Chapter 3

Scenes

-…- coughing, hacking, making a certain sound

"…" speaking out loud

'…' thinking

Disclaimer: I don't need a disclaimer. I own this 100 percent! HAHAHA! (sigh) If I did then everything in Ranma will change. I don't do this for profit or gain but I do it for fan appreciation. So that means I don't own it. So bug off you lazy ass lawyers.

Last Time

They all got off the shuttle and went right in front of the goddess to thank the pilot properly. Azuma made them of course. The pilots steps out. A white-heeled boot came first. Ranma got interested as she steps forward. Her blue her swaying in the air released by the goddess. Ranma was speechless.

"What a beautiful Goddess…"

Still in the Engineering Bay

"What a beautiful Goddess…" Ranma mouthed again in wonder.

A boy behind Ranma gave a big cat smile.

"Her name is Teela Zain Elmes. She pilots Ernn Laties, the only female to ever pilot a Goddess."

Ranma jumps up a bit, and look behind him. Behind Ranma is a boy with brown hair and brown eyes with glasses.

"Um…. Who are you?" Ranma asks politely.

"My name is Clay Cliff Fortran. The number is 89." Clay introduces to Ranma.

Ranma nods and goes back to staring at Teela.

"So can you tell me more about her?" Ranma asks.

"There is not much known about her. The only info you can get is that she pilots Ernn Laties. I think the government keeps a lock down on the information about her." Clay said with a white glare on his glasses.

Ranma nods dumbly, but says nothing. As she walks down the hall, Ranma notices the graceful movements of an expert martial artist within her steps. Ranma smiles a bit as he found a challenge. Teela walks past Ranma for a second and the whole world froze. Ranma looks directly at her and she stops to look back. Ranma mouths something and Teela nods and continues to walk. The world around them unfroze and began to move at its regular pace. The others were awestruck, Teela just nodded to a rookie…a newb.

Everyone stares at Ranma, but Ranma being who he is looks confused.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" Ranma asks.

Everyone avoids his eyes and continues his/her work. Ranma shrugs and turns to Zero.

"Zero, I think we need to head off to the Sanitary Bay." Ranma says in Zero's language.

Zero nods and begins to follow Ranma. The others stared at the disappearing duo. It was pretty rare for people on the ship to speak their native tongue in the ship. The others just ignores them, today is a crazy and weird day.

Ranma and Zero walk down the hall to look for the Sanitary Bay. Azuma earlier had said that they were to go to the Sanitary Bay as soon as possible. Ranma just wanted to get this over with. Zero just obediently followed Ranma, because he couldn't remember how to get there or where to go afterwards.

Zero then thought of something.

"Hey Ranma?" Zero asks.

"What is it?" Ranma replied.

"What did you mouthed to Teela? I mean in a moment I saw you talking to her but couldn't hear it."

Ranma smiles. "I just told her that I like to challenge her someday in a Goddess to Goddess fight. She just nodded her head to tell me she heard. Or something close to that."

"Oh…" Zero pauses for a second. "Hey Ranma…"

"What is it?" Ranma looks at Zero warmly.

"Do you think I can become a Goddess pilot? I mean I think I can but… the odds are stacked against me. What if I don't make it?" Zero asks timidly.

Ranma smiles at Zero warmly again.

"You don't have to worry about such things. When we get there; we'll know what to do. For now all we can do is our best, nothing more."

Zero looks down at his feet for a minute taking in everything Ranma had said.

"Thanks Ranma. I've nearly lost my purpose in coming here."

Ranma chuckles a bit, and ruffles Zero's hair.

"Believe me Zero, you can't lose your purpose…ever."

Zero looks up at Ranma.

"What do you mean?"

Ranma says nothing. Zero decided to drop the subject. The Sanitary Bay is just up ahead of them. Ranma looks up and sees the sign.

"Cleanness is Next to Godliness."

'What a weird sign.' Ranma thought.

Walking closer there seems to be screaming. Wondering what it is Ranma and Zero cautiously walked closer. The screaming got louder. Ranma and Zero now could hear the screams clearly.

"NO WAY! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP MY LONG HAIR!" A boy screamed.

"YES, YES, YES! THE HAIR MUST COME OFF! IT IS FILTY! CRAWLING WITH INSECTS AND WHATNOT!" A man's voice could be heard shouting over the kid.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! IT IS NOT, I REAPEAT NOT CRAWLING WITH INSCETS!"

"HAHAHAHA! IT IS TOO LATE FOR YOU! I 'VE ALREADY TIED YOU DOWN TO THE CHAIR! NOW IT'S OFF WITH YOUR DIRTY HAIR!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo……" The boy's voice ended abruptly.

Ranma and Zero look at each other for a second. Nodding with each other they slowly walk backwards, away from the Sanitary Bay. After taking a couple of steps Azuma caught them by the collars.

"So… where are we heading off today?" Azuma said with a scary smile on his face.

"Uh…nowhere?" Ranma and Zero replied at once.

Azuma smiles again. Ranma and Zero felt a sense of dread chilling down their spine. Azuma drags the teens by the collar and roughly threw them into the Sanitary Bay. Landing on their faces, Ranma and Zero looks up at the man who they both heard shouting earlier. Ranma and Zero both weakly smile as the man hovers over them with a wicked grin under the shadowed face of his. Ranma and Zero nervously chuckles and crawls backwards slowly. The man suddenly leaps up and ties them both with some kind of metal bands. Ranma and Zero both laid helplessly on the floor.

A Few Minutes Later

Ranma lost his precious pigtail, and his hair ended up with spikes at the back. Zero really didn't change much. His hair only got a bit neater. Both muttering curses under their breaths walk out of the Sanitary Bay. Ranma just stops walking after a couple of steps. Zero looks back.

"Whatcha stop for?" Zero asks.

"I need to go to the John." Ranma replies.

"The what?" Zero asks, not familiar with the term.

Ranma just looks at Zero with a face that said 'I don't believe what I'm hearing'.

"What?"

"I need to go to the washroom."

"OOOOHHH!" Zero's face lit up in realization.

Ranma turns around and heads back towards the Sanitary Bay.

"Why are you going back?"

"To ask for directions."

"…."

As soon as Ranma disappears behind a corner Zero turns around and walks down the hall.

"Okay…where am I supposed to go again?"

Many Minutes Later

Zero is dripping with sweat, his hair stuck to his fore head.

"How big IS this place?" Zero panted out.

Zero is hopelessly lost within the giant ship. The place was so huge that I took him half an hour to walk around once. He somehow ended up back at the Sanitary Bay once again. Dripping with sweat Zero walks down the hall all over again. This time Zero headed lower and started going down the stairs. Coming to abrupt halt, Zero saw the Goddess. Happiness filled his entire mind. Zero immediately went over to the elevator and pushed the button to go down. While waiting for the ride down Zero kept staring at the piece of machinery. Hardly taking his eyes off Zero mumbled a couple of words, most of them like "Cool" "Awesome" somewhere along those lines. Still looking up at the Goddess Zero reached a hand, stretched it as far as he can.

"I'm so close."

Leena was so busy repairing the Goddess that she did not notice Zero come down. Leena still repairing and modifying the Goddess so that it would be better suited for Gareas. Wiping sweat on her brow with her right sleeve, she sighed happily. She had finally finished the modifications. Checking everything over for mistakes Leena goes under the hood again.

Zero gets off the elevator and Zero walks down the pathway. Admiring each and every Goddess. Stopping on one. Zero admired it a bit more. It looked like the pure white Goddess. In a certain sense, this was the closest to the pure white one. Zero looks up at the cockpit, looking at the clear blue layer.

Leena just finished her check up from the back of the Goddess and caught sight of black hair around the corner of the Goddess. Smiling Leena sneaked up behind the guy and jumped down screaming.

"HI GAREAS!" Leena shouted in the teen's ear.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Zero scream out loud.

Turning around Zero looked up at the person who scared him. Leena smile turned into a frown as she saw that it wasn't Gareas. Zero immediately backed away from her. Leena finally realizing a stranger was right in front of her she screamed.

"W-Who are you?" She stuttered.

Zero puts his hands in front of him to protect him from the harm to come. Still walking back Zero bumped into the rail. Then something unforgettable happened. The rail disappeared from underneath Zero and he plunged right into the cockpit. Trying with all his might Zero reached out a hand to try and grab hold on to anything before he fell in. His eyes widen as he fell through the clear blue liquid. The luke warm water felt weird on Zero's skin. Zero closes his eyes as he passed the liquid.

Leena realizing the danger of a stranger falling through the cockpit Leena quickly rushed over to the controls next to the Goddess.

While Leena Tries to Reach the Controls Zero is Somewhere Else

'A voice…' Zero could not open his eyes.

'I hear a voice...' Zero opens his eyes only to see a blurry image.

'You're the voice that's been calling me.' Zero sees a beautiful girl with blond hair reaching out to him.

The girl embraces Zero as sees whispers in his ear.

"This is…" She trails off.

"W-What …"

"Do…"

"You…"

"Want…"

"To…"

"Say…" Zero slowly says.

Zero's eyes begin to get heavy. The urge to sleep overcame his curiosity. Releasing a deep sigh Zero closes his eyes. The girl holds him closer to her as Zero slept.

The light flooded into Zero's eyes as woke, the bright lights blinded him for a minute. Bring his arm to block the light; Zero looks around under the shadow of his arm. The area he was in is filled with wild flowers. Untouched by humanity, untouched by any living creatures. Zero lowers his arms as he was to shocked too hold up his arm. Blinking about a few times Zero tried to rub away the illusion. NO such thing exists anymore. Zero stares up at the blue skies with white clouds drifting by. Zero takes in a deep breath, his wavering constitution about to buckle under the force of what he was seeing. Tears flow out of his eyes as he sees the hopeful world all of humanity hoped to see for, to die for.

The skies turn dark and cracks appear in the sky. The cracks spread through the skies, falling pieces of the skies drops down on the planet. Fiery stars crash down burning everything in its path. The fires spread throughout the field of flowers. Zero shakes his head in denial and steadily takes steps backwards. Turning around quickly Zero looks down at his feet and starts running. Gritting his teeth in anger Zero closes his eyes hoping that the image will go away. Suddenly Zero felt like he is running on nothing. Slowing down Zero opens his eyes. The complete void surrounded him. Tears run down Zero's cheek again, this time they were tears for pain and anguish.

"This is what happened long ago… only you pilots can save it. You are the ONE who shall pilot me. You are the only one…" The beautiful girl whispers once again to Zero's ear. "It is a pilot's destiny…"

Author Note: Sorry it took so long. I will next time update faster. I promise.