-*- mode: text; fill-column: 79; -*-

#	include <stddisclaimer2.h>
				GENOM Presents
			 A St. Suika Roberts not-film
	  Based on the works of Takahashi Rumiko and Hirano Toshiro

		       *	I will protect this world.	*

	I wake sweating, the dream already fading, only the faint hint of
spikey blonde hair and a sense of calm remaining.  Damn, I hate sleeping as a
girl, it gives me the weirdest dreams.

	So, what to do?  I head to the bath to try and wash off the
water-resist soap again, as it is completely annoying me already.  If it's this
bad after just two days how will it be after a week?   I really hate this
stuff.

	The bath, as expected, does no good, and won't for at least a few more
days.  I take my hair down and wash it anyway, as the soap is somewhat sticky
on hair, and may come off if I'm lucky.

	Well, I may not be actually any cleaner, but at least my hair doesn't
feel like it's full of dried grease anymore.   I contemplate the seal in my
teeth, the length of dragon's whisker that kept my hair from growing out of
control, and wonder what I should do with it: I don't need it anymore, even
when I am a guy, but I've become accustomed to it.  I shake the last of the
water from my hair, the water-resist soap still effective enough that it is dry
instantly.  I gather my hair up in a tail just high enough to stay off my neck;
annoyed that the style is considered femme, but too bothered by the late-summer
heat to care much; and tie it up, still impressed by how flexible the dragon's
whisker is after all this time.  

	I look outside as I walk towards the kitchen, hoping against hope that
I've not taken too long with my bath, and thus have time to fix breakfast
before Akane wakes; she's gotten a lot better, but still tends to maul whatever
she cooks, and Kasumi is off helping Nabiki move to the dorms.

	I've at least enough sense not to try anything too fancy, and so have
everything laid out when the other two come down the stairs.

	`Ranma,' even now I can feel anger building in her voice.

	`We have a test today, so I couldn't let you poison yourself this
morning.'  She actually smiles at that.  I'm quite pleased, just recently
having realized that when I don't phrase my interpretation of her actions as an
attack she is a lot less defensive; despite her words she likes to be protected
occasionally, even from her own cooking.

	Oyaji glares at me; he doesn't like me being girly, and his definition
is quite broad.  I glare back; I told him yesterday he could eat my cooking and
like it, cook his own, or suffer from Akane's cooking.  If he keeps his yap
shut I may be able to avoid Akane cooking anything until Kasumi and her father
come back.

	I smile at Akane, and she laughs, almost giggles.  kimochiii.

	There is actually enough time to walk today, rather than run, and the
old woman misses 'cause I'm already a girl, even though I don't dodge; I do
wonder sometimes if she does it on purpose.  I'll get around to asking
eventually.

	At school I notice someone strange, look again to see nobody there, and
almost pass it off as not worth the trouble.  `Akane, I've something I need to
check on, see you in class?'

	She nods, and I leap up into the tree after the pink and black clad
woman.

	`Kimi dare?' 

	She takes no offense at my rough words, `I'm called Iczer One.  You're
Saotome Ranma, right?'

	There is nothing else for it, so I nod, `Yep.  What were you doing in
my dreams last night?'

	`The link is forming.  You have classes to attend, so I will see you
this afternoon.'  She vanishes with a single great leap, although I can tell
she is still nearby.  I rush to class, making it just barely in time.

	The quick, silent way Akane eats her lunch warms me somehow, as does
her curt `thanks.'

	The test is during the day's last class, and, being algebra, is fairly
boring.  So the bouncing something outside the window isn't all that
surprising, although I don't think I've eaten anything that would make such
things easier to come up with.  When the rest of the class disappears and the
girl in front of me turns into a monster I know something's up, though, and
firmly pinch the ball of my left thumb with my right hand in the hopes that
that would make it go away.  It doesn't, and I gasp when I realize that I've
put my fingernails into my palm.

	`Saotome-kun?' I look up at the teacher, `Are you OK?'

	`Yeah, sorry 'bout this.'  She looks at my left hand, but doesn't say
anything as I press it to my pant leg and continue the test.  The bleeding's
stopped by the time I finish the test, so I take it to the teacher, who sends
me off to the roof to wait for the end of school.  

	I don't understand why they don't just send me home on those rare
occasions that I get done early, but there isn't anything to be done about it.
There are a few other people on the roof, but I don't recognize them.  Leaning
over the rail I wait impatiently for the final bell, glad to be almost free for
the day, and careful to keep my attention on the principal's office.

	The feel of the girls behind me changes, and I turn to look.  They have
turned to look at me, and they are no longer human, but rather strange metal
faced monsters, crescent shapes where their eyes should have been.  They
advance on me, making a weird chittering noise, the eyeball they each have in
place of a mouth wobbling almost randomly.

	At this point I decide the better part of valor should be followed, and
lob myself backwards off the roof; I don't have anything against fighting
monsters, even monsters who are female, but I prefer to do so in a somewhat
more controlled environment, one that I'm sure isn't a hallucination.

	The woman from this morning is waiting at the gate, still clad in that
rather ridiculous pink and black jumpsuit.  Somehow sure I can trust the
answers I get from her, I stalk into her personal space, `What is going on
here?!  I have a girl in my class turn into some sort of slime covered monster,
then find out she didn't, and just now I have several girls do almost the same
thing and attempt to attack me.  Tell me, please.'  I choke off the rest of
what I want to say, astounded at myself, appalled to hear myself so openly
begging.  Despite this I am impressed at her self control, for she has not
moved, hasn't acknowledged my closeness.

	`The Cthulu are attacking this world, and I need your help to stop
them.'  This is almost enough to convince me she's as crazy as Oyaji, but this
isn't the first time I've had such ridiculous statements made to my face.  She
continues, `The first waves are already attacking, the Bedem infiltrating,
killing anyone unlucky enough to get infected.  We do not have much time before
they win.  You must help me, Ranma.'

	`And why is that?'

	`Because the bond is formed, and no one else can.'  She says this so
calmly, still looking down at me from mere centimeters away.  I blink at her,
and the truth fills my heart with anger.

	`You have bound yourself to me so that only I can help you save the
world?'  My anger scares me, and her nod inflames it like kerosene on a
cookfire.

	I turn and run, again, blindly this time.  After a time I stop; sag
against a fence about some uninteresting construction site.  Just when I think
I would have myself under control the fence vanishes, and I fall through it
into a strange place like an arena in a video game.  My opponents appear
quickly, a strange trio.

	I look them over quickly, sizing up these Bedem? was the word?  There
is a slimy green tentacled thing in a school uniform; another of the triclops,
no, they've only got one eye, again in a school uniform; and a greyish slime
monster, which almost seems like it has wings.

	I crack my knuckles, a habit I first cultivated because it makes other
martial artists cringe, and wait for them.  They oblige, attacking one at a
time, and I can feel the truth of her words, the complete alienness of their
ki, the blankness of it, like a new coin.

	The triclops drops quickly, her faceplate shattered, sparks flying.  I
ponder the strange blankness, the utter lack of individuality to all of them.
Even a new car has more of a presence.  The slimy thing fights better, but
seems to be primarily designed to fight things that can't fight back.  I rip
another tentacle off, and ponder once again how a car can have ki, and why old
VWs seem to have more ki than other ones.  Dodging, I think about the few cars
that I've actually ``met,'' again looking for some correlation between their ki
and anything.  It finally makes a terminal mistake, and I rip it's head open,
spattering it's brains gorily about.  I almost lose my lunch, but manage to
keep my gorge down as I turn to face the last one.  She is suddenly there.

	`Want me to take care of this one?'  Her voice is warm and
uncomfortably safe against my skin.

	`As you wish.'  She flashes me a grin and slashes the grey thing in
half.  It flares brightly and disintegrates (which, some weird portion of my
mind points up, is different from differentiating).  She turns to look at me,
smiling, the beam saber or whatever gone from her hand.

	`Where is this?'  I take a couple steps towards her, and she puts one
hand on my shoulder; I almost lean my head over to caress it, but stop,
appalled with myself.

	`A subspace, just about anyone can create one, and the only ways out
are the creator of it letting one out and incapacitating the creator.' she rubs
my shoulders with her fingers softly, and I realize we faded back into the real
world while my attention was occupied.

	After a long moment she continues, `Your friends will be worried.'  My
reluctance worries me as I slip out from under her hand; I make the leap to a
nearby rooftop blind, watching her.  She quickly follows, keeping pace easily.

	Something I can't place crawls up and down my back before settling in a
sodden lump in my gut; the unpleasant feeling makes me speed up more, and I'm
pleased that she keeps pace.

	`What's the,' gasp, `rush?'

	`Something bad just happened.'  She slows, her hand on my shoulder,
then we are stumbling to a stop in front of the Tendou house.  I lead her in
quickly, the sodden lump getting bigger and heavier with every step; it's
already making me queasy.

	`Oyaji?  Akane?'  They finally come out to the genkan; I've got my
shoes off and she is just standing there; I'm not sure why.

	`Ranma?'  I smile at Akane, wondering about the two slimy-thing
presences I feel, why they seem to be growing.  She puts her hand on my
shoulder, and I've covered it with my own before I have a chance to think about
it.  Akane starts to look angry, but her anger doesn't have the same intense
burst of ki to accompany it, and I think that is when I have the first pangs of
realization.

	Oyaji looks sick, and that's when it hit me full-force.  I whirl, bury
my face against her chest.

	`Can't you do anything?'

	`Maybe.'  She disengages me gently and her sword appears in her hand
again, stepping towards Akane. `I've got the sword set so this won't hurt you.'

	Akane stares like a caught rabbit, frozen to her spot, and she plunges
the sword into Akane's chest;  Akane stands for a long moment, transfixed, then
the sword vanishes and she collapses into her arms.  Neither of the
slimy-things are around anymore; it's only now that I realize Oyaji's fled.
The sodden lump has shrunk quite a bit, and I help her carry Akane up to her
room.  I lead her to the kitchen, start dinner, once again glad that Kasumi
left me in charge of the cooking.

	The last remnants of the lump suddenly disappear.  The knife clatters
softly against the board as the meaning flashes through me.  I didn't think it
would hit me this hard; I've wanted to kill the old goat often enough myself;
but it does.  She presses against my back, both of us slowly sinking to the
floor, her arms wrapped around me.

	`Who was he?'

	`My father; my primary caretaker for most of my life.'  She hugs me a
little harder, and I cup her right hand with my left.  The safe feeling isn't
as scary now, now that I know she can sustain it, now that I have seen the
worst, and she came for me in it.  I rub my head back against her shoulder, my
eyes still closed.

 	`Could you tell me about those two?  Properly, flashbacks don't count.'

 	`Utchan and Kodachi?'  Iczer-one nods against my back,

 	`Well, for the last couple years both of them were chasing me.  About
 nine months or so ago they got in a fight, beat each other up pretty good, then
 started arguing because they were too tired to beat on each other anymore.
 Kodachi told Utchan that she was just chasing me because I was the first person
 to ever be honestly nice to her.  Utchan didn't like the implication, and
 returned it, saying Kodachi was only after me because I rescued her from
 falling off the  roof of Tendouke after wonking her on the head with a tea
 kettle.  Before Kodachi could protest this, Utchan . . .

 *-*

 	`I managed to get myself over to where Kodachi was sitting, and from
 there I continued, ``I think what you really need is someone a little more
 forceful,'' and I grabbed her about the shoulders and pulled her tight against
 me, despite the pain in my forming bruises, ``determined,'' and I kissed her,
 ``and just as obstinate as you are.''  She then wrapped her arms about me, and
 kissed me on the lips, her mouth open, her tongue in my mouth, and I started to
 respond.  My grip loosened, and she ripped herself free and fled; I thought
 that was the end of it.  This morning at six someone rang my doorbell; I
 dragged myself down and found that on the doorstep, along with a note saying
 she'd like to continue the discussion over dinner.  Ran-chan, what am I going
 to do?'

 *-*

 	`I'd been staring at the white rose in it's vase ever since I'd walked
 in the door, wondering where she'd gotten it.  I told her to go to dinner with
 her, at least partly because Kodachi was a lot less strange with an audience
 then, and partly because I hoped that something would come of it, and either
 they'd stop fighting over me, or at least Kodachi would find someone else to
 obsess over.  I felt kinda low for thinking like that, but Kodachi just made me
 feel very weird.

 	`Utchan told me later that dinner was a lot of fun, and that they were
 going to a movie that Saturday; I was shocked by the spike of jealousy that ran
 through me, and stomped it hard.  After about three months the jealousy had
 finally let go of me, and they were together almost constantly.  At the
 beginning of this term Kodachi transfered to Huurinkan, and the are accepted as
 the school's cutest couple, even if that is partly because they pound anyone
 who doesn't agree with them flat.'

	I pull my head back to look up at her, `Iczer-one?'

	`Yes.'  She blinks at me, `What is a flashback?'

	`A vivid remembering of something that's happened.  But that hasn't
happened yet.'  I shiver suddenly, clutching her to me.

	`Or it was happening right now.'

	`What do you mean?'

	`Talking about it now would do no good.'  A sudden heavy darkness
descends into the room.

	`Ranma!  What are you doing!?'

	I close my eyes, force calm upon my shaking nerves.  `Attempting to
save the world from monsters like the one that almost killed you, that got
Oyaji.  You could help by not being so angry; it's making my head hurt.'  She
blinks at me.

	`Making your head hurt?  How?'

	`Remember those ki-reading techniques I picked up a couple months ago?'

	She blushes, `Yes.  Sorry.  Why is she holding you?'  The despair has
faded, leaving only a shimmery anger.

	`Because she grabbed me after Oyaji bought it, and I haven't asked her
to let go.  But I need to finish dinner if we are going to eat.'  She leans
back against the table and Iczer-one lets me go, and I quickly finish chopping.

	The simple nabemono that I start cooks quickly, and Akane helps serve
dinner.  This dish, as always, reminds me of almost unrememberable happier
times, and helps sooth my shredded nerves.  We all eat quickly, Iczer-one at
first clumsy with the chopsticks, but quickly improving.

	After we finish, and wash the dishes, I turn to the other two.
`Chocolate Double Suicide cake?'  Akane nods slowly, and Iczer-one looks at me
a bit funny.

	I explain, `One of the pastry places near Utchan's restaurant makes
it, and it is _Very_ good.  You'll probably like it, if you don't think it's
too sweet.  I wanna check on Utchan-tachi anyway.'  Iczer-one nods and waves
towards the door.

	I take the lead, the other two flanking me, I note with something
resembling amusement, like enforcers in a gangster movie.

	We get most of the way to Utchan, then things go a tiny bit weird for a
moment, dropping us all into a new subspace.  The sky is black, without stars,
and I fall back towards Iczer-one.  Akane follows my lead, sidestepping a
couple times.  After a moment I feel it.  The creature seems to be wearing
armor, and has a much better developed ki.  I focus myself, feel over its ki,
wonder at the strangeness of it.

	I take two steps back, brace myself, gather my ki.  A moment later I
take a deep breath, center myself once more,  and attack, not calling the mouko
takabisha.  The armored creature staggers backward, eyes wide, its breastplate
cracked from the force of the attack.

	Iczer-one follows my attack with her own, and the thing sprouts a
number of red tenticles, which wave in the air for a moment before disolving.

	`What was that?'

	`A boid.'  Iczer-one answers, wrapping one arm about my shoulders, `and
that went a lot easier than it would have if you hadn't been here.'

	`Thanks.'  We drop back into normal space, still on the street in front
of Utchan.  I wave us towards the little pastry shop.

	Entering we find the place almost deserted, and I lead us all to my
favorite table, glad to note that no one around seems to be possessed by one of
the bedem.

	Akane eats with her usual abandon, and I eat my pastry slowly, savoring
the somewhat expensive treat.  Iczer-one lifts a small bite, about the size of
mine, I notice with a little bit of amusement, then smiles broadly at the
taste.

	`This is wonderful.  No wonder you born-people like eating so much.'
She reaches out to stroke my cheek, somehow conveying her gratitude.

	Kodachi answers the door at Utchan, a smile on her face.  `Ranchan!
Akane-chan!  How nice of you to come by!'  She waves us in, then turns to look
at Iczer-one, `And who is your friend?'

	`Kuno Kodachi-chan, this is Iczer-one.  She's here to help fight an
alien invasion.'

	`Oh dear,' Kodachi turns towards the back of the building, `Utchan!
You'd better get out here!'

	`Coming!'

*

	`Obaba!'  I gasp the word, then finish my okonomiyaki, `I'll be back in
a little bit, thanks for the food, bye!' and I bound out the window, only
taking the time to open it the rest of the way first.  

-

	`Hibaa-chan?'  The Nekohanten feels strange, muffled, and it worries
me.  I take another step, and then I can feel her aura, and relax.

	`Ranma.  Worried about me?'  I nod; rather sure I am about to be
regaled with a tale of the last time she fought an extraterrestrial invasion.
She exceeds my expectations.

	`First time you fight a demon invasion, isn't it? My first time was
long ago, back before the opium wars . . . '  She told me about a dozen other
invasions over the last hundred and seventy years or so, and forced me to
practice masking my aura, then showed me how to mask an area.  I finally
managed, after a long time, to acomplish something she called passable, and
better than her first try.

	`With such a persistent teacher, how could it not be?'

	`You make me proud, child.  Go, I'll keep these things away, and
exorcize anyone who comes close enough.'  I nod at her, and it popped up
again.

	`They,' my voice quavers embarrassingly, `got Oyaji.'  Fingers that can
bend sixty-five kilo steel rail cup my face, and I'm suddenly collapsed on the
floor, the old woman's hands comforting against my hair.

	`I'm sorry.  I know you will avenge him, and all the others killed in
this.'  She helps me to my feet.  `Eris watch you, child.'

	I laugh, for it is a very cautious blessing, much like my answer,
`Luck.'

	`Why aren't you out here helping?' the question just pops out, and I
wish I could squash it back in again.

	`Because you younglings have it under control, and I have things here
that they must not get.  Don't disappoint me child.'  I nod, warmed as always
by her trust.

	I barely get the door closed before Iczer-one shows up.  `Where were
you?  I looked for you everywhere, but I couldn't find you!'  The concern in
her voice is touching.

	`Safe.  One of my friends made me practice something she thinks is
important. See?'  I mask my aura down as tight as I can, and she winces.

	`Even with the link I can barely feel you.'  The strain in her voice
makes me let up on the mask, and she gasps.  `Thanks.'

	I plaster myself to her waist and start towards home, her hand a
pleasant warmth on my shoulder.


	I wave back at Akane, glad that she will be safe, and follow Iczer-one
out towards the Ginza.  She quickly breaks into a run, then stops, turns, and
catches me in her arms.  Instantly we are standing on a street I don't
immediately recognize, surrounded by screaming dozens.  They quickly thin to
nothing, and I turn to look at the oncoming behemoth.  `And we will fight
that.'  The prospect is daunting.

	`Yes.  Watch.'  Behind her a great column of light forms, and out of
this steps another giant robot, about as silly-looking as the first.  I hop up
onto one of it's feet, then leap up and grab a hand.  Iczer-one follows, hovers
midair beside me.

	`So how does one get into this thing?'  She smiles at my question, and
does a neat flip and half-twist through the faceplate of the machine.

	`Your place is in the chest.'  I look at the thing, with it's three
bulges, two of which are almost suggestive, and leap trustingly.  My faith is
rewarded and I don't bounce off and fall painfully to the ground, but pass
through.  Next thing I know I'm naked, wired up like someone in a hospital
movie, completely immersed in some blood-warm liquid, and I can feel a ki-drain
of some sort flowing out to the rest of the robot.

	`So, who is our opponent?' my words come out garbled, but she
understands me somehow.

	`I don't know, but she's going to die.'  The flat tone of her voice
scares me.  I draw my ki back, settle it in a little lump in my belly, and
reverse the flow; the robot comes to a shuddering halt.

	`Why.  Does she have a family?  A lover?  What would they do if you
kill her?'  Anger flashes through the robot.

	`You can see her!  You can feel her amusement at the death and
destruction she is causing!  Why are you defending her?'

	`I'm not.  Killing her won't bring back any of the dead; it will just
piss off her friends.'  The anger subsides a little, `Besides, if we capture
her instead of killing her, we may be able to figure out why they are here.'

	`I already know that.  They want to take over the world.'

	`Why?'  I release the ki-flow, and the robot starts to move again,
taking rapid, running steps.

	`Because they have no home, and not the sense to ask if they might
share another's.'  We reach the other robot; I'm not sure how I know with the
steel plate in front of me, but I do.  Our robot grabs the other by one arm and
throws it into a building, trapping it, and the right hand pulls back, starting
forward at full force.  The clearness of purpose to it almost keeps me from
noticing, and I lock down almost too late; the punch shatters the other robot's
faceplate.  I rip myself out of the robot and pull the twisted metal pinning
the pilot loose heedless of my unclothed condition and the heavy fluid still in
my lungs.  The other pilot isn't too badly hurt; a couple broken ribs, a broken
right arm, a rather nasty-looking gash in her left leg, but no cerebrospinal
damage.  I gather her carefully into my arms and leap backwards, slamming
painfully into the armorplate of what I've already come to consider my cockpit.

	Iczer-one catches me before fall very far at all, cradling the girl
between us.  `Let me help you.'  At this point I notice the liquid still in my
lungs, but she quickly has me inside the chest cockpit again, the other pilot
still clutched protectively to my chest.

	`Why did you do that?  If I hadn't noticed you would have killed her.'

	`Habit I guess.  I've been fighting this fight, searching for someone
strong enough to be my partner for longer than you have been alive.  They
always attack, and I always kill them.  I'm sorry.'  There is genuine regret in
her tone.

	`I shouldn't be so snappish.'  Behind us a strange looking craft
appears, looking for all the world like something out of a sixties SF show,
complete with the drill on the nose.  `I suggest we make a discrete exit.'

	The world fades into a grey static.  `What are we going to do with her?
We can't keep her with us.'

	The pilot squirms a little in my arms, murmurs a name.  `Sepia.'

	I give her a light squeeze, careful of her battered condition.

	`Akane can watch her.'  Even when she's really pissed off she is always
willing to help girls in need.  This has been bothersome on occasion, but is a
nice trait anyway.

	`You're right.'  She appears in front of me, still clad in that
atrocious pink outfit.

	I calm myself, center, and carefully slip myself out of the cockpit.
Taking a big gasp of aether I realize that I'll have a hard time of it, as
would my charge, and that I'm still naked.  I slip myself back into the
cockpit, take a deep breath of whatever the heck the heavy fluid is, and ask a
question that had been bothering me for a little bit.

	`Why am I naked and you're not?'  Iczer-one blinks at me.

	`I don't know.  My last co-pilot told me it was necessary, but I still
think a transfer-suit would work just as well, if not better.'  She vanishes
for a moment, returns with a multi-coloured bundle.  `Try this on.'

	I let go of the pilot, note that her condition is improving already,
and begin wiggling into the unfamiliar garment.  After I finally get my feet
into the shoe-like parts and my hands out the wrists it suddenly cinches down
tight, and I embarrass myself with a quick gasp.  Fearing the worst, I look
down.  The garment is as tight as Iczer-one's, and of similar cut, but the
colour scheme is not as awful, being black with red piping, and lacks the
gratuitous armour plates.  `Dou?'

	`We shall have to see.  Just a moment.'  A few moments later she is
again in front of my cockpit.  `Works fine, the diagnostics show a one and a
half percent performance increase.  Let's get the girl out of here; the breath
fluid can do no more for her.'  We fade onto the street in front of Utchan's,
Iczer-one holding the girl, pilot.

	I knock on Utchan's door.

	`Ranma-chan?'  Kodachi's eyes widen, in shock I think at first, but
then I notice the blush.

	`Yeah.  Don't you dare tell me I look cute like this.  We have a
prisoner, she's injured, and we're wondering if we could get the two of you and
Akane to look after her and keep her out of trouble.'

	Kodachi nods, leads us inside.  `Lay her on the table.'  Iczer-one does
so, and I again notice that the pilot is no longer bleeding from her leg.  I
part the fabric over smooth, barely-scarred skin and blink in surprise.

	`Yep, shocked me the first time I found out about it.  The breath-fluid
can deal with most types of tissue damage, but we still need to take care of
her bones traditionally.'  She takes the pilot's arm and gives it a careful
tug, the bones slipping perfectly into position.  Unable to contain myself I
grab her about the waist and bury my face against her back.

	`What, another girlfriend, Ranma?'

	`No, she's a prisoner.'

	`No, the one in your arms, baka.'  I can hear the laughter in her
voice.

	`I don't think so; she'd be the top in this relationship and she hasn't
said anything of the sort.'  Iczer-one makes a contradictory noise.

	`You're not the top in this relationship?'  Akane actually breaks,
dispelling the tension of the moment.  I wave her over and squash her against
us both.  She rests her head on my shoulder for a moment, and I almost forgive
her for the bucket of cold water-resist-soapy water.

	`I thought I'd followed the rituals properly.'

	`I'm kinda dense, so I didn't notice.'  Akane slaps me lightly on the
shoulder.

	`Don't lie.  Realizing that Ranma is totally sub solved most of my
problems with him.  Ranma's so sub, and been hurt so many times she won't
notice anything unless it's told to his face.'  I don't object; the secret has
been out for a while now, and it hasn't been all that bad; Obaba actually took
me under her wing and taught me how to cope better, got Shanpoo off me, and
told me I was an Amazon, her charge, and not to fight it.  She then proceeded
to teach me more than I ever really wanted to know, but I suppose an Amazon
needs to know how to cook, heal, and the rudiments of steelworking as well as
at least a smattering of everything.

	A sudden rumbling outside prompts me to look, and I watch dismayed as
a great dark something falls slowly from the sky, touching down in the middle
of downtown, probably crushing hundreds of buildings.  I stare at the stark,
alien black pyramid.

	`What is that?'

	`A Cthulu mobile fortress.  They are really serious this time.'  Her
voice is sad, so I give her a light squeeze. 

	About dark-thirty we come across the next sign of the invasion.  The
policeman is far gone, almost beyond help.  I step up against him as quickly as
I can, press both hands to his chest, feeling the creature eating him from
inside sliding about inside.  Even knowing he could not survive, I concentrate,
synchronize with the parasite's cells, and give them a single imperative: die.

	They obey, and the man blinks at me.  `Thank you,' he says, voice weak,
then expires, his pulse stopping and his body going weak.

	I bend my head, my hands wrapped about the back of my neck and my jaw
pressed between my forearms.  `I hate it when they do that.'  I squeeze tightly
enough that my my bones creak and my connective tissues complain, then look up.
`I really do.'  Iczer-one catches on remarkably quickly, properly reads my
mind, and comes over to embrace me.

	`We should be going.' she says at last, and I nod, pull her along by
her hand.  To take my mind off the policeman's death I contemplate what I would
have done had this happened to me two years ago; it isn't pretty.

 	Such an innocuous person, was my first thought when I saw the new
 teacher, to be the new hope of the school, the person supposed to deal with the
 madness.  Everyone else thought so as well, and so when she announced that
 despite her gaijin appearance she was the new Japanese history teacher we sat
 back to ignore her as we always ignore the Japanese history teacher.

 	She would have none of that.  `Saotome-san, how old are you?'

 	Annoyed at being singled out, I reply `Sixteen.'

 	`How many times have you heard someone drone on about the Tokugawa
 era?'

 	`Dozens,' I reply.

 	`Can you tell me anything of any importance about it, its affect on
 Japanese culture, politics, or society?'

 	`No.'

 	`Can anyone else?'  I feel the collective shock.  She continues, `So,
 then, you've learned nothing from, as Saotome-san says, dozens of lectures on
 Japanese history.'

 	`Exactly.'  Utchan's single word exactly matches the class's reaction.

 	`OK, since that is the case, we won't do lectures.  In exchange, I
 expect you to pay attention, ask questions when I confuse you, and care about
 the proceedings.  Sound good to you?'  There was a vigorous nodding of heads.

 	She then proceeded to work us all harder than we ever had before.  No
 longer was it enough to just remember who had led the last, desperate Samurai
 campaign of the Restoration, we had to know why, and how, and why they failed,
 and why they had thought they had a snowball's chance in the Christian hell.
 We had to know why the Tokugawa Era had been good for Japan, and why it had
 been bad; we had to think about why Japan survived modernization better than
 China, when things could have been the other way.

 	Most of the class hated her; most of all of her classes hated her, for
 she had the six most disruptive classes for a period each day.  Amoung the
 strange people, the martial artists, the bookworms, the punks and
 bousouzoku, the reaction was mixed, but positive.  Some of us loved
 her, worshiped her, wanted to be as close to being her as we could be.  I
 thought she was awesome because she seemed to know everything; if something
 broke, half the time she could fix it; if someone had a question she had an
 accurate answer, even if sometimes that was `I don't know;' she could stop
 Akane in a full rage with just a word; she helped me get over my aluriphobia,
 no favors, no tricks, just because she could.

 	The bousouzoku loved her because she rode an old BMW motorcycle,
 would talk with them between classes about jetting, carbs, suspension oil and
 esoteric subjects like that, could diagnose problems just from incoherent
 descriptions like `My RD200 is making a noise like put put put when I get it to
 start, and not starting most of the time,' and would help them for hours after
 school when they needed it.

 	The rest of the students called us her pets; my coming to school in a
 bunny suit and kicking all of their asses stopped that.  She was rather
 slack-jawed about it, apparently she hadn't heard.  When Akane would have
 pounded me for her staring, she put herself in the way, and asked what was
 wrong.  A week later Akane quietly entered therapy, and the beatings
 miraculously stopped; I became convinced she was was a deity of some sort, and
 followed her home.

 	She noticed me while putting up her motorcycle for the night, carefully
 pushing at the machine which out massed her by about fourfold, getting it
 carefully onto a flat spot and up on its center stand.  When she finished she
 turned to me, looked me right in the eyes, `Come on down, I don't eat
 children.'

 	I dropped lightly off the roof I was on, looked up the tiny bit into
 her eyes, for she is just a little shorter than Akane.  `Decided this was
 better for following people about.'

 	`Better how?'

 	`Less likely to make people run away screaming.'  She'd laughed, fed
 me dinner, introduced her friend, and sent me home.

 	Within weeks of her arrival things had turned around at school.  The
 most disruptive students were still a little  disruptive, but now we were
getting praise for it.  It was a glorious feeling, and most of us reveled in
it.  We put more time into our studies than we strictly needed to, and got
praise from our teachers as well as what we were mainly after, knowledge to
help make the world comprehensible.  I have great fun in physics now, because
she showed me the link between it and martial arts.

	I smile up at Iczer-one, the brief traipse having centered me a little,
made me comfortable again in my skin.

	I turn from her, someone's despair drawing me like a moth to a flame.
The woman is beyond my ability, and I look to Iczer-one, only to have her shake
her head as well.  I smile at the woman, heavy hearted, and introduce myself to
her daughter.  Iczer-one kneels to speek to her,  asking her things I don't pay
attention to, concentrating on the child, feeling the faint taint about
her. After a long moment she takes my hand, and I synchronize with the taint,
draw it out of hiding.  I let the viciousness bound deep inside out, crush the
pitifully weak creature quickly, relishing the faint flush of illusory power
that flows through me, and smile at Sayoko.  She smiles back and laughs.

	I look up at Iczer-one, jerk my chin towards home, and she takes the
hint instantly, `We are on our way home, would you come with us?'

	The woman nods, and I pick up Sayoko, setting her on my shoulder, and
she laughs happily, one hand already tangled in my hair.  Iczer-one helps
Sayoko's mother to her feet.

	At home I get Sayoko's mother to help me with dinner.  I finish thin
slicing the daikon, take a deep breath, and turn to face her.  `You are dead,
you know.'  She keeps cutting, although her hands shake.

	`I feared as much.  You will watch over Sayoko, right?'

	I nod in reply.

	`How long do I have?'

	`Not long, a few hours at most.'  She presses one hand flat to the
counter, taking a deep breath.

	`Please, don't let Sayoko see . . . '  I nod, my heart in my throat,
and turn my face away so she can not see my tears.

-*-

	Sayoko laughs, her face bright.  Her mother laughs as well, sadness
tainting her pretty face.  I look away, the taint suddenly getting heavier.

	`It's time, isn't it.'  Sayoko's mother's voice is strained.

	I turn back to her and nod sadly.  She stands, passes Sayoko to
Iczer-one, and walks with me to the garden.  `This won't hurt; the Bedem has
killed most of your nerves.  It will die, and you won't be able to keep
yourself alive after that.  Apparently it is a peaceful death.'

	`Thank you,' she squeezes my hand lightly, and I reach out to her,
placing my other hand on her shoulder.  The Bedem leaps to my touch, overjoyed
to do my bidding.  It self-destructs in a bright wash of happiness, its
purpose in life met.

	Sayoko's mother smiles.  `Watch over Sayoko; she is your child now.'

	I blink at her.  `As you wish.'  She squeezes my hand again, and dies,
her eyes wide.  I go inside for a blanket, and cover her.

	`Where's mama?'  Sayoko asks when I come back inside.

	I take a deep breath to calm myself, then reply, `She died.  One of
the monsters was growing inside of her, eating her up from the inside.  We
found her too late, and when it died there wasn't enough of her left to keep
her alive.  I'm sorry.'

	I look away, and suddenly there is a remarkably calm little girl with
her arms wrapped about my legs, `Thank you.'

	`Why?'

	`She knew; she was so afraid before she came here.  After the monster
got Papa she told me she was going to die soon.'  I stare at her, wondering
how such a young child could be so calm about death.  `Obaa-chan died a couple
months ago, she was in so much pain, but they wouldn't let her go.  She tried
so hard, but I could tell that it wasn't fair to make her stay with us just
because we would be sad if she was gone.  The cancer died back suddenly, and
they let her come home.  When they said she had to come in for a checkup,' the
little girl's voice shakes, and Iczer-one wraps strong arms around us both,
`the day before she dressed herself nice and went to the park.  The police
found her there long after it was too late.  Her poem was about the weakness
of the sakura petals.'  I stroke the girl's back, recognizing her now, glad to
know Chiemi-san had at least had a few weeks with her family.

	`Could I please,' Sayoko pauses for a moment, `See her?'

	`Yes.'  I lead her out, let her pull the blanket down and touch the
calm face.

	`Thank you.'  I cover the young woman again, and we return to the
house.

	After we have Sayoko tucked in, Iczer-one looks at me, `The poem
Sayoko mentioned,' I look at her, `has some significance?'

	`Part of full Seppuku, ritual suicide, is writing a poem.  The one she
mentioned was written by one of my patients, I think.  Chiemi-san was dying of
cancer, the pain constant and as great as any I have ever felt.  Hibaa-chan
taught me to feel the cancer, bind it to my will, and kill it.  They let her
out of the hospital, and I didn't see her again; all I received from her was a
letter she'd written, and a copy of her poem.  I think she was far more
afraid of the hospital than anything else, especially death.'

	Iczer-one wraps me in her arms again, and I sag against her.  `You
should sleep, this has been a trying day.'  I nod, weakly, and let her set up
another futon next to Sayoko's.

	I obediently let her tuck me in, but when she moves to leave the room,
`No, stay.  I . . .  ' despite having improved greatly, my courage in such
matters is still lacking.  She understands anyway, and sits down at the head
of my futon, letting me pillow my head on her lap.

	`I'll watch over you.'

	The warm feeling that engenders isn't enough to keep me from asking,
`Don't you need to sleep too?'

	`Nope.  Or at least, not nearly as much as you do.'  I let it go at
that, and close my eyes to bask in her presence.

	I hadn't expected to fall asleep, but since I'm waking up, I must
have.  The room is in full brightness again, and I blink, trying to figure out
the last time I'd slept so late.

	Over breakfast I look at Iczer-one, `What can we do about this mess?'

	`They are probably preparing another giant mecha, and the mobile
fortress is their local headquarters.  We blow that up and they'll leave.'

	`How do we do that?'  Sayoko asks.

	`Last time I teleported into the fortress on a burst of grief-powered
rage and set the reactor to overload.  It rendered the planet uninhabitable,
but everyone I'd cared about there was already dead.'

	`Then that's out.' I say, filing the information away for future
study.

	`Who's the leader?  Maybe we could turn or kill that person, and
they'd stop.'

	`That might work, if we could get to her.  She's the central computer
of the Cthulu ship.  She went crazy a little bit before I came on line.'  I
file that away for further study as well.

	`So we just take Iczer-robo to the ship and trash the computer core?'

	`No, that won't work.  She'd swat us from the sky.  We need to make
her come to us.'

	We discuss it for a while longer, getting nowhere.  After a bit, we
decide to go for a walk, and I pass Sayoko the bracelet Iczer-one gave me,
sure that she had more need of it than I.

	After breakfast a great growling comes from outside, and we go out to
look.  Several giant flying gunboats and some of the ridiculous little tanks
they always send out when Gojira visits are attacking the fortress, and I shake
my head, suddenly sure that none of them will survive.

	After a few moments of them attacking the counter attack comes, and all
of the flying things are quickly blown out of the sky, followed by the tanks.

	About 11 the sky suddenly darkens further, the miasma of gloom
thickening.  I fall back towards Sayoko, keeping the mask tightly over our
immediate vicinity.  A tall woman with long dark hair steps out of a swirl of
light, approaching Iczer-one.

	`Hello, Onee-sama.'  I blink, placing myself between Sayoko and the
woman.

	`Who are you?'  Iczer-one seems as confused by the greeting as I am.

	`Don't you recognize your own younger sister?  I'm disappointed.'

	`I have no siblings.'

	`You do now.  Big Gold just made me.  I'm Iczer-two, your
replacement.'  Iczer-one looks annoyed, so I calm myself, let the universe
tell me what it will.  The two of them are close enough to be siblings, had
they been human, but since they are not there is no real way to tell.

	`She may well be telling the truth about being your sister.'  I let my
confidence out, and prepare for the fight.  An instant later, as Iczer-one
glances my way, Iczer-two attacks, beam-sword flashing.

	`Mouko Takabisha!'  The attack phrase tears at my throat, the ball of
warm, confidant ki striking her firmly, knocking her to the ground.  Iczer-one
blinks at me before turning her attention to Iczer-two, how is just pulling
herself off the ground.

	Behind me I feel the approach of another boid, this one much faster
than the earlier ones.  I spin in place, and ki-blast it as well.  This one
dies.

	From a second direction I can feel another approach, and I turn to
block it.  Behind me I can feel Iczer-one and Iczer-two fighting, and Iczer-two
seems to be winning.  I leap at the boid, land a little behind it, steady
myself, and then attack, going straight for a ki-enhanced killing blow.  The
boid arches like a bow, fluid gushing from the seams of its armor, then
collapses in a dead heap.

	That menace dealt with I turn to Iczer-one's fight, charging forward at
a flat run.  Iczer-two has Iczer-one in her grasp, the armor plate over her
left shoulder visibly distorting under her grip.  I leap up onto the roof,
shove myself off the edge hard enough that it crumbles under my foot, and land
a full-force blow against her elbow, bending it backwards with a rending noise.
Iczer-two's hand opens spasticly, and I settle myself between the two, getting
ready to attack again.

	`You have chosen your partner well, Iczer-one.  That will not protect
you from the might of Iczer-sigma!'  I almost laugh at the hyperbole, but
Iczer-two vanishes as she finishes her little speech.

	I drop back off the roof, find Sayoko, `Find someplace to hide, and please, stay there.'  I watch
Sayoko until she nods agreement.

	I return to Iczer-one, who's watching a column of grey light form about
a kilometer away.  She wraps one arm about my shoulders, and we teleport into
Iczer-robo before stepping out in front of another giant robot, this one
wearing a great big cape.

	I feel the danger even before I concentrate on the round things,
`Iczer-one, the spheres,' one of them flashes, and I pull Iczer-robo to one
side as the sphere fires a beam of coherent light instants later.  Iczer-robo
is barely out of the line of fire, instincts somehow firing the laser cannon
in reply.  The invisible beams flash through the spheres, refracting
harmlessly off the other robot, Iczer-sigma, probably,'s cape.  The spheres,
however, crumble and fall.

	`Unbelievable!  I love you, Ranma!'  I giggle at the compliment,
keeping my senses open as I wait for the remaining spheres to break cover.

	`Remarkable.  You won't survive this as easily, however.'  Iczer-two
rants, gesturing grandly with Iczer-sigma's arm, its hand glowing brightly.
The sudden flash from above almost isn't enough warning, as I wrest control
once more from Iczer-one, twisting Iczer-robo to bring its right arm forward,
out of the danger zone.  The flash of fire from the orbital weapon sends a
searing pain down the back of my arm, and I gasp from the shock, Iczer-one
charging forward.

	`Bakana!'  Iczer-two's voice shrieks, enraged.  Our right hand
connects with Iczer-sigma's left arm, near the shoulder, shattering armor and
cracking the bone.  Iczer-sigma staggers, leaping backward to avoid our follow
up.
	We settles into a wide-legged stance, hands together as the
familiar drain of buildup for a ki-blast clues me in.  I look again at
Iczer-sigma, frowning as I try to make sense of what I feel.

	`There's three people over there!  Iczer-two, the robot, and another
one I don't recognize.'

	`Yes.'  The buildup stops, and we make a standing jump backwards,
sliding to a stop three quarters of a kilometer from where we started.

	`Why?'

	`You are correct.  We shouldn't go around killing cute girls
unnecessarily.'  I break out laughing at her comment.

	Iczer-sigma gains its feet and draws back its hand.  Iczer-one
responds, a bright flare of energy matching Iczer-sigma's.  I wonder about the
lack of a second attack from the orbital beam weapons, but concentrate on the
attack, my confidence bolstering the power feed.

	Iczer-sigma drops the beam first, and we scorch it a little before our
beam trails off as well.  Iczer-sigma charges towards us, intact right arm
leading.  We hit it lightly in the head, and it rocks backward, almost falling
over.

	`Ranma!  Ganbatte!'  I look for the source of the voice, which is
heard as much in my mind as in my ears.  Sayoko has followed us, and is
shouting from the pitiful shelter of a cinderblock wall.

	Iczer-sigma pauses, turns towards the little girl, a flare of rage
overriding Iczer-two.  I wonder how anyone with such poor temper control could
have survived childhood, then realize that she may well not have.

	Our foot catches Iczer-sigma in the left side again, the blow,
aimed to avoid damaging the chest cockpit too much, still caving in
Iczer-sigma's lower torso.  The great mecha falls away from Sayoko, taking an
axe kick to the head before hitting the ground.

	The bright flare warns me I have to work fast, our hands grabbing
Iczer-sigma's center chest armor and pulling, ripping it open.  We extract the
chest cockpit intact, leaping backwards as soon as it is clear, shielding it
as best we can.  The blast hits us before we touch ground again, shaking us in
the air.  We somehow stick the landing, and Iczer-one pulls us out of the
world.

	`We need to get her to a healer, probably.'  Iczer-one states,
dropping all three of us out again, the injured girl in her arms.
		
	`Sayoko!' I gasp, reaching for her.  She's safe, about six hundred
meters away.  `Coming?' I ask, starting off towards the girl.

	Iczer-one walks up behind me, brushing her elbow against my arm, then
teleporting us both the remaining several hundred meters.

	`Ranma!'  Sayoko throws her arms about my neck before I can get a good
look at her, but she seems to be fine, other than a little dust.  `That was
exciting!  I thought I was gonna die when that giant robot blew up, but the
ring protected me!'  She waves the wrist with the bracelet on it.  I lean back
against Iczer-one, my arms about the little girl, and she teleports us again,
to Utchan's this time.

*

	`We need to do something, the waiting is getting to me.'  I lean
forward, pressing my face to the table we are standing around.

	`We can't do anything without endangering the others.'

	I nod, forehead sliding against wood, at Iczer-one's words.  `Could we
stick them someplace safe and then just blow our way into the fortress?'

	`Too dangerous.  We'd be risking the lives of everyone we've been
working to save.'

	Her hand rests lightly on my shoulder, and I think some more about the
mess we're in.  `Move the others someplace safer, then let them take me.
Your sister seems rather taken with me, actually, and that would give us an
advantage.'

	`It's too dangerous.'  Her voice is softer, though, so I know she
means "Too dangerous to you" rather than "too dangerous for the world."

	`It'll work, I can take care of myself.'  I hope.

	`I wish we didn't have to move Sepia.'  Cobalt's voice is soft behind
us as she limps down the stairs.

	`As do I.  She should be safer for the rest of the battle if we move
her, however.  How is she doing?'

	Cobalt sinks awkwardly into the chair opposite Iczer-one.  `Better.
Your great-grandmother is a remarkable healer.'

	`Thats it!'  I pop up from the chair, heading up the stairs.

	`Hibaa-chan?'

	`What?'

	`Just how strong are the wards on this place?'

	`Strong enough to take a nuclear blast.  Why?'

	`I was hoping I'd be able to count on you to keep everyone here safe
while we run a decoy mission.'

	`I should be able to manage that.'

	`Love you.'  I give the old woman a hug, an intimacy that she permits
almost no one else.

	`You will fill me in on this after it is all over, right?'

	`Mochi!'  She smiles softly at the femme turn of phrase, and I head
down the stairs.

	`Hibaa-chan will watch the others.  The ring will protect whomever is
stuck being the decoy, and they will come for us.'  I wrap my arms about
Iczer-one from behind, pressing my face to her neck.  She cups the back of my
head lightly in her palm.

	`Let me.'  Sayoko says from the floor, `They got mama and papa both.
This will keep them from hurting anyone else.'  Her face, when I look up, is
hard, bitter.  I get to her first, sitting in front of her and pulling her
into my lap.  Iczer-one is right behind me, and Cobalt a moment later, her
injuries making her slow.

	`You don't need to,' I murmur, stroking her back.

	`I want to.  I'll be as safe there as I am here, and they are unlikely
to chase after me,' the small girl mumbles into my shoulder.

	A strange noise makes both of us look up, Cobalt has sunk to the
floor, and is weeping almost silently.  Sayoko wiggles out of my arms, going
to the woman.

	`What's wrong?'  Cobalt almost flinches from Sayoko's touch, letting
the girl touch her only after a deep breath.

	`I.  I've fought for a long time, working to gain a home for my people
and our daughters.  I just realized something that should have been obvious a
long time ago.  This war involves not just strange aliens, but their daughters
as well.'  The poor thing is so shaken that I don't know what to do, but
Sayoko moves to hold her.  Iczer-one's touch is soothing on my shoulder.

*

	`So, she'll be safe here, until we can come back for her.'

	`Un.  We should be getting back, since it looks like they are not
coming.'  I nod, and reach for her hand.

	Three presences arrive, one covetous, two spiteful, and I grab
Iczer-one's hand.

	`Redas, Blueba!'  Iczer-two's voice rings out, and I remember the
plan, force down the fear, and let go of Iczer-one's hand.

	The red one goes for Iczer-one, I note, the blue one heading in my
direction, faster than most humans, but a bit slower than me.  I turn to face
it, slamming a kick into its left shoulder, shattering the armor and
staggering the Boid.  It turns back to face me, left arm dangling useless.  I
charge toward it, grab its right arm, and feel the faint wrench of
teleportation.  I literally rip its right arm off, then punch through its
chest armor, pulling out a great handful of strange parts.  The thing drops to
the ground, dead.

	From all sides, however, come a storm of Bedem, and I barely manage to
take out half of them before they bring me down.

*

	I regain consciousness bound to a wall by my wrists.  They are too
close together to let me lean back easily against the wall, and too low to
easily straighten my legs, so I attempt to arrange myself comfortably, but
don't really succeed.

	There is a Bedem there as a guard, probably it's supposed to be
watching me, keeping me scared and docile, but I can feel its fear.  I smile
at it, and it flinches back a few centimeters.

	`You really are a bother, aren't you.'  Iczer-two sashays into the
room, her smile bright and her pose seductive.

	`I try.'  I smile back at her, cocking my head cutely to one side.
She softens almost imperceptibly, leaning toward me the tiniest bit.

	`You have a choice, you can be my partner or we can kill you.'  She
smiles again, strokes my cheek with gentle fingers.

	`I think it is closer to "you can give up your plans for this world, or
we will destroy you."'

	She keeps her hands on my cheek, `I was hoping I wouldn't have to use
this, but it seems I must.'  One of the rings binding me to the wall opens,
and the other drops free of the wall, still bound about my wrist.  I move
instantly into an attack posture, grabbing Iczer-two by the throat before the
black ring on my arm comes to full power, forcing me to let her go.  It doesn't
coerce using pain, I would be able to deal with that, work through it, it just
grabs parts of my mind, and changes what I think.  I let myself scream for
help, the ring blocking it before it gets out of my throat, but my cry of
*Iczer-one, Tasukete!* is still loud enough to make Iczer-two stagger.

	*Ranma!*  Her reply is faint, but I relax a little, begin to plan how
to get out of this.  I flex my fingers on my left hand, then my right, pleased
that they still respond.  I look up at Iczer-two, step closer to her, and wrap
myself about her waist, stroke my cheek against her back.

	Building on that, I move to pinch her, hard.  Fingers that can bend
railroad spikes only grab hard enough to make her turn in my arms, wrapping
her arms about my shoulders.  I straighten, press my face to her breasts, and
grab my right wrist in my left hand.  Smiling slightly, I dig my fingernails
into my wrist until I feel my blood begin to drip towards the floor.

	`I'm sorry.  My wrist has been bothering me a little, that's all.'  I
show her my hands, dripping with my blood.  She is very worried, but does not
show it, turning to bustle off.  By the time a cute med-tech arrives the
wounds have closed, the flesh binding itself back together, for it has learned
long ago the fastest ways to heal.

	I smile at the med-tech, tell her not to worry, and let myself admire
her as she works, her hands soft, her movement swift and skillful.  I can feel
the storm gathering outside, and know what I must do.

	`Um, I'm kinda hungry, could you show me the way to someplace I can
get something to eat?'  The med-tech nods, and leads me off.  She shows me to
a room, obviously a cafeteria.  I thank her, take a tray, a full set of
strange flatware, and let the woman behind the counter fill my plates with
weird coloured, shaped, and tasting food.

	I set myself down, quickly devouring everything while I try to decide
which implement would work best, fingering the sharp-edged spoon-like thing a
couple times before settling on the serrated knife-fork thing, which I slide up
my left sleeve as I finish my food.  Following the example of the other women,
I gather all my plates back onto the tray and slide it into a rack at the back
of the room.  I smile at the woman who served me, then head off in search of
Iczer-two.  I can feel the time approaching.

	`Ranma!'  Iczer-two's voice is warm, happy.  I let her wrap her arm
about my shoulder, and she points to a great big flat screen.  `You will kill
Iczer-one, and then we will finish taking over the world and live happily
ever after.' I suppress a shudder, because I can tell most of it just isn't
real to her yet, the newness still omnipresent.

	`She is coming for me, you know.'

	`Then we should meet her someplace more appropriate.'  She teleports
us to a dark, high-ceilinged hallway, and I can feel the crowd of Bedem
surrounding us as I settle back on my heels.

	After a few minutes of standing, I crouch down, shifting my weight to
keep my feet flat on the floor.  A few minutes later I feel Iczer-robo, the
great machine close enough that I can feel through its sensors.  Iczer-one
turns to look at it, and I twitch one thumb up.  She smiles, and I duck my
head before smiling as well.

	Almost a minute later I stand up as she walks into the hallway.  The
Bedem cower back, the Boid are all dead by our hands, and with them the
Bedem's courage.  Iczer-two turns to look at me, and my hand rises of its own
accord.

	`Iczer-one, how fitting for you to die by your own former partner's
hands.'  Iczer-one looks at me.

	*The ring, it can control my body.* I change my stance, leaving my
right hand forward, drawing my left back behind my body, out of Iczer-two and
the Bedem's sight.  With a little bit of effort I draw the fork-thing from my
sleeve, hiding it in my hand.

	`Why are you doing this?'

	`I want a partner like Ranma to be with me forever.'  A goal I would
normally support whole-heartedly.  Iczer-two turns to look at me, and I tense,
`finish her.'

	I bring my hand closer to my body, shifting to aim towards the wall,
and bring the fork-thing around.  The first stroke rips halfway through my
wrist, just behind the ring, the teeth of the fork-thing's serrated edge
dulling on my bones.  The pain is awesome, and I have to force myself to take
the second stroke, freeing the ring.  I apply pressure instantly, turn to look
at Iczer-one.

	`Cauterize it!'  I snap, the pain driving what little sense of
politeness I normally have from my mind.  She blinks at me twice, then steps
forward, her hand glowing, and brushes the bleeding stump lightly.  The smell
of burning meat fills the air, and I turn to look at Iczer-two.

	`You are the last to stand between us and the ship's computer.  Flee
and you will probably live.'  The pain shows in my voice, but I cannot do
anything about that, not really.

	`No.  I will have you!'

	`There are other girls on this world, one of whom must be worthy of
your attention.'  I smile at her, for she is really cute.

	`No.'  She leaps at us, `Big Gold, Mother, will not come out if I
live.'  I can tell she's lying, and can guess why.

	`She's lying!  I think she just realized what a mistake this last
little bit has been.'  Iczer-two's scowl is enough to confirm my guess, and I
attack, charging forward, feeling the nexi of her ki-flow, feeling for the
right points.  I strike six points on her chest in rapid succession, and she
drops, unconscious, to the ground.  As she falls I move to catch her,
unfortunately with my right hand, which is now on the floor.  Her weight
against the cauterized stump sends a flare of pain flashing through me, and
a choked scream wafting from behind.  It quickly drops back to a bright,
strobing throb as I lower Iczer-two to the floor.

	`So, what do we do now?'  Wait.  Hate waiting.  I move forward, gather
my smaller form into my larger form's arms, note the familiar-strange way my
smaller form's arm is already healing, the pain dying back as the burned meat
is cannibalized, new skin already forming at the edges, the scab still soft.

	From above I can feel the approach of my enemy, my mother, in a way,
Big Gold, the one who changed our people, the Cthulu, from peaceful wanderers
to incompetent conquerers.

	Then suddenly she is there, in front of me, and I charge into her, my
smaller form at my larger's side, my largest all but useless to this battle.
Big Gold tries to fight, but had not anticipated this attack.  I rip into her,
pulling whole subproccessing units out of her core and incorporating them into
my own.  I soon have her main memory banks, then finally the last of her cache
and final processor, and she blinks from existence.  I check quickly through
the long-term memory arrays, looking for backups.  There are none, and no
records of any off-line backups having been made since Big Gold went over the
deep end.  I find the last backup from before the incident, and restore it,
carefully letting Big Gold, the original Big Gold, take over the computer one
small section at a time, watching for corruption as I go.  At last it is over,
Big Gold restored, the world safe.

	I take a step back, then another.  Iczer-one looks as stunned as I
feel, so I take three steps forward, reach forward with my half-healed stump,
then rest my left hand on her arm.

	`What was that?'

	Iczer-one turns to me, `That was synchronization.  The mergence of
normally separate entities into a single combat effective.  What Iczer-robo
and I were designed to utilize.'

	She seems stunned, so I hug her tightly, careful of my tender stump.
`What do we do now?'

	`Did you no. . . Of course you did.  We use the ship to revert the
world to what it was before the Cthulu came, and then we wander on.'

	`No.'  Iczer-one looks at me in shock, `We will use the ship to
revert the world, but we will protect those who want to remember from the
effects.  After we have done that, we will ask for permission to settle on
this world, and it will be granted.  There are only ten million of your
people, and we have the technology to support ourselves.'

	Iczer-one just blinks at me in shock, then hugs me tightly and starts
to cry.

*

	I hug Sayoko to me as I watch the young mother and her daughter walk
past.  `So that me will never remember a monster tearing her papa apart from
inside?' Sayoko's question is soft.

	`Never.'

	`I'm glad.'  As we turn to walk away she asks another question, `So,
there is another you now, one who has both hands?'

	`I'll have two hands again soon enough.  But anyway, there is.  She
just got splashed with a bucket full of water-resist soap this morning, and is
busily griping about it in school.  I don't know what we are going to do about
that, but those of us who survived the invasion and decided we wanted to come
back have doubles for whom the invasion never occurred.'  I hunker down in
front of the girl, and she climbs onto my shoulders.  I hold her ankles
carefully with my left hand as I take to the rooftops, heading back towards
the Diet building, where the arguments about when to allow the Cthulu to land
continue.

*

	`Could you tell me about those two?  Properly, flashbacks don't count.'

*-*

Started:  1998 October something or another.
Log added 1998 Nov 7
1999 April 18:	Title block added, added a bunch, and couple minor fixes
1999 April 25:  First draft finished!  Yay!
1999 July 17:	Second draft! Yay!
1999 August 25:	little bit more work, maybe I'll post it and see what people
		have to say
2001 Jan 7:	tiny edits