Ranma and the Doctor

Chapter 24

Sayonara, Sensei

The Skies of Nerima

The wave of blue light showered the region with particles of light, motes that touched everything in their reach. When the objects and people were touched by the snowflakes, they too started to glow blue, pulsating slowly.

"Emergency..." A glowing Dalek stated as it was righting itself in the air, "Temporal Flux in effect."

Another Dalek neared him as it too started to glow, "Scans reveal molecular distribution from central temporal vortex. Maximum saturation in 1500 rels."

Ryoga, using his ki jets to veer away from the enemies looked at his body through the scanner.

"It's just like those times..." His mask melted away revealing his shocked expression, "Yuko, this is the same behaviour before we travelled to different worlds." His eyes scanned it using technological means, then using his innate abilities, "No... It's not just temporal energy, it's ki!"

Yuko frowned, "Ki? But whose?"

He tried to determine who it belonged to, making his green ki larger also made Yuko appear brighter due to increased power flowing to her, "I don't know..."

"But..." She tried doing more of her own scans, "Doesn't that mean you're going to disappear again?"

Biting his lip, Ryoga shook his head, "I don't know, but whatever this is, it needs time to charge up." His eyes narrowed, "And that is never good news."

He glared at the Daleks and flew to them, throwing another set of his bombs to distract them.

"A worthless attempt to prolong your life!" Dalek Sec watched the bombs near them, "Exterminate!"

Two Black Drones dove in the way, allowing themselves to get hit on purpose, blocking them from Ryoga's view.

"Did you forget about me, children?"

Althaea twirled her staff and fired blasts of green energy at the Daleks, who started to spasm, their plungers, gunsticks and eyestalks jerking in random directions.

"Weapons system disabled!"

"Movements restricted!"

"My vision is impaired!"

"Scanners malfunctioning!"

"Thanks!" Ryoga lurched forward and extended his palms, "SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

The shot flared up in front of them, blowing them backwards into the air, their screams coming out garbled through the voice modulators.

As Ryoga and Althaea pressed the attack, Kuno using his wind abilities, went the opposite direction to the Cyberleader with his green blade, "For the sins you have committed, death is the only option!"

"The probability of you succeeding is zero pe-AAARGH!"

Two of the laser artillery from the contraption on its back were sheared off, the blade neatly passing and cleaving though them to the ground far beneath the twosome.

"Perish, you worthless Kuno!" The remaining eight lasers targeted the kendoist, only for another Cyber beam to strike him from behind.

"Leave brother dearest alone!"

Kodachi swung her Sleeper blade into the nape of the Cyberleader, only for the brown edge to crack, barely damaging the silver armour.

"You fool. I have taken into consideration your powers and have upgraded myself." Grabbing her arm with the blade and Cyber cannon, he hoisted the girl in front of him using his much larger hand, "Do you even realise that you are defective, and a mere flea in comparison to my power?"

The half-handlebar over Kodachi's head started to leak oil as she grit her teeth.

"Well, my sad little Gosunkugi..." She laughed out loud in bitter joy, "This flea bites HARD!" Her Dalek gunstick was pointed straight at his face, "EXTERMINATE!"

Veering his helmet away, the Cyberleader threw her behind him, as he focused his beams on her, even as she turned to face him, her cyberised feet providing a small rocket boost in the air.

"Insolent girl!" His manic face mimicked her own.

"Exterminate!"

The two beams met in the middle, and grew as both were of equal level. Though the Cyber cannons were much larger in size and numerous, the concentrated Dalek beam was dozens of levels above in pure lethality.

"Did you forget our duel?" Came a whisper, before Kuno swung in, slamming into two more cannons.

The newer armour was dented but didn't detach, the upgrade took into consideration the power of the blade. Despite not actually being stopped, the subtle change in direction affected the output of the beams, allowing the Cyberleader to be overwhelmed by Kodachi's beam.

A green beam barely skimmed by the Kuno duo as three Daleks faced them.

"Weapons restored." Their gunsticks pointed at the siblings, "Exterminate!"

Flying backwards the still alive Cyberleader, again adapting quickly to the lethal Puppet beam, angled his face to the Black Dalek, his new targets in sight as Ryoga and Althaea shifted about the killing lasers.

The battle continued onwards between the groups as no advantages were created or ruined.

However, two people observed this within a specific sphere, their vessels locked together in a tight embrace.

"What have you done, Master?"

The Doctor was staring out at the scene of blood and endless struggle from within a glass-like structure. He slammed his hands on the shell, but there was no reaction.

"It's useless, Doctor." The Master shuffled out to him, pulling out a pipe as he began to smoke peacefully, "I've encoded the TARDIS matrix to emit an anti-spatial time grid." He grinned wider, "We no longer exist in their lives at all, as we are now beyond both space and time."

The Doctor frowned, "So, no one knows me anymore?" He turned to face him and stomped up to the short old man, "Why would you do that?!"

"Why indeed, my dear Doctor?" The Master puffed a long streak of smoke into the air, "Perhaps you were getting too important to everyone around me, I had to ensure that no one knows who you are." His smile turned sinister, "For all we know, the Daleks could just return to being a peaceful race without having you in their lives."

"That's not exactly a reason." The Doctor stared at the two TARDISes, both caught up in the air, the gargoyle biting down onto the blue flashing light, "Given that you're saying that, you're trapped here too with me. Is that what you want, to be with me forever?"

Shrugging, the Master looked away, "Better to have you erased from existence than to keep you around. What better way to ensure that by keeping watch on you for all eternity." He nodded at the locked TARDISes, "In a few minutes, this field will generate enough power to go across the entire solar system, and then the galaxy. Within an hour, the entire universe will no longer remember you."

"I don't believe you." He folded his arms, "The Master I know would not just lock himself away forever. You know," He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, "it shouldn't take me too long to break your code to get us out of here."

"I sincerely doubt you could do that," Chuckling to himself now, as if scolding a child, he spoke on, "Yes, there are some technological aspects to what I have built in, which I can easily believe in your removing the restrictions from there. However," he laughed fully this time, "You need to project ki in order to disable it completely, and it can only be done in the next ten minutes."

"Ki?" The Doctor cocked his head to one side, "You mean like what Ranma does?" He clenched his fist, but naturally, nothing changed outwardly.

"Exactly. I was stuck on this planet for many years, thinking of ways to stop you. I could have waited in London, but that would be too risky. I needed more power, power which a Timelord did not possess at birth." He held his fist and a huge aura surrounded him, "I trained my mind, to keep the drums away I used them instead as a rhythm to a beat and began to learn martial arts." He focused on the Doctor's eyes, "Timelords are a peaceful race, mostly, but it doesn't mean our bodies are weak. They are much stronger than normal people though we never utilise them to their full extent. I did."

The Doctor closed his eyes, thinking back, "So, you became a Master in your own right and started to train others, what for?"

"Why, to attract you of course!" He held his arms out, "One thing has always been true about your visits, you always go to places where there is a lot of mayhem. I played the ignorant fool, causing enough strife when needed. Imagine my surprise when I found the Nanban mirror, a relic of Gallifrey, in China with the Amazons? I knew I would be on the right track if I was to continue to cause more problems with them. However, even a hundred years wasn't enough, and the mirror itself was too weak for any real power."

"I'm sure you know the TARDIS doesn't automatically go to the nearest spot of bother, Master." The Doctor shook his head slowly.

The shorter man sighed, walking about as he dictated his story, "So I went to Japan, training others, giving them distorted ideals, in the hopes it would pay off. The students were gullible, but they grew a backbone finally to seal me away. I even allowed myself to hibernate in a cave for twenty odd years to wait until the seeds were ripe." He turned to face the Doctor, "And then they grew, blooming into sweet blossom..."

"Ranma..." The Doctor answered for him, "Was this your plan from the beginning?"

"Of course it was! Ranma's birth set off a chain of events which even I found surprising. My disciples were corrupted and weak-minded as I thought. Yet, Genma had a child with a Sleeper agent by my machinations. He and Soun then came up with a ridiculous idea for a marriage, then going on a training trip, upsetting the Amazons, visiting Jusenkyo, even as the Sleeper agents setup their base, you name it. It all led to this moment." His mouth widened in mirth, "It may have taken a long time, but now I finally have you where I want, and there's no one left who remembers you, and no one to stop this process."

The two TARDISes hung there in mid-air as a hissing noise started to come out from them. The Master started to laugh, "It is beginning, say goodbye to the universe, Doctor."

Glancing up at the two ships, the Doctor stepped backwards a few feet away before leaning against the window to the battle below and folding his arms.

He nodded once, "It's okay now, I tried to help Ranma cure the curse on her, but to no avail. If she could hear me now, she would say to never give up." He stood up taller and removed his sonic screwdriver, "So, I won't. As long as I live, I'll resist you, Master, and Ranma would too."

His enemy scoffed, "Ranma is far below us, and will never remember who you are."

The Doctor merely smiled as he ran towards the Master.

"Are you a fool?!" The Master raised his ki and formed an offensive stance, "You'll die if you try to fight me!"

"What about me?"

A loud shriek came from the TARDISes, sending three red lines across the Master's face, catching him completely by surprise.

"AAARGH!" The blood streamed down his face as he turned to the person dropping down behind the locked ships.

"Master..."

Ranma moved closer, her steps causing the enclosed shell to tremble with each footfall. Her claws had extended out, the wisps of energy funnelling into conical shapes over the fingertips.

"You killed Ukyo." Her face was mostly covered by her loose hair since her pigtail had long since been removed. With each step, her body started to give off ki, although this time it was white, not blue as usual.

"Therefore, there's only one possible outcome to this." The breeze started by her ki pushed away the lock of hair, leaving her eyes trained on his own pair, white cat like irises versus deep black pupils.

"I have to kill you."

The sonic boom hit the Doctor full on, and he didn't expect to be blown backwards by the wind. Falling to the ground, he held his side as the pain spread through him. His eyesight started to flicker as he felt a deep worry course through his brain.

Trying to tap into his abilities, he watched the battle progress at a speed far beyond that of any human speeds. His eyes flitted from side to side, rapidly focusing on the near and far at the same time, keeping both of them in clear view.

Ranma slammed her fists into the Master's chest, only for them to ping lightly against his aura, not penetrating through to his skin.

"You'll need to do better than that, Ranma." He gloated, sending a short kick followed by a large palm built from ki to blast the redhead away.

As Ranma fell, she glanced and saw the Doctor already scanning the two TARDISes, breaking down the defences using the sonic screwdriver. Gritting her teeth, she dug her claws into the ground beneath, creating a small trench as she halted in her movements.

"Fine, you want better? You've got it."

The white ki expanded from her body and it started to push Ranma's limits. Her hair whirled around, frazzled and straining much like her clothing which was growing more tattered from the stress.

The Master covered his face as he too was affected.

"You think a little light is going to stop me?"

"No, but this is." Her irises, already white from accessing those skills, inverted in colour, turning black.

"Uh oh..." The Master stepped back once, watching barely as Ranma's skin turned white, even spreading down the roots of her hair.

He blinked and then Ranma was nowhere. His arm suddenly felt warm and he patted it down, only to see a long thin gash in his sleeve. His hand came away red and slick.

"I see..." Another two slices appeared on his chest, "Instantaneous travel in light. Very nice indeed, Ranma..."

The next ten seconds were just a flurry of cuts appearing all over the Master's body as he attempted to parry or block them. His eyesight traced the impossible movements as Ranma's body shifted from spot to spot, even going so far as having only her hand appearing and attacking before retreating and coming out from another direction.

"Got you!" The Master's hand snatched Ranma's fist and pulled as he directed an elbow to her face.

"No, you haven't."

The fist dissolved into a putty-like substance which melted in the Master's grip. It took milliseconds for him to realise it was a solidified ki extract, perfectly harmless and useless in most instances, but seeing as it matched the skin tone of the owner, it was impossible to tell the difference.

The white face of Ranma grinned at him with more fangs than normal.

"Block this! Kachu Tenshin AMAGURIKEN!"

Fists, ki moulds and small ki blasts intertwined to pummel the Master's body. His arms did do his best to block the attacks, but the numerous limbs and the white ki attacks helped to soften his defences overall.

"Impudent fool!"

The Master entered a different stance completely unlike anything Ranma had seen before. It was passive with the arms lowered to his sides, but his aura was exuding a certain pressure just by the way he was standing, even in his diminutive form.

She smiled, finally he was going to fight at his full power.

"You think a human can defeat a Time Lord?!"

As he roared, the malevolent winds caused the protective time cocoon they were in to shake. Ranma simply stood there with her arms folded as her clothes and hair ruffled violently.

"You think a Time Lord can defeat Ranma Saotome?"

The black eyes widened as she prepared her arms, fists clenched so tight that her claws drew blood, allowing it to leak over the floor. Her thigh muscles rippled and morphed slightly as she stepped forwards, now landing on all fours, eyes straight at the Master.

The white ki expanded and then contracted continuously until it surrounded Ranma in a large projected image of a Feral, her own red hair even burst through the top giving it a red mane over the white body. The ki produced a wispy tail as well in addition to covering her body.

"So, you resort to killing yourself again?" The Master sent out waves of ki, "Don't you remember how you were seconds away from shredding Akane to pieces?"

She flicked her tail and her hind legs crouched. The maw of the White Feral widened in mirth, "Yes, I do..."

In a flash the two combatants disappeared from view. The Doctor even had to blinks a few times to try to adjust his vision to see everything that was happening. His sonic screwdriver was flickering and cracking the last few segments of code, but even he couldn't break the ki barrier with his probe.

"Come on, Ranma, I need your help here." He muttered.

The redhead heard the plea and sped up even more.

Fist met claw, shin met foot, chest met tail. Perfect attacks deflected by perfect defences.

"So, you must be using some form of time manipulation." Ranma noted out loud as she sent a triple kick to his face only to be parried instantaneously.

"What else would you expect from a TIME Lord?" The Master goaded, his limbs fluid beyond belief as they intercepted each attack of Ranma's and countering her every move with a subtle hit.

"You're pretty persistent on stopping the Doctor. When was the last time you faced a real challenge?" Ranma felt the damage being done to her real body as the blood began to leak onto the ki projection of hers.

"In martial arts, never. Not even you, the only student vaguely talented enough to defeat me."

Ranma laughed, "I thought so!" She zoomed in, only to get a fist to her face, a massive nosebleed now streaming from her nose into the air. The impact made her fly backwards and slam into the edge of the arena. "Then you won't mind if I do this!"

Her ki tail whipped out and caught the blood in the air. Her projection started to suck up all the loose blood from her body and pass it to the tail, which commenced to spiral with the centre pointed at the Master.

"I don't have time to make up a cool name!" Ranma shouted over the willowing wisps of her ki. Her black eyes leaked out clear tears as her demeanour cooled down, "So, this is for Ukyo."

Punching her fist forward, the cold air around her body mingled with the hot blood sewn into the ki as the spiral propelled itself to the Master.

When he tried to dodge, the tail cracked out and grabbed his leg, flinging him back into the fray.

"GO!" Ranma yelled as the modified and near horizontal tornado compressed itself. Her ki projection around her body flew into the winds, the White Feral roaring at its target.

"Shit..." The Master cursed as he fought to protect himself, but couldn't beat back the combination of the slicing gusts and the ki Feral clamping down on his arms.

Soon he was caught in flow and was jolted off the ground and collided against the two TARDISes, the hot White Feral ki searing his body.

Ranma smiled as she watched this in action.

The old man for opposite her frowned, "This is your ultimate attack?" He freed one arm, "I thought better of you, Ranma."

"I could say the same about you..." Her black eyes reverted to their natural blue and white state, her skin restoring its pinkish hue, "That should be enough I think..."

"What are you..." The Master's eyes widened as he snapped his head behind his body, "No! You can't have..!"

The ki had flooded over the two TARDISes, and as the Master revealed, the last step needed was for a powerful ki signature to break out of the sealing technique.

She hacked out a cough as she stood up, "If I can't bring a real challenge, how about the Daleks, Cybermen and Black Drones?"

The glass shell splintered around them and shattered completely, leaving them weightless for two seconds above the insanity two hundred metres below.

One second later

The combatants all stopped, and those that could clutched their heads.

"Temporal anomaly detected." One of the golden Daleks stated.

"New memories restored." Another one spoke.

"What is this treachery?" Dalek Sec angled the eyestalk upwards, "Master, you were behind this?!"

"How could I forget Ranma and the Doctor?" Ryoga gasped, "What the hell was I fighting for now?"

Yuko scanned above her, "Two TARDISes are falling, three people, two Timelord signatures and one human."

"Hurry, I've got to get to get to Ranma and fast!" As he propelled himself upwards, a flash of silver streaked by him.

Gosunkugi smiled after his cognitive functions realigned themselves, "Doctor, it's time for you to be upgraded."

One person stayed put, watching the scene with wind funnels at his feet keeping him level, "This madness must stop." Kuno stared up the distant trio, "We must end his plans once and for all."

"Agreed." Althaea floated next to him, "The Master cannot be allowed to live."

"Brother..." Kodachi struggled as her body tried to recuperate from all the technology coursing through her body, "I will protect you as long as I function."

Kuno nodded to his sister, "You may have been a construct created to be my sibling in order to spy on us, but I consider you my sister regardless."

"Thank you..." Kodachi bowed slightly before lurching her body to one side as two beams skimmed by, "However, I must hold my masters to account for my condition." Her eyestalk glowed brighter, "Good luck, brother."

Her metal boots started to shake as the propulsion engines kicked in to full power, and she soared up to the golden Daleks.

"Incoming Dalek Puppet." One of them rotated its head, "Scans detect partial Cyberisation. Puppet mental faculties compromised." The gunsticks adjusted themselves to her location, "Exterminate!"

Kodachi shot her jets to the left and avoided the killing shot, then again when a second Dalek started shooting too.

"Face your defeat, Daleks!" Her Cyber arm morphed to the Sleeper blade as she fired the laser and cut into the armour at the same time. The damage was only superficial, but eventually it would be enough for her gunstick to come into action later.

However she didn't expect the third Dalek to converge on her location.

"Enough!"

Kuno slashed the gunstick and diverted the attack elsewhere as he used his sword to crack the glass of the eyestalk.

"I will not abandon you, Kodachi." He looked to his side, "Althaea-san, will you help me rid these vermin?"

"Of course." Her staff shimmered orange, "Let us begin the purge."

Three Daleks faced down Kuno, Kodachi and Althaea in the air, lighting up the skies with beams, blasts, spells and curses as the two TARDISes left the area at top speed.

Meanwhile
100 metres above

The Master swore loudly, snapping his hand out to grab the ledge on his TARDIS.

"Ranma, you'll pay for this!"

The girl in question laughed, "Not as much as you, that's for sure!" She flung her arm out and caught the Doctor's hand, opening the door to the blue box and entering inside, closing the door.

"Get us landed quickly!" She shouted over the warning messages from the console, "There's loads of Cybermen and human-like Daleks in Nerima!"

Fluidly manipulating the controls, the Doctor managed to get the ship level and stop swinging from side-to-side, though the flight was still bumpy.

As the Doctor pulled a few levers and twisted some dials to calculate the best spot for the descent, he spoke quietly.

"What's happened Ranma?" His eyes flicked to her own pair as he watched her reaction, "I heard you mention Ukyo..."

Ranma's eyes turned dull, the fury in them replaced with a lowering of the eyelids, "She's dead, her body is probably on the Moon by now..."

"Oh Ranma... I'm so sorry..." He moved closer to the girl who was holding onto the central panels, her fingers digging into the metal.

"It wasn't just her, Kasumi, Mr Tendo, Shampoo, Sayuri, even pops..." Her smile was wavering at the edges, "I felt him die, when he released that huge ball of ki, I knew that all his life was inside it, and that when it hit him again, he wouldn't be alive any more."

Tears dropping onto her clenched hands as she went on, "I didn't really like him that much, he was rude, mean and always thought he was better than me. But he trained me, he cared for me, and I won't see him again..."

She was pulled into a hug as the Doctor's arms wrapped around her, "I'm sorry, Ranma. If I was here no one would have died."

"I know..." She sniffed, before pulling away from him, "The Master mentioned my mother, that she was a Sleeper?"

The Doctor nodded, "I don't think we met her in our travels, it is possible she may be alive still…"

Ranma shook her head, already believing the worst, "No, that's impossible." She looked upwards at the ceiling, "Now there's only one person left in this universe I need to protect."

"Akane..." The Doctor nodded sagely, "We'll find her." The TARDIS thumped and all movement stopped, "We've landed, let's go and get her."

They opened the doors, only for a red laser to strike the Doctor in his shoulder.

"Doctor," Gosunkugi waited outside the TARDIS, "Prepare for your upgrade."

Ranma stepped in front of him and cracked her knuckles, "Hey again, looks like you've been through some training of your own."

"Step aside, Ranma, this is between the Doctor and me." His eyes didn't move from the Doctor, who was now standing up clutching his wound.

"Still think you're better than me, don't you?" She tutted, "You have a lot to learn."

Finally his eyes lowered a tad to view the diminutive figure, "Some of your school friends and family were converted or killed by me." His eyes narrowed, "While we were unsuccessful in attaining your father's knowledge and power, we succeeded in removing his rogue element preventing our conquest."

Ranma stood still, her breaths long and deep, "What about Cologne and Mousse?" She smirked as she saw a twitch on the metallic face.

"Those wretched fools..." His huge fist trembled and started to glow red, "My forces have been all but wiped out, just some scattered remains finding the last humans alive in this cursed land." He raised his arm and gestured to the TARDIS, "But, with that machine, I could go anywhere to start again anew."

"Not while I'm still around..." She stared at him, her grin growing wider.

While the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver, Ranma steadied herself into yet another battle.

"It's pointless to fi-GAAH!"

The Cyberleader had spoken but before he could finish his sentence, he received a massive punch to his face, cracking the helmet which then turned opaque to heighten the defence mechanisms.

"There's no more time to play with you." Her blue ki ballooned in her hands, "So I'm going to make this quick."

Eight laser cannons extended out to face Ranma, "You are weak against my might."

"We'll see about that..." She aimed her palms at him, "Moko Takabisha!"

Her blast collided with his laser beams, illuminating both their faces. The mask of metal held all emotions at bay, in stark contrasts to Ranma's image with her teeth grit and eyes glinting.

The Doctor, after adjusting the settings on his sonic, raised it and fired.

One minute earlier

Snarling at the disappearing blue box, the Master slammed the door to his crypt. Making his way to the controls, he detected the incoming Daleks and veered away from them.

"He's getting away!" Ryoga saw the stone plinth start to spin as it moved off.

"Catch him, quickly!" Yuko cast some projected paths, "He's going to be out of reach of us in three seconds!"

"Aargh!" Ryoga stretched his arms as far as they could go, and put more power into his feet via the Nano rockets, "Got him!"

One hand was clasping the base of the plinth near the doorway, allowing him the extra momentum to latch his other hand onto the TARDIS.

It began to spin, almost uncontrollably. Grabbing the sides of it, he screamed.

"MASTER!"

Ten seconds later, the crypt smashed into the land beneath them, knocking Ryoga away, heavily injured from the massive fall. His Nanos were working at maximum capability to repair his body.

The door opened and out walked the Master.

"Doctor you fool... Don't you see what you've done?" He pulled out his sonic probe and scanned the area, "No... This whole area... The temporal lock hasn't dissipated, it's only expanding..." He looked back at the TARDIS, "I have to fix the time rotor and get the hell out of here before it catches me too."

"Master..."

He turned to face a fuming Ryoga, quite literally too since the Nanos were burning up in his body so fast they were coming off as black steam.

"Ah, if it isn't the cyborg known as Ryoga." He smiled, "How can I help you today?"

"Die..." Ryoga produced his spherical objects and began to fill them with ki.

"That's an interesting technique, combining technologically generated casings with biological and organic life energy." He mused out loud, "They could be dangerous to the uninitiated," His face changed to a darker hue, "shame you're not dealing with an amateur here."

Ryoga threw the ki bombs and ran in after them, feeling the mask grow back onto his face with his armour enhancing on his chest and legs as well.

"So, this is similar to the Bakusai Tenketsu, except with rocks and concrete, you instead deal with shrapnel and incendiary explosions." He leapt back and then charged forwards, "We'll see who can take the most, huh?"

As the bombs got closer, the Master whipped out his sonic screwdriver and fired it. The two spheres faltered in their flightpath and the lights inside them started to die out.

Only this time, they flared up even stronger, before exploding with an even greater force than before, in the wrong direction.

Ryoga took the shockwave in full, and felt his the mask press hard on his face as he tried to fight the surge off.

The grinning image of the Master put a stop to his thoughts.

"Gotcha."

A fist collided with Ryoga's head, and the subsequent kick to his torso was heavy with ki, and very painful even to his dulled receptors.

"MASTER!"

Yuko was now red, literally her entire body, and her eyes turned cerulean blue as the hyper density lasers burrowed their way towards his neck. He dodged it, but not enough to actually avoid getting hit.

"Well, well, my little AI, still stuck with the poor lost boy?"

She didn't reply to his taunts.

"I've been storing this power since we first met, in preparation for the time I can use it again." Her arms raised up slowly, "I will not lie down and take this anymore." Her fingers morphed into bullet chambers, "So, I ask you one last time, Master." From her back, arms and legs, grew two dozen beam cannons, each one trained on him, "Please, die for all of humanity."

The blue light from her eyes became two spinning stars before the high pitched shriek.

The light from her first barrage blinded Ryoga for two milliseconds before the Nanos readjusted his visual sensors.

The Master too, found it hard to avoid all of them. Even though he was vanishing from sight when he was supposed to have been hit, he would be struck when he reappeared in another area.

"I have the power of ten supercomputers inside me, calculating every potential route of escape." She stated to his unasked question, "Don't even think about running away."

She continued her attack, each time scoring a hit, burn and scalding of the skin. The Master's ki shield was weakening by the moment, so the beams that did breach it were beginning to harm him to a level more than a nuisance.

Ryoga wanted to have his chance, before feeling something in his head. His Nano Contact blinked open and an image of Yuko was there.

"This is a link we have thanks to your cybernetic implants. Here's the plan."

She transmitted the details to him and Ryoga nodded in his mind in response.

Within seconds he ran in. The Master saw this and prepared for his attack, only to get struck from behind from Yuko in a concentrated attack. That miniscule amount of time was all Ryoga needed.

He clasped his hands around the Master's head, and gripped hard.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!"

The smaller man felt his skull get compressed from the energy and sliced his arms upwards, cracking into the metal of Ryoga's arms and armour.

"You're a weakling, Ryoga."

The boy smiled back as the Nanos around his neck shattered away.

An immense heat ploughed into the Master's chest, damaging his lungs in the process.

Breathing heavily, the Timelord looked down to where it had come from, only to see a gap in Ryoga's own chest, with Yuko staring back from behind him,

"You'd sacrifice yourself to get to me?" He scoffed, before coughing up blood.

"Anything to end this." He jerked one of his hands and snapped the shoulder of the Master, "You have to die for us."

"Bastard..." He was injured now, and knew that being in Ryoga's grip wasn't going to be beneficial to his escape.

"I feel sorry for you Ryoga..." He shook his head, "You probably didn't notice earlier, but you should know that your sometime friends have died in a hopeless cause already." Ryoga applied more pressure but it gradually lessened as the Master read the list out, "Soun, Kasumi, Genma, Shampoo, Mousse, Cologne, even poor little Ukyo."

"U-Ukyo..." Ryoga let go of the Master who then took it upon himself to leap away from the twosome on top of his TARDIS.

"And you know who is going to be next..." His sneer expanded to cover his whole face, "As a treat for you, I'll even record it..."

"No..." Ryoga paled, realising who he was talking about, "You wouldn't dare."

"I'm going to find her, right now. It'll take me a few seconds, then I can get out of here."

"No!" Ryoga leapt at him, only for him to stumble and feel over half his body fail. He could barely register a high pitched buzzing sound interfering with his circuits, then swore inwardly as the obvious weakness he had against the Master.

The sonic screwdriver increased in power, "By giving up your right to be a complete human, you allowed yourself to become my slave by my power alone." The buzzing changed, "I can make you fight your friends, I can turn off your mechanical organs permanently, I could even get your own artificial arm to strangle you."

He noticed Ryoga's eyes veering off to one side and changed the sonic pitch again.

"However, a temporary incapacitation of your full body will be fine for my needs." He moved the probe over to Yuko who stopped moving as well, "Now, watch as you say goodbye to your darling companion."

"R-Ryoga..." Yuko was completely stilted, her holographic module unable to shutdown or alter the light particles to a different location.

She was helpless.

As the Master approached, he flipped his probe around and twisted the end. A spiral grew out from the end and started rotating fast

"Now my dear, I know you're not programmed to feel pain, since it would be a hindrance in your line of business. However," He held up the sonic drill to her forehead, "this is something you will be able to feel, and it's going to hurt."

"N-No... P-Please."

"Too late for forgiveness." The drill bit neared her projected skin, "You're too clever for your own good. Ryoga would have been too stupid to think up such a complex plan. If I take you out, then this will be the best solution for me." He glanced back to the prone boy, "Say goodbye now, Ryoga. You will never see her again."

The person in question could only move his eyes; even his eyelids wouldn't shut properly, "YUKO!"

"NOOO-KYAAA~!"

The drill pierced the forehead and broke the surface in a second. Cracks appeared throughout Yuko's body as green bits of data flowed from every point of her into the sonic drill.

"Good, that's excellent..." The Master licked his lips, "All of it, give me more!"

He pressed the drill even further in, and her screams intensified, until nearly her whole body was void of colour, her eyes open but glazed over.

Removing the drill, the Master turned it off and engaged the probe again after dumping the body dismissively to the earth.

"Yes... All here..."

His screwdriver was glowing green and faint yells could be heard from within.

"So, this is goodbye, Ryoga." He turned away to open the door to the TARDIS, "I'm going to pay one last visit to Akane now. I hope you're happy with your achievements today."

Ryoga watched as the TARDIS rose from the ground and vanished haltingly, the creaking teleport sounds haunting his thoughts.

He saw the greyed out Yuko lying there. Biting his lips so hard it broke the surface, spilling blood and Nanos over the ground, he dug down for that semblance of ki left and used it as a conduit to power his faulty systems.

Inch by inch, he crawled his way to her body, keeping his one human eye trained on her own dead pair continuously for any signs of life.

There was no response. No simulated breathing, no flecks of data jumping off her skin, no involuntary twitch of the fabricated human mannerisms. Absolute zero.

He got close to her and finally noted that his ki reserves were near zero. There was only two things left to him.

Using his human arm, he held onto her limp hand and held it gently. At the same time, he moved his head to her own and, feeling the wound the Master gave her, kissed her lightly, hoping that some Nanos made their way inside of her solidified holomatrix.

Lying next to her, he kept his forehead touching her own, and cried softly into the blackened earth.

Earlier

Kodachi snarled as she reached one of the Daleks, thrusting her Sleeper blade at its gunstick.

"Your archaic weaponry is no match for us!"

"Oh really?" Her own eyestalk lit up from her emotional change, "How about this then?"

Holding her palm right up against the Dalek's head turret, she smiled once before speaking.

"Exterminate."

The point blank range blast shredded the top of the Dalek's cranial region, wires and sparks lighting up from within. The voice of the Dalek was much more distorted now as it spoke.

"Warning...! Armour penetrated!"

It began to fire its own beams wildly, missing her completely since it couldn't see.

"Looks like it is strong enough to stop you after all," She smirked. "It's all I need for this now..."

Ripped the top off even more, she pointed her cyberlaser down into the hold where the octopus-like form of the real Dalek resided, and fired continuously.

Within a few seconds the screams from the Dalek died out literally as lifeless, it fell to the ground.

Kuno and Althaea were fending off the other two Daleks with their own styles.

"I do not see the Black one anywhere," He looked around, "This is not good."

"Ignore it..." Althaea shouted over the shots, "Daleks aren't a race known for their subtlety. It may have other objectives other than us."

A new weapon entered the field, a red whip, which only managed to separate the group. The air began to fill with them, forcing all the combatants to land finally.

The Judoon platoon appeared with the crackling ribbons moving erratically around them.

The leader without his helmet spoke, and his voice carried into the wind like a megaphone. "We have determined that none of you belong in this timeframe. Regardless of previous loyalties, you are now all condemned to death." He waved to his troops, "Forwards."

"Judoon are the inferior species." One of the two Daleks turned to the leader, "You shall be exterminated!"

The beam rung out, and though it did hit a member of the platoon, it wasn't killed since the whips filtered the power of the blast greatly. He was still out for the count however.

"Move in!"

The three remaining Black Drones ran in intercept the troops, but the whips wrapped around them and vaporised them on the spot.

"This... isn't the best news for us..." Kuno remarked casually, skipping a stray whip attack.

"Not in the least." Althaea began performing a spell which created concentric circles around her, "I'm casting a defensive field, but I'm not sure I want to test its strength against that forbidden item of theirs."

The Daleks, noticing the more present danger to them, turned to the Judoon and started to concentrate their fire on them, managing to kill a few of them by piercing through the barrier they had erected.

Kuno and Althaea stepped away from the battle and tried to get away. Kodachi nevertheless got closer.

"You're not getting away from me that easily!"

She flew into the back of a Dalek and fired her Cyberlaser into its eyestalk, only causing it a minor nuisance.

The blue light from within its lens brightened and then shrank dismissively, "Looks like the academy didn't only provide the best sources." It taunted, "Some offal got into the mix."

"Offal?!" She was about to retaliate before she felt her skin spark up, and then was shocked as the Dalek electrified its shell.

"Dalek Puppet!" Three Judoon stood nearby having gotten closer, "Your sentence is death!"

They cracked their whips at the girl, who then proceeded in agony to cry out when they trapped her.

As she felt her skin begin to burn, she roared in fury.

"NOOO!" Her gunstick and cyberlaser fired and killed the attackers, but not without leaving the whips twisted around her arm, torso and leg.

"Ugh... Aaaaah..." She tried to remove them, but instead they stuck faster, and the entirety of the three whips coiled around her other limbs.

"KODACHI!"

Kuno ran to her while parrying the whips sent his way, seeing her entire body with a myriad of red crackling around her, barely any skin or clothing visible beneath. Her gunstick, eyestalk cyberlaser and other alien parts seemed to melt off from the energy building up there.

"B-Brother..." Her eyes focused on him as she moved away, "I can't stay here... This body is going to grow..." She looked up at the Moon, "I'm going far from here now. You have to leave too, this area is going to die in a minute."

"Wait! I don't understand!" He finally reached her, but she wouldn't allow him to touch her as her new body floated on the ground just out of reach, "Where will you be?"

"I don't know." She smiled, and her smile seemed to extend over the red vines, "But I'm sure we'll meet again someday."

Her body floated up without any obvious power of her own as the red sparkling mass grew larger.

"So long, brother..."

She phased through the protective dome somehow, and then became a glowing red light one second before warping away from them, vanishing into space.

"Kodachi..." He kept looking but still couldn't see any sign of her coming back. Heeding her words, he made his way to Althaea who was stood still inside her barrier, "We have to get out of here now."

"Why?" She seemed unconcerned, speaking very calmly, "They have managed to neutralise the Daleks somehow, though they've nearly lost all their forces. It's only a matter of time before we are all safe, despite our own inabilities to stop them."

"No... I mean there is a problem with this place, we must leave this area completely." He looked off into the distance, "Kodachi warned me before changing and escaping. I trust her judgement."

Althaea frowned and cast another small spell, "No... This is...!" She stood up, startling Kuno, "I'll send us to the Moon, we should be safe there."

Her spell was rather short, and gave little time for Kuno to protest as the two of them were teleported away.

The Judoon saw this but were unable to prevent their leaving. When the two Daleks were nothing more than husks, they scanned the area. After a short time, they had the result they needed.

"TARDIS located in space, all units transport to ship until further notice."

The platoon blinked away in a flash of blue, then the whole land of Nerima started glowing greener by the second.

Earlier

The Cyberleader was in pieces, his arms broken off or crushed, and his legs snapped in two.

"How...?" The robotic voice of Gosunkugi was badly distorted.

"I'm stronger than I ever was." Her body, untouched in battle by Gosunkugi was still ready to fight on, "The Doctor told me about your kind, you erase your emotions from yourselves to become one whole, a strong being to defeat anything." She sighed, "What you failed to realise is that emotions are what make us want to become strong. Love and hate, opposites but both perfect for gaining power." She moved closer and placed her hand on his mask, ripping it off to reveal his shocked face, "Without emotion, you are just a machine looking to expand. There is no reason for it, no desire, no wants. A creature without purpose."

She raised her fist and tapped on the translucent covering of his brain, "With one hit I can break this open and destroy your existence." She raised the fist high, "I'll give you one chance, and one chance only." Her eyes bored into his own, "Repent for all the lives you have taken from me, from everyone. Ask for forgiveness from your soon-to-be-killer. If I can believe you, then I'll let you go. If not, then you die by my hand." Her fist began to glow, "You have ten seconds to decide."

"I... I..."

The Cyberleader scanned the fist, determining that with a one hundred percent likelihood that a hit from that would break open his casing and pulverise his brain. Further calculations extrapolated the possibility of the Cyberleader itself existing as an entity without the brain, only within circuitry. There was a zero percent probability for that since the leader needed a biological base to store the neural components of the managing of all Cybermen.

Therefore, another choice was needed than simply accepting the hit and to then hope of a better outcome.

So began a calculation about how to attack. Attacking Ranma had a success rate of two to three percent, which then went down to zero again with the Doctor's sonic probe involved in his eventual defeat. A hundred scenarios were constructed using the beams to hit her legs causing her to land on top of him whereby he could snap the neck, or feigning death in order for them to get in closer for the same reaction, self-destruction. All of which were stopped by the nimble reactions of Ranma or the Doctor's own measures.

Escaping then became an option. With most of the limbs malfunctioning or just dead, using the booster jets were a failure to begin with. Detaching the head to form the spider module, while effective in a building, would not work on the open ground they were on now, Ranma would only have to leap to grab him. Uploading his consciousness into another Cyberman also could not do, as stated before the brain of the original leader was needed to continue commanding any of the remaining legions. Again, a hundred possibilities were analysed and discarded as useless.

The final step was one less taken, a path which was completely sealed away due to a thousand fail-safes and warnings. Unsure as to whether this may help him in his predicament, the Cyberleader broke through each barrier, speeding further and further to the end, ignoring all risks which were self-applied and reached at the truth at the end.

The Cyberleader was face-to-face with himself, seeing a scared little boy trying to get out of a tiny cage. Though he tried to hear the words of the boy, they were soundless behind the pink lattice of the net around it.

The tiny Yale lock in front of the net held no warnings or risks, but the Cyberleader knew this was the last barrier, and that there was no going back. Looking behind him, the thousand kilometres of the secure world seemed so far away, but easy to get to in an instant and reassert the measures against delving this deep.

He had already eliminated all possible routes, and this was the only one remaining out of the countless billions of options.

Tapping the keyhole, the door opened, and the Cyberleader knew why this was hidden away as a rush enveloped him in a sea of guilt, remorse, and disgust.

Outside of his mind, it had only been five seconds, before Gosunkugi's face transformed from a neutral visage into a pitiful boy, bawling and wailing.

"Oh God, what have I done?!" His tears were mostly silver and black thanks to the machinery inside him, "I converted my parents first... Then I did the nurses, school kids... I... Aaah... Kasumi no... I killed too many people... I... I... I can't vomit, no digestive fluids. Ugh all machine... Agh... Guh... Why... I ERROR... cannot move. Heart NOT fUncTionINg... cAN't thINK../ WARninG.. Cereeeeeebralllll coRTEX %^^^*()($# [UnDERgoing]... MUM... DAD...! {faTAl coRRUPtioN}... WAAA... RanMA..." His eyes managed to find the horrified redhead, "I'm... IMMInent... SorrY... And... Bye... EOF"

Without touching him, the brain inside the case exploded outwards, spattering against the glass, and slowly running down the sides of it.

The face of Gosunkugi would forever remain in Ranma's mind, shaped in a rictus of fear, loathing, remorse and joy all at once.

The Doctor walked up to them, "You didn't do anything Ranma." He did a quick scan with the probe, "By forcing him to acknowledge emotions, you began to corrupt his body since Cybermen have to withhold them to prevent their own collapse from what they have become."

Ranma lowered her fist gently nodding to herself, before smiling, "I knew that..." She covered her face and turned away from the Doctor, "Oh God... What have I become?"

"Take it easy, Ranma." The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder, "You've been through a tough time right now, it's understandable that you -"

"NO!" She clicked her tongue and spun around to face him, "What the hell is going on?!" She gestured at Gosunkugi and then slammed her hand into her own chest, her fingers splayed out, "What has happened to me? ME?!" She pulled her hand back and curled her fingers into a fist, "I've never killed before I met you. Only some wild animals when hunting for food, but that's about it." Her ki broiled around the fist, "Now, I'm killing any enemy near to me. I'm not waiting to negotiate or trying to escape. I'm killing them to escape, and worse, I'm killing them to prevent them from doing this anymore!"

"Ranma..." The Doctor raised his hand, but was interrupted again.

"No! Get away from me!" She pointed at the metal body near to her, "I knew everything you told me, I knew what having him recognise his own feelings would do." She laughed unsteadily to herself, "Hehe... And I liked it. I liked the fact that he killed himself from the untold pain he caused." Her fist snapped backwards and full into her face, causing her nose to stream a little blood, "But I never used to... With pops, he taught me to hide, steal and bluff our way to get things, but he'd never attack anyone out of spite, or to hurt someone physically to get what he wanted."

She felt her body healing quickly, thanks to the genetic enhancements, even down to the burst capillaries in the nose stitching themselves up, "Look at me... I'm a freak, I transform into a cat or lion of sorts, I can get madly injured and then become good as new in an hour without any change, and most of all..." She gasped, trying to take in enough breath, "Now, I allow myself to kill others, without any remorse." Her eyes bored on him, "All because I met you, Doctor."

He stood there in his normal passive and neutral state, though his eyes showed something else, as they were angled downwards to the side.

"I never asked you to kill. I wanted the opposite of you, to look beyond the easy option."

"Then why didn't you stop me?!" She yelled back, "You just stood there as I killed Strall, only saying a meek little sentence." She looked behind her, "You saw the Master, he is a Timelord, you must have strength like that. Why didn't you get in my way?"

"Because..." He closed his eyes and took a moment before opening them again, "Because I saw the real you, Ranma." He folded his arms, "In times of great stress and anxiety, humans have two options, to continue on as if nothing happened, or to revert to their primal urges." His eyes met hers, "And you returned to your primal side, which isn't a bad thing, as holding it back would only make you a broken adult. Yet, your urges are much darker than you cared to imagine." He frowned, "You must have been holding back a lot of anger in your life."

"Wh-What?" Ranma stammered, "I don't -" Images of a dark pit came back to her though her shaking head knew that wasn't the trigger, "But, that's not enough, what else is there?" She thought back, "Who am I?"

My name.

She was certain, there was a specific name, one which was blank to her at the moment.

She shuddered as she struggled to think of it, but each time her mind failed to grasp the concept and she began to feel the side effects of forcing herself, as her body began to spasm out of her control.

Until the Doctor came to her rescue and placed his forehead against her own.

"Enough, Ranma."

She felt his thoughts as they went inside her mind, reaching into her soul.

"Try not to think. Come back."

She hacked out a few dry coughs, before they became wet, spewing out red-stained vomit.

"Doctor, what's...?"

The blue light passed over her, "The scans are incomplete. There is something special about you, one which you don't even know about."

"It's about time..." She sniffed as she wiped her mouth, "I should have told you from the beginning, but... I'm not really a girl." She stood up and patted down her knees where they were scuffed, "I was born a boy. The Jusenkyo curse was whenever I was hit by cold water, I would turn into a girl. But then I was locked in this form."

The Doctor shrugged, "So what? I knew that from the start." He adjusted his scans, "That's not what I meant by special. Jusenkyo curses are just a form of magic, there's an unknown element to your body which I can't classify here."

"Wait, you knew?!" Ranma stepped closer, "Why didn't you tell me? All the time I had to get the others to pretend I was a girl."

"I had my suspicions, but when I saw you speak and interact with everyone else, I realised it was obvious and there was no other way it could have been."

"And... It doesn't bother you?" She tried to look into his eyes, but he was dead focused on the sonic probe, "That I lied to you, that I passed myself off as a girl in order to cure my curse?"

He glanced at her, "No, of course not!" He smiled, the true one which was reflected in his eyes, "Why should it? I've had male companions travel with me. At least you weren't secretly trying to kill me like some of my other passengers. There are worse things than lying about your gender."

She faltered, "Umm, okay then..." Her earlier anger had evaporated as quickly as it arrived.

The Doctor's eyes widened, "Oh no... Why now?"

Ranma saw his reaction to the readings, "What's wrong? Is there something bad with my body?"

"No..." He was still engrossed with the probe, "Like I said, you're fine, but there is an anomaly which my scanner cannot detect." He extended it out and started to wave it over the area, "What it had detected is the Untempered Schism." He growled aloud, "But that's impossible! The only end there is on Gallifrey!"

"Perhaps... The Master had something to do with that." Ranma looked at him, "Remember his plan? Maybe he needed this schism to help?"

"That's true, but..." The Doctor smiled, grimly, "I see, it's not the Schism, he's using his TARDIS, funnelling the time energy out of the vortex into this area." The scanner on the probe blinked, "Problem is, it's out of control now, and it isn't stopping." He grit his teeth, "It's like last time... The last day of the Time War." He started to run away from the TARDIS.

"What...?" Ranma followed him, "You mean, the planet is going to...?" She didn't want to finish the sentence.

"No... This entire region..." His eyes flicked up to the artificial atmosphere, "It's going to be in a Temporal Lock." He pointed at the passing bodies and buildings, "You see that blue stuff, that's temporal energy in a condensed form. The Master was planning on using it across the universe, but now it's stuck here, and soon it'll solidify." His eyes narrowed, "And when it does, time will stop for all these people, this area, nothing will ever change even as the rest of the universe passes by."

"B-But surely, the people on Earth would know?" She stomped on the ground for a second, "I mean, Nerima is missing! They can't just leave us here!"

"Ah, but that's the beauty of this kind of lock." The Doctor admired sadly, "It's not the basic Time Lock I did to Gallifrey, which removed it from time and space. Everybody can still remember the Timelords." He shook his head, "No, this... This is the meaning of untempered, it isn't manipulated or moderated by anyone. It's absolute, complete, at its maximum strength." He turned his face to Ranma, "Nerima will be completely forgotten and invisible by everyone in the universe, just like what the Master intended to do to me."

"Well, what about us?!" Ranma started to panic.

"We need to get out of here before the final moments, or we'll be stuck here too."

She looked around, "We have to find Akane!"

"I know, I found her, that's why I was checking my scans again," He continued, "There."

Ranma leapt over a few cars and found her fiancée wondering the streets, having managed to peel herself out of the metal bracket Ranma fashioned for her.

"AKANE!"

Hearing a familiar voice, she turned to see who it was and smiled, waving back.

"Ranma! Thank God you're -"

She stopped speaking, seeing someone else shorter stand in front of her, facing the redhead.

"Ranma."

The Master was somewhat worse for wear, his gi was burned in many places, and he seemed to be injured, though the wounds were superficial, aside from the massive amount of scar tissue on his chest indicating a powerful attack.

"I promised you that you would pay for this. I also made a promise to Ryoga to make a special recording for him." He pulled out his screwdriver, "Yuko, won't you be a doll and make a video of this touching moment for posterity?"

"Y-Yes sir, my Master..." She sniffed and a blinking light appeared on the side of the screwdriver.

"Now Ranma." There was no ki coming out from the much older man, "I don't have time to waste, and neither do you, since you only have one minute left to spend with Akane."

"WHAT ARE YOU-!"

A loud wet thump echoed around them.

"Ouch..."

Akane coughed once, then twice, then burped up blood.

"Ah... Ah... Haaaa."

She fumbled at the protrusion from her chest, a small arm belonging to the Master, caked in blood up until his elbow.

"Withdrawing it, he jumped off the side as Ranma just stared.

"No..." She took another step forwards as Akane began to topple backwards, "Nonono..."

She ran in,

"NOOO~!"

Catching her before her head touched the ground, Ranma shook Akane, "Wake up, Akane!"

Looking at the wound, she could clearly see the ribcage had been fractured, piercing her lungs, though the greater damage was the heart, which was still pumping, but held the distinct markings of a hand gripping around it, as if intense pressure was applied there to prevent it from beating properly.

It didn't take a doctor to realise she was going to die.

"Akane, hey, listen to me..." She tapped her cheek tenderly, and her eyelids fluttered open, "Hey there tomboy."

"Idiot..." She smiled as she was wheezing, "I'm glad you came back for me."

"I'd never leave you." Ranma bit her lower lip as she felt the ki of the girl dwindle fast, "You know, you may have been the uncute fiancée, but you were the only girl I seriously considered marrying in the end."

"Ranma..." She gasped, before wincing, "Are you saying...?"

"Yeah..." She nodded as the tears dropped onto Akane's cheeks, picking up her arm to cup Ranma's own face, "Let's get married. We'll have cute little kids, we'll travel around, you can teach in the dojo, or act, whatever you want. As long as you're happy."

"That sounds nice..." Akane's hand grew stronger and she pulled Ranma down to her, even as the Tendo cried as well, Their breath was humid between them, as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I do..." She whispered, before pulling Ranma in for a kiss.

Ranma continued to kiss her even though the hand lost its hold and the person below her didn't respond in kind, even though the ki levels were non-existent.

But, she had to let go.

She did so, gently, placing her on the ground. Ranma then saw the smile on Akane's face, her eyes wet from the crying, the eyelids already closed.

She stood up, her back to the Doctor and the Master, who merely stood there smirking.

"That should do, Yuko." He chuckled, "I'm positive you know Ryoga's personal signature, send that video to him, uncensored and in high definition, full 3D holo-projection as well. Add my little virus in the email too, so it plays back for him every hour without being able to skip or mute it."

"Yes..." A blip sounded out, "S-Sent..."

A distant scream resounded in Nerima.

That second

Ryoga cried, his real eye reddening from the build-up of tears. His brain played the video back, and there was no way to block it from showing what had happened.

His anger brought his senses back online, and he evaluated his body.

"Still, cannot move much..." His scanner told him his body could not perform any fast movements, aside from very large easy to block kicks and punches.

"Wait a second."

The sensors picked a temporal anomaly, which was expanding and centred on Nerima. It was similar to earlier, but now it was reaching its peak.

"Right..." He got to his knees slowly, then picked up Yuko, "I don't know if this is going to work, but it's the only thing I can do for now."

He didn't want to risk reducing her size just in case it affected the recovery of her physical body. Feeling fresh Nanos on his arm, he picked them off and sprinkled them into her forehead wound and into her mouth, knowing now at least some functioning ones were inside her somehow.

"I don't know if you can hear me Yuko, but I'll get you back somehow." He nodded, almost to himself as he looked up at the dead sky, "Now, I don't know how I can do this, but you all need to help me."

He spoke to the Nanos directly and mentally thought out his plan. They weren't sure of success either from the probability analyses, since the last time he couldn't survive long.

"Kill me if you must and resuscitate me after if it helps..."

Steadying his feet, he felt the boosters beneath his soles heat up, before flinging him up. He blocked out all images of anything around him, save for Yuko and the fast approaching ceiling.

He took a deep breath and pulled one arm back.

"Here goes nothing..." Punching it forwards, his finger tapped the glass, "BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

His face was sealed away behind a Nano-created mask, and all open skin was covered behind it too.

It took two seconds to register, and then a tiny crack appeared, only for a segment to break away. Using that chance, he fled Nerima and entered real space. He saw that the gap was sealed almost immediately after he was free.

That second, he saw a flash on the Moon.

"Well, better than nothing..."

Using his ki and booster feet, he propelled himself to that location on the grey surface.

Nerima
One minute ago

That anguished yell faded away before it was replaced by a launching sound and plume of smoke rising into the air, before leaving the protective atmosphere of Nerima.

The road started to rumble, as did the surrounding buildings, and the winds picked up drastically.

"So, who paid the price in the end?"

Ranma turned her head a few centimetres, but just before the Master could see her eye peering at him, the girl disappeared from his vision.

"AAAARGH!"

An arm went spinning in the air, spraying blood everywhere before it was shredded into pulp.

"Y-You bas-!"

The Master froze and then blurred.

Ranma stood right behind him, still and quiet, even as she tore through his back to rip his left lung out.

"Guh!"

He had the scantest of time to avoid that crippling attack from the girl, who had failed in her attempt to remove his spine by force. He stumbled away from the grip, and noticed a startling change in the redhead.

There was no colour change in her eyes. True, her fringe shadowed the top part of her face, but the blue shone through somehow. Her limbs were human, no enhanced musculature or distorted bone formations. Her hair was red still, no possession by her alternate Feral self.

In fact, there was no ki emanating from her body at all.

The Master evaluated the situation in a millisecond.

Ranma wasn't going to waste time, like he told her earlier when in the time and space lock. She wasn't going to do any showy techniques or try to counter any attacks.

All her ki was being used to move her human body at its full potential, without letting any of the precious life energy escape, super charging her movements, reactions and strengths.

She wanted to kill him.

Another millisecond and he knew the consequences from any of his attempts of negotiation, taunts, escape and attack.

He was going to die.

He thought about the Doctor. He wasn't sure if regeneration was fully explained to Ranma, such that he could regrow his limb if he wanted to, let alone his entire body if he did die, since it needed an extraordinary power to stop a Timelord, or a specialised weapon.

He was certain that he could return in another body to fight in the future, and there was nothing Ranma could do to stop him.

However, this body was trained since the Time War to fight, and he would have won were it not for these simple efforts of one of his own disciples, and the Doctor poking his nose into other people's business.

He was not going to give it up so easily. He was a Timelord, one of the greatest. He could feel the temporal energy from the particles his TARDIS detected all around him, so he adjusted his ki to absorb as much of it as possible.

The next millisecond, he stood up and saw Ranma's god-like speed in action as her arm began to cleave off his head.

Both of them were now operating on a higher dimensional plane of massive time dilation via two unique methods, hyper accelerated movement from biological enhancements compared to feeding off the leaking temporal vortex. Thanks to this, they were in the exact same moment, and though time was running normally for the rest of the universe, for the two of them their senses were a billion times more reactive to subtle changes.

Though it was impossible to say any words in a normal millisecond without being decapitated, nor for Ranma to hear said words, he managed it thanks to the inimitable circumstances.

He opened his mouth and uttered only one word.

"Arion."

Ranma's nails had already dug into his neck, dissected several minor blood vessels, before jarring to a halt.

The Master felt the normal air molecules return to him as the dilation field broke apart, bringing them back to reality. Ranma still wasn't moving.

Withdrawing her hand, he moved back.

"Truth be told Ranma, you are very special. One of the few in this reality, and so far the only one to know your true name."

A whine started in the air.

"You left me no choice. Once you are told your name, there is no going back to who you once were. You can't go back to being a naïve little martial artist any more."

The vibrations in the air reverberated with the buildings and tarmac.

"What you choose to do with this knowledge is up to you now."

Ranma clutched at her head, ripping through her red hair as she scraped away at her scalp.

She knelt to the ground and the whine, which came from within her, escaped the only way it could, by a soul rending unworldly screech.

As her shriek increased in pitch, the Doctor had to fall back, holding his own ears to stop his eardrums from bursting. He saw the nearby buildings crumble into dust, and the already shaky ground undulate to dirt.

"RANMA!" He yelled out, but even he couldn't hear his own voice above that caterwauling.

The Master's TARDIS materialised, the only sign being the gradual pulsating appearance as the engine rasping was overpowered by the predominant sound.

The door opened and the Master turned back to the twosome and said some snide words, again unreadable.

Ranma's eyes veered to him, then she stopped breathing and her explosive ki was sucked back into her body.

Suddenly, she found herself in that state of mind whereby a millisecond expanded out to a minute. Her body was already suffering the backlash from the previous quickening, but this was her last chance to fully destroy him.

The crack from her initial lunging footstep left a crevasse across the whole of Nerima.

The Master was still in mid gloat, oblivious to his missing legs as they toppled gradually to the ground.

Her speed took her into his grim TARDIS, noting the dank and dreary surroundings.

Sound travelled at a different speed to her, but the deep gonging sound of a bell resonated to her like a warning alarm, perhaps for an intruder or the imminent death of the Timelord piloting the TARDIS.

Her sight registered a change, a security measure. Electrical discharges were powering up to take her out. Luckily, as she was currently beyond the speed of light it made no difference to her. Her ears picked up the creak of the doors to the TARDIS closing, which was a big problem. If she was stuck in there when the ability ran out, her life would surely end in a heap on the grating.

The time column was pulsing, it was trying to escape with its owner.

Yes, even though she was still at her ultimate speed, the TARDIS was exerting its own pressure on the time dilation field and forcing its own one over hers.

Her course was unchanged, as she forced her way straight through the pumping engine, splintering it everywhere. The wailing increased dramatically.

Reaching the far brick wall, she rebounded off there and straight back out towards the door. There was only enough time to rip out the console entirely on her way out with her bare fingers with the intense momentum she had going for her, the innards spraying all over the flooring.

Flinging it outside, it was now faster than her top speed and she marvelled at how it stretched out into infinity and left her vision so fast.

By now, the Master had gathered that he was in grave danger, his head angled backwards to face Ranma, but he was still not in the same plane as her, though he was rapidly catching up to her time dilation.

As the distance shortened, Ranma started to holler out, her hands ready to rip his head off.

It was too little, too late.

He swerved his body, moving his head out of way, but Ranma was able to get away with tearing off his ear.

"RANMAAAAA~!"

The agonized scream cut off the second the door slammed behind her. Feeling her body start to seize up, she released the energy and allowed herself to topple over, and collapse onto the earth.

The crypt of the TARDIS started shaking, and the gargoyle at the top flashed red but erratically.

"Ranma!" The Doctor ran in and picked her up, "We've got to get away from there, you've damaged the central cortex."

The mouth of the gargoyle opened up, "AAAARGH!" The Master's voice was pained and the background noise was of explosions and electrical interference. "I… I can't be defeated like this!" Cracks at the seams of the crypt opened up, and the red light began to pour out from within, "I'm immortal! I'm –"

Static followed, as the light became aflame, and slowly the wheezing engine began and failed, much like a broken starter motor in a car.

Before their eyes, the Master's TARDIS began to implode on itself, the size growing ever smaller and crushing until there was only a small mote of light, which popped silently into the night.

"Is he…?"

"Dead?" The Doctor answered with a question, "I'm not sure, you certainly did a lot of damage to him and his TARDIS. It seemed as if he was being sucked into the Time Vortex without proper shielding, an almost fatal event. Though he did survive the last time."

Ranma found her body was still shaking. "Doctor… I know now… Who I am…"

He nodded in sympathy, "Whatever had been unlocked in your mind must be beyond any comprehension, I only wish I could –"

He paused when he saw a blue light appearing around the corner of some rubble.

"Ranma Saotome located." The eyestalk moved about, "The Master lied to us. Objective no longer valid."

Dalek Sec saw the Doctor.

"Doctor. Finally, your end is here." He pointed the gunstick at him, "MAXIMUM EXTERMINATION!"

Instead of an instant beam, it took a full second to power up as the beam built up on the tip, before firing it at him.

Ranma shakily stood up to face the Dalek placing her body in his way.

"It's okay Ranma. I can fight my own battles from now on."

She could only stagger to the side as the Doctor shoved her weaker body away, taking the full beam to his chest.

"NOOO!"

She saw him wince, his death didn't occur upon the first impact like with everyone else.

"You BASTARD!"

Feeling her way to her feet, Ranma prepared to launch herself at the Dalek, only for him to swivel nervously.

"Temporal Closure approaching. Flight systems compromised." The eyestalk blinked, "Emergency Temporal Shift!"

The Dalek shook and then faded away from sight. Ranma knew then it was gone.

"Doctor!" She moved to the man who was somehow still standing, "You're alive!"

"Yeah…" He needed her help as they went back into the TARDIS, closing the door behind them, "But I won't be for long."

"What are you talking about?" She waved him off as he started fiddling with the controls, "You look fine."

"Timelords are a strange species. I've already mentioned before, when the body suffers a fatal shock, we can… Well, to put it simply, we can regenerate. We literally become a new person. New voice, body, even gender." He gasped and held his chest as yellow lights began to fizzle outwards from him, only to turn black, "We have a limited number of lives, but even so, there are only one or two ways you can truly kill a Timelord."

"Maximum Extermination…" Ranma repeated what she heard.

"The Daleks are the sworn enemies of the Timelords. It makes sense that they would create a weapon specifically to stop regenerati-UGH!" He held his chest as another convulsion hit him.

Ranma felt her ki return to its normal level, but her body was still injured from the toll of the heightened speed.

"Doctor, what do we do…?" She closed her eyes, "Everyone is dead, and now you're dying. There must be a way around all this."

"No…" He coughed, "I can't regenerate. There may be a way to save everyone." The TARDIS started to move, and he changed the subject quickly, "We're outside that field now, it's going to activate in less than a minute."

"How?!" She faced him from across the console, "Tell me!"

"It's too complicated to even begin." He coded something on the TARDIS, "While not a good solution, I'm activating the return protocol. The TARDIS will land in Tokyo and you can do what you want from there, live the live you have." He leaned back and felt his side as his body started to shutdown. "I'll die in the TARDIS, and once you land and close the doors, it'll be fine on its own. Let it fade away naturally, no one can open it, just let it die, like myself."

"No." Ranma shook her head and moved closer and held his sparkling hand, "There is another way..."

Her power expanded, and the room started to flood with ki and regeneration energy, illuminating windows from the outside of the TARDIS.

Moments later

Nerima started to flicker, much like a faulty monitor would try to create an image but fail. The glow from inside the field grew until the entire landmass was covered and then sparkling in the darkness of space.

To the observers who had survived, the floating bit of Japan was now fluctuating within the visible spectrum, and with varying colours.

On the Moon, two people looked up at it.

"All those people..." Althaea shook her head, "So many pointless deaths, and for what?"

Kuno stood by her, holding the ground and feeling the particles sift through his callused fingers.

"How am I breathing?" He massaged his throat worriedly.

Althaea shrugged, "A simple oxygen producer, I also cast a minor atmosphere too to prevent decompression, just don't move too far from me."

"O-Okay..." He looked up at his home, "What happened to Nerima?"

"Time is frozen there." She stated, "Those blue particles which hit us at the beginning were filled with temporal energy, when it was activated, they turned green and began to stop all movement to anything they touched." She held Kuno's gi and the blue particles started to vanish, "We were both coated in it, and if were were still there, we would suffer the same fate, unable to move or even know we were cemented in a single instant of time." She smiled, "The particles are fading away since we are far from the main concentration, so we're not going to be affected any more even if we step inside there."

"I see..." Kuno nodded, "A fate worse than death, permanent life without being able to live it." His eyesight picked up something, so he activated his veins to check it out. "I think we're going to have company very soon."

"What?!" Althaea held her staff with both hands, "Is it that Black Dalek?"

"No..." Kuno stepped back, "But make some room for him..."

A few seconds passed by until a body smashed against the Moon, a dust cloud forming.

Althaea and Kuno moved closer to it, once she was sure she could move the atmosphere she built.

Once certain the person was inside and had oxygen, they went to him. He coughed and felt his mask recede.

"Thanks…" Ryoga spoke hoarsely, "It was getting harder to navigate in zero gravity…"

"That girl?" Althaea looked at the grey figure, "She can't be human."

"No… She's an AI with me, but Yuko was…" Ryoga couldn't bear to say what happened as something got caught in his throat.

"The Master…" Kuno growled.

"Come on Yuko..." Ryoga gently moved her body, but there was no response.

"I don't have the power to revive her I'm afraid, my powers are only for living organic beings." Althaea muttered, "I'm sorry..."

"Wait..." Kuno stared up at Nerima, "They are moving, back to the surface."

"Really?" The alien answered, "That must mean it is safe to land on it again." She planted her staff into the ground, "I'm going to cast the spell we need to get there, but it'll take a minute this time since I need to calculate their positions. Stay close to me."

As her tongue began its long incantation, Ryoga carried Yuko over and Kuno held his sword at the ready for when they arrived.

That moment

The TARDIS was in Nerima again, on a flat piece of land, and the Judoon were surrounding the blue box, battle whips at the ready.

"We have come to your summons." The leader spoke roughly, "You are to surrender yourself to your sentence, Doctor."

The door unlocked and from within the blue box came two people. Ranma stepped forwarded gingerly, given that she was carrying the body of a man in her arms.

"You wanted the Doctor dead, well here he is." She stretched her arms out, "Go ahead, scan him, I can't exactly fight back like this."

The leader rumbled in his throat and then strode forwards. He held the scanner over the Doctor and after a few high pitched sounds, a flatline tone rung out.

"Confirmed. The Doctor is dead." He put the scanner away and the others disabled their weapons, "Bounty has been removed. Case closed."

A flash from behind them startled some of the soldiers, since four new people arrived, though neither side took any overt actions.

After seeing the lack of attack, the leader continued speaking, "All units withdraw!"

They marched off to a set location before they vanished one by one, being transported directly into their ship in orbit.

Having spotted the others, Ranma moved into the TARDIS, but left the door open for them to follow her in. They each wandered in and saw the difference from the outside. The layout was the same as before, but it was flickering on many surfaces showing some kind of framework. Walls were sparking and the console itself was fizzing badly with many switches burnt out. The lights in the room were also flickering on and off at random intervals.

"So, he's really dead?" Althaea mumbled.

"I'm afraid so..." Ranma sighed, "The Black Dalek killed him, enough to stop his regeneration." She moved off into another room to deposit the body elsewhere before returning to the others, running her hands through her loose red hair, "I'm just going to freshen up around the corner. You can still speak if you want, I'll hear you just fine."

As she walked off the others stood around staring at the inside of the TARDIS, having never been there before.

"It's bigger..." Ryoga began talking out loud, before a voice chimed in.

"Yeah, that was my first thought too..." Running water and splashing sounds were heard as she wet her face to clean the wounds, "Ignore the lighting though, the TARDIS isn't feeling too good right now."

Finding a seat, Ryoga placed Yuko in there and positioned her in such a way to prevent her from falling over.

Kuno marvelled at the console, "And this ship is the one that has been taking us through space and time itself?"

"Yeah..." Ranma laughed, "Funny thing really, I was watching you try to attack the TARDIS from inside just before I started this journey, then Ryoga ran in too." A coat hanger clattered on a metallic surface, probably the inside of a wardrobe, "Somehow, when he reached out with his ki, it latched on to the TARDIS like a rope, but instead of something physical, it caught the time vortex, and linked you both to the same time and location as the TARDIS."

Ryoga nodded to himself, "I see... We never met each other before now though."

"Well, the TARDIS doesn't exactly land properly most days." Ranma scoffed as a large shuffling sound of clothes masked her voice slightly, "I'll assume the same thing happened to yourselves."

"I have been to so many wonderful worlds and seen unbelievable things." Kuno spoke up, "I gained this sword, and rightful access to my mind and broken memories." He closed his eyes and directed his voice to the alcove where Ranma was, "It is about time I allowed myself to call you by your real name." Footsteps started echoing from the corner as she began to make her way back, "It is good to finally make your acquaintance, Ranma."

As she entered the room, the lights shorted out immediately and the console also darkened.

"Sorry, but you're a little late..." She walked to the monitor and tapped it, "Seems like the power converter is having a fit again with the desktop theme. All I need to do is..." She tapped a few buttons on the panels and then held a lever, "This!"

The room lit up and started to reform itself. The coral columns and rust shimmered away from the walls and then were replaced with a warm homely colour. The bars and seats were changed into cushions and even a sofa. Yuko was sat in an armchair now.

Ryoga stepped back and saw the central console change slightly, from all the lights and somewhat unsafe items, to a clean surface with fairly simple switches, levers and buttons. The monitors were now akin to old-fashioned CRT televisions.

"But this is..." The lost boy stared around the new room and felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity.

When the lights went up to full, Ranma walked towards them from around the time column with a hand resting on the controls calmly.

Her eyes told the story, and as she spoke, her words were full of authority.

"My name isn't Ranma."

Kuno took a moment to clear his thoughts and blinked hard, "I'm sorry...?"

Ranma moved closer to them, "I am the Doctor."

It was then that everyone noted the change in her appearance. Her hair was still loose but this time styled slightly so it looks more wavy and natural, instead of hair which had been tied up for a long time. Her clothes were essentially the same, black trousers and red top, though they were much more form-fitting and suited to her size and gender as opposed to being baggier for a taller man. Lastly, she wore a white lab coat over her top, nothing too long but enough to cover her trouser pockets.

"Oh, Ranma..." Ryoga slumped to his knees, "What have you done?"

She turned around, examining herself, "What? You don't like the outfit? It's still a work in progress, and I thought white fits a real life doctor better than some suit."

"No, I mean you, and even this..." He gestured to the TARDIS enclosure, "This is the Tendo home. What did you do to yourself?"

The Doctor walked over and placed two hands on his head, angling his face up to hers, "I'm sorry, Ryoga, but there was no choice." Her hands felt his face, noting the fake skin, "You've been through some severe changes too." She stood up again bringing him back to her level, "These eyes saw Akane die, Ukyo suffer, and Shampoo exterminated. I couldn't leave them like that."

As she walked away Ryoga followed her, "What are you talking about?" He pointed at the door, "They're dead... The Master... He killed Yuko after shutting me down, and I even saw Akane die in my own mind."

"Really?" The Doctor turned to the console and pulled out a tool, before scanning him, "Hmm, he's implanted a virus inside that email. But..." The buzzing intensified, "Now I've erased it. You won't see that again." She put the sonic screwdriver into her pocket, "I also sent a pulse to your Nanos to force a deadlock if there is any sonic interference, to prevent further attacks like what you experienced. It won't hinder the Nanos from rebuilding yourself though."

Kuno had finally snapped out of his stupor and slammed his sword into the floorboards, "What is the meaning of this, Ranma? You say that is not your name, but my travels have cleared my mind and I know this to be the truth."

Tutting loudly, the Doctor moved closer and kicked the hilt upwards, watched it loop in the air, and caught its handle.

"Nice sword... From one of the Black Drones on Katadesmoi if I'm not mistaken." Throwing it back to Kuno, she moved to the console and leaned back, "It's simple. I am Ranma and the Doctor, though I no longer respond to the name of Ranma. I have her appearance and due to some special circumstances I am now the Doctor." She adjusted a toggle on the console, "I have a duty to fix what has gone on here."

Althaea moved closer, "Are you really the one?" She reached out her hand and went on her tiptoes, though the Doctor lowered herself to allow her face to be touched, "Are you the Doctor?"

"Yes, it's me, Althaea." She smiled, "Remember when we first met in your previous body?" Her face lit up in remembrance, "There was that monster, and I told you to close all your eyes."

Althaea nodded slowly, "Yes... That was so many years ago..." She shut her eyelids and felt the other girl's face with her green hands, "I sense the same energies within you. chaotic and yet calm, wild and tamed."

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it." The Doctor sighed and then saw the slumped figure of Yuko as if for the first time, "Who's she?"

"My AI for the Universal Positioning System. The Master... He killed her." Ryoga stroked her hair, "The holographic projection is working still, I put some of the Nanos in her, but..." His voice died off as he could only look on at his former friend.

"Let's see..." Pointing the sonic probe at the figure, she hummed to herself, "Looks like he's wiped her entire AI sub-protocols. All independence circuits are vacant and self-learning systems are burnt out." She closed her eyes, "It looks like she's gone, the Master has taken her entire being with him."

"No..." Ryoga moved closer to Yuko, "Can't we help her?"

"You've already done what you could, the Nanos did help to stabilise the projection, though the damage to the insides could not be repaired that easily. However," A sharp buzzing came from the screwdriver, "at least I can make her function again."

The body of Yuko jerked and then sprung to life, her eyes gaining colour again. Her hand, once scattered with dead pixels, now formed a whole again.

"Yuko! You're back!" Ryoga waved his hand on front of her face.

The eyes traced the movement and then focused on him, before standing up perfectly straight, arms by her side. "Master, what is your command?"

"Yuko, it's me, Ryoga, don't you remember?" The lost boy held her hand.

"Your designation is Ryoga. My name is Yuko. Do you wish to confirm these changes?"

"Y-Yes..." He swallowed.

"Acknowledged. Master Ryoga, what is it you require of me?"

All this time, her voice was in a monotone without any inflection or emotion. She didn't make any movements other than that of her mouth and eyes.

"Doctor... What's going on?" Ryoga faced away from her, "What did you do?"

"I already told you, Ryoga..." She sighed, "The Master has taken away her mind, her soul shall we say. The body is working fine though. What you are speaking to is the leftover of her mind, reverting to a basic command interface. She cannot learn anything on her own without authorisation, nor speak with you about frivolous things, her only reason for existence now is to listen to you and obey your instructions."

"YOU HAVE TO FIX HER!" Ryoga growled and grabbed the Doctor by her lapels, lifting her up, "She... She was only one to understand everything. The one who helped me find my way..."

"Calm down Ryoga." The Doctor's eyes stared into his own, "I'm not saying it's impossible." The blue irises turned white, "I'm saying it'll be difficult for all of us. Now put me down."

Breathing roughly, Ryoga left go, letting the Doctor stand on her own two feet, "Thanks, and this was freshly ironed too." She grumbled, wiping the black Nano fluid from her white coat, "If the Master has taken her mind, he must still have it. I think I remember him speaking to her when she sent you an email." She passed her screwdriver over the console, bringing up a monitor, "When I knew who I was finally, from my old life as Ranma, I destroyed his engines. As his TARDIS is the daughter of this one, we should be able to lock on to it eventually. Yet, it was badly damaged, and I don't know if we will ever catch them, seeing as we have no idea where they are."

"What are we to do? Kuno asked, "I must find my sister."

The Doctor shook her head, "Kuno, I'm sorry, but Kodachi has changed beyond anything I have ever seen, and I have no way of tracking the poor girl."

He puffed his chest out, "Then you leave me no choice, I must venture out into the emptiness of space to find her."

The Doctor nodded, "I wish I could help you, but I have to save everyone in Nerima somehow, there is still time."

Althaea walked up to her, "You said that before, but if they are dead, how can you possibly revive them?"

"Don't you all recall what happened earlier?" The Doctor pressed a few buttons and the TARDIS started to move, then stopped with a lurch, "The Master wanted to make the universe forget about me, well it failed, but it didn't stop everything." She walked to the doors and opened the doors to another part of Nerima, "The untempered schism flooded Nerima with concentrated particles, causing the entire region to be almost completely invisible to the rest of the universe. Only the survivors who were showered with the temporal energy know it exists, even Japan would have always considered the chasm of Nerima to be a vacant part of the centre of Tokyo." She watched as the others followed her outside, "The temporal energy literally stopped time inside here, nothing can ever move again."

Kuno, Ryoga and Althaea stared in shock at the scene.

Around them, the battle raged on, but nothing moved at the same time. Cybermen, those that still functioned were fighting Dalek Puppets, but they were just statues, frozen in mid attack, laser blasts were in the air, but the beams were motionless.

In the centre of the Dalek Puppets was a small elderly lady shouting at the sky, as a cloud of Puppets were thrown into the air. Her body was bleeding heavily, and it looked like she was on the verge of death, but she wouldn't stop fighting.

The Cybermen had been cut in twain, others mangled by chains and claws. Bombs and heavy weights were crushing those around them as a boy on his knees in a white robe clung to life, conjuring more weapons and using them to destroy his enemies despite his cracked glasses preventing him from seeing properly.

"Cologne... Mousse..." Ryoga saw them, "They were fighting all of them, and alone?"

The Doctor nodded, "After Shampoo was killed, they vowed revenge, and never stopped." She held up the screwdriver, "Watch them very closely."

When she activated the screwdriver, time started to move again for only half a second, then backwards again by one second. They were in the motions of fighting and had no way of seeing the others staring at them, the same with the other combatants.

"It's a time lock. It can be broken, but I can also rewind time." She grinned, "I just need some help from some of my special friends, those who are like me."

"Like you?" Kuno frowned, "What are you talking about? Another Timelord?"

"No." The Doctor held her chest, "I sacrificed my life as Ranma, I have the body of a Timelord now, but only because of the power I held as a human." Her eyes darkened, "The Master told me my true name, and because of that I knew everything." She stared up at the sky and Moon, "I must find those people with their own hidden names to help me."

"You can also save Akane, right, and Ukyo?" Ryoga asked.

Her lips thinned, "I'm not sure about Ukyo. I had the TARDIS open up the hatches to suck in as much of the spare particles in the air as possible, but I can't guarantee her safety, since she was outside of the sealed region."

"Fine by me, I'm coming with you." He continued off her look, "You can't travel alone, Ra-Doctor. I'm going to help you whether you like it or not, to save everyone."

She looked at him again and shrugged, "I know once you're like that I can't convince you otherwise. Hope you're up for some sparring later though." Her grin was frightful. She turned to the others, "Kuno, I can't leave you on Earth, I'll take you to the nearest spaceport I know of, there you can barter your way onto a ship."

"I have nothing to barter." He stated, and felt his blade vibrate, "Take me to a place where I can fight, to earn money to buy my own ship."

Her face lit up, "I know just the place, just don't get yourself killed, there are many strong people there."

He grinned in return, "I sincerely doubt any of them are as strong as the foes I have encountered on this hellish day."

The small alien lady moved in, "As for me Doctor, you can return me to my home." She shook her head, "I could help you, but I have my own people to govern."

"That's okay, Althaea, we will meet again."

"Master Ryoga, what is it you require of me?"

Ryoga only just realised that Yuko had been silently following him all this time, without saying a single word to start a conversation.

"Okay, Yuko, firstly, don't call me Master, just Ryoga will do." He shuddered at being called Master.

"Your designation is Just Ryoga without Master prefix. Do you wish to confirm these changes?"

"No!" He held his head, "Ryoga."

"Your designation is Ryoga without Master prefix. Do you wish to confirm these changes?"

"Yes." He sighed.

The Doctor held his shoulder, "I know it's hard, but it'll get better, we'll find her and get back to normal. I promise."

The redhead moved to the central console and tapped several switches and buttons, before pulling two levers. The TARDIS started to throb and then stopped again.

Tapping the console, the panel opened up and a glass cylinder extended upwards with the glowing particles. She picked it up and carried it to the door.

"I'll be two moments, don't follow me..."

Opening the door and expanding the oxygen field around the TARDIS, she moved onto the dusty surface of the Moon and then to a body half buried beneath the loose dirt.

Crouching down to the body, before sitting cross-legged near her, the Doctor was thankful that she couldn't see the face of Ukyo.

"I know you loved me Ukyo, like Ranma told you back on Earth. I couldn't return those feelings. Never forget though, I love you as a friend and you are like family to me, so I'll do everything I can to bring you back."

Opening the seal, the Doctor poured the contents over Ukyo, and the particles got stuck to her like papier-mâché, and spreading itself like butter until her entire body glowed blue, then green.

"When we're done, we can talk about old times again, and I'll protect you, Ukyo."

Getting up, the Doctor returned to the TARDIS and closed the doors behind her.

"Get comfortable, we're going to make two trips now."

Althaea sat in the armchair, while Kuno and Ryoga sat on the sofa of the Tendo home. Yuko merely stood beside Ryoga without a word uttered.

When the Doctor moved to the console, she toggled a switch and seatbelts extended over the occupants of the chairs.

"Uh oh..." Ryoga muttered.

The Doctor smiled as the TARDIS started churning the engines, before flinging them into the vortex.

One hour later

The Doctor clapped her hands together, "Okay, Kuno and Althaea are where they wanted to be."

Ryoga moved up to the Doctor and held her hand, "Is there any part of you left, Ranma?"

The Doctor looked at him sadly, "Yes, and no." She squeezed his hand, "I have Ranma's face, skills and memories, but they are only added onto my Timelord body and history, which are far greater. I'm not the Ranma you used to know. You must forget I was Ranma, and call me the Doctor instead." She let go of his hand, "It'll hurt you less in the long run to continue thinking you can save me."

"Okay..." Ryoga sniffed and nodded, bowing his head in apology, "I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to help you in the end." He raised his arms around Ranma's neck and pulled her in for a hug, "I've hated you for a long time for annoying Akane and riling me up, but I realise it was mostly me being jealous and not recognising you were teasing me as a friend." He turned his head away, "I never found the cure for your curse either, so I'm a failure."

"Hey, don't be silly!" The Doctor pushed his face backwards, "I saw a future where I didn't run for the Kettle, and then it worked in my favour to become a man again, does that make me a failure now? It doesn't matter anymore, as it's in the past now." She scoffed to herself, "When I went travelling, I thought a cure would appear, but now I'm fine the way I am now. Look at what happened to you though, your poor body..." Her smile was pure, "I forgive you Ryoga. I only hope you can forgive me for the changes you underwent."

"It's okay, I forgive you… Doctor..." Ryoga let go of the redhead, finally accepting that Ranma was dead for real, "This body has helped me realise that being human is more important than anything. It has helped me become stronger to help and protect my friends, and I want to keep doing that as long as I live."

"Good for you!" She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the forehead, "Now be a gent and go around the other side to press that wobbly lever there."

Ryoga's face was flushed red as he halted all his movements, "Wh-What?"

She peeked her head over from behind the time rotor, "Come on, Ryoga, chop chop!"

"Don't you 'chop chop' me!" He spun around the console to her, "What the hell was that kiss about?"

"Kiss?" The Doctor frowned before clicking her fingers, "Ah, you mean the Kiss of Marriage?"

Ryoga paled, "N-No... Wait, do Timelords have that kind of rule?"

He got a light punch to his chest, "Lighten up, Ryoga. You're my friend, that's all, nothing more than that. It was a kiss of gratitude for wanting to stay and for telling me how you felt. We'll be friends forever, no matter what happens." She smile was brimming with teeth and her joyous mood was contrasting to his puzzlement.

"R-Right..." He moved back, "The wobbly lever then?"

"Yep, and I want you to move it side-to-side..." She waited for a few seconds, "Now!"

The time rotor started to pulse and the ship moved again, Ryoga smiled as he felt the subtle changes corresponding to his movements on the lever, realising this must be how the Doctor felt with every journey.

"Okay, now stop!"

Letting go of the control, he felt the TARDIS thump as it landed.

"Where are we now?"

The Doctor's face was neutral and controlled, "The first of the blessed is here. I need to talk to him, but he is still very dangerous, even to me." She glanced at him, "You can come too, but I recommend Yuko shutdown for the time being."

Nodding, Ryoga turned to the hologram, "Yuko, please disable your holographic projection until further notice."

"Acknowledged, Ryoga. Shutting down."

Her image blinked out as if a CRT turned off, becoming a flatline then morphing to a small dot.

"Stay close, he won't kill you if you're with me." The Doctor opened the doors and the smell of the sea salt hit them.

Walking out, Ryoga held his body, realising he was on a large ship, "This is an aircraft carrier!"

"Yes, filled with dead bodies." She looked at the flaming cross ahead of her, "He's beyond here."

Ryoga saw the flaming ruins on the launch ramp but saw that no water was reaching them in order to trigger his transformation.

Soon, the Doctor and Ryoga reached the front of the ship where a figure stood, facing away from them.

"Mmmm." The sounds of sniffing were loud, "Two refreshing scents, one not of this world, could it possibly be you, Doctor?"

He turned around and the Doctor only smirked. Ryoga took a step back, feeling a level of malevolence and cruelty beyond even the Daleks he fought.

"I-Is he human?" Ryoga muttered.

"He used to be." The Doctor spoke louder, "You probably sense something different about me this time. I found my true name and took the form of the dying Doctor."

"Ahhh... So you received the holy power, the knowledge beholden only to those graced with it." The man's black tendrils reached out for them, "So, what brings you to me, Doctor, on the eve of my battle?"

"I'm here to ask for your help. Not today, but some day in the future, I will call for you, and you will answer it."

Centipedes, claws, grasping hands started to touch Ryoga and the Doctor, "Why should I?"

The Doctor closed her eyes and smiled, before opening them and speaking calmly, "The Bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame."

The darkness stopped and retracted, "So what if you know of my release mechanism?" The maw of fangs and two insane eyes stared down at her, "I have no reason to help you."

"Fine..." The Doctor folded her arms, "But, would you, the greatest of all vampires, miss out on the greatest of all battles because you were petty, Alucard?"

The tall vampire stopped moving, "Petty you say?" He started to laugh, "I have tired from this boredom of undeath. The forthcoming battleground of London will whet my appetite for many years to come."

"And after that?" The Doctor turned away, "Will you be happy to be locked away for one or two stray vampires a year? I think not."

She walked away, and Ryoga followed close behind her.

The waves of the sea crashing against the ship stopped as the entire ship halted, by Alucard's will, "Doctor, is the battle going to be glorious?"

She snapped her head around, "It shall. Bloody and messy, ruins of man, exotic new blood from worlds far from here, all for your taking."

"Hah..." He breathed out, "HaHaHAHAHAH~!" His laughs shook the ship, "Then, I will await your beckoning. Do not delay, or you will be my next feast!"

"Until then, Alucard." She walked on and entered the TARDIS.

Ryoga gasped for breath, realising he hadn't been taking in oxygen normally, "That was a vampire?! How could you ally yourself with that thing?!"

The Doctor sat on the armchair for a moment, "I know, it's a risk, but he was the first to have found his real name, and he is incredibly powerful. I need him."

Taking a few seconds, she stood up.

"I must find the others." She moved to the console, "In order to save Akane, I have to..." She looked at him, "Ryoga, no matter what we do, you'll help me, won't you?" She held her hand out.

He accepted it in return and shook her hand once, "For Akane, for Yuko, for anyone we can save, I'll do anything."

"Good, then onwards... We have a lot of ground to cover."

Slamming a lever down with her other hand, the TARDIS crackled as the time rotor wheezed, sending sparks into the air, heading for the next person on the Doctor's list.

"Even if it means having to go against God, even if I have to kill him," She piloted the TARDIS through the vortex, "I'll rip this universe apart if I have to..."

The TARDIS bounced about in the walls of the time vortex, hurtling towards its next destination before dematerialising, the engine rasps echoing in the tunnel for several seconds longer.

Just as the blue box left, some debris started to flicker in and out of sync with the fiery clouds. There were burn marks and sizzling steam all over the broken unrecognisable items.

Suddenly, a red light flashed on and off, and on the third flash, a gargoyle head substantiated into existence.

Rotating the head and seeing where it was located, the mouth moved and a long painful scream resounded outwards throughout the entire time stream.

Author's Notes

And thus endeth the saga.

Or should I say, the first part.

I know there are detractors to this story as to how dark it has turned out, however, I had everything planned from the beginning, believe it or not, even the time lock, and the deaths. I'll leave it up to you to discover the meaning of Arion.

As for the deaths, I make no apologies, this was always going to happen, the cyberisation of Soun, Nabiki's school, Kodachi's upbringing, they have all been signs of that in my writing, foreshadowed without any real warning. I'm surprised however that no one has ever picked up on the various anagrams of Arion, but it was only a tenuous link to this ending.

As to how disturbing the deaths have been, I can give a good reason for that. I have been working in customer services for over five years, and once you have worked in that field for that long, you long to destroy humans in many painful ways. I chose to use my thoughts from the worst customers, and applied them to these well-loved characters. There is no grudge or 'hatefic' against any of them, merely my writing expressing my sheer dissatisfaction against the people I have come into contact with.

The next story will be separate, with the new Doctor and Ryoga, travelling different worlds and times for others, heroes we all know about from various anime. It will still be in the Doctor Who/Ranma crossover since this is how the original was, and there will be many different realms we visit in future, or the past.

I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read this story, since 2007, now almost 7 years since I started. If I lost some of you due to my plotlines and changes, I apologise it didn't follow along your ideas. For those upset about the deaths, again sorry, but it was nothing personal.

For the few that remain who enjoyed the story, thank you for persevering to the end, and I look forward to seeing your reviews for the new storyline.

Nevertheless, I am going to take a break, since this has taken me three months to write this one out, as I'm sure you can understand, I need to rest my mind for now until I pick this plotline up again.

Till the next time

J