SMST: Journey to Adventure! – By DS Wynne
Disclaimer: "SM", "R1/2", "ST" and other properties belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 12
With some effort, the Hulkusagi and The Ronin (Usagi and Ranma respectively), still in disguised, were escorted to the domicile of the new power that seemingly controlled "Hel".
"Ranma, who do you think had made a move on Hild's dominion?" Usagi asked.
"Don't know…and quite frankly, I don't care," Ranma says. "In spite of Hild being a…'dark goddess', she's not a bad person."
"Ranma, that is the most oxymoronic term I ever heard, especially in reference to HILD…of all people."
Usagi pauses.
"Still, I do care for Hild in spite of everything."
"Me, too, babe…me, too."
"So, what's the plan anyway?"
"According to Marler, she has allies who are still loyal to Hild," Ranma says. "She'll get a hold of them, while we do the heavy lifting."
"Sounds like a plan," Usagi says. "Let's do it…"
A short time later, Uasgi and Ranma stand in front of the throne room of Hild's dark palace. Sitting on the throne was a red-skinned, devil-like man with horns and a goatee.
"GREETINGS!" the demon says in a booming voice. "I am Lord Debura, now ruler of this realm."
"I am 'The Ronin', and this is my companion 'Hulkusagi'," Ranma says. "We're interested in joining…the winning side."
"Interesting," Debura says. "That's not what my military advisor says…"
Just then, Marller appears…by Debura's side.
"Marller…?" Usagi asked with wonder.
Ranma, strangely enough, says nothing.
"Well?" Marller asks. "Cat got your tongue?"
"Where's Hild?" Ranma says calmly.
"Of course, that's why you're here, no?" Debura says. He then snaps his fingers.
A pair of demons wheel Hild out on a rack. She appeared to have been beaten…and worse.
"See?"
"Hild, are you okay?" Usagi says, as she goes over to her old friend.
Hild manages to turn her head to her friend.
"I…could be better…"
"Debura…or whoever you are, tell us what's going on," Ranma demanded. "From what I see, you're using my daughter to lure us here. Why?"
Debura sneers.
"Hild has many allies, however, YOUR and the trollop's reputation has given me pause. I don't want to take a chance having YOU TWO squash my plans for domination. And to prove a point-"
Debura turns towards Marller, and spits on her.
"Wha-?" Marller yells.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but your usefulness has come to an end."
Marller turns towards her father in horror.
"Father, please…"
CREEEEK!
And Marller was turned to stone.
"No!" Usagi yelled, as her anger grew. As a result, her Gammazon form began to grow massive, shredding her armor in the process. Only a loincloth remained.
Ranma turns to his wife. He knew that the more powerful his wife gets, the more primal she gets.
"Usagi, calm down!"
"Hulkusagi angry now at Debura!" Usagi yelled. "He will pay!"
"Yes, but if you don't calm down, he'll win!"
"Huh?"
"Think about it: he wants to invade the world. If you lose control of yourself, Debura will be able to enslave you like some sort of beast!"
"Brilliant!" Debura says. "And, of course, I'll use her for breeding stock. Imagine an army as powerful as your dear wife."
"Uh-huh," Ronin says, as he takes out a…lock of hair, which tied together while attached to a necklace.
"And how are you going to impress me with that?"
"Well, you see, the last time I was with Hild-chan, we formed a…pact, so to speak. The result was Marller…and a special connection to Hild herself."
Ranma gripped the lock of hair, as it began to glow…
Hild suddenly snaps her eyes open, as she realizes that her strength was returning to her.
"Yes…YESSSS!" Hild says, as she broke out of her binds.
Debura begins to sweat.
"Oh, no you don't-!" Debura began to say, as he was about to rush Hild.
BAM!
Debura sails away, as Usagi follows through on her punch.
"Stay away from her!" Usagi yells.
Meanwhile, Ranma goes over to Hild, and holds her tenderly.
"You okay?"
"Feh, I can be better," Hild says, as she rubs her wrist. She then turns to see her daughter.
"Damn that girl," Hild says sadly. "Then again, she is her mother's daughter…"
"Why did she turn on you?"
"She is a demon princess."
Hild gets up from the rack.
"You take care of Debura, while I take care of…her."
Hild glances over at the rack.
"And maybe, we can utilize this thing for later."
Ranma shakes his head, as he stuffs his charm back into his shirt. He then turns to Usagi.
"You ready to kick that guy's butt?" Ranma asks.
"Hulkusagi ready to smash!" Usagi says, as she smacks her fist.
"Good," Ranma says, as he hops on his companion's massive shoulders. "Let's move!"
BOING!
Usagi takes a massive leap towards the direction of where Debura would end up next…
Hild sighs as she stares at her petrified daughter.
"I won't kill you…your father and I love you too much, even after what you tried to do. However, I cannot allow you to use your familial ties to usurp my position again…"
Later…
Ranma and Usagi were on top of the upper terraces back at the castle. Apparently, a year had passed during their trek into the underworld. Still, Makoto's presence as "Steward" kept would-be usurpers to the throne of the Kingdom of Denmark, when Queen Wealtheow, thinking that Ranma would not be returning home, passed on. And although Ranma could easily cement his control over the kingdom, he has instead honored his late wife's request to choose a worthy successor to the throne. Only then will Ranma abdicate before moving on.
"I'm sorry, Ranma," Usagi says, as she wraps her cloak around her normal frame.
Ranma continues to look out towards the sea. "On BOTH counts."
"Don't be," Ranma says. "It was inevitable that Wealtheow would die of old age, and I agreed with Hild's decision to suppress Marller's memories."
Ranma then turns his attention back towards Usagi.
"And besides, thanks Arthur's son Modred, the realm of Camelot will soon be plunged into open warfare. I rather fight as a warrior, than as a king. Less responsibilities that way."
Usagi places a hand on Ranma's shoulders.
"Well, it's a good thing we kicked that Debura guy into the Void," Usagi says with assurance. "I doubt we'll see HIM again."
Usagi pauses for a moment.
"And I doubt we'll have to deal with anything unusual for the time being-"
ROAR!
Suddenly, a dragon comes roaring from a distance. It had silver colored skin, had horns, and had blue eyes. And, somehow…it had a Crescent moon mark on its forehead.
"Usagi!" Ranma yelled, as he pulls out his sword. "Get behind me!"
The dragon hovers for a moment, observing Ranma and Usagi's actions. Makoto comes running up the stairs to the upper terraces.
"Ranma…Usagi!" Makoto yelled. "What's going on?"
"We're not sure," Ramna says. "But-"
"Wait, isn't that the Golden Dragon Horn?"" Makoto says, as she sees that the horn was in dragon's claw.
However, Usagi wasn't paying attention. She notices the moon mark on the dragon's forehead.
"Ranma, put that sword away," Usagi says.
Ranma and Makoto both turn towards Usagi with wonder.
"What's going on, Usagi?" Makoto asked.
"Um, Ranma?" Usagi says, as she looks down a bit.
"Yes?"
"Remember when I sort of made a deal for access to the underworld with Echidna?"
"You DIDN'T."
"Well, I didn't think something would happen-"
"What did Usagi do?" Makoto asked.
As if on cue, the dragon had shape-shifted into a pretty, blond little girl. She dropped into Usagi's arms.
"Mommy!" the girl says, as she hugged her…parent, while carrying the Golden Dragon Horn.
"Er…" says Usagi, as she glances towards her companions. "There is a logical explanation for all this."
Ranma folds his arms.
"I'm sure there IS…"
Years into the future, Ranma focuses on the task at hand: defeat Debura. As he swims underneath the surface using "Earth Bending", Ranma senses his impending target.
"Come on out!" Debura yells. "What? You can't fight me without that trollop of yours?"
'Now,' Ranma thinks to himself, as he activates a power earth elemental effect.
"Huh?" Debura says, as he senses the ground being shaken.
THOOM!
A giant, stone hand reaches upward, and grabs Debura by surprise.
"What?" Debura yells. "This won't hold me-!"
THUMP!
Ranma lifts the hand that was holding Debura, using his strength.
"You like getting a hand?" Ranma yells. "How about a lift? DRAGON RISING ASCENSION!"
He pushes the stone hand up far enough to free his hands to perform this attack.
"Hey!" Debura yells, as he is lifted into air.
As his "vehicle" gets high in the sky, Ranma cups his hand. A bluish sphere of energy begins to form.
"This is for all that crap you put Hild through!" Ranma yelled. "KAMEHAME-HA!"
Unlike his "Moko Takibasha" attack, the "Kamehameha Wave" attack did not rely on emotion as a "trigger" or a "guage". The Kamehameha Wave relied on pure energy…something that Ranma had plenty to brag about.
FWOOSH!
Ranma let go of his attack, engulfing Debura in the process.
"Arrrgghhh-!" Debura screamed, before being blasted into another dimension.
TING!
With Debura no longer a part of this world, Piccolo and Krillan were released from the spell that had turned them to stone.
"Huh?" Krillan asked.
"Obviously somebody did their job-" Piccolo smirks, when-
BOOM!
"What the heck was that?" Krillan yelled, as he covered his eyes.
Piccolo scans the area, and frowned.
"Oh, no!" Piccolo yelled.
"What is it?"
Piccolo turns towards Krillan.
"You want the bad news or the worst news?"
"I don't like the sound this! But…what?"
"We got Usagi back."
"Isn't that good news?"
"NO! We got Usagi back, but she's…evil! That's the bad news."
"Then…what's the worse news?"
"Majin Buu is FREE!"
Down in the battle site, Ranma squints his eyes.
"Usagi!" Ranma yells, as he noticed that Usagi was now wearing her sailor fuku, and had a small letter "M" stenciled above her tiara (but below the line of her scalp). "Are you okay?"
Majin Sailor Moon smiled at her husband. However, it was a smile in the form of a hideous grin.
"I'm feeling FINE, dear," Majin Sailor Moon says. "I want you to meet an old friend."
Ranma sees some round, pink guy who seemed to be made of marshmallow goodness.
"Oh, no…"
"Hi!" Majin Buu says cheerfully. "I want to play with you again!"
Ranma turns his attention back towards Usagi. He was nowhere near his old power levels as the Izanagi to deal with Majin Buu on his own, but if he can get Usagi's attention.
"Usagi, where are the others?" Ranma asked.
"Oh, they're just resting," says M. Sailor Moon. "And NO…they are not dead-"
"YOU there!" Babidi yells, as he climbs out of his wrecked ship. "What have you done?"
M. Sailor Moon turns her attention towards the alien magician.
"But this little man will be."
Usagi's eyes began to glow, as Babidi found himself in a potent grip.
"Ulp!" the alien magician yelped, as he floated into the air.
"Buu, I'm hungry," Usagi says, as she turns towards the pink marshmallow man. "I want a cookie."
"Mmmm…me, too!" Buu says, as his single antennae jolts, sending an energy surge into Babidi.
"Ah-" Babidi began to say.
POOF!
"Ah," Usagi says, as she grabs the large cookie. She then breaks the piece in half.
"Here?"
"Yum!" Buu says with enthusiasm.
Ranma notices that Usagi's and Buu's power levels increases.
"Usagi-"
"Now, I eat YOU!" Buu says to Ranma.
"Uh-huh!" Usagi says. "Remember what I said?"
"Usagi will be Buu's friend, if Buu is nice?" Buu asked.
"Yes. You want to go eat?"
"Yeah!"
"Let's go," Usagi says, as she begins to float in the sky. She then turns to Ranma.
"Dear, I would highly recommend that you stay away," Usagi says. "Only I can be his friend right now."
Buu floats into the air.
"Bye-bye!" Buu says, as he takes to the skies after Usagi.
As Usagi and Buu disappear over the horizon, Ranma turns to survey the damage.
"Damn," Ranma says.
"Pops!" says a voice.
Ranma turns to see Goku carrying Vegeta, who also had the letter "M" stenciled on his forehead, with an injured Gohan and Supreme Kai in tow.
"Goku?" Ranma says. "You guys okay?"
"We are," Goku says, "Although…Vegeta is pretty beaten up badly."
"This is a catastrophe!" says the young Supreme Kai. "Not only is the Moon Princess is evil, but Buu is free. How are we going to deal with that?"
"We do what we can," says Piccolo, as he and Krillan lands in front the others.
"Goku, we saw what happened," Krillan says. "We need to think up something!"
Goku nods his head, and turns to Ranma.
"Pops?"
Ranma muses for a moment.
"We need to get everyone trained…and ready to go deal with Buu."
"So we can fight him, Grandpa?" Gohan says.
"Maybe," Ranma says. "The last time I fought him, Buu had swallowed one of the Grand Kais. That had made Buu easier to seal away."
"That is correct," says the Supreme Kai. "However, there is always a risk that Buu's present form will not last."
"'Present form'?" Krillan says. "You mean there's another form that Buu has?"
Ranma turns to Krillan.
"Yes," Ranma says. "Many gods and alien intelligences died fight Buu's true form before being sealed away. As long as Usagi is with him, we just might have a chance."
"But isn't Grandma evil now?" Gohan asked.
"Gohan, do you honestly think Usagi is capable of committing acts of evil?"
"I don't think so."
"And I don't either. I have faith in Usagi's ability to keep her…pathos in check. But for how long, I don't know."
"Then we have to prepare," Kai says. He then turns to Gohan. "Gohan, I can increase your power, since you have the greatest potential. However, we will need to leave this world for a short time."
"Can Pops come?" Gohan asked.
"Don't worry about me, son," Goku says. "I'll be helping getting everyone ready, while provide a distraction just in case."
"Oh, I see…"
"But be sure to see your mother and brother first, before you go, okay?"
"Oh. Oh, yeah!" Gohan says. "And I can tell Videl that I'll be going away, too."
Ranma smiles.
"Ah, you have girlfriend, now?" Ranma says.
"Er, well…"
"That's okay. Okay, we don't have long. So…let's do this by the numbers."
Ranma turns to Piccolo and Krillan.
"Piccolo, keep track of Usagi and Ranma. Krillan, take your family to Dende's Place. And while you at it, let Bulma know that we're taking Vegeta to see Yajirobe about some senzu beans. And…tell her that she needs to look after Hoshiko for her mother and I."
"Right," the two say in unison, as they take to the skies.
Ranma turns to see Goku, who nods his head. Goku turns to Gohan.
"Son, tell your mother that I'll see her a Dende's Place," Goku says.
"Yes, Dad," Gohan replied.
"And son?"
"Yes?"
"Good luck."
Gohan smiles.
And with that, Gohan and the Supreme Kai takes to the skies.
"You ready, Pops?" Goku says, as he slings a still-unconscious Vegeta on his shoulders.
Ranma looks around. The smoldering ruins of the Babidi's spaceship and the surrounding lands told him that he had failed to protect Usagi…just like last time, when the android "Cell" had put her and a "Mini-Cell" into a pit filled with his "royal" jelly. And it was all in an effort to create some sort of pride. That plan was ultimately stopped, but the effects were still apparent, since one of Usagi's eyes would glow violet from time-to-time. And like then, Ranma failed to protect Usagi NOW.
And things will get worse before getting better.
"Pops?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," says Ranma, as he took to the skies, with his son.
END FLASHBACK!
"And it did get worse," Ranma says. "Before Buu's evil persona came out, I had managed to reach Usagi. But afterwards…"
Ranma pauses.
"Go on," Setsuna says.
"When Buu's evil persona came out, Usagi and I merged using a special dance called the 'Fusion Dance'. That's how 'Usama' was born. Both that trick didn't last long enough to permanently stop evil Buu. Unfortunately, things got worse when 'Evil Buu' absorbed Usagi, and thus became 'Sailor Buu'. I…had thought I had lost her then and there. Thankfully, a Sailor Moon and Mirai Trunks from an alternate timeline had come to help defeat Sailor Buu without killing Usagi. But…I failed her. If I was strong enough, Usagi would not have been lost."
"But I wasn't…because of you, Ranma," says a voice from the entrance of the kitchen.
Setsuna and Ranma both turn to look at Usagi.
"Usagi-"
"Shhh," Usagi says, as she goes to hug her husband. "Ranma, you big jerk."
"Huh?"
Usagi let's go of her husband.
"Ranma, it is because of YOU that I keep myself in check," Usagi says. "When I was 'Sailor Buu', I couldn't…I WOULDN'T kill people for pleasure. Harass 'em, yes, but all I did was 'flash' Videl's father Hercule, and beat up on people for sport."
Usagi puts her fingers on Ranma's chin.
"YOU, sir, complete me, by reminding me that I am redeemable. Without you…I don't know what I would do."
Usagi then hugs Ranma.
"Ranma, I love you. I don't want you to think that you are useless. All the power in the Universe means nothing, if I don't have you to look after my best interests."
And with Usagi gives Ranma a deep kiss.
"Ranma, BE the man that I fell in love with…egotistical and all."
Ranma smiles.
"Sure, babe."
Setsuna smiles.
"Now that we have that out of the way, we have a mission to fulfill," she says.
Ranma turns towards Setsuna.
"Give us a few hours, okay?"
Setsuna smiles.
"Sure."
Tbc.