NEKO CAN'T

By: James Lee
Story Idea By: Gregg Sharp

Part 3
Britanny paced around, waiting for her father to come back from Jade with Ranma. She was a little angry that Ranma got to spend so much more time with Mother then she did, but she had come to miss him after he left. For one thing, dispite being much younger than her, he was the only kid that didn't cry and moan over how much stronger and faster she was. In fact he seemed to enjoy the challenge of taking her on.

Finally the door opened and in came her father with her little brother. Britanny noticed that her brother was carrying three boxes."Hi Ranma, what-cha got there?"

"Ah hi Britanny. Mama-san says they're Christmas presents for us to open on Christmas. What ever that is?"

Britanny eyes lit up at the sound of presents. Gina noted at how much Ranma's English had improved. Britanny grabbed on to her father.

"Daddy can we open the presents now, PLEASE?"

"Now Britanny, they're for Christmas, you'll have to wait till then.

Britanny pouted. Ranma then pulled out two envelopes. One had Dr. Diggers on it, the other was addressed to Britanny.

"Mom also said that these are for you."

Dr. Diggers opened the letter, and read.

Dear Theo
I hope this letter finds you and the girls in good health. Ranma was a good student and I expect to see him next summer, soon as school has ended. There is one interesting thing, Ranma can SEE ME! Apparently Ranma has a sort of heighten sense of his surroundings. He can use this as a sort of danger sense, and it works pretty well. Brod used an invisibility spell on Gar during one practice to see how sensitive Ranma was. Although Ranma couldn't see Gar, he could tell when Gar was in the room. From what Brod can tell, this is a natural ability and no magic is involved. As I stated earlier, a offshoot of this is that Ranma can see me even though I look like a ghost to him.

Anyway, I'm already missing you and the girls and can't wait to see you all again next July.

Love you all very much
Julia

As Dr. Diggers read his note and looked at Ranma, Britanny started reading her letter.

My dear Britanny
I miss you and Gina very much and hope to see you again next July. In the meantime however, I need your help. As you may know, I'm training Ranma how to fight. However, I can only train him during the summers. What I need you to do is spar with Ranma on a daily basis so that he can keep up his skills. Also I expect for you to learn from Ranma, so that when we are reunited I'll be able to start training you at a higher level. Remember I'm counting on you.

Love and miss you very much!
Mom

Britanny looked down at the letter, then at Ranma. Her mother had asked for HER help. She was counting on Brit to keep Ranma in shape. *Don't worry Mom. I won't let you down!* Britanny decided right then and there that it was her mission to help make Ranma the best fighter of all time, not better than herself of course.

"Hey Ranma, want to spar?"

Ranma looked up, smiled, and nodded.

*****

Britanny stood across from Ranma breathing heavily. Ranma himself was also gasping for air. They had just spent the last hour sparring and Britanny had been surprised.

Ranma didn't have her speed, nor did he have her strength. But what he lacked there, he made up in skill. Mom had definitely not wasted her time with Ranma. He was probably the first boy to ever keep up with her.

Britanny made a mental promise to make sure she learned all that her mother had taught Ranma. Then she'd really show those bullies at school. Britanny grinned at the thought of being a real super-hero. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Ranma.

"OK Ranma, let's take a break." Ranma smiled and nodded. Going into the house, Ranma and Britanny first went to the kitchen. After all fighting super-heroes had to keep up their strength. They then went to the TV room, where they found Gina watching a movie.

"What are you watching, Gina?"

"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." replied the girl.

*At least it isn't that AWFUL 'Metalstorm' movie.* thought Britanny as she and Ranma sat down. She then noticed Ranma become particularly fascinated with one part of the movie. It was the part in which Indiana Jones was fleeing the castle on a motorcycle, while being chased by the German motorcycle troops. Britanny had seen Ranma become like this one other time, just before he left for Jade. They had been watching the movie 'Mad Max'.

"What are you thinking about, Ranma?"

"I want to have one of those." said Ranma, pointing at the screen.

"A motorcycle? I don't so, Daddy won't go for that." Then Britanny got an idea. "He might get you a bicycle though!"

"Really!?"

"Yeah." Britanny smiled. With a bicycle, Ranma would be able to better keep up with her when she ran slowly.

Gina leaned forward. "You know one of these days I'm going be like Dr. Jones. Going on adventures all around the world finding lost civilizations and treasure."

Ranma turned to Gina. "Really? You think I can come? It sounds like fun!"

Gina laughed. "I don't think so Ranma. You're too little!"

*****
Six years later:
Leveling off the plane, Kevin 'Ace' Koss was at one of the happiest moments of his life. After three years of nonstop rebuilding and modifying, his plane was ready and he was now making his first big run. Before, he had been only able to make small supply runs to odd places in the world. Now with this new larger plane, he could make much larger runs, thus make more money.

*Hmm maybe I'll buy a helicopter to go with this bird.* Ace was also looking into maybe buying an old C-130 he had seen. Although the C-130 didn't have as big a payload as the C-141B he was now flying, it was more versatile. Able to take off and land on short primitive runways, it could fly to more places. Ace then heard a faint sound somewhere behind him. *Oh no, you better not be falling apart on me now.* Placing the plane on autopilot, Ace got out of his seat. He then walked over to the inflatable dummy in the seat next to his and patted it on the shoulder.

"Keep her on course, Otto." Although he had modified the C-141B to be piloted single-handedly, the law still required that he have a copilot for the four engine aircraft. 'Otto' was his way around that law until he found a suitable copilot, preferably a nice shapely stewardess.

As he went further into the back of the plane he could clearly begin to hear a rattle coming from the starboard side. Ace then stopped as he heard something else, movement and some hushed voices. *Aww shit, Jackers!*

Drawing out his M9 pistol, Ace slowly made his way to the source of the voices. Coming up to some crates, he could just make out the shadow of someone behind them. Suddenly, a girl with blond hair and glasses popped up from behind the crates.

"Freeze! Don't Move!" The girl, caught by surprise, yelped and dove behind yet another girl who was...pok-a-dotted?

"Hey! What's the big deal, hiding behind me!?"

"Your the one with the regenerative powers." said the blond.

"Oh yeah, that's me, Cheetah the lycanthrope bullet shield." replied her fur covered companion.

"All right you two, what are you doing on my plane?" Asked Ace as he still aimed his 9mm at the two girls. The girl, Cheetah, looked back to her companion.

"Well sis?"

"What?"

"This was your idea, Gina."

"Umm right. Well Mister...umm Mister?"

"Ace"

"Well Mr. Ace, you see me and my sister are on a treasure hunting expedition. I've found out were there's lots of jewels in Basir, and this is the only plane going there. The only problem is that..ah..that we don't have any money at the moment...and..and"

"So you decided to stowaway." Ace finished for her.

Gina looked down. "Umm...yeah."

Ace looked at the two, trying to decide what to do. If he landed, he'd be wasting time he didn't have and he couldn't just throw them out. He wasn't an evil person and the one that looked like a cat looked like she wouldn't allow it. Besides they were kind of cute.

"all right, I'll let this slide for now. But, you owe me."

"Oh thank you! Don't worry, if we find any treasure, we'll make sure you get a share."

"Uh huh, okay." *God I'm such a sucker.* "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find out what's making all the noise back here."

Ace started walking towards the rattle once more. Gina and Brit followed him, out of curiosity. Coming to a panel on the side of the aircraft, Ace kneeled down and started to open it. "The landing gear?"

"Maybe it's another stowaway." suggested Britanny.

"If it is, then he ain't too smart, there's no instulation in there." said Ace as he removed the panel, he was surprised to find a young boy inside.

"RANMA!" Ace suddenly felt himself being thrown aside, as Britanny reached in and pulled the freezing twelve year old out. Gina rushed over to their packs and pulled out a blanket. Rushing back, she draped it over him.

"Good Gravy! What's he doing here!?"

"W-Wanted to g-go on-on ad-vent-ture." Replied the shivering boy. Gina slapped her forehead as Britanny helped Ranma up.

"Umm Ace? Why don't you show my little brother the cockpit? My sister and I need to talk." Ace, taking the hint, lead Ranma to the front of the plane. After they were gone, Britanny turned to Gina.

"What are we going to do? When Dad finds Ranma gone he is going to flip!"

"I know. OK here's what we do. When we get to Basir, we put Ranma on the next plane back to the states."

"That's good Gina, except for one thing. We don't have any MONEY!"

"Oh yeah. Well we can't call Dad. Not only will he be pissed, he'll make all of us go back."

"Well then I guess we'll have to bring Ranma along.."

"Are you crazy?! What if we run into trouble there. He could get hurt, then we'll really be in for it!"

"Aww come on Sis. Just a moment ago you were going on about how much fun this would be. Besides I'll be there, to take care of him."

Gina sighed. Although she was still upset, she knew Brit wouldn't let anything happen to Ramna. Truth be told, she was pretty sure her brother could take care of himself if need be. After all, he was one of the few people who sparred with Britanny on a regular basis. "All right, I guess it will be kind of fun for him."

*****
Later in Jade:
"Anyway, we got to the bottom of this Stairwell of Genghis Khan and find this treasure chest." Said Ranma as he entered the observatory.

"That's always a plus." Said Julia as she listen to Ranma recount what he did with his sisters. She always ready to hear any news of her children.

"Yeah, there were these gold bars in it too. However, the chest was really some sort of weird treasure chest monster with real sharp teeth."

"Hmm sounds like a mimic."

"Really? Anyway the monster said that the treasure was his, and there was no way we were going to get it. We were about to leave, but then the monster challenged us."

"Oh really, what kind of challenge?" They reached the practice room, and began to stretch.

"It said that if we could grab a gold bar out of it's mouth we could keep it. Cheetah (who was pretty bored with the whole trip) took him up on the offer."

"How did she do?"

"Well with her speed, she was able to grab all the treasure four times. It looked like fun, so I tried it too." Ranma then deadpanned. "Of course the second I tried it Gina started screaming her head off! Saying it was too dangerous."

"She's just being a little cautious, Ranma. She gets that from Daddy. Well seeing that you still have your arm either: she stopped you or you succeeded in not getting bit."

Ranma smiled as he started some practice kata. "I managed to grab three gold bars before the lid came down. The thing is when the lid came down the monster shattered. I guess he was trying too hard. At least that way, we got to keep all the treasure!"

"That's difinitely a bonus. So what happen when you guys got back?"

"Well Dad wasn't as mad at Gina as he was upset at the fact that I was there too. He said it was too dangerous and I could have been hurt. That's when we...."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "That's when you what?"

Ranma looked at Julia sheepishly. "Umm that's when we got into a big fight."

"A fight?"

"Ah yeah. I said that I wanted to go on more adventures. Gina and Dad yelled about how I'd get hurt. Cheetah was on my side, saying that she could take care of me,(1) not that I needed it."

"Well Ranma, it's like I said, they're just worried about you. Daddy was like that when he and I went on adventures."

"You and Dad were treasure hunters too?"

"How do you think Daddy became rich, Ranma." said Julia smiling. "So what happen?"

"We came to a compromise."

"Ohh what kind of compromise."

"If I can maintain a good grade average, then I get to go on Gina and Cheetah's adventures. Is Brod busy these days?"

"Thinking of asking him to tutor you some more?" Ranma nodded. Julia continued. "I'll see if he can work something out. In the meantime there's something I want to give you."

Julia walked over to the other side of room and retrieved a object wrapped in silk. She then handed it to Ranma and watched Ranma's eyes widen as he unwrapped the package and pulled out a sword. They widened even more when he unsheathed the blade. The handle and hand guard were black, but the blade glowed red as if it had just been pulled out of the forge.

"This is Fire Claw. I've decided that you have advanced enough to start using magical weapons."

"ALL RIGHT!" Julia smiled, she'd known he'd like it.

"Now don't tell Daddy I gave you this, he might not understand. It will be kept here on Jade until you're older. Do you understand?" Ranma nodded.

"Good, Now there is someone I'd like you to meet. SHEILA!"

Ranma watched a girl enter the practice room. The girl reminded him of Cheetah in her hybrid form. The girl was covered in fur and had a tail and cat like features. She was different from Cheetah in that there were dark colored rings in her hair instead of spots. She had no eye stripes, although she did have stripes on her cheeks and what appeared to be freckles. The last thing Ranma noticed was how small she was. She was smaller than Cheetah; in fact she was a little smaller than him.

"Ranma, meet Sheila. She's going to be your new sparring partner. She too, has advanced to magical weapons."

The girl sneered at him. "Get ready to get Kapowied!"(2)

(1) Britanny's main reason for doing this, was for the company. As much as she loves her sister, when Gina starts talking about the scientific value of this etc. Britanny gets bored. At least with Ranma there she could start up a good conversation about fighting.
(2) We'll be seeing more of her later in the series. And yes, she does talk like that.

*****
A year later:
Gina looked wide eyed at the man with a mustache. To her right, sat Ranma with a blank look of shock on his face. Britanny stood up from her chair and leaned forward with narrowed eyes. The man gulped when her face came a little to close.

"Now let me get this straight. You brought my brother with a fish!?"

The man gulped again and nodded. The man had arrived an hour ago. When he first appeared, he had grabbed Ranma in a bear hug, and declared that he was Ranma's dad. This however, had apparently been a mistake, as the man was quickly separated from Ranma and smashed into a wall by this snarling catgirl. Only Ranma's quick intervention, stating that the man wasn't really his father, had stopped the girl from punching his head in.

"That, a bowl of rice, and two pickles too." said the man nervously. "It is a matter of honor..."

"LIKE HELL! I've never heard of something so stupid in my entire life." yelled Gina. "You can't expect us to go along with this. My brother is not for sale!"

"Well you have no concern in this. Being that the deal was between me and Ranma's father...." The man stopped as Britanny slammed something on the table. "Umm what's that?"

"It's a twenty dollar bill. Go use it to buy yourself some fish, rice, and pickles. Now leave."

"You think this is just about money!?"

Britanny began to transform. "I sssugesst you taaake it. It'ss all yourrr going to get."

The man gulped as the girl turned into a large cheetah. Just like the ones he had seen in the zoo. That is, if the ones in the zoo were three times bigger and on steroids. Looking at the large amounts of sharp teeth and claws, the man decided to take them up on their offer. After all, it was only a fish.

Gina, watched as the man took the money and left. She then looked at Ranma, who was still sitting with a look of disbelief on his face.

"My father sold me for a fish?" He couldn't believe it. No one would do something like that, would they? Ranma then felt Britanny rubbing up against him.

"Don'r wwwrry Rrrnmaa."

"Yeah, it was probably a joke" said Gina. However as time went on and a few more fiancees showed up(3) It was clear to all, especially Ranma, that Genma Saotome really was an idiot.

(3) Genma continued to sell his son for food and stuff, even after he lost him. Because Ranma has been staying pretty much in one place for the past few years, it was easier for the ones with money to track him down and visit.

*****
Three years later:
"Welcome Ladies and Gentleman to training ground of cursed springs, Jusenkyo." said the guide as the two girls got out of their car and a boy got off his motorcycle. The girl with blond hair and glasses looked at the various pools with bamboo poles sticking in them.

"So this is the legendary Jusenkyo huh?" said Gina, closing the door to the Gina-mobile Mk VI..

"Elder Cologne warned me about this place. I don't think we should get any closer." Said Ranma, placing the kick stand down on his Ranma-cycle Mk II. The Ranma-cycle Mk II was a military Harley Davidson MT500 dirt bike. Unlike Gina who built her Gina-mobiles from scratch, Ranma preferred to buy regular motorcycles and modify them. The few custom made Ranma-cycles he did have, were made by Gina.

"Oh so you did learn something in that village full of woman." said Gina with a smirk. "So what else did you do for three months Hmmm?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sis. How many times do I have to tell you? Mom wanted me to train with Elder Cologne this summer. That's all."

"I don't know Ranma,.." said Britanny, closing her door. "That one with the purple hair sure seemed interested in you."

Ranma sighed. "Shampoo is Cologne's Great-granddaughter. She was my sparring partner, that's all. She's just a friend."

"Ah huh. Sure Ranma. So tell us, how does Mom know that wrinkled old monkey anyway."

"Gina, Cologne could mopped the floor with all three of us if she wanted to."

"Whoa, Ranma admitting that there's someone better than him besides Mom and me!"

Ranma glared at Britanny then continued. "Do you, remember that Mom studied the fighting styles of Earth while she was here?" Both the girls nodded. "Well she was also looking up the history of her people on Earth."

"The History of her people?"

Ranma nodded. "You see, when the Amazons left Europe, they broke up into three groups. One group settled in South America. Another group settled in China and are the ancestors of the ones we just visited. The third group disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle and found themselves in Jade. Mom is a descendent of that group."

"Anyway, Mom never did find out what happened to the ones in South America, but she did find the ones in China. She went to see them, and that's when she met Cologne. They talked about their respective tribes and became friends."

"So technically, because Mom's an Amazon, we're Amazons too?" asked Gina, to which Ranma nodded. "That must be why they let Cheetah here in their contest."

Ranma shook his head. "No, I think they did that because they wanted to try fighting a real live werecheetah."

When Gina and Britanny arrived at the village to pick Ranma up, Britanny had ask if she could be in their annual martial arts tournament. The Amazons agreed and Britanny had done very well until she got to Shampoo. By then, the wounds she had taken, (some of which would have been fatal to a normal human being) and exhaustion had finally caught up with her. Shampoo was easily able to force the worn out werecheetah off the log and went on to win the tournament.

"Well at least we got a meal out of it." said Britanny, still itching from some of the sword and knife cuts. After she had won, Shampoo invited the Diggers to join in the feast that had been the prize. Still, Britanny made a mental promise to herself to be at the next tournament. She wanted to pay some of those girls back. "So What's the story about this place?"

"I don't really know. Elder Cologne said that if the water touches you, you'll be cursed. He should know more about it." said Ranma, pointing at the guide. The guide blinked at hearing this. Someone was actually suggesting they ask the guide first. *These people very strange, no? At least they are better than last tourist.* Gina walked up to the him.

{Excuse me, what happen to the people who fall in the springs?}asked Gina in Chinese.

"Oh Miss, very tragic story. Anyone who fall in Jusenkyo spring take form of last thing that drown there. There are over 100 springs here and something has drowned in almost all of them."

"Oh, so if I fall into a spring where a lab rat drowned then I'll turn into a lab rat."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Jinkys, I guess we better stay back here then." The guide was almost in shock. Someone was actually heeding his warning! The guide smiled and nodded.

"So that's what it does." came a new voice. Gina and the others turned to see a small boy with glasses dressed in a lab coat. With the boy were two others, a ninja and a large bald headed girl in a skin tight suit.

"Pee-Wee!" Gina almost hissed the name. "What are you doing here!?"

"That's Master Talon to you." said the ninja.

"Oh I heard about this place and thought it be a good place to get some DNA samples. I must admit shape changing would be an interesting talent." said Erwin Talon, self-proclaimed master of the double helix. "Now Galford, Zelda, why don't you keep these people 'entertained' while I go about my work."

The ninja and the girl nodded then charged forward. The guide ran into his small hut. He had no desire to get involved in any fight. Gina yelped and dove into the car, physical combat was her sister's and bother's department. She started looking for her Gina blaster, but then remember that it was in the trunk. Ranma pulled out his sword.

"Cheetah, I'll take on the ninja, you handle G I. Jane!" Britanny nodded and charged for the girl. Racing up to her, Britanny punched the girl in the face. *No contest, this girl is nowhere near Ranma's skill!* thought Britanny as she watched the girl plow into the earth. She was surprised however when the girl quickly got back up. *That should have put her in a coma! This is going to be tougher than I thought.*

Meanwhile Ranma was a having a much easier time with the ninja. No matter what Galford threw at him, Ranma was able to block. Galford on the other hand, already had several good size cuts.

"You are very good with a sword. I will take great pleasure in sending you to the next world."

"Ahh my mother could beat you." Which of course was the truth. Pee-Wee began to get nervous. He could see that Ranma was easily handling Galford. *Hmm maybe I should get some of his DNA. *He could also see that Zelda had her hands full with the werecheetah. Erwin was going to have to even up the odds somehow. Fortunately, he had just the thing.

Gina peeked outside just in time to see Pee-Wee throw a grenade between the ninja and Ranma. "RANMA!!"

Both Ranma and Galford sensed the attack. Galford quickly jumped away. Ranma turned to do the same only to find that his fight with the ninja had taken him to the springs. *Shit!* Already committed he made a leap for one of the poles. Jumping up, Ranma landed on one of the poles just as the grenade went off and shredded it.

Erwin saw Ranma land into one of the pools. He could also see blood bubbling up to the surface. Britanny turned from her fight. She heard the explosion and now could only see some smoke. *No.*

"Pity he was probably cut into hamburger meat, I would have like to see what he'd turn int....." Erwin stopped as he suddenly found himself face to face with a bleeding, very wet, and very angry girl. Grabbing him by his shirt, the girl turned around and threw Erwin across the valley and into one of the pools. "Have a nice swim, Brat!!"

"Master Talon!!" Both Galford and Zelda rush into the spring area. Picking up the now transformed Erwin, they decided now was a good time to leave. Erwin could only broil in anger. *I'll get you for this Ranma Diggers!*

The red haired girl watched as the two goons escaped. She saw them pick something up, but couldn't make out what it was. Britanny walked up to the girl.

"Hey, who are you and where's my brother?"

"W-What I'm....I.." The girl then suddenly seemed to noticed. something. Looking down at herself, the girl became pale white. "I..I..I've got breasts!!!"

"Yes, and a rather impressive pair at that. Now where's Ranma? You've got his scent all over yo..." Britanny stopped as Gina jumped in front of her.

"Back off Brit." said Gina as she stepped up to the frighten girl. "R-Ranma?"

"S-Sis, w-what's happen to me?!" said the now shaking girl

"Hold on Ranma, we'll find out." said Gina. She then turned to their sister. "That grenade blew Ranma into one of those cursed springs."

Britanny's eyes widen as realized what had happen to her brother. They then narrowed. "Well I know just who to talk to!"

Britanny stalked up to the guide's hut. The guide yelped as his door exploded into splinters. Britanny then marched in and picked the guide off his feet. In a deadly calm voice she said, "Tell me there's a cure for this place."

"Y-Yes Ma'am. Hot water will reverse the curse, but only until they are hit with cold water again...."

"Is there a spring of drowned boy?"

"Umm yes Ma'am. But if curse person jump in another cursed spring, then spring...spring...curse person have parts of both springs."

Britanny turned slightly green at the idea of having Ranma mutate into some sort of hermaphrodite. Grabbing a kettle she started heating up some water. After the water was warm, Britanny went out to where Ranma and Gina were.

"This is only temporary, until you get hit by cold water again." said Britanny as she poured the water onto Ranma. She could see her brother relax more as he realized he was a boy again. Britanny looked back at the guide. "Are there any other cures?"

"Not that I know of."

Gina placed her hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Don't worry Ranma. Maybe dad will know what to do."

Ranma, still partly in shock from his transformation, could only nod his head.

*****

Dr. Diggers looked at the hopeful face of his adopted son. He didn't know how Ranma was going to take this. He knew his son was hoping he would have the cure. But he didn't know of anything he could do. Dr. Diggers remembered the last time he had felt this helpless. Back then two small girls were hugging on to him, asking where their mother was.

"Ranma, I'm sorry. The magic of Jusenkyo is very strong and there is a no known cure. But, I promise you I will work to find a cure." *Yeah like you found a cure for Julia.* thought the mage bitterly.

Ranma quietly got up and walked to the door. "I'm going out."

"Umm...Ranma?" Gina ventured as she moved to stop him. Before she could however, Britanny stopped her.

"Let him be Gina, he needs to cool down some."

"But what if he trys..."

"He won't! I know Ranma, he isn't going to do anything stupid." Britanny hoped she was right. She felt however, that her brother needed some time alone. If he didn't come home in three hours however, she would go looking for him.

*****

Ranma walked down the street, trying to figure out what had become of his life. He now a girl when he got wet, A GIRL! *It could be worse..* That's what Gina had kept saying, all the way back to the States. Ranma knew she was just trying to reassure him and he also knew she was right.

Before they left, the guide had told them of a boy who had fell into spring of drowned pig. The guide hadn't known until he tried to cook the poor sap.

Still he was a guy and he wasn't sure how to deal with being a girl half the time. He was born a guy and back in his mind he still had the memory of needing to be manly. He couldn't remembered why, but it seemed very important back then. He just hoped that his father could find a cure.

"Come on Sweaty, pay up" Ranma stopped, that had come from a nearby alley. Sneaking upto the corner, Ranma peeked around. He could see a dark skinned girl surrounded by three larger boys. Ranma recognized the girl as one of the girls from his school. He didn't know her name, but oddly she reminded him of someone.

"I-I don't have any mone.." the girl was suddenly slapped down by one of the boys. Ranma sneered, this was just he needed to blow off some steam. Charging around the corner, Ranma attacked.

3.56 minutes later Ranma looked down at the unconscious punks. Seeing the gun that one of them had tried to used, Ranma realized just how foolish his attack had been. *Jeez, I could have gotten myself or that girl killed!* Turning to the girl, he helped her up.

"Are you all right...Umm?"

"Monique." said the girl looking at Ranma with her blue eyes. "Ah Thank you..."

It was then that god decided that there should be rain in Atlanta. The girl looked wide eyed as Ranma became female.

"I'm Ranma Diggers, sorry about this."

*****
Meanwhile, back in Japan:
"Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can't help feel that something has happened." said the women in a kimono. "I've had this feeling for a long time now. He keeps sending me letters saying Ranma is fine and that his training is going well, but there're never any details."

"Don't worry Nodoka-chan." said Reika Nogami, private detective. She was glad that her friend was finally waking up and smelling the coffee. She had never liked Genma and felt that Nodoka had been separated from her son for far too long. "If your son is alive, I'll find him."

"Thank you, Reika."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

To be continued

Next:
-Ranma goes on his first date, but why is Gina so up in arms about it?