TRT7: The Ranma Trek Tales! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: R1/2, SM, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Special: This story takes place between the years 2025 CE and 2150 CE, the year before Ranma Saotome joins the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise.
Part 1
June 23, 2025: Tokyo, Japan.
The area that was once the heart of Tokyo was nearly in ruins. The ground was broken, while the skies were colored red. Screams of anguish could be heard in the distance, as an eerie calm fell upon the land. Most importantly, however, a hard-won battle would be the stuff of legends.
In the epicenter of the destruction, a man stood alone. His hair whipped about in a breezeless wind, as energy arced across his body. Power he hadn't felt in years coursed through his veins. His eyes blazed with the light of the stars.
He was the Izanagi. He was Ranma Prime. He was Sailor Helios. He was Sailor Chaos. He was…Ranma Saotome.
"I…I did it," Ranma says, as he fell on his knees. "I…saved the world…"
"But at what cost, Prince of Chaos?" says a voice from behind.
Ranma huffed and laughed at the same time. His power was amplified to such a degree that he knew who was behind him before the person spoke.
"My sanity," Ranma says, as he gets up. He surveyed the damaged to his hometown. "And perhaps…my soul as well…"
Sailor Pluto steps forth to sit on a piece of rubble.
"Thank you for laying the foundation for Crystal Tokyo."
Ranma looks at Sailor Pluto sharply.
"What the hell do you mean by that?"
"I mean what I say…and I say what I mean, Ranma. Crystal Tokyo's formation hinged upon a 'great disaster' coming about. All this time I assumed that a 'nuclear winter' would be the cause. Then again, I never looked at other possibilities to come about."
"But…why would you thank ME for all this? Saffron was the one who attacked ME out of revenge!"
Saffron, the lord of the Phoenix Folk of the Bakalayna region of China, was the avatar of the universal entity that represented the eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth: the Phoenix Force. This was the same entity that had chosen the American mutant telepath Dr. Jean Gray (Parapsychology) to be its avatar. Some how, Saffron discovered a way to "mainline" his heritage, by tapping directly into the Phoenix Force itself. And when that happened, Saffron BECAME the Phoenix Force itself. Needless to say, the first person that Saffron sought to exact his revenge was Ranma Saotome…
"I know, but had you not been the target of Lord Saffron's revenge, none of this would have happened."
Ranma clinched his fist, as his power began to build up.
"Ranma…?"
"What is it now? Did I do something wrong? Here!"
Ranma punched towards a building that was miles away.
BOOM!
The skyscraper, already damaged from the battle, crumples upon "impact".
RUMBLE…
"There! Now there is more blame I can…I can…"
Suddenly, Ranma collapses on the ground.
"Ranma!" Sailor Pluto says with concern, as she goes to her former lover's side. "Ranma, hang on-"
"And so it comes to this," says a voice from behind.
Sailor Pluto turns around to see three robed figures in cloaks of various types. They step forth.
"Stay back," commands Sailor Pluto, as she stands while raising her staff in a combat stance.
"This is your only warning."
The three figures lower their respective cloaks.
"YOU?" Sailor Pluto exclaims.
"Yes," Nodoka says, as she and the women knell at Ranma's side.
Sailor Pluto takes a hard look at Nodoka's companions.
"Lady Arwen? Tokimi-sama?"
"It has been a while, Setsuna," Arwen says as she looked up.
"Why are…you here, goddess?" Sailor Pluto says.
"We're here to take our son home," Tokimi says. "Otherwise…Ranma will die."
"What?"
Meanwhile, underneath Japan itself, a lone figure was bearing the weight of her home.
"Please, Ranma…please be safe," says Sailor Cosmos, as she kept the weight on her back. Channeling all the power she has developed throughout her life, Sailor Cosmos was one of the most powerful beings on Earth…and perhaps beyond. And yet, in spite of her power, in spite of her willingness to sacrifice even her own soul to protect others, Sailor Cosmos was like a lonely little girl who needed reinforced comfort.
"Please…be safe," says Sailor Cosmos again, as tears flow from her eyes. "If I have to bare this weight forever…to keep Ranma safe…then I shall bare my burden willingly-"
Suddenly, the space where Sailor Cosmos was holding the weight of Japan began to fill with rock and dirt.
"Huh?"
'Hang on,' came a telepathic thought.
Sailor Cosmos began to feel herself being yanked by an invisible force.
"Ulp-!"
Eventually, Sailor Cosmos found herself being yanked out of the ground.
THOOM!
"Ahhhhhh-"
SPLASH!
Sailor Cosmos swam to the surface of the pond that was at the center of Juuban Park.
"Eh," Sailor Cosmos says, as she made it to shore. She sees Sailor Mercury with Sailor Terra.
"Nice going, guys," Sailor Cosmos says. "Now, I'm all WET."
"No, problem," Sailor Mercury says with a giggle.
"Next time you use 'The Force', give me a warning, okay?"
"We had to do the 'hat trick' maneuver, Usako," Sailor Terra says. "Ami needed to yank you out of there, so I can reinforced the foundation."
"Oh, yeah-"
CHIRP!
Sailor Mercury touches her earpiece that was shaped into an earring.
"Mercury: speaking."
"Ami, we have the remaining opposition boxed in," Sailor Venus says over the line. "We're ready to make the final assault."
"Stand-by," Sailor Mercury says, as she mutes her link. "Waiting for your orders, Princess."
"What is Ranma's status?" Sailor Cosmos asks. "Given the fact that you pulled me out of that place, I take it that Ranma defeated Saffron?"
"We…don't know of his status," Sailor Terra says. "But…based on the fact that I don't sense any significant shift of power of Earth's 'ley lines', I believe that the battle between him and the Phoenix King…is over."
"I hope you're right, Hoshi. Ami?"
"Yes?" Ami replied.
"What is the status of our forces?"
"Mop up actions are being conducted even as we speak. Naruto and his forces have the northern section of Tokyo secured, while Tenchi and his forces have secured the south section."
Sailor Mercury pauses for a moment.
"Was it really necessary to get Miko's help?" Sailor Mercury asks.
"Yes, really," Sailor Terra says. "I understand that we needed help, but demons? What if they run amok?"
"If Miko looses control over her forces, they'll have to deal with ME," Sailor Cosmos says, as her eyes burned red. "And believe me, I KNOW many ways to inflict massive
"Er, okay…"
"Besides, I trust Miko's ability to keep her Shikima forces in line."
Sailor Cosmos turns around.
"I want to find Ranma," Sailor Cosmos says. "Keep me appraise of the situation."
And with one crouch, Sailor Cosmos takes to the skies…
Meanwhile, Ranma was in bed, as he sweated profusely.
"He's burning up," Nodoka says, as she sponge Ranma's forehead. She then turns to Tokimi.
"Have you made contact with the First One?"
"I have," Tokimi says, as she sips tea. "Mmm…it is a curious thing."
"What is?"
"Corporeal form. Normally, I prefer to remain in the upper realms. However…my project's condition warrants special attention."
"My son is NOT a 'project'," Nodoka says.
"Oh, but he is. My sisters and I each wanted to create someone who could possibly be stronger than either of us. After all, WE were the hands of the Great Maker, as we created the Universe."
Tokimi pauses for a moment.
"Still, we were not satisfied with what we have done, thus, we embarked on our little project."
"And what IS this project?" says Arwen, as she enters the bedroom. The room belonged to a house once owned by the mortal parents of Sailor Cosmos. During the fight between Ranma and Saffron, forces of the Phoenix Folk targeted the Saotome Residence and the Tendo Compound, destroying both in the process. They did not know about the Tsukino residence, which had been owned by Sailor Cosmos' mortal parents. At least it used to be the case, before the Morticoccus virus had forced her family to be sent into space for quarantine. Sadly, the "cold station" was deemed lost shortly there after…
Tokimi glances to her left side towards the bedroom door.
"The project was for my sisters and I to create a being stronger than either of us. We…were successful, in some ways."
"Does this have anything to do with…'Z'?" Nodoka asks.
"Yes…in a fashion. Zeta was my attempt to create a powerful being through tragedy. However…I what ended up creating instead was a monster who tried to kill me."
"Then you succeeded in your experiments," Arwen says.
"Perhaps, but in any experiment, you have to have a control. Zeta was groomed to be stronger by me, but what if he had gotten stronger without my direct interference?"
"So you made sure that my son accompanied my daughter-in-law, when they disappeared into the future," Nodoka says.
"Yes. Of course, I had to make sure that my…project was long term, so I took what left of the essence of the living embodiment of chaos, and fused it with the soul of a long-dead warrior."
"My son…Eldarion," Arwen says.
"Exactly. Since my domain is above Space and Time, it was easy for me to place this fragment anywhere…and when. I chose your son, Lady Arwen, because I wanted to make sure that this new soul was a noble one."
"But why use the essence of a chaotic entity?"
"Why, I wanted to make sure that Ranma's life is full of strife, as a way to insure that he would get stronger."
Tokimi pauses for a moment before resuming her conversation.
"Though I am sorry for the way Ranma's life turned out, I have to say that my project has been a success. Don't you agree?"
Nodoka turned red with rage. Light-hawk wings began to "sprout" from her person.
"All this time, you have made my son's life a living hell? All this time, I could have watched my son become a man, and you used him for an experiment? How dare you-?"
"CEASE," says a voice.
Nodoka found herself unable to command her Light Hawk Wings, the most she could generate all at once. Since leaving Earth for good, the daughter of Prince Yosho has been embracing her Juraian heritage. But now, she found herself unable to make the mental commands needed to utilize them.
All eyes turned towards the bedroom door, as Sailor Cosmos stands at the archway.
"Not here, not now," Sailor Cosmos says. "Please?"
Nodoka looks into her daughter-in-law's face. There was a mixture of quiet rage and sadness…
"Very well," Nodoka says. "I will table this matter…for another time."
"Thank you," Sailor Cosmos says, as her eyes returned to their normal blue. She then looked at Ranma's mothers.
"How is…Ranma?"
"He's suffering from an overload of power," Arwen says. "He's…literally burning up."
"How…how is this possible?"
"That fault would be…mine," Tokimi says. "When Lord Ranma was created, I assumed that he would never reach the limits of his power, more so now than when he was known as 'The Izanagi'. Not only has he reached those 'limits', but he is also exceeding them at an exponential rate. To put it in another way, his power is chaotic…wild…"
"In other words, he's running 'hot' without the necessary 'regulators' to manage that power. Humph. Ranma always complained that he was so limited when he and I trained together…"
"We've contacted a specialist of this sort of thing," Nodoka says. "We do hope he arrives here as soon as possible."
Sailor Cosmos looks at her husband of many years. To think that he might die someday was always a possibility, but to die like this…
"If you all be so kind, I want to be alone with my husband."
"Of course," Arwen says, as she gets up. "Nodoka?"
Nodoka wanted to protest but she relented.
"I'm coming," Nodoka says, as she follows Arwen out of the room. As Tokimi leaves-
"Tokimi?"
"Yes?"
"If Ranma dies because of your amorality, I will hold you responsible."
"At least you can be there for your husband, Moon Princess," Tokimi says. "At least he is not like my sister Tsunami. At least…she is not trapped in a body that had to be placed in stasis, due to a deadly contagion that YOU failed to stop."
Princess Sasami had been infected with the Morticoccus virus, and was placed in stasis while her body recovers. Some estimates have indicated that it would be centuries before the virus is completely nullified…
"Then we both have our own sadness to bare."
With that, Tokimi leaves the room, where Sailor Cosmos can cry alone by her husband's bedside.
"Ranma…"
Tbc.