Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy ❯ Chapter 07e ( Chapter 14 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

PATH OF CHAOS

- By Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Seriously, I don't own any of the anime characters that
appear in this entire fanfic, otherwise I'll just make sure you'll know
if I do make new characters.

Author Notes: My disease is getting worse. So far, my white blood cell count is still in the red, but it ain't gonna stop me from finishing this fic. And I ain't gonna die without finishing.

Anywho, I'm kinda back, and I am writing as fast as I can, when I can. Also, for some weird reason I manage to almost finished the first chapter of the second arc. I am at a dilemma whether to post second arc sooner or finish the rest of first arc. The first arc's ending in about two chapters more.

^_^

Warning about the bit of violence in some parts. Take note that the
violence level would pick up real quick as Ranma gets flung deeper into
everything.

I would like to thank Cory D. Rose (http://shi_hanna.tripod.com) and St
Longinus (former email was StLonginus@aol.com, now amesuisei@yahoo.com)
for pre-reading this stuff.

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): ++

Phone Receiver/Other Electronic Devices: ##

Telepathy: {}

Thoughts: <>

English/Chinese/Other languages specified: []

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CHAPTER 7E - THE NEXT FRONTIER: WHERE GODS FEAR TO TREAD...
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Ranma's eyes narrowed when he finally reached where Id had flown with his own version of Weltall. Rin-Ohki's sensors had detected several other powerful energy signatures present inside the place.

"I can feel Zohar in there, Rin-chan." Ranma commented as he floated above the hole on the ground. Activating the communicator given to him by Washuu before he left the floating city of Shevat.

#[I found out where Fei went.]# Ranma said simply into the receiver.

A little static sounded, before a voice said, #[That's great!]#

Ranma snorted, adjusting the small earpiece in his right ear, which has a small microphone that stretched down the side of his face. #[I'll have Rin-Ohki transmit the coordinates to you then, Washuu-chan.]#

"[Roger that, Ranma-chan. Be careful out there.]" Washuu transmitted back.

Nodding to himself, Ranma looked down at the ominous hole and swallowed. Not that he's nervous, but he really doesn't know what to expect. He's still mortal, and he could still feel a bit of hesitation when it comes to fighting. Shrugging off the feelings he got, he slowly floated down into the hole, mentally preparing himself for the fight of his life. When he finally exited the expanse of the hole, he was awed at the cavern beneath the unassuming surface. Ranma stared at the new area with excited eyes as Rin-Ohki craned her neck to get a better view of the glowing thing at the middle of the cavern. The cabbit mentally pointed the scene out to Ranma, who snapped his eyes to the organic prison that housed something huge in it.

Inside the hole, deep beneath the ground, an underground facility was activated. A red-haired man floated in front of a large egg-shaped semi-transparent organic structure.

It was Id.

Id stayed in the air with his arms across his chest and eyes closed, as if contemplating on something. Weltall has already been entered inside the membrane that housed massive amounts of ether energies, undergoing the process of transformation to become the ultimate Gear. After a moment, his form was slowly absorbed into the membrane, his eyes never opened the least.

Inside his head were scenes being reviewed. His past lives were being relived, and a small battle raged in his mind as Fei had already awakened.

Back when he was imprisoned in carbonite, Fei had dreamed about his past life as Lacan and witnessed the valiant death of Mother Sophia, who was the past self of Elly as well. The pain and anguished Lacan had felt was all too familiar for Fei, and the helplessness at being too powerless to be able to save Elly was a welcomed thought.

Now, as the character called Fei opened his senses, he saw himself in a dreamlike world, a scene his mind conjured to accommodate his consciousness. He immediately sought out his surroundings, and found Id easily. The red-haired man was somewhere a bit further away from him, watching Fei as he struggled to his feet and was now running towards him.

"[Wait for me!]" Fei shouted as he reached out towards Id.

Id shook his head. "[This is as far as you can come. From here on is my world. You can't enter.]"

Fei paused in his steps, with only several feet away from Id's floating form. "[What do you mean?]"

"[You're a subordinate, fake persona. That's why.]" Id explained to Fei, as if he was a mere child.

Fei was confused. "[A subordinate fake persona?]"

Nodding, Id said, "[Yes. He has part of my memories from back then. He has sealed away the very meaning of my existence. My drive, my motivation, my subconscious... 'Id'. Because of that, I became a basic, blank persona. And on top of that, I constructed a new persona based on my experiences since then. That is what you are now!]"

Fei took a step back. "[Him? You mean father?]"

Id spat, "[You call him father, he who never did anything for you? It was because of his cowardly behavior. If only he had been able to protect me. If he had done that, mother wouldn't have died...]"

"[Didn't my mother die right after I was born? What really happened to my mother? Tell me Id!]" Fei shouted, desperation for the truth clear in his voice.

Id shrugged nonchalantly. "[You don't need to know. You'll only disappear soon, along with your basic persona, the 'coward'. I'll rule my being through the power of the existence.]"

Fei kept silent, but his face showed confusion at what Id had said.

Id chuckled loudly. "[Of course you don't know. But it is etched in my metempsychotic memory. Your persona is a fake, so you'll never stand on the 'stage' of consciousness. You'll never be able to take charge of the memories from our past lives.]"

Fei clenched his fist and waved it in the air menacingly. "[I know the dreams and hallucinations! I've seen them many times!]"

The red-haired man just shrugged once again. "[Then, I showed them to you on purpose. To break the seal, I chose to weaken the power of your existence. If your mental energy is weakened, I can become free to do as I wish.]"

Fei was surprised. "[What?]"

"[There are still things inside of you which you haven't been shown yet...]" Id commented ominously.

Their mental debate was interrupted when a slight noise was heard.

Id snorted. "[Someone's coming. It's probably your friends. They must have followed me.]" He quickly turned and walked into the nothingness of the landscape.

Fei raised a hand and began to run towards Id's departing form. "[Where are you going?]"

Id called back without turning, "[I came to reestablish contact with the Existence. To tie together all the threads of your memories since ancient times and then cut them off. That is the fate of the Contact. All is ready. It's time for the true awakening! I will eliminate all those who were full of hypocrisy from the very beginning.]"

Id's body slowly vanished in the dark horizon, with Fei still running to catch up to him.

"[Wait! Wait for me, Id!]" Fei called out.

Id's voice reverberated all over the place. "[You just stay here and observe!]"

Outside Fei's troubled mind, Weltall was almost finished in its transformation. The amount of ether energy given to the organic material the Gear was encased in by Zohar sped up the process. The Deus System was carefully monitoring its pet project's progress.

Ranma carefully floated just outside the immediate vicinity of the structure, staring at the flux of power that surrounded the Gear known once as Weltall. The pigtailed boy didn't really know what was happening, but it had the fur on his tail standing on end for a while now. He'd seen Id enter the stuff a while ago, so he was sure he's inside the thing right now. Trying to isolate the red-haired man's energy signature, he managed to get a glimpse of a confused aura briefly, before being smothered by hate and lust for power.

It was then that the organic structure started to glow with pulsing energy. Ranma instinctively knew that something important is going to happen.

Floating back slightly from the pulsating thing, he managed to get near the entrance of the cave before he felt other energy signatures approaching the area from above him. Ranma looked up, and spotted several forms of large Gears descending the cavern. He recognized them as the Gears of Fei's friends.

#[Ranma-sama!]# Emeralda's worried voice came to Ranma.

#[Ranma! Is everything all right?]# Citan's excited voice cackled into Ranma's earpiece.

Ranma replied, #[No, I was a bit too late. Fei's inside that thing, rather, that red-haired man is inside that thing.]#

A gasp is heard from the receiver. #[You mean, Id? He's inside that... what?! Is that Weltall's transformed appearance?!]#

Ranma was about to answer, but his body stiffened when he felt a slight burst of ki from the structure. #[Quick, back away! That thing's about to come out!]#

Sure enough, with a powerful burst of light from the cracking membrane, a huge Gear emerged. It was a bit like Weltall, but much more menacing, and the color scheme's all wrong. As Id's Gear got out, a tall slab of stone started rising from behind the opened former container of the Gear.

#[Ranma, back away! We'll handle Id!]# Bart called out to Ranma.

The pigtailed boy eyed the stone slab. #[Don't worry, I have other things to take care of.]#

Citan's Gear, as well as Bart's, Emeralda's, Maria's, Rico's, and Billy's Gears stepped ahead of the floating boy to meet Id in battle. Ranma on the other hand floated towards the stone slab, carefully maneuvering himself just beyond arms reach of the huge monolith. The sounds of battle have began as clashes of steel were heard in the background, but Ranma ignored them all. The stone slab, Zohar, was all that's in his mind as of the moment.

Ranma could actually see the lines of energies that were flowing on the stone's surface, but he wasn't sure what the energies were. Little did he know that these are of divine origins.

His hand suddenly lifted itself from his sides, as if they were moving in their own accord. Ranma's mind was in a dream-like state when his hand touched the slab, and a bright glow exploded from the contact. The battle behind him didn't slow the least, but his mind slowly faded from reality.

Ranma found himself in a bright place, a meadow in fact, with lots of flowers in different colors and variety. There was a huge Sakura tree atop a small hill, where Ranma slowly treaded to take shelter under. He breathed in the air, and it smelled sweet. He knew this was all a dream, but the realism of everything boggled his mind.

"Such a nice place." A soft voice echoed all over the field. It was female and melodious, speaking in Ranma's native language.

When the pigtailed boy reached the fragrant flowering tree, he sat down, leaned to the tree with his back and closed his eyes. Surprises were really not that effective to him anymore, since this mayhap be another one of those, especially with what had happened to him with his predecessor Chaos before. He smiled slightly and said, "It is, isn't it? If I'm right, this place has been taken from my memories. I remember seeing the same meadow back when I was still in my training journey in China."

"I wish I could've seen it." The voice said in all sincerity.

Ranma nodded. "Too bad... I don't know if such a place exists in Earth during this time. By the way, who are you?"

The voice sounded amused when it replied, "I am Lilith, at least that's what I was named when I arrived on planet Earth."

"Ah..." Ranma shrugged, "What's your real name then?"

A tense silence followed, before the answer came, "I remember myself as Lea, rather, a piece of Lea that was flung into your world. Nevertheless, I am Lea. But I'm also someone named Ihadurca at the same time."

"Lea... Ihadurca... hmmm Lea then..." Ranma rolled the name with his tongue, "That's nice. So, what is it that you want with me, Lea? Oh, and can you please show me who you really are? It's hard talking like this. I might get used to talking into thin air and be accused of being crazy, not that I already am."

The whole are echoed with peals of laughter, which were later became focused into one point. A bright light condensed at the other side of the Sakura tree, one that which formed into the shape of a tall girl with platinum blue hair that was tied in a high ponytail. Her black ceramic-like bodice fit her upper body like a glove, but it was cut rather low at the chest area, exposing a lot of her cleavage. The exposed flesh on her chest was tattooed with a red complex design. White stockings covered her legs, and her feet were fitted inside long legged black boots with high heels. Her lower body wore a tight fitting skirt that has a slit on one side. A red sash was wrapped around her waist loosely, and the long flaps were draped down in front of the middle of her legs like a loincloth.

There were red facial markings on her creamy white face, a rather large red circle on her forehead with twin lines at its side, as well as twin triangular marks at opposite sides of her upper cheeks, matching the reddish tint of the pupils of her eyes. A pair of long black extended gloves that reached up to her mid-upper arms covered her arms and hands.

A pair of snowy white wings decorated her back, but they were translucent and it seemed that they were not connected to her body, more like floating in the air and following her every move. She has a pair of shoulder guards with weird designs etched at the surface that were floating a bit above her actual shoulders. A large intricate metallic golden halo that looks more like a pile of gears hung above her head, and was flanked by two orbiting divine blue orbs. The halo held a couple of pink ribbons that cascaded down at the sides. She held a golden staff that has a red orb at the end.

Ranma was slack-jawed at the ethereal wonder in front of him. Ryoko has a certain feline beauty in her, the other women he saw have their own appeal, and this woman ranked at that level as well. "Kawaii..." the words filtered out of his lips automatically, still entranced at the sight of the woman.

Lea on the other hand heard Ranma's soft words and blushed deeply. Her former proud stance faltered into unsure and fidgety as she tried to flush down the rush of blood that went to her face.

"Oh... oh my..." The poor embarrassed woman muttered, her blush still going strong on her face. In her mind, Lea was trying to remember what the heck was she supposed to say to this evenly muscled, very sweet innocent guy...

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Meanwhile, outside that dreamscape of Ranma's, the battle between Id and Fei's friends has been vicious. The ground has been torn here and there, and pieces of metal that has been dislodged from the Gears strewn all over the place. But the battle came to a close, and Citan's team emerged victorious. Their Gears stood nearby the downed form of Id's Gear, waiting for anything that might happen. It wouldn't be a surprise for them if Id's Gear suddenly stood up and rejuvenated itself once again, since it had happened to their other enemies a while ago.

So far, the Gear remained unmoving.

After a few moments of silence, a new Gear emerged from the hole, landing a few feet from the battle site. A few of the Gears in Citan's group swiveled around to face the newcomer, but it was unnecessary when they recognized the white Gear. A white-clad, white-masked figure emerged from the opened cockpit in the white Gear's chest.

Wiseman's voice echoed all over the cavern as he asked loudly, "[Are you okay?]"

"[Wiseman?!]" The rest of the group asked in surprise. One by one, they all went out of their Gears and walked up to the destroyed Gear of Id. They stood a bit away from Wiseman, who didn't turn to look at them.

Wiseman eyed the downed Gear, but his relaxed stance turned wary as a red-haired man emerged from it. "[It's already too late! Assist me, for I am about to exterminate Id!]"

"[WHAT?!]" Bart shouted. The rest of the group was shocked as well.

Wiseman nodded. "[Zohar is Deus' core. The slave generators and ether, it's the source of all their energy. After attaining its power, the freshly awakened Id intends to annihilate this world! The contact with Zohar was meant to have been done after the unifying Fei's true personality!]"

Id had taken the reprieve to recover a bit, staggering towards Wiseman.

The white-clad man raised his arms in defense and stepped back. "[Hah?! Keep back!]"

Id glared at the figure, "[You again?! You are always getting in my way. But you cannot stop me. You who couldn't even protect his own wife and son! You can not even bear to show you face to your son. That's why you wear a mask, isn't it, Khan?!]"

Citan's gaze snapped to the white-clad figure, his eyes widened in disbelief. "[Son?!]"

Wiseman remained silent at the revelation.

Id pointed a shaky finger at Wiseman, growling out, "[That's right! This man is Fei's... no, I mean, my father, Khan Wong!]"

Wiseman finally relented and removed his mask, revealing a mustached man with Fei's features if he were younger. His eyes reflected pain and anguish as he watched his son lose himself in the rage. "[What happened to Fei, Id?!]" he asked the red-haired man, intent on at least saving his son from the madness.

Id chuckled humorlessly. "[Too bad. The new personality of Fei that you gave birth to and all that work that your persona did to make him one, perfect, unified whole has been wasted. He will be swallowed up by me!]"

Khan shook his head vehemently. "[I won't permit it! I will destroy you first!]"

Id sneered at him, "[As if you could... sissy! Mother died because of your cowardly behavior. And as a result, he ran away from that reality by entering into his own memories! And now I continue my existence bearing all that hatred. You wouldn't be able to imagine what it's like!]"

Khan grimaced at the point thrown at him, "[I wasn't simply working to unify Fei's personality, you know? All that you and I feel... the sadness, the hatred. Even though he also experienced such things... Fei needed to be encouraged to build himself up in order to be able to comprehend all of this. Fei should be able to understand all of your feelings now! But now you want to erase the one who understands you, to kill Fei! What is it that you want?]"

Id shrugged indifferently, standing up much straighter than a while ago. "[Why ask me such a thing now? My purpose is the same as his, total destruction! That and that alone!]"

Khan sighed sadly. "[Is this world so bad a place... that there is only hatred inside of you?]"

Id's glare returned tenfold at Khan, "[You're the ones who made me this way. You and that woman! Admit it!]" Without any preamble, Id launched a vicious right cross to Khan's surprised face, causing the older man to skid back a few feet.

Khan clutched at his face in pain, "[Argh! Fei! Can you hear me? Please take this fist full of memories I am giving you.]" Khan raised a glowing hand in the air, "[Become one... with yourself... and with me!]"

Fei's father flew towards Id, who was hit at the chest with the fist. The rest of the group felt helpless as they watched father and son fight one another without holding their punches.

"[Fei! Where did the real you go? Don't you remember? Were you not going to come back to Elly?]" Citan called out to the red-haired man, trying to summon Fei's personality to take precedence in his body once again.

Inside Id's body, Fei was contemplating in the space provided for him by his captor. Id has been generous to let him see what was happening outside, as well as hearing the conversations. So far, he's still confused and a bit incensed at the revelations given to him by the talks.

Fei sighed as well as he could, and looked all over him. An empty space greeted him. "[Yes... this is inside Id. A world filled with hatred and sadness. That's all that's here. Yes, now I understand Id, why you hate the world. Why there is nothing inside you... nothing was given to you, deprived of all the happy memories. And yet, it feels pleasant. It almost feels good... now I get it! There's no need to resist. I was originally just an existence that was created as a cover to hide everything, including ourselves...]"

The trapped psyche was about to just give up and fade into Id, when Citan's frantic voice called out to him.

"[Remember! Were you not going to help Elly?!]" Citan's voice echoed in the emptiness.

Fei felt as if a jolt of lightning coursed through him. "[Elly? That's right! Elly! Elly is waiting for me... everyone's waiting for me to come back!]"

Without a second thought, Fei broke through the mask of darkness in front of him, and entered another room. There was light all over the place, and in the middle of everything a small boy was watching something like a black and white movie on a big screen.

Fei looked around the place in awe. "[What's this place?]"

"[What's he done now? He only called you in here for his own sake. This is inside the shell of your basic character, the room of the 'coward'. I'm sure you've been here many times before.]" Id's psyche personification walked out of the darkness behind Fei, and stood side by side with him. The red-haired psyche looked at the scene with disgust.

Fei nodded. "[I see... I remember now... in my dreams...]"

Id pointed at the small boy, "[Everything despised and unwanted he pushed onto me, while he shut himself up in his own little shell... the 'coward' Fei. The basis for our personalities.]"

The Coward, who was disturbed out of his movie watch by the voices, looked at them in surprise. "[Who are you? Ah, you're my... hey... let's watch this together! This is my most treasured possession...]"

Id bared his teeth at the boy, "[Hah! By repeatedly replaying the times he was full of happiness he lives in his own happy little world. While I'm still alive only because of what's left in those left over dregs. Here! I'll show you 'everything' about me.]"

The giant black and white screen blanked for a moment then displayed the numbers counting down from ten to one. When it reached one, the scene showed Fei as a small child, as well as Khan and his wife, Karen, inside their house.

Id watched the scene calmly. "[Ours was an ordinary family… a strict but reliable father, a kind and loving mother. Up till then, it was complete happiness. But one day... mother suddenly changed.]"

Up on the screen, Fei runs up to Karen but he was shocked when she turns around. He slowly backed away from his mother.

"[She was like a totally different person. From that day on, 'Fei' lost his home.]" Id continued, watching the screen as it showed Khan leaving the house at long intervals. "[Father was away often. He had some important work.]" he shook his head.

On the screen, Karen approaches Fei. The scene changes as Fei was brought to a lab. Karen goes to a small booth next to the laboratory table where men dressed in Executioner gowns sit operating computers. It is the vision that Fei had in Solaris, come to life.

Id's visage darkened at the scene being played out. "[When father was away from home, 'Fei' was taken to a place with mysterious machines. Inside there were many strangely dressed people. Many types of probes where injected into 'Fei's' body, as the start to some kind of experiments. The tests caused Fei much pain.]"

On the screen, the child Fei was strapped unto laboratory tables while he was injected with a lot of different stuff. The child was crying and was calling out for his mother. Nobody came for him as the experiments continued.

"[Mother didn't come to his assistance. Young 'Fei' had no way of resisting. But he was able to endure. Eventually, the experiments became unbearable.]" Id's narration continued, as the scene changed into when different kinds of people entered the lab where Fei was in.

Id commented, "[Many people gathered around 'Fei'. These people had a high compatibility with the Anima Relics. This psychic contact with Fei was to force him to awaken.]" The people around the child Fei disappeared one by one, with their screams echoing all over the laboratory.

"[But no one could make contact with Fei. The power drawn out of 'Fei', regardless of his will, destroyed them all.]" Id explained.

Fei was horrified, "[This is unbelievable! Mother allowed this to take place? Psychic contact? What do you mean by 'awaken' me?]"

Id shrugged indifferently, "[To awaken god, everything had to be in perfect order, with nothing lacking. Things divided in the past must become whole again.]" The film continued, as it showed many more people entering the laboratory, but not getting out of it.

Id shook hi head almost sadly. "[Countless people died before Fei's eyes, men, women, the old, the young, even demi-humans. Suffering, grief, fear, ecstasy, a variety of emotions and words lingered and tumbled about Fei like broken dolls. It was a scene from hell!]"

The scene changed once again and showed Fei's house. Child Fei ran up to his father and told him about what was being done to his body and his mind, but Khan just laughed and patted the child on his head, scoffing the whole idea as a child's prank.

"[In front of father she acted normally. When Fei tried to tell father about mother's strange conduct and the experiments, father's mind was taken up by his work and he didn't really listen.]"

Id continued, his narration, eyeing the scene that changed everything, "[He thought it was just childhood fantasies. But he didn't have to endure the pain much longer. Fei's subconscious discovered a way to escape from the trauma. He formed a separate persona to deal with things he didn't like or couldn't bear. He removed himself from out of harms way. My role was to have all the things he hated forced upon me, the moment they arose.]"

The scene showed the laboratory once more, with child Fei being subjected to more tests.

Id snarled, "[From the time of my division from him, I was dominated by hatred. That hatred naturally turned into destructive impulses. I wanted to destroy everything. My mother, father, and the entire world, I wanted to disappear. Finally father noticed mother's odd behavior, but it was already too late. I had completely separated from that coward, my original self. The puppets were broken and 'Fei's heart was too...]"

"[What would make mother do such a thing?]" Fei asked in a soft whisper.

Id said, "[Mother repeated the experiments to study the power she knew existed within me. Yes, that woman... mother, was Miang.]"

Fei swiveled around to face his counterpart angrily, hissing, "[That's a lie!]"

Id shook his head once again. "[No, it's true. Mother was Miang.]"

Outside, the same explanation from Id was being conducted by his own mouth, letting the others know what had happened, and as to why everything came down to what it was as of the moment.

Khan calmed a bit, but was still in a fighting position. "[That's right... Karen had become Miang.]"

Citan adopted a bewildered look on his face. "[What is that you say?]" he asked.

Khan sighed as he explained, "[It's nothing special. Miang does not have only one host body. Miang's roots are sealed in the genes of all women. Any one of them could become Miang.]"

Id snorted irritably, "[It just happened to be mother's turn. Only Elly was 'special' originally!]" The redhead launched a roundhouse kick to Khan, who immediately parried with his hands. Throwing Id off balanced, Khan took the opening and slammed an open-hand attack into Id's chest, causing the enraged young man to back off slightly.

"[Karen, 'Miang', noticed that Fei's memory time axis had increased two or three fold. She then became convinced that Fei was the 'Contact'!]" Khan shouted. In the reprieve, he managed to return to his Gear.

Id sneered and floated back into his downed Gear. Id's Gear stood back up, its damage that it sustained earlier slowly disappearing.

Back to the group, they were more interested in what Khan has disclosed in the conversation. "['Contact'?!]" More than one person from Citan's group asked loudly.

Back inside Fei's mind, the conversation between the three main psyche's continued.

"[Yes, I was the Contact. That's why HE called out to me, and why the time had come...]" Id pointed to the screen as it changed scenes once again. This time, it showed the black-clad figure of Grahf attacking Khan in front of their house, while young Fei and Karen watched on the sidelines. The child was imploring to his mother to help his father, but the woman's impassive face greeted him coldly.

Id growled at the memory of begging that 'woman' for help at that time, "[Grahf came seeking the power that exists within me, to return to his own body. You understand now, don't you? Grahf is Lacan. We, his descendants who inherited his lingering thoughts and memories from him, know only too well, divided 500 years ago. He would become a part of us both. Lacan became Grahf. He destroyed everything on the face of the earth. He then mastered how to possess the bodies of others by dwelling in their minds. He was probably enabled to do this after his contact with the 'Existence'.]"

Fei looked at him in askance. "[But...]"

"[The bodies died but Lacan's spirit continued living by possessing others.]" Id cut him off, continuing, "[He had come that day, to return his soul, at last, to the perfect reincarnation of his physical body, the body of 'Fei'. Father fought him. But he couldn't protect mother or I. He pitifully fought on while coughing up his lifeblood. Grahf made a mockery of father and mother would not even help him when he needed her the most. As for their son, 'He' couldn't take what was happening any more.]"

The screen was bathed in a bright red glow as Fei released a wave of power that knocked Grahf aside, while Karen watches without emotions.

Id's voice became softer, "[He gave into his feelings and released his power. And as a result... Mother died.]"

The red glow in the huge screen died down, revealing the bloodied form of Karen lying motionless in front of Fei, as the child frantically tried to wake his already dead mother.

"[And 'he', off-loaded the result of his actions onto me. To avoid taking the responsibility for killing mother, he used me as a shield.]" Id pointed at the small child that watched the screen, horrified at the memories of that day.

<I also killed mother.> Fei thought sadly to himself.

Id continued, gesturing at the lighted room around them, "[He pushed all the bad things onto me, but kept all the memories filled with happiness and mother's love to himself. And he shut himself away with those memories inside his own little shell forever. This is the place. What you see before you, is what he made. He just keeps hanging on to those memories. That's what this is...]"

Fei turned to Id, saying, "[Stop it! Just stop it! This... these scenes... are these all there is to us? Enough already! There is nothing here! Just a world filled with deception and pain.]"

Id shrugged, "[It can't be helped. This is our world... this is 'everything'...]"

Back outside Fei's mind, Khan was reeling at the numerous hits he took from his son, physically and emotionally.

#[I was a fool.]# Fei's father muttered loudly, clenching his fists in fury, #[It was all my fault. I was so busy with my duties in Shevat that I didn't notice Karen had changed. I couldn't save you when you needed my help.]#

Id scoffed, #[Save me? Hah! Why bother saying such nonsense now? It's not going to change anything! The only thing you can do now is die by my hand!]# The redhead willed his massive Gear to charge once again and hit Khan with a chi-enhanced kick, causing the older man's Gear to fly back. Khan's Gear rolled with the hit and stood shakily on its feet.

#[Urrrggh! Even still... I'll show you that I can... save you!]# Khan gritted his teeth as he clutched at his abused ribs. Even inside his Gear, Khan can still feel the pain of the hits. The injuries he has sustained earlier in the fight also added to the effect.

Back inside Fei and Id's mind, Fei was trying to stop Id from hurting Khan some more.

"[Stop it! Id! Father has done nothing wrong!]" Fei shouted at the impassive red-haired man.

Id just nodded. "[I know. This one is the real culprit. Mother and father had no choice.]"

Suddenly, Fei found himself inside the scene itself, in front of the house where his family used to live, watching as a rubber ball slowly rolling up towards him. Fei bent down and picked the toy up as the child Fei, the Coward, looked at him with a bright smile.

The Coward reached out with his little hands and said to Fei, "[Thanks. Pass it back to me. I'm playing with mother.]"

Fei shook his head sadly, "[This is not reality! It's all lies! It's all a trick!! All of it! All of it! All of it!]" With that, Fei slowly approached the young Fei, followed closely by Id.

The Coward made warding signs with his hands, trying to dispel both of the other psyches away, shouting, "[No! Get out! This is my room! I thought you would always be with me!]"

Fei stopped in front of the child, still holding the ball tightly in his hands, as he addressed the boy, "[Why won't you see reality? Happiness... sadness... aren't those all parts that combined to make the whole? Why won't you show him? Why don't you also show Id what you always watch!]"

"[No! That's mine! I don't want to show it to the person who killed mother!]" The Coward protested loudly.

Id snorted as he crossed his arms across his chest, staring down the Coward with his gaze. "[You should talk. You're the one who killed mother!]"

The Coward shook his head in defiance, "[No I didn't, you did! I did not kill her! Mother didn't care for you... father didn't notice either. That's why you killed her! I didn't kill her! I didn't! I didn't...!]"

"[Knock it off!]" Fei shouted, effectively ending the debate between the two other psyches. With a softer voice, he continued, "['We' killed mother. It's no one's fault but ours. It's not because she became Miang or because father didn't notice. Don't look outside for the reason. Don't blame anyone but yourself. Yes, mother was Miang, and I know you suffered. No one could have endured it. But you can't push it onto Id alone. We are all one person. We must all become one, right? Walk on your own two feet. Face up to the reality that you don't want to see! Show them to Id. Everything you took for yourself...]"

======================================================================== ==

As the battle for unification over the three personas commenced in Fei's mind, another encounter was taking place between Ranma and the stone slab that contained the essence of power, Zohar. It has been revealed that Zohar was actually a being known as Lea, who had crash-landed on Earth thousands of years ago before she was accosted and made into a weapon.

"So, lemme get this straight. Zohar is actually an engine created to power up an interplanetary invasion system, and that you were actually a part of a whole that was pulled inside Zohar when you died and was partially assimilated in Zohar. You were a person named Lea, who has been trapped here for who knows how long?" Ranma asked simply.

"Yes..." The being known as Lea had already made herself comfortable sitting beside Ranma under the Sakura tree as they both watched the memories from Ranma's head conjure various animals that frolicked here and there in the meadow. Funny, though, most of them were made up of those weird half-cat, half-rabbit types of animals, but Lea found them so cute anyway. Lea continued, "Actually, I didn't really die, rather, I was absorbed by another being into herself. An incarnation of myself, actually, who goes by the name of Ihadurca. So in truth, I'm both Lea and Ihadurca, but I feel more of a 'Lea' anyway. Imagine my surprise when I woke up feeling helpless inside Zohar. Don't get me wrong, Zohar isn't really evil. It's just that I am trapped here that made it quite uncomfortable."

Ranma nodded, "I see. You were saying you were a reincarnation of the original Lea, right?"

Lea sighed softly, "Since Ihadurca taken me as her source of power, we became one and the same. Ihadurca, or me, can exist in all dimensions, so where she exists, I do as well. It just so happens that when I came to exist here, I became trapped in this predicament. One of my incarnations is trapped inside a null zone called 'Evil Zone'. There were many incarnations of Ihadurca, or Lea, which were strewn all over the multiverses, although someone had already started collecting my essences again. I have a connection with all of my parts, so I know where they are. Most have already converged near the larger shape in the Evil Zone."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Ranma questioned.

Lea shook her head. "I wish to be whole, but not by this person's hands. This person became obsessed in obtaining me, and might keep me imprisoned in that person's will anyway."

Ranma cocked his head to one side, idly watching a sparrow dart with another of its kind all over the place, "Do I have the privilege to know who this person is?"

Lea smiled, "Of course. The person's name is Kakurine, a divine entity. This person has no gender originally, but she took a liking of being physically female." The woman leaned her head to the side, setting it down on Ranma's shoulder. She relaxed when the pigtailed boy didn't make any moves of dislodging her. "I, rather Ihadurca, was born as Ihadurca Il Imella, who was a Court Magician in a world called Evna Abraku. Ihadurca was a very powerful magician, and came to me to possess my body for my power. At first, it was Ihadurca's intent to rule the dimensions and destroying some of them, but she became enamored by humans and their ability to show emotions."

"Humans are like that." Ranma said absently.

Lea nodded. "That's true. That's why she sought after humans, to discover why they needed emotions. After that event with I-Praseru, she fully merged with me, and our former relationship of being 'host and parasite' became a 'mutual relationship'. When we combined fully, so did our minds and our own beliefs, as well as our powers. As of right now, I'm feeling quite distressed talking about Ihadurca as a third person, since she's really me after all. But I need to do this to make you understand my situation before."

"I see..." Ranma drawled out, "So what happened in that I-Praseru place? I noticed you skipped it a bit."

"I-Praseru... or the Happy Iron world..." Lea said with great sadness, "I-Praseru was a world with different people, all of them having different abilities of their own. As I said before, Ihadurca was interested in ruling the multiverse only, so she set out to destroy that world full of magic first. Ihadurca's power alone, even without mine, is a force to be reckon with. But add that to my own made her a threat to Happy Iron. I know about it, since I'm still part Ihadurca, although greatly purged of the will to conquer."

Ranma remained silent, urging Lea to explain at her own pace.

Lea grimaced, "That Ihadurca that wanted to conquer was the one in the Evil Zone. She was trapped there for the moment, but it wouldn't be too long before she gets free again. Last time I heard from the passing stray thoughts before that incarnation of mine closed her connection with me, she was a bit interested in humans as well, but not as much to delay her own agenda. As soon as she gets freed from the Evil Zone, she may start attacking I-Praseru. But I heard that there were already warriors gathered in I-Praseru, training to beat Ihadurca in mortal combat. And then, there's Kakurine..."

Seeing Ihadurca, or Lea, hesitate in her next words, Ranma asked, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want you to know, I want you to know what you're getting into." Lea said confidently, before swallowing and took a deep breath. "Kakurine is Lea's best friend. They grew up together since childhood, and she was mortified to see her friend Lea had gotten possessed by Ihadurca. It has been so long ago, and Kakurine didn't know that I am now one with Ihadurca completely. I heard that she's been going through dimensions where my incarnations reside, and she kills them, collecting their essences. Her belief was that Lea would be recovered once she kills all of her incarnations."

"That's..." Ranma faltered, unable to voice his concern over the girl, "The whole thing's just wacky..." he finished lamely.

"I know." Lea nodded solemnly. "Kakurine's currently busy in I-Praseru, waiting for the gates to Evil Zone to open once again. She will be there for a while, since the Ihadurca of that dimension is stronger than most of the other incarnations anyway."

"Ah." Ranma just said before adding, "Then why do you want me to get you out of here? Why not wait for your best friend to free you?"

Lea shook her head with a grimace. "The past ten thousand years has been unkind to my friend. She has become obsessed, and the childish smile she had before was now marred with malice and arrogance. She isn't the friend Lea used to know a long time ago, and she would certainly never go back to being like that ever again. Along the way, her views became corrupted. Besides, I need to be here to be able to control Deus even just a little bit. The Zohar, while advanced, cannot control the ever-growing sentience of the Deus System."

Ranma suddenly asked, "By the way, what is Deus anyway?"

"Deus..." Lea shook her head sadly, "It is the interplanetary invasion weapon designed by humans back on Earth. According to the memory files stored within Zohar, when they tested the Zohar engine, something went wrong. The reaction of my energy while I was drifting in the universe with Zohar's output managed to create an inter-dimensional rift, since I am a bit of a dimensional being."

Ranma cocked his head to one side inquisitively, asking, "What happened next?"

Lea smiled hesitantly, "Something unexplainable happened that made the interplanetary invasion weapon Deus gain full sentience. I was powerless when all of the sudden when Deus took Zohar in its body. Everything was a blur, and before I know it, I'm here. I also recall from the files... Zohar, my prison, was the first of three prototypes the humans made."

Ranma grimaced. "Yeah, I know. The other two prototypes were perfected, but someone managed to take one away from their hands, therefore stopping whatever plans they had for them. They later called those Zohar prototypes by the name of Paeksis Plagma."

"Please, Ranma-sama..." Lea gave the pigtailed boy an imploring look, which caused Ranma to falter even further at the sight, "Please... take me with you. Zohar is nothing but a shell and a prison to me. For some reason, men from this planet believed that by claiming my power for their own, they gain true power. The man that came here all those years past, he seemed to have a noble motive at first. But once he claimed some power he believed I bestowed upon him, the thought drove him a bit insane."

Ranma straightened up a bit from his seat, "So, what do you want me to do?"

Lea sighed. "Please relieve me of this trap and take me with you in your travels. I wish to unite with Ihadurca as soon as possible, and defeat Kakurine. That entity is probably power-mad as well, and I for one will not allow anyone to take control of me anymore." <Well, except for you, Ranma-sama.> The platinum blue-haired young woman thought to herself with a slight blush. <Yes, after I manage to get myself back together again, I can stay with Ranma-sama for good!>

"How can you be so sure that I can find this, Evil Zone place? And how can I be sure you won't turn evil and start destroying things?" Ranma asked dubiously.

Lea shrugged delicately. "For the first question, I really don't care much about it. Just as long as I get away from this place, I'd be happy. But with your luck, we may be able to stumble upon Evil Zone accidentally. Even if we don't, it's okay too. It's not really a priority of mine. Now for the second question, I really don't know. There's a possibility that I may go evil, but you'll be there to stop me. Besides, even if I stay here, Kakurine WILL find me. When she does, I may just go evil and you won't be here to stop me. More people, or worlds, will be destroyed. Well, I just hope my other counterpart would be willing to combine fully with me, so that I may be able to tone down her conquering instincts. My will should be strong enough, and when I'm whole, I'll be more 'Lea' than 'Ihadurca' in the end."

"Uh-hmmm... alright then. It's better than to wait, ne?" Ranma noised, then he tensed slightly as he remembered something, "By the way, am I here in real-time?"

Lea was impressed, "You actually thought about it, huh? Yes, you're here real time, but don't worry about those outside yet. As far as I can see, the young man's machine has been defeated, and is now facing his own demons."

"I should be helping them, you know." Ranma pouted a bit.

Lea snorted slightly. "You worry too much. You of all people should know the powers of unpredictability. Humans have that small gift in them... a chance to change their destiny." Lea's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ranma with a half-lidded stare, "Why are you so eager to leave? Don't you like me anymore?" She was joking, of course, but she just had to needle Ranma with it anyway, even if it was just to see his reaction.

And reaction was what she got. Ranma chuckled nervously as he waved his hands all over in a placating manner, "No! No... of course I love being here! In fact, I'd rather choose to be in such a peaceful place like this with a pretty woman like you, if that were possible. But I don't think it suits me... the peaceful scene I mean. People are waiting for me outside too you know."

"Ah..." Lea smiled seductively, slinking her body up the nervous form of Ranma, "I'm not really jealous, I just want to be with you. Now now, my dearest... don't be too quick to go. Let them settle their differences for themselves, especially Fei. He has to know what to choose for himself."

"S-s-sure!" Ranma nodded rapidly, wondering why it suddenly became warm in the place where he was in.

Lea's body stiffened. She turned to Ranma and sighed, saying, "Wait. I think Fei has reached his answer. I need to talk to him."

Ranma's nervous expression turned serious. "I understand. Make sure he does the right thing, Lea... or Ihadurca..."

The platinum blue-haired woman nodded. "Lea would be fine. As I've said, I'm more of Lea than Ihadurca anyway." She sighed once again, saying, "Darn, I need to act all high and mighty again." She faded from Ranma's view, leaving the pigtailed boy to wonder how to get out of the place in his own mind.

Go figure.

======================================================================== ==

Inside Fei's mind...

After Fei implored the Coward to show the memories he has been hiding from Id, the scene on the screen finally changed and showed Everything.

The screen showed Grahf being blown back by the blast of energy from Fei's small body. The energy did not dissipate, instead it arched up to the sky. Gravity took its control as the energy blast quickly descended from whence it came, which was Fei. The child's initial confusion quickly diminished to horror as the blast came upon him.

Just as the blast was about to incinerate the child, Karen quickly stepped in between it and her child. The inevitable happened, as the blast hit dead-on to Karen. Her crimson blood flew all over Fei's horrified face. Karen fell to her knees in front of her child, and the light in her eyes before Miang took over came back just for a second, allowing the woman to smile warmly at her child. She died, and her still-warm corpse fell over Fei. The pendant she wore, the one Fei always carried with him and recently gave to Elly, fell to the ground on the child Fei's feet. It was the Nisan Pendant, the same pendant that has been haunting Fei since he reawakened Weltall in Lahan.

As the scene dimmed, Id clutched at his head, shouting, "[Lies! That woman... this scene... all illusions he made up! I, my consciousness, can see through this trick. I won't be swayed!]"

Fei strode forward and grabbed Id by his shoulders. "[Id, that's enough! Doing that isn't going to solve anything. Mother saved us at the last moment. That is the truth. Right? The reality isn't all grim, Id...]"

Id stared at his hands, mumbling, "[My power... couldn't save anyone. It only destroyed. I thought that I could only make a connection with others through destruction. So I had to destroy it all. People... the world... even Elly...]"

Fei shook his head, "[No. That's not the case. We can save others just as our mother, despite being Miang, saved us. Our power... can save people! We can save Elly!]"

"[That's a first, mother being so warm. To me... she always seemed... too warm.]" Id chuckled morosely. Looking at Fei, he said, "[Fei. Take the memories I have within me. You must know what it used to be like up until now. Know our identity... about who we are. Then figure out what ought to be done. Our integration is not yet complete.]"

Id touched Fei's forehead with his index finger, flooding the latter with a deluge of ancient memories that have been buried by each generation their soul has been reincarnated from.

In the barrage of memories, Fei saw a scene out from the first of his reincarnations as Abel. He was running through the raining night, hand in hand with Elly. Twelve Gazel Ministers were chasing them. The ministers held up a huge throne of the Emperor, Kain. The Emperor charged a bolt of energy in the air and fired it. The bolt hit Elly in the chest, causing her to stumble and fall down the ground. Abel ran back to the fallen Elly, calling out her name in despair. Elly called back to him and asked him to live.

The next vision was of him wearing a white lab gown. In this memory, he was Kim. The Zeboim troops had just invaded his laboratory, intent on killing him and his wife. In the middle of the room was a big tube with a small child in it. Before dying, Elly had mouthed for Kim not to give their child to the soldiers, and to live.

The next was his latter life as Lacan, who had painted Sophia's unfinished portrait. The vision changed as Elly, or Sophia, was in a crashing ship. It was after a great war, and Sophia had sacrificed herself for Lacan to live. It was the turning point where Krelian had changed, his views about god was screwed and took upon himself to create his own god. Lacan on the other hand grew desolate and alone, searching for Zohar to gain power. In that search, he came upon Weltall. Remembering Sophia's final wish of him, he declared that he will live, and with that he transformed into Grahf. With the physical transformation came the emotions, where he swore to destroy the world if it doesn't come to end by itself.

The visions faded, leaving Fei gasping on the ground, alone. Id and the Coward, as well as the huge screen that showed memories were gone. He found himself in a place with a large puddle on the ground. A glowing light appeared in front of him.

"[Fei ...Fei...]" A mixed male and female voice whispered in the air.

Fei was startled out of his contemplation and looked about, saying, "[Who is it? Who's calling me?]"

The soft dual voice returned. "[I... am... har...]"

Fei stared at the pulsing light in front of him. "[What is this light?]"

"[I reside in Zohar. I am the beginning and the end. The first and the last.]" The voice echoed all over the place.

"[God?]" Fei asked carefully.

"[God...]" A short silence followed, "[Some would refer to me as that. From a certain point of view, it is right to view me as such. But at the same time, I am not. I am also a part of you.]"

Fei was surprised a bit at the revelation. "[A part of me?]"

"[I am defined by how people observe me. You are actually talking to a virtual version of me that you yourself create. I am 'your perception' of me.]" The voice sounded amused.

Fei looked at the light confusedly, "[I don't understand what you are talking about. Who, or what are you?]"

The voice chuckled as the light fluctuated a bit. "[In one word... ...Existence.]"

"[Existence?]" Fei parroted.

The light brightened in intensity as the 'Existence' answered, "[I am an 'existence' of a higher dimension. A place where time and space is controlled. The fluctuating void, the 'wave existence'.]"

Fei was skeptical. "[What does such an 'Existence' have to do with me?]"

A small tense silence was broken by the voice, "[A long long time ago, in a planet called Earth, a prototype 'modifier', or a pseudo-perpetual, infinite-energy engine was created. That prototype engine was named 'Zohar'. An ancient people from another planet attained what is considered to be the ultimate energy possible within this four-dimensional universe created the reactor. The designs were later taken to Earth, and eventually, Earth people used that same engine to create the inter-planetary invasion weapon, 'Deus'.]"

The voice continued, "[Zohar was used as its primary source of power. But the unexpected happened. During the connection tests of Zohar with the newly completed Deus, the engine started to examine infinite potential phenomena. Requiring energy, the engine connected this dimension to the higher dimensional space.]"

A tense silence followed, on which Fei grew a bit nervous of.

"[As a result, that reactor 'merged' or 'synchronized' with the wave existence in a higher dimension... ME.]" The voice continued, "[I descended from the point of contact created by the machines through the 'Path of Sephirot', or the domain you are in right now, and incarnated in the four-dimensional world. I was actually pulled here without my consent, and since Zohar pulled most of my energy and caught me by surprise, I was rendered powerless.]"

The explanation went on, "[I found myself in the middle of the Zohar system, and my power was used to fuel Deus, which gained sentience due to the reaction of my energy and Zohar. I am a part of a whole, but my 'body' died a long time ago. It was due to my sheer will to survive that I was able to overcome my death. My essence was dispersed throughout the cosmos, and some arrived here. That was when Zohar pulled me. Instead of solidifying in another person's soul, I solidified here. I was planning to merge with you to gain my freedom in exchange for my Self, but something unprecedented has occurred that managed to change the path we were set out to achieve.]"

"[What?]" Fei asked, uncomprehending, "[What do you mean, merge with me?]"

A soft sigh was heard. "[I planned on giving my essence, the small part that was dispersed from my original body that was trapped here, to merge with you together with the power of Zohar. In the end, destiny seemed to have shied away from us, and there is another path to choose which doesn't require me losing my individuality. If the path didn't stray, I would've had to merge with you, and my individuality is lost. That however, is changed. I will give you the power you need, the power of Zohar, but my spiritual essence will be saved by another.]"

"[So...]" Fei began, "[What does it have to do with me?]"

"[Do you remember the first time you gazed into Zohar? You were actually the one who gave shape to the future of this planet. Well... it wasn't really 'You', but your first life.]" the voice replied, "[You were the 'Contact', the one who established the basis for the first female of this planet. You see, Zohar was trying to make sense of its existence on this dimension since it gained its existence with Deus, and the first thing it got close to definition was me. It tried cloning me after I influenced it a bit, but in the process you looked into the system and observed. That's when Zohar 'felt' your will.]"

"[My will?]" Fei asked curiously.

"[I'm sure you remember.]" The voice commented, which slowly established itself more on the female tone from its dual tone before, "[After Zohar's descent on this planet, you had contact with the modifier engine 'Zohar']"

A flash of memory showed itself in the background, with a young boy who looks exactly like Fei staring at the Zohar engine in a deep trance. Inside the Zohar, was Elly's form.

Fei was awestruck.

"[As a contact, being but only a child, you defined Zohar's newly formed existence with your desire to return to your mother. Thus Zohar came to prepare the mother's will... that will is Elhaym.]" The voice explained.

"[Elly's disposition was influenced by me?]" Fei asked incredulously.

A male booming voice answered this time, startling Fei, "[Yes. My will was incarcenaded through a bio-computer, which was vital for Deus. After combining with me, the bio-computer evolved its functions and that bio-plant generated a central element. That is she. I was split by your contact. My physical form of flesh stayed in here, while my will went into Elhaym and my power went into you. That's why I waited to unite with you. And now, it is fulfilled. My only remaining desire is to break this 'cage of fleshly existence'. In order to do that, I must become perfect by combining with Elhaym, as well as my other physical form, 'Deus'.]"

"[The only way to return to my original state is to destroy this physical body. In the four-dimensional world, Zohar is perfect, so in order to destroy Zohar I need the strength that was attributed to you. Zohar can only be destroyed by the hands of the Contact.]" The female voice explained patiently.

Fei looked about him as the light in front of him wavered and slowly took shaped, "[Who are you?!]"

"[.....]" The light pulsed and shattered, congregating once again in one spot and formed a figure of a tall female. Another group of motes made a formless mass a bit away from the female form, as if trying to keep itself separate from it.

The female form brightened a bit as she answered, "[That is Zohar, the one that split from me. I am the dimensional being that got sucked into Zohar's core during its first test run. For too long I have been trapped in there. In my desperation, I tugged Zohar with my measly hold on its development to gain some sort of sentience. It did well on its own, and because of its need for reason of existence, it got split up after you became the Contact. I can leave this prison when I combine with you when you gain the power of Zohar, but that is in the past now.]"

"[I must be reintroduced to the parts I lost for so long. I need to find solace in my own Existence. The data gathered from my physical forms would prove enough to prove my existence, as well as establish my identity. To do that, only the Contact may do it. You have to destroy this machine in which I am limited to.]" The male voice said.

"[What about Elly? If Zohar is destroyed, what will become of Elly?!]" Fei asked frantically.

A long silence followed, causing Fei to feel a little bit colder. As Fei was about to speak again, the female voice echoed, "[Zohar and Deus are one. Elly is bound to the system by another's will to become one with Zohar and Deus. In order to release her, it is necessary to destroy that very system that serves as the Deus weapon. However, having been created as a weapon, the Deus system seeks to unify itself with all of you for a different purpose than that of mine. Originally, I, the one who desires freedom from this prison, would have performed her release. But, I am also bound to the system as Elly is, so I am unable to participate. You only need to worry about destroying Deus. Someone will be able to restore Elly's individuality permanently, separate from Deus and Zohar. This being can also free me.]"

Fei frowned a bit. "[Who, may I ask, will be the 'help' you speak of?]"

"[The one you call Ranma.]" The male voice, Zohar, responded, causing Fei to start. "[He is of a higher being, someone who can disperse the bonds placed on all of us. I regretted having to imprison this poor woman's soul in me, but I had to in order to survive. We have long waited for this moment, and we are lucky enough to have someone with a higher providence to help us.]"

Fei released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He said, "[Alright. I still don't understand much, but what I do understand is that I'll have to destroy Deus, and with it I'll save Elly.]"

The same male voice said, "[You have experienced much loss and deprivation in your life. It is very tragic. Our contact, and the resulting transference of power and will between you and I, most likely played a part in splitting your personality.]"

Fei shook his head slightly, "[I disagree. I can't blame anything or anyone besides myself. Regardless of what may have happened in the past, with the passing of time the cause becomes more remote. It is a problem that comes from within myself that I myself must deal with.]"

The male voice said in approval, "[I see. You have managed to accept those tragedies, to tolerate all things, to comprehend... and find where you stand in this world. If you have succeeded to do all these things, I am sure you will succeed in what awaits you now.]"

The female voice took over, fading a bit towards the end of her speech, "[To liberate all of us... Use the... Xenogears... to destroy... Zohar...]"

The light in the middle of the 'room' started to waver, causing Fei to panic slightly. "[Wait! There's more I need to ask you...]" he said in despair.

The male voice responded, "[The system is awakening. Ask... her... after...]"

Fei covered his eyes as the surroundings glowed brightly. Somehow, he knew that the conversation was over, and that something important was going to happen. How right he was.

Outside Fei's mind, Weltall underwent a massive transformation. From the red, angry-looking Gear that it resembled from before, the outer covering melted as the Gear was encased in light. Everyone in the field froze as Weltall's appearance melted and reformed. The former dark-gray outer exterior changed into white, and pointed wings jutted out of its back. The Gear's feet slowly rose in the air and stayed there, as the anti-gravity system activated itself. Zohar's power was imbued into the new Gear, transforming Weltall into...

"[Xenogears...]" Fei opened his eyes as the name left unbidden from his mouth. He knew instinctively what to call the new Gear, since he could feel the connection between them. It's like they were one, and somehow they were, since they were both given the same power of Zohar.

When the transformation finally ceased, Fei didn't waste any more time and transported himself into Khan's Gear.

Fei spied upon his father, bleeding in various parts of his body. "[Dad! Dad! Are you okay? Dad! I'm sorry... this is all my fault...]"

The older man blearily opened his eyes, carefully training them on his son, "[Fei? You've returned to your own self... you've become one...]"

Fei nodded, "[Yes, thanks to you all. If all of you hadn't called out to me...]" He suddenly grew concerned when Khan coughed up some blood.

"[Dad!]" Fei grimaced at the sight of his struggling father.

Khan shook his head warily. "[Don't worry. This is good... This is, after all... I...]"

The younger man frowned slightly as his father mumbled a lot of things he didn't understand. "[Dad?]"

Khan spoke up once more, "[You and I...]" To Fei's complete surprise, Khan transforms into Grahf and gripped Fei's throat with his hand.

"[You and I can become one!]" Grahf growled out triumphantly.

Fei struggled against the hand, trying to dislodge the death grip given to him by his transformed father. "[Huh? G-Grahf?! What's going on...?]"

Grahf crowed as he relished Fei's pathetic attempts to free himself. "[Hahahahaha! 'I' reached the limit of the body I possessed, on that day three years ago. 'I' required a body that would tide me over until your true awakening. That is why 'I' acquired the body of your father. Regardless of your awakening, your merging, and the inherited memories you had acquired, there was no way for you to know this, since you had lost your memory at that point. At the point in which 'I' merged with your father.]"

Fei squirmed harder, "[Impossible! What about Wiseman? What about father?]"

Grahf chuckled darkly. "[Of course they were just parts of me... I couldn't hold on to Khan totally. His ego was far stronger than I imagined. When my control weakened, he showed himself to you as Wiseman.]"

The young man started to feel the effects of oxygen deprivation with Grahf's hand firmly grasped around his neck. "[Arggh...]"

If his mask was off, everyone would've seen Grahf smiling. "[You have awakened. This body is now useless to me. Now I must return to my original body... the reincarnation of my body that you inhabit.]"

"[Stop it...! Dad!]" Fei tried to reason once more.

Grahf nodded. "[I hear you Fei. You see, He and I are one. I am Khan, Khan is me. He has become one with me, so you too should open your heart and unite with me. Then we can go on to eliminate everything!]"

"[No...]" Fei spat, vehemently fighting off the dizziness he felt, "[I... can't... allow... you... to... control... me!]"

Suddenly a bright light encompassed the Gear's cockpit, momentarily blinding Grahf. He felt his grip on Fei's neck loosen and vanish. When he opened his eyes, he saw Fei's body dematerialized from his grasp. Growling, he saw a small ball of light shoot out from his Gear and went into Xenogears.

"[Hmph. Protecting your master? Then so be it. I'll merge with both you and your machine then. Now come, Fei! Fight me!]" Grahf snorted as he took control of his Gear once again, preparing himself to fight the white Gear where Fei retreated.

#[It's no use!]# Fei's face lit up in the communications LCD in Grahf's Gear, #[I know you're Lacan, and that you're a part of me. But that doesn't change you being my father. I could never really fight you!]#

Grahf laughed softly. #[You're so naive! Why don't you understand that your naivety is what killed Sophia, what killed your mother 'Karen'?]#

#[I already know that!]# Fei retorted loudly, #[That's why I swore never to run away again... that I must rescue Elly. So don't get in my way! Wake up! Open your eyes, father... 'Lacan'!]#

#[If that's the case...]# Grahf said in a low voice, #[Then fight me! Fight me!!!]#

Fei shook his head. #[I can't!]#

#[I see. Then there's no choice.]# Grahf calmly spoke, which worried Fei a little. Grahf continued, #[Since you are so unwilling to fight, I believe I'll have to use them as bait.]# He pointed to Fei's friends, which were still recovering from their fight with Id from earlier.

Fei visibly bristled at the implied threat, #[Stop it! Don't we have the same memories? Can't you also remember that sadness that you felt way back then? Why then... why must you destroy everything? If we stop Deus, won't this all be over?]#

Grahf shook his head. #[You still don't understand... even after your contact with the existence? I came to understand after my contact with the Existence that, even if Deus was destroyed... as long as humans still inhabit this land, Miang... Elhaym will be born time and again. Then all living things may as well perish along with Deus itself. That's the only path to freedom.]#

#[No way!]# Fei denied strongly.

#[The path to release us from the eternal cycles of life, the tragedies of history and the spell of fate!]# Grahf retorted, #[Once I awaken Deus as a weapon, I'll obliterate all living things. Then I'll use your awakened self and that machine to return everything to nothing. That's what I concluded. Miang and Elhaym... are not just Deus' mouthpieces. That 'woman' is its main body! Why can't you see that?]#

#[That's not true.]# Fei reasoned out, #[She gave her life for me by shielding me from harm! Her eyes weren't Miang's! Mother came back at the last moment! Miang, mother, even Elly, were all humans born on this planet! Deus doesn't matter! You'll see, I will bring Elly back! Father,
no, Grahf... 'Lacan'! If you won't back down...]#

Grahf replied, #[Never!]#

Fei's eyes narrowed. #[Then I have no choice! The time has come to truly become one!]#

With an unspoken signal, both of them in their Gears leapt at each other, intending to kick each other's asses.

Inside where Ranma and Lea were...

"Eh... I didn't think a mecha could bend like that." Ranma commented as he witnessed another corkscrew kick coming from Grahf's Gear. So far, Fei inside Xenogears was slowly gaining the upper ground in the battle, even if Grahf's Gear looked much more powerful.

The platinum haired woman that appeared at his side nodded. "Well, the technology was pretty much advanced in this timeline."

"So, what happens now?" Ranma asked curiously, unsurprised as Lea's entrance and was mentally taking note on how Fei executed a kick within Xenogears.

Lea sighed forlornly, dreading the time she would be alone once again in this prison of hers. Thankfully, Zohar, who was still trying to hinder Deus’ full operational capacity, gave Lea her own privacy. "I hope you can help me, but I wouldn't hold it against you even if you can't. In fact, I'm quite grateful at meeting you, even if it was short."

Ranma scratched the back of his head, "It's nothing, really. And don't be so pessimistic. I will find a way to set you free from this prison. I only need to destroy the interplanetary weapon Deus, right? No biggie."

"Ranma..." Lea deadpanned at him, "Aside from being a weapon, Deus can exist outside reality. It wouldn't be so easy defeating him, especially now that it would only be a matter of time before he fully integrates most of his system and become fully operational."

Ranma winced at her, saying, "Well, thanks for the moral support..."

The young woman shook her head in slight amusement, despite her situation as of the moment, "Not that I don't appreciate your optimism, but I would like to pull you back down on the ground before your ego defeats you. Don't underestimate Deus, since he has learned how to evolve even though he is a machine. It wouldn't be bad to be cautious against a very unstable entity."

"Don't worry..." Ranma said in assurance, "I can handle it."

"I know." Lea whispered softly, but loud enough to be heard by Ranma.

The pigtailed young man looked at Lea critically, who blushed at the words she said out loud in accident, "You know?"

Lea grimaced a bit, because she let out more than she should have, "Yes. I have a confession to make Ranma-sama. When you got to this place, I managed to see... your memories of the past."

"Eh?" Ranma sputtered, "My past? You mean, those memories of Chaos and..."

"Oh, no!" Lea giggled slightly at Ranma's flustered look, "Those memories were sealed from me somehow, and I didn't even try to peek at them. I only saw the memories of your present life." She noticed that the revelation caused Ranma to relax a bit. Smiling slightly, she reached over and touched him by the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry. You will find a way back to Ryoko."

The young man shrugged, staring up at the blue sky above, "I hope so. Seeing what would happen after I disappeared all those years ago, it made me want to go back and not let it happen."

"You can do it." Lea returned his own reassurance a while ago.

"Thanks. And you should have the same confidence in your own future, Lea. I will go back to Ryoko to undo all these together with you, so don't worry." Ranma smiled gently at the girl, causing Lea to redden slightly and smile back hesitantly.

With a sigh of slight regret, Lea, or Ihadurca to most, waved her hand in the air. It wasn't really necessary, but somehow she wanted to be showy, at least for the moment. The whole scene around them wavered, leaving Ranma and Lea staring at one another in black space. Then slowly but surely, Ranma disappeared as well, as if disintegrating in motes of light. Ranma flashed a last smile to Lea, before finally leaving her alone once again the Zohar's domain, at least, only for the moment.

Until he saves her, that is.

======================================================================== ==

In the outside world, the pigtailed young man blinked as he saw himself still floating in front of the stone slab with his hand still touching its cold hard surface, the one Zohar was encased into. And where Zohar was, Lea was also there.

"Don't worry, Lea... I will get you out of there somehow." Ranma vowed to himself. He shook his head slightly, as he suddenly realized he made another promise out of the whim, but it wasn't as if he was going to let Lea remain imprisoned within Zohar, and later Deus, in the first place.

Ranma heard a couple of explosions behind him, causing him to turn and watch as Grahf's Gear finally fell against the might of Fei's new Gear. It would seem that Fei's personality has won out of the lot, finally getting peace in his own mind somehow. He saw that Grahf was still trying to fight, shouting at Fei to finish him off, but Fei was not going to. Ranma knew that feeling, of how he can come close to killing someone and having second thoughts about it.

While it was really dangerous in battles, Fei's hesitation was necessary. While Ranma fought to kill monsters back in his adopted dimension, Fei was deciding on his own father's fate. Well, at least Fei's father's evil counterpart anyway, but it was still Fei's father, and Ranma applauds Fei's hesitance. One must never be comfortable in killing so casually. Deciding that this was the right time to get in between, he floated back down to the battle, but not before looking at the stone slab for a moment.

Ranma quickly sped up when he saw Fei's Xenogears was suddenly engulfed in a bright light, resonating with the stone slab's own glow behind him. He had a bad premonition somehow about this.

Back in the battle, Xenogears was encased in a pillar of light. Citan and the others were quite confused as to why Fei doesn't move away from it.

Their answer came when Fei's voice was heard all over the communications, #[Arrghh! What...! My body...?! I can't move!]#

Grahf answered, #[Zohar is after you! The last piece to combine with Deus' system. It seeks to unify with you... the first to have been divided from it.]#

#[What...?]# Citan and the others asked.

Grahf nodded in his half-destroyed Gear, clutching at the wound on his chest taken from his last fight, #[This is what Lacan wanted all along. After all, I'm an imperfect existence, It was inevitable that it would come to this... considering what had happened in the past. Lacan's imperfect secondary contact with the Wave Existence split his personality into two. Eventually, his body died, but the original Lacan transmigrated. Bringing the destiny of becoming a Contact with him, he was reborn as your present body. The remaining persona, just his desires, lived on separately by possessing the bodies of others.]#

The dark clad man thumbed to himself, saying, #[That is Grahf... that is me. I may have inherited Lacan's will, but I'm not the same as the 'Contact Lacan'. It is impossible for me to make real contact. There would be no true melding and release. Even though our bodies may be different, I am still half of you. That fact remains. Although I'm imperfect, I can merge temporarily with Zohar, and thus may be able to buy you some time. This is the only way I can be one with you. This is all I can do. Deus' system will start to look for you again. Before then, you have to destroy the newly perfected Deus and the Zohar Modifier. You're the only one that can destroy the physical barrier that encases god's body.]#

Fei cried out desperately, watching as Grahf's Gear suddenly started glowing, while the glow around Xenogears receded a bit, #[Dad!]#

#[As you said, that was Karen.]# Grahf rasped with a tinge of regret in his voice, #[Through many generations Miang is beginning to break free
from her bounds. Elhaym has yet to combine with Deus, but she has all of her memories back as of the moment. All the memories from her original birth as the Contact's complement up to her current transmigration. That includes all of the lives she has lived as Miang, and her substitutes over the centuries. And of course, that includes your mother's memories too.]#

Fei asked softly, #[Mother's memories...?]#

Grahf winced, #[Fei, cut away all the binds on mankind. You should be able to do that now. Protect Elhaym from Deus and all the other women bound with her! I'm begging you Fei...]#

The light around Grahf's Gear, True Weltall, and the stone tablet increased in intensity, causing everyone to squint their eyes as they struggled to watch what was happening. Suddenly, a bright silver ball darted towards True Weltall, jarring it off its current predicament and flung it away from the paralyzing light. Another silver ball slammed into Xenogears and flung it away as well.

"[Ughhhh!!!]" Fei grunted as his Gear smacked against a stone pillar, causing a slight landslide that covered a third of his Gear.

"[Arrrrghhh!!!]" Grahf spat out some blood as his own Gear skidded against the ground, but the glow that surrounded it a while ago finally diminished completely.

"[What in the world...]" Citan began as he looked for the origin of the blasts.

#[Up there!]# Maria called out excitedly as her Seibzehn pointed upwards at Ranma's floating body, whose hands were still outstretched and were smoking.

Ranma quickly spoke to his communications device, #[Get Fei and the other Gear out of here!]#

#[But Ranma, what about you?!]# Bart asked angrily as he willed his Gear towards Fei's.

#[I can handle myself. Just get yourselves to safety while I distract Deus!]# Ranma called out as he turned and flew towards the still glowing stone slab.

#[Ranma, wait! Dammit! Come on, let's take them out of here!]# Bart said to his teammates.

Meanwhile, Ranma floated back up towards the stone slab, which was now pulsating with bright light, as if angry about something. He carefully raised his hands perpendicular to the ground and began to channel some of his energy into the stone slab in front of him. He felt that the slab somehow was trying to absorb Grahf's energy into it. Ranma theorized that he could somehow bypass the identification protocols and try to bombard it with intense ki from his own body. Ranma shook his head, muttering something about Washuu being a good teacher and continued to pour his power into his arms. Although he took care not to shatter the rock into pieces, since Lea was still inside, and Ranma planned on saving her later on.

"Crap..." Ranma muttered in his native language. He winced as he felt more energy was being drained from him. He almost stumbled, feeling a lot more strain he normally should have. Then he grunted as he lost control of the flow, since the stone slab's glow grew brighter, and the energy transfer grew rapidly out of his hands now.

<I'm going to be absorbed if I don't do anything about this!> Ranma thought to himself frantically as he felt the pull of the slab grow stronger each passing second.

<Arrrghhh... it's no use! I just have to cut the flow somehow... wait... what's that?> He felt something change as his energy output diminished. He looked down upon himself, and sure enough his body was slowly contorting into a shape he hadn't seen for a long while now.

Ranma became a girl... without the aid of water.

Ranma boggled at his, now her situation, but she had no time dealing with it right now. Currently, her reserves of energy were the only ones that kept her aloft somehow, and she felt herself slowly drifting downwards. The slab where Deus was still housed finally ceased glowing, and Ranma lost her glow as well. She fell to her knees as she reached the ground, panting for air.

Onna-Ranma looked up wearily at the slab, wary of whatever surprises it would spring back at her. But she was surprised when the whole thing slowly faded, leaving nothing of its existence. She felt a slight rise of energy somewhere in the vicinity, before it shot up in the air and vanished.

"Well, isn't that interesting." Onna-Ranma could only mutter to herself before she fell face first on the ground, thoroughly dazed and exhausted from her ordeal.

Back to Fei and his companions, the formerly mentally disturbed man climbed out of Xenogears, trying to inspect his surroundings. He absently swatted some of the blood from his eyes that had flowed out from a cut above his eyebrow. That silver light that hit his Gear caused Fei to almost careen uncontrollably against the wall. Then again, Xenogears was sturdier than the Omnigears themselves. Citan's, Maria's, Bart's, Emeralda's, Rico's, and Billy's Gears ambled themselves up around Xenogears, with Citan's and Maria's Gears holding up the battered form of Grahf's Alpha Weltall Gear. Fei was quite relieved to see his father survived the ordeal.

"[Damn... that kinda hurts...]" Fei grumbled to himself, momentarily pausing when something shiny caught his eyes on the ground.

"[Eh... what's this...? This pendant... is this Sophia's... or my mother's...?]" Fei mumbled to himself as he picked the cross pendant up from the ground.

"[What was that, Fei?]" Citan asked curiously, looking at Fei from his own Gear's open pilot compartment.

Fei shook his head slightly. "[It's nothing. I'm just talking to myself. I'm sorry, for all the trouble I've caused everyone. Thank you all so much! Anyway, let's get going! There is little time left now... for me... and for our planet!]"

"[Wait... where's Ranma-sama?]" Emeralda asked softly, causing everyone to blink and look around for any sign of the pigtailed young man that helped them a while ago. They probably haven't heard Emeralda's new pet name for the young man, or they just ignored it. Probably the first one though.

Maria spotted something lying on the ground a few ways away from them. She quickly pointed the information out to her companions, saying, "[I see someone lying on the ground over there.]"

Emeralda's Gear, Crescens, quickly turned to the direction where Maria indicated and lurched forward, with Emeralda calling out in Japanese, "Ranma-sama!"

Watching the dust clear from Crescens' departure, Maria commented blandly, "[Well, she's rather excited in finding Ranma, huh?]"

"[Methinks the girl's taken a liking to Ranma.]" Bart said with a small chuckle.

Rico snorted. "[Too obvious.]"

"[Isn't she only a child? Technically, she's, what, seven years old in the head?]" Billy asked curiously.

Maria giggled. "[Isn't that romantic?]"

Citan shook his head at his companions' conversation. "[Let's just follow her.]"

Fei only nodded silently, following the others after making sure his father was safe and comfortable.

A few meters on a steep incline below where the collection of Fei's friends gathered, Ranma in female form was still lying face down on the ground. She twitched a bit, before groaning loudly and forcing herself to lie on her back. Ruefully opening her eyes, she stared at the very high ceiling above her. Onna-Ranma still felt drained, but somehow her energy reserves had gone from 'dangerously low' to 'barely adequate'.

"Ranma-sama!" A shrill female cry in her native language alerted Onna-Ranma. A high pitched steady hum of the engine droned all over the small valley she had fallen into, and small tremors shook the ground. Onna-Ranma slowly turned her head to the side where the loud noises came from, and her eyes widened as she watched the huge hulking armless mecha floating towards where she was laying. She shuddered, imagining herself swimming in her own pool of blood after the huge mecha tramples her. Then after that thought though, she also remembered that her body's much sturdier than before, since she can survive in space without the aid of a space suit. Still, Onna-Ranma squirmed as she tried to will herself to roll away from the mecha's path.

Just as Onna-Ranma sighed and lay down patiently on the ground as if awaiting for her eminent flattening experience, the huge mecha stopped abruptly by a few feet away from her. She looked up and saw the light-blue mecha's chest compartment open up, revealing the tallish form of Emeralda. Onna-Ranma's eyes bugged out when the girl suddenly leapt without a word from the same high place, falling straight towards Ranma. Of course, the pigtailed girl knew she would've survived something like that, but it was still a surprise that someone as meek as Emeralda would jump without any pretense like that.

Luckily, Ranma had channeled her meager reserves of ki into her stomach, softening the blow that she took as Emeralda landed on her abs with a slight 'ooomph'. The next Ranma knew, Emeralda was already curled against her body, nuzzling at her happily with a small smile on her face.

"Iteee... my head hurts..." Onna-Ranma muttered to herself as she clutched at her head with her right hand. The other hand was carefully holding Emeralda in place, so that the girl wouldn't fall to the side.

Emeralda quickly shot up into a sitting position, saying, "I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me and---"

Onna-Ranma quickly clamped the girl in place on her stomach, replying, "It's okay! Really! It's just the power drain... it has been... too much."

The pale green haired girl blinked, and took another good look at Ranma, saying, "Ranma-sama... you're female."

"Eh?" Onna-Ranma asked eloquently, instinctively glancing at the twin mounds of extended flesh on her chest, as a testament of her current gender. She sighed, suddenly remembering that nobody in Fei's group knew of her ability to change genders. Apparently, this was the effect Washuu-obaasan was talking about a while ago, concerning her curse.

"That's right, you still don't know I've been cursed on my home planet." Onna-Ranma grumbled loud enough for Emeralda to hear, who was now rubbing her head on Ranma's chest experimentally, causing the pigtailed girl to shudder. The boy turned girl groaned louder as she saw the others now staring at her from their own Gears. While Ranma was occupied with Emeralda, it would seem that she didn't notice the others coming up to the both of them as well. They had the mangled remains of True Weltall, Khan's Gear, being carried by Rico's Gear and Bart's Gear.

Onna-Ranma waved weakly underneath Emeralda, saying, "[Yo guys... what's up?]" they just stared at her with suspicion, but Ranma already knew they were asking themselves who the heck she was, and where Ranma went to.

"[It's a curse, all right? Cold water turns me female, and hot water turns me to male. I was born male by the way! Now before you go spouting about not believing in curses and all, may I just remind you about what we're dealing with right now. That speaks for itself.]" Onna-Ranma switched back to English as she berated those who were about to ask about how she changed.

Truth be told, Ranma was as surprised as they were, and she still haven't figured out yet how to change back. She didn't know the effects of changing back when her energy's depleted, and it would be better not to try. Who knows what side effects that would cause?

"[Geez, touchy.]" Bart commented wryly, still a bit wary at the red-haired pigtailed girl under Emeralda. He noticed that the dark skinned girl just accepted the redhead's explanation at face value, already hugging the other girl without a nary of a worry.

Maria jumped up and down in excitement, "[That's SO COOL!]"

Rico nodded sagely. "[I have to admit, it's rather amazing.]"

"[On the contrary...]" Billy said, "[I'm rather feeling pity at anyone contracted by such curse. It must've been hard.]"

"[You have no idea.]" Onna-Ranma deadpanned.

"[Interesting...]" Citan muttered, "[Can you allow me to...]"

"[HECK NO!]" Onna-Ranma cried out, glaring at the doctor hotly, "[No experiments!]"

Citan eeped and hopped back, raising his hands in a placating manner, "[Alright, alright, I was just asking!]"

"[Everyone...]" The group turned to Fei in unison, whom adopted a very serious look on his face, "[We need to go somewhere...]"

Citan looked confused, "[But where, Fei?]"

Fei shook his head, his eyes having a vacant look in them, "[I don't know... but it beckons me... something...]"

"[I suggest we get a move on, then...]" Onna-Ranma commented as she lifted Emeralda off her stomach successfully without any protests. The tall girl seemed to understand the situation, as Emeralda nodded to Ranma briefly before turning to the others.

Together, the whole assembly of men and women marched further into the deep recesses of the cave they were in. They arrive at another large cavern, slightly smaller than the first cavern they were in. Inside the new place was a small hill, where some strewn wreckage of some sort were scattered on top of it.

Citan walked up to Fei, who was in the lead of the small group, asking, "[What is this place?]"

Fei gestured to the whole area, saying, "[This is where it all started. This is our genesis! We... no, humans were born here. Long ago, Deus crash landed on this planet in an interplanetary colony ship. In order to revive itself someday, Deus detached itself from the Zohar Modifier's core temporarily, leaving Zohar to its own devices. After Zohar's core came down here, a single woman awoke and arose from out of it. She's the mother of all humanity, a copy of a being trapped inside the Zohar Modifier. This I only learned while I was in temporary contact with the Zohar Modifier.]"

"[Temporary contact?]" Citan asked curiously.

Fei nodded seriously. "[Yeah, it was weird, I tell you. Anyway, to continue what I was explaining earlier. After the woman awoke, she used all her power to bear several beings. These would become the ancestors of the whole of humanity. These were the Emperor and the Gazel Ministry. Finally, she gave birth to replicas of herself to be humanity's caretakers. Two selves, the -human- Mother and the weapon, the Subject and the Complement, that is Elly and... Miang. I, the sole survivor from the colony ship, met Elly and everything started from there. The land of Genesis, -Kadomony-, this is that place.]"

Maria looked up to Fei in awe, "[That is incredible. That you can clearly remember the past so long ago, I mean...]"

Fei sighed slightly, "[Usually, human memories cannot be passed down through the generations. Humans do not normally have the ability to change possible phenomena, we can clearly store data in our introns. In other words, we can leave behind memories to be inherited by our descendants.
Just as the Wave Existence is bound inside Zohar... the information is affixed to me, so to speak, by some of the power of the Wave Existence.]"

Citan looked at the wreckage in shock. "[Then this is...!]"

Fei nodded somberly. "[This is the form from when Elly and Miang were still one being. This is the first woman of our world, our mother...]"

They walked up to the wreckage to get a closer look, and saw a dead woman lying in the wreckage. They were surprised, but not as surprised as Onna-Ranma, who gasped loudly and staggered deeper into the wreckage. With a shaking hand, she reached out to the pale, dead woman's face. Onna-Ranma could see a very familiar face, a woman with long platinum blue hair in disarray. Her pale face was still firm, even after all the years her body has been here. Her black tight-fitting suit was already tattered in some parts, vaguely covering the dead woman's private areas that preserved her modesty somehow.

Onna-Ranma fell to her knees, still staring at the sight in front of her with glazed eyes. The multi-colored gems on her forehead glowed softly as she knelt there.

"[Ranma?]" Fei approached the redhead slowly, quite confused at her reaction.

"[So... this was what she meant...]" Onna-Ranma murmured absently.

Citan approached them from behind, "[What do you mean, Ranma?]"

The red-haired girl slowly turned to them, saying, "[When I touched the stone slab, I was pulled into it mentally. I didn't speak to Zohar, or Deus, rather... I spoke to the woman that this body was copied from.]"

"[WHAT?!]" Everyone asked in shock.

Onna-Ranma nodded. "[Yes. She was originally from Earth, our home planet. I don't have the right to tell you of her personally history, but I can tell you how she got here. Her essence was locked inside a particular being called Angel, back on Earth.]" Onna-Ranma struggled to stand up, but failed as Emeralda settled the smaller girl down again.

"[You should rest first.]" Emeralda said softly.

Sighing, Onna-Ranma continued, "[Someone took the samples and made a power source out of it, creating the Paeksis Plagma that the Nirvana, the spaceship where I just came from, uses as its energy source. The Paeksis was a sentient power source, but can be easily exploited. Three Paeksis were created, and Washuu tried to take them away from bad hands. She managed to send two Paeksis off planet, but the last one was already installed in one of the interplanetary weapons the humans created. They called that engine the Zohar Modifier.]"

"[You mean...]" Fei began.

"[Yes... it means that this was the same weapon developed almost four thousand years ago.]" Onna-Ranma explained, "[And this woman's soul is trapped inside. Although Zohar wasn't really ill-intentioned, the woman was unable to escape until Zohar was freed as well.]"

Fei frowned. "[So that was the shadow of the woman I saw in my vision while I was inside my mind?]"

Onna-Ranma nodded, "[Most probably. Her name's Lea. And I swear I will free her.]

Fei agreed, "[I know. She did mention something about you having the power to free them.]"

Onna-Ranma stared into Fei's eyes, her pupils glowing bright yellow underneath the dark tinted glasses that managed to stay put on her face after all those things that happened before, "[I will free them, and I will free your Elly permanently as well.]"

The two continued their staring match, before nodding grimly to one another in unison.

"[We'll take this body back to Washuu.]" Onna-Ranma declared, grasping the undamaged cryo-pod from underneath and pulled it out of the wreckage. Everyone was already used at seeing Ranma do incredible feats, but seeing a rather short woman carrying very heavy equipment still gave them the creeps.

After giving one more look over at the wreckage, everyone decided to return to their friends in Shevat.

======================================================================== ==

The group that went inside the cave finally arrived in Shevat, just in time to see a huge ship emerge from it. Later, they found out that it was Excalibur, the most powerful ship available to the people of Shevat. Queen Zephyr had ordered its launch, in preparation for the battle to come.

Ranma had gone to Washuu and her friends, not bothering so much with the stares everyone gave her, with Emeralda following hurriedly from behind. She knew it wasn't the people's faults that they didn't know about her curse, but the stares were starting to bug her. Leaving Fei to give out explanations about who she was and why, Ranma and Emeralda had entered the infirmary, updating Washuu and the others about what had happened inside the cave, and about the woman Ranma met.

Washuu idly gave him a thermos full of hot water, which she had pulled from her own personal subspace while listening to Ranma's explanations. Beside her, Vanilla waited with a small towel in her hands, which she used to dry the now male Ranma's wet face with. Rin-Ohki had gleefully hopped on top of Ranma's head from Meia's arms. The captain of Nirvana's Dread team helped along the repairs and restoration of the clinic, as well as tending to the sick as well. Although Meia was still a bit clumsy in handling the patients, she learned basic medical aid as one of the pre-requisites of her own training as one of the Nirvana's crew.

Washuu was busy at trying to reconnect some wires to revive the cryo-pod. She was rather surprised that the body was still intact, even after all those centuries it was using the faulty equipment inside the wreckage.

"I see... so you were requested to free her, then?" Washuu frowned, eyeing the platinum blue-haired woman inside the cryo-pod. It was as if she was sleeping.

Ranma nodded tiredly. "Yeah... she seems so sad in there. Also, she's the one trapped inside that power core for kami knows how many millennia."

Washuu grimaced. "I know how she feels. I was trapped for a good number of millennia as well. But it's amazing how something created by humans like the Zohar Modifier acquired sentience. But now that I think about it, it's probably the last prototype of the Paeksis Plagma ever created. And of course, with this 'Lea's' help as well, it might've done it."

"It must've been really lonely inside her prison." Vanilla said as she sat beside Emeralda, who moved to the side of the bed she was sitting on a bit to make room for the newcomer.

"I can only imagine." Ranma sighed, "That's why I want to free her."

Emeralda smiled at him. "Ranma is a good person."

"I think I understand why you brought back this copy of her body." Washuu said solemnly, "She'll need it, since her original body was probably destroyed already."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. I just hope it would work."

Washuu smirked. "Don't worry. I'm sure it will work out. Besides, I'm amazed the body was still whole. Considering the environment it was in, it's in great condition. It only suffered some minor decays in some parts, but nothing that my tank of nanobytes couldn't fix."

Before anyone could comment about it, a loud announcement from the speakers echoed all over the place, calling everyone into the ship's Meeting Room to discuss about the impending fight.

After a few minutes inside the Excalibur's Meeting Room, everyone assembled all over the large space. Ranma, Washuu, Vanilla, Meia and strangely enough, Emeralda, were seated on one side of the huge table in the middle of the room. Rin-Ohki was still sleeping comfortably in Ranma's arms. Queen Zephyr sat at the lead with Taura at her side, while Fei, Elly, Citan, Bart, Rico, Billy and Maria sat on the opposite side of the table.

Khan, free from Grahf's possession, was missing from the meeting, as he was still in deep slumber because of a massive fatigue because of his ordeal.

Elly had recovered from her possession of Miang, with the help of Washuu and Taura's treatments with the use of advanced nanomachines. The two scientists were able to succeed in neutralizing the effects of the tainted genes embedded into the red-haired woman's DNA that made her into another Miang. Fei ran straight into the medical wing where Elly had been resting when the group arrived a few hours ago, and he was quite happy that both of them gained a bit more of their freedom from their past lives; Fei from Id, Elhaym from Miang. As of now, they were discussing what they must do regarding the situation with the rapidly evolving Deus.

"[So if we destroy that Zohar thing, everything will be over, right?]" Bart asked critically.

Citan nodded empathetically. "[Yes. The source of our Ether powers, and the power for the generators that make our Gears work... it all comes from the 'Zohar Modifier' engine which can control potential phenomena. If we destroy it, Deus and the -Seraph- angels... will all be deactivated. And we should also be able to be rid of the plague that transformed the humans into Wels.]"

Fei nodded as well. "[Yeah. That's what the Wave Existence said.]"

Citan eyed Elly critically. "[It's good that Miss Washuu and Taura managed to purge Miang's influence from Elly. But to be sure that no more accidents occur in the future, we have to destroy Zohar's core.]"

"[That's 'Washuu-chan', Citan-kun.]" Washuu said in a sweet sugary voice, but it was evident that she was serious, especially with the twitching of her eyebrow.

Citan sweatdropped and just nodded rapidly. "[Err, well, anyway. There is the downside. It will also mean that we will no longer be able to use our Gears or our Ether powers anymore.]"

"[Zohar wants to transcend into another level of existence...]" Ranma interrupted, "[That's why it wants to be free of its chains.]" <At the same time, I will be able to free Lea as well.> he thought to himself.

Queen Zephyr said, "[I'm amazed, that such a machine was able to gain a very high intelligence and sentience, and would be asking to be rid of its mortal shell.]"

"[Nothing is impossible in the universe, if we want them to happen.]" Vanilla intoned.

Everyone agreed with her wholeheartedly.

"[What are those -Seraph- angels all about, anyway?]" Rico asked irritably, "[That odd appearance as if they lack something... as if they were neither living beings nor mere weapons...]"

Citan explained, "[Zohar senses the human consciousness and incarnates the -Seraphs-.]"

"[Human consciousness...?]" Billy asked in confusion.

"[Zohar itself involves the principle of uncertainty.]" Citan continued to explain, "[The observer's perception of Zohar determines the entity it actually becomes. In other words, I believe that those angels are incarnations of the spirits of people, the people who have been absorbed by Deus to become parts of it.]"

Bart hummed noncommittally, "[So what merit is there for them to gain in eliminating all of civilization?]"

Maria scrunched her face in contemplation. "[Is it some kind of hatred for those humans who have survived?]"

Citan shook his head. "[Of course not. Those people who were created and assimilated as parts for Deus would not have such intentions. Try to remember what Elly, when she became Miang, said.]"

Elly shuddered, remembering herself being the background personality in her own body, "['The creations of god will someday be a hindrance... That is why they must be eliminated.']" Fei held her hand to relax her.

Citan gave her a placating look. "[Yes. That is why Merkava is being used to begin the destruction. But, Deus is not following its programming of exterminating all of civilization. The -Seraphs-, which are terminal interface weapons of Deus, are using their bodies composed of... nanomachines to absorb massive numbers of people regardless of whether they are dead or alive.]" He watched everyone wince at the statement.

The doctor shook his head in frustration as he continued, "[It is not discrimination between the mutant and non-mutant people. This is highly peculiar. The fact is that the people who ‘were meant to be destroyed’ were taken in as well without any exemptions. That is the absolute opposite of what it is supposed to be doing.]"

Fei adopted a thinking pose. "[Maybe there aren't enough parts?]"

Citan shook his head slightly. "[That is unlikely. Aside from those bodies that were destined to be parts for it... Deus, who has already acquired the abilities of the nanomachines, can just about use any material to construct its body. It is obvious, it has other intentions in mind. Those intentions... Krelian called Deus the mother.]" He saw Fei's mood darken at this.

The good doctor continued, "[If god is the mother, then those motives are coming from the Great Mother. Impeding of its child, enveloping it, to bring the child back to the womb to become one with it. That is the motive. Such a program does not exist within the design though. Someone probably gave the program this unique ‘Will’. Either from Elly who has merged with temporarily Deus or...]"

"[Either way, it doesn't change the fact that we have to fight.]" Fei glowered discreetly at the doctor, who managed to look meekly as he saw the pained look on Elly's face. "[Regardless of what their intentions are. The problem is how we're supposed to deal with them. You think we can do it in our current state?]"

Queen Zephyr spoke, "[This secret battleship, Excalibur, will also take part in the final battle. Additionally, the military potential of all the surface forces will assemble here.

Ranma added, "[I will fight too. I need to be there.]"

Nobody questioned his motives, since he would be of great help to them. They all just nodded at his statement.

"[Ranma-chan... just remember to remove your bracers when you need more energy. You turned female to compensate on the huge power loss. You will also automatically turn female if you're heavily injured. You were lucky you didn't turn into a six year old because of that stunt you pulled back there.]" Washuu interjected.

Ranma smiled sheepishly at Washuu, "[Sorry about that. I kinda forgot about what you told me from before.]"

"[Why? What's with his bracers?]" Maria asked curiously.

Washuu shrugged, "[It's really not just the bracers, but it would suffice for now. They're limiters to Ranma's power, since he needs to be restrained of his strength. Since his Saiyajin heritage awakened, his reckless use of his power became evident. We have to compensate.]" she explained.

Bart sighed softly, "[Even if we can put together a massive force, we still have the problem with the main armament of the Merkava. We need to know how to take that out. As long as we don't do that...]"

Citan looked into the papers in his hands, saying, "[Merkava's ultra-long range cannon has the ability to vaporize any substance. On top of that, they have a barrier around their perimeter that nullifies all attacks.]”

Queen Zephyr grimaced at the memories of her past. "[We've fought against the Merkava many times to try and stop its onslaught. However, we cannot even get close. Hence we have had to withdraw every time.]"

Fei banged his hand against the table, hissing, "[Dammit! No matter how much we want to save the world... if we can't get in the Merkava, it's meaningless!]"

Sigurd cut in, "[To add to that, there is the problem of those -Seraphs-. They function as the terminal interface weapons for close defense. I can easily say that their attack power is equivalent to the Omnigear class.]"

Bart leaned back to his chair, muttering loudly, "[They even have the regenerative ability due to the nanomachines.]"

Taura waved his hand to get everyone's attention, exchanging a meaningful glance with a smirking Washuu, "[Don't be concerned about that. Washuu and I were able to obtain some data from Xenogears. You see, Xenogears has mutagenically evolved due to its contact with Zohar. Using that data, all of your new Gears ought to be completed soon. Additionally, all the other weapons and armaments are being modified to implement the 'Disassembler Device'.]"

Billy asked, "[Disassembler Device?]"

Washuu took over the explanation. "[In contrast to the Nanoassemblers, which create matter to repair with, the disassemblers have the ability to dismantle or destroy matter. They can even deactivate the nanomachines' restoring ability by disengaging their repair programs. This should be sufficiently effective even against the Deus' -Seraphs-.]"

"[In other words, it has a disabling effect as an EMP device to electronic parts, a nanomachine repair jammer.]" Washuu further reiterated.

Fei nodded slightly, "[Alright, even if we can deal with the angels, just how are we gonna deal with that Merkava? We can't even get close to the thing.]"

Citan pointed to the large screen that came with the huge table inside the meeting room. "[There is no such thing as a perfect defense. There is a way. Look over here.]"

The monitor flashed, displaying the appearance of the Merkava, and some known variables on the ship.

The resident doctor pointed at certain points on the screen, especially the Merkava's weapon controls, "[Merkava's main gun requires a 1.2 second interval to reload because of its tremendous output. Upon firing, although it is only sectional, there will be a portion of the barrier that will be opened. There is a 1.87 second delay before the barrier reforms in that area. If we can use this window of time to target and destroy the cannon, it will be possible to close in on it. If we can get close enough, we can break through with gravitational-spatial correction.]"

Citan nods to everyone around the room, turning the monitor off for the time being. "[Well, this is the rough idea.]"

Sigurd pointed out, "[Unfortunately, we don't have such a long range cannon that could acquire a target in such a brief time frame.]"

Bart leaned forwards from his seat, "[So what you're saying is we just need to shut that annoying cannon up right?]"

Fei looked at Bart in surprise, "[You want to head into Merkava?!]"

Billy shook his head ruefully. "[Now you're being reckless again. That's suicide.]"

Bart snorted. "[No, listen. We're not going to just rush in. The Yggdrasil IV and this Excalibur are also equipped with barriers. That's what we'll use. Although only for a short time, we can withstand a direct hit from Merkava's main cannon. Then we can close in and watch for that part of the barrier to go down and then destroy the cannon.]"

Fei was skeptical. "[How long will our barrier last?]"

Bart shrugged. "[About 20 or so seconds.]"

Fei gaped at him. "[That's all? It wouldn't matter how fast we fly. In that amount of time, we'll be without a barrier before we can get within firing range. And those numbers are valid only if the generator is at full drive, right? You can only get those numbers if we sacrifice all other outputs and propulsion.]"

"[I'm not suggesting we go in with guns blazing knowing we're gonna lose.]" Bart retorted, "[We're going to physically put a lid on it, directly!!]"

Everyone stared at him in confusion.

The captain of the Yggdrasil grunted, "[As you've said, the Yggdrasil IV's barrier can't sufficiently defend against Merkava's attack. At least with one generator that is...]"

Billy asked, "[Meaning...?]"

Bart looked at the former Solaris operative, saying, "[Meaning, we can defend against Merkava with twice the amount of time... 40 seconds, if we couple the generators together. This way, we can make it in the heart of Merkava.

"[Then, what about the propulsion...?]" Maison pointed out.

"[Just hear me out.]" Bart sighed in exasperation, pressing the monitor of the table and adjusted the information to the one he was looking for. A screen of the Yggdrasil IV and Excalibur showed up.

"[This is what we do. First we transform my Yggdrasil into heavy assault mode and load it into the Excalibur so we can couple the generators. By doing that, we can reduce the energy usage down to just supporting the hull of the ship and generating the barrier. This will allow most of the energy to be devoted to generating the barrier.]" Bart saw he has everyone's attention while he explained.

He continued, "[Next, shift the barrier to full front and focus it to a single point where their main cannon will make its strike. Now for the movement… first off, we develop a barrier by engaging Excalibur's generator to maximum power. For propulsion during that time, we'll install on the Yggdrasil those large solid rockets we got from the ruins of the Mass-Driver. When Excalibur's barrier expires, we'll use the Yggdrasil IV's generator to develop a barrier.]"

Seeing everyone nod, he went on, "[Then we'll also detach the solid rockets and shift the Excalibur into conventional flight. Using this method, we can get right in Merkava's face. After it fires, it'll be defenseless. During this time, we'll block the muzzle of Merkava's cannon with Excalibur's bow ram. Upon which, we should have 0.67 seconds... with the cannon fire of the Excalibur, we'll destroy the Yggdrasil IV's slave generator and incapacitate the Merkava along the way and then... we break through!]" He smugly turned the monitor off.

"[That's what the plan is all about.]" Bart continued, staring at his companions expectantly, "[The combinations of the barriers of both ships... storming the Merkava... the timing of the cannon fire of the Excalibur... these are all going to be crucial. Mess up any one of these and the consequences are going to be severe. Hence, it'll be necessary to have both crews in synch with each other. That's why I'd like to place Sig in command of the Excalibur.]"

Sigurd nodded towards Bart, impressed at his half-brother's sudden logic. "[I have no qualms with that...]"

"[Wait... I may be able to do something with the barrier...]" Ranma cut into the conversation, making everyone look at him. Nodding slightly at Washuu, he continued, "[Everything you planned is okay, but when we get near the Merkava Rin-Ohki and I will go ahead of the Excalibur and generate our own shield. I still don't know the capability of the beam from Merkava, but I can be the preliminary shield so that if ever something does come past Rin-Ohki and I, the barrier of the Excalibur and the Yggdrasil IV can manage well enough to escape.]"

"[I don't think that's such a good idea...]" Citan said, "[We don't know the Merkava's offensive capabilities, but according to what we know, it's pretty powerful. Too powerful, that we need the two best ships in this planet to work together. You might die if you try this.]"

Ranma shrugged. "[You never know until I try. Besides, Rin-Ohki and I can handle ourselves just fine.]"

"[He has a point.]" Washuu added, "[Ranma-chan and Rin-Ohki both share the same powers, and they both have the power of the Light Hawk Wings behind them. Together, they could withstand the beam at least long enough for you to do your thing.]"

"[Light Hawk Wings?]" Queen Zephyr asked.

The red-haired scientist nodded. "[It's difficult to explain, but it's an almost impenetrable barrier used by Juraian Dreadnoughts, probably the most powerful battleships in the universe. It's a Kami-class Barrier only a few gifted individuals can use the Wings, and Ranma-chan is one of them because of who he is. He can hold of the beam with it.]"

Bart nodded, turning to Queen Zephyr. "[What do you think, Queen? Will you lend us your battleship?]"

Queen Zephyr sighed and rubbed her temples, saying, "[Since there appears to be no other alternative, let us go with that. Please use it as you see fit.]"

Citan commented, "[But we are not cutting it uncomfortably close? When you calculate the arrival time and the barrier generation time, you will see what I mean! One minor mishap will put us in a situation where we could run out of barrier power before our arrival.]"

"[That's why I'll be the point shield generator.]" Ranma pointed out, with Rin-Ohki meowing loudly on top of his head. "[You can reserve some of your generator's power, rerouting them to the weapon while I generate my barrier. All you have to do is worry about those that might get past me. I'll be too preoccupied dealing with the cannon to worry about anything else.]"

Sigurd added, "[Ranma is right. We will be devoting both generators to keep the barriers up. Won't that leave us without perimeter defenses? We won't stand a chance if the -Seraph- angels engage us on our way to Merkava. We need to form a perimeter guard to take out anything that might come our way during the time Merkava fires its cannon.]"

Fei spoke up. "[We'll hold them off. You can count on us! You guys just concentrate on taking out that main cannon.]"

Bart smiled towards his friend in gratitude. "[Thanks. We're depending on you.]"

Fei said grimly, "[Already, everywhere else has been taken out. This is the only place that's left. This is going to be the true final battle.]"

"[Well then...]" Queen Zephyr stood up from her seat, "[We will commence our attack in five hours. That should give us enough time for preparations.]"

The meeting was adjourned, and everyone went to their own respective work.

On the way out, Ranma noticed Vanilla standing in front of his room, fidgeting on her place. Cocking his head to one side, he asked in his native tongue, "What's wrong, Vanilla?"

Vanilla almost jumped at the sound of Ranma's voice, but restrained herself as she answered, "I wish to speak with you, Ranma-sama."

"Hmmm?" Ranma noised, allowing the light cyan-haired girl in pulling him into his temporary quarters inside the Excalibur. Once inside, he was led unto his bed, and Vanilla sat beside him. Another bout of tense silence followed, and only their breaths can be heard for a while.

After a few moments, Ranma finally asked, "Are you okay, Vanilla-chan?"

"I worry about you." Vanilla blurted out, blushing a bit as she did. She looked away from Ranma's searching eyes as she continued, "You always try so hard, that you don't have time to rest."

Ranma sighed. "There's a life involved, Vanilla-chan. I can't just ignore that."

Vanilla shrugged. "But there are other people who can do the rescue operation, correct? But I know I cannot stop you from doing what you wanted, since you're too adamant about it. But I want you to know that I'm worried about you."

Ranma smiled gently, even though Vanilla could not see it. He lightly covered her hand with his, and felt a bit of confidence when Vanilla didn't get angry or flinched away from his touch. "I made a promise to rescue the one trapped inside Deus, Vanilla-chan. I always keep my promises. I'm quite glad that you're worried about me, but don't overdo it. I know my limits somehow..."

Vanilla snorted softly, "Like when you lost a lot of power and turned into a girl forcefully in the process?"

The pigtailed man grimaced as he chuckled nervously, "Okay, that wasn't one of my better plans, but it worked out in the end, ne?"

"That's just it, Ranma-sama." Vanilla insisted, not noticing that her hand had gripped Ranma's, "What if you do too much? What if... what if..."

Ranma squeezed Vanilla's hand warmly. "Okay, I promise... I won't overdo it. I will ask for help if needed, alright?"

Vanilla breathed out as she turned to regard Ranma in her gaze. "I guess that will have to do, for now." And without hesitation, she leaned forward and planted a firm kiss on Ranma's cheek. The alien hybrid froze as he felt Vanilla's warm lips make contact with his skin.

The angel, in a literal sense, slowly discovered what she did and drew back from the kiss, blushed, quickly stood and exited the room in the span of less than three seconds. Ranma's hand automatically went up to his cheek, his lips curved in a slight goofy smile.

"That was nice. I wonder what that was all about though." Ranma muttered, still out of it apparently. His face was in a mask of confusion, which was quite normal for him at least.

======================================================================== ==

After five hours of waiting, the group converged inside the Meeting Room once again, reviewing their battle plan. After everything has been approved, they set out to their respective positions. Excalibur has been set out into a snowy landscape, near where the Merkava resided as of late. When the huge ancient ship loomed across the horizon, the battle had begun.

Ranma, who was standing on the nose of the Excalibur, leapt out into the air and tossed the willing Rin-Ohki into the air. The people inside the Excalibur were momentarily awed when they saw the small animal float beside its master like that, but there was no time for questions as a few bolts of lasers from the Merkava rocked the Excalibur's shield.

Ranma finally reached a good position and released Rin-Ohki, who transformed quickly into a silver crystalline ship. Rin-Ohki's ship form was a lot more streamlined than the normal ones Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki used. Her 'spikes' were slanted backwards, almost totally covering the bio-dome located just in the middle of her body. There was one spike that was jutted out into the front, providing an aerodynamic design to lessen air friction on the ship when it cruised along planetoids.

After Rin-Ohki transformed, Ranma quickly phased into the cabbit ship and activated its shield. A red bubble of energy flickered once in a while as lasers hit it. Ranma had Rin-Ohki readjust the shield settings to expand it to near the size of the Excalibur. After a few minutes of recalibration, Rin-Ohki now acted as an umbrella to filter out strong beams from the Merkava.

Fei and his companions were destroying the Seraphs that managed to land on the Excalibur's bow. They kept the enemies away from the ship.

With the Yggdrasil coordinating with the Excalibur and Ranma's ship, it launched an attack on Merkava behind the safety of Rin-Ohki's barrier. It jumped on Merkava when the three ships finally flew past the ancient ship in such a close range, and destroyed the main cannon. The Yggdrasil blasts off as the Excalibur fired its own cannon at the Merkava, marking a direct hit into it.

A loud explosion rocked the Merkava as it slowly crumbled into the ground. But fate has another card to play as the alarms inside the Yggdrasil bridge rang loudly.

It seemed that Merkava, or rather Deus, still has some tricks up its sleeve.

Inside the Excalibur, everyone was confused as to why the alarms went off. They looked at the smoldering 'debris' of the Merkava, and saw something was off in the wreckage.

Outside, Fei and the others converged with their Gears as they monitored Merkava's destruction.

#[That can't be!]# Fei shouted as the display showed the Merkava shaking wildly.

Billy narrowed his eyes at the image. #[A secondary explosion...!?]#

Citan slapped his hand against the console of his mech, saying, #[Oh no! I should have known better. What a miscalculation! The explosion was too big. It reacted with the main condenser right under the main cannon and induced a secondary explosion. How could I have been so stupid?!]#

#[You mean, we overdid it!?]# Bart asked frantically.

Citan continued as if he didn't hear Bart speaking, #[Why did I not realize it sooner!? This means... we might have... oh no, the energy spike from Deus itself...!]#

Fei asked, #[What? What's with Deus? I thought destroying Merkava would destroy Deus as well?!]#

Billy looked confused. #[W-what is it, this time?]#

Bart growled out, #[Hey, Citan! What more is going to happen?!]#

Citan grimaced as he stared at the readings from the Merkava, #[Something is happening in the center of Merkava. What could it be?!]#

The huge hulking form of the ancient ship Merkava went down into the earth, creating a loud explosion as it hit the hard surface. Suddenly, a gigantic white mass lurched out of the flaming wreckage, and floated up above the ruined ship. It twitched for a moment, before expanding into even greater proportions, then launched a huge blast into the ground below it. A huge shockwave erupted from the targeted area, and everything in the way was destroyed.

"MIYAAAAAAAH!!!" The cabbit ship growled out as it flew a bit further away from the blast zone, together with the Excalibur and the Gears on it. The people inside the ship gaped at the huge destruction caused by a single blast from whatever came out of the Merkava.

Inside Rin-Ohki, Ranma narrowed his eyes as a familiar tingle of his danger sense bothered him. The energy given off by the mass was familiar to him, as if...

His eyes widening, Ranma quickly turned the communications to the others online and said to it, #[That... thing! I know it!]#

#[Ranma?]# Washuu's concerned voice came back to him, #[What is it? Have you found out anything?]#

#[That huge white thing... that's Deus!]# Ranma explained, causing everyone to gasp along the comms.

Citan's panicked voice asked, #[How can you be sure?!]#

Ranma grunted irritably, #[I know that signature! I was inside it, remember?! That's the thing that gained a bit of sentience after Zohar did!]#

#[What the heck happened?! Why did it turn into that?!]# Bart asked.

Ranma shook his head ruefully, saying, #[I guess it's partly my fault. It was probably because of the energy transfer I did a while ago when I tried stalling it to let us escape. I was inexperienced at energy transfers, so I didn't have much control on how much was given. I think I gave it too much.]#

#[Probably why you reverted into your female form, Ranma-chan.]# Washuu explained, #[Deus probably took advantage of your apparent inexperience on those things and managed to control most of the transfer. In the end, Deus forced you to give up energy too fast, so it drained you badly. Hence, you turned female.]#

Ranma nodded lamely. #[That's just it.]#

#[Damn it!]# Fei's voice came, #[Let's go back to the Excalibur first! We need to re-plan our strategy!]#

The whole group agreed, hurriedly coming back into the Excalibur. The ship took a 180 turn and sped out of the area. Meanwhile, the mass known as the final form of Deus continued to wreak havoc all over the planet, gleefully destroying anything it wanted. Krelian's final plan was a bit of success, since the nanomachines created by him were used by Deus to achieve its most powerful form.

The survival of the planet was at risk, and with Deus bursting with energy, the future was a bit bleak.

======================================================================== ==

A few hours after Deus has ascended into the sky, the Excalibur floated along the wasted remains of the former floating city of Shevat. The huge battleship had been protected by the combination of its innate shield and Rin-Ohki's projected barrier, but Shevat wasn't so lucky. Fortunately, the people inhabiting the floating country had been evacuated safely, and were now trying to salvage anything they could find amongst the debris of Shevat. The group decided to land and recuperate somehow.

In the crashed remains of Shevat, Fei walked amongst the bleak atmosphere inside the rooms that managed to survive. He reached outside, and saw Queen Zephyr watching as the snow fell around them. The young man strode up to the queen and stayed silent right beside her, watching the white fluff as well. Khan appeared and stood behind them, content in watching the snow with Fei and the queen. A bit later, Citan appeared alongside them as well, respecting the silence as the three watched the snow.

Zephyr broke the silence when she said, "[The snow keeps falling, softly covering up everything in this world. Our sorrow, our defilement, our mistakes, if only we could wipe away these things as easily as that. What have we... have I... been doing... been pursuing... for these past five hundred years? By the way, how is the person you rescued from Merkava? I heard he recovered consciousness...]"

Citan nodded. "[Yes, well, at first, he had lost faith in himself but now he is better. Kahr has revived himself, and has found some real meaning in his life. If he decides to fight on our side then our total fighting power shall be greatly increased.]"

- FLASHBACK -

In the Yggdrasil's medical ward, Citan and Sigurd stood beside Ramsus, as the latter sat dejectedly on a bed.

"[Kahr... Please listen to me! Right now, we must forget about being friend or foe. We all must support one another, regardless. Right now, we need your help!]" Citan pled to the former commander.

Ramsus was unresponsive, still mumbling the same phrase he has been saying for the past few hours, "[I... am... just trash... a reject...]"

Citan quickly wound his right hand up and slapped Ramsus hard, causing the former commander of the Elements to fall down unto the hard floor. Ramsus caressed his abused cheek and stared at Citan with wide eyes.

"[Stop feeling sorry for yourself and pull yourself together man!]" Citan shouted at the man on the floor.

Sigurd held Citan back, saying, "[Hyuga?! What are you...]"

Citan shrugged Sigurd off him, muttering, "[Trash... reject... you can take pity and call yourself that all you want, but what about them?!]" He pointed to the other side of the room, which revealed the current members of the Elements looking at the encounter with sadness in their eyes.

The doctor continued, "[Are these women stupid, or trash, or rejects too for believing in you? The reasons why you helped the girls who had no one to turn to, may not have been that noble. But in spite of that, they stuck with you. Do you know why? They know you better than anybody else. They know the true kindness that exists in your heart. They know because they want to be loved. That is why they won't leave you. Kahr... do not make them into the trash or rejects that you speak of.]"

Dominia stepped forward, looking at Ramsus directly in the eyes, "[Commander...]"

Ramsus stared at the women he commanded for how many years. He remembered how they all stood by him, following his every order, "[All of you...]"

Citan continued, adjusting his glasses on his face, "[Needless to say, you are not trash or a reject. We know that better than anyone does.]"

Ramsus shook his head, a sudden deluge of tears flowing out of his eyes, "[I... I didn't realize that what I've been looking for... was so close to me. I'm... sorry... for not realizing sooner!]"

Dominia smiled happily as she took Ramsus in her arms, saying, "[Oh, Commander...!]"

- END FLASHBACK -

Khan nodded morosely, "[It was rather sad, knowing that you were created for the purpose of being used, then being thrown away like yesterday's garbage.]"

Citan winced, "[That is true. How are your injuries, Khan?]"

The old man smiled slightly as he stretched his arms wide, "[The treatments old man Taura used on me were effective. I thought I really was a goner when Deus started absorbing my life energy.]"

Queen Zephyr said, "[We owe Ranma a lot of things.]"

"[True...]" Khan said thoughtfully, "[I have learned to live with the fact that I was used as a vessel by Grahf. I just hoped Ramsus gets on with his life as well.]"

Fei sighed sadly, "[So much has happened between him and I. When this battle ends, I want to face Ramsus one on one in sport, not war, as a martial artist.]"

Queen Zephyr nodded in agreement. "[I am sure he wishes the same thing too.]"

Fei turned back to the snow, whispering, "[Perhaps...]"

"[Sure he does.]" Khan chuckled slightly, "[He seems to be a man incapable of letting things stay this way.]"

Citan shook his head in amusement. "[Ramsus is like that. He will never accept defeat for long.]"

Queen Zephyr faced Fei with a serious expression on her childish face, "[Fei, may I ask you something? About Deus... what if, even if we tried everything we could, we couldn't win?]"

Fei shook his head urgently. "[We will win! We have to... or else this world will not have a future ahead of it. We wouldn't have a future ahead of us if we lose. So we have no choice but to win.]"

The queen smiled in understanding. "[You don't have to do this if you don't want to, you know. Your opponent is a god. If you decide to quit now, no one will blame you.]"

The martial artist shook his head again, saying, "[To quit would be meaningless. All that I fought for, and all that I live for, would come to have no meaning at all. People should be free, with no one bound by others, and no one binding others. Inside of me, there is a part of me that desires that freedom, and a part of me that gives me hope. So, I shall fight to win true freedom! For we are still alive! We fight to live. That is the reason why I fight. It's proof I'm human. I promised my father, and myself too, that I would free the world from Deus' binds, and also making sure that Elly's free from Deus' clutches...]"

Queen Zephyr nodded sympathetically. "[I understand. So, let's keep believing... and hope for a miracle...]"

Fei smiled. "[There can be a miracle...]" he said softly, "[We managed to save my father, right? We may have a chance...]"

Khan's hand found Fei's shoulder, squeezing it in affection, "[Do not lose that initiative, son. You have a lot of friends, and they will help you achieve your goals.]"

Fei patted his father's hand, saying, "[I know, father.]"

In another part of Shevat's wreckage, Emeralda was sitting on top of a ruined pillar, trying to catch some snow on her tongue.

"You're enjoying yourself." A baritone voice in Japanese language broke Emeralda out of her slight melancholy, causing her to turn to the source. She saw Ranma, who was currently standing behind her with a smile on his face.

Emeralda blushed and replied in the same tongue. "It's... the first time I saw snow at such a close distance..."

Ranma nodded, "I see..." The pigtailed man strode up beside Emeralda and sat below her, his back leaning on the pillar Emeralda was on. "I like the snow too, somehow... since they give me a sense of hope for some reason."

"Snow reminds me of when I was born..." Emeralda said softly. "It was cold in that tank I was born into, but it was my only solace against the harshness of the world. I was a mere child back then, trapped inside a seven year old body of a child when I was taken from that only place I can rely on to protect me..."

"Taken?" Ranma asked in curiosity.

Emeralda grimaced slightly. "I was created with a purpose, to destroy the bonds that held humanity back during that time. You see, the humans back then were only able to survive up to thirty years, then perish. Most of them were barren, unable to have a child, which further dwindled their survival. I was made to break those bonds, to ensure humanity's survival."

Ranma said, "You must be really important to your parents then. And to have that much responsibility hanging on your shoulders... it must've been hard on you."

Emeralda pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her chin against them. "The night I was about to be activated fully, my parents were attacked by some soldiers. They were killed, and the soldiers took me from the lab. They planned on using me, and the man named Krelian was in charge." Emeralda growled softly, "They killed my parents just because they wanted to find out what made me move, to study me, to replicate my parents' work... they were killed out of petty reasons."

Emeralda closed her eyes. "I felt so lonely. For thousands of years, I've been left dormant, until Fei and the others found me. I'm deeply grateful to them for that."

The pale-green haired girl was slightly surprised when a pair of arms wove around her, giving her warmth and love. When she opened her eyes, she saw Ranma floating in front of her, cradling her head on his chest as he slid his hand over her hair. She sighed, burrowing deeper into the young man's warmth.

"A horrible past has always been a burden to anyone. But you don't have to bear that alone anymore you know." Ranma commented. His eyes glazed a bit, remembering how lonely he was while he was in that training trip with his 'father', and how he was forced to do things that were immoral and unjust. Being burdened by his past, Ranma became closed to everyone, effectively pushing those who tried getting inside his emotional barriers. His 'father' was never a big help, fanning the flames of his jerkish attitude that cost him more than one of his friendships.

May the Origin help him, but Ranma will not allow this young girl to burden herself like he did in his own life. Hugging the girl tightly, he vowed to protect everyone, even at the cost of his own life. Ranma was determined to let Emeralda and Vanilla live in a life full of happiness, and he wanted to see their smiles while at it as well.

Vanilla and Washuu later joined their conversation, taking turns in discussing about their own lives. The time past by quickly, since they were still deep in their contemplation when Fei had announced a meeting to be held.

They discussed an immediate battle strategy on how to handle the transformed Deus. Elly had cited some potential weak points in Deus' structure, but she wasn't so sure since she only got a glimpse of Deus' plans before it was fully transformed. Who knows how much change it went through after its metamorphosis? So they all came to one conclusion: just go in and destroy it.

After the meeting was adjourned, they decided to go after Deus in the morning.

======================================================================== ==

Early next morning, the Yggdrasil IV was prepped and ready to go, while those who will go into battle said their good-byes to various people first.

Fei gave his word to Queen Zephyr that he will try his very best to defeat Deus. He adamantly refused to let Elly come with them, and requested some of Shevat's guards to restrain the red-haired woman if she tried to go anyway. After seeing how serious Fei was about making her stay, Elly finally accepted and stayed with Queen Zephyr to monitor the battle in the repaired viewscreen.

Bart had said his good-byes to Sigurd and Margie, as the latter hugged the pirate tightly and kissed him soundly on the lips. When they disengaged, Margie was blushing and Bart was near catatonic. Fei had to drag the frozen Bart into the Yggdrasil IV.

Billy kissed his younger sister Primera at the forehead lovingly, promising to come back in one piece. His father, Jessie, hugged him a bit awkwardly, but it was heartfelt nonetheless.

Ranma and Emeralda said their own good-byes to Vanilla and Washuu. Vanilla repeated her kiss on Ranma's cheek, saying it's for an accumulated good luck. Washuu chuckled as Emeralda reciprocated the kiss on Ranma, even though she was with the group who will attack anyway.

When the good-byes were done, they all boarded the Yggdrasil IV and searched for Deus in the sky. They were already boarded inside their respective Gears, and were now standing at the flat deck on the topside of the Yggdrasil IV. Ranma's smaller human form stood among them, with an alert Rin-Ohki perched on his shoulder. They found its floating form just above the cloud lines, quite dormant for the moment. Now that they were near it, they can finally recognize what it should look like.

Deus' final form was a very large organism, which was surrounded by four power orbs rotating around it periodically. Sparks of electricity can be seen as they arched from the organism in an intimidating manner. The whole area was set upon a large chunk of land that seemed to have been pulled out of the ground below. As the group of Gears landed on the edge of the large floating island, Bart ordered the Yggdrasil to back away from the battle site.

#[This is... Deus?!]# Fei's voice can be heard from the comms.

The Gear-sized pink teddy-bear like Chu-Chu pointed out in a loud shrill voice, "[What are those four orbs spinning around it?]"

Maria answered, #[It seems as if the power of those four things is supporting the center.]#

#[So that means that big thing in the middle is the core of Deus?]# Rico cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

Citan nodded. #[Probably.]#

Bart snorted loudly, #[Who cares about those orbs. Let's just crush the core.]#

Citan shook his head negatively, #[Striking directly at the center rather than using fuel unnecessarily, that is one strategy. But, I believe another plan of attack would be to defeat its surroundings first. If we decide to attack the supporting orbs first, then it might be wise to leave the battles up to us. We should be able to do something about them without using up Fei's power.]#

#[Hmmm... so that Fei can use the full power of his Gear, ne?]# Ranma smiled.

Emeralda said, #[That'll allow him to use the full power of Xenogears... to defeat Deus!]#

Billy shrugged in his seat, #[Whether we do a direct strike to the core or take down the supports first, I guess that is best left up to Fei to decide...]#

Fei nodded in appreciation. #[Thanks everyone. To attack Deus directly... or to take out its supports first... I wonder which is best?]#

Ranma spoke up, #[I say we split the forces up. One group will attack those round thingies, and another group will take on the core itself.]#

Citan said, #[That would be wise. Bart, Billy, Rico, Emeralda and Chu-Chu will take out the orbs. Maria, Ranma, Fei and I will take the core, rather, Deus itself.]#

#[Wait!]# Ranma called out.

Citan asked curiously, #[Is there something wrong, Ranma?]#

Ranma shook his head slightly, #[Sorry about this Fei, but I will take on Deus myself.]#

#[No way!]# Fei growled out. #[I want to take revenge on what it did to Elly, and the rest of the people who died!]#

#[This isn't about your vendetta, Fei!]# Ranma snapped at him, #[I want to face him, and I can feel that he felt the same way.]# He glared at the organism in front of them, one that was now twitching and was slowly changing shape.

Bart gaped at the transformation, #[What the hell's happening?]#

#[It's responding to my presence.]# Ranma said grimly as he slowly tread towards the center of the structure, #[You take care of the orbs, and the others would be my back up in case I fail.]#

#[Ranma-sama?]# Emeralda asked fearfully, eyeing the pigtailed man as he sashayed into the territory of the organism. They ignored the red tail that was lashing from side to side on Ranma's backside, in favor of the surprising calm being displayed by Deus. They all felt that it was as if it was beckoning Ranma to approach it.

"[RSSSHHHHHHHHRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH.......]" The white blob noised, as it expanded into a grotesque shape before roughly forming a gigantic humanoid one.

"[It's coming...]" Ranma whispered to himself, his comm still hearing the words he said. Everyone was just confused at the dialect except Emeralda.

"[RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH...........]" The organism's shape solidified into a giant humanoid, its back rippling badly before sprouting a pair of massive wings. It was like gazing at a featureless avenging angel.

"[RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH.... ..]"

Ranma stopped just a few kilometers away from the central core, that had already transmogrified into the giant angel. "[What are you trying to say, Deus?]"

"[RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMRRRGGGGGHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA.....] " The voice of the mass became coherent a bit.

"[RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAA........]&quo t; The voice became more focused.

"[RRRAAAAAAAANNNNNNMMMMMMMAAAAAA......]" The voice was slowly beginning to become understandable.

"[RAAANNMMMAAAA...]" The giant angel towered above the pigtailed man, who stood undeterred in front of the monstrosity. Behind him, Fei and the others were already busy at destroying the orbital defense spheres surrounding Deus.

"[Deus...]" Ranma said simply, staring at the form Deus took.

"[CHUUSHIIIN... RAAANMAAA...]" Deus conversed back. Everyone except Ranma was taken aback when the huge thing spoke, albeit a bit shakily at first.

"[I've been waiting for you, Deus...]" Ranma said calmly.

Deus seemed to clench its fists as it replied, "[THE SAAAME COULD BE SAID BYY ME.]"

Ranma nodded gravely. "[We need to... come into an agreement.]"

The ground shook as Deus finally finalized its shape. Its huge head inclined slightly towards Ranma. After seeing the sign, the pigtailed young man sighed and leapt into Deus' body, ignoring the cries of protest coming from his companions. Ranma was absorbed into the light easily. Rin-Ohki stayed outside to monitor the situation.

Fei and his teammates doubled their efforts in beating the orbs, in order to reach Ranma in time. They were successful as the final orb erupted into loud explosions.

"Ranma-sama!" Emeralda shouted worriedly. She was about to make her Gear leap into the mass after Ranma, but Rin-Ohki suddenly appeared in front of her Gear, shaking her head as she miyah'd loudly. After a few tries of shaking Rin-Ohki off the path to Deus, Emeralda sighed and backed down. All she and the others can do right now is watch, as Deus' form remained stationary in the middle of the area.

Inside Deus' body...

Ranma blinked as he saw himself inside a small subspace. How did he know it was a subspace? He could see stars twinkling all over the place, so it must've been a space created by Deus for this occasion. He looked around, and breathed in sharply as he spotted the familiar form of Lea in an area a bit far from him. The only difference this time was that she was half buried in something akin to a white blob in the middle of the huge space.

The poor girl was slumped forwards, clearly unconscious. She was slowly being swallowed by the mass that engulfed her. Ranma rushed forwards to help her, but he was halted when a white faceless angel with huge white wings appeared in front of Ranma, between him and Lea.

"[Welcome, Ranma.]" The angel rumbled, its voice echoing all over the subspace.

Ranma spared Lea a worried glance before turning back to the angel in front of him. "[Deus, I presume?]" he asked in annoyance.

Deus nodded. "[Indeed.]"

"[What are you doing with Lea?]" Ranma growled out.

Deus turned halfway to look at the half-devoured woman, at the same time alert at any attacks that would come from Ranma if he decided to attack. "[Her? I just finished assimilating Zohar into myself, but I was skeptical. You see, Zohar was adamant at first when I suggested the idea, but he became decadent when I mentioned something about running a complete system diagnostic of our existence. When I absorbed him, I did my scan anyway, and behold! I found the soul of this young woman, or rather, physically anyway, but her memories have a lot of information for me. So, I decided to assimilate her inside me as well.]"

Deus chuckled mirthfully, "[She put up a fight, but it was inevitable. It was her destiny to be taken into me.]"

Ranma grit his teeth in anger, carefully trying to control his growing rage. "[You have no right to take what isn't yours to begin with!]"

"[Oh?]" Deus asked mockingly, facing Ranma fully. "[I'm god. I can do whatever I want. And now that you're here, I can finally finish everything.]"

That statement derailed Ranma's anger for the moment. "[Huh?]" Ranma asked, "[What do you mean?]"

Deus laughed out loud, saying, "[You actually thought you're here to strike some sort of 'agreement' with me? You're here to be assimilated into me as well!]"

"[Like hell!]" Ranma spat as he eyed the angel warily. He fell into a guarded stance.

"[As I've told that woman, it's inevitable.]" Deus chortled, "[Since you gave me that delicious energy feed just to stop me from absorbing that foolish Grahf, I decided to lure you here and finish the job!]"

<Damn, this is bad.> Ranma's brow furrowed, remembering the other situation he knew he should be solving as well. Lea was slowly dissolving into Deus, and he realized he had to destroy Deus to free her. <Hmmm... now how to beat Deus...?>

"[This will be no contest.]" Deus declared, quickly launching an ether blast without even powering up for it. The reddish globe of ether shot towards Ranma, who erratically dodged to his side. The ball detonated somewhere behind them, rocking the whole place.

The pigtailed young man shot forward with a ki-enhanced punch, but Deus dodged effortlessly. Not waiting for the angelic being to recover, Ranma threw multitudes of punches, unknowingly emulating his former Katchuu Tenshin Amaguriken technique. A handful of the attacks landed, deforming Deus in various parts of its body. After finishing the maneuver, Ranma quickly leapt back to gain ground.

"[Hah!]" Ranma crowed, eyeing Deus' badly mangled but still standing body, "[Now what were you saying ab... about... no... con... test?]" His voice trailed off as he blinked, watching as Deus' body slowly contorted back to its normal form, as if it was never hit at all.

Deus just laughed at the shocked expression on Ranma's face. Although, one can't really 'see' the angel laughing, since its face was a formless blank. "[Why the surprised face? You should've known that Krelian helped me out a lot. Those nanomachines he used to try and resurrect me clearly made its mark in me.]"

"[Damn it.]" Ranma cursed as he took another haphazard glance at Lea. She was now three-fourths buried inside the white thing. <I have to do something, and fast!> He thought to himself urgently, <Regeneration... something I learned to hate after battling the Carrions... wait. A huge blast might work.>

Mentally applauding himself at the plan he drew up, Ranma cupped his hand to his side and gathered as much ki as he can dare. Huge wisps of dark energy gathered into his hands, slowly forming a large globe of ki.

Deus would've lifted an eyebrow at the sight, but since it can't, it just put its hands on its waist.

Ranma grunted as the ball of ki in his hands reached a certain point, and compressed the big ball, which now reached the size of roughly three feet in diameter. He carefully pressed his hands together, cramming the ki into a much smaller volleyball size, but much more concentrated.

"[Regenerate this. YAMI NO HA!]" Ranma said grimly, launching the dark ball towards Deus. The angelic being didn't bother to dodge, catching the crackling ball into its chest. Its body spasmed for a moment before exploding into a vast motes of light, before being sucked into something and disappeared altogether.

The pigtailed boy grinned and fell to one knee, panting heavily. He was confused, since he was drained a little too fast, but it was all worth it. He was about to stand and go to Lea and free her, but a loud laugh all over the place made him groan loudly instead.

"[It wouldn't be that easy, Ranma.]" Deus reappeared near where he was blasted, unscathed and unhurt. "[This is MY world. By the way, have you noticed yourself weakening even though you haven't exerted that much energy in fighting?]"

"[I was wondering about that.]" Ranma muttered loudly, "[And I'd guess you have something to do with that, too.]"

Deus lifted a finger upright in the air and said gleefully, "[Got that right in one! As I've said, I just lured you into MY world. This is my body, Ranma. I'm already absorbing your energy as we speak. In fact, I already started ingesting you since you entered my domain.]"

<Do bad guys always say their plan in the near end just to gloat?> Ranma asked himself sarcastically, gingerly standing up wobbly unto his feet. He gazed helplessly at Lea, who was absorbed up to the chin by now. <Crap. I really have to do something! I can't die here! But as Deus said, I'm as good as gone since it already lured me into its body. And right now, Lea and I are just about to be absorbed into Deus, just like being digested... whoa! That's it!>

Ranma looked around him, momentarily ignoring Deus as the white angel ranted about its conquest and stuff. The pigtailed boy idly wondered if Deus was somehow in someway connected to Kuno, but that would be too much of a coincidence. His attention was suddenly riveted into one place. Why was Deus positioned that way in between him and Lea? His yellow-pupils for eyes were drawn on the huge blob-thing that was absorbing Lea. Looking at that blob and Deus, Ranma's eyes widened marginally.

Why hasn't he seen it before? Deus purposely stepped into the line of fire earlier, blocking any of the energy that might grew errant and might hit the blob!

This angelic form of Deus in front of him was... was...

"[A fake...]" Ranma whispered softly to himself, his posture was firmer now after a short relapse of the battle.

"[Fake?]" Apparently, Ranma's words were not soft enough, since the white angel was now boring a glare towards Ranma. "[What are you talking about?]"

Ranma grinned tiredly. "[That body was just a misdirection, a sleight of the hand trick. I have been wondering why another body of yours was present INSIDE your body. There's also this convenient place where you positioned yourself. I mean, you're protecting something from me.]"

The pigtailed hybrid almost laughed as he saw Deus' form twitch slightly in apprehension. "[Heh, I got it right, ne?]" he pointed out.

Deus clearly straightened itself up before recovering his bravado once again, "[Nevertheless, it would be pointless. You're almost out of energy.]"

"[We'll see...]" Ranma said cryptically as he reached at the choker around his neck. Fingering the lock that kept the not-so-obvious limiter, the clasp was severed, letting the more than ten thousand pounds of a choker fall down to the ground. But before it made contact on the hard floor, the black choker vanished in motes of light. With its connection to its master severed for the time being, the limiter was automatically transported into Ranma's subspace, a feature Washuu had installed on the article.

The pigtailed hybrid felt a huge wave of ki wash into him from within, slowly regaining some of his lost strength. The drain was still there, but the recovery of his ki augmented it because somehow it was faster.

Deus apparently felt the sudden rise of Ranma's power, because it was its world in the first place. But no matter how hard it tried to speed up the absorption process, the release of energy was getting more intense as well. Its absorption had its limits.

"[How? How can you have that much energy, even after I sucked most of your power earlier?]" Deus demanded as it slowly backed away.

Ranma's earlier expression of tiredness lessened dramatically, as his grin returned in full force. "[I'm not your average normal mortal, oh great 'god'...]" he said with great sarcasm, something that can't be missed even by a three year old child. Not waiting for a retort from the immobile form of Deus, Ranma raised a gloved hand in the air, directly aiming his palm towards the angel's chest. He knew he had to hurry along, since the power drain might catch up to his rise of energy.

"[That won't work, remember?]" Deus said, as it stayed into position, confident in its knowledge that it can't be harmed in its own world.

Ranma shook his head. "[We'll see about that, too.]" he said grimly. His hand began to glow silver, a slight contrast with the earlier obsidian colored energy. Without any preamble, Ranma released the silver ki.

And Deus was waiting for it. But instead of hitting the white-skinned angel, the ball swerved a little to the left, skimming just centimeters from Deus' skin. The angel was caught flat footed, hurriedly turning to see why the energy ball missed it. If it had eyes, Deus' own would've bugged out when it finally realized where the energy was headed.

It headed directly to the white blob mass that was still engulfing that woman's soul. Deus watched in shock as the silver ki was absorbed into his real form in that place. The white mass suddenly ballooned into distorted shapes, before finally exploding into a huge mess of white. Lea's body was flung unto the air before it vanished.

Deus' fake angelic body shrieked as it fell to its knees, holding its head as if in pain. Ranma felt the power drain disappear from the place, immediately feeling his energy holding inside Deus' body. Making sure that Lea was no longer there, Ranma quickly turned and teleported out of that place.

Outside of Deus' body, Rin-Ohki hissed as her hackles raised when Deus shook violently. Fei and the others were bewildered when the huge angelic-shaped thing in front of them fell down to its knees.

Emeralda was about to smash into the point in the white mass where Ranma disappeared, but she was stopped when Ranma himself reappeared just in front of her. She could see that the pigtailed hybrid was very exhausted, already falling down on one knee and panting when he reappeared. Rin-Ohki ambled to his side, looking up to her master in visible concern.

#[Ranma-sama? Ranma-sama... are you alright?]# Emeralda's voice cackled through the communicator that was still inserted on Ranma's ear.

Ranma huffed as he stood up, his reserves still replenishing itself. He felt light, yes, but no need to be overconfident about himself. He quickly answered Emeralda's call, #[Yeah... sorry for worrying you.]#

#[Ranma?]# Bart's voice replaced Emeralda's, #[You idiot! What possessed you to just go in by yourself and get all roughed up like that?!]#

#[I most certainly agree with Bart's more colorful sentiments.]# Citan said dryly.

Ranma snorted, #[Gee, nice to see you too.]#

#[Uhm, guys? Deus is... recovering.]# Billy's flat voice came through the comms.

Everyone turned their attention to the giant sized white-winged form of Deus, which was now standing upright and has this visible spectrum of violent energy cackling all over its body.

Ranma gazed at the... grotesque thing (for him) with half-lidded eyes. He commented wryly, #[Of course... bad guys always go for that ability...]# He sighed slightly, <Geez, this reminds me of those things I fought from before, those Manticores...> he thought to himself.

Nine shadows appeared on the ground in front of them, before nine forms of the beings known as Seraphs fell to the earth, their own weapons poised and ready to attack them. Deus had summoned them for defense, as well as provide a distraction of some sort.

#[Seraphs!]# Rico growled out.

#[They're a whole lot different than the normal Seraphs we fought outside.]# Maria said in intense observation.

Fei was about to say something, but he was cut off when the Neo-Seraphs attacked without any warning, darting on each one of the Gears they were in. They quickly defended themselves when they recovered from the surprise and tried fighting back. Fei, Citan, Bart and Rico were already in equal standing with their opponents, but Maria, Billy, and Emeralda were still struggling with theirs. The Neo-Seraphs have upgraded weaponry, and their armor can now withstand a lot more damage than the normal ones from the earlier battles. They have wings that were now operational, and were being used either as shields, or as scythe-like weapons. The worst thing was that they were now able to recover damages using nanomachines.

Ranma was bewildered at the sight. The Neo-Seraphs had the uncanny resemblance with Deus' own form, so it was quite obvious as to which image they were made from. He had his own problems now, turning to regard the huge white angel. For some reason, Ranma knew that Deus was smiling smugly at him, even with its face having no form whatsoever.

Deus had just distracted Ranma's potential allies and left him to fend for himself. Crap, this hunk of white mess of things clearly developed a devious mind when it reincarnated itself.

#Ranma, are you there?# Washuu's voice in their native language cackled into Ranma's communicator, momentarily surprising the pigtailed hybrid out of his lamentations about his situation.

He quickly lifted his hand to the button that was located at his earpiece and answered, #Yeah, I'm here. What's the problem?# he asked worriedly.

A slight chuckle was heard from the other line. #Oh, nothing bad, I assure you. It's actually good news. The woman you took back with you in that cryo-pod... her body has been almost fully restored. And also... she has revived since her pulse restarted once again, but she's still in some sort of deep sleep.#

Ranma smiled, #That's great! I took care of whatever was sucking the life out of Lea's essence inside Deus, and now I'm kinda pinned at fighting the big guy. Some new forms of the Seraphs ambushed Fei and the others. Nasty things, too...#

#Ask your partner for help then.# Washuu commented.

#Eh?# Ranma said intelligently, #Now I know she's a great partner, but how can she help me in my situation? She can't transform into a ship right now since the place we're at would collapse, burying everyone here in the process, so it's a moot point.#

Washuu giggled. #No, silly! Just ask her, you'll see.#

#What? What do you mean? Hello? Washuu? You there?# Only static answered Ranma's calls. He sighed and let go of the button of his earpiece, eyeing the cabbit in front of him. For some reason, she was smiling at him with that catty smug grin of hers. Oh yeah, she was linked to him, so that's why she knew what Washuu told him to do.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Ranma said sarcastically, his red tail was visibly agitated as it was whipping itself from left to right and vice versa. He was still a bit unbelieving that his small partner could actually help him. Never mind the fact that she could transform herself into a space dreadnought…

"Miyah!" Rin-Ohki seemed to sniff as she stared right back at Deus, who was by now quite interested at the little by-play between the mortal that defied its will and the smallish little animal. It amused Deus that the animal was a whole lot smaller than those annoying natives of this planet, the Chu-Chu, therefore the creature's threat level was below zero for it.

It was perfectly understandable that Deus became slightly concerned when the small rabbit... cat... animal seemed to glow an eerie light while it hissed right up at itself. Deus idly noted that the thing's mortal master nervously backed away, therefore increasing its fear, err, interest in the occurrence. The cabbit somehow exploded into an gigantic array of crystal spires that reached Xenogears' height, before compacting itself into a semi-transparent form of a huge humanoid mecha with bulky and massive arms and legs. Instead of being smooth and sleek like Xenogears own appendages, Rin-Ohki's was more 'filled out', with lots of armor padding.

The head of the transformed cabbit was slowly molded, which seemed to be of a castle-head from those chess pieces the westerners played (in Japan, they use different pieces for their chess). The semi-transparent surface of its skin slowly hardened and gained color, which became dark blue in hue and some red and black, mixed with it. The chest cavity of the mech was more pronounced, housing three massive special cannons that were hidden in view from the outside. What these cannons are would be a secret until later. Its shoulder padding were huge as well, and has a twin set of spikes jutting out of them. When all these were done, the mech shook violently, its back suddenly exploding with eight dark blue blades before hardening into wing-like structures.

Everyone, including those that were already fighting, all paused as they gazed on the new player in the area.

Reviewing the past deeds of Rin-Ohki, she had already ingested enough rare metals and a whole lot of slave crystals that allowed her to transform into her Cabbit Ship form. The ship, however, was standard type with extra firepower that the cabbit also swiped from Washuu's laboratory from before. Compared to other cabbits, Rin-Ohki was easily one of those on top of the most advanced list, easily capable of manifesting her cabbit ship form easily.

In order to transform into something else, say, a sophisticated enhanced man-machine interface type dark blue mecha with nasty armaments, the cabbit had to eat something else to base its own form into. That's where the assimilated Alpha Weltall Gear comes into light. Using the metals and the design taken from the Gear, Rin-Ohki had broken down its components and rebuilt it into something brand new, therefore creating a new mech with a few exaggerated changes. Even though a mech was of a smaller size than that of a battleship, a mech's design was more complicated.

Cabbits were usually based on their Masters' genetic make-up, and Rin-Ohki was no different from them. She took something, like Ranma does with a technique, and improved on them. She concluded that the Alpha Weltall, although advanced and well made, wasn't enough for her or her master. She took the human-mecha interface into a whole new level, creating a direct mental link to its pilot upon activation. Also, the cockpit was 360-degree see-all terrain. It would be as if its pilot was the one who was walking, fighting, and the works.

Perfect for Rin-Ohki's master.

The only slightly bad thing about this was that every damage done to the mech was transmitted directly into the pilot's brain. This makes the mind make the injuries realistic. When the mech gets damaged, so will the pilot.

By now, everyone was openly gaping at the newly transformed cabbit, but not as surprised as Ranma. Weird enough though, Ranma had a look of intense pride mixed with his awe as he gazed at his partner.

With a loud miyah (quite weird coming form a gigantic mecha), Rin-Ohki's new form shot a silver beam from its chest, catching Ranma and pulling him into itself. The pigtailed hybrid yelped as he was tugged upwards, but he relaxed when Rin-Ohki conveyed her intentions through their mental link. The spectators watched as Ranma's lithe body was absorbed into the giant mecha's.

Fei, Bart, Citan, Rico and Billy were thinking, <Lucky bastard! He gets all the cool stuff!>

Emeralda, Maria, and the huge pink furred Chu-Chu however, were thinking another thing, <What a cute butt! And that tail of his just enhanced it!>

One shouldn't scoff at Maria. Although she was still a kid in the eyes of many, she had matured faster than normal girls had her age because of her position as a royal guard and pilot of Seibzehn. She can appreciate boys just fine.

Inside Rin-Ohki's newly acquired mech form, Ranma blinked when he saw everything around him, even though he knew he was inside the cockpit of the mech. As if sensing his confusion, Rin-Ohki had downloaded vital instructions and specifications on how to operate and move the machine. Wincing momentarily as he felt thousands of pinpricks that came with the knowledge into his head, Ranma's eyes widened and felt he had to whistle in appreciation.

Now that he understood how everything works, he knew that Rin-Ohki's mech form was perfectly suited for his needs. The pilot-machine interface was adopted and enhanced, which was now connected directly via the mental link between Ranma and Rin-Ohki.

Ranma lifted his hand and gazed at it. He saw his hand was over-imposed by a semi-transparent holographic image of the outer armor of the mech. The mech followed his every movement, which made Ranma grin some more. He experimented with a simple punch. The mech quickly reciprocated, and Rin-Ohki readjusted some of the lag differences to make the movement instantaneous. When Ranma punched again, the time lapse was already lost. As of the moment, Ranma and Rin-Ohki are perfectly en-synch with each other.

#Well? How is it?# Washuu's amused voice broke into Ranma's contemplation.

Ranma smiled and shook his head, saying, #Alright... so I was wrong. Wait, I just know you're dying to get the details, so I will now make Rin-Ohki send you the specifications and stuff. You'll get a kick out of this.#

#Looking forward to it!# Excitement was clearly heard from Washuu's voice before the communications fell silent again.

The radio cackled again, this time it was Citan's worried voice, #[Ranma? Are you all right? What happened?]#

#[Oh, nothing to worry about. Rin-Ohki just gave me my advance Christmas present.]# Ranma said with a grin.

#[Ranma? That's so cool!]# Bart's awed voice echoed all over the cockpit.

The pigtailed hybrid chuckled to himself in amusement. Turning his attention to the semi-transparent console in front of him, he said, "Well, what are we gonna name you in this form?"

"Miyah... miyah miyah!" Rin-Ohki chirped cheerfully.

Ranma just nodded. "Okay... but why Anima Seraphim? Why not some other name like Ultimate Masher or something?"

A soft feline sigh emanated from the internal speakers inside the cockpit. "Miyaaaah..." Rin-Ohki's voice was tinted with something akin to exasperation.

The pilot just shrugged, "Alrighty then... Anima Seraphim it is. Now then... let's finish this once and for all." he said grimly as he stared at the image of the huge angelic form of Deus in front of him.

======================================================================== ==

As the euphoria of emotions about Rin-Ohki's sudden appearance died down, the battle resumed when the Neo-Seraphs attacked Fei's group once again. It would seem that Deus' spawns were in a hurry, as if they were feeling a bit of self-doubt with the appearance of the new enemy they didn't have data on.

Deus immediately launched itself towards its own rival with the intent of catching Ranma unawares. But the lumbering angel hit only air, as the Anima Seraphim (Rin-Ohki named herself that) evaded its strike effortlessly. Since the mech was directly linked into Ranma's brain, the pigtailed hybrid's own danger sense and automatic response was already in place and was executed by the mech itself as well.

The Anima Seraphim grabbed the outstretched arm that it had evaded earlier, and followed through with a simple shoulder throw that made Deus fly down to the ground with a huge crash. The whole area rocked with a small quake as it settled itself from Deus' fall. The white angel quickly stood up and howled angrily, willing its arms to become scythes. It now looked like a giant praying mantis, with lots of attitude.

Deus wasted no time as it flashed its hands towards Ranma's Gear, which was now backing out of the range of the sharp new appendages. Quickly jumping back to dodge a double downward slash from Deus, Ranma's Gear landed a bit away from the angel, falling down into a stance. The pilot quickly reviewed some of its armaments, and saw something he could use. Ranma winced a bit when he remembered how he was taught not to use weapons, but he also recalled how effective his ki-claws were against those Manticores from before. Shoving the thoughts away form his mind for the moment, Ranma called out a certain item from Rin-Ohki's subspace pocket. It turned out to be a huge bastard sword, which had the same hue as the Anima Seraphim's armor.

Ranma's huge sword met with Deus' scythes, creating a miasma of sparks as they battled against each other with their weapons.

Fei dodged another errant swipe from the Neo-Seraph that had been hounding him. His enemy however has seen better days. One of its arms had been already completely severed, its regenerative properties were exhausted to nothing. It was only a matter of time before a final attack with a combo finally caused the Seraph to crumble into dust. He quickly turned to his companions, and witnessed Citan decapitating his own Neo-Seraph with a big swipe of his Gear's sword. Bart had released a torrent of whiplashes from its own weapon, creating a mini vacuum of the Aadvari's whip that managed to pulverize the Seraph he has been battling with.

Emeralda had an easier time handling the Neo-Seraph that she was partnered with. Her Gear's own nanomachine technology was more powerful, and using it as a counter-agent to cancel her enemy's abilities, her battle had gone smoother than the others’ had. Besides, her ether attacks were a force to be reckoned with. Maria had a bit of trouble at first, since the Seibzehn was weapon-based, but she used her Gear's brute strength to pummel her enemy until its regeneration was cut off. The gigantic pink Chu-Chu was alternating in using magic and physical attacks at her own enemy. As of the moment, her enemy had been dazed since she used the dance her blood had remembered. It greatly confused the Seraph, which allowed her to capitalize and lay a huge smack down on it.

Rico's Gear was almost the same as Seibzehn, minus the varied weapons array. Its brute strength was its greatest asset, and as of the moment his Gear hasn't stopped pounding on the Neo-Seraph he had been fighting. He was almost done with it too, with the Seraph already falling apart. Billy was fighting a distance battle. He's been firing ether-enhanced bullets while dodging the Neo-Seraph's ether attacks. His enemy had been riddled with holes, and with one final shot to the head, it finally dissolved into dust.

Ranma and Deus' battle was a lot more dramatic though. The pigtailed hybrid had to respect Deus and its tenacity in battle, since it has been quite a while since they started. The Anima Seraphim had suffered some damages with its armor, but so far the nanomachines Rin-Ohki had procured based on the Alpha Weltall's own kept the damages at minimum. Those scythes of Deus were sharp! He had felt them as they sliced into the armor, since Ranma could feel exactly what the Anima Seraphim had felt when it was damaged.

Ranma had already chopped Deus on the weak spot on its elbow, but Deus kept on re-growing the chopped arm back. It seemed endless, and Ranma knew that he had to keep on fighting. He probably didn't notice because of the ruckus, but he had automatically transformed into his higher form, since his hair had turned bloody red and a whole lot spikier with him staying male. This boosted his power and speed quite a bit, but Deus' ability to regenerate and cast various kinds of environmental ki attacks kept him busy.

After finishing off the Neo-Seraphs, Fei and the others settled on watching the battle. They really wanted to help, but seeing Deus and Ranma fight as almost non-existent blurs really dampened their moods. Sure, their mech can move fast, but THAT fast?

The pigtailed hybrid growled as he broke away from an encounter with Deus, his sword gleaming against the soft light inside the place they were in. He couldn't see where everyone was, but he was sure they were safe. He also accepted their respect of his honor-battle with Deus. Ranma frowned as he felt that this battle was like fighting with several Manticores simultaneously. He still has a lot of power, but so does Deus. The only thing that could probably break this deadlock was if he could somehow slow Deus long enough for him to blast the holy heck out of the white angel thingie, or he could also go to just laying down and die. But of course, he would NEVER accept the last one.

Slightly shaking his head from the thoughts, Ranma lifted his sword and fell into a stance once again, mentally tallying all the battle tactics he had amassed all through the years, especially the ones where he fought Saffron and the Manticores since they regenerate. He then concluded that it would be all about speed. He quickly leapt into battle again, with his sword raised high in the air.

Deus dodged to the right, but it caught the incoming leg sweep that followed Ranma's sword swipe. The giant fell on the ground, and was impaled by the huge sword. Deus couldn't comprehend how a mere mortal could keep up with it in terms of a struggle for power, but it would seem that it severely underestimated the red-tailed mortal that it loathed. Deus realized that it stayed down too long, since it just felt a huge ki blast smashing its right shoulder into paste. Standing up a bit wobbly, the angelic being willed its regeneration, but was surprised when the process was severely hampered. The tissues of its shoulder were mending a lot slower than it was earlier. And unfortunately for Deus, Ranma had noticed it.

#[Hmmm... you're finally slowing down.]# Ranma commented through the external speakers installed in his mech.

Deus' voice outside its body was a mixture of several male voices blended in one. #[Even if it does seem that way, I could still beat you easily. You're only mortal. You will tire soon.]# it said with conviction.

Ranma said nothing as he willed the Anima Seraphim to lurch forward, his sword poised at his side as he raced towards Deus. The inter-dimensional weapon swiped its scythes parallel to the ground, cleaving the air like a pair of giant scissors. The scythes hit nothing but air, catching Deus flatfooted. It found that Ranma had ducked underneath the path of the scythes and was already positioned for an upward double-handed slash. The move was executed flawlessly, cutting Deus into half.

Deus had expected itself to regenerate, but was surprised when only a feeling of intense pain filled its being. An unadulterated scream filled the air, surprising the heck out of everyone. Ranma looked at the writhing parts of Deus on the ground, quite unsure what had happened. Ranma thought Deus could stand up again after that strike, but it's not. He spied a small blob of cut flesh at the upper part of the chest cavity, which was dirty white in color that made it a bit different from the rest of its body. It was glowing before, but it faded fast as the body halves convulsed some more.

#[That was... anti-climatic.]# Ranma's dry voice cackled across the communications, inducing some stifled chuckles from everyone.

Their laughter was rudely interrupted, when a sudden influx of quakes rocked the place they were in.

#[I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy!]# Fei retorted as the ground shook harder.

Citan quickly added, #[We have to get out of this place!]#

Bart snorted. #[No, duh!]# he said sarcastically. He still signaled the Yggdrasil IV to come and get them though.

#[Master Bart, are you all right?]# Sigurd's concerned voice came through the comms.

#[Yeah Sig...]# Bart's tired voice replied, #[We just need to get outta here. Deus had one final gift for us.]#

#[We are in position.]# Sigurd said, #[Just jump unto the Yggdrasil’s deck as soon as we pass by.]#

Sounds of approval commenced all over. After a few minutes of painful waiting, Yggdrasil appeared out of the clouds that surrounded the small floating island they were in and stopped a few feet from the surface. It was high enough for a Gear to jump unto. Fei's Xenogears jumped on the deck and settled there, but Fei noticed that no one was following him after a good five minutes.

#[Hey, what's wrong?]# Fei asked his companions as their Gears stood unmoving at the floating land's surface.

Rico growled out, #[My Gear won't budge anymore.]#

Citan sighed loudly, #[The Zohar Modifier has ceased functioning. That is probably the reason why our Gears cannot move anymore. There is only a slight energy response coming from the core now.]#

Suddenly, the remains of the organism started shaking and sparks of electricity started emanating out of it. Tendrils of white stuff started to move and slither into the ground.

Bart's eyes widened at the sight. #[W-what the? What's happening?!]#

Fei looked around in askance, greatly worried about his friends left on the island. #[Doc?! What's going one? What's wrong?]#

Citan grimaced at the results of his analysis. #[I am now detecting a tremendous amount of energy coming from within Deus. It seems as if something that was sealed up till now has suddenly been freed and is growing enormously...]#

Fei looked at the organism in horror. #[It couldn't be... the 'Wave Existence'?!]#

Bart asked, #[The 'Wave Existence'?]#

Fei nodded, #[That's gotta be it. The 'Wave Existence' was just freed from its 'cage of fleshly existence' in Zohar. It's probably attempting to return to the higher dimension that it originally came from.]#

Ranma's voice cut into the conversation, #[Zohar did succeed in ascending, but it had a profound effect of isolating an angry Deus. As it was trying to escape, Deus held a tight grip on its own existence because of the energy I gave it, as well as gaining some more because of the split. As a result, Deus is now trying to recover by assimilating everything it touches, using whatever power left from the charge I gave him and the tremendous amount it just received a while ago.]#

#[Which means... this is the after-effect of the dimensional shift?!]# Citan asked worriedly.

Rico commented, #[What do you mean... 'after-effect'?!]#

Citan explained, #[It is like a shock wave that is induced by the dimensional displacement. But... so much energy?! And Deus has absorbed that same energy...]#

#[What will happen, doc?! Tell us!]# Fei demanded.

Citan said in resignation, #[Then it is as Ranma had said. This planet will be annihilated! These numbers indicate that it has more than enough energy to take out a whole planet through assimilation!]#

Chu-Chu gasped, "[Whatchu mean?!]"

Bart smacked his hand against the console in front of him, #[You can't be serious?!]#

Billy stared blankly at the sight of Deus' white substance slowly engulfing in the floating island. #[We fought so hard... only to see this happen...?!]#

Fei clenched his fists in anger, #[Isn't there... isn't there anything we can do? Can't we stop the after-effect?!]#

Citan shook his head sadly, #[Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do... Almost all machinery, including our Gears, are out of commission due to Zohar being shut down. This time, there is nothing we can do. To put it to you straight... this is the end for us!]#

Bart spat out, #[This is freaking stupid! How the hell could it all end like this?! What were we all fighting for up to now?!]#

A loud metallic sound of something being cut echoed all over the battle field. Everyone saw the Anima Seraphim slamming its sword into the ground, before slicing its way across the land between the unmoving Gears and Deus' rampaging assimilation.

Before it could cut the whole portion where the Gears were completely, Ranma's voice can be heard from the comms, #[Fei, take the unmoving Gears into the ship, NOW!]#

#[What? But Ranma, I...]# Fei began.

#[Shut up! I don't need to hear anything from you right now!]# Ranma said sharply, #[Just do what I say, or do you want to see them die just because you hesitated?! Your Gear is the only one working, so make sure you damn well use it!!]#

Fei sputtered for a moment, before resigning to Ranma's order. Quickly going back and forth on the small islet and the Yggdrasil's deck with one Gear in Xenogears arms per travel, the whole process took at least ten minutes. Ranma was screaming death threats at Fei all the time to keep him motivated, and it helped well.

Finally seeing that everyone was safe, Ranma nodded to himself inside the Anima Seraphim and sliced the whole islet completely, severing the small connection between the Yggdrasil IV and the island Deus stole from the ground.

#[Ranma?! What the hell are you doing?!]# Bart asked angrily, cursing himself as his Gear remained motionless on the Yggdrasil’s deck.

Ranma's calm voice returned, #[I'm doing what I must. Deus is like this because of the energy I unwittingly gave it a while ago, and now I intend to finish this.]#

#[You idiot! I'm coming with you!]# Fei shouted.

#[Just stop and stay there!]# Ranma said harshly, #[This is not your fight anymore. This is my responsibility. Your responsibility is keeping the Yggdrasil and the people onboard all the protection they need, since the Gears have no power anymore! Elly is also waiting for you inside! Have you forgotten about her?!]#

Fei growled out, #[Of course not! But I can't leave you too!]#

A mirthful chuckle can be heard from the comms, #[Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. I will finish this.]#

#[Ranma-sama!]# Emeralda cried out desperately.

#[Feh, don't worry Emeralda.]# Ranma's confident voice said, #[I will come back.]#

#[Ranma-chan.]# Washuu's voice came through, startling Ranma and the rest of the people a bit.

#[Come on, quit worrying!]# Ranma said cheerfully, #[I'm coming back!]#

#[I will wait for you, Ranma-sama. I trust you.]# Vanilla's soft voice said.

#[Vanilla...]# Ranma began.

#You better get back here soon, Ranma...# Meia's stern voice was laced with concern as she communicated in Japanese, #A lot of angry people will be waiting.#

Ranma shook his head and said, #Yes...#

Another powerful quake rocked the island, causing the Yggdrasil to force itself to back away, lest some debris would fly and hit the ship's outer armor.

#[Go on, go now...]# Ranma said, #[I'll handle this... it's my responsibility.]#

#[Good luck, Ranma-chan.]# Washuu whispered into the comms, before it died down. The Yggdrasil IV swerved away from the island and made a 180, flying away from it.

After watching his friends inside the battleship fly away to safety, Ranma turned to his problem at hand, that was to handle Deus' final efforts to remain in control of the situation. It dawned to Ranma that Deus would've had a failsafe mechanism that would be activated once it would be near death.

"Miyah..." His partner, Rin-Ohki, had asked worriedly to him mentally as they gazed on the path of destruction their target wreaked across the small patch of land it has taken from the ground.

"Yeah..." Ranma nodded absently, "This is gonna be a big problem. If Deus can't be destroyed here, it will spread all over the planet, wiping out everything that lives. It doesn't help that the mecha are not useable anymore."

Rin-Ohki's face appeared in front of him, as one of the spherical silver crystals that were usually visible in the cabbit's ship mode materialized suddenly. The cabbit's furry face was projected by the crystal, which was bobbing up and down a bit as the cabbit noised, "Miyah... miyah miyah miyah..."

Ranma looked at the sphere in speculation, "Are you sure we can pull it off? I mean, we could probably do it better in battleship mode, but that isn't gonna be an option right now. You say you've already installed THAT weapon into the mech, but can we handle it?"

"Miyah!" The cabbit answered in irritation.

Ranma shook his head rapidly, "No... I don't mean it like that. I do have faith in you and your abilities, but what if something goes wrong?"

Out of nowhere, a white tendril reached out and latched around Anima Seraphim's leg, causing it to stumble and fall flat on its back, losing its grip on its sword in the process. The huge dark blue sword vanished as Ranma's concentration wavered from it, since he was now frantically trying to set himself and Rin-Ohki free. Unlucky for him, other tendrils from Deus wrapped themselves around various parts of the mech's body, effectively immobilizing him. Ranma thought of going out and try to free them himself, but Rin-Ohki warned him about the perils of going out without knowing how strong the enemy in this new development was. Ranma pouted and settled on allowing Anima Seraphim to struggle amongst its bonds.

To Ranma's further dismay, a portal suddenly appeared just above the main 'body' of Deus. A small figure of a man with white wings at his back flew out of it, and remained floating atop Deus' slithering form. The angelic man looked around, and spotted Ranma and his mech wrapped by the white stuff.

The man quickly flapped his wings and flew closer to the Anima Seraphim, allowing Ranma to get a good look of him. The angelic man was nude, but was not bothered by it. He also has unbound white hair that flapped against the wind. The angel stopped just above the Anima Seraphim and looked curiously at it for a moment, before his face turned into a deep scowl as he crossed his arms across his chest imperiously.

Inside the cockpit, Ranma shook his head as he let the controls go and phased out of the mech and stood just above its chest cavity. He returned the scowl back to the angel

The man was momentarily stunned at the sudden appearance of the pilot without any movements from the Gear, but he quickly shook the feeling and composed himself. "[The 'Path of Sephirot' has been connected. No one can stop god from returning to his world now. So why do you still resist, mortal?]" The man said.

Ranma squinted his eyes as he suddenly recognized the man in front of him. "[Hey, I know you don't I? I saw you back at that cave thing when Deus activated.]"

The man nodded. "[I was once known as Krelian. Now, I'm of a higher being, granted by the powers of Deus.]"

Ranma snorted as he waved the explanation without consideration. "[I came here to protect everyone on this planet. You do realize what's going to happen, don't you? The Deus' system is already half-destroyed. I'm gonna finish the job. Now, what are you hoping to achieve now?]"

Krelian replied, "[The time when all things started... the place where all things were one... I am going there!]"

Ranma cocked his head to one side. "[Eh? What place?]"

Krelian rolled his eyes in disgust. "[Before the beginning of the universe, in the undulating waves of the higher dimension, all things were one. It was the waves spilling out from there that created this four dimensional universe of ours. 'Humankind' and the 'Souls of Humankind' that were born from there, are merely leftovers of those spilled waves. So...]"

The pigtailed man interrupted, "[Blah, blah, blah... so you're going back there to where ever it was you wanna go? Is that what you wanted?]"

The winged man looked ar Ranma intently. "[Mortal... why such resistance to recognize the power of god? The god has deemed this world unfit and unworthy, hence it decided to destroy everything and restart evolution. What attachment could you possibly have to this wretched old world? What meaning can be found in living out such a short existence... hurting others, hurting yourself, grinding one another down... only to inevitably die and return to dust? Why, everything we could ever desire is here... No need to be troubled by the need for love, for this place is filled with the love of god.]"

Ranma stared at Krelian incredulously, "[What the heck's that about? Killing innocents just so to prove a point? Where's the love in that? Unlike you, I have not lost hope in humans as much as you have, Krelian... Someday humankind will come to understand one another! I sincerely believe that! Besides, emotions make a human, human. Strife makes everyone stronger in the end. Humans will learn to comprehend these things by their own. They don't need some god to force feed them the information.]"

Krelian asked quizzically, "[How can you be so sure? Humans will never come to understand each other. All humans do is place themselves at a comfortable distance from each other and call that 'mutual understanding', 'spiritual unity', or 'true love'... but it is all lies! Man cannot associate with others without first deceiving himself. That is the way that they were created.]"

"[Who are you to judge?]" Ranma retorted, "[You don't have the right to judge anyone. Gods exist only to watch and observe, and maybe throw a bit of help here and there. But reshaping a whole planet just because they have emotions and the free will? Get real.]"

Krelian scoffed, "[And what if that 'Will' itself was predetermined? What then? Oh what folly?! Humans are just primitive life forms that have no such thing as free will. Mankind has merely been allowed to live in an imperfect state... "as is", "as will be". It is for this very reason... because humans have this wretched 'will' or whatnot... that humans must experience sadness and loss. For someone to gain something means another must lose it. It is impossible to make humankind share limited "things" and "affections". So I came to the conclusion that everything must be reverted back to where it all began. To go back to when all was one... waves, and nothing else. It is not my 'Human's' ego. It is the will of the
'Waves'... the will of -god-...]"

"[You're just making justifications for you actions.]" Ranma said simply, "['Will of god'? That's just an excuse for you to act like you are right now. But if we really think about it, you're just hiding from your own insecurities. You've probably experienced pain and loss in the past that you ran away from it. Along the way, your priorities were still there, but the path had become twisted. Nobody's perfect, heck even gods aren't perfect. Free will was given to mortals so that they may be able to forge their own destinies. Relying on the actions of god and other stupidly superstitious things makes mortals depended on such promises. Mortals are supposed to go past that stage and 'grow up'.]"

Krelian sighed loudly. "[Well then, prove it to me. Show me this power of humans! Show me this 'love' that you say can make you independent of god...]"

Suddenly, a large woman at least 50 feet tall with wings and a snake tail appeared. Ranma grimaced while quickly phasing back into Anima Seraphim, as the bonds that held it down dissolved into white goo and was reabsorbed into the ground.

#By the way, Krelian...# Anima Seraphim's external speakers emulated Ranma's voice, #I was never fully mortal to being with. I am a great contradiction to my own existence.#

Turning his attention to Rin-Ohki's face on the crystal sphere floating beside him, he said, "Well, this is a good enough time to test that weapon you've been raving about, Rin-chan."

"MIYAH!" The sphere cried out happily. The whole cockpit glowed as the mech siphoned more power from the red-haired Ranma. The pigtailed hybrid agitatedly weaveled his red tail behind him as he fed more energy into Rin-Ohki as he was instructed earlier.

Krelian was slightly disturbed when the dark blue mech went rigid, since he could feel a large build-up of power form within it. He saw the chest area of the mech open all of the sudden, revealing three giant multi-colored orbs that were glowing as of the moment. Black lightning arched all over the Anima Seraphim's body and gathered at the middle of the trio of orbs at its chest. The mech's hands came together on the chest, cupping something out of thin air.

To Krelian's surprise, a black orb of some kind appeared in the middle of the cupped hands, black lightning angrily crackling all over its surface. It was midnight black, and not even sunlight can pass through it. The sight made Krelian nervous.

#Well, Krelian... I have to finish this quick, or there'll be no planet to save. So take this. BLACK HOLE CLUSTER, FIRE!!!# Ranma bellowed as he willed the black ball to propel itself towards the enemy.

The giant winged woman was frozen in her tracks as the crackling dark ball of gravity rocketed towards her. When it reached her body, there was no sound but the ominous humming noise as the ball expanded into a ten foot miniature black hole, that sucked large bits of rock and other debris lying around the area. The winged woman tried her best to claw her way out of the trap, but it was inevitable. The gravitational force of the strongest spatial distortion in the universe overwhelmed her. Her silent screams were never heard, since even the sound was sucked into the black hole relentlessly. When her body was fully engulfed by the hole, it quickly collapsed into itself, which avoided further damage on its surroundings.

Inside Anima Seraphim's cockpit, Ranma gaped at the power of the attack. "Geez, Rin-chan! You weren't kidding about it! And it's only at six percent of its full power?"

The sphere bobbed happily once again. "Miyah!"

Their impromptu celebration was halted when Krelian's shocked voice filtered into the internal speakers, "[Wh-what? What was that?]"

Ranma phased out of Rin-Ohki's cockpit, once more confronting Krelian on the air as he levitated beside the winged man. "[A sample of the power mortals 'could' potentially have.]" the pigtailed hybrid said seriously. <He doesn't need to know that I'm probably half-divine... I'm still not sure what to do with what Chaos explained to me.>

"[I see...]" Krelian replied somberly. Out of the blue, the whole area shook, causing Ranma and Krelian to look towards Deus' main body. It was quivering, as if it was angry.

"[I need to destroy it completely.]" Ranma declared softly.

Krelian nodded. "[I know. I won't object. It would seem that trying to create god by my own hands have been one disaster after another.]" he said, shaking his head. He turned and flapped his wings, towards the direction where Deus was.

Ranma's yellow pupils and blue-gray eyes widened significantly. "[Where the hell are you going?!]" His tail started lashing out behind him.

Krelian stopped in midair, hovering, "[Since that time I decided to make god with these hands, I have stopped being human. I have committed so many sins that any attempt at living as a human is impossible. The only one who could have forgiven me is god.]"

The pigtailed hybrid shook his head. "[Aren't there people that cared enough to try and stop you from losing yourself into this madness? What about Fei, and Elly?]"

The winged man shook his head. "[I cannot go. It is something I have already decided. I'm going to walk with god, even if there is no place left for me upon my return.]"

Ranma sighed sadly, nodding, "[Fine... I'll tell them what you said.]"

Krelian smiled slightly, but his back was turned to Ranma so the red-tailed young man couldn't see his face. "[Thank you. I must say, you're something else. If I think about it, you must be a god in mortal form.]" he said in amusement, before spreading his wings once more and sped towards Deus.

With some reluctance, Ranma had teleported into Anima Seraphim's cockpit once more. He knew that he was about to take another step into becoming a full-pledged warrior.

Sure, he knew that he already crossed that line, but Saffron was threatening the life of someone he cared about. Somehow, the situation he was facing right now seemed parallel to each other, wings and all, but the difference was that Krelian already knew what he did wrong. Now, despite the acknowledgement of his mistakes, Krelian chose to die willingly.

Ranma was in a tight spot. But he also knew what Krelian was talking about. No matter how hard the man tried to reintroduce himself into society, there will always be that part in the minds of those who were affected by his actions that will never forget, and forgive.

Instead of facing that predicament and causing more damage, Krelian chose to disappear. Ranma knew he wasn't in the position to judge this man's death, but Krelian gave him the power to save or damn him.

Cursing silently to himself, Ranma finally decided what he was going to do. He wasn't going to disrespect the man's decision just because he felt it wasn't right. Ranma vowed to himself that he was never going to forget this man's bravery. Despite having the option to live on, Krelian chose to sacrifice himself for the bit of order that could be accomplished by it.

The pigtailed hybrid was probably the only one who could understand what Krelian was going through.

Saffron was a whole lot different from this man, and Ranma felt sick at what he was about to do. Still, Ranma will not ignore Krelian's plea.

Charging up his newly discovered attack up to ten percent of its full power, he held it in the mech’s chest for a while. He glanced at the white blob that was the form of Deus. Ranma knew Krelian had disappeared into the white mess, and apparently the winged man's mind was made up in leaving the mortal realm behind. Without another word, Ranma released a black hole once more, this time hitting Deus directly in the middle.

The whole area was rocked with huge quakes, before it was crumbled into the sixty-foot wide black hole that appeared. Deus' useless struggles were forever silenced when the black hole closed into itself, sealing the huge miasma of gravitational energy around the 'god' with finality.

Only the soft swirl of clouds remained, as well as the floating form of the Anima Seraphim.

With its victory, the Anima Seraphim opened air hatches all over its body. Steam pushed out of the vents as the cooling system started. As soon as all of the steam disappeared, the vents closed once again. With its deed done, the Anime Seraphim fell bonelessly towards the ground.

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To be continued...
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Author Rants:

It got too long! For some weird reason, I forgot its length! It's around 190K+, although I'm not really regretful for it, just tremendously surprised. I enjoyed writing this chapter, since I was able to add Evil Zone to the crossovers. It's a good chapter.

To those who might complain about why Ranma went to confront Deus...

Instead of allowing Grahf to be absorbed into Deus, Ranma let his energy get sucked into the stone slab. Ranma felt responsible for giving Deus way too much power, which I think made sense.

I would've done the same thing.

Xenogears side arc will be concluded in the next chapter.

To those interested, the crossovers for this chapter are:

- Ranma 1/2 (Of course! Ranma is always there!)
- Galaxy Angels (Vanilla!)
- Vandread (Meia!)
- Tenchi Muyo, Ryo-Ohki! (Washuu!)
- Xenogears (Everyone in it, too long to list)
- Evil Zone (Ihadurca/Lea!)

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here: lord_rance@yahoo.com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty bucket of cold water!

"I swear!! This ain't what it looks like!!!" - Ranma Saotome