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 x-over (primary)
- Multiple Anime x-over (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
_______________________________________________________________________
Part I: When in Need of a Warrior
Chapter 2: The Birth of The Five
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Deep in the void, between the strands of time and space, a Being of pure
blackness lurked. It had been sealed away in a dimension of pure energy for
almost two millennia. The Being drew its power from the Void itself, and since
it had been trapped in a place where there was no way to reach the Void, it had
been weakening as time passed. Just when the Being had thought that it would
fade away to nothingness, not be able to fulfill its purpose, an eruption of
power from a lone dimension caught its attention.
The Being knew this was the dimension that it had originally formed in and had
been thrown from. Three different kinds of power were now radiating from that
dimension, one of which the Being recognized as the same power that had been
used against it. The power of the Crystal.
The Being had formed from the Void of space, and had instinctively desired to
destroy all things, leaving only the Void. Two millennia ago, the Being had
encountered a solar system rich with power and life. Attacking, it sought to
destroy the life, but the life fought back, trapping it and sealing it in the
prison of energy that had held the being for so long.
The imprisonment had, while weakening the Being and trapping it, shown it that
other dimensions made of matter and energy existed, and that the Void existed
mostly between them - and rarely within them. The Being had also learned of
Time, and how the Void could also be found between its strands.
The Being found it ironic that the same power that had trapped it had
unknowingly *undone* what it had done two millennia ago. As for the other two
powers...
One power was a network of lines spanning that dimension. Once free, the Being
had used those lines as a guide to find its way back. It had also used them to
find the places where the Void could be found, allowing the being to strengthen
again.
The other power emanated from a single point, one single life. The Being
shuddered at the potential that one life had within itself. While the Being was
of the Void, this life was its antithesis. Were that life's potential to
manipulate energy developed to its entirety, the Being would face a threat
greater than what it had been *defeated* by before!
On the other hand, the Being also realized that it was *far* more powerful now
then it was then. Drawing on the Void between *all* dimensions yielded far more
then drawing on the Void within one of them. Using that power, the Being peered
through the walls of its domain. It wanted to see how the ones of darkness it
had augmented were fairing against their personal enemy, the power of the
Crystal, and the life that posed the Being so much threat. Fortunately, the
Being had managed to keep the third power from interfering, so it had only to
deal with these two...
...One of which wasn't even there! The Being found no trace of its nemesis...
no, there *was* a trace, make that five traces. Following the miniscule lines
into the past, four of which led into other dimensions, the Being saw...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
On a futuristic Earth...
Dende opened his eyes as Bulma and Vegeta's third child entered the world.
This most recent vision was a confusing one. In it, the newborn, named Ranma by
an adamant Bulma, was standing before him as a teenager. An aura of gold
surrounded him, until all that could be seen was an outline. Suddenly the boy's
outline was part of a circle of nearly identical outlines; besides gold, there
were black, green, and blue outlines, and a red outline that seemed to be a
female version of the rest. Then the outlines merged, leaving behind a single
outline of the boy in pure white that rapidly faded from sight.
The Kami Guardian of the Earth was puzzled by the vision. It lacked any
feeling of wrongness... No, the vision seemed to be showing *destiny*! Dende
decided not to tell anyone of his vision, allowing them to deal with it when
the time came.
Ranma was a very peculiar child right from the start. His eyes were the
most distinctive, a deep blue-gray unlike his mother's ice blue or his
father's coal black. His hair was black like his father's but soft like his
mother's. Vegeta was pleased to note the tail, covered in black fur, on his
second son and hoped that the boy's spirit would be that of a Saiyajin as
well. The boy's face seemed to be the oddest thing about him; Vegeta swore
that he could see only a few features of his own in his son, and even fewer of
the boy's mother.
Time passed and the newest member of the "Z-Family" grew...
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
-----------------------------START-------------------------------------
The day Ranma turned five...
"Are you sure Ranma?"
"MOM!! I told you already, I grew my hair out because I wanted to put it in a
pigtail!"
"A braid? You realize boy, that a braid will give your enemy something to grab
and pull on. A saiyajin should not give himself such an obvious weakness."
Ranma rolled his eyes and sighed as his mother finished the braid. ~What's such
a big deal about braiding my hair, anyway? It's not *that* unusual, is it?~
"Come on, it'll be an extra challenge for me. I'll have ta be *real* fast so
somebody doesn't grab my braid... right Pops?"
Vegeta snarled angrily, "How many time do I have to tell you not to call me
'Pops'?!"
[Biiiiii] Ranma stuck his tongue out in response and prepared to run away,
knowing that his father would explode. To his surprise, the former Saiyajin
Prince only crossed his arms and smirked. ~I got a bad feeling about this...~
thought Ranma.
"I wouldn't be in such high spirits boy. Your training begins this afternoon."
~I was right.~
Six-year-old Bra came bounding down the stairs. "Finally! It's little bro's turn
to get the boot for the next four months!" She turned and hollered back up to
the second floor of the Capsule complex that served as the Brief's home. "Hey
Trunks, Daddy's starting Ranma's training today!"
"Oh really," said a voice from the front door.
"Oh, hi Gohan! How's Videl and the brat?" asked Bra, stressing the word 'brat'.
Son Gohan smiled. "They're both fine, though Pan will strangle you if she finds
out you called her that. Where's Trunks, I got something for him."
"TRUNKS!! THERE'S SOMETHING DOWN HERE YOU WANT, AND I'M ABOUT TO TAKE IT FOR
THAT REMOTE YOU STOLE!" Everyone winced at the volume of Bra's yell.
"Bra! What did I tell you about yelling in the house?" came Bulma's voice from
the kitchen.
"Um, not to."
"THEN WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!?" Everyone winced again, though Bra had the
decency to look sheepish. Finally Trunks came down from his room.
"Jeez, you people are gonna bring the house down if you keep hollering like
that." The fourteen-year-old purple haired half-saiyajin sighed, then noticed
Gohan. "You've got the chip?" Gohan simply grinned. "Oh boy will this be fun.
Lets get started." They headed for Bulma's research labs. Over his shoulder
Trunks asked, "And what was that about Ranma's training?"
"It starts today," said Vegeta simply.
Trunks smirked and turned to Ranma. "Heh, good luck shorty. You're gonna need it
if you wanna do as well as I did. Not that you will."
"Why, you!" Ranma leapt at his big brother in a flying tackle. They wrestled
around a bit, smirking at the other's effort, before Bulma recognized the
commotion for what it was and scolded them both.
Vegeta watched silently. ~My first and second children only showed basic
interest in the fighting arts. I pray to the sun itself that my third will be
different, a true heir.~
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
------------------------------END--------------------------------------
Vegeta's prayer was answered.
Beginning with several months of survival training, something that he had seen
Piccolo do to his students with great effect, Vegeta was surprised yet pleased
to see Ranma take to the wilderness as if he'd been living there his whole life.
Somehow the boy all ready had the survival instincts he needed. Ranma discovered
his ki and began to use it in less time then anyone could have expected. His
older brother Trunks had taken nearly four months to learn on his own what had
taken Ranma only one!
Then Vegeta began the combat training and got another surprise. Ranma progressed
in his training at an astounding rate. Everything Ranma was taught was
understood immediately and often mastered before the day was over. He seemed to
know how to fight instinctively. Ranma was already incredibly agile, and only
got faster and faster as time progress. Vegeta finally understood why Ranma had
always been so good at games of evasion, like tag. The Art was in Ranma's very
blood.
Vegeta intended to keep his son's progress under wraps, but Bra got suspicious
of the amount of time Vegeta spent with his third child and eventually decided
to follow her father to the training grounds he was using to teach Ranma. She
was instantly jealous of how fast Ranma learned, and from her the word spread.
Trunks never thought he'd see the day when he would have to eat his own words,
but that day came. Goku seemed to take it the best: "He's learning *that* fast?
Sugoi! It'll be great to have someone new to spar with!"
Several years passed and Ranma turned eight. The boy's fighting ability was
increasing at an incredible rate; all ready Ranma was better than his sister.
Apparently, Vegeta's second son *did* have the soul of a true Saiyajin.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
On a post-apocalyptic Earth...
Kenshiro, the Fist of the North Star and master of the Hokuto Shin Ken, caught
up with the band of raiders as they were slaughtering the people of one of the
borderland towns. He was on the nearly impossible quest of finding a real heir
to the school of the Great Bear Fist after having a very strange dream several
months ago. Something about Fate and Destiny, the Chosen One, and training an
heir...
It was the previous day that he was told of a band of mutant raiders moving
against another outlying town. He raced out to the borderlands, barely making
it in time.
After dispatching a number of raiders in rapid succession, Kenshiro saw a
young boy with his black hair in a pigtail standing between one of the last
raiders and a little blond girl. The boy, not more than seven, was tiny
compared to the mutant raider, yet he showed no fear as he stood his ground.
What happened next struck a cord in Kenshiro that hadn't been touched in a
long time...
The raider took one more step forward and the boy narrowed his eyes. A moment
later he was in motion. Dashing forward, he twisted around a spear thrust from
the raider, landed on the spear's shaft, ran up it onto the raider's arm, and
drove a small dagger he got from somewhere into the raider's throat. All in a
few short seconds. Leaving the bloodied dagger where it was, the boy kicked off
the dead body and landed easily.
Kenshiro knew the signs of the killer instinct very well, but never had he
seen them in one so young. Another raider attacked the boy, not even giving
second thought to what the boy had just done. The boy simply vaulted over the
arc of the raider's sword and landed on the huge man's shoulders. From up there
he threw a volley of punches down onto the raider's skull, crushing his neck
down into his chest. Again he leapt from the dead body and back to the girl he
was protecting. ~That boy...~ Kenshiro thought, ~...He must be the one, the
heir I've been searching for...~
The scream of the little girl brought Kenshiro's head up. A third raider had
seen the boy kill two others and was on guard. Even as the boy, seeming to sense
the new threat, turned to face the raider, he was slammed across the back of the
head and knocked out. The girl screamed again when she saw what happened to her
protector. Raising his club for the kill, the raider...
...Died in a shower of blood as Kenshiro tapped a few tsubos. The Fist of the
North Star paid no more attention to the bits of corpse that remained as he
checked the boy. ~...No one as young as this would have the instinct for any
other reason!~
After clearing the town of any remaining raiders and making sure all the
wounded were seen too, Kenshiro began asking questions about the black-haired
boy. According to the townsfolk, the boy's name was Ranma. He had wandered in
from the wastes on foot, badly dehydrated but still conscious. He recovered in
an astoundingly short amount of time and was up and about within days. He
quickly developed a reputation as "the kid who can do anything". Ranma had
been seen jumping up into trees or onto other tall object to find things
that people needed. While this in itself wasn't unusual, none of the townspeople
had ever heard of a seven-year-old being *that* advanced in a Martial Art. Even
more, Ranma had been seen practicing a style that no one was familiar with. When
asked about where he learned it, Ranma just said, "I donno, I just keep
practicing." Kenshiro shook his head and sighed as he listened to the little
blond as she talked, starry-eyed, about the boy that had protected her from the
raiders at risk to himself.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma woke up a day later, his injuries completely gone. As Kenshiro watched,
he checked his wounds without even realizing it as he dressed. When he was
done, Ranma turned his head to Kenshiro, who was standing just outside his
room.
~Amazing. He must have sensed my presence; I never made a movement or sound
and yet he still knew I was there watching him.~ "Ranma, I presume?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Yup, tha's me. Who's askin'?"
Kenshiro held back a chuckle. ~This kid talks like a cocky teenager... I like
him all ready.~ "My name is Kenshiro; I'm the one who killed most of the raiders
that attacked yesterday. Let me ask you a question. What you did to those two
raiders... how did you do it? Who taught you, if anybody?"
Ranma was silent for several minutes. "Well... I donno. It's kinda like I just
*know* how," he said finally.
"Well Ranma, I have something to propose you. What you were using was--"
"--Martial Arts." Ranma finished. "Yeah, I know."
Kenshiro raised an eyebrow. "It seems that you know a lot about the Art. I can
feel the focused way your ki flows through your body."
"Ki is--oh yea, never mind." Ranma scratched the back of his head with one hand.
"Whatever, I wanna hear that deal you had for me." Kenshiro grinned.
(-1-check note at the end of this file--)
"I want to know if you're interested in learning the style of Martial Arts I
am master of. It is an Art devised some 2000 years ago on a little island near
the coast of China. The first master of the style, Shuken, was taught this Art
by God himself."
Ranma stared at Kenshiro, shocked by the implications. "By God?" He asked.
"That's right. With it you can destroy the body from the inside out using the
708 hikous or tsubos. Eventually you can also heal even the most damaged of
bodies with those same techniques, applied differently. Then there are other
techniques of the school, as well as ways to use the body at its full
capabilities."
"What do you mean by full capabilities?" asked Ranma.
"When you were fighting those riders before, I could feel you using your ki to
boost your strength and speed. Is it right?" Ranma nodded after a moment.
"By using your ki, you were boosting the strength of your body to almost
superhuman levels. Well in this school, one of the basic teachings is to
strengthen your body without using your ki. Generally a fighter, even if he is
a martial artist, uses only thirty percent of his overall strength. However in
our school we teach how to use the remaining seventy percent. This goes for
speed, endurance, metabolism, healing factor, reflexes, and senses also. Of
course, that's nothing more than the basics of the school."
"Only the *basics*?!" Ken nodded. "Why are you telling me this?" asked Ranma
after a few more moments.
Kenshiro's gaze bore into Ranma. "In every generation the current master must
train a pupil that will some day be the Heir and master of this school. Each
master can only train one pupil in the full knowledge of the school because if
he tries to train more than one in the full knowledge, the master would not be
to be sure if both pupils are 'on the True Path of the Great Bear'. If either of
two pupils, each with the full knowledge of the school, strays from the path
then the world could be destroyed." He paused to let the boy have some time to
think about this last piece of information. "I'm telling you all of this because
I want to train you to become the next Heir."
Ranma was speechless. Silence was the lord of the room for a long time. Ranma
had expected something but this...
"I-I... I donno what to say..." He said slowly.
Kenshiro's expression was stern. "You must know that the training may be
extremely dangerous and that at the end I may even erase the knowledge you
gained if I find you abusing the power you will eventually have." He looked deep
into the young boy's blue-gray eyes, his voice deadly, and Ranma *knew* the
importance of his words. "I'm warning you that this training will be different
from anything that you can imagine. I will be ruthless, even brutal. This
knowledge has caused a lot of tragedies and the destinies of the Heirs of this
school are all filled with blood and tears."
He paused once again waiting for some reaction. Seeing nothing but seriousness
in the seven-year-old, Kenshiro continued.
"I'm giving you a choice. If you refuse I will take you to some friends that
can help you in forming your own life." He paused. "The choice is yours. But
remember that this knowledge is not a price or a privilege; it's a burden."
Ranma stayed silent.
This man was telling him that he could give him the chance to learn the
greatest of all martial arts but the price would be in blood, tears and pain.
But the choice was his; not something imposed. His.
He looked into Kenshiro's eyes. Eyes that promised suffering but also a chance
to find a destiny and to make a life only if he was ready to pay the price.
~I could just go and do whatever I want, make my own life like Kenshiro
said... but I feel like I *have* to do this... like I *want* to do this, but
just can't remember. Could this training in the ultimate Martial Art... be my
purpose? No, he said that the knowledge will be a burden--~ That train of
thought stopped dead.
Ranma had his answer. He made his choice.
He stood up and followed the compulsion to bow to Kenshiro.
He *knew* that he had just yielded control of his life to another, yet he also
knew that it was for the best.
"When do we start uh... sensei? And what's the name of our school?" He asked
his new mentor.
"We start as soon as your ribs have finished healing." He paused once again.
"And the name of our style is the Hokuto Shin Ken - the North Dipper God
Fist"
(-1-end of noted section--)
Kenshiro smiled to himself. ~The dream is starting to make sense now... I must
be one of those picked to train the Chosen One...~
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
A hundred and fifty years earlier in history...
In a valley somewhere north of Tokyo, in the last year of the Revolution, a
five-year-old boy faded into existence on the rough ground of a dense forest. He
pulled himself to his feet and took in his surroundings. The boy couldn't
remember much about himself, just the name of the school of martial arts he was
skilled in and a few special techniques, a few survival skills, and his given
name: Ranma.
_______________________________________________________________________
One year later...
The war was over. Kenshin Himura had sworn not to kill again. Now he was a
simple vagabond, scared by the terrible war.
Upon entering a little town north of Tokyo, Kenshin noticed that he was
getting odd looks from an ever-increasing number of people. Listening closely,
he could bits and pieces of whispered comments.
"--he match the description people have given--"
"--that? Who are you...!? It's him! It has to be!"
"I believe that man with the sword is the one everyone has been talking about,
the forest-dweller with red hair..."
Kenshin stopped as he noticed that he was the center of attention. ~Obviously
I resemble someone that these people consider both helpful and a nuisance.
Maybe coming here wasn't such a great idea...~ He spun and--
"Stop!" Huffing, an officer came running toward Kenshin. "You can't go walking
around during the Meji era with that sword! I'm going to have to--"
"Orooo..." And Kenshin started running. And the officer started yelling more and
running after Kenshin. And the townsfolk started running too, after the police
officer! He must be the forest-dweller, they thought collectively.
Running harder, Kenshin headed for the nearby forest. None of the townspeople
followed. However, the chase had attracted the notice of the local group of
bandits. Thinking the one who had been giving them so much trouble lately had
been spotted, a few bandits entered the forest in search of revenge.
Of course, what are bandits to a former hitokiri, the Battosai at that? Kenshin
dispatched his attackers with little difficulty.
That night, Kenshin sat by a small campfire, brooding on his past. He turned
from his meal for a second... and when he turned back the food was gone!
"Oro?" Hearing a rustling in the bushes, Kenshin spun and spotted a little
redhead running away from the clearing. ~A thief? Well, I'm game.~ Kenshin
thought. He gave chase to the thief, and was surprised to find he was fast,
nearly as fast as Kenshin himself! *Could this be the red-haired forest-person
the townsfolk were talking of?*
The thief, seeing he was unable to lose his pursuit on the ground, vaulted into
the trees and kept going. Kenshin followed, his respect for the thief slowly
growing. Eventually Kenshin cornered the thief against the base of a cliff
without any kind of cover nearby to use to escape. It was at that point that
Kenshin got his first good look at the "thief". The short redhead was nothing
more than a six-year-old boy!
Ranma was in a jam. Normally he'd just blast right through whoever had cornered
him, but something he saw in the man's eyes that made him wary of trying any
kind of stunt like he'd pulled on campers and bandits. That and the sword at the
man's waist. Ranma saw a hardness in his eyes unlike anything he'd ever seen
before. He shivered slightly.
"You're hungry, aren't you?"
Ranma started slightly at the soft, gentle voice of the man that had cornered
him. It was not what he had been expecting. Gathering his courage again, Ranma
said, "Yea, I'm pretty hungry. Sorry fer stealin' yur food."
Kenshin chuckled. "It's all right, I can understand why you're hungry." The
boy looked surprised. "Follow me back to my camp. I'd be happy to share the
share my food with you."
"Hey! I don't need no charity! I can do fine on my own!" Ranma growled.
The vagabond smiled genuinely. "Oh, I insist. As a simple courtesy." And led
the boy back to his camp.
_______________________________________________________________________
Talking over dinner, Kenshin learned that the boy's name was Ranma and that
he had no family or real home. Ranma learned to his shock that Kenshin was a
former killer with a lot of blood on his hands. At first Ranma was a little
afraid, but then Kenshin showed Ranma his sword. "What kind 'a sword is that?"
"This is a sakabatou. Instead of having the sharp edge on the outside curve
of the blade, the sharp edge is on the inside curve. The outside curve, the
side of the blade that leads most attacks, is blunt. This is a sword that
cannot kill. And I have taken an oath never to kill again." Kenshin's voice
was flat.
"Oh." Ranma felt somewhat better after that. He also felt that he could trust
the older man. It made going to sleep easier.
Kenshin himself was puzzled as to his own behavior. He had never opened up to
anyone before, not even his old master, as much as he had done so with this
young boy he had only just met. Something about Ranma reminded Kenshin very much
of himself when he was young.
_______________________________________________________________________
Kenshin had a lot to think about the next morning. He found an empty clearing
and started a long sword kata, to clear his head so he could think. He never
noticed Ranma watching him flow through the kata with interest.
Eventually the one once known as Battosai finished his kata, and made his
decision. He turned to go find the boy and found him at the edge of the
clearing. "Ranma? What are you doing here?"
"Oh nothing."
"Well, I wanted to ask you a question. Would you be willing to come with me
as I wander from place to place? I'm a vagabond after all."
"Seriously? Cool!" Ranma was all too happy to agree. ~If I go with him, then
maybe I can get him to teach me that sword style. And I thought *I* was fast!
If he teaches me then I can get even faster! Besides, it'll be nice to have
somebody to talk to. These woods are getting kinda lonely.~
Kenshin was a little confused as to why Ranma was so enthusiastic, but he
wasn't about to complain. ~If Ranma comes with me, I'll have to leave the
hitokiri side of me behind if I don't want him to feel that kind of
influence. This should help me find what's left of the peaceful person inside
me.~
Suddenly Ranma was on his feet, looking around. Kenshin didn't know why
Ranma was suddenly acting like that until his danger sense went off. ~Ranma
sensed the danger before I did! He's no ordinary boy...~
It was the bandits that Kenshin had knocked out earlier, plus a few newcomers.
An open brawl started almost immediately. Kenshin drew his sakabatou and
slammed it into the stomach of one bandit in a single smooth motion. Turning,
he hopped over another bandit's cane sword and brought his own weapon down on
the man's head. Two more bandits fell just as quickly to Kenshin, but he
remembered more attacking. Turning to face the others, Kenshin was surprised
again to see two other bandits on the ground, larges bruises forming all ready.
The boy was knocking bandits out cold with nothing more than his little fists!
Slipping past a clumsily swung club, Ranma threw a volley of fast punches into
the bandit's torso before jumping up and knocking the bandit onto his back with
a flip-kick to the chin.
~This... boy... knows Kempo like a master would! That isn't a style I'm familiar
with, and it's very effective. I'll have to find out where he learned it.~
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. ~Ranma is far too skilled for his age. The way he
stole my food without my noticing him, the way he moves, and the fact that he's
beating men four times his age and three times his size...~
Landing easily on his feet, Ranma flipped Kenshin a cocky grin and said, "Piece
'o' cake! I was just too good for them."
"You are good Ranma, but too much pride will be your downfall. There *are*
fighters who are as good if not better than you are."
"Yea, I know, I know! I figured that out when I saw how fast *you* move."
~So that's it.~ "If you are thinking what I think you are thinking, well, I
can't promise anything. My art, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, is made for killing.
The only reason the techniques I use don't kill is because of my weapon."
"Hey, a martial artist doesn't kill either. That doesn't mean I can't learn
some of the speed techniques you use. Heh, if I got that fast..." Ranma laughed
in a slightly disturbing manner.
Kenshin sweatdropped. "Oro..."
High noon. Together, two redheads walked on...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Sixteen years in the past, on the same day of Ranma Saotome's birth, another
boy was born and given the name "Ranma". This Ranma was born to Tenchi and
Ryoko Masaki, in Washu's high-tech lab below the Masaki shrine, in the
mountains of Southern Japan.
Standing beside Tenchi, Tsunami opened her eyes to see the birth of her
champion's first child. The vision she had just experienced told Tsunami that
while Tenchi would always be her avatar, his son was destined for something far
greater.
The years rolled past...
Ranma grew into a cute little boy. His eyes, a deep blue-gray, reminded
Katsuhito of his daughter Achika, Tenchi's mother. Ranma's black hair wasn't as
spiky as Ryoko's, but it was spiky enough to make putting it in the short braid
he preferred difficult. Ranma was a gentle boy, taking after his father in most
respects, but he had a competitive streak in him that matched his mother's.
And he could be as stubborn as Ryoko too. Fortunately, Ranma had his interests,
which could be used to get him to do other, less pleasant things. The Kendo
lessons that Tenchi had so dreaded in his youth seemed to be the pleasure of
Ranma's...
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
-----------------------------START-------------------------------------
His first day of lessons...
"Well Ranma, it seems that the time has finally come to start your training
in the Masaki style of Kendo." Ranma's 'Great-Grandfather' handed the boy a
bokken.
"Yay! Finally!" came the enthusiastic response. And the training began.
Off to the side, Ryoko wrapped her arms around her husband lovingly as they
watched their son. "Look at him, Tenchi, he seems to have Mom's capacity for
learning. His very first day, and he's absorbing the kata like a dry sponge on
water! At this rate he'll be better than you before you know it."
Tenchi Masaki smiled and put an arm around his wife in turn. "What I'd like
to know is how he is already so good with his hands and feet." He pointed.
"See that? Ranma almost surprised Katsuhito with that kick." Tenchi and Ryoko
continued to watch as Ranma dodged another thrust and used the force of
Katsuhito's following upward swing to launch himself away. The young boy landed
cat-like on all fours.
"That kid is a bigger mystery than you, and *that* puzzles me even more," said a
voice from behind them.
Ryoko jumped up and practically tackled the crab-haired scientist in a huge
hug. "Hi Mom!" she squealed.
Tenchi grinned; some things never change. "It's been a while, hasn't it
Washu-*chan*. How's Kiyone and her daughter? And the rest of the GP crew?"
Ryoko let go and rejoined her husband, while Washu tilted her head to the side
in mimed thought. "A while? Why Tenchi, a year and two months surely isn't
that much?" They both grinned.
"It's long enough for *that*," he said, pointing toward Ranma's lesson. "He's
doing a hundred times better than anyone could possibly expect from an almost-
five-year-old. Are you sure you haven't unlocked any of his 'inherited powers'?"
Washu shook her head in bewilderment. "If you are referring to Ryoko's
abilities, then no. Right now he *should* be as normal as anything other five-
year-old boy on Earth. Speaking of powers, what do you think I should unlock
for Ranma's fifth birthday?"
"Why not begin releasing the strength limiters?" suggested Ryoko. "Little by
little, so he would learn to better control his strength. Then I'd be able to
start the 'toughening-up sessions'." She grinned evilly.
Tenchi assumed a mock-horrified expression. "Ryoko! You'd do that to our little
boy?!"
"But of course. He'll need a thick hide to survive his teens. After all, like
father, like son." Tenchi blushed, remembering his youth, while Ryoko and
Washu laughed. "Don't worry lover-boy. *You* taught me how to be gentle, and is
how I will most certainly start."
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
------------------------------END--------------------------------------
Sasami, long ago fused with Tsunami, shook her head and put that memory into the
back of her mind. Ranma was seven and a half now. His regular schooling had
begun some time ago, though it would be for social reasons instead of for
knowledge. Washu was seeing to the knowledge end of Ranma's education.
With her trademark sunny smile, Sasami stepped out into the back porch of the
Masaki Shrine, Ranma and Katsuhito coming into view as she did. The pigtailed
boy was learning so much at a fantastic rate. Washu frequently said that Ranma
was a *huge* pleasure to teach, as the boy grasped concepts that would have been
beyond children half again his age!
Even more, Sasami noted with satisfaction that Ranma was not becoming conceited
in any way. With amazing certainty for one so young, he pushed his limits and
took pride in his accomplishments. Ranma was also amicable and always willing to
lend a hand. The parents of the friends Ranma had made at school often
complemented Tenchi and Ryoko on their ability to raise such a mature son. The
only complaints that were heard were from the school, when they had to explain
to some parents exactly how it was that their child was not only a bully, but
was beaten up for bullying by a boy two or three years younger. Ranma's only
comment was, "It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak, right?"
As for his fighting ability... well, 'astounding' would be an understatement. A
*big* one. Ranma continued to advance in the Juraian sword arts, and was
learning to use his 'inherited abilities' almost as fast as Washu unlocked them.
Sasami chuckled at the thought of what would happen if any kind of threat
decided to show itself in the coming years.
The Juraian Empire would soon have the best guardian to be born in the last
thousand years.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
In a dimension where magic rules...
Lina Inverse, 11-year-old rookie sorceress, moved hesitantly down the path
leading to her sister's house. ~I don't believe this,~ she thought as she
walked. ~It's been what, three whole years since I last willingly saw Luna. I
managed to stay at the mage guild longer by taking those extra classes, but
everybody gets the boot eventually. And not even two months pass before I get a
message from Luna that says "Come home, I need you." *Need* me?! Luna never
needed me for anything but as someone for her to pick on and terrorize!~
_______________________________________________________________________
[ACHOO] ~Hmm... I hope I'm not coming down with something. Lina should be here
soon, or not at all. In the name of Cepheid please let it be the former.~
_______________________________________________________________________
Luna Inverse's house is fairly normal. It's large, but that is to be expected
when talking about the Knight of Cepheid. Luna is also quite an accomplished
sorceress, and so a magical inspection of the house would reveal a series of
wards and shields that could deter anything less than an all-out attack by a
number of very powerful beings. Beyond that, rumors said that Luna had placed a
few weirder enchantments upon her home, either to make living a bit easier, or
just for kicks. None of those enchantments included one that made the roof jump
off its mounts and come crashing back down. *That* was testimony to just how
loud Lina Inverse screeched when she found out exactly what had made Luna call
her home.
"*WHAT*?!?"
"Little sister, meet Ranko. Ranko, meet your Aunt Lina."
"Hi Auntie!" chirped the little girl. Dressed in burgundy tights and a beige
tunic, Ranko looked amazingly like Lina considering that the comparison was
between an 11-year-old and a 6-year-old. Her fiery red-orange hair was
relatively long and almost as curly, trailing behind her in a long braid. The
biggest difference besides the age was Ranko's eyes, a deep blue-gray to Lina's
brownish-red.
Lina looked rather disturbed by the resemblance. "Who's the father?"
Luna's face darkened slightly. "Ranko, go play outside."
"Ok Mom!" Ranko ran out of the room.
With her daughter gone, Luna sighed. "I don't know."
"WHAT?!?"
"Lina, would you please stop screaming like that. You're giving me a headache."
"Bu-bu-bu-bu-," Lina stuttered. "-but that's crazy! First I find out you're a
mother, and have been for the past six years, *then* I find out that you don't
even know whose little girl you're raising!"
"Lina! How can you say that?!" came the angry response. "I don't care even if
she causes *twice* the trouble you ever did! Ranko is my daughter."
_______________________________________________________________________
Outside, Ranko was enjoying herself. She needed to keep practicing her favorite
spells, on a target preferably. And lo-and-behold, a target presented itself.
"Come back here! I'm not finished! ELMIKIA LANCE!"
The Ogre ran faster as a beam of white magic ripped through the space he
occupied a moment ago. The little girl in the clearing *looked* like she would
have made a nice snack. He found out the hard way just how wrong that assessment
was. "FLARE ARROW!" A number of small flaming missiles set the Ogre's backside
on fire, and he howled in a small amount of pain and a large amount of
embarrassment.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who is being referred to, the Ogre
stumbled upon the rest of the hunting party from his tribe. His fellows helped
him put out the last of the flames still burning on the Ogre. Then they wanted
to know what happened. Thinking fast, the Ogre immediately began warning them
about a Monster that had been chasing him, taunting him and torturing him with
minor fire spells. They didn't like the thought of one of their own of being
mocked by a Monster and vowed to kill it for its insult.
It was at that moment that Ranko ran into the clearing. "Uh-oh" indeed. The
clearing was filled with angry Ogres. She noticed the one she'd been chasing as
soon as he began shouting.
"THAT'S HER! THE MONSTER DISGUISED AS A LITTLE GIRL! GET HER!" At first the
others thought the Ogre was crazy. Monsters don't disguise themselves as little
human girls. But then...
Ranko acted instantly. "Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson,
let thy power gather in my hand--FIREBALL!" The ball of orange energy was small
compared to the one her mother had thrown at that funny priest-guy the last time
he popped up, but it was big enough. The Ogres scattered to dodge the attack,
only to watch as it fell short and detonated, throwing up a cloud of dust. "I'm
outta here! RAYWING!" Using the dust cloud for cover, Ranko headed for home as
fast as she could.
The Ogres followed from the ground, throwing axes and spears at her whenever
they got a clear shot. Casting any kind of spell at all should have been beyond
a six-year-old human girl... which meant that this *wasn't* a six-year-old
human girl. The other Ogres were now convinced that their tribesman wasn't
crazy.
_______________________________________________________________________
Suddenly both Inverse sisters stiffened.
"I just--" Lina began.
Luna finished, "--felt something. And given *what* it felt like..." [GROAN-
thump thump thump thump]
"Eh... Luna? What are you doing?" Lina sweatdropped at the sight before her: the
unflappable, icy-calm Luna... repeatedly banging her head on the surface of a
handy table.
"Come on, sis'. We have to find Ranko. *Now*," she said as she stood up. To
herself, Luna muttered, "I can't believe I forgot to restrict Ranko to the yard.
Baka Luna!"
"Wha--Hey! Let go!" Lina protested. Being pulled so fast that your feet leave
the ground isn't a pleasant experience.
"Can't. Sorry Lina, but the reason I called you home is because Ranko *does*
cause twice as much trouble as you did. I need your help just for damage
control, while I teach her some discipline." Lina simply gaped as Luna cast
her flight spell and took off, dragging her sister along for the ride.
_______________________________________________________________________
The reason for Luna's behavior was instantly obvious once they were airborne.
Lina's jaw dropped at the sight of it. A fair distance away, little Ranko could
be seen dodging dozens of thrown weapons, in mid-air. That wasn't the real
reason for Lina's reaction though. It was exactly *how* Ranko was moving.
The little redhead touched down on one branch, then leapt toward another five
meters away. Two of those meters were passed by Ranko's physical jump
alone, while the last three were covered as Ranko fed energy to a flight spell,
boosting her jump. As she touched down on the next branch, Ranko let the
strength of the spell drop, conserving however much mana a six-year-old could
tap. Then she repeated the whole process. ~And she's not using Levitation!
That's the Raywing spell! I only just mastered that spell, and she's all ready
using it at the age of *six*!!~
And even more amazing was how Ranko dodged every single weapon thrown at her.
Even without using her flight spell, she twisted out of the path of spears,
arrows, and axes with incredible fluidity, landing perfectly every time. And she
seemed to do it almost effortlessly! Ranko cart-wheeled, flipped, and spun in
ways that Lina had never dreamed of, and she succeeded with only narrow tree
branches as landing points!
"Luna... just *what* have you been feeding that girl?"
Luna ignored the question. "Ranko!! Over here!" Flicking a glance at Lina she
asked, "Can you fly on your own now?"
Lina nodded, "RAYWING!" and floated apart from her elder sister.
"Good! Grab Ranko and bring her back to me!" The blue-haired Inverse touched
down on a relatively thick branch.
"RANKO! HOLD ON, I'M COMING!" Lina swooping down at Ranko, who, in one last
burst of agility, kicked off a heavy axe coming at her in a flat spin,
propelling her up into her aunt's arms. Lina reversed directions instantly,
noticing that Luna had begun chanting something.
The younger Inverse got back to her sister just as, "BOMB DI WIND!" Luna cast
the mother of all wind spells. A hurricane-level blast of wind ripped through
the forest canopy and slammed into what seemed to be an Ogre hunting party,
literally blowing them away.
Lina blinked, still holding Ranko. "A wind spell? Why not a fireball or
something more permanent?"
"Yes, well why not burn the forest to the ground?" Luna asked, her voice thick
with sarcasm. Lina winced, looking sheepish. "Really sis', you are just too
predictable." Then Luna turned her attention to the girl trying to bury herself
in her aunt's front. Which wasn't very effective. "Now, just *what* are we going
to do about a certain redheaded Mazoku-wannabe, who *somehow* manages to piss
off everybody else in the general vicinity?"
Ranko gulped. "Uh-oh..."
_______________________________________________________________________
That night...
"I don't believe it."
"Believe it Lina. Ranko is as out-of-control as you were when you first learned
magic. She's become the terror of bandits and beasts all over this valley, not
to mention several of the villages."
"HOW?! She's only six years old! You didn't even give me my first magic lesson
until I *was* six!"
Luna sank back into her chair. "That's what stumps me. The amount of raw magic
power and ability I sensed in Ranko when she was born was impressive. Not as
much as yours, but still very impressive. However, the first time Ranko ever saw
me use a spell happened to be a Flare Arrow, on some punk that was hitting on me
in the restaurant. That was a week before she turned five. Two weeks later, I
caught Ranko in the yard, tossing makeshift wood targets up in the air... and
nailing them with Flare Arrows."
Lina sweatdropped heavily. "..."
"You can imagine how shocked I was. When I asked her who taught her, she said
that she had "seen me use that spell" in the incident I mentioned. Ranko had
spent all her free time since then experimenting, trying to figure out how to
throw Flare Arrows herself."
"And exactly *how* long did it take her to figure it out...?"
Luna held up all the fingers on one hand. "Five days." Lina fell over. Her prone
form twitched occasionally. "Lina? You OK?"
"NO!!" she hollered, sitting upright.
"Whatever. I think I have a partial explanation anyway. Just by watching Ranko,
it's obvious that she has an astoundingly fast learning curve and amazing
adaptability. She *also* has an affinity for understanding flows of energy, not
just mana but other kinds as well. Sweet Cepheid, it's as if Ranko can *see*
how lines of mana are woven together to cast different spells. If true, that
would explain how she learned her first magic spell so fast."
By now Lina's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Um, Luna, is that even
*possible* for a girl that young?"
"That's what is stumping me," Luna moaned out, dropping her head into her hands.
~Whoa... This is really getting to her! I've never, ever heard Luna moan about
*anything* before.~
"Hey brat." Lina's blood froze at her sister's tone of voice. Luna's head came
up with a very different expression on her face. "Time to change the subject.
Why do you think you lost every time we went head-to-head in the past?"
"..."
"That's what I thought. Still scared stiff of me?"
"..."
"I'm waiting."
"..."
[Sigh] "Mono Volt!"
[ZZAAAK] "YEEOW!! That hurt!"
"It was supposed to. Now answer the question."
"...I don't know how to answer that." Luna raised an eyebrow. "W-wait! Please
let me finish! It keeps changing! First you send me a message to come home.
Then you receive me real nicely. Th-then you start using *that* tone again and
call me 'brat'! Just like before!"
"Well brat, I was so hard and mean to you because I knew two things. One: this
world isn't a nice place, and you needed to be toughened up before you would be
able to survive on your own. Two: eventually you *will* be on your own, and I
didn't want you to think of running to your big sister every time you hit a
roadblock that you couldn't get around at first. So I tormented you to make you
believe that the *only* person you could ever turn to for help was yourself."
Luna paused. "This isn't what I had planned for our reunion, but it can't be
changed now. Understand this Lina: even though I won't be picking up the torture
act again, I'm not going to save your ass, *ever*. I called you home because I
wanted you to have a hand in raising your niece."
Lina just stared for a while. Then she blinked, and slowly nodded her head. "I
understand."
"Good. Now go get some sleep. I want you up with the sun tomorrow."
"Uh? Up with the sun? Why?"
"Because Ranko has been getting up with the sun every single day for almost two
years now. I want to know what she's doing up that early, but I can't because I
need enough sleep to last me through the whole day. You on the other hand, can
take an afternoon nap."
Lina had a *bad* feeling about that. "Um... OK, sure thing Luna. Good night."
"Good night... sis'."
Two sisters prepared for the coming day, while the elder's daughter slept... and
dreamed.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
If it was possible for the faceless to blanch, the Being of the Void would have
done just that. While each of these five new lives didn't equal the potential
from the first alone, together they were *more* powerful! The Being knew it
could not manipulate the past, so the only thing it could do would be to
manipulate the present...
To be continued...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
A message from the author:
It's done! Complete! FINISHED!! At 20 pages, this Part is probably the longest
I've written yet. Don't worry, not many other Parts are going to be as long as
this one.
- Trooper1023
An OLD message from the author:
READERS, I *need* ideas, scenes, adventures, etc. for the five parts of
Ranma's training.
Those five segments will each have their own Part. A little piece at the end
of each will be devoted to filling in more of the story's background, describing
a few of the more notable battles in detail, and allowing the readers to keep
tabs on the Nerima crew and the Senshi "back home".
I'd also like some *MORE* ideas for the five Ranma's "adventures". Each Ranma
(DBZ, RK, TM, Slayers, & FOTNS) will face a major challenge of some kind just
before he disappears and is fused with the others and the "original" Ranma. I've
already got ideas for the TM, Slayers, and RK Ranmas, and I figure a tournament
followed a final fight with Kenshiro would do for FOTNS Ranma (but unlike "Star
of War", Kenshiro isn't killed, so he can show up later as an ally). However,
I'm at a bit of a loss for an adventure or challenge for DBZ Ranma. Please, if
anyone has an idea for either of these, send it to me. Each adventure will be
the "climax" of that Part of Ranma's training; after that is over, "Ranma"
disappears from that dimension.
- Trooper1023
Author's Notes:
I took the "raiders attacking a town" idea and Ranma's introduction to the
Hokuto Shin Ken from Dragonlord's "Star of War" (the scene bracketed by "--1--"
was taken directly, with a few modifications).
Here is a concise list of who births/adopts/raises/trains each part (color)
of 'Ranma' and what he gains from them (and what sex each 'Ranma' is):
- GOLD/male/black hair: Vegeta and Bulma, third child born (1 yr younger than
Bra). Gains: raw offensive power as Saiyajin, skill at "hyper-kinetic" physical
combat (a.k.a. DBZ-style fighting) and pride from Vegeta. 'Dragonball Z/GT'
- BLACK/male/black hair: Kenshiro, adopted (at 7 yrs old) after original story
line ends. Gains: raw physical strength and speed, knowledge of "killing
arts", the sadness of knowing he can -and will- kill, from Kenshiro and Hokuto
Shin Ken. 'Fist of The North Star'
- GREEN/male/red hair: Kenshin Himura, found and adopted (is 6 yrs old at the
time). Gains: skill with sword from Hiko Seijurou and the Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryu, knowing "when to strike and when to back off" and gentleness from
Kenshin. 'Rurouni Kenshin'
- BLUE/male/black hair: Tenchi and Ryoko Masaki, first born child. Gains: raw
defensive power from Wings of the Light Hawk, additional skill with sword and
battle tactics from Yosho, wisdom from Tsunami, thirst for knowledge from Washu.
'Tenchi Muyo'
- RED/female/red hair: Luna Inverse and unknown father, first born. Gains:
basic magic power/ability/knowledge from Luna, how to throw every black magic
combat spell from a Fireball to a Dragon Slave) and appetite from Lina, basic
knowledge of White magic from Amelia, some knowledge of Shamanistic magic from
Zelgadis, swordsmanship from Gourry, a small liking for mischief from Xellos.
'Slayers'
_Special Thanks_
Dragonlord - for being someone to bounce ideas off of, and for the intro of
Ranma to Kenshiro (taken from his excellent fic: "Star of War")
BlazingMew - for the intro plot to Ranma's training under Kenshin Himura and
numerous suggestions for the story as a whole
Lord Void - for the suggestion to make Ranma Tenchi and Ryoko's child
DeMarco - for the idea of making the Tenchi plot contemporary, "meaning that
Ranma Masaki would be living in the same time period as when the crisis is
taking place. Since the Masaki shrine is located in southern Japan, Ranma
Masaki would be unaffected by these events... until the danger starts to
spread beyond Tokyo." Ranma Masaki would also be growing up at the same time
as Ranma Saotome, and he'd be unknown to the Ranma crew throughout their
adventures in Nerima
Farmer - for a few REALLY nice suggestions for Lina's introduction to Ranko
(Slayers Ranma), as well as Ranko's training
Extra special thanks to this fic's first pre-reader, John Geroam Greyson.
Update: 8/31/01
I've changed the part where Kenshin enters the town so it reads less like a
summery.
Update: 9/15/01
Added a nice chunk of dialogue to the DBZ and Kenshin sections. Also added
more to the Tenchi section.
Update: 9/26/01
The Tenchi section is complete. Now to write the Slayers section...
Update: 10/11/01
Added an intro piece to the "villain" of this fic. It is good? Bad? Tell me.
Also changed where the RK part of the story takes place. Instead of simply in
the past of Ranma's original dimension, it takes place in a dimension that would
have gone on to become the canon "Ranmaverse" (no TM or SM relation). I'll
explain more on this in later chapters.
Changed the name of this part to: "The Birth of The Five".
Update: 10/25/01
COMPLETION ACHIEVED! Changed Lina's age when she first meets Ranko. Changed
Ranko's 'color' to red, changed HSK Ranma's 'color' to black.
Update: 11/8/01
Another slight modification to Lina's age; it'll make what I have planned
for the Slayers timeline work better. Cut end section off and turned it into
Part 1-C.
Update: 1/24/01
Created a new divider for flashbacks. Fixed minor grammar and spelling errors.
C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net
Find the latest of my fics at: 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 x-over (primary)
- Multiple Anime x-over (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
_______________________________________________________________________
Part I: When in Need of a Warrior
Chapter 2: The Birth of The Five
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Deep in the void, between the strands of time and space, a Being of pure
blackness lurked. It had been sealed away in a dimension of pure energy for
almost two millennia. The Being drew its power from the Void itself, and since
it had been trapped in a place where there was no way to reach the Void, it had
been weakening as time passed. Just when the Being had thought that it would
fade away to nothingness, not be able to fulfill its purpose, an eruption of
power from a lone dimension caught its attention.
The Being knew this was the dimension that it had originally formed in and had
been thrown from. Three different kinds of power were now radiating from that
dimension, one of which the Being recognized as the same power that had been
used against it. The power of the Crystal.
The Being had formed from the Void of space, and had instinctively desired to
destroy all things, leaving only the Void. Two millennia ago, the Being had
encountered a solar system rich with power and life. Attacking, it sought to
destroy the life, but the life fought back, trapping it and sealing it in the
prison of energy that had held the being for so long.
The imprisonment had, while weakening the Being and trapping it, shown it that
other dimensions made of matter and energy existed, and that the Void existed
mostly between them - and rarely within them. The Being had also learned of
Time, and how the Void could also be found between its strands.
The Being found it ironic that the same power that had trapped it had
unknowingly *undone* what it had done two millennia ago. As for the other two
powers...
One power was a network of lines spanning that dimension. Once free, the Being
had used those lines as a guide to find its way back. It had also used them to
find the places where the Void could be found, allowing the being to strengthen
again.
The other power emanated from a single point, one single life. The Being
shuddered at the potential that one life had within itself. While the Being was
of the Void, this life was its antithesis. Were that life's potential to
manipulate energy developed to its entirety, the Being would face a threat
greater than what it had been *defeated* by before!
On the other hand, the Being also realized that it was *far* more powerful now
then it was then. Drawing on the Void between *all* dimensions yielded far more
then drawing on the Void within one of them. Using that power, the Being peered
through the walls of its domain. It wanted to see how the ones of darkness it
had augmented were fairing against their personal enemy, the power of the
Crystal, and the life that posed the Being so much threat. Fortunately, the
Being had managed to keep the third power from interfering, so it had only to
deal with these two...
...One of which wasn't even there! The Being found no trace of its nemesis...
no, there *was* a trace, make that five traces. Following the miniscule lines
into the past, four of which led into other dimensions, the Being saw...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
On a futuristic Earth...
Dende opened his eyes as Bulma and Vegeta's third child entered the world.
This most recent vision was a confusing one. In it, the newborn, named Ranma by
an adamant Bulma, was standing before him as a teenager. An aura of gold
surrounded him, until all that could be seen was an outline. Suddenly the boy's
outline was part of a circle of nearly identical outlines; besides gold, there
were black, green, and blue outlines, and a red outline that seemed to be a
female version of the rest. Then the outlines merged, leaving behind a single
outline of the boy in pure white that rapidly faded from sight.
The Kami Guardian of the Earth was puzzled by the vision. It lacked any
feeling of wrongness... No, the vision seemed to be showing *destiny*! Dende
decided not to tell anyone of his vision, allowing them to deal with it when
the time came.
Ranma was a very peculiar child right from the start. His eyes were the
most distinctive, a deep blue-gray unlike his mother's ice blue or his
father's coal black. His hair was black like his father's but soft like his
mother's. Vegeta was pleased to note the tail, covered in black fur, on his
second son and hoped that the boy's spirit would be that of a Saiyajin as
well. The boy's face seemed to be the oddest thing about him; Vegeta swore
that he could see only a few features of his own in his son, and even fewer of
the boy's mother.
Time passed and the newest member of the "Z-Family" grew...
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
-----------------------------START-------------------------------------
The day Ranma turned five...
"Are you sure Ranma?"
"MOM!! I told you already, I grew my hair out because I wanted to put it in a
pigtail!"
"A braid? You realize boy, that a braid will give your enemy something to grab
and pull on. A saiyajin should not give himself such an obvious weakness."
Ranma rolled his eyes and sighed as his mother finished the braid. ~What's such
a big deal about braiding my hair, anyway? It's not *that* unusual, is it?~
"Come on, it'll be an extra challenge for me. I'll have ta be *real* fast so
somebody doesn't grab my braid... right Pops?"
Vegeta snarled angrily, "How many time do I have to tell you not to call me
'Pops'?!"
[Biiiiii] Ranma stuck his tongue out in response and prepared to run away,
knowing that his father would explode. To his surprise, the former Saiyajin
Prince only crossed his arms and smirked. ~I got a bad feeling about this...~
thought Ranma.
"I wouldn't be in such high spirits boy. Your training begins this afternoon."
~I was right.~
Six-year-old Bra came bounding down the stairs. "Finally! It's little bro's turn
to get the boot for the next four months!" She turned and hollered back up to
the second floor of the Capsule complex that served as the Brief's home. "Hey
Trunks, Daddy's starting Ranma's training today!"
"Oh really," said a voice from the front door.
"Oh, hi Gohan! How's Videl and the brat?" asked Bra, stressing the word 'brat'.
Son Gohan smiled. "They're both fine, though Pan will strangle you if she finds
out you called her that. Where's Trunks, I got something for him."
"TRUNKS!! THERE'S SOMETHING DOWN HERE YOU WANT, AND I'M ABOUT TO TAKE IT FOR
THAT REMOTE YOU STOLE!" Everyone winced at the volume of Bra's yell.
"Bra! What did I tell you about yelling in the house?" came Bulma's voice from
the kitchen.
"Um, not to."
"THEN WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!?" Everyone winced again, though Bra had the
decency to look sheepish. Finally Trunks came down from his room.
"Jeez, you people are gonna bring the house down if you keep hollering like
that." The fourteen-year-old purple haired half-saiyajin sighed, then noticed
Gohan. "You've got the chip?" Gohan simply grinned. "Oh boy will this be fun.
Lets get started." They headed for Bulma's research labs. Over his shoulder
Trunks asked, "And what was that about Ranma's training?"
"It starts today," said Vegeta simply.
Trunks smirked and turned to Ranma. "Heh, good luck shorty. You're gonna need it
if you wanna do as well as I did. Not that you will."
"Why, you!" Ranma leapt at his big brother in a flying tackle. They wrestled
around a bit, smirking at the other's effort, before Bulma recognized the
commotion for what it was and scolded them both.
Vegeta watched silently. ~My first and second children only showed basic
interest in the fighting arts. I pray to the sun itself that my third will be
different, a true heir.~
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
------------------------------END--------------------------------------
Vegeta's prayer was answered.
Beginning with several months of survival training, something that he had seen
Piccolo do to his students with great effect, Vegeta was surprised yet pleased
to see Ranma take to the wilderness as if he'd been living there his whole life.
Somehow the boy all ready had the survival instincts he needed. Ranma discovered
his ki and began to use it in less time then anyone could have expected. His
older brother Trunks had taken nearly four months to learn on his own what had
taken Ranma only one!
Then Vegeta began the combat training and got another surprise. Ranma progressed
in his training at an astounding rate. Everything Ranma was taught was
understood immediately and often mastered before the day was over. He seemed to
know how to fight instinctively. Ranma was already incredibly agile, and only
got faster and faster as time progress. Vegeta finally understood why Ranma had
always been so good at games of evasion, like tag. The Art was in Ranma's very
blood.
Vegeta intended to keep his son's progress under wraps, but Bra got suspicious
of the amount of time Vegeta spent with his third child and eventually decided
to follow her father to the training grounds he was using to teach Ranma. She
was instantly jealous of how fast Ranma learned, and from her the word spread.
Trunks never thought he'd see the day when he would have to eat his own words,
but that day came. Goku seemed to take it the best: "He's learning *that* fast?
Sugoi! It'll be great to have someone new to spar with!"
Several years passed and Ranma turned eight. The boy's fighting ability was
increasing at an incredible rate; all ready Ranma was better than his sister.
Apparently, Vegeta's second son *did* have the soul of a true Saiyajin.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
On a post-apocalyptic Earth...
Kenshiro, the Fist of the North Star and master of the Hokuto Shin Ken, caught
up with the band of raiders as they were slaughtering the people of one of the
borderland towns. He was on the nearly impossible quest of finding a real heir
to the school of the Great Bear Fist after having a very strange dream several
months ago. Something about Fate and Destiny, the Chosen One, and training an
heir...
It was the previous day that he was told of a band of mutant raiders moving
against another outlying town. He raced out to the borderlands, barely making
it in time.
After dispatching a number of raiders in rapid succession, Kenshiro saw a
young boy with his black hair in a pigtail standing between one of the last
raiders and a little blond girl. The boy, not more than seven, was tiny
compared to the mutant raider, yet he showed no fear as he stood his ground.
What happened next struck a cord in Kenshiro that hadn't been touched in a
long time...
The raider took one more step forward and the boy narrowed his eyes. A moment
later he was in motion. Dashing forward, he twisted around a spear thrust from
the raider, landed on the spear's shaft, ran up it onto the raider's arm, and
drove a small dagger he got from somewhere into the raider's throat. All in a
few short seconds. Leaving the bloodied dagger where it was, the boy kicked off
the dead body and landed easily.
Kenshiro knew the signs of the killer instinct very well, but never had he
seen them in one so young. Another raider attacked the boy, not even giving
second thought to what the boy had just done. The boy simply vaulted over the
arc of the raider's sword and landed on the huge man's shoulders. From up there
he threw a volley of punches down onto the raider's skull, crushing his neck
down into his chest. Again he leapt from the dead body and back to the girl he
was protecting. ~That boy...~ Kenshiro thought, ~...He must be the one, the
heir I've been searching for...~
The scream of the little girl brought Kenshiro's head up. A third raider had
seen the boy kill two others and was on guard. Even as the boy, seeming to sense
the new threat, turned to face the raider, he was slammed across the back of the
head and knocked out. The girl screamed again when she saw what happened to her
protector. Raising his club for the kill, the raider...
...Died in a shower of blood as Kenshiro tapped a few tsubos. The Fist of the
North Star paid no more attention to the bits of corpse that remained as he
checked the boy. ~...No one as young as this would have the instinct for any
other reason!~
After clearing the town of any remaining raiders and making sure all the
wounded were seen too, Kenshiro began asking questions about the black-haired
boy. According to the townsfolk, the boy's name was Ranma. He had wandered in
from the wastes on foot, badly dehydrated but still conscious. He recovered in
an astoundingly short amount of time and was up and about within days. He
quickly developed a reputation as "the kid who can do anything". Ranma had
been seen jumping up into trees or onto other tall object to find things
that people needed. While this in itself wasn't unusual, none of the townspeople
had ever heard of a seven-year-old being *that* advanced in a Martial Art. Even
more, Ranma had been seen practicing a style that no one was familiar with. When
asked about where he learned it, Ranma just said, "I donno, I just keep
practicing." Kenshiro shook his head and sighed as he listened to the little
blond as she talked, starry-eyed, about the boy that had protected her from the
raiders at risk to himself.
_______________________________________________________________________
Ranma woke up a day later, his injuries completely gone. As Kenshiro watched,
he checked his wounds without even realizing it as he dressed. When he was
done, Ranma turned his head to Kenshiro, who was standing just outside his
room.
~Amazing. He must have sensed my presence; I never made a movement or sound
and yet he still knew I was there watching him.~ "Ranma, I presume?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Yup, tha's me. Who's askin'?"
Kenshiro held back a chuckle. ~This kid talks like a cocky teenager... I like
him all ready.~ "My name is Kenshiro; I'm the one who killed most of the raiders
that attacked yesterday. Let me ask you a question. What you did to those two
raiders... how did you do it? Who taught you, if anybody?"
Ranma was silent for several minutes. "Well... I donno. It's kinda like I just
*know* how," he said finally.
"Well Ranma, I have something to propose you. What you were using was--"
"--Martial Arts." Ranma finished. "Yeah, I know."
Kenshiro raised an eyebrow. "It seems that you know a lot about the Art. I can
feel the focused way your ki flows through your body."
"Ki is--oh yea, never mind." Ranma scratched the back of his head with one hand.
"Whatever, I wanna hear that deal you had for me." Kenshiro grinned.
(-1-check note at the end of this file--)
"I want to know if you're interested in learning the style of Martial Arts I
am master of. It is an Art devised some 2000 years ago on a little island near
the coast of China. The first master of the style, Shuken, was taught this Art
by God himself."
Ranma stared at Kenshiro, shocked by the implications. "By God?" He asked.
"That's right. With it you can destroy the body from the inside out using the
708 hikous or tsubos. Eventually you can also heal even the most damaged of
bodies with those same techniques, applied differently. Then there are other
techniques of the school, as well as ways to use the body at its full
capabilities."
"What do you mean by full capabilities?" asked Ranma.
"When you were fighting those riders before, I could feel you using your ki to
boost your strength and speed. Is it right?" Ranma nodded after a moment.
"By using your ki, you were boosting the strength of your body to almost
superhuman levels. Well in this school, one of the basic teachings is to
strengthen your body without using your ki. Generally a fighter, even if he is
a martial artist, uses only thirty percent of his overall strength. However in
our school we teach how to use the remaining seventy percent. This goes for
speed, endurance, metabolism, healing factor, reflexes, and senses also. Of
course, that's nothing more than the basics of the school."
"Only the *basics*?!" Ken nodded. "Why are you telling me this?" asked Ranma
after a few more moments.
Kenshiro's gaze bore into Ranma. "In every generation the current master must
train a pupil that will some day be the Heir and master of this school. Each
master can only train one pupil in the full knowledge of the school because if
he tries to train more than one in the full knowledge, the master would not be
to be sure if both pupils are 'on the True Path of the Great Bear'. If either of
two pupils, each with the full knowledge of the school, strays from the path
then the world could be destroyed." He paused to let the boy have some time to
think about this last piece of information. "I'm telling you all of this because
I want to train you to become the next Heir."
Ranma was speechless. Silence was the lord of the room for a long time. Ranma
had expected something but this...
"I-I... I donno what to say..." He said slowly.
Kenshiro's expression was stern. "You must know that the training may be
extremely dangerous and that at the end I may even erase the knowledge you
gained if I find you abusing the power you will eventually have." He looked deep
into the young boy's blue-gray eyes, his voice deadly, and Ranma *knew* the
importance of his words. "I'm warning you that this training will be different
from anything that you can imagine. I will be ruthless, even brutal. This
knowledge has caused a lot of tragedies and the destinies of the Heirs of this
school are all filled with blood and tears."
He paused once again waiting for some reaction. Seeing nothing but seriousness
in the seven-year-old, Kenshiro continued.
"I'm giving you a choice. If you refuse I will take you to some friends that
can help you in forming your own life." He paused. "The choice is yours. But
remember that this knowledge is not a price or a privilege; it's a burden."
Ranma stayed silent.
This man was telling him that he could give him the chance to learn the
greatest of all martial arts but the price would be in blood, tears and pain.
But the choice was his; not something imposed. His.
He looked into Kenshiro's eyes. Eyes that promised suffering but also a chance
to find a destiny and to make a life only if he was ready to pay the price.
~I could just go and do whatever I want, make my own life like Kenshiro
said... but I feel like I *have* to do this... like I *want* to do this, but
just can't remember. Could this training in the ultimate Martial Art... be my
purpose? No, he said that the knowledge will be a burden--~ That train of
thought stopped dead.
Ranma had his answer. He made his choice.
He stood up and followed the compulsion to bow to Kenshiro.
He *knew* that he had just yielded control of his life to another, yet he also
knew that it was for the best.
"When do we start uh... sensei? And what's the name of our school?" He asked
his new mentor.
"We start as soon as your ribs have finished healing." He paused once again.
"And the name of our style is the Hokuto Shin Ken - the North Dipper God
Fist"
(-1-end of noted section--)
Kenshiro smiled to himself. ~The dream is starting to make sense now... I must
be one of those picked to train the Chosen One...~
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
A hundred and fifty years earlier in history...
In a valley somewhere north of Tokyo, in the last year of the Revolution, a
five-year-old boy faded into existence on the rough ground of a dense forest. He
pulled himself to his feet and took in his surroundings. The boy couldn't
remember much about himself, just the name of the school of martial arts he was
skilled in and a few special techniques, a few survival skills, and his given
name: Ranma.
_______________________________________________________________________
One year later...
The war was over. Kenshin Himura had sworn not to kill again. Now he was a
simple vagabond, scared by the terrible war.
Upon entering a little town north of Tokyo, Kenshin noticed that he was
getting odd looks from an ever-increasing number of people. Listening closely,
he could bits and pieces of whispered comments.
"--he match the description people have given--"
"--that? Who are you...!? It's him! It has to be!"
"I believe that man with the sword is the one everyone has been talking about,
the forest-dweller with red hair..."
Kenshin stopped as he noticed that he was the center of attention. ~Obviously
I resemble someone that these people consider both helpful and a nuisance.
Maybe coming here wasn't such a great idea...~ He spun and--
"Stop!" Huffing, an officer came running toward Kenshin. "You can't go walking
around during the Meji era with that sword! I'm going to have to--"
"Orooo..." And Kenshin started running. And the officer started yelling more and
running after Kenshin. And the townsfolk started running too, after the police
officer! He must be the forest-dweller, they thought collectively.
Running harder, Kenshin headed for the nearby forest. None of the townspeople
followed. However, the chase had attracted the notice of the local group of
bandits. Thinking the one who had been giving them so much trouble lately had
been spotted, a few bandits entered the forest in search of revenge.
Of course, what are bandits to a former hitokiri, the Battosai at that? Kenshin
dispatched his attackers with little difficulty.
That night, Kenshin sat by a small campfire, brooding on his past. He turned
from his meal for a second... and when he turned back the food was gone!
"Oro?" Hearing a rustling in the bushes, Kenshin spun and spotted a little
redhead running away from the clearing. ~A thief? Well, I'm game.~ Kenshin
thought. He gave chase to the thief, and was surprised to find he was fast,
nearly as fast as Kenshin himself! *Could this be the red-haired forest-person
the townsfolk were talking of?*
The thief, seeing he was unable to lose his pursuit on the ground, vaulted into
the trees and kept going. Kenshin followed, his respect for the thief slowly
growing. Eventually Kenshin cornered the thief against the base of a cliff
without any kind of cover nearby to use to escape. It was at that point that
Kenshin got his first good look at the "thief". The short redhead was nothing
more than a six-year-old boy!
Ranma was in a jam. Normally he'd just blast right through whoever had cornered
him, but something he saw in the man's eyes that made him wary of trying any
kind of stunt like he'd pulled on campers and bandits. That and the sword at the
man's waist. Ranma saw a hardness in his eyes unlike anything he'd ever seen
before. He shivered slightly.
"You're hungry, aren't you?"
Ranma started slightly at the soft, gentle voice of the man that had cornered
him. It was not what he had been expecting. Gathering his courage again, Ranma
said, "Yea, I'm pretty hungry. Sorry fer stealin' yur food."
Kenshin chuckled. "It's all right, I can understand why you're hungry." The
boy looked surprised. "Follow me back to my camp. I'd be happy to share the
share my food with you."
"Hey! I don't need no charity! I can do fine on my own!" Ranma growled.
The vagabond smiled genuinely. "Oh, I insist. As a simple courtesy." And led
the boy back to his camp.
_______________________________________________________________________
Talking over dinner, Kenshin learned that the boy's name was Ranma and that
he had no family or real home. Ranma learned to his shock that Kenshin was a
former killer with a lot of blood on his hands. At first Ranma was a little
afraid, but then Kenshin showed Ranma his sword. "What kind 'a sword is that?"
"This is a sakabatou. Instead of having the sharp edge on the outside curve
of the blade, the sharp edge is on the inside curve. The outside curve, the
side of the blade that leads most attacks, is blunt. This is a sword that
cannot kill. And I have taken an oath never to kill again." Kenshin's voice
was flat.
"Oh." Ranma felt somewhat better after that. He also felt that he could trust
the older man. It made going to sleep easier.
Kenshin himself was puzzled as to his own behavior. He had never opened up to
anyone before, not even his old master, as much as he had done so with this
young boy he had only just met. Something about Ranma reminded Kenshin very much
of himself when he was young.
_______________________________________________________________________
Kenshin had a lot to think about the next morning. He found an empty clearing
and started a long sword kata, to clear his head so he could think. He never
noticed Ranma watching him flow through the kata with interest.
Eventually the one once known as Battosai finished his kata, and made his
decision. He turned to go find the boy and found him at the edge of the
clearing. "Ranma? What are you doing here?"
"Oh nothing."
"Well, I wanted to ask you a question. Would you be willing to come with me
as I wander from place to place? I'm a vagabond after all."
"Seriously? Cool!" Ranma was all too happy to agree. ~If I go with him, then
maybe I can get him to teach me that sword style. And I thought *I* was fast!
If he teaches me then I can get even faster! Besides, it'll be nice to have
somebody to talk to. These woods are getting kinda lonely.~
Kenshin was a little confused as to why Ranma was so enthusiastic, but he
wasn't about to complain. ~If Ranma comes with me, I'll have to leave the
hitokiri side of me behind if I don't want him to feel that kind of
influence. This should help me find what's left of the peaceful person inside
me.~
Suddenly Ranma was on his feet, looking around. Kenshin didn't know why
Ranma was suddenly acting like that until his danger sense went off. ~Ranma
sensed the danger before I did! He's no ordinary boy...~
It was the bandits that Kenshin had knocked out earlier, plus a few newcomers.
An open brawl started almost immediately. Kenshin drew his sakabatou and
slammed it into the stomach of one bandit in a single smooth motion. Turning,
he hopped over another bandit's cane sword and brought his own weapon down on
the man's head. Two more bandits fell just as quickly to Kenshin, but he
remembered more attacking. Turning to face the others, Kenshin was surprised
again to see two other bandits on the ground, larges bruises forming all ready.
The boy was knocking bandits out cold with nothing more than his little fists!
Slipping past a clumsily swung club, Ranma threw a volley of fast punches into
the bandit's torso before jumping up and knocking the bandit onto his back with
a flip-kick to the chin.
~This... boy... knows Kempo like a master would! That isn't a style I'm familiar
with, and it's very effective. I'll have to find out where he learned it.~
Kenshin narrowed his eyes. ~Ranma is far too skilled for his age. The way he
stole my food without my noticing him, the way he moves, and the fact that he's
beating men four times his age and three times his size...~
Landing easily on his feet, Ranma flipped Kenshin a cocky grin and said, "Piece
'o' cake! I was just too good for them."
"You are good Ranma, but too much pride will be your downfall. There *are*
fighters who are as good if not better than you are."
"Yea, I know, I know! I figured that out when I saw how fast *you* move."
~So that's it.~ "If you are thinking what I think you are thinking, well, I
can't promise anything. My art, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu, is made for killing.
The only reason the techniques I use don't kill is because of my weapon."
"Hey, a martial artist doesn't kill either. That doesn't mean I can't learn
some of the speed techniques you use. Heh, if I got that fast..." Ranma laughed
in a slightly disturbing manner.
Kenshin sweatdropped. "Oro..."
High noon. Together, two redheads walked on...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Sixteen years in the past, on the same day of Ranma Saotome's birth, another
boy was born and given the name "Ranma". This Ranma was born to Tenchi and
Ryoko Masaki, in Washu's high-tech lab below the Masaki shrine, in the
mountains of Southern Japan.
Standing beside Tenchi, Tsunami opened her eyes to see the birth of her
champion's first child. The vision she had just experienced told Tsunami that
while Tenchi would always be her avatar, his son was destined for something far
greater.
The years rolled past...
Ranma grew into a cute little boy. His eyes, a deep blue-gray, reminded
Katsuhito of his daughter Achika, Tenchi's mother. Ranma's black hair wasn't as
spiky as Ryoko's, but it was spiky enough to make putting it in the short braid
he preferred difficult. Ranma was a gentle boy, taking after his father in most
respects, but he had a competitive streak in him that matched his mother's.
And he could be as stubborn as Ryoko too. Fortunately, Ranma had his interests,
which could be used to get him to do other, less pleasant things. The Kendo
lessons that Tenchi had so dreaded in his youth seemed to be the pleasure of
Ranma's...
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
-----------------------------START-------------------------------------
His first day of lessons...
"Well Ranma, it seems that the time has finally come to start your training
in the Masaki style of Kendo." Ranma's 'Great-Grandfather' handed the boy a
bokken.
"Yay! Finally!" came the enthusiastic response. And the training began.
Off to the side, Ryoko wrapped her arms around her husband lovingly as they
watched their son. "Look at him, Tenchi, he seems to have Mom's capacity for
learning. His very first day, and he's absorbing the kata like a dry sponge on
water! At this rate he'll be better than you before you know it."
Tenchi Masaki smiled and put an arm around his wife in turn. "What I'd like
to know is how he is already so good with his hands and feet." He pointed.
"See that? Ranma almost surprised Katsuhito with that kick." Tenchi and Ryoko
continued to watch as Ranma dodged another thrust and used the force of
Katsuhito's following upward swing to launch himself away. The young boy landed
cat-like on all fours.
"That kid is a bigger mystery than you, and *that* puzzles me even more," said a
voice from behind them.
Ryoko jumped up and practically tackled the crab-haired scientist in a huge
hug. "Hi Mom!" she squealed.
Tenchi grinned; some things never change. "It's been a while, hasn't it
Washu-*chan*. How's Kiyone and her daughter? And the rest of the GP crew?"
Ryoko let go and rejoined her husband, while Washu tilted her head to the side
in mimed thought. "A while? Why Tenchi, a year and two months surely isn't
that much?" They both grinned.
"It's long enough for *that*," he said, pointing toward Ranma's lesson. "He's
doing a hundred times better than anyone could possibly expect from an almost-
five-year-old. Are you sure you haven't unlocked any of his 'inherited powers'?"
Washu shook her head in bewilderment. "If you are referring to Ryoko's
abilities, then no. Right now he *should* be as normal as anything other five-
year-old boy on Earth. Speaking of powers, what do you think I should unlock
for Ranma's fifth birthday?"
"Why not begin releasing the strength limiters?" suggested Ryoko. "Little by
little, so he would learn to better control his strength. Then I'd be able to
start the 'toughening-up sessions'." She grinned evilly.
Tenchi assumed a mock-horrified expression. "Ryoko! You'd do that to our little
boy?!"
"But of course. He'll need a thick hide to survive his teens. After all, like
father, like son." Tenchi blushed, remembering his youth, while Ryoko and
Washu laughed. "Don't worry lover-boy. *You* taught me how to be gentle, and is
how I will most certainly start."
---------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------
------------------------------END--------------------------------------
Sasami, long ago fused with Tsunami, shook her head and put that memory into the
back of her mind. Ranma was seven and a half now. His regular schooling had
begun some time ago, though it would be for social reasons instead of for
knowledge. Washu was seeing to the knowledge end of Ranma's education.
With her trademark sunny smile, Sasami stepped out into the back porch of the
Masaki Shrine, Ranma and Katsuhito coming into view as she did. The pigtailed
boy was learning so much at a fantastic rate. Washu frequently said that Ranma
was a *huge* pleasure to teach, as the boy grasped concepts that would have been
beyond children half again his age!
Even more, Sasami noted with satisfaction that Ranma was not becoming conceited
in any way. With amazing certainty for one so young, he pushed his limits and
took pride in his accomplishments. Ranma was also amicable and always willing to
lend a hand. The parents of the friends Ranma had made at school often
complemented Tenchi and Ryoko on their ability to raise such a mature son. The
only complaints that were heard were from the school, when they had to explain
to some parents exactly how it was that their child was not only a bully, but
was beaten up for bullying by a boy two or three years younger. Ranma's only
comment was, "It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak, right?"
As for his fighting ability... well, 'astounding' would be an understatement. A
*big* one. Ranma continued to advance in the Juraian sword arts, and was
learning to use his 'inherited abilities' almost as fast as Washu unlocked them.
Sasami chuckled at the thought of what would happen if any kind of threat
decided to show itself in the coming years.
The Juraian Empire would soon have the best guardian to be born in the last
thousand years.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
In a dimension where magic rules...
Lina Inverse, 11-year-old rookie sorceress, moved hesitantly down the path
leading to her sister's house. ~I don't believe this,~ she thought as she
walked. ~It's been what, three whole years since I last willingly saw Luna. I
managed to stay at the mage guild longer by taking those extra classes, but
everybody gets the boot eventually. And not even two months pass before I get a
message from Luna that says "Come home, I need you." *Need* me?! Luna never
needed me for anything but as someone for her to pick on and terrorize!~
_______________________________________________________________________
[ACHOO] ~Hmm... I hope I'm not coming down with something. Lina should be here
soon, or not at all. In the name of Cepheid please let it be the former.~
_______________________________________________________________________
Luna Inverse's house is fairly normal. It's large, but that is to be expected
when talking about the Knight of Cepheid. Luna is also quite an accomplished
sorceress, and so a magical inspection of the house would reveal a series of
wards and shields that could deter anything less than an all-out attack by a
number of very powerful beings. Beyond that, rumors said that Luna had placed a
few weirder enchantments upon her home, either to make living a bit easier, or
just for kicks. None of those enchantments included one that made the roof jump
off its mounts and come crashing back down. *That* was testimony to just how
loud Lina Inverse screeched when she found out exactly what had made Luna call
her home.
"*WHAT*?!?"
"Little sister, meet Ranko. Ranko, meet your Aunt Lina."
"Hi Auntie!" chirped the little girl. Dressed in burgundy tights and a beige
tunic, Ranko looked amazingly like Lina considering that the comparison was
between an 11-year-old and a 6-year-old. Her fiery red-orange hair was
relatively long and almost as curly, trailing behind her in a long braid. The
biggest difference besides the age was Ranko's eyes, a deep blue-gray to Lina's
brownish-red.
Lina looked rather disturbed by the resemblance. "Who's the father?"
Luna's face darkened slightly. "Ranko, go play outside."
"Ok Mom!" Ranko ran out of the room.
With her daughter gone, Luna sighed. "I don't know."
"WHAT?!?"
"Lina, would you please stop screaming like that. You're giving me a headache."
"Bu-bu-bu-bu-," Lina stuttered. "-but that's crazy! First I find out you're a
mother, and have been for the past six years, *then* I find out that you don't
even know whose little girl you're raising!"
"Lina! How can you say that?!" came the angry response. "I don't care even if
she causes *twice* the trouble you ever did! Ranko is my daughter."
_______________________________________________________________________
Outside, Ranko was enjoying herself. She needed to keep practicing her favorite
spells, on a target preferably. And lo-and-behold, a target presented itself.
"Come back here! I'm not finished! ELMIKIA LANCE!"
The Ogre ran faster as a beam of white magic ripped through the space he
occupied a moment ago. The little girl in the clearing *looked* like she would
have made a nice snack. He found out the hard way just how wrong that assessment
was. "FLARE ARROW!" A number of small flaming missiles set the Ogre's backside
on fire, and he howled in a small amount of pain and a large amount of
embarrassment.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who is being referred to, the Ogre
stumbled upon the rest of the hunting party from his tribe. His fellows helped
him put out the last of the flames still burning on the Ogre. Then they wanted
to know what happened. Thinking fast, the Ogre immediately began warning them
about a Monster that had been chasing him, taunting him and torturing him with
minor fire spells. They didn't like the thought of one of their own of being
mocked by a Monster and vowed to kill it for its insult.
It was at that moment that Ranko ran into the clearing. "Uh-oh" indeed. The
clearing was filled with angry Ogres. She noticed the one she'd been chasing as
soon as he began shouting.
"THAT'S HER! THE MONSTER DISGUISED AS A LITTLE GIRL! GET HER!" At first the
others thought the Ogre was crazy. Monsters don't disguise themselves as little
human girls. But then...
Ranko acted instantly. "Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson,
let thy power gather in my hand--FIREBALL!" The ball of orange energy was small
compared to the one her mother had thrown at that funny priest-guy the last time
he popped up, but it was big enough. The Ogres scattered to dodge the attack,
only to watch as it fell short and detonated, throwing up a cloud of dust. "I'm
outta here! RAYWING!" Using the dust cloud for cover, Ranko headed for home as
fast as she could.
The Ogres followed from the ground, throwing axes and spears at her whenever
they got a clear shot. Casting any kind of spell at all should have been beyond
a six-year-old human girl... which meant that this *wasn't* a six-year-old
human girl. The other Ogres were now convinced that their tribesman wasn't
crazy.
_______________________________________________________________________
Suddenly both Inverse sisters stiffened.
"I just--" Lina began.
Luna finished, "--felt something. And given *what* it felt like..." [GROAN-
thump thump thump thump]
"Eh... Luna? What are you doing?" Lina sweatdropped at the sight before her: the
unflappable, icy-calm Luna... repeatedly banging her head on the surface of a
handy table.
"Come on, sis'. We have to find Ranko. *Now*," she said as she stood up. To
herself, Luna muttered, "I can't believe I forgot to restrict Ranko to the yard.
Baka Luna!"
"Wha--Hey! Let go!" Lina protested. Being pulled so fast that your feet leave
the ground isn't a pleasant experience.
"Can't. Sorry Lina, but the reason I called you home is because Ranko *does*
cause twice as much trouble as you did. I need your help just for damage
control, while I teach her some discipline." Lina simply gaped as Luna cast
her flight spell and took off, dragging her sister along for the ride.
_______________________________________________________________________
The reason for Luna's behavior was instantly obvious once they were airborne.
Lina's jaw dropped at the sight of it. A fair distance away, little Ranko could
be seen dodging dozens of thrown weapons, in mid-air. That wasn't the real
reason for Lina's reaction though. It was exactly *how* Ranko was moving.
The little redhead touched down on one branch, then leapt toward another five
meters away. Two of those meters were passed by Ranko's physical jump
alone, while the last three were covered as Ranko fed energy to a flight spell,
boosting her jump. As she touched down on the next branch, Ranko let the
strength of the spell drop, conserving however much mana a six-year-old could
tap. Then she repeated the whole process. ~And she's not using Levitation!
That's the Raywing spell! I only just mastered that spell, and she's all ready
using it at the age of *six*!!~
And even more amazing was how Ranko dodged every single weapon thrown at her.
Even without using her flight spell, she twisted out of the path of spears,
arrows, and axes with incredible fluidity, landing perfectly every time. And she
seemed to do it almost effortlessly! Ranko cart-wheeled, flipped, and spun in
ways that Lina had never dreamed of, and she succeeded with only narrow tree
branches as landing points!
"Luna... just *what* have you been feeding that girl?"
Luna ignored the question. "Ranko!! Over here!" Flicking a glance at Lina she
asked, "Can you fly on your own now?"
Lina nodded, "RAYWING!" and floated apart from her elder sister.
"Good! Grab Ranko and bring her back to me!" The blue-haired Inverse touched
down on a relatively thick branch.
"RANKO! HOLD ON, I'M COMING!" Lina swooping down at Ranko, who, in one last
burst of agility, kicked off a heavy axe coming at her in a flat spin,
propelling her up into her aunt's arms. Lina reversed directions instantly,
noticing that Luna had begun chanting something.
The younger Inverse got back to her sister just as, "BOMB DI WIND!" Luna cast
the mother of all wind spells. A hurricane-level blast of wind ripped through
the forest canopy and slammed into what seemed to be an Ogre hunting party,
literally blowing them away.
Lina blinked, still holding Ranko. "A wind spell? Why not a fireball or
something more permanent?"
"Yes, well why not burn the forest to the ground?" Luna asked, her voice thick
with sarcasm. Lina winced, looking sheepish. "Really sis', you are just too
predictable." Then Luna turned her attention to the girl trying to bury herself
in her aunt's front. Which wasn't very effective. "Now, just *what* are we going
to do about a certain redheaded Mazoku-wannabe, who *somehow* manages to piss
off everybody else in the general vicinity?"
Ranko gulped. "Uh-oh..."
_______________________________________________________________________
That night...
"I don't believe it."
"Believe it Lina. Ranko is as out-of-control as you were when you first learned
magic. She's become the terror of bandits and beasts all over this valley, not
to mention several of the villages."
"HOW?! She's only six years old! You didn't even give me my first magic lesson
until I *was* six!"
Luna sank back into her chair. "That's what stumps me. The amount of raw magic
power and ability I sensed in Ranko when she was born was impressive. Not as
much as yours, but still very impressive. However, the first time Ranko ever saw
me use a spell happened to be a Flare Arrow, on some punk that was hitting on me
in the restaurant. That was a week before she turned five. Two weeks later, I
caught Ranko in the yard, tossing makeshift wood targets up in the air... and
nailing them with Flare Arrows."
Lina sweatdropped heavily. "..."
"You can imagine how shocked I was. When I asked her who taught her, she said
that she had "seen me use that spell" in the incident I mentioned. Ranko had
spent all her free time since then experimenting, trying to figure out how to
throw Flare Arrows herself."
"And exactly *how* long did it take her to figure it out...?"
Luna held up all the fingers on one hand. "Five days." Lina fell over. Her prone
form twitched occasionally. "Lina? You OK?"
"NO!!" she hollered, sitting upright.
"Whatever. I think I have a partial explanation anyway. Just by watching Ranko,
it's obvious that she has an astoundingly fast learning curve and amazing
adaptability. She *also* has an affinity for understanding flows of energy, not
just mana but other kinds as well. Sweet Cepheid, it's as if Ranko can *see*
how lines of mana are woven together to cast different spells. If true, that
would explain how she learned her first magic spell so fast."
By now Lina's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Um, Luna, is that even
*possible* for a girl that young?"
"That's what is stumping me," Luna moaned out, dropping her head into her hands.
~Whoa... This is really getting to her! I've never, ever heard Luna moan about
*anything* before.~
"Hey brat." Lina's blood froze at her sister's tone of voice. Luna's head came
up with a very different expression on her face. "Time to change the subject.
Why do you think you lost every time we went head-to-head in the past?"
"..."
"That's what I thought. Still scared stiff of me?"
"..."
"I'm waiting."
"..."
[Sigh] "Mono Volt!"
[ZZAAAK] "YEEOW!! That hurt!"
"It was supposed to. Now answer the question."
"...I don't know how to answer that." Luna raised an eyebrow. "W-wait! Please
let me finish! It keeps changing! First you send me a message to come home.
Then you receive me real nicely. Th-then you start using *that* tone again and
call me 'brat'! Just like before!"
"Well brat, I was so hard and mean to you because I knew two things. One: this
world isn't a nice place, and you needed to be toughened up before you would be
able to survive on your own. Two: eventually you *will* be on your own, and I
didn't want you to think of running to your big sister every time you hit a
roadblock that you couldn't get around at first. So I tormented you to make you
believe that the *only* person you could ever turn to for help was yourself."
Luna paused. "This isn't what I had planned for our reunion, but it can't be
changed now. Understand this Lina: even though I won't be picking up the torture
act again, I'm not going to save your ass, *ever*. I called you home because I
wanted you to have a hand in raising your niece."
Lina just stared for a while. Then she blinked, and slowly nodded her head. "I
understand."
"Good. Now go get some sleep. I want you up with the sun tomorrow."
"Uh? Up with the sun? Why?"
"Because Ranko has been getting up with the sun every single day for almost two
years now. I want to know what she's doing up that early, but I can't because I
need enough sleep to last me through the whole day. You on the other hand, can
take an afternoon nap."
Lina had a *bad* feeling about that. "Um... OK, sure thing Luna. Good night."
"Good night... sis'."
Two sisters prepared for the coming day, while the elder's daughter slept... and
dreamed.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
If it was possible for the faceless to blanch, the Being of the Void would have
done just that. While each of these five new lives didn't equal the potential
from the first alone, together they were *more* powerful! The Being knew it
could not manipulate the past, so the only thing it could do would be to
manipulate the present...
To be continued...
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
A message from the author:
It's done! Complete! FINISHED!! At 20 pages, this Part is probably the longest
I've written yet. Don't worry, not many other Parts are going to be as long as
this one.
- Trooper1023
An OLD message from the author:
READERS, I *need* ideas, scenes, adventures, etc. for the five parts of
Ranma's training.
Those five segments will each have their own Part. A little piece at the end
of each will be devoted to filling in more of the story's background, describing
a few of the more notable battles in detail, and allowing the readers to keep
tabs on the Nerima crew and the Senshi "back home".
I'd also like some *MORE* ideas for the five Ranma's "adventures". Each Ranma
(DBZ, RK, TM, Slayers, & FOTNS) will face a major challenge of some kind just
before he disappears and is fused with the others and the "original" Ranma. I've
already got ideas for the TM, Slayers, and RK Ranmas, and I figure a tournament
followed a final fight with Kenshiro would do for FOTNS Ranma (but unlike "Star
of War", Kenshiro isn't killed, so he can show up later as an ally). However,
I'm at a bit of a loss for an adventure or challenge for DBZ Ranma. Please, if
anyone has an idea for either of these, send it to me. Each adventure will be
the "climax" of that Part of Ranma's training; after that is over, "Ranma"
disappears from that dimension.
- Trooper1023
Author's Notes:
I took the "raiders attacking a town" idea and Ranma's introduction to the
Hokuto Shin Ken from Dragonlord's "Star of War" (the scene bracketed by "--1--"
was taken directly, with a few modifications).
Here is a concise list of who births/adopts/raises/trains each part (color)
of 'Ranma' and what he gains from them (and what sex each 'Ranma' is):
- GOLD/male/black hair: Vegeta and Bulma, third child born (1 yr younger than
Bra). Gains: raw offensive power as Saiyajin, skill at "hyper-kinetic" physical
combat (a.k.a. DBZ-style fighting) and pride from Vegeta. 'Dragonball Z/GT'
- BLACK/male/black hair: Kenshiro, adopted (at 7 yrs old) after original story
line ends. Gains: raw physical strength and speed, knowledge of "killing
arts", the sadness of knowing he can -and will- kill, from Kenshiro and Hokuto
Shin Ken. 'Fist of The North Star'
- GREEN/male/red hair: Kenshin Himura, found and adopted (is 6 yrs old at the
time). Gains: skill with sword from Hiko Seijurou and the Hiten Mitsurugi
Ryu, knowing "when to strike and when to back off" and gentleness from
Kenshin. 'Rurouni Kenshin'
- BLUE/male/black hair: Tenchi and Ryoko Masaki, first born child. Gains: raw
defensive power from Wings of the Light Hawk, additional skill with sword and
battle tactics from Yosho, wisdom from Tsunami, thirst for knowledge from Washu.
'Tenchi Muyo'
- RED/female/red hair: Luna Inverse and unknown father, first born. Gains:
basic magic power/ability/knowledge from Luna, how to throw every black magic
combat spell from a Fireball to a Dragon Slave) and appetite from Lina, basic
knowledge of White magic from Amelia, some knowledge of Shamanistic magic from
Zelgadis, swordsmanship from Gourry, a small liking for mischief from Xellos.
'Slayers'
_Special Thanks_
Dragonlord - for being someone to bounce ideas off of, and for the intro of
Ranma to Kenshiro (taken from his excellent fic: "Star of War")
BlazingMew - for the intro plot to Ranma's training under Kenshin Himura and
numerous suggestions for the story as a whole
Lord Void - for the suggestion to make Ranma Tenchi and Ryoko's child
DeMarco - for the idea of making the Tenchi plot contemporary, "meaning that
Ranma Masaki would be living in the same time period as when the crisis is
taking place. Since the Masaki shrine is located in southern Japan, Ranma
Masaki would be unaffected by these events... until the danger starts to
spread beyond Tokyo." Ranma Masaki would also be growing up at the same time
as Ranma Saotome, and he'd be unknown to the Ranma crew throughout their
adventures in Nerima
Farmer - for a few REALLY nice suggestions for Lina's introduction to Ranko
(Slayers Ranma), as well as Ranko's training
Extra special thanks to this fic's first pre-reader, John Geroam Greyson.
Update: 8/31/01
I've changed the part where Kenshin enters the town so it reads less like a
summery.
Update: 9/15/01
Added a nice chunk of dialogue to the DBZ and Kenshin sections. Also added
more to the Tenchi section.
Update: 9/26/01
The Tenchi section is complete. Now to write the Slayers section...
Update: 10/11/01
Added an intro piece to the "villain" of this fic. It is good? Bad? Tell me.
Also changed where the RK part of the story takes place. Instead of simply in
the past of Ranma's original dimension, it takes place in a dimension that would
have gone on to become the canon "Ranmaverse" (no TM or SM relation). I'll
explain more on this in later chapters.
Changed the name of this part to: "The Birth of The Five".
Update: 10/25/01
COMPLETION ACHIEVED! Changed Lina's age when she first meets Ranko. Changed
Ranko's 'color' to red, changed HSK Ranma's 'color' to black.
Update: 11/8/01
Another slight modification to Lina's age; it'll make what I have planned
for the Slayers timeline work better. Cut end section off and turned it into
Part 1-C.
Update: 1/24/01
Created a new divider for flashbacks. Fixed minor grammar and spelling errors.
C&C to: bjhaberman@prodigy.net
Find the latest of my fics at: http://Trooper1023.tripod.com/