"Pleased t' meetcha. I'm Saotome Ranma."

"EEEEEEEEH?!" Akane and Cherry exploded.

//Saotome Ranma?! Then...that Navi just now...//

Ranma blinked at the screen of Akane's PET, leaning in close to peer at the Navi there. "Aa...hai," he said.

"But how did you—?" Akane asked, flinching away slightly from the boy. "I mean, you weren't at the shop, we'd have seen you—"

"Oh, uh...I was kinda already chasin' that Sigma Navi around th' Net," Ranma said.

"My son and his friend are Special Battlers," Genma explained, "for Hikari Tomorrow Lab."

"Ara maa!" Kasumi exclaimed. "That explains it, then! No wonder your Navi is so strong!"

//I never met a Navi from Hikari Tomorrow Lab before!// Cherry exclaimed suddenly, her face filling up the entire PET screen. //Where is she? Get out your PET!//

Ranma backed away nervously. "Ah, my uh...my PET's chargin' right now. It uh...yeah, chargin'."

//Oh,// Cherry said disappointedly. //Well, it's almost time for me to recharge too, so I'll meet her then, ne?//

"Ah, er..." Ranma coughed. "Oh, I ain't got none'a your names yet!"

"How rude of us!" Kasumi said. She stepped forward, bowing; her long brown ponytail fell over her shoulder. "Tendou Kasumi."

//I'm Kasumi's Navi, Bell,// said a small voice from the oldest sister's PET. //It's a pleasure to meet you, Saotome-san.//

"I'm Nabiki," Nabiki said, making no effort to hide the fact that she was appraising Ranma from head to toe, slim eyebrows drawn together. "I'm sure we'll be talking business soon." She paused. "Oh, and my Navi's YenMan, but you'll have to meet him tomorrow."

"I'm Akane," Akane said as she stepped forward. She brushed her fingers through her short blue-black hair. "Thank you again for earlier. I mean, Cherry—that's my Navi—could've handled that guy, I'm sure, but...uh...thanks."

//I'm Cherry!// Cherry waved from Akane's PET.

Ranma smiled. "Well, it's nice meetin' y'all," he said. "Oh, you didn't meet Ryouga yet! Hey, get over here!" he called to the other boy.

The girls turned to face the other teen as he stood, straightening the high-necked gold velour tunic he wore. He shuffled over to stand next to Ranma. He was slightly taller; his eyes were darker and more intense, and his wild black hair was held out of his eyes by a black-striped yellow bandana. A badge was affixed to the throat of his tunic:

"Hibiki Ryouga," he grunted.

"But seriously," Nabiki said as everyone sat back down at the table and Kasumi began filling teacups, "Tousan never mentioned knowing somebody as famous as Saotome Genma."

"Really, Tendou-kun?" Genma asked, eyeing his old friend.

"It just never came up," Soun said. "Besides, I didn't think they'd believe me anyway."

Genma chuckled. "Yeah, me and Tendou met back when we were about your age," he said. "Back then, we were training partners in the martial arts. Then, well..." He adjusted his glasses. "Then, I met Ranma's mother, and everything changed."

Nabiki turned to Ranma, gaze calculating. "Your mother wouldn't perhaps be Dr. Saotome Nodoka?"

"Yeah, that's right," Ranma said.

"I met Nodoka right around the time her father invented the NetNavi," Genma said. "At first, I wasn't interested in Navis and NetBattling. Then, Nodoka decided to show me around her father's lab, and..."

"You nearly got kicked out for treating it like a great big video arcade," Soun said.

Genma laughed. "Heh, yeah, well...Hikari-hakase got inspired by watching me and Tendou-kun sparring one day, and asked me to help him program the virus busting routines for the first generation Navis. I got really involved in what we were working on, and next thing I knew, I'd stopped doing martial arts altogether. By the time Ranma was born, I'd already won three regional NetBattle championships."

"So o'course, I grew up around all that," Ranma said. "I ain't soft like Oyaji, though. I took up kenpo when I was a kid an' keep in pretty good shape. But I also NetBattle, an' Kaasan's got me workin' part-time as a network crime investigator. Whenever somethin' comes up th' City NetBattlers an' Officials can't handle, Hikari Lab sends me an' Ryouga in."

"So you both must be very good!" Kasumi said.

"Th' best," Ranma said with a grin. "Hell, I can take this old fart an' his fat lazy panda any day'a th' week."

Genma cuffed his son upside the head, but chuckled with pride. "It's true, Ranma's far more talented than I am. If he ever went on the tournament circuit, I wouldn't stand a chance."

"So why don't you then?" Akane asked.

Ranma shook his head. "Not my thing," he said. "I got my own stuff t' deal with."

//He's chicken!// Cherry declared.

"Cherry-chan!" Kasumi scolded.

//Listen to him! He's all talk, but I bet he's scared to battle!//

"Hey, I ain't afraid'a nothin'," Ranma said hotly.

//Well okay then! How about a match with Akane and me?//

Ranma paused, sweat standing out on his forehead. "Uhh...well...okay, yeah, sure! But it'll hafta wait until after dinner, okay?

"You're on!" Akane said.

* * * * *

Nabiki excused herself to start up YenMan's recompile routine while her father and his old friend reminisced. While she was sure their conversation would be entertaining and interesting, she had more important matters to attend to. She needed a functional Navi so she could thoroughly research Saotome Ranma, and possibly his friend.

*They're both awfully cute,* she thought. *And if Ranma's got THAT kind of lineage AND he's good enough to be a Special Battler, I'm sure I can find a way to make a fortune off him...*

As she reached the stairs, she stopped short. Something had caught her attention; something was amiss. She backtracked to the alcove halfway between the downstairs water closet and the stairs which held the household PET charging station.

The white PET that contained Angel was plugged in and charging, as was a dark green PET resting beside it. However, those were the only two PETs in the charger.

She leaned in close and examined the green PET. The name "Saotome Genma" was written in untidy scrawl on its label, and the Navi icon on the case skin was the widely-recognized symbol of Genma's Navi, PandaMan:

There was no sign of either Ranma's PET or Ryouga's.

*Well, Ryouga might still have his PET on him, even if I didn't see one,* Nabiki mused, *but...where's Ranma's...?*

* * * * *

Ranma and Ryouga sat out on the veranda, taking in the serene beauty of the Tendous' well-maintained garden. The two men were still catching up, Nabiki was still dealing with her Navi, Kasumi was making dinner, and Akane was getting cleaned up and changed.

"How the hell could you get yourself roped into a challenge like that?" Ryouga asked, anger and exasperation in his tone.

"It won't be a problem," Ranma replied.

"IDIOT!" Ryouga roared. "You want the whole world to know about you? About us?!"

"Will you relax?" Ranma asked. "I got this! Y'think I ain't got a way t' deal with somethin' like this? Just who d'you think you're talkin' to?"

Ryouga frowned. "Even so...if something goes wrong during..."

"You worry too much," Ranma said dismissively. "Besides, that Akane chick an' her Navi are both kinda cute."

Ryouga snorted. "I didn't know you could still think with your dick, Saotome."

"Watch it, pork chop."

* * * * *

Ranma and Akane faced one another across one of the NetBattle machines in the Tendou training hall. Soun, Genma, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Ryouga sat in a semicircle around the two of them; a large screen mounted from the ceiling showed a standard battlefield.

Akane smiled. "Let's have a good match, ne?" At Ranma's nod, she plugged her own PET into the console. "Plug-in! Cherry.EXE! Transmission!"

Saying nothing, Ranma pulled a dark blue PET from his pants pocket and silently plugged the transmission cord into the console.

"Oooh, he's all business when he battles," Nabiki said.

* * * * *

Two female Navis appeared opposite one another on the battleground. Cherry adjusted her gloves and waved at the red Navi. "Hello again!" she said. "Listen, last time, I know I got your operator's name, but..."

The red Navi flinched almost imperceptibly. "Ah, uh, yeah. Sorry. My name's...uh...Roll. Yeah, Roll."

"Well, Roll," Cherry said. "Good luck!"

"Yeah, you too!" Roll said, smiling.

//Begin!// Genma called.

Cherry charged in, dropping to the ground and trying to sweep Roll's feet. Roll jumped high, tucking her legs underneath her, and somersaulted in midair. She dropped down on Cherry as the other Navi was recovering, and extended one forefinger, tapping Cherry on top of her helmet. She then backflipped away and kippuped to her feet, hands behind her back, smiling.

Cherry frowned. "Not bad," she admitted. She rushed forward again, tossing out a flurry of light punches. Roll evaded every single punch, then thumped her in the nose.

"I'm waitin' for ya t' do somethin'," Roll taunted.

Cherry growled. "Why you...!"

//StoneCube! Slot-in!//

A large gray cube appeared between the two Navis. Cherry let out a bellow and slammed her foot into it, sending it flying at her opponent. Roll cartwheeled to the side. "I think I hit a nerve," she said.

//GutsPunch! Slot-in!//

Cherry's right fist tripled in size. She charged toward Roll like an angry bull, massive fist cocked back for a deadly punch.

Roll stood her ground, yawning.

"You little...!" Cherry yelled. She threw a punch that could have taken a city bus apart.

Roll blocked with one finger.

"Uso..." Cherry gasped, staring in shock.

"Ready t' give up yet?" Roll asked sweetly.

"Never!" Cherry shouted. "Akane, gimme whatever we got left!"

//Right! Here comes a chip combo! AreaSteal! Slot-in!//

Cherry blurred and reappeared directly in Roll's face.

//Yosh'! We can't miss at this range! AquaTower! Slot-in!//

A look of panic crossed Roll's face. "Ohcrap."

Cherry grinned and slammed the palm of her hand against the ground at Roll's feet. A column of water gushed up underneath the other Navi, sending her flying. "Got her!" Cherry cheered, pumping a fist.

//H-hey, what...what's going on here?//

//Ranma-kun? Are you alright?//

//What the...? Saotome-kun, what IS this?//

* * * * *

Akane stared as, across the podium from her, arcs of electricity coursed over Ranma's body. Which had just shrunk.

Where before had stood a black-haired boy, now there was a short, busty red-haired girl. One who looked almost exactly like the Navi Cherry was battling.

Ryouga facepalmed. "I knew this would happen..."

* * * * *

"What's going on out there? Akane? Akane? Hello?"

Movement alerted Cherry to the fact that her opponent was back on her feet.

...his feet.

There was no longer any sign of Roll. In her place was a short, sleek male Navi with a black bodysuit, dark blue boots and gloves, and a dark blue helmet. A black pigtail poked out from the base of the helmet; this Navi had the exact same emblem on his chest as Roll.

"You just HADDA go'n use a water chip, didn'tcha?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

Cherry stared at him. "Who-who are you? Where's Roll? What...?"

The blue Navi's right hand morphed into a cannon. "My turn!" he shouted. "MOKO BUSTER!"

A roaring column of yellow light erupted from the Navi's arm cannon, engulfing Cherry. She cried out as damage ripped through her systems; on the verge of deletion, she was left with no choice but to plug out.

* * * * *

"Ranma wins," Genma said calmly, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"Who cares about that?" Nabiki asked. "What's THIS all about?"

Ranma jerked as if coming out of a trance, and sighed. "Dammit," she said.

"What...what's going on here, Saotome-kun?" Soun asked, staring at the redhead. "What...?"

"It's a long story," Genma said heavily.

//Hey, what's the big idea changing Navis on me in the middle of a fight?// Cherry demanded hotly. //And that blue jerk tried to delete me! Who the heck WAS that? What happened to Roll? Answer me, dammit!//

"Ara," Kasumi gasped, a finger touched to her chin. "Ranma-kun just turned into a girl who looks exactly like his Navi, and his Navi turned into a boy who looks exactly like him. Exactly like he did before he changed. I mean..."

Ranma sighed. "That Navi," he said quietly, "is me."

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Since 1/5/13