Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Project I: Zero Ranma ❯ The Return ( Chapter 9 )

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

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Ranma woke up with a terrible headache, not that we can blame him. After
all, reliving the past was so terrible. But no; the reason why Ranma is having a
hang-over which is about ten degrees lower than Misato's is because of two
'knowledge is power' people in front of him.

Shaking his head, he looked at Washu, and to his great surprise, Dr. Light.
"What the hell is going on here?" Ranma whispered, more to himself than the two.

"I'm telling you," Dr. Light said, in a would-be calm voice. "We can't attach
something that dangerous!"

"C'mon!" Washu said, giggling. "Where is your sense of humor?"

"Sense of-" and Dr. Light cut it off. "I agreed that you help me..."

"And I did!" Washu said, almost child-like, about a degree away from a tantrum.
"I put a Mark 4 Rail gun on the left arm, didn't I?"

Dr. Light massaged his temples. "Yes... a nice rail gun I might add... instead
of giving him a normal buster... BUT A MARK-TWENTY SHOULDER CANNON FROM YOUR OWN
DIMENSIONAL CANNON THAT HAS ENOUGH POWER TO DESTROY GALAXIES? ARE YOU INSANE?"

Washu laughed. "Oh, come on silly. Its power is still adjustable," and she
looked at Ranma. "Oh, he's awake."

-Omega X Presents-

-Project: Zero Ranma-

-Chapter 09: The Return-

Dr. Light turned around. Ranma was sitting up, looking miffed. "Uh... Dr.
Light?" Ranma said. "Uh... was I sent back to the future?"

Dr. Light smiled. "Good to see you again, Ranma. And no, you didn't go to the
future."

Ranma still looked confused. "But why-" and he was cut off by Dr, Light.

"Well, I'll relay the good news. Your whole family were worried, you know." And
he left the lab.

Ranma watched Dr. Light disappear and faced Washu, who still had a grin in her
face. "A Mark-Twenty shoulder cannon..." Ranma repeated sarcastically. "Is this
an armor, or a weapon?"

"A little bit of both," Washu said, smiling even more. She turned around and
faced her screen. "Like it?"

Ranma looked at his screen and gasped. His armor, his original one, was
highlighted, and a red external armor was fitted in the chest area, and his shin
part. Ranma looked in awe. It was beautiful. The extra armor in the chest would
protect him more, and the shoulder and knee had pointed shapes. And the hands of
his armor were also coated in red. He also saw his chest had the symbol of a
sharp 'R', instead of having it in his shoulders. And in the middle of the R,
was his gold orb.

"It's magnificent..." Ranma said. "Truly is..."

Washu snorted. "That's not all..." and she pushed some buttons. The armor turned
180 degrees at the y-axis. It showed the back. It was red, but there were
distinct lines on it. He also noticed that his helmet, looked like X's with his
Ultimate Armor, except that it was pointed backwards, not upwards like X's.
Ranma thought it was for aerodynamics.

(Nothing special...) Ranma thought.

Washu must have read his mind, because she suddenly said, "Not special, eh?" and
she pressed another button. The armor turned 90 degrees, and showed its side
view. She pressed another button, and the armor of the back extended, and formed
what looked like four small wings. The helmet also changed. The three spikes in
the head also pointed upwards.

"What the..." Ranma said, but Washu put her hand up.

"Those are exhaust ports for your wings," Washu said. "It is used for your Lion
System..." And she saw Ranam's face.

"What? Lion system? For my Neko-ken?" asked Ranma. Washu nodded. "I didn't want
to use it..." Ranma replied, bowing his head. "But... if I have too... But what
are the wings for?"

Washu frowned. "Do you know why you are so powerful, you know, with Ki?" And
Ranma shook his head. Washu sighed. "Katsuhito told me, and he thinks I should
say it..."

"Say what?" Ranma asked.

=Masaki residence=

"He's awake?" X asked his creator.

"Yes..." Dr. Light said. "And more good news."

Everyone looked up.

"His modified armor is 90% complete..." (But we could have completed it if Washu
didn't start putting that Mark Twenty Dimensional Cannon...) Dr. Light added,
frowning.

Zero smiled. "That's good."

"Now," Dr. Light sat down. "Let's talk about Ranma's attackers..."

=Back to Washu's Dimensional Lab=

"So..." Ranma said, after digesting such an unbelievable tale. "I'm half alien?"

Washu just nodded. "Your mother wouldn't tell. She thinks you might hate her."

Ranma look disbelieving. "No I don't..." and he stood up. "Washu... can you do
me a favor?"

"What is it?" Washu asked eagerly.

"I need some modification in my new armor..."

=Masaki residence=

"And they just attacked him!" Ukyou said, waving her hands, like showing how big
the attackers were. "I don't get it! He saved those five Senshis, and three
others which I never saw before come in and attack!"

Katsuhito just nodded, while X and Zero were at the edge of the table. Ryoko and
Ayeka paid attention, but they paid more attention to Tenchi, who listened,
apparently disgusted in the dirty attack the three Senshis did.

"And they stabbed him..." Sasami continued for Ukyou. "Blood... in my hands..."

Zero looked up. "That's when we came, right?"

Sasami nodded. "Yes."

X frowned though. "Why are they attacking him?"

Uykou put her fingers in her chin, thinking. "They said something about being a
threat to their perfect nation..."

Katsuhito frowned. "Perfect nations that have foundations of blood are nothing
but a nation that will be destined to crumble."

"Correct," said a voice in the broom closet. It was Washu and Ranma.

"RANMA!" Ukyou said as he ran towards Ranma and gave him a big hug... uh, forget
it. Let's call it an Amazon glomp!

"Hey..." Ranma said, as he tried his best to resist the urge to fall down on the
floor. Not that Ukyou was heavy... "I'm okay..."

"Ranma Masaki Saotome!" said another voice. Ranma tensed up.

"Uh... hi mom..." he said.

"How could you! Not tell your own mother the truth!" Nodoka exclaimed. "All this
Zero nonsense! You could've died!"

Katsuhito smiled and whispered to her, "How could you, as well daughter, not
tell him about his heritage, or put him through such vigorous training with
Genma? He could've died."

That shut Nodoka up, as she blushed a bit and smiled weakly. "Yes... well, I
guess keeping secrets run in the family, huh?" Of course, she whispered it to
Katsuhito, who hid himself in a form of an old man.

The old man just smiled. "Yes. Yes, it does, doesn't it?"

"Sorry mom," Ranma said, cutting the two parental figures short. "I had to do
it..."

Nodoka just looked at her son, eyes gleaming. Ranma could've flinched if the
stare was longer than five seconds, but then, she smiled. "Oh my son is so
manly!"

Everyone face-faulted.

"Anyway," Washu said, standing up. "I checked Ranma's memories, sorry," she
added to Ranma. "And I found something interesting." And everyone stared at her.
"It seems that the attackers of Ranma are the Senshi of the Moon Kingdom."

"We know that," Ukyou said, looking at the kid. "So what..."

"I met them before," Washu said, smiling. "About a few thousand years ago..."

Ukyou stopped at her tracks. "Excuse me?"

Washu looked at her. "Oh, don't you know? I'm almost 20000 years old!"

"Is that possible?" X asked.

"Yes... it is. After all, she is the greatest scientist in the Universe..." Dr.
Light chipped in.

"Oh thank you, you flatter me," Washu said. "Anyway, I witnessed the destruction
of the Moon Kingdom."

She paused dramatically, and took a deep breath. Then she continued. "Well, I
recognized the three. One was the Sailor Uranus, the Sailor Neptune, and
finally, Sailor Pluto."

"So?" Ranma asked.

"Pluto is also known as the guardian of the Time Gates..." Washu continued, "And
the only survivor of the tragedy."

Ranma looked up. "But what does it have to do with me?"

"Well, someone traumatized as her," Washu continued, "would feel responsible,
right?"

Everyone nodded. "Well, right now, she's using the time gate to recreate the
Moon Kingdom on earth, perfect place like before. And for the past time, she's
been using her powers to fix things, take away threats of this nation of hers."

"Like I asked..."

"I'm getting to that," Washu replied shortly. "If what you say is true," she
said, looking at Zero and X, "then the world she wants to create won't happen,
or might happen, but won't last forever."

Zero became very interested now. "Do you know, what is the name of this nation,
Miss Washu?"

"Oh yes... They mention it lots of times, while my stay in Mercury. They had
particularly interesting machines, like one..." and Katsuhito cleared his
throat. "Maybe I'll skip it until next time... What name did she give it? Ahh!
Crystal Tokyo..."

X frowned, so did Zero and Ranma. "Why do they want to create a nation that
failed spectacularly," X muttered.

Washu looked at the blue-armored wonder. "It failed?"

"Yes," Zero chipped in. "It was an example of the worst way to run a nation. It
stood up for thousands of years, yet, its survival declined."

Washu almost moaned with excitement. "Tell me more!"

"Crystal Tokyo," Ranma continued, without missing a beat, "was the best example
that taught people that the best things in life are the worse things imaginable.
Imagine, a nation without hate, without greed, without sin, a nation without
evil."

"So," Uykou began to ask. "What's wrong with that?"

D. Light took over. "Well, people that lived there had no choice, no thought.
All were happy, like a drug they had."

X also put in some more. "And those who wouldn't accept such perfect world were
banished," and he saw the faces of Sasami and Ukyou. "Oh, they were alright.
They came full speed to Crystal Tokyo and tried to destroy it. Damn good ones
though, since Crystal Tokyo had a laughable amount of soldiers. Nah, they said
that they took the Sailor Senshi from the past to destroy them, and the Senshi
won."

Katsuhito just stared at the three Maverick hunters, wondering what happened to
Jurai.

"Anyway, after the destruction, the people repaired it, and that's when
everything came down. People started to question themselves, question what they
were doing. Soon," Ranma added dramatically, "Crystal Tokyo fell."

"How do you know all this?" asked Sasami.

Ranma just shrugged. "It's in my head..."

Almost everyone looked at Ranma in surprise. "In your head?" Nodoka asked.

"Yes," Washu said. "Let me explain. Ranma doesn't have a normal brain. He has a
cybernetic one."

This confused the gang even more.

"Just forget it, okay mom?" Ranma asked. Then his stomach grumbled. "Uh... I'm
hungry..."

Everyone, for the third time, face faulted.

=Hino shrine=

Usagi walked around in circles, thinking. Rei just stared at her while Makoto
and Minako just stared at their feet, like something interesting there.

"Why did they do that?" asked Usagi to no one. Ami didn't respond. "I mean... he
saved us... Aren't only evil people supposed to be threats to Crystal Tokyo?"

"I don't know," Ami said, still looking at the ceiling. "I really don't know..."

Everyone sighed. It's been two days since they saw Ranma get stabbed in front of
them, and until now, it was still registering in their heads. Ranma, a hunk, a
gentleman, a man with two faces, who saved them many times, and his life
vanished before their very eyes.

"Damn it!" Usagi exploded. "WHY?"

Rei looked with apprehension in her face. Usagi's face was worse than anything
she imagined. It was screwed up with rage, anger and confusion. But then,
footsteps stopped the five Inner Senshis from their thoughts.

"Ano..." said a voice behind them. "May... I...?"

The five friends turned around. It was Hotaru.

=Setsuna's apartment=

"Are you sure?" Setsuna asked.

"Pretty sure," said the voice on the other side of the phone. "Hotaru didn't
return last night. We are getting worried."

Setsuna got worried as well. Crystal Tokyo was in the brink of extinction, and
now one of the most powerful Senshi is missing. "Okay," Setsuna said in a calm
voice. "I'll check out my Time Gates... See if I find her." (And also see if I
can find this Ranma...) she thought silently.

=Juuban street=

"I still don't get it," X said to Ranma as they escorted Nodoka and Ukyou back
home. Zero's and X's armor was also modified by Washu, although it wasn't for an
improvement in weaponry. She gave them a disguise module, so X looked like a
young man with short brown hair. He had a white T-shirt with a blue X in the
center, with normal blue jeans, with rubber shoes with a check sign. Ranma never
got the name of the shoes. Zero, a long blonde, on the other hand, looked cool.
He had red shades on, a red shirt with a sharp Z in the left chest area of the
shirt, and had black jeans and had sandals, which showed white socks.

"Why," X continued, "didn't you let Dr. Light make another R-Saber for you?"

Ranma looked at his friend. "Why did I accept an armor which uses one of my
deadliest techniques? You guys know that I didn't use my Lion-Fist techniques
after the fall of Sigma, and now I'm going to use it. It's my own survival now.
I want to be ready for whatever those crazy bit-"

Nodoka cleared her throat.

"Sorry mum," Ranma said, smiling silly. "Anyway, just say that I'm ready for
them." Then he looked at his two friends. "Why are you here? I never asked."

Zero's eyes narrowed. "Well... Dr. Light believes that Sigma is not yet
destroyed."

Ranma looked up in surprise. "Really? But... You were there! You saw when he..."

"Imploded?" asked X. "Yes... we thought he imploded, not exploded because of too
much energy... But when you went back to time with the Time Crystal, you
imploded, and the Dr. Light studied it carefully, putting data in the computers.
It seems that the energy signature you did when you disappeared was the same as
Sigma's..."

"But," Zero added, "Time travel needs large amounts of energy, only given by the
time crystal... So we don't think he survived... But we are here just to make
sure..."

Ranma stiffened. He never mentioned it to his two friends, but he fought
Mavericks, and the news that Sigma might still be alive, also going to the past,
made him feel worse. Sigma, being here, and constructing powerful Mavericks...
But Ranma shook his head. The thought was silly. Zero was right. Even if Sigma
took the energy of the core of the Space station, it was nothing compared
towards the energy produced by the time crystal. Even if he did go to the past,
he would be too weak to even do anything.

"Hey, Ranma," X voice snapped Ranma out of his thoughts. "You okay?"

Ranma looked up to X, Zero, and his two loved ones in the center of them.
"Yeah... I'm okay," he found himself saying. But as he said it, a cold dread
crept up to him. He shook his head. He was DEFINITELY thinking too much.
"Just..." And his eyes widened as an alarm on his head blared and came to life.
"Someone's here!" Ranma said as he turned around.

Zero and X turned to look around, and X saw them. Three figures, all standing in
one street light. "It's them again..."

=About three minutes ago, Michiru and Haruka's apartment=

"You found her?" Haruka asked the Setsuna on the phone, apparently relieved.

"Yes... She's okay, she's with the other Senshis," was the sound of Setsuna's
voice in the other line. "But I also saw our target..."

Haruka's eyes widened. "Yes... We'll be there!" and she hung the phone.

=Present=

"DEAD SCREAM!" shouted Pluto as she pointed her staff at them.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE GONNA HIT MY MOM!" Ranma shouted as he ran towards Ukyou and
Nodoka and dove towards them pushing them out of the way.

Zero and X dropped their disguises, as Zero's red armor and X's Ultimate blue
armor appeared, and jumped towards the three.

Pluto looked at her fellow Senshi. "Take care of them. I'll get the threat."

Ranma meanwhile dragged his mom and sister towards a shop. "Stay inside!"

Nodoka frowned. "No... I'll go and fight..."

Ranma looked at his mother with seriousness she never saw before. "Mom... Not
being rude... but you might be a distraction."

Nodoka opened her mouth to complain, but Ukyou tapped her shoulder. "Auntie...
Ranma almost died because Sasami and I were there..."

Nodoka looked at her, and back to Ranma, and finally nodded. "Be careful..."

"Don't worry," Ranma said, smiling. "I'll even go as far to get their Tiara's
for you..." and he imitated Nodoka's voice... "'Oh, my son is so manly, he took
care of three Sailor Senshi!'" and he ran out of the building, and Pluto landed
neatly in front of him, staff in front of her.

"Hiding won't protect you!" Pluto said. "You have to die, for the future's
sake."

"Future? Hah! You're future will crumble," Ranma said in a low dangerous voice,
and began to glow with a mixture of red and grey as his armor began to appear.
"And if your choices won't make it crumble, time will..." and his armor was
fully formed. "Let's go."

Zero fought with Uranus with and it seems that both were almost equally skilled.
X, on the other hand, was avoiding the face of Neptune's mirror, shooting
charged busters at her.

Ranma started fighting Pluto as well now, eyes narrowed and glinting. His new
Saber, which was the keepsake of the Colonel, was putting more power than his
normal R-Saber. It was reasonable of course, after all, the R and Z-Saber uses
scatter energy to extend, but Colonel's sword didn't. It was concentrated on a
straight point, like Tenchi's sword and a light saber. Pluto was taken back,
because of the armor and sword, and had to dodge Ranma's sword strikes thinking
she can throw Dead Screams far away, but she never expected Ranma to throw
projectiles.

When Pluto backed away far away from Ranma, Ranma's left hand changed, from a
normal hand to what looked like a buster outlet, but he fired medium sized
pointed metals, and fired it at astounding rate. (Damn!) thought Ranma, (this
Rail gun is so fast! And it doesn't destroy building!) as his shots missed and
went towards the walls, but nothing happened on impact.

Pluto, on the other hand, was seething. (I knew he'd get stronger if we failed
to destroy him...) and she countered one of the projectiles with her own Dead
Scream. It failed, and Pluto watched in horror as the projectile being slowed
down, but not that much, and went straight to her.

The pain, the impact was so intense, she thought her insides rearranged herself
as she went down to her knees, clutching her stomach where it hit. Ranma stopped
firing, hand returning to normal, waiting for her to get up.

Uranus disappeared when Zero slashed the place where she was, and she reappeared
on top of Zero, blade down. "DIE!" she said, as she came down fast. Zero was
ready though.

"Rakuhouha!" he exclaimed as he put his fist down, and white energy came from
the ground, and scattered around, hitting Uranus.

Uranus, who got hit with that attack with the second time, but it was clear what
Zero did was stronger than Ranma as she fell down unconscious.

Neptune watched her lover fall, and was distracted for a short time, which was
enough for X to break through her and gave her a charged fire attack he got from
Magma Dragoon, an old friend. "SHORYUKEN!" he shouted, as he jumped up his
buster filled with a big fireball as he hit her, and she went down as well.

Pluto looked around. Uranus and Neptune were down, and the pain in her stomach
wasn't lifted. "It's not going to end this way!!!" she shouted as she charged up
with energy. Ranma's scanners were going crazy. His hand changed back to a Rail
gun outlet, and he charged as well.

Pluto was up, staff in front of her.

"NO!" Ranma screamed. "YOU'RE GOING TO HURT SOMEONE!"

But she didn't listen. "ULTIMATE DEAD SCREAM!" she said, and something massive
came out of her staff. And unlike her normal Dead Scream, this one was very
solid.

Ranma shot at it, attempting to destroy it, with a charged Rail gun shot. Like a
giant silver bullet, the force was strong enough push Ranma back, and Zero and X
watched as the charged shot went against the solid dead scream. In a flash of
light, so blinding that they had to cover their eyes, they connected. When the
light subsided, Ranma watched in horror as his shot didn't stop it. It made it
smaller and slower though. In instinct, he jumped up, letting the solid pass
through him, only to realize what was behind him.

"NO! MOM, GET OUT!" but he didn't finish the sentence when the Ultimate Dead
Scream hit the building. Too late. It exploded dragging Ranma a bit longer in
the air.

Ranma's eyes filled with tears... (Mom... Ucchan...) and he diverted his gaze on
Pluto. "Damn you..." he whispered. "DAMN YOU!"

His armor changed as Ranma unleashed his Lion-System and his hands transformed,
from normal ones, to sprouting with claws with each finger, like a cat, and his
helmet, the spikes went up, and his shoulder and knee blades extended a bit, and
his back formed exhausts which formed like wings in his back. He had his clawed
hands in his side, and dived to Pluto.

Only Pluto's experience helped her dodge Ranma's first claw attack which was
aimed at her side, and hoped that Ranma would pause. But he didn't. He continued
to slash and kick. Pluto tried to hit Ranma with her staff, but Ranma just
ducked and brought his knee up to Pluto's stomach.

The Senshi Fuku protected Pluto from being impaled, but it still didn't stop the
pain as she fell down to one knee. Ranma wouldn't stop though, like before, when
she was down. He grabbed her neck, and dragged her up to stand, and gave her
enough time to cover herself with her staff as he slashed downwards with his
free hand.

The staff broke, and so did part of her clothes as she screamed in pain, and
fell down on the floor. She was still awake, and she could see Ranma's eyes for
the first time; his face, shining with tears, as he brought down his claw
towards her exposed neck. "Die..." he whispered, as he brought his hand up to
finish it.

"STOP!" said a voice behind him. He whirled around, and saw six of the Senshi.
He recognized the five, but his eyes fell on the sixth one who talked. Her hair,
her aura, her face and voice sounded to similar. "Please..." she begged. "Stop
it."

Ranma gazed at her for a long time, and nodded. His hands retracted his claws
and looked normal now. But the sad look in his face never went away, until Zero
spoke.

"You're moms alive! And so is Ukyou!" Zero said as he helped Nodoka out of the
crumbled building. X was helping another old woman. It seems they evacuated the
fallen building while Ranma was fighting.

Ranma smiled, the widest, his face filled with joy the Inners never seen before.
He was going to walk towards Zero when a sudden movement caught his eye. Pluto
was up with one knee, and silently said, "Dark Past Dome, close!"

And before Ranma could react, he was surrounded by dark walls, closing him,
trapping him with Pluto.

"NO!" Moon shouted as he approached the dome. "Pluto! Stop this!"

"She can't hear you..." Hotaru said. "No one can..."

"Why?" asked Mars.

"Dark Past Dome... an attack where the person inside relives their past..."
Hotaru said silently. "Even I can't stop this..."

=Inside the dome=

{You killed me} Ranma covered his ears. {You said you loved me} Ranma closed his
eyes as he saw Iris stand in front of him with her face twisted with rage.

"I did..." Ranma said silently... "I tried..."

{You never did...} Ranma's eyes began to water. {You murderer!} Ranma's eyes
opened forcefully as he was forced to see Iris by unknown forces. {You don't
deserve me! I don't want you! I hate you! I hate everything about you!} And she
had a gold orb in her hand. {Everything we stood for...}

Pluto, meanwhile, was busy, building up power over the locked Time Streams as se
began to build up for a more powerful Chrono Trigger.

"Time of people who's voice was unheard in oppression..." she chanted.

Ranma fought his will as the voice of Iris filled his head. None of them noticed
someone come between them.

=Outside the dome=

"You... you can't stop it?" Venus asked Saturn.

"No..."

Zero and X looked at the dome. "Damn it! All our efforts for nothing! He's gonna
get killed!" Zero shouted.

"LOOK!" X shouted as a beam of purple energy came down and was forced inside the
dome. "What the heck..."

=Inside the dome=

"Time of eternity which seems to flow forever until eternity," Pluto chanted,
her hands now cupped. "I ask you to accept your purpose and help me in the time
I need most! CHRONO CHAOS!"

A flash of light flashed ever so brightly flared up, and Iris disappeared. What
was left, was nothing, as Ranma heard Pluto say: "It's finished..."

(So... this is what it feels like being dead...) Ranma thought. (Very
peculiar... I'm not in pain... and the room is clearing... Wait a minute... I'm
not dead!)

Pluto's eyes widened as she saw Ranma stand up. "How?"

A voice vibrated the walls of the dark dome. "Me... I took your shot. Not him."

Ranma and Pluto whirled around at the source of the voice.

"Nice to see you again... Ranma," said the man in shadow, as he walked towards
them, and his face was illuminated.

Sigma was back...

To Be Continued...

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Sigma is back? But how? And what will happen to the Outers since Moon didn't
banish them, or take their powers away yet?

NEXT: Reign of Chaos; Sigma reappears, but what is his plan?

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