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Return of the Horse - Chapter 01 - Part 01
by Schemer schemer@houston.rr.com
Disclaimer: I don't own em, don't sue me
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Started: 10/29/2001
Finished: 11/12/2001
* * Thoughts
" " Speech
Actions, sound effects
"Wish Granted"
***
And in a brief shimmering of golden light two figures emerged, one male and one female. "Well let's go, it will be good to see everyone again" stated the male figure as he rose into the air and turned toward the blonde.
Nodding her head she said "Fine, let's move." She rose into the air and followed a certain pig-tailed man heading east towards the land of Wa.
***
They could have made the trip in a matter of minutes at full speed, but they kept it at a relatively slow pace as they flew along. Almost an hour had passed before they finally landed at the outskirts of the Nerima ward.
"This way" stated the man. As he started walking down the street, the woman following without a word.
The pair was dressed in loose fitting black pants; the male also wore a black silk shirt, the woman a white silk blouse with a black vest over it. Those that did and were able to tear their eyes away from their bodies to look at their faces paled upon recognizing who the male was.
"They seem afraid of you" stated the female, it wasn't a question just a simple observation.
"It probably has something to do with how I left this world" replied the man.
"And?"
"I told you how I left, what do you think."
"They are afraid of your retaliation against those that sent you away."
"Probably" stated the man as he turned the corner onto another street. "We should probably stop and pick someone up before we head there" commented the man.
"Who?"
"Tofu"
"Ahh the doctor"
"I do not know how they will take my returning they may be in need of his services before this is all done" he said stopping outside a familiar looking clinic.
***
Two hours later three figures, two male one female exited the clinic and headed down the street. "Your sure you want to do this?" the older male to the younger.
"Yes, we will be here at least a year, we need to settle this. By the way, how is your relationship coming with Kasumi?"
"Slow, I don't always flip out when I hear her name now, but being close to her in a non-professional atmosphere usual will send me into it."
"It's good to hear you're making process."
"Well hear we are" commented Tofu to the pair as he stopped outside a familiar looking dojo. The Tendou Dojo if you haven't already guessed it.
"Let's get this over with" said the younger man as he rapped on the frame surrounding the sliding door before taking a step back.
A brief shuffling was heard before the door slid open revealing a very tired looking Kasumi, but who brightened upon seeing Tofu. "Oh hello Doctor Tofu, who are your two friends?"
"Don't recognize me Kasumi?" asked the younger man.
"OHH MY... RANMA, Ranma-Kun your back" exclaimed Kasumi. Which brought a thundering from inside the house as every occupant came rushing to the door. In short order Nabiki, Genma, Nodoka, and Soun were all standing at the front door staring at the trio. "Please Ranma-kun come in and bring your friend too" said Kasumi as she led everyone to the table and left to go get tea.
Tofu since he had heard most of the story when they stopped by his clinic just went to a corner and sat down. He felt he should only disturb everyone if his skills were needed. This was not his fight after all and if what Ranma said was true he was more than capable of handling himself.
"And who might you be?" inquired Nodoka to the female which interrupted Soun and Genma's 'Ranma's home and so now he can marry Akane wedding Dance'.
"My name is 18" replied the woman.
Nodoka blinked "18?"
"Yes"
"I see... and what is your relationship with my son?"
"We are together" said 18, which caused Ranma to start choking on his tea.
"You could have worded that better" was all Ranma was able to say before he was set upon by the two father figures.
"How dare you cheat on your fiancee!!!" screamed a Soun going into his demon head. "Ohh to have such a dishonorable son, who would throw away the honor of the Saotomoe name" ranted Genma.
Two chi blasts later and there were two unconscious adults. "Ranma... now that the idiots are done maybe you can explain to us (indicating Nodoka, Kasumi, and herself) why you look so different, and while your at it you can explain how you were able to come back, and who she (indicating 18) is. Cologne told us it couldn't be done, that you were trapped" said Nabiki. The other two women after hearing that, took note of the changes, he seemed older than he should be more muscular, a few inches taller making him roughly 5'11'', and there was the look in his eyes that seemed to he had seen more than he should and that he was haunted by it.
Sigh "Ya I guess, we should probably call some of the others if there still around and get them together so we don't have to tell this more than once... by the way, how much time has passed since I disappeared?"
"Nine months why?" said Nabiki feeling this was leading somewhere "How long was it for you?"
Scratching the back of his head "Heh A bit longer than that... I'll try and explain it all when everyone gets here."
Nabiki studied him for a moment then nodded, "This better be good Saotomoe..."
**** To Be Continued
A.N. I'm pretty sure most were able to figure out who the pair was. It probably got old not naming them until the end but I had to go with what I felt was right. Might as well spill the beans this will be a Ranma/18 pairing.
Definitely going to be a mini-series, 3-5 Chapters at the most.
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Return of the Horse - Chapter 01 - Part 02
by Schemer schemer@houston.rr.com
Disclaimer: I don't own em, don't sue me
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"RANCHAN!" Glomp
"Heh... it's good to see you too Ukyou, how have you been?"
"Great now that your back Ranchan!" she said as she tightened her hug.
"You might want to let him go before he passes out..." remarked 18.
"Ranchan... who is this?" asked Ukyou, eyes narrowing.
"Can't bre... athe"
"Oppps sorry sugar"
"S'all right" replied Ranma after regaining his breathe.
"So...."
"Hmmm... I'll explain when everyone gets here."
Crack, Smash And a wall surrounding the Tendou compound was reduced to rubble.
"Airean!" Glomp
"Get off my Ranchan!"
"Airean mine!"
And a fierce tug of war started with Ranma in the middle being pulled in two directions.
Sweat drop "You weren't kidding, were you... a piece of meat..." muttered 18 low enough so only Ranma could hear.
Shrugs "You ganna help me out here?"
"Do, you want me too?" Grins evilly
Thoughts fly through his head of body parts strewn about the lawn because of a jealous android. Sweat drop "Ahh... no thanks, I'll handle it" he said.
"Suit yourself"
It was about this time that Cologne came hopping into the building on her staff with a caged duck in her hand. "Well son-in-law you continue to surprise me, the artifact those two fools used was suppose to send you into a different dimension."
"It did"
"Hmmmm, I see, and how is it that you were able to return and no one else has been?" Her gaze sweeps across the room and landed on 18, and her eyes widen in shock, "What is this!" she thinks to herself, "I can't even feel her aura."
Shrugs "I dunno about the others, but they probably didn't know about the dragonballs and how you could use a wish to return."
Nabiki instantly perked up upon the mention of a wish, and was determined to weasel more information about the dragonballs from Ranma. She was just about to ask when Cologne beat her to it.
"Dragonballs?"
"I'll explain when everyone is here..."
"Might as well start now Ranma, I haven't been able to get a hold of Akane, I don't know where she is" remarked Nabiki.
Shrugs "Ya I guess..." he said as he began his story.
"When Ryouga and Mousse used the Nan Ban Mirror on me that day..."
*** Flashback
"Ranma, you have made our life's hell for the last time!" screamed Ryouga.
"Ya Ya, whatcha ganna do Ryouga, Mousse.... all talk, don't even think about anyone else but yall's selves" quipped Ranma.
"That's enough Saotomoe, I finally found a way to free Shampoo from your sorcery" said Mousse. "Note to self" he thought, "stop hanging around Kuno."
"Ya ya, I'm leaving your ganna make me late for school" and with that Ranma took off headed for school.
Mousse and Ryouga followed and caught up just as he was entering the School yard. "Were not done with you yet Saotome" called Mousse.
"Aww man give it a break" remarked Ranma.
"Ranma for making our life's hell, we banish you from this world" and with that Ryouga pulled out a Nan Ban Mirror fragment, sliced his arm with it so it dripped with blood coating the mirror, and held it so it reflected Ranma's image and said "Be gone", and he was.
*** End of Flashback
"... I'm not exactly sure where I ended up; apparently I was unconscious when I arrived on the other Earth.
My first memory was waking up on an operating table and some old guy with a funky hat standing over me. I blacked out again shortly after that. When I came back to the same old guy was there again. He explained that one of his observer drones that filmed several of the high powered warriors of the planet had caught my arrival and his interest was piqued and he brought me to his lab.
The world I arrived on is more technologically advanced than this one, so he was able to use some scanning devices to determine my 'power level' and others to view my memories."
***
"Hold it Saotome" Nabiki interrupts. "You honestly expect us to believe they have technology that advanced... You don't by chance have some examples of this 'technology' do you?" she asks with a greedy gleam in her eye.
Shrugs "I dunno what to tell you, weirdness like this is almost like second nature in my life. I don't really think about it. As for bringing technology back, no we didn't really have much of a chance to pack before we were sent here."
"Ahh..." starts Nabiki but stops, not really knowing how to respond to this.
"Please continue Ranma" voices Nodoka.
***
Sigh "While I wasn't nearly as powerful as the fighters he was after, apparently my adaptability and learning curve were 'off the scale' as he put it.
He began augmenting my body, using machines that let him alter my DNA and splice new DNA into it. He also added cybernetic implants into parts of my body that increased my strength and speed as well as kept me under his control. Basically I became a puppet I didn't have much control. Heh, one good thing though his genetic manipulation eliminated my curse.
I could control my actions for the most part but it was like my conscious had been removed, I knew what was right and wrong but it was like it didn't matter anymore. The only reason I wasn't immediately send out to find and destroy his enemies was I was able to fight or reword his commands just a little bit, not enough to make much a difference but you see the guy Gero was a rabid perfectionist and I was put in a stasis cell until he could fix this 'problem'.
Eventually before he could finish, this group of 'high powered warriors' found his base after he sent out a couple weaker androids to kill them. Apparently a couple of the fighters weren't human and were from a race called Saiyan's from a planet Vegita.
Anyway, apparently a couple of these Saiyan's had gotten quite a bit stronger when they had to defend the ummm other earth from this evil guy called Freezer on another planet. I found this out after everything and they were filling me in about what happened before I got their. Well you see, Gero's observer droids didn't know about their trip off planet so he wasn't prepared to face their new powers.
When it became obvious to Gero he was going to lose to these warriors he was able to make it back to his lab and revive two androids one male and one female from stasis, 17 & 18. 17 & 18 apparently were quite a bit stronger than these warriors, even though they despised Gero; Gero still felt he could still control them. He thought wrong, the android 17 killed Gero shortly after he was awoken.
The Z team as the warriors called themselves was shocked at the androids actions and didn't really do much but gawk after 17 killed Gero. Then 18 apparently found my stasis pod, that had a display of who and what I was, and decided to release me.
When I was revived from stasis I found most of my memories were 'sealed' I guess would be the best word. Apparently Gero thought he could control me better if my memories from this life weren't a problem. The only real thought in my mind was the last command Gero had given me, which was to kill one of the Saiyan's called Goku, apparently the strongest person on the planet.
When I asked about where I could find Goku, the Z fighters got very defensive. It was because later I learned that Goku had had an attack of some sort and was in a weakened state. The Z fighters tried to destroy us; they blew up the mountain the base was located in, in hopes that it would kill us. No such luck, 17 & 18 wanted to have some fun and decided that kicking the crap out of them was the best way to do it.
One of the fighters was named 'Vegita' was quite a bit stronger than the others and was able to change his form to increase his power. This 'Super Saiyan' as he called himself was supposed to be the pinnacle of what his race could achieve. He had the power to destroy the world in his first form, and his power was multiplied many times in his 'Super Saiyan' form. He and the others were quite surprised when 18 still beat the crap out of him and left him for dead, his friends were all shocked that she had dispatched him so easily.
I was anxious to start looking for Goku, and since none of the fighters were Goku I hadn't felt the need to get involved in the fighting, and stood off to the side. Kind of strange, I mean me not wanting to fight, but hey when you got some cybernetic chip in your head you act different. Eventually 17 & 18 got tired of playing with the Z team and we decided to go find Goku.
We could have flown there..."
***
"Fly? Son-in-law" interrupted Cologne, "Surely you don't expect us to believe you can fly or someone can be strong enough to destroy the worl..." Cologne trailed off as Ranma rose up in the air, and floated around the table still in a sitting position before returning to his original position.
Stunned Silence...
Sigh "I know this is allot to take in all at once but, if your done interrupting..."
***
"Apparently when Gero was implanting the cybernetic stuff into my head he also crammed in allot of techniques like using ones chi to fly and firing chi blasts not based on emotions, and several others. Anyway as I was saying we could have flown to this Goku's house but 17 wanted to drive for some reason.
So we 'borrowed' this van and set out. We stopped at several towns along the way and we acquired clothing and other stuff, as well as fight with the local populace. I didn't really do much except sit in the van, if it wasn't about this Goku I wasn't interested.
Apparently one of the Z fighters was from the future and that's how they had been warned of our awakening. So he traveled back in time to aid the Z fighters in their fight against us. Apparently in one timeline he was successful, so he returned to his time. Gero unfortunately had another experiment that hadn't been let loose upon the world yet.
This creature called Cell was able to travel back in time using Trunk's, Trunks being the guy from the futures time machine. Cell needed to absorb 17 & 18 to achieve his perfect form. Since 17 & 18 weren't around in that timeline he returned to the past were they were so he could absorb them.
17 & 18 were not to pleased with this idea of being absorbed although Cell claimed it was a great 'honor' and they fought with him several times. Eventually cell absorbed enough energy from people that he was able to beat 17 and absorb him too.
Now, if I haven't already mentioned it before 17 was stronger than 18 and so 18 was a little scared of being absorbed as well. So just as Cell was about to absorb 18 I entered the fight.
Cell was good, he was very good. He was quite a bit more powerful then me, but my technique was better so I was able to hold my own for the most part. I'm not sure what would have been the outcome of that fight if Vegita hadn't shown back up, he apparently wanted to fight cell and I could tell he was more powerful then cell was so I allowed him to in hopes that he could kill him.
It was a pretty one sided battle Vegita was winning easily in his 'Super Saiyan' form."
***
"Didn't you say that 18 beat Vegita quite easily how could Vegita now beat Cell?" asked Ukyou.
"Just listen I will explain."
***
"On that earth there is a tower which reached high in the sky which houses the guardian of earth, he isn't a fighter but he helps out where he can. In the tower there is a room which allows a person who uses it to live a whole year in the span of a single day. Think of the room as a wide open plain with a single structure there, that is the living quarters. The training area around the houses varies in gravity and temperature levels so when a person trains their he actually trains harder than he can normally on earth. Vegita had apparently used this room during our trip cross country to get to Goku's house.
It seemed Vegita would beat Cell easily and then the fool went and allowed Cell to absorb 18. I was pissed 18 had treated me well, so I kinda exploded at Vegita. I beat the holy crap out of his ass even though he was more powerful. Cell found this amazingly funny and proclaimed a tournament that would occur in 10 days to 'decide' the fate of the earth. If we won, everything was fine. If he did, he would destroy the world and move on to the next.
With that he took to the air and left, I was about to follow and try to free 18 when this man popped out of nowhere and grabbed me then teleported my ass to top of the guardian of earth's tower.
The man was Goku, needless to say the commands Gero left kicked in and I started fighting with him. I must admit he was amazing; I have never met such a good fighter. It wasn't his technique, heck none of the Z team had any real fighting technique it was just his ungodly speed and strength. Chi blasts were wasted on him. It is depressing to think to think about, he was good, but could be so much better. The talent, the skill was all their, I knew I should have lost that fight and at the final moment, where I was prepared to end his life, memories filtered through the block. They showed me I didn't have to kill to win, and I was able to fight off the effects of the chip in my head.
I was pretty banged up after our fight and allot of the cybernetic implants weren't functioning all that correctly so one of the earth's scientists named Bulma offered to 'fix' me up. She was able to block out most of Gero's programming and removed some sort of self destruct device from my chest. She wasn't able to do anything about the chip in my head though so most of my memories were still locked away. All this took about 2 days, so there were only 8 more before this tournament.
Without the effects of Gero's programming effecting my actions I was pretty much trusted by the Z team. Why I dunno, I nearly killed Goku, but apparently since I was able to stop myself I was ok in their minds. When I got back up to the tower, Vegita and his son Trunks the kid form the future were coming out of the room. They had both increased in power, but they were still weaker than cell.
Goku realized that while I had won our fight, that there was no way I could beat cell. With the cybernetic implants boosting my strength my power level was pretty much as high as I could get it while his could still go up. He asked me to train his son and himself in this 'room'. The room could only hold 2 people at a time, so for the first year I went in with Goku.
I taught him as much as I could; he was the best student a person could ask for. A quick study and when he wasn't eating or sleeping, we were fighting or I was teaching him the Anything Goes style. In all of about 6 months he had learned most of the basics and allot of the advanced styles and techniques. At that point there wasn't much of a point of me staying, I wasn't strong enough to spar against him effectively anymore and he would increase his power level faster without my interfering so I left the room while he continued to practice and increase his power level until the year was up.
Needless to say when I arrived half a day early and without Goku the others were shocked. When I told them the reasons though they understood. Apparently Goku had always been a quick learner, not as fast as me but quick none the less.
When the day ended Goku came out in his Super Saiyan form, apparently he had spent just about every second since I had left in that form so it felt second nature to him, by staying in that form it helped increase his power level faster since it burned chi so fast.
Goku then went in with his son and spent only a couple hours in their, apparently showing him how to reach his second form. When he came out it was my turn again and I went in to train his son 'Gohan'. Like his father he was a quick learner, and picked up our style very fast. Once again I was quickly outclassed and left the room to be replaced by Goku again.
When Gohan exited the room he was a changed man, he had grown several feet and gained allot of muscle mass. Apparently this was another thing about Saiyan's as soon as they hit puberty they grew incredibly fast. He was also in his Super Saiyan form like his father and the two set out to enjoy what little time they had left before the tournament. The others just took their turns in the room, knowing it wouldn't really make a difference if Goku or his son couldn't beat Cell then what hope would they have.
And that's pretty much the whole story" concluded Ranma.
***
Stunned silence...
More silence...
"Wa.. Wait a minute, what the hell do you mean that's pretty much it..." sputtered Nabiki. "What the hell happened to Cell, how did you get home, what happened to 18 she said jerking her thumb at the android sitting on the deck looking at the pond." The others just nodded their heads and waited for the answers, still stunned. It wasn't until this that most of the rest made the connection between the android in the story and the Girl sitting by Ranma.
Sigh "Heh" laughed Ranma scratching the back of his head. "I don't remember to much of it, what I was told by the others is that sometime during the start of the tournament I attacked cell screaming something about giving 18 back and was killed."
Stunned Silence...
"Ki.. Killed?" muttered Nodoka.
Ranma nodded and continued somberly "Apparently Goku fought cell after I did, at first they say he did real well and many thought he would win. Blows were traded back in forth with enough force to level mountains, the battle took place in the sky, on the ground, and over water it was amazing to watch a replay of it. When both fighters started increasing their power levels it quickly became clear that Goku wouldn't win. He just wasn't powerful enough. In a last desperate gamble Goku was able to use a combination of his Ka-Ma-Ha-Me-Ha and his instant transmission technique to appear right in front of cell and release his most powerful chi blast. Cell was literally blown in half, his whole top half had disintegrated.
Cell was not beaten though, you have to give Gero credit he knew what he was doing and Cell was able to regenerate himself even with that extensive damage. And then Goku did the unthinkable he bowed out of the competition claiming there was another warrior who surpassed him in power and could defeat Cell.
The other Z fighters thought he was crazy and even more so when he claimed it was his own son Gohan. So it came about that Gohan was the second fighter, and started to fight Cell. Where it had seemed that Goku was almost an even match for Cell, Gohan was quickly getting decimated by Cell his chances weren't looking good. One arm had been seriously damaged at the beginning of the battle and he had to defend himself with only one arm.
Gohan realized why his father had picked him, apparently when Gohan is pressed into a life threatening situations or those that he cares about he 'snaps' much like I use to when I went into the Nekoken. He told Cell this and like Vegita, Cell figured nothing could match his power and set about trying to bring it out. Eventually by splitting himself, sort of like Colognes Splitting hairs technique but quite a bit more advanced he was able to make him snap.
They said after he pummeled Cell for a good while, he shot a huge 1 handed chi blast that obliterated every cell of his body so that his regeneration powers couldn't help him. Now all that the Z fighters had to do was fix all the damage Cell caused.
Apparently the guardian of earth created these dragonballs, 7 balls that when brought together granted the person 2 wishes. Why 2 I dunno, the first wish was to restore all the damage done during the fighting, the second wish was to bring back to life everyone that was killed by cell. So 17 & 18, myself, as well as allot of the population of Earth were brought back to life.
With a little coaxing I was able to point out that the Z fighters weren't that bad and that they would make much better allies than enemies. Eventually we were all able to get along together.
The dragonballs though could only be used once a year and the Z fighters had other friends which were in the afterlife that were waiting to be brought back. So I had several years to wait before I would be able to remove the chip from my head which would remove the block on my memories.
Bulma though was able to remove my cybernetic implants and with the help of a Saiyan health chamber was able to regenerate the damage it took to remove them. Without the implants though my power levels dropped dramatically, I still had the alien DNA spliced into my own though. With a little analysis Bulma was able to determine it was mostly Saiyan but also a couple strands she couldn't recognize and had no ideas how they would affect me.
With several years before I could regain my memories I opted to go train and try to increase my power level back to what it was with the implants. 18 asked if she could accompany me and we set out. We spent the next couple years together, growing closer as time went by."
***
"RANCHAN! How dare you cheat on me!" screamed Ukyou who brandished her battle spatula and attacked him.
Clang The spatula was blocked by 18 who appeared right in front of Ranma before anyone could blink. Snap With a quick palm strike the battle spatula was snapped in the middle. Splash And with a grab at Ukyou's still overextended hands she was sent flying into the Koi pond.
Ukyou came boiling to the surface screaming in outrage.
"Ranma might have a problem defending himself from you, but I will not allow it" stated 18.
Smash A bonbari caught 18 on the side of the head and sent her crashing into the outer wall.
In an instant Ranma was by her side looking her over. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine, but she won't be" growled 18 as she got up.
In an instant Cologne was by Shampoo's side and hit a shiatsu point that knocked her out, threw her over her shoulder and took off across the roof tops carrying her and the still caged duck, moose.
"Are you sure your ok?" asked Tofu as he stood from the corner he had been throughout the story.
"I am fine" she stated again throwing a glare at Tofu for not believing her the first time.
"Ok, ok... it's just my job" he said in a calming voice.
Softening her gaze she looked at him before nodding and turning her attention back to Ranma.
"I think we should probably leave now" said Ranma to 18 who nodded in understanding.
"Wha... wait a minute what about Akane your fiancee???" exclaimed Soun who was still out of it trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Ranma was several years older now and all the stuff that had happened during that time.
"What about her? She obviously hates me, she says it often enough and wishes she weren't engaged to me, I think she would be thrilled with this turn of developments" he said. "I may have had feelings for her at one time, they might have even been love, but heck after the failed wedding and when things didn't change what did you expect. I mean really how can you be in a relationship with someone who doesn't even trust you and hit's you every chance you stick your foot in your mouth. I think you're lucky she hasn't killed someone by accident with that temper of hers" he concluded.
"Regardless" he continued "I spent 6 years in another dimension that Ryouga and Moose sent me to, I had no clue how much time had passed and eventually I moved on. In time she will too."
Stunned Silence...
Thump Heads turned... "Akane" Ranma whispered.
**** End chapter 1
A.N. It's my story I know I changed allot of the Cell battle but ITS MY STORY!!! Goku lives at the end, heck King Kai lives at the end too, 17 & 18 died when Cell absorbed them so the dragonballs brought them back. If you don't like it tough :P
After numerous complaints about my original draft I rewrote allot of Ranma's retelling of the past to make it more descriptive. In later chapters I will expand on 18 & Ranma's relation ship and his future relation ship with other females. Don't think his female problems are over yet!
I hoped you liked the story, comments praise can be sent to my email schemer@houston.rr.com
I also need some pre-readers so if you're interested please send me an email.
Return of the Horse - Chapter 01 - Part 01
by Schemer schemer@houston.rr.com
Disclaimer: I don't own em, don't sue me
****************************************************
Started: 10/29/2001
Finished: 11/12/2001
* * Thoughts
" " Speech
Actions, sound effects
"Wish Granted"
***
And in a brief shimmering of golden light two figures emerged, one male and one female. "Well let's go, it will be good to see everyone again" stated the male figure as he rose into the air and turned toward the blonde.
Nodding her head she said "Fine, let's move." She rose into the air and followed a certain pig-tailed man heading east towards the land of Wa.
***
They could have made the trip in a matter of minutes at full speed, but they kept it at a relatively slow pace as they flew along. Almost an hour had passed before they finally landed at the outskirts of the Nerima ward.
"This way" stated the man. As he started walking down the street, the woman following without a word.
The pair was dressed in loose fitting black pants; the male also wore a black silk shirt, the woman a white silk blouse with a black vest over it. Those that did and were able to tear their eyes away from their bodies to look at their faces paled upon recognizing who the male was.
"They seem afraid of you" stated the female, it wasn't a question just a simple observation.
"It probably has something to do with how I left this world" replied the man.
"And?"
"I told you how I left, what do you think."
"They are afraid of your retaliation against those that sent you away."
"Probably" stated the man as he turned the corner onto another street. "We should probably stop and pick someone up before we head there" commented the man.
"Who?"
"Tofu"
"Ahh the doctor"
"I do not know how they will take my returning they may be in need of his services before this is all done" he said stopping outside a familiar looking clinic.
***
Two hours later three figures, two male one female exited the clinic and headed down the street. "Your sure you want to do this?" the older male to the younger.
"Yes, we will be here at least a year, we need to settle this. By the way, how is your relationship coming with Kasumi?"
"Slow, I don't always flip out when I hear her name now, but being close to her in a non-professional atmosphere usual will send me into it."
"It's good to hear you're making process."
"Well hear we are" commented Tofu to the pair as he stopped outside a familiar looking dojo. The Tendou Dojo if you haven't already guessed it.
"Let's get this over with" said the younger man as he rapped on the frame surrounding the sliding door before taking a step back.
A brief shuffling was heard before the door slid open revealing a very tired looking Kasumi, but who brightened upon seeing Tofu. "Oh hello Doctor Tofu, who are your two friends?"
"Don't recognize me Kasumi?" asked the younger man.
"OHH MY... RANMA, Ranma-Kun your back" exclaimed Kasumi. Which brought a thundering from inside the house as every occupant came rushing to the door. In short order Nabiki, Genma, Nodoka, and Soun were all standing at the front door staring at the trio. "Please Ranma-kun come in and bring your friend too" said Kasumi as she led everyone to the table and left to go get tea.
Tofu since he had heard most of the story when they stopped by his clinic just went to a corner and sat down. He felt he should only disturb everyone if his skills were needed. This was not his fight after all and if what Ranma said was true he was more than capable of handling himself.
"And who might you be?" inquired Nodoka to the female which interrupted Soun and Genma's 'Ranma's home and so now he can marry Akane wedding Dance'.
"My name is 18" replied the woman.
Nodoka blinked "18?"
"Yes"
"I see... and what is your relationship with my son?"
"We are together" said 18, which caused Ranma to start choking on his tea.
"You could have worded that better" was all Ranma was able to say before he was set upon by the two father figures.
"How dare you cheat on your fiancee!!!" screamed a Soun going into his demon head. "Ohh to have such a dishonorable son, who would throw away the honor of the Saotomoe name" ranted Genma.
Two chi blasts later and there were two unconscious adults. "Ranma... now that the idiots are done maybe you can explain to us (indicating Nodoka, Kasumi, and herself) why you look so different, and while your at it you can explain how you were able to come back, and who she (indicating 18) is. Cologne told us it couldn't be done, that you were trapped" said Nabiki. The other two women after hearing that, took note of the changes, he seemed older than he should be more muscular, a few inches taller making him roughly 5'11'', and there was the look in his eyes that seemed to he had seen more than he should and that he was haunted by it.
Sigh "Ya I guess, we should probably call some of the others if there still around and get them together so we don't have to tell this more than once... by the way, how much time has passed since I disappeared?"
"Nine months why?" said Nabiki feeling this was leading somewhere "How long was it for you?"
Scratching the back of his head "Heh A bit longer than that... I'll try and explain it all when everyone gets here."
Nabiki studied him for a moment then nodded, "This better be good Saotomoe..."
**** To Be Continued
A.N. I'm pretty sure most were able to figure out who the pair was. It probably got old not naming them until the end but I had to go with what I felt was right. Might as well spill the beans this will be a Ranma/18 pairing.
Definitely going to be a mini-series, 3-5 Chapters at the most.
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Return of the Horse - Chapter 01 - Part 02
by Schemer schemer@houston.rr.com
Disclaimer: I don't own em, don't sue me
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"RANCHAN!" Glomp
"Heh... it's good to see you too Ukyou, how have you been?"
"Great now that your back Ranchan!" she said as she tightened her hug.
"You might want to let him go before he passes out..." remarked 18.
"Ranchan... who is this?" asked Ukyou, eyes narrowing.
"Can't bre... athe"
"Oppps sorry sugar"
"S'all right" replied Ranma after regaining his breathe.
"So...."
"Hmmm... I'll explain when everyone gets here."
Crack, Smash And a wall surrounding the Tendou compound was reduced to rubble.
"Airean!" Glomp
"Get off my Ranchan!"
"Airean mine!"
And a fierce tug of war started with Ranma in the middle being pulled in two directions.
Sweat drop "You weren't kidding, were you... a piece of meat..." muttered 18 low enough so only Ranma could hear.
Shrugs "You ganna help me out here?"
"Do, you want me too?" Grins evilly
Thoughts fly through his head of body parts strewn about the lawn because of a jealous android. Sweat drop "Ahh... no thanks, I'll handle it" he said.
"Suit yourself"
It was about this time that Cologne came hopping into the building on her staff with a caged duck in her hand. "Well son-in-law you continue to surprise me, the artifact those two fools used was suppose to send you into a different dimension."
"It did"
"Hmmmm, I see, and how is it that you were able to return and no one else has been?" Her gaze sweeps across the room and landed on 18, and her eyes widen in shock, "What is this!" she thinks to herself, "I can't even feel her aura."
Shrugs "I dunno about the others, but they probably didn't know about the dragonballs and how you could use a wish to return."
Nabiki instantly perked up upon the mention of a wish, and was determined to weasel more information about the dragonballs from Ranma. She was just about to ask when Cologne beat her to it.
"Dragonballs?"
"I'll explain when everyone is here..."
"Might as well start now Ranma, I haven't been able to get a hold of Akane, I don't know where she is" remarked Nabiki.
Shrugs "Ya I guess..." he said as he began his story.
"When Ryouga and Mousse used the Nan Ban Mirror on me that day..."
*** Flashback
"Ranma, you have made our life's hell for the last time!" screamed Ryouga.
"Ya Ya, whatcha ganna do Ryouga, Mousse.... all talk, don't even think about anyone else but yall's selves" quipped Ranma.
"That's enough Saotomoe, I finally found a way to free Shampoo from your sorcery" said Mousse. "Note to self" he thought, "stop hanging around Kuno."
"Ya ya, I'm leaving your ganna make me late for school" and with that Ranma took off headed for school.
Mousse and Ryouga followed and caught up just as he was entering the School yard. "Were not done with you yet Saotome" called Mousse.
"Aww man give it a break" remarked Ranma.
"Ranma for making our life's hell, we banish you from this world" and with that Ryouga pulled out a Nan Ban Mirror fragment, sliced his arm with it so it dripped with blood coating the mirror, and held it so it reflected Ranma's image and said "Be gone", and he was.
*** End of Flashback
"... I'm not exactly sure where I ended up; apparently I was unconscious when I arrived on the other Earth.
My first memory was waking up on an operating table and some old guy with a funky hat standing over me. I blacked out again shortly after that. When I came back to the same old guy was there again. He explained that one of his observer drones that filmed several of the high powered warriors of the planet had caught my arrival and his interest was piqued and he brought me to his lab.
The world I arrived on is more technologically advanced than this one, so he was able to use some scanning devices to determine my 'power level' and others to view my memories."
***
"Hold it Saotome" Nabiki interrupts. "You honestly expect us to believe they have technology that advanced... You don't by chance have some examples of this 'technology' do you?" she asks with a greedy gleam in her eye.
Shrugs "I dunno what to tell you, weirdness like this is almost like second nature in my life. I don't really think about it. As for bringing technology back, no we didn't really have much of a chance to pack before we were sent here."
"Ahh..." starts Nabiki but stops, not really knowing how to respond to this.
"Please continue Ranma" voices Nodoka.
***
Sigh "While I wasn't nearly as powerful as the fighters he was after, apparently my adaptability and learning curve were 'off the scale' as he put it.
He began augmenting my body, using machines that let him alter my DNA and splice new DNA into it. He also added cybernetic implants into parts of my body that increased my strength and speed as well as kept me under his control. Basically I became a puppet I didn't have much control. Heh, one good thing though his genetic manipulation eliminated my curse.
I could control my actions for the most part but it was like my conscious had been removed, I knew what was right and wrong but it was like it didn't matter anymore. The only reason I wasn't immediately send out to find and destroy his enemies was I was able to fight or reword his commands just a little bit, not enough to make much a difference but you see the guy Gero was a rabid perfectionist and I was put in a stasis cell until he could fix this 'problem'.
Eventually before he could finish, this group of 'high powered warriors' found his base after he sent out a couple weaker androids to kill them. Apparently a couple of the fighters weren't human and were from a race called Saiyan's from a planet Vegita.
Anyway, apparently a couple of these Saiyan's had gotten quite a bit stronger when they had to defend the ummm other earth from this evil guy called Freezer on another planet. I found this out after everything and they were filling me in about what happened before I got their. Well you see, Gero's observer droids didn't know about their trip off planet so he wasn't prepared to face their new powers.
When it became obvious to Gero he was going to lose to these warriors he was able to make it back to his lab and revive two androids one male and one female from stasis, 17 & 18. 17 & 18 apparently were quite a bit stronger than these warriors, even though they despised Gero; Gero still felt he could still control them. He thought wrong, the android 17 killed Gero shortly after he was awoken.
The Z team as the warriors called themselves was shocked at the androids actions and didn't really do much but gawk after 17 killed Gero. Then 18 apparently found my stasis pod, that had a display of who and what I was, and decided to release me.
When I was revived from stasis I found most of my memories were 'sealed' I guess would be the best word. Apparently Gero thought he could control me better if my memories from this life weren't a problem. The only real thought in my mind was the last command Gero had given me, which was to kill one of the Saiyan's called Goku, apparently the strongest person on the planet.
When I asked about where I could find Goku, the Z fighters got very defensive. It was because later I learned that Goku had had an attack of some sort and was in a weakened state. The Z fighters tried to destroy us; they blew up the mountain the base was located in, in hopes that it would kill us. No such luck, 17 & 18 wanted to have some fun and decided that kicking the crap out of them was the best way to do it.
One of the fighters was named 'Vegita' was quite a bit stronger than the others and was able to change his form to increase his power. This 'Super Saiyan' as he called himself was supposed to be the pinnacle of what his race could achieve. He had the power to destroy the world in his first form, and his power was multiplied many times in his 'Super Saiyan' form. He and the others were quite surprised when 18 still beat the crap out of him and left him for dead, his friends were all shocked that she had dispatched him so easily.
I was anxious to start looking for Goku, and since none of the fighters were Goku I hadn't felt the need to get involved in the fighting, and stood off to the side. Kind of strange, I mean me not wanting to fight, but hey when you got some cybernetic chip in your head you act different. Eventually 17 & 18 got tired of playing with the Z team and we decided to go find Goku.
We could have flown there..."
***
"Fly? Son-in-law" interrupted Cologne, "Surely you don't expect us to believe you can fly or someone can be strong enough to destroy the worl..." Cologne trailed off as Ranma rose up in the air, and floated around the table still in a sitting position before returning to his original position.
Stunned Silence...
Sigh "I know this is allot to take in all at once but, if your done interrupting..."
***
"Apparently when Gero was implanting the cybernetic stuff into my head he also crammed in allot of techniques like using ones chi to fly and firing chi blasts not based on emotions, and several others. Anyway as I was saying we could have flown to this Goku's house but 17 wanted to drive for some reason.
So we 'borrowed' this van and set out. We stopped at several towns along the way and we acquired clothing and other stuff, as well as fight with the local populace. I didn't really do much except sit in the van, if it wasn't about this Goku I wasn't interested.
Apparently one of the Z fighters was from the future and that's how they had been warned of our awakening. So he traveled back in time to aid the Z fighters in their fight against us. Apparently in one timeline he was successful, so he returned to his time. Gero unfortunately had another experiment that hadn't been let loose upon the world yet.
This creature called Cell was able to travel back in time using Trunk's, Trunks being the guy from the futures time machine. Cell needed to absorb 17 & 18 to achieve his perfect form. Since 17 & 18 weren't around in that timeline he returned to the past were they were so he could absorb them.
17 & 18 were not to pleased with this idea of being absorbed although Cell claimed it was a great 'honor' and they fought with him several times. Eventually cell absorbed enough energy from people that he was able to beat 17 and absorb him too.
Now, if I haven't already mentioned it before 17 was stronger than 18 and so 18 was a little scared of being absorbed as well. So just as Cell was about to absorb 18 I entered the fight.
Cell was good, he was very good. He was quite a bit more powerful then me, but my technique was better so I was able to hold my own for the most part. I'm not sure what would have been the outcome of that fight if Vegita hadn't shown back up, he apparently wanted to fight cell and I could tell he was more powerful then cell was so I allowed him to in hopes that he could kill him.
It was a pretty one sided battle Vegita was winning easily in his 'Super Saiyan' form."
***
"Didn't you say that 18 beat Vegita quite easily how could Vegita now beat Cell?" asked Ukyou.
"Just listen I will explain."
***
"On that earth there is a tower which reached high in the sky which houses the guardian of earth, he isn't a fighter but he helps out where he can. In the tower there is a room which allows a person who uses it to live a whole year in the span of a single day. Think of the room as a wide open plain with a single structure there, that is the living quarters. The training area around the houses varies in gravity and temperature levels so when a person trains their he actually trains harder than he can normally on earth. Vegita had apparently used this room during our trip cross country to get to Goku's house.
It seemed Vegita would beat Cell easily and then the fool went and allowed Cell to absorb 18. I was pissed 18 had treated me well, so I kinda exploded at Vegita. I beat the holy crap out of his ass even though he was more powerful. Cell found this amazingly funny and proclaimed a tournament that would occur in 10 days to 'decide' the fate of the earth. If we won, everything was fine. If he did, he would destroy the world and move on to the next.
With that he took to the air and left, I was about to follow and try to free 18 when this man popped out of nowhere and grabbed me then teleported my ass to top of the guardian of earth's tower.
The man was Goku, needless to say the commands Gero left kicked in and I started fighting with him. I must admit he was amazing; I have never met such a good fighter. It wasn't his technique, heck none of the Z team had any real fighting technique it was just his ungodly speed and strength. Chi blasts were wasted on him. It is depressing to think to think about, he was good, but could be so much better. The talent, the skill was all their, I knew I should have lost that fight and at the final moment, where I was prepared to end his life, memories filtered through the block. They showed me I didn't have to kill to win, and I was able to fight off the effects of the chip in my head.
I was pretty banged up after our fight and allot of the cybernetic implants weren't functioning all that correctly so one of the earth's scientists named Bulma offered to 'fix' me up. She was able to block out most of Gero's programming and removed some sort of self destruct device from my chest. She wasn't able to do anything about the chip in my head though so most of my memories were still locked away. All this took about 2 days, so there were only 8 more before this tournament.
Without the effects of Gero's programming effecting my actions I was pretty much trusted by the Z team. Why I dunno, I nearly killed Goku, but apparently since I was able to stop myself I was ok in their minds. When I got back up to the tower, Vegita and his son Trunks the kid form the future were coming out of the room. They had both increased in power, but they were still weaker than cell.
Goku realized that while I had won our fight, that there was no way I could beat cell. With the cybernetic implants boosting my strength my power level was pretty much as high as I could get it while his could still go up. He asked me to train his son and himself in this 'room'. The room could only hold 2 people at a time, so for the first year I went in with Goku.
I taught him as much as I could; he was the best student a person could ask for. A quick study and when he wasn't eating or sleeping, we were fighting or I was teaching him the Anything Goes style. In all of about 6 months he had learned most of the basics and allot of the advanced styles and techniques. At that point there wasn't much of a point of me staying, I wasn't strong enough to spar against him effectively anymore and he would increase his power level faster without my interfering so I left the room while he continued to practice and increase his power level until the year was up.
Needless to say when I arrived half a day early and without Goku the others were shocked. When I told them the reasons though they understood. Apparently Goku had always been a quick learner, not as fast as me but quick none the less.
When the day ended Goku came out in his Super Saiyan form, apparently he had spent just about every second since I had left in that form so it felt second nature to him, by staying in that form it helped increase his power level faster since it burned chi so fast.
Goku then went in with his son and spent only a couple hours in their, apparently showing him how to reach his second form. When he came out it was my turn again and I went in to train his son 'Gohan'. Like his father he was a quick learner, and picked up our style very fast. Once again I was quickly outclassed and left the room to be replaced by Goku again.
When Gohan exited the room he was a changed man, he had grown several feet and gained allot of muscle mass. Apparently this was another thing about Saiyan's as soon as they hit puberty they grew incredibly fast. He was also in his Super Saiyan form like his father and the two set out to enjoy what little time they had left before the tournament. The others just took their turns in the room, knowing it wouldn't really make a difference if Goku or his son couldn't beat Cell then what hope would they have.
And that's pretty much the whole story" concluded Ranma.
***
Stunned silence...
More silence...
"Wa.. Wait a minute, what the hell do you mean that's pretty much it..." sputtered Nabiki. "What the hell happened to Cell, how did you get home, what happened to 18 she said jerking her thumb at the android sitting on the deck looking at the pond." The others just nodded their heads and waited for the answers, still stunned. It wasn't until this that most of the rest made the connection between the android in the story and the Girl sitting by Ranma.
Sigh "Heh" laughed Ranma scratching the back of his head. "I don't remember to much of it, what I was told by the others is that sometime during the start of the tournament I attacked cell screaming something about giving 18 back and was killed."
Stunned Silence...
"Ki.. Killed?" muttered Nodoka.
Ranma nodded and continued somberly "Apparently Goku fought cell after I did, at first they say he did real well and many thought he would win. Blows were traded back in forth with enough force to level mountains, the battle took place in the sky, on the ground, and over water it was amazing to watch a replay of it. When both fighters started increasing their power levels it quickly became clear that Goku wouldn't win. He just wasn't powerful enough. In a last desperate gamble Goku was able to use a combination of his Ka-Ma-Ha-Me-Ha and his instant transmission technique to appear right in front of cell and release his most powerful chi blast. Cell was literally blown in half, his whole top half had disintegrated.
Cell was not beaten though, you have to give Gero credit he knew what he was doing and Cell was able to regenerate himself even with that extensive damage. And then Goku did the unthinkable he bowed out of the competition claiming there was another warrior who surpassed him in power and could defeat Cell.
The other Z fighters thought he was crazy and even more so when he claimed it was his own son Gohan. So it came about that Gohan was the second fighter, and started to fight Cell. Where it had seemed that Goku was almost an even match for Cell, Gohan was quickly getting decimated by Cell his chances weren't looking good. One arm had been seriously damaged at the beginning of the battle and he had to defend himself with only one arm.
Gohan realized why his father had picked him, apparently when Gohan is pressed into a life threatening situations or those that he cares about he 'snaps' much like I use to when I went into the Nekoken. He told Cell this and like Vegita, Cell figured nothing could match his power and set about trying to bring it out. Eventually by splitting himself, sort of like Colognes Splitting hairs technique but quite a bit more advanced he was able to make him snap.
They said after he pummeled Cell for a good while, he shot a huge 1 handed chi blast that obliterated every cell of his body so that his regeneration powers couldn't help him. Now all that the Z fighters had to do was fix all the damage Cell caused.
Apparently the guardian of earth created these dragonballs, 7 balls that when brought together granted the person 2 wishes. Why 2 I dunno, the first wish was to restore all the damage done during the fighting, the second wish was to bring back to life everyone that was killed by cell. So 17 & 18, myself, as well as allot of the population of Earth were brought back to life.
With a little coaxing I was able to point out that the Z fighters weren't that bad and that they would make much better allies than enemies. Eventually we were all able to get along together.
The dragonballs though could only be used once a year and the Z fighters had other friends which were in the afterlife that were waiting to be brought back. So I had several years to wait before I would be able to remove the chip from my head which would remove the block on my memories.
Bulma though was able to remove my cybernetic implants and with the help of a Saiyan health chamber was able to regenerate the damage it took to remove them. Without the implants though my power levels dropped dramatically, I still had the alien DNA spliced into my own though. With a little analysis Bulma was able to determine it was mostly Saiyan but also a couple strands she couldn't recognize and had no ideas how they would affect me.
With several years before I could regain my memories I opted to go train and try to increase my power level back to what it was with the implants. 18 asked if she could accompany me and we set out. We spent the next couple years together, growing closer as time went by."
***
"RANCHAN! How dare you cheat on me!" screamed Ukyou who brandished her battle spatula and attacked him.
Clang The spatula was blocked by 18 who appeared right in front of Ranma before anyone could blink. Snap With a quick palm strike the battle spatula was snapped in the middle. Splash And with a grab at Ukyou's still overextended hands she was sent flying into the Koi pond.
Ukyou came boiling to the surface screaming in outrage.
"Ranma might have a problem defending himself from you, but I will not allow it" stated 18.
Smash A bonbari caught 18 on the side of the head and sent her crashing into the outer wall.
In an instant Ranma was by her side looking her over. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine, but she won't be" growled 18 as she got up.
In an instant Cologne was by Shampoo's side and hit a shiatsu point that knocked her out, threw her over her shoulder and took off across the roof tops carrying her and the still caged duck, moose.
"Are you sure your ok?" asked Tofu as he stood from the corner he had been throughout the story.
"I am fine" she stated again throwing a glare at Tofu for not believing her the first time.
"Ok, ok... it's just my job" he said in a calming voice.
Softening her gaze she looked at him before nodding and turning her attention back to Ranma.
"I think we should probably leave now" said Ranma to 18 who nodded in understanding.
"Wha... wait a minute what about Akane your fiancee???" exclaimed Soun who was still out of it trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Ranma was several years older now and all the stuff that had happened during that time.
"What about her? She obviously hates me, she says it often enough and wishes she weren't engaged to me, I think she would be thrilled with this turn of developments" he said. "I may have had feelings for her at one time, they might have even been love, but heck after the failed wedding and when things didn't change what did you expect. I mean really how can you be in a relationship with someone who doesn't even trust you and hit's you every chance you stick your foot in your mouth. I think you're lucky she hasn't killed someone by accident with that temper of hers" he concluded.
"Regardless" he continued "I spent 6 years in another dimension that Ryouga and Moose sent me to, I had no clue how much time had passed and eventually I moved on. In time she will too."
Stunned Silence...
Thump Heads turned... "Akane" Ranma whispered.
**** End chapter 1
A.N. It's my story I know I changed allot of the Cell battle but ITS MY STORY!!! Goku lives at the end, heck King Kai lives at the end too, 17 & 18 died when Cell absorbed them so the dragonballs brought them back. If you don't like it tough :P
After numerous complaints about my original draft I rewrote allot of Ranma's retelling of the past to make it more descriptive. In later chapters I will expand on 18 & Ranma's relation ship and his future relation ship with other females. Don't think his female problems are over yet!
I hoped you liked the story, comments praise can be sent to my email schemer@houston.rr.com
I also need some pre-readers so if you're interested please send me an email.