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

Author's Notes: This is revision number eight of this chapter. Revision sounds nicer than admitting that the computer kept corrupting the file. I enjoy writing stories, but if this computer keeps it up I may have to scrap this story for awhile. In this chapter we will be following Akane and Ranma as they deal with the events leading up to Buu's revival. Without further ado, let's get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 5

The Road to Ruin

At Kami's Lookout-

Dende could only listen in horrified disbelief as Akane gave Ranma and him a detailed account of everything she knew. To find out that the Earth was once again in danger and it was because a being capable of destroying whole universes was about to be revived, while it wasn't new, was certainly unwelcome news. The Kami of Earth groaned as he thought about Cell and all the devastation he caused. At least the evil warriors were relatively weak compared to what the Z Fighters were used to challenging. The only one who worried him was Dabora and that was only because he worried Akane.

"So if this…Majin Buu awakens…we are all doomed?" the green skinned youth asked.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you." Akane said with a trace amount of irritation, but otherwise her temper remained intact. The redhead sitting beside her fidgeted, uncomfortably trying to get comfortable in the heavy shell and weighted clothing she was wearing. Finally she'd had enough and stood up, drawing two pairs of eyes as she shrugged out of the turtle shell and pulled her heavy red gi shirt off. The neo girl's eyes widened in shock as the weight dropped away and whatever was holding down her power suddenly released it.

"W-wow…" Ranma breathed in amazement before bouncing a bit and launching into a brief kata with a smile.

"Showoff." The violent girl said with good humor. Suddenly Dende sat forward, eyes wide.

"Guys, something's happened at the Tournament. Goku and the others will be near here any second. He asked if you would go with him, Ranma." The Namek said. Ranma nodded.

"Sure thing." The girl shrugged which caused her assets to bounce freely, almost giving Akane a minor nosebleed. Back when they lived together, it was easy to ignore her prominent attributes, but now the redhead looked older, taller, and stronger. Before she could swoon, Dende coughed politely.

"Ranma, you need to do something about your…" he gestured. What he was getting at wasn't hard to figure out. The neo girl normally would ask for hot water, but something told her there wasn't enough time and that ticked the girl off.

"What do you suggest?" she asked. With a wave of his hand something suddenly was cradling her breasts. She made an unmanly squeaking sound and checked her chest. What greeted her was a plain grey sports bra. If this was some of what was available then maybe being 'proper' once in a while wouldn't be so bad. Akane cleared her throat.

"What do I do?" the violent girl asked. It took all of a minute for Ranma to decide she should go back to the tournament. With their instructions firmly in mind, the two martial artists leapt off of the Lookout and took off. Akane back to the tournament and Ranma to visit Corrin, Dende suggested they would need senzu beans.

/-

The redhead hovered down warily, she may be ok with cats now, but old habits are hard to break. What greeted her was a giant white cat sitting on a staff, much like Cologne, but exuded a much friendlier aura. Blue eyes met slitted eyes, but unlike previous times she didn't stammer in fear or run away, but her reaction was infinitely more embarrassing. She purred. Corrin blinked in surprise before laughing heartily.

"O-oh my…That was certainly unexpected! So young lady, what can I do for you?" he asked her politely. This was certainly unexpected. She was used to being ogled in her girl form, but this was actually nice. The girl shook her head and banished that thought. It was so…girly.

"I was wondering if I could get some senzu beans. Dende sent me." The cat nodded and shouted for Yajirobe. The lazy samurai came out. He was short with wild black hair and a samurai sword at his waist. He tossed a nondescript little bag to Corrin who in turn passed it to Ranma.

"There should be about four in the bag so be careful with them." He admonished. The pigtailed girl noticed there seemed to be a string around the small bag. After some adjusting, she slipped the string around her neck and let the bag fall between her cleavage. The neo girl blinked at the strange sensation, but shrugged it off as she decided that it certainly couldn't have been in a safer place. With hurried thanks, she took off to meet Goku.

"What an interesting child. Hope he gets a handle on that curse soon." The cat muttered before going back to a subject of vital importance, where Yajirobe hid his catnip.

/-

Ranma caught up with the Z Fighters as they flew towards their confrontation with the forces of Babidi. As she drew nearer, she could faintly make out what they were talking about. Gohan seemed to be agitated about something, but it wasn't until she got closer that she began to hear what was being said.

"I hate being used for bait!" the young half saiya-jin growled. His father agreed, but was keeping his senses on full alert which is how he was the one to spot her first. As he began to drift back, the rest followed his change of direction to meet up with the neo girl. Kuririn, Piccolo, Goku, and Gohan seemed happy to see her, but Vegita merely scowled in annoyance. The other two, a big red-skinned fellow with white hair and a short purple-skinned one with white hair drifted over. The looks they were directing at her kind of reminded her of the Musk. If they kept that up she might just decide to rearrange a few things, she thought silently.

"Good timing Ranma! Glad you could make it." The mighty saiya-jin warrior smiled.

"Hey, happy to be of service. I also brought a little gift." She smiled as she drew the pouch from inside her black shirt before sliding it back in. The rest smiled as well, in relief. Someone had brought senzu beans. She explained that she only had four, but that didn't diminish their relief. Gohan slapped her on the back and seemed mildly startled when she didn't even grimace, but instead slapped him on the back and staggered him.

"If you're through playing, we must hurry to Babidi's lair." The purple man said before taking off. At Ranma's questioning look, Goku merely said they would explain on the way. The two who had recruited them are known as the Supreme Kai and Kibito. They came from the Planet of the Kai to stop Babidi and Majin Buu. The whole story was told, making the poor girl's head spin, but before she could ask any questions, they arrived. Apparently they arrived just in time to watch the drop off of the energy stealing container.

"Now we wait." Supreme Kai said. They settled down on the cliff ledges to watch the enemy lair.

/-

Akane was both thrilled and a little fearful. The thrill was that she was actually helping to save the world and fearful because of how Nabiki might react. Her own sister may not even forgive her, but she also knew that family protects family. The flight was mostly uneventful. She thought she saw a dual streak of gold fly by, but when she homed in her senses, she sensed nothing. It was a little weird, but it couldn't be helped. With a shrug she continued on her merry way. Her thoughts kept traveling back to Ranma. Sure, as a man he's handsome, but as a woman she's absolutely beautiful. It was maddening to realize how right the people at school were when they assumed she swung the other way, but it was also a relief. If there was only a way to get her own Ranko… She started to drift off course before she shook herself and kept flying. This was going to be a long flight.

/-

Nabiki was busily counting up her winnings. Betting against her own sister bothered her, but betting against Ranma was just plain stupid. It was fun pretending everything would work out and hanging all over Ranma because the fiancée brigade wasn't here, but pretty soon the usual roles would have to be reprised and it depressed her. Still, as long as Shampoo, Ukyou, or Kodachi didn't show up it would be okay. It seemed someone upstairs had a warped sense of humor. Before she'd gone another step she was accosted by the beautiful ladies in question. The girls looked like they were ready to kill.

"Mercenary Girl! Obstacles are for killing!" Shampoo cried.

"What're you doing with my Ranchan?" Ukyou shouted.

"How dare a low born peasant like you touch my Ranma-sama?" Kodachi shrieked. They were nearly unintelligible since the shouts came out at the same time, but the alleged Ice Queen got the drift. She looked around surreptitiously for anyone who could help her. The girls bunched themselves up for the attack when a voice, full of humor but with a slight tinge of malice, brought them up short.

"Well! If it isn't the hopeless trio! Ranma's not going to marry any of you and you think killing the one he cares about will change that? As if!" Akane sauntered into view. The girls' jaws dropped as she swayed in their direction. The blue Chinese silk shirt clung to her frame lightly, exposing her mid riff, black kung fu pants whispered against her legs as she approached. A gold embroidered dragon wound from her right breast, behind her back, and around her left. Her hair was blue and just below shoulders. Nabiki was actually scared of her baby sister until she felt something. She felt her chi! It was a new thing for her to be able to feel them, but her sister's felt good.

"Where Violent Girl get stronger?" the Chinese Amazon asked in confusion.

"Does it matter? Leave my sister alone or I'll be playing kick the bimbo." The humor vanished as if it never existed, her eyes flat and charged with power. Every fiber of Shampoo's body screamed "RUN!" but she wasn't about to let the Kitchen Destroyer beat her. Ukyou stepped up and brandished her battle spatula with a flourish, standing in a modified kendo stance.

"You couldn't have gotten stronger than me!" the chef girl declared. Akane favored her with a look full of scorn and pity. The blue-haired girl regarded her for a moment before absently catching a black rose. Her fingers were glowing faintly with power, igniting the surely lethal flower and burning it to a cinder.

"Do not ignore me you wretch!" the insane girl screamed as she whipped out her ribbon and flung it at Akane with blinding speed only to find it caught between the same two fingers as the rose, with much the same result. Kodachi stared in consternation as her signature weapon went up in smoke. Shampoo was trying frantically to get their attention before finally screaming.

"We need work together! Violent Girl is too too strong!" she whipped out twin Chinese broadswords, forgoing her favored bonborri for a better chance at killing. The rivals-turned-allies carefully assumed their stances while Akane merely stood there with a faint smirk on her face.

"Let's go." She said as she released a few restraints on her aura. A small crowd had gathered by this time and Nabiki decided to work the crowd. She knew that Akane would win and might actually give her a cut this time. The sound of war cries and martial arts yells drew everyone's attention back to the fight. Actually, it was a slaughter. Shampoo whirled in with both blades whistling only to find them trapped between that girl's damn fingers. With a casual smirk she snapped the blades off before kicking her in the stomach and hurtling her into a concession stand. The cotton candy falling onto her blended eerily with her hair.

"Yah!" Ukyou shouted out as she took advantage of Akane's distraction to nail her in the head with her spatula. A pain filled scream was her reward. She checked gleefully under her spatula only to find that she smashed Kodachi into the pavement. Her danger sense suddenly kicked into high gear, too late to help her though. With a negligent backhand she flung Ukyou right into Shampoo's lap, this time rupturing the frozen yogurt. Purple and peach fighting for dominance as the two girls painfully tried to move. The lunatic stared up in fascination as Akane stood over her. There was nothing she could do as she was lifted high above the violent girl's head and launched like a human projectile into the swirling mass of sugary goodness. The crowd applauded, but Akane looked like she wasn't finished yet. Her eyes roved over the crowd warily, luckily for her since a powerful blast of ki flew at her. If she hadn't brought her guard up it would have at the least hurt her and at the worst, incapacitated her.

"Very good child, but not as good as you may think. I sense you have grown in power, but it is nothing significant to the might of the Amazons." Cologne said haughtily. Outwardly she was discounting the girl's accomplishments, but on the inside she was downright amazed at the amount of control the girl was exhibiting.

"I'm not interested in fighting you. Let my sister be happy or I'll make you unhappy." Akane's power seemed to swell even more, much to the elder's consternation. She remembered the little boy all those years ago her friend Baba wanted her to see. He radiated power even when sleeping and it looked like Akane had attained a similar level.

"If you can defeat me, then the marriage will be nullified." She said as she stepped forward, staff extended. The fight was much more explosive than the fight between Akane and the other girls, forcing the crowd back even more. Three thousand years of Amazon tradition was up against a force of nature that was suddenly wielding a war hammer. Cologne dodged left as the hammer whistled down and shattered the ground. The shrunken mummy tried to leap away to get some room, but Akane easily followed her. The old ghoul expected it to be a leap, but was surprised when the girl hung in the sky.

"Defeating you will be no problem at this level." The girl said as her hair fanned out around her in power. The war hammer was glowing with a spark of ki before a powerful two-handed swing downward threw the bomb at Cologne with unbelievable speed. The matriarch tried to dodge, but discovered the blast was a feint to lead her into Akane's grasp. The war hammer struck her in the ribs violently before a downward toss ploughed out a trench. When she landed, she checked to see if the old woman was still alive. The limp elder was actually chuckling in the crater.

"I…expected son-in-law to beat me in battle…but it turned out to be you…" she coughed before continuing. "There is something I need you to do." Akane listened carefully, strangely certain that she was dying.

"B-become an elder of the Amazons…" she said before closing her eyes for the last time. It was a shell shocked Akane that left the crater, cradling Cologne's small form. Shampoo was staring at the still body with tears in her eyes and gently accepted the woman when Akane handed her over. The proud, young Amazon kneeled at Akane's feet with her head bowed.

"I am at your service…Elder." The words were spoken with emotion in her voice, but they were largely unheard as Akane collapsed to the ground, dimly hearing the screams from the stadium.

/-

The spying on the base should have been nice and boring, the enemy never even suspecting that they were there. That idea was shot to hell and stomped on repeatedly by the red devil that was known as Dabora. It was more of a feeling really that set Ranma off. The neo girl knew that her speed was dramatically increased as opposed to her guy half, but now she was experiencing something even more amazing and potent: women's intuition. The extreme sixth sense that all women have when something is about to go wrong or even if a child has dirt under their fingernails.

Gohan shifted uncomfortably for reasons he couldn't explain.

Right now this sense of wrongness was invading her thoughts and every fiber of her being. She had a split second to act just after Pwee Pwee destroyed the hillbilly Majins and before Dabora loomed in front of the startled Kibito. It was in that window that she called up her speed and unleashed a sharp stone at Amaguriken speed into the devil's eye. The stone buried itself deep in his eye; blood spurted even as he grabbed the wound with his hand. Everyone was suddenly on high alert as the demon roared in pain and hatred.

"Get goin'! I'll handle this piece o' shit." Ranma said with her trademark confident smirk. The Z Fighters took off towards Babidi's ship to brace the insane sorcerer in his own den.

Dabora had never experienced pain like this before. It lanced through his nerve endings, hot and shearing through his body, making him almost vomit. Pain was not something he was used to. He could dish it out, but rarely had to take it. The redhead floating before him was radiating power that would make most demons run in fear, especially when her fist clenched and four golden claws extended from her knuckles. She seemed almost feral.

"Bitch, if you don't fall down and prostrate yourself before me then I will kill you!" the wounded demon roared, hoping to cow the girl before him. Her smirk widened into an evil grin.

"You really should know that it's not wise to taunt your betters, Ryoga." Ranma teased as she built up her power level to above Dabora. She was currently using the first stage of the Neko-Ken. The demon lord didn't understand the comment, but he knew that it was an insult. With a cry of rage he whipped out his sword and prepared to cleave the redhead in two, but found his ki sword blocked by a fiercely glowing yellow claw. It was clear that Dabora held the greater strength, but the sheer tenacity of the young girl shocked him to the core. His eye throbbed with pain and sporadic spurts of blood dribbled down his cheek as he gritted his teeth. The girl's face was a mask of concentration as she fought his blade, but then a light bulb went off in her head. She suddenly grinned as she channeled her ki into her body, performing a full body Amaguriken and blurring away, the demon's own downward motion causing him to flip end over end. He got his equilibrium back just in time to get four glowing claws through his back. Dabora stared in horrified wonder at the gleaming blades casually thrust through him, but his rage granted him new strength. With everything he had, he quickly spun away; cutting himself open more, but his wounds suddenly began to disappear as darkness engulfed him.

"What was that about betters?" the demon asked with a horrible smile. His eye was once again perfect as was the rest of his body. Ranma suddenly had a horrified flashback to Saffron. This was turning out just like Saffron, the God of Phoenix Mountain. Her fear was mounting, especially when the sword suddenly pierced her stomach and was wrenched free. The girl hadn't even seen him move. Had he been playing with her? Of course he had been. With that realization she began remembering what happened at Jusendo and the terrible pain she felt there. A nearly invisible backhand caught her across the jaw, nearly snapping her neck and jarring several teeth loose, sent her spinning into the mountain, collapsing it upon her.

"Oh my, I seem to have broken my new toy…Perhaps there's enough left to play with?" he licked his lips lasciviously, but was startled to feel a rapidly strengthening aura from the mountain. Blue energy began shooting out from the pile of boulders, disintegrating rocks as it shot towards the sky. A stray beam fired into Dabora's stomach, burning a neat hole into his flesh. He grasped the wound in shock as the mountain erupted. The burning figure within exploded into the air, her ascension marked by terrific winds and cracking boulders, orbiting her body due the forces exerted upon them. The girl's hair was unbound and floating around her face. She was beautiful beyond belief, but more terrifying than anything he had ever seen previously.

"I'm tired of this…My friends need me and you're trying to keep me from them…No more…" her voice was almost a whisper, but Dabora could still hear her as clear as if she were right beside him. With a sudden explosion of power, she was in the startled demon's face, firing off a Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken attack, using her arms and legs to punish the reeling evil being. When he was dazed enough she brought her hands together and at her sides, a ball of ki forming in her palm.

"Ka…me…ha…me…HA!" the Turtle Destruction Wave fired out from her hands and into Dabora's chest, blowing through him as if he were paper, but before the attack could kill him he was engulfed in darkness and whisked away. The girl extended her senses to detect the evil one, but couldn't sense him nearby. How long had she been fighting? Hopefully she was in time to help Gohan and the others! Just as she was about to fly in, Dende contacted her.

Ranma! Get back to the stadium immediately! Vegita has gone crazy!- Ranma gasped, instantly knowing what happened. With a growl at Babidi's lair, she took off back the way she came.

"Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed…" she muttered. Whoever had said that first was right on the money.

End Chapter

Author's Notes: Forgive this poor author for taking so long to update, but I hope it was worth it. Things are going a bit differently than in the series, but have no fear, I have many more ideas percolating in my brain. Thank you for reading! Ja ne!