Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Polarity ❯ Stellar Rebirth ( Chapter 16 )

Hotaru sat silently by Makoto's bed, her mood dark as she waited for Setsuna and Ranma to return. It seemed like she was always here, sitting by while people she cared about left one by one. Her father taken by madness, her best friend, Cibi-Usa gone back to the future not to be seen again for a thousand years, and now she watched as Makoto, a pillar of strength and determination lay in bed, sick and dying.

 

She was on the verge of tears, but a noise from the living room caught her attention.

 

“Hotaru, I'm back!”

 

In a flash the girl was through the door and latched on to Setsuna, “Is Ranma all right? Did you find what he was looking for? Where is he?”

 

Setsuna chuckled and patted the young girl on the head, “I brought someone who can help Makoto. As for Ranma, he is…finishing some business in Nerima. He will be along in a few hours with Haruka. I sent her to pick him up.”

 

An amused voice added, “This little midnight rose can't be Ranma's new girlfriend, can she?”

 

Hotaru looked past Setsuna and saw that an old man, shorter then she was, was standing in the apartment doorway. She blinked for a moment, and then blurted out, “Oompa Loompa!”

 

Happosai fell to the ground twitching as Setsuna covered her mouth quickly to suppress a laugh. The old martial arts master got back to his feet with tears in his eyes.

 

“Why does everybody always call me that?!”

 

Polarity

By Seth

Chapter 16

Stellar Rebirth

 

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.

 

 

“Ukyo, you and Konatsu take Shampoo,” Ranma said as he evaluated his three remaining foes. “Haruka, take the fat panda. Don't hold back on him, use as much of the old fighting I taught you as you can remember.”

 

“You sure?” the blond racer asked as she drew her cutlass. “That stuff isn't really for going lightly.”

 

Ranma smirked, “That's Genma Saotome, a thief, liar, and the asshole who raised me. He's got more dirty tricks then Setsuna has enigmatic smiles. Give him an inch and he'll put you down hard.”

 

Haruka nodded, but Ukyo piped up, “How come she gets the rat one on one and we have to take the bimbo?”

 

Not taking his eyes off Cologne, Ranma answered, “You're a better match for Shampoo's strength. You and Konatsu are both more versatile and more agile then Haruka. She's not ready for an Amazon, you are. Haruka has better reflexes, and can spot an opening better, so she's a good match for a trickster like Genma.”

 

Konatsu asked, “And you will fight Elder Cologne?”

 

“This has been a long time coming,” Ranma said simply. “She knows the stakes now, and she'll never let it go until I beat it out of her personally.”

 

“You've never been able to decisively beat me before, Son-in-law,” Cologne said from across the battlefield as she shifted her grip on her staff.

 

“I've never had a good enough reason before,” he simply answered.

 

“And now?”

 

Ranma smirked, “Live free or die, old bitch.”

 

**********

 

Happosai looked down at the brown haired girl in bed and frowned; sitting back on the chair he stood on and pulled out his pipe. Across from him the time witch that had brought him here was hovering behind the young girl with mixed light and dark ki. He sensed the girl had used her gifts to heal this Makoto's body, and he could feel Ranma's lingering power blocking back the tide of poisoned ki.

 

But that was not enough.

 

He understood why Ranma had sent for him. Only a few grandmasters of the arts would be able to counter the creeping evil in this girl's system. It would have to be either him or Cologne, and according to Setsuna the meeting with the old Matriarch had not gone well.

 

“So what kind of battle has Ranma stumbled into this time?” Happosai asked as he packed tobacco into his pipe and lit it with a spark of energy.

 

Setsuna closed her eyes, “I'm afraid I cannot say. Only that the battle is an old one.”

The old master let out a long trail of smoke and sighed, “I hate shadow wars. But the three of you are heavy with old magic, and that has never been a good sign. How do I know you aren't just using the boy as a pawn?”

 

Hotaru stiffened, “I would never betray Sensei like that! After all she did for us, after all she taught me? She was my friend!”

 

Happosai saw Setsuna flinch at that and smiled, “Sensei? She? Was? I feel that there is more going on then just a simple request from my absent heir. To my knowledge Ranma has yet to start teaching, and still considers himself male. Yet you think of him as a female first, and show a great deal of respect in your defense of him.” He hoped up again and passed a hand over Makoto's sweaty forehead, “Add in a powerful elemental seal woven into this girl's spirit and my curiosity is considerable.”

 

“Be that as it may, can you help her?” Setsuna asked simply.

 

“Perhaps,” Happosai answered, “but that depends on who she is. I mean who she really is. Her connection to Ranma, how she got poisoned, everything.”

 

“I can't…”

 

Hotaru interrupted, “They were close in their last life, maybe even a couple. She was poisoned when she took an enemy attack for Ranma. Please,” she locked her teary eyes on Happosai's, “please help my big sister. We both want Sensei to be happy again.”

 

There was a long silence, and Setsuna let her respect for the young Senshi grow. Hotaru had answered some of Happosai's curiosity without endangering their secrets greatly. Anything could be said about reincarnation, and that couldn't tie back to…

 

“The Silver Millennium, huh,” Happosai said offhandedly. “Now this is getting interesting.”

 

**********

 

Genma jumped high over Haruka's initial attack, but the sandy blond never let the big man out of her sight. Moving with the reflexes demanded of a race driver she spun in place and thrust. Genma leaned to the side, attempting to catch the blade between his arm and his body, opposite hand already going back for a counter, but Haruka flicked her blade downward before the trap closed and slashed at Genma's knees.

 

The big man was forced to concede ground to the attack, but turned right back onto the attack, moving into a reverse elbow and palm combination that staggered the blond momentarily and left her open for a heartbeat.

 

**********

 

“How do you know about that,” Setsuna asked, suddenly on guard.

 

Happosai chuckled, “Cologne wasn't the only one to study the history of the Amazons. I just tried to look past the politics and ego stroking that their historians put in. This girl has a mystic bond to wood and lightning so strong that even I can't help but be impressed. Only a Senshi of old can have this kind of power. For Ranma to have stumbled across the true legends…well, the boy's luck always has been odd that way.”

 

“He didn't,” Hotaru said softly, “he was a part of it from the start.”

 

**********

 

Ukyo and Konatsu separated, forcing Shampoo to track both of them as they moved in to attack. The baker swung her battle spatula in a wide ark forcing the Amazon girl back into a brace of thrown darts from the male kunoichi, but the blue haired girl was just as fast and knocked the blades aside with her maces.

 

Deeming the ninja the higher threat, Shampoo charged and spun, delivering a snap kick at the black haired head of Konatsu, but the ninja dropped low and tried to take out the warrior girl at the knees. Shampoo jumped high, and prepared to bring her weapons down on Konatsu's head.

 

Her attack was interrupted by Ukyo as the brunette wound up and swung her spatula in a baseball strike, smacking the girl out of mid-air.

 

Following Shampoo with her eyes, Ukyo reached back into her jacket and drew a white pouch.

 

“Now!”

 

She and Konatsu threw at the same time, and as the flour bomb met Shampoo a pair of kunai struck it, sparking off each other and lighting it instantly, creating a fireball in the sky.

 

Ukyo smiled lightly until Shampoo came out of the explosion clutching the smoldering handles that once held her maces. Throwing the burnt wood aside, the Amazon charged in, catching Ukyo before the brunette could put up a defense and kicking her hard in the stomach.

 

Before she could follow up Konatsu was there, ninja-to cutting the wind and bearing down on Shampoo, but the warrior girl slid out of the way, glaring at the male kunoichi.

 

“You should know,” Konatsu said simply, “that Lord Ranma has been the only person to ever really challenge me. Stand down now, before you come to harm.” Shampoo seethed, and taking a play from Ranma the ninja added tauntingly, “We both know I'm more woman then you can handle.”

 

“That's it! Now I kill stupid girly-boy! No one more woman that Shampoo!”

 

**********

 

Setsuna finally gave in to Happosai's curious stare. “How much do you really know of the Silver Millennium?”

 

“A bit,” the old master confirmed. “A holy queen ruled over a land of great power. At her command was a group of warrior maidens with elemental power granted by magic older than time itself. They were cast out of their paradise and came to Earth where the warrior maidens became the first Amazon tribe.”

 

Setsuna then said, “Close to the truth, but not all of it. The warrior maidens as you would call them were killed at the fall of the Silver Millennium, but the magic that empowered them allowed them to reincarnate in the future. This included a young warrior with a genius for hand to hand combat and a talent for making friends and enemies in the same breath. The refugees that came to Earth were in fact the remnant of the Royal Guard and civilians that were evacuated in time.”

 

“And somewhere along the line the Amazons got a little big for their britches,” Happosai concluded. “And you say that Ranma is connected to this story?”

 

“One of the lost souls came back in this life as Ranma, yes. We finally met in Nerima and when he left he came to us to start rebuilding his life. When he did so he awoke some of his memories of the past much like the rest of us.”

 

“So this girl is connected to him through that.”

 

Hotaru nodded, “They liked each other in the past. They teamed up all the time in the field and they got to be the best of friends.”

 

“And when they found each other again…”

 

“The connection is still there,” Setsuna finished.

 

Looking down at the girl, Happosai considered what he had learned. That the Amazons had distorted their history was no surprise to him, he'd seen it done by governments most of his life. That there was some truth to the legends did not faze him either. There always seemed to be a hint of the truth hidden in myth.

 

That Ranma was a reincarnated warrior from a mystical empire with magical girls…

 

“Wait a second,” Happosai paused, “Ranma was one of the warrior maidens?!”

 

**********

 

Ranma knew his friends were being pushed hard, but he had to trust them. He couldn't spare an ounce of worry now that he was facing one of the few people in Nerima that were better then him in a fight. Cologne glared at him, her hand gripping her staff tightly as he run a hundred attack plans through his mind and discarded each one.

 

“I've been too soft on you,” the old Matriarch said. “I found myself enjoying your antics, and even training you. I knew that someday you would make an excellent husband for Shampoo, and your daughters would be the strongest the tribe has ever seen. But you have too much will. I had hoped to break you of it, but now we reach an impasse.”

 

Ranma assumed a loose stance and countered, “It never would have worked out. Breaking me would have destroyed the very thing you wanted. It's my willpower that makes me strong. I won't let myself go easy, I won't give in, and I never give up. It's what let me beat Herb. It's what let me overcome Saffron. It's why you're afraid. I'm the so called originator of your tribe, and I don't believe in the crap you call laws. I may not know much, but I know that that's a big political oopsie. One that needs to be taken care of before the rest of your people find out.”

 

Cologne's eyes narrowed at the boy's summation, “You are partly right. I can not let you lead our tribe as you are now. You need to be taught the proper way of thinking, or parish in anonymity without any of the other Elders knowing. But I do not fear you. I always have been, and always will be, better then you.”

 

“That's what Saffron thought,” Ranma whispered. “MOUKO TAKABISHA!”

 

The blast rocketed out from Ranma's hand, but was easily dodged by the old woman who shot forward to counter, but Ranma was already gone. Using the flash of light from his attack as a distraction he ran to the side and kicked hard at where the Old Ghoul would be.

 

His foot met staff and he was thrown hard away, but in mid air he launched another blast that almost caught the Amazon. She split into nine afterimages and jumped up to attack him before he landed.

 

Caught in the Splitting Cat Hairs technique Ranma blocked as many strikes as he could, using the Chestnut Fist as a defense. But the Matriarch saw this and countered with her own. Ranma was faster, but Cologne's attacks came in at multiple angles, so they were evenly matched.

 

Landing and dispelling her illusion, Cologne sprang forward, the tip of her staff aimed at a disabling pressure point, but the pigtailed boy was in motion even before he touched down. Running forward he lightly jumped onto the staff and ran its length, attempting to punt Cologne in the head.

 

She whipped her staff out from under Ranma and rolled away from the attack and brought it up vertically to block his next strike. Ranma obliged and sent a savage Muay-Thai shin kick into the weapon. The strike shook Cologne hard, reverberating down the shaft and numbing her arms.

 

The use of the potentially lethal strike showed Cologne two things.

 

This fight was going to be the most intense fight she had ever seen.

 

And Ranma was not going to screw around here.

 

**********

 

Setsuna watched the old man work. He was now deep in meditation, one tiny hand on Makoto's brow, reading her ki pathways and seeking the damage done to her.

 

“Ranma did good work,” the old man said as he cracked open one eye. “His ki has reinforced her own, acting as a barrier between the corruption and the girl's life-force. But the damage is extensive, and Ranma's block will not hold out for long.”

 

“Can anything be done?” she asked quietly.

 

It took Happosai a long time to answer, and even then he would not commit.

 

“I need to consider. There is only one way to heal this kind of damage, and its cost is great. I need to speak with this girl, to find out her truth. Only the can I make a decision.”

 

Hotaru blinked, “But she's in a coma. You can't talk to her.”

 

“There is always more then one way, little one,” the old master answered. He sat back and closed his eyes, entering a meditative state. Gathering himself, he began to focus his ki tighter then he had in years, so much so that Setsuna and Hotaru watched with slack jaws as a bright aura built around him

 

The aura grew, until it touched Makoto, and when it did, both Happosai's and her eyes opened, blank and pupil-less

 

**********

 

Makoto sat in her living room, starring wistfully at a picture from long ago. In it she wore a long, elegant emerald gown and held a smaller, silver haired girl in a red gown in her arms. They were looking into each other's eyes as only lovers do, and Makoto could not help but shed a tear at the beautiful memory.

 

“What is that, child of forest and storm?”

 

Makoto looked up and as a miniature old man standing before her, his eyes curious and his face concerned. She did not know why, but she felt at ease, and willing to share the memory with the grandfatherly figure.

 

“This is Juno and Rena. It was their last night together, before the war. Before they died.”

 

“They loved each other?”

 

“It took them forever to realize it. And when they did, it was only in time to…well they never got to say goodbye. It's so sad.”

 

“But you're smiling, why is that?”

 

“That was Juno and Rena, and they should have had a long life together. Now there is Makoto and Ranma, and I still feel it in my heart, that thunder we had. I want to help him, to ease his pain and grow together. To hold his hand and see the sunrise of our tomorrow.”

 

“You love him?”

 

“I believe I do,” she said and looked down to see the picture had changed to show Ranma standing back to back with his female side, both wearing their cocky grins.

 

There was a long silence as the old man looked up at her. Her fingers tracing the image in her hands even as the sky darkened outside.

 

Finally Happosai spoke, “Then wake up, child of forest and storm. Wake up and find the other half of your soul.”

 

**********

 

Hotaru gasped as the light receded and saw that Makoto's eyes were still wide, but her green iris had returned.

 

The young woman panted, as if running a marathon and looked up to see her friends over her.

 

“Wha…what happened?” she asked hoarsely.

 

Happosai stirred, closing his own eyes, “I used an ancient and forbidden technique to revive you, my dear. It wouldn't do for Ranma's soul mate to be stuck between life and death forever, now would it?”

 

“You're Happosai.”

 

“I am,” he answered simply and leaned back in his chair. “But don't you have pressing matters to attend to?”

 

Makoto blinked, but it was Setsuna that answered, “Ranma went to Nerima to attempt to find a cure for you. He was unable to, and has been entangled in a large battle there. Haruka went to aid him, but even that may not be enough.”

 

Makoto frowned, “Why aren't the others with her?”

 

“It would only escalate things if a group of girls showed up to aid him against fiancées and rivals.” Makoto's face fell, but Setsuna continued, “But there is one girl, one warrior that could aid him.”

 

Makoto's face brightened, and she took Setsuna's offered hand and sat up.

 

She looked back, “Are you coming too, Master Happosai?”

 

“No, I think I'll stay here with the little one. But please bring my student back, would you?”

 

Makoto nodded, and she and Setsuna disappeared in a flash of light.

 

Happosai let out a long, and pain racked sigh, and Hotaru was instantly at his side.

 

“Are you all right, sir?”

 

The old man opened his eyes to show that they were still pure white, “No, but that's all right. It's a price to pay to restore the life of an immortal, and see that the lad has that infinite future with her. I am diminished, but it's worth it to see that kind of love again.”

 

**********

 

As Ranma and Cologne clashed, Haruka was falling back quickly as Genma struck again and again. Only fractions of a second stood between the flat of her blade and the older man's fists and feet.

 

He was relentless in his attack, but Haruka had two advantages over the superior martial artist. She was armed and her reaction time was as fast as Ranma's. She started getting tunnel vision, fixating on Genma, focusing all her will on defeating someone with years more fighting experience then her.

 

Genma wasn't even taking the person he thought to be a boy before him seriously, and it cost him. Shallow cuts from the cutlass stung his skin, and a hard ground defense whittled away his maneuverability advantage. He decided not to hold back anymore and charged, intending to end the attack with one blow and move on to take on his wayward son.

 

Haruka saw the shifting of feet and knew a hard strike was coming. She shifted her stance as well, sword swinging downward and back, opening her defense and awaiting the blow. Genma charged in, his hand held in a Xing-Chiao (Eagle Claw) strike intent on doing considerable damage to the torso of his opponent.

 

The sandy blond timed her move, and after seeing Ranma fight even Genma seemed to move in slow motion. She whipped her arm up and out, the cutlass in her hand digging into the soft earth at her feet.

 

The spray of dirt and the sparks from gravel striking the blade only added to the strike and Genma almost missed it as the tip cut into his gi. He managed to skid to a stop in time, but from groin to neck he clothing was split in two. He was startled enough that he was off balance for the follow up shoulder block tackle that put him on the ground.

 

He would have gotten up then, but the press of cold steel to his throat stopped him.

 

He looked up and saw flint in Haruka's eyes.

 

“I've done savage, terrible things in my life,” she said with a cold smile. “Killing you would really not add that much.” She suddenly shifted her grip, spun the blade, and brought the pommel down hard on the man's forehead, leaving a large purple indent and knocking him out cold.

 

“Good thing for you I'm a better person now,” she added softly.

 

She looked up from the waste of humanity to find her friend deep in battle.

 

**********

 

Speed and stealth were the hallmarks of a ninja, and Konatsu had both in vast quantities. In a stand up, fair fight he would not stand a chance against the brutal strength of Shampoo.

 

But this was anything but a fair fight.

 

He stood between Shampoo and Ukyo, his mistress still on the ground attempting to regain her breath from Shampoo's hard strike. Konatsu knew his back was to the wall, but his pride as a kunoichi gave him the strength to complete his task.

 

Shampoo shot forward, hands blurring as she attempted to batter down the ninja's defense, but Konatsu had already dropped a smoke pellet and disappeared.

 

“Coward,” Shampoo sniffed and turned her full attention on Ukyo. “Now we finish this.”

 

She leaned over Ukyo, ready to deliver a hard chop to the neck. She felt bad that her sometimes ally would have to end like this, but the law was clear and her Great Grandmother's instructions were final. She would mourn the cook later when…

 

CLANG!

 

Shampoo was face down on the ground, and in great pain. She slowly rolled over and saw that Ukyo had somehow attacked from behind with her massive weapon. She glanced to where the cook was supposed to be, and saw Konatsu standing, taking off a brown wig.

 

“How?”

 

“I am a ninja,” Konatsu said simply. “Replacement and disguise techniques are among the first thing I learned as a small girl.”

 

“Boy,” Ukyo corrected.

 

Konatsu blushed and shrugged, hiding his face behind delicate hands.

 

The cook continued, “Whatever. Anyway…nightly night, Sugar.”

 

And with that the combat spatula came down on Shampoo's head once more.

 

Hard.

 

**********

 

Haruka, Ukyo and Konatsu all knew to stay well back from where Ranma was battling Cologne. It was fierce, and every move they made elevated the conflict. Martial strikes used by masters to break wood and bone were used with wild abandon, and both were drawing on ki reserves to increase speed and strength.

 

Cologne had dodged all of Ranma's ki blasts, and the young man had been one step ahead in speed, but now the Amazon Matriarch began to draw on hundreds on years of training.

 

“Now you see the full extent of Amazon power,” she shouted, “Fist of the Stone Rhino!”

 

She struck the ground before her and forced a massive amount of focused ki into the soil. Out of the ground erupted a dark gray form of a rhino that the old woman jumped onto the back of. Unlike her Ice Bear attack she had used so long ago, this construct was animate, and charged Ranma with thundering feet.

 

“MOUKO TAKABISHA!” The blast impacted the charging stone beast, but did no damage to the armored construct. Ranma dodged wildly out of the way, but before he could recover the creature was turning and heading right at him again, head down, horn aimed at his heart.

 

He couldn't dive forward to go under the beast, the front legs were too close together. Sideways dodges wound not be far enough in time to avoid an intercept. Retreat was his only option, but the creation was faster then he was.

 

Breaking into a sprint, Ranma headed for the river, confident that his girl form would have the speed he would need to evade and go on the offensive again. But before he reached the water he felt a chill up his spine and dodged hard again.

 

“Blizzard Strike!”

 

Cologne, atop the rhino's back had unleashed a concentrated Soul of Ice blast that froze over the river near the engagement. She chuckled as Ranma gathered himself and glared at her.

 

“Now now, boy, none of that. The time for me letting you have advantages is long over. If you had done the right thing from the start none of this would have happened.”

 

Ranma growled again, “I did do the right thing, every time. It's you, and every other asshole that's screwed with my life that messed up. I tried to keep everybody's honor intact and all it cost me was my hope, my dreams, and my dignity. Guess what, I'm done trying to save face for a bunch of self serving jerks.”

 

He had a flash of inspiration and came up with a plan to once more level the playing field. Mentally he apologized to Setsuna for playing a trump card like this, but he was in a corner and needed to finish this, once and for all.

 

“You want power,” he shouted, “then get ready for the Perfect Neko-ken!”

 

Flexing his arms he felt the weight of the Polaris bands on his wrists and brought them together.

 

“POLARIS BEASTIAL EVELUTION!”

 

There was a flash of bright light and a roar of power. Ranma could only be defined as a shape in the light, and slowly that shape twisted, enlarged and changed into a large feline form. Armor plates snapped into being with hard metal on metal sounds and with a blue flash the light faded.

 

It left behind the armored white tiger form of Saber Polaris.

 

Letting out a roar, he pounced, claws out and glowing faintly as he lashed out at the stone rhino. The impact of the two beasts was great and it took Cologne's great skill to hold on tightly and retain control of her own beast construct.

 

The animals separated with a few scratches evident on the rhino's stone skin. Ranma began to prowl sideways, his cat eyes narrowed in focused anger as he got ready for another charge. When it came, he was ready to meet in with war cat strength. But before the impact occurred he dodged out of the way of a hard ki blast from Cologne who also wore a mask of concentration.

 

“Whatever trickery this is may have put you on even footing with my beast, boy,” she snarled, “but you are still outnumbered two to one. And none of your little friends can even come close to my power.”

 

The tiger growled low, but knew she was right. The only one here that could match her blast for blast was Sailor Uranus, but revealing Haruka as a Senshi in front of the others here would only cause more problems. He trusted Ukyo and Konatsu with his secrets, but that was not enough.

 

Suddenly the wind shifted and he had a familiar scent cross his nose, along with a light tingle of electricity in the air.

 

“Maybe,” he growled in answer to the Matriarch. “Maybe not.”

 

He broke into a sprint, barreling towards the bridge that Haruka had jumped her bike off. Cologne turned to give chase, but Ranma stopped before reaching the overpass, skidding and spinning to face her again.

 

From atop the bridge there was a flash of green light and a crash of thunder. A female form jumped off and high into the air, the sun behind her. She landed lightly on Ranma's back, who reared up and roared as the green eyed, brown haired, sailor suited defender of love and justice settled in behind his shoulders, gripping his armor lightly with one hand.

 

Pointed at Cologne, Sailor Jupiter bellowed, “Man or woman, beast or god, all life yearns to be free. For forcing a man to chose between slavery and death you have soiled the honor of the Silver Millennium. So, in the name of Jupiter…”

 

“And Polaris,” the big cat beneath her rumbled.

 

They ended together, “We will punish you!”

 

 

To be continued…

 

 

Endnote: Sorry about the hold up, I got a little sidetracked. But for now the ninja cat apocalypse is over and the penguin monarchy has been restored to its rightful rule over our world! Next time we see the conclusion of the battle in Nerima and Happosai reveals how he revived Makoto. Until then, ALL HAIL PEN-PEN!!!