| Banana Skins 6 - Illusion of Home A/N: Yes, I am writing yet another installment of this useless but fun fic. Why? I love interacting characters that in other circumstances have nothing at all to do with one another. And if you can't tell from the title, I'm introducing one of my favourite characters of all time. Wahahahaha. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" Slowly, Pan opened her eyes, and realised that for ONCE they were on the ground. Very familiar looking ground. "Uh...guys? You can stop now." "Sakura-chan! Daijoubou?!" Syaoran immediately ran to his (girl)friend's side, looking adorably worried. The rest stopped screaming to coo at the cute little scene they made as Syaoran fussed over the frilly dressed girl, as her weird friend with a camera captured it all with stars in her eyes. "Where are we degozaru ka?" Kenshin bounced on the ground, feeling grass, seeing grass, but it couldn't possibly grass as the roof overhead told him they were inside. "A garden of course," Yahiko said confidently. "Yes, we're all in awe of your observation gaki." Yahiko yelped as a flying yellow teddy bear bore into his face, what serving for eyebrows crossed in a frown. "But the question is, where are YOU!?" "Kero-chan! Stop that!" Trunks and Goten were standing side by side, their thumb and index finger making a v under their chins as they regarded their surroundings with conspiring looks. "Do you see what I see Goten?" "Yep." "And where have we seen it before Goten?" "Home." "And so can conclude that-" "We're HOME!!!" Pan burst in, twirling around the garden before consquently kissing the ground. Bra watched with a quirking eyebrow as the girl rubbed herself against the grass lovingly. "Ahem." She crossed her arms, looking expectantly at her brother and stupid friend. "See, if I hadn't had the magnificent idea of giving Bra to fix the watch we'd never get home!" Trunks nodded knowingly. "You're so smart Trunks!" Bra face faulted. All of them quietened when a spike of ki directed them to the doorway. "What's going on here? Who are you people?" The man leaning against the open doorway looked at them in equal parts suspicion and surprise. Pan looked up first, saw the person and let out a pitiful wail. "Knew it was too good to be true," Trunks muttered. The others sans the GT group let out shocked gasps. "Man! You look exactly like Trunks!" Ranma exclaimed. "That's because I AM Trunks," The serious young man said quietly, studying the group with narrowed, distrustful eyes. "The question is who are you people and what are you doing on my property?" Bra sighed, stepped neatly over Pan, and held out a hand. "My name is Bra. I am technically your sister. We're travellers from alternate times due to an unfortunate accident with a time watch and Goten's curious fingers. Goten is the black haired baka that may or may not look like his older brother Gohan, and/or, his father, Son Goku." She paused. "Following so far? Right. From your outfit, which, by the way, have you seriously worn that for over 10 years? You're the Trunks from the future, WHICH we shall, for identities' sake call you Mirai Trunks. We're from the timeline that you saved." Mirai Trunks them all a weird look. "And who are they?" The rest of them politely and hurriedly introduced themselves, noticing that Mirai Trunks looked a helluva more uptight than the Trunks they were used to. "We were so close... " Pan murmured sadly, shaking her head. She then glared at Trunks, "This is all your fault underwear boy." "What?! How is it my fault?! It was Bra that fixed it this time!" Trunks growled. Bra's eyebrow twitched, "Yes, but I recall a certain baka ni-chan claiming credit for that." "Wait... doesn't Mirai Trunks have a time machine?" Everyone turned to stare at Goten. "... Was that a good idea? Out of GOTEN?!" Trunks looked bewildered. "It had to happen sometime in his lifetime," Pan agreed. Bra just smiled. "I think I love you Goten." Everyone else looked confused. Mirai Trunks cleared his throat. "That is not possible. Besides the fact you are strangers in my home, I destroyed the Hope years ago." "Did he just say he destroyed the last dodad that could certainly take us home?" Ranma directed at Sano. "Yeah." The fighter answered. Both of them narrowed their eyes and pounded a fist into their palms. "Got a reason for that bub?" Mirai Trunks didn't look fazed, and cocked his head at his past self. "The Hope was destroyed so that Cell or anyone else who came along would not mess with the Timelines as I had done. Originally I was going to go back but I was needed, and on no circumstances could I let something like Cell ever roam this Earth again." Trunks rolled his eyes, and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, yes, I've heard the story. Do you have enough materials to rebuild? Or any technology here at all?" "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you're a scientist!" Pan exclaimed. Trunks threw her a dirty look. "We can rebuild the time machine anyway!" "That is impossible. No such technology exists anymore in this world. I've made sure of that. There is not much left in this world as it is. " Mirai Trunks said softly. "Trunks-san?" Sakura frowned at the clouded expression on the young man's face. She then turned as Kero prodded her in the shoulder. "Kero-chan?" The floating bear-lion furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "Sakura, and the rest of you louts, this guy is right. I can barely feel any magic left in this world. Magic has always been around. It is attuned to life and the Earth." Syaoran watched as Mirai Trunk's face grew sadder, "What the stuffed toy is saying, is that no magic means there is no more life in this world." Mirai Trunks nodded. "Just about." "That's... that's so sad Mirai Trunks-san!" Kaoru, Sakura and Akane exclaimed, immediately going over to Mirai Trunks and giving him soft touches of sympathy with their hands. Their relative male love interests seethed. Sano 'tch'ed, "What is with women and helpless men?" Trunks snorted, "Trust me, he isn't helpless. Not by a long shot." He smiled brightly as he moved past the circle of women to cup his counterpart's chin, leaning in close. "You're not very good at lying Mirai-kun." "What makes you think I'm lying?" It was eerie seeing the exact same face mirroring each other so closely. "Ne, B-chan... are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Pan whispered. Bra giggled, "My brother has always been in love with himself, this is not very far from it ne?" Ranma, Ryoga and Sano shared a glance. "You saying that guy swings both ways?" The former hissed. Goten nodded, but then grinned, "Course, if you can call it that since it's only himself!" "And you should talk ya perve," Akane directed at Ranma. As if to prove her point, Shampoo latched onto Ranma, though the pig tailed boy quickly pushed her off seeing Akane's eyes start to have that eerie sort of glow. Trunks paid them no mind, though Mirai Trunks' cheeks noticeably flushed from the not very quiet whispering. "This world is desolate. The ki here is empty. There is no one in their right minds who would stay here. Where is the Hope Mirai?" Trunks started pawing his counterpart's pockets. Mirai Trunks grabbed Trunk's hand before he could touch him. "Hope II. I won't even give you it, not unless you take it from my dead body." The rest of them shifted uneasily as they felt the power levels rise steadily from the two. "Daijoubu Trunks-san! Please don't fight." Sakura put a hand on both men's shoulders. "We can find another way to get us home, ne minna?" "I kinda wanna see them fight actually," Pan said nonchalantly, grinning. Goten reflected her grin eagerly. "It's not often we find a worthy opponent. Plus, Vegeta-san always compares Mirai and Trunks-kun. He's very resentful." "Urusai." Trunks growled. "The Hope II Mirai? Will you help us?" The two stared unblinkingly at each other. Finally, Mirai Trunks shook his head slowly. "Even if I wanted to Trunks-san, the Hope II only has fuel for one journey. I did not intend to come back, nor will I be forced to stay in a place I don't want to end up in." "So you really are my ni-san. Both of you are complete bakas." Bra pushed them both apart with a small smile. "There is a simple answer for a simple question, and if both of you weren't stubborn, egotistic, and idiotic men, it is quite clear how we can solve this." Pan looked at her friend. "B-chan?" The blue haired girl crossed her arms. "I will take the Hope II." "No," Both Trunkses said immediately. Bra rolled her eyes. "It's very simple really. I'm the only person who knows how the watch works, and how the Hope works. I also know how kaasan's time machine works. I can take the Hope II back to our dimenson, then pick you guys up. Simple." "Sugoi Bra... " Goten said with awe. Bra smiled self congraduatingly, and then pointed at Mirai Trunks. "If you don't hand it over ni-san, from the pattern so far, you'll also follow our group through time, until we reach the end of time." "Oi, what do you mean, the end of time?!" Kero exclaimed. "The end of existence," Bra deadpanned. "Plus, I can't fight as well as you guys, so I'm not very useful. This way, I can save the day... as usual." Trunks' eyebrow twitched. "You're forgetting one thing beloved sister, the time warp created by the Hope II will cause the spatial device in the watch to fluctuate. It will become unpredictable, and we might just go into a vacuum." "I didn't understand that, but it sounds bad!" Yahiko looked accusingly at Bra. "Again, simple. If you do go into vacuum, Pan-chan can use her instant transmission to get you out of there. That will get you back here at least. Mostly, I figure the watch will jump again, and bring Mirai along. If that happens, it will take longer for me to find you, but still relatively easy with kaasan's advancements." Bra explained slowly. "Yatta! Sugoi B-chan!" Pan's grin spread from ear to ear. "Yosh! Let's do it!" "Matte yo, there are too many variables in this degozaru yo. I won't risk Kaoru-dono's life." Kenshin spoke up, making Kaoru look at him with a smile. "I won't risk Sakura's life either," Syaoran stated. Sakura blushed. Tomoyo filmed. Ryoga looked at the two reactions from the girls and spoke up himself. "I won't allow Akane to be in danger either." Ranma bopped the pig boy's head. "Not up to you is it P-chan? I say we go. It's the best idea we've had so far." "Ranma! You don't even care do you!" Akane's mallet made it's appearance once more to the side of Ranma's head. The girl took a deep breath. "Thank you Ryoga." Trunks' lips twitched in amusement as the guy's face lit up like a Christmas decoration. "Heh. Won't get anywhere unless we try. I'll take this." His hand slipped inside Mirai Trunks' jacket to pull out the a small box, which he threw into Bra's hands. His other hand held Mirai Trunks in place as the man made a lunge for the box. "I haven't agreed to this!" "Sorry, ni-san." Bra looked inside the box, and took out one tube-like capsule, peering at it carefully. "Here, Pan-chan, Goten. This one is empty. Go down to the labs. They should be still there, and gather as much equipment as you can... " Goten lifted a finger to interject. "How will we know what to take?" "Come on uncle Goten," Pan pulled him along. "Just the normal tools, and everything else that looks relervant right B-chan?" Bra nodded. "Yosh! We'll be back in an hour or so." The two pushed past the two Trunkses, Pan's fading voice urging Goten along as they disappeared downstairs. "Lighten up my own self, this way, we all get what we want." Trunks back stepped, shrugging. "Plus, even if this isn't home, it's as close as we're going to get for a wile I think." "This coming from the person who couldn't fix a simple time transporter." Mirai grabbed Trunks' wrist, flipping open the lid of the watch and pointed at one of the wires. "Look, you've got the system all mixed up. Of course it doesn't work if the time warp doesn't get enough fuel to work properly." Trunks narrowed his eyes, "That's because we had a limited amount of power in the power cell, and we had to maintain the balance of all the fusion systems. We didn't have the technology to fix it, so we had to reroute the power over the entire system. if we just concentrated to the time warp we would only have power for one steady jump, and have no way to getting anywhere." "Not true, I built the Hope II. I can see that your machine--" The two started to argue in earnest in terms of quantum physics, with Bra joining in vehemently in pointing out their flaws in theory. "I can't understand what their saying Kenshin," Yahiko sighed. "Eh, just as long as we can get out of here." Ranma sat down, laying back on the green artitifical grass. A familiar rumbling sound stilled the conversation. Tomoyo blushed. "Sumimasen, I didn't eat breakfast this morning. Then you came and I couldn't help Sakura-chan make lunch." Sano slipped his hands in his pockets as Sakura apoligised to her friend hastily and sweetly. "Oi, are we going to eat anytime soon?" "Hm?" Bra looked at Mirai Trunks. Akane and Kaoru bowed politely. "We don't want to impose... " Mirai Trunks flushed. "It's okay. Food isn't a problem." He tapped lightly on his watch. Sano and Kenshin jumped as a small robot carrying a food laden tray trundled in. "What is that degozaru ka?" He watched in awe as the robot spread a picnic blanket and put the food down carefully. "Sugoi... " Yahiko murmured. "If only busu had one of those. Then Kenshin wouldn't be worked like a slave cos she's too lazy to do laundry, or poison us." "What was that?!" Kaoru loomed over him. "Ano... I like doing the laundry degozaru." "Itadakimasu!" Kero dug in. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Once everyone was sated, and partly amazed at the amount of consumed food by the GT group and Mirai Trunks, the three scientists settled in to work out the problems of the time watch with the extra equipment Pan and Goten brought back. That lead to another series of exclaimations over the wonder of capsules. "Goten, I'm bored, let's spar," Pan whined. Goten looked around, then at the other people, "But Pan-chan... this isn't enough room. Bulma-san also said never to fight in the garden. And the others will be hurt." "Aw... " "I'll spar against you Pan-chan," Akane stood and took a fighting stance, smiling slightly. Pan ran over her form with her eyes, and shook her head, "No. You're too weak." A vein started to throb in Akane's head as Pan clearly dismissed her. "Goteeeeen." "Hey! Don't just dismiss me! I'm a good fighter!" Akane stood infront of Pan, her hands solidly placed on her hips. Pan shook her head, and stood. "Akane-san, I don't mean to be rude, not really, but you aren't. Even for a normal person, you're ki isn't very developed. Your stance has too many openings. You're muscle content is too soft, so any blows I deliver will shatter your bones. You don't stand a chance." Ranma and Ryoga wisely backed away. "WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU!" Akane launched a fist at Pan's face. The girl caught it easily. "I'll spar with you jou-chan," Sano said cockily. Pan looked at him and shook her head. "Eh?" "Pan-chan... " Goten said warily as he stood. Pan bopped her hand into her fist. "Ah! I know." She turned toward the group. "Lemme give you an comparison then." She pointed at Tomoyo. "Tomoyo-san is the weakest of us, since she's a normal person who has no martial arts training. Her ki level should be from 3-5." "Ki Level?" Syaoran asked. "Um..." Ranma rolled his eyes, "It's the amount of power you hold in your spirit and body. Your natural aura. Though I've never thought to actually give it a number before." Pan nodded. "Normal adult people have ki levels from 5 to 8. That's sheer power." She pointed at Sakura. "Sakura-chan has alot of ki since she has 'magic', which is probably a manifestation of her ki into objects. That's a derivertive of ki called 'nen'. Nen is something normal hu- people," Pan winced as Goten spotted her almost use of the word 'human', "Use in fighting, or as a form of magic. 'Nen' is only a form of ki, so it can be manipulated into several areas, including changing aspects of objects. Most of you fight with a form of Nen." "You've lost me," Sano stated. Goten's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Sanosuke, you don't use much ki at all. You're punches are more utilising the airspace of an object, it's natural laws rather than breaking them with your ki." "Eh?" Sano looked affronted. "Goten! Don't interrupt me!" Pan cross her arms. "Okay, Ranma and Ryouga has less developed ki than Sakura-chan. So in pure power, Sakura of you guys, would be the strongest. While most likely you guys deal with single attacks, she is able to maintain her nen inside 52... or is it 53 cards, as well as give each card life to do complicated commands. Imagine trying to give a ki ball shape, squeese that inside an object and keep that there, and then maintain shape for the rest of your life, as well as being powerful enough to control it completely and give it life. She has enough power to give life to 53 different spirits." Pan smiled. "Impressive ne?" "Hoe..." Sakura murmured, looking at her own hands. Ranma and Ryouga looked at her with awe. "Sakura-chan is so great!" Tomoyo clasped her hands together. "But, Ranma can fight. He knows how to use his nen to protect his body, and attack with it, rather than spread it into objects. So if it ever came to a battle, Ranma would be able to knock Sakura out as her body is not as protected as her ki. Sakura could also knock Ranma out, in sheer power. Now Ryouga is a more developed physical strength, he can take more damage, but normally has less ki than Ranma." "Oi!" The pig boy exclaimed. "HOWEVER," Pan continued, "That's without the factoring of emotions. Emotions are key to your ki. Follow?" Ranma and Ryouga nodded. The others shook their head. "Gah, can't you guys remember a time when you thought you couldn't win, but you got super angry, and managed to get that last push of strength? You're fighters! Everyone gets that once in a while!" More nods, still some shakes. "What about Kenshin?" Kaoru asked. Pan smiled, "Kenshin has a tremendous amount of both ki and nen." The swordsman shrugged. "His is connected with his sword though. This is what we call a 'weapon' ki. Same principle as nen, but centred around a single object. On his own, Kenshin would be almost useless, besides his speed am I correct?" Yahiko raised an eyebrow. "Just try and remember. It's one of his weaknesses. However, Kenshin with any weapon would be downright dangerous. With his own sword, which has years of his nen placed in it, he would be almost invincible... that is, against other swordsmen or a normal fighter. Against an fighter with greater fighting ki, that would depend. Too many factors play into it." Pan took a deep breath. "Girl pretty good." Shampoo allowed. "So why can't you spar with one of us then? Your fighting style doesn't have much finesse, and you don't have that much power either," Ranma said cockily. Pan twitched, "That's only because I hide my ki. Our fighting style has alot of finesse, but no one sees it. To your eyes, we just survive on pure strength. That's a main factor since we're already unbelieveably strong--" "Pan-chan, stop bragging." Goten butted in. "What she means is that we were born to fight. Everything that took you several years to learn, we could do when we were 4, or maybe less." "We also learn very quickly. Say we DO spar, I can watch you do one of your attacks, but I would be able to see through it, and then copy it, but with ten times the strength. In terms of ki levels, we're over the millions." Pan made a victory sign with her fingers. Sano snorted. "I don't believe it." "My head hurts," Yahiko complained. Sakura, Tomoyo and Kaoru nodded in agreement. "Guys, we have it fixed! Ready to go?" Bra looked at the group, and then at Pan. "Pan-chan, have you be trying to force theories of ki down people's throats again? Gomen, Pan-chan has been getting close to my Papa lately. All he goes on about his ki, and how much of it he has, and what he can do with it. Mama isn't much better since she has to help Papa train. They're a bad influence." Pan looked sheepish. Trunks clicked the watch in place around his wrist. "Don't put too much thought into what Pan says. You're good fighters in your own right. In your worlds, the amount of ki you have is the amount you will ever possibly need. Learning on your own pace will suit you guys more. Here." Bra caught the capsule of the Hope II. She bowed. "It was great meeting you all. Be careful in your journey. Ja!" "Eh?! You're leaving?!" Yahiko looked disappointed. "Don't worry Yahiko-chan, I'll be back to save the day!" Bra ruffled the boy's hair affectionately. "Don't call me CHAN!" "One minute countdown is that okay?" Mirai Trunks asked softly. Bra nodded. "Hai. Since we don't know the effects of having two time fields in operation, and since the two machines we're using are bases of each other, and the time fields are different, there may be some difficulties. To limit the damage, it would be best if we left at the exact same time. The Time fields would cancel each other out rather than leave a hole in time and space. If one left before the other, the space around us would be changed, and one of the machines might not work, or malfunction." She shot them a look that basically translated to 'Don't question the genius'. The group nodded stupidly. "In anycase, we leave in a minute," Trunks gave a thumbs up at Bra. "Good luck." "You too nii-chan." With a quick victory sign, the girl bounced outside, capsule in hand. "Oi, Trunks, do you at least know where the heck we're goin'?" "Nope!" Trunks grinned. "Exciting isn't it?" "Baka." Pan stated. "It would be safer for everyone if we stay put in the next world we come to," Syaoran said seriously. "Che, that's all good in theory gaki, but what if we stumble into some hellish dimension full of demons and fire?" Sano's face cast itself in shadow. Goten shook his head, "Nah, there wouldn't be one. Hell is quite a nice place really. Kinda cold, but they're lots of exciting people you can meet." Pan rolled her eyes. "Only you would say that." "How would you know that anyway?" Ryouga looked dubious. "Well I've been-" A hand quickly clasped over Goten's mouth. "Hehehe, don't listen to Goten, he's just kidding." Trunks gave a significant look at Pan. The girl caught on a bit slow. "Ah, yeah." "Suspicious. Very suspicious." Kero crossed his little arms. "Time to go." Mirai shot Trunks another dirty look. "This better work or it's on your head." "Why does everyone blame me?!" "Aiya! Airen! Shampoo scared!" "Get off me Shampoo!" "Will you stop that you two?!" Akane screamed. "Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo grabbed Sakura's hand, while a camera was lifted to her face with the other. "Ne, Daijoubu Tomoyo-chan." They smiled at each other. "Yeehaw," Pan deadpanned. They disappeared. End Chapter 6. A/N: Worst, unfunniest chapter I have done. Too many ppl to keep track of. Will try harder next time. |