Joining 4: Preliminary Confrontations
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.
"You hear a shining." - Me, (unfortunately) while hosting a role playing game
"Excuse me could I borrow your cloak? I seem to have lost my loin clothe." -Simply called the barbarian
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It was quiet, deathly quiet. As far as the eyes could see, there was only a narrow road above a sea of yellow clouds. The road was a strange blue color, lined with small snake like scales. Its movement even seemed like that of a snake, it twisted about seemingly at random and at times even performed loops.
A faint buzzing sound interrupted the perfect quiet. Off in the distance one could see a faint blue light above the road. The buzzing and the light grew greater and greater, until a human like form appeared to manifest itself within the light. It was a man, just below six feet tall, who was both lean and quite muscular. He had black spiky hair, and no matter how you looked at it there always seemed to be a large tuft off to the side. He was sweating, and the great strain that was apparent on his face showed that he was putting maximum effort into his motion.
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"I need to be faster!" Goku yelled to himself as he ran along the seemingly endless road. "I need to get back to earth so I can help my friends! I need more speed!" Goku could feel his body growing tired with his awesome exertion but he didn't care. When his friends were in danger nothing else mattered but going to help them.
Black shadows wrapped themselves around the path ahead of him. "What, that's magic!" Goku said to himself, and then paused to look at it. He then shook his head in frustration. "I don't have time for this, every second counts!"
A maniacal laughter came from the mist. "Oh, you don't have for this. I'm so disappointed. I was looking forward to playing with you." A form began to appear with the mist. It was extremely large, close to seven feet tall, and wore a black robe which stretched all of the way down to its feet. Out of the top of its hood two large horns could be seen.
"Get out of my way!" Goku yelled in frustration. "I need to help my friends. Don't force me to fight you!"
The mist dissipated and the figure began to walk towards Goku. "I think that you had better make time. I wouldn't worry about your friends, they'll be coming to this dimension soon enough."
Goku appeared to calm down slightly but still appeared very angry. "You're not going to let me pass you without a fight, are you?"
The figure began to laugh. "Not likely, since I did come here to thoroughly thrash you after all. Your friends are all desperate for you to arrive you know. Many of them are already dead. It's too bad, really, that you couldn't be on time. Then maybe this whole mess would be taken care of already."
An aura appeared around Goku as his fighting spirit began to gather. "So what's your stake in this, are you on the side of the saiyajins and just came here to cut me off?"
"No, you misunderstand." The large figure said with an amused voice. "Those pathetic saiyajins are rather below me. I just came here because I found the idea of your friends dieing while waiting for you was rather poetic. So you see that I am an artist, not a brute like you and your saiyajin kin."
"Heh, you already seem to know a little about me." Goku said, his battle aura still flaring. "So why not tell me a little bit about yourself? I can see that your robe holds a good deal of magical power. So why don't you remove it? I want to see who my enemy is before I fight."
"All right, if that's what you really want." The figure reached up one and grabbed the hood of the robe, and then flung it aside. "I am. Captain Ginyu!"
The large man had purple skin and appeared to be wearing some kind of alien battle armor. He had a large forehead which was bulging with veins and overall was extremely muscular. At the moment he was performing a pose where his feet were parallel. Most of his weight was on his left leg which was bent, and his arms were held high into the air.
"His power. It's incredible." Goku said, almost in disbelief. "Your cloak, it was hiding your power."
"Quite perceptive for a barbaric saiyajin." Captain Ginyu laughed. "So you have some minor skills that don't relate to combat after all. I can see that you're surprised. You must be amazed at this excellent pose. Quite elegant if I do say so myself."
Goku would have sweat dropped if the situation hadn't been so serious. "Well, no, your pose has nothing to do with it. I was just commenting on how strong you are."
Captain Ginyu looked angry. "What, my pose has everything to do with it! It's about style! That's why you saiyajins never amount to anything; you always ignore the most important part of combat, which is a good battle pose!"
Goku looked clueless (which isn't very hard to imagine) "Why, does a pose actually help you fight? All it's really doing right now is making you look silly."
Captain Ginyu fell back into a battle stance, the already protruded veins on his head bulging with his anger. Then he smiled and his entire body relaxed. "I wouldn't expect an inferior being like you to understand the necessities of a good pose. Now why don't we stop talking about that and get to the point. I'm going to thrash you so badly that you'll have bruises in the afterlife." He then began to laugh as if he had created some private joke.
"I don't like this, his power is Huge!" Goku said to himself. "Even with the Kaioh-Ken I couldn't even scratch this guy!"
"Alright saiyajin, let's get started. I'll take the first move, if you don't mind." After saying those words he disappeared.
"What, where did he go?!" Goku yelled out, desperately scanning the horizon.
"Right behind you." A voice whispered in his ear.
Goku turned around to see Ginyu towering above him. With a single punch to the gut Goku fell to knees, coughing uncontrollably. "He's too fast." Goku thought to himself. "I can't follow him at all. This isn't good. Gohan."
Goku looked up at Captain Ginyu, his eyes flaring. "Get out of my way!!!! Kaioh-Ken times four!!!" A wild burst of energy surrounded Goku's body. His muscles bulged out, the veins leaping and throbbing. He cupped his hands together and brought them to the side of his body. "This guy is way out of my league." Goku thought to himself, staring into the amused eyes of Captain Ginyu. "The longer this battle drags on, the less chance I have of victory. If I don't end it with my first attack, then it's all over. I can't let that happen! They need me."
"Now, Kamehameha!"
"Oh a little trick to increase your power, how amusing. I didn't know that the saiyajins had such fancy little tricks. So they're not just trained monkeys after all. Well, then give me everything you have!" Captain Ginyu stepped back into a fighting stance and held out his hands.
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On a small planetoid, far away. "Goku no! What are you doing! I told you not to go above a double Kaioh- Ken no matter what!" King Kai looked towards the ground, his fists clenched. "This isn't good, his enemy is radically strong, why couldn't I detect him! It must have been that robe of his. Maybe he's a servant of Freezer! Oh No! It's hopeless!"
Gregory the insect and Bubbles the monkey were both standing behind him, looking confused.
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Goku began to gather all of his energy into the palms of his hands. "Ka-Me- Ha-Me-Ha!!!!"
He quickly pushed his hands towards Captain Ginyu causing a huge blast of energy to erupt forward. The lighting on the road began to spin wildly and the clouds around the road spread apart, displaying Hell below in all of its glory. The clothes that Goku was wearing began to flap wildly in the wake of the attack.
Captain Ginyu reached forward and grabbed the large blast with both of his hands. His muscles bulged with the exertion. "Rrrrrraaaaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!" He yelled as he flung the attack past himself, causing it to spiral into Hell. A huge explosion could be heard immediately afterwards.
Goku stood still, panting, his arms still reached out. His face showed a mixture of disbelief and fear. "Not possible." He said to himself.
Captain Ginyu began to laugh. "Quite an impressive attempt. That's certainly much more then what I would have given you credit for. It's a pity that it didn't work. Now I suppose that it's my turn again. I wonder where I should begin."
Goku weakly leaned back into a defensive stance. "Can't give up." He thought to himself. "I have to protect, Gohan, Krillin, Chi-chi, all of my friends. They're counting on me. I can't give up. If I do then they will all."
Faster then Goku could blink, Captain Ginyu launched forward and administered a brutal overhead strike, sending Goku's face against the ground. Before he had a chance to move, Captain viciously stomped his back, causing Goku to scream out in pain. Captain Ginyu then proceeded to pick him up by the hair and hold him up so that his feet were dangling a foot and a half above the ground.
"Do you find this painful little saiyajin? Maybe now you will appreciate the power that practicing poses for sixteen hours a day will bring."
"Kaioh-Ken attack!" Goku yelled out. With his right hand he broke the grip that Captain Ginyu had on his hair by pushing down on his knuckles and in the same instant he fluidly moved forward and uppercutted Captain Ginyu on the chin.
"So you still have some fight left in you." Captain Ginyu commented while rubbing a small red mark on his chin. "As much as I would like to stay around and play I think it's time I finished this." Even with the heightened power of the Kaioh-Ken Goku couldn't avoid his next attack. Captain Ginyu merely back fisted him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
"A worthy attempt." Captain Ginyu commented with a smile. "I do hope that Emperor Freezer allows me to kill Vegita for him when he returns. If this is what a Class C soldier is like, then the prince would have to be even more fun!"
He stood laughing for a moment, while at the same time practicing a victory pose. "I am. Captain Ginyu!" While he was posing his black robe flew off the ground onto his body, again making his features unrecognizable.
"Teleport Now!" With that phrase, Captain Ginyu disappeared into the air.
Where Goku was lying unconscious a dramatic pool of blood could be seen building up under his body.
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"Where are they? I can't believe it; both Ranma and Goku are late!" Kami said to himself frantically while pacing back and forth.
"Please Kami, try to calm down." Mr. Popo begged, watching him with a worried expression. "They must have really good reasons why they're not here, but you know those two. They'll be here just in the nick of time."
Kami stopped and turned to stare at the door leading into the room of space and time, and then he simply sighed. "Yes of course you're right. But everything about this entire situation just feels wrong somehow. I can't help but feel that I'm not seeing something that should be obvious."
Mr. Popo nodded, and then sadly looked at the ground. "There have been so many casualties already. I do hope that Ranma and Goku will arrive soon."
Kami wearily took a seat in a chair that was beside the door. "So do I dear friend, so do I."
Together they stared almost despairingly at the same place on the ground.
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All that could be seen was an inferno, a fire so large and so magnificent that it was blinding to even look at. In the middle of the fire, there was a brilliant blue aura, which in the way it raged appeared remarkably similar to the fire. And then the owner of the aura began to dance. It was an interesting thing to see; the dance started on the outside of the fire and then quickly began to spiral inwards.
The fire was hungry; it followed the aura, trying desperately to devour it with its own strength. The fire continued to follow the energy which opposed its own, spinning inwards upon itself until it found itself twisted in a huge spiral pattern. It found itself trapped.
"Hiryü Shöten Ha!" Ranma yelled out. With the massive amount of heat provided by the fire, a huge spiraling tornado formed with close to a quarter mile radius. It erupted upwards with a brilliant display, and then broke apart and disappeared into the endless sky, much like a large firework.
Breathing hard, Ranma floated down to the tile. "That's enough; I finally think I'm ready." He said out loud, and then chuckled to himself. "It's been such a long time since I've heard a human voice I'm willing to do anything, even talk to myself. Well in any case, it's time to get back."
The citadel was visible in the far distance from his line of vision, just peaking over the horizon. Ranma began a slow comfortable walk, moving easily and gracefully where before he had struggled only to stand up.
"Kami was right about this place." Ranma thought to himself. "I've been here only a few months, but I've come close to dying more times then I care to remember. Every second was a struggle to survive. Heck, when I first started, it was a struggle to even breathe let alone walk."
As he was walking a huge glacier rose up around him, attempting to trap him within its icy boundaries. In response to this Ranma simply powered up. With the great heat of his aura the ice which before was trying desperately to grab him desired only to escaped, it transformed directly into steam and floated away.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped off of the training ground and onto the floor of the citadel. Still sweating, he walked over to the living quarters of the citadel and ate food and bathed. He then slept for close to ten hours and dressed himself back up in his traditional Chinese garb. "Well I'm ready." He thought to himself. "I've been waiting for what's coming next for a long time."
Smiling cockily, Ranma walked to the exit of the room of space and time.
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The door to the room of space and time opened. Both Kami and Mr. Popo quickly looked up, and saw Ranma step out of the door.
He appeared somewhat different then before. He still had that lean athletic look, but was obviously more muscular. His hair appeared to have grown about two inches all around, meaning that his spikes were now down and somewhat in front of his face. His ponytail was also somewhat longer. What was most different about him, however, were his eyes. They were completely focused and serious; they showed that much mental preparation had happened in the last few months as well as physical preparation.
"Hey, I'm here now, everything's going to be all right." Ranma said, coolly and confidently. "I can feel the power of the saiyajin fighters, I know where to go. I'll see you later Kami. Thanks for everything."
"Wait Ranma!" Kami said loudly. "You are three hours late and there has already been a break in the fighting." He looked into Ranma's eyes as he turned around. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I want you to avoid engaging the stronger one until Goku gets back."
Ranma smiled confidently. "If you say so, but I feel so good I think I could take both of them at once."
Kami nodded, "Yes, that may be possible but that's not a risk I feel that we should take. Before you go, I want you to have this." Out of his robes he pulled a small stone and handed it to Ranma.
"What is it?" Ranma asked curiously while carefully examining the smooth surface of the stone.
"Merely a communication stone." Kami responded. "Any thoughts that you direct at this I will be able to hear, and likewise for the twin stone that I possess." He showed another small stone just like it in his hand. "It may be helpful if you need advice against those two."
Ranma looked into his eyes. "Thank you." He replied simply. He looked past Kami and spent a moment staring at something that only he could see before he returned his gaze to the robed man in front of him. "It's time" He said in a low voice.
Kami nodded to him. "Go and fight well Ranma Saotome. Bring honor to your school and to the earth."
"Good luck Ranma." Mr. Popo said, almost in tears.
"Hey, who said that I needed luck?" Ranma said with a wide arrogant smile. "Save it for the other guys, they're gonna need it."
With blazing speed Ranma took off and dived off the side of Kami's look out.
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"Wake up Akane!" A voice yelled out in the darkness. "Your help is needed, wake up!"
Akane blinked groggily and sat up in her bed. The loud voice that she thought that she had heard was still reverberating about in her mind. "Who said that?" She asked out loud, still half asleep. Glancing over at her clock she saw that it was already five in the morning, almost time to get up for her morning jog anyways.
A form manifested itself in front of her, a familiar figure wearing brilliant golden robes with only a beautiful light for a face. "Your talents are needed Akane, desperately needed."
Akane stared at him blankly for a few moments, and then screamed out loud causing the man to put his hands to the side of his head. "Quiet, are you trying to wake up the whole house?" The figure hushed her. "Oh, sorry." She said, not quite sure how to respond.
"Are you alright Akane?" Kasumi asked from outside, her voice filled with concern. Akane gave an embarrassed laugh. "I'm alright Kasumi; I just thought for a moment that I had overslept."
"Man that was lame." She thought to herself immediately afterwards.
There was a pause. "Alright Akane, remember that you have morning duty in your homeroom today."
"I will thank you." Akane responded. After Kasumi walked away, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned angrily to the figure standing before her.
"What's the big idea coming into a lady's room uninvited?" She said in a furious whisper.
The figure shrugged. "Well, seeing as how I don't have a body I found it rather difficult to knock, besides there's extremely pressing business that needs to be taken care of."
Her anger immediately evaporated and her eyes widened with a look of concern. "What, is Ranma in trouble?!" Akane asked, holding her breathe.
"No, not Ranma." The figure shook its head. "However, the one that will fight side by side with Ranma was unexpectedly attacked and almost killed. I need you to use your powers of healing upon him."
"Where is he?" Akane asked.
"He is on snake way, in the world of the dead." The man responded. "This will be especially difficult for you, as you have never traveled to a different dimension before by means of teleportation. But it has to be done."
"The world of the dead?" Akane asked hesitantly. "But if he's already there how would I be able to help him?"
"He himself was already wished back to life, so he is alive." Said the figure. "However, the attack occurred before he could successfully leave that world. Now tell me, how much have you practiced teleportation up to this point?"
"Well, a little." Akane said. "But it's still really difficult for me."
"It doesn't matter." Said the figure. "I know that you're ready. Traveling to a different dimension is only slightly different from traveling within a singular dimension. Simply form in your mind an image of where you're going. When you try to go there, you will find a great wall in your path. That wall is the dimensional barrier. Simply puncture it with your mind and force your body through it. The rest will take care of itself."
"But I don't know what the world of the dead looks like." Akane said, trying to picture a horrible place with demons scampering about.
"I will provide the image for you to focus on." The figure said. "The rest you'll need to handle." He then reached out his hand and placed it on her head. "Now, relax as I do this, it will make things simpler."
Akane nodded and cleared her mind. Suddenly an image burst into her head, so clear she could almost swear that she was looking at it with her own eyes. She saw the road stretching on forever, but what most caught her attention was the pale man lying on the ground with his life blood forming a pool beneath him.
"That man is Goku." The voice told her. "He needs your help. You must go to him immediately."
"But I need to get dressed first." Akane said, looking down at her pajamas.
The figure chuckled. "I suppose that those clothes are not appropriate for the path ahead. Here is something that may be more to your liking."
With a snap of his fingers a golden light surrounded Akane and then settled on her skin. The light appeared to take solid form and condensed onto her body. She was soon covered with brilliant golden robes, just like the ones that the man was wearing.
"I hear that it's all the rage with the younger sorcerers nowadays." The man said coyly. "I do hope that you'll enjoy it."
"I love it." Akane said, turning around in circles admiring the way the robes fluttered about her but still clung to her figure.
"I also gave you matching earrings." The man continued. "You can't say that I don't have an eye for good fashion."
Stepping over to a mirror Akane gasped. In each of her ears was a beautiful silver earring that looked a little a full moon. Each one almost seemed to produce its own little light that twinkled with mystery. "They're beautiful." She whispered to herself. "Thank you man of light."
The man coughed uncomfortably. "Just call me Maple, please. I've never really been comfortable with this man of light stuff. But you have a job to do, and you need to move quickly."
"Of course." Akane said seriously, turning away from the mirror. Focusing, she again found the image of the road in her mind. She then brought of the image of the door, and tried to force herself to move to where the man was on the road.
Straight off she could feel a wall in her way. Struggling, she reached over and opened the door another few inches. Instantly she could feel a great rush of power come over her. Straining with effort, she took the power and punctured the wall. With force of will alone she then forced herself through the hole, and to the world on the other side.
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"Alright, let's see what's over there." Ranma said to himself as he flew through the sky at a blazing speed. "I'm detecting two huge powers and three large powers. At this rate it should only be a few more minutes until I get there."
He smiled confidently. "I can't believe how strong I am, I feel incredible! Those saiyajins won't know what hit them."
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The scenario was action torn. There was a huge split in the ground where some kind of quake had hit earlier. The rocky landscape was filled with blast holes. There was not a sign of life in sight.
Two opposing sides were obvious from the five standing there. On one side was a large brutish man and a small man with large hair. On the opposite side was a tall green man with antennae, a very small man with a bald head, and an even smaller child with long black hair.
"Whoah." Said Piccolo, his eyes wide with disbelief. "I can sense a huge power headed right for us."
"You're right Piccolo." Krillin said, his eyes filling with hope. "I felt it too."
"It's my dad, it has to be!" Gohan said, close to tears. "He's coming for us, I just know it!"
"Hey, come on." Nappa said in disbelief. "You can't sense his power from way out here, can you?"
"I'm afraid you're wrong." Piccilo said, smiling evilly. "Sensing his power is easy, especially since he has so much of it."
"Is there anything out there Vegita?" Nappa asked, turning to his smaller ally. He began to chuckle nervously. "Or are our little friends here just talking a load of nonsense?"
Vegita began to play with the scouter he was wearing. "No, Nappa, there is definitely something out there." His eyes widened in shock. He slowly looked up into Nappa's eyes. "My scouter is reading 4,000."
"What, 4,000! No way!" Nappa yelled out in shock.
"I'm afraid that it's true." Vegita said with an angry frown. "Nappa, I want you to kill them all, before Kakarot gets here to join them."
"But what about the Dragon Balls?" Nappa asked dumbfounded.
"Forget about the Dragon Balls, I have another plan." Vegita said confidently. "I have heard stories before about the legendary Dragon Balls of Namek. When I come here to earth to seek the Dragon Balls, what do I find but a Namek. So we'll just kill this one here and go to the source of the Dragon Balls and make our wish there. But as it is we can't risk allowing Kakarot to join his friends, it would be too dangerous."
"Aww, I gotcha." Nappa said. "So why bother buying eggs from the store when we can just go to the coop and get them directly from the source."
"That is correct Nappa. Amazing analogy, maybe you're not as stupid as you constantly let on."
"Thanks Vegita. It makes me feel warm and squishy on the inside to hear you say that." Nappa turned to the three defenders. "And you'll be warm and squishy on the outside once I'm done with you!" He then started laughing loudly.
"Man what a horrible sound." Piccolo thought to himself. "I hope that Goku gets here soon and shuts him up."
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"This isn't good." Ranma thought to himself. "One of those powers is gathering a great deal of energy; the fighting must have started again. I have to get there before someone gets killed!" Focusing his spirit out in front he created a wedge of energy that parted the air, providing himself with extreme ease of movement.
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When the huge blast of energy was flying at Gohan, Piccolo didn't have time to think, he only had time to run. While he was running he remembered. He remembered when he had first taken Gohan into the wild, how he had smiled even in the midst of hardships. He remembered how Gohan had laughed and had been so joyful when he was given only a simple apple. He remembered how he had promised Gohan that he would never let anything happen to him, and how heavy the promise had felt on his heart. But now the promise made everything perfectly clear.
Piccolo knew what he had to do. He knew that he had to keep his promise no matter what.
Piccolo stopped in front of the torrent of incoming energy and braced himself for contact, for certain death. But at the last instant, the attack curved off to the side, destroying his right arm. But it had missed its target; both he and Gohan were alive.
"What. it missed?" Piccolo asked in disbelief.
"Are you alright Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, almost in tears with worry. "Tell me you're alright!"
"I'm alright kid." "But I don't know why." He silently admitted to himself.
"Ah man, I can't believe I missed!" Nappa yelled out, punching the ground with frustration. "How'd you do that Namek?"
Vegita looked carefully at Piccolo. "Something is wrong; Nappa's attack however clumsy was spot on. It should not have missed."
"Whoa man, lucky break. I guess the big guy is as stupid as he looks." Krillin said, relieved but still afraid.
Vegita's eyes narrowed. "Nappa! Look over by the column!"
"What, what do you see Vegita?!" Nappa turned around, and saw something that he couldn't believe. Standing on the column of stone was a teenager wearing a red Chinese shirt with kung-fu pants and slippers. He had a cocky look about him, and was currently smiling widely.
"Hey big guy, that was a pretty good try, but you seriously need to work on your aim. I'd practice a little bit if I were you."
Veins were already bulging out of Nappa's head. "Don't mouth off to me you runt, you have no idea who you're dealing with! Get a reading on this guy, will you Vegita?"
Vegita nodded as he turned his scanner on the boy. His eyes widened greatly. "Nappa, I'm reading 4,000."
Nappa stared at him in shock. "What, this runt has a power level of 4,000? Then where's Kakarot?"
"If you're looking for Goku, I'm sure he'll be along shortly." Ranma said confidently. "He's also undergoing special training. But I wouldn't worry about him now that I'm here. I don't think there'll be anything left of you guys for him to take care of."
"What did you say?!" Nappa shouted, turning to him.
"Quiet Nappa!" Vegita yelled. Then he spoke in a normal voice. "I'm curious to hear what this boy has to say. Tell me, what's your name?"
"Ranma Saotome." He responded with a proud smile.
Vegita frowned. "I think I remember Raditz mentioning something about a Ranma Soatome, all he said was that she was a little weakling with a big mouth." He looked up at the boy perched on the column. "You must have trained quite hard to have reached a power level of 4,000 in just one year; I must say I'm impressed." He paused for a moment at looked towards the ground. "Wait a second; I'm almost positive that Raditz said that Ranma Saotome was a female." He thought to himself. He looked back up at Ranma. "Something isn't right here."
Ranma smiled. "Thanks." He turned to where the others were watching him. "You guys have already done enough; I'll be taking them on alone. You can leave now."
"What, that's crazy!" Krillin yelled out. "You see that big guy there, he has horrible power! It will probably take all of us just to beat him!"
"He's right!" Gohan cried out. "His power is too great, please let us help you Mr. Ranma!"
"Stay back you two!" Piccolo yelled.
Gohan and Krillin stared at him in shock. "But why Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked. "Yeah really, you know how strong that big guy is, Ranma will need our help." Krillin agreed. Piccolo stared intently at Ranma, who was staring equally intently back at him.
"It's an instinct I have. I have no idea who Ranma is or where he came from, but I feel that we should trust him in this. He is up to task, I can sense it." He growled. "And we'd only be getting in the way."
Ranma nodded to him in silent thanks and then turned back to Nappa. "Alright big guy, why don't you show me what you've got?" He asked out loud.
Ranma's eyes were completely focused on Nappa. "Now's my chance." He thought to himself. "This is the moment I've been waiting for, for the last year. It's time to restore honor to the Saotome school of anything goes martial arts. And it's time to protect the earth, and especially Akane."
"How about it Vegita?" Nappa asked, turning to his smaller ally. "Is it alright if I pulverize him?"
"Yes, of course Nappa. He's all yours." Vegita responded, smiling cruelly.
"All right." Nappa laughed, turning back to Ranma. "You heard the man, you're all mine."
************************************
"This place is so quiet." Akane thought to herself as she looked around. "So this is what the world of the dead is like." Looking around she saw a man wearing an orange martial arts uniform lying on the ground.
"This must be Goku!" She said out loud. "I hope I'm in time!" She kneeled down next to him and turned him over, only to gasp when she saw his face. It was torn, and the right side of his face was covered with an ugly bruise. A large part of his shirt was also ripped, apparently from a strike of some kind. Clotted blood was now resting in a wound on his abdomen and his shirt was still wet with it.
Akane put a finger on his neck. "This isn't good." She thought to herself. "His breathing is shallow and his pulse is almost gone. He must have received a lot more wounds then are obvious here." Her eyes widened. "I can sense it, his ki is almost gone! He must have used almost all of it in a struggle of some kind!"
She shook her head. "First I need to worry about these nasty wounds of his; I can worry about his ki once he's in stable condition." She put both of her hands on the wound on his abdomen and focused to find her inner spirit.
"Not enough power." She thought to herself. "I'm going to need to open the door much wider to be able to help him at all; oh I hope I'm ready for this." She brought the image of the door forth in her mind again. Now there was close to half a foot of open space between the door and the wall. She gritted her teeth and with a loud martial arts yell opened the door another half foot. Instantly she could fell a large amount of energy swirling about inside her, she had to pause for a full minute to gain control of it.
"That's the hard part." She thought to herself. "Now just to form a picture of what his stomach looks like at full health. I bet it's a lot like what Ranma's stomach would look like." She found herself blushing slightly, but then shrugged it off. She found an image of a healed torso in her mind, and then found her magic swirling about in her center. With her magic, she forced the image of the healed stomach to become reality.
And it did.
Almost amazed, Akane stared down at the large rip in Goku's shirt at the smooth and clean skin where before there had only been a large and ugly wound. "I did it." Akane thought in disbelief. "I actually healed a large wound. Dr. Tofu was right about me." She smiled happily and spent a few moments enjoying her success.
"I don't have time for this right now!" She yelled to herself. She moved over to his face and put her hand on it. "Now to take care of this ugly bruise." After focusing for a few moments she saw that his face was healed.
Akane sighed and sat back. "I guess that all that's left is to heal his ki." She brushed her hair away from her face. "I'm getting tired; I'm not used to exerting my magic like this."
Putting her hands on Goku's chest she tried to feel his energy. After a few moments, she found communion with his spirit. Imagining his energy being a great deal stronger, she focused her magic into making it reality.
Instantly his chi flared.
*****************************
Goku woke up to see a young girl with black hair and golden robes sitting above him. The earrings that she was wearing looked so much like full moons that he was amazed. She appeared to be very tired.
"Are you alright?" He asked in concern while sitting up. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Akane looked into his concern filled eyes and felt somewhat comforted. "No. I'm just really tired right now. When I was trying to heal your energy I accidentally gave you some of mine, so I'm afraid that I don't have much left."
Goku put his hand behind his head. "Well gee, I appreciate the help but you really didn't need to do that." His eyes widened in shock. "I almost forgot, Gohan and the others, they need my help!"
Akane nodded. "It's alright Goku, go to them, I teleported here, I can teleport back. I just wish I had the energy to take you with me but I'm afraid that I don't feel up to that right now. You'll have to leave the long way."
Goku jumped to his feet, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, I won't forget this."
"Goku!" She said before he started off. He stopped and looked at her. "What is it?" He asked.
Tears were forming in her eyes. "If you come across someone called Ranma. I want you to help him. Alright? Don't let anything happen to him."
Goku nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, just leave it to me. If I come across someone named Ranma I'll make sure that I'll do everything I can to help him and keep him from harm." With saying that he gathered his energy and began to run at a great speed. In only a few moments he was out of sight.
"That's what Ranma would have said." Akane thought to herself. "I know I can trust him." Wearily she rose to her feet, not pausing to notice that not even a drop of wet blood stuck to her beautiful golden robes.
She brought into her tired mind an image of her room back at her house. Focusing, she came across the barrier between dimensions that she expected to be there. Bringing forth her will, she tried to puncture it with her mind.
But she slipped.
Because of the great weariness of her mind, her puncture went right off the wall and instead plunged downwards. Akane could feel her body following the great weight of her magic, and she could feel herself plunging downwards as well. Downwards she fell, it seemed like forever.
And she was screaming mentally the entire way down.
*************************************
"That girl's energy just disappeared." Goku noted to himself as he ran along. "I wonder how she found me out here. She seemed to possess quite a bit of magical energy, even more then that Captain Ginyu." Goku rubbed the sore spot that was still on his back. "I'd say he was an amateur magician, nothing compared to the witch Baba or that girl. But his strength was. crazy. Just crazy." A huge smile lit across Goku's face. "I can't wait to fight him again. And I can't wait to meet this Ranma."
Aura flaring he continued his journey along Snake Way."
************************************
Nappa and Ranma stood facing each other, close to twenty feet apart. The wind blew between them. Next a few bale weeds blew by. The scene was set perfectly.
"Rrrrrraaaaaaagggggghhhhhhh!" Nappa yelled as he charged Ranma. Ranma just looked at him confidently, not stepping back into a fighting stance or even twitching.
"What is he doing, is he crazy?!" Krillin yelled out.
"You little fool!" Nappa yelled and took a wide swing at Ranma with his left hand.
He missed.
"Hey, he missed." Krillin said, dumbfounded. (You knew it was coming)
But Ranma hadn't even moved a muscle. He just continued to look confidently at Nappa.
"Why you!" Nappa yelled, and then began to throw out a flurry of punches. But they all missed. Angry he became even faster, and began to swing wildly, almost out of control.
"Wow, he has really bad aim." Gohan commented, eyes wide as saucers.
"You are mistaken." Piccolo said, staring intently at Ranma. "What do you mean Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, staring up at him curiously. "I can't believe this kid." Piccolo thought to himself. "I never would have thought of using telekinesis like that."
Gohan looked up at him for a moment longer and then returned his gaze to Nappa's struggle, seemingly against himself as Ranma still hadn't moved to defend himself.
"Stop it Nappa!" Vegita yelled out. "Are you such a fool that you can't see the obvious!?"
Nappa paused and looked dumbly back at Vegita. "What do you mean Vegita? What's obvious?"
Vegita frowned. "Every attack that you've thrown so far has been wild. Haven't you noticed how his eyes were following the path of your punches? He could tell where you were going to attack before even you knew!"
"Shit." Ranma thought to himself, looking over at the smaller saiyajin. "He's not at all like this big idiot; he's a lot more observant. And to top it off this big guy seems to be taking orders from him. I can't wait to fight that small guy." He smiled at the thought.
"Yes, it's quite obvious Nappa." Vegita said out loud. "Our resourceful little friend is using some kind of telekinesis technique to send all of your attacks out wide. When you're attacking so uncontrollably it's quite an easy feat for him. So why don't you slow down a little and throw a few careful attacks. Try thinking about how you're going to attack him before you do for once. But try not to strain yourself."
"Don't worry Vegita, I won't." Nappa said, and then turned back to Ranma. "So you think you're clever do you? Well I have news for you. Being clever won't change the fact that you're a weakling!" He smiled cruelly. "And weaklings always lose when they fight the strong."
Ranma smiled back at him. "You can say that, but it doesn't take much for a weakling to beat a strong guy if they're as stupid as you."
"Why you!" Nappa yelled. Vegita just started laughing "I like you Ranma." He said out loud. "It's a pity that Nappa has to kill you."
Ranma smiled cockily. "Look, Nappa, I've got a little deal for you."
Nappa's eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal?"
"I'm going to give you another chance to hit me, a chance to redeem yourself. I'm not going to dodge or use telekinesis. However, I will try to block or counterattack if I'm able. Is it a deal?"
Nappa smiled; a horrible smile which filled his entire face.
"It's a deal kid."
*********************************
"Oh no, what is Ranma thinking?" King Kai yelled out loud. "He's a fool to make such a deal with that saiyajin, he has no idea what he's getting himself into!"
He began to pace. "At least Goku is back on his feet, and fully healed from that attack. He's stronger then he ever was before. But will he get to the battlefield in time to help Ranma? Oh No!"
Bubbles and Gregory were standing still, cluelessly watching him pace.
**********************************
Still standing in the same position that he had assumed when he arrived, Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated. The smile never left his face.
"I'll teach you to taunt me!" Nappa yelled out and then gathered his energy. Moving faster then the eye could follow; he disappeared and reappeared behind Ranma.
"Ranma no!!!" Krillin yelled out (He found the time somehow)
Ranma yelled out the instant before Nappa made contact. "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken Advanced!" Instantly a blur of fists sprang up in front of him, and behind him as well. In fact, the fists blurred all around him, above and below and to both sides. Ranma had disappeared behind an aura of fists; he was covered on all sides. His body could no longer be seen.
"What, impossible!" Nappa yelled out. His outstretched arm was covered in blows. Every part up to his elbow received a few hundred strikes in just under a second. One or two wouldn't have hurt very badly, but in the hundreds his arm felt like it was on fire.
Because the punches were directed below him as well, the rock that Ranma was standing on disintegrated, leaving him floating in the air. Nappa quickly jumped out of the range of his attacks, his eyes filled with both fear and rage.
"Amazing." Gohan whispered to himself. "I wonder how he's doing that."
"I wonder why I never heard about Ranma before now." Piccolo thought, staring at the floating blur of punches. "His talent is impressive."
The punches slowly died down, showing Ranma floating in mid air. A single drop of sweat went down the side of his face. He lowered himself to land on the rock formation.
"How did you do that?!" Nappa yelled out, cradling his injured arm.
Ranma turned to him, smiling. "It's easy really. It occurred to me a while back that before one attacks, their ki extends out into the path of the attack. That being the case, I just extended my ki to form an aura about myself before I started punching. After that, it was natural for my punches to follow the path of my ki, so they attacked all around me, leaving no openings anywhere." He looked thoughtful. "It's kind of an inefficient attack but it served really well here."
Vegita looked very angry. "Stop screwing around Nappa, I want this kid dead. We've already wasted enough time. Or do you want me to do it for you?"
"It's alright Vegita, I can handle it." Nappa said, still testing his arm. He smiled again, though it seemed forced this time. A bright yellow light sprang up about him and his muscles bulged out.
"He's a lot stronger then I thought." Ranma thought, looking at Nappa. "If I don't take him seriously this time I'll be in big trouble."
************************************
"This is no good, no good at all!" Maple yelled out loud. "Akane just flung herself into hell, and Ranma and Goku are completely unaware of the horrible evil that's flitting about just under their noses!" He clenched his hands and looked around at the destroyed city that was stuck in limbo all about him. He lowered his gaze to the ground and began to speak softly. "And there's nothing I can do. I absolutely cannot directly interfere." His eyes were filled with despair and with something else as well. "Please Akane; you must escape that place as quickly as possible. If you don't then Ranma and Goku are doomed, and the rest of the world with them."
A new aura sprang up around him, one of beautiful light for which he was named, one of hope. Though he was no longer looking at the surroundings around him, the damaged buildings began to heal themselves ever so slightly, as if just the idea that they may be saved was enough to start the first step.
*************************************
One more time let's hear it for Ranko! "Yeah, yeah!!!!"
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.
"You hear a shining." - Me, (unfortunately) while hosting a role playing game
"Excuse me could I borrow your cloak? I seem to have lost my loin clothe." -Simply called the barbarian
***********************************
It was quiet, deathly quiet. As far as the eyes could see, there was only a narrow road above a sea of yellow clouds. The road was a strange blue color, lined with small snake like scales. Its movement even seemed like that of a snake, it twisted about seemingly at random and at times even performed loops.
A faint buzzing sound interrupted the perfect quiet. Off in the distance one could see a faint blue light above the road. The buzzing and the light grew greater and greater, until a human like form appeared to manifest itself within the light. It was a man, just below six feet tall, who was both lean and quite muscular. He had black spiky hair, and no matter how you looked at it there always seemed to be a large tuft off to the side. He was sweating, and the great strain that was apparent on his face showed that he was putting maximum effort into his motion.
**************************************
"I need to be faster!" Goku yelled to himself as he ran along the seemingly endless road. "I need to get back to earth so I can help my friends! I need more speed!" Goku could feel his body growing tired with his awesome exertion but he didn't care. When his friends were in danger nothing else mattered but going to help them.
Black shadows wrapped themselves around the path ahead of him. "What, that's magic!" Goku said to himself, and then paused to look at it. He then shook his head in frustration. "I don't have time for this, every second counts!"
A maniacal laughter came from the mist. "Oh, you don't have for this. I'm so disappointed. I was looking forward to playing with you." A form began to appear with the mist. It was extremely large, close to seven feet tall, and wore a black robe which stretched all of the way down to its feet. Out of the top of its hood two large horns could be seen.
"Get out of my way!" Goku yelled in frustration. "I need to help my friends. Don't force me to fight you!"
The mist dissipated and the figure began to walk towards Goku. "I think that you had better make time. I wouldn't worry about your friends, they'll be coming to this dimension soon enough."
Goku appeared to calm down slightly but still appeared very angry. "You're not going to let me pass you without a fight, are you?"
The figure began to laugh. "Not likely, since I did come here to thoroughly thrash you after all. Your friends are all desperate for you to arrive you know. Many of them are already dead. It's too bad, really, that you couldn't be on time. Then maybe this whole mess would be taken care of already."
An aura appeared around Goku as his fighting spirit began to gather. "So what's your stake in this, are you on the side of the saiyajins and just came here to cut me off?"
"No, you misunderstand." The large figure said with an amused voice. "Those pathetic saiyajins are rather below me. I just came here because I found the idea of your friends dieing while waiting for you was rather poetic. So you see that I am an artist, not a brute like you and your saiyajin kin."
"Heh, you already seem to know a little about me." Goku said, his battle aura still flaring. "So why not tell me a little bit about yourself? I can see that your robe holds a good deal of magical power. So why don't you remove it? I want to see who my enemy is before I fight."
"All right, if that's what you really want." The figure reached up one and grabbed the hood of the robe, and then flung it aside. "I am. Captain Ginyu!"
The large man had purple skin and appeared to be wearing some kind of alien battle armor. He had a large forehead which was bulging with veins and overall was extremely muscular. At the moment he was performing a pose where his feet were parallel. Most of his weight was on his left leg which was bent, and his arms were held high into the air.
"His power. It's incredible." Goku said, almost in disbelief. "Your cloak, it was hiding your power."
"Quite perceptive for a barbaric saiyajin." Captain Ginyu laughed. "So you have some minor skills that don't relate to combat after all. I can see that you're surprised. You must be amazed at this excellent pose. Quite elegant if I do say so myself."
Goku would have sweat dropped if the situation hadn't been so serious. "Well, no, your pose has nothing to do with it. I was just commenting on how strong you are."
Captain Ginyu looked angry. "What, my pose has everything to do with it! It's about style! That's why you saiyajins never amount to anything; you always ignore the most important part of combat, which is a good battle pose!"
Goku looked clueless (which isn't very hard to imagine) "Why, does a pose actually help you fight? All it's really doing right now is making you look silly."
Captain Ginyu fell back into a battle stance, the already protruded veins on his head bulging with his anger. Then he smiled and his entire body relaxed. "I wouldn't expect an inferior being like you to understand the necessities of a good pose. Now why don't we stop talking about that and get to the point. I'm going to thrash you so badly that you'll have bruises in the afterlife." He then began to laugh as if he had created some private joke.
"I don't like this, his power is Huge!" Goku said to himself. "Even with the Kaioh-Ken I couldn't even scratch this guy!"
"Alright saiyajin, let's get started. I'll take the first move, if you don't mind." After saying those words he disappeared.
"What, where did he go?!" Goku yelled out, desperately scanning the horizon.
"Right behind you." A voice whispered in his ear.
Goku turned around to see Ginyu towering above him. With a single punch to the gut Goku fell to knees, coughing uncontrollably. "He's too fast." Goku thought to himself. "I can't follow him at all. This isn't good. Gohan."
Goku looked up at Captain Ginyu, his eyes flaring. "Get out of my way!!!! Kaioh-Ken times four!!!" A wild burst of energy surrounded Goku's body. His muscles bulged out, the veins leaping and throbbing. He cupped his hands together and brought them to the side of his body. "This guy is way out of my league." Goku thought to himself, staring into the amused eyes of Captain Ginyu. "The longer this battle drags on, the less chance I have of victory. If I don't end it with my first attack, then it's all over. I can't let that happen! They need me."
"Now, Kamehameha!"
"Oh a little trick to increase your power, how amusing. I didn't know that the saiyajins had such fancy little tricks. So they're not just trained monkeys after all. Well, then give me everything you have!" Captain Ginyu stepped back into a fighting stance and held out his hands.
******************************
On a small planetoid, far away. "Goku no! What are you doing! I told you not to go above a double Kaioh- Ken no matter what!" King Kai looked towards the ground, his fists clenched. "This isn't good, his enemy is radically strong, why couldn't I detect him! It must have been that robe of his. Maybe he's a servant of Freezer! Oh No! It's hopeless!"
Gregory the insect and Bubbles the monkey were both standing behind him, looking confused.
************************************
Goku began to gather all of his energy into the palms of his hands. "Ka-Me- Ha-Me-Ha!!!!"
He quickly pushed his hands towards Captain Ginyu causing a huge blast of energy to erupt forward. The lighting on the road began to spin wildly and the clouds around the road spread apart, displaying Hell below in all of its glory. The clothes that Goku was wearing began to flap wildly in the wake of the attack.
Captain Ginyu reached forward and grabbed the large blast with both of his hands. His muscles bulged with the exertion. "Rrrrrraaaaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!" He yelled as he flung the attack past himself, causing it to spiral into Hell. A huge explosion could be heard immediately afterwards.
Goku stood still, panting, his arms still reached out. His face showed a mixture of disbelief and fear. "Not possible." He said to himself.
Captain Ginyu began to laugh. "Quite an impressive attempt. That's certainly much more then what I would have given you credit for. It's a pity that it didn't work. Now I suppose that it's my turn again. I wonder where I should begin."
Goku weakly leaned back into a defensive stance. "Can't give up." He thought to himself. "I have to protect, Gohan, Krillin, Chi-chi, all of my friends. They're counting on me. I can't give up. If I do then they will all."
Faster then Goku could blink, Captain Ginyu launched forward and administered a brutal overhead strike, sending Goku's face against the ground. Before he had a chance to move, Captain viciously stomped his back, causing Goku to scream out in pain. Captain Ginyu then proceeded to pick him up by the hair and hold him up so that his feet were dangling a foot and a half above the ground.
"Do you find this painful little saiyajin? Maybe now you will appreciate the power that practicing poses for sixteen hours a day will bring."
"Kaioh-Ken attack!" Goku yelled out. With his right hand he broke the grip that Captain Ginyu had on his hair by pushing down on his knuckles and in the same instant he fluidly moved forward and uppercutted Captain Ginyu on the chin.
"So you still have some fight left in you." Captain Ginyu commented while rubbing a small red mark on his chin. "As much as I would like to stay around and play I think it's time I finished this." Even with the heightened power of the Kaioh-Ken Goku couldn't avoid his next attack. Captain Ginyu merely back fisted him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
"A worthy attempt." Captain Ginyu commented with a smile. "I do hope that Emperor Freezer allows me to kill Vegita for him when he returns. If this is what a Class C soldier is like, then the prince would have to be even more fun!"
He stood laughing for a moment, while at the same time practicing a victory pose. "I am. Captain Ginyu!" While he was posing his black robe flew off the ground onto his body, again making his features unrecognizable.
"Teleport Now!" With that phrase, Captain Ginyu disappeared into the air.
Where Goku was lying unconscious a dramatic pool of blood could be seen building up under his body.
********************************
"Where are they? I can't believe it; both Ranma and Goku are late!" Kami said to himself frantically while pacing back and forth.
"Please Kami, try to calm down." Mr. Popo begged, watching him with a worried expression. "They must have really good reasons why they're not here, but you know those two. They'll be here just in the nick of time."
Kami stopped and turned to stare at the door leading into the room of space and time, and then he simply sighed. "Yes of course you're right. But everything about this entire situation just feels wrong somehow. I can't help but feel that I'm not seeing something that should be obvious."
Mr. Popo nodded, and then sadly looked at the ground. "There have been so many casualties already. I do hope that Ranma and Goku will arrive soon."
Kami wearily took a seat in a chair that was beside the door. "So do I dear friend, so do I."
Together they stared almost despairingly at the same place on the ground.
***********************************
All that could be seen was an inferno, a fire so large and so magnificent that it was blinding to even look at. In the middle of the fire, there was a brilliant blue aura, which in the way it raged appeared remarkably similar to the fire. And then the owner of the aura began to dance. It was an interesting thing to see; the dance started on the outside of the fire and then quickly began to spiral inwards.
The fire was hungry; it followed the aura, trying desperately to devour it with its own strength. The fire continued to follow the energy which opposed its own, spinning inwards upon itself until it found itself twisted in a huge spiral pattern. It found itself trapped.
"Hiryü Shöten Ha!" Ranma yelled out. With the massive amount of heat provided by the fire, a huge spiraling tornado formed with close to a quarter mile radius. It erupted upwards with a brilliant display, and then broke apart and disappeared into the endless sky, much like a large firework.
Breathing hard, Ranma floated down to the tile. "That's enough; I finally think I'm ready." He said out loud, and then chuckled to himself. "It's been such a long time since I've heard a human voice I'm willing to do anything, even talk to myself. Well in any case, it's time to get back."
The citadel was visible in the far distance from his line of vision, just peaking over the horizon. Ranma began a slow comfortable walk, moving easily and gracefully where before he had struggled only to stand up.
"Kami was right about this place." Ranma thought to himself. "I've been here only a few months, but I've come close to dying more times then I care to remember. Every second was a struggle to survive. Heck, when I first started, it was a struggle to even breathe let alone walk."
As he was walking a huge glacier rose up around him, attempting to trap him within its icy boundaries. In response to this Ranma simply powered up. With the great heat of his aura the ice which before was trying desperately to grab him desired only to escaped, it transformed directly into steam and floated away.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped off of the training ground and onto the floor of the citadel. Still sweating, he walked over to the living quarters of the citadel and ate food and bathed. He then slept for close to ten hours and dressed himself back up in his traditional Chinese garb. "Well I'm ready." He thought to himself. "I've been waiting for what's coming next for a long time."
Smiling cockily, Ranma walked to the exit of the room of space and time.
********************************
The door to the room of space and time opened. Both Kami and Mr. Popo quickly looked up, and saw Ranma step out of the door.
He appeared somewhat different then before. He still had that lean athletic look, but was obviously more muscular. His hair appeared to have grown about two inches all around, meaning that his spikes were now down and somewhat in front of his face. His ponytail was also somewhat longer. What was most different about him, however, were his eyes. They were completely focused and serious; they showed that much mental preparation had happened in the last few months as well as physical preparation.
"Hey, I'm here now, everything's going to be all right." Ranma said, coolly and confidently. "I can feel the power of the saiyajin fighters, I know where to go. I'll see you later Kami. Thanks for everything."
"Wait Ranma!" Kami said loudly. "You are three hours late and there has already been a break in the fighting." He looked into Ranma's eyes as he turned around. "I'm not sure what's going on, but I want you to avoid engaging the stronger one until Goku gets back."
Ranma smiled confidently. "If you say so, but I feel so good I think I could take both of them at once."
Kami nodded, "Yes, that may be possible but that's not a risk I feel that we should take. Before you go, I want you to have this." Out of his robes he pulled a small stone and handed it to Ranma.
"What is it?" Ranma asked curiously while carefully examining the smooth surface of the stone.
"Merely a communication stone." Kami responded. "Any thoughts that you direct at this I will be able to hear, and likewise for the twin stone that I possess." He showed another small stone just like it in his hand. "It may be helpful if you need advice against those two."
Ranma looked into his eyes. "Thank you." He replied simply. He looked past Kami and spent a moment staring at something that only he could see before he returned his gaze to the robed man in front of him. "It's time" He said in a low voice.
Kami nodded to him. "Go and fight well Ranma Saotome. Bring honor to your school and to the earth."
"Good luck Ranma." Mr. Popo said, almost in tears.
"Hey, who said that I needed luck?" Ranma said with a wide arrogant smile. "Save it for the other guys, they're gonna need it."
With blazing speed Ranma took off and dived off the side of Kami's look out.
************************************
"Wake up Akane!" A voice yelled out in the darkness. "Your help is needed, wake up!"
Akane blinked groggily and sat up in her bed. The loud voice that she thought that she had heard was still reverberating about in her mind. "Who said that?" She asked out loud, still half asleep. Glancing over at her clock she saw that it was already five in the morning, almost time to get up for her morning jog anyways.
A form manifested itself in front of her, a familiar figure wearing brilliant golden robes with only a beautiful light for a face. "Your talents are needed Akane, desperately needed."
Akane stared at him blankly for a few moments, and then screamed out loud causing the man to put his hands to the side of his head. "Quiet, are you trying to wake up the whole house?" The figure hushed her. "Oh, sorry." She said, not quite sure how to respond.
"Are you alright Akane?" Kasumi asked from outside, her voice filled with concern. Akane gave an embarrassed laugh. "I'm alright Kasumi; I just thought for a moment that I had overslept."
"Man that was lame." She thought to herself immediately afterwards.
There was a pause. "Alright Akane, remember that you have morning duty in your homeroom today."
"I will thank you." Akane responded. After Kasumi walked away, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned angrily to the figure standing before her.
"What's the big idea coming into a lady's room uninvited?" She said in a furious whisper.
The figure shrugged. "Well, seeing as how I don't have a body I found it rather difficult to knock, besides there's extremely pressing business that needs to be taken care of."
Her anger immediately evaporated and her eyes widened with a look of concern. "What, is Ranma in trouble?!" Akane asked, holding her breathe.
"No, not Ranma." The figure shook its head. "However, the one that will fight side by side with Ranma was unexpectedly attacked and almost killed. I need you to use your powers of healing upon him."
"Where is he?" Akane asked.
"He is on snake way, in the world of the dead." The man responded. "This will be especially difficult for you, as you have never traveled to a different dimension before by means of teleportation. But it has to be done."
"The world of the dead?" Akane asked hesitantly. "But if he's already there how would I be able to help him?"
"He himself was already wished back to life, so he is alive." Said the figure. "However, the attack occurred before he could successfully leave that world. Now tell me, how much have you practiced teleportation up to this point?"
"Well, a little." Akane said. "But it's still really difficult for me."
"It doesn't matter." Said the figure. "I know that you're ready. Traveling to a different dimension is only slightly different from traveling within a singular dimension. Simply form in your mind an image of where you're going. When you try to go there, you will find a great wall in your path. That wall is the dimensional barrier. Simply puncture it with your mind and force your body through it. The rest will take care of itself."
"But I don't know what the world of the dead looks like." Akane said, trying to picture a horrible place with demons scampering about.
"I will provide the image for you to focus on." The figure said. "The rest you'll need to handle." He then reached out his hand and placed it on her head. "Now, relax as I do this, it will make things simpler."
Akane nodded and cleared her mind. Suddenly an image burst into her head, so clear she could almost swear that she was looking at it with her own eyes. She saw the road stretching on forever, but what most caught her attention was the pale man lying on the ground with his life blood forming a pool beneath him.
"That man is Goku." The voice told her. "He needs your help. You must go to him immediately."
"But I need to get dressed first." Akane said, looking down at her pajamas.
The figure chuckled. "I suppose that those clothes are not appropriate for the path ahead. Here is something that may be more to your liking."
With a snap of his fingers a golden light surrounded Akane and then settled on her skin. The light appeared to take solid form and condensed onto her body. She was soon covered with brilliant golden robes, just like the ones that the man was wearing.
"I hear that it's all the rage with the younger sorcerers nowadays." The man said coyly. "I do hope that you'll enjoy it."
"I love it." Akane said, turning around in circles admiring the way the robes fluttered about her but still clung to her figure.
"I also gave you matching earrings." The man continued. "You can't say that I don't have an eye for good fashion."
Stepping over to a mirror Akane gasped. In each of her ears was a beautiful silver earring that looked a little a full moon. Each one almost seemed to produce its own little light that twinkled with mystery. "They're beautiful." She whispered to herself. "Thank you man of light."
The man coughed uncomfortably. "Just call me Maple, please. I've never really been comfortable with this man of light stuff. But you have a job to do, and you need to move quickly."
"Of course." Akane said seriously, turning away from the mirror. Focusing, she again found the image of the road in her mind. She then brought of the image of the door, and tried to force herself to move to where the man was on the road.
Straight off she could feel a wall in her way. Struggling, she reached over and opened the door another few inches. Instantly she could feel a great rush of power come over her. Straining with effort, she took the power and punctured the wall. With force of will alone she then forced herself through the hole, and to the world on the other side.
**********************************
"Alright, let's see what's over there." Ranma said to himself as he flew through the sky at a blazing speed. "I'm detecting two huge powers and three large powers. At this rate it should only be a few more minutes until I get there."
He smiled confidently. "I can't believe how strong I am, I feel incredible! Those saiyajins won't know what hit them."
********************************
The scenario was action torn. There was a huge split in the ground where some kind of quake had hit earlier. The rocky landscape was filled with blast holes. There was not a sign of life in sight.
Two opposing sides were obvious from the five standing there. On one side was a large brutish man and a small man with large hair. On the opposite side was a tall green man with antennae, a very small man with a bald head, and an even smaller child with long black hair.
"Whoah." Said Piccolo, his eyes wide with disbelief. "I can sense a huge power headed right for us."
"You're right Piccolo." Krillin said, his eyes filling with hope. "I felt it too."
"It's my dad, it has to be!" Gohan said, close to tears. "He's coming for us, I just know it!"
"Hey, come on." Nappa said in disbelief. "You can't sense his power from way out here, can you?"
"I'm afraid you're wrong." Piccilo said, smiling evilly. "Sensing his power is easy, especially since he has so much of it."
"Is there anything out there Vegita?" Nappa asked, turning to his smaller ally. He began to chuckle nervously. "Or are our little friends here just talking a load of nonsense?"
Vegita began to play with the scouter he was wearing. "No, Nappa, there is definitely something out there." His eyes widened in shock. He slowly looked up into Nappa's eyes. "My scouter is reading 4,000."
"What, 4,000! No way!" Nappa yelled out in shock.
"I'm afraid that it's true." Vegita said with an angry frown. "Nappa, I want you to kill them all, before Kakarot gets here to join them."
"But what about the Dragon Balls?" Nappa asked dumbfounded.
"Forget about the Dragon Balls, I have another plan." Vegita said confidently. "I have heard stories before about the legendary Dragon Balls of Namek. When I come here to earth to seek the Dragon Balls, what do I find but a Namek. So we'll just kill this one here and go to the source of the Dragon Balls and make our wish there. But as it is we can't risk allowing Kakarot to join his friends, it would be too dangerous."
"Aww, I gotcha." Nappa said. "So why bother buying eggs from the store when we can just go to the coop and get them directly from the source."
"That is correct Nappa. Amazing analogy, maybe you're not as stupid as you constantly let on."
"Thanks Vegita. It makes me feel warm and squishy on the inside to hear you say that." Nappa turned to the three defenders. "And you'll be warm and squishy on the outside once I'm done with you!" He then started laughing loudly.
"Man what a horrible sound." Piccolo thought to himself. "I hope that Goku gets here soon and shuts him up."
*****************************************
"This isn't good." Ranma thought to himself. "One of those powers is gathering a great deal of energy; the fighting must have started again. I have to get there before someone gets killed!" Focusing his spirit out in front he created a wedge of energy that parted the air, providing himself with extreme ease of movement.
****************************************
When the huge blast of energy was flying at Gohan, Piccolo didn't have time to think, he only had time to run. While he was running he remembered. He remembered when he had first taken Gohan into the wild, how he had smiled even in the midst of hardships. He remembered how Gohan had laughed and had been so joyful when he was given only a simple apple. He remembered how he had promised Gohan that he would never let anything happen to him, and how heavy the promise had felt on his heart. But now the promise made everything perfectly clear.
Piccolo knew what he had to do. He knew that he had to keep his promise no matter what.
Piccolo stopped in front of the torrent of incoming energy and braced himself for contact, for certain death. But at the last instant, the attack curved off to the side, destroying his right arm. But it had missed its target; both he and Gohan were alive.
"What. it missed?" Piccolo asked in disbelief.
"Are you alright Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, almost in tears with worry. "Tell me you're alright!"
"I'm alright kid." "But I don't know why." He silently admitted to himself.
"Ah man, I can't believe I missed!" Nappa yelled out, punching the ground with frustration. "How'd you do that Namek?"
Vegita looked carefully at Piccolo. "Something is wrong; Nappa's attack however clumsy was spot on. It should not have missed."
"Whoa man, lucky break. I guess the big guy is as stupid as he looks." Krillin said, relieved but still afraid.
Vegita's eyes narrowed. "Nappa! Look over by the column!"
"What, what do you see Vegita?!" Nappa turned around, and saw something that he couldn't believe. Standing on the column of stone was a teenager wearing a red Chinese shirt with kung-fu pants and slippers. He had a cocky look about him, and was currently smiling widely.
"Hey big guy, that was a pretty good try, but you seriously need to work on your aim. I'd practice a little bit if I were you."
Veins were already bulging out of Nappa's head. "Don't mouth off to me you runt, you have no idea who you're dealing with! Get a reading on this guy, will you Vegita?"
Vegita nodded as he turned his scanner on the boy. His eyes widened greatly. "Nappa, I'm reading 4,000."
Nappa stared at him in shock. "What, this runt has a power level of 4,000? Then where's Kakarot?"
"If you're looking for Goku, I'm sure he'll be along shortly." Ranma said confidently. "He's also undergoing special training. But I wouldn't worry about him now that I'm here. I don't think there'll be anything left of you guys for him to take care of."
"What did you say?!" Nappa shouted, turning to him.
"Quiet Nappa!" Vegita yelled. Then he spoke in a normal voice. "I'm curious to hear what this boy has to say. Tell me, what's your name?"
"Ranma Saotome." He responded with a proud smile.
Vegita frowned. "I think I remember Raditz mentioning something about a Ranma Soatome, all he said was that she was a little weakling with a big mouth." He looked up at the boy perched on the column. "You must have trained quite hard to have reached a power level of 4,000 in just one year; I must say I'm impressed." He paused for a moment at looked towards the ground. "Wait a second; I'm almost positive that Raditz said that Ranma Saotome was a female." He thought to himself. He looked back up at Ranma. "Something isn't right here."
Ranma smiled. "Thanks." He turned to where the others were watching him. "You guys have already done enough; I'll be taking them on alone. You can leave now."
"What, that's crazy!" Krillin yelled out. "You see that big guy there, he has horrible power! It will probably take all of us just to beat him!"
"He's right!" Gohan cried out. "His power is too great, please let us help you Mr. Ranma!"
"Stay back you two!" Piccolo yelled.
Gohan and Krillin stared at him in shock. "But why Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked. "Yeah really, you know how strong that big guy is, Ranma will need our help." Krillin agreed. Piccolo stared intently at Ranma, who was staring equally intently back at him.
"It's an instinct I have. I have no idea who Ranma is or where he came from, but I feel that we should trust him in this. He is up to task, I can sense it." He growled. "And we'd only be getting in the way."
Ranma nodded to him in silent thanks and then turned back to Nappa. "Alright big guy, why don't you show me what you've got?" He asked out loud.
Ranma's eyes were completely focused on Nappa. "Now's my chance." He thought to himself. "This is the moment I've been waiting for, for the last year. It's time to restore honor to the Saotome school of anything goes martial arts. And it's time to protect the earth, and especially Akane."
"How about it Vegita?" Nappa asked, turning to his smaller ally. "Is it alright if I pulverize him?"
"Yes, of course Nappa. He's all yours." Vegita responded, smiling cruelly.
"All right." Nappa laughed, turning back to Ranma. "You heard the man, you're all mine."
************************************
"This place is so quiet." Akane thought to herself as she looked around. "So this is what the world of the dead is like." Looking around she saw a man wearing an orange martial arts uniform lying on the ground.
"This must be Goku!" She said out loud. "I hope I'm in time!" She kneeled down next to him and turned him over, only to gasp when she saw his face. It was torn, and the right side of his face was covered with an ugly bruise. A large part of his shirt was also ripped, apparently from a strike of some kind. Clotted blood was now resting in a wound on his abdomen and his shirt was still wet with it.
Akane put a finger on his neck. "This isn't good." She thought to herself. "His breathing is shallow and his pulse is almost gone. He must have received a lot more wounds then are obvious here." Her eyes widened. "I can sense it, his ki is almost gone! He must have used almost all of it in a struggle of some kind!"
She shook her head. "First I need to worry about these nasty wounds of his; I can worry about his ki once he's in stable condition." She put both of her hands on the wound on his abdomen and focused to find her inner spirit.
"Not enough power." She thought to herself. "I'm going to need to open the door much wider to be able to help him at all; oh I hope I'm ready for this." She brought the image of the door forth in her mind again. Now there was close to half a foot of open space between the door and the wall. She gritted her teeth and with a loud martial arts yell opened the door another half foot. Instantly she could fell a large amount of energy swirling about inside her, she had to pause for a full minute to gain control of it.
"That's the hard part." She thought to herself. "Now just to form a picture of what his stomach looks like at full health. I bet it's a lot like what Ranma's stomach would look like." She found herself blushing slightly, but then shrugged it off. She found an image of a healed torso in her mind, and then found her magic swirling about in her center. With her magic, she forced the image of the healed stomach to become reality.
And it did.
Almost amazed, Akane stared down at the large rip in Goku's shirt at the smooth and clean skin where before there had only been a large and ugly wound. "I did it." Akane thought in disbelief. "I actually healed a large wound. Dr. Tofu was right about me." She smiled happily and spent a few moments enjoying her success.
"I don't have time for this right now!" She yelled to herself. She moved over to his face and put her hand on it. "Now to take care of this ugly bruise." After focusing for a few moments she saw that his face was healed.
Akane sighed and sat back. "I guess that all that's left is to heal his ki." She brushed her hair away from her face. "I'm getting tired; I'm not used to exerting my magic like this."
Putting her hands on Goku's chest she tried to feel his energy. After a few moments, she found communion with his spirit. Imagining his energy being a great deal stronger, she focused her magic into making it reality.
Instantly his chi flared.
*****************************
Goku woke up to see a young girl with black hair and golden robes sitting above him. The earrings that she was wearing looked so much like full moons that he was amazed. She appeared to be very tired.
"Are you alright?" He asked in concern while sitting up. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Akane looked into his concern filled eyes and felt somewhat comforted. "No. I'm just really tired right now. When I was trying to heal your energy I accidentally gave you some of mine, so I'm afraid that I don't have much left."
Goku put his hand behind his head. "Well gee, I appreciate the help but you really didn't need to do that." His eyes widened in shock. "I almost forgot, Gohan and the others, they need my help!"
Akane nodded. "It's alright Goku, go to them, I teleported here, I can teleport back. I just wish I had the energy to take you with me but I'm afraid that I don't feel up to that right now. You'll have to leave the long way."
Goku jumped to his feet, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, I won't forget this."
"Goku!" She said before he started off. He stopped and looked at her. "What is it?" He asked.
Tears were forming in her eyes. "If you come across someone called Ranma. I want you to help him. Alright? Don't let anything happen to him."
Goku nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, just leave it to me. If I come across someone named Ranma I'll make sure that I'll do everything I can to help him and keep him from harm." With saying that he gathered his energy and began to run at a great speed. In only a few moments he was out of sight.
"That's what Ranma would have said." Akane thought to herself. "I know I can trust him." Wearily she rose to her feet, not pausing to notice that not even a drop of wet blood stuck to her beautiful golden robes.
She brought into her tired mind an image of her room back at her house. Focusing, she came across the barrier between dimensions that she expected to be there. Bringing forth her will, she tried to puncture it with her mind.
But she slipped.
Because of the great weariness of her mind, her puncture went right off the wall and instead plunged downwards. Akane could feel her body following the great weight of her magic, and she could feel herself plunging downwards as well. Downwards she fell, it seemed like forever.
And she was screaming mentally the entire way down.
*************************************
"That girl's energy just disappeared." Goku noted to himself as he ran along. "I wonder how she found me out here. She seemed to possess quite a bit of magical energy, even more then that Captain Ginyu." Goku rubbed the sore spot that was still on his back. "I'd say he was an amateur magician, nothing compared to the witch Baba or that girl. But his strength was. crazy. Just crazy." A huge smile lit across Goku's face. "I can't wait to fight him again. And I can't wait to meet this Ranma."
Aura flaring he continued his journey along Snake Way."
************************************
Nappa and Ranma stood facing each other, close to twenty feet apart. The wind blew between them. Next a few bale weeds blew by. The scene was set perfectly.
"Rrrrrraaaaaaagggggghhhhhhh!" Nappa yelled as he charged Ranma. Ranma just looked at him confidently, not stepping back into a fighting stance or even twitching.
"What is he doing, is he crazy?!" Krillin yelled out.
"You little fool!" Nappa yelled and took a wide swing at Ranma with his left hand.
He missed.
"Hey, he missed." Krillin said, dumbfounded. (You knew it was coming)
But Ranma hadn't even moved a muscle. He just continued to look confidently at Nappa.
"Why you!" Nappa yelled, and then began to throw out a flurry of punches. But they all missed. Angry he became even faster, and began to swing wildly, almost out of control.
"Wow, he has really bad aim." Gohan commented, eyes wide as saucers.
"You are mistaken." Piccolo said, staring intently at Ranma. "What do you mean Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, staring up at him curiously. "I can't believe this kid." Piccolo thought to himself. "I never would have thought of using telekinesis like that."
Gohan looked up at him for a moment longer and then returned his gaze to Nappa's struggle, seemingly against himself as Ranma still hadn't moved to defend himself.
"Stop it Nappa!" Vegita yelled out. "Are you such a fool that you can't see the obvious!?"
Nappa paused and looked dumbly back at Vegita. "What do you mean Vegita? What's obvious?"
Vegita frowned. "Every attack that you've thrown so far has been wild. Haven't you noticed how his eyes were following the path of your punches? He could tell where you were going to attack before even you knew!"
"Shit." Ranma thought to himself, looking over at the smaller saiyajin. "He's not at all like this big idiot; he's a lot more observant. And to top it off this big guy seems to be taking orders from him. I can't wait to fight that small guy." He smiled at the thought.
"Yes, it's quite obvious Nappa." Vegita said out loud. "Our resourceful little friend is using some kind of telekinesis technique to send all of your attacks out wide. When you're attacking so uncontrollably it's quite an easy feat for him. So why don't you slow down a little and throw a few careful attacks. Try thinking about how you're going to attack him before you do for once. But try not to strain yourself."
"Don't worry Vegita, I won't." Nappa said, and then turned back to Ranma. "So you think you're clever do you? Well I have news for you. Being clever won't change the fact that you're a weakling!" He smiled cruelly. "And weaklings always lose when they fight the strong."
Ranma smiled back at him. "You can say that, but it doesn't take much for a weakling to beat a strong guy if they're as stupid as you."
"Why you!" Nappa yelled. Vegita just started laughing "I like you Ranma." He said out loud. "It's a pity that Nappa has to kill you."
Ranma smiled cockily. "Look, Nappa, I've got a little deal for you."
Nappa's eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal?"
"I'm going to give you another chance to hit me, a chance to redeem yourself. I'm not going to dodge or use telekinesis. However, I will try to block or counterattack if I'm able. Is it a deal?"
Nappa smiled; a horrible smile which filled his entire face.
"It's a deal kid."
*********************************
"Oh no, what is Ranma thinking?" King Kai yelled out loud. "He's a fool to make such a deal with that saiyajin, he has no idea what he's getting himself into!"
He began to pace. "At least Goku is back on his feet, and fully healed from that attack. He's stronger then he ever was before. But will he get to the battlefield in time to help Ranma? Oh No!"
Bubbles and Gregory were standing still, cluelessly watching him pace.
**********************************
Still standing in the same position that he had assumed when he arrived, Ranma closed his eyes and concentrated. The smile never left his face.
"I'll teach you to taunt me!" Nappa yelled out and then gathered his energy. Moving faster then the eye could follow; he disappeared and reappeared behind Ranma.
"Ranma no!!!" Krillin yelled out (He found the time somehow)
Ranma yelled out the instant before Nappa made contact. "Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken Advanced!" Instantly a blur of fists sprang up in front of him, and behind him as well. In fact, the fists blurred all around him, above and below and to both sides. Ranma had disappeared behind an aura of fists; he was covered on all sides. His body could no longer be seen.
"What, impossible!" Nappa yelled out. His outstretched arm was covered in blows. Every part up to his elbow received a few hundred strikes in just under a second. One or two wouldn't have hurt very badly, but in the hundreds his arm felt like it was on fire.
Because the punches were directed below him as well, the rock that Ranma was standing on disintegrated, leaving him floating in the air. Nappa quickly jumped out of the range of his attacks, his eyes filled with both fear and rage.
"Amazing." Gohan whispered to himself. "I wonder how he's doing that."
"I wonder why I never heard about Ranma before now." Piccolo thought, staring at the floating blur of punches. "His talent is impressive."
The punches slowly died down, showing Ranma floating in mid air. A single drop of sweat went down the side of his face. He lowered himself to land on the rock formation.
"How did you do that?!" Nappa yelled out, cradling his injured arm.
Ranma turned to him, smiling. "It's easy really. It occurred to me a while back that before one attacks, their ki extends out into the path of the attack. That being the case, I just extended my ki to form an aura about myself before I started punching. After that, it was natural for my punches to follow the path of my ki, so they attacked all around me, leaving no openings anywhere." He looked thoughtful. "It's kind of an inefficient attack but it served really well here."
Vegita looked very angry. "Stop screwing around Nappa, I want this kid dead. We've already wasted enough time. Or do you want me to do it for you?"
"It's alright Vegita, I can handle it." Nappa said, still testing his arm. He smiled again, though it seemed forced this time. A bright yellow light sprang up about him and his muscles bulged out.
"He's a lot stronger then I thought." Ranma thought, looking at Nappa. "If I don't take him seriously this time I'll be in big trouble."
************************************
"This is no good, no good at all!" Maple yelled out loud. "Akane just flung herself into hell, and Ranma and Goku are completely unaware of the horrible evil that's flitting about just under their noses!" He clenched his hands and looked around at the destroyed city that was stuck in limbo all about him. He lowered his gaze to the ground and began to speak softly. "And there's nothing I can do. I absolutely cannot directly interfere." His eyes were filled with despair and with something else as well. "Please Akane; you must escape that place as quickly as possible. If you don't then Ranma and Goku are doomed, and the rest of the world with them."
A new aura sprang up around him, one of beautiful light for which he was named, one of hope. Though he was no longer looking at the surroundings around him, the damaged buildings began to heal themselves ever so slightly, as if just the idea that they may be saved was enough to start the first step.
*************************************
One more time let's hear it for Ranko! "Yeah, yeah!!!!"