Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Story; An Anime Tale with a Twist ❯ A Combined Story; A Tale of Continuation ( Chapter 4 )

A Combined Story

A Tale of Concluding

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"Aarthi, we are getting nowhere."

"That's for sure Amber," Aarthi sighed. "Five years is a lot to read."

"Well then, I'm going to skim read."

"Amber, weren't you doing that before?"

"Not full speed."

"Go for it," Aarthi shrugged.

Amber began to read at a speed that was equal to how fast Superman could fly. Aarthi tried to keep up but she was no match. She caught glimpses of words but nothing interesting.

Wait. What was that?

"Amber, stop!" Aarthi yelled.

It took a second for her to stop.

"Yeah?" Amber asked.

"Go back. I thought I saw something."

Amber slowly scrolled up.

"Wait! There it is!" Aarthi exclaimed.

"There what is?"

Aarthi pointed to the screen and Amber gasped.

"No way! How'd that happen?"

"Scroll up a little more and let's see."

Amber did and they began to read about something that had happened in the fourth day/year of Shaula's...adventure.

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Shaula and Ryoga were once more fighting furiously in the dojo. The training benefited both parties, and they trained with each other whenever possible.

"Time for lunch!" Kasumi said at the dojo door.

"Be there in a sec!" Shaula answered as she did a back flip.

The two raced to the table and greeted Ranma and Akane, who were already seated. Shaula and Akane talked while they ate, but Ryoga and Ranma were pretending to be vacuums (they were doing a good job). After they inhaled their food, the two boys waited for the girls to finish.

"Hurry up!" Ranma complained. "You girls take too long."

" `Cause we don't shove our food down our throats?" Akane asked.

"YES! Please hurry up!" Ranma said again.

Shaula thought Ryoga was going to say something but when she looked at him he averted his gaze.

Odd, she thought, and continued to eat.

"Akane, I have something to show you," Ranma said.

"I'm eating!" Akane told him again.

"NOW!" Ranma said sternly.

Akane and Shaula opened their eyes widely. Ranma never spoke to Akane like that.

"Okay," Akane said uneasily, and followed Ranma out of the room.

Shaula once more looked at Ryoga to see what he thought but he stared down at his lap. He seemed to be playing with something...a box?

"Ryoga," Shaula said gently.

Ryoga jumped and looked around.

"Where's Ranma? And Akane?" he asked nervously.

"They left," Shaula said, surprised. "Didn't you here them arguing?"

"No, I was...thinking."

"I'm done eating. I'm gonna to relax outside."

"I'll go with you!" Ryoga said too quickly.

"All right," Shaula said suspiciously. Something's going on, but what?

They both went outside and Shaula leaned up against a tree.

It's now or never, Ryoga thought. I can do this! No, I will do this!

"Shaula," he began.

She looked at him and his words froze in his mouth. He could hardly breathe as he stared into her eyes.

"Yeah?" she asked.

Ryoga tried to regain his composure.

"Shaula, I, uh, I have a question I'd like to ask you. If you say no I totally understand," he began. But if you do it will break my heart...

When he didn't say anything right away Shaula urged him to ask. Ryoga took a deep breath and got on his knee in front of her.

"Shaula, since I met you I have fallen in love. I've never felt this strongly for any girl, not even Akane."

When Shaula tried to say something he motioned for her to be quiet.

"I have to say this while I still have the courage," he said nervously.

He pulled out the box he had been playing with and held it out to her. He opened it and Shaula gasped at the beautiful ring.

"Will, uh, will you marry me?" Ryoga asked.

Shaula took the ring and slipped in on her finger.

"Yes, anata (dear; dearest)," she whispered and gave Ryoga a kiss.

For once Ryoga didn't faint or get a bloody nose, instead he pulled her close and returned the kiss.

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Why can't Ranma do that for me? Akane sighed from behind the house. She heard a soft thump and saw Ranma standing next to her. Baka, he must've jumped off of the roof.

Ranma looked nervous (for once!) and he was staring at the ground.

"Akane, I have something to ask you," Ranma said uneasily.

Akane's heart stopped, He can't be!

Ranma pulled out a box identical to the one Ryoga gave Shaula.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. "Not because of the engagement, but because you want to marry me?"

Sure, it wasn't as nice as Ryoga's proposal, but still...

"Of course, baka," Akane said happily.

Ranma leaned over and wrapped his arms around her. Akane threw her arms around his neck and the two sealed their engagement with a very long kiss.

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"Amber, close your mouth! It's been touching the floor!" Aarthi yelled.

"What?" Amber said, snapping back to reality.

"Your mouth was opened wide enough to stick a watermelon through!"

"Aarthi, I must have been staring at the comp for too long or something," Amber laughed. "I thought I just read that Ryoga and Shaula were engaged."

"They are, and so is Ranma and Akane," Aarthi said.

"Well then, I guess we know why Shaula wants to stay," Amber said calmly (too calmly). "I'm gonna give her a talking to."

Amber pulled over the mike and screamed, "SHAULA ARE YOU NUTS? YOU CAN'T MARRY AN ANIME CHARACTER!!!"

Bright red letters in caps appeared on the screen.

"I DON'T CARE! YOU ARE COMING HOME! NOW!"

The red letters kept appearing.

"THREATEN ME ALL YOU WANT, YOU ARE NOT MARRING AN ANIME CHARACTER. No offence Ryoga, I'm sure you're great and all but she can't marry you."

More letters appeared.

"Why? Because you are NOT AN ANIME CHARACTER!!"

Dark letters showed up.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU ARE NOW, YOU NORMALLY AREN'T!"

More dark letters in caps.

"YOU AREN'T STAYING! What about your mom and dad? Not to mention your cats!"

The letters turned a light blue and were small.

"NO I AM NOT TELEPORTING THEM THERE! Besides, the cats would scare Ranma out of his mind, and we don't want that, now do we?"

Some letters in red showed up.

"You've gotta go? What's wrong?"

Nothing appeared.

Amber looked like she was going to smash the computer.

"Amber, chill. Don't kill the computer, it's not the computer's fault!" Aarthi freaked.

"Fine," Amber growled.

Amber went into a file and opened it up. Using the html program, she combined the file and put it together. Then she saved it. When she clicked it a huge window filled the screen.

"SHE'S MARRIED NOW???" Aarthi yelled.

"Not yet, in the process," Amber mumbled. "Odd."

"What now?" Aarthi questioned.

Amber clicked some buttons and zoomed in.

"Shaula's got that look on her face," Amber said.

"WHAT LOOK?" Aarthi asked, annoyed at Amber.

"The look that says `Back off before I kick your butt and then wipe the floor with whatever remains.'"

"You got that, from her face?!"

"Well, I've seen it often enough," Amber said casually.

"I'm not gonna ask..."

"Probably best."

"What's she looking at?" Aarthi questioned.

"Good question," Amber said and zoomed farther out of the scene.

As the scene played out, Shaula dodged (hard, but manageably) avoiding blasts from...

"Cologne!" Amber and Aarthi exclaimed as they watched her blast at Shaula.

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"I told you I would be back!" Cologne crackled. "I have waited and planned for this day! I have trained long and hard to beat you!"

"Shaula!" Ryoga cried, rushing towards her.

He grabbed Shaula and held her tightly in his arms.

"I won't let you take her, witch!" he spat.

Ranma and Akane came rushing out of the house.

"You weren't invited to the wedding, ghoul!" Ranma yelled.

"Leave before we take drastic measures!" Akane threatened.

"I have always had more power than you and now, now I have tripled my power against you!" she laughed. "You are still wet behind the ears! You haven't a chance!"

"We haven't been doing nothing!" Ranma yelled. "We have been training hard, too."

"Not hard enough!" Cologne screeched and motioned to the sky.

The sky turned dark and lightning flashed. The wind howled and thunder boomed.

"Now I shall take down two with one blow!" Cologne laughed.

Rain began to pour from the sky. Shaula shoved Ryoga into the house and he just missed getting wet. Ranma, on the other hand, transformed into his girl-self.

"You can't stop us that easily!" Shaula yelled angrily.

"Take this!" Cologne shouted.

Lightning struck Shaula and covered her body. Cologne began to laugh wickedly at Shaula's fate but stopped short when she saw a red light glowing from within the lightning bolt. The rest of the lightning was absorbed into Shaula's ki and she glared. From what Cologne could tell, the electricity was being absorbed.

"Is that all you have?" Shaula said, crossing her arms. "I'll have you know that Pikachu's blast was worse than that, and you know what happened to him!"

Cologne smiled wickedly, "Child, you haven't seen anything yet!"

Akane moved next to Shaula and grabbed her hand. Akane's body began to glow blue and her ki swirled with Shaula's. The two girls now glowed in a dark purple.

"Want me to tell you why I took so long to get my revenge?" Cologne asked.

I'm kinda curious about that myself," Amber told Aarthi.

"I returned to China and meditated for the great Amazon spirits to show me a way to be rid of you two. After a week they answered me: `All your normal tricks have failed. Now you must get serious or forever lose the chance to get Ranma.' By following their instructions I cleansed my body and soul. They had me wait another week, then the spirits began to give their power to me. They had to go slowly so not to have the power engulf and kill me.

"It's too bad it didn't." Aarthi muttered.

It took a long time, but now I have the power of all the Ancients!"

"This is nice and all, but how does it relate to us kicking your butt?" Ranma-chan asked.

"That's just it, you will not beat me. I shall beat you!"

This said, Cologne's body began to shift and grow into the shape of a massive dragon.

"The rules are as follows. You beat me in this form and I give up trying to kill Akane and Shaula." Cologne (in her new form) hissed.

"Give up your claim on Ranma!" Akane yelled.

"Make me!" Cologne roared and lunged at the two girls.

They stood their ground and created a huge force field with their ki. Cologne couldn't stop herself in time and hit the shield at full force. Cologne quickly recovered and began to murmur in ancient Mandarin Chinese. The force field began to dissolve, leaving Akane and Shaula unprotected. With a roar of victory, Cologne sent a blast of blue flames at the two girls. Even though it was still raining, the flames were still very hot. So hot that the rain near it evaporated and the grass wilted.

Shaula and Akane shouted,

"KI ELIMINATION BLAST!"

With their free hands they both sent a beam of purple ki at Cologne's attack. The two attacks clashed and instead of exploding, they simply maintained contact. The attacks began to push at each other, wavering on who the blast would hit. Cologne increased her fire attack and the two girls added more power to theirs. Neither side was willing to give up or give in, but one side had to win. Akane and Shaula began to sweat. Maintaining the beam was hard and it was draining their energy fast. They needed more power!

"Help's on the way!" Ranma-chan called.

She ran over to the two to lend a hand.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"Put your hands on our shoulders," Akane gasped from the strain of holding the beam together.

Ranma-chan did as she was told and Akane and Shaula began to use Ranma's power as well as their own.

Now the purple beam had a flare of red to it and Cologne seemed to be losing the battle.

Then, to Akane, Shaula, and Ranma-chan's surprise, Cologne increased her attack and began to force the energy back towards them.

"We need more power!" Akane cried.

"Ryoga!" Shaula shouted.

Ryoga made the most important decision of his life (besides marrying Shaula, of course!). He ran out into the rain and instantly transformed into P-chan. He continued to run until he reached Shaula. He then jumped up onto Shaula's shoulder and lent his energy. The ki blast obtained another flare, except this time it was orange. With the added energy, they began to slowly push back Cologne's attack.

What? Cologne thought. This isn't possible! They should've been toasted by now!

Cologne reached a final decision. If he won't be Shampoo's husband, then he will belong to no one!

Cologne once more increased her power, this time giving it all she had.

The group couldn't match her power, they were done for.

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"I hope you're happy! Now Shaula's gonna die!" Aarthi yelled.

"Chill. Give me your hand," Amber said.

"Yeah right! Why?"

"Put it on the scanner, now!" Amber said, trying to not get mad.

"NO! This is another one of your wacko plans!"

"Put your hand on the scanner unless you want to go to the PKMN world," Amber growled.

Aarthi quickly put her hand on the scanner.

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The blast was coming closer and the four tried to draw up more energy but they were barely holding it off as it was.

I can't let it end like this, Shaula thought. I love Ryoga and I want to marry him!

Ranma and I were finally happy with our engagement! I don't want to die! Akane thought.

Akane, I'll always love you, thought Ranma.

Shaula, I'm so sorry I couldn't help you more, I love you! flashed through Ryoga's mind.

They began to pool what energy they had left for one more attack.

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"Done!" Amber said, as the slow scanner finished.

"Will it work?" Aarthi asked as Amber began to type.

"Busy, can't talk," Amber said.

Aarthi watched Amber type and hoped her plan, whatever it was, would work. Secretly, Amber hoped the same thing.

---------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- "Now!" Shaula shouted.

The four gave it everything they had. Suddenly two lights shone upon the group, a dark navy blue and a powder blue. The light filled the group with energy and the two lights rushed through them and into the ki attack. Filled with energy, the group gave it one last go.

"KI ELIMINATION BEAM!" Shaula and Akane shouted again.

All the energy and power they had left to give was sucked out of their bodies. The four collapsed in an exhausted heap. It didn't matter, though. The last two blasts they sent had pushed the attack onto Cologne. The two energies exploded in her face and the mighty dragon returned to an old hag.

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"So, by sending our hand prints..." Aarthi started.

"...it copied our ki power, and when I added it to the code..." Amber continued.

"...it got sent to Shaula and Akane to use!" Aarthi finished.

"Yup, now to talk her into coming home."

"That's easier said than done..."

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"Shaula," a voice said.

Shaula turned her head, she didn't want to get up.

"Shaula!" the voice said urgently.

"What?" she mumbled.

"It's time to come home."

Shaula opened her eyes and saw Amber in front of her.

"You teleported me home! I didn't want to come home!" Shaula yelled, struggling to get up.

Amber motioned for her to be silent.

"Look around you, you're still here. This is a hologram," she explained.

"What's wrong with everyone? Why aren't they moving, are they..."

"...dead?" Amber said. "No, I froze time to speak with you."

"I'm getting married and staying here! I refuse to leave Ryoga!" Shaula shouted.

"You can't stay here forever," Amber said, trying to reason. "Aarthi and I can't tell your mom you're spending the night at our houses forever."

"Fine Amber. Here are your choices; you teleport me and everyone else to the real world or leave us all here."

"Shaula," Amber sighed, "you can't..."

"No," Shaula said, standing up. "I am now 20 years old, I am able to make my own choices. For five years I have been here and I have learned to love everyone; well, almost everyone...except for Happosai, Kuno, Kodachi, and of course the Pokemon, but otherwise..."

"What about your parents? Your friends? Being 20 you should realize how your actions affect others."

"Amber, when did you start acting like Little Miss Know-It-All?"

"Shaula, I don't know everything, but if you and Aarthi listened to me every once in a while you would see that I am smarter than I look and act."

"Well, why do you act so...immature?"

"Adults have less fun than kids. They have to much stress and stuff. Kids, we're lucky. The things I like may seem childish to you, but they help me relax and enjoy life."

"Don't you care what people say about you? How could you not?"

"Why should I care what they say? I enjoy watching cartoons and playing video games. Why should what they say take away what I like?"

Shaula crossed her arms and began to think.

"Shaula, the choice is yours," Amber sighed. "I can't force you to do anything. Remember though, you may have gained friends here, but what about those you left back home?"

Tears began to trickle down Shaula's face. "I hate having to choose. I wish I could have both." Shaula said.

"Both..." Amber murmured. "That could be arranged."

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"Amber, I'm glad you got the mess sorted out with Shaula," Aarthi said.

"Me too, this wedding's great!" she answered.

"They put a lot of work into it, seeing as the last one was ruined."

"I hope to see Shaula soon, I have to give her this gift before I go home."

"All ready?"

"Yeah, school work," Amber said, making a face. "I still have to write my term paper for English."

"There she is!" Aarthi said. "Go give it to her!"

Amber walked up to the happy bride and gave her a nervous smile.

"What up Amber?" the bride asked.

"Well, Shaula, this gift is for you," Amber stated, handing her a small box.

Shaula opened it and pulled out a necklace with a bokken charm on it.

"This will teleport you between worlds. I left the time the way it was, but I can fix it if necessary."

"No, it's fine," Shaula said.

"Good! Anyway, when you go home you will be 16 again, but when you come back you'll be 20 or whatever age you were when you left. Make sure you keep track of time in the real world and visit every now and again."

Shaula nodded her head.

"Aarthi and I have necklaces too, except mine's has a wolf and Aarthi's is a soccer ball. That way we can visit or help if something goes wrong. I also made 5 backup disks."

"Better safe than sorry?" Shaula teased.

Amber blushed slightly.

"Something like that." Amber mumbled.

Ryoga came up to them and said, "Excuse me, but could I borrow my wife?"

"Almost," Amber replied. "You'll still have your strength and speed and be able to do flips and stuff in the real world..."

"Awesome!" Shaula interrupted.

Amber nodded her head.

"Yes, but you will not be able to use any ki attacks when you're home." Amber continued.

"Why?" Shaula frowned.

"Kids in school can't stand up to the beating you give Ranma and Ryoga."

"Moi?" Shaula said innocently.

"Yes, you! Now I have homework to do. Congrats and see ya!"

Suddenly Amber and Aarthi disappeared and Shaula and Ryoga were left alone. Ryoga smiled at his wife and she returned it.

As they walked Ryoga asked, "Do you think she'll always be this weird?"

"Yeah," Shaula smiled, "but I kinda like her that way."

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"Well?"

"I like it."

"So when are you typing it and putting it up on your web page?"

"When pigs fly, Aarthi."

"Um, Amber?"

"What??"

"Flying pig..."

"You've got to be kidding."

"Nope."

"Get typing."

And so the story was finished, typed, and put online. Everyone lived happily ever after. Everyone that is, except Amber, who couldn't write or type for a very looooong time afterwards. (Needless to say, Shaula was inspired to keep writing on the first story, which wouldn't have happened had not this story been written, and so now the whole thing is done!)