The Great Crossover Crisis Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi was the one who got me started with writing fanfics. You can put the blame on her and all the others who caused my addiction to anime. < > : Thoughts (* *): Computer responses B-Ranma: Blind Ranma from Fighting Blind T-Ranma: Techno-Ranma from Ranmatech D-Ranma: Dragon Ranma from Dragon Child Kojiro: Neko Ranma from Cat Fist Fury From Part One: The four Ranmas had managed to sneak into the castle of Sailoon and were just a stone's throw away from getting the Kerium they needed to escape from the world of Slayers, when they had run into an old enemy of Lina Inverse's. During the battle that ensued, B-Ranma had managed to use the Hiryu Shoten Ha technique on Hellmaster Phibrizzo, with very disastrous results. Now a super- enhanced and highly unstable Phibrizzo is about to explode and destroy the Slayers World, along with the solar system of the planet. Chapter 3 Part 2 The Big Bang The biocomputer in T-Ranma's head began feeding him data. (*At present time, the ship has completed all structural repairs. Power levels are at 67%. Navigational and impulse drives are fully functional. Weapon systems are at 80%.*) (*Affirmative. However, with the current situation, pursuit of subject Phibrizzo is an unfeasible plan because the subject has absorbed high amounts of unstable Kerium. We can overtake him, but there is no time to prevent him from reaching infinite capacity. At his current rate of quantum energy absorption, he will go critical in four minutes and thirty-three seconds.*) T-Ranma nodded as he looked up at the bright spot high in the sky. Phibrizzo resembled a flickering star and could be seen with the naked eye, although he was now thousands of miles in space. Though he usually drew his power from the mystical forces of this world, the unstable Kerium he had absorbed was now allowing him to tap into the quantum energies of subspace. He was like a sponge. He was soaking up power like water and it would not be pretty when that sponge overflowed. There had to be some way to at least slow him down. The T-Ranma got an idea and used the biocomputer's cyberlink with his craft. On the outskirts of Sailoon, the spaceship automatically dropped its cloaking field and began powering up its engines. It was soon airborne and used its homing equipment to fly to T-Ranma's location. The citizens were put into a state of panic as they saw the otherworldly craft suddenly appear in the night sky. The moonlight glinted off its metal surface as the cruiser stopped over the damaged castle and hovered at about a height of a hundred feet or so. The nanotech warrior's cruiser was relatively small in comparison to others that he had encountered in his trek across the cosmos. It measured at two hundred and sixty yards in length and was about twenty feet high. Its general shape resembled that of an old SR-71 Blackbird Reconnaissance plane, but with much smoother lines. The main hyperlight drivewas mounted in the back at the center. On either side of the main, elongated body, were twin nacelles that contained the sublight drives, which were built into the wing-like structures. Located at the top side toward the rear half of the ship was a low- silhouetted hump that housed the pilot cabin. The front end of the ship tapered off into a smooth point like a blade of a dagger. The ship's streamlined shape was aerodynamic and with special alloys coating the surfaces, it was able to slice through the thickest of planetary atmospheres with very little difficulty. T-Ranma smiled as he looked up at his craft and gave the metal order. Panels behind the pilot's cabin opened up and puffs of smoke were emitted as several missiles were launched and sent hurtling skyward at the distant twinkling dot in the heavens above. "What did you just do?" Kojiro asked as he and the others looked up. "Buying us some time." T-Ranma replied as he watched missiles streak up toward the distant light that marked where Phibrizzo was. Up in space, Phibrizzo was marveling at just how tiny and insignificant the world was below him as he continued to absorb more energy from subspace. The power he had possessed before his defeat from Lina Inverse was as nothing compared to what he was experiencing now. His body was literally overflowing with energy that he had never felt before and he felt as if he was going to explode from the sheer ecstasy. However, in just over three minutes, he would explode! It had not been that long ago that he had manipulated Lina Inverse into using the dreaded Giga Slave to bring about total chaos in the world. That plan had backfired and he had been nearly destroyed. Now, with the power he had, he could bring about utter destruction to the world without even half-trying! In addition, why stop there? His senses had become enhanced by the tremendous boost in energy and he could sense the presence of other worlds, light-years away. He could become the ravager of the stars with the entire cosmos as his playground. So much havoc could be wreaked in this universe, and Phibrizzo had all eternity to do it. He was no longer even bound to his homeworld as the energies he absorbed made him totally self- sufficient. Nothing could stop him! It was at that moment that T-Ranma's missiles shot up from the atmosphere of the planet and began scattering. Phibrizzo looked down, saw the vapor trails being left by each projectile, and wondered what was going on. The missiles began flying around him in a wide formation and began circling the areas around him in wide arcs. The front of each missile opened to reveal reflective energy panels. Once they reached their preprogrammed coordinates, the projectiles stopped and began emitting intense beams of light to one another. Lines were made, forming a huge lattice of light. In less than a second, a huge network that looked like a technological spider's web was formed. The gigantic mesh of energy beams began glowing brighter and Phibrizzo suddenly felt his energy levels dropping. He then realized that these strange devices must be sapping his power somehow. He also noticed that the energy web had put itself between himself and the Slayers World. Well if those humans below think that these puny devices are going to stop him, then they were mistaken. He let loose with a huge blast of quantum energy at the planet. The attack was the equivalent of a hundred Dragon Slave spells. The blast hit the energy network hard, but to Hellmaster's surprise, the barrier held and absorbed the energy. He then let loose with another blast, this time it was strong enough to split a planet in half. The barrier once gain absorbed the energy, but shuddered under the impact. Phibrizzo became enraged and began to continually hurl more powerful energy at the strange barrier. However, the energy mesh remained defiant and continued to protect the world below. When the maximum energy absorption level of the missiles had been reached, they responded by redirecting the attacks back at Phibrizzo. After Hellmaster fired an especially powerful blast, he was caught off guard as the attack came rebounding back at him. He could not get out of the way in time and all that power slammed into him and sent him flying back. On the planet, T-Ranma allowed a cautious smile as he saw that the energy barrier was holding. The people of Sailoon were staring at the huge crisscrossing lines and bright flares of light that streaked across the sky. They did not know what to make of it and had assumed that the world was about to end, which was not too far from the truth. "What's going on?" D-Ranma asked. "What is that?" "A modified energy web barrier." T-Ranma asked as he signaled his ship to pick up him and his companions. "I picked up the technology from the Tholians. It won't stop Phibrizzo from reaching critical, but it will slow down his power buildup by draining some of the excess energy he's emitting. He won't explode for another two hours, at best." "So now what?" B-Ranma asked. T-Ranma motioned toward the ship as it landed and said, "The forcefield projectors won't last long if Phibrizzo keeps on blasting the barrier. Once they're down, he'll start absorbing quantum energy again and go up like a supernova. We have to go up there and destroy him before that happens!" "But how?" T-Ranma shrugged. "I'm… still working on that part." As the four Ranmas began heading toward the ship, Lina Inverse and her group blocked their path. All four tensed up and became wary of any attacks. "Now hold on just a minute! You four have a lot of explaining to do!" Lina said. "We don't have the time!" T-Ranma growled. "Unless you want your world destroyed, you'll get out of our way!" "No way! You're not going anywhere until we get some answers!" Lina and the others began getting ready to attack. "We don't have time for this!" T-Ranma shouted. (*Acknowledged.*) T-Ranma slammed his palms together in front of him while focusing his ki. The energy was converted into sound as his hands clapped together at supersonic speeds. This caused a controlled sonic boom that was emitted forward toward the Lina and her crew. The red-haired sorceress and her companions were caught off guard from the massive sound detonation and were covering their ears. The ground rumbled and the walls shook from the sudden displacement of air. They all crouched down and all four Ranmas took this opportunity to rush toward the ship. Luckily, the sound had been directed away from them so B-Ranma, D-Ranma and Kojiro's sensitive hearing were not affected. Just as the first of the dimensional Ranmas entered the craft, Lina, Gourry, and Zelgadis were the first to recover from the sonic boom. "Oh no you don't!" Lina said as she began rushing after them, followed by the two sword wielders. The three made a mad dash toward the ship, but just missed getting inside as the hatch closed up. They jumped back as the ship suddenly powered up its engines and began lifting off. Lina made a mad grab for one of the landing struts, just as it was retracting into its housing. "Lina!" Gourry shouted as he too leapt up. He too managed to grab onto the strut and the two were drawn into the ship as it sealed itself up, and then suddenly accelerated upward in an instant. Zelgadis was left behind and was staring in disbelief, as the craft was instantly a tiny speck in the sky. Amelia and the others were just getting up when they too caught sight of the departing ship. It soon disappeared from view. It was at that moment that they all heard insane laughter coming from the entrance of the castle vault. "OH HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO! Can anyone tell me where Lina Inverse is?" Amelia and her friends all turned around at the sound of the voice and saw a scantily clad and well-endowed sorceress, who also happened to be Lina Inverse's most annoying acquaintance. Meanwhile, somewhere outside of the planet's atmosphere… "Damn! We've got some stowaways!" T-Ranma gritted as he looked at the monitor and saw that Lina and Gourry had been taken along for the ride. "Engage autopilot!" T-Ranma activated the ship's auto-control before leaving the pilot's seat and headed toward the forward section. "What is it?" D-Ranma said as he looked at the monitor. "We seem to have two unwanted passengers." B-Ranma stated. "How do you know?" Kojiro asked as he gazed at the monitor. B-Ranma shrugged. "I sensed their presence." "Oh hell! It's those two!" Kojiro recognized the images of Lina and Gourry on the screen. He remembered the kind of trouble they caused when they last met. "Oh no!" D-Ranma agreed as he recognized them. B-Ranma said nothing as he simply cocked his head to one side and waited. The monitor then went off as T-Ranma entered the area where Lina and Gourry were and fired off a couple of stun blasts. A few minutes later, Lina's screams of outrage were heard from behind the door to the pilot's cabin. The door then swished open, and two people in magno-shackles were unceremoniously dumped onto the floor of the cabin. Both Lina and Gourry's hands were bound together by thick metal bracelets. The manacles were not connected by chains, but by a magnetic field that kept them firmly pressed together. Their legs also had metal braces that also fused themselves together with the arm braces. "Oof!" Lina mad a hard landing on her rear. Gourry landed on his side, but also let off a moan of pain. The two found themselves side- by-side. "Why you…! I'm going to…!" "You'll do nothing but shut up and let us try to save your world!" T-Ranma snapped as he returned to the pilot's seat. Lina was not listening as she struggled at her bonds. She could not understand why her powers were not responding now. Sure she was still feeling the effects of 'that time of the month,' but she had begun to regain her magic that evening. She wondered if these strange restraining devices had something to do with it. Maybe they were like that magic inhibitor that bandit had tried to put on her. "Can't you use your magic?" Gourry whispered as he too tried to get free. T-Ranma had ambushed them so fast that he didn't even have time to draw the Sword of Light. The nanotech soldier had taken the weapon away from after binding Gourry and Lina. "I… can't…" Lina strained as she tried to call up any of her magical reserves. "Oh yeah, I forgot. It's still that time of the month. OW!" Lina slammed her head against Gourry's when she noticed that B-Ranma had heard his comment and started walking toward them. "He didn't need to know about THAT!" B-Ranma gave the two a warm smile as he crouched down and addressed Lina. "That time of the month? I suspected that something like that was happening to you. You had all the signs." "Huh? What are you talking about? How would you know about…?" Lina blushed red with embarrassment and then got angry when she realized what she was admitting to. "Never mind! None of your business!" B-Ranma continued to smile as he used his senses to probe her. It was not something that he had not encountered before. After all, he was a healer from a village of Amazons. He knew exactly how cranky a female could get during this time. Fortunately, he also knew of a way to alleviate Lina's discomfort. He extended a hand toward Lina and placed it on her forehead. "Huh? W-What are you doing…?" The blind Ranma said not a word as he began focusing his ki into her. Lina Inverse suddenly felt a warm and very soothing sensation that spread through her body and the menstrual cramps she had been experiencing began to fade. He then took his other hand and applied several quick pressure point strikes to her lower back and thighs. Almost instantly, her nausea and bloated feelings disappeared. The Unseen Light fighter nodded his head as he removed his hands and asked, "How was that?" Lina was shocked to feel surprisingly refreshed. This person had done what the greatest of white magic users and mages could not. No one, not even Sylphiel, had found a way to circumvent that 'time of the month!' Female magic users had been resigned to wait until their menstrual cycles were over before using their powers again. "H-How did you…?" B-Ranma shrugged as he replied, "Something I learned from a great yoga master. Anyway, I'm sure those shackles are quite uncomfortable." He then extended a finger and touched the surface of one of the bindings. He focused his ki into it and the shackles opened when their unlocking mechanisms were forced. Lina immediately got to her feet and took a spell-casting stance. She then shouted out, "FIREBALL!" As she shouted out, the other three Ranmas tensed up. They had been watching the viewing monitor and had not been paying attention to their captives. They were very surprised to see Lina free. They had expected the pilot's cabin to explode into flames, but that did not occur. B-Ranma shrugged as he simply brushed aside Lina's projectile with a wave of his staff. The very flimsy-looking projectile was dispersed into a gentle puff of smoke. There was only a brief sensation of heat when the fireball disappeared. Lina was confused. Why was her fireball so weak? She was over that 'time of the month.' She tried again. "FIREBALL!" This time, there was just a slight spark emitted from her outstretched hands, then poof. B-Ranma slowly shook her head and said. "Forget it, Miss Inverse. I already sensed that you wouldn't be able to cast very strong spells. Otherwise, I wouldn't have released you." "You let her go?!" D-Ranma said in disbelief. "Don't worry about it." The blind fighter waved it off as he addressed Lina again. "I may have taken care of that little problem of yours, but I knew that you still wouldn't be able to use magic effectively. I sensed a very low level of residual mystical energy in you, probably built up from over the years of magic using." D-Ranma became cautious as he used his own powers of magical perception. He then looked in surprise as he said, "Wait a second! You're right! She has barely enough magic in her to do a lighting spell! What gives?" The dragon warrior then scanned himself and was relieved to find that he still had normal levels of magic within himself. Unlike the magic users of Lina's world, D-Ranma's powers did not depend solely on drawing power from beings such as Shabranigdo and such. His was more based on converting the vast amounts of ki and mana energy that he had built up from living in the Dragon World. His body was like a living battery that constantly replenished itself. Lina looked down at her hands and tried call up her powers. However, she had very little response. She then looked up with a bit of fear and said, "What's… going on?" B-Ranma cocked his head for a moment, then addressed his technological counterpart. "How far out in space are we?" "Space?" Lina asked, then looked out the front windshield. She gasped as she saw the canopy of stars before her, then became white as she saw the monitor, which depicted the retreating image of her homeworld. "We're about sixty thousand kilometers from the planet's surface." "I thought so." B-Ranma shrugged, then turned back to Lina. Sensing her confusion and fear, he decided to put it in the simplest way he knew. "We happen to be a long distance away from your world and the energy sources that feed your powers. That's the reason why your magic doesn't work right." Lina barely heard B-Ranma's explanation as she continued to stare at the viewer. "W-W-What is that?" Lina pointed to the image. It seemed familiar to her, but she had only seen such landmasses on crude maps and such. T-Ranma shook his head and sighed. He should have realized that the people of this world were probably still exploring their own planet, judging by their lack of technology. They perceived things by their superstitions and magical means. Heck, they probably still believed that the world was flat and that they'd fall off the edge of the world if they sailed over the horizon. Seeing her home from beyond orbit was probably a huge shock to Lina. B-Ranma sensed her confusion and said, "Look, we really don't have time to go into all the details, but we really are trying to save your world." He then addressed his technological counterpart. "How long will it be before we catch up with Phibrizzo?" "At our current rate of speed, twenty minutes." "Okay, I'll give you the Reader's Digest version of our story." "The what?" Lina asked. "Excuse me? Can someone please get me out of these things?" Gourry asked from the floor. Twenty minutes later… "So let me get this straight." Lina said as B-Ranma and the others finished their explanations. "You four are from different worlds who ended up on our world by mistake and need those special stones of Sailoon to get home, right?" "That's right." B-Ranma said. "And you're telling us, that since Phibrizzo is now using the stones to tap into unlimited energy from this place, he's going to lose control and destroy that place down there." Lina pointed to the screen. "You say that round thing is really our world and that we're just very high above it?" "That's about right." T-Ranma agreed. "And you're saying that bright thing over there is our sun?" Gourry pointed to the ball of light displayed on the left of the monitor. "That can't be right. It was night time when we left." "Well, it's night time on your side of the planet, but it's day on the other side." "Huh?" T-Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Look, we really don't have time to explain basic concepts about your planet to you, so just take our word for it. Besides, we're just about to encounter Phibrizzo now." The nanotech martial artist called up a holographic image of where Phibrizzo was blasting away at the barrier. Lina and Gourry were fixated on the seemingly magical scene, which depicted Hellmaster emitting overwhelming amounts of energy at a seemingly impenetrable force field. T-Ranma looked down at his readouts on the console and frowned. "Damn! Hellmaster is absorbing quantum energy at a faster rate than estimated. The barrier won't hold for much longer! He'll break through in a matter of minutes and when he does, he'll go up like a supernova! All that energy he expended so far has just speeded up the process!" "So now what?" Kojiro asked. "What's going on?" Lina asked with a bit of fear. She had never seen Hellmaster like this before. He had been a formidable adversary before when she had been forced to use the Giga Slave to defeat him. Now he appeared to be unstoppable. He was literally ready to burst with energies that she had never seen before. The way he was blasting away at the strange-looking barrier was mind boggling! How could she stop something like that when her magical powers were at less than zero? There was just nothing that could be done. If what these people were telling her was true, then this truly was to be Armageddon. T-Ranma looked down at the readouts, then said to his counterparts. "We do have one chance. The Annihilator." "Your anti-matter cannon?" D-Ranma asked. T-Ranma nodded. "I think I can use it to counter all that quantum energy and destroy Phibrizzo for good. Only problem is, Phibrizzo probably just won't hold still long enough for me to power up to destroy him. We need to keep him busy long enough for me to calibrate the Annihilator to the right setting. If I use too high a level, I may just end up destroying this system anyway. If I use too low a level, then it won't be enough to do the job and Phibrizzo will still explode and destroy us all." "Excuse me, but what's this Annihilator?" Lina asked. "It's the same weapon I used against your Dragon Slave." T-Ranma explained as he began maneuvering his ship around the barrier. "I only used it at one billionth of its maximum power." "One… b-billionth?" Lina eeped. She remembered just how destructive that strange weapon was. If that was only one billionth of its power, then she was very lucky indeed to have survived even that small fraction. T-Ranma waved it off as he said to his counterparts. "Look, Lina and her friend here aren't much use to us in space. Looks like it's up to us to destroy Phibrizzo. Problem is, I'm the only one that can go out there in the vacuum of space. I can't distract Phibrizzo and set the Annihilator at the same time." "I'll take on Phibrizzo." D-Ranma volunteered. "You?" D-Ranma smiled as he said, "I can go out in space as well." "How? You'll need a protective suit. There's no oxygen out there and the vacuum would cause your body to implode." D-Ranma shook his head and said, "Trust me. I'll do fine. Just let me out of your airlock. How long do you need to have him distracted?" The futuristic Ranma looked back at the monitor. "About five minutes." "How can we help?" Kojiro asked. T-Ranma looked at his other two dimensional selves and thought for a moment. He then placed a hand on the console and the controls began lighting up. "I'm giving the both of you temporary control of navigation and weapon systems. Can you guys give support to our dragon friend here?" "Dragon?" Lina asked. "You bet!" Kojiro jumped into one of the seats in front of the firing controls for the meson torpedoes, lasers and particle cannons. B-Ranma sat in front of navigation and the targeting controls. To his amazement, as soon as he placed his hands on the panel, his senses came alive with new images collected from the ship's sensor arrays. It was if his sixth and seventh senses had been increased a thousand-fold. T-Ranma smiled as he explained. "I had taken into account of your enhanced senses and cybernetically linked the sensors and navigational systems. You'll be able to pilot this ship as easily as a sighted person. You'll also be able to aim the weapon systems with Kojiro as your gunner. Okay, are we all set?" "Ready!" The others chorused. "Hey, what about us?" Lina asked. T-Ranma gave Gourry and Lina a stern look. "Just stay out of the way." He then joined D-Ranma as they rushed toward the airlock. A minute later, in the airlock in one of the bottom sections of the ship, T-Ranma was suiting up. Giving the mental command to his cyberweave armor, the technowarrior was encased in a tight-fitting body suit of black with a full headmask and red visor. He then gave another mental command. (*Affirmative.*) Instantly, components began to appear and adhere to the body suit. Gauntlets appeared and adhered to his forearms. Chest and leg armor soon followed. A helmet also materialized and set itself on T-Ranma's head. The visor of his body suit merged with the blast shields of the helmet. Additional segments of armor and thruster boots appeared to adhere to their owner. Finally, a combination weapons and thruster module appeared on the back. When the armor finished attaching itself, the nanotech soldier turned to his comrade, who was powering up a protective aura of ki and magic. "Are you ready?" D-Ranma nodded and said, "Make sure you are far enough away when I transform." "Transform?" D-Ranma nodded. "You'll see." T-Ranma looked strangely at his friend, then slowly nodded as he realized what the dragon warrior meant. He then gave the mental order to open the airlock. On the bridge, the two Ranmas and their unwanted passengers watched as two figures shot out in front from beneath the ship. One of those figures was an armored individual they recognized as T-Ranma. With back and foot thrusters flaring, he streaked off to take up a position a couple thousands of meters behind where Phibrizzo was still blasting away at the barrier. The other person was enveloped in a corona of energy as he flew toward the power-mad Hellmaster. His energies then suddenly exploded in a flare of light and his body became a solid mass of light. Then it began to change its shape. It became longer and much, much larger as the people on board the ship and T-Ranma watched in awe. The shape then had two protrusions forming where the shoulders would be, and the body took on a quadraped form. Then, the light faded, revealing the transformed D-Ranma in all his glory! "HOLY…! HE'S A DRAGON!!!" Kojiro exclaimed. B-Ranma's boosted senses were almost put into overload from the sudden influx of magical and ki energies. D-Ranma now measured more than one hundred and twenty feet from snout to tail. He resembled the Black Dragons of Lina's world, but his scales were blue with silver highlights. His head resembled a cross between the dragons of Western and Chinese folklore. He had wing-like protrusions that framed the sides of his face and sparse hairs near the temples. The claws on his feet were huge and could easily crush a tank like tinfoil. His large, bat-like wings gave him tremendous thrust as he sped toward Phibrizzo like a nuclear missile. Although he was in airless space, for some unknown reason, his wings functioned as if he was flying through the atmosphere. He was probably using his magical and ki abilities to propel him across the vacuum of space. T-Ranma had positioned himself behind Phibrizzo with the moon of the Slayers world behind him. He too was awestruck at the sudden transformation of D-Ranma. He could see how the dragon warrior could survive in airless space. Those thick scales and magical abilities of his were more than enough for him to withstand the cold void. However, he shook it off and called forth his Annihilator. When the huge weapon of destruction appeared on his arm, he began scanning Phibrizzo's current energy absorption rate as he started building up power. D-Ranma led off the assault by opening his mouth and let loose with a huge stream of mystic, blue-white fire. Phibrizzo so engrossed with breaking through the barrier that he almost didn't notice the attack. He turned around at the last second, only to be engulfed in the flames. However, he emerged unscathed and enraged as he retaliated with another power blast. The dragon just barely managed to avoid taking the full brunt of the attack, but was clipped in the right wing. The huge beast howled in pain, though his scream went unheard in space. "Open fire!" Kojiro shouted as he launched a barrage of meson torpedoes and other projectile weapons. Guided by B-Ranma's boosted senses, the weapons homed in on their target and detonated with large explosions. However, Phibrizzo shook them off and began hurling massive energy bolts at the ship. B-Ranma did his best in putting the craft through evasive maneuvers, but several blasts managed to glance off the protective shields. The vessel shuddered and trembled under the impacts and threatened to break apart. Fortunately, with his attention turned on his attackers, Phibrizzo had temporarily left the barrier alone, which continued to sap away his power. Otherwise, those attacks would have reduced both D-Ranma and the ship into subatomic particles. T-Ranma gritted his teeth as he saw the pounding his counterparts were taking. Then an indicator lit up on the readouts of his helmet. The power levels of Phibrizzo had been estimated and were now feeding the data he needed to set the Annihilator. (*Affirmative.*) The super anti-matter cannon began to whine and build up power for its devastating blast. On the battlefront, D-Ranma and the others were still pressing their attacks on Phibrizzo with very little success. As the dragon swooped in for another pass, Phibrizzo let loose a huge torrent of energy that was simply too large for the massive lizard to dodge. D-Ranma took the full force of the blast in the chest, and was sent flying backward. He writhed in pain as his body began to glow and shrink. B-Ranma immediately discerned what was happening to their comrade as the ship's sensors detected the sudden drop in the dragon's power levels. "We have to get him back on board the ship!" B-Ranma screamed. "He won't survive if he changes back to his human form!" "What can we do?" Kojiro began to panic. B-Ranma extended his senses into the ship's systems and had the answer. "On your right, there should be a switch that activates the emergency transporter beam! I'll feed you the coordinates!" Using his extraordinary abilities and the ship's sensor arrays, he managed to discern D-Ranma's position and feed them into the transporter controls. Kojiro immediately switched it on. Lina and Gourry were amazed to see the human form of D-Ranma suddenly disappear from the star-laden background of space, then suddenly reappear in a flash of red light on the bridge. The dragon warrior had some frost forming on his face, arms and chest when he rematerialized. "H-How did you…?" Lina stuttered. B-Ranma ignored her question as he got up and went over to where his counterpart was lying down and checked for vital signs. He was soon rewarded with a pulse and breath sounds. Though his skin was like a dragon's hide, D-Ranma had been pulled out of space just in time before his human body froze and suffocated. However, in their concern over their friend, the two Ranmas, Lina Inverse and Gourry were now sitting ducks. Phibrizzo smiled evilly as he prepared to blast the annoying gnats into oblivion. However, that was when T-Ranma's Annihilator opened fire. Phibrizzo turned around in time to see the instrument of his final destruction release a sizzling beam of pure anti-matter at him. In the airless void of space, his final anguished scream was never heard. The ship's indicators went on full alert as the beam struck its target. The automatic controls took over and maneuvered the craft away from the resulting explosion. The shields were cycled to maximum strength and protective anti-glare visors slid into place to protect the passengers from going blind. The spaceship was thrown about like a leaf in a storm as the shockwaves from the explosion rippled the space around it. Energy flares were emitted from the center of Phibrizzo's destruction and lashed out in all directions. The barrier that had held out for so long finally buckled under the strain. However, it did prevent any errant blasts from striking the Slayers World. T-Ranma was furthest away from the blast when it happened so he was able to use his armor's protective force field to shield him from the shockwaves. However, he gave out a cry of disbelief when he saw one bolt of quantum energy strike the moon and shear off a chunk of it. The fragment had been one of the many mountains that littered the cratered surface of the moon and was about twenty miles across. It then began tumbling through space on a collision course, with the Slayers World! "No! No! This can't be happening!" When the worst of the blast finally faded away, the people inside the ship picked themselves off the floor of the bridge. They had been tossed about inside the craft as if they were inside a pinball machine. As they painfully picked themselves up, B-Ranma made his way to the sensor controls. A moment later, he gave off a happy cry. "We did it! Phibrizzo IS GONE!" The others rushed over to the monitors and began giving cheers. Hellmaster was indeed destroyed and there was no trace of him whatsoever. The quantum energies that he had absorbed had been dispersed by the Annihilator's beam. "I don't believe it. They did it." Lina said in awe. "Yeah, they really did it." Gourry agreed as he rubbed a red handprint on his cheek. When they had been tossed about in the ship, the swordsman had landed on top of his companion and inadvertently grabbed one of her breasts. Lina of course, reacted in her usual manner. The two began joining the others in their cheers, when T-Ranma suddenly entered the bridge. He had disabled his Exo-Armor after entering the ship's airlock, and took his position at the pilot's seat. He then punched in his commands and the ship began speeding forward. "Guys, we're not out of the woods yet!" The cheering suddenly stopped as the others looked at the nanotech warrior. "What do you mean? We stopped Phibrizzo from exploding and destroyed him!" Kojiro exclaimed. "Yeah, but now we have to deal with that." T-Ranma pointed to the huge chunk of moon rock that was hurtling toward the planet. "What the…? What is that?" D-Ranma said. Thanks to his dragon heritage, he was now starting to recover from his ordeal in space. T-Ranma frowned as he said, "When Phibrizzo was annihilated, a stray quantum bolt blasted a chunk of your world's moon off. That piece is like a huge asteroid! If we don't stop it, it'll crash into the world and cause huge amounts of dust and debris to be kicked up. The nuclear winter it will cause will doom the planet just as surely as Phibrizzo would have. Of course, thousands of people will perish at the point of impact and the natural disasters it will cause will kill even more!" Lina didn't know what the term 'nuclear winter' meant, but she had a pretty good idea what would happen if that huge rock hit her world. She had come across a similar situation when a floating island nearly flattened Sailoon. It had taken an amplified Dragon Slave to destroy the island, but with her powers diminished in space, she could not do the same as before. Furthermore, this chunk was far too large and she was very doubtful that she could destroy it with an amplified Dragon Slave. The only spell she knew that would be powerful enough was the Giga Slave and she was very reluctant to use that particular spell. "Can't you use the Annihilator?" Kojiro asked. T-Ranma shook his head. "I used up so much power to destroy Phibrizzo that it'll take the cannon three hours to replenish itself. That chunk of rock will hit the surface of the planet in five minutes! Right now, I'm hoping to use the ship's weaponry to destroy as much of the debris as possible and lessen the damage. However, there's not much else we can do." Kojiro and D-Ranma sadly nodded. The dragon warrior was still tired from his battle with Phibrizzo and there was not much that the Cat Fist could do against a threat this size. It seemed hopeless. "I might be able to destroy it." B-Ranma said quietly. Everyone looked at the blind martial artist with surprise, confusion, and a glimmer of hope. "What are you talking about?" T-Ranma asked. "Is it possible for the ship's transporter to get me down to the planet at the point where the meteor will strike?" One minute later… "Oh ho ho ho ho! Do you honestly expect me to believe such a preposterous story?" Naga scoffed after Zelgadis and Amelia had finished explaining what had happened. "It's the truth!" Amelia said to the over-endowed sorceress. Zelgadis was unnerved at the way she laughed and wondered just who this person was and her connection to Lina. He did notice the similarities between Naga and Amelia and wondered if they were related. He also noticed that Prince Phileonel was trying his best not to be noticed by this newcomer. After Lina and Gourry had gone on board that ship and disappeared into the sky, Naga had appeared and made this grand entrance about her being the most beautiful and more powerful rival of the flat-chested Lina Inverse. Then everyone's attention was caught as a tremendous flash of light appeared in the sky, temporarily turning night i to day. The lines of energy that had formed a network across the sky disappeared afterwards. Naga gave another one of her maniacal laughs, which sent more shivers down the Chimera's back. As the shaman/swordsman looked back at her, he couldn't help but notice how a certain part of her anatomy bounced when ever she laughed and… Zelgadis shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before them and temporarily blinded everyone present. When it faded away to reveal B-Ranma, Zelgadis, Amelia and Sylphiel instantly recognized him and went into spell-casting stances. "You again!" Zeldgadis hissed. Before anyone could throw a fireball or some other spell, B-Ranma tossed out a small circular device, which landed on the ground and then suddenly put forth a projected image of Lina herself. They all turned their attention to the hologram, which spoke in Lina's voice. "Amelia! Syphiel! Zelgadis! Don't attack this guy! He's here to save our world! There's no time to explain! Whatever you do, don't interfere in what he's about to do! Gourry and I are okay, but you have to listen to me! Let him do what he needs to do, or we're all doomed!" The others were stunned to see the holographic message of their friend, and were in conflict of what to do. It was then that Amelia pointed up to the sky. With the exception of B-Ranma, the others looked up and saw a distant, fiery dot in the sky that was rapidly approaching. Up above the outer reaches of the stratosphere, T-Ranma was firing every weapon he had on the ship, blowing away massive chunks of moon rock. However, despite the destructive forces he was using, he knew that it would not be enough as the huge mass began entering the atmosphere of the planet. He launched a massive barrage of meson torpedoes before being forced to turn the angle of descent to avoid burning up in reentry. The ship's heat shields were strained to their limits as T-Ranma wrenched at the controls. B-Ranma took a ready stance with his feet spread apart and his staff held perpendicular to the ground in front of him. He took a deep breath and began concentrating. He began straining his extraordinary senses and reached out to collect all available energies of the planet. His body glowed with an intense blue aura as pinpricks of white, black and shamanistic magic was collected as well as bits of life forces was slowly being collected. Since the mystical forces of this world were extremely high, the Unseen Light fighter was almost overwhelmed by the influx of magic. However, he bit down and continued to collect energy. Zelgadis and the others were very intrigued by the stranger and could sense the power within his body. Sylphiel was especially interested, as B-Ranma became living generator of power. The way he collected the forces of the sprits and made them his own was simply mind boggling! What kind of spell was he using to require such large amounts of energy? How was he combining all that power together? Black and white magic don't mix, so how was he able to fuse them together? On the ship… "One minutes to planetary impact!" T-Ranma said. The others held their breath. On the ground, B-Ranma trembled. Never before had he had so much power held within all at once. His body threatened to explode from the strain, but somehow, he managed to hold onto it all. He was almost there. All the free energy that the world could spare, had been collected and was just waiting to be released. His aura was now the purest white as B-Ranma raised his staff to the heavens. Zelgadis, Amelia, Naga and the others had to turn away from the brilliance that his aura was creating. The Chimera then looked back up at the sky and his eyes widened at what he saw. The distant fiery dot that he had seen before was now close enough for him and everyone else to gaze upon. His blood went cold. The populace of Sailoon was sent into a panicked state as they realized that they were at ground zero. This chunk of rock was by far larger than the last one and seemed to fill the sky. There was no time to erect protective barriers. There was no time for anything but scream. It was then that B-Ranma released his technique. "SPIRIT BEAM!" A huge ball of light appeared at the end of his staff and then exploded upward in a slender, but extremely intense beam. Shockwaves of power radiated outward and caused whatever structures that were still standing to be rattled like saplings. The ground trembled under the pressures but B-Ranma held firm. Because of the high magic levels of this world, the Spirit Beam was far more powerful than normal. The beam struck the falling meteor dead center and caused the mass to shudder and slow in its descent. Huge cracks formed from the point where the beam struck it. The energy continued to push against it, causing it to slow down in its descent even more. Slowly, but surely, the asteroid lost its momentum and then, for one brief moment, it stopped in midair, a couple of hundred feet above the city of Sailoon. "ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!" B-Ranma screamed as he redoubled his effort, drawing in as much energy as he could. Since he was in a city where white magic abounded in, he managed to pump even more energy into the beam. The beam suddenly became wider as it flared and increased the pressure. Slowly, with supreme effort B-Ranma's part, the chunk of moon rock was pushed back upward! The inhabitants watched in disbelief as the huge mass was being forced back up the sky, gaining speed and altitude with every second. It kept climbing higher and higher, until at last, it was again a distant dot in the sky. Finally, when the mass had reached the lower levels of the stratosphere, it could no longer hold together and exploded into huge fragments. Luckily, T-Ranma was still up there and made certain that the pieces would not harm anyone. A few blasts from the particle cannons and any danger the chunks represented were gone in clouds of space dust. On the planet's surface, B-Ranma collapsed from utter exhaustion. Zelgadis and his friends approached the unconscious blind fighter. It was then that they looked up and saw T-Ranma's ship coming in for a landing. Epilogue "Can't you stay any longer?" Syphiel asked as the four Ranmas were getting set to leave this dimension. "I've learned so much from you already and you could do so much and help so many." B-Ranma smiled while shaking his head. "No, I'm afraid that we have to get going." "At least let me heal your blindness." The white priestess insisted as she reached out with her hands. Her wrists were then grasped firmly by B-Ranma who shook his head and said, "No, I told you before, that I do not wish to be healed." "But why? You have already taught us so much about healing without using magic. The least I can do is to restore your sight." B-Ranma sighed as he released her wrists. During the last month, after explanations were made and misunderstandings were cleared up, the four Ranmas had been made royal guests of Sailoon. B-Ranma had become a source of great interest as he displayed the lost techniques of Shiatsu healing. He even taught the healers the standard methods of CPR and more modern methods of emergency aid, such as the Heimlech Maneuver. B-Ranma had become CPR certified in his village and had all the skills of a top-notch paramedic. Amelia and Sylphiel became very eager students. In return, the Unseen Light fighter had learned a few healing spells and adapted them so that they could draw power from his ki, rather than from the magical forces of their world. The other Ranmas had also become celebrities as they displayed their marital arts skills and other techniques. Gourry had learned new sword techniques from D-Ranma. Naga became very interested with Kojiro, especially when he transformed into his hybrid form. The Cat Fist fighter had to duck and hide whenever the amorous sorceress went looking for him. The blind fighter sighed as he said, "Sylphiel, I know you mean well, but please respect my wishes. It was because of my blindness that I had become what I am today. If I had not become blind and learned the Unseen Light, then I would not have been able to save your world, now would I?" "I… suppose…" Sylphiel agreed reluctantly. The thought of not being allowed to heal him when she had the power made her feel very sorrowful. She had gotten to know this gentle fighter over the past month and it tore at her heart for him to remain in the darkness. "And besides," The blind fighter continued. "I find that blindness is also a reminder what I have achieved. You do remember what I told you about my father? If I were to regain my sight, then I would forget the lessons I learned from all my training and the reminder to never listen to Genma. I might also lose my other powers if I were to see again." The priestess nodded again. She had become horrified to learn that B-Ranma's father had subjected his only child to such torture. The fact that the other Ranmas had also undergone the same training shocked her even more. She usually did not harbor any bad feelings toward anyone, but she did feel a kind of disgust about their father and felt even more sorry for the blind martial artist. He had the most lasting damage from the Neko Ken training. The other three had been totally healed, enhanced or learned to deal with the Cat Fist. B-Ranma nodded as he felt the pity in her aura, then reached out to wipe a tear on her cheek. "We all learn from the obstacles that come in our lives and the knowledge we gain from overcoming them makes us better. I have come to terms with my inner self and my blindness. In a way, my being blind has taught me so much more than I ever learned when I could see. Best of all, I don't consider my lack of sight to be a weakness, but a symbol of my will to endure. If someday I do regain my sight, I shall do so on my own terms. So, stop felling sorry for me. I do not need it nor deserve it." The white priestess was about to protest further, but then felt the inner strength within him. He had overcome the difficulties of living without the use of his eyes. He had fooled even her for a while. It was easy to see that he was firm in his beliefs and would be able to continue on, without his sight. "If you don't want me to heal you, then… so be it." B-Ranma nodded. "Now don't you forget what I taught you and Amelia. White magic is nice and all, but you should rely more on yourself and save your power for when you really need it. Those Shiatsu techniques I showed you are for healing and defense ONLY. They can be quite lethal if misused, understand?" "Yes, and thank you. I won't forget." The Unseen Light martial artist nodded, bowed to her and turned toward the ship. Sylphiel then leaned over to give B-Ranma a quick kiss on the cheek before he entered the ship. "Goodbye Ranma… and take care." D-Ranma and Kojiro were already aboard as T-Ranma walked up to the ship. Behind him, a red-haired sorceress continued to pester him. "Please? Can't I have the Annihilator?" "No." "Come on! I'll give you one thousand gold pieces for it!" "NO!" "Aw come on!" Lina pouted. "What part of 'no' don't you understand?" "Are you saying that I can't have it?" "Yeesh!" T-Ranma pinched the bridge of his nose. Ever since they became guests of Sailoon, Lina had been trying to get ahold of the various technological devices in his ship. He had to activate the ship's autodefense systems to keep Lina from entering and looting anything that wasn't nailed down. She had also been pestering him to show her how those devices worked, and even offered large sums of money for his weaponry and equipment. He shuddered at the thought of the power-greedy sorceress getting her hands on plasma cannons, sonic grenades and (brrr!) the Annihilator. Thank goodness, they were leaving now! Luckily, not all of the Kerium in Sailoon had been destroyed. One fragment had been found in the ruins of the castle vault. Amelia's father had gratefully awarded the piece to the four Ranmas. It had taken the ship's refinement equipment two days to stabilize the precious element for use in the Quantum Phase Drive. The rest of the time was used for relaxation and repairs for both the ship and the castle. The people of the city were amazed when T-Ranma let loose a group of repair drones to fix the damage done to the castle and the surrounding areas. The robots resembled large, floating, metal bowling balls, but had waldos, welders, laser torches and other devices hidden in various compartments of their bodies. In less than a week, the castle and city was restored to their original states, with more efficiency than the best construction crews. "FOR THE LAST TIME, NO!" T-Ranma stomped up the entrance ramp and immediately shut the hatch. He then went to the bridge where the others were waiting for him and activated the main drives. The ship began emitting a gentle whine as the engines began powering up. Outside the ship, Lina and her friends began waving goodbye to their otherworldly visitors as the craft lifted off, kicking up some dust clouds. As it slowly started gaining altitude, it rotated to the left, giving the observers one final look at the people through the pilot canopy. All four Ranmas waved farewell at the group below, Kojiro winced as he saw a figure running towards then and waving. It was a certain someone that wore a leather-style bikini, and whose laugh reminded B-Ranma of a certain Black Rose. "Man! Am I glad to get away from that person!" Kojiro muttered as the ship then shot off into the sky. "Yeah, she reminds me of Kodachi." B-Ranma remarked. "Who?" The others asked. "I tell you guys later." The ship raced upward and was soon beyond the gravitational pull of the planet, then accelerated even faster. "Brace yourselves guys, we're about to make our first dimensional jump in… 3… 2…1… NOW!" T-Ranma activated the Quantum Phase Drive. The ship suddenly elongated for a split second before being enveloped in a streaking flash of light. It then punched through the fabric of the space-time continuum and disappeared. Meanwhile, back on the Slayers world, two shadowy figures looked up at the sky and then nodded to each other after the ship had vanished from view. "Well, they're finally on their way." The first one said. "Yes, it was a good idea to leave that fragment of Kerium for them to find." The second one added. "Overall, I think they did quite well as a team." "Well, they need to be if they are to succeed in the trails ahead. After all, that was the reason why we had them put together in the first place." "So, shall we lead them to their ultimate destination?" "No, I don't think they're ready quite yet. There is still one more player missing from their group that they have to pick up first. In any case, some more dimension hopping would be good for them. There are many worlds out there that could use their help." The first figure nodded as he said, "Yes, if those four hadn't interfered, Phibrizzo would have gotten ahold of the Kerium and destroyed this world anyway. So where are they heading to next?" "Where else? To pick up the last member of their team." The two then disappeared from sight. To be continued… Author's Notes Phew! That was a long one! In any case, the four Ranmas are on their way back home, but don't expect the trip to be a smooth one. As for when this story occurred, it took place about a couple of weeks after the Slayers Next series. Why did I add Naga? It was just for fun. Who are these mysterious individuals? Are they the ones responsible for getting our intrepid four lost in the first place? Stay tuned!