TRTSS17: Mirrored Tempus! – By DS Wynne

Disclaimer: R1/2, SM, ST and other genres belong to their respective owners.

Note: This is a multi-genre story.

Special Note: This mini-series takes place before the events depicted in "Blackest Reign and a Dark Night!". As always, C&C are welcomed.

Part 10

Meanwhile…

"You really allow YOUR Ranma to do what he wants?" Y. Akane said to her older counterpart. They were going for a morning jog around the neighborhood.

"Yeah," E. Akane said, as she jogged like a pro. In fact, she was hardly winded, unlike her younger counterpart…

"But…that's perverted."

"Yes, I know."

"But…why?"

"Look, I understand where you're coming from, Akane," E. Akane said, as she and her younger counterpart rounded the corner. "Here you are: a trip into a possible future, where you see your 'jerk fiancé' having dalliances with the rivals and sycophants. Right now, you're a little freaked about the possibility that Ranma won't be true to you."

"Yeah, I am," Akane said, as she slows down. She then stops her jogging, turns away and began to shed a tear.

"Everything I have ever done for that jerk is because I…I…"

"You like him?" E. Akane said, as she held her younger counterpart's shoulders.

"Yeah…"

"Well, it's like that he betrayed your trust, after sticking up for him."

"Yeah…"

"Akane, believe me when I say that I would prefer that Ranma wasn't a womanizer and a bigamist, but…"

"But what?" Y. Akane asked accusingly. "How can you betray your self-respect by allowing him to do what he is doing?"

"Because, my dear, I died," Akane replied. "That's why."

"I…I died?" Y. Akane asked in a shocked manner. "But…you're here."

"It doesn't work like that, and it's confusing as hell," Akane said with a sigh. She looks up at the sky with a faraway look of both insight and regret. She then turns towards her younger counterpart.

"Sometime in the near future, you will marry Ranma, and he will marry you," Akane said. "This will be your first relationship, even so far as being the first time with each other."

"He…he never cheated on you…on ME?" Y. Akane replied with a blush.

"Nope, he was faithful to you," Akane said with a smile. "In fact, Ranma and I had three children before the end."

"What…what were their names?"

"I don't know if it's wise to tell you their names, out of fear of changing history, but my first child was named 'Natsume', my second was 'Karumi', and my third was 'Ranmaru'."

"I…I named my daughters after those pretenders?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, the ones who pretended to be my sisters, so that they could be the ones to carry on the Tendo Dojo."

"Right."

"But why?"

"Those two would become very close to me," Akane lied, not wanting to say that her "rivals" were actually her daughters, kept safe from the knowledge of being Ranma's children, even as she would lose her son to the Romulans…

"But, I ended up having children before I died."

"Yep," Akane said proudly. "You should have seen the look of joy on his face, when my Ranma had a son."

"He's against girls?" Y. Akane asked angrily.

"No, it's that he was afraid that his curse would make it difficult to have a son at all," Akane said. "Being an only child, he wanted a big family with both sexes represented."

"I see," Y. Akane said, as she nodded her head. "I…I always wanted to have a brother, so that I can practice martial arts and sports with, since Kasumi and Nabiki aren't into that stuff."

"You'd be surprised how much your sisters know about martial arts," Akane said with a knowing grin.

"Oh, come on," Y. Akane said, as she scoffed at her older counterpart's words. "I don't see them practice or anything."

"Exactly, so what makes you think that they don't practice any sort of martial arts?"

"Er, um…"

Pause.

"So, what…do they practice alone? And why do they hide it?"

"They do that, so that you can be the one to carry on the legacy, for the sake of Mother's legacy," Akane said, as she notices the look of disbelief. "Yes, I was surprised to learn that as well, but I would have learned sooner had I actually paid attention to things around me."

"So…what style do they practice?" Y. Akane said out of curiosity.

"Kasumi practices a soft style that emphasizes gentleness and diplomacy, to the point that she is able to manipulate her aura to affect the dispositions others around her."

"That's…impossible."

"Is it? Why do you think no one wants to harm her, or upset her?"
"Um, and Nabiki: what style does she do?"

"Similar, but her emphasis is on guile and nimbleness. If want proof, pay attention to her eyes one night during dinner, and notice how she never blinks her eyes."

"I thought that she has some sort of condition."

"Nope. She uses a method of self-defense that calculates the actions of everyone around her, as to how she responds to them. And then, as an experiment, toss something at her while she isn't looking. You'll be amazed at the results."

"And all this time no one told me this," Y. Akane said angrily. "And for what? Just to make me feel good?"

"Akane, they, too, have issues to deal with, so don't be too harsh on them. Even after learning all this, my life never changed from the revelations, so yours won't either."

"Yeah, yeah," Y. Akane said. She then re-orients her thoughts.

"But…what happened?" Y. Akane asked. "Why did I die?"

"I died because of someone wanting to take revenge on Ranma," Akane said with a sigh. "That's why. And even though Ranma saw to it that the people responsible saw justice, he was never the same again."

"Poor, Ranma," Y. Akane said, as her heart went out to both Ranma(s). "But…he recovered, right?"

"That, he did. He would eventually move on with his life, have numerous relationships, and even gotten himself married again."

"To this Usagi person."

"Correct. But by then, I managed to come back to life."

"How?" Y. Akane asked.

"Now THAT is a bit complicated, which is something that I don't want to get into right now. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly pleased with the situation, but I understood the situation, and how much my death changed Ranma. So, I decided that the best way to remedy the situation was to accept Usagi as my 'co-wife'."

"You two haven't, um, well…"

"No, and I plan on keeping it that way," Akane said, as she made a face. "I'm willing to accept Usagi, but I'm not a pervert like SHE is…even if she's a nice girl."

"I guess so. But I'm glad that Ranma…isn't exactly being a pervert, just because."

"Stay strong for YOUR Ranma, and maybe things will be different-"

Suddenly, the older Akane stops in midsentence, as she scans the area.

"What…what is it?" Y. Akane asked in bewilderment.

"Get behind me," Akane said, as she draws out her war-hammer from pocket space. It wasn mystically charged like the Mjolnir, Stormbreaker, Stormmaker, Thunderstrike, but it was also made from Nth metal, one of the rare ores in the Universe that can disrupt the properties of the five forces of the cosmos. It was forged by the Norse dwarves, so the weapon was indestructible.

"Please, do as I say-"

Two women, dressed in garish costumes, shimmer into thin air.

"So, there is the last of you," said one woman, who was blue-skinned and had pink hair. "I hope that you're not as difficult as the others, especially the Chinese bimbo."

"State your purpose, youma," Akane asked.

"We want your little companion, of course," said pink skinned girl with the blue hair, as she points to the younger Akane. "Our employer wants her to become a component to a…special project."

"Why do you want me?" Y. Akane asked.

"You'll find out as soon as we get you to where you need to go, dear," said the first youma, as she turned to face the older Akane. "So, what's it going to be?"

The older Akane displayed a nasty smile on her face, as she slammed her war hammer into the ground, causing a thunderous roar that upsets her opponents' balance.

"Whoa," the younger Akane said, as she was amazed at how strong her older counterpart was.

"That was stupid," said the first youma, as she whistles for support.

Just then, more foes materialized. One set looked like black, spider-like with humanoid bipedal upper bodies, while the other set were cybernetic men.

"Oh, crap!" the younger Akane said in fright. "What the hell are they?"

"Shadows and Borg," the older Akane said, as she scans the dozen or so opponents.

"Huh?"

Meanwhile, across town, Ranma tells Usagi what had happened.

"And that's what…happened," Ranma said, as he towels himself off, after he took a quick shower. "So now, Kusa was insisting that she was going to have her life back, by getting revenge on you."

"I see," Usagi said, as she leans on the door frame of the bathroom. She was also smoking her long pipe while listening to her husband…

Ranma turns towards his wife, and frowns.

"Is that really necessary?" Ranma asked.

"What?" Usagi asked, as she takes her pipe out of her mouth.

"You smoking, that pipe of yours."

"Don't change the subject, Ranma," Usagi said. "You made love to Kusako, thinking that she was me. Feh. I can't believe that you can mistake me for someone else."

"Usagi, we don't have time for this…nonsense," Ranma said. "And why do you keep referring to Kusa as…'Kusako'?"

"Because, that's her name, remember?" Usagi asked.

"No, it's just Kusa, not Kusako."

"Hmmm," Usagi said, as she stands up straight. "Mind if I perform a 'Vulcan Mind Meld'?"

"Go ahead, if you want," Ranma said with a shrug.

Usagi places her free fingers on Ranma's right temple. She closes her eyes, and began to speak in the Vulcan dialect…

"Interesting," Usagi said, as she removes her hand.

"What?" Ranma asked.

"The person you know as 'Kusa Tendo' is not the 'Kusako Saotome' that I know," Usagi said.

"What?" Ranma asked credulously. "Talk sense, woman."

"Fine," Usagi said, as she blows a puff of smoke in the air. The smoke divides into two people, and forms into images of Kusa and Kusako each.

"Observe the differences in appearances," Usagi said, as she points her pipe at the two people. "Notice anything?"

"Kusa looks meaner than Kusako," Ranma said. "Wait, what are you saying?"

"The Princess is saying that we're dealing with a temporal paradox," said Setsuna Meioh, as she steps into the bathroom.

"Do you mind?" Ranma asked.

"In this particular case, yes," Setsuna replied. She then turns towards Usagi.

"Princess, we have a problem."

"Ain't it always?" Ranma said.

"Very funny, Ranma," Usagi replied. "What is it, 'Puu?"

"As you know, I've been detecting multiple temporal signatures all over the greater Tokyo area," Setsuna said. "Most of which have been localized in Nerima Ward."

"Right, you have these temporal doppelgangers running around," Ranma said. "What of it?"

"Since then, I've discovered two things. One, I discovered that the source of this problem is from the Princess' 'omega particle' experiments."

"Me?" Usagi asked.

"Figures," Ranma said. "And the other?"

"The fractures are getting worse, as evident by the arrival of Kusa Tendo, as you know."

"Don't remind me. But Usagi said that there shouldn't be a Kusa Tendo, but a Kusako Saotome. I don't understand that."

"The Princess had been in the eye of the temporal changes, when she made the changes," Setsuna said. "That is also why she knows about all the previous timelines, including the one that features the real Kusako."

"So, that psycho isn't real?" Ranma asked.

"She is, but her 'birth' was flawed. In the timeline that you are familiar with, Kodachi was the one who initiated the joining process that created Kusa. However, in the timeline that the Princess was familiar with, it was Akane, in agreement, that created Kusako, after you and Akane had married."

"Yes, I remember marrying Kusa after the fact, and it was the biggest mistake that I had made," Ranma said with a sigh.

"How so?" Usagi asked.

"Because she tried to kill you, thinking that you were competition, and that's when you banished her into some alternate dimension. I didn't agree with it, but I didn't disagree with it…albeit for selfish reasons."

"Wow," Usagi said. "That's not how I remember things at all. Kusako was a good friend who willingly gave up her only child, Genryu, so that he would be saved from being erased when I did reset the timeline."

"That's not how I remember it," Ranma said. "In fact, one of the reasons why we never had any kids is because of her, which she blamed you for it."

Pause.

"But I think I know where this is going," Ranma said, as he strokes his chin. "Stop me if I get this right. Kusa is a holdover that needs to be stopped, yes?"

"Correct," Setsuna said.

"So, we need to do something that will change things so that Kusa will go away, and that Kusako will be born, which should affect my own history."

"That is correct," Setsuna said. "Do these things, and the fractures will be taken care of."

"Good, so, where do we begin?"

Meanwhile, Akane falls to the ground, as she looks to see her younger counterpart being taken away.

"No!" Y. Akane said, as she shimmered out of the battle area.

"Don't," E. Akane managed to say, as she struggled to stand up.

"Too bad you didn't listen," said the pink-haired youma, as she reshapes her arm into a blade. "You didn't think we would win, did you?"

With that, the youma makes her strike.

Tbc.