Author's Notes –

Yes, it's back – back again. I know some of you who have followed my other fics have long hoped for the day when this fic would once again updated and revived, especially when some of my other fics have also gotten updated, though I did delete a few of them.

Honestly, this fic gave me the most problems because I said one thing when I started writing this fic yet callously disregarded my promise to keep this fic from following the plot of Chrono Cross (which is a great game, but damn, it gets complicated at times). Yes, I brought in many different anime into this fic, and it's gotten insane. I've contemplated deleting/removing some of the later chapters just to make it more streamlined, yet find that I kind of like what I did with this fic. The problem is not finding a direction to take this fic, but how to transition this fic back in the direction I want it to go.

I just hope that this chapter is as satisfying to write as it is for me to read. Oh, and I hope that those of you who have waited for this fic to update are pleased with the result.

X Cross world X

Free of the influence of the demonic blades and cursed armor, Ranma Saotome found that he did not enjoy the return trek into the Underground. Having been granted his original body back he had initially thought that the trip would be easier, yet found it far more difficult than he had ever imagined.

Years of training had turned his body into a well-oiled machine capable of incredible feats. Those same years though had also developed a keen mind capable of breaking down various martial arts techniques into their basic components and then recreating them to suit the situation. The rare combination of sharp mind and rare athletic ability made him perhaps the greatest martial artist in generations. His ego had long convinced him that he was the best in his generation, but the realization and understanding had only begun to set in.

With his skills and ability he did not need to fight the hordes of thrulls nor did he need to kill them. According to the alien Birdy the creatures were simple-minded creatures at best, yet the gnawing sensation he had as he dispatched one did not disappear. Leaving them alive would complicate things, yet he couldn't justify killing them in cold blood. This was not like killing a rabbit or dog for food as killing the thrulls served no purpose other than to eliminate a future threat to his companions.

Signaling his companions he indicated for them to stop. The stealth option to Su's upgraded suits allowed the group to avoid any unnecessary fighting, though Ranma really couldn't think of it as fighting. Of the few patrols that they had encountered the thrulls had fallen in the blink of an eye to the highly trained martial artists and their alien companion.

The powerful alien could break boulders with an easy that would make Ryoga envious. In terms of training she was at least equal to Ukyo, well, this Ukyo.

For her part Ukyo was as technically sound but lacked the strength and power of her contemporary in his home world. Her utter ruthlessness and knowledge of their enemies though gave her a considerable edge over the thrulls. Though her name was familiar, it only served as reminder that this was not his world and he truly did not belong here.

"We're wasting time," Birdy hissed once Ranma signaled that the passage was clear. "Once we're through here we still have to go to your world and rescue the princess there."

He knew that he was weighing lives against time, but failure to save the princess would mean that all life on the planet were in peril. "We don't have the time to engage in a fight," he stated firmly. "We can't get separated from Ukyo since she's the only one who knows her way around here. We're also letting your computer map the underground so that we can reference it in my world."

Despite Birdy's urgency, she relented. In her limited interactions with Ranma he had proven to her that she needed his help, especially if it involved the dimensional gates.

As the central figure in this inter-dimensional maelstrom and it was his decision to make about whom would handle what duties. It was Birdy's mission to find the princess and apprehend the criminals responsible for the young royal's abduction. Ukyo was needed because she was the only person with sufficient knowledge of the Underground, and Ranma, well, was Ranma.

With Birdy's help they had managed to keep track of just how far they had gone. In less than two hours they had traveled over five kilometers though they had only descended less than two kilometers below sea level.

"There is an air shaft in the passage to the right," Ukyo said as she eyed the forking passage. "It should take us closer to the Company's central building on the lowest level, but it's a straight drop. The left passage leads down to the next level and a guard station."

"How many levels down is the lowest level?" Ranma asked.

"Less than two kilometers," the brunette replied nerviously.

In the dim light Ranma eyed his companions. "How big is the air shaft?"

"Large enough for three people," Ukyo explained. "We are at the point where the shaft splits into several smaller shafts that run up to the surface. There's a shaft for each of the four zones – this is the only shaft to the Company."

"Let's check it out," the cursed boy stated as he lead them to the right.

The service entrance to the air shaft was a circular shaft some three meters wide but with iron rungs for climbing spaced roughly every 15 cm or so. "Looks good," he assessed. "I'll take the lead."

X Cross world X

"It's too soon," the robed figure stated even as he backed away. "Your body still needs to adapt to the changes and you haven't mastered"

"I will not let him get away from me," the lean youth stated. "I will be the one to kill him, no one else!"

"But sir," the scientist pleaded.

Eyeing the imposing guards in the hallway the young heir stood tall. "You two," he pointed to the two closest to him "come with me."

"Sir," the scientist again spoke out. "The one you're chasing went Underground – if you're going down there you should at least take the entire squad."

"I though you said that I should be able to defeat him myself," the teen remarked. "Why would I need the rest of them?"

"While you are more than sufficient to take out your rival," the scientist said as he carefully picked his words. "But the Underground is full of threats far greater than your rival."

"More the reason why I should hurry," the teen said as he eyed the rest of the guards. "Ranma Saotome dies by my hands, no one elses!"

X Cross world X

The third planet from the solar system's sun was a rarity in the galaxy. Though it was home to a sentient species the Galactic Federation had assessed them to possess what they considered Level 6 technology (nuclear power and the capacity to travel beyond their planet's atmosphere) the "humans" that dominated the planet were a diverse species with what they deemed to be several different races and cultures. The planet was rich in resources, though the distribution of said resources often caused conflicts between various factions. Surprisingly the primary source of their conflicts was the result of the apparent differences in "culture" or "race".

Yet it was the vast differences between the various races of humans that allowed other humanoid species such as the Cygni, Altarians, Oculon, and Santovasku to blend into human society so seamlessly. Several others did so as well, though most of them needed some type of cosmetic aid to keep them from standing out. To a human the aliens could appear to be completely, well, human, but to an alien with the right tech finding another alien was not the most difficult thing.

"This is it," the violet haired alien stated as she eyed the display on her hand held monitor.

Accompanied by a lean man and a scarred youth, Hatsuho eyed the shop before them.

"This is a used game shop," Sagara muttered as he eyed the store front.

The taller man pushed his glasses up his nose, giving himself a better view of the building. "So it is. It's a good cover, just like in Men in Black."

"Men in Black?" the scarred soldier repeated.

"It's a movie," Seta explained. "There's a secret organization tasked with hiding the fact that aliens are among us and making sure that the aliens abide by our laws." He eyed his younger compatriot then shook his head. "You need to watch more movies and relax."

"I find that cleaning my weapons most relaxing," Sagara countered. "Knowing that my weapons will not fail me gives me great peace of mind."

"Perhaps you need to relax a bit more," Urzi-2 stated.

"I like watching war movies," Urzi-7 added.

Seta shook his head, "What solider likes to watch war movies? I find that the battlefield is traumatic enough without needing to be reminded of how bad it really was."

"Um, I'm going in," Hatsuho remarked.

The shop was full of shelves holding anything from video game boxes, DVDs, CDs, boxes of figurines, and model kits. The obese man with pale, sickly skin and sunken eyes eyed the trio as they entered.

Hatsuho could feel the eyes of all of the shoppers – some ogled her, others undressed her. It was an unusual experience to say the least. Ignoring their looks, she walked over to the store's owner. "Dust sent me," she said just loud enough for him to hear.

"Kentaro!" the big man shouted, summoning his lone employee. "Take care of the front."

A scrawny young man rushed to the counter, "Yes boss! I'll take care of everything."

Sliding out from behind the counter the alien led the trio into the back then into the basement. "You have the mark of a witch-gun."

Sagara eyed the overweight man, noting how casually he moved through the unmarked boxes.

"Santorum are considered magic users," Hatsuho whispered.

"And you're a Cygni," the owner added as he pulled out a box. Holding it out he waited for her to accept it. "Bullets for the gun – they increase the effectiveness of your gun and reduce the amount of mana you need to use. You can only use two shots a day otherwise your gun's going to explode or melt depending on the model. Ten bullets altogether."

Sagara nodded as he eyed the black bullets that the alien woman gave him.

"A two plasma grenades" he handed a box to Seta "sticky grenades – strong enough to hold down even an Alpha Cygni – half a dozen, one gravity grenade, and a fusion gun with two shots."

"Fusion gun?" Seta remarked as he eyed the chrome gun with a glowing blue chamber.

"It sprays a liquid onto your target and fuses it to whatever it is touching."

Sagara eyed the gun, "An industrial strength glue gun?"

The pasty man shook his head, "That would mean that the target is simply adhered to the surface of whatever it is touching – the fusion gun fuses the target with what it is touching at a molecular level. The Federation banned them because the damage is permanent to any organics."

"Organics?" the scarred boy remarked.

"If you use it on someone while they're standing on cement their legs become cement, but if you use it on an Oculon they can just sever the limb at a joint and replace it with another artificial limb," Hatsuho explained. "Just hitting someone with it is nasty – if they're not wearing uniforms made of unstable molecules their flesh is fused with their clothes. That's why galactic officers like Birdy wear such skimpy clothing."

"To limit how much flesh can be affected by direct contact with something," Seta concluded.

Hatsuho nodded. "Fusion guns also by-pass the telemetry fields that negate energy and ballistics weapons."

"So they aren't affected by force fields?" Sagara asked.

Again Hatsuho nodded.

"Speaking of armor," the owner muttered as he moved them towards a stack of boxes in the back. "I only owe Dust so much, but if you find anything that you can spare I might be able to barter with you. I heard that there some Oculons were involved in an incident outside of Tokyo. I don't deal in their CPUs but everyone knows that their other parts make for great cyber ware."

"We'll keep that in mind," Seta replied as he stashed the last of the grenades before handing the unusual gun to Hatsuho. Though Mithril and the Japanese government had claimed most of the salvaged parts, the former SRT agent knew that he their future ventures might provide them with things that they could barter with. Besides, from what his daughter had told him about Su, the college professor turned secret agent was not sure how much he could rely on her to not blow up the Hinata Sou.

* Home world *

A not so distant explosion threw the Hinata Sou into chaos. Clutching her blade the slender kendoka rushed to her room, a slight edge of fear and nervousness in her mind as she eyed the soft flow emanating from her room. Yet it was not her room that was the source of the disruption.

"Su!" she shouted as she noticed the billowing smoke coming from her friend and neighbor's room. "What did you do?"

The eccentric blond was covered in soot, yet despite the debris and destruction she was beaming. "I discovered something," she exclaimed excitedly.

Several aged figures rushed up the stairs, unsure what to expect.

"Did Ranma return?" the dorm manager shouted from the stairwell. "I thought the portal wouldn't open for another four hours."

The tiniest figure hopped on her cane, her long gray hairs trailing after her. "What happened?"

"Su blew something up," Motoko explained even as she checked on Su's condition.

"The robots!" the tiny girl grinned crazily. "They've got a force field of sorts. I was able to reproduce it"

"but it blew up," the kendoka finished.

Su shook her head vigorously. "The plasma grenade launcher I made blew up, but everything behind the force field was fine. Now if I could only make the force field generator smaller…"

The others eyed the brilliantly insane girl, unsure what to make of her.

Keitaro sighed. With the prospect of his adopted sister returning dashed combined with the need to clean/repair Su's room the ronin appeared drained.

"Do you need a hand?" Naru asked as she caught up to her fellow cram school student.

The lanky man simply shrugged as he turned towards the stairs.

Eyeing the pair, Hina shook her head. "I'll watch the room," she said as she eyed Motoko's room. "I doubt that I could go back to sleep now."

X Cross world X

"Where is he?" The well-dressed man in white stood impatiently before the gathered scientists and board members of his company.

None of the assembled men dared speak out for fear of angering their lord. Finally a scientist stepped forward, "He, he went after his rival."

"Rival?" the white haired man remarked. "The Zoalords should have no rivals, even amongst themselves."

"He must mean the individual who injured our newest Zoalord." The man dressed in traditional Japanese attire, stepped forward. "My grandson was critically injured, nearly killed even, by an individual claiming to be Ranma Saotome."

The white haired man eyed his subordinate, "You speak as though I should know this 'Ranma Saotome'."

"My apologizes," the Japanese elder said with a bow. "Ten years ago there was an incident in Japan involving a Ranma Saotome and his crazed father Genma Saotome. The elder Saotome attempted to train his son in martial arts, but ended up killing him."

"That matters not to me," the other man said. "Where is your grandson?"

Again the head scientist bowed his head, "He is in the Underground."

"The underground?" the elder Kuno gasped.

"I sent him with a squad of Gregoles and Hodluff, two Rocies, and a Vamore," the scientist added in his defense. "They should be more than capable of dealing with the residents of the Underground."

"How could those Santovasku refugees have become such a threat?"

"It appears that there are other aliens who have sought to take advantage of Earth's resources and humanity as a whole while you were asleep," the elder Kuno stated.

Archanfel scowled. Had the energy signature that had woken him up been the result of another alien incursion?

"Speaking of aliens," Kuno added. "Have you heard the recent news? Of the alien fleet that the Americans have spotted approaching Earth?"

The Antediluvian stood straight, clearly alarmed by this morsel of information. "Gather the other Zoalords – I will bring our newest lord home and show him his proper role in things. Complete as many Hyper-Zoanoids as you can before my return."

"Sir?" the scientist said hesitantly. "We just finished screening the latest candidates."

"Then begin processing them – now!"

X Cross world X

Inconsistent gusts of air filled the shaft, making it difficult for the trio to communicate to each other as they descended. At times the air flowed down, then shifted dramatically so that it added to the pull of gravity on them, almost as if the Underground were alive; drawing in breath and exhaling irregularly.

Traversing in near darkness Ranma was hopeful as he noted that distant light beneath him. "Stop," he hissed at Birdy, glad that his eyes had adjusted to the limited light. "There are no more hand or foot holds."

Above him Birdy nodded, passing on the message to a tired Ukyo before checking with her tiny computer. "Clare says that we're roughly one hundred feet from a slight bend in the shaft then another seventy before it opens up to the cavern below. It's a thirty degree shift at the bend."

"I'll drop first," he stated once he had mapped out the shaft in his mind, hoping that there was a cover of sorts at the end of the shaft and not a straight drop.

Supporting his weight on one hand he braced himself against smooth stone wall. Once the message was passed up to Ukyo he released his hold. In a flash he reached the bend, then slid down to the opening. His hunch was correct as the steel bars that covered the opening kept him from tumbling into the cavern. Tapping the bars he hoped that Birdy would be able to hear his signal. A few seconds later the alien crashed into him. Moments later Ukyo added her weight to theirs.

"I should be able to bend this," Birdy muttered once she freed herself from the tangled mess. Straining just slightly the powerful alien easily bent the bars.

Poking his head through the bars Ranma eyed the cavern. Though he could not see the entire cavern he could tell that it was huge. A lone stone building standing at least ten stories at its highest surrounded by a seemingly bottomless chasm and a forest of stalagmites filled the cavern floor while the ceiling was surprisingly devoid of any stalactites.

"How much rope do we have?" he asked.

"Twenty meters, give or take a few centimeters," Ukyo replied.

"Give me fifteen meters," he instructed her. "Hold onto this end."

Tying it about his waist he slipped through the opening. Clinging to the slightest remains of the stalactites he kept going until he felt Ukyo and Birdy tugging on the other end. Extracting a knife he struck the ceiling, imbedding the blade before untying the rope from his waist and attaching it to the blade. It would not hold all of their weight, not for long, but long enough perhaps.

Crawling along the ceiling he eyed the towering structure beneath him. "We're going to swing from this rope then jump to the building."

"That's not long enough," Birdy objected.

"I know," Ranma replied. "Tie this to your belts – once we reach the apex of the swing I'll throw you two towards the building."

The others did as he ordered; placing their trust and faith in him even though they barely knew him.

The rope held and the trick worked, allowing him to swing the girls so that they managed to reach the building before his returned to the vent. Pushing off of the grill he nearly reached the zenith of the return swing when the ceiling about the knife gave way.

Instinctively he spread his limbs out even as he aimed his descent so that he closed the distance between himself and the building. His aim was true, though he landed a few floors below the girls. His short climb up to the balcony that they found themselves on provided Birdy with enough time to scan the area for the princess' signal as well as to map out some of the building.

"I've got her signal," Birdy stated once he reached them. "The princess appears to be at the top of the building."

"Did you get a map of the floors?" he asked as he coiled the rope and set it aside.

The alien nodded.

"Give to me," he ordered her. "I'll take the lead, you take the rear."

Again she looked to question him. "Fine."

Following the rough map that the tiny AI provided him Ranma led his team.

* Home world *

Chaos filled the staff room at Mahora Academy. The prestigious school system was home to a primary, junior high, high school, and college – all of which helped to hide the presence of the few magi in a world dominated by technology and science. Yet despite their dwindling number the magi had begun to adapt, merging their magical knowledge with scientific advancements.

Even with the changes in their world view the realization that alien life-forms existed and possibly were among them was startling.

"You're telling me that Saotome has made first contact?" the wizened old man said, unsure of what to believe. Only a few weeks ago he had heard of the dimensionally misplaced youth seemingly banished to a more scientifically advanced version of his own world.

The raven haired mage nodded. "Two of them, though they are of the same species. I have seen them myself."

"Are they from this world or the other?" a female mage asked.

"One is of this world," the man replied. "Though from what Saotome tells me there is another version of her in the other world as well. The other alien is from the other world, but her counterpart died in this world, allowing her to travel with Saotome through the gates."

The headmaster nodded. This really was more than he had expected, and the entire situation had gone completely beyond anything that they had expected. "What of the report from our allies in the Americas and Europe?"

"You mean the one stating that NASA had spotted a fleet of alien ships just past Mars?" a blond woman asked. "The AP has put out a few stories already, but very few seem to take it seriously. Our contacts in New Ostia have confirmed that a fleet of alien ships is just outside of Mars' atmosphere and in the asteroid field between Earth and Mars."

The wizened mage sighed, displeased with the news. "Do we know their intentions?"

His blond assistant shook her head, "The Ostians know nothing about them, but our contacts in Hellas recognize some of the markings on the ships. They're trying to translate them as we speak, but"

The room was silent as everyone turned their attention to her.

"But?" the headmaster said, prodding her.

"Ancient Hellian history and myth indicates that there was once a planet between Earth and Mars, long before man even descended from the trees. There were refugees from that planet that made their home on Earth and on Mars."

"But what do they want?"

The blond shrugged, "I don't know. Myth says that their planet was destroyed by another alien race, that they apparently fought over control of Earth with those aliens, but after the war both sides left Earth alone."

Again the room was silent, finally, "Evacuate all unnecessary staff and personal. The aliens left Mars alone last time, they should hopefully leave Mars alone again."

A/N

I'll leave things here for now. Be glad I've updated this fic at least.

Dreamingfox