Disclaimer: I do not own these series.
AN: Well, here we are at friggin' last! Some things to note. I tried to make this fun. Also, certain things weren't quite planned but happened as a result of research that turned up during certain scenes. Though I should mention that this does not mean things weren't planned. I actually forgot to include a scene in this chapter during the last one. Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Slowly, RED swam back to consciousness. She was feeling very refreshed as she opened her eyes to find herself resting in her futon. She slowly sat up as she tried to remember what happened. She remembered that Gust and Nisa had come together for a meeting. Last thing she could remember was Gust declaring her intent to fight. It was about this time that the oracle of Eden felt pain arise in her head. Clearly, she had lost. She pouted in frustration at the realization. She needed to protect her plans for the wifeys. With this in mind, the legendary seeker of love lumbered out of her bed over to a corner of her room. There, she lifted up a tatami mat to reveal another of her hidden caches. First, she withdrew some restoratives. She loved just how well healing items worked in this day and age. They were truly a life saver. This thought brought a smile to her lips in spite of the pain. Soon enough said pain was relieved and she was feeling much better.
Now with her faculties restored, she checked for her weapons. Sure enough they had been taken. RED frowned at this. She only had two alternatives left. She never bothered keeping backup weapons hidden away. That was mainly because she hadn't considered this possibility. Even her little caches were mainly meant to hide personal or valuable items, such as her special edition collection of Panicked Strawberries 1000%. She also threw in recovery items for good measure just in case. Pouting once more, she went over to a counter where her back up weapon was left untouched. Of course, they probably overlooked it thinking it a toy. Now armed with her yo-yo, she was ready to protect everyone's happiness!
The man, Segata Sanshiro, nodded appreciably at his opponent's declaration. He could see the sparkle in her eye. She clearly knew his reputation and would have challenged him on the spot if he had not already done so. She was a goddess of war born in a time of peace. The legendary martial artist and defender of Planeptune frowned at this thought. Not in disapproval but in worry of what such a birth could mean for the future of this world. However, that was a concern for another time. He nodded in agreement before deciding to give one warning," Very good, but I warn you not to hold back anything because I surely won't."
His piece said, he turned away and walked to the appropriate starting position for this arena. Ranma looked on curiously at the old man and considered what he meant. He couldn't seriously be telling her to use HDD. She shook her head at this and quickly turned about to take her place for the match.
"Well folks, it looks like the first grand tournament of Eden may very well be the greatest one in history, marked by an epic clash between Lady Red Heart and the legendary Segata Sanshiro!" The announcer declared in jubilation to a very excited crowd. After a short time that seemed to stretch for eternity to the two soon to be combatants, the words were finally yelled," READY! FIGHT!"
Ranma smirked as she closed in on the legend. She wasn't going to make the mistake of letting him move freely from the get go. Especially after that stunt pulled by Tekken. Segata looked on imperiously as his arms moved to protect his sides and his feet shifted to give him better stability. Ranma took note of this as she closed in and decided to test him on his word. With this in mind, she dodged to the side just before she would have entered arms reach of the man while tossing an arm forward to fire off her signature ki attack. The mokotakabisha barreled toward her opponent at high speed. He quirked a brow as he quickly brought his arm up to guard against the incoming attack. As the concussive blast exploded, Ranma dove in from the side throwing preparing to throw out an amiguriken barrage. As her first strike closed, she was taken by surprise as the man reached forth and grabbed her arm. It took her by surprise as her eyes widened in shock. In that same moment she found her momentum shifted as a leg sliced out to destroy her balance. She found herself in the midst of being thrown. She knew this was going to hurt. As such she decided to make sure she at least gave as good as she got. She twisted about to use her other arm for another barrage. Yet again, it was captured. All the while she noted something was wrong with the attack. She couldn't quite figure what it was as she was distracted by the fact that Segata had now dropped back into a roll with a foot flashing out to meet her midsection. She tried to return the kick, but since his connected first, it took him out of her reach. Worse, that sense of wrongness continued to build as she was thrown away. Shock filled her as she realized what had happened. She gathered her power in that instant to guard against what was to come as the ki Segata pumped into her destabilized.
An explosion rocked the arena's floor as the ki bomb exploded. Ranma had managed to defend herself well only to realize too late that there was a second bomb. The arena shook a second time. Ranma was hurt, but she wasn't out from the fight.
"I warned you to take me seriously goddess," A throng of voices called out. As the dust cleared, she found an army of Segatas now filled the ring. In that instant, she recollected herself in determination. It was now clear she would have to go all out. She smiled at the army and decided to show them and everyone not to count her out. She'd fight with the fruits of her training first. Then bring out the big guns. This in mind, she took to the air. Not by jumping, but by flight without the power of HDD. It had been one of the first things she had learned in her time across the boundary. Gasps filled the air around her as she gathered energy. She smirked as she began to send a barrage of amiguriken blasts raining down upon the army. The surprise on their faces vanished in that moment as they moved into action.
Those in the front went down to one knee and held their hands forward as the second line used this to jump high into the air and act as shields for the army as they exploded brightly into light. Ranma frowned at this when she realized her line of sight had been broken she only just barely managed to dodge the following onslaught as more Segatas came hurtling through the air reaching to grab her before exploding into similar bright lights. The goddess managed to dodge these attempts she weaved through the air. All the while she gathered more energy throughout her body. She split the energy into two and filled one with cold and the other with hot. She could feel the drain as the energies began to rage within before she finally unleashed the power outward. In an instant a powerful tornado formed about her and made contact with the ground. It was at this time a Massive fist broke through the barrier. Ranma was taken by surprised as she soon realized she had no where to dodge. She'd be caught in the winds of her own attack without the soul of ice properly in use. And she didn't have enough time to properly activate it and dodge. This left her with only a couple options. Go big or go home. She thought to herself in that moment as she activated the soul of ice. And punched downward. As Segata's grand punch connected and sent her crashing to the ground, the various energies gathered up within the tornado ignited. The was a massive explosion accompanied by a blinding flash. People began to scream in alarm as the barrier started to destabilize. A high pitched whine could be heard as it started to shatter.
"Wait, doesn't that move look fa-" Neptune began as the tornado erupted.
"Shit," uttered Blanc.
"Oh dear," Vert breathed.
"What you all waiting for, take formation!" Noire screamed.
As the barrier gave way, various elements erupted into existence fueled by share energy. Ice to the north, green winds to the west, fire and lightning to the south, and earth and water to the east. This created a buffer to buy the mages more time to create a specially modified barrier. It was a last ditch effort to protect the audience and allow the power an escape route upwards into the sky.
Soon the blast and smoke cleared to reveal the battle field. Ranma was kneeling at the center of a large crater at the corner of the arena. As for Segata, he was a single, normal sized man once more and clutching at his right arm. The sleeve of that arm was shredded. Thanks to the secondary barrier, there were no injuries, but it was clear both combatants were in pain. Ranma made it to her feet and slowly climbed out of the crater. Segata stood his ground and looked on. Eventually both combatants stood there ground and stared at each in wait. Not for each other, but for a new and proper set of barriers to be erected. As they waited, Ranma smirked and decided it would be a waste to spend this time in silence.
"Got to hand it to ya, those were some interesting moves, what was all of that?" She opened their little chat.
The man snorted in response before replying," Ki constructs and other such ki based abilities."
"Huh, those constructs seemed more solid than the other clone technique I've seen," Ranma retorted," Also doesn't explain the miracle growth."
For the first time since showing up, the legend smirked," That would be telling, wouldn't it?" he began with a chuckle before he expression hardened once more," Every art has its secrets, I think I'll be keeping mine."
"Oh, spoil sport," Ranma pouted before laughing," Ah well, it makes things more interestin' I'm sure I'll figure it out."
"I see," Segata commented with a frown," Be that as it may, I will warn you again. Stop holding back."
"Says the guy with a disabled arm. I at least came out of that fully able." She taunted. It was at that time that the last of the barriers snapped into being.
"who said I was disabled?" was the man's retort as he withdrew his clutched hand so he could deliver a strike to his currently disabled arm. It instantly looked better and he was moving it just fine. Ranma quirked her brow at this.
"Nice trick, but why wait until now to do that?" she asked confused with growing apprehension. It was then that the ground exploded once more. Kicking up dust and debris to obscure her vision," Oh that's why."
She immediately regretted it. She had no idea what to expect now. The fight had resumed the moment the barrier was restored. He was just showing proper etiquette. Soon after the explosion, Segata emerged in a rapid charge towards Ranma. It put the speed of Tekken's mad charge to shame and he clearly had control of it. Ranma barely dodged the strike that now snaked past her. It still grazed her and was mark by a tear in her shirt. She did her best to fight back, fully embracing the speed granted by the kachu tenshin amiguriken throughout her body. Even then, she realized she was out matched. She was being pushed back in the engagement when she felt something latch onto her. It was a clone. She only had a moment to realize this before it exploded. She was sent skidding to the edge once more. This time she didn't stop. She went over and only barely avoided the ring out by using her flight technique, the Long Feixing, to hover above the ground before taking to the air to buy her some time. IT was clear now that she was outmatched. She was wasting power at this point and Segata was only a little roughed up. Sure, she got that one attack off, but it was obvious he had already figured out how it had worked. He was now using his ki tricks more sparingly and tactically. She was going to lose at this rate, and it there's one thing she couldn't stand, it was that. Ranma doesn't lose!
In that moment of decision, light sprang about her once more as she took on her HDD form as she called out," Fine, you want me to go all out, ya got it!"
In this moment a grin grew on her opponent's face until it was a savage smile. It was clear the man had been waiting for this moment. He seemed ecstatic as he shifted to a defensive stance once more forsaking the initiative. It was clear what he wanted, and Ranma wasn't going to hold back anymore. In that moment the goddess descended at a blinding speed to deliver a Ryouga special. She was going to teach him not to take her lightly. The flurry over blows to follow were far faster than they had been before as the barrage savaged a vital point. His solar plexus. To her annoyance she had only managed ten blows before having to back off as more of his hidden constructs came out to play. She opened up the distance immediately as they covered for him. All the while she scanned for where they could have been hiding. Her brows furrowed as she take to the air to get a better view. The clones stood guard all the while as Segata recovered from having the wind knocked out of him. He was just recovering when Ranma noticed a shadow hiding in one of Tekken's footholds. She smirked once more as she finally understood what was going on. His constructs could change size. Hey was hiding them in the wreckage. Though that still didn't explain his growth ability. It was clear that it had been him based upon the damage he had taken. That could wait however, she needed fix a little problem.
Suddenly, her arms blurred for an instant and various explosions could be heard throughout the arena as she systematically eradicated the clones before focusing her barrage on her opponent. He seemed shocked for an instant as his army vanished, but he acted quickly. Another set of explosions rang out across the arena as he once more detonated the ground beneath his feet. The initial shockwave caused the follow on thundering as it detonated the forerunners of Ranma's barrage. The smoke and debris obscured her vision forcing her to stop unless she wished to waste more energy.
Segata didn't even wait for the dust to settle. The moment the barrage ended, his form rapidly emerged. Not because he was charging, but because he had become a massive giant.
"Se Ga Sa Ta N, SHI RO!"
The alarm had been raised at the Basilicom. Everything had been a sea of chaos when RED had made her move. She had managed to not only beat down the guards stationed outside her door, but she was also able to make her way to her office. She had managed to take down most of the agents still combing through the room with the exception of the youngest of them who upon seeing her used the others as a distraction as she fled. Likely to call backup. This had not mattered to RED. She needed to retrieve some of the files from the vault before security cracked it. With said documents now hidden on her person, she made her way to where she knew Ranma had to be at that time. The arena.
It was as she roof hopped towards her goal that she sighted her. The one who was determined to ruin her plans. She couldn't allow her to make contact with Ranma just yet. RED dropped down from a nearby roof to land before Gust to cut her advisor off from approaching the arena in further.
"Then crazy one!" the bunny themed girl hissed as she drew her broom staff. She did so just in time to deflect the first yoyo strike. However, it was clearly by accident as the girl's eyes widened and she fell back from the impact. Even so, the battle was over quickly. Gust was clearly a support and back liner. Without someone to act as a shield, RED was able to take her down quickly. The crowd nearby was shocked at the speed of this attack as they hadn't even finished giving them space when RED took to the roof tops just as security forces were moving in. Any pursuers were soon lost when a blinding flash came from the arena. The only reason RED was spared from it was that she had dropped down to street level to try and lose them just as it happened.
With that thunderous roar of a slight deviation of his own name, Segata seemed to be empowered as he threw a punch for the airborne goddess. She found the speed of this punch to be far greater than she had expected. Even as Ranma dodged it, she was caught by the shockwave of its passage and sent hurtling out of control. She ended up crashing to the ground and painful. However, she noticed the one weakness to Segata's actions and smirked as she took flight once more, managing to dodge the titan's foot as it slide across the arena to try and knock her out of it. All the while she gathered energy. It was going to be hard to pull off, but she was not about give up. She closed in to deliver a hard kick to a special point in the man's leg and pushed a large amount of energy into the strike. Segata bellowed on shock as he found his foot sliding out of control. His leg had been paralyzed. Ranma took a deep breath from the strain of the pressure point she had activated. It was now easier to strike because her foe was larger. The problem was that it required a lot more energy to activate special points such as the paralysis ones for larger foes. Soon, her opponent's foot would slide out of bounds and she would win.
Of course, that was based on the assumption Segata wouldn't realize this. He shifted his weight to his other leg and began to shrink down. He also took advantage of Ranma's own shocked annoyance to deliver a strike. She managed to raise her arms to guard against the blow and reached into her reserves to keep her from going flying. She was able to hold thanks to the strength behind it lessening with Segata's size. It was starting to tax her too much to keep throwing all of this energy around on flight and fighting. She had a new idea as she shifted about the fist she was struggling against to bound toward the ground with her flight inactive. After all, Segata was on his last leg. With her index finger extended, she pumped ki into her legs for one last spurt. She dashed about his good foot and began to tap the stone blocks. They began to explode into a spray of stone chips and weakening the untouched stones in her wake. It seemed to work at first as Segata lost his balance, but then the crumbling stone beneath his foot suddenly started to hold strong. She noted in annoyance that the man would, of course, know ki reinforcement techniques.
Segata continued to shrink down unto he was back to his original height. He then struck his downed leg and stood upon it once more. He was breathing hard and had a bead of sweat forming above his brow. Ranma decided to capitalize on this moment by making a charge at the man to deliver a powerful kick to his chest with all the speed she could muster. She managed to connect and looked on in relief as Segata went hurtling out of bounds. As she watched, her HDD form dissolved away as she no longer had the energy to maintain it.
Unfortunately, Segata was not done yet as he formed a clone and detonated it. He used the force of the explosion to send him sailing back into the arena before he would have lost. After sticking the landing he looked to Ranma and smiled as they stared down one another.
"You have down well," He noted as he drew breath.
"Not so bad yourself, old man," Ranma sniped as she wore her signature smirk.
Segata chuckled at the remark before replying," It would seem this fight is over," Ranma quirked her brow at this," I am getting on in my years, goddess. While my form and control are far greater than they used to be, I have been fighting a losing battle with time since long ago… But I'll never regret the cause. I concede this battle as your victory."
Ranma felt numb at this as her legs gave out with his words. She fell into a kneeling sit as she watched his retreating form. As he stood by the exit to the arena, he stopped turn in back and gave her a final bow of respect before calling out," With this, you have fulfilled the pact between my goddess and I. Goodbye!"
With this said, the winds picked up the dust and debris to obscure him from sight. As it settled, he was gone. After a few minutes, Ranma was met with a roar as the audience fell into cheering her on for her victory.
Neptune was actually shocked at what had happened. She honestly had no idea what to say on the matter. She didn't exactly love Ranma, but she did love Noire. If Blanc didn't kill her first, she might find herself in a happy relation. She chuckled nervously as she watched the other goddesses close in on Ranma. A Nep who runs away get's to live another day~! This in mind, she began to retreat. Sadly, she bumped into RED of all people.
"Oh, hi there wifey Neptune~!" RED chirped as she grabbed the now falling goddess and began to drag her along to her execution," So, did wifey Ranma win?"
Neptune followed along a little less enthusiastic as she chuckled," Yeppers…"
"Oh good! Then this would be a good time to make the announcement!" RED declared. As they entered the arena proper, Ranma, who was now standing once more, turned away from the goddesses who were greeting her and making sure she was ok. She looked to the approaching duo.
"Yo, RED, what's up? Something important happen?" Ranma asked curiously of her approaching oracle. RED nodded happily as she approached.
Sitting among the audience were two individuals. They were both wearing suspicious overcoats, glasses, and hats. One was seemed to be exceptionally tall with large, broad shoulders while the other seemed to have a more feminine figure.
"Well, well, well! I do believe the stage is set. Thank you for your assistance," The woman declared," I'll be sure to send you back home after I settle my last bit of business here."
"Oh, of course, darling! Just don't forget our little deal~!" the large one replied.
"So what's going on?" Ranma pressed as RED came to a stop nearby with Neptune in tow.
"Well, we have a big announcement!" RED answered cheerfully as she dragged the now pale and sweating profusely goddess and held her in front of her," This wifey is your newest fiancé!"
There were gasps while Ranma's left eye began to twitch," Run that by me again…"
"You two are engaged!" RED declared jubilantly as Neptune began to flounder in her grasp. A tic mark was forming on Ranma's head. This, of course, was not why Neptune was struggling now. Oh no, that was because she could clearly see the signs of Blanc becoming nepped off like you wouldn't believe and Noire's face was starting to work through her initial surprise and confusion and was steadily turning red. Funny enough, if she weren't about to be nepped over she'd have a hard time deciding between raging or blushing. Why did I think this was a good idea?
Ranma took a deep breath as a very familiar anger was building. She controlled herself as she pushed on," RED, I checked through the laws on that here. You handed them to me. This kind of stunt isn't legal!"
"Of course it isn't silly!" RED started off much to the relief of everyone. Even Neptune was sighing in relief," But those laws would have also ended all of your previous engagements. Since you were bent on returning to that other world because of similarly illegal engagement, I made an exception law for you. Otherwise all of your previous engagements would have been considered null and void."
Ranma froze at this statement. Blanc, however, was not as she dangerously made her inquiry," And how is Neptune engaged?"
It was Neptune her responded first with a nervous giggle. She was nepped and she knew it," You remember how I used to make all sorts of marketing gimmicks?"
Blanc's eyes narrowed," You didn't…"
"Yeah… I did," Neptune had stopped struggling at this point. This actually caused RED to let her go as she believed Neptune was no longer going to flee.
"Am I missing something here?" Noire asked in confusion.
"I'm afraid everyone is in the dark here," Vert added with a frown.
"Neptune," Blanc spoke pointedly.
"Uh, I might have made a campaign stating I'd only marry someone who could defeat my greatest follower… I even signed a contract stating such," Neptune explained.
Ranma started laughing a little. She had a bit of a logical fallacy running through her mind at this point. She was now being screwed over by a law designed to protect her engagements. She couldn't very well remove the laws as it would technically mean ending all of her reasons for going back to her world in the first place. That meant she now had a new fiancé. A fiancé who was in danger from someone she loved. She had no idea what she was going to do.
"Oh dear, I think you broke her," Vert commented worriedly as she moved to try and reassure Ranma. Blanc, on the other hand, was angry. So angry in fact, she called out her hammer.
"Neptune," she growled in her quiet voice. It was then that Ranma's mind latched onto a familiar scenario. She had a fiancé, who was currently unarmed, being threatened by an armed assailant. She immediately dodged about Vert's attempt to reassure her.
"Sorry, Blanc, ya know I love ya, but I can't let this go," She declared as she grabbed a now thoroughly surprised Neptune," Matter of honor and all!"
Blanc and the others stared in shock as Ranma fled the scene. One moment she's turning a corner at an exit. The next thing they knew. She was gone.
"Well, that was simple," The woman muttered as she quickly left the scene of the crime.
"Well, I must say that something seems to be working in your favor dear," her partner in crime added.
"Hmm, maybe there is something to that," the woman noted as they found a secluded location," In any case, off you go, I have big plans!"
"Awww, I didn't even get to the best part!" RED pouted as she watched the two make their escape.
"Really," Blanc replied flatly.
As RED was about to answer further, she paused. She realized at that moment this might have been a bad plan. In fact she was certain of it at this point," Wow, what made me think engaging Ranma to all the CPU wifeys was a good idea?"
Blanc had had enough. In a single instant, she reintroduced RED to the world of unconsciousness for the second time that day. She and Noire then left to seek out Ranma. This left Vert to handle matters at the arena. Including explaining why a goddess had publically assaulted the local oracle. Things were quite the mess.
Nisa was not having a pleasant time back at the Basilicom. Sirens were now sounding throughout it as the instability seemed to spike horribly. It was now only a matter of seconds before everything blew and the specialists she had ordered brought in had yet to arrive. Suddenly all went silent.
She immediately dropped her current task to make a mad dash to R&D. She needed answers. She soon threw the sliding door to one of its offices and demanded," What happened!?"
One of the staff turned to her," We're not sure, everything is stable once more."
Else where, Ranma found herself in another familiar position. She was now way up in the sky and hurtling towards the ground below. This time with a passenger. Neptune was now flailing about in her arms.
"What the nep!?" she cried out," Turn on the breaks!"
"I'm trying to, if you'd just stop struggling!" Ranma shot back as she tried to call up some power. Something was wrong. It was not responding right. She must have been weaker than she thought. Of course, this made sense since she had just finished battling a legend," Uh, we might have a problem."
"What?" Neptune asked as they continued to fall.
"I'm out of energy," Ranma answered flatly. To which Neptune struggled once more only to find something was wrong.
"I think we're nepped, I can't go HDD…" Neptune replied nervously. At this, Ranma looked down to judge her best landing strategy. It was then she noticed to figures believe. One of which was very familiar.
"Watch out!" was all Ranma managed to get out before crashing into one of the figures.
