Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma Trigger ❯ Part 1 ( Prologue )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: PerfectCarrot 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.02.2001 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.8K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 11.02.2001 | Pages: 6 | Words: 4.8K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
Ranma Trigger
Part 1
Too late, or too early?
++++++++++++
Ranma Saotome sat on the rooftop of the Tendo Dojo, he had a small frown on his face as he looked out over the small burg's rooftops and saw nothing. The sky was clear, his enemies were elsewhere, and he was alone. Which was precisely the point of his being up where he was.
It was a cool autumn day; the leaves were turning colors and filling the gutters and yards. Everything was quite peaceful and beautiful. Things hadn't changed much over the course of time, well, not the important things anyway.
His parents were still as pushy as ever, Akane still had a bad temper, and people still carried on as before. "Things have changed," he amended to himself. He shook his head and stood up, staring even deeper into the endless sea of homes. "Akane, she's changed. Ryoga isn't trying to kill me as hard as he used too; even Mousse has slacked off. I've got new friends, even new enemies." He smirked as he thought about it, the way it his life had taken a turn over the past two years.
Ranma wasn't what you'd call a smart person, he was a genius in his own way, but he wasn't what you'd call intelligent about most things. Socially, he was completely inept, although that too had changed over time. He'd improved, although not much. However, after a lifetime of training, visiting temples, dojo, and assorted training grounds, he'd finally found a use for his skills.
The truth all told, other than a few out of the ordinary incidents when he was younger, his life before Nerima had been quite boring. Constant drilling, training, meditating in temples with monks twenty to thirty years his senior, and that was just the youngest of them. Only one memorable fried to speak of in his entire life, and he hadn't known her as well as he'd thought.
Now, he lived. Life had a way of making up for missed time, and Ranma Saotome loved it. He chuckled as he stared into the sky again, watching a particularly strong wind blow a few fallen leaves through the sky high above him. "She loves me, I know it now. My feelings are as clear as that too." He smirked to himself as the wind ripped through his silk shirt, the sunlight warming his skin despite the sudden chill of the wind. "It will all be over soon, I wish it could go on forever though." His face became somewhat wistful at that thought.
"Running the dojo, raising a family...it's my life in the future. I know it is, and yet..." He turned his head and closed his eyes. "Maybe it'll be an adventure all it's own?" In his heart he knew it was a different kind of challenge, something new that all the training in the world couldn't prepare him for. Still, the thrill of facing a demigod, fighting toe to toe with a half man half dragon...the memories he treasured, even the painful ones. Would they be enough to keep his sanity over the course of time? He watched a cloud pass over his head, blocking out the sunlight for a moment. In his mind Akane's face on the day he'd met her flashed for the briefest of moments. "I think they will."
+++++++++++
Happosai chuckled to himself as he looked down at the mirror in his hand for a moment. "At last, I've finally fixed it!" He cackled evilly as he brandished the ancient Chinese artifact in the air. It appeared to have been duct-taped back together rather messily.
"Now, where do I want to go this time? Hmmm..." thought the old man with a small chuckle of greed.
He pondered this for a moment and frowned. "Hmmm... I could go back and steal that ungrateful boy from Genma, and make sure he respects me properly. Nah, I don't feel like raising some ill-mannered brat. What else?"
The old man put his hand behind his back with the mirror in his grasp and started walking while he thought. "Hmmm..."
He walked into the hallway and sighed. "Well darn. I can't think of one stupid place I want to go. All that trouble to fix this stupid thing for nothing."
+++++++++++++
Outside, hidden away in the shadows, an unfamiliar figure stared at the scene in front of him. "There it is, that hellish thing." He hissed angrily, and his voice was distorted. He was dressed in black Chinese style clothing, and had a wooden Noh mask covering his face. His black hair was cropped short against the back of his neck and his eyes glared hatefully into the living room of the Tendo dojo. "It's time."
++++++++++++
Happosai frowned as he noticed the figure standing in front of him. He looked to be young, his build was slim and strong, and he had a tight angry sound to his distorted voice.
"Old man, I've come..."
"Who are you?" snapped the troll angrily as he lobbed a round object at the intruder.
The man swats it aside and frowned deeply. "None of your concern! Give me that mirror!"
"What?" snapped Happosai. The object in his hand's value jumped leaps and bounds inside his own mind now that someone else wanted it. His greedy nature took over and he sneered at the figure. "What would you want this thing for I wonder?" He raised it over his head and peered at it.
The figure remained calmly and simply stared at him coldly. "That is my business. You'll regret it if you don't give it to me now."
Happosai chuckled and twirled it on his finger carelessly. "Why on Earth would I do that?"
"Who you talkin to you old freak?" said Ranma as he strolled into the room and froze. "Who the?"
The figure turned to look at him for a moment. "Ranma Saotome."
"Who the heck are you?" snapped the boy angrily.
"Yeah, who the heck are ya?" agreed Happosai as he looked back and fourth between the pair.
"It doesn't matter!" snarled the masked man as he dove at Happosai grabbing for the mirror.
Happosai jumped to avoid the clumsy strike, but found himself knocked out of the air by a kick the maneuver had hidden away from view. He slammed into the wall and rubbed his bald spot as the man rolled across the ground and charged forward again.
"What the heck?" muttered Ranma dumbly as he stared at the scene for a moment.
"You'll pay for that!" snarled Happosai.
"You'll die old man! Give me the mirror!" snarled the man hatefully.
Happosai jumped to avoid another strike, but was caught by surprise again, this time a feinted punch that slammed into his gut. Happosai squeaked in surprise and pain as he found himself sprawled out across the ground again, but he had managed to hang on to the mirror.
"Damn you old man! Give me that mirror!" snarled the man.
Ranma jumped into action, Happosai was down, and this mystery man wasn't playing around. "Hey! What's this about?"
"Stay back! You don't know what you're doing!" cried the man angrily as he lashed out with a kick that the boy had to bend over backwards to dodge.
"Whoa!" cried Ranma in shock at the sheer speed displayed. "No! No way!"
"You're outclassed boy! Stay out of the way! I only want the old man!" snarled the angry man as he glared at Happosai.
"What the heck have you done now old freak?!" snapped Ranma angrily as he turned to look at Happosai.
"An opening!" cried the man as he dashed forward as Happosai turned to reply.
The old man's eyes went wide and he slowly looked down at his chest. A small knife was stuck into his heart up to the hilt. The masked figure lifted him up off the ground and shoved him against the wall, taking the mirror into his grasp.
"Ha! I've done it! It's mine!" snarled the masked figure as he gripped the artifact in his hand.
"That mirror!" gasped Ranma as he recognized it, suddenly what had just happened hit him like a brick wall. "NOO! OLD MAN!"
"Eh?" said the figure in confusion as he turned to look at the angry boy. Tears fell from his eyes as he charged, the angry snarl on his face gave away his complete rage and fear.
The masked figure was completely shocked by the reaction and managed to dodge a punch that leveled the wall. "What? He's angry?"
"You killed him!" cried Ranma.
The figure was backing away slowly, the mirror held firmly in his grip. "So I have, what does it matter? He was evil, you hated him. You should be happy about this."
"Bastard!" cried Ranma as he bounced off the wall and shot forward like a bullet.
"Fool! You're no match for me!" cried the masked man angrily.
"Oh my!" gasped a familiar voice. Kasumi stepped out of the back yard and stared at the scene in shock.
The masked man turned to look at her for a moment, surprise evident in his eyes. "Kasumi?" he muttered to himself as the boy slammed into him. "No! My guard!" he muttered as pain exploded across his chest.
He staggered back under the force of Ranma's Amaguriken honed speed. His eyes becoming a flood of rage. "No!"
The mirror landed on the ground between them and fell at Happosai's feet. The old man was slowly dying, despite the wound to his heart. He gasped as he reached out for the artifact and touched it gently with his fingers. "I want...I want to go..."
"Ranma! Look out!" cried Akane. She had just walked into the house from the dojo, attracted by the noise.
Both of the men turned to look at her in confusion. "Look out? But I'm not..." muttered the mask man as he tried to comprehend.
"Take me back, to better times," laughed Happosai deliriously as he gripped the mirror. A single drop of blood fell from his lips as he stared into the surface.
"NO!" cried the masked man in shock as he found himself staring at a flash of light. He raised his arms in defense and gasped in horror. "I didn't...I wasn't..."
"Who are you? What just happened?" screamed Akane angrily. "What have you done with Ranma."
"Heh." said the man as he stared at the girl for a moment. "I haven't done anything to him. He's been pulled back in time, and I'm going to follow him. My job is harder now Akane, but still far from impossible."
"What?" said the girl in confusion.
"Do you ever wonder, just how far Ranma Saotome will go for you Akane?" asked the man with a snort.
"What?" asked the girl.
"Time will tell," said the man as he chuckled again. "Goodbye..."
Akane blinked in confusion, the man faded away right in front of her. He had said something else as he vanished, but she couldn't make out what it was.
"Maybe forever?" she muttered as the movements of his lips filtered into her mind. "What does that mean?"
++++++++++++++++
"What the? Where am I?" muttered Ranma as he stood up and shook his head. He was lying in a soft patch of moss, the dead body of Happosai lying next to him in the dirt. He gasped and grabbed the little old man by his shoulders and shook him. "Hey! Wake up! Where are we? Come on old man! Don't..."
"He's dead."
Ranma froze, he slowly turned around and gasped. "You! Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," said the figure calmly. "I was set on finding you, not really paying much attention to where we went."
Ranma growled and stepped back into a defensive stance. "Stay back you murderer!"
The man chuckled and stared at him for a moment, seeming to contemplate his problem. "We don't have to fight now you know. I've got what I want. Just go back, take the mirror and send us back. Then I'll leave, and take it with me. It won't ever trouble you again."
"What?" said the boy in confusion. "The hell!" He grabbed the mirror and stuffed it into his shirt. "Ain't no way I'm gonna let you get your hands on this thing!"
"Oh really?" said the man as he pulled a familiar object from his shirt. "Even if I've already killed you and taken it from you before?"
Ranma froze, his jaw hanging down as he stared at the object in the stranger's hand. "What? No way! It ain't true!"
"You caused me all sorts of trouble before, now I'm offering you the chance to just walk away from your own death. How does that sound boy?"
"It ain't true!" snarled Ranma angrily as he rocked back onto his heels and put his fists up.
"Isn't it?" said the man coldly. "You have no idea what you're getting into boy. If you do, you'll fail. The proof of this is in the palm of my hand."
Ranma snarled defiantly. "I don't lose to nobody!"
"Who ever said anything about you losing? Still, is the victory worth your own life? Even though you don't even know what it is you're fighting for?"
Ranma opened his mouth to speak and stopped. "You killed the freak. I can't let you get away with that!"
"I had my reasons," replied the man with a hint of anger in his voice.
"You bastard!" snarled Ranma as he stepped back warily. He had almost charged forward, but noticed the slight motion of the man's body to defend, to defend against the very attack he was about to use.
"Surprised? I've done this before, have you?" asked the man coldly.
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock. "Who the hell are you?"
"I am Chronos, all time is at my whim, but the one moment I truly desire has eluded me for twenty years. All that stands between me and that moment now, is you boy."
Ranma growled and glanced around into the woods.
"Thinking of running? It won't work," said the man coldly.
Ranma snorted and jumped straight up into the branches of a nearby tree. With that done, he vanished.
"No!" Chronos gasped in shock. The boy had never fled from him before. "It's...Noooo!" He clutched at his head and growled in frustration as he searched around desperately. Ranma Saotome was gone, and the mirror was with him.
The man turned with an aura of power flowing across his body as he glared down at the dead body that was now cooling on the ground at his feet. "Damn you old man. Do you have any idea what you've just done?"
Happosai had no answer, the blood mostly drained from his body now.
"Now, I must kill. If only you'd listened before. I'm tired of going back and trying to end this early. Nothing I've tried has worked yet, now...I'll just have to make sure he fails."
++++++++++++
Ranma dashed through the tree tops, the cloak of the Umisenken keeping him hidden from view. He knew he could have attacked the man using the techniques, but first he had to clear his head.
He paused to rest against a tree, breathing heavily as he caught his breath and waited in silence. It was a hot day, the sun was bright in the sky, but hidden away by the thick branches of the forest that surrounded him. He sighed and looked down at the path that was just below him, it appeared to be a road of some kind, he could see the tracks of oxen, horses and wagons in the dirt below. It also appeared to be well traveled.
"Where the heck am I anyway?" he muttered to himself dumbly. He went silent suddenly as the sound of travelers came from a short distance ahead. "Wha?"
"Noo!" cried a young voice. A girl rushed by below on horseback, she appeared to be about sixteen years old, and was dressed in old style clothing.
"Bitch! After her!" cried several male voices behind her. The thunder of their horses' hooves rumbled the ground below and he narrowed his eyes at the scene. "What the heck?"
"No! Help!" cried the girl's voice as it faded away.
Ranma turned and tensed his legs, he faced the direction they had gone too and jumped after them in the treetops.
++++++++++++++
Miyaka was frightened, desperate, and trapped. "No! It can't be!" She had run the way she had come for a reason, hoping to escape her captors across the bridge that once crossed the gorge that spread out before her; The bridge that was no longer there. "No! It can't be!"
She started to turn around, looking for any escape, but instead found her pursuers surrounding her. "No! I...oh god no!"
The men all leered at her, disgusting and unhealthy looking men. One of them had a red mark on his face. He glared at her angrily and smirked. "Ya shouldn't have run, ya shouldn't have hit me, and ya certainly shouldn't have turned me down bitch. Now you'll pay, and then I'll drag you off and sell yer worthless hide for the use of other men."
The girl shuddered in horror, her horse jerking back and fourth violently from side to side.
The man approached and the horse reared back sending her tumbling off his back and onto the dirt. It nervously trotted aside and continued to pace around, trapped by the circle of men.
"Kill that damn beast and be done with it!" snapped the man angrily as he turned his head back and snapped at his men. An arrow was drawn from one of the men's back and notched into a bow.
"Got it boss!" said the man cheerfully.
"No!" screamed the girl with tears flowing down her face.
The ugly man's smirk widened enormously. "Do it slowly. Shoot it's legs out first, and then make it bleed to death."
"Right," snorted the man in reply as he aimed his bow.
"I wouldn't recommend that," said a cold voice.
The man gasped in shock, staring at the empty bow in his hands stupidly. "What the?"
Ranma Saotome jumped into the center of the crowd of men and landed lightly, his eyes cold and hard as he glared at all of them. "You're going to leave her alone."
"Oni!" gasped some of the man in shock as they stared at the boy. He had appeared out of nothing in front of them. "He's come to swallow our souls and gorge himself on our bellies!"
"Eh?" muttered the lead man as he simply looked at his companions in confusion. He had missed the boy's entrance, and only saw a boy standing in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Ranma Saotome," replied the boy coldly.
"Never heard of you," snorted the man.
"Too bad," replied the boy with a shrug as his foot lashed out and slammed into the man's face. He was sent flying into the woods and vanished into the darkness of the woods. Thick branches and bushes were torn away in his passing, and Ranma simply stood calmly watching him fly away.
The boy turned to look at the rest of the men, and the clearing was filled with the sound of half-drawn weapons and gasps of terror as he leveled his eyes on them.
"Why are you still here?"
The men took the hint and rushed off, many of them screaming in terror.
Ranma sighed and shook his head. "Losers." He turned his attention to the girl and smiled. "Hey. Are you all right I..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Please don't eat me Oni-sama!"
"Huh?" said Ranma as he simply stood there and stared at her for a moment.
"I just wanna go home! Please don't hurt me! I'm just a young girl...I'm not even a virgin!"
"You're not?" said the boy. Mostly because he didn't have a clue about what was going on right now.
"Oh, all right. I am, but I promise I won't taste very good! I mean, virgins don't really taste better do they? I'm covered in fat too! I mean look at me! I'm flabby! Unless...you're one of those types who likes to eat the fat. Then I'm scrawny and all bones and no meat!"
Ranma hadn't moved yet and simply stared at the girl, unable to speak or move.
"I knew I'd find you here," said a cold voice from the shadows that snapped Ranma out of his stupor. "What the?"
Chronos stepped out of the woods, his mask still hiding his features as he glared down at the pair. "It's too late, you can't escape. I'll just destroy you both now!"
Ranma cursed and moved into a combat stance. "Shit!"
"Are you ready to fail Ranma Saotome?" said the man with a small chuckle as he stepped back into a defensive stance.
Ranma growled. "You won't beat me!" He shifted his stance again for the third time, each time Chronos followed with a stance to counter the new one. "You're pathetic."
"Bastard!" snarled Ranma.
"What? You're not going to run again?" said Chronos with a small chuckle. "It's your only option. This is the battle where I acquired my mirror after all. You can't possibly win."
"You said I didn't lose either," countered Ranma with a smirk of his own.
"Ask yourself again, if it's really worth your life," snarled the man hatefully.
Ranma moved in front of the girl as she sat there sobbing on the ground. She was staring at the pair in horror.
"No! Now I've got two Oni fighting over who's gonna eat me!" she squealed in horror. "I'm so unlucky!"
"Don't bother trying to protect her boy, I'm only interested in you," said the man calmly as he glared at his opponent.
Ranma snorted and shifted his stance again. "Right."
Chronos chuckled and dashed forward, his arm extended in a strike.
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock.
The man was trying to attack the girl, when he dropped his guard on her Chronos went straight for her. "I have you bitch!"
"No!" screamed Ranma as he dove down at the girl.
"Fool! The cliff!" cried the masked man as he stopped his momentum suddenly and jumped upright. He paused and simply watched for a moment before turning away in disgust. "This is getting out of hand all over again!"
+++++++++++
The next sensation Ranma Saotome had was falling through the air. The girl in his arms was screaming, tears flowing down her face as she clutched him for her life. "There's nothing to land on!" he though in desperation as he looked down at the drop. Not even he could survive a fall from this height.
"Damn it! I gotta do something!" his mind screamed as the ground neared.
He gasped and fumbled in his shirt. "The mirror!" he cried as he jerked it out violently, ripping his collar in the process. With a quick motion, he held the mirror just above the crying girl's head.
There was a flash of light, and then...they were gone.
++++++++++++++
Miyaka was simply staring at the boy as he lay on the pavement. It was cracked underneath his back from the impact and his eyes were tightly closed. The landing had hurt, but now they both appeared to be all right, or at least, she was. "Are you hurt?"
"Ouch," muttered the pigtailed boy as he sat up and rubbed at the back of his head. "What hit me?"
"The ground did," replied the girl with a small shrug. She paused and glanced around for a moment, her jaw hanging down in shock. "No! We're dead! I'm too young to die!"
"Huh? We ain't dead," said Ranma dumbly.
"We...we're not?" muttered the girl as she looked at him.
"Heck no. This is Nerima," said the boy as he glanced around. "Hey. I'm home!"
"That's nice, but..." said the girl as she glanced around. "Oh! Oh no! You've taken me to the underworld haven't you! You're going to force me to be your new concubine! Is that it? WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Ranma simply stared at her for a moment and frowned. "What the heck is wrong with this chick?"
"Please be gentle with me! I'm only human, and I'm delicate!"
"What the heck are you talkin about! I ain't no stupid Oni! They got horns and stuff, and they wear those stupid tiger pants, and..."
The girl blinked at this. "You're not an Oni?"
"Heck no!"
"What about a Tengu?"
"No!"
"Ummm...Lesser god?"
"No."
"Shrine spirit?"
"No!"
"I know! A river spirit!"
"Stop that!"
"What are you then?"
Ranma sighed and hung his head. "I'm just a guy."
"Oh," said the girl in confusion. "Where are we again?"
"Nerima, I live here," said the boy flatly.
"What's Nerima?"
"This is Nerima."
"I'm confused."
"You're tellin me?" Ranma finally threw his hands into the air and sighed. "Okay, look. I got this magic mirror from an old guy. It takes people through time and stuff. So, since the old man took us somewhere, you're probably from the past."
"What?" said the girl dumbly.
"This is the present. I mean, um...it's the future and stuff. No big deal."
"Oh, so in the future, men have to go back in time to steal wives?"
"ARRRGGGHHH! I didn't, you're not my wife! Damn it! I've got enough problems with stuff like that as it is!"
"Then why am I here?" said the girl as she hung her head and blushed.
"Because I couldn't think of another way to save us from that fall. Look, I'll just get the mirror, and we'll go back."
"Oh, you don't mean this mirror do you?" said the girl as she pointed at the ground.
The mirror was sitting on the ground in five large pieces.
Ranma simply stared at it with a tear forming in his eyes. "Why me?"
"I wanna go home," said the girl as she started getting teary eyed again.
"Look. I promise I'll get ya home, we just gotta find a way to fix this stupid thing."
The girl blinked at this and stared at him. "Um, okay."
"Jeez, what is she? Some kinda water faucet? Even Old man Tendo ain't this bad!" thought Ranma in irritation.
"Anyway, where the heck are we?" he muttered to himself as he glanced around.
"I thought you said you knew?!" cried the girl in horror.
"No, I know where we are!" he cried in an effort to pacify her.
"But you just said..."
"I meant I need to know which way to go from here!" he said desperately.
"Oh," said the girl with a small shrug. "Okay."
Ranma looked around and blinked. "Hey. We're there already."
He knew the place well enough, it was the street, he was positive of it. He turned around to face the gates of the Tendo Dojo and froze.
In front of him, was a small apartment complex.
"What the? I'm sure it's here," he muttered as he scratched his head in confusion. He looked around again, thinking he must have made a mistake. Sure enough, everything was exactly where it was when he had left. Even the neighbor's garbage was still knocked over. It had the same dent in the side. He looked up at the building in front of him and frowned. "What the heck is going on here? Where? Oh man! Now what?"
"Are you sure you're not lost?" asked the girl as she realized he was becoming frustrated.
"Yes!"
"Okay, but are you sure you're not an Oni?"
Ranma hung his head in defeat. "Why me?"
+++++++++++
TBC...
DAMN IT! I should have known better. Playing video games is bad for my muse. Damn hyperactive bastard.
Basically, I took some of the ideas from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross and came up with an idea for a Ranma story. I wouldn't call it a Crossover, this is a fusion. No characters will be appearing in this fic that were in the games. I'm not even sure if I'd call this a fusion either, but I digress.
Ain't time travel a bitch?
This'll get more confusing, but then it'll get better at the end as everything makes sense. Ranma's got a new enemy, plus that's not the only problem he's gonna have to deal with. To say nothing of figuring out what the hell happened to the Tendo Dojo, and how everyone else in his life relates to him now.
But wait! There's more!
What the hell is he gonna do about this new chick? Where is he gonna stay now? What the hell about fixing that mirror?
Part 1
Too late, or too early?
++++++++++++
Ranma Saotome sat on the rooftop of the Tendo Dojo, he had a small frown on his face as he looked out over the small burg's rooftops and saw nothing. The sky was clear, his enemies were elsewhere, and he was alone. Which was precisely the point of his being up where he was.
It was a cool autumn day; the leaves were turning colors and filling the gutters and yards. Everything was quite peaceful and beautiful. Things hadn't changed much over the course of time, well, not the important things anyway.
His parents were still as pushy as ever, Akane still had a bad temper, and people still carried on as before. "Things have changed," he amended to himself. He shook his head and stood up, staring even deeper into the endless sea of homes. "Akane, she's changed. Ryoga isn't trying to kill me as hard as he used too; even Mousse has slacked off. I've got new friends, even new enemies." He smirked as he thought about it, the way it his life had taken a turn over the past two years.
Ranma wasn't what you'd call a smart person, he was a genius in his own way, but he wasn't what you'd call intelligent about most things. Socially, he was completely inept, although that too had changed over time. He'd improved, although not much. However, after a lifetime of training, visiting temples, dojo, and assorted training grounds, he'd finally found a use for his skills.
The truth all told, other than a few out of the ordinary incidents when he was younger, his life before Nerima had been quite boring. Constant drilling, training, meditating in temples with monks twenty to thirty years his senior, and that was just the youngest of them. Only one memorable fried to speak of in his entire life, and he hadn't known her as well as he'd thought.
Now, he lived. Life had a way of making up for missed time, and Ranma Saotome loved it. He chuckled as he stared into the sky again, watching a particularly strong wind blow a few fallen leaves through the sky high above him. "She loves me, I know it now. My feelings are as clear as that too." He smirked to himself as the wind ripped through his silk shirt, the sunlight warming his skin despite the sudden chill of the wind. "It will all be over soon, I wish it could go on forever though." His face became somewhat wistful at that thought.
"Running the dojo, raising a family...it's my life in the future. I know it is, and yet..." He turned his head and closed his eyes. "Maybe it'll be an adventure all it's own?" In his heart he knew it was a different kind of challenge, something new that all the training in the world couldn't prepare him for. Still, the thrill of facing a demigod, fighting toe to toe with a half man half dragon...the memories he treasured, even the painful ones. Would they be enough to keep his sanity over the course of time? He watched a cloud pass over his head, blocking out the sunlight for a moment. In his mind Akane's face on the day he'd met her flashed for the briefest of moments. "I think they will."
+++++++++++
Happosai chuckled to himself as he looked down at the mirror in his hand for a moment. "At last, I've finally fixed it!" He cackled evilly as he brandished the ancient Chinese artifact in the air. It appeared to have been duct-taped back together rather messily.
"Now, where do I want to go this time? Hmmm..." thought the old man with a small chuckle of greed.
He pondered this for a moment and frowned. "Hmmm... I could go back and steal that ungrateful boy from Genma, and make sure he respects me properly. Nah, I don't feel like raising some ill-mannered brat. What else?"
The old man put his hand behind his back with the mirror in his grasp and started walking while he thought. "Hmmm..."
He walked into the hallway and sighed. "Well darn. I can't think of one stupid place I want to go. All that trouble to fix this stupid thing for nothing."
+++++++++++++
Outside, hidden away in the shadows, an unfamiliar figure stared at the scene in front of him. "There it is, that hellish thing." He hissed angrily, and his voice was distorted. He was dressed in black Chinese style clothing, and had a wooden Noh mask covering his face. His black hair was cropped short against the back of his neck and his eyes glared hatefully into the living room of the Tendo dojo. "It's time."
++++++++++++
Happosai frowned as he noticed the figure standing in front of him. He looked to be young, his build was slim and strong, and he had a tight angry sound to his distorted voice.
"Old man, I've come..."
"Who are you?" snapped the troll angrily as he lobbed a round object at the intruder.
The man swats it aside and frowned deeply. "None of your concern! Give me that mirror!"
"What?" snapped Happosai. The object in his hand's value jumped leaps and bounds inside his own mind now that someone else wanted it. His greedy nature took over and he sneered at the figure. "What would you want this thing for I wonder?" He raised it over his head and peered at it.
The figure remained calmly and simply stared at him coldly. "That is my business. You'll regret it if you don't give it to me now."
Happosai chuckled and twirled it on his finger carelessly. "Why on Earth would I do that?"
"Who you talkin to you old freak?" said Ranma as he strolled into the room and froze. "Who the?"
The figure turned to look at him for a moment. "Ranma Saotome."
"Who the heck are you?" snapped the boy angrily.
"Yeah, who the heck are ya?" agreed Happosai as he looked back and fourth between the pair.
"It doesn't matter!" snarled the masked man as he dove at Happosai grabbing for the mirror.
Happosai jumped to avoid the clumsy strike, but found himself knocked out of the air by a kick the maneuver had hidden away from view. He slammed into the wall and rubbed his bald spot as the man rolled across the ground and charged forward again.
"What the heck?" muttered Ranma dumbly as he stared at the scene for a moment.
"You'll pay for that!" snarled Happosai.
"You'll die old man! Give me the mirror!" snarled the man hatefully.
Happosai jumped to avoid another strike, but was caught by surprise again, this time a feinted punch that slammed into his gut. Happosai squeaked in surprise and pain as he found himself sprawled out across the ground again, but he had managed to hang on to the mirror.
"Damn you old man! Give me that mirror!" snarled the man.
Ranma jumped into action, Happosai was down, and this mystery man wasn't playing around. "Hey! What's this about?"
"Stay back! You don't know what you're doing!" cried the man angrily as he lashed out with a kick that the boy had to bend over backwards to dodge.
"Whoa!" cried Ranma in shock at the sheer speed displayed. "No! No way!"
"You're outclassed boy! Stay out of the way! I only want the old man!" snarled the angry man as he glared at Happosai.
"What the heck have you done now old freak?!" snapped Ranma angrily as he turned to look at Happosai.
"An opening!" cried the man as he dashed forward as Happosai turned to reply.
The old man's eyes went wide and he slowly looked down at his chest. A small knife was stuck into his heart up to the hilt. The masked figure lifted him up off the ground and shoved him against the wall, taking the mirror into his grasp.
"Ha! I've done it! It's mine!" snarled the masked figure as he gripped the artifact in his hand.
"That mirror!" gasped Ranma as he recognized it, suddenly what had just happened hit him like a brick wall. "NOO! OLD MAN!"
"Eh?" said the figure in confusion as he turned to look at the angry boy. Tears fell from his eyes as he charged, the angry snarl on his face gave away his complete rage and fear.
The masked figure was completely shocked by the reaction and managed to dodge a punch that leveled the wall. "What? He's angry?"
"You killed him!" cried Ranma.
The figure was backing away slowly, the mirror held firmly in his grip. "So I have, what does it matter? He was evil, you hated him. You should be happy about this."
"Bastard!" cried Ranma as he bounced off the wall and shot forward like a bullet.
"Fool! You're no match for me!" cried the masked man angrily.
"Oh my!" gasped a familiar voice. Kasumi stepped out of the back yard and stared at the scene in shock.
The masked man turned to look at her for a moment, surprise evident in his eyes. "Kasumi?" he muttered to himself as the boy slammed into him. "No! My guard!" he muttered as pain exploded across his chest.
He staggered back under the force of Ranma's Amaguriken honed speed. His eyes becoming a flood of rage. "No!"
The mirror landed on the ground between them and fell at Happosai's feet. The old man was slowly dying, despite the wound to his heart. He gasped as he reached out for the artifact and touched it gently with his fingers. "I want...I want to go..."
"Ranma! Look out!" cried Akane. She had just walked into the house from the dojo, attracted by the noise.
Both of the men turned to look at her in confusion. "Look out? But I'm not..." muttered the mask man as he tried to comprehend.
"Take me back, to better times," laughed Happosai deliriously as he gripped the mirror. A single drop of blood fell from his lips as he stared into the surface.
"NO!" cried the masked man in shock as he found himself staring at a flash of light. He raised his arms in defense and gasped in horror. "I didn't...I wasn't..."
"Who are you? What just happened?" screamed Akane angrily. "What have you done with Ranma."
"Heh." said the man as he stared at the girl for a moment. "I haven't done anything to him. He's been pulled back in time, and I'm going to follow him. My job is harder now Akane, but still far from impossible."
"What?" said the girl in confusion.
"Do you ever wonder, just how far Ranma Saotome will go for you Akane?" asked the man with a snort.
"What?" asked the girl.
"Time will tell," said the man as he chuckled again. "Goodbye..."
Akane blinked in confusion, the man faded away right in front of her. He had said something else as he vanished, but she couldn't make out what it was.
"Maybe forever?" she muttered as the movements of his lips filtered into her mind. "What does that mean?"
++++++++++++++++
"What the? Where am I?" muttered Ranma as he stood up and shook his head. He was lying in a soft patch of moss, the dead body of Happosai lying next to him in the dirt. He gasped and grabbed the little old man by his shoulders and shook him. "Hey! Wake up! Where are we? Come on old man! Don't..."
"He's dead."
Ranma froze, he slowly turned around and gasped. "You! Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," said the figure calmly. "I was set on finding you, not really paying much attention to where we went."
Ranma growled and stepped back into a defensive stance. "Stay back you murderer!"
The man chuckled and stared at him for a moment, seeming to contemplate his problem. "We don't have to fight now you know. I've got what I want. Just go back, take the mirror and send us back. Then I'll leave, and take it with me. It won't ever trouble you again."
"What?" said the boy in confusion. "The hell!" He grabbed the mirror and stuffed it into his shirt. "Ain't no way I'm gonna let you get your hands on this thing!"
"Oh really?" said the man as he pulled a familiar object from his shirt. "Even if I've already killed you and taken it from you before?"
Ranma froze, his jaw hanging down as he stared at the object in the stranger's hand. "What? No way! It ain't true!"
"You caused me all sorts of trouble before, now I'm offering you the chance to just walk away from your own death. How does that sound boy?"
"It ain't true!" snarled Ranma angrily as he rocked back onto his heels and put his fists up.
"Isn't it?" said the man coldly. "You have no idea what you're getting into boy. If you do, you'll fail. The proof of this is in the palm of my hand."
Ranma snarled defiantly. "I don't lose to nobody!"
"Who ever said anything about you losing? Still, is the victory worth your own life? Even though you don't even know what it is you're fighting for?"
Ranma opened his mouth to speak and stopped. "You killed the freak. I can't let you get away with that!"
"I had my reasons," replied the man with a hint of anger in his voice.
"You bastard!" snarled Ranma as he stepped back warily. He had almost charged forward, but noticed the slight motion of the man's body to defend, to defend against the very attack he was about to use.
"Surprised? I've done this before, have you?" asked the man coldly.
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock. "Who the hell are you?"
"I am Chronos, all time is at my whim, but the one moment I truly desire has eluded me for twenty years. All that stands between me and that moment now, is you boy."
Ranma growled and glanced around into the woods.
"Thinking of running? It won't work," said the man coldly.
Ranma snorted and jumped straight up into the branches of a nearby tree. With that done, he vanished.
"No!" Chronos gasped in shock. The boy had never fled from him before. "It's...Noooo!" He clutched at his head and growled in frustration as he searched around desperately. Ranma Saotome was gone, and the mirror was with him.
The man turned with an aura of power flowing across his body as he glared down at the dead body that was now cooling on the ground at his feet. "Damn you old man. Do you have any idea what you've just done?"
Happosai had no answer, the blood mostly drained from his body now.
"Now, I must kill. If only you'd listened before. I'm tired of going back and trying to end this early. Nothing I've tried has worked yet, now...I'll just have to make sure he fails."
++++++++++++
Ranma dashed through the tree tops, the cloak of the Umisenken keeping him hidden from view. He knew he could have attacked the man using the techniques, but first he had to clear his head.
He paused to rest against a tree, breathing heavily as he caught his breath and waited in silence. It was a hot day, the sun was bright in the sky, but hidden away by the thick branches of the forest that surrounded him. He sighed and looked down at the path that was just below him, it appeared to be a road of some kind, he could see the tracks of oxen, horses and wagons in the dirt below. It also appeared to be well traveled.
"Where the heck am I anyway?" he muttered to himself dumbly. He went silent suddenly as the sound of travelers came from a short distance ahead. "Wha?"
"Noo!" cried a young voice. A girl rushed by below on horseback, she appeared to be about sixteen years old, and was dressed in old style clothing.
"Bitch! After her!" cried several male voices behind her. The thunder of their horses' hooves rumbled the ground below and he narrowed his eyes at the scene. "What the heck?"
"No! Help!" cried the girl's voice as it faded away.
Ranma turned and tensed his legs, he faced the direction they had gone too and jumped after them in the treetops.
++++++++++++++
Miyaka was frightened, desperate, and trapped. "No! It can't be!" She had run the way she had come for a reason, hoping to escape her captors across the bridge that once crossed the gorge that spread out before her; The bridge that was no longer there. "No! It can't be!"
She started to turn around, looking for any escape, but instead found her pursuers surrounding her. "No! I...oh god no!"
The men all leered at her, disgusting and unhealthy looking men. One of them had a red mark on his face. He glared at her angrily and smirked. "Ya shouldn't have run, ya shouldn't have hit me, and ya certainly shouldn't have turned me down bitch. Now you'll pay, and then I'll drag you off and sell yer worthless hide for the use of other men."
The girl shuddered in horror, her horse jerking back and fourth violently from side to side.
The man approached and the horse reared back sending her tumbling off his back and onto the dirt. It nervously trotted aside and continued to pace around, trapped by the circle of men.
"Kill that damn beast and be done with it!" snapped the man angrily as he turned his head back and snapped at his men. An arrow was drawn from one of the men's back and notched into a bow.
"Got it boss!" said the man cheerfully.
"No!" screamed the girl with tears flowing down her face.
The ugly man's smirk widened enormously. "Do it slowly. Shoot it's legs out first, and then make it bleed to death."
"Right," snorted the man in reply as he aimed his bow.
"I wouldn't recommend that," said a cold voice.
The man gasped in shock, staring at the empty bow in his hands stupidly. "What the?"
Ranma Saotome jumped into the center of the crowd of men and landed lightly, his eyes cold and hard as he glared at all of them. "You're going to leave her alone."
"Oni!" gasped some of the man in shock as they stared at the boy. He had appeared out of nothing in front of them. "He's come to swallow our souls and gorge himself on our bellies!"
"Eh?" muttered the lead man as he simply looked at his companions in confusion. He had missed the boy's entrance, and only saw a boy standing in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Ranma Saotome," replied the boy coldly.
"Never heard of you," snorted the man.
"Too bad," replied the boy with a shrug as his foot lashed out and slammed into the man's face. He was sent flying into the woods and vanished into the darkness of the woods. Thick branches and bushes were torn away in his passing, and Ranma simply stood calmly watching him fly away.
The boy turned to look at the rest of the men, and the clearing was filled with the sound of half-drawn weapons and gasps of terror as he leveled his eyes on them.
"Why are you still here?"
The men took the hint and rushed off, many of them screaming in terror.
Ranma sighed and shook his head. "Losers." He turned his attention to the girl and smiled. "Hey. Are you all right I..."
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Please don't eat me Oni-sama!"
"Huh?" said Ranma as he simply stood there and stared at her for a moment.
"I just wanna go home! Please don't hurt me! I'm just a young girl...I'm not even a virgin!"
"You're not?" said the boy. Mostly because he didn't have a clue about what was going on right now.
"Oh, all right. I am, but I promise I won't taste very good! I mean, virgins don't really taste better do they? I'm covered in fat too! I mean look at me! I'm flabby! Unless...you're one of those types who likes to eat the fat. Then I'm scrawny and all bones and no meat!"
Ranma hadn't moved yet and simply stared at the girl, unable to speak or move.
"I knew I'd find you here," said a cold voice from the shadows that snapped Ranma out of his stupor. "What the?"
Chronos stepped out of the woods, his mask still hiding his features as he glared down at the pair. "It's too late, you can't escape. I'll just destroy you both now!"
Ranma cursed and moved into a combat stance. "Shit!"
"Are you ready to fail Ranma Saotome?" said the man with a small chuckle as he stepped back into a defensive stance.
Ranma growled. "You won't beat me!" He shifted his stance again for the third time, each time Chronos followed with a stance to counter the new one. "You're pathetic."
"Bastard!" snarled Ranma.
"What? You're not going to run again?" said Chronos with a small chuckle. "It's your only option. This is the battle where I acquired my mirror after all. You can't possibly win."
"You said I didn't lose either," countered Ranma with a smirk of his own.
"Ask yourself again, if it's really worth your life," snarled the man hatefully.
Ranma moved in front of the girl as she sat there sobbing on the ground. She was staring at the pair in horror.
"No! Now I've got two Oni fighting over who's gonna eat me!" she squealed in horror. "I'm so unlucky!"
"Don't bother trying to protect her boy, I'm only interested in you," said the man calmly as he glared at his opponent.
Ranma snorted and shifted his stance again. "Right."
Chronos chuckled and dashed forward, his arm extended in a strike.
"What?" gasped Ranma in shock.
The man was trying to attack the girl, when he dropped his guard on her Chronos went straight for her. "I have you bitch!"
"No!" screamed Ranma as he dove down at the girl.
"Fool! The cliff!" cried the masked man as he stopped his momentum suddenly and jumped upright. He paused and simply watched for a moment before turning away in disgust. "This is getting out of hand all over again!"
+++++++++++
The next sensation Ranma Saotome had was falling through the air. The girl in his arms was screaming, tears flowing down her face as she clutched him for her life. "There's nothing to land on!" he though in desperation as he looked down at the drop. Not even he could survive a fall from this height.
"Damn it! I gotta do something!" his mind screamed as the ground neared.
He gasped and fumbled in his shirt. "The mirror!" he cried as he jerked it out violently, ripping his collar in the process. With a quick motion, he held the mirror just above the crying girl's head.
There was a flash of light, and then...they were gone.
++++++++++++++
Miyaka was simply staring at the boy as he lay on the pavement. It was cracked underneath his back from the impact and his eyes were tightly closed. The landing had hurt, but now they both appeared to be all right, or at least, she was. "Are you hurt?"
"Ouch," muttered the pigtailed boy as he sat up and rubbed at the back of his head. "What hit me?"
"The ground did," replied the girl with a small shrug. She paused and glanced around for a moment, her jaw hanging down in shock. "No! We're dead! I'm too young to die!"
"Huh? We ain't dead," said Ranma dumbly.
"We...we're not?" muttered the girl as she looked at him.
"Heck no. This is Nerima," said the boy as he glanced around. "Hey. I'm home!"
"That's nice, but..." said the girl as she glanced around. "Oh! Oh no! You've taken me to the underworld haven't you! You're going to force me to be your new concubine! Is that it? WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Ranma simply stared at her for a moment and frowned. "What the heck is wrong with this chick?"
"Please be gentle with me! I'm only human, and I'm delicate!"
"What the heck are you talkin about! I ain't no stupid Oni! They got horns and stuff, and they wear those stupid tiger pants, and..."
The girl blinked at this. "You're not an Oni?"
"Heck no!"
"What about a Tengu?"
"No!"
"Ummm...Lesser god?"
"No."
"Shrine spirit?"
"No!"
"I know! A river spirit!"
"Stop that!"
"What are you then?"
Ranma sighed and hung his head. "I'm just a guy."
"Oh," said the girl in confusion. "Where are we again?"
"Nerima, I live here," said the boy flatly.
"What's Nerima?"
"This is Nerima."
"I'm confused."
"You're tellin me?" Ranma finally threw his hands into the air and sighed. "Okay, look. I got this magic mirror from an old guy. It takes people through time and stuff. So, since the old man took us somewhere, you're probably from the past."
"What?" said the girl dumbly.
"This is the present. I mean, um...it's the future and stuff. No big deal."
"Oh, so in the future, men have to go back in time to steal wives?"
"ARRRGGGHHH! I didn't, you're not my wife! Damn it! I've got enough problems with stuff like that as it is!"
"Then why am I here?" said the girl as she hung her head and blushed.
"Because I couldn't think of another way to save us from that fall. Look, I'll just get the mirror, and we'll go back."
"Oh, you don't mean this mirror do you?" said the girl as she pointed at the ground.
The mirror was sitting on the ground in five large pieces.
Ranma simply stared at it with a tear forming in his eyes. "Why me?"
"I wanna go home," said the girl as she started getting teary eyed again.
"Look. I promise I'll get ya home, we just gotta find a way to fix this stupid thing."
The girl blinked at this and stared at him. "Um, okay."
"Jeez, what is she? Some kinda water faucet? Even Old man Tendo ain't this bad!" thought Ranma in irritation.
"Anyway, where the heck are we?" he muttered to himself as he glanced around.
"I thought you said you knew?!" cried the girl in horror.
"No, I know where we are!" he cried in an effort to pacify her.
"But you just said..."
"I meant I need to know which way to go from here!" he said desperately.
"Oh," said the girl with a small shrug. "Okay."
Ranma looked around and blinked. "Hey. We're there already."
He knew the place well enough, it was the street, he was positive of it. He turned around to face the gates of the Tendo Dojo and froze.
In front of him, was a small apartment complex.
"What the? I'm sure it's here," he muttered as he scratched his head in confusion. He looked around again, thinking he must have made a mistake. Sure enough, everything was exactly where it was when he had left. Even the neighbor's garbage was still knocked over. It had the same dent in the side. He looked up at the building in front of him and frowned. "What the heck is going on here? Where? Oh man! Now what?"
"Are you sure you're not lost?" asked the girl as she realized he was becoming frustrated.
"Yes!"
"Okay, but are you sure you're not an Oni?"
Ranma hung his head in defeat. "Why me?"
+++++++++++
TBC...
DAMN IT! I should have known better. Playing video games is bad for my muse. Damn hyperactive bastard.
Basically, I took some of the ideas from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross and came up with an idea for a Ranma story. I wouldn't call it a Crossover, this is a fusion. No characters will be appearing in this fic that were in the games. I'm not even sure if I'd call this a fusion either, but I digress.
Ain't time travel a bitch?
This'll get more confusing, but then it'll get better at the end as everything makes sense. Ranma's got a new enemy, plus that's not the only problem he's gonna have to deal with. To say nothing of figuring out what the hell happened to the Tendo Dojo, and how everyone else in his life relates to him now.
But wait! There's more!
What the hell is he gonna do about this new chick? Where is he gonna stay now? What the hell about fixing that mirror?