Insertion Part 34: Ranma Saotome vs. The Army of Cuteness by Sean D'Anna ===== Ranma looked down at his watch and smirked. "Hey, It's time," said the boy cheerfully as he sat down in front of the TV and turned it on. Akane sat down next to him and frowned. "You convinced them?" "They think I was off on a training journey after being beaten by that youma," said the boy with a casual shrug. It had surprised him how easily it had been to convince everyone of where he'd been. "I told them I got into a fight with it, and that it was too strong. So I just went off for a week or two to train until I could beat it." Genma and Soun had exclaimed how brave the boy had been and immediately agreed to a wedding to celebrate. Nabiki seemed to accept it on face value as well, not questioning him after he'd returned and given the rather simple explanation. That struck him as odd, but he decided not to dwell on it at the moment. After he'd beaten both men into submission he'd gone on as he'd always had. "What is this anyway?" asked Akane as she looked at the screen for a moment. "Dragon Ball Z," said the boy cheerfully as he watched his show. Akane watched with him for a moment and suddenly started making choking noises. It was the episode where Goku was fighting Frieza. Her eyes went wide as the saiyan's friend died, and Goku suddenly exploded with rage, changing into the first level of Super Saiyajin. "What the hell?" "What?" said the boy as he looked at her for a moment. She had stood up and was backing away from him. "You've been using techniques from an anime?!" she exclaimed in shock. "Oh. You didn't know?" said the boy cheerfully as he looked up at her. "That's..." she blinked and sat down. "Well, I suppose it's a little odd, but it's worked so far," he replied with a shrug. "No big deal really." The girl just nodded and sat down next to him again. She suddenly found this show to be very interesting. +++++++++++++ "So, you've returned," said Hotaru calmly as she looked at Ranma and smirked. "Hey. What's up?" said the boy as he squat down next to her. "What are you still doing up, Saturn?" Hotaru's eyes went wide and she stared at him dumbly. "He knows about us?" whimpered the little girl's slightly scared voice in confusion. Ranma blinked and looked at her for a moment. "Oh boy." ++++++++++++ Several moments's later, Hotaru had finished her explanation. "So, you've been like this for a week or so?" said the boy with a small sigh. "That's right. I was able to speak with her a few days ago," said Saturn with a short nod. "I've been picking up her training." "Mistress Nine?" asked the boy as he eyed her for a moment cautiously. This caused a look of shock across the young girl's face. "Oh, still there is she?" said the boy with a smirk on his face. "I was hoping you'd managed to get rid of her." Hotaru frowned and looked away from him. "It started after you let us touch that chi ball." "Oh?" said Ranma as he looked at them for a moment. "Yes, we were...healed," said Saturn calmly. "We were in pieces, to merge with the young girl when the time came. However, whatever that ball was made of, it made us whole again. Now we're all stuck here, inside the one body." "Still planning on raising Pharo 90?" asked the boy as he leaned back and relaxed on the ground, lying across the yard. "Of course, you can't stop me," sneered Hotaru as her face suddenly changed into a mask of hatred. "I'll bet I can," replied the boy with a shrug. "Well little Hotaru, it seems you've gotten more interesting," said the boy as he smirked at her and sat up. "I'll tell you a secret." The girl's face suddenly changed again, becoming somewhat shy. "What?" "Remember when I told you that I was different? That I had a special power?" His eyes shined with amusement as he looked her over for a moment. The girl nodded nervously, blushing profusely. "I'm just like you. I've got people in my head too," said the boy as he put his finger up to his lips and winked at her. "R-really?" stammered the girl as she stepped back from him. "Yup, there's four of us," said the boy as he smirked at her. "Don't worry. It's not as bad as it seems. We don't always get along, but we manage." Hotaru nodded and tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought I was crazy!" "Well, most people would say that. It's best if you don't tell other people about it," said the boy with a small shrug. "Only my dad knows, and I kinda wish I hadn't told him." "Oh," said the girl nervously. "Should I tell my daddy?" "No," replied Saturn coldly, changing the girl's voice and mannerisms again. "That probably wouldn't be a good idea," agreed Ranma. "I'm sure he loves you, but he might get scared and try to help you. He'd do what he thought was right, but that wouldn't be good for you as you are now. He'd take you to a doctor and try to help you." "Huh?" stammered the girl in shock. "Well, the thing is. Most people who hear voices, or think they have more than one person inside them are crazy. You and I are special. You see, we really do have other people inside us. So trying to help us like that would be good for most people, but not for us. It's better if we keep it a secret." "Oh," said the girl as she seemed to understand. "This grows tiresome," said Nine as she took over and glared at the boy. "Well then. It's time we started training then," said Ranma as he stood up to his full height and smirked at her. "Today we're going to do something special. I'm going to teach you how to take advantage of your new state." "What do you mean?" asked Saturn as she looked up at him for a moment. "It's a technique I like to use myself, I call it the Kaio Ken," said the boy as he smirked at her. "With you in the body, I can start teaching you more advanced techniques. You're already a fighter, and you can help little Hotaru with her meditation techniques." "What need to I have of this?" snapped Nine as she glared at him. "I could destroy this planet, once I take over completely." "You don't seem to understand your situation lady," said Ranma with a small chuckle. "What do you mean?" said the angry looking girl as she stepped back. "You're never going to merge with Hotaru now. When I healed you, I made you three separate entities. Meaning that you'll always have these two with you, and you can't ever leave that body again." Nine's face fell suddenly and she stared at him. "You're lying!" "He's not," said Saturn coldly. "Besides, who the hell in this group can't blow up a planet? Big deal. I could do it if I wanted to," snorted the boy as he turned away from her. Nine was staring at the ground in horror, she grit her teeth and gave a grunt of effort, attempting to detach herself from Hotaru for a brief moment. It wasn't working. "What have you done to me?" "Aw, too bad. Well little student, it's time we got started," said Ranma cheerfully. The look on his face promised much pain in the future though. ++++++++++++++ "An interesting development," said Carrot as he walked home by himself a few hours later. "Well, what do we do now?" asked Dan. "We've got other problems now. Like that army of evil we woke up. We've got to figure out what we can do about it," said Carrot with a small shrug. Out of nowhere, Tsuki jumped at them while swinging the Staff of Time in a wide arc. He moved his head slightly, dodging the strike lazily. The girl continued to press her assault and twirled the staff around her body, jabbing and slashing at him with it. Each strike was dodged without much effort and he smirked at her lazily. "Die!" cried the girl hatefully. "Is there something you want?" he asked calmly. Tsuki snorted in disgust and stopped her assault. "I'm supposed to give this to you." She handed him a letter and turned away, vanishing into a vortex. He blinked and looked at the letter for a moment before opening it. It was sealed with Pluto's crest in a large blob of wax. He broke the seal and started reading. "Genaku. Leave Saturn alone, As this is your mess, you're going to clean it up. There is a gateway to the world where these creatures come from in the woods just north of Tokyo. They are preparing to invade, but have not yet crossed over. Go and stop them, because I'm not going to do it for you. Get moving you lazy bastard! Pluto." Ranma sighed and tossed the letter into a nearby trashcan. "In other words, there's nothing she can do about it, and she's hoping we can find a way," said Carrot lazily. "Sounds about right to me," said Dan with a small snort. The group paused as a beautiful gajin woman with long blonde hair appeared in front of them. She smiled and watched them for a moment. "Hello," said Carrot as he arched his eyebrow at her and smirked. "We don't have time for this!" snapped Ranma. "There's always time for this, you're starting to make me think that you're gay or something," said Dan with a small snort. The woman walked up to them and smiled, rows of fangs now evident inside her mouth. "What the?" they stammered as they backed away into a combat stance. "Relax," she replied calmly. "I'm here to help you...this time." "So, you're match boy's replacement are you?" said Ranma as he relaxed his stance a little. "Something like that. My name is Tochi," said the woman as she offered her hand. Ranma looked skeptical, but accepted it. "The pleasure is all yours, I assure you." She arched her eyebrow slightly and then laughed. "Well, always the charmer I see." "So, you've found out about our invading friends have you?" said Ranma as he looked up at the castle again. "Yes. It is in both of our interests to rid ourselves of these...things," said the woman with a frown forming on her face. "Something's going on at that mountain, I'm not sure what it is, but I'm betting it's related to our new friends," said Ranma with a shrug of his shoulders. The mountain he was looking at had a dark cloud over it. Resting on the peak was a large castle. Now it was nothing more than a museum, but it had once been the palace of one of the feudal lords a few hundred years ago. "I'm going to check out something related to that. I'll call you if anything comes up." "We seem to think the same," agreed the woman as she looked up at the palace. "I was going to investigate myself, but having someone along would be useful. I'm not sure what I'll find up there." ++++++++++++++ "We're detecting something," said Kunzite as he looked up at the large map display inside the headquarters of the MIB. There was a purple dot of light blinking on one of the screens. "What is it?" said Akane as she kicked her feet off of her desk and stood up. She walked over and leaned over the man's workstation. He was typing on the controls of the map and had a frown on his face. "Unknown, it's in the air, and doesn't match a youma energy pattern, or any known alien life form," replied the man as he looked at her. "An unknown." "So now what?" asked Jadeite as he walked over from his own desk and sat down on the edge of the console. Akane smirked at him and put her shades on. "Let's go say hello." ++++++++++++++ "Ranma," said Akane's voice from his watch. "What's up?" asked the boy as he answered her casually. "We've got an unknown life form," said the girl. "I'm taking Nephrite to check it out." "Where at?" asked the boy with a small frown. "It's near to Nerima, south of it," said the girl. He nodded to himself. "I'm on the other side of Tokyo, taking care of some business. Get Jadeite, he's nearby to it." "Right," said the girl. "Careful kid, there's a lot going on," said the boy as he looked up towards a nearby mountain. "Think it's one of those things Pluto warned us about?" asked the girl. "Very likely, watch yourself," said Ranma. "Right, watch yourself boss," said the girl. "Same to you," he replied. He turned off the communicator and frowned at the castle. "Something's up." "Well handsome, what's the plan?" asked the blonde woman who stood next to him. She had an evil looking smirk on her face as she looked him over. "I don't trust you," he answered calmly. "Come along if you like, but don't expect me to help you if you get into trouble." "Very well, I shall extend the same courtesy," she replied calmly as she turned towards the path that would lead them to the place. "Right," grumbled Ranma. ++++++++++++++++ Akane looked around in the small wooded area where the signal had led them. "It's in here somewhere." Jadeite frowned and nodded. The other two had interrupted his lunch and he wasn't in the best of moods. "This had better be good." Akane paused and noticed Nephrite was leaning against a nearby tree almost lazily. "I don't see anything. Did we miss it?" There was a long birdlike call. The trio tensed up suddenly and looked around. Whatever it was, it sounded very big. "There!" whispered Akane as she pointed up into the trees. Sitting on one of the larger branches, was a huge dinosaur like creature. It looked like it was made out of stone almost, and it's long beak snapped open before it gave another call. "What should we do?" muttered Nephrite as he looked up at the thing. "Kill it," replied Akane as she took the shotgun like weapon she was carrying off of her back and cocked it. "It looks like a youma, but..." commented Jadeite. "You're right, it feels different," agreed Nephrite. "Come on." They both pulled similar weapons out and moved up beside Akane. The girl was already training her weapon on the thing. "Got ya," said the girl as it came into her sites. Without warning, it jumped into the air and swooped down. The force of its passing threw the trio back as it dove and soared into the air just over their heads. It rose higher and higher into the sky, giving another sharp birdlike call. "Damn it!" cried Akane as she started to run after it. "After it!" cried Jadeite as he started to run. +++++++++++++++ Inside a quiet store in a shopping mall, there were several people browsing at clothes. The large glass window in behind them largely ignored. No one saw the huge beast swooping down on them from above. It shattered through the glass and rolled across the store, scattering shoppers and displays in its wake. It shook its head as it regained its footing and looked around, giving another call before it scurried away into the store. Two people had just emerged from the bathroom and stood looking at the scene dumbly. The open door behind them billowed smoke as they exited and stared at the creature for a moment. The skinny redhead with long hair turned towards his companion, a bearded man in a trench coat and smacked him on the chest. "Fuck! I told you that was some good shit!" His silent companion took a small bag from his pocket and looked at it for a moment. He then nodded and put it back into his pocket before nodding in agreement. "Come on man, let's go over to the panties section and see if we can find some fuckin babes," said the skinny boy as he started to wander off. +++++++++++ A black car screeched to a halt just outside the main entrance to the mall. Akane stepped out with her two companions and looked on as people poured out of the entrance. "I think we've found it." "Right," commented Jadeite. He opened the trunk and took out three weapons. They were all pump shotguns. "We won't be able to use our weapons in here, too many people," he said as he handed them out. Akane nodded and cocked hers. "Let's go." +++++++++++ Inside they found a few stragglers wandering around, most of them didn't seem to realize what was going on as they wandered through the destroyed store. "If I was a giant flying monster in a mall, where would I be?" asked Akane as she looked back at her companions. "The food court," replied Jadeite sourly. "You can have lunch later," snorted Nephrite. "Right," commented the man with a small sigh. +++++++++++ Naru frowned as she put on the sweater she was thinking of buying inside the dressing room of the store. "I wish Usagi was here, she always knows what looks good on me." She sighed in discontent and shook her head. The girl was her best friend, but they never seemed to be able to hang out these days. She was always so busy with her life lately. There was a pounding on the door and she jumped in surprise. "Just a moment." The pounding started again, more urgent this time. "Hold on! I'm almost done!" she said as she turned towards the door in slight irritation. "Honestly, some people have no patience." This time, the door shook violently. She blinked and opened it to tell off the person on the other side. She paused and saw the huge creature looking down on her with a snarl on its beak. "Oh man. Not again," she sighed almost lazily. ++++++++++++ Akane turned as the creature burst into the air overhead. She raised her weapon to fire, but paused as she noticed that it now was carrying a young girl in its grip. "What?" "Damn!" growled Nephrite as he watched it sail into the mall with its prisoner. "After it!" called Jadeite as he rushed by them. +++++++++++ Naru watched the people below her and sighed. Her arms were crossed and she didn't look very frightened. "I wonder when Sailor Moon will show up to save me?" she commented sourly. She then turned to look at the creature carrying her. "How many times are you going to do this to me? It's getting old." The creature looked down at her and squawked at her before turning its attention back towards flying through the narrow space. +++++++++++++ Just below them, Akane and the others pushed through the confused looking crowd and made their way after the creature. It was a two-story mall, and the creature sailed over one of the bridges that connected the two sides of the mall on the upper level. It then vanished around a corner and disappeared. "Damn!" snapped Nephrite. "We lost it!" "How the hell do you lose a twenty foot flying monster in the middle of a mall!?" snapped the girl as she glared at her companions. "We'll ask it when we find it," replied Jadeite calmly as he looked around. There was a stage set up in the middle of where they were standing with a microphone. Akane shrugged and walked up to the mike, she picked it up and started to sing into it. "Haruka tooku ni ukan deru daremo furerarenai tozasareta basho yokubou no hate okashita tsumi wasureraretemo... kanashii kodoku ni obieta iki ba no nai tamashii no sakebi ga watashi o yonda sono ashi moto o terashi dasu tsuki no hikari mo ano taiyou mo atokata mo naku kowashitemo ii? yasashiku kiss o shite nani ga o te ni ireru tame ni mamoru tame ni koko he machibikareru sorezore no deai no hate ni ha I wanna kiss in the dark tsuyoku hakanai kuchibiru ni kokoro mado wasaretemo hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou anata o kizutsukeru you ni ashita he hashiri tsuzukeru ..." "What are you doing?" muttered Jadeite dumbly. Nephrite snorted. "Karaoki it seems." "This isn't the time for that!" snapped Jadeite. "Can you think of something better?" said the girl with a shrug. "I dunno, we could look for the monster?" said Nephrite calmly as he looked up at her. A long call came from somewhere inside the mall. "What the?" muttered Nephrite dumbly. "Keep singing!" said Jadeite as he and Nephrite moved into ready positions. Akane nodded, a shocked look on her face. "Dare ga o nikumi tagaini kizu o nameatta mama ikitegoran nani mo nozomazu toumei na mono watashi o kurushimeru fumi konda kono FIIRUDO mamoru tame ni watashi ha koko ni iru sono toki o zutto matteita I wanna kiss in the dark omoku utsukushii shisen ni hi o tsukerare sou ni nattemo hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou subete o kizutsukeru you ni watashi he hashiri tsuzukeru ..." The creature called again in response to the tune. "You grab the girl! I'll take the shot!" called Jadeite as he rushed up a nearby set of stairs to the second floor. Nephrite nodded and followed him, moving a little further down on the second floor. Akane kept singing and moved her shotgun into a ready firing position. "Never, you can go outside kiss o shite agere semete saigo ni hiki kaesu koto no dekinai REERU ha mou anata o kizutsukeru you ni ashita he hashiri tsuzukeru I wanna kiss in the dark kanau wa nai yume REERU mo sou hontou ha kono te no naka he subete ga hashiri tsuzukeru!" The song ended, and the creature flew down the mall towards them, Naru still in its grip. "Got ya!" cried Nephrite as he jumped and caught the girl around her waist. The thing lost her and she tumbled to the ground with him, landing on his chest. The thing kept flying, moving under the overpass. Jadeite snarled and fired two clean shots into its back, sending it sprawling across the ground. It lay still and silent after twitching for a moment. The trio moved around the thing standing and looking at it for a moment. "So. You want light meat or dark meat?" asked Akane. "You're just saying that because you know I haven't eaten yet!" snapped Jadeite. "I'll buy you lunch then," replied Nephrite. The trio cocked their shotguns in unison. The thing jumped to life, squawking loudly. Akane and her companions all unloaded a few more rounds into it, sending it to the ground dead this time. Naru rushed up beside them with a huge grin on her face. "Wow! That was so cool!" "Scuse us miss," said Nephrite as he gave her a small salute. They walked away leaving the thing where it was. "Who are you people?" called the girl. "Just a figment of your imagination," said Akane as she put on her shades at the same time as her two companions. They turned the corner and moved back towards their car. Naru stood watching the scene with hearts in her eyes. "Wow! That was soooo cool!" She turned to walk away, passing a large man who was staring at a poster set up in the middle of the floor. "A sailboat," she whispered dreamily. The man screamed in rage and kicked the magic eye poster over while cursing loudly. +++++++++++ Ranma stood inside the entrance to the castle and glanced around. The blonde woman stood behind him with a smirk on her face. The place was empty, not unusual considering the intimidating presence of the place from the outside. It was huge, and a dark cloud cover had settled just above the place. "It isn't inside this place," said the woman as she smirked at him. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," said the boy calmly as he continued to walk. Tokei shrugged her shoulders and followed him inside. He glanced around and frowned. Something was definitely moving around inside the place. Whatever it was, it was hidden in the shadows. Tokei nodded her head towards one of the suits of armor that lined the halls of the place. Two glowing eyes were looking at them from inside one of the helmets, just behind the mask of the Samurai armor. "Come on out of there," said Ranma as he glared at it for a moment. A hissing noise spat at them from inside the helmet as Ranma knocked it off. It clattered across the ground and landed in a corner. A few seconds later, a small furry creature jumped out and hissed at them. "How cute," commented Tokei sourly. She raised her hand and a spike of stone erupted from the ground, spearing the thing where it stood. Ranma snorted and looked at her for a moment before moving to inspect the creature. It was something like a cross between a dog and a squirrel. It had several bushy looking tails as well. "Vulpix," he commented sourly. "It has a name?" asked the woman. "They're called Pokemon, I'm familiar with a lot of the species," said the boy with a rough sounding snort. "Never expected to see one here though." "Indeed," agreed the woman with a suspicious looking smirk on her face. "Come, the gateway is near the castle, but not within it." "Right," said Ranma as he followed behind her cautiously. "Still don't trust me?" said the woman as she gave him an amused glance. "About as far as Akane could throw you," replied the boy. "Isn't that supposed to be, 'As far as you could throw me?" said the woman with a small chuckle. "I can throw you pretty far," replied the boy with a shrug. "Point taken," she replied as she punched a wall down that was in their path. "There are doors you know," commented Ranma. "We don't have time for a maze right now. Besides, you should appreciate a strong woman," said the Youma. "Yeah, well the bust line you've got doesn't hurt either I suppose," he commented as he walked by her and through the hole. She chuckled in response to this and followed him. "Not worried about me stabbing you in the back?" she asked calmly. "You'll try to stab me wherever you can," he replied coolly as he punched down the next wall. "Well, I am impressed," exclaimed the woman cheerfully. "After you," said Ranma as he waved his arm. +++++++++++ Several minutes later, they found themselves pushing through to the other side of the building. The wall crumbled away, leaving a clear path to the front door opposite them. Ranma frowned as he looked down at the scene in front of him. There were hundreds of them, all standing in military style rows. At the front of the crowd was a swirling gateway of dark light. "Most interesting," said Tokei with a short nod. "Shall we get started?" asked Ranma. "It won't do us any good to kill these things until we can close that gateway," said the woman as she arched her eyebrow at him. "Fine, you keep them busy, I'll go through and see if there's a way to shut it down on the other side." "How do you know I won't shut you in there?" asked the woman with a smirk on her face. "If you could, you'd have closed that gate with your friends by now. Those things are a threat to your plan." "Are they?" asked the woman with her eyebrow arched. Ranma looked at her for a moment. "I'm not sure." "Well, perhaps you should rethink your plan then? How do you know these aren't mine?" she said calmly. "Easy, they aren't youma," replied the boy with a smirk on his face. "They're Pokemon, and they're too cute for youma." The woman blinked at him and smiled seductively, putting her leg up against his thigh. "Are you sure about that?" Ranma smiled at her, and his body suddenly became the center of an inferno of chi energy. "Pretty sure." Tokei pulled her leg away quickly, cursing as she rubbed the spot where he had burned her. She glared at him angrily for a moment and then stepped back. His appearance had changed completely. He was much more muscular, and his now golden hair stood upright. He was still eyeing her cautiously. "Wow. I am impressed," she muttered with a slightly hungry stare. The creatures below turned and seemed to realize that they were standing there. They swarmed foreword, shooting various elemental attacks as they charged. Ranma raised his hand and sent a blast into the crowd of creatures. It cut through them, incinerating a large number. They quickly closed in the hole he had made though and continued to charge blindly. The blast sailed into the gateway, and nothing happened. "There has to be a way to close that," said Tokei as she looked at him for a moment. A wall of stone had erupted from the ground, giving them a few moments to recover. "I'm going in. Maybe there's a way on the other side," said Ranma as he rose into the air and blasted foreword. "Good luck handsome," said the blonde as she watched him vanish into the vortex. A long snake like creature made of boulder shattered her wall and she peered at it for a moment. "Well, what are you made of I wonder?" She raised her hands and the creature suddenly became very rigid. "Oh! You're made of rocks! How nice!" She grabbed the thing by its horn and swung it like a whip, shattering the rest of the wall and forcing the charging creature's back. "Lucky me." ++++++++++ Ranma floated in the air, the vortex far below him with an army of Pokemon waiting to pass through. There were millions of them standing at the ready. "This gets better and better," he commented as he dodged a few of the ones who flew around him rather easily. "Who are you?" asked a booming voice from behind him. Ranma turned to see a catlike creature, it was white and light purple, and floated upright. "You're Mewtwo," he said as he stared at the thing for a moment. "I am, you have not told me your name, or why you have come here," said the thing as it eyed him. "My name is Ranma Saotome, and I've come to close that hole," said the boy as he nodded towards the vortex. "I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the thing as it narrowed it's eyes at him. "I attempted to close it when it first appeared, however, I could not. Now I begin to see it's advantages. I control these creatures, and I will conquer that world. Soon I will destroy all the humans there, and claim it as a safe haven for Pokemon." "Why not just kill them here?" asked Ranma as he smirked at the thing. "Many of the Pokemon here are complaisant, enjoying their lives with the humans. They would oppose us, in that world, there are no Pokemon to oppose us. It will fall easily against my minions." The thing's eyes glowed blue for a moment as it stared at the newcomer. "That world has something much more dangerous than Pokemon," said the boy as he smirked at the thing. "Oh? And what might that be?" said the psychic pokemon with an amused chuckle. "Me," replied Ranma as his aura flared to life again. Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and they flashed for a moment. Ranma floundered in the air for a moment, clutching his head in pain. "What the?" "Pathetic, you're no match for me, or any of my minions," snorted the thing. Ranma grit his teeth in pain, the psychic assault forcing him to slowly float down to the ground. "Dan!" cried Ranma out loud. "Huh?" said the boy inside their head. "Can you move us?" asked the joined Carrot and Ranma. "I think so? What's wrong with you two?" asked Dan in confusion. "He's using some sort of psychic attack. We can't move!" "Oh, I get it. You want me to fight him," said Dan as he made them look up at the thing. "Right, he'll keep attacking us, and you finish him off." Mewtwo floated up beside them, looking them over for a moment. "You must be a fighting type. You should know, that all fighters are weak against Psychics." Ranma suddenly looked up at the thing with a vicious looking smirk on his face. "Not where I come from asshole." "What?" cried Mewtwo as he increased the power of his mental attack. Dan ignored the pained cries inside their head and punched the thing dead in its face. "What's the matter? Not used to getting hit?" He charged foreword and kicked at the thing. Mewtwo let out an angry sounding snarl and a shield of power blocked the kick. "You caught me by surprise. It won't happen again." A ball of psychic power formed in front of its face and blasted at Ranma. The boy dodged easily, but the thing curved back and kept moving in his path, attempting to catch him in the air. "Damn!" snapped the boy with a scowl on his face as he dodged desperately. "You guys snapped out of it yet?" "He's still doing it!" snapped Ranma painfully. "Blast him!" "Right," said Dan out loud as he cupped his hands at his sides. "Take this monster!" A ball of power shot from is hands and exploded on contact with the psychic energy. Both blasts were destroyed. "Stop this!" cried Pissant. "Maybe we can still talk to him!" Mewtwo glared at the thing for a moment. "How many of you are there?" "He's been listening in?" said Ranma dumbly as the pain suddenly stopped. "Well, this is interesting. It seems that there's more than one of you inside there," said the creature as it's body began to glow again. "We're in trouble," said Dan. "No shit," said Ranma. "Guys! Those cute furry things are moving towards that thing we came in through!" whined Pissant. "Are you sure we can't talk this out? Maybe we can make an agreement or something? You know, sit down, have some tea..." "There will be no negotiations," said Mewtwo coldly. "So much for that plan, now shut up," snapped Dan. "Well, it seems I've won this little scuffle," said Mewtwo as it raised its paw and seemed to squeeze at the air. All four of them writhed in pain in the air, the attack now centered on all of them. Ranma suddenly jerked upright, spreading his arms and legs as he screamed in pain and rage. "That does it! This planet is history!" he screamed angrily. "What?" snapped Mewtwo as he faltered in his attack. "What are you doing!" An angry power began to emanate from the boy as his power began to build at an alarming rate. Mewtwo increased the power of his own attack, attempting to force them into a painful submission. "The more pain you cause us, the more powerful we become!" snarled Ranma. "This blast, is my rage, my anger, my suffering!" Mewtwo began to float back as a strong wind began to move him in the air. Ranma cupped his hands together, and a dark purple ball of power formed there. It slowly changed colors into a golden energy that was almost too strong to look at. "FINAL FLASH!" Mewtwo could only look on in horror as the golden beam of power rocketed towards the ground. "No! My people!" Ranma's power suddenly faltered, his hair went black and he fell towards the ground, spiraling into the crowd of Pokemon below him. He chuckled as the ground rushed up to his face. There was a bright flash of light as his blast struck home, quickly followed by a shock wave that struck him just before he hit the ground. He was thrown into the vortex just in time to see the ground buckle and erupt into flames as the entire planet exploded. Then, there was only darkness. ++++++++++++ He woke up an hour later. Sitting upright he glanced around at his surroundings groggily. The earth was torn to pieces, shards of stone with hundreds of the creatures impaled on them were jutting from the ground. Rock spikes filled the area like a forest, rising hundreds of feet into the air in some cases. There were large pieces of stone scattered around, with splatters of blood coming from underneath them. "Our friend has been busy," commented Ranma as he staggered to his feet and glanced around. There was no sign of her, or of the vortex. Pluto stepped out from behind one of the pillars and glared at him. "You have done well this time. Crystal Tokyo has reappeared." "Yeah, thanks a lot," grumbled the boy as he popped his back and glanced around. "Man, she made a huge mess." "What did you do? The vortex closed, but not because its power stopped. It became a vortex leading to empty space, and collapsed," said Pluto as she looked at him angrily. "You don't have to worry about those things bothering us again, and that's all I'll say," he replied with a small chuckle. He glared at her for a moment, looking confident. "Don't think this means I forgive you. I will find a way to destroy you yet," she snapped as she whirled around and left him alone. Ranma saw a flash of light behind one of the pillars, and finally collapsed. "Damn. Standing hurts!" whimpered Carrot. "No kidding. It's a good thing she didn't call our bluff, we'd have been in serious trouble," said Dan. "No power left," muttered Ranma painfully. Pissant was strangely silent. "Well, I guess we rest up and go back," said Ranma after they had laid still for a moment. "Sound's good to me," agreed Carrot. Pissant spoke, his voice soft and surprisingly even. "What have you done?" "Huh? We saved the planet," said Dan. "You destroyed...a world..." muttered the voice in quiet horror. "One that was trying to destroy ours," said Carrot. "You heard that thing! There were people living there! Friendly creatures...families, homes..." Pissant was absolutely mortified. "How many families and homes would be gone if we didn't?" asked Dan sourly. "Listen you wuss..." "NO! YOU LISTEN!" snarled the normally timid voice in anger. All of the others became silent at this. "You murderers! How can you take this so lightly!?" Ranma felt a sudden dread fill him. "He's right! What have we done!?" "Don't you start now," said Carrot. "We did what we had to. There's nothing deeper than that in this." "I will never help you again. The next time you find yourselves out of power and looking down someone's sword, or beaten to within an inch of your lives, you might as well not even bother asking. I'll gladly die, to rid the world of us!" said the voice. They felt tears beginning to fill their eyes and simply lay there in shock. "Hey! Wait a minute!" snapped Carrot. Ranma punched them across their jaw. "Shut up. He's right." "What?" said Dan in shock. "We could have found another way damn it!" snapped Ranma. "Really? How many people were you willing to risk on that? Our whole planet?" snapped Carrot. "It was obviously enough to take theirs," said Ranma. "Damn," muttered Dan. "Look, we can argue about this until we're blue in the face. It won't bring that place back. We saved the world! Isn't that enough?" "Isn't it?" asked Pissant quietly. "I hate you guys," said Ranma coldly. "Well, we don't care for you much either," snapped Carrot. "Look, we might as well..." "Shut up! You've taken so much from me! Don't you idiots get it?" snapped Ranma. "We're in the same situation," countered Dan hotly. "Don't go..." "You assholes stole everything from me! You took my life! You took my virginity...and now..." "That does it!" snapped Carrot. He socked himself in the gut and they all grunted in pain. "I'm sick of all this damn whining! Always feeling sorry for yourself, trying to act so self-righteous! You were there with us! You poured as much into that blast as we did! Don't try and put this on us you backboneless prick!" "What?" snapped Ranma. "So we blew up a planet! Killed Millions, maybe billions! What are you gonna do now? Cry about it?" snapped Carrot as he stood them up and slammed their head into one of the stone pillars. "Go ahead! Cry! It'll make you feel better!" he smashed their head again and staggered back. They fell on their butt and Carrot punched them across the jaw, sending them sprawling. "You don't have to like everything we do, but you'd better start realizing that you're just as responsible for this as we are. I wasn't the only one driving if you recall. It was the two of us together." Ranma said nothing, but Carrot could feel the scowl on their face. "The senshi are helpless, and the others won't survive the year without us. We do not need this kind of crap going on right now got it?" snapped Carrot. "He's right," agreed Dan. Ranma still said nothing. "You two want to sit and cry to yourselves about how horrible we are? Take a look around! Look at what that bitch did! Do you really think the others have a chance in hell? Try to imagine our friends where those cute fuzzy little fuckers are smashed and impaled right now!" Dan forced them too look at the remains of the small army of Pokemon. Ranma choked out a sob, but still didn't reply. "We'd better be sure we're up to this," said Dan. "We're going to get through this, when it's all over, we'll worry about how much we hate each other. As for right now, you're both going to have to deal with it. We can't afford to not be able to count on one another." "You're right," muttered Ranma shamefully. Pissant remained silent. "Come on, we should try and get home," said Dan as he forced them to stand and almost fell as pain exploded through their entire body. "I need a hot bath," said Carrot as he spit onto the ground and wiped their chin, sending another wave of pain through their face. "And some goddamn aspirin." ++++++++++++ TBC... Next Time: A return to normality! [Of sorts...] The Mall Scene is from the Movie 'Evolution'. Since it's a new movie, I thought I should point that out. Also Akane was singing Masami Okui's 'Kiss in the Dark'. It's a joke on fics where characters burst into song [Usually Ranma, to show how smart and cultured he is] for no apparent reason. The scene just fit so perfectly that I couldn't resist.