[Ranma][FanFic] Dynasty - Chapter 2

[Cele...@aol.com]

DYNASTY - CHAPTER TWO - PART A
By Sydney Kyle <jant...@hotmail.com>

=========================
* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
=========================
* * * * * *
=========================
CHAPTER TWO:
PART A
The Battle Plan
=========================

It was uncannily silent at the Tendo dojo later that afternoon.

After-school afternoons at the dojo usually consisted of pointless
bouts of endless squabbling between Akane and Ranma, sounds of battle
when Ryouga or Mousse or Kuno made their daily rounds of violence toward
Ranma, and walls caving in when Shampoo or Kodachi dropped by to
announce their neverending love for Ranma.

It seemed that all the insanity had centered around Ranma.

And now, the stillness that had befallen the training hall seemed to
have originated from one inevitable fact.

Ranma wasn't there.

And neither was Genma, Ryouga, Mousse, or Shampoo.

* * * * *

The living room had the atmosphere of a tomb.

The dinner of teriyaki and rice lay untouched on the low-set dining
table. The television was on, showing the latest weather broadcast, but
it was currently on mute. Even Nabiki's yen-counting and Kasumi's
cheerful exclamations of "oh my" were blatantly absent.

They were all here and accounted for, though.

Soun Tendo sat at the head of the table, staring down blankly at the
assembled feast before him, his tanned, mustachioed visage streaked with
dried tear trails. Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo each sat on one side of him,
their gazes fixed on the floor, unable to summon up the appropriate
words in which to address the dilemma. Cologne had positioned herself at
the other end of the long table, her owl-like eyes closed as she
pondered the circumstances. Ukyou Kuonji had isolated herself slightly
to the right, her forehead resting on the handle of the huge assault
spatula she clutched in her hands. Akane Tendo sat directly opposite
her, an unreadable expression on her countenance, her fists clenched
tightly amongst the folds of the sky-blue skirt of the uniform she was
wearing.

The entire situation was almost too unbelievable for the gathered
group to comprehend.

"Pass me some soba, please," said Cologne.

The others gawked at her as Kasumi obliged--as it was her obligation
due to her incredibly nice nature--and the old Chinese Amazon attacked
the noodles like there was no tomorrow.

Akane was the first to express her indignation. "I don't _believe_
this!" she sputtered. "How can you act so calm when something's happened
to Ranm--I mean, to the others?!"

Ukyou joined in, equally indignant. "Yeah, and one of them's your
great-granddaughter, too!"

Cologne silenced them with a sharp sweep of her staff, then calmly
finished off the last of the soup and noodles.

"Do you want to hear what happened to Ranma and the others or don't
you?" she asked pointedly.

Her words seemed to snap the shocked assemblage back to life.

"Do _you_ know where Ranchan is?" Ukyou demanded eagerly.

"And what about Saotome?" Soun wanted to know.

"And Ranm--and the others? What about the others?" Akane added.

"Could you have possibly seen what happened?" queried Nabiki, as
indifferently as only Nabiki Tendo was capable of under the circum-
stances.

"Oh, my," was all Kasumi could say.

Cologne waved all their inquiries aside with her chopsticks. "One
thing at a time, all of you, one thing at a time. Granted, the
circumstances of Shampoo and the others' disappearance are very strange
indeed, and it will take a while before we can figure out what _exactly_
happened to them." She hopped on top of the table, and from there she
addressed the rest of the group. "But before we can even contemplate
that, I suggest that we hear the eyewitness accounts first in order to
get a better idea of who or what was responsible for this."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Wow, that actually sounds reasonable."

Cologne sent her a glare. It was hard to tell, especially when her
beady little eyes made it look like she was always glaring, but it
seemed like a real glare this time. "Do not mock your elders, child."

"Sorry, sorry," muttered Nabiki, holding her hands up in a
condescending gesture of surrender. "So bite me if I'm just not used to
any sort of rational thought in this house."

"AnyWAY, as I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted,"
Cologne went on, "I think it would be best for all of us to hear about
what happened during the time of the disappearances." She swiveled
around to glance at Soun. "You were there with me when Ranma and the
older Saotome vanished, Tendo. Care to relate to us what you saw?"

"Uhm, yes, of course." Soun leaned back, his eyes glazing over as he
transported his mind back to the events of the morning. "After Cologne
had showed up here, saying something about getting to Ranma before
something terrible happened, Saotome and I immediately rushed to the
school in a desperate and daring attempt to save him..."

---Flashback---

"Hurry, Saotome! Hurry!" Soun urged, wiping the waterfall of sweat
that streamed down his face. At his heels were Genma, who was panting
profusely, and Cologne, who was hopping alongside him, utilizing her
staff like a pogo stick.

"I _am_ hurrying!" shot back an exhausted Genma, whose ample girth
made running at top speed an activity he hated immensely. "But what I
still don't know is exactly _why_ we're doing this!"

"I _told_ you, Saotome, son-in-law's in danger," Cologne reminded him
briskly as she leaped over a fence. "The sooner we can warn him of this,
then the better."

"Warn him?" demanded Genma, unconvinced. "Warn him of WHAT?"

"I will explain later!" snapped Cologne. "For now, we will simply
have to rely on my instincts and reach son-in-law before he is taken as
well!"

"TAKEN?" panted Genma. "Hold on a minute--nobody is taking my--"

"You may not even have a say in it, Saotome," replied Cologne as she
cleared a telephone pole. "I just seem to harbor a very bad feeling
about this..."

"And why's that? What does this have to do with my son?"

"I TOLD you, Saotome, this is _not_ the time for needless expla-
nations! Skilled as son-in-law may be, that is not going to make any
difference in the final outcome--do you understand?" Cologne swiveled
around to stare at Genma, her eyes narrowed.

Genma, however, was not about to this sort of abuse without any
further clarification, and he was adamant in voicing his severe
dissatisfaction. "Well, _I_ *haff* am definitely NOT going to *haugh*
kill myself just because *pantpant* you're *haighaigh* overreacting to
noth--"

He was cut off by the faintest sounds of humming and the briefest
flash of light.

Soun and Cologne halted, stunned. Where Genma had been staggering
along right beside them, there was nothing but thin air.

A few minutes passed as they searched around the surroundings,
failing to locate any sign of where Genma had gone. It was as if he had
vanished off the face of the earth without their even knowing.

"What happened?" Soun demanded, looking astonishingly self-composed,
considering the weak control he had of his tear ducts.

"He's gone," Cologne concluded rather stiffly, scaling back up her
stick. "This is more serious than I expected, Tendo. It seems they took
him as well. And if 'they' are the ones I suspect them to be, then here
is nothing we can do about Saotome's disappearance."

"Nothing?" Again, Soun Tendo did not show any signs of panicking.

"Nothing more," repeated Cologne grimly. "We will discuss this later,
Tendo. First it is imperative that we reach son-in-law before _they_
do."

Soun remained in his statuesque pose, his visage grim. "Then that we
shall," he declared, his voice strong and unwavering. "Forgive me,
Saotome, but our lifelong friendship must be considered later if we are
to save your son. For I must retain my honor, dear friend Saotome--"

---Present Time---

*WHACK*

"Oh my," Kasumi said, hand over her mouth.

"Poor daddy dear," Nabiki commented.

Cologne unwedged her battle stick somewhere from the top of Soun's
head. "Honor indeed!" she gibed. "When he realized his dear friend
Saotome was gone, he ran around bawling like a baby. The very shame--a
grown man doing such things!" She shuddered.

"Daddy's the...shall we say, sensitive type," offered Nabiki.

"Well, exCUSE me," Akane interrupted, "but wouldn't you be upset too
if your lifelong friend just vanished in front of your eyes without a
trace?!"

"I already explained it, child--there was _nothing_ he could have
done. After I convinced him of that, we had already lost precious time
in trying to get to son-in-law. But when we arrived at the school, it
seemed that there was no place to hide..."

---Flashback---

"Sooo...what're you sayin'?" Ranma demanded, astonished. "You sayin'
that there's ANOTHER group of maniacs out there who're out to get
everyone under the Jusenkyo curse--and they're _not_ the Jusenkyo
Order??"

Cologne looked solemn. "That is _exactly_ what I am saying."

Soun nodded anxiously, darting suspicious looks all around them. "I
think you'd best listen to her, boy."

They were in front of the perimeter fence that surrounded the front
of Furinkan High. Behind them, the classroom window of Sensei Tanaka's
third-floor classroom gaped wide open as he continued his lecture,
unmindful of the fact that one of his students had been replaced by a
rice-sack dummy.

"But I still don't understand why--"

"It's a long story," explained Cologne, yanking Ranma's arm with her
staff. "But now is not the time nor the place for me to tell it. It is
absolutely of the essence that we first get you back to a safe place."

Ranma frowned, somewhat exasperated with the way the two adults were
behaving. "Is it just me, or are you guys blowing this a liiiiiittle out
of propor--"

He was cut off by the distinct sound of grass being trampled right
behind him.

A quick about-face revealed that there was no one behind him. In
fact, the only movement he could see was the rippling of foliage in the
sudden breeze.

A faint humming met their ears.

Ranma let out a low whistle as he slowly got to his feet. "Well,
well, whaddaya ya know?" he remarked. "Seems there _is_ someone out here
with us after all."

"More like _someones_," Cologne corrected grimly, stepping back.

"NNNNOOOOOO!" screamed Soun, tearing out tufts of long black hair
from his scalp. "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE OUT TO GET US!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO
DIE!!! HAVE MERCY!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO MEEEEE--"

*BONK*

"Oh, get a grip on yourself!" scolded Cologne, straightening out the
Soun-shaped dent on her staff. "Really, if I were your sensei, I'd slap
you silly, I would. Besides, they're not after us--it's son-in-law
they're after!"

"WHAT?!" Ranma cried.

"Oh, yes." Soun composed himself, clearing his throat. "I...knew
that."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "This is crazy!" he protested. "What the heck
did _I_ do, anyway?!"

"You have the curse of Jusenkyo upon you," Cologne said quietly. "For
these people, that is all they need to know."

The humming grew louder, more incessant. The wind picked up speed.

Cologne yanked Ranma's arm with her staff. "Come on," she urged. "We
have to leave. Now. We need to find you some place to hide before it's
too late--"

Ranma shook off her grasp. "I'm stayin'," he stated flatly.

"WHAT??!" shrieked Soun.

"I'm stayin'," Ranma repeated.

"I'M _NOT_ LETTING MY DAUGHTER MARRY A DEAD MAN!!" shrieked Soun.

"Hey, listen," Ranma began, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm
_not_ lettin' those jerks get me. It's not like I'm totally helpless,
you know--I'm perfectly capable of takin' care of myself, all right?"

"That doesn't matter," Cologne cut in, her voice hard. "You may be
the best martial artist in Nerima, son-in-law, but if I am correct in
guessing just _who_ these people are then maybe, just maybe...your best
isn't good enough. And neither is mine."

Ranma looked at her in shock. After a bout of slight reluctance,
though, he finally came to a decision.

"I don't care," he declared. "I gotta know what happened to Pop and
the others."

Cologne studied him for a second, then hopped over, long silver hair
flapping wildly in the wind. "Then so will I," said she, hefting her
staff into a battle position.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" exclaimed Soun, jogging toward them.

"If son-in-law decides to put his life in the line to find out what
happened to my Shampoo, then I am in no place to stop him," replied
Cologne.

"Exactly," Ranma said in determination. "If Shampoo's in trouble,
then I gotta save her. After all, I _am_ your son-in-law, right?"

"That is correct." Cologne smiled. "My, aren't you brave."

"You're not bad yourself, Cologne..."

---Present Time---

"DREAM ON!" Ukyou and Akane yelled at the same time.

"Why, can't a girl dream anymore?" Cologne defended herself quite
staunchly.

"Not when the girl happens to be two hundred eighty years old and
past menopause," Nabiki remarked.

"Why, of all the nerve! You youngsters nowadays...no respect for your
elders--"

"Never mind about that!" Akane interjected. "What happened after?"

Cologne took a deep breath and immersed herself once again in her
ruminations. "Well, Soun and I faced the unseen assailants, intending to
discourage them from reaching son-in-law, but it was of no avail..."

To Be Continued in Part B

DYNASTY - CHAPTER TWO - PART B
By Sydney Kyle <jant...@hotmail.com> and <cele...@aol.com>
<http://fortunecity.com/tattooine/Pratchett/199/kylefic.html>

=========================
* * * DYNASTY * * *
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
=========================
* * * * * *
=========================
CHAPTER ONE:
PART B
Elimination
=========================

---Flashback---

"All right, this is it!" Ranma yelled above the wind.

The trio tensed, their backs to each other.

A small cherry tree to the right of them began to bend in the rapidly
growing gusts of wind.

Branches swayed frenziedly.

The humming reached an unbearable crescendo.

"They're here," Cologne said simply.

They all looked up, and a flash of light met their eyes. Soun
shielded himself from the glare with an upraised arm, while Cologne
merely squinted. Ranma remained motionless, his attention seemingly
arrested by something the others could not see...

A half-second later, the light dimmed.

And Ranma was missing.

---Present Time--

"He...disappeared?" Ukyou cried. "Just--just like that?"

"That was what we were made aware of, yes," confirmed Soun.

Ukyou turned away, her face concealed by the velvet curtain of her
long mahogany hair, and a smorgasboard of emotions rushed swiftly past
Akane's face.

It became deathly silent again.

Cologne leaped down from her perch on the tabletop and approached
Ukyou, her face questioning. "And what about you?" she asked.

Ukyou glanced at her, confused. "Me?"

"You ran into us a few minutes after son-in-law disappeared," the old
woman reminded her. "And if I'm not mistaken, I would deduct that you
came from the direction of an immense explosion of light that the three
of us witnessed before we were attacked. Do you have any knowledge
concerning _that_ particular explosion?"

"Y-you mean--?"

"It appeared to be vaguely familiar, now that I think about it."

"I-it was..." Ukyou chewed on her lip. "I--I think it was Ryouga."

"Ryouga?" Akane exclaimed in disbelief. "Why?"

"Well, he came back into town today, and I sorta ran into him, and
then I realized what time it was, and then he began running alongside me
'cause he got me late, stupid navigationally-challenged jackass that he
is..." Ukyou scowled as she remembered how furious she was at him. "He
was going to get me late to school, and here he was--"

"Just tell us what happened already," Nabiki muttered.

Ukyou blinked. "Oh. Right." She tugged thoughtfully at the
spatula-decked bandoleer she wore. "Anyway, we were nearly at the
bridge, and then when I turned to throw some insult at him, he was
gone."

"Did you see how he disappeared?" Cologne queried.

"Well, I kinda thought that he'd just gone and gotten himself lost
again in a span of about a half-second, so I really didn't give it much
thought," admitted Ukyou. Then she reconsidered. "Wait a minute--I think
I remember seeing a bit of light or something beside me before he
vanished. And there was this tiny noise...sort of like whirring."

"Humming?" Soun volunteered.

Ukyou nodded vigorously. "Yeah. Humming."

"Then there is no doubt about it." Cologne drew herself up, her
expression one of grave wisdom. "Ryouga was taken as well. That
explosion Soun and I perceived earlier was unmistakably Ryouga's ki-
blast attack, the Shishi Houkoudan."

Ukyou snapped her fingers. "That's it! I saw him use that blast
before, up close." She shivered. "That's one helluva technique, if you
ask me."

"Then he must have been fighting someone--or someones," Cologne
mused, pacing back and forth on the tatumi mat. "And it's common
knowledge to all martial artists to resort to utilizing their ki only as
their final measure. Therefore, whatever Ryouga was up against must have
been extremely powerful."

"You mean Ryouga was taken too?" exclaimed Akane.

"Oh my. Poor Ryouga," said Kasumi, who had been quiet throughout the
entire discussion.

"But why?" demanded Akane. "You mentioned earlier that the only
reason Ranma, Mousse, Shampoo, and Mr. Saotome were singled out from the
rest of us was because they were cursed in the Jusenkyo springs. I know
they all have two forms, but _Ryouga_? He isn't cursed! I don't think
he's ever _been_ to Jusenkyo!"

Cologne waggled her eyebrows up and down, but she did not let the
shinola hit the fan.

"We'll figure that part out later," said Soun in a surprisingly
aggressive tone of voice. "But right now, I am more inclined to find out
_exactly_ what YOU--" He jabbed his index finger toward Cologne. "--make
of this, old woman."

Cologne took her sweet time before replying to his question. She sat
there, eyes closed, as if in deep meditation, before finally opening
them to their full alarming size as she regarded the apprehensive crowd.

"If you all want a straight answer from me, then I am sorry to
disappoint you," she said soberly. "You see, I _think_ I know who's
responsible for the disappearances."

"What _is_ it?"

Cologne looked at Akane, and was moderately startled to see her eyes
shining with something that looked suspiciously like tears.

"Are--are they alive?" Ukyou whispered, sitting next to Akane.

Cologne paused and the entire room held its breath. Then she nodded.

"Oh my goodness," Kasumi said.

"How do you know _that_, may I ask?" The query came from a wary-
looking Nabiki.

"I told you, I _know_ the party responsible for this, and if they are
the ones I suspect, then Ranma, Ryouga, Mousse, Shampoo, and Saotome are
still alive. But I fear that they are in great danger." At this, the old
Chinese Amazon extracted an object from somewhere within the folds of
the green silk robes she wore. "I found this on the very spot Shampoo
disappeared. I meant to show this to you all earlier, but I refused to
believe that it was even real."

The entire assemblage stared down at the object that Cologne lay on
top of the table for their inspection. It was a tiny piece of fabric, of
a kind that was neither silk nor satin. It sported jagged edges on its
sides, indicating that it had been torn from an article of clothing. It
shone with an eerie mirror-like surface, glowing with an effulgent red
hue mixed with a green and gold sheen that shone in the fading rays of
the setting sun. The most extraordinary part, however, was a series of
intricate gold slashes across the fabric.

"It looks like there's some sort of writing on it," breathed Ukyou.

"Now that you mention it, it certainly does," Kasumi agreed.

"But that's certainly not Katakana," pointed out Nabiki. "And it
definitely isn't Chinese..."

"Your assumptions are correct," Cologne said. "This, indeed, _is_ a
writing style, though it is of a kind that we no longer employ today."
She gestured at the graceful swirls that made up the character, tracing
over it with the tip of her staff. "This is written in a calligraphy
that is a combination of the Hiragana and the Chinese Kanji style of
writing. This, ladies and gentleman, is the word Shoryuu, or 'dragon'."

"Dragon...?" echoed Ukyou softly.

"Yes, dragon." Cologne nodded. "Or, to be more appropriate, the
Shoryuu--the Dragon Dynasty. The only people I imagine would be capable
of defeating Ranma Saotome and the others by reducing them to their
cursed forms, to which they seem to have a special defense against."

"The Dragon Dynasty--?" Akane looked bewildered. "But what...?"

"In this town, sis, anything is possible," Nabiki reminded her. "I
mean, come on, we've been visited by a baby Phoenix, the Seven Lucky
Gods, a half-guy, half-yeti-riding-a-bull-while-carrying-an-eel-and-
crane, and I don't even have to mention daddy's own perverted sensei."

"All of them are _nothing_ compared to this current crisis," Cologne
stated flatly. "We are talking about a monarchy that existed long before
any records were documented--a monarchy that even our ancestors refused
to believe existed."

"But what do they want with Ranma and the others?" demanded Soun.

"Hmmm. I think I'm beginning to comprehend why they targeted them,"
Cologne declared grimly, rising to her feet. "Then the legends _are_
true, then. There is a connection between the formation of Jusenkyo
itself and the rise of the Dragon clan. Something concerning destiny
itself, that I am certain of..." She shook her head, as if to postpone
the issue. "But first, we still have a matter of five people to save..."
She motioned meaningfully toward the dojo doors.

"Well...that sounded like a go-signal to me," Nabiki observed.

Akane scrambled to her feet, suddenly simmering with newfound energy.
"All right, get up, you guys. We're gonna find Ranm--I mean, the
others!"

"That's the spirit, Akane!" Soun got to his feet as well. "As long as
they're all right, then we still have a chance to save them!"

"I'm with you, sugar," Ukyou seconded. The fire in her eyes glowed
brightly once more as she hefted her spatula. "After all, if they think
they can take my Ranma-honey away from me, then they've got another
thought comi--"

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO! Did someone mention my darling Ranma's name?"

And Kodachi Kuno plowed a hole through yet another Tendo dojo wall,
dressed in a red leotard that looked like it was painted on and carrying
her usual dowry of lethal black roses.

"Ko-Kodachi?!!" Akane spluttered.

"Oh, hello. Nice to see you," said Kasumi, smiling pleasantly.

Ukyou covered her eyes. "Ugh. Tell me this is NOT happening."

Kodachi struck a dramatic pose. "Ah, yes, but it is! It is I, Kodachi
Kuno, the Black Rose herself! But do tell me--where _is_ my darling
Ranma?"

"Your DARLING Ranma," Akane replied between gritted teeth, "is not
here."

"He's not?" Kodachi frowned, ignoring Soun Tendo's wailing tirade of
"My wall! My house! My home!" "Then where _is_ he, may I ask?"

"He's going to be DEAD in about a couple of hours if this goes on."

Kodachi emitted a horrified stage-gasp, her fingers flying to her
lips. "Oh, my darling Ranma! We MUST save him!"

"Uhm, that's what we're kind of trying to do here," Ukyou muttered.

"Then count me in!" declared Kodachi, flailing her gymnastic ribbon-
whip in insane patterns. "For it is my duty as his fiancee to save him
from all that may be!"

Akane dodged as the red ribbon twirled madly past her. "EXCUSE ME?"
she yelled. "YOUR fiancee?! Well, I'm sorry, sister, but he happens to
be--"

"--MY fiancee too!" Ukyou finished for her.

Akane looked at the both of them and threw her hands up in utter
exasperation. "Oh, what's the use?"

"What's that? Dost my ears detect the sweet voice of the fair Akane
Tendo?"

Who else would it be but the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High himself,
Tatewaki Kuno.

He entered, of course, by slashing a hole through yet another wall of
the Tendo dojo.

"K-Kuno?" Akane exclaimed. Her eyebrow was beginning to twitch.

"Come to join the party, Kuno-baby?" muttered Nabiki.

Kuno assumed a mighty stance, bokken held aloft in the air. "Ah, yes.
For as I was commencing my daily constitutional around the Tendo
grounds, my ears had perchance gotten wind of my love Akane Tendo's
clamor of desperation, and, cavalier that I am, I rushed immediately to
answer her distraught cries--"

"Be still, my heart, eh, Akane?" Nabiki muttered dryly.

"Oh, tis true!" Kuno swept his hand through his curly brown hair in a
grand gesture. "For Akane Tendo is none else but my one true love--" He
paused, then looked furtively about. "And, ah--dost thou wish to inform
me on the whereabouts of the beautous pig-tailed girl...?"

"A word of advice, brother dear. If you're looking to smite Ranma
today, then you won't find him here."

Kuno stared wildly at Kodachi. "Not here? Then whence can he be?!"

"That's what we're trying to find out!" Akane yelled. "But if you two
don't give it a rest we're _never_ gonna reach him--I mean them--in
time!"

"KATSUNISHIKI! WAIIIT!" a muffled female voice cried out.

Yet another Tendo dojo wall came falling down. It was remarkable,
really, that the room was still standing throughout the destruction.

This time, though, the source of the demolition was not some martial
artist, but an incredibly huge white pig.

The assemblage froze while Soun's wailing only increased in volume.

"Ye GADS!" bellowed Kuno, eyes goggling. "What vile creature is
this?!"

"It's a pig, Kuno-baby," Nabiki murmured. "It's a really, really,
really BIG pig..."

The huge swine snorted derisively and began to stomp its hooves on
the floor, creating a series of tremors that rattled the onlookers'
teeth.

Even Nabiki looked nervous.

At that moment, a young girl sprinted into the room through the
gigantic hole and soothed the mammoth pig.

"Katsunishiki! How many times did I tell you NOT to do tha--" She
stopped short as she became aware of an audience. "Oh. Hello."

Nabiki was the first to regain her powers of speech. "I take it that
this is _your_ pig, then."

The girl smoothed the somewhat rumpled minidress she was wearing.
"Uhm, yes," she answered, looking embarrassed. "And I--uh, I'm really
sorry about that wall. You see, Katsunishiki here sometimes gets excited
when he knows something and it gets hard to control him--"

Ukyou, meanwhile, had been rifling through her memory banks. "Wait a
minute," she said. "Could your name be...Akari Unryuu?"

The girl brightened considerably. "Yes, I am. How did you know? I
just arrived in town and--" She grew hopeful. "Did Ryouga-sama mention
me to you?"

Ukyou blinked. "R-Ryouga? Uhm, yeah. He said you were--ah--"

"You're Ryouga's GIRLFRIEND?"

Akari turned a delicate pink at this. "Well, actually we--" She
focused her gaze on the speaker, and her eyes lighted up in recognition.
"Akane? Akane Tendo?"

Akane nodded in confirmation, still perplexed.

"So this IS the Tendo dojo!" Akari exulted. "Katsunishiki _was_ right
after all! Ryouga was always asking for the directions to this place..."

Ukyou watched her speculatively, her brows knitting together in a
tiny frown. Maybe it was just her imagination, but somehow that sweet
smile that she had on her face appeared rigidly artificial. Once or
twice she thought she saw the other girl glance at Akane in a faintly
suspicious manner, like how one would appraise a potential rival.

She could distinguish it easily. After all, it was a look that she'd
had on her own face countless times when she was around Akane, Shampoo,
and Kodachi--girls who had been seeking Ranma Saotome's affections. It
was a look that she'd seen mirrored on their faces as well.

There was no doubt in Ukyou's mind about the way Akari felt about
Ryouga--never mind the fact that he was still infatuated with Akane.
And, as sweet and docile as she was, she was more than willing to fight
for Ryouga Hibiki's heart.

The way Ukyou was willing to fight for Ranma's.

"Foul swine!" Kuno hissed at the pig, who promptly headbutted him
into a wall.

"So..." Akari glanced around innocently. "Where's Ryouga?"

Ukyou frowned. "THAT'S what we were trying to figure out before...
things got out of hand."

"Enough of this." Cologne made her way to the entrance of the dojo,
determination etched on her wrinkled visage. "If we have any more
unexpected guests, then it will be too late for son-in-law and the
others." She appraised them questioningly. "Now are you with me or not?"

Soun miraculously ceased his weeping and sprang up. "She's right!
Let's go!"

Akane followed. "You got it, dad!"

"Then I must come as well," declared Kuno. "For it is but my life's
goal to defend my true love from whatever infidels that cometh forth!"

"And I must save my Ranma darling!" cried Kodachi.

"Yeah, right," scoffed Ukyou. "Not if _I_ get to Ranma-honey first!"

"Oh, pleaze." Akane rolled her eyes.

"Oh my, yes, we must be off," said Kasumi.

"No, Kasumi, you must stay here and watch over the house."

"Yes, father."

"And if this has anything to do with my Ryouga-sama, then _I_ wanna
come!" Akari chimed in.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Soun boomed. "They're counting on
us!"

The entire group headed toward the doors. Except for Nabiki Tendo,
who hung back, her expression of one deep in thought.

"Nabiki? What is it?" Akane asked. Soun, Ukyou, Cologne, Kuno, Akari,
and Kodachi twisted about simultaneously to look at Nabiki.

Nabiki opened her eyes. "Sorry to throw a bucket of cold water on
your plans," said she, "but aren't you all forgetting something?"

"And what's that?" wondered Soun.

"You don't _know_ where Ranma and the others are, remember?"

There was a silence as her words sunk in.

=end of Chapter Two=

Next: The Ceremony of the Tama-Tebako