The morning came and the Dragonball hunters once again set out to find the remaining pair. They said their goodbyes, promising to be back quickly and in one piece. Ranma once again promised to look after Akane, stuck his foot in his mouth, and once again was malleted. Pan still wanted to know where Akane kept on getting those mallets!
Pan slung her pack into place on her back. “Let’s get out of here. The balls are on the move again!”
Ranma and Akane nodded their heads, hefted their packs, and followed Pan into the air.
The trio followed the direction the Dragonradar gave them towards the remaining Dragonballs. Whoever had them was taking a very erratic course. If whoever had the balls was trying to avoid them, they were either a tactical genius or a certified idiot.
After a while of traveling Ranma began to get bored. He increased his speed and caught up with Pan. “So do we even know if we can catch this guy? For all we know he could be flying away from us. We might be better off flying in the other direction.”
Pan shook her head. “Whoever they are, they have to stop sometime. We’ll just have to play catch up until then.”
“Y’know we’ll have to stop sometime as well.”
To illustrate Ranma’s point, Pan’s stomach growled. “You’re right, but we can’t just sit around doing nothing.” Pan patted her stomach. “We’ve been traveling for a while, it’s time to break for lunch.”
“Hey Akane!” Pan yelled over her shoulder. “Want to stop for some lunch?”
“…”
“Akane?”
Ranma
turned and didn’t see Akane. For the briefest second, he panicked. He calmed himself and tried to find her
Ki. Found her! Good thing Pan taught
me that trick. Akane’s a ways behind us
and…uh oh…She’s really ticked off!
Ranma turned around and shot full speed to a struggling Akane. She was on the verge of trying to flap her arms to try to stay aloft. Ranma went around to pick her up again, but she slapped his hands away.
“How long were you guys going to fly on without me? Something could have happened to me!”
“Hey! Nothing happened! So let me help you catch back up with Pan so we can get some lunch!”
“Oh sure I see it now. You were going faster on purpose!”
“Why would I do something like that?”
“Just so you could watch me struggle and prove that you are SO superior and…”
“And what?”
“And so you could cop a cheap feel from me when I was tired, you pervert!”
“What the hell are you talking about?! Why in this whole world would I want to feel up an uncute tomboy like you?!”
“You macho chauvinistic, egotistical, insensitive…boy!”
Gee, it’s been a while since she called me that. Wonder why she’s so ticked off about this. It’s not like she got sucked into an airplane or something. “Listen Akane. Let’s just catch up with Pan and have some lunch.” Ranma once again tried to give her a hand.
“Don’t touch me! You seemed to think I could take care of myself before. Why the sudden concern? Just go back to Pan and be happy with her!”
“Is that what this is about? Pan? You think we are doing something behind your back?”
“We’ll she’s…” Akane stopped herself.
“She’s what?” Ranma made a conscious effort to lower his voice.
Akane deflated a bit. “She’s so much stronger and better at martial arts then I am and…”
“You’re feeling insecure?”
Akane kept silent and looked towards the ground.
“Akane. She already gave up on me and the last thing I need is another girlfriend or fiancé. Listen, has anything happened yet?”
Akane shook her head.
“What makes you think something will?”
Akane shrugged her shoulders.
“Nothing has or ever will happen between me and Pan. Besides, you’re my fiancé.”
“So are Shampoo and Ukyou.”
“Akane! They…I mean, you and I…uh…you know…umm.”
Akane could tell that Ranma was really struggling with this. “What?”
“Uhh…” Ranma felt something at the edge of his senses. “Look out!” He charged forward and pushed Akane out of the way of an incoming Ki blast. “What the?”
“Swotomre Mranmra mreware po pwy!”
Ranma and Akane looked up to see Ryoga dressed in his usual get up plus white shoulder pads, cape, and muffler.
Ranma raised and eyebrow. When did he learn how to fly? “What?”
Ryoga grabbed the muffler and pulled it down away from his mouth. “I said: Saotome Ranma prepare to die!”
Ranma shook his head. “We don’t have time for this pig-boy! We have more important things to think about!”
“You’re only thinking about yourself Ranma. I know about you’re plan to cure yourself with the Dragonballs! I won’t allow it! Kiai!” Ryoga dove at Ranma fist extended.
Ranma, still holding Akane, flew down and away from the lost boy. “I don’t know who taught him how to fly, but that was one stupid person.”
“Kinda like the person he’s trying to kill?”
“Shut up Akane, we don’t have time for another fight.”
“Don’t tell me to ‘shut up!’”
Ranma flew atop a dry plateau in the middle of what looked like a desert mountain range. He dropped Akane unceremoniously on her rump on the plateau and dropped his pack. “Just stay here and keep yourself alive. Then we can fight. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
Ranma looked up in time to see Ryoga on another charge. Ranma jumped up and speed toward him. Ranma turned at the last minute and punched Ryoga in the side, sending the lost boy into the ground below the plateau where Akane stood.
Ranma flew down and stood over Ryoga’s crater and shouted down into it. “What is this all about, Ryoga? What’d I do this time?”
The ground behind Ranma exploded as Ryoga burst out. “This is payback for all the pain and humiliation that you have caused me! This is payback for the bread, the curse, and everything else that has gone wrong in my life!”
The two began a flurry of punches and kicks, blocks and parries. Ryoga disengaged and flew straight up. Ranma followed and re-engaged. Both of their power levels began to climb.
Pan finally arrived on the scene. She had waited for Ranma for what she felt was sufficient time for him and Akane to fight and then come to lunch. She saw the two combatants going at it and was about to jump in when she noticed it was Ryoga, and that he was wearing a ‘Piccolo’ outfit. She spotted Akane and flew over to her. “What’s going on?”
“Ryoga just showed up out of nowhere and started trying to kill Ranma! For some reason Ryoga’s a lot stronger than he’s been in the past!”
“Piccolo.” Pan muttered.
“What?”
“Piccolo. He must have taken Ryoga and trained him. How he got him so fast in so short a time and why he did it I’ll never know, but he did somehow.”
“Aren’t you going to stop them?”
“What would Ranma do if you interfered with one of his fights?”
“He’d get upset at me and start yelling about ‘honor’ and ‘a man’s fight’, and other macho stuff like that.”
“Exactly. That’s why I’m not doing anything. From what it looks like, if they don’t settle the fight now, they’ll continue to get stronger until they start endangering others in their fights.”
Akane thought it out. “I guess you’re right. I just don’t want anything to happen to them.”
“Either one of them?”
“Ryoga’s my friend and Ranma’s…well…my fiancé. Our parents would never forgive me if he died here.”
“Isn’t Ranma your friend as well?”
Why does she always have to ask the hard questions? Akane just continued to watch the fight.
“Well?”
“I…don’t know.” Akane hung her head.
“After almost a year of knowing him and you ‘don’t know’?”
“Sometimes he can be so nice, and sometimes he is so mean.”
“You do that to. Not toward most people, but definitely towards Ranma.”
“Let’s just watch the fight.”
Pan let it drop at that. You’re going to have to face your feelings sometime…
Down below in the valley floor, the two combatants were still going all out. Ranma finally managed to land a good punch and sent Ryoga into a cliff face. Ryoga pulled himself out and smiled.
“What are you so happy about?”
“I know something you don’t.”
“And what’s that?”
Ryoga threw off the shoulder gear and his headband. He had another headband on underneath it. The discarded clothes hit the ground with a crunch as they made a sizable dent in the valley floor. “Now I’m twice as strong and fast! Now we’ll finish this!”
Ranma began to smile at the lost boy.
“Now what are you smiling about?”
“I know something you don’t.”
“‘And what’s that’?” he mocked Ranma.
Ranma shucked his shirt and pants. They landed beside Ryoga’s stuff and made about the same size dent. “Now we’re back where we started.”
Ryoga’s mind finally remembered something that Pan had said long before. ‘He’s a little handicapped right now. Come back in a few days and challenged him.’ He was training all ready! We are back where we started, just a lot stronger and faster.
“You going to sit there all day or are we going to fight.”
Ryoga raised his hands and crossed his wrists in front of his forehead. “MASENKOU!” A large ball of energy formed in Ryoga’s hands and shot out at the pig-tailed martial artist.
Ranma shot straight up and evaded the Ki blast. The mountain behind him wasn’t as fortunate. It exploded with rocks shooting in all directions.
Ranma decided to answer with a Ki blast that he had been working on. “KAME…” He cupped his hands to his side. “HAME…” A ball of energy formed in his hands. “HA!” He shot his hands forward and unleashed a perfect Turtle Destruction Blast.
Ryoga didn’t know what to expect when he didn’t hear Moko Takabisha, but he quickly adjusted when he saw the light coming at him. He dodged the blast, but not the rubble that went with it.
Pan watched the exchange and crossed her arms. “What is this? Steal Everyone Else’s Moves Day?”
Ryoga shook himself loose in time to feel the kick that Ranma put in his side. Ryoga flew through one mountain and managed to land his feet on the next one and push himself back in Ranma’s direction.
Ranma dropped couple of feet and punched upward just as Ryoga passed over and caught him in the gut. Ryoga answered by kicking Ranma in the gut, sending him into the side of another plateau. Ranma was stunned for half a second, but that was enough for Ryoga to take advantage. Ryoga landed a punch into Ranma’s midsection that sent him the rest of the way through the stone. Ranma came out the other side and shot straight up. He found Ryoga’s Ki and settled into a defensive stance.
Ryoga saw him and flew straight for him. Ranma waited until Ryoga was only a few feet away and then put two fingers to each of his temples.
“TAIYOUKEN!” A flash of light and all but Ranma were blind.
“RANMA!” Ryoga went into a berserker rage of punches and kicks at Ranma.
Ranma began to make a large arc, dodging Ryoga the whole time. He was going into the classic spiral of the Hiryu Shoten Ha.
Pan’s site was the first to clear. She looked up and immediately saw what Ranma was doing. What is he doing? There’s no rubble in the air to fling at Ryoga.
At last Ranma finished his spiral. “Hiryu Shoten Ha revised…DRAGON CRASH!” Ranma thrust his fist downward. An inverted tornado formed below him.
The hurricane force winds powered by the lost boy’s Ki swept boulders and rubble throughout the range. Ryoga was slammed into the ground and was pelted by all the rock. The attack had such suction force that Pan had to grab the plateau underneath her to stay in one place, and she also had to grab Akane to keep her from being sucked in.
If this range of hills and plateaus had a memory they would recall the last time there was such a showing of force. It would remember the battle between two Saiya-Jin, one a prince and the other one a low class soldier. It would remember the lengths that the combatants pushed themselves and the victory won by the underdog and his friends. This was the battleground that ended the Saiya-Jin threat to the planet Earth.
The hurricane raged until Ryoga was buried under several tons of rock. Ranma pulled back and surveyed his handiwork. There before him stood what appeared to be a classic pyramid of rubble. It was almost in a perfect spiral shape. Ranma toyed with the notion of launching another Kamehameha at the pile, but decided that pig-boy could dig his own way out.
Ranma went to retrieve his discarded clothing. He had time to pick up his clothes before he felt the massive buildup of Ki behind him. He turned to Ryoga’s burial site and started to feel heat coming off of it. Then he heard a cry that was almost below his level of hearing.
“SHISHI HOKOUDAN!”
Stone went flying everywhere. Ranma started to dodge all the shrapnel that was being thrown. He saw a hail headed toward the girls. Ranma poured on the speed and got a head of the flying rock. He unleashed a machine gun Ki attack that would have made Vegita proud. Each of the large fragments were blown to much smaller pieces after the storm ended, Ranma could see Ryoga emerging from his ‘grave’.
Ranma turned to check on Pan and Akane. “You guys okay?”
Pan was brushing off the layer of dust that had formed on her clothes. “Just peachy.”
Akane shook the dust out of her hair. “Hurry up and finish this! We need to finish our fight!” Akane yelled back at him.
Ranma just shrugged his shoulders and looked back to Ryoga. Ranma’s time of inattention had bought Ryoga the time to build up a massive aura. The aura had the sickly green and black aura of Ryoga’s trademark move. Ranma didn’t have the energy left to combat the size of a blast of that magnitude after destroying all the shrapnel. Ranma did some quick thinking and decided to see if a trick would work twice on Ryoga.
Ranma flew up right next to the lost boy. “Hey Ryoga! What about Akari?”
“What about her? She has nothing to do with this!”
“Are you still after Akane?”
“No! This has nothing to do with her either. Nothing you can say can save you, Ranma!”
Ryoga brought his hands together. “SHI…SHI…”
Ranma flew up point blank to Ryoga. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting!?”
“Shut up Ranma! HOKOU…”
“You wouldn’t have met Akari if it hadn’t been for me!” Ranma beat a hasty retreat.
“DAN! What?”
The massive Ki bolt that Ryoga had been building exploded right where he was standing. The blast knocked the girls off their feet and Ranma through another hill. Ranma hadn’t had the time he needed to get away from the lost boy’s sorrow. Ranma put an arm around his ribcage. He turned to find Ryoga.
Ryoga was laid out flat in the middle of a massive crater. He was still conscious, barely. He was occupied by a thought that had never occurred to him during his ‘revelations’ with Piccolo. I wouldn’t have met Akari? If I hadn’t tried to follow Ranma for taking the bread, then I never would have ended up at Jusenkyo. If I hadn’t been to Jusenkyo, I wouldn’t turn into a pig. If I hadn’t turned into a pig, I wouldn’t have gotten stronger to defeat Ranma. If I hadn’t gotten stronger, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat Katsunishiki. If I hadn’t been able to defeat Katsunishiki, I wouldn’t have been able to be worthy of Akari. If I hadn’t have been worthy of Akari, I’d still be chasing after Akane. If it weren’t for Ranma, I would have never met Akane. I wouldn’t have met either of the loves of my life without Ranma! Maybe he’s not responsible…
Ryoga’s last thought was drowned out by his loss of consciousness. Ranma and the girls felt Ryoga’s Ki level die off.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. That’s basically the same trick I pulled on him the first time he learned the Shishi Hokoudan, bring him out of his funk before he could set it off. Ranma let out a short laugh, but regretted it when his ribcage and head reminded him of the cost of this battle.
Ranma flew back over and put his weighted clothing back on and joined the girls on top of the plateau. “Let’s just have lunch here…ugn…” Ranma grabbed his ribcage again. “I don’t feel like going anywhere for a while.”
Pan shook her head.
Akane reached up and touched Ranma’s chest. “You’re hurt.”
“Yeah…Akane?”
“Yes?”
“Can’t we just forget about our fight? I don’t think I could handle another one today. We were fighting for a dumb reason anyways.”
Akane looked and saw the pain in Ranma’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Ranma. I’m sorry…”
Ranma covered Akane’s hand on his chest with his remaining hand. “It’s okay, I forgive you. Just please trust me sometimes.”
“I’ll try, Ranma.”
Pan’s stomach chose that moment to make it presence known. “GRRRRRRROOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLL!”
Ranma and Akane were so stunned that they became aware of how intimate they looked and quickly stepped away from each other. Ranma stepped aside with a slight pain.
Pan blushed and rubbed her empty stomach. “Sorry to kill the mood, but I’m starving!”
Ranma laughed at the quarter-Saiya-Jin. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ouch!” He kept on forgetting he was hurt.
Akane just laughed at both of them as she unpacked the fresh supplies that Kasumi had packed for them. “Should we do something for Ryoga? He’s still passed out over there.”
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. “I’m having enough trouble carrying my clothes right now. It will be a while before I will have the energy to carry my pack.”
“I’ll do something after lunch.” Pan said between mouthfuls.
“Like what?” Ranma started eating his own lunch, wincing with every bite.
“I’ll get some more Senzu. Neither you or Ryoga are in any shape to go anywhere for a while without some help, and I don’t want to have to drag your carcasses across the globe.”
Akane giggled at the last comment.
Ranma just shook his head, but he knew Pan was right. “Okay. So what do we do?”
“Just wait here. I can be back before nightfall.”
“Sounds good.”
They finished up their lunch. Ranma decided to take a nap, nobody blamed him for that. Pan took off for Karin’s tower. Akane flew over to check on Ryoga.
Ryoga was still out cold, but was still breathing. Akane picked him up and carried him to plateau with Ranma. It’s too bad you guys can’t get along. It would save us all a ton on house insurance.
Pan took off and made her way to Karin’s Tower. Karin’s Tower was a veranda like palace situated atop a long ornate column that stretched from the ground up to about 3 km. It was a place where people could seek wisdom and also train. Part of the training was climbing to the top in the first place. The other part of the training was getting a bucket of water away from Karin. That usually involved a few more trips up and down the column. Flying up to the palace seemed almost like cheating to Pan, but this was an emergency.
She reached the top and found Karin napping in the sun. Karin looked like a large white fat cat. It’s a good thing that I left Ranma behind. “Master Karin!”
The white cat rolled over and noticed the young Saiya-Jin. “Hello Pan. What brings you to my tower?”
“I need some senzu. My friends had a big fight and they’re pretty banged up.”
“Did that fight happen around the South District?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“I felt a pretty good fight going on down there. There hasn’t been a decent fight there in a long time.”
“Okay. So can I get some senzu?”
Karin laughed. “Just like your grandpa, no patience.” He cupped his paws over his mouth. “Yajirobe! We have any senzu ready?!”
Silence.
Karin took a large intake of breath that almost made him double in size. “YAJIROBE WAKE UP AND GET SOME SENZU, NOW!”
A voice was heard across the veranda. “Okay! Okay! (yawn)”
After a few minutes a graying short fat man made his way to Pan carrying a leather pouch. “Here’s our last two. Don’t waste them. We won’t have anymore ripe ones for a while.”
Pan accepted the pouch. “Thanks for the beans. I need to get back to the others now.”
Karin waved as Pan started to take off. “Your welcome. Come by and visit anytime. And say hi to Gohan for me!”
“I will! Thanks again!” Pan shouted behind her as the palace receded behind her.
It was nightfall by the time Pan arrived back at the plateau. Ryoga and Ranma both had several poorly done wrappings on. Ranma was pulling at one of his wrappings to keep circulation in his hand.
Pan landed and unwrapped the bandage. “Who did this?”
“Akane. You shouldn’t have left me like this. I think the treatment hurt worse than the fight.”
“Where is Akane?”
“She…uhm…had to…y’know.”
“Relieve herself?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh well. This will fix you up.” Pan reached into her bag and pulled out one of the senzu and gave it to Ranma.
Ranma popped it into his mouth. He immediately jumped up and burst out of all his bandages. “Wow! These are great! I feel like I could take on an army!”
“Don’t get too cocky.” Pan took out the other bean and walked over to where Ryoga was resting. She heard a faint whisper come out of him.
“Akari…”
Pan sent a puzzled expression in Ranma’s direction. “Who’s Akari?”
“Ryoga’s girlfriend.”
There goes another prospect. Pan thought.
“She’s nice and all, but she has a thing for pigs. But that does go well with Ryoga.”
“How so?”
“You know how I change into a girl.”
“Yes.”
“He turns into a pig.”
“I see.”
“But don’t tell Akane.”
“Don’t tell me what?”
Pan and Ranma both turned to see Akane had returned.
Ranma thought fast. “That you did a good job on the bandaging! See I’m already healed!” Ranma did a couple quick Katas.
While Ranma distracted Akane, Pan slipped Ryoga the other senzu and forced him to chew it. He had a similar reaction to it that Ranma had.
“I’m well!”
Ranma smirked. “See you even helped Ryoga!” Damn I’m good!
“Wow. I didn’t know I had it in me.”
“Buuut, I wouldn’t be trying to replace Dr. Tofu anytime soon.”
“What is that supposed to mean?!”
Pan shook her head. Open mouth. Insert foot. Chew vigorously. Pan decided she needed to intervene in Ranma’s behalf…they were out of senzu beans after all. “He just wanted to play a joke on you Akane. I really went after senzu beans and gave them to the boys.” She held up the leather pouch for emphasis.
“Yeah! That’s it!” Ranma exclaimed.
Akane shook her head. “It wasn’t very funny. Where’d Ryoga go?”
Pan and Ranma looked around. The brief little bit of conversation was enough for Ryoga to get lost. What they didn’t know was that he went to go find a tree to relieve himself in a desert valley. They wouldn’t be seeing him for a while.
The next morning, they awoke to the whistle of an incoming projectile. It sounded like an incoming mortar and had a similar impact and explosion. The object landed only a few hundred meters from the group’s plateau.
Ranma turned to Akane. “You guys stay here and break camp. I’ll go check it out.”
Pan shook her head. “Always trying to get out of any real work.”
Ranma smirked and took off toward the crater. Pan and Akane saw him disappear through the smoke, and rapidly come flying back, back first. Ranma managed to catch himself right above Pan and Akane.
“We’ve got a live one!” Ranma charged back toward the crater.
“Wait for me!” Pan went charging after the pigtailed martial artist.
Akane shook her head at both of them. Oh well. When in Rome… She immediately followed the others.
Ranma and Pan stopped in front of the crater just as the smoke was clearing. What emerged from the smoke was something that made them both pause. A man in red, with red eyes, and silver hair, They both thought simultaneously. He’s the one that destroyed that village!
Ranma turned to Pan and saw the look of anger in her face. She nodded her head. “Let’s go!”
They charged at the android. The android, in one fluid motion, managed to bat both of the attackers away and into opposing hillsides. The android turned to Pan. “So I’ve finally found you Son Pan. You have given me quite the run around.
Ranma was silently relieved that for once the new stereotypical (for him) murderous psycho wasn’t after him.
Pan glared at the inhuman. “Am I supposed to know you?”
“I am Android 21. Prepare to die!” 21 opened his hand at her and unleashed an energy bolt. Pan dodged it before impact.
Ranma took this as his cue to join in. “MOKO TAKABISHA!”
The android didn’t even turn around. He just swung his arm around and casually batted the Ki bolt aside. It impacted and destroyed a small hill. “Stay out of this human! This is between me and the descendant of Son Goku!” he yelled over his shoulder.
Pan unleashed her Ki blast at the android. He knocked it away similarly. He put both his hands out and launched a blast at Pan and Ranma. They both evaded. Ranma did get a little singed.
Akane watched the whole battle from a short distance. From the first Ki blast she knew she didn’t belong in this fight. She would never admit that, but the fight with Ryoga yesterday convinced her that there were some fights and fighters she was not on any par with.
How can he so casually deflect Ranma and Pan’s attacks? She thought. She took a closer look at 21. She noticed that he had what looked like oversized wrist braces on. She risked going closer to the fight to try to verify what she suspected. It was as she thought.
“Ranma! Pan! He has the last two Dragonballs on his wrists!”
Ranma and Pan looked and saw it for themselves. Right in those wrist braces were the two and seven star Dragonballs.
“Ranma! We can’t hit him with Ki blasts until we get those off, or he’ll just keep deflecting them!”
Ranma and Pan both dodged another energy assault. “Time to take it up a notch then!” Ranma once again took off the weighted clothing and powered up. Man, it’s a good thing I started wearing shorts under my pants. Otherwise these fights would be a lot more embarrassing.
Pan followed suit, complete with power up. “Now!”
Pan and Ranma charged the android and started hand to hand combat. The android deftly evaded and returned punches. Ranma launched his Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken. The android noticed each of his opponents increase in speed. He poured on his own bit of speed and managed to block the blows. In the meantime Pan was able to land a punch into the android’s ribs. The android ‘felt’ it. He realized that he needed to do something about the odds. He backhanded Pan which sent her flying toward the ground and uppercut Ranma which sent him flying into the sun.
Ranma decided to take advantage of his position. “TAIYOUKEN!” Ranma charged straight at the blinded android.
“Foolish boy!” The android caught Ranma in the midsection and sent him flying across the landscape. The android wasn’t as blind as Ranma first thought.
Pan got her own sight back in time to see Ranma go flying. “Akane! Go after Ranma!”
Akane nodded her head and flew after Ranma.
Pan saw Akane leave and then began a new assault on the android. She tried everything she could to try to get the Dragonballs off of the robot’s wrist.
Akane caught up with Ranma just as he was getting back to his feet. “Ranma! Are you all right?”
He popped his neck and knuckles. “All right! That’s it! Now I’m mad!”
“Be careful!”
“Don’t worry Akane. Just stay clear. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Or my dad won’t stop crying?” She smirked.
Ranma looked at her. “No because…uh…I…Just don’t want to see you hurt, okay?”
Akane nodded. She had an inkling of what he really wanted to say, but she didn’t want to throw him off his game for this fight. “Just be careful yourself.”
“Why?”
Akane was taken aback. “I…uh…well, that is…I don’t want to see you hurt either.”
Ranma smiled at her and powered up to his full power. He glowed with his trademark blue aura of confidence. “One more thing Akane…”
“Yes.”
“I may have to use some of the Saotome forbidden techniques if we’re going to win today. I’m going to have to ask you to release me from my vow to avoid using them.”
At almost any other time she would have denied him, but she had already seen how easily the android had shrugged off Ranma’s other attacks. “I release you. Take him down Ranma. Not just for yourself, Pan, or me. Do it for that village.”
Ranma’s aura grew more. “Thank you, Akane. For everything.” With that he shot off to the battle site before Akane could respond to the statement.
Akane followed after him, albeit a lot slower.
Ranma arrived to see Pan once again being knocked back. She was working at full power now. The android rained a barrage of energy bursts at Pan. She deftly out maneuvered all of them and flew straight into the air. The android put on a burst of super speed and came up behind her and grabbed her head.
“Now all your power and secrets will be mine!”
Ranma arrived on the scene by this time. He planted a firm uppercut into the androids exposed midsection. 21 dropped Pan and flew straight up.
Pan dropped a little before catching herself. She was breathing heavily. “He…He can drain energy!”
Ranma nodded in understanding and renewed the assault on Android 21. “STOP RIGHT THERE!”
The android paused for a fraction of a second. That was all the time Ranma needed to complete the move.
“MOUKO KAIMON HA!” Ranma delivered the ‘Fierce Tiger Crashing Through Gates’ attack. The Ki powered dual punch and kick sent the android crashing toward the ground.
Pan rushed in and punched the falling android from underneath. The momentum from his fall and the force Pan’s delivery sent both dealt what would have been a fatal blow to almost anyone else on the planet. Pan heard something snap.
The android flew back away from Pan and Ranma. He was bent over in an awkward position with one of his hands at the small of his back. “Initiate repair sequence!” The internal maintenance robots began their swift work to repair the damaged unit. After a short time, Ranma and Pan heard another snap and Android 21 was once again upright.
“You little punks!” The android lashed out grabbed Ranma around the throat and started the energy drain.
“NO!” Pan flew up to break the connection.
The android opened his hand and slapped Pan. As soon as his open hand made contact with Pan, he fired a massive Ki blast into her. The quarter Saiya-Jin was propelled down into a valley and the Ki blast exploded with her impact into the rocky ground. Pan was buried in tons of rock.
Akane arrived in time to see the android grab Ranma and yet again send Pan flying. She heard him say with an evil grin. “Now where was I? Oh yes! Draining you of your power and techniques.”
A wave of sorrow and inability struck her. Time froze for her. She looked on in horror as the power was being drained out of her fiancé. She couldn’t do anything. Could she? She couldn’t even fly fast like Ranma, much less throw a Ki blast. Could she?
All of the sudden, something within Akane snapped! Her red aura flared to heights that even Ranma had never seen before. She stood up straight and clapped her hands above her head in a what looked like a praying gesture. She brought back her hands behind her head.
“RAIDEN…HANMAA…BATSU!” <Thunder and Lightening Hammer Strike>
She threw her hands forward just like she was swinging her trademark mallet. She ended the strike at chest level and opened her hands, sending the enormous Ki blast toward the preoccupied android.
The android noticed the blast almost a second too late. He saved himself, but lost his arm that was holding Ranma. The hand let Ranma loose.
Akane’s whole thought and attack only took a fraction of a second. Ranma only lost a small portion of his power. He recovered his equilibrium and took advantage of the androids condition.
“KAMEHAMEHA!” He sent a gigantic blast with his remaining power at the disabled android.
Android 21 quickly turned and deflected the blast with his remaining Dragonball. He deflected the blast directly at an exhausted Akane.
“AKANE!” Ranma poured on the speed from reserves he didn’t know he had. He went with speed that was, up until then, unknown to him. He was powered by something that went beyond his experience. He caught Akane and positioned himself between her and the blast.
The massive Ki blast exploded! It propelled the couple toward a hillside. Ranma took the brunt of the blast but Akane took the impact with the hill. As the smoke cleared, the was a shallow cave in the side of the hill. Ranma and Akane were both out. Ranma’s left arm was torqued in an unnatural angle and Akane looked like she had more damage. Blood was everywhere.
Pan emerged from her rocky prison in time to see the blast hit Ranma and Akane. She saw the two of them, the two people who had of late become good friends to her, two people who were in love, two people who were hurt and maybe even dying.
Android 21 surveyed the gory seen with mild interest. He found his severed arm and put it up to the stub on his torso. The micro-robots immediately repaired the limbed. He turned and saw that Pan had dug her way out of her boulder grave. “Now that your friends are dead, it’s your turn SON PAN!” He taunted.
Pan still stood there in shock. A sickly green and black aura began to envelop her as she thought her fallen friends. The aura grew then abruptly changed color to red as she thought about how she hadn’t been able to help them. Then she began to think about the villagers that had fallen to this android. The glow expanded and started to have a tinge of…yellow?
Clouds began to roll in from all around. Lightening and thunder erupted from them. The ground started to tremble.
Far away in a gravity room at Capsule Corp, Vegita paused his training. He looked around as he sensed a birth that he had not felt in a long time.
In another part of the city, Trunks stopped in the middle of a business meeting and got a far away look in his eyes. Another?
In a dojo in the Juuban district of Tokyo, Sensei Son Goten lost track of what he was doing in the middle of teaching a young pony tailed brunette girl how to fix her stance. It’s got to be…
At a good sized house at Mt. Paozu 440 East District, Son Gohan looked up from the book he was reading. He smiled. It’s about time!
At Kami’s Lookout, Son Goku watched his granddaughter. He had just returned from his latest training journey to see a sight that warmed his Saiya-Jin heart. Do it, Pan!
Back at the battleground, Pan head jerked back at each lightening strike. Her clenched teeth bore each time. Rocks and debris rose around her. Her hair began to rise and stand on end. Her hair began to lighten.
“You’re…Terror…Ends…HERE!” Pan shouted. “HA!!!” With a great yelled and a mighty explosion the newest legendary warrior was born. Pan had become a Super Saiya-Jin!
The android was having trouble moving. Was it possible for a machine to know fear? A fear that any ordinary person would have felt when confronted by the power of the Super Saiya-Jin!
“Kiai!” Pan closed the gap between her and the android in an instant. She landed an elbow into the midsection of Android 21, sending him flying through several hill and exploding them.
He finally came to rest against a cliff face. He quickly recovered and charged back at the Super Saiya-Jin. Pan saw the incoming android and fired a large Ki blast at the robot. Android 21 deflected it away with the Dragoball on his right wrist and answered with an enormous blast of his own. Pan caught the blast with both hands and threw it upwards. The android used the opening the land a solid kick into Pan’s midsection. Pan went flying into another cliff face. She retaliated with a shower of machine guns blasts at the android. The android dodged what he could and deflected what he couldn’t. They fought back and forth for a while. They realized that they were at a stalemate, his Dragonballs versus her power.
As the two combatants faced each other a shout was heard from the side.
“KIJIN RAISHUU DAN!”
The android threw up his arms expecting to deflect another Ki blast. He would have succeeded, if it had been a Ki blast.
Ranma stood on the edge of the cliff made by his small cave, his broken arm hanging to his side. He had been banking on the Android trying to deflect the Demon God Assault Bomb. Instead of being hit by a Ki blast, the android was instead hit by vacuum blades. The blades severed the clevises that held the Dragonballs in place. They fell to earth and the android was left defenseless.
The android was rocked by a Ki bolt that came from Pan. Pan charged him and began to hammer him with Ki powered punches. Releasing a Ki blast with each one.
The android remained aloft as he was being pummeled. Finally the dam broke. One arm went flying, followed by a leg. Then the other arm flew in the other direction. Pan finished with a blast through Android 21’s chest, leaving a large gaping hole in him. The android hung in the air desperately trying to repair.
Ranma had flown up to the fight and Pan flew over to him. She passed on to him a bit of her power, bringing him back to full power. “Let’s finish this now!”
Pan pulled her hands to her side. Ranma made the same motion with his remaining good hand.
“KA-ME!” They yelled together.
“HA-ME!” Their total power gathered in their hands.
“HA!” The each thrust their hands forward at a common nexus. Their blasts went forward and merged. The gigantic ball that was the total of each of their Kis flew at the repairing android.
The impact and following explosion shook the valley once more, and then all was silent. The only evidence that the android had existed was half of his head that fell to the valley floor. The remaining eye flickered and went out. Pan quickly landed on it, crushing the part and ended the android threat once and for all.
“Akane!” Ranma flew quickly over to his fallen fiancé.
Pan quickly came back to herself and changed back to normal. “Get the Dragonballs!” She quickly retrieved the two balls the android had carried as Ranma gathered the ones from their packs.
Ranma frantically gathered the balls together. “We’ll use the first wish to heal Akane. Then we’ll use the second wish to bring back the villagers. Then I’ll get my wish.”
Pan nodded and threw up her arms. “SHENRON! COME FORTH!”
The sky darkened once again. The balls began to glow and then a gusher of power erupted from them. The light coalesced into Shenron, The Eternal Dragon. The dragon spoke in a deep threatening voice.
“Tell Me What You Desire! I’ll Grant Three Wishes, No Matter What They May Be!”
Ranma brought forth his courage and began to shout. “We wish for..”
“Wait!”
Ranma turned to see that Akane had awoken. She coughed a little. “Wish for the villagers first.”
“But Akane!”
“DO IT!”
Ranma could see her light fading. He quickly turned around and shouted back. “We wish for all of the people killed by Android 21 to be brought back to life!”
“So Be It!” The dragon’s eyes flashed and the wish was granted.
“For our second wish…” Ranma started.
“Third Wish!” The Dragon bellowed.
Both Pan and Ranma’s jaws dropped. “WHAT!”
“The Android Killed A Large Magnitude, It Took The Power Of Two Wishes To Bring Them Back!”
“B-But he only destroyed one village!” Ranma stuttered.
“He Destroyed Hundreds Of Cities!”
“Go ahead Ranma. (cough) wish for your manhood.” Akane wheezed. “I want you to be happy.”
“No way, Akane! Dragon! For our third wish, I wish for Akane to be healed!”
“So Be It!” Again the Dragon’s eyes flashed. This time the results were visible.
Akane immediately sat up and pat herself in various places. “I’m okay!”
“You’re Wishes Have Been Granted. Farewell!” The dragon returned to the Dragonballs. They flew up into the air, glowed one final time, and then flew off in seven different directions. The sky lightened and all was as it was before, except for a hurting Ranma.
Akane saw him stumble a little and she ran to his side and helped stay upright. She looked him in the eye and smiled. “Baka! You know you could have healed yourself as well!”
“Sorry. Wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Obviously. You gave up your chance to be normal! Just to heal me!”
Ranma found an interesting bit of dirt to look at. “Yeah…I guess…They’ll be back in a year anyways. I can wait.”
Akane lifted his head. “Baka.” She puckered her lips and brought his head down toward hers.
Pan had been watching the whole scene with an inner sense of triumph. She leaned over a rock to get a better look at their first romantic kiss. The rock suddenly gave out from under her depositing her on her face with a loud crash.
The noise startled Ranma and Akane only millimeters away from each others lips. “What?”
Pan stood back up with a sheepish look on her face. “Sorry! Don’t mind me! Carry on!” She pointed behind her. “I’ll be going now.”
Ranma winced as a pained lanced up his arm as the adrenaline left this body. “Ouch! Let’s just all get going.”
Akane looked at her fiancée and shook her head. “Okay. Let’s get back to the dojo. This time I get to carry you.”
“You better not drop me.”
“I won’t.”
“Of course not. You’re as strong as an ox and…Ouch!” Ranma rubbed the spot where Akane elbowed him in his cracked ribs.
“Just shut up for once.”
They trio flew back to the Tendo Dojo. They called Dr. Tofu over to tend to Ranma. They told their families about their adventures and about the eternal dragon.
After a while the family decided that they would use Akane and Ranma’s remaining ‘vacation’ time to go to the beach. Genma suggested they go to the resort that was close to his and Ranma’s family shrine. They all agreed and began to make preparations. Pan declined their offer to join them. She wanted to spend the remaining time with her family before she went back to school.
And so the Saotomes and Tendos went on their fateful vacation that rejoined Nodoka with her lost son…