Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: This is for those who have doubted me. Do I ever do exactly as expected? The journal was Ranma's point of view. It hasn't even entered into his mind that Piccolo would hold back or that Gohan would either. Normally negative reviews don't bother me, but I figured I better set the record straight. Power wise I know that Piccolo could probably beat Frieza in final form easily and that Gohan could still kick Cell's ass. Ranma could probably defeat Frieza as well, but with a harder time than Piccolo. What makes him so different is the sheer level of skill he possesses. No offense to the Z Fighters (Krillin does kick ass), but even Ryoga uses more skill compared to some of them. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but c'mon, it's just a story. Stories were written to entertain and that is what I love to do. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to discuss this with me, I'll be looking forward to it.

E-mail: time to get on with the story!

Chapter 4

The Tournament Begins

The feeling in the air at the Worlds Martial Arts Tournament was one of excitement. The festival air could do little else but make the group of participants and their families smile. Ranma and Nabiki were walking hand in hand, trailing slightly behind their friends as they went down memory lane. The pigtailed boy smiled down at the girl beside him which earned him a quick kiss. He made it so easy for her to be herself. They were in their own little world, recalling the events of the last few weeks before the tournament.

A couple weeks earlier-

Ranma's eyes widened in surprise as the fierce Namek suddenly disappeared before cracking him in the chest and hurtling him to the ground. Just before impact, the boy managed to right himself and fire off a ball of ki at Piccolo only to realize, too late, that the Namek warrior dodged. He dropped suddenly, avoiding a powerful kick to the back of the head, before zooming back up behind Piccolo and using the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken, riddling Piccolo's back with blows. The two broke for air.

"N-not bad…" Ranma gasped with his trademark cocky grin.

"Hmph. You could be better." Piccolo said with his own grin that would have made even the Old Ghoul cringe before firing off balls of ki all around Ranma, but not hitting him. Ranma was weaving through them, trying to get close, when his danger sense went off and he finally took notice of the spheres floating in the air around him. The boy was surrounded.

"This can't be good…" he said to himself just as he heard Piccolo shout.

"Hell Zone Grenade!" he roared. Ranma quickly wrapped himself in his ki before releasing it outward into a sphere. The powerful Namek smirked at the last ditch attempt and waited for the dust to settle. As it cleared he could make out the boy still floating in the air, battered but not beaten, with a ball of blue ki in his hand. It was time to bring out his old tricks.

"Mouko Takabisha – Revised! Gattling Gun!" he flung the glowing sphere forward as another formed in his other hand, pumping his arms at Amaguriken speed, furious shots flying at Piccolo faster than he could dodge, pounding him relentlessly. Despite the pressure, his opponent flew towards the source of the attack, his fist glowing with ki, before reaching the eye of the storm and slamming Ranma in the face with the power laden punch. The boy cried out just before crashing into the ground with terrific force.

"Piccolo a hundred, Ranma zip." The Namek said from above.

"Sometimes I hate you…" the boy said with a loud groan before passing out.

/-

Piccolo had released all restraints and had urged Gohan to do the same, much to Ranma's annoyance. It seemed his teachers had been holding out on him and that didn't sit well with him. There was nothing he could do about it, however, but today would be a turning point. His teachers had been beating him relentlessly, whether training him or working out their own frustrations, he didn't know, but that was the day Yamcha arrived with Puar. That wouldn't have been so bad; the flying cat is a shape-shifter, but no one told them about the Neko-Ken. Puar, in typical fashion, flew up to meet Ranma during the boy's morning katas. She was friendly, but the boy took it badly and started gibbering in terror. He tried to fly away, but Gohan was in his path. He tried to go in another direction, but Piccolo was suddenly there. The two were concerned about what could scare Ranma like that; even Yamcha was there to see what was going on. Trapped. The cat was getting closer as the ring tightened around him. Voices, concerned, confused, but too many to deal with in the face of his worst fears brought to life. With an almost audible snap, his will broke.

"Meow." He said as he slipped into a strange, cat-like stance before barreling into the confused human, hurling him into the ground. He didn't get out of the crater.

"Ranma! What's going on?" Gohan asked in surprise as his friend's power seemed to surge into near Super Saiya-Jin range before quickly reaching similar levels, much to everyone's shock. Piccolo got too close as Ranma whipped out his ki claws and sliced through Piccolo like he was salami, his arms falling off in pieces as well as the area below mid torso. With a feral yowl, Neko Ranma blasted the already startled Namek through the remains of his chest with a focused burst of yellow ki. One threat neutralized, he turned to Gohan with murder in his eyes. Ranma was already mad at him for holding out; now the Neko-Ken was bringing that anger to the fore. The young half Saiya-jin gasped in astonishment as the crazed boy was in his face in an instant, punching him in the face with full force, dazing him, before a powerful head slam flung him across the sky. Gohan had only one chance and that was to use the power that could defeat Cell. With a mighty roar to the sky and a surge of power, he went into Super Saiya-Jin to finish the fight.

"Sorry pal, but you need to be stopped for your own good." He said. What it really translated to was that he needed to be stopped for their own continued health. With a loud "Hiyah!" he rushed forward at top speed to knock him out, but Neko Ranma simply flowed around the fist before unleashing a powerful back kick into his sternum, forcing the air from his lungs, and with a twist uppercutting him in the jaw, snapping his head up. The cat flowed away from his prey and circled him slowly. The son of Goku followed his movements warily, even though he was weakened by the sudden onslaught. Things weren't looking too good, but he was determined to press on. From the corner of his eye he noticed Piccolo rejoining the fight, his injuries gone completely. The Namek warrior held two fingers to his head. Gohan brought his hands to his forehead with splayed fingers; at a mutual nod the boy unleashed a Solar Flare just as Piccolo unleashed a Special Beam Cannon. The cat sensed the trouble, but was distracted by the pretty light before a searing pain tore through his consciousness, forcing him to the ground in pain.

"What's going on out here?" Nabiki cried as she rushed out of the house. She noticed that Gohan and Piccolo looked worse for the wear, but what drew her attention was Ranma hissing and arching his back in a cat-like manner. The Z Fighters drew closer, before the girl waved them off.

"Ranma sweetie, it's Nabiki. C'mere baby." She began cooing at him as if he were a cat. The Neko boy turned to the voice of his mate and purred happily. She knelt on the ground slowly as the cat boy crawled over, butting his head in her lap letting her pet him. Nabiki just kept cooing reassurances to him as he gradually drifted off to sleep curled in her lap. Yamcha dragged himself over with Puar, the cat was shocked. All parties concerned had to be reassured that he wasn't an evil alien. That was when the mercenary girl explained the Neko-Ken, enraging all present. With that story told, Piccolo came up with a brilliant idea for curing Ranma of his fear. It involved Puar, another trip to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and several lengths of rope. All present shuddered at Piccolo's proclamation of:

"I will cure him of this or he will die trying."

Present-

Ranma shuddered at the memory. He was okay around cats now and could slip into the Neko-ken at will, but the true terror would live on. Piccolo's torture-er-training techniques. The world was full of frightening things, scarier than the cats, and Piccolo was one of them. Puar was the one who actually cured him just by being kind to him, but the Namek was obsessed with beating the devil out of him. It made his father seem liberal by comparison. Nabiki looked to her boyfriend with concern.

"What is it?" she asked, breaking him from his reverie. He smiled.

"Nothing. Just thinking." He replied. The girl just shrugged before they finally rejoined their friends just as they were talking to this tall man with a halo over his head. He was introduced as Goku. The savior of the world. It made Ranma feel pretty insignificant until the man looked at his friends as well as his children.

"Hey guys! Glad to see that you haven't been slacking off in your training. Wow Gohan! You're stronger than when I saw ya last! How'd ya do it? You too Piccolo! This is gonna be the best ever!" he was as excitable as a kid, but it was infectious. His eldest son smiled before gesturing to Ranma, who still hadn't taken off his heavy clothing or shell. At the mighty warrior's insistence, he removed it all. He was wearing a black tee shirt with red cloth gi pants. He used a dyno cap to hold his stuff. Goku's eyes widened and he whistled appreciatively.

"You've been training my son?" Goku asked.

"No, I've been training with him, as well as Piccolo." He replied. He noticed that he had everyone looking at him. The boy toned his power level down, but they were still staring at his unbound power. Krillin grinned.

"Hey, he seems pretty strong. Are you some kind of lost Saiya-jin or something?" he joked.

"Nope. I'm human." He said before a child's splashed drink turned him into a girl. A rather built girl with clear muscle definition, but not bulky. Nabiki could only compare her appearance to an Amazon; her hair was longer as a result of the training and no access to scissors. She gave her disgruntled girlfriend a hug which cleared her mood. Everyone stared at the neat trick.

"Wow! That was cool! Hey, tell me about that as we go to the sign in desk." Goku said as he dragged them all along. As luck would have it, Ranma couldn't turn back to his guy form and had to register as "Ranko Saotome". The neo-girl shrugged and decided to live with it as they got ready for the initial strength tests. Their friends had to wait with the spectators. Nosebleeds were seen all around as Nabiki kissed her girlfriend before swaying her hips as she walked away. After the male population got over their discomfiture, Goku suggested they get over for the testing.

The line was fairly long, but Goku and the others were lucky since they were well known from previous tournaments so they got to go first. The only ones who weren't known were 18, Vegita, Ranko, Gohan, and Videl so they had to wait their turn. At Goku's insistence, they were to hold back from hitting the machine at full power. Even with gentle taps they were easily clearing the one hundred mark. It got up to Ranko. She frowned at the machine, but shrugged and listened to Goku. Just then Vegita grumped about waiting and slapped her on the back, her gentle tap turned into a startled strike that registered well over five hundred. Half the line left after seeing that, much to the redhead's embarrassment. The Prince of Saiya-Jins couldn't help but laugh as it came to his turn. Without even changing expression, he punched the machine hard enough to smash it into spare parts and bent metal. The neo-girl just shrugged her shoulders at his antics before noticing the peeved look on Gohan and Videl's faces. She quickly made her way into the stands to watch the children's tournament.

"How'd it go?" Goku asked as the martial artist girl joined them.

"Pretty good until "The Prince of Saiya-Jins" destroyed the machine." She said with a derisive sniff. Chichi had insisted that Ranma-chan learn proper manners. Before she knew it, however, Nabiki latched onto her from behind and smiled at her startled expression.

"Hi honey." She said to her then girlfriend. The redhead smirked before kissing her.

"Hey. Come to watch the kids?" she asked. The mercenary girl nodded as they turned to watch the fights heat up. Any fight that Trunks or Goten was involved with would usually end with their opponent losing, badly. When it finally came down to the inevitable battle between the two boys, the Z Fighters were watching in amazement as the young saiya-jin warriors abruptly transformed into Super Saiya-Jin and kicked the fight into overdrive. High speed chaos ensued until Trunks said that he would give himself a handicap and not use his left arm. Little Goten smiled gleefully before taking advantage of his opponent's willingness to limit himself by charging at full speed. Being chased by Ranma every day had made him very fast indeed. The purple haired boy didn't even have a chance to dodge the furiously powerful tackle that not only flung him out of the ring, but plowed a hole in the dirt. The fight was called in favor of Goten and his parents were certainly swelling with pride. Thus ended the junior division and everyone quickly forgot about the boys. Not exactly the wisest course of action that would haunt them later.

/-

The match ups were made. A climactic battle, best suited for the finale, was going to occur as the third match. The first match was Krillin versus a much larger opponent that looked like a giant red jinn. He was certainly agile and quick, but to Ranma's eye Mousse was faster than this guy. The short man smirked cockily as his opponent leapt for him. Too fast for the crowd to see, the formerly bald Z Fighter buried his fist in the red man's stomach before exiting the ring, one arm pumped in the air. If this was what they had to look forward to then the crowd definitely wanted more.

The next fight was a match between Ranko and a mystery fighter wearing a blue cloak, even obscuring the person's face. The fighter was called Mysterion X. The redheaded girl would have laughed if she hadn't felt the power radiating from the figure. Mysterion X laughed from under her cloak before whipping it off, revealing herself to Ranko.

"Hey Ranchan." Akane said mockingly, her cocky grin growing even wider. The outfit this time was a pair of loose black kung fu pants with black slippers as well as a blue Chinese top with a gold dragon embroidered over her left breast and snaking around her back with the tip of the tail curled around the right one, the shirt exposing her mid riff. Her longer hair was floating around her face as a pale blue confidence aura radiated from her.

"Akane." The girl sounded sad as she realized what she had to do. She hated hitting girls, but Akane was so powerful now that if she wasn't taken seriously then she would most likely move on to other people soon. As much as he hated the Kuno siblings, she wouldn't want them killed and that was just one of many examples. The cursed martial artist looked to the stands to see Nabiki with her head lowered. Maybe Ranma could show Akane the truth the only way she truly understands and that was through battle.

The cry to fight resulted in a virtual explosion of energies as the two rushed at each other. The fight was brutal. Devastating punches and kicks were delivered at speeds that defied mortal comprehension. Akane was slower than her flame haired opponent, but she could weather the powerful blows unlike her fiancée. Ranma pulled herself out of the crater she formed in the ring and watched as the enhanced girl walked towards her, surrounded in a blazing corona of power.

"Still can't bring yourself to go full out against a girl?" Akane asked scornfully. The neo girl shook her head as she realized what her violent fiancée said was true. It was time to stop playing around. The girl drew herself up to her full height, fists clenched at her sides before dropping into the horse stance, drawing her power in as she had seen Piccolo and Gohan do, realizing that they had the right idea all along.

"Forgive me, but I have to do this." She whispered as she felt her power surge just before charging the shocked girl at full speed before launching into a Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken that caught Akane in the stomach. At over several thousand punches a second, even Majin Akane's endurance couldn't protect her. The stricken girl clenched her fists into her stomach in pain as fingers had triggered pressure points to cause massive cramping. Ranma didn't have much time before she recovered, so with Amaguriken speed she struck several shiatsu points on the scalp, similar to the Xiao Fang Gou shiatsu, minus the shampoo, but she was using it to promote clarity of thought. With a final pressure point, she sent Akane into sleepy land. The fight was declared a win to Ranko, but before the medics could reach them; she scooped up her fallen fiancée and took off. She caught a glance of Nabiki's face and saw her relief. Her eyes strayed to the unconscious girl as she tried to think of a good place to deprogram her brainwashing.

/-

Kami's Lookout was as good a place as any to go, Ranma decided. Her mission was so important that she hadn't even looked for hot water. Akane had woken up a little while ago, but aside from some initial struggling, she behaved herself. The girl was clearly out of it and Ranma knew that it was because she had a lot on her mind. The clarity points were warring with the mind control, with the poor girl caught in the middle. Dende was already hurrying over to see what brought the boy there only to stop as the redhead set another girl down and immediately fret over her still form.

"What happened, Ranma?" he asked as Mr. Popo hurried over as well. The redhead seemed lost in thought as she studied the girl. The Kami of Earth sent his own probing thoughts in, but quickly withdrew at the sight of the chaos churning within her. He whispered quickly to the black jinn to prepare a bed for the girl as well as food for the pigtailed martial artist. With that taken care of, he finally managed to attract his friend's attention and guided him to an area where the battered girl could rest. After sending Ranma off to eat, the boy must be in dire straits to not even care if he turned back or not, he sat beside Akane's bed and held her hand. Perhaps he could see what was going on. His first attempt showed him total confusion, but maybe if he knew what to expect it wouldn't be such a problem. With that thought, he delved deep into Akane's thoughts…

Inside Akane's Mind-

The ruined landscape seemed dominated by two figures. The city below them resembled Nerima, but a small structure off to the left looked like some strange alien building. The two figures looked nearly identical except for their clothes and their hair. The one in blue with black hair was staring in anger at the figure in black with blue hair. At an unseen signal, the two combatants exploded into motion. The sounds of combat echoing and rebounding across the blasted cityscape struck Dende's sensitive ears. It was truly amazing to behold as the two spiritual beings, Akane's Yin and Yang, fought tooth and nail for dominance.

"Amazing, her will must be truly strong to last this long…" he remarked until he felt a third presence, overshadowed by the glowing beings in the sky. He turned his gaze towards the feeling and noticed another Akane, this one in gray, staring dejectedly upward at the combatants. Tears ran down her face as she watched, flinching whenever either one got hit. Suddenly the combat gave way to a lull that lead to talk.

"Leave her be, Demon! You're corrupting influence ends here!" the one in blue called out.

"Shut up you prissy bitch! She's mine Angel!" the one in black called back.

"You feed her hatred!"

"You preach weakness!"

The argument wore on, but neither one had anything truly inspired to say so the young Namek turned his attention back to the girl in grey. Her confusion was clearly evident. A sudden thought caught him and he realized she must be the core Akane. She was one the two were ultimately fighting over. It was she that would either realize her true potential or fall hopelessly into darkness. With that pleasant thought, he made his way over to her. The girl suddenly oriented on him even before he was visible. Her unnaturally sharp senses unnerved him, but her eyes were merely curious. They showed none of the fear that previously characterized them.

"Who are you?" she asked softly.

"I am Dende, a friend." He replied.

"Are you here to help me decide?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, but no. This is your decision. Ultimately it falls on how you want to live your life. Neither choice is truly better than the other. There is no right or wrong answer, just a choice." He was dimly aware that he had the Angel's attention as well as the Demon's. She better choose quickly because this was proving to a great strain on him as it is.

Core Akane pondered the implications. She knew she was brash, confident, and egotistical. She thought somewhat wryly that after all the times she accused Ranma of being the jerk that she was just as big a jerk as him. The opportunity to grow stronger than Ranma was too tempting to pass up. To be the best, even Ranma wouldn't sell his soul. The girl smiled sadly as she truly thought about it. The two who were fighting over her were both her. The Angel represented her honor and her desire to protect. The Demon was her anger, yes, but he was also her ambition. For two long she hadn't truly listened to her heart and chose one over the other, listening to only her own skewed reasoning. They were both her. The combatants landed lightly on either side of her and regarded her calmly. The girl smiled, making her other parts uncomfortable, until she embraced them both. With a flash, the three were gone, replaced by only one. Black hair with solid icy blue streaks trailed to just below her shoulders, her clothing was once again a blue Chinese silk shirt and black kung fu pants.

Dende was shell shocked, he expected her to choose one or the other, but she chose both instead. Well, whatever was in store for her would certainly be more interesting than being here. He noted that Nerima was instantly whole again.

"I think I'm ready to wake up now, but first…" the newly reborn Akane took off into the sky before bringing her right hand back as if to backhand someone before swinging it in a violent arc at the strange alien dwelling, blowing it away. An angry voice cried out furiously, but the girl merely smiled. It was all confusing to the guardian, but with a shrug he vanished.

/-

Ranma felt the massive ki buildup coming from the room she placed Akane in. Without even thinking about it, he nearly performed an Instant Transmission to be at her side. The instant she got there, the neo girl had to shield her eyes from the bright glow coming off of Akane. Dende was waking up from his meditation with a smile on his face. As the light cleared, Akane lay on the bed with her eyes open and a smile on her lips. The redhead made it over to the bed just in time for Akane to grab her fiancée by the back of the head and pull her into a kiss. The confused boy-turned-girl kissed her back in shock, but couldn't help but feel she was betraying Nabiki. She pulled back and stared at Akane. The M on her forehead was gone, but she somehow seemed to be unchanged.

"Y'know, you're girl side is cuter than you." She said slyly. Dende almost laughed out loud as he realized exactly why the two never got along. Akane had an instant crush on the redheaded girl and felt betrayed when she turned out to be a guy. Maybe he should mention the Dragon Balls? He noticed it when the two girls suddenly tensed up.

"Damn…I hoped I woke up sooner…" Akane muttered.

"What the hell just happened? I just felt Gohan's chi drop to almost zip and back up again!" Ranma exclaimed.

"I know what happened." She said, having everyone's attention before she spoke that fatal name.

"His name is Babidi."

End Chapter

Author's Notes: I loved writing this chapter! A lot of you expected Akane to die, but I aim to surprise. Be prepared for even more surprises, next on Dragon Fire!