Chapter 5
"MMmmmmm this is good!" squealed a delighted Ranma as she put another spoonful of Ice-cream in her mouth from an extra large bowlful of Ice-cream, and Kasumi and Nabiki just shook their heads in amusement while eating another spoonful of Ice-cream from their much smaller bowls.
They had just finished the shopping and other business at the market when Ranma had spotted the Ice Cream shop. She then literally dragged the two other girls into the shop. Kasumi and Nabiki could then only watch in amazement as Ranma bought three normal bowls of Ice-cream but then put her new good looks to use. With a seductive smile and a wink, a few sexy poses and judicious use of some cleavage she convinced the red faced, but drooling boy behind the counter to give five extra scoops of Ice-cream in her bowl for free and two more each for Kasumi and Nabiki, they had then returned to the Tendo's to enjoy their spoils.
As Ranma and the girls ate their respective bowls at the dinner table Nabiki could only giggle in amusement as she thought back to the act Ranma had put on back at the shop.
"Nice work Ranma!" she said in an admiring and slightly jealous tone "I never knew that you could be so seductive, that boy never stood a chance!" and Ranma chuckled.
"Yep, I've got that art refined down to perfection, but that was nothing! My record stands at ten extra scoops and that's with my old body, it would be interesting to see how many extra scoops I can get with my new body if I really turn on the charm" and Nabiki could only blink in surprise while Kasumi smiled and got another spoonful of Ice-cream.
Ranma of course finished her Ice-cream first even though she had more to begin with and after excusing herself from the table Ranma decided to do some Ki exercises in the dojo to gain finer control over her suddenly much vaster Ki reserves. She briefly wondered where everybody else was but didn't think of it knowing they could turn up at any time.
Ranma sat in a corner of the Dojo and sunk into a meditation, making sure to keep an eye on her finely wrought danger senses so that she wouldn't be caught out not paying attention.
Ranma started going through a series of exercises designed by her self to gain more Ki control.
Ranma continued to sink deeper into her meditation, and deeper into the ocean of Ki that was her reserve, and with each moment gained another point of control in her quest to Ki mastery.
She had been for quite some time now been concentrating on using pure Ki instead of Ki filtered through an emotion. She had learned that which ever emotion she used she would increasingly be consumed by that emotion so Ranma had taken it upon herself to learn how to use pure Ki to prevent her from being consumed by which ever emotion she was using. Just look at what happened to Ryoga and he is quite to being very mentally disturbed.
Ranma was about half way through her exercises when all of a sudden she stopped in shock as she suddenly felt another source of alien like energy within herself besides her Ki. Ranma started taking a closer look and was amazed at what she saw.
Her Ki resembled an ocean of pure white Ki that was almost plasmic in appearance and was like a close and familiar friend that warmed and comforted when used, the new energy that Ranma was examining closely was totally different in appearance and touch.
The new energy was an intense and bright silvery white plasmic river that flowed calmly through the depths of her soul. Ranma could somehow feel that this seemingly calm river could be very powerful when used and that it contained unseen depths. It possessed a mystical feel to it and Ranma suddenly recognised what the river for what it actually was, and Ranma's consternation and wariness increased dramatically. It was magic. Because pf her experiences Ranma was reluctant to touch it but knew that she had to in order to investigate. Ranma slowly reached out in her mind to touch the river of magic and when she did, any fears that Ranma may have had were instantly forgotten as she got her first taste of the new energy and she knew then and there that there was nothing to fear.
The magic reacted instantly when it recognised her presence and caressed her soul with power. It filled her with its love and joy at finally being able to join with its master. Ranma could feel it was partially sentient although it acted very child like as it connected with her soul at an intimate level providing her with power, giving her comfort and warmth and promise of everlasting protection. Ranma felt the magic flow through her body and she felt how right it felt to possess the magic, it felt as much a part of her as her Ki.
She could feel it seeping through her pores, healing all the hurts that Ranma had sustained over the years, mostly from the training trip. Partial fractures in her bones were being sealed and the bones themselves were being strengthened to the point that they were twice as strong than steel. Even the hairline fractures in her skull were healed. Ranma was suddenly aware that Kasumi and Nabiki were watching her in awed silence after her new powers warned her of their presence, but Ranma just let them watch knowing they wouldn't do anything.
Ranma watched as foreign objects were removed from her body and replaced with bone or flesh. Ranma watched as a nail that had been stuck in her body since the start of the training trip was removed from her skull, and all resulting brain trauma dealt with. Scarred and damaged body tissue that had resulted from a poorly healed wound was gently healed. Other bits and pieces of metal and glass from all over her body were removed and the surrounding flesh healed. In one case Ranma considered herself lucky that she had survived as she watched a large piece of metal be removed from deep within her chest, and she saw with just a little bit of alarm at how perilously close to both her heart and lungs the piece of metal was. Ranma was aware that Kasumi had gasped in worry when the metal, plastic and even many tiny little shards of glass were slowly removed and littered the ground around her but Ranma ignored them in favour of watching her new powers in action.
This all went on for some time as Ranma's body was literally healed of ALL wrongs; even the faded scaring from the Neko-ken was gone. Ranma felt the magic settle down and withdraw itself into her soul but she could feel it flowing there just under the surface ready to answer her beck and call at anytime. All of a sudden the events of the past few minutes started to catch up to her. Ranma's vision started to go blurry and dark and she began shaking uncontrollably and found that she had begun panting heavily and she started falling as if in slow motion. Ranma was dimly aware of Kasumi rushing to catch her as she finally succumbed and fell into blessed unconsciousness.
"Wow Setsuna! This is great! I can't believe that you decided to take us all out for a day into the city just like that" shouted an excited Usagi Tsukino AKA Sailor Moon as she watched the passing scenery from the back seat of the van that Setsuna had hired for the day with a driver. The other Sailor Senshi all nodded in agreement as they also watched the scenery pass by as they drove along the highway.
Setsuna just smiled and turned around to face the excited girl replying "Well you lot have been doing so well recently in combating the Youma that I thought that you all deserved a little break and have some fun, at least while there is a lull in the constant attacks"
Hotaru looked up from playing with Rini in the back seat to ask "Where are we going first?" Everybody perked up at that eager to hear the answer, wondering what Setsuna had planned for them.
Setsuna smiled and replied "Well first we going to stop at the Ginza shopping district to have a look around, and then afterwards we will go to the restaurant of a friend of mine to have lunch where I managed to book first class tickets. Than afterwards we will go see the Imperial Palace and the Gardens, I managed to book a guided tour, and then we will go to the theme park to have some fun, after that I don't know, it will be up to you girls to decide how to finish the day"
Hakura whistled appreciatively and the others started jabbering excitedly, eagerly anticipating their day in Tokyo. Setsuna just watched amused and with just a little sadness and pride, these girls had gone through so much and yet they had come out on top.
Michiru suddenly spoke up when she realised something "Hey Setsuna, how did you get those reservations at all those places, it's meant to be near impossible?"
Everybody paused in their jabbering to hear Setsuna's answer and Setsuna leaned back with a small secretive smile "Well I am the Senshi of time aren't I, I have my ways" she said vaguely Not to mention that I am one of the richest women on the planet but no need to tell them that!
Everybody nodded at the vague answer knowing that they weren't going to get more of answer from the elusive Senshi.
Hotaru's head perked up when she had a brain wave and she squealed excitedly gaining the other attention, Hotaru noticed that she was being watched and wringed her hands embarrassingly and mumbled "Well I just had an idea of what to do after dinner tonight"
"Go on" coaxed Michiru curious as to what Hotaru's idea was.
"Well… ahh… I was thinking that we can go to the top of the Tokyo Tower to watch the sunset, it meant to be magnificent!" Hotaru quietly spoke, still rubbing the back of her head a little anxiously, embarrassed by the attention she was getting
Rei held her chin in a thinking pose before smiling and said "You know, that's not a bad idea at all! I've always wanted to go to Tokyo tower, the views meant to be fantastic"
Everybody started nodding and talking excitedly and congratulating Hotaru on her idea. Hotaru just flushed, pleased that her idea had been accepted and began talking to Rini (Small Lady).
They were almost at their stop when everybody heard a beep coming from Ami's bag prompting Ami open her bag revealing the Mercury computer which Ami opened and began typing.
Ami frowned at what she saw when suddenly her visage took on a look of extreme shock and every looked on in curiosity, hoping that there weren't any Youma on the way.
"The Mercury computer has just detected a surge of magic energy coming from ward in Tokyo, the Nerima district" Ami said nervously after a short period of silence in which Ami gathered herself together.
Setsuna just snorted "Nerima again! Then I wouldn't worry about it, Nerima is full of super powerful martial artists and stuff is always happening around them, the magic probably isn't strong enough to be a threat to us anyway"
Ami looked Setsuna seriously before replying "Then this ought to change your mind Setsuna. The Mercury computer analysed the energy and it found a positive match within a 99 accuracy ratio"
"What is it Ami" Rini asked from Usagi's lap. She had a good idea what it was but needed confirmation.
Ami took a deep breath and replied "It was Silver Millennium Magic" causing everybody to shout in surprise and Setsuna looked very shocked but quickly recovered and took on a neutral face.
"That's not all girls" shouted Ami gaining their attention once more.
"What more could there be Ami" Usagi whined before shutting up when Ami glared at her.
"It was a rare and powerful variation of Silver Magic that hasn't been seen since before Serenity XII's reign 14000 years ago. 4000 years before our Queen Serenity's reign and the end of the Silver Millennium Empire. It was as strong as Usagi is when she's in her super form and using the Silver Crystal"
"Is it dangerous?" asked Hotaru feeling a little afraid, causing Michiru to go over and wrap her in hug into which Hotaru gratefully sunk into, feeling much safer in her Michiru-Mama's arms.
"I don't think so Hotaru, it is impossible for anybody with an impure heart to use this particular Silver magic so hopefully it won't harm us, we even may be able to go there to talk to whoever has the silver millennium energy and ask her to help us!"
Usagi was still in shock over the revelations but in a rare instance she allowed her leader side to surface.
"Well there's nothing we can do about it until later so we might as well just continue with our plans." But as an after thought Usagi added "But continue to monitor the energy Ami and warn us of any changes"
Ami nodded and set the Mercury on active scan before putting it away, knowing that it would warn them if something happened.
The van continued along the highway to Tokyo carrying ten worried but determined girls to what was hopefully going to be a day of relaxation and fun before going back to the business of dealing with the hero business.
When Ranma came too she found that she was no longer in the dojo but was instead in the lounge room, lying on the sofa with her head in Kasumi's lap, who was stroking her hair as she spoke to Nabiki, who was sitting at the small table in front of the lounge doing some calculations.
Kasumi suddenly noticed that Ranma was moving and when she looked down she smiled brightly when she noticed that Ranma was awake.
"You're finally awake! Thank goodness! How do you feel Ranma?" she asked softly while still stroking Ranma's hair gently which drew Nabiki's attention from her calculations to see how her new sister was doing.
Ranma blinked and yawned loudly before replying "I feel fine, thanks for asking". Ranma languidly stretched and noticed just how good she really was feeling, her body felt as good as new. Ranma looked up at Kasumi from her lap and asked "How long was I out?"
"Not too long, a couple of hours" Kasumi answered quietly before thinking of something and looking Ranma she asked "What do you remember what happened before you fainted?"
Ranma looked a little confused before she suddenly remembered what had happened to cause her to faint "Yeah, I do"
Nabiki looked up and was about to ask what Ranma was talking about when all of a sudden they heard an explosion from outside. Ranma swore loudly and quickly ran outside to see what the commotion was about but could only screech to a halt and stare in trepidation and anxiety at the figure that stood before her. One look told her that he was not friendly at all and wondered what was wrong this time. Ranma was suddenly aware that Nabiki and Kasumi were standing behind looking at the intruder in confused silence. Kasumi started to move forward but Ranma flung out her arm to stop her and waved the confused girl back behind her.
"Ryoga… what are you doing here?" Ranma asked cautiously. Ranma scanned his aura and her eyes widened slightly in surprise then narrowed in worried recognition. His aura! It is tainted by what looks like demon energy! Ranma looked closer and saw with a twisted stomach that Ryoga's aura was a sickening mixture of green, red and black and of course laced with the demon energy.
Ranma knew that the green signified depression and then remembered that the red stood for anger and that the black stood for hate.
Ryoga just smiled but it was anything but friendly, it was a malicious smirk full of hate, anger, cruelty and insanity that bespoke of ill intent and Nabiki and Kasumi both gasped in fear prompting Ranma to take an active stance that favoured defence for both herself and others around her. She considered it fortunate that Genma and Soun were out drinking away their sorrows and that Akane was at a friend's house for the night.
Ranma spoke again, highly concerned that Ryoga was acting like this "Ryoga? Ryoga are you okay?"
Ryoga just smiled that insane malicious grin again and began walking towards them in a very menacing stance. Ranma could have sworn that Ryoga's eyes had just glowed red and was horribly reminded that she had seen a similar expression on a character from an anime she had seen recently. It reminded her of the character of Alucard the Vampire from the anime Hellsing when ever he smirked that insane looking smile of his as he was killing freaks and Ranma shivered in dread that Ryoga was wearing such an expression she was almost relieved that Ryoga wasn't also wearing the glasses that Alucard wore. She could sense that the girls were beginning to get frightened as it seemed that they also sensed that something was wrong with the eternally lost boy.
"Kasumi!" Ranma whispered urgently "You and Nabiki should get out of here as soon as you can, go to my mother's house, I'll meet you there!"
Kasumi grabbed Nabiki's arm and began backing away but not before asking "Why do you want us to go to Aunty Saotome's and not Uchans or the Nekohanton!"
"Because I've been having too much trouble with them all recently and I'd feel much better if you were staying with Mom, now no more arguing just go!" Ranma snapped, but not unkindly as she assumed a stance that balanced defence and offence.
Ranma stayed still, but was a bundle of highly strung nerves as she waited for the girls to get away and watched Ryoga come ever closer.
It came as a sudden surprise to Ranma when Ryoga spoke and his voice sounded very different from his usual voice and wasn't very pleasant and it sent shivers up her spine.
"You look like you have gotten stronger Ranma, and you have definitely gotten taller which I suppose accounts for your new look, but I must ask, why aren't you in your male form" Ryoga said looking her up and down with his cruel eyes and lingering in certain places which made Ranma feel very dirty, as if she had been touched by the scum of the earth. Ranma found herself longing for a bath to get rid of the sensation or at least a hug from Kasumi but managed to get back into focus on watching the new but not improved Ryoga.
"Cut the crap Ryoga, it's none of your bees wax as to why I'm in this form, now why are you here!" Ranma coldly demanded getting more worried by the second.
Ryoga just smiled that menacing and insane smile and replied "Maybe this will answer your question" and Ryoga's battle aura suddenly flared into violent existence. It was so powerful that the ground was actually being pushed away from shear pressure creating a shallow crater around Ryoga about 4 meters wide. Ranma's eye's widened as she visibly perceived Ryoga's muscles actually expand like he was out of some sort of anime.
Ranma didn't hesitate to bring out her own battle aura. It was a pure white and Ranma inwardly praised herself for finally being able to make true pure Ki. Ranma had discovered that as a side affect of using pure Ki her Ki was 10 times more powerful than emotionally filtered Ki.
Both combatants stood a few seconds evaluating the other when Ryoga suddenly shouted "Ranma Saotome prepare to die!!" and leapt forward to deliver the first punch. Ranma braced herself for the upcoming fight but was startled at the speed that Ryoga showed and she barely managed to duck to powerful punch and retaliate with a couple punches to the torso and dance away from Ryoga's counter attack to resume her battle stance, all this happened in less than a second.
He's fast! Very fast! I really owe Rialinene big time next time I see her. It will be her gifts that will allow me to survive. She gave me the body I would have had if pops hadn't treated me as he did. Damn old man!
Ryoga glared viciously at Ranma Damn that hurt, that bitch is much stronger then I remember. It seems that killing her isn't going to be as easy as I thought, those punches felt as though I were hit by a couple tanks!
Ranma responded to Ryoga's death glare by merely shifting into another stance and concentrated on bring out more Ki. She briefly thought about using her new found magic to help but decided not to due to the fact that she had no knowledge or experience with it and could quite conceivably loose control of the immensely powerful magic.
Ranma tensed as Ryoga's posture changed suddenly, and then, the battle was on again. The two most powerful fighters in Nerima meet together in a flurry of fists and kicks. Each one giving it their all to defeat the other, and neither one giving up.
Ryoga was an unstoppable force who style was centred on his superior strength and ability to absorb damage like it was nothing and using brute force and certain techniques all made for a powerful, dangerous and highly skilled martial artist. All this was in stark contrast to Ranma who was literally fire, air and water incarnated, striking at her opponent like fire, smooth and flowing as water and as elusive as the air. Ever becoming more unpredictable and using a wide variety of martial art styles which spanned the globe and Ranma herself was also possessed of great strength, stamina, and vast resources of Ki at her disposal. Ranma truly was the greatest martial artist who ever lived.
Kasumi and Nabiki watched in tense silence from the side lines, each one were barely able to see what was happening even though they had plenty of practice watching high speed battles. The two combatants traded blows again and again, and there were multiple signs that boths were weakening, Kasumi gasped when she saw that Ryoga had managed to get inside Ranma's defence.
Ranma saw the attack in time and twisted her body sideways and winced as she was hit by a glancing blow to her torso, but retaliated by jumping up, flipping over and delivering an overhead kick which blew Ryoga into the ground at high speed and digging a trench ten feet long.
Ranma landed a short way from the trench and warily peered through the dust to see hat was happening. Ranma also looked with her Ki senses and sensed that Ryoga was still conscious.
Ranma suddenly heard Nabiki and Kasumi coming up behind her and whirled around and shouted "Get Back!" causing the girls too stop "This isn't over yet!"
Kasumi felt that Ranma was right and grabbed Nabiki's arm and began getting back under cover.
Everything froze when cruel malicious laughter erupted from the hole in which Ryoga was ensconced.
"You're right Ranma Saotome, this isn't over, not by a long shot, and this battle isn't going to be over until I'm standing over your dead body!" and with that the ground exploded in a great explosion of dust and rubble, causing Nabiki and Kasumi to be blown away and into a nearby wall. Nabiki was cushioned by Kasumi and suffered only minor injuries but Kasumi took the full brunt of the damage and Ranma heard a sickening crunch and shriek of pain come from Kasumi.
"KASUMI!" Ranma yelled but stopped herself from rushing over to help, knowing that this Ryoga would attack her if she turned her back.
"Nabiki! How is Kasumi doing?" Ranma shouted hoping that Nabiki could hear her over the noise.
Nabiki gently picked up her whimpering sister and leant her against the wall and felt around a little bit and asked where it hurt before shouting out "I'm not sure! But I think she has some broken ribs and a broken arm, and she also bleeding from a head wound"
Ranma ceased moving when she heard that and bowed her head and if one looked closely, one would be able to see that she was trying as hard as she could to not cry and was at the same time clenching her fists in anger and periodically tensing and relaxing her arms.
Both Nabiki, Kasumi and Ryoga had to partially twist their heads in order to hear better when Ranma suddenly began speaking softly with her head still bowed.
"Damn you Ryoga, during these past few years since I arrived in Nerima I have been able to put up with a lot of crap from you in hopes that you would eventually forgive me and we could be friends again, but these past few month have been really trying, what with you always endangering bystanders when ever we fought, and you never once saying sorry for what you did, and always blaming me for each of your problems"
Ryoga had been smiling benevolently during Ranma's speech, but his smile turned into a frown of concern and just a little fear as he felt a sudden uprise in Ranma's power far beyond the levels he had felt during Ranma's battle with Saffron.
A powerful aura had erupted around Ranma as she continued to speak "But now you have crossed the line, you harmed Kasumi, the one person in this world who cares for me and the one person whom I care for more than anything in this world, some might even say that we love each other, and I wouldn't deny them"
Nabiki was wearing a surprised expression and was wondering if Ranma would have been able to confess her feelings if it weren't for the current situation and looked at Kasumi who was smiling and whispering with happy tears in her eyes "Oh Ranma, I love you too, more than you can ever know"
Ryoga flinched when Ranma suddenly raised her head and shouted in anger and defiance "This is it Ryoga, today you die for your crimes, today you die for harming Kasumi, what ever the cost.
This is the day you die Ryoga Hibiki, if it is the last thing I do!" and with that Ranma's power just exploded!
If someone had been watching, and if by some chance they had one of the devices that the Saiyan's had to measure power levels, they would have noticed Ranma's power levels expand exponentially and level off at round about 150 000.
Ranma was about to launch an all new assault when she noticed that Ryoga appeared to be concentrating on an object in his possession when she was suddenly blown back by fresh wave of power from Ryoga which quickly grew to surpass hers, fortunately the two girls were under cover by then. Ranma took a quick glance at Ryoga's aura and was shocked to find that there was far more demonic power in his aura than before.
Ranma suddenly heard Ryoga speak and shivered with a little fear at the demonic tone in his voice.
"Yes Ranma, this is the last thing you will do, I will make sure of that"
That was when the Ki blasts started.