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Uncles!
Chapter 01
by Cory D. Rose
Sept 2001
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Ranma was just entering the two story mall situated at the heart of the Jubaan district when he spotted something odd just inside the main entrance. He looked closer and came up behind a group of men surrounding a young girl. She had a slightly longer version of Nabiki's hair style, purple eyes, and a look of fear on her face a she tried to hide behind her arms.
"Freak!"
"Bitch!
"Why don't you go back to where you came from?"
"Witch!"
"Monster!"
"We don't want your kind here."
The words rang out in Ranma's mind and he started to seeth, how could anyone call a little girl by those names? Ranma looked them over and figured that they looked like the usual pack of bullies found in any city. Four or five large punks against one small girl, it seemed that they need the extra man power to protect them from being hurt by a person weaker than them, smirk, that's the way punks usually operated. They were surrounding the young girl who was sniffling in fear. Nothing ticked Ranma off as much as anyone picking on a girl, time to exercise his martial artists oath, to protect the weak.
"Gentlemen, and I have to use the term loosely, you have one warning to leave this girl alone, or else." Ranma declared.
They turned around ready to pound him too, but they paled instantly and gaped. "It's Ranma, run!" The leader said, but some of them were to stupid to know fear and attacked anyways. Ranma just seemed to stand there until the last possible second, but then he seemed to explode into motion just when it seemed he was going to get pounded. The 3 punks slammed into the nearby walls with resounding thuds and moved no more. He stopped and looked down at the girl who was gazing at him in awe, he smiled at her and she blushed. "Are you alright, did they hurt you?"
"N-no, they are always picking on me, though no one has ever tried to hurt me before."
"Well they should leave you alone now, but if they don't..."
"It's alright."
Ranma smiled again. "I'm Saotome Ranma."
"I know, I'm a big fan."
"Fan?"
"Sure, of your stories and fights, they are all over the city."
"I just recently found out about the cards from a girl I met, are there other things as well?"
Hortaru blushed again as she recalled all the wall scrolls and posters she had floating around her room of this hunk. "You didn't know?"
"Nope."
"Mostly posters and picture books that detail your adventures in Nerima and all of your fiancé's."
"Figures, I suppose Nabiki wouldn't stick to just one type of item to sell of me to make a buck." Ranma muttered, as helped the girl to her feet. For a young girl she was quite cute, he thought. There was an innocence about her that reminded him a little of Kasumi. "So where were you headed?"
"I just got out of school and was heading home with a friend."
Ranma pulled the paper out of his shirt that had his relative's address on it. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can fine this address would you, this section of town is a bit confusing." Ranma asked.
Hotaru looked at and gasped, how had he gotten her address and why was he going there? "Um...that is my house actually."
"What?"
"That is where I live."
Ranma blink blinked and shrugged. "What is your name?"
"Oh! Tomoe Hotaru"
"What a coincidence, I was coming to visit you..." Ranma started, but stopped as she crumpled to the ground in a dead faint. "Baka, now who am I supposed to get directions from?"
He picked the girl up and carried her over to a bench and lay her out just as he heard...
"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!"
...and dodged Ryoga as he attacked. "What are you doing here Ryoga?"
"You enemy of all women, I will not let you hurt my family the way you hurt Akane!" Ryoga yelled, his fangs glinting in the mall lighting.
Damn, he already knew some of it, but perhaps not all of it. Ranma dodged and weaved as Ryoga pressed his attack, trashing walls and windows in his berserk rage. Ryoga had been training, Ranma could feel the increase in his rival's power level as it surged. A fist hit Ranma in the side of the head and sent him flying into a nearby food court where he crushed a table. Ryoga came in from above, his super heavy umbrella held point down as he descended on his foe.
Ranma rolled to the side just as Ryoga hit, the floor exploded just as it had the first time he came to Furinkan High, and had to bat pieces of floor tile out of the air to protect himself and those still in the area of the blast. This was getting fun, but there were to many people around and Ryoga rarely cared for the innocent bystanders since he figured Ranma would put himself in danger to keep them safe. Predictably, Ryoga stood and pulled off a number of bandana's that he began go twirl, the insane glint in his eyes caused Ranma to shudder.
His friend's rages were like Akane's problem, just growing worse and worse as time went on. Ranma watched the fleeing innocents leave the area and breathed a sigh of relief, but it was obvious that Ryoga didn't care at all as he let loose his arsenal of bandanas in a storm of spinning death. There had to be hundreds of them spinning around the area, thinking quickly, Ranma jumped back and lashed out with a pair of Vacuum blades. Not at Ryoga, but at a nearby railing and severing it in two places, his new staff bounced off the floor for only a second before he grabbed it and began to twirl it at high speed.
It took all his concentration not to dodge the bandanas as they came at him, but his gamble had paid off as they slid to the floor when he negated their chi charge. Ryoga gaped and howled in rage, grabbing his umbrella again he exploded into motion. Ranma tried to fight him with the staff, but it buckled under the heavy blows and Ranma was forced to fall back on what he knew would, eventually, work. He would have tried to use his new skills in kendo, but he knew that he had to have those mastered completely before he could use them against Ryoga.
"Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!" He shouted and blurred.
"Not this time you monster!" Ryoga yelled and blurred with Ranma, who stared, amazed at the sight of Ryoga using a speed technique he had never seen before.
There was a sonic boom as both individuals broke the sound barrier, but it was Ranma who was hit first and he sailed across the food court and into a wall. Ryoga howled in triumph and threw his umbrella at Ranma's head, but the distance was more than 70 feet and the umbrella was to heavy to keep up enough speed. Ranma rolled out of the way just as it impacted into the floor at his feet. The floor shattered into a small crater and sent debris everywhere. Still kneeling, Ranma snapped his hands up and shouted. "Möko Takabisha!!" A beam of compressed blue energy fired forward.
Ryoga countered with his green tinted "Shishi Höködan!!"
Wind and fire swirled around the food court as they battled and Ranma's mind was analyzing the situation. He wondered where Ryoga had gone to get so much better, had he always been holding back for some strange reason? No, he complained constantly about loosing to him all the time, loudly and with a lot of cussing. How had he done it, it had only been a few days since their last fight. Ranma glared at the insane grin on Ryoga's face and wondered what it meant just a few seconds before Ryoga flared and doubled the power of his beam. Ranma gritted his teeth and did the same and every window in the area shattered as they imploded, the food court tables burst into flame.
Ranma was impressed and grinned at Ryoga's achievements, however he had done it, they were nearly even now and could fight each other to a stand still. There was movement out of the corner of his eye and he saw Hotaru running towards them. Ranma motioned with his head as she entered the area. "Well?!"
"We will continue this later Ranma." Ryoga snapped and powered down, Ranma followed suit and food court became as silent, except for the roasting sound of several burning tables anyway. Smoke and debris were either hovering over the area or laying in shattered pieces all around them.
Before Hotaru could even yell at them, there was another explosion on the other side of the food court. Ranma and Ryoga were instantly in front of Hotaru shielding her and they were witness to a monster stepping though the hole in the wall. It was ugly and repulsive, if Ranma had to describe it, he would have said it was like Hopposai and a dog rolled into one, mixed with a some armor plate and in need of a bath. The smell was even worse than what it looked like, the little beady red eyes were actually enough to cause him to shiver.
It gazed at them and giggled, causing Hotaru to gasp in fear. Ranma and Ryoga knew this was going to be a hard won fight, the thing was putting out enough power to level the entire building if it let loose. "What do you say Ryoga?"
"We must protect Hotaru-chan."
"Duh, I mean how do you want to attack it?"
"I'll take the left, you take his legs."
"Ryoga we have..."
"Shishi Höködan!!" Ryoga yelled as he jumped 10 feet to the left and fired.
Ranma grabbed Hotaru and launched into the air and landed on the second floor of the mall above them, set Hotaru down and smirked at her awed look. "Stay here or get to cover, me and Ryoga will take care of this thing." With that he dropped back down and fired off his attack, but the monster and Ryoga were already going at it tooth and nail. They had ripped the rest of the food court up and were working their way down the hall way, Ryoga leaving little craters every few feet as the little thing dodged his umbrella. Ranma came up from behind and they double teamed it, moving at a furious pace.
What ever the thing was, it was fast and strong enough to shrug off the most powerful blows. Though out the entire fight so far, it had remained silent, only giggling evilly as it stayed on the defensive. Ryoga punched it in the head with a move that should have killed it instantly, but it didn't seem to even feel it. Ranma growled in frustration and punted the thing like he would Hopposai, but instead got the surprise of his life when it tapped him in the calf and blurred. The force of a cement truck slammed into him and sent him plowing through several walls of the mall, only to finally stop when he crashed into the fountain.
The cold water was enough to snap her out of her daze and Ranma sat up, gasping for air. She spotted the trail of destruction that she had caused on her flight through the mall, the crowds were panicking even more as they fled the area completely. Ranma hopped out of the fountain, landed, and screamed in agony as her leg cramped up. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she recalled the little bastard tapping her leg just before throwing her. NO! Hotaru had to be protected, she would not be killed just minutes after she had met her, she was family!
A flash of Dr. Tofu, in one of his Kasumi induced episodes washed over Ranma and he remembered something. He had been in a state of near paralyzation at the time, but the doc had done something like this to him and had him stiff with agony for a couple of minutes. When he had come out of it, he had tapped a spot on his upper thigh...there...tap. At first the pain failed to go away and he feared that it was the wrong point, but then the muscles relaxed and the pain went away.
Ryoga and the little thing came crashing through the wall she had crashed through a few seconds ago and it was immediately obvious that Ryoga's super strength was no help. The Lost Boy was covered in bruises and cuts as the little monster giggled and continued to dodge, though every few seconds he would do a quick strike to Ryoga. Ranma's aura flared out and she came flying in at high speed and took the fight from Ryoga, who took a few seconds to clear his head. Ranma fought at her full strength and speed, focusing her aura more and more. She hadn't had to fight at this level since Saffron and that battle had ended with him being killed. This little pest didn't seem to have as much power as Saffron, but he made up for it with invulnerability and sheer speed.
Up above Hotaru, now dressed as Sailor Saturn, was watching her friends get the crap beat out of them. She was more than a little surprised that they were still standing though, normal humans were not supposed to be this strong. Sure Uncle Ryoga was the strongest man she had ever seen, but Ranma had been fighting at a level she had never seen before. Even Ryoga hadn't shown this much skill until just recently and he had refused to explain what he did, just said he went on a 'training mission' or something.
Saturn jumped down the main floor and landed silently, her glaive glinting int the flames of destruction around her. She ran after Ranma and Ryoga as they steered the battle back into the open areas of the mall. If she would have had time Hotaru would have gaped at the sight she saw, the main walkway for almost two hundred feet was totally destroyed, there were stiff bandanas sticking out of the walls, holes in ever surface in sight.
As she got closer to the battle she could see Ryoga and...Ranko? battling the little monster. Where was Ranma? He wasn't around anywhere, she hadn't passed any bodies that she remembered, so he either escaped or was out of the area. Then she spotted Sailor Moon, Mercury, and Mars reaching the battle from the other end of the mall. "Hurry they need help!"
"For the destruction of property and endangering lives, I Sailor Moon shall punish you in the name of th...uuufff!!" Sailor Moon went down as Ranko slammed into her and the little monster giggled in the back round.
"BURNING MANDELA!" Mars screamed.
"SHINNING AQUA ILLUSION!" Mercury yelled.
Ranma groaned in pain and watched with blurry eyes as the two girls, dressed in silly outfits fired off the most powerful attacks she had ever seen. They made her Ki attacks look like a small lighter. His pain clouded mind barely registered that Rei was there, he had more important things to worry about, like how to protect his friends from this monster. The little bastard tried to dodge, and would have done so easily, but Ryoga came out of nowhere and punted the little bastard right into the attack before jumping out of the way. The thing giggled loudly just before it was wiped from existence. Rolling to her feet, Ranma noticed that the girl with the weird hairstyle was what had broken her fall.
"Sailor Moon!" The other girls yelled in unison and ran over to them, Ranma sighed, just as Mercury accidentally kicked him away and into a wall in her attempt to get close to Sailor Moon.
Ryoga just laughed and smirked at her as she slid down the wall with a slump. "Now that this is over Ranma, we will finish this."
"Don't push your luck Ryoga..." Ranma growled.
"What are you going to do about it Ranma, I finally have the strength to beat you and you can't take it." Ryoga smirked.
"You couldn't beat me if you tried, P-Chan."
"Ranma!" Ryoga snarled.
"Bring it on Pig Boy!"
"Will you two stop it!?" Yelled Sailor Saturn as she stepped in between them. "Ryoga, where is Ranma and why are you calling Ranko by Ranma's name?"
"He needs glasses, that's what." Ranma said, trying to look kawaii. Moon and Mars rolled their eyes at Ranma's actions.
"Why you..." Ryoga started, his aura starting up again, he pushed Saturn out of his way as gently as he could and jumped at Ranma with his umbrella.
"MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!!" Sailor Moon yelled from the side, she really didn't like to see her friends argue like this. Normally she only did this to those who were possessed, but she had found that it also helped to calm large crowds down so that they were not as scared and panicked during a fight. These two, according to Hotaru, had been fighting each other since they saw each other, like two enemies out for each others blood.
The light slammed into Ryoga and Ranma, a feeling of euphoria washed over them. This was followed by the most wonderful feeling they had ever experienced. Then it was over and they stood there, in a state of shock, for several seconds before they collapsing, which for Sailor Moon was a little odd since this hadn't happened before. They usually blinked a few times, smiled and said how much better they felt, not fall over in a faint and look a little pale.
"What happened? Do you think Ranma will be alright?" Moon asked.
Mercury took out her computer and scanned both boys for several seconds while her fingers danced over the small keys. "I'm not sure, but your healing blast seems to have cured them of something, what I can't tell, but it was definitely something of negative origin whatever it was."
"Will they be okay?"
"...um...according to this you actually did...whoa..."
"Wh-what is it?!"
"You also managed to super charge them with the Silver Crystal."
"Huh?"
"You gave them both a piece of your power Sailor Moon, they can be considered low level Scouts now. The girl is also radiating a power I have never seen before while Ryoga there...I can't even begin to describe what happened to him."
"Mercury, it was just a 'Moon Healing Activation', it doesn't do things like that." Sailor Moon said nervously, she had promised to keep Ranma's secret, but if he was in danger...
"I know, it shouldn't have any effect on a normal human except to make them more healthy and to feel better."
Ranma's eyes opened slowly and she looked around, those girl's in the silly outfits were still standing around talking to each other. She rolled to her feet, and to her surprise felt no pain. The Scouts backed up a little, Ranma failed to notice the nervous look Moon gave her as she bounced up and down a little. "Hey, my injuries are gone!"
"Sailor Moon used her magic to heal you." Mercury said, Mars who was off to the side, nodded.
"What about Ryoga here?"
"The same..."
"Can I ask you a question?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Sure."
"How come Ryoga was calling you Ranma, your name is Ranko according to the books and stories I've read about you."
Ranma looked her over and for some weird reason didn't want to lie to the girls, and figured they would keep it to themselves since they had their own identities to protect. "Me and Ryoga are cursed."
"Cursed?"
"Yep, there is this valley in china where an ancient training ground is hidden in the mountains. There are a number of pools there with bamboo poles sticking out of them. The whole place is supposed to help with mid air combat and balance and to avoid falling into the pools. Each of these pools has a legend attached to them about something drowning in them. The curse is that when one falls in the pool, they take on the basic form of whatever drowned there."
"But how does that explain Ryoga calling you Ranma?"
"I am Ranma, I fell in the drowned girl spring. Now whenever I get hit with cold water I turn into a girl."
"That's impossible!" Mercury gasps out.
Ranma sighs, he always has to demonstrate his curse to prove that it is true, looks around and spots a yati cart and smiles at the tea bubbling away on one of the burners. He didn't even question why the yati had survived the battle, grabbed it and set it to the side. "Hot water will reverse the process, but since the is a little to hot I'll show you in a second."
"Can you explain how you were doing all those attacks, it wasn't magic like what we use..." Mercury began.
"Okay, most of what me and Ryoga do is enhance our abilities with our Ki, we can move super fast, increase our physical abilities like strength, healing, etc. We can also project it out of our hands and use it as a weapon."
"...but your normal humans, that isn't possible..." Mars gasped, pretending to not know who Ranma is. Ranma notices but doesn't say anything, they will be having a little chat a little latter though.
"Who ever said we were normal? Me and Ryoga here are probably the best fighters of our generation and have been training since before we could walk."
Ranma checked the water and decided that it was cool enough and dumped it over his head. Saturn fainted on the spot as the cute redhead shifted and turned into the handsome Ranma, Mercury gaped and Sailor Moon and Mars smiled as they had already known about the curse. Ranma hopped over to Saturn and shook her a little to wake her, and helped her to her feet with a smile that had her blushing.
"H-he's a st-starlight!" Sailor Mercury said.
For Ryoga, Ranma smirked and used a different method to wake him up, he poured the rest of the water over the unconscious boy. Sputtering, Ryoga jumped to his feet and glared at Ranma, who was laughing. "DIE RANMA!"
"Come and get me Pig Boy!" Ranma said and bounced over Ryoga easily.
"Coward, take your beating like a man!"
"Are those two for real?" Mars asked, she hadn't had a real run in with any of the Nerima Wrecking Crew yet.
"According to Ryoga, Ranma and him are bitter rivals. He also said that Ranma has made his life a living hell and that he plans to get his revenge for all the pain and suffering he has suffered because of Ranma." Saturn said.
"How can such a cute guy be that evil?" Mars asked, trying to picture this version of Ranma from what she had encountered the other day.
"I don't think he is, Ryoga is very judgmental and tends to jump to conclusions. In the few weeks that I've known him he has shown to be very loyal, like a dog with a one track mind."
"That's a little harsh Saturn." Moon commented.
"Tell that to Haruka, he knocked her out for teasing me the other day. Of course he hadn't figured out the she was a girl at the time."
"He knocked out Haruka?" Gasped Mercury.
"Yep, it was pretty cool too. Punched her right through that large window that shows off the back yard. He's like a large guard dog, though Haruka didn't take it very well. She attacked him at her full strength, didn't help her much though, Ryoga shrugs off blows that would kill most normal people."
"You know, that explains the day she came to school with all that makeup on, she must have several bruises on her face." Moon said.
A loud splash alerted them to their surroundings again and they saw Ryoga climbing out of the fountain, snarling. He jumped out and launched himself at Ranma, who backpedaled in shock, was once again female. "Ryoga, calm down and look at yourself!"
"DIE RANMA!"
"Ryoga, your still human even after being dipped in the fountain!"
Ryoga stumbled to a stop and gaped at Ranma for a second and replayed his memories of the event, his jaw hit the floor with a clang. "What the hell, I DIDN'T CHANGE! Hahahahah, I didn't change to the PIG! I'M CURED!"
"How did you do it man, I want a cure to you know?"
Ryoga didn't even hear him, he was to busy dancing in happiness, muttering 'never gonna be a pig again' over and over.
"That's weird." Commented Sailor Moon.
"Remember what Ranma told us about his life, this a kind of normal for him." Mars whispered.
"That may have been the change I mentioned before, the one I couldn't describe. Something was removed from him and replaced with a portion of your power." Mercury said, not paying attention to Mars or Moon.
"How much will it change them, and should we tell them?" Moon asked.
"Those curses were probably why they were affected, they already had a bit of magic clinging to them and it helped to make your Healing magic work differently."
"Well lets get this over with, hopefully they aren't to mad at me." Sailor Moon sighed. "Ranma, Ryoga!"
"What?" They yelled back, Ranma had Ryoga in a head lock and was trying to get him to tell how he was cured. Ryoga wasn't even paying attention, there was this silly grin on his face that the girl's found adorable.
"I think we know why Ryoga didn't change." Mercury said.
Ranma released Ryoga and hopped back over to the girls, for some reason he was feeling pretty good. Even fighting with Ryoga had been fun for a change instead of the chore it had been lately. "What did you find?"
"Well...when Sailor Moon used her wand to calm you down, it seems that your curses messed up the magic a little. It kept its healing magic and healed all of your wounds, but it also mixed with your curses and did something it wasn't designed to do."
"Is it dangerous?" Ranma asked, nervously.
"Not as far as I can tell, it just made some alterations to the both of you."
"Alterations..."
"Yes, with Ryoga here it took away his curse and replaced what was taken away."
Ryoga paled, visions of a mutant pig running around sitting on various members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew running through his head.
"I'm not sure on the changes, your energy readings are really weird, but I can tell that it gave both of you magical powers of some kind."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A MUTANT PIG!!!" Ryoga screamed, Ranma hit him up side the head and shook his head.
"These are the Sailor Scouts moron, they wouldn't do that to you, what ever is going through your little piggy mind."
"RANMA!!"
The girls giggled and derailed Ryoga's train of thought, he laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. Ranma just sighed and turned to Mercury. "Is there some way to figure out exactly what happened to us?"
"Not for a few days, I need to write a program to scan you a little better."
"Drat...HOTARU!" Saturn jumped back in surprise.
"W-what..." Stuttered out Sailor Moon.
"Ryoga, we need to find Hotaru, I left her upstairs when the battle started."
"You left her unprotected through all that?! DIE RANMA!" Ryoga cried out and attacked Ranma again.
"Don't worry about her Ranma, most of the civilians were evacuated from the mall as we were arriving, she was probably in with them. Most are usually sent home to keep them safe, some of our battles can be quite damaging." Sailor Mars said, glancing at Saturn.
"Well I'm going to go and look for her." Ranma said and jumped up to second level.
"Get back here you coward, we have a fight to finish!" Ryoga yelled and took off after Ranma.
"Saturn, you know Ryoga don't you?" Mars asked.
"Yes I do, why?" She replied innocently.
"Why did he just run through that wall as if it wasn't there?"
"Just remember the stories about him and his direction sense."
"Those weren't true..."
"Trust me, they are very accurate, he went use the bathroom in my house the other day and disappeared for about 15 hours. When we found him, stuck in the hallway closet, he was asking us how we got all these giant stone columns into that giant bathroom, the 70 or so naked ladies, and the giant heated pool. I still don't know what he was talking about, he barely fit in that closet."
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Ranma made her way up stairs and began to look around for Hotaru, but after several minutes of running from store to store she stopped and tried to figure out a more efficient way to do this. Then her luck ran out as she spotted someone coming her way and she remembered the lady with the long green hair, she was missing her staff though. Ranma remembered destroying it in the last fight with the forbidden techniques, the vacume blades.
"Who are you anyway?"
"You are chaos incarnate and will destroy the future that is being crafted for my Queen. With you dead, she is guaranteed a bright and happy future."
"You have got to be kidding me." Ranma said, as he spotted two other familiar figures stepping out of the shadows to each side of him. The blonde haired tomboy and the sea green haired girl were radiating power again and this time she could tell that they were going to use more than they had before.
"Your evil ways will end here and now!" Yelled out Uranus.
"That is all well and good ladies, but your making a mistake." Ranma said.
"Your very life represents chaos, you can not stop us, you don't have the power this time."
Ranma crouched down, if Sailor Moon hadn't healed her that may have been true, but ever since she had, she had felt incredible. She smirked and analyzed the situation, from what she was feeling, she was about even with all 3 girls physically. They were enhanced in a magical way that gave them an advantage, but also a handicap. They could only go so fast before the enhancements ran out, Ranma on the other hand knew that she could push her body into speeds that they could only dream about.
"I advise you ladies against this, I am a trained fighter and one of the best in the world, you are not good enough to defeat me." Ranma arrogantly said.
"Time to die scumbag." Uranus said as she pulled her sword, Neptune stood at her side and pulled out her mirror.
"GO!" Pluto yelled.
Uranus and Neptune jumped forward and yelled out their attacks. "SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" and "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!"
Ranma dived forward and under both attacks and performed a foot sweep that sent Neptune to the floor. Her fist caught Neptune in the jaw and sent her sprawling, Uranus screamed and tried to decapitate him. Using her momentum and legs, Ranma hopped up into the air and kicked the girl in the head and tapped a pressure point in her arm that made her drop the sword. Then came the take down technique, he dropped her legs around her head and clamped them tight and twisted. This whipped Uranus around and he used the rest of the momentum to throw her, right over the balcony to the first floor.
Pluto charged in and started to throw punches and kicks at high speed before Ranma could bring up a defense. This impressed Ranma to no end, so far the Scouts had been poorly trained fighters, but this Pluto seemed to have some skill in the art. She took several blows before she began to weave and dodge around Pluto's attack, then she sped up again and clocked her across the chin and sending her back several feet.
She reacted on instinct as she sent out a kick that would have been her death blow, but she pivoted, grabbed her foot and tossed her over the railing. Just as Neptune fired off another "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!" and caught her in the chest. It was a powerful blast indeed, the strongest she had encountered to date in fact. It plowed into her with the force of a large bomb and sent her flying, her arms crossed in front of herself defensively. The pain was indescribable, she could feel her skin cooking even as she flew back through a concrete wall.
There was a rush of air and Ranma noticed the sky and realized that she had been blasted outside, just as she impacted on the hood of a car and totaled it in an instant. Her vision was tinted red and she was barely able to see Pluto standing at the large smoking hole that had been made when she passed through. Pluto brought her hand up and pink and green energy flowed around her body, a ball of energy then formed and was launched at him. Ranma knew this was it, she had taken to much damage so far. If she had 5 minutes of rest she could get back into the fight, but her back was reinjured and currently too sore to even move.
"I will not give up!" Ranma yelled and called on all her remaining strength and rolled off the car just as Pluto's beam hit. The car exploded and sent her flying, she landed on her shoulder and rolled to a stop in the middle of the parking lot. The now dislocated shoulder was a good sign, Ranma thought, the pain meant she was alive. Her vision went black just as she noticed a pair of red boots running towards her.
"Ranma!"
The Outer Scouts stalked out of the Mall, death written on their faces and Usagi knew that some thing was wrong. Haruka and Michiru were her friends, they had promised to never seek out another's life in the pursuit of the peace that they all sought. Usagi looked down on the bleeding body of her newest friend and for one of the few times in her life she felt her anger boil over. She was always playing the nice girl, never working to promote anger or allowing bad things to happen to her friends. She had done this for Prince Diamond and his brother, for the Sisters and even her possessed daughter, sacrificing almost everything for continued peace and a happy ending.
Sailor Moon flashed and became Princess Serenity as Neptune and Uranus closed in, the shock on their faces was enough to make them pause. Usagi held her hand out and leveled her palm at the friends and glared at them, making them back up a few steps. Behind her she heard her friends gasp as she started to put out a massive silver aura that lit up the entire parking lot. Usagi's voice was barely heard by any of them, but when she talked they all felt it in their bones and it resonated with pure power.
"Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, you are making me mad by trying to kill one of my friends and if you continue on this path I will strip you of your powers completely. Do. You. Understand!?"
Everyone gaped at her for several seconds, Neptune and Uranus gulped in fear at the fire that seemed to be burning in their Princess' eyes and nodded. They ran off and quickly disappeared, Usagi looked up at Pluto and frowned. The green haired woman "Eeeped!" and vanished through the Time Gate. Usagi turned to look at Ranma and had to hold back her tears, Ranma had been in town less than a week now and he was already getting mixed up in something he didn't need to be in.
She stretched her power out and let it envelope Ranma and willed his body to heal and made sure her magic healed everything in him. There was surge of power and Usagi knew that he would be alright when he awoke, but to be safe she had the inners grab him as she teleported them all to the Shrine. The appeared in Rei's bedroom with a burst of light and she motioned for them to lay him out.
"Princess...what are you going to do?" Mercury asked, a little fear in her voice, she had never seen Usagi like this before.
"Ranma is a member of Hotaru's family, something she had thought completely gone until he showed up."
"H-how do y-you know that?" Mars asked.
"I'm not sure yet, I just know that he has a destiny that is intertwined with us in some way and the letting the Outers kill him would not be a good idea."
Usagi lifted her hand and once again let her silver power engulf Ranma and gave him a little magic 'push' in the right direction, she felt something in his mind give and break, but her magic instantly calmed the dark power that had been hidden in his mind and released a flood of memories that had been locked away. His life and struggles flashed through her and tears ran down her face, how he had survived was a total mystery. There was so much pain that he was blamed for that could be traced back to his parents and his tragic childhood. Usagi was getting mad again, Genma Saotome was a dead man if she ever got her hands on him. The man was an abusive monster that didn't deserve to be a parent.
The dark power seemed to reach out and fill Ranma as Usagi worked and she used her magic to alter it and heal his mind while she shattered more of his blocked off memories of horrid training games involving wolves and trains and poisonous snakes. She used parts of herself as an example as she manipulated his mind and prayed it would heal him enough for him to survive. Usagi powered down, blinked, and fainted as her Princess Dress vanished in a flood of light, her Sailor Moon transformation vanished as well and left her in her school uniform. Sailor Mars caught her before she hit the ground and briefly wondered what she had done to Ranma. She looked up at the others, but they just shrugged, even Mercury who has scanned the whole thing with their computer.
"All I can tell you right now is that she used more power than all of Japan in the course of a year."
To Be Continued...
**********
Notes - This story is going in different direction than what I had planned, Ranma hasn't even made it to Horatu's house yet and Ryoga is showing signs that he has been getting stronger than ever. The Outers have attacked him in his female aspect and are more than willing to do what it takes to follow Pluto's orders. Usagi isn't taking it very well and as she gets stronger so does she change a little more into the Queen she is supposed to one day become.
Uncles!
Chapter 01
by Cory D. Rose
Sept 2001
**********
Ranma was just entering the two story mall situated at the heart of the Jubaan district when he spotted something odd just inside the main entrance. He looked closer and came up behind a group of men surrounding a young girl. She had a slightly longer version of Nabiki's hair style, purple eyes, and a look of fear on her face a she tried to hide behind her arms.
"Freak!"
"Bitch!
"Why don't you go back to where you came from?"
"Witch!"
"Monster!"
"We don't want your kind here."
The words rang out in Ranma's mind and he started to seeth, how could anyone call a little girl by those names? Ranma looked them over and figured that they looked like the usual pack of bullies found in any city. Four or five large punks against one small girl, it seemed that they need the extra man power to protect them from being hurt by a person weaker than them, smirk, that's the way punks usually operated. They were surrounding the young girl who was sniffling in fear. Nothing ticked Ranma off as much as anyone picking on a girl, time to exercise his martial artists oath, to protect the weak.
"Gentlemen, and I have to use the term loosely, you have one warning to leave this girl alone, or else." Ranma declared.
They turned around ready to pound him too, but they paled instantly and gaped. "It's Ranma, run!" The leader said, but some of them were to stupid to know fear and attacked anyways. Ranma just seemed to stand there until the last possible second, but then he seemed to explode into motion just when it seemed he was going to get pounded. The 3 punks slammed into the nearby walls with resounding thuds and moved no more. He stopped and looked down at the girl who was gazing at him in awe, he smiled at her and she blushed. "Are you alright, did they hurt you?"
"N-no, they are always picking on me, though no one has ever tried to hurt me before."
"Well they should leave you alone now, but if they don't..."
"It's alright."
Ranma smiled again. "I'm Saotome Ranma."
"I know, I'm a big fan."
"Fan?"
"Sure, of your stories and fights, they are all over the city."
"I just recently found out about the cards from a girl I met, are there other things as well?"
Hortaru blushed again as she recalled all the wall scrolls and posters she had floating around her room of this hunk. "You didn't know?"
"Nope."
"Mostly posters and picture books that detail your adventures in Nerima and all of your fiancé's."
"Figures, I suppose Nabiki wouldn't stick to just one type of item to sell of me to make a buck." Ranma muttered, as helped the girl to her feet. For a young girl she was quite cute, he thought. There was an innocence about her that reminded him a little of Kasumi. "So where were you headed?"
"I just got out of school and was heading home with a friend."
Ranma pulled the paper out of his shirt that had his relative's address on it. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can fine this address would you, this section of town is a bit confusing." Ranma asked.
Hotaru looked at and gasped, how had he gotten her address and why was he going there? "Um...that is my house actually."
"What?"
"That is where I live."
Ranma blink blinked and shrugged. "What is your name?"
"Oh! Tomoe Hotaru"
"What a coincidence, I was coming to visit you..." Ranma started, but stopped as she crumpled to the ground in a dead faint. "Baka, now who am I supposed to get directions from?"
He picked the girl up and carried her over to a bench and lay her out just as he heard...
"RANMA PREPARE TO DIE!"
...and dodged Ryoga as he attacked. "What are you doing here Ryoga?"
"You enemy of all women, I will not let you hurt my family the way you hurt Akane!" Ryoga yelled, his fangs glinting in the mall lighting.
Damn, he already knew some of it, but perhaps not all of it. Ranma dodged and weaved as Ryoga pressed his attack, trashing walls and windows in his berserk rage. Ryoga had been training, Ranma could feel the increase in his rival's power level as it surged. A fist hit Ranma in the side of the head and sent him flying into a nearby food court where he crushed a table. Ryoga came in from above, his super heavy umbrella held point down as he descended on his foe.
Ranma rolled to the side just as Ryoga hit, the floor exploded just as it had the first time he came to Furinkan High, and had to bat pieces of floor tile out of the air to protect himself and those still in the area of the blast. This was getting fun, but there were to many people around and Ryoga rarely cared for the innocent bystanders since he figured Ranma would put himself in danger to keep them safe. Predictably, Ryoga stood and pulled off a number of bandana's that he began go twirl, the insane glint in his eyes caused Ranma to shudder.
His friend's rages were like Akane's problem, just growing worse and worse as time went on. Ranma watched the fleeing innocents leave the area and breathed a sigh of relief, but it was obvious that Ryoga didn't care at all as he let loose his arsenal of bandanas in a storm of spinning death. There had to be hundreds of them spinning around the area, thinking quickly, Ranma jumped back and lashed out with a pair of Vacuum blades. Not at Ryoga, but at a nearby railing and severing it in two places, his new staff bounced off the floor for only a second before he grabbed it and began to twirl it at high speed.
It took all his concentration not to dodge the bandanas as they came at him, but his gamble had paid off as they slid to the floor when he negated their chi charge. Ryoga gaped and howled in rage, grabbing his umbrella again he exploded into motion. Ranma tried to fight him with the staff, but it buckled under the heavy blows and Ranma was forced to fall back on what he knew would, eventually, work. He would have tried to use his new skills in kendo, but he knew that he had to have those mastered completely before he could use them against Ryoga.
"Kachü Tenshin Amaguriken!" He shouted and blurred.
"Not this time you monster!" Ryoga yelled and blurred with Ranma, who stared, amazed at the sight of Ryoga using a speed technique he had never seen before.
There was a sonic boom as both individuals broke the sound barrier, but it was Ranma who was hit first and he sailed across the food court and into a wall. Ryoga howled in triumph and threw his umbrella at Ranma's head, but the distance was more than 70 feet and the umbrella was to heavy to keep up enough speed. Ranma rolled out of the way just as it impacted into the floor at his feet. The floor shattered into a small crater and sent debris everywhere. Still kneeling, Ranma snapped his hands up and shouted. "Möko Takabisha!!" A beam of compressed blue energy fired forward.
Ryoga countered with his green tinted "Shishi Höködan!!"
Wind and fire swirled around the food court as they battled and Ranma's mind was analyzing the situation. He wondered where Ryoga had gone to get so much better, had he always been holding back for some strange reason? No, he complained constantly about loosing to him all the time, loudly and with a lot of cussing. How had he done it, it had only been a few days since their last fight. Ranma glared at the insane grin on Ryoga's face and wondered what it meant just a few seconds before Ryoga flared and doubled the power of his beam. Ranma gritted his teeth and did the same and every window in the area shattered as they imploded, the food court tables burst into flame.
Ranma was impressed and grinned at Ryoga's achievements, however he had done it, they were nearly even now and could fight each other to a stand still. There was movement out of the corner of his eye and he saw Hotaru running towards them. Ranma motioned with his head as she entered the area. "Well?!"
"We will continue this later Ranma." Ryoga snapped and powered down, Ranma followed suit and food court became as silent, except for the roasting sound of several burning tables anyway. Smoke and debris were either hovering over the area or laying in shattered pieces all around them.
Before Hotaru could even yell at them, there was another explosion on the other side of the food court. Ranma and Ryoga were instantly in front of Hotaru shielding her and they were witness to a monster stepping though the hole in the wall. It was ugly and repulsive, if Ranma had to describe it, he would have said it was like Hopposai and a dog rolled into one, mixed with a some armor plate and in need of a bath. The smell was even worse than what it looked like, the little beady red eyes were actually enough to cause him to shiver.
It gazed at them and giggled, causing Hotaru to gasp in fear. Ranma and Ryoga knew this was going to be a hard won fight, the thing was putting out enough power to level the entire building if it let loose. "What do you say Ryoga?"
"We must protect Hotaru-chan."
"Duh, I mean how do you want to attack it?"
"I'll take the left, you take his legs."
"Ryoga we have..."
"Shishi Höködan!!" Ryoga yelled as he jumped 10 feet to the left and fired.
Ranma grabbed Hotaru and launched into the air and landed on the second floor of the mall above them, set Hotaru down and smirked at her awed look. "Stay here or get to cover, me and Ryoga will take care of this thing." With that he dropped back down and fired off his attack, but the monster and Ryoga were already going at it tooth and nail. They had ripped the rest of the food court up and were working their way down the hall way, Ryoga leaving little craters every few feet as the little thing dodged his umbrella. Ranma came up from behind and they double teamed it, moving at a furious pace.
What ever the thing was, it was fast and strong enough to shrug off the most powerful blows. Though out the entire fight so far, it had remained silent, only giggling evilly as it stayed on the defensive. Ryoga punched it in the head with a move that should have killed it instantly, but it didn't seem to even feel it. Ranma growled in frustration and punted the thing like he would Hopposai, but instead got the surprise of his life when it tapped him in the calf and blurred. The force of a cement truck slammed into him and sent him plowing through several walls of the mall, only to finally stop when he crashed into the fountain.
The cold water was enough to snap her out of her daze and Ranma sat up, gasping for air. She spotted the trail of destruction that she had caused on her flight through the mall, the crowds were panicking even more as they fled the area completely. Ranma hopped out of the fountain, landed, and screamed in agony as her leg cramped up. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she recalled the little bastard tapping her leg just before throwing her. NO! Hotaru had to be protected, she would not be killed just minutes after she had met her, she was family!
A flash of Dr. Tofu, in one of his Kasumi induced episodes washed over Ranma and he remembered something. He had been in a state of near paralyzation at the time, but the doc had done something like this to him and had him stiff with agony for a couple of minutes. When he had come out of it, he had tapped a spot on his upper thigh...there...tap. At first the pain failed to go away and he feared that it was the wrong point, but then the muscles relaxed and the pain went away.
Ryoga and the little thing came crashing through the wall she had crashed through a few seconds ago and it was immediately obvious that Ryoga's super strength was no help. The Lost Boy was covered in bruises and cuts as the little monster giggled and continued to dodge, though every few seconds he would do a quick strike to Ryoga. Ranma's aura flared out and she came flying in at high speed and took the fight from Ryoga, who took a few seconds to clear his head. Ranma fought at her full strength and speed, focusing her aura more and more. She hadn't had to fight at this level since Saffron and that battle had ended with him being killed. This little pest didn't seem to have as much power as Saffron, but he made up for it with invulnerability and sheer speed.
Up above Hotaru, now dressed as Sailor Saturn, was watching her friends get the crap beat out of them. She was more than a little surprised that they were still standing though, normal humans were not supposed to be this strong. Sure Uncle Ryoga was the strongest man she had ever seen, but Ranma had been fighting at a level she had never seen before. Even Ryoga hadn't shown this much skill until just recently and he had refused to explain what he did, just said he went on a 'training mission' or something.
Saturn jumped down the main floor and landed silently, her glaive glinting int the flames of destruction around her. She ran after Ranma and Ryoga as they steered the battle back into the open areas of the mall. If she would have had time Hotaru would have gaped at the sight she saw, the main walkway for almost two hundred feet was totally destroyed, there were stiff bandanas sticking out of the walls, holes in ever surface in sight.
As she got closer to the battle she could see Ryoga and...Ranko? battling the little monster. Where was Ranma? He wasn't around anywhere, she hadn't passed any bodies that she remembered, so he either escaped or was out of the area. Then she spotted Sailor Moon, Mercury, and Mars reaching the battle from the other end of the mall. "Hurry they need help!"
"For the destruction of property and endangering lives, I Sailor Moon shall punish you in the name of th...uuufff!!" Sailor Moon went down as Ranko slammed into her and the little monster giggled in the back round.
"BURNING MANDELA!" Mars screamed.
"SHINNING AQUA ILLUSION!" Mercury yelled.
Ranma groaned in pain and watched with blurry eyes as the two girls, dressed in silly outfits fired off the most powerful attacks she had ever seen. They made her Ki attacks look like a small lighter. His pain clouded mind barely registered that Rei was there, he had more important things to worry about, like how to protect his friends from this monster. The little bastard tried to dodge, and would have done so easily, but Ryoga came out of nowhere and punted the little bastard right into the attack before jumping out of the way. The thing giggled loudly just before it was wiped from existence. Rolling to her feet, Ranma noticed that the girl with the weird hairstyle was what had broken her fall.
"Sailor Moon!" The other girls yelled in unison and ran over to them, Ranma sighed, just as Mercury accidentally kicked him away and into a wall in her attempt to get close to Sailor Moon.
Ryoga just laughed and smirked at her as she slid down the wall with a slump. "Now that this is over Ranma, we will finish this."
"Don't push your luck Ryoga..." Ranma growled.
"What are you going to do about it Ranma, I finally have the strength to beat you and you can't take it." Ryoga smirked.
"You couldn't beat me if you tried, P-Chan."
"Ranma!" Ryoga snarled.
"Bring it on Pig Boy!"
"Will you two stop it!?" Yelled Sailor Saturn as she stepped in between them. "Ryoga, where is Ranma and why are you calling Ranko by Ranma's name?"
"He needs glasses, that's what." Ranma said, trying to look kawaii. Moon and Mars rolled their eyes at Ranma's actions.
"Why you..." Ryoga started, his aura starting up again, he pushed Saturn out of his way as gently as he could and jumped at Ranma with his umbrella.
"MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!!" Sailor Moon yelled from the side, she really didn't like to see her friends argue like this. Normally she only did this to those who were possessed, but she had found that it also helped to calm large crowds down so that they were not as scared and panicked during a fight. These two, according to Hotaru, had been fighting each other since they saw each other, like two enemies out for each others blood.
The light slammed into Ryoga and Ranma, a feeling of euphoria washed over them. This was followed by the most wonderful feeling they had ever experienced. Then it was over and they stood there, in a state of shock, for several seconds before they collapsing, which for Sailor Moon was a little odd since this hadn't happened before. They usually blinked a few times, smiled and said how much better they felt, not fall over in a faint and look a little pale.
"What happened? Do you think Ranma will be alright?" Moon asked.
Mercury took out her computer and scanned both boys for several seconds while her fingers danced over the small keys. "I'm not sure, but your healing blast seems to have cured them of something, what I can't tell, but it was definitely something of negative origin whatever it was."
"Will they be okay?"
"...um...according to this you actually did...whoa..."
"Wh-what is it?!"
"You also managed to super charge them with the Silver Crystal."
"Huh?"
"You gave them both a piece of your power Sailor Moon, they can be considered low level Scouts now. The girl is also radiating a power I have never seen before while Ryoga there...I can't even begin to describe what happened to him."
"Mercury, it was just a 'Moon Healing Activation', it doesn't do things like that." Sailor Moon said nervously, she had promised to keep Ranma's secret, but if he was in danger...
"I know, it shouldn't have any effect on a normal human except to make them more healthy and to feel better."
Ranma's eyes opened slowly and she looked around, those girl's in the silly outfits were still standing around talking to each other. She rolled to her feet, and to her surprise felt no pain. The Scouts backed up a little, Ranma failed to notice the nervous look Moon gave her as she bounced up and down a little. "Hey, my injuries are gone!"
"Sailor Moon used her magic to heal you." Mercury said, Mars who was off to the side, nodded.
"What about Ryoga here?"
"The same..."
"Can I ask you a question?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"Sure."
"How come Ryoga was calling you Ranma, your name is Ranko according to the books and stories I've read about you."
Ranma looked her over and for some weird reason didn't want to lie to the girls, and figured they would keep it to themselves since they had their own identities to protect. "Me and Ryoga are cursed."
"Cursed?"
"Yep, there is this valley in china where an ancient training ground is hidden in the mountains. There are a number of pools there with bamboo poles sticking out of them. The whole place is supposed to help with mid air combat and balance and to avoid falling into the pools. Each of these pools has a legend attached to them about something drowning in them. The curse is that when one falls in the pool, they take on the basic form of whatever drowned there."
"But how does that explain Ryoga calling you Ranma?"
"I am Ranma, I fell in the drowned girl spring. Now whenever I get hit with cold water I turn into a girl."
"That's impossible!" Mercury gasps out.
Ranma sighs, he always has to demonstrate his curse to prove that it is true, looks around and spots a yati cart and smiles at the tea bubbling away on one of the burners. He didn't even question why the yati had survived the battle, grabbed it and set it to the side. "Hot water will reverse the process, but since the is a little to hot I'll show you in a second."
"Can you explain how you were doing all those attacks, it wasn't magic like what we use..." Mercury began.
"Okay, most of what me and Ryoga do is enhance our abilities with our Ki, we can move super fast, increase our physical abilities like strength, healing, etc. We can also project it out of our hands and use it as a weapon."
"...but your normal humans, that isn't possible..." Mars gasped, pretending to not know who Ranma is. Ranma notices but doesn't say anything, they will be having a little chat a little latter though.
"Who ever said we were normal? Me and Ryoga here are probably the best fighters of our generation and have been training since before we could walk."
Ranma checked the water and decided that it was cool enough and dumped it over his head. Saturn fainted on the spot as the cute redhead shifted and turned into the handsome Ranma, Mercury gaped and Sailor Moon and Mars smiled as they had already known about the curse. Ranma hopped over to Saturn and shook her a little to wake her, and helped her to her feet with a smile that had her blushing.
"H-he's a st-starlight!" Sailor Mercury said.
For Ryoga, Ranma smirked and used a different method to wake him up, he poured the rest of the water over the unconscious boy. Sputtering, Ryoga jumped to his feet and glared at Ranma, who was laughing. "DIE RANMA!"
"Come and get me Pig Boy!" Ranma said and bounced over Ryoga easily.
"Coward, take your beating like a man!"
"Are those two for real?" Mars asked, she hadn't had a real run in with any of the Nerima Wrecking Crew yet.
"According to Ryoga, Ranma and him are bitter rivals. He also said that Ranma has made his life a living hell and that he plans to get his revenge for all the pain and suffering he has suffered because of Ranma." Saturn said.
"How can such a cute guy be that evil?" Mars asked, trying to picture this version of Ranma from what she had encountered the other day.
"I don't think he is, Ryoga is very judgmental and tends to jump to conclusions. In the few weeks that I've known him he has shown to be very loyal, like a dog with a one track mind."
"That's a little harsh Saturn." Moon commented.
"Tell that to Haruka, he knocked her out for teasing me the other day. Of course he hadn't figured out the she was a girl at the time."
"He knocked out Haruka?" Gasped Mercury.
"Yep, it was pretty cool too. Punched her right through that large window that shows off the back yard. He's like a large guard dog, though Haruka didn't take it very well. She attacked him at her full strength, didn't help her much though, Ryoga shrugs off blows that would kill most normal people."
"You know, that explains the day she came to school with all that makeup on, she must have several bruises on her face." Moon said.
A loud splash alerted them to their surroundings again and they saw Ryoga climbing out of the fountain, snarling. He jumped out and launched himself at Ranma, who backpedaled in shock, was once again female. "Ryoga, calm down and look at yourself!"
"DIE RANMA!"
"Ryoga, your still human even after being dipped in the fountain!"
Ryoga stumbled to a stop and gaped at Ranma for a second and replayed his memories of the event, his jaw hit the floor with a clang. "What the hell, I DIDN'T CHANGE! Hahahahah, I didn't change to the PIG! I'M CURED!"
"How did you do it man, I want a cure to you know?"
Ryoga didn't even hear him, he was to busy dancing in happiness, muttering 'never gonna be a pig again' over and over.
"That's weird." Commented Sailor Moon.
"Remember what Ranma told us about his life, this a kind of normal for him." Mars whispered.
"That may have been the change I mentioned before, the one I couldn't describe. Something was removed from him and replaced with a portion of your power." Mercury said, not paying attention to Mars or Moon.
"How much will it change them, and should we tell them?" Moon asked.
"Those curses were probably why they were affected, they already had a bit of magic clinging to them and it helped to make your Healing magic work differently."
"Well lets get this over with, hopefully they aren't to mad at me." Sailor Moon sighed. "Ranma, Ryoga!"
"What?" They yelled back, Ranma had Ryoga in a head lock and was trying to get him to tell how he was cured. Ryoga wasn't even paying attention, there was this silly grin on his face that the girl's found adorable.
"I think we know why Ryoga didn't change." Mercury said.
Ranma released Ryoga and hopped back over to the girls, for some reason he was feeling pretty good. Even fighting with Ryoga had been fun for a change instead of the chore it had been lately. "What did you find?"
"Well...when Sailor Moon used her wand to calm you down, it seems that your curses messed up the magic a little. It kept its healing magic and healed all of your wounds, but it also mixed with your curses and did something it wasn't designed to do."
"Is it dangerous?" Ranma asked, nervously.
"Not as far as I can tell, it just made some alterations to the both of you."
"Alterations..."
"Yes, with Ryoga here it took away his curse and replaced what was taken away."
Ryoga paled, visions of a mutant pig running around sitting on various members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew running through his head.
"I'm not sure on the changes, your energy readings are really weird, but I can tell that it gave both of you magical powers of some kind."
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A MUTANT PIG!!!" Ryoga screamed, Ranma hit him up side the head and shook his head.
"These are the Sailor Scouts moron, they wouldn't do that to you, what ever is going through your little piggy mind."
"RANMA!!"
The girls giggled and derailed Ryoga's train of thought, he laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. Ranma just sighed and turned to Mercury. "Is there some way to figure out exactly what happened to us?"
"Not for a few days, I need to write a program to scan you a little better."
"Drat...HOTARU!" Saturn jumped back in surprise.
"W-what..." Stuttered out Sailor Moon.
"Ryoga, we need to find Hotaru, I left her upstairs when the battle started."
"You left her unprotected through all that?! DIE RANMA!" Ryoga cried out and attacked Ranma again.
"Don't worry about her Ranma, most of the civilians were evacuated from the mall as we were arriving, she was probably in with them. Most are usually sent home to keep them safe, some of our battles can be quite damaging." Sailor Mars said, glancing at Saturn.
"Well I'm going to go and look for her." Ranma said and jumped up to second level.
"Get back here you coward, we have a fight to finish!" Ryoga yelled and took off after Ranma.
"Saturn, you know Ryoga don't you?" Mars asked.
"Yes I do, why?" She replied innocently.
"Why did he just run through that wall as if it wasn't there?"
"Just remember the stories about him and his direction sense."
"Those weren't true..."
"Trust me, they are very accurate, he went use the bathroom in my house the other day and disappeared for about 15 hours. When we found him, stuck in the hallway closet, he was asking us how we got all these giant stone columns into that giant bathroom, the 70 or so naked ladies, and the giant heated pool. I still don't know what he was talking about, he barely fit in that closet."
**********
Ranma made her way up stairs and began to look around for Hotaru, but after several minutes of running from store to store she stopped and tried to figure out a more efficient way to do this. Then her luck ran out as she spotted someone coming her way and she remembered the lady with the long green hair, she was missing her staff though. Ranma remembered destroying it in the last fight with the forbidden techniques, the vacume blades.
"Who are you anyway?"
"You are chaos incarnate and will destroy the future that is being crafted for my Queen. With you dead, she is guaranteed a bright and happy future."
"You have got to be kidding me." Ranma said, as he spotted two other familiar figures stepping out of the shadows to each side of him. The blonde haired tomboy and the sea green haired girl were radiating power again and this time she could tell that they were going to use more than they had before.
"Your evil ways will end here and now!" Yelled out Uranus.
"That is all well and good ladies, but your making a mistake." Ranma said.
"Your very life represents chaos, you can not stop us, you don't have the power this time."
Ranma crouched down, if Sailor Moon hadn't healed her that may have been true, but ever since she had, she had felt incredible. She smirked and analyzed the situation, from what she was feeling, she was about even with all 3 girls physically. They were enhanced in a magical way that gave them an advantage, but also a handicap. They could only go so fast before the enhancements ran out, Ranma on the other hand knew that she could push her body into speeds that they could only dream about.
"I advise you ladies against this, I am a trained fighter and one of the best in the world, you are not good enough to defeat me." Ranma arrogantly said.
"Time to die scumbag." Uranus said as she pulled her sword, Neptune stood at her side and pulled out her mirror.
"GO!" Pluto yelled.
Uranus and Neptune jumped forward and yelled out their attacks. "SPACE SWORD BLASTER!" and "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!"
Ranma dived forward and under both attacks and performed a foot sweep that sent Neptune to the floor. Her fist caught Neptune in the jaw and sent her sprawling, Uranus screamed and tried to decapitate him. Using her momentum and legs, Ranma hopped up into the air and kicked the girl in the head and tapped a pressure point in her arm that made her drop the sword. Then came the take down technique, he dropped her legs around her head and clamped them tight and twisted. This whipped Uranus around and he used the rest of the momentum to throw her, right over the balcony to the first floor.
Pluto charged in and started to throw punches and kicks at high speed before Ranma could bring up a defense. This impressed Ranma to no end, so far the Scouts had been poorly trained fighters, but this Pluto seemed to have some skill in the art. She took several blows before she began to weave and dodge around Pluto's attack, then she sped up again and clocked her across the chin and sending her back several feet.
She reacted on instinct as she sent out a kick that would have been her death blow, but she pivoted, grabbed her foot and tossed her over the railing. Just as Neptune fired off another "SUBMARINE REFLECTION!" and caught her in the chest. It was a powerful blast indeed, the strongest she had encountered to date in fact. It plowed into her with the force of a large bomb and sent her flying, her arms crossed in front of herself defensively. The pain was indescribable, she could feel her skin cooking even as she flew back through a concrete wall.
There was a rush of air and Ranma noticed the sky and realized that she had been blasted outside, just as she impacted on the hood of a car and totaled it in an instant. Her vision was tinted red and she was barely able to see Pluto standing at the large smoking hole that had been made when she passed through. Pluto brought her hand up and pink and green energy flowed around her body, a ball of energy then formed and was launched at him. Ranma knew this was it, she had taken to much damage so far. If she had 5 minutes of rest she could get back into the fight, but her back was reinjured and currently too sore to even move.
"I will not give up!" Ranma yelled and called on all her remaining strength and rolled off the car just as Pluto's beam hit. The car exploded and sent her flying, she landed on her shoulder and rolled to a stop in the middle of the parking lot. The now dislocated shoulder was a good sign, Ranma thought, the pain meant she was alive. Her vision went black just as she noticed a pair of red boots running towards her.
"Ranma!"
The Outer Scouts stalked out of the Mall, death written on their faces and Usagi knew that some thing was wrong. Haruka and Michiru were her friends, they had promised to never seek out another's life in the pursuit of the peace that they all sought. Usagi looked down on the bleeding body of her newest friend and for one of the few times in her life she felt her anger boil over. She was always playing the nice girl, never working to promote anger or allowing bad things to happen to her friends. She had done this for Prince Diamond and his brother, for the Sisters and even her possessed daughter, sacrificing almost everything for continued peace and a happy ending.
Sailor Moon flashed and became Princess Serenity as Neptune and Uranus closed in, the shock on their faces was enough to make them pause. Usagi held her hand out and leveled her palm at the friends and glared at them, making them back up a few steps. Behind her she heard her friends gasp as she started to put out a massive silver aura that lit up the entire parking lot. Usagi's voice was barely heard by any of them, but when she talked they all felt it in their bones and it resonated with pure power.
"Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, you are making me mad by trying to kill one of my friends and if you continue on this path I will strip you of your powers completely. Do. You. Understand!?"
Everyone gaped at her for several seconds, Neptune and Uranus gulped in fear at the fire that seemed to be burning in their Princess' eyes and nodded. They ran off and quickly disappeared, Usagi looked up at Pluto and frowned. The green haired woman "Eeeped!" and vanished through the Time Gate. Usagi turned to look at Ranma and had to hold back her tears, Ranma had been in town less than a week now and he was already getting mixed up in something he didn't need to be in.
She stretched her power out and let it envelope Ranma and willed his body to heal and made sure her magic healed everything in him. There was surge of power and Usagi knew that he would be alright when he awoke, but to be safe she had the inners grab him as she teleported them all to the Shrine. The appeared in Rei's bedroom with a burst of light and she motioned for them to lay him out.
"Princess...what are you going to do?" Mercury asked, a little fear in her voice, she had never seen Usagi like this before.
"Ranma is a member of Hotaru's family, something she had thought completely gone until he showed up."
"H-how do y-you know that?" Mars asked.
"I'm not sure yet, I just know that he has a destiny that is intertwined with us in some way and the letting the Outers kill him would not be a good idea."
Usagi lifted her hand and once again let her silver power engulf Ranma and gave him a little magic 'push' in the right direction, she felt something in his mind give and break, but her magic instantly calmed the dark power that had been hidden in his mind and released a flood of memories that had been locked away. His life and struggles flashed through her and tears ran down her face, how he had survived was a total mystery. There was so much pain that he was blamed for that could be traced back to his parents and his tragic childhood. Usagi was getting mad again, Genma Saotome was a dead man if she ever got her hands on him. The man was an abusive monster that didn't deserve to be a parent.
The dark power seemed to reach out and fill Ranma as Usagi worked and she used her magic to alter it and heal his mind while she shattered more of his blocked off memories of horrid training games involving wolves and trains and poisonous snakes. She used parts of herself as an example as she manipulated his mind and prayed it would heal him enough for him to survive. Usagi powered down, blinked, and fainted as her Princess Dress vanished in a flood of light, her Sailor Moon transformation vanished as well and left her in her school uniform. Sailor Mars caught her before she hit the ground and briefly wondered what she had done to Ranma. She looked up at the others, but they just shrugged, even Mercury who has scanned the whole thing with their computer.
"All I can tell you right now is that she used more power than all of Japan in the course of a year."
To Be Continued...
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Notes - This story is going in different direction than what I had planned, Ranma hasn't even made it to Horatu's house yet and Ryoga is showing signs that he has been getting stronger than ever. The Outers have attacked him in his female aspect and are more than willing to do what it takes to follow Pluto's orders. Usagi isn't taking it very well and as she gets stronger so does she change a little more into the Queen she is supposed to one day become.