TP-What to Prepare For[9 of 18][FanFic]

[Twister]

Chapter Nine
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Soon, lunch came and went. Twister went to Ukyou's for a quick visit
when he was done. After being happily greeted by Ukyou, they chatted for a
while with Twister eating occasionally. When he finally noticed the time,
Twister said good-bye to Ukyou and returned to the dojo. Before dinner, he
cornered Ranma and talked to him about what to do for college when, or if, he
went to college next year. Ranma did not look too thrilled with the idea.
Nabiki had spent most of the day talking with her sisters and was
looking content when they got ready to go after dinner.
"Come back soon." Kasumi smiled as Twister and Nabiki got ready to
leave.
Nabiki smirked and pointed a thumb at her traveling companion.
"With _this_ big lug? No problem."
"I'll definitely be back next weekend for another lesson, Ranma."
smiled Twister.
"No problem. Keeps me in shape."
"Thanks." Looking around, Twister continued with a chuckle. "Hi
ho, hi ho, it's time to go you know?" Twister waved at the gathered
Tendo and Saotome clans.
They waved back as the duo disappeared with the usual BOOM.
When they reappeared at the spot where they had vacated that morning,
Twister quickly looked around. "I'd better find a few good places to
teleport safely. Don't want anyone to notice my comings or goings."
Nabiki nodded, "Good idea." She hooked her arm around his and smiled.
"Walk me home?"
"But of course, my lady."
They walked back to Nabiki's apartment in comfortable silence. When
Nabiki separated from Twister to enter the building, she stopped and quickly
turned around, scanning the street nervously.
Twister was worried, "What's wrong?" He looked where Nabiki was looking
with both his eyes and his still untrained psionic senses. Nothing.
Nabiki shivered, "I had the oddest feeling that someone
unfriendly was looking at me. Weird. Oh, well." She shrugged it off and
smiled at Twister. "Taking me home was nice, Twister. Thank you."
Twister bowed to hide his blushing face, "My pleasure, my lady. Till
next time." He stood up and smiled.
Nabiki waved and entered the building. Sighing happily, Twister started
home. *Well, I have homework to finish tomorrow and time to complete my
protections from magic. It _was_ nice to go back for a while.* Pondering
something, Twister nodded to himself, *Since she's declared I'm to be her
protege, I think I'll query Prof. Miyabi with a couple of magic questions.
Most predominantly, the question of Time between universes. I hope I like the
answer...* Twister kept thinking about what to say while walking away.
He didn't notice the dark, patient, and cloaked form that reappeared
to continue watching Nabiki's building.

Sunday passed by quickly and Twister was able to complete both his
homework as well as a few other assorted minor magical goodies. He didn't
want to make much more until he found out how to make the enchantments
permanent.
When Yasuro came in, with a laughing Morio and Hito, late at
night, Twister asked them what was so funny. Yasuro just shook his head
and replied that Twister didn't really _want_ to know. Morio and Hito
cracked up again and left while snickering apologies to him. The
latter was baffled and decided that Yasuro was right. Anything that _those_
two thought _that_ funny he didn't think he wanted to know either.

When the next magic class came, and back in female form, Twister gave
one of the magical items to Yuriko. It was a diamond crystal hanging on a
medium sized chain.
She was happy with the gift, but puzzled, "What sort of crystal
is this? Is it magical?"
"Uh..." Twister didn't want to explain the diamond so she skipped the
first question. "Yes, it's magic, but the enchantment will only last about a
month, I think." Twister sighed. "Since Natsumi probably knows I'm friends
with you she may try something so I put some things in the necklace to help
hide you if she does anything. No one will see it when you wear it."
Yuriko smiled happily and thanked Twister, "Oh! Before I forget! Could
you come over to my place and help me a little in starting to cast spells after
I finish today? Apparently my roommate has some business to attend to tonight
so it should be okay."
"Um...sure. I want to ask the Professor some things anyway. I'll
come over around five. That okay?"
"Great!" She enthused as the class began.
Prof. Miyabi had given out a bunch of different spells last class to
get the students to find out their own forms of magic over the weekend. She
was now calling out each person's name to find out which kind of magic each
student could use. She understandably didn't call out Twister's name for
obvious reasons. There were a few of every type and the ones who could do
rhyme spells were starting to look at Twister. Seeing what she had done in
the last class made them feel pretty confident while the others were
still a little uncertain. This was changed by Prof. Miyabi saying that it
was the caster's imagination that truly made the difference in the quality
in spells. Not the way it was cast. That evened out the uncertainty in the
class.
This had taken up most of the class so not much was discussed that
day. When class was dismissed, Twister came up to ask the professor a few
questions of her own.
Prof. Miyabi looked up when Twister approached her and smiled, "Ah,
Tw...er...Itazuka. Did you want to ask something?"
"Yes, I do have a few questions to ask. Do you mind?" Twister stood
by the room's desk, looking a little determined.
"But of course, if it helps my new protege. What do you want to know
first?" Miyabi smiled and got ready for Twister's questions.
"You know where I come from." Miyabi nodded. "How is Time
affected between universes? Is it constant? Varied? I need to know."
Looking understanding, the professor answered with reassurance, "Time
between two universes is only constant when they have a link between them.
When they do not, one can leave one universe to another and return at almost
the exact same time they left. I don't think you have to worry about links
between your home universe and this one. You could return just after you
left." She smiled. "You have plenty of time." Miyabi didn't mention that
it took most magic-users decades to centuries to even _look_ at another
universe. But with Twister she wasn't sure; the Event might have attuned
Twister to forces that made universe-crossing much easier. It was best
not to feed negative advice in any case.
Sighing with relief, Twister continued, "Great! That takes a load
off my mind. I can't return like this for a while anyway." She took a breath and
went on, "The other question is: how you make a magical enchantment on an item
permanent?"
Thinking a bit on this one Prof. Miyabi finally replied. "Well, many
things can make an item permanently magical. One is the complexity of a spell.
Power doesn't make something permanent, but a very complex spell will cling
to an item and make it so. Also, the material of the item can help as
well...if it is very strong and durable." Miyabi concluded with, "Quite a few
things such as rarity, uniqueness, and other methods can accomplish what
you want. I was planning on showing the first years how to make a
pseudo-permanent item that expends it's magic in one shot as an introduction
to that sort of thing. The more advanced classes will be told more."
"Hm. That's good." Twister smiled at the professor. "Thanks for the
info, Professor."
Miyabi arched an eyebrow."I will be interested in seeing what you plan
to do with it. My curiosity has been aroused by that last answer you wanted."
"You'll see!" Twister called out as she quickly left.
*Now I wonder what _that_ one is up to.* Miyabi chuckled to herself.
*Whatever it is, it will likely surprise me again. Seems to have a penchant
for that,* she smiled humorously.

As Twister left the room, she failed to notice a familiar person
following her.
Natsumi had started to listen in on Twister's conversation with the
professor. Fortunately, when she had heard that Miyabi considered Twister her
protege, Natsumi had gone red with rage and had missed whatever else the two
had talked about.
*Protege?! _That_ little nobody?! Never!* Fumed Natsumi, *I'll show
_her_ what a _true_ magic-user can really do.* Natsumi followed 'Itazuka'
now because she had some form of protection around her preventing
scrying of her movements. Natsumi had tried earlier that day and merely
got a fog. *The little witch had prepared herself for _that_, but there
are other ways of finding out where you live.* She smiled viciously.
Twister was walking quickly as she went around buildings, trying to
find a good place to use some hot water from the thermos she was
carrying in her backpack. Natsumi was half-running, trying to
keep up with the fast pace the other girl was using. She lost Twister
for a half-minute before she spotted the red-head disappearing around a
building a little ways off. This time Natsumi ran in order to keep her
quarry in sight. However, when she quickly ran around the corner of the
building, a now-male Twister, just finished drying himself off, was
standing in her way and they collided.
Surprised at the sudden impact, Twister fell, with the equally
startled Natsumi on his chest. He hit the grass lying upwards, saving
Natsumi from most of the impact of hitting the ground.
"Yah! What the?!" was what Twister shouted after he had recovered
his wits.
Natsumi was shaking her head to clear it from the initial collision.
"Oh! My apologies! I was in a hurry." Then she saw the face, and body, of the
person she had run into by accident and purred out, "But then, fortunate things
_do_ happen once in a while." Thoughts of the red-headed girl fled her mind
for the moment as she studied what she could see of the handsome young man
she had ran into.
This close scrutiny unnerved Twister as he lay there, temporarily
stunned for a second, before the idea of this girl lying on top of him
reached his brain.
"Ah...I don't mean to offend, but...this _is_ an awkward position."
"Of course. Let me get up." Slowly, Natsumi got off Twister and smiled
at the young man's discomfort of the unhurried pace of the removal.
When Twister got up in turn, he finally got a good look at the girl
who had run him over and almost yelled in surprise. His face showed it
plainly. *Gah! Natsumi! Notgoodnotgoodnotgood...* Was all he could think
of in his shock.
Thinking his surprise was due to her good looks, which was
understandable, Natsumi's smile grew broader. "My name is Natsumi. I'm
terribly sorry about this."
Twister had to remind himself to pretend they had never met. "Ah...
I'm Twister." Trying to get her mind off of examining him, which was extremely
unnerving, he queried, "Um...what were doing in such a rush anyway?"
Reminded of the purpose of _why_ she was running, Natsumi remembered
about 'Itazuka' and quickly asked, "Did you see a red-haired girl go by here?"
*Ah, ha! Following me, is that it?* He smirked inwardly at this bit
of information to remember as he replied, "Yes, I did...but at the rate
she was going I don't think you'll catch up to her now." To his
surprise, this did not exactly dismay Natsumi.
"Hm. Well, another day then." She looked at the now sweating
Twister and smiled broadly at him. "Right now... I wouldn't mind to get
to know _you_ better now."
*Uh, oh. Whatever Ranma has _is_ catching, dang it.* However, before
he could reply to her comment, he was interrupted by another angry voice.
"So! There you are!"
Thankfully, it wasn't Nabiki's. When he turned around and looked
at who said it, he wasn't very thankful because, while he didn't know the name
of the person, he recognized the face. As well as the other fifteen guys with
the guy. It was the rival group that had been at the eating contest.
The _physical education_ group.
*Oh, boy.* Twister didn't like the look of this. "Uh...hi! What can I
do for you?" Natsumi had retreated to the wall of the building and was watching
with interest at the goings-on, curious at why these people were mad at this
one person.
Another guy spoke up from within the group. "We have a bone to pick
with you."
Scratching his head in puzzlement, Twister called out, "Hold it! Why
are you guys so angry? I just won the eating contest, that's all. What's the
big deal?"
A third person angrily spoke up, "Not _that_! What happened later!"
"Later? What are you...talking...about." Comprehension came to Twister,
"Oh, right! I was wondering why Morio and Hito were laughing so hard.
What did they do to you?" He paused, "Then again, maybe I don't want to
know with _those_ two involved."
The first guy spoke again, "We are _not_ going to say what we had to
do!" He glared at Twister, "_You_ are the one who enabled them to win so we
decided to get _some_ measure of revenge back!"
Raising an eyebrow, Twister replied, "Considering who _you_ had, I
would say you got your just deserts." He looked at the group. "Where is he
anyway?"
"He's still recovering from the contest so he managed to escape what
happened to us," number two said. "_You_, however, will be a lot longer
recovering."
The group of athletes got ready and Twister did the same.
*Oh, jeez. I'd better make sure I don't accidentally boost
myself. I think the training Ranma's given me has given me enough
self-control to control _that_ at least.* He grinned. *Then again, after
the results with that bout with Akane I don't think I'll need to. None of
these guys look like they know too much about martial arts and they're
all first-years like me. This should be interesting with my altered
body. They certainly deserve _something_ for going after me like this.*
They all rushed in at once, trying to overwhelm him by numbers,
but Twister just jumped and flipped over them as they stampeded under
him. Both they and Natsumi were surprised at this display of ability.
Twister landed and cheerfully shouted out, "Toro! Toro! Sorry I don't
have my red cape guys, but it's still at the cleaners."
The group turned to face him and advanced a little more cautiously,
but still sure their superior numbers put them ahead.
*BUZZZ. Try again, guys.* He waited for the first to attack
him. He wasn't disappointed.
"I am the best boxer in my class!" With this said, the boxer
launched a series of punches and jabs at Twister.
Not impressed, Twister dodged each fist as it came at him. "Ah! So
you package things in cardboard boxes do you? Very good!"
Enraged, the boxer threw himself at Twister to try to get a good hit
in. However, a fist belonging to the opposition gave the boxer's sport a
whirl...and succeeded with admirable results. The boxer flew backwards into
his fellows, unconscious.
Seeing the lack of success of the one-on-one conflict, the other
fifteen guys slowly encircled Twister and closed in, ready for Twister to
jump this time.
*Hmm. Well, I've had enough. That punch wasn't boosted by my
power so I believe it's under control. Therefore, these yo-yo's are about to
become Twisted.* Before they got too close to restrict movement, Twister
launched himself at a nearby follow and used a kick to the diaphragm to
make him appreciate the wonder of breathing. Whirling around quickly, he
jumped in the exact opposite direction and grabbed the shirt of a
startled attacker as Twister passed over him. A body flip onto hard
ground created another initiate for the Temple of the Breathing Miracle.
Twister knocked out nine more of his foes before he accidentally left
himself open to get tackled by a quarterback. The remaining three, who were
also football players, piled on the startled Twister to avoid the fate of
their buddies. Natsumi, who had been watching in wonder at Twister's display
of skill, was a little disappointed that he had been defeated at last. When
the pile of four bodies moved, she was startled. Twister had finally gotten a
foothold and just stood up. This action dragged the astonished tacklers up
since they were each holding a part of Twister's body firmly as they all
instinctively held on.
Now amused by the self-image of a human christmas tree, Twister called
out, "Time for the Twister Twirl!" Figuring he was hidden by the mass of
bodies, Twister used some levitation to start rotating in place rapidly.
Strong as the football players arms were, they couldn't hold on long with the
amount of centrifugal force pulling at their bodies. One by one, all four
flew off and landed hard in separate locations. Twister immediately slowed
down and stopped to clear his own head of spinning motion.
*Dang! Akane could've leveled these guys without getting caught
like that.* The bruises from the tackle could be Healed later. *We _are_
pretty close in skill now, but that's in my female form and I'm more
used to fighting with _that_ body, not this one. At least I'm certain I
can control the psionic boost now. As for my opponents...*
He saw that all the members of the group were either unconscious or
unable to stand up at the moment, and smiled. "Well, I've always heard
revenge isn't what it's cracked up to be." Looking at the amazed
Natsumi, Twister said, "I'd better go before Rematch Part II!" He waved,
picked up the backpack he had dropped before the fight, and ran off.
Swifter than Natsumi could hope to try to attempt.
Therefore, he missed the look of greedy acquisitiveness Natsumi gave
him as Twister ran off.
*'Twister', I think you will be seeing more of me.* She smiled
seductively. *Even if I have to use magic to do it.*
Softly, Natsumi laughed.

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