Chapter 3



     "OK, Akane. What's going on? What happened to you?"  Akane  let
     her head roll on the pillow until  she
faced her irate fiance.

     "What  do  you mean Ranma? Nothing's going  on.   I
just fell down."

     Ranma  made  a  sound of disgusted  disbelief  that
sounded  remarkably like a fruit bat choking on a  peach pit.
Interestingly this same sound  had  been  used  by generations  of
Saotome men to also convey  joy,  anger, sorrow,  propose marriage,
ask/give directions  and  ask for seconds at breakfast.

     "Why  don't you believe me?" Akane whispered  in  a
pitiful  voice that would have wrung tears from a  stone devil.

     "It's not going to work Akane."  "What isn't?" she snuffled.
     "The  'pitiful me' stuff. I saw you last  night  after  I
brought you home."

     "Saw?"  "In the kitchen, eating the ham."  "I was hungry."
     "The whole ham."  "Really, really hungry."  "You ate the bones
     , two spoons and a fork."  ". . . . ."  Ranma dropped to his
     knees beside Akane's bed.  "Look Akane, I want to help. But
     you've got to tell me what's going on. How did you get hurt?"

     "I fell, I tell you."  "Sure,  from the top of Tokyo Tower! I
     SAW  you  in that  alley.  You looked like something a buzzard
  puked up."

     "Ewwww!"  "Yeah,  and  by  the time I got you home  you  only
looked  like you'd gone skinny dipping in a gravel  pit.
Now. . ." Ranma waved a hand over Akane's reclining  form, "you just
look like hell."
     "Why  you  pervert! Are you making fun of  my. . .  "
Ranma  put  a  gentle finger against Akane's  lips.  She froze,  a
frisson of. . .  something.  Hot  and cold flashes shot through
her body  like summer  lightning.  Ranma  too seemed mesmerized
by. . . something. Slowly, as if Mt. Fuji were tied to his hand,
Ranma moved his finger from her lips.
     "Shut  up,"  he whispered hoarsely. A  shudder  ran
through  his body.
     "Just shut up." Fiercely. "Don't  lie
to  me.  You  might  fool the others but  I KNOW."  His fingers
clenched on the bed spread. "I know  you're  in trouble. Bad
trouble. Let me help. Please."
     The whispered plea was more than she could endure.  "I. . . I
     want to tell you but I can't."  "Can't? Or won't? You don't
     trust me do you?" Akane
wanted to cry at his devastated look. Her hand shot  out and snatched
his sleeve as he rose to leave.
     "NO! No, that's not it. Never that. I. . .  you. . .  "
Akane  floundered as unnamed, very new  emotions  warred with  commands
that had been old before neanderthal-man learned to chip flint.
     "You're my best friend."  Ranma looked like he'd been hit by
     a train.  "I trust you more than anyone I know."  A second train
     roared over him.  "You're an insensitive, arrogant jerk. . ."
     Ranma whimpered a bit as the train backed over him.  "But you're
     the bravest, most honorable, handsomest
man. . . "
     It  really wasn't fair slamming a bus into him,  he
thought groggily but still hanging in gamely.
     "And   I  love  you  so  much  it  makes  me   sick
sometimes."
     THUNK.  "But  I promise I'll tell you everything as soon. . .
Ranma? Ranma! Get up! What's wrong?"



**************************************************

     "Tsukinosan?"  "Yes, what may I do for you?"  "I  am Tendou
     Akane. I'm here to see your daughter.
About a project."
     "Oh.  School. Well Usagi's in her room.  Come  with
me, I'll show you the way."
     It  had  been  remarkably easy,  Akane  thought  to
herself.  Accessing the census data base, cross indexing with
school  records and running a filter to  eliminate all  but  her
current  target  had  been  the  work  of seconds. . .  literally.
The hard part  had  been  losing Ranma. 'The hentai baka,' she thought
wryly. He might be a  pretty  fair  martial artist  (OK,  a  great
martial artist,  her conscious prodded her) but he was no  match for
Imperial technology. She had fold-space generators, contra-gravity
lift capability, stealth  shields.  What did  he  have?  She laughed,
picturing him  leaping  and bounding  from roof to roof. She could see
him, dripping with  sweat.  His  almost transparent clothes  plastered
against  his  body like a second skin,  outlining  every delicious. . .
     "Aaaaak."  What  was she thinking? The  strain  was
getting  to her. It would be over soon. She concentrated on  following
Tsukinosan up the  stairs  as  readiness reports from  her implants.
purred  in  the  back  of  her  mind
     ##Accumulators at 87%. Primary weapon  at  standby.
Graser  at  100%  charge,  on line.  Projectile  weapon, magazines
topped off.  Weapons Off Safe, ready to fire.##
     Boy  would Ranma be surprised if he knew  what  she do  now. She pictured them sparing in  the  dojo, Ranma  dancing
away as usual. Only now, SHE was  faster, stronger. She could see the
surprise on his face as  she captured  him, held him helpless. How
he would  struggle to  get  away.  Even then he'd never  admit  that
she'd beaten  him. That BAKA! Well she'd just sit on him  till he
admitted defeat. No, that wouldn't work,  he'd  hurt himself trying to
get away. Well, she'd just have to tie him  up.  But he was clever, he
might have  a  knife  or something.  Then she'd  have to search him.
Thoroughly.  But  how to make him admit defeat. To surrender to  her.
She  couldn't hurt him. She could never hurt Ranma. Then it  came
to her. She would dress him in girls  clothes.  She'd  dress him
in girl clothes and not let him  change until  he  admitted she
beaten him. She would  transform him.  Peel his cold, wet boy clothes
off. She's have  to pat  him  dry so he wouldn't catch cold. Then she
would dress  him  in soft, frilly, feminine garments.  How  he would
hate that. She could see the petite red-headed form now,  arms  and
legs helplessly bound, water  glistening where it had gathered in the
sweet hollow between Ranma- chan's   breasts. Blue eyes looking up at
her  pleading.  How  she would beg. . .  Akane, Akane. . . Akanesan.
Akanesan. . .  Akanesan? Ranma would never call her. . .  Oops!
     "Akanesan! Are you all right. You look flushed. Do
you have a fever?"
     "Uh, I'm just a little thirsty."  "Oh, I'll bring some tea then."
     They  reached  the  top of the landing  and  turned
toward Usagi's room.

     ##Sensors  detect  no  hostiles  within  engagement
range.  No active senshi emissions detected. Dwelling,## a  schematic
of the Tsukino home popped into  existence, ##contains two targets.##
A blue moving icon and a  pink stationary one appeared.
     **The  Princess!** The identification was  followed
by a sharp hard hunger.
     ##No  weapons signatures found.  Dwelling  composed
of  formed  organic products, silicates and  zero  class metals.##
     'Wood, glass and nails,' Akane thought.  The  voice
continued.
     ##No  passive  defense, no armor, no alarm  systems
detected.##
     'Soft  target,'  Akane thought.  The  princess  was
completely undefended.  Rage boiled within her, hot  and sick.
     **Soft target.** Came the agreement..

     Usagi was bored.  She'd been ordered to stay in her
room.  ORDERED!  What good was being a princess  if  you always  had
to do what other people said to do? But  the other  senshi, inner and
outer had insisted.   Rei  wold have been here but Pluto wanted her to
do a fire reading in   conjunction  with  Mercury's  computer  search
and whatever it was that Pluto did. Rei had wanted Usagi  to stay  at
the  temple, but Pluto and  Mercury  had  been afraid their search
efforts might attract the enemy.  So she  was  exiled to her room with
strict orders  not  to stir   out,   keep  her  communicator   open
and   her transformation broach handy. She was so bored she'd even
finished her homework. She'd read all her manga, twice.  She  was
just wondering if a third reading might  reveal some hidden message
in the manga when. . .
     "Come  in!" She wondered who could be at the  door?
The  senshi  wouldn't knock, Luna would come in  through the  window
and Mamo-chan  was still in America.  Who. . .  ?  Her  mother opened
the door. Behind her. . .  at  first Usagi  though  it  was Ami. This
superficial  resemblance vanished  when  the girl moved forward.
Ami  had  never moved  with  such  ponderous grace, and  barely
leashed power.  The room crackled with energy and Usagi wondered how
her mother couln't sense it.
     "Who. . . " "I'm here to talk about the moon project," the girl
interrupted before Usagi could speak.
     Usagi froze as the stranger impaled her with a hard
gaze.
     "Oh,  astronomy." Usagi's mother was delighted. "How
exciting. I'll  go  make  some snacks  for the two of you." The door
closed behind  her leaving Usagi alone with the strange girl. Usagi
backed   away,  nervously   clutching   her transformation  brooch. She
wasn't afraid  exactly.  She was  just  being. . . cautious. Perhaps
she should transform now. But if it was a mistake. . .  what if it
WAS a project she'd forgotten.
     "Heh" Usagi cleared her throat nervously. "Ummmm . . .
I'm sorry but I've forgotten your name."  The girl  continued forward,
like a force of  nature.  Usagi noted  her  heavy, athletic build,
the calluses  on  her hands, the empty eyes.
     "I,  uh,  I  really don't remember a moon  project.
Could you tell me about it?"
     Usagi was almost out of room and completely out  of
nerve.  This  silent, grim stalker was  unlike  anything
she'd  ever faced. Her mouth was so dry she could hardly talk.
Quickly  she  tried to think up  a  good  speech.  'Silent,  frowny
faced people take the. . .' No,  no  that was  no  good. Maybe
something like. . . 'Scaring the  pee pee  out  of innocent school
girls. . .' Usagi's back  hit the wall.
     "Eeep!"  The  silent  girl shot a fist toward Usagi's  face.
There  was  a  shimmering twisting tear in  space,  like crumpling  a
sheet of paper. An evil beaked  war-hammer topped with a spike appeared
in the fist. Usagi just had time  to  recognize the weapon before it
was whipped  up and  down in a short savage motion. The girl dropped
to one  knee  as the head of her massive weapon thudded  at Usagi's
feet,  but her head was unbowed  and  her  eyes never left Usagi's.
     **Sharn ta. Xlaintse, ta ras Neeph. Ra Shach Ran.** "Huh!"

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