[Ranma][Fanfic] The Bet - Grand Tour 4

[MetroAnime]

Ranma 1/2: Grand Tour 4a (the Bet)
R.Takahashi owns the Nerima bunch. Aramar and
the Ninefold Worlds are my creation. No money made on
any of these though i may eventually try to do
professional stories set in Aramar. My other works can
be found at the RAAC or on my website at
http://members.aol.com/Metroanime/main.html
just to keep track of 'em:
Grand Tour, World 1: World of Sorrow/World Without Ranma
Grand Tour, World 2: World of Love/Happily Ever After
Grand Tour, World 3: World of Conflict/RIFTS Earth
Grand Tour, World 4: World of Nightmare/Gravesite Nerima
Grand Tour, World 5: Dragon's Destiny
Grand Tour, World 6: Neutral Ground
--------End-of-the-line---------------------
_/Nerima, Japan, Earth 1994 AD, Prime +214156\____

Nabiki felt the slight disorientation that
meant she had successfully made the dimensional trip,
and was merged with an Analogue or a Nabiki of an
existing timeline.

She was in her room, looking at an old and
familiar set of homework. Getting up off her bed, she
checked her journal for the most recent entry and blinked
at what she saw. It was one week before THAT day. That
day being the day that someone had come to her family's
home and turned everything upside down.

She found Kasumi happily humming in the
kitchen. The tune, a bawdy little tavern song favored
by amazons of House Southern Cross, confirmed that
Kasumi had made the trip as well. The new refinements
to the spell that Lijra had made were apparently
successful.

"Well, Kasumi," Nabiki said as she flopped
down onto a chair, "looks like Ranma shows up next
week. Now if we can just figure out where the divergence
is, we'll know how close we are."

"We're there," Kasumi said, turning towards
her sister. "I've already done a minor divination and
determined that our arrival is the divergence in this
particular timeline. We've arrived in your own past."

"So... we have a week before the engagement
of Ranma and Akane." Nabiki smirked. She had a
feeling things would go considerably different this
time.
-----------------------------------------
Akane was just finishing a jog when she
noticed a suspicious figure walking up to her front
door. Some tall gaijin with long silvery hair, looking
most definitely out of place.

The figure glanced at her briefly before
returning his attention to the sign in front. When
he got to the part about "to defeat owner in savage
combat, use rear door" the man stopped and started
walking around back.

Akane blinked. A dojo challenger? This
early? Dad would still be brushing his teeth. She
followed and felt her suspicions confirmed when
the stranger simply opened the rear gate and
entered. Well, she was ready.

Akane closed the distance between her
and the gaijin, finally catching up despite the other
not seeming to walk any faster. "Hey, you! What
do you think you're doing?"

"Checking in on two friends. Why? Do
you have a problem with that?" The stranger was
smirking, almost as if he was laughing at her.

"Then why did you use the rear door?"

"When I knew there was a rear door, I
used it. It's early and I didn't want to disturb your
father unnecessarily." The other had never stopped
and was now almost to the house.

Akane attacked, under the assumption
that this stranger was lying and that he was an
intruder. To her surprise, the intruder didn't even
bother to evade. He didn't even seem to feel the
punch, in fact, other than a bemused glance in
her direction.

Akane shook her hand, it had felt like
she'd punched something considerably harder
than a cinderblock. She decided to try a throw.

The intruder waited until she had
gotten her hands in place, then with a sigh,
had said something and pointed a finger at
her face.

Akane watched, helplessly, as
the stranger removed her hands from his
clothing and entered her house. Unable to
move even her eyes to blink, she stared at
the dining room and wondered exactly what
had been done.

It was when the birds started
landing on her that she began to get angry.
-----------------------------------------
Ranma stumbled as she watched
her father start pigging out at the table. THAT
looked familiar. She noted she was in her girl
form again, and took in the sights of a scene
she barely remembered. Well, it HAD been
quite a few subjective years now.

He looked up onto the Challenge
Log to see Shampoo recover, then knock her
challenger off the log even faster than the
original battle had been.

Their eyes met across the distance,
and both smiled and nodded. The village would
get quite a show today.

"<YOU! WHAT YOU DO THERE?>"
Shampoo stalked up to where the girl stood and
her panda gorged itself. She stopped her walk
long enough to make a request of one of the
villagers, who immediately ran off. "<That is MY
first prize!>"

The Jusenkyo Guide started translating,
but Ranma wasn't listening at the moment. This
probably wasn't her home reality anyway, might as
well make this something REALLY special. "Well,
if I beat you, then, there's no problem, right?"

Shampoo switched to English, which
Ranma had learned as an Imperial Courier, and
which Shampoo had learned during the last two
years while Ranma had worked with the Southern
Cross amazons."-I won't hold back, my friend.-"

Ranma grinned. "-Let's make this
something they'll remember, then.-"

The young girl ran back to Shampoo,
handing her a cup. Shampoo threw the cup of
hot tea in Ranma's face. There were a number of
gasps as the girl turned into a boy. Part of these
being just from the idea that a male had just
challenged their village champion.

"<We fight. NOW.>" Shampoo went
into a blur of motion, starting off with the speed
of the Hurricane Spinning Kick.

Ranma blocked, then began a Kachuu
Tenshin Amaguriken which was blocked by the
same manuever from Shampoo.

Ranma leapt up, summoning his chi.
"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

Shampoo grinned. "REI TATE!" The
blast dissipated on her crossed forearms.
------------------
Cologne stared from the sidelines.
Neither was going anywhere near the Challenge
Log, and both were using techniques she'd never
heard of before.

Lotion coughed. "<Ku Lon, did you
teach that manuever to Xian Pu?>"

"<Lo Xion, *I* don't know that
manuever.>" Cologne blinked again as a brief
image of a serpentine dragon slammed into
another chi shield hastily erected by Shampoo.
"<I know that having a strong opponent can
challenge one into reaching new levels, but
this...>" Cologne watched as her great
grand-daughter unleashed dozens of chi
projectiles in a "Shotgun" attack.

"<Uh-huh, right.>" Lotion nodded.
She was sure that Cologne had been holding
back something special to teach her chosen
Heir, but THIS. This wasn't just a special
manuever, this was a set of high chi attacks
and defenses that bordered on the mystic.

Cologne looked across the battle-
field and noted that the panda was staring
open-mouthed at the fight. If one of them
was a Jusenkyo victim, why not the other?
And if that one was, he either didn't know
the one fighting, or was just as surprised by
the strange boy's skills as she was by the
sudden skill increase in Shampoo's performance.

Thunder cracked as both the
challenger and the champion unleashed
major chi attacks that cancelled each other
out in midair.

Ranma leapt, and used his new
mental talents to hover. Shampoo did the
same a mere thirty feet away. They nodded
at each other, time to get serious. Both Ranma
and Shampoo had been excellent fighters and
trained for years in Aramar, fighting all sorts of
nonhuman and sorcerous enemies then had gone
on to develop other talents as well.

Shampoo held her hands in front of
chest as if she held a ball there. Ranma brought
his hands together over his head.

"-TELEKINETIC BOMB-!" Shampoo
shoved the ball away from her towards Ranma.

"-SHOCKWAVE-!" Ranma brought
his hands down to point the cupped palms at
Shampoo.

The impact of the two attacks
caused the challenge log to swing wildly, small
objects to abruptly become airborne, and the
vast majority of the audience to shield their
eyes and brace against the sudden wind.

Ranma dropped the levitation to
end up where Shampoo was picking herself up.
She grinned briefly at him, rubbing dirt off her
face. "Good fight."

Ranma nodded, then glanced over to
where his father was. The old panda was still
staring, his shock overcoming even HIS hunger
for the moment.

He felt Shampoo's hands lightly grasp
him. Her lips briefly grazed his.

"<Oh no,>" Ranma exclaimed in the
Nichieju dialect for the benefit of all those listening.
"<She give 'Kiss Of Death'!>" Ranma turned and
ran before anyone could see him laugh, grabbing
the panda's arm and forcefully lifting him away from
the feast. "We've got to run, pop!"

Shampoo fought the grin down. Here was
an excuse to get back to the others. "<Aiyaaa. That
was not Kiss Of Death, you stupid male!>" Shampoo
started running after the two, careful not to catch up
with them.

Cologne blinked again and turned to Lotion.
"<Well, whatever odd talents Xian Pu has picked up,
we can safely say acting is not among them.>"

Lotion nodded. "<That lets out demonic
possession, among other things. Maybe you ought
to take a few warriors and a healer and keep an eye
on them.>"

Cologne paused. "<The healer I can see,
especially if they keep using chi at that level. Ah Lo
would be a good choice, especially if it turns out that
this is one of those cases of two souls bound through
multiple reincarnations, he's always been studying
that sort of thing. Why the extra warriors?>"

Lotion snorted. "<You're too close to the
problem. To observe and try to learn the techniques,
if possible, and to assist you in bringing them back
if necessary.>"

Looking at where the challenge log was
still swinging, Cologne doubted the latter use would
prove likely, still the first had sufficient merit that
she called five of her most promising and the best
tracker together. They would follow and try to see
exactly what was going on.
-------------------------------------------
Akane watched as her two sisters walked
past with the intruder, speaking in some language
that she'd never heard before. She was focussing
on the shadows stretched out on the dining area
when the man's shadow CHANGED.

Akane knew no fear, other than failing.
She learned fear as the shadow stretched and seemed
to unfold, with her unable to move or speak, knowing
she was completely helpless.

"Oh my, Akane," Kasumi's voice came
from behind her. "That was a very powerful...martial
artist. You shouldn't have tried attacking him by
yourself."

Akane wanted to shout, to scream, but
found she still couldn't move. A gaijin movie came
back to her, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and
a fresh desire to scream came over her.

"Oh, c'mon, sis," Nabiki walked into her
field of vision and winked. "It's only temporary, one
of those shiatsu thingies. C'mon, Kasumi, give me
a hand, we can at least get her to bed until it wears
off."

Akane screamed, though it was only inside
her head. They were taking her. It was just like that
movie! It couldn't have been a shiatsu attack anyway,
as the intruder hadn't even touched her.

She felt Kasumi come up beside her, and the
world tilted as Kasumi and Nabiki carried her inside,
gently laid her on her bed, and positioned her arms and
legs as though she were a doll. Finally Kasumi brought
her hand up and closed Akane's eyes.

"Hang on, I'll turn her radio on. That way
if she can't sleep, she can at least listen to some music."
Nabiki was speaking softly but Akane could hear the
concern in her voice. That was jarring on more than
one level. Nabiki? Concerned about something besides
money? It didn't fit the body-snatcher scenario either.

"She's had a rough day," Kasumi's voice
could be heard over the music. "She should only
be paralyzed for a few more minutes though. I do
hope she forgives Frostbite, he's just not very big
on subtlety or deception."

"Hmmmph. Kasumi, I've said this many
times over the years, but you have a gift for
understatement."

Akane heard the door close. She was
still alive, still herself, but she was NOT sure what
was going on. She'd find out though. Just as soon
as she could move.
-------------------------------------
clip here for splicing to 4b.
-------------------------------------

Ranma 1/2: Grand Tour 4b (the Bet)
R.Takahashi owns the Nerima bunch. Aramar and
the Ninefold Worlds are my creation. No money made on
any of these though i may eventually try to do
professional stories set in Aramar. My other works can
be found at the RAAC or on my website at
http://members.aol.com/Metroanime/main.html
just to keep track of 'em:
Grand Tour, World 1: World of Sorrow/World Without Ranma
Grand Tour, World 2: World of Love/Happily Ever After
Grand Tour, World 3: World of Conflict/RIFTS Earth
Grand Tour, World 4: World of Nightmare/Gravesite Nerima
Grand Tour, World 5: Dragon's Destiny
Grand Tour, World 6: Neutral Ground
---------------------------
Story so far: a short time after the failed wedding attempt,
Akane takes out some frustration and knocks Ranma into
a Mirror Of Travel. Shortly thereafter, Ukyou, Shampoo and
a very unwilling Nabiki get sucked through as well.
In a dimensional nexus set in the very far future, the group
learns that they may be returned back home but it'll take a
lot of time, and that they'll merge with their other selves in
worlds where other versions of them exist, their Analogues.
FIRST WORLD, where Ranma died in childhood, each of the
characters has found that Ranma DID have a positive effect
on their lives after all. They also gained that world's Kasumi
as a travelling companion.
SECOND WORLD, they learned that there are alternatives
that may not be obvious, but could turn out better than their
original choices/plans, if they can but give up their past to
embrace a future. They also get knocked off to an unscheduled
visit to:
THIRD WORLD: Rifts Earth. Another companion joins, Shyla
Montgomery, a high tech "Ms Fixit." They escape after a year
trapped in this world, having picked up some additional skills.
FOURTH WORLD: Whodunnit? Whatever they learned of this
world is to be revealed in this chapter.
FIFTH & SIXTH WORLD: Powerups all around.
NEXUS: Before this chapter, they've spent 9 3/4 years
subjectively, most of it in Aramar. Ranma spent five years
as an Imperial Courier before becoming a "honorary Amazon"
of House Southern Cross. Shampoo has been on patrol duty
for six years, with a brief hiatus in the Courier service. Ukyou
has been slinging okonomiyaki most of that time, but also
training as a psi-warrior. Nabiki's been an apprentice sage,
and has actually made it to Topazrank as a mage. Both the
dragon Frostbite and Kasumi are spellcasting healers.
-----------------------------End of the line
Cologne made an abrupt stop on the ledge,
making a gesture for the others to stop as well.

"Do you see them," Lu Fa asked in as
quiet a manner as she could considering the winds here.

There was a shriek behind Cologne as a
form abruptly roared past them, flying at great speeds
and almost hugging the mountain.

Cologne would chastise Lufa later. Right now,
her attention was taken by the dragon. "Hmmm. I'd
place it within the fifty foot range, maybe a little more.
Odd coloration, I've never heard of pewter colored
dragons before. Speed, fairly impressive for a winged
animal, maybe 90mph..."

"He's heading towards the village," one of
the warriors growled.

"No. He's looking for something." Aloe's
voice suggested he was less afraid than curious.

"The male speaks out of turn, but he speaks
correctly," Cologne noted. "Ah, see, he's circling. I'm
betting THAT is where Shampoo is."

"I hope the beast does not find Rei Ga."
Lufa still sounded nervous, normal foes she was
ready to face, but that thing was BIG.

Cologne frowned. They'd have to hurry,
and Lufa had been politically appointed to the
search party. She didn't care for this at all.
------------------------------------
Rei Ga had been listening to some
VERY interesting conversations. This boy
knew Shampoo, apparently very well from
the way they greeted each other. The panda,
on the other hand, looked like he was about
to freak out.

Rei Ga was a tracker and a hunter,
and she felt she was the best at both in the
entire Valley, despite being a mere fourteen
summers old. She was able to remain motionless,
so undetectable that even when an Amazon
Elder was looking for her, she could remain
hidden.

A campsite had developed before
Shampoo's arrival, and she walked into it as
if she knew exactly where everything would
be placed. Again, the easy familiarity between
Shampoo and the boy caught Rei Ga's attention.
She filed it away for later reference.

The boy also apparently spoke a
different language that he had in common with
Shampoo, and it was not one that Rei Ga had
ever heard before. She frowned, not liking how
this cut down the information she could glean.

Then the dragon came, the panda
fled, and Rei Ga gave an involuntary gasp. The
creature was huge, radiated power, and seemed
to know she was there judging by the way that
one eye focussed directly on her location briefly.

*Ranma, Shampoo, I bring good news
and bad news from Kasumi and Nabiki.*

Rei Ga suppressed a second gasp. The
beast spoke in her mind!

*The good news is that this is your
home reality. The bad news is that you're in your
own past.* A pause before the mental voice
resumed. *Yes, they were certain.* Another pause.
*You did WHAT?*

Rei Ga watched as Shampoo covered
her face with her hands and very clearly seemed
upset by something. Rei Ga smiled. Whatever was
going on, this "Shampoo" wasn't infallible.

*Be that as it may, do you want to go
back to your village now, Shampoo?* The dragon
paused, and seemed to look directly at Rei Ga.
*A little late for that. Had I realized what you had
done, I wouldn't have used a general broadcast. I
thought you had said that your plan was to come
clean when you arrived back home, to share the
information you'd gained with your sister Amazons.*

Another pause. *No, it's Rei Ga, the self-
styled 'Best Tracker Of The Nichieju' or as your
great-grandmother puts it, 'Best Nuisance Of The
Nichieju.'*

Rei Ga did her level best to become one
with the rock her back was against.

*Well, come on then, we might as well
rejoin the others. It's a long trip, even taking that
feng shui to sidestep the distance. Oh yes, did you
want to take Rei Ga along and spare her the wrath
of certain Elders?* Another pause as Shampoo said
something in that strange language to the dragon.
*Well, of course, I like Rei Ga. She's not always so
uptight and overreactive like some other amazons
I could name.*

Rei Ga watched Shampoo slam a couple
of kicks onto the dragon's hide, who merely ignored
her. Rei Ga blinked. The dragon was literally radiating
a certain amusement.

*You are SUCH an uptight, overreactive
princess.* Pause. *Yes, I like you too. Just try not
to be TOO violently ill all over me, this time.*

Rei Ga watched Shampoo repeatedly hit
the dragon, with rather less effect than if she were
striking a mountain, before climbing up and straddling
the beast's neck. The boy joined her a moment later.

Rei Ga grinned as the group left, they having
apparently forgotten about their runaway panda. The
thought that made her smile though was the concept
that here was a dragon that needed rescue from a
princess.
----------------------------------
Akane watched, trying to make sense out
of what was going on. They weren't demons. Kasumi
was wearing her cross again, and she hadn't actually
hurt her when they'd had her helpless, she'd done
SOMETHING though. Akane felt more at peace than
she had in years.

Someone knocking on the door, brought
Akane's attention from the latest martial arts magazine
to the door. Seeing that Kasumi was making something
complicated in the kitchen, Akane discarded Theory #47
(Space Aliens Sent Here To Observe The Secrets Of
Japanese Homelife) and went to answer it.

"Oh, hi!" A young boy with really long hair
greeted her. "Is Nabiki in?"

"Uhm, yes," Akane hesitated. Was it another
one? She was sure she'd seen some secret code flash
between the mailman and Kasumi, and if Doctor Tofu
were actually one of the aliens, wouldn't that explain
why he acted like that around Kasumi?

"Oh, Ukyou! I was wondering when you were
going to show up." Nabiki watched as Akane jumped and
slammed her head into the doorframe. "Oh, sorry, Akane.
Did I startle you?"

"Gee, no, sis, I just love slamming my head into
various blunt objects." Akane rubbed her head, glaring
at her sister.

The strange boy seemed to think this was
funny for some reason.

"Oh, who is this?" Soun Tendo walked past,
wondering what the heck was going on with Akane
anyway. He had found her going through his closet
earlier, looking for something. At least Kasumi and
Nabiki were normal, maybe it was just a phase Akane
was going through.

"My name is Ukyou Kuonji," the boy said
with a bow. "I'm here to consult with Nabiki about the
possibility of going into business together. I'm an
okonomiyaki chef and could use a competent
bookkeeper. You know, so I can concentrate on the
product and not the business details."

"Oh," said Soun, nodding. That made sense.

"Yeah, and it'll look good on my resume, as
well as bring some much needed money into this
household." Nabiki winked at Ukyou. They'd worked
these little details out back in that world where Ryouga
turned into a version of Akane.

"Oh," Soun shrugged. "Well, in that case,
I'll leave you to your business. Good luck, Kuonji-san."

"Why, thank you, Tendo-san!" Ukyou grinned
at Mr Tendo. This was much better than the accusatory
glares he usually directed her way.
-------------------------------------
"<Are you sure that is what was said?>"
Cologne thoughtfully stared off into space. "<You
could not be mistaken?>"

Rei Ga was hurt. She always had problems
with the Elders but professional criticism was not
something she received very often. "<It is exactly as
I have relayed to you, Elder, I have changed no word
nor inflection.>"

"<Well then, we know the WHO, and that
is the HOW and the WHAT, but does not give us the
WHY, and the question remains of the WHERE.>"
Cologne still was deep in thought. "<Also we need
to start considering what to do when we find them
again, in light of this new information. First, Rei Ga,
track down this panda. I think it likely that one is a
victim of Jusenkyo as well as the boy. Even if not,
perhaps there will be some clue there.>"

"<I shall track it down, Elder. A panda
is rather too heavy for me to carry back to you,
however.>"

"<Rei Ga, I would suggest you spend
more time doing, less time talking.>"
-------------------------------------------
Akane snuck into the dojo and waited.
The young boy and Nabiki were still talking about
something strange.

After a few moments, Nabiki and Ukyou
entered. Akane's eyes narrowed as she saw Nabiki
take something that looked like a chalk stick out and
start marking up the dojo floor.

"~So we can get our stuff? We don't have
to wait another bloody year for everything to
stabilize?~"

Nabiki nodded, but was quite obviously
concentrating on the task at hand. "~Yeah, it was an
idea of Kharon's. Instead of keeping the various
gadgets and toys and techie items around, we'd just
put 'em in sort of an extradimensional 'storage space'
so that we could pull them out when we decided
we were home.~"

Akane blinked. They were both speaking
English. Better even than she did and she was one
of the best students in that language at Furinkan.

"~I see. That way you only have to worry
about the intervening dimensions between here and
your storage area. Sounds about right. Now, how are
we gonna store this stuff if we can get it here?~"

"~Oh, ye of little faith. I'm not a powerful
wizard, but I can manage a warding that will cause
eyes to slip away from our little stockpile. Then, I
suddenly go from being the 'ice-queen & master
of blackmail' to 'Nabiki Tendo, techno-genius' who
starts working out some of these little babies. We
move most of 'em to a garage next to your Ucchan's
tomorrow morning before the traffic picks up.~"

"~I haven't had a chance to GET the
Ucchan's yet!~"

"~You sign the papers tomorrow at
8am. I've been busy since I found out that this
was home, but we're in our past. There are a
lot of mistakes I am not going to make.~"

Ukyou snorted. "~That just means
we'll probably make a lot of new ones, you know.
What was it Sjul said? 'You can change the past
a lot easier than you can change your karma.' Or
words to that effect.~"

Akane watched as Nabiki finished
drawing a complicated design, then clapped
her hands. The white lines on the dojo floor
abruptly changed to a light bluish glow.
"~Stand clear, Ukyou. I'm going to do the
summoning now, and you don't want to
break the circle.~"

Akane watched as the strange boy
leaned against the dojo wall, Nabiki started
chanting some odd liquid syllables, and the
air started to thicken and glow within the
confines of the circle.

They were summoning something?
Akane gritted her teeth from her position in the
rafters. She had to do something, anything,
it could be their plan to destroy the world!
Well, that wasn't what it had sounded like
they were talking about, but they had been
talking too fast anyway.

Akane dropped, her leg striking
out to scuff one of the glowing marks on the
floor.

"AKANE! DON'T!" Nabiki reacted
a moment too late.

The dojo floor creaked ominously
under the weight of the vehicles and various
"souveneirs" they'd acquired.

Ukyou was the first to speak. "Where
do you suppose she's gone?"

Nabiki rubbed her temples. "Letsee,
she could have ended up in that crossover world
we picked up the hovertruck in, or Lijra's tower
back in Shadar, or any world between here and
there."

Uykou was silent a moment more.
"Kasumi's got some divination spells, right?"

"Sounds good to me," Nabiki said.
"At the very least she's got something for a
headache."
-------------------------------------------------
"You want me to WHAT?!?"
Frostbite, in his usual silver haired human
guise, covered his face with his hands. He
couldn't have heard right.

"Look, it's only for a year and
a half. By then Lijra can send Akane back by
homing in on your signal." Nabiki shrugged.

"Besides," Kasumi put in, "it IS
your fault that she was tipped off that we
weren't quite the sisters she was used to."

"But..." Frostbite looked around
at the assembled group in the empty
okonomiyaki restaurant. "Oh, come on!"

Shampoo started laughing. "Oh.
This is a good one, and that means that
you'll be..."

"You are NOT going to be
my fiancee," Ranma shook his head.
"Even if he has to impersonate Akane
for ten years, ain't no way. Oh, Shampoo,
you stepped out of your pidgin again."

"Oh yeah." Shampoo sighed.
"Shampoo know she have to practice."

"Better."

"I have to be a sixteen year
old Japanese tomboy for a year and a
half?" Frostbite twitched. "I'm a dragon,
for crying out loud. I'm a MALE dragon.
What do I know about being Japanese,
a girl, or even Akane's personal history?
There's no way I can pull this off."

"No?" Nabiki said with a
raised eyebrow.

"NO!" Frostbite leaned back
against the wall. "I am NOT Akane and
it would be blatantly dishonest to go
about impersonating her. I will NOT
do this. No."
-----------------------------------
"Akane" grumbled as she
followed her "sister" to school. "Why,
why do I have to be a pushover for
girls with a sob story, and certain
pushy amazons. Why?"

Nabiki smirked and almost
said that it was because he was a MALE
dragon, and his shapechanges went a
little deeper than just the outer appearance.
Also he took matters of honor seriously,
as all dragons of his breed did, and they'd
made it a matter of honor.

Now, at least, Akane's grades
wouldn't slip TOO much. She expected
Japanese history to suddenly become
Akane's worst subject.

Nobody wanted to think of
what might happen if the synch rate
between universes proved to be a
problem.

"Akane Tendo, I love you!"

"This is for you, Akane!"

Nabiki's eyes widened. They'd
forgotten to tell Frostbite about this.

Akane blinked and stared at
all the attackers, doing nothing more than
blocking the shots until a wrestler grabbed
her from behind, grasping one of her breasts
firmly in his hand.

Nabiki watched as Frostbite very
nearly lost control of his shapechange right
there, lost in shock at what had just occurred.
Then the eyes changed. Pupil and iris vanished,
and the whites glowed.

"ENOUGH!" Frostbite roared in
Akane's voice. Frostbite was not a martial artist,
but he had most of the strength and durability
of his natural form even when shapechanged
into Akane Tendo. His natural form being that
of a 55ft long dragon, this was considerable.

Boys were being grabbed and thrown.
Weapons were being sliced apart as if by the claws
of some great beast, and the wrestler who had
started all this found that he had been aimed at
an open window on the third floor of the school.

"You want a piece of me? Take my
foot!" Suddenly Frostbite was standing alone,
panting, in the midst of an open area. Some of
the boys were limping away rather unsteadily.

A rose landed on Akane's blouse,
and the transformed dragon just looked down
in horror at it.

"Ah, Akane Tendo, my love, my Venus,
how you rise above the petty concerns of..."

Tatewaki Kuno's speech was abruptly
caught off by a scream of horror from Akane,
who entered the school building a moment later.

Kuno blinked and noted that Akane
had not bothered to open the doors before running
through them, and that the parts of said doors were
lying strewn about as if explosive charges had been
used.

"Methinks that my love is not feeling
herself today. What a perfect opportunity it is for
me to show my nobility and love for her by offering
to care for her during her convalescence."

Nabiki chuckled. Kuno, now THERE was
someone who could have been thrown into Shadar
and probably not learn a damn thing.
--------------------------------------
<clip here to 4c>
-------------------------------------

Ranma 1/2: Grand Tour 4c (the Bet)
R.Takahashi owns the Nerima bunch. Aramar and
the Ninefold Worlds are my creation. No money made on
any of these though i may eventually try to do
professional stories set in Aramar. My other works can
be found at the RAAC or on my website at
http://members.aol.com/Animetoo/index.html
--end of the line-------------------------
Nabiki approached the transformed
dragon during lunch. This "Akane" was staring
at the obento and the chopsticks as if trying to
figure out which was supposed to be eaten.

"Quite a performance this morning,"
Nabiki said in a low voice. "I am quite curious
as to why you reacted to Kuno that way."

"Nabiki," Frostbite said with the
air of someone who'd been much put upon.
"How does a dragon normally communicate
with people whose vocal apparatus are not
constructed in the same manner?"

"Telepathy...you didn't?"

Frostbite nodded. "It's pretty
much second nature after the first century
or two, you surface scan strangers. No
deep thoughts, but you can get a feel for
people like that. Kuno...is scary."

"How much of your psychic
talents, dragon abilities, or spells can you
access while you're wearing my sister's
shape, anyway?"

Frostbite shrugged. "Minor
amounts of telepathy, especially with
people I know well. Both you and Ukyou
block too well for me to contact you easily.
Shampoo spent so much time working on
overcoming her motion sickness while riding,
that I can pretty much reach into her mind
without her knowing, or contact her fairly
easy. Ranma's about halfway, if he's actively
shielding I couldn't reach him. Distract him,
or if he's 'listening' then I can reach him ok.

"Telekinesis is harder. I might be
able to manage a salt shaker, nothing heavier
unless I shift back to normal. Levitation I can
possibly do, as that's a little different. Near a
feng shui, I can probably teleport, again not
nearly as well as in dragon form.

"Strength and overall durability,
not much changed from form to form. As for
my breathing frost on someone, definitely
have to wait till I change back.

"The spells, those I ought to be
able to access no matter what my shape is."

Nabiki waited until another student
had passed. "And how well has your acting
gone? Anyone think you're Akane?"

"Most of 'em think Akane's just
acting weird." Frostbite grimaced. "Some
haven't noticed any difference at all."

"Stop eating like that, you're
drawing attention. Akane would never
use her fingers like that."

"Oh? Who's paying attention?"
Frostbite very exaggeratedly began peering
into the corners of the room.

Nabiki noted that people just
seemed to avoid looking in their direction.
"You used some sort of spell? What is
someone here turned out to be a psychic
or a sensitive?"

"Then THEY would be reacting
just to my presence. There are only three
that I've noticed who have a touch of the
Gift. One's that girl over there at the third
table, the one who's playing solitaire.
Another is that kid in the back of Akane's
class. May have to help him out, he's
putting out a low level telepathic 'don't
notice me' field. Could have nasty
consequences later in life. Third is that
girl over against the wall, the tough
looking one."

Nabiki frowned. The fortune
teller and Gosunkugi she was familiar
with. The "tough looking one" she was
not familiar with. That meant new student,
which would also explain why she was
sitting alone. "Still keeping that 'don't
notice us' spell going?"

"Yeah." Frostbite swallowed
the plum. "Next period's English. At
least that's something I can do well.
This Japanese history stuff is gonna
be bad. Math'll be easy."

Nabiki paid attention to
tracing a pattern on the tabletop,
whispering the words to her spell.
"Revelation" she murmurred, and
put a drop of moisture on her eyes.

Frostbite's senses were
quite acute, more so in his draconic
form than in his Akane guise. Nabiki
knew that Frostbite wouldn't have
examined either of the three very
closely, it wouldn't be proper form
back in his homeland. Nabiki did not
have such reservations.

To Nabiki's eyes the
light in the cafeteria seemed to mute
and flicker. Glowing auras sprang up
around the various teens in the room,
dozens of colors and flickering meanings
being revealed. Three auras interested
Nabiki immediately.

Gosunkugi's aura clearly
spoke of some sickness, his nascent
powers turned back upon himself through
a lack of self-image. Nabiki smirked, as
Frostbite was a healer by nature, he would
feel drawn to try to cure Gosunkugi. This
would be inevitable, as would Gos
misunderstanding "Akane" suddenly
paying attention to him.

The fortuneteller, Reika Suzuki,(1)
was a different matter. Her aura was tinged
with curiosity and a deep sense of concern.
She would bear watching.

The girl in the back concerned
Nabiki. This girl oozed contempt and hatred,
and her brown eyes looked yellow to
Nabiki with the spell running. She looked up
at Nabiki, their eyes meeting across the room.

Nabiki smiled. Why, of course,
that was her good friend. She felt a need to
talk to the other girl, she had to unburden
herself of all these dirty little secrets.

Frostbite's hand on her shoulder
pushed her down and a muttered phrase cut
through the fog.

Nabiki shuddered. That had been
quite unnerving.

"She's not human," Frostbite
explained unnecessarily. "What she is, I'm
not sure. What I am sure of, is that she's
more than a match for you or Kasumi on
a purely physical level, could easily take
Ukyou or Shampoo in magical combat,
and would give Ranma or myself a hard
time in an unstructured battle. That isn't
her real shape, so I'm not sure how much
her abilities are curtailed by her current
form."

Nabiki watched out of the corner
of her eye as the grin slowly faded from the
strange girl's face and she went back to the
bored and indifferent mask from earlier. This
did not bode well.(2)
-----------------------------------------------
"Hello? Mister Tendo? My name is
Ranma Saotome. Yes, Genma's son. Look, my
dad told me that if I got back from China, I
should stay over at your place. Yeah. No, he
didn't tell me why, other than you used to
study under the same master. Oh, about an
hour, I guess. I'm currently at the Furinkan
station. Just got here. Okay, I'll see you then."

Ranma hung up the phone and
shrugged at Shampoo. "Well, we might as
well get this over with, ne?"

"You go, Ranma. Shampoo meet
you there."

"So how are we gonna play this,"
Ranma leaned against the wall, drinking in
the sights of his homeland once again.

"You have good choices here.
Nabiki interested, Kasumi interested. You
could even choose Shampoo or Ukyou."

"Yeah, I guess Frostie would be
major not thrilled if I chose Akane right now."

"Shampoo never see what you loved
in Akane anyway." Shampoo made a face. "I
hate having to go back to that pidgin, but my
language skills were never that hot and it
would just be further problems if I stuck out
much further than I already do."

Ranma smiled. "Besides, I know
you've both got your hearts set on others at
this point."

"Hmmph. You didn't used to be
that observant."

"We learn, we grow." Ranma
watched Shampoo do the rooftop hop,
and settled down for another coffee. He'd
give them the promised hour.
--------------------------------------------
Soun opened the door, and
was gratified that this one WASN'T
a purple-haired amazon.

"You must be..."

"Yeah, you must be Mister
Tendo. I'm Ranma Saotome, pleased to
meetcha."

"Oooh, Ranma," Nabiki came
dashing up, wearing tight jeans and one
of her sexier blouses. "Come on in, I'd
like you to meet my sisters."

Kasumi bowed. Akane grunted
and looked severely uncomfortable.

"This is Akane, and this is
Kasumi. I am Nabiki. Oh, and my two
business associates here are Ukyou
Kuonji and Shampoo of the Nichieju."

"Why, Shampoo, you're from
the amazon village, aren't you? Small
world, isn't it?"

Shampoo rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Shampoo agree. Small world."

"And Ucchan, my best friend
from my days in the Kansai area. Good to
see you. How's the okonomiyaki?"

Ukyou sighed. No matter how
many worlds they visited, no matter how
many Analogues he incorporated, Ranma
would never be an actor. Of this, she was
surely convinced. "Well enough. I've
decided to settle down and start my own
restaurant."

"I'll marry him, father," said
Kasumi with a smile. "I might like a younger
man for a change."

"I see a lot of potential here,
daddy. Maybe I should marry him." Nabiki
made a show of eyeing Ranma speculatively.

"Whatever," said Akane. "Leave
me out of this altogether, thank you!"

"So it has been decided!" Soun
grinned. "You will marry either Nabiki or
Kasumi!" He'd expected all three to protest.

"Hmmm, so how should we
decide this?" Kasumi appeared to be thinking.
"A cook off?"

"I never could get the hang of that
stuff. See who can raise the most money?"

"I don't think so. Cards?"

"You really want to play cards against
me?"

"Ah, right. What about..."

"How about you both marry the guy,
just as long as you leave me out of this stuff."

"Illegal." Kasumi sighed.

"Could be fun, though." Shampoo
put in.

"Quite." Kasumi considered a little
longer. "How about janpen?"

"Too simple," Nabiki shook her head.
"Well, there's only one thing to do, then."

Soun fell for it, or maybe he was just
dizzy from looking back and forth from one to the
other after this exchange. "What's that?"

"Procrastinate."
------------------------------------------------
I'm wrapping up here just because
many people have e-mailed me to say that the
Bet has gone on long enough. there's a couple
more pieces ready to drop, and Grand Tour's
direction is pretty much given.

Akane: appears in Lijra's tower, 7th age. She
has to go to school, and has to be protected
from the adaptation effect of this universe. Will
she be a warrior? a mage? a rogue? a priest?
Will she gain Lijra's help in retaining her humanity
or will her species adapt? What of her schoolwork
and her job? Will Akane work as a tavern maid, try
for the guardsman position, or become an apprentice
to some established master?

Kasumi: the healer priestess. Having experienced
excitement and adventure, will she be satisfied with
her role as a stay-at-home housewife? In a world
with so much suffering, can she bear to stay home?

Nabiki: the mage. With powerful spells at her beck
and call, and exotic future technology, can Nabiki
find any challenge anymore in the day-to-day
blackmailing of her fellow students? Will Nabiki
decide that it's her turn to be an adventurer?

Ranma: martial artist, psionicist. getting back to
home, finally, kicks his feet up, rests, and is
in for one of the fights of his life.

Frostbite: a male adult dragon, talked into
impersonating Akane for the next year. A role
he does NOT care for, but his shapechanging
abilities are up to at least this level of challenge.

Shampoo: cornered by Great Grandma over what
happened in the village, she challenges and is
beaten...by Frostbite who had no idea that the
amazons of this timeline had such bizarre ideas
about courtship. Shampoo points out that if
Cologne wanted to marry a strong husband,
then she has definitely found such a one.

(1)- can't remember the name of this char,
if it is even given in the anime. may have to go
back and rewatch it.

(2)- not saying what she is, other than an
opponent drawn here by the "ripple" of people
moving through the quantum barrier.

Oh, and the world where Akane killed
Ranma in a marital spat. Other authors better than
i have detailed such things. Course, the Akane that's
in the future would find help in overcoming any little
violence problems...really fast, but this would be detailed
in future chapters if this wins the Bet.
look for the final vote notice to appear in about a week,

ja ne,
gregg

(i'll leave the epics to others, let's just have fun, shall we?)