Sliver King Ranma

by Lord Dragon Claw

Disclaimer: Ranma certainly isn't mine; he belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Neither does anyone from Justice League belong to me; DC owns them. I am not the owner of Lavos; Square Enix is. There is no way in Hell that the slivers belong to me; Wizards of the Coast holds all rights to them. Anything else alluded to belongs to whoever owns it.

Prologue

He was a mortal, and like all mortals, he got lonely. He felt guilty about succumbing to his desires, but it had been quite some time since his wife had died... since everyone but he himself had died. But no matter. What mattered now was fixing what he had done. At least the woman who had attracted his desire was to marry tomorrow, despite her father's wishes. That way, she would not get in trouble for the baby that he had accidentally given to her. How was he to know that his race could successfully mate with humans? Well, he erased everything that happened from the woman's memory.

Now to work on the child. He couldn't just kill the male fetus. It was part of his dying race, plus it did nothing wrong. For some reason, it had already developed a second personality: one was like himself, and already aware and trying to mind-link with him, and the other was human and still lacking activity. Apparently, humans need their brain fully developed in order to think, whereas he only needed his to control his body. No matter. He needed to make sure that the boy seemed normal, so that he could grow up the way most human children do. Ironically, his son wouldn't be able to live such a life; not that he knew that.

He opened a mind-link with the personality that was aware and quickly explained everything. The mind agreed with his plan. They broke the link and he could feel the mind already putting psychic barriers through itself and the human mind.

Then the being left to return to sleep on Mars. He was Jon Jones, the Martian Manhunter. He would not awaken again for another two decades.

Sixteen years later, a redheaded girl and a panda were seen walking the streets of Nerima...

Chapter One: Larva

"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane screamed while pulling the mother of all mallets out of hammerspace.

Ranma didn't know what was wrong with her. She would fly off the handle for almost no reason these days. Was she still mad about the wedding fiasco? It's not like it was his fault, but then again, logic didn't matter to Akane. What was his current "offense" that warranted her anger this time? SHE tripped on a rock, and she thought that he had stuck his foot out from over TEN FEET AWAY.

'What is wrong with that woman?' Ranma wondered as he started running. He began to gain some distance, but to no avail as his right leg was hurting really bad. The last time that Kuno, Mousse, and Ryouga all had gang-attacked him, Ryouga actually managed to cause three separate hairline fractures on his femur. Sure, he did heal it quickly, but it wasn't set properly (as Akane insisted she bandage it herself) and it hurt whenever he put weight on it.

Just as he was about to round a corner, he stepped on his right foot incorrectly, causing him to stumble. That was all that Akane needed to send her fiancée into LEO (lower Earth orbit). While he began his ascent, Ranma realized he didn't envy Superman.

While in the air, Ranma began to twist himself about so that he'd land somewhere decent. But he was concentrating on the ground and he didn't notice the transdimensional anomaly that had suddenly appeared above his head until it was too late. In layman's terms, it was a magical wormhole. Ranma became sucked into it and would not be heard from again for another six years...

Location: Riptide Facilities
Continent: Otaria
Plane: Dominaria
Researcher: Stovemn
Research Log: 01-P9-5773

The planar rift experiment 97-T3 (see Research Log: 97-T3-2899) ended in failure. However, a new type of portal appeared, linking our multiverse with a distant universe. Human specimen fell through the portal. Specimen was renamed as Subject R9-42 and quickly sedated.

Subject R9-42 shows remarkable healing capabilities. Infusion of sliver genetic material into Subject R9-42 has begun.

Research Log: 01-P9-5774

Subject R9-42 has accepted the genetic material of the slivers with ease, but entire brainwave pattern has shut down. Reeves believes it an allergic reaction to the sedative. Beginning treatments to reverse the problem. Magic and chemical solutions will be used.

Research Log: 01-P9-5781

Subject R9-42 has not recovered. Cephalids suggest dumping him into another universe. Heads of other projects agree.

Researcher: Reeves
Research Log: 97-T3-2904

Much to Stovemn's distress, it was decided to dump Subject R9-42 into a different universe than the one he was pulled from. Opening planar riftgate.

Research Log 97-T3-2905

Disposal of Subject R9-42 was a success. Closing of portal had some difficulty, and planar riftgate was severely damaged due to unexpected temporal anomaly. No other complications.

"Well those two weeks were inconvenient," said Martian Ranma, within Ranma's mindscape. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"must consume! need more strength!" responded Sliver Ranma.

"Our newest addition to the mindscape seems to be as primal as Neko," commented Ranma's Martian half. "Perhaps I'll have to resurface. It has been nearly nineteen years since I buried myself into Human Ranma's subconscious. Hmm... seems that the portal from the Riptide Facilities is still open and slowly closing. No matter. Sliver?"

"what you want?"

"Take control of the body for now. I have work to do."

Ranma's Sliver personality moved to the front of the mind, taking control of the body. Then it began to panic. Seeing the Sliver panic, Martian approached.

"What's wrong?"

"lungs burning! no air!"

"What?! Oh no... They dumped us in the vacuum of space!"

"wait... red star thing coming."

"That's not a star, I think it's alive. It's headed straight for us!"

"if alive, then it not need air. me consume, gain same power!"

"Hopefully you can eat it fast enough to save us..."

The creature hurled itself through the void of space, fleeing the planet that its progenitor had claimed as its host. The ancients had named it Lavos, and the creature was called a Lavos Spawn. It would eventually return to that world and take revenge on it for resisting the natural order. Planets and their populaces were things to be consumed by Lavoses. Lavoses weren't supposed to be killed by some "heroes" or whatever!

What's this? it thought. An obstacle? No matter. It is small and suffocating. It isn't a threat.

It then slammed head-first into Ranma's body, but the Sliver within had turned Ranma so that his head would hit the other's head.

Ranma's head verses the head of a Lavos Spawn? Ranma's head was much harder!

The Sliver immediately began to eat, and the first thing it ate was the head of the Lavos Spawn.

Martian Ranma was worried. They were running out of time. They were going to die. Then, a new personality began to form. Martian was surprised. Apparently, Sliver had eaten the creature's brains first. Interesting.

Lavos Ranma awakened toward the back of the mind. It immediately contacted Martian. "What's going on?"

"We're going to die, that's what!"

Lavos then shuffled past Martian so it could see what Sliver was doing. Along the way, it passed the box that held the madness of the Neko Ken, and the stasis field where Human Ranma slept.

"I have an idea. Sliver, out of the way!"

"no!"

"You'll kill us if you don't!"

"... fine."

Sliver moved to the side to make room for Lavos.

"It wouldn't do for us to appear near Riptide, so I'll just have to redirect us elsewhere," stated Lavos.

"Agreed," replied Martian.

Ranma pointed an appendage at the portal behind him and conjured a Timegate within it, then he pointed another appendage at the remains of the Lavos Spawn he was devouring and detonated the spell Dark Bomb within it, hurling himself into the Timegate. The Timegate closed and the portal collapsed soon after.

"can breathe again!"

"Go ahead and eat whatever other remains of that Lavos Spawn made it through with us," suggested Lavos, as he returned control to Sliver.

"That's what it was called?" asked Martian.

"Yes. As a Lavos, we now have genetic memory, at least of our Lavos self."

"Interesting. Maybe I should wake up our human self?"

"Please do; he needs to know what he is now."

Martian knelt near the stasis field and touched it. Slowly, it dissipated. Then Ranma's original personality sprang to consciousness.

"GAH! Where am I?"

"Ranma," said Martian, cleaning out his ear in an irritated fashion. "Calm down. This is your mind."

Human Ranma looked around. He could see a little black box toward the back, and near him were a grayish-green humanoid with a conical head, a creature that looked like a cross between a turtle and a hedgehog with only one eye, and an insectoid with a wedge-shaped head at the front.

"This is my mind?"

"Yes," replied Martian.

"I must have gone crazy..."

"Actually, I caused it so that you would have separate personalities in order to prevent you from going insane."

"So, you're my original personality?"

"You and I both are." Ranma was surprised at this.

"What do you mean?"

"You were born half-Martian," replied Martian Ranma. "Genma was never our father."

"Who is our father?" Ranma was relieved that he really wasn't related to that idiot.

"I don't know, but I believe he's still alive."

Ranma figured that as long as his father is still alive, then everything would be okay. He decided to change the subject. "So I was born with a split personality?"

"Correct."

"What is that bug thingy?" In response, Sliver grunted in an annoyed tone, but continued his work at the front of the mind.

"Your Sliver self. When the Riptide scientists experimented on us, he was created."

"And you?" Ranma asked the Lavos personality.

"I'm new," he replied. "You acquired me when Sliver ate the brains of a Lavos Spawn. It was needed in order to survive."

Ranma figured that it was okay. "And what's that little box?"

Martian responded to the question. "That is the Neko Ken."

Ranma's eyes went wide. He didn't want to let the c-c-c-c... one of those things out. Yet there it was. He could easily let it out at any time now, assuming he could get back inside his own mindscape. Not that he wanted to.

Martian got Ranma's attention again. "You know, the only reason why he takes full control of the body and stuffs your personality into the box is because you won't let him out."

Ranma blinked. When he opened his mouth to say something, Sliver spoke up. "all done eating Lavos Spawn. let Neko out to play, yes?"

Ranma was bigsweating. He didn't want to let the c-c-c-c... one of those things out. Wait... he already thought that, didn't he?

"hold it!" Sliver hissed. "something else here. come here Human. share control with you."

Ranma blinked. Martian and Lavos both urged him to join Sliver at the front of the mind and assured him that they would deal with Neko later. Ranma was relieved to have control of his body again, even if he had to share it with Sliver. He soon knew why Sliver wanted to share it with him though. His newly awakened shape-shifting abilities would take some training to get used to, and Sliver was helping him learn how to use them.

Ranma examined his surroundings. He was in an exotic forest of some kind. His Sliver personality said that there was someone here... but where?

He then noticed a small pool of water near where he was. He took a look at his reflection and was surprised. His skin was slightly greenish in color, he had a dark green sliver stinger arm coming out of the right side of his back, and he had the twin tails that slivers have coming out of the base of his spine. They were also dark green. He saw that he was wearing a black shirt that was cut to allow his stinger to move freely, and his brown pants were similarly cut to allow the movement of his tails. Then he noticed his hair. Dark brown with black tips. He realized that his green skin was because of the Martian in him, and the hair color was very similar to the coloring of Lavos's spines. Then he heard something.

Sliver-thing...

Ranma looked around again. Still no one. Why did he hear someone speak to him though? Then his Martian personality told him that it was a form of telepathy.

Sliver-thing...

"Yes? Hello?"

Why are you... in my forest?

"Well, I came here by accident. Who are you?"

Multani

"Okay, my name's Ranma. What are you?"

Words are... difficult...

"What are you talking about?"

A nearby tree opened up as if it were a mouth of some sort. His Lavos personality warned him to be wary.

Please... enter... I shall... show you...

"You think I'll fall for that trap? It's the oldest trick in the book!"

Not trap... it is doorway...

Ranma's Martian personality informed him that this Multani creature meant no harm. Ranma entered the mouth-like cavity and soon found himself inside of a cavern. A group of vines completely covered one wall of the cave. How they grew there without sunlight Ranma didn't know. The only light came from a group of white glowing mushrooms in the center of the cavern. The vines began shifting as something began to form in the center of the wall. Something made of wood. Ranma realized it was a mask, just large enough to cover his own face. Once it finished forming, he heard the disembodied voice again.

Ranma... wear mask... to talk directly... to me...

Not only was his Martian personality urging him to do so, but his Sliver personality agreed with the Martian. His Lavos personality was still being paranoid. Ranma decided to put on the mask. He pulled it off the wall of vines, and it came off as easily as ripping a poster off of a wall. As soon as the mask touched his face, all of his active personalities were transported to a mindscape. His body stood there in a trance.

Ranma looked around. There was a sort of void around him and his other personalities, but the void wasn't black or grey or other such colors - it was a vivid green. Soon, he noticed something different in the void. It was a man made of plants, and it had the same wooden mask that Ranma had put on his face only moments before. The plantman politely bowed, bending at the waist (or what passed for one). Ranma returned the gesture. Then the plantman spoke.

"Greetings Ranma," he said. "Greetings to all four of you. I am Multani, keeper of Yavimaya."

"Where are we?" was Human Ranma's first question.

"Inside of my mind."

"So... what happened to my body?"

"It is standing where it was," began Martian Ranma. "Paralyzed."

"I had you enter the cave so that your body would be safe from the wild beasts that prowl Yavimaya," stated Multani.

"Why did you wish to talk with us?" demanded Lavos Ranma. Human Ranma smacked him in the face/eye/mouth/dimensional-vortex/whatever-the-Hell-it-is. A leaf on the mask of Multani that was directly above one of the eyes performed the Spock Maneuver.

"Behave," commanded Human Ranma. "Please continue, Multani."

"Very well. I'm not sure you were able to sense the time rift over the continent of Yavimaya, but it is tearing the world, and the multiverse, apart. I sent most of my consciousness into the rift in an attempt to heal it. But it seems that I am not enough. And I am trapped there."

"want us get you out?" asked Sliver Ranma.

"Your very presence on Yavimaya has begun that process. It will be slow, and take several months, but I shall be completely returned to full strength. And I do feel that you have the power to heal the time rift itself as well. It will also be a slow process, but you can do it without loss of life. It could very well be completed in half a year."

"Okay," said Human Ranma. "We'll do it. Just tell us what to do."

Multani pointed at Lavos Ranma. "He should know how to do it. In the meantime, I'll need you to maintain and enhance Yavimaya's natural defenses. The trees, flowers, grasses, ferns, and other plants have grown far too wild, and have mutated. The Treefolk are dwindling in number. The Elves are beginning to flee, and the human druids are being killed in the confusion. The monstrous beasts are raging out of control, and the various other creatures are causing all sorts of havoc. And then there is the resident hive of slivers, running amok, devouring everything. They need to be brought under control; I think you should start there first."

"Sounds like a plan," agreed Human Ranma. "We'll start on the slivers, then use them to hunt down the beasts who are out of control. Then I will coax those Elves and druids into remaining on Yavimaya. They will help heal the Treefolk and the forests. Hopefully, I'll be done before you come out of the rift."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Lavos Ranma.

"yeah," Sliver Ranma said. "why?"

Human Ranma turned to face them. He had a half-lidded glare. "Because," he said coldly. "It's the right thing to do. This world is dying, and we not only have the power but the responsibility to see that it's healed."

Then Human Ranma noticed the black box that was in his mind earlier was there with them. "YOU BROUGHT THE NEKO-KEN HERE?!"

"Yes," replied Multani. "Your ailurophobia needs to be cured. Many of the predators in Yavimaya happen to be cats."

"Kuso," cursed Human Ranma.

"Open the box," coaxed Multani. "With my knowledge and love of the beasts, I can help you gain control and inner peace."

Human Ranma's shoulders slumped. Then he sat cross-legged next to the box, and opened the lid. A tiger cub with black and red fur, admittedly strange coloring for a tiger, simply climbed out of the box. Human Ranma shivered. The cub simply looked around, and then its eyebrow performed the well-known quizzical Spock Maneuver.

"What's wit' all da green?" asked Neko Ranma, in a surprisingly child-like voice. "An' why am I out when 'ere ain't ev'n a cat 'round?"

Human Ranma passed out. Well, he tried to. It is impossible to pass out in a mindscape, though you could easily put one of your personalities into stasis. Human Ranma didn't know how to do that, so he simply fell backwards and closed his eyes. Multani and Ranma's other personalities sweatdropped.

"Human," whispered Sliver Ranma in Human Ranma's ear. "you not able to pass out."

It was Human Ranma's turn to sweatdrop. He sat up with some assistance from Sliver Ranma. Martian Ranma quickly explained to Neko Ranma that they had to cure Human Ranma from his fear of cats. Neko Ranma nodded in understanding.

"I'll help on one cond'shun," he said. "Ya'll 'll let me out ta play ev'ry so of'tin."

"Agreed," said the Martian and Lavos Ranmas. Human Ranma looked at Neko Ranma for a moment, then turned his head to Sliver Ranma's wedge-shaped, eyeless head. Sliver Ranma nodded.

"Agreed," said Human Ranma meekly.

"agreed," said Sliver Ranma.

"And now all are agreed," Multani began. "Time to cure an irrational fear."

It was three hours after he had placed the mask on his face that he finally broke out of the trance. Multani had told him that if he ever needed to contact Multani again before he was freed of the rift, he'd simply have to wear the mask. Ranma, using a combination of the Hidden Weapons Technique and Lavos's knowledge of the space-time continuum, placed the mask in a sub-dimensional pocket (which Ranma decided to call sub-space). Ranma quickly found the exit to the cavern, which he sensed was another magical portal, and he entered it. He found himself in the same clearing where Multani had first spoken to him. Ranma expanded his senses using the powers of Martian and Lavos, and using Sliver's ability to identify other slivers to determine where the hive was. He found it. Southeast. Ranma began tree-hopping towards it.

As he approached the lair, he began to hear the hive's communications through his Sliver self. Most of what they said was along the lines of where food was. And considering that slivers consider everything other than other slivers to be food...

Once the first sliver noticed Ranma the hive went into a panic. At first Ranma thought that he'd have to fight them, but he noticed that they stayed out of his way. The slivers were also calling in all of the members of their hive to return. The discussion was no longer about food.

... all return... the slivers were saying. Queen-Not-Queen come... Elder come see... move for Queen-Not-Queen... stop hunting, return now...

Ranma noticed all kinds of slivers. Some were no bigger than a housecat while others were absolutely gigantic. Some had more than one stinger arm while others had either a single tail or more than two tails. Ranma even noticed one sliver who had two heads, six stingers, and three tails. A few slivers had eyes and others looked like large spiders with the wedge-shaped head. Ranma also saw that these spider slivers had spinnerets just like spiders. In total, there were only 1,241 slivers on Yavimaya; Lavos was keeping count.

Soon a sliver about the size of a man slithered forward. Like many of the slivers, it too had only one stinger arm and twin tails. Also one eyeless head. When it arrived in front of Ranma, the entire hive quieted. Even their telepathy quieted down.

... I Elder, it began. oldest sliver here. Recognize you as Queen-Not-Queen.

Ranma's suspicions were correct, but he would've preferred that they used a more masculine name for him.

"Don't call me 'Queen-Not-Queen'," he responded. "Call me... King. King Ranma."

... King... we ready to serve King! King is Hive Mind! With that mental statement by the Elder, all the slivers in the hive hissed and clicked their tongues as one.

Ranma shook his head. What kind of mess was he in now? He suddenly realized that he didn't know a lot about the slivers. Then his other personalities explained things to him. Slivers evolve very quickly and are very aggressive. They tend to fight as a mob unless under direction. They also share their adaptations with their fellows in the same Hive Mind. They gained adaptations from the things they eat. Other than that, they were pretty brainless and mindlessly slaughtered whatever they came across. If they found something stronger than they, they would retreat and come back in much greater numbers.

Ranma took all this information in, and noticed that the entire hive was waiting for a command. Ranma was determined to give these creatures free will, as they would be slaves to whoever figured out how to control them. Looking back on his life and noticing that he wasn't in control for the whole thing, he was determined to make sure that noone, not even the slivers, suffered what he did.

He noticed that his individuality was indeed an adaptation. So he shared it with his new hive. At first, the slivers were confused, then a few chose to be angry.

what you do! demanded over a hundred of the slivers. you make us weak!

Ranma knew exactly which slivers said that. Many of them happened to be slivers who were over three-hundred years old.

"Weak?" began Ranma. "You think the ability to choose is a weakness? BAKA!" The whole hive slithered (or stepped) back in fear. "Don't you realize how easily manipulated you were? Don't you realize that any idiot could control you to do stupid things if they knew how?" Ranma took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Now, I'm not going to force anyone to do anything. If you wish to remain a part of my hive, then I accept. If you don't, then you can leave this continent by whatever means you are able and join another hive. However, the individuality adaptation will spread throughout the world if you leave."

Fifty-seven of the slivers decided to leave. They were mostly the smaller ones, but the only one that had an important ability was the Winged Sliver. Amazingly, the Elder sliver, a Muscle Sliver, decided to remain. Now with a reduced hive of 1,184 slivers, Ranma decided to get to work.

"Now," began Ranma. "We have to make Yavimaya into a fortress. To do this, we will need the help of the Elves, humans, and treefolk. In order to gain their trust, they are now no longer a part of your diets. We shall hunt down the large beasts and feed off of them instead..."

Ranma continued directing them throughout the night.

End Chapter One.

Next Chapter: Fire, new slivers, and martial arts.

Author's Notes

Good Lord this was a bad idea! Too many crossover elements!

Anyway, cleaning up my profile, moving my abandoned and up-for-adoption stories into the Brain Dump.

For those of you who care:

Spellbook:

Dark Bomb
A concentration of dark magical energies centered on a single point, then detonated in the form of an explosion. Lavos Ranma learned it from the Lavos Spawn.

Timegate
Creates a Timegate anywhere in space, to any point in time or space. Natural ability of Lavoses.

Bestiary:

Treefolk
Kind of like an Ent. A tree who is able to move and fight and think.

Sliver
Sort of like insects, but with wedge-shaped heads and stingers or tails for appendages.

Elves
The Elves of Yavimaya are the stereotypical tall, graceful, tree-hugging racists that most fiction makes them out to be. They are excellent fighters, though.

Druids
Humans that live a life similar to the Elves. Druids heal plants and tend to them, believing the whole world to be a garden.

Maro-Sorcerer
Multani is one of these. He is an entity made of whatever plants happen to be in the area, though his facemask tends to remain the same, but made of varying materials. Maros are one of the most powerful magical creatures on the world of Dominaria. A Maro-Sorcerer is even more powerful, and Multani has been known to win fights against Planeswalkers.

Planeswalker
A God-like being. They tend to be any shape and size but they all have nigh-infinite mana reserves for magic. They can also choose whatever form they wish, as their body simply happens to be shell or puppet for their soul. Planeswalkers are nigh-immortal, but can be killed. A Planeswalker is created when certain special circumstances awaken the hidden "spark" that exists in one out of every million sentient life-forms. Their most distinguishing ability is the ability to Planeswalk (sometimes referred to as 'walking). They are able to teleport to any part of a planet (plane), or into what's called the Blind Eternities (the space between planes) and from there to any other plane.

Cephalid
Crafty octopus-like creature. Tend to love meddling in politics, magic, and science. Their emperor once had world-domination plans.

Sliver Index:

Winged Sliver
A sliver with bat-like wings. Grants flight to the hive. Mana is blue. Only sliver mentioned not in Ranma's hive.

Muscle Sliver
An older variety of sliver. Increases strength and toughness of the hive by a decent amount. Mana is green.

Might Sliver
Descended from the Muscle Sliver. These titanic slivers increase the strength and toughness of the hive by a large amount. Mana is green.

Watcher Sliver
New type of sliver with a new (to slivers) sense. Grants eyes to the hive. Mana is white.

Two-Headed Sliver
New type of sliver. Has two heads. Makes the hive more unpredictable in combat. Mana is red.

Spinneret Sliver
Descended from slivers who ate an unnatural amount of giant spiders. Has spinnerets. Grants spider-like reflexes and flexibility to the hive. Mana is green.

More slivers to be mentioned in upcoming chapters.