Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy ❯ Chapter 07d ( Chapter 13 )

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

PATH OF CHAOS

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that
appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know
if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: Remember... the Vandread Universe is gonna be one huge
Alternate Universe. I'm gonna rewrite most of the episodes, maybe even
skip some unimportant ones, but some will still be used.

Xenogears likewise will be an alternate world. But of course, you knew
that already, right?

^_^

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the
violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into
everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http://shi_hanna.tripod.com) and St
Longinus (former email was StLonginus@aol.com, now amesuisei@yahoo.com)
for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): ++

Phone Receiver/Other Electronic Devices: ##

Telepathy: {}

Thoughts: <>

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: []

======================================================================== ==
CHAPTER 7D - THE NEXT FRONTIER: THE PATH THAT LAY BEFORE US
======================================================================== ==

Up in the plane of Heaven, Asgard, or whatever mortals called the
place...

Kami-sama's office was strangely isolated lately, since His declaration
of an emergency that was led to the announcement of the manhunt for
three individuals. On the huge door was an equally huge sign that said,
"To be left alone for a while until further notice."

"Are you sure about this? Are you really going to let them meet?" A
green-eyed woman with a lush figure and a long curly blond hair sat
across the huge darkened oak desk that decorated the room. Her face was
decorated with tattoos, but the most prominent was the star-shaped
tattoo most of all. On her forehead were two gems that glowed in a dull
black color.

Plants and animals were fluttering about the room, which was bathed in a
soft white glow.

The object of her current irritation, the figure in front of her,
stretched his arms a bit as he lay back on the special comfy chair he
had accustomed, the perks of the job, after all.

The mist of disguise slowly melted away from the figure, which before
had the face of a burly man with a beard and mustache, with an eyepatch
over one eye. As the clouds of deception finally receded, he was changed
into a young man with long, pale blue hair that reached up to his lower
back. His ice-blue eyes were soft and inviting. His forehead was decked
with two golden gems. With his transformation complete, he turned to the
woman in front of his desk and smiled, "To tell you the truth Hild-chan,
I hadn't expected this at all."

To say that Hild, grand demon of the forces of Nifelheim, was surprised
would be an understatement. The person in front of her was Kami-sama,
the grand schemer and mastermind of countless unprecedented phenomena in
the universe at large! Surely He would have an inkling of why this has
to happen! Looking into those blue eyes, Hild was taken aback at what
she saw. While outside, Kami-sama, no... Deus was smiling slightly, his
eyes told another thing. There were too many questions in those eyes of
his, and he was as much in the dark as she was regarding the matter.

Clearing her throat, Hild sighed as she said, "I can't believe you,
Deus-chan. What happened to the 'amazing powers' that I hear you use
most of the time?"

Deus, otherwise known as the ultimate Kami of all the multiverses
combined, looked at Hild in exasperation. "Have you forgotten? Ranma IS
Chaos, you know. Even my so-called 'amazing powers' are useless against
someone like him. I can only catch glimpses of what is to come, but the
rest is in his hands."

Hild shook her head. "And to think, Ranma has no idea how his actions
could very well dictate certain futures. I for one would like to see
Chaos-chan again, but do you think his reincarnation's reawakening is
worth it? You even declared Ranma a heretic and a rebel of the forces in
the Universe, right? Along with Belldandy and Luna Inverse... what a
mess..."

Deus stapled his hands in front of his face as he set his elbows on the
table. "I wanted my children to exercise their Free Will. They would
have to choose their own paths by themselves, besides... it is needed...
badly."

The blond-haired woman looked at the Lord of all Creation curiously.
"It's the Titans, right?"

Deus snorted. "If it were only that simple. Sure, the Titans stirred
once again, but did you know that the Shadows are on the move as well?"

"The Shadows?!" Hild all but screamed as she stared at Deus
incredulously. "I thought all these was just to get Chaos back!"

There was something that happened in between the time of the Titan's
defeat in the hands of the unified group of the gods and the creation of
the current universal system they were all in. It was a time where Deus
and Hild were still new at their posts as the foundations of the newly
formed universe. Due to lack of experience in using their powers, Deus
and Hild inadvertly created an altaverse, a world of Shadows where they
existed in pure twisted idealistic thoughts.

Without the Balance to keep everything in check, Deus and Hild's powers
mingled and formed a new universe... one which had a darker theme in it,
not to be confused with dark powers or so. So there it was… a Shadow
universe with its own set of Deus and Hild. It was good that the new
universe was too weak to establish its foothold on anything, as the kami
gathered once again and sealed the two Dark Gods and the whole plane
into another dimension. From then on, they called the two banished Dark
Gods the Shadows, alternate versions of the two prominent figures of the
universe at large.

"That sounds serious." Hild replied a moment after recovering her
composure.

Deus nodded. "It is. Also, I know that you still love him, Hild-chan."

The grand demoness of Nifelheim sputtered and was about to retort when
Deus raised his hand to forestall any replies. Shaking his head, Deus
continued, "You cannot hide your feelings from me. I know you got over
the fact the he died, Hild-chan, but I also could feel the flame inside
your heart that you kept alive for him all these millennia."

"Deus-chan." The Almighty paused in his ranting at Hild's serious voice.
Hild breathed deeply and said, "He's gone, but that doesn't mean that I
forgot about him. I know that you love him as well, although not in so
many similarities with my own feelings. I am with you now, Deus-chan,
and I will never leave you. You know that, right?"

Deus smiled warmly. "Yes, I do. I'm not really angry with that... I just
felt you should know that I know about how you feel, and that it's
alright with me."

Hild sighed. "He will not be the same Chaos we knew. Even if, take note
of the IF, I try to start things up with him again, my feelings wouldn't
be the same for his reincarnated body. He's not really Chaos, he's
Ranma, son of Tokimi. Besides, there is already a long line of powerful
women after his sorry ass, I wouldn't want to be in the way IF ever."

Deus looked at Hild and chuckled. "Isn't that right, huh?"

Hild joined Deus in the mirth as they continued to look into the foggy
scene of Ranma's life.

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

In the Nirvana...

"What? You will go back to the planet's surface? Why?" Magno asked the
pigtailed boy in front of him as he asked permission to go back to the
planet.

Ranma fidgeted nervously as everyone's attention was riveted on him. He
breathed in deeply as he replied, "There is something left for me to do
in that planet. There's something that was calling me... and it needed
my help. At least that's what the Paeksis told me."

"I still can't believe it's alive." Parfait mumbled loudly. She was
still recovering from the experience of a fiercely glowing Paeksis when
she loudly declared her disbelief on the theory Washuu and Ranma
explained to her. The Paeksis seemed to have taken the statement
personally and has somehow showed its displeasure. Parfait and the rest
of her engineers were forced to agree on the notion, though.

"I'll go with him." Washuu added to the side as she stood behind Ranma.

Vanilla stepped forward. "I will go as well." This caused the other
members of the Galaxy Angels to react.

"Vanilla-san! You don't have to do that! This is already beyond our
contract!" Mint said despairingly.

Ranpha looked at Vanilla incredulously. "You still want to go down to
that down-trodden planet? Don't you think it's too much just to get to
your man?"

Everyone looked at Ranpha curiously, who blushed and waved the comment
off.

"How romantic!" Milfeuille said giddily, with hearts forming in her eyes
as she clasped her hands together underneath her chin. "It's like the
love story I watched in Channel 128!"

Ranpha glanced at Milfeuille. "You mean to tell me you've been watching
that soap opera as well?"

The pink haired girl nodded vigorously. "Of course!"

"Ahem. Anyway, are you sure about this, Vanilla?" Forte asked Vanilla
seriously.

Vanilla wordlessly handed a rolled up piece of paper to Mint, which came
from one of the pockets in Vanilla's white uniform. Mint just looked
confused as she stared at the parchment handed to her. She unrolled it
and read the whole thing, her face slowly contorting into surprise as
she read on. When she finished, she nailed her horrified expression on
Vanilla, who just looked back at her steadily.

Getting impatient at the pause, Forte grabbed the piece of parchment
from Mint's nerveless fingers. Her own eyes widened when she finally
read the entire contents of the letter. She read it again just to be
sure, since whatever was written in that piece of paper was a severe
case.

"Y-You... you're going to r-resign your post in... the Galaxy Angels?!"
Mint all but shouted as she stood up frantically. The people around them
gasped, as the rest of the Galaxy Angels blanched at the news. Even
Milfeuille's face screwed up in shock as she heard the news.

The pale cyan-haired girl with red eyes did not even bat an eyelash.
"Yes, I am going to resign." she said seriously. Her white headset was
already removed, her ponytail was still tied up high though.

"But... WHY?! Don't tell me it's God's will or something... because it's
just not logical!" Mint demanded.

Vanilla just stared at her. "Because... this is what I want. I want to
resign, not because someone told me to do so, but because it is MY
will."

Mint slumped down to her seat in defeat. Forte leaned forward wearily
and said, "Are you sure this is what you want? The order may be delayed
for a while, since we're too far away from Headquarters. There can only
be two choices here, first they might let you go freely, the second they
might demand you make an appearance to make it official. I feel that you
won't come back with us, right?"

Vanilla nodded at Forte's assumption. "That is correct, Forte-san. I
will remain Ranma-sam... -san from now on."

Forte raised an eyebrow at the slip.

Mint shook her head tiredly. "We will talk about this after you get back
from the surface, alright?"

Vanilla only nodded.

"AHEM!" Everyone turned to BC, who was glowering on her seat as she
furiously tapped her fingers on the table. "You talk about that later,
right now we have to deal with Ranma's request first!"

"You have my permission." Magno rubbed her temples in askance. All the
shouting was grating her nerves.

Ranma nodded in appreciation, while Washuu beamed a dazzling smile,
happy that she will be able to go down and gather data from that third
Paeksis Plagma that has escaped her grasp.

"I want to go as well." Meia announced as she looked at Magno seriously.

Barnette was first to comment about it. "What?! Why would you want to go
too, Meia?!"

"I'm rather curious as well." Magno said off-handedly, bit inwardly she
was laughing real hard at the implications. It seems that the old
teachings of the old women from Mejer were slowly melting away from her
crew's mentality.

Meia tried to say something, but was rather surprised when no sounds
came out of her mouth. Frankly speaking, she has no idea why she wanted
to go down the planet with Ranma and the others. She paused to think
about everything, as to why she was feeling this way, while Magno
patiently waited for her explanation. Actually, Magno was more of
waiting for Meia to figure out what she really was feeling and if she
will follow through it.

After an awkward silence fell to the room, Magno finally nodded and
replied, "You can go, Meia."

"WHAT?!" The rest of the crew that were present shouted as they started
to ask questions at the same time. It all stopped when Magno raised her
hand in the air to get their attention.

Magno shrugged nonchalantly. "We need to keep an eye on them, and who to
send better than Meia? Okay, maybe BC, but I need the subcommander here.
So go already."

Meia smiled brightly while Ranma sighed behind her. Vanilla's brow was
twitching slightly and Washuu's smirk was more pronounced.

"By the way..." Washuu commented, walking over to Meia and handing her a
small earplug-like device, "Put this in your ear later when we land in
the planet's surface. This will help will you with the language barrier.
You may not talk much with it, but at least you will understand what
everyone's talking about right?"

Meia just nodded gratefully at the redhead.

Yes, this is going to be very interesting.

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

While Ranma and his four man (uhmm... okay... they're
one-man-three-women actually) team prepared themselves for their descent
on the planet's surface once again, a lot has already happened to Fei
and his group when they entered Mahanon.

Soon as they entered the newly surfaced colony ship, they encountered a
life form that nearly regenerates every damage it gets. It took their
team a long time before defeating the large insectoid monster, which
seemed to radiate authority over the whole Mahanon. When they finally
finished it and went forward, they came upon a grove of some sort.

It was Razael Tree, home to the cache of ancient wisdom created by god.
Citan went out of his Gear and carefully examined the whole thing. It
was huge, and it was real obvious that it had a lot of information
regarding who they were and what they were supposed to do. Citan sighed
to himself, remembering Ranma's words about them being not resident in
this world. It seems that the Chu-Chu were the actual residents of the
planet, and the humans stole it from them.

They haven't been long there before multitudes of Gears clearly not
their own apparently encountered them. It was... THEM.

"[Ah, the hidden data from Razael's Tree. Move away from there. This
matter is too weighty for the likes of you.]" The dirty white-haired man
slowly walked towards the area, being followed by the procession of
Gears that protected him. It was Krelian, and Fei remembered him from
the Solaris Headquarters before.

It was understandable that Fei was visibly agitated. "[We must protect
it with our lives! We can't let them have the Razael data!]"

Citan shouted to Fei. "[You handle them! I will try and extract as much
data as I am able to! If anything goes wrong, I will destroy this
place!]"

Fei grunts his affirmative as he willed his Gear to fight, but someone
suddenly appeared in front of them, the odds of the battle looked bleak
as the figure manifested himself.

It was a menacing-looking Alpha Weltall.

Knowing the Gear by heart, Fei figured who they were about to battle
next.

Inside his own Omnigear, Grahf smirked as Fei and his group all jumped
on him. He was going to have some fun.

It was a brutal and short battle, with Fei and the rest being the
underdogs. The power the Alpha Weltall wielded as of the moment was
decimating them utterly.

In the end, they all fell in the hands of Grahf.

After the short fight, Grahf came out of his Omnigear and walked up to
the downed Weltall 2 and snorted, "[I guess that's all you can take for
now. Are you frustrated? But that is... 'only natural'. After all, you
are imperfect.]"

Fei groused from his near-unconsciousness. "[Imperfect?!]"

Grahf chuckled a bit. "[Yes. You are lacking now. The absence of wrath
is an impediment to you utilizing your true strength!]"

Fei blanched within his Gear. "[W-Wrath...?]"

Grahf nodded. "[The drive to massacre and annihilate, the compulsion to
destroy your opponent... Such wrath is power for the soul! By
eliminating your foe, you attain your first sublimation of that drive.
It is this very sublimation that draws out the hidden powers within
oneself! But, clinging to reason... suppressing your wrath and desire
makes releasing your true power a dream within a dream for you. You
already know this. When wrath appeared in your heart, the machine
responded, did it not? What drew out such power from your machine was
truly the drive of your soul... it was your 'Id'. The sign of the
purpose you've been seeking... the mark of a natural born assassin!]"

"[You're wrong! That's absolutely untrue! I... I am not 'Id'! I...]" Fei
shook his head at the numbing feeling of helplessness.

Grahf glowed red a bit as he said morosely. "[The time has come... I'll
take your soul, and draw its power out to the limit!]"

"[Enough!]"

Grahf turned to the approaching figures of Krelian and someone in
executioner-type clothing. "[Huh? What are you stopping me for?]"

Krelian shook his head. "[He is bait. If you kill the bait, the precious
bird we wish to capture will fly away. You know... a very important
bird... 'Needed to fulfill my earnest desire'... You understand don't
you, Lacan...?]"

Grahf was silent for a bit before answering, "[Suit yourself.]" He
quickly disappeared as the Alpha Weltall reactivated once again, leaving
the area to Krelian, the figure, and the downed Gears.

Krelian looked at the damaged Gears impassively. "[We shall crucify
them… in the land of Golgoda, to the west of here. Collect all the
broken Gears!]"

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

When Fei and the others arrived at the deepest part of Mahanon, Elly was
looking after the newly mutating people in Nisan. It was a really
grueling day, and it seemed that they were fighting a losing battle. But
hope flared still in the hearts of Elly and Margie as they waited for
their friends and beloved to return from their quest. It was then that a
familiar ship reappeared from the sky and landed in a nearby patch of
green land beside the town.

Elly and Margie led their entourage of some soldiers as they traveled to
the landing site. Sure enough, it was the same ship that had docked in
the Yggdrasil only a few hours ago, or was it days already? Elly had no
idea, since she was so busy trying to comfort those who were turned into
mutants that she had forgotten about the time that passed.

Her musings were broken when the outer door of the craft slowly opened,
revealing four figures. The guards tightened the holds on their
respective weapons as the figures descended from the ship.

Margie squinted her eyes as she decided to get a better look by
strutting nearer to the transport. As she got in the vicinity where she
could recognize the faces of the newcomers, she gasped.

"[R-Ranma-san?!]" Margie said out loud as her pace slowly quickened.

Elly was understandably surprised as well. She hadn't expected the
extra-terrestrials to come back to the planet after they left some time
ago.

A familiar pigtailed boy in a dark blue long-sleeved ensemble with a
matching dark blue pants that was tied with red ribbons at the ankle
area glided out of the entrance of the ship. His red tail was already
unfurled from his waist and was waving side to side behind him. On his
arms was that weird animal that was always near the boy, a sleeping
Rin-Ohki. Following the young man were three other girls, two were quite
young around twelve years of age or so while the other was in her teens.

One of the younger girls was the one they already met… the red-eyed
Vanilla. The other was a mystery to them, one who has fiery red hair
that seem to stick out all over the place and has a pattern of a crab.
Her green eyes were sparkling as she looked around the area they have
landed in with glee. Her childish clothes were almost similar to
Margie's, oversized shorts and all. The older girl was also met with
already, the one named Meia. Ranma had introduced her as a battle
tactician. Elly shook off her thoughts as she started to follow Margie
closely.

Ranma smiled a bit as he recognized two of the people coming towards
them. He was worried that all of them went to whatever place they had to
investigate. Ranma just knew misinterpretations would lead them to
trouble if no one vouched for them.

"[Elly, Margie...]" Ranma called out as he led his small group to the
ground.

"[Ranma! What are you doing back here? I thought...]" Elly began as she
approached the group.

Ranma chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "[Well...
uhm... would you believe it's unfinished business? Vanilla and Meia
insisted that they come...]" Brief nods came from behind Ranma. He was
interrupted when a nudge from his side distracted him. He glanced back
and saw Washuu's pouting face.

The pigtailed boy sweated, his tail twitched ever so slightly, "[Oh! You
haven't met this one yet. Uhmm... Margie, Elly, meet Washuu, a
scientist. Washuu... errr chan, meet Elly and Margie, members of the
group that helped us before with the supplies.]"

Washuu smiled widely. "[You forgot the greatest scientist in the
universe, Ranma-chan!]" Two puppets appeared on her shoulders showering
confetti everywhere, much to Ranma's dismay and the others' surprise.

Elly shook her head. "[Okay. Anyway, let's continue this discussion in
the town, shall we?]"

With nods of agreement, everyone was led back into the town of Nisan.
When they entered the overpopulated town, Ranma and his group, Washuu in
particular, was awed and at the same time horrified at the sight before
them. The transformations were instantaneous even as they stood there,
since several of the people crowding themselves inside Nisan were
transforming into mutants. Washuu quickly transversed to the group
before anyone could stop her, not minding the fact that the mutants
smelled her flesh as they staggered towards her. Elly and Margie were
about to call out to her when one of the mutants leapt to Washuu. The
green-eyed redhead paid no attention to the scene, since a red
bubble-like shield flickered into life as the mutant neared her body
with its outstretched claws. The mutant that got into contact with
Washuu's shield was surprised when the red wall did not even relent to
its powerful lunge as it was flung back after it was shocked with a
decent amount of electricity.

Ranma smacked his forehead and groaned. "[I kinda forgot to tell
everyone. Washuu has special abilities as well, so we don't have to
worry about her much, just take note of her because she might go
overboard with her tests.]" he said loudly, looking at the crouching
form of Washuu as she silently reassured one of the mutants that she
meant no harm. Maybe she wanted to test the phenomenon and make some
antidotes for it, Ranma had no idea. But as of now, he trusted her
enough when it comes to science, since she IS one of the best in the
area.

Seeing her friends' bewildered looks, Elly sighed sadly as she
explained, "[I'm sorry that you have to witness this. As you can see,
something is definitely happening to cause this drastic change among the
populace. The removal of the limiters should've just let humans reach
their full potentials, but this was unprecedented. The others not
affected by this change were helping Margie and me placate the people
that changed. But as time passed, a lot more people that were changed
were still coming into Nisan.]"

Vanilla nodded understandingly. "[That is bad.]"

Elly just shrugged and winced as she stretched her back a bit.

Margie looked at the older woman worriedly. "[Are you okay? You haven't
had any rest, have you? I can handle things on my own for a while. Why
don't you go out for a walk?]"

Elly shook her head gently. "[Thank you. But I'll be alright. I'd rather
keep busy, so that I won't worry about things too much.]"

Margie nodded. Her eyes widened when she spotted something familiar on
Elly's chest. "[Is that it? Hey! Elly, what's that?]" she asked,
pointing to the redhead's chest.

"[This?]" Elly asked as she fingered the silvery crucifix dangling on
her neck.

"[Nice necklace, although I saw it on Fei's neck before...]" Ranma said
thoughtfully.

"[Can I see it? Just as I thought. It's the Pendant of Nisan. But, why
do you have it, Elly?]" Margie asked as she let go of the cross.

Elly smiled slightly at Ranma. "[You're right, it's Fei's. I'm holding
on to it for him, but it feels as if I have always worn it...]"

Margie eyed the jewelry a lot more. "[Hmm... when you wear that, you
look even more like Sophia!]" she triumphantly declared.

"[Sophia?]" Vanilla asked plainly as she looked at Margie.

"[Sophia's a former Mother Superior of Nisan. She's a heroine in most
legends, and some rumors says that I'm her reincarnation.]" Elly told
Vanilla. She turned slightly to regard Margie. "[Really? Hmm... flattery
won't get you anything, you know? Anyway, we need to hurry up and test
the new mutation suppressant assemblers on those other people there. We
can't afford to have them change any further. Ah!]"

The others watched fascinated as the pendant was detached from its chain
and falls down on the ground. Before it came to contact with the hard
surface, Ranma grabbed it in midair. He held the thorny cross to Elly's
shivering hands.

"[Oh no...]" Elly paled, eyeing the damaged pendant in her hand,
"[Something has happened to Fei and the others!]"

Before she could turn and run out of the area, Ranma held her back with
his hand on her shoulder and urged her to calm down.

"[But...]" Elly tried to protest but the look on Ranma's face shot her
down.

"[You need to calm down first.]" Margie implored Elly as she stood
beside Ranma.

Elly slumped into Ranma's lone outstretched arm and shuddered. "[I...]"

Ranma sighed as he held the distraught girl into his arm, careful not to
disturb Rin-Ohki's rest. "[Where do you need to go?]"

Elly looked up to his face, her eyes full of seriousness and
determination. "[We have to go to Shevat. If anyone can help us, Queen
Zephyr can.]"

"[Shevat?]" Washuu asked curiously as she and Meia followed the
departing group. Vanilla was already in front chatting with Margie about
certain things regarding their world.

Elly nodded. "[Shevat has a highly advanced civilization that recently
made contact with us. It's a whole flying city, complete with docks and
everything. The people there are very intelligent and their queen was
said to be hundreds of years old. One of the members of our group came
from that town.]"

Washuu smile appreciatively. "[I see. That's good, since I need to
examine the technology here before we go about our business. I also
found some interesting things from the mutant outbreak. Don't worry,
I'll figure out a way to fix the damages and hope that the transformed
people can be reverted back to their normal selves.]"

After boarding the shuttle Ranma's small group used to descend from
space, Elly told Meia the exact coordinates of where Shevat will pass by
so that they can dock with it. Elly's own small group consisted of
Margie and Primera, since the rest were either left to fend for
themselves in Nisan or they were with Fei. Right now the focus of her
mind was to make contact with Queen Zephyr and ask for her counsel,
since her instincts were telling her something went wrong with the
operation Fei was in.

"Would you look at that!" Meia exclaimed as a gigantic looming
saucer-shaped ship was spotted on the horizon. She was so surprised that
she asked the question in her native tongue, therefore none of Elly's
group understood her question.

Vanilla looked back to Elly and her companions, translating, "[She was
surprised to see the city.]"

Elly's face visibly brightened. "[I see! Yes... Shevat is amazing isn't
it?]"

"[Yes... truly amazing. I can see four field generators all over the
place, and if I guessed right it's for the massive shield.]" Washuu's
eyes twinkled in glee as she watched the large shape approach their
craft.

A rather loud growl was heard behind them, making them jump slightly in
surprise. They looked behind them and saw Ranma clutching at his stomach
with one hand, a pitiful look was on his face. On his other arm,
Rin-Ohki was awake and was staring at the noisemaker that managed to
scare her.

"[I'm hungry.]" Ranma whined. Meia smacked her forehead with her palm
while Washuu and Vanilla giggled. Elly, Margie and even Primera
sweatdropped heavily.

"[Miyah.]" Rin-Ohki sighed.

Ranma bristled. "[Hey! I haven't eaten lately you know!]"

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

The welcome in Shevat was warm and friendly, although most of the
citizens were eyeing Ranma and his companions with a little bit of
suspicion. It wasn't everyday that some outsiders would come and visit
their floating city fortress just like that. But they were quite
placated once they heard they were in good terms with Bart and his crew.

Washuu visibly restrained herself from frolicking all over the place and
flutter around the technology present around her like a hyperactive
butterfly on sugar-high. It just wouldn't do if she'd get thrown out
before she got to examine the machinery.

Meia was a bit impressed at what she saw. For something this big to
generate a shield for this long was something short of extraordinary.
According to what Elly explained earlier back in the ship, the city of
Shevat always had their shields on, circling all over the skies of this
planet like a wanderer. The energy needed for that would be huge, and
the people of Shevat being able to achieve it are amazing.

Vanilla on the other hand was non-plussed. Her travels all over the
quadrants of galaxies exposed her to the more advanced technology
anyway. It was no big deal at all.

Rin-Ohki was still asleep, who for some reason was trying to gather
enough energy to transform. She had told Ranma telepathically that they
might need her ship form soon, even if she still hasn't finished
constructing it. Even for a little while, she wanted to transform if the
need arose.

Their combined group was finally led to the uppermost part of the city,
after their ship had landed on the bottom floors within Shevat's docking
bay. They came upon two huge doors, which was to be connected to the
chambers of Shevat's queen. With a loud groan, their escorts, allowing
them to transverse the short hallway that led to the audience room
opened the large doors to them.

The huge chamber that was said to be where they will meet the queen
entranced them. Huge semi-transparent films covered the area in front of
them. Ranma narrowed his brows a bit as he felt some weird power vibes
beyond the covers. He glanced at his side, and saw Washuu's own intense
expression as she tried to penetrate the covers with her stare.

Slowly, the flimsy cover separated from each other, exposing a small
child in white robes. Her headdress was complicated in design, and even
though her body was of a small child's her eyes reflected age and
experience.

"[Queen Zephyr...]" Elly stepped forward and bowed slightly, followed by
Margie and Primera. Ranma, Washuu, Meia and Vanilla just looked on.

"[Be at ease, Elhaym. You are among friends.]" Zephyr's childish voice
echoed across the huge room. The queen beckoned them to approach her
throne, to which they complied. Once they have stepped up to the throne
area, Zephyr nodded her head as she gazed on Elly, giving the strangers
a passive glance. "[What do you need from me, Elhaym?]"

Elly bowed her head once again. "[Your majesty, as you may have known,
Fei and the others went into newly resurfaced Mahanon...]"

Queen Zephyr sighed. "[Yes, I know. I saw their flagship, the
refurbished Yggdrasil, fly towards the old ship. Tell me, have you had
any word from them?]"

Elly shook her head slightly. "[No, your majesty. And I fear that
something bad happened to them. Call it, women's intuition, but my
insides are aching right now because of that feeling.]"

"[I see.]" Queen Zephyr's eyes flicked towards Ranma, who was looking
around in boredom. A small redhead was typing at something that was
floating out of thin air, while the blue-haired girl was looking at her
curiously. The cyan haired girl was indifferent at the proceedings,
however. "[Are these your friends, Elhaym?]" the queen gestured to the
lot.

Alarmed, Elly straightened as she shot Ranma and his group a look of
apology before turning back to Queen Zephyr. "[It must've slipped my
mind to introduce them, your majesty, please forgive me.]"

Zephyr raised her hand in the air to forestall any more apologies from
Elly. "[I understand your worries, Elhaym.]"

Elly smiled gratefully. "[They say they're from the off-world. We
accidentally ran into them after they landed in the forest near Nisan.]"

"[Off-world? Do you mean from beyond the skies? As in outer space?]"
Zephyr asked in interest.

Elly and her group took on a surprised look. Washuu on the other hand
became curious. "[You know about it?]"

Zephyr nodded. "[Somehow, I knew that this planet wasn't our original
home world. The presence of the old ship that just resurfaced proved
that. Besides, there are also the original inhabitants of this planet,
the Chu-Chu, to take account into.]" Her face turned to a serious
expression. "[Now tell me, who are you people?]"

Little Washuu's gaze made Zephyr a bit nervous, but she took it in stride.
The smaller redhead finally responded, "[I am Washuu Hakubi, the
greatest scientist in the Universe!]" This statement was followed by the
puppet show, the paper confetti thingies, then the cackling. After
realizing that everyone was now sweatdropping at her performance, Washuu
coughed in her hand to disguise the exasperation in her tone. "[Well,
anyway... you can call me Washuu-chan. The small girl at my side is
Vanilla Ash, a member... oh pardon me. She was a former member of the
Galaxy Angels group. The young lady on my right is Meia Gisborn, leader
of a pilot team from our ship.]" She glanced at the queen, who to her
dismay was already ignoring her. Instead, the child was staring intently
at Ranma, who already started to fidget a bit as his tail lashed a bit
at his back.

"[You! Who are you, young man?!]" Queen Zephyr asked urgently as she
stared at Ranma, particularly the gems that was imbedded on his
forehead. On his arms was a weird looking animal that seemed to ignore
everything around it as its ears flicked a bit for a moment.

"[Uhhmm...]" Ranma was taken aback by the sudden outburst from the
seemingly stoic queen. Behind him, it seemed that he was not the only
one, since the others, even Elly and her companions, had a shocked look
on their faces as they stared alternately between Ranma and Queen
Zephyr. Ranma swallowed as he replied, "[Uh... Ranma Saotome... and...
this is my partner, Rin-Ohki.]" He finished lamely, mentally smacking
himself for reacting that way.

"[You're... you... you should not exist! Your whole existence is...]"
Zephyr stuttered. "[You're not human!]"

"[Oh... THAT.]" Ranma sweated as Washuu, Vanilla and Meia gave him
alarmed looks.

Margie on the other hand was confused. "[So what if he's not human? He's
a mutant, so what?]"

Zephyr's gaze snapped to Margie, eyeing the small girl with seriousness
as well as a tinge of fear in them. "[You don't understand. He's not
human, nor a mutant. He's a higher entity than that!]"

"[Ranma.]" The clear but firm voice of Washuu broke the trail of
conversation, as it escalated into the line of questioning Ranma
would've been nervous of. Intent on relieving his unknowing nephew,
Washuu continued, "[Please get some fresh air. You look... pale.]"

Ranma was about to complain, but stopped himself in time. Sure, he can
be so dense at times that Ryoko threatened to throttle him each time she
took the pleasure of sleeping inside his sleeping bag whenever she can
during those trips they took. Washuu's intent was clear in her eyes as
she gazed at him pleadingly. With a nod, Ranma quietly turned and went
out of the same huge doors he went into.

"[Vanilla-chan, Meia-chan, please follow Ranma and keep him company,
will you? I need to clarify a few things with our... hosts.]" Washuu
went on after watching Ranma disappear from the doors. Without another
word, the two aforementioned retraced Ranma's steps briskly, leaving the
room in the same fashion as Ranma did before.

"[Miss Washuu? Why did you make Ranma leave this room?]" Elly asked
nervously as she glanced at the suddenly serious redhead. The scientist
was in child form, but the intense fire in her eyes seemed to be
complimenting the fiery color her hair had.

If possible, Queen Zephyr looked more panicked than before. "[I was
right, wasn't I? Not only do we have the Godslayer, but that boy... that
boy is...]"

"[But of course he is.]" Washuu calmly retorted as everyone's attention
went to her. "[Ranma is the son of a Chuushin Megami, a goddess.]"

Elly was shocked to say the least. "[W-W-What?!]"

Margie boggled at the thought. "[A... goddess? You're kidding right?]"

"[Goddess...]" Zephyr breathed out of her mouth as her eyes widened.
"[And... and I...]"

Primera just looked confused. Her brother didn't mention anything about
goddesses having children before.

Washuu snorted slightly, glaring at the now sullen Queen Zephyr. "[I
have no idea how you can detect it, but that young man over there hasn't
been trained to hide it yet. But it shouldn't be that obvious. How did
you detect it?]"

Zephyr sighed. "[I'm... really not that young. I'm really five hundred
and twenty-two years old. Through the years I've seen hardships and
pains that most humans shudder to think about. I know how to read
people's life forces. That's how I came to know of Fei's heritage even
before he spoke. You do know of him, don't you? He's the Godslayer...]"

Washuu shook her head. "[Ranma met him, as well as the others, but I
didn't yet. Anyway, I'm a LOT older than you, and know much more about
pain than you can ever imagine.]"

"[But...]" Elly gestured lamely to Washuu's body. "[You're... at least
twelve or something.]"

"[What? This?]" Washuu's body suddenly grew along with her clothes,
gaining height and curves in her body until she reached the approximate
age of twenty. "[Things do not appear what they seem. Besides, your
queen is in a child's body as well, so why does this get you into
shock?]"

"[Amazing...]" Zephyr gaped at the sight.

Elly and Primera just stared hard at the now adult Washuu, while Margie
sulked as she looked between Washuu's grown body and hers in jealousy.

Washuu banished her adult body as she shrank back to the twelve-year-old
redhead earlier. "[It may not look like it, but Ranma's my nephew. And
before you ask, his mother is my sister, Tokimi.]"

Zephyr stood from her throne. "[You mean...!!!]"

Washuu nodded nonchalantly. "[Former goddess... until I decided to go
mortal nearly twenty-five thousand years ago. Yes, I'm more than a drop
of the age you claim to be really old. Ranma is somewhere in five
thousand I think, if temporal mechanics is applied. But he doesn't know
that yet. All he knows is that he's somewhere in his forties or
something.]"

"[Y-You mean...]" Elly began as she stuttered, "[We've been in the
presence of gods and goddesses?]"

Washuu laughed lightly. "[Ranma is mortal like me. His father was a
mortal I believe, according to what I gather from his story when he was
flung into our time. His father was one of the species that was depicted
as planet destroyers.]"

Zephyr finally got her bearings back and slumped down her throne. "[I...
I don't know what to say. Gods? Goddesses? Time-travel?]"

Elly's eyes glazed. "[Ranma... a divine...]"

Washuu just glared at them. "[Don't treat Ranma any different just
because of this. He doesn't want to be treated like that. Instead, treat
him normally like how you'd have treated your friends. Friendship is
important for him, since his own past was filled with betrayals and
lies. He's lonely enough as it is, would you aggravate that with this?]"

Zephyr slowly shook her head. "[No... that is most unfortunate. Such a
burden for someone as innocent as him. I... I'm sorry if I reacted badly
to the news... I...]"

"[Me too...]" Elly smiled sadly. "[I know what it feels like to be
lonely. I don't want any of my friends to feel that way.]"

"[I want to be his friend.]" Margie said with determination. Primera
nodded in agreement with the Holy Mother of Nisan.

A knock broke their conversation as Ranma tentatively peeked through the
small opening of the door when he pushed it open. "[Uhhmmm.... excuse
me, but there's some news.]"

Washuu smiled warmly at him. "[What is it, Ranma-chan?]"

Ranma gulped as he saw the varying looks he received from the females at
present, especially Queen Zephyr. The child queen was almost ready to
cry. "[A transmission arrived from someone named Krelian, and...]" Ranma
trailed off as he winced at what he was about to report.

"[Krelian? Fei! Are they alright?!]" Elly asked frantically as she
almost ran towards Ranma.

"[Eeep!]" Ranma almost backpedaled, but stood firm as he pushed the door
open all the way. "[W-Wait! Yes, this is about Fei and the others, but
it's not good...]"

"[Quit stalling, Ranma-chan.]" Washuu deadpanned.

Ranma nodded frantically. "[Okay... ah... Fei and the others have been
captured, and were taken in this place called Golgoda in Mahanon.
They're waiting for Elhaym Van Houten to... uhm... go there in exchange
for their lives. That's it.]" He breathed out as he was done in his
narrative.

"[This is... dire news.]" Zephyr said sadly as she watched the emotions
playing on Elly's face.

The former Solarian operative firmed her resolve as she said, "[Queen
Zephyr, I need permission to go and use the last Omnigear in Shevat, the
El-Regrs.]"

The others were quite surprised at her request. "[Are you sure about
this, Elhaym?]" Zephyr asked plaintively.

"[Yes.]" Elly's face was firmed with determination.

Ranma shot Washuu with a look, and the redhead nodded empathetically at
the hidden message in that stare.

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

Elhaym Van Houten, former Solaris operative and now a member of the
rebel militia that toppled the Solaris nation itself, supervised her
Gears final check-up as she prepared to go after Fei. Footsteps from
behind caused her to swivel around. She watched expectantly as her
former subordinates from the elite group in Solaris approached her with
pensive looks.

"[Are you serious about going it alone?]" Renk asked his former superior
officer as he eyed the magnificent Gear being refueled.

Elly nodded as she looked back to the El-Regrs. "[Krelian told me to
come by myself. I can't afford to break the agreement. So, please, stay
behind and protect everyone here.]"

Helmholz looked pleadingly at Elly. "[But it's a trap!]"

Elly sighed and closed her eyes when she replied, "[I know.]"

Stratski was boggled at the logic. "[Then why?]"

"[If I do not go, Fei and them will be executed for sure.... Krelian
isn't concerned with anyone else but me.]" The red-haired woman
explained patiently.

"[So what makes you think he's going to hold his part of the bargain? Do
you have any way of knowing that you will definitely save your friends
by doing this?]" Renk pointed out.

Elly shook her head in a negative. "[No...]"

"[Then it's suicide!]" Vance shouted in indignation, furious at the lack
of concern of Elly's face.

Elly on the other hand just shrugged slightly. "[It might be. But, I've
made it this far because of Fei and the others... because they accepted
me as their friend.]"

Renk gestured around him. "[If you go away... what about us...? What
about all the people who have assembled in Nisan that you leave behind?
Everyone's depending on you for their spiritual support.]"

Elly smiled wistfully. "[The people in Nisan will be fine. They can
stand on their own feet without any support from me... this is also true
of you all, right?]"

Broyer was infuriated. "[But why do you do so much for him...?]"

"[I don't know... I guess it's a woman's prerogative to be selfish...
perhaps.]" Elly placed her hand on her chest, just where the heart
should be.

Helmholz looked skeptical. "[A woman's prerogative...?]"

Elly nodded. "[I'm not a holy woman of any sort. I'm just a regular
woman. I get angry... I cry... I laugh... Although at times I can resent
others, I also know how to love others... Loving whole masses of people
at times... and loving just one person the rest of the time... I am in
supreme bliss when the man that I love embraces me. Giving what I have
to him, and receiving what he gives to me, we become one flesh... That
is the moment when I am most at piece. It is my prerogative as a woman
to simply want to save the man that I love!]"

Her subordinates' faces softened.

"[Boss...]" Vance whispered under his breath.

Elly's eyes watered as she looked at her former teammates. They are now
her friends. "[I'm sorry ... for saying such selfish things... I'll go
and do all that I can do for my friends. So I want you all to do
whatever it is you can do for our friends here.]"

Everyone fell silent afterwards.

Elly was finally informed by one of the engineers that the repairs and
refueling of the El-Regrs was finished. She nodded back to her group and
declared, "[Well, I had better get going now...]"

Without looking back, Elhaym Van Houten boarded the El-Regrs and went
out of the Shevat Hangar at full speed.

As Elly's former troop members stared helplessly at the departing Gear,
a voice suddenly said, "[Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her.]"

The men turned around and saw a young boy with a red tail looking at the
departing Gear warily. In his arms was a small rabbit-like animal that
seemed to be glancing at the departure as well.

"[How will you be able to do that? But more importantly, who the hell
are you?!]" Renk demanded as he closed in on the boy. He stopped however
when the boy leveled him with a gaze.

"[I'm a friend.]" He said enigmatically. "[You just have to trust me.]"

With those words, he disappeared suddenly, catching the group off-guard.

Elly piloted El-Regrs to Golgoda. She hadn't noticed the shadow that was
following her from behind the Gear. Inside the ominous cavern, she found
all her friends' Gears on crucifixes. She walked up to Krelian and
Miang, who were in their Omnigears, Amphysvena and Opiomorph.

Citan, who was currently in his own Omnigear Fenris, stared
incredulously at the beautiful Gear the he knew Sophia of the old times
piloted before she died. "[Elly?!]"

Fei however was livid in apprehension. "[You idiot! Why did you come
here?! Krelian's after you! Forget about us! Run and save yourself!!]"

Elly cleared her throat as she spoke calmly. "[I came as I was told. I'm
the only one you need... they have nothing to do with this. So let Fei
and the others go!]"

Krelian laughed with glee as he listened to Elly's demand. "[How gallant
you are, Elhaym. It's as if 'that scene from the past has been brought
back to life in the present'. So, you came in an Omnigear. That to is...
'her Gear'. Hmm... allow me to confirm something.]"

Out of the shadows came two Executioner Gown-type Gears. They both
stepped forward until they were in front of the outnumbered El-Regrs.

"[I'll consider what kind of treatment your friends will receive... on
one condition! That you first defeat these two men here with that Gear
you came in... how about it, Elhaym?]" Krelian explained.

Fei paled inside the Weltall as he took stock of the odds. "[Forget it,
Elly! He's up to something! Don't accept it!]"

Citan was in agreement as he followed up. "[Fei is right! Krelian is not
a man of his word. He always has ulterior motives when he sweet-talks
someone! What's more, those men are fighting machines created by
Krelian. Their combat skills are immeasurable! They are not opponents
you can handle by yourself! Do not take him up on his offer! Escape
while you can!!]"

Krelian smirked visibly. "[My my... such harsh criticism. I am not that
brutal. So, what will it be Elhaym? Even if you were to try to flee now,
it is not likely you would be able to. You see... I have this whole area
surrounded by my guards! Wouldn't it be logical to take the choice where
you may still stand a chance... no matter how slight it may be?]"

"[Don't do it, Elly!"] Fei pleaded.

Elly breathed in deeply as she replied, "[Alright then... I'll do what
you say.]"

Krelian chuckled a bit in glee. "[Good. You are indeed my precious
little bird. Now, get on with it!]"

Elly's Gear was stalked over by the two Gears, one was the one they
already encountered in Sargasso. The other is a green bird-like Gear.

Elly narrowed her eyes as she gripped the controls tightly. "[If it
gives Fei and them even the slightest chance of escape... then I will
fight! I don't care if it even costs me my life!!]"

The Gears simultaneously attacked her. One Gear flew high up in the air
while the other settled on ground battle. While Elly was busy with the
one on the ground, the Gear on the air waited for the right moment until
Elly's attention was focused fully on his partner. Finally spotting a
chance, the bird-like Gear dove quickly from the air, hitting Elly's
Gear squarely on the back, making her fall down the ground face-first.

Elly panted as she winced from the pain on her back. "[Outmatched...
even in my Omnigear. But... I can't just... no... not like this... I
can't lose!!]"

She quickly willed her Omnigear to its feet and lunged at one of the
Gears. The bird-like Gear slammed down the ground when Elly's attack hit
its target.

Elly backed her Gear up. "[Did I do it?]" she asked herself as she
stared at the down Gear. Much to her despair, the Gear gets up.

"[H-how could that...? I thought it had some sort of effect...]" Elly
slowly backed her Gear from her enemies' reaches.

The pilot of the Gear she hit however was quite angry. "[Girl, that
hurt! I'll get you back! It was wrong of you to underestimate our
power!]" Mugworth growled out angrily.

The two modified Gears attack Elly relentlessly. Not surprisingly, she
fell over as the attacks ceased.

"[Auuggghhh!!!]" Elly screamed as she felt her muscles tear from the
assault. Her vision was impaired by something red that seemed to flow
from her head. But she didn't pay any attention to it. Not wanting to
give her opponents the edge, Elly wills El-Regrs to get up. She looked
very weak from the strain.

The pilot of the other Gear shook his head in disgust. "[Hmm, I'm
getting no results. It can't be helped, Mugwort. It's about time to
finish the job.]" Rattan suggested as he prepared to finish the fight.

Mugwort complied with his partner's suggestion and attacked Elly. Rattan
followed suit with a major attack of his own.

Rattan laughed out loud. "[Hahahahahaha! Downed yet? It's to be
expected. Multiple fractures, major blood loss. I wouldn't be surprised
if the cockpit is a sea of blood, at worst death! Hah hah hah hah!]"

The El-Regrs suddenly got up, surprising everyone that was watching,
especially Rattan and Mugwort.

Mugwort gaped at the damaged Omnigear, which was ready to fall down to
the ground because of the massive damages evident on its outer hull.
"[What the...? There's no way you could stand after taking that much
damage...]"

Elly attacks Mugwort in response, successfully smashing the enemy with
the El-Regrs club.

Rattan stared at the smoking ruins of his partner's Gear. "[M-Mugwort!?
Why you! How dare you do that to my partner!]"

Elly directed her Omnigear to the other Gear left. With a hard thrust
into its chest, it finally went offline and came down with a loud crash.
However, the strain of the battle was too much as Elly's Gear tipped
forwards, coming down to the ground as well. The Gear did not get up.

Fei felt really helpless as he was immobile while his loved one was in
trouble. "[No way...! Elly...!]"

Krelian grinned as he eyed the fallen El-Regrs hungrily. "[Her true
awakening...? Or just merely... 'protecting her master'...? Either way,
it does not alter the fact that she is the -Mother- existence that I
have been searching for! Now men... recover that machine. Place priority
on the safety of the pilot. Do whatever it takes to preserve her life!
Well then, I shall be taking this girl with me! As for the rest of
you... why don't you just wallow there pathetically while you meditate
on your own lack of any real power?]" He laughed darkly as he turned to
leave the Golgoda.

"[I don't think so.]" A loud booming voice resonated all over the cavern
they were in, stopping Krelian from exiting the area, as the Gears were
about to collect Elly and her gear.

Everyone looked around them, trying to spot where the voice came from.

"[Who are you?! Show yourself!]" Krelian cried out as he signaled the
Gears fetching Elly to hurry their task. Suddenly, a bright glow blinded
everyone momentarily, followed by a huge explosion that rocked the old
spacecraft all over. When the light show receded, the Gears that were to
get Elly out of machine were scattered in smaller pieces, parts strewn
all over the floor around the downed El-Regrs. In the chest area of the
fallen Omnigear of Elly, a figure of a young boy wearing dark blue long
sleeved buttoned shirt and dark blue pants stood with his arms crossed
across his chest. His forehead was decorated with three gems that shone
menacingly, his hair was done in a tight pigtail. At his back, a reddish
appendage hung down freely.

"[RANMA?!?!?!?!?!]" Fei and the others yelled out as they stared at the
scene with growing surprise. They thought it was the end for them, and
also they thought that Elly would be lost to them while they were
helplessly crucified on the crosses in Golgoda.

"[You guys don't look too hot.]" The boy said loudly as he bent down to
the hatch below him, prying the steel open with his bear hands. Half of
his body disappeared momentarily into the hatch before reappearing once
again, and in his arms was the unconscious redhead Elhaym Van Houten.

Fei was really glad that Ranma appeared, but was skeptic as to how he
got in there in the first place. Shoving his questions aside for later,
he spoke through the external speakers of his Gear, shouting, "[Ranma!
Take Elly and run! Leave us here but don't let Elly fall into their
hands!]"

Ranma shrugged. "[Can't. This lady's real worried 'bout you, pal. I'm
not gonna leave you here with these idiots while she worries about you
some more. She'll just run off again to save you, repeating the same
cycle all over again.]"

Fei was flabbergasted. "[B-But...]"

"[How dare you!!!]" Krelian growled out as he signaled some more of his
Gears to appear. Sure enough, several more Gears appeared and surrounded
the miniature form of Ranma. "[Get the girl and kill the boy!]"

Just as the Gears were about to explode in motion, Ranma re-adjusted
Elly and draped her over his shoulder. Using his right hand, Ranma aimed
his palm to the Gears, much to the pilots' confusion. With a smirk, the
pigtailed boy suddenly fired three silver balls of energy, hitting some
of the Gears at their foot gyros. Without the necessary traction, the
hapless Gears toppled over and fell to the ground, unmoving. Ranma
turned and fired some more shots to the other Gears, laying them down in
the same way.

Krelian just gaped at the sight. It was one thing to see Fei, Id and
Grahf use their energies in somehow the same manner, but the boy seemed
to be not tiring to say the least at expending his energies like that.
When the dust cleared, more clumps of twisted metal were scattered all
over the floor.

"[By what manner of creation are you, abomination?!]" Krelian cried out
as he slowly backed his Gear away from the carnage. Following him
closely was Miang, who was just as shocked as he was.

The boy snorted as he hefted Elly into his arms once again, to make her
comfortable in her unconscious state. "[The name's Ranma Saotome, or...
wait. No... I'm not really a Saotome... so what's my last name then?] He
said as he looked up thoughtfully as he pondered on the unexpected
question to himself.

Suddenly, the boy named Ranma shrugged all the queries into
consideration later on. Instead, he realized he had to focus on the task
at hand first. "[Anyway, as for what I am... no, I'm not a human being,
nor a mutant either.]" Ranma's feet lifted off from the ground, freaking
Fei and the others momentarily. Ranma still has Elly in his arms you
know.

The whole area was silenced as all eyes tracked Ranma's flight
movements, who flew towards the crucifixes where Fei and his friends'
Gears were hanging down. Darting to the metal chords that held the Gears
up on the crosses, Ranma snapped the strong bindings and let the Gears
fall down the ground with a thud. He remained floating in the air with
Elly in his arms as he watched the Gears struggle to stand up. Fei's
determination won out as he was the first to stand. He turned Weltall II
towards Ranma.

"[R-Ranma...]" Fei swallowed as he eyed the floating boy in front of his
scopes. "[I... w-what... how did you do that? The chi attacks I can
understand, sudden bursts of power too... but you're... you're flying!]"

Ranma looked over Elly's body to look at his floor-less perch in the
air. "[Yeah, the first time I did this, it was pretty interesting too.
By the way, it's not 'chi', what I'm using is 'ki'...]" he smirked as he
held out Elly's unconscious body. "[Here, you better hang on to this
girl, Fei. She really loves you, so much that she was willing to
sacrifice herself just to buy you time to escape. I knew what she was
going to do, so I followed her just in case she gets into too much
trouble.]"

Fei automatically willed Weltall II to lift one open hand towards Ranma.
The pigtailed boy settled Elly down on the hand and turned back to the
battle, eyeing Krelian's Gear warily. "[Now if you don't mind, I'll take
care of some unfinished business. Later then!]" With a slight wave,
Ranma blasted towards the enemy Gears.

Krelian was ready this time as he had his guards surround him while he
finds a way to escape. He was about to turn to the exit while that weird
flying boy and the Godslayer were talking. Krelian was very much
dismayed to find the entrance somehow destroyed, probably by the flying
boy. Now, all he had to do was buy some time and dig his way out with
Miang's help. He grinned as he remembered that Grahf was still in the
area. He clicked the Gear's communications system on and signal Grahf
for a save.

Meanwhile, Ranma was busy dodging and weaving through arcs of laser
fire, as well as projectiles from various Gears that suddenly surrounded
him as he approached Krelian's position. It didn't help that the other
Gear beside Krelian's was quite stronger than normal, and for some
reason it can actually regenerate a bit the damages it received from
Ranma's stray ki balls. What these enemies lose when using Gears, they
make up in their numbers.

Ranma wouldn't dare use stronger techniques while he's inside that
confined place. It might collapse the entire ceiling and bury his
friends as well. So the boy settled on picking at those things
marginally larger than he was from a distance with smaller but more
rapid bolts of silver energy. Sure, it may take some time, but it is
better and safer than the alternative.

The pigtail boy stopped in midair, barely twisting away from the
incoming missile that was launched at him, and concentrated. Ranma felt
a new power appearing inside the cavern. His suspicions grew as his
enemies stopped attacking and slowly backed away. Unknown to him,
Krelian had ordered the retreat, or rather, ordered the troops left to
back away. Miang's Gear stumbled towards Krelian, its arm servos were
thoroughly incapacitated. While it has the ability to repair itself
because of the nanobots present in its body, the Gear's capabilities
were still too slow for Ranma's rapid attacks.

Citan was helping Bart's Aadvari with his Gear back at the main Golgoda
site. The nanomachines were doing their job as the damaged parts of
their Gears slowly disappeared. They suddenly felt a sense of foreboding
as they stopped in their work. They looked up to Fei, who was out of his
own Gear and was sitting on Weltall's hand, with Elly in his arms. The
martial artist was looking at the shadows seriously.

"[Fei, do you feel that?]" Citan asked seriously as he himself went out
of the hatch to stand on Fenris' shoulder.

Fei nodded. "[I do. It's... him. It's Grahf again...]" he almost growled
out as he shuffled both himself and Elly into Weltall's cockpit once
again.

Bart groaned into Aadvari's external speakers. "[We really can't catch a
break, can't we?]"

Citan sighed, jumping back into the open cockpit of his own Gear. "[No,
I think not.]"

Back at Ranma, he was currently looking up at the magnificent gear that
suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Also, the amount of power Ranma felt
from the gear was awesome!

"[So, you are the child that was disturbing our progress?]" The Alpha
Weltall’s speakers emulated Grahf’s rough voice. The powerful mecha was
floating a few feet above the ground, its whole body glowing red.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "[Child?]" he mouthed almost silently. Shaking
the thoughts of attacking the gigantic robot half-cocked out of rage, he
looked up to the mecha and saw something silver streaking towards it. It
would seem that he was the only one to notice it. In his mind, something
was humming the tune of the 'Ride of the Valkyries'. Somehow, the shiver
that ran up and down his spine was easily recognizable. That and also
the images of dark colored metal served in a plate clued him in. The
metals were suspiciously of the same tone and color of that on the
mecha's own. Ranma sweatdropped when he noticed one of the 'wings' of
the mecha started to move involuntarily, finally shrinking into itself
as this voice continued to drone on and on about God's Divine Breath or
something. Not that he really cared about it.

"[God's Divine Breath? What an awful-sounding technique… like some kind
of bad breath or something.]" Ranma mutters to himself as he ignored the
ranting man inside the giant robot. <Okay, now two of those wing
thingies disappeared. Man, Rin-Ohki works fast for her size. Where does
she put all that mass?!> he thought to himself as he stared stupefied at
the rapidly shrinking wing attachments. He was also wondering why the
pilot hadn't noticed the apparent imbalance of the weight distribution.
Ah well, it's not his problem anymore.

Ranma blinked when he noticed the ranting stopped. He looked up and saw
a figure materialize at the mecha's shoulder. Jumping down from the
shoulder, the cloaked figure landed near Ranma. The pigtailed boy found
that the figure has a mask on, which covered most of his face, as well
as a cowl that covered his hair as well.

Inside his mask, Grahf was glaring at the boy in front of him. A red
tail, which probably was caused by a mutation of some sort, dark tinted
glasses that covered most of his eyes that left Grahf to wonder what the
heck did this kid wanted to hide that he was ready to sacrifice his
perfect vision in a fight to hide it? It's quite dark in the cave. Also,
those small gems on the child's forehead were emitting low level energy
that seemed to force Grahf's probing mind to pay no heed to them, like
something was cloaking Grahf's senses from making anything out of the
meager info he got from them anyway. The boy's clothes were weird as
well, unlike anything he had ever seen before. The boy showed no signs
of fear for some reason. Grahf knew that the boy should feel his power,
since he moves like a martial artist. He stood there face to face with
the boy, seemingly gauging his strength. That's one thing that bothered
the masked man the most... it is the lack of adequate power from the
person. It could either be two things, one is that the boy has no
special power whatsoever, and that the abilities he showed earlier were
just show. Second was that the boy has probably more skill than he can
anticipate, since the mystery of the boy's real power still plagued
Grahf.

Grahf saw in the corner of his eyes the arrival of Weltall and the
Omnigears in Fei's group. <So... they've arrived.> he chuckled
internally as he assessed his situation. He could handle Fei and his
friends easily, it's the boy in front of him that's the problem. Not
only did he not know a thing about him, but his power readings are
weird. So, the both of them were there, staring at one another in a
stalemate. Or was it him that was making an assumption? That boy had
that smirk again, and it was infuriating Grahf. In some ways, it is
scarier than what Id usually decorated his face with when the psychopath
fought. It was unreal...

What? THERE! Grahf stiffened a bit as he felt a small spike of power
from the figure in front of him. It was a split second thing, the boy
probably didn't even know he did it, but Grahf DID feel it.

The scourge of Fei's life digested the energy he felt from the boy. The
feeling was distinctive, and it left an impression on him. Memories of
old techniques were dug up inside Grahf's mind as he tried to decipher
the mystery in front of him. For probably the first time in his
existence as Grahf, the masked man winced. He hadn't expected such weird
emanations from one small package before. And all of that just from a
small burst he felt. But this must be a trick! Nothing is stronger than
he is! Nothing!

"[Ranma!]"

Grahf and Ranma turned slightly to the footsteps of the approaching Fei,
Citan and Bart. Emeralda and the others stayed back a bit as they
watched from a distance, but the green-haired girl was visually glad to
see Ranma again.

The masked man turned to Ranma. "[So, your name is Ranma.]" he said
simply.

Ranma nodded. "[Yeah.]"

Grahf snorted. "[Boy, you really don't have any idea who you’re facing.
I have the greatest strength...]"

"[So you say.]" Ranma interrupted. "[Also, those who wanted strength are
those who are insecure about themselves.]"

Grahf fumed at the insinuation. But before he could say anything, Fei
finally caught up to them and was talking.

"[Ranma? What are you doing back here?]" Fei asked curiously as he
ignored Grahf's presence for a while.

"[Unfinished business.]" Ranma replied grimly as he never took his stare
off Grahf. "[Stand back and let me do this, Fei. Go and watch Elly
instead.]"

"[WHAT?!]" Fei asked, enraged. "[I can't just leave you to fight him!
Even with all of us, Grahf can still win! Besides, he's my enemy... and
I am the one who needs to...]"

Ranma interrupted Fei, "[This isn't about your pride, Fei. You have
someone to protect back there who needs you as much as you need her.
This person is challenging me, so leave us to our duel.]"

The masked man started to feel his patience running thin as countless
distractions kept on popping out of woodwork. Turning slightly to Fei,
Grahf growled out, "[Go away, little boy. Without Id, you can never win
against me.]"

Fei glared at Grahf, shouting, "[Why you...!!!]"

"[Fei!]" Ranma called out to him, making the Godslayer pause in his
steps, "[There is no dishonor in allowing me to fight him. This is the
moment where you needed to decide which was more important to you, pride
or love. If I were you, I'd go and protect my loved one instead, with
the choices you have now.]"

Fei was filled with turmoil as he gazed back and forth between his Gear,
where the woman that captured his heart lay unconscious, and the masked
man who constantly made his life hell. Strengthening his resolve, he
finally turned back and headed towards Weltall II, where Elly lay
waiting for his return. Citan, Bart, Chu-Chu and Rico turned to leave
with Fei, but noticed that the others not following. Emeralda and Maria
watched the unfolding scene in front of them. Emeralda was visibly
worried about Ranma, because she knew how powerful Grahf was. But right
now she was powerless to stop it, since it was Ranma's own decision to
fight the masked man.

Ranma smiled as he watched Fei walking back to his Gear without turning
back. <That's right...> Ranma thought to himself, <You have someone to
protect... she loves you so much that she wanted to protect you as well.
Don't ever let her down by setting her aside because of your pride.> The
pigtailed boy saddened a bit, still thinking, <Don't worry, Ryoko. I'm
coming back to save you.>

"[You are too idealistic, boy.]" Ranma's thoughts were broken when Grahf
talked calmly in front of him. Grahf chuckled hoarsely as he continued,
"[Protecting someone is the source of strength for you? Power is
something gained by fighting, and is amplified by emotions to a thousand
degree, am I not right?]"

"[Maybe it's true for you.]" Ranma replied calmly, fingering the black
shades covering his eyes. "[Fighting can be a lot of things, but
sometimes most people use fighting to reassert their own prowess, to run
away from something, or trying to forget.]" Sighing, he muttered, "[I
should know about it real well.]"

Inside his mask, Grahf sneered angrily. He felt a stab of self-doubt in
the pigtailed boy's words, and it fitted his reasons as well. Mentally
shaking off the feeling, he pulled back his emotions as he answered,
"[You don't know anything.]" Shaking his head, he continued, "[Enough of
this, let us begin.]"

Slowly, Grahf released the control he exerted to keep his power in
check. His body was bathed in menacing red aura as he let out the power
that spawned countless of powerful warriors throughout the planet. This
same power gave countless Gears the ability to go beyond their limits.

God's Divine Breath... the ultimate source of Grahf's power... and his
curse.

Ranma was momentarily awed by the power he felt Grahf released. He
grinned as he took hold of his glasses, and calmly removed them from his
face. Pocketing the eyewear, he opened his eyes and exposed his solid
blue-gray eyes with golden pupils. His red tail lashed at his back in
anticipation of the fight.

Fei finally reached his Gear, and saw that three of his companions came
with him. With a questioning look towards them, his companions all gave
the other half of the group pointed looks. Fei looked over behind them
and saw Bart, Emeralda and Maria watching the upcoming fight between
Ranma and Grahf.

"[Emeralda and Maria opted to stay behind. Bart volunteered to watch
over them.]" Citan answered Fei's unasked question as he followed the
younger man's gaze.

"[Hey, look! Krelian's escaping!]" Rico growled out as he pointed
towards one side of the cavern that now has a hole large enough for a
Gear to pass through. Krelian had his subordinates plow their way into
the debris to dig a hole for escaping. Without another word Krelian's
Gear, followed by Miang's Gear, exited through the hole tailed by
several of his subordinates' Gears.

Fei looked at the hole crossly. "[Dammit!]" he muttered, looking back
helplessly at those who were left. "[We can't let him escape!]"

Citan nodded. "[You are right. We should get going then.]"

Rico grinned. "[Finally, some action!]"

"[But...]" Fei asked hesitantly as he continued to gaze at Bart and the
others. "[What about...]"

"[Don't worry about them. Ranma and Bart are with them. Besides, do you
really want them to fight against Krelian and his army?]" Billy asked
with an eyebrow raised.

Fei stood dumbfounded at the open canopy of Weltall's cockpit. "[I...
you're right. We should go... and chase Krelian before he does any
irreparable damage.]"

Nodding in agreement, Citan, Billy and Rico boarded their own Gears and
left with Fei, but not before giving Golgoda one last look of disgust.

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

Fei and his small group didn't know this, but Krelian already began his
masterplan to rebuild God's Ark 'Merkava', using the data obtained from
Razael and his own nanomachine technology. It seems that the process was
accelerated due to Krelian's failure to kidnap Elly. Along with this,
Krelian also destroyed the three leaders of the fallen group of the
Ministry and took over God's Resurrection process. Krelian's mad dash to
control the power and knowledge of God overshadowed his anger over
failing to keep Elly for his own as he worked doubly hard to achieve
this one project he sacrificed his life into.

Citan informed Fei of the unusual readings from a strange place that
seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Curious, Fei then followed the
path towards Merkava, where he spotted some stray Gears entering the
area. But before they could enter, the group encountered the Elements,
Jugend's estranged Elite force.

Fei frowned as he recognized the Gears that suddenly appeared in his
scope. "[You again...? Are you girls thinking of going in there too?]"

Dominia, the leader of the group, sneered as she leveled her Gear eye to
eye with Fei's own. "[Don't get any wrong ideas there. We are here to
help our commander. Miang and Krelian have been manipulating his
emotions for the sole purpose of eliminating the Emperor. We simply want
to free the commander from those bonds so that he may be saved! This is
not for the sake of the world, or something as trivial as that. We are
not as idealistic as you and Elhaym were! We have no intentions of
fighting on the same side as you!]"

Fei nodded. "[Fine. You have your own battles to fight. And we have
ours, let's leave it at that. But... if things get out of hand, you head
back. We'll handle it.]"

Dominia snorted angrily. "[Hmph... we'll make you eat those words. You
wait and see!]"

Fei's group and the Elements split up and entered inside of Merkava,
while fighting back units of weapons that self-regenerated through the
use of nanomachines, they headed for the central core. Citan, Fei and
Rico head down a hall in Merkava. Suddenly, they reach a small room and
hear a familiar voice. Once again, Ramsus appeared before them.

"[I've been waiting for you, Fei!]" Ramsus said loudly as he appeared in
a powerful-looking blue Gear. He stood on a balcony that overlooked Fei
and his companions' position.

"[Ramsus?!]" Fei asked incredulously.

Ramsus gritted his teeth as he said, "[Fei. If only you hadn't been
born... I... I... we're going to settle this now!!]"

Fei boggled at Ramsus' statement. "[Stop it Ramsus! What reason is there
to continue fighting me?! Who are you fighting for?! Why do you always
have a bone to pick with me?! Tell me why!]"

Ramsus closed his eyes. "[It is all because of you. If only you hadn't
come in and destroyed my prospects in life...]"

- FLASHBACK -

Krelian stands in his lab, staring at a fetus in a large tube. He turned
around when a young black haired lady approached him from behind.

Krelian smirked, as he looked the woman over. "[Hmm... 'this time' your
body is young.]"

The woman smiled back menacingly. "[The previous one got too old.]"

Krelian nodded. "[And the name?]"

The woman snorted. "[Karen... but individual names have no meaning to
me.]"

"[So... what brings you here?]" Krelian asked as he turned to the tube,
examining the growing thing inside it. He noticed that Karen walked up
beside him to look into the tube herself.

"[Is that thing inside the Nanoreactor there... the one?]" Karen asked
with a slight trace of disgust in her voice.

Krelian blinked, then his face brightened, as he finally understood.
"[Huh? Oh... recognition code 0808191-'Ramses'. The Emperor's been told
it's a prototype for an artificial 'Contact'.]"

Karen cocked her head to one side. "[What's its status?]"

The scientist sighed as he looked at the fetus intently. "[It has
entered the so-called first growth stage. From now until the binding,
its growth will be several times faster than that of an ordinary human.
But its psychological development will be a little difficult to control.
It is a replica, so that is to be expected.]"

Karen's eyes widened as she saw a twitch from the fetus. "[It is moving.
Can it hear us?]"

Krelian smiled smugly. "[Yes. It already has a will of its own.]"

Karen shook her head. "[Then, I have a better way. Let us dispose of it.
We do not need this. We have my child. My child will be four this
year.]"

Krelian stared at Karen in irritation. "[Your having a child is...
significant?]"

Karen rolled her eyes up. "[Yes, I checked it out. There is no mistake,
it's a contact.]"

Krelian felt excitement course in his veins. "[What's its name?]"

Karen looked thoughtful for a moment. "[My child's name is... 'Fei'.
So... you understand what this means?]"

"[A corresponding 'Anti-type' is...]" Krelian adopted a faraway look on
his face.

"[Yes...]" Karen nodded. "[Probably already born somewhere. The final
one!]"

Krelian grimaced as he stared at the fetus in front of him. "[Then ...
this thing is... worthless.]"

Karen smirked. "[Yes, totally useless. Haha...]" She turns to the tube
and stares at the growing thing inside it.

"[Chase after it, 'boy'. A love that's unattainable for you, no matter
how hard you try to pursue it.]" Karen's voice echoed within the fetus'
small but developing brain as everything darkened.

- END OF FLASHBACK -

Ramsus voice turned bitter. "[My life... was given to me within a
Nanoreactor in Krelian's laboratory. To be born as the superior being,
above all humans. But then...]"

The platinum haired man shook his head as he continued, "[Because of
your existence, I was discarded! I was determined to be the
representative of god, having the might of the Emperor. I was destined
to be the ultimate existence, having the power to exercise absolute
control over all! But... I lost it all... because of you!!]"

Fei gaped at the information. "[M-My mother? How... do you know her...
Ramsus!]"

Before anyone could do anything, Dominia appears in Bladegash from
another entrance.

"[Commander! Please stop this! Commander, if what you say is true, then
that is even more of a reason to fight! You were just used by Krelian
and...]" Dominia's voice emanated from the Gear with a huge sword, but
was interrupted by her former superior.

"[Silence! You... even you... dare to censure me?! I saved you from
nearly becoming a test subject and now you turn on me?!]" Ramsus all but
screamed as he berated his former subordinates.

Dominia tried reasoning out, "[You are mistaken! We are only thinking of
your best interests...]"

But Ramsus interrupted her once again. "[Silence! Ultimately, only I can
help myself! I am the only one that can correct this! This is the end
for you! En garde! Because here I come, Fei!]"

Ramsus' Gear launched itself from the platform. The battle lines were
drawn, and the fight was well on its way.

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

Still in the Golgoda, Ranma and Grahf stood in front of each other,
assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

"[Well, boy? Are you going to attack or am I?]" Grahf sneered under his
mask as he taunted the boy in front of him.

Ranma just looked at him impassively, but internally he was boiling.
This character kept on calling him 'boy', an insult especially since it
was what his foster father, Genma, used to call him. It was degrading to
one's self-worth.

Grahf sighed and said, "[Very well then, I will start!]" And with that,
Grahf leapt towards Ranma, who was still standing in a relaxed stance.

"[Deathblow: RAIJIN!!!]" Grahf screamed as his hand blazed with energy.

Suddenly, the masked man felt his fist impact against flesh, and the
unresponsive body he hit flew backwards into the cavern wall, decimating
it and burying the body in it. Grahf stopped his momentum and goggled.
Was that it? Had he overestimated his foe that he put off all of the
stops in his attack, resulting in this unsatisfying finish? He brought
his hand to his face, and saw it glowing blood red, cackling with the
familiar energy that he claimed all those years ago.

"[Ranma!]" Emeralda screamed and was about to run to him but an
outstretched hand stopped her. Bart shook his head as he stared at her
with pitying eyes, asking her to stop and just be the spectator in this
fight. After staring back din a defying manner for a few moments,
Emeralda slumped down and let her tears flow. She can't do anything! Her
heart shattered when she saw Ranma getting hit. But why? Because she was
afraid of retaliation from Grahf now that he has no foe left, and might
turn against them? She knew they couldn't beat him even if Bart and
Maria joined the fray, but it wasn't because of that. Her eyes widened
as she felt her chest constrict, feeling her heart rate grow thrice the
normal beats it used to have before. No, she wasn't afraid of
retaliation. She was afraid Ranma was hurt badly. Yes, that was it! Her
heart felt light when she thought of him. But now it was hurting...
hurting for him...

All further thoughts went away when the debris burying Ranma exploded
outwards. A loud crinkling sound of his bracers impacting against rock
loudly echoed across the cavern. Grahf jumped back and stared at the
rising figure with trepidation.

"[I knew you wouldn't be that easy to defeat.]" Grahf commented as he
let his aura blossom once again, bathing the whole room with a red glow.
"[But this time I will finish you for sure.]"

When the dust settled from the debris, it revealed Ranma standing up
atop the haphazard rocks that littered the area. He absently brushed his
torned tunic as he started walking towards Grahf once again. The masked
man stifled a gasp when he finally got a good look at Ranma's face. His
forehead was glowing silver as the trio of gems glared fiercely with
silver light. His eyes were glowing gold against the background of
blue-gray, which elicited a shiver from Grahf.

"[That was a strong punch.]" Ranma said as he grasped at his throbbing
jaw. It was true... he was supposed to test Grahf's strength with that
punch, and he was pleased to know that the man wasn't just bragging
about his powers. His face slowly screwed into a grin. "[Now I can fight
seriously.]"

Grahf just responded by moving into a defensive stance. Ranma nodded
understandingly as he flared his aura, his body glowing bright silver.

"[Let's go.]" Ranma said grimly as he disappeared from his position.

Grahf was caught flatfooted when Ranma's face suddenly materialized mere
inches in front of his face. His fist automatically punched towards the
face, but he was surprised when it met nothing but air. He quickly
turned around and instinctively tilted his head sideways, barely
avoiding the lightning fast fist that slid by his head. A slight sting
on his cheek signified him getting hit, despite his early dodge, which
made him wearier than normal. Grahf quickly pushed off the ground and
took to the air to get some breathing room.

Imagine his shock when he saw Ranma keeping pace with him in the air. A
well placed kick from him was dodged when the pigtailed boy twisted in
an impossible angle that made Grahf wonder what the heck the kid was
made of (if he only knew).

Emeralda and the others watched at the sidelines a bit further away from
the conflict. She was elated when she saw Ranma reappear unharmed, but
was a bit dismayed when the pigtailed boy decided to fight. Then that
dismay turned into surprise when she saw Ranma fighting with Grahf
toe-to-toe. And with Grahf having a hard time at that.

"[W-Wow...]" Bart stammered as he locked his eyes on the battle. Beside
him, Maria could only nod in agreement. They were trying hard to
actually see the fight, but it was a bit too fast for their tastes. All
they could see were blurs and stationary images that seemed to pop out
every now and then at random places.

In the battle itself, Grahf was becoming irritated at the lack of
results from his attacks. Every time he threw a punch, it was either
deflected cleanly or dodged. It seemed to him that his blows didn't
reach Ranma, and in return the pigtailed boy threw an occasional lazy
punch or two without much further effort. It infuriated Grahf that Ranma
didn't take the fight as seriously as he hoped. He suddenly had an idea.

Ranma sighed internally as he dodged a punch and kick combo from Grahf
again, hanging unto the air longer than possible. He noticed a mistake
in Grahf's fighting style, mainly because the man's battle aura was
raging all the time as they were battling. Ranma learned a long time ago
that wasting that much energy is futile. Also, it would seem that he was
telegraphing all his moves if he had done it that way. When one's battle
aura is raised all the time while fighting, power blows were easily seen
by an experienced fighter's critical eye. It was like waving a lit
flashlight all over a darkened room. Ranma used his aura in bursts,
where he pushed his ki into his arm or another appropriate part of his
body just when he was about to use it. In that manner, his blows would
have the element of surprise, and that if his foe were experienced he
would 'see' the blow a little too late. Unless his opponent was faster
than him, Ranma's blow would land, or graze and cause damage
nonetheless. Right now, Grahf's attacks were painfully obvious to Ranma,
which saddened the pigtailed boy a bit. Ranma suddenly snapped into
attention when he felt Grahf's power level rise up dramatically. Dodging
a leg sweep that threatened to topple him over, Ranma jumped back and
waited for whatever Grahf was up to.

The masked man grinned in his mask as he felt power course into his
being. He suddenly glowed bright red as his energy was gathered all over
his body. Jumping high up in the air, Grahf hung in there as he
screamed, "[Hyper Deathblow: FUKEI!!!]"

Ranma's eyes widened as he watched the floating form of Grahf flare up
in red spectrum. His jaw dropped as well when he saw the masked man's
hands glow brighter than the rest of his body. Grahf gripped something
in his glowing hands, which turned out to be red balls of energy. Grahf
started throwing red balls of energy towards Ranma, who was still rooted
at his position. When Ranma saw the incoming projectiles of high level
energy, he cursed to himself.

"[Oh crap.]" Ranma muttered to himself, his forehead flaring bright
silver before he was enveloped in large explosions due to the attack
Grahf made.

The peanut gallery fell silent in shock then grimaced as they watched
Ranma being pummeled by multitudes of miniature red meteors that came
from Grahf. The ground shook with the concussive force the violent
explosions made as the energy balls impacted to the earth.

Grahf himself smirked as he fell down to the ground with a thud, landing
in a crouching position. He was panting a bit after the exertion of
energy he managed to throw into that special attack, though he can still
throw it again once he recovered a bit after a few seconds of reprieve.
His smirk melted into a scowl after the dust cleared. Out from the blast
zone stood Ranma with his bracer decorated arms crossed out in front of
his face, his clothes already in tatters, but alive. The obliterated
clothes revealed a black flimsy suit that clung into Ranma's body. For
some reason, it didn't have any scratches at all. Grahf suspected that
the thin material possessed more resilience to damage than normal.

"[Dammit!] Grahf growled out angrily. "[Why don't you just lay down and
die?!]"

Ranma lowered his still smoking arms and grinned. He didn't bother to
put up his defense shield since he was testing his body's innate
resistance to damage. So far, the results were astounding for him.
Hearing Grahf's frustrated mumbling, he replied, "[That would be stupid.
As long as I'm alive, I'm gonna keep on coming back to beat the hell out
of you.]"

Gritting his teeth, Grahf's aura flared once again as he dashed towards
Ranma head-on, who didn't bother to move at all. "[Deathblow:
RYUJIN!!!]" Grahf shouted out as he was in front of Ranma. His head flew
forwards, catching the pigtailed boy in the head as well, which was
followed by a wicked left uppercut.

Ranma felt pain on his jaw as he was carried by Grahf's punch upwards,
which was followed by a sudden lower punch, then another right uppercut.
While suspended in the air, Grahf held his hands close and delivered a
double open-palm punch on Ranma's sternum, catapulting the boy to the
stone wall. Once again, the area was rocked with a small quake as
Ranma's body smashed into the wall.

Still, a figure remained standing barely inside the gaping hole on the
wall.

Visibly angered, Grahf screamed bloody murder once again, launching
himself foot first towards the staggering figure of Ranma. "[Hyper
Deathblow: KOKEI!!!]"

>WHAP!<

Grahf's eyes widened marginally when he felt Ranma's hand gripping his
outstretched foot.

>CRACK!!<

"[Arrrgghhh!!!]" Grahf clutched at his broken ankle as he hobbled back
from Ranma.

Ranma stepped out of the hole and slowly followed the handicapped Grahf.
He shrugged off the clothing that barely hung on his frame. Looking at
the masked man's cowering form, Ranma commented, "[You're really good.
Too bad you relied on power way too much and became predictable.]"
Seeing Grahf's questioning look, he continued, "[Those special attacks
you threw at me were effective if you take your enemy by surprise. But
once the pattern was discovered, it would be easy to dodge them. Your
energy gathering took some time too, allowing me to get ready and
counter your special moves.]"

"[Even if that was the case...]" Grahf said as he struggled to stand,
"[Why aren't you injured? What in the hells are you?!]"

"[Wouldn't you like to know?]" Ranma asked amused. He frowned a bit and
looked over Grahf's shoulder. His eyes widened as his jaw fell to the
ground, still gazing at something behind Grahf.

Grahf wouldn't have any of it, believing it was only a ruse for him to
look behind him and be taken by surprise. It was the oldest trick in the
book, and he for one will not fall for it. Grahf growled as he quickly
stepped backwards, intent on getting to his Gear and escape for a while.
Live and fight another day, so they say in the old times. Ranma didn't
go after him, so he felt his body relax after putting a considerable
distance between him and that weird but powerful boy. He hadn't felt so
mismatched in his whole life before, and the silent admittance of loss
in this occasion sickened him. He turned around to jump up to the
cockpit of his Gear, to recuperate and fight this boy one day once
again. Grahf was about to jump when he froze on the spot.

There was nothing in front of them. Only a few wisps of dust that
remained from the events earlier, other than that... wait. There was
something at the cold rocky floor. It was some sort of an animal that
was laying contentedly on the ground. It was content all right... and it
seemed to be smiling as it lay there with its eyes closed.

Grahf could only gape at the sight. "[What the HELL?!]"

Ranma smacked his forehead with the palm of his right hand, muttering in
his native language, "Dang... Rin-Ohki did it again. I admit she's
hungry, but a whole robot?"

Oh yes! Grahf could only stare at the remains or lack thereof, of the
formerly grand Alpha Weltall. So he only did the only thing he could do
at the moment.

For the first time in years, at least voluntarily...

Grahf, the bane in Fei's existence, overall bad guy and general pain in
the be-hind, fell face first into the ground, twitching once in a while
as he contemplated on the darkness of the soil that met his face.

Yes, he facefaulted, and fainted.

Ranma sweatdropped as he watched Grahf's body fold up and fall down the
ground without an ounce of grace. Hearing footfalls rapidly approaching
behind him, Ranma turned and saw Emeralda, Maria and Bart running up to
him.

"[Ranma!]" Emeralda shouted with glee as she finally stopped a few feet
before Ranma. Suddenly noticing Ranma's current lack of proper clothing,
Emeralda's blushed as she instinctively brought her hands to her cheeks.
Having thin black material wrapped tightly around Ranma's body left
nothing to Emeralda's imagination, and she was a growing girl you know.

Ranma raised a hand awkwardly in a gesture of acknowledgement. "[Hey,
Emeralda, Bart, Maria... what are you all still doing back here? I
thought you'd be with Fei by now.]"

Bart shook his head. "[We can't just leave you behind.]"

Maria's eyes were glittering as she clasped her hands in front of her
chest. "[That was so cool! How did you do all that?!]"

Ranma looked at her smugly. "[It is, isn't it? It's all in the
training.]"

Before anyone could comment any further, a rather semi-loud cackle
echoed across the large cavern that was formerly the Golgoda. Bart
and his companions looked around, in case a sudden attack was eminent.
But Ranma just sighed and grabbed something from his pants, which
miraculously survived the explosions.

It was a small white rectangular receiver that Washuu gave him before he
went out and followed Elly into the Golgoda. The red-haired scientist
figured they needed to keep in contact in each other for news on the
other end.

#[How are you doing, Ranma-chan?]# It was Washuu's voice from the little
receiver.

Ranma blinked and responded, "[Uhmmm... fine I guess. I just knocked out
this weirdo guy in a mask or something... bad Darth Vader impersonation.
Anyway, how's everything on your end?]"

After a short bout of static, Washuu's voice came again, #[We saw some
Gears coming out of the place you are in. After some time, Fei and the
two others followed. They are in an underground place near the mountains
up north. We just contacted them a few minutes ago, and right now they
are in a battle with an old acquaintance of theirs. If you're finished
there, go and follow them.]#

"[Understood.]" Ranma replied, "[Oh, by the way Washuu-chan... Rin-Ohki
just did something.... weird.]"

#[Define 'weird'.]#

"[Uhhmmm...]" Ranma scratched his head, "[She just ate this Gear, and I
was wondering if it's a bad thing.]"

Maria looked confused, but Emeralda gasped loudly at the implications.
"[So that's why Grahf fainted?]"

Bart looked bewildered. "[I was wondering where that Gear went to...]"

A rather long static that lasted for several moments came from the
receiver. After some time, Washuu came back, #[Okaaaaay... you mean to
tell me that Rin-Ohki just assimilated a Gear?]#

"[Ah... yeah.]" Ranma finished lamely. "[Well, I was busy at the time
you know. So is it a bad thing?]"

A snort was transmitted. #[Are you kidding? Rin-Ohki's so MARVELOUS! You
just HAVE to let me examine her after we're done!!!]#

Ranma, Emeralda, Bart and Maria sweatdropped as they listened to
Washuu's maniacal laugh.

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

Back in the path to Merkava, Fei delivered the final blow into Ramsus'
Gear. Ramsus stood stock still when his Gear froze, and finally fell
into the wall, creating a passageway into a lab.

Weltall II walked into the hole and looked around. "[What's this...?]"
Fei asked in the comms as he examined the new area.

They enter a place where tubes and wirings were located. The mainframe
computer was in passive mode, as if waiting for something to reawaken.
Fei, Citan, Billy and Rico walked into the laboratory with caution.

"[What is this place?]" Fei asked once again bewildered by the sight in
front of him.

"[This is where Kahr was born. And where his hatred of you was
forged...]" A familiar voice echoed across the laboratory.

Fei tensed. "[Who's there?!]"

They continue on and reach a gigantic room. A large crucifix was in the
middle front of the room, as Krelian and Miang stand in front of it. A
gigantic organic orb like creature with multiple eyes was behind them.
It was Deus.

"[What in the... what's this...?]" Fei muttered as they went out of
their Gears. Together with Citan and Rico, Fei trudged up to the strange
orb in front of them.

"[This is most bizarre.]" Citan commented as he adjusted his glasses.
His master, Cain, had never told him anything about this.

Fei turned to Krelian and growled out, "[Krelian!!!]"

The man in question smiled slightly. "[I would have liked to have been
able to commend you for making it here, but your efforts were all in
vain. The resurrection of Deus is imminent. Sacrificing this girl will
bring about the awakening of God.]"

Fei instinctively glanced behind him, where Elly was resting as of the
moment in his Gear. "[Who are you talking about!? Why does Elly have to
be sacrificed?!]"

Krelian shook his head. "[There's no need for you to know. For all of
you, it will end here...]"

Suddenly, a gigantic Gear with wings and a snake tail appears near Deus.
It was the Omnigear seen in Solaris, and is piloted by Miang.

Fei gasped. "[Th-That Gear...?!]"

Rico was already running back to his Omnigear, closely followed by Citan
and Billy. "[Fei! Get your ass back here so we can beat that thing!]"
The mutant shouted as he entered his Gear. Fei could only nod as he
turned and ran as fast as he could to his Gear... to Elly.

The battle was intense. Metal clashed with metal as Fei unleashed the
ultimate attacks of Weltall II and his newly developed Id System. Rico
held on Miang's Omnigear as Fei and Citan rain deadly blows right into
its hide. Billy stood a bit further away, peppering Miang with blows
from his Omnigear's guns. Eventually, Miang's Gear gave out and
collapsed on the floor unmoving. Backing away, Fei and his friends
breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the immobile Gear in front of
them. But their impromptu celebration was interrupted by a loud ominous
chuckle.

"[My, aren't we powerful...]" Miang's voice emanated from the downed
Gear. Fei and his companions were further horrified when the Omnigear
stood up, seemingly undamaged from the onslaught of attacks from the
three Gears.

Miang smirked inside her Omnigear. "[Heh... well then... let's start
over from the beginning again. You think you can beat me this time?]"

Fei slowly backed his Gear away. He glanced to the sleeping form on his
lap, his resolve to protect her shone forth. "[What the...?! I thought I
defeated you...?!]"

Krelian's loud belly laughter echoed all over the area. "[Unless you can
decompose her atomic structure, you don't stand much of a chance. Normal
attacks are futile against the one who has the ability to regenerate
using nanomachines.]"

Miang stopped smiling as her face turned stoic. "[Now, the time has come
for the great awakening!]"

A sudden flash of light erupted from Deus.

Rico grunted as he felt his Gear power down. "[Urrghh! What happened?!
Why can't I move?!]"

Billy blanched as his controls froze. "[It is our... Omnigears?!]"

Fei looked at his struggling friends and said, "[Damn, what's going on!?
Huh?! Hey... is that...?!]"

A pale shadow of the Omnigears detached itself from the Gears. The
ghostly images slowly went up to Deus, who sucked up all the Anima
Relics.

Fei was horrified. "[Our Omnigears...? No, that's not it!! Is that...
our Anima Relics?!]"

Citan slammed his hands into the controls as the Gear went silent. "[Is
it trying to detach the Anima Relics from our Omnigears?!]"

Fei gulped as he stared at the grotesque being in front of them. "[Deus
is... swallowing up our Anima Relics!?]"

Citan nodded in his Gear. "[... It seems the Anima Relics have fallen
into the hands of the enemy.]"

Miang smiled. "[This is the true meaning of the 'Anima Relics'. To
attain their respective 'Animus' and return to the persona. The Anima
Relics are really one set of parts that make up 'Deus', the physical
manifestation of god. They regain their original powers or functions by
aligning themselves with their destined partner. An Omnigear that has
lost its respective Anima Relic, is but a puppet. It becomes a mere
vessel or container in which there is no contents.]"

Krelian looked up to Weltall II. "[And that girl in your possession too
was destined to become one with god. You see... Lieutenant Elhaym was
really one of the parts of god as well...]"

Fei sputtered, clutching at Elly's sleeping form tighter. He knew they
were helpless now that they are immobile. "[What the hell are you
talking about?!]"

"[To put it simply, you served to help bring all the parts of god
together, here, for me. You're a bunch of stupid fools. It's as if
you're all clowns...]" Krelian grinned.

Miang continued, "[You believed the legend of how our world and the
universe was created. But the Ministry and I fabricated that very myth a
long time ago to suit our purposes.]"

Fei shook his head vehemently, shouting, "[That's a lie!! How can that
be true...?!]"

Miang shrugged. "[I think you'll find that your friends' Omnigears are
all dead too. I'm talking about your friends who split up and took a
different path than you when you followed Krelian and I in this place.
Grahf should've already destroyed them by now. They were all parts of
god that were disassembled in the past, but once again, are all gathered
here.]"

Krelian nodded. "[Yes. It is indeed time for the resurrection of god. We
shall now claim the girl, Elhaym, to complete the ceremony.]" Krelian
gestured to his highest leveled troops to converge on the Weltall II,
but before anyone could move, a loud but defeated voice interrupted the
proceedings.

"[W-What was it all for...? Everything that I have done up until
now...]" a sullen Ramsus appeared and slowly stepped up to Miang.]

Fei gaped, remembering that Ramsus' Gear fell destroyed only minutes
before. "[Ramsus?!]"

Krelian snorted. "[Hmph. It's just you...]"

Miang on the other hand looked cooly at Ramsus. "[What are you doing
here, Kahr?]"

Ramsus looked up, his dark red eyes misted with unshed tears. "[What
about me...? My existence... what was its purpose?]"

Miang crossed her arms across her chest, smiling cruelly at him. "[There
was only one purpose to your existence, and that is to eliminate Emperor
Cain. Cain's will had become too much like that of humans'. He was too
concerned about them. He had forgotten his mission to revive god. That
is why you were created. You were only made to remove our main
hindrance, which was Cain. But as the original living being, Cain had
absolute power. To make you turn on Cain, it was necessary to focus your
mind on a single point. However, being an artificial lifeform, you were
mentally unstable. That is why... we used Fei's existence. Resentment...
that is the source of your strength. And you have excelled superbly at
fulfilling our expectations of you. But... we no longer have any more
use for you. Haven't you realized that yet? You're a piece of trash. And
being the reject you are, why don't you just leave? Hahahahahahahaha!]"

Ramsus fell down to his knees, unable to cope with the realization.
"[I... I... What was I born for? What was I living for?]"

Krelian walked up to Miang's side. "[A pathetic excuse for a life. Why,
you're not even human! Hahahahahaha...!]"

Miang tapped her chin with her index finger thoughtfully. "[Now, what to
do with the lot of you... well, I can't just kill you all... seeing as
you have served me so well. So, as a reward, I'll allow you to be
assimilated into Deus along with the girl...]"

Her ranting was stopped when suddenly, Ramsus pulled out his sword from
his sheath and ran Miang through with it. Miang's body slumped into
Ramsus' as he pushed the sword deeper.

Miang eyes widened as her mouth spurted blood. "[Uhhhh....]" she moaned
as her bloody body fell to the ground.

Miang's eyes dilated as she struggled in each breath she took. "[G-Good.
T-This is how I wanted it, Kahr... I-I am fated so as not to be able to
kill myself... Now ...all ...my ...wishes... have... come... true.
Thanks... to ... you...!]" With a last shuddering breath, she lay on the
ground, unmoving.

Ramsus looked down on the body sadly. "[Miang...]" he said softly.
Ramsus face screwed into an angry snarl and turned to Krelian in anger.

Ramsus ran up to Krelian and using his sword swiped at Krelian's chest.
Krelian's body fell to the ground with a muted thump. Ramsus walked up
to Miang's body. He knelt and started crying over her body.

It was during this time when Ranma with Rin-Ohki on his head, Bart and
the others showed up.

Bart huffed as he ran to the grounded Weltall. "[Fei, sorry we're late.
Our Omnigears broke down. Anyway, let's hurry up and... what the hell
happened?]" he almost shouted as he stared at the bloody bodies in front
of him. Ranma stood on one side beside Emeralda and Maria, partly
shielding them from the dastardly scene in front of them.

Everyone fell silent as they watched the scene, with Ramsus crying over
Miang's dead body, and also Krelian's own body. Ranma stiffened as he
felt something ominous brush up against his senses. He also thought he
heard some shrill laughter against the wind, which made him doubly wary.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the evil feeling, and felt the
waves of energy all around him. His theory was proven when another spike
of the same ominous energy flickered inside Weltall's cockpit. Opening
his eyes, his head snapped towards Fei's Gear, narrowing them to slits.
A sudden flash on intuition caught Ranma's mind in surprise. There were
only two people inside the cockpit, Fei and Elly. Fei's signature was
still stable and the same, while Elly's was...

"[Fei! Get the hell away from Elly, NOW!]" Ranma bellowed loudly,
causing Bart, Maria and Emeralda to jump slightly in surprise.

Weltall II's chest area opened to reveal Fei, who was cradling Elly in
his arms. Looking at Ranma, he asked, "[Why? What's wrong with Elly?]"
Fei leapt down from the cockpit and landed lightly on his feet, still
holding Elly tightly into his body. Bart, Rico and Citan also appeared
from the empty husks of their own Omnigears, walking up to Fei and
staring at Ranma questionably.

Ranma shook his head. "[I dunno. I feel something weird about her aura.
It would be best if you listen to me and drop her somewhere.]"

Fei looked lovingly at the woman in his arms. "[I don't see anything
wrong. She's just unconscious... maybe you're wrong...]"

As he was speaking, Elly suddenly opened her eyes and squirmed away from
his embrace, darting towards Billy who was frozen in surprise. Taking
advantage of the young man's immobile state, Elly grabbed a gun from
Billy's holster and trained it to Fei. Without hesitation, she fired a
shot, dropping Fei to the ground with a thud. Her face screwed in a
scowl as her hair slowly turned from red to blue. She slowly stepped
away from the scene, impassively watching on.

Behind them, all the eyes on the form that was Deus opened
simultaneously.

"[Aaahhh!!!]" Fei gasped as he felt his blood trickle from the wound in
his abdomen.

Citan quickly made his way to the downed martial artist. "[Fei! Now you
hang in there!]"

Billy looked at Elly in horror. "[S-She took my gun...?!]"

Bart quickly reached to his whip on his belt. Sneering at Elly, he
drawled out, "[W-Why did you do that, Elly...?]"

Citan looked up from Fei, glaring at the formerly red-haired girl,
"[Elly?! What happened to you?! How could you?!]"

Ranma gritted his teeth as he pulled Maria and Emeralda to his back. "[I
knew it...]" he muttered. When Emeralda looked at him wide-eyed, he
nodded and continued, "[I felt something was off in her aura. I know
Elly's aura because I've been with her before, and it changed when she
was in Fei's arms. I was just too late in pointing it out. And there's
one other aura here that seemed to be off as well...]"

"[Finally, it has been fulfilled.]" Krelian suddenly said. He seemed to
be dead before, but that wasn't the case when he got up unharmed.
Testing his body, he commented, "[The majority of my body is comprised
of a nanomachine colony. Not only for longevity... but also to unify
with the 'mother'... so don't be surprised. This kind of damage can be
repaired rather quickly.]"

Citan looked at Krelian in askance. "[Unify with the mother...?]"

Pointing to Elly, Krelian said, "[That girl... Elhaym is our mother.]"

Elly nodded, as if in a trance. "[Yes. I am the mother of all
humans...]"

Fei struggled to look up. "[Elly...?!]"

"[What are you babbling on about?! Snap out of it, Elly!!]" Bart said
desperately, trying to salvage the situation somehow.

Elly smiled enigmatically. "[You're as dense as usual... But, I don't
blame you... So be it. I will explain to you all about it. This Deus,
the one you call god, is an 'interplanetary invasion system' that was
built in ancient times by humans from our original planet, Earth. The
core of the whole system was part of what was formerly known as the
Evangelion Project, part of what the first angel Adam used to be. It was
said that this piece of the angel that fell from the skies all those
millennia ago was part of God. This small piece that contained a vast
amount of power was then recreated as an automatic weapon which could
act upon its own will to take control of a targeted planet. However,
during a test run, Deus became uncontrollable. It released its power and
annihilated a whole planet. The creators, rather, developers of the
weapon called 'Deus' found its immeasurable power to be too much of a
threat and hence forcibly shut it down. Someone took the liberty of
hatching a perfect plan to take away the core and throw it into space,
trying to buy some time to analyze the cause of the problem. Its core
was dismantled and placed on an inter-planetary emigrant passenger ship
to be transported to another planet. However, as the colony ship went on
its journey without the knowledge of what really was in their hands, the
core became aware of everything, so the disassembled Deus resisted and
tried to reinstate its survival and existence. It tried to take over the
passenger ship that was transporting it. However, as a last line of
defense against the escape of Deus, the ship's captain unexpectedly
destroyed the whole ship, sending it crashing to this planet. Deus knew
that it would not be able to get away from the explosion or the imminent
impact and so it detached itself from the 'Zohar' power reactor.]"

"[Zohar...?]" Fei asked softly, but it was heard by Elly.

"[Yes, 'Zohar'... It is what drives all of the Gears on this planet. It
is the master generator that transmits its energy to the slave
generators in our Gears. It is also the source of all the Ether power
that the inhabitants of this planet utilize. By utilizing the energy
displacements caused by actualizing potential future phenomenon... this
'Zohar Modifier' has the ability to produce infinite amounts of energy.
But its original name was...]" Elly was interrupted when Ranma spoke.

"[It was called Paeksis Plagma.]" Ranma said grimly.

Elly looked at Ranma thoughtfully. "[Yes... amazingly you knew about
that. How did you know about that, mortal?]"

Ranma just shakes his head in dismay.

"[The source of all our Ether power?!]" Bart asked incredulously.

Citan asked, "[Are you saying all our energy comes from that one power
reactor or engine?]"

Elly turned away from Ranma and nodded. "[Yes, but there is more. The
core that was detached from Zohar, the 'Biological Computer Kadomony'
crashed onto this primitive planet. It activated 'Persona', its life
support plant, that can generate organic material. Using this it would
be resurrected. Thus, the first humans were created from there...
Emperor Cain and the elders of the Gazel Ministry.]"

Rico said angrily, "[Are you saying the Emperor and them Gazel geezers
were people born from Deus?!]"

Elly looked unperturbed. "[Do you know why the Gazel Ministry desired
the Anima Relics and your bodies? Well, here's the reason... before
becoming human, the bodies of the Ministry were once part of the organic
elements in the core circuit that made up 'Deus'. There were two types
of organic elements. The female type was called 'Anima', while the male
type was called 'Animus'. They were also created with the added ability
to become mobile weapons for Deus. In other words, those Omnigears you
were using were one form of such weapons. The Ministry, which were
Animus, were to become one again with their separated Anima at the time
of the resurrection of god. But in a war, 500 years ago, they all lost
their physical bodies. It was then that they decided to extract their
own genetic factor from certain individuals of their human descendants
who carried the appropriate sets of DNA. All so each of them could
become one with their respective Animus again.]"

"[Descendants...?]" A hesitant voice makes everyone turn to Maria, who
was hiding behind Ranma. She squeaked silently when she realized
everyone was looking at her.

Bart shook his head in denial. "[Then we're all...?!]"

Elly smirked. "[Yes, you humans are all descendants of Cain and the
Gazel Ministry. They were born from the 'Persona', gave birth, and
propagated. They followed their in-built program to someday resurrect
the heavily damaged Deus.]"

Citan was disturbed about the revelation. "[All the people in the worlds
were created solely to resurrect Deus?!]" he asked unbelievingly.

Elly nodded. "[Yes. But it wasn't just to restore its old body. More
than half of Deus is constructed of biological parts. Do you remember
those mutated humans? Those are all people who were destined to become
replacement parts for Deus.]"

Billy fell to his knees in despair. "[We humans are... parts for
god...]"

Elly shrugged nonchalantly. "[Yes, almost all the people are destined to
become parts for Deus. But you people gathered here are all different.
You could say... you escaped that destiny by existing through multiple
generations. In actuality, there weren’t enough parts for Deus. But,
Krelian compensated for what was lacking. The reduction in the number of
parts was due to humans living through multiple generations. But that
deficiency in the human factor, was made up for by the nanomachines
created by Krelian. Not only that, but his nanomachines added additional
functions. Deus has evolved into the ultimate weapon.]"

Fei clutched at his open wound, staring at the scene in horror.
"[Elly... what has happened...? Why... do you know all... that...?]"

Elly gestured to herself. "[I am Miang. The keeper of time… the
representative of our god 'Deus'. I was born to guide the people toward
the path of the resurrection of Deus.]"

"[That's ridiculous! Miang was just...]" Bart spat out, looking over at
Ramsus, who was ignoring everything, just clutching at the dead body of
the other Miang.

Elly snorted, flipping some stray strands of blue hair that was on her
face. "[You're limited in your ability to understand. Miang's factor
exists in all women. The one who transcends the generations, the
caretaker of humans. When the previous one dies, somewhere another Miang
is awakened. It is programmed into all women's DNA to be that way. Who
inherits the duty is just a matter of probability, Fei. That Miang over
there and I are the same existence. We are all parts for Deus... all
caretakers of humans. Let's end this discussion now. Deus has been
awakened. I am one of the parts that compose Deus. Hence, I must become
one with it.]"

Citan carefully placed Fei down, standing up to address the girl.
"[Elly! Why did it have to be you? If Miang is a part for Deus, why did
it not happen earlier...?]"

Krelian replied, "[It's still not enough for her to just have awakened.
Although she may be Miang, she still isn't the 'true Miang'.]"

"[The 'true Miang'...?]" Citan boggled at the thought.

Elly turned to go. Looking over her shoulder, she beckoned to Krelian.
"[Let's go, Krelian. All that is left is to vanquish this planet's
civilization and return it to how it was. Then I can complete my
unification with the final fragment of Deus. The 'Zohar Modifier'... the
power reactor that fell upon this planet and became our genesis, and
now, our Apocalypse...]"

Citan shook his head in defiance. "[The eradication of civilization?!
What is the purpose of doing that?!]"

Elly shrugged in indifference. "[Who knows...? The creations of god will
someday be a hindrance. That is why they must be eliminated. I am just
programmed to act in this way.]"

Krelian started to walk towards Deus. Before he could enter, he turned
and called out to Elly. "[Come... It is time for the awakening of the
'true mother'.]"

Fei raised his hand in an attempt to reach out to the departing Elly.
"[Please... wait... Elly!]"

Without turning, Elly spoke coldly, "[Farewell... Fei. May you have a
peaceful awakening...]" She followed Krelian, who was about to enter the
massive form of Deus when a loud booming voice stopped them.

"[Do you really think it would be that easy, to just walk away just like
that?]"

Elly and Krelian turned to regard Ranma, who was walking towards them in
slow, but sure strides. Rin-Ohki was seen floating in the air towards
Emeralda, who took her gladly in her waiting arms.

"[God... revival... Deus... who the hell do you think you are, trying to
control everyone's paths, without giving them anything to think about?
Are you all selfish to think that it was all for the 'good of all that
is living'? Who the hell are you to decide what happens to
everything?!]" Ranma growled out as he clenched his fists in anger. His
eyeglasses were long gone, replaced by the cold blue-gray form of his
eyes, that was centered with the currently glowing golden pupils that
speared the duo into place. The gemstones on his forehead were shining
silver, unnoticed by Ranma himself though.

Stepping away from the platform, Elly resisted the shiver that
threatened to overtake her body as she stared at the slightly glowing
Ranma. Her eyes avoided contact with Ranma's though. "[We are parts of
god, we owe it to him that we are living in this world. We are just
returning the favor to him.]"

Ranma snorted, but in his state it was more of a snarl than a soft
snort. "[FAVOR?! If that's what this is all about, then that 'god' you
are so anxious in serving is a fake! Besides, a god created by mortals
was never a god in the first place! You said so yourself... Deus was
manufactured by those on Earth. Besides, don't you have dreams and
ideals? Aside from being skin and bones to the one you call god?!]"

"[It doesn't matter what we want.]" Krelian said impassively. "[We owe
our existence to our god, Deus...]"

Ranma shook his head. "[It's so easy making that excuse. To just run
away from life like that... and I think it's a load of crap. You
obviously have something more in your sleeve, since it should have been
your nanomachines that finished the job. Instead, you take Elly in
there? Am I the only one who finds this odd?]" Pointing to Elly, he
continued, "[Besides, what that woman says right now isn't what she
really wants. That thing that's using Elly's mouth is only a
preprogrammed thing that used her body, a parasite to a living host.
Something that should've died a long time ago, but can't let go of the
past, isn't that right?]"

As silence met his question, Ranma grew steadily angry, not noticing the
shining silver orbs on his forehead flashing angrily. The lights were
responding in sync with his heartbeat. "[All my life, I was into
situations where I have no control over. My childhood, my martial arts
training, the training trip, my curse, the seppuku contract, my enemies,
my fiancees... damnit! I hate it when people tell me what to do! I hate
it when I don't have control! I hate it when people use the convenient
excuse of, 'It's for your own good'! Damnit!!!!]" he screamed out loud
as his tail lashed against the ground behind him, forming a small trench
of broken rocks.

"[Ranma...]" Emeralda whispered as she reached out to him, but stopped
herself when she saw Ranma slump forward bonelessly. It was as if he was
a marionette that had his strings cut.

Meanwhile, Elly and Krelian looked on in amusement.

"[What a pitiful young man.]" Elly purred as she pulled out a gun, the
same one she swiped from Billy and used to shoot Fei with.

Emeralda was horrified. "[No, stop it! Elly... please stop...]" the
dark-skinned young woman pled as she tried to go to Ranma, but was
stopped when Rico and Billy held her shoulders. Shooting them a wild
look, Emeralda all but screamed, "[Let me go! She will kill him!]"

"[Stop it, Emeralda!]" Billy said in exasperation, tightening his hold
on the girl. "[We can't let anything happen to you! They might suddenly
fancy taking you and use you to complete Deus!]" he reasoned out.

Emeralda was about to reply when a lone gunshot went off.

Emeralda's piercing scream echoed all over the Merkava.

Everything stopped at that instant.

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

Somewhere, some-'when'...

Ranma felt himself falling into a deep abyss. The only visible thing to
him was his own body. The rest was a complete darkness that for some
reason didn't seem to be all that uncomfortable. In fact, the darkness
hugged him snugly, and warmth flowed into his body as he floated there.

"Back in the darkness... again." Ranma muttered. His musings were rudely
interrupted by the sound of someone chuckling.

"Yes... the Darkness always called unto you, isn't it, Ranma?"

Ranma's senses immediately went into high alert as he tried to find the
source of the voice. He found out afterwards that his senses were dulled
by something in the mist of darkness. Grunting a bit, he turned a wary
eye into the darkness and spoke, "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Geez... always the impatient one." A dry voice suddenly piped beside
him, making Ranma jump back a bit in surprise. Scowling, he took in the
newcomer's features, and was surprised when he was a familiar looking
one. Okay, scratch that... VERY familiar one.

The figure was definitely male, wearing a silver body-clinging suit that
contrasted somehow Ranma's own black bodysuit. His face was like
Ranma's, but had an older and wiser feature in it. His hair was done in
a pigtail as well, and his eyes were black without any signs of pupils
in them. He was sitting beside Ranma with his knees raised up to his
chin, as he looked over at the dark abyss in front of them.

"I think you want to know who I am, right?" The man smiled at Ranma
warmly, slowly weathering the guarded look on Ranma's face.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, that... and also, where the heck am I?"

The man smirked. "Quite eloquent of you, but you've learned in such a
short time. I know this, because I've been watching you, kiddo." Looking
back to the darkness, he continued, "Well, to your questions... my name
is actually not really a name. You see, I had no actual name... only a
nickname. Something those people around me before called me just to
identify me from the others. Well, if that's what you are asking about,
then you can call me Chaos. Yes, Ranma... Chaos as in those weird
uncontrollable things that happen to people whenever and where-ever."

"Chaos?" Ranma parroted.

'Chaos' nodded. "Yes. You must understand, Chaos is actually not evil,
unlike most beings in the universe wanted themselves to believe. It is
an unknown potential in every living being that kept the
unpredictability of things present. Chaos is the Ultimate Balance of
everything that exists, and also of those that doesn't exist."

Ranma finally recovered. "Okaaaay... Chaos... right. So... what does
this have to do with me?"

Chaos snorted. "'What does this have to do with me' he asks, well to
tell you frankly, Everything. Tell me something, kiddo, do you believe
in something called Reincarnation?"

Ranma's face turned confused. "Well... yeah, I mean... it could be
possible but..."

"Well, it happens, whether you believe it or not." Chaos retorted
calmly, "It just happens to people who are important, or rather have
important Fates or Destinies ahead of them. Do you really believe I'm
here right now?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow at Chaos. "I'm talking to you now right? I'm not
crazy or anything..."

"Of course you're not crazy." Chaos scoffed, "But I don't really exist
anymore. I'm just part of an old memory lingering in your soul. You see,
you are my Reincarnation, kiddo."

"WHAT?!" Ranma was outraged. "You mean to tell me that I'm some sort of
a shadow for some old guy that lived---"

"Whoa there, fella." Chaos put his hand on Ranma's shoulder, effectively
stopping the other boy's ranting. "You're not a shadow of mine, rather,
it's the other way around. I'm the shadow around here... I'm your
shadow."

Ranma visibly calmed down. "Oh... so... what are you doing here then?
And where is 'here'?"

Chaos gestured all around him. "This... is somewhere in your soul. You
lost control of your powers, not at all your fault, rather it was the
fault of your inexperience to deal with them. You were pulled here
because it is time for you to know some truths about who you are. And as
to what I'm doing here, I'm the messenger, no matter how vague the
information may be. I'm going to try and explain things to you as much
as I can."

Clearing his throat, Chaos continued, "Well, first of all,
congratulations! You're Chaos' reincarnation. What's so great about it?
Chaos is one of the Big Three, was among the first beings ever born out
of the Darkness of the Universe. I, along with the other two, was called
the Trinity of Powers. There was me, Chaos, then Order, and lastly,
Nightmare."

Shaking his head, Chaos went on, "The Darkness, that was what we called
it, was actually the first Existence. It eventually gained sentience,
then later spawned out the Ancient Gods so that it may have supervisors
in the development of the Universe. But those Ancient Gods, dubbed
Titans by the way, became too greedy and nonchalant in their own
devices. The Darkness sensed the shift in the balance and used every
power it had to create three individuals that bore likeness to its own
access to Creation. One was Order, who supervised Creation itself, while
Nightmare stood in the shadows, shifting once in a while into Order to
stir things. But out of all of them, Chaos took the weirdest path, since
it resembled the Darkness the most. It kept the balance going for
everything, constantly going as an in-between when Order or Nightmare
grew too rowdy. There was also something different in Chaos, since he
chose to go and live with Creation, rather than supervising it. This was
the birth of the Chaos Incarnates."

"Not long after balance was almost restored, another war broke out. It
was between the elder Ancient Gods, against the newly spawned Trinity of
Powers. I will not bore you with the details, but in the end, I
sacrificed my existence to trap the Ancient Gods in the first ever
created planet in the Universe. It was named Alpha Prime Point of
Existence, which incidentally was the planet created by the Ancient Gods
themselves. I used my ultimate magic, the Chaotic Disruption. It created
a black hole that caught the Ancient Gods and trapped them inside it,
forming a divine shield around their prison. I ceased to exist at that
time, but somehow Order and Nightmare collected my essence and put them
into crystalline form." Chaos sighed as he paused in his story.

"So..." Ranma commented, "These stones on my forehead..."

Chaos shook his head. "No... those are not part of who I was. Those gems
are a mark of your true nature. Gods and Goddesses, even Demons and
Demonesses, have their own marks. I can't tell you what yours are. Now
don't look at me like that, it's because I really CAN'T." Sighing
softly, Chaos looked at Ranma thoughtfully, "My crystals are in your
body... imbedded since birth by Order himself, rather, he goes by the
name of Kami-sama now I think. At least, that's what my last memories of
him were."

Ranma gaped. "K-K-Kami-sama?!"

Chaos smiled. "Yes. But his actual name, the name he adopted before I
ceased to exist, was really Deus."

As sudden as his surprise that vanished, a scowl appeared on Ranma's
face. "Deus? You mean..."

"Oh, not THAT Deus." Chaos chuckled, but then sobered almost as quick,
"Well, actually it is... somewhat. I mean, it was a coincidence they
named that interplanetary weapon 'Deus' of all things, since it was made
from that piece of the divine being that fell into Earth years ago. That
Angel, in fact most of the Divine Beings, were actually part of Deus in
the big picture. So, in essence, this Deus is the actual Deus anyway,
although in only a small part."

"I... I see... I think." Ranma said after scratching his head. "Now...
about those crystal thingies you told me about..."

Chaos shrugged. "Nothing much to say actually. Just that you will gain
access to them slowly as you go on training your powers. Don't worry too
much about it for now."

Ranma nodded, saying, "Hai." He fell into silence afterwards. After a
few moment of blissful peace, he voiced out once again, "Chaos, huh? Not
only am I chaos incarnate, but I'm Chaos itself."

"Yes. That's about the gist of everything." Chaos grinned at Ranma, who
smiled tentatively in return.

"That explains a lot of things, you know." Ranma sighed as he continued,
"I mean, no matter how much work I put into fixing everything, most of
the times it screws up into more trouble. But that's lessening lately."

Chaos patted Ranma's back lightly. "That's right. It's because of your
awakening powers."

Ranma looked at Chaos curiously. "Tell me, what will happen once it
happens? What's in store for my future?"

Chaos froze, thinking of a way to answer the loaded question. Mentally
patting himself on the head when he found a suitable response, he
replied, "Though I can't tell you much about it, one thing is clear. The
future is what you make it, so it is really up to you. Chaos in itself
is like that, and it is never tied down by anything. Some beings in
power might be attracted to you, and some might be afraid of you and
start to attack you. But take heart, you WILL get through them all, in
your own way. Oh, and a lot of women will be attracted to you, well, no
change in that actually... since you've always been a female magnet for
some weird reason."

Chaos stiffened, feeling the strains of reality reasserting itself into
Ranma's mind. Turning to Ranma, he said, "It is time. You will wake up
soon."

"What?" Ranma asked in a confused manner. "What do you mean? What will
happen to you?"

"I will disappear." Chaos shrugged, noticing Ranma horrified look, "I
don't even exist. I AM you, and you ARE me. I'm just a fleeting memory
that finally finished what it's supposed to do, reawaken part of your
memories of the past, as well as give you the control you were deprived
since you were born." Grasping Ranma's shoulders, Chaos looked into
Ranma's eyes seriously, saying, "You are Chaos reincarnated. You have no
Fate or Destiny, since it is you who will make them. The path you choose
affects everyone around you. Just remember to choose whatever you think
is right. Never take orders from anyone... take charge of your own
life." Looking up to the flickering dark horizon, Chaos continued, "I
will vanish soon... and I still haven't explained your powers as well as
the magic. I know you though, you would train yourself until you take
control of it. Use the ultimate magic only when necessary. But I know
you already knew that, since you ARE me. When you wake up, you will find
various universal information suddenly crammed inside your head,
courtesy of our past life. You will also find that you are able to
understand most concepts about anything, yet still clueless about some
things. Which things are those, I have no idea."

Turning away from Ranma, Chaos faced the abyss, his body slowly fading
into mists of darkness. Without facing Ranma, he said, "One last parting
advice. Try not to choose any sides in war... only choose your own.
That's what we did before, because Chaos is the balance keeper. Oh, and
also... you CAN have as many wives as you want... just make sure you
love them all. Don't feel guilty about it..."

"Wait!" Ranma reached out to Chaos, but his hands passed through the
already translucent body. Chaos finally turned and gave Ranma a warm
smile.

"We never really changed, haven't we? We are still the same cocky and
extremely clueless jerk who would give their lives at the whim of a
losing battle just to win and protect their friends." Chaos gave a
hearty chuckle as his body vanished, leaving only the sounds of his
fading laughter.

Ranma choked back the tears as he gazed sadly on his other self's fading
form. When he was alone, he fell to his knees and wept silently. He
didn't notice the world he was into right now slowly dissolve in molts
of light. He didn't notice that he slowly vanished, the gems on his
forehead slowly changing colors as he did.

Silver... Black... Gold...

The three gems flared once in those colors before he completely
disappeared in that plane of his spirit, never to return ever again.

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

Back in the Merkava...

Everyone was blinking at the sight of Ranma's body floating horizontally
in midair without any support whatsoever. The fact that it was also
glowing bright silver didn't escape their attention as well.

"[Now what?!]" Bart asked in frustration as he pulled his whip all the
way from its holster.

It was a few minutes after Elhaym, who had turned into Miang, fired a
shot from the gun she grabbed from Billy. Emeralda screamed in terror as
she watched helplessly while the bullet sped towards the immobile form
of Ranma, who just collapsed all of the sudden by then. Imagine their
surprise when a red bubble of energy flickered just inches of Ranma's
body, but it was enough to deflect the errant lead bullet effortlessly.
The bullet bounced off the red film and was ejected to the stone walls,
ricocheting all over the place. Ranma didn't even stir after that.

Elly's face screwed up in shock before turning into a menacing scowl.
She fired the gun's full load on Ranma, but all the bullets just bounced
off the shield that Ranma somehow erected on his body while he was
unconscious. Elly angrily threw the gun away when the magazine was
exhausted.

"[Damn this mortal! Who is he?!]" Elly snarled as she glared at the
pigtailed boy. Turning to Krelian, who was at a loss of what to say, she
growled out, "[Krelian! Do you know about this? Are you certain he will
not be a threat?!]"

Krelian was frantically shaking his head, eyeing Ranma wildly. "[I... I
have no idea who he is! He just appeared out of nowhere... back in the
Golgoda. I thought I had Grahf taken care of him!]"

"[Grahf?]" Elly and Krelian turned to Bart, who was smirking nervously.
"[W-Well... speaking of Grahf, he's outside, still unconscious. Ranma
beat him rather easily, but the real clincher was that Grahf's Gear has
just been eaten by this creature over here.]" he said, pointing to the
silver furred animal in Emeralda's arms.

"Miyah? Miyah-miyah-miyah!" Rin-Ohki snorted as she sniffed at Elly's
gaze irritably. So what if she did consume that delectable robot within
fifteen minutes? It was delicious, and it was of the enemy's.

Elly and Krelian adopted a look of surprise. "[That thing ate Grahf's
special Gear, the Alpha Weltall?]" Krelian asked softly.

A low moan interrupted their conversation, making them look at where
Ranma was floating a few moments ago. He was now sitting on the ground,
his eerie eyes blinking owlishly as he tried to restart his brain. A
slight sheen of silver glow still remained on his skin. His forehead
however was sporting a new feature... where before only silver gems
flashed in there, now there was a gold gem, a black gem, and a silver
gem. They were still arranged in an inverted triangle on his forehead,
with the silver gem in the middle bottom of the group. On the upper left
was the golden gem, while on the other side was the black gem. They were
all shining softly with their respective colors, pulsing together with
Ranma's silver aura.

"[Crap... what a rush.]" Ranma muttered as he clutched at his head
lightly, trying to relieve the slight burning pain that came from the
sudden barrage of information.

Ranma's blue eyes and golden pupils locked gazes with Elly. He narrowed
his eyes as he discovered something about the woman's aura. There were
two distinct fields present in Elly right now, one was shining brighter
than the other. In fact, the other was almost snuffed out because of the
larger aura, which seemed to eat on Elly's spirit.

"[You're not Elly.]" Ranma said calmly as he stood up slowly, his gaze
still not straying from Elly.

Elly shook of her concerns from before, and crossed her arms across her
chest. "[What of it?]"

Ranma smiled sadly. "[Something you did made you dominant. You're like a
virus that's slowly spreading all over her body. The real Elly is still
inside, trying to fight in hopes to reclaim her body once again. But
you're too strong right now.]"

The red hair turned blue haired woman just shrugged in reply. "[Oh, gee.
You found me out. What now?]" she said sarcastically.

Ranma's soft smile turned to a full-blown smirk. "[Well, for one
thing... I know of a scientist friend that could easily remove your
influence in that female body. Since this 'Deus' programmed all women in
this world to turn into you one way or another, it would be child's play
for her to remove the influence your personality has on that woman's
DNA. And besides, it will give Washuu something to do.]" he grumbled the
last part softly.

Elly visibly stiffened at the remark. "[You lie.]" she hissed, spooling
her emotions once more to hide the familiar feeling of uneasiness in her
body.

Ranma sniffed disdainfully as he took on a stance without following a
fixed form. "[You know I'm telling the truth. You've already met Washuu,
and you know she could do it.]"

Krelian looked at Ranma in utter disbelief because of the pigtailed
boy's audacity to go against him. He had this set-up a long time ago,
but he did not foresee Ranma's coming, which had put a major wrench in
his carefully laid plans to create a god. "[Why?]" he asked after a
moment of contemplation of what to say, "[Why do you go against god?
Surely, you would feel fulfilled when you realize you were the ones
responsible for our god's revival. Why do you go against fate?"]

Upon hearing the word 'Fate', the gems on Ranma's forehead flashed
angrily in response, surprising everyone in the area. "[Fate?!]" Ranma
shouted angrily as he made a cutting motion in the wind. Emeralda looked
bewildered at the sight of Ranma glowing fiercely against the soft light
of the laboratory, but somehow instead of being scared she was actually
attracted to it. Her insides were reacting quite differently against
Ranma's aura. The others covered their eyes in a vain attempt to shield
themselves from the glare.

<What is this... power?> Elly gaped at the intense energies pouring out
of the pigtailed boy, who was covered in bright silver light once again.
Behind her, Deus was reacting strangely to the power as well. It was as
if Deus was actually wary of the energy.

When the light died down, Ranma's hair had gone from black to blood red.
Everyone just looked confused as to why Ranma's hair transformed.

Before anyone could utter a word, Ranma's form dematerialized from where
he stood, making the others jump back in nervousness. They looked around
frantically, trying to spot the missing martial artist. A loud shout of
pain caused them to look at the source, and saw Elly slumped on Ranma's
arm, unconscious. Beside him, Krelian was standing like an idiot. Citan
looked visibly shaken, since he never knew anyone could move so fast.
Grahf and Fei often left afterimages when they move fast, but this boy
just up and disappeared from sight. It was a different matter for the
currently wounded Fei though. Even with his condition he should've felt
anything out of the ordinary around them. That's why he knew if danger
came close to them, because of his danger sense. He knew Ranma could
read power spikes, but he only realized how sensitive Ranma was just
now. The fact that the pigtailed boy was able to detect the faint
anomaly on Elly's spirit long before he could proves how skilled Ranma
was. And the way he disappeared... Fei knew it wasn't just moving fast.
He already experienced vanishing acts from various people, like Grahf
for example. But usually before Grahf disappears, the masked man would
use ki to dematerialize his form and transport it somewhere. But with
Ranma, the boy just vanished. No power build-ups, no ki application...
so Fei was sure Ranma beat him hands down in skill. From that
demonstration, Fei knew Ranma just did a teleportation natural to his
skills.

And it scared the hell out of Fei.

Back to the scene, seeing Elly, rather, his 'Miang' knocked out, Krelian
raged, "[Y-You! How dare you touch the Mother of all humans! She's your
Mother as well!]"

Ranma turned his head slowly towards Krelian, who stepped back a bit in
a bit of fear. "[My Mother? Why the heck are you saying... oh. You
misunderstand something. Let me make this clear right now... that I am
NOT human.]" he said as his eyes flashed golden momentarily. Ranma felt
a pang of regret as he said those words, since not a long time ago...
wait... actually it WAS a long time ago, that he used to call himself
human. Slightly sagging, he continued in a much more subdued tone,
"[Yeah... apparently I wasn't really human. Although I was born on
Earth... hell, I'm even older than you are...]"

"[Don't you mean, you're a mutant?]" Krelian asked as he eyed Ranma's
tail pointedly.

The pigtailed boy just shook his head. "[Don't even bother thinking
about it. Nobody could understand any of it anyway. Just take my word
for it. Fei and the others knew about it already since I told them about
it before.]"

Krelian was nonplussed, but his guarded expression was painfully
obvious. "[No matter. It is of no circumstance that you try to go
against god. You will fall and be consumed like the others.]"

"[Not in this lifetime.]" Ranma deadpanned as he teleported once again
with the unconscious Elly in his arms, and reappeared right beside
Emeralda. The green haired girl only gasped slightly when the pigtailed
boy suddenly appeared beside her.

Krelian's anger grew in intensity when he saw Ranma vanish with Elly.
His eyes roamed the area and spotted his quarry in his enemies' hands.
His vision went red as he clenched his fists tightly. "[Return the
Mother AT ONCE!!!]" he shouted. In response, Deus seemed to shake and
quiver in fury, as if making its own demands regarding the matter. The
rest of the people inside the lab noticed how Deus was surrounded by a
dark red glow, almost the same one that was present in Grahf when the
masked man fought before.

Ranma noted that the thing, Deus, shaking like that meant trouble. A
pretty powerful battle aura could be felt from it, which somehow managed
to disturb Ranma a bit. A tiny twitch in his bloodstream informed Ranma
that the power this creature was giving out wasn't an ordinary every-day
martial artist's aura. For some reason totally unknown to Ranma, the
power he felt from Deus can be compared with Saffron. That alone made
him quite alert as to how this will develop.

"This is not good." Ranma commented in Japanese as he stared at Deus.
Beside him, he felt Emeralda's emitted a small sound and her gaze
burning at the side of his face. He had almost forgotten that the girl
could now understand the language he grew up with. Turning to the
dark-skinned girl, he smiled sadly, "This is going to get messy. That
thing's quite angry now."

Emeralda nodded. "What are you going to do now?" she asked with a little
bit of anticipation in her voice.

The pigtailed boy shrugged, switching to the planet's original language
in the process. "[I really think we should take Elly and Fei back to
Shevat to have them taken looked at. Washuu would be able to examine
them thoroughly there... especially with all the equipment on board.]"

Looking back up to Deus, Ranma ignored the angry Krelian as he said in a
loud voice, "[Deus! I will be taking these people with me. You cannot
have them! Do not worry though, because I will come back to destroy you.
If you want to take revenge, take it out on me when I return.]"

Turning back to his companions, Ranma nodded to Citan as the doctor bent
to pick up Fei. The ponytailed martial artist fell unconscious because
of extreme blood loss, and would become fatal if he weren’t treated
soon.

Together, they all left the Merkava, just before it finally blasted off
out of the earth. It was a good thing Bart had the Yggdrasil with him,
because most of the Gears were currently offline and immobile. As they
sped away from the rising Merkava, they saw hundreds of white organic
Gears coming out of it.

They were conveniently called the Seraph Angels, named aptly for their
roles as God's soldiers, God's Weapons.

God, the inter-planetary invasion system 'Deus', had awakened and its
ark, the Merkava was activated. Deus began to absorb the mutated people,
who were to be destined as its parts. Since the non-mutated would
eventually only become a threat to it, Deus was set into action for the
extermination of the rest of the planet's civilization.

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

The group's return to Shevat was more or less unsatisfactory, because
the people from the floating city eyed the forms of Fei and Elly as they
were being wheeled towards the infirmary. They even became more
frightened when Ranma arrived with his hair red, since for some reason
his super form still hasn't receded. For a moment, the people of Shevat
thought Id came back for revenge, but they were immensely relieved once
Ranma made sure it was him for real. For some reason, Ranma's anger was
still raging inside his mind as he thought of what Krelian's reasons for
manipulating people were. Somehow, Ranma's views of Krelian's behavior
became parallel with Genma's manipulative actions. He was starting to
really dislike the jerk.

Ranma was currently balanced on top of the highest point in the
residential district, bypassing the normal route of those floating
platforms and such. It was currently early evening, and the stars were
only starting to show up in the slowly darkening sky. He needed some
time to relax, since his hair doesn't seem to return back to its normal
black state. Also, the aching at his back was irritating him. He planned
to open his wings a little later, once things have settled down a bit.
The people's reaction on his coming back was quite depressing, even if
it was all a misunderstanding. According to some of the townspeople,
they thought he was that 'Id' person. Emeralda helpfully explained to
him that Id was Fei's violent self. Vanilla commented how similar Id
sounded to the one she experienced back on Earth, something about a
berserker Evangelion. Meia thought it was plausible, that multiple
personalities tend to be that way. Washuu was excited about it, and
vowed she'll examine Fei's 'other self' before removing it completely in
his mind. Washuu also reassured them that removing those programmed
genes in Elly's DNA can be removed by a special procedure from her
subspace lab, much to their relief. The red-haired scientist already
halted most of the mutations that spread all over Shevat, and procured
the formulae for the cure and gave it to Shevat's scientists for study
and mass-production.

Anyway, back to his dilemma though... he still hasn't figured out how to
power down. In the past, he just exhausted himself and automatically
lost the super state. Right now it wasn't an option, since he didn't
even have to use much of his power in that impromptu battle earlier on.
Why did he have to turn super anyway? Maybe it was all that anger that
he felt rising as that jerk Krelian kept on talking on and on about his
god's reawakening or something.

"This is really weird." Ranma absently brushed the red lock of hair that
managed to drape itself over his face. Even with the tremendous amount
of information that has been unlocked in his mind after Chaos, or
rather, his other self disappeared, he can't still figure out how to
return back to normal. Sure, he knows how to navigate most star systems
without even batting an eyelash, or troubleshooting a complicated warp
engine system, but it still doesn't help him with the problems in his
body. Energy manipulation was still quite new in his mind, since his
former self was more astute with magic rather than his body. And besides
that, he still hasn't figured out how to control his curse. Ranma sighed
when he thought about that one, how he will never be able to control the
watery transformation forever. His water magnetism somehow got mellowed
down after some time though, and for that he was grateful. Then his
thoughts went to the transformation itself. The slow tingle that covers
his whole body as it shifted bones and muscle to accommodate the changes
the genders go through. The energy used in that seemed to be familiar
but... wait.

The change needs energy to complete the cycle. Where does it get the
required energy for the change?

Remembering some of his past memories, he stumbled upon the information
regarding partial manipulation of energy. The curse needed an anchor to
base itself in the host's body. Take for example back when he was
inflicted with the Cat's Tongue pressure point. If his curse were based
on the temperature, surely his body would feel how scalding hot water
used to be back then. It should've triggered the curse somehow and
returned him to normal. Even with barely warm water, he should've felt
it scalding, therefore changing him back to male.

But it didn't.

It seemed that there was something about the energies from the
temperature of the water itself that had something to do with his curse.
A human, rather, a host's body must've had some sort of energy
absorption instinctive to every living being that was somehow used by
the curse as its source of energy. The curse must've opened these
channels of the said energy magically, therefore allowing the change to
take place. Or perhaps the curse magically crafter new energy branches
so that it may get the energy from the water.

Now... if he could somehow find those channels and shut them off...

Sighing wistfully, Ranma continued staring at the now star-lit sky. The
sun already set a few minutes ago, much to Ranma's surprise. Time passed
too quickly for Ranma.

"Ranma?" A soft feminine voice called out to him. It came from below his
position, but he can't be seen from there. He tried ignoring the call
since he really needed some time to think.

"Ranma-sama? Are you out here?" It was a different voice. Something in
that voice seemed hesitant.

Oh, the second voice was probably Vanilla. Then the first voice would
be...

"I don't think Ranma's out here, Vanilla." The first voice seemingly
told someone.

"I can feel him out here, Emeralda-san. Ranma-sama is here." Vanilla
answered the first one, which turned out to be Emeralda.

Ranma rolled his eyes as he stood up on the small area he was in. He had
to talk to Vanilla about her pet name for him again. With a small hop,
he descended to the narrow bridge below him, startling Emeralda and
Vanilla out of their conversation.

Smirking slightly, Ranma asked, "Looking for me?"

"W-We were about to see if you were all r-right, Ranma-sama." Vanilla
said while trying to keep her heart in pace once again.

Emeralda nodded. "You looked... troubled before you disappeared. We were
quite... worried."

"Ah." Ranma looked away from them. His dark glasses were back where it
should be, hiding those unnerving eyes of his behind the darkness of the
glass. "You don't have to worry. I just needed some time to think."
Suddenly, his head snapped to one side, gazing on the high buildings of
the Central Palace of Shevat. Ranma felt a slight power spike from it,
and it was somehow... angry and disappointed.

"Ranma?" Emeralda asked tentatively, curious as to what Ranma had seen
of felt.

Ranma looked down to Emeralda and smiled. "Oh... I just felt someone
getting angry... I think we should go back now."

"Yes, let us go." Vanilla nodded demurely as the three of them walked
out of the residential area, going towards the Palace itself. It was
then that they found out about how the people Shevat planned to put Fei
into something they called 'Carbonite Freezing', a prison unlike no
other. It was similar to being transformed into a living statue.
Emeralda was understandably outraged, as Vanilla was appalled by the
apparent inhuman way of punishing someone who had an ability he has no
control over. Before they could lash out, Ranma tried to interject by
explaining how humans were really that callous about anything they don't
understand. It was also understandable that the people of Shevat were
just thinking of the welfare of everyone by trying to stop Fei's alter
ego, Id, into making a comeback. But Ranma also reiterated that it was
wrong to just imprison someone who has no ability to control and to
defend him or herself as of the moment. He told them it was cowardly.

Ranma, Emeralda and Vanilla went into the Palace chamber, to meet with
the queen and ask why the decision was made just like that. But as they
reached the queen's place, they found that Citan was already there,
asking questions about the very same reason they were in there in the
first place. Instead of disrupting the discussion, the trio of newcomers
settled down and listens to the story.

Citan nodded slightly to Ranma when he saw the pigtailed boy came inside
the chamber with Emeralda and that girl, Vanilla on tow. The two girls
were quite upset, probably because they have heard of the decision on
freezing Fei in carbonite. That was why he was here anyway, to ask for
leniency for his friend Fei. Turning back to the queen, he asked, "[Your
Majesty, why do the people of Shevat fear Fei so much? Even if Grahf and
Id's power are comparable...]"

Zephyr also noticed the arrival of the newcomers, but kept her attention
on Citan's questions. She replied, "[It is not that we fear him. We fear
the error we ourselves committed. And now we are simply trying to put a
lid on it...]"

Citan adopted a confused expression. "[The error that you yourselves
committed?]"

Zephyr nodded sadly. "[Shevat instigated a battle 500 years ago to gain
our independence from Solaris. However, we became overcome with the lust
for power... Fearing the war-torn people’s will would no longer be with
Shevat, but with the Nisan Mother... and that the people would assemble
under Sophia. The Council of Elders of Shevat back then made a deal with
Solaris.]"

Citan became interested. "[A deal?]"

Zephyr nodded once again. "[Yes. At the time Solaris... or the Gazel
Ministry to be exact were at odds with a woman who held the real power
behind the scenes.]"

Citan was contemplative. "[Would that happen to have been Miang?]"

Zephyr shrugged as best as she could. "[Most probably it was. Fearing
the increasing power of the masses assembling in Nisan, the Gazel
Ministry schemed to hand over to us their antagonist, Miang, and
promised a division of the rulership over the earth's surface. But in
exchange, we had to give them the rebel army that had assembled in Nisan
and also their patron, Sophia. The leaders of Shevat accepted... and it
was decided that Nisan would be the location of the final decisive
battle with Solaris.]"

Wincing at the memories, Zephyr continued, "[Shevat did not participate
in that battle. Thwarted by the awesome numbers of the Solarian army,
and with their path of retreat cut off, the Nisan rebel army ran out of
options and was destroyed. Caught up in the middle of all of this was
Lacan, Bart's ancestor Roni, myself... and Krelian.]"

"[You were also there?]" Citan asked, surprised.

Zephyr nodded. "[Yes. Surrounded on all sides, we were prepared to die.
And then, the rebel forces' flagship appeared with Sophia on board. She
sacrificed herself as to create a path for our retreat. Sophia's ship
headed straight for the enemy's main ship on a suicide attack. Thanks to
Sophia's sacrifice, we were able to survive. However, her death forever
changed the fate of two men... Krelian, who followed closely under her
as the leader of the Nisan sect's militia, completely lost faith after
calling out to a god that would not respond. 'I will create god with my
own hands!' were the last words he uttered before he disappeared. And
Lacan... he resented himself for not having the power to do anything as
she died in front of him. So he began to search for the 'Legendary
Power'.]"

"[Legendary Power?]" Citan asked.

Zephyr closed her eyes. "[God's resting place, Mahanon, the source of
divine wisdom, 'Razael' and the 'Anima Relics' which were created by
that very wisdom. Besides these... there is one more legend.]"

Citan cocked his head to one side. "[And that is?]"

Zephyr said almost reverently, "['Zohar'...]"

Citan almost stumbled down. Recovering his poise, he almost shouted,
"[Zohar?! That has the same name as the 'Zohar Modifier'! The power
reactor that Miang spoke of, saying it was the infinite energy source of
god 'Deus'. What she claimed is also the source of our Ether powers and
the driving force of all our Gears.]"

Zephyr nodded once. "[It would have to be one in the same thing. It is
the place that contains the ultimate source of this world's power. It is
said that only he who has the correct destiny would be able to discover
its location. Losing all faith in humanity, Lacan sought after its
power. Lacan became Grahf, and the world collapsed. This tragedy
happened because of the people's lust for power. I must take part of the
responsibility for not having been able to stop it. And now, Fei... the
one who has the same power as Grahf... we just wanted to seal up that
dreadful power that arose from our own sinful deeds...]"

Citan sighed regretfully and was about to reply when he was interrupted
by a soft but menacing tone from the side.

"[How noble of you... trying to erase your past mistakes under the guise
of saving the world.]" Ranma snorted as he stepped forward, followed
silently by Emeralda and Vanilla behind him.

Queen Zephyr shook her head vehemently. "[We really wanted to save the
world... but we also wanted to erase that mistake...]"

"[By... killing Fei-san?]" Vanilla asked courteously. Her eyes however
betrayed the real emotions she felt as of the moment.

Emeralda glared at Zephyr. "[I... I can't try to make myself believe
how... how easy it is for you to judge people like that. Fei tries his
best to control the power inside him, and here you are planning his
future behind his back!]"

Ranma looked at Zephyr evenly. "[You may have lost faith in Fei, but we
haven't. And also, didn't I tell you that Washuu could do something
about it? Are you that eager to kill the man that saved your world a lot
of times before?! You said you are old... I have heard that age brings
experience. But seeing you now, I can only see a child who is afraid to
venture out and trust someone.]"

Not waiting for a response, Ranma quickly turned and stormed out of the
queen's chambers, who was later followed by the equally dismayed
Emeralda and Vanilla. Citan just stood there in shock, the words the
trio had spoken rang true to his ears. He glanced at Zephyr, who looked
like she was about to weep but was visibly straining herself. He too,
turned and went out of the chamber, out to go to his friend Fei. But
before he could step into the infirmary just way past at the right side
of the chamber, a loud crash echoed across the hallways, alerting
several guards that sped towards the room. Citan himself ran to the room
and found it in shambles, only Elly's bedside was spared from the
onslaught. The red-haired scientist called Washuu was busy shaking the
cobwebs off her head as she was assisted by Ranma, who was already in
there before Citan. Emeralda and Vanilla checked the destroyed part of
the clinic, which was near the windows. The whole wall was now a big
gaping hole that exposed the high altitude they were in.

"[Are you alright?]" Citan heard Ranma asking Washuu, who was by now
able to stand up on her feet.

Washuu clutched at her head, leaning slightly on Ranma's body. "[Yes...
damn it! I underestimated Fei's other personalities. But I found out
something interesting. The process in recuperating Fei's personas was
actually a success, but I was shocked when his hair turned red and went
out rudely without even thanking me! Anyway, I just found out that Fei
wasn't the original personality to begin with. It has always been this
'Id' that's the original Fei!]"

"[What?!]" Citan choked out, stepping inside the room. "[So... Fei was
actually...]"

Washuu nodded. "[A fake persona... recently made too! Id was the current
personality that controlled all of the Fei inside his mind. So when I
tried to revert him back, Id came out. Then he just blasted his way out
of here, but not before staring at Elly for a moment. I got smacked to
the wall because of the whiplash, partly because I wasn't really
anticipating that one.]"

Ranma glanced to the general direction where Fei, rather, Id flew out.
He took note that some of the soldiers entered the room and were busy
informing Citan about a glowing man taking off with the Weltall II. "[I
can still feel him... if we planned on chasing him, we should do it now
while he's burning enough ki to turn this planet to dust.]" he commented
to no one in particular. He then added, "[Emeralda, Vanilla, you better
stay here and watch the fort while the rest of us go and fetch Fei.]"

In front of him, Emeralda turned to look at him seriously.

"I will go with you." The green haired girl told Ranma in quiet voice,
saying it in Ranma's native language just to make sure he understood how
firmed her resolve was about the topic.

Sighing morosely, Ranma just nodded. "Fine." He faced Vanilla, who also
had that same determined look on her face. Shaking his head, he said,
"Vanilla, you better stay here. I don't want you to get hurt."

Seeing the pleading look on Ranma's face, Vanilla relented as she
shrugged slightly. To normal people, they wouldn't see the subtle
action, but Ranma understood her acceptance of his proposal. Ranma
smiled as he lifted his hand to caress Vanilla's face. The girl blushed
slightly at the contact, even after Ranma removed his hand and had
already walked out of the room with Citan and Emeralda trailing behind
him.

"Ah... to be young and in love." Washuu's teasing voice jolted Vanilla
out of her thoughts. The pale skinned girl blushed even harder as
Washuu's words took effect.

Vanilla vainly shook her head as she tried to settle the blood that
seeped into her face. "I do not know what you mean."

Washuu smirked and nudged Vanilla's side. "You can't hide it from me...
I know those looks you threw at Ranma. They were exactly the same looks
my daughter Ryoko gave him in the past. And if I'm reading this right,
Emeralda has the same feelings as you do."

For the first time in her life, Vanilla's normally stone face twisted
into a worried frown. "What am I to do? I am nothing but a passenger in
Ranma's life. I could not compete, especially if there are others, not
to mention your daughter, which I know you are probably rooting for."

The scientist just blinked at Vanilla before falling down on her
posterior, laughing her ass off. The albino girl glowered as she gazed
patiently at Washuu, who was now rolling back and forth the floor. After
a moment or cackles, Washuu finally stood up, wiping the tears that
leaked out of her eyes because of laughing too hard. Waving off
Vanilla's expression, she said, "Sorry about that. It's just that you're
too serious about everything! Lighten up girl! By the way, even if Ryoko
is my daughter, I won't take sides." Patting Vanilla's head, Washuu
continued, "Although I will tell you what I told Ryoko way back then.
Ranma is no ordinary guy, since he can genuinely admit in loving several
women without a doubt. That's how caring he is, so you don't have to
worry. If you're thinking about the marriage thing, I don't think Ranma
would be married to only one girl. I can assure you that, so you don't
have to worry. Just tell him you love him, and you will get a special
place in his heart, just like Ryoko."

Vanilla looked longingly at the doorway Ranma walked out of and smiled
slightly. "Somehow, I feel happy with that knowledge."

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

Author Rants:

Alright. Someone reminded me about listing the anime and game I crossed
the story with at present. It was why I kept a list separate from the
stories in the first place... but as time went by I kinda forgot about
it.

Anyway, here's the Crossover List Roll Call... so far.

Ranma 1/2
Ah, My Goddess!
Tenchi Muyo! (mostly on Ryo-Ohki)
Dragonball Z/GT
Sailor Moon
Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure (it's gonna get clearer on future
chapters)
Inuyasha
Final Fantasy 7 (mentioned a bit so far, coming REAL soon)
Flame of Recca (mentioned when Kagero appeared, for future references)
Vandread (mostly on Second Stage)
*Super Robot Wars Alpha (tons of Anime Mecha shows all in one)
Teknoman (mentions only at first, solidifying on future chapters)
Galaxy Angels
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Xenogears

* - Super Robot Wars Alpha consists of several Mecha-type Anime

Mecha Anime List from SRW Alpha:

Original Personal Trooper Type
- Hukkebine Mk. II & Mk. III
- R-1, R-2, R-3, SRX (Super Robot X)
- Grungast Mk. II (transformable 3 modes)
- Ryuu-Ou-Ki & Ko-Ou-Ki
Psybuster (anime on the works)
- Psybuster (wind elemental)
- Grand Zone (darkness elemental)
- Valcione R (energy elemental)
Mobile Suit Gundam (Amuro Rei)
Zeta Gundam (Bidan Kamiyu {Camille})
Double Zeta Gundam (Judo Ashita)
V Gundam (weird series, but this one's real old, since the SRW2 Gameboy)
Gundam 0083 (Kou Uraki)
Gundam Formula 91 (F-91, Seabook Arno)
Macross (series and OAV)
Combattler V
Voltes V
Neon Genesis Evangelion (series and OAV)
Getta Robot (original and Shin)
Mazinger Z (original and Mazinkaizer)
Gundam Wing (series and OAV)
Giant Robo
Raideen
Aura Battler Dunbine
Great Mazinger
Gunbuster
Dancougar

Sorry about the delay, but I was visiting someone important the past
three weeks. I was out of the country, and I left my computer back home.
When I did get back, I got inspired and typed a lot, and finally noticed
it exceeded the 200K mark, which if I upload in fanfiction(dot)net it
would cause some problems. To play it safe, I cut it in half, and the
last half ain't finished yet.

I made revisions in the Xenogears itself, so don't be too surprised if
the changes were somewhat major. That's part of the plan in a
fanfiction.

October 5... a sad date for me. Ashleen, this fanfic is for you... may
you watch me from above.

Ja ne.

- 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!

"I swear!! This ain't what it looks like!!!" - Ranma Saotome