Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Ranma ½ though I wish I did. Please refrain from suing the over-enthusiastic fanboy. The only thing I will take credit for is the novel approach I'm taking with the story and my new character. Thank you for your patience.

A Different Side,

A Different Story

Chapter 3

"What a day." Ryoga muttered, feeling dejected. Here she is, sitting in the Second District and feeling sorry for herself, when she should be celebrating. She did great against the Armor and the Soldiers, but she can't help wondering how she'll get revenge on Ranma. She looked up to the stars overhead and felt a moment of pain at the thought that her island was once of the stars in the sky. She absently adjusted the shirt she was wearing. The new outfit she bought fit great and looked good too. She didn't know she had a sense of fashion and that scared her. She still shuddered at the experience though…

Flashback…

She stepped into the clothing store, tugging her pants up once again. She didn't have the same body so her clothes didn't fit. At least they didn't try to fall when she was fighting, how do you ask a monster to hold off so you can pull your pants up? The store seemed to be filled with all manner of clothing and accessory items. If she wanted accessories though she'd shop at Cid's, he was really nice to her. The sales clerk came bouncing over exuding an aura of 'cute'. She was a hyperactive girl named Azusa, who seemed to want to name every cute thing she saw. She kept trying to call Ryoga "Charlotte". When the madly grinning, and obviously psychotic girl was done with her, she found herself dressed up like some kind of teenage fashion plate. Her dignity stripped and violated, standing there in hip huggers and a mid-riff tee that said "Fear" across the chest. She had to admit that the backpack she was wearing was kind of cool, a single strap going from her right shoulder to her left hip, and the boots were durable with a steel plate over the toe. The only thing that really bothered her was the undergarments. Asuza had a point, it was more comfortable with them then without them.

End Flashback…

She decided she couldn't sit there moping any longer; she needed to catch up with her friends. Whoa! Sure, she liked Ucchan, but she just automatically thought of Donald and Goofy as friends. Well, there are worse people to be friends with. Ranma falls in there pretty high on the list. She adjusted her new bandana, it was almost identical to the old one except it was thinner and had longer ends in the back. When she got back to the First District, she saw her friends having a discussion. When she was close enough, she stopped around the corner of a house to listen.

"I want to go with you all, but Traverse Town needs help too." Ukyou said a little sadly. "But Leon says he has it covered." Goofy said as Donald nodded. "Yeah… Still, he does have a problem with letting others do all the work. He took off and left us to face the Armor alone while he 'Guarded the First District' as he claimed." She bit her words off savagely, Donald and Goofy quickly backed away from her. "I-I just don't know how Ryoga will take it. H-she was so happy to see me…" she sighed and scuffed her shoes on the ground. "Don't worry Ucchan, I understand." Ryoga said as she came around the corner. It felt strangely good to hear someone worried about her, but she also didn't want to make Ukyou unhappy. "You need to stay here and keep everyone safe, right?" Ukyou nodded softly before her expression turned to shock as Ryoga pulled her in for a big hug. "You'll come back here anyway… I know that. Where else will you buy supplies? I-I'll even give you a free okonomiyaki on the house!" she smiled brightly. The neo-girl felt a strange warmth inside at the smile, then gasped as it raced through her body. "Ryo-chan! What's wrong!?" Ukyou cried as Ryoga collapsed to her knees with Donald and Goofy peering at her worriedly. Everyone had to shield their eyes as bright flashes of red, blue, gold, green, and white exploded from her body. When it cleared, Ryoga was standing there with a look of wonder on her face. "W-what happened?" she asked in confusion as the others rubbed their eyes. "That was Magic. Though how you got it is a mystery. You showed no aptitude for it at all!" Donald looked her over with some surprise. Goofy as usual had a silly smile on his face, but his eyes appeared sharper then Ryoga would've guessed. Maybe Goofy is smarter then they think? "Well, we need to be going. Time waits for no one!" Donald went on ahead towards the gate to the world. "Uhm..great. How are we getting there? All I see are stars!" the Lost Girl said in confusion. "We go to other worlds in our vessel. It's called a Gummy Ship and it's really cool." Goofy said enthusiastically. Ukyou grabbed Ryoga's hand "Take care… and consider this a gift." Before Ryoga could ask, she was gone. She looked at the vial in her hand, it said "Elixir" she read the directions "Good for full recovery of vitality and spirit! Not to be taken if you are pregnant, smoking, nursing, eating chalupas, or riding water buffalos." She almost choked on that. "C'mon Ryoga!" Donald called "I'm piloting!" Goofy shuddered in terror.

Several hours later…

The "cool rocket" wasn't as cool as she'd hoped. She couldn't understand why Goofy sat there next to Donald with a crash helmet, strapped in tight, and praying devoutly to whatever god was out there that he'd make it out alive. She had slept for a while and snacked on some okonomiyaki that Ucchan gave her before they left. Since nothing exciting was happening, she decided she needed more shuteye. As her head rested on her shoulder, she began to dream…

"Where the hell am I now!?" he howled to the sky as he ended up on a part of the islands he'd never seen before. For him to wind up somewhere even he'd never been before was a little worrying. The sunset from this vantage point was beautiful as he gazed out over the cliff, palm trees and tropical grasses swaying behind him, it actually began soothing him… until something furry brushed his leg. He yelped and fell on his butt as he tried to jump and run in two different directions at once. When he calmed down, he realized what had done it. Sitting in his lap was a fluffy black kitten with bright yellow eyes. She had to be the most adorable he'd ever seen, it actually drew an "Aww…" out of him as he pet her. "Aren't you a cute one?" he stroked her between her ears and ruffling her fur softly, the kitten just eating up the attention. He heard his stumble rumble and brought out a sandwich. The kitten was looking at it intently until he broke off a piece for her. She wolfed down the piece like she'd been starving for weeks. Ryoga chuckled. "What should I call you, eh? Hmmm… I know, Xiao. You like that, Xiao-chan?" he held the kitten up to his face, she purred and licked his nose. He had another realization. This was something else he could do that Ranma couldn't! He could play with a kitten and keep her as a pet, but he couldn't because of his fear of cats! He stood up, the kitten expectantly at his feet. "C'mon Xiao-chan! Let's go home, ok?" he smiled and turned the corner. He looked down a little while later and realized… Xiao was gone.

"Dammit Donald! Where'd you learn how to fly!?" Goofy was yelling at full voice, waking Ryoga up with a start. Donald was waving him off breezily as they came in for a landing. Ryoga realized now why Goofy was so scared as she buckled herself in quickly. Not a second too soon because the ship had to follow the laws of gravity and hit the ground.

"Hey, a friend of mine once said that any landing you can walk away from is a good one." Donald said as he stood triumphantly outside the ship. Goofy pulled himself out painfully "Which friend said that?" he muttered grumpily. "Launchpad McQuack!" Donald proclaimed proudly as Goofy gave him a reproachful look. "Isn't that the moron who crashed the flight simulator?" Donald sweatdropped "Anybody can crash one…" Goofy practically screamed "Not the whole damn machine!!!" Ryoga practically shot of the cockpit and landed on the ground, kissing it and thanking Kami she was alive. The sailor-suited boy just glared at her, but couldn't take the glare from Goofy. "Ah screw it! Let's just get this over with!" he said peevishly before walking off in the direction of the gates to this world. Ryoga and Goofy exchanged a glance before following along after him.

The place beyond the gates was huge. It looked a huge courtyard with two massive gold statues, swords crossed over the doorway to a massive marble building. The sign above the door said "Coliseum". Now Ryoga knew what a coliseum is and marched up to the doors. Donald was so busy staring at everything around him that he didn't notice when they started to leave until goofy grabbed him by his collar and dragged him into the lobby of the building. The waiting area was small. Ryoga was a bit disappointed; she thought it should've been bigger. There seemed to a funny little person with goat legs hanging up a sign. She recognized it from a book on mythology she'd looked at. "Wow… a satyr!" she thought to herself "Uhm.. excuse me?" she asked. "Great timing! Gimme a hand would ya? Move that pedestal over there." He waved at a huge marble pedestal, not even looking back over his shoulder. Ryoga shrugged and walked over, preparing to push. "Uh.. it looks way too heavy." Goofy said, trying to save her from a painful lesson. "Too heavy?" he scoffed "Since when have you been such a little…" looks over at Ryoga who is cracking her knuckles and leaning her shoulder against it. "Wait a minute! Stop!" he shouts, but Ryoga just gives it a mighty heave anyway and shoves it right into the wall. The sudden silence after it hit the wall is broken by the sound of three jaws dropping. "Nothin' to it!" she dusted her hands off. Her friends regained their composure quicker then the satyr did. After all, she was chosen by the Keyblade. "Wait! Ryoga, look!" Donald pointed to a small keyhole at her feet. It was under the pedestal. Ryoga bent to examine it, but the Keyblade had it's own ideas. It jumped into her hands and pointed right at the hole, a blue beam shot from the tip and a sound could be heard as if it locked. She blinked in confusion as that wasn't the only surprise, a chest opened up and there inside was a funny keychain with a gold medallion on it. The medallion was emblazoned with a thunderbolt. She hooked up the new keychain and gasped in shock as it transformed the Keyblade. The new blade looked like a Greek column, and a blade that read "Olympus". The satyr regained his composure. "Well now, that was certainly interesting. This here is the world famous Coliseum. My name's Phil. Since you were able to move that block, I'll give ya a shot at the games." The neo-girl grinned at the idea of competing. If there's a tournament, then Ranma would show up! He's a sucker for these things! "Ok! What do I gotta do?" she asked. He led her out into the main area where there were barrels set up. "Your task is to break all the barrels within…" he broke off as he saw Ryoga smash every barrel in under a second "..the time limit…" he finished weakly. "Since you handled that so well, you should do well in the games. I'm gonna test your friends now, wait outside." He left to get Donald and Goofy. She headed outside, passing her friends in the hall. They looked like they were being led to their doom.

Outside, the sun shone down brightly on the Coliseum. Ryoga was sitting on the stairs, looking up at the sky, leaning back on her elbows. "Hmmm… Beautiful day…" her peaceful moment was shattered by a very familiar cry of "Where the hell am I now!?" she sat bolt upright and stared in shock at the one who interrupted her. She was very cute, her eyes were yellow, her hair is red, and her skin is brown as if tanned. The biggest shock though is the black cat ears poking out of her head and the tail poking out from her short shorts. Her top, if you can call it that, looked like a head scarf with a red checkered pattern. The backpack on her back appears battered, wearing a black bandana on her head. Ryoga has an eerie feeling of déjà vu as she looks at the neko-girl. "Uh.. can I help you?" no sense getting off on the wrong foot, she might be an opponent in the competition. The girl looked at her quizzically. Her eyes widened drastically and her nostrils flared softly. Somehow the neo-girl has the feeling that something momentous is about to happen. The girl grins wide and a flash of red and black suddenly hurtles itself into Ryoga and slams her into the ground. Ryoga is ready to fight until she realizes this person is… purring? She looks down and freezes, the strange girl is nuzzling her chest happily. "W-what!?" Ryoga splutters out. "Master! Your loyal Xiao has finally found you!" and enveloped her 'Master' in a fierce glomp hug which is returned just as fiercely. Their happy reunion is cut short by a throat clearing. "Now what's going on out here?" Donald asked in a tone that said he deserved to know. Goofy conked him on the head with an air of much practice. The two girls jumped to their feet, blushing down to their toes. "I missed you… I knew you didn't leave me on purpose. One night as I slept, a blue fairy came to me and offered me a wish. I wished that I could be like you. The next day, I had thought it was just a dream." She smiles "But it wasn't a dream. I'm a real girl. Now, after all my searching, I've found you again. I love you so much, Master!" once again glomping onto her. Ryoga sweatdropped "P-please… just call me Ryoga, ok?" the neko-girl nodded happily, bouncing in place. "Anything you say Ma-er-Ryoga!" the reunion would've continued except for Phil. "Hey guys! The first round's starting!" they all ran inside, Xiao pulling out a 6 foot metal pole with leather and tape wrapped on it as a crude hand grip. "I'll watch your back!" she exclaimed. At first, Ryoga was worried they'd have to protect her from the monsters, now she thinks they may have to protect the monsters from her.

Coliseum Preliminaries

Round 1

Ryoga assumed a traditional kendo stance and surveyed what they had to fight. It looked like the creatures they were fighting were strange flying creatures in different colors. One was red and the other was blue, they both had on yellow hats. Goofy just set himself, both hands on his shield, and looking competent. Donald held his staff as if it were a rapier in a classic en garde. Xiao's stance was the most bizarre, she was crouched down with her left leg extended behind her, her weapon held in both hands and pointing towards the rear, she seemed to bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Fight!" the creatures opened up with a barrage of fire and ice in Ryoga and Xiao's direction, but the attacks never hit because they simply weren't there. Xiao vaulted forward in a lighting fast pounce and sweep attack that blinked the first group out of existence. Ryoga had jumped high and come down hard on another group, ending in a wide sweep that cleared the area. Donald pointed his rod at a group of red ones and unleashed a Blizzard spell to wipe them out. Goofy used the least finesse, he just brought his shield up behind a group and smashed them flat. The fight barely took a few seconds. Phil was just blinking. "Maybe I should train them…" he thought.

Coliseum Preliminaries

Round 2

The second match looked to a bit tougher. Xiao's fur was bristling all along her tail at what they faced. "Don't worry. These Soldiers are all show." Donald told her reassuringly, until a Fat Soldier wandered in, then Donald looked nervous. "Ryoga, let me handle the big one." Goofy said, confidently. Ryoga took one look at him and shrugged. "Ok." Phil's voice rang out "Fight!" Xiao hurtled forward in a tumbling attack and kicked two of them in the chest, back into their fellows. One Soldier got too close to Donald and he struck it in the skull with his rod, charged with fire energy. The term "splitting headache" comes to mind. Ryoga flailed left and right, at home in melee style situations where the skills of a brawler are used. Goofy just grinned at the giant. The slacker posture is all but gone as he channels his energy into his shield. He yelled "Charge!" as he rushed at the Heartless, picking up speed before smashing into its gut with thunderous force. The Heartless flew across the arena, into the barrier, and smashed through it. His friends just looked at him like he'd grown another head. He just smiled lazily back, as if nothing had happened. Phil is speechless. "Training them could be worth it…" he thought.

Coliseum Preliminaries

Round 3

Before the fight started, Phil brought them over to show them how they stacked up. According to the chart, they were doing pretty good. "Wow, Xiao. I didn't know you could fight like that!" Ryoga grinned at her. "Well… ya pick up a few things when you're traveling. You're not so bad yourself." She flushed in pleasure at the compliment. "Not just you, but all of us. I didn't think we could fight like that. You guys are great!" the neo-girl learned the value of a well-timed compliment from Akane's older sister, Kasumi. The older Tendo was right, when done properly the effect is amazing. Conversation ceases as a man in a red cloak walks by them. His cloak is torn in places and his armor is mismatched. His blonde hair is spikey, his eyes almost seem to glow. His clothes look ragged, but his aura is what makes him impressive. He exudes a power and confidence that is almost tangible. "He looks like he'll be a tough one to beat." Phil says and they all nod. "Ah well, he's your next opponent. Good luck!" they all face-fault. Inside the arena, he reveals another trick of his. He pulls his massive sword out of a subspace pocket. They all shudder at the size of it. "It's not the size, it's how you use it!" Xiao called out to encourage them, they sweatdropped. Didn't she know what that meant? Even their opponent seemed startled. She just grinned, showing cute lil' kitty fangs. Ryoga gave her own fanged grin. The young man just shook his head. "My name's Cloud. Nothing personal, but I have to defeat you." He struck the classic pose, Ryoga also assumed the stance. The others assumed their various stances, except Xiao was behind Goofy. No one noticed the imperceptible nod that passed between them. Phil shouted "Fight!" and they all exploded into motion. Ryoga went at him, a direct frontal assault with Donald unleashing a fireball just over his shoulder. Cloud seemed to disappear, Ryoga's look of confusion turned into shock as he saw Cloud coming down at her. She just barely dodged the downward strike accompanied by an energy eruption. As Ryoga rushed forward, Goofy held his shield out like a platform and Xiao jumped on it, her legs and his strength vaulting her high in the air. Now it was Cloud's turn to look up in shock as a massive overhead swing took him in the shoulder. Ryoga did a sudden lunge and caught him heavily in the side. Their opponent spun in away from Donald as a searing bolt of Thunder caught him in the pants. "Ahh!" he cried out just before Goofy hammered into his back at full throttle. They leaped back to regroup, he was panting heavily but holding his stance. He seemed to glow with a strange dark energy and cried out "Ho!" before vaulting forward, faster then Ryoga, his massive sword sweeping them all to the side like they were nothing. The flat of the blade hurt, but their impromptu meeting with the ground hurt worse. Ryoga could only hear moans of pain from around her, Cloud stood over them all with a cocky smirk on his face. Ryoga had a brief flash of memory, Ranma standing over him like that when he'd won. The noises of pain drew his attention, Donald and Goofy were sprawled near each other with stars and smoke swirling around their heads and Xiao… She was crying. Something horrible clicked in Ryoga's mind. The vision of Ranma, Akane falling into darkness, Shampoo's disappearance… it all hit the neo-girl like a tidal wave. She stood up, her left hand out gathering Blizzard and her right hand gathering Fire. "I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your face…" she drew her hands together, the balls of Fire and Ice mingling as she shot her hands forward, adding a fierce spin onto them. The resulting attack was like Ranma's Hiryuu Shoten Ha, but fired vertically with a ball of Thunder at the tip. Cloud tried to sweep it aside with his sword, but it was simply too fast. It crashed into him like a bazooka shot and hurled him clear across the arena. As he tried to get up, a massive foot crashed down onto him. The foot belonged to a huge three headed dog. Ryoga grimaced at the thing, she's used up all her strength on Cloud. Suddenly a man appeared and held back the dog. "Phil! Get them out of here! Now!" Phil cried out "Herc!" before getting them to safety.

Out in the lobby, Phil was wringing his hands worriedly. "He should be able to handle it, but I dunno… Oh man…"he moaned. Ryoga discovered something in the lobby, it looked like a green and yellow circle. It glowed with a peaceful light. As Ryoga got closer, she began feeling stronger. She dragged her friends over to it where it revived them. "Ryo-ga…?" Xiao said sleepily as she woke up. "I'm here, Xiao. I gotta go back in. That guy saved us and he needs help." Xiao looked panicked then determined "I'm going with you!" before Ryoga could argue Donald said, "Count me in!" followed by Goofy "All for one and one for all!" Ryoga found tears in her eyes. This body definitely cries a lot, but she understands why. The four stood up and joined hands. "Fine then. Let's do it!" They all went to run back in, but Phil stopped them. "Where are you goin'? This ain't some match! This is for real!" Ryoga nodded. "I know, but what else can we do? This is just one more stop before my revenge on Ranma." She said quietly. He just shook his head "Good luck." Before they ran into the arena again.

They found Hercules backed up against the wall with Cloud over his shoulder. Cerberus turned all three heads in her direction, distracting him long enough for Herc to get away. A strange man with blue flames for hair and a black toga watched from up above. "Hercules… so strong and brave… and handsome to boot. He's perfect, perfect, perfectly infuriating!! Cerberus! Kill them all!" he roared in a voice from the pit before vanishing. Ryoga looked at the size of the beast. "Tch! This'll be easy. Xiao, you n' me jump on it's back and flail at the heads. Goofy, you and Donald keep him busy down here, but no stupid risks. That's for me and the chick with nine lives. She grinned at Xiao who nodded in response. Phil called "I got three words for you! ATTACK!!!" as Cerberus went in to chomp Ryoga and Xiao they seemed to vanish just before it felt a sharp blow on two of it's heads. It howled in pain and fury and tried to dislodge it's unwanted passengers, one head fired out pure darkness in a flame thrower pattern while the other two shot fire balls at Donald and Goofy. Ryoga was hammering away with single minded determination, powerful blows that could crush boulders were absorbed by the beasts powerful neck muscles. Xiao was having more luck with sharp piercing strikes, twisting and wrenching. It turned into a race to see who could get to brain matter first. As Donald hurled powerful Thunder blasts at the beasts chest and muzzles, Goofy was backing up. His body was glowing a brilliant green color, his eyes were gleaming and his jaw set. Xiao at that moment pierced into the beast's neck, crushing its spine. Ryoga also managed to breach the defenses, it's left and right head totally useless. The remaining head tried to continue to fight, but Goofy silenced it forever with a mighty lunge that snapped it's head straight up. They knew it was dead when it collapsed in a boneless heap. Goofy just leaned against the monster's body. "Well, this was interesting." They all sweatdropped at his definition of "interesting".

"Wow! You four are amazing!" Hercules exclaimed. "It shows that your sense of unity is strong." The four in question all blushed at the praise showered down by this hero. "You're welcome back when the Coliseum is cleaned up from that last battle. Good luck on your journey." Phil said after giving them a Hero's Liscense. "Okay, we'll be back." Ryoga said as they left the waiting area. She heard Hercules say that he softened him up before she jumped in. "Yeah right." She muttered before seeing Cloud on the stairs. They walked up to him. "Hey, you okay?" the neo-girl asked. "I was trying to find someone…Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." He sighed as he walked by them. "Well how about a rematch? No dark powers involved!" Cloud said "I think I'll pass. Here, this is for you." He handed her some strange dark sphere, her eyes widened as she suddenly learned Cloud's Sonic Rush! "Th-thanks! Good luck!" Cloud nodded and walked away. As Ryoga was surrounded by her new friends, she realized that maybe things aren't as bad as she thought. Her smile shrinks a little though and the sadness returns. I will get revenge against you, Ranma. Count on it!