The Great Crossover Crisis

Disclaimer: The four Ranmas were my ideas, which were based on the 
creation of the great Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters 
mentioned in this story belong to their respective creators.

Last episode: Due to a big mishap in four universes, the Skuld of 
each reality had accidentally sent the Ranma Saotome of their 
dimensions into another universe altogether. The four Ranmas have 
now gotten acquainted with each other and certain secrets of their 
respective pasts have been revealed. As of now, they are searching 
the Slayers world to find a special element they need to get back to 
their home dimensions. However, T-Ranma and D-Ranma had 
overheard a plot to kill the sorceress Lina Inverse and had decided to 
stop it. Unfortunately, this led to one gross misunderstanding… 

< >: Thoughts
(* *): Computer responses
T-Ranma: Ranma from Ranmatech.
D-Ranma: Ranma from Dragon Child
B-Ranma: Ranma from Fighting Blind
Kojiro: Ranma from Cat Fist Fury

                                  Chapter 2
                       Battle's End and the Search Goes On!

     KABOOM!
     Many of the citizens of the town were startled out of their slumber 
at the sound of the huge explosion. They began rushing toward their 
windows and saw the fireworks being displayed near the edge of the 
town's limits. They were all wondering what was causing the 
commotion and when the local law enforcement was going to 
respond.
     Meanwhile, at the scene of the carnage, the leader of the Really, 
Really, Not-So-Nice Gang hid behind a tree and watched in awe at the 
carnage being wrought. He could have run with the others when the 
mayhem broke out, but instead decided to stay behind and watch for 
any opportunity to get his revenge on Lina Inverse, who was 
currently battling it out with the one kind of magic she had never 
encountered before: technology.
     "FIREBALL!"
     <Cryogenic beam!>
     (*Affirmative.*)
     A blue-white beam of intense cold shot out from T-Ranma's palm. 
The beam struck Lina's projectile dead-on and caused it to fizzle out. 
It kept on going and the red-haired sorceress yelped in surprise as 
she barely managed to duck out of the way. The blast struck an 
abandoned building and coated it in a thick sheet of ice in less than 
two seconds!
     Lina blanched at the sight. <Holy! What the hell was that? That 
was more powerful than a hundred Freeze Arrow spells! I didn't even 
hear him say the attack! What kind of magic is this guy using?>
     T-Ranma lowered his hand and said in a clam voice, "Now are you 
ready to listen?"
     "NO! ELMIKION LANCE!"
     The nanotech Ranma winced as he braced himself. With the arrival 
of his other two dimensional counterparts, the situation spun even 
more out of control. Thinking that they were here to attack them, Lina 
and their friends reacted in their usual ways of fight first and ask 
questions later. No one had been able to get a sane word in since 
then. As of now, each Ranma had gotten into their own separate 
battles with a member of Lina's party. T-Ranma had drawn the 
proverbial short straw and now super-science was mixing it up with 
the strongest powers of black magic and shamanism.
     "RIPCLAW SLASH!"
     Zelgadis bit down to suppress a scream of pain as Kojiro's claws 
actually tore through his stone skin. He jumped back to get some 
more fighting room and looked down at his flank. His eyes widened 
as he saw that the skin of a golem had proven to be no protection 
against the ki-powered strikes of the Cat Fist. Bits of stone were 
crumbling off the jagged gash and he could see his blood seeping 
through the open wound. 
     Looking back up to his opponent, who had shifted to his hybrid 
form when the fighting broke out, the Chimeran man wondered if he 
was facing off against a werebeast. Zelgadis had drawn his sword 
and tried attacking with it, since his blade contained some silver in it. 
Unfortunately, Kojiro proved to be far too agile and evaded each of 
Zelgadis' strikes. He continued to slash, kick and punch at the 
magician/warrior, using advanced fighting techniques that this world 
had never even dreamed of. Whatever magical attacks Zelgadis tried 
to use would be either evaded or countered with those strange 
energies of his. Zelgadis didn't want to use his more destructive 
spells in the town, but his foe clearly had an advantage in close-
quarters combat. He was sorely tempted to use his Ra Tilt, but Kojiro 
was moving too fast and the injuries he had sustained so far were 
starting to add up. 
     "RUNE FLARE!"
     Kojiro did a multiple somersault followed by a fancy evasion 
pattern to avoid the spears of fiery energy that his opponent started 
throwing. He then retaliated with his own. 
     "CAT'S EYE BEAMS!"
     If there was one thing that was constant in any universe, it was 
that energy was energy, whether it was created by science, sorcery or 
generated from one's own ki. The blazing hot beams fired out and 
were just barely stopped when Zelgadis managed to summon up a 
barrier. Unfortunately, the wounds from Kojiro's previous attacks had 
taken their toll and Zeldgadis began to falter. His shield shimmered 
when the beams struck, then the Neko Ken fighter upped the ante by 
firing a double-dose of ki blasts.
     "RAGING TIGER BOLT! CRESCENT SLASH!"
     Firing off an oval shaped projectile, followed by a moon-shaped 
one shattered Zelgadis' protective shield and he had no time to 
counter as Kojiro charged in at inhuman speeds and began slashing 
away.
     Some drawbacks to magic was that one needed time to initiate the 
stronger spells, which was a critical factor in a fast-paced battle. 
Furthermore, a person could only cast one spell at a time. The four 
Ranmas were so experienced with their ki techniques was that they 
could use them instinctively. They weren't quite as draining as 
summoning up the power from the local spirits. Also, they could 
easily be combined to their physical to do multiple damage.
     As Zelgadis was being slowly worn down by his feline foe, Gourry 
was getting the workout of his life. He had thought that T-Ranma's 
Beam Saber was impressive, but D-Ranma's Crimson Fang was 
definitely a match for the Sword of Light. The dragon Ranma was also 
no slouch when it came to swordsmanship and the blonde mercenary 
found himself against a very worthy opponent. 
     <Whoa!> Gourry thought. <This guy's even better than Zangulus 
and that Demonic Howling Wind Sword of his!> Lina's companion 
tried a side slash with the Sword of Light, only to have D-Ranma 
counter with a parry, then stepped inside to deliver a sidekick to 
Gourry's ribs. 
     The blonde mercenary's breath was driven out and it was lucky 
that D-Ranma didn't put much force into the kick. Gourry was sent 
flying backward, but he soon got to his feet. He looked to where his 
opponent was taking an odd stance with his sword held high and 
was glowing with a blue aura.
     "The great Dragon King Surek taught me this technique! Behold 
the Hundred Wind Slash of the West!"
     Lina's ears perked up at this announcement as she dodged a few 
stray plasma bolts from T-Ranma. <Dragon King?>
     D-Ranma suddenly began swinging his sword in fast arcs, 
generating tornado-like winds toward Gourry. Lina's friend held up 
his sword to defend, but even an energy blade could not stop the 
wind. The blasts of air slammed into him and Gourry winced in pain 
as the air currents rushed by and began ripping though his body 
armor like blades. Gourry found himself swept off the ground and 
carried high into the air like a leaf caught in a hurricane.
     D-Ranma leapt up and then made a spiraling maneuver with his 
sword.
     "WIND SCREAM ATTACK!"
     Spinning his sword so fast, the displaced air pressure created a 
focused sonic boom. At the same time, using his ki to direct it, 
D-Ranma slashed forward and sent the attack flying toward his 
opponent. The blast hit Gourry dead on; sending intense vibrations 
that caused whatever was left of his armor to shake apart. The impact 
also released a large sonic detonation, which caused Gourry's sense 
of balance and hearing to temporarily go haywire. The dragon warrior 
made certain that the attack was only strong enough to shake up his 
opponent and not kill him. The attack worked and Gourry lapsed into 
unconsciousness as he experienced vertigo from being tossed about 
in D-Ranma's earlier technique.
     The blonde swordsman lost his grip on the Sword of Light as he 
fell to the ground. Fortunately, D-Ranma used a simple levitation 
spell to slow his descent and Gourry landed on the ground with all 
the impact of a cotton ball.
     Meanwhile, Amelia and Sylphiel were having no luck whatsoever 
trying to defeat B-Ranma. Unfortunately, because they used magic in 
their attacks, their energies were way too easy for the blind Amazon 
to detect and anticipate their attacks. Of course, right now he was 
only dodging as he tried to calm them down. His sixth and seventh 
senses were telling him that his attackers weren't evil, just misguided. 
Though he did find it strange that Sylphiel's aura almost matched that 
of Kasumi's. Shaking his head, he continued to evade Amelia's 
attempts to fry, electrocute, freeze and blast him into next week. 
Sylphiel was holding back and prepared to use defensive spells 
should their opponent try to attack them. The white priestess didn't 
have much in terms of offensive magic, except for the very 
destructive Dragon Slave and a sometimes-working Flare Arrow.
     "Stand still enemy of justice and take your righteous punishment 
from a true defender of good!" Amelia threw a couple of fireballs and 
one Elmikian Lance.
     B-Ranma wondered just what the heck she was talking about as he 
dodged the two fireballs and then used his senses on the Elmikian 
Lance. He immediately assessed the power of the spell and began 
focusing his ki into his battle staff. He then made a swinging arc, 
trailing a bright line of ki.
     "KI CUTTER!"
     Amelia and Sylphiel were shocked as the beam was sliced into 
halves, which passed, harmlessly by the blind Amazon and 
disintegrated.
     "His staff must be enchanted!" Sylphiel exclaimed.
     B-Ranma shook his head and replied, "No it's not. I just happen to 
know a few things about magic myself. Anyway, why are you 
attacking my friends and me? We haven't done anything to you."
     "Do not try to deceive us!" Amelia piped up. "I saw your friend 
trying to put that magic inhibitor on Miss Lina. You're in league with 
those who no doubt, planned to do some horrible and unspeakable 
act upon her. It is my duty as the princess of Sailoon and avatar of 
righteousness that all those who pledge allegiance to evil must pay 
for their foul and dishonorable ways. I, Amelia Seyrrun, shall smite 
thee with the hammer of justice!" Amelia then took a heroic pose that 
would have put Sailor Moon to shame.
     B-Ranma and Sylphiel both had large sweatdrops on the backs of 
their heads and then the Unseen Light martial artist pinched the 
bridge of his nose with a free hand and shook his head. And I 
thought Kuno's speeches were hard on my ears. He let off a sigh as 
he took a simple stance with his staff slung over one shoulder. "Very 
well. It seems that the only way I can get you to listen is if I defeat 
you. So come on." With these words, he charged forward.
     "FLARE ARROW!"
     Amelia released several fiery projectiles at her foe, but to her 
surprise, the blind Ranma casually dodged her attack with a forward 
flip. He then landed and grinned. "Cute, but predictable. Why  don't 
you try something else?"
     "BOMB SPREAD!"
     B-Ranma made a kind of swaying maneuver and dodged the 
sparks as Amelia's energy ball exploded in front of him. Being blind 
did give him an advantage as he was not distracted by the bright 
flashes of light. Amelia had to shield her eyes though and was very 
surprised when she felt something tap her shoulder.
     "That was amusing." B-Ranma grinned even more as he hopped 
back a few yards.
     Amelia was getting frustrated as her attacks were being ridiculed. 
<Time to get more serious!> She began invoking her more powerful 
spells in shamanism. "Wind which blows across eternity, gather in 
my hands and become my strength! BRAM GUSH!"
     As soon as B-Ranma sensed the power buildup, he knew that 
something big was coming. His senses picked up the sudden blast of 
wind coming at him as he held up his staff and began charging up his 
ki. He then twirled his staff and countered the arrow of wind.
     "SPIRIT SPIN!"
     The magical energies of the Bram Gush started flying apart as 
B-Ranma's ki energies interacted with them. When Amelia's attack 
faded away, the blind Ranma decided that it was time that he went on 
the offensive. He leapt forward and landed three yards in front of 
Amelia. He calmly slung his staff over a shoulder and gestured with a 
finger while standing in a neutral stance.
     "Take your best shot."
     The young princess of Sailoon was still dumfounded as to how 
B-Ranma had deflected her Bram Gush with just a staff. But now she 
saw an opportunity. She concentrated her energies and let loose with 
an attack.
     "Wind, crimson flame. Grant the power of thunder to my hand. 
DIGGER VOLT!"
     The blast of lightning streaked at the blind Amazon. Then he 
suddenly split into two separate images.
     <Huh? That never happened before!> Amelia was expecting 
B-Ranma to be extra crispy, not become twins! 
     B-Ranma grinned as his two images became four. Then became 
eight. Then doubled again. Soon Amelia found herself encircled by 
seventeen illusions of her foe which floated and began to rotate.
     "Chinese Amazon Technique. The Splitting Cat Hairs." The 
Unseen Light fighter explained from within the illusion. 
     Amelia looked from one image to another, trying to discern which 
one was the real B-Ranma. She was very frustrated as she tried 
concentrating her magical senses on her opponent, but there was a 
problem. There was no magic involved, rather that the technique 
simply caused the user's ki to blanket out to create those illusions. 
As a result, Amelia couldn't lock onto her foe's life energies. Then 
she felt something press against the nape of her neck and she 
suddenly slipped into unconsciousness.
     The illusion faded away, leaving B-Ranma standing over the fallen 
girl after touching her sleeper point. 
     Sylphiel stared in amazement at B-Ranma, who then directed his 
attention to her. With just a finger and a simple-looking illusion spell, 
Amelia had been defeated! 
     B-Ranma was about to go into a defensive stance, but then sensed 
that the girl wasn't any danger to him. He then smiled as he casually 
walked up to her.
     "S-S-Stay back!" Sylphiel held up her hands, preparing to release a 
spell. 
     The blind Amazon shrugged as he knelt down and put an index 
finger to the ground. He then focused his ki into the dirt and directed 
it toward the area where the white priestess was standing.
     A cloud of dust was suddenly kicked up around Sylphiel, 
distracting her for just a few moments. That was all the Unseen Light 
fighter needed as he rushed forward and delivered several shiatsu 
strikes, immobilizing her voluntary skeletal muscles and her larynx. 
Sylphiel found herself paralyzed and unable to say anything. She was 
effectively prevented from casting any spells.
     B-Ranma gave her a whimsical smile while patting her shoulder. 
"Why don't you keep out of this fight, all right? It's almost over."
     Lina Inverse was breathing really hard as she had been fighting 
against T-Ranma for a good ten minutes nonstop. The nanotech 
warrior showed no signs at all of tiring and she had been throwing 
her more destructive spells at him with little or no effect. The area had 
been devastated by wind, fire, ice and lightning. 
     Her opponent however, either dodged her attacks or pulled out 
some strange weapons out of nowhere. She had never seen such 
things as a CX-949 Mark II Buster Rifle, a T-499 AcMag Blaster, or 
H-188 Stun Grenades. She began thinking that he was some kind of 
magic user with access to a really big hole in the astral plane where 
he stored all those weird weapons. Those devices had more firepower 
than entire kingdoms!
     Her reserves of magic were almost depleted and now she was 
starting to feel the telltale signs of something else. She had started to 
feel those cramps the previous day and she knew that it was 
beginning to hamper her magical performance.
     <Oh no! It's getting to be that time of the month! Not now!> Lina 
grimaced as she became a bit unbalanced. That familiar feeling of 
nausea and increase in body temperature confirmed it. She took a 
quick glance and saw that her allies were being defeated. Amelia and 
Sylphiel were out of action due to B-Ranma's pressure point attacks. 
Gourry had been trounced by D-Ranma, who was now holding the 
Sword of Light. As for Zelgadis, Lina became horrified as he was 
picked up by Kojiro and slammed headfirst into a nearby wall. The 
Chimera rolled to the ground and was unconscious. 
     Nearby, The Neko Ken fighter winced and held his side where a 
small gash was bleeding. He growled at his foe and said, "When I 
knock you down, you BETTER STAY DOWN!"
     "Zelgadis!" She then took another look at her fallen friends, then 
shouted out to her adversary. "You hurt my friends! Attacking me 
with a magical inhibitor is one thing, but nobody does that to my 
friends! 
     T-Ranma, who had just made his last weapon disappear and was 
standing before her, replied with a stern expression. "I didn't start this 
fight, but if you don't stop this nonsense and listen to reason, then 
I'm the one who is going to finish it!" 
     "We'll see who finishes who!" Lina began concentrating her 
remaining strength as a ball of light appeared in her hands. "Darkness 
beyond twilight…"
     D-Ranma's magical senses went on alert as he saw the ball of light. 
He began to have memories of what his teacher Sojan had told him 
about certain spells. Spells that were powerful enough to kill a 
dragon.
     "Crimson beyond blood that flows…"
     D-Ranma's eyes widened as he suddenly realized what spell Lina 
was about to cast. "Ranma! Look out! It's a Dragon Slave!"
     T-Ranma nodded as his biocomputer began registering the power 
buildup. "I've got it covered Just make sure everyone's clear of the 
blast zone!"
     D-Ranma nodded as he gathered up the fallen body of Gourry and 
motioned for Kojiro and B-Ranma to do the same with the others. 
When they all came together, the dragon warrior began erecting a 
barrier. 
     "Buried in the stream of time, that's where your power grows…"
     (* Magical energies now registering at 100,000. Massive 
destruction imminent!*)
     <Annihilator. Set for one billionth of maximum payload.>
     (*Affirmative.*)
     "I pledge myself to conquer all those who stand…"
     T-Ranma held out an arm and his most destructive weapon came 
into being. The super anti-matter cannon was the size of a field 
artillery piece as it rested on his arm like an oversized bazooka.
     "Against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand…"
     A targeting sight slid out and fitted itself in front of T-Ranma's 
eye. He mentally disabled the locks and was about to thumb the firing 
mechanism.
     "Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed by the power you 
and I possess!"
     <Fire.>
     "DRAGON SLAVE!"
     The ball of energy that Lina had been collecting suddenly shot 
forward and became a beam of multifaceted light. At the same time, 
the Annihilator spewed out a huge beam of anti-matter from its barrel 
to impact heavily against the most powerful spell of black magic. For 
one brief moment, the two forces battled against each other, each 
trying to overpower the other. However, an instant later, the Dragon 
Slave lost the battle as the Annihilator's beam enveloped the spell 
and kept on going. Though Lina's attack was strong enough to 
destroy a dragon, the anti-matter contained in the beam EATS up 
energy like candy. The power of the Dragon Slave merely 
strengthened the Annihilator's beam.
     Lina screamed as she saw that attack heading toward her. She had 
absolutely no time for a counterattack or defense. Not that there was 
anything she knew that was strong enough to stop the attack as she 
braced herself and prepared to die.
     Killing her was not T-Ranma's intent though. He had aimed his 
blast carefully so that the Dragon Slave would become absorbed and 
by tilting up the cannon slightly, the beam passed over Lina's head. 
Fortunately, since he was facing away from the city at the time, the 
beam would not endanger anyone. The blast went streaking off into 
the distance, where it impacted heavily on a distant mountain range. 
He had also taken into account of where his ship was parked and 
aimed away from it. There was brilliant flash of light and the night sky 
was lit up until it was like noon. There was a huge shockwave and 
even though they were more than twenty miles away, the earth 
rumbled as if subjected to an earthquake. The aftershocks caused 
trees to be knocked over like matchsticks and the citizens of the city 
huddled in terror at the sudden light show and destruction.
     When it all settled down and the light faded away back into night, 
T-Ranma lowered the cannon a bit and Lina found herself staring 
down the barrel. 
     "Next time, Lina Inverse, I won't aim to MISS!"
     Lina gulped as she looked behind her and saw that a huge wedge 
of the countryside had been reduced to a blackened ruin and that the 
mountains that were there were now nonexistent. Whatever that 
weapon was, it had proven to be even more powerful than anything 
she had ever seen. It definitely put her Dragon Slave to shame. It 
might even be more powerful than the dreaded Giga Slave.
     "There they are!"
     "Get them!"
     "They're the ones who have been causing all the trouble!"
     T-Ranma looked over to one side and saw a mob of people 
heading toward them. He saw that some of them were wearing 
uniforms and assumed that they must be from the local authorities. 
Shaking his head the entire debacle, he made his Annihilator 
disappear and motioned for the others to follow him. It would take far 
too much trouble for them to try to explain everything so it made 
sense for them to just leave. He engaged his anti-gravity systems and 
shot up into the heavens.
     Taking this as his cue, D-Ranma grabbed both of his dimensional 
counterparts and he too lifted off into the air. In no time whatsoever, 
they were gone from sight.
     Lina Inverse stared up at the retreating group as they disappeared 
into the heavens. She then remembered her friends and rushed over 
to where they were. Gourry and Zelgadis were just starting to come 
around and Sylphiel began to feel her arms and legs again. Amelia 
was still asleep. As she helped Gourry to his feet, she began 
wondering who those four were and what kind of magic they had 
used. She was especially interested in T-Ranma's Annihilator.
     Eventually, Lina and her group had discovered that T-Ranma and 
his friends had been telling the truth. When they came across the 
bandit leader under a pile of rubble, they coaxed the truth out of him 
(rather they threatened massive bodily harm). Lina was feeling pretty 
embarrassed with her impulsive actions, but then she had time to 
think about it as they were being chased out of town by an angry 
mob. 
     Sometime later, the five of them were sitting near a campfire, 
tending to their wounds and talking about the strange group that had 
given them all runs for their money.
     "I wonder just who those four guys were." Lina mused as she let 
Sylphiel use her white magic to tend to the scratches and bruises she 
received from her battle with T-Ranma. The white priestess couldn't 
do anything about Lina's 'time of the month' condition. That was a 
natural function of the female body and she would have to come out 
of that on her own. Which was just as well that her opponent and his 
friends had decided to leave. At that moment, she didn't have 
enough power to do anything besides a Lighting Spell. 
     Lina shivered as she remembered the image of her Dragon Slave 
being devoured by that strange weapon. The massive destruction it 
caused made the most powerful attack in black magic look like a 
firecracker. She smiled slightly as imagined herself with such a potent 
weapon at her disposal.
     <What I wouldn't give to have that! And all those other magical 
weapons too.> Since Lina Inverse was about as familiar with 
technology as Gourry was with knowing what a fiancée was, she 
naturally assumed that T-Ranma's arsenal were mystical artifacts that 
were powered by some unknown form of magic. She knew absolutely 
nothing of fusion reactors, meson/anti-meson thermoelectric 
batteries, or quantum-energy projectiles. 
     As Lina was contemplating this, the others also talked about their 
opponents.
     "I'm telling you, that creature I fought was some kind of 
werebeast!" Zelgadis stated as he rubbed his bandaged side and 
began invoking a healing spell. His head also throbbed a bit from 
being rammed headfirst into a wall.
     "That can't be right, Mr. Zelgadis. Look, there isn't a full moon out 
tonight." Amelia pointed up at the sky, which depicted a quarter-
moon that was partially hidden behind some clouds. "Besides, it 
didn't burn when you managed to cut it with your sword."
     The Chimera man nodded as he thought about it. He had managed 
to nick Kojiro before the Neko Ken fighter had slammed him into a 
wall. Instead of screaming in pain from the contact with silver, the Cat 
Fist fighter had gotten angry and… Zelgadis couldn't remember 
anything else after he had blacked out and awoken after the battle.
     He then began thinking about those strange energy attacks of 
Kojiro's. They weren't magic. As a proficient magic user, he was 
quite familiar with the kinds of energy that was created by white and 
black magic as well as shamanism. Other than a slight emanation of 
supernatural energies, Kojiro emitted no considerable amounts of 
mystic energy. So what exactly did he shoot from his hands and 
eyes? And the way he used that same power to cut through his stone 
skin like parchment? Whatever those attacks were, they hurt! 
     Zelgadis took on a thoughtful look. "You may be right Amelia, 
now that I think about it. I'm not sure what those people used, but it 
wasn't magic. At least it wasn't anything that I'm familiar with."
     Amelia nodded as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I still don't 
know what that other guy used to put me to sleep like that. I swear 
that all he did was touch me with one finger. And I've never heard an 
illusion spell called the Splitting Cat Hairs." She turned to where 
Sylphiel was sitting. "How about you Sylphiel?"
     The white priestess shook her head. "I'm just as much in the dark 
as you are. I don't understand how he could have paralyzed me with 
just his finger. He also somehow prevented me from speaking so I 
couldn't cast any spells. And when he touched the ground and made 
that cloud of dust appear, I didn't hear him invoke any of the Earth 
spirits."
     Amelia looked off to stare at nothing in particular. "He beat us 
both, with almost no effort at all. The way he moved, it was if he were 
reading my mind. He anticipated my every attack. I've never seen 
anyone move like that."
     "One thing for sure, those guys were really tough."
     Everyone turned to Gourry, who was at the moment fixing a spare 
blade to the Sword of Light. Sylphiel had already healed the worst of 
the swordsman's injuries, but he was feeling depressed. He had 
thought himself as proficient with the blade, but after first being 
outmatched by T-Ranma, then blasted by D-Ranma, the blonde 
mercenary was feeling a bit low on self-esteem.
     "Gourry dear, you mustn't be sad. You had to fight two of them." 
Sylphiel said to comfort him.
     "Yeah, well I've never seen that kind of swordplay before, and 
those swords they had, well I'm pretty sure that last guy I fought was 
using a magic blade."
     Lina and Amelia had to nod at that. They had sensed great magic 
from D-Ranma. That Dragon Fire attack of his was more powerful 
than a Fireball. The girls still had the burns on their posteriors to 
prove it. However, they had also seen him use that same strange 
energy that the others were using as well. They were still wondering 
that reference he made to the Dragon Kings and wondered if he had 
been referring to the ones on Kataart Mountain.
     The five of them decided that it was just too much to think about 
for the moment and decided to get some sleep.
     Some distance away, the four Ranmas were also sitting near a 
campfire beside T-Ranma's spacecraft.
     "Well that was a waste of time." Kojiro remarked as he idly 
munched on a sandwich. Thanks to a few high-tech medical supplies 
from the ship, the wounds he had sustained from fighting Zelgadis 
had been healed up in a flash. The others were also healed up and 
were enjoying a late-night snack.
     "Yeah, talk about gratitude." D-Ranma remarked. "Try to save a 
person's life and what do you get instead of thanks? Mass 
destruction spells and a couple of swordsmen that are trying to run 
you through."
     "Well, what's done is done." T-Ranma sighed. He took a bite out 
of his own sandwich. Though technically, he could survive on 
minimum amounts of food due to his highly efficient physiology, he 
still needed to keep up appearances and he did enjoy the taste of 
good food. In any case, he could store and use any food energy he 
consumed with 98% efficiency. Hoping to change the subject, he 
asked two of his counterparts if they had located any kerium.
     Kojiro and B-Ranma shook their heads. It was at that time that the 
Neko Ken fighter said, "Hey Ranma. What was that big cannon that 
you used to stop that girl's spell?"
     T-Ranma sighed as he replied, "That was the most powerful 
weapon in my arsenal. It's a mark twenty-five, super anti-matter 
cannon called the Annihilator. I had hoped that I wouldn't have to 
use it but when that Lina Inverse used the Dragon Slave, well it was 
the only thing I had to stop her from blowing us up, not to mention 
the entire town. As you may or may not know, anti-matter eats up 
energy, so I had no problems in absorbing that magical attack. And 
that was only at one billionth of the Annihilator's maximum."
     "One billionth?!" The other three Ranmas eeped.
     T-Ranma smirked. "I've only used it once at full power and trust 
me, it's not pretty. At full power, I could take out an entire quadrant. 
In any case, enough about what's already happened. We still need to 
find that kerium and get out of here."
     "Yeah but where do we look?" D-Ranma asked.
     T-Ranma gestured to his ship, which began projecting a 
holographic image of the world they were in. It also sent metal images 
into the head of the blind Ranma. It then displayed the geographical 
location of a large city. "What you're seeing is a city that the natives 
call Sailoon. My probes tell me that there are large deposits of 
gemstones and artifacts that are emitting energies that are similar to 
that of kerium. Since there is so much magical interference, my ship's 
sensors can't isolate the kerium from the rest of the magic items there. 
If we want to get any kerium, we're going to have to go to Sailoon 
and check it out with our compuguides."
     "Just so long as we don't meet up with that crazy bunch again, I'll 
be happy." D-Ranma stated.
     T-Ranma nodded as he opened the hatch to his ship and let the 
others inside to sleep for the night.

     The very next morning, Lina and her group were on the road 
heading back toward Amelia's hometown. 
     "So why are heading back to Sailoon, Amelia?"
     The little princess smiled as she thought about her father. "The 
message that my father has sent me a couple of days ago told me that 
Sailoon had received a shipment of mystic stones that had just been 
discovered. The priests of Sailoon are now studying them. Some of 
these stones had fallen from the sky and possess some strange 
magical energy that we have yet to identify. They say that these 
stones could actually quadruple a person's magical powers."
     Lina's face perked up with interest at this news. The thought of 
actually getting more powerful appealed to her and she began 
thinking about just how to… borrow a few of these stones.
     Zelgadis also showed some interest as he thought about getting 
enough power to change back to his human form.
     As Lina's group made their way, from the opposite direction, a 
ship that was using its cloaking field, was also racing toward Sailoon.
     Meanwhile, in someplace that was dark and evil, another was 
planning to make a trip to Sailoon. However, his intentions were as 
dark as his own heart.

To be continued…

Author's notes
     Well, that does it for chapter two. Next up, the conclusion to the 
visit to the Slayers World as the four Ranmas try their best to get 
back to their home dimensions. However, it's not going to be easy for 
them as a new evil will try to thwart their plans. Stay tuned!