By Kyosuke
Part I.
Descent
Many times life can become difficult. At times it can even become overwhelming to the point where one may just feel the urge to give up and to give in to despair. They give up and let the darkness of the world consume them until they are nothing more than a memory. This tragedy is more likely to happen to certain individuals due to their upbringing and their lifestyles. Still, others are victims of despair simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dealt a crushing blow by the cruel hand of fate. It is these individuals, the innocents if you will; That make this world shake. It is the unknown individual, the one whom you would never expect, that changes the world. Super stardom, fame, wealth, and power. These are the things that are not simply gained by hard work. The aforementioned power is the most coveted. With it, everything one desires can be realized. But to achieve TRUE power, all doubt must be shed. All inhibitions. All fear. They must sink to the very depths of their soul, and welcome what the find there. They must descend................
BEEP BEEP BEEEP BEEPPP BEEEP BEEEP! WHAMMMM! A hand came down on the button ceasing the infernal noise instantly. The hand that was attached to the body of a 5'10 slim, but muscular black man clenched and unclenched. Bones popped as the man stretched and yawned. Looking at the clock through bleary eyes, the young man groaned as he looked at the time. Enter Lawrence Carter awake from another way too short night of rest.
"Man, morning already?" he thought. "It ain't fair. Stupid school." With that he hopped out of bed and moved to the floor. He then went through a series of quick stretches to loosen up his body. When that was done he quickly went through 200 hundred pushups, followed by 200 crunches ending with 100 leg lifts. Feeling much better, LC (as he was affectionately called by his hommies) jumped in the shower and finished his morning routine. As he locked his dorm room behind him, he contemplated on his life and wondered why it was so boring. Sure he was in college and on the road to success. But is that what he really wanted? To just go along with whatever society said? Especially a society that had spent the entire duration of his races existence in America tormenting his people? Was he forced to become like "them" his oppressors in order to earn some peace of mind. LC closed his eyes and sighed.
"I so have gotta do something else with my life. I need a purpose and a chance to really make a difference. Not to mention some excitement." he thought. He stopped at a crosswalk, and was so engrossed in his thoughts that he failed to notice the stoplight was red. He stupidly walked right into traffic just as the cars began to move. LC looked up in shock and his body went into action. He rushed across the street and managed to make it across the other side just as a semi screamed past.
"Get the fuck outta the road ya yahoo!" A voice shouted. LC looked in disbelief as the semi ran right into the pole. A loud 'argggggghh' was heard from the direction of the last comment. Shaking his head he resumed his walk to school. Fate happened to intervene right at the moment as a banana peel that a crack head had just dropped seemed to materialize out of nowhere. LC was walking one minute and then was airborne the next as he slipped. At this point, a homeless man riding a bike ran smack into the airborne student right as he was coming down. The impact propelled the young man further down the road. As he hit the ground, he bounced and rolled as pedestrians looked on in horror at another truck that was barreling down on him. Unlike the semi that had met a pole as an obstacle, this Mack truck went right through its obstacle that just so happened to be a human being. A very small human at that. Lawrence never even saw the truck that hit him. All he knew was that normally, people can't fly. As he came to a halt, Lawrence could feel nothing, and attempted to rise. As soon as he got to a knee, the pain came. He fell back in shock and his face screwed up in pain. He had never felt such pain before.
"Aggggh!!!" He sputtered through blood stained lips. Lawrence felt sleepy and knew he was slipping into unconscious and most likely death. As his mind began to cloud over, and his body shut down, he began to reflect on his life and all he had missed. So much he had wanted to accomplish. So much he had left undone. "One more chance." he whispered. "Just one more chance damnit." As he said that, he realized he had no idea what he was saying. One more chance for what? He really had never had a clear idea of where he was going. His life up until this point had been chaotic and filled with oddness. Suddenly rage filled his mind. He deserved better than this didn't he? All the drama he had dealt with and problems he'd overcome only to die a meaningless and stupid death by a bicycle? "I'm not gonna die damnit! I won't, I can't...............that was his last thought as darkness claimed him.
Somewhere in a different place, era and universe a calamity was about to befall another young man. Enter Ranma Saotome age 16 martial arts prodigy. "C'mon old man tell me why we're here at this crappy ol' place? This don't look like no training grounds to me." He said with an irritated look on his face as he dodged a blow from a husky Japanese man next to him. Enter Genma Saotome age: old enough to be a father, and martial arts instructor extrordinaire, (Or so he believed). The father and son duo were currently in China standing in a large clearing. The clearing contained a number of pools with bamboo sticks protruding about 15 feet above each one. "My son." began Genma. "This is Jusenkyo, the legendary training grounds. Here, we can gain much experience from the great power that resides here!" He struck a dramatic pose as tears began to well up in his eyes. Ranma, was not impressed. In a bored tone he said, "Yea yea, whatever. Lets get on with it ne?" He leaped atop one of the poles overlooking the clearing. "Ranma, wait for your instructor!" Genma called while following his son's footsteps and landing on a pole opposite of his son. At this point, a pudgy Chinese man came rushing towards them. "Wait sirs, please wait!" the man wheezed in heavily accented Japanese. He skidded to a halt at the edge of one of the pools. "You no can train here!" Ranma turned his head towards the China man. "Eh? we shouldn't train here? Why not?" he asked. "It very tragic story, you see......." started the China man. "Ranma!" bellowed Genma. "Ignore him! He is just trying to distract you. Remember, let nothing interfere with your training!" Ranma sighed and slid into his ready stance as he prepared himself for another leap at his father. As he and his father began exchanging blows, under the frantic gestures of the guide and his rants, an ominous wind began to stir. A low humming began to sound, followed by the gentle crackling of energy. One by the one, the pools of Jusenkyo began to glow and crackle with energy in tandem to the energy gathering in the air. This soon caught the eye of the guide and having never seen anything like this before in all his years as a guide, knew better than to stick around. He high tailed it out of there as fast as his chubby legs could carry him. The two fighters still sparring in mid air failed to notice what was going on until they were blinded by the light shining off the now glowing pools. "What the....?" Ranma said as he jumped away from his father landing on a pole. "HIYAA!!!" screamed a voice. "Huh?" Ranma looked up just in time to see a foot catch him right in the face. Ranma was propelled head first towards the pool below. At the exact moment when he would have hit the water, the constant hum had reached a deafening crescendo and an enormous explosion of light engulfed the training grounds.
"Arggggghhhhhh!" grunted Genma. He shielded his eyes and tried to back away forgetting he was on a pole and promptly plunged into one of the pools below. The guide simply hit the ground and covered his head with his hands. Pent up energy washed through the air, and angry tentacles of a sickly blue green energy danced around. Its power was great, destroying everything in its path. The poles submerged in the pools were sheared like wheat stalks, while the pools themselves were evaporated almost instantly. When the strange phenomenon came to an end, all was quiet. At the bottom of one of the now empty pools, a panda sat looking around in shock. The guide slowly got to his feet and looked around. As he took in the sight before him, tears came to his eyes. "This no good, this no good." he mumbled to himself. "Growwffff!!!" The guide looked up, not at all startled by the large panda waving its paws frantically. "You sir are now panda. Young boy gone, and I am out of job." the guide sat down heavily. "Pools should not be gone...........unless............." the guide looked up and sheer horror enveloped his face. "Unless IT happen again......IT has chosen another........." He looked at the spot where Ranma once was and swallowed hard. "The world no longer is safe." He bowed his head.
In another time...........
It was a cool dark night. Despite the lack of light, the city was still bustling with energy. At a particular loading dock, it may as well have been broad day light due to the intensity of the work that was in progress. Two men stood atop a large crate over seeing the work of several men loading up small rectangular crates into trucks. One of the men was small, but powerfully built. The other was tall and lanky and wore shades that did nothing to hide a large scar running straight down his face. The tall one spoke first: "Well it appears all is going according to plan." The short man nodded in agreement. "Of course it is going well Brunisky. My men and I are the best the Russians have to offer." The larger man chuckled. "Of course you are Fitz. Of course you are." Brunisky turned and hopped off the crate and towards an awaiting hover limo. "Now shall we talk money my friend?" Fitz slid down the side of the crate, making a small crater upon hitting the ground. "Heh, I thought you'd never ask. My associate should have the money as well as the necessary documents ready by now. After you my friend." Brunisky grunted in acknowledgment and slid into the car as the door slid open. Fritz followed, although a bit more slowly having to struggle to get his bulk in the vehicle. Once inside both men turned their attention to a small, wiry man wearing a tiny set of glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. He hefted a small briefcase. "Lets get started shall we gentlemen? Inside the briefcase is 150 million credits. Enclosed is the location for the other 150 million credits. Upon completion of the loading of the slappers, this location will be revealed to you for a maximum of 17 seconds. Understood?" Brunisky nodded. Fitz clapped his hands. "Excellent! Let us enjoy a drink while the men finish the loading of your property eh Brunisky?" Brunisky didn't answer because he was looking at something out the window and his body had gone completely rigid. Frowning, Fritz cranned his neck to peer around Brunisky's body. "What is the matter my friend, you look like you have seen a ghost." Fritz's body posture instantly matched Brunisky's as his body imitated a board. Where there was once a bustling harbor full of men loading crates of drugs, was now a silent battlefield. Bodies had been strewn about, several of them lying on the crates. Several of the large crates had holes in them as well. 42 men knocked out or killed. Fritz couldn't be sure, but he was damn well going to find out who was attempting to screw with his people, and more importantly, his business. Cursing in his native language, the man stepped out of the car pulling a pistol from his coat pocket as he did so. Looking around cautiously, he began to slowly make his way toward the loading dock. A footstep sounded behind him and Fritz whirled, pistol at the ready. Brunisky stopped a small uzi in his grip.
"Shall we go kill ourselves a killer, or just kill each other hmm?" the man said sarcastically. Fritz gritted his teeth at the sarcasm and turned back around. "Be careful!" the wiry little accountant said. "These bastards could be anywhere." There was the distinctive click and clack of parts being joined together and Fritz knew the little man was putting together the M-16 that was part of the limo he had ridden in. A small man he may have been, but he had no problem getting his hands dirty. As the two men crept forward, they were greeted to the sight of 5 grown men running for their lives. "Help us!" one of them screamed. Fritz moved and grabbed one of the men by the arm holding him in place. Brunisky moved in front of the other men and leveled his gun at them. "Don't move! Everyone shut up and don't move!" Brunisky growled. The men did as they were told, but still looked around in fear. "Now then, WHAT on earth is going on, and why are you 5 running like a couple of whores from their pimp?" Fritz said smoothly. "It was him!" the man being held by Fritz stammered. "It w-wa-was the b-b-b." Fritz got annoyed and exclaimed, "WHO! you dimwit!" The man swallowed and breathed out, "IT WAS THE BAT!" At that moment the men Brunisky was covering were bowled over by an unknown object. Brunisky whirled in the direction of the object and was fired his weapon. Bullets ripped through the air but hit nothing. The man Fritz was holding wrenched his arm free and ran away into the night. Fritz turned towards the men who'd been knocked down and balked for a minute when he saw that it was the body of another one of his workers that had bowled over the other men. "Get up and kill this intruder NOW!" he bellowed. He turned back in the direction of Brunisky, and was just in time to see him lifted off his feet courtesy of an uppercut from a large figure clad in a black suit. Fritz opened fire on the individual and was rewarded with a grunt from the figure as he went down. Fritz walked over to the figure and fired once more. "This is the Bat that you fools were scared of?" he scoffed. "I should kill every single one of you for cowardice, get your asses back in gear and......." He never finished his sentence as a foot lashed up beneath his chin as the figure on the ground flipped back to his feet. While Fritz was still reeling from the kick, the Bat figure punched him with two left jabs followed by a vicious right cross that sent Fritz spinning to the ground. By this time, the men had gotten some of their manhood back and rushed the Bat figure attempting to catch him off guard while his back was turned. The Bat leaped upwards into a back tuck and as he landed kicked out with his feet catching one of the men in the chest knocking the wind out of him. He then spun towards his right, his left leg arching into a roundhouse kick sending blood and teeth flying. A jumping knee caught another of the men in the side of the face breaking his jaw, while a low heel kick shattered his knee cap. The man went down uttering a muffled scream due to his broken jaw. The final man tried to swing at the Bat figure, but he never got past drawing his fist back before he was struck with a side kick to his face, midsection, groin, followed up by a rising palm strike ended with a spinning hook kick. The man landed several feet away. Pausing for a moment, the figure in black looked around, and suddenly ducked as he heard a sound like a steel zipper. The accountant still in the limo had burst from the sunroof and was laying down fire in his direction. Crouching, the black clad figure squatted for a second, then jumped straight up. As he reached the apex of his jump, fire exploded from the bottom of his feet as hidden jets activated. He flew straight up into the night. The accountant tried to follow his movements but might as well have been shooting at the ground. He wisely stopped firing and reloaded his rifle with another clip. First he would get out of here, take the money and then high tail it to another section of the city. Then he would............He was rocked out his thoughts, and almost lost his arms as they slammed into the sides of the sunroof. He felt himself tipping over, then caught himself as he realized that it wasn't him that was tipping over. It was the limo itself that was being overturned. Holding onto the side of the limo for dear life, the accountant was granted one quick look at the ground before it rushed up to meet him. Blackness was all the accountant saw then.
In a tree about a klick away, the Bat figure watched as the police rounded up the members of the West European crime organization. He watched with grim satisfaction as several police officers with the help of a squad car helped push the limo back onto its wheels. The figure rubbed his arms idly. Slamming into cars was not usually how he conducted business, but he wanted to make a point. He actually almost smiled as they pulled the accountant out and turned him over, cuffing him. They gave no thought to his twisted legs. Deactivating the high powered lenses in his helmet, the figure dropped down to the ground and leaned against the tree for support. Coughs racked his body as he struggled to catch his breath. Ripping the helmet off, the figure bent over and spat blood, all while tremors ran through his body. When the coughing spasm passed, he looked out over the bay. Moonlight reflected of the surface of the water and he caught a good look at himself. Skin tight costume, doing nothing to hide the large imposing figure. A red bat stenciled on the front. And the face of an aging, but distinguished man. The man, looking at his face covered in sweat, and a small trickle of blood near the corner of his mouth looked in horror at himself, and for the first time in many years began to shed tears. After a few minutes of near silent sobs, the man stumbled, and slowly made his way into the night. The helmet style mask lay forgotten in the bay. For it would not be needed by this man any longer. Not for the man Bruce Wayne.
End of Prologue
Well this is the beginning of something that will hopefully be very long and memorable. Let me take this time to give you people a run down on whats going to happen in this story and what expect. First up, whats going to happen in this story. This is a ranma/batman beyond crossover. Sounds corny? Don't like how this story is going? Remember this is ain't even the first chapter. Stick around, you'll be surprised. This fic will contain a great deal more than just Ranma and Batman. Ranma is the sole main character, but there will be a few others, myself included. Second of all, don't expect a poorly written chapter. I hate reading stories about great anime and they turn out terrible because of no thought. My story will be written with accuracy as well as an exciting plot. I already have my own plans for this story, but if I see that its not pleasing the readers, I will gladly incorporate your thoughts an ideas. As long as its nothing stupid of course. Next up, in terms of updates, don't expect chapters out every other day. As I've said, I like to read good stories, and those require time. So I'm going to live by what I believe in and take my time to put out a good chapter. However, I'm not going to leave readers hanging for months at a time. But I do plan on putting out long chapters so expect a minimum of 3 weeks to a month in between chapters. The first couple chapters I've got ready to go, but I'm fine tuning them. I'm not going to put them out until I get some feed back from the readers circle. Which brings me to my next point, FEEDBACK PEOPLE FEEDBACK! Look I could care less if you want to rip my stories to shreds. If that's how you feel, then by all means tell me that and explain why. There's no way I can please you readers if you don't give me anything to go on. So feel free to criticize and flame me if you must. One last point, there's going to be lots of OOC and violence and swearing and all sorts of things of that nature. So be prepared. I'm not going to be warning people about this every chapter so be warned.
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