You probably want to kill me right now but if you do, this fic will take even longer to finish.
I can summarize my lengthy absence in four very powerful words. Super Smash Bros Brawl.
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Ranma's eyes snapped open at 5:59 AM on the dot, exactly ten seconds before his father would usually try and throw him out the window. Mentally, he prepared himself for a fight.
Ten seconds passed, and nothing happened. Then another ten seconds passed, and still nothing happened. After a few seconds Ranma realized why nothing was happening and mentally hit himself for acting stupid.
Glancing over to Link's bunk, Ranma saw the Hero of Time still soundly asleep. He briefly entertained the notion of waking him up for a spar but realized that it would make him remarkably similar to his father, and if Ranma had one goal in life (besides martial arts) it was to be as different from him as possible.
Looking down at himself, the newly initiated Smash Brother also realized that he was wearing the same clothes he wore the day before. While he didn't exactly mind re-wearing the same thing day in and day out, the two fights he had in the arena, and the one against the wire frames, had really taken a toll on them.
I guess I could get a workout there, thought Ranma remembering the Holo room. Kicking off the blankets, Ranma put his shoes on and walked out of the dorm room and into the hallway.
It only took him two seconds to remember that he needed a card to get anywhere in the building, but by then the dorm room door had already closed behind him.
Well crap. Now what? Quickly he considered his options. He could try breaking the door down but he didn't think it would go over very well with his employer. Not to mention the materials looked a lot sturdier than the average Nerima wall.
Briefly he tried pounding on Link's door but that only helped him figure out that Link was just as heavy a sleeper as he was. Walking to the end of the hall, Ranma was just about to try and force the door open, consequences be damned, when a voice stopped him.
"Going somewhere?"
The martial artist turned around and came face to face with blue eyes and blond hair. The girl carried herself like a fighter and had a Smash Brother ID badge pinned to her…….clothes, if you could call the skintight blue bodysuit she was wearing clothing. At her side there was a small holster that held a high tech looking gun.
Realizing that she had asked him a question Ranma tore his eyes away from the weapon and looked at her face, "Not really. I forgot I didn't have a keycard yet."
The girl walked in front of him and flashed her card to the door, which promptly opened. Ranma followed after her, "It's not surprising really," she said as she led him down one of the buildings many corridors, "they don't look like much but they're pretty high tech pieces of equipment."
Suddenly she stopped and turned around and extended her hand, "By the way, my names Sara Musaan. You must be Ranma Saotome, the new fighter here right?"
"Yeah that's me," said Ranma taking her hand and shaking it gently. She responded by giving his hand a squeeze that would have broken a normal mans fingers.
"I heard you get to fight Mewtwo today," said Sara offhandedly as she led him towards the mess hall.
"Well yeah, should be an interesting fight. He's got a decent aura."
Sara smirked, "Decent? Mewtwo has enough power to light a third world country for a couple days."
Ranma sighed, did everyone in this bloody arena feel that it was their sworn duty to tell him how powerful Mewtwo was? Just because someone had power didn't mean they knew how to use it. Something Ryoga and Saffron probably should have learned before messing with him.
Instead of saying that though, Ranma responded in typical fashion, "What's your point?"
Sara sighed, "I can't tell if that's overconfidence speaking or just plain recklessness."
Ranma was getting slightly annoyed now, "Hey, just because you may have gotten your ass kicked by this guy doesn't mean I should just roll over and let him pound on me alright? No one's invincible."
Sara shook her head, "Your sound a lot like Marth you know that?"
"Heh, with the way you guys act about him, I'm beginning to think he has the right idea. I don't care if he eats screws for breakfast, unless he weighs a couple tons then he'll fly out of the arena just like anyone else."
"Actually I prefer nails to screws," Ranma nearly jumped at the sudden voice in his head, "And I only weigh about half a ton really."
The martial artist smirked as he turned to face Mewtwo, "I'll be sure to have a magnet ready then. Should have an interesting effect."
Mewtwo laughed softly, a rather interesting effect when combined with his telepathy, "And what are you doing up so early in the morning…" Ranma saw Mewtwo wince suddenly, "…Sara?" he finished after a moments hesitation.
"I was heading to the Holo room for my morning workout when I found him locked outside his dorm without a keycard."
"Something I was hoping to fix before he went out wandering around alone," said Mewtwo holding up his hand. Floating directly in front of it was a new keycard with Ranma's male face imprinted on it.
The martial artist raised an eyebrow, "You use your psychic powers for everything?"
"Almost everything," admitted Mewtwo, "My creators didn't exactly design my body with convenience in mind."
Ranma nodded as he took the keycard out of the air. Mewtwo's hands only had three fingers each, and his feet, which consisted of two protrusions resembling toes, probably weren't the easiest things in the world to walk on.
"Master Hand has given you leave to visit the town today to replace your clothes." He continued gesturing to the torn up shirt and pants full of cuts and holes, "Unless you want to be walking around in your boxers after our fights over."
"Oh I have a feeling that no matter how this battle goes you're not going to be wearing anything by the end of it." He shot back.
"Very true human," said Mewtwo chuckling again, "Sara, since Link probably won't be waking up until noon, I'm giving you leave to show him around town. Make sure to have him back by lunch."
Mewtwo turned around and floated off in the opposite direction while Sara continued leading him towards the mess hall. While they walked, Ranma took the opportunity to look over his keycard.
The thing looked very hi-tech at a glance. Instead of a plastic card, the thing had a metal frame with a digital readout. A display showed his face and some green letters to the right of the display showed various information about him including his age, height, and weight. After a couple seconds the display shifted to show his female face with the same statistics, albeit for his girl side.
"Neat little thing," he commented offhandedly as Sara opened the final door leading to the breakfast hall. The room had, once again, transformed for the occasion. Instead of the luxurious high class environment he had attended last night, long rectangular tables had been set out cafeteria style. Instead of waiters, there was a large buffet which contained various foods ranging from cereal to rice with a stack of trays at both ends.
The cafeteria itself was quite empty. Besides him and Sara, the only other person there was a familiar tall figure with blue hair and a sword strapped to his waist. Loading up his plate, Ranma walked over and casually took a seat across from him.
"Good morning Ranma," said the swordsman looking up from his meal.
"Good morning uh…" Ranma paused for a second. Even though he had helped Link and Samus drag him to a bed, he had never actually gotten his name at the time.
"Marth," he provided.
Ranma raised an eyebrow. So this was Mewtwo's self proclaimed arch rival huh? "Good morning Marth," he finished.
"I heard that you are to cross blades with Mewtwo today," he said casually.
Ranma twitched, did every single person in this joint know about that fight? "Am I wearing a sign or something?" he asked bitterly.
"No," Marth pointed over towards the door, "that proclamation would be there."
The martial artist turned around to where Marth was pointing to see a bright neon sign with the words "FINAL LEAUGE MATCHUP: MEWTWO VS. RANMA" in colorful flashing letters.
"Normally I would have been the one to do battle with him but since his victory in the league is already assured, I agreed to surrender the fight to you."
"Um…thanks…I think."
The blue haired swordsman looked up as Sara sat down next to him, "Good morning…"
"Sara." She interrupted.
Ranma noticed Marth discreetly raise an eyebrow, "Good morning then, Sara."
"So you actually gave up a fight with Mewtwo so the new guy could take him on? Rather thoughtful of you." She said idly, picking at her food.
"My nemesis will be there regardless of whom he fights. I'm not one to let petty rivalries stop a newcomer from getting some much needed experience. I will always have another opportunity."
Ranma twitched. The guy was sounding a little too much like Kuno for his liking. Honed instincts from having to put up with the sword wielding idiot were telling him to punch the guy on principle, "Hey uh…Marth, why are you talking like that?"
"Like what?"
"I dunno, all formal like."
"Formal like?" he asked puzzled, "I'm not quite sure what it is you're attempting to say."
Sara interrupted before Ranma could speak again, "Um…Ranma? Marth comes from a rather ancient time. Japanese language hadn't evolved to the casual level it has today."
"Oh," said Ranma awkwardly. Clearing his throat Ranma addressed Marth in his best Kuno impression, "My apologies, I meant no offense. Your style of speaking merely brought to memory a person who I would have rather forgotten."
Marth smiled, "It is of no consequence. I wish you the greatest of fortune in your battle today." Still smiling, the swordsman picked up his tray and walked towards the cafeteria door. As he passed the martial artist, he leaned down to whisper in his ear.
"Be wary of your foes eyes, and don't ever take hold of his tail." Placing his tray in the washing area, Marth exited the room.
Sara had a sweatdrop on her head, "Where did you learn to talk like that?"
Ranma shrugged, "Meh, one of my old rivals back where I came from fancied himself a warring states era samurai and used that language to sound high and mighty all the time. Some of his language must have rubbed off on me since I had to kick his face in every day."
"Was he any good?"
"Nah, he just had inhuman levels of endurance from getting the crap beaten out of him all the time. So where are you from Sara?" He wasn't really interested but it seemed to be the best way to get the topic of conversation away from his home world.
"Galactic Federation colony world K-2L, one of the outer systems." She responded.
Ranma scratched his head. That sounded like a planet out of some sci-fi movie, "What did you use to do before you came here?"
"Bounty hunting. I left my home-world around the age of ten after a space pirate attack destroyed the orphanage where I was staying at. I joined the Galactic Federation and after eight years I started bounty hunting."
"Sounds dangerous," said Ranma idly while polishing off the last of his food.
"I'm a dangerous girl," said Sara teasingly, but Ranma could feel the steel behind them.
"I'll be careful then," said Ranma nonchalant. Its not as if he didn't believe her but it was kind of hard to find her intimidating after putting up with true insanity such as Kodachi (and occasionally Akane) who kept trouble as a pet and fed it on a daily basis.
Unfortunately for Ranma, Sara took his nonchalant-ness as sarcasm, "What you don't believe me?" Her voice was still teasing but the Smash Brother could feel the implied challenge behind them.
"No I believe you," said Ranma honestly.
Sara still looked skeptical but decided to let it slide, much to Ranma's relief. They finished their meals quietly (Ranma being able to finish his seconds before Sara could start her firsts) and made their way to the elevator, the bounty hunter in the lead.
A short ride later and the two fighters stepped out onto a brightly colored plaza, "Delflino Plaza," said Sara simply.
The best term Ranma could think of to describe it was colorful. Were he more versed in the language arts, he probably would have thought that word was understatement.
From the minute he walked out of the lobby, bright colors assaulted his vision. Instead of the usual bleak, grey, and darker colors he was used to seeing on houses, there were a myriad of colors ranging from bright reds and blues to pinks and even some blindingly bright yellows.
The buildings also came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Between two western style houses sat a mushroom shaped house painted red with white spots. Next to a Japanese style house stood an incredibly tall rainbow colored tower just shy of being a sky scraper.
Despite how tall some of the buildings were though, none of them even came close to reaching the size of the Smash Brother building, which seemed to go on forever. It was impossible to tell just how tall it actually was since the top went beyond the cloud cover.
Among the streets, a few people were milling about from one shop to the next. Toadstools and koopas seemed to make up a majority of the crowd but here and there Ranma saw some human faces as well.
"Here we are," she said. Ranma returned his attention to his immediate surroundings to see that while he had been observing his surroundings he had unconsciously followed Sara to a pitch black building with a sign that said, "All Occasions." The window displays in front depicted a couple human mannequins, a couple of koopa figures, and a child form half the size of the adult.
The clothes on the mannequins were the things that really interested Ranma though. The two humans were dressed in bodysuits similar to what Sara was wearing. The koopas were wearing black spiked shells and sunglasses, and the child figure was dressed in clothes similar to Link's garb.
"See something you like?" asked Sara coming to stand beside him, "I think these suits look good don't you?"
"Maybe on you," said Ranma quickly not trusting himself to look at her. Personally, he would rather have just kept his regular clothes but since his other two dozen duplicate outfits were still at the Tendo Dojo…
In a completely unrelated story, it happened at that moment that a lakitu was hovering over their exact location at the moment with a cloud that had absorbed too much water.
Sara sweatdropped as Ranma was suddenly soaked by a small downpour in a radius small enough that only he…or rather she…got wet. To his, or her, credit, Ranma didn't even flinch as the change took place.
"So um…do we need to shop for your girl side as well?"
"No way in hell," she said quickly, startling her, "Girls can wear guy clothes just fine. It don't work the other way around."
Sara looked confused, so Ranma explained it to her with his, now her, usual tact, "Wearing panties as a guy hurts like hell, especially when my girl side's about a size smaller than my male size."
That was more information than she needed to know. Blushing softly, Sara opted not to say anything and quickly pulled Ranma into the store.
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"So what happens when you change in the middle of a fight?" asked Sara curiously as she led him through the racks of clothing.
"I always wore sweatpants and tucked my shirt in so it didn't really bother me," she explained, "Still a pain in the ass having so much "up there" when I'm trying to fight. Wearing a bra as a guy just ain't practical though."
'Her speech may be blunt but her logic is flawless,' thought Sara amusedly.
"Alright, pick something out then."
Immediately, Ranma grabbed three pairs of pants and red Chinese shirts off the rack next to him, almost identical to the torn up ones he was wearing now. Sara sighed as her choice of dress.
"You know, you could try to mix it up a bit," she suggested, "This is probably one of the biggest clothing stores in the universe."
"Why?" asked Ranma puzzled, "What's wrong with these clothes?"
"Nothings wrong with them. You should just try and put some variety in your wardrobe."
"Why? I'm not trying to look good; I just need something I can fight in."
"Then if you find something that looks good that you can fight in, will you wear it?"
"Um…I guess so… but why is that important anyways?"
"Because it is," she said with an air of finality, "And if you ask me why one more time I'm going to tazer you." She finished by indicating the sidearm somehow attached to her blue bodysuit.
Ranma rolled her eyes, "Please, don't try to threaten me. You're too cute to look intimidating."
The sidearm was out in a flash. Faster than the human eye could track, Ranma's hand shot forward and caught her wrist halfway to her body. Undeterred, Sara quickly dropped the weapon to her left hand and came at her again.
Her left hand was quickly caught like her right hand, the size of the girl belying the strength of her grip.
Sara was prepared though. Using her upper body strength, Sara twisted them both around, the momentum freeing her from the other girl's grasp. Pressing a hidden switch, the gun quickly shifted its form into a longer metal cylinder.
Fortunately for Ranma, she had been predicting a follow up attack after the spin maneuver and even though she was surprised, she was still in the perfect position to dodge the yellow whip of energy that flew over her head.
Bending backwards until her hands touched the ground, Ranma pushed hard and sailed backwards through the air, landing several feet away from Sara. Said Bounty Hunter still had her energy saber out and was looking at him with an amused smirk.
"Correction," said the redhead cheekily, "Cute and violent."
"I also happen to have better taste in clothes," retorted Sara putting the…thing…back in its holster. She wasn't an expert on the subject but was fairly certain that something that could transform into a sword like that didn't really qualify as a gun, "Now come on, we're going to get you some real clothes."
Ranma sighed but followed anyways, discreetly picking up the discarded Chinese style shirts on the floor.
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One hour later, Sara and Ranma exited the story, the later wearing a brand new red Chinese shirt and black sweatpants. Despite Sara's best efforts, the pigtailed girl had managed to leave the shop with only one bag containing several identical outfits consisting of the ever popular red shirt and black pants combo.
It was then, that Ranma felt it.
A slight twinge on the edge of her consciousness, a small disturbance on the brink of her senses. Normally she wouldn't have felt it, but since she had yet to do a morning workout, her body was still wound up with energy waiting to be released.
Cautiously, Ranma reached out with her ki and brushed against the energy she was sensing. Immediately, the foreign energy flared, strengthening two fold against her probe.
A challenge.
Sara paused as Ranma suddenly stopped walking. Her eyes were closed as if in meditation and while she wasn't a very accomplished aura reader, she could tell the red head was searching for something.
"Um…Ran-," She began
"Sara," Ranma's eyes snapped open almost startling the blonde. Before she had a chance to reprimand, the bounty hunter found herself holding the bag of clothes, "Hold on to that for a second."
And with that, she was gone.
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There comes a time in a martial artists training when they start to develop the legendary sixth sense, or danger sense as its known in most circles.
However, this is inaccurate. The sixth sense isn't so much a danger sense as an aura sense. Each and every person in the world gives off an aura of some kind and martial artists who train tirelessly for years on end can begin to sense these auras. Therefore, when someone senses an aura moving at them very fast, its practically second nature to them to move out the way. Thus it was titled the legendary danger sense.
Unfortunately, this is as far as any non-martial artist can understand it.
His mystery opponents aura called to him, challenged him, and Ranma Saotome never backed down from a challenge.
All of his senses were focused on the aura as he ran across the rooftops of Delfino Plaza. Gradually the buildings thinned and disappeared, giving way to trees and forestry. The sounds also began to fade, the hustle and bustle of the town turning into the sounds of wildlife.
Approximately five minutes after he had begun running, he stopped, standing in the middle of a clearing of trees. Looking up, the martial artist saw his opponent.
It was balanced perfectly on one leg at the very top of the tallest tree in the clearing. Around the clearing, Ranma could sense the tightly focused dark blue aura the…creature was emitting.
An occurrence that Ranma was finding less and less odd the more he saw, the dog like creature at the top of the tree was not human. He was covered in blue fur with black spots, two small ears adorned the top of his head, and a small tail swayed gently behind him.
No matter how he looked though, he was still a fighter. Without a second thought, Ranma jumped up a tree parallel to his and closed his eyes, imitating the blue creatures pose and exercise. Their two auras filled the entire clearing, silently battling one another for dominance.
It was impossible to tell just how long they stood there, their energies silently battling one another, but Ranma was suddenly broken from his concentration by a somewhat loud beeping sound. Quickly he pinpointed the sound to the Brawl Bracer on his right arm.
LUCARIO HAS CHALLENGED YOU TO A 100 LIFE STAMINA MATCH
Below that were the words ACCEPT and DECLINE.
Looking up, Ranma saw that Lucario's eyes were open and his body was relaxed into a battle stance. Smirking, Ranma punched the accept button.
"READY…"
Ranma almost jumped when the voice came out of nowhere, but he quickly recognized it as the announcer's voice that had precluded his matches with Sara and Link. His eyes were locked with Lucario's now, both of their bodies were tensing, preparing for the voice to say the next word.
"…FIGHT!"
Two blurs immediately shot off the branches, meeting halfway in the air, exchanging blows at a rapid pace. Ranma was slightly taller than Lucario but the dog like creature was using his aura to supplement his attacks. Every time he punched or kicked, dark blue energy extended from his hand, leaving a trail of his aura in its wake.
Using the double jump, both fighters kicked off the air to return to their trees before jumping towards each other again. It was an incredibly fast paced battle with virtually no pause in between landing on a tree and jumping back into the fray.
One ill timed move, barely even a second off its mark, gave Ranma all the advantage he needed. Grabbing a hold of the pokemon's outstretched leg, the smash brother positioned Lucario beneath his shoulder and let gravity take over.
SMASH!
The crash from their twenty foot decent from the air left a spider web of cracks in the ground.
Respectfully, Ranma jumped back and waited for his opponent to recover. According to the damage counters, the fall and air battle had taken Lucario down to 40 life while he was at a comfortable 60 life.
Now was not the time to get comfortable though. Lucario had already risen, his battle stance on the ground greatly contrasting his one in the air. Mentally preparing himself, Ranma charged, intent on finishing off the last of his life points.
It was incredibly hard to describe what happened next. Practically half a second before Ranma attacked, the air seemed to bend inward around the pokemon, his form blurring slightly. Right before his fist would have connected, Lucario's form split into two afterimages before disappearing.
The martial artist only had time to blink as the dog person's aura winked out of existence. He blinked again and suddenly he felt his opponent's aura explode behind him. The kick impacted his side, launching him into the air. The follow up kick slammed him into a tree.
Quickly coming to his senses, Ranma was able to dodge the final attack that split the tree in half. Before he could recover from his final attack, Ranma kicked him away, gaining some breathing room.
To anyone else, charging after someone who had just used a move that ate away half your life probably would have been foolish. To a martial artist like Saotome however, the only way to counter a move like that was to experience it first hand, and he was going to do just that.
Like before, the air seemed to bend before Lucario's aura winked out of existence before reappearing behind him and landing a kick on him. This time though, he was able to stop the follow up, giving as much damage as he had taken. The result left them both at twenty life.
In a final show of determination, Ranma once again charged Lucario, for all intents and purposes ready to finish the fight one way or another. Compressing the air around him, the pokemon readied his extreme-speed attack once again right before the martial artist made contact.
Too late, he realized, was that his all out attack was really a feint. Instead of appearing behind the martial artist, he appeared one foot to the left of him.
The last thing he saw before he was clotheslined into oblivion was Ranma's smirk of triumph.
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Omake -Samboke-
Glancing over to Link's bunk, Ranma saw the Hero of Time still soundly asleep. He briefly entertained the notion of waking him up for a spar, but he started to hear Link mumble something in his sleep.
"No….come back…here….don't wanna to be a Deku scrub…mumble mumble"
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Thanks to my pre-readers, Samboke and JSB. To all those that e-mailed me, I apologize. When I went to send the chapter out to everyone who requested to pre-read, the entirety of fanfiction dot net was down and I couldn't get the e-mail addresses.
Once again, I'll try my best to respond to all the reviews that I get.
