"Teh-EEEH!"

She charged enthusiastically into her opponents, red-gloved fists clenched. Her shimmery blue miniskirt flared around her hips as she spun, executing a graceful kick that caught her nearest opponent in the stomach, sending him sprawling. Fluidly, she blocked a strike at her seemingly unprotected back, then performed a spinning backfist that dropped her attacker to the floor. A third opponent attempted a sweeping kick; she leapt high, legs tucked underneath her, and came down with both hands locked together for an axe-handle smash to the head, which she followed up with a double-handed uppercut to the chin, sending the unfortunate victim crashing into a far wall.

She slid into a guarded stance, watching her three downed opponents. She made a come-hither gesture as one began to rise. The foe gulped and disappeared in a stream of pixels, replaced with a three-dimensional column of block text that read "PLUGOUT".

She sighed. "Mou...running from a NetBattle is so lame! Especially when this is practice!"

"This is supposed to be a class to train them, not your own personal chop-socky playground," a snide male voice intruded.

She planted her hands on her hips and shot the speaker an annoyed glare. "Come say that to my face, YenMan," she taunted.

YenMan, a tall black and gold Navi, stood with his arms folded. He snorted, eyes half-lidded beneath the golden crest of his ¥-shaped helmet. "You know I don't fight, Cherry." He shook his head. "And you're missing the point. The only thing your 'students' are learning is how to get deleted by a crazy, violent maniac."

"That's ridiculous!" Cherry huffed. She turned to face her remaining two students. "Oi! You're learning from all this, right? Right?"

The two stock Navis nodded fearfully, edging nervously away from their sensei.

YenMan scoffed. "Like they'd say no to your face," he said.

Cherry stomped one red-booted foot with an irritated growl, then let out a sigh. "Class dismissed," she said. As her students plugged out, she brushed imaginary dust off her form-fitting white bodysuit and smoothed out her skirt and the matching collar-flap, which served to give her the appearance of a schoolgirl. She buffed the stylized cherry-blossom icon on her chest with the back of her hand. "So, what SHOULD I be doing, YenMan?" she asked.

YenMan walked over and patted the crown of Cherry's glossy blue-black helmet, smiling. "Just try to act as little like your operator as possible."

//HEY!!// an irate young girl's voice cried out. //ONEECHAN! Did you hear what your stuck-up jerk of a Navi just said?!//

A slightly older, throatier female voice chuckled and replied, in a similarly condescending tone to the black-and-gold Navi, //YenMan's just being honest, Akane. You are a little on the violent side. It's not Cherry's fault she has such a bad example to live up to.//

"Okay, I'm sick of BOTH of you!" Cherry growled. "I might not be able to kick Nabiki-neechan's butt, but..." She cupped her hands and faced YenMan. A bright pink glow radiated from between her gloved fingers.

YenMan sweatdropped. "Oi oi. Calm down."

"CHERRY POPPER!"

A ball of crackling pink energy slammed into the taller Navi, who cried out as his body began to de-rezz. He exploded into a shower of blue pixels, replaced by a collapsing "PLUGOUT" message. Cherry grinned and crossed her arms. "So there."

//CHERRY!// Akane scolded.

//Great, now I've gotta spend all night recompiling him,// Nabiki grumbled. Acidly, she added, //And by the way? Your little Navi just proved my point.//

"Ara ara...don't tell me you're all fighting again?" a new voice intruded. A new Navi had appeared in the cyberdojo; a tall, slender, beautiful female Navi with a gold-trimmed blue poncho over a shimmery white bodysuit that lacked boots or gloves, with dark blue stripes around the palms and backs of her hands, the tops of her feet, her ankles, and her waist. Translucent honey-brown hair hung in a faux plait down her back, and dark blue markings on her forehead and cheeks outlined her crystal-blue eyes. An icon of two ringing silver bells tied with a red ribbon adorned her ample chest.

Cherry faced this new Navi, a sheepish expression on her face. "Gomen ne, Bell," she said.

Bell clucked her tongue in mild disapproval, shaking her head. "Anyway, you'd best plug out now, Cherry-chan. Kasumi's waiting for Akane-chan and Nabiki-chan at the Metroline."

//Eh?! It's already time to go?!// Akane cried. //Crap, we're gonna be late! Plug out, Cherry!//

"Hai!"

Just as Bell was about to plug out, another Navi appeared in the cyberdojo. She stared at the new Navi with wide eyes. He was massive, and resembled a mechanical anthromorphic panda. He beckoned at her with a raised paw.

"Er, yes? Can I help you?" Bell asked. The panda Navi said nothing, but a string of glowing text appeared in front of him.

IS THIS THE TENDOU CYBERDOJO?

"Yes it is. I'm afraid classes are already over for today, and we aren't able to register new students at this time, but—"

PLEASE DELIVER THIS E-MAIL TO TENDOU SOUN.

The panda transmitted an e-mail to Bell; she accepted it with a mild frown. "I'm not his Navi, but I will make sure he gets it as quickly as possible."

PLEASE DO. THEN IF YOU WILL EXCUSE ME...

The panda Navi bowed and plugged out. Bell blinked. "Ara maa..."

* * * * *

//Anata, you have new mail.//

Soun, who was reading the afternoon NetNews, minimized the news window, behind which stood his late wife's Navi, Angel. "Who's it from?" he asked.

//According to the header, the sender is Saotome Genma.// Angel paused. //He hasn't been in touch for quite some time, has he?//

"No, he hasn't," Soun said with a smile. "After all, he's been pretty busy lately. Go ahead, open it."

//Hai!//

10DO —
CMNG 4 A VST 2DAY.
BRNGNG RANMA.
— SG.

Soun shook his head with a chuckle. "Ah, Saotome-kun...still writing like a n00b after all these years..."

//A-na-TA. You promised to stop talking leet.//

"Sorry. Well, better call the girls. I'd like them to meet my best friend's son."

Angel frowned. //Don't try to pull anything, anata. Kimiko made me promise to keep you in line.//

"Don't worry so much, Angel..."

* * * * *

The three Tendou sisters walked down a bustling street in Nerima's main shopping district, Kasumi and Akane loaded down with bags. As they passed a store which sold all manner of Net devices and Navi upgrades, Nabiki paused. "Since I've gotta recompile YenMan anyway, this might be a good time to buy a new PET and maybe some upgrades." She had just started for the door when the new mail chime on Kasumi's PET sounded.

//Mail from Otousama, Kasumi,// Bell said. //We're having guests for dinner tonight. Otousama wants you girls home as soon as possible.//

"Ara!" Kasumi exclaimed, touching her cheek. "I hope I bought enough food..."

"You bought enough to feed an army, Oneechan," Akane assured her. "It'll be fine."

"Well, let me get what I need in here real quick, then we'll head home," Nabiki said.

"Don't take too long," Kasumi admonished.

Nabiki had her hand on the door when there was a scream from inside.

Akane rushed forward, yanking her older sister back and out of the way while stuffing all the bags she was carrying into her arms, and threw open the door. "What's going on in here?" she demanded.

"We're under attack!" the clerk cried, panicking as the screen on the register went completely haywire. "There's a virus trashing our transaction system!"

"My money!" a middle-aged housewife at the counter screamed, staring in horror at the screen of her PET. "Give me back my money!"

"Waah! Mama! My Navi got deleted!" her son cried from behind her.

Akane's eyes narrowed. "Everybody calm down, I'll take care of this. I'm a City NetBattler!"

The clerk's eyes lit up. "Hontou?" she asked, clasping her hands beneath her chin.

"Un!" Akane assured her. She marched over to the register, unstrapping her PET from the lanyard clipped to her belt, and drew out the transmission cord. "Plug-in! Cherry.EXE! Transmission!" she exclaimed as she shoved the plug into the terminal.

* * * * *

A scene of total chaos awaited Cherry when arrived in the register. Stacks of transaction data were being destroyed by common Metool viruses, the store's own security Navis had been paralyzed by Bunny viruses, and a half-dozen weak, stock Navis were trying to battle a scaly, long-limbed black Navi with huge, sharp claws and gleaming steel fangs and losing badly, being deleted with no more than a few swipes of the black Navi's claws.

"Whoa...I'm getting a really weird energy reading off that thing," Cherry said.

//You can beat him, Cherry!// Akane cheered. //I know you can! Just be careful! I'll handle the operation!//

"Okay!" Nodding, Cherry dashed forward, one fist cocked back for a dashing uppercut. "TORYAAAAAH!" She caught the black Navi in the stomach as he turned to face her; the momentum of her charge carried him along as she leapt forward at the last instant, spinning so that her extended fist jammed underneath the Navi's chin and lifted him into the air. He flew into a damaged data stack, scattering alarmed Metools, and Cherry landed on her feet, smirking and striking a confident victory pose. "Yosh'!"

//Nice, Cherry!//

The black Navi leapt to his feet, snarled, and threw a disc of black energy at Cherry. Before she had time to dodge, the black disc was upon her; it wrapped itself around her feet and magnetized her to the ground. "Ack!" She pinwheeled her arms as she wobbled back and forth, trying to free herself without falling over.

//Cherry!//

"I...I can't move!" Cherry complained. The black Navi let out a harsh, barking laugh as it charged toward her, deadly claws raised. She raised her arms to block, knowing there was little else she could do...

//Area Steal! Slot-in!//

Suddenly, the black Navi was a mile away; Cherry let out a sigh of relief. "That was close...thanks, Akane." The energy binding her feet faded; she scowled and tugged at her gloves. "Right, it's payback time. Akane, gimme that."

//You got it! Attack mode battlechip! Hammer! Slot-in!//

A massive steel hammer materialized in Cherry's hands. With a grim smile, she stalked toward her opponent. "Now you've really pissed me off," she said conversationally, "so I'm gonna splatter your code all over the place."

The black Navi said nothing, merely beckoning her forward calmly.

"KONO...!" In a blur, Cherry was in the black Navi's face, hammer swinging in a perfect home run smash. "KURAE!" The hammer smashed into the black Navi's torso...and did no noticeable damage; he didn't even flinch.

"Nani?!" Cherry gasped.

The black Navi seized her by the head with one clawed hand and raised her above his head, sneering at her.

//CHERRY!!//

Cherry struggled frantically but uselessly in the black Navi's grip. He draw back his other hand, and the claws seemed to grow longer as Cherry watched with a feeling of impending doom...

The Navi's hand suddenly disappeared.

Throwing Cherry to the ground with a snarl of rage, the black Navi spun, eyes narrowed. Landing on her butt, Cherry looked around to see what had just happened.

A female Navi stood behind the black Navi. She was slightly shorter than Cherry, with a pronouncedly larger bust. Her form-fitting bodysuit was black and red, with the appearance of a swimsuit or leotard worn over tights, with knee-high red boots and elbow-length red gloves. Blue eyes blazed intently from a heart-shaped face framed by a glossy red helmet; a translucent red pigtail stuck sideways from the base of the helmet. On her chest was a gold-rimmed symbol:

"You okay?" the new Navi asked Cherry.

"U-un...arigatou..."

Nodding, the female Navi pointed her right hand—which at present was transformed into a gleaming sword—at the black Navi. "I know you can still talk," she said. "Who infected you?"

"Go format yourself," the black Navi hissed.

The female Navi's eyes narrowed. "Fine, you don't wanna talk? Then die." She charged so fast Cherry could no longer register her presence, and then...

The black Navi screamed as it exploded into jagged black cubes of data, replaced moments later with the "PLUGOUT" message.

"Now then, th' rest'a this mess..." the Navi said, glancing around. "Hey pig, don't let me have all th' fun!"

The Bunny and Metool viruses suddenly began screaming and disappearing in bursts of delete data; a black shape Cherry couldn't quite make out was bouncing all around the register, smashing through all the viruses in nanoseconds. When at last all the viruses were deleted, the shape bounced to a stop beside the female Navi. It was a tiny piglet, almost comical-looking save for the dangerous look in its eyes, the glistening fangs protruding from its snout, and the fact that its black body was translucent and covered in shining yellow dots that swirled like stars.

"Who...are you?" Cherry asked as she stood, facing the other Navi warily.

The mystery Navi's sword reformed into a gloved hand, with which she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm Saotome Ranma," she said. "Sorry for th' trouble." With that, she and the piglet both plugged out.

Cherry blinked. "Saotome...Ranma?"

//Plug out, Cherry. We've gotta get home.//

"Hai!"

* * * * *

"So, even little miss crazy needs her butt saved sometimes, huh?" Nabiki taunted as the three sisters discussed the incident on the way home.

"Nabiki-chan!" Kasumi chided.

//I'm just relieved Cherry-chan is alright,// Bell said. //I hope you meet that Navi again so you can thank her properly.//

"What was up with that intro, though?" Akane asked. "I've never heard of a Navi calling herself by her operator's name before."

//Yeah, that was...weird,// Cherry agreed. //I mean I can see a little kid or a noob doing something like that, but that girl definitely wasn't a noob...//

"Saotome," Nabiki said slowly. "I wonder..."

"Nah, couldn't be," Akane said, shaking her head. "Could it?"

When the girls got home, they found their father sitting in the living room, sipping tea with a man they recognized and two teenage boys they had never seen before. Soun looked up at the three of them and smiled. "Ah, girls, welcome home! There's someone I'd like you to meet."

The man stood, smiling at the girls. He was middle-aged and wore a dark green suit cut tastefully to fit his stocky frame. His face was hard and lined, and a gray bandana depicting a stylized panda face covered his bald head. Round, red-tinted glasses covered his eyes, held in place by elastic loops fastened around his ears.

"Ah!" Akane gasped, pointing. "You're Saotome Genma! We saw you on TV just last night!"

"The Saotome Genma? The All-Asia NetBattle Champion?" Kasumi asked, wide-eyed.

"The same," Genma said, bowing. "I'm an old friend of your father's." He gestured to one of the two teenage boys, who rose from the table to stand beside him. He wore old-fashioned Chinese-style clothes: black silk pants tied at the ankle and a long red silk tang with yellow frog ties. A badge affixed to his shirt depicted the exact same icon as the Navi from the register. His black hair was tied in a short pigtail, and his blue-gray eyes were bright and friendly. "This is my son," Genma said.

The boy bowed. "Pleased t' meetcha," he said. "I'm Saotome Ranma."

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Since 1/4/13