"Saotome Ranma" the being had finished, "your choice is simple; either accept this limited existence or come with me where you can reach a potential that will eclipse the stars themselves!" Ranma was sat alone on the roof of the Tendo-ke, in a pose of deep reflection.
"Its not that simple" he complained. Just this morning everything had changed, from nowhere the being, Arcane, had come, effortlessly appearing to halt time. Then the blue giant had made the offer and Ranma had been floored.
The problem was that the giant was right about so many things. Ranma knew that he was fast approaching a plateau; he had already far exceeded what was possible for anything mortal and knew that he would soon run out of ways to expand; the giant had offered him the chance to break those bonds. Ranma also knew that the position he was in was untenable, it was only a matter of time before it really came to a head, there simply was no solution, anyway he looked at it someone he cared about had to die; the giant offered him a way out. Ranma knew that the only times he was truly happy were bound up with his art or playing the hero, the giant offered both.
"But what of honour?" he whispered, despair in his voice. Wasn't this just another form of running away, just like his pops. Ranma had decided long ago that he would never turn out like his father and this smacked too much of his actions.
"But then isn't honour meant to be about protecting the weak" he argued. The giant had told him in no uncertain terms what was on the line. Not just the lives of a few friends but those of whole peoples, of races yet unborn. The magnitude was way beyond anything he could understand.
"So what if its all a lie?" he asked, but he knew it wasn't. It wasn't that the giant was simply incapable of lying, although he appeared to be. No the fact was that Arcane had provided enough proof of his wild story to convince even the harshest sceptic. And everything fit so well.
"You, Ranma, are what we call a Nexus; you draw the very fabric of reality to you. You ask why your life is so crazy if you are actually capable of all I say, well I tell you now, its your fault. Your unfocused will is shredding this fragile reality, bending it to your fickle will. Everything from Ryoga's sense of direction to your curse has come about because your will made it so."
"You're saying I wanted to be a girl" Ranma retorted angrily, readying for a fight.
"No" Arcane replied, with a voice that seemed to echo in the stillness, "far from it. Indeed you already know why that came about."
Ranma thought for a moment "You said 'unfocused will'" Ranma guessed, receiving a nod in return.
"A child with a blade can be more deadly than the best swordsman" Arcane quoted.
"And not only to others" Ranma finished.
The real problem was not that the decision was that hard, quite the opposite, the problem was that Ranma was having trouble finding reasons not to go.
"Akane" he muttered, but an answer came just as quickly. Ever since the wedding the two of them had come to an accord, but under the rafters of the Dojo something had died. Akane and Ranma could get along now because secretly both knew it was over between them, mistrust and lack of conviction had smothered the flame of their love and all that was left was a friendship.
"Ucchan" he muttered, and once again the answer came all too readily. He knew that what they wanted from each other just couldn't be. She wanted a husband for the shop, and he wanted a friend for the road. All that was left was the pain.
"Shampoo" Ranma finished, and strangely enough she was hardest of all. The truth was that on the way back from China he had had his first real conversation with her, and it had shattered more than on preconception. Not only was the girl genuinely in love with him rather than being forced by the laws of her people but she was also a very different person than he knew her to be. In her village she had been an intensely private person, made lonesome by her dedication to her art. She was, by his standards, mega-bright, having picked up Japanese without being taught at all, just from listening to Genma and him talk. She was kind, compassionate and warm. Yes she didn't understand his reticence around women but that was the way she was brought up, not just her being clingy. Of all the 'fiancés' she was best positioned to understand him, having given up so much for her own art, having already known the sacrifices being the best required, being well aware of his need to see more of the world. But her version of married life was little better than the Dojo, yes he would be able to train in the secret arts of the Amazons but would still be doomed to be forever scorned by her people for the 'unfortunate circumstances' of his birth, just as she was by his for hers.
"Mom" he muttered. This one should have been more difficult. He could feel his conscience twinge as he finally admitted the problem. "She's nuts" he concluded. The simple truth was that as long as he had been Ranko her derangement had been manageable but now it was just way out of hand. She went nowhere without that Katana, constantly pushed him to do perverted things and completely ignored every word he said.
Ranma stayed up there all night, only awaking when Kasumi used a ladder to climb up and call him for breakfast. Everyone noticed his subdued character, (he was eating one mouthful at a time) but nobody dared disturb it, not even Genma. A fool he was but he had also been there on Phoenix mountain
After one of the tensest meals since the week of the weeding attempt Ranma finally asked to be excused. The whole family watched as he walked to he phone, dialled and said two words,
"I accept" from that moment on their world was changed and they never even knew.
O
O
O
Ranma and Akane were strolling along the usual path to school, she was bravely keeping up a one-sided conversation about the latest gossip and he was walking absent-mindedly along the fence.
From nowhere came a scream, shortly followed by several others. Ranma and Akane looked at each other for a second and then both ran towards the source.
What they found was a massive mine truck, wildly out of control and steaming down the road straight at a infant-school bus.
"I'll slow the truck, you save the kids" Ranma prompted, leaping at the truck.
Akane ran to the bus and with one swipe of her hand opened the side of the vehicle practically end to end. She was so busy moving the screaming kids that she never saw Ranma give up wrestling the broken controls and change tactics.
As a result the next time she saw Ranma he was in between the bus and the truck, feet locked out and arms pressed on the scoop. She could see the smoke of his shoes, see the seat on his brow, and see the strain on his muscles.
Of course she wasn't worried, this was Ranma they were talking about, he always came through. Even as she got the last child to safety she wasn't worried. When the truck hit the bus she little more than twinged. When the bus exploded she only fluttered for a moment.
It wasn't until she saw the blood that she really started to think. When she saw the mangled, burnt bits trapped in between the vehicles, then she finally panicked.
"RANMA!" she screamed, but even from where she was she could recognise the red shirt wrapped around the jutting limb.
"NOOOOO!"
o
o
o
They barely found enough of him for a funeral. Even at the ceremony half of Nerima expected the pig-tiled boy to reappear. To claim it was a new variant of the Saotome final attack. To make it all better.
But he didn't.
The box went into the ground and still nobody shouted "surprise!"
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and finally Nerima had to accept what they had seen. Their favourite son was gone, and wouldn't be coming back.
O
O
"Ladies, Gentlemen and non-gendered beings welcome to Concordia." Said the blue giant. He was flanked by a good dozen other such beings, all identical but for small variations in their clothing.
"You have all both chosen and been chosen to be here, and I thank you all for taking the first step. You were chosen because you are all unique, in the fractured existence of your dimensions you managed to retain a measure of Reality beyond any others of your Frame. You have all demonstrated the ability to manipulate both your own Realness and the Reality around you, and these are the skills that you will use to save all existence from its greatest threat since the dawn of time."
"Friends, for you are all truly friends of all that favour true existence, the road ahead of you is long and far from sure. I have no doubt that many of you will fall along the way but I trust that with people such as I see before me we will yet succeed, and peace will return to all of creation."
Some beings cheered, others clapped, still others hooted like owls, one even barked, but among them all Saotome Ranma remained silent, an island in the storm.
A/n
A one shot, done because the idea wouldn't leave me alone. I am open to suggestions for other Reality Knights, and or worlds to visit.