Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Slayers Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ cHaOs Energy Times Infinity ❯ Searching for Answers ( Chapter 17 )

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cHaOs Energy Times Infinity
Chapter 17
Crossover Bid For Power/Ranma/Sailor Moon/Slayers/
Project A-Ko/DBZ/Tenchi
by Afroplex - jwessels@cse.unl.edu
http://ranko.homelinux.net

Disclaimer - This crossover story is not for profit. All characters
within are property of their respective owners. Please don't sue me,
you won't get anything out of it since I'm but a poor college student.

SPACE STATION EMERGENCE
============================================================= =========

Ranma woke with a start, but quickly shielded his eyes from the overhead
hospital style lights. In shielding himself from the onslaught, his
arms protested with a dull pain.

"Oh man... feels like my whole boy has been soaking in acid."

"May as well have. You were right in the middle of a quantum reactor."

Ranma slowly tilted his head to see Washu. "What happened? One minute
I had him, the next I saw his body dissolving into nothing."

Washu placed her hand on Ranma, "I know. I had never seen Tenchi like this
before. He was always the strength and stability in times of crisis for
us all. Several times he nearly died - or even crossed that boundry
a few times to overcome an obstical. Much like you in that respect. My only
thought is he couldn't take the shock of what he was apart of back
on Telleo where those billions died, or he was afraid of something else
I didn't know about."

Ranma closed his eyes, "If only I had more power." Flames curled around
his hand, "I can vaporize metal with the heat of the sun, take radiation
levels more intense than... whatever. I can defeat any opponent with
martial arts. Heck, I even defeated a god. What am I missing?"

Washu knodded, her voice soft and showing the wisdom of two lifetimes
in different universes thousands of years long, "What is it you wish in
life? You've fought and learned so much, but have you ever worked with
others to help themselves?"

"Before, I wanted to be the best there was. I probably am - but being
the best just doesn't cut it. Losing Akane and Tenchi shows me that.
I've never lost someone permanently before, that is if you don't count
the Silver Millenium." The mention of that sparked an idea, that quickly
went supernova. The flames erupted in a crackle around his fist. "I know
what I need to do. If I can prevent something like on Telleo from
happening, it will be worth it.... and I'll start now."

If her suspecions were right, Washu was pleased with this outcome. "What
is it you are going to do?"

"Begin the final step of my martial arts. Teach the art and discipline
of my skills, starting with my first student."

"Who is?"

"Usagi."

Washu face faulted, "Usagi! You know what you are facing? She doesn't
even have the discipline to get up for school in the morning!"

Ranma sighed, "I know. But I gotta do something. She has emense power,
just like Tenchi did. One wrong move - and it will happen - and she
needs to be ready for it."

Sitting up, Ranma fell back from the pain. "But first I need to rest..."

Washu turned down the lights, leaving him in the dark but no closer to
resting his thoughts. As he drifted in and out of sleep, the images
of what occured in the reactor played over in this mind, instantly
waking him dripping with sweat. Giving up on sleep, he concentrated
on focusing his powers mentally. Seeing the area with his mind, he
felt out through the station...

The individuals he sensed in the station had varying degrees of power,
some with large amounts of ki, or magic. Then there were the few that
didn't focus on either, which surprised him that Washu was amoung them.

Finally with something other than the past events occupying his mind,
he fell into a dreamless black sleep.

Morning or whatever you could call it on a space station came. Ami,
no longer in her Mercury transformation greeted him. "Morning Ranma.
I was hoping to speak with you about something."

Ranma noted the concern in her face, "Sure, watsup?"

"I've already told the rest of the group while you were sleeping,
but we all came to the agreement to let you know about it..."

Ranma was growing increasingly nervous, "Umm.... don't tell me
Washu is trying to hook up an engagement with one of you."

Ami's eyes grew wide, "NO! Nothing like like!" Muttering to the
side, "Well, Minako is trying something like that. But that's
totally unrelated! This is about our homes."

"Oh, right. Ok, so what's up?"

"You remember those wierd lines we saw going between the blobs
in the interdimensional void?"

"Uh, sorta. I was too busy concentrating on keep the cats away from
me. Speaking of which, where are they anyhow?"

"They are on the other side of the station. Well, Washu and I
analysed the lines, and this could be either good or bad. When
you crossed from your home to ours, they were connected by those
things. They act like rubberbands, so eventually our worlds
will collide, or merge. Our home will be your home." Ami
paused to let Ranma figure out what she just said.

"Uh?" Ranma said in all honesty.

"Ranma!? Were you listening?"

"Ok. This finger is your home." Ami held up her right index finger.
"This is mine." The same with her left. "Eventually they will
fuse and..." Moving them closer and putting the fingers together,
"we will have one home where both us are."

"Ohhhh... I get it. That should be cool. Now I can visit you
guys more often."

Ami facefaulted, "But that would be more chaos in your life! There
might be a chance to stop it!"

"Na, don't bother. I need to train Usagi, the chaos couldn't possibly
get any worse than what it is right now, and finally at least I
could use some help in getting rid of those fiance's of mine
with your help."

From Ranma's perspective, the fuse was beneficial. Ami mulled over her
negatives, which apart from some superpowered martial artists that
didn't really want to conquer the universe, wasn't too much. Plus,
the princess gained some experience.

"I'll let the others know."

"Hey! Wait up! I want to go with ya. I have a little 'surprise'
for Usagi."

Ami looked at him with a cocked eyebrowe, "What would that be? You
haven't been up long enough to go shopping."

Ranma jumped to his feet, stretching, "Lets just say it involves
getting up in the morning on time, every morning. Afterall,
it wouldn't do for the universe's best martial artist to let
that happen, would it?" Ranma then started to crack his knuckles.

Ami nervously stepped back, "Umm... right. This way."

Deciding to use his sensory abilities, and to just plain show off,
Ranma took off in a dead sprint for the last place he felt the
scouts gathered.

"Uh... Hey! Wait up!"

Quickly losing sight of Ami was a cinch without her transformed.
Left, shortcut through a weapons depot, over the messhall
counter, and down to the troops quarters where the scouts
were staying.

Just outside the door, Ranma crossed his arms across his
chest and waited for Ami to catch up. "Maybe we should work on
you also, my pop can run faster than that."

"Also?"

He snickered, "Yup, may as well. But first I need to concentrate
on my first student." Swinging around, he looked at the door.
"Um, but first how do I open this door?"

Ami commented while stepping around him, "Maybe I should give
you some lessons myself."

The door slid open, revealing the rest of the scouts - Minako,
Makoto, Usagi, and Rei. Cko was trying to force feed Usagi, who
was promising never to cook again. Jake and Komosauro were out in
the ship. Ryoko was being looked after by Mamoru and Sakana.
Kyah was who knew where.

Ranma stepped into the room, with a grin plastered from one side
of his face to the other. Everyone gulped, except Cko, when he
started to crack his knuckles and turned his gaze to Usagi.

"I have a little announcement to make. Starting... now... I will
train Usagi to be one of the best." Raising his fist high into the
air and looking into the void known as the ceiling, "I call it
'Operation Rabbit'!"

Space crickets resumed their song, only to be interrupted by
Usagi letting a scream out and fainting face first into Cko's
failed attempt at cooking Komosauro's burrito recipe.

Komosauro ran in as Ranma broke out of his pose. "What happened! I
heard a scream and came packing for a fight!"

"Awe, don't worry about it. I just made the announcement that
I'll be training Usagi. I'll be getting her up every morning at
dawn and will train her till she fully understands her power.
Granted, she won't be as good as me, but it will be an improvement."
Ranma motioned toward the recovering blonde. "She just was a
little excited at the opportunity to train with me full time."

Usagi whimpered, "Up. At dawn, full time?" She fainted again,
this time in Minako's lap with something that _may_ have been a
burrito splattering everywhere.

"Ewwww. Usagi, get off! It burns! Oh no, its crawling away!
Kill it!"

Rei looked at Minako beating Usagi's head with a broom. In
monotone, "Excited isn't the word I would use to describe it."

"On the topic of bettering ourselves, what about our studies?"
Ami piped up. Growns, except from Komosauro, eminated from the group.
"What? We may be gone from home for a while but that doesn't mean
we should just put off our studies!"

"Ya, but what about learning ta fight? It won't help ya when
it comes time to clean up the trash," Ranma pleaded.

"Wrong there Ranma, Jake has saved my butt plenty of times and
he isn't a fighter, but a thinker," Komosauro pointed out.

"Ya, but... but that doesn't count," came the rebuttal.

"Why?"

"Uhm... it just doesn't."

"Right. Come talk to me later when you come up with a better reason
Ranma." Usagi was just starting to recover and sit up. "Going to school
here and training will be good for her and everyone else."

Usagi fainted again after hearing Komosauro mention school. Ami
added in, "If she is going to be the queen, she needs help everywhere.
Washu and I can take care of the school work. You can help Ranma with
Usagi."

"What do I help with? A new guinea pig!? I can't wait."

Komosauro jumped to the ceiling light, "Jeez! Don't do that."

Washu blew him a kiss, sending shivers up and down his spine. "Do what?"

Getting down, "Well, we were just discussing study sessions for the group."

Makoto protested, "What? I thought this was just about Usagi?"

"I think that is a great idea," Washu swung her hips as she walked to
Komosauro and put her finger on his chest. Twirling it, "Besides,
you and Ranma are my favorite guinea pigs and we need to make sure
you never leave my sight. You also need to keep little ole' me
safe from the big bad monsters in my lab."

Ranma and Komosauro both leaped for the nearest wall, and through it
at the same time. The rest of the scouts and Cko ran off, leaving
Usagi on the floor and Ami with Washu.

"Well, when should we start?" Ami asked.

"Oh, how about now? Usagi is here. Oh, did you remember to plant that
transmitter on Ranma and ask him about the merging worlds?"

"Yes, and yes. I didn't tell him about the rest of the group leaving
the final decision to him sense it was a tied vote. He thought it was
a great idea to let them merge. What about the one where you are from
and Cko's?" Ami picked up Usagi over her shoulder.

"With everything that has happened with Tenchi, we are going to need
some help in my world. I may be the goddess of knowledge, but I know
things are going to be tough. With Ranma joining up with you, hopefully
the combined forces will be able to hold off anything. About Cko's
world, it doesn't seem too harmful, so may as well let it join in
too." Looking at Usagi, Washu chuckled. "Take Usagi to the lab, I'm
going to round up the rest with Ranma's help."

Ami smiled, "Yes, I'll start preparing the lessons."

On the other side of the station, Ranma and Komosauro were hidden in the
food store room.

"Do you think it is safe to come out?"

"Ranma, I wouldn't bet on it. Washu freaks me out no matter how far
I am from her. In a way, she's worse than staring down the gullet of
a blackhole since there is no real escape."

"Hey, what was up with her and you? That finger thing was just too
freaky and familiar."

"Familiar?"

"Ya, I have," Ranma counted on his fingers, "Akane, Shampoo, Kodachi,
Ukyo... I think that's it. Oh, also can't forget Kuno."

"Kuno, that a guy's name?"

"Yup, after my girl side."

"Sorry, I feel for ya man. Well, what do we do now? I'm starving, and
all the stuff here is dehydrated. There might be some food on the ship,
and Jake might be able to help us hide out for a spell. I might even
activate the automated laser defenses to be sure."

Ranma knodded, and they crawled out from behind the crates. Sneaking
from corner to corner, they finally made it to the bottom hatch of the
Shogo. Climbing up the ladder, Komosauro peeked his head in on the first
floor and spotted Jake - with Washu.

"Hello there Komo! Washu told me everything, and I think it is a
great idea. Besides, you still owe me one for what you did to my
ship," Jake glared down.

"Your ship?" Remembering Washu, Komosauro yelled down, "Hey Ranma!
She's here, make a break for it! At least one of us will make it."

Washu pulled out a control with a large red crab button, "But I have you."

Komosauro felt his limbs rendered useless - and encased in something. Looking
down at his body in green transparent gelatin with a familiar smell.
"Lime jello gelatin?"

"Yes. It is one of my most successful experiements from my younger years."

Ranma pushed himself to the limit to try and find an ally to combat the
evil on his tail. "Aha, there." Pushing over a floor panel, he
expected to be welcomed by the scouts, but was assaulted by various
heavy tools and metal piping.

"NO! We will not give up.... oh, sorry Ranma."

Rei pulled the metal pile off, and Makoto brought him back to his feet,
but he was still whobbly. "Anyone get the number of that pig....
hello Rei, didn't realize you liked P-Chans running around your head
either..."

"Uh? Snap out of it big boy. I need you to tell me what happened to
Komosauro," Makoto slapped him.

"Hey, what'd ya do that for?"

"Yes, that wasn't very nice," said Washu from down the hallway.

Ranma made a full recovery and jumped into the nearest ventilator
shaft, somehow hoping it led to the reactor core. As he crawled down
the shaft sounds behind him stopped suddenly - the last word he
heard was Makoto's voice saying something about she would never cook
with something never again. He made his way toward Ryoko, who
seemed to be sleeping in the medical area. Thinking she probably
wouldn't be the best fighter after just going through such a
trauma with Tenchi's death, he changed trajectory to Kyah's
chamber. Then, goosebumps when up and down his spine when he
realized Washu was on the other side of the wall. Metal was
dissolved into a green goo, with Washu's face smiling in at him.

"Hello there. Gotcha." A split second later, she pushed the button,
and teleported Ranma to join the fate of the rest of the scouts and
Cko.


ATLANTIS HOMEWORLD
============================================================= =====

Goku was looking out the window, chin resting on his hands.

"This is soooooo boring."

Sitting up, Goku decided to go see what was happening in the control
room. Gothax said they might be while, but Goku interpretted it as
being fifteen minutes, not four hours.

Peeking around the corner, Goku whistled. "This place is like Freeza's
ship!"

Gothax turned around, "Hello again Goku. Give us a few more minutes and
it will be your turn for some action. We just got a signal from some
vigilantes that claim they have found some sort of base. Their leader
gaver her name as Nabiki, but was then cut off. Our probes are trying
to triangulate her last location, then we can send an assault group
led by Vegeta to the location."

Goku knodded, "How strong are they - hey! What about me?"

"I'll get toe that in a bit. The ships are more powerful than ours,
but one on one on the ground is anyone's guess. We don't have any
clue who their leader is except for a possible lead at some political school.
Apparently all the students were kidnapped, with the kidnappers
challenging every empire's military to a face off in a week. The
only way they would be that stupid is if they had some serious punch,
like these ships."

"Good call. Anyone that would assault a planet with innocents around
would take children. I have dealt with this type before, and they
must be stopped."

Gothax shrugged, "I suspect that too, but until we get further
evidence, we are going to assume they are different."

The back door swung, and the emperor floated in. "I have the location,
now we prepare the group to assault the location. Are you ready Goku?"

"It is about time!" Vegeta stepped out of the shadow.

Goku was startled from the sound, "Vegeta! So that is where you
were hiding, I figured you would be having fun with the local
police by now."

Vegeta starred at Goku silently, causing Goku to back up slightly.

"Hey hey! I was just kidding Vegeta," Goku waved his hands
defensively.

"Anyhow, what were you saying emperor? I need get even with those
that took me without my permission to this universe," Vegeta.

"Vegeta is going to Kyah's space fortress to lead them on an assault
on the hidden enemy base. Goku is going with Gothax to look into some
clues on the political assault on Kyah's and Gothax' wedding."

Gothax was satisfied with the plan, the saiyans had better plans.

"Why do I have to go babysit a strike team? I can take them myself!"

"Why do I need to investigate? It is so boring!"

Gothax snickered, "I figured it would be difficult with you two, no
matter what we did. So, look at it this way. Vegeta, you get to
face off some of the stongest enemies out there and practice before
then with our best fighters. Goku, you get unlimited food and-"

"I'm in!" Goku yelled. "When do we take off?"

"How about now? I'll be going with you Goku since this matter
personally concernts me. If Kyah truely is at fault, I want to be
able to personally cram the evidence up her ass and through her
skull." Growling, "If not, someone else will take her place several
times over for costing me a decade of strife against the woman I
loved."

Goku shivered, "Well, lets just get going."

Vegeta followed a pilot to the high speed transports, Gothax and Goku
went to a the lower reachs of the underwater palace.

"Our destination is the inner city of this planet. A few shops in the
black market here might be able to give us a lead on where to purchase
some extremely rare metals the emperor's spy network found after the
incident." Gothax threw over a cloak, and tossed another dark one to
Goku. "Here, wear this. Our get up is probably too out of place for
anyone to give us information on any places to buy our shopping list."

They emerged from behind a trash dumpster. It was still deeply hidden
around six corners before they saw the first living person. Goku was
appauled at the sight he saw. Trash was piled in the corners, with
people living in metal boxes. Children were making weapons deals
with some of the adults. After leading a sheltered life in the mountains
and Bulma's mansion Goku was seeing the world with innocent eyes and it
was breaking his heart.

Gothax was hunched over, trying not to give away his royal upbringing.
Goku was looking from side to side, fists clenching.

"Say, want a fight punk? You look like you could use some action in
the arena tonight..." a withered old man, with fish gills lined with
copper jewelry piercing.

Gothax laid his hands on Goku's shoulder, "He's not interested, we
have business to take care of. But if you help us, we might be
free later..." Gothax's ear twitched slightly.

The old man showed his teeth and hissed, "I don't think I'm interested
anymore - you will not get any information from me." He then turned
and sat back on the pile of garbage to observe the crowd.

Gothax turned, and motioned for Goku to follow. Goku then noticed a
little indention in the wall, "Hey, that looks wierd."

"Good eye. This could be just the place I was looking for." Stepping
between the two dumpsters that had just enough space for a person
to go between, but oddly no trash between them given the area
of town they were in. Leaning slightly on the the stone indent,
it slide back without a sound. Walking through, it closed just
as silently behind them leaving no trace that someone was there just
moments ago.

"Welcome strangers." A large neanderthal man came out of the shadows,
wearing a tux. "How may I help you? I hope you have either an
invitation or a gift for the host to gain admittance."

"I have plenty of material to donate as a gift to the host. Would
half a container of smuggled Golden Empire ship weaponry be fine?"

Goku thought for a moment, and a thought struck him, "Hey, aren't
you the em-MPPH-OUCHOUCHOUCHOUCH..."

Gothax' fist was extended where Goku's face was a moment ago. The
injured saiyajin was holding his nose trying to keep the nose bleed
contained. "Please play no attention to him. He is new to dealing
in these conditions."

"I will inform the host of the guild you are here. I will return
shortly."

The guard left, and Goku tried again to speak. "What's the idea,
punching me. You didn't need to do that Go-MPPH-OUCH-CH-CH...."

Gothax's eyebrowe twitched, "Damnit Goku. They probably have listening
devices littering the place. We don't want to give away our goods
freely. We need to find what we came for."

Goku grumbled, "I hope the food is worth it. Vegeta is probably having
a great time training in space."

---- IN THE ATLANTEAN SPACEPORT... ---
Several ships were lined up behind an express transport. Inside...

"Mr.Vegeta. You should put on your seatbelt and helmet before we
can leave, it is the law on this planet before we can liftoff."

"NO! I will not put anything on that has that horrible design."

"But the Hello Kitty belt and helmet look good on you!"
---- BACK IN THE GUILD ---

"Be quite. The guard is coming back with the host."

Gothax straightened his cloak and bowed slightly to the, whatever it
was in the floating handycap chair. The old withered lady was
covered with some sort of glistening goo, and her hair was blasting
off in several spikes. Goku wasn't paying to much attention, so
Gothax kicked his feet out from under him and getting another round
of protesting.

"Greetings host of the guild, I am a trader looking for a source of
rare metal, and would be honored if I could see trade in your house.
I would like to offer a quantity of high quality class three photon
cannons, with munitions as a token of my gratitude.

The host knodded and extended her hand to Gothax, who lightly shook
it. She then extended it to Goku, and was surpised at the vigor
behind it. "I will accept your gift. Please give my assistant here
information on where to retrieve the gift before you proceed. That
way you may trade and our couriers at the station can take
care of business. Oh, and as a rule of this house, no trading
will be done in the slave or drugs. This is a clean house and will
not be tarnished by such lowly practices."

Gothax was pleased the emperor recommended this area of the town.
Sure, the higher class guilds are harder to strike a deal but
the characters are much more respectable and won't put a blaster up
your tailpipe unless you doublecross them first.

After handing a credit card sized pad to the guard, the two adventurers
went inside. The main area was surprisingly clean given the outside
appearance of the guild.

"So, what do we do now? That fight competition outside the old man
mentioned is starting to sound better than staying here. There isn't even
any excitement."

"Goku, we came here to trade. If you will just shutup for a bit, you'll
get your chance soon." They then sat at a small square table, and
took up the art of people watching.

Before long, a thin teenager loaded for bear with numerous cyber
implants came up to their table. "Hello, the hostess mentioned you
may be looking for some rare metals. I have some connections in the mining
area and some asteroid labs that may be able to come up with what you
are looking for."

Gothax gave the kid a slow look over, but didn't see anything that would
scream "foul play". He did however notice a good luck charm haing from
the belt. "Have a seat and we can discuss business. Say, isn't that
a Golden Empire jade? I've done some dealing in the area and learned about
those in my travels. Supposedly those give good gambling luck depending
on how good looking and rich the princess what was married off with it."

The teenager grinned, "Right on. The lad that had this thing sold it to
pay off an assassin against her husband. I got it after trading with the
same guy that did the job."

Gothax made a mental note to look into some of the recent political
happenings in his empire later. Pulling a small, smooth pebble from
his pocket, he put it on the table. "This is what I need, 75 kilos."

The lad looked at it closely, "Nice rock. Mind if I do some analysing?"

Gothax knodded and watched with interest. The trader extended his finger
at the rock, which then split into seven different metal parts and tubes.
Goku's eyes bugged out, but didn't say anything. The small devices
probed, sent small laser bursts out, and then went back into the finger.

"Holy, you weren't kiding when you said this thing was rare. This
one chunk alone is worth a whole freighter of platinum." Several
heads turned, and then back to their business - although their eyes
were glued to the three at the small table.

"I know, but i have a great need to use a lot more, can you help me out?"

The youth sat back, and blew a deep breath. "Wow, I usually don't have to
do this, but I'm going to need to personally see what you have to offer
to cover the cost of this. I can't do anything before that. Sorry. After
that though, we can speak to my suppliers."

Gothax let out a mental yell of victory. Just what he needed, to go to the
source of the black market for the metal. This kid was going to even do
it without him asking. Besides he had a deep pocket book and didn't
mind consolidating assets into more compact investments.

"Fine with me. Say, I head that there was a fight tonight. How about
putting that charm of yours to the test and we enter my friend in the match.
This trade deal could make or break me, and I just want to make sure
you are well off to look in my best interests. Goku is a sure fire bet,
and would be interesting to watch. I can even cover the entrance fee
and your first bet."

Smiling broadly, "Awesome! Last time I was a the fight was a week ago.
Those can be interesting - anything goes including weapons. I
can hook your friend up to enter the competition. Oh, and you
can call me Tetsuda. We better get going, the first match starts in ten
minutes."

They got up and made their way to the house entrance. Gothax verified
the gift was delivered safely to the house before leaving. Tetsuda
lead the group to the old man they met earlier.

"You sure you can trust them? Fee will be 500,000 neys," the old
man spit out.

Gothax grumbled, but paid the price. 500,000 was a lot, even for
royalty.

The old man grabbed Goku and half pulled, half dragged him into
the large warehouse. Tetsuda went to the stands and did some looking
for a bookie.

At the ringside, Goku took a survey of the other fighters and noted
a particularly odd group in the corner. "My first fight in another
universe.... but man I'm hungry."

Gothax groaned when he saw Goku holding his stomache. "Can we get
Goku some food on the run?"

Tetsuda pointed out a food stand to the side. "Will that work?"

Gothax ran over and bought everything in the stand. Carrying the
armful over to the fenced off area, he threw it over. "Goku, catch!"

Smiling, Goku began to eat, catch, and finish the pile in record time.

Tetsuda gave Gothax an odd look.

"What? He was hungry, so I gave him everything he needed." Gothax
shrugged.

Tetsuda hung his head down, "Ya, but everything in that booth was
alcoholic. This might be an interesting fight..."

Gothax looked at the other fighters, and then at Goku who was starting
to whobble. "Uh... ooops?"