Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Bastard!!
"Dialogue"
((Thoughts))
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Ranma was bored, completely and utterly bored. It was their third day on sea and there was nothing they to do to relieve their boredom. The ship was too small and too frail to spar on, the scenery was always the same and everything smelled like wet panda thanks to Genma.
The only distraction the people on board had, was an old cassette player and several tapes full of American Rock and Heavy Metal music. Moreover, for the life of him Ranma could not figure out why he recognized the names of some of these bands.
There was also the small problem that the other occupants of the ship tended to avoid him lately, which made starting conversations quite hard. When he asked them what was wrong, they only answered that his eyes looked strange.
Since there weren't any mirrors on the ship, Ranma had to take that at face value. He tried to look at his reflection in the ocean but it was not clear enough for him to see details.
((Damn... what is wrong with my eyes? I don't see things any different than normal...)) thought Ranma darkly, he was lying on the small roof of the cabin and looked at the stars, ((That's not important now anyway... We have to stop the Phoenix tribe before they can destroy Jusenkyo... and we have to get Shampoo back...))
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The seventh day of their journey
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They were in China now and pretty much on their way to Jusenkyo. It also seemed that the closer they got to the cursed springs, the more cold water they attracted. Because of that all of them, with the exception of Plum, who didn't have a curse, were transformed.
That also had one advantage; thanks to Ranma's cute girl form, they got a bike and a small cart in a nearby village. The problem with this was that the pigtailed girl was the only one able to use the bike, which meant that she had to pull all the luggage in the cart, the panda, a duck and a small black pig that was sitting on her head. Plum was in the basket attached to the handlebar and gave directions.
"How far is it to Mount Phoenix, Plum...?" asked Ranma, she was slightly out of breath
"Not far. We must only cross next seven mountains!" replied the small girl, while pointing ahead of her
((Seven mountains?! If they expect me to pull all their stuff up and down several mountains, they're going to hear a piece of my mind!!))
That was when P-chan started hitting her on the head, "Ouch! What is it, Ryoga?!"
The pig pointed to their right and Ranma's eyes widened with happiness, "Oh! A hot spring!"
As the rest of the cursed ones heard this, they scrambled of after Ranma, who abandoned the bike and ran to the small resort. She already started undressing as she ran, "Finally going to be a man again!!"
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A little while later...
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"Ahhhhh... that feels good...!" exclaimed the four males as they sank into the water of the spring
"That's right! There's nothing better than hot water if you want to relax." said Genma as he rubbed his neck
"Hmm... yes. However... I think some of the people here are a little too relaxed." replied Ranma, while looking at several unconscious men that were floating on the water a few meters away from them. The pigtailed boy narrowed his eyes, "Something's coming closer..."
"Hmm... I can't see what it is..." said Mousse as he put his glasses on
Ryoga was cracking his knuckles, "Well, at least we can warm up a little before we reach Mount Phoenix. Are you guys ready?"
They watched as a large shadow was coming nearer towards them from under the water. The three teenagers positioned themselves near a large rock in the spring, so that they couldn't be attacked from behind.
((Just a little closer...)) went through all of their minds, when suddenly something shot out of the water and smashed through the rock they were hiding behind. Ranma jumped out of the spring, catching one of the larger stones that were hurled around and threw it at the monster's shadow. It arched up and out of the water, it was easily three or four meters long.
"There it is!!" shouted Mousse
"It's gigantic!!" exclaimed Ryoga
It came down onto the water again with a loud splash and stayed there, floating on the surface.
"Hmm...?! A giant lobster?" mumbled Ranma dumbly and walked closer towards the big, red thing. He poked it slightly and looked a little embarrassed, "But... it's just..."
Mousse pulled a needle out of nowhere and pierced the lobster, instantly air started to escape from the thing and it grew smaller.
"... A toy..." finished Ranma flatly
All of a sudden, Ranma heard a sound coming from behind him; he turned around just in time to catch an ornate metal ring that was flying towards him at an astonishing speed. The cursed boy gritted his teeth as the force behind the object pushed him of his feet and smashed him against a large rock, shattering it completely.
The ring slipped out of his grasp and continued on its destructive way, splitting a nearby tree in half. The projectile then suddenly stopped in the air and slowly flew back down; attaching itself to a staff that someone was holding who was obscured due to the steam rising from the water.
"Who's there?!" shouted Ryoga
"Fu fu fu fu fu fu...! Who do you think you are, scum? For the crime of entering this hot spring unallowed, there is only one punishment... DEATH!!!"
A boy who seemed to be only seven years old said this, he had black hair with orangish-red streaks that lined his face and he was wearing very fine looking clothes along with a cape that was fluttering in the wind. He had crimson eyes and in his hand he was holding the staff with the ring.
"Huh...?" muttered Mousse dumbly
"A boy... you have got to be kidding?" said Ryoga
The child did not take their reaction pretty well though, he swung his staff and the ring was sent flying again, "Zanshu!"
Ryoga didn't take this very lightly though, he picked up the rather huge rock on which Ranma was at the moment and threw it at the boy, "Everything that happened at this spring is your fault, isn't it?!"
The small boy's weapon promptly destroyed the boulder, "Young fools! You don't know the power of my Kinjakan!!"
Unfortunately for him though, one of larger pieces of the destroyed stone landed on his head, knocking him out cold.
"Don't pop an artery, shrimp." said Ranma, who was on top of that stone
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Some time later...
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Ranma and the others were dressed again and stood outside of the hot spring resort, along with Plum and his father, who fled earlier.
"So... the demon of the spring was just a small brat?!" muttered Ranma, he was holding the Kinjakan
"Brat make great mess in all hot springs in area." explained Plum
"Kill me!! I'd rather die than being humiliated like that!!" growled the small boy, he was sitting on the ground and was tied up with a rope.
"Come on now, you're exaggerating a little." said Ranma, "If you apologize, we won't hit you anymore."
"I worry about Shampoo..." mumbled Mousse sadly
"It takes at least two days till we reach Mt. Phoenix..." stated Plum
The boy blinked, "Hey... you're going to Mount Phoenix?"
"Yeah, why?" asked Ranma, he already turned to leave
"Leave him be, Ranma. We don't have the time to play around with this brat." said Ryoga angrily
"If you use my Kinjakan, you could reach Mount Phoenix tonight."
The three teenagers suddenly surrounded him and all of them had friendly looks on their faces.
"Is that really true, little one?" asked Ranma as he freed the boy
"He does look very nice." stated Mousse
"Put your glasses on you blind dolt! I'm Ryoga!" muttered the bandanna-clad boy as Mousse patted him on the head
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A few hours later...
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Ranma and his companions were actually enjoying the trip now. They were sitting on their cart and bike, while the boy pulled them as he was riding his Kinjakan. The staff was almost reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour.
"There!! Look, Mount Phoenix up ahead!" exclaimed Plum and pointed at a very high and dangerous looking mountain
"Wow..." whispered Ranma astonished
It didn't take them very long to reach the mountain now and soon arrived at its base. Once there, they looked at Mt. Phoenix in awe, it was much larger now that they were standing right in front of it.
"We don't have to climb up there?" questioned Ryoga with a small gulp; the mountain walls were very steep
"Of course not, you idiot." muttered the small boy, "The main entrance is just few meters away from here. I'll lead you there."
Ryoga was about to strangle the child but was held back by Mousse and Ranma, "Let me at him!!"
The boy ignored him and started walking, motioning them to follow him. True to his words, he led them to the entrance, which was a large gateway with a stairway leading into Phoenix Mountain.
"Here it is." said the boy as he looked up at Ranma
"Thanks for your help. That saved us a lot of time." replied the pigtailed boy sincerely and started walking up the stairs to follow his friends, who were already climbing them. He waved at their guide one last time, "Be careful on your way home! I hope you don't get lost. Bye and thanks again!"
"..." the boy smashed his staff onto the ground once
Ranma just caught up with his Ryoga and the other when they all heard a deep noise rumble that went through the ancient staircase. All of a sudden, the ground under them broke away, revealing a gaping hole that was shrouded in darkness.
The owner of the Kinjakan walked up to the brink of the newly created abyss, a cruel look was marring his face, "Fu fu fu... That is the punishment for humiliating me! You're going to stay down there until you're going mad from hunger!"
Suddenly a chain shot up from the dark pit and wrapped itself tightly around the boy's staff, "Wha...? How did you...?!"
"Tsss... I already thought that it was too good to be true!" shouted Ranma, who was holding the other end of the chain along with the others
"Argh...! Let go!"
"Just wait until we're up there! You're going to get the beating of your life!" growled the son of Nodoka and started to climb up
There was one thing that Ranma didn't think about though when he did that. Three male teenagers with backpacks, a small girl and a big panda were much, much heavier than a seven-year old boy with a staff. The child's feet were pulled of the ground and he was tumbling now along with the others into the hole. All of a sudden, they heard a woman shout, the voice sounded very familiar to them.
"Kima!!!" screamed the boy happily
The shorthaired woman flew towards them at a very high speed and grasped the boy around the waist. Her eyes widened when she realized who was hanging at the Kinjakan too.
"What are you doing here, you...?!"
"Kima?!" exclaimed Ranma in surprise
"Korma, Masala... Hit them and let them fall into the abyss!!" ordered Kima her two subordinates
"Of course, lady Kima!" said the two young men
The two made a nosedive towards Ranma and hit the staff he was clutching with enough force to rip it out of the hands of the boy their commander was holding. The members of the Nerima Wrecking Crew could do nothing but scream at they fell down the deep hole.
"Ha ha ha ha ha!! They're falling heads forward into hell!" said Korma happily
He and his friends were promptly hit over the head by the boy they saved, "You bumbling fools!!"
"Huh?" they muttered dumbly
"You let them have my Kinjakan!! What do you have in your heads? Yoghurt?!" screamed the boy angrily
That was the last thing Ranma and the others heard before they reached the bottom of the pit. Unexpectedly, Ryoga started using the 'Bakusai Tenketsu' on the ground.
"Let's build a tunnel!!" exclaimed the Eternally Lost Boy
"And why should that help us, you idiot?!" screamed Ranma
"Honored Customer, mountain of Phoenix is up there!" stated Plum
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An hour later...
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Korma and Masala were searching through the newly created tunnel system under Mount Phoenix. They were sent here after they found out that the boy that hit them was actually their master Saffron.
"Where are they...?" muttered the black-haired boy
"And where do these tunnels come from? I've never seen them before." said Masala
All of a sudden, the stonewall that was behind them exploded and buried them under the rubble. Out of the new hole walked Ryoga, who was accompanied by his friends.
"Say... weren't we here already?" asked Mousse
"Why are there caves everywhere?" questioned Ryoga dumbly, this earned him a punch from Ranma
"Because you dug them, idiot!" said Ranma angrily
"Go down from us, it hurts!!!" screamed someone
"Huh?" Ranma looked down at the ground and his eyes widened in surprise, he saw two very familiar persons. Out of shock, all the Jusenkyo cursed people jumped away from the rubble.
"Now you're not getting away anymore!!" shouted Korma as he and Masala burst free from the stone
Masala flapped his wings once and a hail of sharp feathers was thrown at the pigtailed boy and the others, "Give back the Kinjakan or I'm going to throw all of my feathers at you!!"
"Wargh...!" screamed the martial artists as they avoided another salve
"You idiots! Don't you know how dangerous this is in such a narrow space?!" exclaimed Ranma as he whirled around. Accidentally he swung the Kinjakan and unexpectedly the ring on top of it flew at the winged boys.
They ducked away but the metal disk started ricocheting off the walls, so fast that it was smashing them to pieces. In the process, Korma and Masala were buried again. Unfortunately though the ring came towards Ranma and the others now and it wasn't moving any slower.
Without thinking, they ran away, trying to avoid the ring as best as they could, when Ryoga stumbled over a small rock. He fell forward and the projectile sliced his backpack in half.
"My wallet!!" screamed Ryoga as he jumped for it. He caught his wallet with Akari's and Akane's pictures inside of it, when he noticed a little detail. There was no ground under him and he was in the process of falling into a very deep and dark hole.
He had luck that Ranma got a hold of the other side of the wallet that was also in Ryoga's hands, "Ryoga! Don't let go!"
"You don't have to tell me that!!"
Just then, the ring of the Kinjakan came back to the staff and attached itself again. The only problem was that the ring was almost as fast as a bullet as it did that. Ranma was thrown backwards and the wallet was ripped in half. This caused Ryoga to fall again.
"Damn..." muttered Ranma and then blinked when he heard a sound he didn't like at all.
The tunnel the pigtailed boy was in collapsed, and buried him under several tons of stone.
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Ranma's dream...
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He saw a cute, red-haired girl kneeling in front of him. She was more than a head shorter than him and looked pretty surprised and had a blush on her face. He remembered that her name was Yoko.
"Which ancient and evil wizard are you now?" asked the girl
Flash...
"What did you do with Yoko?!" he shouted angrily
"I'll tell you what I did! I tied her up and let the slime play with her!" exclaimed a large black-haired man, who was holding a katana
"What slime?!"
"And once she was naked I licked her whole body off!"
"Licked... off...?" his left eye started twitching
"That wasn't everything! I put my XXX in her XXX and then I XXXed her! I forced her to XXX!!"
"You..."
"I deflowered her!! Ha, ha, ha, ha!!" shouted the man proudly and stuck a heroic pose, "And it was fun!!"
"..." he was speechless, then after a moment his eyes narrowed, "Grrr... Gara... you... I will... I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!!"
Flash...
He looked down at his adoptive daughter, who was on the destroyed ground in front of him. She was on her knees and had a defeated look on her face.
"Dashu..." said the half-elf woman, while tears were running out of her eyes
"Ashes, does it hurt much?" he said sorrowfully, "I will free you myself!!"
And as he was still looking into her beautiful eyes, he ripped his own heart out.
Flash...
He was standing in the ruins of a castle and only had one arm and leg, his wounds were bleeding profusely. A few meters in front of him stood a gigantic monster that had a normal human head and it was talking to him,
"You may have stood up again, but you are still finished!!" screamed the thing, "You may be a great sorcerer but you are far away from the evil power! I have the strength of the Anthrax... you can't win!! Goodness! Ha! Love binds you down! All of you are pathetic! Against me, a part of the Anthrax, the absolute evil, you have no chance! Ha, ha, ha!!! And now die!!"
"Nooo!! Dashu! Don't kill my Dashu!!" screamed the half-elf woman desperately, she was watching the fight together with a tall black-haired man and a red-haired girl, who were holding her back.
"Luzi!! You aren't alone, don't be afraid!!" shouted Yoko, "If you win, I will give you anything you want! Even me! So... so... don't give up!!"
To the surprise of all a surge of power was released from his body, destroying what remained of his clothes.
"What?!" screamed the monster, along with everyone else in shock
"Tss... what's this talk about good and evil?! That doesn't interest me!!" he exclaimed
The monster growled, "What? Bastard!"
"Abigail... the whole time you were second only to me!! In a fight between men there's no place for good and evil!!" said the man, "Anyway, you are going to die now!!"
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End dream...
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Ranma woke up surrounded by darkness, he had a splitting headache and his body felt like it has undergone the Bakusai Tenketsu training a few hundred times.
((Where... are the others...?)) thought Ranma weakly, (Argh... damn, I can't... move...))
"Huh? Akane...?" muttered Ranma, ((Am I going insane? Why the hell do I see Akane's face..?))
The cursed boy inched a little closer towards it until he recognized what he actually seeing, ((Oh! It's just that picture Ryoga bought from Nabiki... wait a minute... why can I see it if it's so dark in here?))
He then actually noticed that there was light coming out of a small gap next to the photo. Ranma took the snapshot and put it into his shirt, ((I bet Ryoga wants this back, he paid for it.))
After resting a little more to regain his strength, he started to dig through all the stone and earth. It did not take him long to reach the surface, having only been buried a little deeper than one meter.
Ranma's head popped out of the ground and he sweatdropped at what he saw, the source of light was nothing more than a flashlight that his father was holding. It seemed that they were in another cave now along with Plum and his two rivals.
The pigtailed boy pulled himself out of the ground, ignoring Genma and Plum and walked over to Mousse, who was working on a weird construct near the hole where Ryoga fell in previously. And now that he had time to actually check the fissure out, Ranma finally noticed what it really was.
"But that's..."
"...yeah, a dried out well." finished Mousse, "We can get out of here from up there."
Ryoga was also there, he standing on a bucket that was hanging on a rope in the middle of the well, "Hm... we have to thank Akane and Akari for this! They're leading us..."
"Hey Ryoga! Seems that you're okay."
"Yeah, no thanks to you... anyway, what happened to my photo of Akane? I'm fond of it, you know..."
"Here you have it." said Ranma and threw the picture to the bandanna-clad boy, he then jumped to the rope that led to the surface and used Ryoga's head as a stepping stone in the process, ((Hmm... if this well leads outside... that must mean the cursed spring of Mount Phoenix has dried up as well!))
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Some time later...
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After a long and tiring hike up the mountain, Ranma and his companions finally reached the palace on the summit. It was quite a large structure and it was guarded by about 40 soldiers, who were armed with swords and spears. The whole group decided to split up and so Genma and Plum went their own way. Ranma, Ryoga and Mousse continued as well and to their luck it seemed that all the guards were rather weak, making it easy for them to explore the palace.
They fought themselves all the way through the castle, until they reached the bridge that led to the royal chambers. Kima was there, waiting for the three teenagers and the cold look in her eyes told them what awaited them if they lost.
"You're still alive, I see..." muttered the woman
"Kima!! Release Shampoo and give us the map of Jusenkyo!" ordered Ranma fiercely
"Ku, ku, ku... young idiot!" exclaimed Kima and raised her wings for an attack, "You're saving us the time to the search for the Kinjakan! That's very kind of you! Anyway, are you ready to die?"
((Tss... it was clear that she would attack like this again... So...)) thought Ranma
She flapped with her wings and several dozen feathers were sent into the general direction of the three boys. To Kima's surprise though, Ranma used the Kinjakan to block all the feathers. Once he was finished, there was an arrogant smile on his lips.
"He... I knew it. This Kinjakan is a lot more powerful than your feathers, isn't it?" asked the martial artist triumphantly, "And since it can resist them..."
"You want to test it?"
"Hm, I was about to say that as well." replied Ranma and swung the staff, sending the ring at the top flying
Unfortunately, the loop suddenly changed directions and destroyed the part of the bridge where Ranma and the other two boys were standing on.
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