altering its course to circle around what had come before, an intense
purple and red energy field permeating Bert's soul. The blue force circled
closer and closer to Bert's soul with exponential speed, attracted to the
flickering corona of energy and driven by it's master's will, until....
     Contact!
     Bert screamed from the clash within himself; it felt like he was
being torn apart from the inside! Coherent thought vanished in the
maelstrom of seething energy that was now boiling within him.
     "THIS IS UNEXPECTED," he heard a sepulchral voice from
within, almost musing to itself as he cried out in agony, "BUT
PLEASING. WHAT WAS INTENDED IS COMPLETE AT LAST." The
voice paused, and now Bert felt he was being directly addressed. "NO
LONGER WILL YOU HEAR FROM ME."
     Oh yeah?! Well good riddance, you bastard!! was Bert's spiteful
farewell as the agony ebbed, the energies now seething within him
reaching their equilibrium.
     Then he noticed two things.
     Twister was apparently unconscious, the effort of bringing Bert
back from the edge having exhausted him. He was limply flopped in
SkyKnight's arms, having been trapped there by SkyKnight's involuntary,
Mindfire-induced convulsions.
     The second item of more than passing interest was that they had
been falling for some time and the ground was coming uncomfortably
close for a panicky Bert's liking. His jets had cut off for some reason, but
they started up again with no problem, just in time to prevent the hardsuit
and the psionist from becoming messy splotches on the ground.
     As he gained altitude, the memory of what he had done came and
hit him over the head like a ten ton boulder; flashes of explosions, and the
dim memory of going after the young man he was now carrying with a
homicidal bloodlust churned through his mind. Good God, had he really
done all that?! He'd tried to kill Twister for crying out loud! And it was
damned fortunate that his friend had been able to defend himself; given
the chance, he'd probably have done it without a second thought.
     Hey....
     Bert frowned inside his helmet; normally he would be filled with
remorse, damning himself for losing control like this. And he was only
feeling a little depressed?!? What the hell? He looked at the unconscious
psionist in his arms and wondered what the heck his friend had done to get
him rational again. Actually, he thought with a brief flash of amusement,
if it makes me less likely to become moody I'm all for it.
     He sighed, turning sombre again. Somehow he doubted it would
last. For now, the important thing was to get somewhere safe.
     High above the city, a flickering silver flash banked through the air
and disappeared into the clouds, vanishing from the sight of the watchers
on the ground.
                       *****
     Professor Miyabi wearily mopped the sweat from her forehead as
she watched one of the ruined buildings slowly re-build itself. She was
almost out on her feet, but she had to repair the damage caused by the
super-powered combat that had taken place; if it wasn't fixed before the
inevitable arrival of the fire and police departments, there'd be far too
much publicity, and questions that could probably never be answered.
     "That's good enough, Natsumi," she noted hoarsely. "We don't
want to make the buildings better than they were." Her student nodded,
unusually quiet and subdued. Miyabi was grateful beyond words that the
younger enchantress had shown up, attracted by the magical turmoil that
had been seething up until a short time ago. Without her help, Miyabi
doubted that she'd have been able to fix everything in time by herself.
     "I think that's all we've got time for, Professor," the raven-haired
young woman volunteered timidly; she'd been extremely quiet and
troubled-looking, especially since she'd been told the reasons for the
destruction. "There's a few windows still missing here and there, but we're
not going to be able to get them all before the authorities get here." The
sirens drawing closer emphasized her words. Miyabi nodded, brushing her
snarled hair out of her eyes, looking around. The small plaza was
completely restored; except for some missing panes of glass, it looked
untouched by the day's events.
     "Let's get out of here then," she directed, forcing herself to stand
straight.
     "Uh, pardon the dumb question," Ranma spoke up, "but where are
we going to go? And what happened to Twister?" He and the Tendo sisters
were still standing awkwardly nearby, all of them feeling way out of their
depth. Nabiki's face was worried looking, and she kept glancing at the sky
as if expecting Twister to swoop down from the clouds.
     "We'll go back to my house," the professor answered. "I need a
short rest before I can do too much more. And it'll be the best place to
start looking for Twister and SkyKnight from."
                       *****
     Bert slowly pulled off his helmet, dropping it to the floor as he
crashed to his knees. Across the spacious living room, Twister dozed
quietly on the couch where Bert had dropped him. The psionist still was
out cold, a state Bert was beginning to feel he might soon be entering into
himself.
     It had hit suddenly, and without warning, a wave of unbelievable
weakness, accompanied by an almost giddy feeling of light-headedness. It
had nearly knocked him out of the air a few short minutes after Twister
had blasted his sensibilities back into where they belonged, but he'd held
on long enough to get them to a place of relative safety: the professor's
house. There'd been the faint worry that she'd have some kind of
protective spells in place, but he hadn't sensed any electromagnetic
disturbances in the area of her house, so he'd gambled that it was okay to
enter.
     He wasn't entirely happy with the destination he'd been forced to
land at; Miyabi would not be happy with what he'd done, and he was
horribly ashamed of what had happened. Right now, he didn't want to see
anybody, but he was in no shape to avoid a confrontation. Eventually, he
was going to have to face the music.
     Sweating with the effort, SkyKnight stood up and deactivated his
hardsuit, stepping out of the armour with relief. He grabbed the back of a
chair to keep his knees from buckling a moment later. Food, that was what
he needed right now. He'd been overextended before, and his crazed
rampage had only depleted himself further; if he didn't get something to
eat, and soon, there was a very good possibility that he'd collapse and
expire. There was only so far that his power could carry him on his own
reserves.
     As he staggered towards the kitchen, it suddenly occurred to him
to wonder how he'd suddenly known that he could sense electromagnetic
disturbances that indicated spells. He'd certainly never possessed that kind
of knowledge before.
     Such trivia vanished from his mind the instant he passed the
kitchen door. The first thing that met his gaze was a loaf of bread on the
counter. He just barely managed to find a jar of peanut butter before
wolfing down a few sandwiches in rapid succession. His stomach roared
defiantly a few moments later, but at least he had enough energy to stand
now. Ransacking the rest of the cupboards, he found several cans of
condensed soup, and began whipping up a huge potful, although one can
disappeared into his innards before it could get to the pot.
     As he impatiently waited for the soup to heat, valiantly resisting
the urge to gnaw on the countertops in the interim, it slowly dawned on
him that he felt a lot different than he had earlier in the week. It wasn't all
that much different from when he'd first arrived here, but there was a
subtle change, like...
     Memory slammed home hard again, as flashes of his journey to
reach Twister's dimension bubbled up, momentarily freezing him with
remembered pain. Within minutes, some of the gaping holes that had been
in his knowledge were filled, but a great many questions were left
unanswered. He knew now just what had been done to him.
     And he also knew now that it was irrevocably permanent.
     Hunger overrode his depressed ruminations, and he quickly began
swallowing soup as fast as he could spoon it up. He broke off momentarily
to find a box of soda crackers to supplement his meal, then resumed
eating, his expression brooding and sombre. He was so absorbed in
stuffing himself that he never heard the front door open and close.
                       *****
     "Twister!!" Nabiki shot past a startled Professor Miyabi before she
could say anything, throwing herself onto the couch next to the comatose
brown-haired young man. He didn't respond to her shoves, and the middle
Tendo daughter looked worriedly at the professor. "Is he all right?! Is
he....?"
     "He's fine," Miyabi assured her after stepping over to him and
peeling back an eyelid to see if anyone was home. "He appears to be
completely tired out at the moment." As if in verification of her statement,
faint snores began to come from the unconscious psionist. Nabiki rapidly
changed expressions from worry to exasperation, but didn't leave her seat
by him.
     "Um, Professor?" Akane spoke up tentatively, pointing to the far
side of the living room. Everyone's eyes swung to follow her gesture, and
saw an empty silver-blue hardsuit standing by a chair. SkyKnight's
antenna-winged helmet lay upended on the floor.
     "Be careful," Miyabi warned crisply, shooting a hawklike glance
around the room. "If he's out of his suit, he might have regained his senses
again, but don't take any chances."
     "Where's Ranma?" Kasumi asked suddenly. The quietest of the
Tendo sisters looked just a bit nonplussed; everything she'd seen today
was just a little beyond her usual experience.
     "I think he went that way," Nabiki pointed to a short corridor
leading from the room to another section of the house. "He said something
about needing a drink of water."
     Before anyone could say anything, there was a sudden yell of
surprise. Some rapid-fire thwacks sounded from the room down the hall; a
moment later, Ranma pelted hard from the room, hurdling the chair in
front of the doorway before skidding to a halt near the startled Miyabi.
     "He's in the kitchen!!" Ranma blurted, looking panicked. "Quick!
Get him before he wakes up!!"
     "What do you mean, `before he wakes up'?" Akane asked, looking
puzzled. "If he's in the kitchen, isn't he awake?"
     "Well, I, uh, sort of overreacted," Ranma confessed.
     "Sort of? How can one `sort of' overreact?" Miyabi asked, raising
an eyebrow.
     "He, uh, startled me," Ranma muttered sheepishly. "I was nervous
enough that I hit first and then ran."
     "You knocked him out?!" Akane said disbelievingly.
     "He tried," a voice corrected dryly. Everyone's gaze swung to the
tall red-head standing in the doorway to the kitchen corridor. A very black
eye, and a lump on his jaw indicated that the younger Saotome had indeed
tried to knock Bert out.
     A split-second later, a shimmering, translucent energy field
appeared, holding the displaced Knight Saber immobile.
     "Whoa! Hold it!! Peace! Don't shoot!! I'm friendly!" Bert managed
to squawk despite his frozen limbs.
     "Forgive me if I decide that for myself," Miyabi countered warily.
     "And how are you going to do that?" There was a growl from Bert's
stomach, and he added, "Whatever you do, can you hurry? I'm on the edge
of starvation here."
     "What did you do to Twister?!" Nabiki demanded, pinning him
with a hot glare.
     "Nothing, I swear! He did something to me that cleared my head
and from what I can tell it knocked him out when he finished." Intestinal
noises came from Bert again. "He'll probably be as hungry as I am when
he wakes up."
     "He looks okay, Professor; I think it's okay to let him go," Akane
offered, dividing an anxious glance between her magic professor and the
immobile red-head. The raven-haired mage eyed Bert for a moment, then
sighed and waved a hand. The field vanished and the red-haired man
wavered a bit as he got his balance back.
     "Thanks," he muttered as he gingerly probed his sore face. "Just a
second, I think I know how to wake sleeping beauty up," he added, and
disappeared into the kitchen. The rest of the group waited, listening to the
his activities; a few minutes later he emerged with a pot, two bowls, and
two spoons. Filling one bowl with soup he positioned it close to Twister's
face and waved a hand to waft the smell of the soup towards the nose.
     The brown-haired young man's nose inhaled the smell of fresh
soup. A few seconds later, Twister's eyes blinked slowly opened and he
groaned as he slowly sat up on the couch. A smug Bert was firmly pushed
out of the way as Nabiki wrapped her arms around the startled Twister and
kissed him.
     Bert took a big swig of the soup as stood up and backed away from
the couple. "Gets 'em every time," he commented, grinning and much
happier now that there was something filling his stomach.
     Miyabi, observing his reactions, slowly relaxed; the red-headed
Knight Saber appeared quite stable now. "Perhaps now we could get some
answers about what happened?" she suggested.
     Detaching himself from a smiling Nabiki, Twister replied, "I used
my Mindfire on Bert, hoping it would counter the effects of the Wild
Magic that he got blasted with and shock him out of that rage he was in. It
took more energy than I thought," he looked at the calm Bert, "but it
appears to have worked. How are you, Bert?"
     "More relaxed than I ought to be, after trying to kill you," Bert
started bitterly, but sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "But I
can't seem to get worked up over that right now."
     Twister nodded. "Probably the effect of the Mindfire."
     "I suppose, but it didn't cancel out the energy in me; it ..." He
paused, and a distracted look came over him, as if he was looking at
something beyond their immediate sight. "It's ... merged somehow with
the stuff that dragged me here in the first place." Bert's face darkened.
"And I also finally remembered how THAT occurred." Twister blinked as
Nabiki sat beside him.
     "Pardon?"
     "I met some...being in the Void. I wasn't infused with that purple
magic of yours yet; it had dragged me into the Void but hadn't done much
else. However," Bert's hands tightened on his soup bowl, "along the way
this voice tells me it was going to alter me and forced your Wild Magic
into me. I didn't have much say in the matter, none in fact." he growled.
Everyone else in the room was considerably surprised at this information.
"I heard that voice again when you did whatever you did with that
Mindfire, and the bastard sounded pleased. THEN he says I'd never hear
from him again, the sonofabitch!" Bert remembered all the females in the
room and reddened. "Sorry for the language."
     "I think you've got a right to be mad," Twister said slowly. "I
wonder who it was though."
     "It could be any number of beings," Miyabi said, shaking her head.
"And probably a very powerful one if it met you in the Void."
     Bert snorted. "Frankly, I don't care as long as he's out of my life for
good." His expression became one of despair as he remembered what had
happened a mere hour ago. "Geez, I did a lot of damage, didn't I?"
     "Fixed," Miyabi said dismissively. "Well, mostly fixed."
     Bert slowly smiled. "All right, I'll admit magic can be useful,
however nuts it seems to me. But," now he looked worried, "what do you
call this bloody weird mix of energies I have NOW?"
     "The Force..." something whispered, so softly it was almost
unheard by Bert.
     "The Force?!?" Bert blurted out, startled. Twister eyed him oddly.
     "While I think you've watched Star Wars one too many times, we
might as well call it that," the psionist admitted before surging to his feet,
Nabiki echoing his movements. "I don't know about you all but I know I'M
tired." He turned to Miyabi. "Sorry for the trouble, Professor."
     "Hey, that's MY line," Bert complained. He was ignored.
     "Hmm... Oh, well." Miyabi shrugged. "That's a mage's life. And
Natsumi, you'd best stay here for the moment seeing as you must be tired,
and no arguments," she said, stopping her student's protests that she was
exaggerating handily with the authority that she could command at will.
Bert couldn't quite hide the relieved expression that flickered across his
face, but Natsumi didn't notice. Instead, she sat down disconsolately, a
slightly pouting expression on her lovely face as she watched the tall,
red-headed young man.
     "Ah... We'd best walk back," Twister advised, missing the by-play
completely. "I'm not too strong right now."
     "I'm not complaining," Bert said, grinning.
     "You wouldn't."
     As the group left Miyabi's house, a small, green-skinned creature
with large ears watched them walk away from where it was concealed in
the shadows.
     And nodded knowingly to itself before vanishing.

     Much later, everyone had gathered at the Tendo dojo for dinner.
Wisely, Twister had asked Kasumi to make more than usual due to his
own and Bert's somewhat ravenous state. He'd even offered to help, but
the eldest Tendo daughter had merely smiled and said she'd be fine. As
hungry as he was, Bert forced himself to slow down and eat at a normal
rate, well, normal compared to Ranma and his father.
     "Well," Nabiki remarked wryly, glancing sidelong at Twister,
"looks like everything is back to normal again."
     Bert almost choked on his next mouthful. "Normal??" he croaked.
"You call what happened today `normal'?!?"
     "Nabiki, that's not nice," Twister chided, grinning at the red-head's
dismay. Her smirk was her only reply as Bert glared balefully at the
brown-haired girl. "I think she really meant right now, Bert. Although," he
added thoughtfully, "I'm surprised none of the others have shown up yet."
     "Others? What others?" Bert wondered aloud, puzzled why Ranma
looked panicked all of a sudden.
     ***TOOM!!***
     The sound of an amazon bashing though a wall has its own
distinctive sound so everyone who heard knew that Shampoo had arrived,
except Bert, who jumped away from the direction of the collapsed wall.
     "What the hell was that?!?" he exclaimed.
     "Nihao!" Shampoo said, smiling at everyone in the room, then
locked on a resigned Ranma. "Ranma! So happy to see husband!"
Zooming faster than the eye could follow, the purple-haired amazon
kneeled beside Ranma and leaned VERY close to the now-nervous martial
artist. "Want go on date?"
     "Whatever happened to people around here using doors?" Bert
muttered, still staring at the wall wreckage. Nobody bothered to answer
him.
     "Uh... Shampoo... I'm eating right now. Could we talk later?"
Ranma stalled.
     Mistake.
     "So will go on date?" Shampoo asked eagerly.
     "I didn't SAY that!" Ranma protested. "I..."
     "RAAAANNNMMMAAA NO BAKA!!" Akane screamed, finally
fed up with her hentai fiancee's actions. She swung her Ranma-basher
mallet high in the air. Ranma cringed as it started to descend...but never
hit the mark. Everyone stared as Akane struggled to move her suddenly
immobile hammer seemingly anchored in mid-air.
     "Now there's something you don't see every day," Bert said,
bemused, feeling his sense of reality rapidly slipping away. Twister looked
at him sympathetically, knowing that the antics in Nerima were more than
a little strange, then he realized someone was softly... singing? The tune
stopped and Akane's hammer was free once more, unbalancing the mallet
wielder for a second.
     "Why are you trying to hurt my cousin's future husband?" the voice
of a young female with a Chinese accent asked curiously.
     Everyone except Twister and Shampoo looked at the hole
Shampoo had created for that was where the owner of the voice was. It
was a very attractive young woman with brown hair as long as Shampoo's
and one whom the family resemblance was evident. Her green eyes were
fixed on Akane as she lightly held a long wooden staff.
     "Your... cousin? Who are you?" Akane demanded as the
brown-haired girl stepped out of the hole and towards the table.
     "My name is Lotion."
     Bert's head snapped towards Twister. Uh oh, he thought, this could
be trouble. The psionist was pale and his gaze was fixed directly ahead of
himself, not even trying to look at the new arrival. Why bother? He
already KNEW what she looked like.
     "So you're Shampoo's cousin, huh?" Nabiki said, looking curiously
at the new arrival, and potential new source of income (though she hadn't
done many personal `favors' for a while, it was good to keep in practice).
"What brings you to Japan?" Bert started to speak, trying to avoid
incipient disaster, but he was far too late for that.
     "MY future husband!" Lotion responded happily, and turned to
look at...
     BOOOOM!!!
     The blinding flash and sudden crack of thunder surprised
everyone. When the afterimage of the flash faded, they saw that Twister
had vanished.
     Lotion thumped the floor with her staff, frustrated. "I'd forgotten
that he could do that! I TOLD you this wouldn't work, cousin." She sighed,
seeing Shampoo's eyes were only on Ranma. "I'm going back to the
restaurant." She gave the floor another thump before turning around and
walking out the hole she had come in.
     Bert watched as Nabiki's face went though several phases:
astonishment, suspicion, realization, and finally, fury. He'd seen that
`glow' around Akane but to see it around the middle Tendo sister was
somehow more frightening. Nabiki kept her eyes aimed downwards, too
angry to look anywhere else. Everyone else in the room, except Kasumi,
edged nervously away from the furious girl.
     "I'll kill him," she finally grated out.
     This is not good, Bert thought apprehensively.

THAT EVENING...

     "So you have an amazon sorceress wanting to marry you and
Nabiki found out without you telling her?" Yasuro shook his head, glad he
wasn't in Twister's shoes right now. "It's hard to get in more trouble than
that."
     "I can always try. NOT!!" the brown-haired psionist replied
without turning his head around, determined to keep his attention on
finishing the crystalline box in front of him and not dwell on the current
and very unpleasant matter with Nabiki and Lotion. The results were a
little mixed at the moment.
     He had teleported instinctively to the apartment but had
immediately vacated the area, knowing a certain loan shark he loved
would be acting like Jaws now. The fact that he was hungry was also a
consideration and he went to various restaurants to alleviate that problem,
never staying for long in one place. He was positive he knew what it felt
like to be a hunted fugitive now...he certainly had the paranoia of being
found down pat.
     "Are you SURE that's a computer?" Yasuro asked, looking at the
strange device Twister was making.
     "Yes, it is. And... done!" the psionist cried. "Now we just have to
plug in the peripherals and we'll own the most powerful computer
around!"
     "You're kidding, right?"
     "No, not really. The system software I've already downloaded so it
should be running fine. The AI for user interface is also ready, I think."
Yasuro blinked when he said `AI.'
     "How about OUR `interfacing,' Twister?" an ominous-sounding
and tightly controlled female voice asked, making Twister sit bolt upright
in panic. "And you had better not disappear or I'll never talk to you again.
Come out into the main room, and let's talk."
     He slumped, defeated, and stood up. Turning he saw a guilty
looking Yasuro, who began saying "I'm sorry, Twister, but she..."
     "I know," Twister interrupted with a sigh, wondering what she'd
used to threaten his roommate with. "Don't worry about it, I know Nabiki."
Slowly he walked out of his bedroom and into the living room. Bert was
standing by the closed door, trying his best to look like part of the
furniture, and failing miserably. Nabiki sat down on the chair that Yasuro
used for his computer, legs crossed, arms crossed, and generally looking
cross but doing an admirable job of restraining herself.
     "Maybe you'd better help Yasuro get the computer running, Bert?"
the resigned psionist sighed.
     "You built it already? It's operational?!" Bert asked incredulously,
then looked at the immobile, stone-faced figure of Nabiki. "Um...right.
I'd... ah... better go check it out." He vacated the area and Twister heard
the bedroom door close behind him. There was a moment of
uncomfortable silence.
     "Nabiki..." he began, but she stopped him with a raised hand.
     "Just tell me how it happened," she said neutrally, anger visibly
lurking underneath the surface. Twister let out a deep breath and told her
the reason why he had gone to the village, the reason why he was in
female form at the time, the fight and Masque's involvement with it, and
his revealing his male form to the tribe.
     "Why did you do that?" Nabiki demanded.
     "Lotion seemed so sad that she had to give me the Kiss of Death, I
just got angry with Masque and... er... knocked her out with my sword.
Lotion's not like Shampoo, she's not as aggressive, nice really, and much
more friendly from what I saw of her."
     "And are you going to marry her?"
     "NO!! Definitely not!" Twister shouted, slightly panicked. Nabiki
recoiled in surprise at his reaction, anger disappearing momentarily.
     "That's rather emphatic after your description of her." Nabiki
frowned, honestly puzzled. "Not that I'm defending her position, but what
don't you like about her?"
     "She... has some... different tastes that make me very nervous."
Twister told her reluctantly. "Nothing really. I... *glub!*" A bucket of
water, now emptied onto Darlene, appeared above the surprised red-head,
along with the young woman who dropped the bucket now that its purpose
was over. The new appearance tackled her victim with a hug that sent
them both to the floor in front of the blinking and confused Nabiki.
     Lotion smiled down at the dripping wet, and very shocked,
Darlene. "That's not much of a problem, husband, if that is the only thing
bothering you," she purred. Then, without caring about how wet the
red-headed mage was, she hugged the frightened young woman tighter and
locked their lips together with a passionate kiss.
     Nabiki didn't miss her `boyfriend's' reaction to it. The color drained
from Darlene's face and her eyes opened wide in panic before rolling up
into her head, the rest of her body going limp as she fainted. It didn't take
a deductive genius to realize what Twister had been so nervous about:
Lotion liked women, not men. Probably not a problem in an amazon
village, but to the normally body-shy Twister, who had been male most of
his life and now faced with a woman desiring his female form, something
of a major quandary.
     "Different tastes. Right," she muttered, disgusted with events as
she watched Lotion withdraw from her kiss and blink in confusion at the
unconscious Darlene in her arms. "Excuse me," she spoke up, and the
amazon looked at her, "I don't think you're going to get anywhere with
Twister at this rate; fainting puts such a crimp on things."
     "Who are you?" Lotion demanded.
     "The girl who's been with him for over half a year. Name's Nabiki
Tendo."
     Lotion wasn't dumb; she could see the anger this strange girl was
holding back, and also saw the sharp intelligence behind the attractive
face as well. Her instincts told her that a challenge of wits with this girl,
her rival she sensed, would not be a battle in her favor. She also knew
Shampoo's rough and forceful methods would be well known with this
one, but Lotion wasn't Shampoo. Being rough and forceful for a mage was
a bad thing.
     She stood up, and Nabiki followed suit. "I apologize," she said. "I
did not know another loved him before me."
     Nabiki flushed slightly, but reminded herself she was not her
younger sister. "Apology accepted." At least the amazon was being
civilized about the whole thing.
     "But she... he did defeat me," Lotion went on, "and I must obey my
village law." She looked torn, and her expression softened when she
looked down at Darlene's still form.
     Nabiki sighed. Twister was right, she did look like a nice girl, but
Lotion, like Shampoo with Ranma, had fallen in love with her boyfriend.
The bad part about the whole thing was that Nabiki loved him too, it was
pointless denying it. Well, she thought, if you're uncertain as to what to
do, buy some time. "Could you come back to my place in a week so we
can discuss this mess? I believe we both could use some time to think
about this."
     Lotion considered Nabiki for a few second before nodding. "All
right." She went to the window and opened it. Before the amazon jumped
out, her eyes trailed over Darlene's unconscious form then to Nabiki's
determined look. Sighing, she hopped out the window. Nabiki came over
and closed it, her expression dubious about solutions to the matter.
     Bert edged cautiously into the room at that moment. "Are the
fireworks over?" Then he saw Darlene sprawled on the floor in a pool of
water. "What the hell?!"
     "Lotion paid a visit after he told me what happened in her village,"
Nabiki explained. "Apparently, my idiot boyfriend defeated her." Bert
nodded, his unkempt red hair bouncing a little.
     "Miyabi told me; that's a problem I suppose," he understated.
     "Did she tell you Lotion likes Twister's female form better?"
     Bert froze, and his face turned pale. "Uh, no," he admitted,
swallowing. "That would definitely be a bigger problem." He managed to
hide his own inner revulsion at THAT particular development.
     "I'm so glad you understand," she said sarcastically. "Finding out
how to FIX this mess is MY worry."
     "Maybe I should put her... er, him on his bed?" the tall red-head
suggested hesitantly. When she nodded, he stooped and carefully picked
up the red-headed girl. He was about to head for Twister's room when
Nabiki spoke up again.
     "Tell his roommate to tell Twister when he wakes up that I'll be
waiting for him to call me tomorrow." He nodded and left to deposit his
burden. Nabiki sighed and put a hand on her face, thinking about recent
events.
     "This is just perfect."
                       *****
     A knocking on the door caught Kasumi's attention.
     "Oh my. Who could it be at this hour?" she wondered aloud and
hastened to the front door of the dojo. Opening it, her curious gaze fell on
three strange young men. "Yes?" she asked politely.
     Two of the boys gaped at her. "Look! It's a girl!" the one in a furred
cap said to a much larger and muscular young man in a tiger-striped outfit.
     "What should we do?" that one whispered back.
     "Shouldn't we let Lord Herb handle it?"
     "Well, yes, but it doesn't hurt to practice for when we do it
ourselves."
     "True!"
     The front young man with long white hair streaked with blue
stripes had grown slowly angrier as the exchange continued. "Will you
two SHUT UP?!" he yelled and a powerful ball of ki energy from his hand
blasted the pair out of the yard.
     "Oh my!" Kasumi said, startled. "Didn't that hurt them?"
     The remaining stranger didn't say anything but turned at the sound
of Akane and Ranma arriving behind the eldest Tendo daughter.
     "Herb??" Ranma exclaimed, wide-eyed, recognizing the visitor.
"What the heck are you doing back in Japan??"
     The prince of the Musk Dynasty gave the martial artist a level
look. "I have come to challenge someone and was told to come here to
find him." He paused, then narrowed his eyes. Akane and Ranma suddenly
felt nervous.
     "Where is this... Twister?"

THE NEXT DAY...

     Bert woke up on an unfamiliar surface, then remembered what had
happened the previous night and sighed. After putting Darlene to bed,
Nabiki taking the wet clothing off first in exchange for a drier set, he had
decided to stay in the apartment to ask his unconscious host some things
about the optical computer system. when she ... er, he regained
consciousness.
     Brrr. He shuddered as he also recalled what Nabiki had told him. I
don't envy Twister's position, he thought.. I'm not sure how I would react
myself but it's a sure bet it wouldn't be far off from his reaction: sudden
unconsciousness. Or would that be running for the hills? He's tried both, I
think.
     The sound of dishes clattering told Bert what had woken him up.
He groaned as he got up, the previous day's aches and pains still remained
with him and he was hungry to boot. His jaw and eye were still tender
from where Ranma had belted him.
     Walking towards the apartment's small kitchen, he saw a mightily
distracted Darlene fixing breakfast. She looked up, saw him, and
continued her preparations.
     "Just a moment, Bert," she greeted him, obviously still unsettled by
something, "coffee's brewing; it'll be a minute or two." The displaced
Knight Saber nodded dubiously and leaned on the dining table as he
watched her.
     "No problem, and good morning yourself," he replied. Darlene
blinked, stopping what she was doing as she stared at him.
     "What happened to Mr. Bear the caffeine addict? Or is he still
hibernating on the couch?" she asked him. Bert started, realizing that he
felt awfully damn alert for having risen only minutes ago.
     "Er..." He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'm still feeling the
after effects of that jolt you gave me."
     "Oh, then they won't last long; a cheerful Bert in the morning is too
good to have for long," she said impishly. It got a dark look from him and
she stuck her tongue out in response.
     "Humph," he grumped, pulling out a chair and sitting on it.
Darlene went back to fixing breakfast while he sat there, humming
absently to himself and drumming the fingers of one hand on the tabletop.
A twinge from his bruised jaw made him wince irritably, but he couldn't
quite recall offhand how he'd healed himself earlier.
     He concentrated instead on the fact that he felt remarkably ... alert.
Before, he'd always required a couple of litres of tea or other
caffeine-laden beverages before he'd felt this lively. As he concentrated, it
was as if he could suddenly hear someone in the back of his mind,
whispering vaguely heard instructions. Without realizing it, he relaxed, his
breathing evening out, and a moment later, he could somehow ...
somehow sense the source of his aches and pains; it was as if he could see
the damaged nerves and cells. It was child's play to simply reach inwards
and nudge them into rebuilding themselves, banishing the discomfort from
them.
     "Uh, Bert?" Darlene's voice cut through his concentration. "Why
are you glowing ?!" He became aware of her wide-eyed gaze suddenly as
she stared at him, frozen in mid-motion of setting a plate on the table.
     "Why am I what?" he asked, then noticed the faint glow of purple
energy sheathing him. Instantly, panic started to knife through him, and it
seemed to him as if the energy began to swirl ominously. "I don't know!! I
don't know what I'm doing!! I..."
     "CONCENTRATE!!! Calm you must be!!" a voice thundered in
his mind, unquestionable authority in its tone.
     "What the ...? Who said that?" Despite his confusion, the order
worked; the panic disappeared, and the swirling stopped. The dim thought
that he'd heard that voice somewhere before nudged at the edges of his
mind. As he tried vainly to remember what it was that was so familiar, the
energy and the voice disappeared back into the hidden recesses of his
psyche.
     "Are you all right?! Want me to call the professor?!" He became
aware that Darlene was already halfway to the apartment door, and waved
her back.
     "No, I'm...okay now, I guess," he replied. At her somewhat dubious
look, he felt a flicker of irritation. "I'm not relapsing," he amplified
crossly. "My jaw hurt from where Ranma slugged me, I was thinking
about healing it...and it....just sort of happened." His voice trailed off as he
shrugged helplessly. "It was really strange; it was like there was someone
whispering instructions in the back of my mind."
     "I think you'd better see the professor again today," Darlene
advised him seriously. "Maybe she can help you control your power,
whatever you want to call it."
     "A damned nuisance, that's what I call it," he grumbled sourly, his
good cheer evaporating as he leaned on the table. "So much for being able
to go back to being normal." Darlene decided a change of subject was in
order.
     "I've got classes all morning," she informed the gloomy Knight
Saber. "You can check out that computer I made while I'm away and tell
me what you think."
     "When did you make that computer anyway?" he inquired, his
expression becoming curious. Technology of any kind was one way to get
his mind off his problems, the young mage noted wryly.
     "Well... It wasn't a new idea; I was planning on making one before
you came, but then you did and it got put on hold. When your suit... um...
got destroyed, I started building it to cheer you up. I remember everything
in my male form and I've scanned enough hardsuits and Boomers, as well
as looking at Sylia's systems a few times, to have a good idea of what
you'd need. I even made a simple AI for it. Didn't you look at it last
night?" she inquired.
     "Yeah, briefly. For all it's just a box the size of a normal desktop
computer, that thing packs more than enough punch to do material stress
simulations and everything else. Just how the hell did you manage that??"
     "Very precise telekinetic manipulation on a very small scale to
make an optically based computer system and powered by magic. I've
done it before, just on a larger scale." She grinned wickedly. "THAT
version did a nice job breaking into the GENOM main core." Darlene
snickered at Bert's jaw dropping. "Think about it, Bert. A fully dedicated
supercomputer programmed by someone taught by Nene, hacker supreme,
and I built on her teachings. I broke into nearly every computer on the Net
to get all the knowledge I needed, cheating in some cases. I remember
EVERYTHING, Bert, and I can correlate that data as Twister. I made an
AI hacking program that Genom would've killed for just to get into their
core. Then I copied it all and they never even knew." The red-headed
Knight Saber couldn't believe it.
     "Wha-what did you do with it?" he stammered. She laughed.
     "Sent it to Reika, aka Vision, anonymously just before I left.
Heehee! Over a 100 terabytes of info sent anonymously! I didn't tell Sylia
about that bit." She started giggling helplessly. "Quincy would've had a
heart attack if he found out!" Bert started laughing with her for a moment
or so, then finally decided to ask the question that had been nagging at the
back of his mind.
     "So what are you going to do about Lotion?" he queried. Darlene
choked and turned white. Uh oh; apparently some things were better left
unasked.
     "Look, I just don't know, alright?!" she said forcefully, but still
pale. "Just drop it for now, okay?!" Bert held up his hands in a placating
manner.
     "Okay, okay!" he soothed, then snapped his fingers suddenly. "Hey,
that reminds me: Nabiki told me she's expecting you to call her today,"
Bert told the agitated mage, who looked even more despondent when she
heard that.
     "That's another fine way to start the morning," she moaned,
slumping on one of the kitchen walls. Sighing after a moment, Darlene
straightened and shook her head. "Let's just finish breakfast, all right?"
     Bert wisely kept quiet.
                       *****
     Yuriko watched Itazuka...no, she remembered after hearing out an
upset Nabiki last night, _Darlene_ enter. The hopeful engineering/magic
student noticed with some concern that her red-headed friend looked
slightly pale as she sat at her desk. The young magic-user flushed as she
remembered the problem concerning Darlene her roommate Nabiki had
mentioned.
     "Are you all right?" Yuriko asked her. Seeing Darlene hesitate, she
quickly added, "Nabiki told me about... um... IT." The red-head moaned,
rubbing a hand over her face.
     "I don't know, Yuriko," Darlene sighed. "Thinking about it just
makes me panic and unable to think properly about the problem." She
shivered at the memory. "I'm going to go over and talk to Nabiki after
classes. Hopefully, we can... do..." she trailed off as she stared at the front
of the room. Yuriko followed her gaze and gulped.
     Professor Miyabi had arrived, but with a brown-haired girl with
long hair and Chinese clothing. The raven-haired teacher turned to the
class with a wry smile. "Students, this is Lotion, a student of a friend of
mine in China who will be with us for a little while."
     "Hi," Lotion shyly said with a smile and the males of the class felt
their hearts beat faster as a result.
     "I hope you will make her feel right at home. I..."
     Yuriko wasn't listening as she worriedly watched the nervously
twitching form of Darlene, who had facefaulted onto her desk. She didn't
think Nabiki was going to like this at all.
                       *****
     "Pull up the previous design," Bert asked, and a hardsuit schematic
immediately popped up on the screen in full 3-D holographic glory. He
smiled with satisfaction as he admired the plans.
     Fully exploring what the capabilities of Twister's computer was
proving to be very interesting. The utilities were obviously Sylia's, or at
least the Sylia Twister knew, but he noted there were some differences.
Not worse, just different. Twister had thrown in a few programs of his
own, and they were as tightly coded and as efficient as Nene's.
     After getting used to the rather unemotional AI, Bert threw himself
into getting used to the system; there were a few things he wanted to try
and as he had nothing else to do at the moment it seemed the perfect time
for it. Sure he was still uneasy about the further changes after the battle
with Twister but at least he felt more at ease.
     Bert started as the truth of that thought jolted him. Had his
magic-only change been responsible for him being so jittery in this
universe? It was possible, he mused, he was still calmer than normal but
he was feeling more like his old self more and more; likely the forces
inside himself were reaching an equilibrium.
     "Correct, my student."
     The Knight Saber leaped about a foot into the air, knocking his
chair over as he spun around at the strange, yet oddly familiar, voice's
assessment. It had sounded like it had come from a corner of the room, but
there was no one there. He scanned the room visually: nothing.
     "Great, now I'm hearing things," Bert told himself disgustedly.
"Hope they've got rubber rooms handy; at this rate, I'm going to need one
in a few hours."
     "Hear me you do, imagination I am not," the odd voice said in
answer to his statement.
     "All right," Bert said warily, wondering what new weirdness was
happening to him now, "then where are you?" He couldn't believe he was
talking to himself in this way; wasn't that supposed to be the first stage of
insanity or something?
     "Tell you later, visitors now you have," the voice said.
     "Visitors?! What do you mean by THAT?!" Bert demanded, but
there was no reply. This was getting really strange....
     CRASHSNAP!!!!
     Bert put the mystery voice on the back burner as he ran from the
room and into the main living area. He was greeted with the strange sight
of a clenched fist poking through the door.
     "Idiot! I said KNOCK on his door, not punch through it!"
     "Sorry, Herb-sama!"
     " `Herb-sama'? Who the hell's this now?" Bert muttered to himself.
Hesitating only briefly, he opened the door to the apartment, and found
himself confronted by three young men. One was extremely muscular and
wearing a tiger-striped costume that almost made him look like he was
part tiger himself; it was his fist that had met with Twister's front door.
The second guy was wearing relatively normal clothes with a fur hat, but
it was the third member of the trio that held Bert's attention: a fairly tall,
arrogant-seeming young man with long hair that sported an unlikely
combination of blue and white stripes. Whatever it was about the third
man, attitude or appearance, he felt himself bristling in response to the
cool appraisal he was receiving from the unusual-looking figure.
     "Can I be of some assistance, gentlemen?" the tall red-head asked
them courteously enough, his eyes flickering intently over them. He
couldn't pin it down, but there was a definite aura of a threat here. "I...."
     "That's not him," the tiger-striped one stated positively.
     "Are there any girls in there?" the smaller man in the cap asked
interestedly, peering around the doorjamb. His comrade developed a
similarly interested look, and started forward into the room, oblivious to
the person standing in the doorway.
     "Now wait just a minute here, buddy," Bert started, a flicker of
irritation crossing his face. "I don't know who you think you are, but...."
That was all he had a chance to say, as the tiger-striped individual almost
negligently shoved him backwards with the flat of his hand, sending him
sailing across the room. Bert crashed into the couch, knocking it over
backwards. He lay there for a moment, staring stonily at the ceiling, then
stood up, his greenish-brown eyes smoldering.
     "I did try being reasonable," he said mildly, his glance spearing the
muscle-bound one as a flickering purple aura began to grow around him.
                       *****
     Darlene felt it first, the vaguely uncomfortable feeling that
preceded the wild magic surges she'd experienced lately. It wasn't a
painful feeling, just disturbing. It felt a lot like the feelings that preceded
the flu, and she'd never enjoyed feeling like she was going to be sick.
     This time, it was different however; the emanations were more
tightly focused, as if under better control than before. And they were
definitely stronger than they had been.
     The young mage glanced furtively around at the class, trying to
determine if anyone else had noticed the strange feelings. Her classmates
appeared unperturbed, and were concentrating on Professor Miyabi's last
minute instructions to the student at the front of the class, who was about
to demonstrate a minor conjuration spell.
     Darlene very carefully kept from looking at Lotion as she stood
shyly in front of the class. It was bad enough that the young amazon had
somehow found a seat close to her, but that look that she got in her eyes
whenever they made eye contact was....terrifying to the young red-headed
mage.
     A second wave of wild magic made her glance at the Professor as
she stepped back to let Lotion cast her spell; her stomach sank at the
rather grim look she received in reply. Miyabi could feel it as well if that
glance was any indication. She quickly prayed that nothing disastrous
would happen
     The young amazon made a slight gesture and started singing in a
strangely hypnotic way; Darlene tried concentrating on the words
themselves and their meanings rather than the fact that Lotion had a very
musical voice. In response to the sung spell, a shimmering field of energy
appeared in mid-air, above a desktop at the front of the classroom, and
what looked like a bunch of flowers began to appear. Darlene wished she
could hide under the desk as she realized it was a bunch of red roses. From
the slightly amused glance the brown-haired amazon was giving her, she
knew exactly what she was doing.
     The glow faded, and a large bundle of luridly red roses sat on the
table, looking like they'd been freshly picked.
     "Very good, Lotion," Miyabi complimented her, before turning
towards the class. "now then...."
     A slithering noise from where the flowers had been sitting made
the elder mage turn back towards the conjured flowers, and she suddenly
found herself confronting a twisting mass of vines, topped off with what
looked like several Venus Flytrap heads, all of which started chanting
`Feed me!! Feed me!!!' as they snapped hungrily at the air around them.
Lotion was staring in stunned horror at the plants, while all the students
within immediate reach of the mutated flowers dove for cover.
     Professor Miyabi sighed wearily as she closed her eyes and
massaged her temples.
                       *****
     "Let's try this again," SkyKnight told the strange trio in front of
him. "Just who the hell are you, and what the hell do you want?" The
silver-blue battlesuit bulked ominously in the rather battered doorframe to
Twister's room. The quiet hum of his suit systems filled the dusty hallway
as the smoke cleared, and the red eyeslot in his helmet glowered
threateningly.
     The muscular tiger-striped man groggily picked himself up off the
floor of the hallway as his hat-wearing compatriot tried to do the same.
Only the blue-white haired young man was unaffected, standing calmly in
the hallway with his arms folded over his chest. As he hadn't tried to enter
the room himself, SkyKnight had opted for restricting his eviction notice
to the two who had barged into the room.
     "Interesting technique," the young man finally said, his gaze
travelling up and down the silver battlesuit. "My name is Herb; I am the
last prince of the Musk Dynasty."
     "Fine. Pleased to meet you," SkyKnight replied, watching the other
two warily. "Now why were you breaking down the door?"
     "My servants can be a little over-zealous," Herb admitted, giving
the two of them an irritated glance. His gaze became intent as it returned
to the silver Knight Saber. "We are looking for someone named Twister.
You are not him, I presume?"
     "You presume correctly. I'm SkyKnight....it's a long story. Anyhow,
what did you want with Twister? I can pass on the message it you'd like."
     "That would be acceptable," Herb nodded. "You can tell him that I
am challenging him to a duel in one week."
     "Oh brother, not another one!" SkyKnight looked at the ceiling.
"Don't you people ever get tired of this? Is life really that boring that
you've got to go pick fights with everybody?!"
     "You will speak to Lord Herb with respect!!" the tiger-striped
young man spat, lashing out with a punch. The silver hardsuit easily
caught the young man's fist with a gauntleted hand, and then pitched him
down the hallway. There was a crash as the flying body impacted with the
wall at the end of the hallway facefirst, and remained stuck there as cracks
spread outwards in the paint on the wall.
     "Go home and dry behind your ears first, kid," SkyKnight called
after him, turning back to Herb. "I'll pass on the message," he informed the
irritated Musk prince, "but I think you're wasting your time."
     "We will see." The blue-white haired prince was unruffled. "But
from his taste in servants I do not believe he will be much of an
opponent." Inside his armour, Bert growled angrily: he didn't need this sort
of arrogant bullshit.
     "Now just wait ONE minute here, wiseass," he began, pointing an
armoured finger in the Musk prince's direction. "I am NOT a servant, I
don't care much for YOUR taste in attendant idiots seeing as they could
both use some manners, and I don't think YOU are much of anything."
     White eyebrows narrowed in annoyance.
     And Herb raised one hand...
                       *****
     Twister sighed as he reappeared near the apartment. Maybe I
shouldn't have overreacted QUITE so much, he thought, shaking his head.
But then, he'd been climbing toward critical stress levels all during the
class and those crazy plants had been just too much.
     "Shouldn't have used that Visionaries' rhyme," he muttered as he
recalled what had happened with that spell.....

     <<<"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Darlene had
screamed, frustrated at the ridiculousness of the talking plants, then stood
up and shouted,

     "By nature's hand, by crafts, by Art,
      What once was one, now fly apart!"

     Hands crackling with purple energy, she shot twin beams of fiery
energy from her palms, which had struck the vocal vegetable mass dead
center. There had been an instant where a matrix of flashing light raced
through the green of the plants, then the whole thing exploded with a
crash of thunder, splattering the whole room with destroyed plant matter.
No pod or seed was untouched; nothing had been left intact.
     Eyes wide, Darlene stood panting and stared at the slightly charred
table, forgetting to drop her arms. Everyone else in the room stood up and
warily looked at her as she still looked a little wild. The professor coughed
politely and Darlene jumped, quickly lowering her arms.
     "Thank you for your... ahem... assistance, student." Darlene flushed
at Miyabi's wry tone. "You look stressed. Perhaps you should take the rest
of the class off," she had hinted.
     Darlene had glanced at Lotion, who gave her a smoldering look
back, and nodded stiffly. "Sure. I... Sorry for the mess," she said hurriedly,
collected her stuff, and practically flew from the room.>>>

     "Yeah, that could've gone better," Twister sighed again to himself
as he spotted his building.
     THOOOOOOMMMM!!!!
     The psionist was jolted from his reminiscences by the
unmistakable sound of a hardsuit being blown through the front wall of an
apartment building. He instantly recognized SkyKnight and swiftly reacted
with his telekinesis to slow the stunned Knight Saber down, not on the
psi-immune figure but on the air below the silver suit, creating a soft `air
bag' to cushion his fall. The hardsuit's automatic jets helped too by kicking
in about thirty feet from the ground, and the limp figure landed softly on
the ground. Twister ran up to SkyKnight, who was groggily trying to sit
up, wondering what could have blown his hardsuited friend out of a
building like that.
     "Bert! You okay?!" he asked anxiously as Bert shook his head
dazedly.
     "Lemme tell you that next week when I can see straight again. God
DAMN that hurt!" Bert swore, unsteadily rising to his feet as he
recovered. "When I get a hold of that so-called `prince' I'm gonna fricassee
the bastard!" he growled. The visor eyeslot on his helmet glowed an angry
red.
     "What `prince' are you talking about, Bert?" Twister asked him,
face displaying his puzzlement. In reply, Bert savagely pointed at the hole
his form had just made.
     "THAT one!"
     Twister looked up and saw the partly-armoured and
unusual-looking person calmly watching them from the opening, two
others just as odd behind him. Then the long-haired personage jumped the
several-story drop effortlessly, the other two belatedly following, and
imperiously strode over to them with his entourage. Suddenly, Twister
experienced a sinking feeling as he came up with a name to match this
stranger with.
     "Herb. Oh, just perfect," he said quietly. SkyKnight's helmet swung
around to look incredulously at him as the Saber jerked a thumb towards
the advancing party.
     "You KNOW that jackass?!"
     "Only by reputation," the psionist managed to say before the Musk
Dynasty trio came up to them. Herb stopped, ignoring the seething Bert
completely as he looked Twister up and down, finally settling on his face.
The psionist returned the favor, keeping a firm hand on Bert's armoured
arm, ending up meeting haughty stare with his curious one.
     "Are you Twister?" Herb demanded.
     "And if I am?"
     "Then I challenge you," Herb stated. This only confused Twister
further.
     "Why do you want to do that?" he queried, puzzled.
     "That will only be answered at the challenge site, which is outside
of this city. Our fight will cause less of an... uproar there."
     Rubbing his face with a hand, the brown-haired psionist scowled.
He really didn't need this, of all things, to complicate things further than
they already were. The reason for Herb's challenge was a mystery to him,
but refusing to fight might make the Musk prince do something drastic to
force him into it anyway. He sighed.
     "When?" he said finally.
     "You're not SERIOUS, Twister," SkyKnight protested vehemently.
"This idiot..."
     "BERT!" Twister hissed angrily, startling the red-head into silence;
seeing Twister angry was damn rare.
     "I was going to give you one week, but now make it three days.
There is a lake with a large stone and many broken trees: that is where we
will fight. It is..."
     "I know where it is," Twister interrupted, recognizing the area
where he had first appeared in the Ranmaverse he knew. "I broke the
trees."
     Herb raised his eyebrows, interested at that fact. "Indeed? You may
be a worthy fighter, but then, I suspected as much. I will await you there."
With a whirl of his cape, he imperiously walked off, Mint and Lime
hurrying to keep up behind him. Twister released SkyKnight, who whirled
on him.
     "Could you tell me what the hell THAT was all about??" he
demanded. All he got was a perplexed and concerned shrug from the
psionist, making him snort.
     "Just another thing to complete my day," SkyKnight grumbled.
                       *****
     Bert wandered aimlessly across the university campus, his hands
stuck into his pockets as he directed an absentminded greenish-brown
eyed gaze at his surroundings. His general appearance made him blend in
with the throng of students swarming all over the campus, a fact he would
have been appreciative of if he'd been aware of it. Despite his heroic
leanings, notoriety bugged him, and he was beginning to see just how far
the complications of being well-known could extend, Twister being the
prime example.
     Well, at least he'd been able to fix the door somewhat before he'd
left the apartment; after his run-in with that self-proclaimed prince and his
cronies, he'd felt the need to get outdoors for some fresh air. He paced
along for a few more minutes, unable to concentrate on any one subject
for long, but feeling oddly relaxed just the same. He glanced at the
lengthening shadows on the ground, and concluded finally that it was late
enough that he'd better head back to Twister's apartment.

Part Six - Chaos Carnage
------------------------

     "Hey, Ranma."
     The semi-sweaty, pig-tailed martial artist stopped his practicing
and turned to give Bert a mixed look of annoyance and surprise; the red-
headed friend of Twister's had never stepped in on one of Ranma's private
training in the Tendo's practice hall before. "What's up?"
     It was the day of Twister's fight with Herb and Bert had realized an
hour earlier that he had no real idea of what this `dragon prince' could do
other than he was supposed to be tough. No one had given him any
background on the guy and he and Ranma had agreed to accompany
Twister to the future combat zone. The psionist seemed to be taking it
very seriously and had been eating more food than was his norm in
preparation. Nabiki had seemed to be more concerned with the problem of
Lotion when Bert had seen her last; she was somewhat jaded with
challenges after living with Ranma and Twister. Ranma always won and
Twister was a very strong psionic. 
     Still, he was concerned. 
     Rubbing the back of his neck, Bert said, "Sorry to bother you, but
I'm just anxious about the little brouhaha going to occur tomorrow. What's
so bad about this guy in fancy armour, anyway?"
     Ranma's face grew serious. "A heckofa lot. Here, I'll give you the
short form: the ancestors of the Musk Dynasty desired to imitate the
behavior of animals and become greater fighters. However, they reached a
stopping point somewhere along the way, but they also found heckofa
solution: put animals they desired to gain power from into the Spring of
Drowned Girl, lock them in female form, and mate with 'em." Bert gaped
at that.
     "Bwaaaah?" 
     "The sons gained their once-animal mother's attributes and became
even greater fighters with human-animal origins." Ranma sighed as Bert
strove to pick up his jaw. "Mint's line is descended from the wolf, Lime
the tiger, and Herb... the ki dragon. As you may have noticed, Mint has
extra speed, Lime greater strength, and Herb has enormous ki reserves.
     "Mint and Lime are decent fighters, but with his extra ki force
Herb is much greater an opponent. He can shoot off ki-balls with no
effort, use ki-force to make air blades that can cut through a LOT of rock
and destroyed a large section of mountain when he did," Bert gulped; he
was beginning to see why Twister hadn't wanted a fight in the city. "He
can analyze other people's moves pretty quickly as well. He's arrogant, but
can afford to be."
     The Knight Saber digested all this in silence, then held up a hand.
"One question: how the HELL did they fit a goddamned DRAGON into
the cursed spring, much less catch one?!?!" he demanded. Ranma blinked.
     "Y'know, I never thought of that."
     Twister arrived a hour later and they left for the battle.
                       *****
     They settled on the ground as the sun began its decent in the
evening sky. Ranma's sigh of heartfelt relief was audible to both Bert and
Twister, but no one was in the mood to appreciate the humor of his
reaction. To Twister, the forest brought back memories of his arrival to
this universe, the broken trees here and there were a reminder of his first
battle with Malkon. A blur of movement caught his eye and he whirled in
its direction. Ranma had seen it too while Bert turned a split-second later,
his sensors had registered the sudden arrival.
     "Looks like the party's about to start," SkyKnight said.
     It was Herb, of course, with Lime and Mint standing behind him as
Bert and Ranma did with Twister. Dressed in his usual garments, Herb
looked confident as always. Twister merely looked calm, if still annoyed
by this whole matter, in his black outfit with blue trim.
     "I am pleased you have arrived on time," Herb said.
     "I'd rather not have come at all," Twister replied irritably, flicking
his cloak behind him so that his arms were unobstructed. "Now could you
PLEASE tell me what this is all about?"
     Herb considered this, and nodded in agreement.
     "I did say that I would. Very well." He cocked his head. "I,
personally, have no grievance against you myself, but I am honour-bound
to challenge the person who has offended my ancestor." Twister blinked
as Bert and Ranma looked at each other in confusion..
     "Ancestor?? Who?" the psionist asked.
     "The Spirit Dragon Whose Name Is Secret!" Herb announced as he
pointed a finger Twister's way in accusation. The brown-haired psionist
stared at the prince in disbelief, then slapped a hand on his forehead.
     "HIM?!?!" he shouted in disgust. "I thought I'd made sure he
couldn't do anything against me and this world. NOW this starts making
sense," he growled.
     "You've lost me," a confused Bert said from behind him,
wondering what he was talking about. Twister sighed.
     "Some renegade mage had stolen a dragon statue I had sold and
kidnapped several girls for an unwilling sacrifice to a spirit dragon when it
was summoned." SkyKnight stiffened at the mention of the sacrifice, his
chivalrous ideals rebelling at something that sinister. "One of the girls was
Nabiki so I was pretty motivated to prevent the dragon from eating them
when it possessed the statue. I won't bore you with the details save I had to
go mind-to-mind with it and defeated it. Because of the nature of that link,
I forced it into accepting certain conditions to prevent it trying to return
again." Twister looked at the Musk prince. "I don't know how he contacted
you to do this. Ranma told me you had dragon blood, but I didn't suspect
that dragon was your ancestor." Herb smiled.
     "It was not him, but one of his servants acting on its own initiative
who told me."
      Oh, perfect, Twister thought disgustedly, so much for my
conditions.
     "I also forgave it the impertinence it used to ensure my fighting
you; I would have fought you in any case." He raised his forearms and the
armour there shimmered into another, different looking set of armbands.
They were made of a dark red metal heavily engraved with eye-wrenching
designs. "These mystic armbands do two things; compel me to fight you,
and increase my ki abilities threefold."
     Ranma gulped and grabbed Twister's arm to get his attention.
"Twister, if those things do that...!" he started to say, but Twister just
nodded.
     "I know," he replied to the worried Ranma, "you told me about the
fight you had with him."
     "I may be dense, but how much worse has things gotten?" Bert
asked, the helmet hid his face but you could hear the concern in his voice.
Ranma looked glum.
     "Piles worse. Very HEAVY piles worse."
                       *****
     Malkon suddenly leaned forward towards the image in his scrying
pool as he got a good look at what Herb wore.
     "The bands of Rekthil!" he breathed in amazement, then his brow
furrowed in concern. "Who would be so foolish as to have given those to a
mortal?" Malkon mused thoughtfully. "Even with dragon blood, those
magical armbands will consume that prince eventually as the Chaos
energies that reside within them slowly dominate him. He will gain
strength as it does, but the stronger he gets the quicker his end."
     His gaze flickered to a sword that hung on a nearby wall, then
returned to it. The sword possessed Order energies and had saved him
from a Wild Magic creation of Twister's. Now an object with Chaos force
had appeared near the young psionist.
     Was there a connection?
     "Let's see what befalls," Malkon finally decided aloud and returned
to watching his scrying pool.
     Whatever happened -- it was bound to be interesting.
                       *****
     "So," Herb said and raised a hand, "let it begin!"
     A huge ball of ki-force erupted from Herb's hand and roared
towards the startled trio. Ranma and Twister leapt away in time. Bert
jumped to the side in a hardsuit-assisted surge, yelling a fulminant curse
as he did so.
     Twister landed, leaped again, and rebounded off a nearby tree
towards the Musk prince, shouting "CONCUSSION FIST!" as his cocked
right hand crackled with blue ki energy before he struck. The Musk prince
easily dodged the attack by hopping gracefully away, but the fist hit the
tree behind him. A foot's worth of tree in either direction from the impact
point exploded into sawdust and the detonation tossed the upper part of
the tree safely away. The psionist himself was hurled away by the
shockwave, but he had expected it and tumbled easily through the air to
land on his feet ten feet away from the destroyed tree. The two fighters
paused as they assessed each other.
     Twister risked a glance around and found that their fight was now
spectatorless. "Where did our audience go?" he asked Herb.
     "Mint and Lime will keep Ranma and the oddly-armoured one
busy while we fight unhindered by interference," was Herb's calm reply.
Twister smiled grimly and minutely lowered his stance.
     "Then let's get busy."
                       *****
     "You really," Duck! "think this will," Leap! "work?!" Bert
demanded haltingly. Lime had ripped up a tree and was swinging it at the
silver armoured figure of SkyKnight like a baseball bat. He'd learned from
painful experience that fighting Bert close-in wasn't smart, thus this tree
attack.
     Bert, in his turn, was exasperated and not a little mad. He didn't
want to kill the inhumanly strong idiot so using his particle lasers was out.
Flying was not an option in the forested area; he could dodge, but not at
the speed he needed to avoid the grossly-oversized bat.
     Suddenly, Bert grinned wickedly as a solution came to mind. A
metal cylinder slid into his hands. A glowing plasma blade crackled into
existence as the suit's systems routed power into the device, making the
startled Lime pause in his next swing.
     SkyKnight never gave him time to react and ducked under the bat
as he swung the lightsaber. The tree abruptly lost one and a half feet of
itself as a cleanly sliced-off portion dropped to the woodland ground.
     "Quality, not quantity, wins out every time," Bert told his
wide-eyed opponent cheerfully before starting to whittle Lime's weapon to
kindling, piece by piece. A great way to vent pent-up frustration, he found.
As a result, unfortunately, he started merrily singing, further lowering the
tiger-boy's confidence.
     "Ohhh... I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."
                       *****
     Ranma had to jump away from Twister's fight as Mint's throwing
knives pursued him. He'd never fought the wolf boy before so he needed
time to assess his skills. He never thought he wouldn't be able to beat
Mint; after all, he had beaten Herb himself.
     But Ranma was distracted by worry; Twister was good, but not
quite as good as Ranma was in skill and Herb's announcement about those
armbands was not a Good Thing. The Musk prince used ki like Ranma
used punches and if it was tripled....
     "Kuso!" Ranma cursed; a knife had come too close and ripped the
side of his shirt. A determined Mint launched for him as he irritably
turned to face the wolf boy, tensing in anticipation.
     Better deal with the current problem first.
                       *****
     "Holy! DIAMOND KI DEFENSE!!"
     Twister didn't trace the pattern for the ki shield he had devised
while in the BGC universe; it wasn't needed now that he knew it better. A
glowing octagon of energy instantly formed above raised and glowing
hands, the corners of the energy facets shot downwards and created a
protective shell around the psionist.
     Just in time too; Herb's blades of ki impacted against his barrier
while those that missed instantly sliced up the terrain and plant life behind
him. Still, the diamond-shaped shield cracked under the strain before the
barrage stopped. Unruffled, Herb raised his eyebrows with interest as
Twister let the ki construct shatter.
     "That is a technique I have not seen before," the Musk Prince said.
Twister shrugged, but kept ready for an attack.
     "Something I came up with a while ago."
     "It did well against my <insert ;> technique at my normal level of
ki," Herb conceded.
     "Normal...level?" Uh oh, I knew this was going too easily, Twister
worried to himself. They'd been feeling each other out since Herb's first
attack. The prince used ki attacks often than the psionist but he had Ki
with a capital `K'. Twister, on the other hand, used those only when
needed, focusing mostly on speed and agility. He wasn't as good as Ranma
without the psi-boost, but he was close. And as usual, he felt reluctant to
use psionics, especially in this kind of fight.
     Herb's new armbands began to glow and the prince's
white-and-blue aura sprang into visibility. There was an unnerving red
glow in his eyes that made Twister apprehensive as his opponent slowly
smiled.
     Then again, he thought nervously, maybe I should reconsider the
use of psi.
     "Enough play, Twister," Herb proclaimed, his voice now had an
odd echoing quality to it that made him sound more malevolent, "let the
real battle begin. HA!" Ki force higher than Twister had seen yet built up
around the prince's fist, then released.
     Twister's eyes widened in shock at the man-height-and-a-half
amount of ki gouging the earth effortlessly as it rushed towards him.
"MOUKO TAKABISHA!" he shouted as he launched a rapid
counterstroke, but his ki attack only lessened Herb's a little before it
struck.
     It hurt. It hurt a LOT. Flung backwards by the virtual wall of ki,
Twister howled in pain as he broke through the few trees remaining intact
behind him. In addition, something in Herb's ki was hurting him far more
than he'd experienced before when practicing with Ranma. A dim thought
that it might be because of those armbands passed through his mind before
he impacted on a large rock, cracking it as he made a crater in it. He hung
on to consciousness grimly even as fiery pain lanced into him from all
quarters.
     Herb viewed his handiwork with a smug smile. A trench extended
from him, through the splintered remains of trees, and ended at the form
embedded in a large boulder. "Is the fight over so soon?" he mocked. He
blinked when Twister's eyes shot open, and glowing blue.
     That does it!
     "Let's rock," Twister muttered.
     Ignoring the pain, the embedded figure calmly ripped his arms
from the stone, paused as he clenched his fists, then thrust them back
violently into the stone. It shattered into many smaller pieces as Twister
dropped to the ground, but the stones stayed suspended in air. They began
swirling around the brown-haired young man as he coolly regarded the
surprised prince. The rocks gathered momentum and Twister shouted
"STONE STRIKE!" as he launched the head-sized and jagged pieces of
rock towards Herb.
     Fear was the last thing to enter the Musk prince's heart as the stony
missiles approached him. All it took was another massive ki-strike and the
stones were pulverized. When the dust settled, Herb spotted Twister
standing a good ten paces away from where the rock had been, and his
eyes glowing blue. Herb grinned, and if Mint or Lime had been there to
see it, they would have remarked how strange the grin was; the Musk
Prince NEVER grinned like that.
     "Ah! Now it gets interesting," Herb purred silkily.
     The battle began anew.
                       *****
     "Hmm, interesting," Malkon murmured, "It appears the Chaos
energies are starting to affect this `Musk prince'." While he himself was
very reluctant to meddle in this fight since Chaos force was involved, the
arch-demon was keeping close tabs on the two combatants via scrying
bowl.
     Fortunately for Malkon, Twister was too busy fighting to feel
Malkon's eavesdropping.
     "The energy levels they have started to use are beginning to
interfere with my scrying waters," Malkon muttered as he watched the
fight continue, keeping the image stable at the same time.
     Events were approaching climax and he didn't want to miss it.
                       *****
     Cold winds whirled around Twister's body before he called out his
attack. He and Herb had gotten to the point that they were just throwing
long-distance attacks at each other. So far Herb was winning there, as
Twister's somewhat bedraggled state proved. Still, he didn't let it show.
     "ICEWIND STRIKE!" he shouted, throwing icy tornado-force
winds at Herb. Who sneered and blasted a ki-bolt right into the howling
gale where razor-sharp ice blades had formed. The collision was brief and
Herb's ki-energy stopped the opposing move cold before hitting Twister
with much lessened force. He stood his ground coolly as he was pushed
back only a little. Herb scowled.
     "Is that your best?!" he demanded furiously. Twister sighed, then
assumed a serious expression.
     "No."
     Suddenly, a blue aura outlined Twister's features and his eyes
became lost in their azure glow as he raised both palms, which started to
glow. Wind swirled around him, making his hair fly wildly.
     "PSICLONE!!"
     Pure telekinetic force ripped forth from Twister's hands in a
churning whirlwind of power. Visibly blue psi-energy lines swirled within
the onrushing wall of destruction. The earth was ripped apart beneath it
and red fire was beginning to flicker along the gathered force's fringes as
it rushed for the much-surprised Herb.
     The Musk prince tried to block with a ki-bolt, but this time
Twister's attack burrowed right through the massive ball of energy,
flaming a little more from the labor. It was too late for Herb to move by
then and he threw up his arms to protect himself. The mass of energy tore
into the prince's position like it's namesake and exploded in all it's fury as
the energy that composed itself was unleashed.
     KRAKOOOOMMMM!!!!
     Expressionlessly, Twister watched the fiery explosion, but inside
he hoped he hadn't killed his rival. He'd never needed that particular move
since it's hazy creation in his first fight with Malkon and had never used it
until now. The hazel-eyed young man would have preferred not to have
used it at all. He needn't have worried, for from the smoke a figure
emerged.
     Amazingly, Herb was mostly intact. The only sign of his ordeal
were burn marks all over his slightly ripped clothing and exposed skin. He
did NOT look pleased with the psionist and that red glow in his eyes had
increased in intensity. The snarl on Herb's face was directed at his visibly
surprised opponent.
     That attack should have done more than just SINGE him! Twister
thought incredulously. He didn't have a chance to dwell on it as Herb
leaped at him fist first, lips twisted into a snarl, swirling red energy around
him.
     Twister's eyes widened.
     "OH SHI..."
          KRA-TOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!
                       *****
     Malkon shook his head at the result of Twister's nearly-ineffective
attack. The armband's power would warp any ki, psionic, or magical
attacks, tremendously decreasing the possibility of injury. And, in turn,
Herb was growing more unstable and dangerous.
     As Twister was finding out now.
                       *****
     The explosion shook the forest, causing SkyKnight's helmet
eyeslot to snap towards the shockwave's direction. He was startled to see a
column of RED light fade before his eyes and sensors. What the hell??
Bert thought incredulously. If Twister's aura is blue, then whose energy
was that? A sense of dread pervaded the Knight Saber as he stood there. "I
think it's time to investigate this little duel," he muttered to himself.
     His helmet turned back to where a profusely sweating Lime was
backed up against a tree. His emotional state was understandable since a
crackling lightsaber was positioned uncomfortably close to his neck. The
tiger-boy wilted with relief when it snapped out of existence.
     "Come follow me if you want, moron," SkyKnight snapped at him,
"something's up and I want to find out what." His back-mounted wings
snapped into full extension and with jets howling flew towards the spot he
had left Twister.
     He had better be all right, Bert mentally growled, or else I'm going
to ram something unpleasant up that snooty prince's backside.
     "Master Herb!!" Lime shouted frantically as he followed after the
armoured figure.
                       *****
     Just before he landed the final blow on a wide-eyed Mint, Ranma
paused as he felt and heard the disturbing ki explosion. Suddenly worried,
he let Herb's battered servant drop to the ground.
     "That didn't feel right," Ranma muttered anxiously. "What's going
on over there?" He debated with himself for a moment, then ran towards
the direction the explosion had taken place. Hope I get there in time, he
thought worriedly.
     Helplessly, the bruised Mint watched him go; he needed a few
minutes to recover from the punishment Ranma had given him.
     "Master Herb..." he moaned.
                       *****
     Wisps of red energy still wafted up from the devastated earth
around Twister as he moaned and shakily lifted himself up. The
surrounding area looked like a small nuke had exploded nearby. He had
dodged the fist, but the energy wave that had accompanied it wasn't so
easily missed. Again, it had hurt far more than it should have.
     What... WAS... that...?? he thought blearily. Two boots came up
beside him and he whirled around to face the owner, but a impossibly
strong hand caught his neck. "Grrk!!!"
     Herb lifted him up to dangle a foot above the ground in the firm
grip of his glowing hand. Smiling viciously, the Musk prince brought his
other arm up to wrap both hands around Twister's neck.
     The psionist tried to grip the arms holding him up, but contact with
the armbands was painful. The cry of pain he made was understandably
strangled. The face before him didn't look rational any longer and was
apparently enjoying his struggle immensely.
     "You would have given me a real challenge if not for these
armbands," Herb complimented the gasping psionist in his mercurial
emotional state. "Too bad I feel like killing you now; I wouldn't have
minded taking you on without them." The prince threw back his head as
he laughed in a deranged manner. His hands slowly began to tighten.
     "Uhrrr..." Twister croaked as he tried prying the relentless hands
off of his neck. In desperation, he focused on the source of Herb's
increased powers: the armbands whose runes were pulsing with an oddly
eye-wrenching way. The notion he had wasn't a smart one, but it seemed
like the only one. Risking it, he removed his hands from their attempts to
stop the strangling; Herb didn't notice in his maniac state. However, he did
notice what happened next.
     For Twister's hands, now flaming brightly with his Mindfire,
landed squarely upon the Armbands of Rekthil. The energies bound within
the metal resisted, but controlled as they were they could not stop the
Mindfire from melting the magical relics that contained them. It only took
the palms to melt halfway through before those same energies... broke
free.
     The armbands glowed with a multi-colored light that grew until
the metal disintegrated in a shockwave that threw the stunned Herb and
Twister apart. The sudden loss of the armband's enhancement and
influence knocked the Musk prince out. Twister, by some miracle,
managed to keep on the edge of consciousness as he landed hard on his
back five feet away from where he had been dangling. He stared at what
was going on before his eyes as he struggled to get up, neck throbbing
     SkyKnight and Ranma finally arrived at that point and halted dead
in their tracks at the sight that captivated the psionist's attention.
     It was a swirling mass, it was a helix of energy, it was a spiral of
destruction, and more. All of the pure Chaos force that had lain trapped
within the armbands now positioned itself where the two combatants had
struggled. There was no specific conformity to it and those watching it
struggled futilely to assign a shape, or color to the force. Suddenly,
without warning, the bundle of Chaos shattered and separated into
hundreds of comet-like fragments, zipping outwards in erratic paths from
where the core had been.
     "Incoming!!" SkyKnight bellowed frantically as the packets
zoomed towards Ranma and the armour-clad Knight Saber. Ranma had
time for a startled yelp as the towering hardsuit slapped a hand to his tunic
front, grabbing a handful of the fabric. SkyKnight's jets shrieked, and he
hurtled up and away from the crawling packets of energy, hauling the
martial artist bodily with him. He arced over the ground to a position a
few yards away from the energy, hovering warily. Ranma concentrated on
getting his breath back.
     Twister instantly vanished from his position, reappearing near the
shore of the lake where Herb had been tossed. Perhaps this is a stupid
move, Twister thought, but he erected a psionic shield around him and his
erstwhile opponent. Fortunately, the packets didn't seem to like his force
field at all and swerved to avoid it when they came close. Neither did they
seem to like Bert's high tech armour; he and Ranma were spared as the
packets steered away from the airspace where he was hovering.
     For whatever the bits of Chaos touched, changed. The remnant of a
tree dissolved into goo, its cellular tissue having lost all cohesion. Ground
froze, melted, or even transformed into unknown substances wherever
Chaos grazed.
     Bert's blood ran cold. If those things touch us...!! He broke into a
cold sweat and preyed devotedly that they continued to be finicky little
packets of mayhem and avoid his area. Magic might be upsetting, but this
stuff gave him the outright willies; not only that, but his sensors were
flatly refusing to identify the energy or its nature. Bert began breathing
easier as their outward-bound velocities gradually took the destructive
packets away from everyone. The packets sifted into the surrounding
forest, creating a swath of corruption as they moved.
     "Bert! Ranma!" Twister called out as he dropped the psi-field and
leaped to his feet. "You two okay?"
     "We're fine," SkyKnight called back, swooping over and dropping
to the ground, relinquishing his hold on Ranma, who was quickly looking
from side to side for any sign that the packets were returning. The silver
Knight Saber looked around at the broken and battered landscape, and
finally took in the scale of the devastation Twister and Herb had caused.
Trees and torn earth littered the area a good twenty feet in radius around
them. "Whoo! I thought I did a lot of damage at the university, but this..."
     Twister scratched the back of his neck as he regarded Herb, then
the surrounding area. "Good thing we fought here then or it'd have been
urban renewal time." He knelt by the Musk prince and lifted a limp arm to
inspect the burnt area where the armbands had been. "He was acting pretty
strange and I think those new armbands had something to do with it."
     "What about those... whatevers?" Ranma inquired, casting another
nervous glance at the forest. "You think they're gone?"
     "No," Twister sighed. "I doubt we're THAT fortunate." He stood
after making sure Herb would be all right; the prince may have tried to kill
him, but the psionist thought it was the armband's influence that prompted
that behaviour.
     Two figures barrelled into the clearing. "Herb-sama!!" Mint and
Lime chorused worriedly as they ignored the other three and knelt be their
master.
     "He's unconscious," Twister told them, then looked at them oddly.
"Those armbands which were controlling him released something when I
destroyed them, so how did you two get here unharmed?" The Musk
warriors glanced at each other, then looked up at those gathered around
them.
     "We did encounter some strange things which stopped us
momentarily when we saw how dangerous they were..." Mint began.
     "... but they all flew up and we were able to get here safely!" Lime
finished.
     "'Flew up'?" SkyKnight said disbelievingly. "What the hell is with
that stuff?!"
     Twister shook his head. "I don't know, but we'd better..."
     The psionist's sentence was left unsaid because his precognitive
sense snapped into full alert. Unfortunately, he wasted time jerking his
eyes up to scan the sky rather than below his feet, where the ground
suddenly glowed. 
     The Chaos packets had indeed risen into the sky to merge into a
whole mass again, but then it had plunged into the earth some distance
away. And now, almost like something was guiding it, the energy burst
forth right underneath the unprepared Twister, surprising everyone. He
managed a yell of surprise before the mass of energy first surrounded, then
permeated his body into him.
     "EEEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"
     Twister's tortured scream of agony at the disruptive invasion was
not restricted to merely sound as he held clenched fists to his forehead.
Liquid PAIN radiated from him in a wave like the shockwave that
accompanied it, driving those gathered around him to their knees before
flinging them away. The energies were disrupting his mental shields and
the normally erect barriers of his mind, conscious and unconscious, were
much weakened. Empathy as well as telepathy Twister had, but normally
his mind shielded him and others from that previously unused power. It
now rocked those around him with the feelings of pain, fear, desperation,
and fury roiling within his normally calm mind. His eyes burned bright
blue, Mindfire flickering within them as his aura shifted wildly around
him.
     Fortunately, all those around the out-of-control psionist were
familiar with the feelings and pain he was projecting. Bert more than the
others as it triggered memories, old and recent, within him. SkyKnight
struggled to his feet as Twister levitated slightly off the ground, Ranma
was still holding hands to his head from a headache.
     "Twister!!" Bert called out, but it was plain his friend was too lost
within himself. He dove to the ground as a fiery lance of white-hot plasma
nearly fried him. Dammit! What's that stuff doing to him?!? he thought in
a panic. The ground shook violently from a telekinetic jolt, making the
red-head glad he had hit the dirt. A corkscrew of telekinetic power flung
in a random direction dug a trench close by. But that was not the reason
Bert's mouth went dry.
     The blue aura around the wobbling Twister was bleeding azure
power into an area above the psionist where it visibly began swirling the
air around itself. The ominous-appearing energy did not look like a good
sign to SkyKnight. He winced as another wave of pain rolled over him, but
he grit his teeth and ignored it as he tried to come up with a plan of action,
fast!
     Twister was obviously not dealing well with the Chaos inside him,
whatever the reasons for it entering him. It even appeared like his psionic
power was being forced out from the appearance of that blue energy
pooling above the distracted psionist. Bert frantically thought about that
fact, then stopped as an idea, a wild belief was more like it, came to him.
     I hope this works, he prayed fervently as he started up his jets and
stood, his wings snapping out.
     Ranma noticed. "What are you going to do??"
     Bert looked at the pig-tailed young man. "Something crazy. Got a
better idea?" Ranma looked at the power-outlined form of the still
pain-filled face of Twister and said nothing. "I didn't think so."
     Leaning forward, Bert aimed himself at his friend before
commanding his suit to engage the jets. Howling, his suit complied and
the silver-clad SkyKnight roared across the short distance to
shoulder-check the floating psionist.
     This was not without its pains. Direct contact with Twister made
the psionic outpouring of the young man's pain more intense. Bert
belatedly realized with some panic that some of his psionic `immunity'
must have vanished after Twister balanced the forces within him a week
ago, for otherwise he shouldn't have felt the pain at all. Unfortunately, this
meant his suit was now prey to the capricious actions of the psionic forces
of his friend. The readings were beginning to go wild as they started
climbing towards overload.
     Then they plunged into the lake, Bert's objective.
     He sighed a breath of relief as the pain switched off like someone
had toggled a switch and his suit's status went back to normal. It had been
close. Fortunately, they were in shallow water so SkyKnight stood up with
his now-smaller and unconscious friend Darlene in his arms. Ranma,
looking relieved as well, came up to the water's edge.
     "Whatcha do?"
     Bert chuckled. "I remembered Twister telling me he viewed his
powers like they were opposites. So I figured if that stuff was causing him
pain when male, then female it shouldn't. I wasn't really sure if it would
work, but I didn't know what else to do. Thank goodness it did." A rumble
attracted both of their attention then and they looked at the source.
     The psionic power, now that its master was no longer even
semi-controlling it, was pulsing. Which didn't seem like a good sign,
especially when a glowing white light began to grow in its core. A nervous
Bert decided a tactical withdraw would be prudent. The members of the
Musk tribe had vanished with their prince so the three were the only ones
in possible danger.
     "Change into female form and come over here, Ranma!" Bert
shouted. "We've got to go, and go NOW!!" His suit's sensors were
detecting nasty things about that `cloud' of psi-energy.
     "Why do I haveta change??" Ranma demanded, glancing uneasily
at the cloud.
     "Less weight!" Bert snapped. "Hurry, I'll have to fly us out before
that thing explodes!!!" For his suit was reading high-energy plasma that
was becoming hotter by the minute as that which contained it fed it,
becoming less able to contain it.
     Ranma, quickly becoming Ranma-chan after a splash, wasted no
time after Bert's announcement. SkyKnight fumbled momentarily for the
best way to carry the two twins in his arms, but when they were secure,
Ranma-chan keeping Darlene in his arms, he roared away across the lake
as fast as was safely possible.
     Just in time. They were halfway across the lake before a roaring
thunderclap jolted SkyKnight's flight, but not severe enough to dump his
passengers. Looking back, he swallowed as he saw the rising and massive
fireball that had marked their departure point, now a crater that would
become a new inlet for the lake.
     The sad thing about it, Bert mused as he made a course correction
to take them to the dojo, was that, for a moment, the fireball had made
him feel like he was back home with the Sabers. He grinned.
     He loved to make an impression, geological in this case.
                       *****
     Malkon leaned back in his throne, waving away the image in the
scrying pool. He should be feeling glad that Twister had been treated with
a good deal of pain.
     That was not so.
     Instead, he placed a red hand under his chin and thought about
current events, frowning as he did. The reason for his unease was
multi-fold.
     Why did the Chaos force come back? he pondered. It was repelled
by the inherent orderly nature of the psi-shield and that SkyKnight's
technological armour. Therefore, it should NOT have been attracted to
Twister, much less enter his foe; the human's underlying, logical nature
and powers of his male side should have repelled the Chaos even without
the shield. The only possible way it would have done so was if it had been
GUIDED, but by who? And why?
     The fact that it meant another being was involved with this was
disturbing. Who could control Chaos so readily? His eyes narrowed to slits
as he dwelled on that.
     Malkon finally sighed and rubbed his temple. A simple piece of
revenge was getting more and more complicated and the arch-demon
HATED complications, especially potentially lethal ones. At least the
Chaos had fled Twister with the change.
     Suddenly, Malkon's eyes flew wide open, and the hand on one arm
of his throne tightened.
     But... HAD the Chaos fled?
                       *****
     The Tendo's back yard was the best place for Bert to land with his
two passengers. SkyKnight's jets announced their arrival and those inside
hurried out to greet them. Prepared for it, Kasumi carried a steaming
kettle over to Ranma-chan after the red-head took the unconscious
Darlene from Bert and put the mage on the ground.
     "What happened? Did he lose?" Akane asked Ranma-chan, who
thankfully accepted Kasumi's gift and used it to change himself back. Bert
dismissed his armour and his worried look down at Darlene didn't bode
well.
     "No, but... It's a long story, Akane," Ranma sighed. "Just let me
change him back first; he heals faster when he's a guy." The pigtailed
young man poured the hot water onto Darlene's head.
     She groaned, and stirred fitfully, but no change.
     "Uh... Isn't she supposed to be male now?" Bert queried uneasily.
There was a sinking feeling coming over him as he saw the stunned looks
of the Saotomes and Tendos(save Kasumi who merely looked mildly
distressed).
     "I don't get it!" Ranma cried and poured again. Still nothing.
     Kasumi blinked and kneeled by Darlene's form, placing a hand on
a flushed cheek after wiping away the water. "Oh, my!" she exclaimed.
"She's burning up with fever! We need to bring her inside. Father, could
you get a mattress to Nabiki's old room? Bert, could you carry Darlene?"
Concerned, the tall red-head nodded.
     "Sure." He reached down and gently lifted the mage off the
ground. Bert was worried about his new friend's sudden illness, but a
small, selfish part of him wondered who would send him back home if
Darlene...
     He shook his head, angry at himself for even thinking it.
     Akane, Ranma, and Genma watched them go, unsure of what they
themselves could do. Then Akane made a startled noise.
     "I'd better phone Nabiki!" she exclaimed and rushed into the
house, leaving Ranma and his father alone in the yard.
     "So, Ranma, what happened that forced you to change?" Genma
said. Ranma blinked.
     "What do ya mean, pop? I changed on purpose so Bert would have
a lighter load. I... ahhhh!!!" he yelled as Genma smoothly grabbed his son's
shirt and tossed him into the pond. Sputtering, a furious Ranma-chan
leaped from the water so she could yell at her father. "What was that for,
old man?!?"
     "Even in troubled times you must be ever vigilant in your martial
arts skills, Ranma," Genma shot back and struck a dramatic pose as
Ranma-chan fumed. "A true martial artist will let nothing escape his
notice! Nothing escapes his notice, no matter how small! The path to a
higher awareness..."
     "Husband?"
     "... is fraught with per... il..." Genma trailed off as his brain finally
registered the word that had been spoken by a familiar, female, and
terror-inducing voice. Ranma-chan's eyes were wide with panic as she
looked beyond her father. Slowly, Genma turned around, swallowing.
     Nadoka. His wife. Ranma's mother.
     Kasumi must have let her in while everyone else was preoccupied
with Darlene. Nadoka unsheathed her katana in a flash as she grimly
walked up to the paralyzed Genma and pointed the blade at her husband's
throat as she ominously asked her question.
     "Where is my son, Husband?"
     Genma sweated, swallowing.
     Ranma-chan looked at the scene nervously.
     Your story better be good, old man, she thought. The panic she
was feeling was understandable, the sadness less so.
     Mother...
                       *****
     "He said I'm your WHAT?!?!" Bert angrily demanded, floored at
what the nervous Ranma-chan had just told him. He could see a smirking
Akane was trying her best not to burst into laughter despite the situation.
     "Shhhh!!! Keep it down!" The pigtailed girl fearfully glanced up in
the direction her mother was: in Nabiki's old room where the feverish
Darlene was being kept. Nadoka was keeping a protective vigil over the
sick young woman with Nabiki, much to Ranma and Genma's relief.
     Initially, she had demanded an explanation of where Ranma was,
to which Genma had managed to tell her he was off training on his own
while Ranma's father `helped' the Tendos. Nadoka was suspicious, she
knew Genma well, but accepted that story as she wanted to help the
obviously sick Darlene. She had accepted `Ranko's' presence, but Bert was
another story. A story unfortunately woven by Genma.
     Bert struggled to keep his voice down. "I can't believe he told her I
was your BOYFRIEND!" he said in a strangled voice. He had wanted to
punt the bald martial artist into orbit when he had heard THAT bit.
     "I can," Ranma-chan said disgustedly, lightly punching a wall. The
old man was ALWAYS getting into more hot water.
     "Well, technically, he was telling the truth. You ARE friends,"
Akane ventured, giggling when the other two glared at her. Her humour
dissipated when Ranma-chan sighed and sadly leaned on the wall she had
just punched, expression dismal.
     "Damn him for making that STUPID promise anyway,"
Ranma-chan said in a low, angry, and depressed voice.
     She said it so sadly that Bert was fuming; he hated anyone looking
like that, and the fact Ranma-chan was really male didn't stop his
damsel-in-distress instincts from kicking in.
     So sue me if I can't stand to see a cute girl depressed, Bert
grumbled to himself as he racked his mind for answers, even if she is a
guy. Oh hell, this is confusing. "Are you so sure your mom will make you
commit suicide?" he asked the pigtailed girl.
     "I really don't know," Ranma-chan said in low tones. "Maybe."
     "I can't believe auntie Saotome would ask you to," Akane
protested, not sure herself by her expression. "Even if you are a hentai
baka, you've done some remarkable things nobody else could easily
match."
     "And if the fact that you have four women actively wanting you
doesn't work," Bert went on, Akane glaring daggers at him which he
ignored, "three even KNOWING about the curse, then I don't know
WHAT she would consider `manly' enough to satisfy her. Christ, I'M still
amazed at it after all this time here." He was sweating at Akane's
increasingly intense glow at the corner of his eye but kept his focus on the
red-head. "Even if she says it's not enough, tell her tough; YOU think so."
     Ranma-chan was smiling, feeling hopeful for the first time, then
her expression fell. "But what about Pop? I even start trying to tell mom
about what happened and he'll do everything he can to stop me." Bert
grinned wickedly, cracking his knuckles.
     "Just leave HIM to me."
                       *****
     Nadoka looked up from Darlene's pale and sweaty face when she
heard the door open and saw Ranko step into the room, looking nervous
but resolute. What was most strange was that she held a steaming kettle in
one hand. "Why, Ranko, what's the matter?"
     Nabiki had looked up as well and near-instantly figured out what
was going on. Despite her concern for Darlene, her brows lifted. "Where's
father and Mr. Saotome?" she asked.
     "Akane and Bert are making sure they stay downstairs,"
Ranma-chan told her, confusing Nadoka as the red-head knelt on the
opposite side of Darlene. Nabiki understood and was smiling faintly.
     "You want me to leave?"
     Surprisingly, Ranma-chan shook her head, albeit with reluctance.
"For this I'll need someone to confirm what I'm saying."
     Ranma's mother was looking at each of them, thinking they were
crazy. "What are you two talking about?"
     "Please," Ranma-chan said, looking very serious and sincere,
making Nadoka blink. "Hear me out. I need to tell you the reason, the
REAL reason, why you haven't seen Ranma here."
     The older woman gasped. "What? What do you mean?"
     "Around a year ago," Ranma-chan went on, committed now,
"Genma and Ranma Saotome were on a training expedition in China
seeking out a famous training ground where they could improve their
skills. Unfortunately, they went unaware of the danger because the old...
Mr. Saotome couldn't read Chinese."
     "DANGER??" Nadoka wasn't pleased.
     "So they eventually found it. It was a place with hundreds of
springs with bamboo poles rising from their midst. Both of them leaped up
onto those poles and immediately started sparring. Ranma knocked his
father off first." Nadoka blinked, then smiled brilliantly.
     "He did? My! My son must be very good then."
     "We think so," Nabiki added dryly.
     "It was then they found the danger of the cursed training grounds,"
Ranma-chan choked and Nadoka listened with growing dread. "For when
Genma jumped up from the spring what had happened to his cursed father
shocked Ranma, enabling Genma to knock Ranma into another spring,
and unknowingly cursing him too."
     Nadoka was pale. "What-what was this curse? My husband appears
perfectly healthy."
     "This is the curse of Jyusenkyo: whomever falls into a spring will
attain the form of whatever drowned in that pool whenever they are hit by
cold water. They regain their old form by using hot water." Ranma-chan
looked down at the floor. "Genma landed in the spring of drowned panda."
     Ranma's mother's eyes widened in shock. "P-panda?" Things began
to come together in Nadoka's mind as images of Mr. Panda and Ranko
suddenly ran through her mind. "And-and which pool did Ranma land in?"
she whispered, staring at `Ranko', who took a deep breath and looked up
to stare at her mother right in the eyes.
     "Drowned girl," she whispered.
     Paling, Nadoka stared at the girl whose name was so close to her
son's and realized at last that `Ranko's' face looked like hers when she had
been younger. She swallowed and whispered, "Ran... ma?"
     Her throat tight, Ranma-chan could only nod and reached for the
kettle. Surprisingly, her mother grabbed her hand in a firm grip, making
the red-head look up in surprise.
     "This sounds impossible. Why now then?" Nadoka asked her
tremulously. "Why so long??"
     Ranma-chan's eyes blazed, suddenly furious. "Because of that
STUPID promise to commit seppuku the old man gave you before we
left!! Then that IDIOT took us to Jyusenkyo without finding out about the
curses! He got frightened and he never even told ME about it until you
came visiting the Tendos. THEN he had to tell me and after that he either
had me scared enough to hide my real identity from you or stopping me
from telling you when I DID decide to." Her shoulders slumped as the
anger fled. "I wanted to know my mother as her son, not as a stranger
because of this damned curse and an idiot's promise."
     Nadoka bowed her head, then looked at the silent Nabiki. "IS this
true?"
     "Oh, yes," the Tendo daughter confirmed solemnly. "If it wasn't we
wouldn't have so many `fiancees' crashing into our house and racking up
the repair bills."
     "Hey!" Ranma-chan protested as Nadoka blinked in confusion.
"Those aren't my fault!"
     "True," Nabiki conceded, "but you really shouldn't lead them on
like that."
     "I don't lead...!"
     "Stop!" Ranma-chan shut up and looked at her puzzled mother,
surprised. "Before you explain just WHAT you two are talking about, I..."
she inhaled, "would like to see my son."
     Ranma-chan swallowed, nodded, and picked up the kettle to pour
hot water upon her head. The familiar change occurred, increased height,
bigger frame, much less chest, and other things went on to return Ranma
to his normal form. He carefully placed the kettle back on the floor as he
nervously regarded his mother.
     Nadoka gasped. It was true! Ranko was really Ranma, her son!
Hand shaking, she hesitantly touched his face and he had to smile at the
wonder and amazement in her eyes. Confirming it really was him, Nadoka
pulled her son close to her and hugged him tightly. "My son..." she
breathed.
     "Mother," Ranma sighed gladly.
     "...you must commit seppuku," she finished sadly.
     Ranma instantly stiffened in shocked fright as a wide-eyed Nabiki
watched. Nadoka pulled away and saw his expression. Then she smiled.
     "Just kidding, Ranma-chan," she said brightly and hugged him
again. "I'm glad you told me despite what you thought; it shows great
courage."
     "M-Mom!!" Ranma protested, but relaxed with a huge sigh of
relief. Nabiki chuckled at the look on his face before Ranma's mother
pulled away to look her son over with great enthusiasm.
     "My son," she said, pleased at the handsome young man she saw.
Her mood darkened. "It's that moronic husband of mine who should be
committing seppuku considering what he's done to you, but I'm inclined to
be lenient since he seems to have somehow done a fine job otherwise."
     "A diamond in the rough, that's Ranma all right," Nabiki
commented as she switched towels on Darlene's head. The action
reminded Nadoka of the mage's presence.
     "But," Nadoka wondered, eyes blinking in puzzlement, "if Ranko
is Ranma, then who is Darlene?" Nabiki sighed.
     "That's another long story."
     "I'd like to hear it," Ranma's mother told her.
                       *****
     After two hours of telling Nadoka a whirlwind of information,
Ranma and his mother finally went downstairs. The sight below made
them pause.
     Akane was guarding the staircase, mallet ready on her shoulder,
while keeping an eye on her anxious father. Bert, in his SkyKnight
armour, had a nervously sweating Genma in a bearhug that he couldn't
escape from. He'd tried to. Many, many times. At the sight of his wife, he
froze and his face went white on seeing the katana in Nadoka's hands.
     "Ranma!" Akane cried with a smile when she looked back at the
stairs. Ranma gave her a hidden wink, wanting his father to sweat a little
longer.
     "About time you finished," Bert groaned wearily, "my arms are
killing me!"
     "And your help is most appreciated, Mr. Vliet," Nadoka politely
thanked the person keeping her husband from running away. "For keeping
my husband from preventing me hearing the truth." She turned her katana,
Genma's eyes followed it like it was a deadly snake. "Husband, you and I
need to have a talk. Upstairs. Now."
     Bert gratefully released Ranma's father with a groan as Nadoka
grabbed the front of Genma's gi with one hand and forced him to
accompany her. The red-head gladly dismissed his armour and stretched
them. "You off the hook?"
     Ranma nodded, eyes bright. "She decided seppuku wasn't needed."
     "That's GREAT news!" Akane cried. "How about I make supper to
celebrate?"
     "I didn't avoid getting killed by my mother just so your cooking
could do it!" Ranma protested, making Akane's battle ki glow ominously.
"You can't cook anyway, remember?"
     "RRAANNNMMAA NNOOO BBBAAAKKKAAAA!!!" Akane
shouted and malleted the hapless Ranma through the roof.
     "I, uh, think he meant Professor Miyabi told you not to cook,
Akane," Bert told the short-haired girl, who flushed with embarrassment.
"Remember?"
     "Oops," she said meekly.

Part Seven - Rejoinings 
-----------------------

     Images. Dizziness. Boiling heat. All had been confusing.
     Then there had been a blissful darkness.
     Now...
     Darlene's eyes snapped open, alert and aware for the first time in
two days, but was prevented from looking around by a sudden coughing fit
that threatened to turn her lungs inside out.
     "Easy, Darlene," someone soothed and waited for the fit to pass
before giving the weakened red-head a glass of water, which was carefully
sipped in case the coughs came back. Then the young mage looked at who
had given her the much-needed liquid and would have started had she not
been so tired.
     "Auntie... Saotome?" she asked weakly. Was she hallucinating?
She remembered the fight up to when that weird energy invaded her male
body and caused some incredible pain, then nothing.
     Ranma's mother smiled. "No, dear. I'm really here. I came to visit,
but I've been helping take care of you for the last couple of days."
Darlene's eyes widened in shock, then closed.
     "Days?" she sighed. "I guess that explains why I feel so lousy."
     "You had a bad fever," Nadoka explained. "And have been
delirious until a few hours ago when it broke."
     Darlene smiled at the older woman from the mattress. "Thanks,
Auntie Saotome." Then she blinked. "You called me Darlene?"
     Nadoka's smile was a mixture of mischievousness and
gratefulness. "Yes, I did. And I should be thanking you for keeping what I
said about my son private." The young mage stared at her in confusion.
     "What?"
     "I know Ranma is `Ranko'." Nadoka had to quickly place a
calming hand on Darlene's shoulder as she tried to get up in a panic, but
need not have worried as the red-head helplessly collapsed back into a
prone position. "It's all right," Nadoka reassured the worried mage. "I did
mean what I said."
     "So you know about me too?"
     "Yes."
     "Oh." Darlene mentally chewed on that before looking up at the
gently smiling woman. "I didn't tell him because I thought it was best he
decided on his own. I'm... sorry if it kept you two apart longer."
     "No, you did the right thing," Nadoka reassured her, then her face
grew worried. "But there is something you should know, Darlene."
     "Hm?"
     "Doctor Tofu and a Professor Miyabi came over after your fight
with that young prince Herb as Akane had called both. The doctor said the
fever should break but the more... worrisome part was what that woman
Miyabi told us."
     Darlene didn't like the sound of this. "Go on."
     "She told us that your body was infected with something called
Chaos and that your body could handle it." Actually, the woman told us
she was amazed Darlene's body was able to survive, much less contain it,
but everyone agreed not to tell the red-head that. "As it is, she said it
seemed to be disappearing at a very slow rate, but that strong emotions
will reverse this."
     "Oh great," the red-head moaned.
     "Until then, you can't change back to being male."
     Darlene stared up at wise eyes. "Wh-what was that??"
     "She said your body must be reacting to the intrusion by staying in
the form that can handle it." Ranma's mother placed a gentle hand on
Darlene's shoulder again. "This one. And you can't change back until the
Chaos is gone."
     The prone mage blinked once, twice, then the tears started
forming. Nadoka gathered the younger woman into her arms as the sobs
started coming and held the distressed mage until the she calmed down.
     "I don't... don't know why I'm crying," Darlene murmured from
inside Nadoka's embrace. "You did say it was fading." The older woman
released her to smile into Darlene's eyes, swollen from crying.
     "You needed to," Nadoka replied. Darlene chuckled weakly.
     "I guess..." The young mage didn't protest as Nadoka placed her
back down on the mattress. "Say, how DID you find out anyway?"
     Ranma's mother shook her head as she stood up. "I'll have to let
Nabiki tell you the story, she should be coming soon. I've decided to take
Ranma and my husband back to our house. The Tendos must have had a
hard time with them staying here so long."
     "Really?"
     "Yes. I hope you'll drop by once you're feeling better. Kasumi will
be able to take care of you now that you're awake."
     "I heal fast," Darlene reassured her, then the mage's stomach
grumbled and she blushed. "Just feed me and see how fast I'm out of this
bed."
     Nadoka smiled. "Till next time then." She slipped out of the room.
     Darlene looked up at the ceiling and sighed, then grimaced. Gods,
I feel terrible, she thought wearily. So now I'm sick AND stuck. All this
because some bloody dragon who wanted to take over the world. That
STUPID...
     Her thoughts took a different turn after a few minutes of nasty
graphic visualizations of what she wanted to do with a certain dragon and
his relatives. So Chaos is in me now? she wondered after calming down.
Makes a weird sort of sense that I can handle it, magic must be somewhat
compatible to Chaos. And psi is -not at all compatible. Ow. She winced at
the memory. Curious, she tried a spell.
     "Bright light," she whispered. All she got was a swirl of convulsing
brilliance before it vanished. Not what she had visualized at all. "Scratch
that idea," the young mage grumbled at her spell's failure. The Chaos must
be disrupting my magic.
     Juuuust great.
                       *****
     Kasumi's cooking took the edge off her hunger and she found she
could sit up again. Still, she wondered at the house's silence until the elder
Tendo sister told her that Soun, Akane, and the Saotomes were at Ranma's
house.
     "But what HAPPENED?" Darlene pleaded to Kasumi but the door
opened before she could speak and Nabiki and Bert came in. Bert
smirked.
     "Now you know how I felt," he chuckled. Darlene looked at him
sourly, remembering when the tall red-head had been in a weakened
condition.
     "Oh thanks, Bert," she responded sarcastically. "I've been laid up
like this before, thank you very much. I didn't need the reminder."
     Nabiki sat down by Darlene and felt the red-head's forehead. "You
seem better," she said offhandedly, but the mage sensed her concern and
worry.
     "I am, Nabiki," she reassured her girlfriend, then sighed. "Other
than being stuck like this for a while. Look, could SOMEONE tell me
what happened when I was out of it?!?"
     "Calm down, Darlene, remember about the Chaos," Nabiki warned
and the red-head settled down, reluctantly. "I'll tell you all about it now."
Bert, now leaning on a wall, rolled his eyes.
     "Oh boy..." he sighed as she related what had occurred.
                       *****
     After the tale was complete, Darlene thought about what Nabiki
and Bert had told her. "Well, at least Ranma doesn't need to hide
anymore."
     "And less repair bills for the dojo," Nabiki added wryly.
     "You're forgetting Mr. Destruct-o-Bot here," Darlene said, grinning
impishly at Bert, who sputtered at the comment.
     "Hey! I object to that slander!"
     "What about MY apartment?"
     "That was that moronic prince's fault!"
     "Sure, sure. Place the blame on someone else."
     "THAT'S..." Bert began to protest angrily when he noticed Nabiki
looking amused and Darlene trying hard not to break out laughing. "Hey,
now wait a just minute here..." His indignant look sent Darlene laughing
and giggling. Bert sighed and looked up pleadingly. "Why me?"
     Someone else walked into the room, and Darlene choked on her
laughter when she saw who.
     "Hello, husband," Lotion said, smiling hopefully.
     The weakened red-head didn't faint, but she wished she had. "Um,
hi, Lotion," she replied nervously, glancing at a neutral-seeming Nabiki.
The amazon magic-user turned to the middle Tendo sister.
     "The week we agreed upon is up, but," she glanced at Darlene's
frankly pale and weak-looking face, "now is not the time. I heard about
your fight, husband. I... didn't like to hear you were so ill." She smiled
radiantly. "I'm glad you are feeling better."
     Bert couldn't resist a snipe. "For someone who can't change back or
cast magic for a while, sure," he drawled. Lotion turned to him, started.
     "Truly?" the amazon said.
     "Uh..." Bert saw the laser look he was getting from Nabiki and
Darlene's paler face and realized he had just done. Oh shit, he thought, I
think I put my foot in it. Unfortunately, his expression was all the answer
Lotion needed..
     The amazon turned and knelt by Darlene, considered her would-be
husband and said, "Do you want me to help care for you?" she asked the
red-head.
     "Do I want...?" Darlene said, amazed. Nabiki seemed surprised as
well.
     "You are sick, but if I distress you then I will accept your decision
to go," Lotion said, smiling still.
     "And feel like a heel after," Darlene sighed. She looked up at
Nabiki for support and help. Her girlfriend grimaced.
     "It would help Kasumi's workload," she said reluctantly. "And you
shouldn't be sick long."
     Not comforted, Darlene turned to Lotion and saw an honest desire
to help. "All right," she said, not a little nervously.
     "Don't worry," Lotion reassured her, "I won't push you. Professor
Miyabi told me about the Chaos and I know how distressed my trying
would make you." She smiled wickedly. "I can wait."
     "Well, that's the second item I need to worry about," Darlene
sighed. Everyone else in the room blinked.
     "What's the first?" Bert asked curiously.
     "Well..." Darlene blushed. "I like hot showers and baths."
     "So?"
     "Think about it, Bert."
     He did. Comprehension dawned. "Oh... OH!!" Now it was his turn
to flush. Nabiki and Lotion merely looked amused.
     "I'm sure you'll survive," Nabiki said dryly. "Even with the
additional problem."
     "Problem?" Darlene said.
     "Well, for some strange reason the tub cracked in the house
yesterday. In addition, my apartment's water system is being checked, as is
yours. So we'll have to go to the public baths today." She sniffed the air
and wrinkled her nose. "Soon."
     Darlene's eyes widened, then slumped her head forward. She didn't
even react when Lotion patted her head sympathetically.
     Bert was trying not to think about the whole thing.
                       *****
     Strong arms tenderly placed an exhausted red-head onto her futon
in the Tendo house. Darlene tiredly looked up at the concerned Lotion.
The mage couldn't find it in her to be nervous of the amazon after she and
Nabiki helped her with cleaning up, eyes closed when she could. The
middle Tendo sister had left Darlene in Lotion's care somewhat
reluctantly, but Nabiki had other matters needing attention and felt Lotion
wouldn't try anything funny.
     Still, getting up and about had wiped out the red-head, even relying
on their support most of the time. Her body was slowly reconciling to the
Chaos as it dissipated, but full mobility was going to take some time.
     "Thanks, Lotion," Darlene sighed, relieved to be lying down.
     The brown-haired amazon smiled as she pulled the bedsheet over
the prone girl's body. "It was no problem, airen, I enjoyed it."
     "I just bet you did," Darlene muttered to herself.
     Hearing that, Lotion smiled impishly, but didn't comment. Instead,
she stood after making sure everything was in order and walked for the
door, saying, "I have to get some things that will make you feel better. Are
you hungry?" She turned, puzzled, when there was no immediate reply and
saw Darlene had her eyes closed, breathing slowly. Lotion smiled warmly
at the now-sleeping mage whose face was peacefully composed.
     "Maybe later," the amazon quietly giggled and carefully closed the
door as she left.
     Minutes later, the same door slowly opened and a small figure
zipped into the room, speedily shutting the door behind it. The intruder
grinned on seeing the slumbering form and eagerly scooted up beside it.
     "Ah," Happousai sighed lecherously, eyes roving over the
red-head's blanket-covered form as he clasped his hands together, "a
sleeping beauty to keep a poor, lonely old man warm." He paused, looking
solemn for a moment, then his expression changed into one more suited to
the fiendishly lewd Master, drool hanging from a corner of his gleeful
grin. "Sweet!!"
     Hesitantly, as he was still unsure over how helpless the young
woman was, Happousai pulled a bit of the cover off the unmoving form.
When Darlene didn't move, he gained confidence and pulled the rest of it
down her feminine form. His eyes widened with delight over the pyjamas
she had managed to change into. They were made of a purple, light
material and made not baggy enough to hide her womanly curves.
     And still she had not moved. Happousai nodded; the girl was
indeed worn out from her experiences. She would need some caring
company in bed to recover her strength and it would do much to repay him
for denying the poor Master closer examination of her female side.
     In a flash, but done with exceptional care so as not to deny himself
this chance, Happousai happily placed himself on top of Darlene, nestling
his head right between her assets. She shifted slightly, but didn't wake as
the old lech was light and she too tired.
     Happi was in heaven. It was exceedingly rare for him to be able to
do this. The last time was Akane, except that girl acted like a pro-wrestler
in her sleep and the incident was a painful, if briefly enjoyable, memory.
Wanting to test his boundaries, the ancient lecher ran an experienced
finger down her front in a precise manner. She shivered, indicating
excellent sensitivity. Much more than he'd been able to get from Ranma,
in fact.
     Which was odd; when a young woman, Darlene didn't act like she
noticed such things that much and acted more like his heir did. Perhaps it
was that irrational fear of such sensual matters when female she had
acquired somehow. Bolder now, seeing she hadn't woken, his hand slid
toward the oh-so-tempting cloth-covered mound beside his head.
     The red-head didn't move until he expertly ran a finger on the
underside of one breast, then she shifted and sighed but was still not
waking up. Overjoyed, the old pervert kept it up, switching sides often and
basking in the rising heat his depraved actions were causing. Then he
froze in sudden fear when he noticed something.
     Darlene was glowing! Literally!
     Her purple aura was faintly visible and shot through with an
eye-wrenching coloration. After his eavesdropping, Happousai realized it
was the Chaos altering her normal aura. The red-headed mage was
breathing heavily by now and, amazingly, her eyes were half-lidded.
     But she wasn't awake. Instead, her semi-opened eyes were glowing
the same way as the rest of her, but a little brighter. A little panicked at
this weird reaction, Happousai noticed her arms had been positioned in
mid-grab above the motionless Master. He realized they had halted when
he had instinctively stopped, sensing danger to his hentai self.
     Happousai sweated and kept absolutely still. The mage's eyes were
watching him, he noticed now, but he knew she wasn't truly aware by the
sensual smile her lips had formed. Normally, he would have enjoyed being
hugged by an attractive female, but all his ecchi senses told him he was in
danger, terrible danger. As her breathing slowed, the glow began to fade.
Darlene's arms went back to their resting positions and her eyes closed.
     The old master went limp with relief; the danger, whatever it had
been, was gone. What, by the Great Panty, had caused THAT?? Was it
something to do with the Chaos inside her, a naturally instinctive reaction,
or something else entirely? Happousai wondered what would have
happened to him if he hadn't stopped. Fried? Disintegrated? Turned to
stone? At least that way there would be a monument to his adoring female
public(for bashing practice!).
     In any case, he could easily settle for merely keeping his hands on
her treasures. Happousai nestled in for a more comfortable position on her
soft body and...
     "WHAT YOU DO WITH HUSBAND?!?!"
     The old pervert's head snapped up to see an angry, amazon mage
glaring at him with fire leaping in her eyes. He turned his head and saw
Darlene had snapped awake at the bellow, unaware of what had happened
previously. She stared at him, then blue eyes narrowed as she furiously
clenched her teeth.
     "Uh..." Happousai sweated as the two magic-users glared at him,
realizing he was in deep trouble now. "Just checking pillows," he said
lamely, goosing the two nearest bumps available. Darlene's eyes widened.
     "THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!!!" she screamed, finding enough
energy to WHAP! the old pervert off her and towards her nurse. An
outraged Lotion now had a bo in her hands and furiously slammed him
into the floorboards with the wooden staff. Multiple times, and with
commentary too.
     "You!" WHAM! "not!" SNAP! "touch!" CRUNCH! "HUSBAND!!"
SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! She stopped, much to the groaning pervert's
relief, and sang a flurry of musical notes. When she finished, Happousai
found himself immobile and the glowering amazon distastefully picked
the little old man off the floor. Embarrassed, Lotion looked at the tired
red-head, who had lost her adrenaline rush fairly quickly. "I am so sorry,"
she said miserably. "I let this molester get into this room while you were
unable to defend yourself."
     "Happousai is a martial arts Master," Darlene sighed wearily,
trying to forget what he had just done. "If you don't know how determined
he can be, get Cologne to tell you about him."
     "I'll put wards up this time!" Lotion declared, desperate to make up
for her failure, then noticed Darlene was looking at her bo with an old
expression. "What?"
     "Have you ever heard of a pinyata?"
                       *****

     Bert moved to Darlene's apartment during the wait, not wanting to
be around the `target zone' as he put it. It also allowed him to work non-
stop on the new computer, and with no Sylia to stop him he had a field
day, or rather, days. Simulations and diagrams for new equipment filled
the screen as he pounded away on the keyboard.
     Eventually, however, even the gallons of coffee he consumed
weren't enough and his heavy-lidded eyes shut one last time as he went to
sleep for a long, long time.
     
                       *****
     Bert's eyes cracked open. Brthmrumphwhere am I? Sleep-filled
eyes blinked once and he noticed the right portion of his face was
embedded on a keyboard. With a tired groan he pushed himself upright in
his chair and rubbed his hands over a bleary face.
     "Ohhhh boy," he sighed, feeling unwholesome things in his mouth
as saliva(whoa, new thing) began flowing to wash it away. "Now I
remember why Sylia doesn't want me doing that."
     The computer had turned itself off after the long period of
inactivity(the AI had heard snores though the microphone; at that point
you don't need a lot of smarts to figure out what happened to your
operator) so Bert booted it on again before venturing outside to put
something other than coffee(well, that too) into his grumbling stomach.
     Three surprised faces looked his way as he emerged and, zombie-
like, disappeared into the bathroom for a long shower.
     "Was that Twister's friend?" Morio asked Yasuro, who rubbed his
head. Hito was still blinking at what he had seen.
     "It looked like Bert. I think," he added dubiously. The computer
wiz shook his head. "He was in the room so long I'd forgotten about him
being in there."
     Showered and generally feeling better, but extremely hungry, Bert
went back into Twister's room and got dressed in clothes that did not fight
back. Then he made a bee-line for the kitchen. Damn, I'm famished! he
thought even as he saw the Yasuro and two people he was unfamiliar with.
"Hi all," Bert greeted them as he prepared a fresh batch of coffee. Nothing
like getting your priorities straight after all.
     "You shocked us when you came out," Yasuro said with a grin.
"We wondered if `it' was human."
     "Not until my coffee," Bert growled, eyes fixed on where fresh
coffee would emerge. Coffee, sustenance, same thing. "What are you
doing this early?"
     "Late," Morio corrected, smirking. "We were just trying to
persuade Yasuro to help us with, er, something."
     "Uh huh. Fine," the red-head said noncommittedly as coffee!!
started to flow. Bert had heard all about the two hentais from Twister and
had privately disapproved of such antics. It just went head-on against his
chivalrous nature to think much of lechers. 
     Hmmmm....
     Generally feeling vile and evil-minded, which was perfect, Bert
snapped his fingers and headed for the door. "Going to see if the closest
store has something. I'll be back soon," he said as he closed the door. He
walked down the hallway and stopped at another door. Making sure he
was unwatched, Bert checked if the door was open. It was and he slipped
inside, shutting the door behind him.
     He turned on the lights and his eyes widened at the posters he saw
everywhere on the walls, then he shut them firmly, face flaming. Teeth
gritted, he pressed on.
     "I am in unholy lands, I will fear no perversion," he muttered under
his breath. Peeking carefully around he eventually found what seemed to
be the hentai duo's plans written on paper. When he finished, his mouth
was gaping.
     "Good Lord!! They can't be serious!!" Narrowing his eyes, he
turned towards the equipment the two planned to use. Slowly, his lips
stretched into a wicked grin. 
     "Two can play at this game," he chuckled and quickly went to
work. He would not have much time.
     But it would be worth it!

                       *****

     Two hours later, Bert returned to the apartment, whistling
cheerfully. Yasuro, near capitulation, noticed his empty arms.
     "Didn't find what you wanted?"     
     "Nope," Bert agreed as he went over to pour himself a large mug
of coffee, Morio and Hito's eyes widened at the size of the cup. "I'll look
somewhere else later." Still whistling, he went back into Twister's room
and shut the door behind himself.
     "Odd fellow," Morio mused, rising from the couch. Hito quickly
followed him to the apartment door where they turned to face Yasuro.
"You WILL think about it?" The programmer tiredly nodded, evoking
knowing grins from the duo before they left.
     "How long do you figure?" Morio asked his fellow hentai as they
headed back to their room.
     "Three days?"
     "That's about right." The leader of the two smiled as he opened the
door to their own apartment. "Yasuro never could hold out more than that.
HANH?!??!" he shouted, startled at what he saw in their apartment. Beside
him, Hito gaped.
     Piles of stolen ladies underwear were all over the inside of their
apartment instead of being safely hidden in their closets. The duo saw
small box-like machines attached to the ceiling of the room just before the
trigger connected to the door activated them.
     The boxy things quickly started producing a chemical fog, a fact
that sent trills of horror through Morio and Hito. Hito would have jumped
in, but Morio's restraining hand prevented him.
     "The mist!" he shouted, slamming the door shut. "Remember?"
     Indeed the horrified Hito did. Morio had concocted a non-toxic
chemical to dissolve artificial fabrics like nylon, polyester, and others. It
would have been perfect for swimsuits and the like, but now he became
teary eyed when he thought of their painfully-collected hoard dissolving
like wet cotton-candy. 
     "Who could have done this?" Morio gritted as the hiss of the
machines continued behind the door. "Who...?" Hito gasped and gripped
his arm, making Morio blink at his friend's white face.
     "I was experimenting with the cellulose dissolver in some of
them!" the sweating engineer gulped.
     Morio's eyes widened as the implications of that fact occurred to
him. A groaning noise from behind the door started up as the two started
running for the exit. By good luck, as Bert had no idea about the paper and
wood destroyer, he had only selected one containing the chemical.     He
would not have used it if he had known, for while the chemical destroyed
all photos and posters in the hentai duo's room, the floor was made of
wooden boards.
     The creaking noise grew.

                       *****

     The thunderous crashing made Bert start and turn. 
     What the HELL was THAT?!?! he thought incredulously,
unknowing of his part in the origin of the noise. It quieted so he shrugged
and went back to the computer screen.
     Ah well, nothing to do with me.

Part Eight - Broken Heart! Chaos Unbound!!
------------------------------------------

     A week went by and Darlene's condition improved swiftly.
However, Nabiki thought as she lay on her bed, hands behind her head,
I'm still not sure what to do about our little `situation'.
     By `situation' she meant Lotion. The amazon magic-user had
helped Darlene considerably while she was ill and Nabiki unfortunately
too busy to do much about it. Even worse, she found herself reluctantly
liking the brown-haired amazon. She more considerate than Shampoo and
was confident her `husband' would accept her in time, WITHOUT
resorting to magic. It was just not in her nature to do so.
     The aggravating part was that it was working; Darlene was more at
ease with Lotion now, but shied away from any sexual overtures the
amazon accidentally made before realizing it.
     And that Chaos stuff was almost gone since Darlene hadn't gotten
upset with anything. Also, she had been doing some rather complex
programming on her new computer to pass the time and the Chaos didn't
like that one bit. Too orderly, Nabiki supposed.
     Suddenly, she sat up and got off her bed, following an impulse to
go visit Twister's apartment and see how things were; Nabiki had found
out if she didn't while he was in female form he often forgot to call.
     Besides, she thought with a smile, I like surprising him... er... her.
Nabiki grimaced; one day she'd not find the constant sex changing of her
boyfriend confusing.
     But, she felt certain of this, not anytime soon.
                       *****
     "What do you mean Darlene's not here?" Nabiki demanded
incredulously of the nervous Yasuro as she entered the apartment. "She's
been cooped up in here for days so she didn't run into anything that might
upset her. That's what Professor Miyabi told her to do."
     "That's why she went out for a walk," Yasuro explained as Nabiki
sat on the couch. "Fresh air, or something, she said before she went
bonkers from staying in the room all the time." He chuckled as his guest
rolled her eyes. "If Darlene hadn't, she'd be stuck in here another two
weeks after exploding, not that it would really matter to her."
     Nabiki blinked; that last bit was odd. "Pardon?"
     "Considering how long she's going to live," he went on blithely,
"two weeks isn't much, right?"
     "What ARE you talking about?"
     He saw her confusion and belated understanding dawned. Uh oh,
Twister hasn't told her yet. "Um... nothing really. Darlene's just been
telling me some stuff to pass time. Nothing important or anything."
     Nabiki stood and came over to ominously loom over the sickly
smiling Yasuro. "Somehow," she said levelly, "I doubt this is `nothing'."
Leaning forwards to put her hands on his desk, she pinned him between
her arms and put their faces a mere few inches apart. "Tell me.
Everything. Now."
     He swallowed.
                       *****
     Darlene walked into the apartment, smiling cheerfully in her jeans
and white blouse. Her mood was buoyant and barely registered the scene
inside as she exhaled gratefully. The walk had relieved a lot of the
stuffiness she had been feeling.
     "That was JUST what I needed! I..." her voice trailed off when she
noticed Yasuro was looking at her with a about-to-be-hanged-man's
expression and the unexpected presence of Nabiki. Who was glaring
rather forcefully at Darlene, to the red-head's confusion. "What's wrong?"
     "'What's wrong?'" Nabiki grated out, her normally cool composure
cracking from what Yasuro had just finished telling her. "Tell me, just
WHEN were you planning on telling ME?"
     "I... don't know what you mean," Darlene answered, honestly
confused. "Tell you what?"
     Nabiki stepped forward a pace. "Perhaps the fact that you were
injured rather BADLY in that other universe?" Darlene paled as she took
another step. "Or maybe telling me how LONG it took you to recover and
the EXTENT of those injuries?" Twister's girlfriend was glowing an
ominous blue by now as she stepped forward again. Darlene backed into
the wall beside the slightly ajar door, swallowing nervously. "Or that you
had an examination over there which revealed something rather
IMPORTANT?" Nabiki placed herself so that she could glare down at the
pale-faced mage. She was visibly shaking to keep her emotions in check,
and bit her bottom lip before telling the worst of it.
     "Or maybe it was THAT YOU WERE NEARLY IMMORTAL
NOW??!?!?" she shouted at the trembling Darlene. A single tear rolled
down her cheek before she collected herself. "I guess I wasn't important
enough to you," she said cruelly, knowing it wasn't so but didn't care in her
anger. "Good-bye." Nabiki opened the door and left without another word.
     Darlene stared blankly into open space, shivering, making Yasuro
uneasy until she shook her head violently, spraying some tears around.
"NABIKI!! WAIT!!!" the red-head desperately shouted as she ran out in
pursuit.
     Yasuro swallowed. Suddenly, he remembered about the Chaos and
that Darlene and Bert had mentioned it grew stronger on dark emotions.
And from what Twister/Darlene had told him, Twister's female side could
be VERY emotional. This was Not Good. He ran for the phone and
flipped through the phone numbers, desperate to call Professor Miyabi.
     He knew there was going to be trouble.
                       *****
     The desperate red-head caught up to stiffly-walking Nabiki outside
the building. "Nabiki!!" she cried as she ran up to the brown-haired young
woman. "I didn't..."
     "Didn't WHAT?" Nabiki demanded, keeping her eyes straight
ahead and ignoring the shorter Darlene. "Didn't THINK? Probably!"
     "It's not what you think!" Darlene nearly ran into her girlfriend as
she furiously turned to face the red-headed mage.
     "I don't CARE anymore," Nabiki spat angrily, eyes burning. "Since
I'm obviously not more important enough than your roommate or even a
near-stranger like Bert, then I have to conclude that you really don't think
of me as a part of your life. So I'd better think the same in return."
Darlene's expression fell even more, but Nabiki ignored it in her fury. "It's
fairly simple, isn't it? You even have a spare girlfriend who'd LOVE to
have you, and who CARES what form she likes! Maybe you'll think her
more important because of that and actually confide in her! More than you
did with me!"
     "Nabiki..." Darlene's voice broke.
     "DON'T `Nabiki' me!!" she hissed, cutting the other young woman
off. "As far as I'm concerned, this relationship is over! I don't want to SEE
you anywhere near my family's house, or my apartment, or ME ever
again!! And don't follow me like some lost puppy or you'll regret it!" The
raging Nabiki strode off, leaving a distraught Darlene staring after her.
     Then the red-head collapsed to hands and knees as the full impact
of Nabiki's cruel words hit her. Her eyes closed from the pain as the tears
flowed. Nabiki!! she wailed inside.
     Inside her, the fading spark that was the last remnant of Chaos
energy began to grow.
     And grow, and grow.
                       *****
     An anxious Miyabi appeared in a burst of light, startling Yasuro
who was just hanging up the phone.
     "Where are they?" she demanded impatiently.
     "They ran out the door ten minutes before I managed to find your
number," he replied. Miyabi sucked in her breath.
     "We HAVE to find Darlene! From your description of what
happened the Chaos will feed on her current emotional state and grow to
an unknown degree."
     "What will that do to Darlene?" Yasuro said, dreading the answer.
     "I wish I knew," she replied, extremely concerned. "I'll need help
for this if I can't find her soon. You stay here in case they return." The
mage vanished before Yasuro could reply.
     He sighed. It was about the only thing he could do.
                       *****
     The pretty, red-headed young woman was a pitiful sight as she
walked uncaring through the crowds on the sidewalk. Her expression was
of utter loss and depression. People took pity and avoided her as she
listlessly walked towards an unknown goal, arms limp at her sides.
     She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care with the
hollow feeling aching enormously inside her heart. Nabiki. Know she
knew how Ryouga felt. The odd warmth growing inside her was
disregarded entirely.
     What did it matter?
                       *****
     With the Saotomes not living in the house, Bert's presence was not
such the imposition anymore. Especially since Ranma and Genma usually
ate enough for another two people. It also gave Akane someone to talk to
as Ranma's absent presence made eating at home feel lonely, even with
Kasumi and her father.
     "So, how's Ranma doing?" Bert asked her.
     "I think he's glad to finally be able to talk to his mother again
without having to be `Ranko'." Akane sniffed. "At least he won't be
running into me at home anymore."
     "Just wait till you're married to Ranma, daughter. Hahaha!" Soun
told her cheerfully. He wilted under Akane's glare.
     "Ahem." Bert tried to get off that topic. "How's the magic going?"
     "Well..." Akane shifted uncomfortably. "The Professor won't let be
try anything out of her own kitchen. Something about keeping whatever I
try under control since I'm still learning."
     "Damage control is more like it," Bert muttered quietly and luckily
Akane didn't hear him.
     As if mentioning her name conjured her, a flustered Miyabi
appeared in the yard in a flare of white light. Surprised, everyone turned to
her but she spoke before anyone could comment.
     "Bert, get your armour on and get ready to do an aerial search," she
ordered the startled red-head. "Akane, I need you to get anyone you can
who can defend themselves and search for Darlene."
     "Why? What's the matter, Prof?" Bert asked the magic-user with
growing alarm.
     "Nabiki and Darlene seem to have had a very major argument,"
Akane and Kasumi gasped, "and now I can't find Darlene. The raw Chaos
in her makes it impossible to find her by magic." Her face grew grim.
"And by the interference I'm getting, it's growing."
     Bert swore, that what he had briefly seen of that stuff had made
him uneasy was an understatement, and leaped to his feet. A moment's
concentration and his armour surrounded him after a purple flash. "I'm on
it!" he yelled as he ran into the yard, jets starting as wings snapped out.
With turbines howling, the Knight Saber flew off into the sky,
     "I'll get Ukyou," Akane exclaimed as she too leaped up. "Could
you call the Nekohanten, Kasumi? Thanks!" The black-haired girl
disappeared in a swirl of dust as she ran off. Her older sister went to get
the phone. Soun was left blinking stupidly at the table.
     "I just hope we won't be too late," Miyabi said to the empty air
before vanishing the same way she had arrived.
                       *****
     The policeman stood in front of the apathetic, red-headed woman
who was ignoring him completely as she leaned on a store's window.
People walked by, but didn't bother to stop as the officer wondered what
to do. The woman didn't look or smell drunk, nor did she have the
drawn-out look of a drug user. It was a puzzle.
     "Ma'am," he finally asked, "you're in a bad place to stop. Is there
something wrong?"
     Darlene stirred and blinked at the officer. "Wrong?"
     "Yes, ma'am, you seem... upset." When she started crying, he was
at a loss.
     "She doesn't want to see me again!" the mage cried, drawing more
people's attention and making the policeman uncomfortable.
     He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your daughter?" he asked.
     Darlene started and broke off in mid-sob to stare at the man in
front of her. "Daughter?" she whispered, confused.
     "Is it someone else?"
     The red-head whirled to stare at her reflection in the mirror and
drew back a little at what she found. She looked older! More than a
decade older! More like two! Her hair was longer, face more mature, and
taller than she had been this morning. Looking at her clothes, she noticed
their slight baggy-ness had vanished and they now fit her snugly. Finally
registering the hot core of energy burning inside her, Darlene almost
panicked when she realized the Chaos force inside her had grown
enormously. It must be the reason she had mysteriously aged.
     Then she slumped; what did it matter? Her depression hit full force
again. Unknowing of the turmoil within her, the policeman placed his
hand on her shoulder again, more forcefully this time.
     "Let's go to my station and we can talk about it there," he advised.
     "Leave me alone," Darlene responded dully.
     "Ma'am, I'm afraid I have to insist."
     Anger flared like a nova within her; why wouldn't this idiot listen?!
Faster than the startled officer believed possible, she whirled around,
grabbed his shirt, and easily lifted the man off the ground. Frightened
pedestrians backed away from the angry woman. "I said LEAVE ME
ALONE!!!" she yelled at him furiously and tossed him onto his back,
knocking the wind out of him. Darlene stalked away, people drawing
away from her.
     The officer painfully got back up and pulled out his transceiver for
backup as he followed the obviously dangerous woman.
                       *****
     Flying high above the city, Bert felt helpless. How the heck could
he find one single red-head?? It was a virtual needle in the haystack! he
cursed to himself.
     "Patience, young one. Find her you will."
     "Aw, no..." Bert groaned as he heard the oddly familiar voice. Not
THIS again! "Who ARE you?!" he demanded.
     "You wish to know, hm?" the funny voice cackled.
     "Damn straight I do!!"
     There was a pause.
     "I am... Yoda."
     There was an even longer pause as the name sank into Bert's
dumbfounded mind.
     "Ohhhhhhh ssshhhhhhiiiiiitttttt......"
                       *****
     The red-headed woman with a large streak of white hair down the
middle of her head glared at the five policemen surrounding her. They
were warier than they had been at the start as they had tried apprehending
her once already. Most of them were heavily built and the woman smaller
than any of them, but she had proven that was no indication of her being
helpless. Also, they had been looking at her long enough to notice the
rapid aging from her hair turning from red to white.
     "Ma'am, you're obviously sick," one of them said soothingly as
force wasn't working.
     "Do I LOOK sick?!" Darlene demanded, stomping her foot down
and making a hole in the street. Some of the officers swallowed at the
display of strength.
     "No, ma'am," the officer admitted, "but maybe you could follow us
to the station and..."
     "Can you idiots not take a hint?!" she demanded, clenching her
hands. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" A disturbing-looking aura started forming
around her and the police stepped back a bit.
     Reluctantly, they stepped forward and started closing in on the
lone woman. "I'm sorry, but we can't let you do that, ma'am."
     Before any officer could react, the raging woman leaped up an
impossibly high forty feet, and cried out her attack above the startled
officers' below.
     Ranma had taught her the Mouko Takabisha, which drew on a
person's confidence, but it was based on another technique. That one was
more powerful if the person using it had despair in their heart and rage in
their veins.
     Guess which one Darlene used.
     "SHISHI HOUKOU DAN!!!"
     A beam of roiling energy shot from between her palms, her
ki-energy corrupted by the Chaos within, and struck the street where she
had stood before. A blinding light erupted from the impact point as the
destructive forces were unleashed. The explosion rocked buildings for
blocks and was heard for miles around.
     Unnoticed by Darlene, the panicked officers had vanished before
the shockwave reached them.
                       *****
     Miyabi sweated as her spell snatched the policemen away from
death. Behind her, several of her more advanced students aided their
mentor with a mystic link. It was difficult though; the disruptive influence
of Chaos via Darlene was permeating the entire area and teleportive spells
were shaky at best. The scrying spell they had used to witness the
red-head's strike wasn't much better off.
     "Can't we do anything, Professor?" one asked quietly.
     "Chaos' influence over Darlene has already become too strong for
our spells to directly affect her," Miyabi sighed. "She only knows me and
Natsumi well, the rest of you, or even us, would only trigger something we
might regret."
     "Why is she aging like that yet becoming stronger?" another spoke
up.
     "Darlene was changed in some odd ways and the Chaos is forcing
her body to age as it gains more of an influence over her." She turned
towards the scrying image.
     "I only hope her friends can calm her down before it goes too far."
                       *****
     The streets were empty; the police had emptied out the area before
the explosion. That didn't stop Ranma and the others as they ran towards
the center of the explosion. Akane, Ukyou, Ryouga (amazingly he had
been in Ucchan's), Shampoo, and Mousse trailed behind the pig-tailed
young man. A wall of rubble blocked the view ahead.
     "Hey, look!" Akane exclaimed and SkyKnight's flight system
roared as he dropped to the top of the pile. The Knight Saber had
obviously seen the blast from above. "Bert!" she cried.
     "Come up, quick!" he directed.
     Everyone leaped up and landed in a line to either side of the
armoured figure and gazed in shock at the crater on the other side. It was
wider than the street and as a result had knocked down a few buildings. In
the lowest part of the crater a person knelt, head bowed.
     "That... Darlene?" Shampoo asked hesitantly.
     "Darlene!!" Akane shouted.
     A white-haired head looked up at the company looking at her and
glared at them as the body connected to it stood up. Her snow-white hair
had lengthened considerably as her mature face looked up at them. It
wasn't wrinkled, but it held the cast of age. Her body was that of a fit
twenty-five or thirty year old.
     Bert was rocked at the changes in his friend. Good Lord! he
thought. What the hell's going on with her?!
     "GO AWAY!!" Darlene shouted furiously. "JUST LEAVE ME
ALONE OR I'LL HURT YOU!!" Her face looked almost demonic as she
glared at them.
     "What do we do now?" Ranma wondered uneasily.
     "Why not Mousse wrap angry Darlene up, we knock out, then take
to great-grandmother to cure?" Shampoo suggested.
     Bert was uneasy with that plan. "I don't think..." he began,
unfortunately, Mousse jumped the gun in order to please his beloved
Shampoo.
     "At once, my love!" he exclaimed and leapt for the aged woman.
When he was within range, the hidden weapons master flicked out his
voluminous sleeves. Yards upon yards of chains shot out and wrapped up
the momentarily startled Darlene. The spectacled warrior landed with a
triumphant smile, but his victory was short lived.
     "RRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!" Darlene howled and
after straining mightily for a few moments broke free of her steel cocoon,
a disturbing aura glowing brightly around her. Mousse dived to avoid
chain fragments. Darlene did not look happy.
     "Uh oh," Bert said, stomach sinking.
     "NO ONE IS LISTENING TO ME!!" Darlene screamed, and then
began to change. Her white hair gained color again, but this time to purple
and not red. Clothes shifted as her body lengthened and thinned subtly,
becoming more graceful and lithe. The face became more angular while
retaining softness and ears became pointed. Her clothes turned purple as a
cloak fell around her and sliver-gold armour glittered on her upper torso.
Darlene had at last aged to the point where she metamorphosed into the
elven Valanna, and her red lips stretched into a snarl as her purple eyes
narrowed in fury.
     Oh. Shit. Bert thought. Darlene had told him about the change, but
it still amazed him to see it. Assorted gasps of disbelief came from either
side of him as the martial artists witnessed the elven form.
     Mousse, who was staring at her, was the first to feel Valanna's
fury. She ran towards him and he leaped to avoid the enraged elf, but
Valanna jumped to intercept him. The hidden weapons master threw
swords, maces, and rubber duckies at her but her Chaotic aura either
deflected or warped the weapons into uselessness. Quicker than he would
have believed, she snapped out her palm and struck him square on the
chest, lashing out with a corrupted ki-bolt at the same time.
     "YEEAAAAA!!!!" Mousse screamed as he rocketed towards the
others, robes smoking. Unlike a normal ki-blast, Valanna's was tearing at
him in an extremely painful way and the force of her hand's impact had
broken several ribs. Fortunately, Shampoo caught him and prevented
worse.
     "Mousse!" his purple-haired goddess cried, honestly concerned. He
didn't look at all well as his entire front was scorched and his skin
bleeding from multiple cuts caused by the warped ki-force.
     "Sha-Shampoo," he groaned and immediately passed out in her
arms; Chaos had taken a lot out of him.
     "Darlene, no!" Akane cried. "Stop it!"
     Her cries fell on deaf ears; the Chaos had too much influence over
Valanna now and only her last desire to be alone was on her rage-clouded
mind. She summoned her sword and with a purple flash it appeared in her
right hand, lengthening and shifting to match its owner's state. The elf
streaked straight for the edge of the crater. "RAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"
she cried as she sliced into the ground ten feet below her friends, blade
glowing with unearthly power.
     The earth exploded away from the cut with a burst of white light,
shattering the foundation the others were standing on, surprising them.
Ranma managed to grab Akane before jumping away, followed by
Ryouga, Ukyou, and Shampoo carrying Mousse. Bert had kept his jets on
stand-by mode so he merely flew over the maddened elf to the other side
of the crater.
     As a result, Valanna whirled to face the direction of the nervous
Knight Saber. Her eye-wrenching aura wasn't diminished by his scanners'
readings, not that they were getting anything useful.
     He looked in disgust at his readouts, which were changing wildly
with each scan. The only one that stayed constant was his threat reading
and it was showing Valanna to be an extreme threat. No shit, he thought.
Valanna had just demolished a column of earth and stone seventeen feet
high, thirty feet long, and seven feet thick! With one stroke! No, things
were not looking very sunny for this particular Knight Saber. Reluctantly,
he raised his arms and aimed them in her direction. "Valanna! Stop, or I'll
have to shoot!" he warned. Bert wasn't planning anything lethal and he
knew Twister could recover from some pretty major stuff.
     The elf bared her teeth at him and started walking towards him,
holding her sword in a firm grip by her side. She didn't even pause when
the Knight Saber blew a small crater into the ground in front of her.
     "That was a warning shot!" he cried, sweating nervously. She
hadn't even bothered to flinch! Fifteen feet, thirteen, eleven... Damn! he
cursed, she HAD to be stopped! He aimed for a foot and fired. His particle
lasers shrieked towards their target... and split into two beams to curve
away inches from the elf, blowing apart holes in the surrounding
buildings.
     What the hell?!?! Bert fired again and again while backing up, but
his energy beams weren't reaching their true objective and were instead
careening wildly away from her. She was getting awfully damn close now.
     Suddenly, she rushed him and lashed out with a spinning kick to
his side before he could block. The impact was horrendous, driving the
breath from his lungs, and it sent him flying into the side of a somewhat
intact store front. The store promptly turned into a crater. His helmeted
head shook woozily as he staggered upright.
     "Did someone get the number of that elf?" he mumbled, trying to
clear his mind enough so that he could think coherently. The second that
passed wasn't nearly enough time, as a hand grabbed his armour suit
around his ankle, crushing it slightly, and yanked the startled Saber off of
his feet. Bert only got a brief look at Valanna's burning eyes before she
started crazily swinging him through the air around her head, making him
want to throw up. The enraged elf released him once she'd built up the
momentum she wanted, hammer-throwing the silver hardsuit in a wildly
spinning trajectory through the air down the street.
     "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!" The world tumbled
sickeningly in front of Bert's eyes. His suit's gyroscope was frantically
trying to re-orient itself so that his flight system would function, but he
knew he was going to hit SOMETHING before it managed THAT little
feat. But then he was stopped with an abruptness that made he head spin,
however, it was a gentle stop and he felt a jarring landing through
whatever had stopped him.
     "Yo, Bert! You all right?"
     Ranma? Bert wondered and looking to the side he saw the
pig-tailed martial artist and Ryouga were holding him up. They must have
caught him during that wild, dizzy, stomach-churning.... The nausea
finally caught up to him and the red-head swiftly pulled off his helmet so
that what he had to do wouldn't mess up his suit.
     "Guess not," Ranma muttered.
     A few minutes later, after wiping the bile from his mouth, Bert
took a deep breath and stood up. "Where is she?" he managed.
     "Still in the crater," Ranma told him. "Ryouga and Ucchan are
keeping her busy while you recovered."
     "WHAT?!?" Bert shouted incredulously, quickly shoving his silver
helmet back on his head. "They won't last five seconds with her!! We've
got to pull out and figure out what to do from a distance!" He started up
the jets and snapped out his wings. "She's too strong to attack without a
plan." God, I sound like Sylia, Bert thought, now I KNOW things are bad.
The silver Knight Saber roared into the sky and wheeled around to look at
the fight happening in the crater. Triggering his helmet's magnification
capabilities, he saw how the two were doing with Valanna, who appeared
angry and unscathed.
     Ryouga was the worst off. He was defensively holding half an
umbrella before him, the front half lying behind where Valanna stood, and
his left arm was hanging limply at his side. A head wound was covering a
lot of his face with blood and several gashes were evident on the rest of
him.
     The okonomiyaki cook, Ukyou, was in better shape than the
fanged boy. Fewer cuts adorned her body but her mega-spatula(Bert could
never get over the sight of that thing) had a slice carved out of it and most
of her throwing spatulas were missing from her bandoleer.
     Frankly, Bert was amazed they were still breathing, much less
standing. Darlene must be holding back subconsciously, he reasoned,
because they're her friends and she knows them better than me. His theory
was confirmed when Valanna's keen eyes spotted the hovering Saber and
hurled her sword at him. "Yikes!!" he yelped and barely dodged the
glowing sword. Then he found out he hadn't quite managed `barely' as a
line across his front armour grew and sent cracks from it. Christ, Bert
swore when he saw what happened from a near-miss, time to get everyone
away from the area. He dived for Ukyou first and picked up the startled
young woman, shouting, "Ryouga!! Get out!! I've got Ukyou!!"
     "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ukyou screamed as she found
herself lifted into the sky. Ryouga hesitated, on the ground, not wanting to
be called a coward, then started leaping away. It turned out to be a wise
move as Valanna's sword returned to her hand and she raised it high.
Energy crackled around her and her hair flew wildly about her.
     "DESTROY!!!" she roared and a sphere of ominous light built on
the tip of the sword. It rose, tendrils of energy snapping from blade to
globe to Valanna to ground.
     Then imploded.
     And detonated.
     Bert carrying a frightened Ukyou saw the energy surge and looked
back just in time to see the gigantic ball of negative light erupting from
where Valanna had stood. He'd never seen light like this and it sent shivers
down his spine as he prepared for the shockwave. It hit harder than he
thought it would and almost lost the okonomiyaki chef as he bounced
around in mid-air, she screaming and holding on to him for dear life.
     On the ground, Ryouga had met Ranma, Akane, and the concerned
Shampoo with injured Mousse and all had started running in the same
direction Bert had flown away in. Fortunately, there was more in the way
of the blast to shield them but they were all sent flying forwards, yelling
and screaming as they flew through the air. When they landed, somewhat
in control as they were all good fighters, they shook their heads groggily
and stared back at where the explosion had occurred. Akane gasped at the
devastation.
     Further out, buildings were still in the process of collapsing but
beyond that and closer to the center there was an empty area void of
buildings. Dust swirled in small dust devils as the disturbed air churned
from the after-effects of the explosion.
     "Is she still alive?" Akane whispered.
     "I wouldn't worry, Akane," Ranma said grimly, and she looked up
at him, surprised. "I don't think she was hurt at all." He looked up and saw
SkyKnight had been looking from a higher vantage and was heading off
again. "C'mon, let's follow Bert and try to figure out what to do next."
     No one protested, not after casting uneasy looks behind them.
                       *****
     Miyabi groaned and gladly accepted Natsumi's help to get off the
floor. The backlash of the scrying spell shattering had tossed them all to
the floor.
     "Are you all right, Professor?" the younger girl asked worriedly.
     "Yes, Natsumi," she sighed, pushing her hair away from her face.
The raven-haired woman frowned, concerned. "Things are just going from
bad to worse. Darlene has lost control to the Chaos and her body is
unfortunately able to contain the forces that would consume an ordinary
mage. That blast was incredibly powerful and probably only fed the Chaos
more instead of depleting it.." She sighed. "And I'm at a loss for what to
do next."
     "Perhaps I can be of service," a smooth voice spoke up.
     Miyabi whirled and her eyes widened at who had spoken. Natsumi
shank behind her mentor in fright.
     "YOU?!" the Professor gasped. "How did YOU get here?!?!"
     "Let's just say I have my means," Malkon chuckled, enjoying the
mortal's shock, "and reasons."
                       *****
      Hikaru Gosenkugi's soot-covered face stared dumbly at the
pentagram he had made.
     "I did it!" he whispered deliriously. "I actually summoned a
demon!" Now he just had to work on his drawings so that they STAYED
in the circle...
     Unfortunately, Malkon had ensured that only HE would appear. If
he wanted to, that is. A boon to other demons, really.
                       *****
     Yuriko nervously kept glancing over at the stony-faced Nabiki as
they both sat on their couch, watching a show neither of them much cared
for. One was merely making the motions of watching while the other
watched her doing to, wondering what was the matter. Nabiki's
blue-haired roommate didn't know the reason why she was acting this
way, nothing had seemed capable of affecting Nabiki this much. Well,
maybe Twi...
     She stifled a gasp: that HAD to be it! Nabiki and Twister must
have gotten into a fight, and a serious one at that. But what could bother
her unflappable roommate? Suddenly, the show was interrupted by a news
report.

     "This just in: a disaster of epic proportions
     has occurred near the Nerima district
     levelling hundreds of buildings in a circular
     area of almost one and a half kilometers and
     causing damage to many more. The police have
     withheld comment but rumours abound that the
     incident started with a mysterious, middle-
     aged red-headed woman with blue eyes wearing
     blue jeans and white shirt..."

     Nabiki sat bolt upright when the anchorman read out the
description. "Oh no... What have I done?" she whispered as Yuriko's eyes
widened in realization, the blue-haired girl had figured out who the man
was talking about. He went on,

     "...of whom age is uncertain. Earlier reports
     say she was in her thirties but later ones say
     much older. Police who tried to apprehend the
     suspect were nearly killed by an `energy bolt'
     but were mysteriously taken somewhere else.
     The area was fortunately evacuated before the
     much larger explosion took place. Reports of a
     'flying suit of armour' fighting an oddly
     dressed woman with purple hair before the
     explosion have been made. These came from
     observers with high-powered cameras on
     witnessing the event from a building ten
     kilometers away. No helicopters are allowed
     but the JSDF has started to move and...."

     The pale-faced, middle Tendo daughter had seen enough, and
sprang up from the couch to round on a startled Yuriko. "Can you contact
Professor Miyabi?" she demanded, voice tight.
     "I..."
     "Come ON, Yuriko! NOW! She's got to be involved by now and..."
     Nabiki would have said more but then she was enveloped by a
white light that Yuriko had once seen around the Professor and vanished.
The blue-haired girl blinked and looked at the spot where her roommate
had stood instants before.
     "I guess the Professor wanted Nabiki too," she told empty air.
                       *****
     SkyKnight had landed on a rooftop with Ukyou a few kilometers
away from the area of Valanna's devastation. After willing his armour
away for the moment, they was quickly joined by the others, who in turn
had been joined by a worried Lotion and a calmer Cologne. Lotion had
evidently done something to help Mousse for the spectacled young man
was conscious and walking with only a few winces now and then.
     "All right, what do we do now?" Bert paused, then corrected
himself. "Or, more accurately, what CAN we do now against a
Chaos-filled, enraged elf? I mean, besides getting the crap kicked out of
us."
     "How strong is she, boy?" Cologne asked.
     The red-head ran a hand through his unruly hair and looked
worried. "She tossed me around like my powered armour was tinfoil and
my main weapons had no effect when I tried disabling her. That doesn't
happen every day, folks." He waved a hand at Mousse, Ryouga, and
Ukyou. "Sorry, people, but you weren't much better off even if I think she
was unconsciously holding back until that last blow-up. I bet, you were all
injured in the order on how well she knew you. Mousse, not really.
Ryouga, somewhat. Ukyou, pretty well. Am I right?"
     There were some glares at him but Ukyou finally nodded. "He's
right, guys. None of us could touch her; she's too fast and strong now."
     "Why did this happen?!" Lotion demanded, nobody had told her
the reasons Darlene had gone berserk yet.
     Multiple flares of light were her answer and everyone turned to the
new arrivals. Miyabi was at the front, Natsumi on her right and a pale but
composed Nabiki on her left. There was a strange man with a hood over
his head behind the Professor but he was ignored by the assembled
company.
     "I'll answer that," Miyabi declared, "but it makes little difference
with our problem now." She waved beside her at Nabiki, who looked
down, and said, "Love can be a trying experience some times and this is
no different. There was an argument and it allowed the Chaos within
Darlene to flourish as she got more and more emotionally engrossed.
Eventually, it overcame her natural reason and is dominant, somehow
aging her in the process to a form that can handle the increased power."
She gazed over the assembled company of fighters. "Mere physical
confrontation will not stop her now."
     "So we just do nothing?!?!" Ryouga demanded.
     The man behind Miyabi spoke up at last. "Not at all! The solution
is an obvious one, even to you." Miyabi reluctantly stepped aside as the
man stepped forward with an arrogant confidence and stood in front of an
incensed Bert. A hand came up and pulled of the hood, revealing a
elegantly handsome, reddish face with pointed ears at the side. The man
gave the red-head a superior smile.
     "Who the hell are YOU?!" Bert demanded.
     "Uh, Bert," Ranma replied nervously, "that's more accurate than
you know."
     "Quite so," the reddish-skinned person agreed, amused. "Allow me
to introduce myself. I am Malkon, arch-demon of the 472th sub-inferno of
my former Master's domain of Hell, and the one who accidentally
bequeathed Twister with his power." His fangs were prominent when he
grinned at Bert's suddenly pale face.
     Errrrk!!! Bert's mind gibbered frantically as his face whitened.
Boomers were one thing, but a DEMON?!
     "I may also have a possible solution to your little...crisis," Malkon
added, giving the uneasy Knight Saber an amused glance. Perversely, the
arch-demon's amusement irritated him, and he squelched the panic he'd
been feeling.
     "I'm listening," SkyKnight replied warily, folding his arms across
his chest and trying to look calm and collected. Malkon's eyebrow
twitched upwards, but he didn't comment.
     "It's quite simple," the arch-demon said smoothly. "The altered and
Chaos-filled Darlene, whose ears are most attractive on her, can only be
opposed by the one force which can most effectively counter Chaos."
     "And that is?"
     Malkon rolled his eyes as if the answer was obvious. "Order. Order
force grows on planned motion, or the smooth functioning of a machine.
More so with a piece of advanced technology like your own `hardsuit'. It
loves error-free computers, I hear." The arch-demon blinked innocently.
"And I happen to have a sword infused with such Order energy. With me it
merely guided my swordplay, but I suspect that in your suit it will allow
you to combat and hopefully eliminate the Chaos-forces inside Darlene, or
`Valanna' if you prefer."
     "Just `happen' to have, huh?"
     "Yes." An almost imperceptible frown flitted across the red face,
but Bert saw it and wondered about it. "I didn't think I had something like
it, but I do. Believe me, I had NOTHING to do with Darlene getting
infected in the first place." *And I WILL find out who WAS,* the
arch-demon promised himself. He cocked an eyebrow. "I'm not foolish,
nor suicidal."
       "You do realize that I don't entirely trust you?" Bert asked, eyeing
Malkon skeptically. "How to I know you're not bullshitting me into doing
your dirty work?"
       "Because it is as much in my interests to cure Twister as it is
yours. I have NO desire to have her get the bright idea to come running
after me with that much Chaos in her; my magic would be near useless
with that kind of directed power." The arch-demon gave him a direct look.
"And whom of the two of us do you think would be better suited, pardon
my humour, for this? An arch-demon of Hell who wields magic for more
often chaotic purposes and a disliked adversary of Twister's; or a human
with idealistic honour with a sophisticated suit of digitally programmed
armour, however magical, and a new friend of the Chaos-afflicted party?"
       Unfortunately, Bert got Malkon's point, but he didn't have to like
it. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll take the Order." A sudden impulse made him
add, "Did you want fries with that?" There was a muffled groan from
somewhere behind him, and the sound of someone slapping a hand over
their face.
       "Pardon me?" The arch-demon looked puzzled.
       "Nevermind. Long story," Bert waved off the joke with a hand.
"So where is this Sword?"
       "Right here." Malkon gestured with one taloned hand, and a long
sword with an ornate hilt shimmered into view, hanging point-down in
midair.
       "One second." Bert forced his mind into a calm state, and then
concentrated. One purple flash later, and he was again clad in his armour.
"Now I'm ready."
       SkyKnight stepped forward and reached out to the sword, noting
absently that his sensors were detecting a powerful energy field around the
weapon. No, not around the weapon....IN the weapon. His gauntleted hand
hesitated only a moment before he wrapped his fingers around the hilt.
       There was a flare of white light from the sword at the contact,
and a loud thrumming noise erupted for a few seconds as the light turned
into a swirling iridescent rainbow-hued cloud. The whirling cloud
cloaking the displaced Knight Saber flashed and flickered as Malkon
backed away in distaste at the emanations of Order coming from the
sword-bearing hardsuit.
       The whirling of the light slowed, and the phosphorescent cloud
suddenly seemed to be sucked back into the blade of the sword. Ranma
gaped in surprise as the light receded; SkyKnight's physical appearance
had changed as a result of the Order energy.
     The silver hardsuit was now brilliantly iridescent and mirror-like
in the polish of its armour plating. Light reflected from every facet of its
surface. The suit had also somehow become more ornate-looking, and a
long cloak of midnight blue swirled down from SkyKnight's armoured
shoulders.
       "Methinks 'tis raiment more befitting the task at hand."
SkyKnight's modulated voice had also altered a bit, becoming more
resonant. He stretched and flexed his arms, still gripping the Order sword
in one hand. "And I doth feel...revitalized somehow."
       "Interesting," Malkon murmured to himself, his eyes narrowing as
he looked at the transformed hardsuit. "I will leave you to your task then,"
he spoke aloud, shelving the matter for later consideration when time
wasn't quite so pressing. "My remaining here this long is risky enough, and
I don't wish to tempt fate further."
       "Aye," SkyKnight agreed. "And methinks haste in this matter is
warranted on my part."
                       *****
     Natsumi watched from behind Miyabi as Bert leaped off the side
of the building to land amidst startled pedestrians on the street. He seemed
a different person with the Order he had now. The young mage turned her
head to look at Nabiki and sighed softly.
     Nabiki was keeping her face carefully blank as she stood beside
her worried sister. The magic-user knew how concerned her former rival
for Twister must be now that SkyKnight had gone to battle Valanna to
combat the wild Chaos.
     The attractive woman whom she'd seen in magic class lately was
more openly concerned, alternately looking in the direction of where the
Chaos was disturbing mystic senses or frowning in Nabiki's direction.
     She did not know the exact reasons for Darlene's blow-up with
Nabiki, nor, she guessed, did the young amazon woman. However, by the
firm set of Lotion's mouth and eyes it was a sure bet she would find out.
Natsumi turned back to where SkyKnight had left.
     "Be careful and safe, my knight," she whispered.

                       *****
     Darlene's aged form as the elven Valanna was still in the
devastated region of the city she had practically flattened during her fight
with the martial artists of Nerima and SkyKnight. A large piece of
concrete served as a temporary seat while the cause of the destruction
looked about herself with a half-smile, the whites of her eyes swirling
with random colors. Her altered Dragonsword still lay in her right hand's
grip and now reflected the visible aura of Chaos about itself, the link to its
creator having corrupted the magical weapon into an instrument of Chaos.
     Valanna's thoughts were not lucid enough to make a normal
decision possible. While the force inhabiting her was currently dominant,
it still had trouble doing what it wished as the elven mage unconsciously
fought for control during this lull. Only outside intervention could provide
motivation now and everyone had fled. However, it was obvious the
damage she had caused would soon attract attention.
     And then she would rise.
                       *****
     The police had barricaded all roads going to the devastated region.
They were quite unprepared for the gleaming figure in a suit of futuristic
battle armour wielding a sword striding nonchalantly through the startled
civilians gathered before them. The suit didn't look at all fake, and it
moved with impeccable precision. The powerful, almost
electrical-sounding hum that accompanied it made people draw back in
combined awe and fear.
     Nonetheless, several officers blocked this odd arrival's path.
"Stop!" one barked, and Bert halted, red visor gazing ominously at the
man nervously raising a hand in his direction. "No one is allowed through.
Who ARE you?!"
     "Thou mayest call me SkyKnight!" Bert boomed, flourishing the
Order sword a couple of times while a convenient breeze made his cape
dramatically billow out behind him. The fact that the long blade was
impossibly glowing like a rainbow made the foremost officer sweat as it
spun in the Knight Saber's grasp. "I doth come to challenge the one
afflicted by Chaos with the Order an' might with every fibre of my being!
It would be ill-advised to try to prevent our inevitable battle, sir, even
more to witness the fray. I doth beseech thee: withdraw whilst thou art
able."
     SkyKnight started forward again. Despite several dubious looks at
each other, the cops spread out into a line, blocking his advance. Unless
he wanted to shove them aside bodily, he couldn't go past them.
     "I don't know who you are," the lead officer replied, his voice
wavering only slightly, "but we have orders not to allow anyone past this
point until the SDF gets here."
     "Thy dedication to thy duty is admirable," boomed the silver
figure. "In thy own way, thou art also servants of Order. However, none
may deter me; I must confront the blight of Chaos that afflicts this city."
With that, a scream reminiscent of supersonic jet engines blasted through
the air, forcing several people to cringe and slap their hands over their
ears. Dust and papers blew outwards as SkyKnight lofted into the sky,
sailing easily over the police and their barricade. The silver figure landed
easily on the other side, and resumed his measured march towards the
epicenter of the destruction, where his eternal adversary awaited him.
     Inside his helmet, Bert blinked, then shook his head.
     "Methinks I be identifying with Order a mite overmuch," he mused
out loud to himself.
                       *****
     Dust swirled around Valanna's boots as the elf remained utterly
still. The wind blew purple hair across her faintly smiling face as her
vacant gaze stayed on the ground.
     Suddenly, she jerked upright, eyes darting back and forth as she
sought something that her senses had picked up. Valanna's eyes finally
found and locked onto the source of the damnable feeling of Order. Her
lips curled into something between a sneer and a snarl as she stood, hand
tightening on her sword's hilt.
     A part of her recognized the altered SkyKnight as the Knight Saber
strode steadily towards her across the blasted terrain, brilliant blue cape
fluttering behind him. His armour was preternaturally bright and his walk
was far too confident after her effortless toying with him the last time
they'd met. The Chaos within her seethed at seeing the sword he held, and
knew instantly what had happened.
     Valanna aimed her sword at him, channelling more Chaos into her
soulbonded sword. Lightning-like discharges crackled about the weapon
as it glowed disturbingly. "YAAAAHH!" she screamed at last and a beam
of pure Chaos force clawed through the air towards her armoured foe.
     SkyKnight both saw and felt it coming. He planted his feet apart in
a stable stance, holding his sword in a two-handed grip before him with
complete confidence. The stream of Chaos struck the sword blade dead on
and split in twain, arrowing into intact buildings behind him. There was a
moment's pause, then the buildings exploded violently, causing
SkyKnight's cloak to press into him as the edges flapped with the force of
the explosions. He lowered his sword and continued advancing on
Valanna's position.
     Pure force of habit caused Bert to start running check-up
diagnostics on his hardsuit. He frowned in irritation when he realized that
the Order in his SkyKnight armour couldn't help but keep everything in
perfect running, heh, order. However, he felt it getting stronger when he
did.
     And whyforth not? he thought, wanting to kick himself. Diagnostic
routines were logical programs designed to ensure the proper functioning
of his suit. Thousands of orderly computations were involved with each
full check; it was no wonder his Order power increased. Cannily, he kept
it up.
     Valanna crouched in readiness as he approached, furious her
attempt had failed but knowing why. Her eyes narrowed. "So..." she
growled, talking intelligibly for the first time since the change, "ye hath
come, have ye?"
     SkyKnight nodded as he came closer. "Aye," he agreed. "I hath
come to vanquish thee once more, as is our destiny." In a private corner of
his mind, Bert wondered what the heck he and Valanna were talking
about.
     "Destiny!!" Valanna exclaimed, eyes widening innocently. "We
hath but little of that. All ye do is deny mine simple pleasures." She waved
her arm to indicate the devastation around her. "This pittance is nothing to
us."
     "Thy true reasons are clear," SkyKnight said levelly, bringing his
sword tip up again. "An' since ye are mine to deal with, mine be the duty
to drive thee away."
     Valanna smiled viciously as she smoothly brought her own sword
level at the side. "To try, Vessel of Order," she mocked Bert sweetly. "Thy
duty to try."
     "So be it."
     "Aye!" Valanna cried wildly, aura increasing as energy crackled
along her sword. "And mine be the victory!" She drew back her sword
with a snarl. "CHAOS CUTTER!" was her cry as she swung the weapon,
creating an arc of roiling force that sliced through the air towards
SkyKnight.
     The Knight Saber's sword glowed and a scintillating shield of
rainbow light formed before him. It and the chaos attack clashed wildly,
white light flaring between the two opposing forces as most of the Chaos
was cancelled out by Bert's Order.
     Unfortunately, Valanna personally followed the strike. The shield
of light shattered when her left fist hit it. Then the sword in her other fist
smashed into the unprepared SkyKnight's own blade, knocking it aside.
She followed it up with a smashing kick in the same place she had kicked
him previously, but this time with Chaos backing up the kick. Again,
energy flared between the two forces as she connected. However, instead
of flying off uncontrollably, SkyKnight skidded across the ground on his
armoured feet, creating furrows in the blasted earth as he struggled to
recover.
     "How doth thee enjoy mine might, Vessel?" Valanna smirked,
playfully tracing designs in the air with her sword. Her whole posture
screamed arrogance as she placed a hand on her hip. "Mine body is quick
and powerful while thy shell of metal and earth plods along akin to an
ass."
     "The ass is slow," SkyKnight declared, his side aching from the
blow, as he better prepared himself, "but hardy and steady. Thy gloating is
premature." His arm whipped up and a crimson beam lanced towards the
elf, propelling her backwards with a scream of rage and pain as the
Order-infused particle-laser beam tore at her Chaos aura. It don't reach her
physically, he had somehow known that it wouldn't, but the Chaos that
dwelled within her had been caused pain.
     She held her mid-section with an arm, fiercely glaring at her foe.
"Thou DARE!!" she hissed, enraged. The Dragonsword burst into flame of
disorienting colors as more of her power was focused into it. "I shall tear
the shell that holds thy Order force apart and rip asunder the soft man who
wields you... thee, dragging his entrails out from his belly." Valanna lifted
a clawed hand as if demonstrating. "Then I shall feast on them before his
dying eyes before shattering thy sword into dust!!!"
     "Thy fury only insures my victory," SkyKnight replied, far calmer
than the nauseous, free part of Bert's mind felt; his intestines were
bunching together for comfort. Still, every part of him had noticed the
minor slip in Valanna's Chaos-influenced speech. He himself had
surrendered to Order's guiding force willingly, but it was a sure thing it
wasn't the same situation in Valanna's case.
     Then his mind was forced back to the fight as Valanna flipped the
sword to point at the ground and plunged the blade deep into the earth,
concrete and soil bubbling from the contact with Chaos. "EARTH
BREAKER!!" she shouted, and wildly aimed lines of power tunnelled
towards the spot where SkyKnight stood, leaving glowing trails where
they passed. 
     He jumped backwards just as the many lines corkscrewed into a
collision course. With a thunderous roar, a column of fire and melting
earth exploded from the ground. Catching the fringe of the explosion, the
silver hardsuit was tossed inelegantly backwards and landed in a painful
heap ten feet away.
     Forsooth, this hath gone too far, SkyKnight decided grimly as he
slowly rose. To continue this destruction wouldst only increase her power.
Raising his sword solemnly, he began channelling the Order strength the
hardsuit had generated into his well-made blade even as his wings
snapped out. Turbines howled into life as he crouched, the sword intensely
glowing with rainbow light.
     Valanna watched all this with a scowl, guessing what he was about
to do. "Ye seek to face mine power directly?" she said with a scornful
laugh. Pulling the unearthly glowing Dragonsword from the ground, the
elf raised it in parody of her foe's actions. With an evil smile, she gestured
him towards herself with a free hand. "Come forth then, an' be destroyed!"
     "As the lady wishes!!" SkyKnight bellowed, and triggered his jets.
They howled as power flowed into them and the Knight Saber was
propelled straight for the waiting elf, mighty sword ready. He had picked
up considerable velocity by the time he reached her and swung the Order
Sword with all his strength.
     And clashed with the corrupted Dragonsword. Energy cracked
around SkyKnight and Valanna's forms as the elf strained to match her
enemy's power. Feet digging furrows in the ground as the hardsuit pressed
her, Valanna grit her teeth and matched the Order force by pouring more
of Chaos into the Dragonsword. Slowly, she stopped her backwards
progress, even with SkyKnight going full throttle against her.
     White and black lightning sparked wildly over their forms, and
most intensely where the blades crossed. There a light grew as the
opposing powers annihilated each other. Two wills clashing for
supremacy.
     "You...will...not...beat...ME!" Valanna grated, glaring at the red
slot over their crossed swords and willing yet more of her power into the
Dragonsword. The glow of her blade intensified, SkyKnight instantly
matching it. "Never...beat...CHAOS!"
     "That...is...not...mine...intent," SkyKnight managed to say, effort
making him sweat as more and more of the enervating force filling his suit
and himself was drained into the sword.
"There...can...be...no...victor...for...us," he panted, "but...
your...vessel...WILL...be...freed! The...boundary...has...been...
crossed...foolish...one!"
     Valanna's eyes widened in shock, realizing she had been tricked.
For it was true, the Chaos was being drained from her even as Order was
from Bert. And Valanna's true personality was helping the flow as it
struggled for dominance against the alien power. It made it impossible to
halt the drain as Order destroyed itself on Chaos. "NO!!" she yelled, but
whether it was a protest of SkyKnight's actions or of her own protest of
being possessed was unknown.
     His own mind settling back to normal, Bert was panicking as the
two swords continued to glow brighter and brighter. It was like holding on
to a stick of plasma dynamite.
     -Do not worry,- a familiar voice, his own actually, told him, -she
will be free when this ends.-
     "That's not what I'm worried about!!" Bert screamed as the last of
the Order left him. There was a sudden silence as the lightning flowed
over to cover only the pulsing swords. Valanna was blinking as if waking
up from a dream, then gave her sword a startled look when she heard a
cracking sound from it and Bert's.
     -Oh, yes, that could be a problem.-
     The rainbow and chaotic light from the swords were sucked into
the gleaming star that was the contact point in a sudden implosion, taking
both swords with it. Then a column of roaring power erupted outwards,
tossing both SkyKnight and Valanna away like leaves in a hurricane wind. 
     It was possible the force was contained by what was left of the
Order affected by Bert's mind, but in any case the geyser of power only
grew to a diameter of forty feet and launched into the heavens. The clouds
above recoiled when the intense beam of light passed through on its way
through infinity.

                       *****

     Ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwww..... Bert groaned to himself, coming to
a few minutes after the column disappeared. Slowly lifting himself up he
checked his suit's status. It was perfect. Nothing damaged whatsoever and
power near peak despite the trails he had just gone through. It was just his
muscles that felt like he had just done a marathon.
     I suppose I should count myself lucky, Bert thought, carefully
standing and looking around. He froze when he spotted the deep crater
their battle had produced, or, more accurately, the figure standing beside
it. He trudged towards the lone figure, who turned to face him.
     "I made a mess, didn't I?" Valanna said, biting her lower lip.
     Bert couldn't help it; he laughed, much to her embarrassment.
"You make it sound like you wet your bed!" he chortled. She flushed red,
more angry now.
     "Bert!!" 
     "I know, I know, it's..." he began to apologize, then stepped
forward in sudden concern when the elf collapsed to one knee. "Hey, you
all right??"  
     "Just...suddenly tired," she said faintly. It was a measure of her
weariness when she did not protest Bert picking her up. 
     "I'm not surprised," he said as they looked at the deep crater, and
then the destruction around them. "That Chaos possessing you sure had a
real mean streak. Talk about urban renewal."
     Valanna scowled. "And my sword. I LIKED that sword! It HURT
when the link broke!" she complained.
     "I can relate," Bert agreed, thinking of the now-destroyed Order
Sword. It had was a heady feeling remembering that you had wielded
something like Order. He looked up, checking as yet clear skies, but knew
that the authorities would be coming soon. Despite their involvement, it
would not be a Good Thing to stick around. "I think it's time to be scarce."
     "I certainly don't want the bill for THIS mess," Valanna sighed.
                       *****
     One of these centuries I really should get one of those mortal...
`Pop-o-matics' I think they are called, Malkon mused silently as he
watched the last of the two forces' energies dissipate. I could use some of
their `popcorn' after that fine show.
     The arch-demon had gone to great lengths to insure his spying
would be safe from the energies unleashed from the inevitable conflict
and was glad he did. It was rare for him to see battles like the one he had
just witnessed. Normally, Malkon was of a more scholarly bent towards
magic. For an arch-demon, that is; one had to be strong in many ways in
order to survive in Hell. Especially a young and humanoid one like
himself. He enjoyed the occasional torment, combat, or reaching for
conquest, but preferred delving into magics when he could. His passion
for increasing his own magics was one he relished.
     Which was why he had wanted Darlene, Twister's female and very
magical side. But current events were frustrating him, and that he could
not abide. Where HAD the that sword of Order come from, and why save
HIM with it? Why not give it to that mortal, Bert, as the arch-demon
believed it to be the original intent of his mysterious benefactor. A second
party seemed to be involved as well, having supplied the bands of Rekthil
which ultimately infected Darlene. It was doubtful only one was involved
as it was highly unlikely that one being would use both Order and Chaos.
     But the PURPOSE of it all remained maddeningly elusive as his
mind fought to make sense of it all. The arch-demon didn't dare try to
approach Darlene or Bert until he found out why and what his own role in
all this was. It was all...
     A flash startled Malkon and he shot up from his chair, ready to
defend himself as his wary gaze swept around the room. Nothing.
Nothing, until he spotted a gem on the floor. The arch-demon cautiously
approached after casting a quick defensive spell so that he may take a
better look at it.
     He gasped.
     Not much will send dread through an arch-demon's soul but the
symbol he found engraved into the gem the color of dried blood managed
it easily. His hand scooped up the gem, knowing no being in Hell would
use this as a trap for fear of their very existence. Malkon stared at the
symbol with awed disbelief.
     It was both as simple and complex as a lie. A circle with an
inverted pentagram within was the simple part. The fact it was formed
from thousands of engraved snakes swallowing another's tail was not. It
was rumoured that every seal was exact as it could be down to the last
particle of matter and Malkon didn't doubt it. He knew what it meant.
     A Summons.
     From the ultimate Lord of Hell himself.
     And no one had been Summoned for hundreds of eons. Until now.
     Malkon swallowed as he gripped the gem tighter for faint
reassurance. Such meetings were told to take anywhere from a year to
centuries. First his encounter with Twister/Darlene, now the seeming plot
by invisible adversaries, and then this... this INCONCEIVABLE event
happens! Only one thought flashed though the arch-demon's stunned mind.
     What in all the HELLS is happening that precipitated THIS?!?!

Part Nine - Aftermaths
----------------------

     Not feeling up to flying herself, Valanna let SkyKnight pick her up
and they flew back to the place where Bert had left the others. She did
have to cast an invisibility spell around them so that no one spotted their
flight. On arriving at the roof where the group waited, the elf dropped the
spell and some jumped at their sudden appearance.
     "Here she is: hale, hardy, and healthy," SkyKnight proclaimed as
he let the nervously smiling Valanna stand on the ground. His armour
vanished with a purple flash as he dismissed it and his smiling face was
visible to everyone now.
     Valanna shifted as everyone stared at her elven looks. "Um... sorry
about the trouble," she said softly. Professor Miyabi sighed and walked up
to her, placing a hand on the now-equally tall elf's shoulder.
     "It's not your fault that the Chaos overwhelmed you, Darlene," the
older mage told her firmly. "You're still far too young to even THINK
about dealing with that sort of unpredictable and unstable force. It was an
accident that you became infused with it; don't place blame on yourself."
     "I..." Valanna wrestled with her feelings for a moment, then sighed
and nodded. "All right."
     Akane couldn't hold back any longer and stepped up to the elf,
blinking up at the elegantly beautiful features and general appearance.
"Wow, Darlene, you really look different now." Standing beside the
downcast Nabiki, Lotion was staring at the elvish beauty of the one she
loved.
     "Yeah, I'm looking pretty outlandish now, huh? I..." Valanna broke
off with a shudder and closed her eyes. Before anyone could panic, her
features began to change. Now that the Chaos was gone, her body was
slowly reverting back to its true form without anything to keep it in its
current age. Her hair became white, body widened and shorted, face
became more like a mature Darlene, and her outfit returned to the
now-tight clothes she had originally worn. Miyabi steadied her as she
wavered.
     "Maybe you should come over to my place for a few hours," she
suggested as her dazed student opened her eyes, then looked up at Bert.
"You too, mister." The Knight Saber sighed, but fell in behind them.
     All of a sudden, Nabiki stepped forward and stood in front of the
old-appearing Darlene. Her face was neutral, but her inhalation before she
spoke was shaky. "Could you come over to my place once you're done?"
She swallowed. "Please?"
     "I... will," Darlene answered hesitantly.
     Nabiki nodded brusquely. "Good. I'll see you later then." She
turned to find an angry but silent Lotion was standing behind her.
"However, I'd like to talk with you there right now," she said more
neutrally.
     Lotion was surprised, but nodded as she wanted to say a few things
herself. With a musical burst of song from her, both she and Nabiki
vanished in a flash of light.
     "What are you doing, Nabiki?" Darlene sighed aloud, drained of
emotion for a while.
     "I think they just need to talk things out between themselves,"
Miyabi told her. "They'll be okay. YOU, however, are coming with me,
Miyabi, and Bert. Now."
     Bert didn't even have time to protest when they all vanished.
                       *****
     Nabiki sat down on her bed as she kept her eyes on her rival,
Lotion, admittedly not much of one considering Twister's trepidation that
bordered on a phobia about the amazon magic-user.
     The middle Tendo daughter sighed mentally; not that she had
helped matters herself after the outburst that had caused Darlene to go into
an emotional pit of depression. Which had fanned the small spark of
Chaos remaining into a forest fire. It was luck, pure and simple, that
Malkon had helped Bert drive the Chaos from Darlene.
     "What did you say to Darlene that allowed the Chaos to gain such
strength?" Lotion demanded angrily. "You should have known that what
happened next would be disastrous."
     "I... forgot about it," Nabiki admitted reluctantly as she absently
rubbed her palm on the bed's cover.
     "WHY?!? What possessed you? What did you say?!"
     "I told him... her that I didn't want to see her again."
     Dumbfounded, Lotion stared down at the short-haired girl, who
was looking at the floor, then anger burned in the amazon's eyes as she
stepped closer and gripped Nabiki's shoulders hard, making the young
woman wince. The amazon lifted her so they could look eye-to-eye. "By
my Ancestors!! WHY!?!?" She shook the Tendo daughter. "You KNOW
she loves you, and you love her."
     "Let go of me and I'll tell you," Nabiki said softly. Lotion
reluctantly let her prisoner go and said nothing as she crossed her arms
and walked over to the window. She stared at the scene outside
sightlessly.
     "That other form Darlene had when the Chaos possessed her, what
did you think it was?" she asked.
     "What do you mean?" Lotion replied, suddenly confused by the
change of topic. "The Chaos did that... didn't it?" she said, suddenly
unsure. Nabiki shook her head.
     "No." She sighed and turned her head to see the amazon blink in
confusion. "That's the reason I was so furious, because he didn't tell me
about that and some other `minor' events he went through when he was
away."
     "I don't... I don't understand."
     Nabiki turned the rest of her body to face Lotion fully. "He found
out that his aging has slowed down dramatically, to the point where if he
stayed in this universe that if we died of old age he would look almost the
same as he does now."
     Lotion was stunned. Was this true?? But Nabiki had more to say.
     "His `normal' lifespan is now somewhere between thirty to forty
thousand years, but that isn't the end of it, oh no! At THAT point he will
change and we've seen what the female side will look like. For all we
know he may be immortal now.
     "THEN I was told just how badly he'd been hurt once in that other
universe. I was NOT impressed that he had two limbs BLOWN OFF, one
leg and several ribs broken, a mild concussion, and assorted other minor
injuries." Furious at the memory, Nabiki slammed a fist onto the top of her
desk. "AND HE NEVER TOLD ME!!!" she shouted angrily. "The bastard
fixed it all, but he could have died! I had to find this out from his
roommate! Why couldn't he have told ME?!" She stopped to get a hold of
herself and calm down, turning away from the shocked amazon.
     "It hurt," Nabiki said after half a minute. "It hurt a lot, and I
wanted to hurt him back. I was confused and uncertain on how to react
over his new longevity, but my anger at his `betrayal' made things worse.
That's why... I said what I said." Frustrated, she ran a hand through her
hair. "I'm still unsure, but I shouldn't have lashed out like that in the first
place. Damn it, I still love him." Nabiki blinked and looked up at the
amazon magic-user. "I'm not even sure why I'm confessing to you."
     Lotion was about to respond when a sphere suddenly appeared
before her. She was surprised, but not for long as she saw the image in the
globe. "Mistress Perfume!"
     The young-looking, head mage of the amazons peered at her
apprentice from the spell-sphere. "You seem distressed, Lotion. Is
something the matter?"
     "I just heard... something surprising, aunt Perfume."
     "Hmmm... Oh, well, no matter. I'm calling you because I finally
got around to the standard divination of a soon-to-be married couple."
     "Divination?" Nabiki asked, puzzled. Perfume heard and seemed
oddly pleased to see her.
     Lotion explained. "A spell is often cast to see whether or not a
couple will have children and if they will have lots of female children. If a
couple does well then it is good for the village." From inside the sphere
Perfume nodded.
     "That is true. And if Lotion joins with Twister they will have
none," she said calmly. The news took a moment for the younger amazon
to comprehend, but when it did she was rocked.
     "None?! But... does this not trouble you, great-aunt Perfume??"
     "Well, I decided to cast another spell to see what the result would
be if this other girl Nabiki married your husband. It was the same." Still
Perfume seemed unruffled.
     Now Nabiki was stunned. "So... Twister is sterile?"
     "No. Neither are the two of you."
     Nabiki and Lotion looked at each other, extremely perplexed,
before turning to the globe. "Then WHAT is wrong??" Nabiki demanded.
Perfume took a moment to respond, but when she did she did so slowly.
     "I thought it odd, for while he could have been unable to have
children I felt I was missing something. So I cast my spell again in a
different way and then, much to my surprise, I found children were
possible."
     "How?!" Lotion demanded.
     "You must BOTH marry him to have children," Perfume intoned.
     They stared.
     "Pardon me?" Nabiki said, not sure if she had heard right. Perfume
chuckled at their expressions.
     "There is something unusual about your would-be groom and for
some reason you are both required if you wish to have children by him. I
suppose it is something to do with his unusually dual nature, more so than
I have seen in any Jyusenkyo-curse person, if Twister even is such
anymore. If he was, he could not have performed the binding spell with
us. In any case, I have to go. Good luck, you two." The globe vanished.
     "I suppose it is one way to solve our problem," Nabiki said slowly.
     "But he is still afraid of me, and aren't you still mad at him?"
Lotion said sadly. "How do we resolve our problems?"
     "Both of us..." Nabiki muttered aloud. Now why both? Well,
Twister did say his two halves were opposites and she and Lotion were
also opposites in a way. She liked to consider herself intelligent,
controlled, and heterosexual; Lotion was a magic-user, more passionate,
and preferred women. It made sense, in a weird way. She told Lotion her
thoughts and the amazon reluctantly agreed that it made sense.
     "It fits," Nabiki added. "Natsumi was also a magic-user but you are
more of an opposite to me. Twister probably hasn't even realized it yet." A
sudden thought struck Nabiki. "No... Surely not..." she murmured.
     "What?" Lotion asked. Nabiki looked up and smiled as she walked
up to the puzzled amazon.
     "We both love Twister, right?" Lotion nodded. "And you..." Nabiki
blushed, "WE both want children, right?" Lotion nodded again, wondering
where this was going. "Would you mind if we both marry him?"
     "Well," Lotion said with a purr, "you ARE an attractive woman
too..."
     "I'd say that's a yes," Nabiki said quickly; she could deal with that
later. "Therefore, let's both marry him. Two wives. AFTER he does a few
things first and without telling him our real reasons for it, until after the
ceremony of course."
     Lotion was confused. "Isn't this sudden? I thought you were still
angry at him." Grinning, Nabiki tugged the other woman over to the bed
and sat her down.
     "Not after I heard this," Nabiki explained as she remained
standing, smiling secretively.
     "What? I don't understand."
     "Well..." Nabiki drawled. "I was his girlfriend first, and then you
came along so this `two wives needed' thing didn't happen immediately,
right?" Lotion motioned her to go on. "This is Twister's problem because
of that `dual nature' business he keeps talking about and it seems like a
rather powerful problem, because his powers are strong. So..." Nabiki said
with a grin. "What if it goes both ways?"
     "I don't..."
     "You," Nabiki pointed at Lotion, "are magic, I," she pointed at
herself, "am mind. Both are needed for children." She paused. "For his
male side."
     Lotion was starting to get it, but still wasn't sure. "But..."
     "What would be the opposite, mind-and-magic-wise of OUR
situation if we are married to him forever?" Nabiki asked the amazon but
answered it herself. "It's simple: a SINGLE, male person, with both mind
and magic powers, and makes out with... Darlene."
     Lotion stared.
     "If I'm right, then it WILL happen eventually, even if I'm not sure
about all the details," Nabiki declared. "And that's why I'm not mad
anymore. Since Twister decided not telling ME about his news, then I
won't bother telling him this." She grinned at her revenge.
     "After all, I may be wrong," she said loftily, "and it would only
distress him."
     Lotion had to agree with that.
                       *****
     Miyabi had used some hot water to change the rejuvenating
Darlene into Twister and the change was certainly one to see. White
streaks on either side of his head ran through his brown hair, giving him a
distinguished look. That, coupled with his older, somehow commanding
appearance, made his slightly more powerfully built body look like he
belonged in an important position. But a sparkle of mischief and humour
remained in his eyes as he looked away from a hand-held mirror,
tempering the aspect. 
     Bert shook his head at the sight. "Which army did YOU spring
from?" he said, joking.
     "Huh. Imagine me sitting in Quincy's office," Twister chuckled as
he looked at his reflection again. Bert blinked.
     "Scarily enough, I can," the red-head mused honestly.
     "Ha, ha. Funny. It's been a bit since I've been male. At this rate I'll
be back to normal in a few hours."
     "Yes," Miyabi agreed from her chair, watching Twister's regression
back to his true age with fascination and a little bit of admiration; she was
not over the hill by a long shot. "The Chaos doesn't seem to have caused
any permanent damage, fortunately. Personally, I was more worried about
Bert in that respect," the red-head started, "but it seems to have been
focused mainly on his armour, not himself."
     "My student availed himself with honor. Proud I be," a voice
cackled. "Time to show myself to you, it is."
     Miyabi and Bert stared at the little, wizened apparition that
appeared in the middle of the room. Twister looked at them both, puzzled.
     "What's wrong?" he asked. Miyabi looked startled that he didn't see
it.
     "Something just appeared in the room. Small, green, big ears, and
wearing a grungy old robe. Doesn't appear to be hostile."
     "He's not," Bert croaked.
     Miyabi looked at him sharply. "This belongs to you? What is it?"
     "Yoda."
     The little Jedi Master made a piqued noise. "What is it, she says.
Yoda not an it. Yoda is Yoda. Humph."
     "Bert?" Twister said, wondering what was wrong.
     "I've been hearing his voice in my head for a while, but this is the
first time I've actually SEEN him. You can't?" he asked the psionist, who
shook his head. "Then how come the Professor can?"
     "Magic, I suppose," Twister offered. "I'm immune right now,
remember?"
     "Only those who can see the force can see me," Yoda stated. 
     "Whatever," Miyabi sighed. "It's likely a creation of your
subconscious mind acting as your `guide', Bert. A possible result of your
new abilities. Probably not a danger and more likely a useful aid." Yoda
`Humphed!'. Could we get on to what happened earlier?"
     "What's to tell?" Bert demanded. "Twister, as Darlene, got majorly
depressed because of, uh, personal problems. That fed the Chaos inside
her and started taking over, to the point where it actually had a guiding
intelligence when I fought it with the now destroyed Order Sword. The
Chaos put everything it had into Darlene's Dragonsword while Order did
the same with its sword. They both seemed drawn to each other in the end
before the last blow-up where the swords were toasted."
     "I lost a sword, but better that than me," Twister sighed.
     "But WHY?" Miyabi pressed. "Was there a purpose to all of this?"
     "I guess..." Twister started slowly, "that Chaos wanted me because
my body COULD contain it in female form. Who knows for sure? It's
CHAOS."
     "I wish I knew why Malkon had seemed disturbed," Miyabi
muttered. Twister jerked straight in his chair, eyes blazing.
     "Malkon?! When??"
     "He gave us the Order Sword, but oddly enough he didn't seem to
be the one behind it all, and possibly wanted to know who WAS more
than I do." Miyabi frowned in frustration. "We may never know." The
psionist calmed down.
     "Besides," Bert pointed out, "you have bigger fish to fry today.
Like Nabiki."
     "I'd better go wait for her call then." Closing his eyes, Twister
leaned back into the chair and nodded painfully, agreeing with what he
had just said, before vanishing for his apartment.
     Bert didn't envy him.
     "Worry not, my student. The Force flows in mysterious ways."
     "Shut up, Yoda."
     "Humph!"
                       *****
     Twister knocked on the door with some trepidation and a moment
later Yuriko opened it. Nabiki had asked her roommate to phone his
apartment and that he was to arrive without teleporting, but it was plain
the blue-haired young woman wasn't happy about it. The two were her
friends and it tore her up inside to see them disagreeing. The fact that it
had also torn up a good section of Nerima wasn't lost on her. She hoped
they were going to make up.
     "Hi, Yuriko," Twister said softly, seeing her worried expression.
"Where's Nabiki?"
     "In her room. Waiting." Yuriko blinked, it wasn't her imagination:
Twister WAS a bit taller and more defined. "Why do you look... older?"
     "I was aged during my little," he grimaced, "rampage. My body
didn't seem to like it happening artificially so I'm slowly getting back to
normal, but it's not quite done yet." The brown-haired young man sighed
as he stared where Nabiki's door was. "I'd better go to her. Thanks,
Yuriko."
     "Good luck," Nabiki's roommate encouraged.
     I'll need it, Twister thought as he opened the door.
     Nabiki was sitting on the bed, waiting for him. She was prepared
for him after hearing his arrival through the door, but some of the grief he
still felt over her heated words must have shown on his face because she
fidgeted a little on seeing his expression. He was surprised to see Lotion
sitting in the desk's chair and positioned close to her rival.
     "Find out anything else I didn't mention?" Twister asked Nabiki, he
couldn't help the trace of anger that slid into the words and regretted it
instantly. Surprisingly, she only flushed a little.
     "No, as a matter of fact I haven't," she told him evenly. "Actually, I
asked you over to apologize for what I said. I wasn't myself."
     "Sorry, Nabiki, I didn't mean to snap at..."
     "I was being a bitch," Nabiki admitted, surprising him, "AND
damn thoughtless of what I should've known would happen." She looked
at him levelly. "But it hurt, Twister."
     Twister absently rubbed his face with a hand. "I'd wanted to forget
about those things, even though I can't. The best I can do is avoid thinking
about them until I'm ready to accept it. How could I tell you until I was?"
     "You told Bert and your roommate."
     "I don't love them like I do you," he answered back, resolutely
looking at an empty wall. "Either of the things you found out have
elements that I worried might drive you away. Now how could I tell you
when I realized that? I was crushed when you said you didn't want to see
me again. That I was Darlene at the time didn't improve things, Chaos or
no."
     Nabiki stood and walked over closer to him. "I know. I just wanted
to hurt you at the time. I'm not proud of it." She paused. "I still love you,
Twister," she said softly.
     It lifted his heart enough that he had a wry smile when he turned to
face her, stepping close enough so that their arms could reach around the
other. Twister looked down at Nabiki's smiling face. "Yeah, me too. I
don't think I could stop that, even if I wanted too."
     Her response was to pull him down into a long kiss.
     When they separated, Twister asked, "Two questions."
     "Go ahead."
     "Am I forgiven?"
     "Mmmm... After that kiss, I guess so," she chuckled. "What's the
second question?" Twister calmly looked at her.
     "Do you mind telling me why Lotion is here and hasn't said a word
of protest, or spoken up at all for that matter, during this?"
     "Well," Nabiki drawled as she eased herself from his grasp to sit
back down on the bed, "that's because we needed to make up before all of
us could continue with the second reason I asked you here."
     "Second... reason?" Twister said cautiously. The happiness he had
been feeling over their making-up was quickly being replaced by an
uneasy feeling. He started looking from Lotion to his girlfriend; what was
going on here?
     Lotion smiled. "It's a simple one, really," the amazon mage said.
     "Yes," Nabiki agreed.
     "And that is...?" Twister said, hating to ask it.
     "Marriage," they chorused.
     He closed his eyes, wincing. I knew it, he mentally moaned.
     "But don't worry, Lotion and I have already worked it all out,"
Nabiki went on cheerfully, blithely ignoring Twister's startlement, "and I
think we're both satisfied."
     "You two," Twister stated with great care, looking at the two
women, "worked it out??"
     "Um hmmm," Nabiki hummed in agreement as Lotion nodded,
smiling. The financially-oriented Tendo daughter held up a hand and
started ticking off fingers as she went through the points she and Lotion
had come up with earlier.
     "One, you will leave this universe. First to where you were born,
then possibly to others to accomplish the other goals."
     "Wha..." Twister started to say, but she ignored him.
     "Two, you will date other women during this absence, sex with
them is optional but preferred. You really are too shy about that topic at
the moment, and we'll be asking about the details later."
     "Glrk?!?!"
     "Three, you will not return until you feel comfortable enough to
come back for the wedding.
     "Four, you will find a way to make people either immortal or as
long-lived as yourself, otherwise you'll get lonely.
     "And five, when you get back you will marry both I, Nabiki Tendo,
and Lotion."
     Twister was slack-jawed and speechless.
     "Oh yes," Nabiki helpfully added, "you have ten minutes to swear
to agree with ALL these points or else neither of us will marry you or talk
to you again. Starting now."
     It took a few minutes for Twister just to collect his scattered wits,
normally he was calm but THIS...!! "What the HELL are you two talking
about?!" he demanded. I sound like Bert, flashed though his suddenly
frantic mind.
     Nabiki calmly looked at her watch. "Seven and a half minutes
left."
     "You're not REALLY... Lotion!" He whirled to face the grinning
mage. "You can't..." he stammered.
     "We BOTH agreed, Twister," she cheerfully said, crushing any
hope. "I don't mind sharing, and neither does Nabiki. It's not against
amazon law."
     "But... But..."
     "Six minutes," Nabiki sang out.
     "Hey!!" Twister protested at her. "What do you mean by `swearing'
anyway??" he demanded of Lotion. I can't believe I'm actually thinking of
doing these crazy demands, he thought.
     "You have to give us your word that you'll do these things," Lotion
explained. "Nabiki said your `old-fashioned honour' should make you keep
your promise."
     "I..."
     "Five minutes."
     Twister stared at Nabiki, then slowly turned to Lotion, who smiled
sweetly at him. It sent shivers down his spine. Really, it was his fear about
her desire for his female form that was the main cause for delay. (That and
TWO wives!?!) She was a caring person, and Twister had gotten to like
her during the amazon's care of him when he was stuck as Darlene.
However, the fear was persistent and prevented love from springing up.
Christ, he hadn't even been with a woman as a MALE yet, for crying out
loud!
     But if they were serious...
     "Three minutes."
     "All right," Twister said reluctantly. Oh, bloody hell, I can't believe
I'm doing this. "I give ye," Ye? Bad time to be archaic, he thought, "my
word that I will follow your five... points."
     "I accept your word," Nabiki said, smiling easily.
     "Me too," Lotion chimed in.
     When she finished, the three felt a faint and odd sensation, but
dismissed it as part of their own emotions. They never suspected it was a
result of Twister's swearing and their accepting it.
     The psionist stepped back and slumped on the door, groaning, "Oh
boy."
     He just wished those smug looks on his promised ladies would
vanish.
                       *****
     Yuriko took her ear off the door. Her face was flushed with
embarrassment and amusement; it was a struggle to get to her room before
the giggles became uncontrollable.
     Oh, Nabiki! Poor Twister!! she thought with no little devilish
delight as she closed her door. Muffled feminine laughter was
immediately produced behind the brown barrier.
                       *****
     The next morning brought a familiar voice to the Tendo Dojo.
     "Nihao!"
     Shampoo's eager greeting made Akane snap her chopsticks, fingers
clenching. Bert, somewhat used to this by now and given about seven
spare pairs of the eating implements by Kasumi, shook his head and
passed her a new set. Soun focused on eating. The purple haired amazon
was with company too; Cologne and her cousin Lotion. Cologne was
glancing quizzically at a neutral Lotion.
     Kasumi walked out of the kitchen to welcome them. "Oh, hello
Shampoo, Cologne, and Lotion. What brings you here?"
     "We were asked to come," Cologne replied, giving Lotion another
glance, making everyone at the table blink.
     "Ranmaaa..." Akane growled; it HAD to be her baka fiancee's
fault, somehow. What had he done THIS time??
     "It wasn't Ranma, Akane. I did."
     Akane turned to the voice and anger turned to surprise when
Nabiki and Twister came down the stairs. "YOU did, oneesan?"
     The middle Tendo daughter nodded, grinning. "We have some
things to settle." She looked over at Twister, who steeled himself before
walking over to the table.
     Bowing in greeting to the surprised Soun, the psionist smiled. "Mr.
Tendo, I would like to ask something important of you on this beautiful
day."
     Soun blinked. "Yes? What is it, Twister?"
     "I would like your permission to wed your daughter," the younger
man declared.
     Six pairs of eyes widened in surprise; Twister, Nabiki, and Lotion
remained calm as the news hit them. Bert's face started to break into a
wide grin, but then he looked at Lotion and blinked at her odd composure.
Cologne and Shampoo seemed surprised, but the Tendos were ecstatic.
"Of course you have it! Oh, another of my daughters is to be married!"
Soun exclaimed and Twister accepted Soun's sudden hug with stoic
patience as Nabiki's father cried. Akane and Kasumi went to their sister
and hugged their congratulations.
     "So you finally got him to do it?" Akane whispered with a giggle.
Nabiki looked ready to laugh aloud when she returned Akane's smile.
     "Wait for a moment, sis, and see daddy's reaction," she said with a
grin.
     Bert got up and extended a hand to the psionist when Soun
released him to run around in happy circles. "Congratulations, Twister,"
he offered, grinning, but Twister held up a restraining hand and the
red-head paused, startled.
     "Just a sec, Bert," Twister told him, sighing, before turning to face
the amazons just outside. Shampoo didn't look happy as her cousin hadn't
got her husband but Cologne knew something was up. "Cologne, you are
the leader of your tribe and I have a request of you."
     "Yes?" she said warily.
     "I ask for your permission to wed your great-granddaughter
Lotion."
     Dead silence as even Soun stopped crying for joy.
     Cologne, startled, looked at Lotion, who was now smiling at
Twister, then Nabiki, who was grinning. The ancient amazon put two and
two together and came up with the correct assumption that this had been
planned by both females. She smiled; that was the way it should be. "Why
certainly, Twister. I would be pleased to do so."
     "WHAT?!?! Soun roared as Akane, Bert, and Kasumi stood in
shock. "How DARE you do this to my little gi..."
     "Daddy!!"
     Nabiki's cutting shout stopped Soun in mid-rant and he turned to
his daughter, surprised. She looked annoyed at him.
     "Lotion and I talked things over and we thought this was the best
solution for all of us. Twister agreed to it, not the other way around: it was
MY idea, not his," she told him sweetly.
     "B-b-but..." Soun stammered, then drew himself up indignantly.
"Now see here, Nabiki! I will not..." He stopped again when Twister
placed a hand on his shoulder and gently turned his father-to-be around to
face him.
     "Mr. Tendo, I have already promised them on my oath that I will
marry both of them," he said quietly, looking Soun straight in the eyes. "I
will not break that oath." There was something in his calm gaze that
suddenly made Soun apprehensive; the martial artist knew what the young
man could do. There was a blocks-wide crater to prove it too.
     "Ah.... Heh, heh, heh..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, if it
was NABIKI'S idea then I suppose it's all right." Soun smiled weakly.
Twister smiled back with a wry twist of his lips.
     "I'll be going back home in a few weeks to fulfil certain, er,
agreements we made, but I'll be back." He turned to the startled Bert and
grinned. "I think it's about time I send back a certain freeloader back home
too."
     "Hey!" Bert protested, then blinked. "You mean you're finally
going to send me back?" Twister nodded and Bert broke into a wide grin.
"WAAAAAA HOOOOOOO!!!!!!" he whooped, throwing a fist into the
air. The psionist laughed at his reaction.
     "Nabiki, why...?" Kasumi started to ask, but Nabiki hushed her.
The wink back to her older and younger sisters promised to explain later.
     It was Bert's turn to laugh when Lotion happily glomped onto a
suddenly red-faced Twister.
                       *****
     Bert was feeling cheerful as he jogged through the peaceful(since
no martial artists were duelling at the moment) area around the Tendo
Dojo. He was doing so primarily for the reason that he needed to get back
into better shape before heading back home; Kasumi's cooking was
scrumptious and it was impossible to resist eating too much. Despite the
highlights of his visit, he had gotten out of shape.
     Home. The red-head sighed out loud at the thought. Now that
Twister had said he would send him back, memories of his friends that
he'd had to repress or go bonkers were flooding his brain. Nene, Priss,
Sylia, Linna, Mackie, Sylvie, Anri, all of their faces flashed by. Yeah,
even Leon and Daley's were among them. 
     Now that hope was alive, he had to admit that his enforced
`holiday' HAD reduced considerable tension he'd never been able to tone
down much. Twister was right when he had told Bert he'd be able to relax.
This place was not as mechanized as Mega-Tokyo, purer in its existence
in a way. While he considered the dirtier city as his place, jogging here
was a refreshing experience. To be sure, it was something to think about.
Magic still gave him the willies, but after seeing Chaos and experiencing
Order, he felt he could handle his new powers now.
     Someone stepped out from behind a corner and Bert stopped
awkwardly when he saw who it was. Natsumi. Oh boy...
     "Are you really leaving?" she demanded, stepping close to his
sweaty form. "Is what the Professor told me true?"
     Bert groaned and put a hand over his face. Thanks a lot, Miyabi, he
growled inside, but the red-head suspected the mage had told her pupil for
just this reason: to settle Natsumi's doomed relationship with Bert. He
sighed; this was not going to be easy.
     "I'm afraid so," he confirmed and the young woman's expression
fell. She stumbled forward and grabbed his shirt with both fists.
     "Why?! You can stay here, be with me, and we can be together!"
     "I'm sorry, Natsumi," Bert told her gently and carefully removed
her hands from his shirt with a regretful expression. "I already have
someone I care for very much where I come from and my friends NEED
me there. I can't NOT go back because of that, and I miss them very, very
much." He restrained from comforting her when her eyes moistened.
"There's not much of a choice; I HAVE to, no, it's ESSENTIAL for me to
return home. I'm sorry," Bert told her again.
     Natsumi stared at him for a long moment, backed up a step, then
whirled and ran away, tears streaming behind her.
     Feeling wretched, he watched her disappear behind the corner she
had stepped from. He did not know what to say to comfort her and did not
really know her that well anyway. Uncomfortable, he resumed his jogging.
What else could he have done?
     He wished he knew.
                       *****
     The next two weeks went by quickly as Bert helped Twister do a
few things to get ready for the departure. He and Twister had come up
with a few gifts for the Sabers when he returned and that filled the days
between the planned date to leave. Ranma, shocked and uneasy at what
his friend had done, helped out too. The pig-tailed martial artist was afraid
certain young women he knew would get ideas...
     Twister went out a few times with Nabiki and, surprisingly, once
with Lotion, who didn't do anything overt. They were sad he had to leave,
but glad it wouldn't be very long before he came back. For them anyway,
the psionist suspected he would be gone a long time.
     At last, the day came and a minor crowd gathered in the dojo's
practice room: the departure point. Twister had said good-bye to Yasuro
already, even though he might seem to be gone only a day or two, but
many others were there to see he and Bert before they left. Twister had
told them it might be best if only he and Bert remained at the end before
they left, just in case.
     There were a few; the Saotomes, the Tendos, Lotion, Miyabi,
Yuriko, Shampoo, Mousse, Ukyou, Ryouga, and Cologne. Natsumi hadn't
come and Bert felt a bit sorry about that, but he needed to go back.
Happousai, whom no one missed, was tied to a post outside and paralyzed
by a spell; there was to be a Happo-bashing party after they left. Miyabi
and Yuriko were the first to come up to Twister and Bert, who stood near
their travel packs.
     "Well," the professor of magic said as she looked at Bert, "you're
certainly livened my life during your stay. Too bad I like things quiet."
She smiled away the sting of her words as he flushed. "I wish you luck,
Bert, on your trip home."
     "Thanks," he said, and meant it.
     She turned to Twister. "You're certain you can send him home?"
The psionist nodded and she sighed. "Then I wish you luck as well. I'll
enjoy seeing you when you return to see how much you've grown in
experience and wisdom." Miyabi hugged him as she chuckled. "Never
hurts to add a little more." He chuckled back.
     Yuriko hugged him after Miyabi. "Good luck, Twister. You too,
Bert, even though I never saw you much."
     "Hey, I never turn away a pretty lady's compliments," Bert grinned.
     "You'll see me soon, Yuriko," Twister promised as she blushed.
Miyabi smiled before they vanished in a burst of light. Bert really wished
she would stop doing that.
     The group of Ryouga, Mousse, Shampoo, and Ukyou came up and
offered us good-byes as well. Twister knew Ukyou best of them all and
was glad to see her there. However, before they left, he wanted to do two
things.
     "Ryouga?" The bandanna-wearing lost boy cocked his head.
Twister pulled out a compass with a string around it and tossed it to him.
Ryouga caught it and looked at it, puzzled. "I managed to make the spell
permanent and it's very durable. It will point in the direction of where you
wish to go." And hopefully keep you on the same planet, Twister thought.
The lost boy's hands shook as he realized what it meant and quickly put it
on.
     "THANK you, Twister!" he said, pleased. In the back, Ranma
groaned at what it meant to HIM if Ryouga could find his way around
now.
     "Just don't go through many walls following it. I felt I owed you
after you got injured because of me," Twister explained, then turned to
Mousse and gave him a small marble. The hidden weapons expert
frowned at the glass object.
     "What's this?"
     The psionist reached out quickly and snatched Mousse's glasses
off. The robed young man drew back, surprised, then blinked and stared
around him. "I... can see?" he whispered.
     "I found it odd," Twister glanced at an innocent-seeming Cologne,
"that the magic-users of your village couldn't cure you so I made this
marble." He shrugged. "Just put it somewhere safe if you don't wish to use
it." Ranma groaned again as Mousse stammered out his thanks before the
quartet left. Cologne hopped up. "That wasn't nice, you know," the
psionist told her.
     "What wasn't?" He rolled his eyes at her calm voice. "Good
travelling, son-in-law," she continued to say. "I AM pleased to have two
such strong husbands for my granddaughters and one more certain to
marry than another."
     Which one would that be? Bert thought, amused.
     "Thank you, Cologne," Twister replied and she nodded, before
hopping out on her stick. With the exception of Nabiki, the Tendos and
Saotomes came forward next to say their own good-byes.
     Nadoka smiled and bowed gracefully. "Thank you both for your
help in our family... problem." Genma looked guilty and Ranma elbowed
him.
     "Uh... yes."
     "No problem, Lady," Bert said as he bowed back, Twister echoing
with a smile.
     "Why'd ya haveta give those things to Mousse and Ryouga
anyway?" Ranma said crossly. Now it was his turn to be elbowed by
Akane. "What?" he demanded irately, frowning at her. She stuck her
tongue at him.
     "I owed them," Twister said simply. "Shampoo will likely hide the
marble, for a short time anyway, and Ryouga still has to figure out how to
use the compass properly. Things should stay the same until I get back."
     "How can you NOT use a compass properly?" Bert said, startled.
     "Ryouga will find a way," Twister sighed. Ranma chuckled at that
truth, feeling better already.
     "Good luck, man," Ranma said.
     "Come back SAFE!!" Soun wailed and hugged an embarrassed
Twister yet again. His daughters looked amused as Nadoka hid a smile.
Bert was relieved not to have been targeted as well.
     "Come back soon," Kasumi smiled as Soun released him. They
nodded as the families walked out. Leaving just Nabiki and Lotion with
the pair.
     "Uh... I'll just stand off a ways," Bert said and backed off, turning
away as the two females came over to stand in front of the uncertain
psionist.
     "Having second thoughts?" Nabiki teased on seeing his expression.
Twister sighed.
     "Those are inevitable, but I'll keep my promise."
     "Not just to keep your word, I hope." Nabiki stepped forward and
wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him down to kiss him
deeply and passionately, letting her true feelings show and loving it when
he reciprocated. "No," she breathed when they separated, "I guess not."
Then she hugged him tightly before reluctantly moving away. "Don't be
gone TOO long."
     "I'll try not to be." He smiled, then turned to the waiting Lotion and
sighed as she impishly dumped some cool water on his head as they'd
agreed. The familiar change occurred in an instant as Twister became
Darlene.
     The amazon magic-user embraced her tenderly and gazed deeply
into blue eyes. Darlene swallowed nervously. "I'll hope my embrace does
not provoke such fear next time we do this," Lotion sighed wistfully as she
brushed a sad hand over the red-head's soft cheek. Surprisingly, her gentle
kiss that touched only the lips didn't make Darlene shiver and that
confused the blue-eyed young woman. Lotion hugged her tighter once
more before reluctantly letting go. She backed away towards the door,
keeping their gazes locked until vanishing out the door.
     Nabiki repressed a smirk at Darlene's confused expression. "Come
back soon!" she cried before walking quickly out the door.
     "You can turn around now, Bert," Darlene murmured quietly,
thoughts a jumble, then shook her head to clear it. She'd deal with it later.
     "It's time to go," she sighed.

Part Ten - Good Parting, Fellow Knight --------------------------------------

     They were alone now, everyone having left after their good-byes.
     "You know... there were times..." Bert couldn't seem to finish the
sentence as he watched Darlene getting ready to send him back home.
     She looked up curiously, then understood. "Times when you
thought you'd never get back? That you would be stuck here forever?" The
smile she gave him told Bert she could understand that as she'd had
similar feelings from time to time.
     Bert nodded, relieved he hadn't insulted her. "Yeah, I'll admit it's
been...interesting." He smirked, then sobered. "Even after everything that
happened to me while I've been here, good and bad, I have to admit I am a
little nervous going back after all the changes I've gone through."
     "Hey, you're not alone y'know!" Darlene said, aggrieved. "I'm going
to my birth universe and lay low, just be a normal person for a while. The
butterfly collection in my stomach is going overtime!" Her nervousness
showed on her face briefly before she forced it away with a determined
look. "But I have a lot of thinking to do and I can't stay here. I have to find
out how to do some...things before I come back."
     Ignoring the questions brought up by that last piece Darlene said,
Bert chuckled at another thought. "Invite me to the wedding when you do
finally get around to it." He chuckled harder at the beet-red blush Darlene
wore.
     "Not if you keep bringing it up!" she said, heavily embarrassed still
at the implications of that event. Even now, Darlene still couldn't believe
Nabiki had made the demand that it was either marry Nabiki AND Lotion
or else Nabiki would break off their relationship and never talk to Twister
again. And gave ten minutes to decide! It was a struggle, but one that
really didn't leave a choice had agreed. The two satisfied females had
claimed there was a very good reason why Nabiki had insisted on it, but
they had told Twister it would be explained after the wedding. That still
gave Darlene shivers.
     Seeing Bert still laughing, Darlene slyly felt a smug satisfaction of
her own. Among the objects the two had created for the Knight Sabers, the
red-headed Knight Saber had wanted something that would protect Nene
and so Darlene had made a magical ring. A magical DIAMOND ring.
Privately, she had hoped Bert wouldn't see the trouble such a ring would
cause, especially after his amusement with her own predicament, and he
hadn't, much to her hidden glee. It was a wonder, but Darlene supposed it
hadn't even occurred to him. Being half-female had given SOME feminine
perception and it was obvious to HER what would happen. Maybe it was a
blind spot on him. Oh, well.
     "Get your suit on, laughing boy," Darlene ordered when she was
ready. 
     "At your command, m'lady." Bert bowed extravagantly.
     "Watch it," she warned him, seeing him grin. "Don't forget, I'M the
one driving, bucko. And no cracks about women drivers!" she quickly
added.
     "Who me?" he said, giving her an innocent look.
     Darlene snorted and waved him onto the spot where she wanted
him.
     Suddenly, Bert seemed a lot less confident. "Are you SURE...?"
     "YES!!" She glared at him, then stormed off to get the package of
the stuff he was bringing home.
     "Okay, okay! Sheesh!" He started to call for his SkyKnight armour,
and then stopped, a sly grin spreading over his face. "Actually, can you
change back for a moment?" he asked as she came back with a bulky
package. "I've got one last thing I want to do before I go."
     "And that is?" Darlene asked warily, recognizing the grin. Bert's
grin widened.
     "Just trust me," he said.
     "All right," Darlene sighed, put the bundle down, and then left the
room. A minute or two later, Twister came back carrying a glass of cool
water. "Now what was it that you wanted to do?"
     "This!" Bert's face developed a look that was compounded of
intense concentration, mischief, and diabolical amusment. Twister
realized what he was doing an instant before the flash and detonation
shook the dojo.
     "You just had to do that, didn't you?" the psionist sighed, shaking
his head and placing a hand over his face. "The professor's going to kill
you, you know." Still shaking his head, he dumped the glass of water over
himself and became Darlene again.
     "I've always said you should go out with a bang," SkyKnight's
amused electronic voice replied. "Besides, I won't be back, so I wanted to
do it once more just for old time's sake."
     "Do that again, and that won't be the kind of `bang' you go out
with!!" Miyabi's voice snapped peevishly from somewhere in the room,
then sighed. "I suppose I should have expected it though. At least I won't
have to put up with any more puns!"
     "Bye, Professor," SkyKnight told the empty air, grinning to
himself. He didn't receive a reply, but he was sure he'd been heard.
Shifting around, he tried to stifle the queasy fluttering in his stomach. All
kidding aside, he was more than a little nervous about what was going to
happen next. Feeling his hardsuit around him was helping to fight off the
growing uneasiness he felt, but not much.
     "Do not fear, my student. Fear leads to the Dark Side," a familiar
voice advised, making Bert groan. Yoda. Darlene saw the magical being
Bert's mind had...created?... coalesce next to him, and grinned.
     "Hi, Yoda! Guess I'll be sending you off too, won't I?" Giving the
package to SkyKnight, she smirked. "After Bert, Star Wars will never be
the same again."
     "Hey!" he protested. "It's not my fault! Really!"
     "Uh huh. Right. I'd better send you off." She grinned once more,
then turned serious. "Bert... Just in case we never do meet again... I want
to say...I am truly sorry that I brought you here against your will."
Darlene's face was unusually solemn.
     Bert wasn't sure what to say, he could tell this was very heartfelt
and held a lot of emotion. He tried to joke. "Hey, it was a blast. In the
order of a small tactical nuke perhaps, but a blast anyhow. I do feel less
depressed than when I first got here, thought through a few things, and you
helped a LOT with this stuff." He hefted the package in his hands to
indicate it. "Don't be hard on yourself."
     She looked at him for a moment as if wondering about something,
then with an odd expression on her face, she said with an odd inflection in
her voice, "An' it please thee, SkyKnight, I would bid thee to receive one
more gift." With his puzzled nod, she continued, "I give thee my word, my
oath, my pledge, that by my entire being, if ye need help, if ye be
desperate, if ye seek my aid, I shall come. But only once I shall do so, and
only once it shall be." When she finished, she blinked. "I think that I'm
getting a little too dramatic."
     "Promised you did, and help my student you will," Yoda cheerfully
said from beside SkyKnight.
     "Ah...maybe we should start?" Bert wasn't sure what had happened
was all about, but it unnerved the hell out of him. It seemed to bother
Darlene too, but she nodded, stepped away, and raised her hands. "I
enjoyed your stay, SkyKnight." Darlene smiled. "Hopefully, we shall meet
again."
     "Hey, come visit anytime. We can shoot a few arrows together."
     Darlene nodded, a twinkle in her eye, and then began:


     "May time and space now heed my call,
      Reality firm as concrete wall,
      Fall back I say, I use my will,
      Resist his path? The chance is nil.

      SkyKnight you are, you seek thy home,
      Not one of birth, but one of heart,
      Through realities akin to specks of foam,
      I find the play that needs thy part.

      Go now I say! Go now with need!
      No longer friends shall be devoid!
      Go now I cry! Go now with speed,
      By magic strong and through the VOID!"


     Bert found that halfway through the spell he couldn't move; this
was not a conducive manner to preserve calmness. When the floor beneath
him started to fall away like a black hole had popped into existence under
his feet, he started to sweat. He hung above it as if the hole didn't really
exist, but he KNEW it did.
     Then Darlene finished.
     "Good luck!!!" she shouted, as if there was some kind of noise but
Bert heard nothing.
     That's when gravity dropped him into the hole in the fabric of
reality. Very quickly.
     "OOOOHHHH, DDDAAAAAMMMMMNNNNNN!!!!!"

IN THE VOID....

     ".....why I ever agreed to this!!" Bert yelled as he emerged from the
tunnel leading to the universe he had been living in for the past few
months. Craning his neck, he saw the large? entrance receding impossibly
quickly behind him, like something had pushed him out like a cannon.
The analogy made him uneasy; as a rule, cannon balls usually did not
survive impact.
     He instantly closed his eyes, remembering what Darlene had told
him off the Void's nature. Time was more a function of perception here
than was normal so closing off one's perception of the whiteness around
himself would make the trip seem faster.     
     Moreover, Bert prayed he would not encounter anything going
home like he head leaving it. When he opened his eyes after a few
minutes, he saw a familiar blackness encountered when entering the Void
the first time, and sighed with relief.
     No Encounters of the Omnipotent Kind THIS trip!

IN THE RANMAVERSE...


     Darlene wiped the sweat off her forehead. While it seemed she had
an easier time than most mages with trans-universal spells, `easier' was
still hard. Still, she had enough energy to make it back to her birth
universe. Around ten minutes rest was all she needed.
     She wished Bert well, in a lot of ways they were alike. Looking
down at herself made her grin. Not right now. Telling him that she would
come when he needed help had been impulsive and she wasn't sure where
that had come from. Her mouth twisted wryly; there was still a lot about
herself she didn't know, even now.
     Nabiki and Lotion were like that. Thinking about Lotion made her
shiver; she couldn't help it. It was that reaction among other things that
she was leaving. One of those `other things' was age. She couldn't marry
Nabiki and Lotion if she was going to still look seventeen or eighteen
when they were a hundred. Darlene couldn't stand that, and, as promised,
needed to do some research so that they too would live as long as Darlene.
Whether or not Twister/Darlene, Nabiki, and Lotion could handle it still
remained to be seen.
     She had a feeling they could. And her feelings were usually true,
especially in this form.
     Darlene sighed and picked up her own pack.
     She should go, but not forever. The red-head raised her hands.
     Time to leave this universe for another one.
     Home.

IN THE BUBBLEGUM ZONE...

     "Bert?"
     Bert froze at the sound of Sylia's inquiring voice and turned
around, giving her a warmer smile than his boss expected, startling her.
"Yes, O wise and all-knowing boss-lady?" he said with a wide grin.
     Twenty minutes ago, he had appeared from a hole in space in the
exact position he had left so abruptly, save one minute had passed by here
instead of months where he had been. That had been confirmed when
Sylia's concerned, and welcome, voice had burst from his helmet speakers.
He had passed it off as a hardware or software glitch, but she had insisted
he return to base immediately. Sylia had been surprised at his eagerness to
do so, not knowing he had been gone for a long time.
     Annoyed, yet puzzled, Sylia gave him an exasperated look. "All
right, what did you do this time?"
     "Moi?" Bert tried to look innocent. It didn't work.
     "You," she stated, tapping her foot. "You are entirely too happy to
have not done something that I am going to regret." She paused, studying
his guilty face more intently. "You also seem... more relaxed than before."
     The guilty look vanished from his face as Bert smiled. It must be
true if Sylia noticed it, he thought, looks like Twister was right about the
trip being a good chance to de-stress myself. "I just feel like a lot of bad
karma dropped off me this flight, Sylia. These jaunts have great
therapeutic value for me, but this one felt like...a vacation." 
     Sylia appeared dubious, wondering what on earth he was talking
about, but slowly nodded. "I can't argue with the result." She looked down
at the backpack he carried. "What's that?" 
     Bert hefted the pack containing all the surprises Darlene had made
from him and the other Sabers and placed it on his back. "It's a surprise,"
he said, grinning broadly. "Trust me." Sylia's expression turned uneasy
when Bert turned and walked away, whistling. 
     Oh no, she groaned mentally, putting a hand over her face. Bert
glanced back and saw it.
     And chuckled quietly.
     
EPILOGUE ONE
------------

     "Natsumi? What are you doing down in the basement?"
     The young magic user started at the sound of her mother's voice
and nervously glanced away from the glowing gem in her palm to answer.
"Just looking through some of great-grandpa's stuff again, Mother," she
called out, keeping her voice casual. There was a pause before the reply.
     "You're not planning on trying something like that golem you
made before, ARE you, daughter?" her mother's voice asked warningly.
"Your teacher told me why you made it after it was destroyed," Natsumi
winced, "and I ignored it then since no one was hurt." The tone warmed as
she went on. "You've been much more cheerful these past months and I
think it's made you a wiser user of magic. Just be careful, all right?"
     The raven-haired girl swallowed and her eyes were moist. "Yes,
mother, I will." It was the hard deceiving her mother, but she had to.
     Natsumi picked up her pack as the stone's glow changed from
ochre to indigo; the end of the trail was found so it was time. She had lost
one love already, there was no way she would do so twice.
     "Take me to him," she whispered, forming the image of the
red-headed Bert in her mind and the gem's glow flared. The light
illuminated the basement as her hair whirled around her, her eyes never
leaving the source of the brilliance as it engulfed her.
     When it vanished, she was gone.

EPILOGUE TWO
------------

SOMEWHERE UNKNOWN...

     The unknown being who had involved himself with SkyKnight
considered recent events. He was in a part of his own realm that was not
conducive to material form and so existed as his powerful essence only.
But his contemplations were interrupted as a familiar and much, much
more mighty presence manifested itself, even that was muted he knew.
The presence communicated not in words, and nor did the being respond
with those vibrations in air.
     "THIngs diD NOT Occur tHE WAY we wisHED, TRial," the new
arrival `spoke' in a crystal-clear manner. It was a not rebuke, it did not
consider things that way. The being known as Trial considered his reply.
     "The one called SkyKnight was but mortal, I could not exert much
force for fear of damaging him with the Wild magic. But in the end he
became what I desired, even without my intervention. He will serve his
new purpose well."
     "thaT WAS NOT my focus, TRIAL, YOu must knOW THAT."
Before Trial could respond, it continued. "BUT I missED A Play tHAT
ShoulD NOT have OCCUrred."
     "I noticed, but you covered it well, as usual," Trial consoled,
knowing it was a wasted effort but it was the polite thing to say. This
WAS one of his creators after all.
     "PerhapS, BUT I will eNSURE my othER WILL not inTERFEre."
     "That is not Its nature."
     "ALL AVENues are cOVERED For now. whAT IT DECides is
iRRELEVAnt."
     Suddenly, a chill passed Trial's being and another strong presence
manifested itself, as powerful as the first one who had arrived in Trial's
domain but in different ways. Unlike the other, this one had a `female'
presence and one Trial could not feel some fear for, despite knowing he
was safe. He kept quiet, nonetheless.
     "I see things are proceeding well, hmm?" the female presence
commented amusedly.
     "YEs, cousIN."
     "And what about your relation?" she asked in an arch manner.     
"TAKen caRE OF." The presence paused. "why tHE INteresT?"
     "Oh, I'm just eager for a new person to talk to who isn't
instinctively afraid of me." If the female being had worn a face, there
would have been a wry smile on it. "My own sister's being a god-awful
witch. Again." She chuckled. "And she wonders why human beings got
that expression about her."
     "ONE WondeRS," came the response, and for the first time it
conveyed deep amusement.
     "I wonder how long it will take," she sighed.
     "IT IS Never tHE SAME, you knOW THAt."
     "Well, introducing myself early won't hurt, now will it?" Her tone
turned pleading. "I've been really desperate for company for an eternity,
literally, and this new one will probably like me."
     "NOT FOr at leAST ANother EON OR two." The female presence
made a rumble that would have terrified an entire universe, but it didn't
affect her cousin. Trial, however, convulsed in fear. "You can wAIT. THe
new oNE IS Not prePARED yet anD THERe are iNDICAtions OF SOMe
mentAL BARriers THAT PrevenT PREMature REALIzatioN. WAIT."
     "Oh, very well," she sighed.
     "GOod."
     There was a sending of sudden joviality from the female presence.
"I wonder what this Twister/Darlene will think of what he/she has
become."
     "YOU WIll finD OUT EventuALLY."


     The End...?