TP-What to Prepare For[10 of 18][FanFic]

[Twister]

Chapter Ten
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After making sure no one had followed him, Twister teleported
home to do some things there before getting ready and teleporting again to
a protected area around Nabiki's place. Twister then used a cold water
thermos to change into a girl. She walked the rest of the way to the apartment
building and buzzed for Yuriko.
A sudden thought struck her then. *Hey! I thought I couldn't affect
water! How did I teleport it in the thermos?? Hmm... Maybe I just affect
space-time and not...*
"Hello? Is that you, Itazuka?" said Yuriko's familiar cheerful voice.
Twister decided to think about the water-teleport problem later and
answered Yuriko, "Yup. You ready?"
"Sure thing! Come on up!" The entrance door buzzed and Twister
went in.
After welcoming Twister in, Yuriko moved her to sit down on a couch.
The enthusiastic beginner of magic rushed into the kitchen.
"What did you want to drink?" she cried from the kitchen.
"Just a soft drink. I don't care which, I'm not fussy."
"Okay! I'll be out in a minute."
Twister shook her head in amusement as she thought about what things
to try to practice doing with spells. The spells Twister did may be easy for
_her_ to visualize, but Yuriko might find it harder to do at first. She was
still contemplating how to go about it when Yuriko came back into the room
with a tray.
Unfortunately, Nabiki neglected to mention to Twister how clumsy her
roommate could be at times...and had a few stained shirts to prove it. The
stain came from Yuriko's favorite drink, hot lemon tea. Halfway to where
Twister was seated, the natural law for Yuriko kicked in and she tripped,
spilling the closed soda can and spraying hot beverage towards her seated
guest.
The 'deep in thought' Twister became the 'deep in pain' Twister.
"OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" cried the shocked Twister as said person jumped
around in an attempt to cool off.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so clumsy at times!" Yuriko was looking down at
the floor, picking up the soda can. She straightened to comfort the
injured Twister. "I really am sor..." Her voice trailed off as she stared
at the familiar looking male in her room who was starting to slow down.
"Jeez! That was hot! That...was....hot." What he was saying dawned
on Twister and he looked at Yuriko for confirmation. Yes, she was indeed
staring at him. "Oh, boy."
"T-t-t-twister? H-how? W-why?" Yuriko was in shock.
Sighing, Twister tried to wipe the lemony liquid off his face and sat
down again. Arching an eyebrow in Yuriko's direction, he answered her, "You
are in a _magic_ class and you ask _how_?" He chuckled.
"But _why_?" Yuriko cried out.
"To quote Doctor McCoy: 'She drafted me Jim!'" Twister smiled. "Prof.
Miyabi didn't give me much of a choice once she found out I had magical
ability."
Getting out of her shock, Yuriko giggled a bit at the quote, but was
still confused. "Then why did you come as a girl to class?"
He groaned, "_That_ is due to the fact that I _cannot_ make magic while
in _this_ form." Understanding shone in Yuriko's eyes as he went on, "I can
only do psionics as a guy and magic as a girl. The Professor told me I
had better not cloak my mystic power in class so I came the only way I
could. Gave _her_ a shock I can tell you." They both laughed at that.
"But how come you switch in the first place? Why did my drink change
you?" Now past her shock, Yuriko was fascinated by Twister's form-changing.
"That's a bit of a long story." Twister telekinetically lifted the
soft drink from a startled, then delighted, Yuriko and brought it to him.
Opening the can and taking a sip of the drink he continued, "In order to
keep it short, I'll tell you the condensed version. I was a normal person
before some crazy old hentai screwed up a summoning spell. It yanked _me_
and...someone else into the Void. The other guy wasn't so nice and threw
me into something called the Event, an immensely powerful thing which is
the source of all Mind and Magic powers. I was not expected to survive,
but somehow I did and arrived here to beat the living tar out of the
other guy. I was a little mad." Yuriko giggled at this obvious
understatement. "It changed me into what you see now, but I didn't change
into a girl then. _That_ was the result of the other guy finding some
cursed spring water that gives the form of a girl when doused in it. The
water and my own new nature combined so now I can do both psionic and
magic powers in different forms. Cold or room temperature water changes
me into a girl. Hot water..." He waved at himself.
"That's an exciting story, Twister." Yuriko smiled happily.
Ruefully, Twister smiled, "I'm glad you liked it."
A thought entered Yuriko's mind, "Does Nabiki know?"
"Yup. She's known me practically since I was brought here." He sighed
happily. "She doesn't seem to mind it. Of course, with _her_ family I'm not
surprised. She's had plenty of time to become adaptable." Twister chuckled at
Yuriko's curious look. "I won't even _try_ to explain that last part." He
rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, I came here to help you with _magic_.
Where's the bathroom so I can change back to help with that?"
Smiling, Yuriko pointed in the direction of a door which Twister went
into. When she emerged, Yuriko clapped her hands in delight.
"That's _so_ neat." She gushed.
Twister snorted, "Well, it makes life interesting anyway." She sat
down again in a place opposite Yuriko, who was looking at Twister's clothes
with interest.
"You enchanted your clothes to fit both as a girl _and_ a boy?" With
Twister's nod she continued, "It's not even stained by my tea!"
"I have a _very_ thin layer of air clinging to my clothes. Makes it
waterproof and unstainable and also has..." Still in a sitting position, Twister
started floating up. "An extra option in fashion necessities."
Wide-eyed at the floating Twister, Yuriko breathed, "Will _I_ be able
to do that soon?"
Floating back down, Twister nodded, "Most likely, though it may take a
while. I seem to have a knack for this stuff. Likely from my 'accident'."
Yuriko looked dreamy, "If I can do _that_, this would be all worth it."
"Then let's get busy. Spellcasters, ho!"

Nabiki returned to the building around eight and felt that same sense
of someone watching her. Whirling around, she tried to find the source,
but, of course, no one was there. A little unnerved, Nabiki quickly
entered the building. When she reached her apartment, the sounds of
Yuriko giggling brought a small smile to her lips.
*That girl is _always_ so happy! I wonder what got her attention
_this_ time?* She thought amusedly.
When she opened the door, Nabiki froze in astonishment.
Yuriko had persuaded Twister to start with simple spells of levitation
with objects. Thinking this harmless, Twister had complied. After an hour of
bizarre results, Yuriko had finally got the correct visualization technique.
She had then proceeded to practice on almost everything in sight. This
resulted in the room looking like a scene from the space shuttle in orbit as
objects hung floating in mid-air everywhere. Twister was trying hard not
to burst out laughing as she sat on a floating couch. Quitting when she had
started getting pretty tired, Yuriko happily giggled as she viewed what she
had done.
The noise of the door opening brought both magic-users attention to
the stunned Nabiki. Twister got a good look at her and failed utterly in
preventing helpless laughter with Yuriko joining in.
"Oh...jeez! Your...face...Nabiki!" Got out Twister.
This broke the paralysis. "_What_ are you _doing_?!" Shouted Nabiki
when she closed the door behind her.
Laughter stopped, but still amused, Twister tried to calm her down,
"Don't worry about it, Nabiki. Yuriko needed the practice. I'll catch it with
my TK when she cancels each spell so everything doesn't crash down."
"But you're a gi..." Nabiki stopped and looked at each of the floating
pair. "Wait a minute! She knows!?"
Twister sighed and nodded, "Yup. She tried for the Olympic record for
hot tea-tossing earlier so I told her about my powers." Yuriko blushed and
looked a little guilty through her elation of getting the spell to work.
Nabiki slapped herself on the forehead, "Oh, right! I knew I had
forgotten to tell you something!" She looked in amusement now at the floating
objects. "I think you'd better start dropping things before someone notices."
"Your wish is my command." Twister flew through the room towards the
bathroom.
*I _knew_ things would start getting weird around here.* Nabiki sighed
inwardly.

After Twister had changed back to a guy, he caught the objects that
Yuriko mentally canceled the spell for with his TK and slowly brought them
down. He, of course, only did this for heavy stuff like the couches. The
smaller objects were easily caught by hand. When they were done, Twister
smiled at Nabiki and started getting ready to go.
"I still have a few things to do tonight so I'd better run." He turned
to Nabiki and smiled, "Sorry to have to leave so soon."
"You'll make it up later." She smirked.
Rolling his eyes, Twister continued, "I _do_ need to talk to Kunou
if I get done on time. Do you know where he lives?"
"Kunou? Sure." Nabiki told him the address and apartment number with
a little curiosity. "Why do you need to see him?"
"Advice on a project." Twister smiled mysteriously.
"_Why_ do I ask?" The memory of being watched returned and she asked,
"I felt those eyes on me again tonight as I came in. Do you have anything
to help me with that?"
Looking concerned now, Twister nodded, "Yeah. I have a necklace that
might do it." He gave her a spare enchanted diamond necklace that was
exactly like the one he had given Yuriko. "This _should_ help if it's
magical. The enchantment isn't terribly strong, but it should mislead
and some other stuff as well."
"Thank you, Twister." Nabiki looked at him with relief.
Embarrassed, Twister started going, "Uh...no problem. See you!" He
quickly left.
Yuriko walked up to stand by Nabiki, smiling, "He's such a sweet
guy, Nabiki. You sure got a nice boyfriend!" She giggled.
Nabiki smiled, "Yes, I think I did too."

The project Twister was planning on doing was for his Magic half. He
could always create a weapon in his Mind form, but for the magic half he
needed something that would always be available. He had decided on
creating a sword for himself, but needed some raw materials. The methods
for making a strong, flexible sword he knew from reading a lot of fantasy
novels, as well as from books in the library, which described the different
processes. Making the sword should not be too hard, but Twister knew that
a sword needed to be balanced correctly. For _that_, he would need Kunou
to guide him when he was almost finished the thing. How he would _make_
it was something he had planned in the back of his mind for the past week.
At the apartment, he quickly found a large, spare diamond he had made
and what was left of some gold he had TK'ed from the ocean a while ago. Twister
left before Yasuro could ask what he was doing. He flew to a nearby dump site
and played with different steel mixtures he found in minute amounts until he
sensed that he had found what all he needed. That was what Twister
proceeded to collect for his sword. When he had enough together and TK'ed
it into two large masses, he started making the blade using a folding method
for increased strength and flexibility. Using the process he had read
about in the local library, he folded the metal for the blade over one
thousand times while heating it and hammering it with his telekinesis.
The normal total of folds for a sword made normally was below two
hundred. It was _much_ easier to do with his abilities.
The blade was soon deemed ready so he shaped and polished the finished
result. On the two-sided blade's cutting edges, Twister sharpened them to
the molecular level, making it as ultra-sharp as his diamond blades.
Fashioning a hilt was easy and onto it he placed the diamond as the pommel,
letting molecules migrate between stone and metal to weld them together.
Also, he shaped the sword guards into the forms of dragons. Finishing the
sword, he joined hilt and blade together and coated portions of it with gold.
Twister looked at the completed sword in satisfaction.
It was as beautiful as it was sharp.
*Now to get it balanced.* He ran to Kunou's residence since the time
was now approaching eleven at night.
After a bit of haggling, he finally got into Kunou's apartment.
Kunou faced him with some irritation. "Why did you deem it necessary
to interrupt Tatewaki Kunou from his nightly rest? The heavens favor not those
who are not at their peak at all times and the bounty of the world becomes
inaccessible." His personal ninja looked bored, sitting at the side of
the room while listening to this speech. It wasn't Sasuke because he had
stayed back with Kodachi to protect, *Yaright...,* the younger Mistress.
Rolling his eyes, Twister told him, "I made a sword for a friend who
wants it pretty quickly, but I'm not sure if it's balanced correctly or not.
I believe it's kinda important for a sword. Knowing that you were an expert
with such matters, I came to you to adjust it correctly."
Kunou looked indignant. "Of _course_ a blade must be properly balanced!
Balance is the way of the universe which..." His speech drifted off as Twister
pulled the almost done sword out of some newspaper he had found in the dump.
When Twister carefully handed the sword hilt first to him, Kunou
reverently gripped it as he studied the detailed dragons on the hilt of
the blade. Kunou softly uttered, "A sword of the heavens indeed. It would
be a travesty if such a blade were not balanced."
He agreed to help in other words.
"It's a straight blade so will there be a problem for you to...?"
"You think Tatewaki Kunou cannot balance this?! I, the Blue Thunder
of Furinkan High, shall prove you wrong!"
Twister rolled his eyes and sighed, *You're in college now, idiot.
Guess he hasn't figured out a new title yet. Oh, well.*
Under his direction, Twister altered the length of the blade an
extremely small bit at a time before Kunou deemed the sword perfect. When
he reluctantly gave it back, Twister could now tell how badly off the
sword had been.
Twister smiled in relief, "Thanks, Kunou." He chuckled. "And for a
special treat..." Placing the sword on the floor and using his TK, he
started engraving dragon designs he had worked out before along the
length of the blade that Twister had gold-plated. Kunou and his now
excited ninja watched in awe as incredibly detailed designs, not possible
by hand, appeared on the fantastically sharp blade. A complete dragon
with background was soon done on one side and Twister flipped the blade
over to do the other side in a mirror-like manner. When it was done,
Twister grabbed the hilt and smiled.
"Now, just two things left to do on this part. First, condense the
sword's matter so it shrinks. Second, strengthen the molecular bonds to
increase the strength of the blade further and prevent corruption, like
rust."
Kunou frowned. "Shrink? Is this not for a man?"
"Nope. It's for a girl I know fairly well." He shrugged. "I owe her
a favor and no, it's not Nabiki." Twister had seen the question coming.
*And I found out earlier how much I would have to shrink it to fit my
female form.*
"Such a fair blade must be for a fair creature indeed."
Twister chuckled, "I guess she is." Then he concentrated on bringing
the molecules of the sword together enough so it would fit his female half
perfectly. The sword was outlined in blue fire that came from Twister's hands
and shrank until he stopped the process. Then he willed the molecules of the
sword to strengthen their bonds and he actually felt the sword become harder
and sharper. "As if it wasn't sharp enough already." Twister mused to
himself. He turned to Kunou and bowed to him. "Thank you for your help,
Kunou."
Kunou waved his hand, "The pleasure was mine for helping in the creation
of such a magnificent blade. May it do wonders for it's intended wielder."
Red with embarrassment, Twister rubbed the back of his head, "Well,
I only made it tonight, but thanks all the same." He chuckled. "Wonders
it will do indeed." He waved good-bye and left as Kunou stood in stunned
surprise.
The ninja murmured with wonder, "That blade made just _tonight_? A
mighty person indeed."
Kunou nodded. "I have seen his full power once. He is indeed one favored
by heaven and an enemy of demons. For just as I..."
The ninja sighed to himself.
It looked like it would be a long night.

When Twister came into the apartment he found that Yasuro had, wonder
of wonders, gone to bed early for once and was not stuck in front of his
computer. This suited Twister just fine as he planned to be very busy in his
room for a while. He filled a large glass of cold water in the kitchen, went
to his room, and quietly closed the door behind him.
*Now, I've done the _easy_ part I think. Prof. Miyabi said that a
spell had to be _complex_ in order to become permanent.* He smiled. *This
thing is going to be just that. I guess I should call it the Dragonsword
since it looks the part now.* Twister got ready and used half the water to
become a girl.
Holding the sword, Twister smiled as the size and balance felt
perfect to her. *Two points. I wonder if I should ever ask Kunou for lessons
like I get from Ranma.* Twister shuddered. *Somehow, I don't think so.
He's good, but I'd worry if I approached him in female form. 'Oh, date me!'
Phtt. Not. Male would be much better, but I might get wet, somehow, around
him. I think I'll wait and hope I find someone else as good.*
*Well, time to play.*
The rhyme was correspondingly lengthy in size in relation
to the complexity of the spell. Metal seemed to be more resilient to the strain
of power so the sword _should_ be able to handle it, but it would be close.
Twister began the rhyme and noticed the power drain halfway through the spell.
This was going to take a _lot_ of power that she hoped she had. Mystic senses
let her see a complex web of energy forming around the weapon before her on
the bed as she drew near completion. A tendril of the web touched her for a
second, turned her color of purple, and transmitted the shade throughout
the web. Finally, Twister was done and a rush of power flowed from her
body into the web. It pulsed once and slowly sank into the metal of the
sword. The sword glowed brightly. Twister feared that she had done too
much, but the purple light slowly faded to nothing.
Twister was almost totally drained. Only the fact that she had been
in that eating contest, gaining a _lot_ of energy, had enabled her to make
the spell work.
*Oh, man. I'm beat and hot. I didn't realize how warm tonight was.*
She wearily looked at the cool glass of water. *I'd better warm the glass up
and use it before going to sleep. First, however...* Twister carefully
tested the blade with a finger and smiled widely at the results. *It works!
Time for bed now...after I warm the glass and use the water.*
Twister did so and proudly hid the sword under the bed before taking
off his sweaty shirt and falling swiftly asleep on the bed.

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