Twisted Path-Part1 [FanFic]

[Twister]

(Should I say hi? Why not?)

Hi! This be my first fanfic posted to this group and as such....
(dramatic pause)
I'M A LITTLE NERVOUS!!!!! AGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

*ahem* Pardon me.

Anyway, I got into anime last summer( don't look at me that way it's true! :)
and I got hooked. Started watching anything I could get but that was it until
I started watching Ranma 1/2.
I've always had this irritating habit of changing a story I've read or
seen in my mind to my liking but when Ranma came along I couldn't resist
writing SOMETHING about it.
This failure was MAJORLY caused by my reading, re-reading, and thrice
reading a fanfic series called Undocumented Features created by
Gryphon(now The Shadow I believe), ReBob, and MegaZone( Almighty
Moderator of Anime Fanfic) . I really love their series and the way that
they keep all the events in their universe straight.(PCHammer's stories
in this universe I love as well.)
Once I read their story, and watched Ranma 1/2, ideas started
coming to me about a character(me sorta) using my usual handle and name
kinda like some other people do...*hint hint* B->
Problem was...I overdid it a little. My hands still hurt.
Owch. I've been sitting on this thing since the beginning of August and
got fed up with it and am finally putting darn thing up.
Likely be the usual glips in the story that I've missed but...oh well.
Feel free to mail me about them along with any helpful comments that you
fell like you just HAVE to tell me. :) Don't be dissappointed that my
character gets most of the focus in the story. I have much larger plans
for him....(gotta get these ideas outta my head.)
Chapters are mostly just markers in the story to help me remember
where I was so consider them in the same way.
I've re-done Ranma's lines a tad because of the two people's comments
who have pre-read this story. Thankx to joh...@wam.umd.edu, who first
gave me his comments and to Draxt of #anime! with whom I mud with (easy
since we're both at the same University and anime club. :) and who is an
incurible Tenchi fan. :) (Guess who he is at 3k... :)

Here it comes.....

P.S. Also, I've done a rough second story but I won't go into
much detail about it. Attempt to create some characters of me own you
might say but still same story....sorta. Anyone who wants to review the
rough draft, spelling, grammar, and other errors and all are welcome to
help me out. Mail me at umst...@cc.umanitoba.ca

Thankx.

This time for sure.

Twisted Path
A Story Inspired by Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2
by Darren Steffler

Prologue
--------

The Void between universes is not quite the empty nothingness it is
believed to be. Forces beyond most beings contend here for supremacy
over the others. Some are mindless, some are not, and some are not even
able to be described on those terms.
Powers from some planes spill out here and are tapped by other
universes. The reality-warping forces changing the "normal" ways of those
places. Natural or not, in whichever universe, the power behind the throne
is located here.
Two such forces, well known to mankind, can be found in the Void. The
spillage from their planes can be found relatively nearby each other
and travellers going from universe to universe witness their mighty
clash. For these forces, siblings of a sort if you will, are both attracted
and repelled by the other.
They collide in an area where they meet and separate, for natural
laws are absent in one yet entrenched in the other. The energies stay in that
spot before going to other universes where they are tapped or dissipated.
Many beings have tried to control this spot when they discovered it, but in
vain. When either of the forces can control the controllers it becomes
a hopeless task. Experienced races mearly leave this spot alone, knowing
what it is and gaze in awe over the power involved.
No one has ever actually tried to enter this area. The powerful
energies there are random and capricious. Only the insane would attempt such a
feat.
Or perhaps...someone with no choice at all....

Chapter One
-----------

Through the open shutters of a blind, dawn's light shines forth and
strikes an immobile figure on a bed. The figure's head is turned to the side,
not yet aware of the fact that a new day has arrived and likely not overly
concerned about that fact. The digital clock opposite to the face shines a
bright red 10:00am and declares it Sunday, The Day to Sleep In.
The room in which the bed occupies is in slight disarray as various
objects litter the floor. These objects consist of dirty clothes, comic books,
sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks, and a few large, university level textbooks that
look like whales swimming in an ocean of debris.
Muffled noises can be heard on the other side of the mostly closed
door that separates this literary landslide from the rest of the apartment
the room is connected to. A quiet but hurried departure can be deciphered
from the sounds that continue to penetrate the small crack of space that
the door allows. The abrupt cessation of noise heralds the fact that the
person responsible has left the domicile.
Silence.
What bright sunlight and mere sound failed to do is successfully
accomplished by vacuum.
Slowly, the eyes on the face open.
And shut.
Open.
Close.
After several minutes, the head emits an audible sigh and keeps
its eyes open when it attempts again. Eyes register the time on the clock
and ponder this new datum for a second.
*Well, looks like Mom's gone to her meeting.* Thinks the person on the
bed. *Sigh. Better get up now or I'll fall asleep again and not get up
'till 2pm.*
The person slowly takes off the rest of the comforter that covers
him, the rest having been flung away during the tossing and turning of sleep.
A young, normal-looking, Western man is fully revealed by this action.
Brown hair and hazel eyes placed on an average-looking face. The rest of the
body, also of an average height, suggests that he doesn't really do much in
the way of exercise but is still within a recommended weight range for his
size.
Both feet are lifted up and moved off the bed, then push down hard
so the upper body comes up as nature intended.
Pause.
*Hmp. Better get your butt in gear or you'll never wake up Darren.*
Another sigh and the person known as Darren Steffler stands up off
his bed and picks his way carefully through the rare clear spots on the floor.
*I think it's past time for another clean-up,* thinks Darren. *When
over half the floor is covered I KNOW it's overdue.*
Reaching the door, the young man known as Darren widens the crack
that allowed the noise of his mother departing to accommodate his passage
out of the messy room. Once in the hallway, he makes a left turn in the
direction of the kitchen and places his body on auto-drive.
*The joys of early morning,* mused Darren. *With the ever popular
choice of factory-made, frozen waffles or factory-made, sugar frosted
cereal flakes. Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy. I think tomorrow morning I'll
dig up a cookbook and make some pancake batter from scratch for a change.
Maybe slice some apples and plop them in with some cinnamon.... Haven't
done that for a while. Hullo. Body has reached target. Commence mission.*
Darren grasps his goal. The freezer door. With a sucking of opening
insulation sealer, the door opens and the form of a package of blueberry
waffles is revealed. The box is grabbed by Darren and the door closed again,
more out of habit than desire to keep the cold air in.
*Well, Phase One accomplished. On for the rest of breakfast...*

One hour later, and 200% more awake, Darren is at "his" computer.
*Mom may lease the thing, but I'm the one who uses it a heck of a lot
more,* Darren thought with amusement, *Better me than her. At least she knows
not to muck around too much with it*
The "thing" in question was a 486 IBM compatible computer running
at 25 Mhz with 4 megabytes RAM. And a lousy 100 megabyte hard drive.
*Hm. Does well for what I do now. Not that I'm suddenly going
to try and crack the secrets of the universe. Great for current games
though. Heh.*
Typing on said computer, Darren focused again on the problem at hand.
The program he was working on was for his mother but a few problems seemed to
be cropping up in the program. Programming in Turbo C is not too bad, except
for one...well _two_, minor problems Darren always had.
"AGGGHHHH!!! Damn pointers!" shouted Darren, "Shoot! I always do this
to myself. I never plan ahead and just go straight into programming the
bloody thing." Darren sighed."Another thing is that I never can concentrate
on this for long," he sighed again, "I work on it for a day then leave it
alone for a week! And in the _meantime_...I goof off! I know it's summer but I
_would_ like to _finish_ this darn thing!"
Darren took his hands off the keyboard, propped his head up with
them, and started staring at the screen. "I've finished third year Computer
Science and I still don't know what to do for a career... At least once I get this thing
done this program I can honestly say I'm a computer programmer. Assignments
for homework don't count in MY mind. I want to do something by myself..."
Darren stared at the screen for a few more seconds before giving up
in disgust.
"Sigh. Well, I guess I'll goof off again..."

Wandering back to his room, Darren picked up a thick graphic novel
from the litter of material on the floor and jumped onto his bed to read
it.
*Now here's one of the main reasons I've been "goofing off",* mused
Darren. *I sure have gotten hooked on this anime stuff this summer. Never
looked at it much before...but then, I _like_ science fiction and fantasy. Once
I actually started reading it, it got me.*
The volume referred to was one of the volumes created from the manga
series, Ranma 1/2. Covering the graphic novel was a yellow jacket with the
two forms of Ranma on the front.
Flipping through the pages to a spot he left before, Darren continued
his thinking. *This is the best of the manga series I've seen yet. Too bad
I haven't got all of the english-language version releases yet but at least
I'm working on it. All the anime releases are good too... The characters
sure can be amusing at times, especially when Ranma's "problem" complicates
matters and also when he tries to stop Happosei's lecherous behavior from
getting him into more trouble......*

Chapter Two
-----------

"He he he! Panties! Ah, my sweet darlings!"
"Happosei!!! Come back here you LECH!!!"
Pedestrians walking along the street were startled this morning by
two unusual sights though a few recognized the two from previous scenes
like this. One was withered, ancient, and very small man was hopping swiftly
down the street with a sack larger than himself on his back. The sack had one
or two female undergarments streaming out from the stuffed container. Chasing
the old man was a handsome young man with black hair tied in a pig-tail in the
back. The young man, wearing Chinese clothing, had a fustrated look on his
face.
*Damn him!* Ranma thought while running after the bouncing Master
of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts school. The figure ahead of him may be
small but the amount of trouble he stirred up went all out of preportion
to his size. *Pop shoulda put weights on his legs and thrown him into the
deepest part of the ocean! At least he wouldn't have gotten free and merely
irritated the fish!*
"Will you STOP! Akane will have a fit if she finds out you've emptied
her dresser drawers when she gets back from Dr. Tofu's with Kasumi! I DON'T
want her to jump to the wrong conclusion (as par course) and blame ME!"
"Ha ha ha! You'll have to catch me first!" As he said so, Happosei
turned left down another street as pedestrians stared at the funny, little man
with the big sack on his back.
Panting with the effort, Ranma followed. *Dammit! This is getting me
nowhere! Where would that old lecher _go_ around this part of town? Hmm...
That's IT! The women's langerie shop! Four blocks from here. I'll take a short
cut and wait for him there.* With that thought in mind, a leap carried him onto
the roof of the nearest building and started hurriedly towards the langerie
shop in a straight line. *Once I get there, what then? I can't go head-on at
the old fart. No time. Old he may be, but no one has told HIM that. Akane won't
be long at Tofu's so I gotta be quick...*

Five minutes later, Happosei glanced behind him. "Hmm. I must've
lost Ranma. Probably couldn't keep up. Ah, this younger generation has no
stamina at all. What a pity." Slowing a bit, Happosei made a final turn
and saw his goal. The women's langerie shop appeared like a sacred shrine
to pantydom in his eyes. Like a magnet, he is drawn to the entrance of
the store. "Ah, my precious sweethearts! Soon you will be liberated from
your confinement and be with me! This shouldn't take more than a few
seconds. Hang on my darlings!" With a bounce, Happosei swiftly leaped into the
shop.
Right into the horde of angry women waiting for him.
"HENTAI!!!" They all shouted at him as they attacked.
After five minutes of beating, clawing, broom-swinging punishment,
there wasn't much of Happosei recognizable in the bloody blob of flesh that
was left on the floor. One of the women took a dustpan, swept Happosei onto
it, and threw him out the door, crying, "AND DON'T COME BACK!"
Groaning on the street, Happosei tried to gather his scattered wits
about him. "They..were..waiting. How..did..they..know..I..was..coming?"
From inside the store he could hear voices.
"Thanks for letting us know that that hentai was coming."
A familiar feminine voice replied amusedly, "No problem. Oh, I'll
take these back to where they belong." A female outline appeared in the
doorway carring Happosei's beloved bag of bounty.
"Well, thanks again! Good-bye! Come on girls, back to work!"
The girl holding the sack waved good-bye and stepped out into
Happosei's red-eyed sight.
Ranma-chan looked at the sorry mess on the street. "Well, well,
you old fart. Guess you got what was coming to you." She smirked.
"RANMA! I'LL...NOT...FORGIVE...THIS..."
"If you only knew how sorry I feel... NOT! Well, I gotta go replace
these unmentionables in Akane's room before she gets back. So..."
Waving good-bye, Ranma-chan hurried off with Happosei's sack and was
soon out of sight.
Red faced with rage, Happosei tried to get up. After several tries
he finally stood, although unsteadily, erect. Staring in the direction
where Ranma-chan was last seen before turning out of sight, he ground out,
"Ranma...I...will...have...my...REVENGE!!!" With that last word, Happosei
swung out a hand and struck a nearby tree.
This tree had been standing for over 40 years on this street. Many
children had played in it's branches when it had become strong enough to
support their weight. Fierce storms and even an out-of-control car could
not defeat this tree's stoic determination
It split in half.
Both halves fell over.
Ranma was in deeeeeeeeep trouble.

Twenty minutes later, Ranma-chan reached the entrance to the Tendo
home.
*I hope Akane hasn't come home yet. I'd better hurry up and change
back and then replace her...um...stuff.*
With Happosei's sack hanging behind her, Ranma-chan quickly entered
the residence she now considered home and headed towards the bathroom. Pop
and Mr. Tendo were likely playing Go in their usual spot. A glance
at the empty kitchen told her Kasumi and, thankfully, Akane were not yet
home.
That left Nabiki.
"Well hello there, Ranma," a cheerful, yet slightly sarcastic voice,
called out. "Run into a little problem? That wouldn't be Happosei's sack, now
would it?" As she walked towards Ranma-chan, Nabiki's small smile widened
further at Ranma-chan's discomfort.
"Nabiki....," Ranma-chan growled slightly.
"Now don't tell me.... Happosei lent his prize pupil his favorite...
ahem...storage sack to practice some new routine as training?" Nabiki's
right eyebrow arched up at the word "training".
Ranma sighed, she would find out sooner or later anyway. Nabiki
always somehow managed to worm out the truth, and blackmail you later,
eventually.
"Alright. I saw Happosei sneak into Akane's room 'bout a hour ago. When
I followed he had managed to snatch all of her...ah...stuff. I told
him to put it all back but he just jumped out the window so I chased after
him. I had to change into a female to get all the girls in a langerie
store to ambush him so I could get Akane's stuff back in time." Ranma-chan
smiled at the memory, "Got him good too."
"Hmm... Well, you'd better hurry up and put it all back quick. I don't
think Akane and Kasumi will be much longer," Nabiki started to walk away
and then turned her head back. "After all...she might get the idea you wanted
to borrow her things for a while," Nabiki chuckled at Ranma-chan's reaction
to her comment and left.
Ranma-chan fumed, "I shouldn't have expected anything different
from HER."

After some hot tap water, Ranma quickly went to Akane's room to
replace her things in hopefully their proper places.
"Maybe I should just leave the sack and let Akane sort it all out,"
Ranma thought about it a bit then shook his head. "Then she'd ask why
I let Happosei take her stuff in the first place. Stupid tomboy." With that
in mind, Ranma started to re-fill Akane's drawers with their rightful
occupants.
Unfortunately, Nabiki was in another part of the house when Akane
and Kasumi returned and was unable to delay Akane.
Akane was feeling a little depressed after seeing Dr. Tofu in his usual
state after talking to Kasumi. Akane had thought she was over him but she felt
down even so. *It will take some time before I am completely over him I guess,*
Akane mentally sighed, *I'll go change into something a little more comfortable.
Maybe that will cheer me up a bit.*
When Akane entered her room, the sight that greeted her drove
all thoughts of Dr. Tofu from her mind all right. Ranma was there, frozen
in mid-motion with one of Akane's bras in his right hand. The left was
holding open a sack filled with similar items.
Needless to say, Akane was not impressed.

"Kasumi! When did you get back?" Nabiki asked.
"Just a minute ago, why?"
Suddenly, sounds from upstairs boomed down.
"RANMA NO BAKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Crash! Bang!
"AKANE! WAIT!"
Nabiki smirked.
"Oh, no reason."

Chapter Three
-------------

As Nabiki listened to one of her favorite songs in her room, she could
hear Ranma and Akane still shouting at each other. Even muffled by wood and
song.
*Don't those two know how to have a QUIET argument?*
Lying down on her yen-symbol covered sheets on her bed, Nabiki
contemplated the two 'lovebirds'. *One of these days, either Ranma or Akane
will stop arguing with the other and be in for a big surprise...*
Although they weren't exactly fond of each other at the beginning,
Nabiki could tell that over time, SOMETHING had grown between her sister
and her betrothed. *They would probably die if they ever told each other
their true feelings about the other. Both too stubborn to be the first to
do so though. Stoneheads.*
Nabiki reached out, got her diary, and flipped it open. However,
instead of a girl's private life and feelings, it looked more like an
accounting ledger for a bookie.
*Hmm... Looks like I'm starting to get low on yen. I wonder if Kunou
has gotten tired of his current batch of photos.*
Sounds of the argument brought her back to the present.
*If I EVER get a boyfriend, he'd better not be as boneheaded as Ranma.
Smiling she amended to herself, *And rich of course.*
A new sound caught Nabiki's attention, it was the low muttering voice
of an elderly man. *Happosei,* Nabiki guessed. *Finally managed to crawl
home I gather...*
Standing up from her bed and heading towards her door, she heard some
words in Happosei's muttering.
"Mumble....revenge....summon....growl....teach....Ranma..."
*Uh oh. Sounds like Ranma REALLY ticked him off this time.*
Waiting till Happosei went past her door and entered his own room,
Nabiki quietly opened her door, snuck over to Happosei's door and placed her
ear on the door. She wondered if this would take long but Happosei's voice
caught her attention.
"Where did I put that scroll...? Scroll, scroll, bra, scroll. Panty,
ah, that's where it went! Scroll, bra, scroll... Here it is! Now according to
this, this spell will summon a demon to make life a living Hell for the
target of the summoner's ire. Perfect! Just like I remembered! This will
teach Ranma not to mess around with a Master of the Art! I'll do it
tonight near the lake outside town on that large, flat stone. Midnight
of course. Better get ready and gather my strength. Ah, my darling panty
come to...."
Nabiki left at that point. *Midnight. Hm.* She smiled. *Looks like I
won't have to go to Kunou after all....*

Around 11:45pm sounds of people moving though the underbrush echoed
in the forest outside town.
"Nabiki had better be right about this or I'll..."
"Ranma! You know she wouldn't lie about something like this."
"You're right. Especially after I paid her 2000 yen."
Whap! "Ranma!"
"Will you two be quiet! We're getting close to the lake."
Silence.
The forms of Ranma, Akane, Genma, and Soun, appeared at the
edge of the forest. The sky was partially clouded over so the moon shone
intermittently over the lake which was beyond the edge of the forest.
Genma looked at the lake and then to the right, "The stone Nabiki
heard Happosei taking about must be that way," He pointed a general
direction to the right. "It's a small ways into the forest and we will be
able to see it from the edge of the lake. We should be able to hear him
soon." Genma shivered. "We had better hurry, it's almost midnight."
"Why are YOU so frightened?! I'M the one he's after!"
Genma relaxed. "You're right. I'd forgotten."
Ranma pushed Genma into the lake.
After Genma-panda came out, with Soun restraining him from doing the
same to Ranma, the small party continued along the lakeside and soon heard
chanting. Looking through the forest's trees, the party saw Happosei
cross-legged on the large, flat stone. As they quietly approached the Master
they could see a chalk circle with a pentagram in front of him.
The Place of Arrival for the soon-to-be summoned demon.
"It sounds like he's almost done. What should we do?" Mr. Tendo shifted
nervously.
"Well, since I'm his target....," Ranma looked around, "Any rocks
nearby?"

Happosei was pleased. He'd perfectly inscribed the Place of Arrival
and was almost ready to release the spell to summon the demon. Most of it
was completed. He could feel the complicated spell that could reach beyond
this universe, waiting to do it's function. All he had left to do was to
describe the demon the spell recommended, and then Ranma would pay!
Raising his hands above his head, Happosei intoned, "I cast this
spell. I am Happosei. I wish to summon the demon..." BONK! The rock Ranma
threw hit it's mark: Happosei's head. Happosei was sightly dazed as a result.
*No!* He could feel the spell start to go beyond his control.
He gathered his will and focused it upon the spell before it went completely.
Happosei didn't have much time.
*Bring me a demon!*
He directed that thought towards the spell and felt it respond.
The spell ripped through dimensional barriers and went beyond this
universe searching for it's target. One fragment of the spell split from the
main spell and flung off uncontrollably in another direction. The fragment was
incomplete without the main body of the spell. It only searched for something
that it could easily bring back to it's creator. Thusly, it searched for a
mind that was already focused on, and resonated with, its home universe...

Chapter Four
------------

Darren was feeling tired but fulfilled. He had gone back to his program
and, after a lot of time and effort, found the source of the pointer error.
He had then proceeded to add on more of the features that he wanted in the
program. What his mother wanted could wait until he had more time. Say a
decade or two. Sheesh. Ask someone what they wanted in a program and they
want Artificial Intelligence.
He was surprised at the time when he checked his watch.
*Five minutes to midnight already? Wow. Time sure flies when you're
having fun.*
Getting up from the computer, Darren stretched. He walked back to his
room and picked up that Ranma 1/2 graphic novel, again, while plopping back onto
his bed. Now dressed only in a light, white t-shirt and shorts, he wasn't
overly concerned about falling asleep while reading.
*I'll just finish reading this and then catch some Z's Hm, midnight.
12 o'clock and all's welllll. Heh*
Suddenly, the room blurred briefly.
*What the...?? I must be a heck of a lot more tired than I think I
am if my vision's blurring! I'd better leave off the novel and just go to
bed.* Darren dropped the book back amongst it's neighbours on the floor and
closed his eyes. *Weird though. That's never happened to me before and I've
done plenty of all-nighters for school. I also got a full night's sleep
last night. Ah well. Body knows best.*
With his eyes closed, Darren failed to notice that his room was
continuing to blur on and off now. With increasing rapidity.
Starting to feel a little odd and thinking by now that he was coming
down with something, Darren opened his eyes. *Aggh. Maybe I'd better get some
of Mom's vitamins. Hope I'm not getting something real baaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHH!!!!*
"WHAT THE HECK?!!!"
Darren viewed a whirlpool of blurred images of his room swirling around
him. The speed of the motion was visibly increasing in velocity. Even his
bed, a brief island of stability, was starting to blur before his eyes.
Voice shaking, Darren muttered, "W-what's g-g-going on h-here?!?" He
grabbed at his alarm radio on a nearby nightstand. Instead of the firm, solid
material he expected, his fingers _flowed_ through the clock face before
Darren jerked his hand back in shock.
Then he was falling.
"Oh sshhhhhooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Darren dropped down a kaleidoscopic tunnel and was accelerating rapidly
from what he could see in his state of panic. Images flashed past him as
he flew by. Mountains. Cities. Underwater views. Planets. Suns. Galaxies.
All this, and more, went by until he was going to fast to see the images
anymore. He was almost getting used to this when suddenly he was launched
out the end of the tunnel and into...nothing.
That's what it was. An empty space. Nothing. A...Void.
Darren stared disbelievingly at this as he floated in the blankness.
He had read enough sci-fi and fantasy novels to guess where might be.
"The Void. Oh no, I have GOT to be dreaming this. I closed my eyes
and I fell asleep. Right. Sure." He wondered abstractly how one survived
in the Void, even in a dream. "By whatever brings you here of course. DUH!"
Feeling a little better after convincing himself he was dreaming,
Darren wondered what was likely to come next. He was sure his mind wouldn't
do this to him and just leave him here.
He absently noticed that the tunnel was gone. It had moved swiftly
away out of sight while he was thinking. That meant two things: either the
tunnel or he was still moving at a good rate. Darren was inclined to believe
the latter.
He looked around and spotted something in the distance. It was
opposite of the direction the tunnel had vanished but he was coming up
on it very slowly. Darren decided to close his eyes and rest for a bit before
he got close to see whatever it was...
"Hello mortal! Having a good trip? Hmm?"
Startled, Darren opened his eyes and saw the person, or rather being,
who had spoken to him. The being must have been the object he had seen from
afar but somehow he had suddenly come up right beside it.
The being looked like a human male with a few exceptions. One was the
pointed ears and eyebrows that made him look like a Star Trek Vulcan. Another
was the fact that, instead of a Vulcan green tinge on the skin, _his_ had a
crimson hue. As well, the man had to be seven feet tall when standing. For
clothing, he had on a blood-red robe that covered most of his body and
what looked like gold embroidery sewn into the garment. Very well done too.
"Uhhhh, yes. It's been a very weird ride so far. I've never had
this sort of dream before though."
The man looked disbelieving for a second before talking again. With
an amused tone he said, "Dream? I am afraid you are mistaken mortal. This
is no dream." While saying this, Darren noticed the pointed fangs the man had
in his mouth.
A little aggrieved at the man's tone, and also a little frightened that
this might not BE a dream, Darren replied, "Then do YOU know how I got here?!"
Smiling a bit, the man said, "_Here_ is the Void. _How_ is by some
obviously botched summoning spell that has brought you and me here. We
are now currently travelling, by means of the spell, towards the place in
the Void that will be the entry point to the summoner's universe. The spell
apparently wanted a demon and I was the first such it found by chance.
Even though I am an Arch-Demon, I go by the name of Malkon by the way, and
could have resisted, I was feeling bored and decided to let it take me so I
could match wits with the bungler who cast the spell and hopefully have some
fun. That you, an obvious mortal, got caught, means that a stray potion of
this spell of a 'Happosei' must have been attracted to you somehow. Do you
have any idea, hmmm?"
After digesting this torrent of information, Darren was confused.
"Arch-Demon? _Happosei_? Now I _know_ I must be dreaming."
Malkon looked intrigued. "You have heard of this Happosei character?
How very strange and unusual."
Darren dazedly spoke, "I _hope_ it's not the Happosei I'm thinking
about. I was just reading a...um...picture book which has one of the
characters as being called 'Happosei'. He's a weird old man who is a Master
of the Anything Goes martial arts school in the story. Can't resist girl's...
ah...," Looking at the Arch-Demon's interested gaze Darren continued, "Panties.
Or bras. Do anything to get them. They call him a hentai or pervert. One of
his old pupils has a son called Ranma, which is the main character of the
story. Ranma always tries to stop Happosei whenever he can from stealing,
ah, unmentionables. Ranma must have really got him mad if Happosei tried to
summon a demon. If it _is_ the same Happosei, that is."
Malkon looked thoughtful. "It must be. I can think of no better reason
why the spell would have grabbed you otherwise. Hmm. Most useful."
Downcast, Darren muttered, "Great. I can't even speak Japanese."
Malkon slapped him on the back with bone-jarring force. "You have
given me some very useful information. If you wish, I will repay you by
casting a spell that will give you full knowledge of the language and even
how to read and write it." He smiled with a disconcerting flash of his fangs,
"I could use the practice in any case."
"Great! Go ahead. I just hope it doesn't take too long to get there."
Malkon smiled mysteriously, and uttered softly so Darren wouldn't hear,
"Not long for me but for you, fool, it will be...very long indeed."
He chuckled quietly.

"Whoa. New definition for the word _cram_," Darren said as he held his
head in his hands. Words, underlying meanings, and symbols were bouncing around
in his head. Understanding of them all was rapidly coming to him.
"It will take a while for the knowledge to settle in but when it
does it will be as if you grew up learning the language," Malkon smiled.
"I have not done that in quite some time. It is good to get some practice."
"Well it sure makes one's head feel like it's full of cotton balls.
Whoo," Shaking his head, Darren looked around at the Void. They were approaching
something. Something HUGE.
"What is THAT??"
"That, little mortal, is the main source for two of the most powerful
forces used in most universes. It is called the Event." Malkon looked at the
growing display ahead with a slight bit of awe and greed.
"Main source? Source of what?"
Smiling, due to his pleasure in his obviously superior position of
knowledge, Malkon explained the phenomenon that was getting closer, "This
started in the very beginning of creation. The two streams of energy you see
ahead of us come from two limitless planes of Power. Even though they are
different, they have an...odd attraction to each other. This attraction
created permanent openings from those planes into the Void where they met
each other in the display you now see. The blue stream is from the plane of Mind
and the purple one is from the plane of Magic. They meet in that spherical
ball of energy but still somehow remain apart from the other. The energy from
each side eventually goes into other universes and planes where natural
forces or beings tap it."
"So this is the source of all psionic and magic powers? Weird. I don't
suppose anyone has ever tried controlling it?"
Malkon expression was sad, "Unfortunately, the energy is very unstable
here and unmanageable. No one able to come here has ever attempted it. It would
be an exercise in futility to try."
They both glazed at the incredible display for a while.
Then Darren shuddered a bit, "Well, cosmic fireworks look great but do
you know how soon we get out of this place?"
"For me, about an hour."
Darren nodded, then did a double-take. "Wait a minute. For you? What
about me?"
Malkon turned towards him and Darren saw that his expression was
a smiling one, but one now suited to a being called an arch-demon. "While
your presence as been an amusing and entertaining one during this short
trip in the Void, I cannot allow you to accompany me to our mutual destination.
_That_ would result in our two material beings appearing in the same place and
time and thus, our deaths. The one solution that is most appealing to me is
to remove the possibility of you following me. Mearly killing you would not
suffice because your body would still be here. Therefore, since I knew we
would be passing this place, I plan on throwing you into the Event which
is now slightly below and ahead of us. It has an attractive force which should
be more than sufficient to drag you in, spell or no spell. Unfortunately for
you, I have no doubt in my mind that you will not survive this unique
experience."
Darren was stunned by this calm statement of his coming death.
Malkon glanced ahead, "Hm. I do believe the time has come. Good-bye."
Moving with extreme swiftness, the arch-demon's hands quickly trapped Darren's
shirt.
Darren broke from his stunned trance with this movement, "No! Wait!"
An evil chuckle was Malkon's only reply. With a sharp, jerking motion,
Malkon launched him with both physical and magical strength into a trajectory
that would plunge him into the center of the Event.
"YOU BAASSsssstttttaaarrr.....," Darren's voice faded as he flew away
from Malkon.
The arch-demon watched with the interested eyes of an observer. No
one, to his vast knowledge, had ever actually _tried_ to enter the Event.
The energies there were just too unpredictable. The mortal might be vaporized
even before entering the Event...or not. This appeared to be the _not_ case
as Malkon saw the helpless figure plunge head-first into it.
*Well, even though I will not actually see what the mortal goes
through before he dies, at least that sight was compensation enough.*
Now that the worry of mutual annihilation was over. The arch-demon
turned his mind to the next immediate problem. Happosei.
*However, with the information the late mortal gave me, it should
be a simple problem indeed. Hm. I never did ask the mortal for a name. Pity.
Not like it would have mattered in the end.*
Malkon smiled.

Chapter Five
------------

Happosei was not happy.
Still dazed from the rock Ranma threw at him, Happosei was not able to
mount much of a defence against Ranma and Happosei's two former pupils. And so,
after a few minutes, he was held firmly in all three of their grasps.
"How much longer you old fart?!"
Happosei glared at Ranma, "You whippersnapper! _You_ disrupted the
spell before it was completed! I have no idea _what_ kind of demon will
appear now! Or, for that matter, how much longer it will take!"
"You actually expect me to believe that old fool?!"
"You can wait a few more minutes Ranma!" Akane shouted from the forest
behind them, "Do you _want_ to see the demon?!"
Ranma turned his head towards Akane, "I just want this done and over
with. Standing on a stupid rock, at midnight, when it's cold out, is not my idea of
a good time."
"Well Ranma, why don't you..."
WHOOSHHHHH!
A gout of red flames appeared in the Place of Arrival with a sound
that interrupted Akane's sentence. Brimstone smell filled the air around the
stone that held the now-visible demon and the four nervous mortals standing
on the rock. Akane froze at the sight of the demon's arrival.
The arch-demon looked around and saw what he supposed was Happosei, two
nervous mortals and a panda were holding him tightly. Malkon smiled. This
would be even easier than he thought.
He bowed to Happosei. "Good evening. I do believe one of you by the
name of Happosei summoned me?"
Happosei, Ranma, Soun, and Genma-panda, gaped at Malkon.
The arch-demon sighed and shook his head dramatically, "Ah, no usual
demands, bargains, etc. etc.? Wealth? Women?" At that last, Happosei perked
up and stood a little straighter. Malkon was inwardly amused. *Yes, _much_
easier....*
Ranma, unfortunately, noticed Happosei's change in attitude too.
Tightening his grip on the old Master he replied, "Sorry pal. There's been
a mistake. So why don't go back where you came from."
Turning his head to look at Ranma, the arch-demon chuckled, "You
must be Ranma I gather. I had heard you might have been the reason I was
summoned, or rather, a demon summoned." Ranma was understandably startled
at this. "Oh dear. I must at least tell you _my_ name since I obviously
know yours. I am arch-demon Malkon, at your service." He bowed.
When the word, ARCH-demon was uttered, Soun and Genma-panda paled.
Malkon continued, "When I found out who summoned me, I decided to
come prepared for the summoner's desires." Happosei's face brightened.
The arch-demon started to conjure women's undergarments. Some with a lace
lining, some with sequins. All were of a red, silky material that looked
incredibly soft. As a pile formed at the arch-demon's feet, he continued,
"But if there's been a mistake then it really is a pity. Especially after
bringing all these...items with me." He sighed deeply, "Too bad."
When the first of the arch-demon's conjurations appeared, Happosei
tried to advance towards the chalk-dust inscribed Place of Arrival. Ranma,
Soun, and Genma-panda, immediately held him back. As more of the items
appeared however, they found that they were fighting a losing battle. Akane
looked on in horror as Happosei suddenly broke free from the hands holding him
back. Two feet away from the circle, Ranma tackled him. Happosei fell down
scrabbling towards the pile of bounty in front of him. His hands smeared
the circle and the conjured pile vanished.
Everyone except Malkon froze.
"Ah. Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed."
Walking with some resistance, he strode out beyond the now broken
Place of Arrival and stretched his arms dramatically.(or perhaps demonically :)
"So nice to get out of that restricting circle. Breath of fresh air and all
that." Looking around, Malkon spied Akane in the trees. "Hmmm. A vision of
loveliness amongst the trees. Come out my dear flower and let us get a better
look at you."
Akane started backing up instead but suddenly the arch-demon's eyes
glowed softly red and she found herself walking into the clearing. "Yeeessss.
As I thought, truly a treasure worth _possessing_." Akane mentally struggled
against those glowing eyes but still walked towards Malkon. "Strong-willed
too. I _am_ impressed." The arch-demon's fanged smile sent shivers up
her back.
Suddenly, the eyes were gone and she could move again.
"Aggghh!" Splash!
Underestimating them, Malkon had dismissed Ranma and the others.
"Taunt _me_ will you!" Happosei shouted after the arch-demon. He
started running towards the lake, with Soun and Genma-panda soon after him.
"Akane! Are you all right?" An unguarded moment of concern showed
briefly on Ranma's face as he looked at her.
"I'm alright...I think"
"Good. I wonder what he saw in a tomboy like you anyway."
"Grrrr...." Whap!
Ranma soon out-distanced Happosei by means of Akane's punch and
landed on the lake's shore.
"Ow!" Ranma rubbed his chin. "I _wish_ she wasn't so hot-tempered all
the time. Uh oh." He looked around at the empty beach. "Now where'd that demon
go?"
"Enjoying a well deserved dunking at the moment, and it is
_arch_-demon not demon."
Ranma whirled towards the voice of the Hell-spawn and saw Malkon's head
above the level of the water. The rest of him was slowly rising out of the
surface of the lake. "That lapse on my part was inexcusable and I certainly
left myself wide open for that. Well, as long as I do not allow that to happen
again it will be alright. However," Malkon's face reflected his anger, "WHERE
IS THAT OLD FOOL?!"
"The old fart will be here in a moment. Will I do in the meantime?"
That said, Ranma lifted a large rock on the shore and threw with accuracy
at the hovering arch-demon.
"Not likely." Malkon said mildly as he easily caught the stone. "Since
I am already wet, I see no reason why you should not be as well." Magically
enlarging the rock to enormous size, Malkon hurled the boulder into the lake.
This created a small tsunami which swept Ranma, and the now present Happosei,
Genma-panda, and Soun off their feet.
Coughing water, Ranma-chan shouted, "Now I'm REALLY mad!"
Still levitating above the lake, Malkon witnessed the change. "How
unusual!" He eyed the now sopping-wet Ranma-chan. "What a _fascinating_ curse.
Now _this_ I must get a closer look at." Suddenly, Ranma-chan was floating
helplessly towards the arch-demon and soon came to a halt in mid-air in front
of him. Eyes glowing, Malkon questioned her. Ranma-chan couldn't resist.
"How did this curse come upon you?"
"I fell into the drowned girl spring at the cursed springs of
Jusenkyou in China," Ranma-chan tried to stop the words but failed.
"How does it work?"
"Cold or room-temperature water turns me into a girl. Hot water
changes me back."
"Hmm. That will do for now." Releasing a furious Ranma-chan from his
spell, Malkon levitated her back to shore. Gazing at the land-bound people on the
shore, Malkon said, "Now. What _shall_ I do with you all...."

Akane was worried.
When that demon had trapped her with his eyes she had gotten the feeling
that he was _playing_ with them. *If he _is_ an arch-demon, then he likely is.
Happosei was VERY lucky to have caught him off-guard like that.* The power
she had felt in those eyes was great. Akane shivered. She feared even Ranma
would be unable to beat that thing. Then the arch-demon would come back for
_her_. She was _very_ certain of that. No one she knew could possibly...well,
maybe Cologne might know a way. She did know a lot about magic...
WHOOSHH!
Akane's thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a roar of flames
similar to when the arch-demon appeared. *No! Not another!* She thought
frantically. Then she saw the color of the magical fires and was confused. The
flames were...blue?
*What kind of demon uses _blue_ flame??*
When the flames died out, she was even more confused.
*That doesn't look like a demon to me. Almost the opposite in fact...*
The basis for that thought was the blue aura surrounding the young man
that had appeared. He was a little taller than Ranma and a little more muscular
with brown hair and...hazel eyes? He didn't look like any race in particular
but could probably fit into any without much trouble. He was also handsome
looking. He was wearing a frayed, white t-shirt and shorts. Hardly what an
angel would wear. His expression was curiously blank.
Akane shrugged, why not.
"Hello? Are you OK?"
The young man turned his head towards Akane and looked straight through
her. This was unnerving to say the least. Then he spoke and his voice was as
empty as his face.
"Is Malkon here?"
"Uh, I think he's still at the lake," Akane pointed the direction.
The face changed and Akane stepped back a pace in surprise. A cold
rage was shown on that mask and his eyes became ice-blue lights. The young man
ground out in a now tension-filled voice.
"Good. Very good."

Chapter Six
-----------

Malkon had caused the ground to grab the four martial artists on the
shore and still pondering what to do with them with all his concentration,
when something else caught his attention.
Caught him in the chest actually, driving him back into the lake.
"What! Aggh! Glub!"
The arch-demon was thrown into the lake again but was far more prompt
in returning to the surface this time. That had hurt! *What was that?* He
wondered. He then realized that it had been the VERY large, flat stone that he
had been summoned on. That was impossible! No mortal could have thrown that!
Shouting in anger, Malkon yelled, "WHO THREW THAT! WHO IS OUT THERE?"
A visible red aura was starting to show around the arch-demon as he prepared
himself. He absently noted that, since his concentration had failed, the four
on the beach were free but they were not the problem now.
Trees were being shattered and blown out of the way by something,
or rather _someone_, coming towards the lake shore. The group on the lake edge
dived out of the way just in time as the last few trees between the place
where the arch-demon had been summoned and the lake were blown away by an
unseen force.
The young man Akane had seen appear was standing where the trees once
were. He was glowing with an aura of his own and appeared MUCH more angry than
Malkon. He replied to Malkon's shout with an angry, ice-water dipped voice.
"_I_ threw that stone. Call me Twister."
Malkon had regained his calm and regarded the young man standing before
him on the shore. He didn't recall ever meeting a powerful being like this!
And yet... he looked familiar. He voiced that fact to get more information.
"I do not recall meeting you, but you _do_ seem to strike a chord in my memory.
Might I inquire where we met?"
The man's blue aura blazed at that sentence and he started floating
straight up until he was level with Malkon.
"You throw me into the Event to die and you forgot!?!? Forget THIS!"
Heat fled from the young man while air rushed in to gather near his
right fist.
"ARCTIC ICEWIND ATTACK!"
The fist shot towards Malkon and a compressed blast of freezing air
screamed towards the arch-demon. Razor-sharp ice shards formed within the
column of air and had reached a respectable size when the blast hit Malkon.
"AGGHHH!!!"
The heat from the arch-demon's aura had stopped a respectable amount
of the shards from reaching his body. However, some got through and the
intense cold only heightened the pain inflicted by the ice blades, which melted
quickly.
"YOU?? How did you survive?!" Malkon could not believe what he was
seeing. It was impossible for a mere mortal to have survived the Event, much
less escape it. The wounds inflicted upon him were painful so he healed them
with his magic. His power was great so he could afford this but the
now-powerful mortal, floating above the shore, was an unknown quantity which
he had judge capabilities on. Who knew what effects the Event had had on
this...Twister.
*Better get the next strike in and try to guess his abilities.*
While he was still relatively calm, Malkon tried to charm the young
man like he had Akane and Ranma-chan. With eyes glowing, the arch-demon attempted
to control this potentially useful person.
"You do not _really_ wish to fight me, do you?"
"No."
Malkon relaxed sightly. The spell had...
"I want to _KILL_ you!!!" Blue light gathered in each of Twister's
hands and started to form something from the air itself. Raising both hands,
as if about to throw something, he cried out another attack.
"DIAMOND DEATH DAGGERS!"
At those words, Twister threw the now-formed, diamond daggers with
furious force at the arch-demon. Malkon tried to dodge but the daggers moved
with him and buried deep into his lower torso. The arch-demon stared in
disbelief at the crystalline hilts painfully in his body. He slowly removed
the daggers and examined them in his pain. Suddenly, the force that held them
together flared in blue flame and burned his hands while the daggers became
carbon dust.
"DAMN AND HELLFIRE!" Malkon shouted out loud. He had not been so hurt
in ten thousand years! Even in his fury the arch-demon was thinking. *The
mortal did not even _notice_ my attempt to charm him. I would expect that
kind of resistance from an _arch-demon_, not a mortal! It could be his
obvious rage but I doubt it... I'll try a more powerful spell after I heal
myself again. I _cannot_ let this go on. I am starting to weaken after these
healing spells.*
After healing himself again, Malkon tried one of his more powerful
spells. Transformation from a distance. It was much easier with skin contact
but he had doubts about being able to _get_ that close.
"This has gone on for too long. I think it is time for a change...,"
Malkon cast his spell at Twister.
Twister blinked.
Shook his head.
And then glared even harder at the arch-demon.
Malkon was shocked. *He blinked?? That was it???* He started to become
afraid but this further resulted in anger. Anger that this impudent mortal
should be able to shrug off one of his more powerful transformation spells
so easily. *No more defensiveness! It is time to go on the offensive! No
mortal will give this much trouble to an arch-demon and LIVE!* With
that thought, Malkon threw a projectile of his own. A fireball of immense
perportions.
Twister icily looked at the fireball coming towards him.
He was prepared.
A fist was drawn back again and the massive amount of air he had
compressed around him gathered around it. With a mighty effort he threw
his fist forwards.
"HURRICANE WALL!"
An almost solid wall of air met with fireball halfway between the
two combatants. The blast of air had twice as much velocity as the sphere
of plasma and so, when the fireball detonated against it, the wall of air
carried the flames ahead of it. Towards Malkon. The magic-tinged flames
cared not what they burned and so they hungrily feasted upon the arch-demon
treacherously. The wall of air that hit him a half-second later blew out the
flame.
"AGGGHHH! ENOUGH!" Malkon was beyond mere calculating anger now.
With burns over most of his body and robe charred, he was in a pure, blood-red
rage. The absolute worst condition to find an arch-demon in.
Twister looked at Malkon's obvious emotional state and flew towards
him. It was clear that the time for Malkon to cast spells from a distance
was over.
Malkon summoned the remnants of his concentration to call upon his
Black Sword. It shimmered into reality in his burnt, right hand. He wasted
no more magic on healing himself. Now it would be a battle of strength.
With his veneer of logical superiority gone, his true demonic fighting rage
came to the fore. He had over ten thousand years of fighting experience.
No limited-lifespan mortal was going to last long against Malkon!
Watching his opponent approach, he saw that his foe was creating
something to counter his own sword. With two hands outstretched in front
of him, another form was coalescing above those hands. When the glow faded,
Malkon saw that it was another diamond creation. A sword of equal length
and style to his own but of crystal. A blue glow shone though the clear
material of it's construction. Grasping it with both hands on the hilt,
Twister floated above the lake, about ten feet away from Malkon, and waited.
Malkon growled out, "You may have weakened me _slightly_ mortal
and I have allowed this to go on as long as it has. But now I have had
enough. Prepare to die." He looked for a reaction from his opponent but
received nothing. This angered him beyond belief and he launched himself
at Twister.

Chapter Seven
-------------

Malkon launched himself through the air. "Time to end this fight!"
The arch-demon shouted this as he took a wide sweep at Twister. Twister
avoided it by flying backwards just enough so that the Black Sword missed
him by millimeters.
Seeing this precise movement, Malkon continued the fight with more
caution. He attacked in a more accurate and direct manner, and the mortal
countered with the newly created diamond sword. The two blades shrieked at
each other when they meet. Blue and red sparks flew from each contact.
This continued for several minutes with Malkon always on the offensive
and Twister being defensive.
While being fustrated at not having scored a single hit yet, Malkon
wondered at his opponent's reluctance to mount an offensive. *He is good
enough to block all my attacks and yet refuses to attack _me_. Hmm. In fact,
he does not appear to know how to use a sword, despite his always blocking
with it. It is as if he already _knows_ where I will strike next...
And maybe _that_ is the real truth.* Malkon shuddered at that thought. An
opponent that knew your own move before you did could maintain an nigh-
invincible defence if he was quick and strong enough. Twister apparently was.
*I think it is _very_ fortunate indeed he does not know how to use that sword
yet.*
"MOUKO TAKABISHA!"
"What?! AGHH!" Malkon was blasted towards the center of the lake he and
Twister had been fighting over. He quickly regained his concentration before
he dropped into the lake and narrowed his eyes at the shore.
*So the cursed one wants to play too...*
Ranma-chan was just lowering her hands as she looked at the effect
her ki-blast had had on the arch-demon. The anger she had felt at being made
to feel helpless, and then ignored completely as a minor annoyance, was rapidly
sinking into hesitation as Ranma-chan saw the lack of results of the attack.
She had managed to miss that 'Twister' but now the arch-demon was glaring
at Ranma-chan now.
*Uh oh...*
Malkon was interrupted in his dark thoughts by a close by Twister's
icy voice, "You had the right words, Malkon. But _now_ is the time to say them."
He started to rise above the arch-demon.
"Prepare to die."
The wind picked up around them as Twister's aura grew brighter and
the sword shone an intense blue. The diamond blade was placed in one hand and
thrown straight up as Malkon wondered what the mortal was up to.
One hundred feet high in the air the sword stopped dead. It then
rotated until it pointed straight down. Twister raised both hands and a
stream of blue energy burst forth, racing towards the hovering sword.
Twister shouted out an attack that froze Malkon in shock.
"TWISTER TORNADO!"
The energy filled the sword and it started its work. A torus of wind,
twenty feet in diameter, formed around the sword and rapidly expanded vertically
towards the ground. Malkon tried to fly away, but from his higher altitude,
Twister took steps to occupy his time. Pointing a palm in the arch-demon's
direction, Twister summoned some energy towards his hand and let it gain
strength there before releasing it.
"MINDFIRE PULSE!"
A small, curved ball of blue fire streaked towards Malkon and hit him
in the back. The burst of fiery pain delayed just long enough for the tornado
to snatch him into its grip and he was sucked into flying uncontrollably
around the center of the tornado, unable to concentrate much in the tempest.
Twister himself was untouched by the winds.
Seeing Malkon trapped for the moment brought a faint smile to
Twister's lips momentarily, then he executed his final strike against Malkon.
Gathering most of his remaining power, saving a bit for escape, Twister
let loose his energies into the walls of the tornado.
"MINDFIRE TORNADO ENERGIZE!"
The blue flame spread along the walls of the tornado, intensifying
it. This caused water to start being sucked into the fury of Twister's creation
from the lake. Malkon was further distracted by this gout of water that now
swirled about him. Before the water reached his altitude, Twister used the
last of his power to teleport out. He had not used this before because he
wanted to reveal little about his capabilities to Malkon in the beginning.
Now, there was no need. A thunderclap signaled his departure and water rushed
past his former position. When the water reached the sword, the final phase
of the manouver was triggered. The blue mindfire in the tornado walls rushed
towards the sword. Malkon briefly thought that his opponent had finally
over-extended himself when he noticed the lessing of the confusing swirling
of water.
That was his last thought for a while.
The sword absorbed all the mindfire and the light of the diamond sword
grew to sunlight intensity. It then performed its final function.
Convert mindfire to heat and direct it straight down.
This was released in a stream of energy one centimeter in diameter,
all the way down the _water_-filled tornado. This resulted in converting
lake-temperature water into ultra-hot plasma. By itself, this would have
devastated the landscape, but the now-dying tornado and its content of water
absorbed most of the blast. Malkon was inside all this.
The result was a tremendous explosion that flung hot water all around
the lake with the shockwave.

"Yow! Hot! Hot!"
Ranma and the others danced around, trying to cool off from that blast
of hot water, from the middle of the lake, where the tornado had been.
Soun stopped and looked out towards the middle of the lake where the
incredible, flaming-blue, tornado had been. Shockwaves on the lake's surface
were still spreading out from the explosion.
Ranma joined him, "I don't think we'll be seeing that Malkon jerk
again for some reason."
Akane gazed out with him, "I hope so." She shivered, still remembering
Malkon's eyes.
Happosei sneaked away before anyone could notice he was gone. He didn't
want anyone blaming him for THIS mess.
Ranma remembered something and glanced around, "Hey! Where's that
old fart! HE'S the one who started this mess!"
Everyone looked around but the old Master had disappeared.
"Shoot. As long as it's over...what are YOU staring at Pop?" Ranma
looked in the direction his father's eyes were looking in and froze. Akane
and Soun noticed this and looked too.
A weary-looking Twister was standing in the spot where he had first
shouted out his anger at the demon. His face was back in the blank expression
Akane had seen on him when she had first seen him. His gaze was focused on
the lake, just staring.
The observers looked at each other and wondered what to do. Akane
thought for a moment and then straightened her shoulders. She started walking
towards the blank-faced young man. Ranma was surprised but ran up to walk
with her. *No way am I gonna let her do something stupid.*
Twister turned to look at the pair when he heard footsteps coming
towards him. They stopped a pace away from him.
Akane spoke softly, with a little tremor in her voice, "Are you OK?"
Twister just stared blankly from one to the other.
Ranma got impatient, "Yo! You listening to us!?"
Akane was shocked, "RANMA! He looks like he's in shock! Don't make it
worse!"
"He's either dead or too weak for me to sense him." Twister said in
a dead voice.
Silence.
"Well, just who the hell _are_ you buddy?" Ranma aggressively asked him.
"Ranma!"
Something flickered across Twister's face and he stared at Ranma.
"What are you looking at pal?" Ranma was felt a little unnerved
by the scrutiny.
Twister suddenly moved towards the lake, with Akane and Ranma behind
him, wondering what he was doing. When he was by the water and saw Ranma beside
him, Twister quickly splashed water on Ranma.
Surprised, Ranma-chan shouted, "What'd you do _that_ for??"
The blank look faded from Twister's face and was replaced by a more
human expression and voice. Deep shock.
"Ranma. Oh jeez. Ranma. I hope I'm dreaming this." After that
statement, his eyes rolled up and Akane and Ranma-chan caught him as he went
limp in a faint.
Ranma-chan shook her head.
"Oh great. This is just perfect."

A hand splashed out of the water of the lake and gripped an old
tree root. Its twin joined it and together they dragged the body they shared
out of the lake.
Malkon was utterly exhausted.
*Never...have I...been so...completely...defeated.* He had barely
managed to shield himself from that point-blank explosion in the tornado.
Malkon's magic was almost totally drained from the strain of that last task.
*He was absolutely new to his power and yet he still defeated me.* Malkon
tiredly pondered that fact.
The arch-demon thought about killing a few locals in the area but
dismissed that as foolhardy. *If he can sense my aura, then building my
strength in this area would only draw him to me. I do not think I would
survive a second encounter like that. I must wait until I am fully healed
and then leave. When I am far enough away, _then_ I can build up my
magical strength.* Malkon thought about that plan and thought it the best
available option.
Turning his mind to that of his recent opponent Malkon found not
rage but actually intellectual curiousity, *The mortal survived the Event.*
He still marvelled at it, *A very unlikely possibility, yet he did. Not
without its effects on him though... Very painful ones at that.* Malkon
remembered something about Twister's manner during the fight, *He did not
seem to be the same person while we were fighting. A cold, blind rage was
there that was not present before I had thrown him into the Event... That is
it! His rage at me must have allowed him to survive long enough in the Event
to get out alive. His mind must have retreated into itself for protection
leaving only a purposeful rage against me to shield him. It must have still
been in place when he fought me. No restrictions. No morals. All his new power
against the enemy. Me.* With a tried smile Malkon continued the thought.
*When his true mind comes back he will likely not remember much of what
he did to me. He will need to practice. That gives me more time than I
thought.*
Malkon further continued that theory, *Without a normal personality
and only rage in his mind, his mind was likely operating at a highly logical
level. That is probably how he was able to attack me with the methods he
used.* He thought about the diamond weapons Twister had used. *As an example,
the diamond creations he made are easily obtainable from the air. A very
logical decision. Likely made by sensing his own abilities.* Malkon chuckled.
*That logical mind may affect him when he regains his normal personality.*
A new thought struck him.
*I sensed _no_ magic upon him. Only psionic power. That is odd.
The Event contained both Mind and Magic power yet the magic was not there.
It HAD to have given him equal amounts of _both_ kinds of power. So where
is it? Or is it merely inaccessible now? How could he access it then?*
This brought a new thought. *Yes. That could work. The rage would be
useless that way and make him vulnerable in the process.* Malkon slowly smiled.
*And _that_ decides my first destination.*
He laughed softly.

Chapter Eight
-------------

Nabiki was impatiently waiting for the party to come back home. She
didn't like to admit this to herself but she was worried.
*How long are they going to be? It's two am. What could be keeping
them?* Hmp. "Likely chasing Happosei all over the forest." She said aloud.
"I wish." A familiar voice said behind her.
Nabiki turned around and saw a sorry sight indeed. Genma-panda(who had
changed to make carring his cargo easier), Soun, Akane, and Ranma-chan were
all wet and their clothes were muddy and shredded. She also saw something on
Genma-panda's shoulder.
"HEL-lo there! Who's that?"
Genma-panda gently laid the young man on the floor and Nabiki got a
closer look at him. No one she knew and likely not for a lack of trying.
"I almost expected Ryouga there. Who's the hunk?"
Ranma-chan sat on the floor along with everybody else. "Beats me.
That old fool Happosei messed up his summoning after I hit him on the head
with a rock and got not just an ordinary demon but an arch-demon. _Then_,
he tricked the old fart into releasing him." Nabiki paled slightly. Ranma-chan
nodded. "Exactly. We were in deep trouble. Then apparently, from what Akane
saw, the spell brought another guy along with the demon." She nodded in the
direction of the unconscious young man. "Him. I guess he had a bone to
pick with this arch-demon creep, Malkon, and let the demon know it by throwing
a _very_ large stone at him. Before they really started going at it, he said
his name was Twister. I guess that Malkon creep couldn't seem to affect him
directly with any spells. After that they got close and personal. Malkon
still couldn't touch him and this Twister seemed to be about the same. Then..."
Ranma-chan glanced uneasily at the still form again. "This guy lived up to his
name and MADE a small tornado. It sucked up Malkon and soon after it burst
into blue flame and exploded. Doused us all in hot water. We thought they
both bit it but then we saw this guy standing on the shore."
Ranma-chan looked puzzled at this point. "When me and Akane went up to
him, he heard my name, splashed water on me, saw the change and fainted. Almost
like he expected it but didn't believe it. Weird. He looked really beat."
Ranma-chan got up. "And me too. I'm gonna take a hot bath and go to bed.
I'm exhausted."
Akane stood up angrily, "Ranma! At least help us decide what to do with
him!"
"What's to decide? Put him in the second guest room and wait till he
gets up and ask him yourself." Ranma-chan called back as she quickly walked
towards the bathing room.
"Ranma! You get back here!" Akane ran after the fleeing figure.
Nabiki sighed. "Well, I think Ranma has the right idea. We can't
really decide anything until we know who, or _what_, he is." She paused.
"This...Malkon. Is he still around?"
Soun and Genma looked uncertain. Soun replied, "We're not sure
daughter. The final blast was immense but... We don't really know."
"That's the best reason I've heard to keep this guy around.
Protection. In case the demon did survive." Nabiki looked determined. "I do
_not_ care to become the main course for a demon."
The two fathers(one a panda) sighed. Soun stood up, "Very well. Help
me with him Saotome." They went over to the young man, lifted him up, and went
upstairs to the extra guest room.
Nabiki sat a moment in silence then sighed and went to bed. *This
house just gets weirder every day....*

Two days passed, and the visitor slept soundly all the while. Not even
Ranma and Akane's periodic arguing woke him up. On Saturday, when Nabiki
felt awake enough, she decided to go check up on him.
"Kasumi. I'm going to go check on our guest."
Kasumi had been told the tale the day after the visitor arrived but
accepted it as she always did.
"Ok, Nabiki. Be careful not to wake him up." She smiled.
"He sleeps though the two 'Lovebird's' arguments and you think _I'm_
going to wake him up?" Nabiki said sarcastically.
Kasumi smiled again, "True."
After reaching the guest room, Nabiki cautiously opened the door and
stepped inside. The guest, *Or I should call him Twister,* was still sleeping
though his exhaustion seemed to have passed. Looking over the still form, using
sunlight from a window, Nabiki commented to herself, *Nice. Practically
no fat on him. Wonder what his secret is.* Having satisfied her curiousity,
Nabiki walked back towards the door and stepped on a noisy board. She didn't
think much about it until she heard a groan behind her. She quickly turned
back around.
With eyes shut closed from the sunlight, "Uhhh, lose the lights
already," Twister moaned, still half-asleep.
Nabiki debated possible responses, then replied, "Sorry handsome,
time to rise and shine."
Twister opened his eyes, looked at this pretty young woman standing
above him, then shut his eyes again.
Pause.
Then his eyes shot wide open and he propped himself up with his
arms rapidly. "What...??? Who are you? Where am I?" Twister looked around
wildly.
Using soothing tones, Nabiki replied, "Calm down. Calm down. Do _you_
remember how you got here?"
Still looking a little wild, Twister thought about it a moment. "Uh,
not really. I'm not sure if I'm still dreaming or not and I seem to have a vague
memory of fighting someone. I think. Not much else."
Nabiki sat down close to him. Noticing this made him a little nervous,
she amusedly smiled, "Why don't you tell me what you do remember, and why you
think you are dreaming."
"Um. Sure." Looking a little apprehensive he continued, "By the way,
what's your name?" He seemed to dread the answer.
"Nabiki Tendo." He groaned. "It's not _that_ bad a name" She replied
crossly.
Twister sighed, "Let me tell you my story first and you may understand
my reaction."
Nabiki nodded. "Okay."
Taking a deep breath, Twister started, "Well it's like this..."

Half an hour later, Twister finished his explanation.
Nabiki looked thoughtful. "So in _your_ universe, this one is a comic
book? Hm. Well, I guess it could happen." Looking at Twister's expression,
she amended, "Ok. Ok. It _did_ happen. And your memory goes all fuzzy after
you hit this Event thing."
He nodded, "Yeah, and I have a feeling I don't _want_ to remember.
The fight I remember a little bit more but it was like someone else was
driving the bus if you get my drift. I remember what I did, but how I did
it...no idea."
Nabiki smiled, "Well, practice a bit handsome and you may remember."
Twister frowned, "Why do you keep calling me that? I know I'm not
the worst looking guy around but I've never thought myself as that."
She looked startled, "You must have a pretty low opinion of yourself
then, or maybe..."
"What?"
"I think you should see a mirror and tell me if I'm right." Nabiki
walked over to the room's desk and found a hand mirror. She walked back and
gave him the mirror.
Twister glanced at the mirror and then froze in shock.
"I gather that Event thing did a little more than give you some
fancy tricks." Nabiki smirked.
Twister tore his eyes from the mirror and finally registered the
changes done to his body. "Holy... Instant fitness by cosmic forces. I wouldn't
recommend it to your friends though." He faintly said. *And my face has....
_changed_.*
Nabiki snorted. "Right. Being tossed by an arch-demon into something
that has apparently existed since the dawn of time is definitely not an
attractive tourist attraction." She contemplated something and made a decision,
"Feel up to some breakfast? I gather you won't be used to most of it but
anything made by my sister should appeal to you."
Twister looked alarmed. "No insult intended but I hope you mean Kasumi
and not Akane."
Nabiki chuckled at that. "Don't worry, it's Kasumi. I think I believe
your story quite a bit more if you know about _that_."

Chapter Nine
------------

Ranma and Genma were practicing as usual in the pond area. Jumping
at each other over the small body of water and each trying to dunk the other
into it. Soun was sitting at the table and reading his paper. Kasumi was
busily making breakfast and Akane was still jogging around the block.
"Better put another place at the table Kasumi." Nabiki called from
the stairs.
The two practicing outside were too busy to hear this but Kasumi looked
out of the kitchen and Soun started at the table. Soun and Kasumi saw Nabiki
at the base of the stairs making hand motions at a figure on the top of the
stairs. Finally, the figure came down and Soun started again. Instead of the
cold-faced warrior he had seen at the lake, there was a lean, muscular, young
man, about a little taller than Ranma, dressed in a pair of Ranma's shirt and
pants, nervously coming down the stairs. Soun's fears of letting the formidable
being he had seen fighting the arch-demon stay here vanished. This was not the
actions of an evil, experienced person.
Kasumi greeted him, "Hello there. Well, I guess you're right Nabiki.
I'd better make room for our handsome guest at the table." She smiled.
Twister blushed as Nabiki chuckled.
Soun stood up and greeted the young man, "You are welcome at the
Tendo home for as long as you wish. I suspect you may be a little disoriented.
Soun smiled. "Well, I hope we can help you with that."
Twister smiled back, "Thank you, Mr. Tendo. I suspect you're right."
Nabiki grabbed his arm and took him to the back. "We'd better show
you to these two or you may be attacked at breakfast. I also want to see Ranma's
reaction. This should be priceless."
Twister glanced at the girl dragging him along, "You're sadistic, you
do know that do you?"
"And I love every minute of it." She smirked.
When they reached the pond area, Nabiki waited until Genma and Ranma
had launched themselves at each other again. "Ranma! Guess who's up in the
land of the living!"
Ranma looked in Nabiki's direction and saw Twister. In his clothing
as well. Nabiki and Twister saw his face starting to show surprise when the
forgotten Genma, still focused on Ranma, kicked his son into the pond.
Nabiki showed the victory sign.
"Perfect!" She crowed as Twister smiled and shook his head.
Ranma-chan's head came out of the water and glared at Nabiki, "Thanks
a lot, Nabiki."
"My pleasure Ranma." Ignoring the sarcasm, she continued, "I gather
you remember our guest?"
"How do you do, Ranma. Name's Twister." He extended his hand to help
her out of the water.
Ranma-chan ignored the offered hand and jumped out of the pond. "Hi.
Sorry about this." She glared at Nabiki who walked back into the house,
"I'm not exactly ready for this."
Twister smiled slightly, "So I noticed. _That_ is going to take a while
to get used to." Pointing at Ranma-chan's obvious condition.
"Tell me about it. By the way, just why are you wearing _my_ clothes?"
Nabiki called from sitting by the table, "Well what he _had_ wasn't
very presentable so I took the liberty of borrowing a few of your things since
you're the only one here whose clothing would fit. I didn't think you'd mind,"
She smiled sweetly, "_Lending_ him some things to wear."
Ranma-chan sighed with the air of one who had no choice in the matter,
not with Nabiki anyway, "Oh alright."
Twister chuckled after a glance in Nabiki's direction, "What's she
got on _you_?"
Nabiki glared, "Twister..."
He held his hands up in surrender, "Just kidding."
At that moment, Akane jogged in and saw Twister with a wet Ranma-chan
beside him. She said angrily, "Ranma! Fighting with our guest?"
Ranma-chan started to say something in reply but Twister beat her
to it, "Actually, it was with Nabiki. She won."
Akane's face turned comical and Ranma-chan laughed at her. This got
her angry again and started chasing Ranma-chan. "What are you laughing at
you pervert!" Ranma-chan's reply was lost as they ran into the house.
Twister came to the table, sat by Nabiki, and turned his head to
her, "Normal day?"
"Normal day."

Finally, everyone was at the table for breakfast. Twister hadn't
realized how hungry he was and devoured as much as Genma did.
Kasumi replied to his comment, "Well, you did have a fight and slept
for two days after all." This made sense to everyone as Kasumi's comments
usually did.
After everyone was done, Nabiki got Twister to tell his story again.
This was met with some scepticism at first but after Twister started telling
everyone what he had read and watched, with some embarrassing moments for some,
they quickly believed him and told him to please stop. Nabiki chuckled at that.
Ranma was a little disbelieving. "So you don't remember most of your
fight?"
Twister nodded, "Yeah. I do remember some of what I did but not
_how_ I did it."
Akane spoke up, "Maybe if you practice, you'll be able to do it
normally."
"Hmm. Yes, I guess I'd better. Once my strength is back I think I'll
basically have to." Twister shuddered. "The level of power I showed tells me
I have to be very careful or I might damage something accidentally. I don't
care much for that idea." He looked at his hands, "My strength one of those.
I've bent some metal without noticing it at first. I'm just not used to this
level of strength yet."
Nabiki patted him on the leg, "Don't worry. You'll get the hang of
it."
"I hope so." He sighed contentedly. "And thank _you_ Kasumi for a
wonderful meal. I really feel human now."
"Thank you." She smiled as she started taking away the dishes.
"Do you want..."
THUMP!! An angry figure stormed in from outside.
"RANMA! I CHALLENGE YOU!" The person shouted.
Ranma sighed and stood up, "Ryouga. Still don't know how to announce
your challenges quietly yet?"
"Do not mock me!" Ryouga glared at Ranma, "Now you die!"
Ryouga launched a mighty fist at Ranma, who would have dodged easily,
had not someone interposed himself and caught the hand with one of his own.
Ryouga stared in disbelief at his trapped hand. The person was
unfamiliar to him but to have stopped his blow meant that he was strong indeed.
Twister spoke reasonably to Ryouga, "Now I don't want to belittle
Ranma's fighting abilities by intervining, I'm quite sure he's capable of
handling himself. But, even as a stranger here, I do believe it would be
considered polite to fight _outside_?" He nodded his head towards the pond.
Ryouga got angry with this person who had interfered his vengeance
upon his rival for Akane's affections. He shouted at Twister, showing his
pointed teeth. "Who are _you_ to tell Ryouga Hibiki what to do!"
A change came over the stranger when he saw the pointed teeth of
Ryouga. His face changed to an icy mask of rage and the eyes glowed a faint
blue. Ryouga stared at this frightening change. Wind gathered around Twister's
free right hand. Everyone saw the change, realized what it meant, and ran for
cover.
"HURRICANE BLAST!"
The right fist rocketed towards a stunned Ryouga and caused the
compressed air blast him to create a Ryouga-hole through the wall in the
direction of the pond. The people who had seen Twister's power before, noticed
this blast was a lot weaker than the stronger 'wall' version they had seen.
Likely due to Twister's weakened condition.
After the blast, Twister shook himself out of his rage-mask and
stared at the new hole in the wall. "Oops." He said with some shock.
Nabiki got up and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about
it. That happens all the time." Her face became concerned, "What happened
anyway?"
Twister shook his head, "An almost instinctive reaction, I think.
When I saw Ryouga's pointed teeth, it reminded me of Malkon." He shuddered.
"You saw what happened after that. Fortunately, I knew that was Ryouga's
natural condition but I couldn't stop most of the blast. Once he was gone,
I was able to break out of it." He looked concerned, "I hope I didn't
hurt him much."
Ranma walked over to the hole nonchalantly, "I wouldn't worry about
Ryouga. He's much too hard-headed for this to stop him for long." He smirked.
Akane glared at him. "Ranma! He might be hurt! We'd better go
see if he's ok." She walked through the new Ryouga-hole outside.
Twister walked up to Ranma and whispered to him, "I think we'd better
too. I shot him in the direction of the pond."
Ranma looked irritated, "Why should that...," Then he remembered.
"Right." He looked uncertainly at Twister. "You think you can control that...
'reaction'?"
Twister thought about it, "I think so. I know what to expect now."
"Better hurry to cover for the idiot again then." Ranma followed
Akane's path outside without making sure Twister came along.
*What's with him?* Twister wondered as he quickly followed Ranma.

Chapter Ten
-----------

Out by the pond, Twister and Ranma's fears were confirmed. Akane
was holding a little black pig in her arms and was still looking for Ryouga.
"Finally came out?" Akane looked around. "I can't seem to find Ryouga
anywhere."
Ranma and Twister exchanged knowing looks. Ranma said, "You know
how bad his sense of direction is, Akane. I bet the jerk is wandering around
lost with a headache right now." He casually looked at the pig. "I see P-Chan's
finally found his way back."
Akane smiled, "Yes, I found him just getting out of the pond. There
was a bump on his head. Poor thing must have hit a rock when he fell in.
He's fainted, the poor thing."
Twister looked faintly embarrassed but asked anyway, "Do you want me
to hold him while you look for Ryouga outside?" Akane thought about then
smiled and nodded. "Ranma and I will put him in your room."
Ranma looked angry but stifled it when Akane glared at him, "Now Ranma,
don't pick on P-Chan while I'm gone." She smiled at P-Chan and went outside.
Ranma was about to say something but Twister stopped him.
"The room."
Ranma paused, debated something to himself, and then nodded his
affirmative.
The two walked to Akane's room and closed the door. Twister put
P-Chan on the bed and tried to wake him up.
Twister gently shook the still form. "Ryouga. Wake up."
P-Chan's eyes flickered, then snapped wide open at the sound of his
true name.
Ranma smiled widely. "Well, that was a brief challenge Ryouga. Too
bad you had to go in a hurry." He smirked.
The pig squealed loudly and launched himself at Ranma. Ranma ducked
and the pig bounced off the wall behind him. P-Chan started acting like a crazed
rubber ball, bouncing from wall to wall trying to hit Ranma, who just dodged
with a smile on his face.
Twister let this go for a half minute before deciding enough was enough.
He waited for the right time and then, with his newly heightened speed and
reflexes, caught P-Chan in mid-air. This startled the pig enough for him
to get a firm grip on P-Chan.
Putting P-Chan's eyes level with his own, Twister calmly but forcefully
said, "Settle down already! I _am_ sorry for blasting you into the pond.
I didn't expect that reaction when I saw your teeth as you shouted at me."
Putting the pig on the bed again and making sure he wouldn't blast off again,
Twister continued, "I'll tell you who I am while we wait for Akane to come
back." He noticed Ranma's scowl and P-Chan's ears perk up and sighed,
"It will occupy the time with something else besides pig ping-pong anyway..."

When Akane finally arrived, Twister had just finished his story.
She smiled, noticing P-Chan's awake condition, "I see you've behaved
yourself Ranma."
Ranma shifted slightly. Ryouga had been too busy listening to Twister's
story for anything to happen. Twister chuckled.
"P-Chan _was_ a little excited when he woke up. Likely from the shock
of the blow." Ranma chuckled quietly at this truth, Twister ignored him. "But
we calmed him down soon enough." Akane looked around and saw the slightly
messed up room. "He sure is energetic for such a little pig."
P-Chan snorted.
Akane smiled again. "Sorry for any trouble he caused."
"My pleasure. It gave us an opportunity to get to know one another."
Twister showed a secretive smile at P-Chan. "And when _not_ to fight."
P-Chan snorted again before Akane picked him up. He blushed.
Twister stood up and Ranma followed suit. "Well, we'll let you two
exchange greetings in private." Twister grabbed Ranma's arm and started
dragging him along. "I want Ranma to help me judge how much I've changed.
Come _on_ Ranma." Akane closed her door when they left, Ranma unwilling
to leave but Twister insisting.
Twister stopped dragging Ranma and stared at the door. "Quote from
a famous poet: 'Lord, what fools these mortals be'." He turned to Ranma.
"How _long_ has he gotten away with that again?" He said disbelievingly.
Ranma gritted out, "Almost since he got here."
Sigh. "I knew that. It's quite another thing to see it though."
Ranma glared at the door then turned away. "Well, we might as well do
like you suggested and test you."
Twister nodded, "Sure." As they walked away, he thought out loud,
"I hope he realizes that if she ever finds out on her own there _will_ be
Hell to pay."
Smiling grimly, Ranma replied, "I hope he doesn't."
Twister chuckled, while shaking his head, as they went to the training
room.

Dressed in practice gi's, Ranma assumed a fighting pose while
Twister just stood there.
Twister was a little nervous, "Did I mention I've never studied
martial arts?"
Ranma snorted disbelievingly, "A little late to be saying that isn't
it? Besides, I saw how you caught Ryouga, that took impressive reflexes just to
grab him while moving that fast."
Still nervous, Twister said, "Well, I wasn't sure _I_ could until
I did. The Event altered more than I thought."
"Well, just how much is what we're gonna find out now. Since you don't
know anything right now, just try dodging my attacks."
Calming himself, Twister nodded his affirmative.
Ranma launched a slow punch first, which Twister dodged easily. Seeing
this, Ranma slowly speeded up his punches and then kicks. Twister started
having trouble dodging Ranma's blows when Ranma was approaching his fastest
speed. *How fast _is_ he?* Ranma thought with disbelief, *I think his only
problem is trying to decide where I'm gonna strike next...* When Ranma was
going his fastest, he started getting a few punches and kicks in. *Damn! This
guy is _good_! And he's just being _defensive_!?* Almost when he was about to
stop and call a break, he saw a faint blue aura start shining around Twister
who suddenly got a lot better at dodging the blows coming at him. Now only
rarely could Ranma get a hit, and those lucky. He stopped attacking.
The faint blue aura around Twister slowly faded away.
After going over to the wall and grabbing two towels, Ranma threw one
at Twister and wiped his forehead.
"Hmp. I wouldn't worry about not knowing martial arts. That musta been
some number that Event did on you." He frowned at Twister, "But what did you
do at the end? I saw that blue aura and you really improved then."
Twister was wiping his forehead and looking thoughtful, "When you
really started hitting me more often I was wondering how I managed to avoid
Malkon hitting me. I concentrated more on trying to speed up and guessing
more accurately where you were trying to hit." He paused. "I felt something
then, like a soothing wave, and I started getting ideas of where your hits
were _going_ to be. I started moving faster too. It felt really weird."
Contemplating this, Ranma offered an opinion, "I think you were doing
pretty good until the point when I saw that blue glow around you. Then you
used that power of yours to enhance yourself." Ranma's brow wrinkled, "But
that do you mean _going_ to be? Could you read my mind?" Ranma didn't like
that idea much.
Twister started, then started thinking about that. After a few seconds,
he shook his head, "No, that wasn't it. But there is another possibility."
Ranma raised an eyebrow, "There is something called prescience, or rather,
future-sight. I could have looked _ahead_ a little in time and accurately
choose _which_ path the future, or more precisely, your fist, was going to
take." He shook his head, "That's _my_ best guess. It would be more accurate
the more power I put into it. That's way you still got hits on me. Ow."
Ranma noticed the bruises on Twister's body. "That's gonna hurt in
the morning. You should've told me to stop earlier."
Shaking his head, Twister replied, "I needed to know." An idea crossed
his mind, "Hmm. Maybe that might work..."
Puzzled, Ranma asked, "What?"
"Did you see how Malkon Healed himself after I hit him the first few
times before he stopped doing it?"
"Yeah...but what...?" Light dawned and Ranma's eyes widened. "You
think _you_ can do that?"
"Well if I can't at least I tried."
"And hurt a lot less if it works." Ranma snorted.
"True."
Focusing on the bruised parts of his body, Twister tried to will his
body to heal faster. At first nothing happened, then when he concentrated more,
Ranma exclaimed with some startlement that the bruises were slowly fading away.
Excited by this, Twister tried to feel that wave he described to Ranma again.
After a few seconds, he found it. His body flashed in a blue aura that went as
soon as it came. Startled and feeling a little tired, he opened his eyes as
his concentration was broken. The bruises were gone.
"That was weird." Ranma looked at Twister's bruise-free body. "Those
bruises were healing fast and were halfway gone when you flashed blue. They were
gone along with light from your aura after that."
Ruefully, Twister replied, "I got so excited that it was working that
I tried to feel that wave again. I succeeded. Unfortunately, it wore me out
a bit when I Healed with it." He stretched his arms and grinned, "The good side
is that I'll wake easy tomorrow." He looked thoughtful, "I wonder if I can do
it to others."
Ranma didn't look too pleased for some reason, "Well, _I_ certainly
won't need you to do that for me." He walked out of the room before a surprised
Twister could say anything.
Brow wrinkled in puzzlement, Twister wondered at Ranma's attitude.
*Did I do something wrong?*

Chapter Eleven
--------------

Twister was returning from a bath. It was done a little differently
here than what he was used to but he had managed.
Nabiki spied him entering the guest room. "Hi there! Have fun with
Ranma?"
He nodded at Nabiki, "Sort of. I found out a few new things too."
When Nabiki inquired what that meant, he explained about the Healing
he had done to himself, the enhancement of his body, and the possibility of
future-sight.
Twister explained further on that, "I don't think the future is fixed
but has a infinity of possible paths. This ability likely finds the most likely
path it will take at the time and tells me it by feeling."
Nabiki was _most_ intrigued by this. "Could you look at a few stock
market reports for me?" She smiled attractively.
Amused, Twister shook his head, "I don't think I'm _that_ good yet."
He smiled at her, "Nice try though."
She sighed, "Can't blame a girl for trying." Nabiki remembered the
story about his fight with Malkon. "Don't you have more abilities than that?
I recall the others mentioning you blowing away trees using nothing at all.
I also recall they said you _flew_."
Startled, Twister stared at Nabiki. "You're right. I'd been avoiding
thinking about that fight but I do recall doing that. Guess I'll have to
try those things as well today. Hmm. Telekinesis and levitation is what you've
described. Those _would_ explain most of the things I did in that fight."
He snapped his fingers, "There was also another thing and the others couldn't
have seen that since I was in the tornado. I teleported." He grimaced. "That
makes _three_ more things to practice. Great."
Nabiki's eyes shone. "Telekinesis, levitation, and teleportation. How
fascinating. Mind if I make a few suggestions?" She smiled with a gleam in her
eye.
*Uh oh.* Twister thought nervously, aloud he said, "What did you have
in mind? I've never done those things before. My control and strength are
unknown." *With _her_ reputation,* Twister thought, *I'm not sure if I'm going
to like this.*
Smiling, she replied, "Let's just wait for a bit while you practice on
your own. Then, we'll try my ideas."
*I have a breather, there is a Lord.* As Nabiki left, he wondered why
he was letting her do this to him, *Twister, you've never had much experience
with girls. And Nabiki is _definitely_ going to take advantage of that fact.
Great. Maybe I can lessen the storm when it comes.* Seeing Nabiki's departing
figure, he amended, *Maybe not.*

After lunch, Twister went out to the pond area to practice.
As he sat down, a bout of homesickness hit him. *Ah, shoot. I wonder
what Mom did when she found out I'm gone.* Twister thought about it a bit
and shook his head a little. *I can't _do_ anything about it right now, even
if I wanted to. The Void is an unknown to me and I can't even imagine trying
to cross it without a _lot_ of time and effort. If I do that, then I might
as well not try since I think Mom might be long gone by _that_ time.* Eyes
brightening, Twister thought of something. *Unless the Void makes it possible
to return at the exact same time I left...which may be possible since Time
seemed to be pretty unstable in the Void and universes likely have their own
separate Times... Gah! I won't be able to find out for a while, if ever.
Hopefully, the latter will be true. I'd better just try to survive right
now.*
With that cheering thought, Twister started practicing, *I guess
I'll try telekinesis first. That's a long range power.* He looked around the
yard and spied a small rock. *Target lock.* Twister amusedly thought to
himself. Trying something easy, he just tried to get it to jump up a little.
Not knowing how much effort he needed to use, Twister tried going all out.
Concentrating hard, he focused on the rock and willed it to _jump_!
WHOOM!
Ranma and Akane heard the boom and ran to see what happened.
Sitting down and staring at a now vacant spot they saw Twister.
Ranma asked him, "What the heck was that?"
Still staring, Twister replied, "I was trying to make a rock jump
straight up with my mind."
"What happened to it?" Akane searched the ground.
"Overkill."
Now Ranma was staring. "That was the rock? You're kidding."
"And going how much past Mach 1 I don't know." Rubbing his temples,
Twister stood up. "I think I'd better concentrate a lot less and with either
softer or larger things."
Ranma was smirking, "How about P-Chan?"
"Ranma!" Akane swung her fist at Ranma but he ducked away. She then
proceeded to try to run Ranma into the ground, fortunately for Ranma he had
lots of experience running.
Chuckling at the sight, Twister turned back to practice. *Well _that_
was a little too effective.* He mused. *Let's try something...softer. I've
been using air often. That will be a better start. I hope.* This time he
started with just a gentle suggestion instead of a command. *Whirl* He thought,
at the air in front of him. *Go in circles.*
Twister could feel the air starting to rotate in front of him. Dust from
the ground made the small tornado visible to his eyes. It was small but that
was good for a first time. About two feet tall and a finger length in diameter.
It looked cute. *Living up to my new name anyway. I think I'll leave my name
like that. I've changed too much for my old name to fit.* Feeling sad for
a moment he sighed, *At least I've found friends here.* Hearing Akane and Ranma
in the background lightened his spirits.
Bringing his attention back to the mini-tornado, he noticed it had
wandered over to the pond. Its suction was just enough to pull water into
it.
*Hmm. Solid. Gas. Time for liquid.*
Twister let his attention move from the mini-tornado to the water
now contained within it and told it to stay where it was.
The mini-tornado dissipated.
The water fell.
He stared.
*Say what?! Now that's odd. Why did _that_ not work?* Walking over to
the pond and bending over, he scooped some water with his hands.
*Let's try that again.* He gently told the water in his hands to
form into a ball.
Nothing.
Trying harder this time he attempted it again. Not a shimmer. Twister
was fustrated. *What is going _on_ here? I can do air and rocks but not
water??* He headed towards the kitchen as he dumped the pond water.
*Let's see if it's all liquids.*

Kasumi looked up as Twister walked into the kitchen and smiled.
"Hello Twister. Looking for a snack?"
"Actually, no. Looking for confirmation of a theory is more accurate."
Kasumi looked puzzled.
"Do you mind if I borrow some vegetable oil? I'll explain in a second."
Still looking puzzled, Kasumi complied and poured some oil into a bowl.
Putting the bottle away she handed the bowl of oil to Twister.
"Great. Just be patient a little longer and I'll explain." He proceeded
to stare slightly at the oil in the bowl.
This confused Kasumi even more. *What is he doing?* She was surprised
when she saw the oil move. It shook a bit then rushed towards the center of the
bowl and formed a sphere of oil. Kasumi was wide-eyed with wonder and felt a
little sorrow when the ball quickly pooled out to fill the bowl again.
Twister looked up at Kasumi and smiled, "I don't know if I should
happy or fustrated."
"Why is that?"
Twister explained his inability to move water.
Kasumi wondered, "All water or just liquid water?"
"Next experiment," Twister grinned. "Ice cubes!"
Kasumi was wondering if her kitchen was going to be converted into
a laboratory.
Seeing her face, Twister grinned again, "Don't worry. This is the last
thing I need." Remembering the rock, he continued, "And I'll do this one
outside."
Kasumi's relieved expression threatened to leave him helpless with
laughter.

*Well that settles that,* mused Twister as he finally got the
knack of getting things to just float in mid-air. The four remaining ice
cubes floated in front of him. *I can effect pretty much everything to
some degree except liquid water for some odd reason.* Idly, he moved the
cubes into a square formation and rotated it. *I'm picking up on this stuff
pretty quickly. I wonder if the Event effected my mind in any way.* He slapped
his head, *Of course it did. How would I be able to do _this_,* he sped up
the cubes rotation, *if it hadn't?*
He noticed the cubes melting. *Hm. Maybe I can save my test subjects.*
He willed the cubes to "cool off". The melt-off froze on the ice. *Two points!
It worked! Now...termination of testing.* Twister willed the ice to heat up. A
little too forcefully. The cubes instantly became hot water, which he had
no control over. Which then proceeded to spatter all over his legs.
Owch.
Kasumi's voice called out, "Dinner!"
Twister looked at the sky, *Hm, lost track of time.*
Walking over to the table from outside he saw that Ranma, Genma and
Soun had already made it ahead of him. *Nach,* he smiled inwardly.
He had just sat down when Akane and Nabiki came to sit. Twister grinned.
"Ah, the runners-up. Too bad. First, second and third place has already been
taken." Glares from the guys and smiles from the girls.
"Kidding! Kidding!" He waved his arms in surrender.
Genma stiffly said, "A martial artist has to keep his strength up."
Evidently, this topic of discussion had cropped up before.
Twister sighed, "What does a guy have to do to get some yucks around
here?"
Nabiki smiled, "You _could_ go to the butcher..."
"Aggh! Yucks! Not ducks!" Twister dramatically put his hand over his
heart. "I hath been vanquished by yon fair lady's wit!"
That got a few chuckles around the table.
"But I see that mine host desires to, how you say, 'dig in'. Thus,
I shall spare thee of mine agony of defeat."
Laughter broke out and Twister smiled in victory as they started to
eat.
Halfway though the meal, Ranma sourly asked how the practice was going.
"Well...after the 'rock'et launch." Groans from Akane and Ranma.
"Sorry. Apparently, I hit my funny bone today. ANYway, I found out that
I can't touch liquid water for some reason. Everything else I tried seemed
to work."
Soun asked, "Can you demonstrate?"
"Um, sure. Let's see..." Looking down at his now-empty bowl for rice
he decided on that. Using a little thought, the bowl floated up and started
around the table looking like it was on a roller-coaster ride. When it came
back to his spot he put it back where he got it from.
Nabiki smiled, "Neat."
Twister looked embarrassed, "I've mostly been working on control since
I tried the 'rock'et." Looking thoughtful, "I wonder where it came down...
I also can heat up or cool down objects. How fast depends on material and the
force I use, I think. Liquid water is impossible. Ice however is not and
likely steam as well."
Looking at Twister, Genma said, "Impressive for the first day."
"Yeah." Twister frowned, "Either I'm learning darn quick or
this is easier than it looks." After a moment, he said, "I think it is
because I've been generalizing." Looking at the confused faces he explained,
"I've been thinking 'cool' or 'hot' at these objects. Never mind how many
quadrillion molecules there are in things, it works." He shrugged. "The
large stuff is easy. It only requires power. I think the smaller you work,
the harder it gets. That's only a guess."
Soun questioned, "Like diamond daggers from air?"
"Yeah. That's gonna take a while to figure out. Otherwise, it's just
a matter of control with large objects."
With an innocent expression, which fooled no one, Nabiki asked,
"When are you going to try the next talent?"
Everyone except Nabiki turned questioning gazes at Twister.
"Next talent?" asked Ranma.
Ignoring the last question, Twister replied, "Probably tomorrow,
hopefully I'll be able to figure something out to protect me while practicing."
"Why not use the air as a shield?"
Twister froze then sighed. "All right, that's a good idea. Probably
the best to use." Nabiki grinned.
Akane was fustrated, "What _are_ you two talking about?"
Nabiki hummed, "Flying though the air with the greatest of ease..."

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Darren Steffler a.k.a "Twister"- mail at <umst...@cc.umanitoba.ca>
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