The sunlight danced easily across the surface of the water in the still pools as the guide made his way to the road from his little cottage. In the middle of most of the pools were one or more bamboo poles where martial artists would stand to perfect their balance. In the old days, a week wouldn't go by without someone coming here to practice their martial arts... nowadays, though... the pools were too dangerous. Far too risky. He was sweating from the heat, and although he knew that the waters from the little pools would be cool he was hardly foolish enough to take a dip in any of them. Even if he did know which pool was which.

The guide shielded his eyes from the noonday sun. He had been told to expect the Japanese students a little after lunch and there they were. The rickety old bus was on its last legs, but it had still somehow managed to bring them here. These were the first visitors to the springs in over a year. The guide squinted a little and murmured to himself in Japanese, "They here already... I have bad feeling about this... very bad..."

A large group of teens wearing school uniforms made their way out of the vehicle, stretching their legs as they did... These were freshmen students from Furinkan High School in Japan. They'd been on a tour of China as part of a cultural exchange program and this was their last stop for the day.

The guide approached them and smiled broadly as he gestured to the pools behind him, "Welcome honored guests to Training Ground of Cursed Springs, Jusenkyo," he held out a sign with 'Jusenkyo' written on it for emphasis, "I make sure to tell you that this place very dangerous... there over one hundred spring here and each one have own tragedy happen there."

Unnoticed by most of the students, two men wearing backpacks and with a travelworn air to them reclined on top of the bus and listened as the Guide continued with his explanation of the history of Jusenkyo.

The first man was broad and solidly built, but was rapidly approaching middle age. He wore a bandanna over his head to cover up the fact that he was bald and his worn gi had seen better days. He gave the younger man a nod and said, "Well, boy... we're here. Time to get some training done..."

With that, the man, jumped off the roof of the bus on the side away from the milling students.

The younger man, wearing a comfortable red satin shirt and loose black pants gave the place a disinterested look, "Aww man, this place ain't half as bad as its supposed to be..."

He took a moment to glance down at the students... one girl in particular seemed to be standing a little distance apart from everyone else... he couldn't help but notice that she was also pretty cute...

The girl turned suddenly. She couldn't have possibly heard him... but she'd sensed the presence watching her nonetheless. She looked directly at the younger man who was still sitting on top of the bus with a mixture of surprise and puzzlement. The rest of the class hadn't noticed either of them and were either listening to the guide or pretending to listen but doing something else entirely.

The man was surprised that she'd managed to spot him. He was faintly embarassed at having been caught staring, but waved to her. The girl waved back, unsure of what else to do. The young man put a finger to his lips telling the girl to stay quiet. An amused look crossed the girl's features as she nodded. He held out his hand to her to indicate that she should wait, before he jumped behind the bus and disappeared from sight.

The girl, still curious, looked around to see if any of her classmate's had noticed her... seeing that they were all otherwise occupied, she slipped around to the rear of the bus to find that the man... she corrected herself, boy... he couldn't have been any older than she was... was doing some stretching, his joints made little popping noises as he moved.

The girl said in very halting Chinese, "Whatfor... you... stand on... bus stop... er.... bus top?"

The boy gave her a confused glance and replied in Japanese, "Sorry, I don't speak Chinese..."

"You're Japanese?" asked the girl, even more surprised.

The boy nodded, then replied, "Yeah. Ranma Saotome. Nice to meet you." He bowed.

The girl bowed back, "I'm Akane Tendo. I was asking what you were doing on top of the bus."

"Oh, that..." Ranma looked embarrassed, "Well, my dad was too cheap to pay for bus tickets so we hitched a ride on your bus."

Akane giggled, "It beats walking I guess..."

Ranma smiled, a little embarassed. She was even cuter up close. "Er... yeah."

"Uh... so what are you guys doing here?" asked Ranma, casting around for some way to keep the conversation going.

"School field trip," she replied, gesturing to her classmates, "How about you?"

"Martial Arts Training," he replied.

Akane brightened up, "You're a martial artist too? What do you study?"

"Kempo," Ranma answered proudly, "Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Akane looked surprised, "I study Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts..."

"Hey, does that mean we're from rival schools?" Ranma asked curiously.

"I don't know, I've never heard of the Saotome School before."

"Me neither... I mean I've never heard of the Tendos..."

Ranma's thought was interrupted by the older man, his father who suddenly appearing behind him and walloping him over the head with his backpack, "Ranma! This is no time to be flirting with women, boy! We have training to do!"

Ranma shot his father an irritated look, "I'm not flirting with her, pop! She's from the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, what do you know about this?"

Genma, Ranma's father looked at Akane in shock, "Tendo? Are you Akane Tendo?"

"Yes, I am."

"Only daughter of Soun Tendo?"

Taken by surprise, Akane said, "You know my dad?"

Genma nodded, "Yes, we trained under the same master." He seemed to go pale at that thought.

"How is your father?"

"Oh, he's fine sir," Akane replied, "He was a little upset that I was going on this field trip but he does tend to over react sometimes."

Genma nodded happily, "Yup, that's the Soun Tendo I know."

"What's going on here, Pop?" asked Ranma.

"You must be Genma Saotome then?" Akane asked, dredging the name out of her memory.

Genma nodded solemnly, "That I am."

"I still don't know what's going on, Pop..." Ranma commented testily.

"Ranma, my boy, this is the daughter of a very good friend of mine," Genma replied gesturing to Akane, "Her father and I used to train together under Master Hap--" he managed to stop himself and looked around cautiously realizing what he had almost said.

"What a coincidence, huh?" asked Akane pleasantly.

Ranma smiled back, "Yeah."

"Well..." Genma said in a smug self satisfied tone which Ranma had learned to identify from their long years on the road, "I was planning on having this wait until we got back to Japan, boy... but since she's here anyway..."

Ranma knew trouble when he heard it. He asked in annoyed voice, "What is it this time, pop?"

Genma smiled and put a hand around Ranma's shoulder. He gestured to Akane, "I'd like you to meet your fiance, Akane Tendo."

"My what?!" sputtered Ranma

Akane frowned as she was also caught by surprise, "Dad was serious?! This is THAT Ranma?!"

Genma nodded, "Indeed. In order to carry on the tradition of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, Soun and I decided when you two were born that you would marry-"

The rest of his statement was lost as Ranma hammered him into the ground, "And you didn't tell me?!"

Akane looked at the both of them strangely, "Is this some sort of weird practical joke? Did someone put you two up to this?"

"No... no joke," Genma replied, easily getting back to his feet.

"I'm supposed to marry him?!" Akane asked, still in shock. As the implications sunk in, she realized that he probably was telling the truth... Her father never tired of talking about her fiance who would one day arrive and allow them to carry on the dojo. She murmured weakly, "I always thought Dad was kidding when he mentioned that I was supposed to have a fiance who was off on a training trip... I never realized..."

"Pity my old friend Soun isn't here to share in this joyous occasion..." said Genma as he adjusted his glasses.

Ranma had already lost his temper by this point, "Joyous occasion?! Joyous occasion?!" he grabbed his father by the lapels of his gi, "You drop something like this on me out of the blue and you expect me to be happy about it?! I don't even know this girl!"

"But son..." replied Genma consolingly, "You two seemed to be getting along so well-"

The rest of his answer was lost by Akane's interruption, "I agree with him! This is a stupid idea! I just met him now and you're telling me I have to marry him? I wasn't very happy about the idea even when my Dad was just talking about it! What possessed you to make such a stupid arrangement in the first place?!"

Ranma turned to Akane momentarily, "Akane, please. He's my father. I'll yell at him," Ranma shook his father some more, "Why the heck did you make such a stupid arrangement in the first place?!"

Genma looked as if he were about to speak, but Ranma and Akane suddenly felt danger nearby... reacting instinctively, Ranma released his father and grabbed Akane, jumping out of the way just as a rain of spatulas seemingly from nowhere peppered the side of the bus near where they were standing. Genma was less fortunate however, a few of the spatulas pinned his gi to the bus. The little projectiles imbedding deeply into the metal of the vehicle.

"What the-" Ranma started to say, just as he saw a person in a blue Japanese boy's school uniform pull what appeared to be a huge spatula into an attack position.

"Hey!" Ranma roared indignantly, "Watch it with those things! Someone could get hurt!"

"At last I've found you!" said the figure in harsh, angry tones, "I see it all now! You were in love with someone else the whole time! That's why you ran out on me!"

Genma seemed to realize who the figure was and struggled harder to break free.

Ranma looked at Akane who was still in his arms, "Erhm... friend of yours?"

Akane blushed as she realized her position. She glanced at the boy again and said to Ranma, "Never seen him before in my life."

The grip about the huge spatula tightened until the figure's knuckles were practically white, "Get away from Ranma, little girl! He's mine!"

Akane struggled to get out of Ranma's grip, forcing him to let go of her. She looked apprehensively at the two boys, before she turned to Ranma with a strange expression, "Er... your boyfriend?

Ranma shifted his attention suddenly from the figure to Akane, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Akane replied sharply, responding to his angry tone, "Well! It's obvious that whoever he is," pointing at the figure, "He's in a jealous rage. He must've been something to you..."

"I'm not like that!" replied Ranma, stepping closer to her, shouting in her face, "I don't even know this person! How can you say stuff like that about someone you just met?!"

"So you say! But how would I know?" Akane shouted back into his face, "I just met you a couple minutes ago! You could be some kind of perverted freak for all I know!"

"What would you know, you stupid obnoxious-!"

A small razor edged spatula suddenly flew past both of their faces and embedded into the bus, cutting off any further insults. "Excuse me..." the figure said in a tight angry voice, "I'm trying to say something here..."

But then there was light. A bright dazzling light which filled the sky. The three looked up to see a woman, her long straight brown hair unbound, kneeling with her hands clasped, as though in prayer. She said in a gentle melodious voice, "Magical Knights. Please save us."

The three were surprised as the they felt the soft ground underneath them give way... becoming liquid... first putty like, trapping their feet... then treacle as they sank to their knees... then almost like water... as it reached their waists... then a powerful suction which pulled them all the way under... swallowing them whole, before any had a chance to cry out. The ground reformed itself just as swiftly, returning to it's natural configuration in the span of a heartbeat.

No one else seemed to notice the light. Genma whose attention had been concentrated on pulling the little spatulas out had not noticed the disappearance of the three. When he had finally managed to break free. He looked around him in confusion, "Ranma? Akane? Where are you?"

But nothing was left save Ranma's backpack and the figure's huge spatula.

They were falling... endlessly... the three could see the land stretched out before them. A lush abundant landscape dotted with broad forests, soaring mountains, vast seas, floating islands... all of which was unfortunately rushing up to meet them at a rather terminal velocity...

Akane screamed into the tearing wind, "What's going on here!?!"

"Saotome, this is all your fault!!!" roared the figure.

Ranma kept his exclamation to a single syllable. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The ground was still a good mile away when their fall was abruptly stopped by something...

Ranma patted himself down as he realized a very important point, "We're alive! We're alive!"

"What did we land on?" Akane groaned, still dazed by the impact.

The figure looked down and gave a small cry, "It's a fish!"

"You found a fish?" Akane asked as she wandered over to the figure... whatever it was they were standing on seemed to lurch slightly and it seemed to be moving in a certain direction as indicated by the cold wind that kept clawing at their clothes.

Ranma was still too overcome with relief as he hugged the scaly gray surface, "Who cares?! We're alive!"

"No, you dumb bimbo!" snapped the figure, "We're on a flying fish!"

Ranma looked up abruptly, "We're on a what?"

Akane looked down finally, "Oh my God..."

Ranma finally stood up and saw what the others had seen. They were on what appeared to be a huge flying fish. It's diaphanous fins seemed to be ill- equipped for the job of holding up the fish, much less its three passengers.

"Nobody make a move..." Akane muttered, "Maybe it'll land soon..."

The figure snarled at Ranma and flicked another spatula shaped shuriken at him, "This is all your fault, Saotome!"

Ranma easily dodged the missile, the wind making it too difficult for the figure to aim properly, "What did I ever do to you? What do I have to do with any of this?!"

"Yeah, who are you anyway?" asked Akane.

The figure sniffed at Akane, "Just so you know... My name is Ukyou Kuonji."

"Ukyou Kuonji?" Ranma muttered scratching his head...

"You mean you don't remember me?" the figure asked furiously.

"Um... gimme a moment..." Ranma said, still thinking.

Akane sighed and tried to squint into the wind. Whatever was going on back on the fish's rear end was their business... she just met the guy a few minutes ago... and now this... She could make out a large floating island where the fish seemed to be heading... it was rocky and there were a couple of trees on it, but there didn't seem to be much else on it apart from that... it was only a few minutes away if the fish kept going at the same rate. Wherever this was, it certainly wasn't China anymore... She turned to tell her two companions just in time to hear a loud CLONG.

"Maybe that'll help your memory, Saotome!" screamed Ukyou, with a long handled spatula in hand. Ranma was slightly slumped clutching at his head. Akane found herself wondering just how many spatulas this person had...

"Will you two stop fighting?!" Akane screamed back, her temper getting the better of her.

"This is none of your business, little girl!"

"Look you..." Akane said in low and dangerous tones as she stomped towards Ukyou... "I don't know what your problem with Ranma is, and at the moment I quite frankly don't care! We are on a flying fish of all things flying over God knows where! Now... I would appreciate it if you kept yourself calm so we can figure out what's going on here!!!"

"Fine..." replied Ukyou, "We can finish this after we hit solid ground..."

Ranma breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good... then maybe we can find out where the heck we are..."

"Then I kill you." Ukyou replied reasonably.

A small smile played on the features of the man in black shadows as he watched the scene unfold... he stood in a darkened chamber... a scrying pool at his feet and a man in silver behind him.

"You must be joking. The Saviors... these Magical Knights are a bunch of squabbling children?" he asked aloud, mildly amused, "It's almost not worth the trouble..."

"Nevertheless my Ono-sama..." replied the man who stood behind him.

"Indeed, Tarou," the man replied. He continued softly, "Kodachi..."

From behind a curtain of water against one wall, "Yes, My Ono- sama?" asked a girl's voice sweetly.

"Deal with them, please. In your own way..."

"Yes, My lord..." replied the girl as she stepped into the light. She had a trim, athletic figure which her uniform (which vaguely resembled leather swimwear) did very little to conceal. Her long dark hair was gathered into an off-center ponytail and her eyes gleaming with almost maniacal intensity... She gave a soft demented giggle behind a leather gloved hand, "They will never trouble you again... Ono-sama..."

"Be on your way, Kodachi," The High Priest Toufuu Ono replied coldly to her.

Kodachi gave vent to a full throated laugh as the scent of roses filled the air... a gust of wind whirled around her body, obscuring her in a cloud of rose petals, before she vanished to carry out her appointed task.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the fish finally floated close enough to one of the floating islands for its passengers to disembark. Close, of course, was a relative term here... considering that the three were all martial artists of some skill, a six foot leap wasn't much of a problem.

"Solid ground, thank goodness." Akane said, relieved.

Ukyou merely made an angry snort and sat down on a nearby rock.

Ranma glanced back at the fish and asked with some alarm, "What's it doing?"

The fish moved somewhat closer to the three after they'd disembarked and seemed to give the distinct impression of staring. And... somehow... smiling?

Akane turned to the fish, "Er... um... thanks for helping us out back there..."

The fish, lacking any capacity for human speech stayed quiet, but gave the distinct impression that it was happy to have obliged.

"Why are you talking to the fish?" asked Ranma.

"I'm trying to be polite okay?" Akane snapped at Ranma, "Who knows? Maybe it can understand us... it did help us."

The fish, satisfied at a job well done and having been thanked, proceeded to turn around but not before favoring Akane with a fishy wave of one fin.

Akane, lacking any other response, waved back.

Ukyou murmured, "Well... that was bizarre."

"That's almost enough to make me swear off sushi for the rest of my life." Ranma muttered.

"Which won't be for much longer, believe me." Ukyou replied darkly, standing.

"What exactly is your problem with me?!" Ranma shouted at Ukyou.

"Think back, Saotome! Try to remember a couple of years back!" Ukyou shot back in reply, "Do you remember who your best friend was when you were six?!"

"Huh? Um... Ucchan, I guess," the boy replied after some thought, "Yeah... it was Okonomiyaki Ucchan... but what does that have to do with..?" the rest of Ranma's reply trailed off into silence as he started to realize something...

"Remember who I am NOW, Saotome?!" Ukyou asked gabbing the front of Ranma's shirt.

Ranma's face lit up as he spread his arms in greeting, "Ucchan! It is you!"

"Yup," Ukyou replied coldly, "And now, I'm gonna tear your damn head off for making my life a living hell!!"

Ukyou pulled back a fist for an uppercut to Saotome's hated face, the other hand keeping hold of Ranma's shirt. The fist failed to connect as Ranma suddenly jerked his head to the side and brought both hands up suddenly, catching and trapping both of Ukyou's hands. Ukyou didn't even see his hands move, and Ranma for his part almost didn't seem to realize he'd done it until several seconds later as Ukyou winced painfully.

"Er... sorry, Ucchan," Ranma said, releasing the hold, "Reflex."

Ukyou merely glowered back in reply.

Akane, who'd been quietly watching the exchange was repeating over and over to herself in one part of her mind that it was none of her business, she wasn't involved, she didn't want to get involved... unfortunately the rest of her was acutely aware of the fact that they were all three now in some sort of bizarre wonderland and all she had for companions were Kuonji, a homocidal lunatic with erhm... certain tendencies for memebers of the male half of the species... and Saotome, a man who was in all likelihood a congenital idiot. But they were good... she had to admit that. Both of them were incredibly fast... she almost didn't see what it was Ranma had done exactly to Ukyou's hands, but she recognized it as an Anything Goes School technique...

Akane cleared her throat...

Both turned to look at her.

"What do you want, little girl?" Ukyou asked venomously, "This is a private matter. Just push of would you?"

"Ucchan, you don't have to be so-"

"Shut up, Saotome." Ukyou snapped.

"Look," Akane said, raising her voice somewhat, "I know its probably none of my business... but we're here... wherever here is... and quite frankly it doesn't look like we've got anyone to look out for us except each other... am I getting through to both of you? Now... um... Ukyou, right? Okay... Whatever problems you've got with Ranma, take it out on him after we get back home again, okay? Because I think we're going to need all the help we can get..."

Ukyou glared at Akane, "I'm only doing this because it makes sense... but don't think your boyfriend is safe..."

Akane colored and said loudly, "He's not my boyfriend!"

Ukyou leaned forward, leering slightly, but the words were bitter as they were spoken, "It sure as hell looked that way to me! Better take it from me, Sugar, you don't want anything Saotome has to offer you."

Now it was Ranma's turn to blush, "Ucchan, what are you talking about?! You still haven't told me why you've been trying to kill me!"

"Don't call me Sugar and don't call me Little Girl!!" Akane replied angrily, ignoring Ranma.

Ukyou shot Ranma a puzzled glance, ignoring Akane, "You mean you really don't know?"

"No, I really don't know." Ranma repeated.

"And here I was tracking you through all of Japan... and all the way into China... and you really did forget all about me... and your promise..." the bitterness in Ukyou's voice was plain... but there was more there... regret... sadness...

"I... what?" the pig-tailed martial artist gave a blank stare.

Ukyou took a deep breath...and straightened up, "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Saotome. Your girlfriend is right, we're going to have to stick together to look for a way home from here..."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ranma retorted hotly, "No matter what my Dad or her dad say about it! Besides, what makes you think I'd actually be interested in that-"

Akane, who had calmed down during the brief interlude when they were ignoring her, walked up to Ranma's side and gave him a level stare, "Ranma... I'm trying for all three of us to get along... don't make me kill you to shut you up."

"Sure... sure... um, I wasn't going to say nothing insulting or anything..."

"Right," Akane replied sarcastically, before continuing, "Now... does anyone have any idea where we are?"

Ranma and Ukyou both shook their heads...

"Ahhh! There you are! I was wondering where that darned fish had put you!" interrupted a decrepit voice from out of nowhere.

Almost as if by reflex, the three sprang into combat stances, arranging themselves with their backs to each other... that's when they saw it... a magnificent creature... fully the size of a large horse, with the body of a lion and the head, feet and wings of an eagle... a griffon... it's body gloriously gold as the mid-afternoon sun reflected off of its coat... and on it's back was a shrunken, wizened gnome of a man in white robes and bearing an elaborately carved staff...

"What the..?" Ranma asked, breathing in the musky scent of the beast... any doubts he had which still lingered, despite the flying fish... despite the floating island... were dispelled instantly by this beast. It was too... real. It's presence too undeniable... Ranma swallowed nervously as he eyed the creature...

Akane and Ukyou's thoughts ran along similar lines... despite their training, they sincerely doubted any of them singly or together could stop that... that... creature if it decided to attack.

The griffon landed, folding it's legs under itself and incongruously purring as the tiny old man stroked its feathered head.

"I was beginning to think I wouldn't find you three," the little man continued, leaping spryly off the back of the griffon, he couldn't have been more than two feet tall at the most, his staff was taller than he was by about three feet, Akane wondered idly even as the man continued, "That was good formation you three had there... very quick reaction time... "

"Excuse me... Who are you? Did you bring us here?" asked Ukyou, watching the little old man carefully.

"Oh, I'm sorry... where are my manners," he bowed, not that his head could get that much closer to the ground, but he did it anyway, "I am Master Happosai. Welcome to the World of Cephiro. On behalf of Princess Kasumi I bid you greetings, but we'd better move it along a bit cause she hasn't got all that much time. And you three are?"

Ranma shrugged and stepped forward, "I'm Ranma Saotome... of the Saotome School of Anything Goes of Martial Arts."

"Akane Tendo, Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

Ukyou continues to glower, "Ukyou Kuonji, Kuonji School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

The last statement elicited surprised looks from Ranma and Akane, but Ukyou continued to look annoyed but impassive.

Happosai nodded happily, "Just like it was foretold, Three Knights each from a different branch of the Anything Goes Style..."

"What's going on here? Why are we here?" Akane asked. "Well, you see, kids... it's like this. Princess Kasumi, the ruler of this world was kidnapped by the High Priest Toufuu Ono... you three are the Magical Knights foretold by legend who will come to rescue her and save Cephiro."

"Save the princess and save the world?" Ranma asked, "You're kidding right? What is this? A fantasy video game?"

"No joke, sonny... this is all real. And you three are it. Princess Kasumi keeps Cephiro peaceful and plentiful through her continued prayers... if she were to stay in Toufuu's keep for much longer, our world would start to fall apart..."

"What if we don't want to do this?" Akane asked before either of her companions could, frowning slightly, "I don't want to be here, I want to go home!"

"Yeah!" Ukyou added, "You shouldn't play games with people's lives."

Happosai chuckled kindly, his wrinkled face turning up at the corners, "Well, if you don't want to rescue the princess that's okay too... but if you don't save her, you can't go home."

"What?" asked all three at once.

"If the Princess stays where she is, so do you three." Happosai continued, still smiling his parody of a smile. The griffon chose this moment to bump it's head against the little man's back, obviously asking for another petting...

As Happosai, petted the griffon, Ranma took the time to mull it over... he'd always wanted to be a hero... this would be the perfect chance for it... besides, now that he thought about it, any scenario like this was bound to have plenty of fighting involved... and that would mean training. Training was a good thing. He'd been doing it all his life.

"Fine," Ranma said, "We'll do it."

"What?!" "Are you nuts Saotome?!" Akane and Ukyou said simultaneously.

Both Akane and Ukyou grabbed Ranma by his shirt, "What is the matter with you, Ranma?!" Akane whispered.

"Hey! It's the only way home he says! So we do it!"

"Why are you trusting this little creep? How do we know he's on the level?" Ukyou asked.

"Do we look like we have a choice?" asked Ranma reasonably.

"Excellent," the little man said, ignoring the rest of their exchange. He spoke as he continued to pet the griffon, his staff resting in the crook of his elbow, "Besides, think of the honor in it... you three, out of everyone else from your world... are the only ones who can do this task..."

Happosai nodded happily looking up at the three, but suddenly a look of confusion passed over his face as he realized something, "Hmmm... wait a second... the legends said... three girls from the Anything Goes Schools... not two boys and a girl..."

The three martial artists exchanged glances, "You mean you got the wrong three?" asked Akane, hope rising in her chest.

"Um... actually, two girls and a boy," Ukyou muttered, blushing slightly.

"WHAT?!" Happosai and Ranma blurted out at the same time.

Ukyou loosened the top of her uniform slightly, revealing only peripherally the swell of one breast, and the bindings she wore... Ranma colored and turned his head to one side quickly, to avoid staring.

Happosai's eyes, wide with happiness, glazed over as he suddenly sprang from his dignified position and tried to attach himself to Ukyou's chest. Ukyou hammered him into the ground before he had a chance for his hands to get anywhere...

"Pervert!!" Ukyou shouted at the little man.

Happosai picked himself up slowly shaking his head, "Er... sorry, forgot myself there... it's just that the sight of a woman's cleavage... " he elbowed Ranma in the knee and leered up at him, "Well, you know how it is, don't you kid?"

"No, I don't" Ranma replied, glaring down at the little lech.

Happosai gave Ranma an odd look, "... unless you're a girl too?!"

"What?!" Ranma sputtered, unable to believe his ears, this little freak was calling him a girl?! "Who are you calling a freak?!

As the two continued to argue, Akane struck up a conversation with Ukyou in the background. "This is definitely degenerating," Akane whispered to Ukyou, "You're really a girl?"

"Yeah..." Ukyou admitted with a shrug, "It's not really something I advertise you know."

"Then why are you dressed up in a guy's uniform?"

"It's all his fault," Ukyou said jerking a thumb in Ranma's direction.

"I've really got to hear the whole story of this some time..." Akane muttered softly to herself.

As the two turned to look at Ranma and Happosai, the little man was now clinging to Ranma's chest and Ranma was hammering at him, trying to pry him off. It was trying to remove a leach...

"Get off, already!!" Ranma cried.

Happosai continued to cling onto Ranma's chest, squeezing occassionally, "Definitely a guy... darn!"

The little man released himself and said tsking to himself, "Well, the legend clearly states that it will be three girls, and we can't have the legend be wrong now can we..."

"Does this mean you're going to replace Ranma?" Akane asked suspiciously.

"Can't... all of you are the only heirs to your respective Anything Goes Schools... and he doesn't have a sister to represent the Saotome School, so we'll just have to fix his not being a girl..."

"WHAT?!?!" Ranma spluttered.

"We can deal with that later... but first, you'll need magic and armor..." Happosai waved his staff in their general direction and murmured something under his breath. There was a brief moment of silence as three bolts of energy burst froth from the gem at the tip of Happosai's staff and rushed unerringly to strike each of the martial artists.

The shimmering green bolt whistled towards Akane, it's passage accompanied by a powerful zephyr. Akane was taken utterly by surprise, and wasn't able to mount any sort of defense, before she knew it, it had already happened... The bolt didn't strike her... not quite... it circled her, first a swift pass, then the return... then faster... and faster... and faster still, until the air around Akane was practically like a solid wall... she felt herself at the center of a raging storm... a tempest roiling all around her... she could feel the strength within the storm... a strength which she could call, a thought came to her idly... The wind tore at her school uniform, even as she felt it reworking the fabric of her garments.

The watery blue bolt struck Ukyou on the arm as she tried to block it. It's first touch was a spreading wetness, as Ukyou realized that a film of water was spreading along her arm, up to her body, threatening to engulf her entirely... try as she might to keep the film from her face, her efforts only worsened the effects... her mouth and nose invaded by water... even as the water continued to thicken around her... enveloping her... hiding her from view... until all that could be seen was a perfectly spherical bubble of water...

Ranma tried to evade the fiery red bolt which bore down on him, but it proved useless... he felt it first as a tiny pinprick of heat which touched the center of his chest... but the sensation spread like wildfire, sending each and every nerve in his body roaring. It almost felt as if his flesh were being seared... reforged... his body being remade by the fire....

Happosai watched with satisfaction as the spell which awakened an individual's magic found each of the Magical Knights. He noted the ease at which they absorbed the magic... the way they became so quickly attuned to particular elemental specialties... the way their breasts bounced while they were naked and under the influence of the awakening spell... but then again he really didn't have time for that.

Almost as quickly as they began, the winds around Akane finally dropped to a standstill, the bubble surrounding Ukyou opened like a flower unfolding, and the flames which had engulfed Ranma were snuffed out. None of the three looked the worse for wear, but there were a few changes... Akane took a deep breath as the last stray breezes finished... she took several more before she trusted herself to speak... "What... was... that..?

Happosai replied, "I awakened your magic... the magic inside yourselves... that and I've given you some protection..."

Ukyou looked down at herself and noticed what appeared to be a white breastplate and a shoulder guard, "These things?"

Happosai nodded, "I know it doesn't seem that much, but these things are a lot tougher than they look. Guaranteed against a bull elephant stampede. They're pretty light too..."

As the three looked at each other, they noticed that they all had the same sort of armor... as well as a wrist guard which covered up to the back of the left hand, wherein a large gem was inset. The three were surprised that it felt almost as if they weren't wearing any such armor.

"What was that you were saying about magic?" Akane asked, somewhat curious.

"Well, everyone on Cephiro, to one extent or another can do magic. It all depends on your inherent power and the training you receive... I've laid a spell on you three which will open up your potential for magic without need for a tutor or study... you haven't got the time to spend on it... but as time passes and you three learn more... the more powerful you will be... do you understand?"

The three nodded. Ukyou a bit more reluctantly than the other two...

"Now... you'll also need weapons, but I don't have any on me at the moment... so I guess we'll have to visit Shampoo for them..." Happosai's face twisted into a leer at that thought for some reason. Inside of a few seconds his eyes were glazed over and his mouth was drooling as he muttered, "Shampoo- chan" over and over.

"We're going to use Shampoo for a weapon?" Ranma asked, puzzled.

Ukyou quipped, "I guess we lather our opponents to death..."

"I think he means a person named Shampoo." Akane supplied.

The little man shook out of his daze and nodded, "That's precisely it. She lives in the Heart of the Forest of Silence. Shampoo the Armorer."

"Oh."

From behind them came a burst of insane maniacal laughter and a voice which declared loudly, "Magical Knights, prepare to DIE!!!"

"Now what?" Ranma asked, spinning around.

"I'm getting really sick of people showing up without warning..." Ukyou said, readying her spatulas.

Happosai's eyes widened and a huge grin appeared on his face, "I know that voice!" he turned to the Knights and said, "Leave her to me, you three go on ahead to Shampoo's. I'll catch up!"

"How are we getting there?!" asked Akane.

"Ride the griffon, of course!"

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