Android 18 had heard - and been called - many strange things before. Sometimes people swore eternal vengeance on her and 17 for making them look bad. Others boasted about their pride as the prince of all Saiyans despite there only being 4 of them. Once, when she'd still been a regular human, she'd even been called a lemon stealing whore. Which, fair, she had stolen a bag of fruits. Odds were decent that there had been a lemon in there.
Being called a floozy was new though. She supposed it was an okay enough insult, though she really just felt it was kind of funny more than anything. 18 looked down toward the source of that cry, curious as to who exactly went around accusing people of being perverts and hanging around with floozies.
The girl looked unassuming enough in her eyes, with short blueish black hair, and big brown eyes. She wasn't particularly tall nor short, with a rather muscular build that 18 thought fit her quite well. Unfortunately, she was wearing that supremely unflattering blue dress that somehow qualified as a school uniform that she had seen Nabiki wearing. That combined with the highly ticked off expression and the red glow from her battle aura definitely knocked a few points off of her score in appearance in 18's eyes. If it wasn't for that, she'd probably be pretty cute.
"Someone you know?" 18 questioned her half brother, giving him a casual glance and finding his expression to be torn between exasperation and cringing.
"My fiance." The boy answered softly, bringing his hands to his face and letting out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temple for a second. "It ain't like that Akane." He answered, sounding very done with the conversation before it had even begun. The name vaguely rang a bell, taking a moment for 18 to realize that this must be the final Tendo sister that she had not yet met. And if this was the final one, then that would mean she was the previously mentioned fiance?
"Like I would ever believe a jerk like you! It's bad enough that you're doing perverted things behind my back with Ukyo and Shampoo, but now you've got some new blonde big titted bimbo?!" She cried out in her rage, getting more and more consumed in the intoxicating high of her simmering rage Ki.
That seemed to make Ranma mad in turn, immediately ready to leap to his feet to defend his newly found sister's honor, unaware that if he had simply taken a glance over at her, he would've seen an amused expression on her face instead of one of indignation.
"I just said it ain't like that you uncute tomboy! You never listen to me!" He exclaimed in frustration, the two storming closer to each other, all the while 18 was content to watch an amusing show.
"And why should I?! You're such a jerk Ranma. You're always doing perverted stuff, and you always deny it, even when I catch you red handed! I'm sick and tired of your lies Ranma!" Akane shouted back, inwardly gleeful as her rage continued to accumulate, eagerly anticipating the sweet release of dopamine when she eventually laid into him.
"You haven't heard me out, how can you just decide I'm lying to you if you don't even listen to me you thick headed macho chick!" Ranma yelled back, waving his arms in the air emphatically.
"I don't need to hear you out when I know you're just going to lie to me! I literally caught you in the middle of a date with that blonde hussy, how could it not be what it looks like?!"
"Because you won't let me explain what's going on!"
"Maybe it's because I don't want to hear your excuses and lies!"
"Aggggh! Stupid macho chick!"
"Stupid perverted boy!"
"Violent tomboy!"
"Jerk!"
"Uncute!"
And with that, the time was right for Akane to strike. She'd been building her rage all day, made even worse by the fight that had started between those hussies Shampoo and Ukyo. But she'd quietly stewed on it, knowing that eventually Ranma would slip, and she could punish him justly.
Rearing back as her Ki hammer manifested itself in her arms, a savage grin of anticipation formed on her face. The thought of smearing the perverted boy into a paste on the pavement was cathartic, sending anticipatory jolts of elation down her spine as she let out a wordless roar, bringing down her hammer of righteous fury.
Sure, afterward she might feel ashamed and a little guilty, and she might swear off hitting him, but she knew that would only last as long as it took for him to rile her up again. The anger would come back and smother out those other silly feelings.
Closing her eyes to savor the feeling of pouring all of her strength into this blow, she pushed her muscles to the limit, chasing the high.
But it never came. Something had halted her swing halfway.
Her indignant rage began to boil even more. How dare he block her strike? He obviously deserved to be punished for his perversion, going around flaunting his new hussy like that. Opening her eyes and parting her lips, the Neriman native was ready to verbally lay into Ranma for daring to block her, only to be startled to see an unfamiliar pair of icy blue eyes staring down into hers, sending an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. Akane gawked in shock at the person who had inserted themself between the two, seemingly unbothered by her red hot battle aura. Idly, she noticed Ranma over the blonde's shoulder, who looked just as surprised as she felt.
"Who do-"
Akane's words died in her throat as a pulse of cold Ki pushed into her, nothing like the boiling hot Ki that she was so used to. The effect of the chilly Ki was like a jolt to her system, forcibly calming her boiling rage and shoving it down. She tried to fight back against the invasion on her body, but any meager amount of Ki she mustered was shoved down by the ocean of Ki flooding her system. It began in her arms, as she desperately tried to block and inhibit the invader, but it simply pushed through any obstacle and resistance she threw up. From her arm, it spread to her chest, and from there, it spread toward the rest of her body. It felt like hours were passing in intense concentration as she desperately tried to summon her Ki to block and force it out, but it was simply being shoved back by this strangely dense cold Ki.
In reality, barely a scant few seconds passed.
Her Ki hammer slowly disintegrated, and her legs began to shake as the heat was overwhelmed, replaced by the comparably frigid Ki. Eventually, her knees buckled, and she was barely able to recognize a concerned shout from Ranma as she sank to the ground, a dazed look on her face as she stared up at the blonde.
And then suddenly, Ranma was at her side, obvious concern painted on his face as he checked her for any injuries - external or internal. Seeing that there wasn't technically anything wrong with Akane, the pigtailed teen then turned toward 18, warring emotions on his face. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, seemingly struggling to find the words he wanted to say, but the initiative was taken from him as Android 18 spoke up first.
"You done throwing your little temper tantrum?"
Both Neriman's looked shocked that that was what she said, as Akane finally seemed to stir a little bit. She wanted to lay into the stranger and be angry at the person who did this to her, but she shockingly found it difficult to muster up the comfort of her anger, beyond feeling mildly insulted. But it was a sharp contrast to the usual emotions she would feel whenever Ukyo, Kodachi or Shampoo insulted her.
"W-What did you do to me?" Akane croaked out, unsure why she wasn't feeling the usual range of emotions she would expect. Her guts told her to be scared of the stranger, nobody had ever snuffed out her anger in such a forceful manner before. But she was struggling to feel anything terribly strongly at the moment.
The blonde hummed softly, crossing her arms and giving the pair a small shrug. "Nothing special. I simply took all of your Ki and wrapped it in a ball of my own to stop you from accessing it. I'm essentially smothering your Ki with my own."
Akane and Ranma both got a rather startled look on their faces. "What? 18, why on earth would you do that?!" He exclaimed.
"For the same reason I'm going to be teaching you to use pure Ki Ranma. Her use of emotional Ki is harming her." She explained patiently, studying the pair as Ranma helped Akane to her feet, who had a concerned expression on her face. "Well, harming is a bit of an understatement in her case I suppose."
Neither teen liked the sound of that, though Akane was more lost than Ranma was in the situation. "Ranma? Who… Who is she? And what is she talking about?"
Reaching a hand up, Ranma twiddled with his pigtail, feeling a bit of a headache from the events of the day. So much had happened, so many things had changed in such a short time frame. He thought that he wouldn't get any more ridiculous surprises in his life, after all, it had been a year since Saffron, and nothing of that level had happened since. But today was proving to be quite dramatic. "Ah… Akane, this is 18. 18, Akane." He formally introduced the two, with the elder giving a simple nod out of courtesy while the younger simply eyed her warily. "18… Well, she's my sister."
Akane's eyes widened, mind momentarily stalling as a blush built up on her face as she recalled the things she had just accused the two of. "As for what she's talking about, I only barely understand myself." Ranma explained, shutting his eyes and crossing his arms against his chest, trying to think about how exactly to explain it, when he himself didn't really understand it to begin with beyond a conceptual level.
"The way she explained it is that there's two types of Ki. Pure and emotional. Pure Ki is more difficult to use, but it's denser and has less drawbacks. Emotional Ki is the opposite, being easier to find and use, but its drawbacks are pretty rough. She said it was less dense, so it'll pack less of a punch. Also, if you're struggling to feel that specific emotion, your Ki won't respond to you. And… That the emotion you use tends to have bad effects on you…" He rattled off what he remembered of their earlier conversation. It really said a lot that the conversation about Ki wasn't the most impactful conversation that had been had today. And then he realized why exactly 18 had done what she had, face paling, which served to just freak out Akane.
"Ranma? What's wrong?" She questioned nervously, not getting an answer as the blonde just brushed past the two, walking rather casually.
"Ah, so you did pay attention." Ranma's sister remarked in an almost playful manner, gesturing for them to walk with her as she began to make her way back to the Tendo Dojo. "Well, come on. This is something your family needs to hear. I assume Soun was the one in charge of your training, Akane?"
To Akane, the dichotomy of Ranma's panic versus 18's calm and collected demeanor was a little jarring, especially since she was struggling to summon up her mask of anger to hide behind. Was it a serious problem or not? 18 seemed to have the answer, but her nonchalance just didn't line up with Ranma's concerned looks that he was giving her as they trailed behind the older woman. "Er… He did in the past, yes. But Daddy quit training me when I was little. He hasn't ever really been the same since Mother passed, so I've mostly been training myself."
She paused and then more sheepishly added. "And um… Ranma has tried to teach me some things about Ki, but…" Akane trailed off, as always with her emotions calmed, she couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed by her overreactions to Ranma and the going ons around him, when she logically knew he hadn't done anything wrong in some cases. But everything just made her so mad, it was hard to keep a level head.
"Hmm… Well, you could've done worse I suppose. Without actually seeing you fight, I can only judge you based on your Ki." 18 admitted in her blase manner that reminded Akane of Nabiki. "I'll release my hold on your Ki after we talk with your family."
"Ah… How are you doing that anyway?" Akane asked with no small amount of trepidation.
And 18 simply shrugged. "The simple answer is that I'm far more powerful than you." A slight pause. "And Ki is bullshit like that. The more I understand it, the less it makes sense."
That was not what either of them had expected to hear, and it was Ranma that posed the question they were both wondering. "What's the more complicated answer?"
She turned to give him a look, as if she were considering what exactly to say. Looking up to the sky for a moment of silence, she eventually figured out what to say as they passed through the gate of the Tendo home. "I'm sure you've been told that Ki is like clay, correct? That you can mold it to do the things you want it to do?" She waited for a sound of affirmation from the both of them before carrying on. "Well, imagine if that clay was capable of altering reality, space and time. As long as you have time, patience, knowledge and the appropriate amount of power, you can learn things that defy all logic. And I'm talking about on a far grander scale than what you're probably used to. Flight, teleportation, time dilation, all kinds of things really. I've read loads of theories on the things you could do, and it's a bit terrifying." She explained, referring to the works of Dr. Gero that she had been forced to learn, though while she retained it all with her forcibly improved memory, most of it went over her head. The mad scientist had all kinds of fascinating theories and ideas. Hell, he had one on the existence of the multiverse, which she supposed she could consider as being proven to be true. It was either that or parallel worlds, one of those two theories had inadvertently been proven by her.
"That's why I said the more I understand it, the less it makes sense. Because it makes no goddamn sense that the energy you cultivate within you can be used to teleport around the world, but supposedly there was a man capable of such a feat." Obviously, she was referring to Goku's Instant Transmission with that statement. The Red Ribbon Army had an extensive list of abilities listed that they had learned from scouting out the Saiyan, though they never had any definitive proof that he was actually capable of the feat, she and 17 believed it to be true. And they didn't even have an inkling of an idea over how it worked.
And by this time, they were inside the Tendo home completely. Kicking off their shoes, which still caused 18 to slip up as she was unused to the customs, the three made their way to the main room, to find that the table was being set by Kasumi and Nodoka, with Nabiki, Soun and a vaguely familiar man that 18 took a moment to recognize as Genma, already sitting down.
Nodoka noticed their entrance first, expression immediately brightening. "Ah, perfect timing! And I see that my manly son has introduced you to his fiance! I hope all went well." She spoke cheerfully as she ushered them to sit down at the table. At the head was Soun, with Genma to his left. Opposite him were Ranma and Akane, each seated opposite their fathers. On Akane and Soun's side of the table were Nabiki and Kasumi, which left 18 and Nodoka to sit on the Saotome side of the table, with 18 being placed between her mother and brother, and across from Nabiki.
18 just shrugged and filed away her mothers slightly odd behavior, more concerned about the fact that there weren't any chairs than she was about how their first meeting actually went. A cushion was nice and all, but was it too much to ask for a chair and a higher table? At least the food looked good.
She waited for everyone to begin to eat before really answering the question. "Eh. She called me a floozy, a hussy, and a blonde big titted bimbo within a minute of seeing me." She admitted with a shrug, thinking it funny more than anything, despite the fact that most everyone else seemed resigned, disappointed - or in Akane's case - ashamed.
Kasumi gave Akane a disappointed look, while said girl bowed her head in shame, shrinking in on herself just a bit. "You'll have to forgive my little sister, she's really a sweet girl. She's just a bit of a violent maniac."
"Hm? Oh, it's fine. I've heard worse. Besides, she's only partially to blame for being like that." 18 responded in her usual unbothered manner, scooping a bite of fried rice into her mouth, pleasantly surprised by the taste. She hadn't realized it, but it had been a long time since she had had a home cooked meal. Probably since before Dr. Gero. The food they'd been given before the mad scientist had finished his experiments could hardly qualify as anything remotely good, and being converted, food was no longer a necessity. "Oh, that's good."
Kasumi blinked a few times. "Oh, well, thank you very much. But, what exactly do you mean she's only partially to blame?"
Everyone else at the table also turned their attention to 18, less interested in their food than before. But 18 was taking her sweet time savoring the food, unbothered by the peer pressure, and unaware that that one Nabiki Tendo was inwardly sighing in relief that there wasn't a third Saotome Stomach to feed. "Exactly what it sounds like. Akane, you've probably always been an angry person, even before accessing your Ki, correct?"
The teen nodded, a bit reluctant to admit it, but she knew she'd always had issues with her temper ever since her mother passed away. She was too young to really understand why her mother was gone after all, and had no good way to express how upset she was beyond letting her anger out.
"Then it's only natural that you'd lean on it. Emotional Ki is a shortcut, it's easier to access and use for things beyond simple body strengthening than pure Ki. And shortcuts are never free, they always have a price. Ranma uses confidence Ki for instance, and since nobody corrected him in time, he's been tainted by it. That means that he will have a tendency to overestimate himself, and will refuse to back down when he's outmatched, even if the only outcome leads to his death. It also means that if something has shaken his confidence in himself, then he will struggle to project his Ki outside of his body."
Genma looked up at this, about to habitually berate his son for being weak, but in one of his better moments, thought better of it. One of the few things that scared him more than the Master, were angry Saotome women. And he didn't have a strong grasp on his once thought to be lost step daughter to interrupt her now, as something instinctively told him that she was far more terrifying than she appeared. He supposed that he needed to sit down and have a long talk with her tonight, having noticed she'd dodged around the subject of his first son, Lapis. And perhaps have a spar with her to see how good she was. So wisely, he bowed his head and continued to chow down in silence.
"It's a dangerous trait that is going to follow him for the rest of his life. But, it's only as dangerous as the environment you're in." 18 carried on after taking a few more bites of the food and sipping at her tea. She didn't mention that just by proxy of her existence, it was very possible for the level of threat to rise to her level, which was so far beyond any of them it wasn't funny.
"Your situation is different though. You used anger as your emotion to draw your Ki with. Anger, as a Ki source, is far more potent and deadly. Skilled pure Ki users will actually dip into rage Ki to unleash large attacks, generally as a finishing blow. Keyword being finishing blow. Anger Ki takes its toll on your body and is generally only used as a final gambit, because if it doesn't work, the strain of the attack will mean that you're unable to continue." She paused to sip on her drink again. "And that's the outcome for people who only occasionally tap into rage Ki in life or death scenarios. For you, someone that uses it on a daily basis from what I can tell, it's much worse."
Soun took that moment to speak up, a surprisingly stony expression on his face. "How much worse is it?"
"Hmm… At the rate she's going, she'll be dead by 25. Her body will eventually be unable to handle the strain anymore, and her heart will simply give out." She spoke in her normal casual manner, unbothered by the clattering of tableware as everyone else paled at the horrific news she had just shared. Soun at that point fell onto his back in a dead faint.
Really now, they were all so dramatic. She hadn't even told them there was a chance she would go into a berserker rage and begin to indiscriminately attack and kill people. That was what would really get the girl killed, not heart failure. But, she supposed there was no need to scare them even more than she already had. They seemed to understand the severity of the situation.
Akane was shaking at this point, tears forming at the corner of her eyes as she eventually found her voice. "W-What can I do? I-I don't wanna die…" She stammered out, on the verge of a breakdown. In fact, the only reason she hadn't yet was the fact that she couldn't call on her Ki, and the fact that 18 still seemed calm and collected. Surely, she had a solution right?
"Oh relax will you? You're not going to die as long as you actually put in some effort and listen to me." The android said with a roll of her eyes, finishing her plate of food and resting her cheek in the palm of her hand. "I'm going to be teaching Ranma to purify his Ki anyways. Depending on how hard you work and your natural talent, we can have you using pure Ki in a month or two. From there, as long as you're diligent and careful, you'll live a normal lifespan."
Everyone around the table let out a sigh of relief. "You're still tainted by your anger though, don't get me wrong. You'll forever have a fast temper, and because of this idiot, you've been conditioned to physically lash out when you're angry." She said, jerking a thumb at Ranma, who blinked a few times.
"Huh?" He responded intelligently.
"Ranma, you were going to let her hit you."
"But I thought it would be better to do that instead of letting her hit someone who couldn't take it…" He spoke immediately.
18 couldn't really blame him for thinking that. As far as she could tell, based on the scrolls she studied herself, he had been flying blind in a situation that he wasn't trained to handle. Genma hadn't been aware of the method for training pure Ki, and he clearly hadn't learned how since they'd arrived on this world either.
"I can see why you'd think that, but really, all you were doing was teaching her that it was okay to lash out and hit anyone in her rage. And unless you're going to be by her side for every waking moment of every day, eventually she would have lashed out and hurt someone who couldn't handle it. And they'd be dead."
It wasn't supposed to be a reprimand, though she really couldn't think of any other way to handle this situation. Reality was harsh, and Akane had been failed by a lot of people to get to this point, herself included.
But, with all that said, 18 made to stand, having long ago finished eating. "Thanks for the food. I'll be waiting in the dojo for you two, so come find me when you're ready." She explained as she stood.
"W-Wait, you want to start right now?" Akane asked, a little surprised by the pace.
18 gave her a look that immediately made her fidget in discomfort. "The sooner the better."
"B-But, we have school work to do…" She trailed off, her discomfort only increasing as the intimidating blonde gave her a cocked eyebrow.
"I mean, if you think homework is more important than your life, then don't let me stop you."
And with that final statement, the blonde turned on her heels and walked off.
The rest of the meal passed in peace and quiet, everyone lost in thought as to what exactly had happened.
Nabiki and Kasumi had been horrified to hear that their youngest sister was essentially a ticking time bomb, though they were both glad to hear that 18 was going to help her.
Nodoka and Genma were both quietly contemplating their child's sudden appearance and the changes she was already making to their lives in such a short time.
Akane was feeling an odd mix of intimidation and anticipation. The newest member of the Saotome family wasn't anything like the other three. She honestly seemed more like Nabiki out of everyone in the household, except way scarier. But, she couldn't help but feel a bit excited to learn under someone that was clearly strong - her being a woman was a nice bonus - and didn't seem to have ulterior motives like the Amazons.
Ranma was mostly feeling that same anticipation, eager to learn everything 18 was willing to give him. He was also thankful to her, having never been a fan of hearing things in a roundabout manner. He much preferred her blunt and straightforward manner of speaking. She told them what was wrong, why it was wrong, and what she would offer to help fix the situation. No riddles, no confusing statements, no conditional statements that would change on a whim. He appreciated that. Her personality wasn't particularly boisterous and loud from what he gathered, yet she carried herself with a calm confidence and surety that he couldn't help but admire. In fact, that was the single thing that convinced him that they were actually related, even more than his mother's vouching. The way she carried herself, and her overall attitude spoke more about her than anything else he'd seen.
She was a force to be reckoned with. And he couldn't help but wonder just how much more his world was going to change from here on out.
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Author's Notes:
Hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'm beginning to feel like a broken record, but this one was hard for me to write. Maybe writing a story in general is just kinda hard. I'm trying to stay true to the characters, and while I'm not really a big fan of Akane, I didn't want to just make her out to be this awful person like some fics do. In my eyes, she was failed by her father greatly, and then per my own interpretation of Ki in this story, she became addicted to the rush she got from anger Ki.
Anyways, this chapter finally marked the end of the extremely busy first day in Nerima. Training will happen off screen, until a time comes when 18 asks to be trained in return, because while she is more powerful, she acknowledges that Ranma and Genma actually have better technical skill.
Next chapter will take place after a few days have passed, and will finally have the introduction of the curses, and 18's introduction to the Amazon's, which may or may not be a complete disaster.
As always, thanks for all the love and support given to this story! It means the world to me.
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Also, I took in the feedback I saw about the power levels, and for the most part I agreed. I definitely put it a little too high, even taking into account that the characters would have grown in the year that has passed since the end of canon. I forgot that per my own reasoning of most of these characters using emotional Ki, that they should be weaker than that. Can't believe I forgot that Roshi could destroy the moon at 300 power. I was only thinking about how Piccolo did that at around 1000 power level post Raditz. And for the sake of future changes to power levels, it's 10,000 that's supposed to be able to destroy planets in DBZ canon, correct?
Anyways, for the most part, everyone's power level dropped by about 100, give or take.
Things of note about these changes, as I still gladly encourage discourse about this. I think it's fair to give the Neko-Ken a 2x modifier, since Ranma has no control over this, and nobody is shown to be able to stand up to Ranma during a Neko-Ken episode. I think that if he were to master it, it would be fair to make it a 4x multiplier (Not saying that he will master it in this fic, haven't decided on that). Taro's cursed form is a 1.5x modifier. Saffron if he were to ascend safely would also be a 4x I imagine. Akane also gets a rage boost, which I put as a 2x + modifier, as I think it would climb higher the longer she's enraged. Similarly, Hinako's strength I think largely depends on who's Ki she's absorbed, so it would fluctuate wildly. That also makes her the hardest character to give a definitive power level, as I'm really not sure what to make of her.
I personally like the trope that Mousse is stronger than Shampoo, but because he's unwilling to hurt her, that is why he never wins a marriage challenge. And Shampoo I think is the strongest of the 4 girls, though not by much. Soun is so low because I believe he has let himself fall that much by not continuing in his training. If he were to train, he would be on a similar level to Genma. Nodoka's level is where it's at in this story, she isn't an utterly incompetent swordsman. Konatsu, interestingly enough, I believe is the only character that I'm aware of to never have won or lost to Ranma decisively. I could be misremembering, but I don't believe they ever technically finished a fight, and just accepted a draw because they ended up trashing the Ucchan's.
Power Levels:
Ranma: 228
Ranma (Neko-Ken): 456
Ryoga: 194
Pantyhose Taro (Cursed Form): 180
Pantyhose Taro (Human): 120
Saffron: 250
Saffron (Ascended): 1000+
Herb: 240
Happosai: 252
Cologne: 238
Shampoo: 95
Mousse: 116
Ukyo: 88
Konatsu: 177
Dr. Tofu: 80
Akane (Calm): 50
Akane (Enraged): 100+
Genma: 152
Soun: 60
Nodoka: 80
Kuno: 108
Kodachi: 68
Hinako (Child): 10
Hinako (Adult): +/- 100
Kasumi: 10
Nabiki: 13
Android 18: ~290,000,000