Joining 3: The Year Draws to a Close
Written December 2002
By: Arinson Tidochi
I own neither Dragon Ball Z nor Ranma ½, and I don't have any money anyways, so please don't sue me. I'm not making any money out of this fanfiction, I'm just doing it for fun.
"We'd better split up, we might need our help." Simion
"I'll sing an inspiration hymn: Thou shalt not die around me." Lord Vaultrice
************************************
"What a strange dream." Akane said to herself, slowly climbing out of her bed. "I wonder who that guy was anyways." She yawned, opening her mouth up very wide (looking very cute in the process), and stood up. She walked over to her door, opened it, and than stepped into the hall.
"Oh, I see you've done it Akane. Congratulations." Nabiki said as she walked by her. "What do you mean? I've done what?" Akane asked, blinking sleepily at her older sister. Nabiki raised one eyebrow. "You mean that you don't know?" She gave a short sigh. "I suppose that we've never told you. Well, you'd better come downstairs. Kasumi and I will explain everything." After saying that, Nabiki walked all of the way down the stairs and took a seat at the table.
Akane stood still for a moment, almost in shock. "I wonder what she means." She thought to herself. "Maybe it has something to do with that dream." But she brushed the thought off. "Well, I guess I'd better go down and see what's going on. It wouldn't do any good to stay up here."
Akane walked down the stairs and took a seat next to Nabiki, who continued to observe her with a somewhat amused manner while she ate her breakfast. Akane's eyes narrowed and she began to eat; annoyed at not knowing what was going on.
Kasumi walked from the room where Genma and Mr. Tendo were playing after serving them tea. Walking into the dining area, she gasped with delight and quickly sat down before the table. "Akane, you've done it!"
Akane's fist curled up, and it was only because it was Kasumi that had spoken she avoided voicing her frustration. "What is going on here?!" she asked herself silently. "Please tell me Kasumi, what exactly have I done?"
Kasumi gasped again, "You mean, you don't know? Didn't the man of light tell you in your sleep?"
Akane's entire body froze and she slowly looked up into Kasumi's calm but concerned eyes. "The man of light?" She asked hesitantly.
Kasumi nodded. "That's right, the man of light. He has been visiting the members of our family for generations when we grow into our power. He's visited me and Nabiki, and even our mother before us. I only assumed that he would have visited you as well."
Akane nodded, extremely flustered. "Well. yeah. He visited me."
Nabiki laughed, observing Akane while leaning on her elbow. "We could tell right off that you had released the seal on your soul. It would be impossible for the seal to be released without someone showing it to you. So what vision did he give you?"
"Nabiki." Kasumi said sternly. "You know that the vision shown by the man of light is a private one. It was meant only for Akane."
"Yeah, you're right." Nabiki said, throwing up one hand and continuing to eat.
"Now Akane," Kasumi said gently, walking over and sitting next to her younger sister who was watching her with wide eyes. "Did you get a vision?"
Akane shivered slightly. "Yeah." She looked down at the table and started to pick at her food.
Kasumi put her arm around Akane and drew her closer. "You must be very confused right now Akane, just relax and let me tell you about our family." Akane smiled weakly and nodded, leaning against her older sister.
"We are a family of magic-users, it's in our blood. The magic has gone back to our ancestors as far as we can remember. And as far as it can be recalled, the man of light has always come to visit us when the time for the first growth of our magic arrives. He's not the source of our power, just the awakener. When he comes, he always brings a vision of some kind, a personal vision of what we'll have to use our magic for in the future. Something of great importance. Do you understand Akane?"
Akane nodded, find comfort in the warmth of her older sister. Noticing this, Kasumi continued to speak. "It's a happy occasion when a family member grows into their magic. You'll find joy in exploring your powers. Mom left behind a book detailing how to bring out one's powers that both me and Nabiki have used, I'll get it for you after breakfast." She began to whisper. "Don't tell father. He always knew that Mother used magic, but it made him a bit uncomfortable. It would be best if we didn't speak of it in front of him." Smiling gently, she hugged Akane once again and stood up, and turned to walk into the kitchen.
"Hey, don't worry, you may even find you like having magic." Nabiki said, glancing up at Akane. She smiled wickedly. "Why do you think I'm so good at getting my way?"
Akane stared at her in shock. "Are you telling me that you actually cast spells on people to get an advantage over them?!"
"Hey now, I don't do anything quite that serious." Nabiki said, leaning backwards defensively. "I just plant little suggestions here and there. Nothing seriously mind-altering. I'm not like Shampoo you know. And personally I've always found her sorcery to be just a bit sloppy anyways."
Akane stared at her for a few moments longer before she continued her breakfast. "This is way too much to take in this early." She thought glumly to herself.
Kasumi walked back into the room and handed a small book to Akane. "Here you go Akane, this is our mother's instructional book." With a smile and a nod Kasumi then returned to the kitchen.
"Well, that's enough breakfast for one day." Nabiki said, stretching. "There's no school today, I'm going out to take care of some business." Nabiki stood up and put on her shoes, and then walked out the door.
Akane took the book and looked at the cover. There was a cute crayon drawing of a small girl dressed like a witch dancing with a werewolf in a beautiful star-lit meadow under a full moon. Something that looked suspiciously like a three-armed monkey was also dancing, trying hard not to be caught underfoot by the girl and the werewolf.
Akane laughed to herself. "I wonder where mother came up with this." She said, and caught herself starting to cry while thinking about her. "This is silly; I thought I was over this." She thought to herself. She could feel the newly sensitive part of her mind ebbing and flowing with her emotions. "It must be related to this new power." Akane bravely wiped her eyes and stood up, cradling the book in her arms. She then went upstairs into her room and closed the door.
*********************************
"My my, how beautiful you are today!" said a small man. He was roughly four feet tall, and quite stout. His light blue skin and antennae left no doubt that he was by no means human. He also sported sunglasses and a black dress-like robe with a large symbol taking up most of the front side.
"My I just adore your gorgeous red color!" The man said, and continued to polish his car.
"I see you haven't changed in the past few hundred years King Kai." A voice commented from behind the small man.
"Who said that!?" King Kai shouted, throwing his polishing rag up into the air and quickly turning around.
Before him stood a man wearing brilliant golden robes of about 5'10, quite tall to King Kai. What really stood out about him was that he had no face, all that was there was a beautiful and pure light.
"Don't tell me that you don't remember this face." The man said with an amused voice.
Suddenly King Kai was excited. "Of course I remember you; you taught me so much about magic! So what brings you here. uhhhh" there was an awkward pause as King Kai tried to remember his name.
"Yes, do go on, finish your question." The man responded politely.
"Sorry." King Kai said, managing to look slightly bashful. "I can't remember your name at all."
"Oh." The man said, disappointed. "I was hoping you would, because I can't remember it either. I don't think that anyone's actually called me by it in over one-hundred years. But I remember that it sounded something kinda like Maple, so we'll go with that for now."
"Well Maple, let's not just stand around here. Why don't you come in and I'll tell you a few jokes?"
"I'd really appreciate it; I remember how punny you are."
"Punny, punny," King Kai burst into laughter. "Hey that's a good one! So, what do you call a deer with no eyes?!"
The man shook his head. "No idea."
King Kai started laughing. "That's right, that's the answer! No Ideer." He started laughing loudly again.
The visitor actually looked like he was in pain. "Please. No more. Let's sit down and I'll tell you why I'm here."
"Awww, spoilsport." King Kai opened the door of his small house and walked inside. He pulled out a seat for his visitor and then sat down. "So tell me, are you contacting me from the past again? I know you only look like that when you're broadcasting your mind to a different point of time."
The man shook his head. "No, I'm in the future this time. I'm also in a different dimension to boot. Let me tell you, that makes this whole ordeal that much more draining."
King Kai chuckled. "I don't suppose that you're traveling perpendicular to time again, are you?"
The man looked curious. (Don't ask how) "Why no, actually I'm out of the general flow of time at this moment. I'm currently waiting for the past to catch up with me so I can see if my interference actually changed anything."
He paused for a moment and then looked thoughtful. "Did you say something about traveling perpendicular to time? How would that be possible? I can understand traveling parallel, meaning with or opposite to the flow of time. But perpendicular?"
King Kai started laughing at his apparent confusion. "Don't ask me; last time you came to talk to me, you said that you were traveling perpendicular to time. I didn't know what you meant by that back then either."
"Hmmm, perpendicular." The man said to himself thoughtfully. "Well anyways, that's not why I'm here. I think it's time I got to the point. Soon, maybe within a month or so, you will be receiving a visitor."
"So someone will actually make it up here? They must have heard of my legendary humor and wanted to learn under me." King Kai said, both thoughtful and proud.
The man actually managed to sweat drop. (Again don't ask how) "I hate to tell you this, but I think this one's a little more concerned with your martial art abilities then with your sense of humor. Though I'm sure he'll think you're very funny!" He finished quickly, seeing that his small friend was beginning to pout.
"It's alright." King Kai said. "So why are you concerned about him? You didn't give advance warning when Yemna came for training, what's different about this guy?"
The man leaned back and picked his next words carefully. "This man is extremely important. He will single handedly redeem an entire race of beings and have a hand in saving his world a few times while he's at it."
King Kai adjusted his glasses. "That's quite impressive, so what do you want from me? Of course if he actually makes it here I'll give him the standard training where he just moves around. If he's good enough, I may even teach him techniques that I had trouble learning, though I find that unlikely. Do you want me to show him something special?"
The man nodded. "That is correct; I want you to make him sensitive to the flow of magic in addition to all of your standard training."
"Sensitivity training?" King Kai asked with raised eyebrows. "I suppose that would be easy to incorporate into the time that he'll spend resting. But why?"
"I'd rather not answer that." The man said, seeming to smile. "Just know that it's in the best interest of all of us. While he possesses no natural magic ability of his own, it is critical to the survival of his world that he learns to recognize magic when it is used."
King Kai sighed, "Well alright, I'll do as you say. It won't make things any harder anyways. So where is he now?"
"Hell. But don't worry; he'll be leaving it soon. This man in particular isn't one to stay in such a place forever."
"He must be some guy." King Kai said, shaking his head.
"Quite. Well, if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now. Thanks for your hospitality old friend, I really enjoyed the visit."
King Kai smiled. "No, the pleasure was all mine. Say, do you have time for a joke before you go? I heard this great one about the horse and the donkey."
Before saying that the man was gone, disappearing into thin air.
"Hmm, I guess he heard it already." King Kai said, picking up a new polishing clothe. "Well, I'll come up with a really great one before he comes back." Humming to himself, he walked outside and continued to polish his car.
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"Well, six hours have passed since I sent the boy up to the mountain." Cologne thought to herself, still sitting by the fire. "He's got to be mighty cold by now; I think that's good enough for one day." Chuckling to herself, she brought herself to the top of her staff and began to hop quickly up the side of the mountain. It was a good half mile to the top but Cologne was up in about five minutes.
"Where are you sonny boy?" She called out. Even perched on her staff her feet were only about two inches above the surface of the snow. "Where could he be?" She asked herself. "It wouldn't be like him to leave before I arrived."
Cologne paused and closed her eyes. Focusing inward upon her spirit, she sent her energy outwards until. "Ah-ha! There you are Future son in law!" She yelled out, and then hopped over to a rather inconspicuous pile of snow. She quickly reached into it and, finding a pigtail, yanked Ranma out of the pile. He was in male form and his eyes were completely closed. It looked like he was in some kind of state of hibernation.
"Fascinating." Cologne thought to herself. "Though he was buried in snow, none of it melted on him. He's not even wet at all, but how did he do it? To be buried under snow for six hours." She looked down and saw that all snow stopped close to a centimeter away from his body even where she had dropped him. "Amazing. He used the control from the spiritual training to create an aura about himself to keep the snow from touching him." She shook her head. "But with all the energy that it took him to maintain that aura I'm afraid that there's nothing left."
Cologne began to hit pressure points all over Ranma's body, activating the blood flow. Ranma blinked a few times, and then looked up at her. He stared at her, dazed for a moment, and then slowly his gaze came into focus. "Hey old hag, what's the deal with making me wait so long? It's been at least an hour since you sent me up here!"
Cologne chuckled. "You are mistaken future son in law, already six hours have passed since I've sent you up here."
Ranma looked confused, until realization dawned upon him. "Six hours, man I must have been out of it." Then he looked angry. "What the hell are doing sending me up here for six hours; it's got to be below zero up here. What are you trying to do, kill me?!" Ranma attempted to jump to his feet, but immediately regretted it. His body was so stiff that he was having trouble standing straight. He immediately fell on his side.
"Let me help you there sonny-boy." Cologne said, and then jammed a few pressure points on his legs.
Ranma looked up at her. "That didn't do any good; I still can't feel them. Agggggghhhhhhhh!" He started to yell, "Dang, this hurts like hell! What did you do that for?"
Cologne laughed. "You can feel your legs now can't you? Just be happy that you can walk. Come back down to the fire and I'll explain everything."
Ranma looked really pissed off. "All right old hag, but this had better be good." He then paused, found his center, and then floated up into the air. "This is tough." He thought to himself. "Those six hours must have taken a lot out of me." Breathing hard with the exertion, he floated down the side of the mountain over the trees and the snow. Watching him go, Cologne only sighed. "My future son-in-law is incredible." She thought to herself. "If I could only make him Shampoo's husband the strength of our tribe would be greatly increased."
After those thoughts she began to travel down the side of the snowy mountain.
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"Ouch!" Akane yelped, after picking herself with a needle. After setting down the needle, she again turned to the book which was sitting open on her desk. She began to read out loud.
"To heal an injury, first find your magic within you. It should feel like a new muscle, one that you've just discovered. After finding it, form in your mind an image of what you would rather have the injured member of the body appear as. This visualization is difficult at first, but becomes easy with practice. After firmly having the image in your mind, focus the magic with your will to make that picture a reality. The magic will bend reality itself in order to grant your desire."
"Oh, is that all?" Akane said, looking annoyed. "Since when did Mom talk like she was a doctor or something?" She took a few deep breaths, and then found her center. Something else seemed to occupy the same place, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual one. Focusing upon that, suddenly an image of a door appeared in her mind. She fell backwards off her chair, landing on the ground with an unceremonious thump.
"Ouch." She said out loud. "I guess I found that door again, that's a good sign." She sat back in her chair. "So I suppose that for me I would only focus on pulling my energy out of the door."
She found her center again, and concentrated until she found the door inside of herself. She then formed a rough image of her pricked finger in her mind. With great exertion, she pulled energy out of the crack of the door and focused it into her finger. Opening her eyes, she saw that the prick was gone, leaving only healthy skin behind.
A smile filled her face and she jumped to her feet and began to dance around. "I did it! I did it!" She yelled out happily.
"Did what Akane?" She heard Kasumi's voice ask from outside the door. Akane ran over to the door and opened it. "I healed myself! I healed a prick on my finger!"
"That's wonderful Akane!" Kasumi said. "So, are you ready for the next step?"
Akane stopped moving at looked at Kasumi curiously. "What's the next step?"
Kasumi smiled down at her. "Head over to Dr. Tofu's and give him a little help by healing his patients. I'm sure that he'd appreciate it."
Akane looked nervous. "Are you sure that's a good idea? People might think I'm weird if I start doing things like that in public."
Kasumi shook her head. "No, not at all. People in Nerima are so kind and gentle, they'd just be happy for the help."
Akane smiled, still elated from her accomplishment. "Alright then, I'm going over now!" She quickly ran out the door, leaving the book behind.
Kasumi walked over to the book and began to flip through the pages. She began to read the chapter titles out loud to herself. "Chapter 1: Healing. Chapter 2: Defense. Chapter 3: Mind. Chapter 4: Attack. Chapter 5: Useful Tidbits. Chapter 6: Unpleasant Things." Kasumi managed a small frown. "Oh my. I hope that Akane doesn't get curious and visit the unpleasant things section. She sighed and began to talk to herself. "I remember when I was visited by the man of light; I was so elated to discover that I had magic. But soon after that, mother was attacked by that dark mage and. passed away." Unshed tears formed in her eyes. "Then the vision of the man of light came true. I became the new mother figure of the family, and used my magic to calm the hearts of Father, Nabiki and Akane. We were in such pain; it was only our love for each other and my magic that kept us from falling apart all together."
Kasumi stood up and wiped her eyes. "My, I have dinner to prepare!" She then walked out the door and closed it behind her.
************************************
Ranma and Cologne were sitting beside the fire, Ranma's face still quite blue. "Alright old hag, tell me about this crazy new training that you're going to put me through."
Cologne simply laughed. "You're right future son-in-law, the training is quite crazy. I'm so glad that you survived the first step, if you had died it would have made things so much more complicated."
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "You mean that you actually thought that I might die from that?"
Cologne nodded. "Yes, the cold that you experienced was great and only amplified by the vast amount of time that you were exposed to it. That is the purpose of this section of our training, to condition your body to be able to withstand vast variations in temperature. It is called the elemental resistance training."
Ranma nodded but still looked confused. "I see how this works, but what's the point? Just being able to withstand vast changes in temperature won't make me any stronger."
Cologne just shrugged. "Honestly I only have a small idea what Kami has in store for you. He will put you through training where you will need this resistance to survive, that's all I can tell you."
Ranma stared down into the fire, still trying to thaw his hands. "So how long should this training take?"
"For an average person, maybe a year. However, I think that you will be able to do it in just a few months if you push yourself hard enough."
Ranma tried to clench his fist but gave up because of how numb they were. He soon just settled for growling. "I don't have a few months! If I don't start the real training soon I won't be ready for the saiyajins when they arrive, and then the world will be doomed! And Akane will be gone." He finished silently to himself.
"You must have faith in Kami boy. He's not called the guardian of the earth for nothing you know. The goal of this training will be for you to be able to move freely even when extremely cold. From now on, you will be spending eight hours every day up on the mountain practicing your kata in the snow."
Ranma looked up at her confidently. "Is that all, I thought you were going to make it something hard."
Cologne gave a cruel smile. "One more thing. Don't use that spiritual trick to keep the snow from touching your body. I'm impressed by it but it is only a handicap to your training."
"What?!" Ranma yelled, looking slightly scared. He then shrugged and gave another cocky smile. "Alright, no spiritual defense." He leaned towards her looking serious. "I'll stay up there practicing kata for twenty-four hours straight before I'm through here."
Cologne reached up over the fire and quickly pulled Ranma down closer to it, until he was almost touching it.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Ranma yelled balancing above the fire.
Cologne chuckled. "Just reminding you that resistance to the cold isn't the only training you'll be going through sonny boy. You will also need to learn to resist the heat. I take it that taking baths in boiling water without getting blistered is one skill you're not eager to earn."
Ranma struggled for a few more moments until he realized that he could fly, and then simply levitated back to his seat.
"Withstand boiling water huh?" He asked, leaning back.
"That is correct." Cologne responded. "And fires as well. You have a tough time ahead of you sonny-boy."
But Ranma was already asleep, leaning backwards onto the grass and melted snow. Cologne sighed as she watched him, and then in a rare moment of compassion that surprised even her she pulled out a blanket and spread it over him. "I hope he stops resisting soon and just marries Shampoo." She thought wearily to herself. "Then this whole fiancée mess would be taken care of and we could happily return to the village."
She shook her head. "There is more important business to deal with at the moment. This boy will save the world, but I have to make him ready for it." She looked at Ranma again, and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
************************************
"Just sit still now, this wont hurt a bit." Akane said soothingly to the crying child who had a large bump on his head. Akane gently touched the bump and gently probed it. "Wow, this is pretty serious." She thought to herself. "It must hurt a lot, poor guy." Akane focused her breathing and then found her center, much quicker then in the past she proudly noticed. She then formed an image of an unwounded head in her mind, and forced her magic through the now more widely opened door in order to make it reality.
She heard the boy gasp in delight. "The pain is gone, thank you so much Ma'am!" Akane's eye twitched at the word ma'am, but only smiled to the boy. "Now run along and play, and be more careful this time!"
"I will!" Yelled the boy. He then happily ran out of the door.
"That was impressive Akane!" Dr. Tofu complimented her. "Your control over your powers is increasing all the time!"
Akane blushed at the compliment. "Stop it silly." She scolded herself. "You're over him now, you know that." She looked up at him, rising to her feet. "I think I'm ready to open the door a bit wider now, this is all coming so easily!"
Dr. Tofu smiled down at her, and then walked over to his desk and sat down. "I think that you've done everything you can do here Akane, you should go to the next stage."
Akane stared at him. "Are you serious? All I've taken care of are small bumps and scratches; I haven't tried to heal any serious wounds yet!"
Dr. Tofu shook his head. "I'm sure that you could easily handle all of those things, all you needed was the focus, which you have now. Those things will come easily to you as you progressively pull out more of your power. I think you should learn how to put your magic to other uses now."
Akane nodded slowly, looking at the ground. "I suppose you're right. Well, I enjoyed spending time with you Dr. Tofu."
Dr. Tofu laughed. "Don't look so down Akane! Say, I'll tell you what. How about every Saturday you come down at 4:00 and help me out? You'll get to keep practicing and improving your healing magic that way. Just use the rest of the days to practice other types of magic."
Akane smiled and looked up at him. "That would be great? That would really be alright with you?"
Dr. Tofu smiled back at her. "Of course, and my patients would appreciate it too. So I'll see you next Saturday Akane?"
"That's right." She then happily put on her shoes and walked out the door.
Looking after her, Dr. Tofu couldn't help but think of her older sister Kasumi. He always knew that she was magic somehow; he just never knew that she actually had magic until Akane had told him the whole story. "What an amazing family." He thought cheerfully to himself, and then went about finishing up the paperwork for the day.
**************************************
"How do I get myself into these weird situations?" Ranma asked himself. He was sitting in a large cauldron of boiling water wearing only his boxers. "Dang, this water is hot!"
Cologne was standing above the cauldron, stirring it with her staff. "I wonder when the soup will be ready." She said, amused.
"I told you not to do that!" Ranma yelled at her, knocking her staff aside. "People will think we're weird or something!"
Cologne started laughing. "You're actually concerned about that now? After you went into the village wearing a large block of ice on your head that most of them couldn't even carry? You have an odd sense of weird future son-in-law."
Ranma tried to ignore her, closing his eyes and ducking below the surface of the water. "I never would have thought that his was possible before." He said to himself. "But how will it help me to defeat the saiyajins? What is that special training that Cologne had mentioned?"
When he came up Cologne knocked the pot over, spilling Ranma onto the ground.
"Hey, what did you do that for?!" He asked, his battle aura already appearing.
"It's time, sonny boy. You have mastered this training. There is nothing else that I can do for you." She said, looking at him seriously. "The saiyajins are arriving tomorrow; you need to move without delay to Kami's lookout."
"What, they're arriving tomorrow?!" Ranma yelled out, startled. "That's not enough time for training; that gives me just a few hours max."
Cologne nodded. "Yes, only a few hours of training will be accomplished. But unless I'm mistaken, that will be more than enough time to make you stronger then you could possibly imagine."
Ranma stood up and began to get his clothes on. "I've trusted you up to this point; I'm not going to back out now. Tell me where his lookout is, I'm leaving right now."
"Merely travel east of here. You will cross an ocean and soon afterwards come across a small continent, of which currently has no name. From there you will be able to spot a narrow tower going up high into the sky. I have never been there myself, but I believe that Kami's lookout is directly above the top of that tower."
"Well, I'm going now." He paused for a moment. "Thanks for your help." After saying those words he quickly jumped into the air and flew off.
Cologne watched him until he was out of sight. "He may not realize it, but his power has almost tripled in this last year." She thought to herself. "But he'll need to become so much stronger to accomplish this task. But if anyone can handle it, it's my future son-in-law." She sighed and put out the fire, pausing to breath in the fresh spring mountain air. "Well, I suppose that Shampoo will need my help, it must be hard to be stuck with that idiot Mousse for a whole year." She then began to slowly hop down the side of the mountain.
**********************************
"You'd think that a tower that goes way up into the sky would be easy to find." Ranma said, floating high above the earth; not even noticing the temperature which was already pushing zero due to altitude. He paused and began to float in mid air. He then withdrew into his spirit and began to push it outwards, looking for signs of life.
"That's it!" He yelled, exited. "I sense an impressive power from over there!" He then flew off at an amazing speed.
******************************
Kami was pacing back and forth quickly. One could almost see the path that he was creating on the stone floor. It seemed like this was his regular pace-when-nervous spot.
"Where is Ranma, he should be here by now! And there is no sign of Goku!" He yelled out in frustration.
"Calm down Kami." Mr. Popo said; concern in his eyes. "Ranma and Goku will be here soon enough, you know they're the same way. They'll show up just in the nick of time, the both of them."
Kami sighed and tried to relax. "Yes, I suppose you're right Mr. Popo." He looked thoughtful. "I have such high hopes hinging on both of them. For Goku to actually reach King Kai would be an extremely difficult thing. And Ranma, to survive respected elder Cologne's training would be just as difficult." He closed his eyes. "And for him to survive the next part of his training would be almost impossible."
Mr. Popo put his hand on Kami's back. "I wouldn't worry Kami, Ranma will be alright. He defeated Saffron remember? Even you thought that such a feat would be impossible for a human to accomplish."
"That's right, just leave everything to me!" Said a cocky voice from above them.
They both looked up to see Ranma hovering in the air. "Now, let's get this training started."
"Hurry Ranma!" Kami yelled out. "There isn't any time to spare; we only have four hours before they arrive!"
"What? Four hours?!" Ranma asked, dropping his cocky smile, partially because of the news and partially because of seeing Kami's antennae.
"Yes, follow me while I explain the next part of your training to you." Kami said, already beginning to walk quickly into the building. Mr. Popo closed the door behind them as they walked inside. "Come on Ranma." Mr. Popo thought to himself, "You and Goku are the only hopes we have now."
**************************************
"To put the questions out of your mind, you will be training in the room of space and time." Kami explained while quickly walking along. "In this room, an entire year passes with respect to only a day on earth."
"So that's why you were so confident when talking to Cologne earlier." Ranma said, putting the pieces together.
"That is correct." Kami responded. "I knew that you would have another year to train after completing the first on earth. Unfortunately, you only have four hours, which amounts to roughly two months of training. I was hoping that you'd have more time, though it can't be helped now."
"So what was the purpose of all that training that Cologne put me through?" Ranma asked.
"The environment of this room is extremely dangerous." Kami said, continuing his fast pace. "Everything in this room weighs ten times more then what it does on earth. Furthermore, the temperature changes extremely quickly. It can go from a blazing inferno to a glacier in a matter of only a few seconds. The temperature variations are much more radical then even what Cologne has put you through up to this point. Without her training there would be no chance of your survival in the room, you would be instantly burnt or frozen to death upon entry."
"That makes sense, so why didn't Cologne just tell me that in the first place instead of hiding it from me?"
Kami smiled slightly, though it was obviously only a nervous smile. "I needed to make sure that your heart was in it. If you knew that you had another year of training coming up, you wouldn't have pursued Cologne's training so desperately. Am I right in saying so?"
Ranma looked down. "Yeah, I suppose so."
"This will be the hardest training that you'll ever go through. Every second that you're in there you will be desperately struggling for your survival. Don't wander too far from the citadel which is where your home will be. In there the gravity will be normal, and you will be able to eat and rest. There are some clothes inside the door that you can use that won't be destroyed by the extreme elements. Once you're more comfortable with the high gravity and the weather, begin to push your spirit as well as your body. Your spirit needs to be much stronger for the task ahead."
Ranma listened silently through his instructions. "Two months huh?" He laughed and smiled. "I'd say that's more than enough time. Those saiyajins won't know what hit them!"
Kami stopped in front of a door. "Here we are Ranma, the room of space and time." He looked over at the exited teenager standing next to him. "Do you have any questions?"
Ranma shook his head. "No, I'm ready for this. I'm going in." With saying that he pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing it after himself.
Kami stood still for a moment, watching the door. Then he simply walked away, his face a mask, but his mind swimming with conflicting emotions.
********************************
Ranma found himself standing on a tiled floor outside of a building roughly the size of a house. To his left he saw several martial arts uniforms hanging up that looked kind of like space suits. Stretching as far out he could see was just endless tile, endless world.
"Could this place really be as bad as he described?" Ranma asked himself. "It just looks like empty space to me."
He walked over and took off his clothes and put on the suit. Instantly he could notice a difference. "Hey, this is heavy, is this clothing weighted?" Ranma tried moving around, then shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter anyways."
Moving forward, he came to the edge of the tile of the citadel. "I guess I'd better get started." He said to himself, and then took a short leap onto the tile floor. He instantly fell to his knees.
"Damn I'm heavy! I can barely move!" He cursed to himself and then slowly struggled to his feet. Ranma then carefully went through the easiest kata he knew, struggling to get his kicks above his waist. This was going to be a long two months.
*****************************************
Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! Once again thank you Ranko for your help! I appreciate it!
By: Arinson Tidochi
I own neither Dragon Ball Z nor Ranma ½, and I don't have any money anyways, so please don't sue me. I'm not making any money out of this fanfiction, I'm just doing it for fun.
"We'd better split up, we might need our help." Simion
"I'll sing an inspiration hymn: Thou shalt not die around me." Lord Vaultrice
************************************
"What a strange dream." Akane said to herself, slowly climbing out of her bed. "I wonder who that guy was anyways." She yawned, opening her mouth up very wide (looking very cute in the process), and stood up. She walked over to her door, opened it, and than stepped into the hall.
"Oh, I see you've done it Akane. Congratulations." Nabiki said as she walked by her. "What do you mean? I've done what?" Akane asked, blinking sleepily at her older sister. Nabiki raised one eyebrow. "You mean that you don't know?" She gave a short sigh. "I suppose that we've never told you. Well, you'd better come downstairs. Kasumi and I will explain everything." After saying that, Nabiki walked all of the way down the stairs and took a seat at the table.
Akane stood still for a moment, almost in shock. "I wonder what she means." She thought to herself. "Maybe it has something to do with that dream." But she brushed the thought off. "Well, I guess I'd better go down and see what's going on. It wouldn't do any good to stay up here."
Akane walked down the stairs and took a seat next to Nabiki, who continued to observe her with a somewhat amused manner while she ate her breakfast. Akane's eyes narrowed and she began to eat; annoyed at not knowing what was going on.
Kasumi walked from the room where Genma and Mr. Tendo were playing after serving them tea. Walking into the dining area, she gasped with delight and quickly sat down before the table. "Akane, you've done it!"
Akane's fist curled up, and it was only because it was Kasumi that had spoken she avoided voicing her frustration. "What is going on here?!" she asked herself silently. "Please tell me Kasumi, what exactly have I done?"
Kasumi gasped again, "You mean, you don't know? Didn't the man of light tell you in your sleep?"
Akane's entire body froze and she slowly looked up into Kasumi's calm but concerned eyes. "The man of light?" She asked hesitantly.
Kasumi nodded. "That's right, the man of light. He has been visiting the members of our family for generations when we grow into our power. He's visited me and Nabiki, and even our mother before us. I only assumed that he would have visited you as well."
Akane nodded, extremely flustered. "Well. yeah. He visited me."
Nabiki laughed, observing Akane while leaning on her elbow. "We could tell right off that you had released the seal on your soul. It would be impossible for the seal to be released without someone showing it to you. So what vision did he give you?"
"Nabiki." Kasumi said sternly. "You know that the vision shown by the man of light is a private one. It was meant only for Akane."
"Yeah, you're right." Nabiki said, throwing up one hand and continuing to eat.
"Now Akane," Kasumi said gently, walking over and sitting next to her younger sister who was watching her with wide eyes. "Did you get a vision?"
Akane shivered slightly. "Yeah." She looked down at the table and started to pick at her food.
Kasumi put her arm around Akane and drew her closer. "You must be very confused right now Akane, just relax and let me tell you about our family." Akane smiled weakly and nodded, leaning against her older sister.
"We are a family of magic-users, it's in our blood. The magic has gone back to our ancestors as far as we can remember. And as far as it can be recalled, the man of light has always come to visit us when the time for the first growth of our magic arrives. He's not the source of our power, just the awakener. When he comes, he always brings a vision of some kind, a personal vision of what we'll have to use our magic for in the future. Something of great importance. Do you understand Akane?"
Akane nodded, find comfort in the warmth of her older sister. Noticing this, Kasumi continued to speak. "It's a happy occasion when a family member grows into their magic. You'll find joy in exploring your powers. Mom left behind a book detailing how to bring out one's powers that both me and Nabiki have used, I'll get it for you after breakfast." She began to whisper. "Don't tell father. He always knew that Mother used magic, but it made him a bit uncomfortable. It would be best if we didn't speak of it in front of him." Smiling gently, she hugged Akane once again and stood up, and turned to walk into the kitchen.
"Hey, don't worry, you may even find you like having magic." Nabiki said, glancing up at Akane. She smiled wickedly. "Why do you think I'm so good at getting my way?"
Akane stared at her in shock. "Are you telling me that you actually cast spells on people to get an advantage over them?!"
"Hey now, I don't do anything quite that serious." Nabiki said, leaning backwards defensively. "I just plant little suggestions here and there. Nothing seriously mind-altering. I'm not like Shampoo you know. And personally I've always found her sorcery to be just a bit sloppy anyways."
Akane stared at her for a few moments longer before she continued her breakfast. "This is way too much to take in this early." She thought glumly to herself.
Kasumi walked back into the room and handed a small book to Akane. "Here you go Akane, this is our mother's instructional book." With a smile and a nod Kasumi then returned to the kitchen.
"Well, that's enough breakfast for one day." Nabiki said, stretching. "There's no school today, I'm going out to take care of some business." Nabiki stood up and put on her shoes, and then walked out the door.
Akane took the book and looked at the cover. There was a cute crayon drawing of a small girl dressed like a witch dancing with a werewolf in a beautiful star-lit meadow under a full moon. Something that looked suspiciously like a three-armed monkey was also dancing, trying hard not to be caught underfoot by the girl and the werewolf.
Akane laughed to herself. "I wonder where mother came up with this." She said, and caught herself starting to cry while thinking about her. "This is silly; I thought I was over this." She thought to herself. She could feel the newly sensitive part of her mind ebbing and flowing with her emotions. "It must be related to this new power." Akane bravely wiped her eyes and stood up, cradling the book in her arms. She then went upstairs into her room and closed the door.
*********************************
"My my, how beautiful you are today!" said a small man. He was roughly four feet tall, and quite stout. His light blue skin and antennae left no doubt that he was by no means human. He also sported sunglasses and a black dress-like robe with a large symbol taking up most of the front side.
"My I just adore your gorgeous red color!" The man said, and continued to polish his car.
"I see you haven't changed in the past few hundred years King Kai." A voice commented from behind the small man.
"Who said that!?" King Kai shouted, throwing his polishing rag up into the air and quickly turning around.
Before him stood a man wearing brilliant golden robes of about 5'10, quite tall to King Kai. What really stood out about him was that he had no face, all that was there was a beautiful and pure light.
"Don't tell me that you don't remember this face." The man said with an amused voice.
Suddenly King Kai was excited. "Of course I remember you; you taught me so much about magic! So what brings you here. uhhhh" there was an awkward pause as King Kai tried to remember his name.
"Yes, do go on, finish your question." The man responded politely.
"Sorry." King Kai said, managing to look slightly bashful. "I can't remember your name at all."
"Oh." The man said, disappointed. "I was hoping you would, because I can't remember it either. I don't think that anyone's actually called me by it in over one-hundred years. But I remember that it sounded something kinda like Maple, so we'll go with that for now."
"Well Maple, let's not just stand around here. Why don't you come in and I'll tell you a few jokes?"
"I'd really appreciate it; I remember how punny you are."
"Punny, punny," King Kai burst into laughter. "Hey that's a good one! So, what do you call a deer with no eyes?!"
The man shook his head. "No idea."
King Kai started laughing. "That's right, that's the answer! No Ideer." He started laughing loudly again.
The visitor actually looked like he was in pain. "Please. No more. Let's sit down and I'll tell you why I'm here."
"Awww, spoilsport." King Kai opened the door of his small house and walked inside. He pulled out a seat for his visitor and then sat down. "So tell me, are you contacting me from the past again? I know you only look like that when you're broadcasting your mind to a different point of time."
The man shook his head. "No, I'm in the future this time. I'm also in a different dimension to boot. Let me tell you, that makes this whole ordeal that much more draining."
King Kai chuckled. "I don't suppose that you're traveling perpendicular to time again, are you?"
The man looked curious. (Don't ask how) "Why no, actually I'm out of the general flow of time at this moment. I'm currently waiting for the past to catch up with me so I can see if my interference actually changed anything."
He paused for a moment and then looked thoughtful. "Did you say something about traveling perpendicular to time? How would that be possible? I can understand traveling parallel, meaning with or opposite to the flow of time. But perpendicular?"
King Kai started laughing at his apparent confusion. "Don't ask me; last time you came to talk to me, you said that you were traveling perpendicular to time. I didn't know what you meant by that back then either."
"Hmmm, perpendicular." The man said to himself thoughtfully. "Well anyways, that's not why I'm here. I think it's time I got to the point. Soon, maybe within a month or so, you will be receiving a visitor."
"So someone will actually make it up here? They must have heard of my legendary humor and wanted to learn under me." King Kai said, both thoughtful and proud.
The man actually managed to sweat drop. (Again don't ask how) "I hate to tell you this, but I think this one's a little more concerned with your martial art abilities then with your sense of humor. Though I'm sure he'll think you're very funny!" He finished quickly, seeing that his small friend was beginning to pout.
"It's alright." King Kai said. "So why are you concerned about him? You didn't give advance warning when Yemna came for training, what's different about this guy?"
The man leaned back and picked his next words carefully. "This man is extremely important. He will single handedly redeem an entire race of beings and have a hand in saving his world a few times while he's at it."
King Kai adjusted his glasses. "That's quite impressive, so what do you want from me? Of course if he actually makes it here I'll give him the standard training where he just moves around. If he's good enough, I may even teach him techniques that I had trouble learning, though I find that unlikely. Do you want me to show him something special?"
The man nodded. "That is correct; I want you to make him sensitive to the flow of magic in addition to all of your standard training."
"Sensitivity training?" King Kai asked with raised eyebrows. "I suppose that would be easy to incorporate into the time that he'll spend resting. But why?"
"I'd rather not answer that." The man said, seeming to smile. "Just know that it's in the best interest of all of us. While he possesses no natural magic ability of his own, it is critical to the survival of his world that he learns to recognize magic when it is used."
King Kai sighed, "Well alright, I'll do as you say. It won't make things any harder anyways. So where is he now?"
"Hell. But don't worry; he'll be leaving it soon. This man in particular isn't one to stay in such a place forever."
"He must be some guy." King Kai said, shaking his head.
"Quite. Well, if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now. Thanks for your hospitality old friend, I really enjoyed the visit."
King Kai smiled. "No, the pleasure was all mine. Say, do you have time for a joke before you go? I heard this great one about the horse and the donkey."
Before saying that the man was gone, disappearing into thin air.
"Hmm, I guess he heard it already." King Kai said, picking up a new polishing clothe. "Well, I'll come up with a really great one before he comes back." Humming to himself, he walked outside and continued to polish his car.
******************************
"Well, six hours have passed since I sent the boy up to the mountain." Cologne thought to herself, still sitting by the fire. "He's got to be mighty cold by now; I think that's good enough for one day." Chuckling to herself, she brought herself to the top of her staff and began to hop quickly up the side of the mountain. It was a good half mile to the top but Cologne was up in about five minutes.
"Where are you sonny boy?" She called out. Even perched on her staff her feet were only about two inches above the surface of the snow. "Where could he be?" She asked herself. "It wouldn't be like him to leave before I arrived."
Cologne paused and closed her eyes. Focusing inward upon her spirit, she sent her energy outwards until. "Ah-ha! There you are Future son in law!" She yelled out, and then hopped over to a rather inconspicuous pile of snow. She quickly reached into it and, finding a pigtail, yanked Ranma out of the pile. He was in male form and his eyes were completely closed. It looked like he was in some kind of state of hibernation.
"Fascinating." Cologne thought to herself. "Though he was buried in snow, none of it melted on him. He's not even wet at all, but how did he do it? To be buried under snow for six hours." She looked down and saw that all snow stopped close to a centimeter away from his body even where she had dropped him. "Amazing. He used the control from the spiritual training to create an aura about himself to keep the snow from touching him." She shook her head. "But with all the energy that it took him to maintain that aura I'm afraid that there's nothing left."
Cologne began to hit pressure points all over Ranma's body, activating the blood flow. Ranma blinked a few times, and then looked up at her. He stared at her, dazed for a moment, and then slowly his gaze came into focus. "Hey old hag, what's the deal with making me wait so long? It's been at least an hour since you sent me up here!"
Cologne chuckled. "You are mistaken future son in law, already six hours have passed since I've sent you up here."
Ranma looked confused, until realization dawned upon him. "Six hours, man I must have been out of it." Then he looked angry. "What the hell are doing sending me up here for six hours; it's got to be below zero up here. What are you trying to do, kill me?!" Ranma attempted to jump to his feet, but immediately regretted it. His body was so stiff that he was having trouble standing straight. He immediately fell on his side.
"Let me help you there sonny-boy." Cologne said, and then jammed a few pressure points on his legs.
Ranma looked up at her. "That didn't do any good; I still can't feel them. Agggggghhhhhhhh!" He started to yell, "Dang, this hurts like hell! What did you do that for?"
Cologne laughed. "You can feel your legs now can't you? Just be happy that you can walk. Come back down to the fire and I'll explain everything."
Ranma looked really pissed off. "All right old hag, but this had better be good." He then paused, found his center, and then floated up into the air. "This is tough." He thought to himself. "Those six hours must have taken a lot out of me." Breathing hard with the exertion, he floated down the side of the mountain over the trees and the snow. Watching him go, Cologne only sighed. "My future son-in-law is incredible." She thought to herself. "If I could only make him Shampoo's husband the strength of our tribe would be greatly increased."
After those thoughts she began to travel down the side of the snowy mountain.
***********************************
"Ouch!" Akane yelped, after picking herself with a needle. After setting down the needle, she again turned to the book which was sitting open on her desk. She began to read out loud.
"To heal an injury, first find your magic within you. It should feel like a new muscle, one that you've just discovered. After finding it, form in your mind an image of what you would rather have the injured member of the body appear as. This visualization is difficult at first, but becomes easy with practice. After firmly having the image in your mind, focus the magic with your will to make that picture a reality. The magic will bend reality itself in order to grant your desire."
"Oh, is that all?" Akane said, looking annoyed. "Since when did Mom talk like she was a doctor or something?" She took a few deep breaths, and then found her center. Something else seemed to occupy the same place, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual one. Focusing upon that, suddenly an image of a door appeared in her mind. She fell backwards off her chair, landing on the ground with an unceremonious thump.
"Ouch." She said out loud. "I guess I found that door again, that's a good sign." She sat back in her chair. "So I suppose that for me I would only focus on pulling my energy out of the door."
She found her center again, and concentrated until she found the door inside of herself. She then formed a rough image of her pricked finger in her mind. With great exertion, she pulled energy out of the crack of the door and focused it into her finger. Opening her eyes, she saw that the prick was gone, leaving only healthy skin behind.
A smile filled her face and she jumped to her feet and began to dance around. "I did it! I did it!" She yelled out happily.
"Did what Akane?" She heard Kasumi's voice ask from outside the door. Akane ran over to the door and opened it. "I healed myself! I healed a prick on my finger!"
"That's wonderful Akane!" Kasumi said. "So, are you ready for the next step?"
Akane stopped moving at looked at Kasumi curiously. "What's the next step?"
Kasumi smiled down at her. "Head over to Dr. Tofu's and give him a little help by healing his patients. I'm sure that he'd appreciate it."
Akane looked nervous. "Are you sure that's a good idea? People might think I'm weird if I start doing things like that in public."
Kasumi shook her head. "No, not at all. People in Nerima are so kind and gentle, they'd just be happy for the help."
Akane smiled, still elated from her accomplishment. "Alright then, I'm going over now!" She quickly ran out the door, leaving the book behind.
Kasumi walked over to the book and began to flip through the pages. She began to read the chapter titles out loud to herself. "Chapter 1: Healing. Chapter 2: Defense. Chapter 3: Mind. Chapter 4: Attack. Chapter 5: Useful Tidbits. Chapter 6: Unpleasant Things." Kasumi managed a small frown. "Oh my. I hope that Akane doesn't get curious and visit the unpleasant things section. She sighed and began to talk to herself. "I remember when I was visited by the man of light; I was so elated to discover that I had magic. But soon after that, mother was attacked by that dark mage and. passed away." Unshed tears formed in her eyes. "Then the vision of the man of light came true. I became the new mother figure of the family, and used my magic to calm the hearts of Father, Nabiki and Akane. We were in such pain; it was only our love for each other and my magic that kept us from falling apart all together."
Kasumi stood up and wiped her eyes. "My, I have dinner to prepare!" She then walked out the door and closed it behind her.
************************************
Ranma and Cologne were sitting beside the fire, Ranma's face still quite blue. "Alright old hag, tell me about this crazy new training that you're going to put me through."
Cologne simply laughed. "You're right future son-in-law, the training is quite crazy. I'm so glad that you survived the first step, if you had died it would have made things so much more complicated."
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "You mean that you actually thought that I might die from that?"
Cologne nodded. "Yes, the cold that you experienced was great and only amplified by the vast amount of time that you were exposed to it. That is the purpose of this section of our training, to condition your body to be able to withstand vast variations in temperature. It is called the elemental resistance training."
Ranma nodded but still looked confused. "I see how this works, but what's the point? Just being able to withstand vast changes in temperature won't make me any stronger."
Cologne just shrugged. "Honestly I only have a small idea what Kami has in store for you. He will put you through training where you will need this resistance to survive, that's all I can tell you."
Ranma stared down into the fire, still trying to thaw his hands. "So how long should this training take?"
"For an average person, maybe a year. However, I think that you will be able to do it in just a few months if you push yourself hard enough."
Ranma tried to clench his fist but gave up because of how numb they were. He soon just settled for growling. "I don't have a few months! If I don't start the real training soon I won't be ready for the saiyajins when they arrive, and then the world will be doomed! And Akane will be gone." He finished silently to himself.
"You must have faith in Kami boy. He's not called the guardian of the earth for nothing you know. The goal of this training will be for you to be able to move freely even when extremely cold. From now on, you will be spending eight hours every day up on the mountain practicing your kata in the snow."
Ranma looked up at her confidently. "Is that all, I thought you were going to make it something hard."
Cologne gave a cruel smile. "One more thing. Don't use that spiritual trick to keep the snow from touching your body. I'm impressed by it but it is only a handicap to your training."
"What?!" Ranma yelled, looking slightly scared. He then shrugged and gave another cocky smile. "Alright, no spiritual defense." He leaned towards her looking serious. "I'll stay up there practicing kata for twenty-four hours straight before I'm through here."
Cologne reached up over the fire and quickly pulled Ranma down closer to it, until he was almost touching it.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Ranma yelled balancing above the fire.
Cologne chuckled. "Just reminding you that resistance to the cold isn't the only training you'll be going through sonny boy. You will also need to learn to resist the heat. I take it that taking baths in boiling water without getting blistered is one skill you're not eager to earn."
Ranma struggled for a few more moments until he realized that he could fly, and then simply levitated back to his seat.
"Withstand boiling water huh?" He asked, leaning back.
"That is correct." Cologne responded. "And fires as well. You have a tough time ahead of you sonny-boy."
But Ranma was already asleep, leaning backwards onto the grass and melted snow. Cologne sighed as she watched him, and then in a rare moment of compassion that surprised even her she pulled out a blanket and spread it over him. "I hope he stops resisting soon and just marries Shampoo." She thought wearily to herself. "Then this whole fiancée mess would be taken care of and we could happily return to the village."
She shook her head. "There is more important business to deal with at the moment. This boy will save the world, but I have to make him ready for it." She looked at Ranma again, and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
************************************
"Just sit still now, this wont hurt a bit." Akane said soothingly to the crying child who had a large bump on his head. Akane gently touched the bump and gently probed it. "Wow, this is pretty serious." She thought to herself. "It must hurt a lot, poor guy." Akane focused her breathing and then found her center, much quicker then in the past she proudly noticed. She then formed an image of an unwounded head in her mind, and forced her magic through the now more widely opened door in order to make it reality.
She heard the boy gasp in delight. "The pain is gone, thank you so much Ma'am!" Akane's eye twitched at the word ma'am, but only smiled to the boy. "Now run along and play, and be more careful this time!"
"I will!" Yelled the boy. He then happily ran out of the door.
"That was impressive Akane!" Dr. Tofu complimented her. "Your control over your powers is increasing all the time!"
Akane blushed at the compliment. "Stop it silly." She scolded herself. "You're over him now, you know that." She looked up at him, rising to her feet. "I think I'm ready to open the door a bit wider now, this is all coming so easily!"
Dr. Tofu smiled down at her, and then walked over to his desk and sat down. "I think that you've done everything you can do here Akane, you should go to the next stage."
Akane stared at him. "Are you serious? All I've taken care of are small bumps and scratches; I haven't tried to heal any serious wounds yet!"
Dr. Tofu shook his head. "I'm sure that you could easily handle all of those things, all you needed was the focus, which you have now. Those things will come easily to you as you progressively pull out more of your power. I think you should learn how to put your magic to other uses now."
Akane nodded slowly, looking at the ground. "I suppose you're right. Well, I enjoyed spending time with you Dr. Tofu."
Dr. Tofu laughed. "Don't look so down Akane! Say, I'll tell you what. How about every Saturday you come down at 4:00 and help me out? You'll get to keep practicing and improving your healing magic that way. Just use the rest of the days to practice other types of magic."
Akane smiled and looked up at him. "That would be great? That would really be alright with you?"
Dr. Tofu smiled back at her. "Of course, and my patients would appreciate it too. So I'll see you next Saturday Akane?"
"That's right." She then happily put on her shoes and walked out the door.
Looking after her, Dr. Tofu couldn't help but think of her older sister Kasumi. He always knew that she was magic somehow; he just never knew that she actually had magic until Akane had told him the whole story. "What an amazing family." He thought cheerfully to himself, and then went about finishing up the paperwork for the day.
**************************************
"How do I get myself into these weird situations?" Ranma asked himself. He was sitting in a large cauldron of boiling water wearing only his boxers. "Dang, this water is hot!"
Cologne was standing above the cauldron, stirring it with her staff. "I wonder when the soup will be ready." She said, amused.
"I told you not to do that!" Ranma yelled at her, knocking her staff aside. "People will think we're weird or something!"
Cologne started laughing. "You're actually concerned about that now? After you went into the village wearing a large block of ice on your head that most of them couldn't even carry? You have an odd sense of weird future son-in-law."
Ranma tried to ignore her, closing his eyes and ducking below the surface of the water. "I never would have thought that his was possible before." He said to himself. "But how will it help me to defeat the saiyajins? What is that special training that Cologne had mentioned?"
When he came up Cologne knocked the pot over, spilling Ranma onto the ground.
"Hey, what did you do that for?!" He asked, his battle aura already appearing.
"It's time, sonny boy. You have mastered this training. There is nothing else that I can do for you." She said, looking at him seriously. "The saiyajins are arriving tomorrow; you need to move without delay to Kami's lookout."
"What, they're arriving tomorrow?!" Ranma yelled out, startled. "That's not enough time for training; that gives me just a few hours max."
Cologne nodded. "Yes, only a few hours of training will be accomplished. But unless I'm mistaken, that will be more than enough time to make you stronger then you could possibly imagine."
Ranma stood up and began to get his clothes on. "I've trusted you up to this point; I'm not going to back out now. Tell me where his lookout is, I'm leaving right now."
"Merely travel east of here. You will cross an ocean and soon afterwards come across a small continent, of which currently has no name. From there you will be able to spot a narrow tower going up high into the sky. I have never been there myself, but I believe that Kami's lookout is directly above the top of that tower."
"Well, I'm going now." He paused for a moment. "Thanks for your help." After saying those words he quickly jumped into the air and flew off.
Cologne watched him until he was out of sight. "He may not realize it, but his power has almost tripled in this last year." She thought to herself. "But he'll need to become so much stronger to accomplish this task. But if anyone can handle it, it's my future son-in-law." She sighed and put out the fire, pausing to breath in the fresh spring mountain air. "Well, I suppose that Shampoo will need my help, it must be hard to be stuck with that idiot Mousse for a whole year." She then began to slowly hop down the side of the mountain.
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"You'd think that a tower that goes way up into the sky would be easy to find." Ranma said, floating high above the earth; not even noticing the temperature which was already pushing zero due to altitude. He paused and began to float in mid air. He then withdrew into his spirit and began to push it outwards, looking for signs of life.
"That's it!" He yelled, exited. "I sense an impressive power from over there!" He then flew off at an amazing speed.
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Kami was pacing back and forth quickly. One could almost see the path that he was creating on the stone floor. It seemed like this was his regular pace-when-nervous spot.
"Where is Ranma, he should be here by now! And there is no sign of Goku!" He yelled out in frustration.
"Calm down Kami." Mr. Popo said; concern in his eyes. "Ranma and Goku will be here soon enough, you know they're the same way. They'll show up just in the nick of time, the both of them."
Kami sighed and tried to relax. "Yes, I suppose you're right Mr. Popo." He looked thoughtful. "I have such high hopes hinging on both of them. For Goku to actually reach King Kai would be an extremely difficult thing. And Ranma, to survive respected elder Cologne's training would be just as difficult." He closed his eyes. "And for him to survive the next part of his training would be almost impossible."
Mr. Popo put his hand on Kami's back. "I wouldn't worry Kami, Ranma will be alright. He defeated Saffron remember? Even you thought that such a feat would be impossible for a human to accomplish."
"That's right, just leave everything to me!" Said a cocky voice from above them.
They both looked up to see Ranma hovering in the air. "Now, let's get this training started."
"Hurry Ranma!" Kami yelled out. "There isn't any time to spare; we only have four hours before they arrive!"
"What? Four hours?!" Ranma asked, dropping his cocky smile, partially because of the news and partially because of seeing Kami's antennae.
"Yes, follow me while I explain the next part of your training to you." Kami said, already beginning to walk quickly into the building. Mr. Popo closed the door behind them as they walked inside. "Come on Ranma." Mr. Popo thought to himself, "You and Goku are the only hopes we have now."
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"To put the questions out of your mind, you will be training in the room of space and time." Kami explained while quickly walking along. "In this room, an entire year passes with respect to only a day on earth."
"So that's why you were so confident when talking to Cologne earlier." Ranma said, putting the pieces together.
"That is correct." Kami responded. "I knew that you would have another year to train after completing the first on earth. Unfortunately, you only have four hours, which amounts to roughly two months of training. I was hoping that you'd have more time, though it can't be helped now."
"So what was the purpose of all that training that Cologne put me through?" Ranma asked.
"The environment of this room is extremely dangerous." Kami said, continuing his fast pace. "Everything in this room weighs ten times more then what it does on earth. Furthermore, the temperature changes extremely quickly. It can go from a blazing inferno to a glacier in a matter of only a few seconds. The temperature variations are much more radical then even what Cologne has put you through up to this point. Without her training there would be no chance of your survival in the room, you would be instantly burnt or frozen to death upon entry."
"That makes sense, so why didn't Cologne just tell me that in the first place instead of hiding it from me?"
Kami smiled slightly, though it was obviously only a nervous smile. "I needed to make sure that your heart was in it. If you knew that you had another year of training coming up, you wouldn't have pursued Cologne's training so desperately. Am I right in saying so?"
Ranma looked down. "Yeah, I suppose so."
"This will be the hardest training that you'll ever go through. Every second that you're in there you will be desperately struggling for your survival. Don't wander too far from the citadel which is where your home will be. In there the gravity will be normal, and you will be able to eat and rest. There are some clothes inside the door that you can use that won't be destroyed by the extreme elements. Once you're more comfortable with the high gravity and the weather, begin to push your spirit as well as your body. Your spirit needs to be much stronger for the task ahead."
Ranma listened silently through his instructions. "Two months huh?" He laughed and smiled. "I'd say that's more than enough time. Those saiyajins won't know what hit them!"
Kami stopped in front of a door. "Here we are Ranma, the room of space and time." He looked over at the exited teenager standing next to him. "Do you have any questions?"
Ranma shook his head. "No, I'm ready for this. I'm going in." With saying that he pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing it after himself.
Kami stood still for a moment, watching the door. Then he simply walked away, his face a mask, but his mind swimming with conflicting emotions.
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Ranma found himself standing on a tiled floor outside of a building roughly the size of a house. To his left he saw several martial arts uniforms hanging up that looked kind of like space suits. Stretching as far out he could see was just endless tile, endless world.
"Could this place really be as bad as he described?" Ranma asked himself. "It just looks like empty space to me."
He walked over and took off his clothes and put on the suit. Instantly he could notice a difference. "Hey, this is heavy, is this clothing weighted?" Ranma tried moving around, then shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter anyways."
Moving forward, he came to the edge of the tile of the citadel. "I guess I'd better get started." He said to himself, and then took a short leap onto the tile floor. He instantly fell to his knees.
"Damn I'm heavy! I can barely move!" He cursed to himself and then slowly struggled to his feet. Ranma then carefully went through the easiest kata he knew, struggling to get his kicks above his waist. This was going to be a long two months.
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Well, that's all for now! I hope you enjoyed it! Once again thank you Ranko for your help! I appreciate it!