My younger sister, Akane Tendo, is cursed to undergo a strange and frightening transformation whenever she experiences extreme emotions- anger, fear, even sexual arousal. She transforms from a normal Japanese schoolgirl into over seven feet of green muscle, voluptuous and wild... Sexy Amazon Hulk-chan.

Hulk-chan is everything my sister isn't- openly sexual to the point of perversion, self-confident, even vain. She openly proclaims her love for Ranma Saotome- something Akane would never do. However, they share the same hair-trigger temper... oh, and each of them want to be cured of the other...

* * * * * * *

Today I learned that, in addition to Hulk-chan's other distinguishing traits, she is bisexual and polyamorous. (When she changed back, Akane denied, quite forcefully, that she is either. Big surprise there, I don't think.) She fought against Shampoo, who has now grown to Hulk-chan's size and calls herself an 'Unstoppable Juggy-naut', and defeated her in both physical and sexual combat... and then, as soon as Shampoo swore to step aside in the race to wed (and bed) Ranma, Hulk-chan offered to make Shampoo her partner in that same race. I can't wait to see how Saotome reacts to that.

I also learned that, although Akane was cursed in the Springs of Jyusenkyo, hot and cold water have no apparent effect on her curse. She becomes Hulk-chan when her adrenalin goes up, and apparently Hulk-chan changes back when her overwhelming self-confidence is broken. Apparently Hulk-chan suffers the same fear of rejection that Akane does... except that Hulk-chan's afraid not only that Ranma will hate her for what she is, but that Ranma might actually prefer Akane over Hulk-chan.

Akane is still very weak and subdued after changing back from Hulk-chan about an hour ago. Probably a good thing for now; the news I gave her would probably have made her angry enough to transform back -into- Hulk-chan otherwise. This post-transformation weakness worries me a lot, though... if an enemy somehow breaks Hulk-chan's confidence in battle, the result would be an ordinary, powerless Akane Tendo, unable to even raise a finger in her own defense.

Oh well. No more time to talk- I have to rush out to the nearest one-hour no-questions-asked photo place, buy about twenty rolls of film, and bring back dinner for everyone. Kasumi still won't come out of the kitchen, but she says she won't be able to cook anything tonight. Ranma should be back at the rental house by the time I get back...

-- from the journal of Nabiki Tendo

Ranma-chan stood on a cliff overlooking the line of rocks that separated the cove, and its long sandy beach, from the next cove and beach over. The shadows of the mansions and coastal resorts stretched long and dark around him as the sun set behind her, the sky darkening to purple over the gently rolling surf of the Pacific. Below, on the beach, bonfires were lighting up where beach-goers had brought their own firewood or bought it from the vendors or resort hotels... but here, atop the cliff, Ranma-chan stood alone with the grass and those old, twisted trees which had survived typhoon, tsunami, and rabid land developers.

I can't find Akane anyplace, Ranma thought. I've been one end of this beach to the other, and not a sign of her. He picked up a chip of rock from the broken edge of the cliff and hurled it out over the boulders and crashing surf below, sending his frustrations with it. She's probably at the beach house, laughin' at me for runnin' all over th' place lookin' for her.

Why th' hell am I doin' this anyway? Ranma-chan sat on the thin grass, curling her arms around her bare legs. Cologne had been right; the chance to watch two huge, powerful women, with huge breasts, wide round hips and asses, make wild Lesbian love was probably a once-in-ten-lifetimes thing. Yet she'd deliberately passed it up- hell, once he'd been brought out of his faint, she hadn't even considered accepting, or even peeking through the window. Was there something wrong with her?

Besides the fact that, at th' moment, I'm a girl.

But that didn't wash either, did it? Sure, she had tits and a pussy now... and a very nice set of equipment if I do say so myself, she thought. They sent very strange, pleasant and at the same time terrifying feelings through her body when she touched them. She was fully functional as a woman, right down to the occasional hormonal mood swings (although, truth be told, those were normal teenage mood swings, and not gender-related as Ranma thought). But at heart... where it counted... she was really a guy.

No, having a girl's body wasn't why he'd chicke... er, exercised the better part of valor. Girl or boy, he found the idea of having sex with other guys not merely nauseating but revolting in the strongest degree. Girls, on the other hand, sent his pulse racing, his stomach flip-flopping between the butterflies of excitement and the dark pits of fear. He... she... even got excited looking at her female form in the mirror, although thankfully the curse had desensitized him enough that naked women, in and of themselves, didn't turn his brain into mush.

In fact, these days, the sight of naked women tended to paralyze him for an entirely different reason. Every time he saw a bare tit or an ass-crack, he reflexively cringed in anticipation of pain. Akane wasn't even the worst about punishing inadvertent stares; she just happened to be the one Ranma was around the most. There were a lot of women in Japan who took a peek far more personally than Akane did.

Then why am I afraid of her more than anyone else? Ranma-chan thought, doodling in the thin soil of the clifftop with one finger. Why do I worry about her reaction more than anyone else's? I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm a man! I shouldn't be worryin' about what anybody thinks of me!

But for some reason, he did worry about what Akane thought.

Is that why I passed on judgin' that stupid duel? Because I thought... knew... that Akane wouldn't like it? Ranma didn't like that answer. If that was the truth, then he might just as well go to his parents and Mr. Tendo and set a date for the wedding now. Besides, I care about what Ukyo thinks, too. I even care about what Shampoo thinks, but not very much 'cause she does a lotta stuff that really pisses me off. And Kodachi... Ranma-chan prodded her conscience for a few seconds, then sighed with relief. I couldn't care less if Kodachi Kuno, her brother, and their lunatic father the Principal jumped off the Kyoto Bridge and were swallowed up by a giant trout.

And what about this new girl, Hulk-chan? Here Ranma found herself unable to say for certain. She seems so damn familiar, somehow, she thought. But I've never met any green girls before I met her, especially not girls taller than Taro in his cursed form, with huge muscles, green skin, and boobs big enough to start a dairy from.

So what do I know about her? Ranma-chan ticked off points on a finger. One. She is incredibly sexy. Strong the way I like 'em, busty the way I like 'em, maybe even a little too much so. Two. She has a cute face, especially when she smiles, which is most of the time. Three. She is obviously madly, hopelessly, and unrestrictainter... well, one hundred percent in love with me. Ranma-chan allowed herself a brief gloat at that point. It was often more trouble than it was worth, but it did feel good to be wanted by so many women.

Four. She is more aggressive than Shampoo. That trait Ranma-chan did -not- like, although it was too early to tell yet if Hulk-chan was as oblivious to Ranma's discomfort at being glomped, groped, tackled, etc. without his permission. Five. She is the most arrogant person I know, the Old Ghoul and the Old Freak included. Ranma didn't even think about her own extreme self-confidence.

Six. She shows some signs of having been trained in the Art. Some signs, but as yet, not many. Ranma-chan had seen her in action twice so far, and both times Hulk-chan's fighting style had owed more to the bare-knuckle brawler than the disciplined martial artist. However, there had been some aspects of control in there, and some moves and blocks came straight out of the basic katas of a dozen schools of bare-handed fighting. Hulk-chan might be a lot more skilled than she let on.

Seven. Her mind seems focused almost entirely on sex. Well, Ranma-chan could understand that. Sometimes it seemed like every moment not taken up in training in the Art was spent with sexual thoughts burning through her, or his, whichver it was at the time, head. But not even Shampoo was that open and eager about it. Hulk-chan had even hinted that her lusts were not restricted to Ranma, and Ranma didn't know what to think of that idea.

Eight... I don't think there is an eight, Ranma thought. So far her knowledge of Hulk-chan was pretty superficial. Not enough to tell, as yet, whether or not she liked her. Man, I wish I knew why she seemed so damn familiar.

Sighing, Ranma-chan dusted herself off. Better get back to the rental house. If I don't, th' old man will eat my- huh? Something moved in the sprays of surf below the cliff; Ranma stared down to see, in the deep shadows of sunset, a small figure, wearing a sun-dress, with short black hair, standing on what had to be the only dry patch on the long rocky point.

"Akane??" Ranma-chan shouted. "What are ya DOIN' down there??"

"Ranma?" a voice shouted back up, thin and faint, barely audible over the roar of the crashing waves.

For anyone else, a descent down the overhanging cliff would be a long, hazardous climb. For Ranma Saotome, trained in an aerial school of martial arts, it was a matter of a few swings, a couple of well judged kicks, and a somersault that would have been showing off if Ranma-chan had even bothered to think about what she was doing. To her, it was just right.

She landed beside Akane, whose face was turned away from her. "I've been lookin' all over for ya!"

"And I've been looking for you," the figure said, turning around... and revealing a face which was definitely not Akane's.

"Mousse??" Ranma-chan stared in shock at the nearsighted Chinese boy, who had tucked away his long dark hair and put on a dress in place of his usual magician's robes. "Why the hell are you wearin' a dress?"

"I wear this dress for love, Ranma Saotome," Mousse replied, his vivid blue eyes staring directly into Ranma-chan's. From nowhere the Chinese boy unveiled a full boquet of flowers, extending them to the redhead. "Here."

Ranma-chan, not a little confused, took the boquet. "Mousse, I'm Ranma. Not Shampoo," she said, looking the flowers over carefully.

"I know," Mousse said icily, smiling as a purple cloud of smoke erupted from the flowers, engulfing Ranma's head. Ranma-chan collapsed onto the rocks, unconscious.

"And now, Saotome," Mousse chuckled as he picked up Ranma-chan's limp body and hoisted it over his shoulder, picking his way carefully around the plumes of surf crashing against the rocks. "Now I shall put an end to your interference once and for all."

The mobile version of the Nekohanten was smaller, but no less popular, than the main restraunt back in Nerima. On this, its first night on the beach in quite some time, two changes were working together to, in effect, cancel each other out.

The first change, of course, was the fact that the main serving-girl of the Nekohanten had grown half a meter taller, even bustier (if that was possible) than before, and strong enough to lift the cart and beach-tent if she chose to. This attracted some customers who, if nothing else, had to see for their own eyes, up close that this vision in clay-red swimwear was genuine.

The other change, however, caused other customers to avoid the mobile cafe, particularly those who knew the Nekohanten and its staff from Nerima. Shampoo seemed to sleepwalk her way through her serving. Gone was the ever-cheerful smile and the broken Japanese of her greetings; in their place was a look of distraction, inattentiveness bordering on oblivion, and a series of botched orders that would have been much worse had not Cologne adjusted them en route.

Those few on the beach who knew Shampoo moderately well took one look at her and resolved to stay well away from the Nekohanten booth. Shampoo was doing heavy thinking, and although she was a slow thinker and easily fooled in the short term, given enough time she could think her way through anything. Each time these people had seen this expression of deep thought on Shampoo's face, it had been followed by one of Nerima's more spectacular destructive incidents.

Shampoo's expression, they thought, meant that a tidal wave would hit tomorrow and reduce this entire prefecture to swampland.

Tonight, though, Shampoo was not plotting revenge, or a scheme to win Ranma, or anything. She was trying to work her way through the peculiar events of the day, examining every aspect of each point carefully while she, effectively, played waitress on autopilot.

(Why did I lose to Hulk-chan?) Shampoo thought, not hampered in her head by the need to speak Japanese. (Was she the better martial artist? Perhaps; I fought stupidly. I ignored my training and tried to defeat her through raw strength.

(Is she stronger than me? Hm... difficult to say. I was able to push her backwards so long as I was moving, but she grew stronger as she grew angrier...) She blushed a bit as she added, (And she definitely grew stronger in the other duel, although that wasn't from anger, I'm sure.

(No, I lost because I was overconfident. My arrogance has cost me face. And now I must-)

"Hey! Waitress! You spilled my chicken fried won ton in my lap!!"

"Sorry. On house."

"The hell it's on the house, it's on my LAP!"

"(Yoshi, shush, you want to get thrown out?)"

"She dumped hot chicken fried won ton IN MY LAP!!"

"(Yeah, and she's also the bouncer. How many times you think we'd bounce if she threw us out?)"

(Now I must accept the consequences of my defeat. I swore an oath.

(What does the oath mean? I swore not to interfere in any way in Hulk-chan's pursuit of Ranma. She, however, can interfere all she wants with my own efforts.

(But she wants to... share... Ranma. How does a wife share a-)

"Shampoo," Cologne called, drawing the Juggy-naut turned waitress out of her reverie. "Have you seen that worthless Mousse? He was supposed to bring the rest of our food supply with him!"

"Shampoo not care to see Mousse if Mousse dress up like priest and offer marry Ranma to Shampoo," Shampoo said.

Cologne looked out the tent flap; darkness had finally come to the beach, broken only by the bright lights of the resort hotels, the bonfires slowly dying as evening partiers roasted their marshmallows and got drunk, and the dim, dingy lights coming from the Tendo-Saotome decrepit rental house. Actually, it wasn't very dark at all, except for the sky, and even that had a few tiny stars that refused to give up to the constellation of light from a thousand hotel rooms and beachside flood-lamps. No sign of Mousse.

"I don't like this," Cologne muttered. "Mousse is up to something. I knew better than to let him alone any length of time." She shook her head slowly, cursing under her breath. "Begin cleaning up, Shampoo. As soon as we get rid of the last customer, we're going looking for him..."

At the bottom of the cliffs surrounding the beach-cove, on a low, flat stretch of rock, a small iron coffin begin to rattle.

"Ah, you're awake," Mousse said, walking over to the coffin and looking down into the single, tiny opening in the top. "I was afraid I'd have to leave you to drown before I could tell you why I'm going to kill you."

"Mousse, if you don't let me out of here, I'm gonna kill ya!" Ranma-chan shouted from inside the coffin.

"Oh, I doubt that," Mousse replied, adjusting his coke-bottle glasses for a better look at the coffin. "As you have already discovered, this encasement allows you only enough room to breathe and move your jaw. Your arms are quite immobilized, as are your legs. You have neither the strength nor the leverage to break free."

"Why th' hell are ya doin' this?" Ranma-chan asked, all the time slamming her body ineffectually around the tiny space inside the coffin. "I ain't even touched Shampoo! Hell, you can HAVE her!!"

"No, I cannot!" Mousse shouted. "Shampoo sacrificed her delicate femininity and became that... that... BRUTE because you weren't enough of a man to either declare your love for her or turn her away! Now her unrequited love for you, you philandering playboy, has caused her to sacrifice her femininity in an attempt to gain her desire through raw force!"

"Uh... what?"

"IT'S YOUR FAULT SHAMPOO'S A MONSTER, SAOTOME!"

"Oh. That I understood."

"Now Shampoo is committed to marrying you," Mousse said. "She can never return to our tribe, having used the power and failed to gain her objective. And we both know," Mousee growled, glaring down at the eyes which were all he could see of Ranma-chan through the tiny slit in the coffin lid, "you'll never marry Shampoo, will you?"

Ranma-chan didn't reply.

"So I took it upon myself to mete out the only appropriate punishment for your having destroyed Shampoo's happiness," Mousse continued. "In two hours the tide will cover this shelf of rock; in three hours the first drops of water will drop through this very slit-" he dangled a finger into the opening, and Ranma-chan just barely missed biting it- "flooding the coffin and, eventually, either drowning you or killing you from hypothermia. The water is cold enough that six hours' constant immersion will prove deadly enough... and no one will find you before morning, if then."

Ranma-chan stopped struggling. "Hey, Mousse?"

"What is it, Saotome?"

"You had me K.O.ed a minute ago, right? If ya wanted ta kill me, ya coulda just stabbed me an' been done with it."

Mousse froze. "Er... I hadn't even thought of that..."

Inside the coffin, Ranma-chan beat her head against the metal.

"Not that it matters," Mousse smiled. "This way you will die a long, suffering demise... and then Shampoo, exiled, friendless, and alone in the world, will have no one to turn to for comfort except for the only Amazon tribesman who shares her exile." Mousse's chuckles turned to manic laughter, and fireworks flew from his sleeves as he danced triumphantly, "OH, SHAMPOO, YOU WILL BE MINE AT LAST!"

You know, Ranma-chan thought, I was actually feeling sorry for the jerk until that. Moron.

"Akane, you don't look well at all," Genma muttered, finishing off the last of his, Ranma's, and most of Akane's take-out dinner. "Maybe you should go on to bed."

"m'fine," Akane muttered, "just a bit of sunstroke."

Nabiki ate her dinner in silence, ignoring her father's wails of sorrow that his beloved daughter had overexposed herself in the sun. If only you knew, Daddy. On second thought, better you never know.

A knock at the front door drew Kasumi out of the kitchen for the first time all day. "It's for me!" she shouted, rushing to open it.

From outside, a delivery man muttered, "Delivery for Ms. Kasumi Tendo? One forge, twenty sheets of titanium steel plate, fifty gallons hydrochloric acid, and a Price Phister kitchn faucet kit?"

"I did specify the Frank Lloyd Wright model, correct?"

"That's what it says on the invoice. Sign here."

A few moments later, Kasumi wheeled a large stack of boxes into the kitchen, closing the door behind her once more. A minute later, loud hammering sounds began echoing from within.

Oooooooh boy, Nabiki thought. "Akane, could I speak with you in private?"

"Sure," Akane said, pushing away her plate. "I'm done eating anyway."

Akane had recovered enough that she no longer swayed as she walked, but she still looked worn-out from the day's events. Nabiki walked her upstairs to the bedroom Akane was using in the rental house, ignoring how the floors creaked here and there.

With the door securely closed, Akane flopped down on the side of the bed. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked. "If it's not important, I'm going to sleep."

"Oh, it's important," Nabiki said quietly. "It's about Ranma."

"What about him?" Akane grumbled, slipping on a very modest nightgown. "If he can't be bothered to come to dinner, it's not my fault. Jerk probably went to eat with Shampoo."

"I rather doubt it, after what Shampoo and Hulk-chan did," Nabiki said. "First he was pissed at the two of you-"

"Leave me out of it," Akane muttered, sliding under the covers ofthe bed. "I have nothing to do with the actions of that big green bimbo."

"And then he was too embarrassed to even watch the two of... them... getting it on," Nabiki finished. "I don't think he'll be able to look either of those ladies in the eye anytime soon, much less sit down to dinner with them."

"A likely story," Akane mumbled, putting the pillow over her head. "Next you'll tell me that Mr. Golden Boy might be in trouble."

"Oh, not at all," Nabiki said, turning her back and stepping towards the door. "But when you have nightmares tonight about Ranma being captured by Prince Herb or sold into a drug-filled sex slavery by some Triad chieftain, and wake up just in time to see your skin turning green, don't blame me."

Nabiki shut the door behind her, stepped around the weak spot in the floorboards, and waited. After about six minutes, she began to think she'd misjudged her target... and then the rickety house shook and shifted on its pilings after something -exploded- down in the kitchen. Nabiki put out a hand to the wall to steady herself, grumbling about freebie rentals.

Thirty seconds later, Akane stepped out of her bedroom, fully dressed in shirt and shorts, a pair of old sneakers in one hand. "I can't sleep," she grumbled. "Might as well go look for that idiot."

"That's what I thought you'd say," Nabiki said. "I'll just come with you just in case." She picked up a large handbag, patting it meaningfully. "I picked up a change of clothes for you, in case you have a change of body."

"Let's just get moving," Akane said, easing her way down a stairwell that now leaned several degrees to port. On their way out both women bypassed Kasumi, who was battling something inside the kitchen using no other weapon but a scrubbrush.

"Hey, sis," Nabiki asked, "do you need some help?"

"Oh, that's very kind of you, Nabiki," Kasumi smiled, "but I can handle everything. Have a nice stroll!"

"If you say so. Don't stay up!" Nabiki grabbed Akane's wrist and pulled her out to the entry room, leaving Kasumi alone with her arch-nemesis, the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, something metal squealed. "No, no!" Kasumi growled. "You can't get away! From Hell's heart I stab at thee!" With a battle cry she hurled the scrubbrush into the kitchen, leaping in after it; the door slammed behind her with a particularly final thud.

Smoke rose from the tiny slit in the top of the iron coffin. Mousse smirked as he stepped up and away from the rocky shelf just before the first wave splashed over it. "I did try to warn you," he said, "that the Moukou Takibasha wouldn't be effective against six inches of hardened iron. Although," he noted, holding the cliff in one hand while he adjusted his glasses, "the force may have been enough to loosen the seals around the lid a bit. Which means your demise has just been accelerated.

"Of course, I could be wrong," Mousse chuckled, "you know how my eyesight is. Bie lao, Saotome. Farewell... and good riddance!" He waited a moment, listening for Ranma-chan's cries of fear, anger, whatever... and heard nothing except the rising surf. He must have knocked himself out with his own blast, Mousse thought. He always did have the devil's own luck.

Giving no further thought to his victim's fate, Mousse began his careful climb up the craggy rock face. The overhanging cliff would have been a hazardous climb for most people, much less someone with as poor eyesight as Mousse. Mousse had the advantage of training, long practice in getting around while practically blind, and great upper body strength. A few minutes were all he needed to scale his careful way to the top.

Unfortunately, his head rose over the edge of the cliff just in time to face Cologne and, to his horror, Shampoo the Juggy-naut.

Shampoo's massive foot tapped slowly, angrily, on the bare rock at cliff's edge, as she stood, arms folded, staring down over her massive cleavage at Mousse. Beside her, balanced rock-steady on her staff, Cologne watched Mousse cling to the cliff's edge with a somewhat more benign expression.

"I wonder where on Earth you found that iron maiden, Mousse," Cologne muttered. "Ah well, I should have forseen this. Must make a note of it in the Archives: Whenever something changed, Mousse would make a blundering and halfhearted effort to kill Ranma Saotome. Well," she said, hopping forward to stare directly down on Mousse, "now you've got it out of your system, so go back down there and bring Son-in-law back up."

Mousse chuckled to himself, reaching one hand up from its grip on the cliffside and grabbing the base of Cologne's staff. "Get him yourself!" he shouted, hurling the staff over his shoulder towards the rocky cliff base.

Cologne, surprised only briefly by the move, hopped off the staff and onto Shampoo's shoulder. "So, Part-time," she muttered, "you choose to defy me?"

Mousse vaulted up from the cliffside, somersaulting in midair to land on his feet behind Shampoo. "For my love I would do anything- how much more for love and justice?" he shouted, throwing a kick into the back of Shampoo's knees.

The mighty Juggy-naut's leg buckled as Mousse's precision kick overcame the mighty strength of her thews. Dropping to one knee, Shampoo struggled to keep her balance as she stared down, down at the surf spraying high from the rocks, splashing and rolling in waves across the flat shelf below where, just out of sight from above, the heavy iron coffin lay.

"Besides, it's already too late," Mousse said. "The surf below would change either Shampoo or myself before we could so much as drop a rope around Saotome's coffin!"

"So," Cologne said softly, "you do defy me at the end, Mousse?" Hopping away from Shampoo, she hopped directly at Mousse, no longer wielding her staff but far from helpless. "It appears I shall have to teach you myself the foolishness of opposing an elder."

Cologne's charge was met by a rain of steel blades on heavy iron chains, thrown from Mousse's sleeves with lethal speed. Bare-handed Cologne batted the blades out of her way with absolute ease... only to stop, flat-footed, in her charge when she saw that Mousse was no longer behind those blades.

"Ah, my beloved Shampoo..." Mousse had jumped over Cologne's charge, using his chain-claws to screen his movement from her sight. Now he stood directly behind Shampoo, who was just recovering her balance. "It is tragic how your once perfect body has been distorted to this horrible monstrosity! Your delicate arms, turned into lumpy masses of unfeminine flesh!"

"Stupid Mousse shut mouth!"

"Your butt, once round, trim and shapely, now turned into a grotesque caricature of feminine shape!"

"Shampoo butt just fine! Too too perfect for Blind Duck Boy to appre... appre... to like!"

"And your bosom, that once perfect goal of all femininity," Mousse rhapsodized, "even that has been inflated into these two giant globes of ugly excess!" For emphasis Mousse grabbed Shampoo's boobs and gave them a heft, popping them out of the top of her skimpy Juggy-naut 'armor.'

By this point Shampoo had fully recovered her balance; it was her temper that was now lost. "THOSE NOT YOURS TO PLAY WITH!" she shouted, slamming a fist into the oblivious magician and throwing him flying back across the clifftop.

Cologne, having watched the whole thing, smirked. "Nothing succeeds like excess, I always say."

Shampoo tugged her swimsuit/armor/costume back into place over her nipples, grumbling, "Stupid pervert Mousse need lesson. Juggy-naut teach Duck Boy but good."

Mousse picked himself off of the thin grass, chuckling to himself. "Yet despite your tragic mutation, I find you still more beautiful than any other," he said. "Enough so that I have brought you justice. That philandering Saotome will pay for his crimes of infidelity... with his LIFE."

"I rather doubt that," Cologne replied mildly. "Although if I were you I'd start running, before Shampoo makes -you- take Son-in-Law's place."

While Mousse faced off against Shampoo and Cologne, Akane and Nabiki squatted behind one of the scraggly trees clinging to the clifftop. It didn't take much time for them to figure out what happened to Ranma, nor his current condition.

Akane felt her heart flutter at the thought of Ranma, trapped at the bottom of the cliff, being slowly drowned inside his form-fitting metal prison. Not that I care about him... but I can't just leave him down there to die!

"I'm going down there," she whispered to Nabiki.

"You're doing what?" Nabiki asked. "Akane, you can't swim, you're tired, and it's dark. We need to go get some help first."

"You go get help," Akane replied. "I'm not leaving Ranma to drown while those idiot Chinese try to knock each others' heads in."

"And what about... your other problem?" Nabiki didn't want to mention Hulk-chan at the moment, but...

"I can control my temper," Akane said. "Besides, I don't need Hulk-chan's strength to do this. All I have to do is climb down, open up the cage or whatever, and then Ranma and I can climb up to freedom."

Nabiki squinted at the cliff's edge in the dim moonlight, frowning. "I still think you ought to change and let Hulk-chan handle it," she said at last.

"I'm going to rescue Ranma... not Hulk-chan." Akane's words came out in a controlled calm that sang with tension, like a power line in typhoon winds.

"Okay, okay," Nabiki said, waving her surrender. "But at least wait until I find some rope or something..."

"There isn't time," Akane said. "Wish me luck." Carefully Akane crept over to the cliff edge, lowering herself over it. She felt for a foothold, dug the toe of her sneakers into it, and began the careful process of lowering herself down the cliff face. For the first few meters, with the rock under her, she had no troubles. This is easy. I can do this.

Then her foot extended down, looking for another hold, and found only empty space. Akane's heart beat harder as she gingerly lowered herself a little lower on her one remaining foothold, searching for the rock face with her toe. Must be an overhang, dammit. Have to be more care-

Her toe slipped from her remaining foothold, and Akane dropped, barely able to catch herself with her hands, finding a grip just short of the edge. Her kicking feet found a crack, wedged themselves into it, gave her enough time to reach underneath the cliff for new handholds. Below and to her left, the surf roared higher and higher as waves passed from the tidal deep to the line of jagged rocks extending from the cliff's base.

Calm, calm, must be careful... The going was much more difficult now. Akane's arms trembled with the effort as she held herself to the rock by strength alone, moving from hold to hold with glacial slowness. Above her, atop the cliff, the sound of fighting continued, the shouts of the combatants drowned out by the surf, leaving only the deep thud of footsteps and fist strikes to filter down to her.

Don't look down, don't look down, you can make it if you just don't look-

Oh shit I looked DOWN.

Akane grabbed a new handhold, began to transfer her weight to it, felt it break off in her hand. No! Her heart thundered in her chest as she felt herself start to fall, catching herself again in the very nick of time. With greater care she shifted her grip in the other direction, grasping a new handhold, sliding her body carefully over as she found a very slim foothold to her left.

Gasping for breath, Akane noticed a slight weight on her chest. Her T-shirt felt tighter, constrictive, in her shoulders, on her arms, and around her bosom... bosom? She looked down at herself, noting with alarm two slowly swelling mounds that should not have been there. NO! I mustn't change now! I WON'T change now! I don't need Hulk-chan! I can DO this! She shifted her grip, gasping for breath, trying to calm herself down as she moved a little further down the overhanging cliff.

Despite her efforts to fight the change, Akane could feel it creeping along her body. She felt hair creeping down her neck, growing longer, wilder with every moment. As she stretched a leg out to find a new foothold, she heard the seat of her shorts split open, the remaining fabric clinging tightly to her broadening hips and butt. Her sleeves began to split as each movement of her arms caused them to bulge higher, thicker, rounder.

Akane finally gave up on moving, pulling herself as tight as she could to the cliff-face. She tried to control her breathing, but could only notice the slow growth of her breasts pushing her back and away from the rocks. The rough tough of stone through the tight-stretched shirt fabric was causing her nipples to stiffen with arousal, matching the stickiness building between her legs as her panties stretched against her mound. A split ran up one leg of her shorts, the snap breaking apart as her waist and legs outgrew her clothes. Her bare belly pressed against the stone, the hem of her shirt now high enough to reveal her flat, rippled abdomen.

No... must calm down... Akane fought the fear, the anger, the urge to transform into something else, but every moment made the fight that much harder. Her will to resist was slipping, slipping away into the pleasure of the power warming her limbs, the touch of her hot body against the cooling stone, the tight grip of her remaining clothes against parts of her body. Akane... not Hulk-chan... must save... Ranma...

Akane's sneakers groaned as her feet began to strain against their confinement. With a pop the cheap glue separated, sole parting from upper, to allow huge toes to slide out into the open. The rubber and canvas shifted as pressure was released... and Akane's foot slipped from its foothold.

Akane's mind went blank as the handholds she held crumbled under hysteric strength. Her body fell away from the cliff head first, rolling backwards, finally pulling her remaining foot from the crack it was wedged in. Down, down she fell, the roaring surf baying for her below...

ohshitohshitohSHIIIIIIIIII

SPLASH.

Once in the water, Akane's body accelerated its transformation. Arms flailing wildly for purchase ripped through the shoulders of her T-shirt. Legs, kicking aimlessly, shredded what was left of her shorts, hip muscles snapping apart overburdened panties. The back of her shirt split as her torso exploded with muscular definition; a moment later, the shirt parted in front as well as her boobs ballooned to titanic proportions.

The kicking and flailing stopped as Hulk-chan awoke, looked around herself, and realized two things:

Wow, it's dark underwater after sunset.

And y'know, I don't float any better than Akane does, either.

Grumbling silently, holding her breath, Hulk-chan sank like a rock to the bottom of the deep tidal scour, looking for a way to climb her way back to the surface.

Shampoo, despite being unable to lay a solid punch on Mousse, was enjoying herself. She didn't have to think while she was fighting. She could just let herself flow into the battle, fists swinging, kicks flashing, nothing in the world but herself and her opponent.

Mousse kept jumping around her, staying well out of reach of her punches, tossing things out of his robes whenever Shampoo got too close. Nothing he threw seriously hurt Shampoo, or even slowed her down... but it did blind her just long enough for Mousse to avoid Cologne's sneaky attacks. Thus far, he was putting up a worthy fight indeed.

Of course the outcome was never in doubt. Mousse was running out of things to throw- he'd run out of swords, chains, explosive eggs, anvils, bricks, doves, kitchen sinks and even laundry. (Apparently Mousse kept his clothes in his robes between washes. Yuck.) More importantly, Shampoo was getting used to her new, powerful, and all too massive Juggy-naut form; her speed was almost back up to normal, her balance improved, her judgement of force corrected for her new incredible strength.

Unfortunately, there were two factors still throwing her off. She landed after one energetic leap after Mousse, just barely correcting before falling over the cliff edge into the water, and her skimpy 'armor' picked that moment to slip off the tops of her gigantic boobs. She paused for a moment, looking down at the tremendous spheres wobbling from leftover momentum, wondering if she should just keep fighting as she was. (No, I don't want stupid Mousse to get a free show. He doesn't deserve to see such magnificent beauty.) She hurriedly stuffed herself back into her costume, not seeing Mousse draw close to her until she looked up from the cavernous cleavage created by her tight-fitting armor.

Something huge and black slid out of one of Mousse's sleeves, springing forward on a chain, halting, then dropping directly onto Shampoo's bare skull. For a little while, Shampoo heard nothing but bells rung by happy little chirpy birds who flocked around her head and wanted to be friends.

Mousse had already pulled out a large spool of thick, high-test cable when Cologne landed behind him, hopped up, and pushed her finger into a highly specific nerve cluster at the base of his neck. Mousse folded like a pair of deuces, landing hard on top of his spool of wire.

"So," Cologne muttered, pushing the huge weight marked HEAVY LOURDE off of Shampoo with one hand, "that would be why the original armor had a helmet to go with it." She eased Shampoo into a sitting position, waiting as Shampoo shook off the cobwebs. "Apparently your new power comes with a significant weakness."

"Shampoo not weak," Shampoo said, standing up; her knees wobbled, and for a moment the happy chirpy birds had to help her stay on her feet. "Shampoo unstoppable Juggy-naut. You say so, remember?"

"Nontheless, I think you should switch to the more traditional armor," Cologne said. "It should keep you dry long enough to retrieve the iron maiden from the cliff bottom."

"But Shampoo not like that armor," Shampoo grumbled. "Still think it make me look like red ice cream cone."

"You can scarcely avoid being splashed with water wearing that... fragment," Cologne replied. "Also, if you happen to see my staff, please bring it up, would you?"

Shampoo sighed and nodded her agreement, her headache already a thing of the past. She brought her arms in front of her, clashing the Bands of Cyttorak together with a deafening CLANG. Light flared from her fists, engulfing her as her armor reformed around her, changing from the flexible, skimpy covering she preferred into an all-encasing, hard, thick shell.

Shampoo really did not like this armor. Granted, this time it didn't look so bad- the breastplate, for example, was really a breastplate, hugging her convex chest like a second skin, so much so that the armor had almost as much cleavage as she did naked. But the huge helmet bolted to her shoulders and collarbone area did make her look like an ice cream cone with arms and legs, and the tiny slits for her eyes and mouth deprived her of all peripheral vision. Although her legs were fully covered, her arms from just below the shoulders down were bare except for the armbands.

Shampoo wonder if this armor make her ass look big, she thought idly as she threw herself down the cliff. It took only seconds for her to descend, cracking her handholds into the formerly smooth rock, swarming down the face like a climbing-net. Water swirled over the ankles of her armor at the bottom, and sprays of surf soared over the jumbled line of fallen boulders extending out into the ocean, but for the moment she was safe from sudden changes of a feline nature.

As Shampoo walked over to the iron coffin, she didn't notice one mysterious plume of surf roaring off away from any of the rocks, nor how it thrashed its way slowly over to the edge of the submerged rocky shelf. She didn't notice, in the moonlit night, a dark head of hair rise from the water, followed by dark green shoulders and a huge pair of... lungs... that inflated with an immense gasp of breath that the surf entirely drowned out.

Instead, totally unaware that Hulk-chan was watching, she bent over the coffin and muttered, "Husb... Ranma? Ranma, you in there?" Can't call him husband anymore. If he belongs to anyone now, he belongs to Hulk-chan. I swore my oath as an Amazon.

Is that what I swore? What I actually said was that I wouldn't get in Hulk-chan's way. I didn't give up anything, did I?

Those were the words, yes. But the spirit of the oath was that I am not as good a potential wife as Hulk-chan is.

And since when did Amazon honor bother with the spirit of an oath? I'm only obliged to obey the letter...

"Sh-sh-shampoo," a voice called from inside the coffin, "willya quit starin' inta space an' help me outta this thing? It's c-c-COLD in here!!"

Oops. Forgot where I was. I hate thinking. "Shampoo get you out of here," she said, bending over and wrapping her arms around the heavy coffin. Her armor creaked as her massive legs bent, and with a grunt she LAUNCHED herself skyward. Reaching out one hand to grasp the overhanging face, she swung herself around, somersaulting over the edge of the cliff, ignoring the clangs of Ranma-chan's body rattling inside the coffin, finally landing on her feet on top of the cliff.

"Well done, Shampoo," Cologne said. "Please set him down well away from the cliff's edge, just in case."

Shampoo carried the coffin over towards one of the tangled trees clinging to the clifftop. "Shampoo open up coffin, get poor Ranma out," she said.

"No, granddaughter," Cologne said sharply, "leave him where he is for now."

Shampoo dropped the coffin, ignoring the loud clanging from within, as she gasped with surprise. "Why leave Ranma in Duck-boy's coffin?" she asked.

"Because we're taking him away with us, of course," Cologne replied.

Hulk-chan waited until Shampoo had Ranma's iron coffin in her arms before pulling herself out of the water and shaking herself off. Salt water ran down her body, sliding between her breasts, dripping from her tight butt, and she took a leisurely moment to enjoy the feeling before taking stock of the situation.

For some reason she didn't feel quite at her peak. Of course Hulk-chan was the strongest one there was, but somehow she didn't feel as strongest as she had other times. So long as she felt like this, she didn't care to risk a rematch with Shampoo the Juggy-naut if she could help it.

Stupid Akane must have something to do with this, Hulk-chan grumbled. Nabiki needs to get us vitamins or something. I know she's running one of those Herbalife Internet schemes. Ignoring that for now, she watched Shampoo leap effortlessly up the cliff, and she smiled. Anything she can do... Her own powerful jade legs flexed as she leaped up, faster, higher than Shampoo, flying high above the cliff top... ... I can do better... uh oh... She began her descent, noticing for the first time the thick tangle of thorn bushes at the spot she'd picked to land in.

Hulk-chan hit the bushes in a storm of cracked bush limbs and rustling leaves. Snarling, she picked her way out of the thorns, ignoring the tickles of the thorns failing to find purchase in her skin. With much more stealth she drew back towards the cliff, watching intently as Shampoo dropped the coffin containing her darling Ranma.

"Why leave Ranma in Duck-boy's coffin?" she heard Shampoo ask.

"Because we're taking him away with us, of course," she heard Cologne reply, and at those words the weakness Hulk-chan had felt burned away in a wave of utter fury. You don't DARE take my Ranma away from me, old lady! she thought, moving a little closer to the coffin.

"Aiyah!" Shampoo gasped in shock. "What you thinking, Great-grandmother? Ranma not agree to this!"

"Mousse may be an idiot," Cologne said patiently, "but here he at least had one good idea. Encased and immobilized as he is, Son-in-Law is in perfect condition to be taken back to China. We can have him there in two days... and once in the village," Cologne smiled, "I have methods which would make him perfectly amenable to anything we should ever ask of him."

Hulk-chan's fingers, grasping a bare stone poking through the thin soil, crushed the rock into rubble. Her muscles tensed, preparing to launch her into action, when she heard Shampoo's reply...

Ranma-chan seethed within the iron coffin, her head hurting from repeated jolts delivered from the man-handling... er, woman-handling... on the way up from the cliff base. A little bit of cold ocean water still pooled against her back, chilling her almost as much as the equally cold, hard iron did against her skin. She hurt, she was cold, she was angry... and, as a final insult, her nipples were hard enough to cut glass. Damn girl body. I hate this.

After the bells stopped ringing in her head from Shampoo's sudden dropping of the coffin, Ranma-chan listened to Cologne's explanation of her scheme. So that's it, Ranma-chan thought. That old ghoul probably got Mousse to do this in the first place, so she could get me in this crate and ship me to China. Well, I ain't gonna let that-

"No, grandmother."

WHAT? Ranma-chan tried to sit up and banged her forehead on the coffin lid. Shampoo said NO to Cologne?

"Shampoo swear oath as Amazon. Shampoo not stand in way of Hulk-chan courting Ranma. If Shampoo steal Ranma away to China, Shampoo dishonored."

"If you fail to marry Ranma," Cologne replied quietly, "both you and the Amazon tribe will lose honor. Are you willing to dishonor our people by admitting defeat to an outlander?"

Ranma-chan leaned her head as close to the slit in the iron maiden as she could, but for almost half a minute she heard nothing besides the surf below the cliff. What's happenin'? Is somethin' happenin'? What's goin' on out there?

Finally Shampoo broke the silence. "Shampoo not like to think that it honorable for village to make Amazons dishonor themselves. Amazon honor can look after itself; Shampoo take care of her own honor first." Ranma heard a loud clanging sound, and a flash of light slipped in through the coffin slit. "We not take Ranma anywhere. We let him go... now."

Cologne's sigh managed to penetrate the coffin. "First Mousse, and now you, Shampoo?" Ranma-chan heard the crack of snapping wood, the whoosh of something being swung or twirled trhough the air. "I had hoped I would not need to demonstrate which of us is the student, and which the elder... but I will teach you, at least, the folly of removing one's armor."

Ranma-chan had a brief flash of memory: Shampoo, bemuscled, bosomy and bare, head steaming from a recent splash of hot water, staring an equally naked Hulk-chan down tit to tit. She felt her nipples get a little harder. Aw, come ON, it's bad enough I got no control as a GUY...

"Shampoo defend her honor from anyone... even honored great-grandmother," Shampoo replied. "Bring it on!"

I don't believe it, Ranma-chan thought as the sound of thundering footsteps and the sound of blows exchanged filtered in from the outside world. Shampoo is fighting to stop me from being taken to the Amazon village. What the hell is going ON out-

The coffin moved.

WHOA! Ranma-chan tried to brace herself as the iron maiden rose into the air, jogging up and down away from the sounds of Cologne and Shampoo's battle. Finally, with a rustling thump, the coffin set down again, jarring Ranma-chan's head and adding another lump to the collection on her scalp.

Two huge, delicate-looking hands slid into the slit in the coffin lid. With loud metallic screams they pulled apart the thick iron, slowly working outwards, revealing through the growing opening the shadows of two tremendous boobs atop a rippled, muscular chest. With a large hole opened, the hands' grip shifted, and instead of the massive rack, Ranma-chan saw, barely lit by the moon and the lights of the nearby resorts, a strong, beautiful face.

"Hang on, darling," Hulk-chan said, "I'll have you out of there in a second." Even as she spoke, she continued ripping apart the coffin like the plastic on a microwave dinner, soon opening a gap large enough for Ranma-chan to sit up in. Carefully Ranma-chan slid her arms out of their sheaths, pulled her feet through the narrow ankle-rings at the base, and worked her way out of her prison.

Ranma-chan emerged shivering into the breezy night air, her swimsuit not hiding much of anything. She noticed that Hulk-chan's nipples were as stiff, or looked that way, as her own... but she didn't think Hulk-chan was anywhere near as cold as she felt. Still... "I'm glad to see you," she said, and that was the truth and nothing but.

"I'm glad to see you all right too, Ranma," Hulk-chan replied.

Ranma-chan didn't know until much, much later that he'd stuck his foot in his mouth up to the knee, but at this point he did just that. "Where's Akane? Do you know where she is? Th' Amazons haven't hurt her, have they?"

Hulk-chan frowned, turning her face away. "Akane... came back to your rental house hours ago. She's... perfectly fine." Ranma saw the huge green woman begin to tremble, not understanding why. "Help... help Shampoo," she said in a noticably higher voice, and then she was gone, a speck in the sky against the moon... vanished.

What the hell was that for? Ranma-chan thought. And what was that about- Ranma-chan noticed, for the first time, that the sounds of battle had stopped. She looked over to the cliffside to see a tiny, shrunken figure balanced on a tree limb, standing over a large lump on the grass which, if you squinted right, might look like a muscular figure on her side, unable to move.

Hulk-chan... worried about someone else? She didn't have time to think about it now... Shampoo was down, and Shampoo had been fighting for her. Without a second thought Ranma-chan got to her feet, ignoring the thorns that clipped her feet and legs, running towards the clifftop...

Hulk-chan landed in a sand dune, kicking up a huge impact plume around her feet. Already the weakness was sucking at her, draining her, sending her back into the darkness... Ranma... you idiot... always thinking of Akane... first... She took a few steps forward, sank to her knees. Her muscles faded back into her body, taking her perfect butt and proud melons with them, as legs and arms shortened, shoulders narrowed, hands and feet shrank to normal sizes. Damn you... Akane... for keeping Ranma... from... me...

Hulk-chan's shrinking body pitched forward into the sand as the green amazon passed out asleep. The green faded from her skin and hair, the latter shrinking back up into Akane's normal short cut. Her body continued to shrink, muscle definition vanishing, exaggerated attributes reduced to near nothing, until finally Akane Tendo lay, sound asleep and dead to the world, on the dune.

A few seconds later Nabiki ran up, already drawing Akane's replacement clothes from her bag. Little woman, you've had a very busy day, she thought. I just wish I could have stayed and watched Ranma fight Cologne. Of course they're inconsiderate enough to do it in the dark...

Shampoo struggled to shake off the effects of the shiatsu technique Cologne had used to bring her down. The Narcoleptic Ox pressure point hadn't completely immobilized her, but it had come very close. She thanked the gods that she had the power of the Juggy-naut to work with; a pressure point designed to drop rampaging bulls into a day-long slumber had already worn off enough pull one shaky arm under her prone body.

Cologne hopped forward on her improvised cane. "You won't be able to recover from that pressure point before I press half a dozen other points on your body," she said grimly. "You may be stronger and faster than I, but you are decades away from being sneakier. Perhaps this will teach you not to defy your old granny just-"

Shampoo waited for the blows to fall, all the while struggling to get on her feet. Her legs folded under her, but she managed to stay seated upright, her tremendous bemuscled torso swaying back and forth above her broad hips. (Why does Grandmother not strike?) Shampoo thought, wondering at Cologne's sudden distraction. Only a moment later, she heard for herself what Cologne had; the crashing of running feet through the dense brush behind the clifftop.

"Wait! Wait! Wait wait wait!!" A short female figure- (Ranma-chan seems so tiny now,) Shampoo thought, (now that I'm so big) - staggered out of the underbrush. Her hair looked a fright, matted, deranged, bits of wood and leaf clinging to her pigtail. Shampoo could see, as Ranma-chan drew closer, the scrapes and bruises covering her arms and legs. One particularly large bruise covered half of her forehead, centered on one of a number of lumps decorating her scalp. Her swimsuit, skin-tight under normal circumstances, was ripped and torn to the point that one little tug, at the right point, would leave Ranma-chan fully exposed, full bust, round butt and all, to the elements.

Despite her appearance, Ranma-chan looked ready to fight. Cologne hopped back out of the way as the redhead dashed between her and Shampoo. "Okay," Ranma-chan gasped, catching her breath from the breakneck run, "now we can fight."

"Why, Son-in-law," Cologne purred, smiling that hideous wrinkled smile of hers, "how ever did you get out of Mousse's iron maiden?"

"I had help," Ranma-chan snapped. "And yer gonna need help when I'm done witcha, y'old ghoul!"

"Oh?" Cologne's smile grew even broaded. "You have your freedom, Son-in-law. For now at any rate. Why don't you quit while you're ahead? This is a matter of Amazon discipline."

"I ain't gonna stand by an' let Shampoo get forced inta marryin' me or anyone," Ranma-chan said. "If she swore an oath of some kind, that's her business an' none of yours. So back off."

Shampoo's heart jumped into her throat. (Ranma is defending my right to say no to Grandmother! He really does care for me!

(But I swore-

(But I could-

(But- OOOOOH! I HATE THINKING!!) Shampoo tried again to get to her feet, just managing to keep her balance despite the unnatural weakness in her limbs. (I just wanna SMASH SOMETHING!)

Cologne, meanwhile, chuckled softly to herself, her large pale eyes staring back at Ranma in the moonlight. "Very interesting indeed, Son-in-law. Have you thought over the ramifications of what you- no, of course you haven't. Let me explain." Hopping a little closer to Ranma-chan and Shampoo, Cologne dropped off her improvised staff and stared up at the two of them.

"The dispute between Shampoo and myself is about discipline," Cologne said. "If you, fighting on Shampoo's behalf, manage to defeat me, you will bear all future responsibility for her actions- to say nothing of her livelihood and well-being. If, on the other hand, you lose, then Shampoo will remain under my authority, in which case your eventual wedlock is assured.

"Win, and you gain Shampoo. Lose, and you marry Shampoo." Cologne chuckled again, a very nasty little laugh indeed. "So what do you think of that, sonny boy?"

"I think you're full of it," Ranma-chan shot back. "I ain't gettin' married, an' neither is Shampoo!"

Cologne smiled, mildly impressed at Ranma's ability to stick to premises. "But you must accept-"

"No, I ain't gotta accept nothin'!" Ranma interrupted. "You're tryin' ta throw responsibility for what you do on me! Well, I ain't gonna fight on your terms, I'm fightin' on MINE! An' my terms are: nobody gets forced ta marry nobody before they're good an' ready. An' nothin' else."

Cologne grew even more impressed. For such an extraordinarily dense young man, he has his moments of insight. I suppose stubbornness has its good qualities.

Of course, it could be just the Ranma Saotome genius for anything involving a fight. Cologne had made the speech for the sole purpose of confusing Saotome; it was, to use an old American expression, hooey. As if I'd ever kick Shampoo out of my home; I couldn't control her nearly as well that way.

"Well, then, Son-in-law," Cologne shrugged, "we'll see who wins, and then the winner can dictate terms." Her staff flashed forward through the air, aiming at a point which, if it landed, would disrupt Ranma-chan's knee joint enough that it would not hold weight for a few days, at least.

She expected Ranma-chan to dodge it, and was not disappointed. She had not, however, expected Shampoo to grab the extended tree-branch and pull it away; thus, she had no time to change her leverage or enhance her grip before she found herself disarmed.

"Shampoo not defeated yet," her great-granddaughter said. "You opponent is Shampoo!"

"Oh really?" Cologne hopped backwards, landing on a large bare boulder near the edge of the cliff. "You are that determined to give up Ranma, then?"

Cologne saw Shampoo's battle aura flare, noting quietly to herself that if Shampoo only grew stronger when angry, as Hulk-chan seemed to, she probably would have grown a third of a meter then and there. As it was, Shampoo's muscles were almost all flexed and bulging in a display of power that both impressed and amused the elder no end.

"Shampoo not know yet whether give up Ranma, chase Ranma, share Ranma (whatever that mean) or WHAT," she said, words erupting rapid-fire as if each pushed out the other in a mad race for freedom. "Shampoo need time to think, MUCH think. But until Shampoo figure it out, Shampoo not let ANYONE else make decision for her!" Shampoo's sinewy arms drew together, fists clenched, huge breasts pressed together by arm and armor into a gulf of cleavage. "Grandmother not live my life- Grandmother have no right RUN my life!"

Ah, Cologne thought, the long overdue adolescent rebellion. At last Shampoo is beginning to grow up. "As your elder, and as matriarch of the Amazons, I beg to differ," Cologne replied, jumping up, past Shampoo's shoulder, pushing Shampoo forward with carefully calculated force. Shampoo, unbalanced, almost went down on one knee before turning to face the elder's new position.

Cologne looked around, wondering what Ranma-chan was up to. Strange that Son-in-law hasn't struck as yet. I wonder what he- oh. There Ranma-chan stood, staring not at her but at Shampoo. One hand clutched the remnant of her swimsuit in her hand; it pulled away, ripping apart the strand holding the whole thing together, and the rags fell to reveal Ranma-chan's tiny, firm, full-figured body.

"Here's somethin' for ya ta think about, Shampoo!" Ranma-chan shouted. "Think happy thoughts!" To emphasize her point, she leaned forward, cradling her melons up in her hands, presenting them with a kiss to Shampoo's gaze.

Shampoo blushed at the sight, and Cologne noticed with wry amusement the creaking of the skimpy Juggy-naut armor as Shampoo's nipples grew stiff just underneath the red material. Ah, hormones, what memories they bring. A few moments later, the surprise faded from Shampoo's face, replaced by a smirk of understanding.

"Shampoo think too too hot happy thoughts," she shouted back to Ranma-chan. "Now, Grandmother, we fight!"

Cologne watched cautiously as Shampoo repeated her earlier headlong charge. As before she had no real difficulty in parrying the attack, and the Amaguriken attack which followed was likewise easy to block and divert. But still... Saotome has something planned, and Shampoo has managed to suss it out... but I don't see it, and that bothers me.

Shampoo's Amaguriken increased its speed slightly, but Shampoo's mastery of the technique had been barely adequate in the best of circumstances. Cologne had no problems slipping a few light blows of her own in between blocks, although Shampoo was now cautious enough to prevent any pressure points from landing. However, each series of blows Shampoo would move a little bit to one side before attacking again... crowding Cologne back almost on her own steps...

Shampoo's pushing me in a spiral, as if setting me up for the Hiryu Shoten Ha, Cologne thought. But her chi is wrong for it; she should be using Soul of Ice, and instead her battle aura is hot, hotter than I've ever seen...

Oh dear.

Not 'think happy thoughts,' 'think Happy thoughts.' Happousai thoughts.

Shampoo's boosting her battle aura with her lust for Son-in-law; Son-in-law knows I won't allow my battle aura to go hot enough for the technique, so Shampoo's providing the heat.

Which means- Only then did Cologne notice the ring of cold swirling around her and Shampoo, the butt-naked Ranma-chan running around them opposite to Shampoo's spiral.

Which means it's already too late.

Ranma-chan stopped in her run and slid on the grass between Shampoo's wide-spread legs. "Hiryu Shoten Ha revised: Twin Dragons Fist!" Ranma-chan shouted, springing up from the ground with a full-body uppercut, matched in unison by Shampoo's air-smashing punch.

Hot and cold chi mixed, collided, and exploded in a storm of winds, more intense than any Hiryu Shoten Ha Cologne had ever witnessed before. Ranma-chan, lying at ground zero, remained almost unaffected by the wind, but Shampoo and Cologne were lifted up by the whirlwind and sent soaring, along with small tree limbs, loose pebbles and rocks, and sand from the clifftop.

Immediately the loose debris began to batter both Amazon women. Shampoo ignored the impacts, the strikes negligible against her near-invulnerable flesh. Cologne, on the other hand, was forced to block and parry with Amaguriken speed. I'm getting far too old for this, she thought.

"Grandmother!" Shampoo was working her way closer to Cologne through the hurricane, her right arm cocked and ready to deliver a mighty punch. "You not stand in way ever again- NOTHING stop the Juggy-naut!"

The punch landed with the force of an avalanche, and Cologne rolled with it just enough to prevent major injury. The force remaining was enough to carry her well clear of the whirlwind... which, of course, is why I allowed it to land at all. Shampoo is a good girl and a worthy warrior, but I really must break her of telegraphing her attacks so blatantly.

My, my, look at the view. So this is what Happy gets to see when Son-in-law punts the little pervert. However, unlike Happousai... A passing crane found itself working much harder to remain aloft, due to an unexpected weight around its ankles. ... I see no reason to land and make a little puddle of tenderized flesh somewhere.

Ah, it is so wonderful to see Son-in-law and Shampoo cooperating so well. I think I shall admit defeat this round, and see what develops. Perhaps the soft-sell might work where the hard-sell has not...

But what of Akane Tendo... and her other half? Cologne guided the crane a bit lower to the earth. It appears that Shampoo's honor will make Hulk-chan the single factor in gaining Ranma for the Amazon tribe. And since it's now obvious that no direct force I have will avail against Hulk-chan...

... then perhaps it's time to use less direct methods. Flies with honey, and all that...

The crane spiraled lower in the midnight sky.

The whirlwind spent itself, dropping the Juggy-naut to the ground with a thundering crash. Dusting herself off, Shampoo walked over to Ranma-chan, who remained lying on the ground, arm extended, nude body spattered here and there with a fine dust.

"Girl-type Ranma very clever," Shampoo said. "Shampoo think very perverted thoughts, just like Happousai." With a clang of her enchanted armbands, she banished her armor, leaving her mountainous breasts, rippling abdomen, and sticky, puffy mound bare to Ranma-chan's view. "Some thoughts almost perverted enough even for Hulk-chan. Now Shampoo want put them in practice."

"Er? Uh... okay..." Ranma-chan sat up, stood up, dusted herself off a little, took three steps towards Shampoo, and collapsed. Shampoo caught Ranma-chan before she hit the ground, noting the tiny redhead's profoundly unconscious state. (Well, so much for that idea,) Shampoo thought. (Looks like another night with the Ten Wise Men for me. What a shame.

(Perhaps I'd better put the costume back on before I take Ranma-chan back to her rental house, though. I wouldn't want the Tendos to get the right idea...)

Nabiki dragged the somnolent Akane up the steps of the rental house, gasping for breath. This job... of keeping Akane's secret... is going to KILL me, she thought as she pulled Akane over the threshhold and brushed off the sand in the entryway. I really wish I could get some help for this...

Nabiki dragged Akane through the living room; far from being concerned about the absence of Akane and Ranma, the adults had gone to bed. Grumbling she dragged her sister up the stairs. I don't care how much you care for the idea, sis, tomorrow you are changing, and Hulk-chan is going to let me take all the pinup shots I want, because there is NO WAY I'm going through this for free!

Somehow Nabiki managed to slide Akane back out of her replacement clothes and into a nightgown and panties. No sooner had she tucked Akane into bed than she heard, of all things, a knocking at the door. What NOW? she wondered. At this hour, of all things!

Down the stairs, down the hall, Nabiki stomped her way to the door, pulling it open with a yank... and staring, jaw dropped, at the sight of Shampoo, in full Juggy-naut form and overfull Juggy-naut costume, holding a prone, and very naked, Ranma-chan in her arms.

"Shhh!" Shampoo whispered, holding a finger to her lips. "Girl-type Ranma asleep. Too too busy day."

"Oh, I'll bet," Nabiki said, almost as quiet. "Follow me, we'll get him into bed."

Once Ranma was tucked into bed (naked- Nabiki wasn't going to fool with Ranma's boxers even if Ranma was a girl at the moment), Nabiki and Shampoo returned to the living room, where Shampoo described the whole fight. (Nabiki said nothing about having gone down to cliff herself; that might bring Akane and/or Hulk-chan into the conversation.) Shampoo even told Nabiki- after looking around to see that nobody was listening- about how she'd wanted to 'reward' Ranma-chan after the battle ended.

"I'm surprised," Nabiki said. "Didn't you swear an oath not to get in Hulk-chan's way where Ranma is concerned?"

"Hulk-chan not there," Shampoo replied, grinning. "Besides, if Shampoo follow Amazon law, Ranma already husband; no need permission to make hot nuki-nuki with husband. And if Shampoo decide not follow Amazon law... well, Shampoo not marry Ranma anyway, so why not have some fun anyway?"

"What do you mean, 'if'?"

Shampoo's smile faded a bit as she thought about it. "Shampoo not sure yet... but after tonight Shampoo think she made choice already. Shampoo fought Grandmother for right to not follow Amazon law. And Shampoo did swear to let Hulk-chan court Ranma..." Shampoo shrugged. "Shampoo not understand it yet, and Shampoo thinking all the way here carrying Ranma. But if come choice between Amazon law and Shampoo honor... then Amazon law can take a hike."

Nabiki smirked, "You tell 'em, Shampoo. But..." Nabiki looked up and down at Shampoo's super-muscular body. "Didn't you get this new body courtesy of Amazon magic? Won't they make you give it back?"

"Is you nuts?" Shampoo gasped. "Shampoo not give up being Juggy-naut for nothing!" She flexed her arms, sending whole mountain ranges of muscle rising. "You have any idea how good this feels?" She yanked down the front of her costume, fondling her own gargantuan jugs. "Or how too too good THIS feels? Hmmmmm," she added, pointing to her blatantly erect nipples, "these stay hard nearly all time. Feel too too good, too too hot. It good be Juggy-naut."

Nabiki blushed a little bit at Shampoo's display. "I'll, um, take your word for it," she said at length. "But won't the Amazons try to take back all that power?"

"Ha!" Shampoo laughed. "I like to see them try it!"

The sound of wood knocking on wood echoed from the hallway, into the living room. "Shampoo, I've come to take you back," Cologne said.

Shampoo froze, her laughter turned into stark terror.

"Come on," Cologne muttered, hopping off her new staff and nudging the stiff Juggy-naut with one end. "We have to be up in six hours to get ready for the morning crowd. Were you planning on sleeping on the couch here tonight?"

"I-i-i-" Shampoo stammered, finally getting out, "Shampoo not let you take her back to China!"

"China?" Cologne blinked at the word. "I mean taking you back to the tent. I've got Mousse in a cage for the next few days, until he cools off, and your bedroll is already laid out. Come on, we need our sleep."

"But-but-but-"

"Your motor is misfiring, child."

"But Shampoo swear oath! Shampoo fight Grandmother to keep oath!"

"And you won," Cologne nodded. "Good for you. Now let's go. Or would you rather sleep here?"

Before Shampoo could answer, the kitchen door slid open, and a gust of wind blew through the living room. Kasumi emerged, clothes tattered, the hems of her skirts torn and ragged, her sleeves half ripped away, her hair in complete disarray. "HEY!" she shouted.

Nabiki, Shampoo and Cologne, silenced, stared back at Kasumi.

"HEY! HEY! HEEEEEEEY!!" Kasumi didn't seem to see any of them; she kept cupping her hands to her mouth and shouting around her. She even waved, as if some fly on the wall might be encouraged to notice her. "HEY! HEY HEY HEY HEEEY!" Finally she backed her way into the kitchen, and with one almost conversational, "Hey," she shut herself back in.

"Um... Shampoo think she safer with Grandmother," Shampoo said at last.

"Indeed," Cologne said. "Miss Tendo, I believe we shall take our leave now."

"Lucky you," Nabiki sighed, showing the Amazons the way out.

Meanwhile, in separate bedrooms, Ranma-chan Saotome and Akane Tendo slept on, undisturbed...

As usual, Akane Tendo tossed and turned under her covers as if she were wrestling them into submission. The old, rickety bed she lay on grunted and squeaked as she punched, grabbed, and kicked in her sleep, finally tossing the covers off entirely.

These muscle spasms had nothing at all to do with what Akane was actually dreaming, though. In her dream Akane ran through a vast dark maze, fleeing... something. Akane didn't know what was chasing her, but something was indeed in pursuit, something she didn't want to face. So she kept running, rounding corners, bouncing off the maze walls and dead-ends, looking for a way out.

She ran past Nabiki, who wore cat ears and a tiny tiger-stripe leotard, who offered to sell her a map to the exit for only twenty thousand yen.

She ran past Ryouga, who promised to lead her out of the maze if Akane would swear to give up pork.

She ran past Shampoo, who looked ordinary until she offered to kill whatever was chasing her... and then, before Akane's shocked eyes, Shampoo's muscles bulged, her arms and legs grew longer, her bosom ripped through the front of her dress, and there was Juggy-naut, suggesting some extremely naughty things the two of them could do while they waited.

(Yes, Akane saw all of this without breaking stride. It's a dream; logic does not apply.)

Finally, as Akane rounded one corner she came to a dead end. Stark gray walls rose to either side of her, higher than she could jump and utterly smooth. In the dead end sat a dresser, an ordinary dresser with a large mirror, a few scatterings of makeup and brushes scattered across its top... and a mirror, a jade mirror, practically glowing green, there in the center of the polished wood top.

For some reasons the green mirror frightened Akane. She didn't want to look into it. She didn't want to go anywhere near it. She thought she could feel it looking at her, waiting for her to touch it...

It was closer now. Akane hadn't moved, and neither had the mirror, but the distance between the two was shrinking. The mirror lay within arm's reach now, its handle extended towards her, the glass face down on the dresser. She could just pick it up... and look... and Akane struggled, in the dream, to stop herself from doing just that.

Closer and closer Akane drew to the hand-mirror. The carved jade filled her vision now, lumpy yet shapely and sensuous despite the bulges that ran through it like the tendons on a wrestler's arms. Of its own volition the mirror began to rise from the dresser, pivoting up from its handle, slowly turning its back way, the glass face coming around for Akane to view...

Akane broke her gaze away, spinning around on her feet, and there, behind her, arms spread, was the thing she'd been fleeing from.

It was Ranma.

No longer afraid, Akane fell into Ranma's arms, returning his hug with the tightest of embraces. Her head rubbed against Ranma's shirt, her cheek pressing against the wooden clasps, feeling the solid muscle underneath the silk. Her arms rubbed Ranma's back, feeling the strength underneath his shirt, pulling up and away the fabric that blocked her from touching him directly.

"I don't know why I was running from you," she said quietly, looking up into Ranma's deep, loving eyes.

"Come, Akane," Ranma said quietly, "lemme show ya jus' how much I love ya."

The maze vanished, and Ranma and Akane were alone in the dream, hugging, walking together.

Of course there was a bed nearby.

In the real world, Akane groaned, her struggles ceasing, as she lay on her back, her nipples poking stiffly through the sheer fabric of her borrowed nightgown. Those nipples, had there been more light than that seeping through the window from the hotel next door, could be seen as slowly changing their color from dark pink to a much darker, richer green...

Before we go deeper into Akane's dream, it is worth taking a few minutes to check on the dreams of others in the house.

Kasumi wasn't asleep, although the fumes rising from the garbage dispenser were doing strange things to her consciousness. (Considering the things she'd thrown into the dispenser, out of a refrigerator which could only be described as toxic, this should come as no surprise.) At the moment, while her body was busy scrubbing away years of gunk from a countertop, her mind was arm-wrestling Gil-gamesh for the right to ride on his ark and thus survive the Less-than-Great Flood which was about to drown Penguin village.

"Don't worry, Arale!" she muttered to herself, or to her imaginary audience, "there'll be room for you, Dr. Slump, the twins, even the Poo family! I won't let you down!"

Thankfully, nobody else was awake to witness Kasumi's current delusional state. Nabiki, for example, was sound asleep, having a nasty nightmare in which she had a million U. S. dollars, but every time she reached for one the greenback turned into a tiny Hulk-chan and ran away laughing. There was a conga line of them dancing their way over the hill into the sunset, and Nabiki's efforts to bring them back only meant that more bills transformed into more fleeing Hulk-chans. All in all, a most horrible dream.

Nodoka, on the other hand, was dreaming a most happy dream; in her dream she ruled five daughters-in-law with an iron fist, while her son Ranma played with her five beautiful grandchildren. One had short black hair and ran everywhere waving a mallet. Another wore Chinese clothes bulging with little baby muscles, with earth-red armbands around his wrists. A third was playing with a toy cooking grill, waving his spatula across Play-Doh okonomiyaki. The fourth did nothing other than pop up here and there, laughing maniacally, before disappearing again. The last boy, the one hugging Ranma lovingly, had skin a brilliant shade of green.

Soun was having Nightmare #32, Attack of the Million Happousais, about which the less said the better.

Genma was dreaming of himself as a feudal lord, with Nodoka as his silent, obedient wife and the Tendos as his servants. Ranma did all the work for the fiefdom, while Genma ate a never-ending banquet of rich food. The only time he stirred himself was when Happousai appeared, trying to steal a leg of chicken, and Genma swatted the old master away as easily as shooing a fly.

This brings us at last to Ranma, who spent his dream chasing after Hulk-chan. Although both of them were naked, Ranma's dream had turned away from the kind that requires a thorough washing of the sheets afterwards; instead, he was shouting questions after the giant green woman. "Where do I know you from?" he shouted. "Why do you look familiar to me?"

"Can't you guess?" the dream Hulk-chan shouted back, not breaking stride.

"Who are you?" Ranma shouted, drawing a little closer to his goal. "Why don't I know who you are?"

"But you do know who I am, Ranma darling," Hulk-chan shouted back... and stopped running, turning to reveal not Hulk-chan's face, but...

"AKANE?!?"

The now fully clothed, green-tinted Akane lifted up a giant ping-pong racket and shouted, "RANMA NO BAKA!!" Ranma flew into the air with a single thwack of the racket, only to be sent flying back when a giant Ukyo swatted him midair with her spatula.

With Ranma's dreams now shifting into a meaningless recurring nightmare of his (#74: Fiancee Badminton), we now return to the dreams of Akane Tendo, which have taken a decidedly lemony turn...

In the dream, Akane pulled off her panties, her modest but firm breasts poking towards Ranma's bare chest and abdomen. Her broad hips made her blush a little, but Ranma apparently found no fault in them, for his hands caressed them gently but firmly, his strong fingers wrapping around to stroke her flat, hard ass.

With great reluctance Akane broke away from Ranma's caresses. She wanted to get down, as they say, to business. She knelt down before Ranma's boxers, pulling them away to reveal that huge slab of meat she'd seen by accident so many times before, the thing that she'd longed for so very long indeed. Her hand took the thirty-centimeter shaft with the lightest of touches, guiding the hot, stiff member down to her lips.

She ran her tongue up and down the shaft, nuzzling up against the fat red tip. Akane's hands reached down to stroke Ranma's balls, heavy and full of hot baby-making seed, her fingers sliding through the tangle of pubic hair. The smell of his musk, the feel of his hot flesh against her cheek, sent tremors through her insides. She could feel her sex grow sticky and wet, her nipples so painfully hard atop her breasts.

"Ohhh, that's nice..." Ranma's fingers ran through her hair as Akane licked up and down the length of his huge phallus. "But ya know, what I really like is a nice titfuck..."

"Hmmm, I'd love to fuck this huge cock with my titties," Akane replied between licks. "I want to feel your heat between my boobs so bad..."

"But your breasts aren't big enough to go around my dick," Ranma replied.

"I can fix that," Akane smiled, leaning back. Her breasts began to swell, beginning with her nipples, the tiny nubs of flesh swelling to thick thumb-like posts atop expanding stretches of puffy aureole. Slowly the flesh beneath the teats began to grow to match, billowing up like rising loaves, bigger and rounder with every moment. They expanded past Akane's ribcage, growing from palm-sized mounds to huge mountains of nearly spherical titflesh, with virtually no sag, pressing against Ranma's legs...

In the real world, Akane's borrowed nightgown began to stretch as Akane's shoulders grew broader, the swelling chest beneath the thin fabric squeezing up and out against the garment, looking for a way to burst through to freedom...

Grinning, Akane wrapped her newly immense hooters around Ranma's prick, easily engulfing it within her cleavage. She began to rock up and down from her squatting position, her head bent to kiss and lick the tip of Ranma's cock as it popped in and out of her boobs. Before long she was sucking the tip all the time, groaning between sucks at the exquisite heat generated by the strokes of Ranma's burning prod inside her equally hot mammaries.

"OH! Oh, that's so GOOD, Akane," Ranma gasped, forced to lean back against the bed for balance. "But I don't see- oh GODS- how you hold up those huge boobs with those skinny arms..."

"That's no trouble at all," Akane grinned, flexing one arm for Ranma to see. As she flexed, muscles bulged and grew, the arm growing longer to make room for the new expanse of tendon and sinew knitting itself on her bones. Her other arm matched the growth, and her shoulders grew broader to accommodate them both, her torso spreading as the muscular expansion spread to her ribcage, making her breasts appear to shrink... but only by comparison, as they continued to fully engulf Ranma's hard dick.

And in the real world, the nightgown ripped as the part caught under Akane's butt was torn away by the continue growth of her spine and torso. The front hem, released from the restraint of Akane's expanding rear end, jerked up past her waist, revealing panties that already were dug in to her sopping wet mound, stretching ever tighter as legs and hips expanded with muscle... lean, mean, green muscle...

"Oh GODS!" Ranma's hips began bucking against Akane's heavy rack, making the friction even hotter, even better between her bountiful boobs. "Wow, that is SO hot, Akane- I think I'm gonna cum!"

"Oh no, not yet, Ranma," Akane grinned, lifting her chest off of Ranma's trembling, leaking dick, pushing her fiancee back onto the bed. "I want that thick cock inside me... I want you to fuck my tight little pussy raw, Ranma darling."

Ranma looked down at Akane's broad hips, further down at the thick thighs flanking the tiny patch of pubic hair that hid her treasure. "But-but I'm so big," Ranma gasped. "I don't think you can fit all of my cock into that small a hole."

"That's so sweet of you to say, Ranma," Akane smiled, straddling Ranma's body, "but as you can see..." Akane's hips widened, her legs growing longer, more shapely, full of hard muscle tone. She spread her legs a bit wider, groaning as pubic hair spread a bit wider, wilder across her crotch, her dripping pussy bared to the elements. Her ass grew visibly rounder, broader, shapely and yet firm like any well-toned muscle. "I can take care of that problem, too."

And in the real world, the sleeves of Akane's nightgown ripped to shreds, pressing in vain against the ever-expanding volume of her powerful arms. Her muscles flexed here and there of her own accord, her squirms of pleasure snapping her panties' elastic, her titanic cleavage becoming visible through a slowly widening rip down the center of the nightgown...

Akane rubbed her hot cunny against Ranma's shaft, her honey mixing with the spit and precum left over from the titfucking. She rocked her hips back and forth along his length, gasping at the even greater heat produced, her muscles trembling, bulging even larger with every rub of sex to sex.

"Uggggh.... uh, are ya okay, Akane?" Ranma gasped. "Yer lookin' a bit pale there."

"You're right," Akane muttered, looking down at herself. "My skin color's way off." A fresh growth spurt ran through her body, her breasts swelling even further beyond the bounds of rational sizes, her torso broadening with thicker slabs of muscle, arms and legs stretching with renewed strength. Throughout the growth, as Akane grew taller and stronger, her skin tone darkened, taking on chartreuse tone, then deepening into a rich lime green.

And in the real world, the nightgown gave way, revealing a massive body already suffused with green color, from the toenails of the large, yet delicately shaped foot up to the hair growing and curling around Akane's head and shoulders...

"Yeah," Ranma nodded, "you look so much better now."

"I'm glad you feel that way," Akane grinned, her dark green lips smirking down at Ranma's smaller, yet beefy body. "I can't wait any longer..." She rose up on her knees, her hands sliding down to grasp Ranma's hot tumescence, guiding it towards her honey hole. "I need you..." She lowered herself down, gasping for breath, muscles tense in anticipation. "In... me... now..." The tip of Ranma's cock brushed against her hot, swollen, oh so sensitive cuntlips...

Dawn was just beginning to hint at arriving off on the seaward horizon when Kenji Tanaka walked past the rental house. He was feeling good- a full day to show off his new jams, mack on the ladies, and hang out on the beach, with no responsibilities to Mr. Fujiwara at the grocery. Feeling much pleased with himself, he turned on his boom box, hoisting it to one shoulder and listening to the deafening sounds of imported hip-hop, his ear practically glued to one speaker.

Something flew from an upstairs window, smashing into the stereo. The impact yanked it painfully out of Kenji's grasp, sending it flying into the fence that separated the 'public beach access' from the private area of the hotel next door.

Rubbing his arm, Kenji looked over his mortally wounded boom box. A hairbrush had impaled the cheap plastic, fragmenting it dead center; he could see into the hole where the bristles had kept the brush from flying entirely through the stereo. He put a finger on the end of the brush, pushing it experimentally, noticed it wouldn't budge. The brush had gone through the stereo and lodged itself in the wood of the fence.

Kenji looked at his dead boom box, at the brush pinning the remains to the fence, and then up at the window the brush had come from.

Y'know, the mountain resorts have babes too. Yeah. Think I'll spend my vacation there instead.

Meanwhile, up in Akane's bedroom, Hulk-chan pulled the covers over her head. "Dammit," she grumbled, "I was just about to get laid." Frustrated and annoyed, she stretched her legs out... and her feet pushed the lower bedframe back, and with a thundering crash the bed fell apart, the mattress collapsing to the floor as metal parts clanged apart here and there.

"Stupid cheap bed," Hulk-chan added, and went back to sleep.

Genma Saotome tiptoed up the stairs towards the children's rooms, headed for the one where Ranma still slept a restless sleep. Dawn was just creeping through the windows of the living room, and only the sound of something hissing and crackling, like a fire, in the kitchen echoed through the silent rental house. Carefully avoiding every loose or worn board with the expertise of a master, he worked his way up to the door to Ranma's room, laying his hand on the knob.

Get ready for your morning training, boy-

"Husband," a voice hissed in his ear, "where is your hammer? Where are your nails?"

Genma froze. "I, er, appear to have misplaced them," he said weakly.

"A pity," Nodoka replied. "I, however, have not misplaced my sword."

"I noticed," Genma replied, noting the light touch of metal at his thick neck.

"Let us return downstairs," Nodoka said quietly, "and perhaps the three of us together- yourself, myself, and my sword- can help you find your tools. There are many shingles yet to be replaced."

"Y-y-yes, beloved wife," Genma said, and the two of them left Ranma's door... which opened a few moments later, revealing Ranma-chan, still half asleep, wearing only a pair of boxers. Yawning, she staggered her away over, not to the stairs, but towards Akane's room.

Weird dreams, Ranma-chan thought. I wonder why I dreamed of Hulk-chan turning into Akane? I can't think of two people less alike... Her hand reached for the latch to Akane's room. But I think I should probably tell her about it. If she finds out from someone else, she'll be pis-

"Smile, Saotome."

Ranma-chan spun around to see Nabiki, clothed in loose shirt and shorts, holding her camera at the ready; the flash caught Ranma-chan half turned, her bare breasts half-pointed towards the camera, her face a mixture of surprise and outrage.

"That's it, Ranma-chan," Nabiki smiled, taking picture after picture, "show me those boobies. Give me surprise, give me outrage, oh, look at those nipples, you're getting turned on by this, aren't you? Oh, and now that butt, you know those boxers hide nothing? One more peek, yes, a perfect crack shot..."

Nabiki allowed her patter to die out as Ranma's door closed. Well, that served a double purpose- new pictures of Ranma for sale, and it stopped him from checking Akane's room before I did. She was about to step into Akane's room when her father's head popped up over the edge of the stairwell.

"Nabiki," Soun asked, "why are you going into Akane's room?"

"It'll cost you five thousand yen to find out."

Soun's head vanished back down the stairwell.

Nabiki entered Akane's room, noting at once the larger-than-usual lump buried under the covers and the destroyed state of the bed. She bent over, picked up one corner of the blanket, and found a large green foot. Ah, so this will be easier than I'd thought, she mused.

"Hulk-chan," Nabiki said, shaking the gamma-green giant's shoulder. "Time to wake up, Nabiki needs some money snaps."

Hulk-chan curled up a little tighter under the covers, grunted, and otherwise failed to react.

"Hulk-chan," Nabiki said a little louder, "it's morning. Time to get UP." She tried pulling the covers off, but Hulk-chan's grip was like iron even in her sleep.

Okay, time to play dirty... Nabiki bent down close to where she guessed Hulk-chan's head was. In a light whisper, she just barely breathed the words: "Ranma's naked..."

"WHERE?!?" Hulk-chan sat upright almost instantly, throwing off her covers, just missing giving Nabiki a savage headbutt. The sudden movement set her massive, naked boobs to bouncing, their movement continuing for quite some time after the rest of her body was still. "Who? How? Why? Huh?" Her head flicked back and forth, scanning the room for any glimpse of Saotome beefcake (or, failing that, cheesecake). Finding none, she turned a nasty gaze on Nabiki, growling, "That was dirty pool, Tendo."

"Tendo yourself," Nabiki smirked. "You're in my sister's body-" and a part of my sister, most likely, but I'm not going to say that to you right now- "-and that makes you my sister too."

"I don't think I like that," Hulk-chan grumbled.

"Anyway," Nabiki shrugged, "I want to get some photos of you to sell to the beach bums, so I can buy those clothes for you."

"Um, yeah," Hulk-chan muttered, noting the remains of nightgown and panties peeking from the edge of the tossed-aside bedsheets. "About that, well, I-"

"It's all right, I never really liked that nightgown anyway," Nabiki lied. "Now let's start out with the naughty shots, since you're already naked."

"Nothing too naughty, mind," Hulk-chan smirked. "I don't mind showing off my perfect body," and she twisted her body and flexed slightly, throwing her tremendous chest forward as her arm bulked up with tensed muscle, "but some things are only for those I love."

"Oh? Do you love Shampoo, then?" Nabiki asked.

"Okay, love and-or lust after," Hulk-chan shrugged, obviously not much bothered by it. "Anyway, no beaver shots, no frigging on camera, just some nice cheesecake shots, right?"

"Sure thing," Nabiki smiled. "Let's start with some butt-shots, hm?"

"Ah, my second best feature!" Hulk-chan grinned, getting up on hands and knees, wriggling her ass at Nabiki. "Let's get started, shall we?"

Four rolls of film later, Hulk-chan was just pulling on the same tiny red bikini she'd worn the previous day when a knock came at the door. "Akane, are ya in there?"

Before Hulk-chan could say anything, Nabiki said, "She went out for an early morning jog, Saotome. I've got Hulk-chan in here for a photo shoot; come in here and say hello."

"But-"

"Come in, Saotome."

The door opened, admitting a fully clothed (long sleeved shirt, pants, socks) Ranma-chan. She entered just far enough to shut the door behind her, staying back away from Nabiki. "Um, hi," she said quietly to Hulk-chan.

"Hello, Ranma darling," Hulk-chan smiled, leaning forward and putting the top of her string bikini under almost unbearable strain. "How do I look?"

"Hold that pose..." Nabiki began clicking away with the camera.

Um, er, it's just fine," Ranma-chan replied, blushing, hoping that the loose shirt would hide her nipples. "I, er, I'm glad I bumped inta ya-"

"But you haven't bumped into me yet," Hulk-chan smiled, striding forward, smiling. (Click, click, click, click.) "Trust me, I'd know if you had."

"Er, I mean, I wanted to talk to ya," Ranma-chan said, trying to push herself through the wall. "Er, could ya not stand so close?"

"Oh," Hulk-chan said, a little disappointed, "sorry about that." She stepped back a few steps, and Ranma-chan no longer felt like she stood under a huge green avalanche waiting to happen. The relief was, unfortunately, visible, and Nabiki worried that Hulk-chan might pick up on it.

"I was wonderin'," Ranma-chan asked, "why is it ya ran off last night? You were strong enough ta rip me outta that iron thing, why didn't ya fight Cologne yourself?"

Hulk-chan bowed her head in thought for a few seconds. "I had to leave," she said at last. "I wanted to fight, but I wasn't able to. That's all the answer I know to give you."

Ranma-chan actually smirked at that. "Oh, I understand that a lot," he nodded. "But why didja tell me to go save Shampoo? That I don't understand- I thought you wanted me for yourself."

"I want what makes you happiest," Hulk-chan smiled. "And, well, I like Shampoo, and I, well, I..." She put her hands shyly behind her back, a pose which thrust her bosom further forward than ever before. (Click click click click click.) "I thought that you might, well, like her too, and that you'd want to rescue her."

"Oh," Ranma-chan nodded, not actually understanding how that was supposed to work out. "Er, by th' way, I did rescue her. Kinda."

"Besides," Hulk-chan grinned, "I can't wait to get with her and show you how two huge strong women can make a well-hung guy like you very happy." She bent forward again, sauntering slowly over to Ranma-chan- (clickclickclick-whrrrrrr, drat, out of film, Nabiki thought) and giving him, to Ranma-chan's shock, a completely innocent kiss on the forehead.

"Bwaaaa," Ranma-chan replied wittily.

"But that'll wait until you're ready," Hulk-chan smiled, toying with her bikini strings. "Just- say- the- word." Then she pulled the tiny scraps of fabric back into as modest a configuration as they could manage. "So! Anybody else hungry? I could eat a horse! Or two!"

Nabiki slipped her last roll of film into the camera. "Not quite yet," she muttered. "Ranma, I've got another string bikini that might just fit you; I want you to put it on and meet us outside, and I'll get some pics of the both of you before I take all of this to the developers."

"Nabiki..." Ranma-chan growled.

"In exchange for which I'll knock five thousand yen off your debts and treat you to a meal," Nabiki said. "You too, Hulk-chan."

Free food knocked all other thoughts out of Ranma-chan's mind. "Where's the swimsuit? I'll go get it!"

"On my dresser in my room," Nabiki said. "Downstairs, five minutes."

Ranma-chan vanished through the door in a cloud of dust; Hulk-chan followed after, in a cloud of jiggling. Just my luck, Nabiki sighed, to have a sister who transforms into a two-meter tower of lime green Jell-o. Only nobody ever made molds like that. At least, not outside of soapland districts...

Nabiki caught up to Hulk-chan downstairs; the towering titaness had paused by the kitchen door and was listening intently. "What's up?" Nabiki asked quietly.

"What do you hear?" Hulk-chan replied.

"Er... nothing," Nabiki said.

"Me too," Hulk-chan said, "and that worries me." Nabiki understood what she meant; the loud noises from the kitchen had ceased. No more banging, no more welding, hammering, scrubbing, or battle cries.

"You don't suppose something's happened to-"

The kitchen door opened. Tattered, weary-looking, skirts replaced by a ring of thick grass, Kasumi staggered out with a large tray in her hands. "BREAKFAST!" she shouted. "I- HAVE MADE- BREAKFAST!" She looked at a large teakettle sitting on one corner of the tray, which wore a beard woven from grass under its spout. "You see, Wilson? I have made BREAKFAST! A-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Wilson whistled.

Nabiki and Hulk-chan peeked past Kasumi into the kitchen. It was spotless; old wooden cabinets and countertops had been replaced by shining steel and polished mahogany. The old sink gleamed as if brand new; likewise the refrigerator, sitting open, restocked with fresh, delicious-looking food. Even the floor shone, bright new tile installed over the once filthy old wood.

"I think I'll take this," Hulk-chan said quietly, lifting the tray full of food from Kasumi's trembling hands. "Nabiki, why don't you take Kasumi up to bed? I think she needs some sleep."

"Oh, hello, Hulk-chan," Kasumi smiled as she felt the weight of the tray leave her hands. "I can't go to bed yet, the laundry hasn't been done, and Akane's clothes are so ripped up of late, the poor girl does wear out her things so quickly..."

Hulk-chan froze in terror. Was her secret out already?

"Auntie Nodoka's already taken care of the laundry," Nabiki lied smoothly. "You just come on up to bed and rest a bit. You've had a very long day and night."

"Yes... yes, that's probably for the best," Kasumi nodded. "Good night, Wilson. I couldn't have done it without you."

Wilson percolated quietly.

"Nabiki, is this a bikini or a washrag?" Ranma-chan wobbled down the stairs, struggling to tie the top behind her back. "I've worn headbands with more material than this."

"Drool drool!" Hulk-chan said, ogling Ranma-chan's body hungrily. The blue bikini Nabiki had picked out did nothing at all to hide Ranma-chan's well rounded hips, much less the perfect D-cups that strained against the confines of a top that, truth be told, would have been small on Akane.

"Not bad, Saotome," Nabiki smiled. "I'll get a male bikini for you when I develop the pics, now that we have hot water again."

Ranma-chan blinked, looking at 'Wilson' the teapot with a combination of longing and sudden dread.

"Ranma darling, wait until you're back in guy clothes, please," Hulk-chan blushed. "As much as I like you in skimpy clothes, I don't want to think of your poor wonder weiner in such a tiny bikini bottom."

Ranma-chan envisioned just that, hiccuped, and fell backwards into a dead faint.

Hulk-chan giggled. "He's so cute when he's bashful!"