From: Andrew <akunz@cctr.umkc.edu>
Subject: [C&C/MST] [Lemon] Re: [FFML] [Ranma] [Lemon] Complete Control,
  Part 3

Redhead MST...and notes...
(The scene opens not in the Tardis, but in Andrew's room. Dorm room to be
exact, a dorm room that has nothing in it except the necessaries. There's a
chair, and there's Andrew. He's alone.)
Andrew: Hi folks! I'd like to say a few things. First of all, the author of
this MST wants you to note that he will have a new address to which all of
the fanfic will go to. Starting August 17th, it's:
c621358@showme.missouri.edu. But I digress. (He shifts his head as the
camera view changes from the straight shot view to the right side view.)
Andrew: Anyway, he was suppose to churn out the MST-fic to give the reason
why La Blue Girl disappeared, but he hasn't heard a response from the guy
that originally sent the fic, since he wanted to see the C&C before I
dispense it out to the group. Basically, Mokona wants to keep La Blue Girl,
and I heard that since then they've gotten married and have
little...whatever you call them. Frankly after all of the lemon's I've had
to deal with, beastiality is probably the worst thing you can do...(Slam!
Andrew is hit with an object. He looks and see's it's P-chan, laying on the
bed. P-chan gets up and looks at Andrew.)
P-chan: Bwee! (Andrew takes him into his lap. He smiles at the cute pig.)
Andrew: I'm sorry, P-chan, but the Tendo Dojo is in the wrong dimension.
You really should have made a left turn at Albuquerque. (Ryo-ok-hi comes in.)
Ryo-ok-hi: Ah! You've found my boyfriend P-chan! (Andrew looks strangely at
the talking cabbit.) He's especially cute when he's a guy! (Ryo-ok-hi takes
the nervous P-chan away from Andrew and hops onto the bed.)
Andrew: Um...Ryo-ok-hi, what are you and P-chan are going to do? 
Ryo-ok-hi: Huh?
Andrew: Um, aren't you forgetting something?
Ryo-ok-hi: Oh, yeah! You wouldn't have a Trojan on you, would you? (P-chan
gets a bloody nose. The camera crew face-faults.)
Andrew: Um...I guess I should get the fic rolling...(looks at P-chan and
Ryo-ok-hi getting it on; it's best that you leave that image for another
day)I think I'm gonna need a drink. (He leaves.)
-----
(The scene shifts to a hotel bedroom in a expensive suite. Really
expensive. The gang's all here. Everyone's looking around.)
Ranma (as he's munching on the complementary basket of fruit): Wow. This is
nice.
Washu: Yeah. Say, where did you get the money for this room?
Tenjou Utena: Um, we found pictures of A-ko naked and we sold them to this
otaku group on campus.
A-ko (blushing): At least they think I'm just a character.
Kiryuu Touga: Actually, they had the author's kanji signature on them. They
didn't care about the naked pictures.
Utena: Besides, they'd rather sleep with B-ko. (A-ko glared at Utena.)
Andrew: Well, on with the movie...okay?
At 08:38 PM 7/30/98 +0000, Sean Gaffney wrote:
>Complete Control
Lina: Not of this 'fic...
>Part 3
>by Sean Gaffney
>
>All characters are (C) 1998 Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty, Viz, etc., though I 
>doubt that their creators would have them doing _this_.
Ranma: To quote Rumiko herself: "I don't think about those things and
neither should you!"
Andrew: Um, Ranma...I think you just misquoted your God and creator.
>This fanfic is rated NC-17.  Proceed with caution, it ain't consensual.  
>If this were alt.sex.stories, it would be rated:  mf, mc, nc, with a bit 
>of m/m, but not enough to really count.
Everyone: NANI?!
Ranma: Oh my god...my worst nightmare...
Andrew: Besides, I just read a MST by Megane 6.7. You got pregnant by Kuno
in your female form. (Ranma's face blanches.)
Ranma: You're right. It could be worse...but still this is a awful
nightmare...
Lina: Hey, careful guys, I just had to deal with him, and he's just a
12-year-old twerp.
(Luna comes in.)
Luna: Well...at least you've admitted your love with Gourry.
Lina: Wait! Why are you still here!
Luna: I'm trapped here like you are. Besides, we really need to talk. Our
parents wants a divorce...from us.
>
>     Kasumi paused outside of the Kunou mansion's impressive front 
>entrance.  She didn't want to be here.  She knew _why_ she was here.
Washu (imitating Kasumi): Kuno-san, could you by some Girl Scout cookies?
The proceeds go to the Sailor Girl Scouts of Japan!
>Ranma has asked her to check in on Tatewaki Kunou, and make sure he was 
>all right.  He had asked her because she was the most mature.  Because 
>he needed a nurse, a mother.  And despite all that Ranma had done for 
>her, everyone still saw her as a mother.
(Everyone looks at Ranma, looking interesting and puzzled at him.)
Ranma: Oh Kami. I'm doomed.
>     Ranma had said that she needed to put up the facade of her old 
>self, in order to avoid outside suspicion.
Touga: And if that wasn't enough, a couple hundred slabs of vinyl siding
would work.
>						  Intellectually, she 
>understood this.  Getting caught would be disastrous, and Ranma would 
>almost certainly go to jail, if he wasn't lynched first.
Andrew: Has that ever happened to you?
Ranma: Going to jail?
Andrew: No, being lynched.
Ranma: Everytime Akane cooks lunch...
>     But emotionally, she was a wreck.  Ranma had freed her, allowed her 
>to express all her desires, allowed her to be a real woman with wants 
>and needs instead of the airheaded housewife.  But now she had to play 
>that part, and knowing it was a facade made it so much harder.
Utena: Strange, I thought you became an airhead _after_ you had
sex...especially that dazed look that none of the porn I've seen
ever...(realizes that everyone is looking at her)...what?
Touga: Utena, you're out of character again. (Ranma takes a sip of Darling
tea.)
>     She wondered why she was rebelling so much.  After all, this was 
>what Ranma wanted.  Perhaps his control really was fading.  She still 
>loved him, but at the same time...she could see who he really loved.  
>It was Akane.  The way he looked at her when her back was turned.  The 
>way he talked to her, as if they were already old friends.
(Ranma spits out the tea.)
Lina: I know what that's like.
>     Nabiki knew it too.  She was taking it harder than Kasumi, though, 
>as she didn't want to go out and seek other sexual partners.  Despite 
>Ranma's attempts to help, Nabiki still wasn't comfortable with her new 
>life.  Kasumi wanted to help, but wouldn't that just involve being a 
>mother again?
A-ko: Not unless you're from Minnesota, you're not.
>     Why wasn't Nabiki doing this anyway?  She knew Tatewaki better than 
>any of them.  Perhaps that was why, of course...they weren't sure how 
>he would react around someone who knew him.
Ranma: He's an idiot!
>     She remembered, as a child, a young Tatewaki Kunou.  He used to be 
>very good friends with Nabiki, and they would usually be playing 
>together somewhere in the neighbourhood.  Then, after his mother died...
>Nabiki tried to talk to him, but apparently he wouldn't even speak to 
>her.  One day, at school, Kasumi saw Tatewaki dressed up like a samurai, 
>waving around a wooden bokken and quoting poetry.
Washu: Sadly, no one understood what he and Christina Rosetti had ever gone
through...
Ranma: Who's Christina Rosetti?
Washu: Sorry, Ranma, she's way over your head.
>							  He seemed very 
>different from the young boy she'd known.  That evening, Nabiki had gone 
>into her room and locked the door.  When she emerged an hour later, 
>everything in the room had been destroyed.  No one mentioned Tatewaki 
>around the house after that.
>     So now Kasumi was here instead, trying to find out if Ranma had 
>done any good with his manipulation of Kunou's mind, or if the young man 
>would still be just as...odd.
Ranma: Not as odd as Kodachi is, I'll give him that. By the way, what have
I done to make Kuno...normal?
(Ryo-ok-hi enters with P-chan. The cabbit's smoking a cigarette. Everyone
turns around and does a double take.)
Washu: Ryo-ok-hi! What on earth have you done!
Ryo-ok-hi: Nothing much...except making me a mommy...
Ranma: With...BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
P-chan: Bwee!
Ryo-ok-hi: Oh, quit whining P-chan. You don't need to worry about that
Akane anymore. You've got me!
Andrew (who's eyes are wide open): Oh. My.
Touga: I'm getting a drink. (Utena smashes him with a spatula.)
Utena: Not until this fic's over, you're not, Mr. Class President.
Touga (as he's seeing stars; imitating Pres. Bill Clinton): Honestly, I
didn't spill that stuff on Miss Lewinsky...it was the tartar sauce on her
Fish Filet...
A-ko: Now *that* we didn't need... 
>     She pressed a buzzer by the gate, and almost screamed when a 
>servant appeared out of nowhere.  "I'm sorry, Miss, but I'm afraid the 
>young master is indisposed, and the mistress is still not returned.  
>Perhaps if you could come back at another time..."
>     For a moment she was running on automatic, and stood ready to give 
>an "Oh my!" and a polite withdrawal.  But then she realised that she 
>didn't have to do that anymore, she could stand up for herself.  
>Besides, she had a reason to see him.
>     "I was sent by the young man who dropped your master off to make 
>sure that he was all right.  Are you sure I couldn't just...?"
Andrew (imitating Sasuke): Oh, you're the escort service Master Kuno had
ordered!
>     The mention of Ranma seemed to startle the servant, who shrunk away 
>from her.
Lina: But she didn't mention Ranma by name at all!
>	    Apparently Ranma had made quite an impression when he 
>dropped Kunou off.  He looked her up and down again, then stepped aside 
>to allow her inside.
>     "The young master is within the mansion, in the bedroom at the end 
>of the hall."  The servant seemed to have regained his composure, and 
>was now being rather condescending.  "Please do try to be as quick as 
>possible, as the young master is not well."
Washu (imitating Sasuke): He's getting to know his sister better.
Andrew (looking at Washu): Are you sure you're okay?
Washu: Nah, I just have this feeling.
>     Kasumi began to feel a little irritated.  "I know that, that's why 
>I was asked to see him!"  She moved quickly towards the mansion, not 
>glancing back.  She could get used to her new attitude...that had felt 
>very good.
>     The mansion was rather large.  She had always seen it as an 
>abstract thing, something that she would spy in the distance as she 
>walked to the market.  Up close it was more tangible; far bigger than 
>their own home, it had a presence to it that gave her the creeps.  
>Perhaps it was the fact that everything was so static; there were no 
>gardeners or other people outside.  In fact, the place had an air of 
>being deserted about it, despite the presence of the Kunou family and 
>the other servants.
Utena: In short, it looked like the weird room in "2001: A Space Odessey."
Washu: You mean the one where Dave sees his older selves? And the monolith
while in bed?
Utena: Precisely the one. (Washu shudders.)
Washu: That is eerie.
>     She noted with interest that no one seemed to be halting her 
>presence anymore; as soon as she arrived at the front door it was opened 
>for her by another anonymous servant.  She drifted down the hall, still 
>feeling as if she was in some vague dream world.  The contents of the 
>mansion did nothing to dissuade her from this; the decor seemed to be 
>more eclectic than she would expect from such an old Japanese family.  
>There were a few oddities, such as the balance beam that took up most of 
>one room, or the postcards that were taped above the fireplace.
Ranma: No doubt from Hawaii.
>     A sound had been audible as Kasumi walked through the hall.  Now as 
>she neared the room she'd been directed to she was able to recognise it.  
>It was the sound of paper being torn.
Touga (sounding noble): Maybe Takewaki's making a paper mache model of his
pig-tailed goddess!
Ranma (shudders): That's not a good thought.
>     She paused outside the door.  Ranma had said that Kunou might not 
>be in the healthiest frame of mind.
A-ko: If he had a mind to begin with.
>					  He had done what he thought was 
>right, but it still might have been too much for the young man to take.  
>If she went in there and Kunou was unstable, she might become the focus 
>for his anger.
>     Kasumi steeled herself.  She wasn't a helpless young woman.  If 
>Kunou tried to attack her, she'd beat him to a pulp.  Repeating that to 
>herself, she opened the door.
>     Or rather, she tried to open the door.  There seemed to be an 
>obstruction behind it that prevented her from doing so.  She shoved at 
>it though, and finally managed to force it open enough for her to 
>squeeze through.
>     The floor of Kunou's bedroom was a sea of paper.  It was impossible 
>to even see the floor underneath it all.  An area in the corner seemed 
>to house book spines, their pages ripped out.  And in the centre of the 
>room stood Kunou.  He was methodically tearing out page after page of a 
>book, throwing each piece of paper to the side to add to the mess.  A 
>stack of volumes next to him indicated he was nowhere near finished.
Andrew (imitating Kuno): Damn you "Undocumented Twisted Saga!" I shall
smite thee!
Ranma: And for a moment there, I thought he thought he's a bird...
>     Kasumi simply stared at the mess, aghast.  She suddenly felt an 
>impulse within her to begin clearing the mess up, but she clamped down 
>on it.  Instead, she turned towards Kunou.
>     He was a handsome man.  In fact, Kasumi felt herself getting a 
>little bit aroused seeing him there.  Part of that was her own fault.
(Everyone looks at Ranma, again.)  
>Ever since Ranma had taken her that first night she'd been in a constant 
>state of almost overwhelming desire.  Ranma had been able, at first, to 
>take the edge off of it, but seeing him around Akane made the whole 
>thing rather unsatisfying.  Looking at Kunou, she saw a young man who 
>might be able to take care of her problems.  Suddenly this little trip 
>was becoming a lot more important.
>     She straightened up, trying to make herself look sexy.  
>Unfortunately, she'd worn her old blue dress so as not to attract 
>attention.  It was, in her opinion, nearly impossible to look sexy in 
>that dress.  Nevertheless, she stuck out the...more pleasant bits of 
>herself as far as she could and spoke up.  "Hello!  My name's Kasumi!
Lina (imitating Kasumi): And I'll be your waitress tonight! Our special
tonight is Caesar salad with extra virgin olive oil. (Lina rubs her
stomache.) That reminds me...(Lina reaches for the phone.) Hello, room
service? Can I have three of everything on the menu? (Shouts to the crowd)
Does anyone want anything?
Luna: Sis, we've really gotta talk about your manners...
Lina: Hey, I tip the waiters 25%!
Luna: Oh. Good! (Everyone else face-faults.)
>Um..."
>     Her resolve began to desert her as she saw that he wasn't even 
>looking at her.  Indeed, he hadn't even acknowledged her presence since 
>she'd entered, continuing to methodically rip the pages out of his book.  
>He finished the current one, threw the spine into the corner, and 
>grabbed another.
>     "I was...I came by to see if you were all right.  After all, you've 
>been through a rather trying experience, and you have friends that 
>care -- well, you have people who care about you and want to know you're 
>all right.  Do you even know I'm here?
>     She waded over to the spines located in the corner, and grabbed one 
>at random.  It was a copy of 'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare.  
>Looking through the pile, she noted that all of the other books seemed 
>to be Shakespeare plays as well.
Andrew: Darn. I was hoping for the "Choose Your Adventure" series.
(Everyone looks at Andrew.) There's at least 120 of 'em.
>     The constant tearing was getting to be disturbing.  She considered 
>looking in the book she had brought and looking up obsessive-compulsive 
>disorders.  This certainly looked like it might be a case of it.  
>However, before she could do anything, he looked up, acknowledging her 
>for the first time.
>     It was all she could do not to gasp.  His eyes were red-rimmed, 
>showing that he'd been crying.  His face seemed years older than it 
>should, and he stared at her with a pain that horrified her.  For once, 
>both parts of her psyche agreed: she wanted to go to Kunou and throw her 
>arms around him, telling him everything would be all right.  But she 
>didn't.  Something in his eyes still kept her at a distance.
Washu: It was something about fish...
>     Instead, she just smiled.  "Do you want to talk?"
>     For a long time, he didn't speak, just staring at her.  Then he 
>dropped the book and fell back onto his bed, paper crackling under him 
>as he hit the sheets.  After a minute or two of him staring up at the 
>ceiling he began to talk to her.
>     "For a moment, when I arrived back at this house, I thought of 
>finding that girl and killing her.  It only lasted a moment...for some 
>reason I cannot imagine harming her now.  But there, for one moment, I 
>wanted to kill her for what she'd done to me.  Ripping away this..." he 
>gestured vaguely at the paper all around him, "this _veil_ I lived under 
>for so long and expecting me to be perfectly all right.  How could she 
>possibly do that?"
(Everyone looks back at Ranma.)
Ranma: What? What? What did I do!
P-chan: Bwee!
Ryo-ok-hi: Miyaa! (Washu looks at Ryo-ok-hi.)
Washu: I thought you were suppose to talk like a human?
Ryo-ok-hi: Oh, I do, it's just that what I said isn't for the ffml's
consumption. It might get us banned, y'know. (There's a knock on the door.)
Voice: Room service! (Lina does a cute "yes" pose.)
Lina: ALRIGHT! Bring it on!
>     Kasumi realised he was waiting for her to answer.  It startled her 
>to realise that she didn't know.  Ranma had done what he did because he 
>saw Kunou's madness, and wanted to fix it.  It had been the same as with 
>her and her sisters - he'd done something on the spur of the moment, and 
>didn't think about the consequences until afterwards.  She considered 
>her response carefully.
A-ko (imitating Kasumi): W-w-well it was either this, or the fic would be
come a yaoi piece...
>     "Do you want to go back?  To become the young man you were before 
>Ranma..."  She considered what Ranma had done.  "Helped you?" she 
>finished weakly.
>     He almost snarled his response.  "Of course I don't!  I cannot look 
>back on the horrid cretin I was without wincing!"
Andrew: You know, the first step out of stupidity is realizing that you're
stupid.
Ranma: Right. (Looks at Lina.) Say, Lina, are you gonna eat all of that?!
(We see Lina & Luna Inverse eating non-stop on a rolling cart that looks
like the table used at the last supper. It runs in the family.)
Lina: No. Not particularly.
Ryo-ok-hi: Come on, P-chan! Let's do it again!
P-chan: Bwee! Bwee! (P-chan shakes his head.)
Ryo-ok-hi: I know we've had sex five times...but it's so insatiable for me!
I've gotta have it! (Everyone else face-faults. Unfortunately for Lina, she
face-faults into a key-lemon pie.)
Andrew: Lina, pass me the vodka. (She does.)
>     Kasumi sat down on the bed beside him.  "Then you're going to have 
>to find a way to deal with this.  I know it's only been a few hours 
>since it happened and that you're hurting now...But I can help you if 
>you like."  She was sitting right next to his body now, noticing the way 
>his muscles moved.  It was almost as if she was of two minds.  Part of 
>her was sympathising with Kunou and trying to find a way to help him 
>with his pain, and part of her was just drooling over his body.  Nabiki 
>and Akane had talked about how skilled he was with his bokken.  He must 
>work out a lot to achieve that.
Utena: And that was just in bed...
>     He seemed to be ignoring her, staring at his feet and at the half-
>torn volume before him.  Despite her own inner conflicts, she tried to 
>continue.  "Well then, you're just going to have to learn to deal with 
>it," she repeated.  "Think of it as opening up to a new aspect of 
>yourself.  Try and embrace it.  That's what I've done."  That wasn't 
>entirely true, but after all this wasn't about her.
>     Kunou sat up suddenly.  His body was almost touching her now.  
>"Embrace it?  Embrace the fact that the once proud Kunou family is now a 
>laughingstock?  That my father, who once was one of the top businessmen 
>in Japan, sends us cards every month rambling about coconuts and palm 
>trees?  That my sister has slid completely into insanity, so much so 
>that she is almost psychotic?
Ranma: Kuno, she's gone beyond psychotic.
>				   That I coped with this by shutting myself 
>off from the world and spouting poetry?  God, to think of the things 
>I've done to your sister..."  He stopped, breathing heavily.
>     "That is perhaps the worst of it.  When I shut myself off from the 
>world, I removed all possible consequences.  I did not let myself worry 
>about right or wrong, because only _I_ was right.  No one, nothing else.  
>Only me.  My baser lusts ruled me.  I...I imagined doing terrible 
>things to you and your sisters.  To my _own_ sister.  And...I am not 
>entirely sure that the woman was able to remove those feelings."
Andrew (looking up while eating buffalo wings): Spew.
Washu: I told you I had that feeling.
>     Now Kasumi was breathing heavily.  "But how can you be sure that 
>those feelings aren't your normal teenage sexual impulses?"
Ranma (pulls out a sign while eating linguini with alfredo sauce): [Double
spew.]
>     Kunou looked up, and seemed to take in the fact that she was very 
>close to him for the first time.  He turned slightly red.  "Um...what?"
>     She moved in for the kill.  "I mean that all young men are highly 
>interested in sex.  Driven by their hormones.  And after what Ranma did 
>to you, I can imagine it must be even worse."  Her hand was on his leg 
>now, slowly drifting up his body.  "I mean, after Ranma went into my 
>mind, I felt so needy...I needed to have a man kissing me, feeling my 
>body, driving himself deep into me..." Her voice was almost hypnotic 
>now, drawing Kunou to her.  "I can imagine you must feel the same way.  
>Are you as aroused as I am?"  Her hand finally moved up to his groin, 
>and she ran it slowly over the stiffness under his hakama.  He twitched, 
>but didn't try to stop her.  "Yes, I can see that you are.  You can't 
>possibly think clearly when you're like this...neither can I...it's so 
>difficult when there's only one thing on your mind."
Utena (sounding like Kuno's mind, whatever THAT means...): If a train
leaves New York at 3 pm at 250 mph and another train leaves Cucamonga at
3pm traveling 450 mph, how far will they both have traveled when they crash
into each other?
>     She continued to slowly stroke him, and moved her face so that her 
>lips were right next to his.  "Please let me help you.  Let me help you 
>to get rid of this need.  For both of us."  She stared into his eyes.  
>*Please,* she thought.
>     Kunou stared at her for a few more moments, and his eyes briefly 
>glazed over.  Then he nodded, just once.
Touga: Kasumi is a blonde after all.
>     Kasumi pressed her lips against his hungrily, finally allowing her 
>pent-up sexual tension to release itself.  Her mouth couldn't stay in 
>one place for too long; she was kissing him, then running her lips along 
>his neck.  Her hand continued its caressing of his length, but not for 
>long.  She couldn't draw this out.  She needed him now.  Quickly she 
>wrapped her other hand around his shoulders, quickly ripping the gi from 
>his upper body, leaving it hanging by its shirttails.  It actually came 
>off rather easily, revealing his well-formed chest.
Utena (while drooling): Hubba, hubba!
>     She spent a few seconds breathing in his musky scent before moving 
>down to his hakama.  Once she untied the belt and loosened it, his gi 
>fell off completely, and she was able to pull the front of the hakama 
>down to reveal his white cotton briefs.  They struggled briefly to 
>remove the loose hakama and underwear until Kasumi finally got a look at 
>his erect penis.
Andrew (imitating Kasumi): Such difficult velcro!
>     She'd only ever experienced Ranma's before, so she wasn't sure how 
>to compare them.  It was longer than Ranma's, but didn't seem to be as 
>thick.  She giggled to herself as she wondered what it would taste like.
A-ko: Fish!
Ranma: And how do you know? (A-ko blushes.)  
>*Well, no time like the present to find out.*  She moved up towards it 
>like a cat and gently took the end into her mouth.  Her tongue ran its 
>way around it, taking in its dimensions and textures.  She wasn't as 
>good at this sort of thing as Nabiki had proven to be, but it didn't 
>seem to matter, as she heard Kunou's voice emit a small gasp.
Ryo-ok-hi (while humping P-chan): Wow! Now that's one bokken I'd like to ride!
Washu: Ryo-ok-hi! Please, if you're gonna fuck, do it someplace else!!!
Sometimes I wonder if you are worth being created! (Everyone else finished
up eating, trying---but can't---to ignore the fan-fic.)
>     She started to alternate between stroking his member and sucking 
>gently, but soon realised that she didn't want to have Kunou this way.  
>She needed him _inside_ her.
>     Detaching herself momentarily from his body, she stripped off her 
>dress, trying not to show too much eagerness.  She wanted to have Kunou 
>picture her as experienced and sexy rather than just young and horny.  
>From the look in his eyes as her dress fell to the ground, she seemed to 
>be succeeding.  She forced herself to slow down as she removed her bra 
>and panties, doing a slow strip tease in order to further get Kunou into 
>the mood.  As she let her breasts be revealed, she smiled inwardly at 
>Kunou's growing tension.  Likewise, when she lowered her panties, he 
>flexed his hands against the side of the bed, looking more and more 
>lustful.
>     Kunou seemed just about ready to jump up, but she stopped him.  She 
>wanted to be the one in control here, the one to take him.  She pressed 
>her body up against his, this time giving him a deep kiss.  Her tongue 
>reached out for his, and for a moment that was all there was.  Her own 
>sex, however, was letting her know what needed to be done, and she 
>gradually drew her attention back to the main event.
>     She pushed Kunou down on to the bed, amused at the paper that lay 
>under them.  If the books weren't ruined before, they were certainly 
>going to be ruined now.  She straddled herself over him, and looked 
>down.  Kunou's eyes now seemed to be inflamed with lust.  They had said 
>very little during all of this, letting little gasps and grunts make 
>their feelings known.  So she just smiled at him briefly before lowering 
>himself onto his manhood.
A-ko: Since when does Kasumi become a boy?
>     The feeling of being filled up by a man was something she didn't 
>think she'd ever get tired of.  She took a moment just to revel in the 
>feeling of Kunou's hardness pressing into her, and then began to move up 
>and down, trying to establish a rhythm.
Luna: Jamaican or Rap?
Lina: Nah, sis, it's more like the beats at a Stomp concert. (A bowl of hot
chocolate goes flying in the air.)
>     It would be almost impossible to make this last long.  Already she 
>was beginning to move faster, letting her emotions get the better of 
>her.  Kunou was starting to groan in unison with her own cries, and the 
>bed started to shake from their efforts.
>     Suddenly she felt the feelings within her reach a peak.
A-ko (singing): "Climb every MOUNTain! Cross every streeeaam!" (Wap! She's
knocked out by a wet Ryouga.)
Ryouga: I think that's enough of that, and of you, miss cabbit! (We see
Ryouga still attached to Ryo-ok-hi...if you could believe that...)
Ryo-ok-hi: But, you became too big! Now I'll never be able to pull out!
Ryouga (crying): Oh, I HATE my life...
>									She threw 
>her head back, letting the orgasm wash over her, her inner muscles 
>clenched and coaxed Kunou to release.  Kunou seemed to appreciate this, 
>for he too was crying out, his seed jetting inside her in a rush.  This 
>seemed to make her feel even greater pleasure, and she had another minor 
>orgasm as she felt him spend.  Then suddenly she collapsed on top of 
>him, panting, clutching at his chest.  
>     She could feel the frantic pounding of his heart, and his lungs 
>desperately heaving for air.  After a moment, she managed to get the 
>energy to look up into his face once more.  What she saw there surprised 
>her.
>     She had told him that giving in to his repressed desires would help 
>him in the long run, but admitted to herself that that had mostly been 
>out of a selfish desire to have him, to douse her own sexual fires.  But 
>now...now there was a peace in his expression that had not been there 
>before.  He almost seemed to be a different person, and Kasumi was 
>startled to realise that she found him even more handsome like this.
>     He seemed to be half-asleep and utterly adorable.  Now was the time 
>to lie there, giving in to the warm glow of post-coital passion.  She 
>sighed, and snuggled up closer to him.
>     After a few moments, she could hear his breathing turn regular, and 
>realised he was falling asleep.  Suddenly she remembered the fact that 
>they were in his room at the mansion, and there were servants all over.  
>Kasumi doubted that they would take kindly to her own special method of 
>therapy.
>     She moved up close to Kunou's ear.
>     "Tatewaki?  Can you hear me?"
Luna (imitating a female voice): We're sorry, the brain you have dialed has
disconnected or is out of service. Please check the brain and try again or
call the local operator for assistance.
>     He mumbled, and drew her closer to his body.  One of her breasts 
>hit his face, and he began to suck gently on it.
A-ko (grinning): Got milk? (Immediately gets hit with a custard pie. She
looks annoyed at Washu, who threw the pie.)
Lina (giggling): Serves you right, A-ko.
>     Kasumi giggled.  "I appreciate the thought, Tatewaki, but now is 
>not the time."
>     He mumbled again, and detached himself.  His next word, though, 
>was clear as a bell.
>     "...mother..."
Andrew: And thus, both Kuno and Kasumi snap.
>     For a few moments, Kasumi couldn't even think.  She could hear the 
>blood rushing through her head, making everything seem so very far away.  
>Then she heard his voice, over and over, repeating the word, driving it 
>into her consciousness.  *Mothermothermothermother...*
>     And he'd been sucking her breast...no, nursing.
>     *Mothermothermothermother...*
Andrew (singing): "Mamma mia, here I go again/My my, how can I resist you?"
Ryouga (singing): "Mamma mia, does it show again? My my, just how much I've
missed you!"
Lina: I love ABBA...the original Ace of Base!
>     She got up, being careful not to wake Kunou.  She carefully 
>gathered her clothing together and got dressed as quickly as possible.  
>She walked out of the room and down the hall, the servants not even 
>appearing to notice her.
>     She managed to make it out of the mansion and halfway down the next 
>street before she finally fell to her knees and began to sob.
>
>***
>
>     Ranma walked along the fence on the way to school, using it as a 
>balancing exercise.  He'd been getting lax in his martial arts training 
>since falling into the spring, working on developing his new found 
>mental powers instead.  Feeling a bit guilty about that, he'd started 
>doing more intense workouts in hopes of refining his abilities once 
>more.  *After all,* he had thought, *I don't have the old man to teach 
>me anymore.*
Ranma: Heh, heh, heh...
Ryouga: Hey! Don't you get any ideas!
Ranma: Talking from a guy who just got a cabbit pregnant.
Ryouga (looks at a very relaxed Ryo-ok-hi): Oh, yeah. (Ryouga starts to
cry.) What have I done?!
>     Currently Ranma's thoughts were all over the place.  Kasumi had 
>returned from Kunou's place a wreck, and refused to speak to Ranma about 
>what had happened, running off to her room.  Akane had fared no better.  
>Seeing Kasumi hurt bothered Ranma in some fundamental way, and it 
>bothered him even more that he didn't seem to be able to do anything 
>about it.
Andrew: Typical Ranma craziness.
>     Also occurring to him was the fact that her refusal to speak to him 
>meant that his mental controls were indeed weakening, that she was 
>starting to get her own mind back once again.  Ranma was very much of 
>two minds about this.  On the one hand, he despised himself for what 
>he'd done to the girls and to Kunou, and was relieved that they seemed 
>to be overcoming it.
>     However...he'd been on his own now for the past ten years, with 
>only his father for company.  He'd met a few friends along the way, like 
>Ucchan, but never for more than a few months.  Here, he had a family.  
>He had people to talk to and relate to.  His creaking social skills were 
>finally being used.  He could almost be happy, if it weren't for the way 
>he'd gotten it.
>     And now Kasumi's rebellion signified the beginning of that family's 
>dissolution.  The thought frightened him.  Surely it would only be a 
>matter of time before she got her mental controls back completely and 
>told the police what Ranma had done.
Andrew (imitating Kasumi): Yes officer, I've been raped by a boy who
changes into a girl.
>     Nabiki, too, seemed to be shaking off his control.  She'd taken to 
>sitting in her room for most of the time when they weren't at school.  
>When Ranma would enquire after her, she just would say that she was 
>fine.  He knew that wasn't true, but didn't want to push it.  She was 
>fragile enough around him without his trying to make things right yet 
>again.
>     That left Akane.  He wasn't sure what to make of her.  She seemed 
>friendly enough, and listened to his problems, sometimes offering her 
>own opinion on what he could do.  Last night they had gone to her room 
>and made love alone, without her two sisters.  If anything, she seemed 
>to be even more excited, and drove Ranma to heights he didn't believe 
>possible.
Ryouga: Ranma! You fiend!
Ranma: Do I have to remind you that this ain't me?!
>     Was it because of his controls that she was so friendly?  Or was 
>there something else?  He hoped it was something else.  The way he felt 
>around her...he could relax, let down his guard and just talk.  It was 
>refreshing.  And sometimes, when she smiled at him, his heart leapt, and 
>he felt as if they might be able to make a life together...
>     He squashed that thought.  *Remember, Ranma, you've only got a few 
>weeks.  Until the control wears off, or until you can gain enough power 
>to remove it.  Then you're dead.  Never forget that.*
Ranma: Yeah. Now where's that power surge protector?
>     He hadn't noticed the fence ending up ahead, and almost took a 
>header when he fell off of it.  Akane was at his side instantly, helping 
>him regain his balance.  He sighed.
>     *It must be my controls.  What else could she possibly see in me?*  
>And then he shoved all thoughts out of his head for the moment and 
>concentrated on the problems they were going to face at school.  They 
>had spent a few minutes cooking up a story to tell the administration 
>about Kunou's absence.  Nabiki was going to explain that Kunou had 
>apparently caught some sort of bug, and had shut himself up in his 
>mansion.  If pressed for details, she'd say he wasn't seeing anyone.  
>Nabiki raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.
>     They were rather surprised, coming up to the entrance, to find that 
>Akane was not being attacked by her usual horde of young boys.  In fact, 
>the entire group seemed to be gathered in a semicircle, staring at Ranma 
>jealously, but not doing anything.
>     One of them came forward.  "Akane-san, we heard about Kunou's 
>defeat yesterday."
A-ko: Kinda gives a new term to the phrase "speak softly and carry a big
stick."
>     Ranma's head snapped up, and he almost panicked.  Nabiki grabbed 
>his shoulder, though, so he got control of himself and waited.
>     The boy continued.  "Since Ranma was able to defeat him so easily, 
>we have decided to accept this unhappy situation."  There was a 
>muttering behind him, but he glared, and it died down.  "Akane-san, 
>we...we accept Ranma Saotome as your fiance!"
Andrew (imitating the boy): ...until you two get a divorce.
>     There was a brief pause.
>     "WHAT?!"  Ranma and Akane both stared at the students, their mouths 
>hanging open.  Behind then, Nabiki was nodding her head and chuckling to 
>herself.
>     Several of the girls immediately swamped Akane, congratulating her 
>on landing such a hunky guy as her fiancé.  Akane was dragged away, 
>hemming and hawing and occasionally uttering a "we're not..."
Ryouga (imitating Akane): gay!
>     Ranma looked after her, but once again felt a hand on his shoulder.  
>"She should be OK," Nabiki said.  "I think you helped her a lot last 
>night, and besides, with you not actually being there, she doesn't have 
>to worry as much about accidentally hurting you."
>     Ranma looked over at Nabiki.  "You knew this would happen?"
>     "I didn't know, but I suspected," Nabiki said.  Ranma was annoyed 
>to see that she was still flushing when she explained things to him.  
>"That's why I didn't say anything about that really lame flu 
>explanation.  It will be a lot better for us if people believe you just 
>beat the snot out of Kunou and he's recuperating at his house.  I know 
>you wanted to leave him his dignity, but he doesn't have any.  He and 
>his sister have been acting insane for years now.  You can't expect 
>people to just forget that."
Andrew: Yeah, especially after the time Kuno came in thinking he was "Hello
Kitty."
Ranma: Now that, I have to see.
>     "And what are we going to do about this?  Everyone thinks Akane and 
>I are engaged now!"
Ranma: Oh, please! Why can't they just leave me alone! No fiancees, no
girlfriends, nothing! Just a stinkin' bachelor watching ESPN International
and going out to Kashima Antlers games in Kashima Football Stadium.
Andrew: Um...who's the Kashima Antlers?
Ranma: Oh, they're the 1997 Japan League champions in soccer. They're
currently in fourth place in this year's competition.
Ryouga: Kashima Antlers? Hmm...I don't think I've done any of their games.
>     Nabiki shrugged.  "Which would you prefer?  That or the truth?"
>     Ranma flinched a bit at her words.  "Good point."
>     At that point they both noticed that a number of the students were 
>staring at them curiously.  In particular, Nabiki's lieutenants, Reika 
>and Saeko, were whispering to each other and glaring at Ranma.
>     "Great, more rumour control," Nabiki sighed.  "Look, see you later, 
>Ranma.  I get the feeling this is gonna be a long day."  And with that 
>she trudged towards the school building, looking rather forlorn.
Touga: With the maiden all shaven and shorn.
Utena: Touga, that's farmer. FARMER!!!
>     Ranma stared after her.  He knew Nabiki was his biggest problem at 
>the moment, but could think of nothing to do about it.  She didn't seem 
>to want to sleep with him anymore, and any attempt to talk was met with 
>a polite refusal.  He was at a loss for what to do next.  He finally 
>decided to wait for the day to finish, and headed off to school himself.
>     He didn't get very far, though.  A hand reached out and tapped him 
>on the shoulder.  Turning around, he saw a tallish girl smiling at him.  
>He hadn't seen her around before, and was rather surprised he hadn't 
>noticed her.  She was damn cute.  She had brown hair cut sloppily and 
>tied in a ponytail that reached her waist, and a smile that revealed 
>pointed canines, looking rather vampiric.  Most interesting, however, 
>were her eyes.  They were filled with more hate than Ranma had ever seen 
>in his life.  He actually stepped back a pace or two in shock.
>     "Um...ca-can I help you?"
Lina (imitating the girl): Yes, I'm Vampire Princess Miyu, and I want some
fresh boy blood!
>     The girl smiled, and reached around behind her back, grabbing a 
>large bamboo umbrella she had strapped there.  "Certainly.  You can 
>stand there while I end your life."  And with that she lashed out with 
>the umbrella in a downward stroke, aiming for the back of Ranma's neck.
Ryouga: A parasol! I tell you a parasol! (Ranma grabs Ryouga and slaps him
a couple of times.)
Ranma: Man, you spend two months in France officiating the World Cup and
supervising the cyclist at the Tour de France, and look what you become,
Ryouga! A flimsy little boy who screws a cabbit as a pig!
Ryouga (weakly): Thanks...I needed that.
>     Ranma, without thinking, leapt to the side.  The umbrella continued 
>downward, and slammed into the ground with such force that a large 
>crater opened up.  Before Ranma could take this in, the girl leaped 
>upward, once again trying to slam into Ranma with the umbrella.  This 
>time Ranma also leapt, and grabbed the weapon in an attempt to disarm 
>her.  He managed to grab it, and tucked into a roll on his descent, 
>tucking the umbrella to his chest.
Andrew: Wait, let me guess, you're Shizumaru Hisame from Samurai Showdown 3?
Ryouga: Um, I think he's my cousin...or is that great-great-great grandfather?
>     *This thing is heavier than it looks!  How is she able to lift it, 
>let alone use it like she does?*  He quickly rolled to his feet, just in 
>time to see the girl remove her bandanna from the top of her head.  She 
>swung it around like a slingshot and sent it flying towards him.
>     Normally Ranma would have tried to catch it one-handed, but the 
>umbrella had already made him wary, so he decided instead to dodge it.  
>The whirling bandanna zipped past him and _through_ a nearby tree, 
>causing it to crash to the ground.  Ranma quickly jumped again, trying 
>to avoid the girl while looking for a safe place to continue the fight.  
>The girl was clearly dangerous, and he didn't want any bystanders 
>getting hurt.
>     Landing on top of the fountain, he groaned.  The entire school now 
>seemed to be watching the fight.  It wasn't going to be easy to end this 
>quickly and quietly.  The girl was charging after him, and seemed if 
>anything to be even more enraged.
>     *Who the hell is she?  What did I ever do to her?*  For a moment 
>Ranma wondered if she was a friend of the Tendous, and had somehow found 
>out about what he'd done to them.  He considered trying to get a peek 
>inside her mind, to see what he'd done, but decided to use that only as 
>a last resort.  Instead, he waited until she was almost upon him and 
>then leapt in the air again, landing in a nearby tree.  She seemed to be 
>putting a huge amount of power behind those charges and throws, and if 
>he could dodge her attacks for a few minutes, he might be able to wear 
>her out.
>     She certainly wasn't as quick as he was, smashing into the middle 
>of the fountain when she couldn't stop in time, turning it into so much 
>debris.  Turning, she snarled and got ready to make another run...and 
>then stopped, noticing the ground starting to shake.
>     *Of course,* Ranma thought before the earth exploded, sending water 
>flying high into the air.  It was far too late to dodge now, and in any 
>case everyone at the school knew about his curse.  So he merely sighed, 
>feeling the water drench him and his body change.
>     The girl's reaction to seeing Ranma change was somewhat odd.  She 
>was definitely surprised, yes, but not at the change.  Almost 
>immediately, she backed off of her attack and stood to consider Ranma, 
>who was still standing on top of the tree.  Ranma took this momentary 
>breather to consider her next moves.
>     She didn't want to fight the girl.  She thought she'd gotten over 
>her boyish conceit about not fighting girls after the old ghoul pounded 
>her a few hundred times, but this was different.  She didn't want to 
>fight her blind.  She needed to know why this girl wanted to kill her, 
>why she seemed to be driven by hatred.  She needed to talk to the girl.
>     She was moving towards Ranma again, but slowly and thoughtfully.  
>She noticed her eyes seemed to be more wary now than enraged, though the 
>hate was still at the back of them.  She came to the bottom of the tree, 
>and Ranma got ready to jump again, but she merely held up a hand.
>     "Wanna arm wrestle for it?" the girl called up to her.
A-ko: Best two out of three.
>     Ranma considered her new tactics.  On the one hand, this was almost 
>certainly a trick, and she didn't want to risk letting her guard down 
>around this girl, especially with that brute strength she seemed to 
>have.  On the other hand, if she could manage to touch her she might be 
>able to get a quick look at her thoughts without her hormones getting 
>out of control.
>     She leapt out of the tree, landing a few feet from the girl.  "All 
>right," Ranma said with a tight smile.  "After all, we wouldn't want 
>anyone to get hurt.  Would we?"
>     The girl smiled right back, her canines flashing.  "Of course not.  
>This is just between the two of us."
>     Ranma relaxed a bit, since it seemed that whatever grudge this girl 
>had, it wasn't related to the Tendous.  The two of them began moving 
>slowly towards a nearby lunch table, never taking their eyes off of each 
>other.
>     The girl sat down on one of the benches and extended an arm.  The 
>crowd immediately backed off to a safe distance.  "Best of three?" the 
>girl asked.
>     "Sounds good to me."  Ranma had a feeling she might end up getting 
>creamed in this battle.  Not only was her male form stronger than her 
>female form, but this girl seemed to be an absolute gorilla in that 
>respect.  In any case, Ranma decided to let the girl win the first round 
>and use it to get some information from her head as to the basic 
>problem.
>     Smiling at each other once more, they locked their arms in a ready 
>position, hands almost touching.  With a nod, each of them grasped the 
>other's hand, and Ranma quickly sent her own mind into that of the other 
>girl.
>     However, this proved to be a far more different environment than 
>what Ranma had been used to.  Kunou's head had almost been a different 
>environment, set up to look like different rooms.  It had proved to be 
>very convenient for Ranma to search through.  The girl's mind, however, 
>seemed to be almost a cloud, and Ranma found herself struggling just to 
>maintain a sense of identity, let alone find out what this was all 
>about.
>     *Anger...intense anger, almost his entire life..._his_?...yes, he 
>was a man...memories of wandering the streets of Tokyo as a child, 
>crying out for his parents...attending school in junior high, with the 
>embarrassment of having to be led to and from each class...*
>     Suddenly the memories became even more indistinct, and Ranma felt 
>his control begin to slip...something about bread...a duel that someone 
>missed...that _he_ missed.  Ranma heard her own name in the thoughts, 
>and the hatred that surrounded it.
>     Then suddenly Ranma was fading, almost falling out of the mind of 
>the girl and into her own.  And that was when she realised.
>     While she had been scanning the girl's thoughts, the girl had been 
>doing the same to Ranma.
>     The girl had mental powers.
Utena: So, this is Jean Gray?
>     And suddenly thoughts were being forced into Ranma's head.  
>Thoughts from somewhere else.
>     *Finding himself at the edge of a row of pools...looking around in 
>confusion...turning to see a young girl clutching at her head and 
>screaming...trying to help her but being thrown off balance, into one of 
>the pools...the confusion and voices in his own mind as he tried to 
>comprehend what had happened...*
>     And then Ranma was ripping her hand from the girl's, clutching at 
>her own temples.  She didn't feel any pain, but to think of someone 
>violating her _mind_ like...like...
Andrew: Man, talk about Intellectual Intercourse...
Washu: Isn't that a phrase from Alanis Morrisette?
Lina: I *love* that singer!
>     Like she had done to others.
>     Looking up at the young girl, Ranma saw that she was smirking at 
>her, and at that moment she knew exactly what had happened.  And what 
>the fight was all about.  The memories she had stolen from the girl's 
>mind came together with her own young memories.
>     "Ryouga," she said.
>     The girl gave a short, sharp laugh.  She then moved close to him, 
>speaking in a whisper so that they couldn't be overheard.  "I challenge 
>you, Ranma.  Not to a martial arts battle, but to a mental challenge.  
>Whoever can overcome the other's defences completely wins.  And if you 
>don't accept I'll tell _everyone_ here about those girls you raped...and 
>that boy as well."
Ryouga: And if I win...(Washu @baps him.)
Washu: Listen, lover-pig, let's not go there. You've already caused the
audience to seriously think about revolt.
Ryouga: But...but...it's the cabbit's fault!
Ryo-ok-hi: So I slipped Viagra in his drink. Big deal. (Washu looks at her
cabbit and starts to bawl.)
>     Ranma's mouth went dry.  For a moment, all she could do was stare 
>at Ryouga in shock.  Finally she found her voice.
>     "I accept."
>     "Good," said Ryouga, getting up from the bench.  "In four days 
>time.  You choose the place.  And don't worry, I will find my way there 
>this time."  And with that she walked away, ignoring the stares from the 
>rest of the student body.
>     Akane and Nabiki were already running toward the bench.  "Ranma, 
>are you all right?  I mean, the two of you barely moved..."  She trailed 
>off as she saw the fire that sprung up in Ranma's eyes.
>     "Just worry about getting through the rest of this day.  After 
>school we'll have another conference."
>     Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  "Trouble?"
>     Ranma nodded, staring after the girl's silhouette in the distance.
>     "Disaster."
A-ko: If there's a hurricane/tsuami scene in here somewhere, I'm leaving.
>***
>
>     "Kasumi?  What do you think of these tomatoes, do they look 
>overripe to you?"
Luna (imitating Kasumi): They look overripe for me.
Lina (imitating the other woman): How do you know?
Luna (still imit. Kasumi): I can see them filing for social security.
>     Kasumi wandered through the open market, smiling politely at 
>everyone.  She was trying to let her body run on autopilot while she 
>sorted out her feelings.  It wasn't easy.
Andrew: Especially when you realize you don't have an pilot.
>     "Oh, Kasumi!  I've been meaning to tell you about that lamp you 
>were asking after..."
>     After she had embarrassed herself last night, she had wanted to run 
>straight to Ranma for help.  She managed to stop herself, though.  Ranma 
>had his own problems.  Indeed, her liaison with Kunou would only be 
>adding to them.  Besides, it was becoming clear to her that Akane was 
>the Tendou he was closest to.  He loved all of them, in his own way, but 
>Akane was his friend, in a way she or Nabiki could never be.
>     "Kasumi, look what I've got for you today!  I managed to save you 
>some ground beef!  Maybe you can cook hamburgers for your family, just 
>like the Americans!"
Utena: Yeah, and get mad cow disease in the process.
>     She had been incredibly foolish to try and seduce the Kunou boy.  
>She had let her hormones run away with her, and now was paying the 
>price.  Oh, the sex was wonderful in and of itself...but it was clear 
>Kunou wanted something else from her.  A mother.  He wanted someone to 
>take care of him and nurture him.  And she was damned if she was going 
>to do that.  It was already...
>     "Miss, would you like to sample this ramen?  It's a new mix, never 
>before tasted!"
Ranma: I hope it doesn't cause Kasumi to fall in love with the first idiot
she sees.
A-ko: Too late, she's already fallen in love with Kuno.
>     It was already becoming too easy to fall back into her old 
>patterns.  She thought Ranma had erased every aspect of her old 
>personality.  But it was still there.  The airheaded housewife, eager to 
>please, to help others, to serve them all her days.  She could feel it 
>gnawing at her.  After all, everyone here thought of her that way.  She 
>should think about the others before she thought of herself.  They 
>needed a mother figure.  They needed her to be what she was.  What _she_ 
>wanted didn't enter into it.
>     What she wanted.
>     "Kasumi!  Just the woman I'm looking for!  We've got three people 
>for a mah jongg club we're starting, and were wondering if you would 
>like to be the fourth?"
>     The bag she had been carrying smashed against the ground, spilling 
>groceries.  Kasumi turned and looked at the crowd.  Familiar faces, 
>almost all of them.  Looking at her in bewilderment and confusion.  
>Wondering where _she_ was.  The other Kasumi.
>     Snap.
Luna: Crackle.
Andrew: Pop.
>     "WHAT THE FUCK IS _WRONG_ WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?!  Do you really 
>think of me as some dried-up old maid?  I'm nineteen!  I haven't even 
>been out of high school for more than a year and you're treating me like 
>I've seen the best years of my life!"
Utena (imitating Kasumi): What am I, some Japanese version of Martha Stewart?!
>     The people surrounding her seemed stunned to see Kasumi screaming 
>at them.  That only served to enrage her further.  Tears were coursing 
>down her cheeks now, as she started shouting more and more questions.
>     "Have I become my sisters' mother, my father's wife?  When did that 
>happen?  When did this happen to me?  When did I become some airheaded 
>housewife with no life?  When did I lose Kasumi Tendou?  Am I my mother 
>now?"
Lina: And then Kasumi started to kill people left and right.
>     She was beginning to shake now, her arms moving around her body, 
>and she slowly slumped to the ground, gazing out at the crowd.
>     "That's it.  I'm my mother.  She wouldn't die, she had to become 
>me.  I lost my life to my OWN MOTHER!!!  DAMN YOU!!!"
Utena (still imit. Kasumi): Damn you freakin' Martha Stewart!
>     And finally her ranting ceased, and the only sound was her sobbing, 
>seeming to course through her entire body.  She felt dizzy, and her 
>vision started to cloud.  She could faintly hear voices, but they 
>somehow didn't seem that important to her.
>     "...should have seen it com...oor thing..."
>     "...never did grieve for her mo...ays wondered..."
>     "...bottled up all this ti...ctor Tofu?"
>     "He's away on a sabb...bly should just take her home..."
>     And then there was just quiet...peace.
A-ko: Translation: Kasumi's going to the funny farm.
>***
>
>     Upon seeing the small group outside the Tendou's home, Ranma almost 
>ran.  He was positive that they had found out what he had done, that the 
>secret had gotten out.  After all, Ryouga had discovered it, and could 
>easily have decided not to wait for the challenge.
>     But they didn't seem to be angry, just sombre.  Ranma controlled 
>his impulses and tried to look as normal as possible.  Luckily, the 
>women seemed to ignore him entirely, turning instead to Akane and 
>Nabiki.
>     Ranma considered what his options were now.  Obviously, he would 
>have to fight Ryouga.  And it seemed it would be more than just a 
>martial-arts battle, too.  He'd have to combat Ryouga's mental powers 
>with his own.
Utena: Hey, Touga, are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Touga: I think so, Utena, but wasn't the "Super Friends" an 70's cartoon
show? (Utena promptly @baps Touga.)
>     The problem with that, of course, was that up to this point, using 
>his powers too much had always meant sending Ranma into hormonal 
>overdrive.  That night where he got out of control and took the Tendous, 
>and later on with Kunou in her girl form.  She still had not learned the 
>trick of using her full powers without making it a sexual event.  And 
>though doing it with Kunou in her girl form introduced her to the 
>pleasures she could have in her female body, she was not in any way 
>looking forward to fighting with Ryouga as a boy.  In fact, the thought 
>of what might happen disgusted him a little.
Ranma: Especially when I had to...
Ryouga: Um, Ranma?
Ranma: What, Ryouga?
Ryouga: Shut up.
>     Still, it might not happen.  He hadn't managed to be aroused when 
>he gave a cursory examination to Ryouga's mind this morning, and Ryouga 
>had even been in her girl body at the time.  If Ranma could keep up this 
>level of control, he might get closer to using his powers to put 
>everyone back to normal.
>     Who knows, maybe he could get Ryouga to make this a martial-arts 
>only contest, and not have to worry about his powers at all.  *First 
>thing I need to do is find out where Ryouga is and how he's 
>training...maybe I can get Nabiki to help with that.*
Andrew: If Ryouga, Ranma, and Akane get into a threesome, I'm leaving.
(Ranma and Ryouga gets bloody noses and faint.)
>     Ranma's reverie was interrupted by the departure of the small crowd 
>that had been gathered outside the Tendou's.  Akane walked over to him, 
>a serious look on her face.
>     "Ranma, Kasumi apparently had a nervous breakdown at the market.  
>She just started screaming at people, and then apparently passed out.  
>Nabiki is talking with her."
>     Ranma began to get worried.  "Um...did they mention if she said 
>anything about -- "  He broke off, realising how selfish he sounded.
>     Akane must have realised it as well, as her forehead creased for a 
>moment before she went on.  "She didn't mention you at all, Ranma."  Now 
>Akane was looking a little embarrassed.  "She mostly talked about our 
>mother, apparently."
A-ko (imitating Akane): And something about vinyl siding.
>     At this point there came the sound of screaming from within, and a 
>very angry Nabiki emerged from the house.  She marched up to Ranma and 
>Akane.
>     "It would appear that our sister doesn't want to talk to us about 
>what has just happen to her.  She says she'll only deal with Ranma."  
>She tried to glare at Ranma, but couldn't quite manage it, returning to 
>staring at the floor.
>     Ranma ran his fingers through his hair, trying to keep some sort of 
>control of the situation.  "Right, here's what we'll do.  I'm going to 
>go in there and talk to Kasumi.  Akane, I want you to stay here, because 
>when I'm done, I'm hoping she'll want to talk to one of you.  Nabiki, I 
>need you to go find Ryouga.  You're good at tracking down rumours.  See 
>if you can find where he's staying and talk to him."
>     "About what?"
>     "About why he originally wanted to fight me.  About how he's 
>managed to deal with his powers.  Anything that might help us to either 
>stop the fight...or give us an edge."
>     Nabiki scowled.  "It's not fair.  I mean, I used to be able to talk 
>to Kasumi.  She was always willing to tell me if she was having any 
>problems.  Why doesn't she want to speak to me anymore?"
Ranma: Probably because you sold your grandmother a couple of years ago,
Nabiki.
Ryouga: Really?
Ranma: Yeah. She sold the London Bridge to a city in Arizona a decade ago.
Ryouga: How could she? She was only nine at the time.
Luna: Sounds like she's one precocious little smart-ass brat.
>     Ranma shrugged.  "I dunno.  I think this new persona of hers is 
>still embarrassing to her, regardless of how she feels about it.  Who 
>knows?  Maybe it's still something to do with my controls."  He reached 
>out to hug Nabiki.  She accepted it somewhat reluctantly.  "C'mon, 
>Nabiki.  I need you to do what you do best.  I'm relying on you.  We all 
>are."
>     He was rather startled when Nabiki started to giggle in his arms.  
>She drew back, still laughing.  "OK, Ranma, I'll go out there and win 
>one for the Gipper.  You just make sure my sister is OK.  I mean, I 
>don't think it's dawned on you yet how much all three of us depend on 
>you."
Touga (imitating Nabiki): But I won't donate to Notre Dame.
>     This time it was Ranma who had to look away.  "It's beginning to."
>     "Get used to it, Ranma.  We still love you.  We may not be acting 
>like your devoted sex slaves anymore, but we do still love you.  And 
>that means when we hurt, we want to be there to talk to you.  Take care 
>of her.  She's hurting."   And with that she walked back down the 
>street.
>     Ranma stared after her.  This was the first time any of them had 
>admitted that their behaviour _was_ slowly returning to normal from what 
>he'd done to them that night.  He didn't know what to think about it.
>     "Ranma?"  Akane was trying to bring him back to the situation at 
>hand.
>     "Right," he said, and headed for the house.  He didn't want to do 
>this.  Ever since he'd created this situation, it had forced him to 
>think things through more.  He wasn't a thinker, though.  For years, 
>Ranma had dealt with his problems the way his father had; he either hit 
>them or ran away from them.  Now that he had a problem where he could do 
>neither, he was being forced to think through his problems.  It made him 
>uncomfortable.  He didn't want to go in there and give Kasumi yet 
>another pep talk.  He'd been doing nothing but that for days now.  
>Unfortunately, it looked as if he'd be doing it again.  Cheer up, 
>Kasumi.  You are a wonderful person.  Worse things happen at sea, you 
>know.
>     The sound of sniffling from the dojo broke Ranma out of his 
>reverie.  He put all of his worries on the back burner and concentrated 
>once more on trying to piece together another shattered psyche.
>     *I wish there was a martial-arts move for this...*
A-ko: According to your deceased father, it's called "running away."
>***
>
>     Despite what she'd told Nabiki, Kasumi didn't really want to talk 
>to Ranma at the moment.  She didn't want to talk to _anyone_.  But Ranma 
>was preferable to her sisters in this case.  What was she supposed to 
>say to them?  I broke down because I realised that my mother had left 
>behind a legacy of selflessly working for others that was gradually 
>destroying my life?  Kasumi wouldn't do that to them.  Nabiki and Akane 
>had nothing but happy memories of their mother; she wouldn't tarnish 
>them.
>     But as Ranma came into the dojo, she felt herself moving to the 
>other side of the room.  She felt as if she'd failed him.  He had asked 
>her to pretend in public, to be the old Kasumi, so that people wouldn't 
>be curious.  So she went out shopping for the first time since then, and 
>what happened?  She ended up screaming at people, swearing at them.  She 
>shivered.
Andrew: Is it just me, or has Mr. Gaffney spend a lot of time on the
narrative and little time on the action?
Ryo-ok-hi: Chill, Drew. Besides, most lemon fics are like this.
Andrew: How do you know?
Ryo-ok-hi: You've obviously never saw Biles' "Lemonade Sherbet."
>     She forced herself to look at Ranma.  He didn't look particularly 
>happy to be here either.  She couldn't blame him.  Ever since he'd 
>gotten here, all he'd done was listen to their problems.  Nevertheless, 
>he walked over and sat down against the wall, motioning for her to do 
>the same.
>     "What happened?"
>     And she told him.  She started out hesitantly, but then she heard 
>herself telling him everything.  All that she'd been feeling, the anger 
>at those treating her like a retiree, the violent fury she'd felt 
>towards her late mother, and the shame she felt because of that.  She 
>told him of the satisfaction and joy she'd felt when seducing Kunou, and 
>the fear when he'd called her mother.  Fear.  Yes, more than any of the 
>other emotions.  Fear that she'd never be able to escape, never be able 
>to do anything.
Lina: And something about vinyl siding, pole vaulting, and the
non-existance strike zone in Major League Baseball.
>     Ranma listened to her as she spoke, not seeming to react.  What did 
>he think?  Was she overreacting?  Was she disappointing him?
>     After she finished, the two of them just sat there in silence.  
>Finally Ranma moved, getting up from the floor and moving to the centre 
>of the dojo.  He started to move in a distinctive pattern, and Kasumi 
>realised with startlement that he was doing a kata.  She hadn't seen him 
>work out yet, and was startled to realise just how good he was.  He 
>moved with complete silence, in ever-increasing patterns of complexity.  
>All she could do was sit and stare.
>     In fact, she was so intent on watching him move that she didn't 
>hear him when he first spoke.
>     "What was your mother like?"
Ranma: And have you ever seen a grown man naked?
>     The question was posed so seriously that Kasumi thought for a few 
>moments before speaking.  "She was the perfect Japanese woman.  She kept 
>the house immaculate, she never argued with Father, she always made sure 
>that we followed the proper manners and custom.  She was proper in every 
>sense of the word."
Andrew: Yeah, and she wanted a son, too.
>     Ranma continued to do his katas, not even giving the impression of 
>having heard her.  Nevertheless, he spoke again.  "Gee, that sounds like 
>a really harsh childhood.  It must have been awful for you."
>     Kasumi blinked.  "I wouldn't say it was awful..."
>     Ranma interrupted her.  "Oh, come on.  Being forced to always know 
>the right thing to say, or the proper way to act.  You could never have 
>been allowed to act like kids.  Your childhood taken from you by your 
>own mother."
>     "That's not true!"  Kasumi couldn't believe what Ranma was saying.  
>"We had a lot of fun as children!  We played and had fights and all of 
>that!  She didn't do that to us!"
>     "Ah, but now you feel confined by your mother's legacy.  She's 
>trapped you into carrying on her work, and there's no way out of it.  My 
>God, what an awful woman."
>     Kasumi almost slapped him.  "You take that back!" she cried.  "My 
>mother was a wonderful woman!  I love her!  We all do!  I..."
>     Kasumi suddenly stood very still.
>     "You bastard!" she shouted.  "You did that on purpose!"
>     Ranma grinned and sat back down.  "Sorry about that.  I wanted you 
>to see what you were sounding like.  There was no way that your mother 
>could have been what you described."
>     He hadn't even broken a sweat, Kasumi noted.  "But I - "
>     "Kasumi, you're still not completely recovered from what I...what I 
>did to your mind.  You're overcompensating.  Taking yourself too far in 
>the other direction from your old personality."
Andrew: Speaking of which, Ranma does sound very OOC at this point.
>     "But I'm not like that anymore," Kasumi said quietly.  "I can't 
>even imagine going back to that now.  I just..."
>     Ranma stopped her, putting his hand on her shoulder.  "I'm not 
>saying you need to go back to that.  I'm just saying that you shouldn't 
>deny everything you once were.  You seem to think that you need to be 
>the opposite of the old Kasumi.  Why?  She was a nice, loveable, kind 
>person."
>     "But she was an airhead!" Kasumi said.  "She didn't ever think of 
>herself, only of others.  She let everything roll over her, just sat 
>there in her own little world -- "
Utena (imitating Kasumi): And sniffed speedballs. Wait a minute...
>     "So don't do that!"  Ranma looked a little upset, and Kasumi shied 
>back.  He calmed down, then continued.  "Kasumi, just because you used 
>to have some bad habits doesn't mean everything about you was awful.  
>When I hear people talk about you, they never have anything bad to say.  
>They praise you for your generosity and courage.  You had to raise your 
>family almost by yourself from the time your mother died.  Kasumi, that 
>takes strength.  I don't think I could have done that."
>      Kasumi considered this for a moment.  Strong.  She'd never thought 
>of herself as strong, not even before Ranma arrived.  It made her feel 
>good.
Touga: Then again, so was making love to Kuno. You know, if I didn't know
better, I'd say that Ms. Seawright had something to do with putting
Takewaki and Kasumi together in a lemon.
Ryo-ok-hi: Yeah! So there is nothing wrong with...(Washu glares at Ryo-ok-hi.)
Washu: Not even Oscar would think of something like what you did!
Andrew: Washu! Don't give him any ideas!
>     After a few minutes, she spoke again.  "So what should I do?"
>     Ranma shrugged.  "Try to find a way to balance them out.  I'm sure 
>your mother wasn't the perfect Japanese woman all the time.  She must 
>have had fights with your father at times.  Don't deny everything you 
>learned from her just because it's 'traditional'.  Heck, Kunou sounds 
>like he'd really like traditional."
>     That brought Kasumi back down to Earth.  "He doesn't want me.  He 
>wants a mother.  Someone to take care of him, not to make love to him."
Luna (imitating Kasumi): He also wanted a quart of 2% milk.
>     "Kasumi, you're making an awfully big deal about one word half-
>mumbled in his sleep.  Maybe he was dreaming about something else.  I 
>mean, you gotta remember with Kunou, what I did to him was a lot worse 
>than what I did to you in a way.  He's actually a lot like you.  He was 
>cruising through life with a veil over his true feelings, and now that's 
>gone.  And he's probably not sure what to do now.  You could help with 
>that.  In fact, that's why I sent you over in the first place, rather 
>than Akane or Nabiki."
>     Kasumi looked doubtful.  "Because I was going through the same 
>thing?  Or because I'd be more inclined to be helpful and nurturing?"
>     Ranma smiled.  "A little of each."
>     "So what should I do?"
>     Ranma thought for a bit.  "Why not go over there and explain your 
>feelings to him?  Say that you wouldn't mind taking him as a lover, but 
>want an adult relationship, not a mother/child one.  Be firm, I think 
>the Kunou family has an odd idea about familial relationships..."
Ranma: Oh god...I don't believe what I've just suggested.
Ryouga: No kidding. Say, Ranma, you aren't into yaois, are you?
Ranma: After what we've been through? Hardly!
Andrew: Guys, I have one word for you: "Her." (The boys look at each other
and started to cry.)
>     Kasumi smirked.  "What, you mean like us?"
>     Ranma did not smile back.  "Kasumi, before I arrived, did you ever 
>consider making love to your sisters?"
>     She paused.  "No," she admitted.
>     "Then no, not like us."
>     Kasumi reddened, suddenly feeling a little ashamed.  "So you do 
>think I should try to get him back."
>     "I don't know.  Is it what you want?"
>     That brought her up short.  She thought back to what had made her 
>seduce Kunou.  More than her own feelings of lust, it had been Kunou 
>himself.  The young man coming to terms with himself.  A kindred spirit.  
>Someone who could understand what it was like living a life that wasn't 
>what you wanted.  Someone...who eventually she might want to make a life 
>with.  "Yes.  It is what I want."
Lina (shaking her head, pushing the now empty food buffet outside):
Gee...this doesn't seem right. I mean, everyone is so out of character.
Luna: Well, for one, Ranma's has messed up everyone's mind. Secondly, his
dad isn't around to make his life a living hell. He makes his own hell.
>     "Then go.  And don't worry about how you aren't supposed to act.  
>Just let it come naturally."
>     Kasumi considered how she felt now.  Relieved.  Hopeful.  And more 
>than a little aroused.  Definitely back to normal.  She moved over to 
>Ranma and positioned herself in his lap.  "Ranma...thank you for helping 
>me."  She began to stroke him into hardness, watching with amusement as 
>his eyes bugged out.  "I know you feel guilty about what you did to us, 
>but I still feel as if I've come alive."  She paused to give him a long, 
>deep kiss, her hands busy working him further into a frenzy.  "You know 
>what I feel like doing now?"
Ranma: Try to takeover the world?
Ryouga: Try to rock Kuno's world?
Andrew: See if Sears does vinyl siding?
A-ko: Say, what's with this vinyl siding crap?
Luna: A-ko, it's called a running gag.
>     Ranma's voice was almost a whisper.  "Wh-what?"
>     "I'm going to go and see Kunou, and talk to him properly this 
>time."  And then she bounded up and headed quickly for the door.  "Thank 
>you again, Ranma!"
>     "Guh?"
Ryouga: Brilliant quotes, Ranma. Just brilliant.
>     She grinned, and then headed out.  In the hallway, she passed 
>Akane, and briefly hugged her.  "Akane, thank you.  I'm all right now."
>     Akane sighed in relief.  "Thank God.  I was really getting 
>worried."
>     "I'm going to go over and talk with Kunou again.  I don't know if 
>I'll be back tonight...if you know what I mean.  By the way, I think 
>Ranma wanted to see you.  He's still in the dojo."
>     "OK.  Thanks, Kasumi!"  Akane waved to her once again as she walked 
>into the dojo.
>     Kasumi giggled to herself, and listened for a moment longer.
>     "Ranma, what did you -- Ranma?"  A pause.  "What the?"  A longer 
>pause.  "Ooooohhh, Ranma..."
>     Kasumi headed out, leaving behind the growing sounds of lust coming 
>from the dojo.
(Ranma looks and starts to cry again.)
Ryouga: What, you want me to take your place?
>***
>
>     Nabiki frowned.  This wasn't going as well as she had hoped.  She'd 
>checked out all of the hotels and YMCAs where a young man could 
Touga (singing): "...can get yourself cleaned, you can have a good
meal,/you can do whatever you feel..." (Everyone else does the YMCA dance.)
>conceivably be staying.  She'd also checked out a few places that only a 
>young woman could stay at, but to no avail.  Either Ryouga was very good 
>at hiding, or she was missing something important.
>     She considered what she would do if she were in his position.  He'd 
>want to train for the fight, either physically or mentally, most likely 
>both.  It would have to be someplace out of the way, where not too many 
>questions would be asked.  However, she didn't think he would leave 
>town.  She wondered if Ryouga might have an accomplice.  After all, if 
>he'd fallen in the same pool as Ranma, he must be prey to the 
>same...problems.  He might have some young man or woman working with 
>him.
>     With all of this going through her head, she almost missed the 
>tent.  It was set up in a corner of the park she now walked through, 
>with a small fire beside it.  And sitting by the fire was a man who fit 
>Ranma's vague description of what Ryouga might look like now.
>     *Great, I use all of my resources and get nowhere, and then I end 
>up stumbling across him.  Some detective I am,* she thought.  
>Nevertheless, she trotted over towards the tent, trying to keep calm.  
>She suspected that any attempts to sneak up on him would be doomed to 
>failure, so she simply walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.
>     "Hibiki-san?"
>     Then again, she might have been able to sneak up on him.  He 
>certainly jumped high enough when she touched him.  He recovered 
>quickly, though, and had the sense not to pretend he wasn't surprised.  
>He stared at him for a moment.  "You're Nabiki Tendou, aren't you?  One 
>of Ranma's women."
>     That earned him a glare.  "I'm Nabiki Tendou, and I'm not anybody's 
>woman."
>     He smiled, showing a set of fangs that Nabiki found unnerving.  "Oh 
>really?  Then you've put Ranma up on charges for raping you?"
>     Nabiki scowled.  He was making her confront things she didn't want 
>to confront yet.  She could feel the beginning of a headache.  Deciding 
>to try and regain control of the conversation, she sat down beside the 
>fire and examined the young man.
>     He was actually quite handsome, in a roguish sort of way.  With 
>that tattered clothing and his bandanna, he kind of looked like an 
>intrepid explorer.  The backpack sitting next to him only added to the 
>impression.
Andrew: Okay...give me your impression of the world's worst Anime dating
video!
Ranma: Hi...I'm Ataru Moroshibu and I really need you and three hundred
other women...
Luna: Hi, I'm...I keep forgetting...
A-ko: Hi! I'm C-ko! And I would love to get a man that wouldn't mind having
me to cook his meals!!!
Washu: Hi, I'm Botan, and I love to have a boyfriend to die for!
Andrew: Hmm...do you suppose that Saotome George and Saotome Genma are
related somehow?
Ranma: You mean that demon and my father?! Let's hope not!
Lina: Urameshi Atsuko and Roppongi Akemi should never meet at a bar
drinking contest. Or in a bar for that matter.
>     She gazed around at the campsite, trying to sound laconic.  "So, 
>why are you sitting here in the middle of the park?  Wouldn't a hotel or 
>gym be a better choice?"
>     He smirked.  "Looked for me there, did you?"  She scowled again.
>     "I don't know," he continued.  "Habit, I guess.  Until recently, I 
>had a poor sense of direction, so I had to get used to sleeping wherever 
>I was at the time.  I guess I'm just used to it."
>     Nabiki continued to act uninterested, but pounced on the lead he'd 
>thrown to her.  "You mean you used your mental powers to fix your sense 
>of direction?  Interesting..."
>     This time Ryouga laughed out loud.  "Say, Nabiki, would you like to 
>hear my complete life history and exactly how I use my powers so you can 
>report back to Ranma and give him an edge in our fight?"
>     Nabiki got up and strolled over to him.  She was really getting mad 
>now.  She hated not being in control.  Ranma was bad enough, but she 
>could deal with that.  But being manipulated by a virtual stranger was 
>almost too much to take.
>     "Yes.  Please.  I'd love to hear it."
>     Ryouga gestured for her to sit next to him, which he did 
>grudgingly, and then began telling her about his life.  He'd grown up 
>mostly on his own, since his parents had just as horrible a sense of 
>direction as he did.  He'd managed, at the age of 11, to find a family 
>who was sympathetic and vigilant enough to let him stay with them, and 
>got a few months of normal schooling.  That was apparently where he'd 
>met Ranma, and the two had developed an almost instant rivalry.  Over 
>time, it had gotten worse, and finally, Ryouga had challenged Ranma to 
>one last battle.
>     Unfortunately, he'd gotten lost, and was four days late to his own 
>challenge.  By the time he made it, Ranma's father had taken him on 
>another training trip.  Ryouga, naturally, had sworn vengeance and 
>followed him, leaving behind his old life.
>     Nabiki listened to this story with a sense of awe.  She'd never 
>before realised how truly pathetic someone could be.
>     Ryouga continued to ramble on.  "Eventually, as you've probably 
>figured out, I ended up at the pools of Jusenkyou."
>     Holding up a hand, Nabiki grinned.  "Wait, don't tell me, let me 
>guess.  You ended up being shoved into the pools accidentally by Ranma 
>and his father as they ran past, thus furthering your need for 
>vengeance."
>     Ryouga blinked.  "Um...no, I just fell in."
>     Ignoring Nabiki's giggling, he continued.  "After I got out of the 
>pool, I was almost lost.  I...there was so much in my head, I couldn't 
>hear my own thoughts.  It was terrifying."
>     He paused for a few moments.  Nabiki fell silent now, watching him 
>as he tried to work out how to describe what had happened.
>     "I was found by the old guide who watched over the pools.  He 
>didn't speak much Japanese, and I didn't speak much Chinese, but I 
>managed to figure out what had happened.  Ranma and I had been 
>unfortunate enough to fall into a cursed spring.  Even worse, it was one 
>that was blocked off because it was 'forbidden'.  The springs in that 
>area have strange powers...as I'm sure you're aware of."
>     Nabiki remained silent.
>     "I was told about what I might be capable of.  It scared me.  The 
>thought that I could manipulate and use people like that...I didn't want 
>to become that kind of person."  His face darkened.  "To become the kind 
>of person Ranma is now.
>     "So I wanted to see if I could use the powers without the lust.  To 
>see if I could maybe help others.  But of course, I first tried it on 
>myself, so that I wouldn't hurt anyone.  That's when I was able to cure 
>my sense of direction.  It was my first real victory."
>     Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  "In that case, why didn't you ask about 
>some sort of cure?  I mean, if the pools were there, there must be some 
>way to counteract them."
>     Ryouga shook his head.  "I did ask.  Apparently there _are_ cures 
>for the more normal curses...if I'd fallen in the plain old Spring of 
>Drowned Girl, Spring of Drowned Boy would have cured me.  But because of 
>the mental powers, the curses are somewhat more different.  There is an 
>equivalent pool for girls in the restricted area, but the Guide seemed 
>to think that would be a very bad idea."
>     Nabiki nodded.  "Let's wrap this up.  You spent about three weeks 
>using your powers on yourself, getting rid of your terrible sense of 
>direction and apparently some other stuff that I don't know about.  Are 
>you able to use your powers without the lust that comes with them?"
>     After a few moments, Ryouga answered.  "No.  But I haven't hurt 
>anyone with my powers yet."
>     "Yet," Nabiki emphasised.  "Geez, you must be masturbating 
>constantly."
Ryouga: And I'm Jewish. So what?!
>     She was amused to see Ryouga blush.  She'd finally managed to 
>embarrass him.
>     "So:  despite the acquisition of these powers, you decided the best 
>thing to do was to continue hunting Ranma, despite the fact that you'd 
>been at it for _FIVE YEARS_.  I'm assuming, by the way, that Ranma's 
>powers were as much a surprise to you as yours were to him."
>     Ryouga nodded.
>     Nabiki continued.  "So there's no way I can talk you out of this?"
>     That made Ryouga laugh.  "Talk me out of it?  This has gone beyond 
>some petty little quest for vengeance, Nabiki.  This is about justice.  
>Ranma used his powers to rape and control four people so far, and he 
>plans on using them more if he isn't stopped.  How can you try to stop 
>me?"
>     "He's not planning on using his powers more!"  Nabiki felt the need 
>to rise to Ranma's defence.
>     Ryouga raised an eyebrow.  "Oh, come on.  Are you trying to tell me 
>that he's simply going to stop now?  He can't.  He may try, but he 
>can't."
>     "Why not?"
>     Ryouga looked away.  "I haven't been able to.  It started with the 
>directional ability, but lately I've been making more and more 
>modifications to my own head.  Hell, listen to me talking to you.  It 
>used to be that I couldn't even get near a girl without suffering a 
>nosebleed.  Now it's no problem."
>     He looked back at Nabiki, staring deeply into her eyes.  For some 
>reason, she couldn't look away.
>     "Sometimes, I worry about whether there's any of Ryouga Hibiki left 
>in me."
>     There didn't seem to be anything she could say to that, so she just 
>stayed quiet.  After another moment, Ryouga got up and poured some water 
>on the fire.
>     "I think you've gotten enough information out of me.  Tell Ranma I 
>will be there in four days to fight him.  Not a martial-arts battle, but 
>one using our powers.  There is no other option."
>     Nabiki got up, nodded, and started heading back for the dojo.  Then 
>she turned.  "Oh, one more thing, Ryouga."
>     He looked up.  "Yes?"
>     "If Ranma dies...the three of us have pledged to kill ourselves."
>     She took a little satisfaction in his face going pale.  She hoped 
>she'd scared the hell out of him.
>     She'd certainly scared herself.
>***
>
>     Tatewaki Kunou stood very quietly, staring at the wooden bokken 
>before him.  Like the Shakespeare, it was an example of the folly that 
>had consumed his life since...well, since he'd lost himself.  Unlike the 
>Shakespeare, however, he wasn't sure he wanted to go as far as 
>destroying it.  Certainly he was not a world-class martial artist, but 
>his single-minded devotion to the art had made him quite a proficient 
>swordsman.
>     Now that he had recovered his senses, perhaps it was time to apply 
>some of the honour of that art as well.
>     He didn't even know if it would be possible to recover any of his 
>family's shredded honour.  He had briefly thought that he might last 
>night.  When Kasumi had been here, talking to him.  Everything she said 
>seemed to make so much sense, be absolutely obvious.  He'd felt as if he 
>really could start over, make something of himself once again.
Andrew (imitating Kuno): That's it! I shall become an actor!
Ranma: He said Kuno would make somethign of himself, not something
unrealistic...
>     Then when he'd awoken, after they'd made love, she had been gone.  
>When he enquired after her, his servants informed him that she'd left 
>abruptly, and seemed quite upset.
A-ko: ...about vinyl siding.
Ryo-ok-hi: Geeze, guys, will ya kill the vinyl thing!
>     He must have offended her in some way.  The trouble was, he had no 
>idea what he'd done.  She hadn't seemed upset with his technique while 
>they were making love (though he felt rather embarrassed that he hadn't 
>done much to reciprocate).  Did she expect him to say something?  A 
>declaration of love?  They'd only talked for half an hour, and he hadn't 
>really known her that well before.  Did she want some sort of 
>commitment?
>     His reverie was interrupted by one of the servants.  "Young Master, 
>the Tendou girl is here again.  Do you wish to speak with her?"
>     Tatewaki tried, with difficulty, to contain his excitement.  She'd 
>come back!  Maybe he could finally find out what he had done to offend 
>her so much.  "Please, show her in.  I'll be in the study."
Lina: So! It was Colonel Kuno with the bokken in the study room!
>     He walked down the hall trying to think about the best way to 
>handle this.  He realised he had no idea.  He was still trying to deal 
>with what that red-haired girl had done to him, and how to best deal 
>with the consequences.  Any more complications at this point would be 
>even more taxing.
>     Nevertheless, he felt a real need to talk to her.  Perhaps she 
>would be the one to take the lead.  She'd done so the last time.
>     Coming in, she seemed exactly the same as when he'd last seen her.  
>Determined, smiling, sexy.  He began to feel flustered again, recalling 
>what had happened last time.
>     She looked at him closely, and suddenly she looked less sure of 
>herself.  He wondered once more what he had done to remove her 
>confidence and what he could do to get it back.
>     For a long time neither of them spoke, just content to drink in the 
>other's eyes.  Finally Kasumi began.
>     "There are some things that I should have told you last night and 
>never got around to.  I'm sorry about that.  I was selfish."
Andrew (imitating Kuno): I only want a pint of milk!
>     Tatewaki blinked.  He hadn't expected _her_ to be apologising.  
>"It's all right.  What did you want to tell me?"
>     "First of all, some of this is going to be hard to understand.  You 
>might not even believe me, it sounds so farfetched.   But I can prove it 
>to you later, I suppose..."  She twisted her dress in her hands, looking 
>down instead of at him.  He stopped her.
>     "Kasumi.  Tell me."
>     And tell him she did, in a low, hesitant voice.  About exactly who 
>had done this to him, and what their true nature really was.  About her 
>sisters, and the relationship they now shared.  About exactly what had 
>been attempted at the beach, and why it had 'backfired' in a sense.  
>Tatewaki simply sat there, looking at her, and tried to take it all in.
>     After a short time Kasumi finally ground to a halt.  She looked as 
>if she was waiting for him to say something, but he still had no idea 
>what to tell her.  He needed to say something, though; she was getting 
>uncomfortable.
>     "Do you hate him then?  For what he did to you?" he asked.
>     Kasumi's immediate response startled him.  "No!"  She calmed, then 
>continued.  "He keeps saying that we will.  That once he's removed the 
>controls he implanted in us, we'll wish him dead.  Perhaps he's right, I 
>don't know.  I can't even conceive of it now.  I love Ranma.  So do my 
>sisters."  A thought struck her, and she looked up at him, a timid 
>expression on her face.  "Do...do you hate him?  Will you try to get 
>revenge?"
>     Tatewaki thought for a moment about her words.  Did he hate Ranma?  
>He certainly didn't care for his actions...but there was a lack of 
>centre to that dislike.  He hated the actions, but not the person.  
>Perhaps that was one of Ranma's controls that Kasumi had spoke about.  
>In any case, the point was moot.  Since he couldn't do anything about it 
>at the moment, he wouldn't let it worry him; he had more important 
>things to worry about.
>     "No...no, I'm not going to do anything to him.  I'm not going to 
>move in though, if that's what you want.  I won't become part of a 
>harem."
>     Kasumi waved a hand.  "No, no, that's not what I meant at all!  I 
>perfectly understand your reasons!  I was just..."
>     "You were concerned for him."
>     She looked down.  "Yes.  And for you."
>     "Me?"
>     "Ranma is having a tremendous amount of difficulty controlling 
>himself at the moment.  Already he's made love to you, even when that 
>wasn't his intention.  His powers aren't totally understood...at least 
>not by him.  If you were to attack or threaten him, I think that might 
>send him over the edge."  Her voice dropped to a whisper.  "I don't want 
>to think about what might happen then."
Washu: And neither does Rumiko.
>     He could sense her growing unease, and decided to move on to a 
>topic more immediate in his concerns.  "Kasumi, why did you leave 
>yesterday?  Did I say something, do something?  Not do something?"
>     Kasumi blushed.  "It was more my fault than yours, even if you did 
>say something."
>     Tatewaki was genuinely puzzled now.  "What?"
>     She took a deep breath.  "In your sleep...you said 'mother'."
>     He was startled.  Had he?  No wonder she'd left.  "I'm sorry...I 
>didn't mean to offend -- "
>     She waved him off.  "Kunou, my mother died when I was nine years 
>old.  Ever since then, I essentially became her.  I did the laundry, the 
>cooking.  I was head of household, since Father wasn't able to do it 
>anymore.  And little by little, the young girl I once was began to 
>disappear.
>     "When Ranma arrived and took control of me, he was able to release 
>a side of me that hadn't seen the light of day for ten years.  It was 
>almost overwhelming.  When he tried to put me back to what I once was, I 
>wouldn't let him do it.  I couldn't go back to the ordinary housewife 
>I'd been.
>     "Unfortunately, I overcompensated.  You'd think with all the 
>psychology books Tofu-sensei loaned me, I'd have realised it for what it 
>was.  I started acting like a brazen, oversexed hussy...the complete 
>opposite, I thought, to what I'd once been.  That was probably why I 
>seduced you...Tatewaki, and for that, I apologise."
>     She waited to see if he was going to speak, but Tatewaki wanted to 
>let her finish.  She eventually continued.
>     "This afternoon, Ranma helped me to realise that I didn't have to 
>turn my life completely in the other direction to be fulfilled.  That I 
>could be 'myself' and still manage to have a life of my own.  That's why 
>I came back.
>     "Tatewaki, making love to you was wonderful.  It was different than 
>anything I'd ever felt before, even with Ranma.  I'd like to do it 
>again.  I'd like to be able to make love to you every day.  But I won't 
>force you."
>     Tatewaki finally decided to speak.  "What are you telling me, 
>Kasumi?"
>     She smiled and blushed slightly.  "If you like, I'd like for us to 
>be lovers.  I don't want anything more than that though.  At least not 
>now.  Maybe later, when we've both managed to find ourselves, or if 
>Ranma is able to free us from his controls...who knows?  But for 
>now, Tatewaki, would you be willing to enter into a purely physical 
>relationship with me?"
Andrew: I think this relationship should be filed under "non-cannonical."
>     After a few moments of staring at her in disbelief, he realised she 
>was serious.  She _didn't_ want a commitment from him...at least not 
>yet.  He found that thought rather soothing.  He had only just regained 
>his senses after years of madness.  He wasn't ready for any other major 
>upheavals.
>     He now considered her question in more detail.  There were reasons 
>why he hadn't allowed himself to get close to anyone when his mother had 
>died.  They were the reasons that drove him to madness, but his new-
>found sanity did not eliminate them.  The reasons why he was alone.  Two 
>very big reasons.
>     "Kasumi...I appreciate the offer.  Believe me, there is nothing I 
>would like more than to take it...and you."  He expected her to blush, 
>but she grinned instead, which took him aback.  He pressed on though.  
>"My life is not entirely my own.  My father is not a major concern.  He 
>is in Hawaii at the moment, living out his own madness, and liable to 
>stay there for some time.
>     "My sister, however...she is due back in four days from her school 
>trip.  Kasumi, my madness is nothing compared to my sister's.  I do not 
>think Ranma would be able to help her simply by entering her mind.  In 
>fact, I think that the shock might kill him.  My sister is paranoid and 
>antisocial at the very least.  She has assaulted people before, for 
>reasons that she invents in her own mind.  I do not know what your 
>presence here might do to her.  That is why I am wary."
>     There was one other thing he avoided telling her.  He was lucky 
>enough to have had her come back to the mansion, he didn't want to scare 
>her away by mentioning the seedier side of the Kunou family.
>     Thus, he was incredibly surprised when she brought it up anyway.  
>"Do you think she would be jealous?  That I'd stolen you away from her?"
>     Tatewaki stared at her in disbelief.  "You...know?"
>     "Ranma told me," she said.  "I don't know any details, but I know 
>that the relationship you have with Kodachi is more than that of mere 
>brother and sister."  She looked deep into his eyes, seriously.  "Do you 
>love her?"
>     He answered almost immediately.  "Yes."
>     "In what way?  As a brother?  As a lover?"
Andrew: And are you from Mississippi?
>     That question took longer.  Tatewaki had not really considered what 
>he and his sister had done since he had regained his senses.  He chose 
>his words carefully.
>     "I'm not sure.  I know I love her as a brother.  I also know that 
>seeing her like this causes me great pain.  Kodachi was once such a 
>wonderful child.  Vibrant, outgoing...I felt proud to be her brother.  
>Her laughter always brought smiles.  And then, a few weeks after our 
>mother died...there was a different laughter.  The piercing cackle that 
>she has now.  It was the sign that she had lost.  She had lost the 
>battle that had taken Father already.  And, about a year later...I lost 
>as well.
>     "But it was not constant.  Occasionally, when the nights were 
>quiet, and we were alone...we regained a bit of what we once were.  I 
>remember when Kodachi simply held me and sobbed for the entire night.
>     "I'm not sure when it became something more.  Over the past year, 
>we have...taken comfort in each other.  When we could."
>     "You've made love to her?"  Kasumi's voice held curiosity rather 
>than condemnation.
>     "We...we haven't gone all of the way.  But we've experimented."
Washu: Hmm...I'd like to see the reports of their experimentation...then
again, maybe not.
>     Kasumi nodded once more.  "And how do you feel about that now?"
>     Tatewaki thought for a moment.  "Disturbed."
Ranma: Join the crowd.
>     "That you've done those things with her?"
>     He shook his head.  "No...that I don't find it horrifying."
Andrew: What?!
>     For a few moments neither of them said anything.  Tatewaki was too 
>caught up in his own thoughts.  He had suspected that the foreplay with 
>his sister was another extension of his madness.  It now appeared that 
>might not be the case.
>     After a while, Kasumi spoke.  "Tatewaki, when Ranma...took us, a 
>few nights ago, I slept with all of my sisters.  It didn't feel wrong at 
>the time.  It still doesn't.  I love my sisters now more than I ever 
>thought possible.  I suppose Ranma caused part of that, though I don't 
>think he did it deliberately."
>     Tatewaki frowned.  "But this happened before I met Ranma."
>     "I know.  I'm just saying, that if she comes back...you might want 
>to think about what could happen.  And if you decide to continue to... 
>comfort her, then I'll be here for you.  For both of you."
>     He considered her offer.  What exactly was she offering him?  No 
>long-term plans, or pledges that would last forever.  Just a respite, 
>and comfort in each other's arms.  Someone to confide in, something he 
>had lacked for so long.  Someone who might understand a bit about the 
>complex relationship he and Kodachi shared.  It seemed like a dream come 
>true.
A-ko: Nah, it's just typical lemon drama.
Andrew: Lemon drama...that's an oxymoron, right?
>     Eventually he realised he didn't need words to show how he felt.  
>They had the entire evening to talk.  Right now was the time for 
>actions.  And with that, he rose out of his chair, lifted Kasumi up, and 
>gave her a long, passionate kiss.
>     It felt even more incredible this time.  Perhaps it was the fact 
>that he wasn't simply sitting there and letting her do all the work.  He 
>moved closer to her, pushing his body against her own.  She felt warm 
>next to him, and it drove him to even greater heights.
>     They ended up against a wall, gasping for breath as they kissed 
>each other.  Tatewaki started to move his mouth down her neck, wanting 
>to feel her pulse against his lips.  He could hear her moan, and felt 
>her hands roaming across his back.
>     He realised that he wasn't going to be able to make it to the
>bedroom this time.  Looking into her eyes, he saw that she was thinking
>the same thing.  They kissed once more, their tongues searching inside 
>the other's mouth, and then moved as one being towards the desk.
>     Tatewaki gave thanks for his family's money.  The desk was a large, 
>sturdy, oak affair, worthy of the Kunou name and the finances their 
>father had once commanded.  For now though, it was simply a convenient 
>flat surface.  He ran his hand along it, knocking off the few papers 
>that were there, and sat Kasumi on the edge.  He started to take off her 
>dress, but she grabbed him and kissed him again.  Then she stood and 
>turned around to put her back to him.
>     He understood her meaning at once, and pulled down the zipper, 
>exposing her sleek back.  He took a moment to run his mouth along the 
>back of her neck and down her shoulder, eliciting a shiver from her.  
>Then he helped her to get her arms free, all the while thinking that 
>this was taking an incredibly long time.  Finally the dress pooled to 
>the ground, leaving Kasumi clad only in bra and panties.
>     Tatewaki was now almost at a fever pitch, and almost sprained 
>something getting his own clothes off.  When he had removed his pants, 
>standing before her in his boxers, she grinned.
>     "Where were we?"
>     In response, Tatewaki laid her out on the desk, gazing at her 
>supple, trim body.  He ran his hands along her thighs, making her move 
>her hips slightly in anticipation.
>     He slowly moved his hands along her back, working his way up to her 
>bra so that he could free her breasts.  *I wish I'd thought of this 
>before I lay her on the desk,* he thought briefly.  She seemed to 
>understand what he was driving at though, and raised herself up so that 
>he could get at the catch.  After a few moments of fumbling, he released 
>it, and slowly revealed Kasumi's chest.  He ran his hands over first 
>one breast, then the other, marvelling in their softness.  Then he got 
>to her nipples, which were rock hard, showing how excited she was 
>already feeling.  He moved his mouth down to one of them, giving the 
>nipple a quick lick, and was rewarded with a small cry.
>     She grasped his hand.  "Tatewaki-chan, _please_..."
>     He understood right away, and moved further downwards.  Later they 
>would be able to take it slowly, revelling in the feel of each other's 
>bodies.  For now though, they both needed release.  The pent-up 
>frustrations of the past two days, which their initial lovemaking had 
>only added to, were now at breaking point.  However, when he came down 
>to her hips, he felt a need to remove her panties slowly, letting her 
>sex be revealed almost as if he were drawing a curtain.  The room, which 
>had already been steeped in their combined scents, grew even more heady 
>with the smell of her.  He drew them off her, leaving her lying on the 
>desk naked, her legs parted and a longing expression on her face.
>     Finally Tatewaki removed his own briefs, letting his member come 
>into view.  It was already incredibly hard, and staring at Kasumi's 
>naked body made him wonder how much longer he would keep control.  
>Kasumi's eyes grew wide, and her hips lifted off the table, as if she 
>were already beginning without him.
>     With that in mind, he slowly got on the desk, hovering over her.  
>He stayed like that for a few moments, just taking in the scene, and 
>then lowered his hips till his penis came to rest at her cleft.  Looking 
>into her eyes for a moment more, and being met with an equal desire to 
>his own, he thrust into her.
>     Kasumi groaned beneath him, and raised her hips to meet him 
>halfway.  He gasped himself, and began to pull out, only to have her 
>reach behind and grab his body tightly, dragging her back inside her.
>     After that there was no more time for thought, for considering what 
>the individual feelings were.  There was just pure sensation.  Tatewaki 
>thrust himself in and out of Kasumi's body like a man possessed.  She 
>moved in equal time with him, meeting every thrust with her own.  He 
>began to feel a tight sensation in his groin, and tried to move even 
>faster, to give Kasumi as much pleasure as possible before he was spent.
>     Suddenly, Kasumi gripped his arms almost in shock, and made a high 
>keening sound.  Her entire body trembled under his as her orgasm rushed 
>through her.  The feeling within him, watching her face and body arch in 
>pleasure, proved to be too much for him.  With a low grunt, he began to 
>come inside of her, feeling his member pulse as it drove into her as far 
>as it could.  He held the position for a few more seconds, and then 
>finally collapsed on top of her.
>     He didn't stay there for long, though.  Despite his lassitude after 
>their lovemaking, he didn't want to crush her.  He turned so that they 
>were lying on their sides on top of the desk, and moved over to kiss 
>her, a short, sweet kiss this time.  Now they truly were lovers, and he 
>felt better than he had in years.
>     For a few minutes the two of them simply lay there and caught their 
>breath, taking the time to drink in each other's bodies, at a more 
>leisurely pace this time.
>     Finally Tatewaki got up, beginning to gather together their 
>clothes.  He turned to her, experiencing a different feeling within him 
>now...loneliness.  He needed her to stay with him tonight.  He didn't 
>want to be alone again.
>     She seemed to understand almost instinctively what he was about to 
>ask, and held up a hand.  "Of course I'll stay.  I already let my family 
>know I might not be back."
>     Tatewaki felt relief wash over him.  Even after all they had done, 
>he still feared she might have rejected him, wanted to keep their 
>relationship at a distance.  "Thank you."
>     She smiled.  "Should we go to your bedroom?"
>     "That was exactly what I was thinking," he said.
>     After dressing, the two of them took a look at the room.  Papers 
>and books were spread all over the floor, the desk was covered in their 
>juices, and the whole room smelled of their lovemaking.  Kasumi looked 
>over at him, but he shook his head.
>     "The servants will take care of it.  That's what they are there 
>for."
>     Kasumi was momentarily startled.  "Won't they say anything?"
>     "Kasumi-chan, the Kunou servants have had to be discreet enough to 
>keep the darkest secrets of the Kunou clan from public knowledge.  They 
>will not say anything about this matter."
Ryouga: Ah...the rich in lemons.
Ranma: Not to mention that considering what's been going on here, this
ranks very little in the weirdness meter.
>     "Oh."  The idea of someone else cleaning up after a mess that _she_ 
>had made gave her a warm glow.  Then something else occurred to her.  "I 
>hope they'll approve of me..."
>     He took her in his arms once more.  "Kasumi-chan, for the past few 
>years, the servants of the Kunou clan have watched as our fortunes 
>cascaded down around us.  Seeing the young scion involved in a normal 
>relationship, relatively speaking...I think you'll find you are welcomed 
>with open arms."
>     She smiled, this time with more of an edge to it.  "Speaking of 
>welcoming with open arms..."
>     They kissed once more, a more relaxed, leisurely kiss, and then 
>adjourned to his bedroom.
>
>***
>
>     "Ready?" Ryouga asked.
>     Ranma narrowed his eyes.  "Yes."
Andrew (imitating a famous announcer as the song, "Get ready for this!"
plays): LLLLLLLLLeet's get ready to
rrrrruuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmbbbbbbbbbbbllllllllllleeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>     They stood in the middle of the dojo, on opposite sides.  The 
>three Tendou girls were against one of the walls, silent spectators to 
>the confrontation.
>      Nabiki had given him a lot of useful information, especially on 
>Ryouga's use of his powers to fix his _own_ mind, which had never 
>occurred to Ranma before.  Ranma suspected that this meant Ryouga might 
>have very strong defences, probably stronger than his own.  Plus it 
>meant that Ryouga was probably more skilled at keeping calm, since he 
>wasn't being as active about using his powers.  Ryouga had admitted to 
>Nabiki that he too suffered the burning lust that came with use of the 
>power, but apparently had been strong enough to avoid abusing it.
A-ko: And for the first time ever, Nabiki had to give "pick 'em" odds on
the Ryouga/Ranma fight.
>     Keeping calm was the key here.  Ranma needed a way to defuse the 
>situation quickly without anyone getting permanently hurt.  He didn't 
>want to mentally cripple Ryouga, he just wanted...that might be the 
>problem.  He didn't know what he wanted.  Ryouga did.  Ranma needed a 
>goal, one that he could believe in.
>     The part of his mind that believed he deserved to be punished for 
>what he'd done was preventing him from really concentrating on the 
>matter.  He had to make a decision, to decide either to let Ryouga, in 
>effect, kill him, or whether to stop Ryouga and accept the implications.
>     Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane had once again told Ranma that if he 
>died, they would, and he could not talk them out of it.  That seemed to 
>make the decision for him.  He was protecting them.
>     *This isn't for me, it's for them.  For their eventual happiness.  
>I want to be able to free them, to atone for what I've done.  Therefore 
>I have to do this.*
>     He began to move slowly towards Ryouga.  Ryouga's eyes glinted with 
>hatred.  Ranma remembered when they'd gone to school in junior high, 
>Ryouga had always seemed angry.  But this wasn't that kind of anger.  
>This was almost a righteous hatred, a flame that burned within his eyes 
>and threatened to bust from his skin.
>     And, potentially, a big weakness.
>     Just before he reached Ryouga, Ranma decided on what he would do.  
>A full offensive attack.  Barrage Ryouga's mind with thoughts and 
>images, and try to keep him off-balance enough to be able to get at his 
>mind.  He'd have to leave himself fairly open, and rely on Ryouga's 
>inexperience with other minds.
>     He stopped in the centre of the dojo and bowed to Ryouga, who 
>stared for a few moments before returning it.  Then he simply reached 
>out and grasped Ryouga's face.  Ryouga did the same.
>     And suddenly he was flying, deep into the recesses of Ryouga's 
>mind.
>     When trying to describe what he was going to do to Akane the night 
>before, Ranma had likened it to the virtual reality craze.  "You 
>basically take the random thought patterns around you and shape them 
>into an image you're comfortable with.  It's mostly unconscious.  When I 
>went into Kunou's mind, I saw his lusts as a harem of sorts, because 
>that's the way my own mind decided to interpret his thoughts."
>     Now the same thing was happening, only this time it seemed like 
>Ranma was going through a maze.  Everywhere he tried to turn, a brick 
>wall sprung up before him, preventing further progress.  He spun 
>upwards, but the walls moved with him.  Ryouga's defences were even 
>better than he'd thought.
Ryouga: Heh, heh.
Ranma: Careful, spam-boy...
>     Ranma concentrated, and began to feel his body growing more 
>excited.  He didn't have time to worry about it now, though, as he 
>shaped his power into an imaginary sledgehammer and just started 
>pounding on Ryouga's walls, reducing them to brickdust and rubble.  Then 
>he was through, rushing inwards as fast as he could.
>     There.  Here was Ryouga's subconscious, where Ranma could try to 
>insert some commands.
>     Suddenly Ranma cried out in agony, and felt his body spasm.  He 
>could see himself now, raping Nabiki against an alleyway.  Saw his face 
>as he pounded into her, ripping away her defences.  He saw himself 
>taking Kasumi on the kitchen table, taking her body as if it was just 
>meat.  He saw himself seducing Akane, taking her thoughts about how nice 
>Ranma was and twisting them, turning them into lust and devotion.  Every 
>crime he'd committed was brought back to him, with no varnishing or 
>comfort.
Andrew: Varnishing? What is this, some wooden table?
>     He felt something start to slam against his body, bringing him back 
>to reality for a few moments.  He took a moment to gear himself up, and 
>then implanted memories in Ryouga.  Different memories.  Memories of 
>trying to kill himself after he realised what he'd done to Akane and her 
>sisters.  Of comforting Akane in the school basement, clutching and 
>reassuring her as she wept.  Of experiencing love with her female form, 
>and giving Nabiki momentary respite.  Of talking to Kasumi, and assuring 
>her that she didn't have to be what anyone else expected her to be.
>     He could feel doubt creeping into Ryouga's mind, and pounced on it, 
>going in even deeper.  Now he used Ryouga's own memories against him, 
>showing every bit of rage and anger he could.  Ryouga saw himself mad 
>and screaming at the world, destroying buildings and parks.  Ryouga 
>attacking an opponent, a berserker glee in his eyes.  Ryouga screaming 
>at friends, at family, until eventually there was no one but himself.
>     The doubt in Ryouga's mind became larger, and at that moment, Ranma 
>could feel something let go.  For some reason, the attack on his own 
>mind had momentarily stopped.  Wasting no time, Ranma ripped into 
>Ryouga's subconscious, setting controls to ensure the safety of himself 
>and the Tendous.  He deliberately did as little as possible, trying to 
>merely make it impossible for Ryouga to kill or cripple Ranma and also 
>impossible to tell anyone about what he'd found.
>     And then suddenly his body spasmed again, and he felt a light 
>shining within him, as some sort of essence from Ryouga entered his own 
>mind.  He felt himself grow a little bit stronger, a little more precise 
>in his controls.
>     And then he left, bringing himself slowly back into his own mind, 
>feeling his identity reassert itself.  Unfortunately, that meant he also 
>felt the exhaustion from all that he had done.  He tried to stay awake, 
>but couldn't quite manage it.  With a small sigh, he collapsed to the 
>ground.
Luna: Looks like a double KO to me.
>***
>
>     Akane watched as Ranma and Ryouga suddenly clutched at each other's 
>faces and froze.  She wrapped her arms around herself, forcing her body 
>to calm down.  She'd promised Ranma that she and her sisters wouldn't 
>try to help, wouldn't do anything to stop the fight, even if Ryouga 
>killed Ranma.  If she tried to interrupt them while in the midst of a 
>mental battle, Ranma warned, he couldn't be sure that Ryouga wouldn't 
>just attack her as another threat.
>     And so she sat at the edge of the dojo, feeling helpless, and 
>watched as Ranma and Ryouga had their duel.  For a few minutes, nothing 
>seemed to happen, as the two merely stood in place and stared at each 
>other.
>     But after a while, Akane could see both of them starting to breathe 
>heavier, and knew that no matter how much Ranma hated the idea, he was 
>beginning to get aroused.  She could see that Ryouga was as well, as his 
>pants started to show a characteristic bulge.
(Ranma and Ryouga start to big-sweat.)
>     Another minute passed and suddenly Ryouga moved, gripping Ranma's 
>head more tightly in one hand and dragging Ranma's body to his own with 
>the other.  A look of manic glee seemed to appear on Ryouga's face, and 
>Akane heard Kasumi gasp.
>     Then they both fell to the floor, and Ryouga began to rub his body 
>against Ranma's own.  Akane didn't know if Ryouga knew what he was doing 
>or not.  Ryouga's eyes seemed to be glazing over, and he thrust himself 
>faster and faster against Ranma's leg, as if he were a dog.  For Ranma's 
>own part, he merely lay there, a fierce expression still on his face.
>     Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nabiki get up and begin to 
>head towards the battle.  She stopped her.
>     "No!  We promised Ranma we wouldn't interfere!"
>     "Akane, he's losing!"
>     "We promised!"
>     They were both cut off by a thump from the floor, and turned to 
>look.  Ranma had managed to flip their bodies over, so now he was the 
>one that lay on top of Ryouga.  Ryouga's eyes now seemed to be totally 
>unseeing, and his face turned blank.  For his own part Ranma now began 
>to thrust himself against Ryouga, jack-knifing his body faster and 
>faster.  The two of them began to make small grunting noises, and 
>Ranma's eyes also momentarily glazed over.
(Ryouga & Ranma get bugged out.)
>     Then Ryouga seemed to gasp, and fell away from Ranma, his hands 
>going limp by his side.  The small stain on the front of his pants 
>showed Akane why he'd stopped.  She grinned.  *Ranma's won!* she 
>thought.
(Ryouga and Ranma get bloody noses and faint.)
>     Now Ranma was trembling, and she recognised his own climax.  He 
>slumped to the ground, his body going slack.
>     For a moment the three sisters merely stood there, stunned by the 
>sudden end to the battle.  Kasumi was the one who broke the silence.
>     "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not cleaning that up."
Andrew: I believe I can safely say for everyone here...
Everyone: SPEW!
>     Nabiki and Akane stared at their sister, stunned.  Then Kasumi 
>slowly began to giggle.  Soon the three of them were helpless with 
>laughter, the tension draining out of them.
>     Eventually they did struggle to manoeuvre Ranma and Ryouga to 
>opposite sides of the dojo, and lie them flat.
>     Ranma was the first to awaken.  He stared at the ceiling for a 
>moment, then rose up on his elbows to look over at Ryouga.  Then he 
>looked down at himself.
>     "Aw, man..." he said with a faint note of disgust.
>     Nabiki spoke up.  "Ranma, I think you're going to have to accept 
>that using your powers is going to arouse you.  It seems to be part and 
>parcel of the whole deal."
A-ko: Stamp and postage.
Luna: Return to sender.
Lina: Address unknown.
Washu: Postage due.
>     "Besides, at least Ryouga is handsome.  Quite a catch, Ranma," 
>Kasumi added mischievously.
>     Ranma glared at her for a moment before smiling and allowing 
>himself to be helped up.  He still felt weak, but at least he could 
>stand now.
>     He realised that the light he had felt must have been a rush of 
>mental energies, the same sort he'd gotten after taking the others.  He 
>felt a certain bit of guilty pleasure about that, knowing he was that 
>much closer to being able to free the girls.
>     He walked over to Ryouga, who was awake but still staring at the 
>ceiling.
>     When Ryouga spoke, it was very quiet, almost a whisper.
>     "I still hate you," he said.
>     Ranma nodded.  "Why would I have changed that?"
>     For a moment he thought Ryouga might actually try to attack him, 
>but apparently his controls worked, as Ryouga trembled a bit and then 
>lay still once more.
>     He then spoke again.  "I'm going to stay here, I think.  I may not 
>be able to hurt you," and he twitched again a bit at those words, "but I 
>can watch you."
>     "All right."
>     Now Ryouga was struggling to his feet, waving off Kasumi's offers 
>of help.  He looked balefully at Ranma for a moment, then turned towards 
>the door.  After a few steps he turned back.
(Ranma & Ryouga get up.)
>     "When I was talking with Nabiki a few nights ago, I mentioned that 
>I didn't know if I was Ryouga Hibiki anymore.  This fight reassured me.  
>I now know that Ryouga Hibiki still exists within me.  And I'm going to 
>work even harder to fight to keep him.  Because I've seen what happens.  
>I don't think there's any trace of Ranma Saotome left in you at all."
>     Then he turned and headed out the door, not looking back again.
>     Ranma stared after him.
>     *No,* Ranma thought.  *He may think that's true, but I don't.  I'm 
>still Ranma Saotome.  I haven't lost myself.*
A-ko: Considering the fact that neither of you have a brain. (Ryouga and
Ranma glare at A-ko.)
>     He kept repeating that thought to himself as he went back inside 
>the house.
>
>***
>
>     Tatewaki Kunou stood inside the Kunou library, glancing through a 
>book of poems.  These were by Dylan Thomas rather than his usual 
>Shakespeare sonnets.  He still didn't feel ready to go back to the 
>Shakespeare just yet.  For some reason Thomas spoke to his mood today, 
>and he sat back in an armchair, ready to immerse himself.
Andrew: Trust me Kuno, if you really want to immerse with Thomas, drink a
couple of Guinesses, and you'll understand him much, much better.
>     Then he froze.
>     There was a shadow over his shoulder and breath on the back of his 
>neck.  Not the cool, erotic feel of Kasumi's breathing.  This was a 
>tense, regimented breathing.  It was also very familiar.
>     A voice whispered in his ear, sultry and smooth.
>     "Hello, brother dear."
(Everyone hums the "Psycho" theme.)
>
>End of Part 3
>
>
>Notes:  Well, sorry for the wait.  And sorry for the wait for Part 4, as 
>I'm gonna finish WGFA 4 before I get back to this.  A case of too many 
>fics, not enough time.
>
>This fic keeps dragging me in odd directions.  Kasumi was the star of 
>this part almost as much as Ranma, and will feature heavily in Part 4 as 
>well.  In addition, it will continue to try to be a little daring, and 
>not just rest on its mind control laurels. 
>
>Part 4, of course, will feature Kodachi, who will present a new problem 
>for Ranma, and one that's not easily solved by just having sex with her.
Ranma: Oh, great.  A bondage scene! (Ranma starts to cry.)
>Thanks to the prereaders, especially Lara for line-by-lining certain 
>scenes, and Dan for doing his excellent job of being overly harsh. 
>
>This fic, btw, is _not_ a BML Production.  If anything, it's a co-
>production between BLB and BDR Studios. ^_^
>
>Until next time...
>
>--Sean Gaffney
Andrew: So, what do you all think?
Washu: I think I need a new animal sidekick. This one's a bit too much of a
pervert!
Ryo-ok-hi: I can't help my self that I'm a girl!
Lina: By the way, Andrew, how come you didn't drink the vodka?
Andrew: Actually the bottle wasn't a vodka, it was a champagne. It was not
Korbel! (The Inverses gasp.)
Luna: Not Korbel! How rude!
Ranma: Well, getting back on the subject, I can't believe how he treated me
and P-chan here like dogs!
Ryouga: The m/m scene was a bit bizarre for my taste.
Ryo-ok-hi (looking mad): Come on guys, you're not used to this kind of fic!
This is more than just a lemon! This is using sex to propel a scene, not
just to attract the reader's interest.
Utena: Without the cheesy music.
Touga: Music? I've heard better music on a Nintendo game than I do on a
X-rated flick!
Utena: And how do you know? You're a minor! (Touga starts to big-sweat.)
A-ko: Come on, Gaffney's done great works before. Give him some time.
Besides, it could be worse. We could have read an Oscar fic.
Andrew: Point taken.