The vault Chapter 3: The Coin, Tails, a ranma fanfic

Ah, this fic... I still like it, and like Uncultured Cat Person, have plans for it in future. This should not discourage anyone who wishes to use the concept, or even the text, for that matter, as I have plans for a great many things, and very few of them come to fruition. If, however, any of my vault fics DO happen to go back on my active list they'll be removed from here to reduce confusion.

Anyways, on to the fic itself. I have an extensive plot line laid out if whoever decides to continue the fic wishes to see it, other than that, just ensure that you E-mail me to tell me that you're starting it so that I can take the vault copy down, and so that I can read what I hope will be a good continuation.

Without further authorly Ramblings, here's the fic, and an indication that, despite appearances, I am NOT dead, just very busy.

The coin: Tails.

Written by Weebee.

Summery. This is deliberately vague, but Ranma gets sucked into a dark future, in which humanity is enslaved by other, alien races. This is a crossover, but I'm not telling you with what, and anyone who guessed it will have to be far too much of a geek, and is threatening my position. Even so, I welcome any guesses.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma, or the other universe used in this fanfic. As of chapter 2, I'll disclaim that one better.

Chapter 1, Transfer.

Ranma dodged a blow from a wooden staff, the object slamming into the ground next to him with a large puff of dirt. Jumping to the side, he avoided a slashing sword and a pair of Bonbori maces as they flew over his head, pivoting to see two Amazon warriors, Shampoo and Mousse, standing steadily in front of him.

Regaining his feet, Ranma caught his breath from the sudden surprise attack that the amazons had executed upon him, and managed to ask a question. "Why the heck are ya doin this?" He asked, before diving to the left to avoid an ancient woman on the tip of a staff.

"I sorry Ranma, it village law." Shampoo said, sounding truly regretful.

"But I'd do it even if it wasn't!" Mousse smiled, as he threw his arms forward, two chains immerging from the sleeves. Ranma tried to dodge them, but Cologne came in from above, and her staff stopped his upward jump cold. With a loud crack, Ranma's skull met the wooden handle of a staff, and he became disoriented for just long enough for the chains to rap around him.

"Now, hold him!" Cologne cried, as she recovered from her staff strike and withdrew an old and tattered scroll from her baggy green robes.

"Ol' ghoul, you still haven't told me why yer doin this." Ranma growled, as he struggled to get free of Mousse's chains. The amazons knew that he would succeed soon, but Cologne decided to respond anyways. After all, her best student in years deserved that, at least.

"I am sorry, Ranma, but the village has declared that since Shampoo cannot win you as a husband, and you are too powerful to run free, we must dispose of you." She stopped Ranma, as he began to look angry and slightly afraid, knowing that if he was desperate enough he would most likely slip from the chains and get away. "Do not worry, Ranma. You will not be killed, or really harmed in any way." She continued, as she began to read from the scroll. Her words came out in a soft cadence that almost seemed hypnotic, the ancient Chinese words of power seeming to gather a force in the air around the elder. Her final word, however, was in Japanese and Ranma could recognize it very well. "Banishment!"

As Cologne uttered the final word, that must be spoken in the victim's own language, she shed a single tear, fully knowing that Ranma would never return again. The pigtailed boy had disappeared in a flash of light shortly after she had said the last of the words of power, and she knew that the spell she had cast had sent him so far away, that it was impossible to get back. Then again, Ranma was rather prone to performing the impossible. With that last thought, the elder turned to guide her crying great granddaughter and the smiling idiot duck back to the restaurant.

Meanwhile, several hundred years in the future, an old man mixed a bubbling pot of various ingredients, while humming a jazz tune under his breath. This man was Joseph Sisko, a man in his early eighties, and even with the dark times that had overtaken the earth in the last hundred years, even before he was born, he remained cheerful, doing what he loved. As he finished stirring the pot of Traditional Kajen food, he heard a loud crashing noise that came from the door to the alley behind his restaurant. Placing the stirring spoon on the table next to the stove, he grabbed a small stunner weapon that he kept next to the door, for rowdy customers, and began walking to the back door.

Opening the door, Joe saw a rather strange site. In the alley, a seventeen year old boy lay, his body sprawled awkwardly across the Restaurant's back step. "What in the world?" Joe asked, as he knelt down beside the boy's form, noticing the strange, soft clothes he had been wearing. No terran would ever have enough money to by clothing like this, but Joe couldn't detect any alien features with a cursory evaluation. Shrugging, he decided to do the right thing, and tried to lift the young man to carry him into the kitchen. That idea quickly showed itself as a bust, as his back screamed in protest the second he tried to lift the weight. He involuntarily let out a groan of pain, and the boy seemed to hear it as he opened his eyes.

"Are you all right?" The boy asked, however it was in a language that Joe had never heard before, and couldn't understand.

"What's that? I can't understand you." Joe said, slowly straightening out to a standing position with a few more groans of pain.

The boy seemed to realize something, and he began to speak again. "You speak Engrish, right?" He asked, in a strangely accented voice.

"I speak Terran, boy, but that doesn't matter at the moment." Joe said, as he noticed that the sky was getting dark. "You really shouldn't be out here after it gets dark, the overseers'll get ya."

The boy blinked in incomprehension. "Ovaseas?" he asked, confused.

Joe sighed. "Never mind, just come in here." He said, as he gestured towards the inside of his restaurant. He rationalized this as not wanting to deal with the overseer force anymore than he had to, and besides, the kid was probably insane or something, not knowing what an overseer was.

The boy quickly nodded, although he still looked confused, as he entered what appeared to be the kitchen of a restaurant. Sniffing, he could smell something really good, but couldn't identify it. Walking over to the pot, he eyed it curiously.

"You want some?" Joe asked, curiously.

The boy looked at him, and asked, "Is okay?"

Joe shrugged. "Yah, sure. I made too much for myself anyways… but while I'm feeding you, can I ask who you are, son?"

"I Ranma." The boy responded, clumsily. It was obvious to Joe that he had trouble forming any sentences in Terran, and kept his sentences as short as possible.

"Well, I'm Joe Sisko, owner of Sisko's Creole Kitchen." Joe said, with a crooked grin. "Nice ta meat you." Sisko was usually a pretty friendly person, he really had to be in his line of work, and he had met and helped out people wandering on the street before, but this boy seemed different. Deciding to indulge his curiosity, he said, "How about I get you a bowl of that," pointing at the pot, "and we can sit in the front room and talk?"

"Hey, thanks." Ranma said, nodding slightly. A few minutes later, he walked into the front room of the Restaurant, looking around in amazement. It didn't look like any eating establishment he'd ever seen, with the stuffed alligator hanging from the roof and the old baseball photos scattered around the room, and the place seemed somehow run down in a way he couldn't quite understand.

"You gunna keep gawkin, or do you want some food?" Joe asked, as he set a bowl down at a table. Ranma descended on the food with typical Saotome gusto, and Joe smiled. "Boy, have you been starved for a week or something?"

"No, food is just good." Ranma said, between mouthfuls. Sisko just laughed, as he sat down across from Ranma with his own bowl.

Later that night, Ranma sat on the edge of a beaten up bed, gazing into the darkness of the room around him. He had quickly figured out that Cologne's spell had sent him away from Tokyo, judging from the one word he could understand of it, and when Sisko had asked him if he had a place to go back to, he had been forced to say no. As a result, Sisko had offered him the room in which he was sitting now, which had once been used by the Restaurant's single waiter before he had been forced to leave. With a sigh, he let himself fall back on the bed, which was a lot more comfortable than his old Futon, anyhow. Now if he could only get past the language barrier between himself and Mr. Sisko, and presumably everyone else wherever he was, maybe he could do something, but for now all he could do was get some sleep.

The next day, Ranma woke to the smell of something cooking in the kitchen, which was right next to the room where he had slept. Getting out of bed, he left his room to see Sisko cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

"Hello Ranma, you're up I see." The man said, seeing the newest guest who had shown up at his doorstep the night before. "You want to help this old man get ready for the morning crowd?"

Ranma shrugged. Sisko had helped him out the night before, and he had worked at a restaurant before. Nodding, he walked out front and began to take chairs off of the tops of tables, as the first few morning customers came trickling in. As Ranma looked over them, he began to notice a pattern. Sisko had worn faded, old seeming clothes, but Ranma had assumed they were for work in the kitchen. This morning, however, He was noticing that everyone wore the same, or similar clothing, even the women wearing a similar shirt and slacks combination. Dismissing this, he began to take orders and bring them back to Sisko, much to the older man's surprise.

"So, you're volunteering as my new waiter?" Sisko asked, as Ranma came in and began listing off customers meals in broken English.

"I pay you back for helping me last night." Ranma explained, as he excepted a plate.

"Ah, I see." Sisko said, thoughtfully. "Well, I appreciate it. These old bones can't go as well as they used to." He said, with a slight chuckle. Suddenly, as if to prove his point, the chuckle turned into a hacking cough that doubled him over.

"Sisko San, Are you all right?" Ranma asked, accidentally reverting to Japanese, as he moved to help the older man. As he did so, he felt for his life energy, as Dr. Tofu had taught him to do on one occasion, after the incident with Saffron, when Ranma asked him about first aid. To his surprise, Sisko's life energy was almost non-existent. For the first time, Ranma began to realize the older man was very sick.

Sisko recovered from his coughing fit and straightened up, noticing that Ranma was staring at him concernedly. "I'm fine, just a little coughing fit. Let's get back to work, boy!" He said, jovially, gesturing for Ranma to start taking orders again. Ranma nodded, knowing that, like himself, the older man wanted to take care of himself as much as possible, and refused to admit his own weakness. If nothing else, he could empathize with that.

The next few weeks flew by quickly, as Ranma continued to work at Joe Sisko's Restaurant. His English, by necessity, began to get better as he worked with the customers, and he kept a careful eye on the old man, trying to not be obvious about it. Of course, being Ranma, he failed miserably… but as long as Ranma didn't say anything about it, Sisko didn't mind. Sometime on the third day, Ranma's curse was revealed, but Sisko had just muttered something about suspecting that Ranma wasn't a terran and left it at that.

Ranma, on his part, now alternated days as a waitress, at Sisko's request, in order to draw in more customers. He may not have liked it, but he had worked as a waitress before, and Sisko was right, she definitely did draw in the crowds.

It was on one of Ranma's waitress days when it happened. The day had started out well enough, business was good and Joe hadn't shown any signs of illness, but all that was about to change, as the doors to the place opened and everyone inside fell silent.

Ranma looked up from a table, who's occupants had turned pale, to see a large man standing in the doorway to the place. His features looked somewhat off, but there had been a few people in here who didn't look human, and after being surprised the first time a blue skinned man walked in, she had been informed of the existence of Extra-Terrestrial life. She was surprised, but not as much as the average person. She WAS from Nerima, after all. Shrugging, she walked up to the overly-tall, broad shouldered man in the doorway. "Can I help you?" She asked, acting like the cute girl who, to all outward appearances, she was.

The man's eyes roamed Ranma's body in the way she had associated with perverted intent, and he opened his mouth. "Oh, you can help me all right little Terran. Quite lovely, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Ranma asked, one of her hands twitching to slug this guy in the face. Of course, that wasn't good for business, so she restrained herself.

"You heard me, girl." The man said, as he grabbed Ranma by the arm. "When I heard the Terran workers talking I never expected this, now how about you come with me."

"You let her go!" Sisko barked, from the door to the kitchen. He held a large wooden stirring spoon in his hand, and was waving it at the large man.

"Oh, old man. Who's she to you, anyways?" The large man said, walking past Ranma to get to Sisko. "She's just a waitress, right?"

"She's my waitress, and I need her here." Sisko said, sounding gruff.

The large man laughed. "You've got courage, old man… Truly, you were born of the wrong species." Then, he shook his head. "Sadly, I must punish you for your insolence."

Sisko lunged at the large man, before he brought his hand up in a meaty fist, hammering the older man across the side of the head.

"Sisko san!" Ranma yelled, running over to the man who had taken her in several weeks ago. When she reached him, she felt for his Chi only to get no response. "You… killed him?"

The tall man snorted. "He died like a warrior, something that you Terrans really shouldn't expect."

Ranma growled. "You killed him because he was protectin me? You…" At that moment, she launched herself forward, and crashed into the large man with her fist extended, Energy filling it. This was a blow that could harm Ryoga Hibiki, and it was planted straight against the man's ridged forehead. There was a sickening crack, and the tall man slumped to the ground, Ranma panting in anger, and standing over his body.

"Wh… what did I just do?" Ranma asked, as she looked down, her anger turning to horror. She turned, only to see one of the Restaurant's customers behind her, holding her shoulder.

"I suggest you run." The man said, with a small half smile on his face. "We'll keep the Overseers tied up here as long as we can."

Ranma continued to stand there, uncertain for a moment, before the man spoke more sharply. "Go!" Unable to think of anything else, she ran out of the door, and into the unfamiliar streets.

END.

So, who knows what series this is crossed with? Okay, so I'm not so good at keeping things secret… but anyhow. Before you ask, Yes, this is perfectly cannon for that series, you just have to think… in reverse, I suppose is the best way to phrase it. Second, Sisko is NOT a new character… even if he does only appear in three episodes.

Chapter 2, Survival.

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, Deep space nine or Ranma ½.

Note: Yes, the other series is star trek deep space nine. For details on what components of the series I'm using, see "Home front." And "Crossover."

PS: There are a lot more nerds here than I expected! As for Ranma and Linux… Nah, can't see Ranma knowing a root directory from a TAR ball.

Ranma Ran. Really, that's all he had been doing for a week now, running. He wasn't really sure if it was from himself, or the allies of the man with the strangely ridged forehead and long bushy hair. Unfortunately, no matter how far and fast he ran, he couldn't escape the gnawing feeling in his chest that told him that he had killed, and this time his victim wasn't coming back to life. Finally, he stopped his travel for the day, slowing down in a dim and dreary back street. Then again, the main streets here weren't much better, and he occasionally wondered what had happened to turn this place into such a dump, however that didn't matter at the moment. All that did was the fact that he had been running full out for the entire day, and he wanted to go to sleep, even if it was on cold cement.

Flopping down in the back alley, he curled up in a ball and tried to ignore the hunger he felt. The last time he had eaten was two days ago, when he had put his father's foraging skills to use in a rather odd setting and caught a rather fat Rat. As he began to fall asleep, he had to find it funny that just a month before, Cologne had promised that what she had done would not hurt him. With that rather bitter thought on his mind, he fell asleep.

"I told you, unhand me!" Came an indignant voice, floating down the alley where Ranma slept. Ranma's eye cracked open to see two of the men with ridged foreheads, dragging a third man down towards him.

"And why should we, you Targ bait?" One of the men snarled, angrily. "You were helping terran rebels."

"But please, I swear I wasn't. Just call commander Garak aboard Terok Nore, he'll vouch for me, I wasn't doing anything!" The man shouted, as he realized that his two escorts were dragging him down this alley to shoot him. In reality, he was pretty sure that Elim Garak would laugh in his face if he tried to appeal to him, but at least it would buy him some time.

"Dukat, you truly are pathetic, aren't you?" One of the two other men said, as he pushed the now identified Dukat to the ground.

"Please, no…" Dukat cried, truly sounding terrified as the barrel of a rather mean looking weapon was leveled at his back. That, was when Ranma decided to act.

"Hey, you ugly bastards." Ranma said, as he stood from his laying position.

The two large men turned towards Ranma, while Dukat still lay on the ground, cowering. "Oh, it's a little terran boy." One of them snorted, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Leave us now, and I will not kill you!"

"Sorry, but I can't do that." Ranma responded, gesturing to Dukat's huddled form. "I gotta protect the weak, 'n it looks like you're pickin on a weak person to me."

"Did you hear that, Vor? He wants to protect the weak?" One of the two men said, snorting.

"Quite the young warrior we have here, Mentok." Vor said, as he unsheathed a short, and wicked looking blade from a sheath on the shoulder of his bulky armor. "Well, let no one say that Vor, son of Ki'tang refused a challenge!" With that, Vor lunged at Ranma, the short sword lashing out to cut the younger man across the chest.

Normally, Ranma would be able to deal with the likes of Vor easily, however he was tired from his day's exertions, not to mention hungry due to lack of proper nourishment, and he had a hard time dealing with the older man. Add to that the fact that his opponent seemed unnaturally strong, and this fight was looking far too even for Ranma's liking.

Dodging a second clumsy swing of the short sword, Ranma jumped into the air and hit Vor across the side of the face with a high kick that sent him staggering back.

Vor laughed, as he regained his feet and wiped a small amount of blood from a cut on his cheek. "Well, you are a strong one, but…" In the middle of his posturing, Ranma had used the distraction to sneak a kick in under his guard, knock the wind out of him, and hit the back of his neck with a knife hand chop. This resulted in Vor ending up on the ground, unconscious.

Mentok laughed as he looked at his comrade. "To be bested in battle by a Terran, truly there is no more humiliating fate for a klingon warrior." He said, as he pulled out a small weapon, similar to the one he had held to Dukat's back shortly before. Firing, The weapon emitted a red bolt of energy that Ranma barely dodged, having seen the Klingon telegraphing his shot a full second before he had fired. As Mentok was sighting on Ranma for a second shot, there was a flash of red light from behind him, and he fell to the ground.

"What?" Ranma asked, looking in bewilderment at Dukat, who was now standing with Vor's discarded weapon in his hands.

"Thank you, young man." Dukat said, with a smile on his face that, for some reason, Ranma compared to a snake. Then again, Dukat did have grey, scaly skin and very reptilian features, but that was beside the point.

"Erm… no problem… Dukat?" Ranma asked, unsure of the name.

"That is my name." Dukat responded, lowering his weapon. "May I ask yours?"

"I'm Ranma." Ranma responded, wondering why this perfectly friendly seeming man was putting him on edge for some reason.

"Well, we should really get ourselves away from here before those klingon' reinforcements arrive." Dukat said, holstering Vor's disruptor on the side of his belt.

"Um, sure." Ranma said, still at a loss for what to do with himself after the Sisko incident, and following Dukat's instructions.

Several hours later, Ranma found himself sitting across from Dukat in a small room, a plate of some strange food sitting on the table in front of him. It had taken some doing to sneak into the Overseer base, however using his father's forbidden techniques, with a silent apology to the old man, he had managed it. "…what is it?" Ranma asked, poking at the plate of food experimentally.

"It's Cardassian food." Dukat explained, eating his own helping ravenously. "It's not terran fair, but you can eat it and it is the least I can do for your assistance today."

"Yeah, that reminds me, why were those guys trying to kill you?" Ranma asked, curiously.

Dukat sighed. "They found out." He said, sourly. "I've been…associating with a Terran woman near here, and they believed that I was attempting to help some Terran resistance that's sprung up in the Bajor sector. I am a loyal officer of Cardassia, and if it weren't for your assistance this morning I would have put you to death for killing Vor."

Ranma shifted apprehensively, hearing that the man across from him was tempted to shoot him, until something clicked. "Whada you mean, killing Vor?"

Dukat looked confused. "You mean, you didn't kill Vor?"

"No, I knocked him out. I… don't like killing if I don't have to."

Dukat's face seemed to turn green, and Ranma wondered if that was the man's way of going pale, or if he was going to be sick. "You… you didn't kill Vor. Well this is perfect!" He yelled, as he shot to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked, confused.

"You idiot, if Vor is still alive then he could tell the base commander…" Suddenly, Dukat's words were interrupted by the sound of loud knocking on the door to the room he and Ranma were in. "Oh no, my career and life are ended because of a Terran who doesn't want to kill a Klingon." Dukat said, with a bitter laugh, sinking to the floor.

"C'mon, it can't be that bad." Ranma said, uncertainly.

At that moment, the knocking came again, and then a voice drifted through the door. "Mr. Dukat, are you in there? Gull Dammer wishes to see you!"

"I've… I've got to get out of here!" Dukat said, panicked, as he looked around the room. Ranma was still confused, but by this point he got that there was something seriously wrong here, and he had to get out of the room. The food had refueled his Chi reserves, after all he was a Saotome, and to them the most important thing was food, Not rest, so he walked up to the back wall of the room and tried Ryoga's breaking point on it. Since it was metal, it had fewer breaking points, but when Ranma concentrated more Chi into them to compensate he was surprised by half of the wall blowing out away from him, and incidentally knocking a Klingon guard nearby into another building. Dukat gaped at him for a moment, before his self preservation kicked in and he began to run into the nearby alleys, Ranma following after him.

A few moments later, in the base commander's office, gull Dammer sat in the midst of the Dark room, consoles and screens lining the walls, as he gazed levelly at a rather sheepish looking Cardassian soldier. "And there was no explosive residue at the blast site?" He asked, disbelieving.

"No, sir." The soldier responded, nervously. There was a reason no one liked working in the North America sector, and Dammer was it. "We didn't find anything, and the guard who was standing on that side of Dukat's quarters was knocked out by debris, sir."

"I see." Dammer mumbled, as he turned to one of the computer panels in the room. Tapping some touch pads on the screen, the face of a rather burly klingon appeared. "Commander Kurn?"

"Yes gull Dammer?" Kurn asked, appearing annoyed. He had just been in the middle of, "Combat" and did not like to be disturbed. From behind him, a female Klingon's head poked into the screen, but he pushed her down. "What is it?"

Dammer snorted in disgust, but was careful to mask it from Kurn as he spoke. "We have a new task for you, Kurn. A Terran with the power to overcome a klingon warrior in hand to hand combat, and a traitorous Cardassian officer are currently in the vicinity of this base. I want you to find them."

Kurn snorted. "Whoever that was who was bested by a Terran must truly be pathetic… however I shall enjoy the hunt. Kurn out." With that, the screen in front of the Gull faded out, and he settled back in his chair, satisfied that his problems would be taken care of.

Meanwhile, in the alleys near the base, Ranma ran frantically once again, Dukat by his side this time. "You know, This is entirely your fault." Dukat huffed, as he struggled to keep up with Ranma. The fact that the Terran was out-distancing him annoyed him to no end, since Cardassians usually far outstripped Terrans or similar species in physical ability.

"Well, I'm SO sorry I didn't kill someone in cold blood, for once!" Ranma snapped, angrily. "I've already done enough of that." He muttered, more quietly.

Dukat looked at him curiously, before the two men heard the sound of shouting coming from one end of the alley. As they turned down the other way, they heard another group of people on that side as well.

"We're trapped." Dukat said, looking from one end to the other. Ranma looked around, however all he saw was a small tarp, barely large enough to cover one of them. Then, he got an idea.

Kurn and his troops marched down the dark alley, noticing the form of a humanoid sitting on something near one of the side walls. "Who's there," Kurn barked, as he turned a palm beacon towards the figure.

The Terran girl who was illuminated by the light shrank back, and put her hands out in front of her. "S… stay away from me, please." She said, in a scared voice, as she risked falling off of the Tarp covered box she was using as a chair.

Kurn snorted, and reached for a Padd that contained Details on his two targets. "Our target is Male, and this is a Terran Female, leave her." He said, as he continued through the alley. One of his men looked as if he were going to try his hand at "Sampling" her, however Kurn cuffed him on the back of the head. "We are on a mission!" He barked, and the group marched on. Not for the first time, he wished that scanning devices could be used in the Terran sector. It would be a lot easier to find his quarry if the Terrans hadn't rigged the region with hidden EM generators before they were completely subdued.

As Kurn and his men walked away, Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I please get out from under here now!" Dukat yelled. Thankfully, the Klingons were out of earshot.

Ranma got up, and Dukat threw off the tarp before getting a good look at her. One of the boney ridges above his eyes raised inquisitively as he caught sight of her.

"Don't ask, and don't touch." Ranma snapped back, as the two continued away from the base.

Notes:

All Klingon and Cardassian names are made up. I know there is actually a klingon language, however I don't feel inclined to learn it and don't particularly care what their names may or may not mean. As for Dukat's behavior, I always wondered what he would do if he were a lower level officer, and it appears he has thoroughly botched the works, eh? The real question is, can Ranma trust him as far as I could throw him? More coming soon.