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From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
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Outside Influences
Part 2
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Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi characters and concepts belong to Takahashi
Rumiko, and SM characters and concepts belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I claim
ownership of only the actual story, not the characters which are used in it,
with the exception of the ones which I created myself. Any cameos from
characters from other sources will have the disclaimers at the end of the
first chapter they are contained in. They are used without permission, and
no challenge is being made to the property rights of the intellectual
property used in this story.
Three lines represents a change of scene.
Two lines represents the start of a flashback in a scene. I'll have a lot of
these later on, but for the first part they will be relatively rare. These
will also end in two lines.
At the end of each chapter I have some notes on the events of the chapter
and my thoughts on the chapter as well.
And evil bastard that I am, I've begun making up new enemies as well as
keeping The old ones in as well. Goody for me. It's because most of my
Sailor Moon stuff comes from fanfiction.
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER 1
Ranma awoke to a very painful headache. This was probably caused by
the head injuries he recieved from the fight with the daimon he'd had before
he passed out from ki depletion.
He shrugged it off. Probably just a little brain damage. Nothing all
that serious. He sat up in bed and looked at his surroundings. He was in a
bedroom that appeared to be a spare. No decorations marked the walls, and no
personal touches marked any areas of the room. The window was open a crack
and a slight breeze brushed the curtains aside.
He got up and walked to the window, reflecting on the fight with the
daimon. It had been a serious battle, taking most of his ki reserves to beat
it. Sure, he'd won the fight with little injuries, but he'd overdone it.
Outside, the garden wall lay cracked in several places from one of the
daimon's attacks, and there was a hole in the wall where he'd originally
entered. Beyond the fence, parts of the street lay cracked as well.
He stretched, getting the kinks out of his neck.
"Guess I should go thank 'em for taking me in and taking care of me
after the fight." Ranma muttered, looking out the window. The sky was
slightly overcast, and rumbled a bit as he looked at it. "I hate omens."
With that, Ranma left the room.
The house, Ranma realised as he walked through the halls, was very
immense. He wandered around for nearly ten minutes, trying to find his
way to some stairs. Eventually, after getting the feeling he had no sense
of direction, he found the stairs and descended down.
Once downstairs, he heard the people in the next room talking. He
crept to the doorway, and listened.
"So, that's Saotome Ranma." Yohko said, sipping her tea. "I always
wanted to know what my fiance looked like. I guess now I know."
"Yes, isn't he manly?" Nodoka asked, obviously pleased with her son.
"He'll make a wonderful fiance for you. All we have to do is wait for him
to wake up."
"Certainly turned out better than I thought he would, with Genma
teaching him." Madoka said, smiling. "I expected him to be some honorless
thief like Genma is."
"I wonder where Genma is, anyways." Nodoka mused, thinking about her
errant husband. "He made me a promise to raise Ranma to be a man among men
for Yohko, and he and I have some things to discuss. Ranma appears to be a
good choice for Yohko's fiance, but Genma may have failed in his promise in
some unjudgeable way."
Ranma was hearing the F-word(1) too often for his liking. He stalked
back up the stairs, silently. He entered his room, and quickly gathered his
things.
"Stupid old man..." Ranma muttered. "Another fiance. I ain't gonna
stick around for this. Nobody's gonna marry me unless I want to marry 'em."
Ranma got up, and dug out a pen and piece of paper from his backpack.
[Thank you for taking care of me, but I don't need any more girls
chasing after me. Sorry 'bout this, and please don't bother following. You
won't find me unless I want you to. -Saotome Ranma.]
Ranma left the note on the bedside table, and quickly made the bed up.
He went to the window and opened it fully, allowing the curtains to billow
wildly. Casting one last look at the note, he leapt from the window sill and
landed on the roof of the house across the street. From there, he began to make
his way back home.
Barely a minute later, Saotome Nodoka entered the room where her soon
slept off the effects of the fight.
Looking around the room, she was puzzled. The bed was made as if no
one had ever slumbered in it, and there was nothing but a small piece of
paper left on the bedside table.
She walked over to the table, picking up the paper with one hand and
looking at it. She read the note, and tears soon sprung from her eyes.
"This is not fair..." She said, blinking back tears. "The kami cannot
be so cruel. To deliver my long lost son to me only to have him disappear
again... I must find him."
A slow smile crept to her face.
"At least I know he's manly, if he has to rebuff girls as beautiful
as Yohko. Genma must have fulfilled his pledge to me afterall!" Nodoka
smiled at the thought as she left the room to tell the Mano family about the
latest development.
Ranma entered his home, and checked the surroundings. Nobody was home.
He checked the clock, and found, to his horror, that he had barely half
an hour to get to school. That left him ten minutes to shower, get changed,
and make his way to school via the rooftops of Juuban.
He groaned. It wasn't even nine and he'd already gained yet another
fiance to add to the collection. How could the day get any worse?(2)
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.
Ten minutes later, Ranma ran out the door, locking it as he went, and
began to sprint across the rooftops in his desperate attempt to get to school
on time. He was running parallel to a street, and saw Usagi running at a fast
pace along the road next to him.
He hopped down, and easily kept pace with her, while she was gasping
for breath with every step.
"Hey, Usagi." Ranma said, smiling at the girl, who opened her eyes and
glanced at him while still running. "You're running late too?"
Usagi nodded without saying anything. She didn't want to waste any of
her precious energy on speaking, crying, or any of the other things which
being late would end up making her do anyways.
"Wanna lift?" Ranma asked. "Juuban's on the way, and it's probably a
lot quicker, too."
Usagi nodded again, and Ranma scooped her up in his arms, before
bounding up to the rooftops and pouring on the speed. Usagi let out a little
scream before she looked and saw she was quite safe.
Ranma bounced from rooftop to rooftop, going at speeds which defied
human description. He slid down one roof, jumping off the end and flipping to
the ground. He ran under a bridge before hopping up to a glowing neon arcade
sign and bounding over a copse of trees.
He landed in front of the school, skidding to a stop five meters from
the front doors. He put Usagi down, who looked as if she never wanted to do
that again in her entire life.
"Seeya around." Ranma said, hopping up the wall of the school, before
using that same wall as leverage to launch himself to the rooftops on his
way to his own highschool.
Ranma arrived just in time for first class.
Setsuna looked through the timeline, communuicating with her alternate
self. She was trying to convince her other self not to send Usa back in time
again if she sent the Usa which had just arrived forward.
She was failing.
"Why not?" Setsuna asked, looking at her future self. "She obviously
is in the wrong timeline if there's already an Usa here. Why does she need
to stay in THIS timeline?"
"That..." Her future self said, smirking. "Is a secret."
"I hate it when I watch Slayers." Setsuna muttered. She looked at her
future self, and decided on a different tactic. "Well, what happens when
the Usas meet each other? That will cause the largest paradox in known
history!"
"So?" Her future self countered. "Make sure they don't meet, because
YOU will have to clean up that mess, not me. In fact, if things go as they
are suppossed to, this will be best for Usa. Everything she knows will cease
to exist when you fix the mess of Chaos in the timestream, and I want to
make sure she does not cease to exist as well."
"She does not belong here!" Setsuna growled. "Usagi will marry Mamaru.
It's destined! Nothing can stop it from happening. Beryl couldn't seperate
them. Death couldn't. I very much doubt that I could."
"Destiny?" Her future self asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you been
telling the Sailors that for so long you believe it yourself? Yes, you have
to admit that certain things will happen. But not everything is always
pre-ordained. You of all people should know that by now."
"Damn you." Setsuna muttered. "Well, what happens should the timeline
I and the others have been expecting occurs? What will happen to your Usa?
Even if she doesn't fade from existence, she's going to lose all the family
and friends she's ever known!"
"Will she?" Her future self asked. "Her father and mother, even all
those she calls Aunts, will remain. Her only friends and family are among
the Sailor Senshi. She won't fade, since her place in YOUR timeline has been
established, and she won't lose much, but stands to gain all. My decision
stands."
"Damn." Setsuna cursed under her breath,
"Oh, and don't bother sending her forward right before you un-
stabilize the timestream." Her future self said, allowing herself a rare
smirk. "You and I both know I can freeze time, and that I'm willing to
accept the punishment for all ten seconds that my timeline will exist."
With that, the Gate of Time shimmered, and her future self faded.
"I hate my job sometimes." Setsuna said to no one in particular.
Ranma stood in front of the Tendo Dojo gates, wondering how he was
going to tell his father's old friend about his father's death, as well as
the reason he couldn't marry any of his daughters.
He planned on explaining the second one first.
Ranma's thought was cut off as he felt a droplet of rain hit his head.
He looked up, and decided that he didn't want to get wet. He knocked heavily
on the front gate three times.
After a few moments, the long haired brunette answered the door. She
smiled in recognition.
"Hello." She said politely. "Father is expecting you. Follow me,
please."
Ranma did, lost in thought about what he was going to say. This was
his father's best friend, and someone his father had trained with and spent
a large amount of his training with. It wasn't like he could just come out
and say his father was dead.
They arrived at the Tendo living room, and Soun sat on one end of the
table, his daughters all sitting to his right along the table. Ranma sat to
the left of Soun, while the long haired brunette joined her sisters.
"So, you know about the reason your father wanted to come here?" Soun
asked, his face serious.
"Yes, I do." Ranma replied. "He wanted to engage me to one of your
daughters. I take it you want my answer to the question?"
"Yes, I do." Soun said.
"No." Ranma said simply. "I will not become the fiance of any of your
daughters. I already have two, and I will not marry either of them. In fact,
they know as much and have probably given up. Why should I become engaged to
one of your daughters above another man's?"
"This engagement is a matter of family honor, promised on the night
of your birth." Soun said. "I expect you to follow through with the promise
and keep your honor intact."
"Tendo-san, when I was two, I was engaged to Mido Miko." Ranma said.
"When I was eight, I was engaged to Daitokuji Beiko. My father accepted the
dowry of both. What makes your claim more valid?"
"This is a promise to unite the Tendo and Saotome schools!" Soun said,
his voice becoming agitated. "The other engagements do not matter!"
"Decide, Tendo." Ranma said, his voice cold. "All the engagements are
valid, or NONE of the engagements are valid. I for one want the latter."
"What will your parents think of this?" Soun demanded, changing his
tactic. "Your father will disown you from the Saotome name!"
"My father will do no such thing." Ranma said, his eyes narrowing and
he himself becoming angry. "My father is dead. He drowned in China, at the
cursed training grounds of Jusenkyou. I buried him myself."
"Genma is dead?" Soun asked, his voice weak.
"I don't know what his last request was." Ranma said. "He said we were
gonna come to VISIT you, not marry me off to one of your daughters. And to be
quite frank, I have better prospects elsewhere."
"What!" Soun roared. "How dare you even suggest-"
"Let's look at who's currently pursuing me in a romantic sense!" Ranma
returned. "I've got a girl who's the richest woman in Japan! I've got girls
who are better martial artists! I've got girls I know better! Tell me, Tendo,
what is so special about your daughters, who I don't know, are NOT real
martial artists, and have nothing that the other girls already chasing after
me don't have already!? Why should I break my no fiance rule for THEM!?"
The girls were all visibly offended by this, just as Ranma had planned.
The youngest was fairly boiling with pure rage, the middle was angry as well,
but this was a cool rage, and the third appeared slightly offended.
"How dare you offend my daughters!?" Soun demanded.
"What are ya gonna do about it!?" Ranma retorted. "I already proved
you ain't a match for me in any kinda fight! I doubt your daughters are any
better! You wanna declare a blood fued!? I could end it ten seconds after it
began! What will you do, Tendo!?"
"You are not fit to marry any of my daughters!" Soun raged. "Get out
of my sight before I call the police!"
"Glad to!" Ranma said, grinning from ear to ear, to the shock of all
three of the Tendo girls. "Hey girls? We ain't engaged no longer. You're
free, and I am to!"
Soun stopped in mid-rage, realising what he'd just done. The
engagement was valid only so long as ONE of the parties agreed to it. He'd
just absolved his end of the bargain, and so had Ranma.
He'd been tricked.(3)
"Seeya later, Tendo-san!" Ranma said, walking out of the room. They
heard the shoji for the front door open then shut. It was a mark of finality
that ended Soun's hopes of uniting the schools.
He cried.
Hino Rei was one of Usagi's best friends, despite evidence otherwise.
She and Usagi had been friends for a long time now, and she knew they would
be friends for a long time hence.
At the moment, she appeared to have forgotten all that as she fought
to control her urge to throttle the blonde in front of her.
They were all gathered at the Hikawa Shrine for study group. Rei,
Minako, Ami, and Makoto were actually studying, to varying degrees of
success. Usagi, However, was reading one of REI's manga disguised behind
her math textbook. Unfortunately for Usagi, she'd missed the fact she was
holding said textbook upside down.
"Meatball Head, you're supposed to be studying!" Rei snapped, her
patience running out as she turned a vicious glare on her friend. "Not
reading manga!"
"Don't call me that, Rei! I am studying! See?" Usagi held up her
textbook while returning the angry look. Then she looked over and saw that
her book was upside down. "Oops."
"Argh!" Rei snarled.
And the familiar game was on. Rei was managing to just keep up with
Usagi, who was managing to just stay ahead of the Shrine Maiden. The other
girls just continued studying, while Artemis and Luna both shook their
heads in resignation.
A beeping from the computer at Ami's side caught their attention.
"Another attack!?" Usagi whined. She and the others all got out their
henshin sticks simultaniously and transformed. (4) "So, where is it coming
from Ami?"
"A kilometer east." Ami said, the visor already over her face. "It
seems to be a pair of daimons entering from a portal. One is significantly
more powerful than the other. They appear to be staying together."
"Let's go." Makoto said. "I wanna get there before Ranma does. He's
stolen the last three kills from us!"
With that, they charged out of the temple.
Ranma was walking along the fence on his way home, when his danger
sense kicked up and he jumped out of the way of a blast of energy which
cracked the ground he had been standing on.
He landed and looked to the source, a woman in a black leaotard with
long reddish-silver hair. Her hair was swept back from her face by a simple
gold head ornament.
She smirked at Ranma, and snapped her fingers. A woman made of plants
and rocks stomped forward. She let out a low growl.
"Destroy the boy and bring me his pure heart crystal." She said.
"Destroy boy." The plant and rock woman said, stomping forward. She
was a lot bigger than even the stupid vending machine. Ranma guessed it was
a good bit tougher, too.
This was not going to be fun. (5)
A blast of fire launched the thing to the side, and Ranma turned to
see the Sailor Senshi standing there, in stupid poses. They looked to be
preparing a speech instead of taking advantage of their moment of surprise.
"You should not attack those who can't protect themselves, we the-"
Sailor Moon's speech was cut off by a cry of outrage by Ranma, who's face
had gone red at the speech.
"What do you mean, can't protect themselves!" Ranma said. "I can
protect myself just fine! Ain't it me who beat the last three daimons!?"
"I killed the second last one!" Venus said.
"Hey, I'm the one who weakened it. A child coulda taken it out."
Ranma said. He ducked under a beam of energy from the red-haired woman, who
appeared angry at being ignored. "What do YOU want?"
Her hands were holding glowing balls of energy, which crackled as she
held her fists together and pointed them at Ranma, who prepared to dodge.
She released the energy.
Faster than anyone could move, faster than even Ranma could see, the
energy washed over Ranma, sending him back, washed up in the wave of pure
power. The energy smashed into a building, causing it to collapse and bury
Ranma.
The Senshi watched speechless as the dust settled, and there was no
movement. The only sound was the occassional pebble hitting cement as the
dust settled.
"It is finished." The red-haired woman said. "Sailors, you have three
days to live. I will then return and finish what I started with that foolish
human who dared to oppose-"
She was cut off by a low rumbling from the direction of the rubble,
which was now shaking. A lump was starting to rise, and the rubble began to
vibrate wildly. There was a smash, and a dark shape burst from the ground
in an explosion of light.
Ranma landed, smirking at the woman, who was shocked. He wiped some
blood from his lips while looking at the woman and cracking his knuckles.
There was a vicious gleam in his eye.
"How?" She demanded. "How is it that you live?"
"I ain't no ordinary human." Ranma said. "Now, I got an idea. Why not
tell me why you just attacked me. I don't like getting buried in stone. Or
how 'bout I just beat it out of you?"
"I'll be back!" The woman snarled. She turned to the pland and stone
creature. "Finish the boy!"
She disappeared, and the monster began to advance. Ranma and the
Senshi stepped warily back. It was eyeing the Senshi and Ranma, likely
evaluating it's methods of attack.
"So, what's the plan?" Ranma asked. "It's a lot tougher than the other
daimons. It took that fire blast thingy without any damage."
"It has several weak points." Sailor Mercury said, already tapping
buttons on her laptop. "If you were to focus your attacks on the joints of
the daimon, you would be able to remove them."
"Alright." Ranma said. He started towards the advancing creature, but
stumbled to his knees, clutching his ribs. He coughed up a bit of blood.
"Ranma, you're hurt!" Venus said, rushing over to him and helping him
stand. He shrugged out of her grib, once again starting towards the daimon.
"Wait!"
"I don't need help!" Ranma said, angry. "I never lose. This daimon is
going down, and I'm gonna do it, broken ribs or not!"
With that, Ranma charged the daimon, ignoring the shouts from the
Senshi. He closed with the creature, starting his attacks. Despite his
broken ribs, he weaved in and out of the daimon's attacks with a grace that
astounded the Senshi, all the while raining blows on the joints of the
daimon's limbs.
The daimon gave a howl of pain, and an explosion of light sent Ranma
tumbling away from the thing. Ranma landed in a heap on the ground, now
coughing raggedly. Blood flowed freely from his mouth, and a dark red stain
was spreading on his uniform's dress shirt. Still, he got to his feet, the
daimon now being destroyed by attacks from the Senshi.
Ranma took a step forward, before falling to the ground. The jolt of
pain was enough to finally send him out of the realm of consciousness.
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(1) Fiance, of course.
(2) You'd think he would have learned by now.
(3) Bets on this impressing Nabiki?
(4) No transformation phrases or descriptions will be written. I assume you
know them, and I don't want to wind up writing them down, since if I did it
everytime they transformed in a scene, I'd end up with that as a nice chunk
of the fic.
(5) And yet AGAIN Ranma is in the running for Understatement of the Year.
Okay, this is just a reminder. Mamaru and Usagi's Chibi-Usa who's in the
past is her normal age (since nothing in that future timeline changed for
HER, yet) but Ranma and Usagi's Usa is fourteen ( because when she was
attacked in the future, papa-Ranma opened a can of whoopass on the enemy and
thus prevented this Usa from becoming the incestuous Black Lady and all that
that happened during that time.) and has come back to get more training from
the martial artists of Ranma's time.
This will be further explained later.
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From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
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Outside Influences
Part 2
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CHAPTER 2
Ranma awoke from his forced slumber in a bedroom. Surrounding him
were the Sailor Senshi, who looked like they had been in a long and hard
fight. The daimon, Ranma realised.
"Ranma, why do you keep fighting daimons?" Sailor Moon demanded, her
face a bit anxious. "It's dangerous for humans to fight them."
"Feh. It's dangerous for girls like you to be fighting 'em, too."
Ranma said, sitting up in his bed. He felt his ribs, and was pleased to note
that his ribs were bandaged, and only a couple were actually broken. The
rest were merely cracked. "Look, I know I'm only human, and don't got no
special powers like you do, but I'm a martial artist and I'm NOT gonna let
'em attack me. I won't run away from a fight."
"Why not?" Venus asked. "Next time you might be killed, or even worse,
have your Pure Heart crystal stolen from you. You don't want that to happen,
do you?"
"No. Which is why I fight." Ranma said. He slowly got to his feet,
surpressing the shudder of pain he got from doing so. He limped across the
room, to where his bloody shirt and jacket hung from the back of a chair.
"Look, I can't just run away. It goes against my School's prime tenant. I'd
rather die than dishonour the Saotome School."
"But what if you ARE killed? Who will continue the school?" Moon
asked, her face showing sincere worry.
"There are other people practicing Anything Goes." Ranma said. "And
the Saotome School will die out before I dishonour it." Ranma looked around,
and found the clock. "Look, I have to go. My cousin is probably worried
about me. I'll see you around."
Ranma limped to the door, not returning the Senshi's worried gazes.
Worry was a weak emotion. He couldn't be weak. His father had told him he
could never show weakness. Weakness wasn't for a martial artist like
him. (1)
"Ranma, you're not going to be able to get home." Sailor Jupiter said.
"You've got two broken ribs and four cracked. If it had been any more
serious we'd have had to taken you to the hospital. All those injuries are
AFTER Sailor Moon healed you!"
"So?" Ranma asked, turning back to them. "It's your fault I'm injured,
you know. If you hadn't been there I could have just beaten that daimon and
been on my way, but you interfered!"
"What!?" Sailor Mars demanded, her face growing red. "If we had just
left you, you'd be powering a daimon right now!"
"Feh." Ranma snorted derisively. "You think that the redhaired chick
woulda attacked me herself if someone she saw as a threat were there? I
woulda pounded the stuffing out of the daimon and been on my way before she
knew what was happening."
"Oh please!" Sailor Mars said, stalking up to the taller boy. "If we
were the threats, why did she blast you, huh? She was more scared of you
than she was of us!"
"Only after she blasted me, and only because I survived." Ranma said,
returning her fierce glare with one of his own. "She knew you'd survive it,
you're all mystical warriors or something. I'm just human. She wanted to
kill me with that blast. It depleted my ki to the maximum just to absorb
the damage from the building. She wanted to make your morale low. How would
you guys feel if you saw some innocent blasted in front of you? Not very
good. She's smart. She's using your emotions against you. She wanted to hurt
you through an innocent."
"What!? She had already started the daimon after you before we got
there! What about that!?" Sailor Mars demanded.
"Think!" Ranma snarled. "Before you got there, she sent the daimon to
get my Pure Heart crystal, whatever that is. But when you got there and were
watching, she tried to blast me to bits! Why not still come after my Pure
Heart crystal!? Nothing about the fight had changed, except you being there!
And even after you came, she sent the daimon after me specifically!"
Ranma stormed out of the door. Well, he limped out angrily, since it's
hard for someone with two broken ribs to storm anywhere.
Ranma was walking home, still a bit angry with the Senshi. It wasn't
his fault they had interfered in his fight. It was their's. They had shown
up and distracted him, and focused the redhead's attention on him.
He was so thinking so much, he failed to notice the guy in front of
him untill they'd walked into each other. Ranma looked up, seeing a young
man his age. He had the look of a martial artist, from the grace he had in
stopping himself from falling. His black hair was kept from his face by a
yellow and black tiger striped bandana.
"RANMA!" Angry recognition came to the face of the other boy fast. It
was only through luck that Ranma managed to dodge the punch that was sent at
his midsection. He quickly backed off from the other boy, allowing himself
to get some room.
"...Ryouga?" Ranma asked reluctantly. There was something familiar
about the other young man, but nobody he could immediately place. "Hibiki
Ryouga? Is that you?"
"Ranma, I'll kill you!" Ryouga roared, pointing at Ranma with his red
bamboo umbrella. "Because of you, I've seen the depths of hell! It's time I
sent you there!"
He charged in, and once again, Ranma was forced to dodge wildly. If
he weren't injured, he would have had an easy time defeating Ryouga. But
since he was injured, he was barely able to keep out of the way of the
other's attacks, and was able to make no counter-attacks of his own.
"Ranma, you're pathetic!" Ryouga growled. He stopped attacking, a look
of distaste on his face. "I don't know why I bothered to come after you for
that fight you ran away from! Your skills are pathetic!"
"Hey!" Ranma growled. "I've got two broken ribs and lots of cracked
ones! But if you are gonna insult my skill, I'm gonna have to put you back
in your place!"
"Fine!" Ryouga said, returning the angry glare Ranma was sending his
way. "In three days, we fight. The lot behind my house, Saotome! If you're
not there in three days, I'll hunt you down myself!"
"Agreed." Ranma said, shaking hands with the other boy. "In three days
I'm gonna teach you a thing or two about martial arts."
"In three days, Saotome," Ryouga growled, his voice dangerous. "I'll
kill you with my bare hands."
The other boy stalked off, heading down the street. Ranma sighed as he
looked at his old friend. He could only wonder what he could have done to
make him so angry.(2)
He shrugged it off, thinking he'd figure it out sooner or later. He
had to get back home as soon as possible.
Michiru and Haruka were watching the news when they heard the door
open. Both looked to see a pale-looking Ranma enter, his Mugen jacket and
shirt torn and bloodied. Under the shirt they could clearly make out the
thin strips of cloth that made up bandages. These had the small dark stains
which marked punctured skin.
"Ranma!" Michiru cried, getting up and rushing over to him, followed
by an equally worried Haruka. "What happened?"
"Just a little scuffle with the daimon of the day..." Ranma said, as
Michiru led him to the couch. He sat down, as Michiru and Haruka did a quick
check of his wounds. "I almost had it, too, when the Sailor Senshi showed up
and turned the other daimon's attention on me."
"What?" Haruka asked heatedly. The Senshi would never do something
like that, unless it had been by accident.(3)
"What do you mean by that, Ranma?" Michiru asked, concerned. "I'm sure
they didn't do it on purpose. It could have been an accident, you know."
"I'm pretty sure it was, but they didn't do much untill I'd been torn
up pretty good." Ranma said, his voice angry. "The only one I saw making an
attack was Sailor Mars. The others were just kinda standing there untill I
got blasted through the building. When I got out, one of the daimons ran off
and ordered the other to kill me. I fought the other one, and it sent me
flying with a blast of energy. I passed out from blood loss around then. I
woke up in some house a few blocks from here. One of the Senshi's rooms, I
think. They'd bandaged my wounds and healed me pretty well, but it's their
fault I was hurt anyways."
"I'm sure they didn't mean it, Ranma." Michiru said. "They did heal
your wounds, afterall. Why would they want someone to get killed?"
"They didn't." Ranma said. "I know that much. But they have to realise
the daimon was targeted on me, someone the leader thought was an innocent
who couldn't fight back. In fact, the first shot that got me was probably
powerful enough to burn another human to a crisp and send them into the
building, shattering every bone in their body. I only broke a few ribs. But
the next time the Senshi fight, an innocent is going to be targeted. Someone
who ain't gonna be able to fight back. I can't let the Senshi fight the
daimons anymore. I gotta do it. Let the daimons target me as the innocent
and let me kill 'em."
"But you're an innocent, Ranma." Haruka pointed out. "You're human.
Not a Sailor Senshi. Ranma, even the best martial artists in Juuban know
that the daimons are too strong for even martial arts to handle."
"I'm better than them." Ranma said stubbornly. "Besides, they're
cowards if they run away. A martial artist's duty is to protect the weak.
Not to run away from something that might be stronger. You can't only fight
when you know you'll win. That's not being a warrior. That's being a bully.
Any daimons that attack are toast."
"But..." Michiru tried.
"Michiru, don't argue." Ranma said, his voice hot. "I know that this
is your home, and I should respect your rules. But I'll burn in hell before
I run away from protecting innocent people from harm."
"Fine, Ranma." Michiru said, sighing and shaking her head. "But I want
you to promise me you'll only fight unless there are other people that could
get hurt. I lost Uncle Genma, I don't want to lose you too."
"I promise..." Ranma said reluctantly. "But only if there's nobody
who could get hurt. If there is, I fight to my last breath or the daimons,
whichever comes first. And if the daimon kills anybody... The promise don't
hold me. If it kills, it dies. Right away. Well, I'm tired. I'm going to go
and catch some sleep."
Ranma got up and left for his room, leaving them to their thoughts.
Michiru and Haruka were still reflecting on Ranma's declaration, when
Setsuna entered the room, looking slightly worried. The reasons for her
worry was made apparant when a moment later two blurs burst from the guest
room Ranma had been using. There was a series of thumps, and the two burst
apart, rebounding off the walls, before leaping back together and once again
more thumps rang.
Ranma was sent flipping back, and barely managed to catch himself from
slamming into a wall. Across from him, Usa, with a white and gold chinese
shirt and black pants stood, her pink pigtail hanging loosely over one of
her shoulders.
They then sprang back at each other, moving at speed which shocked
even Setsuna, as they weaved in and out of each other's attacks, never
getting more than a glancing strike on the other.
The price of the battle was beginning to take it's toll on Ranma, who
jumped back and fell into a defensive stance, eyeing Usa warily. She stood
in an open stance, her hands behind her back, smirking a familiar smirk
at Ranma, who realised it was usually him who held that stance and smirk.
"Where did you learn the Saotome School?" Ranma demanded, his eyes
narrowing at her. "Only me and my old man knew it. He didn't teach nobody
but me in the entire time I was with him, and I sure as hell didn't teach
nobody."
Usa smirked, and then both were once again on each other, with speed
and strength unrivaled. Ranma was once again on the losing side of
things, barely managing to keep up with the other fighter.
"Stop!" Setsuna yelled, causing both to pause mid-punch. Ranma's fist
was millimeters away from the girl's face, and the girl's foot was the same
distance from his ribs. "Ranma, Usa, what's going on here?"
"This little thief attacked me!" Ranma yelled, pointing at Usa
angrily. She was in my room, opening up the closet where all my stuff is!"
"What?!" Usa demanded, whirling on Ranma. "I am NOT a thief! I was
about to get changed when this pervert came into my room! He was going to
grope me when I attacked him!"
"Grope you!?" Ranma asked, laughing. "Who'd wanna grope YOU! You're as
flat as a board, you little thief!" (4)
WHAM! Ranma was sent flying back to land on his back from an angry
punch delivered by Usa. She walked up to him, gathering his shirt and
lifting him.
"How dare you?" She demanded. "I don't even know why my father sent me
to train with you. Best of his Generation my butt. You could barely keep up
with me!"
"I *am* the best!" Ranma growled. "In case you hadn't noticed, I got
broken ribs! You're a worse martial artist than Ryouga!"
"If you're the best, then how come you have broken ribs?" Usa asked,
smirking at the older boy.
"Daimons." Setsuna answered. "Ranma has been the one who has done the
majority of the damage to the past four daimons, and has killed two of them
unaided. The last one he only lost because of another demon present, which
was much stronger. A negaverse general. Even then, he scared her off simply
because he survived a blast of energy which should have vaporized him."
"Wha..." Usa gasped, her jaw dropping. She slowly turned to Ranma who
was now smirking. "You fight daimons!? But... But you're not one of the
Senshi! How can you stand up to them without magic?"
"Training." Ranma said, grinning. "Pure martial arts. I take those
daimons down with my fists and feet. I don't need magic or anything to do my
job for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get some sleep."
Ranma walked past the awed girl, shutting the door to his room.
"Hey, my bag's in there!" Usa realised, running back into the room.
Cries of pervert and thief soon echoed throughout the house again as a few
thumps escaped the closed door.
The next morning, Usa and Ranma sat across from each other, holding
their bowls and eyeing the other warily. Occasionally a blurred hand would
flit across the table from one or the other, but it was almost always
deflected.
"Thief." Ranma growled, knocking aside her hand and quickly swallowing
some more of his breakfast. "When did my old man find time to teach you? You
must have learned from him. Only he has table manners as bad as yours!"
"Your table manners aren't so good yourself, you perv." Usa said as
she sent both hands across the table to snatch a morsel from Ranma's plate.
When she saw Ranma grinning, she looked down to see he'd stolen twice as
much from her plate. (5)
"Don't call me a perv, thief." Ranma growled, glaring at her.
"Don't call me a thief, perv." Usa growled back, returning the glare
without flinching. They both began to once again assault each other's food,
pausing occasionally to toss an insult at each other.
The others at the table watched in silent amusement. The two had been
getting along pretty badly, for the most part. They weren't at each other's
throats, but they were insulting each other and eyeing each other with not
just a bit of mistrust.
"Hey, my pickle!" Usa yelled, watching as Ranma slurped down that part
of her breakfast. "That was mine!"
Her hands blurred, flying across the table to snatch up the pickle on
Ranma's plate. Ranma's chopsticks stopped hers halfway back across the table
with an expert wrist grab. Usa roared in outrage, sending her other hand at
Ranma's chopsticks, intending to break them.
Ranma smirked, moving his hand for the briefest instant, before he
trapped both her hands with his chopsticks. With his other hand (And another
set of chopsticks) Ranma grabbed the pickle from her. He was about to eat
it when a roundhouse was sent his way, and he was forced to toss the pickle
up into the air to avoid it being sent into the wall.
As he ducked under Usa's roundhouse, he was shocked to see a pair of
chopsticks pierce the pickle as Usa smirked at him. She ate the pickle as
Ranma fumed, unable to retaliate.
"Time to go to school!" Michiru called from the door. She had on her
uniform, and Haruka was already walking outside to the car. "Hurry up,
Ranma!"
"We'll finish this later." Ranma growled, heading to the door, pulling
his Mugen jacket into place. He scowled as he brushed at some of the blood
still showing up on his jacket. Blood which had refused to come out in the
wash last night.
Tsukino Usagi was doing something that most people, even her friends,
rarely associated with her. She was thinking.
Most of her thoughts concerned the newest arrival from the future. A
chibi-Usa (Though chibi didn't really fit the girl, she was barely two years
younger than either of her 'parents') which was the daughter of a pairing
between her and Ranma.
This was really bothering Usagi. While Ranma seemed like a really nice
guy, he wasn't her Mamo-chan. He wasn't reincarnated Endymion, her future
and past fiance. He wasn't the one she was even close to loving right now.
But apparantly, according to the Timeline which was now set, she and
Mamo-chan would break up or be broken up by an outside influence. And at the
same time, or shortly thereafter, though possibly before, she and Ranma were
going to grow closer.
Fate. This was to be her fate. It was destined that she was to marry
Mamaru, at least, so far as she knew. But that destiny had apparantly been
changed somehow.
She wanted to know why and how, so she could set things back onto the
original course. If she was going to end up marrying Ranma, she probably
would come to love him somehow. But for now, Usagi was in love with her
Mamo-chan, and nobody, not even the Fates themselves, could stop her from
doing her best to change destiny to it's previous course.
Ranma was in the middle of lunch, sitting by himself on a roof, when
a flash of memory hit him. A face.
The face was that of a regal, yet cruel looking, woman, perhaps in her
thirties, from appearances, yet youthful looking. Her face was framed by
bright red hair, and her eyes held both pain and anger.
There was a name that went with that face, Ranma realised. He searched
his memory for when he had met this woman (if he even had) when the name
came to him. Beryl.
His mind nearly broke as a rush of memories hit him, forcing him to
pass out from the sheer strain of processing all the information.
"Koh, I thank you for coming to see me." Beryl said, smiling at the
uncomfortable teen, who stood in the center of her throne room. "I know it
must seem wierd to be seeing someone who has so recently declared war on
the Moon Kingdom, but..."
"But what?" Koh asked.
"I want your help to destroy the Moon Kingdom." Beryl said. Koh looked
at her, shocked. "I know that seems like an insane request, but please,
listen. The Moon Kingdom may be a paradise, but it is a paradise at the cost
of it's citizen's lives."
"What do ya mean?" Koh asked. "How does the Moon Kingdom hurt ya?"
"Queen Serenity, she may not even know it, but... She's deprived her
people of choice. They have no will of their own. There can be no light
without shadow for contrast, but there is nothing dark in the Moon Kingdom.
This is why the Earth is never attacked by demons, when all the other people
in this Solar System are. I do not deprive my people of the choice between
good and evil." Beryl said, her eyes sad. "Of course, you should decide for
yourself. When you leave, Zoicite will give you a bag. In it is a fake ID
and passport, plus money for your expenses, which should let you travel the
Solar System as you please. Search every colony in the solar system. Search
all over the Moon itself. Go through the back alleys of Silver Tokyo. Try
to find some example of the Moon Kingdom's citizens acting evil. I swear if
find even one example of evil, I will give up my war on the Moon Kingdom and
personally apoligize to Serenity, even at the cost of my own life."
"You swear?" Koh asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Yes, I do." Beryl said. She looked into his eyes, her own filled with
sadness. "At the end of your trip, I will ask you for your answer to my
question. Prove to me that the people of the Moon Kingdom are not under a
spell of some sort. Prove to me that they have their own free will."
"If the Moon Kingdom people are under a spell, then how come I'm not
effected?" Koh asked suddenly, narrowing his eyes.
"The reason for that is two fold, Koh. The first is you're still an
Earthling. You were born here, and Gaia's embrace has held off whatever
spells seem to bind the citizens of the Moon Kingdom to the path of pure
good. The second, is likely your mysteriously strong life force. You can
manipulate your own life energies at will. It is no wonder that the spells
are unable to change it, since you would most definately feel the change
and resist it violently." Beryl smiled sadly. "I bid you farewell, Koh. I
would speak with you longer, but I have my military campaign to deal with.
Your friends, the Sailor Senshi, are quite violent in dealing with my people
and I have to find new ways to counteract their magic."
Ranma awoke, and checked his watch to find he had a few minutes of
lunchtime left.
Ranma wondered what that memory meant. He couldn't remember anyone
who called him Koh, and he didn't remember going on a trip at any time. To
mention nothing of the Moon Kingdom, whatever that was. Ranma but those
memories aside for the moment, and hurried to his class, which was due to
start in any moment.
Usa has been practicing since the morning, and was starting to get a
bit tired. She decided to do some katas before going inside to rest. She
became aware of a pair of eyes on her as she started the kata, going through
the moves with grace.
"That's wrong, you know." A voice said from behind her. She turned to
see Ranma, still in his Mugen uniform, standing behind her. "That kata is
supposed to be more fluid, and you're doing it much too slow."
"Well, if you're so good, you do it!" Usa challenged, walking from the
center of the yard and gesturing for him to take her place. He did so, and
began the kata.
Usa would have called it the most graceful performance of the kata she
had ever seen, but that would have been a lie. Afterall, the young man in
front of her had taught her everything she knew (Far into the future, but
still...) and he'd performed it even more gracefully. She very much doubted,
though, that even in two years she would be able to perform the kata so well
as Ranma was performing it right now.
She turned her thoughts to the practicing young man himself. He seemed
to be the polar opposite of the man she thought was Ranma Saotome. This one
was rude, untactful, and downright arrogant. He had little in the way of
good table manners, and he was very impulsive, as well.
Her father... While he'd done some stupid things on occasion, was, in
most respects, a gentleman. He was polite and kind, and very unassuming to
those who didn't know him.
"What are ya thinking about?" Ranma asked, after he finished his kata.
"I just miss back home a bit..." Usa said. "Besides, I'm worried that
if my old man isn't constantly hounding me, I'll fall behind in the Art."
"Do you want to practice with me?" Ranma asked, curious. "I mean, I'll
help you refine your style. You've got lots of potential, but some of it
seems to still be conscious thought for you. You got to learn to let go and
hold onto what you know at the same time."
"What?" Usa asked, confused. Her father said the same thing, but she
was still having trouble with it.
"Let me explain..." Ranma began, as he began to teach her.
The next day, Ranma awoke to no pain. His ribs had almost healed,
thanks to the near-inhuman regeneration Ranma possessed. Ranma got out of
bed, a rare smile alighting his face. Today was the day of his challenge
with Ryouga! Ranma got out of his bed, heading outside.
He had to be ready for the fight with Ryouga, and that meant he had
to know just how much better his ribs were. It wouldn't be very fun for him
to have his ribs collapse in a fight, afterall.
Ranma's foot landed lightly on the wall surrounding the lot behind
Ryouga's home. Ryouga was nowhere in sight. Ranma wondered if he would be
late for the duel like last time. He hoped not, since he'd fall behind in
class and he had to be the best. Afterall, he'd said he would.
Ranma leaped from the wall and landed in the center of the clearing,
checking for any sign of his opponent. There was no trace that Ryouga had
been present for a long time.
Ranma's keen battle instinct, the fine edge that Genma honed into
Ranma, was the only thing that saved Ranma from being crushed by a bamboo
umbrella, which instead slammed into the ground, creating a crater as Ranma
flipped back.
Attached to the red umbrella was Ryouga's arm. Ryouga threw aside a
backpack, which landed with a deep thud on the ground nearly thirty feet
away. He pointed his umbrella at Ranma, a look of angry satisfaction on his
face.
"Ranma! Three years ago I challenged you! When I arrived, you had gone
off! We finish that fight today!" Ryouga roared, charging at Ranma and using
his umbrella like a sword, slashing and thrusting at Ranma in a dazzling
display of swordsmanship.
Ranma dodged through this series of attacks, delivering solid blows to
Ryouga's stomache and chest, getting out of range before Ryouga could bring
a counterattack into play.
"Good, Ranma..." Ryouga said, smiling despite the attack. "You've been
practicing. That means it's not going to be easy for me to destroy you!" So
saying, Ryouga once again charged at Ranma, launching a kick at Ranma, who
used Ryouga's outstretched leg to send himself flying into the air and away
from the other boy.
Ryouga merely smirked, opening the umbrella and tossing it like a top
at Ranma. Ranma arrogantly grabbed the handle, expecting to toss the thing
back at Ryouga with ease.
When his hand gripped the handle, the congrugal force from the throw
caused Ranma, who was only able to hold on for a second, to be sent flying
directly into the wall lining the lot. There was a sharp crack, and Ranma
slumped to his knees as bits of cement crashed down around him.
There go my ribs, Ranma thought, getting to his feet and dodging some
light punches from Ryouga. Ranma fought defensively, wishing to test the
full extent of Ryouga's tremendous strength.
After a few more exchanges, Ranma had a rough guess as to how strong
Ryouga really was. It wasn't looking good for Ranma. Ryouga was roughly two
times as strong as Ranma, and Ranma only had a small advantage with speed.
His skill in martial arts was equal to Ranma's own, but Ranma's style had
more dirty tricks.
It would end up being a test of endurance at the rate the fight was
going, and Ranma held no illusions about which of the two had the better
endurance. He had to do something.
He realised what had to be done as he caught sight of a patch of loose
stones on the ground. He launched an amazingly fast offensive, foregoing any
defense in the hopes that Ryouga would be too busy blocking or dodging his
attacks to make one of his own.
It worked. Ranma slowly forced Ryouga back, and Ranma carefully made
sure he was heading towards the patch of loose stones. Ranma made one punch,
which was a full strength attack Ryouga couldn't hope to dodge. He blocked,
digging his feet into the loose stones and sending Ryouga sprawling. Ranma
quickly jumped on the other boy and threw a punch at his neck, which stopped
bare millimeters from Ryouga's throat.
"Good fight, Ryouga." Ranma said, getting off and offering his hand to
the other boy, who reluctantly accepted after glaring at Ranma. "You had me
for a while there..."
"I would have beaten you, too, if I hadn't stumbled over all the loose
rocks..." Ryouga grumbled. Ranma smirked, and Ryouga's voice grew angry. "Is
it funny I lost because of a mistake!?"
"Ryouga, you're a good fighter, but ya need to take advantage of all
the terrain in the area. The Anything Goes school teaches that anything and
everything should be used to win a fight. I pulled that desperate attack so
I could trip you up and make a lethal blow." Ranma said. "With the condition
I'm in, you woulda beaten me if I didn't do it."
"Well, Ranma..." Ryouga said, slowly chuckling. "I guess I should go
and train some more. I need to be stronger to defeat you next time, so you
can't beat me with tricks like that!"
"Ryouga, you're plenty strong." Ranma said, laughing. "I was totally
surprised by the umbrella! How much does that damn thing weigh, anyways!?"
"I dunno..." Ryouga said, going up to the umbrella and hefting it with
one hand, tossing it up and down. "It's made of some really heavy substance.
Not even my father knows what it's made of. It's been in my family for the
longest time, and was a present to my ancestor, a great martial artist. He
was so strong that he had to have an umbrella this heavy, or it would be
crushed in his lightest grip!"
"Whoa..." Ranma said, surprised. He held out his hand, smiling. "Hey,
let me hold it. I wanna see how heavy it is."
"Sure." Ryouga said, casually handing Ranma the umbrella. Ranma had to
strain to keep it from falling to the ground. Ranma handed it back to the
other boy, who casually slung into the holding straps on his backpack, which
he picked up and slung across his shoulders. "See you around, Saotome."
"Seeya, Ryouga." Ranma said. Both boys shook hands, and departed to go
their seperate ways.
Usa had watched all of this from her perch on a tree branch, and had
been amazed by the depth of skill Ranma had shown. He'd taken on a better
fighter and had won, while injured!
Usa hopped down from the tree branch, landing without a noise on the
grass below. She walked out of the lot, playing back every move of the fight
in her mind, analyzing each boy's style. Ranma's and Ryouga's were almost
perfect opposites. Where Ranma's emphasized subtle and sneaky combat, the
other boy's seemed to be entirely composed of straight out attacks.
Interesting.
Ranma got home, weary. After his fight with Ryouga, rather than going
to school, he had wandered town for a while, so his cousin wouldn't get any
suspicions about his whereabouts for the day. Which is why he was taken by
surprise by the same red haired woman from before. She launched herself at
Ranma with a glowing white blade of pure energy.
He automatically brought his hands up to block with hands glowing the
same bright white, and deflected the blade, stepping into the woman's guard
and slamming a fist into her stomache, sending her flying through the air.
"How did you access the powers!?" The woman snarled, rolling on the
ground and bouncing to her feet. "Only one mortal has every been gifted...
And he died centuries ago! You are not Koh!"
The name released the floodgates in Ranma's mind, filling his head
with a deluge of memories which dropped him to his knees, screaming in
pain.
****************************************************************************
(1) Again, more of Genma's training to be a man among men.
(2) Like we all don't know...
(3) Barring canon Haruka's sacrifice...
(4) Hmmm, where have we all seen THIS before?
(5) Ranma is the master of the Saotome School of Food Snatching, now that
Genma has passed on.
The next chapter (which is the last for this part, and is the prelude to the
first part of the next) is part of a flashback to the Moon Kingdom.
****************************************************************************
From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
****************************************************************************
Outside Influences
Part 2
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER 3
Koh stood at the entrance to one of Mars Colony's newer outposts. It
consisted entirely of a few buildings and almost permanent tents, clustered
around the wind crystals which created the air needed to breath.
This was the first stop in his trip. Next was Mercury.
Koh walked through the small town, making his way to all the temporary
housing, where he would be able to store his admittedly meager possestions.
He entered, and walked up to the counter, where a young woman was working
behind the counter, going through some paperwork.
"Hi, I'm part of the new group of workers." Koh said, remembering his
cover. He couldn't use his real name, or he'd be caught. He waited for her
reaction.
"You're a bit late, and we already have accounted for all twelve of
the workers who were supposed to arrive." The woman said, pushing aside her
papers and smiling at him.
"Are you sure?" Koh asked.
"Positive." She said, picking up a piece of paper and reading it. "Oh,
are you the new shift captain for the militia we requested? The old captain
was killed in a fight with one of Beryl's youma."
"Yeah, I'm here for that." Koh said. "I'm fresh from the academy, so
don't underestimate me 'cause I'm young."
"I wouldn't." She said, smiling still. It was beginning to unnerve Koh
just a bit. "That wouldn't be fair to you. After all, I don't know you so I
can't judge, can I?"
"Yeah." Koh agreed. He looked around, but aside from under the beds,
saw no place to lock up his bag safely. "Hey, where's the lockers? I have a
bag I need to store."
"Why would you need a locker? There are no Chikyu or Youma here. It
won't be stolen." She said, smiling still. "No citizen of the Moon Kingdom
would ever steal."
"Oh, okay..." Koh said. He smiled. "Sorry, I've been on Earth for a
bit. I'm used to having to watch my stuff."
"Not a problem." she said, the smile still present, and really, really
bothering Koh. He bid her farewell and found an unclaimed bed, tossing his
stuff under it. He went to sleep for a while.
He awoke the next morning, and checked the guard patrols, trying to
see where he could improve the schedule. What he found was nigh-idiotic, and
he cursed the previous captain in several Earth languages.
All the patrols intersected at some point, and left several key areas
open for far too long, to say nothing of the vulnerability of several of
the two-man patrols at other areas. Some places were over a minute away from
the next patrol, insuring the death of at least one of the patrollers.
A scream pierced the air, and he launched himself over his new desk,
grabbing the ornamental sword from the top and nearly flying out the office
in his speed.
Outside, a youma was draining one woman of her energy, while the men
who did the working waited, watching. Several patrolmen were running at the
thing with their swords drawn.
Koh decided to finish the fight quickly. White energy cloaked him
like a shroud, and he flew in a straight line at the youma, who dropped the
woman to meet his charge. His attack pushed the youma back nearly ten feet
before it could gain purchase and start resisting. When it did, Koh charged
the ornamental blade with energy and split the youma in half. It crumpled to
dust, and the woman who'd been drained was slowly regaining her color.
"Why did no one help her!?" Koh demanded, looking at the people who
had all gathered.
"We were ordered not to attack any youma, since that would place the
crop production at risk. Any losses were to be accepted, and they were to
be primarily among the militia." The drained woman said. She was smiling.
"Every one of us is expendable for the glory of the Kingdom."
"Those orders are rescinded!" Koh said, glaring at all of the people.
"You are to help fight the youma next time they attack!"
"No." The smiling woman said. "These orders come from Serenity-sama
herself, and we can't disobey. After all, every one of us is expendable for
the glory of the Kingdom."
"Damn..." Koh swore. He walked off, back to his office. If he wanted
to save these people, he'd have to form tighter patrols and patrol himself.
He suspected that Beryl was right already, and it had only been his first
day.
A week later, Koh was sure of Beryl's claim. The people had their own
free will... In anything resembling choices of good. But the true free will,
this they lacked. They held no real concept of good and evil, right and
wrong. Only what Serenity told them to do.
He sighed, packing his bags. He'd said he'd visit all of the colonies,
and if they were all like this, he was going to help Beryl. What the people
were experiencing wasn't life, it was practical enslavement.
Nine weeks later, and Koh was enlisted in Beryl's army. None of the
other planets had held a single person capable of acting in an evil manner.
No matter what he visited, city or shack, there was never any crime. None.
The people were incapable of foing against Serenity's orders.
The woman he considered his mother was no longer worthy of the title.
She was little more than a dictator with too much access to magic. Her word
was literally LAW among the people she ruled.
Koh could not let it happen anymore. He stood in front of the four
so-called "Dark Generals" of Beryl. There was only one phrase that left his
mouth as he gazed at each of them.
"Teach me."
As he trained under the Dark Generals, his power grew immensely. He
learned more and more about how to use his mysterious power, soon capable
of fighting any of the Dark Generals in single combat and being able to
easily hold his own.
He never learned the source of his power. He only knew how to use it.
Perhaps it was an unconscious link to some unknown power. Perhaps it was his
own life energies manifested in higher form. He never learned, nor cared. He
only knew that he could use it to make the universe a truly free place.
He floated silently in space, alone save for a scant few of Beryl's
battlecruisers floating behind him. They were to record the first blow for
the freedom of all humankind, and would mark the end of the Moon Kingdom. He
lifted one hand, focusing all of his energy into one tiny point...
On the UMK Battlecruiser Lunaris, the ensign cried out as she brought
a status report about the small enemy battle group's power. It showed some
miniscule power readings, and one enormous gathering of energy which rivaled
that of Sailor Saturn's. She had time to let out a scream as the energy
stopped condensing and expanded, engulfing the ship and many of those behind
her.
Koh looked with sadness at the destroyed ships. They had all been
innocent in the true battle, merely obstacles. He would have gone around
them if he could have, but that would have delayed him immeasurably. He
put on a burst of power, rocketing through space at all speed, dodging the
remainder of the enemy fleet and it's potshots at him.
He had only one target now that the path was clear. He had to get to
the Moon Kingdom and destroy Serenity. He had to kill her, and then maybe
the enchantment on the people would end. If that didn't work, there was
always the magical items hanging around the Moon Palace. He put on a burst
of speed, pushing his powers to the limit to get there as fast as possible.
Behind him, he already heard the fleets beginning to engage each other.
He stopped, floating above Silver Tokyo, gazing at the peaceful image
before he shattered it with a clenching of his fist, sending a blast of pure
energy into the side of the Moon Palace. It shattered, dropping stone far to
the cityscape below. He rocketed in, and floated gently to the ground. While
he needed to get to Serenity as fast as possible, he was really getting low
on energy. The blast and the subsiquent speedy arrival at the Moon meant his
power was low, and he'd need to rest up to recover.
But he couldn't rest, even for but a moment. If he did, he would have
to let Serenity have a bit more time to organize the defenses. If she were
allowed to do that, Beryl's coming assault would fail. That's if the assault
even took place. He'd gone ahead of the fleet, against Beryl's orders, and
was about to attempt to end the war before it began.
He ran through the halls, his easy familiarity with the place allowing
him to rapidly make his way to the throne room. He arrived at the doors, and
there stood the one person he hadn't wanted to fight. Sailor Venus.
"Koh? Where have you been!? We've all been worried about you!" Venus
said, her eyes widening with surprise at the site of him. "I've been worried
so much! Why did you run off?!"
"Venus." Koh said coldly, stopping and backing off as she approached.
"Get out of my way. I have to get to Serenity."
"What? Koh, what are you..." Her eye's widened as she recognized the
uniform he wore. A Dark General's uniform. Her surprise at seeing her old
love had prompted her to ignore the clothes. But they were brought to her
attention by the cold demeaner she got from him. "Why are you wearing one
of the Dark General's uniforms? Koh, you couldn't have..."
"I did." Koh said, glaring at her as she paled at his admission. "I've
seen the evil of the Moon Kingdom. I freely surrendered myself to Beryl's
army and I swear I'll kill Serenity, and anyone else that gets in my way!
Venus, don't make me destroy you..."
"Then don't..." Venus said, slowly approaching. "You don't have to do
this, Koh... No matter what you've done, we'll all forgive you. Please, just
come back to us..."
"Forgive me?" Koh laughed, sending a small blast of energy at her feet
and causing her to back off. "I destroyed half the imperial fleet barely an
hour ago! They wouldn't let me through! Venus, I don't want to kill you! I
love you! But I can't let Serenity live any longer!"
"Koh, you know my feelings for you..." Venus said, a tear escaping her
eye as she looked at him sadly. Her eyes narrowed as she fell into a ready
stance. "But I'll be damned if I let you kill Serenity!"
"Please, Venus. If you fight me, I won't hold back." Koh said, trying
to plead with her. Tears shone in his eyes as he tried not to cry.
"I don't expect you to... Because I won't hold back either!" Venus
said, backing off and letting loose a beam of yellow energy at Koh, who
ducked under it and launched himself at her. He slammed her through a wall,
but followed her through it with an uppercut which sent her flying through
the air.
Koh jumped over a blast of fire which would have scorched him black,
cutting off his persuit of Venus. He landed opposite of Sailor Mars as well
as Sailor Venus, who was already on her feet.
"Two against one? Hardly fair..." Koh said, giving them a dirty look.
"And I thought you Senshi stood for Love and Justice. Is the second thing
you stand for as much bullshit as the first?"
"What!?" Mars demanded, her eyes beginning to glow red. "How dare you
insult the Senshi, Koh! Especially after a cowardly attack like this!?"
"Cowardly?" Koh asked, laughing in her face. "I blew an outer wall to
hell. The battle between our two side's fleets began over an hour ago! Well,
princess, would you have preferred I delivered an invitation and kindly made
a request to kill your Queen? Get real! This is war, little girl! Be ready
for the consequences!"
"Mars, he's mine." Venus said, looking to her friend. "Go, and make
sure that there's no one else skulking around. Make sure that no other of
Beryl's generals are in this attack."
"Fine. But if you're in trouble, I'm jumping in the fight." Mars said,
disappearing down a hallway.
"We're alone." Koh said, smirking. He looked to the absent throne, and
smiled sadly at her. "How about you tell me where the Queen is? I don't want
to be forced to kill you..."
"Never!" Venus roared, rushing forward in a berzerker attack. She and
Koh had been equal fighters before he'd left. He'd been able to keep up with
her out of Senshi form. Now, he was able to keep up with her in her Senshi
form.
"Come on!" Koh snarled, slamming his fist into the side of her head,
sending her flying into a wall. He followed this up with a blast of energy
which would have vaporized her had she not dodged out of the way. "This is
not a friendly sparring match! If you don't kill me, I'll kill you!"
Koh charged through the air, launching a series of punches and kicks
which finished with Venus being slammed through a wall. He flashed through,
continuing his vicious attack, slowly and mercilessly beating down any of
the defenses she could put up. This combination ended with her being slammed
into a tree by Koh, who now held her by her neck. One of her arms hung limp
at her side, the other grasping the wrist which held her neck pinned to the
tree.
"Venus, it's time you die. Any last words?" Some tears trickled down
his face, but his resolve was firmed. Venus would die. Venus brought one
arm to his chest, grasping weakly at his shirt. He leaned close to hear what
her last words were.
"K-Koh... I'm sorry.. it had to end... like this." Venus said, tears
flowing freely from her eyes. Her other arm dropped beside her first. "B-But
I couldn't... give up, any more than you could. I'll see you in Heaven, if
it exists... VENUS CRESCENT BEAM!"
Both her hands glowed briefly, and Koh had time to widen his eyes in
surprise and drop Venus in an attempt to deflect her hands before the beam
was fired.
He had no time. There was a flash of golden light, and blood blossomed
like a flower on his tunic's front. He dropped to his knees, and Venus sunk
to the ground beside him.
"Damn..." Koh muttered, holding his chest. He nearly fell over before
Venus caught him in her arms. "Damn, damn, damn... Good to see you listened
to some of my advice, Mina-chan... Didn't think you'd remember all of my
lessons..."
"Koh... Why?" Venus asked, tears splashing freely on his chest. "Why
did you do it, you fool? Why did you leave me and the others? Why did you go
over to the other side... Why?"
"I had to..." Koh said, blood now tainting his mouth, flowing from the
corner of his mouth. "I saw something that changed me forever... Mina, I
can't burden you with this load... But... Please... R-Remember... to see all
with eyes... unclouded by prejudice. A-Always... think for yourself..."
Koh reached up seeking to grasp her hand and hold it one last time. As
Venus reached out to hold his hand, it fell to the ground with a dull thud
as the light left his eyes, and his body went limp.
Ranma finished screaming, his voice hoarse. Looking at the woman, a
name came unbidden to his mouth.
"Naomi? What happened with the battle... I failed in my mission... I
was killed..." Ranma said, slowly getting to his feet. "Serenity was alive
as my soul left my body. Since the Sailor Senshi still lived, I assume she
was never destroyed?"
"We won, Koh..." Naomi said, hugging her old friend close. "But at a
truly great price. Mundane magic has left this universe, and Serenity, in
her pride, destroyed the entire Moon Kingdom, including the colonies on all
the planets, rather than let us take over. Beryl was banished to a nether
realm of evil, and her soul twisted by the event. The Generals besides you
were all bound to her soul, and all of them twisted by some unknown being.
The fleet was destroyed. All of Earth's technology was invested in the war,
and it was all destroyed. The progress of humanity has been delayed by ten
millenia, and stunted since only the Sailor Senshi and the remnants of the
old army can access true magic now."
"Damn..." Ranma muttered, looking up to the sky. "Naomi, I'm no longer
Koh. I'm Ranma. I have all my memories, but I have the memories of Ranma as
well. Call me Ranma untill my memories fully return."
"What of the Sailor Senshi, my lord?" Naomi asked, looking to Ranma.
"I can summon some of the Earth's elementals to deal with them. Your power
has probably been weakened in that body, and you still don't remember all of
your skills. We should hold off revealing that you have awakened as long as
possible."
"The Senshi of this time..." Ranma said, the memory of his battle with
Venus still fresh, as though it had happened. "I take it they are trying to
revive the Moon Kingdom?" Naomi nodded, and Ranma sighed. "They have to be
destroyed. We can't let another mockery of good such as the Moon Kingdom
happen. We have to stop them."
"The Sailor Senshi will soon die, my lord." Naomi said, smiling.
"Yes, then Humanity will finally be able to stand on it's own two feet
without radicals such as Serenity holding them back." Ranma said. He turned,
beginning to walk away with Naomi. "Let's get ready to destroy them."
****************************************************************************
Histroy is written by the winners, and the only survivors of the battle was
Beryl and Moon Kingdom people, and Beryl was trapped forever. What if there
was a reason Beryl tried to pull a coup? This is just one of my views on
the matter.
More surprises and things are just looking worse and worse for the Senshi,
eh? Chibi-Usa(Ranma's), Ranma, and Naomi are all variables that the Senshi
didn't have to take into account. How will they deal with it? Only future
installments will tell...
Okay. I need Comments and Criticism. Good stuff though, please. None of
this flat out BS, consisting solely of "You Suck!" or other such drivel. I
am perfectly happy to have my faults and mistakes pointed out to me, so long
as it's done in at least a semi-polite manner and they tell me why.
I can be reached at the address at the top of this file.
My website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/chibievil/
'Till next time,
-Chibi Evil
From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
****************************************************************************
Outside Influences
Part 2
****************************************************************************
Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi characters and concepts belong to Takahashi
Rumiko, and SM characters and concepts belong to Takeuchi Naoko. I claim
ownership of only the actual story, not the characters which are used in it,
with the exception of the ones which I created myself. Any cameos from
characters from other sources will have the disclaimers at the end of the
first chapter they are contained in. They are used without permission, and
no challenge is being made to the property rights of the intellectual
property used in this story.
Three lines represents a change of scene.
Two lines represents the start of a flashback in a scene. I'll have a lot of
these later on, but for the first part they will be relatively rare. These
will also end in two lines.
At the end of each chapter I have some notes on the events of the chapter
and my thoughts on the chapter as well.
And evil bastard that I am, I've begun making up new enemies as well as
keeping The old ones in as well. Goody for me. It's because most of my
Sailor Moon stuff comes from fanfiction.
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER 1
Ranma awoke to a very painful headache. This was probably caused by
the head injuries he recieved from the fight with the daimon he'd had before
he passed out from ki depletion.
He shrugged it off. Probably just a little brain damage. Nothing all
that serious. He sat up in bed and looked at his surroundings. He was in a
bedroom that appeared to be a spare. No decorations marked the walls, and no
personal touches marked any areas of the room. The window was open a crack
and a slight breeze brushed the curtains aside.
He got up and walked to the window, reflecting on the fight with the
daimon. It had been a serious battle, taking most of his ki reserves to beat
it. Sure, he'd won the fight with little injuries, but he'd overdone it.
Outside, the garden wall lay cracked in several places from one of the
daimon's attacks, and there was a hole in the wall where he'd originally
entered. Beyond the fence, parts of the street lay cracked as well.
He stretched, getting the kinks out of his neck.
"Guess I should go thank 'em for taking me in and taking care of me
after the fight." Ranma muttered, looking out the window. The sky was
slightly overcast, and rumbled a bit as he looked at it. "I hate omens."
With that, Ranma left the room.
The house, Ranma realised as he walked through the halls, was very
immense. He wandered around for nearly ten minutes, trying to find his
way to some stairs. Eventually, after getting the feeling he had no sense
of direction, he found the stairs and descended down.
Once downstairs, he heard the people in the next room talking. He
crept to the doorway, and listened.
"So, that's Saotome Ranma." Yohko said, sipping her tea. "I always
wanted to know what my fiance looked like. I guess now I know."
"Yes, isn't he manly?" Nodoka asked, obviously pleased with her son.
"He'll make a wonderful fiance for you. All we have to do is wait for him
to wake up."
"Certainly turned out better than I thought he would, with Genma
teaching him." Madoka said, smiling. "I expected him to be some honorless
thief like Genma is."
"I wonder where Genma is, anyways." Nodoka mused, thinking about her
errant husband. "He made me a promise to raise Ranma to be a man among men
for Yohko, and he and I have some things to discuss. Ranma appears to be a
good choice for Yohko's fiance, but Genma may have failed in his promise in
some unjudgeable way."
Ranma was hearing the F-word(1) too often for his liking. He stalked
back up the stairs, silently. He entered his room, and quickly gathered his
things.
"Stupid old man..." Ranma muttered. "Another fiance. I ain't gonna
stick around for this. Nobody's gonna marry me unless I want to marry 'em."
Ranma got up, and dug out a pen and piece of paper from his backpack.
[Thank you for taking care of me, but I don't need any more girls
chasing after me. Sorry 'bout this, and please don't bother following. You
won't find me unless I want you to. -Saotome Ranma.]
Ranma left the note on the bedside table, and quickly made the bed up.
He went to the window and opened it fully, allowing the curtains to billow
wildly. Casting one last look at the note, he leapt from the window sill and
landed on the roof of the house across the street. From there, he began to make
his way back home.
Barely a minute later, Saotome Nodoka entered the room where her soon
slept off the effects of the fight.
Looking around the room, she was puzzled. The bed was made as if no
one had ever slumbered in it, and there was nothing but a small piece of
paper left on the bedside table.
She walked over to the table, picking up the paper with one hand and
looking at it. She read the note, and tears soon sprung from her eyes.
"This is not fair..." She said, blinking back tears. "The kami cannot
be so cruel. To deliver my long lost son to me only to have him disappear
again... I must find him."
A slow smile crept to her face.
"At least I know he's manly, if he has to rebuff girls as beautiful
as Yohko. Genma must have fulfilled his pledge to me afterall!" Nodoka
smiled at the thought as she left the room to tell the Mano family about the
latest development.
Ranma entered his home, and checked the surroundings. Nobody was home.
He checked the clock, and found, to his horror, that he had barely half
an hour to get to school. That left him ten minutes to shower, get changed,
and make his way to school via the rooftops of Juuban.
He groaned. It wasn't even nine and he'd already gained yet another
fiance to add to the collection. How could the day get any worse?(2)
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.
Ten minutes later, Ranma ran out the door, locking it as he went, and
began to sprint across the rooftops in his desperate attempt to get to school
on time. He was running parallel to a street, and saw Usagi running at a fast
pace along the road next to him.
He hopped down, and easily kept pace with her, while she was gasping
for breath with every step.
"Hey, Usagi." Ranma said, smiling at the girl, who opened her eyes and
glanced at him while still running. "You're running late too?"
Usagi nodded without saying anything. She didn't want to waste any of
her precious energy on speaking, crying, or any of the other things which
being late would end up making her do anyways.
"Wanna lift?" Ranma asked. "Juuban's on the way, and it's probably a
lot quicker, too."
Usagi nodded again, and Ranma scooped her up in his arms, before
bounding up to the rooftops and pouring on the speed. Usagi let out a little
scream before she looked and saw she was quite safe.
Ranma bounced from rooftop to rooftop, going at speeds which defied
human description. He slid down one roof, jumping off the end and flipping to
the ground. He ran under a bridge before hopping up to a glowing neon arcade
sign and bounding over a copse of trees.
He landed in front of the school, skidding to a stop five meters from
the front doors. He put Usagi down, who looked as if she never wanted to do
that again in her entire life.
"Seeya around." Ranma said, hopping up the wall of the school, before
using that same wall as leverage to launch himself to the rooftops on his
way to his own highschool.
Ranma arrived just in time for first class.
Setsuna looked through the timeline, communuicating with her alternate
self. She was trying to convince her other self not to send Usa back in time
again if she sent the Usa which had just arrived forward.
She was failing.
"Why not?" Setsuna asked, looking at her future self. "She obviously
is in the wrong timeline if there's already an Usa here. Why does she need
to stay in THIS timeline?"
"That..." Her future self said, smirking. "Is a secret."
"I hate it when I watch Slayers." Setsuna muttered. She looked at her
future self, and decided on a different tactic. "Well, what happens when
the Usas meet each other? That will cause the largest paradox in known
history!"
"So?" Her future self countered. "Make sure they don't meet, because
YOU will have to clean up that mess, not me. In fact, if things go as they
are suppossed to, this will be best for Usa. Everything she knows will cease
to exist when you fix the mess of Chaos in the timestream, and I want to
make sure she does not cease to exist as well."
"She does not belong here!" Setsuna growled. "Usagi will marry Mamaru.
It's destined! Nothing can stop it from happening. Beryl couldn't seperate
them. Death couldn't. I very much doubt that I could."
"Destiny?" Her future self asked, raising an eyebrow. "Have you been
telling the Sailors that for so long you believe it yourself? Yes, you have
to admit that certain things will happen. But not everything is always
pre-ordained. You of all people should know that by now."
"Damn you." Setsuna muttered. "Well, what happens should the timeline
I and the others have been expecting occurs? What will happen to your Usa?
Even if she doesn't fade from existence, she's going to lose all the family
and friends she's ever known!"
"Will she?" Her future self asked. "Her father and mother, even all
those she calls Aunts, will remain. Her only friends and family are among
the Sailor Senshi. She won't fade, since her place in YOUR timeline has been
established, and she won't lose much, but stands to gain all. My decision
stands."
"Damn." Setsuna cursed under her breath,
"Oh, and don't bother sending her forward right before you un-
stabilize the timestream." Her future self said, allowing herself a rare
smirk. "You and I both know I can freeze time, and that I'm willing to
accept the punishment for all ten seconds that my timeline will exist."
With that, the Gate of Time shimmered, and her future self faded.
"I hate my job sometimes." Setsuna said to no one in particular.
Ranma stood in front of the Tendo Dojo gates, wondering how he was
going to tell his father's old friend about his father's death, as well as
the reason he couldn't marry any of his daughters.
He planned on explaining the second one first.
Ranma's thought was cut off as he felt a droplet of rain hit his head.
He looked up, and decided that he didn't want to get wet. He knocked heavily
on the front gate three times.
After a few moments, the long haired brunette answered the door. She
smiled in recognition.
"Hello." She said politely. "Father is expecting you. Follow me,
please."
Ranma did, lost in thought about what he was going to say. This was
his father's best friend, and someone his father had trained with and spent
a large amount of his training with. It wasn't like he could just come out
and say his father was dead.
They arrived at the Tendo living room, and Soun sat on one end of the
table, his daughters all sitting to his right along the table. Ranma sat to
the left of Soun, while the long haired brunette joined her sisters.
"So, you know about the reason your father wanted to come here?" Soun
asked, his face serious.
"Yes, I do." Ranma replied. "He wanted to engage me to one of your
daughters. I take it you want my answer to the question?"
"Yes, I do." Soun said.
"No." Ranma said simply. "I will not become the fiance of any of your
daughters. I already have two, and I will not marry either of them. In fact,
they know as much and have probably given up. Why should I become engaged to
one of your daughters above another man's?"
"This engagement is a matter of family honor, promised on the night
of your birth." Soun said. "I expect you to follow through with the promise
and keep your honor intact."
"Tendo-san, when I was two, I was engaged to Mido Miko." Ranma said.
"When I was eight, I was engaged to Daitokuji Beiko. My father accepted the
dowry of both. What makes your claim more valid?"
"This is a promise to unite the Tendo and Saotome schools!" Soun said,
his voice becoming agitated. "The other engagements do not matter!"
"Decide, Tendo." Ranma said, his voice cold. "All the engagements are
valid, or NONE of the engagements are valid. I for one want the latter."
"What will your parents think of this?" Soun demanded, changing his
tactic. "Your father will disown you from the Saotome name!"
"My father will do no such thing." Ranma said, his eyes narrowing and
he himself becoming angry. "My father is dead. He drowned in China, at the
cursed training grounds of Jusenkyou. I buried him myself."
"Genma is dead?" Soun asked, his voice weak.
"I don't know what his last request was." Ranma said. "He said we were
gonna come to VISIT you, not marry me off to one of your daughters. And to be
quite frank, I have better prospects elsewhere."
"What!" Soun roared. "How dare you even suggest-"
"Let's look at who's currently pursuing me in a romantic sense!" Ranma
returned. "I've got a girl who's the richest woman in Japan! I've got girls
who are better martial artists! I've got girls I know better! Tell me, Tendo,
what is so special about your daughters, who I don't know, are NOT real
martial artists, and have nothing that the other girls already chasing after
me don't have already!? Why should I break my no fiance rule for THEM!?"
The girls were all visibly offended by this, just as Ranma had planned.
The youngest was fairly boiling with pure rage, the middle was angry as well,
but this was a cool rage, and the third appeared slightly offended.
"How dare you offend my daughters!?" Soun demanded.
"What are ya gonna do about it!?" Ranma retorted. "I already proved
you ain't a match for me in any kinda fight! I doubt your daughters are any
better! You wanna declare a blood fued!? I could end it ten seconds after it
began! What will you do, Tendo!?"
"You are not fit to marry any of my daughters!" Soun raged. "Get out
of my sight before I call the police!"
"Glad to!" Ranma said, grinning from ear to ear, to the shock of all
three of the Tendo girls. "Hey girls? We ain't engaged no longer. You're
free, and I am to!"
Soun stopped in mid-rage, realising what he'd just done. The
engagement was valid only so long as ONE of the parties agreed to it. He'd
just absolved his end of the bargain, and so had Ranma.
He'd been tricked.(3)
"Seeya later, Tendo-san!" Ranma said, walking out of the room. They
heard the shoji for the front door open then shut. It was a mark of finality
that ended Soun's hopes of uniting the schools.
He cried.
Hino Rei was one of Usagi's best friends, despite evidence otherwise.
She and Usagi had been friends for a long time now, and she knew they would
be friends for a long time hence.
At the moment, she appeared to have forgotten all that as she fought
to control her urge to throttle the blonde in front of her.
They were all gathered at the Hikawa Shrine for study group. Rei,
Minako, Ami, and Makoto were actually studying, to varying degrees of
success. Usagi, However, was reading one of REI's manga disguised behind
her math textbook. Unfortunately for Usagi, she'd missed the fact she was
holding said textbook upside down.
"Meatball Head, you're supposed to be studying!" Rei snapped, her
patience running out as she turned a vicious glare on her friend. "Not
reading manga!"
"Don't call me that, Rei! I am studying! See?" Usagi held up her
textbook while returning the angry look. Then she looked over and saw that
her book was upside down. "Oops."
"Argh!" Rei snarled.
And the familiar game was on. Rei was managing to just keep up with
Usagi, who was managing to just stay ahead of the Shrine Maiden. The other
girls just continued studying, while Artemis and Luna both shook their
heads in resignation.
A beeping from the computer at Ami's side caught their attention.
"Another attack!?" Usagi whined. She and the others all got out their
henshin sticks simultaniously and transformed. (4) "So, where is it coming
from Ami?"
"A kilometer east." Ami said, the visor already over her face. "It
seems to be a pair of daimons entering from a portal. One is significantly
more powerful than the other. They appear to be staying together."
"Let's go." Makoto said. "I wanna get there before Ranma does. He's
stolen the last three kills from us!"
With that, they charged out of the temple.
Ranma was walking along the fence on his way home, when his danger
sense kicked up and he jumped out of the way of a blast of energy which
cracked the ground he had been standing on.
He landed and looked to the source, a woman in a black leaotard with
long reddish-silver hair. Her hair was swept back from her face by a simple
gold head ornament.
She smirked at Ranma, and snapped her fingers. A woman made of plants
and rocks stomped forward. She let out a low growl.
"Destroy the boy and bring me his pure heart crystal." She said.
"Destroy boy." The plant and rock woman said, stomping forward. She
was a lot bigger than even the stupid vending machine. Ranma guessed it was
a good bit tougher, too.
This was not going to be fun. (5)
A blast of fire launched the thing to the side, and Ranma turned to
see the Sailor Senshi standing there, in stupid poses. They looked to be
preparing a speech instead of taking advantage of their moment of surprise.
"You should not attack those who can't protect themselves, we the-"
Sailor Moon's speech was cut off by a cry of outrage by Ranma, who's face
had gone red at the speech.
"What do you mean, can't protect themselves!" Ranma said. "I can
protect myself just fine! Ain't it me who beat the last three daimons!?"
"I killed the second last one!" Venus said.
"Hey, I'm the one who weakened it. A child coulda taken it out."
Ranma said. He ducked under a beam of energy from the red-haired woman, who
appeared angry at being ignored. "What do YOU want?"
Her hands were holding glowing balls of energy, which crackled as she
held her fists together and pointed them at Ranma, who prepared to dodge.
She released the energy.
Faster than anyone could move, faster than even Ranma could see, the
energy washed over Ranma, sending him back, washed up in the wave of pure
power. The energy smashed into a building, causing it to collapse and bury
Ranma.
The Senshi watched speechless as the dust settled, and there was no
movement. The only sound was the occassional pebble hitting cement as the
dust settled.
"It is finished." The red-haired woman said. "Sailors, you have three
days to live. I will then return and finish what I started with that foolish
human who dared to oppose-"
She was cut off by a low rumbling from the direction of the rubble,
which was now shaking. A lump was starting to rise, and the rubble began to
vibrate wildly. There was a smash, and a dark shape burst from the ground
in an explosion of light.
Ranma landed, smirking at the woman, who was shocked. He wiped some
blood from his lips while looking at the woman and cracking his knuckles.
There was a vicious gleam in his eye.
"How?" She demanded. "How is it that you live?"
"I ain't no ordinary human." Ranma said. "Now, I got an idea. Why not
tell me why you just attacked me. I don't like getting buried in stone. Or
how 'bout I just beat it out of you?"
"I'll be back!" The woman snarled. She turned to the pland and stone
creature. "Finish the boy!"
She disappeared, and the monster began to advance. Ranma and the
Senshi stepped warily back. It was eyeing the Senshi and Ranma, likely
evaluating it's methods of attack.
"So, what's the plan?" Ranma asked. "It's a lot tougher than the other
daimons. It took that fire blast thingy without any damage."
"It has several weak points." Sailor Mercury said, already tapping
buttons on her laptop. "If you were to focus your attacks on the joints of
the daimon, you would be able to remove them."
"Alright." Ranma said. He started towards the advancing creature, but
stumbled to his knees, clutching his ribs. He coughed up a bit of blood.
"Ranma, you're hurt!" Venus said, rushing over to him and helping him
stand. He shrugged out of her grib, once again starting towards the daimon.
"Wait!"
"I don't need help!" Ranma said, angry. "I never lose. This daimon is
going down, and I'm gonna do it, broken ribs or not!"
With that, Ranma charged the daimon, ignoring the shouts from the
Senshi. He closed with the creature, starting his attacks. Despite his
broken ribs, he weaved in and out of the daimon's attacks with a grace that
astounded the Senshi, all the while raining blows on the joints of the
daimon's limbs.
The daimon gave a howl of pain, and an explosion of light sent Ranma
tumbling away from the thing. Ranma landed in a heap on the ground, now
coughing raggedly. Blood flowed freely from his mouth, and a dark red stain
was spreading on his uniform's dress shirt. Still, he got to his feet, the
daimon now being destroyed by attacks from the Senshi.
Ranma took a step forward, before falling to the ground. The jolt of
pain was enough to finally send him out of the realm of consciousness.
****************************************************************************
(1) Fiance, of course.
(2) You'd think he would have learned by now.
(3) Bets on this impressing Nabiki?
(4) No transformation phrases or descriptions will be written. I assume you
know them, and I don't want to wind up writing them down, since if I did it
everytime they transformed in a scene, I'd end up with that as a nice chunk
of the fic.
(5) And yet AGAIN Ranma is in the running for Understatement of the Year.
Okay, this is just a reminder. Mamaru and Usagi's Chibi-Usa who's in the
past is her normal age (since nothing in that future timeline changed for
HER, yet) but Ranma and Usagi's Usa is fourteen ( because when she was
attacked in the future, papa-Ranma opened a can of whoopass on the enemy and
thus prevented this Usa from becoming the incestuous Black Lady and all that
that happened during that time.) and has come back to get more training from
the martial artists of Ranma's time.
This will be further explained later.
****************************************************************************
From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
****************************************************************************
Outside Influences
Part 2
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER 2
Ranma awoke from his forced slumber in a bedroom. Surrounding him
were the Sailor Senshi, who looked like they had been in a long and hard
fight. The daimon, Ranma realised.
"Ranma, why do you keep fighting daimons?" Sailor Moon demanded, her
face a bit anxious. "It's dangerous for humans to fight them."
"Feh. It's dangerous for girls like you to be fighting 'em, too."
Ranma said, sitting up in his bed. He felt his ribs, and was pleased to note
that his ribs were bandaged, and only a couple were actually broken. The
rest were merely cracked. "Look, I know I'm only human, and don't got no
special powers like you do, but I'm a martial artist and I'm NOT gonna let
'em attack me. I won't run away from a fight."
"Why not?" Venus asked. "Next time you might be killed, or even worse,
have your Pure Heart crystal stolen from you. You don't want that to happen,
do you?"
"No. Which is why I fight." Ranma said. He slowly got to his feet,
surpressing the shudder of pain he got from doing so. He limped across the
room, to where his bloody shirt and jacket hung from the back of a chair.
"Look, I can't just run away. It goes against my School's prime tenant. I'd
rather die than dishonour the Saotome School."
"But what if you ARE killed? Who will continue the school?" Moon
asked, her face showing sincere worry.
"There are other people practicing Anything Goes." Ranma said. "And
the Saotome School will die out before I dishonour it." Ranma looked around,
and found the clock. "Look, I have to go. My cousin is probably worried
about me. I'll see you around."
Ranma limped to the door, not returning the Senshi's worried gazes.
Worry was a weak emotion. He couldn't be weak. His father had told him he
could never show weakness. Weakness wasn't for a martial artist like
him. (1)
"Ranma, you're not going to be able to get home." Sailor Jupiter said.
"You've got two broken ribs and four cracked. If it had been any more
serious we'd have had to taken you to the hospital. All those injuries are
AFTER Sailor Moon healed you!"
"So?" Ranma asked, turning back to them. "It's your fault I'm injured,
you know. If you hadn't been there I could have just beaten that daimon and
been on my way, but you interfered!"
"What!?" Sailor Mars demanded, her face growing red. "If we had just
left you, you'd be powering a daimon right now!"
"Feh." Ranma snorted derisively. "You think that the redhaired chick
woulda attacked me herself if someone she saw as a threat were there? I
woulda pounded the stuffing out of the daimon and been on my way before she
knew what was happening."
"Oh please!" Sailor Mars said, stalking up to the taller boy. "If we
were the threats, why did she blast you, huh? She was more scared of you
than she was of us!"
"Only after she blasted me, and only because I survived." Ranma said,
returning her fierce glare with one of his own. "She knew you'd survive it,
you're all mystical warriors or something. I'm just human. She wanted to
kill me with that blast. It depleted my ki to the maximum just to absorb
the damage from the building. She wanted to make your morale low. How would
you guys feel if you saw some innocent blasted in front of you? Not very
good. She's smart. She's using your emotions against you. She wanted to hurt
you through an innocent."
"What!? She had already started the daimon after you before we got
there! What about that!?" Sailor Mars demanded.
"Think!" Ranma snarled. "Before you got there, she sent the daimon to
get my Pure Heart crystal, whatever that is. But when you got there and were
watching, she tried to blast me to bits! Why not still come after my Pure
Heart crystal!? Nothing about the fight had changed, except you being there!
And even after you came, she sent the daimon after me specifically!"
Ranma stormed out of the door. Well, he limped out angrily, since it's
hard for someone with two broken ribs to storm anywhere.
Ranma was walking home, still a bit angry with the Senshi. It wasn't
his fault they had interfered in his fight. It was their's. They had shown
up and distracted him, and focused the redhead's attention on him.
He was so thinking so much, he failed to notice the guy in front of
him untill they'd walked into each other. Ranma looked up, seeing a young
man his age. He had the look of a martial artist, from the grace he had in
stopping himself from falling. His black hair was kept from his face by a
yellow and black tiger striped bandana.
"RANMA!" Angry recognition came to the face of the other boy fast. It
was only through luck that Ranma managed to dodge the punch that was sent at
his midsection. He quickly backed off from the other boy, allowing himself
to get some room.
"...Ryouga?" Ranma asked reluctantly. There was something familiar
about the other young man, but nobody he could immediately place. "Hibiki
Ryouga? Is that you?"
"Ranma, I'll kill you!" Ryouga roared, pointing at Ranma with his red
bamboo umbrella. "Because of you, I've seen the depths of hell! It's time I
sent you there!"
He charged in, and once again, Ranma was forced to dodge wildly. If
he weren't injured, he would have had an easy time defeating Ryouga. But
since he was injured, he was barely able to keep out of the way of the
other's attacks, and was able to make no counter-attacks of his own.
"Ranma, you're pathetic!" Ryouga growled. He stopped attacking, a look
of distaste on his face. "I don't know why I bothered to come after you for
that fight you ran away from! Your skills are pathetic!"
"Hey!" Ranma growled. "I've got two broken ribs and lots of cracked
ones! But if you are gonna insult my skill, I'm gonna have to put you back
in your place!"
"Fine!" Ryouga said, returning the angry glare Ranma was sending his
way. "In three days, we fight. The lot behind my house, Saotome! If you're
not there in three days, I'll hunt you down myself!"
"Agreed." Ranma said, shaking hands with the other boy. "In three days
I'm gonna teach you a thing or two about martial arts."
"In three days, Saotome," Ryouga growled, his voice dangerous. "I'll
kill you with my bare hands."
The other boy stalked off, heading down the street. Ranma sighed as he
looked at his old friend. He could only wonder what he could have done to
make him so angry.(2)
He shrugged it off, thinking he'd figure it out sooner or later. He
had to get back home as soon as possible.
Michiru and Haruka were watching the news when they heard the door
open. Both looked to see a pale-looking Ranma enter, his Mugen jacket and
shirt torn and bloodied. Under the shirt they could clearly make out the
thin strips of cloth that made up bandages. These had the small dark stains
which marked punctured skin.
"Ranma!" Michiru cried, getting up and rushing over to him, followed
by an equally worried Haruka. "What happened?"
"Just a little scuffle with the daimon of the day..." Ranma said, as
Michiru led him to the couch. He sat down, as Michiru and Haruka did a quick
check of his wounds. "I almost had it, too, when the Sailor Senshi showed up
and turned the other daimon's attention on me."
"What?" Haruka asked heatedly. The Senshi would never do something
like that, unless it had been by accident.(3)
"What do you mean by that, Ranma?" Michiru asked, concerned. "I'm sure
they didn't do it on purpose. It could have been an accident, you know."
"I'm pretty sure it was, but they didn't do much untill I'd been torn
up pretty good." Ranma said, his voice angry. "The only one I saw making an
attack was Sailor Mars. The others were just kinda standing there untill I
got blasted through the building. When I got out, one of the daimons ran off
and ordered the other to kill me. I fought the other one, and it sent me
flying with a blast of energy. I passed out from blood loss around then. I
woke up in some house a few blocks from here. One of the Senshi's rooms, I
think. They'd bandaged my wounds and healed me pretty well, but it's their
fault I was hurt anyways."
"I'm sure they didn't mean it, Ranma." Michiru said. "They did heal
your wounds, afterall. Why would they want someone to get killed?"
"They didn't." Ranma said. "I know that much. But they have to realise
the daimon was targeted on me, someone the leader thought was an innocent
who couldn't fight back. In fact, the first shot that got me was probably
powerful enough to burn another human to a crisp and send them into the
building, shattering every bone in their body. I only broke a few ribs. But
the next time the Senshi fight, an innocent is going to be targeted. Someone
who ain't gonna be able to fight back. I can't let the Senshi fight the
daimons anymore. I gotta do it. Let the daimons target me as the innocent
and let me kill 'em."
"But you're an innocent, Ranma." Haruka pointed out. "You're human.
Not a Sailor Senshi. Ranma, even the best martial artists in Juuban know
that the daimons are too strong for even martial arts to handle."
"I'm better than them." Ranma said stubbornly. "Besides, they're
cowards if they run away. A martial artist's duty is to protect the weak.
Not to run away from something that might be stronger. You can't only fight
when you know you'll win. That's not being a warrior. That's being a bully.
Any daimons that attack are toast."
"But..." Michiru tried.
"Michiru, don't argue." Ranma said, his voice hot. "I know that this
is your home, and I should respect your rules. But I'll burn in hell before
I run away from protecting innocent people from harm."
"Fine, Ranma." Michiru said, sighing and shaking her head. "But I want
you to promise me you'll only fight unless there are other people that could
get hurt. I lost Uncle Genma, I don't want to lose you too."
"I promise..." Ranma said reluctantly. "But only if there's nobody
who could get hurt. If there is, I fight to my last breath or the daimons,
whichever comes first. And if the daimon kills anybody... The promise don't
hold me. If it kills, it dies. Right away. Well, I'm tired. I'm going to go
and catch some sleep."
Ranma got up and left for his room, leaving them to their thoughts.
Michiru and Haruka were still reflecting on Ranma's declaration, when
Setsuna entered the room, looking slightly worried. The reasons for her
worry was made apparant when a moment later two blurs burst from the guest
room Ranma had been using. There was a series of thumps, and the two burst
apart, rebounding off the walls, before leaping back together and once again
more thumps rang.
Ranma was sent flipping back, and barely managed to catch himself from
slamming into a wall. Across from him, Usa, with a white and gold chinese
shirt and black pants stood, her pink pigtail hanging loosely over one of
her shoulders.
They then sprang back at each other, moving at speed which shocked
even Setsuna, as they weaved in and out of each other's attacks, never
getting more than a glancing strike on the other.
The price of the battle was beginning to take it's toll on Ranma, who
jumped back and fell into a defensive stance, eyeing Usa warily. She stood
in an open stance, her hands behind her back, smirking a familiar smirk
at Ranma, who realised it was usually him who held that stance and smirk.
"Where did you learn the Saotome School?" Ranma demanded, his eyes
narrowing at her. "Only me and my old man knew it. He didn't teach nobody
but me in the entire time I was with him, and I sure as hell didn't teach
nobody."
Usa smirked, and then both were once again on each other, with speed
and strength unrivaled. Ranma was once again on the losing side of
things, barely managing to keep up with the other fighter.
"Stop!" Setsuna yelled, causing both to pause mid-punch. Ranma's fist
was millimeters away from the girl's face, and the girl's foot was the same
distance from his ribs. "Ranma, Usa, what's going on here?"
"This little thief attacked me!" Ranma yelled, pointing at Usa
angrily. She was in my room, opening up the closet where all my stuff is!"
"What?!" Usa demanded, whirling on Ranma. "I am NOT a thief! I was
about to get changed when this pervert came into my room! He was going to
grope me when I attacked him!"
"Grope you!?" Ranma asked, laughing. "Who'd wanna grope YOU! You're as
flat as a board, you little thief!" (4)
WHAM! Ranma was sent flying back to land on his back from an angry
punch delivered by Usa. She walked up to him, gathering his shirt and
lifting him.
"How dare you?" She demanded. "I don't even know why my father sent me
to train with you. Best of his Generation my butt. You could barely keep up
with me!"
"I *am* the best!" Ranma growled. "In case you hadn't noticed, I got
broken ribs! You're a worse martial artist than Ryouga!"
"If you're the best, then how come you have broken ribs?" Usa asked,
smirking at the older boy.
"Daimons." Setsuna answered. "Ranma has been the one who has done the
majority of the damage to the past four daimons, and has killed two of them
unaided. The last one he only lost because of another demon present, which
was much stronger. A negaverse general. Even then, he scared her off simply
because he survived a blast of energy which should have vaporized him."
"Wha..." Usa gasped, her jaw dropping. She slowly turned to Ranma who
was now smirking. "You fight daimons!? But... But you're not one of the
Senshi! How can you stand up to them without magic?"
"Training." Ranma said, grinning. "Pure martial arts. I take those
daimons down with my fists and feet. I don't need magic or anything to do my
job for me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta get some sleep."
Ranma walked past the awed girl, shutting the door to his room.
"Hey, my bag's in there!" Usa realised, running back into the room.
Cries of pervert and thief soon echoed throughout the house again as a few
thumps escaped the closed door.
The next morning, Usa and Ranma sat across from each other, holding
their bowls and eyeing the other warily. Occasionally a blurred hand would
flit across the table from one or the other, but it was almost always
deflected.
"Thief." Ranma growled, knocking aside her hand and quickly swallowing
some more of his breakfast. "When did my old man find time to teach you? You
must have learned from him. Only he has table manners as bad as yours!"
"Your table manners aren't so good yourself, you perv." Usa said as
she sent both hands across the table to snatch a morsel from Ranma's plate.
When she saw Ranma grinning, she looked down to see he'd stolen twice as
much from her plate. (5)
"Don't call me a perv, thief." Ranma growled, glaring at her.
"Don't call me a thief, perv." Usa growled back, returning the glare
without flinching. They both began to once again assault each other's food,
pausing occasionally to toss an insult at each other.
The others at the table watched in silent amusement. The two had been
getting along pretty badly, for the most part. They weren't at each other's
throats, but they were insulting each other and eyeing each other with not
just a bit of mistrust.
"Hey, my pickle!" Usa yelled, watching as Ranma slurped down that part
of her breakfast. "That was mine!"
Her hands blurred, flying across the table to snatch up the pickle on
Ranma's plate. Ranma's chopsticks stopped hers halfway back across the table
with an expert wrist grab. Usa roared in outrage, sending her other hand at
Ranma's chopsticks, intending to break them.
Ranma smirked, moving his hand for the briefest instant, before he
trapped both her hands with his chopsticks. With his other hand (And another
set of chopsticks) Ranma grabbed the pickle from her. He was about to eat
it when a roundhouse was sent his way, and he was forced to toss the pickle
up into the air to avoid it being sent into the wall.
As he ducked under Usa's roundhouse, he was shocked to see a pair of
chopsticks pierce the pickle as Usa smirked at him. She ate the pickle as
Ranma fumed, unable to retaliate.
"Time to go to school!" Michiru called from the door. She had on her
uniform, and Haruka was already walking outside to the car. "Hurry up,
Ranma!"
"We'll finish this later." Ranma growled, heading to the door, pulling
his Mugen jacket into place. He scowled as he brushed at some of the blood
still showing up on his jacket. Blood which had refused to come out in the
wash last night.
Tsukino Usagi was doing something that most people, even her friends,
rarely associated with her. She was thinking.
Most of her thoughts concerned the newest arrival from the future. A
chibi-Usa (Though chibi didn't really fit the girl, she was barely two years
younger than either of her 'parents') which was the daughter of a pairing
between her and Ranma.
This was really bothering Usagi. While Ranma seemed like a really nice
guy, he wasn't her Mamo-chan. He wasn't reincarnated Endymion, her future
and past fiance. He wasn't the one she was even close to loving right now.
But apparantly, according to the Timeline which was now set, she and
Mamo-chan would break up or be broken up by an outside influence. And at the
same time, or shortly thereafter, though possibly before, she and Ranma were
going to grow closer.
Fate. This was to be her fate. It was destined that she was to marry
Mamaru, at least, so far as she knew. But that destiny had apparantly been
changed somehow.
She wanted to know why and how, so she could set things back onto the
original course. If she was going to end up marrying Ranma, she probably
would come to love him somehow. But for now, Usagi was in love with her
Mamo-chan, and nobody, not even the Fates themselves, could stop her from
doing her best to change destiny to it's previous course.
Ranma was in the middle of lunch, sitting by himself on a roof, when
a flash of memory hit him. A face.
The face was that of a regal, yet cruel looking, woman, perhaps in her
thirties, from appearances, yet youthful looking. Her face was framed by
bright red hair, and her eyes held both pain and anger.
There was a name that went with that face, Ranma realised. He searched
his memory for when he had met this woman (if he even had) when the name
came to him. Beryl.
His mind nearly broke as a rush of memories hit him, forcing him to
pass out from the sheer strain of processing all the information.
"Koh, I thank you for coming to see me." Beryl said, smiling at the
uncomfortable teen, who stood in the center of her throne room. "I know it
must seem wierd to be seeing someone who has so recently declared war on
the Moon Kingdom, but..."
"But what?" Koh asked.
"I want your help to destroy the Moon Kingdom." Beryl said. Koh looked
at her, shocked. "I know that seems like an insane request, but please,
listen. The Moon Kingdom may be a paradise, but it is a paradise at the cost
of it's citizen's lives."
"What do ya mean?" Koh asked. "How does the Moon Kingdom hurt ya?"
"Queen Serenity, she may not even know it, but... She's deprived her
people of choice. They have no will of their own. There can be no light
without shadow for contrast, but there is nothing dark in the Moon Kingdom.
This is why the Earth is never attacked by demons, when all the other people
in this Solar System are. I do not deprive my people of the choice between
good and evil." Beryl said, her eyes sad. "Of course, you should decide for
yourself. When you leave, Zoicite will give you a bag. In it is a fake ID
and passport, plus money for your expenses, which should let you travel the
Solar System as you please. Search every colony in the solar system. Search
all over the Moon itself. Go through the back alleys of Silver Tokyo. Try
to find some example of the Moon Kingdom's citizens acting evil. I swear if
find even one example of evil, I will give up my war on the Moon Kingdom and
personally apoligize to Serenity, even at the cost of my own life."
"You swear?" Koh asked, looking at her suspiciously.
"Yes, I do." Beryl said. She looked into his eyes, her own filled with
sadness. "At the end of your trip, I will ask you for your answer to my
question. Prove to me that the people of the Moon Kingdom are not under a
spell of some sort. Prove to me that they have their own free will."
"If the Moon Kingdom people are under a spell, then how come I'm not
effected?" Koh asked suddenly, narrowing his eyes.
"The reason for that is two fold, Koh. The first is you're still an
Earthling. You were born here, and Gaia's embrace has held off whatever
spells seem to bind the citizens of the Moon Kingdom to the path of pure
good. The second, is likely your mysteriously strong life force. You can
manipulate your own life energies at will. It is no wonder that the spells
are unable to change it, since you would most definately feel the change
and resist it violently." Beryl smiled sadly. "I bid you farewell, Koh. I
would speak with you longer, but I have my military campaign to deal with.
Your friends, the Sailor Senshi, are quite violent in dealing with my people
and I have to find new ways to counteract their magic."
Ranma awoke, and checked his watch to find he had a few minutes of
lunchtime left.
Ranma wondered what that memory meant. He couldn't remember anyone
who called him Koh, and he didn't remember going on a trip at any time. To
mention nothing of the Moon Kingdom, whatever that was. Ranma but those
memories aside for the moment, and hurried to his class, which was due to
start in any moment.
Usa has been practicing since the morning, and was starting to get a
bit tired. She decided to do some katas before going inside to rest. She
became aware of a pair of eyes on her as she started the kata, going through
the moves with grace.
"That's wrong, you know." A voice said from behind her. She turned to
see Ranma, still in his Mugen uniform, standing behind her. "That kata is
supposed to be more fluid, and you're doing it much too slow."
"Well, if you're so good, you do it!" Usa challenged, walking from the
center of the yard and gesturing for him to take her place. He did so, and
began the kata.
Usa would have called it the most graceful performance of the kata she
had ever seen, but that would have been a lie. Afterall, the young man in
front of her had taught her everything she knew (Far into the future, but
still...) and he'd performed it even more gracefully. She very much doubted,
though, that even in two years she would be able to perform the kata so well
as Ranma was performing it right now.
She turned her thoughts to the practicing young man himself. He seemed
to be the polar opposite of the man she thought was Ranma Saotome. This one
was rude, untactful, and downright arrogant. He had little in the way of
good table manners, and he was very impulsive, as well.
Her father... While he'd done some stupid things on occasion, was, in
most respects, a gentleman. He was polite and kind, and very unassuming to
those who didn't know him.
"What are ya thinking about?" Ranma asked, after he finished his kata.
"I just miss back home a bit..." Usa said. "Besides, I'm worried that
if my old man isn't constantly hounding me, I'll fall behind in the Art."
"Do you want to practice with me?" Ranma asked, curious. "I mean, I'll
help you refine your style. You've got lots of potential, but some of it
seems to still be conscious thought for you. You got to learn to let go and
hold onto what you know at the same time."
"What?" Usa asked, confused. Her father said the same thing, but she
was still having trouble with it.
"Let me explain..." Ranma began, as he began to teach her.
The next day, Ranma awoke to no pain. His ribs had almost healed,
thanks to the near-inhuman regeneration Ranma possessed. Ranma got out of
bed, a rare smile alighting his face. Today was the day of his challenge
with Ryouga! Ranma got out of his bed, heading outside.
He had to be ready for the fight with Ryouga, and that meant he had
to know just how much better his ribs were. It wouldn't be very fun for him
to have his ribs collapse in a fight, afterall.
Ranma's foot landed lightly on the wall surrounding the lot behind
Ryouga's home. Ryouga was nowhere in sight. Ranma wondered if he would be
late for the duel like last time. He hoped not, since he'd fall behind in
class and he had to be the best. Afterall, he'd said he would.
Ranma leaped from the wall and landed in the center of the clearing,
checking for any sign of his opponent. There was no trace that Ryouga had
been present for a long time.
Ranma's keen battle instinct, the fine edge that Genma honed into
Ranma, was the only thing that saved Ranma from being crushed by a bamboo
umbrella, which instead slammed into the ground, creating a crater as Ranma
flipped back.
Attached to the red umbrella was Ryouga's arm. Ryouga threw aside a
backpack, which landed with a deep thud on the ground nearly thirty feet
away. He pointed his umbrella at Ranma, a look of angry satisfaction on his
face.
"Ranma! Three years ago I challenged you! When I arrived, you had gone
off! We finish that fight today!" Ryouga roared, charging at Ranma and using
his umbrella like a sword, slashing and thrusting at Ranma in a dazzling
display of swordsmanship.
Ranma dodged through this series of attacks, delivering solid blows to
Ryouga's stomache and chest, getting out of range before Ryouga could bring
a counterattack into play.
"Good, Ranma..." Ryouga said, smiling despite the attack. "You've been
practicing. That means it's not going to be easy for me to destroy you!" So
saying, Ryouga once again charged at Ranma, launching a kick at Ranma, who
used Ryouga's outstretched leg to send himself flying into the air and away
from the other boy.
Ryouga merely smirked, opening the umbrella and tossing it like a top
at Ranma. Ranma arrogantly grabbed the handle, expecting to toss the thing
back at Ryouga with ease.
When his hand gripped the handle, the congrugal force from the throw
caused Ranma, who was only able to hold on for a second, to be sent flying
directly into the wall lining the lot. There was a sharp crack, and Ranma
slumped to his knees as bits of cement crashed down around him.
There go my ribs, Ranma thought, getting to his feet and dodging some
light punches from Ryouga. Ranma fought defensively, wishing to test the
full extent of Ryouga's tremendous strength.
After a few more exchanges, Ranma had a rough guess as to how strong
Ryouga really was. It wasn't looking good for Ranma. Ryouga was roughly two
times as strong as Ranma, and Ranma only had a small advantage with speed.
His skill in martial arts was equal to Ranma's own, but Ranma's style had
more dirty tricks.
It would end up being a test of endurance at the rate the fight was
going, and Ranma held no illusions about which of the two had the better
endurance. He had to do something.
He realised what had to be done as he caught sight of a patch of loose
stones on the ground. He launched an amazingly fast offensive, foregoing any
defense in the hopes that Ryouga would be too busy blocking or dodging his
attacks to make one of his own.
It worked. Ranma slowly forced Ryouga back, and Ranma carefully made
sure he was heading towards the patch of loose stones. Ranma made one punch,
which was a full strength attack Ryouga couldn't hope to dodge. He blocked,
digging his feet into the loose stones and sending Ryouga sprawling. Ranma
quickly jumped on the other boy and threw a punch at his neck, which stopped
bare millimeters from Ryouga's throat.
"Good fight, Ryouga." Ranma said, getting off and offering his hand to
the other boy, who reluctantly accepted after glaring at Ranma. "You had me
for a while there..."
"I would have beaten you, too, if I hadn't stumbled over all the loose
rocks..." Ryouga grumbled. Ranma smirked, and Ryouga's voice grew angry. "Is
it funny I lost because of a mistake!?"
"Ryouga, you're a good fighter, but ya need to take advantage of all
the terrain in the area. The Anything Goes school teaches that anything and
everything should be used to win a fight. I pulled that desperate attack so
I could trip you up and make a lethal blow." Ranma said. "With the condition
I'm in, you woulda beaten me if I didn't do it."
"Well, Ranma..." Ryouga said, slowly chuckling. "I guess I should go
and train some more. I need to be stronger to defeat you next time, so you
can't beat me with tricks like that!"
"Ryouga, you're plenty strong." Ranma said, laughing. "I was totally
surprised by the umbrella! How much does that damn thing weigh, anyways!?"
"I dunno..." Ryouga said, going up to the umbrella and hefting it with
one hand, tossing it up and down. "It's made of some really heavy substance.
Not even my father knows what it's made of. It's been in my family for the
longest time, and was a present to my ancestor, a great martial artist. He
was so strong that he had to have an umbrella this heavy, or it would be
crushed in his lightest grip!"
"Whoa..." Ranma said, surprised. He held out his hand, smiling. "Hey,
let me hold it. I wanna see how heavy it is."
"Sure." Ryouga said, casually handing Ranma the umbrella. Ranma had to
strain to keep it from falling to the ground. Ranma handed it back to the
other boy, who casually slung into the holding straps on his backpack, which
he picked up and slung across his shoulders. "See you around, Saotome."
"Seeya, Ryouga." Ranma said. Both boys shook hands, and departed to go
their seperate ways.
Usa had watched all of this from her perch on a tree branch, and had
been amazed by the depth of skill Ranma had shown. He'd taken on a better
fighter and had won, while injured!
Usa hopped down from the tree branch, landing without a noise on the
grass below. She walked out of the lot, playing back every move of the fight
in her mind, analyzing each boy's style. Ranma's and Ryouga's were almost
perfect opposites. Where Ranma's emphasized subtle and sneaky combat, the
other boy's seemed to be entirely composed of straight out attacks.
Interesting.
Ranma got home, weary. After his fight with Ryouga, rather than going
to school, he had wandered town for a while, so his cousin wouldn't get any
suspicions about his whereabouts for the day. Which is why he was taken by
surprise by the same red haired woman from before. She launched herself at
Ranma with a glowing white blade of pure energy.
He automatically brought his hands up to block with hands glowing the
same bright white, and deflected the blade, stepping into the woman's guard
and slamming a fist into her stomache, sending her flying through the air.
"How did you access the powers!?" The woman snarled, rolling on the
ground and bouncing to her feet. "Only one mortal has every been gifted...
And he died centuries ago! You are not Koh!"
The name released the floodgates in Ranma's mind, filling his head
with a deluge of memories which dropped him to his knees, screaming in
pain.
****************************************************************************
(1) Again, more of Genma's training to be a man among men.
(2) Like we all don't know...
(3) Barring canon Haruka's sacrifice...
(4) Hmmm, where have we all seen THIS before?
(5) Ranma is the master of the Saotome School of Food Snatching, now that
Genma has passed on.
The next chapter (which is the last for this part, and is the prelude to the
first part of the next) is part of a flashback to the Moon Kingdom.
****************************************************************************
From: "Chibi Evil" chibi_evil@dragonslave.com
****************************************************************************
Outside Influences
Part 2
****************************************************************************
CHAPTER 3
Koh stood at the entrance to one of Mars Colony's newer outposts. It
consisted entirely of a few buildings and almost permanent tents, clustered
around the wind crystals which created the air needed to breath.
This was the first stop in his trip. Next was Mercury.
Koh walked through the small town, making his way to all the temporary
housing, where he would be able to store his admittedly meager possestions.
He entered, and walked up to the counter, where a young woman was working
behind the counter, going through some paperwork.
"Hi, I'm part of the new group of workers." Koh said, remembering his
cover. He couldn't use his real name, or he'd be caught. He waited for her
reaction.
"You're a bit late, and we already have accounted for all twelve of
the workers who were supposed to arrive." The woman said, pushing aside her
papers and smiling at him.
"Are you sure?" Koh asked.
"Positive." She said, picking up a piece of paper and reading it. "Oh,
are you the new shift captain for the militia we requested? The old captain
was killed in a fight with one of Beryl's youma."
"Yeah, I'm here for that." Koh said. "I'm fresh from the academy, so
don't underestimate me 'cause I'm young."
"I wouldn't." She said, smiling still. It was beginning to unnerve Koh
just a bit. "That wouldn't be fair to you. After all, I don't know you so I
can't judge, can I?"
"Yeah." Koh agreed. He looked around, but aside from under the beds,
saw no place to lock up his bag safely. "Hey, where's the lockers? I have a
bag I need to store."
"Why would you need a locker? There are no Chikyu or Youma here. It
won't be stolen." She said, smiling still. "No citizen of the Moon Kingdom
would ever steal."
"Oh, okay..." Koh said. He smiled. "Sorry, I've been on Earth for a
bit. I'm used to having to watch my stuff."
"Not a problem." she said, the smile still present, and really, really
bothering Koh. He bid her farewell and found an unclaimed bed, tossing his
stuff under it. He went to sleep for a while.
He awoke the next morning, and checked the guard patrols, trying to
see where he could improve the schedule. What he found was nigh-idiotic, and
he cursed the previous captain in several Earth languages.
All the patrols intersected at some point, and left several key areas
open for far too long, to say nothing of the vulnerability of several of
the two-man patrols at other areas. Some places were over a minute away from
the next patrol, insuring the death of at least one of the patrollers.
A scream pierced the air, and he launched himself over his new desk,
grabbing the ornamental sword from the top and nearly flying out the office
in his speed.
Outside, a youma was draining one woman of her energy, while the men
who did the working waited, watching. Several patrolmen were running at the
thing with their swords drawn.
Koh decided to finish the fight quickly. White energy cloaked him
like a shroud, and he flew in a straight line at the youma, who dropped the
woman to meet his charge. His attack pushed the youma back nearly ten feet
before it could gain purchase and start resisting. When it did, Koh charged
the ornamental blade with energy and split the youma in half. It crumpled to
dust, and the woman who'd been drained was slowly regaining her color.
"Why did no one help her!?" Koh demanded, looking at the people who
had all gathered.
"We were ordered not to attack any youma, since that would place the
crop production at risk. Any losses were to be accepted, and they were to
be primarily among the militia." The drained woman said. She was smiling.
"Every one of us is expendable for the glory of the Kingdom."
"Those orders are rescinded!" Koh said, glaring at all of the people.
"You are to help fight the youma next time they attack!"
"No." The smiling woman said. "These orders come from Serenity-sama
herself, and we can't disobey. After all, every one of us is expendable for
the glory of the Kingdom."
"Damn..." Koh swore. He walked off, back to his office. If he wanted
to save these people, he'd have to form tighter patrols and patrol himself.
He suspected that Beryl was right already, and it had only been his first
day.
A week later, Koh was sure of Beryl's claim. The people had their own
free will... In anything resembling choices of good. But the true free will,
this they lacked. They held no real concept of good and evil, right and
wrong. Only what Serenity told them to do.
He sighed, packing his bags. He'd said he'd visit all of the colonies,
and if they were all like this, he was going to help Beryl. What the people
were experiencing wasn't life, it was practical enslavement.
Nine weeks later, and Koh was enlisted in Beryl's army. None of the
other planets had held a single person capable of acting in an evil manner.
No matter what he visited, city or shack, there was never any crime. None.
The people were incapable of foing against Serenity's orders.
The woman he considered his mother was no longer worthy of the title.
She was little more than a dictator with too much access to magic. Her word
was literally LAW among the people she ruled.
Koh could not let it happen anymore. He stood in front of the four
so-called "Dark Generals" of Beryl. There was only one phrase that left his
mouth as he gazed at each of them.
"Teach me."
As he trained under the Dark Generals, his power grew immensely. He
learned more and more about how to use his mysterious power, soon capable
of fighting any of the Dark Generals in single combat and being able to
easily hold his own.
He never learned the source of his power. He only knew how to use it.
Perhaps it was an unconscious link to some unknown power. Perhaps it was his
own life energies manifested in higher form. He never learned, nor cared. He
only knew that he could use it to make the universe a truly free place.
He floated silently in space, alone save for a scant few of Beryl's
battlecruisers floating behind him. They were to record the first blow for
the freedom of all humankind, and would mark the end of the Moon Kingdom. He
lifted one hand, focusing all of his energy into one tiny point...
On the UMK Battlecruiser Lunaris, the ensign cried out as she brought
a status report about the small enemy battle group's power. It showed some
miniscule power readings, and one enormous gathering of energy which rivaled
that of Sailor Saturn's. She had time to let out a scream as the energy
stopped condensing and expanded, engulfing the ship and many of those behind
her.
Koh looked with sadness at the destroyed ships. They had all been
innocent in the true battle, merely obstacles. He would have gone around
them if he could have, but that would have delayed him immeasurably. He
put on a burst of power, rocketing through space at all speed, dodging the
remainder of the enemy fleet and it's potshots at him.
He had only one target now that the path was clear. He had to get to
the Moon Kingdom and destroy Serenity. He had to kill her, and then maybe
the enchantment on the people would end. If that didn't work, there was
always the magical items hanging around the Moon Palace. He put on a burst
of speed, pushing his powers to the limit to get there as fast as possible.
Behind him, he already heard the fleets beginning to engage each other.
He stopped, floating above Silver Tokyo, gazing at the peaceful image
before he shattered it with a clenching of his fist, sending a blast of pure
energy into the side of the Moon Palace. It shattered, dropping stone far to
the cityscape below. He rocketed in, and floated gently to the ground. While
he needed to get to Serenity as fast as possible, he was really getting low
on energy. The blast and the subsiquent speedy arrival at the Moon meant his
power was low, and he'd need to rest up to recover.
But he couldn't rest, even for but a moment. If he did, he would have
to let Serenity have a bit more time to organize the defenses. If she were
allowed to do that, Beryl's coming assault would fail. That's if the assault
even took place. He'd gone ahead of the fleet, against Beryl's orders, and
was about to attempt to end the war before it began.
He ran through the halls, his easy familiarity with the place allowing
him to rapidly make his way to the throne room. He arrived at the doors, and
there stood the one person he hadn't wanted to fight. Sailor Venus.
"Koh? Where have you been!? We've all been worried about you!" Venus
said, her eyes widening with surprise at the site of him. "I've been worried
so much! Why did you run off?!"
"Venus." Koh said coldly, stopping and backing off as she approached.
"Get out of my way. I have to get to Serenity."
"What? Koh, what are you..." Her eye's widened as she recognized the
uniform he wore. A Dark General's uniform. Her surprise at seeing her old
love had prompted her to ignore the clothes. But they were brought to her
attention by the cold demeaner she got from him. "Why are you wearing one
of the Dark General's uniforms? Koh, you couldn't have..."
"I did." Koh said, glaring at her as she paled at his admission. "I've
seen the evil of the Moon Kingdom. I freely surrendered myself to Beryl's
army and I swear I'll kill Serenity, and anyone else that gets in my way!
Venus, don't make me destroy you..."
"Then don't..." Venus said, slowly approaching. "You don't have to do
this, Koh... No matter what you've done, we'll all forgive you. Please, just
come back to us..."
"Forgive me?" Koh laughed, sending a small blast of energy at her feet
and causing her to back off. "I destroyed half the imperial fleet barely an
hour ago! They wouldn't let me through! Venus, I don't want to kill you! I
love you! But I can't let Serenity live any longer!"
"Koh, you know my feelings for you..." Venus said, a tear escaping her
eye as she looked at him sadly. Her eyes narrowed as she fell into a ready
stance. "But I'll be damned if I let you kill Serenity!"
"Please, Venus. If you fight me, I won't hold back." Koh said, trying
to plead with her. Tears shone in his eyes as he tried not to cry.
"I don't expect you to... Because I won't hold back either!" Venus
said, backing off and letting loose a beam of yellow energy at Koh, who
ducked under it and launched himself at her. He slammed her through a wall,
but followed her through it with an uppercut which sent her flying through
the air.
Koh jumped over a blast of fire which would have scorched him black,
cutting off his persuit of Venus. He landed opposite of Sailor Mars as well
as Sailor Venus, who was already on her feet.
"Two against one? Hardly fair..." Koh said, giving them a dirty look.
"And I thought you Senshi stood for Love and Justice. Is the second thing
you stand for as much bullshit as the first?"
"What!?" Mars demanded, her eyes beginning to glow red. "How dare you
insult the Senshi, Koh! Especially after a cowardly attack like this!?"
"Cowardly?" Koh asked, laughing in her face. "I blew an outer wall to
hell. The battle between our two side's fleets began over an hour ago! Well,
princess, would you have preferred I delivered an invitation and kindly made
a request to kill your Queen? Get real! This is war, little girl! Be ready
for the consequences!"
"Mars, he's mine." Venus said, looking to her friend. "Go, and make
sure that there's no one else skulking around. Make sure that no other of
Beryl's generals are in this attack."
"Fine. But if you're in trouble, I'm jumping in the fight." Mars said,
disappearing down a hallway.
"We're alone." Koh said, smirking. He looked to the absent throne, and
smiled sadly at her. "How about you tell me where the Queen is? I don't want
to be forced to kill you..."
"Never!" Venus roared, rushing forward in a berzerker attack. She and
Koh had been equal fighters before he'd left. He'd been able to keep up with
her out of Senshi form. Now, he was able to keep up with her in her Senshi
form.
"Come on!" Koh snarled, slamming his fist into the side of her head,
sending her flying into a wall. He followed this up with a blast of energy
which would have vaporized her had she not dodged out of the way. "This is
not a friendly sparring match! If you don't kill me, I'll kill you!"
Koh charged through the air, launching a series of punches and kicks
which finished with Venus being slammed through a wall. He flashed through,
continuing his vicious attack, slowly and mercilessly beating down any of
the defenses she could put up. This combination ended with her being slammed
into a tree by Koh, who now held her by her neck. One of her arms hung limp
at her side, the other grasping the wrist which held her neck pinned to the
tree.
"Venus, it's time you die. Any last words?" Some tears trickled down
his face, but his resolve was firmed. Venus would die. Venus brought one
arm to his chest, grasping weakly at his shirt. He leaned close to hear what
her last words were.
"K-Koh... I'm sorry.. it had to end... like this." Venus said, tears
flowing freely from her eyes. Her other arm dropped beside her first. "B-But
I couldn't... give up, any more than you could. I'll see you in Heaven, if
it exists... VENUS CRESCENT BEAM!"
Both her hands glowed briefly, and Koh had time to widen his eyes in
surprise and drop Venus in an attempt to deflect her hands before the beam
was fired.
He had no time. There was a flash of golden light, and blood blossomed
like a flower on his tunic's front. He dropped to his knees, and Venus sunk
to the ground beside him.
"Damn..." Koh muttered, holding his chest. He nearly fell over before
Venus caught him in her arms. "Damn, damn, damn... Good to see you listened
to some of my advice, Mina-chan... Didn't think you'd remember all of my
lessons..."
"Koh... Why?" Venus asked, tears splashing freely on his chest. "Why
did you do it, you fool? Why did you leave me and the others? Why did you go
over to the other side... Why?"
"I had to..." Koh said, blood now tainting his mouth, flowing from the
corner of his mouth. "I saw something that changed me forever... Mina, I
can't burden you with this load... But... Please... R-Remember... to see all
with eyes... unclouded by prejudice. A-Always... think for yourself..."
Koh reached up seeking to grasp her hand and hold it one last time. As
Venus reached out to hold his hand, it fell to the ground with a dull thud
as the light left his eyes, and his body went limp.
Ranma finished screaming, his voice hoarse. Looking at the woman, a
name came unbidden to his mouth.
"Naomi? What happened with the battle... I failed in my mission... I
was killed..." Ranma said, slowly getting to his feet. "Serenity was alive
as my soul left my body. Since the Sailor Senshi still lived, I assume she
was never destroyed?"
"We won, Koh..." Naomi said, hugging her old friend close. "But at a
truly great price. Mundane magic has left this universe, and Serenity, in
her pride, destroyed the entire Moon Kingdom, including the colonies on all
the planets, rather than let us take over. Beryl was banished to a nether
realm of evil, and her soul twisted by the event. The Generals besides you
were all bound to her soul, and all of them twisted by some unknown being.
The fleet was destroyed. All of Earth's technology was invested in the war,
and it was all destroyed. The progress of humanity has been delayed by ten
millenia, and stunted since only the Sailor Senshi and the remnants of the
old army can access true magic now."
"Damn..." Ranma muttered, looking up to the sky. "Naomi, I'm no longer
Koh. I'm Ranma. I have all my memories, but I have the memories of Ranma as
well. Call me Ranma untill my memories fully return."
"What of the Sailor Senshi, my lord?" Naomi asked, looking to Ranma.
"I can summon some of the Earth's elementals to deal with them. Your power
has probably been weakened in that body, and you still don't remember all of
your skills. We should hold off revealing that you have awakened as long as
possible."
"The Senshi of this time..." Ranma said, the memory of his battle with
Venus still fresh, as though it had happened. "I take it they are trying to
revive the Moon Kingdom?" Naomi nodded, and Ranma sighed. "They have to be
destroyed. We can't let another mockery of good such as the Moon Kingdom
happen. We have to stop them."
"The Sailor Senshi will soon die, my lord." Naomi said, smiling.
"Yes, then Humanity will finally be able to stand on it's own two feet
without radicals such as Serenity holding them back." Ranma said. He turned,
beginning to walk away with Naomi. "Let's get ready to destroy them."
****************************************************************************
Histroy is written by the winners, and the only survivors of the battle was
Beryl and Moon Kingdom people, and Beryl was trapped forever. What if there
was a reason Beryl tried to pull a coup? This is just one of my views on
the matter.
More surprises and things are just looking worse and worse for the Senshi,
eh? Chibi-Usa(Ranma's), Ranma, and Naomi are all variables that the Senshi
didn't have to take into account. How will they deal with it? Only future
installments will tell...
Okay. I need Comments and Criticism. Good stuff though, please. None of
this flat out BS, consisting solely of "You Suck!" or other such drivel. I
am perfectly happy to have my faults and mistakes pointed out to me, so long
as it's done in at least a semi-polite manner and they tell me why.
I can be reached at the address at the top of this file.
My website is at:
http://www.geocities.com/chibievil/
'Till next time,
-Chibi Evil