Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fatal Fury Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tekkaman Blade II Fan Fiction / Transformers Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ A NEW DESTINY - Book 1: Hope's Sorrow and Vengeance ❯ Old Wounds Reopened ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A NEW DESTIN: Book I
Part 2: Old Wounds Reopened


A/N: Rusty is the nickname for the character called Spider-thing. He's actually the Spider-man Doppelganger from the old "Infinity War" storyline from Marvel Comics. Unlike that version, he's very smart and is very good at mechanics.

Disclaimer: I DON'T own any of the characters or series used in this fic (Except for King Robert. He's mine)

Previously: TK Saotome had his first day at Furinkan High School, making new friends and discoveries. He's met with Davis Hibiki, cousin to Ryoga and Akane Hibiki, and was reunited with his best friend Kari kamiya. However, TK's past has come back to haunt him as they passed the Mega mansion, the site where Ranma Saotomoe, TK's cousin, was murdered years ago...


After leaving Kari in front of her home, TK continued to roam the streets of Nerima. <It's good to have her friendship again,> he thought. <Although, I think we could be more than friends. Why bother? She's dating Davis, and that means we can only be friends. I don't want to hurt her, anyway, driving her away from the one she loves.> He continued on his way, lost in thought.

<I can't believe I lost it back there! I thought it no longer controlled me. Guess I was wrong. At least Kari understood what happened. ...Why can't I get her out of my head now?>

"A penny for your thoughts, young man?"

TK froze in his tracks. Quickly, he turned on his heel to face who was speaking to him. "Burter!"

It was indeed Burter, only his armor bore a new insignia: MA.

TK looked at him with a puzzled look. "You switched teams?"

Burter nodded. "Not only that, but I'm now the leader. Since his majesty King Robert regained his throne, he realized he couldn't juggle being both a King and an adventurer. He even chose me to replace him, much to my surprise. I saw you and your friend outside the mansion today. What happened to you?"

TK hung his head. "I guess... I'm not really over it yet. When I saw the Mansion, images of that night replayed in my mind."

Burter placed his large hand on TK's shoulder. "I know how you feel, TK. My anger flares up every time someone mentions Friezor's father, King Cold. You see... he single-handedly killed everyone on my home planet. ...Including my 6-year-old son."

This took TK by surprise. He had assumed that Burter had trained him only out of respect for Ranma, although they had only met and worked together once. Now he knew better.

Burter continued his story. "I was held back as I watched the monster kill Alexir with his eye lasers. He would have killed me as well, but then Emperor Cell appeared, and rebuked Cold for his attack without permission. I was taken as a prisoner back to their main headquarters, where Cell made an offer. 'Join my army,' he said. 'And I promise one day you will get to kill Cold.' I asked him why he would make that offer and he told me that no one, good or evil, should have to bury their children."

TK had heard of Cell's past from Goku and the others he trained under, but this was all new to him. "Even as a villain, he still had some sense of honor."

"It was his honor that led to his metamorphosis, TK. After King Robert defeated him, he came all the way to Earth just for a rematch to the death. Yet when he found out Robert was dying, he staunchly stood beside the Mega Avengers to defeat the Heart Snatchers and find a cure for Robert. After that, he waited until Rob was finally healed, both physically and emotionally. He wanted to face the full power of a Super Goblin again. However, when the Legion of Darkness and later the Black Cell came, he chose to reform and become his perfect self."

"His perfect self?"

"Yes. He needed special DNA to change his form and complete his evolution as he was originally programmed to do. His first transformation came after he absorbed some blood from Vegeta. I think that was what gave him a better understanding of honor. He knew that if he absorbed the blood of the Blue Goblin* he could reach his final form, but he also knew that he could lose his thirst for power and evil. He finally made his choice after some time on earth. I think it was sometime after he first got to know Ranma."

*He's mine, too.

TK smiled at this. Now Ranma had another good point: he had unknowingly helped turn one of the greatest evils in the universe into a hero. TK then looked at Burter and his smile faded. Something was wrong. "What is it I should know?"

Burter looked at the teen. His face became solemn. "The prison planet Char was attacked by King Cold recently. We believe that he rescued Friezor and that they will come here while we're without our usual top guns, and destroy the planet."

TK felt his blood boil and began to power up. He had silently prayed for this chance to take his revenge, and now he had been given it.

Burter placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Stop it!"

TK ceased powering up and looked at Burter in shock. The giant continued, "I want revenge just as much as you, but you have to remember that you and I are all that stand in their way of blowing up this planet! These two are egotistical, but only to a point. One wrong move and they will kill everyone here, including your brother and Kari. Is that what you want?"

The words stung TK as he imagined the deaths of all the people on Earth. He knew Ranma would never forgive him for that, nor he would himself. "No," he said finally. "I don't want them to do that."

Burter looked at TK for a moment and said, "You've forgotten the most important lessons you were taught. I only hope I can refresh your memory in the short time that we have. You will come to the Mansion after school starting tomorrow. Rusty and I will wait for you. Do not say anything to anyone, even those you hold dear. Most of all, remember what you were taught."

Those last words rang in TK's ears as Burter walked away. <What I was taught? What does he mean?> As he walked towards his new apartment, he slowly realized what the words meant as he remembered when he first trained under Burter.


***************************************************** ***************************

Eleven-year-old TK felt like a monster truck hit him. He was bleeding in several places, including his mouth, and his right arm was broken. Yet he still got into a battle position to go again against Burter. He was surprised when the blue giant said, "That's enough for now. Eat a senzu bean and rest for a moment."

TK shook his head and said, "No! Let's keep going! I have to get stronger!"

Burter refused. "TK, if we keep this up, you'll die. Do you miss Ranma so badly that you wish to join him in death? Or are you still upset that your friend Kari moved away while you were training?"

This made TK snap. "YOU SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT RANMA AND KARI! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM!" As he finished, his face was red and he was breathing heavily.

Burter gazed at the boy with sad eyes. <Is that how I was after losing my son? So full of rage?> He sat down on the grass and motioned for TK to join him. As TK came forward, Burter pulled out a senzu bean and fed it to the boy.

"Takeru, I know that Kari was your best friend, and if I knew she was leaving yesterday, I would have let you see her before we trained. I also know from personal experience how it feels to lose someone close so unfairly. It is good you want to train to let out your rage, but killing yourself will gain you nothing."

TK said nothing. He moved his once broken arm to check if it completely healed before he started to get up.

"Sit down, my student. We will proceed when I am sure you're fully rested."

The boy looked at Burter with angry eyes, but reluctantly sat back down.

The alien then said, "Takeru, why do you train?"

TK looked at him with a puzzled face. "To earn my title as heir to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. You know that."

Burter didn't believe him. "Is that all? I think there's more to it than that. Why else do you train?"

"To become stronger than Ranma was. Only then will I truly be his successor."

The alien looked at TK with his red eyes. They seemed to look like angry eyes, but to those who knew him saw past that. "You want revenge, don't you? You want to become stronger than Ranma so that when you face Friezor you won't lose your life in the process. Am I right?"

TK was surprised that Burter knew what his goal was. He slowly nodded to answer his teacher.

"Then training you is pointless, because you'll never succeed that way. You're right, I don't know a lot about Ranma, but I know enough about him and his enemies. Remember how Ryoga kept trying to get stronger because he wanted to beat Ranma? He kept training day and night, learning new techniques so he could get revenge over that silly bread feud."

Burter then realized he strayed into a subject he shouldn't have. He was worried that now TK would get angry or depressed. The boy looked at him and said, "I'll be okay, Burter. I think I'm starting to understand."

Burter sighed with relief before he continued. "Yet the result was always the same because Ranma was always one step or two ahead. Ryoga was tougher than Ranma and could break rocks easily, yet it always bugged him that Ranma was faster and a better fighter. For someone like Goku and most of the other fighters, they train because they feel like it. To them it's a way to better their skills and satisfy themselves.

"You see, after Vegeta became a Super Saiyan, Goku became so jealous that he trained hard nonstop to become one himself. He had been the strongest fighter around until Vegeta and Rob showed up and they put him to shame. In the end, he learned that he was getting nowhere competing with his own brother and after he stopped comparing himself to others, he finally attained Super Saiyan level."

TK seemed to understand a bit of what he had heard. "So if I try to become stronger than someone, I'll never be satisfied?"

Burter nodded. "You'll only succeed in preventing yourself from reaching your next level. Also, there's no need to get revenge on Friezor. He's lost an arm, his legs, even some of his head. He's a cripple now, and has to rely on a life-support machine. He knows this, and he knows that it was a human teenager who did it to him.

"There are worse things than death, my young friend. Living the rest of your life near death's door is one of them. Personally, I'd love to see him dead. But then I would be no better than him. He's a killer, TK, cold-blooded and ruthless. We're not like that. We fight to defend our home and the people we know and love. When his time comes, he'll get what he deserves. You must train to improve yourself only. Then you will become stronger."


************************************************** ******************************


TK had understood what Burter had told him that day, and from then on he reached levels he could never have dreamed of. As he lay in bed that night, he thought to himself, <I can't let my personal feelings endanger everyone. Should Friezor come, I must face him not for revenge but for defending the Earth... and Kari... I made a promise to protect her long ago, and I will keep that promise now.

<Even if I have to protect her from me...>


*************************************************** *****************************


School went quickly for TK the next day. Once classes were over he made his way towards the gate where Davis stopped him.

"I told you to stay away from my girl!" he shouted. "My friends saw you two together walking to her apartment."

TK looked at Davis and said, "You never told me who your girlfriend was, remember? Besides, Kari and I are old friends who haven't seen each other in six years. I never stole a girl from anyone, and I never will. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He tried to move on, but someone called his name. It was Kari. She walked up to him and said, "TK, wait! I meant to ask you something. I told my parents you moved here and they wanna know if you'd like to stop by for dinner sometime?"

TK couldn't believe what Kari was asking him, and in front of her boyfriend at that. He sneaked a look at Davis, who was red with anger. Finally, he said, "Sorry, Kari. I'm pretty busy this week, maybe next week, too. I have to go now. Maybe some other time." With that, he walked down the street and left the other two teens behind.

Davis wrapped an arm around Kari and said, "I could always take his place."

Kari shook him off and said, "Drop dead, Davis! My parents consider TK as family since he's an old friend, so the invitation is for him and him alone." She turned on her heel and stormed off.

Davis stared after her before he got angry.

"This is your fault, Saotome!"


*************************************************** *****************************


TK once again found himself in front of the Mega Mansion. He fought the onslaught of memories as he walked up the steps and knocked on the door. The door opened and a boy his age appeared at the door. TK examined him carefully. The teen was American, with a black worker's outfit and brown hair tied up in a long braid.

The teen smiled and said, "You must be TK. 'Name's Duo. Burter and Rusty are waiting for you in the lab."

Duo led TK through the mansion to a large lab. They saw Rusty working on a black metal suit lying on a table while Burter looked on from nearby. TK looked at Rusty's metallic body parts and felt sorry for his friend.

Rusty looked up from his work and slowly smiled. "You've really grown, TK." he said. "Ranma would be proud to see how much." It was then that Rusty noticed the sadness in the boy's eyes as he stared at his metal.

"Don't feel sad for me. I wasn't exactly a John Travolta before this happened. Besides, it helps me with my work sometimes."

Burter then spoke up. "We'll do a little workout while Rusty finishes up Duo's mobile suit here, then he'll help you with your homework. I notified your parents and they've agreed to let us tutor you for free."

TK waved his hands at this. "You guys don't have to do that for me-!"

Rusty said, "TK, you're part of the team as much as Ranma was. That makes you family. Besides, we had to cover up your training somehow."


*************************************************** *****************************


Kari walked sadly down the streets. She had thought TK would be thrilled to have dinner with her. <Not just me,> she thought. <My parents would be there, too. Why did I think it would be just him and me? She recalled his refusal for the umpteenth time that day. He seems so distant now. Oh TK, I miss you so much! What's happened to us?>

The sounds of her growling stomach interrupted her thoughts. She stopped in front of a restaurant that belonged to a well-known okonomiyaki chef. Deciding to satisfy her need, Kari walked into the almost empty restaurant. She sat down at a table as a man with glasses and a bandanna on his head walked up to her.

"Welcome to Ukyo's," he said in a happy, polite tone. "May I take your order-?" He looked at Kari and adjusted his glasses. "Ah, you're Kari Kamiya. It's a pleasure to see you again."

Kari looked at the man carefully before she recognized him. "Oh, I remember you! You're TK's uncle, Mr. Saotome!"

Mr. Saotome smiled and nodded. They had met once about eight years ago at a party while TK and Matt were visiting their relatives. That means his son was TK's cousin, Kari thought. She also noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual gi. "How come you work here, Mr. Saotome? And where's your dogi?"

Mr. Saotome grew sad. "My wife and I working here to repay Miss Kuonji for something I had done to her years ago. As for my gi, I no longer wear it. I nearly lost everything for the sake of the martial art, and I never want to repeat my mistakes. Also, it reminds too much of... of my son..."

Kari looked at Mr. Saotome and said, "I heard some things about your son's death, and how TK was effected by it. What happened?"

"Go ahead, Genma," someone called from the kitchen. A young woman with long brown hair holding a spatula stood by the open grill. "There's not much business tonight."

Genma nodded at the woman, then sat down at Kari's table.

"It was almost six years ago," he began. "At the time, my son, my wife, and myself were staying with my oldest friend Soun Tendo and his three daughters Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane. Soun and I made a pact many years ago that our children would marry and unite our two schools of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts. My son Ranma and Akane, the youngest of the three daughters, were engaged. They openly rejected the engagement but secretly they loved each other.

"Two years later, they were still at each other's throats, though Ranma secretly loved Akane. She, however, had gotten the idea that he was a cheating pervert because of the many girls chasing after him, and never fully trusted him. Finally, she decided she had had enough. She chose to marry Ranma's rival Ryoga Hibiki. Ranma tried to reason with her, but she would not listen, even when he confessed his love for her. She flatly rejected him once and for all. Ranma knew he had lost, and gave up.

"On the outside, he was glad for her new love. Inside... he was dying..."


*************************************************** *****************************


<It can't end like this,> Genma thought as he walked to the room his son was living in. Minutes ago, Ranma had accepted Akane's rejection of him and her engagement to Ryoga, and had returned to his room. Without even bothering to knock, Genma walked into the room.

Ranma was at his desk, his arms folded and his face buried in them. Genma walked over to him and said, "Ranma..."

What Genma heard from his son would haunt him for the rest of his days come tomorrow night: "Just go away."

Genma froze in his tracks. The words came out in a whisper dripping in pain and sorrow. It was then that he noticed that Ranma's shoulders were shaking. He was crying. He was heartbroken.

Genma looked at his son now in sadness. Before he turned away, he whispered, "I'm so sorry, son." He then turned around and left the room.


******************************************************* *************************


A tear escaped Genma's eye as he continued. "That was the last time I would see him alive ever again. He avoided everyone the next day, staying in his room. It was later that night my wife and I and the Tendos were visited by Cell, one of Ranma's closest friends and a second father to him. It was probably the most difficult task he ever had to do..."


****************************************************** **************************


Kasumi led Cell into the dining room where everyone was sitting. He gazed across the gathered crowd: Soun, Genma, Nodoka, Akane, Ryoga, Happosai, and Nabiki. They all looked at him, including the standing Kasumi. All of them knew something was wrong, except for Akane and Ryoga. They glared at him.

Cell looked at them and asked, "So, then what Ranma told me was true? You've chosen Ryoga despite what he did to you as P-Chan?"

Akane hissed, "That's right! And don't think you can change my mind. That bastard can die for all I care!"

Cell staggered back in pain from that last outburst. "...Then what I'm about to say does not concern you, Akane Hibiki."

Nodoka quickly asked, "Cell, where is my son? Is he well?"

Cell swallowed. <There's no turning back now.> "Ranma... Ranma came to the Mansion earlier this evening. He told us what happened, and we tried to comfort him. TK was also there, as he was on his way to visit here for the weekend. Suddenly, we were attacked by one of our enemies, Friezor. Rusty was injured in the first attack. We fought back, but he caught us off guard. He was about to kill TK when Ranma took the blast instead. Friezor was defeated, but Ranma..."

It was then that Cell gave into his tears, the pain becoming unbearable. They streamed down his face as he said, "I couldn't save him! All my power and I stood by and watched him take the damn shot! He's... he's dead..."

They all stared at Cell, some gasping at what they had learned. Ryoga was the first to speak, yet they were not words of sympathy or comfort. "I wanted to kill him..."

Genma looked at the boy and glared hard at him. He quickly rose up and grasped the boy's neck to choke him as he cried, "YOU SHOUT THE HELL UP, YOU BASTARD!! MY SON, MY ONLY CHILD IS DEAD! HE'S DEAD, AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU AND AKANE!"

It took everyone but Cell to pry off Genma's fingers from Ryoga. He was crying now as he slowly stopped struggling. "My son... my only son..."

Nodoka held her husband close as she too cried for her loss. She turned to face Cell. "TK... is he...?"

Cell looked at her. "He's alive. But... he saw everything, even Ranma's death. The team... the team would like to hold Ranma's viewing at the Mansion. That is... with your permission."

Nodoka nodded as she led Genma towards Cell and the door leading to the hall. She tearfully looked at the Android and said, "Thank you for being my son's friend, Cell. I will always be grateful." She then led her husband out of the room saying, "Come now, dear. It's getting late. Tomorrow... Tomorrow, we'll go home."


****************************************************** **************************


Genma wiped away the tears as he finished. "My wife and I left the Tendo's home the following morning and never heard from them ever again. We came to Miss Kuonji for work and have lived here in her service ever since."

Kari listened very carefully to the story she heard. It had given her some insight on Ranma, but not enough on TK's change. "Mr. Saotome, did you know that TK's moved into Nerima?"

Genma looked at her in shock. "He has?! You saw him?"

Kari nodded sadly. "He's in my class. I talked with him, but he's... so distant from me. I just wish I knew why."

"I'll tell you, Kari," a familiar voice came from the door. Everyone looked to see a puppet the size of a small child standing in the doorway.

Kari recognized him right away. "Puppetmon!"


To be continued...


Notes: I guess I still need to explain who Friezor is. You see, I like Frieza, so I created a second brother for him: Friezor. He's the middle child of the family, and looks like Frieza save for two devil horns on his forehead. R&R, please.