Ranma ^Z

 

Chapter Four

 

Fight!  Ranma vs. The Sailor Senshi

 

            Usagi yawns and stretches.  She looks down at the book in front of her and tries to read.  The words, however, become blurry and her head droops.  Sleep slowly takes a hold until… “Usagi!” Rei screams in her ear, ending any possibility of napping through a study session.

            The young princess’ eyes snap open.  She jumps to her feet with a cry.  Mako and Minako giggle.  Usagi turns to Rei.  “Why’d you do that?”  She demands.

            Rei growls.  “Because you were falling asleep!”

            “No I wasn’t!”  Usagi declares.  “I was just resting my eyes!”

            “Sure you were,” Rei says sarcasm dripping from her words.

            Usagi is about to reply and start a verbal war a beep stops them.  “Ara ⁽¹⁾?”  She says as she turns to Ami.

            Ami flips open her computer.  She is a bit surprised to see Pluto appear on the scene.  “Pluto?”

            “Sorry to call you during your study session, but we need some help,” She says quickly.

            “What’s wrong?”  Usagi asks.  The concern in her voice is evident.  Whatever is happening must be bad if the Outers are calling for help.

            “We’re…” Pluto turns around.  “Uranus!  Abunai!”  She cries out before the screen goes blank.

            Usagi stands and turns to her friends.  “Mina ⁽²⁾, let’s go!”  They nod and stand.

 

            Washu whistles as she watches the power readings.  “He’s really going at it!”  She licks her lips.  “I can’t wait to see my new guinea pig up close!”

 

            “Mercury are you sure they’re here?”  Mars asks.  The girls have run, jumped, and hitched a ride from a train to get to Nerima.  And now they are at the local high school, which is thankfully empty.

            Mercury nods.  “They’re headed this way with something or someone else!”

            “What do you mean?”

            Uranus and Neptune crash through the school’s stonewall and land near the others.  “Chikushou ⁽³⁾!”  Uranus curses as she pulls out her sword.

            “This guy’s strong!”  Neptune says as she stands.

            “You guys all right?”  Sailor Moon asks.

            “Bout time you guys showed up!”  Uranus yells in annoyance.

            “Dead Scream.”  The words can barely be heard, but the light from the attack dismisses any notion that the group was mistaken.  The attack, however, proves to be ineffective.  Pluto flying back and landing hard are proof enough of that.

            “Pluto!  Daijobuu ⁽⁴⁾?”  Venus asks as she helps the Senshi of Time up.

            “Stay on guard!”  Pluto growls.  She levels her staff towards where she came from.  The Inners stiffen and ready themselves.

            A movement from the dirt cloud causes the tension to grow.  Uranus takes the offensive before anything can come from the dirt.  “Die!”  She cries as she jumps into the air and attacks with her sword.  “She brings it down just as the dirt begins to settle, revealing Ranma.

            “Uranus, maitte ⁽⁵⁾!”  Sailor Moon cries out.  To her eyes Ranma is nothing more than an ordinary boy.

            Ranma, however, is far from ordinary.

 

            He smiles as the attack bares down upon him.  To his eyes it is terribly slow and terribly weak.  “New move,” He says before sidestepping the attack.  The sword blade is buried in the ground, and Uranus is caught off guard.  “Same result!”  Ranma elbows Uranus in the back, then kicks her before she has a chance to fall to the ground.

            Uranus lands near Neptune.  “Uranus!”

            “I’m fine, Neptune,” Uranus assure her lover.

            Ranma smiles as he notes the additions.  “Friends of yours?”  He asks Pluto.

            Pluto smiles.  “You now face the full force of the Sailor Senshi.  You cannot hope to win.”

            Ranma frowns.  “You’re still singing the same tune.  Don’t you know anything else?”  He zanzoukens ⁽⁶⁾ and reappears right in front of Pluto.  She is sent flying backwards by a punch to the face.

            “Bastard!”  Jupiter cries out as she attacks.  “Jupiter Oak Evolution!”

            Ranma smiles.  His fists blur and bat all of small green balls away from him and into the air where they safely disappear.  “That it?”

 

            Cologne sighs and looks at the clock.  (“The orders will begin rolling in soon, and still Ranma is not here.”)  She expands her senses.  (“He’s still fighting?”)  She follows the fight with her senses.  (“Five more have joined the fight.  He’s probably giving them the chance to challenge him.”)  She sighs once more and jumps up.  “Shampoo, I must go and retrieve our delivery boy.”  And with that Cologne hops away.

 

            “Is that it?”  Ranma asks.  He is clearly disappointed.  “I thought you’d be more of a challenge.”

            “If we only had enough time to use the Sailor Planet Attack,” Mercury says.  “I’m sure that it would work.”

            “Sailor Planet Attack?  What’s that?”  Ranma asks.

            Pluto smiles.  “An attack that would defeat you.”

            “Really?  It’s that strong?”  Ranma asks in curiosity.

            Pluto nods.  (“Take the bate.  Your Saiyan pride won’t let you finish us without seeing our best attack.”)

            “All right.  Do it!”  He yells in excitement.

            “Huh?”  Mercury asks.

            “Everyone, channel your power into the Sailor Planet Attack!”  Pluto commands.

            “But he’ll attack before we can get it ready!”  Sailor Moon reminds her.

            “No I won’t.  I want to see this attack,” Ranma says in all seriousness.

            “He’s telling the truth.  Even if he is lying we have no choice.”  The other nods before preparing themselves.

 

            “Another power has appeared,” Washu notes.  “Looks like whatever the Saiyan’s fighting is preparing to go all out.”

 

            Ranma moves his feet into a better position and prepares himself.  “Lets see what ya got!”  His Saiyan blood is excited.  These girls may not have been much of a challenge so far, but the attack they’re preparing looks like it might be pretty strong.

            “Sailor…Planet…Attack!”  The girls yell out.  The ball, that contains the symbols of all their planets, shots forward towards Ranma.  Ranma cups his hands in front of him.  The attack hits.  For a moment it appears that Ranma will be able to block the attack.  The moment ends when he is thrown back into a descent sized storage shed.  The shed collapses and the attack detonates.  The explosion isn’t that big.  The reason for that is simple the attack’s power is concentrate to minimize damage to the surrounding area.  Everyone’s vision is obstructed for a moment.  When the dirt settles everyone lets out a sigh of relief.

            “He put up quite a fight.  But in the end his Saiyan pride was the death of him,” Pluto says.

            “Saiyan pride?”  Sailor Moon asks.  She turns to Pluto.  “What is a Saiyan?”

            Pluto is about to answer when the ground when their attack went off explodes out.  “Kuso!”

            Mercury looks on in shock.  “He can’t be alive!”

            Ranma smiles as he floats out of the small crater that was once a storage shed.  He wipes the blood from his lips and points to the hole.  “You’re going to pay for that, right?”  He jokes.

            “How did you…” Pluto stutters.

            Ranma smiles.  “Your attack was pretty strong.  In all honesty, a few days ago I wouldn’t stood a chance.”  His smile fades.  “But enough of that.”  He removes his shirt and wristbands.  Both land with rather loud thuds.  “I’m not here to talk.  I’m here to teach.”  He cracks his knuckles.  “Go ahead and do that attack again.”  Ranma frowns as he cups his hands and brings them back to his waist.  “Ka…”  He closes his eyes and begins concentrating his ki.  “Me…”

            The girls do the same.  “Sailor…”

            “Ha…”

            “Planet…”

            “Me…”

            “Attack!”

            “HA!”

            The two attacks hit and push against each other for only a moment.  Then…Ranma’s Kamehameha ⁽⁷⁾ wave breaks through and destroys the Senshis’ attack.

 

            Ranma frowns as he looks at the girls in front of him.  All of them are out cold, too exhausted from the fight to even stay away.  He kicks the dirt.  “That sucked!”  Ranma begins to walk up to one of the girls, the one with meatballs, to wake her up, but a rose lands in front of him.

            “Stay away from her!”

            “Oro?”

            Ranma’s senses warn him just in time that another attack is in coming.  He jumps back just before… “Silence Glaive Surprise!”  Sailor Saturn’s attack shots by him.

            “Not again!”  Ranma says as he hits his head with his hand.  “Why won’t you guys just leave me alone!”  He yells at the Tuxedo Karmen and Saturn as they land in front of their fallen comrades.

            “You will pay for what you have done,” Tuxedo Karmen declares.

            “You have caused enough destruction!”  Saturn says.

            “I agree,” A new voice says.

            The three warriors turn to the voice.  Only Ranma recognizes the shrunken figure.  “What do you want sensei?”  He asks.

            “Deshi,” She looks at Ranma with a very serious expression.  “You’re late for work.”

            Ranma nearly falls over.  “What?”  He looks at his watch.  “Chikushou!”  He turns back to the two new comers.  “You two can take care of your friends, right?  I really got to get to work.”

            “You’re kidding, right?”  A surprised Tuxedo Karmen asks.

            Ranma points at Cologne.  “She’s a slave driver!  I don’t want to even think about what she’ll do if I’m late with a delivery!”  He tries to keep his voice down to avoid Cologne’s wrath.

            “I heard that, deshi!”

            Ranma sweatdrops.  He finally regains his composure.  He looks at Saturn and Tuxedo Karmen as he picks up his shirt and wristbands.  His face is stern and serious looking.  “Tell your friends that if they attack me again, I will not hold back.  They have no right to attack me just because I am a Saiyan.  Not only that, but if they endanger an innocent again I will be forced to kill them.”  Ranma does not wait for a reply.  He is instantly by Cologne’s side.  And seconds later they are both gone.  They leave in their wake a devastated schoolyard and an even more devastated group of super heroines.

 

            An hour later eight battered and bruised girls wake up at a shrine in Juuban.  “Feels like I was hit by a bus,” Mako says as she rubs her head.

            “You aren’t far from the truth,” Setsuna says.  She gets up and works out the kinks in her system.

            “What was that thing?”  Usagi asks.

            “Whatever it was, it had power to spare,” Rei says.

            “Why didn’t it finish us off?”  Minako asks.

            Everyone turns to Mamoru and Hotaru.  “He just left,” Mamoru explains.

            “He said that next time you guys attack him he wouldn’t go easy on you,” Hotaru says.

            “He was going easy on us?”  Mako asks in shock.

            Hakaru shakes her heads.  “He was just bluffing.  There’s no way he has that much power.”

            “I’m not sure,” Setsuna says.  “This Saiyan is powerful, but he’s acting very strangely.”

            “Saiyan?  You called him that before.  What is a Saiyan?”  Ami asks.

            Setsuna sighs.  “I’m sure the Mercury Computer has some information on the Saiyans, but I guess it is best if you heard about them from me.  The Saiyans are a race of beings from many light-years from the Earth.  They are an evil race that live only to fight and kill.  About 7,500 years ago they tried to conquer this system.  The Moon Kingdom, however, was able to repel them, although it was only by the slimmest margins.  From what I’ve gathered with the Time Gates, the Saiyan’s home world was destroyed about 500 years ago when a meteor hit it,” She explains.

            “But if the Moon Kingdom stopped the Saiyans, why is there a Saiyan here now?”  Ami asks.

            Setsuna shakes her head.  “I don’t know.  Even if there were survivors from their home world’s destruction, the last Saiyan in this system died on the Earth more than 7,000 years ago.  There should be any Saiyans left.”

            “In any case, he didn’t seem interest in killing us,” Mako says.  “It looked like he just wanted a descent fight.”

            “Like I said, Saiyans live to fight,” Setsuna says in annoyance.

            “But you said they live to kill too,” Usagi points out.  “Maybe he isn’t like other Saiyans.”

            Setsuna looks at Usagi.  The look on the Guardian of Time’s face causes the future Princess to stumble backwards.  “Don’t ever trust a Saiyan!  They are heartless, bloodthirsty beasts!  He cannot be allowed to live!  Not here!  Not anywhere!”  She yells before disappearing.

            Hakaru arches an eyebrow.  “What was that about?”

            “It would seem that Setsuna does not like Saiyans,” Ami points out the obvious.

 

            “Hello!  Anybody home!”  A voice calls out.

            The girls stop and look at one another.  “You expecting anybody, Rei?”  Minako asks.

            “Not me.”

            Hotaru smiles.  “I thought you would be hungry so I ordered some food.”

            “Really?”  Usagi begins to drool.  “That’s so thoughtful of you Hotaru.  What did you order?”

            Hotaru pulls a piece of paper out of her pockets.  “It’s from a ramen shop.”

            Michiru’s eyes become as large as saucers.  “Hotaru!  Where did you get that?”

            “It fell out of your pockets when we got back here.  Why?”

            Michiru pales.  “The Saiyan gave that to me.”

            A knock at the door silences everyone.  “Ano ⁽⁸⁾?  Your ramen’s here.”  Hotaru shrugs and opens the door.  The girls begin to sweat when they see who is on the other side of the door.  It’s Ranma.  “Ah, there you are.”  He takes the box off of his shoulder and sits it down.  Hakaru’s pen appears in her hands as Ranma opens the box.  “Here ya go.”  He sits two giant bowls of steaming ramen down in front of Hotaru.

            “And here you go.”  Hotaru hands Ranma the coupon and some money.

            Ranma looks at the coupon for a second then looks at everyone in the room.  He sighs and pockets the money.  “Thanks.”  He continues speaking as he turns around.  “Next time you challenge me make sure you’re stronger.”

            The girls gasp.  “Challenge you?  What are you talking about?”  Ami asks.

            “Your kis were stronger earlier, but they don’t feel that different,” He explains.  He then smiles and holds up the coupon.  “Besides that these coupons were made yesterday, we weren’t supposed to start handing them out until next week.  And since I only gave out coupons to the Sailor Senshi…” He turns back around.  “There is no doubt who you are.”  The Senshi facefault.  He’s smile broadens as he turns around once more and moves to leave.

            “Maitte!”  Usagi calls out.  Ranma stops but does not turn around.  “What are you going to do now?”

            “Should I do anything?”  Ranma asks.  “You know where I live.  If you want to challenge me, challenge me.  Not like that doesn’t happen every other day,” He mutters.  “Just keep the innocents out of the fight.”  And with that he takes off into the air.

            “Keep the innocents out of the fight?”  Usagi repeats.

            “He said something about that after the fight,” Mamoru points out.

            Usagi turns to Hakaru and Michiru.  “Did you two attack an innocent?”

            “We almost hit someone that he was living with,” Michiru explains.

            “Nani?”

            “He got out of the way before our attacks hit, so what’s the big deal?”  Hakaru asks.

            “Actually, the Saiyan told him to move,” Michiru points out.

            “Whatever,” Hakaru mutters.

            “I can’t believe you two.”  Usagi stands and looks down upon her fellow Senshi.  “I don’t want anyone attacking that guy.  We don’t know anything about him, and he’s already beat us once.”

            “But he’s evil!”  Hakaru yells.  She moves to get up and continue speaking, but Usagi’s glare stops her.

            “We don’t know that for sure.  All we know is what Setsuna told us.  He might be different, besides one-on-one he could kill us without trying.”  Hakaru growls but nods.  “That goes for the rest of you too.”  The others smile and nod.  “If you see Setsuna make sure she knows that this is an order.”

 

            “I’m sorry, Princess.  That is an order I cannot follow.”

 

Ara- feminine version of Oro

Mina or Minna- Everyone

Chikushou- a curse word usually damn or damn it

Daijobuu-  Are you all right?

Maitte- Wait

Zanzoukens or zanzouken- a move from Dragonball where the person moves so fast that they blur, sometimes leaving an ‘after image’, an image of themselves that stays in that spot for a certain period of time

Kamehameha- move from Dragonball.  It’s a ki beam.  The creator of Dragonball named it after a Hawaiian king or something like that

Ano- Excuse me