Finished: 2002-12-28

Standard disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fan fiction except
for the idea behind it and even that is mostly blatantly stolen from a
multitude of sources. And if you don't like that, then SUE ME! Uhm, why
are you all staring at me like that? No, it was a joke! Really! No,
don't take my computer, no, not my videogames, no, not my cat!!!
NOOOOOOOO!!!! *Sounds of a man being stripped of everything he own can
be heard. * (Does anyone know that sound effect BTW?)

Timelines: Everything in the canon Ranma ˝ has happened in this fan
fiction with the exception of the Saffron incident. Only the Ranma ˝
reference in this fan fiction will use a modified timeline. Any other
references will really just use the characters without any complex plots
and/or situations.

Age rating: If you can understand all the crap I'm spouting then you are
definitely old enough to read this fan fiction.

"Japanese"
*Thoughts*

Kenneth Lönnberg aka Macross_VF1 proudly presents:

Balance of Chaos

Chapter 4: Neither Bad nor Good

Part 2

*** - - - - ***

Nabiki's next day started with a heavy reminder of the previous one. The
front of her right shoulder ached. Badly.

Of course, considering what she had been forced to do, that was nothing
strange. Ranma 'taught' her how to use her newly acquired gun. The word
'taught' was not the one Nabiki was currently thinking of though. No,
she was considering words like abuse and torture instead.

She winced as she sat up in her bed. She tenderly massaged the bruised
flesh on her shoulder with her left hand. Ranma made it quite clear that
he would not tolerate a partner that could not handle a gun. Hence the
entire last day was spent shooting at a wide variety of targets, taking
the gun apart and putting it together, learning tactics and fire
discipline. Sure the gun's recoil was light but having the stock firmly
pressed to your shoulder for over three hours almost continuously firing
the entire time, would tax almost anyone outside the military.

She took in the surroundings of her new apartment a moment before
deciding to get up. Yes, _her_ apartment. As soon as the ETSPP employed
her, she decided that she just had to move out from the dojo. It didn't
take her long to find something, although it was way too expensive yet
too small for her taste. Still, considering her pay, she would not face
any problems with the rent. Besides, she figured this was only a
temporary solution before she found something better.

Despite that, she couldn't help feeling a great deal of satisfaction
that this was something that she owned. Sure, she did have a fair number
of possessions, but for the most part she had to use all money she
earned to make sure the dojo stayed in the black. It was not often she
could find enough money to indulge herself. Of course that was when she
still lived at the dojo.
Just as she was getting up she heard someone knocking on the door. *Who
could that be?* She absently thought as donned a robe, preparing to open
the door.

***

As Ranma knocked on the door to Nabiki's apartment, he couldn't help
thinking back on the previous day. He had been quite hard on the girl,
yet it was necessary. The reason he worked alone was simple; since he
was the most capable agent the bureau had, he quite obviously got the
most dangerous missions. If or rather when a mission turned violent, any
partners of his would just get caught in the crossfire. Still, orders
where orders, and while he would admit it to no one, if he necessarily
were to have a partner he could not think of many better than Nabiki.
Their skills complemented each other quite well.

Now that was a thought. When he was still Saotome he had a hard time
understanding just what motivated the 'Ice Queen'. Of course, back then
he couldn't figure out any women and, on occasion, still couldn't
despite all his 2000 years of experience. *Women. Man's greatest
mystery. * He thought with a small smile. Anyway, now he could much
easier relate to the girl and just what she had to go through to keep
her family and, more specifically, the dojo, afloat economically.

Just as he finished that thought, the door opened. "Morning." He greeted
Nabiki. It was clear from her posture that she had barley woken up.

First her eyes widened briefly but soon turned back to their previous
half-opened state. "M'ning" She grunted.

"Damn! If I didn't know better I'd think I just saw a zombie or
something." He said with a smirk.

"Stow it." Nabiki grumbled.

"What's the matter? Never heard of the early bird?"

Nabiki rubbed her eyes. "Birds sit in the trees and sing. I on the other
hand likes to sleep."

"Nah, can't do that. Have ta' check out your new apartment. Besides you
could probably use some of this." With that he flicked his right hand
and a small bottle left it in high speed.

Nabiki was a bit startled at the sudden appearance of an object heading
right at her, yet she deftly caught it. She turned the small bottle in
her hands and looked it over. It was small and brown with no label. "And
this is?" She asked in suspicion.

"Just something for your shoulder."

Still somewhat suspicions, she turned of the lid and took a sniff of the
white cream in the bottle.

She wished she hadn't.

The stench was unbearable. It was like someone had taken a metric ton of
fish, stored it in a cellar a few months, added a few road kills, and
then let a skunk douse it. She quickly put the lid back on and handed
the jar back to Ranma.

"No thanks, I think I can manage." She said, wrinkling her nose in
disgust.

Ranma blinked in surprise. "Huh, I never figured you would be one of
those."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "One of what? A person that doesn't want to
smear the most disgusting smelling stuff I've ever encountered on my
body?" She asked in irritation.

"No, nothing like that." Ranma hastily defended. "It's just that this
stuff works wonder. The only drawback is that it smells a little bad.
However a very small percentage, with the right genetic makeup, thinks
it smells like rotten fish, dead animals and skunks put together. Or so
I'm told."

"Oh." Nabiki blinked. "Well I'm not touching it." She continued with a
shrug. She turned and walked back into the apartment. "Are you just
going to stand there and ogle my back the entire day or are you going to
come in?" She asked over her shoulder.

"Why I never thought you would invite me!" Ranma replied in an overly
cheerful tone as he stepped into the small apartment and closed the
door.

"What brings you here at this time?" Nabiki asked.

"I told you." Ranma answered seriously. "I wanted to take a look at your
apartment." He took a look around. "And from the look of things, you
need more stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, I know already. It's not like I've had time to do it
though. I have barely moved in you know." She said in slight irritation.
It was too early for Ranma to be judging her.

"Don't worry about it." Ranma said, probably sensing her irritation.
"You should see my place. A bed, fridge, micro oven, computer, couch and
table all surrounded by white."

"Let me guess. You live in a subspace pocket, right?"

"What can I say? It's handy to always have your apartment with you."

"I'm soon beginning to think that you get your jollies from everything
related to subspace." Nabiki smirked.

"Oh, no! You found out my deepest secret! Well, one of them at least."
Ranma mock wailed. "Anyway, since we are on the subject subspace
pockets..." He paused and dug up an object from his pocket. It was a
small box square shaped box. It looked very much like those used to
hold... Nabiki's eyes widened in realization just as Ranma knelt before
her and opened the small box.

Nabiki was for once speechless. She just stood there gaping at the
simple platinum ring with an emerald attached to it. Her brain was in
turmoil from this sudden turn of events. Sure, she liked this Ranma
better than the old one but marry him? It took her almost a minute
before she found any words.

"I-I don't know what to say..." She began before noticing Ranma's face.
His grin stretched from ear to ear and his eyes had that strange glint
that Nabiki had just begun to recognize as something to avoid. Ranma
took the ring from the box and placed it on her ring finger.

"There." He declared happily. "That's your personal subspace remote.
Just use it as I showed you with the other's yesterday."

Nabiki was about to slap him in the face, but she stopped herself just
short of connecting. Ranma was not really at fault here. Sure what he
did suggested a marriage proposal but it was her imagination that made
it 'true'. Still, she was pretty miffed about his joke at her expense
and some type of punishment was necessary. Remembering his apparent
irritation from Chief's punishment, she redirected her hand and smacked
the back of his head. Hard.

"Hope you're happy, because I'm not!" She huffed.

"Oh don't worry about me." Ranma managed between snickers. "That look on
your face was priceless."

Nabiki could easily relate to that. She remembered when she had played
that cruel joke on Ranma, telling him that she loved him. The look on
his face was more than priceless. Of course, this was probably Ranma's
payback for just that and she couldn't help smiling a bit at his
ingenuity. The old Ranma could never have pulled something like this
off.

She turned and went straight for the bathroom. "Now that you've had your
fun, why don't you make yourself useful? I'm gonna take a shower and
when I'm finished I want some kind of breakfast. If you make it good I
might even consider letting this slide." She half-threatened, half-
commanded just before she entered. She could see Ranma shrugging before
going to the kitchen. Closing the door and she allowed herself a sigh of
relief. Her hand was aching a bit from smacking his head. "Damn, what is
he made of?" She absently muttered before turning her thoughts to more
important matters. Like taking a shower.

***

Ranma proved to be a very able cook. Sure the breakfast he prepared was
western style with scrambled eggs, bacon, coffee and toasted bread, but
Nabiki was not one to complain. Though she did wonder a bit just where
he did find those particular ingredients in her apartment...

Just as she finished the breakfast she spoke up. "So, what new tortures
are you going to subject me today?"

"Actually we've got an assignment." Ranma said and Nabiki perked up
visibly. "Don't get your hopes up just yet though. No offence but I'm
still trying to find a way to go alone."

Nabiki scowled. "And just why is my presence unwanted? Am I not good
enough." She crossed her arms.

Ranma snorted. " Frankly yes. This assignment is 'my type' so to speak.
If something goes wrong I'm just about the only one able to handle it
and if that were to happen, the only reminder of you would be a big red
splotch on the ground."

Nabiki's scowl lessened but she was still somewhat irritated. "Ok, so I
can understand your reasoning. Just what is this assignment?"

"Diplomacy." Ranma stated with a frown. Nabiki only raised a questioning
eyebrow. "Someone in the command decided it would a great idea to give
you some experience in the field by including you in this mission. 'Her
primary skills are perfect for this mission.' They said. And I have to
admit, you are a better negotiator than me."

"The great Ranma admitting that someone is better than him in
something?" Nabiki asked sarcastically.

"There's always someone better. It's just the matter of finding them."
Ranma said seriously.

That was not the answer Nabiki was expecting. Not from Ranma anyway.
"I'm beginning to think that 2000 years alive has been beneficial for
you."

Ranma grimaced slightly. "Yeah, well I would have preferred a more
'normal' life. In any case, those idiots never bothered calculating the
risks involved for a normal human in this mission. Let's just say it's
more or less suicide for you to come with me."

"Just what makes this mission so dangerous?"

"I cannot really give you any details here. I do not detect any
surveillance equipment but you can never be too sure." Ranma said
looking around as if trying to find something out of the ordinary.

Nabiki was somewhat unnerved by Ranma's continuous scanning of her
apartment, since his eyes changed colour to a deep blue as he did it.
"I'll just have to wait and find out as we go then? Not the best plan if
I may voice my opinion. Especially since this is a sensitive diplomacy
mission. Besides, I hate to be in the dark and you know it."

Ranma stopped his scanning and turned to Nabiki. "True. That is a _very_
bad plan. However..." He got a slightly ponderous look. "...I may have a
solution."

"Which is?" Nabiki asked hesitantly.

"Well I was planning to visit the Nekohanten after I visited you and
after that, come pick you up just before the assignment started. I
figure three weeks is more than enough for Cologne to make the decision
between alliance and oblivion." He gave Nabiki a small grin. "However,
if you want to, you can come with me right now and before going to the
Nekohanten, we'll make a stop in one of my subspace pockets for a full
briefing."

"Works for me." Nabiki said with a shrug.

"Great!" Ranma exclaimed, grabbing her arm and running to a portal.

*I should have known he would do that...* Nabiki thought just as she
entered the portal, flailing like a sail behind Ranma.

***

Nerima - the marital arts capital of the world. As such it had seen more
than it's fair share of strange things. The blue, swirling portal that
opened just in front of the Nekohanten was therefore nothing that the
general crowd took notice of.

"...and remember to switch to 'Lucky'-rounds if anything happens." Ranma
spoke over his shoulder as he left the portal.

"Yeah, yeah. I know already!" Came the irritated voice of Nabiki as she
stepped out of the portal as well. "Maybe I should bring some charms
while I'm at it." She said sarcastically.

"Nah, not potent enough." Ranma replied absently. "Here we are. Truly
'tis establishment is a pinnacle of the Chinese food culture."

"Getting in touch with your 'Kuno' side?" Nabiki asked with a smirk.

"Well, what do you expect? We are in Nerima after all." Ranma pointed
out with a smirk of his own.

Both of them entered the Nekohanten and took a look around. There were
very few customers present although that would soon change since the
clock neared lunchtime. "Ey, Cologne!" Ranma called into the kitchen.

"Yes, just a moment." Cologne's voice answered. A minute later she
walked out from the kitchen area. "So what can I do for you today, Son-
in-law?" She asked with a smile.

"Well for starters you could stop with the Son-in-law, comments." Ranma
answered with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Say, where is
Shampoo?"

Cologne took a deep sigh. "I do not know her current whereabouts. She
went out early this morning just like every other morning for the past
two weeks. Mousse is out trailing her but has not had any success. Of
course that's not strange considering his disability."

"I gather she is depressed?" Ranma asked concerned.

Cologne raised an eyebrow. "Very. Why do you care anyway?"

Ranma snorted and crossed his arms. "Just because I'm a cold bastard,
doesn't mean I don't care. I've had my fair share of depressions so I
know what she is going through."

Cologne sighed again. "That's good to hear. I gather you are here for my
answer?"

"Yes, I figure you've had enough time to make the decision."

"Very well, I accept the offer and I will sign any papers and record any
statements you want to make it official." She said, taking a glance at
Nabiki.

Neither Ranma nor Nabiki missed the glance. "Actually, I'm not here for
that." Nabiki said.

"Oh?" Cologne raised both eyebrows. "Just why are you here then?" Her
eyes widened suddenly as she spotted the ring on Nabiki's finger.
"So..." She began, narrowing her eyes dangerously at the both of them.
"...is that what I think it is?" She said pointing at Nabiki's hand.

Ranma followed Cologne's gaze and instantly burst out laughing. It took
a second more for Nabiki to make the connection but she too found the
situation funny. "Stop that." She lightly punched Ranma in his shoulder
while trying to contain her own snickers. Of course Ranma just laughed
harder. "You're impossible!" Nabiki said in mock exasperation, before
turning to Cologne. "This ring..." She held up her hand so Cologne could
get a better look. "...is actually a technological device."

Cologne's dangerous look lessened somewhat. "Really? Forgive me, but
somehow I don't really trust you on that." She said suspiciously.

"She's telling you the truth." Ranma spoke up while drying his tears.
"Basically, that ring does the same thing as Mousse with his hidden
weapons. As for what was so funny, well let's just say it's a private
joke." He finished with a small smile directed at Nabiki.

Cologne's suspicion had now turned into a healthy curiosity. "Hidden
weapons through technology? How about showing me?"

Ranma glanced briefly at Nabiki silently trying to tell her that this
was a perfect opportunity to practice using the ring. She quickly got
the hint and used the ring to call her newly acquired gun. Seemingly
from nowhere, the firearm appeared in her hands.

"How interesting." Cologne murmured. "I'm sorry for jumping conclusions.
I should have known better, especially since it's you I'm dealing with."
Cologne said sincerely bowing slightly in apology.

"Heh, that's one of the stories of my life." Ranma answered cryptically.
"Don't worry though. We all make mistakes, especially the younger
generation." He grinned.

 "Now that's something I could get used to. Far better than being
referred to as 'old ghoul'." Cologne chuckled. She quickly sobered and
turned more serious. "Anyway, I accept your offer to form an alliance
between you and the Joketsuzoku Amazons and therefore release you from
the kiss of marriage." She gave him a sad smile. "I never could have
guessed that it would turn out like this. I would have loved to truly
call you son-in-law and see your children, but unfortunately that is a
lost dream now. You truly are as wild and chaotic as both your names
say."

Ranma scratched the back of his head. "You know, I've never thought of
that before. Heh, Naomi would have found that hilarious."

"Naomi?" Both Nabiki and Cologne queried.

"That's the story of how I got the name Wildman. Maybe I'll tell you
sometime." Ranma replied absently. He held forth his right hand to
Cologne. "So we got a deal?" He asked.

"Deal." Cologne answered and took his offered hand, shaking it firmly.

"Good." Ranma said with a sincere smile. "To tell you the truth, I could
never have brought myself to wipe out your village in cold blood. You
remind me to much of the Eldar for that."

"I suspected as much, but I didn't dare to call your bluff." Cologne
said, with the same sad smile as earlier. "Who or what are the Eldar
though?" She asked hesitantly.

"The Eldar is another long story." Ranma replied as he took notice of
her apparent sadness. "Tell you what, if you want to, you can still call
me son-in-law."

Cologne's eyes widened in surprise. "You would let this old woman have
that pleasure?" Ranma only nodded in answer, a smile adorning his lips.
Cologne's eyes misted over and a single tear made its way down her
cheek. "Heh, look at me. I must be getting soft." She wiped the tear
away.

Nabiki couldn't help smiling a little at the scene. Ranma may have
changed greatly, to the point of almost being another person, but he
still retained some of his trademark features. His infuriating smirk was
one of those things and his strange yet often overwhelming caring of
other people was another one.

At that moment, the bells at the door jingled a bit, signifying a new
person entering the restaurant. This person happened to be Shampoo,
almost dragging herself through the entrance. The normally bubbly and
cheerful girl was strangely subdued. Her entire posture screamed
depression and her eyes seemed to have lost almost all life. "Shampoo is
back, great-grandmother." She announced without any of her usual
enthusiasm, and she did not even bother to look around.

Cologne could only feel a great deal of sadness for the young girl.
Shampoo had to snap out of her depression, otherwise she might end up
hurting her body and mind irreparably. *Hmm, well he did say I could
call him that...* Cologne grinned as a plan took form in her mind.
"Welcome back Shampoo." She began. "Guess what, son-in-law is here now."

Shampoo's eyes lit up and she quickly scanned the room after her wayward
Airen. Finding her target standing in her 10-meter glomp range, she
instantly performed an Amazon Glomp (tm). "Airen come back for Shampoo!"
She almost screamed in happiness.

Both Nabiki and Cologne couldn't help chuckling a bit at the sight of
Ranma, inter-dimensional bad ass, getting squeezed to near death by a
girl.

"Ranma change his mind after all, yes?" Shampoo asked, hanging by his
neck.

Ranma gazed down in Shampoo's eyes noticing how full of life they once
more were. *And here we go again...* He thought sadly. *Another life
deeply affected by my presence and therefore hurt...* He extricated
himself from Shampoo's death grip, set her down on the floor and took a
deep breath before he spoke up. "Listen Shampoo..." He began, staring
straight into her eyes. "...I have not changed my mind. I am only here
to conclude my business with Cologne. "

"But, but..." Shampoo stuttered. Ranma put one of his fingers on her
lips tenderly, effectively silencing her.

"No buts, Shampoo." Ranma said in a commanding yet soft voice. "What you
forget is that I am not the Ranma you know. I am an altogether different
person, Ranma Wildman to be exact."

"But you Shampoo's airen! Law say so!" Shampoo tried desperately.

"True, but that law does not affect me anymore. Cologne has accepted the
offer of an alliance between me and the Joketsuzoku amazons, hence
nullifying your claim on me."

Shampoo looked like she was going to break down and bawl her eyes out
but instead, her face suddenly hardened and her entire body spoke of
determination. "Oh." She forced out. "That too, too bad. But let Shampoo
make Ranma delicious ramen before he go?" She said in her usual bubbly
voice and before Ranma could respond she ran off to the kitchen.

Ranma looked at Cologne and raised a questioning eyebrow. Cologne on the
other hand only shrugged, waiting expectantly to see just what the girl
was planning to do.

In a matter of minutes, Shampoo emerged from the kitchen, each hand
holding one steaming bowl of ramen. "Here, two bowls of too, too
delicious..." Ranma cut her of as he snatched both bowls from her hands.


"Wow! One bowl of ramen-potion for me, and one bowl of ramen-poison for
Nabiki? You shouldn't have!" Ranma exclaimed happily and deposited one
of the bowls in Nabiki's hands.

Nabiki was slightly taken aback from Ranma's words. Poison in her food?
She looked up at Ranma's grinning face and noticed that mischievous
glint in his eyes that she just had begun learning to recognize and
avoid. However, seeing that glint right now was strangely reassuring
though and she decided to play along in Ranma's plan.

"Actually," She began. "I think I want the potion instead."

"Oh?" Ranma asked in mock surprise. "Well who am I to stop you. Let's
switch."

By now Shampoo had recovered from her surprise, and rushed forward,
intercepting Ranma's arm. "No!" She yelled. "Ramen only..." Again Ranma
cut her of.

"Dang! Sorry Nabiki but Shampoo apparently wants me to have potion."

Nabiki shrugged, feigning indifference. "Works for me."

Shampoo growled and snatched the bowl from Nabiki's hands. This time she
didn't even have time to begin talking. "Oh I'm sorry." Ranma exclaimed.
"I didn't realize you wanted the poison for yourself."

"NO!" Shampoo screamed, shoving the bowl she held into Ranma's hands.
"Is no poison in either bowl. Only love-potion..." Her eyes widened and
she put her hands to her mouth as if trying to stop the words that
slipped out of her. Realizing that her plan had failed miserably, she
turned and began running to the kitchen.

Ranma however, deftly intercepted her and grabbed one of her arms. She
instantly whirled around, and tried to slap him. Ranma only grabbed her
other arm and pulled her in close to his body, effectively immobilizing
her. Shampoo violently thrashed in his grip but to no avail. After a
minute she calmed down and began crying. "W-why?" She managed to get out
between her sobs. "Why, d-don't you want to be Shampoo's airen?"

Ranma released his grip on her and held her at arms length while looking
deep into her eyes. "Because, as I said earlier, I am not your Ranma. I
have lived over 2000 years, seen horrors you couldn't even dream of in
your own nightmares, killed an immeasurable number of people,
experienced tragedies beyond what's comprehendible. I don't know how I
managed to get through it all but I do know that I am forever changed.
Hell, I even consider myself insane sometimes."

Shampoo opened her mouth to speak but Ranma continued before she could
say anything. "You'll probably say something about that it doesn't
matter to you, that you don't care about the risk inherent to being
around me. However you should care. If I am insane, then it isn't that
farfetched that I potentially could lash out in anger against those who
are around me. I know that I have done it before. Just whom do you think
will be caught in the crossfire of my anger? You? Your family? Your
entire tribe? Gambling with your own life is one thing but hundreds of
other's as well? No, I don't think so. And I certainly do not think
Cologne will approve of that either."

 "No, I will certainly not!" Cologne spoke up. "Child, I know it is hard
but you have to let Ranma go." She finished in a softer voice.

A few more tears ran down Shampoo's cheeks, yet Ranma dried all of them
away as fast as they appeared. "Find another man Shampoo. I know there
are still many out there strong enough to be worthy of you. Hell, I
might be able to find one for you. However, if I ever hear that you
think Mousse is worthy, I'll come right back and beat your sorry butt so
hard that you'll not be able to marry anyone other than Ryoga in his
cursed form." He mock threatened.

That managed to crack a smile from Shampoo. "No worry Ranma. Neither
Mousse nor pig-boy ever be Shampoo's airen." She answered, her voice
somewhat happier than before.

"Good girl. I'm honoured to know you and be your friend and if it is of
any consolation, I will probably visit your tribe quite frequently from
now on." He leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "For now
though, it is good bye."

Ranma released her and quickly exited the restaurant before Shampoo
could think of anything more to do. He motioned for Nabiki to follow and
soon they were both a block away from the Nekohanten.

"So..." Nabiki began as they walked. "...how does it feel to finally be
free of the kiss of marriage?"

Ranma stopped and sighed. "Not much different actually. I mean it's not
like I would have gone through with it anyway and the amazons couldn't
have done a thing about it."

"Well, that's true... By the way, I think that was the first time I ever
seen you treat Cologne with respect. I also liked your bluff with
Shampoo. Nice touch really." Nabiki said

Ranma looked at Nabiki as if she had grown another head. "What are you
talking about? Not showing Cologne respect? And besides, who said I was
bluffing?"

That got Nabiki a bit nervous. Was he joking or was he serious? "You
know, that's not very reassuring." She said, still not sure if Ranma was
trying to pull her leg.

"It wasn't supposed to be." Ranma replied as he opened a portal. Without
another word he stepped right in.

"What was that all about?" Nabiki asked herself as she followed Ranma.

***

Setsuna had a headache. After her little 'possessed' episode earlier she
had searched for Ranma with the time gates almost 24 hours straight. He
had proved to be almost impossible to get a glimpse off, and she was
almost beginning to suspect that he somehow knew how to disrupt the
scrying power of the time gates. It was either that or he being an icon
for chaos incarnate, but Setsuna was certain that the later option was
not the case. Or so she told herself.

Just as she was about to give up she finally managed to get a glimpse of
his presence. Desperately holding on to that vision she struggled to get
more information, yet she was not able to get anything worthwhile. With
one final 'pull' she managed to get the time gate to do what she wanted.
She almost wished it hadn't.

***

Both Ranma and Nabiki stepped out of another portal, this time in a dark
alley. The reason for this was quite obvious; they weren't in Nerima any
longer so they couldn't count on everyone to just overlook or ignore a
phenomenon such as a blue swirling portal opening up in the middle of
the street.

"So, where are we heading?" Nabiki asked, trying to break the awkward
silence between them.

Ranma only grunted and inclined his head to the right. He swiftly
started walking in said direction and Nabiki had trouble keeping his
brisk pace. After a couple of blocks he abruptly stopped just outside of
a Café making Nabiki collide in his back.

"This is it." He said while looking around. He checked his chronometer.
"Guess we're half an hour early."

"What do we do until then, just stand here and watch all who pass by?"
Nabiki suggested sarcastically, while rubbing her nose after her little
close contact with Ranma's back.

Ranma turned to her and smirked slightly. "As enticing as that sounds, I
think it would be better to take a 'coffee break'." He said, jerking a
thumb in the direction of the Café.

"If you're paying, sure." Nabiki shrugged.

Ranma barked a short laugh. "Heh! You know you're quite predictable
sometimes."

Nabiki shrugged again. "What can I say? Old habits die hard."

"True, it's the same old, same old." Ranma said, trying to look and
sound old and wise, and failing miserably.

Nabiki couldn't help laughing at his stupid yet incredibly comical
expression. Inwardly she was glad that he was back to his normal
behaviour. Him being all quiet and morose, quite frankly scared her.
"C'mon you 'old timer'. Let's see if that sweet tooth of yours still
works. Of course that's assuming you still got teeth. "

"You ungrateful little whelp! I'll have you know that when I was your
age I had to get up from bed one hour before I went to sleep." Ranma
continued, his face still scrunched up in a parody of old age.

"Suuure grandpa." Nabiki laughed. "Whatever you say."

Ranma dropped the expression and joined Nabiki in her laughter. However
his face suddenly hardened and he turned to the right, looking almost
straight down the street.

Nabiki couldn't help noticing his sudden change. "What's wrong?" She
asked in curiosity.

Ranma didn't even grunt in answer and Nabiki's curiosity changed into
concern. Suddenly a shimmer could be seen on Ranma's forehead and the
metal plate she had seen earlier, when he wore his armour, faded into
existence.

Ranma just stood there in silence for a minute not giving of even the
slightest sound. Then he broke the silence with a small "Hmm."

"What's wrong?" Nabiki tried again.

This time Ranma decided to acknowledge her. "I don't know exactly. I
just detected a couple of signatures that I haven't sensed before. Which
is strange, since this area was one of the first I scanned."

"Well, doesn't that just mean you missed them then?" Nabiki suggested
helpfully.

"Probably, but not very likely since they should have popped up in a
later scan..." Ranma answered absently. "I guess there's only one
choice. I have to check it out personally." He said with a shrug.

Nabiki sighed. She had actually looked forward to sitting down with an
ice cream. "Ok, let's go then."

"Nah, you don't need to come with me for this one. It's just a simple
scan after all."

Nabiki blinked. "Say, are you trying to leave me behind?"

Ranma turned and smiled at her. "Actually yes, but that's only because
you can't perform the actual scan." He pointed at the metal plate
attached to his forehead. "You need one of these first."

"You don't got any spares?" Nabiki asked.

"I do, but I don't think you want to perform the necessary operation to
get it working." With that, two round columns rose from the right and
left edge of the plate as if they were unscrewing themselves. Ranma took
the plate in his left hand and used the right to brush away his hair.
The sight that presented itself made Nabiki slightly nauseous.

In his temples there were two round markings, one on each side. You
didn't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the columns that
unscrewed themselves from the metal plate were actually attached to
Ranma's flesh.

"Put that back on!" Nabiki quickly demanded.

Ranma obliged without protest and soon the plate was once more attached
to his forehead. Of course his trademark smirk never left his face
during the entire 'demonstration'. "Gruesome, isn't it?" He asked,
amusement obvious in his voice.

"Very!" Nabiki responded forcefully. "How the hell did you get that?
Another thing from the crossing?"

"Sort of. The round markings you saw on my temples are actually two of
the brain implants I have. While researching about the implants I
discovered that the two in front works as sensors. I later decided to
capitalize on that ability, therefore creating a sensor package
compatible with the implants."

"Doesn't it hurt when it... well 'screws' itself into place."

"Oh yeah, a lot in fact. That's why I normally never take it off."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "You never take it off? How come it's not
visible then? I mean I thought it was some kind of subspace pocket
gimmick."

Ranma let out a short laugh. "You know, you make it sound like I use
subspace pockets for everything. As for why it's not visible, well I use
a combination of bending light and holographic projectors to conceal
it."

"Great, more technological mumbo-jumbo." Nabiki shook her head. "And you
do use subspace for everything you do."

Ranma only shrugged. "What can I say? It's handy. Anyway, I'll go check
these new signatures out and you stay here and meet the contact if she's
early. By the way, her name is Mara if you're wondering." With that
Ranma leaped onto the nearest roof and started roof hopping, Nerima-
style, towards the direction he had looked in earlier.

"Oh, well." Nabiki said to herself. "Guess I have to wait here for a
while. Time for an ice cream. Too bad I have to pay for it myself."

*** - - - - ***

Ranma and Nabiki are on their first assignment, and Ranma has finished
tying up all loose ends concerning the amazons. But what's this about a
diplomacy mission? And with Mara as a contact? Also let's not forget the
unknown energy signatures. Just who or what are they? Find out in the
next chapter, which also is the conclusion of chapter 4.

BTW I'm sorry for not updating the last week as I had promised but
Christmas got in the way. Of course the old NES I got my hands on also
had something to do with it... gotta love nostalgia!

If you wish to contact me then do so at:
kenneth@gon.nu or kenneth.lonnberg@bodenonline.com

My works will be available at:
My own page, The MegaRoad - http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/macvf1fanfic
My fanfiction.net account -
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=301246

And when they get around to update/accept my fics, these sites will also
feature my fics:
Lady Cosmo's Fanfic Library - http://ladycosmos.anifics.com/
Ranchan & co. Crossing bridges - http://tannim.anifics.com/