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

[Twister]

Chapter Eighteen
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As it was late when they arrived, Twister merely had a quiet dinner
with Lotion and Masque and retired to bed early.
When she woke up the next morning, Twister realized that there really
wasn't anything for her to _do_.
*Great. Even homework would be good for something. Hm. Maybe not...*
She sighed. *Maybe I should just practice martial arts and also try my
sword-swinging ability.* With that decided, Twister took out the shrunken
sword and had it return to normal size to use.
*Let's see if I can use this thing any better...*

Masque had left Lotion to watch the crystal as she went to check on
the new guest. Her plans for Lotion and Twister were still, as yet, unformed,
but she was sure something would come up. Hurried sounds of movement inside
the guest room made her wonder what Twister was doing. When she opened the
door, what she saw surprised her.
Whirling around with amazing speed was Twister, with a finely-crafted
blade in her hands. She appeared to be pretending to fight a horde of
imaginary attackers. The expression on her face seemed to be a mixture of
frustration and determination. This puzzled Masque, for the speed of the
sword made it just a blur, but the reason soon became clear as she noticed
that Twister's swordwork didn't look practiced, just random.
Twister finally noticed her audience and immediately stopped swinging
the sword around.
"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't see you."
"Not problem." Masque cocked her head curiously. "That nice sword."
Sighing, Twister idly swung the sword around, "It is a nice sword,
but I've never been trained for it's use. Useful though."
_That_ made Masque's eyebrows shoot up. "Apprentice with sword
strange to Masque. How well sword cut?"
Smirking, Twister found a towel nearby and placed it over the sharp
edge of the sword. It immediately parted in two from the combination of
gravity on both halves of the towel and the sharpness of the sword.
"Pretty good, I'd say," said Twister chuckling. "Good thing it
doesn't touch human flesh."
"It magic too?" Masque was starting to feel more than a little
jealous about this girl. Strong magic and owning a sword that was
beautifully made, uncannily sharp, and magic as well. *I just _have_ to
do something to this one, but what can...* An idea formed in her head
and she smiled to herself.
Bowing, Masque backed out of the room. "Masque must go now. See
Twister in little while." She left.
*Hm. What was _that_ about?*
Twister wondered at the uneasy feeling she had.

Around noon, Twister finally left the guest room and looked for
someone to talk to. No one seemed to be around which puzzled her. Hearing a
crowd outside, Twister went out to see what was going on.
Once out the door, however, she faced an angry looking mob of women
which surprised her.
*Huh? I thought that Ranma look-alike business was over.*
One of the women stepped forward and gestured angrily at Twister to
come with them. Puzzled greatly, Twister decided to follow the woman to find
out what was going on. They walked a little ways, with the mob angrily
surrounding them, until they reached an large, open area with a rope
suspended log over a steaming? pool of water.
*Uh, oh. Hot water.* Twister scanned the crowd. *What _is_ going on?*
"TWISTER!" cried a familiar voice. "I challenge you!"
*???* Surprised at the voice, Twister called back. "Lotion?? What's
going on?"
Lotion jumped onto an end of the suspended log with a quarterstaff in
her hands. She looked spitting mad and Twister was _wondering_ like mad why
Lotion was acting thus.
"I _not_ let Lotion _or_ village be insulted by Twister!" She expertly
spun the quarterstaff in her hands. "Twister must pay!"
"Say what?! But..." Twister's protests were ignored as she was herded
towards the log. Before they dumped her in the water, Twister did a high,
expertly done leap and landed on the opposite end of the log. This display of
ability surprised Lotion and the others watching. "Mind telling me what this
is about now?"
"Lotion not talk! Lotion will fight Twister!" She started to approach
cautiously, having seen Twister's leap.
*Oh, boy.*
About three steps away from Twister, Lotion lunged forward with the
quarterstaff, aiming to knock the red-head unconscious. It was avoided by
a swift dodge to the side that blurred Twister with the speed of the move.
The young, Chinese magic-user, who had not neglected her martial
arts skills, started using rapid-fire lunges to try to hit the,
frustratingly hard to hit, target.
Twister was used to speed. Training with Ranma made sure of that
since the practice fights they had made Twister mostly focused on trying
to avoid, and hit, the lightning-quick Ranma. Fortunately, Lotion wasn't
as fast, but dodging her staff took a fair bit of concentration.
Seeing her lack of results, Lotion stopped her attack and moved
in closer, weapon humming as she spun it through the air in practiced
patterns. Her expression showed her controlled fury at whatever she
thought Twister had said.
On the other hand, Twister was _thinking_ furiously.
*Okay, let's think about this. Nothing I said _yesterday_ seemed to
offend anybody _this_ badly...so it must have happened today. Who did I
speak with today....?* Realization hit as she warily watched Lotion's
quarterstaff coming closer. *Masque!! Why that little..!!* Twister spared
a little attention from Lotion to scan the crowd for Masque, and found her.
Smiling widely where everyone else was frowning.
Turning hastily back to Lotion, Twister started talking. "Well,
Lotion," she ducked to avoid the staff, "apparently, I've unknowingly said
_something_," make an attack with a quick leg sweep that Lotion jumped to
avoid, "to offend you. Or _have_ I?" Lotion was starting to look
confused as she continued attacking. Not wanting to fight Lotion because
of some misunderstanding, Twister hadn't really tried to hit Lotion, but
to stop her attacking and get her to listen... Twister took a chance and
managed a kick that hit the staff in the middle and broke it in half.
While Lotion paused in shock, Twister sighed, "Consider who _told_
you this and see _who_ is laughing at this pointless fight."
Lotion was confused for a moment. Then a horrible realization started
coming over her and she turned her head to stare with great shock at the
smiling Masque. The two pieces of her quarterstaff were held loosely in her
hands.
Twister didn't know if Lotion would feel honor-bound to finish
the fight or not, so she swiftly used a roundhouse kick to hit Lotion in
the head just hard enough to dislodge her from the log and into the
hot spring. As the surprised Lotion hit the water, Twister finally
remembered something she had forgotten, due to martial arts conditioning
for finishing fights with Ranma.
Something _very_ important.
*OH, NO!!!! Damn!* With one hand holding the sword, Twister
slapped the other hand to her forehead. *I forgot those rules about
outsiders!* Angrily, she turned to look down at a grinning Masque.
"Having fun over _starting_ this mess?"
"Masque have _great_ fun, Twister! Stupid Lotion actually believe
Masque!" She laughed gleefully as the crowd started to slowly realize what had
happened.
About to continue, Twister was interrupted by a splash and a thump.
Turning to face Lotion, she was surprised when Lotion sadly kissed her on the
cheek. Moving away from the kiss, Lotion looked at Twister silently, but her
eyes showed sorrow and remorse over what had happened and what she had to do.
That brought Twister over the edge.
"That's it!" she cried angrily, startling everyone. Stepping off the
log, Twister dropped into the hot water below the log and was quickly below
the surface. The watchers were wondering what Twister was doing when a larger
and more powerful looking form shot out of the water in a great leap and
landed in front of the now-shocked Masque.
Twister was now a handsome, muscular _male_.
Smiling wryly, Twister said, "Surprise!" and swung the Dragonsword
swiftly down on Masque's head to everyone's horror. Especially Masque's,
before the sword passing through her head and body rendered her unconscious.
He had freed and expanded the sword just before hitting the water.
"_That_ should teach you a lesson for a while." He snorted. "Until you wake
up likely." Twister looked around at the stunned faces of everyone present
and grinned. "I'm going to dry off. Ta!" That said, he teleported into the
guest room he used.
The frozen Lotion, who was still standing on the log, slowly came out
of the shock Twister's change had caused. A thoughtful expression came to being
on her face and stayed there a while as she gazed at the unconscious Masque.
Then another kind of expression went onto her face.
She smiled broadly and her eyes drooped seductively.
Not a good sign for Twister.

*Well, that was incredibly stupid,* Twister sighed mentally as he
dried himself off with TK-controlled air. *Though, thinking back on it, I
don't know how I could have avoided that. I was confused by the challenge
and too angry when I realized that Masque had set us both up. Must be
something going on between her and Lotion, even though Lotion doesn't seem
to be one who initiates this sort of thing.* With an amused, but weary
chuckle, he went to the kitchen to find some water to change back.
*They're used to me the other way.*
Perfume and Miyabi were tiredly going into their own rooms after
completing the preparations for the crystal. They had stayed up all night
and used a fair portion of their strength to do so.
Nevertheless, Perfume reacted swiftly when she saw a strange person
walking in her home. She cast a paralysis spell at the unknown, young
man before Miyabi could say anything and confidently strode forward to
question him. Perfume was shocked beyond belief when the intruder, who
should have been made completely immobile, blinked and smiled at the two
approaching women.
"Finished, Professor? Perfume?"
Before a shocked Perfume could say anything, Miyabi quickly nodded,
"Yes, Twister. We were just going to get some rest for tomorrow." She
cocked an inquiring eyebrow at the male Twister. "Why are you like that?
Did something happen?"
Twister sighed and nodded, "Yup. I think Masque told Lotion that I
said something _bad_ about her and the village for some reason. Lotion
was furious and challenged me. I defeated her." Miyabi just shook her
head. "Well, I was confused and angry! I didn't know _what_ Lotion was so
mad about until I saw Masque, smiling like a maniac when everybody else was
frowning, and put two and two together. This made me _very_ angry when
I saw how sorry Lotion looked when she realized what had been done so I
jumped into the hot water we were fighting above and gave Masque
something to remember me by." Twister shrugged. "Too late now. I'm going
to change back since I came that way." That said, he walked away towards
the kitchen.
Disoriented by the torrent of information, Perfume turned inquiringly
at Miyabi who sighed and started telling her about Twister.

When dinnertime came around, everybody who was going to be involved
in the changing of the crystals was sitting at the table. Perfume and Miyabi
had gotten some rest and looked more alert then when Twister had last seen
them. Masque had changed clothes, since Twister's slice had split her garments
in half, and was sullenly refusing to look anybody in the eye, just
concentrating on her food.
The person who was making Twister nervous was Lotion. Twister
had thought seeing her 'future husband', Twister winced inwardly at that
thought, as a girl would disappoint her. Such was not the case. On the
contrary, Lotion was looking at Twister in a very lazy manner, which
unnerved Twister to no end throughout the meal. The nervousness Twister
showed was noticed by Lotion, making the Chinese apprentice smile
lazily. A reprieve came after everybody finished and Perfume clapped her
hands to gain their attention.
She spoke calmly, "The new crystal had been made ready for the power
we shall give it tomorrow morning. I suggest we all retire early now to be
at our peak for the energization of the new crystal. We must all be careful,
for this time the restraining crystal is very weak and near the breaking
point." Perfume looked around the table at everyone. "_Very_ careful."
That said, she stood up and went to retire for the day.
Twister agreed wholeheartedly with that statement and quickly left
for her own room, Lotion's eyes following her all the way.

Around midnight, something woke a groggy Twister from her sleep, but
she wasn't sure what it was in her sleep-drugged state. Half-opening her
eyes she took a brief look around the room before closing her eyes to
contemplate the scene viewed.
Nothing had been moving and everything had seemed to be in their
proper place. Twister sighed and thought that her mind must be playing
tricks on her. With that settled, Twister let her mind drift back towards
sleep as the sigh beside her corresponded with the arm just under her breasts
tightening around her slightly.
*SAY WHAT?!?!*
That fact woke Twister to full awareness in a hurry as her eyes flew
open and her head turned to view the arm's sleeping owner beside her.
Lotion had slipped under the covers that she was using and was now
closely nestled beside Twister with a contented smile on her face.
In a detached thought, Twister mused, *Hmm. Shampoo did this to Ranma
too, I think. Must be something to do with the customs here.* She blinked her
eyes to gather her thoughts back into something approaching calm to figure
out how to deal with this 'little' problem.
Lotion apparently felt her movements, likely due to the very close
proximity to Twister, and opened her eyes to smile dreamily at the
nervous red-head.
Trying to keep it together and not panic, Twister calmly said,
"Um... What are you doing, Lotion?"
"Rule of village say Lotion and Twister must be married now since
marriage law more important than one of death." This, unfortunately, did
not seem to distress Lotion.
_Trying_ to distress Lotion, Twister replied, "Doesn't it bother you
that I change forms? And that I'm female now?"
"Not bother Lotion. It good since Lotion not have to kill Twister
now."
*I'd make that _try_ to kill and this definitely is not good. Does
it get much worse than this? Nabiki's gonna _KILL_ me,* Twister mentally
groaned inside.
"As for being female, Lotion like _much_ better than male." She
directed a steamy look at Twister.
*Urk!!!!*
The meaning of what Lotion had just said wasn't lost on Twister.
This, combined with all the other distressing thoughts racing through her
mind, managed to temporarily short-circuit her mental processes.
In other words, Twister fainted.
Thinking Twister was tired and had gone back to sleep, Lotion smiled
a little more and snuggled closer to the unconscious Twister.

The next morning found the five enchanters standing on the edges of
the black, circular stone where the evil spirit was imprisoned. Hovering
over the center of the obsidian seal was the old, blackened crystal. It seemed
to be wavering in its place. Perfume told them this was a sign of its
upcoming destruction.
Twister had brought along her Dragonsword to help focus her
power, but she realized that it had never been tried that way yet. Now was
_not_ a time to see if it worked. She was also trying, and failing, to
not think about her trouble with Lotion. Getting up silently and leaving
before Lotion woke up had been a major accomplishment. A nerve wrecking
one as well. Twister had managed to divert her thoughts by cooking
something big for everyone since she had gotten up early, the usual when
she had a large store of energy. The large meal prepared had surprised
everyone, but Perfume had wisely nodded saying that they could use the
extra energy. An unfortunate result was that Lotion seemed even more
happy with Twister when she tasted the food.
Perfume brought Twister's thoughts back to the present as she slowly
walked towards the old crystal. Taking a bag from her belt, she opened it and
took out a wondrous looking crystal. It was sapphire blue in color, but a
very pure form of the shade. Viewing it brought forth memories of clear
blue skies on summer afternoons when a person didn't have a care in the
world. Unusually, the crystal could not be seen through. Even at the
thinnest parts of it.
Perfume carefully held the new crystal above the old one. Holding it
in place for a few seconds, she suddenly released the stone. It hung in
place above the corrupted one as she returned to her original position
in the ring.
Perfume spoke, "Now we shall start filling the crystal with power.
I shall go first, then Miyabi, Masque, Lotion, and then Twister. Continue
to do so until I tell you to stop. We will be finished then. Just imagine a
flow of energy going from you to the blue crystal and the crystal shall do
the rest. To stop, merely stop visualizing. Now we begin."
Raising both hands towards the crystal, Perfume effortlessly started
filling the crystal with power by means of a tan colored beam of energy
connecting her with the crystal. Miyabi was next and with a little effort
managed an orangeish beam to the crystal. Masque and Lotion took longer to
start, but soon candy-apple red and emerald green beams came from them
respectively.
Now it was Twister's turn.
*Here goes.* She took a deep breath and started concentrating as she
raised her hands into position. As soon as the imaginary conduit was created
in her mind, Twister felt a slow, drawing away of energy and she saw a
purple beam was connecting her to the sapphire colored crystal. Absently,
she noticed that her's was the largest beam by a sizable amount with
Perfume and Miyabi close seconds. Lotion's beam was slightly larger than
Masque's which seemed to put the owner of the red beam off a bit.
Meanwhile, the new crystal was starting to spin and glowing from a place
deep inside it.
For half an hour, the five let the crystal drain their mystic energies
so that it could complete the purpose of its creation. Finally, the crystal,
which was a spinning blur by now and shining brightly enough that the watchers
had to turn their heads away, started to slow down and shine less brightly.
"_Stop_!" cried Perfume as her beam quickly vanished. The others
rapidly did the same. Watching the blue crystal, Perfume carefully waited
until the spin stopped and the glow died to a faint luminescence before saying
with a relieved sigh, "It is done. The new crystal is in place where the old
crystal was when _it_ was put in. The evil is contained safely again."
Walking towards the center again, she went on, "Now we must carefully dispose
of the corrupted crystal..."
An uneasy feeling that was familiar gripped Twister.
*What?! What's wrong?* She tried focusing the feeling and noticed it
came from straight ahead...in the direction Perfume was walking in. The
feeling was getting awful strong my the time Perfume reached the center.
Suddenly, realization struck.
"The _crystal_!!" Twister shouted aloud as she instantly started
running to a startled Perfume. Masque and Lotion were puzzled, but Miyabi
understood Twister's sudden panic and she started forwards too. Twister
was by Perfume when blood red cracks started to appear on the corrupted
stone.
By the time Miyabi reached them, the old crystal shattered.
Not in a normal way, however, did the crystal break. Instead of
exploding _outwards_, the shards of crystal were sucked _into_ a spot
of evil red light, glowing malevolently where the heart of the corrupted
crystal had been. The implosion's force was great near the center.
Twister had to hold Perfume and Miyabi tightly to prevent them
from being sucked in and consumed in the light. Masque and Lotion looked on
in helpless horror, while barely staying where they were. If either tried to
move towards the three, they might not be able to stop and thus doom
them all.
The red light pulsed once and, involuntarily, beams of power came
from Perfume, Miyabi, and Twister, to connect with it.
*It's that evil spirit bastard!* Twister thought as she struggled
from the implosion with the two she was holding on. *It's corrupted and
_taken over_ the old crystal. The crystal controlled _space_ and its sucking
everything around it into some kind of portal created by the remaining energy
of the old crystal. Couldn't prevent the new drain with _this_ as a
distraction!* The red light was getting stronger and the blue crystal above
it was very slowly coming down. *No! If _that's_ destroyed...* Feverishly
Twister thought and came up with a desperate idea.
*If _that_ thing can take over the crystal, then so can I! There's
already a link, albeit unwillingly done, so...*
Managing to focus as she held the other two in place, Twister
concentrated on the angry red spot in the center of the effect.
<Our minds are merging.> Gah. Watched too many Star Trek reruns.
<Who are thee to try to stop my freedom!> Demanded an ancient and
angry mind who had primary control over the crystal.
<I'm called Twister. I don't think _you_ are going anywhere.> She
started to battle for control over the energy of the old crystal.
<I think not.> The mind chuckled evilly.
<Damn!> The other mind was too strong for her. In her other form she
could have enhanced her mind to defeat him, but that was not possible now.
<Soon, I shall be free from this cursed prison of rock!>
<Never, evil one.> <_We_ shall see to that.> Called out two new minds.
<Perfume! Miyabi! Ta ta ta da! The calvary!> Twister got new hope.
<We sensed what you were doing and came immediately. After all, you
_are_ holding us in place as well.> Perfume's mental voice chuckled.
<Too true. Let's bag this bone brain.>
Together, the three friendly minds forced the strong, but single
mind slowly away from his control over the energy of the old crystal.
<NOOO! This cannot be!> Realizing that his hold was weakening,
and that it would be gone before freedom would be gained, he howled in
rage. Deciding on what to do, he did the one thing he could. <Very
well then! If _I_ cannot be free, then _you_ three shall not be here to
enjoy your victory!>
Before they could try to stop it, the evil spirit gave a powerful
command to the corrupted crystal's energy with which it was so familiar with.
The implosion effect stopped and the three staggered as the force that was
pulling them in disappeared. The red spot was quickly glowing brighter and
Twister, from an accidental slip the spirit made in its rage, knew what was
about to happen. Knowing she couldn't move quick enough, Twister instead
flung Miyabi and Perfume mightily towards a stunned Masque and Lotion before
the red energy struck.
_Something_ swiftly flowed out of the center of the evil red glow
and enveloped Twister in it's Otherness. The flow was erratic and caused
Twister's mind to become chaotic as well. Memories and past experiences
rushed by painfully and Twister's senses reeled at the onslaught.
She screamed.
Struggling to get her confused mind into some kind of order, Twister
focused on one particular memory that felt stable enough to concentrate on.
With most of the power left in her, she _threw_ that destination at the
glowing red spot with all her might.
The power that Twister had left was formidable, even after the
new and old crystal's draining. The desperate unleashing of Twister's
power released the red spot from the off-guard, evil spirit's control. The
spot's color went from evil blood-red to purple. Unfortunately, the process
that had started was unstoppable now and could only be redirected to the
destination Twister, in her scattered frame of mind, had given it. Also,
the now-purple spot was unstable as well. With a final burst of purple light,
the purple spot and Twister, still encased in Otherness, vanished.
All that was left in the center of the room was the softly glowing
blue crystal.
Miyabi, Perfume, and Masque, were speechless with shock.
Lotion slowly fell to her knees and stared, with tears starting to
form in her eyes, at where Twister had been last.
Now just empty space.

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--------------------------- End 'o story two ------------------------------
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------------------ You want to shoot me now don't you? --------------------
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Well, that's story two. I'm still writing story three, but I have to say
that it's not the Ranma universe. Most of these stories I'll be trying
something different in mind. Whether it's a particular series, adjusting
tone, or just something I haven't done before.

E-mail address is umst...@cc.umanitoba.ca

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