Disclaimer: All Characters/settings/trademarks referenced from Dragonball/Z/GT/Super & DC entertainment are the respective properties of their original creators.
A/N: You don't have to say it – I already know. Why Shoes? Why must you post this instead of an update to The Sun And The Moon? It's simple, really. I've hit a block on chapter ten and need to recharge my batteries a bit. And, since Ranma fiction is an old love of mine, I figured I'd mash it up with some DBZ just so I don't lose sight of things. Besides, I have over 20,000 words already written and edited that have been collecting dust on my hard drive for the better part of 3 years. I have not given up on TSATM, so don't worry. Just sit back and enjoy (or hate) this aside for now. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review if you like this and want more.
Ranma Ball Z
Act One:
High School Field Trips Have No Business Being This Dangerous
"Two and a half years ago, life on earth was changed forever in the wake of the calamity widely referred to today as the celestial dislocation; wherein our entire planet, along with all of the beings inhabiting it, were pulled into a parallel universe. Even more terrifyingly amazing than that was where it found itself after the dust settled. When light returned, a new body was visible in the sky. That body was another blue and green globe much like the only planet humankind has ever known - our own earth. That revelation and, more importantly, the dramatically close proximity, sparked an historical undertaking in which all of the different nations put aside their differences in order to prevent a collision that would likely have resulted from the immense gravity of two planets within arms reach of each other. It was in the midst of this crisis that humanity learned, in no uncertain terms, that it was not alone. The inhabitants of the mirrored earth, as it was originally called, reached out to us to coordinate the dramatic effort necessary to save both our worlds. That moment has since come to be viewed as the beginning of a new age of technological prosperity which continues to hinge on the cooperation of our two populations. Are there any questions before we move on?"
Gosunkugi's hand shot up faster than tsunami waves crashing against buildings and Ranma rolled his eyes at the over-eagerness of his classmate. The persistent interest that people seemed to sustain for this topic was lost on him. Sure, some of the weird things that came out of the whole situation were mildly entertaining but the reality was that day to day life had hardly changed from before the big event. Aside from gaining an extra year of high school due to a new law passed in Japan, Ranma was in the same boat. He was still at odds with his old man and mister Tendo about the forced engagement which, more or less, meant that his and Akane's relationship was as strained as it ever was due to the pressure. Oh, and he was still plagued by the Jusenkyo curse to boot. So, he was among the least enthusiastic people with respect to this subject.
"Yes, Gosunkugi?" Mister Kuroma said, prompting the spindly boy to stand up in the aisle between parallel rows of desks.
"Sir, what about the growing religious movements protesting against the advancement of science and its relation to the dislocation? Wouldn't that be considered a direct contradiction of Earth-A's support for cooperation with Earth-B since relations between our planets mostly revolve around the exchange of science and tech? Some people are even saying that the planetary displacement was a result of our own physicists meddling with tech that they didn't fully understand. It's all over the internet."
"Mister Gosunkugi, while it's true that some countries have seen the religious fundamentalists gaining political ground, they are still a minority and I'll remind you that there are just as many people on the internet that are also still clinging to the idea that this new reality we face is somehow an expertly executed conspiracy perpetrated by a secret society ruling from the shadows. There might even be an overlap of the two ideologies but, if there's any rule that we can all adhere to in order to stay grounded, it's that you can't believe everything you read on the internet."
"You mean the earth isn't really flat?" Daisuke quipped. Half the class erupted in laughter before it was silenced again by Kuroma. Gosunkugi grumbled as he slipped back into his seat and proceeded to glare at Daisuke.
"Anyone else?" Kuroma asked, catching Ranma mid-yawn. "Mister Saotome, how about you?"
Ranma paused with his mouth still hanging open and pointed a finger at himself as if to make sure that his teacher wasn't referring to some other person with the same name as him. Upon getting confirmation, he scratched the back of his head and uttered the first thing that popped into his head. "Uhh... I think I saw something on youtube about their king being a talking dog. Is that a real thing?"
Daisuke came in the next moment with an addendum. "I know that one! That's the same channel that posted the musical montage 'Doggystyle' with Snoop Dogg rapping over it. They actually had chick versions of those weird humanoid dogs dancing in bikinis. You haven't seen everything until you've seen that."
"Isn't the proper term bitches?" Hiroshi asked. Roaring laughter overtook the class, forcing Kuroma to yell over the din in order to reprimand the clowns.
"Gentlemen! Buckets. Hallway. NOW," he said with an outstretched arm and finger directing them toward the exit. The two young men accepted their punishment with little protest and soon the rest of the class was settled down. "This stuff is going to be the subject of your final essay for the semester, so let's try and get back to taking it seriously, shall we?" Kuroma continued. "Look, I wasn't going to reveal this until the end of the week but, if it helps you all focus, then why not? The administration has been planning a trip for our group of seniors for the last few weeks. It's to the embassy."
That got everyone's, including Ranma's, attention. Every human being alive today, short of those living under a rock, knew about the embassy that floated in the space between Earth-A and Earth-B. It was simultaneously a symbol of the diplomatic ties the two worlds shared and the literal thing that had prevented the planets from colliding. It was a massive gravity manipulating machine built into the heart of a space station that had allowed them to establish a stable binary orbit.
As a person with an adventurous spirit, Ranma couldn't help but be excited by the idea of getting to visit space. Nevermind the fact that it would be impossible for any of his rivals to ruin a trip that only his and Akane's class would be participating in. They'd be all the way up in space! Maybe, just maybe, with all that distance between them and the family, he'd be able to break down the wall and finally start to fix things with Akane.
After school, he caught Akane outside the gate and managed to speak to her without all hell breaking loose. "Hey, 'Kane, wait up."
"Hm?" she replied, turning around. "Oh... hey, Ranma..."
"Listen, about the trip... can we not tell our dads about it? They'll just do everything they can to screw it up. I mean, I was hoping... like maybe it could be a good thing for us ya know? If we went and just got to experience it together... with no pressure. Wouldn't that be nice?" Ranma just laid it all out on the table for her. It was a rare moment of earnest expression and it felt good to get it out.
"I... well, yeah, I'd like that. But Kuroma-sensei gave us permission slips," Akane replied. "How are we gonna go if they don't sign them for us?"
"Ha! Don't be a doofus, 'Kane. Nabiki is a pro at forging signatures, ain't she?" Ranma realized his error almost immediately after the words left his mouth. "I-I didn't mean..."
She glared at him hard for a moment but eventually rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yeah I guess she could pull that off. I hope you have money saved up, though, because I'm not going to pay for it."
"Uh... well, I'm sure I can scrounge up something. Don't worry, okay? I'll make it happen. I promise."
Akane made eye contact with him and he saw a glimmer of hope there before she turned her back. "I'll see you at home, okay?" she said, glancing back at him over her shoulder.
"Yeah... see ya," he said as he watched her go. He sighed, hanging his head low, and staring up at the sky. He fixed his gaze on the picturesque scenery of Earth-B hanging low on the horizon with the orange hue of late-afternoon forming a sort of halo around the planet. His resolve solidified as he watched the slow, subtle, rotation of the sister world. It wouldn't be long now.
OoooooO
The vibration from the shuttle's rocket boosters crawled up from the hard floor into Ranma's booted feet and, to a lesser extent, up his spine from the cushioned seat beneath his backside. He barely noticed it, though, as his attention was focused on the growing darkness outside of his window. The thinning atmosphere soon gave way to an endless starfield and the entirety of his class verbalized their awe as they realized how small they really were.
Just as soon as the boosters let up and the floating sensation of weightlessness washed over them, the artificial gravity kicked in and pulled them all back down into their seats. In the midst of being jarred, he noticed a pressure crushing his hand and looked to his left to see Akane holding onto him for dear life. He managed a light chuckle and earned a glare from her.
They made it to the embassy in less time than it had taken their school bus to drive them to the airport. He got a good look at it from his window as the shuttle made its final approach. The station's core was a massive sphere surrounded by a latticework of cylindrical modules reminiscent of the old international space station and, at nearly every juncture, there were arrays of solar panels deployed like umbrellas. There were also at least a dozen other shuttles docked there. Ranma acknowledged to himself that it was likely the biggest tourist attraction since Disney World.
In short order, their shuttle was among those docked and soon they were being ushered in through an airlock. When they arrived in the lobby, Kuroma's instructions were drowned out by a cacophony of teenagers. It wasn't just Furinkan's, either. The vast majority of people populating the complex were clad in school uniforms. Apparently, a student trip to the embassy wasn't an idea unique to suburban Tokyo.
There were other teachers struggling, like Kuroma, to corral their students into a semblance of order as members of the station crew directed the waves of guests to file into the archway of a large metal door that, ostensibly, led deeper into the embassy's core. There where other identical doors at intervals along the circular perimeter of the deck that yet more people were being herded into as well. The huge bowl shaped auditorium on the other side, as they all soon discovered, was for the purpose of hosting the inaugural opening of the public exhibit which, according to the event organizers, would forevermore serve to educate and inspire all future visitors. Indeed, King Furry and Doctor Briefs, the engineer chiefly responsible for the success of the gravity generator, both delivered inspiring speeches to which they received raucous applause. The demonstration of support was quickly followed up by four giant screens being deployed like curtains around the circular stage which were promptly lit up by video projectors.
The image of a young woman with bluish purple hair appeared on screen zoomed in close enough that her face occupied nearly the whole scenery. With such a focus, it was impossible for anyone to not see the stark terror marring her features or the muzzle of the rifle that was pressed into the side of her head. The off-screen wielder of the gun applied enough pressure to the woman's head to make her wince with pain and open her mouth in protest. "Read it," a man's voice growled.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," she said, her voice trembling slightly with strained composure as she presumably read from a script that had been prepared for her. "As many of you may already know, I have worked closely with my father on many of Capsule Corporation's endeavors for several years. The embassy project is no different. As a result of my involvement, I was given the biometric clearance to access and edit the reactor computer's source code which, as of now, is being held hostage. I stand before you today to tell you to comply or else see this station repurposed into the greatest weapon of mass destruction ever conceived. It is well within the capabilities of this facility to push one or both planets away from a habitable orbit until we either freeze to death or burn from over exposure to the sun. You, me, and everyone we know are now subjects of the Great Red Ribbon Empire."
Before anyone could react, the screen covering the stage rolled up just enough for almost everyone to see one of the royal secret service agents pressing a knife to King Furry's throat while holding him in a headlock. There was a collective gasp from the audience. The other three agents that were a part of the security detail seemed to be in on it as they held their weapons up at the other speakers sitting on the stage panel.
Abruptly, the live video feed shifted from the young woman's face and onto that of a well dressed middle-aged man with shaggy gray hair and bushy mustache. His sly, somewhat sinister grin, left no room for doubt about his motives. "As you all can see, my agents have infiltrated the secret service," he said. "However, I can assure you that is but one of the many high level agencies that I've placed operatives. King Furry, your leadership has taken our progress in the wrong direction for too long – not to mention that you're a poor choice to represent a world that is predominantly human. Your reign, along with your life, ends now."
The knife wielding agent unceremoniously slit Furry's throat before kicking the back of his legs so he collapsed to his knees. Shouts of horror echoed across the auditorium as the King grasped his own neck in a futile attempt to stem the flow of blood. When he collapsed onto his face, all out pandemonium followed. The several hundreds of occupants present either scrambled toward the exits, screamed in anger at what had just transpired, or broke down in tears. Meanwhile, the man on video was laughing heartily and taking great pleasure in the commotion.
Ranma and his classmates were among those huddled together to prevent being trampled over from the passersby. "Is this really happening? Seriously?" Daisuke yelled over the ruckus.
"You have eyes and ears don't you?" Akane replied.
"A-are we… gonna die here?" Yuka asked. She was struggling to hold back tears as she spoke.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Sayuri screamed as she slammed her cell phone against her palm. "This fucking thing has no service! We're up in space right next to all the satellites for fucks sake! I need to text my family! Shit fuck bitch piece of garbage!" Everyone paused to stare at the expletive spewing girl as she showed them a new side they had never seen before. As soon as she noticed them she doubled down. "Oh fuck off! I'm stressed the fuck out, alright!"
"Hey, aren't you gonna do anything, Ranma?" Hiroshi asked. "You're the craziest, most fearless, dude we know."
"Don't give him any ideas!" Kuroma butted in, overhearing the exchange. "Having fights with the Nerima delinquents on school grounds is a far cry from mounting a counter-insurgence operation against space terrorists!"
Ranma had been wringing his fists and grinding his teeth since he saw the young woman held hostage with a gun to her head. Now, after witnessing a cold-blooded public execution, it was all he could do to hold himself back but he had to consider the people around him. If he were to let loose, a lot of people would get hurt. Akane brought him back to the present by waving a hand in front of his face.
"Ranma," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Look at me. You got this. You just need to be smart about it. We're in space so you can't bust down walls indiscriminately since there might be vacuum on the other side. I can look after things here while you're gone. Just do me a favor, yeah? Find the asshole responsible for this and clobber him for me."
Ranma felt a little of his tension ebb from Akane's showing of support and mustered a grin for her. "Yes ma'am," he said, giving her a salute. He then promptly slipped into the Umisenken and disappeared. The rest of the class, having no foreknowledge of the secret stealth technique, gaped in shock at his sudden absence while Akane merely shrugged them off.
"Hahahahahhhh... oh yes! There will be much more of this to come, I promise," the man carried on as chaos continued to unfold beneath his projected image. "All of those undesirables and any who refuse to adapt will be rounded up and given the same treatment."
"You're a monster, Gero! You can't get away with this. Someone will stop you," It was the voice of the young woman who had appeared on screen earlier. She could be heard spitting at him afterward.
"And who is going to do that, Bulma? Your friend, Goku? I'd like to see him try it. There isn't anything he, or anyone else from your little clique, can possibly do as long as we are up here and they remain on the planet's surface. But, go ahead and foolishly cling onto hope. It'll make it that much more entertaining to watch you. Also, don't forget that my agents have your dear daddy held at gunpoint so you should maybe think about showing me a little more respect. As a matter of fact, maybe I ought to give him his turn in the spotlight."
"No! Don't you dare!" Bulma said.
"You there," Gero said, indicating the man who had slit the King's throat. "Bring Doctor Briefs up front."
"Stop this! You've already made your point, okay?" she pleaded.
Akane and her classmates, along with almost everyone else, refocused their attention onto the stage expecting to see another tragedy unfold. Gero's murderous henchman came up empty handed, however. "Sir, Briefs is gone," the man said.
"Whaaat!? You fools let him slip away? Go find him!" he yelled.
It was low at first, but then Bulma's laughter grew in volume until, finally, she spoke. "You sound worried, old man. Well, you should be. If my father is loose on the station, he'll find a way to take back control of the system and lock you out. You hear that everyone?" she said, raising her voice. "Don't lose hope! We can still-"
A loud thwack, followed by a clatter, cut Bulma off before the camera moved to show she had been knocked onto the floor unconscious while still tied to a chair. When it moved back onto Gero, it zoomed in on his face and he gave his most intimidating glare for everyone to see. "Listen up, everyone. I've just shut down oxygen circulation to all parts of the station except the deck where I currently reside. If there are any among you who don't wish to slowly suffocate to death over the next thirty minutes or so, then help my men find and apprehend Doctor Briefs. As soon as he is brought back to the stage, I'll restore the atmosphere. Don't keep me waiting." The video feed went dead after that.
A panic fueled hysteria returned to the crowd and the light trampling of before was now a veritable stampede. Akane and her group clustered even closer together in an effort to weather the storm until the people started thinning out.
OoooooO
With Doctor Briefs clinging onto his back, Ranma scaled the rafters high above the stage. It had been laughably easy to scoop him up unnoticed and the man had been more than willing to lend his aid. He was lucky he had been at least paying moderate attention to the stage presentation or he might not have known that Briefs was probably the only guy around who could outsmart Gero. Currently, they were trying to reach the deck above them via an emergency hatch which would surely have been overlooked since it was inaccessible to people who didn't possess superhuman jumping abilities or a very large scissor lift.
Gero's announcement had literally put them on the clock, though, so they needed to hustle. "Hang on tight, Doc," Ranma said. "I'm gonna leap again." When he felt the man's grip increase, he launched them the final distance and vaulted onto the catwalk right below the hatch.
Briefs exhaled a sigh of relief once he was able to regain his own footing. "Thank you, my boy," he said. "I'm sorry, I didn't get your name in all of the commotion."
"It's Ranma and don't worry about it," he said as he scaled the ladder and pulled the lever to the hatch door. It opened with a hiss and a light gust of cool air rushed by them.
"Good to meet you, Ranma," Briefs said as he followed him up. "Let's leave this door open, okay? Sharing the air between decks will give the people below us some more time."
"Good plan. I wouldn't have thought of that," Ranma admitted as he helped pull the man up and into the new corridor. "I guess that's why you're the brains and I'm the brawn, eh?"
Briefs dusted himself off as he surveyed the path in both directions. "Don't sell yourself short, son. You were smart enough to recruit me and that's gotta count for something."
"Hmm... I guess so. Which way next?"
"Neither way for now. Gero's bound to be monitoring the security cameras so I'll need to hack them before we can move on. You see that panel beside the vent?"
"Say no more," Ranma said before kneeling beside the bulkhead and ripping open the shutter. Inside the wall there was a black box with bundles of wires and cables, from all directions, plugged into it. He moved aside to let the Doctor in.
Briefs pulled his phone out of his coat pocket and used his charging cable to plug in. "There are nodes like these all over the station," he said as he began shuffling through windows on the screen. "It's a modular design, you see. Because we were pressed with such an imminent crisis, we had to recruit every tech firm and government agency with the proper resources, on both planets mind you, then divide the work into projects small enough to be completed around a tight schedule. As you may or may not be aware, transporting all of those sensitive components from ground to orbit, all at once, would normally have been a logistical nightmare. However, my patented Dynocaps made the operation relatively painless. Anything that goes through the miniaturizing process has to be uniquely engineered, though, so it required a lot of my personal oversight. Needless to say, I lost quite a bit of sleep during that time. That is, of course, why I know this station like the back of my hand. Bingo!" he said, punctuating his success with a finger swipe and flourish.
"Ya know, Doc, I actually have an essay due on this subject in like two weeks with my final exam and I pretty much need to ace it if I wanna graduate. I ain't exactly a model student if you hadn't already guessed as much and I'm not lookin' to get into university. I just kinda wanna to do this since my old man was a dropout. And this would be one hell of a story to write about. You think I can get your help with that if we get outta this alive?"
"I'd be more than happy to, son. Although I suspect that you won't have any lack of job opportunities after this – diploma or not. You and I are about to save the world. Say what you will about the propping up of normal celebrities but I dare say that sort of special treatment is justifiable if you're also a planetary hero. Whether that appeals to you or not is something you'll have to decide for yourself, though."
"Oh... I hadn't even considered that..." he said, scratching his head, while trying to imagine himself pausing for photo-ops with Hollywood A-listers.
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to ponder that later," Briefs said, bringing him back to the present.
"Haha, my bad," Ranma said, looking sheepish.
"Now, then, onto the mission. I've tapped into the system, but I can't make any critical changes because Gero still retains ultimate authority over the program. I can slow him down and keep him busy but the only way we're going to win back control is with a hard reset. After that, the defaults will kick in and my password will give me full control."
"Sounds simple enough," Ranma said, with a shrug. In his head he was thinking flip a switch off, wait a minute, then flip on again. No big deal.
"Yes, it's fairly straight forward. We'll just need to procure a couple of suits so we can take a short spacewalk over to the master fuse. There's an airlock not far from here, actually."
That gave Ranma reason enough to pause. "Wait, we have to go outside? Into space?"
"Don't tell me you're nervous. It's only for a few minutes."
"You kidding me? That's what had me most excited about space in the first place. My school of martial arts specializes in aerial combat, so getting to move freely in zero gravity has been near the top of my list since I first found out I'd get to go on this trip!"
Briefs actually chuckled slightly in amusement. "Well, buckle up then, son. You're in for a treat."
OoooooO
(Post Notes)
There are a couple of things I want to mention about this little tale. Firstly, Ranma is not going to suddenly become a Saiyan or some other type of alien, nor will any of the other members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew. This is a collision of universes in the literal sense – not a fusion (so it's impossible for any of the R-1/2 cast to have any secret otherworldly parentage from the DBverse). Secondly, although Goku is the de facto leader of the Z-fighters (and generally it's strongest member) the narrative will not place too much focus on him except as is necessary. I really want to shine a light on Ranma and his interactions with the under-utilized supporting cast of DBZ. Goku's prominence will still be seen and felt, though. Finally, while this will showcase a fair amount of blood and violence, it's not going to get too explicit as I don't want to have to up the rating to M. Gotta think of the kids, after all.
Another thing; if any of you guys think I should employ the trope of posting power levels at the end of chapters, please let me know and I'll consider it. And, there's an interesting (and funny) explanation behind my conjuring up this story if anyone cares to hear it.
Thanks for reading!
-Shoes