The Road to Freedom

By The Senshi of Valis

Chapter 20

I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Ranma 1/2

Cedric smirked, it didn't matter that the foolish guardians took on new forms. Sure, he had to admit it made them cuter, especially the fire guardian who he refused to admit he had come to like when they had her prisoner awhile back. His loyalty laid with his Prince and Cedric refused to let his emotions rule. He had to remain icy as his Prince did, and commanded Cedric do as well. Emotions made one weak and the emotions Cedric felt for the guardian would finally end this day when he killed them all…including Taranee…

"It doesn't matter what form you take, you will all die here today." Cedric hissed.

"I don't think so." The fire guardian smirked throwing her hands out. A large blast of fire shot from the girl's hands and took on the likeness of the dragon which devoured more than half of his troops. This was not a good development.

"Wow." The water guardian breathed in awe.

"Wh-What was that?" the strange, snotty girl asked with terror in her voice.

"Akane, get the others out of here now!" the newest guardian ordered.

"Don't order me around you pervert!" the snotty girl growled. Cedric guessed the little brat's name was Akane. "I am a martial artist and I'm not afraid of all of these cheap tricks like the horror movie reject!"

Horror movie reject? Surely the stupid girl wasn't talking about him. No one as weak as her could be that stupid…could they?

"DAMN IT!" Ranma screamed in outrage, power surrounding her as her hair whipped violently about as a dragon formed around her, half water and half energy. The dragon seemed to sense the guardian's anger because it lashed out at Akane and threw her back as the dragon vanished after completing it's task. "Get them out of here NOW!"

"P-Pigtailed goddess?" a stupid boy with a wooden stick asked in shock looking at the red haired guardian. What the heck was a pigtail…And could she really be a goddess? It would explain the changes in the guardians.

"SHUT UP KUNO!" Ranma screamed lashing his hand out, a strong blast of energy striking the seemingly deranged boy throwing him back into a black haired girl who seemed to radiate an aura of insanity.

"Calm down, Ranma." Will said softly taking Ranma's hand and squeezing it. "It's okay."

"Enough of this sentimental garbage…Kill them all." Cedric ordered, "The one to bring me the heart will be greatly rewarded."

Cedric watched as the few remaining troops looked up at Cedric then at the guardians then back at Cedric. Almost as one they threw their weapons down to the ground and shook their heads.

"Screw this." One of the guards said.

"If you want them dead so much, you do it." Another guard said as they all started walking away.

"THIS IS TREASON!" Cedric screamed at the retreating guards.

"No, it's us wanting to live." Another guard said.

Cedric watched in shock as the soldiers all filed off then turned to the guardians who radiated pure power now. He didn't stand a chance at the moment against these people, not without some support which just left him alone. Growling, Cedric was forced to take the only option.

"This isn't the end of this, guardians!" Cedric hissed before slithering off.

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Will caught Ranma as she collapsed, supporting her as they both slowly slid to the ground. She felt the power as it left herself and saw it leave the others as well and return to the Heart of Cassidy before it spilt from the pendant they got from Frost.

"Are you okay?" Will asked Ranma who was now back to being normal while the others and Will was still in their normal guardian forms.

"Yeah…just really tired." Ranma said.

"Get away from Shampoo's Airen!" Shampoo ordered as she stomped over toward Ranma and Will.

"Are you stupid or are you missing a few brain cells?" Irma asked Shampoo who growled.

"How dare you insult Amazon?" Shampoo demanded.

"Did you not see any of this?" Ukyo cried out, "They could easily kill any of us!"

"Spatula girl is just coward." Shampoo said nervously, "Shampoo is Amazon and Amazon no afraid of anything."

"You really are the guardians?" Happosai asked in awe, not moving to glomp any of them, just staring is surprise at the girls and Ranma.

"What do you know you old freak?" Ranma demanded as she fought her way to her feet.

"Plenty my boy, I knew the previous guardians. Such a waste of life…Nerissa…Cassidy…" Happosai said sadly. "The Heart of Candracar can do many things from removing curses to healing people if used right. It also has its darker side…a much more destructive side which Nerissa once wanted to take advantage of."

"Are we going to believe some Yoda reject?" Irma asked in surprise.

"It's all true, I knew Yan Lin too…such a feisty one she was in the day. Yet the only one to do what was needed after what happened to Cassidy." Happosaid sighed, "I miss the poor girl."

"You miss glomping her you mean." Ranma snorted.

"I-Impossible…Airen can't be warrior from Candracar…Airen can't be." Shampoo cried out.

"It's true Shampoo." Happosai said, "And you know what that means. You have to give up your claim on Ranma due to law. In fact if I'm not mistaken, when Ranma defeated Saffron the council voided both kisses in fear of retaliation from the god slayer."

"Busted sugar." Ukyo sniffed.

"But Airen belong to Shampoo…to Amazons…" Shampoo said softly.

"We lost, Shampoo." Ukyo said as Konatsu stood by her side. "Ranma chose and he didn't choose one of us. I for one am going to do what I should have done a long time ago. I'm giving up and I advise you to do the same."

"Ukyo?" Ranma asked in surprise.

"Please don't, Ranma. Just don't." Ukyo said painfully. "I just want to go home."

"I can open a portal back to Japan from here I think." Will said, "Will you take the others back and drop them off before they wake up?"

"Sure." Ukyo said.

"Thank you." Will said holding up the heart and opening a portal. Hay Lin called up a gust of wind and threw Genma, Soun, Akane, Tatewaki, and Kodachi through the portal.

"You better take care of him." Ukyo said as she grabbed Shampoo's hand and dragged the Amazon without much struggling through the portal while being followed by Konatsu.

"I will, I promise." Will whispered.

"Goodbye, Ucchan." Ranma whispered.

"What about you?" Irma asked while glaring at Happosai.

"Don't think I'm letting you get away with causing any trouble." Ryoga said while cracking his knuckles.

"Don't worry about it, I won't be causing any trouble." Happosai said, "Too many interesting things happening for me to just leave though. Besides, I can help teach you some new techniques boy that doesn't rely on your depression chi. Plus, I might be able to teach the keeper here what I learned from Nerissa before she…before it happened. Maybe she can even cure Ryoga here of his directional curse…shouldn't be too hard."

"I'll be keeping an eye on you." Ranma warned as Will nodded and closed the portal to Japan.

"You aren't staying with us though, I don't want you living under the same roof as Will or her mother. Got it?" Ranma growled.

"I can provide for myself, don't worry my boy." Happosai said. Will wasn't sure but she could almost hear pride in the old man's voice as if he was proud of Ranma.

"Let's get back, after all we have a birthday party to continue." Irma said happily.

Will fought the urge to groan, she really didn't want the party but it touched her that they did this for her. It made her feel loved and happy, it showed that they really cared about her. She changed them back to normal then walked through the portal home hand in hand with Ranma and stopped in horror as she found Cologne still there and was holding her mother and Nabiki hostage.

"You will come with me, boy or I will kill them. You belong to the amazons and will learn to respect me." Cologne ordered. She started to say more but Ranma vanished momentarily and reappeared holding Colgne high into the air by the old woman's neck with her staff broken on the floor.

"How dare you threaten my family you old bat?" Ranma demanded, slammig the woman into a wall. Will winced, she wasn't sure if she heard bones cracking or wood breaking but seeing the trickle of blood seeping from the old woman's mouth Will was sure it was the former.

"H-How…you…you are just…a worthless m-male?" Cologne gasped.

"This worthless male vows to destroy your entire village if I ever see you again." Ranma snarled, "If any of my family sees you or any Amazon I will wipe everything Amazon of the face of the earth. I swear I won't leave anything Amazon…or anyone. If any of my friends or family are hurt in the slightest I will hunt you down and make you suffer." Ranma slammed the woman into the wall again while squeezing her neck tighter.

"I…I p-pro-promise not…not to c-come b-back." Cologne gasped while clawing helplessly at her throat. Ranma dropped the old woman and kicked her through the portal hard.

"Are you okay?" Ranma asked, fear and worry evident in her voice.

"We're fine, thank you." Nabiki said as Will closed the portal and hurried over to hug her mom. Relief that she was okay and happy that the whole Nerima confrontation was over with though she had a nagging thought that it may have been far from over.

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AN: Hi all, first of all I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday.

Hope everyone is enjoying everything so far but I'd like to get a little feedback on a few things hopefully. First off, here's a list of possible pairings that may or may not happen.

Will/Ranma (Did happen and they aren't splitting up.)

Ryoga/Irma

Cedric/Taranee

Cornelia/Caleb

Hay Lin/Eric

Hay Lin/Ryoga

Susan/Dean Collins

Elyon/Caleb

Second, how did everyone like Guardians' powered up forms? And lastly, should Nodoka be brought into the story as more of a main character? Maybe reconcile with Ranma?

Thanks for reading everyone.

Until Next Time,

Ja Ne