Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy ❯ Chapter 02 ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

PATH OF CHAOS

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: "If the Pen is mightier than the Sword, then why the heck
did we invent the Sword then?! Stab everyone in the eye with a Pen
then!"

Author Notes: Some scenes are... well... hmmm... forget it.

======================================================================== ===
CHAPTER 2 - SECRETS, Senshi, AND A FAREWELL
======================================================================== ===

Ranma had just learned that he is not human at all. His birth
parents were in fact not Genma Saotome and Nodoka Masaki. Ranma's father
was a Saiyajin Elite from Vegeta-sei, while his mother is the goddess
Tokimi of Jurai. Tsunami, Tokimi's sister, for some reason wanted to
save her nephew against the evil that surrounded Tokimi, magically
severed Ranma's fertilized egg from Tokomi's cervix. Due to Tokimi's
imprisonment, her powers were greatly reduced, thus weakening her
magical barriers against such attacks. With the process of transfering
the conceived cell from Tokimi's womb to Yosho's daughter Nodoka, with
Nodoka's permission, Ranma grew up in Nodoka's womb. The goddess also
erased the memory of the transaction to save the trouble, but it would
seem that Ranma will never have a normal life. Coincidentally, this is
also what fanned the fires of the huge war between Tsunami and Tokimi.

Ranma just came back from his time trip to the future with
Trunks, and now he planned to spend a few days more with the Masaki's.
His somewhat cousin Tenchi has welcomed him.

Trunks slept in a futon that night in a spare bedroom in the
Masaki house. The full moon was shining outside the window. The futon
beside him was empty, which was for Ranma.

The boy in question was currently walking at the banks of the
nearby lake that circled a lone island in the middle, where a huge tree
grows. He gazed at the moon, thankful a bit for the weirdness in his
blood that changed him. If he were a normal Saiyajin, he may never enjoy
a walk like this under the pale moonlit night. He was enchanted by the
sight as the calm lake reflected the moon rays across the glassy
surface. In the peace of the night, Ranma finally decided to begin his
kata once again. The light illuminated the whole area in soft white, and
the sight of it with the great tree in the middle of it all was
breathtaking, so much that Ranma didn't feel the soft rustling of leaves
behind him.

Ayeka was taking one of her nightly walks in the meantime. She
still felt restless after her bath. The fact of knowing some secrets
tonight really taxed out on her energy. This is her time to unwind from
all the fuss. Her thoughts eventually turned to the young man, Ranma.
She just learned about him today, and a lot has been uncovered. Tokimi's
child... what a surprise for her. And also the fact that for some
reason, this young man attract her so. His ability to radiate innocence
is astounding. It was hard for her to believe that a good, naive person
like him could be an offspring of Jurai's worst enemy. She was going to
the lake again to cool off, but found out that someone else was there
first. She spied on Ranma as he leapt nimbly from one area to the next,
seemingly disappearing in short bursts of time that left her spellbound.
Even with partly awakened Juraian powers, which he wasn't using at all
right now, his speed was supernatural. Through Ayeka's purple eyes, she
watched as Ranma wove intricate patterns in the air, with rather soft
popping sonic booms that reverberated along the still air. She was even
more surprised when Ranma suddenly jumped high up in the air and hovered
there, completing the concluding steps of the dance he was improvising.

Ranma breathed in deeply as he felt the soft caress of the wind
while he floated high up above the lake shores. His current state of
mind was all for kata, and he was about to conclude it. As he was slowly
going out of the mental trance he locked himself into, he felt a strange
yet familiar power signature hiding out in one of the nearby bushes. He
smiled as he finally ended his kata and used his Instant Transmission,
he disappeared and reappeared right in front of the stunned Ayeka.

Smiling warmly while he offered his hand to the blushing girl,
Ranma said, "Hello, Princess Ayeka... what are you doing here?"

Still red from the embarrassment of being caught, Ayeka took
Ranma's hand and pulled herself up, stepping out of the bush she hid
herself in. "I'm just taking a walk..." she muttered.

Ranma snickered. "You enjoyed the show?"

Ayeka turned to Ranma and blushed deeply. "Y-you were
amazing..."

Ranma shrugged. "I've been trained to be the best... even
sacrificing everything unrelated to the Art. Now I know that it's bad to
concentrate on it too much."

Ayeka smiled nervously. "What do you mean by that?"

Ranma bowed low. "I'm Ranma Saotome, probably the best martial
artist in my generation. Though I think I could do more than this, so I
think I should concentrate on other things too, like studying and
stuff." he chuckled.

"Ahhh.." Ayeka said, bewildered.

"And now I find out a lot of secrets regarding who I really am."

Ayeka giggled. "I guess it is pretty hard on you, isn't it?"

Ranma nodded sagely. "Yep. I just found out why the heck I'm too
strong for my kind... Saiyajins, Juraians... even an unknown in my
blood... it's all too much ta get into, ya know? Finding out my father
wasn't Genma (thank Kami for that!) and my mom, Nodoka, wasn't my blood
mother. I'm a son of a Goddess for cryin' out loud!"

Ayeka sighed as she sat down. "It's a bit disconcerting at
first, but it's all for the best, isn't it? Or would you rather have not
learnt anything about your origins?"

"I know. But... to know that in my blood, two opposing races are
fused. There is still that other one... I wonder what it is. Also it's
weird, especially since Juraians hated Saiyajins..." Ranma said softly
as he looked towards nothing in particular.

"Ranma-sama..."

Ranma smiled softly. "It's okay. Saiyajins are brutal, rough,
uncouth (I heard this one from my mom), and uncivilized. Most people
said so..."

Ayeka found the ground rather interesting at this point.
"Including... me."

"I'm not saying that..."

Ayeka giggled humorlessly. "But it's true. We've been taught to
be civilized all our lives. We became somewhat aloof and too prideful
for our sakes. I finally began to understand why Yosho-niisan decided to
run away from it all. When I met you, a half saiyajin, I realized that I
may have been impartial in my judgement regarding the race. Probably,
not all of them are as uncivilized as what my teachers have taught me.
We were just afraid that the Saiyajins were the only ones that could
probably match our power... we were afraid of something we do not
understand. I'm sorry for being biased, Ranma-sama."

Ranma was taken aback by Ayeka's apology. The act itself, to his
knowledge, was hard to do, especially since the purple haired woman was
true blue royalty. Feeling honored, Ranma hesitantly patted Ayeka's shoulder and said, "It's alright, Princess Ayeka."

The princess leaned her head to his hand. "Seeing you now,
Saiyajins and Juraians could live together, despite their history.
Despite who you are, you showed me that both species are compatible. For
some reason, I am compelled to thank Tokimi-sama for it."

"I... that's true... thank you, Ayeka-chan..." Ranma smiled at
her warmly, eliciting a warmth that encompassed her entire body.

Ayeka's face moved closer to Ranma's. "Ranma-kun..." she said
softly, "There is going to be a lot of trouble in the near future. You
are going to be caught in the middle of a lot of wars and struggles,
between outer worlds and even between gods and goddesses. Your future is
as chaotic as you, Ranma..."

"I know..." Ranma's hot breath fanned her face, making her
shiver a bit, "Trouble seems to have a way of finding me no matter what.
But I could always manage..."

"Ranma..." Ayeka's lips brushed ever so lightly on Ranma's own.

"..." Ranma pulled back slowly and shook his head for a bit.
<What the hell made me do that?> he thought to himself, watching the
seemingly young girl in front of him smiled mischievously. Ranma
sputtered and managed to say, "I... I can't, Ayeka-chan. I'm kinda...
spoken for..."

Ayeka laughed softly, her eyes reflected mirth. "I think you are
forgetting something, Prince Ranma of Jurai. Eventhough you are not
Nodoka-san's blood son, technically you are still a prince, especially
since you are the connected of a goddess of Jurai, eventhough it was
from Tokimi."

Ranma tilted his head to one side, not having understood even a
little bit. "Aaaand... what does that have to do with anything?"

Ayeka giggled, a sound that Ranma started to like lately.
"Silly! Juraian princes can have multiple wives!"

Ranma's eyes grew into large saucers. "Wha-wha-wha-what?! Dang!
If the other girls finds out 'bout this, they're gonna chase me with
greater passion!"

"I... Ranma-sama..." <What am I doing? I have Tenchi, right?>

"..." <What the HELL? I don't need another girl running after
me! But still... arrgghhh!> Ranma gasped. Then suddenly sobered when he
realized something. "Hey! What about Tenchi? I thought you're gonna
marry him?"

"Maybe, maybe not..." Ayeka replied cryptically. After a moment
of looking into Ranma's eyes, she stood up and turned to the house. "You
better get some rest, Ranma-sama. Good-night, and thank you for a
wonderful night!"

Ranma stared after the retreating princess' back, and lifted his
hand to his mouth to touch the part where their lips made contact. For
some reason, Ayeka reminded him of Akane.

<Hmmm... Ranma-sama? Why the heck is she calling me that?>

=========================================================================== ==

Ranma's stay in the shrine added an obvious aura of excitement
among the individuals of the home. He also started sparring with Tenchi,
and foremost to his grandfather. Katsuhito proved to be a very reliable
teacher, and he enjoyed teaching his pseudo-grandson just as much as
Ranma enjoyed learning from him. He was still surprised as to how
quickly Ranma took into the Juraian sword techniques.

Ranma stood in front of the shrine in a battle stance. He looked
at his opponent carefully. Eventhough his grandfather is old, Ranma knew
that the old man still has the speed and ability to match him, well,
back when he was human. His grip on the wooden bokken in his hand
tightened a bit as he saw his grandfather's jaw tighten. Katsuhito is
getting ready to attack.

Likewise, Katsuhito is probing Ranma's defense for holes. He
found multitudes of them actually. But he knew that his grandson left
them there on purpose. His knowledge of Juraian swordplay as well as
hundreds of other styles that he practiced with Tenchi daily would have
to suffice. Compared to someone who was a prodigy when it came to
techniques, he would have to watch out if he decides to use his secret
techniques. He knew that Ranma is a genius when it comes to picking up
different techniques, and immediately incorporating them into his own
brand of style. The Anything Goes style has been heavily modified into
Ranma's own style. Katsuhito knew, that unknown to Ranma, his grandson
already invented a new School of Martial Arts.

Back to the battle, err, sparring session, Katsuhito finally
became impatient and launched a downward slash toward Ranma's head.
Ranma's bokken immediately parried the incoming wood. After averting the
strike, Ranma used his sword's momentum and thrust the wood towards
Katsuhito's open chest. The old man dodged and forced himself to
separate from Ranma, getting himself some space to think of another
stratagem to try out.

Ranma had another thing in mind though, as he picked up the pace
and became a blur. Katsuhito groaned and blurred as well, tried in vain
to match Ranma's slashes. Loud clacking sounds filled the area as the
bokkens clashed against one another. Ranma may not have all the skills
Katsuhito have, but his speed sufficed the skill difference he lacked.
It also didn't help the old man that Ranma was like a sponge, soaking up
information and was able to mimic and strengthen the skills Katsuhito
threw upon him. Ranma, on his end, tried to remain as human as possible.
Earlier when he was practicing alone, he discovered that his strength
was no longer mortal in measurement, especially since he had done sound
barrier breaking punches with his special armlets on. Those two special
weighted armlets, which weighed almost 5,000 pounds, were nothing to him
right now. And if he tried to use his inhuman speed while sparring he
could seriously hurt his grandfather, so right now he just let himself
be as human as possible.

They both separated once again, with Katsuhito breathing a bit
heavily while Ranma still remained fresh. Katsuhito slashed downwards
once again, expecting his grandson to block it. But to his astonishment,
Ranma smiled slightly and sidestepped, making him lose his balance and
overextending a bit. Before he could recover his stance to raise his
defense, Ranma already had his bokken placed near Katsuhito's neck.
Ranma's eyes are voicing their silent question to his grandfather, and
the old man nodded his acceptance of the sound defeat.

"You've *gasp* improved, Ranma..." Katsuhito panted a bit as he
winded down from the spar.

Ranma smiled at his grandfather. "Thanks, grandpa."

The old man nodded, and gazed back to the gaping Tenchi and the
others, who were still immobile in their states of shock. "You can close
your mouth now, Tenchi." Katsuhito mused as he smiled.

Multiple clacks of closing mouths were heard. Tenchi though
still had something to say, "Wha-wha-wha-what?! H-h-h-how?!"

Ranma shrugged. "Been training all my life."

Katsuhito straightened himself. "So, Ranma. You're going today,
right?"

"Yeah... thanks again for letting me stay here, grandpa,
everyone."

Sasami, her innocence back again, hopped to Ranma's side and
clutched at his arm, saying, "Awwwww! Ranma-niichan, can't you just stay
for breakfast at least?"

Ranma almost fell over at the force of Sasami's improvised arm
glomp. "Well..."

Sasami did something that made Ranma almost run away from fear.
Her eyes turned sparkly and enlarged themselves. Her mouth quivered as she
looked at Ranma, once again implored, "Pleeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeeeee?!"

Ranma buckled at that. <By the kami! The puppy dog eyes
technique...>

=========================================================================== ==

In Washuu's Subspace Pocket Laboratory...

The red haired scientist stretched her back gratefully as she
followed Sasami outside her lab. She was just called out for dinner,
which she would gladly partake. As of now, all her experiments could
hold out on their own.

As the door closed out upon her exit, three distinct beeps
sounded from a lit terminal. On the greenish computer screen, various
information had finally been retrieved from the blood sample Washuu
worked on for the past few days.

DNA STRUCTURE ANALYSIS COMPLETED. DISPLAYING RESULTS...

SUBJECT NUMBER: 889099881-1098385-109xx NAME: Saotome, Ranma
GENDER: Male/Female (Aquatranssexual) DNA BREAKDOWN: a. 34.1% -
Saiyajin b. 33.2% - Juraian c. 32.7% - Masu

TIME LAPSE SINCE LAST UPDATE: 11 years, 9 months, 4 days, 8
hours, 6 seconds UPDATING DATAFILES... CROSS-REFERENCING EARLIER
DATA... DATA DISPLAY ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

WELCOME BACK, LORD RANMA.

=========================================================================== ==

Tokyo Proper, Shopping District...

>BURP!<

"Auggghh... man! I ate plenty..." Ranma said as he patted his
belly. It has been hours since he and Trunks left the shrine. They now
walked along the main roads in downtown Tokyo, where they took in the
sights in front of them. They decided not to fly out, but to enjoy the
scenery while they were there.

Trunks groaned. "Remind me to empty my stomach the next time
Sasami cooks like that. So, where to now, Ranma?"

The pigtailed boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess we
should get going to my mom's house." he said after a while, "It would be
good to see her again..."

=========================================================================== ==

In Washuu's Lab, three hours after Ranma and Trunks left for
Nerima...

The diminuitive red haired scientist gingerly read the
information she gathered from her current pet project.

"Hmmm... 'welcome back'? Does that mean I already brought him
here before?" Washuu thought out loud, while still holding the printed
documents, "Yes, it would seem that way. So that's where the last sample
of Masu DNA I had before went..."

She scratched her head in confusion. "So this means we have a
Saiyajin-Juraian-Masu type hybrid that doesn't know what he's capable
of? Yeesh... what a horrid life this is..."

=========================================================================== ==

In Hikawa Shrine, Juuban Ward...

Eight girls were currently assembled and were chatting amongst
themselves as they waited for their compatriot. The group was called the
Sailor Senshi, and now they were transformed and battle-ready, because
of a warning that was sent by Sailor Pluto during their meeting last
night.

The term 'vigilantes' were used to describe them. Their
appearance years before was at first rocky at best. Their mission was
noble: to defeat the forces of the dark and build a utopia for mankind.
Their history span for many centuries, which started from the founding
of the Silver Millenium. The planets in the Solar System during that
time were able to sustain life, and were also able to be colonized.
Soon, a form of monarch government was set up, and the people among the
group of planets decided to name the Earth Moon as the center of their
government. The House of Serenity was born in this time.

The leaders of the said government were all women, for it was
said (according to the rumor) that only women were able to wield and use
the power of the Silver Crystal. So far so good, the reign of momentary
peace left the people content and happy.

But like most things, peace was never a permanent thing.

Evil wormed its way into the government, corrupting the princess
of the Earth named Beryl. Using her spurned love for the betrothed
Prince Endymion as a catalyst to intensify the hollow darkness within
the heart of the princess, an evil entity with the name Metallia filled
Beryl with hopelessness and despair. It was to which her feelings led to
anger and eventually, a need for revenge.

During a Royal Ball which was held occasionally inside the Moon
Palace, Beryl and her mustered forces converged and attacked, but not
before decimating the other planets' environmental generators, making
them inhabitable within hours. The attack by the evil caught the
Imperial Palace in surprise. They barely put up a defense against the
onslaught.

The Senshi made a valiant effort in repelling the waves of
Beryl's forces. But it was all in vain, and were brought down one by
one. Queen Serenity, in a rather ditched effort to let her daughter,
Princess Serenity, survive, used the power of the Silver Crystal. The
queen magically sent the souls of the fallen Senshi and the prince of
the Earth Endymion, as well as her daughter Serenity, far into the
future where they could live peacefully. Finally able to finish the
ritual, the queen used the last of her energies to magically imprison
Beryl and her forces in a dark dimension, with the entity Metallia.

In the future, rather in the current time where the Senshi were
reborn, Beryl also stirred from her imprisonment and mustered enough
energy to break free from her prison. The eventual need for the Senshi
were satisfied when the girls recovered a cheese-holed version of
their Silver Millenium history. Sailor Pluto, the Senshi of Time, was
the only one who survived the massacre of the Silver Millenium. Her
duties in the Gates of Time had forbidden her to interfere with what was
supposed to happen. After years of waiting, she finally revived the
Senshi and fought against the forces of the Negaverse and the rest of
the evil that were supposed to attack. Sailor Moon, the newly
reincarnated princess of the Moon, led the group.

Now, back to the darned story...

Tsukino Usagi, AKA Sailor Moon, was the reincarnated princess of
the Moon Kingdom, much to the dismay of her compatriots. Clumsy, had no
style, and a pathetic crybaby, Usagi was at the same time had a cheerful
personality that kinda sticks on you, and that extreme sorts of luck
that she possessed. Even with her faults, she would emerge from a battle
as the winner. She tended to radiate a 'Ditzy Blonde' aura. No doubt
about it. Usagi's weird relationship with her 'destined' husband,
Mamoru, was flakey at best. Their on and off relationship really sucked
beans, if you think about it. For the smallest of reasons, they break
up.

Ahem.

Mizuno Ami, AKA Sailor Mercury, was the Senshi's most
intelligent group member. Armed with her trusty Mercury Computer, she
usually devised the tactics the Senshi used during their battles. She
scanned for various strengths and weaknesses of their enemies.

Kino Makoto, AKA Sailor Jupiter, was one of the major
powerhouses of the group. Her arsenal of devastating attacks are her
assets, couple that with her martial arts skill. Boy-crazy and usually
seen with Minako, she usually pines for her 'old boyfriend/sempai'.

Aino Minako, AKA Sailor Venus, had the power of... love. Yes,
that's right! Love! She came from England, where she posed as a fake
Sailor Moon to divert some of their enemies' attentions from the real
princess. Usually seen with Makoto, they wore the same boy-crazy title
upon their belts.

Hino Rei, AKA Sailor Mars, was a fiery thoroughbred. Her home
planet matches her temper so well. She gets angry at small things,
especially if that concerns Usagi. During their meetings, she's usually
seen chasing Usagi, either because of food or manga. Take your pick.

Tenou Haruka, AKA Sailor Uranus, was the self proclaimed tomboy
of the group. Together with Makoto, they made up a great martial arts
duo. Rumors have it that her tomboy image was induced by a scorned love.
Currently, she was involved with Michiru. She loves to play the piano
and race cars, apparently.

Kaiou Michiru, AKA Sailor Neptune, was a demure and pretty aloof
person. Her relationship with Haruka doesn't mean that she's a tomboy
too (if you don't believe me, watch the whole SM show and watch her body
languange carefully). She took custody of Hotaru as the child's mother,
and Haruka as a father figure.

Tomoe Hotaru, AKA Sailor Saturn, had a weak constitution due to
her former father's experiments on her body. She hosted the demoness
Mistress 9 but was eventually driven out. Her powers awoke at this time
too, but she ended up having to use her final move. This massive power
drain caused her body to revert back to infancy. Though in the care of
the other three outer Senshi, her growth spurts were earlier. She grew
into a fifteen-year-old in a matter of months.

Meiou Setsuna, AKA Sailor Pluto, was the most enigmatic of all
the Senshi. Her priority was her duty to protect the Gates of Time. Her
memories of the Silver Millenium were intact, for she was in the Gates
during the downfall of the Kingdom. Her knowledge was the best weapon
she had.

And now, according to her, the greatest threat in existence is
approaching, fast.

Another powerful threat to the Crystal Tokyo was emminent, and
they needed all their powers to defeat the enemy. Their talking ended
when a swirling black portal appeared just outside the door of the
shrine. The Senshi immediately stood ready and watched as Sailor Pluto
slowly emerged from the portal. They took note of the serious and grim
expression on her face.

"They're coming..." Sailor Pluto said simply.

Sailor Mercury opened her computer when beeps started to sound
from her dimensional pocket. She typed with it for a few moments and
nodded. "Two large energy sources are currently detected within the
perimeter of Juuban. They are moving at a slow but steady pace. In a few
minutes, they will pass by at the front of the shrine in three minutes."

"This is gonna be easier than I thought!" Sailor Uranus snorted.

"Don't be too sure..." Sailor Mercury reprimanded the blonde
Senshi, "Their power levels are way higher than ours."

"Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!" Sailor Moon wailed loudly, "I thought
Sailor Galaxia will be the last? Why is this happening again?"

Everyone turned to Sailor Pluto, who was looking more serious
than normal. "My god... I could feel their powers even from here!"

"They're going to pass by the street in about a minute and a
half, let's go outside now!" Mercury reminded them. They looked at each
other and nodded. They quickly ushered themselves out and stopped at the
middle part of the shrine steps, waiting for their quarry.

The current greatest threat in the world according to Sailor
Pluto was leisurely walking along, with his companion by his side. He
suddenly felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise and tingle. He
shuddered, looking from side to side quickly as he walked along. His
pigtail was sticking upwards in warning, telling him that big trouble is
around the corner.

His companion noticed the apprehension coming from his friend.
Without looking back, he said, "Hey, Ranma! What's eating you?"

Ranma gulped and shook his head, not that it would mean anything
because his friend wasn't looking at him in the first place. "I didn't
change much into a girl lately Trunks... I just know something bad is
gonna happen soon, that's all."

Trunks rolled his eyes as he continued walking. "So? You really
are paranoid you know. Nothing's going to happen."

"Don't say that!!!"

Too late, because as of this moment, they already transversed in
front of a shrine, where the Soldiers for Love and Justice (kami, that
name really irks me, and for some reason, it reminds me of Akazukin
Cha-cha) waited for the ambush.

At this instant, the two groups finally met up with each other.

To the surprise of the Sailor Senshi, the lead attack was from
someone they least expected it to come from... meaning, Sailor Pluto.

"Dead Scream."

The pigtailed multi-bred alien felt a huge power barreling
straight towards their position. He immediately looked to his right and
saw a dark red ball of energy coming to him. He called out a warning
to Trunks, who already took to the sky, and jumped to the side. The ball
impacted on the pavement and exploded, spreading dust and debris all
over the area Ranma was in a while ago.

Sailor Pluto lowered her staff and yelled a battlecry and sped
forward. She quickly launched herself to the momentarily stunned target.

Ranma quickly picked himself up from the ground he dove into and
felt his tail go free. He sighed and muttered, "Always have to remember
to use the special sash Washuu-chan invented for me to cover my tail up.
Normal cloth just don't agree with me!" His attention focused on the
short skirted woman that was beelining towards him waving a huge
key-like staff about. He dodged frantically as he was caught flatfooted
against the attack.

<Great, now I'm being attacked by a girl in fuku...> he thought. <Well, an
attack is an attack. For reasons I can't possibly understand, I feel this
is one big misunderstanding. But, I should defend myself...>

The rest of the Senshi on the other hand were still too busy
staring at the floating purple haired boy who hung in the air. He was
currently scratching that brown belt of his, which was confusing for the
Senshi. They were about to comment on it when another explosion rocked
the ground. Their gazes switched to the dodging pigtailed young man as
Sailor Pluto stubbornly tried to pummel him with her staff. Suddenly,
the male jumped up to the air. That was the time they noticed the red
appendage that dangled between his legs.

<A tail?!> was the simultaneous thoughts of all the girls except
Pluto, who was still throwing red globes of energy to the young man.

Ranma propelled himself in the air as he skirted over the
menacing attacks. When the green haired Senshi stopped to catch a
breather, Ranma quickly gathered some ki into his hands to blast a small
ki ball, enough to incapacitate the woman.

Pluto felt the energy gathering and launched another red globe
to Ranma's direction, smirking because she knew that while gathering
energy, the young man could not dodge lest he loses concentration.

Imagine Pluto and the rest of the Senshi's surprise when the
ball was casually backhanded by Ranma and watched it as the Plutonian
energy just dissipated in the air. The pseudo-alien took advantage of
his opponent's shock and launched his ki ball towards the ground close
to the Senshi.

Pluto didn't have time to get out of the way as the golden ball
of energy landed unto the ground on her right, creating an explosion big
enough to make her lose her balance. She fell on her rump
unceremoniously, her visage still in a state of shock when she learned
her attack being batted away that easily.

Before any of them could attack, Ranma landed lightly on the
ground followed by Trunks and raised his hands in the air. "Can we talk
peacefully now?"

"You bastard!" an irritated Uranus practically screamed.
Actually, she had felt a slight hesitation on her part to attack the
pigtailed martial artist. Nevertheless, a threat is a threat. She jumped
high in the air with his fist clenched and thrown into a punch, directly
towards the nearest enemy in her sights.

It was Trunks. Much to his chargrin, the purple haired half-Saiyajin
decided to join the fray, not that he really wanted to.

The purple haired half saiyajin sighed and caught the blonde
Senshi's fist, much to her irritation. Still held fast on her hand,
Trunks lifted the tall Senshi off her feet and pushed her back and made
her land beside the shell-shocked Pluto.

"Uranus!" two of the Senshi, one with long moss green hair and
another with shoulder-lengthed purple hair shouted simultaneously.

"Could we just please settle down for a moment? What the hell is
wrong with you people, attacking just like that huh?!" Ranma shouted at
the Senshi. It's bad enough to be attacked by women, but short skirted
fuku clad girls?

Pluto finally got her bearings back and lifted herself up,
glaring at the two boys angrily. "You are a threat to Crystal Tokyo!"

Ranma adopted a befuddled look. "Crystal Tokyo? Am I in the
wrong universe again?"

Trunks shook his head. "Don't think so. Besides, you just met
with your grandfather didn't you?"

"I've seen you in the Time Gates..." Pluto continued, hefting
her staff with her hands, "Crystal Tokyo wavered after you appeared, and
the future branched out into millions of paths!"

Ranma groaned. "Lemme get this straight, you think I'm a threat
'coz the future you envisioned will not come true." Seeing the Senshi
nod their heads, he continued, "So, because we appeared and your future
is ruined, you set out to destroy us, and that makes us enemies, right?"
Another nod. "Hmmm... the future is never set in stone right? And
besides, now that you attacked us, we really feel like your enemies now,
and we don't like you anymore, but can you blame us?"

"But you are a threat to the future..." Sailor Pluto tried to
point out.

"What gives you the right to judge who lives and who dies? Who
even gave you the right to destroy anyone just because you assume that
they are the cause of the destruction of your so-called future?" Ranma
blared angrily. "What if your future disappeared because you just killed
the one who will help you build it, and that you were fated to make the
mistake, that's why the Time thingie you said showed that to you?"

The Senshi's protests died down at this point. For one thing,
the red tailed guy was right in his assumptions, and they had just
attacked another potential innocent.

Ranma wasn't finished though, "Do you have any idea how close
you all are to dying? If I really went on and became serious into
fighting you, you'd all end up dead, even six feet under, literally!"

Uranus snorted at this. "Yeah? What makes you so sure? You're
just a human!" At the same time for some reason, she felt some
familiarity with the young man. She was not alone in this assessment.
The way the boy moved... it reminded her of... him. The one she had
sworn her womanhood off to.

Sailor Neptune was staring intently at the boy, as if trying to
remember something about him. Like fate, her thoughts were parallel to
those with the blonde Senshi's.

Ranma and Trunks looked at one another and laughed out loud.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Trunks rolled over the ground.

"HUMAN?!" Ranma gasped out, "Aw heck I'm not gonna keep it a
secret anyway. For your info, I'm half Saiyajin, half Juraian, and some
other specie I don't even know about!"

>CLANG!<

The Senshi were about to ask him for more info when they heard a
loud clanging noise. They all turned to Pluto, who was immobile at her
position.

"Pluto, are you okay? What's a Saiyajin? And a Juraian?" Sailor
Moon asked the Time Senshi.

The green haired woman slowly turned to her princess, her
expression still frozen in shock. "S-saiyajins... are c-considered to be
the... m-most powerful warriors in the universe... even the Masu are a
bit unnerved of them..." The Senshi gawked at that. "J-juraians... my
god... you're Juraian too?!"

Trunks snickered. "He's Saiyajin-Juraian-Something Else. I'm
half Saiyajin and half human, though."

"So what?!" Uranus snorted as she brandished her Space Sword
once again, cleaving the air menacingly.

"STOP!" Pluto ordered pointedly to Uranus, making the blonde
Senshi gasp. "You cannot hurt them!"

"Got that right..." Trunks muttered irritably.

Pluto ignored Uranus' glare behind her back and faced Ranma. "Do
you really have Juraian blood in you?"

Ranma sighed. "My grandpa, Yosho, told me earlier this week.
After I got transported to another time by accident, my powers
reawakened for some reason. I was tested by a friend in that world and
she told me that I wasn't even human. Saiyajin, Juraian, and one other
specie that she couldn't identify."

"Yosho? You're Yosho's grandchild?" Pluto asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

The green haired Senshi spooled her outward face, but inwardly
she was still shivering at the thought. She said out loud, "We're
sorry... for attacking you without thought. We were... uptight... these
days."

Ranma waved his hands dismissively. "Nah. Forget about it. You
wouldn't hurt me or Trunks anyway. Now if you'll excuse us, we still
have to reach Nerima before sundown."

Pluto nodded her head. "As you wish."

Ranma and Trunks shrugged and continued on walking, their hands
in their pockets as they chatted animately with each other. Ranma's red
tail hung loosely down between his legs. They acted like nothing
happened at all, which unnerved some of the Senshi.

Uranus fumed as she watched the two 'aliens' walked leisurely
away from them. She gripped her sword angrily and prepared to give chase
when Pluto's voice rang out in the air, "Don't even think about it,
Haruka."

"Setsuna." The blonde Senshi's voice dripped with venom, "Why
the hell did you let those two monsters walk?! Are you actually afraid
of them? You coward!"

>SLAP<

The other Senshi took a nervous step back as they watched Pluto
pull her hand back to her side, coldly staring down Uranus. The other
Senshi was caressing the reddening side of her face, with eyes full of
curiosity and loathe at the one who hit her.

"If you go after them..." Pluto began, "You might... no... you
-WILL- not live to see tomorrow."

"S-setsuna-mama..." Saturn shakily asked, "Who are they?"

Pluto sighed loudly. "I have yet to make certain of his claim,
but if he really is a Juraian, it would be a grave mistake to attack
him. Unless you want a whole fleet of Juraian warships against you."

Sailor Mars stepped up, irritation showing in her face.
"Juraians? You keep saying that and still didn't explain!"

Pluto's red eyes suddenly snapped their attantion towards the
raven-haired Senshi, which made her a bit nervous. She finally spoke,
"The Silver Millenium didn't appear on its own, you know. The Juraians
are, what we call, aliens from another galaxy. They were allies of the
Moon Kingdom. Some of the kingdom's technology came from the Juraians.
But for some reason, ties between the Moon Kingdom and the Juraian
royalty faltered after some hundreds of years down on the line,
deteriorating up to the point where they fell only in friendly terms. They
are still friendly to each other, but they are not exactly allies
anymore."

"They must've done something to upset Queen Serenity then."
Jupiter added.

"That, I do not know. For one thing, Juraians are naturally
powerful people, politically and in some aspects, in battle as well."

"What about the Saiyajins?" Sailor Moon asked.

Pluto suppressed a shudder. "Saiyajins were practically born and
bred for battle. Their species strived for thrill in fighting. They were
superior when they fight in physical combat. Physically, they were
possibly the strongest fighters in the universe. They second to Juraians
when it comes to internal energies as well. They were ruthlessly savage,
and were called planet destroyers in some parts."

"P-planet destroyers, Setsuna-mama?" Saturn squeaked.

"Oh yes." Pluto nodded, "They were enlisted under a tyrant named
Freeza. One of their offspring was sent across space via a capsule to a
planet. One saiyajin was enough to destroy one world."

"Then, what are we standing here for? Let's go kill those
bastards!" Uranus shouted in exhasperation.

Pluto glared at Uranus. "Three reasons. One, their aura is not
of a normal savage saiyajin. Those two have peaceful aura, but not less
powerful. Two, we can't even scratch them. How do you suggest we go do
this? Third, if Ranma is really Yosho's grandson, then that will make
him the crown prince of Jurai, a royalty of a far more powerful
government. As I said before, unless you want a whole armada of Juraian
warships gunning after you, go ahead and piss him off. But that's
unlikely, because I know he can take all of us down with only his pinky
finger."

Their conversation was interrupted when a nearby glass window
panel shimmered. A young woman with long brown hair and tattoos on her
face emerged from the said window. Her face was kind and she was smiling
faintly at them.

"Oh noooo!" Sailor Moon wailed once again, "What is it this
time?"

"Excuse me..." The long brown haired girl said hesitantly, "Have
you by any chance, came upon someone who is this tall, has a really good
looking body, the most wonderful blue-gray eyes, his firm... ahem!
Anwyay, did he come by here?"

"Yes..." Sailor Pluto said slowly, "In fact, you just missed
him. He went that way."

The woman looked at the direction Pluto pointed her at. She
smiled at them and bowed, saying, "Why thank you, Sailor Pluto."

Sailor Pluto adopted a fighting stance. "Who are you? What are
you? How did you come out of that mirror? Why were you looking for that
boy?"

The woman's hand immediately went to her mouth as she giggled in
embarassment. "Oh my, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Belldandy. I'm
the Goddess of the Present. The mirror is my mode of transport, and as
to why I search for the young man, I just need to confirm his well being
before I go back in Heaven."

"Goddess? Who believes in that cra--" Whatever Uranus was about
to say derailed when she and the rest of the Senshi watched as Pluto
immediately dropped to one knee and addressed the woman.

"Megami! Forgive me Belldandy-sama! I haven't recognized you..."
Pluto said down on the ground, her head bowed down.

"A true goddess?" Jupiter felt awed.

Belldandy placed her hand on Pluto's shoulder. "Please get up,
Senshi of Pluto. Since you last seen the one I'm looking for, can you
tell me if he's alright?"

Pluto slowly stood up and nodded. "Hai, Belldandy-sama. Please
tell me, what is so important about that person?"

Belldandy chewed her lowed lip as she replied, "Well... he is of
great importance I think, because Kami-sama Himself took note of the
young man's progress. But beware though, his aura is of pure chaos, and
trying to view him in you Gates of Time will devastate you. Rest
assured, that he will not be a threat to you. In fact, he may help you."

Pluto bowed. "I understand, Belldandy-sama."

Belldandy smiled sunnily as she turned to the mirror. The mirror
glowed soft white as she stepped through. But before the light
diminished, a voice was heard from the mirror. Her visage was still
visible from the surface. "Please don't fight with Saotome Ranma."

"RANMA?!"

Pluto was startled as she turned back to the Senshi. The others'
gazes were trained on Uranus and Neptune, who were looking at each other
in confusion.

"You know Ranma?!" Uranus asked her partner urgently.

Neptune glared at her. "How did you come to know him?"

Then they said together, "He was my boyfriend!"

"WWWWWHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT?????!!!!!!"

Further questions were put on hold when screams were heard from
the direction Ranma and his companion had just trekked. The Senshi
looked at one another and nodded in unison. They turned to the direction
the shouts of terror came from and ran towards it, leaving a confused
Belldandy.

"Oh well..." Belldandy shrugged elegantly, "I guess I should
return then." And with that, the serene girl's reflection slowly faded
away from the mirror's surface.

=========================================================================== ==

>ATCHOOOOOO!!!<

"Ranma..." Trunks winced at his friend, "That's the twentieth
sneeze you had since we left those girls..."

>SNIFF<

"Don't I know it..." Ranma muttered to himself as he wiped his
nose with a tissue vigorously, "I could've sworn someone was talking
about me..."

Suddenly, their musings were cut short when a loud roar erupted
in the middle of a shopping mall they were passing through. A huge
explosion followed, showering the area with dust and dirt as the people
ran around screaming unintelligently all over the place. Ranma and
Trunks remain rooted to their position as they waited for anything
possible, but hoping that for once they would be ignored.

Alas... some kami thought it would be fun to watch a group of
Youma getting thrashed today.

The dust settled down and exposed five hideous looking monsters,
their clawed hands held some glowing crystalline-like rocks. They were
also surrounded by people who collapsed for some reason.

Trunks looked at Ranma, who sighed loudly. "Yeah, I know..."
Ranma muttered darkly, answering his companion's silent question, "Let's
go destroy those... ewww... yucky things."

=========================================================================== ==

Ah, yes. The youma were currently enjoying themselves. Humans
cringing and crying their souls out here and there, heart crystals
galore everywhere! Really, for these creatures, it was heaven. But let's
not be biased in our description for them. The youma strive on energy
based on living souls, so they needed it badly. It was really not their
fault anyway, since their former forms back then during the Silver
Millenium wasn't like this at all. They didn't have this craving for
soul energy back before. It was when they were trapped in that dark
dimension with their mistress, Beryl, that they lost an important part
of them. In the end they mutated.

Beryl was a former princess in the House of the Earth. No one
really knows why she went against the Moon Kingdom. Some rumors claimed
that she was jealous of the Princess Serenity - Prince Endymion
engagement. Some said that it was the demon Metallia that brainwashed
her. While a limited others claimed that she saw the evil of the Silver
Millenium, a magical kingdom where mind control was integrated to purge
all evil from the hearts of the loyal subjects.

Well, no one really knows, really.

Okay, back to those youma, they were now about to depart the
Earth realm to report back to their mistress. Their mission has been a
success, having gathered a lot of heart crystals in just one go. As one
of the youma was about to summon the portal, a scream of pain was heard
from one of them. Turning to the source of that sound, the other four
youma saw their fifth companion clutching at its head, after being hit
by something. They looked around until they spied upon two individuals,
who were hefting some rather large rocks on their hands.

"Hey you ugly... things! Whatever! Leave 'em alone!" The
pigtailed 'human' was shouting in their direction.

"Yeah! What he said!" The purple haired one added.

<How dare they!> The group of youma thought as one.

"STOP! THE MALL IS FOR THOSE WHO WANTED TO ENJOY SHOPPING! IN
THE NAME OF THE MOON, I WILL PUNISH YOU!"

Ranma and Trunks sweatdropped. Ah yes, the Sailor Senshi have
arrived.

Everything degraded at this point.

The youma turned to the two teenaged boys, totally ignoring the
presence of the Sailor Senshi. It would seem that they wanted to take
the heart crystals of the said individuals. They poised themselves and
lunged for the kill.

The Senshi saw the group of youma ignore them completely and
turned to attack the two boys they met earlier. They were about to jump
in the way to help when Sailor Pluto motioned them to stay still. This
caused some of the Senshi to react angrily, particularly, the Outers and
Sailor Mars.

"Why did you stop us?!" Sailor Mars glared at the green haired
Senshi. Behind her, Uranus and Neptune nodded their heads simultaneously
while they eyed Pluto with suspicion.

"I want to see how they fare in battle. If what I have seen and
heard are true, then they wouldn't have any trouble in this fight."
Sailor Pluto said simply.

The Senshi in question stood down and just laid back in watching
the youma attack the two boys.

In the battle, Ranma was getting really bored. Aside from their
truly grotesque figures, the monsters were really no match to begin
with. What irritated him was that these same monsters took something out
of the humans that were scattered all over the place that caused them to
collapse. He felt no ki around him, aside from Trunks, the youma, their
cargo and of course, the Senshi. He dodged and weaved sideways and under
the barrage of claws and slimey hands that came towards him. He took
note that three of the five were now ganging up on him.

At the other end of the pathway, Trunks was in a similar state
of dismay. The things were only ugly... that's it. Sure, the monsters
had strength capable of destroying the pavement that they managed to tag
while he dodged, but it wouldn't matter to someone like him anyway. And
what's with those girls with skirts anyway? He could see their underwear
from here! He blushed at the implication and renewed his efforts to
dodge the annoying enormous monsters first. He had to think of other
things to avoid even giving thought about those skirts.

Suddenly, the monsters attacking Ranma had taken another
strategy. One of them broke off from the attack and stood a bit further
away from the group, charging up something with its hands. Ranma grinned
slightly. He was impressed that such overly stupid looking creatures
would think of something like this.

With a roar, the monster released the glowing green ball that it
accumulated and reared it towards Ranma's direction. The two monsters
attacking Ranma dodged to their sides at the last moment that allowed
Ranma to see the menacing ball of magic aimed at him. The pigtailed boy
frowned and casually backhanded the lame attack, hitting one of the
monsters that attacked him accidentally. With a loud high pitching wail,
the said monster disappeared in a whirlwind of dust. Ranma turned his
attention to the two remaining monsters, who eyed him with caution.

Ranma smiled cheerfully. "One down, two to go!"

Trunks drove a fist into the youma's face, contorting it into a
very uncomfortable figure. The black scaly monster backed off
momentarily, allowing Trunks to close in and deliver three fast kicks to
its side. He dodged to his right and watched as the clawed hand of the
second monster make its way into the other youma's unprotected chest.
The stunned youma could only scream as it felt its teammate's own hand
burrowed into his chest. The youma crumbled into dust. Trunks saw a
moment of hesitation in the part of the last youma and pressed his
advantage. He delivered a powerful snap kick to its neck, severing its
head as if it was made of clay. The youma didn't have time to scream as
it dissolved into dust.

The Senshi just stood there in shock as they watched how
efficient these two warriors were in dispatching their enemies. Pluto
actually looked quite thoughtful when she gazed on Ranma, which didn't
escape Uranus' and Neptune's attention. They ineffectively glared at the
green haired Senshi's back, and fumed at the sudden complications that
have arisen. Uranus and Neptune haven't even talked about their own
problems about who gets Ranma yet, and now another one joined the fray?
Their attention went back to the battle when they heard Trunks'
irritated remark.

"Will you just stop playing around, Ranma?!" Trunks crossed his
arms across his chest and leaned against a crumbled wall as he absently
watched the battle.

Ranma leapt back from his dodging and sighed. "Alright... you
never let me have some fun." Ranma's face grew serious and blurred. One
moment he was just standing some thirty feet away from the two remaining
youma, the next was he was standing from a low crouch just behind the
paralyzed youma. He stood up and clapped his hands together to remove
the imaginary dust in them. The youma exploded into dust a second later.

"Finally!" Trunks sighed loudly.

In a far side of the quite destroyed mall... the Senshi were
assessing the battle in their minds.

"Wow..." Uranus and Neptune whispered silently.

"Amazing!" Mercury said gleefully as she typed rapidly in her
computer. Seeing the questioning looks the other Senshi gave her, she
expounded, "Those two haven't exerted that much energy yet. In fact,
their energy levels right now are below our Senshi forms and yet..."

"They're still are stronger and faster than our Senshi forms,
right?" Pluto finished for her. While it was true that the Senshi relied
on their magic augmented suits to strengthen their bodies against
attacks and such, these two haven't got any traces of magic in them,
well, aside from Ranma for some reason but Pluto knew that whatever
magic Ranma had in him, he didn't use in the battle.

"It was all in the training."

A voice startled the heck out of all the Senshi that made them
jump a bit. They whirled around to the source of the voice and saw
Ranma, with his hands in his pockets, and Trunks, with his hands crossed
across his chest, standing so near to them. They were shocked as to how
they were not able to detect any signs of them having moved at all.

"It was all ki... if you're all wondering what the heck we did."
Ranma reiterated as he leaned back to the balls of his feet.

"No... magic?" Jupiter asked hesitantly as she looked from one
guy to another. She also took note that they look real handsome in those
positions.

"Yep." Ranma snorted. "Try training for fourteen long years and
add two more years of constant fights with rivals attacking at the same
time and some more powerful than you."

"But ki... I thought the use of ki was only a legend?" the
brunette haired Senshi of Mars asked.

Ranma raised his palm and concentrated. The Senshi watched
wide-eyed as a blue ball of energy emerged from Ranma's outstretched
hand. It was about the size of a baseball. "This is ki." he said
solemnly.

Sailor Mars fought the urge to come near Ranma to take a closer
look at the ball. "Wow... that much ki... people trained to their deaths
just to be able to give out a battle aura... but you..."

Ranma shrugged. "Anyway, we really have to go now. My mom's
waiting for me. Trunks, let's go."

Trunks nodded. "Right behind you."

"Thanks for the help anyway!" Sailor Moon called to them, as
they walked away. Ranma replied by raising his hand up in the air. The
Senshi were still standing there, probably thinking of what they should
do.

What CAN they do in this situation anyway?

=========================================================================== ==

"You know, Ranma... we should just fly to your house or
something..." Trunks grumbled as they walked along the sidewalk. He
wasn't really complaining about the walking part, but it was really
getting boring and a lot of bad luck has been hunting them down.

Ranma for his part just snickered. "Exercise those feet, Trunks.
They might rot sometime if you don't."

They were walking in downtown Tokyo, a little far from the place
of the youma attack before. They were waiting for the signal light to go
green so that they could cross to the other side. When it did, the two
aliens walked among the populous in the middle of the street. It was
lunchtime, and rush hour was evident because of the presence of a lot of
students and people in suits. They were probably headed out to a
restaurant for their lunches or something. This caused the streets to be
a lot more crowded than normal, and the crossing they were walking upon
moved at a low pace. Ranma and Trunks sighed as they waited for the line
to move, and sadly they were in the farthest back of the pedestrians.

The 'walk' signal flickered and went red.

When the pedestrians left started running towards their goal, a
loud irritating laugh was heard from one of the buildings on the other
side of the road. Ranma and Trunks warily looked up and blanched at the
sight.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! RED LIGHT MEANS STOP, YOU JAYWALKERS! FOR
THIS, JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED!! AND I, THE GREAT STRIKER, WILL PUNISH YOU
IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE!"

Oh yes. A rather big-bodied man wearing a white baseball uniform
with dark cape behind him and a dark mask that had the initial 'S'
stitched at the forehead area stood at the rooftop of a chinese
restaurant across the road. On his right hand he held a baseball that he
was idly tossing from one hand to the other across his stomach. He
exudes an aura of idiocy, which was really quite obvious if the costume
was any indication.

Just when Ranma was about to shout a retort, a small police car
suddenly stopped in front of the building. Two female police officers
went out of the car and glared at the masked man who was calling himself
Striker.

"Striker! I'm going to catch you this time!" One of the police
officers angrily waved her fist in the air. She had a red brown hair
that was in a Nabiki-type haircut, green eyes, and very athletic body.
Her white upper buttoned shirt and blue long skirt uniform ensemble
hugged her figure.

"Natsumi! We should call for back-up and cut of his escape
routes!" The other police officer reminded her partner. Her black hair
was long and tied in a long braid up to her waist. She had purple eyes
and a face that kind of reminded Ranma of Kasumi for some reason. She
wore the same uniform her partner had except that she had a vest over
her buttoned shirt.

Natsumi snorted. "I can take him, Miyuki!"

Striker took notice of the police officers. "Ah! Homerun girl! I
see you wanted another rematch, eh?" the masked man chuckled to himself.

Natsumi clenched her fist tightly. "What the hell do you think
you're doing, Striker?!"

The so-called man of justice laughed again, as he reached
into... somewhere. He pulled out four baseballs and poised himself. "I
must dispense JUSTICE! Those jaywalkers must be punished! Quadra-Throw
Special, Quadra Lightning Strikout Throw!!!" And with that, he threw the
baseballs toward the stunned people.

"NO!"

The two officers just watched helplessly as the balls darted
quickly towards their targets. They were thinking that they would have
to call the paramedics, for they kinda felt that it might be needed.

Just as the balls were about to strike, they suddenly
disappeared into thin air. The police officers, the Striker, as well as
the people just looked on in confusion.

"Feh... isn't hurting without thinking of the innocents about to
get hurt a crime too?" Said a voice in front of the crowd. The crowd
looked on as two young men stood defiantly at the former trajectory of
the balls. In their hands were the baseballs, all caught without
injuring anyone.

Natsumi and Miyuki just stared at the two. The first one had
black hair which was done in a tight pigtail, and a pair of rather darker
shade of blue with a tint of gray eyes that reflected the sun's rays. The
other had purple hair and a lighter shade of blue eyes. He also had a
sword strapped unto his back. The officers frowned at that.

The Striker's eyes focused on the balls caught by the two young
men. "Whaaat?! Who are you?! How were you able to defeat my special
technique?!"

Ranma groaned. "Oh great. Another superhero wannabe."

Trunks snickered. "Well, Tokyo is really interesting this time
of the year I guess."

"HEY!" They turned to see the Striker preparing another ball to
throw, "I'M TALKING HERE!!"

The Striker threw a fastball towards Ranma in blinding speed,
faster than even Natsumi or Miyuki could follow. The crowd behind them
quickly dissipated and ran towards some random direction, just away from
the confrontation.

But for someone like Ranma, it just wasn't fast enough.

>WHAP!<

Ranma calmly plucked the offending ball out of the air and added
it to the ones he started juggling.

The Striker almost fell from the roof of the bulding he was on.

Natsumi's jaw dropped. "I... I didn't even see it!"

Miyuki was just plain shocked.

Trunks looked bored.

Ranma tossed two of the three balls in his hands to Trunks. He
then focused on the masked man as he said loudly, "That one is too slow.
I'll show you fast!"

The pigtailed boy casually flicked his wrist and launched the
remaining ball in his hand towards the offending man.

>SMACK!!<

Half of a split second later, a groan echoed across the street.
The Striker teetered on his perch as he struggled to gain some footing,
with a large round bruise on his forehead, which still smoked after
being hit with the ball.

Natsumi used the police car to balance herself upright, too
stunned to support herself.

Miyuki had this glazed look in her eyes.

Trunks bopped Ranma's head. "You call that fast?! It was still
too slow!!"

Natsumi and Miyuki facefaulted beautifully.

Ranma scratched his head in annoyance. "If I threw it faster, it
might've drilled a hole into his head. It might've killed him ya know.
No matter how irritating he is, he doesn't deserve to die."

Trunks just sighed. "Yeah... I forgot that humans... I mean,
some people are really too weak. Hey, let's go! I'm bored here!" He
turned to walk away from the scene.

Ranma nodded and turned to follow him, but he was held back by a
rather stronger-than-normal-human-strength hold. He looked at the white
gloved hand that gripped his arm, and looked into the green eyes of one
Tsujimoto Natsumi.

Meanwhile, Natsumi blanched when she caught the stranger's arm.
She watched him turn to her and saw his blue-gray eyes, which caused her
insides to melt. She struggled to say something. "Uhh... w-who are you?"

Ranma tilted his head to the side slightly, which caused Natsumi
to blush a bit. She was thinking that he looked real cute when he had
that bewildered look on his face. Finally, Ranma replied, "Saotome
Ranma. What's your name?"

"M-me?" Natsumi felt flustered for some reason. "I-I'm Tsujimoto
N-Natsumi of Bokuto Traffic P-Police." She cleared her throat. "Uhm,
what you did back there, it was so cool!"

Ranma shrugged. "Nah. It was nothing."

Natsumi shook her head violently. "No really! It was so cool! By
the way, thanks for the help!"

Ranma smiled gently at her, which caused Natsumi's blush to
deepen some more.

Miyuki walked up towards them. "Saotome-san, thank you for the
assistance. My name's Kobayakawa Miyuki, Natsumi's partner."

Ranma raised his hand. "It really was nothing. I'm glad I helped
you out somewhat. And by the way, Ranma's just fine a name."

"Ranma..." Natsumi said, "How did you do that? You threw the
ball so fast that I didn't even see it!"

The pigtailed boy scratched the base of his pigtail. "Martial
arts training for twelve years, constant rivals... nonstop for two
years. Never fails. And also, I live in Nerima."

"Oh, Nerima." Natsumi and Miyuki said together.

Ranma grinned. "Oh yeah. If you think that's cool, then you
won't believe the other things I can do."

The officers' eyes widened at that.

Ranma nodded. "Yep. Anyway, look. I gotta go okay? Gotta meet my
mother before it's too late in the afternoon or something, so... can you
let go of my arm now, Natsumi-chan?"

"What?" Natsumi glanced at her hand that was still clutched at
Ranma's arm. She quickly pulled it back and laughed nervously, trying
desperately to hide her blush. Ranma just smiled and bowed politely. He
turned to the direction Trunks headed and waved back.

"Ja ne." Ranma said as he walked away.

"See yah!" Natsumi waved at him.

Miyuki just glanced at her partner, who had this lovestruck look
in her face. "Natsumi..." Miyuki called to her partner, who still had
the 'look', "What about Officer Tokairin?"

Natsumi quickly snapped out of her trance. "Eh?! Oh! I dunno...
I mean... oh hell! I'm confused!" <I mean, how can I choose between steak and... a seven course meal?!> she thought frantically.

Miyuki just giggled as she tugged on her ranting friend and
partner to arrest the still comatosed Striker.

"Wow... he called me Natsumi-chan..." Natsumi muttered to
herself as she let her partner drag her to their capture.

=========================================================================== ==

The two aliens stood silently in front of a rather big house. On
a mailbox, the name 'Saotome' was inscribed.

Trunks gazed at the house in awe. "Man, Ranma. Your house is
HUGE!"

Ranma silently agreed. A three story house with a larger than
normal size of a koi pond on one side. The large yard housed multitudes
of plants which were strategically planted and trimmed vigilantly, as
well as flowers in different colors and appearances. Behind the house
itself, two large Sakura trees grew, which was probably there longer
than the house was. Ranma really hadn't gotten a good chance of
examining the house when he came home back then because he was sulking
at that time. But now that he did... wow.

Who knew they had such a nice house? Eh. Beautiful house! As an afterthought, Ranma thought of how fast it was repaired, since the house was totaled after those crazy girls from Nerima raided his house for that fake engagement ring fiasco. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't look at his house all that much, since his mind was still set on seeing the Tendo Dojo as his own.

Trunks shook his head and gestured to the gates. There was an
intercom installed at the gates even!

"Shall I call or will you?" Trunks asked.

Ranma shrugged. "Fine, I will."

Inside the house, the intercom buzzed loudly. The sound echoed
across the halls, which alerted a certain dark red-haired lady that was
tending her latest orchid collection at the backyard. She hurriedly stood
up and stopped in the kitchen only to clean her hands before she went to
the front door.

Ranma and Trunks saw a familiar red haired woman who quickly paced
towards them and opened the gates. Ranma noted the absence of the family
katana that was usually held protectively in the arms of his mother.

"Yes? May I help you?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma smiled warmly. "Mom. It's been a while."

Nodoka's face adopted a confused glance at first, then widened
in shock. She stood there and gaped for a while as she valiantly tried
to voice out something from her mouth. Instead, she just fell forward
and clutched at Ranma's waist while she sobbed silently.

Ranma stiffened a bit, then relaxed as he returned the gesture
to his mother. He could hear his mother mutter, "You're home... my son
is home..."

Finally, the cries subsided as Nodoka slowly pulled herself from
the embrace. "Where are my manners! Come inside! I'm sorry if I took too
long to answer... our servant Maki is still in her vacation. After our
house got destroyed the last time, she took her accumulated vacation
days... she will return in a few days though..."

"Maki?" Ranma sounded confused.

Nodoka nodded. "Oh yes! She grew up with you back when you were
a child. Her mother served as a matron back when she was still alive.
When she was dying, she left Maki-chan to our care."

Ranma looked thoughtful. "Ah... I see." Then turning to Trunks,
he said, "Mom. This is my friend, Briefs Trunks. He accompanied me in
the world I was in after the accident. He came to visit."

Nodoka bowed a bit. "Briefs-san, thank you for helping my son."

Trunks blushed in embarassment. "There's no need for such
honorifics, Saotome-san. And about me helping your son, it was the other
way around. Ranma helped save the world I was in against all danger.
He's a hero."

Ranma winced slightly when he saw his mother's face brighten.
"Waaaiii! My son is so manly! Saving the world and such!"

=========================================================================== ==

Nodoka gestured for them to sit down so that she could get some
of her famous green herbal tea, which she took pride in preparing for
her guests, all the while she studied the two of them. Ranma had changed
a lot since his disappearance months ago. Ranma's hardened features
showed maturity and determination that was not present before he
disappeared in the accident. He was tall and broad, yet his muscles were
not bulky but lean, that spoke of great strength from within. His
graceful movements, however, spoke of a lithe form that he didn't have
from the boy she remembered. He had obviously improved in the Art. His
eyes were the feature that caught Nodoka's attention though. The blue
gray pupils of his revealed hardships and experiences beyond his years,
which at the moment surprised her. Nodoka was anxious to know what new
adventures Ranma had faced. His companion was likewise powerfully built.
Perhaps more powerful than that Ryoga person that she met once in a
while. Trunks' muscles were bulkier than Ranma's, and his eyes were
bluer than her son's. He has some scars all over the exposed areas of
his body that were already faded, but to a trained eye it is easily
seen. His gait was more of an overpowering sort than of speed, which he
had yet to balance.

Her gaze finally went to the quivering red belt around Ranma's
waist. Looking at Trunks, she found that he also had a furry belt,
although brown in color. Now a belt isn't all that weird, but a moving
one is really out of this world. She looked at Ranma with curiousity.

Ranma caught his mother's questioning look. "Long story
mother..." Ranma deadpanned. Trunks just held his tongue. He knew that
this is a conversation Ranma and his mother needed to have.

"Well..." Nodoka began, "We're not going to go anywhere. So I
suggest you begin from the start."

Ranma sighed. "Mother... I know I'm not your real son."

Nodoka's eyes widened in disbelief. "What do you mean, son? You
are my child! I gave birth to you!"

"It's okay, mother. It won't change things much. Tsunami told me
everything."

Ranma's mother stopped when she heard Tsunami's name. Mouthing
those words again and again, she suddenly stiffened and fainted. Ranma
quickly rushed to her side and caught her while she was falling down.
When he did, he finally noticed his mind was also shutting down. He
keeled over and fell to his back, with his mother on top of him. Trunks
gaped, unable to figure out what to do.

"Okay..." Trunks muttered, "This is not good."

Nodoka opened her eyes and saw that she was in a place where
everything glowed in a soft blue color. She looked over to her
surroundings and noticed huge trees circled around the place where she
woke up. Her gaze went to something that caught her eyes beside her, and
saw the unconcious figure of her son lying at her side.

"Ranma!" Nodoka cried out as she tried to shake her son awake.

"Do not worry." A soothing voice echoed across the valley of
blue. "Ranma is just sleeping for the moment. He will wake up soon."

Nodoka spun around and looked directly in front of her. There
stood a figure of a majestic woman in a breathtakingly beautiful white
kimono with sakura petal design. She had blue hair tied up in a low
ponytail that reached up to her ankles which flowed freely down her
back. Her eyes were reddish pink that reflected kindness and
tranquility. On the forehead, the woman had two dot like marks that
Nodoka knew symbolized something important, but for some reason she had
forgotten what it was.

"Who... are you?" Nodoka asked pensively.

The mysterious woman smiled at her softly. "Masaki Nodoka...
it's time for you to... remember."

Nodoka's eyes suddenly glazed over. Like being unlocked after a
long time of being guarded, her mind suddenly opened up. Years of
forgotten memories surged into her senses, threatening to engulf her.

Her father, sparring with her. He was teaching her a swordstyle
that reflects the greatest source of pride in the whole universe.

Her sister, Achika. She was her older sister and her best
friend. They practiced the swordstyle together.

A promise... of keeping a living seed from their goddess. Her
consent to make her forget, up to such time it was deemed it should be
given light.

The blue haired goddess... the one that stood before her.

Her name was...

"Tsunami..." Nodoka whispered in awe, as she finally recovered
her memories.

Tsunami nodded slightly. "That's right, Masaki Nodoka, princess
of Jurai. I see you remembered your promise. A promise to take care of
an unborn child, which I planted within your womb all those years ago. I
locked those memories inside your mind, for I wished that the child to
have a normal life. But alas, his life is as chaotic as his name
denotes..."

"I remember..." Nodoka turned to the sleeping Ranma, "You came
to me one day, while I was practicing my art. You brought the seed to
me, and you asked me if I would accept being the vessel for this child.
I gladly accepted it, and with that came also the consequence of having
some of my memories hidden away. It was also the time when... Ran was
here. That man... was he alright? I don't remember that much..."

The goddess sighed. "After he came back from his momentary
abduction by my older sister Tokimi, he was recalled back to defend his
planet. But alas... his homeworld, Vegeta-sei, was doomed to die. He
perished with the rest of the warriors that tried to defend Vegeta-sei
from Freeza."

Nodoka deflated. "How sad... Ranma's father was..."

"Yes... it was sad..." Tsunami intoned solemnly, "But you have
done a good job in raising your son as of late..."

The magenta haired girl shook her head. "No... I was a bad
mother. I let my husband take him to that... training trip."

"Ah yes... but it was Saotome Genma's fault, not yours, Nodoka.
I do not hold you against it, for you were tricked into it with false
promises from your husband. I really despise your husband for doing some
things to Ranma, though..."

Nodoka breathed out slowly. "Genma is not... really good in
raising children. All he wanted for Ranma was to be the best martial
artist, even if it killed our child. I have heard some of the things he
did to him, the fiancees were witnesses to that..."

Tsunami reached out and rested her hand on Nodoka's head. "Do
you wish to see what happened in that training trip?" Seeing the redhead
nod to her question, the goddess closed her eyes, placed her other hand
unto Ranma's forehead and glowed, her aura seeping from her hands and
spreading throughout Nodoka's and Ranma's bodies as well.

A sudden bright flash of light engulfed the whole area. After a
span of several seconds, Tsunami finally stopped the flow of memories.
Nodoka backed away and staggered, trying to integrate and sort out the
memories she saw. Tears sprouted from her eyes as she remembered
everything that Ranma experienced since he was separated from her.

Those countless nights of loneliness, of crying out for his
mother, and of Genma beating him up for being a weak little girl...

Genma selling Ranma like a piece of property for just meagers of
food, even table scraps, just for the fat fool to eat...

Genma making tabs from restaurants and other eating
establishments under Ranma's name...

Ukyo's short time friendship with him. Genma asking him to
choose between food and Ukyo. Genma finally running off with the dowry
he has been promised in exchange for engaging Ranma to Ukyo. Ranma did
not understand the meaning, and thought that Ukyo was only waving
goodbye...

That horrible technique called the Neko-ken. The darkness, as
well as the painful rakes of claws against Ranma's young skin. His cries
for help were left unheard inside the pit. He was tossed again and again
into that pit, with Genma ridiculing him about being a weak little girl.
After countless throws in the pit, his vision became blurry, and a dark
shadow emerged from the ground, silencing the cats around him. Feeling a
soft soothing warmth before he was hauled off once again from the pit,
his father throwing him down to the ground for being a weakling. Finally
he snapped at the next throw, escaping into the depths of his mind,
letting his instincts control his actions...

Being chased by wolves while carrying his father on top of him
on a sofa...

Being tied up with a moving train, making him run all the way
while Genma rode in luxury inside the train...

More promises of engagement to other families by Genma...

Waiting for three days because of a duel with his friend Ryoga.
Genma knocking him out and taking him away...

Jusenkyo... knocked by a huge panda into the Spring of Drowned
Girl mercilessly...

The Amazon village... Genma tricking Ranma into eating the first
price for the tournament with him, making Ranma fight for it...

Making Ranma swim from China to Japan...

A world full of hardships... and moments of happiness were
crushed by his father... all for the sake of the Art, or so he says. A
petty reason since the one teaching never did have any honor to begin
with...

Nodoka gathered her knees to her chest and hugged them. She let
her tears fall down her face. Her despair over her husband's lies about
everything that happened in that... damned... training trip. Eventhough
Ranma was never really her son, she did give birth to him, and some of
her attributes were passed unto the child from the short time he was
connected with her in Nodoka's womb.

"Mom?"

Ranma's voice cut through the feeling of despair that Nodoka
felt at that time. She turned her tearful face and regarded Ranma, as he
looked back at her with a tint of worry in his eyes.

"Oh Ranma..." Nodoka broke down again, unable to stop feeling
guilty, "I'm such a horrible mother to you!"

Ranma slowly made his way to his mother's position and hugged
her, whispering, "It's alright, mom. It wasn't your fault. You never
knew how the panda would treat me when you gave me to him. I don't blame
anything on you for it..."

"But..."

"Shhh...." Ranma hugged his mother tighter. "Don't worry about
it. Everything's fine now, right?" He suddenly took notice of their
location. "Uhmm... mom? Where are we?"

Before Nodoka could answer, a familiar voice filled the air.
"Welcome back, Ranma-kun."

Ranma released his hug from his mother to find the source of the
voice. He saw the smiling face of the goddess. "Ah! Yo, auntie!" he said
cheerfully, raising his hand up in greeting.

"Ranma!!!" His mother chided him, "Please show respect to the
goddess!"

Tsunami giggled and shook her head. "No need for that now. My
nephew is so adorable like that!"

Ranma blushed at the comment. He pouted cutely and turned to
face his mother, who's expression is back to despair. Cocking his head
sideways, he asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Nodoka wiped the tears that streaked down her face. "I'm not
really your mother..."

The red tailed boy scooted closer to his mother and hugged her
tightly. "So? You took me in despite of that. So you're still my mom." He
faced Tsunami without retracting his hug from his mother. He said, "But
that doesn't mean my blood mother isn't my mother."

The goddess looked down, nodding, "I understand. Ranma-kun. I
cannot begin to know how to beg your forgiveness..."

"Actually..." Ranma cut Tsunami's statement, "It's not me you're
gonna have to apologize to, it's to my real mom, right?"

Tsunami blanched, but nodded meekly. "She's so angry at me. I
don't know how I will apologize to her..."

Ranma shrugged. "Talk to her. Then tell her about me. She'll
forgive you eventually..."

The blue haired goddess nodded. "I will, Ranma-kun. Do not
worry, you will meet her soon, as well."

Ranma smiled sunnily, making his mother giggle. "That's good
then!"

Suddenly, the everything brightened.

Ranma squinted his eyes as he struggled to sit up. He turned to
his side and saw his mother just getting up as well. He saw his friend
Trunks, with a worried expression on his face.

"What happened?" Trunks asked anxiously. He's been watching the
both of them for the past fifteen minutes or so, unable to think of
doing anything. He also heard them mumbling to themselves, although it
was undecypherable in his ears.

Ranma clutched at his head as he tried to will the buzzing in
his head. "Uhm... Tsunami just said hello."

Trunks snickered. "Oh."

"Ranma?" A tired groan was heard from their side. Ranma's mother
wobbled to right herself. "Was it all a dream? Tsunami? Everything?"

Ranma shook his head. "No mom. Tsunami did talk to us a while
ago. She talked to us in her realm... we collapsed in the physical
plane."

"Ah." Nodoka said calmly. Suddenly her eyes brightened. "When
are you going to visit the Tendo Dojo again?"

The pigtailed alien scratched his head. "Now, I guess. It's
still early in the afternoon."

Trunks nodded. "Yep. I still can't understand why we just don't
use that Instant Transmission of yours. It would be easier getting there
that way."

"Because, I wanna enjoy the sights." Ranma deadpanned.

Trunks snorted. "Oh sure. Just like those Senshi girls, right?"

"Shaddap."

"Girls?! Waiiii! My son is so manly!!!" Guess who said that.

"Awww mom!"

"So true, Saotome-obasan... so true..."

"Anyway Ranma, if you want to reach the dojo by nightfall, we
should leave now." Nodoka cut through the incoming banter of the two
young men. "I will go with you. It's been a while since I have last seen
that no good husband of mine." Turning to her, they nodded and stood up
to prepare for their visit.

=========================================================================== ==

Back in the shrine, about forty-five minutes after the last
youma battle...

Ten'ou Haruka and Kaiou Michiru were sitting face to face, while
the other Senshi members look on with interest. Minako and Makoto were
sitting in one of the couches, and Usagi with Mamoru sat in their
loveseat. Ami was also for once not paying attention to her computer as
her gaze lay from one girl to the other as they continued their staring
match. Rei was sitting on a mat, clutching on her manga absently.
Setsuna had commandeered another couch with the dismayed and curious
Hotaru on her beside her, the green haired Senshi's face reflected some
amusement in the situation. In all honesty, this was a surprise for her.

As the titanic silence stretched on, Haruka finally sighed. "So
what's your story? How did you meet him?"

Michiru sat back a bit. "I was about ten years old I think.
Ran-kun and his father stayed at a hotel while they learned some martial
arts stuff from a nearby dojo. I was playing in the park alone when this
boy came into the sandbox I was at and looked at me curiously. He had
this blue-gray eyes with the cutest pigtail ever. Anyway... he asked me
why I was all alone and I told him because I was too 'brainy' and too
'sophisticated' to those around me. Actually, he didn't understand those
words because he was a year younger than I was, but he nodded and waved
my explanation away, saying that it doesn't matter. He offered to be my
friend and I accepted. We grew pretty close and went out to 'dates'. We
even played 'doctor'... and he also called me cute <Oh kami I feel
warm!>. Then after two months of being together most of the time, his
father came to take him away to their trip. I asked for him to just stay
but he said that he must go. I kissed him by the cheek and made him
promise never to forget me..."

Everyone watched in amazement as Michiru blushed heavily under
the scrutiny.

The light green haired Senshi sat up straight and gazed evenly
at Haruka this time, who adopted a 'deer-caught-in-spotlight'
expression. The blonde haired tomboy sighed sullenly, and began her
tale.

"I met Ranma when I was fourteen years old. He was my junior
when we were in the old all-boys school in downtown Juuban. Before he
came, I usually grabbed the first place in track and field and such. All
of the sudden, he breezes by and rakes all the glory. And he doesn't
even seem to care about the importance of it all! At first that irked me
quite a bit... but as time grew by and watched him, he really was a
sweet and simple guy. He just does what makes him and those around him
happy. There was also this one student, Hibiki Ryoga, who always got
trampled during the lunch scuffles. That boy challenged Ranma to a duel
when school's out. Well, Ranma beat the tar outta him, but not in a
horrible way. In fact, he just roughed Ryoga up a bit, then took the boy
to the clinic. He will utterly demolish his enemies, but he would be
sympathetic of them in the end. He's that kind of guy. And I asked him
to the school dance, which it turns out that he's a GREAT dancer.
Something about Anything Goes Martial Arts of Ballroom Dancing. The next
day, he was taken to another training trip by his no good father again.
Sigh, I loved it when I danced the tango with him..."

The Senshi sweatdropped when Haruka sported a bit of a drop of
drool in the corner of her mouth.

"So basically..." Makoto began, "You both of you were left
behind by the same guy at different points of time because his father
dragged him away. Now you swore your womanhood to be given only to him. Is
that it?"

Haruka and Michiru were about to retort, but were unable to find
a suitable response to that one. So they just nodded slightly, as they
looked at the plush carpeting of the floor.

"Well," Minako took on a sage-like tone, "As the saying goes,
'When it rains, it drips.'"

Ami coughed slightly. "Uhm, Minako, that's 'When it rains, it
pours.'"

The blonde haired Senshi of love just waved her hand
dismissively. "Same difference."

The rest just groaned in irritation.

=========================================================================== ==

>RRROOOOOAAAAARRRR!!!!<

"Amazing, Ranma! That's how many attacks in one day?"

"Just, shaddap Trunks... just shaddap."

"Is this... normal, Ranma?"

In front of the three travelers stood several youma that
terrorized the marketplace in downtown Juuban, nearing the Nerima
border. They had just came from Ranma's mother's house and decided to
walk the way towards the train station. They were about to step unto the
steps leading to the station when vegetables of various sorts flew in
all directions just behind them. The loud roar also added to the effect
that some monsters were attacking... again.

"Damn... some kami must be laughing out there right now..."

"Ranma... swearing like that is unmanly."

"Uhm... sorry mom."

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

"Trunks... you're always eager ya know."

And the battle was on... again.

=========================================================================== ==

The sun was still quite ways high up on the sky as the horizon
revealed three figures walking down the streets of Nerima. One of them
with the pigtail had his hands laced behind his head, while calmy
walking beside his purple haired companion. The last one was a woman who
had something long wrapped in linen strapped at her back.

The citizens of Nerima quickly fled the streets in desperation
of trying to avoid the said individuals. They easily recognized the
resident chaos generator Saotome Ranma. Now armed with companions, it
would mean that someone close to Ranma was crazy as well.

Better safe than sorry, so to say.

Finally, the three stopped in front of a familiar dojo.

Tendo Dojo.

"We're here, mom." The pigtailed young man turned to their
female companion.

The woman nodded. "Let's go knock and say hello, shall we?"

The purple haired man just nodded as he followed the other two.

Inside the dojo, Kasumi was humming to herself as she hustled to
finish the huge dinner she promised to set out. Earlier this afternoon,
Auntie Nodoka just called and said that Ranma had just returned from the
incident with the artifact, along with a friend. Nodoka also told her
that they will come this evening as well, hence the preparations.

An urgent knock reverberated over the house. Kasumi poked her
head out of the kitchen door, only to see her father and Uncle Saotome
oblivious to anything except their shogi game. She sighed as she set her
meals to simmer as she answered the knock.

Outside the door, Ranma just tapped his foot lightly against the
hard wooden floor as he waited for someone to answer the door. Beside
him was the ever-composed Nodoka, and Trunks, who was looking around and
admiring the homely atmosphere that the house radiated.

Just as Ranma was about to knock once again, the door slid open,
exposing a young woman with a serene expression as her long brown hair
smoothed down her back. Her eyes darted from person to person until they
rested upon the eyes of the familiar young man with the pigtail. Her
eyes immediately watered at the sight as she lifted her hand to his
face. She caressed that face gently and tried to memorize his features.
Her throat was dry as she looked at him with an unreadable expression.

Ranma was taken aback by the young woman's gaze. Was it
happiness, joy... longing? Regret? He was tempted to flinch away from
her questing hand, but found that he could not. Her eyes held tears that
tore into his soul.

Of all the people in Nerima, it was Kasumi that he never wanted
to see saddened.

Slowly regaining his composure, he smiled at her softly, which
made Kasumi smile back at him despite her tears. In a low voice, he
proclaimed, "Yo, Kasumi. I'm... home."

Kasumi hiccupped lightly that continued in giggles and replied,
"Welcome home, Ranma-kun."

Inside the house, the idiotic duo composed of Soun and Genma
were still much into their game of shogi. Which meant that they distract
each other to cheat and win against one another. But right now they
seemed to be a bit out of it as well. Since Ranma disappeared several
months ago, their hopes and dreams of retirement to live with their
heirs' hard earned futures were crushed. Those long months of searching
for a way to get Ranma back were all for naught. Even Cologne had to
sigh and give up from their 'fool's quest' as she termed it. As far as
they understood, there was no way to get Ranma back, that is until they
grab the Nanban Mirror from Happosai, which was quite a task for them.
So much they were concentrated on finding a way to get Ranma back that
they almost missed the way Ryoga snaked his way into Akane's fragile
heart. Well, too late for that now. Akane was quite smitten by the
fanged boy due to her heartache, an dishonorable tactic but effective as
hell. But for some reason, the Tendo heir was still unable to decypher
that Ryoga was her P-chan. Why? They shrugged at that one.

A voice broke their reverie.

"Father! Mister Saotome! Ranma's back!" Kasumi's voice echoed
loudly in the silent halls of the dojo. Immediately, life came back to
the eyes of the two co-conspirators of 'idiotic plans to marry two
people'.

They totally ignored the excited emotion that accompanied
Kasumi's voice as she voiced out the announcement.

The two stood up and raced towards the entrance. Finally, Ranma
and Nodoka who was led by Kasumi came into view, followed by a purple
haired boy with a big sword strapped at his back.

As expected, tears sprang out of Soun's eyes.

And Genma? Well... his mouth really did it this time. "WHERE
HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU UNGRATEFUL BOY?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WH--"

>SLASH!<

A cold draft went over to Genma as he felt his gi explode into
tiny pieces. He looked over to his wife, who just locked her katana in
its scabbard with a smug expression on her face, and fainted.

Ranma flashed his mother a satisfied grin. "Cool multi-strikes,
mom."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I haven't seen anyone with
that much skill for so long."

Nodoka blushed slightly at the praise. "Why thank you Ranma,
Trunks."

Ranma turned to the eldest Tendo daughter, who had this genuine
smile on her face. One thing we have to understand about this girl is
that her oblivious smile is usually a cover.

What? No it's not blasphemy. Since their mother's death, Kasumi
had taken into herself the role of being the homemaker of the family.
Actually, each of the daughters took up their own roles to compensate on
their mother's death. Kasumi the homemaker, Nabiki the money-maker and
overall finance consultant, and Akane... well... the brat. Why the brat?
She was coddled by everyone in the family since the tradegy, so she
never really learned how to take care of herself properly. She can't
cook. She can't keep her temper in check. Go figure.

For Kasumi, being the homemaker was the only thing she knew she
could do to help her family. She sacrificed her own happiness to make
everyone around her happy, eventhough no one, well except for Ranma,
gave her the credit she was due for a long time. Her sunny smile was to
make everyone around her feel comfortable. Even through rough times such
as daily squabbles and such, her smile was the only constant in the
equation. She had to show everyone that she was happy, for she was the
homemaker.

Yes, it's a front.

But this smile that she just gave Ranma, it was the unforced
smile that she seldom shows everyone. Why? Because Ranma had come back
to make things interesting again, and also a huge bonus that the real
evil man called Genma was punished. The look on his face alone!

The family finally settled down to the table. Ranma noticed
Akane's absence, because Trunks took her place instead.

"Where's Akane?" Ranma asked. For a moment, silence reigned over
the table. Nabiki was about to reply when Kasumi finally came to the
table with the food. The question was forgotten when Ranma shrugged.

He assumed that Akane was at a friend's place, probably Yuka or
Sayuri.

The dinner was a quiet affair, aside from the questions the
others asked Ranma and Trunks. The two aliens answered patiently. They
understood the family's curiousity. Ranma found out that he was gone
several months in this time, as opposed to the more or less two years
worth of stay in the future. They both edited their stories though, for
they talked about it when they were going to the dojo a bit earlier.
They kept to themselves about their true ancestry. Mainly, the alien
stuff.

Finally, the banquet ended. Ranma immediately stood up, and
everyone turned to look at him.

"I'm gonna go to Akane." And with that, the pigtailed boy
touched his forehead with his middle and index finger and blurred. He
disappeared without a trace and left a stunned crowd, except Trunks.

"What that hell was that?!" Nabiki was first to speak. She knew
that Ranma can learn faster than a normal human, but this was a bit too
weird even for him.

Trunks just shrugged as he ignored the questioning looks. "He
learned the Instant Transmission Technique."

"Oh my. I hope he forgives Akane..." Kasumi looked distressed,
which was quite an unusual sight.

Nodoka turned quizzically at the eldest Tendo daughter. "What do
you mean, Kasumi-chan?"

"Well..."

=========================================================================== ==

The park was lit up in a soft yellow light, and the moon hung
above the sky, its face was a bit larger than a normal crescent. It was
a nice night to take walks on, as the wind billowed around.

The figure of Ranma suddenly materialized near a large tree. He
was curious as to why he appeared here. Apparently, Akane had taken a
walk instead of staying at a friend's house.

A sound of "SWEETO!!!" brought a huge grin to Ranma's face. He
waited for a bit and felt cold water drench him. He turned to a she,
apparently.

"My Ranma-chan! You came back!" Happosai glomped at the dangling
breasts in front of Onna-Ranma.

If possible, Ranma's grin became more evil as she reached down
and clamped on Happosai's head. She lifted him up to her face level and
snarled, "Glomp this, freak." She punched Happosai in the groin area,
causing the old pervert's face to contort in pain. The old man gasped
for air as Onna-Ranma lifted him up to the air.

"See ya later, creep." And with that, Onna-Ranma threw the
gasping Happosai into the night sky. She drew a thermos from...
somewhere and drenched herself back to maleness. A glint of light from
the ground caught his attention. He saw a mirror which was taped rather
crudely laid on the ground. Ranma shrugged and picked up the mirror,
that he recognized and identified as the Nanban Mirror when he saw it up
close.

As he put his hands in his pockets to walk a bit to find his
fiance, he heard a giggling sound from the back of the large tree he
appeared nearest to.

"Hey! Did you hear something?" A familiar female voice was
heard.

"I dunno, Akane-chan. Forget about it! Kiss me again!" A VERY
familiar male voice answered back.

"Really, Ryo-chan. You're really a hentai!" A girlish giggle was
heard once again.

Ranma just stood there, shocked beyond belief. <Akane? My
Akane?! And... Ry-Ryoga?! Ryo-chan?! What the hell?!> He summoned all
his strength to stagger towards the direction of the voices. He
hesitantly peeked behind the tree trunk that covered a clean patch of
grass that was well hidden from those who pass by the pavement. His keen
eyesight registered two forms, kissing as if they had no care of the
world.

His vision darkened, and it wasn't because of the darkness of
the night. He just can't believe it! Akane cheated on him! And to Ryoga
too!

Ranma's faltering steps finally hit an empty can of soda, which
alerted the two kissing figures. They looked around and froze when they
saw Ranma's dumbfounded face.

Akane saw Ranma, whose face melted from shock to indifference.
She was caught, red-handed, by her own fiance!

Ryoga's momentary shock was turned to rage when he saw his hated
rival back once again from somewhere.

"R-Ranma... it's not what you think!" Akane tried to explain her
situation. She mentally slapped herself. <Baka! It was what he thought
it was! I betrayed Ranma!>

Ranma's face adopted a vision devoid of emotions. His cold glare
focused on Akane, who flinched guiltily. "At least I was a victim of
circumstance, whether you believe me or not. While you... you really...
ahem. Anyway... sorry to have disturbed you 'fun', Tendo-san." Ranma
whirled around and started to walk away from the scene, his hands still
planted in his pockets. But if one would look into it closer, one would
see that he was clenching his fist inside those pockets. He just removed
all emotions from his heart and concentrated on the Soul of Ice.

Akane shivered at the coldness of the voice that regarder her,
while Ryoga stood up angrily.

"DAMN YOU RANMA! GET READY TO DIE!!!" Ryoga threw a punch
towards the back of the departing Ranma's head. Ranma's expression
didn't even change as his right arm whipped over his face and caught
Ryoga's fist before it made contact. Enraged by the lack of enthusiasm
on Ranma's part, the bandanna-clad boy growled and threw fast-paced
punches, while Ranma just dodged and wove along the blows.

"Both of you, stop it!" Akane said disraughtedly. She was still
guilty when she saw Ranma caught her 'making out' with Ryoga, believing
that he would never come back. She also knew how strong Ryoga is now,
and that she was afraid for Ranma's sake. Yeah right.

Ranma's gaze slightly shifted to the short haired girl, and this
distraction was all Ryoga needed to land a blow. Ryoga grinned
maliciously as he felt his jab crunch into Ranma's unprotected belly.
Ranma grunted as the strong blow threw him backwards, sliding him for
about a few meters before halting.

"You're getting soft, Ranma!" Ryoga gloated exultingly. His
mirth melted however when he spied on the ire of his hatred remained
standing, calmly dusting his midsection. The piece of cloth that covered
his belly was already ripped, so Ranma just tore it away without any
conviction. Ryoga and Akane were treated with a sight that shocked them
tremendously.

Ranma removed the destroyed sash across his belly.

A red furry belt emerged from under it. The belt itself twitched
and uncoiled by itself from around his waist, dangling down his back
unsupported.

It was wriggling from side to side.

Ryoga and Akane's eyes followed the wagging piece of appendage
that is currently being sported by the currently irritated Ranma, who
was busy patting himself down. Finally noticing the silence, the
pigtailed boy saw his current companions' gazes and followed it, finally
resting on his red tail.

Well, it was certainly a bad day. Not that Ryoga's punch really
proved anything that could damage him at all, but it was the principle
of the thing, destroying his rather 'in good condition' clothes that he
worked so hard not to damage at all. Thanks to a cowardly attack from
behind, now his tail has been exposed for the world to see, not that it
mattered to him anyway. His mom explained it to him, and he readily
accepted the fact that he WASN'T related by blood to Genma Saotome.

That was a good thing.

Then there is also this other heritage, namely, his being a
prince together with his cousin. A prince to this rather powerful ruling
planet of an intergalactic proportion. After finding that one out, his
grandfather finally disclosed the truth, about being born after he was
magically removed from the womb of his real mother Tokimi, and was
transferred to Nodoka Masaki's. Then there is this other thing about an
unknown in his DNA, a lost factor. Add these to the fact that he just
traveled to another world and went on to save it again and again just to
find a way home, then to find out that the one reason he came back is
currently in a liplock with his so-called friend/rival/enemy/whatever.

What was her reason for that again? Oh yes... she thought he
would never come back... as if that was a good reason to begin with.
Only several months passed in this world, while two years passed in the
world he was in.

Oh yeah! He was also technically gonna age real well, so it
seems.

Ranma really feels he has a reason to feel a bit grouchy right
now. Yes, a real good reason...

Still, despite the little thought of being thought more of a
freak now more than ever, being able to free his tail like this is
somewhat... exhilirating for some reason.

Oh yeah, the two are still gaping at him.

<Idiots.> his mind stated simply.

Meanwhile, it seemed that the two gapers are coming out of their
self-induced shock.

Akane was the winner though. "R-Ranma?!" Akane stammered, her
finger shook as she pointed towards his back, "W-what the hell is
that?!"

Ranma looked at the girl like she's stupid or something. "DUH...
a tail, what else?"

"S-since when did you have a t-tail?"

"Since the day I was born." Ranma scratched his chin with his
right index finger. His other arm crossed across his chest. "Grandpa
said he had my powers sealed before... I got too much. When I got to the
other world, somethin' happened and my tail grew back."

"You..." Ryoga said menacingly, " - really are a freak!"

"Ryoga!" Akane chastised him.

Ranma snorted, turning away from them, "Whatever, as if I cared
what you say, P-chan. If you think that's surprising, ya better ask mom
what I am really. This ain't the only secret they have from me." He
started to walk away. "Anyway, fights here ain't a challenge to me now.
I got too powerful already."

"RANMA!!!" Ryoga bellowed, poising to go after Ranma if
necessary, "Come back here you coward! Have you no honor?!"

Ranma froze in halfstep. Without turning, he replied, "There's
no honor in fightin' somethin' too weak to begin with. Ya gotta thank
me, I'm savin' yer life, eventhough we know how worthless it is."
Looking over his shoulder, his gaze stopped Ryoga's scathing answer, "I
could destroy the whole world and eat tuna for breakfast without any
thoughts about it, Ryoga. I am no martial artist no more... I'm a
warrior now."

" . . . " Ryoga's eyes narrowed in anger.

The pigtailed boy just turned back to his walking. "A martial
artist defends those who are weak, and tries their very best not to
kill. A warrior defends those who needs it, and doesn't give any second
thoughts on killing those who deserved to be killed."

"Damn you Ranma!" Ryoga's eyes flashed as he focused his rage,
"Do you think that will scare me? I will kill you!"

Akane couldn't believe it. One moment she heard Ryoga screaming
obscenities against Ranma, then when she blinked, Ryoga just flew back.
Ranma was now in front of her, his arm outstretched towards to where
Ryoga was thrown. At the moment, her eyes saw betrayal, anger and pain
in those blue gray eyes of Ranma's that she loved so much.

"Shove it, piggy." Ranma spat out, "You weren't even a challenge
to me before, what makes ya think you're up to par against me now? Heck,
I'm not human even. To think I even considered you a friend... I'm so
wrong." Turning his hateful eyes towards Akane, illiciting a soft
whimper from her, he said softly, "Thanks a lot, Akane. Only seven
months passed by here, but for me it's two years. Imagine what I had to
go through. And you betrayed me just like that." Shaking his head, he
continued, "Even if I'm gonna forgive ya, I can't ever trust ya. Never."

"R-Ranma..." Akane could only stare at the boy... no... man in
front of her. The one she betrayed. She tried telling him something, but
she was silenced by his outstretched hand.

"Don't bother, Akane." Ranma said dryly. "I'm not gonna listen
to it no more. Do you even know his secret?" Seeing a blank look on her
face, he chuckled, "Damn... I can't believe ya just let it slide like
that. Pathetic." And with that, he walked away.

"W-wait... Ranma!"

"Go away, Akane. I'm gonna go back to the dojo and get my stuff.
Then I'm gonna go somewhere you people can't find me. I'll go as far as
using the broken Nanban Mirror... just to get away from this hell. I
won't go after ya anymore, Tendo-san... ya don't deserve my time. You're
gonna be the best of Nerima again, though I ain't gonna be there to save
ya anymore. No more." Then, his form blurred and vanished completely.

Akane fell down to her knees, sobbing.

Trunks almost jumped up from his seat on the Tendo kitchen when
the shimmering form of Ranma suddenly materialized in front of him. When
his breathing was normalized, he stood up and huffed up at Ranma,
saying, "Ranma you idiot! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Ranma looked on in shock. "Wha? How did I do that?"

Trunks looked at him quizzically. "Instant Transmission, right?"

Ranma shook his head. "No way. I didn't concentrate on any given
target. I just thought about this place for some reason then, poof! Here
I am!"

Trunks shrugged. "I dunno. Some new power?"

Ranma sighed. "Perhaps. It seems that I still have some powers
that I don't know."

Trunks breathed in and out for a few more times before relaxing.
"What now?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't have anythin' here left to come back
for. You, my friend, should go back to your mother in the future. I'll
go for an extended trainin' trip or somethin', away from all this
nonsense."

"You sure you'll be alright?"

Ranma nodded. "I should try to cope. I'll live a long life, so I
should learn to cope."

Trunks smiled and snickered in understanding. Just then, a loud
shout was heard from outside. Sighing, Ranma turned to the door and
walked out, with Trunks trailing behind him.

Outside the door, the two Saiyajins found Akane with Ryoga on
tow, approaching them, with the boy shouting profanities against Ranma.
Nodding once towards his companion, Ranma bounded over the rooftops and
beelined to the park. Seeing Ranma roofhopping, Akane pulled Ryoga with
her and followed the pigtailed boy.

Once in the park, Ranma landed on a green field where he waited
for the pursuers.

"RANMA! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" Ryoga bellowed as he launched his
fist towards the waiting pigtailed Saiyajin. Ranma's tail uncoiled
itself out of its confinement around his waist and immediately whipped
upwards, the fur standing on one end. Ranma automatically caught Ryoga's
ki-aided punch, which caused a slight tremor in the air.

"Ryoga! Stop it now!" Akane cried out desperately.

"He's going to get annihilated." the purple haired boy calmly
stated as he walked towards Akane's side.

Akane turned to Trunks sharply, shouting, "Why aren't you
stopping them?!"

Trunks faced Akane. "Are you kidding me? Even with the power I
have, I can't match Ranma at all! It's suicide!" He winced when he saw
Ranma crush Ryoga's arm mercilessly. Ranma lifted Ryoga by the same
crushed fist, making the bandana-clad boy scream in pain. Ranma's face
didn't show any emotions as he threw Ryoga across the clump of trees
with a flick of his wrist. The trees were mowed down as Ryoga shot right
through them.

"Ranma! Stop it right now! Poor Ryoga..." Akane almost whispered
the last part.

Trunks snorted. "Poor Ryoga? POOR RYOGA?! Have you ever thought
of Ranma's hardships that he had to endure? Did you even know how many
women practically threw themselves to him, and he casually brushed them
off? Have you ever thought of how many planet-destroying creeps he had
to face across and KILL just to pave a way for him to get back to you? And
to think he didn't even have to bother to help us... yet he did! He even
had to endure the fact that he isn't human at all..." Trunks wanted to
continue but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. His eyes trailed to
Ranma's face.

"Trunks." Ranma said silently, "Let's just get out of here. I
need a place to release some energy." Ranma ignored the fact that Akane
was there gaping at them.

Trunks looked apprehensive, but he voiced out, "Sparring?"

Ranma shook his head, much to Trunks' gratitude. "I'm just gonna
go somewhere alone, away from here... before I really start destroying
things by accident just because of my aura..." In response, a golden
aura streaked with purple suddenly leaked out from his body, throwing
everyone down to the ground. Even Trunks was blown back by the sheer
force of Ranma's ki. When Trunks nodded numbly, Ranma turned to the sky
and started to float upwards, still not listening to Akane's pleas to
listen. When he was high enough, he eventually turned to Akane, saying,
"Thank you for everything, Tendo-san. I now declare our engagement
officially, over. You are free."

Upon hearing those words that remained echoing in Akane's mind,
she fell down to her knees muttering to herself, "No... no... no..."
over and over again. Trunks really wanted to go and pity the girl, but
from what he had seen, he would've done the same thing Ranma did if he
did catch his own fiancee cheating on him. <Her loss...> Trunks thought
to himself.

Ryoga shook himself awake and saw Akane fall down to her knees.
His eyes momentarily widened as he saw Ranma floating up there. But his
astonishment was banished by his burning hate of his rival. He gathered
his depression energy into a huge sickly glow and stood up, ran towards
the scene, bellowing, "RANMA!!! FOR THE PAIN YOU CAUSED AKANE, I WILL
KILL YOU!!! PERFECT SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!" He fired a huge dark green wave
of energy towards Ranma's current location.

Ranma's aura suddenly flared up as he felt his anger take
immediate brief control. He turned towards the wave and took the blast
head on. The smirk that appeared on Ryoga's face as he watched his chi
blast envelop Ranma's body disappeared when the green ball was suddenly
encompassed by a huge gold-purple twister of an energy. When the
miniature tornado disappeared, Ranma appeared unharmed from the smoke,
glaring at him in those cruel blue-gray eyes. Ryoga shivered
involuntarily as he felt his fear creep upon his spine. <How can he
survive that...> he thought frantically to himself.

"Ryoga..." Ranma said in a whisper, barely even registering to
those in front of him, "Prepare, to die." His head whipped upwards, as
he struggled to control the torrents of emotions that wanted to come
forth. Pain, suffering, betrayal... everything is coming out now. Years
of torment and violence that he had tried to avoid had somehow managed
to make itself come to the fore right now. The purple golden corona of
ki that was swirling around Ranma exploded outwards, literally
obliterating the nearby trees that didn't stand the pressure. Even the
earth below him creaked and groaned as the strain was too much.

Trunks blanched as he watched Ranma release some of his
self-installed limiters in his body. He felt dwarfed at the immense
power overflowing out of the pigtailed boy's frame. He turned to Akane,
who was still paralyzed from shock, and flew to her. He grabbed her and
blasted with her out of the area, out of the destruction that is about
to occur. He could hear Akane muttering, "Ranma... please... come
back...." He felt the winds suddenly grow stronger as the ki emitted
steadily grew exponentially. He even wondered if the planet would
survive the strain.

Ryoga quickly gathered himself and limped towards his backpack.
He rummaged in the container a bit as he watched Ranma gave off power in
waves. With a small yelp of joy, he clutched at a very familiar small
mushroom that he kept for emergencies such as these. A sudden self doubt
entered his mind, but he quickly banished it as his hatred towards Ranma
became more evident. He knew that this was a dishonorable way to defeat
his rival, but he was not about to take any chances.

The bandanna clad boy finally stood up and shouted, "Ranma! Come
here and face me like a man! Or are you a girl to hide up there where I
can't reach you?!" Ryoga smirked as he felt Ranma's ki strengthen a bit.
Ranma finally relented and swooped down to the ground and eyed Ryoga
warily.

When he saw Ranma settled down on the ground, Ryoga immediately
launched himself straight towards Ranma, who just stood defiantly. The
fanged boy cocked his fist back and unleashed a feint punch to Ranma's
chest.

The pigtailed boy was a little surprised at Ryoga's tactic, and
hadn't really thought of it when he felt his throat constrict a bit. He
opened his mouth to say some words of protest when a soft object lodged
itself into his mouth. Ranma fought a gag reflex and swallowed, which
made Ryoga's grin into a full blown laughter.

"HAHAHAHA! Finally! Taste my revenge, Ranma!" Ryoga danced
around a bit.

As Ranma felt the foreign object descend into his stomach, he
finally realized that something was wrong with his body. He fell into a
fetal position as he desperately clutched to himself. He could hear his
bones readjust with cricks and groans, and saw his vision blurred at the
moment.

When the painful burning sensation finally subsided, Ranma
opened his eyes and looked at himself. His eyes widened at the sight.
Gone was his older body, but was replaced by a younger version of
himself. His mind clicked as he remembered something from the past...

The growth mushrooms...

<Shit.>

Akane was quite surprised when Ranma fell down on the ground,
clutched at his throat. She saw him writhing painfully and was compelled
to go to him and care for her now former fiance but Trunks' hand clamped
down on her shoulder. She struggled in vain for her freedom.

"Let me go!" Akane hissed at the purple haired half saiyajin.

Trunks just shook his head and gazed worriedly at the scene.
<Ranma's... shrinking? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?>

Akane and Trunks' eyes bugged out as they watched the groaning
Ranma shrink down deeper into his clothes. Akane remembered this
incident not long ago, where Ryoga brought something like a mushroom
that shrunk them both.

Akane finally realized that Ryoga just took advantage of it
again.

Ranma struggled to his feet and almost stumbled on his now loose
clothing. Looking at his once mature hands, they now sport young and
smooth small hands. He felt betrayed at this dishonorable tactic that
his rival employed on him. But he soon banished the thought just as
quickly as he thought about it, for it was his own folly that he let
Ryoga get close enough to throw a feint like that. A warrior fights
whether his enemy is honorable or not.

He should've known about this. He growled menacingly as he
glared at the dancing Ryoga.

Ryoga was currently hopping into his little victory dance. Sure,
he beat Ranma unfairly, but it was highly fair for him to be this strong
in such a short while, so this was just trying to even the score. <Yeah!
Just trying to level the playing field!> Ryoga tried to convince
himself, but he can't help feeling a bit of self loathing at what he
did. His rejoicing stopped short when he felt an ominous energy exploded
from Ranma's direction. His gaze lifted towards it, and he felt his
knees buckle at the sight of Ranma, who although had a small body and
looked particularly funny swimming in his clothes like that, glowed in
an unearthly light of shaded dark yellow and purple. All this energy was
directed to him.

Ryoga was compelled to whimper, but his mouth was too busy as it
was hung out on the ground.

=========================================================================== ==

Her spatula fell down with a clang as she felt the earth tremor
strongly. Then Ukyou felt it; Ranma's ki was literally out of control
right now. She felt his anger pushing her down to the ground. She turned
to Konatsu, who was staring right back at her with his eyes as big as
saucers. "Ranchan..." Ukyou muttered as she ran outside her shop,
followed by Konatsu.

Cologne suddenly felt a huge headache as she continued to
monitor different ki buildups in the vicinity. "By the ancestors!" she
screamed as she tried to placate her headache, "That's... muko-dono!!"
She turned to Shampoo, who was shivering in fright, and Mousse, whose
jaw fell down to the ground. "What have they done?!" she shouted as she
pogoed outside with Shampoo and Mousse hot on her tail.

In the Tendo Dojo, Soun and Genma were shocked when their shogi
board was split into half, the pieces strewn everywhere at once. They
looked at one another and they knew about the sense of dread that they
feel right now. Kasumi and Nabiki approached them, they were slightly
shaken. Even if they weren't adept ki users, they could feel the winds
that blow within the house, and they are not natural. They immediately
piled up outside and saw a huge amount of ki build-up from the park.
They were about to run towards it when they heard a loud thump from
behind them. It was Nodoka, who was clearly afraid of the omen. "My
son..." Nodoka said softly, but enough to be heard by those who were
around her.

All of the Nerimian resident martial artists and friends met up
in front of the park.

Suddenly, as sudden as it all began, the ki winds died down, and
Chibi-Ranma once again became visible as his aura flickered out of
existence. He breathed slowly, trying to placate his currently boiling
blood. His soul was screaming for vengeance, at the same time it is also
screaming to just leave everything behind. His small body twitching
every now and then, barely spent in baring that much energy.

Everyone looked up and watched as the now small boy slowly
descended to the ground.

"Muko... Ranma... are you alright?" Cologne asked pensively. She
was nervous even before when Ranma was normal, now she's scared
spitless. Even with the visibly small body, Chibi-Ranma's ki was still
as strong as ever, although quite dampened as of now.

"I... I don't need to spill unnecessary blood just to quench my
thirst for a fight. I just want to go as far away as possible from this
place." Chibi-Ranma turned to his mother. "My body... it's back to being
a kid..." his laugh was a shallow one as he leveled a glare to Ryoga's
direction. He was pissed off at the fanged boy.

Nodoka struggled to compose herself and tried to ignore the
current need for revenge on the Ryoga person. "Ranma... is there a cure
for it?"

Chibi-Ranma smiled warmly at his mother before nodding. "Yes,
mom. I need to find more of these mushrooms. But it's in a place hard to
find. Only an idiot who gets lost so often could accidentally find it."
Then he looked over her shoulder to the rest of the Nerimians. "I guess
you want an explanation for this. Let's go to the Tendo Dojo and there
you can ask your questions, before I head off to find the cure...
again."

=========================================================================== ==

Chibi-Ranma gazed on the people around the table. Basically,
almost everyone was there. He sat on his normal position, with some
slight changes around him.

Trunks was on his right as he looked on with amusement as
always.

For some reason, Kasumi was on his left, demurely straightening
some imaginary crumpled area on her dress. For some odd and totally
random thought that came to Ranma, he thought the reddish tint on
Kasumi's cheeks while she did what she was doing right now really made
her a lot cuter.

Across him, Nabiki looked curious at what he was about to say,
and was glancing back and forth at his tail and Trunks' sword.

Shampoo and Cologne remained impassive in the corner, but Ranma
saw the tensed muscles in Shampoo's position. This meant that she was
ready to do a glomp sometime. Mousse was... well... a duck. Currently,
Cologne held the duck by the neck.

Akane sat at Nabiki's right, trying to look as small as
possible. Her guilt was really eating up on her, but Ranma knew he could
never trust the girl again. He mentally snorted and pointedly ignored
her.

Ryoga was on Nabiki's left, who tried to glare at Ranma, but
instead he looked nervous. He was still a bit shaken up by the aura
expelled by Chibi-Ranma so casually.

Soun sat on his usual place, in the head of the table.

Genma's... a panda, somewhere in the corner behind Soun.

Ukyo sat beside Ryoga, who had this forlorned look on her face.

His adoptive mother, Nodoka, sat beside and a little behind of
Kasumi. Her hand was poised at the hilt of her bundle. Whether it was to
control the impromptu violence that was about to commence, or to control
his father, he didn't know. Either way, it was acceptable to him.

The Kuno siblings were taken cared of, probably still stuck in
their roof after they had been punted by Ranma and Trunks (Ranma kicked
Tatewaki, Trunks soccer-kicked Kodachi).

Ranma sighed and spooled his expression. "Well, as you have
known I was thrown out of this dimension by Happosai's weird artifact."
Seeing all the nods of agreement around he continued, "I wasn't really
thrown into another dimension, rather I was thrown far into the future."

"What was it like in the future?" Ranma internally smirked. He
just knew Nabiki would have asked that, and she did.

Ranma shrugged. "What can I say? Aside from flying cars and
weird gadgets that shrink into capsules, it was basically the same.
Although, mutated humanoids and some aliens are quite normal there."

Ranma raised his hand to forestall any questions. "Mutants,
meaning, some look like dogs that walk on hind legs, pigs that talk..."
he glared at Ryoga, "Cats changing shape... those kinds. The aliens,
well, some defend the Earth at that time, while most just go there to
conquer the planet. Also, there was this Kami of Chikyuu that was really
and alien from another planet. He's the guardian of the planet Earth.
Well anyway, when I got there... I was involved in an accident, which
caused my real heritage to awaken." He paused for a while and debated
whether to tell all of the story or not.

"What are you, then?" Nabiki asked as she raised her eyebrows.

Ranma sputtered a bit, but recollected himself just as quickly.
"What do you mean?"

Nabiki scoffed. "I mean, with you having tails and all, you're
really not human..." Seeing Ranma was about to retort, she cut him off,
"Don't bother denying it. I'm really observant, and I'm not stupid. That
furry tail of yours may pass up as a good sash for anyone who didn't
know what to look for. That other guy's sash is brown. They are
connected to your vertebrae. They're really not sashes, but tails. So
out with it. What are you, really?"

Ranma stayed silent. But Trunks smiled and laughed a bit.
"Amazing. You're really observant!"

Nabiki's brows narrowed. "You still didn't answer the question."

"Very well." Trunks nodded. "I'm half human, half saiyajin."

Soun finally spoke up. "What's a 'Saiyajin'?"

Trunks smiled gently. "According to my mother, Saiyajins are one
of the universe's greatest warrior races. They were born and bred for
battle, even when they were still in toddler stage. Their planet was
called Vegeta-sei, which was destroyed by the one who enlisted them in
his army, Freeza, the tyrant. My mother is human, while my father is not.
My father is very proud of his race."

Nabiki nodded in understanding. "So... how many of you are
left?"

Trunks sighed. "My father, Vegeta, was the prince of the
Saiyajins. Goku, his son Gohan, me, and Ranma. The others either died or
were destroyed with the planet. Raditz, Goku's brother, was killed by
him when he tried to conquer the Earth. My father's loyal servant,
Nappa, was also killed. So all in all, there are five Saiyajins left in
the entire known universe. Only two of them are full blooded Saiyajins,
only my father and Goku are pure blooded."

"What about Ranma?" Shampoo asked hesitantly.

"I'm part Saiyajin, part Juraian, and some other DNA that hasn't
been identified yet. In other words, I was never human." Ranma replied.

Gasps were heard from the audience. Nabiki and Kasumi stared at
Ranma in disbelief, while Akane was shaking her head in defiance. Ryoga
growled and muttering something about unfairness. Soun started wailing
about the schools never going to be joined, while Genma just sat there
in shock. Nodoka's face was calm though. Trunks still had that smirk on
his face.

"Juraian?" Akane's small voice broke the silent interlude.

"They are a race of powerful individuals who ruled most of the
galaxy sectors. They have an intergalactic government, and currently as
far as I can recall, the royal princesses of planet Jurai are on this
planet, which by the way is still not part of the alliance. Earth is
still too primitive to be included their political system." Nodoka
continued at this point.

"Most interesting." Cologne was nodding her head.

"Aliens? Here? Why?" Nabiki asked worriedly.

Nodoka saw the concern in the middle daughter's eyes. "No need
to be alarmed. They have no intention of interfering in any of Earth's
affairs, even more so have no interest in conquering Earth. As for why
they are here, well, the princes they were promised to reside on this
planet. Two princes, one who is a Juraian-Human hybrid, and the other...
let's just say... had an exotic blood. Still Juraian, but... let's leave
it at that."

Nabiki stayed silent for a while, then nodded. She turned to
Genma and smirked. "So I guess you're not Ranma's real father.
Figures... he was never like you. Heh... everything makes sense now!"

Genma stood up angrily and glared at everyone. "I'm Ranma's
father! Boy! You better do as I say and take back those things you said!
You are my son and my heir, you will marry a Tendo to continue the art
of Anything Goes!"

Ranma snorted. "You forgot 'bargaining chip' and 'money
generator'. And what are you gonna do about it, beat me up? Hah! That
will be the day..."

With a loud kiai, Genma launched a kick towards Ranma's
direction, who just leaned back lightly and caught his foot. Ranma
twisted Genma's ankle a bit then threw the man into the dojo. Ranma
stood up and looked apologetically at his mother, who nodded in return.
With that, Ranma walked casually towards the dojo hall and closed the
doors behind him.

Sounds of loud meaty thunks echoed all over the house as the
rest of those who were left in the dining hall looked at one another.

Nodoka cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "By the
way, I'm not Ranma's real mother. Before you ask, no, I cannot tell you
anymore than that. His real mother is a bit more... complicated to
explain. His real father was a Saiyajin, but his mother... well...
that's all I can say, really."

Silence just reigned the entire household, with the pounding
noise as well as the loud girlish screams from the dojo the only
background noise that can be heard. Their thoughts were on the heart of
the matter.

Ranma was not human at all.

<But still...> Kasumi thought to herself. <Eventhough he was
never human, he was really nice and patient with everybody. If I were to
be asked, he was more human than the rest of the people around him.>

Even when Ranma finally returned to the table, everyone was just
silent in contemplation. Ranma breathed in as he gathered his courage to
say what he had to say.

Ranma finally uttered the words. "I'm leaving Nerima."

The people around him jerked a bit in surprise. But before they
could protest, he continued, "I will not stay here any longer. Also..."
he took out the badly taped together Nanban Mirror from his pocket, to
the consternation of Shampoo, Cologne and Akane, "Not only will I leave
Nerima, but this world as well." He glared at everyone and dared them to
dispute his words.

No one dared, though.

But it didn't stop their curiousity.

"How did you get the mirror?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma laughed softly. "Met Happosai somewhere and grabbed the
thing. He was about to glomp when he threw a bucket of water."

Ranma relaxed and reached into his other pocket. He took out a
small leather pouch and gave it to Trunks. "The capsules are in there. I
won't need them anymore."

Trunks opened his mouth to say something, but he just sat back
and nodded.

"You're going back to your time too, my friend. I need to do
this alone."

The purple haired boy nodded once again, for he understood
Ranma's intentions.

=========================================================================== ==

The next day, the park was filled with the most destructive
members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew.

Chibi-Ranma was shaking Trunks' hand. He will really miss his
friend, but this journey of his was something he had to do. He grinned
at Trunks one more time before letting his hand go.

The chibified boy strode up to his surrogate mother, who was
struggling to keep her tears from falling. Ranma gazed sadly at his
mother. She may not be his real mother, but Nodoka was the one who
literally birthed him and gave him the support, no matter how short it
was. Ranma smiled at her, who smiled back in return despite of her
sadness. To see her 'son' go, it was so hard on her, but she knew it
would eventually come someday. She lowered her body and hugged her boy
tightly. They clung to each other for a long while Before finally
disengaging.

Genma was still in comatose state after Ranma's beating, so it
was understandable that he wasn't present.

Ranma walked up to Soun and shook his hand. The Tendo patriarch
wanted to make him stay, but he knew he couldn't do anything, so he just
wailed louder. Ranma dodged the large streams of water that erupted from
Soun's eyes, averting his curse rather well.

Ranma turned to Nabiki, who had red swollen eyes, apparently
from crying late last night. Ranma approached her and held out her hand.
He placed a stack of yen notes in those hands. Nabiki's eyes widened in
surprise, and tried to return it to Ranma, who just shook his head in
amusement.

"I got more of those..." Ranma chuckled.

Leaving the shocked Nabiki's side, he walked up to Shampoo and
Cologne. He bowed slightly, saying, "Sorry, Shampoo. I can never be your
husband, with or without ever finding out about the truth behind my
existence."

Shampoo just kept silent, not knowing how to respond to that.
Cologne merely nodded and said, "I knew that from the start. It has been
fun teaching you, Ranma."

Ranma nodded and turned towards Ukyou. "The arrangement between
the Saotome's and your family cannot be fulfilled. If you want to pursue
it, take it up with Genma. But I just hope that you will still be my
friend. If not, I would still understand."

Ukyou stayed silent for a while. After a short moment, she
nodded to herself and looked into Ranma's eyes and said, "You're my
best friend, Ranchan. That will never change, alien or not."

Ranma beamed happily and hugged his bestfriend, who hugged him
in return.

Ranma then turned to Ryoga, who glared at him in hatred. "Good
riddance to bad trash." Ryoga growled to him.

Ranma just stood there, amused. "Really. I don't care. At least,
an alien like me has more honor than someone like you. Ryoga, I warn you
as early as now, tell Akane everything about you. If not, then live your
life in dishonor. I always thought of you as a friend, a rival... but I
was so wrong. The bread feud, the fight you forfeited... even your
Jusenkyo curse. They're all YOUR fault, P-chan."

Ryoga's fist flew towards Ranma, who calmly caught his hand and
redirected the force of the blow. Ryoga fell forward on his face on the
dirt.

Akane was about to ask about something when she heard Ranma
interrupt. "Ask him about it, Tendo-san. You believe his innocence more
than mine anyway. You'll just say, 'You pervert!' or 'You liar!' or 'Why
can't you be more like Ryoga?'. Well guess what? I'm glad I'm not like
him." Nabiki, Cologne and Shampoo couldn't help but chuckle at Ranma's
remark.

The small pigtailed boy walked to Kasumi and hugged her by the
waist. Kasumi finally broke down and hugged at the boy in desperation.
She lowered her lips to his ears and whispered something. Ranma's eyes
widened as he disengaged from Kasumi, who nodded her head with a blush.
Ranma then kissed her cheek and whispered something back, causing her to
blush deeper.

At the end of his rounds, he took a step back and took out the
Nanban Mirror from his pocket.

Chibi-Ranma took one last look at those people who he lived with
for the past three years of his life. He adjusted the straps of his
backpack, which looked huge that contrasted to his currently small
physique. He didn't feel the need to poke into his eye because he felt
his tears falling down voluntarily. He just waited for the tears to come.
Sure enough, a lone tear streaked down the mended mirror, activating its
power probably for the last time.

He was supposed to wish for the mirror to take him to where the
cure for the growth mushrooms were located, but at the last moment he
felt that he needed something more.

With a sigh, Chibi-Ranma almost whispered, "Take me to a place
where I can never be found, and am needed."

With a bright flash, Chibi-Ranma's body slowly dematerialized in
front of the stunned crowd. He shot them one last look before his face
faded from view. The mirror fell down to the ground and broke into
smaller pieces, making repairs an impossibility.

Trunks sighed and floated in the air after he said his farewell
to the Saotome Matriarch. His aura flared as he shot off, to the
direction of the forest where he could get the privacy he needed to
activate his Time Machine.

The rest of the people left just stared at the spot where Ranma
used to stand on a while ago. Akane broke down and cried her heart out.
Ryoga screamed to the heavens saying something about everything being
Ranma's fault. Soun just cried harder than before. Shampoo left with her
great grandmother Cologne to return to the Nekohanten, for it was a
business day after all. Nabiki just held a quietly sobbing Kasumi in her
arms. Nodoka just stood there silently.

In their minds, there was one thing clear.

Ranma Saotome has left them, probably for good.

=========================================================================== ==

Shimmering stars circled his eyes as his tear reached the
mirror. He gazed sadly at those around him, wondering if he was doing
the right thing. Then it happened, the same familiar feeling that
coursed his being long ago when they used the Nanban Mirror to go back
in time.

'Take me to a place where I can never be found, and am needed.'

That was what he really wished to the mirror. Finally the lights
that surrounded him disappeared.

He also remembered what Kasumi whispered in his ear and blushed.

'I love you so much, Ranma-kun.'

<I never would have guessed it.> Ranma mused.

He felt himself floating in the air.

He started falling down, but then remembered how to fly. His
fast descent halted when he finally activated his ki. Not that he would
be hurt when he fell anyway, but it's best because he might get his
clothes dirty.

Yeah right.

Chibi-Ranma raised his small hand in front of his face and
contemplated while holding it there. His transformed state isn't all
that bad, but the lack of reach as well as the currently imbalanced ki
was a bad sign. Although he still had much much more ki than Ryoga had
now, his current ki was still far off from the original level that he
had achieved. His body couldn't handle the excess power at all. He noted
that his reddish tail was still there, which shrunk together with his
body. He sighed as he banished the sad thoughts in his mind.

He slowly descended to the ground, taking note of everything
around him.

The place looked familiar. A lot of trees were scattered across
the area he appeared into. As he slowly rotated in his position high up
above in the air, he eventually came upon a shrine of some sort. He flew
with a little haste towards the shrine, in a hurry to ask directions.

As he approached the shrine, he saw a rather small sign that
looked old. But that wasn't what caught his attention. What irked him
was what was written on the sign.

Masaki Shrine.

"Grandpa's shrine?" Chibi-Ranma said to himself as he slowly
ascended the long winding path that sloped upwards. He neared the Masaki
House when he caught sight on a quiet old man with black hair that was
tied in a low ponytail, who wore white priest robes and was currently
sweeping the top most area of the road that led to the shrine.

The man stopped his cleaning and looked on the pathway. He
adjusted his spectacles and saw a small boy of about eight to ten years
of age wearing an imitation of a uniform apparel of some school, which
was dark blue shirt with dark blue pants. His waist was wrapped with a
red furry sash. The young boy also had his hair worn into a pigtail,
which caught the old man's fancy. He found some familiarity with the
child, but it was impossible. The boy had an unmistakenly Juraian
energy, or part of it that is.

The man also feels depressed lately, for after quite some two
centuries passed, he now feels quite lonely in this world. After he
finally defeated a demon he chased to this planet all those years ago,
he sealed her up in a cave a few ways from the shrine itself. After
that, he resolved into traveling a bit, planting some of the seeds that
he had in his possession, to remind him of his first love that came with
his demon hunting expedition. Haruna, the woman who accompanied him,
died while they were at reentry into the planet. He traveled around the
world, and gathered as much information as possible. Besides, he can't
go anywhere else, for his space tree, Funaho, nearly got destroyed. He
just replanted the seed in this land. When he came back to the shrine
after a long time, he found out that a priest and some of his followers
took the land and replenished the land. They took care of the of the
trees that he planet real well, and for that he was grateful, though he
didn't voice it. He applied as an additional caretaker, so that he may
bask unto those trees that he missed for so long. The shrine reminded
him of his old world, Jurai.

Looking at the young child in front of him, the man's
experienced eyes could feel the same aura from the newcomer. It was
outworlder's aura.

"Can I help you, child?" The man asked.

Chibi-Ranma seemed to have snapped from his daze. His mouth
opened, but no sounds came out. He wasn't sure what to say. The fact
that his grandfather didn't know who he was quite dampened his spirits.
Couple that with him sporting a currently young body. "D-Do you have a
daughter named Nodoka?" he asked in a small voice. Gone was his rich
dark timbre when his body transformed.

The man shook his head after some thought. "I'm sorry to say,
I'm still quite young to have a wife. Much more, a daughter."

Chibi-Ranma just stood there, shock was reflected from his
expression. "Oh... is that so...?" he softly said to himself, totally
livid of his surroundings as of now.

"Why do you have my Juraian aura?" The other man decided to be
direct, seeing that he should use this tactic to somehow get some
information from the young boy that he needed to confirm his theory.

"W-what? I..." Chibi-Ranma was still suffering from the shock,
but he answered anyway. Well, tried that is.

The priest chuckled. "You're part Juraian, aren't you?"

The boy gawked at the person. He took a nervous step backwards.
"N-no! You... must think I'm crazy or something... I'm sorry... I'd
better go now!" He quickly turned to walk out of the shrine, but a
gnarled old hand landed on his shoulder, compelling him to stay.

"Tell me about it, young one." The man coaxed him. Chibi-Ranma
turned to him with a shocked expression, making him smile. "What? You
think I would not be able to read your aura?"

Chibi-Ranma just sighed, tears starting to form in his eyes.

The man patted Chibi-Ranma's shoulder. "What happened, young
one? Have you traveled back in time? Are you from another dimension? And
lastly, it would seem that this is not your original age."

The boy coughed violently for some reason. "Wh-what? You believe
in those?"

The man just smiled. "Come inside and have some tea for a while.
I want to hear all about it. By the way, my name is Masaki Katsuhito,
and I am the priest of this shrine."

Chibi-Ranma nodded slightly and replied, "Saotome Ranma... just
passing through."

======================================================================== =====

In Heaven, Kami-sama's office...

Skuld just walked into the hollowed halls of the big office,
which was covered with a jungle like setting that always made her think
of why her Father liked it much. After some time, she never knew how
long, she finally came upon the oaken table that loomed on the horizon,
with her Father behind the desk itself.

Kami-sama lay back comfortably on his huge chair, tapping his
chin thoughtfully. He was currently garbed in a dark blue robe, wore a
semi-oval tall hat that matched colors with His robes, and an eyepatch
over his left eye. Rumors speculate that this was his true form.

Skuld took hesitant steps as she slowly approached Kami-sama.
Her thoughts were in the lines of that she had done something wrong that
warranted the attention of her Father, and that she would be punished
for it. Was it because she was hacking Ranma's file?

"YES, SKULD. IT WAS BECAUSE YOU WERE TRYING TO HACK INTO RANMA'S
FILE, EVENTHOUGH I GAVE SPECIFIC ORDERS NOT TO TAMPER WITH IT."

Kami-sama's voice loomed across the darkened room which made
Skuld jump a bit in surprise.

"Uhmm...
I'msorryFatherIdidn'tmeantoIjustfeltsocuriousaboutitI'mverysorry!" Skuld
said frantically in one breath and at the same time bowed and looked
down the marble floor, embarassed.

Kami-sama chuckled loudly, which produced undulating rich
baritone that wafted throughout the room. He patted on his outstretched
knee and gestured Skuld to take her place unto it. Skuld nodded meekly
and quickly padded to the offered knee. She received a boost from
Kami-sama as he sat her on his knee, like a father would do to his
child. Finally He spoke, "IT'S ALRIGHT, SKULD-CHAN. BUT YOU SHOULD
ALWAYS THINK OF WHAT YOU WERE DOING. THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON WHY I
ALLOW AND DISALLOW THINGS." Seeing Skuld nod, He continued, "I WANT TO
TELL YOU A STORY. YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE THREE GODS THAT DEFEATED
THE ANCIENTS LONG BEFORE THERE WAS EVEN MIDGAARD RIGHT?"

Skuld thought for a moment before nodding. She said, "That's
about the gods of Righteousness, Nightmare and Chaos, right Father?"

"THAT IS CORRECT, DAUGHTER." Kami-sama replied. "THAT STORY IS
ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE ONE ABOUT THE FOUR MORTAL GODS THAT ROAM THE
COSMOS. DO YOU REMEMBER THEM?"

Skuld scrunched up her face in an attempt to remember her
lessons back then at the Asgardian school. Her face lit up in
recognition. "Yes Father! Wait... I only remember being taught of three
mortal gods. They were Fate, Destiny, and Death right?"

"THE INFORMATION WAS LEFT INCOMPLETE, BUT IT WAS INTENTIONAL.
THE LAST MORTAL GOD WAS UNPREDICTABLE, FOR HE GOVERNED MOST OF THE
JURISDICTION THAT THE OTHER MORTAL GODS HAD. THE LAST MORTAL GOD WAS
CHAOS ITSELF."

Skuld almost slipped off Kami-sama's knee if she wasn't being
held down by her Father's gentle grip. "B-but... w-what does this have
to do with...?"

"ALL IN GOOD TIME, DAUGHTER. ALL IN GOOD TIME. NOW COME ALONG,
YOU STILL HAVE BUGS TO HUNT, RIGHT?"

"I-I... yes, Father. I'm sorry again for what I did..."

Kami-sama patted Skuld's head before He settled her down the
marble floor once again. "IT'S ALRIGHT, DAUGHTER. NOW GO, YOU STILL HAVE
A JOB TO DO..."

Skuld giggled and bowed to Kami-sama, then she turned and
skip-hopped towards the exit.

After seeing His daughter hopping outside, Kami-sama turned
thoughtful as He looked on the computer screen terminal in front of Him.

"FINALLY..." He said to himself, amidst the darkness of His
office, "IT ALL BEGINS, ONII-CHAN..."

A chuckle echoed across the hallowed halls of Asgard, which made
gods and goddesses shiver a bit.

======================================================================== ==
== To Be Continued... ==
======================================================================== ==

NEXT CHAPTER:

Ranma fell into the far past. But was this still the world he
grew up in? What difference does his presence make in this world? Will
he be able to cure his condition? Does he need it anyways?

Dunno.

Next up! Cooking with Style. China and Food. That's right!
Cooking galore!

See the young and brash Katsuhito... I mean... Yosho! Ranma will
also learn how to use his disguise field. Being a child is a pain, but
at the same time it is an edge. You will find out how he plans on using
the field.

Will Akane ever figure out Ryoga was P-chan?!

Also... some of the main bad guys will be described there.

And... what's up with Kami-sama?!

Guess which anime I hooked up this story to... heheheh.

Just stay tuned and read on.

AUTHOR RANTS:

Whew! Finally done this part.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Hehe... most will be wondering about Ayeka's
current dillema. Think about it, though...

Son of a goddess, versus son of prince.

Not to mention, not at all wimpy. No offense to Tenchi, but he
is too meek for the spitfire princess. Besides, he's already got Ryoko
giving him the willies. And also I think Sasami/Tsunami would be more
appropriate as incoming for that position as his first wife. Anyway,
it's just a 'maybe' you know. I just paved the way for future tie-ins.

You might be wondering why Ranma's curse was activated only a
couple of times or less. To tell you the truth, the curse was affected
when he got in touch with some kami back in the future. Remember the
Kami of Chikyuu, and Bastet?

His luck was affected for some reason, and the bad luck has been
toned down.

He will still change most of the time in the upcoming chapters
at more or less weird situations, although not as often as before. I'm
still wondering whether I would give control of his curse.

Hell, why not? But still, it would be a long time before I would
get to that part. I still enjoy his luck.

Ranma's speech pattern is a bit better from the brash one
before, but he would still have occasional slip-ups and might revert a
bit to that. But it is getting better folks!

About Ranma's sudden blow-up with Akane... well... how would you
react, catching the one you've been pining for two years, killed a god
for, and another two years of waiting lost in time smooching with the
pig, I mean, Ryoga?

Yes, this is the end of the line for Mirai (future) Trunks. But
it's definitely not the end for the DBZ/GT thing. A different person
will accompany Ranma's travels.

Sailor Senshi... too much 'goodness' or preparing a future where
only 'good' exists is a dull place. As the other fanfictions might have
depicted it, I wholeheartedly agree that the Senshi being obsessed in
rebuilding their Crystal Tokyo where all traces of evil are removed will
be a really bad future. How dare they assume that it is for the good of
everyone?! If that was the case, Asgard would've destroyed Nifelheim if
that's the case!

I am a hard believer in balance, and it also helps that my life
has its own sense of chaotic tendencies.

Look, they're not evil, they're just too... goody-two-shoes!

Ranma's relationship with Haruka and Michiru... I just thought
it made sense somewhat. I think I got the idea from one fanfic I got at
Tannim's... I just forgot the title. No need to worry, I'll mention it
in the next chapter. I have to thank the one who thought of Haruka's
lesbian shift was because of her bad experience with a relationship.

In my fic though, and according to what I figured out when I
read Sailormoon comics (original japanese mind you... it was really
hard!), Haruka's lesbianism was actually just borderline Tomboy and
Hatred for Heterosexual relationship. The cause? I didn't want to get
deeper into that one, but I guessed she just had some bad juju with men.

If you wanna comment on that, feel free. But I wanted everyone
to know how I saw it, and it was kinda appropriate in the fic I'm
writing, and to the plot I created.

About Michiru... now she's just along for the ride. In fact, she
plays the 'female' in the relationship, right? So it was easier to
justify her relationship with Ranma, and her reason for the shift of
preference.

Kasumi's parting words to Ranma... surprising? Of course not. If
really thought about, of all the females wasting their energies in
chasing Ranma, Kasumi would have been the right choice eventhough she
didn't take part. Tofu, as far as some depictions I have read, his age
was way too much for Kasumi. Also, as the Ranma series went on, Kasumi's
view of Ranma's immaturity changed somewhat near the end. (Shrugging)

An older woman for Ranma (actually if you think about it, Ranma
and Kasumi are more or less now at the same age... by the Kami! I'm
right! It was an accident I swear!).

Hehe... Chibi-Ranma, hehehehehehe.

Yes, I know. The idea was from the DBGT wish thingie. Well, it's
sorta fun to mess with Ranma. How will he get cured? Stay tuned in that
one...

With regards to the crossover with Tenchi Muyo, I combined the
ideas of Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 and the OAVs and stuff. Dunno how I did
it, but I did! And I got major plot from that! HAH!

Oh yeah! Natsumi finally caught the Striker! Take that, Masked
Idiot of Justice! Hah!

Thanks for reading this.

-Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here:
lord_rance@yahoo.com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my
trusty bucket of cold water!