Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Polarity ❯ Unification ( Chapter 11 )

Ranma jolted upright causing the person watching over him to jump back to avoid being hit in the head. He looked around in a daze, recognizing the small girl as Sailor Saturn. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

 

Then the images came flooding back to him. Between suddenly sitting up and the onrush of memory his head spun and he fell back. Fortunately for him he had been moved from facedown on the floor to lying on his back on a couch.

 

“Are you all right?” a small voice came from next to him.

 

Ranma grunted, “Yeah, Starsprite, I'm fine. I just have the headache of two lifetimes.” He opened his eyes again and took in the small, dark purple haired girl tending to him. “Hi kiddo.”

 

Hotaru looked hopeful, “So you remember?”

 

Ranma shook his head, “Sort of. There are bits and pieces, and not a lot of it makes sense.”

 

“That's what it's like for all of us,” another girl said. Ranma turned to see who else was in the room and saw Setsuna sitting in a recliner with a small smile on her face, and a blond haired girl with two long ponytails.

 

The blond continued, “Each of us has gone through some kind of awakening, and from what the Crystal seems to be telling me you just went through one as well.”

 

“Yeah, I guess. I just need a little time to sort it all out and…”

 

The smell of baked goods drew his attention as another girl entered the living room. Ranma gulped and held his breath as the brown haired girl from Polaris' memories placed a plate of cookies down on the coffee table. She was dressed different, in a green t-shirt and black jeans, but her hair, and her figure, were the same. When she turned to look at him he had to swallow again as he saw into those deep green eyes that had comforted Polaris so.

 

Then he remembered the cookies and his stomach let out a lour roar that stopped the blond as she was reaching for the plate.

 

Usagi blinked and looked at the boy, “Um…are you hungry?”

 

“Sorry about that,” Ranma said as he sat up and reached for a cookie.

 

 

Polarity

By Seth

Chapter 11

Unification

 

Note: Ranma and Sailor Moon are owned by their respective creators and distributors. I use them without permission or gain, but with respect to the work done before me.

 

 

Shampoo stalked the streets of Nerima in search of the only prey that had ever eluded her impeccable hunter's skills, her husband. For over a year she had chased him, and even in this barbaric land she was foiled at every turn. It was almost as if the boy didn't want her attention.

 

But that was impossible…right?

 

Today she planned on once more cornering the young man. After all that had happened during their recent trip to China, and Ranma's rescue of her right before he defeated the Amazon's ancient enemy, she knew that it was time to claim the wayward boy. Especially before those two idiot males attempted another wedding to that gorilla, Akane.

 

The Amazon girl had already checked the Tendo home, covertly of course, and the various eateries around Furinkan. She had also snooped on all her husband's usual hideaways. Still the boy was no where to be found.

 

She really needed to break him of his habits. It would not do well for her to return to the tribe with such a disrespectful male.

 

Deciding that enough was enough, Shampoo doubled back to the Tendo home to try the direct approach. After all she had a right to know where her husband was at all times, and those vermin would not dare keep her away from him.

 

Dropping into the yard she saw Nabiki sitting on the porch, looking introspective, but the mercenary was not her concern and the warrior girl stormed into the dojo to find Akane there.

 

Shampoo demanded, “Where is husband?”

 

Akane looked back, here eyes flashing with rage, and she spun and lashed out with a wild punch that Shampoo negligently blocked and countered. With the barest fraction of her strength the Amazon sent Akane crashing into the far wall. What surprised her however was the scream of pain that the youngest Tendo let out as she hit the wall.

 

Moving to inspect the downed girl, Shampoo opened her yellow gi and saw a large amount of medical tape over Akane's side with the distanced purple of a large bruise peeking out from underneath.

 

“Who did this?” she wondered quietly.

 

Akane winced out, “Ranma.” She then passed out from the pain.

 

Shampoo's eyes widened in shock. There was no way her husband could have done this. If anything, the male was always far too cautious when fighting women, holding back a great deal of his ability. For him to have so severely injured Akane like this he must not have held much back.

 

“He's gone,” a voice came from the dojo entrance. Shampoo turned her head to see Nabiki standing there, and now the mercenary had her full attention. “Ranma finally snapped. I should have seen it coming, but I'm no better then the rest of you. I was so blinded by what Ranma could do for me that I totally ignored what we all did to Ranma. Now he's gone.”

 

Shampoo looked at the almost crying Nabiki as if she were crazy, “Where is he? Where is Shampoo's husband?!”

 

“Don't you get it, you stupid bitch?! Look over in the damn house! Just leave us alone!”

 

Shampoo almost hit the girl in retaliation for that outburst, but before she could Nabiki fell to the ground, tears in her eyes. It was as if the world had been yanked away from the normally cold young woman.

 

Shampoo started to worry, and dashed out of the dojo to look past the porch and into the house. Inside she saw a catatonic Nodoka Saotome who was clutching a broken sword hilt as if it were a lifeline.

 

It took her a moment, but Shampoo recognized the intricate weaving on the grip. Looking down she saw that the other part of the sword, the blade, was still imbedded into the wood of the floor.

 

The sword was none other then the Saotome family blade.

 

Shampoo may not have understood all the bizarre Japanese customs, but she did understand what the sword meant, and what it meant if Ranma had broken it.

 

For the first time in years, since her grandmother had washed her mouth out with goat soap, Shampoo let a certain word pass her lips.

 

“Ah, crap.”

 

**********

 

The cookies were gone. It was a simple statement, but the magnitude of what had just been seen was much greater then simple words. Makoto had come to take pleasure in Usagi's driven nature when it came to baked goods, and took the girl's quick devastation of her cooking as a compliment. But no one was expecting the shear velocity of Ranma and eating.

 

Hotaru had summed it up with a giggle, “Cookie Monster.”

 

Setsuna just pouted. Chocolate chip was her favorite, but she didn't want to lose any fingers in the feeding frenzy.

 

“That really hit the spot,” Ranma said and turned to smile at Makoto.

 

The girl blushed at the smile, but forced herself not to react as she normally would. With the sample of Ranma's life she had been told, she didn't want to come on too strong to the athletic young man.

 

At least not for a few more minutes.

 

“So,” Ranma continued, “does anyone want to explain all this? I know I'm supposed to be some kind of reincarnation, and that something went wrong. Beyond that I'm a little lost.”

 

Setsuna spoke calmly, “You are of course not the only soul that had arrived in this time. Also in this room are the reincarnations of your student, of course you already guessed that, your field partner Sailor Jupiter, and the Princess. For the last few years the Sailor Senshi have been active and fighting a secret war against forces of darkness. It all began when Queen Beryl returned from the void where Queen Serenity banished her during the Fall…”

 

What followed was the story of how the Senshi had risen again, and fallen only to be revived by the Princess and the Silver Crystal. They were tales of growth, both as fighters and as a team, and tragedy such as the loss of so many souls during Sailor Galaxia's attack and the Sailor Wars. Ranma could only sit, wide eyed with wonder as the Guardian of Time told the tale.

 

“And I thought Mount Phoenix was bad,” he said quietly after the tale had ended. The girls in the room, other then Setsuna who had heard this before, looked at him questioningly. For a moment he balked at the idea of telling his story to them, but then remembered that they had already shared so many secrets with him, including their secret identities.

 

How could he not repay trust with trust, especially to people who showed him no animosity?

 

“You may have been in a war, but my life has been one battle after another. It all started when my…father…decided to take me on a ten year long training trip…” He told them all of it, leaving nothing out, and he could tell his story affected them.

 

Tears fell form the girls eyes when Ranma spoke of the Neko-ken. Anger crossed their faces when he talked about the many…many…many times his father had sold him for scraps of food. And they all were torn between tears, anger, and just laughing at the monumental stupidity of it all when he talked about his days in Nerima.

 

When he got to the battle on Mount Phoenix between him and Saffron their attention was fully drawn in. It was a fight that could have been avoided; even Ranma knew that, but the Phoenix Lord considered himself above mortal concerns such as courtesy. And the fight was desperate, epic, and ultimately futile.

 

When Ranma finally told of Saffron's defeat he himself was on the edge of his emotional control. And the heartbreak of the wedding and the chaos since then left him empty, drained of any energy.

 

He slumped back in his chair, his story told, and waited for their reactions. Mentally he was ready to get up and head out, knowing that all the blame would be placed squarely on his shoulders. But another voice inside him gave him hope.

 

These were good people, and they would not judge him as the others had.

 

He looked into the eyes of the Princess and saw that he need not fear.

 

A loud crack was heard and Ranma looked up to see Makoto holding the empty cookie plate. It had been cleanly snapped in two and the tall brunette was shaking with rage.

 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't level that whole damned town,” the thunder Senshi said quietly.

 

Ranma answered with a lopsided smile, “It's been tried. Never seems to work right though.” He continued in a more serious tone, “I'm just glad to let it go. The real trouble now is what do I do next? I have a feeling that War isn't going to let it go with the beat down I gave him.”

 

Hotaru nodded, “He may be related to Famine, a sorceress we fought. If they team up we could have real trouble.”

 

Usagi whimpered slightly, “We barely beat one of them. How are we going to fight two?”

 

Setsuna smiled, “Before we were unsure of our adversary, now we know that she is powerful, but not invulnerable. Likewise, War can be overcome; Ranma proved that and he was not even in Senshi form.”

 

“And since I'm going to be helping you won't have to worry about that big lummox,” Ranma said, slapping a fist into an open palm.

 

Usagi looked up, “You're going to help? I thought Setsuna said she didn't want to burden you, and I have to agree. We can't make you do this.”

 

“Not your choice, Princess. I'm a fighter, born and bred. I was before and I am again. Besides, what kind of guy would I be if I let you girls run off into a fight and stayed behind,” said Ranma.

 

All the Senshi but Usagi kept their counsel about the other male on the Senshi team. Tuxedo Mask was the only one of the group to stay consistently off the front lines.

 

Setsuna tried once more, “Are you sure about this? Once you do this there is no going back.”

 

“War came after me specifically,” Ranma answered, “I'm involved somehow with this to begin with, so I may as well go in full force.”

 

The Time Guardian nodded, “Then you should transform into Sailor Polaris so that we can see if it still works. Your reincarnation may not have affected your Star Seed, but the chaos magic of Jusenkyo is an unknown variable. The Star Seed's power comes from a source as old as the universe and may be the stronger, but chaos has a way of warping anything around it.

 

“All right,” Ranma said, standing with a ready look on his face. After a long pause his look turned sheepish and he scratched the back of his neck, “Um…how do I do this?”

 

Makoto stepped forward, “I'll show you. First, concentrate on your magic focus, like this.” She flicked her wrist and an ornate hilt with a hand guard and a green crystal on top appeared out of thin air. “Then draw power from the item and use your activation phrase. It's basically a spell that triggers the change.”

 

With that she stepped back and held up her wand.

 

“Jupiter Crystal Power…MAKE UP!”

 

White and green light blazed around Makoto as lightning arced across her body. The bolts then began to spin around her forming three circles that rotated as her clothing was blasted away and replaced with her white bodysuit and green skirt. Her white gloves and green ankle high boots completed the outfit as the power surrounding her faded away and she dropped into a ready stance.

 

Sailor Jupiter looked up to see that Ranma was facing away, cringing slightly as if expecting an attack.

 

“Um…Ranma? What's wrong?”

 

Ranma almost yelled, “I swear, I didn't see anything!”

 

The girls blinked in confusion for a moment, but it was Hotaru who understood first. She walked over to Jupiter and motioned her down. The taller Senshi leaned down and let the young girl whisper into her ear. After a moment she looked wide eyed and glanced at Hotaru.

 

She whispered, “Why are you telling me this?”

 

“I want Sensei to be happy again.”

 

Sailor Jupiter straightened up and marched around to stand in front of the cringing Ranma. Taking a deep breath she drew on her memories of Polaris training the Royal Guard.

 

She bellowed, “Eyes front, Soldier!”

 

Ranma snapped to attention, remembering fragments of the past as well. His eyes locked on Sailor Jupiter's as he forced himself not to stare at her new outfit.

 

“Ranma,” Jupiter began softly, “We are not going to be like those people. We don't want to use you and we will listen to your side, always. I don't blame you for seeing me transform.” He looked away but Jupiter bellowed again, “Eyes on me! Better. When I showed you my transformation it was to show you how it works. And it was a sign of trust. I want you to be our teammate, and our friend.”

 

“She's right,” Usagi added. “We are a team, but we're all friends first. I would put my life in the hands of any of my friends because I trust them. We try not to hurt each other, and we try to help each other when we are hurt. We stand by each other in good times and bad, and we can always count on our friends when we're in need. We are all best friends and more. Makoto, Rei, Ami, and Minako are my sisters. Haruka and Michiru are my older cousins. Hotaru is my cute niece. And Setsuna is our caring, if sometimes annoying, aunt. I think I'd like to have you as a brother, but it's up to you. We can't force you to do anything, to join us, or to trust us. You have built up a wall in your heart, and it has probably saved you from those horrible people, but it's up to you to take that wall down and see the beautiful world around you now.”

 

Usagi's voice had gotten softer as she had spoke, and Setsuna recognized that she was letting a little of the Princess into her words. It was the young blond's gift, the ability to reach out and touch the most hardened of hearts, the most clouded of minds, and embrace their pain. If she could lessen it by just a fraction then Usagi had accomplished a true healing.

 

And, as the Princess had done so many times over the course of the Sailor Senshi's career, she had once more reached out with her open heart and touched a troubled soul.

 

**********

 

“Great Grandmother, Shampoo has news!”

 

The blue haired Amazon bounded into the back of the Cat Café, startling the shrunken elder woman standing on a stool in front of the oven. It took all her years of experience not to accidentally toss the half cooked ramen into the air.

 

Turning off the burner, and taking a calming breath, Cologne turned to her youngest clan member and asked, “What news do you have that has you do loud, young one?”

 

“Shampoo sorry Great Grandmother,” the girl said sheepishly. She continued, “Husband had left the Tendo home! Gorilla Girl finally chase him off with bad food and abuse.”

 

Cologne smiled, “That is good news, Shampoo. At long last you can claim what is yours and we can return to the tribe.”

 

“Is more,” Shampoo interrupted, “Shampoo think Ranma break clan bond when he leave. Mercenary girl was crying, Akane was hurt bad by Ranma, Old Pervert Man gone, and Ranma's mother held broken family sword. Shampoo think Ranma may have…not sure, but it bad.”

 

Cologne frowned deeply as she took this in. In all the time she had known him Ranma had been honorable to a fault. She knew more of Japan then Shampoo, and for Ranma to willingly become Ronin in such a manner…

 

The dynamic had changed, and at a rate that made Cologne's old bones shiver. Steps would need to be taken, the first of which would be to find the boy.

 

“Go help Mousse close up the shop, Shampoo. If Ranma has separated himself from his family then we are the only ones with a claim to him anymore. We need to find him quickly before anything else happens.”

 

With that the Amazon Elder hopped down off the stool and made her way over to grab her staff.

 

She just knew it was going to be one of those days.

 

**********

 

Ryoga looked around and just knew he was lost bad.

 

The restaurant was very nice, the most upscale of the upscale, and even here in the bar area he could tell that everything was arranged just so to accentuate the fact that there was more money spent on this place then he, and everyone he knew, would ever see. Even the soda he was drinking was almost too good to be true.

 

Two British guys were next to him, one in a bathrobe, talking about black sands in a bathtub, but it was the guy with them that Ryoga was really wary of. After all it wasn't every day that someone saw a guy with two heads and three arms in a disturbingly loud suit.

 

Taking another sip of his soda, Ryoga went to work on figuring out how this was Ranma's fault.

 

Akane had been beaten up by Ranma, and Ryoga, in pig form at the time was charging off to seek vengeance. But Ranma had already been cast out of his family and had abandoned his Art. Was their really anything Ryoga could do to him now?

 

Of course there was! Ranma was a self serving, sniveling, cowardly jerk…who had kicked the Phoenix Lords ass and stomped a mud hole in it.

 

“Aw, who the hell am I kidding? If I fight him now…I'm so boned.”

 

“Hay buddy,” the odd Brit next to him slurred, “You look like you could use a sippa.”

 

Ryoga looked over and saw that the man was offering a bit of his high priced, and smoking, drink. Normally the Lost Boy would stay far away from anything alcoholic. His body was a work of art and his mind was focused. But things were spinning so badly out of control…

 

“What the hell?” he said and took the offered drink.

 

He took the tiniest of sips.

 

Five days later, and several billion years earlier, he woke up. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out how he got thrown into a Peruvian jail.

 

Maybe it had to do with his lack of pants and the odd tattoo of asparagus on his thigh.

 

Oh, this had to be Ranma's fault…somehow…

 

**********

 

“OK,” Ranma said, “I'm ready. Let's do this.”

 

They had cleared out an area around him, just to be safe, and now stood ready to witness his first transformation.

 

Jupiter had stayed in her Senshi form, and had a small smile on her face whenever the boy looked at her. It was nice to know she still had an affect on the reincarnated warrior after all this time.

 

The others were still in their civilian forms, but Usagi still had the look of the Princess in her eyes, and that was a great comfort to everyone. To know that Usagi was able to look past all Ranma's pain and troubles would be a great help in the time ahead.

 

But now it was time.

 

“Look within yourself,” Setsuna said softly, “you will find an anchor of light. It is your Starseed, and the tie between you and your power. Draw it forth and you will understand what to do.”

 

Ranma concentrated, and the power flowed within him. He had felt in his vision and understood how it worked. Like a mental switch, he triggered it. There was a flash of light and he once more felt the weight of copper bands on his wrists.

 

Lifting and crossing his arms over his heart he touched the red trimmed band over the white and spoke.

 

“Polaris Star Power…Make…AAARRRGGHHH!!!”

 

Black lightning arced from his bands off his body as red energy pulsed around him. A blast of heat escaped him as the humidity in the room increased to the point where even Jupiter could feel it through her armor. His body spasmed in pain as he fought against the onrush of energy that seemed tainted somehow.

 

Sailor Jupiter darted forward, her arms reaching out to stabilize the besieged boy, but she was halted by the storm of black and red energy cascading around him. Around her burn marks began appearing on the floor as bolts glanced here and there.

 

Setsuna called out, “Hotaru!”

 

The small girl was already in motion and with a flash of purple light was replaced with Sailor Saturn. Swinging her long weapon in front of her the young warrior channeled power.

 

“Silence Wall!”

 

The spell wrapped around Ranma and prevented any further damage to the inside of the house, but the boy trapped within was still surrounded by a storm, and it seemed to be increasing in savagery.

 

“What is going on in there,” Sailor Moon asked as her own transformation finished.

 

Sailor Pluto brought her staff out and squinted into the storm, “Its chaos magic, pure and unbound. It affected Sailor Polaris' rebirth, and now it's affecting his transformation. But there is another energy at work here…I just can't figure out what.”

 

Jupiter asked, “The curse he was talking about, could that be doing this?”

 

“I have no idea…”

 

Soon the storm within Saturn's barrier began to subside, and she lifted her spell. Smoke drifted out as the purple dome dissipated slowly, blocking their view of their friend.

 

Jupiter was about to move in and check on her partner, but a low, animalistic growl stopped her.

 

The smoke finally parted, and in the middle of the Outer Senshi's half destroyed living room stood a massive white tiger. Its shoulders were over four feet above the ground and its limbs were thick with muscle. Red stripes adorned its body and long, dagger like fangs peeked out of its mouth. Its eyes were yellow, wide and wild.

 

It sniffed the air as the Senshi looked on in shock, and turned towards them.

 

It let loose with a roar that knocked the girls over and shook the room, turned and jumped through the living room window, crashing through the glass and landing in the middle of the road, almost forty feet away.

 

Jupiter looked wide eyed at the damage as the large cat bounded further away into the city. She could only manage a whisper.

 

“R…Ranma?”

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

Endnote: Well…you wanted a transformation (evil smile). Now the Senshi have to catch our changed friend before Famine, the Nerimians, and Animal Control do. Can Ranma return to human form, or has the chaos devoured him? Until next time, let's get zappy!