Authors Note: This is the start of a complete rewrite of DBU, the reason for this, is that I don't like the way the story was progressing before, and now have new ideas, and hopefully can better put those ideas down. Hopefully I can actually get the story going somewhere this time. Also, the reason behind this story. I like Dragonball Z, I really do, but my favorite character (Gohan) ends up a wimp compared to what he could have been, and the fights... The fights are more brawls than martial arts. So place Ranma 1/2 characters in a position to get the DBZ character to at least give a Somewhat decent showing of martial arts, beyond punch, kick, block which is all they ever really seem to do other than ki blasts. I'm using Ranma 1/2 because that is my favorite martial arts anime, and the one I'm most familiar with. Beyond that, it's my story, so while critisizm is accepted, don't critisize me on my use of certain characters in certain ways, my portrayals of character that end up ooc (my story, so their in character for this story), or the way the story progresses. After all, If you really hate the story, why read it, or if you like the idea, but don't like the way I'm writing it, Make your own attempt at writting it. If you do make your own attempt, let me know, I would like to read those story's to see how they progress, and maybe even give my opinon on the story. Also, if some things are wrong by the timeline of the anime or manga, then this was done to make the story flow, or I just couldn't remember the events properly.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, or Dragonball. I would put who does, but I'm not in the mood to go searching for the names. Any characters, or events that do not happen or are not a part of these two franchises, is clearly my doing as I clearly had a need for some form of plot device or character to move the story forward.

Dragonball Ultima: Prologue

Deep in the wilds of a region known as China, there lies a mythical training ground called Jusenkyo. A mysty vale, enshouded in mystery and death, know by the locals as the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. The ominous quiet that enshrouds this area is soon broken by shrieks of rage, and extream violence.

Ranma Saotome, heir to the Saotome school of Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu (commonly refered to as Anything Goes Martial Arts), was in an extreamly volotile mood at finding out what his father had just done to him. Whether the old man had meant to do it or not was not the point. Ranma was currently sitting on the ground, staring in anger at his father, while a kettle was heating its way to boiling on the camp fire that was between them. The guide was babling about something, but Ranma wasn't really paying attention, being irritable, cold, and wet just made for a real rotten day. And the worst part was, Ranma was no longer a boy. At 14 years old, Ranma was now officially of the fairer sex.

"Ya know, this is all your fault old man!" Ranma said. "If ya hadn't decided ta come here early, this wouldn't have happened. What did ya do ta make ya decide to come here so soon anyway?!" Genma looked at Ranma then looked back at the kettle, the bandages wrapped tightly around his body and jaw making answering difficult and tedious so he didn't. 'Besides' he though, 'Once the water's heated, we can get the boy back to normal, then everything will stay on track.'

The wistling of the kettle drew everyone's attention to it. The guide got up, grabed the kettle, and brought it over to Ranma. Quickly pouring it on her before it had a chance to cool down, there was only shocked silence as nothing happened. "I thought you said that would get the boy back to normal." Genma said to the guide in irritation.

The guide nodded rappidly. "Not know what wrong with curse. Only thing this one can say is that spring young mister Customer fall in newer and stronger than rest. May be permament. Not know."

A growling sound drew their attention back to Ranma. She had stood up, and the tail she had gained with the curse was puffed out, and swiching rather erratically. "Old Man... THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!!" She yelled before launching herself at Genma.

Later that night, Ranma looked up from where she was laying, pretending to sleep. The guide and her father were asleep. 'Village of the Amazons. No thank you. If pops thinks it's a good idea, then it's probably not.' She though. She had been thinking about various things since getting dunked in the cursed spring, and the one thing she knew, was that sticking with her father was probably the worst idea ever. 'If I gotta live like this for the rest of my life, I'm not gonna let pops help ruin my life more then he has already. I'm gonna take control, but first, I gotta leave him behind.'

Getting up slowly, and moving silently over to Genma, Ranma hit one of the sleep shiatsu points that one of the recent senseis she had, had taught her. "Don't worry pop, I'm gonna achieve my dreams. The same one's you helped me build for myself, but I'm gonna achieve them my way." With that she went over and made sure the guide was asleep, then went through Genma's pack for anything useful. A little bit of money, some food, and several sets of scrolls she'd not seen before turned up. Also was some paper and writing materials that she used to leave a brief message.

Pops

Gone to achieve my dreams my way.

Not gonna let you mess my life up anymore.

Ranma

Packing everything up, she placed the note securely on Genma's pack, then stood up, and walked off into the night. 'Well, it's off to a new adventure for me. Hopefully this way will get me back to civilization, or at least some sembalance of it.

_-DBU-_

3 weeks later

Goku ducked as yet another Red Ribbon Army soldier attacked him. This one started with a kick, that developed into a fight that Goku knew well enough he could win.

Duck, block, dodge, block, punch, kick, block, sidestep, kick. Another one bites the dust. Sighing, Goku looked around, he was in a clearing, the next Dragonball was around here somewhere, but once again, the Red Ribbon Army had shown up first, and he was forced to fight them as he tried to find the dragonball. Looking to make sure he was alone before he pulled out the dragon radar, he was startled when the sounds of fighting reached his ears, just as two figures burst into the clearing. The first was a young girl in a red shirt and black pants, who was fighting a Red Ribbon soldier, and this one looked like some sort of officer, though he wasn't sure. The man was throughing punch after punch at the girl, but she just kept right on dodging his strikes. The man was obviously getting mad from the way his face kept getting redder and redder with each failed attack.

"Grrrrr. Little girl, Just give me the dragonball, and I may just let you walk away alive." The man said. The girl smirked at his comment.

"Now why would I do that? Your way to slow to even think about catching me, let alone hurting me." She said. The man got pissed off at this and reached and grabbed the gun that was strapped to his thigh, he brought the gun up and was bringing it to bear, when her foot snapped up, and into his wrist, sending the gun flying from his hand. Following that was a quick series of kicks that tracked up his torso and to his face, followed by a round house kick to the gut that sent him flying back and into a tree, knocking him out. "Don't bring a gun into a martial arts fight." She said, though Goku doubted that the man heard.

"Wow! That was cool!" Goku exclaimed. "Could you show me how to fight like that? Master Roshi barely showed me anything. I'll bet If I knew how to fight like you, I could win next time I get to fight him." The girl looked a little startled at his enthusiasm.

"Um, well I guess I could." She said. Then, after looking around a bit she continued. "We should probably get away from here first. I don't think those guys like me to much for running off with that funny orange ball."

"Yeah, they get really mad at me when I come and get the dragonball before they do. Then again, the fights are really fun, and I even get to make new friends sometimes." Goku said. "I'm Goku by the way. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Ranma, pleased to meet you. Any idea on which way to get out of here?" Ranma asked.

Goku thought for a moment, then smiled "Lets try Nimbus." Ranma looked confused for a moment, then even more so when Goku looked up into the sky and shouted "Flying Nimbus!" The confusion turned to surprise, then wonder when a golden cloud flew down and pulled up to them. "This is Nimbus." Goku said as he hoped up and onto the cloud.

Ranma walked up to the cloud and reached out to it. "Is it safe?" she asked, as she place a hesitant hand on it.

"Oh yeah. I fly all around on Nimbus. Come on. Try getting on. Not everyone's able to fly on Nimbus. Only certain types of people are able to get on, though I can't remember what type Master Roshi said." Gokus looked up trying to remember what Roshi had said. Ranma looked uncertain, but decided to give it a go. With a short hop, she was up above Nimbus, her eyes closed as she braced for a crash back to the ground. Instead of hard ground the felt a soft comfortable almost airy feel seeming to caress her legs as she settled down onto the cloud.

"Oh wow, this is so cool!" Ranma said as Goku smiled. "Lets get out of here, I've had a long day.

Goku nodded, then yelled out "Let's go Nimbus!" And with that they were off.

_-DBU-_

Several hours later

After flying til nearly sunset, the two decided to find someplace to camp, and had set down in a clearing. They went about getting a campfire going and gathering some food and setting up a place to sleep. Now they were sitting across form each other finishing up the meal.

"You said that that ball that I got from those guys back there was called a dragonball?" Ranma asked as she reached into her pack and pulled out a cloth covered orb.

"Yeah. There's seven all together. Each one with a differnt number of stars in it. I'm looking for the one my grandfather left me. The four star dragonball. Though since if you gather them, you can call upon the eternal dragon and be granted a wish, I've been gathering them all up, just in case. Besides, it's better than letting those Red Ribbon army guys gather them and make a wish, who knows what they would wish for." Goku said.

"So, has anyone ever gathered them and made a wish before?" Ranma asked, suddenly interested.

"Yeah. Me, and Bulma, and Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar gathered them all and got to make a wish. That's why I'm searching for them. When you make a wish, they turn to stone and are scattered all over the world. Then one year later, they return to normal." Goku explained. Ranma looked thoughtful for a few minutes, then she looked back toward Goku.

"You said your grandfather left one to you?" she asked "So then, does that mean he's..." she trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase the question.

"He died years ago. Killed by a wild animal."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." Ranma said. Looking down at the ground.

"No, it's ok. I'm not upset." Goku said. The two were quiet for several minutes before Ranma stood and streached, her tail uncoiling from her waist as she did. Goku was surprised when he saw her tail.

"Oh wow, you've got a tail too?" He asked.

"Um, well, yeah, though I'm not sure why. I've only had it for a few weeks." Ranma said. She smiled slightly at that.

"Really? I've always had mine." Goku said.

"Really now?" Ranma said. She looked at Goku for a minute. "Goku, could you stand up?" Goku nodded and stood up. She looked him up and down for a moment. "The four star is precious to you right?" she asked.

"Yeah." Goku said.

"Tell you what. Lets train together. Gather those Dragonballs. Then protect them from people who would use them for bad or evil things." Ranma said, while thinking 'Though I do have a wish I would like to make, I'll get to know you first Goku. See if your worth helping to keep those dragonballs safe. Besides, this body is able to get better faster than my old one, though I still have to work for it, which is a good thing.'

Goku's answering smile at her statement had Ranma smiling too. "Really, that's great. All the cool moves you know and can teach me. And I'll teach you things I know. Then we can get better, then I can win against Master Roshie!" Goku exclaimed.

Ranma laughed at his enthusiasm. "Just remember that. I can tell your good, but your not quite to my level. There are always those better than you. and you'll never meet them unless you go looking for them. Always remeber that. You strive for excelence in fighting, you must always remeber, even if you are the best there is, there is always someone better. Whether in the past or future. Never stop growing. If you want to know martial excelence for the rest of your life, keep learning, never stop, and always strive to meet your better in even combat as equals." Goku paused in thought, then looking directly at Ranma, nodded.

Authors Note 2: Now, before anyone complains about how ooc Ranma seems, let me put this out there. I've put Ranma visiting Jusenkyo and leaving Genma at the age of 14, hence Ranma hasn't really started to best Genma quite yet, as such, the teachings of the other sensei is still sticking in Ranma's mind. Genma's teachings as such are not quite as profound as when Ranma regularly beats Genma, at which point Ranma's ego and confidence start overiding the common sence teachings that had been taught by others before. And yes this is a female Ranma story so to speak, that is all I'm gonna say as I don't wish to ruin anything about the story for others.