Epiphany Chapter 11

By Tripolar Disorder

Another Redhead?

Previous chapters of this story and all my stories can be Accessed from my website at:
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Nodoka carried her still-sleeping daughter into her room. Laying her upon the futon, she pulled the covers over Ranma-chan.

At this Ranma-chan's eyes opened halfway. She smiled. "Thanks Mom."

Nodoka smiled back. "Goodnight dear. Sleep well, and sweet dreams."

Ranma replied. "For once in a long time, I think I just might."

Akane woke up that morning feeling better than she had in weeks,
despite her adventure the previous day that had drained a bit out of her.

She sat up and could feel a definite presence of calm near her.
Trying to find the source of it, she found her way out into the yard.

There she found Ranma, currently male and meditating on the grass near the koi pond.

She sat down next to him. Without opening his eyes he said:
"Good morning Akane."

She smiled and replied. "I can feel you too. I was going to ask you how you were doing, but, since I'm sensing your thoughts, it seems so futile."

He smiled. "I saw your dream last night. It was very, ummm.."

"Enough Ranma, it was sexual. You can just say it."

Ranma opened his eyes and turned toward her. "Do you really want me to do that, or say those things?"

Akane blushed, and her head dropped as she started snickering quietly to herself. "No Ranma. That was a bad English novel I had been reading a couple days ago."

He fell backwards lazily into the grass. "Thank goodness, the dialog was corny."

Akane giggled. "Well it wouldn't kill you to say something romantic once in awhile."

He sat up, and then scooped up a handful of water from the pond.
He splashed it on her, and she changed into a cat-girl.

"You look purrfect." He said with a smile.

He then got up and strolled inside.

Ranma sat down to breakfast and was about to dig in when he was splashed by a bucket of cold water.

Looking around for the source of his attacker, he found a very disgusted Happosai latched onto the front of his shirt.

"What happened to my wonderful Ranma-chan?" Said the old Pervert.

Ranma picked him of his chest and tossed him out in the yard.
"Wouldn't you like to know old freak?"

Happosai landed on his feet on the edge of the grass next to the pond. "Did you finally manage to get cured, huh Ranma?"

Ranma shook his head. "Better." With that, Ranma changed into his girl form. "I control it now, and you are never going to latch onto me."

Happosai was drooling. He quickly launched an attack, but found himself latched to Ranma's manly chest again.

He jumped back and landed on rock next to the pond. He pulled out his pipe and began puffing on it. He blew a cloud at Ranma,
who put up his hands to block it, and that was when both of them noticed the smoke deflected by some strange invisible barriers.

They seemed to extend from Ranma's knuckles and were long and slender. The smoke did not clear the top of them and so it was difficult to tell how long they were.

Ranma was currently wondering what was going on, and failed to notice the look in Happosai's eyes.

The old pervert was trying to understand what he had seen. He was furious that Ranma now could and did have the perfect defense against his glomping. Taking out a firebomb from his gi, he hurled it at Ranma's head. The boy was too distracted to notice it exploded directly in his face.

Happosai grinned. "That boy thinks he can beat me, well he's still got another thing coming."

That is when he noticed these glowing blue spikes moving within the smoke.

Ranma stepped out of the smoke. He was untouched, but the look on his face gave Happosai a chill.

Protruding from the knuckles on Ranma's fists were the claws.
Easily visible now thanks to the lambent neon blue glow. They extended nearly two feet long.

Happosai's jaw dropped. "What the heck are those?"

Ranma grinned. "The Neko-ken." He smiled with a bit of arrogance.

"How the heck did that Idiot Genma finally fix his error?"

Ranma spat at the ground. "My father is dead. Soun is gone too,
both drowned in the canal. As for how I took control of my curse and my fear? You'll have to thank Akane and my mother. They helped a lot, no thanks to you and Genma."

Happosai stared at Ranma for a few seconds. He was feeling the focused rage building within the boy.

Suddenly he felt it spike and he dodged as Ranma launched into an attack against him.

Ranma was cutting through the ground, through rocks, and even the outer wall and Happi was doing his very best to stay one step away from those claws. Ranma's reflexes were focused and faster than Happosai had ever seen them. Ranma's eyes were like a cat's, slited vertically and as red as fire. He tried tossing wards at the boy, but Ranma brushed them off without even slowing down.

Happosai made a long jump and proceeded to launch firebombs at Ranma, who began to counter with the amaguriken.

Happosai watched as his bombs were impaled, punched or sliced into bits. They exploded, yet seemed to have no effect on Ranma.

Then Happosai felt something stab his leg. He looked down in time to see a shard of one of Ranma's claws vaporize, after being driven into his calve.

He dodged several of them as Ranma realized he could send small bits of chi energy off like crystal shards and so was doubling his effort to try and hit the tiny target.

One could feel the power in the air, as Ranma was generating an aura of the brightest yellow.

Happosai dove behind a large rock next to the pond for cover.
Ranma was still standing on the other side. He had stopped his attack. He couldn't see it, but Ranma's eyes were closed and he was drawing power from somewhere.

Happosai was so busy worrying about his former student that he didn't have time to notice the water in the pond beginning to churn and swirl.

It was too late as the water erupted taking the miniature monster into the air. He could see his attacker below, getting ready a chi attack.

Ranma was smiling. He had a dream the previous night about a new attack, and he thought he could do it.

His claws faded as he focused his energy into a ball within his hands. Blue strands of energy began to flow inward from everywhere around him, collecting between his hands, in a little ball.

He also focused his strength into another pocket of energy. It was next to the blue one, but was fiery red.

He looked up at Happosai, who shuddered at this latest display.
The prevert realized that Ranma's attacks were not only powered by chi, but now Ranma was commanding magic as well.

"MOKO TAKABISHI REVISED... "

The blast that left his hand was a twisting pillar of red and blue energy that smashed into Happosai and carried him into the distance.

Akane had been watching most of the battle, fearful to get involved and she ran over to Ranma. "Are you alright?" She nearly cried at him. She could feel something wrong across her link with him.

He turned toward her, slowly, almost mechanically. "I am now."

Then he collapsed, Akane catching him before he hit the ground.

Cologne was standing in her kitchen working on another stew pot,
when the hairs on the back of her neck rose upward.

She sighed as she set her spoon down and grabbed her staff.
What is it this time? She thought to herself as she pogo'ed out the door and down the street to the Tendo Dojo.

She looked up to see a strange blast of energy screaming upward and outward, and what looked to be Happosai riding on it.

She snickered. He deserved that, whatever it was.

Cologne then tried to feel Ranma and found she couldn't. Panic set in and she took to the rooftops.

Nodoka was cradling Ranma, his body hanging limp in her arms.
Akane was holding his hand.

Kasumi checked his pulse. "It is weak, but it is still there."

Cologne bounded over the wall, and took note of the debris.
What has he done now? She noted the numerous claw marks and wondered if the Neko-ken had gotten out. Then the thought occured to her: When did the Neko-Ken learn how to use chi attacks?

Seeing everyone inside holding the boy, she hopped in. "What happened to him?"

Akane told her about the battle and his new chi claws.

"So Ranma has control of the Neko-Ken. I suspect he did not realize how much energy he was radiating and passed out."

At this point Kasumi gasped. Everyone turned to what she was pointing at.

Ranma's hair was turning red. Slowly, it rippled across until completely changed. The rest of Ranma's body did not change however.

Cologne looked over the turn of events. "Very interesting."

Ranma found himself looking over the barren wasteland. This time there was no wind and it seemed calm. It also was brighter and warmer than he last remembered. But nowhere could he see Ranko.
He remembered that he had not heard from her since the moment he merged, and it worried him.

"Ko-chan, where are you?" He started calling out frantically. There was no response.

He could not see, but he felt something in the distance. It was weak, and getting weaker.

Ranma took off toward it as fast as he could. He stopped just short of a painful sight.

Ranko was lying on the ground, on her stomach. Her head was turned toward him. Her clothes were torn, and tattered, and the skin under it was bruised, and cut. He recognized broken bones and a large gash on her head.

Blood was coming from her mouth, but yet she held a weak smile.

"Ranko, what happened?" As he ran over to her.

She replied slowly. "You did Ranma. When you came together there was some energy release down here. I couldn't run from it,
and it kinda laid me out."

He turned her over and tried to look over the wounds. "You will get better won't you Ranko?" He knew it looked bad, and tears began to form.

She coughed up a little blood. "Don't worry about me. I hope I got Akane out safely."

He pulled her up into his arms. "No, I won't let you go."

"I am done here. I tried to make your life better and happier and now I can disappear. The pain doesn't matter, because I know I did the right thing."

Ranma was crying now. "No Ko-chan, please don't go. Please don't go."

Ranko shook her head just a little. "It was fun Ranma, and it was worth it. I am just glad I got to say ... Goodbye."

Ranko's eyes closed and he felt her muscles going limp.

As he started to scream out, he felt a surge within him and knew what he would do. A brillant flash of light, and an enormous shock wave was sent outward from him, ungulfing them both.

Nodoka was still holding her son, when Cologne and Akane perked their heads up from staring at the floor. As they were staring at Ranma Cologne's face went pale.

"Nodoka, I would put your son down. Something BIG is about to happen and we need to take cover."

Nodoka wondered what she meant until her son's body began to glow. She set him down slowly on the floor and backed up as Cologne was instructing.

They were all crouching behind rocks by the pond, still watching the inside when Cologne yelled, "DUCK!" And dove behind her stone for protection.

The ground began rumbling as light, sound and energy spread outward from inside the house, filling the air with a horrible noise. The pond was shoshing around, the ground itself was rumbling and the outburst was deafening.

It lasted only seconds, which seemed much longer as everyone was holding their ears and wondering when it was going to end.

Suddenly, it stopped.

As they took their hands off their ears, wondering if it was over, they heard a familiar voice call out. "Ok everyone, you can come in now."

It was Ranma.

As Nodoka and Akane rushed inside, they came to a screeching halt. Standing in front of them was a male Ranma, smiling.
What stopped them was his girl side, all curled up, with her head against his chest as he held her in his arms.

He walked over to his mother. "Congratulations mom, it's a girl!"

Akane was trying to form words but all that came out was nonsense as she pointed to the sleeping girl. Ranma saw her and nodded.
"Yes Akane, this is Ranko."