"Speech"
'Thought'
Incantation

Time line info
OMG – Volume 4-ish, chapter 26
Ranma – Volume 7, chapter 5 or chapter 67

X x X x X x X

"Oi Nabiki, you in there?" Ranma asked and knocked on the door decorated with a duck plaque and said girl's name. Waiting impatiently for a response, he wondered just how much money she would try, and possibly succeed, in swindling him out of. Well that was a foregone conclusion, he wanted to borrow something, and she would take an arm and leg.

"Come in." The middle Tendo called out and he opened the door. "Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly." Nabiki stated while rotating her desk chair around.

"Uh what?" He asked intelligently.

"Nothing, so what did you need?"

"Just wanted to borrow your CD player."

"That all?" Nabiki smiled in a particularly predatory manner and reached into her desk to pull out a walkman.

"How much?" he asked when she didn't immediately come up with a number. "I just need it to listen to a CD I found."

"1000 yen an hour."

"500?"

"Well if you don't want it." Opening up her desk drawer she was about to put it back in.

"Fine fine." He moved over and grabbed the small device from her hands.

"I'll put it on your tab." She said and swung her chair back around. Glowering he left the room before she could tack on more fictitious costs. Hadn't Nabiki ever heard of just doing something to be nice? Who was he kidding? She'd been charging him for any little thing since he got here.

Retreating to the relative privacy of his and a certain panda's room, he pulled out the strange CD case. It wasn't that he was interested in the message on the front saying stuff about demons, there was just something about it that drew his attention. He didn't even remember buying it. Putting the disk in the walkman and adjusting the headphones on his head, he hit play.

Except nothing came out. Frowning he checked to see if the disc was spinning through a small window in the top of the plastic. He recoiled as a bright purple line exploded through every crack in the small device, whipping off the headphones, he jumped away. 'Oh crap please don't break!' He repeated, thinking of the feminine indignities Nabiki put him up to for destroying the old device.

The light show stopped as soon as it started and the lid snapped open on its own. Breathing out a sigh of relief, his eyes nearly exploded form his head when a pair of slender hands clad in dark brown gloves reached up from the CD. Ranma had thought himself used to weird things but the arms, blonde head, body, and legs of a woman rising from a small piece of plastic made his jaw drop.

When she was done pulling herself out she stretched while floating in midair. Taking in the new arrival, he was unsure on how he was supposed to react to what he had just seen. She was wearing dark brown boots the same color as her gloves, this lead up to form fitting black pants. For her upper body she wore a long cape with a dark red interior and black exterior. The cape was part of her long sleeved, gold trimmed shirt that looked like it would fit in those medieval fantasy games Hiroshi liked to play.

"Ugh, damn those gods for using an extra protection seal." The gaijin girl groaned in a throaty voice and scratched the back of her head. Noticing her face, he found that she had strange red tattoos on her forehead and cheeks. On her forehead were two slashes setup to converge between her eyes but never meeting. On the far side of each cheek were two triangles with a horizontal split going through each. Her eyes were red with pupils that were tapered at the top and bottom and she had fangs like Ryoga. (1)

"Who are you?" He asked, really hoping she wouldn't set down and destroy that walkman.

Straightening up she continued to float in midair. "I am demon first class unlimited, Marller." She announced and looked at him like he was a bug before flipping some of her long blonde locks out of her face.

"Ah crap I already gotta deal with that old freak Happosai I don't need some floating demon on my case." He groaned wondering if the two might destroy each other, a guy could hope?

"Who? Uh ahem, you summoned me with the CD so I will grant you a wish."

"Oh man and what if she's stronger than that old freak? OH NO! What if she steals underwear like the old freak?" He lamented his wretched fate.

"You didn't even hear what I had to say did you?"

"Meh can't be, she doesn't look like much, although that coming out of a CD trick was cool." Ranma waved off his momentary concern.

"Oi."

"Not much of a use is it? I mean maybe if you were trying to sneak in some place but after that you could be stuck in a book case or something." He continued.

"Oi!"

"Guess it's not such a big deal, hopefully she'll just go away and not turn into another Shampoo. Just what I need another violent psycho girl out to kill or marry me. Probably has a mummy of an old grandmother who likes to give out secret techniques like candy."

"OI!"

"Oh－ what?" He asked stopping his external rumination.

"Demon me." Pointing to herself. "Give wish you." Pointing to him. "Now get on with it."

"Ah." Scrunching his face up in thought he wondering what kind of catch would come along with this. "A wish you say?"

"Yes."

"Anything I want?" He scratched his chin.

"No, so don't go wishing for world peace, end to world hunger, or any garbage like that." Folding up her legs the girl sat in midair with her arms crossed. "I'm a demon not some goody two shoes goddess."

"Could you cure my curse?" He asked excitedly. Wouldn't that show that old pervert the next time he tried to get his sick jollies by splashing him with water.

"Eh? A curse? What kind?"

"Jusenkyo."

"Childs play."

"Then I want that!"

"No can do."

"What? But you said I get a wish and that it would be easy!"

"So what? It's beneath me to remove such a paltry low level curse."

"Why you." He growled.

"Think bigger anyways, isn't there anything else you want? Wealth? Power? Hordes of women servicing your every whim?"

"But all I want is a cure." He whined.

"How about being the strongest martial artist?"

"How'd you know I was a martial artist?"

"Oh please you humans are so pathetically easy to read. Now make your wish, something really greedy I hope." Wringing her hands together she giggled evilly. "Those are always the best."

"How bout you just go away."

"That's it?"

"Yea I got enough people crawling over each other to get my attention. If Nabiki's bad, than a demons gotta be worse for twisting me around."

"That's it?" Marller repeated and he nodded. "Keh, like to play the nice guy do ya? Fine I guess if that's what ya want." With a flourish she wrapped her cape around herself. "I got a good feeling about you human, so I'll be back when you're more agreeable to make a wish worth granting."

Purple smoke exploded at her feet and rose up in a cyclone, bringing up his hands to help shield himself, he watched the swirling purple wind obscure her form and then in a flash of light and power it all vanished. Left alone in a room that looked like a real typhoon had passed through, he gulped seeing a destroyed walkman.

X x X x X x X

"Damn it!" Marller growled while floating over a temple in Nekomi, Chiba Prefecture, Tokyo. "I took too long and that stupid Belldandy put up a barrier." Throwing a temper tantrum in the air, she spun around and resumed a cross legged sitting position. "That stupid human! Wasting my time like that."

Narrowing her eyes she would definitely have to pay him back. The palpable feelings of luck and happiness that radiated out of this shrine were making her sick. And that was before she threw in the feeling of the two Goddesses that permeated the air. Shivering she would have to come up with a new plan. 'Something devious, something horrible, something worthy of a demon first class unlimited!'

"But what?" Drumming some fingers on a knee it would be close to impossible to do anything to that human inside the barrier with them on alert. She could go back to Nerima and make that mortal pay for wasting her time. That should give the two Goddesses time to get tired of waiting for her to show up and drop their guard. As well as let her work off some pent up stress.

"Oh no I left the CDs!"

X x x x x x

The next day found Ranma walking on the fence top as he and Akane returned from school. It had been strangely quiet the past day. After freeing a demon, he had half expected some doom and gloom to befall him. Even Nabiki hadn't worked him over for breaking her walkman. Apparently she didn't even use the thing anymore. That didn't mean he was off the hook, there would be some kind of punishment coming.

"I really wish Dad would get rid of that old pervert."

"Huh you say something Akane?" He asked having heard his violent fiancée perfectly.

"Happosai, Dad should make him leave."

"I agree with you there, stupid old pervert." Grumbling he hopped down so that he could enter into the Tendo estate. But not before seeing the topic of their conversation leap over the wall and bound inside. Walking into the living room, they found the two fathers, Kasumi, and a short bald man.

"Anyway, I don't know if it can be used as a lead but here are photos of the crime scene." The bald man said while the parents looked at some pictures. Peaking over their shoulders he frowned at the pictures of Happosai stealing panties and even smiling at the camera.

"Leads?" Akane asked.

"Looks like proof positive to me." He added and snatched a picture away.

"Akane, Ranma, welcome home." Kasumi greeted happily just as Soun decided to pass out. "Oh father, I'll get a futon."

"I guess I'll take my leave." Bowing the short bald man left them to take care of the Tendo patriarch. This was something like the third time that he had seen the older male get so worked up that he feinted or cried so much that he fell asleep. To the Tendo sisters it was an old routine and it took them only a minute with his help to move the mustached man on to a futon.

When Soun came back to the land of the waking, he showed off his true colors. "Saotome－ regretfully I must leave this－ to you."

"Tendo, you're such a." Even his father couldn't finish the statement, and he had a sinking suspicion his old man wasn't going to be much help either.

"Oh Dad." Akane said giving her parent a dirty look.

"Why are you two always so afraid of that little old freak?" He asked from his seated position. Hopping up to his feat he smiled at the thought of finally getting rid of Happosai. "C'mon Pop, let's go catch ourselves an underwear thief." Turning away from his father for only an instant to give Soun a disapproving look, when he turned back his father had turned into a panda and was hugging a large beach ball.

"Hey!" He yelled and hit the bear over his head.

"I must say mister Saotome－ you pick the most annoying time to turn into a panda." Kasumi said and both he and Akane nodded.

X x x x x x

Mara floated above the home she had been summoned in, lounging in mid-air, she was planning her attack on the mortal who had made her late. Of course it had to be a little longer term than something simple and over with in a day. Hearing a crash, she looked down, and had just enough time to move out of the way as a panda of all things came to hang momentarily in the position she had been in.

#Hello# The white and black creature wrote on a wooden sign before gravity took over. #Bye then#

"That's different." One of her eyebrows rose, watching the panda fall back through the hole. Casting a spell to hide her presence, she went down to investigate.

Sitting down on the edge of the hole, she found three females, the panda, and a very old man who had shriveled down into a small gnome. One was dressed in a conservative dress with an apron, she was the eldest. Mara shivered at this one, instantly seeing this girl as another Belldandy, although with a delightful hint of dark emotions. There was another in a blue school dress with short hair. This one had some promise, a lot of anger and jealousy. The last was a girl in a red shirt and black pants with her hair tied back in a pigtail.

'She seems familiar.' Rubbing at her chin, the clothing and hair was certainly a dead match for that boy. 'Hmm.' Magic was hanging around the girl and the panda. Holding her arm out sideways with her palm pointing upwards, in a burst of black flames a red folder appeared in her hand. Flipping through the pages in the span of five seconds, she let the file dissolve into ash that vanished into the air.

'Jusenkyo huh? I can have some fun with that.' Laughing maniacally, all heads down below looked up but failed to see her. 'Oops.' Thankfully they all got over her laughter with a shrug.

Seeing that they were once again distracted, she pointed her index finger at the boy turned girl and gathered a small amount of pishogue. 'Oh I can have some fun with you.' A small red bullet shaped chunk of magic hit the cursed girl. She stood up straight, no doubt feeling the energy quickly play across her skin like static electricity, causing her to shiver slightly before it was over.

X x x x x x

'Eh? What was that?' Ranma looked around, wondering why it had felt like bugs had just crawled up her spine. Shrugging, she went back to what she had been doing since the feeling had past.

#Get dressed boy! Time to go!# Genma appeared suddenly behind her wearing his pack. He grabbed her around the waist and started to run through the house with her dangling from his arm to the side.

"What are you running from?" She demanded

#You don't know the true horror of the Master's wrath!#

"True horror? Keh." Ranma kneed her father in the back with enough force for him to release her just as they were to exit the main gate. Landing nimbly nearby, she ran a hand slowly through her bangs towards the back of her head. "Like I'm scared of that old freak."

The gate exploded in towards them, and a dozen men carrying food trays piled through. "Fifty pork cutlet over rice for Saotome Genma."

"One hundred orders of sushi." Another man indicated.

"Twenty orders of tempura noodles." A third added.

"What the?" Ranma backed away with her father. They were saved when a group of women trampled the men.

"We demand to know where Saotome Ranma is!" The woman in the front yelled in her face, nods and chorused cries echoed from the wall of females.

"Wha－ wha－ wha－ wha?" Ranma stuttered, stumbled to fall backwards on one knee. A cascade of hot water came down on her head, and she cried out in pain from the heat.

"Here he is!" Happosai cackled as he bounded away from her reach.

'Wait a minute.' Ranma glanced down and found that she was indeed still a she. Happosai had even stopped bouncing around to notice this.

"Where is he?" One of the women held out a piece of paper claiming that Ranma had stolen her panties.

"He didn't do it!" Ranma stood up proudly and pointed at aged martial artist. "It was that pervert Happosai!" As one the group of women turned to look at the ancient man who's eyes shot nervously around the group that had suddenly surrounded him.

"You wouldn't hurt an old man, would you? Pretty ladies?" Happosai questioned meekly, his facade of innocence being destroyed by the pink pair of panties sticking out of his gi top.

"GET HIM!" The group yelled.

Ranma watched with satisfaction as the old man got his just deserts, pointedly ignoring how her father was being pestered to pay for the food, and a trio of men attempting to drag him off to the zoo. She even laughed a little bit, before realizing that hot water hadn't turned her male. 'Uh oh.' Running into the house, she slid into the kitchen and hit the water heater next to the sink. Turning the bendable hose to flow over her head, the cool water triggered the curse, and she became a he.

'It flipped?' He wondered briefly before the hot water finally kicked in and he was once again a female. "Oh you gotta be kidding me!"

X x x x x x

"ARGH!" Mara clutched her head and spun in the air briefly. "That didn't work at all!" In fact she had actually helped the pigtailed nuisance who had been able to direct his beating, which had been so conveniently caused by a human, back at that same human. Taking a deep breath, she would have to fix her hex in a bit, but now, she had to enlist the aid of this delightfully evil human who was a living bruise below. Dropping her presence mask, she floated down to stand within arm's reach of the human.

"Oi." She nudged him with her foot. "You still alive?" It wouldn't do for her new playtoy to be broken already. The old man's eyes popped open, and his head rose to track her body from foot to head. In a flash he was up and standing, looking completely healed, and with his eyes wide.

"HOTCHA!" The gnome cried out, latching on to her chest to nuzzle and grope her body. Screeching girlishly, she bashed the human on the head, his body being embedded a meter into the ground from the force. Breathing heavily, she shivered in disgust, wondering if this was a human at all, or some type of sex imp.

"Well, he's dead now." She shrugged and floated up to the roof of the two story building. "ACK!" Waiting on the top was the perverted old man calmly smoking a pipe.

"A Demon eh?" The man mused, puffing on the pipe. "It's been some time since I met one of you."

"So you aren't just a perverted fool." She gave a short barking laugh. "I'd ask if you wanted something, but I'm sure you got more contracts than I could count tacked on to your hide."

"Oh please could you make it so Ranma-chan wore these?" He pulled out a pair of black, very lacy, lingerie.

'What a moron.' She smiled. "Terms Accepted." Snapping her fingers, the lingerie vanished from the old pervert's hands. "Better hurry, he may take them off."

Watching the old man vanish into the home, she hoped the next contract she could make would be for something more difficult. All the energy that Happosai would have spent to accomplish his desire now went to the Demon side. The Norn's no doubt had already granted an untold number of wishes, and just with their presence would tip the scales.

X x x x x x

Sitting around the low table in the living room, Ranma had just explained to Genma, and the Tendo's, what he thought had happened to his curse. That being the water temperature needed to change forms had switched. Ranma got over it fairly quickly, baths would have to be taken as a girl, but he could actually go for a swim now as a guy. Though bathhouses were probably something he would avoid now. Then again with Happosai around, all the bathhouses would likely close soon. He was just weighing the pros and cons of having the trigger flipped, when he felt his clothes vanish to be replaced by something that didn't cover nearly as much.

"Ranma what are you wearing?" Akane screeched at him.

Looking down, Ranma recognized that it was a bra and panties, thong panties he amended, and neither of the two items were remotely comfortable. "These are definitely not mine." He commented, noticing that Kasumi, Soun, Akane, Nabiki, and his father were staring at him with a myriad of looks. Well not Kasumi, she had only gaped before looking away.

"Ranma-chan!" Happosai's voice cried out before Ranma found his chest being squeezed by the perverted gnome.

"Ya get a good grope you old freak?" Ranma yelled and hit Happosai off of him.

"But－ but－ but－ but－." Happosai repeated staring at him in horror. "It was supposed to be Ranma-chan!" He cried out dramatically.

"Stupid old freak, this is your fault?" Ranma lined up and punted the pervert out through the open door next to the living room.

"Ranma quit being perverted and get some clothes on!" Akane hit him with something from behind, sending him flying into the koi pond.

Sputtering he sat up in the water. "You stupid tomboy! You think I want to be dressed like this?"

"Why else would you be standing around showing off your bra and panties?" Akane yelled back.

"Stupid tomboy!"

"Crossdresser!"

"You're just angry that I fill this out better than you!" Ranma cupped at his breasts before pausing. 'Oh crap I'm male now.' He crossed his arms over his chest. "Even as a guy."

"DIE!" Akane threw a stone statue that hit him in the face.

X x x x x x

Smiling maliciously, Mara watched as the pigtailed boy left the home, a large traveling pack strapped to his shoulders. 'Oh he is stubborn.' She noted, apparently the small pervert had expect Ranma to bow and apologize for some offense. When the boy had refused, the two older sisters had kicked him out.

Following from ten meters above the boy, she wondered if more chaos would happen with him this night. The demon CD would be safe back at the human domicile, in fact it was safer without her there at the moment. Because if the Norns showed up they would focus on her, not the disc.

Picking some imaginary gunk from underneath her fingernails, she also had to punish that perverted little troll some more for his affront to her, Mara, demon first class unlimited! Shivering, she could still remember the touch of those tiny little hands on her breasts. Oh yes, there would be hell to pay for that little imp.

Floating down to land near the human, who had started to pile some wood for a fire in a conveniently placed vacant lot, she snapped her fingers, the wood burst into flame with a flash before settling down into a comfortably sized fire. The boy jumped back, saw her, and then got into a fighting stance.

"Back again demon? You the one that's been screwing with me?"

"Me? I've done no such thing. I'm just here to discuss some good ol fashioned vengeance on that perverted old man." She redirected his attention. Other than the flipping the curse trigger, she hadn't done a single thing to him.

"The old freak? Why would you care about him? Shouldn't you like people like that?"

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm a demon, it's my job. But first and foremost I'm a woman. I'm sure you understand how a girl might feel at such treatment."

"I aint wishin for nothing." The boy looked at her suspiciously. "If that's what you're tryin to get me to do."

"Ugh, this is the perfect reason too wish for something.' She groaned. "No need to wish. Just a simple and temporary alliance."

"Yea well I already got a plan to get back at him." Ranma smiled confidently, with just a hint of malice.

"Do you now?"

"Ranma." A human girl asked, bundled up with mittens and a scarf wrapped around her face while carrying a paper bag and thermos.

"Oh, hey Akane." The boy greeted, nervously at Mara as the short haired girl knelt down next to the fire.

"You're not going to cry yourself to sleep are you?" Akane asked.

"Hell no!" Ranma protested before glancing curiously between Akane and herself. "Wait, you aren't going to ask who she is?"

"Who, who is?" Akane asked, glancing around.

"Her." Ranma pointed a finger at Mara.

"Ranma, there's no one there. Are you sure you're alright?"

"You're the only one who can see me." Mara laughed at the confused human. Floating up into the air, she reclined herself to content herself until the girl left.

"Oh－ nevermind." Ranma waved his hand quickly. "So what do you have there?"

"Porkbuns and some tea." Akane handed the items to the boy.

"Thanks. But don't worry about me, I got a plan for that old freak."

"So what's your plan?"

Ranma pulled his pack over and started to dig through the interior, before pulling out a small spice packet. "With this!" He announced. "It's something I picked up from an herbalist in China, you think you can sew some of it into the old man's clothes?"

"What's it do?" Akane asked, taking the packet from him. "Women repellent?"

"The old guy I got it from said it's an herb that produces a scent that drives women away, just has to be activated by body heat."

'Wow that's a good idea!' Mara commented, nodding in approval while not having her own. 'Crap I'll have to think up one quick.' Having read Happosai file, Ranma had targeted one of his few weaknesses, he was for lack of a better term a female ki vampire. At least this showed that the boy's dark side could be brought out. Maybe if she pushed him hard enough he would come up with something truly evil to wish for.

"You in Akane?" Ranma asked the girl.

"Well I'm not sure it will work, but that old lech deserves whatever he can get."

Mara smirked, this area was just filled with individuals that she could get contracts from. This Akane girl was jealous, angry, and a host of wonderful other emotions. Considering just the humans this Ranma knew, she could easily counter Belldandy and Urd's presence on Midgard up to this point in just a few days.

"Well good night Ranma. I better head back." Akane stood up, placing the packet into her jacket pocket.

"See ya." Ranma waved at the girl.

'Hmm.' Mara could see the feint stirrings of sickly romance between the two. Certainly something she would have to break if she wanted a wish that this boy was capable of. Hopefully not the end of the world, they needed humans after all. But something that would cause a lot of grief would be wonderful.

"So what were you planning to do?" Ranma asked when Akane was out of earshot.

"Oh me? Uh－ uh－ uh－ I know, I'll curse him so that any bra or panty will burn him. It's an oldie but a goodie." She snickered cruelly.

"Ya know, for a demon, you're not that bad."

"Hey now! I'm plenty bad, in fact being a first class demon means I'm one of, if not the baddest!"

"Whatever."

X x x x x x

Ranma awoke the next morning when something struck him in the face and stayed there. Not sensing it as an attack, he opened up his eyes to see that it was a black clothed arm that was currently positioned over his mouth. Tracing back to it's source, he found that Marller had shoved herself in his sleeping bag. Crying out in surprise, he vanished from the sleeping bag to appear on the far side of the tent.

"What are you doing!" He yelled at her.

"Mhwa?" She asked, waking up.

"Why are you in here?" He reiterated.

"It was cold outside." She answered.

"So then find somewhere else to sleep!"

"Stop yelling." She rubbed at her eyes.

"Then get out of my tent!" He pointed towards the exit. 'Oh man if Akane saw that I was sleeping with a demon? If anybody found me sleeping with a demon!'

"Nah, it's cold out there." Marller snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag.

"Gah!" He grabbed some clothes and ducked out of the tent, knowing that no good could come from being even near the demon right now.

He ended up wearing an extra layer of clothing, but considering the cool weather they were having, it worked out well. Now all he had to do was hope that Akane had been able to sew some of the incense on to Happosai's clothing, and his revenge would be unavoidable. Stopping by the Tendo home, he kept himself out of sight, and found that Akane was finishing up the job in the living room. Snickering as he peaked over the outside wall, he hoped that the stuff actually worked.

"Time for my daily girl hunt!" Happosai cheered, hopping out of the home.

'I think this is the first time I actually wanted him to go out and be a perverted old troll.' Puling himself up on the wall, he headed off over the roofs to keep track of his plan and enjoy the show.

X x x x x x

"This is fun." Mara floated above the action, enjoying the show as the humans battled that perverted little bastard. During the chaos, she had fixed her hex on his Jusenkyo curse so that it would activate in the worst possible way.

Without access to touching females, Happosai was now nothing more than a frail doll being put into a package to be sent to some remote location. Unfortunately the human boy she was working on was having second thoughts about doing away with the pervert. Hiding herself from everyone but him, she quickly floated down to his side.

"Why the second thoughts? Didn't you want to punish the pervert?" She asked him. "Why stop now? He certainly won't ever stop."

Ranma had an intense look of concentration on his face. "I can't do it." He snarled and stole the package the two older men had put Happosai in.

Narrowing her eyes into dangerous little slits, she didn't like this honorable streak at all. As much fun as the humans were here, she did want to get this over with, and deal with the Norns. She had a feeling that Ranma would give her a truly great wish, the feeling leading her to believe that it might even tip the scales in their favor. 'I guess I'll have to turn up the heat.'

X x x x x x

Arriving in Nifelheim through a gate, Mara brushed some of her blonde locks out of her face. "Feels good to be home." She had no time to take in the floating spires or wonderful sights of Hild's palace and the surrounding citadel, she had to go see a very specific demon. Teleporting herself outside of his home, she grimaced at the smell of chemicals, dirt, and unidentifiable components.

The home itself was a castle like structure, made from heavy gray-blue stone, with a single tower in the center of the square building that housed a giant smoke stack currently billowing out a large plume. Walking up to the solid wood door, she used the iron knocker to alert him to her presence. It took nearly a minute for the door to open.

"Mara." The short dark red haired demon wiped at his nose. His hair was short and stuck up straight like a brush, he had a hawkish face with a large nose, and bushy red eyebrows to match his long beard. His demon marks were hexagons, and his clothing made him look like a blacksmith.

"Fulcanelli." She greeted. "How nice to see you."

"Can't say the same."

"I came to ask for a favor."

"I remember the last time you came here for a favor. I was demoted for it."

"Eh heh heh heh." She laughed nervously. "What if I told you this time it would be different?"

"Then I would have to ask why you think I'm stupid? A screw up like you coming up with a good idea?"

"You're so funny Fulcanelli." Mara tried to be nonchalant. "But right now I'm working on this case that's going to cause a whole lot of grief on Midgard. Enough to cancel out everything that those damn Norn's have done. Hild-sama will be so proud of this that I'm sure I could get you reinstated again."

Fulcanelli ran his fingers through his beard. "And if it fails, there's no mention of my involvement?"

"It won't fail." She reaffirmed.

"Alright－ get in here before anyone sees you and tell me what you need."

X x x x x x

Eating some snacks at the table in the living room with his legs under the kotatsu, Ranma glared at the back of Happosai, which still had that ugly pig Akane sewed on it. Nabiki, Kasumi, and Akane were also sitting around the table, the two elder sisters were trying to figure out what happened since neither Ranma or Akane felt like talking about it. The adventure of the last two days appeared to be over, and Happosai was repeatedly watching a tape of the news report that showed him and Genma as a panda turning into Godzilla sized giants before collapsing in exhaustion. (2)

"That was fun training, eh Ranma?" The old pervert didn't glance away from the television.

"That wasn't training." He glowered.

"Excuse me, I'm so sorry to intrude." A strangely familiar feminine voice called down the hall, making everyone in the room turn towards the doorway.

"But you're right here." Akane looked at him.

"What do you mean I'm right here?" He asked, noticing the figure that stepped into view. It was his girl form, dressed in a strange but demure dress with her hair unbound. The basic dress was green but it had white straps and shawl that made it look like it was out of some fantasy story. There was also two obvious differences that Ranma noticed immediately. She had cat ears on top of her head and a tail could be seen waving behind her.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but I didn't know what to do or where to go." The girl bowed her head and held her hands in front of her hips, gripping her tail.

"Oh my." Kasumi summarized, looking between him and the clone.

"Oh my." Ranma parroted, trying to decide whether to scream and run away, or to get hit himself in the head as hard as he could to make this vision go away.

X x x x x x

"Would you like to sit down?" Kasumi offered the strange Ranma copy.

"Thank you." The cat girl answered, kneeling next to the table, and being sure to smooth out her dress while doing so.

"How about the obvious, who are you?" Nabiki asked.

"I'm－ Ranma－ but not really." The girl fidgeted with some of the fabric of her dress. "I remember everything but－ I just know I'm different."

"Really?" The real Ranma remarked in a very rude tone, causing the new girl to wince.

"Where did you come from?" Akane asked in a caring voice after slapping Ranma on the back of the head.

"I woke up a half hour ago in a vacant lot. I don't know how I got there or remember anything from before that other than his memories." She answered, the cat ears on top of her head drooping to the side. "This is the only place I could think to go."

"That's horrible." Kasumi covered her mouth.

"I hate to be so forward, but could I impose upon you to stay here until I'm able to find out why I exist?"

"Of course you can stay as long as you want." Happosai bounced on to the table in front of the girl and pulled a bra out from his gi. "All that you would have to do is wear this little number."

"This is not time for your crap old man." Ranma punch the old man on top of the head and then proceeded to quickly tie him up, and gag him. "Honestly." He said in a huff and sat back down. "You can stay in my room." He offered.

"Yea right Ranma, she's obviously a girl, she shouldn't stay in a room with two guys." Akane countered.

"I'm not letting some creepy cat me that shows up out of my sight." Ranma shot back at Kasumi's youngest sister.

"If it will stop the conflict." The new Ranma spoke up. "I know neither Ranma or Genma would do anything inappropriate to me so I am more than happy to accept his offer."

"Well alright." Akane looked like she wanted to protest but seemed to rationalize it away quickly.

"Akane, maybe you could give her something to sleep in?" Kasumi suggested, hoping that her little sister would help with the situation rather than cause problems.

"That would be a huge help." The cat Ranma picked at some of her dress. "This doesn't seem like it would be good to sleep in."

"Alright." Akane answered.

X x x x x x

Sitting with his arms crossed in his usual red pajamas, Ranma watched the strange copy unroll a futon next to his own. She was also in similar pajamas though they were Akane's and were yellow with small ducks all over them. Genma was sleeping as a panda, still too drained from his show against Happosai earlier. Watching his copies tail twitch back and forth, a shiver ran up his body. The only thing that truly stopped him from freaking out was that she didn't look like a housecat so the phobia didn't kick in.

'Man this is weird.' Seeing his girl form in the mirror usually felt weird enough, but to see someone else with it?

"It's strange for me too." She spoke up when done and tried to scratch nervously behind her ear in the normal human location before realizing her error and putting it back down at her side. She dropped with a soft thump to her knees facing him on the futon.

"Strange isn't the word I would use." He looked away with a frown. "You're probably some trick sent from Marller."

"I agree." She bowed her head. "I'm very sorry if I am, I don't want to be."

"Ugh－ stop that."

"Stop what?" She asked innocently.

"Being so agreeable and nice. If you got all my memories you should be acting more like me."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I just don't think that's proper."

"Whatever."

"We should get some sleep; it would help us be prepared if Marller shows up again." The cat girl smiled serenely and Ranma couldn't help but superimpose Kasumi's similar smile overtop of the girl.

"If she doesn't show up in my bed again." He mumbled and climbed under the covers.

"Yes that would be very rude of her." His copy reached out and turned off the light before she got under her own blanket.

'This keeps getting creepier, she's like me but mixed with Kasumi.' Finding that she was laying towards him, he flipped over so his vision was blocked by the side of a panda.

X x x x x x

Ranma awoke early and left the real Ranma and Genma to sleep. Out in the hallway she found that Kasumi had also just woken up. The ears on the top of her head twitched slightly, angling themselves towards the eldest Tendo's foosteps. The cat additions to her body were strange and alien to her, all her memories said that she was for the most part male who had recently been cursed to turn into a female. Except she had no desire to be male and she doubted that hot water would make her one.

"Good morning." She greeted.

"Good morning." Kasumi returned her greeting.

"Are you going to make breakfast?"

"I was."

"Would you mind if I helped?"

"That would be nice." Kasumi answered as they went down the steps. "Oh dear, what is it that I should call you? Ranma?"

"I would like Ranma, but I know that would cause confusion. Last night I was trying to figure it out and came up with Kagami. It seems to be fitting, since I'm a type of mirror to the real Ranma." It was a sad name in a way because she wasn't a real being, just some copy.

"It's a lovely name." Kasumi seemed to notice her melancholy. "And you said you know everything that Ranma does?" The eldest Tendo asked while handing her an apron.

"I do." She nodded, tying the apron on. "Don't worry, Ranma knows how to cook."

"Really? I didn't think he would know how."

"Could you imagine fa－ Genma cooking?" She stopped herself from calling Genma, father. "Or doing any other housework?" She quickly added to hide her sadness, throwing in a soft giggle.

"I never thought about it." Kasumi shared a laugh with her.

"So what would you like me to do?" She asked helpfully.

"Could you grab the eggs from the fridge?" The eldest Tendo suggested, digging in a cupboard for a frying pan.

"Right away Oneesan." She froze, realizing she had just slipped up again. But when Kasumi didn't say anything or react in anyway, she smiled, and opened the refrigerator.

X x x x x x

Genma, in panda form, sat down at the table, ready to go out in the yard and start eating the trees he was so hungry. He had been confused over the third futon on his and Ranma's room, but since no one was in it, he didn't think too hard on it. Soun came in a moment later, having already retrieved this morning's newspaper from outside. Ranma in female form appeared to be helping Kasumi with breakfast today. Not that strange a thing really and considering Akane's cooking, Ranma would likely have to cook or die.

#What's with the ears boy?# He asked, noticing the cat ears poking out from the top of the girl's head.

"Oh." Ranma reached up to tug on the right ear before kneeling down next to the table. "I should really introduce myself." Genma noticed that there was a tail that went along with the ears. "I'm not sure what I am but I seem to be a clone of Ranma." She bowed her head.

"Another mystery solved." Soun went back to reading his newspaper.

#You any good at the art?# He asked, also getting over the oddity of a catgirl Ranma. Surely the answer to this would appear soon enough, no reason to worry.

"Well I do have all of his memories so I know everything he does. But I abhor violence and I have no interest in the art." She answered him just as the real Ranma was walking in. At hearing the last part, Ranma faceplanted heavily into the floor.

#That's too bad# He signed, honestly he didn't like the thought of such potential being wasted. A clone of Ranma with all that experience would be a good sparring partner for the boy at least.

"You mean you have all my memories but you don't want to practice martial arts?" Ranma demanded rudely.

"Correct." The catgirl nodded. "And I find it strange that such a vulgar thing could be called an art."

Genma's eyebrows rose at that remark. #Boy is this true?# He signed to his real child.

"Why are you asking me?" Ranma frowned at him.

#If she's you then you're her#

"Stupid old man! She just looks like me!"

"Sheesh Ranma could you keep it down at least a little in the morning?" Nabiki remarked, entering the room with Akane.

"Good morning." The copy of Ranma greeted the pair. "Now that everyone is here, I would like to ask you to refer to me as Kagami to avoid confusion between Ranma and I."

"Mirror? You're almost as inventive as Akane." Nabiki joked.

"Oh shut up Nabiki." Akane hissed before smiling at the new girl. "It's a very nice name."

"Thank you." Kagami bowed her head and stood up. "I should get back to helping Oneesan with breakfast."

"Creepy." Ranma commented as soon as the girl was gone, earning a slap on the back of the head by Akane.

"Don't be an idiot. You should take some lessons from her, she's respectful, she helps out, and even though she's stuck with your memories she's not a complete jerk."

"Hey! What's wrong with my memories?" Ranma got right up in Akane's face.

"Words fail me."

"Uncute tomboy."

"Macho jerk."

X x x x x x

After getting changed for school, Ranma found his copy sitting at the table, already having finished helping to clean up after breakfast. She had discarded the apron and only had on Akane's pajamas. Her cat ears had swiveled slightly towards him when he had stopped in the doorway to lean against one of the sliding doors, so she knew that he was here.

"You going to sit around in pajamas all day?"

"Excuse me?" She asked, turning herself to face him.

"Come on." He walked in and grabbed her wrist. "You're going to school." He informed her and started to drag her from the room to head upstairs.

"School? But I can't go to school." She protested, clearly not strong enough to resist him.

"Yea well, until I figure out if you're just some evil copy, I'm going to keep an eye on you." In his room, he started to dig through his clothing drawer.

"But school?"

"Nobody will care." He knew enough about Furinkan that any craziness would be quickly accepted by the student body, and they would quickly get on with their lives. "Here." He handed her an old teal Chinese shirt and gray pants. "Smallest stuff I got."

She stared at the clothes for a moment. "I know, but why can't I wear the dress I woke up in yesterday?"

"That whole abhor violence thing isn't going to work if Kuno catches you." He answered, figuring the implication of having to fight off the crazed kendoist in that big dress would be an issue.

"But I can't fight."

"Oh come on, you know all that I do, you said it yourself."

"I know it but that doesn't mean I can do it. You've trained your body to be strong, I've never trained a day in my life. I haven't even been alive a single day." She clutched the clothing to her chest, clearly distressed. "If someone tried to fight me I'd just be hurt."

"Either way, no clone of me is going to be going around in some big weird dress." It was one of the reasons he thought that Marller had sent her here. That dress was too similar in style to what Marller wore and the timing too coincidental.

She glanced towards the dresser and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Well－ if I'm going to wear this, could I at least use that sports bra you got for working at the Nekohanten."

Ranma quirked his mouth to one side, inspecting his copy. That piece of clothing had been purchased when Cologne had applied the cat's tongue pressure point, and he had been working there to get the phoenix pill. That problem never seemed to come up when he could switch back and forth, but bouncing around all day in Cologne's shop day in and day out had gotten painful.

"Guess you do have all my memories." Nothing she had said before couldn't have been found out by a dedicated observer. But only he and Kasumi, who he had asked to wash the garment after he no longer had use for it, knew about that. This situation scared him more than he would ever admit. Kagami, as she had named herself, knew everything he did, and the idea that someone would know every fear and hope that he ever had was disturbing.

Finding the sports bra, a simple pull over one that was more of a tight tank top than anything else, that he had hidden from Happosai in another shirt he gave it to her. "Well－ get dressed."

"I can't change with you here."

"It's not like I haven't seen that body before." He shrugged. She was part cat and was otherwise a copy of his female form, seeing her naked would be no big deal, although he would be making a point to treat it like a locker room situation.

"May I please have some privacy?" She asked.

"Fine." Stepping outside, he slid the door closed.

Crossing his arms, he tried to figure out a way to deal with this situation. Obviously having some creepy catgirl live here forever was out. But he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he just threw her out on the street, especially if she was just some creation of Marller's who had no choice in the matter. But he was getting ahead of himself. Dealing with the situation at hand and maybe figuring out what the point of Kagami's existence were more important than the reaction afterwards.

X x x x x x

Kagami walked with both the real Ranma and Akane on their way to school. The two were bickering about something and a part of her wanted them to simply get along, while another part realized that this was how they got along. If they weren't making casual comments towards each other than something was wrong. It was nice to be doing this normal act with them, she may have had Ranma's memories but she didn't have any of her own, having only existed less than a day now. She had an encyclopedia of knowledge to draw from, but it wasn't her.

"Um－ excuse me." She interrupted the pair. "I have a concern."

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"If I ask to be a visitor at the school, aren't they going to ask for my surname?" Her question made the pair glance between them.

"Well everyone already knows about the curse, so why not just go as Saotome?" Akane suggested. "It'd be easier to explain that Ranma got hit by something weird that made you than anything else. But what?"

"How about a demon?" Kagami suggested halfheartedly.

"That'd work." Ranma shrugged, already suspecting like she did on why she was here, but had also decided to keep it a secret.

"So I'm Saotome Kagami and I was made by a demon. That really doesn't sound very nice." She tried out the explanation and didn't like it at all. Even if it was the only logical conclusion, she didn't want to be made by a demon. "Maybe it could just be some kind of magical mix up?"

"It would sound better." Akane agreed with her.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" A very unwanted male voice yelled at them. Kagami knew enough about Tatewaki that she quickly put Ranma between herself and him.

"Not today Kuno." Ranma told the crazy boy.

"It seems that your vile hold on the healthy pig-tailed girl has twisted her form but you have made a mistake by showing her before me for I shall now free her!" Kuno proclaimed, raising his boken above his head. Akane quickly answered that by driving the boy's face into the concrete.

"Akane I don't think you should have done that." She tried to chastise the girl.

"Why? This is Kuno, you know Kuno right?" Ranma asked her.

"Well yes－ but you should really talk through your differences with others; violence should never be your first choice." She nervously pulled at a lock of hair after noticing the strange looks from both Ranma and Akane.

"Ranma." Akane looked at the other teen. "Your clone is scaring me."

"I'm scared too."

"If you don't like what I have to say, you don't have to be so mean about it." She pouted.

X x x x x x

Keiichi glanced around the room he was stuck in, Belldandy knelt to the side, waiting with her eternal patience. Sighing, he fell backwards to lay looking up at the ceiling. Sitting up, he fell back down again, and rolled on to his side. "I've been in here for days, is this really necessary? Are you sure this Mara is even coming?"

"Well I have felt her presence but it's very far away." The goddess admitted. "But you did say that someone appeared in your dreams to curse you right?"

"That was two days ago." He whined.

Urd appeared in the doorway wearing one of her tight black dresses. "This does seem a bit excessive. Mara's not the kind of person to keep fixated on something without doing anything for this long."

"I guess you're right." Belldandy conceded and canceled the barrier she had erected.

"We should probably find the CD set that brought her to Midgard." Urd suggested, pulling both him and Belldandy into the kitchen.

"What'll that do?" He asked, trying to figure out what the two goddesses were doing. Belldandy grabbed a small wash basin and filled it with water before setting it in the middle of the floor.

"A demon needs a catalyst to come to Midgard, same with us Goddesses really. Mara's specific catalyst is a set of CDs. One that draws her and the other can seal her up for five hundred years." Urd answered.

"But that's so excessive, even for a Demon." Belldandy replied.

"Let's find them first." Urd and Belldandy held their hands spread over top of the water. "Eyes of Heaven, eyes of Earth, eyes of the Oceans, show us where the Demon Mara's catalyst lies!"

Keiichi tried to look in the water to see if it was show something like a television, but all he saw was a small pinprick of light in the center. Glancing at the two Goddesses, he found that they were looking at it like it was showing them images.

"Well it's obviously in Japan." Urd commented.

"We'll need the address." Belldandy closed her eyes briefly and there was a soft pop that signaled the appearance of a small piece of paper over the water. Before it could fall in, Urd snatched it out of the air.

"Where is it?" He asked.

"Nerima Ward." Urd handed him the paper.

"That's on the other side of Tokyo if I remember right." He scratched at the side of his face. "Road trip?" He suggested, imagining a nice long ride with Belldandy.

"That sounds wonderful." Belldandy answered.

"Hmm." Urd looked pensive about the idea. "Do you want to handle it yourself or should I come along?"

"If I can get the Gods CD then Mara won't do anything." The goddess affirmed her ability to complete the task.

"Then have fun you two." Urd smiled suggestively.

X x x x x x

Akane kept track of Ranma's clone, Kagami out of the corner of her eye. Getting her setup as a visitor was easy enough considering Furinkan's lax standards. Curiosity over her cat features remained high. All in all the clone girl seemed to fit in with anyone she talked to. As the day drew closer to lunch time, Akane was growing agitated for multiple reasons.

Kagami's demeanor was so non-threatening and pleasant that even the students who disliked Ranma were being friendly to her. 'It'd be nice if Ranma was more like her.' Any problems that she had with Ranma would evaporate if he was nicer. A small feeling of wrongness answered that thought and she quickly brushed it off.

The cat girl had also helped out with breakfast and lunches. Glancing at Ranma, she narrowed her eyes. 'I didn't know he knew how to do those things.'

Class finally ended, allowing Akane to sample some of Kagami's culinary skills. 'Oh no! This is really good!' She lamented. 'No way, absolutely no way is the real Ranma better at me than cooking too.' Akane already had to deal with jealousy over Ranma's female form's appearance, but there's no way Ranma could actually be a better girl than her.

Still fuming over the idea that Ranma might be a better cook than her, Akane noticed that even with the small crowd of students around them, Ranma and Kagami starting to act similar. Little things like how they reacted to a question, body language, and even speech. 'Well I did want him to act more like her.'

X x x x x x

"I wonder if I should have accepted that wish." Mara considered, watching as the one who summoned her started to act like his clone. Then again, having him act like that while not wanting to would make him miserable so it was all good. Invisible to humans, she floated outside the classroom watching the results of her efforts.

"Wow this is boring." She needed something interesting to happen. "I suppose I could go torture the Norns and let this play out more." Chuckling evilly, she headed off to finally retrieve the CD set. Flying over Nerima, she suddenly felt the presence of a Goddess, and was so shocked at how close this was that she fell out of the sky. "AHHH!" She screamed before landing in a dumpster.

Dragging herself out to flop over on to the concrete underneath, she didn't even want to know what she had fallen into. Picking a banana peel from off her arm, she threw it away in disgust. "Damn that Belldandy is here." Floating up off the ground, she flew off towards the home where the disc set was located, to try and beat the Norn there.

X x x x x x

Kasumi answered the door after the soft chime had echoed throughout the home. At the door she found two people. On the right was a normal looking boy around her age, maybe a year older, wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans. The real eye catcher was woman on the left with golden brown hair, strange blue tattoos on her forehead and cheeks, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a white dress for a blouse with short sleeves, and also had blue jeans on. There was something about the woman that seemed otherworldly.

"Hello, can I help you?" Kasumi asked.

"Hello, I'm Morisato Keiichi." The boy introduced. "And this is Belldandy."

"Hello." The woman greeted.

"This is going to sound really weird but has someone purchased a CD recently?"

"A CD?" She averted her eyes skyward for a second in thought. "Ranma bought one the other day." She recalled.

"It's very rude to ask, but could we see it please?" Belldandy asked. "That CD may have summoned a Demon."

"Oh my." Strange things had been happening ever since Ranma had purchased it. "Could that explain why a copy of Ranma showed up?"

"Is it a－ bad copy?" The woman asked.

"Oh no, she's very nice, both of them are at school right now. Please come in, I'll see if I can find what you're looking for." Leading the pair up the steps to the second floor, she entered into the room shared by Ranma and Genma, and began to search for the item. Normally she wouldn't act this way with strangers, but for some reason that woman seemed very trustworthy.

"It's in here." Belldandy pointed at the dresser. "May I?"

"I think it would be better if I did." Kasumi didn't go into the drawers of anyone in the household. Laundry that she did would be placed in neat piles off to the side and the person it belonged to would put it away. In the top drawer, she found that it was filled with small items, some of which looked valuable. Pulling out the only CD case, she read the label and frowned. "Why would he buy something that's called Demons CD?"

"He likely didn't." Belldandy spoke. "Demon summoning items almost always find their way to people without their intent."

"Why do you want it?" Kasumi asked.

"It's a two CD set, the Demon and the God, with the God CD I can stop the Demon." The woman answered.

"How do you know all that?" As trusting as Kasumi was being, she was not going to simply hand over something that may be used to summon Demons with.

"Because I'm a Goddess." Belldandy smiled serenely, not put off by Kasumi's demand for information.

"And you?" She turned to the boy.

"I'm just a normal guy, she's the Goddess." He answered.

"Well－ alright." She held out the CD case to be taken. "Ranma isn't in any real trouble is he?"

"That depends." Belldandy took the case from her with both hands. "On whether or not Mara has convinced him to make a wish."

X x x x x x

Kagami casually deflected another question from a boy who wanted to take her out on a date. She was flattered and insulted by their efforts. Flattered that they found her pretty or cute, insulted that they seemed to think that because she was a girl Ranma, then she was a safe target. They didn't know her and she really didn't even know herself.

Ranma himself had actually been helpful throughout the day when she had assumed that he would have been highly distrustful of her. Instead they were getting along great, almost like old friends really. Considering that she knew him in a way no one else could, it wasn't all that surprising. Though he did seem to be acting differently, more like her actually.

She had just excused herself to head to the restroom when the glass behind her exploded, and a strong arm grabbed her around the waist. Crying out, she was forcibly pulled back through the window, and out into empty space. Finding herself floating three stories above the ground, she squirmed around in an attempt to find a way to get a hold of her kidnapper.

"Oh shut up you stupid clone." Marller yelled at her as they slowly started to float downwards towards the ground.

"Marller!" She ceased her struggles, finding the blonde woman with red markings on her face not even looking at her. Instead she was looking back towards the room where Ranma had leapt out of the window to land on the ground.

"Let her go!" Ranma ran towards them.

"Ah ah ah!" Marller released her waist to grab her around the neck before holding up her free hand to the side of her head. Kagami couldn't see, but a bright red light was coming from Marller's hand. "Stay right there or I'm going to end this golem's life."

"Golem?" Kagami asked.

"I had you made just for him, a nice little copy who could make him crawl up the wall." The blonde laughed cruelly.

"What do you want Marller?" Ranma demanded.

"Just a wish." Marller answered. "And call me Mara, Marller is such a mouthful in today's language."

"Why do you want me to wish so badly?" Ranma's eyes darted between Kagami and Mara's faces.

"Because you summoned me and I know you're going to give me a good one. Unfortunately those damn Norns are getting involved so I can't wait for you to do it on your own. Which makes getting this little golem made worthless. But if you make a wish then she can go free."

"That's it? All you want is a wish? I already wished for you to go away."

"If you're not going to make a good wish I'm just going to erase this waste of a favor." Mara tightened her arm around Kagami's neck. "Right in front of you."

Kagami closed her eyes as tears began to flow. She now knew the truth of her existence and she really was just a thing created by a Demon to help torture someone into making a wish. The sound of an explosion made her open her eyes to see Mara's free hand extended forwards, a two meter wide crater now directly in front of him in the concrete. Ranma had jumped over the attack and was now descending towards them. Mara's hand glowed and Ranma froze in his position in midair. Ranma blinked several times, pedaling his arms and legs in an attempt to move.

"I said not to move." Mara laughed again. "What do you think you can do against me? I'm a Demon first class unlimited! I could vaporize this town with a stray thought."

Ranma fumed, still stuck hanging above the ground. "But if I wish you can't just turn it down."

"As long as you make a selfish wish."

"Fine." Ranma got into a sitting position and propped his head up with his hand. Looking behind the floating teen, Kagami saw that most of the class had followed them outside, Akane at the front.

"About time." Mara tightened her arm around Kagami's neck again.

"I wish－ I had the ability to stop people like you." Ranma's face became one of smug satisfaction." How do you like that?"

"I like it just fine." Mara answered and released her. Putting as much distance as she could from the Demon, Kagami ran over to stand behind Akane. "Wish granted." The red marks on Mara's face started to glow so bright they were blinding. Lightning struck Ranma and in a flash he was gone. Kagami was thrown back from Akane when she exploded in a bright red light.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Mara glanced over her shoulder before flying off at high speed over the school building.

"Ranma always attracts the weird people." One student remarked.

"Where'd they go?" Kagami asked herself, her eyes tracing from Ranma's last location up to the cloudless sky where the lightning had come from.

Pulling into the schoolyard was a motorbike with a sidecar. Kagami immediately noticed that the woman in the sidecar had blue marking similar to Mara. Pulling off her helmet, the woman looked around at the assembled group. "It seems we were too late." She commented before noticing Kagami. "You wouldn't happen to be－ Ranma's clone would you?"

X x x x x x

"Where am I?" Ranma looked around at the room he found himself once that lightshow had vanished ten minutes ago. He was sitting on a simple chair made out of some hard white material. The room itself was a dome close to three meters in height formed from white triangular panels and small blue flower bulbs at all the intersection points. "Anybody there?"

He was about to stand up and try to look for a door when a girl a few centimeters shorter than himself simply walked through the wall. She had blue circles on her face in the same position that Mara had on hers, long platinum blonde hair hung down to her waist, and she had on a strange orange dress. "Hello I'm Chrono." She greeted happily while walking towards him. "I'll be your ACK!" Ranma winced as she tripped over her own feet and crashed to the floor.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered and quickly regained her feet; still smiling happily. "I'm sort of used to it."

"O－kay." Ranma didn't even think Akane was clumsy enough to be used to falling down. "Can you tell me where I am and how I can get back to Furinkan so I can kick Mara's ass?"

"Just a second." Reaching behind her back, the girl pulled out clipboard looking item and held it in front of herself. "Alright, as per the wording of your wish, that is to have the ability to stop people like you, or Demons. To complete that wish you will have to ascend and become a God."

"I can't be a God!" He hopped off the chair.

"Actually if you weren't already fated to become a God, you never would have been able to make such a wish." Chrono answered, visibly sweating over his outburst. "Al－ also, due to the requirements of the doublet system, a Demon needed to be created."

"The what?"

"The doublet system is a way to ensure no God or Demon ever takes the life of another."

"What if I don't want to be a God?" Ranma paused briefly, trying to figure out if that came with any pros and cons. Super magical powers would be a huge plus, but what did a God actually do? That could be a huge negative.

"Who wouldn't want to be a God?" Chrono asked absently. "Well I guess I told you everything I had to before the process is complete. Please have a seat." The girl bowed and quickly ran off towards where she had entered the dome. "Oh and try to relax, this may－ pinch－ a bit." She said as an afterthought.

"Hey wait!" Ranma tried to pass through the dome and smashed face first into the side. Rubbing at his face, he felt some kind of power wrap around him like what Mara did earlier, and he was forcibly picked up to be brought back to sit on the chair. "What the?" He tried to get up but found himself stuck.

The room started to hum softly, slowly beginning to rise in intensity until Ranma's whole body was vibrating. Around in the flower bulbs and the lines between them started to glow brightly. "I wonder what she meant by pinch?" He tempted fate by asking the question a moment before he found out what she was talking about.

X x x x x x

"This definitely seems like a good reason to cut school short." Nabiki commented, having followed Kagami and the two strangers back to her home. The cat girl looked broken mentally, staring forward blankly as the strange woman with facial tattoos made soothing sounds, and held her gently. Both male parental figures were out so that saved her from that headache. "Anybody want to bring me up to speed?"

"Keiichi-san could you explain? I'm going to try and call and find out what's going on." The strange woman asked the average looking guy.

"Sure Belldandy." He nodded and the woman slowly disengaged from Kagami to go for the phone. Kasumi slid over and sat next to the comatose girl in Belldandy's place. "Here's everything I know. A couple days ago your brother."

"Ranma's engaged to Akane, he's not our brother yet." Kasumi added.

"Okay, well he summoned a Demon named Mara, who appears to have been toying with him to get him to make a wish. Seems like he finally gave one at your school. I don't know any more."

"That probably explains that whole bra and thong incident the other day." She mused, hearing Belldandy talking to someone on the phone but was unable to make out the conversation. It was muffled by the wall but it also seemed to be in a different language.

"The what?" Keiichi asked.

"You'd be happier without the mental image." She answered. "Who's your girlfriend talking to?"

"Someone in Heaven probably."

"Come again?" Nabiki wanted to know she heard that correctly.

"I guess since you know about Demons then I can tell you that Belldandy is a Goddess." Keiichi answered.

"That's a new one." She commented.

"They told me that earlier." Kasumi informed her.

"And she can call Heaven from our telephone?" Nabiki was skeptical about that.

"She's done it before." The boy answered.

"I found out what has happened." Belldandy announced, returning to kneel next to Kagami. "Ranma's wish has resulted in him becoming a God."

"So he's alright?" Kagami asked hopefully and the Goddess nodded.

"What about Akane?" Kasumi asked.

"How should I put this? There's a system between Gods and Demons that helps to keep peace. But it requires an equal number on each side. So because Ranma became a God, someone had to become a Demon." Belldandy explained with a pleasant smile.

"A Demon in the family? Oh my." Kasumi remarked.

"Please try and understand that Demons aren't strictly evil. It's more of a job for them and us." Belldandy started before Nabiki interrupted her.

"And there isn't any way to stop all this?" Nabiki finally broke in.

"I'm afraid not. The wish was entered into the system and accepted. Both sides have decided that they'll come to live on Midgard for a time. The details on why were complicated."

"Joy, Demon Akane and God Ranma, we better find out if we can up the home insurance." Nabiki sighed.

X x x x x x

"How are you feeling?" Chrono asked him.

Laying on his back on some soft grass, Ranma slowly opened his eyes to stare at Chrono who was standing over him with a far too cheery smile on her face. "That was not a pinch." Something felt off about his body. Not in a bad way, instead it felt pleasant, like eating a well cooked meal or waking up after a nice sleep.

Sitting up, he found that his clothing had been changed. It vaguely reminded him of his usual Chinese styled clothing. The shirt was the same basic shape and color, with the bottom coming to points in front and behind but they reached down to his knees, the front down to mid chest was open, and past a belt at his waist the front hung open. His pants were white, with more fabric that seemed to be starched heavily, and were bound at the bottom above his ankles. The only thing that had stayed the same was his black slippers.

"Now where am I?" He looked around at the alien landscape around him. Buildings, fields, and trees were all mixed together. None of the buildings seemed to have any kind of structure to them and certainly no straight lines. Impossible floating structures were everywhere as well, accenting buildings, or were buildings themselves. Dominating the center of the strange city was a tall spire, a wider skirt like structure floated one third the way up the tower, and a oddly curved ring encircled it just below that.

"Welcome to Asgard!" Chrono introduced excitedly. "That big building in the center is Yggdrasil, the computer that runs reality."

"A computer?"

"You have those on Midgard right? Or something like a computer."

"Midgard? And yea we have computers."

"Midgard is the name of the third dimension. You call it Earth right?"

"I'm not on Earth?"

"No you're in Asgard, the celestial realm, the realm of the Gods. You're new home."

"Wait wait wait wait wait just a minute." He got to his feet and glared at Chrono. "This is not my home, I don't want to be a God, and I want to go back to Nerima."

"You're already a God." The girl pulled a mirror out from somewhere and allowed him to see his face.

He now had three blue marks on his face. Two crescent moons pointed to his eyes on his cheeks and an oval crescent on his forehead pointed downwards. Rubbing at them, he couldn't even tell that they were anything but normal skin. "What did you do to me?" He grabbed Chrono by the shoulders and got right in her face.

"I didn't do anything!" She answered him, closing her eyes shut tightly, and hitting him under the jaw with a powerful uppercut. Staggering backwards, he rubbed at his jaw, and filed Chorno under someone who could fight.

"Sorry." She quickly apologized, it seemed like she had done that out of instinct rather than choice. "But your wish has been filed by the system and the ultimate force is now in place saying you are to be a God."

Shaking with rage that he had become something else without any way to stop it, wind started to swirl around him, and it rapidly gained strength until Chrono had to step away. Calming down, he blinked several times as the wind rapidly died away. "What was that?"

"If you would let me explain." Chrono straightened out her dress. "You're now a third class, second category, limited God. Your domain is atmospheric pressure, which explains the wind."

"Would you quit using words I don't understand?" He stared blankly at her.

"Oh right, well third class describes your power level right now. The class system goes from three to one, with one being the strongest and most exclusive class. Most Gods and Goddesses are third class. Second category describes your license, or what you do. Since you have extensive experience with mortals, you've been assigned to Midgard to help balance out the system that you just nearly crashed."

"I what?"

"Mortal ascensions require a great deal of time and effort, because Mara granted a wish that allowed her to do two, you've effectively given the Demons majority control."

Ranma just stared at Chrono, expecting an explanation.

"Well what did you think Demons received for granting wishes? It's the same with Gods, all the time and effort it takes to accomplish something becomes energy for the side granting that desire."

"So I just gave them like a super boost of power or something?"

"Basically."

"And now I have to go help people with what they want in order to counter all that I just gave?"

"Yes."

"How long is that going to take?"

"Well－ don't think of it like that. Our purpose is to bring happiness." She tried to deflect his question, her demeanor becoming more strained from his repeated questions and demands.

"Yea right." He crossed his arms irritably.

"Sorry for the info dump, your teacher will do a better job explaining things, but right now we have to get you paired up in the doublet system. Can't have a God on Midgard who isn't in the system."

"Hold it!" He held up both hands in a time out position. "I am not going to have anything else done to me."

"Don't worry, it's just something that ensures no Demon will ever attempt to kill you."

"I don't care, let em try."

"But if you don't do it, then you can never return to Midgard, and actually I don't really know what would happen beyond that but it wouldn't be pleasant. Kami-sama would probably punish you." Chrono started to sniffle. "Why do you have to be so difficult? I'm just trying to help!" She started to cry in earnest.

Grimacing, he wondered if there was divine punishment for making a Goddess cry. "Hey I'm sorry. It's just you keep saying and doing things that I don't really know about or want to be part of." He reasoned with her, wondering why he was able to actually explain himself that well.

"Really? I'm sorry too." She stopped crying abruptly. "I guess I wasn't thinking about how you would feel."

"Well－ I'm kinda used to that." He chuckled nervously.

"But you really have to be in the doublet system. Even if you won't remember who you're paired with. All Gods and Demons are part of it, so if a person on one side kills another, they risk killing themselves."

Working through what little information she had given him on it, the system seemed almost like something out of the Joketsuzoku. You kill me and it kills you. Then again it did seem like a good system to keep Demons in line.

"So I wouldn't even remember it and it would let me go back to Earth?" He asked and Chrono nodded. "What happens if the Demon I'm stuck with dies from something natural?"

"Natural death?" Chrono asked cluelessly.

"Ya know, body quits, old age, heart attack? Maybe just hit by a car or something random?" He explained, not wanting to die because he got paired up with some clumsy Demon who liked to go skydiving without a parachute.

"Oh! Don't worry about that, you're both immortal, and accidents like that can't kill one of us. There hasn't been a reported incident of the doublet system being activated outside of one case when it was first put in place."

"Fine, if it gets me back to Earth."

X x x x x x

Ranma stepped off the last step and put his foot back on the ground, already having forgotten who his doublet was. From the point he took the first step up the curved staircase to the platform to a moment ago when he stepped off was a complete blank. Honestly he thought he needed to turn around and go back up if it wasn't for Chrono instantly dragging him off.

Letting the clumsy girl lead the way, he didn't notice the strange structures around him, being too engrossed in thought. He didn't know who, but he was now linked to someone in life and death. It wouldn't be so bad if he knew who it was. Not knowing did make sense when he considered the purpose of the system. If it came to it, he wouldn't be killing any demons because he might be killing himself. It would still take a while to get used to. All of this was so sudden. He really didn't think he was cut out to be a God, though Chrono didn't seem to be either.

"Trust me." Chrono stopped him from walked past a doorway. "The odds that your doublet will be killed are so remote that they don't exist."

"Yea well if I did I'm holding you personally responsible and I'll haunt you forever." He warned. "Hey wait, if you're a Goddess, you should know how death works or something. What happens when you die? Do I have to start helping dead people?"

"No, that's an automated system except for a couple Gods and Demons who have the job of keeping them working. Souls are reincarnated a set amount of times. Depending on the karma they have built up over those lifetimes, they are either accepted into a Valhalla or Folkvangr. Valhalla is rather pleasant while those in Folkvangr have to go through trials until their karma is clean, and then they can enter Valhalla."

"That's it? What do they do in Valhalla?"

"Honestly I don't know." Chrono admitted. "I guess they just kind of exist. You'd have to ask Freya for the details."

"I think I'm good with just what you said."

Entering into a doorway into the Yggdrasil tower, he came face to face with a floating woman behind a complex pattern of symbols and celtic knots. She was position on the top of the symbol, with large streamers of fabric flowing out from behind the center of a circle at the center of the pattern. Printed on the streamers were strange characters that he could somehow read, and he understood that they were a program of some sort. The only clothing he could see were huge black sleeves that trailed down to the bottom of the symbol.

"Hello." The woman greeted.

"Ranma, this is the gate to Midgard. She's a program." Ranma glanced around the rest of the dome shaped room, finding tunnels that went upwards from the center of the ceiling and downwards from the same spot on the floor.

"But she looks like a person." Ranma couldn't see if there was anything behind the magical symbol.

"There really isn't much difference but your teacher will talk about that." Chrono told him before addressing the floating woman. "Could you please recognize Ranma as a user?"

"Of course." Around the symbols big circle were four smaller ones that started to glow with a blue light. "User recognized, God third class, second category, limited Ranma. You are now free to pass through the gate."

"How do I do that?" He asked, wanting to get back to Earth as soon as possible.

"You'll have to fly." Chrono answered. "Just will yourself to float to start."

"Float, I can do that." Smirking, he willed himself upwards. Shooting like a rocket into the ceiling, he crashed to the floor with a pained yelp.

"Looks like you tried to do too much." Chrono told him like he needed his error pointed out.

Six tries later, he was able to keep himself under control without becoming a rocket. Flying through the main circle of the symbol with Chrono leading the way, he entered into a round psychedelic tunnel that seemed to never end. A repeating pattern of a circle with six triangles pointing was the only indication that there was any kind of path. The end came so suddenly that he nearly embedded himself into the lawn of the Tendo home, but was able to merely fall awkwardly on his face.

Chrono hadn't had a problem and stood casually over him, inspecting the home. "So this is Midgard. Such strange construction."

"You call this strange?" He asked incredulously, regaining his feet in an instant. After the absurd buildings he had just been witness to, how could she call this strange? Four power sources grabbed at his attention. Two were impossibly strong, the third was weaker but still tremendously powerful, and the fourth wasn't really all that strong.

He had no time to wonder who they were before the outer door to the home burst open and Akane stormed out. She was wearing dark red dress with black accents; it looked vaguely like a sundress, and seemed to be far more sexual than anything he thought the youngest Tendo would ever wear.

"You!" She pointed a finger at him. Her face now had red markings, two diamonds next to her eyes, and teardrop on the center of her forehead.

"What happened to you?" He wondered.

"Because of you I'm a Demon!" She grabbed him by the front of the shirt and hauled him up off the ground. "You and that wish!" Akane started to shake him violently back and forth.

"Oh－ OH!" He grimaced. "It's not my fault." He said weakly. "It's Mara's."

Akane stopped shaking him to think that over.

"She's the one that forced me into making a wish." He added, seeing a crack in Akane's mental armor.

"Don't listen to this God, student." Mara appeared next to them.

"Mara!" He snarled, breaking Akane's hold in an instant, he had Mara laying face first on the ground, with her right arm locked in a painful position above her. "Why are you here?" He applied pressure to her arm, making the Demon cry out in pain.

"As much fun as it is to see Mara get what's coming to her, this home has been declared a neutral area." Ranma looked up to find a bronze skinned woman with long white hair down almost to her knees. On her face were three blue triangles as well as an amused smirk. Ranma gulped at the revealing dark purple minidress she was wearing. "Hey Chrono." The woman waved to the Goddess.

"Hi Urd!" The clumsy girl returned the greeting. "Ranma, this is your instructor. Urd, second class, administrative, limited."

"What do you mean neutral area?" He asked, not letting Mara go, and being watchful for any kind of magic. As for her being his instructor, she was certainly powerful enough for it. Cologne and Happosai paled in comparison.

Urd sighed. "Kami-sama and the Daimakaicho agreed that since Mara, the perpetual screw up that you're holding on to, purposely went out of her way to have your wish be two mortal ascensions, then it would only be fair for you to live on Midgard for a time. Since you both have to be taught, they needed a neutral spot where there would be no overt fighting." (3)

"So she's going to be around here all the time?" He released Mara and fell to the grass in a sitting position. "Mara, this is all your fault." He mimicked Ryoga without enthusiasm.

"Mara, this is all your fault." Akane repeated far more hostility.

"Definitely your fault." Urd added casually.

X x x x x x

Author Notes

Under my profile page, I posted a simple edit of a manga page that shows Ranma's God marks.

1 - The Gods have put in place a protection spell to stop Demons from casually entering Midgard in order to help maintain the balance.

2 - Kotatsu, the blanket that skirts a table

3 - Mara chose Akane to ascend because it would hopefully ruin any relationship between the two.