AzureZephyr:Wow thanks for the response for the first chapter you guys!! It really helped a lot with the comments and suggestions. I want to apologize for the really late update, I would have had this sooner but I was under a lot of stress from school,….classes aren't going as well as they should be sighs Anyway since Ben burned what I was going to say here last time, I have Gwen helping me out.
Gwen: A few of you had some questions so AzureZephyr is going to clarify a few things that may or may not have been talked about in the first chapter or in the previous introduction.
AzureZephyr: Right! Okay now I know a few of you had questions of thoughts about the story that you wanted to know so I'm here to answer them.
Darchias: Well, if you noticed in the Ben10 show, a variety of aliens came in contact with Ben and his family and the only one that wasn't understood was Glotto from the movie "Ben10 and the Secret of the Omnitrix". (If I remember it correctly, been missing few episodes here and there) All the other aliens like Myaxx, Vilgax, Azmuth, the sludges, the galactic enforcers…etc… all of them could speak and understand Ben and vice versa. It could be it was meant to be like that, but I just followed the series on that note.
Starravenwolf: Yes Ranma will know a bit more of Genma's 'deeds' but some of them will be altered thanks to Nyx's intervention. Interesting suggestion, but I'm going to keep the Tennysons in Nerima a bit. If nerima is already use to powerful/strange martial artists, what's a few aliens coming in? But Ranma will end up in Gwen's arms (one way or another hahaha)
Ranko Lina Inverse: Ben and Gwen are going to be fifteen definitely.
Vi: Lol that's a good question but I'm going to try and make Ranma only use the omnitrix when it's necessary. Yes Ranma is going to train in each of the alien's form but I'm going to try and adapt his martial arts into it. I don't want Ranma relying on it.
AzureZephyr: Well I think I pretty much answered the questions, if you guys have any more just private message me or send me an email Now Gwen would you please read the disclaimers?
Gwen: clears throat AzureZephyr does not own Ranma1/2 or Ben10 in any form what so ever. Flames will be used to power Heatblast, comments and reviews are appreciated. Any further questions, suggestions or anything else please email AzureZephyr.
/Speaking in another language/
"Speech"
"thoughts"
"Paaapaaa!! Where are you?? PAPA??" Ranma shouted from alien turned human shoulders as they looked around the forest.
A light shined from the flashlight in Nyx's right hand as he used his other hand to grab onto Ranma's foot to keep him steady on his shoulder. The little boy on him was cupping his hands to his mouth and shouting for his father. They had been walking for quite some time and were a distance away from the site where the ship Nyx was using crashed into the Earth. Nyx was getting worried and wondering how far the human father of Ranma had been thrown. He should be surprised that Ranma didn't end up with a concussion after he heard what the little boy had told him when the ship had crashed near him and his father.
'I guess he was just lucky he had objects near him to stop his momentum, unlike his father who was launched into the air some distance.' Nyx thought to himself as he shined the light to the side checking for any signs of life or movement. He looked up at the determined little boy on his shoulders before asking him his question.
"Are you sure you saw your father flying in this direction Ranma?" Nyx asked a bit worried as they had been searching for several hours by this time and there was still no sign of the young boy's father. The six-year-old nodded as he gripped onto Nyx's hair tightly.
"Uh huh. Papa went flying far far far in this direction. I know it for sure!!" Ranma stated, deadest on finding Genma in this area. "don't you have anything in that big backpack of yours that could help Nyx-niisan?"
"Well yes, but unfortunately I have no clue what your father looks like, his energy signature or anything else to go on to search for him." Nyx replied keeping a sharp eye out. "the most I could use is a heat seeking, but I haven't checked all my equipment to see if it was functional."
"Aww…okay…" sighed Ranma as he frowned.
Nyx looked up at the moon, from the position it was in, he estimated that it was probably really late in human terms, not to mention he heard Ranma trying to hide his yawns. So without another thought he stopped in the middle of a clearing they had just walked into and bent down to let Ranma off his shoulders.
"Where yawn are we going Nyx-niisan?" the little boy asked rubbing his eye.
"Since its too dark to find your father and SOMEONE is getting sleepy…" grinned Nyx and a stubborn look appeared on Ranma's face.
"I ain't tired!!"
"Ranma, you were yawning for the past hour or so. Isn't it about your bed time?"
"Dun wanna!!"
"Ranma….."
"……hai Nyx-niisan." Mumbled the little boy. Nyx nodded happy that the boy had given in.
"Go gather some twigs near by so we can start a fire. If your father is near by then he should see it." Nyx said as he handed Ranma the flashlight. "don't wander off too far! You may be a 'martial artist' but you are still a youngling."
"Wassa 'youngling;?" Ranma asked tilting his head cutely to the side.
"It's a term in my language for a child." Nyx replied ruffling the younger boy's hair. Ranma pouted.
"Yes Nyx-niisan." And with that Ranma walked off to gather twigs, leaving Nyx to set up the tent for the two of them. He looked in Ranma's backpack and stared when he saw only a few trinkets and a small blanket inside.
"Does his father even give his son a tent??" Nyx muttered to himself as he shook his head. Turning to his own backpack he rummaged through until he came out with a large blanket and a smaller one. Seeing no other choice he laid the blanket down on the ground and placed the other one on top of it. Going back into Ranma's bag he pulled out his blanket and laid it next to his own. Seeing that the so called tent was done, he moved over and went to gather what ever rocks he could find. About twenty minutes later Ranma came back with his arms full of twigs and the flashlight in his mouth.
"Wyx-wiisaaaaw!! I fownd sum stwicks!" Ranma said as he ran over to the older alien.
Raising his eyebrows amused Nyx took the sticks out of Ranma's hands and then said rather amused, "Ranma, get that out of your mouth, I don't want you sticking random things into your mouth."
Taking the flashlight out of his mouth Ranma glared at Nyx.
"But my hands were full! I couldn't see in front of me so I hadta!!" Ranma exclaimed waving his small hands around.
"Hahaha alright, alright. Come on now. Help me get a fire started." The alien said.
Ranma nodded and soon was organizing the rocks in a circle as Nyx put the sticks in the center. That was quickly done and after only a few failed attempts, the alien managed to get a fire started. He turned to the younger boy and was about to ask him if he wanted to sleep but stopped. A small smile graced his face as he saw Ranma already nodding off as he laid there in the dead leaves and dirt, curled up. Nyx stood up and walked over to the slumbering young boy and picked him up gently as he walked over to where he had placed the blankets and laid Ranma down. He covered Ranma with the smaller blanket before lying down on the other side of the blanket on the ground, using his backpack as a pillow he soon fell asleep.
In the morning………
Genma Saotome grumbled as he rubbed his bald head. He could still feel the lumps that were on the back of his head from his 'wonderful' landing near a grove. He was just lucky enough he hadn't landed on the rocks that were only mere inches from his spot. He had been unconscious most of the day and night so he was finally able to walk around looking for his son.
"The boy better be alright…I don't want to explain to Nodoka what happened to our son." He muttered to himself, as he could feel himself paling at the thought of explaining to Nodoka why he didn't have their son. He shuddered. Walking a few more feet he soon saw a clearing between several trees. He looked closer and saw remnants of a fire and two figures sleeping on a blanket. He noticed a backpack behind one of the people sleeping and was suddenly hit with an idea.
'Hmm…I DID happen to skip dinner yesterday because I had to use that salmon and fish sausage for the boy's training…maybe these campers wouldn't mind if I BORROWED a few measly pieces of food.' Genma thought to himself greedily.
Making his way quietly through the trees he got into the clearing and his eyes widened behind his glasses when he saw exactly who was in the clearing. There on the other side of a burned out fire was Ranma with his limbs sprawled out and his blanket practically tossed aside, but was practically curled up against whoever it was next to him. As he moved closer he saw that it looked like a kid no older then eighteen. He took another look at the campsite and realized that it was quickly made since there was no indication of any cooking or anything else. Looking back at his son he wondered how exactly he was going to pull Ranma away from the young boy who had his arm thrown over the six-year-old.
Creeping slowly Genma grumbled to himself as he was trying to figure out how to discreetly get Ranma, make a break for it and get food in the process. Seeing that Ranma was practically curled against whoever it was on the blanket, and seeing an abandoned backpack he decided to feed his stomach first and then turn his attention to the boy. Walking over he lifted the backpack from the ground and was surprised at how heavy it seemed. Taking another glance at the figure he frowned.
"He doesn't look like he's trained much, but he has to be a martial artist or does some practice if his bag is this heavy." Genma muttered to himself. "oh well, maybe he'll have some food I can 'borrow'. He tried to open the top of the backpack but for some reason it wouldn't open. Glaring at the pack he growled as he started to pull furiously at the weird lock but it still wasn't opening. Muttering a curse underneath his breath he decided to just take the whole thing with him.
Shouldering the bag, he then looked at his current problem which was trying to get his son out from whoever he was sleeping next to. He scowled at how his five-year-old son was cuddled against the stranger.
"Stupid boy, don't you know how vulnerable you look?"
Leaning over the two he reached down and using the vast skills he had obtained by training with his master, he lifted the stranger's arm and grabbed Ranma's arm. Just as he was about to pull the boy away from the stranger, the five-year-old sudden cried out surprising Genma.
"Papa, not the cats again!! Noooo I dun wanna!!"
Fearing that Ranma woke up the stranger he looked at the young man and let out a relived sigh that he hadn't awaken and Ranma soon fell back to the blanket but Genma caught him and tucked him under his arm.
"Now to get out of here before he gets up…" the fat man mumbled to himself and disappeared into the woods.
A few minutes later Nyx woke up to the strange lost of warmth at his side. Blearily he opened his eyes and when he saw the young boy next to him was missing he stood up quickly and scanned the small campsite. Not only was Ranma missing, but his backpack.
Inwardly he cursed at not noticing sooner.
"Dammit…I got careless. Must've been more tired then I thought from yesterday." He muttered. "I have go tot calm down. Now there has to be imprints around that tells where the thief came from." Taking a deep breath calming his worry down he looked around the empty campsite. It was barely noticeable but there were footprints leading from where Ranma had been sleeping and heading back to the woods.
'Guess whoever took Ranma and my bag isn't a novice, they've done this before.' Nyx thought to himself. Rolling up the sleeping bag he followed the trail of footprints until the footprints disappeared and frowned. He looked around where he was, trying to find anything that could help him. When he found nothing, Nyx grumbled under his breath.
"Okay think for a moment, this person is a professional so that would more then likely indicate that they have a few tricks to enable them to escape." Nyx said to himself. "but there's probably only so long they can stay under cover before they need to come out. That and Ranma should be waking soon and that alone should make some sounds for me to hear."
With that in mind he concentrated and brought out his wings as he took to the air looking for the missing boy and whoever took his bag.
--------------------------------------
Coming out of the umisenken Genma was trying to hold onto a squirming Ranma that wanted to be put down NOW.
"PAPA!! Put me down! We have to go back and get him!" the six-year-old shouted as loudly as he could and continued to struggle in his father's arms. He was contemplating biting him to be put down.
"Why do we need to go back to him? I doubt he can keep up with us or has anything of valuable to us." Genma stated.
"then why did you decide to take his bag papa?" Ranma asked as he stopped squirming momentarily to look at his now sweating father.
"Wha-what makes you think it's his? This is my bag boy!" Genma exclaimed.
"cuz your bag is all torn and stuff with weird papers hanging out and that one looks brand new." The six-year-old replied rather smugly, making the elder saotome wonder what that stranger has been telling his kid.
"Nevermind where I got the bag, the point is we must continue our training journey boy! Now let's get you back to training with those cats." He muttered, as Ranma's eyes grew wide when he heard the c-word and started to struggle even more.
"NO!! I don't WANT to be thrown into that pit again!! You can't make me!! And I dun wanna go without Nyx-niisan!! I want Nyx-niisan!!" Ranma started shouted at the top of his lungs and by this time had started biting his father in hopes to escape from being thrown into that pit.
"You will listen to what I say boy!! I am your—"he started but was cut off when he suddenly felt someone or something coming at him extremely fast. A blurred figure descended from the sky and had managed to land a kick right in his gut, forcing him to drop his son and be thrown back several feet.
"You will RELEASE the boy you thief!!" a familiar voice to Ranma stated.
The young child happily looked up and a smile broke out on his face.
"Nyx-niisan!! You found me!!" Ranma cried out happily. The alien smiled and patted Ranma on the head as he retracted his wings into himself.
"I'm glad I did. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you. By the way Ranma have you seen my bag by any chance?" Nyx asked looking at the younger boy.
"Yup!! Papa took it when he grabbed me." Ranma replied pointing to the discarded bag lying a few feet away.
Letting out a relieved sigh Nyx walked over and shouldered his bag, thankful that he had it back in his possession. One of the last things he wanted was to let some human thief get away with taking his bag which had taken a while to put together when he was still on Vilgax's ship. Suddenly, what Ranma had said to him came back into his head and couldn't help but gape at the dark-haired six-year old.
"Wait a moment. That man that took you away and stole my bag is your FATHER!?" Nyx nearly shouted. Ranma tilted his head to the side cutely and nodded.
"Yep. That's papa, he's always doin' stuff like that. Nice kick by the way!! I can hardly land a blow on Papa but you managed to get a good one on him!!" Ranma exclaimed. "are you sure you're not a martial artist."
"Well I've never had martial arts training before; I'm just naturally agile but Ranma we need to talk about a few things before your 'papa' comes back." Nyx said looking up to see if the fat bald human was around. Ranma nodded and waited for Nyx to continue.
"Okay, firstly you cannot let your father know that I'm not from your world." Nyx started.
"But why? I'm sure Papa wouldn't say anything." Ranma replied naively, making the other stare at him.
'With the way he just 'took' Ranma and my bag without waking me up I highly doubt that with his first impression.' The griffin alien thought to himself. "please Ranma, not only your father but you cannot tell ANYONE that."
"Okaaay….anything else?" the young boy asked.
"The omnitrix is another thing you cannot tell anyone about. I don't care what your father says to you about using things to your advantage or anything like that but use the omnitrix when its an emergency, last resort and especially when necessary." The griffin stated. "the less people that know of it the better."
"I promise Nyx-niisan! You have my word as a martial artist that won't tell anyone!" smiled Ranma.
"Good boy. Now erm…shall we find your 'papa'? I think we still need to talk to him about me joining you." Nyx said. He would really rather just leave the man. He was getting a bad feeling about the human that was Ranma's dad but he didn't really want to end up on a human wanted list for kidnapping.
The two walked forward but Nyx's instincts suddenly kicked in and quickly lowered himself to the ground rolled ahead, just as something was about to try and attack him from behind.
"Nyx-niisan, what happened!?" Ranma cried out as he watched the alien suddenly roll ahead of him. He watched as his niisan was trying to defend himself from whatever was attacking him.
Getting up he could just barely make some sort of form out with his sharp eyes and managed to block an incoming punch as he threw his leg out and tried to trip out whoever it was trying to incapacitate him. But whoever it was seemed to appear and then disappear to avoid the kick and started to throw punches once more. Thankfully since Nyx was naturally fast he just managed to barely scrap by.
'Dammit!! Who the…it can't be that fat bald human is doing this!?' Nyx suddenly realized when the figure who was still invisible to the eye could be the only other person out here. He jumped forward a few feet to avoid the sudden swept of air that was aimed at the back of his head.
'There must be some sort of trick to this…I can't see him so and he seems to be aiming for places that would cripple me almost instant…so if that's the case' Nyx thought to himself he stood still. He listened carefully for any sounds that he could pick up with his sharp hearing. After a few minutes he suddenly lashed out and there was a sort of strangle choking as he had finally grabbed onto whatever or more specifically, WHO was attacking him. Ranma stared as he soon saw his father being held in a choke hold by an angry alien.
"Wow papa just appeared outta no where!"
"You better have a good reason for attacking me…" scowled Nyx as his eyes narrowed and he tightened his grip on the bald martial artist. "and you can explain to me why you decided to take away Ranma and my bag."
Before Genma could give out a choked reply Ranma ran up to and tugged on Nyx's shirt making him look down at the young boy as he also caught Genma's attention.
"Nyx-niisan that's Papa!!"
"Oh...right...nevermind." Nyx muttered as he let go of the fat human, dropping him unceremoniously onto the ground. The alien stepped back next to Ranma folding his arms and glaring at Genma. He still wasn't going to toss the human as far as he could throw him...which could be far if he was in his true form.
Genma on the other hand scrambled back to his feet as he rubbed his neck where he could feel Nyx's hand had gripped him tightly as he looked over at the boy standing next to Ranma.
All of a sudden the birds flew from the treetops after the moment of silence as a loud shout erupted from the bald marital artist that made Nyx rub his ears.
"BOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING CALLING THIS STRANGER 'NIISAN'!?!?"
------------------------
It took a bit more convincing from Ranma's part and a few threats on Nyx's side that Genma finally relented in letting the older boy travel with them. Genma just hoped that the new figure that Ranam saw as his brother wouldn't put a damper on the plans he had for the boy. He still had to teach Ranma the ultimate fighting technique the 'Nekoken', but with Nyx watching him like a hawk, he doubted he was going to get anything pass the man.
'This Nyx that Ranma claims helped him I have a feeling that he's going to get in my way more then once.' The old fat man thought to himself. 'I must find ways to 'distract' him so that I can get the boy's real training started…' He chuckled to himself, going over the plans he had in stored for his son.
Behind the man Nyx looked up when he felt the small six year old on his shoulders shudder.
"Are you getting cold Ranma?" Nyx asked, the little boy shook his head as he gripped Nyx's hair rather tightly.
"No Nyx-niisan…I just gots a bad feeling all of a sudden." The six-year-old replied.
The alien took a glance at human in front of him and eyed him warily. He had been getting a bad feeling of what this man's plans to do with his son. Nyx still found it hard to believe that the person in front of him was Ranma's father, but he can't argue with genetics.
"Don't worry Ranma I promise to be there for you." Nyx said smiling up at the younger boy.
"Really? You promise Nyx-niisan?" the little six-year-old asked.
"Yup I promise. So, how would you like to train with the omnitrx once your father goes to bed?" Nyx asked, and Ranma nodded happily.
"Yeah!! Training!!" Ranma cried out happily.
"Wait a minute! Who said YOU were going to train Ranma!? He's MY son and MY student!!" growled Genma suddenly turning on the two.
Alright, Ranma wanting Nyx to stay with them he could almost tolerate, but wanting to TRAIN his own son? Usually he'd be happy that someone would do the work for him, but that was only AFTER he had time to examine the school and let Ranma stay for a day before he suddenly had another appointment somewhere else and had to leave. As of right now he had no idea what this Nyx character was capable of and wasn't going to risk the chance of having him teaching Ranma that could make him go against him,
The young six-year-old swallowed nervously as he gripped onto Nyx's clothes tightly but all the alien did was glare coldly right back at him.
"Yes training. YOU can train Ranma in the morning and afternoon while I get him during the evening along with nights." Nyx retorted. "look at it this way, someone's doing work for you while you can do whatever it is you do at night besides sleeping."
"No! Whatever you teach the boy you have to teach me!! Otherwise I won't let you teach him at all." Genma replied smugly.
Nyx couldn't help but feel his eye twitch at the arrogance of this human. He's seen his type before, this human before him was the kind that liked to have things in his power. Where he could manipulate it to his liking. Nyx wasn't about to let that happen to Ranma, especially with whatever the old man had planned.
"No deal. The things I'm going to teach Ranma cannot taught to someone of your maturity. Besides you can't exactly transform into several variations of aliens" he replied muttering the last part.
With the look that Genma was sending Nyx, the griffin knew that this human was going to take some convincing.
"besides I know you're his wise master and need to teach him as you travel, but don't you think taking some off and doing things that you'd rather not have Ranma be aware of would benefit you?" Nyx asked, trying very hard not to gag at the 'wise master'. It left a bad taste in his mouth.
But what was good was the complimenting seemed to make Genma actually think for a moment as he considered.
'It would be good to leave the boy here with this guy while I attend to some 'business deals' in nearby towns...and I could always use him as a scapegoat.' the fat martial artist thought to himself looking Nyx over as the alien disguised as a human was whispering to Ranma. The boy had an excited look on his face making Genma frown.
'Bah whatever. If it'll get the boy out of my hair for a bit for me to look around towns then might as well let him.' Genma thought to himself before voicing his opinion. "Fine, I'll let you train the boy for the night. But you have no complaints about how I train him in the day."
"Yeaaah...we'll just see about that." Nyx replied rolling his eyes as he was about to lift Ranma to carry him on his shoulders once more but was stopped by Genma.
"The boy has legs, let him walk himself. He's not a weak little girl."
"Hey, woman are just as capable to defend themselves like any man." growled Nyx, remembering a variety of woman on his planet that were proficient in defending themselves. It wasn't unheard of to see woman in the defender corps for Scythia.
"A martial artists duty is to defend the WEAK and women are by FAR the weakest." sneered Genma before he continued on ahead of the two.
Nyx was glaring daggers at Genma's back and didn't bothering to reply to that he looked down at Ranma.
"Why don't you walk a bit. If you get tired then just ask."
Ranma frowned and shook his head. "I'm not weak, I can walk!" Nyx sighed and could already see some problems that he was going to have with Ranma if he allowed the boy to follow everything his father tells him. Making sure Genma was out of hearing distance he leaned down to the boy.
"Ranma listen to me, not everything your father says is correct. The things he says may be lies." Nyx said seriously.
"Lies?"
"Lies are something people say when they want to hide something or make you believe in something that really isn't true." Nyx tried explaining as best as he could.
Ranma looked a bit confused as he tried to understand what Nyx was saying to him,
"So...Papa saying girls are weak is a lie?"
"Exactly. Not all women may be able to defend themselves, but there are those that can and would find it insulting to call them weak." the griffin stated.
"So whatever Papa says is a lie?"
"Well maybe not everything he says is a lie." Nyx said scratching his head not sure if the old human could tell the truth. A person couldn't lie all the time could they? Unfortunately that had made Ranma even more confused. Nyx shook his head as he bent down to Ranma's eye level.
"Okay, Ranma how about this. Always question what your father tells you that doesn't have anything to do with your training. I'm sure this isn't going to be the first time he's mislead you, so don't hesitate to ask me anything if need help." Nyx insisted.
"Okay Nyx-niisan! I get it." the six-year-old replied.
"Good now let's catch up to your father before he thinks we're plotting something against him." Nyx said as the two ran to catch up to the other martial artist.
After walking some distance, Nyx kept an eye on the younger human making sure that he wasn't pushing himself too much, but he was surprised how stubborn he was and had managed to walk surprisingly far for someone of his age. It was past noon by the time the three of them stopped to make camp in a near by open field. As Nyx was setting up his tent he looked over at Genma as he had just dropped his bag and grabbed some worn out looking pamphlet. He watched as Genma opened it and was reading it over and muttering something under his breath he tucked it into his gi and then turned to grab a surprised Ranma who was trying to copy Nyx setting up his own tent. Nyx watched as Genma was pushing him far away from the alien.
"Come on boy we have some training to catch up on." He said as he kept eying Nyx
"Okay Papa."
Nyx watched them leave and finished up putting up his tent. He looked through his bag before pulling out what looked like to be a notepad but he pressed a small button on it and suddenly a screen popped out displaying information. Looking over them, Nyx was going over the types of aliens that he had put inside Ranma's omnitrix, trying to figure out which he should start with. Making sure to put his bag in his tent he stood up and looked in the direction where Genma had dragged Ranma away.
"Might as well see how Ranma's father trains him." he said to himself as he checked around the vicinity making sure that there wasn't anyone else around but himself, Ranma and Genma. Walking quickly, he looked around for any signs of the two, even though it was still a pretty open field Genma could've used that technique again so he had to be sure. After a few minutes he thought he heard noises coming from behind a few bushes. And trees that were around. Walking over he gaped at what he saw. He watched as Genma was digging a hole a few feet away, but that wasn't what had him staring. He was staring at the fact that Genma had tied Ranma to a tree with rope that looked only to be two feet long and there were some sort of bug species flying around and Ranma was yelping in pain as he tried his best to avoid the bugs with the short rope. Slapping his forehead he looked towards the heavens before heading over to wonder what the heck Genma was thinking!!
"Goddesses of Scythia please help me."
Ten years later...
Late at night in the middle of a wrecked field, two shadows could be seen training under the moonlight. There were markings around an obstacle course and one of the figures standing at what looked like the starting point of it. The other shadow was holding something as it observed the other.
"Alright Ranma!! Now I want you to fly around the course eight times under five minutes!!" An older looking Nyx shouted as he looked at the stop watch and then back at the starting line.
"Aw this is no sweat Nyx-niisan!!" smirked a black feathered griffin with red tips. The piercing blue eyes grinned at the course set before him as he looked eager to begin.
Nyx shook his head.
"What did I tell you about being arrogant Ranma?" Nyx asked sighing but couldn't help grinning. He was surprised, despite Genma's questionable techniques a few which Nyx had saved Ranma from the worst of, the cute little naive six-year-old youngling had grown significantly into a tall, strong, albeit smug, and a tad naïve sixteen year old.
"That I should learn the definition of humility and not be so arrogant? But Nyx-niisan this IS easy and I can go around this thing eight times in less then five minutes." Ranma replied trying hard not to roll his eyes.
"Well just see about that. Remember just because you've grown accustomed to the omnitrix doesn't mean anything and just to be sure you go under five minutes." Nyx said as he walked over to the other griffin, he grabbed the other's arm and pressed some of the buttons around the dial. There was a few clicks and beeps before it glowed momentarily then stopped. Ranma stared from the omnitrix on his feathered arm to Nyx.
"What did you do Nyx-niisan?"
"Oh, I just set the omnitrix to revert you back to your human form after oh four minutes starting...NOW!!!" Nyx shouted making Ranma go wide-eyed before he flapped his wings and taking off around the course.
Snickering to himself Nyx stepped back not wanting to get hit in Ranma's rush to go around the obstacle course eight times. He watched amused as his unofficial sibling dodged each and every thing and careful not to get hit. Each second counted for him to beat the clock on the omnitrix.
'Seemed so long ago
he was asking me every single question he could think of about each
alien form he changed each to after each week.'
Nyx thought to himself laughing a bit. 'What does this
alien do? Have you ever meet this one before? How come it has these
things on it? Why can't I do that in this form?"
"HOLY-ARGGGHH!!"
Nyx was broken out of his thoughts when he heard Ranma's sudden yell and covered his mouth to stop his laughter from escaping. It seemed that one of the projectiles that Ranma was suppose to dodge had managed to get him in the back throwing his flying off balance. It made the poor boy crash into the remaining obstacles which killed what remaining time he had on the watch before a bright green flash surrounded him and changed him back to the tall, dark haired teenager and finally skidding to a halt pass the finish line on his torso.
"Soooooo was that was 'easy' as you proclaimed it would be Ranma?' snickered Nyx as he folded his arms and looked at grumbling teenager.
"Just two more laps and I would've gotten it." he muttered scowling as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes and looked back at Nyx.
"Yes you would've gotten it, had you not been so over-confident. We may need to do something about that ego of yours. What's that human saying? We need to 'deflate' your ego or something like that." the alien said muttering to himself.
"Awww alright can we do it one more time? I'm sure I'll get it this time 'round! Ranma Saotome doesn't lose or give up!" Ranma stated as he raised a fist into the air.
"Yes and Nyx Valeth is tired and annoyed at said overconfident Ranma Saotome. Mind not speaking in third person? Now let's head back to the camp, your father wanted to get to this 'ancient training' ground by tomorrow." Nyx retorted rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Yes Nyx-niisan." Ranma replied agreeing with the alien. "hey when are you going to set the omnitrix back to its non-timed state?"
"Let's see...how about when you can pass training without your ego showing?" Nyx replied whistling as he walked off back towards the camp.
"Nyx-niisan!! how can my ego be showing!! hey!! come back here niisan!! and I only got overconfident a FEW times!!"
"A few times being over twenty-three? What about the time you accidentally turned the dial to the wrong alien and turned into the Vrykolakas?"
"Ugh...I don't ever want to turn into that bloodsucker ever..." groaned Ranma.
"Yes...I had to tie and bound you with several steel cables but even THAT wasn't enough. Didn't help that it was night when you decided to mess around with the omnitrix." Nyx added rubbing his arm one of the few bruises he had gotten from that particular alien.
He had forgotten that Vilgax had chosen some of the more hellish, atrocious and vicious of the alien species to be put into the second omnitrix. The one from Vrykolakas was a particular nasty one, whole planet filled with violent blood-craving fiends, that would even attack one of its own family to get the blood it lusts after. It was no wonder that their own planet seemed go glow red itself. Nyx shuddered.
"Okay, okay that's one time." Ranma said throwing his arms in the air.
"Oh yeah? What about when we trained with the Mobiusin, Quillback? You decided to be a wise-ass and run backwards which ended up in a forest nearly uprooted and falling off a cliff." Nyx
Ranma groaned at the smirking Griffin in disguise.
"Oh fine. You win, the timer stays." Ranma murmured as they finally saw the barely lit fire in the distance. Walking closer they saw Genma already fast asleep snoring as there were crumbs from what rations they had left in the camp all over the old man.
"Remind me to hit him and make him go get the food next time we hit a village or town." Nyx scowled.
"Don't bother. Pops would just use the money for sake and food to feed his own belly." Ranma replied yawning as he pulled out his sleeping bag.
"Good point. Just make a note of it once he's out of sight." Nyx replied pulling into his own sleeping bag. "if he sees the money he's more then likely going to grab it for himself."
"And what exactly is this place suppose to be old man?" Nyx asked unimpressed by the area surrounded by springs with bamboo poles sticking out of the said pools. 'and why do I get the sudden sinking feeling about this place?'
Genma smirked as he waved yet another pamphlet in the air as Ranma and Nyx graced the martial artist with a deadpanned look.
"How much you wanna bet it's in chinese and he couldn't read a word of it?" Nyx asked looking at Ranma.
"I'd take on that bet but you'd be telling the truth." Ranma replied letting out a tired sigh. "I wonder what pops idea is this time?"
"Iunno but I don't want to stick around and find out. I'm going to find someone who can tell us where exactly we are." Nyx replied walking towards the small hut on the other side of the pools. "Try not to let the fat man push you around Ranma!"
"Hai Nyx-nii--" he was about to reply but was cut off by a surprised kick by his father launching him towards the pools. Reaching out he grabbed onto one of the poles and pulled himself up on top.
"What the hell was THAT for old man!?" Ranma growled.
"You need to toughen up boy!! Letting that Nyx character follow us was a bad idea! He's made you weak, I need to re-educate you." Genma replied as he sprung from the pole he was standing on to attack Ranma.
As the two fought over the unknown springs Nyx knocked on the door.
"Hello? Excuse me I'd like to ask for some directions to the nearest city!" Nyx called outside the door. He heard shuffling inside and the door opened to reveal a chinese man surprised.
"Ah, we have a customer. It nice to see you kind sir. What may I do for you?" he asked.
"Ah yes I...erm...can you hold on a minute?" Nyx asked having a bit of trouble communicating with him. He saw the guide nod and looked over Nyx's shoulder to see Ranma and Genma fighting over the springs!!
"Ah! More honored customer! It very dangerous to fight over springs! Please get down now!" he exclaimed.
Wanting to speak to the guy easier, Nyx pressed the clip on his ear and did a quick scan on the guide and his eyes widened when he absorbed the information about the springs.
/Excuse me sir but are those springs dangerous?/ Nyx asked in the guides native language.
He was surprised at first but then recovered as he nodded.
/Yes, it is very dangerous for people to fall into springs. Each spring holds a curse within and who ever the unfortunate soul that falls into it takes form of who ever fell into spring thousands of years ago./ explained the guide.
"Dammit I KNEW I had a bad feeling about this place!! Ranma get down from there now!! I don't want you falling into any of those..." Nyx started trying to warn the boy but Ranma looked down at him to see what he was yelling about, giving the opportunity to Genma to knock him into a spring. Nyx gaped and the guide sighed as he shook his head.
"Ah, poor unfortunate customer. He fall into nyannichuan." sighed the guide shaking his head.
"Nyannichuan, nyannichuan uh that's the..." Nyx muttered to himself to translate the language he had acquired from the guide. His eyes widened and swerved to stare at the guide when he finally figured out what the spring was. "...spring of drowned GIRL!?!?!"
"Yes. You know Chinese well. Young costumer fall into spring of girl that drown there one thousand years ago." the guide stated.
Nyx watched with his mouth dropping at the sight of the red-headed girl that appeared out of the spring to knock the shocked Genma unconscious, off his pole and into another spring. Ranma landed smugly on the ground as he watched his father disappear under the water.
"HA!! That'll show you old man!!" Ranma shouted proudly, not noticing his body's sudden change.
Nyx looked warily at the guide almost afraid to ask what pool the old man had fallen into. "Tell me what the old fool fell into please? He's not a spider is he?"
"Oh no. Elder costumer fall into Shonmaonichuan. Spring of drowned panda."
"...that actually suits him so I'm not surprised. Ranma get over here now! Have you even looked at yourself?"
"What are you talking about Niisa—what the hell happened to my voice!?" the now female Ranma shouted as she felt her face and then pressed her hands to her chest and paled at the slight bumps there.
Nyx sighed as he walked over to Ranma who looked like he was about to faint.
"Ranma that pool your father had knocked you into pool kinda turned you into a girl..." Nyx said slowly trying to be careful not to make the boy faint, even though he looked like he was going to anyway.
"I...I'm...I...I'M I GIRL!?!?!?!" she practically shrieked before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and fainted.
"Wonderful, excuse me guide would you mind helping me carry him to your hut? I believe he may need an explanation." Nyx said. "I'll go check on the bald man."
/Of course honored costumer. I shall take young costumer and explain his curse when he wakes up./ the guide replied and carried Ranma to his hut.
Muttering curses in his own language he headed over to the pool where Genma had yet to rise up from. Crouching down he looked into the depths wondering what was taking him so long.
"Maybe he actually turned into a fish and can't come out." Nyx said to himself half-jokingly.
He frowned and started to back away when bubbles started to show up on the top but he wasn't able to back away far enough because in the next second a giant panda leap up landed on the ground. Nyx couldn't help but smirk at the reaction the old man was getting when he saw that instead of hands he had paws and that he was covered in fur.
"Hahaha looks like one of your famous pamphlets backfired on you."
"Growlf!!" was all Genma-panda could say making Nyx snicker even more. But to the griffin's surprise Genma turned on him to grabbed the front of his shirt and tossed him towards the pools.
'oh crap, the fat man is trying to get ME cursed for laughing at him. No way on this planet am I going to fall!' Nyx thought to himself and reached out to hopefully grab one of the poles since the last thing he wanted was to bring out his wings.
Though considering that Genma had just turned into a panda maybe it wasn't a bad idea. Unfortunately for the alien the ground came closer then he anticipated as he was too far from a pole to grab and made a huge splash as he fell into the spring. He could already feel his body starting to shift as it felt like liquid fire flowing through his veins as his body was taking form of whatever had fallen into the spring. Unlike Genma and Ranma who were human, their change was instant. He being an alien the transformation was much more painful for him and he soon let the darkness take over his vision.
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When Nyx woke up he was greeted with the faces of a Ranma, the guide and unfortunately a non-panda Genma also. The three of them, especially Ranma was staring at him. His body felt a lot different, his senses were extremely enhanced as he could practically smell the worry in Ranma and the smugness from Genma. He growled at the old man but was shocked that the growl sounded a lot deeper then his usual voice. He turned to look at the guide and he took the hint of explaining what had happened to him.
"Ah, when customer was thrown in toward springs thanks to panda-man he fall into Langnichuan or spring of drowned wolf." the guide said. "tragic story of wolf pack leader fall in many years ago."
Nyx's eyes widened as he stood up where he was lying down and saw that it was true. Instead of being at least a head taller then Ranma, he was only close to the boy' chest as he was standing on four legs rather then two. Ranma keeled down and scratched behind Nyx's ears and as good as that felt for the cursed alien he threw the boy an annoyed look.
"Haha, at least its not permanent Nyx-niisan. You can change back with warm water see?" Ranma said as he grabbed a tea cup with warm water and poured it over the wolf. But was shocked the three was that Nyx didn't turn back to normal.
"What the...why can't he change back!?" Ranma asked turning towards the guide who looked just as lost as he did.
"I not know. It strange, warm water work normally on cursed." the guide replied scratching his head. Ranma turned and growled angrily at a sweating Genma.
"Old maaan...you had to go and get Nyx-niisan permanently cursed didn't you!! It wasn't enough that you have me change into a GIRL but you turned niisan into a WOLF!!!" the teenager shouted kicking Genma through the front door.
Meanwhile Nyx was thinking about his situation and how he could find another mean to change back to his original self...or at least his human disguise.
'Maybe because of my genetic makeup that the normal way doesn't work. I wonder...' Nyx thought to himself. He walked up to the guide and pulled a bit of his shirt in his mouth tugging at it trying to get his attention.
"Hm? Honored costumer have idea?" he asked.
Nyx nodded his head and the motioned over to his bag and to the two fighting outside.
"You need the young one's help with your bag?"
Again Nyx nodded. The guide headed outside as Nyx grabbed his backpack in his mouth, dragging it outside. When the guide managed to stop the two from accidentally falling into another spring, he looked over at Ranma and relayed the message the Nyx had to him. Ranma walked over to Nyx and grabbed his bag.
"What'd you need Nyx-niisan?" Ranma asked.
Burying his nose in the ground Nyx somehow managed to make a lopsided ear with something on it. It took a few minutes for Ranma to figure out what he was asking but he soon got it.
"Oh that thing on your ear, yeah its still there Nyx-niisan. What did you want me to do?" the teenager asked.
Nyx pounded his paw into the ground hitting the lopsided drawing.
"You want me to hit the thing on your ear?"
When Nyx nodded Ranma reached over and pressed the clip that was still attached to the alien's ear. When Nyx started to feel himself changing once more Ranma backed away and saw the wolf change back into his niisan.
"...well guess that was fun..." muttered Nyx as his face was red embarrassed that when he had changed into a wolf his clothes didn't go with him so he was left standing in his birthday suit in front of everyone.
"DO YOU ALL MIND!?!?" the red faced alien asked pulling his backpack to him to cover up. The three quickly turned around as the alien got his clothes out of the bag.
"by the goddesses, this is going to be a long painful trip..." Nyx muttered as he hurriedly put on his clothing.
Several Weeks later...
"Pops do you even know where you're going?" the female red-haired Ranma asked as she was soaking wet and pissed. She had wanted to stay at the inn and rest but no, Genma had force them all to leave in order to visit an old friend in a middle of a rainstorm. That wasn't what was pissing her off though. Somehow the balding martial artist managed to get an umbrella and was currently using it keeping him in his human form.
"We're almost there boy! Stop complaining like a weak little-OW!!" Genma suddenly shouted dropping the umbrella.
The dark brown wolf that had been walking besides the girl had sped up and bit Genma just as he was about to insult Ranma. When the man dropped the umbrella, allowing the cold rain to change him into a panda Nyx grabbed the umbrella with his mouth and gave it to Ranma.
"Thanks Nyx-niisan. Don't glare at him like that pops, you were asking for it and its about time you learned how to SHARE. You've had the stinkin' umbrella nearly the whole way!" female Ranma stated as she opened the object that kept any more water getting on her.
Genma made a motion to attack the girl but a warning growl from the wolf made him think twice. Even though he may be more experienced in fighting then the boy, Nyx's senses in that form had increased dramatically from the wolf. Besides those fangs HURT! Wanting to keep his limbs in tact Genma sulking walked on but making plains in his head to get back at the boy and wolf later.
Meanwhile somewhere outside the limits of a city in Texas...
"Now my mutant pets!! attack the city and it shall be the first in our glorious empire!!" cackled Dr. Animo as his new army which until recently been normal animals. The desert animals charged forward growling and hissing with drool coming out of their mouths destroying everything in their paths.
All of a sudden a giant yellow bouncing ball came colliding into several of his pets knocking them away from the people they were about to attack and away from anymore property damage.
"Aww man. When am I going to get a BREAK!?" the rounded alien groaned as he stood on two legs looking exhaustedly at Dr. Animo riding on top of what looked like to be a desert snake.
"Stop whining dweeb." a red-headed girl retorted back irritable herself as she dodged and landed a kick on a giant groundhog that was attacking her from the sides as she ducked and chanted a spell at coyote. "Sennyu invizibis!!" chunks of concrete came out from the streets and hit three incoming animals that were heading towards a few more civilians.
"You're not the only one who's tired!"
"Stop fighting you two and get whatever is controlling these animals off of Animo!" an elderly man stated as he was helping some of the fallen people on the streets get to safety.
"Yes Grandpa..." the two replied in unison. Getting back to the problem at hand the round alien and the young girl ignored each other for the duration of the task to finish it as soon as possible.
"Sennyu invizibis! Tera Trimo Rebico!" trees were uprooting themselves to attack the animals as they came closer to them as they aided the red-headed girl who had casted the spell to animate the trees, large branches swung out and hit back the beasts as they walked towards the animals. More rocks came out from the concrete and hit back more animals to help the trees.
The alien meanwhile was ricocheting off of buildings and the animals as he literally bouncing his way towards Animo as he continued giving commands to his army.
"Don't you ever give up?" the alien had to ask as he stood in front of Dr. Animo as he sat ontop of a giant snake.
"Attack him my pet now!!"
Curling up into a ball and bouncing away from the acid that came from the reptile's mouth he bounced off of a nearby minivan and landed on the snakes back, making him hiss out in pain which ended up throwing Animo off of its back. Before Animo could rant about what the bowling ball alien had just done the alien took this opportunity and rolled ontop of the good doctor to sit on top of him. With his small fingers he grasped the transmitter that was on top of Animo's head and crushed that along with the other devices on his arms just to be on the safe side. Once he was completely machine-less the alien grabbed him by the back of his raggedy shirt as it walked back to the red-headed girl and the elderly man. He set him down just as a flash of green light came and a young teenager with dark brown locks and light eyes wearing a short sleeved black shirt with a green jacket with white stripes and cargo pants sighed as he fell to the ground.
"That has got to be the fiftieth time that Animo's escaped." he grumbled.
"Don't be so dramatic, its only close to twenty." the red-haired girl replied rolling her eyes as she folded her arms. Her red-hair went down to her neck as she wore a green elbow length beaded kimono-like top with a ruffled denim jacket over that and with white pants. Even though she tried not to show it she was exhausted to.
"Why is it where ever we go to try and get some rest we end up finding ANOTHER villin that we put away escaped!" the boy continued as if he hadn't heard his cousin. "I mean come ON, first it was the knights again a week ago, then it we ran into those circus freaks in that museum three days ago, after that we had that whack job trying with another robotic menace. When are we going to get a break!?!?!" ranted the boy.
"I hate to agree with him grandpa but Ben is right. We need a break badly." sighed the girl rubbing her head.
"I guess a little trip away from the country wouldn't be so bad." Max replied smiling a bit. "So Gwen, Ben what do you think of traveling to Japan for a bit? I have an old plumber friend there that we could see."
"Really!? I've always wanted to travel to different whole different country! Oh I have to read up on customs and then learn what I can about the language and people. Granpa do you mind if we stop by a bookstore? Have you ever been there Grandpa?" Gwen asked excited.
"Hahaha no I haven't been to Japan, he decided to move there after the plumbers had disbanded but I have written to him on occasions." Max replied.
"So does that mean you can speak Japanaese?" Ben asked managing to stand up and leaned against the beat up looking motor home.
"I was taught a thing or two. So you two up for the trip?"
The two teenagers nodded eagerly and got into the RV to drive to the coast in order to get to a boat that would bring the RV with them to Japan.
"Do you think we'll finally be able to get some rest and relax?" Ben asked turning to his cousin who was busying looking up information about Japan on her laptop.
"I hope so, we could use a break from all of these fights lately." Gwen replied stretching her arms. "I can't wait to check out all the different historical places!"
Ben rolled his eyes as he laid back down on the bed, putting on his earphones as he listened to his music.
"I'm more interested in the food they have there." he replied grinning.
"Probably that and wanting to check out real live sumo wrestlers." Gwen muttered under her breathe. "say Grandpa where did you say your friend lives? I want to check out the area on my laptop."
"Oh, he's been staying in a local distract called Nerima."
To Be Continued
AzureZephyr: First of I'd like to say...I AM SO SO SO SORRY!! DX I had no intention of it taking over half a year to update!! I've just been busy with finishing my latest semester from my college and then figuring out the other stuff I needed to do like take this extra class because of an exam, volunteering at the hospital and getting ready for stuff coming up. I swear it will not take as long like this again!! I kind of had a writers block because I wasn't sure what I wanted to appear in this chapter (like Ryouga and Ukyo) for example but I decided to add those in when they appear and do it in flashback form.
The spells that Gwen used I found on Wiki along with the name of the springs of Jusenkyo. Um I know I wanted Nyx to have a curse but I had trouble looking up the Chinese word for wolf online, so the closets I got was 'lang' so If I'm wrong about that I'm really sorry. The 'umisenken' that Genma used in the beginning I'm not sure if used it corrected as its defined so if its suppose to be used in a different can someone let me know? Two forms of Ranma's omnitrix was revealed lol. One was the 'Vrykolakas' which is technically defined as a werewolf but in Greek its closely related to the vampire and the mobiusin which was based off of sonic. Both were suggestions Pmed to me by SolarTiger.
So I guess that's pretty much it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it and Thanks again for reading and please review!! Criticism is appreciated too! If any of you have ideas that you'd like to tell me about please either PM or email me oh and if anyone is interested I could use a beta reader. Thanks again!