A True Saiyajin

by Taka

The Dragonball Z gang is still facing off with the violent Saiyajins, Nappa and Vegeta, while waiting for a newly resurrected Goku. It seems though that someone else has made the scene before Goku and it's another Saiyajin! Rated R for language and violen

2. Chapter 1: A Different Tail

Disclaimer: I wish I owned these two series. Takakashi-san
and Toriyama-san retain those rights. Those lucky bas . . . .

A True Saiya-jin
A Ranma ½/ Dragon Ball Z Crossover
By Hawk

Note: This chapter is a summary of Ranma's life up to the point
where Ranma arrives at the fight in the prologue. Things will occur
differently in this because Ranma's attitude will be different as well
as his speed and strength.

Chapter 1 - A Different Tail

Ranma age 10:

Genma muttered angrily as he stomped away from his and
his sons camp site. Today had been the fifth day in a row that
Rama had cried about wanting to see his mother. He had no clue
what had gotten into the boy, but five days earlier, he'd just
started crying. Well, it wouldn't do to have the greatest fighter in
the World to also be a cry baby!

Genma continued his path through the forest, brow
furrowed as he thought of the many problems Ranma had already
caused him. Lack of food. Lack of sleep, thanks to the crying.
Lack of peace. His anger was starting to seriously take over and if
Ranma didn't shut up soon there would be hell to pay.

The sound of thunder crashed above him in the sky.
Blinking once, Genma looked up in confusion at the bright blue
sky.

"What the hell . . .?" he muttered staring at the sky which
was quickly being covered by darkness. The black clouds
continued across the sky till non of the blue he'd seen earlier was
visible. "Great . . . . rain!" Genma shouted up at the clouds and
roaring thunder.

But nothing fell. Genma blinked once as the sky roared
with thunder and lightning. He sighed and restarted his walk
through the now pitch black forest.

'Perhaps an omen?' Genma thought, a wise expression
crossing his face, of the darkened sky. 'Maybe the Ma-master's
gotten free! Maybe that's what this means!' he thought, his face
turning frantic. He started running as fast as he could back to the
camp but tripped over an dislodged root.

He stumbled to his knees, before rolling over and banging
his head on a nearby rock. The anger inside boiled to his brink.
The lack of food! The crying! The stupid engagements! The lack
of sleep! The lack of money! It all lead up to one thing in his mind.
The boy!

Clutching his head, Genma screamed as loud as he could.

"I JUST WISH MY BOY HAD WHAT IT TAKES TO
BE THE BEST FIGHTER SO HE'D STOP BEING A PUSSY!
THAT'S ALL I WANT!" All went quiet. "And some money,
food, maybe some better shelter would be nice," he added as an
after thought, rubbing his chin. "Perhaps a shave . . ."

---------

Pilaf cackled as the great Shenron hovered in front of his
insignificant self. Finally! After a year of searching he'd relocated
all the Dragon Balls and could finally make his wish! He was ready
to rule the World.

Beside him laughed Mai and Shu, his two faithful servants.
After five more minutes of evil laughter, Pilaf started coughing and
hacking over loss of air intake. Mai and Shu stood watching him,
each sporting a large sweatdrop.

Shenron looked on very unamused.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his lip, Pilaf took in a
deep breath, regaining himself. Glancing up at the towering,
massive, green scaled and coiled dragon, he gulped quite audibly.

"I Do Not Have All Day . . ." Shenron stated loudly and
clearly, his voice sounding like thunder.

"Hah. . ." Pilaf laughed nervously to himself, Mai and Shu
standing where they were, just plain staring up at Shenron in awe.
"Right! I wish to be the King and almighty ruler of the worl-!" Pilaf
shouted as loud as he could at the massive green beast.

"Wi-. . ." Shenron started.

"d!" Pilaf finished before breaking out into another set of
evil laughter.

"sh Granted. . ." the dragon concluded then began glowing
a bright yellow, the light blinding those who looked upon it
momentarily. The light pulled inward, as if being sucked into a
vacuum before 7 glowing balls appeared in it's place. The balls
floated in a circle for a moment before bursting apart, each one
headed in a different direction.

Pilaf continued to laugh, his voice being carried away in
the night air. Mai and Shu remained where they were, each
glancing curiously at the spot Shenron had been. For some
reason, what just occurred didn't quite happen right.

Pilaf continued to laugh at the sky, the world. He owned it
all!

---------

Genma blinked as the sky cleared abruptly, the thunder
and lightning dispersing. He stood where he was, still clutching his
head, eyes wide. It was silent . . . so silent . . . he turned around
and glanced at his son.

Ranma lay sprawled on his back, out cold.

Shrugging indifferently, happy the boy had shut up, Genma
unrolled his sleeping bag and quickly went to sleep.

---------

"Ow . . ." were the first words that exited the young
martial artists mouth. Having slept on the rocky ground all night
could have that affect on someone, but something else was
bothering him. It felt like he was laying on his arm, bending it the
wrong way. The thing was, the pain wasn't originating in his arms,
but in his lower back. More precisely, right above his butt.

He rolled over immediately, sighing in relief as the pain
dimmed slightly. He reached behind him, grabbing the aching body
part and attempted to rub the pain away. What he hadn't been
expecting was the limb to feel rough and hairy.

Blinking the tears of pain away, Ranma looked over his
shoulder, getting a better look at his brand new tail. Brand new
tail? He smiled as it wagged back and forth, as if greeting him.

'Tail?' Ranma thought after regaining his senses. He
quickly hopped to his feet, the tail automatically wrapping around
his waist. He grabbed the tail tightly and pulled, trying to rip it off
of his waist.

"Ow!" His arms went up above his head, tears stinging his
eyes. Bringing his hand back to his tail, he slowly started
massaging it. Sniffling a little bit, he quickly made a note to himself
that squeezing the tail felt really bad. He felt like crying once again,
but something inside of him seemed to tell him not to. Tell him that
he couldn't cry. It wasn't allowed. Ranma shook his head, wiping
the snot out from under his runny nose.

He was suddenly kicked upside the head, falling
unconscious.

"Neko-ken! Just you wait, boy! You'll be a great martial
artist yet!" Genma exclaimed as he proceeded to tie his son up
with rope. "Now all I need is to dig a hole and find some cats . . ."

---------

Genma growled under his breath. "Boy . . ."

"The chain just broke! All I did was stretch a little!"
Ranma shouted at his father.

Genma rubbed his forehead. First the rope had snapped.
Then the rope he'd tied Ranma in again snapped. Now the chains
he'd tied Ranma up with had snapped. Maybe he should just
make the boy jump into the pit on his own.

"Dad? Why were you wrappin' me up like that?" Ranma
asked curiously.

"Ranma, come over here, son," Genma said, motioning
Ranma over toward the pit. "You want to be a great martial artist
right?"

"Yeah! I wanna be the bestest!" Ranma shouted happily.

"You want to make your mother proud right?" Genma
asked eagerly. 'Please say yes!'

"Yeah! I wanna make momma proud!" Ranma shouted,
determination filling is high pitched voice.

"Then jump into that pit!" Genma exclaimed happily,
quickly wiping Ranma down with catnip.

"Ok!" Ranma cried before jumping into the pit.

"Whatever you do, boy! Don't attack the cats back! Just
sit back and enjoy!" With that said, Genma quickly covered the
hole and sat back to wait for the result.

An hour later Genma would remove the lid and find his ten
year old son standing on shaky legs, millions of lacerations across
his young body. He was still awake, eyes wide, the cats circling
him.

30 minutes later, Ranma would jump back into the pit,
body still covered with cat scratches.

---------

Genma pulled his son out of the pit for the 5th time. He still
hadn't learned it! The frustration was killing him and the training his
boy. "One more time . . ." he muttered, holding his barely
conscious son in his arms.

After wrapping Ranma in a sufficient amount of fish
sausages, Genma once again dropped his son into the dark pit,
placing the lid over the top. He moved back to the rock he'd been
sitting on an waited, for what he planned to be the last time. And it
was.

His sons screams ceased after 15 minutes, the only sound
emitting from under the lid being that of the cats calling.

Genma rose to his feet quickly, praying his son wasn't
dead. What would he tell Soun? He reached the pit in two short
jumps, but before he could remove it a loud cry gushed out. A
blinding light broke through the edges of the top, forming a white
funnel before the lid was blown completely off. Genma was
thrown off his feet and onto his back as white and black blur
streaked into the air.

Landing on all four feet, Neko-Ranma let out another cry,
drops of blood dripping from every open scratch on his body.
Sniffing the air, Neko-Ranma slowly walked toward his father and
sat in front of him.

Tears nearly fell from Genma's eyes as he looked upon his
son. Master of the Neko-ken and only 10 years old! Looking
Ranma over, he easily noted that his son was faintly glowing white.
He shrugged it off as being a side affect of the technique. He was
so proud! So proud in fact, he was going to go make himself
something to eat.

With thoughts of food on his mind, Genma quickly
bounded off.

Neko-Ranma blinked once, wondering why the fat man
had just left. Then he fell unconscious, tipping over onto his side.

---------

Ranma woke up unable to open his eyes, his body
screaming in pain. He shuddered violently where he lay. "Otousan
. . ." he called weakly, his voice hoarse and dead.

His small, blood covered arm reached out slowly, shaking
endlessly. Cut along his eyes lids saw to it that his eyes remained
closed, scratches were everywhere along his face, covering nearly
every inch of the rest of his body.

"Otousan . . ." he called out once again, only to receive no
answer.

An old, craggily sounding voice answered. "Here. Eat
this," the voice said placing a small, round object in Ranma's hand.
"It will make you feel better. Whenever you need major healing,
shout out the word 'senzu' and one of these will fall from . . . uh . .
. the heavens! Yeah, that's it!"

"Senzu . . ." Ranma said repeating the word slowly. Using
all the remaining strength in his body, he dragged his hand to his
face, pushing the object into his mouth with the palm of his hand.

---------

"You're going to help this boy?" Kami-sama asked the
abnormal looking feline standing in front of him.

Korin looked at the old Namekian. "I see great potential
in that BOY, who's name is Ranma. He could be a valuable ally
in the future," the talking cat, who for once isn't associated with
Sailor Moon, explained sternly.

Kami-sama let out a deep breath through his nose. "So . .
. how did you find out?"

"Baba Yaga."

Kami-sama nodded, his facial expression turning deathly
grim and sorrowful.

---------

One year later:

"I wanna go home, Otousan!" Ranma shouted angrily,
hands clenched at his sides.

"We're not going home and that's final!" Genma shouted
back, kicking at his son.

Ranma hopped back, quickly dodging the attack, landing
about 10 feet away. "I wanna see Okaasan!" he screamed, his
small pigtail rising upward on it's own accord. A few strands of
hair also rose as Ranma's anger grew.

Genma took notice of this quickly. Over the past year
he'd watch as his son had steadily changed. He hair had become
thicker, spikier, and his rattail was now long enough to be a pigtail.
Which it was. He'd grown taller as well, almost 5'2. Arms and
legs had grow a little larger, mainly from the muscles he'd been
putting on. The boy even had a couple abs!

'I'm so proud! What a great teacher I am!' Genma
thought, ego expanding like a balloon. He was still wondering
where his boy had gotten that hairy looking sash though. It seemed
to have grown larger from when Ranma had first found it.

Ranma noticed his father staring off into space and jumped
at him, punching him hard in the gut. He smiled to himself as the
larger man went down. "Okaasan!" Ranma shouted kicking his
father in the face.

Genma groaned loudly.

Ranma took that as his acceptance before grabbing his
fathers hand and dragging him along the ground.

About 30 minutes later, Ranma realized that he had no
clue where he was going.

"Otousan? Where's Okaasan?" Ranma asked of his
father.

Genma groaned, covering his sore stomach with his free
hand.

---------

Ranma hopped up and down in front of the door, Genma
standing quietly behind him. Okaasan! He was finally going to see
Okaasan again! He knocked on the door. Then knocked again.
And again. And again. He kept knocking until Genma smacked
him in the back of the head.

End result: Ranma continued knocking as Genma rubbed
the pain out of his hand.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" a woman voice called sweetly
yet tiredly at the same time.

The door opened, a woman dressed in a stunning kimono
who looked to be in her early 20's on the other side. With dark
purple hair, she stood about 5'5, her body filled with graceful
curves. Any normal man would have drooled at the sight. Well,
Genma did.

Ranma wasted no time latching onto the woman, causing her
to sprawl backward. She screamed as she tripped over her own feet,
but stopped when she didn't hit the floor. The young boy had caught
her some how, while still holding onto her. She looked up at the
man standing in the door, eyes wide.

"Genma . . .?"

"Ah . . . hi?" the chubby martial artist said weakly.

She looked at the boy attached to her side, his eyes
closed, face that of pure bliss. "Ranma . . .?"

"Okaasan," the pigtailed boy whispered happily, snuggling
his mother with his face.

Tears began falling from Nodoka Saotome's eyes.

---------

That night Ranma wondered why his mother and father
were making so much noise in their room. It sounded like he was
wrestling with her. Is that how you're supposed to greet
Okaasan when you come home?

---------

The Saotome men left the house at the crack of dawn the
next morning.

"Otousan?" Ranma asked his father as they walked away.

"What, boy?"

"Why're we leaving?"

"Because there is still much to be learned."

"Oh . . . Why didn't we tell Okaasan?"

"I left her a note."

"Oh . . ."

A long silence followed.

"Otousan?" Ranma asked.

"What?" Genma snapped.

Ranma cringed slightly but asked his question anyway.
"Were you wrestling with Okaasan last night?"

"Uh . . ."

Ranma scratched the back of his head. "And why? You
told me girls were weaker than men, so why would you fight with
her? You coulda sparred with me if you wanted to fight, you
know."

"Uh . . . boy . . . you see . . . birds and bees . . . they have
. . . sex," Genma said lamely.

"Oro?"

---------

3 weeks later Nodoka would awake in the early morning,
her stomach screaming at her to hurl.

---------

3 years later:

"Hey Oyaji!" a 14 year-old Ranma shouted to his ever
growing obese father.

"What is it, boy?" Genma called from where he meditated
on his head, up on a thick tree branch.

Ranma looked up at his father. His father still amazed him
at times. Though he could do that easily, it was a shock to him that
his father could. "Don't ya think it's time we visited Okaasan?"

"No."

Ranma's eyes narrowed, his pigtail rising up, floating up,
the three thick, spiky strands of hair over his forehead as well.

Genma swallowed loudly, nearly losing his balance. "Did I
say 'no'? Ha! That's not what I meant!"

---------

"Ranma! My how you've grown!" Nodoka shouted
gleefully as she hugged her boy. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

Ranma hugged his mother back, head lay content on her
shoulder, now standing the same height as her. "I've missed you
too, Okaasan."

Releasing her son for a moment, she turned to her
husband. "Genma! I have a surprise for you!" she cried happily.

Genma blinked audibly. "What . . .?" he asked slowly,
cautiously.

"Ranko! Come here, dear!" She called back into the
house. "Daddy is home!"

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" a tiny voice called repeatedly
before a small 3 year-old with long, curly crimson hair ran into the
room. She stopped and looked at her mother who beamed back
at her.

Ranma turned to Ranko, eyes wide. 'Who the hell is
this!'

Genma looked at Ranko. What the hell is that?

Ranko looked at Genma then at Ranma. She looked back
at Genma, before turning to Ranma. He looked much more fun,
and very funny with his face being all funny like that.

Ranma shouted out loud as the small girl latched onto him,
holding onto him tightly. "Wha! Hey, leggo!"

"Daddy!" Ranko exclaimed happily, closing her eyes and
smiling in content.

A large sweat drop appeared on each of the heads of
Ranma, Genma and Nodoka.

---------

1 year later:

Ranma smiled as he walked home, Ranko riding on his
shoulders. She'd just turned four, a couple weeks after he'd
turned 15, so the past weeks had been a time of great celebration.

Ranko giggled happily as she rode upon her older brothers
shoulders. Even though she knew he was her brother, she still
considered him to be her replacement father. He spent all his free
time with her, playing games and teaching her neat tricks.

They'd been together for the whole year, hardly apart
from one another. Always spending time with each other. Many
times she'd enter his room at night, asking to sleep in his bed
because she'd had nightmares. Ranma would let her sleep in the
bed while he slept on the floor, not minding as he was quite used
to it.

As he entered the house, he came face to face with his
father. "What is it, pop?"

Genma presented Ranma with his backpack. "We're
going again. We've been here to long already," he explained
sternly.

"What! I don't wanna leave! Can't we just finish my
training here?" Ranma argued angrily.

"No! There's still a lot you have to learn!" Genma replied
giving Ranma a glare.

Ranma's glare faltered a little. He could easily beat his
father to a pulp right there and then, but he too knew, that there
was much more to be learned. There always was.

Ranko complained when Ranma pulled her off his
shoulders and placed her on the floor. He knelt down so he was
level with her, looking into her crystal blue eyes. "Ranko . . . I
have to leave." He sighed.

"What? Where are you going, Shuuto?" Ranko asked,
calling Ranma by his nickname.

"Training. I have to go train again," he answered
soothingly.

"When will you come back?" she asked, a lone tear
running down her young face.

"I don't know, Youjo," Ranma replied, wiping the tear
away and smiling kindly at her naivete.

"Can I come with you?" Ranko asked suddenly, sounding
quite eager.

Ranma blinked and looked up at Genma who smacked
him on the head. He turned back to Ranko, expression sullen.
"Sorry, Youjo, I don't think this type of thing is for you. Besides!
Who'll keep Okaasan company if you come with us?"

Ranko slumped in defeat, falling back onto her rump. Her
lips formed a pout, then a frown, and tears began falling faster. "I
don't want you to go!" she cried, wiping the tears away with her
arms. Genma sighed. God he hated this emotional stuff. "I'll be
outside . . ." he said walking out the door.

Ranma gathered Ranko into his arms, hugging her as
gently as he could, for fear he might break her in two. Sometimes
he didn't even know his own strength. "Don't worry, Youjo. I'll
come back. I promise." He smiled brightly at his younger sister,
wiping her cheeks clean.

"Promise?"

"Promise. And you know us Saotome's."

"We always keep our promises," the two said in unison,
before sharing a short laugh.

Standing up, Ranma went in search of his mother.

---------

4 months later:

"Damn you, Saotome! That last piece of curry bread was
mine and you know it!" one Ryouga Hibiki shouted loudly at his
pigtailed opponent.

"Hey! It's not my fault you're too slow!" Ranma called
back, a confident smirk riding his lips.

"That's the final straw, Saotome! Prepare to die!" Ryouga
exclaimed moving himself into a rather sloppy fighting stance.

Ranma blinked 'Die? This is the first time anyone's ever
said that. He must be really pissed.' he thought before shrugging
his shoulders. "Oh well. Might make the fight much more better."
He smiled, anticipating a great fight to come.

Without letting Ranma prepare himself, Ryouga leapt at
the pigtailed boy. He threw a punch. Then another. And another,
adding a couple kicks to the mixed.

Ranma sidestepped each punch, stepping backwards as
well. Jumping over Ryouga's errant leg, he kicked the yellow and
black clad boy in the chest.

Ryouga went flying off his feet, across the yard, through a
tree, and into the lunch halls wall.

Ranma's shoulders slumped.

---------

Three weeks later:

"Like that?" Ryouga asked as he finished a simple looking,
yet actually quite complicated kata.

"Pretty close," Ranma replied. "You missed a couple of
steps," he reprimanded.

Ryouga growled under his breath. If Ranma weren't
teaching him how to fight better . . .

"Hey, don't be sore at me! You want to be able to beat
me right?" Ranma asked seriously yet in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Yeah . . ."

"Well, I want someone who can actually provide me with
a decent match. Now try it again."

'Stupid jerk . . .' Ryouga thought. He'd show Ranma!
He'd defeat Ranma one day and prove how much better a fighter
he was.

One year later:

"Here sirs, we come to the cursed springs of Jusenkyo,"
the Chinese guide said indicating to the numerous amount of pools
which donned the valley.

"This is it, boy. Are you ready?" Genma exclaimed smiling
broadly.

"This place ain't so impressive," Ranma muttered eyeing
the valley of springs wearily.

"You very strange ones, yes? This place very dangerous.
No body use now. Is more than 100 springs here and each one
have tragedy," the guide explained hoping to get his point across.

"Ranma! Follow me" Genma shouted leaping up and onto
one of the many bamboo poles.

"Right behind ya!" Ranma called jumping onto a pole
opposite of his fathers.

"Ah, Sirs! What you doing?" the guide yelled frantically.
"I no finish my tragic story!"

"I wont go easy on you," Genma said quietly adopting a
offensive stance.

Ranma chuckled. "And that's gonna make any
difference?" he replied taking up an offensive posture of his own.

"Please sirs! Very bad you fall in spring!" the guide
shouted.

If anything, the two martial artists took those words as a
signal to begin. Genma leapt into the air, followed moments later
by Ranma. A couple of blow later, the two landed on the others
original pole. The two jumped at each other again, this time with
Ranma kicking Genma in the back and into an adjacent pond.

Landing on another pole, Ranma waited for his father to
resurface by taunting. "What's the matter pop? We done
already?"

That never happened as a rather large panda did instead. "Wha-what the hell?" Ranma shouted in confusion,
already losing his balance.

"That spring of drown panda!" the guide called from
below. "Very tragic legend of panda that drown in spring two
thousand years ago. Now whoever fall in spring take body of
panda!"

Landing on a pole, the panda immediately launched itself
at the gawking boy. Being smacked in the back of the head,
Ranma flew towards a different pool than his father, eyes and
mouth still wide.

"Cra-"Splash

---------

Raditz laughed weakly, yet it still managed to come out
loudly. "You fool cough this thing on my face doesn't cough
just give power levels," he said with a grin, blood running down
from his lip.

"What do you mean?" Piccolo asked, startled by this new
development.

Coughing, Raditz explained hoarsely, "They're also
communicators. Right now, cough two saiya-jins, more
powerful than me are listening. Heh, knowing them, they'll be here
for those dragon balls you talked about cough they'll just wish
me back to life . . . Heh! I'd say you've got about a year, then you
cough and everyone else you know will be dead!" The dying
saiya-jin warrior gave one final laugh before slumping to the
ground, lifeless.

---------

Ranma, currently male, strode into the village confidently,
followed by his panda father and eager looking Chinese guide.
He'd used his ki to disintegrate any water that came near his
person, making sure his curse wasn't activated. He couldn't
believe his terrible luck. How could such a curse be place on him?
It wasn't fair dammit! It made him look like a complete fool! A
weakling!

Many wrinkled female faces turned to the newcomers,
having sensed a powerful aura among them. Every aged eye stared
at the boy that strolled purposely, and quite angrily into the village.

Ranma took note of the two women fighting on top of the
large log, watching their skirmish for a little. "Pathetic . . ." he
muttered as he watched the purple haired girl take an advantage
over her opponent.

"Really? Would you care to prove yourself?" a decrepit
voice asked behind Ranma.

Ranma whirled around, his arm sweeping the area that had
been behind him at an incredible speed. To his surprise, his fist
failed to connect with anything.

"You shouldn't sneak up on me like that. You could get
hurt," he said looking the small, wrinkled covered woman in the
eye. How'd she manage to sneak up on me like that . . . I didn't
even sense her coming!

Cologne stared at Ranma's semi-flaming fist. "Yes . . . I
can see that," she replied warily, having just avoided his fist. 'The
boy has amazing speed . . . but it could be much better.'

"And 'no'. I would not care to prove myself," Ranma
growled angrily, the ki around his fist vanishing as he moved it
back to his side.

Cologne stared the boy in the eyes, letting him know she
was not afraid of him. She was impressed that the boy kept and
held her gaze. "A tail?"

Ranma's tail twitched. "You noticed," he replied simply.

"Kind of hard not too . . ." Cologne said cooly.

"You're the second. Neither my mother or father have
really taken notice of it. They believe it's a sash," Ranma explained
calmly, his tail unwrapping around his waist and hang down limp.

"Who is the other?"

"My younger sister . . ."

Cologne nodded. "Yes . . . but she does not have a tail
herself, I know this."

"Yeah . . . so?" Ranma asked cautiously.

"I have heard from a friend of mine that another boy with a
monkey's tail was about . . . I didn't believe it until now," Cologne
asked before breaking eye contact. "Tell me. Is your name, by
chance, Goku?"

"No. What do you know about this?" Ranma queried, his
tail waving back and forth.

They were cut off as a loud voice began shouting angrily in
Chinese. Looking over, they both gazed upon the purple haired
girl shouting at the giant panda.

"Is that your panda?" Cologne asked, raising a white
eyebrow at Ranma.

"Yeah . . . sorta . . . unfortunately . . ."

Cologne grinned.

---------

"Bringing Ranma back from China.
Saotome."

Soun read the postcard again, tears streaming down his
face as old memories of his friend raced through his mind. "At last!
Ranma is coming! How I've waited for this day!" Soun quickly
wiped his eyes clean.

Soun wasted no time in calling his three daughters Kasumi,
Nabiki and Akane down to the living room. As they knelt in front
of him, waiting for him to speak, Soun noted that while Nabiki was
dressed in a kimono, and Kasumi in her usual yellow dress, Akane
was still in her training gi, fresh from the dojo. He considered
saying something to her about it but since he himself was wearing a
gi, he supposed it would be alright, after all this was Genma
Saotome, not the emperor of japan.

---------

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout all this," Ranma said as
politely as he could, looking over the Tendo family. "My father
here," pointing at the panda next to him, he added, "is a big dumb
idiot."

"Growf!" Genma argued.

"Shut up, Oyaji."

"Ah . . . excuse me for interrupting, but . . . is that a tail?"
Nabiki asked, staring wide eyed the long and brown haired
object.

"Yes. Thank you for noticing," Ranma replied simply and
dumbly.

The three Tendo daughters ogled the hairy limb silently.

Sighing deeply, Ranma replied to their silence. "I can't
remember."

---------

1 week after Ranma's arrival:

"Stupid Kuno . . . I wish he'd just learn to give up!"
Ranma growled as he preformed a kata of extreme complication.
Of course, the fact that he was doing it on the chain-link fence
while walking home didn't really say anything much about said
kata to the public.

"He seems to really like your female side. Even when
you're beating him to a pulp in it," Nabiki commented lazily, while
smiling within. Boy was Kuno making her a fortune.

"Yeah, well-" Ranma's arm lashed out, grabbing the red
umbrella before it could impact with his skull, "it's really getting on
my nerves."

"I've found you at last, Ranma! This time you're not
getting away from me!" a figure down the street shouted angrily.

"Hey, Ryouga! Long time!" Ranma exclaimed, throwing
the umbrella back.

Ryouga caught his umbrella easily, holding it by his side a
moment later. "You and me, Ranma! Right now!" he called before
charging full speed at the pigtailed boy.

Smiling despite his current annoyance, Ranma leapt from
the fence and at his attacker. "Hope you're ready, Ryouga! I'm
expecting a challenge from you now!"

Whatever people happened to be walking that street
quickly cleared, making room for the two oncoming martial artists.
Most left the scene, paying it no mind, while others stayed to
watch. Akane and Nabiki, were of course part of that group.

Ryouga started the reunion with a punch, aiming for
Ranma's face. The attack came fast. Faster than Ryouga's usual,
Ranma leaping to the side to avoid it.

The crowd rushed out of the way as Ranma flew past, into
the fence and bounced off, soaring straight at Ryouga's side. The
lost boy lashed out with a kick which Ranma flipped over in mid
flight, landing behind Ryouga.

Ranma punched at Ryouga's head twice, the first being
dodged and the second ducked under. Shouting in surprise,
Ranma flew back and landed on his butt as Ryouga's uppercut
caught him by surprise. Ranma shook his head, blinking at his
rival/student. "Hey! You actually managed to hit me!" he called
happily.

"Shut up!" Ryouga shouted, embarrassed, jumping at
Ranma again.

Ranma rolled backwards and onto his feet, avoiding
Ryouga's drop kick. He leaned back, dodging the lost boys
roundhouse before kicking up with his own leg.

Ryouga flipped backwards, barely dodging the kick.
Reaching up, he quickly pulled three bandanna's off his head,
throwing them at his rival.

Lashing out, Ranma's right hand caught all three
bandanna's easily, spreading them out like a fan in his fingers. He
grinned wickedly before throwing them back.

Clenching his teeth, Ryouga pulled his arm back and
screamed loudly as he swatted the bandanna's out of the air, all
three exploding on contact. He grinned as the three clouds of dust
around him floated to the ground. "You're not the only one who's
learned how to use their ki, Ranma. The day after you left, I threw
myself into my training. Non stop. All day and night," Ryouga
explained steadily.

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Good. That'll just make this
fight all the better." Ryouga leapt at Ranma, screaming loudly, his fist covered
with a flaming red ki. His fist smashed into the ground, and through
it as Ranma jumped away.

Hopping back at Ryouga, Ranma began throwing a flurry
of punches, his arm becoming a literal blur.

"DIE!" Ryouga screamed, his ki growing larger and he
proceeded to fight right back, accepting everyone of Ranma's
punches.

Ranma continued punching Ryouga while dodging at the
same time. If only he could show Ryouga just how much stronger
he really was. One of his harder punches could have easily
knocked the lost boy out, but he refrained from doing so. This was
the first fight in awhile that he was actually enjoying and wanted to
last.

Pulling back his fist, Ranma punched Ryouga across the
face using only about half his strength.

The lost boy stumbled, his rocked to the side. "You . . ."

"I what?" Ranma asked condescendingly.

"You'll have to do better than that, SAOTOME!" Ryouga
shouted, snarling the last part, his fist flaring to life.

Ranma's eyes widened as one of the hardest punches he'd
felt in his life landed on his gut. Thrown off his feet, Ranma landed
on his ass, before rolling across the street. "Looks like this fight
just got all the better . . ." he quietly whispered to himself.

---------

"What do you think you're doing?" Akane screamed
angrily, ignoring Ranma's attempt at a puppy dog face.

"Nothing! I swear!" he exclaimed innocently.

"Then why were you going through my underwear?"
Akane hollered, a blood red aura forming around her person.

"Uh . . ." Ranma dead panned. Think fast, Saotome!
"Er . . . I think I have amnesia? Besides, who'd wanna go through
your underwear drawer anyway?" he tried lamely while thinking
angrily, Really smooth brain . . . really smooth . . .

Akane's face twisted in such a way that Ranma could no
longer tell it was even her. The only words out of Ranma's mouth
before Akane mallet hit him into Lower Earth Orbit were, 'Ack!'

---------

"My head hurt?" Ranma tried hopefully moments before
being punted through the roof.

---------

"My conscious said not to?"

-Wack-

'Dammit!' Ranma thought as he sailed the skies.

---------

"Ack! My eyes! I'm suffering from temporary blindness!"

-Smash- -Crash- -Bang- -Crack

"Pervert!" Akane screamed as he quickly covered her
nude body with a towel.

---------

"I was sleepy. It seemed like a comfortable place to
sleep." Ranma shrugged before being socked in the face then
punted through the roof.

"Kasumi's bed is not a place for you to be sleeping!
Especially when she's in it!" Akane cried furiously at Ranma's
disappearing form.

"Oh my!" Kasumi exclaimed for what had to be the
millionth time since waking up. Next to Ranma's half naked form
that is.

"I'm so happy!" Soun cried. Not as in shouting, but
actually crying. Tears and, well, you know.

"Never knew sis had it in her . . ." Nabiki whispered,
looking upon Kasumi with a new form of respect.

"Oh my!"

--------

Ranma-chan shouted in pain as her back was smashed
against the concrete wall heavily. "Damn, bitch!" he screamed
charging Cologne.

Said 'woman' thrust her wooden staff forward, aimed at
Ranma's chest. A large gust of wind exploded from the staffs end,
this time smashing Ranma-chan through the wall.

"You're quite impressive, boy! But you're a couple
hundred years to young to beat me. Give up," Cologne explained.

Ranma-chan climbed out of the hole, eyes narrowed, the
blue pupils looking light miniature blades. "The name's Ranma!
And I ain't giving up, you old hag! Gimme that damn pill!"

Cologne sighed. "You really want this pill?" she asked
holding up the pill attached to her necklace.

"Yes . . . now gimme that goddamn pill!" Ranma shrieked,
a couple windows in the building behind her shattering at the
sound.

"I'll make you a deal . . . I know this technique," Cologne
started slowly.

Ranma stopped at the word technique. "What kinda
technique?"

"A speed enhancing technique. It's called the, Kachuu
Tenshin Amaguriken."

---------

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Ryouga screamed, slamming his
finger into the ground in front of Ranma.

Ranma grit his teeth as shards of rock flew into his
blocking arms. He backed away from his opponent, waving his
scratched limbs about. "Argh . . . Pig-boy's gotten a lot better," he
muttered, licking some blood off of his lip. 'Damn, those rocks
must be flyin' everywhere.'

Ryouga right fist caught him across the chin and he lost his
balance, stumbling to the side. He was backhanded before being
punched in the cheek by Ryouga's left hook. As he staggered to
his right, the lost boy slammed his fist into his stomach, knocking
him off his feet and onto his butt.

Flipping back to his feet, Ranma twisted his body in time
to dodge punch. He kicked up, knocking Ryouga's arm away and
rammed his elbow into the lost boys chest.

Ryouga staggered backwards, rubbing his chest. "Ha, that
actually stung," he mocked before punching his finger at Ranma's
skull. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Ranma clenched his teeth as Ryouga's finger pressed
against his forehead. After taking a moment to realize that nothing
had happened, he grabbed Ryouga's wrist, twisted the lost boys
arm around and kicked him in the side. He jump up, pulling the
lost boys arm with him and punched Ryouga in the face. Placing
his foot on the Ryouga's chest, Ranma pushed off, kicking Ryouga
back and through a couple of trees.

A broken tree was abruptly lifted off the ground and
swung like a bat, catching Ranma off guard, hitting him through a
couple trees of his own.

---------

"Who the hell are you?" Ranma asked sizing the small man
up. Wasn't much to size up though.

"I am Happosai! Grand Master of the Anything Goes
School Of Martial Arts!" the short, balding man exclaimed.

"You've got to be kiddin' me . . ."

"Sweeto!"

---------

"The boy intrigues me, yes. His power and skill are
amazing for one of such an age. Why, just the other day, he
punched me in the face. Genma and Soun said I was out for a day
. . . I especially enjoy his curse though!" Happosai exclaimed
happily as an after thought.

"The boy has what it takes to be the best. He learned the
Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken immediately after witnessing it. He's
been displaying his ki at an amazing rate and every time I see him,
I feel that his access ki has grown. He's simply incredible,"
Cologne explained thoughtfully.

Happosai took a smoke from his pipe. "True. Everyday
the boys power grows larger. I've considered using the
moxibustion pressure point to see how he'd handle it."

"You should. If he proves that he can handle it . . . we
teach him everything we know," Cologne announced decisively,
firmly.

Happosai looked at Cologne oddly. "You really think it'd
be safe to do that?"

Cologne nodded. "If we're ever in great trouble . . ."

"He would indeed make a great ally . . ."

---------

"Hiryu Shoten HA!" Ranma bellowed, his fist upraised
and pointing at the advancing Happosai.

Green ki uncoiled from his fist, spiraling along with the
massive winds. The tornado grabbed Happosai, throwing him into
the air, into the middle of the circling green winds.

"No!" Happosai shouted as the ki filled winds tore into
his body.

Off to the side, Cologne nodded to herself. Ranma would
be the one. They would teach him all they knew, for he deserved
to know it.

With one last shuddering breath, Ranma fell to his knees,
then onto his face, unconscious and near death.

----------

"You know your Split Hair technique. I improved upon
it," Ranma announced with a smile.

Cologne's eyebrows raised. "You improved it? How
could you that when I never taught it to you?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't know. I saw you do it once and
figured out how it was done. I pretty much do that with all the
technique's I see."

"You can learn technique's just by watching them be
used?" Cologne asked in surprise.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, that why I learned the Kachuu
Tenshin Amaguriken so fast. I know how to do the Bakusai
Tenketsu with out even going through the training, though it
probably woulda helped some. Make me stronger, ya know. The
Hiryu Shoten Ha, took me about a minute to realize how to do
that one," he explained with wry grin.

'Incredible . . . with such a talent, the boy actually has
what it takes to be the best. Memorizing technique's only by
watching them being used' She shook her head, looking at
Ranma. "Why don't you show me how you improved upon my
Split Hair technique, hmm?"

"Yeah! Check it out!" Ranma shouted, standing up and
letting his ki flow free around his body. "Instead of using my ki to
form 12 spiritual like copies of myself." The white ki surrounding
his body melt off, forming another body. Another copy of him,
only this one that of his female half. "I can create one solid copy of
myself. I don't know why it's female though," he explained
scratching the back of his head.

"Amazing . . ." Cologne muttered as she studied the petite
redhead. "She looks exactly like your curse form. How do you
control her?"

"I'm not really sure, I just kinda do. It's like a weird mind
thing," Ranma said with a shrug, his redhead copy shrugging as
well. "Makes for a great sparring partner though," he added
smiling at the girl who smiled back just the same.

Cologne swallowed nervously. The world did not need
two Ranma Saotome's.

"Wanna know something else?" the two said
simultaneously.

"What?" Cologne queried.

"I've made some revisions to the Hiryu Shoten Ha as
well." Ranma and Ranma-chan's smiles lit up the room.

----------

"So how do I do this?" Ranma asked Happosai as he
rubbed the bra over his cheek in content.

"It's an interesting technique. On everything. Animals.
Plants. Even this bra! There is ki surrounding it. Ki left behind from
the person who wore it last, if you will. As of now, I'm currently
inhaling a large amount of Akane's ki," Happosai explained with a
smile.

"So how would someone take energy from plants? How
do those things have ki?" Ranma asked curiously. Disregarding the
fact that Happosai was rubbing a bra against his face for the time
being. Normally his female counterpart would have been sitting
next to him, but not with the grand master pervert in the same
room.

"All things expel ki, because all things have ki. Ki is
everywhere," Happosai clarified with a shrug.

"So how do you . . . take it in?" Ranma inquired genuinely
interested.

"You don't. It comes to you."

"What? I don't get it."

"The ki will only come to you if you don't force it. At
times, if you force it, it will come to you. Ki is like another life.
Another person if you will. Ask politely, and it'll come. It can, at
times, sense when you're in great need and come to you if you
force it. It's an interesting thing, ki is."

Ranma nodded. "I never really thought about it like that.
So that bra . . .?"

Happosai smiled. "This bra is giving the excess ki its
previous owner had to me because I'm not forcing it. I'm just
simply letting it flow . . ."

Ranma closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and nodded
once. "Got it."

---------

"Who do you think you are?" Ranma shouted angrily as
his lunch vanished before his eyes.

The blonde haired man wiped his mouth smugly. "My
name is Picolet Chardin III."

Ranma's eyes narrowed. Just what he needed. A
conceited, pompous, snobbish asshole. "That was my lunch!"

"Yes, well, it is your own fault for being to slow," Picolet
replied arrogantly.

"SLOW?" Ranma roared his aura bursting to life.

---------

A large gust of wind streaked by, blowing the three spikes
over his forehead and thick pigtail to the side, his clothes rustling
riotously.

Ranma accepted the pat on the shoulder, but continued
walking away from the massive, luxurious mansion. "You did
good, boy," his father praised happily.

"Yeah, whatever, pop. I'm just glad to be outta that hell
hole," Ranma remarked, jerking a thumb back at the large home.

"Wah!" Soun cried joyously. His daughters were saved!
None of them had to marry Picolet!

Ranma smiled despite himself. This whole escapade had
just helped improve his speed a great deal. It seemed somewhat
worth it, having to dress up as a girl for the time. Besides that,
he'd showed that snot nose dick who the fastest eater really was.

Oh, if he only knew what other eaters lay ahead . . .

---------

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?" Ranma
screamed at the figure down the street, dressed in a dark blue
cloak.

"My name is of no importance to you!" the figure shouted
furiously, jumping at Ranma.

Ranma laughed out loud at the boys futile attack. "You're
an idiot!" he exclaimed before swatting the boy out of the air into
the chain-link fence along the street.

The cloaked covered boy stumbled forward, throwing a
sloppy punch at Ranma. Grabbing the boys arm, Ranma kicked
him in the kidney before spinning around and throwing the boy
back into the fence.

"Pathetic!" Ranma added confidently. "Why were you
goin' around beating up my friends, huh?"

The boy spat up a large wad of spit on the ground. "None
of your damn business," he muttered angrily, a second before the
sky roared to life with thunder.

Ranma crossed his arms. "You're gonna have to tell me
sooner or later, cause their's no way you're gonna beat me in a
fight." The rain started immediately, catching Ranma off guard.

A now female Ranma cursed under her breath, the rain
falling at an incredible rate, pounding and soaking everything it
could. She watched silently as the now much taller boy stood back
up, his cloak blocking the rain from his person.

The boy chuckled. "You've lost now, little girl," he said
condescendingly.

"I wouldn't call me a girl if I were you!"

"I would!" the boy shouted grabbing his cloak and
throwing it off, letting the rain soak his body.

"Holy shi-!" Ranma screamed before the eighteen foot
beast swung its arm and smacked her into the fence herself. She
fell to the ground on her hands and knees, gasping for air. Looking
up, she growled as the beasts arm prepared to crush her into the
ground.

The beast roared as its fist smashed into the concrete
where Ranma-chan had been kneeling. Its free hand shot out,
grabbing the pigtailed girl out of the air and slamming her into the
ground.

Groaning loudly, Ranma-chan prepared to dodged the
hairy beasts next attack but instead watched as its fist was
deflected to the side.

Happosai stood with his pipe extended, an angry scowl on
his face. "No one beats up on my heir except me! And sometime's
Cologne!"

The beast roared, or more likely mooed, again, shaking
with unbridled fury. It lashed out again, grabbing the closest
person, that being one Akane Tendo who had refused to leave
when Ranma had told her to. With one mighty leap, it took to the
skies, flying away.

Ranma-chan glanced at the spot where Akane had been and swore
profusely.

---------

Sitting quietly in his bedroom, Ranma contemplated what
had just happened. The boy he had just fought was definitely a
Jusenkyo victim, but what kind of spring could create something
like that. The two hits the beast had managed to get in had hurt
like hell.

There was something about that, though. His chest and
back hurt but at the same time he felt good. He felt a little bit
stronger than when he had first fought the pantyhose using boy.
Perhaps his body followed the old proverb, 'whatever doesn't kill
you, makes you stronger.'

The more Ranma thought this over, the more he found
himself agreeing. After nearly every fight he had gotten into, and
injured he had felt stronger. Pain brought him strength in the end.
Perhaps, if he let himself get beat up more often, he would become
even stronger!

Pain equaled strength. Power came from Pain. Pain . . .
was power.

He was eagerly awaiting his next battle with the beast even
more now. His pulse quickened at the thought of the coming fight
and he soon found himself pacing his room restlessly. No one in
Nerima really proved to be a challenge any longer. He could
defeat them all with one simple punch if he truly wished. Holding
back was the thing that he did though. Also not wanting to reveal
his true strength was another reason. His strongest punch could
easily tear Ryouga into two pieces.

Stepping out of his room, Ranma headed downstairs and
found his surrogate family sitting at the dinner table. "I'm goin' ta
find this guy. Now."

Soun burst into tears, happy that his daughter was going to
be saved. "Praise Kami!"

---------

He sneezed.

"Bless you, Kami."

"Ah, thank you, Mr. Popo."

---------

"Come for the girl, I presume?" the tall boy asked, arms
crossed.

A long silence ensued followed by a large rush of wind.
His whistled a tuneless noise, ruffling the two boys hair and
clothes.

"Not really. I'm more here for you than her," Ranma
suddenly replied irritated. He rubbed his chest a bit, it still being
sore from the other day. Though his back hurt more, he wasn't
planning on moving his hands to such an off guard position.

The boy rubbed his side, his stomach and kidney also sore
from the other day.

"You're only chance at beating me is by changing into
your curse form," Ranma explained.

"Yeah . . . I know," the boy replied in annoyance. He
reached into his cloak, grabbing a flask of water and poured it
over his head.

The boys body grew three times large about 7 times
wider, his legs becoming skinnier and feet into hooves. Brown,
rugged fur spread across his body, an eel growing out above his
butt as a tail, two white wings bursting out of his shoulder blades.
His face formed into something that resembled a cow, two large
horns emerging from its forehead. This truly was a yeti-riding-bull-
holding-crane-and-eel.

"Moo!" the beast bellowed, standing to it's full height.

Ranma grinned, cracking his knuckles. "As a gesture of
good will, I'll let you make the first move." He spread his arms
apart, opening himself up for any possible attack.

The beast wasted no time, lunging forward and grabbing
Ranma by the legs. It picked the pigtailed boy up and swung him
around, smashing him into a part of the cliff wall. Pulling Ranma
from the rock wall, the beast swung him at the ground.

Hitting the rocky floor, an impression of his body forming,
Ranma grit his teeth in pain. He was roughly pulled across the
ground before being slamming into the mountain side.

---------

"You're late. As usual," Ranma commented as Ryouga
entered the empty lot, looking utterly misplaced.

"Ranma!" he shouted turning to the speaker. "I've found
you at last!"

Ranma's face dead panned. "You're the one who told me
to come here. Got lost again didya?"

"Shut up! Today's the day you lose, Ranma!" Ryouga
exclaimed.

Ranma hopped down from his perch on a wooden fence,
landing a few feet in front of Ryouga. "Lets get this over with.
Whatever this new technique of yours is, I doubt it'll work."

Ryouga took up a position, his hands cupped down by his
hip.

Ranma sighed deeply, pouncing at Ryouga, readying a
jump kick.

"Shishi Hokou Dan!" Ryouga cried thrusting his hands
forward.

Ranma's eyes widened as his world suddenly turned
green, his skin frying from the intense heat. His stomach lurched,
pain tearing through every inch of his body moments before he
passed out.

---------

"You suck, Ryouga! You're a loser! No one would ever
dream of loving you! You pig!" Ranma cried at Ryouga.

"You shouldn't be saying such things, Ranma . . . they
really depress me . . ." Ryouga replied, frowning angrily, green
aura forming around his body.

Ranma waved it off, adding fuel to the fire. "Aww . . . you
don't know nothing, P-chan. Not only are you stupid, but your
brain's the size of a peanut. That's why you get lost so much," he
said with a shrug.

Ryouga growled deep within his throat and cupped his
hands down at his waist.

Ranma smiled and leapt at Ryouga, punching him in the
face softly. "You suck, Ryouga!"

The soft punch caused Ryouga to stumble and fall
backward. Screaming in anger and frustration, he threw his hands
forward, firing the green ball of ki.

"Shi Shi Hokodan!"

Ranma opened his arms, embracing the green light.

---------

Extending his hand, Ranma shouted, "Shi Shi Hokou
Dan!" Nothing happened at first, but after a couple seconds, a
large green bubble formed.

"I think I did it!" he cried happily. The bubble chose that
moment to explode in his face, sending him backwards and into
the wall.

---------

"Lets see this move, Ranma," Ryouga said with grin as he,
Cologne, and Happosai stood watching the pigtailed fighter.

Ranma grinned back. "There is a reason why I made you
come all the way out here, you know," he explained. They were
out in the middle of the forest, up in the Japanese Alps.

"I have a feeling he will not disappoint us," Cologne said
to Ryouga. "Go ahead, son-in-law."

Licking his lips, Ranma extended his arms out to his side,
palms upward and flat. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes,
tensing his muscles, veins appearing along his arm.

The trees around him rustled, waving to Ranma with their
branches.

---------

Kasumi hummed to herself as she hung the laundry up in
the backyard. The birds were out and singing, the air was calm
and cool. The sun shown over head, shining down upon the world.
All seemed in place.

Her humming stopped as the sun was partially blocked
abruptly. Raising her hand to cover her eyes, Kasumi looked
toward the sun, squinting her eyes. "Oh my, I didn't know there
was an eclipse today," she commented in confusion.

The giant blue ball that hovered in front of the sun began
rising, passing the bright star and going higher. The ball suddenly
exploded, bursting into what appeared to be a gigantic firework.

"Oh my! How pretty!" Kasumi gushed as it rained blue ki
over the Japanese Alps.

---------

The rain fell harder as they touched down to the ground.
Finally! They were free from Dr Gero! Now all they had to do
was find the boy . . .

---------

"Mom?" Ranma asked. "She's coming here?"

"Yes! Now come on, we have to pack and go!" Genma
shouted frantically.

"What? Why?" Ranma shook his head in confusion. "I
wanna see mom."

"No you don't, boy!" Genma exclaimed before Ranma
grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air.

"Why don't I, Oyaji . . .?" he growled, his spiked hair and
pigtail floating upward.

---------

"Came back for more, eh?" Ranma grunted with a wide
grin, cracking his knuckles.

"Moo!" Pantyhose cried, leaping forward and using his
brand new tentacles to lash out at Ranma.

Ranma jumped at the beast, weaving his way through the
eight attacking limbs. Pulling back his fist, he punched Pantyhose in
the face, send the creature down the now vacant street.

---------

"Lime. Mint. We are leaving," the figure in the cloak
stated, heading for the Neko Hanten's exit.

"Hold on!" Ranma exclaimed to the back of his soon to
be opponent.

"What do YOU want?" the cloaked person asked.

"This girl, you see, she might be uncute, bullhead, and as
strong as an ox. But . . . I don't take it kindly when people try to
hurt my friends," Ranma explained cooly.

Akane frowned at Ranma, turning her back to him.

"So I'm gonna return the favor and throw you out!"
Ranma shouted as he turned around and leapt at Herb.

"Son-in-law, you mustn't lay a hand on that one!"
Cologne exclaimed immediately, though it was to late.

With his speed, Ranma was already pulling on Herb's
cloak. Grabbing Herb breast plate, Ranma spun around and judo
tossed the dragon descendant out the front doors.

Herb bounced off her head on the concrete, before
flipping over and landing on her stomach, sliding across the street.

Lime jumped Ranma from behind, punching him in the
head, sending him flying through the wall and onto the street. Mint
hopped out of the restaurant, jumping into the air and throwing a
numerous amount of daggers at Ranma's downed form.

Ranma pushed back off the ground, away from the
daggers which all drove into the cement. Bouncing off the wall
behind him, he leap forward, flipping his body sideway, his foot
connecting with Lime's head. Landing on the ground, he crouched
under one of Mint's punches before uppercutting the smaller boy
into a lamp post.

He spun around, just in time for a large ki blast to hit him
in the face. His feet left the ground as he flew back, through a wall,
and into the Neko Hanten, sliding over a couple of buckets of cold
water. She groaned once, before passing out.

Herb-chan glided over to Ranma-chan, looking down at
her angrily. She reached into the folds of her cloak, pulling out
another bucket, and used the ladle to splash Ranma-chan again.

---------

"What's wrong, boys? Am I to much for you to handle,"
Ranma-chan asked Lime and Mint from where she hovered above
their heads, arms crossed underneath her chest.

Ryouga and Mousse were both knocked out, the former
slumped over a rock, the latter laying on his back, bruises littering
both their faces.

Mint hopped into Lime's hands who threw him up into the
air at Ranma-chan. The wolf boy flew at Ranma-chan, sending
dozens upon dozens of incredibly fast punches at her.

Ranma-chan dodged and blocked the attacks before
backhanding Mint across the face, sending him flying toward the
ground head first at an amazing speed. The wolf boy crashed into
the earth, the ground where he landed exploding around him,
sending dust and gravel everywhere.

Lowering herself to the ground, her shoes making a soft
tapping sound as she landed, Ranma-chan looked at Lime over
her shoulder. The tiger boy leapt at her. His fist crashing into the
spot she'd been standing in seconds before.

Viciously kicked across the face, Lime stumbled to the
side, lashing out with another punch. His punch was dodged, and
he received a fist across his face for his trouble.

Mint attacked her from behind, throwing punches faster
than Amaguriken speed. Ranma-chan dodged with out looking as
Lime had gotten up and started attacking her from the front.

Weaving through both their punches and kicks, she back
flipped away causing Lime to punch Mint on the side of his head.
Wolf boy went down again, head first into the ground. Ignoring his
friend, Lime jumped after the girl, his attacks coming faster than
before.

His face was smashed in with an elbow, followed by a
knee to his gut, then his face again, this time by the other knee. He
stumbled back just in time for Ranma-chan's heel to connect with
his chin, sending him flying and into a pile of rocks a distance off.

---------

"I HATE breasts!" Herb screamed as Ranma-chan
flashed him once again.

Eyes widening, Ranma-chan flipped sideways, narrowly
avoiding a massive ball of ki. Landing heavily, she extended her
arm and fired a ki blast of her own back at Herb.

She glanced up just in time to watch Herb fly over the
attack like a bullet. He stretched out his arms at her, shooting two
blasts back at her with both his hands. Seeing an opening,
Ranma-chan leapt toward the two balls, arms at her side, straight
as a wood plank.

Herb blinked in shock and recoiled in surprise as he
watched Ranma-chan seemingly jump into his blasts. His eyes
widened and he let out a brief scream of 'no' before two petite
fists embedded themselves in his stomach.

He bent over, coughing and gasping for air at the same
time, making it even harder to catch his breath, let alone one. The
palm of her hand mashed against the skinned of his cheek violently
flinging him toward the earth below. He halted his forward motion
a few feet away from the ground and quickly righted himself,
throwing a small ball of ki into the air.

Ranma-chan spun around, dodging the ball and flew down
at Herb as fast as she could. She appeared on the ground,
standing next to him, fist shoved as far as it could go in his gut. As
if by late reaction, Herb remained motionless for a few moments
before suddenly slamming into the rocky floor behind him.

Hopping back three times, getting a large distance
between the two, Ranma-chan grinned arrogantly. "You gonna
give up now?" she asked, crossing her arms under her chest.

Herb slowly pushed himself to his knees and glared
intently at her, flames of hate burning in the pupils of his eyes. He
leapt from his knees to his feet, red aura flaring around him
violently. The ground around him cracked and fissured leaving him
standing in the middle of a perfectly round crater.

"Now we're talk-!" was all Ranma-chan managed
before Herb's ki powered fist smashed into her face. She was
flung backwards, into a wall of rock.

Herb, pressing his advantage, powered up a massive ball
of ki and chucked it at where Ranma-chan lay imprinted. Rock
and dust flew every which way as the ball impacted heavily.
Breathing deeply, and grinning victoriously, Herb glided slowly
toward the new crater.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!"

Herb's eyes widened tremendously as a blue ball of ki,
larger than the one he'd thrown, was rocketed right at him. He
jumped up quickly and fired the largest ki blast he could manage at
the time, back at the oncoming one. The blue ball explode,
propelling Herb backwards where he spun about crazily in the air,
trying to regain his balance.

Ranma-chan flew at Herb, a fiery blue aura surrounding
her. Her fist readily cocked back, stuck Herb in the head,
knocking him parallel to the ground. She grabbed his leg, stopping
his sideways flight and pulled him back to her, punching him in the
chest, sending him into the ground. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken
Moko Takabisha!" she screamed, sending hundred of small ki
balls at Herb with the speed of the Amaguriken.

Herb's eyes widened. He'd lost.

---------

Ranma grit his teeth as Ms. Hinako continued to drain his
ki. She'd already drained a good one-fourth of it and didn't look
to be letting up. "Damn you! You want more ki! THEN TAKE
IT!" he screamed before throwing down his fisted hands and
flaring his aura.

It burst outward, as if his body had caught on fire,
surrounding his body, blazing powerfully, knocking the people
watching off their feet. Ms. Hinako shouted as a massive ball of ki
slammed into her, over flooding her body and knocking her out.

Ranma was left panting, down on one knee, as he had
pumped two-thirds of his remaining ki into her. It wouldn't be until
three weeks later that Ms. Hinako reverted to her child form.
Ranma took this in good nature, allowing Ms. Hinako to drain him
regularly as it helped make any challenges he had in the future
harder to handle.

---------

The Urochi's seven smaller heads whipped widely,
attempting to catch Ranma as he wove his way through the long
necks. He threw out his hand, firing a ki blast into one of the heads
that was getting to close to his female copy. He spun around
quickly, punching another head on the nose, knocking it into
another head.

He female form continued to dodge around the seven
heads as he worked on beating them. "Hurry up with that horn!"
he cried down the Akane and Shinnosuke.

He flew straight down, just avoiding a snapping head, one
which Ryouga was riding on top of, punching at it's nose.
Punching upward, Ranma caught the heads neck, knocking it
upward, bucking Ryouga who continued to beat on its head.

He turned 180 firing a quick ball of ki into the mouth of
incoming head, blowing out it's teeth, and making his head rear
upward in pain. It slashed about wildly, nearly smacking another
head and Ranma-chan in the process.

The sound of a thick horn stopped him from dodging the
next head, which swayed and dropped slowly back into the lakes
depths. "Alright, Akane!" he shouted as he and Ranma-chan, who
was carrying Ryouga by the collar of his shirt, flew over to where
she was.

A massive splash and roar knocked Ranma and Ranma-
chan forward, the latter flinging Ryouga onto dry land, away from
the on coming water. The two turned to look upon the eighth and
largest head. They cracked their knuckles in unison. "Joy!" they
exclaimed with broad grins.

---------

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Ranma shouted
angrily at the boy wearing camouflage pants.

"I'm Ranma Saotome," the boy replied pointedly.

"The hell you are!" Ranma snarled launching himself at the
boy.

"Don't move!" the boy shouted, causing Ranma to stall for
a moment. "Moko Kaimon Ha!"

The breath left Ranma as the boys boot shoved itself into
his gut, throwing him back. He skid across the ground for a bit
before easily flipping to his feet. He rubbed his stomach, "Strong
kick . . ."

The boy grimaced. "Strong stomach."

---------

"Now watch closely, boy. I'm only gonna show you this
once," Genma explained to Ranma in the privacy of the Tendo
dojo.

Ranma nodded seriously, his eyes never leaving his father.
He felt the dojo become a little colder and the form of his father
blurred slightly before disappearing completely. "What the hell?"
he exclaimed before a blow was struck against the side of his
neck, knocking him down. All this time, he could still beat
me . . . were his last thoughts before hitting the floor unconscious.

---------

Soun blinked as large hole appeared in the middle of his
news paper. He curiously stuck his head through the hole, a
second before the floor underneath him decided to fall into the
ground, taking the table and everyone else with it.

---------

"Alright, Ryu! I know how your style works now!"

"You think that'll help you any?" Ryu snorted.

Ranma crossed his arms over his chest. "I think you
should know, that the Yama Sen Ken is the weaker of the two
arts. I now know the Umi Sen Ken, which is by far stronger than
yours."

"Well come prove it! And once I beat you, the secrets of
the Umi Sen Ken will be mine!" Ryu screamed, clutching his fist
tightly before charging Ranma. "WATCH OUT!"

Ranma's momentary flinch allowed Ryu's foot to collide
with his stomach. The battle for the Forbidden Arts had begun.

---------

Ranma groaned as the fat phoenix sitting on Kuno's head
continued to peck at his. He swung at it before lighting him ablaze.
"Argh!" he punched and punched at it again, only to have his fists
lit on fire.

---------

"We've been looking forever? What're we supposed to
do if we can't find the stupid boy!" a man, maybe no more than
4'3 feet tall, exclaimed. Blue was his choice of clothing. A blue
leather jacket, it being a very small jacket, along with blue pants
and t-shirt.

"We find the boy," a woman, 5'3 in height, with long
blonde hair, light blue eyes and a generous amount of chest,
answered shrugging her shoulders. "We have nothing else to do as
of right now." She wore a yellow leather jacket, yellow baggy
pants and a yellow t-shirt. A t-shirt that did nothing to hide her,
well, generous assets.

Taking the picture, a man, about 5'9 in height, dark red
hair tied into a ponytail, his physic seemingly perfect in stature.
Red baggy pants, red t-shirt, red leather boots and not surprisingly
a red leather jacket were his choice of clothing. "Why can't we
find you. . .?"

"Yeah, but you gotta remember that the picture was taken
9 years ago," girl replied sternly, snatching the picture out of the
mans hand.

The picture was of a young boy, maybe around the age of
10 with spiky black and pitch black, bead like eyes. He stood
around 5'0, in a dirty and ripped gi, with a large turtle shell tied to
his back.

"We'll find him. We're close," the fourth person said dully,
his voice sounding robotic in a way. This one stood around 6'7
with shaggy black hair and an unshaven face looked at the picture.
His body was covered with muscles, his sleeveless shirt stretched
to the limits while his baggy black pants hid his legs

The woman sighed deeply, flicking a few blonde strands
out of her face. "You're so damn robotical. Can't you at least try
to talk like a normal person?" she asked, placing her hands on her
curvy hips.

"No. I have been programed to hunt down and destroy.
That is my mission."

The small man dressed in all blue, glared at their ebony
dressed companion. "If you weren't the most powerful of us, I'd
kick your ass up the wazzoo," he growled angrily.

"My mission is to kill. Nothing more," the man dressed in
black replied automatically.

"You're a fool," the man in blue growled.

"And you're a shrimp," the man dressed in red
commented, glaring at the man in blue. "The sooner we get this
over with the sooner we can get back to the Doctor and kill 'im."

The girl snorted. "That damn pervert's gonna die hard for
giving me these," she growled, holding up her breasts for a
moment.

"I don't see anything wrong with them," the small man
dressed in blue countered, grinning lecherously at the girl.

"Really? You don't think they're too much?" the girl asked
innocently looking at the small man.

"Yes! They're very nice indeed!"

"They are only breasts. I do not see why they are so
important." Three guesses who that was.

The girl bent down, getting closer to the smaller mans
height, ignoring the last remark. "Well then, why don't you come
over here and check for yourself?" she purred seductively.

'Hot Dog!' the small man thought giddily. With a simple
hop, the small man was on his way to the girls chest.

-Bam- The small man crashed into the ground as the girls
fist crashed into the mans head. 'Damn pervert. Showed him
who's the boss of this operation' she thought angrily.

---------

"What the . . . ?" Genma asked curiously, looking at the
TV closer. "Hey, boy! You should come see this!"

"What? What is it?" Ranma asked strolling into the room.

Genma pointed at the TV.

"Is that . . . who I think it is?" There was a loud cracking
sound before the roof caved in, everyone jumping for cover,
Pantyhose Tarou's bruised and beaten form landing heavily before
them. He moo'd pathetically, weakly pushing himself upward. "I'd
think you'd come for a fight, but from the looks of it, seems
you've already had one," Ranma commented highly.

---------

Ranma danced in midair around the multiple fireballs
aimed at him. Rouge's six arms continued to fire until he finally was
hit in the face. He was hit five more times and driven into the
ground. He rolled out of the way, as another blast slammed into
the spot where he just laid.

He pushed himself up into the air and flew at Rouge,
ramming his head into her stomach. He rolled back away from her
in the air and fired two ki balls from each of his hands into her. He
watched as she flew off into the distance, retreating for the
moment before turning to Pantyhose.

"What the hell did you do to piss her off?"

---------

Ranma and Rouge collided in midair, Rouge's six arms
punching at Ranma, who amazingly blocked them all. The two
remained in place, one throwing punches, the other blocking. A fist
hit Ranma's chest, sending him into the ground, which he bounced
off of as soon as he touched. He threw a ki blast back on his
ground rebound, fly to the side at the same time, avoiding another
of Rouge's attacks. He flew up at her, and they continued their battle in the
night air. Ranma tossed in his own punches this time, blocking
those of Rouge's. He took a knee to the gut, three fists to the face,
and six to his back, sending him back to the earth.

Ranma landed on his feet, and cupped his hands at his side
immediately, crying out, "Moko Takabisha!"

The blue ball split in two, one half slamming into her
stomach, the other into the middle of her three heads. His body
streaked upward and stopped in front of her, shouting out his next
attack, "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" His fist blurred, hitting
Rouge's three heads, 300 times, 100 for each head. He 360'd and
kicked each head with a high kick.

The three heads screamed as Ranma shoved both his fists
into her stomach and let go a ball of ki, blowing her into the
ground.

---------

"Okaasan?" Ranma called out to the woman standing in
front of the grave stone.

His mother turned around slowly, six year old Ranko
doing so much faster. "Ranma?" she muttered worriedly.

"Shuuto!" Ranko cried running at her older brother. She
jumped into his arms and was easily lifted into the air and hugged
tightly but gently.

"God I missed you, Youjo . . ." he whispered, holding her
close. "You've gotten so big! How old are you now?"

"I'm almost six!" Ranko exclaimed, trying to wrap her
smaller arms all around Ranma's broad shoulders.

He felt his mother's arms wrap around his waist and pull
him close from the side. Holding Ranko to him with one arm, he
placed his other around Nodoka's shoulders, pulling her against
him. "I told you . . . I promised you I'd come back," he said
soothingly, choking back his tears.

Ranko was already sobbing into his shoulder. She had
missed him so much! She didn't ever want to let him go! Not ever!

---------

Ranma screamed as he pushed against the massive fireball,
nearly 20 by 20 feet in roundness. It burned at his hands, but he
had to stop it from hitting the mountain, less it wipe out all his
friends and the Phoenix race. On the other side of the fireball he
could hear Saffron laughing boldly.

"Foolish, landling! Did you honestly think you could stand
a match against the full power of the Lord of the Phoenix!" he
shouted through his laughs.

Sweat poured off Ranma's face in buckets. The intense
heat of the fireball was starting to break through his auras defense,
the palms of his hands beginning to burn. He closed his eyes as he
felt the heels of his feet touch Mt. Phoenix and the ground
underneath them start to break apart. He managed a brief glance
to his right where his friends stood, watching transfixed.

The ground under his right leg gave out, forcing him to
kneel, the fireball now gaining the advantage over him. His eyes
looked right again.

Ryouga stood, eyes wide, fists clenched at his side. Was
he an ally? An enemy? Possibly even a friend?

Genma was hunched over, covering his head as if his
hands would be able to protect him. His father. His sensei. His
family.

Shampoo and Mousse,. Allies, enemies, with those two he
could never tell. But they always seemed to be there when he
needed them.

His sister. Ranko was somewhere in the mountain. They'd
taken his sister to try and use against him!

He couldn't let them down. He couldn't let them die. He
couldn't let all the Phoenix people die. He couldn't let anyone die!
He had to stop it, and stop it now!

Screaming wildly, Ranma pushed as hard as he could
against the ball, managing to regain his footing on the mountain
side. A blue aura exploded around his body, and rushed forward
to the palms of his hands.

"Saffron!" he yelled over the fury of the fireball, "This isn't
over! Moko Takabisha Double!"

Two bowling ball sized blasts of gold ki shot against the
fireball, pushing it back into the air and straight back at Saffron.
The fireball soared faster than before, powered forward by
Ranma's two Moko Takabisha's, it collided with Saffron's hands,
knocking the Phoenix King back in midair.

Flapping his wings to help him hold the fireball, Saffron
laughed unafraid of the danger he was in. "Stupid, landling! I'm the
Phoenix, from which this fire came from!" So saying, the giant
fireball began to decrease in size, as it drew itself back into the
winged Gods hands.

"Not stupid, creative, you winged asshole!" Ranma
shouted as he appeared right behind Saffron, a ball gold of ki
overlapping his cupped hands.

Saffron looked over his shoulder just in time to watch in
horrified fashion as Ranma shot the ball into his back, slamming the
winged God inside of his own fireball. He managed a short
screamed before he was fully engulfed.

Hovering backwards, away from the forward moving
fireball, Ranma shouted, "And hears the knock out!" before
clenching his right fist. The two balls of gold ki that had been
pushing the fireball suddenly sunk into its depths. A second later
the massive ball of flame erupted, causing a shockwave through
the air, knocking back Ranma and rocking against the mountains
side. Everyone watched was temporarily blinded by the bright
white light and were forced to look away.

A body fell from it all, it twisted and flipped in the air, its
lone wing flapping wildly, attempting to regain balance but unable.
Saffron smashed into the mountain side, sending gravel and dust
everywhere.

Ranma remained floating in the air, hovering around the
mushroom cloud of dirt. The dust cleared quickly, revealing a
beaten and bloody Saffron, his left wing ripped off. Besides the
immediate damage to his person, the one winged Phoenix was
standing, covered in immense flames.

Coughing up a little blood, Saffron gave Ranma a dirty
look. "You'll DIE for that, landling!" So saying, he screamed loudly
as his left wing regrew to its full and normal length. "I am the
Phoenix, from my ashes I will always rise again!"

"Well that's handy," Ranma said condescendingly, arms
crossed over his chest.

Saffron pushed off from the ground, his powerful wings
giving him and added boost. Before Ranma could react in time,
Saffron's fist was shoved into his stomach. He was punched and
slashed across the face by Saffron other hand.

Hovering away from Saffron, Ranma placed a hand over
his face. He looked at Saffron arrogantly, and removed his hand,
his face completely healed. "That the best you got in hand-to-hand
combat, Saffron? You might as well just stick with your fireballs."

Saffron screamed and threw a small fireball at Ranma.

Ranma leapfrogged over it, spinning around in midair and
tossing a gold ki ball back at Saffron.

Saffron swatted it aside with his wing before shooting two
fireballs out of the palms of his hands.

Ranma caught them both and raised his arms, letting them
fly skyward, where they'd do no harm.

Saffron's fist collided with Ranma's face.

The heel of Ranma's foot smashed into Saffron's chin.

The two abruptly began throwing punches and kicks at
one another, their forms blurring to the naked eye. The occasional
punch or kick would get through, one of the two fighters pausing
briefly to let their body flow with the contact so that they might be
able to counter easier. It ended when one of Ranma's punches,
filled with ki, smashed into the side of Saffron's head, exploding
on contact.

The Phoenix God was tossed to the side before spreading
his wings to stop himself in midair. He screamed as Ranma's foot
crashed into his jaw. He turned away from the blow and spun
around, smacking Ranma with his wing, and letting a fireball go
right into the pigtailed boys chest.

Ranma screamed as he felt his chest burning. He quickly
flew higher up, hand on his chest, his red shirt burnt open. Before
he could do anything else, Saffron appeared behind him and
placed both his hands on Ranma's shoulders. Ranma threw his
body backwards, managing to kick Saffron in his chin, but
exposed his chest for an easy attack.

One that Saffron didn't pass up on. "DIE, LANDLING!"
he screamed as he pressed the palms of his hands on Ranma's
chest and began firing fireballs into him.

Ranma soared downward, followed by numerous fireballs.
His body crashed heavily into the mountain side moments before
fireball after fireball slammed into his body. He screamed as he felt
his body burning up underneath the pressure of the fiery orbs.

Over the fury of the fireballs, Ranma heard a voice faintly
shout, "Shishi Hokou Dan!"

The fireballs stopped a second later and Ranma took what
seemed like the biggest breath of air he had ever taken. He rolled
out of his body shaped crater, and pushed himself to his hands and
knees. Looking to his side, he watched as Saffron swung Ryouga
around like a rag down, holding on to the fanged boys arm and
slamming him into the ground.

"SAFFRON!" Ranma roared, catching the attention of
the wing man, "First you kidnap my sister! And now you're
attacking my friends!"

Saffron tossed Ryouga's limp body to the side, where it
landed with a heavy 'thud'. "What're you going to do about it,
fool!"

Digging his right foot in the ground, Ranma pushed
forward, launching himself at Saffron. He glided across the
mountain side so fast that when his fist hit Saffron in the face, the
Phoenix was utterly caught off guard. Ranma knee found Saffron's
stomach, followed by his elbow on the back of Saffron's head.

Saffron was thrown back as Ranma's foot caught him in
the face. The Phoenix rolled to his feet, pumped his wings and
took the air. "DIE!" he thundered, creating another giant fireball
above his head with both his hands.

Cupping his hands down at his side, Ranma let began
gathering as much ki from inside him as he could. He had to win.
He couldn't lose, not to Saffron. Saffron would end up killing them
all. He would win! For his friends, his family, but most of all
Ranko. The ball in his hands grew three times larger. "You first!"
he screamed, before launching his ball of ki, "Perfect Moko
Takabisha!"

As the blue ball flew forward, it expanded even larger than
before, now twice the size of its wielder. Noticing the ball of ki
heading straight for him for the first time, Saffron hurriedly threw
his fireball back at it. His ball was engulfed by the much larger one,
and did little to slow it down.

"No!" Saffron screamed, now throwing fireball after
fireball into the incoming blue ball. The ball slowly began to grow
in mass, and instead of moving toward Saffron, started to fall
slowly back toward the mountain.

Ranma watched in horror as the ball dropped back
toward him. He'd used just about all of his strength and ki in that
final attack and now it was heading back at him. 'Stupid! Now
what am I gonna do!' he thought angrily to himself.

He slowly pushed himself to his feet and looked at the
falling blue mass. 'I guess I gotta draw it all back in when it hits . .
. even though that'll probably blow me up from the inside,' he
thought with a dry chuckle.

"Shishi Hokou Dan!" was cried weakly, a small green
blast soon after smashing the falling blue one.

Ranma looked over quickly, noticing Ryouga standing
tiredly on his own two feet. 'He hasn't given up yet!' Ranma
thought, his confidence rising, 'Why the hell should I then!'

"Shishi Hokou Dan!" Another green ball slammed into the
blue one.

Building up as much ki as he could, Ranma flew up at the
ball and slammed his elbow into it. He could hear Saffron laughing
again, thinking he'd won once again. "Alright you egotistical
bastard, lets see you handle this!" he whispered to himself.

Another, much smaller green ball pressed against the blue
one, adding to its size, and pushing it up slightly. But that was all
Ryouga could handle, as Ranma watched him collapse
unconscious.

Ranma screamed with such anger that the ball moved
back a little more. His elbow continued to press against the ball,
forcing it back little by little. Finally he got an advantage over the
ball of ki against his elbow. His arm stretched out, slamming the
ball back toward Saffron.

The ball moved faster than before, crashing into Saffron's
unprepared body. The Phoenix God cried out as pain drove its
way through every nerve in his body. He felt both his wings tear
off and disintegrate.

Ranma backed away from the ball for a moment before
flying straight into it.

Saffron screaming was silenced as he felt a fist, then half
an arm rip through his stomach. The blue around him and Ranma
began to diminish, drawing itself into Ranma's body. Soon enough,
the whole ball of ki was inside Ranma, looking for an exit.

"Moko Takabisha Kamikaze Revised!" Ranma shouted,
pumping all of the ki inside of him into Saffron.

There was a scream. Then an explosion. And then it was
over.

---------

A couple weeks later:

"How's the shirt coming, Kasumi?" Ranma asked as he
continued his pushups.

"Almost done," she replied, smiling sweetly as she
embroidered a golden dragon onto the front of one of Ranma's
shirts, sitting on his back while doing so. "You think you could do
your pushups a little smoother?"

"Sure thing, Kasumi," Ranma said, grinning as he slowed
his pace so it'd be a smoother ride.

"Ranma!" Nabiki shouted as she rushed into the dojo.
"You have to see what's on tv!"

Stopping in the middle of a pushup, Ranma looked up at
Nabiki, "What's going on?"

"Apparently these people are gonna fight for the world!"
Nabiki exclaimed and ran back into the house.

He stood up, Kasumi doing the same as he did, and the
two walked back into the house, and into the living room where
the tv was on and everyone was sitting around watching. He stood
next to the couch and looked at the tv.

The tv panned over six people. There was one who
looked like a normal human, though his face was slightly scarred,
and his black hair was tied into a ponytail. Next to him was a taller
man, completely bald and what looked like a third eye in the
middle of his forehead. Then there was a smaller guy, also bald,
just coming up to the waist of the other bald man. After the small
man, there was an even smaller looking . . . person, if someone
could call him that. It looked like a little kid, his face painted white
with two red circles on his cheeks.

Everyone in the room gasped as the next person was
shown on screen. He was the tallest of them all, and green with
long, pointed ears. He wore a white cloak and turban on his head.

"Wha-what is that?" Akane asked, he body shaking
nervously.

Ranma's eyes widened when the last figured was shown.
A little boy, maybe six or seven, was wearing a purple gi with a
white bandana, but that wasn't all that he had.

"Is that a tail!" Nabiki gasped in disbelief.

"Oh my! I think it is!" Kasumi added.

Ranma looked down at his own tail and wondered to
himself if there was a connection. There has to be!

"Oh my!"

Ranma looked quickly at the tv as it focused in on two
other figures. One was fairly short, his black hair sticking up, and
spiked. He wore strange blue armor, that somewhat looked like
spandex. He too had a tail wrapped around his waist. The man
beside him was nearly twice as tall as the first, bald, and covered
in nothing but muscles. He wore similar armor to that of his smaller
companion. A tail was wrapped securely around his waist as well.

"If you've just tuning in," the news caster announced as
the camera continued to pan over all the fighters present, "it has
been reported that these two," the camera stopped on the massive
bald man and the short spiky haired man, "are the ones
responsible for the destruction, and devastation of Salt City earlier
this morning. Apparently they are challenging these six," the
camera panned across the other six, "as representatives of Earth.
They are our only hope. The only ones brave enough to stand up
to this menace."

Ranma had heard enough. Turning to Kasumi, he asked
quickly, "You finished my shirt?"

"Just . . . finishing . . . finished!" she exclaimed cheerfully,
holding up his red shirt, now embroidered with a golden dragon.

Snatching the shirt out of Kasumi's hand, Ranma quickly
took off the one he was currently wearing and slipped on the
newly remade one.

"Where are you going, Ranma?" Nodoka exclaimed as
Ranma rushed toward the front door.

"I'm not about to let them fight those guys on their own!
And look, they've got tails. They might be able to explain what
this," he wagged his tail, "is!"

"Well be careful, Ranma!" Nodoka shouted, "I don't want
to lose you right after I got you back again!"

"Don't worry mom, with me there, how can we lose!" he
shouted back as he jumped into the air, a gold aura exploding
around him before he flew off into the distance at an incredible
speed.

Ranko stared at where her brother had just flown away.
"Come on, Ranko," she heard her mother say, "lets watch the tv
and wait for your brother to show up."

-----------

Next Time: Earth's New Hope! Ranma vs Nappa!
It's Ranma versus Nappa. David versus Goliath. Can Ranma
rewrite Kami-sama's proposed fate and save Piccolo, or will the
Namekian still fall. And what will Vegeta's reaction be to another
Saiya-jin who isn't Kakarotto?

Authors Notes: Well, after forever, I finished this chapter
but I did. Something's are different, as you have read, and some
of you might be wondering why I let him have the Neko-ken and
the curse. As well as a sister. Well, those are my own reasons.
And no, there will be no incest in this fic!
http/