Joining

by Arinson Tidochi

Begins at the end of Ranma 12 and beginning of Dragon Ball Z. This story is now concluded. To find chapters 14 and 15 of the Episode Saga look for the seperate story Joining: Episode Saga.

7. Joining 7: Point of transition

Joining 7: Point of Transition 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 tend to get what you receive." BM

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The landscape appeared to be the blasted remnants of a playground. A large broken karris wheel was lying on its side, destroyed at the base. There was a large fountain of blood continually flowing. As strange as it appeared, there was no mistaking that this was Hell.

A large man walked up to the fountain and paused for a moment to look into it. He had long flowing black spiky hair which reached down to his knees behind him. He was quite tall, close to 6'5, and extremely muscular. He had a serious face that possessed not a speck of humor that was currently frustrated and angry. Needless to say, he seemed the perfect resident of hell.

"I can't believe this place." Raditz mumbled to himself. "Where the hell is the exit? It has to be around her somewhere. After all, that ass hole King Yemna got me down here somehow." He growled. "This is all Kakarot's fault! If only he had joined me instead of resisting, then we wouldn't be dead right now!" He paused for a moment to think. "That's right, that green guy mentioned that he would be wished back to life or something."

He punched the center piece of the fountain, breaking it in half. "Damn it all! I can't believe this is happening! I need to find some residents of this place to see how to escape. Maybe those little blue and red demons can help me out." He smiled grimly to himself. "Then I just need to kill that King Yemna, he won't find me nearly so easy to beat as I was before. I am a saiyajin after all!"

Raditz threw back his head and began to laugh. The spirits that were already in the distance picked up their pace and began to move away at a very fast speed.

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It was a near empty closed roofed court room of coliseum proportions. Now only five residents remained. Three ogres who were still positioned in the stands and two human like figures that were in the center. One was an old man with pale white skin, black robes and cold gray eyes. The other was a young girl with black hair, golden robes and two beautiful silver earrings.

Akane was concentrating. "It feels so good to have magic again!" She said happily to herself. "I wonder where the criminal is." She focused within herself and found her center. She called forth from her center the image of the door, and used it to force her awareness out to the entirety of hell's surface.

"Ouch!" She said while wincing. "Maybe that's stretching my mind a bit too thin. I'll try something slightly smaller." She focused her mind to more of a mile wide spot light. Using that, she progressed to scan hell's surface.

"I think that the blast came from over there." She thought to herself, referring to a certain direction. She brought her mind to that position.

"That's it, I see an unusual soul!" She said excitedly. "What do you see?" Maimer asked, leaning over to her. Her vision came into focus on a blurry man standing next to a broken fountain.

"I'm not sure." She said. "I'll need to bring my mind somewhat closer." She focused herself until she got a clear image of him. "Oh my god!" She yelled. "It's him, it's Raditz!"

Maimer nodded. "Yes, I expected as much. The powerful saiyajin warrior would be one to not be satisfied with being trapped in hell. So that is your task, defeat him and the paper work will take care of itself."

Akane stared up at him in fear. "You can't expect me to beat him; he's much too powerful for me. Even Ranma didn't stand a chance against him."

Maimer looked at her with no expression. "I don't care, you have your task. Defeat him and you may leave, that is all." Black smoke surrounded him and he disappeared within a few moments.

"It's all right Akane! I have faith your magic." Jake yelled from the stands. "I'm sure you can do it!"

Akane managed a small smile. "Yes, that's right. I have magic now, maybe I can beat him. Wouldn't Ranma be impressed." She sighed. "I wonder what he's up to now." Her expression became angry. "He'd better not be fooling around with that Shampoo; I need to escape as soon as possible!"

******************************************

It was a small cabin room with three people inside. One was a small red haired girl that was lying unconscious on a bed. One was a respectable looking middle aged woman. One was an extremely embarrassed looking young man. The middle aged woman was in the process of changing the young girl's clothes.

"It's all finished, you can turn around now." The woman said, her voice amused. "Honestly I can't imagine why you would insist that I dress her as a boy when we have perfectly fine girls' clothes here."

Ryouga shook his head. "Trust me, this one's a real tom boy, you wouldn't want to see her in girls' clothes." The woman smiled at him. "Well, if you say so." She walked past him and to the door. "I'll leave you alone with your girlfriend now." She said with a wink.

A disgusted look came to his face. "That's not it at all!" He yelled. Looking somewhat embarrassed, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about yelling at you, but I could never really date him, errr, her for reasons that I can't explain right now."

Chuckling, the woman closed the door behind her. Ryouga shook his head for a moment, trying to remove that idea from his head. Sighing, he walked back over to the bed and looked down at Ranma. "What secrets do you hold Ranma?" He asked himself again. "I find you out in the ocean in the middle of nowhere icy cold and almost beaten to a pulp. Who on earth could possible put you in that condition?"

A strange glint caught the corner of his eye. "What's this?" He asked himself, turning to look on the ground. What he saw was a strange little stone that appeared to have fallen out of Ranma's clothing. Curious, he reached down and picked up and held it in the palm of his hand.

"What would Ranma be doing carrying this?" He asked himself, focusing his attention into the stone.

A voice echoed in his head. "Who are you, is Ranma safe?" "What?!" Ryouga shouted, dropping the stone. Instantly the voice was silenced.

"What was that just now, did that come from the stone?" He asked himself, breathing hard. "Was someone trying to communicate with me?" Gradually his breathing calmed down.

"Whoever that was they seemed to be concerned about Ranma's safety, maybe they can give me some answers." Convinced by his reasoning, Ryouga reached down and picked up the stone again.

"Is anyone there?" He hesitantly thought to the stone. He stood still for a minute looking at the stone. "Nothing." He thought, relieved. "I guess it was my imagination after all."

"This is Kami, where is Ranma?" A voice echoed inside his head. Ryouga panicked and almost dropped the stone again. "Did you say Kami?" He asked the stone cautiously. "That is correct." The voice responded. "Kami, I can't believe this!" Ryouga almost yelled to himself.

"What's so hard to believe, that there actually is such a being or that you're talking to him through a stone?" The voice asked wryly. "Listen, this is important. I need to know if Ranma is alive, and if you know where he is."

"He's alive if only barely." Ryouga thought to the stone. "He's been beaten really badly and then almost frozen. I'm amazed that the cold didn't kill him with the condition he was in. Right now he's on a bed right here in this room."

"I'm glad that he's alive." The voice said, relieved. "I suppose that I have Cologne to thank for that."

"Kami knows Cologne?" Ryouga asked himself. "That old hag is even better then I thought."

"Don't be so amazed." The voice chuckled. "I knew her back even when I first accepted this position."

"First accepted this position? This is too much." Ryouga thought to himself.

"I'd like to chat but it's important that Ranma recovers as quickly as possible. There are some people looking for him right now. Can you do something to attract them to your exact position?"

Ryouga nodded slowly. "Yes, there is something I can do. Should I attempt to attract them now?"

"Yes, if you will." Kami responded. Ryouga walked to the door and stepped into the hallway after opening it. "A simple enough request." He thought to himself.

******************************************

There were two forms flying quickly through the darkness. One was a young boy with wild black hair. The other was a young man with a completely bald head and six strange dots on his forehead. Both were obviously wet and very cold.

"This isn't any good Krillin." Gohan said, his teeth chattering. "We've already visited three port towns but we can't find anything but a lot of seaweed and fish."

Krillin sighed. "You're right Gohan, that storm sure did cause a mess didn't it. I just hope that it's not too late to find Ranma."

Gohan held up both of his arms and took a determined look. "I'm not ready to give up hope just yet Krillin, let's keep looking!"

They both paused. "Did you feel that Gohan?" Krillin asked excitedly. "Yeah, it's a pretty big power!" Gohan said excitedly. "It has to be Ranma!"

"If it is then he really has taken a major beating." Krillin said, already flying in the direction of the energy. "It's much lower then before."

They flew quickly towards the energy for several minutes until they saw a bright yellow energy in the distance. "That's it, let's go Gohan!" Krillin yelled.

******************************************

Though it was a dark night there was a great deal of light being cast. A young man was standing on the deck of a ship with a few sailors watching him wearily. He was surrounded by a bright yellow aura and a bright ball of energy was suspended in the air over his head.

"How long do I have to keep doing this?" Ryouga asked himself. "I've already been out here for ten minutes with a Shi Shi Hokadon suspended in the air and no one has come. I'm beginning to get tired, and I don't think they'll ever come!" With that thought the brightness of his energy flared even more.

"I think I see someone." He thought to himself. "Two blue energies are approaching me at an incredible speed. I hope that these are the people that Kami was waiting for." Within one minute two small forms flew into the field of his light and floated onto the ship.

"You're not Ranma." Krillin said, disappointed.

"These guys have huge powers, I can just feel it." Ryouga thought, staring at them. "I've never felt anything this strong before!" He shook his head and looked at them. "No, but Ranma's here on this ship. I found him floating in the ocean."

"Is he alive?" Gohan asked with concern in his eyes. "He's just a kid." Ryouga thought, staring at him. "How could he be this strong?" "Yeah, he's alive. I'll take you guys too him."

Ryouga turned around and walked down the stairs of the ship, leading them to the room that Ranma was staying in. He opened the door and walked in. "Here he is, still alive but barely."

Krillin and Gohan walked into the room and stared blankly at the girl on the bed. "What? I'm pretty sure that Ranma was a guy, wasn't he Krillin?" Gohan looked at Krillin expectantly.

Krillin was too busy staring at the girl. "K-k-k-kawaii." He said out loud.

Ryouga coughed. "Don't let him hear you say that, that girl you see is actually Ranma. He has a curse that transforms him into a girl when he's touched with cold water."

Krillin stared at Ryouga. "Really?" He shrugged. "Well, that's not so weird I suppose. When Goku and I were traveling together we came upon lots of things just as weird." He smiled at Gohan. "Well, it looks like it's a successful mission; I'm going to give him the senzu bean so we can get out of here!"

He walked over to Ranma's side and gently lifted up her head. "I can't believe that this is really Ranma." Gohan said, watching her.

Krillin opened her mouth and put a small bean in side. "What is it that they're feeding him?" Ryouga asked himself, watching them curiously.

A few moments later a blue aura flared about Ranma even as she slept. All of the bruises and scratches that were covering her face disappeared and her pale cheeks returned to their normal color. She was still sleeping soundly, but her breathing was obviously more relaxed and less labored.

"Yeah, she's okay." Krillin yelled happily. Ryouga just stared. "How has Ranma come this far along in just a year?" He asked himself. "His power, I can just feel it!"

"It was due to some training that he was put through." The voice echoed in his mind again. "Perhaps when this entire ordeal is over I'll be able to give you similar training. It will help Ranma keep on his feet after all. Unfortunately at the moment there is no time for such things. Please return the stone to Ranma and ask Krillin and Gohan to return to my lookout."

Ryouga awkwardly took the stone out of his pocket and slipped it into Ranma's clothing. He looked up at Krillin and Gohan. "This is a message stone from a guy named Kami. He wants you to take Ranma and return to his lookout."

Krillin nodded and gingerly picked up the sleeping girl. "Thanks. Hey, we never had the chance to introduce ourselves, I'm Krillin." "And I'm Gohan!" Gohan added excitedly.

Ryouga nodded and managed a slight smile, showing one of his fangs. "I'm Ryouga, pleased to meet you guys. Kami mentioned that I might get a chance to train with you later, so I'll hopefully see you again. Don't let Ranma get killed before I have a chance to do it myself."

"What kind of relationship did these guys have?" Krillin asked himself, staring at the boy. He laughed. "Hey maybe! Now that this ordeal's over we might get that chance. I'll see you later Ryouga." Carrying Ranma, he walked out of the door with Gohan quickly behind. Though several people stared at them as they left, no one tried to stop them or complain.

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A lone man flew through the darkness of night on a small yellow cloud. "I can feel it; Ranma's power was just restored." Goku said to himself, breathing a sigh of relief. "I guess that Krillin and Gohan made it too him just in time."

He stopped flying and began to hover in mid-air. "They already seem to be on their way to Kami's lookout, I think I'll go there to wait for them." Goku turned his direction around and began to fly off in the opposite direction.

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A lone man flew through the darkness of night. His skin was completely green and he was covered with a newly restored turban and cape. His face was determined and thoughtful at the same time.

"Who is this Mire, and who does he serve?" Piccolo asked himself. "And where did that demon come from? I am Piccolo the Demon King, the king of Hell itself and I have no idea what kind of demon that was or why it was so powerful!" He shook his head in frustration. "All I know right now is that I can't afford to allow that mage to have the dragon balls; who knows what kind of evil his wish would cause."

He continued to fly for several minutes. "That's Turtle Island up ahead." He thought to himself. "Still above the water level I see, that's good." He flew onto the island and landed in front of the door, which was noticeably wet. "I suppose that the storm's full power didn't extend quite this far."

Piccolo opened the door and walked inside. He conjured a lamp out of the air and held it in front of himself to create light. Walking soundlessly, he progressed to move into the house.

"I need to find that Bulma woman so I can take her dragon radar." He thought to himself as he walked. He came into the living room to see that the television was destroyed. Master Roshi was lying on his completely soaked coach with some see weed coming out of his nose. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

"Hmm, old fool can sleep through anything." Piccolo thought to himself. "I hear some talking from upstairs." Indeed there was a very light conversation going on.

"Who was that boy that suddenly appeared to fight that alien?" A female voice asked. "I don't know Chi-chi." Another voice responded. "Well I don't really care as long as he thrashed him!" The female voice yelled again. Sounds of violence came from upstairs. "Hey, let go of me! I'm going to rescue Gohan!" The voice yelled from upstairs.

A heavy sweat drop could be seen hanging off of the side of Piccolo's head. "Now dear, we've already talked about this. We shouldn't go until we know it's safe." "I'm not going to wait any more father, I'm going now!!!"

A loud clamor could be heard coming down the stairs. Two people spilled out, one was a young woman with black hair and the other was an absolutely huge man who was wearing a helmet with horns. Both of them stopped struggling and stared at Piccolo who stared back.

"That woman is Goku's wife?" Piccolo asked himself. "She is nothing like him or Gohan." He cleared his throat, but before he could speak Chi-chi jumped to her feet and walked up to him.

"There you are Piccolo, I was meaning to talk to you! You're the one who dragged my son off into the middle of no-where to train him without my permission and you were the one to take him to battle aliens from another world! Now do you have anything at all to say for yourself?!"

"Get away from there dear!" Ox-King said, panicking. "That's Piccolo, you don't want to make him angry!"

"I don't care if he's Kami himself, no one's going to mess with my son and get away with it!" Chi-chi yelled at her father, causing him to cower backwards. She turned to Piccolo and was about to continue yelling until she saw the completely serious look on his face.

"I'm sorry about Gohan but there was no other way." Piccolo said seriously. "We absolutely needed his help if the earth was to survive. Besides, the aliens are gone and he is safe, I'm here for a different reason."

"Different reason?" Chi-chi asked hesitantly. Piccolo nodded. "That's right, I need the dragon radar."

"The dragon radar?" Bulma asked sleepily as she stepped down the stairs. "What would someone need that for?" She looked blankly at Piccolo for a moment until her jaw dropped to the floor. "Piccolo, he's here! Oh, this just isn't my day." She turned to go back up the stairs.

"Wait!" Piccolo yelled. "This is important; I don't have time for your pathetic fear. Bring me the dragon radar now!"

"Yes, right away!" Bulma said, running up the stairs. In a few minutes she came cautiously back down the stairs holding a small circular machine that appeared to have some kind of grid. Chi-chi and her father were sitting in the kitchen and cautiously watching the entire exchange.

"It won't do you any good though." Bulma commented. "I'm sure we still have most of a year at least before they can be used again." After handing Piccolo the machine she cautiously moved into the kitchen with the others. Master Roshi was still sound asleep.

Piccolo walked quickly out of the house and to the shore of the small island. Staring down at the small machine, he clicked on the top button. Instantly two little lights popped up and started blinking.

"One of those is on the move, it must be that mage!" Piccolo yelled to himself. He spent a few more moments messing with the machine. "Impossible, he's already collected two of the dragon balls. How is he moving so quickly?!"

Piccolo began to growl. "I have no choice, I need to go to one of the remaining dragon balls and wait for him there. I'll choose the one that's farthest away from his current position." Moving quickly he leapt into the air and disappeared into the night sky.

"What was that all about?" Bulma asked, staring at his disappearing form. "No idea." Chi-chi responded, shaking her head. "I'm just glad to hear that Gohan's okay."

******************************************

There were two figures flying through the darkness of night. One was Krillin, who was holding a slight red haired girl who at the moment was peacefully asleep. The other was Gohan, who appeared to be very tired.

"I'm sleepy Krillin." Gohan yawned loudly. "How much farther is it to Kami's lookout?" Krillin chuckled. "Oh yeah, I've almost forgotten. You've never actually been there before, have you Gohan?"

Gohan shook his head. "No, I haven't Krillin, but I hope that we get there soon. I'm really tired."

"Don't worry; it's only a little ways now." Krillin responded. The girl in his arms began to rustle. "Yeow, she's about to wake up!" Krillin said. "I'd better put her down before she finds me touching her!" Krillin quickly went to the rock below and gently laid her on the ground. "Give her some space Gohan." Krillin said, backing away from her.

Ranma yawned and slowly opened her eyes. Sitting up, she groggily looked over at Krillin and Gohan. Looking down, she poked at her chest. "Guess I'm a girl right now." She sighed. "Gotta find some hot water and change back."

Krillin stared at her. "What are you looking at Krillin?" Gohan asked him while staring at him with wide eyes. "There's nothing really all that impressive about the way she looks is there?" "Well, nothing, nothing at all." Krillin chuckled nervously. He bent down and spoke into Gohan's ear. "I'll explain it to you later kid."

Ranma stood up and began to stretch. "Wonder where my pop is." She said to herself dazedly, still half asleep. "I thought he said we needed to go to Japan, and I don't know where this is but it sure as hell doesn't look anything like Japan."

"Do you think that she's lost it Krillin?" Gohan asked, looking at his friend. Krillin gave Ranma a sideways glance. "I don't know Gohan, but she certainly doesn't seem to know where she is. Maybe that Ryouga guy was wrong when he said this was Ranma, she doesn't know what's going on."

"Well, there is one way to find out." Gohan said. "If we could hit her with some hot water then that would clear up everything."

"Good idea Gohan!" Krillin said, exited. "But where are we going to find water around here?"

"I think that we passed a pond that was created by that storm just a few hundred meters ago." Gohan said. He turned to the still half-asleep Ranma. "Hey Ranma, do you want some hot water?"

Ranma looked up at him. She stared at him for a moment longer before her vision cleared and she seemed to wake up. "Who the hell are you?" She asked, staring at him. "Never mind that, where can I get hot water?"

"Just follow me!" Gohan said, leaping into the air and flying off. Ranma began to run after him. "Hey, how are you doing that?!" He asked. "How are you flying?" Desperate to keep up with Gohan Ranma powered up. After that even on the ground she had no trouble keeping his pace.

Krillin stared after her. "Her energy is huge." Krillin thought to himself. "There's no mistaking that she's Ranma." Shaking his head, he ran to follow her.

Gohan stopped at small pond in the ground. "Kamehameha!" He yelled, throwing a small blast of energy into the water. It reacted instantly and began to boil. Within a few moments the boiling stopped and the water just steamed.

"Here you go." Gohan said politely to Ranma, who was watching with wide eyes. "I've never seen a technique like that before, how did you do it?" Ranma asked looking at him.

Gohan shrugged. "It's my father's favorite technique; I just kind of learned it one day. I could teach it to you if you like, though I would like to learn some of your techniques too. Could you teach me how to use telekinesis like you did against Nappa?"

Ranma shook her dead in disbelief. "Don't know what you're talking about kid, but thanks for the hot water." In a single jumped she submerged herself, and male Ranma came up from the pool. He casually moved away from the pool to stand in front of them and bowed. "Name's Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Pleased to meet ya."

Krillin and Gohan awkwardly bowed. "Pleased to meet you too." They said together.

Ranma looked around. "When I went to bed I was in China, I don't know what the hell I'm doing in a place like this now." He waved to Krillin and Gohan. "Hey, I'll see you guys later, I've got to find my pop and get out of here."

"Wait!" A voice echoed in his mind. Ranma froze. He slowly turned around to look at Krillin and Gohan. "Did one of you guys say something?" He asked. "I didn't say anything." Krillin said, looking back at him. "How about you Gohan?" "No, nothing." The boy responded.

"They said nothing at all; it was I who spoke to you Ranma." The voice echoed again in his head. Ranma fell into a fighting stance. Krillin and Gohan quickly backed off from him. "Why don't you come out and fight me?" Ranma said cautiously. "I don't know who you are but I don't like it that you know my name."

"My name is Kami, have you forgotten me Ranma?" The voice said again. Ranma's eyes widened and he began to look very freaked out if not intimidated. "You mean that I actually knew you at one time? Sorry, don't remember a thing about any Kami."

The voice sighed in his head. "Well, it seems that you've forgotten, this will only make things more complicated. Ranma, I need you to follow the two in front of you to my lookout where I can explain everything."

Ranma shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I need to find my father. We have some business to take care of before we leave China."

"I can't explain to you why, but your business has already been taken care of." The voice said in his mind again. "Just follow these two and I will make everything clear."

Ranma relaxed his fighting stance and smiled. "Hey, if you say so. I wouldn't want to piss off Kami anyways; those amazons that are chasing me are bad enough without getting some god after me too." He turned to Krillin and Gohan. "So can you take me to this guy or what?"

Krillin stared at the man who seemingly had just had a conversation with himself. "Of course." He said. "But you're going to need to learn to fly first. But from what I've seen, that should be really easy for you."

Ranma stared at him with both wonder and skepticism in his eyes. "To fly?" He said. "It would be like a dream."

"Yeah." Krillin said. "Look, it's really easy. All you do is take your energy and force it between yourself and the ground. Like this." Krillin began to float off of the ground.

Imitating him, Ranma flew quickly up into the air. "Not so much!" Krillin yelled up at him. "You have way to much power to put that much effort into it!"

Gradually Ranma gained controlled of flight. He happily flew around in the air doing spins and circles. "Show off." Krillin muttered to himself. Gohan stared at him. "I don't think that he's trying to show off Krillin." Gohan said. "I think he's just enjoying himself."

Krillin shrugged. "If you say so, I'm just glad that Kami's lookout is so close. We should be there in only a few minutes."

******************************************

Kami paced around alone on the surface of the lookout, continuously staring into the night. "Hey Kami, what's up?" Goku asked, lowering himself onto the floor of the lookout.

Kami looked up at Goku. "Hello Goku, I see that your mission was successful. You were able to beat the demon with the water." Goku nodded and laughed. "Yeah, I did it, he was actually a lot weaker then I expected."

Kami's face grew serious. "But even with the saiyajins gone I can't help but feel that trouble is still brewing. The nature of that Captain Ginyu who attacked you and the one who summoned the demon are still unknown to us."

Goku nodded seriously. "Yeah, you're right. There's just too much going on that it's hard to keep track of." He yawned widely. "And to tell you the truth I'm starting to get kind of sleepy. I haven't really slept since I've left King Kai's place."

Kami turned to him. "The time for you to sleep will come soon enough Goku, but I would like for you to wait until Ranma, Krillin and Gohan arrive. I fear that things may have just made themselves more complicated than before."

"What do you mean Kami?" Goku asked, looking at him curiously. Kami sighed. "I mean simply that Ranma has lost his memory. I'm not completely sure, but I think that he's forgotten everything that has happened to him in Japan after leaving China. Meaning," He said, turning to Goku. "That he has forgotten most of his techniques and has no memory of the visiting saiyajins. Furthermore he has no idea how strong he is or how he came about his strength. In his frame of mind he is much weaker then he really is."

"That could be a problem." Goku said, scratching his chin. "So, do you know of a way to give him back his memories?"

Kami nodded. "Yes I do. Given a few days I believe that I could return all of his memories to him, but unfortunately I don't believe that we have that kind of time."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked. "Do you really think that the enemy forces will strike that quickly? What do they want from earth anyways?"

"Well, it's obvious that the Dragon Balls have been reactivated." Kami said. "But I believe that Piccolo is on the move to neutralize the one responsible. I believe that he is capable of handling that particular situation. If need be he can always destroy one of the dragon balls, leaving me to recreate it at a later time. That will be an act of desperation for him though, since no one really knows what would happen in that case."

"Yeah, no kidding." Goku said, taking a seat. "I think that would make the dragon angry." Kami nodded. "Right. In any case, Ranma should be here soon. I'll decide what to do once I see how serious his condition is."

Together they stared into the night sky. "Ranma's power is really impressive." Goku said. "And he was able to save the earth even in my absence. I kind of regret not being able to fight that saiyajin visitor, I think I would have liked him."

"I wouldn't worry Goku; he did survive the fight after all. I think that you might just get your chance someday." Kami said. "Anways, I think that they've arrived.

Indeed they had. Krillin and Ranma flew directly up to the lookout and collapsed. "Man I'm tired!" Krillin said, lying on the ground. "It's been a long day."

"You said it Krillin." Gohan agreed. "I can barely keep my eyelids open!"

"Hey, you can't go to sleep yet guys." Goku chuckled. "There are still a few things that we have to take care of."

Another form floated down to the lookout. Ranma looked around curiously. His eyes widened greatly when he saw Kami. "What the hell is that?" He asked himself, staring at Kami.

Kami smiled gently. "Thank you for the polite greeting Ranma. My name is Kami, I am the one who has talked to you before."

Ranma walked up to him. "So you can help me figure out what's going on huh? So where do we start?"

"We start here." Kami said, placing his hand on Ranma's forehead. "Clear your mind and I will attempt to return some of your memories to you."

Ranma nodded and lowered his head. "What the hell am I getting myself into?" He asked himself. "Well, it's obvious that there's something wrong. There's no way that I was this strong before, I can just feel how outrageously powerful I am. Maybe this entire situation is a dream." With that last thought he cleared his mind and allowed the soothing presence of the green man in front of him to enter into his consciousness.

Instantly a jumbled group of images came into his head. He saw several people that he didn't recognize, including a rather cute girl with black hair. A crazy mixture of fights came into his head, so complicated that he couldn't tell where one fight ended and another began. "This is crazy!" He yelled. "Make it stop!" But it didn't stop. He saw many desperate struggles for survival. Eventually an image of a man with black spiky hair jumped into his head. "I lost to him." Ranma realized. "I was no match for him." The thought scared him; he wasn't used to enemies that he couldn't handle.

The last image to flash in his mind was that of a small man with tall spiky black hair who was staring at him in hatred. Gasping, Ranma fell to his knees. "That was, that was too much." He struggled to say.

"I must agree." Kami said, sighing with exhaustion. "Your body must have suffered extreme trauma for all of that to have been forgotten. I'm afraid that those jumbled images won't help you much but it's a good place to start. It will take a few more days to restore everything I'm afraid."

Ranma stood up slowly and gave him a cocky smile. "Heck, it will only take one more day tops." He turned to Goku. "You're Goku right?"

Goku nodded and held out his hand. "That's right, and you're Ranma. I've been looking forward to meeting you for quite a while, but I was really hoping that it wouldn't be like this."

Ranma shook his hand. "I can't remember clearly at all, but I think that I wanted to meet you too." Ranma tapped himself on the side of the head. "Do you have anywhere to sleep here? I'm getting kind of tired."

Kami smiled. "Yes, I believe that I have places here for all of you to sleep, you are welcome to stay."

But Gohan and Krillin were already fast asleep. "These guys." Goku chuckled. He bent down and picked both of them up. "Ooopphh, they're getting heavy." Goku grunted. With Kami leading, he and Ranma walked into the guestroom where the beds were already set up.

Once lying down, the four of them fell asleep almost instantly.

******************************************

"I'm almost there." Piccolo thought to himself while flying above a large city. It appeared to be bustling even in the darkness. Neon lights shined back up at him. "So this is the city called Tokyo." He thought to himself. "Never heard of it."

He flew above one particularly small district and went directly to a small building that was connected to a rather nice dojo. "Tendo Dojo." He said, reading the sign. "I suppose that this house is the place." He looked at the dragon radar again. "He already has four of the dragon balls, so I should still have a few hours before he arrives. I need to ascertain who in this house has the dragon ball."

Piccolo paused and focused. "I sense four power levels in the house. Two of them are much larger then the average human on this world. The other two." Piccolo's face became strained. "I can't be certain, but it appears that the other two posses magic of some kind." He smiled. "If that's true then it could only be to the earth's advantage, they would be much more effective at resisting the mage then would be an ordinary person."

He looked at the dragon radar. "It would appear that one of the magical beings is in possession of the dragon ball." He placed the radar into his clothes and walked out to a pond that was behind the house. "It's time for the shadow dimension." He said to himself with a smile. "My predecessor used this technique to ambush his enemies, but I've never had cause to use it until now."

Holding out one of his fingers, Piccolo traced a circle in the air. When he was finished, that spot turned into complete darkness. Piccolo then climbed inside and disappeared from regular view. "Since I'm in a different dimension no amount of magic can detect me here." He thought to himself. "Yet my senses can still extend onto earth. That mage won't have any idea that I'm here."

With that Piccolo went into a meditative state and cleared his mind of all distractions, save for detection of the evil mage.

******************************************

"That was quite a night." Nabiki sighed to herself as she sleepily sat on her bed. She yawned very widely. "I'm glad that it's over, I sure hope that another storm doesn't brew up anytime soon and keep me up again."

She glanced over at her clock. "One a-clock already and I have school tomorrow to boot." She smiled sleepily. "Oh well, at least I found that ball with those stars as a consolation prize. After school tomorrow I'll go and find what I can sell it for."

After turning off the lights she laid down and was about to fall asleep when something twanged her senses. "I think I just felt some magic be used outside." She thought to himself, blinking into the darkness. She shrugged. "Must be my imagination." A moment later she was asleep, her mind already embracing the darkness.

******************************************

Ranma was all alone in the darkness. "Where the hell am I?" He asked himself while looking around. Gradually his surroundings came into focus. He was in a city that was completely destroyed. Nearby the skeleton of a young girl came into focus, still holding the skeleton of her cat. Ranma shivered for a second at seeing the cat and quickly turned away.

"What is this place?" He asked himself. "This certainly can't be real."

"Oh, but it is real." A voice spoke out. "It just depends on your frame of view. This is the future of your world if things continue to progress along their present course."

"Who said that?!" Ranma yelled, trying to catch a glimpse of the owner of the voice.

"I wouldn't bother looking for me." The voice chuckled. "You won't be able to see me without being able to use magic. The real question is what are you doing here?"

"What do you mean magic?" Ranma asked. "And why the hell would I know what I'm doing here, I just went to bed and here I am!" His eyes opened in realization. "That's right, I went to bed and here I am, I gotta be dreaming!"

"I wouldn't count on it." The voice spoke. "It would be nice if this was only a dream but I'm afraid that such a situation is not the case. Your spirit has actually come into the future where I am currently residing. So tell me, what is your name?"

Ranma looked around himself blankly. "Ranma Saotome."

"Ranma Saotome?" The voice asked. Ranma nodded. "Then perhaps it does make sense. I have a theory that your destiny is intertwined with someone who has already visited me here. Yes, that would be enough to bring you here as well. Tell me Ranma, do you know of a girl by the name of Akane Tendo?"

Ranma thought for a moment and then shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, but I can't remember a thing about her. But then again, I lost a lot of my memories a short while ago."

"I see, that would be a problem." The voice stated. "Here, let me show you an image to jog your memory." In front of Ranma a clear picture of a young girl appeared. She had clear brown eyes and black hair and was wearing golden robes. Ranma stared at her. "She's really cute." He thought to himself.

"Yeah, I have a few memories of her, but they're nothing more then random pictures right now." Ranma said, still staring at the 3D image in front of him. "So is this a girl that I actually knew then?"

"Yes, she is your fiancée." The voice said. "She is one that you have fought to protect many times and even now will continue to protect."

"My fiancée?" Ranma said, his heart beating hard. "Hey, I've never asked for any fiancée, whose idea is this?"

"I think it's best if you remember on your own." The voice chuckled. "But anyways, I think that it's time for me to send you back. If you woke while your soul is here it's possible that your soul might get stuck in this time. That would really cause complications."

"Hey, wait a second!" Ranma yelled. "You have to tell me how I can stop this!"

There was a noticeable pause. "A way to stop it? Well, I should tell you that you can't do it on your own, you're going to need another warrior's help."

"Who?" Ranma asked. "Wait, is it that Goku guy? He seems to be incredibly strong."

"Yes, it's Goku." The voice responded. "But before you do anything else, you need to regain your memories and quickly. To do this you need to return to the Amazon village. They have been dealing with matters of memory for many thousands of years. They certainly have something that will help"

"The Amazon village." Ranma muttered to himself. "I was hoping that I would never have to return there again. So why will they teach an outsider like me anything?" He asked.

"When you wake up you will find a golden amulet next to your sleeping place." The voice said. "It will have a symbol of a robe, which is the symbol of my order. They will do anything that you ask out of respect of us. When you get to them, ask for them to teach you the technique of Joining. This will restore your memory and give you the power that you need to defeat your enemy."

"So who is my enemy?" Ranma asked.

"All I see is the body of a strange man." The voice responded. "But inside I see something else, something much worse. Something of a horrible evil power."

"I see." Ranma said. "Well, no matter how strong he is I'll find a way to beat him, if it means stopping this from happening." He gestured to the surrounding destruction.

"There is something else to the technique of Joining Ranma." The apparition said. "Goku must be there. With his help your memories will be restored. With his help there may be a chance that the world will be saved."

"Thanks." Ranma said. "Thanks for everything. As soon as I wake up I'll wake Goku and return to the amazon village."

"Good, may it be as you say Ranma." The voice responded. "And may you never forget the image of the girl in front of you Ranma. I beg you to cling to your memories, for I sense that if you are ever robbed of them something more horrible then you could possibly imagine will take place. I only wish it was my place to tell you everything that I know."

"You've done enough." Ranma said. "Now, return me to my time." An instant later he could feel his soul slipping away, slipping through both time and space. It was a disconcerting experience.

******************************************

It was a dark bedroom. Two young men were sleeping on beds on opposite ends of the room. One was a teenager wearing jeans and a tea shirt that had a black pony's tail. The other was a young man who was wearing an orange martial arts uniform that was ripped in several different places. The young man awoke with a start, sitting up in his bed.

"That was some dream." Ranma thought to himself. "Was that real?" He looked over to the side of his bed. Beside his pillow was a beautiful golden amulet connected to a silver chain. On the amulet was the symbol of a robe.

"It's exactly as he said in the dream." Ranma thought to himself. He glanced up and looked at Goku. "I guess I gotta wake him, I don't think that we have much time." He jumped out of his bed and walked over to Goku, who was snoring loudly and drooling.

"Heh, reminds me of pop." Ranma thought to himself. "Now the problem is to wake him." "Hey, wake up, we gotta go." He said loudly while shaking him.

Goku reached up his hand and hit Ranma in the stomach while he was rolling over. Ranma's eyes widened at the hit. "Damn, that hurt!" He said to himself. "Just how strong is this guy?"

"Hey Goku, wake up!" He said louder. Goku didn't respond, he just snored loudly. "Guess I gotta resort to force." He thought.

In one smooth motion Ranma picked up the bed and threw Goku to the ground. "Huh, what's going on?" Goku said, sleepily looking around.

"Come on Goku, we have to go." Ranma said. "I had a dream; we need to leave here now."

"You had a dream?" Goku said, blinking up at Ranma. "That's good, what did you dream about?"

"This guy told me that the earth is in danger." Ranma said. "He gave me this." He held up a golden amulet. Goku looked at it. "Are you sure, I'm still really tired." He said.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Ranma said. "We need to move quickly, I don't think we have much time."

"Well, if you say so then I'll come." Goku yawned. "But let's get something to eat first, I'm starving!"

Ranma's stomach growled loudly. "No argument there, let's eat something."

Together they stood up and looked around until they found the refrigerator. "Man this place is loaded." Ranma said, staring at all of the food with wide eyes.

"You said it." Goku said with his mouth completely full. There wasn't a trace of sleepiness left in him.

They spent the next twenty minutes eating as much as they possibly could.

"Well, it's time to go." Ranma said, slipping back into his Chinese clothes. "It's funny, but I don't remember leaving any spares up here." "You're lucky Ranma." Goku said with a chuckle. "I don't have any other of these uniforms from King Kai. I'm going to have to stick with this ripped one."

Ranma gave him a serious expression. "Thanks for trusting me on this." Goku nodded to him. "No problem, I've learned long ago that you shouldn't ignore your instincts. If you feel that what this guy told you in your dreams can be trusted then it's good enough for me."

Ranma took the communication stone and slipped it into his clothes. "Might need this later." He thought to himself. Nodding to Goku he flew off into the darkness.

"I still can't believe how strong I've become." Ranma thought to himself as he flew downwards. "I must have been training incredibly hard in this past year to reach this level." He glanced over at Goku. "And even as much as I've improved I've got the feeling that this Goku guy is even stronger." He smiled to himself. "I can't wait to remember everything. Most especially that Akane girl."

With that last thought he flew into the darkness towards the earth.

******************************************

A lone girl was pacing while deep in thought. "What to do." Akane said to herself. "What to do." "Ah ha!" She said, hitting her hand with her fist. "He's a warrior right? I just need to attack his weak point, his mind!"

"Now how do I do that?" She asked herself. "First I need to worry about keeping myself safe, but he's so much stronger then me, how could I do it?" "I know!" She said. "I'll just send my spirit there; he won't be able to hurt that!"

Finding her center, Akane reached inside herself and focused. Bringing out her magic, she forced her spirit out of her body. A moment later her vision changed to a point right in front of her.

She turned to look at herself. "How's that for an out of body experience?" She asked. "This is creepy; it reminds me of that time that the doll stole my body to trick Ranma." She winced as her body fell over backwards and hit the ground. "Ouch, maybe I should have sat down first. I'm going to feel that when I come back."

Her spiritual face became determined. "In any case, there's something more important to deal with. I need to beat that Raditz guy so I can help Ranma. I think he's over here a little ways."

With the lack of a body she moved extremely quickly over the ground. Within a minute she had already reached the place where Raditz was located. His face was angry and he was pacing back and forth. "How the hell do I get out of this place?!" He yelled. "For some reason the clouds just won't let me out, there has to be another way!"

"He's scary even when dead." Akane thought to herself. "But there's no time for that now, come on Akane, you have to do this!"

Focusing, she caused several chains to wrap themselves around his body. "You're coming with me Raditz!" She said.

Raditz first looked surprised and then somewhat angry. "Do you expect these pathetic chains to hold me?" He asked, turning to her.

"He can see me, but how?" Akane asked herself. Looking down she saw that her spirit had taken physical form. "Oh no, I forgot! All spirits seem physical here; this won't give me an advantage at all!"

She looked up at him. "Can't move can you? I think it would be better if you gave up now." Scowling at her Raditz pulled his arms in close to his body, causing the chains to fall to the ground. "Is this your idea of a joke?" Raditz said.

Akane face faulted. "Oh no, strike two!" She said. "I can't screw up again; my next plan has to work!"

"Hey, I know you." Raditz said, taking a closer look at her. "I met you on earth shortly before I died. So you're in hell too huh? I guess that you're not the angel that you appear to be."

Akane's expression became angry. "What do you mean by that?!" She yelled. Her face became panicked. "Oh no." She thought to herself. "I can't let myself get too angry; I need to be calm to beat him."

"I've got an idea." Raditz said while examining her. "Why don't I just take you hostage and force them to let me out. After all, I'm sure that they wouldn't want a pretty little thing like you to get hurt." An instant later he was behind her getting her in a choke hold. "Don't worry; this won't hurt me at all." He chuckled.

"I forgot how fast he was." Akane thought to herself, desperate for air. She paused. "Wait a second, I don't have a body, what am I gasping so much for?"

Her face became angry. "I can't let him use me like this, it would be so embarrassing! I have to escape from him!" Summoning her dimensional mallet, she stepped to the right side of his body and brought it as hard as she could between his legs.

Instantly she could hear him gasp for breath and feel his grip loosen. Wedging her arms between his arms and her neck, she forced her escape and moved quickly away from him. He stared at her cross eyed for a moment, until his look of confusion turned into one of rage.

"I'll get you, you little witch!" He yelled. He quickly threw forward a ki blast to her exact position.

Almost as a reflex Akane created an aura about herself which completely absorbed the attack. But it still had enough force to send her flying backwards almost 30 meters. An instant later Raditz was standing over her staring down at her.

"How did you survive that girl?" He asked. "I know that you aren't that strong."

"It's a good thing that I made it to the chapter on magical defense." Akane thought. She looked up at Raditz. "I don't know if I can take another attack head on, I need to try something else. Freeze!"

Instantly every muscle in Raditz's body clenched. "What the hell did you do to me? I can't move!" He yelled. He tried desperately to raise one hand towards her but had to fight for every centimeter.

"How do you like that, it worked!" Akane said excitedly to herself. "I pulled it off, now I just need to signal the hell authorities."

Raditz's scowl turned to a smile. "Very clever little girl, I don't know how you managed to do this with how weak you are, but I'm quite impressed. But there's one thing you forgot about."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Akane challenged. The tail around his waist unfurled itself and pointed straight at her. "You've forgotten about this."

"He has a tail; I've never noticed that before!" Akane screamed silently to herself. An instant later a blast of energy came out of his tail towards her. Instinctively she brought up her previous defense which blocked most of the attack shattering in the process.

But not all of it. Again she flew 30 meters backwards creating an Akane shaped rut in the ground. "That hurt." She thought to herself. She looked up at him as he approached. "That jerk, he's going to get it!" She yelled.

"Going to get what?" Raditz asked, looking down at her with an evil expression in his eye.

"Earth bind!" Akane yelled. Instantly the stone leapt up from around Raditz's feet, binding him in place. He glanced down at it uncaringly. "Do you really think that this will be enough to hold me?" He asked. "You should have more respect for a warrior of the saiyajin race."

Raditz merely moved forward causing the stone around his feet to shatter. "No good." Akane thought. "How about this?" "Mud!" She yelled. The shattered stone around his feet turned directly into mud.

"What are you doing?" Raditz asked. "Foolish girl, it's time to die again!" He chuckled for a second, amused at his joke.

"Now!" Akane yelled. With a motion of her hand the mud flew upwards into his face, covering his entire face with mud. "What the hell?!" He yelled. "Soul chain!" She yelled, and then made a face. "That's from the unpleasant things section; I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use that." At here words golden chains sprang up around Raditz and unlike the ones from before they constricted his body.

"Damn you!" Raditz yelled. He spent a few moments straining against the chains but couldn't break them. "I have the advantage here." Akane thought. "If he actually had his physical body I don't know if I could hold him or not."

Raditz brought his hands up from under the chains and pointed his palms in her general direction. "Oh-oh." Akane said, staring at him wide-eyed. Raditz grinned from under the mud. "I'll make sure that your life is the price that you'll pay for your victory here." A moment later a huge amount of energy erupted itself from his palms, covering the entire area in front of him.

Akane didn't have time to get out of the way.

******************************************

Goku and Ranma flew through the night air at an incredible speed. "Why are you in such a hurry Ranma?" Goku asked, looking over at him curiously. "Is the danger really that close?"

Ranma shrugged. "The problem is that I don't know how close it is. I was advised to leave as soon as I woke up."

"So where are we going anyways, and what will we be doing there?"

"We're going to the Amazon village which I visited just under a month ago." Ranma paused and sweat dropped. "Uggh, make that over a year ago. We're supposed to use this technique called Joining, or something like that. I think it will restore my memory."

"Oh." Goku said, eyes wide. "I see, a technique to restore your memory. That way you'll remember all of your old techniques that you used against the saiyajins."

"I think that's the general idea." Ranma said. "I must have known some pretty incredible techniques to be able to keep that destruction from taking place."

"What kind of destruction?" Goku asked, looking at him curiously.

Ranma's brow furrowed. "Horrible, widespread destruction. Everything was gone, leaving only skeletons behind."

"That's horrible!" Goku said. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "So why do you need my help to regain your memory?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't know, I was just told that you had to be there. Look, the Amazon village is just ahead."

******************************************

A single girl was walking along the edge of what appeared to be a small village. She was obviously tired, but too serious about maintaining her vigilance to allow it to stop her. She barely suppressed a yawn. "I don't like this shift." She thought to herself in Chinese.

An instant later two forms flew down in front of her. Both were men, one was somewhat younger then the other. Both of them were quite muscular and were dressed like guys from a kung-fu movie.

"Intruders!" The girl yelled in Chinese. She paused for a second until she could hear the other guards rousing the village. An instant later she pulled out a sword and jumped at the slightly taller one swinging at him.

Blue ki charged about Goku's hand and he caught the sword. "We don't want any trouble." Goku told her, his face serious. The girl blinked at him in surprise. She pulled a knife out of her opposite sleeve and tried to sucker stab him. An instant before the knife made contact he disappeared.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Ranma said. He pulled out the amulet and showed it to her. "I was told that you would recognize this." The girl stared at it for a second and then bowed deeply.

"Sorry." She managed in Japanese. She turned around to see that Goku was already several feet behind her, looking into the amazon village. "This is an interesting place Ranma, is this what we're looking for?"

Ranma nodded. "Yep, this is the place. Now we just need to find an elder and we'll be alright."

The girl looked at them for a moment and then nodded in understanding. "Follow." She said. She then walked into the village. Several guards jumped into view and looked at the men suspiciously. The girl paused for a moment to explain something causing their jaws to drop in amazement. Then they simply nodded and seemingly disappeared.

They walked slowly through the village to an elaborate tent. All along their path the villagers were staring at them with amazement, each one trying to catch a look at the amulet that Ranma was now wearing around his neck.

"They seem to have a lot of respect for the guy that gave you that." Goku whispered to Ranma. "No kidding." Ranma whispered back.

"I just hope they don't figure out that I'm the girl from a month back." He thought. A funny expression came across his face. "That's right; I keep forgetting it's been well over a year."

There were two young girls standing outside of the tent. "Wait." One of them said while she was walking into the tent. The other stood still and scowled at them.

"I get the feeling that we're not welcome here." Goku whispered to Ranma. Ranma rolled his eyes. "It's because we're guys, people aren't fond of them around here." Goku looked at him with wide eyes. "Why would that be?" Ranma shrugged. "Beats the heck out of me. It must be part of their 5,000 year history or something."

The girl came out of the tent. "The high elder Phianta will see you now."

"Okay, great!" Goku said, walking into the tent. Ranma made sure that the amulet was in plain view as the guards were eyeing him angrily. "Guess they don't like surprise visitors." He thought to himself.

They found the inside of the tent to be rather simple. All that was there was a blanket for a sleeping place and a small shelf case that was filled with old scrolls. An old woman who looked quite a bit like Cologne was sitting on the ground and appeared to be waiting for them.

"Welcome warriors who bare the blessing of Maple, why don't you take a seat?"

Goku and Ranma sat opposite of the woman. "Who's Maple?" Ranma asked curiously. "He's an old friend of mine." The woman responded. "He visited me in my dreams and kept the nightmares away after my parents had died when I was only a little girl. It was over a hundred years later when I had learned that he was from the order of the robe, which your amulet depicts. They have been friends of the Amazon tribe even at its beginning over 5000 years ago."

Ranma and Goku stared at her blankly for a moment. "Maple? Isn't that some kind of food?" Goku asked, causing Ranma to sweat drop. "I don't think now's the time." Ranma whispered to Goku.

"It's quite alright." The woman smiled. "So tell me, are you hungry?"

"No, we just ate." Ranma said, turning back to the woman. "I was told that you had a technique that could help me by that Maple guy. A technique that would restore my memory."

"We have many techniques young man." The woman said. "Even many techniques that focus on memory. Tell me, which one did the man advice?"

"The technique of Joining." Ranma said. The woman gasped. "What, is it that hard to learn? Wow, it must be some technique." Goku said.

The woman smiled at him. "No, it's not that. It's merely that I'm surprised that the mage would choose a technique of such outrageous power for something as simple as memory rejuvenation." She turned to look at Ranma seriously. "I see now why he sent a friend with you. This technique involves joining the minds of two different people and allowing them to mentally work together to restore both of their memories. It is by far the most powerful technique that this tribe has produced in the past 5,000 years."

"Why is that?" Ranma asked, looking at her quizzically. She smiled slightly as she looked back at him. "It is because it allows the two people to perfectly blend their fighting abilities together and to fight as if they were one person."

"I don't see what's so special about that." Goku said. "I mean, all we would have to do to accomplish that would be to practice together. I think it would only take a week at most."

"I'm with him." Ranma said, looking at the old woman. "We could accomplish that with only a few days of practice."

She smiled as if she knew something that they did not. It was an expression that Ranma was used to seeing on Cologne. "Oh, if only you knew the true nature of this technique." She said to them. "Unfortunately what I have told you up to this point is only a half-truth. However, Maple has chosen not to tell you the truth of this technique and therefore there must be a good reason that you shouldn't know. So I will not tell you either."

"Just great." Ranma said, leaning back. "The last time I learned a technique without knowing about it in advance it involved a pit full of ca- ca-cats." He finished quietly.

Goku looked at him curiously and then shrugged and turned to the old Amazon. "So when can we start?" He asked. "I think that we're kind of in a hurry."

"Yes, I have surmised as much, we must begin." The old woman returned. "Tell me you two, what are your names? It will be important."

"I'm Goku." Goku said simply, while standing up. "Ranma Saotome." Ranma said, also standing up.

"And I am Phianta." The woman said. "It is a pleasure to meet warriors of your incredible caliber. It will be an even greater pleasure to meet you after you have completed this technique. Right this way please."

The woman grabbed a staff from the side of the tent and balanced on it. She then hopped out of the tent and began to hop through the village towards a small cave against a nearby hill. The entire village seemed to have turned out, they were all staring at the strange visitors and whispering amongst themselves.

"This kinda makes me nervous." Ranma thought, looking around at the villagers. "Really, you think so?" Goku asked. "I don't really mind at all. None of them really have enough power to hurt us, not even all of them at once."

Ranma sighed and put his arms behind his head. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He said. "Dang, being this strong is going to take some getting used to." He thought to himself. "Won't Pop be surprised."

Inside the cave appeared to be a small room that was filled with dust. Goku and Ranma sneezed together as they entered. The old woman pulled out a feather and touched it to her lips and blew upon it. Instantly all of the dust swept itself up and disappeared out of the cave door.

Once the dust was gone twin circles could be seen on the ground. They were composed of strange runes and were roughly four feet in diameter. A small incense container was sitting between them.

"This is where the two of you will sit until the process is complete." The old woman said to them.

"How long can we expect this to take?" Ranma asked, looking at the two circles. The amazon shrugged. "It depends on you two of course, and if you decide to follow the process to the conclusion."

"What do you mean by that?" Ranma asked. The woman smiled up at him. "You'll know what I mean soon enough, I wouldn't worry about it sonny-boy."

One of Ranma's eyes twitched. "That sounds awfully familiar." He thought to himself. "So what kind of things will we be going through?" Goku asked.

She looked up at him with piercing eyes. "This will force both of you to become completely at peace with yourselves, don't think that Ranma is the only one that has an ordeal ahead of him. Both of you will be confronted by shadows of your past and memories that you have forgotten until you have completely accepted every aspect of yourselves. At that point you will have the choice to complete the technique. That is all I can tell you."

"It must really be something else if it takes all of that." Ranma said. Goku merely nodded. "Well, time is short; the two of you need to take your seats so you can get started." The woman said. "I'll start some incense to help you relax. You need to bring your minds into perfect states of no thought. It is at that point that the circles will bring your souls together in a state of central conscience and the process will begin. I wish you good luck."

Goku and Ranma sat opposite each other cross-legged. The woman lit the incense and set it between them. "They're amazing, both of them." She thought to herself as she left the cave. "It would be a wonderful thing for them to marry into our tribe, the strength that such a thing would represent for us would be beyond belief."

******************************************

It was Kami's lookout. A dark form materialized on the tile amidst a black mist. "So this is earth." The form said to itself as it walked to the edge and looked at the planet below. "Such a quant and peaceful little place, I can see why people would fight to the death to protect it." He started to walk around the island. "Pity that it has to be destroyed, if Freezer wasn't so determined to cleanse the saiyajin race from this universe then I would be tempted to leave it be."

He paused for a moment and stared down at the world. "I wonder where Goku is. I do so hope that he's stronger now then he was before, he was kind of pathetic in that last fight." He smiled to himself. "But that's no surprise; most warriors are rather pathetic when compared to the great Captain Ginyu."

"Hold it there, who are you?" A voice spoke from behind him. Turning around, he saw an old man with green wrinkled skin who was staring at him disapprovingly. "You're not welcome here user of black magic."

Captain Ginyu threw back his head and laughed. "Well, this is rich! This is so much more then I was expecting from such a little world. So there's actually someone here who knows a few tricks about magic after all! Well I'll be a saiyajin's uncle." With that last comment he laughed even harder.

"His magical powers are rather weak." Kami thought to himself. "But I sense that his robe is hiding his real power. If this is the man that attacked Goku I'm afraid that this entire world is in great danger."

"Why are you here?" Kami said. The form stopped laughing and looked way down at him. "If you need to know my orders are to destroy all life on this world. But don't worry; I'm to spare you until my accomplice has made a wish on the dragon balls. However, the first order of business is to kill all of the saiyajins, so if you don't mind please tell me where I can find Goku."

"If he's looking for Goku then he must not be aware of Gohan's presence with 100 feet of him." Kami thought. "That's good; if I can get Krillin and Gohan into the chamber of space and time then they might have the strength to resist him." He shook his head. "I apologize, Goku and Ranma left during the night while I was asleep. I am not currently aware of where they're located."

Captain Ginyu started to laugh. "It's alright; I don't need your help anyways." He turned and looked down onto the world. "Mire, are you there Mire? I need to speak to you." He sent out the mental projection onto the world.

Within a few moments a ghastly transparent image appeared next to him on the island. "What is it Ginyu? What is it that you wish to say to me?"

Captain Ginyu bowed very deeply. "My orders are to destroy all of the saiyajins on this world. I need you to locate the man called Goku for me."

"You wish to find Goku." The image spoke quietly. "This will only take a moment." It looked down onto the world. "Detection." It whispered to itself. A moment later it turned to Captain Ginyu. "There is a complication."

"What's that First Apprentice?" He asked respectfully.

"I cannot sense his presence. It would seem that the nature of his spiritual existence was just completely rewritten."

"What, but how, how would that be possible?" Captain Ginyu yelled out. The image shook his head. "I am not sure, yet I am certain that he is not dead. I could detect his presence if given enough time, but unfortunately I have my own job to do." He turned to stare at Captain Ginyu. "Finding his location is your own task, I will leave you to it. If you wish you could simply wait for him to reveal himself, it is certain that he must before long. I would advice causing mass destruction trying to draw him out. However, do not do anything that would endanger the dragon balls." He disappeared a second later.

Captain Ginyu started to pace. "His spiritual existence was just rewritten, but how?" Kami watched him wearily. "I don't know what this means." He thought to himself. "Where could Ranma and Goku have gone to cause such a thing to take place? There are too many variables and I don't understand any of them."

He sighed. "At least this buys some time for the world; depending on what they're up to there may be a chance after all." He turned around and started to walk back towards the central building.

"Where are you going?" Captain Ginyu yelled, turning back to him. "To bed." Kami said calmly.

"This isn't good; I can't afford to fail Freezer." Captain Ginyu said to himself, turning back to the earth. "I need to move quickly to draw them out, it's time to start." With that thought he jumped off of the side of the island towards the earth.

******************************************

Inside the central building Kami breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like it worked." He thought to himself. "I only hope that the destruction that he causes is slight, but until Ranma and Goku are ready to face him there is nothing that can be done."

He quickly moved to where Krillin and Gohan were sleeping. "Wake up you two, we need to move quickly!" He yelled at them. They groggily woke up and looked up at Kami. "What is it Kami, why did you wake us so early?" Krillin asked, blinking at him.

Kami sighed. "The earth is in danger again, I need for you and Gohan to enter the room of space and time to train." Gohan sat up slowly. "Room of space and time, what's that?"

"It's a room where you can train for a year while only a day passes on earth." Kami responded. "I need for you two to move quickly. You should roughly be strong enough to survive the room's extreme environments at this time. Please do not ask any more questions."

Krillin yawned again. "If you say so Kami, let's go Gohan." Together they stood up and groggily began to follow Kami. Moving quickly he led them to the door of the room. "This is where you must train." Kami told them. "The enemy you are preparing to face holds an awesome power; please prepare yourselves as best you can. I am sorry that I can't do more to help you train."

"It's alright Kami, Gohan and I can take care of ourselves." Krillin said. "See you in a year."

Together they walked through the door while Kami stared after them. "They have heart but I'm afraid that it won't be enough." He thought to himself. "Why does this nightmare have to continue even now that the saiyajins are gone?" Sighing he returned to the side of the lookout and again looked down to the earth.

"Ranma and Goku, what are you two up to?"

******************************************

"Wow, this place is huge!" Gohan said while staring at the empty expanse in front of him. "Are we really going to spend a whole year here Krillin?"

"That's what it looks like." Krillin said while looking around. "Honestly I'm not sure where we should get started. Hey, I think I see some suits over there." Glancing to the side he saw several suits that had the appearance of space suits hanging off of a strange rack.

"Those look kind of strange." Gohan said. "Should we put them on Krillin?"

"Well, I suppose so Gohan." Krillin said. He shrugged, "What else could they possibly be good for?" A moment later they were both wearing the suits.

"This is heavy Krillin, it's a lot harder to move now." "Gohan said, looking at him with concern."

Krillin started to laugh. "Don't worry about it kiddo, it's just weighted clothing. Goku used to train with it all the time! And remember, Piccolo trained with weights too!"

"That's right, I remember." Gohan said happily. "So training with these clothes will make us just like Mr. Piccolo and my Father!"

"That's right!" Krillin said. He looked out into the wide expanse. "Well, I suppose that we should get started. Let's get out there and start training!"

Together him and Gohan stepped out onto the floor and collapsed to the ground. "This is really heavy!" Gohan said, pushing himself to his feet. "You said it." Krillin responded. Together they stood up.

"Hey, this isn't so bad." Gohan said, turning to Krillin. "So where should we start?"

Krillin looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know Gohan, let's spar each other! It's perfect!" Gohan laughed. "If you say so Krillin, it sounds like a good idea to me."

Both of them went into their fighting stances and charged each other. Even with the greater gravity they moved with great speed.

******************************************

Akane was all alone, all alone in the darkness. "Where am I?" She asked herself. "Is this what it's like to be dead?" She looked down at herself. She was still wearing the golden robes that had been given to her by Maple. She pinched her cheek. "Ouch!"

"No, definitely not dead." She thought. "But if I'm not dead, then where am I?" She looked around herself again, trying to bring her surroundings into focus. Gradually she could make out a cavern. At the end of it she saw a beautiful door that was opened by close to a foot. "I'm in myself." She thought to herself excitedly. "That's the door to my magic!"

She sat down against the side of the tunnel. "So what am I doing here?" She asked herself. "The last thing I remember is Raditz throwing a final attack that I wasn't ready for. Did I bring my soul here to defend myself?" She tried to stand up quickly but quickly sat back down.

"I'm so tired and so dizzy." She thought to herself. "My energy must be almost completely gone because of that fight." Her eyes opened wide. "Oh no! I don't have time for this; I need to get to Ranma!" She focused her magic. "I need to teleport out of here!" Nothing happened.

"Oh that's right, how do I teleport out of my own mind." She thought glumly. "The only reason I'm here must be because I'm too tired to be anywhere else. I sure hope that I'm in my real body right now."

She could hear someone walking down the tunnel. "Akane dear." A kindly female voice called. "Are you in here Akane dear?"

"Who's that?" Akane asked herself. "What the hell would someone be doing inside my own soul anyways? Well, I guess that if they're here they have to have magic, maybe they can help me get out of here." "Who is it?" She called back.

A middle aged woman walked into view. She had a kind face and long black hair. She was currently wearing white robes and had a halo above her head. "Is that you Akane?" She asked. "How is my little girl doing?"

"Little girl?" Akane asked. "What do you mean by that, who are you?"

"Oh, you mean you don't remember?" The woman asked with a smile. "It's no surprise; you were such a little girl when I had to leave."

Tears filled Akane's eyes. "Mother?" She asked. "Is that you mother?" The woman smiled at her gently and held out her arms. "Yes Akane, it's me."

Tears flying behind her Akane ran forward into her mother's arms. "I've missed you so much mommy!" She cried. "Why did you have to die?"

Akane's mother sighed and put her arms around the crying girl. "I'm sorry Akane dear, but I had to leave. The man of light told me that I would die to protect my family when I accepted the magic. It was the only way." She smiled down at Akane. "But it was worth it, I had so many happy years with your father. I only regret that I couldn't stay to watch my little girls grow up."

Akane continued to cry into her robes. "It's just not fair." She said. "We were all so hurt when you died, why did you have to accept the magic? Why did you accept it when it meant that you had to die?"

The woman sighed. "I accepted it for the same reason you did Akane." Akane looked up at her with tear filled eyes. "I accepted it because there were people who needed my help. With my magic I was able to save thousands of people who otherwise would have died. Your father was one of them Akane."

Akane stared up at her in shock. "That's right Akane, you accepted your magic for the same reason. There's a boy you want to protect, one that you love very much."

"Ranma." Akane thought to herself. "I need to help Ranma." Her mother smiled down at her with understanding in her eyes. "It hurt me more then anything to leave you Akane, but I'm enjoying my existence right now. I'm serving as an angel in heaven, and even now have the opportunity to help lots of people on earth. I'm just waiting for your father to join me. But please tell him to take his time; I'm not in a rush."

Akane smiled sadly. "You're an angel, I have always known mother." Her face became determined. "Please mother, please tell me how to leave this place. I need to help Ranma!"

The woman shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Akane, but your soul was almost destroyed in that final attack. You won't have the strength to leave for a while yet. I'm sorry, but Ranma will need to wait."

Akane started to cry again. Her face was filled with desperation. "But the Man of Light had a vision! He told me that I would be too late, that I would fail to help Ranma! Please, I need to leave. If that vision comes true and Ranma disappears, then I'll."

"Please relax Akane." The woman said, putting one of her fingers on Akane's lips. "Please relax, I understand how you feel. I want you to be happy my dear, more so then anything else. But right now there's little you can do. When your strength returns you will leave this place. You were the one who made this place in your desperation to survive the criminal's last attack, and thanks to you he has been captured. But please Akane, rest and heal for now. If you do your best then destiny will take care of the rest, I have always believed that."

"But isn't there anything I can do to speed it up?" Akane asked. "Anything at all? Please tell me!"

The woman sighed. "Yes, there is something you can do. Relax and develop your powers. What you will need is not powers of the body or the mind but powers of the heart. If you can talk to Ranma's heart then even though his mind may be gone you will still get through to him. Oh dear Akane, I will do what I can as well to hasten your healing, but you must have patience. Now more then ever, please rest."

Akane slowly nodded. "Yes mother, of course." Together they sat down and Akane rested her head on her mother's lap. Slowly she went to sleep to the sound of her mother's breath.

******************************************

The setting was a blasted city, a horrible landscape. In the center of the destruction a young man wearing golden robes could be seen surrounded by a beautiful yellow aura. His face was filled with concentration.

"It seems that Babiti and Freezer have played their cards." The man said to himself. "Their warriors of choice are Captain Ginyu and the dark apprentice Mireanstilaristiaerai. Unfortunately no one will be there to stop them. My vision is without fail, Akane will be too late to rescue Ranma and Goku from their horrible fate at the hands of their unseen enemy."

He punched the ground beneath himself. "Why does it have to be like this?! If only Akane would wake up sooner, but such a thing is impossible! Her soul was so badly damaged by the attack of the saiyajin it will take time for her to heal. I'm afraid that it's inevitable, she's not going to make it until they're already too far gone for help."

Another powerful emotion filled his eyes. "Yet I shouldn't give up hope. There may be a way for Akane to pull through in the end even if she's too late to help them. But that's only possible if she realizes the ultimate truth of magic, the truth that can never be taught."

He returned to his feet and stared into the still sky. "But it took me hundreds of years to discover that truth. Is it possible that such a young girl who thinks with her fists could discover it with only a year of magical backing?"

He lowered his head and looked at the ground. "Please Akane; the earth and the very soul of the one that you love are on the line. You must do everything you can!"

******************************************

It was a complete and absolute darkness, the kind that's only possible in one's imagination. It was a darkness that seemed somehow to absorb all light, only amplified by the truth of dreams.

"Wow this is dark, where am I?" A voice asked. "Who said that?" Someone else asked out of the darkness.

"Hey, is that you Ranma?" The first person asked. "Boy am I ever glad to hear your voice."

"Yeah, me too Goku." The other person responded. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Goku shrugged, though it couldn't be seen in the darkness. "I don't know, I suppose that we're in the central consciousness that the old woman was talking about."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Ranma responded. "So where do we start? How do we go about restoring my memory?"

Goku paused for a moment and thought carefully. "You do have a few memories that Kami restored right?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I've got a few scattered images."

"So why not focus on one of those? Maybe if you do some more information on it will come up."

"That's a good idea Goku." Ranma responded. "I wonder where I should start."

Ranma paused and began to relax. "I have the image of a purple haired girl in my mind; I think I encountered her first in the village. I'll see what I can remember about her."

He spent a moment struggling and then sighed. "I can't remember a single thing about her, just like before."

"Hey, why don't you try that again Ranma, but only I'll help this time." Goku said. "I'll just focus on helping you remember, it will be easy."

Ranma smiled. "Alright, let's give it another try."

Together they concentrated on the image of the girl and all of a sudden all of the memories concerning her flooded into both of them as if a dam had been broken.

"Her name was Shampoo." Goku and Ranma said together, looking at each other. "I remember everything." Ranma said with a smile. Goku nodded back, though he wasn't smiling. "Yeah, I remember everything too. And the scary thing is that I remember through your eyes."

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That was a lot of fun, see you in chapter 8!

Thanks a lot for your help Ranko! Sorry about forgetting to thank you in chapter 6. Don't worry about that little misunderstanding; in retrospect I think it's funny!