Disclaimer: Okay most of the characters used in this part are mine....but after that...
well I will be borrowing heavily. I know it doesn't look like it yet, but trust me
this will be a Ranma 1/2-fusion story. I didn't Ranma 1/2 or any of its characters.
That was Rumiko Takahashi. Nor did I create Dragon Ball, that was Akira Toriyama.
I'm only borrowing for a time.
The Path We Travel
J Broken
1a: Awakenings
-Kami's lookout-
Kami gazed out over the earth from the edge of his lofty lookout. He had
come to love this
planet after his many years as guardian. For the moment everything was in
relative peace, but
something was bothering him. He could sense something stirring, some
sleeping force the likes of
which he had not felt for decades. And that last time had been only
briefly. Something was
being set in motion, and he had no idea what it would mean.
Mr. Popo stood behind him, looking worriedly at the old namek.
"Is everything all right, Kami?" he asked, his concern showing in his voice.
"I do not know Mr. Popo." Kami replied. "I haven't felt anything like this
since Demon Piccolo
was defeated and I fear this will prove much worse."
"Oh my," Popo responded. "What shall we do."
"For now, nothing." Kami responded. "We will wait until we understand more
of what is transpiring."
"And then?"
"Then we will call on some old friends, Mr. Popo."
They both gazed out over the Earth in silence.
-Coast of Japan-
It was a quiet day for fishing. Kazumi stood on the shore gazing out
at the vast sea, glad he'd decided to go on a fishing trip for his
yearly vacation. He took a deep breath and let it out
with a content sigh. He had just begun to push his small boat into the
water, when a loud explosion caught his attention. His head snapped in
the to stare out over the water and he caught sight of what appeared to
be two shooting stars blazing in the sky. The problem was that
they were going up instead of down. He stood there gaping slack jawed,
then noticed a speck approaching him, flying just above the water, and
leaving a large wake behind it. As the speck neared, Kazumi rubbed his
eyes to make sure he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. The
speck was a person.
When the speck reached land, it settled down on the beach, causing
Kazumi to rub his eyes again. It was a person, a girl to be exact.
She slightly shorter than him, and looked to be about 17
or 18, with long black that cascaded down her back, her bangs jutting
forward in gravity defining spikes. She was wearing a black, knee and
elbow length body suit under a strange set of red and black, almost
insect like armor, that didn't do much to hide her well-defined, yet
still feminine muscles. Around her waist she wore what appeared to be
a brown furry belt, and on her head she had a strange looking device
that was attached to her ear and had an eyepiece that went around
over her right eye.
She looked around as if getting her bearings. She spotted Kazumi
looking at her and narrowed her eyes, causing him to gulp slightly and
take a step back. She reached her hand up and tapped a button on the
side of the device and it made a beeping sound. The girl snorted and
smirked.
"Power level 5," she said her voice amused. "Pathetic. Well at least
it should make finding the others easier."
"Who are you," Kazumi asked finding his voice at last. The girl
ignored him. She tapped the button again turning around as if looking
for something.
"Ah that must be them," she said looking at the readings of her
eyepiece.
"Hey I asked you who you were," Kazumi said. He then grabbed her
shoulder in an attempt to turn her to face him. Without even changing
expression, the girl grabbed his wrist, and Kazumi found himself being
flung far out into the water. He landed with a splash and came up just
in time to yelp and submerge again as, courtesy of a kick from the
girl, his boat splashed down. He surfaced again and scrambled onto his
upside down boat just in time to see the girl launch herself into the
air and fly off.
"Next year I'll just go hiking," Kazumi said to himself.
-------------------
-Nerima Ward-
A young man stood at an intersection gazing balefully one way, then the
other. Upon his back he carried a large pack with a red umbrella tied
own on top. He was wearing a yellow tunic and loose black pants, and a
yellow and black bandana kept his bangs out of his eyes. He had been
standing at the intersection for over twenty minutes, unable to make up
his mind as to which was the correct path to follow. With certainty,
he knew one would lead him to his accursed enemy, and the other would
leave him once again lost and wondering. He considered stopping
someone to ask directions, but the streets were strangely deserted. He
could make out the sound of vehicles and people not to far away, but
none of them was heading in his direction, and he did not wish to
chance getting even further lost.
"So close," he said under his breath. "I know I'm almost there. Soon
Ranma Saotome, very soon I will have my vengeance."
He smirked at the thought, and the look Ranma would have on his face
when he, Ryoga Habiki defeated him. Ryoga chuckled darkly at the
thought of Ranma's annoying smirk being wiped off of his face. At
last Ryoga had found the means to defeating the detested Saotome. The
best of it was that he had come up with the technique himself. He had
discovered the technique while recovering from a beating he had
received after accidentally gotten after wondering into the women's
area of a hot spring. After that he had spent days refining and
perfecting it. He had then sent a challenge to Ranma telling the
pigtailed martial artist to be ready for him in three days. That had
been nearly a week ago. Ryoga looked to his right, then to
his left.
"Damn it Ranma where are you!" he bellowed in frustration. He stood
for a moment panting, then came to the decision to just pick one and
ask the hope, when his danger sense stopped him. His eyes narrowed and
his hand went up to grip his umbrella. As he watched in weary wonder, a
strangely dressed girl floated down from the sky to stand before him.
The strange device she had on the side of her head beeped, and strange
symbols flashed one the eyepiece then came to a stop.
"250," she said, and smirked at him smugly. "Disappointing, but still
still it’s the highest I've seen yet."
"Who are you," Ryoga asked. Something about the girl before him felt
wrong, and his danger sense was screaming at him, though from the looks
of her he could not tell why. The girl smirked at him again.
"The question my friend is who are you," she said. She reached behind
her back and pulled out a small round device. "Let’s find out shall we."
She pressed a button on the device and Ryoga suddenly felt as if his
very blood was on fire. He gasped and felt a wave of dizziness sweep through him, and he fell to one knee. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared it was gone.
"Well, well, it looks like you were worth my time after all," she said.
Ryoga looked up at her slightly dazed. "I'm hear to offer you a
proposition."
"W-what did you do to me," Ryoga asked and got shakily back to his feet.
Something felt different, and his balance felt off slightly.
"I gave you back your birthright," the girl said. Having said that, the
brown "belt" around her waist unwound, revealing it to be a tail.
Ryoga gawked.
"Pardon me but did you know you had a tail," he said. The girl blinked
at him then narrowed her eyes.
"You're one to talk," she said. This time Ryoga blinked, and looked
down.
"What did you do to me!" he yelled as he saw that he now to had a brown
monkey-like tail.
"I told you I gave you back your birthright," she said. Ryoga looked
at her with panic filled eyes.
"You mean I was born a monkey?!" he shrieked. The girl didn't
facefault, but it was close.
"No you idiot," she yelled back, then took a few breaths to calm
herself.
"Look," she began again. "I've come to offer you a deal."
"Which is?" Ryoga asked, still sounding slightly frazzled. The woman
smirked and put her hands on her hips.
"Join me in conquering this weak world or die," she said tilting her
head to the side slightly as she did.
"I don't know who you are," Ryoga said getting into a ready stance. "Or
what you did to me. But I'm not doing anything to help you. Now undo
whatever it was you did."
"You think you can take me, weakling?" she laughed. "Go a head then, take your best shot or are you to afraid of this widdle girl?"
Ryoga frowned. He did not want to hurt the girl, but things had not
been going well for him today, and those last comments had proven to be the straw that broke the Habiki's back. The confidant, condescending
smirk she directed at him also matched the one he had seen smeared
across Ranma`s face far too often. With a cry, he leapt towards her, his
plan to tag her just hard enough to knock her out without really
hurting her. He was stunned when the girl easily caught he's hand. He
became slightly worried when he found he could not
free it.
"What the?!" he asked as he tried in vain to pull he's hand from the
girl's apparently casual grip.
"So that was the best you could do huh," the girl said smirking. "My
turn."
She lifted her other hand, and Ryoga's eyes widened as he saw a sphere of yellow energy form before it.
"Goodbye," the girl said. The energy blast caught Ryoga square in his
chest and sent him flying back into a large concrete wall with the
sound and force of a bomb detonating. The wall itself shattered, and
crumpled inward on top of the lost boy, sending up a cloud of dust into
the air. When it cleared, all that could be seen was a large pile of
jagged broken rocks with a single broken water pipe sending a geyser of
water into the air like a fountain in the center. The girl snorted and
checked her scouter. The boy's power reading was gone.
"Well that's one scratched off my list," she said and turned to where
the next reading was coming from. "Looks like most of the rest are
together and nearby. Lets hope they're smarter."
With that she leapt into the air and headed off. Had she cared to turn
and look, she would have saw a small, bruised and battered black piglet
crawl out from under the ruined wall, and, watching extremely carefully
as she flew, follow her from the ground.
Meanwhile, in another part of Nerima, a certain pigtailed martial
artist was convinced that he had stumbled into the 10th circle of Hell,
and if Nabiki Tendo was not Lucifer, then the King of Hell owed the
middle Tendo daughter enough cash that it was close enough to be a moot
point. The reason for this conviction came from two things, one that
his school was holding a dance at the end of the week. The second was
that Nabiki had sold tickets for dances for him. The result was not
pretty. Ranma was being chased by four irate females, three
brandishing tickets, the fourth a large wooden mallet. If that was not
bad enough, both Kuno and Mousse had shown up and had joined in the
chase. Somewhere around the Cat Cafe, Cologne and Happosai had also
joined in. Somehow the mob had managed to make their way back to the
Tendo home. Ranma now stood with his back pressed firmly against the
back wall, his fiancees in a half circle around him, and Mousse
and Kuno arguing not far away about which one of them was to defeat him
first. Cologne was sitting on the porch drinking tea and watching the
events unfold with some amusement. Next to her, also drinking tea sat
the fathers, tears in their eyes. Happosai had vanished just after
they had passed a lingerie store that was having it's grand opening in
the neighborhood.
"Can't we just talk about this," Ranma asked holding his hands up nervously.
"No talk," Shampoo responded.
"Right, sugar," Ukyo added, "all you have to say is which one of us
you're taking to the dance."
Ranma gulped.
"I, um, er, that is," Ranma stammered.
"Well?" Akane growled, gripping the handle of her mallet tighter.
"HOHOHOHO, I don't know why you three are bothering to ask when it is
obvious that my Ranma darling is going to choose me," Kodachi said.
This immediately turned all the girls' attention on her. Ranma said a
silent prayer and began to slowly inch away as they began bickering
amongst themselves. He had almost made it, when he suddenly stopped
and his head snapping up towards the sky.
"What the heck is that," he said. All the bickering stopped and
everyone turned towards him.
"You feel it too, eh, son-in-law," came Cologne's voice, the Amazon
elder having come up beside him. Her gaze was troubled as she looked
to the sky. "Whatever it is, it is coming this way. This does not
bode well."
On the porch, Soun and Genma were also gazing to the sky.
"I've never felt anything like this," Soun said.
"Neither have I Tendo," Genma responded.
"What should we do, Saotome?"
"What any martial artist in our position would do, Tendo."
"Go inside and hope not to get involved?"
"Exactly."
With that, the fathers retreated into the house.
Back outside.
"What are you two talking about," Akane asked walking up behind them and
looking at the sky. "I don't feel anything."
"Hiya, if grandmother say is something coming, then is something
coming," Shampoo piped in. She walked over to stand beside her
grandmother.
"If this is some foul plot designed to fool us into staying your
righteous demise then there shall be grave consequences." This came
from Kuno.
Ukyo opened her mouth have her to have her say, but instead her jaw
dropped and her eyes bulged.
"W-what is that?!" she asked raising a shaking hand to point to the
sky. As they all watched in shock, a figure descended from the sky and
landed on the wall. She stood smirking down at them, her arms crossed.
"Who are you," Ranma asked.
"My name is Peppria and I've been looking for you," the girl responded.
Ranma grimaced and cast a nervous glance to the fiancees. He gulped at
the storm he saw building. He looked quickly around for his pop, then
let out a quiet stream of curses when he found the old man nowhere
in sight.
"Listen, sugar," Ukyo said glaring up at the girl, and pulled the
spatula from off her back. "Ranma honey is taken. So be a good little
girl and go back to wherever you came from."
"Ranma belong Shampoo, no let silly hair girl take airen," the purple
haired Amazon declared, producing her bombari.
"What do you have to say for yourself, baka," Akane said glaring at
Ranma.
"Hey, I got no clue what's going on here," Ranma said. "It must be
something my pop did."
"Harlot," Kodachi said placing a black rose in her mouth and twirling
her ribbon in the air. "How dare you pursue my Ranma darling. I see
you need to be taught manners by your betters."
"I have no idea who this Ranma person is," Peppria responded. "I'm
here to offer those of you who prove worthy a choice."
"I brought some tea, would anyone like some," said Kasumi at this point
as she stepped out on the porch. She then spotted the strange girl on
the wall. "Oh my, Ranma have you made a new friend?"
Everyone sweatdropped slightly but said nothing to that.
"Look I don't know what you want, but if you came for I fight, I'm
telling ya now I don't hit girls," Ranma said.
"That's okay Ranchan," Ukyo said getting in a ready stance. "I got no
problem hitting her."
"Shampoo fight too," Shampoo agreed also getting in a ready stance.
"Careful," Cologne said squinting at the girl on the wall. "This girl
is more powerful than she appears."
"This common harridan is no threat to Kodachi the Black Rose," Kodachi
stated smirking, then let laughed her trademark laugh.
"Lets find out then," Peppria said, then produced a small ball like
device. Everyone tensed and readied themselves for what ever she was
planning. She pressed the button on the device and it let out a high
pitched buzz. For most of those gathered nothing happened. For three
there was an instant reaction though. Ukyo and Kasumi both let out a
scream and fell forward to curl up on the ground. Ranma let out a
pained yell and went to one knee. The others, save Cologne, let
out a cry and leapt at the girl. With a laugh, Peppria held up her
hand and a blast of energy hit her attackers. They all fell to the
ground unconscious, singed and slightly smoking. Meanwhile, Ranma,
Ukyo and Kasumi had recovered, with the two martial artists getting
slowly to their feet, and Kasumi sitting shakily on the ground staring
with wide eyes at the scene before her. Ranma immediately went over to
kneel beside Akane.
"What did you do," Ranma asked through clenched teeth. "And you're
going to pay for hurting my friends."
"Pathetic, not one of them had a power level worth mentioning." Peppria
said then looked at the four left standing and checked her scouter.
"30," she stated looking at Cologne.
"275," she said looking at Ranma.
"200," she said to Ukyo, then turned to Kasumi. "300. My that's the
highest I've read on this pitiful planet."
"What are you talking about," Ukyo snapped.
"I believe that device on her head allows her to read an opponent's
fighting power," Cologne said giving the young woman a hard gaze.
"Correct," the young woman said and leapt down off the wall.
"And what did that other device do to son-in-law and the others."
"I gave them back their birthright." Peppria said. "Their birthright as
saiyajin warriors."
"What are you babbling about," Ranma snapped. Peppria smiled and
uncoiled her tail.
Cologne's eyes widened and she looked from Ranma to Ukyo.
"Son in law," she said and pointed. "Look."
Ranma looked down over his shoulder and gaped. Ukyo did the same and
let out a loud squeal. Kasumi blinked, and did the same.
"Oh my," she said as she looked at the swishing brown tail protruding
from under her dress and then blushed. "How embarrassing."
"Embarrassing?!" Ukyo shrieked. "She's given us monkey tails!"
For emphasis she grabbed her brown tail and gave it a hard yank. That
proved to be a bad idea as she stiffened and fell over.
"Ukyo, you okay?" Ranma yelled.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Ukyo said sitting up slowly. "Whatever you two do,
don't pull on them."
"Their tails are the source of a saiyajin's true power," Peppria
said. "Now I offer you a choice, do what's in your blood and join me
in crushing this world, or die."
"Girl or not, I've had about enough of you," Ranma said standing up. He
found his balance slightly off because of the tail, but adjusted.
"I'm with you, Ranchan," Ukyo said getting back to her feet and holding
her spatula before her menacingly. Peppria crossed her arms and
smirked smugly.
"Have it your way," she said. Both the martial artists leapt forward,
only to have their target seemingly disappear.
"Wha?" Ranma began, only to have a fist impact his chest, followed by a
kick to the side of his head that sent him crashing in to the opposite
wall. Ukyo turned just in time to receive a knee to the gut that
doubled her over, and a double hand chop to the back that slammed her
to the ground. The female saiyajin smirked, then raised her hand to
catch a strike aimed at her from the Amazon elder’s staff. Peppria
turned to smirk into the startled eyes of Cologne. The scouter beeped.
"Well, well," the saiyajin said. "Hiding your true power eh? It is
impressive, for this world, but still not enough."
With that, she snapped Cologne's staff, then batted the old woman away.
With the way clear, Peppria turned her gaze to Kasumi, who sat staring
with terrified eyes. The saiyajin walked towards the scared young
woman.
"L-leave her alone," Ranma said as he managed to push himself up
slightly. "S-she's not a fighter."
"All saiyajins are fighters," Peppria responded. She stopped in front
of Kasumi and gazed down at the girl with a smirk on her face. Slowly
she reached down and lifted the girl up by the front of her dress.
Kasumi shrieked, which caused Peppria to chuckle. The chuckling was cut
off when Kasumi, born of some long suppressed instinct, lashed out with
her right hand and caught the armored saiyajin square on the jaw,
causing her to drop Kasumi and stumble back.
"Way ta go Kasumi," Ranma said.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry," Kasumi said. "I didn't mean to hit you."
"Hey don't apologize to her," Ranma yelled. Peppria rubbed her jaw and
looked hard at the eldest Tendo daughter. Without a word, she lashed
out and snatched Kasumi up and hit her hard enough to knock her out,
then threw her over her shoulder. With that done she turned to look at
Ranma.
"I'll give you one more chance to join me," she said. "I'll take this
one with me. If you want to see her again, then come to me."
With that the girl jumped into the air and flew away.
"Hey come back here," Ranma said managing finally to struggle to his
feet. Ukyo also moaned and pushed herself off the ground.
"Ranchan," she said weakly. "W-what happened."
"She took Kasumi," Ranma said. "I swear she's gonna pay for this."
A few moments later, everyone sat in the Tendo living room. Everyone,
save Nabiki and the parents looked much worse for wear. Mousse and the Kunos were still unconscious and had been taken upstairs to lay down.
Genma sat quietly, his arms folded and his eyes closed. Soun was
raving.
"Ranma how could you let her take my poor Kasumi," he yelled using the
dread demon head attack. Ranma eeped and backed away waving his arms
before him.
"Leave the boy be," Cologne said form where she sat, and bopped Soun on
the head canceling the attack. One of her arms was in a sling and the
old woman`s clothes were in dishevel. "This girl was far too powerful
for the son-in-law to stop."
Ranma grimaced in responded, then jerked and stiffened as Akane yanked
his tail. She had made a habit of that action since finding out the
effects it had on him.
"Stop doing that you uncute, macho tomboy," he snapped. This earned
him a cold glare from Akane, and another yank. Across from him, Ukyo
winched and covered her tail protectively.
"We have to get my sister back," Akane said. "What are we doing just
sitting here."
"My poor defenseless Kasumi," Soun wailed then burst into tears.
"We'll get her back Mr. Tendo," Ranma said. "She just caught me by
surprise this time, next time she's mine."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," came a familiar voice. They all
turned to see Ryoga standing at the door. He was wet, and the water
steamed slightly.
"Ryoga!" Akane said.
"Where you been, P-chan," Ranma growled. Ryoga, walked over and grabbed
Ranma up with a snarl and began to shake him.
"Damn you Ranma how could you let that psychopath hurt Akane and kidnap
Kasumi," the lost boy demanded.
"R-Ryoga, you have a tail too?" Akane asked, looking at the lost boy's
brown tail.
"Um, well you see, I," Ryoga began. He let go of Ranma and turned
towards Akane to and began to blush and rub the back of his head.
Ranma blinked a few times and grabbed Ryoga's tail tightly, causing the
lost boy to yelp in surprise and pain.
"Yup, it's real," Ranma said, giving it a jerk. He let go, however when
Akane's fist connected to his face.
"Baka, stop picking on poor Ryoga," she said. "Ryoga are you alright."
"I-I'm fine Akane," Ryoga responded.
"Stupid tomboy," Ranma murmured under his breath and rubbed his sore
cheek.
"Don't worry Akane, I swear I'll get your sister back," Ryoga said
standing up and striking a heroic pose.
"And just how do you plan to find her, bacon breath," Ranma said. "You
can't even find your way out of the house with out help."
"Shut up Ranma," Akane and Ryoga yelled at once. The pigtailed martial
artist threw up warding signs and backed away slightly.
"One thing I want to know is why some of you grew tails and why did
Kasumi grow one?" Nabiki asked. She had been watching the entire
incident from an upstairs window, and had even managed to get most of
it on tape. "And just what the heck is a saiyajin."
"Perhaps I may be of some assistance," came a polite voice. They all
jumped up and assumed ready stances. Standing just off the porch was a
strange man. He was old and wrinkled and green with two small antenna,
and held a large staff at his side.
"Kami?" Cologne said stepping forward. "What are you doing here?"
"Greetings Cologne, it is good to see you again," the old namek
said. "I have been watching this situation from above, and I believe
it is time for some explanations."
"Kami?" Ranma said incredulously. "You mean this is THE Kami?"
"Yes, I am the guardian of this planet," Kami stated turning to the
pigtailed martial artist. "Does my form surprise you?"
"Well, I just wasn't expecting someone so, well green." Ranma replied.
Kami smiled.
"I have watched some of your adventures, young Saotome," he said,
causing Ranma to rub the back of his head nervously.
"Hiya," Shampoo said in a awed voice. "How Great-grandmother know
Kami?"
"Many years ago Happosai and I helped him defeat a evil demon by the
name of Piccolo." Cologne replied. "We all became quite good friends."
"Th-the Master is friends with the Kami," Soun said turning to stare in
horror at Genma.
"No wonder we could never get rid of him," replied Genma.
"Sir, do you know where my sister was taken," Akane asked feeling
slightly awed herself. It was not everyday that you talked to the Kami
after all.
"Yes, yes I do," he responded. "But before I tell you there must be
other explanations."
"But my sister," Akane began but Kami raised his hand.
"The girl is safe for now," he assured her. "But I have a story to tell
first."
Kami took a deep breath.
"A few decades ago something came to this world, a ship. Something
happened to it in orbit causing it to explode, and for most of it to
crashed down into the ocean, not far off shore from this country, and
sank into the depths. I could sense a destructive evil on board that
ship, an evil that did not die with the crash but instead slept in its
watery tomb. Not all of it sank into the ocean, however. One section
crashed to Earth not to far from here. I went to investigate and found
five life pods containing five sleeping newborns. I could sense
something strange about the infants, but nothing destructive, and
nothing that I felt could link them to the evil I had felt. So I took
those babies, and I gave them to families that I knew desired children,
but were unable to have them, to raise. Those children became Toji
Kounji, Genma Saotome, Nodaka Shidou, Mitsuko Habiki, and Emi Natsume."
There was a collective gasp.
"My dad?" Ukyo said. "You mean I'm half alien?"
"I really am a monkey," Ryoga said and buried his head in his hands.
Ranma sat quietly. He looked to Genma, who nodded.
"Shidou was your mother's maiden name," he said.
"As for this Peppria girl, she was part of that destructive evil that I
felt," Kami continued. "I felt the stirring of it every so often, but
last night, I felt it awaken."
They digested that for a moment, then Nabiki spoke.
"Okay that explains Ryoga, Ranma, and Ukyo having tails like that
Peppria girl did, if they're part alien like she is, but what about
Kasumi?" She pointed out. "Why did she grow a tail."
Soun coughed and everyone turned to him.
"I suppose it is time you were told. Akane, Nabiki, before I married
your mother I had another wife." He held up his hands to forestall any
questions. "We were not married very long, and it was an arranged match. Her name was Emi Natsume. We divorced soon after our daughter,
Kasumi was born and she passed away not too long after that. When I
married your mother, it was for love, and she loved your sister from
the start, and raised her as her own."
"How could you keep something like that a secret?" Akane asked angrily.
"We thought it would be in your sister's best interest," Soun said. "A-
and it was your mother's last wish that she not know."
They all sat silently with their own thoughts. Outside in one of the koi in the pond lepted from the water and landed with a splash. Ranma
turned his gaze to the pond, then slowly stood.
"It don't matter if I'm an alien or not," he said. "I'm not going to
let her get away with what she did."
"For once Saotome, I agree with you," Ryoga said. He stood and faced
Ranma. They stood staring each other down for a moment, then Ranma
offered his hand. Ryoga looked slightly surprised, then grinned evilly
and took it.
"Count me in sugar," Ukyo said standing up.
"Shampoo fight," said the purple haired Amazon getting to her feet.
"Me too," Akane replied jumping up.
"No, you're all staying here," Ranma said. The girls instantly
protested.
"Ranma no leave Shampoo behind!"
"I'm going, sugar."
"She's my sister, you're not leaving me behind. I'm a martial artist
too."
"No this is too dangerous," Ranma said.
"Ranma's right," Ryoga said, then blinked. That was twice in one day
he had agreed with Ranma. He suddenly wondered if the world wasn't
coming to an end.
"The girl is more powerful than the two of you combined, son-in-law,"
Cologne observed. "You will need help. Besides, the kidnapped girl is
Akane's sister, Ukyo by her blood has a stake in this, and Shampoo will
need to stay by her Airen's side."
"Well first off, I'm not Shampoo's `Airen,'" Ranma pointed
out. "Secondly, Akane would just get in the way, and as for Ukyo..."
Ranma paused, not able to come up with a suitable reason to keep the
chef from coming. Ukyo smirked, while Shampoo's eyes narrowed, and
Akane seethed.
"Are you saying I'm not good enough!" Akane yelled, her battle aura
flaring. She swung at him, and Ranma easily dodged the blow, leaping
over Akane to poke the back of her head. Akane snarled and whipped
around trying to hit him again. Again Ranma easily dodged, and this
time poked her right between the eyes.
"You're dead, Akane," he said, his voice firm. Akane blinked as her
eyes crossed then her battle aura faded. She made one final swing at
him. He didn't dodge, but instead caught her fist.
"You can't even touch me and you want to fight Peppria?" he said.
"I'm a martial artist," She began, though her voice did not have the
usual heat, sounding more like a sob.
"Akane if you try to fight Peppria, she will kill you, and me and Ryoga
will die trying to save you."
"I can take care of myself," Akane said.
"Like you did just now?" Ranma asked. "Stop being so stubborn you
stupid tomboy. You`re way outclassed here."
Ryoga growled and took a step forward, but Cologne stopped him. He was
about to demand she step aside so he could take care of Ranma, but the
look the old woman shot him made him pause. He growled instead and
promised himself he'd take care of Saotome later.
"Let me go, Ranma," Akane snapped.
"No," was his response.
"She's my sister," Akane said pleadingly, her eyes beginning to tear up.
"I know, Akane, and I promise you I will bring her back."
Ranma then sighed and looked deep into Akane's eyes.
"Akane, I'm sorry about this."
Akane's eyes widened, then closed and her body slumped as Ranma hit a
pressure point on her neck knocking her out. He set her gently on the
floor, then stared down at her sadly. He turned reluctantly to Shampoo.
"Airen no trick Shampoo like that," Shampoo said taking up a slightly
defensive stance. She stared intently at Ranma, never noticing Ukyo
coming up behind her. There then was a loud clang as Ukyo's spatula
whapped Shampoo hard on the back of the head. The purple haired girl's
eyes rolled up and she crumpled to the floor. Everyone looked at Ukyo,
who shrugged.
"It saves time," she said putting her spatula away. "Lets get going."
"Right then," Kami said and motioned with his hand, and a flying carpet
floated down, piloted by what looked like a black genie. "Climb aboard
and we will follow after her."
"You know once upon a time I would have thought a flying carpet was insane," Nabiki said, she then turned to the three young saiyajins.
"I want my sister back," she said seriously. "Do it and all your debts
are cancelled."
Everyone looked shocked by that.
"We'll bring her back Nabiki," Ryoga assured her taking both her hands
in his.
"Yeah," Ranma agreed with a confident smirk. "Just don't let that macho
tomboy get in trouble if she wakes up before we get back."
"Ranma!" Ryoga yelled letting go of Nabiki's hands to punch Ranma in the
face. "How dare you say that about Akane!"
This earned Ryoga a spatulaing from Ukyo.
"Leave my Ranchan alone," she snapped.
Nabiki looked at them incredulously, then rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Everyone else just sweatdropped, except for Soun who began to wail
about his poor doomed daughter.
"If you children are finished its time to go," Cologne said. She was
sitting on the carpet. "Of course if you'd rather stay here then
rescue the Tendo girl that is your choice."
The three teenagers blushed, and looked slightly sheepish as they
climbed on to the carpet, which then lifted into the air and began to
speed off.
"Good luck you guys," Nabiki whispered as she watched them leave. "I
think you're going to need it...and please let Kasumi come out of this
okay."
1b: Choices and fights
Many miles away, Peppria came to a stop in a large field. She dropped
her captive on the ground and turned to look to the sky. Her scouter
bleeped and she smirked.
"Looks like they're taking the bait," she said looking down at the
unconscious Kasumi. Her smirk quickly turned to a scowl.
"How did a weakling like you manage to hit me," she said as she used her
foot to roll the girl on to her back. "Oh well, if the others don't
work out I can always beat you into shape."
She watched the girl's breathing for a moment then shook her head and
sighed.
"To think the mighty saiyajin race has been reduced to this. This has
been a real waste of my time."
She flopped down onto the ground beside Kasumi and put her hands under
her head to stare up at the sky.
"Its just not fair," She said. "My first real mission and I don't even
get to cause any real damage. I can't even take over this stupid world
until I've taken care of you and those other weaklings. Feh, like I
need them to conquer this stupid little world."
Peppria turned her head to look at Kasumi, and found that the girl had
curled into a ball on the soft grass and was sleeping soundly with a
peaceful, contented look on her face, and shuddered.
"It just isn't natural for a saiyajin to look like that," she said, then
turned back to look at the sky. "If that is what this planet does to
you I say we just destroy it."
She lay there quietly watching the clouds drift by. A few moments
passed in silence, then the girl beside her began to stir. With a
stretch, and a yawn, the girl sat up and looked around blinking.
"Oh my, w-where am I," Kasumi asked looking around. Peppria grinned
and got to her feet to tower over the girl.
"You!" Kasumi gasped in horror. Peppria smirked at the look of momentary
dread the girl's face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you so hard
earlier, I don't know what came over me, are you okay?"
"W-what?" Peppria asked as a sweatdrop formed on the side of her head.
"I just feel so terrible," Kasumi said. "I hope I didn't give you a
bruise."
"..." Peppria said as matching sweatdrop formed on the other side of her
head. "I don't think you understand just what's going on here. I
kidnapped you, and when your friends get here to save you, they will
either have to help me conquer this world or I will kill them."
Kasumi blinked at that, and Peppria was slightly mollified to see that
the girl looked somewhat afraid now. Peppria took a step towards the
girl, then stopped as her scouter beeped.
"They're here," she said and turned to face her visitors. She watched
as a flying carpet descended for the sky and shook her head.
"Can't even fly," she said and smirked. She looked towards Kami with
mild surprise.
"A namek?" She said. "I didn't think I'd find one of your kind here."
"I have no idea what you mean," Kami replied. Peppria laughed.
"Whatever you say old man, I'll deal with you later," she said then
turned to the other saiyajins. She looked at Ryoga and frowned.
"I thought I took care of you already," she said.
"I'm the one that's going to take care of you for hurting Akane," Ryoga
snarled and charged forward.
"Ryoga, wait!" Ranma shouted, but it was too late, the lost boy was
already committed. "That pig, he knows he can't take her one on one.
Come on Ukyo!"
So saying, he and Ukyo joined the fight. Not that it was much of a
contest. The three martial artists were good, perhaps among the best of
their generation, none of them, however were able to land a blow on the
female saiyajin. She dodged and danced around them contemptuously.
Kasumi watched it all in wide-eyed awe. She had not had the
opportunity to watch many of the fights that went on concerning her
sister’s fiance, but had secretly enjoyed those she had seen. Not that
she wanted to hurt anyone, but watching them she would always feel a
little regret at having abandoned her own training when she was young.
She blushed as she realized that she would very much like to have
joined them in this fight. Beside her Kami and Cologne stood also
watching the fight, though their faces were more grim.
After a fury of blows thrown by the trio failed to connect, the
combatants separated. Peppria still looked smug, while the three
Nerimains looked the worse for the exchanges.
"Th-this isn't working," Ukyo said between pants. "She's too fast."
"You three are pathetic," Peppria said. "A disgrace to a proud race."
"I'll show you a disgrace! No one turns Ryoga Habiki into a monkey and
gets away with it!" Ryoga snarled, and dropped into a crouching stance,
his arms crossed before his chest a sullen red aura began to
surround him.
"Whoa," Ranma said steeping away from the lost boy, as Ukyo did the
same. Peppria frowned and tapped her scouter. She frowned more as the
boys power reading began to climb.
"And just what are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm going to end this, and make you pay for what you did to Akane,"
Ryoga snarled as his body began to tremble. "Shi Shi Hokedan, revised,
Washing Your Troubles Away!"
Ryoga threw his arms forward, and for a moment a red lion's head
appeared, then it focused into a ball of red energy.
"Take this!" Ryoga shouted and the ball streaked forward and impacted
with the saiyajin warrior. The force of the blast knocked the three
martial artists, along with Kami, Kasumi, and Cologne off their feet,
and filled the air with dust and debris. Ranma got to his feet
coughing and look to Ryoga in shock.
"What the hell was that!?" he asked. Ryoga smirked.
"Oh just a little thing I came up with for our next fight," he
said. "Its a pity I had to use it now."
Ranma sweatdropped.
"You were going to use THAT on me?" he asked incredulously. "How did
you do that anyway."
Ryoga grinned.
"Now that is a secret," he said, causing Ranma to groan. Tears then
came to the lost boy's eye. "I defeated her, that means I'm the hero
not Ranma!"
He then began to laugh maniacally and did a little dance of joy.
Everyone stared at him and sweatdropped.
"A little early to be celebrating," came a voice from out of the dust
cloud. Everyone turned in shock.
"N-no way anyone could have survived that," Ryoga said numbly. As the
dust dissipated, however, Peppria was revealed, standing floating over
a crater, apparently none the worse for Ryoga's attack.
"No way," Ukyo murmured and let her spatula fall from her fingers.
Peppria merely smirked.
"Not bad," Peppria said. "I actually felt that. Why if you had caught
me off guard it might actually have hurt."
She chuckled at that and then cracked her knuckles.
"My turn," she said and vanished. Before they could react, she
reappeared behind Ukyo and gave the chef a kick to the back that sent
her flying, then charged Ryoga and toppled the lost boy with a punch
to the stomach. Before she could go after Ranma, however, the
pigtailed martial artist brought the fight to her with a quick kick to
the face. Momentarily catching her off guard, Ranma pressed his
advantage hitting her hard and fast with his chestnut fist. Peppria
grunted from the blows, and it appeared that Ranma had the advantage.
That was until Peppria caught his fist. With a snarl, she jerked
the boy forward and threw him with all her might. Ranma twisted in mid
air, and as he impacted on a nearby group of saplings, used their
flexibility to launch him back at Peppria.
"Well it worked with Pantyhose," he thought as all the kinetic energy
of the throw and rebound of the trees was added to his own strength.
The kick hit the girl square on the jaw, with a sound like the crack of
thunder. The force of the blow was like that of a bomb, and when the
dust settled. Peppria lay in a crater, with Ranma on his knees beside
her panting.
"I-I did it," Ranma said. "I beat her."
He painfully got to his feet and look to the others.
"G-good job Ranchan," Ukyo said. Ryoga merely scowled and rubbed one
hand protectively in front of his midsection.
"Oh my I hope she isn't hurt," Kasumi said covering her mouth with her
had. "Well not too much, a little would be okay."
Everyone turned to look at Kasumi, and she blushed slightly.
"I'm just glad its all over," Ranma said as he stepped out of the
crater.
"Oh its not over, yet, not by a long shot," came an angry voice behind
him. Ranma cringed and looked cautiously over his shoulder. He jumped
away and threw up warding signs as Peppria got slowly to her feet. Her
armor was cracked and a small amount of blood was present on her lip.
"That hurt," she said looking angrily at Ranma. "You are going to die."
"Oh boy," Ranma said backing away slowly. He then began to run as the
saiyajin lifted into the air and began to rain small ki blast at him.
"Think think think," Ranma said to himself. "You can't just keep
running forever."
He caught sight of Ryoga out the corner of his eye, and suddenly
skidded to a stop. He turned to face Peppria and dropped into a
defensive stance with a grin more cocky then normal on his face.
"Decided to take your fate like a man I see," Peppria said. Ranma's
grin wavered, then returned full force.
"Ah blow it out of your butt monkey girl," Ranma said.
The others all gasped.
"What is that moron doing?" Ryoga said.
"Ranchan don't make her any madder than she already is, you jackass!"
Ukyo shouted.
Peppria growled. She held her hands before her and formed a large ball
of energy.
"Die!" she shrieked and fired it at Ranma. The others screamed his
name, but Ranma ignored them, the smirk never leaving his face.
Seconds before the beam hit, he dropped into a strange stance, but
whatever it was he was attempted appeared to be a second to late. The
beam hit him and exploded, and when the smoke cleared, nothing was left
but a smoking hole in the ground. Peppria checked her scouter, and
finding no power reading for the boy smirked.
"That's one pest gone," she said.
"Ranma no," Ukyo said and fell to her knees as the tears streamed down.
Kasumi was also crying, and even Cologne's old eyes had a trace of mist
in them. Ryoga stood motionless starring at the hole where his rival
once stood, a thousand mixed emotions going through his head.
"Y-you bitch," Ukyo hissed and looked up at Peppria with hate filled
eyes. With a snarl she launched herself at the saiyajin, slashing at
her with her spatula in a beerier rage. For a moment, Peppria was
actually hard pressed to defend herself from the savagery of the
attack. She dodged her head to the side with only milliseconds to
spare from having it separated for her body and jumped into the air to
distance herself from the enraged girl. She felt something warm on her
cheek and put her hand up to find blood seeping from a cut. She glared
down at the chef. With a snarl she attacked. The fight was fast and
brutal, and though Ukyo made a good showing of herself, it was also
extremely one sided. In the end, Peppria caught Ukyo with a backhand
punch to the face that sent the girl flying into the tree line were she
impacted with a tree and shattered its trunk. She fell to the ground
and though her chest moved showing she had survived, she did not try to
stand again.
"Ranma, Ukyo," Ryoga said in a daze, looking from the hole that had
been his rival, to the girl's battered and beaten form.
"That was harder than I expected," Peppria said. She was sporting a few
minor cuts from Ukyo's attack, but was otherwise unharmed. Peppria
raised her hand and pointed it towards the downed chef. A glowing ball
began to form. "Better take care of her before she can cause anymore
problems."
"Say hello to your boyfriend in the next world," Peppria smirked. "And
when I'm done, I'll kill your friends here, then kill all those other
fools at that house."
She laughed to herself, then stopped as her scouter began to
beep. "What's this?"
She turned to the others and saw the girl she had kidnapped glowing and
staring hateful at her.
"No," Kasumi said quietly as everyone that knew her gazed at her in
shock. "no more, I won't let you hurt my friends or my family, I
won't, I WON'T!"
The last was shouted and suddenly Kasumi was suddenly bathed in flames.
"968?" Peppria read. "That's impossible where is this power coming
from! That's only slightly less than my own power."
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!" Kasumi screamed, then charged the suppressed
warrior. She landed a fury of sloppy, but powerful blows on the warrior
that forced her to her a knee. Kasumi reared back to deliver the last
blow, lost in the song of vengeance, anger and battle that sang in her
blood.
"D-don't hurt me," Peppria said looking up at Kasumi. Instantly the
haze left her eyes and she stared in horror at what she had done.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" Kasumi said. "I don't know what came over me."
"That's your saiyajin blood talking to you," Peppria said. "Its no
longer suppressed and now is coming up to the surface."
She held up her hand, as if asking Kasumi to help her stand, and with
out thinking, the girl took it.
"No Kasumi is a trick!" Ryoga shouted. This caused her to look in his
direction. Peppria smiled at her now distracted opponent and struck.
Kasumi looked back just in time to catch Peppria's fist in her face.
She flew a few feet in the air and came to a rolling stop not far from
Ukyo, unconscious.
"You monster," Ryoga yelled and started to charge her, he stopped
however as she raised her hand and aimed it at him, Cologne, and Kami.
"Bye-bye," she said as the ki ball began to form.
"Bye-bye yourself," came a voice from nowhere. Peppria suddenly jerked
as Ranma appeared behind her, clenching her tail tightly in his hands.
"B-but I killed you," Peppria gasped.
"Saotome School of martial arts final attack, Fast Break revised with
the Umisen-ken," he said with a smirk. "Don't believe everything you
see."
Ranma then turned to Ryoga.
"Ryoga man you have to blast us with that new move of yours while I got
her helpless," he said.
"But you.." Ryoga began.
"Forget about me P-chan," Ranma said. "Hey at least this way you get ta
live out your life's dream and be the hero."
Ryoga nodded and began gathering his energy. Peppria struggled in
escape, but Ranma had a firm grip on her.
"NO!" she shouted at the same instant Ryoga shouted out his attack. If
anything, this blast was more spectacular than the last, and when the
dust settled the crater formed was twice as large. In the center of
the crater lay Ranma and Peppria.
Ryoga, Kami, and Cologne all raced over to the fallen pair. Both were
still alive, but it was quite obvious that that was only a momentary
condition.
"Well porky you finally got me," Ranma said to Ryoga. Ryoga merely
looked down at what was he had viewed as his most hated enemy.
"I-I guess I did," he said in a hoarse voice, then looked away to hide
his tearing eyes. "Its just the dirt in the air" he told himself as he
wiped his eyes and tried to swallow the lump forming in his throat.
"Well son-in-law you always were a crazy one," Cologne said, not
hiding the tears forming. "It has been a true joy to know you."
"Ra-ranma," they all looked up to see Ukyo wobbling to them.
"Ucchan? You look like hell," Ranma said. Ukyo fell to her knees
beside him and took his hand.
"You don't look to good yourself Ranchan," she said. Ranma smirked,
then coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Well I guess that's it for me," he said. "Good-bye Ucchan, and take
care of Shampoo for me you old ghoul, and you watch out for that tomboy
for me porky."
Ranma Saotome, then closed his eyes and left this world. Ukyo
collapsed against him sobbing. Cologne also cried, while Ryoga looked
to the sky, fighting back tears.
"There is no need to be sad," Kami said to them. "He can be brought
back."
He sweatdropped as Ukyo was suddenly in his face, grasping him by the
front of his robe.
"What, how?" she asked. Then began shaking him when he only sweated
more.
"The Dragon balls," Cologne said. "Of course."
Ukyo stopped her shaking to stare down at the old woman.
"What are dragon balls?"
"Seven balls that when gathered together summon the eternal dragon to
grant a wish," Kami explained. Ukyo let go of Kami and he took a step
back in relief. Ukyo began to do a little dance of joy, then stopped
and collapsed as the excitement gave way again to her injuries.
"We're going to get Ranchan back," she croaked happily.
Suddenly a ragged laugh was heard. They all turned to where Peppria lay
watching them with a smug, victorious smile on her battered face.
"Thank you for that information," she said. "My friends were most
interested in learning that."
"What are you talking about?" Ryoga asked taking a step towards her.
Peppria laughed again, and the effort brought blood to her lips.
"These scouters do more than read an opponents power, they also act as
communicators," she said. "Everything that has happened here was seen
by my two friends. And they are most interested in gaining a wish."
"Who are these friends of yours, and where are they?" Cologne asked.
"They are saiyajin warriors, and at the moment they are busy with other
business," Peppria answered. She stopped as if listening and grinned
at them. "They're going to give you a year to prepare for their
coming, after all they don't want this to be too easy for them. You
see, my power is nothing compared to theirs. I was left behind here on
this miserable planet because I was the weakest."
"M-more powerful than you?" Ryoga asked. They all looked at each other
in silent dread as Peppria laughed.
"Enjoy your victory," Peppria taunted. "It won't last long."
And then she jerked to and spit a fountain of blood, then lay still.
"This changes things," Kami said. He looked at Ranma's still form and
waved his hand. "I must speak with someone. It is very important that
you do not use the dragon balls to bring Ranma back yet."
"What are you planning," Cologne asked, silencing Ukyo's protests.
"If what the girl said is true, then we are in grave danger and must
begin to prepare immediately." Kami said. "Go and assemble all those
fighters at my look out. They must begin their training. Time is of
the essence."
Cologne nodded.
"What about Ranma," Ukyo said. "We're going to need him too!"
"I will see if I can get Ranma some special training in the other
world," Kami said. "As harsh as it may sound, his dieing may actually
have been to our advantage."
Ukyo growled at that but said nothing.
"Speaking of special training," Cologne said looking over to the still
unconscious Tendo girl. "I wish to take that girl under my wing and see
what I can do."
Kami thought for a moment and nodded.
"So be it," He said and began to fade away. "I will met you at my look
out when I have finished my business with Ranma."
When he had gone, Cologne looked at the two ragged teenagers and sighed.
"Now for the hard part," she said. "Which of us is going to tell the
others that Ranma is dead, if only temporally."
Her only response was the howl of the wind.
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