Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Blended Dimensions ❯ Of Alpha and Omega ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Blended Demensions
By Bud

Chapter 15: Of Alpha and Omega

The continent of Ignas, in the northern hemisphere of the world. On this, the largest continent, a war has been raging between two countries for hundreds of years. In the north of the continent lies the Kislev Empire, in the south lies the desert kingdom of Aveh. The war has gone on for so long that the people have forgotten the cause, knowing only the pointless circle of hostility and tragedy.

The chronic war obsession was soon to encounter a devastating change. This was due to the 'Ethos', an institution that preserves the world's culture, repairing tools and weapons excavated from the ruins of an ancient civilization. At once both countries excavated these ruins, and had the 'Ethos' repair the discoveries, in order to increase their military power.

The various weapons excavated from the ruins greatly changed the form of warfare. The outcome of the battles between the two countries was no longer determined by man-to-man combat, but by 'Gears' - giant humanoid fighting machines - that were obtained from deep within the ruins.

Eventually, after continuous swings in the state of the war, Kislev gained the upper hand. The major factor behind this lay in the enormous difference in the amount of resources buried within their ruins. But suddenly a mysterious military force appeared in the continent of Ignas. Called 'Gebler', this force decided to make contact with Aveh.

With the assistance of this Gebler military force, Aveh was able to recover from being hopelessly outnumbered to being back on an even standing with Kislev. Then, taking further advantage of its newly gained momentum, Aveh started to capture one territory after another from Kislev, showing no indication of slowing down in their invasion campaign.

But the story starts off in the village of Lahan, in the outskirts of Aveh, near the border of Kislev. A fire has broke out in the village as one would observe from a distance.

This is where is all began.

This is where it was once again relived.

The scene opens up to the center of the village. Villagers are running everywhere in panic, fearing for their lives and children. Gunfire similiar to large caliber weapons assaults his ears as the carnage occurs around him.

But he paid no heed. He didn't care at all.

Everything changed so suddenly. The history of this village. The history of this very world.

Even the history of his own past life that he's now come to realize, Ranko informed him as he stared down at the dying man that she once was apart of.

Ranma thought back to how this all came to be. How he changed his own past by being apart of it.

Six months ago to this date...

Once again the same anomoly occurred over the heavenly body below it. In a sudden flash of green energy that lasted for almost a nanosecond two unidentified flying objects appeared. They floated solely on inertia as they followed the moons orbit around the planet below within it's darkside. The occupants of the objects finally got to their senses.

"Montel, you okay?" Buddy called his friend on a radio channel. He got an immediate reply.

"Yeah, but it was kinda rough. Felt like a roller coaster." answered the black man.

"Ranma?"

"I'm okay." said the pigtailed man.

"Activate your hyper-jammers. We don't know what we have around here." Buddy grunted out. "Ranma, do that sensor scan I showed you awhile back."

"Hai."

Buddy checked his systems and smiles. The portable charger her installed on the fold system was working like a charm. It would take longer, but the system would be finished within five months. That's more than enough time for a long bout of R&R.

Ranma spoke up. "It's not Earth."

"WHAT?!" chorused two voices.

"Look."

A screen popped up showing a different topographical configuration different from Earth. Buddy didn't have to be a Topographic professor to know Ranma was correct. "What the fuck?"

"Daaaaymmm.." drawled out Montel in a disbelieving attitude. "What kinda shit is this?"

"Probably an alternate Earth." Bud stated obviously. "Different evolutionary path than how we evolved. Any landing places?"

"Here." Ranma indicated a pennisula on the largest continent on the eastern seaboard.

"Can you do re-entry, Montel?"

"Somewhat I can tell, yeah." he said.

"Try to splash down in the ocean."

"Roger."

Hour later the two futuristic mecha touched down on solid earth for the first time in a long time. Though Deathscythe made a scene during it's splash-down, they were mostly ignored by the fishmen that were around. Once their friend was on dry land and the sun began to set in the west, Ranma - being the one with more outdoorsman experience - set out to hunt for something that could be cooked for dinner. While Buddy made the fire, Montel kicked back against the foot of his MS since he has no experience at all with anything remotely close to camping or outdoors survival.

The two mostly sat in silence around the fire as it built up to a nice, warm and controlled inferno as the air began to cool heavily. Minute later Ranma returned with some sort of animal which he began the process of skinning.

Buddy raised an eyebrow at the type of animal. "Is that a turkey?"

"It's called a hob." said Ranma.

"Oh, alright."

Two hours late, after the game was caught, cleaned, cooked and eaten did Buddy realize what the animal was called.

"HOB?!"

"Yeah, that's the best chicken I've had in a while." Ranma patted his stomach.

"Fo shoow! Wish it was fried though." Montel said in a relaxed voice. "Damn was good!"

"HOB?!" repeated Bud but settle down when they looked at him like he was crazy. He shrugged and leaned back again Deathscythe's leg. "I guess we really do need to seperate for a while."

"I almost forgot about that shit." Montel lamented. "I say we split up in the morning and check this world out. I have a feelin' I fin'sta get lucky if niggah's speak english." He picked his teeth with a toothpick.

"Yeah, I'll probably head South west and check out other places. Maybe swing back around and check the rest of the continent. Maybe head north, I dunno." said Bud. He looked at Ranma. "What about you, Ran-man?"

Ranma didn't say a word.

"Dude?" Bud tapped the pigtailed man on the head and watched him tip backwards into a loud snore. "Sawing logs. Must have been exhausted."

"I wouldn't blame him, especially how that female of his acts." Montel stated.

"I'll I guess I'll hit the sack too," Bud said while placing a blanket over his Japanese friend. "See you in the morning."

"G'night."

"G'nite, niggah." Buddy crawled into his sleeping bag and immediately knocked out.

A couple hours later...

While Montel and Bud slept before the still blazing fire, Ranma silently collected his belonging and left the camp-sight heading north. He was aware of what was happening but was not in control. In his mind, he talked to his counter-part.

"Where are we going?" Ranma asked Ranko in Japanese. She was in her usual white and tan military dress that he seen before but could not remember. "And why aren't I a girl? You said you'll only be the girl half and not use my half!"

Id frowned and looked away. "I don't want them following us."

"Why?"

"I know where we are, Ranma."

This got him curious. "And just where would that be, huh?"

"Ignas, the largest continent of this world." she looked at him with sad eyes. "This is where it all started."

Ranma hated to see a woman like her sad. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. This was the first time she's even been this close to him.

"What do you mean... started?"

She shook her head. "Can I tell you another time? I cannot say but head north. You'll pass thru a place called the blackmoon forest and soon after wards there will be a village called Lahan. It'll take us two weeks to get there by walking."

"How do you know of this village?"

She paused. "It.."

"It was my home."

In the morning..

Montel awoke as the sun finally shifted to glare into his eye-lids. He gave a mighty, foul yawn that had him choking. Morning breath. He happened to look around wearily and saw Bud fixing his backpack while dressed in his combat BDU's and equipment, but this time they were of a Jungle camouflage pattern.

"Wussup?" Montel yawned out. He noticed someone was missing.

"Left four hours after you fell asleep." Bud said unworriedly. "He has alot on his mind to contend with. We'll just let him be for now."

"I kinda guessed that." He noticed Buddy climbing into his fighter and starting it up. "Where you goin'?"

Bud shook his head and put on his black, red and yellow trimed 'thinking cap' UN Spacy helmet.

"I got stuff to think about also, so don't try and follow me, dawg." He dropped his tinted visor and have the black man a thumbs-up as the canopy dropped. He was in the air and out of site within minutes.

Montel looked around and sighed.

"Damn. I guess I'm on my own again."


The trek towards the village of Lahan was not was easy for Ranma. But hey - Nothing is easy when Ranma Saotome is involved. By the fourth day of full sprint running with the occassional break, Ranma made good time in beating Ranko's estimate of 2 weeks travel to Lahan. Now he was just outside the so called, Blackmoon Forest.

"Creepy," Ranma dead-panned before stepping into the rough.

One thing Ranma learned quickly, was that this was definately not like the Earth he was use too. Hobs, strange slimey creatures, over-grown insects that want to drip poison on you and even strange purple men that want to club you senseless moved about freely in this forest. He'd seen worse thanks to Jusenkyou, but it still felt creepy how some would surprise attack him out of nowhere.

Another strange developement was Id. The last time him and her had their usual mental conversation was the time he left Bud and Montel behind at the landing site. He didn't know exactly why she wasn't responding to him nor if she was just ignoring him or maybe listening but enjoying the ride. She did mention that this - place - was were she use to live in a time he is too young to comprehend. He bit down the jibe to call the somewhat psychotic red-head an old mummy.

"I guess I'll sleep here tonight," Ranma sat against a tree in what he would assume was an open area under the trees canopy. He'll figure out where he's at in the morning.


Oh shit, thought the pigtailed traveller. Of all the places to sleep he HAD to pick a place full of... some Tyranasaurus or an over-grown velociraptor. And he was leaning against one of the biggest ones!

He carefully got to his feet and tiptoed away.

"YAAAAAHHH!!!!" Ranma screamed while being chased by the meaniest looking dinosaur.

They both ran deeper into the forest.

Five minutes later, same area..

"YYAAAAAAHHH!!!" Ranma ran by screaming for his life while being chased by the same enemy.

They both ran deeper into the forest in the opposite direction.

Ten minutes later..

One of the huge trees buckled at it's base as a screaming martial artist crashed through the behemouth tree and ran while being chased by the SAME dinosaur!

"GET AWAY FROM MEEEEEEeeee----"

Can you guess where they went?

After another hour of being chased around...

Ranma was getting pissed. This... dinosaur - he didn't know what to call it - just wouldn't leave him alone! Wasn't his fault that he stepped on what would be the reptiles geni-- He didn't want to think about that.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted and jumped high into the air, sailing over the beasts head by a few meters. He can beat it!

"Moko---" A ball of his ki formed in his gut and was summon through his body to pulse between his hands. He smirked at the confused.. thing and pushed the energy quickly towards it. "--Takabisha!"

The ki blast impacted the dinosaur on the skull. That's about all it did really. The Tyranasaurus-like monster shook it's large head to clear whatever cobwebs it had. It stood still for a moment and did nothing.

"Eh?" Ranma stared up at the monster in disbelief.

The monster left.

"Ano..." he began in Japanese but stopped.

Not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, he took off quickly.

VERY quickly.

"Stupid dinosaurs!"

"Stupid forest!"

"Stupid plains!"

"Stupid wild animals and their seemingly impenetrable armor!" Ranma screamed outloud as he kicked an armored rhino in it's crotch, felling the wild beast. He abused the animal's genitals a few more times for good measure just for the fact that it nearly shoved it's horn up his ass.

He groaned and stretched after the work-out. Off in the distance he could see the billow of smoke comming out of the chimeny of a couple houses. It was morning and if he paced himself, he would make it in time to buy some lunch.

Luckily for him a couple bandits tried to 'rob' him of his possessions. He wasn't a theif like his father but when you have no money and someone tried to rob you, it was perfectly fine for him to search their pockets and collect their dues. Now he had a few gold coins to add to his name. He hoped things weren't expensive.

The village of Lahan was a small, but quiet rural town that sat at the outskirts of the kingdom of Aveh. The population was small - somewhere in the four-hundreds - so almost everybody knew everybody.

Ranma stepped though the main entrance of the town and looked around. There were several buildings - nothing too big - and from what he could tell he was in in the town square. There were merchants selling or trading on the raised ground in the center. The locals moved around doing whatever it is that they do. He spotted children running about, smiling and playing without a care in the world. He felt warm seeing how peaceful this little town was.

"So this is where she lived," he thought, remembering that Ranko told him she use to live here. He knew she was watching through his eyes. He couldn't blame her at all for wanting to go here.

Someone spotted him and came up to greet him.

"Welcome to Lahan," greeted the man. He was thin, but built strongly - possibly from farm work. "I would guess that this is the first time here?"

Ranma nodded.

"Well let me show you around." He then introduced himself. "My name is Timothy."

"Saotome, Ranma Saotome." he replied and gave him a bow of acknowledgement. He also lucked out - English, he guessed, was the main language. "Uhh.. How did you know this was my first time here?" he asked.

Timothy smiled and pulled at the somewhat dirty clothes the pigtailed man wore.

"You looked well travelled plus," he looked Ranma up and down. "We don't make shirts like this in our village."

"Oh."

"Anyways, let me show you around like I said..."

And so Timothy escorted Ranma throughout the village showing him the sites of his quaint little town. Ranma liked this place. The villagers were mostly friendly, and those that weren't were not that bad and at least acknowledged your presence. He told Timothy that he was looking for a place to stay, wanting to settle down for a while. Unfortunatly, Timothy informed him that all housing was taken up due to the trading season - another reason why the town square was so packed. Luckily, Timothy said he could convince his father, the village Chief's advisor, to allow Ranma to stay with them for the time being. Ranma thanked him and they continued onward. Ranma noticed something that caught his eye and turned to see what it was.

It was a young man around his age. Long black hair in a pony tail behind his head. Kung fu pants, comfortable shoes and a white baggy shirt with blue trim. Seeing him felt like he was looking at--

"Oi! Fei!" Timothy called out to his friend. Said friend paused in his kata before settling down. Timothy brought Ranma up to meet Fei on the little hill outside of town and quickly introduced them.

"Nice ta meet'cha," Ranma bowed slightly.

Fei returned the gesture. "The same for you also."

There was a long pause as the two men stared at each other. It was as if they both knew the other person was a powerful martial artist and wanted to guage their strength.

"Care to spar?" they both asked at the same time. They bursted into a fit of laughter that made Timothy wonder what was so funny. They both seemed alike.

"Uh.. You guys know each other?" he asked curiously.

Fei waved it off. "Nah, first time meeting him. From what I'm guessing, if he is also a seasoned martial artist."

"Yep - Saotome Matsubetsu Kakuto Ryuu - or Anything-Goes as it's called. Been practicin' since I was six." Ranma puffed his chest out a little with pride.

Fei smirked. "So how about that spar...?"

"Alright!" Ranma beamed excitedly.

Timothy watched worriedly. Fei was the best the village had to offer. The only person that came relatively close to Fei was Doc Citan, though the good doctor doesn't practice as regularly as Fei.

From what Ranma could tell, Fei took up a loose Jeet Kun Do stance similiar to Bruce Lee's fighting style - fist partially closed, feet spaced apart bouncing on the balls of his feet, one arm at the side while the other was raised slightly in a ready position. Ranma kept his neutral stance - standing with his arms behind his back and looked as relaxed as possible, smiling. Ranma saw Fei hesitate for a moment so spoke up.

"Whenever your ready."

Fei began quickly and tested the waters a bit. Ranma leaned to the side as the punch sailed by him and broke his stance when he lunged to barely avoid the follow up side-kick. Another punch came his way and he grabbed it from the air and pulled Fei into a shoulder throw. A pair of legs suddenly wrapped around his head and he was thrown as Fei reversed the throw into a leg-scissors throw of his own. Ranma flipped in mid-air and landed easily a few feet away.

"You're good," Fei commented while rotating his arm. It was wrenched pretty bad from when he countered the throw.

Ranma rubbed his neck. Being thrown by the head wasn't all that cracked up to be. "Not so bad yourself."

They clashed again but it was Fei that took more initiative. He shot out with a quick left hook followed by a spinning back-fist with his right and ended the combo with a hard left uppercut.

Ranma pushed leaned away from the hook, ducked spinnging right but took the upper cut hard in the gut. He stumbled back a bit a rubbed his tummy but bit off a chuckle seeing Fei rub wave his hand around in pain.

What is he made of? Fei glanced at the pigtailed man. He wasn't wearing any armor but how come it felt like he hit a Rhino instead of pliant flesh? At least Ranma felt the hit and it's impact.

Fei jumped into the air for a flying kick but Ranma followed and quickly intercepted him! Mid-Air combat was the specialty of the Saotome branch and Ranma gave Fei a lesson the hard-way. Ranma landed blow after blow against Fei, seemingly hovering in mid-air before Fei suddenly dropped and landed in a crouch panting heavily and looking worse for wear. Ranma landed across from him panting and holding his stomach.

"You're fast.." Fei said while panting for breath.

"So are you," Ranma shot back. "I felt those hits to my stomach."

They glared at each other before bursting into another fit of laughter. Timothy just stared at them wide-eyed. He's never seen such skill out of someone like Ranma nor has anyone put Fei in a position he's in besides Citan, at that was usually after an hour of fighting. These two have only been at it for no more than two minutes!

"Wow." was all the young man had to say.

Maybe with Ranma staying here, this village would be sure to get more lively.


Two months have passed since Ranma's arrival in Lahan. A day after that spar with Fei, the two seemed to connect as if they were two long lost brothers. Despite the years different in age and looks, someone would think of them as faternal twins - brothers that were birthed by two seperate eggs and seed within the same womb. They were in seperable after that day and it was rare to find them without the company of the other during the day. Ranma was a big help to some of the local farmers. When he wasn't with Fei, myself or Alice, he would be busying himself on the fields picking fruits, moving around stuff or herding the larger farm animals.

Despire how good friends he's become with us, he was still a mystery. On a couple rare nights I would find him missing from his room across from mine only to find him sitting by himself on that small hill where I introduced him to Fei. A couple nights I would here him crying from within his locked room. I did not dare bother him. Sometimes it's best to leave a man alone at times like that.

Thank brings me to Ranma's past. Whenever I tried to bring it up he would immediately change the subject. He would often reminice or daydream sometimes when certain subjects come up or something brings up a memory or two, but he never says anything about it - just moves on. I once asked Fei if he knew anything, but my friend said that Ranma never talks to him of anything of that kind and he never asked since he doesn't remember much about his own past.

Despite all this, I believe Ranma found some peace in this little village of ours and I hope that one day - when he's found himself - he would share his past with us.

Oh! One more thing I forgot to mention. Ranma eats ALOT! I mean, Yui - Citan's wife - couldn't keep up with Ranma's appetite before giving in and buying the man food until he was full saited. Yui prided herself on being able to make any person full when they sit at her table and eat one of her meals, but Ranma proved that not even she could keep up with, what Ranma called, the Saotome stomach.

Timothy closed his journal and sighed. He hid his personnal thoughts under his bed before grabbing his purse of gold. He had a ring to purchase and a best friend to propose to.

"Hey Fei. Did'ja hear about Timothy and Alice?" Ranma asked his sparring partner. Fei and himself found this a daily ritual - to spar atop the hill since they first met. It was the only place they could find that didn't draw alot of attention from the merchants that passed through the town, or the Aveh recruiters that rarely show up.

Fei nodded, ducking under a left hook and replying with an uppercut. "I heard. I'm happy for the man also, especially for Alice. She's a wonderful girl." the smile on his face would of been perfect if it didn't have Ranma fist planted in it.

"Uhh.. You okay? You were wide open." Ranma seemed oblivious as to why Fei left himself open like that. Fei waved him off and the countinued.

"Want to pick it up a notch?" This made Ranma grin.

Ranma answered by attacking with a fierce combo of moves. A left hook followed by a thrusting palm strike at the chest. He gracefully flowed into a side-kick with his right leg followed-up by a spinning crescent kick with his left leg. Fei wasn't as fast as Ranma, not even close but he was patient and strong in his own defense. He slapped the hook out of the way and flowed with the power of the palm strike to lessen the blow. The side-kick was knocked to the side but it turned into that crescent kick. He blocked it with his fore-arm before grabbing the ankle. He held Ranma in place before sweeping the pigtailed mans leg from under him.

Said pigtailed man fell back but tuckled into a roll barely missing the decending Fei's foot as it impacted the ground. Ranma tried a foot sweep but Fei easily hopped over it. Just as Fei came back down from the small jump Ranma was already in the motion of the second sweep the hit Fei behind the knees. The ponytailed man - Fei - fell forward into a roll and stood a few feet away from Ranma.

They both smirked at each other.

"KIYAH!" Ranma jumped into the air hopping to goad Fei into following and wasn't surprised when he didn't. Fei learned quickly to never get in the air with this man or he would lose quickly. Instead, Fei rolled forward towards Ranma's jumping form and when his feet was planted he launched into a vicious rising uppercut that caught Ranma in the gut. The surprise on his face was appreciated greatly by Fei's eyes.

Fei landed and wait for Ranma to get back up. He turned around to check on his friend but quickly found himself on the defensive. Ranma struck home quickly with a muay thai knee to the gut that had Fei gasping for breath. He flowed into a spinning back kick that had him reeling followed by a quick one-two left-right uppercuts that knocked the younger man on his back.

"Kah--!" Fei coughed as he got up. His stomach really hurt from that knee strike. He took a deep breath and relaxing himself as he place the pain away from his thoughts. He smirks at Ranma.

Ranma smiles back knowingly and motion im to come with his hand. He moves into a relaxed stance with his hands behind his back.

Fei dashes forward and launches a fierce side-kick that Ranma simply side-steps. Not worried, Fei uses that momentum to spin on his planted foot and turn the side-kick into a spinning crescent kick. Ranma ducks under the leg and hops over the follow up roundhouse. Ranma then attempted to duck under a haymaker but was caught when the haymaker feint turned into smashing elbow to the back of his head.

He clearly felt the throbbing in his hand at the blow but the price it took to knock Ranma down was not a problem. Fei hopped back a few feet and smirk while waving his aching hand. "Give up?"

"Nah, not tired yet." Ranma said lazily.

They clashed again this time and neither held back. Flesh crashed into flesh as they fought. Punches and kicks that could crush rock pounded into flesh and bone. Even as the seconds wore on they pushed themselves harder. This was their element, a good fight were their skill would be put to good use and eventual grow as they become more seasoned. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Day slowly turned into night.

They fought.

And they fought.

And they fought, neither one tiring.

It wasn't until a gentle voice of a young girl calling them that made them pause in their practice.

"Dinner time, boys." called Alice, Fei and Timothy's best friend and Ranma's new acquintance. "We are having it at Timothy's house tonight. His mother wanted me to invite you over, Fei."

Fei relaxed himself before jogging up to his female friend. "Sure! I'd love too. You know that her food just as much as anyone elses." he said with a small chuckle.

"What about you, Ranma?" Timothy's fiancee asked the pigtailed man standing on the hill facing away from them.

"I think I'll skip dinner to tonight," he turned his head to smile at them. "Tell Timothy I s'pose I'd be in later tonight."

"Are you sure, Ranma?" Fei asked worriedly. Ranma usually never missed a meal.

The pigtailed man nodded. "Tonight's a beautiful night." he commented while gazing up at the stars. It reminded him where he was from. "I wanna stay here under the stars for the rest of night - it wouldn't be right to waste a chance like this."

As Fei and Alice left him on the hill, he sat down in a meditative position and retreated to the back of his mind.

"You were once him - Fei - weren't'cha?" Ranma addressed Ranko. He sat next to her as she re-watched the memory of him sparring with Fei just minutes ago.

"How do you guess that?" she asked sadly.

"The way he moves and the way he fights all remind me of you when you went into battle those few times in the other world. The way he punches, kicks, jumps and even defensive moves were just like you." Ranma looked at her right in the eyes. "When sparring with him, it felt like sparring with you before I.. I.. Killed that bastard of a pig!"

Id smirked at Ranma and began to chuckle. "You fucking idiot." She stood and walked away, ignoring his cries for her to tell him what he did.


Months later...

Fei Fong Wong, an accomplished martial artist, let out a sigh that was complimented with a smile. Before him stood a painting that he has been working on for a while. But now it was finished. He dabbed on it with his brush giving it the final touches to make it perfect in his eyes.

"Whew! That about does it..." he looks around and stretches his arms.

"Alright... now for a short break."

He walks into the next room and talks to a maid.

"Oh my! Fei you startled me." The maid, a young woman of 24, looks at Fei appreciatively. "My, how time flies. Why, it has already been 3 years since you came to our village..."

"When they first saw you brought in all bloody and soaken, to tell you the truth, they did not think you were going to make it. And the strange masked man that carried you here that day... Do you think that maybe he was your real father?" she thought for a moment and looked sad. "Don't you remember anything? Why, they say you had terrible nightmares and constantly called out for your father."

She thought back to how Fei was brought to her village but through that out of her mind for more optimistic thoughts. She placed her hands on his shoulders and smiled.

"But, now you're so strong..." She leaned closer giving him a GOOD view of her busty chest. ".. and healthy." She licked her lips causing him to gulp. "VERY healthy.."

He sweated. "Why, when I tended to you for those couple of nights and changed your soaken clothes, I couldn't help but play with your massive mem---"

"S-sorry! Gotta see Ranma and Timothy! Bye!"

"Get's him everytime." Giggled the sexy maid.

Fei slows down as he reaches the top of the stairs. He let out a heavy sigh. He liked her - alot actually - and they both occassionally... hang out in the privacy of his room and do THAT. But sometimes she could be so... forward and he couldn't handle a situations like that. She just loved to tease him.

He spotted Timothy standing near the door and decided to speak with him. Timothy notices him also.

"Yo! Hi there, Fei. Sorry for us using your house like this. But, we have to talk about the big day tomorrow with the village chief."

Fei thinks. "Yeah tomorrow, huh... Your wedding with Alice! Now that's a big day!"

"Yeah... really... but it hasn't hit me as reality though."

Fei steps toward Timothy and place a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, errh, Timothy... I just want to thank both you and Alice... 3 years ago, I woke up in this village without a trace of my memory... I didn't know who I was, where I've been, or what I'd been doing up until that day... I couldn't recall a single thing..." Fei looks down.

"Despite all that, you and Alice sympathized with me and encouraged me to go on. If the two of you hadn't been there for me, I don't know what would have become of me..."

Fei looks up at Timothy directly in his eyes.

"Timothy, from the bottom of my heart, I thank ya! Now, you and Alice had better live a happy life together!" his voice turned cold. "Or else."

Timothy turns and laughs.

"Hah! Quit it will ya! You don't have to go and get all mushy on me... Anyways, to me it feels like I've been friends with you ever since we were kids." He turned back to Fei and nods.

"And we will go onto being friends forever, right?"

"Of course!" Fei instantly replies with a trademark smirk.

"Ha! I swear you and Ranma both look the same with that damn smirk." Timothy jabbed Fei in the ribs playfully. "Speaking of which, he's over at Alice's place keeping her company. Could you stop by and check on her? I trust Ranma with Alice, just not with all the food there." This caused them both to laugh out loud. "I'm sure she'll enjoy more company."

"Yeah, sure. I'll do that... Anyway, see you later." Fei turned back and gave Timothy a thumbs up. "Oh, and I am really looking forward to the ceremony tomorrow."

Fei taps the shoulders of an elderly man. It's the village's Chief Lee.

"Oh, it's you Fei. We're in the middle of discussing Timothy and Alice's wedding arrangements." He paused for a second.

"Hey, why don't you bring a girlfriend or two home once in a while? Just because you live with an old man like me doesn't mean you have to hold back now, you hear?!"

Fei shrugged. "Who needs a girlfriend when Janice's room is right across from mine?" Janice was the bust maid that works for the Chief that teased him earlier.

"Well, you have a point Fei. And she is one hot errh, umm.. nevermind." He waved Fei off. "Now, we still have more important things to discuss... so don't get in the way now."

Fei chuckled at seeing the old man's red face. Just as he was about to exit the house, a small red-headed and obnoxious-looking kid barges into the house just as he was exiting.

"So there you are! Fei, I have to talk to you about something!"

Fei nods. "Well hello there, Dan. You're lively today... just as you are everyday!"

Timothy turns and addresses the kid. "Dan! Don't be so rude? What's this barging in and all?"

Dan now noticed Timothy is here also.

"Argh! Timothy's here too." the kid stares at the old boy for a second. "Butt out, Timothy! Until you marry my sister, you have nothing to do with me! I have some business here to speak with my friend Fei!" Dan turnes back to Fei.

"So anyway Fei, I errh... I have something to talk to ya about later..."

Fei looks a little skeptical, looks down and places his hands on his hips. But speak anyway, "What is it, Dan? It sounds serious!"

"Yeah, that's why I can't talk about it here... There's a certain person listening who could cause trouble...!"

Dan jumps up and down excitedly. "It's really important! We gotta talk, serious, one-on-one, man-to-man! I'll be hanging around outside. So I'll see ya there later, OK!" Dan turns to Timothy.

"Be seein' ya, Timothy. Take care of yourself until tomorrow..." Dan makes a gesture towards his future brother-in-law before leaving. Fei shakes his head and asks Timothy.

"What's with him?"

"As of tomorrow, I'm gonna be that kids brother-in-law... Ha! That part isn't gonna be no honeymoon!"

Timothy turns back to what he was doing while Fei steps outside the chiefs house. People were still bustling around this time of year since weather predictions seemed to forecast clear skies for the next couple of weeks. He watched some kids move around playing some games and had to smile. Despite wherever he was born, Lahan was now his home.

Stepping towards Alice's house, he noticed Dan standing near the outskirts of the town square waiting patiently. Getting this out of the way, he approached Dan to see what he wanted.

"Oh good, Fei! Ya ready to talk?" Dan starts to look business-like. "As you know, tomorrow's finally the day of my sister's wedding... So, what I want to talk to you about is exactly that - Alice's marriage!" Dan looks down.

"To be perfectly honest with you Fei - I've always wished you could of been my brother." He looks back up at Fei. "It's not too late. You could go steal Alice and run off with her! If you need me to help, I'd be glad to!" Dan looks down again.

"It may be odd for me to say this, but my sister's beautiful and a good cook..." Dan leaned over a whispered, "and this is just between you and me but, she's well endowed too! Heh heh heh!" Dan makes a coupld urgent gestures toward Fei. "So c'mon! Go for it!"

Fei nods.

"Alright Dan, you've got it," Fei says sarcastically which Dan doesn't notice. "I guess I'll just go sweep Alice away and make a run for it!" Dan looks a little surprised.

"Really!? I knew I liked you, Fei! That's the spirit!" Dan looks down again. "... But, if only it was that easy. It's not like we can change their feelings - And you would need to have to love her too..."

Dan looks back at Fei.

"But, I'm not gonna forget this, Fei! You were really willing to go that far to help me - Fei, you're a good guy!" and he scurried off.

Fei blinked a couple times. He shrugged his shoulders and saunters over to Alice's house. A maid was blocking the entrance.

"Why, hello Fei. Are you here to see Alice?" asked the maid. "Actually, it's customary that we don't let any men in to see the bride today. But, you can be an exception."

Fei remembered another reason he was here.

"Oh, is Ranma still here?" he asked the maid. "Timothy wanted me to see if he ate all the food yet?" he said with a chuckle.

The maid giggled and shook her head. "He was here earlier for a little bit. He went up to Doc Uzuki's to get some camera equipment for the ceremony and reception. Alice's aunt didn't trust Dan with such a task."

"Oh, one more thing.." The maid sets away from the door to allow Fei in but is holding a mallet. "You know you won't come out in once piece if you try anything on the bride."

Fei sweats.

Later in the day, Dusk...

"Mmmm! That was good!"

It was around sunset at this time and Ranma was found sitting at the table of the Uzuki family - Doctor Citan, Yui and their daughter Midori.

Citan Uzuki - or Doc as Fei and Ranma call him - was a VERY intelligent man. Though he was limited in the knowledge of medicine, he excelled greatly in mechanical engineering. When Ranma arrived at his mountain home/workshop he was startled when one of the Doc's inventions literally blew up in his face. Ranma thought it hilarious before checking on the older man. He knew he survived. What Ranma especially liked about the Doc was his skill as a martial artist. He reminded him of Doctor Tofu though his skill was not medicinal.

Yui was his wife of many years. The first time he met her she fed him enough food to feed ten men. Unfortunately for her, Ranma could eat enough for twenty or more. She was a prideful woman when it came to the kitchen and when she could not fill a mans stomach it was a sign that she was lacking in her womanly duties to her guest. So now whenever Ranma sat at her table she brought out enough food for a small army - most of it going to Ranma.

Midori, their little girl was the biggest surprise, to the parents mostly. Midori never talked to anyone besides other children or to Citan and Yui. She frequently conversed with Ranma - him telling her exotic stories of warriors and magic while she tells him of what she learned in the little school in Lahan.

Just now the family trio plus guest finished one of Yui's army sized meals leaving the men stuffed to the core.

"You're cookin' never fails to impress me, Yui." Ranma flashed her one of his smiles. "Thank you for such a delicious meal!"

"Thank you so much, Ranma. You are always welcome at my table." She continued on. "Oh, and the bread really tasted good with the egg that you brought me."

Ranma looked a little sheepish and felt a little bad.... Just a little!

"I will bring the equipment you need to the village tomorrow morning myself, Ranma." said Citan as he finish washing up. "It does not exactly make me feel comfortable to have you handle such delicate equipment, I am afriad."

Ranma just shrugs. He's heard that line before. "S'no prob then, Doc. I understand ya... Well, see ya tomorrow, doc! G'night Yui, Midori-chan."

"Good night. We are looking forward to tomorrows wedding."

Midori hugged Ranma's legs. "G'night, Ranma-sensei." She giggled when Ranma ruffles her hair a bit.

"Well, g'night, doc."

Citan nods.

"Yes, good night."

Ranma begins to walk down the path.

"Oh, Ranma! Please be careful..." Citan taps his foot. Ranma learned that this meant the doc was nervous. "Ah, I mean... The path is so dangerous when it's so dark.."

Ranma waved him off. "Don't worry, Doc. This is Me we're talkin' 'bout here!" He chuckles and quickly bounces down the path waving back to the family.

"That's exactly what I am worried about," Citan says under his breath.

Ranma stops his small leaps and ends up at the wood and rope cross-bridge. Usually he would just jump across and down the path, but he still felt the effects of Yui's food in his stomach and didn't want to upset it. So today, he'll just walk across is. Just as he reaches the middle of the bridge when a huge rumbling is heard.

!?

Ranma looks up just in time to see a giant shaped machine flying over the canyon while being pursued by three equal-size 'giants', but of a different shape.

"Mobile suits...?"

"RANMA!!" he heard in his mind and from the mountain path.

"Go to the village NOW!" cried Ranko in his mind. Before she even finished he was already leaping into the air and hopping from cliff to cliff towards the town below. He ignored Citan as the man tried to follow as fast as he can along the regular path.

Ranma's feet slammed into the ground as he landed from the largest jump he'd even done without Id's assistance. He stared in disbelief at what he was seeing.

"No! Lahan's...!?"

Rumbles were heard everywhere and fires broke out in the town as the mechanized giants continued their mechanical warefare! Ranma surveys the damage then looks at Citan as he comes up behind him.

"Gears from the neighboring down of Kislev!" pants the green suited man. Ranma was sure fast! "Alice!? Timothy!!"

Alice and Timothy turn around noticing the two.

"Doctor Uzuki?!! Ranma!!" cries Alice in worry. Both of them run up to Citan.

Timothy shouts, "Doctor, they just came out of nowhere and landed right in our village...!"

"I know. What on earth are they doing starting a battle right here...!? Are you all okay?" asked the Doc.

Alice nods. "Yes, but Dan and Fei! We can't find them!" Alice turned back to Timothy.

"I'll go look one more time! Alice, go ahead and get out of the village."

Citan and Ranma run up to Timothy.

"No, Timothy, wait!!" calls Citan. Timothy stops. "You, Alice and the rest of the villagers should evacuate for a safer location!"

Timothy shakes his head. "Doc, you know I can't just leave Dan behind!"

Alice looks at him, "Timothy..."

Citan shakes his head. "I understand how you feel, but leave the rest up to Ranma and me! The primary thing you should be concerned about is with your own safety - Timothy, your responsibility is to protect Alice!"

"..but.."

Citan began to snap at Timothy but stopped cold. He felt the a chill run down his spine when the next person spoke.

"No.."

While Citan argued with Timothy, Ranma was checking on Id as she suddenly began to act livid and paranoid. He could feel the sadness, anger and fear wash over him from her seperate consiousness. He could feel her pain and sorrow. He felt deeply worried for her. It was at this point that he suddenly realized why he felt this.

She was truly part of him. She was the other part of his soul. The missing link as some would call. Whatever was her past, was also his past. And thinking on that line that also meant...

"You finally figure it out..." Ranko said acidly between sobs. "I was not only the man named Fei Fong Wong, but YOU were also him! You and I, the reincarnations of a man once dead. But that is not all - we are also the reincarnation of his soul mate. We are the Contact and Anti-type - The Alpha and Omega!"

Ranma kneeled next to her in their mind's planescape and hugged her tightly to him. "It's funny," she laughed while feeling some comfort in his embrace. "You have a similiar personality like him..."

"Who?"

"Fei, our 4th reincarnation."

"4th!?"

"We are the 6th reincarnation of this soul. Though we were born on a different world that originally since the destruction of Deus."

Ranma was completely dumbfounded.

"I think whoever runs heaven found in funny to reincarnate the Contact 1500 years before your birth."

"Are you saying that...?"

"Yes. You and I - The Anti-Type - fell into the spring of drowned girl, the spring that the Contact drowned and died in. When you fell we in, the contact merged with us due to the magics of the Jusenkyou waters. That is when I awoke, your Id persona. The only one with the knowledge of the Living Art, of all of the past reincarnations of the Anti-types and Contacts. I have the burden of remembering each time we watched her die before our eyes and the pain that she felt when she died."

Ranma hugged her even tighter. He felt so low! He never knew the pain she felt. He never knew of this burden place upon her. He suddenly felt her stiffen in his arms and curl into herself. Her cries pierced his half of her soul.

"NO!!!!!" she screamed in pain. "Their gonna die! Don't make me kill them! I don't want to kill them again! Not again! Please no! No! No! NOOOOO!!!!"

Ranma knew what he had to do. He brought himself back to the present. Only seconds pasted while in his mind. A dark red aura suddenly poured off of him as he saw two of the giants - Gears as to what the Doc called them - battle it out in the village. He turned to face the three - Alice, Timothy and Doc - as they argued as to who would go rescue people. He didn't want any of them here when he cut loose.

Citan shakes his head. "I understand how you feel, but leave the rest up to Ranma and me! The primary thing you should be concerned about is with your own safety - Timothy, your responsibility is to protect Alice!"

"..but.."

"No..." Ranma growls loudly causing Citan to shiver. He gives the three a look that spoke of no argument. "YOU three will evacuate NOW while, I, look for Dan and Fei."

Timothy stepped back. He'd never seen this side of Ranma. He could literally see and feel the hatred pour off of him. Not wanting to argue anymore, he quickly grabbed Alice and ran out of the village with her as fast as he could.

"Leave, Doc."

"Ranma! We must work together to get everyone to saf---"

Ranma glare at the good doctor causing him to step back. Citan noted that his eyes were ablaze with some energy - Chi or Ki from what he could tell. Ranma only said a couple words that made the doctor flee.

"I will kill them all."

Ranma ran into the chaos hoping to find his student and his friend.

As Citan ran from the flaming town, he began to think of his original mission as to why he was here. Had the original contact changed? Was the Emperor correct in assuming that Fei Fong Wong was the Anti-type?

As soon as the three where away Ranma sprung into action. An aura of determination surrounded him as he ran throughout the village in search of his young pupil and friend.

"FEI! DAN!!" he called out repeatedly. His head snapped to the side when he heard a faint groan from under some rubble. With the strength of his ki-enhanced muscles, he lifted an old wall to reveal - not Fei or Dan - but the bartener that lived across from Timothy's house.

"I gotta get ya outta here!" He quickly grabbed the barely consious man and dashed to where he saw Citan run towards. A large crowd of villagers laid in wait as they watched the battle destroy their homeland.

"Ranma!" Alice called at seeing him deposit the injured man. Her call went on deaf ears, Ranma leaped back into the chaos.

"Fei!! Dan!!" he called out again.

"Sensei!!"

Ranma turns and see's a red-headed boy standing atop Alice's house holding a dress. "Dan!?"

Dan jumps down and runs to his teacher.

"Are ya alright!?" Ranma asked worriedly as he picks up the small boy. "What on earth are ya doin' in there!? Dont'cha know how worried ya have yer sister and Timothy!?" Dan looks down.

"I'm sorry Ranma-sensei. I got out of the village earlier - I just couldn't think of leaving my sister's wedding dress behind here..." Dan looks up and flinches at seeing Ranma furious face.

"Damn it! Alice can replace her stupid dress! She can't replace you! That was very stupid of ya, Dan!"

Ranma shakes his head and carries the boy off, dodging some stray bullets from the fighting Gears.

"I'm sorry, Ranma-sensei."

"I know."

Ranma drops the boy off with Alice who immediately latches onto the little tyke and cries.

"Ranma! It's too dangerous to go back!" Citan calls out. Ranma gives him a crossed-look.

"I'm gonna find Fei," he pauses. "Then I'm gonna kill them all..." Citan watches the young man once again leap into the frey. He just hopes he lives through this ordeal.

And this brought time back to the present. Just as Ranma stepped into the town square, he spied Fei searching around for people that still did not evacuate the area.

"Dan!!" he heard him call out.

"FEI!!" Ranma cries. "I got him out already! Let's get outta here now!"

"I'm right behin---"

!!!

Ranma stares in horror at what just occurred. Stray bullets from one of the fighting gears smashes into Fei, tearing the young boy to shreads. The ki that he knew Fei possessed suddenly was cut from existance. He could not feel his aura no more. He was extinct. Terminated.

Dead.

"No..." Ranma stood before Fei's broken body and clutched his own head in disbelief. "No!"

"NO!!" screamed a voice in his mind. He felt her pain and she felt his own.

Something crashed in front of Ranma and he felt his heartbeat. He looks up and sees a Gear with a dead pilot laying underneath it.

Ranma realizes the gear is empty.

"Whoa..."

Suddenly, Ranma looks up and see's Ranko sitting in the cockpit of this Gear - at least in his eyes he sees her. A flash from a pendant that she wears seems to make him respond to it unusually, not like a reaction. He looks down and sees that the pilot who had been flying this Gear before is lifeless at it's feet. Ranma looks up again at Ranko and notices she seems to be laughing. A sinister smile comes over her face as the cockpit closes on her, and Ranma stands up straight, looking directly at the empty cockpit.

"Go," he hears in his mind. So he replies with the first thing that comes to his mind.

"This seems familiar," Ranma mentally tells her, his eyes remaining where he saw the vision of Id sitting in the empty Gear.

"Of course it does," she states softly.

"This is our destiny."

Ranma's heart begins to beat faster. After a second, he runs toward the Gear, and jumps into it.

"Huh... Ranma!?" Citan saw what happened to Fei and Ranma's reaction. Just happened to see Ranma mount the Gear.

Another thought passed his mind and he began to think of what has occurred recently. He only came to one answer.

"Wait, Ranma!!"

"..."

Ranma jumps into the Gears cockpit. A shifting sound his heard from the Gear, and then, it gets to it's feet. The black gear turns around, looking ready for battle.

"Do not do this, Ranma!" Citan shouts. "You must not fight here...!!"

Inside the cockpit, Ranma looks at the various controls but could not decifer what anything goes. A screen popped in front of him with some strange language that he happened to understand. He felt a tug on his mind and felt himself shift from male to female. Id quickly took over.

"Allow me, Ranma-chan." She growled loudly. She quickly read over the information that was displayed.

Identified: Solarian, 1st Class; Ace pilot -> Hard Mode Set
Synchronizing input interface with pilot's normal reflex time
Warning to Pilot: C O M B A T M O D E About to enter combat! 1200 units of fuel left.

A warning sounds.

WARNING! Enemy Gear are about to attack! Terminating help mode.

"Heh," Id glares darkly at the pair of Musha Mk100's. She reacts quicker than they could - a gear-sized roundhouse knocking off the cockpit and turrent section of one of the smaller gears and finishes the other off with a well placed punch that caved in its cockpit.

Another pair of gears jump out in front of Id, but are different from the ones she just defeated.

"Reinforcements, eh?"

Two more jump out to either side of her also. She ignores the new enemy while her eyes bore into the more sinister looking gear behind them, the one with the complete aura of confidence around it. The Gear lands behind the other four Gears and seems to just watch as they take pot shots at her.

Weltall, the name of the Gear she pilot, lunges at one of the shooting gears and easily picks it up by it's head. She shakes it around fiercely until it's body rips itself from it's own neck by the thrashing. This causes the other gears to stop and step away from the black gear. Id threw the dismembered head at the sinister-looking gear which ignored the item.

She happens to glance off to the side and see's the villagers in the distance. She knew what she had to do now that HE was here.

"I have no choice... But to fight!"

The villagers watch as - unknown to them - Ranma battles inside the black gear against seemingly impossible odds. But someone like Citan Uzuki watches with different thoughts in his mind. The way Ranma controls the Gear, it was if he was born to pilot it, just like.. Him. He suddenly turns to the villagers.

"Everyone, let us evacuate to a safer spot while Ranma has their attention!" Citan turns to watch the battle again. "It appears Ranma is in that Gear..."

!?

Dan looks at the black gear Citan is watching in disbelief. "Sensei... is in that monster!?"

"Ranma is bound... by the dark, cruel destiny of God..."

"...Sensei...?"

"DAN!!"

Timothy runs up to the young boy. "Come on and listen to the Dr. Uzuki. We have to move back farther." He suddenly heard a faint whistling sound.

Huh...!?

Everything happened in slow motion from there on. Dan and Citan watched in horror as a stray bullet from the fighting darted through the air and pierced Timothy through the chest. Blood was spattered everywhere and the body was thrown back by the force of the impact. In a blink of an eye, Timothy laid dead.

Before Dan could even scream, he found himself being held and taken away by the Doc.

"Quickly Dan, we must get farther away, now!!"

"TIMOTHY!!!!"

Id watched in horror as the shot blew through Timothy's back. It was happening again. The one memory she cherrished the most was being destroyed by Ranma's and her destiny. She could not change it this time.

She suddenly felt a build up of power within her and felt Ranma scream in anger and pain. She slumped in her seat and cried for her fallen friend. This was the second time that she's lost Timothy. She will NOT loose Alice!!

Her head slowly rose up and her bright red head covered her eyes.

A smile formed on her lips.

And suddenly Weltall begins to change. The black gear took a step back before it brought it's arms to it's sides. It soon began to change from it's black color to a crimson red color. It's chest plate seperated and moves to the sides slightly. Panels on the head moved out and created a helmet-like appearence over the head. Modules rose and flipped over to the sides from the back of the Gear and moved along it's arms and legs adding on armor to it's normally strong frame. It's whole body became more streamlined and even seemed to look even faster and powerful than before. It completed it's transformation when the final two modules on it's back seperated and eminated a power like no other. Six wings of a bluish light appeared giving the now Red Gear the look of an angel of death.

Id jumps out of the menacing Red Gear and surprised the pilots which thought she was originally male. This gave her enough time to decide her course of action.

"Die."

She easily jumps the long distance between herself and one of the Gear - a white humanoid type. Just a few feet from the enemy she cups her hands at her side and builds the energy for her attack. She could feel the ether and chi of this world collect rapidly in her hands - energy that is unique to this planet.

Id pushes her hands forward and apart. A small glow grows at the center of the gear emitting several rays of lights. After a moment it stops growing and explodes in a huge and fiery explosion that anihilates the enemy. She recalls this ether spell was called a 'thermo largo.'

She whips her head to the side and see's a group of four men flanking what she could determine was an important person she could not remember. In front of him were two other white gears. She happened to glance to the side and noticed a man standing atop of stone pillar in front of the now red moon.

Another pair of white gears attack from her side and she immediately goes into action. She dodges the few shots fired from their cannons until she reaches the feet of one of them. She attacks with round-house, followed by an crescent axe-kick, planting her left and bringing her right into another crescent kick before turing on the same foot and thrusting high into a powerful back kick. Finally, she cupped her hands and thrust them forward into hard palm strikes. None of the attack actually struck home but the sheer power that they emitted caused the gear to buckle on itself before being blown back and disabled permanetly.

She jumped the distance towards the other gear. Her right fist rose above her head and charged with the chi around her. She quickly dashed forward and threw her fist at the enemy gear. It missed by a mile but the Gear was suddenly thrown back as if a freight train crashed into it.

Id slowly turns back to glare at the man, his subordinates and the two Gears protecting them. Weltall soon descends in front of her and she begins to rise to the cockpit. Once she mounts her gear, it suddenly charges into the white ones thrusting it's armored fist into its mid-section and knocking it far out of the battlefield and out of commission. She slowly turns towards the remaining gear and the man.

"She's out of control! Stop her! I don't care how, just stop her!!" commanded the one in charge. She watched in amusement as the officers kept looking back and forth between the commander and the gears. One walks forward a few steps, but starts looking around again.

The Red gear charges forward, eyes glowing a menacing blue color. In one quick motion it slams it's open fist into the remaning white gear and lifts it over it's head. It then it whips it's arm to the side. Their is a tearing sound when the white gear flies, and in Weltall's hand is the cockpit with a panicing pilot.

By this time, the officers stare in horror as Weltall's fist crushes the cockpit and blood oozes down to the ground.

One of the other gears - a purple gear - ducks suddenly as a shot is heard. It is then blown away by a destructive blast from the side. The source of the blast: The Red gear. Id smiles evily at the destruction she is causing. She moves the gear towards another purple one.

The Red Gear moves forward in human-like moves that none thought a gear could pull off. Weltall flips forward into a forward hand-stand flip which then turns into a cartwheel in the same direction. As the legs descend, energy forms on the feet of the Gear and easily sliced the purple gear in half. The two pieces explode before they fall apart.

The last remaining purple gear had no chance at all. Once the red Weltall took notice of it, it's hands suddenly charged with a crimson red energy. Multiple loud explosions shook the ground as Weltall's fist blurred, striking fast enough to break the sound barrier. Within seconds the purple gear was nothing but scrap littered on the ground.

"Next?"

She looked down and saw the commander holding his sword in hand as if trying to challenger her. He was took weak, she thought. Just like all those that deserved to die. She will spare his life until he became stronger. With that in mind, she simply kicked the man away with her gears foot watching him fly off in the distance.

She noticed that the sinister looking gear was gone, much to her relief. Parts of the city were still intack. She managed to save some of it.

With that taken care of, Weltall powered down. It's red color fading back to it's original black. Armor slid back into place behind it's back.

The cockpit opened just as their body reverted back to male. Ranma, tired from this whole ordeal, slowly slipped from consiousness and fell to the ground, unaware of the the villagers watching him warily.


Darkness assaulted his eyes as he woke. The sounds of bird chirping rung in his ears.

Uh... uhn....?

Ranma openes his eyes but quickly shuts them as his eyes are not use to the sun at the moment. He rubs his face with his hands until his eyes adjust. He find himself under a tree on the mountain path. He gets to his feet.

"Huh....! Where am I...!?"

Ranma looks to his right and see's Citan, Alice and Dan along with - probably - less than a quarter (1/4th) of the villagers. He wondered what was going on and why he was here at the pass instead of the village.

"Doc!!" Citan turns to Ranma.

"Oh, you have finally regained consciousness, Ranma..."

The pigtailed man moves a up towards the small group.

"Doc... What happened...?" He notices a few people missing. "Where's Chief Lee, Timothy, Fei...? What did I...?"

Dan walks towards Ranma a few steps and stops.

"Sensei..." He turns away for a moment. "It.. was because you had to get into that monster.. Fei and Timothy.. The people of the village are all...!"

Dan turns on Ranma and points to something behind Ranma.

"You killed everyone using that monster...!!"

Ranma turns around and checks what he is pointing at. Ranma stairs up at the dark-blue - or black - gear Id and himself used in the battle, dwarfing everything and even standing on the lower level of the canyon it was still a head taller than him. Ranma suddenly found himself remembering what Id and himself did during the fight. The destruction they caused when they piloted the gear. He could also hear the villagers talking behind him.

Why did he have to fight in the middle of the village...?

How do you even know how to operate such a monster...?

Mother...? Where mother...?

See, I told you so... I said allowing someone we knew nothing about into our village would spell disaster...

Owww.. Hurts.. It hurts...!

Ranma then begins to walk towards the group, but they all shun him and back way as if he were a... mass murderer! All of them except Citan and Dan.

Yikes...!

No! Keep away... I'm scared...

Waaaaahhh....

He noticed to the side, Alice hugging the dead body of Timothy. He tries to approach her. "Alice, I..."

"Stay away from the sister, you murderer!!" Dan lunges at Ranma but is held back by Citan. "Murderer!! Give me back Fei!! Give back Timothy!!! You bastard!"

Citan kept a good restraint on the boy. "Dan.. there is nothing to be gained from putting the blame all on Ranma alone. What is more, you don't know Ranma had no control over the malfunctioning of that Gear."

"It wasn't a malfunction..." Ranma whispered low enough that only Citan picked it up.

Dan stops struggling. "I know that...!"

"But... but.."

Dan suddenly turns to Ranma and screams at the top of his lungs.

"I HATE YOU!!"

He then runs off away from everyone. Ranma looks down and shakes his head. "You're not the only one," he murmurs.

"It might be better if we left him by himself for a little while," said the Doc. "He does not know what to do with his grief, his anger..."

Probably create a ki blast, Ranma thought sadly.

"And Ranma," Citan began again. "It might be better if you leave this place. There is no guarantee that reinforcements from yesterday's unit are not gonna come... They will probably want to know what happened to their comrads. Also, if you stay here I do not think the atmosphere is going to be very joyful... if you know what I mean. It is probably best for both you and the other villagers here."

Ranma looks to the people then back to Citan.

"But.. what am I s'pose ta do now..?"

"Yes, well," he clears his throat. "Why not go north through the Blackmoon Forest and head to Aveh? I am sure those soldiers from yesterday were not from Aveh. If you manage to get to Aveh's side, they will not be able to track you down easily."

"Okay... I understand, Doc..."

Ranma begins to walk off but suddenly stops.

"Please take care of the rest of the things here, 'k Doc?"

"Of course.. Well, do take care now."

Ranma pauses again as he stops by the tree he awoken from. He takes a couple steps back and kneels down.

"BAKUSAI TENGETSU!!" His finger jams into the ground and it explodes outward as the correct breaking point was found. When the dust settles, a 6ft deep crater is formed. He stood and approached Alice, kneeling before her.

"May I...?"

She nods and releases her dead lover. Ranma easily scoops him up and jumps into the hole. After laying him down in a respectible position, he jumps back up. Pushing two minor breaking points causes the hole to collapse on itself, eternally sealing the corpse and returning him to nature. Ranma sits in a seiza positon and prays for his forgiveness. Alice soon joins next to him and also prays. Ranma suddenly speaks loudly enough for everyone to here.

"This tree an' grave will be a monument for the people that died last night. Good men an' women that lost their lives in a war between two nations that they had no part in. It's also my apology, for in protecting your lives I caused even more grief by causing the deaths of even more. I'm sorry. Farewell."

With that said, Ranma leaped down the canyon and headed west, away from the remaining village of Lahan.

"Even after saving most of the village and people, they all still died and they still hate us," Ranko said dejectedly. "I must be cursed to live a life of grief."

"We both are," Ranma hugged her in their mind. "WE are cursed.."

Ranko composed herself. "You should listen to the Doc and head towards Aveh." she paused. "I... need to think about everything that's happening. About us and all. I won't be able to help you."

Ranma nodded. "I understand."


Later in the day near nightfall, Ranma arrived at the Blackmoon Forest once again. He felt down at this time. He still wondered why they would turn on him after the months he's spent at the village helping out. In one move of bravery - or vengence - to save the village, they go and turn it into an act of mass murder! It wasn't him that attacked the village and destroyed it. He was trying to defend it for crying out loud! But that didn't take away the fact that he got involved in the fight and Timothy and many others were killed or critically injured.

It was things like this that made him think - Why should he care anymore?

Moving along the forest he decided to take the right path instead of the left. Left would of taken him back to the penninsula where he would meet back with Bud and Montel. He didn't want to go back yet.

He looked at his surroundings a bit. He had to get to higher ground and traverse one of the huge fallen trees to get to the other side of the small rocky area. So he simply did a triangle jump, leaping onto the truck of a tree and propelling himself upward at an angle to land on said fallen tree. He then jumped high enough to avoid a rolling boulder.

"Creepy," Ranma dead-panned once again. He was beginning to hate this forest very quickly, once again. He begins to walk along the tree trunk to the next area when he suddenly stops.

A female voice stops him in his tracks, surprising him.

"Ana haus!"

He turns around a see's an auburned-haired girl with deep blue eyes, about the same age as him. She speaks in some unknown language for a couple seconds, an air of hostility surrounding her as she has a pistol pointing at Ranma.

Oh great, someone out to kill me already. Ranma lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Kah te nye? Ta, tah dyne tuna ahk va! Dah noul raun tak! Rahn a koute! Uh..."

Ranma looks at her puzzled. He knew what she was saying, but didn't at the same time. The language seemed familiar but he couldn't remember it at all, much to his frustration. He did make a note that she wore exactly what Id wore in his mind.

After a few sentences, she stops, looking a bit puzzled, then shakes her head as if ridding herself of a head itch. She then resumes the air of hostility, but speaks a language that Ranma can understand.

"Throw down your weapon. Make one wrong move and I'll shoot." The mysterious woman with familiar clothes was on a cliff a little higher than the tree trunk. She had a firm hold of her pistol which was pointed at Ranma.

"Errh... Turn around!"

"..."

"I said... turn around!"

Ranma shrugs his shoulders and just turns around to amuse the girl. She then slowly approaches from behind, pistol pointed at his head. She moves slower as she gets closer to him.

"... Are you shaking?" Ranma ask, knowing she is.

"Be quiet!"

"Fine.." he sighs. She paused just a a second to assess him.

".. You don't seem to be one of the Kislev soldiers who are after me... but..."

She backs off a little, but Ranma turns around. When he does, she backs up even more quickly, her pistol still trained on him.

"Don't move!" She recomposes herself. "I have orders to kill all surface dwellers, -Lambs-, I come in contact with. It's part of my mission. It's nothing personnal."

Ranma looked at her a sarcastic look as if he really believed her. She pauses for a second, not noticing the look.

"I have a question for you... How do I get out of this forest?"

"Huh? Are you... lost?"

"Just answer my question! How do I get out of here?"

He shakes his head. "Sorry, but I'm kinda lookin' fer a way out myself."

"Oh..." The girl puts away her pistol and looks around dejectedly at the floor.

"How long are you gonna just stand there like that?" Ranma suddenly sounds angered. "If yer gonna shoot me, hurry up and do it!"

She looks up at him.

"What an odd thing to say! Don't you understand the situation you are in?"

The words just came from Ranma's mouth with him thinking. He began to look depressed.

"I don't care about my situation... I'm just a guy whose life ain't worth much... There's no point in me livin' anyways!"

He takes a step toward the woman.

"Sta, stay back!"

She retrainds her gun on Ranma as he gets closer. Ranma takes another step closer, and the girl fires but the shot doesn't hit him or anywhere near him.

"What the hell are aiming at? Here! Shoot me here! C'mon.."

He decided to taunt her.

"Are ya stupid or is yer brain broken or somethin'?"

"Are you mocking me?" She shakes her head and takes another step back.

"You're weird."

She backs up another step.

"Something's very wrong with you!"

Without pause, she continues wondering out loud.

"You should at least resist a little bit!"

Suddenly, something drops from the canopy. A blue-colored monkey-like monster lands directly behind the girl. She turns around and sees it.

"What is this? Who are you?"

The monkey takes a swing at the woman, knocking her out. Ranma, witnessing all this reacts quickly. He suddenly yells out the first thing that comes to his mind.

"Stop!! Keep your hands off of Elly!"

Ranma ducked under the flailing arm of the monkey-like creature - or Forest Elf as it was call. He swept his hands outward, knocking the creatures arms away. At the same time he performed a powerful charging snap-kick that smashed the monkey's jaw into it's own brain killing it in seconds.

Letting out a deep breath, Ranma calmed himself down. Using the Saotome forbidden techniques of the Yamasenken were still new to him, though he did partially master half of the Umisenken thanks to his pops. He then remembered the girl!

He knelt down to the mysterious girl with familiar clothing and checked on her.

"Are you alright!? Hang in there!"


Hours later, Ranma sat on a small log infront of a camp-fire that he made. The girl is propped up against a tree to his right. She had a bandage wrapped around her head and seemed to be missing her pistol - that sat comfortably in Ranma's lap.

Ranma notices that she appears to have regained consiousness.

"Good, you finally woke up! You didn't move for so long that I began to worry..."

"..."

He decided to make some conversation. "How are you feeling?"

"..." she looked away from him.

"Do ya still wanna kill me?" He made sure the gun was locked on safety before tossing it at her feet. "Then go ahead and shoot me! But I wouldn't do it here in this forest. The creeps around here don't like loud noises too much."

"..."

"Che, fine don't talk. You're so uncute." he grumbled. "But it wouldn't kill ya to at least show some thanks for tendin' yer wounds and all."

This startles the girl.

"Th.. thanks.. but you shouldn't have helped me." she turns away from him. "Don't think it will save your life though. It really doesn't change a thing."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." he waved her off. "What are ya 'fraid of anyway? Me turnin' into the boogie man!? BLAH!!" he made a mock-scarry face behind her back.

She turned to him just as he finished.

"I'm not afraid... I'm just being cautious." she tried regaining her composure. "It's natural for me to be this cautious considering I've met such a suspicious surface dwelling -Lamb-."

"Heh... don't worry. I ain't gonna do nothin'. Anyway, you're more suspicious than I am."

"Huh?"

"I mean, come on. Pullin' a gun on me in the middle of a forest full off hostile creatures and speaking some whacky language." he ignored her icy look at reference to her language. "So, what's yer name anyway?"

"I won't give my name so some idiotic surface dwelling -Lamb-."

Ranma glared at her. "What's with this lamb thing? You tryin' to call me some sorta farm animal or somethin'?"

"That's what my people call you, surface dweller." she replied.

"Yeah yeah, that's nice. And next you'll tell me that you're from some high-tech aerial city that believes that their the shepards of the world and see everyone as tiny little ants to be stepped on!" he said sarcastically. Then he continued on.

"But we're both lost in this forest, surrounded by dangerous monsters... Shouldn't we at least be cooperating with each other until we get out of here?"

"..."

"Good! So what's yer name?" Ranma asked. "It's gonna be kinda hard workin' with ya if I don't at least know your name. Anyway, I'm Ranma. Ranma Saotome. Ranma would be fine."

"I'm ... Elhaym. But my parents call me Elly."

"'Elly', eh? I kinda 'knew' that already."

??

"Anyways," Ranma leans down and adjust the hob steaks that are cooking. "it's too dangerous to travel at this time of night. No light and all. Let's wait til daybreak before we continue lookin' for a way outta here... if that's okay with you?"

She nodded. "I guess we have no choice, do we?"

"Okay then Elly... How about somethin' ta eat."


End of Chapter 15

Authors Notes:

Ha! Got it done before Xmas. I knew that once I get to the Xenogears world shit would be comming out of me like if I ate a bad burrito with spoiled jalepenos! Yeap yeap. Skills homie.

For you non Xenogears fans, most of the dialogue in this chapter is directly from the Xenogears storyline. Yep, playing that game so much had me remembering shit. But hey, everything is cool.

One thing that I'm very proud of in this chapter, is the way I portraid the relationship between Ranma and Id and the friendship between Ranma and Fei. By some whip of ingenuity, I decided to take a page from the story "Eternal Souls" by Huang Fai. Ranma being the reincarnation of a character from Xenogears, but to actually be BOTH was unheard of. To be born as the Reincarnation of Fei, Kim, Lacan and Fei Fong Wong and then fall into the spring of drowned girl - in which the reincarnation of Elly's, Sophia and Elhaym Van Houten drowned - 1500 years later. Anothing thing I wish to point out to how this would be possible: When Fei defeated Deus and Urobolus (Miang), then destroyed the Zohar Generator, he broke the cycle in which they would be reincarnated on the mud ball they lived on. But being soul mates, Fei and Elly were destined to meet in someway. So, I am guessing that the Gods had them meet in another life on another planet. Then suddenly became bored and see what would happen if they had Elly born 1500 years before Fei (Ranma). Crazy shit, ne?

Chapter 16: "Operation Aveh" is comming up next!!

C&C+Flame: hibiki54@earthlink.net
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