Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ RaEl Book1: A Long Forgotten Legacy ❯ Ra-El Chp 6-10 ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Jhyarelle 
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Martial Arts / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.11.2007 | Updated On: 05.11.2007 | Pages: 9 | Words: 11.0K | Visits: 826 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Martial Arts / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.11.2007 | Updated On: 05.11.2007 | Pages: 9 | Words: 11.0K | Visits: 826 | Status: Work In Progress
Ra-El Chapter 6: It’s In His Kiss & Conflicting Issues
It has nearly been a week since Ranma released Lei Ym and there’s been no attempt to the village. He asked Ku Lon if there was a place for him to train should this Herb comes looking fro trouble. The training grounds for the village women were forbidden since he was a male, which left the rock quarry south of the village. If he wasn’t helping Tsu-oap around the village he spent his time here throwing himself in the nearly infinite martial art forms in his arsenal. He just could not concentrate today . He thought of leaving the village soon, before he got too attached; but the thoughts of leaving was becoming harder and harder to do, specially with a perky and kindhearted shaman was working her way into his heart.
It was hard to believe that in the week past, he and Tsu-oap became closer, though he convinces himself that their relationship was only built on friendship. However he knew that he was lying to himself, she was becoming more than just a friend to him. She even somehow managed to teach him to play the flute, if she could drag him away from his training. Last night’s events was keeping him from flowing through his kata.
Flashback:
Ranma Walks into Tsu-oap’s hut with an armful of fire logs. He smiles at the young shaman as she mixes various herbs for medical uses. He just couldn’t believe that the young lady he looked at practically took care of the entire village. Yesterday she delivered two babies, given shiatsu massages to most of the tribal elders, trained a junior shaman and still managed to find time to teach him to play the flute. Ranma admired the dedication, patience and discipline that she has in dealing with every body’s problems.
Tsu-oap turns and faces her housemate, who’s staring at her and can’t help but blush. The past week has been wonderful. Ranma helps around if he’s not training at the quarry and it was nice having someone to talk to at night when the workday is through. She has been ok with their relationship as it is, but she knew that it was growing harder with each passing day to ignore the calling of her heart. She returned her attention the herbs she was mixing as Ranma placed the firewood away and put some in the fireplace. Tsu-oap knows that the young man would leave soon in search for his family and it puts a sharp pain in her heart. She was falling in love with the young man she only asked for friendship with. She fought the tears that threatened to come she clutched her heart.
Ranma notices the change in Tsu-oap’s aura and knew what she was thinking. The week he’s spent with her allowed him to get to know her well enough that he need only look at her body language to know what she felt. Right now he felt pain from her, loneliness and feeling of being abandoned… again. Now let it be known that Ranma is still clueless about women in general thanks to that dumbfuck Genma, but thanks to a little father-son moment with Jo-El Ranma had a decent crash course in sensitivity. Ranma walked behind the Tsu-oap and encircled her in his arms. When Tsu-oap felt this unexpected act, she quickly tuned around and let all her tears out as she held on tightly to the young man that stolen her heart.
“Come with me,” Ranma said barely a whisper.
Tsu-oap gathered herself before answering him.
“What,” she said surprised.
“Come with me to look for my mother.”
“W.why, where did this come from?”
“I don’t know. I…”
“You don’t have to say anything, I…”
“Yes I do. I don’t know what’s this between us, not yet. I know that were too young to be married, but I like being around you. I don’t think I can just walk away from this….”
Any further word was interrupted as Tsu-oap pulled Ranma in for soul searing kiss. However Ranma one-upped her by deepening the kiss. Tsu-oap wrapped her arms around his neck as the couple continued to play tonsil hockey. The room was suddenly illuminated by the auras that shined brightly from the two. Their ki (AN: Don’t know the plural for ki is.) began to intertwine and flare in brilliant display of colors. Tsu-oap felt his ki flow all over her body as he did his. It was painful both physically and emotionally to break the kiss but they did.
“What did…”
“I…”
“Just think about it please.” Ranma said struggling as he reluctantly let her go.
Tsu-oap nodded her hear as she placed her hand on her swollen lips. Ranma gathered as much of his will power as he could and excused himself from the house and infused his body with ki and nearly teleported himself to the rock quarry to think about what just happened.
End Flashback
“Arrrgggghhhhh! Damnit!” Ranma roared as hid disintegrated a boulder with his fist.
“Your focus is lacking boy. What’s the matter?” asked Ku Lon perched on a boulder behind Ranma.
“Elder I…”
“Women problems boy? Trouble in paradise at such an early state.”
“This ain’t funny… I just.”
“Come on now boy, speak. You’ve opened up to me about the bastard the raised you and the Neko-ken, surely a little marital dispute would seem trivial compared to that.” She said as she hopped off the boulder and walked closer to Ranma.
“I asked her to come with me when I leave to look for my mother.” Ranma said somberly.
“So?”
“SO!? That’s all ya got ta say. I got no right to take her away from the only home she’s ever known. That would make me just like that fuck Genma. She’s needed here.” He practically shouted.
Ku Lon charged her ki and whacked her staff of Ranma’s head.
“Oww! Dammit, I actually felt that.” Ranma yelled.
“Good! Listen boy, you may not get it yet, but that girl has had it bad for you since you fell out of the sky. I’ve been watching you two the past week and you yourself have gotten attached to her, weather you admit it or not. She’s also your wife; your lives are you own. Be it here or the far corner of the world. Asking her to be with you on travels in only natural. The village may need her, but what about you?”
Ranma took in what the elder said gave it some thought before making reply.
“I thought you’d be the first one against me leaving. Didn’t say some about chain’n me here so you could marry off to every fertile warrior and raise a brood of strong warriors?” Ranma said jokingly.
Ku Lon had that evil smirk on face again making Ranma feel like someone stepped on his grave.
“Me n’ my big mouth.” He thought.
“Not that the thought crossed my mind a few times boy, but after what you told me of your past, I figured that treating you like live stock would be bad for my karma later on. I appreciate that you took enough time to consider both Tsu-oap’s and the village’s welfare in to consideration. However, you have not seen that girl as she grew up. She may be adopted by this clan but has felt ever so out of place within it. She been lonely since day one and I believe that your unexpected arrival is good for her.”
Ranma bows to Ku Lon.
“Thank you elder. You’ve given me much to think about.”
“You’re welcome boy. Tsu-oap is has been a wonderful daughter to me; she’ll make you a good wife. At the very least since you have concerns about a young marriage, you two are good friends.”
“I don’t know how I could ever repay for the hospitality and kindness you, Tsu-oap and the village has given me elder.”
“Hush now boy, you’ve had a life I’d never wish even on my worst enemy and that includes the Musk, well maybe the Musk; but that’s besides the point. You’re taking too much of my time, when you should be talking to your wife about your up coming trip. You could take this as your honey moon and hopefully visit with a couple of arm full of granddaughters for me to train and spoil.”
Ranma face faulted on that last comment. He then picked himself up, smirked and asked,
“What if they’re grandsons?”
“I’m a fairly good match-maker sonny boy, I could have your sons paired up and engaged before they say their first word.”
Ranma face fault cracked the ground in the last comment, while Ku Lon let out a hearty laugh, while she thought the Ranma indeed was worth the extra effort, and worthy of Tsu-oap.
“All right that’s it I give. Apparently there’s no one upping you.”
Suddenly there was a loud explosion that sent birds in the surrounding area into the air. The ground shook from the blast and a large billow of smoke came from the general direction of the village.
“The village boy…”
In gust of wind Ranma was gone before Ku Lon could finish what she said. She started to pogo her way back to the village in the hopes that the situation is not too disastrous.
Ra-El Chapter 7: A Death In the Family & Skeleton In the Closet
Ranma literally blurred through the mile between the rock quarry and the village, with one thing on his mind, “Kami please. Let me be on time.” When he approached the village saw the council hut and clinic ablaze and he cranked up the speed to reach the burning structure. Sensing auras in the clinic Ranma rammed through its wall and used his Ley line sight to see trough the thick black smoke. Inside was Tsu-oap trying to lift a burning wooden beam off of an unconscious Xian Pu. Tsu-oap saw a figure a waking trough the dense smoke and yelled for help. Ranma quickly rushed to her side and grabbed the burning beam and threw it at the door, destroying it. Ranma then carried both Tsu-oap and Xian Pu and bolted out the smashed door.
When Ranma got outside he saw some of the village women fighting a large werewolf. The large creature swatted the some of the women warriors like flies off him, some knocked out with one blow. Placing Tsu-oap down, Ranma handed her Xian Pu, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and blurred towards the werewolf. Ranma caught a young woman that the werewolf threw of him and placed her down, and continued to rush the beast. The werewolf was bout to take a swipe at another Amazon, when he was sent flying through trough the air and crashing through the council hut wall when Ranma rammed him. Ranma instructed the young Amazon he saved to help Tsu-oap gather the injured and get them to safety.
The werewolf got up from the rubble he caused and saw the boy who blindsided him. His hands blurred sending hundreds of shrapnel towards Ranma. Ranma blocked most of the hail of metal, some just bounced off his skin, but some did a real number on his clothes. His shirt was now just strips fabric that barely hung together, but his boots and leggings suffer minor rips and tears. Ranma rushed the beast that was stunned that the boy survived his “Wolf Fang Meteor Bullets” and cried out,
“Meteor Blitz!”
Ranma’s hands disappeared as he rained nearly 5000 blows to the werewolf’s midsection; the final strike sent the beast sprawling to ground meters away. He knew that a few of the beast’s ribs were broken, some cracked, and at least half of them bruised. So it will have trouble breathing when recovers, but won’t die. Ranma dusted his hand off, when a badly beaten Lie Ym was thrown not far from him. Rushing to him to check if he’s all right, Ranma saw on the roof of the burning clinic was a man in a robe of white and gold. There was streak viciousness in his eyes as he looked at he boy tending his failure of a servant.
“So you’re the one who defeated my servant,” The robed man said. He turned his attention to his other fallen servant. “Both of them.”
Ranma left Lie Ym to the Amazons while he took off to face this new threat.
“You’re a coward for letting others fight your battles for you Herb,” He called out.
Angered, Herb morphed to his hybrid dragon form, which was eight times larger than Lie Ym as a weretiger (AN: About as big as that dragon in the Jackie Chan cartoon) and leapt off the burning roof to engage the boy.
The Amazon women moved the weretiger as Ranma engaged the dragon king of the Musk clan. Tsu-oap gave instruction to the remaining warriors to help evacuate the village since a good third of it was now rubble. Ku Lon just made it time to help.
“Tsu-oap, what has happened,” the elder asked.
“The Musk attacked the village, destroyed nearly a third of it had Ranma not returned so quickly. The remaining able fighters will help the injured evacuate the village. I have to got help my husband,” Tsu-oap said as she hurried off towards the sounds of battle.
Ku Lon was about to go after the foolish girl when she noticed that one of the few that were injured that was being evacuated was Xian Pu.
The battle between the youth and the dragon escalated, as every strike has seemed to just bounce off either combatant. Herb launched a feint crescent kick that Ranma easily dodged, but Ranma saw the dragon’s tail already and caught it. Herb tried to shake him off by whipping his tail, however Ranma used this distraction to launch a flying kick to dragon’s head using the dragon’s last tail whip for momentum. Herb was knocked on his knees and let a loud roar and tried to take a claw strike at Ranma. Ranma back flipped and dogged the claw and rebounded of a tree and slammed onto the dragon’s back knocking Herb on his stomach. Herb’s long neck rears back head butting Ranma on the chest and Ranma staggers back, then Herb wrapped his tail around Ranma’s neck and slammed Ranma face first in to a wall. Charging his claws with ki, Herb took a swipe at Ranma’s exposed back. Ranma let out an agonizing cry as the ki enhanced claws ripped at his flesh.
Suddenly out of nowhere a silver spear pierced Herb’s left eye. He quickly let go of Ranma and clutched his wounded face as he looked his attacker and noticed her a few feet away from him. Tsu-oap readied her silver spear and tried to make her way to Ranma, but had to dodge a few claws and tail strikes from Herb, which kept her from reaching him.
“After I’m done with you and your boyfriend, I’ll use your little toy as tooth pick,” Herb roared. He then charged the young shaman.
Tsu-oap gathered her ki and focused in on her spear and called her attack.
“Splitting Cat’s Hair revised, Hornet’s Swarm,” She cried as she split into 8 duplicates of herself and began to attack the charging dragon.
Each duplicate struck from different angles but Herb countered the last attack with a tail strike, sending Tsu-oap crashing to a tree a few meters away and dispelling the duplicates. Tsu-oap staggered to get up just in time to see Herb used his fire breath towards her. She couldn’t doge the speed of the in coming attack and feared for the worse, when Ranma suddenly appeared in front of her. Tsu-oap saw the claw marks on Ranma’s back, but the wounds were quickly closing them selves, leaving only blood splatters trailing down his back. The fireball quickly headed towards them and Ranma concentrated his ki to alter his aura.
“Absolute Zero,” Ranma said and the temperature around him suddenly dropped as the air condensed around him and made Tsu-oap shiver.
A thin layer of ice formed on Ranma’s skin and the blood splatters on his back froze and flaked off and Ranma expanded his aura to cover Tsu-oap. The fireball dissipated a few feet from them.
“I ain’t done with you, you oven grown hand bag,” Ranma yelled as he fired a ki blast at the dragon. “Ice Spike”
An ice sliver formed from Ranma’s hand and was launched towards Herb. The dragon tried to swat the ice projectile away, only to have his left arm frozen on impact. Tsu-oap then followed with pear to the neck, but Herb easily dodged it and snapped the spear with his jaws. That momentary distraction allowed Ranma to add a three hit combo on the dragon’s midsection and finished with an uppercut to the jaw. The Amazons watched on awe as the couple seemed to flow in intricate dance of death with each attack they landed on the dragon hybrid. Ku Lon felt nothing but pride in her adopted daughter’s skill in fighting and at pace that complemented her husband’s speed and power. A now conscious Xian Pu watched in awe and envy as her fellow Amazon complimented her husband in action and reaction. So the battle continues ever flowing in a dance where when Tsu-oap dodges or counters, Ranma would strike and vise versa.
Victory seemed close at hand, when Herb caught Tsu-oap during a mid jump kick. Ranma tried to get her free, but was caught off guard when Herbs frozen arm bashed him on the head releasing the dragon’s arm from the ice. Ranma was sent crashing to the ground. Getting up quickly, Ranma jumped and grabbed Herb’s arm just as he was about to spear hand strike Tsu-oap on the chest. In doing so Ranma did not see Herb’s tail truck Tsu-oap from behind. Time slowed to a crawl as Ranma turned to Tsu-oap just in time to see the Herb’s tail run through her chest. Ranma blood went cold and then reinforced his legs with ki. He then back flipped off Herb’s arm and donkey kicks him on the chest making him drop Tsu-oap and sending the dragon a good 30 meters away.
Ranma knelt in front of Tsu-oap and took her in his arms, his tears flowing down his face. With the last of her strength, Tsu-oap touches Ranma’s face and said,
“I have to tell you at least once. I love you, I should have told you sooner, but…”
“It’s my fault, I should have been more honest with what I felt.”
“I’m really happy to have you by my side. I…”
Ranma felt and saw the Ley lines slowly fade from her body as he gave her his first and last kiss. Ranma’s wife passed in his passed away in his arms. He places her gently on the ground and he rose to his feet and let cried out his pain.
“Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
The dragon “S” shield reappeared on his chest glowing a bright red as Ranma’s Kryptonian braces unclasped themselves from his arms and fell to the ground, causing two ground to crack with matching mini craters.
XxX
Many miles above the Earth’s atmosphere in large space station a couple stood near the observation window, both staring at the blue orb as they orbit around it. The man in the crimson cape was taller than woman next him and had an aura of hope and leadership about him. Suddenly the man is taken to his knees as he clutches his head reeling in pain. A telepathic alarm assaulted his mind; the “Fortress” was calling him. Images of a man in a Zod’s imperial army uniform flashed in his mind with his father Jor-El, followed by images of the man being a placed in a modified Kryptonian deep space satellite with coordinates for Earth.
“Kal are you alright,” a tall female said as she aided her distressed friend to his feet.
“I think so Diana, but I have to got to the “Fortress.” It’s calling me, it never did before.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No I need you to stay here should any thing happens.” Kal-El said as sped of to Earth.
Diana returned her attention to the observation window and watches as her friend break through the Earth’s atmosphere in a streak of red and blue.
As Kal-El entered the crystal fortress he saw the runes spelling Jo-El flashing on all monitors. A hologram of his father Jor-El appeared before him.
“My son,” he said. “The time has come for me to tell you, a well guarded secret that I have kept from you. About the man responsible thwarting a near world war in Krypton. A man of great honor and strength of character, but for his actions was wiped from the history of Krypton. I will now tell you of the true story of family’s dealing with Zod. I can now speak to you with pride about my brother Jo-El.”
Kal-El was shock to hear this; this meant that all he knew of Kryptonian history were flawed since his father never mentioned having another brother besides Zor-El. Zod, what about the family connections to him? Was Brainiac’s supposed complete data of Krypton flawed as well? He thought about contacting Kara should she need know about his. However he turned back his attention to hologram of his father.
“Please father, continue.”
Ra-El Chapter 8: What’s Left of Me & Departures
“Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
The surge of power that coursed through his body could not lessen the pain of loss that tore him apart. He then saw the dragon that caused this pain stagger to his feet and literally took off and rocketed towards him fist cocked for a devastating blow. The Amazon women watching saw Ranma vanish from Tsu-oap’s side and reappeared with his fist buried in the dragon’s gut. The shockwave from the impact leveled all in its wake in twenty-meter sphere that centered the two fighters as it thundered across the valley. Herb flew back from the blow, but before he could have gotten a few feet from Ranma, he grabbed the dragon by the tail. Ranma then flailed the beast though a stone hut and nearly broke its back when he whipped him against an oak tree.
Ku Lon was nearly blinded by shear power of the boy’s aura and made her way towards Tsu-oap’s body. Her heart sank as gazes upon her. So young, loved by her adopted home and at the very door of love for herself. Ku Lon ran her hand through her hair and remembered the last conversation with her just the other night. She said should anything happen to her, set the boy free. Apparently the girl saw her early fate and made the elder swear that on her honor as village matriarch that Ranma would not be a prisoner of their culture. When Ku Lon asked why? Tsu-oap answered that a gifted young man like him is a gift to the world and keeping him trapped here would be robbing him the chance of sharing his gifts. Ku Lon saw the boy’s bracers not far from Tsu-oap and when she tried to pick them up, they would not even move as if there were fixed into that spot.
Ranma continue to vent his pain on the dragon Herb and he was powerless to nothing more than let him. Ranma’s uppercut launched the dragon skyward with a cry of,
“Nova Upper!”
Ku Lon and the rest of the village were shocked to see Ranma follow the dragon into the air without jumping. He jus took off from where he stood and soared after the air born beast. Ranma continued the assault on Herb as he rained blow after blow to the dragon’s body. Each strike exploded like thunder as it struck. Ranma once again grabbed the Herb’s tail and whipped the beast earthward. Ranma dove after falling beast and slammed both fist to his chest and increased the velocity of their fall.
“That’s insane.” Ku Lon thought as she witnessed thins.
At the height and speed that they were falling at, it would be a miracle if either one of them survives. The impact caused a sixty-meter crater at the out skirts of the village and shook the ground violently causing 3.0 tremors in a 6-mile radius that lasted a whole minute before dissipating. Those who witnessed this rushed along the smoking edge to see the aftermath of this battle. Ranma stood above a severely beaten dragon with the cold eyes with the intent to kill. Ranma grabbed one of Herb’s horns, then hoisted the beast’s head to bear his neck and drew his hand for spear hand death blow to its neck, while Herb stares defiantly at him with is one good eye.
“How dare you,” Ranma shouted. “Knowing what you’ve taken from me, from these people.”
“How noble of you to say after loosing your bed warmer,” Herb choked out.
It was the last switch that needed to be pressed for Ranma to do what he did. His hand descended towards the dragon’s neck. Suddenly Ranma was shoved into darkness. Ranma searched for anything in the endless sea of black, but nothing, just an empty sea of darkness.
In Ranma’s mind:
“Son.” Jo-El’s voice echoed through the darkness as he materialized in front of him.
“Father!” Ranma said with ragged breath.
“Have you already forgotten the pillars you swore to uphold?” Jo-El sternly said.
“Never!” he shouted.
“Wisdom”
“I should have been more honest with her.”
“Humanity” (NA: insert Kryptonian or universal version of this)
“She accepted me for who I am as I, her.”
“Transcendence”
“She showed me a world beyond my fist.”
“Courage”
“He took her away, it’s my right to avenge her.”
“Justice”
“I’ll make him pay.”
“Temperance”
“He doesn’t deserve any mercy, not one ounce of it!”
“Then you have failed to grasp the all I taught you.” Jo-El said as he turned away from Ranma.
“He took her from me, from the only place she ever knew as home. He took the very life I want to be with!” Ranma yelled as he tried to run after his father, but could not move from where he stood.
“But have you the right to take his? Where does it end from there? We are gifted men my son, not gods. We do not have the right to that power.”
“You were a soldier. How many lives have you taken father?”
“A soldier’s life is not used to take it from others. I spent my life trying to preserve it son. The blood on my hands has stained my soul and haunted all of my days. Are you prepared for that fate?”
Hearing those words Ranma was ejected from the darkness and returned back to his body at mid strike to Herb’s neck. His hand stopped at the base of the beast’s neck and Ranma felt Herb’s even pulse beneath the his scales. Ranma’s eyes began to glow a blue hue as he traced every single Ley Line that weaved through out Herb’s body.
“Second thoughts boy,” Herb said as he bared fanged grin. “Why don’t you join your….”
Herb could not finish his words or was able to launch a final attack, as Ranma suddenly grabbed his other horn and brought his head down to meet his rising knee strike to his jaw. There was sickening sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing as Ranma’s attack ripped off both horns from the dragon’s head. The witnessing Amazons gasped at the sight and marveled at boy as he crushed the dragon’s horns in his fist and scattered it to the four winds.
Herb grasped his bleeding head as his boy started to convulse and glow. His screams of agony hung in the as his body reverted to its natural human form. He couldn’t get up and every fiber of his being felt on fire. He could only turn his head to look at Ranma as he scattered the last remnants of his crushed horns to the winds. Again and again he tried to will his body to transform but that only resulted in more pain.
“What…”
“You will never hurt any one again.”
“…have…”
“Your powers are gone.”
“…you…”
“You will never be a burden to this village again.”
“…done?!”
“I have kept my word father. I understand. You haven’t failed.”
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
Ranma looked at beaten man before him and chose his word carefully before answering him.
“All the lines of power you possessed were anchored to your horns. Destroying them negates your powers from now on and they will never grow back, I made sure of that. You no longer have the ability to transform. You are not worthy of a dragon’s mantle. Just know this, I have shown you temperance by not killing you,” Ranma then raised his hand towards the many Amazon women that stood at the foot of the crater.
“They on the other hand, shall see to your fate.”
Ranma then leapt from where he stood near the fallen Musk leader and landed near Tsu-oap’s body. He gathered her in his arms and headed for the decimated village with a cadre of tear stricken Amazons trailing behind him.
XxX
A man stared a giant computer screen that showed a map of China and various notes and geotectonic schematics and ponders on what caused the light quake in the Bayankala range. He then turned his attention to another screen with the same map as its larger counter part but the schematics showed information about a large surge of super concentrated heat output. However unlike that smaller screen, the large one showed a picture of a beam of red light emanating from an area not far from where the sudden quake occurred about a week ago. The man then press another button on his oversized console and an unemotional feminine voice came over the speaker.
“Yes.”
“How your Chinese these days.”
“Better than yours.”
“How about a nice vacation in China around the Bayankala range?”
“Is this a bring “the suit” type of vacation.”
“If it can’t be avoided.”
“Why not send Tengu-boy?”
“The locals don’t take kindly to foreign men. This trip needs a woman’s touch.”
“Did you just crack a joke?”
“I fill you in what you need to do when you get there. Don’t take too long Cassandra.”
“Roger.”
XxX
On a balcony that over looked the Chinese mountain range a golden haired young man sat on a lavish golden chair with what looked like a chess game in progress on a table next to him. Suddenly a winged warrior landed behind him and knelt down.
“The lizard has failed excellency.”
“I see,” the golden haired man said as he knocked down one of the ivory pieces on the chess like board. “Send Masara and Koruma to keep an eye over the Josenketsu.”
“Yes my lord.”
“And Kiima…”
“Yes my lord”
“Don’t forget to draw my bath.”
XxX
It has been three days since the attack, two since Tsu-oap’s ceremonial cremation. A statue of her was erected at the village center to celebrate the young shaman’s life and valor. There, Ranma stood at its foot and stared at the statue. After the statue was placed at the village center Ranma spread her ashes on its base and planted a ring of flowers around it. Ranma then took of his right bracer and placed it on the statues left arm, it automatically readjusted itself to fit it. The statue suddenly had a faint glow about it and the dragon “S” shield appeared on the statue’s chest. Ranma ran what little memories he made with the young shaman through his thoughts. His thoughts were interrupted when a young pink haired girl tapped his shoulder.
“I’m sorry to bother you.”
“It’s alright. Sy-lku right,” Ranma asked as he turned to her.
“I never got to thank you for helping rescue us that day. I was knocked out when you showed up and a lot has happened since then, I just wanted to thank you should you leave,” Sy-lku said then bowed before Ranma and left.
“You’re gonna leave a lot of broken hearts here boy,” Ku Lon said, as she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
“I figure with so many broken hearts, then one leaving wouldn’t be much of a bother. That girl, she was one of Tsu-oap’s students right? Who’ll continue her training?”
“That would be me and the rest of the elders. Thanks to you most of the repairs are done. When do plan to leave?”
“I should be gone by dawn the next day. Damnit I should have told her to back off.”
“Do not wallow too far at that edge boy. Even gods wouldn’t be able pull you out should you fall. Tsu-oap knew what she was doing and fought bravely at your side any Ama… as any woman would at the side of the man she loves.”
“Where will you go?”
“If I weren’t searching for my mother, something’s telling me to go north, but I’ll worry about that after I find her.”
(AN: Yes the last two lines has similar dialogue in the Donner Superman film in the beginning when Martha asked Clark where he’s going after Jonathan died and the whole knowing that Tsu-oap was gonna die soon was my 13 year old sister’s idea. “See I told you’d get mentioned for that.”)
Ku Lon solemnly handed Ranma a small slender wooden box and a small pouch.
“Here, take this.”
“What’s…” Ranma couldn’t finish a the slender wooden box stored the flute that Tsu-oap taught him to play and the small pouch held a handful of precious gems.
“Elder I can’t possibly take this.”
“Yes you can boy, that flute is the only thing that survived the fire that destroyed the shaman’s hut and I’m sure that Tsu-oap would have wanted you to have it. The gems are for you to use on your journey.”
“Thank you Elder, for everything.” Ranma bowed.
“Thrice you have come to our aid and in even knowing our reputation with males, you still lent a hand. You have rid us of an age long foe that the next generation of Josenketsu need not worry for the next. Therefore Ranma on behalf of the elders in the Josenketsu, I want to adopt you as my son with all the status of an Amazon warrior. You would be the first male to receive this honor in our three thousand year reign.”
“I would be honored elder.”
Ku Lon took Ranma’s hand and began to trace a complex pattern upon it. Ranma noticed the flow of Ley Lines shift in his palm and took form of a serpentine dragon twisting its body into a yin-yang.
“You are now my son in my eyes boy and the village here acknowledges that.”
Ranma turned and looked around him to see the entire village and elders bow at to him.
“May you never forget this village on your journeys my boy.”
“I won’t elder. I left a gift should you ever need me.” Ranma said as he pointed the Tsu-oap’s statue and the bracer it has on its left arm. “I’ve attuned that bracer to the Ley Lines of the village, should my help be needed at any time, I’ll know.” Ranma finished as he showed Ku Lon the other bracer on his left arm.
The elder nodded and made her way back to the elder’s and the village went about their daily routine. Ranma decided think about how to find his mother, Japan may be a chain of islands but still but large for him wander around to look for his mother. He then decided to go the rock quarry to brood…err think.
When he got there he felt a presence near by.
“State you business Lei Ym, I know you’re here.”
The stripped haired man walked from behind some large boulders and headed for Ranma. Ranma sill leery about the cat aura he radiated automatically went on a defensive stance.
“I’m not here to fight you boy.”
“Then what do you want,” as he neared him letting his guard down.
“This,” as Lei Ym quickly morphed into the weretiger and sunk his right claw to Ranma’s chest.
Ranma’s eyes started to glow as the fear and pain race through his body. Lei Ym then pushed head back just in time to see the red beam shoot skyward. The two struggled, one to be freed and the other to hold on. In reality there are three entities at war, a bake-neko who’s slowly losing its grasp, the victim, and the exorcist. They then separated in a flash of brilliant ki. Ranma fell to his knees as gazed on upon Lei Ym.
“What… did you … do?”
“It’s not much, but the bake-neko’s hold is lessened. The rest is up to you.” Said Lei-Ym as he left.
Ra-El Chp 9: Up, Up & Way Home
Two weeks, forty-seven arranged marriages by one Genma Saotome, several rounds of 30mm cannon fire from the Japanese air force while flying into Japan air space, and accruing proof that Genma was not his real father in no particular in that order; Ranma wound up somewhere in Juban area. He was glad that the aura technique he learned from Jo-El also had the ability to mask his true appearance, which meant that his face would not be in the Japan Sun’s front page newspaper anytime soon after that aerial fiasco with the air force.
“They just had to put 48 holes in the only good shirt I got, regardless that it was torn when I found out I could fly,” Ranma thought.
Ranma was currently at the Juban 8th division police station, where he was going over the some 6 stacks of files on Genma Ikari. Apparently one of the families that Genma screwed over by engaging Ranma to his daughter was the now chief of police of Juban and therefore was more than willing to help Ranma out in brining Genma to justice after along argument and agreeing that the engagement had no validity, as Ranma is not biological son of Genma and had no authority whatsoever in the Saotome clan.
Ranma found out Genma’s real family name via countless police reports and outstanding warrants for theft and B&E’s. Later he found several counts of child abuse and child endangerment after he married into the Saotome clan, a well to do family that currently resides in the area. The child abuse and child endangerment charges were pressed by several school social workers that treated Ranma on the rare times Genma allowed him to go to school. Ranma gathered enough information that should Genma ever cross his path ever; Ranma is sure to make him pay. Ranma had only one more thing to do as he looked over a map of Juban for the location of where the Saotome address that matched the birth certificate he acquired when started to dig around for his past. As Ranma stepped out police station he began to think about the day he left the Amazons and the life he could have had with Tsu-oap and accidentally found out that he could fly.
Flashback.
Several miles away from the Amazon village Ranma wandered through the dense forest. He took with him a small traveling satchel and a few necessities and the gifts imparted by Ku Lon. A few miles of walking later, he came upon a small canyon about an 8th of mile across with a large river below. Ranma had no intention of climbing down the small canyon, traverse the river and climb up the other side, nor did he want to waste time by walking around the damned thing. Ranma tossed his satchel into subspace tapped the Ley lines of speed and air about him and dashed toward the edge of the canyon.
Ranma then jumped as he got to the edge and arced over the canyon and river bellow. Ranma was quite upset that as his arc and trajectory were a little off and in few seconds was about to over shoot his intended landing zone. Ranma’s momentum kept him air born far beyond where he intended to land and had not felt gravity affect him as he continued to sail over the forest canopy. Ranma began to flip over and he tried to right himself, but wound up only speeding the process. Upside down and still sailing over the forest canopy, Ranma tried once again to right himself by swimming, only to accomplish looking stupid. Ranma closed his eyes then focused his thoughts on stopping and immediately he felt his momentum stop. He opened his eyes and was still hanging upside down looking at the treetops suspended in the air by some unknown force.
“Great!” Ranma thought. “How the hell do I get…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Ranma screamed as suddenly felt gravity pull him to the ground.
He crashed through several large branches and several jagged rocks on the forest floor. Ranma picked himself up and checked himself over of injuries, but found none. His shirt was torn but his kin had no scratches or cuts from the fall. Ranma craned his neck and looked skyward to judge the distance of his fall. It appeared to be a hundred and some feet fall. Ranma knew that even with ki enhanced jump that he could only go about 60 feet forward from a running start and 30 feet up from standing point. Even when he trained with Jo-El their jumps never went further than 60 feet. Was this the benefits the yellow sun his father mentioned imparts on their kind? Ranma pondered over what other abilities could he posses under the yellow sun. Ranma decided to test something out and once again tapped the Ley lines of speed and air causing a ripple in the air around him and jumped straight up. Ranma never felt such speeds before not even when he ran aided by the Ley lines of speed as he did right then. He rocketed heavenward and watched the land below him shirk as he went higher. Ranma focused this thoughts on stopping and he did and came to the conclusion that his ability to defy gravity is by his will. Ranma had another test he would like to try before he could celebrate. He turned eastward to Japan and thought about heading towards that directions.
“WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOO” Echoed across the skies as the wind ran through Ranma’s shoulder length hair.
Ranma raced across the blue skies doing a cadre of aerial tricks and pushing the speed of his flight to it maximum limits. He realized that at the speeds he was going that Japan soon came onto the horizon. Ranma decided to slow down and enjoy the thrill of flight a bit longer. He then noticed that he was no longer alone in the skies as two jets that bore the Japanese Air Force insignia came from behind him.
“Awe, crap!” He thought as he tried to get away, but still being new to this flight thing didn’t do a good job of it.
Ranma tried several times to out maneuver the jets but to no avail. The pilots saw the act of the bogie’s erratic flight pattern as hostile and opened fire on it. Ranma tried his best at dodging the cannon fire but could not avoid most of them, after all there were two jets shooting at him at the same time. Ranma noticed that he was not ripped to shreds as 30mm. shells bounced off him and decided that retaliation might be bad thing, even though those pilots ruined one of his good shirts.
“O.K. Ya wanna play,” Ranma thought.
Ranma boosted his speed and out maneuvered on of the jets and landed on its canopy surprising the pilot as he gave him the finger and zoomed off. That stunt cost Ranma as the other jet got a lock on him even at the speeds he flew and fired a missile towards him. Ranma tried his best to avoid the guided project tile but he couldn’t shake it, he then dove towards the water. When he was about ten feet above the water he quickly turned and fire a ki bolt at the missile. The force of the explosion knocked Ranma into the water and when he surfaced he saw the jets headed to ward Japan. Ranma then hovered just above the waters and decided to fly low for now and headed towards Japan.
XxX
At the same exact moment someone shut off a large monitor in dark cave and tapped comm device on the ear-side of his cowl.
“Clark, we need to talk.”
“Not now Bruce…I have a family situation I have to deal with.”
“Clark, are you alright you sound…”
“I’m fine. I’ll get back to you as soon as this is resolved. Ka-El out.”
The brooding man leaned back on his large captain’s chair and thought about the awkward communication with JLA leader. He then opened a come channel.
“Have you arrived?” He asked.
“The plane is about to taxi off to the runway.” A stoic female said. “Your loaded and you send me on a coach flight instead of one of your privet jets.” She added in dry humorless tone.
The man brooding in the cave had faint grin flashed on his face and suddenly disappeared before answering.
“You’re going there as tourist, arriving in one of my privates jets could rile up the Chinese press and ruin my reputation, fraternizing with a girl half my age that was old enough to be my daughter.”
There was groan at the other end of the comm.
“Seriously, stop taking humor lesson from Big S. I’ll fill you in when I get there. Cassandra out.”
End flashback
Ranma’s thoughts were interrupted when a Cadillac sped by and nearly ran him over and were chased by two police squad cars. There were masked men hanging out of the rear windows of the Cadillac and firing assault rifles at the police before going back in side. Ranma gritted his teeth and flared his mask aura sped off after the Cadillac. Ranma stopped right in front of it slamming his hand on the hood of the speeding car. The Cadillac’s abrupt stop caused the driver and front passenger who were not wearing a their seat belts to fly out the front wind shield. Ranma caught the two and slammed them on the hood of the car letting them fall on opposite sides. The two remaining assailants on the rear opened fire on Ranma only to be shocked when the bullets have no effects on him. One of the men reached down and took out a bazooka and fired it towards Ranma. Ranma not wanting to ruin another shirt sidestepped the on coming projectile, only to notice that it was now heading straight for a city bus.
“CRAP!” Ranma shouted as he took off for the projectile.
Ranma flew past the rocket just a few meters from the bus and crossed his arms as the rocket detonated when it hit him. The explosion knocked Ranma through the bus’s front window. He quickly got up and noticed that on of the passengers were injured by flying glass. A young lady with auburn hair in Paige-boy hairstyle had a gash on her leg. Ranma gently raised the girl’s leg and extracted a few bits of glass that were imbedded in her leg, making sure his aura flows through her to dull her pain. He then tore a piece of his shirt, exposing a well-toned abdomen that made the most of the ladies on board blush. He pressed a few pressure points on the girl’s leg and wrapped the wound. He smiled at her making her blush darker and then flew out the bus window making all the women on board rushing to the front of the bus. Ranma rushed back to Cadillac and lifted it off the ground ala Action Comics #1 style and shook the remaining assailants in the car on to the street. By this time the press and a crowd have amasses around him as place the car down and collected the masked men. He looked at the logo on the car and it said TK-Tech on the back of a samurai wielding a boken.
After the masked men were taken away and the police showing their gratitude to Ranma’s assistance the press and the crowd began to hound the young man with question and proposals.
“Who are?”
“Where do you come from?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Can I bare your children?”
All this began to annoy Ranma and he took of into the air leaving a bewildered, yet excited crowd below. Unknown to him that the girl whose wound he tended to was looking at him through a pair of binoculars before he disappeared from view.
“Great!” Ranma thought as streaked through the skies and landed on the top of Tokyo tower. “This isn’t exactly the way I hope to start helping people out. Now lets see,” Ranma thought as he took out a map of Japan and tried to figure out how to get to the Saotome home from here.
Three hour later and making sure that he asked for direction when he got lost, he arrived at the Saotome house and was shocked at what he saw. The house was huge compared to the neighboring houses near by. The gate that surrounded the complex was high and thick enough to make the compound look like a fortress. Suddenly there was a loud explosion coming from a house next door.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” came from a girl above Ranma falling with a smoke trail coming from the house that had an explosion from it.
Ranma instinctively caught the falling girl and noted the blond shoulder length hair and the rather cute light blue eyes behind large circular glasses.
“Ummm. Thanks. Now could you take about eight and a half steps to your right.” The blond girl asked.
Ranma dumbly nodded and did as he’s told when suddenly a giant metallic hand fell where he had once stood. Ranma placed the girl down and she took out a small device from her pocket and began to type codes into it. The giant metal hand then stated to crawl back towards the house it came from. The girl then turned to Ranma flashed him a killer smile that made her baby blues twinkle with delight.
“Thank you saving me. I’m Mina, Mina Kupida.”
Ra-El Chp 10 Reunited Twice Over
“Ranma, Ranma Saoto…”
“Mina dear, are you alright?”
That voice. That voice that echoed in his dreams, since he left home. It was that voice. The voice that he had wanted to hear for so long is here now. Existence it self stood still. Ranma’s head turned ever so slowly (Insert slow motion and after imaging animation of Ranma turning in a black background) to the voice that never made him give up, no matter what Genma sadistically put him through. The first thing he was her eyes and slowly the rest came to focus ever so slowly. Those warm brown eyes caught his sapphire blue gaze and she knew what he felt. The auburn haired woman’s trembling hand went to her lips as she caught her breath, as the young man’s eyes began to glaze over with tears. There was silence, no sounds, no images; nothing existed in that small eternity of when those eyes met. Ranma wanted so badly to speak, but could barely from the words he so desperately wanted to say. He saw her walk towards him, crossing the darkness and with each soundless step she came closer.
“It’s a dream, it has to be,” Ranma tried to convince himself.
She drew closer and his breath stop as she raised her hand and cupped his cheek. When he felt her hand on his face he closed his eyes and his tears fell.
“Ranma.” That voice through the darkness called.
“If I open my eyes, there will be no one. I will still be alone.” Ranma said in barley a whisper.
Ranma felt another hand together now framing his face, which made him draw a deep breath.
“My son,” That voice called to him at the verge of tears.
Ranma opened his eyes and the darkness was banished and the ghost that haunted him for ten years was in front of him in living flesh; and her hands on his face was warm. Warmer than any sleeping bag he slept in or roaring fire that he has sat by since he left.
“Ranma,” she cried.
That voice pierced the silence and gave him breath and strength to speak.
“M..o..t..h..e..r,” He barley said.
A dam of emotions burst as the auburn haired woman threw her arms around him and buried her head in chest and sobbed. Ranma felt her tears soak through his shirt as he slowly wrapped his arms around her small frame.
“I’m home… It’s no dream.” Ranma said as he clung the weeping woman with his own tears falling from his eyes.
For the first time in ten years Ranma held his mother, heard her voice, breath in the cheery blossom scent of her shampoo and for the firs time in very long time felt at home.
XxX
Up north, in an alien crystalline fortress, a lone figure was coming to terms with what he learned as the true history of Krypton and come to grips that he and Kara were no longer the only Kryptonians on Earth. If his uncle did manage to survive and came to earth so long ago, then wouldn’t he have found him instead of the Kents? He tried to make sense of it all, and for once in life unsure of what may come, and so he would start to look for clues for anything that might help.
“Kara,” He whispers knowing that if she was anywhere on the planet, then she would hear him. “Meet me at home in Smallville, it’s important, and by the look of things Ma’s making meatloaf. Bring desert, I’ll bring the wife and wine”
He gathered a small crystal tablet and downloaded the information that was recently unlocked in the fortress’ database into it. All this time Zod sought revenge on his father never knowing who really brought him down.
He then noticed an area f the fortress that was not there before. Another door in the armory appeared around the same time as the deluge of new information flooded the fortress’ systems. He walked up to it and read the Kryptonian runes imprinted upon it. He ran his fingers against the runes the said; “Herein lays the greatest weapon of war and destruction or the greatest implementation of peace. Choose well bearer of Kry-Ou.”
“What is this Kry-Ou,” He thought.
He tried to open the door, but with no avail, nor did he find any details in the fortress’ database about this new addition. He tired raw strength, but failed and even his heat vision left no mark. He knew that finding this barer of Kry-Ou would solve this puzzle. The man then took to the air and headed for civilization among a jungle of stone, steel and glass.
XxX
Somewhere in cave a man tuned off his gigantic monitor that he uses to keep an eye out for nearly every criminal activity in the world as well as anything out of the ordinary. Many have called him paranoid, but he believes that better results can be attained if prepared and right now the “out of the ordinary” seems to be this new hero in Japan. He opened a comm channel that registered somewhere in China.
“Have you found anything?”
“Yeah and you wouldn’t believe me if I just told you, so I’m sending you visual data as we speak.” A young woman’s voice came from the speaker.
Bruce took the print outs from the printer and focused his attention the familiar symbol on the female statue’s chest and a close up of the bracer and its alien markings on its right arm.
“Anything from the locals?”
“Not without me digging further and warranting a “Kiss of Death,” which I have no intention of being in the middle off, since I have enough yahoos swearing eternal revenge on me and that’s before Gotham.
“And this information has what value to me?”
“No… Never mind, what ever happened here form the look of things, happened about a week or so ago and they’re keeping a tight lip on it. However, there is this folk song that’s been floating around lately that might shed some light on some things.”
“I was hoping that you didn’t take this tourist thing too literally, it’s just a cover you know?”
“And I said stop taking lesson on funny from Superman, anyways the lyrics has something to do with the photo of that statue I sent you.”
“Very well, proceed.”
“Well since I know your Qigong Cantonese sucks, I’ll give you the bare bones of the song. The song says something about a handsome young warrior who fell from the heavens and thrice saved the village and a beautiful village shaman that captured his heart. One day a dragon came and tried to destroy the village. Both warrior and shaman danced a dance of death with the beast. The shaman fell and warrior cried out his sorrow and loss to the gods, who then responded by giving him a portion of their powers and on his chest he bared their mark. The dragon was defeated at cost of a life. The warrior then disappeared either to join his beloved beyond or assure that no loss like his ever happens again.”
“……..”
“Batman!”
“……..”
“Batman?”
“I’m here. Good work, head back hear ASAP. I need someone in Gotham while I’m gone.”
“Where are you off to this time, that you want me back so fast.”
“I’m going to find and talk to “a warrior who fell from the heavens.”
“Say that again, you’re starting to sound like Specter.”
“You have your instructions. Batman out!”
XxX
In the Saotome home three people were having some tea in the dinning room.
“I’m so sorry Mina. I’ve completely ignored you. It’s just…”
“Don’t worry about it aunty Nodoka. I’m glad to see you so lively again.”
Mina then turned to Ranma with mischievous smile on her face.
“So your finally home huh, little Ranma?”
Ranma had that someone stepping over his grave feeling. The only feeling he got when he finds out that Genma has screwed with his life again. The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise (which kinda weird as he has shoulder length hair) as the attractive girl before him seductively took of her glasses and bit on its earpiece. Ranma gulped and Nodoka giggled at her son’s reaction.
“Mina…h…have we met before,” Ranma asked. “I mean, before today that is.”
“Whaaaaat? Ranma, you don’t remember me,” Mina said as her lips quivered.
And herein Ranma knew he was doomed. Ranma started to panic, seeing as he’s all action and barely any socialization, has no clue what to do next. Nodoka moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried smile. That sent Ranma’s imagination to overdrive.
“Noooooo! Not you too mom. Genma yes, but not you too,” Ranma thought as his head turned back and forth from Nodoka and mina.
“Ranma while I’m glad that you carried me in your thoughts all these years, I also hoped that you carried some memories of Mina with you too.” Nodoka serenely said.
All the while with every word that came from his mother’s mouth, Ranma mentally chanted a prayer. Nodoka then stood up and took Mina’s hand and placed it on his. Ranma heart began to hammer in is ribcage and threatened to leap out of his chest.
“After all Ranma, Mina and you are…..”
TBC
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Gotcha! And Now The Conclusion to Chp 10
“Best friends.” Nodoka finished.
And after that bit of information sunk in which left Ranma’s mouth wide open and right eye twitching, the world went dark and a proverbial THUD came from when Ranma’s unconscious from hit the dinning room floor.
It has nearly been a week since Ranma released Lei Ym and there’s been no attempt to the village. He asked Ku Lon if there was a place for him to train should this Herb comes looking fro trouble. The training grounds for the village women were forbidden since he was a male, which left the rock quarry south of the village. If he wasn’t helping Tsu-oap around the village he spent his time here throwing himself in the nearly infinite martial art forms in his arsenal. He just could not concentrate today . He thought of leaving the village soon, before he got too attached; but the thoughts of leaving was becoming harder and harder to do, specially with a perky and kindhearted shaman was working her way into his heart.
It was hard to believe that in the week past, he and Tsu-oap became closer, though he convinces himself that their relationship was only built on friendship. However he knew that he was lying to himself, she was becoming more than just a friend to him. She even somehow managed to teach him to play the flute, if she could drag him away from his training. Last night’s events was keeping him from flowing through his kata.
Flashback:
Ranma Walks into Tsu-oap’s hut with an armful of fire logs. He smiles at the young shaman as she mixes various herbs for medical uses. He just couldn’t believe that the young lady he looked at practically took care of the entire village. Yesterday she delivered two babies, given shiatsu massages to most of the tribal elders, trained a junior shaman and still managed to find time to teach him to play the flute. Ranma admired the dedication, patience and discipline that she has in dealing with every body’s problems.
Tsu-oap turns and faces her housemate, who’s staring at her and can’t help but blush. The past week has been wonderful. Ranma helps around if he’s not training at the quarry and it was nice having someone to talk to at night when the workday is through. She has been ok with their relationship as it is, but she knew that it was growing harder with each passing day to ignore the calling of her heart. She returned her attention the herbs she was mixing as Ranma placed the firewood away and put some in the fireplace. Tsu-oap knows that the young man would leave soon in search for his family and it puts a sharp pain in her heart. She was falling in love with the young man she only asked for friendship with. She fought the tears that threatened to come she clutched her heart.
Ranma notices the change in Tsu-oap’s aura and knew what she was thinking. The week he’s spent with her allowed him to get to know her well enough that he need only look at her body language to know what she felt. Right now he felt pain from her, loneliness and feeling of being abandoned… again. Now let it be known that Ranma is still clueless about women in general thanks to that dumbfuck Genma, but thanks to a little father-son moment with Jo-El Ranma had a decent crash course in sensitivity. Ranma walked behind the Tsu-oap and encircled her in his arms. When Tsu-oap felt this unexpected act, she quickly tuned around and let all her tears out as she held on tightly to the young man that stolen her heart.
“Come with me,” Ranma said barely a whisper.
Tsu-oap gathered herself before answering him.
“What,” she said surprised.
“Come with me to look for my mother.”
“W.why, where did this come from?”
“I don’t know. I…”
“You don’t have to say anything, I…”
“Yes I do. I don’t know what’s this between us, not yet. I know that were too young to be married, but I like being around you. I don’t think I can just walk away from this….”
Any further word was interrupted as Tsu-oap pulled Ranma in for soul searing kiss. However Ranma one-upped her by deepening the kiss. Tsu-oap wrapped her arms around his neck as the couple continued to play tonsil hockey. The room was suddenly illuminated by the auras that shined brightly from the two. Their ki (AN: Don’t know the plural for ki is.) began to intertwine and flare in brilliant display of colors. Tsu-oap felt his ki flow all over her body as he did his. It was painful both physically and emotionally to break the kiss but they did.
“What did…”
“I…”
“Just think about it please.” Ranma said struggling as he reluctantly let her go.
Tsu-oap nodded her hear as she placed her hand on her swollen lips. Ranma gathered as much of his will power as he could and excused himself from the house and infused his body with ki and nearly teleported himself to the rock quarry to think about what just happened.
End Flashback
“Arrrgggghhhhh! Damnit!” Ranma roared as hid disintegrated a boulder with his fist.
“Your focus is lacking boy. What’s the matter?” asked Ku Lon perched on a boulder behind Ranma.
“Elder I…”
“Women problems boy? Trouble in paradise at such an early state.”
“This ain’t funny… I just.”
“Come on now boy, speak. You’ve opened up to me about the bastard the raised you and the Neko-ken, surely a little marital dispute would seem trivial compared to that.” She said as she hopped off the boulder and walked closer to Ranma.
“I asked her to come with me when I leave to look for my mother.” Ranma said somberly.
“So?”
“SO!? That’s all ya got ta say. I got no right to take her away from the only home she’s ever known. That would make me just like that fuck Genma. She’s needed here.” He practically shouted.
Ku Lon charged her ki and whacked her staff of Ranma’s head.
“Oww! Dammit, I actually felt that.” Ranma yelled.
“Good! Listen boy, you may not get it yet, but that girl has had it bad for you since you fell out of the sky. I’ve been watching you two the past week and you yourself have gotten attached to her, weather you admit it or not. She’s also your wife; your lives are you own. Be it here or the far corner of the world. Asking her to be with you on travels in only natural. The village may need her, but what about you?”
Ranma took in what the elder said gave it some thought before making reply.
“I thought you’d be the first one against me leaving. Didn’t say some about chain’n me here so you could marry off to every fertile warrior and raise a brood of strong warriors?” Ranma said jokingly.
Ku Lon had that evil smirk on face again making Ranma feel like someone stepped on his grave.
“Me n’ my big mouth.” He thought.
“Not that the thought crossed my mind a few times boy, but after what you told me of your past, I figured that treating you like live stock would be bad for my karma later on. I appreciate that you took enough time to consider both Tsu-oap’s and the village’s welfare in to consideration. However, you have not seen that girl as she grew up. She may be adopted by this clan but has felt ever so out of place within it. She been lonely since day one and I believe that your unexpected arrival is good for her.”
Ranma bows to Ku Lon.
“Thank you elder. You’ve given me much to think about.”
“You’re welcome boy. Tsu-oap is has been a wonderful daughter to me; she’ll make you a good wife. At the very least since you have concerns about a young marriage, you two are good friends.”
“I don’t know how I could ever repay for the hospitality and kindness you, Tsu-oap and the village has given me elder.”
“Hush now boy, you’ve had a life I’d never wish even on my worst enemy and that includes the Musk, well maybe the Musk; but that’s besides the point. You’re taking too much of my time, when you should be talking to your wife about your up coming trip. You could take this as your honey moon and hopefully visit with a couple of arm full of granddaughters for me to train and spoil.”
Ranma face faulted on that last comment. He then picked himself up, smirked and asked,
“What if they’re grandsons?”
“I’m a fairly good match-maker sonny boy, I could have your sons paired up and engaged before they say their first word.”
Ranma face fault cracked the ground in the last comment, while Ku Lon let out a hearty laugh, while she thought the Ranma indeed was worth the extra effort, and worthy of Tsu-oap.
“All right that’s it I give. Apparently there’s no one upping you.”
Suddenly there was a loud explosion that sent birds in the surrounding area into the air. The ground shook from the blast and a large billow of smoke came from the general direction of the village.
“The village boy…”
In gust of wind Ranma was gone before Ku Lon could finish what she said. She started to pogo her way back to the village in the hopes that the situation is not too disastrous.
Ra-El Chapter 7: A Death In the Family & Skeleton In the Closet
Ranma literally blurred through the mile between the rock quarry and the village, with one thing on his mind, “Kami please. Let me be on time.” When he approached the village saw the council hut and clinic ablaze and he cranked up the speed to reach the burning structure. Sensing auras in the clinic Ranma rammed through its wall and used his Ley line sight to see trough the thick black smoke. Inside was Tsu-oap trying to lift a burning wooden beam off of an unconscious Xian Pu. Tsu-oap saw a figure a waking trough the dense smoke and yelled for help. Ranma quickly rushed to her side and grabbed the burning beam and threw it at the door, destroying it. Ranma then carried both Tsu-oap and Xian Pu and bolted out the smashed door.
When Ranma got outside he saw some of the village women fighting a large werewolf. The large creature swatted the some of the women warriors like flies off him, some knocked out with one blow. Placing Tsu-oap down, Ranma handed her Xian Pu, gave her a quick peck on the cheek and blurred towards the werewolf. Ranma caught a young woman that the werewolf threw of him and placed her down, and continued to rush the beast. The werewolf was bout to take a swipe at another Amazon, when he was sent flying through trough the air and crashing through the council hut wall when Ranma rammed him. Ranma instructed the young Amazon he saved to help Tsu-oap gather the injured and get them to safety.
The werewolf got up from the rubble he caused and saw the boy who blindsided him. His hands blurred sending hundreds of shrapnel towards Ranma. Ranma blocked most of the hail of metal, some just bounced off his skin, but some did a real number on his clothes. His shirt was now just strips fabric that barely hung together, but his boots and leggings suffer minor rips and tears. Ranma rushed the beast that was stunned that the boy survived his “Wolf Fang Meteor Bullets” and cried out,
“Meteor Blitz!”
Ranma’s hands disappeared as he rained nearly 5000 blows to the werewolf’s midsection; the final strike sent the beast sprawling to ground meters away. He knew that a few of the beast’s ribs were broken, some cracked, and at least half of them bruised. So it will have trouble breathing when recovers, but won’t die. Ranma dusted his hand off, when a badly beaten Lie Ym was thrown not far from him. Rushing to him to check if he’s all right, Ranma saw on the roof of the burning clinic was a man in a robe of white and gold. There was streak viciousness in his eyes as he looked at he boy tending his failure of a servant.
“So you’re the one who defeated my servant,” The robed man said. He turned his attention to his other fallen servant. “Both of them.”
Ranma left Lie Ym to the Amazons while he took off to face this new threat.
“You’re a coward for letting others fight your battles for you Herb,” He called out.
Angered, Herb morphed to his hybrid dragon form, which was eight times larger than Lie Ym as a weretiger (AN: About as big as that dragon in the Jackie Chan cartoon) and leapt off the burning roof to engage the boy.
The Amazon women moved the weretiger as Ranma engaged the dragon king of the Musk clan. Tsu-oap gave instruction to the remaining warriors to help evacuate the village since a good third of it was now rubble. Ku Lon just made it time to help.
“Tsu-oap, what has happened,” the elder asked.
“The Musk attacked the village, destroyed nearly a third of it had Ranma not returned so quickly. The remaining able fighters will help the injured evacuate the village. I have to got help my husband,” Tsu-oap said as she hurried off towards the sounds of battle.
Ku Lon was about to go after the foolish girl when she noticed that one of the few that were injured that was being evacuated was Xian Pu.
The battle between the youth and the dragon escalated, as every strike has seemed to just bounce off either combatant. Herb launched a feint crescent kick that Ranma easily dodged, but Ranma saw the dragon’s tail already and caught it. Herb tried to shake him off by whipping his tail, however Ranma used this distraction to launch a flying kick to dragon’s head using the dragon’s last tail whip for momentum. Herb was knocked on his knees and let a loud roar and tried to take a claw strike at Ranma. Ranma back flipped and dogged the claw and rebounded of a tree and slammed onto the dragon’s back knocking Herb on his stomach. Herb’s long neck rears back head butting Ranma on the chest and Ranma staggers back, then Herb wrapped his tail around Ranma’s neck and slammed Ranma face first in to a wall. Charging his claws with ki, Herb took a swipe at Ranma’s exposed back. Ranma let out an agonizing cry as the ki enhanced claws ripped at his flesh.
Suddenly out of nowhere a silver spear pierced Herb’s left eye. He quickly let go of Ranma and clutched his wounded face as he looked his attacker and noticed her a few feet away from him. Tsu-oap readied her silver spear and tried to make her way to Ranma, but had to dodge a few claws and tail strikes from Herb, which kept her from reaching him.
“After I’m done with you and your boyfriend, I’ll use your little toy as tooth pick,” Herb roared. He then charged the young shaman.
Tsu-oap gathered her ki and focused in on her spear and called her attack.
“Splitting Cat’s Hair revised, Hornet’s Swarm,” She cried as she split into 8 duplicates of herself and began to attack the charging dragon.
Each duplicate struck from different angles but Herb countered the last attack with a tail strike, sending Tsu-oap crashing to a tree a few meters away and dispelling the duplicates. Tsu-oap staggered to get up just in time to see Herb used his fire breath towards her. She couldn’t doge the speed of the in coming attack and feared for the worse, when Ranma suddenly appeared in front of her. Tsu-oap saw the claw marks on Ranma’s back, but the wounds were quickly closing them selves, leaving only blood splatters trailing down his back. The fireball quickly headed towards them and Ranma concentrated his ki to alter his aura.
“Absolute Zero,” Ranma said and the temperature around him suddenly dropped as the air condensed around him and made Tsu-oap shiver.
A thin layer of ice formed on Ranma’s skin and the blood splatters on his back froze and flaked off and Ranma expanded his aura to cover Tsu-oap. The fireball dissipated a few feet from them.
“I ain’t done with you, you oven grown hand bag,” Ranma yelled as he fired a ki blast at the dragon. “Ice Spike”
An ice sliver formed from Ranma’s hand and was launched towards Herb. The dragon tried to swat the ice projectile away, only to have his left arm frozen on impact. Tsu-oap then followed with pear to the neck, but Herb easily dodged it and snapped the spear with his jaws. That momentary distraction allowed Ranma to add a three hit combo on the dragon’s midsection and finished with an uppercut to the jaw. The Amazons watched on awe as the couple seemed to flow in intricate dance of death with each attack they landed on the dragon hybrid. Ku Lon felt nothing but pride in her adopted daughter’s skill in fighting and at pace that complemented her husband’s speed and power. A now conscious Xian Pu watched in awe and envy as her fellow Amazon complimented her husband in action and reaction. So the battle continues ever flowing in a dance where when Tsu-oap dodges or counters, Ranma would strike and vise versa.
Victory seemed close at hand, when Herb caught Tsu-oap during a mid jump kick. Ranma tried to get her free, but was caught off guard when Herbs frozen arm bashed him on the head releasing the dragon’s arm from the ice. Ranma was sent crashing to the ground. Getting up quickly, Ranma jumped and grabbed Herb’s arm just as he was about to spear hand strike Tsu-oap on the chest. In doing so Ranma did not see Herb’s tail truck Tsu-oap from behind. Time slowed to a crawl as Ranma turned to Tsu-oap just in time to see the Herb’s tail run through her chest. Ranma blood went cold and then reinforced his legs with ki. He then back flipped off Herb’s arm and donkey kicks him on the chest making him drop Tsu-oap and sending the dragon a good 30 meters away.
Ranma knelt in front of Tsu-oap and took her in his arms, his tears flowing down his face. With the last of her strength, Tsu-oap touches Ranma’s face and said,
“I have to tell you at least once. I love you, I should have told you sooner, but…”
“It’s my fault, I should have been more honest with what I felt.”
“I’m really happy to have you by my side. I…”
Ranma felt and saw the Ley lines slowly fade from her body as he gave her his first and last kiss. Ranma’s wife passed in his passed away in his arms. He places her gently on the ground and he rose to his feet and let cried out his pain.
“Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
The dragon “S” shield reappeared on his chest glowing a bright red as Ranma’s Kryptonian braces unclasped themselves from his arms and fell to the ground, causing two ground to crack with matching mini craters.
XxX
Many miles above the Earth’s atmosphere in large space station a couple stood near the observation window, both staring at the blue orb as they orbit around it. The man in the crimson cape was taller than woman next him and had an aura of hope and leadership about him. Suddenly the man is taken to his knees as he clutches his head reeling in pain. A telepathic alarm assaulted his mind; the “Fortress” was calling him. Images of a man in a Zod’s imperial army uniform flashed in his mind with his father Jor-El, followed by images of the man being a placed in a modified Kryptonian deep space satellite with coordinates for Earth.
“Kal are you alright,” a tall female said as she aided her distressed friend to his feet.
“I think so Diana, but I have to got to the “Fortress.” It’s calling me, it never did before.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No I need you to stay here should any thing happens.” Kal-El said as sped of to Earth.
Diana returned her attention to the observation window and watches as her friend break through the Earth’s atmosphere in a streak of red and blue.
As Kal-El entered the crystal fortress he saw the runes spelling Jo-El flashing on all monitors. A hologram of his father Jor-El appeared before him.
“My son,” he said. “The time has come for me to tell you, a well guarded secret that I have kept from you. About the man responsible thwarting a near world war in Krypton. A man of great honor and strength of character, but for his actions was wiped from the history of Krypton. I will now tell you of the true story of family’s dealing with Zod. I can now speak to you with pride about my brother Jo-El.”
Kal-El was shock to hear this; this meant that all he knew of Kryptonian history were flawed since his father never mentioned having another brother besides Zor-El. Zod, what about the family connections to him? Was Brainiac’s supposed complete data of Krypton flawed as well? He thought about contacting Kara should she need know about his. However he turned back his attention to hologram of his father.
“Please father, continue.”
Ra-El Chapter 8: What’s Left of Me & Departures
“Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!”
The surge of power that coursed through his body could not lessen the pain of loss that tore him apart. He then saw the dragon that caused this pain stagger to his feet and literally took off and rocketed towards him fist cocked for a devastating blow. The Amazon women watching saw Ranma vanish from Tsu-oap’s side and reappeared with his fist buried in the dragon’s gut. The shockwave from the impact leveled all in its wake in twenty-meter sphere that centered the two fighters as it thundered across the valley. Herb flew back from the blow, but before he could have gotten a few feet from Ranma, he grabbed the dragon by the tail. Ranma then flailed the beast though a stone hut and nearly broke its back when he whipped him against an oak tree.
Ku Lon was nearly blinded by shear power of the boy’s aura and made her way towards Tsu-oap’s body. Her heart sank as gazes upon her. So young, loved by her adopted home and at the very door of love for herself. Ku Lon ran her hand through her hair and remembered the last conversation with her just the other night. She said should anything happen to her, set the boy free. Apparently the girl saw her early fate and made the elder swear that on her honor as village matriarch that Ranma would not be a prisoner of their culture. When Ku Lon asked why? Tsu-oap answered that a gifted young man like him is a gift to the world and keeping him trapped here would be robbing him the chance of sharing his gifts. Ku Lon saw the boy’s bracers not far from Tsu-oap and when she tried to pick them up, they would not even move as if there were fixed into that spot.
Ranma continue to vent his pain on the dragon Herb and he was powerless to nothing more than let him. Ranma’s uppercut launched the dragon skyward with a cry of,
“Nova Upper!”
Ku Lon and the rest of the village were shocked to see Ranma follow the dragon into the air without jumping. He jus took off from where he stood and soared after the air born beast. Ranma continued the assault on Herb as he rained blow after blow to the dragon’s body. Each strike exploded like thunder as it struck. Ranma once again grabbed the Herb’s tail and whipped the beast earthward. Ranma dove after falling beast and slammed both fist to his chest and increased the velocity of their fall.
“That’s insane.” Ku Lon thought as she witnessed thins.
At the height and speed that they were falling at, it would be a miracle if either one of them survives. The impact caused a sixty-meter crater at the out skirts of the village and shook the ground violently causing 3.0 tremors in a 6-mile radius that lasted a whole minute before dissipating. Those who witnessed this rushed along the smoking edge to see the aftermath of this battle. Ranma stood above a severely beaten dragon with the cold eyes with the intent to kill. Ranma grabbed one of Herb’s horns, then hoisted the beast’s head to bear his neck and drew his hand for spear hand death blow to its neck, while Herb stares defiantly at him with is one good eye.
“How dare you,” Ranma shouted. “Knowing what you’ve taken from me, from these people.”
“How noble of you to say after loosing your bed warmer,” Herb choked out.
It was the last switch that needed to be pressed for Ranma to do what he did. His hand descended towards the dragon’s neck. Suddenly Ranma was shoved into darkness. Ranma searched for anything in the endless sea of black, but nothing, just an empty sea of darkness.
In Ranma’s mind:
“Son.” Jo-El’s voice echoed through the darkness as he materialized in front of him.
“Father!” Ranma said with ragged breath.
“Have you already forgotten the pillars you swore to uphold?” Jo-El sternly said.
“Never!” he shouted.
“Wisdom”
“I should have been more honest with her.”
“Humanity” (NA: insert Kryptonian or universal version of this)
“She accepted me for who I am as I, her.”
“Transcendence”
“She showed me a world beyond my fist.”
“Courage”
“He took her away, it’s my right to avenge her.”
“Justice”
“I’ll make him pay.”
“Temperance”
“He doesn’t deserve any mercy, not one ounce of it!”
“Then you have failed to grasp the all I taught you.” Jo-El said as he turned away from Ranma.
“He took her from me, from the only place she ever knew as home. He took the very life I want to be with!” Ranma yelled as he tried to run after his father, but could not move from where he stood.
“But have you the right to take his? Where does it end from there? We are gifted men my son, not gods. We do not have the right to that power.”
“You were a soldier. How many lives have you taken father?”
“A soldier’s life is not used to take it from others. I spent my life trying to preserve it son. The blood on my hands has stained my soul and haunted all of my days. Are you prepared for that fate?”
Hearing those words Ranma was ejected from the darkness and returned back to his body at mid strike to Herb’s neck. His hand stopped at the base of the beast’s neck and Ranma felt Herb’s even pulse beneath the his scales. Ranma’s eyes began to glow a blue hue as he traced every single Ley Line that weaved through out Herb’s body.
“Second thoughts boy,” Herb said as he bared fanged grin. “Why don’t you join your….”
Herb could not finish his words or was able to launch a final attack, as Ranma suddenly grabbed his other horn and brought his head down to meet his rising knee strike to his jaw. There was sickening sound of bones breaking and flesh tearing as Ranma’s attack ripped off both horns from the dragon’s head. The witnessing Amazons gasped at the sight and marveled at boy as he crushed the dragon’s horns in his fist and scattered it to the four winds.
Herb grasped his bleeding head as his boy started to convulse and glow. His screams of agony hung in the as his body reverted to its natural human form. He couldn’t get up and every fiber of his being felt on fire. He could only turn his head to look at Ranma as he scattered the last remnants of his crushed horns to the winds. Again and again he tried to will his body to transform but that only resulted in more pain.
“What…”
“You will never hurt any one again.”
“…have…”
“Your powers are gone.”
“…you…”
“You will never be a burden to this village again.”
“…done?!”
“I have kept my word father. I understand. You haven’t failed.”
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
Ranma looked at beaten man before him and chose his word carefully before answering him.
“All the lines of power you possessed were anchored to your horns. Destroying them negates your powers from now on and they will never grow back, I made sure of that. You no longer have the ability to transform. You are not worthy of a dragon’s mantle. Just know this, I have shown you temperance by not killing you,” Ranma then raised his hand towards the many Amazon women that stood at the foot of the crater.
“They on the other hand, shall see to your fate.”
Ranma then leapt from where he stood near the fallen Musk leader and landed near Tsu-oap’s body. He gathered her in his arms and headed for the decimated village with a cadre of tear stricken Amazons trailing behind him.
XxX
A man stared a giant computer screen that showed a map of China and various notes and geotectonic schematics and ponders on what caused the light quake in the Bayankala range. He then turned his attention to another screen with the same map as its larger counter part but the schematics showed information about a large surge of super concentrated heat output. However unlike that smaller screen, the large one showed a picture of a beam of red light emanating from an area not far from where the sudden quake occurred about a week ago. The man then press another button on his oversized console and an unemotional feminine voice came over the speaker.
“Yes.”
“How your Chinese these days.”
“Better than yours.”
“How about a nice vacation in China around the Bayankala range?”
“Is this a bring “the suit” type of vacation.”
“If it can’t be avoided.”
“Why not send Tengu-boy?”
“The locals don’t take kindly to foreign men. This trip needs a woman’s touch.”
“Did you just crack a joke?”
“I fill you in what you need to do when you get there. Don’t take too long Cassandra.”
“Roger.”
XxX
On a balcony that over looked the Chinese mountain range a golden haired young man sat on a lavish golden chair with what looked like a chess game in progress on a table next to him. Suddenly a winged warrior landed behind him and knelt down.
“The lizard has failed excellency.”
“I see,” the golden haired man said as he knocked down one of the ivory pieces on the chess like board. “Send Masara and Koruma to keep an eye over the Josenketsu.”
“Yes my lord.”
“And Kiima…”
“Yes my lord”
“Don’t forget to draw my bath.”
XxX
It has been three days since the attack, two since Tsu-oap’s ceremonial cremation. A statue of her was erected at the village center to celebrate the young shaman’s life and valor. There, Ranma stood at its foot and stared at the statue. After the statue was placed at the village center Ranma spread her ashes on its base and planted a ring of flowers around it. Ranma then took of his right bracer and placed it on the statues left arm, it automatically readjusted itself to fit it. The statue suddenly had a faint glow about it and the dragon “S” shield appeared on the statue’s chest. Ranma ran what little memories he made with the young shaman through his thoughts. His thoughts were interrupted when a young pink haired girl tapped his shoulder.
“I’m sorry to bother you.”
“It’s alright. Sy-lku right,” Ranma asked as he turned to her.
“I never got to thank you for helping rescue us that day. I was knocked out when you showed up and a lot has happened since then, I just wanted to thank you should you leave,” Sy-lku said then bowed before Ranma and left.
“You’re gonna leave a lot of broken hearts here boy,” Ku Lon said, as she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
“I figure with so many broken hearts, then one leaving wouldn’t be much of a bother. That girl, she was one of Tsu-oap’s students right? Who’ll continue her training?”
“That would be me and the rest of the elders. Thanks to you most of the repairs are done. When do plan to leave?”
“I should be gone by dawn the next day. Damnit I should have told her to back off.”
“Do not wallow too far at that edge boy. Even gods wouldn’t be able pull you out should you fall. Tsu-oap knew what she was doing and fought bravely at your side any Ama… as any woman would at the side of the man she loves.”
“Where will you go?”
“If I weren’t searching for my mother, something’s telling me to go north, but I’ll worry about that after I find her.”
(AN: Yes the last two lines has similar dialogue in the Donner Superman film in the beginning when Martha asked Clark where he’s going after Jonathan died and the whole knowing that Tsu-oap was gonna die soon was my 13 year old sister’s idea. “See I told you’d get mentioned for that.”)
Ku Lon solemnly handed Ranma a small slender wooden box and a small pouch.
“Here, take this.”
“What’s…” Ranma couldn’t finish a the slender wooden box stored the flute that Tsu-oap taught him to play and the small pouch held a handful of precious gems.
“Elder I can’t possibly take this.”
“Yes you can boy, that flute is the only thing that survived the fire that destroyed the shaman’s hut and I’m sure that Tsu-oap would have wanted you to have it. The gems are for you to use on your journey.”
“Thank you Elder, for everything.” Ranma bowed.
“Thrice you have come to our aid and in even knowing our reputation with males, you still lent a hand. You have rid us of an age long foe that the next generation of Josenketsu need not worry for the next. Therefore Ranma on behalf of the elders in the Josenketsu, I want to adopt you as my son with all the status of an Amazon warrior. You would be the first male to receive this honor in our three thousand year reign.”
“I would be honored elder.”
Ku Lon took Ranma’s hand and began to trace a complex pattern upon it. Ranma noticed the flow of Ley Lines shift in his palm and took form of a serpentine dragon twisting its body into a yin-yang.
“You are now my son in my eyes boy and the village here acknowledges that.”
Ranma turned and looked around him to see the entire village and elders bow at to him.
“May you never forget this village on your journeys my boy.”
“I won’t elder. I left a gift should you ever need me.” Ranma said as he pointed the Tsu-oap’s statue and the bracer it has on its left arm. “I’ve attuned that bracer to the Ley Lines of the village, should my help be needed at any time, I’ll know.” Ranma finished as he showed Ku Lon the other bracer on his left arm.
The elder nodded and made her way back to the elder’s and the village went about their daily routine. Ranma decided think about how to find his mother, Japan may be a chain of islands but still but large for him wander around to look for his mother. He then decided to go the rock quarry to brood…err think.
When he got there he felt a presence near by.
“State you business Lei Ym, I know you’re here.”
The stripped haired man walked from behind some large boulders and headed for Ranma. Ranma sill leery about the cat aura he radiated automatically went on a defensive stance.
“I’m not here to fight you boy.”
“Then what do you want,” as he neared him letting his guard down.
“This,” as Lei Ym quickly morphed into the weretiger and sunk his right claw to Ranma’s chest.
Ranma’s eyes started to glow as the fear and pain race through his body. Lei Ym then pushed head back just in time to see the red beam shoot skyward. The two struggled, one to be freed and the other to hold on. In reality there are three entities at war, a bake-neko who’s slowly losing its grasp, the victim, and the exorcist. They then separated in a flash of brilliant ki. Ranma fell to his knees as gazed on upon Lei Ym.
“What… did you … do?”
“It’s not much, but the bake-neko’s hold is lessened. The rest is up to you.” Said Lei-Ym as he left.
Ra-El Chp 9: Up, Up & Way Home
Two weeks, forty-seven arranged marriages by one Genma Saotome, several rounds of 30mm cannon fire from the Japanese air force while flying into Japan air space, and accruing proof that Genma was not his real father in no particular in that order; Ranma wound up somewhere in Juban area. He was glad that the aura technique he learned from Jo-El also had the ability to mask his true appearance, which meant that his face would not be in the Japan Sun’s front page newspaper anytime soon after that aerial fiasco with the air force.
“They just had to put 48 holes in the only good shirt I got, regardless that it was torn when I found out I could fly,” Ranma thought.
Ranma was currently at the Juban 8th division police station, where he was going over the some 6 stacks of files on Genma Ikari. Apparently one of the families that Genma screwed over by engaging Ranma to his daughter was the now chief of police of Juban and therefore was more than willing to help Ranma out in brining Genma to justice after along argument and agreeing that the engagement had no validity, as Ranma is not biological son of Genma and had no authority whatsoever in the Saotome clan.
Ranma found out Genma’s real family name via countless police reports and outstanding warrants for theft and B&E’s. Later he found several counts of child abuse and child endangerment after he married into the Saotome clan, a well to do family that currently resides in the area. The child abuse and child endangerment charges were pressed by several school social workers that treated Ranma on the rare times Genma allowed him to go to school. Ranma gathered enough information that should Genma ever cross his path ever; Ranma is sure to make him pay. Ranma had only one more thing to do as he looked over a map of Juban for the location of where the Saotome address that matched the birth certificate he acquired when started to dig around for his past. As Ranma stepped out police station he began to think about the day he left the Amazons and the life he could have had with Tsu-oap and accidentally found out that he could fly.
Flashback.
Several miles away from the Amazon village Ranma wandered through the dense forest. He took with him a small traveling satchel and a few necessities and the gifts imparted by Ku Lon. A few miles of walking later, he came upon a small canyon about an 8th of mile across with a large river below. Ranma had no intention of climbing down the small canyon, traverse the river and climb up the other side, nor did he want to waste time by walking around the damned thing. Ranma tossed his satchel into subspace tapped the Ley lines of speed and air about him and dashed toward the edge of the canyon.
Ranma then jumped as he got to the edge and arced over the canyon and river bellow. Ranma was quite upset that as his arc and trajectory were a little off and in few seconds was about to over shoot his intended landing zone. Ranma’s momentum kept him air born far beyond where he intended to land and had not felt gravity affect him as he continued to sail over the forest canopy. Ranma began to flip over and he tried to right himself, but wound up only speeding the process. Upside down and still sailing over the forest canopy, Ranma tried once again to right himself by swimming, only to accomplish looking stupid. Ranma closed his eyes then focused his thoughts on stopping and immediately he felt his momentum stop. He opened his eyes and was still hanging upside down looking at the treetops suspended in the air by some unknown force.
“Great!” Ranma thought. “How the hell do I get…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” Ranma screamed as suddenly felt gravity pull him to the ground.
He crashed through several large branches and several jagged rocks on the forest floor. Ranma picked himself up and checked himself over of injuries, but found none. His shirt was torn but his kin had no scratches or cuts from the fall. Ranma craned his neck and looked skyward to judge the distance of his fall. It appeared to be a hundred and some feet fall. Ranma knew that even with ki enhanced jump that he could only go about 60 feet forward from a running start and 30 feet up from standing point. Even when he trained with Jo-El their jumps never went further than 60 feet. Was this the benefits the yellow sun his father mentioned imparts on their kind? Ranma pondered over what other abilities could he posses under the yellow sun. Ranma decided to test something out and once again tapped the Ley lines of speed and air causing a ripple in the air around him and jumped straight up. Ranma never felt such speeds before not even when he ran aided by the Ley lines of speed as he did right then. He rocketed heavenward and watched the land below him shirk as he went higher. Ranma focused this thoughts on stopping and he did and came to the conclusion that his ability to defy gravity is by his will. Ranma had another test he would like to try before he could celebrate. He turned eastward to Japan and thought about heading towards that directions.
“WWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOO” Echoed across the skies as the wind ran through Ranma’s shoulder length hair.
Ranma raced across the blue skies doing a cadre of aerial tricks and pushing the speed of his flight to it maximum limits. He realized that at the speeds he was going that Japan soon came onto the horizon. Ranma decided to slow down and enjoy the thrill of flight a bit longer. He then noticed that he was no longer alone in the skies as two jets that bore the Japanese Air Force insignia came from behind him.
“Awe, crap!” He thought as he tried to get away, but still being new to this flight thing didn’t do a good job of it.
Ranma tried several times to out maneuver the jets but to no avail. The pilots saw the act of the bogie’s erratic flight pattern as hostile and opened fire on it. Ranma tried his best at dodging the cannon fire but could not avoid most of them, after all there were two jets shooting at him at the same time. Ranma noticed that he was not ripped to shreds as 30mm. shells bounced off him and decided that retaliation might be bad thing, even though those pilots ruined one of his good shirts.
“O.K. Ya wanna play,” Ranma thought.
Ranma boosted his speed and out maneuvered on of the jets and landed on its canopy surprising the pilot as he gave him the finger and zoomed off. That stunt cost Ranma as the other jet got a lock on him even at the speeds he flew and fired a missile towards him. Ranma tried his best to avoid the guided project tile but he couldn’t shake it, he then dove towards the water. When he was about ten feet above the water he quickly turned and fire a ki bolt at the missile. The force of the explosion knocked Ranma into the water and when he surfaced he saw the jets headed to ward Japan. Ranma then hovered just above the waters and decided to fly low for now and headed towards Japan.
XxX
At the same exact moment someone shut off a large monitor in dark cave and tapped comm device on the ear-side of his cowl.
“Clark, we need to talk.”
“Not now Bruce…I have a family situation I have to deal with.”
“Clark, are you alright you sound…”
“I’m fine. I’ll get back to you as soon as this is resolved. Ka-El out.”
The brooding man leaned back on his large captain’s chair and thought about the awkward communication with JLA leader. He then opened a come channel.
“Have you arrived?” He asked.
“The plane is about to taxi off to the runway.” A stoic female said. “Your loaded and you send me on a coach flight instead of one of your privet jets.” She added in dry humorless tone.
The man brooding in the cave had faint grin flashed on his face and suddenly disappeared before answering.
“You’re going there as tourist, arriving in one of my privates jets could rile up the Chinese press and ruin my reputation, fraternizing with a girl half my age that was old enough to be my daughter.”
There was groan at the other end of the comm.
“Seriously, stop taking humor lesson from Big S. I’ll fill you in when I get there. Cassandra out.”
End flashback
Ranma’s thoughts were interrupted when a Cadillac sped by and nearly ran him over and were chased by two police squad cars. There were masked men hanging out of the rear windows of the Cadillac and firing assault rifles at the police before going back in side. Ranma gritted his teeth and flared his mask aura sped off after the Cadillac. Ranma stopped right in front of it slamming his hand on the hood of the speeding car. The Cadillac’s abrupt stop caused the driver and front passenger who were not wearing a their seat belts to fly out the front wind shield. Ranma caught the two and slammed them on the hood of the car letting them fall on opposite sides. The two remaining assailants on the rear opened fire on Ranma only to be shocked when the bullets have no effects on him. One of the men reached down and took out a bazooka and fired it towards Ranma. Ranma not wanting to ruin another shirt sidestepped the on coming projectile, only to notice that it was now heading straight for a city bus.
“CRAP!” Ranma shouted as he took off for the projectile.
Ranma flew past the rocket just a few meters from the bus and crossed his arms as the rocket detonated when it hit him. The explosion knocked Ranma through the bus’s front window. He quickly got up and noticed that on of the passengers were injured by flying glass. A young lady with auburn hair in Paige-boy hairstyle had a gash on her leg. Ranma gently raised the girl’s leg and extracted a few bits of glass that were imbedded in her leg, making sure his aura flows through her to dull her pain. He then tore a piece of his shirt, exposing a well-toned abdomen that made the most of the ladies on board blush. He pressed a few pressure points on the girl’s leg and wrapped the wound. He smiled at her making her blush darker and then flew out the bus window making all the women on board rushing to the front of the bus. Ranma rushed back to Cadillac and lifted it off the ground ala Action Comics #1 style and shook the remaining assailants in the car on to the street. By this time the press and a crowd have amasses around him as place the car down and collected the masked men. He looked at the logo on the car and it said TK-Tech on the back of a samurai wielding a boken.
After the masked men were taken away and the police showing their gratitude to Ranma’s assistance the press and the crowd began to hound the young man with question and proposals.
“Who are?”
“Where do you come from?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Can I bare your children?”
All this began to annoy Ranma and he took of into the air leaving a bewildered, yet excited crowd below. Unknown to him that the girl whose wound he tended to was looking at him through a pair of binoculars before he disappeared from view.
“Great!” Ranma thought as streaked through the skies and landed on the top of Tokyo tower. “This isn’t exactly the way I hope to start helping people out. Now lets see,” Ranma thought as he took out a map of Japan and tried to figure out how to get to the Saotome home from here.
Three hour later and making sure that he asked for direction when he got lost, he arrived at the Saotome house and was shocked at what he saw. The house was huge compared to the neighboring houses near by. The gate that surrounded the complex was high and thick enough to make the compound look like a fortress. Suddenly there was a loud explosion coming from a house next door.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” came from a girl above Ranma falling with a smoke trail coming from the house that had an explosion from it.
Ranma instinctively caught the falling girl and noted the blond shoulder length hair and the rather cute light blue eyes behind large circular glasses.
“Ummm. Thanks. Now could you take about eight and a half steps to your right.” The blond girl asked.
Ranma dumbly nodded and did as he’s told when suddenly a giant metallic hand fell where he had once stood. Ranma placed the girl down and she took out a small device from her pocket and began to type codes into it. The giant metal hand then stated to crawl back towards the house it came from. The girl then turned to Ranma flashed him a killer smile that made her baby blues twinkle with delight.
“Thank you saving me. I’m Mina, Mina Kupida.”
Ra-El Chp 10 Reunited Twice Over
“Ranma, Ranma Saoto…”
“Mina dear, are you alright?”
That voice. That voice that echoed in his dreams, since he left home. It was that voice. The voice that he had wanted to hear for so long is here now. Existence it self stood still. Ranma’s head turned ever so slowly (Insert slow motion and after imaging animation of Ranma turning in a black background) to the voice that never made him give up, no matter what Genma sadistically put him through. The first thing he was her eyes and slowly the rest came to focus ever so slowly. Those warm brown eyes caught his sapphire blue gaze and she knew what he felt. The auburn haired woman’s trembling hand went to her lips as she caught her breath, as the young man’s eyes began to glaze over with tears. There was silence, no sounds, no images; nothing existed in that small eternity of when those eyes met. Ranma wanted so badly to speak, but could barely from the words he so desperately wanted to say. He saw her walk towards him, crossing the darkness and with each soundless step she came closer.
“It’s a dream, it has to be,” Ranma tried to convince himself.
She drew closer and his breath stop as she raised her hand and cupped his cheek. When he felt her hand on his face he closed his eyes and his tears fell.
“Ranma.” That voice through the darkness called.
“If I open my eyes, there will be no one. I will still be alone.” Ranma said in barley a whisper.
Ranma felt another hand together now framing his face, which made him draw a deep breath.
“My son,” That voice called to him at the verge of tears.
Ranma opened his eyes and the darkness was banished and the ghost that haunted him for ten years was in front of him in living flesh; and her hands on his face was warm. Warmer than any sleeping bag he slept in or roaring fire that he has sat by since he left.
“Ranma,” she cried.
That voice pierced the silence and gave him breath and strength to speak.
“M..o..t..h..e..r,” He barley said.
A dam of emotions burst as the auburn haired woman threw her arms around him and buried her head in chest and sobbed. Ranma felt her tears soak through his shirt as he slowly wrapped his arms around her small frame.
“I’m home… It’s no dream.” Ranma said as he clung the weeping woman with his own tears falling from his eyes.
For the first time in ten years Ranma held his mother, heard her voice, breath in the cheery blossom scent of her shampoo and for the firs time in very long time felt at home.
XxX
Up north, in an alien crystalline fortress, a lone figure was coming to terms with what he learned as the true history of Krypton and come to grips that he and Kara were no longer the only Kryptonians on Earth. If his uncle did manage to survive and came to earth so long ago, then wouldn’t he have found him instead of the Kents? He tried to make sense of it all, and for once in life unsure of what may come, and so he would start to look for clues for anything that might help.
“Kara,” He whispers knowing that if she was anywhere on the planet, then she would hear him. “Meet me at home in Smallville, it’s important, and by the look of things Ma’s making meatloaf. Bring desert, I’ll bring the wife and wine”
He gathered a small crystal tablet and downloaded the information that was recently unlocked in the fortress’ database into it. All this time Zod sought revenge on his father never knowing who really brought him down.
He then noticed an area f the fortress that was not there before. Another door in the armory appeared around the same time as the deluge of new information flooded the fortress’ systems. He walked up to it and read the Kryptonian runes imprinted upon it. He ran his fingers against the runes the said; “Herein lays the greatest weapon of war and destruction or the greatest implementation of peace. Choose well bearer of Kry-Ou.”
“What is this Kry-Ou,” He thought.
He tried to open the door, but with no avail, nor did he find any details in the fortress’ database about this new addition. He tired raw strength, but failed and even his heat vision left no mark. He knew that finding this barer of Kry-Ou would solve this puzzle. The man then took to the air and headed for civilization among a jungle of stone, steel and glass.
XxX
Somewhere in cave a man tuned off his gigantic monitor that he uses to keep an eye out for nearly every criminal activity in the world as well as anything out of the ordinary. Many have called him paranoid, but he believes that better results can be attained if prepared and right now the “out of the ordinary” seems to be this new hero in Japan. He opened a comm channel that registered somewhere in China.
“Have you found anything?”
“Yeah and you wouldn’t believe me if I just told you, so I’m sending you visual data as we speak.” A young woman’s voice came from the speaker.
Bruce took the print outs from the printer and focused his attention the familiar symbol on the female statue’s chest and a close up of the bracer and its alien markings on its right arm.
“Anything from the locals?”
“Not without me digging further and warranting a “Kiss of Death,” which I have no intention of being in the middle off, since I have enough yahoos swearing eternal revenge on me and that’s before Gotham.
“And this information has what value to me?”
“No… Never mind, what ever happened here form the look of things, happened about a week or so ago and they’re keeping a tight lip on it. However, there is this folk song that’s been floating around lately that might shed some light on some things.”
“I was hoping that you didn’t take this tourist thing too literally, it’s just a cover you know?”
“And I said stop taking lesson on funny from Superman, anyways the lyrics has something to do with the photo of that statue I sent you.”
“Very well, proceed.”
“Well since I know your Qigong Cantonese sucks, I’ll give you the bare bones of the song. The song says something about a handsome young warrior who fell from the heavens and thrice saved the village and a beautiful village shaman that captured his heart. One day a dragon came and tried to destroy the village. Both warrior and shaman danced a dance of death with the beast. The shaman fell and warrior cried out his sorrow and loss to the gods, who then responded by giving him a portion of their powers and on his chest he bared their mark. The dragon was defeated at cost of a life. The warrior then disappeared either to join his beloved beyond or assure that no loss like his ever happens again.”
“……..”
“Batman!”
“……..”
“Batman?”
“I’m here. Good work, head back hear ASAP. I need someone in Gotham while I’m gone.”
“Where are you off to this time, that you want me back so fast.”
“I’m going to find and talk to “a warrior who fell from the heavens.”
“Say that again, you’re starting to sound like Specter.”
“You have your instructions. Batman out!”
XxX
In the Saotome home three people were having some tea in the dinning room.
“I’m so sorry Mina. I’ve completely ignored you. It’s just…”
“Don’t worry about it aunty Nodoka. I’m glad to see you so lively again.”
Mina then turned to Ranma with mischievous smile on her face.
“So your finally home huh, little Ranma?”
Ranma had that someone stepping over his grave feeling. The only feeling he got when he finds out that Genma has screwed with his life again. The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise (which kinda weird as he has shoulder length hair) as the attractive girl before him seductively took of her glasses and bit on its earpiece. Ranma gulped and Nodoka giggled at her son’s reaction.
“Mina…h…have we met before,” Ranma asked. “I mean, before today that is.”
“Whaaaaat? Ranma, you don’t remember me,” Mina said as her lips quivered.
And herein Ranma knew he was doomed. Ranma started to panic, seeing as he’s all action and barely any socialization, has no clue what to do next. Nodoka moved closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a worried smile. That sent Ranma’s imagination to overdrive.
“Noooooo! Not you too mom. Genma yes, but not you too,” Ranma thought as his head turned back and forth from Nodoka and mina.
“Ranma while I’m glad that you carried me in your thoughts all these years, I also hoped that you carried some memories of Mina with you too.” Nodoka serenely said.
All the while with every word that came from his mother’s mouth, Ranma mentally chanted a prayer. Nodoka then stood up and took Mina’s hand and placed it on his. Ranma heart began to hammer in is ribcage and threatened to leap out of his chest.
“After all Ranma, Mina and you are…..”
TBC
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Gotcha! And Now The Conclusion to Chp 10
“Best friends.” Nodoka finished.
And after that bit of information sunk in which left Ranma’s mouth wide open and right eye twitching, the world went dark and a proverbial THUD came from when Ranma’s unconscious from hit the dinning room floor.