DBZR ½

Chapter 26: What? Explain!

To say that one could hear a pin drop at that pronouncement would be understating it. It would be better to describe the effect as hearing all of the pins dropping within three universes. For the three Nerima teens that had the most to gain from the removal of the curses, they were instantly crushed, gazing up at the great dragon above them in utter defeat as shock roiled through their forms.

Ranma, his expression crestfallen, broke the silence first.

"Wha-what? How?!"

"The curses you speak of are of a magic not of this dimensional realm, and they are of an ancient power. It cannot be undone by me. It must be undone by a Power or God within that realm, or by a dragon greater than I."

"Oh man...that sucks!" Goku groused, disappointment clearly etched on his face. "Too bad we don't know any Gods over there. Or of any other kind of Dragonballs." He crossed his arms and looked over at Ranma. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I guess we let you down."

Ryoga glared darkly up at the dragon. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing else that's happened to us since Jusenkyo has been. Why would it be now?"

Ranma's mind, however, was slowly turning over, getting back into the game and processing what he was just provided.

Fact: the dragons here couldn't undo the curses.

Fact: the curses can be undone.

Fact: they can be undone by a god within their own world.

While they didn't know a god, personally, he was sure they'd be able to find a way. In fact… "Is there a God or Power there that can help us?" He called upwards.

"Seek out the one known as the Guardian by calling for them as such. They know of what ails you, personally, and will be able to help further."

The pig-tailed martial artist face relaxed, his heart rate rising and reactivating after the hard reset that it had just experienced. "Ok..it's ok...we can work with this." He looked to the others, laughing in relief. "So we can't get rid of them immediately, but they can be removed! We just have to go home, find this Guardian, and get them removed. Little longer, but this isn't so bad, right?"

"Shampoo accepts this." The busty Amazon admitted, also relieved. "Waited this long. Can wait a little longer."

Ranma turned back to the dragon. "Can you do anything to other realms?"

"If it is in another dimensional plane, I am able to add, and create changes, both on a minor level. I cannot remove anything, nor can I make any significant changes."

"Ok, so I'll just wish for a place like the Lookout to be added. Surely that's a minor thing. That'll let us keep training and getting stronger." The pig-tailed fighter turned to the others for their thoughts, all three of whom nodded encouragingly.

"That would be a good idea!" Shampoo stated, rubbing the knuckles of her slender hands. "Training against Namekians, and with people on Lookout shows we need to get stronger still."

"If it's even possible to get truly strong enough." Ryoga pointed out, glancing over at a curious Goku. "It's not like we can compare with Saiyans." Looking back to Ranma, he added, "But having some place to train is better than nothing at all."

"Ok, then it's settled." Ranma turned to Moori. "I wish for a training facility like the Lookout on Earth to be placed on my world."

The Elder Namekian nodded, and translated. A few moments passed, and the dragon rumbled.

"A place as you wish for already exists. Seek out the Guardian." The statement surprised all of them.

"Wait, we have a Lookout?" Akane gaped, looking to Cologne, who was equally perplexed. "How does that happen?"

"I do not know, child." The senior citizen replied, shaking her head. "It would appear there is much we do not know about what is in our world, more than expected."

"Well..that...kinda took the wind out of things for me…" Ranma groused, scratching the back of his head.

"No problem, Ranma." Goku perked up and approached. "You'll think of something. But hey, I have a wish, if you guys don't mind?" At the approving nods by the others, he turned to Moori. "I wish for the changes placed on my friends on Earth to be removed."

Shampoo scratched her cheek. "Didn't the others say they tried that already?"

Another few moments passed, and then a rumbling answer. One that surprised Shampoo, at the least.

"Understood. I will grant this wish." Porunga's blood red eyes briefly glowed bright, and then faded. "You have two wishes left."

"Alright!" Goku cheered, pumping his fist into the air before looking to the Nerima crew. "Anyone else?"

"I have a wish." Cologne took a few steps forward before setting her staff down on the ground, crouched, and bowed low. "Oh mighty dragon, I wish to be restored to my youth and vitality of 25 years old, with the additional strength, power, skills, knowledge of those skills, and the endurance of my great-granddaughter if she had continued to train from age 17 to 25."

Porunga interrupted before Moori could translate, his voice respectful. "You are a significantly elderly being. This change will cause you great distress and possible harm before there are no longer any dangerous effects, if granted as worded. Are you certain of your wish?"

Cologne sat up, looking skyward, expression almost pleading. "Will it help if the change is made gradually, restoring one year per minute?"

"That will mitigate all potential danger."

"Then that is my wish, great one." Cologne bowed once more.

"I knew she was up to something!" Akane hissed to Ranma, who gently waved her down.

"Look, it could have been much worse." He whispered back, while Moori translated the wish to make it official. Finally, the dragon rumbled once more.

"Understood. I will grant you this wish." Once more the dragon's eyes glowed, and, at the same time, so did Cologne, her tiny, frail body becoming infused with a bright energy. The glow continued for several seconds, before it finally faded, and she rose up from her bowed position.

"Thank you, great Porunga." She called, to which the Dragon's lips seemed to have pulled upwards into a smile.

"You have one wish left. Provide it."

From the corner of his eye, Ranma could see Cologne about to speak, but before she could, Akane called out, "I have a wish, great Porunga!" The elderly woman glanced at the martial artist with some irritation.

"Speak your wish."

Akane swallowed down her apprehension, and then, in a strong voice, uttered her wish. "Great dragon, I wish for Ryoga, Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyo Kuonji in our realm, and myself to be 17 and Saiyan, with the one who needs to match that age gaining the experience of a full years worth of training in the process!" The exclamation prompted several startled gasps from the other Nerima members. Ranma had a bemused, disbelieving look on his face, while Ryoga just stared, dumbfounded, and Shampoo had her hands pressed to her lips in outright shock. Cologne was openly gawking. "She is far more cunning than I expected! To make such a wish is to position herself, and the others, as the strongest warriors on the planet, in time. I would never have expected such a thing from her." Her eyes narrowed. "That is a cunning worthy of her sister."

Goku was also gawking, but in respectful awe instead. "Oh wow! That's amazing! I wonder why Krillin or Tien never thought of doing that?"

"Honestly, based on the kind of battles you told us about, I kinda wondered why you guys didn't just wish yourselves massive power boosts. Or at least yourself." Akane shrugged, holding her hands up to the sky. "I mean, it would have saved you a lot of time."

"Oh, I can tell you why I never did that. That's easy. Training's fun, and who wants to cheat themselves of fun?" Goku grinned, fists on his hips.

She thought about it, and then nodded. "Fair enough, I guess." Looking back to Moori, she added, "That's my wish. If it is allowed."

Once Moori translated the wish, Porunga considered it: he considered this wish for a long time. Long enough that there was some thought that perhaps he would state it could not be done. Or, in Ryoga's case, the thought that the Dragon had forgotten about them crossed his mind. Ranma wondered if the dragon had heard. Finally, Porunga's rumbling voice echoed across the land.

"Understood. This wish is...a stretch, but it is permitted." His eyes glowed for a final time, and all four teens were also enveloped in a golden glow, their bodies shuddering from the influx of energy infusing them, deep down into their cores. As the glow faded, they each glanced at themselves, holding up open hands, turning them one way or the other, while above, the dragon roared one last time. "Your wishes have been granted. Farewell!"

Porunga's form glowed brightly and then vanished as seven orbs shot away from the center to scatter across the planet once more, the sky returning to normal.

Goku approached the teens as they continued to inspect themselves. "So, how do you guys feel?"

"I feel…" Ranma mouthed softly as he flexed his hands, feeling the skin tightening. He looked up at the Saiyan, perplexed. "...absolutely no different."

"Yea, me neither." Ryoga grunted, rubbing a bicep and finding it as pliable as before. Which is to say, not very pliable at all.

Shampoo poked at her cheek. "Did it actually work?"

"Well, I can sense your power, and it does seem stronger now." Goku pointed out. "It might just take some adjustment?" Before anyone else could speak, almost as one, all four teens stomachs began to growl, prompting flushes of embarrassment to cross their faces.

"Geez, I'm suddenly really hungry!" Ranma held his stomach, surprised.

"Me too!" Akane added, before laughing. "Well, if suddenly being hungry is the worst of that, I guess we did alright!"

Goku broke out into a hearty laugh, hands going to the back of his head. "Yea, I guess you guys are going to be as hungry as Vegeta and I get!"

That prompted a few blinks from all four teens, and they glanced at each other, all having the same thought on their face.

Maybe that wish wasn't such a good one? They were going to be eating everyone out of house and home!

"Tell me, child. Why did you wish for such a thing?" Cologne asked, balancing on her staff once more as she pogoed in front of Akane. The younger woman shrugged.

"Well, we're much stronger than before, but…" She looked around at the Namekians watching, and at Goku. "...even though we held our own against the warriors here, we could tell they were holding back." Cologne looked at the other teens, all of whom nodded, and when she glanced to the Namekians, they also, sheepishly, nodded as well. To be fair, Cologne had thought the same when she was observing. The fact that all four of them had picked up on the same thing said a lot about the state of their training.

Akane continued, interrupting the older woman's musings. "If they really wanted to, just like Master Goku, they could have ended the fights at any time. And I didn't think that we could legitimately improve enough within our lifetimes to make up the gap." She waved a hand to Shampoo and Ryoga. "The fact they basically said the same thing just kind of...confirmed it for me."

Cologne's eyes narrowed in thought as she rubbed at her chin. What she was saying made logical sense. The amount of power that the four Saiyans had was far and away beyond anything what she had ever experienced. Greater than the Musk, or Phoenix tribes, greater than some of the street fighters she had come across over the years. She had to conclude that Akane was certainly not wrong in her thought process. The fact that Shampoo was a beneficiary of this boon was also not lost on her, meaning that there was still a fair chance at her great-granddaughter winning over Ranma.

Provided she didn't do it first when she reached the appropriate age.

Still, she was curious. "Very well...but why include Kuonji?"

Akane shrugged. "Why not? It only seemed fair. No point leaving her behind, more than we already did when we went through the Chamber. Now she has a chance to catch up, giving us another good training partner to train with that has a different style than ours. Besides, she's at least nice, unlike some people in Nerima." Her expression darkened into a glower as she thought of some of their tormentors...such as Kodachi Kuno.

"That is...rather thoughtful of you." Cologne finally had to admit. It certainly wasn't nearly as self-centered as her wish for her youth, if she was to be truthful with herself. "Long term plans require a groundwork. And now that Shampoo is one of them, and I will regain my youth, the chances of acquiring Ranma into the tribe are doubled. Still, I best be wary...this girl is more than she appears to be." She justified to herself, even as a young avatar of herself waved a finger scoldingly in her direction within her mind.

Cologne would have bapped that avatar, if she thought it would have worked. But she knew herself. It probably wouldn't have.

"Well, how about we get back to Earth, and then we can see about getting you guys home!" Goku suggested, with all present instantly agreeing. Before they left, they all turned to Moori and bowed deeply, thanking him for the precious gifts they had just received from their Maker of Dreams.

He waved genially just before they all vanished, thanks to Goku's Instant Transmission. "Best of luck to them all." The Elder Namek breathed. They were likely going to need it.

In Nerima…a few minutes ago...

Sitting in front of her vanity mirror on her desk, Ukyo slowly continued to brush at her hair, working out the tangles while her mind continued to work over the knowledge she had gained, her eyes not focused on any one thing. A small part of her wondered if perhaps it was time to trim the hair back, especially if she was going to be doing more such training, but that particular thought was placed into a box and set aside for now. "My batter dragon is effective, but perhaps I could infuse my chi into my spatula to make it stronger. Or maybe into my throwing spatulas...or perhaps I should come up with something different entirely. Infuse hot chi into my flour bombs...no, hot chi with my batter dragon. That's a better idea."

Suddenly, her body began to glow, startling her into dropping her brush and standing up. "What's going on?!" She cried, staring at herself in the mirror. Before her eyes, she watched as her body began to change, her sleepwear becoming smaller as her hips widened further, and her bust grew at least a full cup size. Her face also shifted, looking more mature, more feminine than before. At the same time, her thighs and arms gained in mass, her legs moreso as muscle built up, and then doubled, while her backside gained a more pronounced flair, all the while her hair grew even longer than it already was, quickly brushing the floor. The seams of her sleep pants suddenly split, while the sleeves of her shirt looked painted on and the hem pulled away from her waist, exposing part of what was clearly a tighter stomach.

The glow faded away, leaving a much different looking young woman standing in clothing that was definitely at least one size too small for her form. "What the hell just happened?!" She exclaimed, before pressing longer fingers to fuller lips: that voice was certainly different! Removing her hands from her lips, she began to look her body over, noting that there was definite tone lines now, her forearms much thicker than before. Reaching down, she lifted up her shirt, revealing an indeed tighter stomach, with light lines around her abdomen. Looking over her whole body, she had to admit, she was actually kinda sexy now, much as she wasn't big on focusing on her feminine charms, and those legs were not terribly far off from the powerful look of Chun-Li or Mai's. "Must have been that years worth of training with my new weighted spatu-wait...what years worth of training?" She blinked, dropping the hem of her shirt as her mind processed a search for knowledge.

The results in her mental browser came back: Today was still...today. She had trained with Sakura, and Chun-Li and Mai all day. She had provided okonomiyaki as payment to all three. She had washed up, thoroughly (prompting a slight blush to her cheeks), roughly an hour ago. So far, all results checked out.

She then performed a search on her training...and received a whole lot more results than she expected. Technique tests, memories of training, multiple technique tests, experimentations, more technique tests and focusing on new techniques that had proven effective...all of these came to her mind. And she just knew, without question, that her body could, and would be able to execute those techniques. Techniques that she had only an inkling about just a few hours ago, and some that she hadn't even considered yet!

Tracing her fingers lightly over her stomach, she couldn't stop a small smile from creasing her lips. "I have no idea how this happened, but I'm not going to complain!" Turning to the side, she let her gaze trail over her enhanced curvature, and she giggled. "Oh yea. Definitely not going to complain! But I better figure out how it happened, before Ranma and the others get back."

Her eyes paused on her bust, and her face flushed. Maybe she'll figure out what happened later. Right now, just thinking about Ranma had prompted the same thoughts that she had earlier, and...well. It felt like it had been a year since her 'thorough' washing, and she was feeling rather...frisky. Maybe hungry too...but definitely frisky.

As she worked to pull her now overstretched clothing off while heading for her bed, two thoughts added themselves to the boxes of things in her mind. One, she would need to figure out how to adjust her wardrobe. And two…

...she definitely needed a haircut.

On the Lookout...also a few minutes prior...

"Hey, Goku came through! Somehow, he managed to come through for us!" Tien called out as the extra hair on his head began to fall off, quickly pooling at his feet and leaving him back to his characteristic bald self. "Yes! I will never complain about not having hair again!"

Nearby, Krillin was beginning to, deflate, for lack of a better term, slowing shrinking down, both in height and in muscle mass. Something he was extremely grateful for. "And I'll never complain about my body build! After a couple days of having massive muscles like that, I'm more than happy to stick with what I've got!" He grinned, watching his arm slowly returning to its normal shape. Beside him, 18 was gazing down at her bust, watching as it too slowly shrank down, working their way towards their more normal proportions. She wasn't a vain woman, by any means, but she was more than happy that they were returning to normal: she rather liked them as they used to be. It also meant that her clothes would finally fit again.

In the Lookouts kitchen, Bulma had been fixing up a sandwich when she felt her changes coming over her, first noticing that the counter was starting to get lower. "Wait, what-" She started to look around, seeing everything starting to get smaller, when it clicked: she was getting bigger!

Of course, the wedgie she was developing from her tightening clothing was a pretty good indicator too. "Oh no, I wasn't ready for this!" She cried out as her bust and hips started to expand out as she entered her teens once more, the gi top and pants growing increasingly tighter by the second. At age 18, had she stayed at that age, the look she was putting on with the clothing she was wearing would have been something of a fantasy pinup line, with her belly partially shown through the opening, and deep cleavage. But she moved past that, and the sounds of ripping clothing filled the air as the heavy weave of the gi failed to contain her growing form. In moments, she was left in tatters, and she could only sigh. "Well, at least I'm back to normal." She muttered, before grasping at her breasts and reassuring herself they were there. "Hello girls, I missed you!" Bulma giggled, happy to have everything back. Looking to the door and covering her chest with one arm, and a dishtowel for her lower area, she loudly called out.

"Hey, Dende! I could use a change of wardrobe here!"

A few minutes later…

It was a happy group of Z Fighters that met Goku and company when they returned, Bulma in a better fitting version of her son's gi now draping her form. "Hey guys, we're back!" Goku called out with a grin.

"Welcome back, Goku!" Krillin greeted, holding up a hand. "So, did it all work out?"

"Not quite." Ranma admitted, scratching the back of his head. "The curses couldn't be removed in this world, but there is a way to do it, back home. We just have to find someone called the Guardian, and they can apparently help us out."

Bulma blinked, looking among the group. "So what did you wish for then?" A thought, and she added, "Did you guys wish for us to be returned to normal? Did Porunga have more pull with Toltir than Shenron?"

"Uh...oh. Yea, you guys did say you tried with Shenron." Goku scratched his cheek, and then laughed with that Son ™ grin in place. "No, I just asked him to change you back, and he said he could, and then did."

Bulma blinked once more, surprise on her face. "Huh. Weird. Maybe Porunga is just more powerful and able to override Toltir's effects." Waving it off, she continued, "Whatever, the important thing is we're back to normal, and you guys have a plan of action!" She winked at Ranma, causing his face to flush. "Told ya having a plan works out."

"Y-yea, I guess you're right. Sorry for doubting ya." He replied, doing his best not to look at the plunging neckline of Bulma's gi. It helped that Vegeta was leaning nearby and giving his customary Glare ™ .

Ryoga had already passed out in a tiny pool of his own blood. Shampoo and Akane both just shook their heads at him. "Idiot."

"Too-too true."

"Anyway, the Old Ghoul there wished to become younger, and Akane wished us to become Saiyans. Which we are now." Ranma shrugged, only to pause as the Z Fighters stared at him. "What? It's not that bad, is it?"

"I wouldn't have thought about doing that." Krillin admitted, eyes now drifting skyward as he began to contemplate it. His wife, with her arms crossed back in their customary place (for which she was massively, if privately, relieved for), simply muttered, "Don't even think about it. You're just perfect the way you are."

Krillin's face became bright red. "Awwww, thanks dear!" She smiled and kissed him on the top of the head.

Tien grunted and crossed his arms. "I have. I'd rather remain as I am. I came into this world as a human, and, for better or worse, I will leave it as one." Left unsaid was the additional word of, 'again.' "There's still training I can do. I don't think I've reached my peak just yet. Just have to get back to it."

Krillin looked back to the Nerima crew. "So, you're Saiyans then. You guys ready for what that entails?"

Ranma shrugged once more. "I guess we'll have to. Right now though, I'm starving." At the mention of eating, four sets of stomachs growled loudly, even if the body that one of them was attached to was currently in a hard system reset mode on the floor. Dende laughed and turned to Mr. Popo, who smiled and proceeded to clap his hands. A set of tables and chairs appeared, to be quickly followed by heaps of food floating out of the kitchen. The four teens mouths were instantly watering, and, with Ryoga now fully rebooted from the scent of the food alone, they dove at the feast being laid out before them with abandon.

Piccolo snorted. "Typical. They're definitely eating like Saiyans, so it must be true. Well, what's done is done. Now we just have to get you home, and deal with Toltir."

The Food Wrecking Crew stopped in mid bites, looking to Piccolo with heart broken expressions, and he grimaced. "After you've eaten."

There was a cheer, and then an almighty crash as the inhaling recommenced.

In Nerima…

Within the Kuno house, in their private training dojo, Takewaki Kuno stood in a front leaning stance, his bokken in his sash, one hand on the hilt and ready to draw. Standing before him was a rolled up tatami on a bamboo pole, waiting for its poor life to be snuffed out.

Or at least, that's what Kuno was going for. With his usual sword style, he had been able to do decent damage to the tatami. But this new style he was working on required a whole set of different stances and strikes. His Kendo knowledge was doing him in good steed, but the signature strike of the new style was proving...troublesome.

"Timing...it's all about timing, and focus." He told himself, sweat trailing down his face. He had been at it for hours, and all he had managed to do was dent the side of the tatami. Granted, he was using a bokken, so that was to be expected, but the strikes he did perform just didn't feel correct. They lacked the speed he was expecting. Shaking off his concerns and worries, he took a deep breath. Released it.

A deep breath.

Release.

Strike!

The tatami roll bounced across the floor with heavy thuds as Kuno stood in place, his sword outstretched and held back, while the rest of his target remained in front of him.

Success.

Smiling as he finally succeeded, he proceeded to swipe his bokken across his arm and 'sheath' it back into his belt. "As I suspected. It is a state of mind." He mused, countering what he had been telling himself just moments before. "And I, the Blue Thunder," the house shook and the manservant above yelped as he was struck, "am coming to grips with it. My mind is but a castle, built upon a foundation of granite. I must become more pliant, and when I do, I will fully unlock the secrets of this tome!" He looked to the battered book as he moved to pick up the tatami and place it on a new rod of bamboo. "And then, armed with these techniques, I shall truly be invincible."

The leather bound book merely remained in its open state, revealing a young looking man wielding a katana with long hair, and bearing a cross shaped scar on his cheek, drawn demonstrating various sword strikes, each one with a name above it. One of which was the very one that Kuno had performed.

"Battōjutsu."

In Toltir's realm...

"Well, well. They sure ruined my fun." Toltir groused, tipping back a goblet of wine and downing the medication that the Gods physician had prescribed. "Still, it was enjoyable while it lasted. Though it looks like they might have missed one." He giggled, gazing through his looking portal. While it was true that the barrier in place didn't allow him the ability to enter and affect changes, he could still watch all he wanted. Which, he supposed, was better than nothing at all. Especially now that he was feeling more like his old self. Harmless pranks were definitely the better way to go.

He did return the poor servant he had made into steam back to normal, and sent him on his way with his apologies. The man was currently enjoying a nice vacation, on Toltir.

Still, it did disappoint him that his efforts were finally countered. Shrugging, he took another pull of his wine and sighed. "I suppose it was but a matter of time. Oh well. I will have to find some other thing to pass the time." He began to take another swig when the large double doors banged, causing him to pause out of curiosity.

"Eh?"

The doors banged again, and then opened wide, a white smoke rolling through and quickly blanketing the floor as four cloaked figures stepped inside the threshold. Setting his goblet down he clapped in appreciation. "Oh, bravo! A fantastic entrance, whoever you are! I like your style!" He rose up and headed towards them, grinning. "A flare for the dramatic isn't my style, but I can appreciate it when one does it well. So, tell me, to what do I owe this visit, and by whom?"

The figures continued to approach, one of which was taller than the others, with a dark snout extending out from under the hood. Dark red eyes glowed briefly, as a deep voice intoned, "Your jailer." Toltir's grin and walk faltered at the pronouncement.

"Wait-what?"

A three fingered, dark furred hand lifted up from under the cloak, and a purplish orb instantly formed and then shot out, striking the prankster and sending him flying back. The last thing he saw was the figures drawing close to him, and he silently thought, "This is so going to make my headache worse."

TBC…

There's a lot to unpack here and I didn't want to leave things in that state in this instance (especially as at least one individual was less than pleased with the cliffhanger last time), so, allow me to explain things a little bit. And I'll not do the usual bolding for these notes, if just for ease of reading.

The Curses and Porunga's restriction: from a literary standpoint, the curses provide opportunities for comedic moments, while also adding an additional level of complexity that the characters have to deal with, adding to their development. How do they deal with it? Does it help them improve in some manner, or do they actually reject and work against it? And while it was certainly tempting to remove them, for good reasons as is pointed out in others stories, I decided they needed to remain in place for the time being, as there's something I have planned down the road that's been waiting in the wings (and foreshadowed a very tiny bit) for quite a long time.

And frankly, it wouldn't be a Ranma story if it was that easy. Come on, you know it to be true. Even the characters are savvy enough to pick up on that. This keeps it in the spirit of Rumiko's work, while providing some additional wrinkles and details for the characters to work with. The curses can be annoying, that I do not deny, but that's part of the process for them to work through. Plus, they weren't completely crushed: they know more than they did before on what they have to do in order to get rid of them, permanently.

The other benefit with the first attempted wish working out the way it did (or didn't, as the case may be) was that it helps to establish that there are some additional rules in place. One reviewer suggested that perhaps Ranma's Earth was the Earth of one of the other Universes (might have been Universe 6 I think), and that explains the differences between the two.

While good ideas, it's not exactly where I was going to go with things (I like where your heads at tho!). As foreshadowed in much earlier chapters with the scene change indicators, Ranma's Earth is in a different dimension, not one of the Universes within the DBZ dimension. I know Trooper1023 didn't really explain it as such when he wrote up the first three chapters, and the 'circle' over the islands that Cell had destroyed and the Jepoc Circle were being used as easy plot devices to connect the two, but this is how I read it, both then and to this day. This was also started well before Dragonball Super had come into being, so the existence of other Universes wasn't a thing at the time. Even if DBS had existed at the time, I would still have gone with this route.

To explain how it works, think of it in Star Trek and scientific terms: it is theorized that there are an infinite number of parallel dimensions existing at the same time, and they're all separated apart from each other. Time may be a little different between them (one is slower or one is faster), there may be different physics involved, different powers, different names, different histories, different beings, etc; etc. So I took that concept, and applied it here on the framework Trooper1023 had set up, with the idea that the dimensions are generally solidly separated from each other, undetectable, with maybe some areas where the dimensional barriers are a little closer to each other, and therefore somewhat weaker (which is how the boys, and then Goku were able to transition back and forth: they literally found a weak area between the two dimensions, one of which was likely helped along and made weaker still by Near-Perfect Cell's destruction of the islands and lives).

So while Porunga and Shenron could easily affect anything within their dimensional plane of existence, and within their power, regardless if it's Otherworld, Universe 5, 6, 7, or 11, crossing dimensional barriers is a different matter entirely. It would require a level of power far beyond that of a planet level wish granting dragon to do any major changes in another dimension. So, within the rules as they exist, they can add minor things to other dimensions, and make some minor changes, and this only applies to those dimensions that are somewhat easy to reach, but they can't really go further than that. In comparison, the Super Dragonballs can do whatever they damn well please, since they're multiple factors of power above Porunga and Shenron's capability. Arguably, the Black Star Dragonballs may be able to do a little more as well, considering that dragon was considered to be more powerful than Shenron, but seeing as that's part of the GT timeline, it's not really relevant here.

"But wait!" You declare, seeing a possible plothole. "What about Toltir? He was doing changes all the time!"

To which I say...Did he? -_^

Goku's Wish: This ties in with the points above. Toltir, while in a different realm, is still part of the same dimension, and therefore, his rather playful prank curses can be easily removed, provided that the wish granting dragon has the capability to do so, which Shenron couldn't do before. With the barrier applied now, that significantly weakens the power keeping the DBZ curses in place, so Porunga could remove them. Technically, if they were able to re-summon Shenron, he would also be able to do so now. It's like playing an MMO, where you try to take out a target that has major buffs in place that happen to be immune to debuff effects and its constantly refreshing from a nearby source. Remove the source of those buffs, and suddenly, the target becomes a whole lot easier to deal with. The string controlling/powering the curses was cut off, so that drops them down to mere annoyances, rather than something significant. That, and Goku's memory of the result of Shenron's attempt wasn't kicking in, distracted as he was by the others failed wish attempts, and he figured he might as well resolve that particular issue for his friends. In the end, as is his wont, he was lucky.

Cologne's Wish: Yea, that one was pretty obvious and was certainly foreshadowed a few times. The reason why it was so specifically worded though was that she didn't trust entirely that what was going to be applied would be good for her body, at least not in the immediate term. When you're of that age and you are suddenly changing the cells of your body that drastically, there could very well be some unpleasant side effects. Especially since you're going from just over a foot of height to somewhere around 5 feet tall: getting all that change at once is not going to be pleasant.

A way to look at it is this: if you were falling from the sky without a parachute, and Superman was going to catch you, he's not going to hover in place and let you fall into his arms. As a regular human being, that will probably break lots of parts of your body because of the sudden stop and because of the fact you're being caught in a pair of, essentially, steel beams. That kinetic energy is going to go somewhere, and fast, in that instance. Instead, he will reach your speed of descent, take hold of you, and then proceed to slow you down to a safe landing (and this is something that he has done several times in the comics at random times).

So this is one of those moments she would rather take it slow rather than dive headfirst, which is in keeping with her character. She tends to think things through and is calculating, even if the plans she comes up with don't always come to fruition. Though I suspect the reason for that is, as the series went on, while she did still want to get Ranma into the tribe, it became more a case that she was around for the sheer shenanigans going on. For someone her age, being around young kids having so much trouble is probably some of the best entertainment she could possibly find!

Akane's Wish: This one will likely get some raised eyebrows, at the least, so here's why she made the wish the way she did. First, she made hers after Cologne so as to counter any nonsense she might come up with, which Cologne didn't execute, thankfully. And while Akane at 16 didn't have the same kind of drive in her training, per se, as Ranma, a year in the Time Chamber with Goku and Ranma would have imparted that attitude upon her, and given her the motivation she needed to really hone her craft. There was a lot of character building that I, naturally, skipped over in the Journal chapter because this allows me to reveal it as the story goes, but one of the things that you can take away is that her attitude has definitely changed and matured along with her maturing form. She's gained some of the cunning and observational talents of Nabiki, and some of the thoughtfulness of Kasumi, while still being undeniably Akane. At this point, she is definitely dedicated to the Art now, more so than she was before.

So why this kind of wish? On the one hand, she could have just wished that they were Saiyan, at least Ranma and herself. But, as they well know, that would mean they would quickly surpass their nearest rivals and equals, and that wouldn't be fair. She knows they need strong opponents to help push them further in their craft, and there's only so far you can push when your training partner is the same one every time. And now that she's earned the respect of Shampoo, she's more willing to consider her a friend than she did before (or at least a solid friendly rival). Ryoga holds a soft spot in her heart, considering his generally good and chivalrous nature, so she included him. Ukyo, by all accounts, she got along with fairly well, and if any of the other Nerima characters could be considered as a friend to her, possibly even a good friend, it would be Ukyo. So, in her mind, it was only fair to wish that all five of them gain the same boon, with Ukyo gaining the most in the process so that she was at a similar level as the other four. In a way, it's somewhat selfish, but in another, it's definitely altruistic.

In short, this is just another example of how her character has changed after that year in the Chamber. Cologne will likely kick herself for not having gone last, but she also can't really fault Akane's thought processes: had their positions been reversed, Cologne would likely have done the same thing.

Why didn't she include Mousse, Kuno or Kodachi? She really doesn't care for Mousse one way or the other. The way she sees him, he's a nearsighted fighter with a penchant for chasing after Shampoo (which is that girls problem to deal with) and who can be rather dangerous if he puts his mind to it (and certainly has attempted to do so). And the Kunos...yea, she would likely just punt the whole lot of them into the ocean in a heartbeat if she could (and she can now). So she's not going to include any of those three in her wish.

I would also like to point out that this is something I've struggled with for years. I mention this because one story I've read recently took that plunge to make some of the Nerima residents into Saiyans, and I'm sure one could see parallels between theirs and mine and think I was just cribbing their idea. Sure, I could see that line of thinking, and it's not completely a wrong thing to consider. But as I said, I've definitely been trying to work this out for years..

Since the time Akane gained Goten's donated energy, the idea of them somehow finding ways to surpass normal human limits has been percolating in my mind, and I've debated with myself if they would want to wish to be Saiyan, or something that's somewhat similar so they could grow stronger. Maybe they would wish to be granted power the same level of a Super Saiyan, or they'd find a mystical source within their world that would unlock some hereunto unknown potential that they had, or they are granted a boon from some other god. Frankly, there were several ways I considered that could be done to make it work and have them remain human, but in the end, it made sense that they'd go down this path. I also originally pictured Akane wishing to just have everyone made the same age with the knowledge gained from a constant year long training regimen gained automatically from it, but it was clunky and didn't really flow well in my mind. It was also a bit too convoluted, in terms of the mental gymnastics for her to think it up, didn't really mesh with what was established in the previous chapter, and it didn't fit with how she would think now. Plus, the value gained in that version of her wish is just one additional person gaining something, and everyone else really getting nothing for it. Whereas wishing for the age boost and the species change gave all five of them something. As Porunga pointed out, it was a stretch how she managed it, but I have not seen anything to suggest that one couldn't add little conditions to the wish being made. Considering that Dende wished for everyone on Namek to be sent to Earth, except for Frieza and Goku, suggests that one can add conditions to the wish, provided they're not so far off base they require another wish. They at least have to have some kind of direct connection (or so it seems to me), and Akane pushed that right to the edge.

I also know one would have expected Ranma to be the one to make that kind of wish, but the fact that it was Akane instead gives it a whole lot more impact, in my opinion, and helps to reveal more of her changed character and how she's developed.

Also, if you took a guess that a "Kenshin" was involved with Kuno...you win a cookie. ^_^

Now...what is coming next? What just happened with Toltir? Will there be a power levels chart someday? Maybe, if I'm crazy enough to figure it out. :P

Until next time...

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