Time spent around the dinner table had become a lot more relaxed ever since her daughter had found her way to them. Genma was more restrained, seemingly less willing to engage in his silly food battles with Ranma. Akane and Ranma still bickered, but it hadn't turned into anything more than some light arguing, which Nodoka found to be immensely pleasing. Lazuli was getting along splendidly, in her own opinion. She detected some awkwardness from Akane towards her eldest child - as if she simply wasn't sure what to make of her - and Soun himself seemed a bit standoffish with her. But, to her personal surprise and delight, Nabiki and Kasumi both seemed quite fond of Lazuli.
And that's not even mentioning just how well Ranma and Lazuli were getting along. It warmed her heart so much to see her children get along, she only wished Lapis could be here as well. She had been a little bit worried about whether or not Lapis was being manly without his parents there to guide him, after all her daughter wouldn't have known how to guide him onto the road of being a man amongst men, but what she'd gotten out of her daughter about him had her quietly optimistic.
But with none of them having any clue how they got here, let alone if there was any chance to get back, that thought of seeing her middle child again was relegated to being a distant dream. After all, seeing even one of her eldest children again had been an impossibility, she reminded herself. Yet, here Lazuli was. So perhaps it wasn't quite as much of a longshot as she once thought?
Things to consider later.
Nodoka hadn't been too worried when Genma had told her that Ranma had disappeared inside of a portal. Sure, it was a little concerning, but she had full faith her manly son would handle whatever was happening just fine. The concern grew a little more when Nabiki had returned home alone, but when asked about where her daughter was, Nabiki had made it sound like nothing was wrong.
Thankfully, Lazuli returned not long after Nabiki did, just in time for dinner. And with Ranma to boot! Although, there was an oddly heavy and grim atmosphere around the both of them. It was more obvious with Ranma, as he was quite terrible at concealing his emotions, but she could tell that whatever had happened was bothering Lazuli as well. She hid it well, sure, but she could just tell. Call it mother's intuition.
Wisely, she decided to let them settle down. And she didn't even need to press the issue, as Nabiki beat her to it!
"So, Saotome, how was meeting the Sailor Senshi?" She asked with a smug little grin on her face. Even if Nabiki and Ranma considered each other friends at this point, she couldn't resist stirring the pot just a little bit. The reactions her question got from the others around the table were immediately rewarding. Kasumi stiffened slightly, looking a little shocked. Which was expected, as stories about Magical Girls was one of the few things she clung to desperately from her childhood. Akane choked on her drink, shooting a glare that was both angry and jealous, as if the girl couldn't decide he must've done something perverted or wishing she had been the one to meet them. Nodoka surprised Nabiki, as she had expected the woman to immediately chime in with something about how they'd be unable to resist her manly son's charms. Instead, she continued to eat her meal in that prim and proper manner of hers, merely giving Ranma a curious look.
Soun gained a bit of a sharp look in his eyes, as if he was ready to extol the virtues of marrying his daughter and the joining of the schools. Or to break out in tears at the thought of Ranma cheating on his daughter with a Magical Girl. It was honestly a tossup. And Genma was pigging out, being the only person besides 18 to have a non reaction.
Akane had just begun to simmer in anger when Ranma spoke. Shockingly, he didn't immediately stick his foot in his mouth like he usually did. He didn't even somewhat fall for the trap, as he simply furrowed his brows slightly and looked towards 18, where the two seemed to have a silent conversation that ended with him sighing. "It was…" He began, trailing off as he stopped his eating to cross his arms and shut his eyes, considering his words carefully. "Eye opening. I guess."
Nodoka couldn't help herself, stars in her eyes as she imagined her manly son surrounded by 9 beautiful consorts and all the wonderful grandbabies they would have.
None the wiser, Ranma carried on. "It was a little concerning to get pulled through a portal, and for a moment I thought I was having one of those dreams-" The sound of chopsticks snapping in Akane's hands drew the attention of all but Ranma. "But thankfully none of them seemed to have ever met Pops."
"You still need to explain that to me." 18 chimed in, drawing all the attention to her as everyone, including Nodoka, turned to look at her in confusion. It was Nabiki who spoke up, as she recovered first. "Wait, you mean to tell me you still don't know about the fiance situation?"
18 simply shrugged. "I vaguely understand that there's something going on, y'know, considering the fact that two 17 year olds are engaged when neither of them are even remotely mature enough to be married." Soun and Genma tried to mount a protest, but 18 simply spoke over them. "And my first introduction to you and Kasumi included the both of you being shocked I wasn't a fiance." The blonde lifted a small bite of food to her lips, quickly reaching the point where she no longer felt the need to pretend she was hungry. She definitely had more to say about the topic of Ranma and Akane's engagement, but now wasn't the place. "I just don't know the full extent of it. If it was so important that I needed to know about it immediately, someone would have told me already. If not, I assumed Ranma would tell me when he's ready."
Ranma flashed her a grateful smile, the easy acceptance and trust that 18 had given him always made Ranma feel good. The people around him weren't as bad as they used to be, but the lack of trust during that first year in Nerima had done some damage, whether Ranma liked to admit it or not.
Ranma coughed and attempted to get the conversation back on track. He did owe her an explanation, but he really just didn't want to have to explain it all right now. There were more important things on his mind than Genma's idiocy. "Anyways, we learned some interesting stuff."
"Oh? Like what?" Nodoka asked as she set her chopsticks down, thoughts still a little stuck on wondering if her manly son had perhaps learned how manly he really was, and if he was going to give her lots and lots of grandbabies for her to spoil.
Blissfully unaware of the thoughts going through his mother's head, Ranma nodded. "Yeah, like we learned how you and Pops got to this Earth."
"Really? Boy, did she tell you a way to get back?" Genma chimed in, suddenly more interested in the conversation than he was in the food.
Soun, naturally, looked scandalized. "Saotome, my dear friend, surely you aren't thinking of abandoning us? But what about joining the schools!?" He proclaimed, tears threatening to pour out of her eyes.
"N-Nonsense Tendo! I was just curious, there's a few great martial arts schools back on the other Earth, that's all! And naturally, we could bring Akane with us, the two would surely develop a stronger bond there as they expand the schools together!" Genma hurriedly reassured his best friend, earning a scowl from Ranma and Akane as they began to bicker, denying wanting to marry each other as they usually did.
"It would be nice to see our friends and family again. To at least let them know we're okay." Nodoka murmured, that would've gone unnoticed by the commotion Genma was causing if not for 18's acute senses.
"We had other family members?" Android 18 asked quietly, incredulous and a little pissed at the thought of having a family that might have known about them, yet didn't care to find them.
Nodoka simply nodded. "Not many, Genma was an orphan and most of my family had passed already. My own parents had passed before you were born and my sister passed due to complications with childbirth, but you had a cousin and a brother in law who could have taken you in." She explained, a melancholic expression on her face.
"I didn't know that. Nobody came for us, so I just assumed there wasn't anyone else."
"I wish I could say I was surprised, but my sister's husband probably had his hands full raising his own little girl, on top of ruling a kingdom. And it was such a short lived marriage, being one arranged by our parents and his own. So it's no surprise that he didn't come looking for you, I don't believe he even knew you existed. Though I am a little disappointed he never thought to check…" Nodoka sighed.
18 cocked her head, surprised to note that they were related to royalty. Most kingdom's didn't have much power in the grand scheme of things, but they did have enough that they would've lived a very different life. It was a little annoying to learn this so far after the fact, but what was done was done. "Who were they?"
"His kingdom had the tradition of abandoning your name if you were royalty, in favor of being referred to only by title. So my sister was known as the Ox-Queen, and my brother in law is called the Ox-King. His daughter Chi Chi was a few years older than you, though at her age you might know her as the Ox-Queen or Ox-Princess?" Nodoka mused, missing the stricken expression on 18's face as she was so lost in her memories.
Quickly, 18 suppressed this new found knowledge. The implications of that was just… So incredibly fucked. She didn't dare to parse through that information now.
Thankfully, Genma took the moment to speak to her. "Ah, right. I was meaning to ask you, girl, did my old student ever come and check in on you and Lapis? He was only a few years older than you, but he was a good kid."
Ranma blinked. "You had a proper student Pops?"
"So disrespectful to your poor old father! Of course I had a student, I had to learn to teach before I could teach you or Lapis!" Genma declared, using the brief distraction to swipe some food off Ranma's plate, who squawked and tried to steal some back.
"Oh he was such a sweet boy. Very respectful, and he had some great potential if I remember right… What was his name again?" Nodoka questioned her husband.
"Hercule. Good kid, he he had a much better knack for trickery and deception than he did for learning proper martial arts techniques." Genma nodded fondly. "Wonder what happened to him… Hope he found a good martial arts school to learn under."
Nodoka nodded in agreement, before steering the conversation back in its original direction. "You were saying Ranma?"
"Oh, right. Uh, well… The very short version of it is that Sailor Pluto is some kind of time mage, and she's also technically the Guardian of Earth and Pluto? Didn't really understand, but basically someone from the future of the other Earth time traveled to change the past, and she pulled some favors that let her interfere and change your fates? Apparently, you guys were originally killed by an organization called the Red Ribbon Army, but because she interfered and brought you guys here instead, well… Yeah." Both Genma and Nodoka stiffened in alarm at the name, a more dangerous air descending on the two than most at the table had experienced.
But before either could ask for more details, 18 chimed in. "The Red Ribbon Army was annihilated a few years after you disappeared."
Both Saotomes sighed in relief. "Who's that? And are they really so dangerous?" Nabiki couldn't help but ask, ever curious as she was.
"The Red Ribbon Army makes the Yakuza look like schoolyard bullies in comparison. They had no scruples nor honor. All they wanted was total world domination." Genma spoke grimly, while Nodoka and 18 nodded in agreement, causing the non Universe 7 natives to widen their eyes in shock. "It is only a good thing that they were wiped out. The world is a safer place with them gone."
18 nudged Ranma with an elbow, encouraging him to continue speaking. "Right, uh, well. That was mostly it. She seemed genuinely surprised that Sis was here. And she didn't know anyway to send anyone back and forth between the Earth's any more. Seemed like it was a one time deal." He shrugged. "The only other thing of note is that she offered to let us train in this place where she can control how fast time passes. So after exams are over, we're gonna go train there. She said we can spend a year inside, and only a day will pass out here. There was some other technical talk, about needing to spend an equivalent amount of time outside as you do inside? Something about letting your body age to match? I didn't really understand it, but yeah." Ranma finished explaining, omitting the parts they'd agreed upon, like the Cell Games and the fact that there might be something that dangerous out there somewhere, and they could come here at any time.
Pandemonium naturally descended. The fathers began to demand that Akane go with them, Ranma and Akane began to yell, Nabiki and Kasumi looked intrigued, and Nodoka looked conflicted. But all the yelling was quickly grating on 18, so she quietly slipped away, intending to take a bath to relax some after the stressful day she'd had.
Sinking into the warm water of the bath with a sigh of contentment, 18 couldn't help but think about how different Japanese culture was from the one she was used to. Even something as simple as bathing was vastly different. There were so many steps to bathing in Japan, whereas she was used to simply jumping into the shower and using as little time as possible, a habit she'd gotten from years of homelessness. It felt needlessly complicated - and some buried instinct was screaming at her that she shouldn't be wasting so much time, that she needed to be ready to leave on a moment's notice in case the home's owner returned unexpectedly - but at the same time, she couldn't help but enjoy simply lounging in a bath like this.
It had certainly startled her a little bit the first time Nodoka had joined her in the bath, and it made her feel just a little bit uncomfortable. Nodoka had explained that it was a culturally acceptable thing here in Japan, and then confided that she felt nostalgic for the times when she had been a little girl that needed help with bathing. 18 found herself struggling to deny Nodoka the opportunity, and after a few minutes, she had reluctantly agreed that it felt a little nostalgic.
Leaning her head back and shutting her eyes, 18 began to really process everything that had happened today, and how much still needed to be done. The most pressing thing to think about was that so-called Guardian of Pluto - her cybernetically enhanced mind recalled that it was one of the other planets in this solar system - and Earth. It had been a complete surprise that someone knew what she was, and it made her feel on edge. Involving Ranma had 100% been the correct decision. Her initial reason had been simple. She felt more stable with him around. The anxiety of being separated from her sibling wasn't as strong as it had once been, but it was still undeniably there. And when confronted with the knowledge that someone knew about her, and could potentially be a threat, she needed him there by her side.
It had been a good call too, because he prevented her from slaughtering those girls. None of them would have been spared. She could admit that to herself. She would have killed them all, for the simple crime of being associated with the one who ruined her life. It wouldn't have been the first time she'd gotten the thrill of ending the life of a person who wronged her so badly.
Ranma stopped her. He prevented her from becoming an even more shattered person, losing even more of that humanity she struggled to cling to. He was a good person.
She wasn't.
But for him, she would try to be a better person. She still didn't know the whole story, and she was fine with the pace at which they were getting to know each other. But she could tell that he'd never really felt like he'd had someone who was always in his corner. He didn't have someone who unconditionally supported him, and loved him. 17 and 18 had been that person for each other. And now, she would be that person for him.
Feeling so emotionally dependent on someone else definitely wasn't a good thing. She logically knew that. But trauma didn't always make sense. And she was traumatized. She could admit that. Even before Gero, she had been traumatized. The old bastard just amplified that trauma. It's just a shame that knowing and acknowledging those facts didn't make it any better.
It was why she didn't dare to sleep, out of fear of never waking again. It was why she obsessively spread out her Ki senses every 30 minutes, terrified she wouldn't be able to find Ranma. It was why she struggled to feel emotions strongly. Doctor's made her profoundly uncomfortable now, even one that was objectively a gentle and kind man like Tofu. Kasumi had once asked her if she knew where all the remotes had gone, and she had shrugged and lied through her teeth, claiming perhaps one of Ranma's rivals had stolen them as some petty act of revenge. That mysterious Ryoga boy that she'd not met seemed like a good person to blame. She wouldn't admit that remotes set her on edge, as if anyone could pick it up and turn her off. That specific fear she had thought was put to rest when they killed Gero, but seeing Krillin holding what was so clearly a remote that would decide her fate had made that fear come back with a vengeance. It didn't matter that he ended up breaking the thing in front of her eyes.
It was irrational. And she was broken. But Ranma had unknowingly taken up the task her separation from 17 had left unfinished. The task of helping to keep her sane and grounded, even if he didn't know he was doing that.
Hopefully, 17 would find someone to help him keep it together fast. Though he had always been a little less broken than her, so he probably had more time. Because she wasn't going to be around for him any time soon it seemed. There had been a lot of things 18 could infer from what Pluto had told them, and one of those things was that being able to cross universes was not a simple thing.
The sound of the outer door opening drew her out of the strange turn her thoughts had taken, shifting her focus to whoever was changing in the in-between room that she didn't know the proper name of. Android 18 could've called attention to the fact that she was inside. She could've spread out her senses, determined who it was, and tell them promptly to fuck off.
But for whatever reason, she didn't.
Instead, she simply shifted a bit in the tub such that she was peering towards the door, curious who would blatantly ignore the occupied sign and come in anyway.
Akane was not who she had anticipated. And clearly, Akane didn't anticipate finding 18 in the bath already, considering the way she froze up, red in the face and not even hiding the fact that she was staring at 18's chest. 18 couldn't honestly say she particularly liked the girl, and for that reason she had been postponing talking with her. Akane had made a horrible first impression, and on top of that she did a horrible job of hiding that she was both checking 18 out, and highly intimidated by her. It was irritating, considering she was the only person she regularly interacted with that looked at her that way.
Android 18 had gotten used to how kind and accepting the people of Nerima were. Turns out when people don't know you were a dangerous Android or a well known small time criminal, they were much more openly kind.
"Akane, if you want to stare at a Saotome woman's tits, you should probably look at your fiance's instead of his sister." She remarked with her usual dry humor, a small smirk forming on her lips as the younger girl began to sputter denials. "Oh relax. Quit standing around and join me. We need to talk, now is as good a time as any."
Akane blinked a few times before timidly nodding, allowing a small silence to descend as she sat on the stool, going through her usual pre bath routine. Eventually, she did join the Android in the bath, though she was making it abundantly clear she was trying to look anywhere besides her.
"So… You and Ranma are going away for a year huh?" Akane broke the silence, still pointedly not looking at the older woman.
Android 18 hummed a note of confirmation. "Well, from our perspective it will be a year. But for everyone else, it'll just be an overnight trip."
"That's…" Akane swallowed nervously, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly. "That's a long time."
18 just nodded. "It is."
Another small silence descended, leaving 18 to simply watch her as she struggled with her thoughts. They hadn't really talked about it at all, considering there hadn't been all that much time between leaving the Time Gates and having dinner, but 18 was going to offer to Ranma to bring whoever he wants along with them.
It wasn't good for Ranma's development as a fighter to only have herself as a training partner. He'd develop habits that were only useful against people like her, who couldn't be sensed via Ki. Variety was the spice of life and all that nonsense. They would probably be able to train against those other Senshi girls, but she wasn't certain if they'd improve in a tangible enough way to be helpful to his long term growth as a warrior.
Surely, there would be some friends he'd like to have along to train with, right?
As she was about to open her mouth to offer it, Akane beat her to the punch, having seemingly found some confidence in herself as she was actually looking at 18. "Can I come with you?"
"This isn't going to be some fun trip, Akane. We aren't going sightseeing, we aren't doing this for pleasure. We're going to be spending a year there. All we'll be doing is eating, sleeping, and training. Day in and day out, with few breaks in that routine. Are you sure you want to commit to that?" 18 pressed the other girls resolve.
Akane bristled though, misinterpreting 18's words as the blonde saying she wasn't a martial artist, one of the fastest ways to piss her off. "I'm a martial artist too, you know! Anything you can throw at Ranma, I can handle too!" She all but yelled, masking her anxiety and self-doubt behind her anger. 18 was just like Ranma, doubting her abilities and making her feel weak and insecure, how dare she do th-
She didn't expect to get a splash of water in the face. "Would you just relax? I don't give a shit what you think you are." 18's biting remarks came through, dousing Akane's anger much like she had the first time they'd met. "Sure, you're a martial artist. You're pretty good as far as I can tell. But just like Ranma, you're a big fish in a small pond. You all think you're strong, and you are in this tiny, secluded little ecosystem."
18 raised an arm, gesturing towards the sky. "But outside of your little pond? Out in the deep, uncharted and unexplored depths of the ocean? You are nothing. Shampoo is nothing. Soun and Genma are nothing. Ranma is nothing. Cologne is nothing. Every single one of you is weak, so weak that it's hard to tell that there's any difference at all."
"And what makes you think you're any better than us?" Akane snapped back hotly.
"I used to be like you, a weakling that thought they were strong. And then I was shown just how weak I actually was. And I hated being so weak and powerless, so I vowed to become an apex predator so I would never have to feel that way again. I thought I got there. I really did." She let out a wry laugh, full of self mockery.
To Akane's surprise, Android 18 stood up and stepped out of the bath, grabbing a towel and moving to exit, pausing at the door just long enough to speak again. "Think long and hard about what you really want, Akane. Ranma's seen a glimpse of what lies out in the wide sea. And he's chosen to join the dangerous waters of the ocean. But you haven't. Not yet. You can stay in your small pond, at the top of your local food chain, without ever knowing the horrors of what lies in the depths of the ocean. We aren't going until after your exams are over, so you've got about a week or so to think. You need to do a lot of reflection before you decide. Because Ranma's going to be a very different person when we return."
And with that, Android 18 stepped through the door, leaving Akane alone with only her thoughts and doubts as company.
Krillin frowned as he was roused from his meditation by the phone ringing. It was something he'd taken to doing more and more ever since the Cell Games passed. For the first time in his life, his mind was muddled, and there seemingly wasn't a clear path forward. There had always been something going on, or people to protect, or something to just do.
But for the first time in what felt like years, he had nothing to do. And that left him feeling lost. There was no incoming threat to the planet. His ex, Maron, broke up with him in such an abrupt manner that he was just dumbfounded. Though, he could readily admit that a certain blonde Android had completely captured his heart, and he likely was going to break up with Maron soon anyways.
He'd been hoping to find her, and offer a place at the Kame House if she didn't have anywhere to go, but he couldn't find any trace of her or her brother. Letting 17 leave the lookout on his own had been such a stupid decision in hindsight, but he and his friends had been so exhausted, that he'd failed to consider how he was supposed to find either Android once they were separated from them.
After all that went down, Krillin had done some reflecting, and he realized that they'd been so concerned about what the Androids could be like, they never stopped to consider that they'd not actually done much yet. Sure, they said they were going to kill Goku… But so did a few of their friend group at one point or the other. Yamcha, Piccolo, Tien and Vegeta had all at one point or another attacked with the intent to kill. Heck, from the stories he'd heard, Bulma's first encounter with Goku included nearly running him over, and then shooting him with a gun when he threw her car.
It could easily be argued that the Androids had just been acting in self defense when they had their confrontation. They'd kicked all of their butts, and could have easily killed them. Yet, despite having an overwhelming power advantage, they'd spared them all.
Krillin knew that in the moment, they would never have given 17 and 18 the same courtesy if the roles had been reversed. And that wasn't sitting right with him.
The phone rang again, drawing Krillin completely out of his meditation. With a sigh, the bald martial artist got up, muttering under his breath about Roshi and Oolong being too lazy to pick up the phone.
"Hello?" He answered, half expecting it to be some magazine that Master Roshi subscribed to. Instead, he was pleasantly surprised to hear the voice of Yamcha. Which, while always welcome, was a bit of a surprise. Yamcha was going to come visit in a few days, and he had seemed pretty excited last time they talked, so he couldn't help but wonder what was up.
"Hey, Krillin. How's it going man?"
"Oh you know… Same old same old. Is something up? You're not calling to cancel, are you?"
"What? No, no. Not at all. I was really wanting to introduce you to someone but…" He sighed, causing Krillin to roll his eyes with exasperated fondness. Probably some new girlfriend that wasn't quite ready to understand what they were, so he was going to ask them to conceal their strength. Which wasn't exactly a big deal, they agreed it was for the best at the start of any new relationship and he'd been doing the same with Maron. "The kid just up and disappeared. No clue where he went. One moment he was there, meditating like I told him to while I went to take a phone call, next moment he was gone. Couldn't even find him with Ki sensing."
Krillin gawked, trying to figure out what Yamcha was getting at. "Kid? What kid? You didn't become a dad suddenly, did you?"
"WHAT?! No! No, no way man. I'm not cut out for being a Dad. No, this kid's a teenager, like 17 or something. He saw the Cell Games, but he realized that Hercule was a fraud, so he'd apparently been searching for one of our group, wanting to be trained. He's pretty strong y'know? Best as I can tell, if he'd been there for the 22nd Budokai Tenkaichi, he could've given us a run for the money. Might've had a real shot at winning the whole thing."
Krillin let out a low whistle of appreciation. That was pretty damn good for a human. Hell, not even 5 or 6 years ago, that would've put the kid not far behind them! Of course, multiple existence ending threats forced them all to level up to unimaginable heights, but still. "That's impressive. Who was his master?"
"That's the thing, he said he was mostly self taught. Seems like he's got a bit of a rivalry going on with someone who's the heir to his families martial arts school, and has managed to keep up purely out of stubborn determination. Teaching him's been really fun. It honestly made me appreciate all that Roshi did for us so much more. I kinda see a lot of myself in him."
"Well gee Yamcha, I'm really happy for you!" Krillin exclaimed, and genuinely meant it. "I'd love to meet the kid."
"Yeah, I was hoping to introduce you to him, because I was hoping you'd agree to teaching him some stuff." Yamcha paused. "I was serious about giving up fighting Krillin. I can't keep up anymore, and while I'm enjoying teaching him, I'm not cut out for this long term. I want to give baseball a real try, y'know?"
Krillin blinked a few times in surprise. Not about the giving up fighting thing. On some level, he certainly understood. It was a bit demoralizing feeling so weak, even though they were trying so hard. But he wasn't ready to give it all up yet. Maybe it was because Cell was still so fresh in his mind, but he wasn't quite at the point of giving up fighting and retiring to be a teacher, or some other profession. "Wait, you wanted me to teach him? Not Master Roshi?"
Yamcha grunted in response. "Of course. Roshi's great, don't get me wrong, but the kid's beyond the point of needing the Turtle Schools conditioning. Hell, he's independently came up with a similar concept to the turtle shell training. He lugs around this heavy ass umbrella and a giant backpack everywhere he goes. He needs help with his Ki more than anything. I've been doing my best, I even taught him the beginner forms of the Wolf Fang Fist, but you've always been way more advanced at Ki control than I have." He coughed slightly. "But uh… That's all a moot point since I can't find him. I'll still come around in a few days, promise. I do want to hang out with you man. I just really wanted you to meet him." Yamcha sighed.
Krillin blinked a few times, torn between being flattered that his friend thought so highly of him, and terrified of the idea of actually teaching someone. "Well, he certainly sounds like a good kid. He'll turn up eventually though, right? You can just introduce me to him when he comes back around."
"I certainly hope so. Anyway, I've gotta go take another call. I'll see ya in a few days, alright?"
"Of course, later Yamcha."
"Later." And with a click of the phone, Krillin was alone with his thoughts again.
Teaching was an interesting thought. He'd never really considered it, the simple fact that the Turtle School wouldn't ever actually die unless someone killed Master Roshi meant that he'd never felt pressured to pass on its legacy. But it was certainly true that there finally wasn't any big threats coming up, nor anything crazy urgent to do. He'd been feeling a lack of purpose, with most of his thoughts consumed by a certain blonde Android.
Perhaps teaching would give him something to look forward to each day? A reason to keep moving forward besides hopelessly pining after someone who both might not reciprocate his feelings, and might not even be alive.
"Hey Master Roshi, can I pick your brain about some stuff?" Krillin called, disappearing deeper into the Kame House feeling like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder.
Author's Notes: So, gonna take a few moments to talk candidly and hopefully to clear up any concerns some people might have.
Mostly, I would like to address EricFreak, who has been a regular reader and reviewer of this story. I'd like to do my best to address your concerns since I imagine he is not the only one feeling that way about my decisions. I understand the concern about adding crossovers, and it wasn't a decision I came to lightly. But I felt it was necessary. The thing is, is that Android 18's very existence is Chekhov's Gun. I've continually pounded into everyone's heads the vast power differences between 18 and everyone else. And I've also expressed that Ranma's goal is to catch up to 18. The issue with that, is because 18 out scales everyone in Ranma canon so hard, there has to A) be some reason for Ranma to actually get that strong beyond he just wants to and B) he has to have some way to get that strong, when it's shown that the DBZ human's cannot reach the Androids level of strength on their own.
The first problem also tied into the fact that Android 18 is a smoking gun, and that was solved by the decision that this was going to include Dragon Ball Super. This decision was made way back in chapter 3, when I decided that Nodoka and Genma were the actual parents 18 had, instead of just being in an alternate universe where Lazuli died and Ranma was an unmodified Android 17. That idea was actually my initial one, but I will very much admit that I'm an in the moment writer. So it kinda just worked out that way, that I decided that they were in Universe 6.
And by deciding that they were in Universe 6, that meant I had to make some changes, because Earth in Universe 6, is a total wasteland at this point in Dragon Ball Super canon. I had to come up with some way to explain why that was not the case, as there's no way anyone in the Ranma canon could have that level of influence. And that was when I came up with the idea of involving Sailor Moon cast. They not only solved that issue, but they also provided a method to solve the other issue of how is Ranma supposed to actually get that strong. Sailor Pluto and Sailor Mercury are the only ones that I plan to give any screen time, and even then it will be very minor. Sailor Pluto is the one that guided the planet away from the wasteland ending that occurred in Dragon Ball Super of the Universe 6 earth, which was supposed to be demonstrated by the one paragraph where I paid homage to a bunch of other series I enjoy. Those series will absolutely not be involved in the story beyond some flippant remarks. Pluto also serves as their connection to other deities in Dragon Ball canon, as well as providing a room similar to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which was one of the major ways I identified as a thing required for Ranma to get that level of growth he wants.
Mercury, on the other hand, will serve more as a Bulma character. Someone who's wickedly smart, and will make use of the other major Chekhov's gun I've left throughout the story. I won't say what that is at the moment, but it's been mentioned a few times at this point, and is another thing that I think is absolutely vital for Ranma's growth that he wants.
The rest of the Dragon Ball Super stuff won't come for a while. I still have plenty of things to do and explore with the Ranma canon. In fact, I'm not certain if I'll get to the Dragon Ball Super things until a sequel story in all honesty. But at it's core... There's simply nothing in Ranma 1/2 that can hold a candle to Dragon Ball scaling. So I'd need to either buff the everliving shit out of existing characters and come up with reasons why they can somehow keep up with Ranma, or create a bunch of OC's, which I'm simply not interested in doing. So, I have to look to Dragon Ball to find some reason for Ranma to be that strong. Nothing's set in stone though, so take everything I just said with a grain of salt.
Hope this clears up any concerns people were having. If not, or if you have any questions, feel free to leave a review and I can try to address it in the next chapter, or just drop me a PM and we can talk privately.
Anyways, about the actual chapter, I'm overall pretty happy with what I got done. I came up with the ideas of Nodoka being Chi-Chi's aunt and Genma teaching Hercule way back in like, chapter 3, and I'm glad I could finally bring it up. I feel like both just make a lot of sense, and hopefully they made people smile or laugh.
I ultimately decided on the 1 day = 1 year ratio for the Time Gates, with the thought that you basically need to spend a year outside for every year inside, because they don't have the protection of Senshi magic. This way, Ranma has extra time to get stronger, without being able to outpace Ryoga too badly since the Hyperbolic Time Chamber has limits at this point in Dragon Ball Canon.
Also, the people have spoken and Girl Ranma will keep her red hair and blue eyes. I had a few people suggest the new design of Girl Ranma being a transformation, but the problem is that physical transformations like that seem to be purely a Saiyan thing. So unless I wanted to make it so Ranma fell in spring of the drowned Saiyan, that's not happening. I do have ideas for Ranma getting some power ups, but they'd probably be more in line with Ultimate Gohan.
I'm not thrilled about how the Akane and Android 18 talk went, as that was the scene that was really fighting me in this chapter. But I think it turned out okay. I've hinted before that Akane has very conflicted feelings towards 18. She's happy to be trained and taken seriously, but she's also both intimidated by 18 because of how their first encounter went, as well as attracted to 18, because it's not a Ranma story without some unreciprocated attraction. I've been really open about not wanting to have any pairings, and that naturally includes Akane. But I didn't want to make it seem like Akane bashing, because I will admit that I think she's my least favorite between her, Ukyo and Shampoo. Let me know who, if anyone, you think should come with 18 and Ranma for their year of training? Perhaps each of the three girls spends 4 months with Ranma and 18?
On the flip side, I think the reveal on who Ryoga is training with went really well! I liked the idea of Yamcha being his initial teacher, but also learning from each of the three strongest humans a lot. I'm imagining Ryoga eventually using the Four Witches Technique, and then throwing a mixture of Spirit Balls, Destructo Disks, and his razor sharp bandanna's from each arm. Seems really cool and badass, yeah? Anyways, as always, thank you so much for all the love and support on this work. It means the world to me.
Next chapter, Android 18 finds a neat restaurant that's open now, and Ryoga finds his way back to Nerima.