The Reborn
Chapter 3
Revenge Served
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Kasumi was quite tired as she prepared breakfast. She was most upset with all those who had arrived yesterday to attack Ranma and Nabiki. They had shown no care for the fact that both were now little more than young children, thanks to someone slipping them the age altering mushroom Ryoga had discovered before.
And now...
She shook her head, trying to force the knowledge she had away.
Slowly but surely, the NWC had returned, seeing Kasumi grow more enraged as they each returned smelling like smoke.
Some claimed they had been roof-hopping when a chimney suddenly vented ash.
Others claimed they had been searching in areas where the homeless had set up campfires.
Ryoga and Akane said something about a forest fire and English speaking people.
It did little to comfort the soul of the eldest Tendo daughter.
So, she listened as they began to bicker amongst themselves. She listened with growing anger as they called Ranma honorless, threatened him, and threatened Nabiki if she was stealing him.
"STOP IT, NOW!"
Everyone became silent, turning slowly to see the usual calm exterior of Kasumi replaced with barely contained rage.
She began to force them into the living room, around the TV already on, the horrid video cued to where she knew it needed to be.
She would give them no warning, no preparation, just the cold hard truth.
"I found them, now watch!"
With that, she hit the Play button, and stared at them, hoping she could find the killer among them.
The scene was of a burning building, which showed two kids helping people out. The report droned on. "As you can see, these two brave children are evacuating the people unable to or overcome by the smoke. Truly an example of the best of humanity!"
He was neglecting to mention the fact he wasn't helping.
As the two children ran back in, a woman could be heard yelling for them to save her child.
"Why is Nabiki going in with him?" asked Soun.
Cologne could only venture her guess. "She may want to help, make certain he doesn't falter, or perhaps he is too scared for her own safety outside his own viewing."
She left the reason for that fear unsaid.
Soon, the reported pointed the cameraman towards a window on the fourth floor, showing Ranma breaking it out, and making certain that a net was below to catch the bundle in his hands, before dropping it. The people below safely caught the small child, who was still crying at the fall.
Ranma was then seen picking up Nabiki, making ready to jump out of the inferno as well.
But he stopped, both children turning their heads to the left, appearing to see someone.
Ranma pushed away from the window, back into the burning building, as where he had been standing exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" screamed the reporter.
The people gathered leaned towards the television, as three more explosions rocked the complex.
Anguished cries could be heard from the people watching in the street, as the perceived heroes that had saved so many...were killed.
The scene switched again. The reported now looked horrified, as if he had just seen Death itself. "The firefighters have...have...have found the bodies of the two saviors. Um," he was licking his lips, trying to find the appropriate words. "Their bodies were discovered only moments ago, around the center of the former complex."
He looked off towards the side, where the flashing lights of the response teams could be seen. "No one knows who prevented them from escaping. But...but these children were better people than you or I. They...they saved so many."
The reported started crying, before waving the camera off.
And the tape ended.
The others could only stare as the tape stopped, not really believing what they had just seen.
Ranma and Nabiki...they had saved a lot of lives tonight. Many families would be homeless, but they would be alive.
The two had entered, hoping to find one more survivor.
And after saving the little girl, someone had apparently attacked them.
At his normal stature, Cologne would never bet against him.
As a child in a burning building and trying to protect an equally young Nabiki...his odds were slim to none.
Already, she was making plans to sneak into the morgue that night. No one would believe that Ranma could ever fall, even his most hated adversaries. She would be the pivot to either confirming or denying whose remains those were that would be found when the fire fighters combed the building.
If she was lucky, she would be able to identify who attacked them by the ki and chi signatures that would still be with the ruble.
They had taken something very precious.
And one of those now assembled who smelled like smoke would be forced to pay for their crimes.
Within the next day, a letter arrived addressed to both Nodoka and one to the local police department. It had been a final attack created by Nabiki. In it, she had explained completely what all Genma did, who the panty thief was, charges against Principal Kuno and the clan at large, and several other tidbits that nearly ruined the lives of many of the NWC.
It contained some of her sins as well, but oddly, none of Ranma's.
She explained that in the letter as well. "If I am dead, then the case is that Saotome probably died to protect me from whatever new nut disposed of me."
And thus, with a whimper, and not the bang everyone expected, the Nerima Wrecking Crew was disbanded.
Shampoo had been crying all morning, her tears only seeming to intensify as Cologne brought word that the bodies at the morgue had in fact been those of Ranma and Nabiki.
Cologne sat at the counter of the closed restaurant, her age seeming to catch up to her. She had placed much faith in the young Saotome. He seemed to be a very worthy heir to all the Amazons had to offer, the first male to exceed and attract much attention that the Council had to offer.
She shook her head. Thinking of what had occurred would do nothing. The fact that everyone of the NWC had returned smelling of smoke was in all likelihood a joke on them by the fates, making them all believe that one of the others had killed Ranma and Nabiki.
Truth be told, she believed it as well.
But whatever or whoever attacked them...it was not a member of the NWC.
But the sadness would not bring them back. "Shampoo, we shall be staying here."
"Great-grandmother?" Shampoo was confused. Would they not be heading home, since her Airen was no longer around?
Cologne shook her head. "The boy would not be happy in the next world should we abandon them. The oldest Tendo daughter will need a reason to live. Perhaps even the youngest may be able to be redeemed to find a path.
"Sadly, I feel we could have prevented this, but repercussions and regret will solve nothing." Cologne felt her age lighten. "The forests south of here would make a good home for our people, perhaps even the Northern Island; this land seems to produce strong males. Perhaps...it is time to form a new colony for the Amazon Nation."
Years later, a new village had been built with the assistance of Kodachi Kuno, led by Cologne. It viewed males and females as equals, as well as counted Akane as one of its best fighters. When China began to try and tighten its hold on the Bayankala mountain range, the Amazons had already moved all of their prized possessions to their Japan colony
Sadly, Shampoo never accepted a marriage challenge after the death of her Airen. She truly did love him, even if she could never show it the way he would accept. Despite Mousse's pleas, she did eventually find love in Pantyhose Taro, who was renamed.
Love is so strong though, he never was able to replace her love for her Airen.
But he never was lacking of it in her heart.
Mousse? The less said the better. Not a pretty sight.
Ukyo began to close up her shop. Her father—after hearing of Ranma's death—ordered her return.
She had been crying for three days straight, only Konatsu keeping her from killing herself to join Ranma in the next life.
She had wanted to kill the others; Kuno, Kodachi, Akane, Ryoga, the Amazons; anyone who she could have believed would have kept her Ranchan from getting out of that burning building alive.
Sadly, she could almost see their stories as true. She herself had returned to the Tendo Dojo smelling of smoke.
But why? Why had her love been forced to die?
She had even felt some sadness for the Mercenary. She had been small, but she had gone in when told that there was possibly another child within the building.
Nabiki had a heart after all.
Ukyo sighed once again, wiping the tears from her eyes as she packed another item: a document from Nodoka stating that she was now a member of the Migami clan; Nodoka's original clan before marrying Genma, should her father fail her once again.
It was the effort of her Ranchan's mother that allowed her to return to the Kuonji clan with full honor.
Her father would pay, though. He had sent her on a fool's errand, trying to reclaim the honor he had lost and that by all rights, he should have sought revenge for.
If nothing else, she would ensure he knew his place when she returned home.
But that did little to sooth her heart, to ease the pain of loosing the boy she had spent the last year dreaming of marrying.
Silently, she finished packing, watching as Konatsu dutifully moved them out to the waiting moving van.
As she turned one last time to the empty room that had been Ucchan's, a place she had long since memorized, made her home, enjoyed countless moments with her Ranchan, she let loose a solitary tear. "Goodbye, Ranchan. Wherever you are now, be well."
When she returned home, she beat her father to within an inch of his life, before leaving her clan. With Nodoka's help, she opened a restaurant in Kyoto, naming it Ranchan's. A few years later, Konatsu proposed to her, and they were wed a month later. Her first children were twins, a boy and girl, whom she named after her first love—with Konatsu's approval—as Ranma and Ranko, with her second daughter named Nabiki; in honor of the woman who died with her love.
While Ukyo lived a happy life, she never forgot her first love, though Konatsu never was a second place in her heart.
Ryoga lay in the bed of his tent. He had been at the campsite for weeks, his food stocks nearly gone.
For him; however, it felt as if he should just curl up and die.
Everyone had blamed him for Ranma's death, and had it not been for Akane being with him while they searched for Ranma, then he was certain she might be among those that assumed he had been the one.
"Stupid old men; how were we to know they would toss out that ash?"
His rival...dead. One of the former NWC was suspect of being a killer, of taking the lives of Ranma and Nabiki as they had searched for a child that was never there.
So what now? What could he do?
Akane had found out about P-chan when she tried to bath him, his mind being so depressed he never noticed the furo approaching him.
He had been somewhat lucky to end up near his backpack.
But he knew he could never go there again.
His rival...gone. His love...hated him. He was lost now, in more ways than one.
So he traveled on when morning broke, not really certain what to do now.
He would spend a year traveling around, nearly killing himself three times as the Shishi Höködan began to grow strong enough to overcome the Bakusai Tenketsu training.
It was after the third such attempt that Akari found him, and brought him home. It would be months before he was well enough to get out of bed, and even longer before he began to practice the Art again.
Akari did help him learn to live again, and eventually love. Their children never had his directional problems, as Akari was able to find a cure for him.
But there were still nights that Ryoga would be found, staring at the night sky, crying for what he was, what he lost, and what he could still become.
Kodachi slept in her own room in the new Kuno manor, a far cry from what it had been. Her brother was still on sojourn after his release from the hospital and following her own release. He had decided to journey around, now with a clear mind, to try and make up for his previous misdeeds.
Their father was still in prison, his façade not helping him against what he had wrought.
She slowly sat up, looking at the clock. "Sasuke will not be up yet. I think I will lay down some more."
Sleep had not come easy for her, even with the medication given to her by the doctors who had helped both her and her brother see sanity again.
How could she go on? She had lost a person she loved, never able to apologize for what she had done to him.
Sighing, she looked over at the lone picture in her room. It held the face of her mother.
Once again rising from her bed, Kodachi headed to the kitchen. She might not be the best cook in the world, but perhaps Sasuke would enjoy sleeping in for once.
When her brother returned, the Kuno fortune was put to charitable uses. Despite their father's efforts, their use of funds helped many people have a better life, and discover a few cures for ailments that would have gone unnoticed by the community at large
In the years that followed, Tatewaki married Mariko, allowing them to further expand Kuno Enterprises into a corporation often used as a standard to judge others. Kodachi fell in love with a teacher at Furinkan High, where she took over her father's job.
Both led happy lives for the most part, but never forgot the hell they went through to get there, or the hell they put others through before hand.
Soun looked at the shogi board once again. His former friend was gone, taken on one final training trip with the Master.
Not that Soun envied him. Nodoka had sworn his death after Nabiki's revenge letter had reached her, detailing everything that had occurred to Ranma.
"Dear, you need to get ready, your classes begin soon."
Soun Tendo had married Nodoka shortly after her divorce from Genma and about six months after Genma disappeared with Happosai.
With Nodoka watching over them, Soun soon returned to teaching.
Kasumi soon married Tofu after his return, and were currently working and living in his clinic. After the loss, she soon fell apart, forcing her to stop hiding from the world. Tofu, who had seen the report on TV about the fire and subsequent deaths, returned to Nerima, the fact that his true love needed him was enough to destroy his phobia. Had the two not been there for each other, it could have easily lead to their own deaths as well.
Akane took it perhaps the hardest of everyone. She had loved Ranma, despite how she may have acted, but suffering from her own demons, she could never show it. Combined with the loss of her sister, Akane nearly broke. For a while, all she could think of was the Art, the only thing she could think of that still kept her close to Ranma, and bugging her father to resume teaching, in order to insure Nabiki's life hadn't been spent in vain trying to keep them all together.
Akane had been forced into therapy by court order after both a violent attack that left a reformed Hentai Horde injured as well as a three block destruction spree after discovering who P-chan was, which did do wonders for her, though the path had resulted in a few court cases and several house arrests. She was soon married to a fellow actor in her college classes, though soon divorced with one child after he admitted that he was gay. Later, she met and married a police officer, and finally had a happy marriage.
Yes...he was straight.
Soun and Nodoka had twins soon after being married, a boy and girl with fiery red hair.
Of course, no one really escaped the scars of what they had once been, what they had both done and allowed to happen.
"Will this be satisfactory?"
Pluto looked at the children watching what would occur before the Time Gates. Normally, no one was allowed to be here.
Of course, one's priorities change when you see your future self die before you eyes.
Nabiki looked glum. "Man, I really wanted them to suffer more than that." These people had nearly gotten her killed. She felt justified in wanting them all to suffer until their deaths.
Ranma shook his head. "Best to be this way. If they get too depressed, they might go on some sort of quest to try and bring us back. Or worse, maybe find us in Juuban." He turned back to the Gates. "With our mantels activated, our energy is changed enough so even Cologne couldn't find us, so no need to worry about them tracking us down as we practice."
She had to agree. "Well, at least my sisters got better and had happy lives." Nabiki had wanted to go back and visit her mom one last time, tell her what she needed to do.
But that would risk altering things. And if they were happy with their new lives... "So, what now?"
Pluto smiled. "Well, I need to alter your appearance slightly. This needs to be done to further hide you. Don't worry; I'll only change little things like hair styles and hair color."
"I need to keep long hair for when my curse comes back." Ranma soon steeled his gaze. "And I better not end up in a damned fuku when it does. I ain't gonna be Sailor Sun. I'm Solaris Knight!"
Pluto sighed once again, wishing the gates would reveal that little detail to her. "Anyway, I have arranged living quarters for you for the time being. Ranma, you will be registered as my adopted baby brother, and Nabiki will be your fiancée. Both of your parents died in a bus crash during an earthquake, but they signed documents that you would wed."
"Well," Nabiki said glumly, "nice to know they cared."
"I have a possibility to adopt Nabiki, and it will keep her close enough for you two to train." She handed Nabiki a folder. "Plus, her daughter will be Sailor Mercury."
"Well, that could work out," said Nabiki thoughtfully. That would get her better access to watch over the Inners, and Mercury had always been a back-line fighter.
"So, what now?" asked Ranma.
Pluto waved the Time Key over the Gates, causing a portal to open. "First, we need to fix the flawed Nekoken inside you, Ranma. We can't have a Senshi who runs away in terror at the sight of a cat-like youma."
Ranma gulped, as Nabiki started giggling.
"I wouldn't laugh, Nabiki." As the small girl turned towards her, Pluto got an evil glint in her eyes. "You see, just as these people in the past can fix Ranma's Nekoken, they can also teach the correct one. One...you will be learning."
As Nabiki gulped and tried to make a run for it, Ranma grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. "Nuh-uh! If I gotta suffer, so do you...dear."
Omakes by Old Fool:
Now its time for fun with the Time Gate, or why Setsuna hates guests.
Setsuna: Welcome to the Time Gate. Gestures with both arms in a dramatic manner All points in the past and future converge here in this place.
Ranma: Wow that's the fanciest TV I have ever seen.
Nabiki: I don't think it's a TV Ranma.
Ranma: Really, then what are we here for then.
Setsuna: I am going to show you the future to remove your fears of how things turn out for those who you leave behind.
Ranma: Ha, told you it was a TV. Hey, do you get cable here? Looks around at the void surrounding them
Setsuna: Rising from one of the few documented face faults to happen in this most hallowed of chambers No Ranma, we are on the planet Pluto there is no cable television here.
Ranma: Ok, how about satellite I was wanting to catch the rugby match on ESPN 2 today.
Setsuna: Rising again No, I'm afraid not.
Ranma: Not much of a TV then is it.
Setsuna: Growling It's not a damn Television.
Ok, let's try back a little later.
Ranma: Come on man you can do it. Just one more try; don't be a quitter on me now.
Nabiki: You realize that if Ryoga tries that attack again, it'll probably kill him right.
Ranma: Yeah, after all the crap he's caused me I might as well get to see him off himself.
Nabiki: You know what, your right. Pulls two pair of pom-poms from behind her back and hands a set to Ranma
The two person cheering squad starts offering their encouragement to pork but until Akari shows up and drags him home to their disappointments.
Setsuna: Shakes her head at their antics Maybe I need to look a little closer at the Gate. These two can't be our last hope.
How about another scene.
Nabiki: Snatching a bucket of popcorn away from Ranma Quit hogging it Ranma. Hey Setsuna can you show us how things turned out for my sisters? I'm still a little worried about Kasumi even though you said she was alright.
Setsuna: That can be arranged.Points her staff at the Gate causing the random jumble of images to melt away leaving the sight of Kasumi Tendo lying naked on a futon with a blindfolded Tofu performing his husbandly duties.
Nabiki: Stares goggle eyed at the gate until she notices that Ranma has a similar expression on his face with the addition of a large blood drop forming on his nose. To rectify the situation she shoves the popcorn bucket over his head Well it's good to see that things turned out well for her, but I wonder what the blindfolds for.
While in the throws of bliss the image of Kasumi Ono reaches up and removes the blindfold from her beloved's eyes revealing herself to him. As he begins to acknowledge what is below him the standard shaking and twitching we associated with him becomes extremely erratic. To the point, that his image begins to blur due to the speed of his twitching.
Nabiki: Wow, he's a husband and a marital aid in one. Ok, how about Akane?
Ranma: Can I take the bucket off now?
Setsuna: Trying to hide the fact that she was setting a VCR to record the last scene Yes, the Time Gates can...
Ranma: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it past, future, yadda yadda yadda. Switch to a new channel; I'm getting salt in my hair here.
Setsuna: Fine, there is your sister Akane. mumbles Ungrateful brats.
A well furnished apartment comes into view. Akane and an unidentified man are standing by the entrance.
Akane: WHY? Why are you leaving? What, am I not enough for you? What do you think this is going to do to our child? Damn you, answer me.
Face less stranger: Honestly, this is best for all three of us. Things have changed Akane.
Akane: WHAT? What's changed?
Stranger: Akane...I'm gay.
Akane: You, you've been living a lie all this time for me. I don't know what to say.
Stranger: Naw, afraid not. I was straight. But after being married to you for a year, I don't feel attracted to women anymore.
Akane: So I ruined you for all other women. Faint glimmer of pride in her eyes
Stranger: Yeah, you could put it that way. But you should include yourself also.
Ranma begins rolling on the floor laughing hysterically as Nabiki shakes her head in disbelief.
Nabiki: And all this time I thought she was a lesbian.
Ranma: Told you nobody would want that tomboy.