Disclaimer: All characters and concepts in this story are owned and copyrighted
by their respective creators. They DO NOT belong to me. I'm just barrowing them.
Ultimate Crisis, Ultimate Warrior
A Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover (primary)
- Multiple Anime crossover (secondary)
Co-Written by Trooper1023 and Ranechi
Based on original story idea, "The Super Ranma", by Piccolo181
View at: http://www.geocities.com/nighthawktm/idea.htm
=text= is transmissions (long-distance communicators)
[text] is sounds/actions
*text* is emphasized words
~text~ is thoughts
Timeline: This story begins a few months after both the Ranma 1/2 and Sailor
Moon mangas end.
_______________________________________________________________________
Part I: When in Need of a Warrior
Chapter 1: A Battle Lost and a Monkey Paw Wish
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
"AIYA! AIREN HURT!"
"KILL THAT THING RAN-CHAN!"
"GET OUT OF THERE! YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING MORE!"
"LOOK OUT!!!"
Ranma twisted in mid-air at the last instant, grateful for Ryoga's warning.
Ignoring the shouts from Shampoo, Ukyo, and the Sailor Senshi, he dodged
another swipe from the giant youma and back flipped for some much-needed
space. Gathering all the ki he could, Ranma threw one last "MOKO TAKABISHA!"
at the beast's face. Ryoga, injured but not out of the fight, followed suit
with a "SHI SHI HOUKODAN!" also aiming for the head. Just as the two ki-blasts
hit, "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" "BURNING MANDELA!" "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
three more attacks slammed into the youma's chest. The massive explosion
overrode its scream of pain and it fell through the wall behind it.
Falling to his knees in exhaustion, Ranma looked past the collapsed wall. ~No
movement. Good, looks like it's finally over...~ He staggered back to his feet
and...
[GLOMP]
"You jackass! Don't go scaring me like that ever again!" Ukyo had tears in her
eyes as she latched on to Ranma.
[GLOMP]
"Shampoo agree with Spatula Girl! Airen give Shampoo big scare!" Shampoo was in
about the same state and hugged Ranma tightly.
"OOF! Hey, leggo! I need to breathe!" Ranma grunted. Both girls blushed and
let go. Ryoga scowled; as usual, Ranma got all the girls' attention.
Around them, other members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew began to collect
themselves. Several of the Sailor Senshi came toward Ranma. In the lead,
Sailor Moon spoke. "Again, we want to thank you for your help. We don't
usually accept help from non-Senshi, but you," she indicated the Wrecking Crew
in general, "were a *BIG* help." Looking at the limping Ryoga specifically,
Moon asked, "Are you sure you won't let Saturn take a look at that leg?"
Ryoga shook his head, grinning and wincing at the same time. "Don't worry
about me. The poor girl looks like she could sleep for a week. My leg will
heal fast enough on its own. Besides, this pigtailed hotshot has done worse to
me before," Ryoga remarked as he swatted said 'pigtailed hotshot' across the
back of the head.
Sailor Moon replied, "That's good to hear."
Ranma on the other hand snarled as he almost lost his balance. "It won't heal
at *all* if you keep swatting me pig-boy!" Akane, approaching Ryouga,
sweatdropped as the bickering continued.
Sailor Moon went on anyway, "Well gang, it's time to clear out. I sincerely
hope that--" A scream of warning and a blood-curdling roar cut her off. Ranma
could hear the youma they thought they'd killed pounding across the pavement
straight at their position. The Senshi scattered, but their magic-based powers
included fast recovery that the Nerimaian martial artists didn't have. They were
caught flat-footed and Ryoga took the first hit, going down hard. Ranma shoved
Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo out of the away with what little strength he had left
just before a huge, bony fist turned his day to night.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma cracked an eye open. It was obviously the dead of night, and he was
lying on a futon in his room. His entire body, especially his back and head,
ached to a degree he didn't think possible. With a groan he pulled himself
upright.
"Can you travel, boy?" a low voice asked.
Whirling to face his father, Ranma screamed, "TRAVEL!?! NOW?! Pops--"
Genma clapped his hand over his son's mouth and whispered frantically, "Quiet
boy! I won't have you waking up the entire house! We have to get out of Nerima
before sunrise." Genma removed his hand when he was sure that Ranma wouldn't
yell again.
"NANI?!? But Pops!"
Genma winced at the volume of his son's voice. "We won't be gone more than two
weeks, so calm down."
Ranma almost facefaulted. "Calm DOWN?! In two weeks... Kami-sama, we could
lose *everyone* in two weeks!"
Genma looked mournful. "I know son. We should have left sooner."
"Pops..."
"'Pops' nothing! Grab you pack and lets move. The sooner we leave the sooner
we get back." That said, Genma leapt from the open window, his own travel bag
on his back. Ranma grabbed what he could and followed his father into the
night, hoping to all the gods there ever were that he wasn't making a huge
mistake.
_______________________________________________________________________
The next morning...
"DAD!! Where's Ranma and Genma?! They aren't outside *or* in their room!"
Akane's panicked scream ripped through the house, startling Nabiki awake. With
a sinking feeling, the middle Tendo daughter barreled out of her room, still
in her nightclothes, and down to the main room.
Akane was truly terrified now. Ranma, her friend and more importantly the
most powerful martial artist in Tokyo and possibly Japan or even the whole
world, had gone missing with his father! And Akane's own father was *calm*!
~He hasn't been like this since Mom was alive...~ "Dad?" she asked nervously.
"Genma told me that he and Ranma will be gone for the next one to two weeks,"
Soun responded.
[THUD] [THUD] Akane and Nabiki picked themselves up from twin facefaults and
screamed simultaneously, "NANI?!? THEY *RAN*!?!"
"No," Soun answered calmly. "Daughters, you must not tell anyone the true
reason they left, and I mean *anyone*! During our training, Genma discovered
something that he told me about much later. While away from the Master, he
found a genuine wish-granting monkey paw."
Again the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. "NO WAY!! You can't expect us
to believe that?!" cried Nabiki as she picked herself up again.
Kasumi barely managed to whisper "Oh my!"
Soun began talking again. "Yes, I do expect you to believe it, because you
have already seen the Wish-Bringer sword, a comparatively low-level item.
Genma is taking his son to the place he hid the monkey paw to have a wish
granted. The wish will help us beat back these attacks that are terrorizing
the city and discover who is behind them. Genma did not say what the wish was,
but both he and I have had a long-standing oath about wish-granting items, so
I know he will not waste it."
Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi sat in stunned silence. None of them had ever
imagined that *Genma* of all people would accept an agreement like that.
______________________________________________________________________
Kami-sama chuckled, his eye on the exchange in the Tendo home. Those girls
were right, of course. Uninfluenced, Genma would *not* have accepted that
agreement, and he would have wasted the wish that would become the key to
saving his world.
______________________________________________________________________
Suddenly Akane spoke. "Dad, didn't you once tell me that a true martial artist
is always prepared, for *anything*?"
Soun actually smiled. "Yes I did Akane."
Akane continued, "So to be prepared for a situation like this... you keep a
wish-granting item stored away, since wishes can do just about anything!"
"I'm impressed sis," Nabiki said with a small amount of sarcasm. "That was
some real thinking there."
"Gee, thanks a lot Nabiki!" Akane growled back.
Soun lowered his head for a minute, then raised it slowly. "Genma believed
they should have left a lot sooner, but it doesn't matter now. What does
matter is that Nerima is now without their assistance. Akane, I'm going to
pick up your training very heavily. You have a lot of potential, but it is my
fault that it is largely unrecognized. Kasumi, Nabiki, I don't want either of
you going anywhere alone; always go with at least two other people, if not
more. Tell all your friends and acquaintances to do the same. Akane, that also
goes for you even though you are training to be an excellent martial artist.
Remember, even Ranma can no longer take these youma down by himself, so don't
do anything foolish. Understand?" The three girls nodded with an air of
seriousness. "Good. Now the wait begins. May the Kami guide Ranma's path."
______________________________________________________________________
Several kilometers outside Tokyo, on a little used forest path...
A certain pigtailed martial artist sneezed, interrupting his father's rant.
"Sorry 'bout that, Pops."
Genma sighed and began speaking again. "Ranma, what happened yesterday is a
sign. You and the Sailor Senshi thought the demon had been defeated, but it
hadn't... and all *you* could do to help was push the three girls out of the
way. These demons are now beyond your ability to beat them one-on-one. The one
you fought yesterday was defeated when Cologne trapped it with some Amazon
technique and everyone still conscious hit it with every attack they had." Ranma
ground his teeth together in frustration and his hands closed into fists. "We
*must* level the battle field! Ryoga is now in the hospital and we will *all*
join him, permanently too, if we can't find a very powerful warrior to handle
these youma and daemons. They are getting stronger with every fight, and martial
artists aren't normally equipped and trained to deal with this kind of threat.
The only reason you and Ryoga have been as successful as you have is because you
two are so powerful. However, these youma are quickly growing in power, and soon
only those with enough power *AND* the training of a true warrior will be able
to defeat them. And no, the Sailor Senshi, while quite powerful, don't have the
proper training. In fact, I don't think they have any real training at all."
"Pops, what's the big difference between a warrior and a martial artist? I
don't see it."
"Ok boy, look at it this way: a martial artist is a fighter trained for
honorable combat against *opponents*. 'Honorable' means several things, most
important of all is no deliberate killing. Martial artists are trained to
defeat, but not kill, other martial artists for the purposes of superiority
and status, either for one's self or for one's school."
"A warrior is very similar to a martial artist, with one fundamental
difference: a warrior is a fighter trained for *all-out* combat against
*enemies*. Warriors are trained to defeat and if necessary *kill* other
warriors for one of two sets of purposes. Either it is for *defense* of one's
self, one's family, or one's country, or it is for *conquest* for one's self,
one's family, or one's country."
"Ranma, I have raised and trained you to bring honor to the Saotome School of
Anything Goes Martial Arts. And you have done that with spectacular success!"
Ranma was stunned at his father's unashamed confirmation of his skill. Then
Genma's face fell, and the skin on the back of Ranma's neck began to prickle.
"Unfortunately, your training has left you unprepared to deal with these
demons that are terrorizing Tokyo. I trained you to defeat without killing
*human* opponents. These are hell-spawned beasts that you are fighting, and to
win when you do *NOT* have a significant raw power advantage requires a
different philosophy, the path of the warrior. That path is focused on landing
crippling, lethal blows with maximum efficiency. It also recommends fighting
with a weapon." Genma look directly into his son's eyes. "Now do you
understand?"
Ranma nodded, deep in thought. "Yea Pops, I get it." Then his face firmed and
his voice went cold. "Now tell me what's so important that we gotta *abandon*
Nerima, just like that!" he growled menacingly.
"Son," Genma said in a flat voice. "We left Nerima to retrieve an artifact
that I've hidden. If I use it right, you will gain all the warrior training
and power you need to defend your family, friends, and home."
Ranma stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his father in total shock. Genma
grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. Ranma, stumbling before he
regained his balance, muttered, "Me? But Pops... me?"
"Yes son. I'm too far past my prime to make the best use of this opportunity.
You however... when this is done, you will be the ultimate warrior, for the
ultimate crisis." Genma seemed to draw himself up. "Now pick up the pace boy!
It's a five-day trip to get there. I don't know how long the wish will take to
complete it's effect, so the sooner we get to it the sooner it will be done."
"Whoa, wait one fuckin' second! A *wish*? A *WISH*?! And you haven't used it
to feed your fat gut all ready!? I don't believe it!"
[WHAM] [THUMP] "Get up boy." Ranma shot to his feet and was about to hit Genma
back when the older man spoke again. "You really *should* be more respectful
to your father. Soun and I made an agreement when we were younger, to only use
a high-level wish-granting item like the one I found after *VERY* careful
thought to the wish itself, and only when in the most dire circumstances."
Ranma's jaw dropped open. *This is just too much. Pops actually *not* taking
the quick route when it's right there in front of him!* He laughed humorlessly
and said, "It really is the end the world as we know it."
______________________________________________________________________
This time Kami-sama broke into full-blown laughter.
______________________________________________________________________
"Ranma, you *will* respect me more than you do. There are a lot of things I've
done that I'm not proud of..."
"No, *REALLY*!?! I can list about five hundred of 'em!"
Genma continued, "...But this I am doing for *far* more than just myself."
"So you're saying I should be grateful that you're giving me this gift--"
"No Ranma. The power you will gain from this wish is a gift, yes. However, the
responsibilities of a warrior are *not* a gift, but a burden; my son, you must
understand that. Once trained in the way of the warrior, you will *NEVER* be
the same again. You will have a completely different outlook on life, simply
because you will have the power to take that life away. This is *your* choice;
I will not force it on you. Of course, you do know that there is no one else
that I would possibly trust enough to try something like this."
Ranma was silent for the following hour, lost in thought. Finally, he said,
"Father? I accept."
"I knew you would make the right choice, my son."
"Now Pops, what's the actual wish?"
"Well I've been thinking of something along the lines of..."
_______________________________________________________________________
The first week...
The days passed at an agonizingly slow rate. Akane sat in class next to her
new friend Makoto Kino. The tall brunette and four of her friends were now
going to Furinkan High, as were many other 'refugees' from Juuban. After
accidentally discovering her friend's secret identity as Sailor Jupiter during
a youma attack, Akane convinced her father to start giving martial arts
lessons to Makoto and her friends -also Sailor Senshi- in secret. Her own
training was progressing well, but not nearly fast enough to change anything.
A lot of Nerima residents had grown cynical at Ranma's departure. Even though
Akane and Nabiki did everything they could to convince people that Ranma and
Genma had left only to find assistance in fighting the youma, many people,
especially Ranma's rivals, believed that he was a coward, only now showing his
true colors. Eventually the two sisters simply stopped trying, content to wait
for Ranma's return.
Thinking back to the previous month, Akane recalled the day the crisis began.
She had been leading Ranma-chan around a huge new mall that had opened in
Juuban the previous week. While the redhead complained, Akane was enjoying
some shopping at brand new stores that were overflowing with the latest and
hottest stuff. After spending several hours there Akane was finished, and
Ranma was ready to tear her hair out from boredom. Just when she was about
ready to stir up some trouble herself, a *big* youma erupted from the ground
behind them. Of course, Ranma-chan immediately sprung into action. What scared
Akane was that the youma moved fast enough to swat Ranma out of the air! By
the time she'd dug Ranma-chan out of the rubble of the wall she'd been knocked
through, the Sailor Senshi had arrived and were fighting the youma. Akane had
seen enough of the Senshi's exploits on TV to know when something was wrong,
and the fact that this one youma was holding its own against *all* the Inner
Senshi definitely classified as 'wrong'! Even when Ranma got her act together
the youma wouldn't stay down; it wasn't until Sailor Saturn arrived, with her
Silence Glaive, that the youma was finally defeated. Afterward, Sailor
Mercury's check of her computer's records identified the youma as super-
charged with far more power than what they normally encountered.
That attack was the first of many. As the battles, mostly nighttime, became
more and more difficult for the Sailor Senshi, the Nerimaian martial artists,
often Ranma or Ryoga, began to appear more and more often in Juuban to help
the Senshi. The local papers had been flooded with articles, a few detailing
what little was known about the mysterious and powerful teenagers that were
assisting the Sailor Senshi, the rest just throwing questions around. Then
attacks began to happen in Nerima, and the newspapers got an eyeful from
Nabiki. What seemed like a terrible idea quickly became very profitable, as
Nabiki hired herself out to several papers as a freelancing reporter, stating
that: "Your average reporter wouldn't live ten seconds here in Nerima, so
you'd better let me cover the fights." Nabiki's publicity stunt got the entire
Wrecking Crew involved in fighting off the youma attacks, and the Sailor
Senshi, while unsure at first, soon welcomed the assistance. The increase in
firepower on the good guys' side did put a stop to the attacks' advances...
temporarily. Then the attacks suddenly jumped in effectiveness, causing mass
panic in Juuban. Trying to restore peace, the Japanese government called in
the military to begin their own war against the attackers, whoever they were.
The military was ineffective for a time, until one brilliant soldier, out of
ammunition and grenades, improvised with an insulated hose and a tank of
liquid nitrogen. The flash-frozen daemon went down quickly, and convinced the
Japanese government that more unconventional weapons were required. The
military units in Tokyo were quickly supplied with a number of experimental
weapons; flame-throwers and the newly invented 'freeze-throwers', sonic
weapons, and lasers, to name a few. Some were effective, others not so, but
they did help to lighten the load on the "Tokyo Defenders", as the newspapers
called the alliance of the Sailor Senshi and the Nerima Wrecking Crew.
Unfortunately, the youma eventually developed resistance to most of the
military's weaponry. Their hides became partially mirrored, diffusing or even
deflecting laser beams. The youma and especially the daemons became immune to
the extremes of temperature the flame- and freeze-throwers created. However,
these weapons remained effective when used together to create a huge
difference in temperature, as did the sonic 'cannons', which caused a massive
amount of vibration in their target, literally shaking it apart.
With their effectiveness down again, the Japanese military began evacuating
parts of Tokyo, especially Juuban; the attacks seem to be focused around that
district, though they were spreading steadily into others. The youma and
daemons were still growing in strength, making the situation even more
desperate for the Tokyo Defenders.
By now, *all* of the Defenders were copying Ranma's style of mostly dodging
and counterstriking in combat. The youma had grown too powerful for any other
tactic, and it took a combined attack from the entire Wrecking Crew to take
one out permanently. The Sailor Senshi were slightly better off, since their
magic attacks did more damage to the Negaverse drones. Also in the Defenders'
favor was that super-charging the youma for the attacks seemed to be very
costly, as they only attacked about once every four days and with one or at
most two youma. The more-powerful daemons were rarer, joining only every other
attack and with only one daemon at a time. Still, this number of attacks was far
higher than what the Senshi were used to dealing with.
The streets were no longer even remotely safe at night. The 'Dead Zone', the
part of Tokyo where no sane human went for fear of disappearing, continued to
grow.
Akane sighed, feeling depressed. Attacks continued to come about twice a week,
and the youma were even harder to put down without Ranma there. Fortunately,
Ryoga was managing to stick around and not get lost. With his help, Akane was
getting better at ki manipulation, as was Ukyou. Somehow, she and the chef had
become close friends, a *lot* closer than they'd ever been before. And that was
in spite of the fact that Ukyo was a better fighter too. In a few more days,
Ukyo would be ready for Cologne to teach her the Chestnut Fist. Speaking of the
Amazon Matriarch, Cologne was beginning to join the fights now, and Happosai
too.
Word of the crisis in Tokyo was spreading. All ready, several people Ranma had
encountered in his travels and fights had come to the Japanese capital to
assist in repelling the demon attacks. Akane thought back to the most resent
fight. The youma, cut up and tangled in chains but with a death grip on
Mousse, was about to kill the near-sighted Amazon when a cry of "Kijin Raishu
Dan!" cut the arm off the youma and released Mousse. At first Akane thought it
was Genma returning with Ranma, but that hope was quickly dashed as Ryu Kumon
leapt down from the roof he was on. Still, his arrival was a good thing. Ryu
said that even though he had sealed the Yamasen-ken as was the agreement, he
was pretty sure that the current situation would allow him to unseal those
powerful techniques. Thus, another fighter joined the ranks of the Tokyo
Defenders.
_______________________________________________________________________
The night of the seventh day...
"...I wish that my son Ranma is trained to be the best warrior and man in
existence. A warrior that is unbeatable, wise and just. The best man, proud,
honorable, gentle at peace, yet fierce to those who DARE to be his enemies."
Ranma let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Genma had
gotten the wish perfectly, right down to the letter. Ranma was certain that
the parameters of the wish would allow him to live and love even with all the
power and training he was about to receive. *Now to see if this 'monkey paw'
does its job...*
*GRANTED* said a voice in Genma's mind. "Granted..." he repeated. A spark of
light appeared in the air, causing Ranma to look up--
--only to fall backwards stiffly. Genma ran over to his son, demanding to know
if something was wrong, but the pigtailed martial artist couldn't answer. His
body was screaming in pain as he felt his very soul being separated into
one... two... three... four... five pieces... then everything went dark.
From Genma's viewpoint, the single spark of light split into five as a ball of
white rose from Ranma's chest. The sparks began to circle the ball, and the
pure whiteness began to separate into different colors: red, gold, green,
blue, and black. Streamers of each color leapt from the ball to the sparks
around it, and the ball began to shrink. Soon, five sparks of different colors
floated above Ranma's comatose body. Then they faded from view, leaving Genma
to pray that all was well.
To be continued...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Author's Notes:
There will be very little reference to the 'Sailor Moon' manga or anime; I
know the characters pretty well, but I know next to nothing about the original
storylines.
Quoted directly from Piccolo181's posted idea: "Genma's wish is that Ranma
is trained to be the best warrior and man in existence. A warrior that is
unbeatable, wise and just. The best man, proud, honorable, gentle at peace,
yet fierce to those who DARE to be his enemies. This could be granted from a
number of sources: Marller, Goddess Helpline, etc. Though I'd prefer a monkey
paw wish, because it would do more to explain the reasons for the next plot
device. (power limitations and such) You see Genma is NONE of these things.
And monkey paws (or similar magical objects, djin & such like) work by
changing the wielder. Well, to change GENMA enough to inspire THAT kind of
son.... It would probably take a team-up of the divine AND infernal hosts, and
even then it would be iffy. So it affects Ranma himself. It splits up Ranma's
soul into several pieces (leaving the original basically a shell) and sends
them out to different realities alters them a bit so Ranma can reborn with
different and BETTER fathers/sensei's until they reach a point that if they all
remerged into one being the wish would be fulfilled." In effect, the monkey
paw *is* changing Ranma's 'father' by having him raised under others.
Update: 8/16/01
Just a few small changes. Special thanks to Dragonlord for an idea about the
background behind the story. I'll unveil it as the chapters progress.
Update: 8/31/01
One tiny change: the wish is granted seven days after Ranma and Genma left,
not five.
Update: 11/8/01
Swapped Ukyo for Shampoo in the opening fight scene. The reason is in the
other update, for Part 1-C.
Update: 12/8/01
Swapped Shampoo for Akane in the opening fight scene. Brought Akane into
the scene a little bit later.
Update: 1/24/02
Changed number of attacks per week, slightly altered post-manga histories.
C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net
website: http://Trooper1023.tripod.com/
by their respective creators. They DO NOT belong to me. I'm just barrowing them.
Ultimate Crisis, Ultimate Warrior
A Ranma 1/2 - Sailor Moon crossover (primary)
- Multiple Anime crossover (secondary)
Co-Written by Trooper1023 and Ranechi
Based on original story idea, "The Super Ranma", by Piccolo181
View at: http://www.geocities.com/nighthawktm/idea.htm
=text= is transmissions (long-distance communicators)
[text] is sounds/actions
*text* is emphasized words
~text~ is thoughts
Timeline: This story begins a few months after both the Ranma 1/2 and Sailor
Moon mangas end.
_______________________________________________________________________
Part I: When in Need of a Warrior
Chapter 1: A Battle Lost and a Monkey Paw Wish
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
"AIYA! AIREN HURT!"
"KILL THAT THING RAN-CHAN!"
"GET OUT OF THERE! YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING MORE!"
"LOOK OUT!!!"
Ranma twisted in mid-air at the last instant, grateful for Ryoga's warning.
Ignoring the shouts from Shampoo, Ukyo, and the Sailor Senshi, he dodged
another swipe from the giant youma and back flipped for some much-needed
space. Gathering all the ki he could, Ranma threw one last "MOKO TAKABISHA!"
at the beast's face. Ryoga, injured but not out of the fight, followed suit
with a "SHI SHI HOUKODAN!" also aiming for the head. Just as the two ki-blasts
hit, "SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!" "BURNING MANDELA!" "MOON PRINCESS HALATION!"
three more attacks slammed into the youma's chest. The massive explosion
overrode its scream of pain and it fell through the wall behind it.
Falling to his knees in exhaustion, Ranma looked past the collapsed wall. ~No
movement. Good, looks like it's finally over...~ He staggered back to his feet
and...
[GLOMP]
"You jackass! Don't go scaring me like that ever again!" Ukyo had tears in her
eyes as she latched on to Ranma.
[GLOMP]
"Shampoo agree with Spatula Girl! Airen give Shampoo big scare!" Shampoo was in
about the same state and hugged Ranma tightly.
"OOF! Hey, leggo! I need to breathe!" Ranma grunted. Both girls blushed and
let go. Ryoga scowled; as usual, Ranma got all the girls' attention.
Around them, other members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew began to collect
themselves. Several of the Sailor Senshi came toward Ranma. In the lead,
Sailor Moon spoke. "Again, we want to thank you for your help. We don't
usually accept help from non-Senshi, but you," she indicated the Wrecking Crew
in general, "were a *BIG* help." Looking at the limping Ryoga specifically,
Moon asked, "Are you sure you won't let Saturn take a look at that leg?"
Ryoga shook his head, grinning and wincing at the same time. "Don't worry
about me. The poor girl looks like she could sleep for a week. My leg will
heal fast enough on its own. Besides, this pigtailed hotshot has done worse to
me before," Ryoga remarked as he swatted said 'pigtailed hotshot' across the
back of the head.
Sailor Moon replied, "That's good to hear."
Ranma on the other hand snarled as he almost lost his balance. "It won't heal
at *all* if you keep swatting me pig-boy!" Akane, approaching Ryouga,
sweatdropped as the bickering continued.
Sailor Moon went on anyway, "Well gang, it's time to clear out. I sincerely
hope that--" A scream of warning and a blood-curdling roar cut her off. Ranma
could hear the youma they thought they'd killed pounding across the pavement
straight at their position. The Senshi scattered, but their magic-based powers
included fast recovery that the Nerimaian martial artists didn't have. They were
caught flat-footed and Ryoga took the first hit, going down hard. Ranma shoved
Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo out of the away with what little strength he had left
just before a huge, bony fist turned his day to night.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma cracked an eye open. It was obviously the dead of night, and he was
lying on a futon in his room. His entire body, especially his back and head,
ached to a degree he didn't think possible. With a groan he pulled himself
upright.
"Can you travel, boy?" a low voice asked.
Whirling to face his father, Ranma screamed, "TRAVEL!?! NOW?! Pops--"
Genma clapped his hand over his son's mouth and whispered frantically, "Quiet
boy! I won't have you waking up the entire house! We have to get out of Nerima
before sunrise." Genma removed his hand when he was sure that Ranma wouldn't
yell again.
"NANI?!? But Pops!"
Genma winced at the volume of his son's voice. "We won't be gone more than two
weeks, so calm down."
Ranma almost facefaulted. "Calm DOWN?! In two weeks... Kami-sama, we could
lose *everyone* in two weeks!"
Genma looked mournful. "I know son. We should have left sooner."
"Pops..."
"'Pops' nothing! Grab you pack and lets move. The sooner we leave the sooner
we get back." That said, Genma leapt from the open window, his own travel bag
on his back. Ranma grabbed what he could and followed his father into the
night, hoping to all the gods there ever were that he wasn't making a huge
mistake.
_______________________________________________________________________
The next morning...
"DAD!! Where's Ranma and Genma?! They aren't outside *or* in their room!"
Akane's panicked scream ripped through the house, startling Nabiki awake. With
a sinking feeling, the middle Tendo daughter barreled out of her room, still
in her nightclothes, and down to the main room.
Akane was truly terrified now. Ranma, her friend and more importantly the
most powerful martial artist in Tokyo and possibly Japan or even the whole
world, had gone missing with his father! And Akane's own father was *calm*!
~He hasn't been like this since Mom was alive...~ "Dad?" she asked nervously.
"Genma told me that he and Ranma will be gone for the next one to two weeks,"
Soun responded.
[THUD] [THUD] Akane and Nabiki picked themselves up from twin facefaults and
screamed simultaneously, "NANI?!? THEY *RAN*!?!"
"No," Soun answered calmly. "Daughters, you must not tell anyone the true
reason they left, and I mean *anyone*! During our training, Genma discovered
something that he told me about much later. While away from the Master, he
found a genuine wish-granting monkey paw."
Again the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. "NO WAY!! You can't expect us
to believe that?!" cried Nabiki as she picked herself up again.
Kasumi barely managed to whisper "Oh my!"
Soun began talking again. "Yes, I do expect you to believe it, because you
have already seen the Wish-Bringer sword, a comparatively low-level item.
Genma is taking his son to the place he hid the monkey paw to have a wish
granted. The wish will help us beat back these attacks that are terrorizing
the city and discover who is behind them. Genma did not say what the wish was,
but both he and I have had a long-standing oath about wish-granting items, so
I know he will not waste it."
Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi sat in stunned silence. None of them had ever
imagined that *Genma* of all people would accept an agreement like that.
______________________________________________________________________
Kami-sama chuckled, his eye on the exchange in the Tendo home. Those girls
were right, of course. Uninfluenced, Genma would *not* have accepted that
agreement, and he would have wasted the wish that would become the key to
saving his world.
______________________________________________________________________
Suddenly Akane spoke. "Dad, didn't you once tell me that a true martial artist
is always prepared, for *anything*?"
Soun actually smiled. "Yes I did Akane."
Akane continued, "So to be prepared for a situation like this... you keep a
wish-granting item stored away, since wishes can do just about anything!"
"I'm impressed sis," Nabiki said with a small amount of sarcasm. "That was
some real thinking there."
"Gee, thanks a lot Nabiki!" Akane growled back.
Soun lowered his head for a minute, then raised it slowly. "Genma believed
they should have left a lot sooner, but it doesn't matter now. What does
matter is that Nerima is now without their assistance. Akane, I'm going to
pick up your training very heavily. You have a lot of potential, but it is my
fault that it is largely unrecognized. Kasumi, Nabiki, I don't want either of
you going anywhere alone; always go with at least two other people, if not
more. Tell all your friends and acquaintances to do the same. Akane, that also
goes for you even though you are training to be an excellent martial artist.
Remember, even Ranma can no longer take these youma down by himself, so don't
do anything foolish. Understand?" The three girls nodded with an air of
seriousness. "Good. Now the wait begins. May the Kami guide Ranma's path."
______________________________________________________________________
Several kilometers outside Tokyo, on a little used forest path...
A certain pigtailed martial artist sneezed, interrupting his father's rant.
"Sorry 'bout that, Pops."
Genma sighed and began speaking again. "Ranma, what happened yesterday is a
sign. You and the Sailor Senshi thought the demon had been defeated, but it
hadn't... and all *you* could do to help was push the three girls out of the
way. These demons are now beyond your ability to beat them one-on-one. The one
you fought yesterday was defeated when Cologne trapped it with some Amazon
technique and everyone still conscious hit it with every attack they had." Ranma
ground his teeth together in frustration and his hands closed into fists. "We
*must* level the battle field! Ryoga is now in the hospital and we will *all*
join him, permanently too, if we can't find a very powerful warrior to handle
these youma and daemons. They are getting stronger with every fight, and martial
artists aren't normally equipped and trained to deal with this kind of threat.
The only reason you and Ryoga have been as successful as you have is because you
two are so powerful. However, these youma are quickly growing in power, and soon
only those with enough power *AND* the training of a true warrior will be able
to defeat them. And no, the Sailor Senshi, while quite powerful, don't have the
proper training. In fact, I don't think they have any real training at all."
"Pops, what's the big difference between a warrior and a martial artist? I
don't see it."
"Ok boy, look at it this way: a martial artist is a fighter trained for
honorable combat against *opponents*. 'Honorable' means several things, most
important of all is no deliberate killing. Martial artists are trained to
defeat, but not kill, other martial artists for the purposes of superiority
and status, either for one's self or for one's school."
"A warrior is very similar to a martial artist, with one fundamental
difference: a warrior is a fighter trained for *all-out* combat against
*enemies*. Warriors are trained to defeat and if necessary *kill* other
warriors for one of two sets of purposes. Either it is for *defense* of one's
self, one's family, or one's country, or it is for *conquest* for one's self,
one's family, or one's country."
"Ranma, I have raised and trained you to bring honor to the Saotome School of
Anything Goes Martial Arts. And you have done that with spectacular success!"
Ranma was stunned at his father's unashamed confirmation of his skill. Then
Genma's face fell, and the skin on the back of Ranma's neck began to prickle.
"Unfortunately, your training has left you unprepared to deal with these
demons that are terrorizing Tokyo. I trained you to defeat without killing
*human* opponents. These are hell-spawned beasts that you are fighting, and to
win when you do *NOT* have a significant raw power advantage requires a
different philosophy, the path of the warrior. That path is focused on landing
crippling, lethal blows with maximum efficiency. It also recommends fighting
with a weapon." Genma look directly into his son's eyes. "Now do you
understand?"
Ranma nodded, deep in thought. "Yea Pops, I get it." Then his face firmed and
his voice went cold. "Now tell me what's so important that we gotta *abandon*
Nerima, just like that!" he growled menacingly.
"Son," Genma said in a flat voice. "We left Nerima to retrieve an artifact
that I've hidden. If I use it right, you will gain all the warrior training
and power you need to defend your family, friends, and home."
Ranma stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his father in total shock. Genma
grabbed his arm and started pulling him along. Ranma, stumbling before he
regained his balance, muttered, "Me? But Pops... me?"
"Yes son. I'm too far past my prime to make the best use of this opportunity.
You however... when this is done, you will be the ultimate warrior, for the
ultimate crisis." Genma seemed to draw himself up. "Now pick up the pace boy!
It's a five-day trip to get there. I don't know how long the wish will take to
complete it's effect, so the sooner we get to it the sooner it will be done."
"Whoa, wait one fuckin' second! A *wish*? A *WISH*?! And you haven't used it
to feed your fat gut all ready!? I don't believe it!"
[WHAM] [THUMP] "Get up boy." Ranma shot to his feet and was about to hit Genma
back when the older man spoke again. "You really *should* be more respectful
to your father. Soun and I made an agreement when we were younger, to only use
a high-level wish-granting item like the one I found after *VERY* careful
thought to the wish itself, and only when in the most dire circumstances."
Ranma's jaw dropped open. *This is just too much. Pops actually *not* taking
the quick route when it's right there in front of him!* He laughed humorlessly
and said, "It really is the end the world as we know it."
______________________________________________________________________
This time Kami-sama broke into full-blown laughter.
______________________________________________________________________
"Ranma, you *will* respect me more than you do. There are a lot of things I've
done that I'm not proud of..."
"No, *REALLY*!?! I can list about five hundred of 'em!"
Genma continued, "...But this I am doing for *far* more than just myself."
"So you're saying I should be grateful that you're giving me this gift--"
"No Ranma. The power you will gain from this wish is a gift, yes. However, the
responsibilities of a warrior are *not* a gift, but a burden; my son, you must
understand that. Once trained in the way of the warrior, you will *NEVER* be
the same again. You will have a completely different outlook on life, simply
because you will have the power to take that life away. This is *your* choice;
I will not force it on you. Of course, you do know that there is no one else
that I would possibly trust enough to try something like this."
Ranma was silent for the following hour, lost in thought. Finally, he said,
"Father? I accept."
"I knew you would make the right choice, my son."
"Now Pops, what's the actual wish?"
"Well I've been thinking of something along the lines of..."
_______________________________________________________________________
The first week...
The days passed at an agonizingly slow rate. Akane sat in class next to her
new friend Makoto Kino. The tall brunette and four of her friends were now
going to Furinkan High, as were many other 'refugees' from Juuban. After
accidentally discovering her friend's secret identity as Sailor Jupiter during
a youma attack, Akane convinced her father to start giving martial arts
lessons to Makoto and her friends -also Sailor Senshi- in secret. Her own
training was progressing well, but not nearly fast enough to change anything.
A lot of Nerima residents had grown cynical at Ranma's departure. Even though
Akane and Nabiki did everything they could to convince people that Ranma and
Genma had left only to find assistance in fighting the youma, many people,
especially Ranma's rivals, believed that he was a coward, only now showing his
true colors. Eventually the two sisters simply stopped trying, content to wait
for Ranma's return.
Thinking back to the previous month, Akane recalled the day the crisis began.
She had been leading Ranma-chan around a huge new mall that had opened in
Juuban the previous week. While the redhead complained, Akane was enjoying
some shopping at brand new stores that were overflowing with the latest and
hottest stuff. After spending several hours there Akane was finished, and
Ranma was ready to tear her hair out from boredom. Just when she was about
ready to stir up some trouble herself, a *big* youma erupted from the ground
behind them. Of course, Ranma-chan immediately sprung into action. What scared
Akane was that the youma moved fast enough to swat Ranma out of the air! By
the time she'd dug Ranma-chan out of the rubble of the wall she'd been knocked
through, the Sailor Senshi had arrived and were fighting the youma. Akane had
seen enough of the Senshi's exploits on TV to know when something was wrong,
and the fact that this one youma was holding its own against *all* the Inner
Senshi definitely classified as 'wrong'! Even when Ranma got her act together
the youma wouldn't stay down; it wasn't until Sailor Saturn arrived, with her
Silence Glaive, that the youma was finally defeated. Afterward, Sailor
Mercury's check of her computer's records identified the youma as super-
charged with far more power than what they normally encountered.
That attack was the first of many. As the battles, mostly nighttime, became
more and more difficult for the Sailor Senshi, the Nerimaian martial artists,
often Ranma or Ryoga, began to appear more and more often in Juuban to help
the Senshi. The local papers had been flooded with articles, a few detailing
what little was known about the mysterious and powerful teenagers that were
assisting the Sailor Senshi, the rest just throwing questions around. Then
attacks began to happen in Nerima, and the newspapers got an eyeful from
Nabiki. What seemed like a terrible idea quickly became very profitable, as
Nabiki hired herself out to several papers as a freelancing reporter, stating
that: "Your average reporter wouldn't live ten seconds here in Nerima, so
you'd better let me cover the fights." Nabiki's publicity stunt got the entire
Wrecking Crew involved in fighting off the youma attacks, and the Sailor
Senshi, while unsure at first, soon welcomed the assistance. The increase in
firepower on the good guys' side did put a stop to the attacks' advances...
temporarily. Then the attacks suddenly jumped in effectiveness, causing mass
panic in Juuban. Trying to restore peace, the Japanese government called in
the military to begin their own war against the attackers, whoever they were.
The military was ineffective for a time, until one brilliant soldier, out of
ammunition and grenades, improvised with an insulated hose and a tank of
liquid nitrogen. The flash-frozen daemon went down quickly, and convinced the
Japanese government that more unconventional weapons were required. The
military units in Tokyo were quickly supplied with a number of experimental
weapons; flame-throwers and the newly invented 'freeze-throwers', sonic
weapons, and lasers, to name a few. Some were effective, others not so, but
they did help to lighten the load on the "Tokyo Defenders", as the newspapers
called the alliance of the Sailor Senshi and the Nerima Wrecking Crew.
Unfortunately, the youma eventually developed resistance to most of the
military's weaponry. Their hides became partially mirrored, diffusing or even
deflecting laser beams. The youma and especially the daemons became immune to
the extremes of temperature the flame- and freeze-throwers created. However,
these weapons remained effective when used together to create a huge
difference in temperature, as did the sonic 'cannons', which caused a massive
amount of vibration in their target, literally shaking it apart.
With their effectiveness down again, the Japanese military began evacuating
parts of Tokyo, especially Juuban; the attacks seem to be focused around that
district, though they were spreading steadily into others. The youma and
daemons were still growing in strength, making the situation even more
desperate for the Tokyo Defenders.
By now, *all* of the Defenders were copying Ranma's style of mostly dodging
and counterstriking in combat. The youma had grown too powerful for any other
tactic, and it took a combined attack from the entire Wrecking Crew to take
one out permanently. The Sailor Senshi were slightly better off, since their
magic attacks did more damage to the Negaverse drones. Also in the Defenders'
favor was that super-charging the youma for the attacks seemed to be very
costly, as they only attacked about once every four days and with one or at
most two youma. The more-powerful daemons were rarer, joining only every other
attack and with only one daemon at a time. Still, this number of attacks was far
higher than what the Senshi were used to dealing with.
The streets were no longer even remotely safe at night. The 'Dead Zone', the
part of Tokyo where no sane human went for fear of disappearing, continued to
grow.
Akane sighed, feeling depressed. Attacks continued to come about twice a week,
and the youma were even harder to put down without Ranma there. Fortunately,
Ryoga was managing to stick around and not get lost. With his help, Akane was
getting better at ki manipulation, as was Ukyou. Somehow, she and the chef had
become close friends, a *lot* closer than they'd ever been before. And that was
in spite of the fact that Ukyo was a better fighter too. In a few more days,
Ukyo would be ready for Cologne to teach her the Chestnut Fist. Speaking of the
Amazon Matriarch, Cologne was beginning to join the fights now, and Happosai
too.
Word of the crisis in Tokyo was spreading. All ready, several people Ranma had
encountered in his travels and fights had come to the Japanese capital to
assist in repelling the demon attacks. Akane thought back to the most resent
fight. The youma, cut up and tangled in chains but with a death grip on
Mousse, was about to kill the near-sighted Amazon when a cry of "Kijin Raishu
Dan!" cut the arm off the youma and released Mousse. At first Akane thought it
was Genma returning with Ranma, but that hope was quickly dashed as Ryu Kumon
leapt down from the roof he was on. Still, his arrival was a good thing. Ryu
said that even though he had sealed the Yamasen-ken as was the agreement, he
was pretty sure that the current situation would allow him to unseal those
powerful techniques. Thus, another fighter joined the ranks of the Tokyo
Defenders.
_______________________________________________________________________
The night of the seventh day...
"...I wish that my son Ranma is trained to be the best warrior and man in
existence. A warrior that is unbeatable, wise and just. The best man, proud,
honorable, gentle at peace, yet fierce to those who DARE to be his enemies."
Ranma let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. Genma had
gotten the wish perfectly, right down to the letter. Ranma was certain that
the parameters of the wish would allow him to live and love even with all the
power and training he was about to receive. *Now to see if this 'monkey paw'
does its job...*
*GRANTED* said a voice in Genma's mind. "Granted..." he repeated. A spark of
light appeared in the air, causing Ranma to look up--
--only to fall backwards stiffly. Genma ran over to his son, demanding to know
if something was wrong, but the pigtailed martial artist couldn't answer. His
body was screaming in pain as he felt his very soul being separated into
one... two... three... four... five pieces... then everything went dark.
From Genma's viewpoint, the single spark of light split into five as a ball of
white rose from Ranma's chest. The sparks began to circle the ball, and the
pure whiteness began to separate into different colors: red, gold, green,
blue, and black. Streamers of each color leapt from the ball to the sparks
around it, and the ball began to shrink. Soon, five sparks of different colors
floated above Ranma's comatose body. Then they faded from view, leaving Genma
to pray that all was well.
To be continued...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Author's Notes:
There will be very little reference to the 'Sailor Moon' manga or anime; I
know the characters pretty well, but I know next to nothing about the original
storylines.
Quoted directly from Piccolo181's posted idea: "Genma's wish is that Ranma
is trained to be the best warrior and man in existence. A warrior that is
unbeatable, wise and just. The best man, proud, honorable, gentle at peace,
yet fierce to those who DARE to be his enemies. This could be granted from a
number of sources: Marller, Goddess Helpline, etc. Though I'd prefer a monkey
paw wish, because it would do more to explain the reasons for the next plot
device. (power limitations and such) You see Genma is NONE of these things.
And monkey paws (or similar magical objects, djin & such like) work by
changing the wielder. Well, to change GENMA enough to inspire THAT kind of
son.... It would probably take a team-up of the divine AND infernal hosts, and
even then it would be iffy. So it affects Ranma himself. It splits up Ranma's
soul into several pieces (leaving the original basically a shell) and sends
them out to different realities alters them a bit so Ranma can reborn with
different and BETTER fathers/sensei's until they reach a point that if they all
remerged into one being the wish would be fulfilled." In effect, the monkey
paw *is* changing Ranma's 'father' by having him raised under others.
Update: 8/16/01
Just a few small changes. Special thanks to Dragonlord for an idea about the
background behind the story. I'll unveil it as the chapters progress.
Update: 8/31/01
One tiny change: the wish is granted seven days after Ranma and Genma left,
not five.
Update: 11/8/01
Swapped Ukyo for Shampoo in the opening fight scene. The reason is in the
other update, for Part 1-C.
Update: 12/8/01
Swapped Shampoo for Akane in the opening fight scene. Brought Akane into
the scene a little bit later.
Update: 1/24/02
Changed number of attacks per week, slightly altered post-manga histories.
C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net
website: http://Trooper1023.tripod.com/