Naruto, Ranma 1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

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Here you go, another story from the twisted mind that is Fellgrave. I used a mix of origins for Poison Ivy in this story. A bit from Batman & Robin, some from the comics, and most is based on the show from the 2000s, The Batman. I hope you guys like it. This started totally different, with Poison Ivy being Ranma's mother(I know, that could never happen, too many inconsitencies and too hard to make Ivy into Nodoka) but as I thought about it, it became this story after going through a version where Ranma had become Ivy and Pamela Isley wasn't involved at all, but I couldn't figure out a way of making that work either. So this is the version you get.

Enjoy. And don't forget to **Review.**

And on another note this chapter was written to the awesome sounds of Dark Princess' album Stop My Heart. Look it up on youtube, its rockin awesome. Personal fav tracks; Cry, Stop My Heart, Please Betray Me, and Tokaja Igra.

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_**FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON**_

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**Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.**

Down along the many hallways in Arkham were the cells for the criminals incarcerated there. There several levels for the criminals, dividing them based on either how insane they were, or what they could do. This specific hall way was built with a solid piece of Wayne Industries Glass-steel walls facing the hallway to allow constant surveillance of the villains. In one cell Poison Ivy was reclining one her bunk as she read an artcile about an absolutely facsinating species of pitcher plant found in the Amazon rainforest.

"Hey Red, so's how come you ain't told anyone how ya got here yet? I mean, like how ya got started with everythin." A bubbly voice called out from the cell across the hall. Poison put down the very interesting article, apparently not only was the plant able to dissolve even solid stone, it had tentacles with a contact paralytic agent. She set the article onto her small desk and moved her chair in front of the glass so she could talk better with the blond across from her.

"And what's it to you Harley? Whats got you so interested in little ol' me?" Ivy asked sarcastically.

"Aww, don't be like that Red. Before I joined up with Puddin I worked here, you know? I always wanted to know what made guys, and gals, like Mr. J and you tick. So come on and spill already. What's tha harm?" Harley put out her lower lip in a pout as she stared at Ivy with comically large eyes.

*Sigh* "Fine Harley you win, just stop with the look alright. I got started just a couple years ago when I was still in high school. Hmmph, it seems a lot longer now that I think about it. Anwyay even when I was, er,_ normal_, I tried my best to look out for Mother Nature. Unfortunately for me that meant lots of time spent either in detention or at the police station waiting to get picked up by my mother after school. Well at least it until _He _showed up...

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**Time: Three Years Ago. Location: Gotham High**

"Now class I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our new Japanese exchange student. Now why don't you introduce yourself, please." Ranma nodded to the tall glasses wearing brunette and walked to the front of the class. He mentally sighed when he saw some of the girls faint from watching him move, and disturbingly some of the guys as well. He gave a lazy wave with his eyes closed to the group of students as he introduced himself, causing freakish man with an equally freakish mini-me to shout out something about 'hipness' in a land far away.

"Yo, the name's Ranma Saotome. Up until a couple years ago I was doin a ten-year training trip for martial arts with my pops. Then I stayed in Nerima for a while, before I came here. I'm a student of the Anything Goes family style of martial arts, and probably the best damn fighter any of you have ever seen." He was immediately interrupted from a student near the back of the class once he finished talking.

"Nah way man! The Batman could kick your ass any day of the week. I once saw him take down Bane with his bare hands, right outside my Aunt's place!"This cry was met loud sounds of agreement from most of the rest of the class. One eyebrow raised Ranma waited until the teacher had quieted down the rest of the students to resume speaking.

"Well I've never met the Batman so I can't say if he's better than me or not, but I can tell that even if he beat me once I could beat him the second time." The teacher turned a disaproving glare at him when the students erupted in protest at his words. Frowning she looked down at her seating list and pointed to an empty chair near the back of the class.

"If you're done antagonizing your fellow classmates perhaps you could kindly take a seat. Why don't you sit over there, there's an open spot next to Ms. Isley." This time she gestured to a young-woman with long red hair and glasses bent over a laptop in concentration.(Hey you ever notice how much the normal Pamela Isley from The Batman[2004 series] looks like Karin from Naruto? I mean they really do look a lot alike.)

Ranma sat down and quickly got bored as the teacher leapt into a lecture on the early history of the country. Trying to avoid being caught sleeping on his first day at a new school he looked around for anything else to do as his mind wandered. '_Who woulda thought Nabs would be the one to get me outta there. Well not too suprising anyway, no more damages to the house _and _she evens us up for wreckin my moms place.' _Finally his eyes settled on the redhead sitting next to him. He leaned over and took a quick look at her laptop screen, finding it covered in lines of symbols.

"So, what are you doing there?" He whispered to her. She looked up startled, not aware that someone had been watching her. She relaxed a bit when she saw it was only the new guy. She snapped back a bit testily as she was interupted just as she was about to put in the last bit code that allow her to fake transferring money from account to account completely without being traced. She was able to do it before, but she didn't trust the thug she had hired not to find someone else to trace her. She also closed out the page with the hacked blueprints to the Chlorogene labs.

"What business is it of yours? Anyway if you must know, its part of my work to protect the environment. Not like you care." While somewhat put off by her attitude Ranma was nevertheless impressed by a high-school student being so passionate about the environment.

"Really? Cus that's kinda cool. Personally I prefer nature to the big city anyway. I guess thats cus I was pratiacally raised on the road and stuff we never stayed anywhere bigger than a village. I always found being surrounded by the trees and the sounds of the forest calming. Actually, now that I think about it, I've spent more time out in the wilderness than I have at home."

"You know what? You're all right. Name's Pamela Isley, though most people just call me Pam for short." She stuck out her hand which Ranma took and shook easily. Letting go he took on a thoughtful pose, one finger tapping his bottom lip, as he looked out the window.

"Pam? Nah I need somethin better for a pretty girl like you." As Ranma was looking out the window so he missed the blush appear on Pam's face. "I think I'll call you... Ivy. Yeah, that's sounds perfect, cus of your last name and how much you like plants and stuff."

Still blushing she tried hiding her face as she pushed her glasses up her nose. '_Come on Pam, don't do this to yourself. At least get to know him first.'_

"T-thanks. I, I like the sound of that. You wanna meet me for lunch? I can show you around the school if you want too." Inside she was slapping herself for getting like this over a guy she had just met. Ranma meanwhile brightened at the chance to eat lunch with someone, his spirits also raised by the fact that he already had met someone who could be a friend.

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Lunch came around quickly, with Ivy showing Ranma around the school and leading him to each of his classes so he knew where to go. After grabbing what could only barely be called edible food they both found a spot outside under the shade of an oak tree to eat. Ranma started telling her of his life back in Nerima, causing her to nearly choke on her food when she heard some of his adventures.

"Hey it's not like I meant for that to happen. How many pieces of magical cursed swimwear have you come across?" He asked with a hurt tone. Ivy struggled to get her breathing under control as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"He-haa-ha, S-sorry its just hard to believe. I mean some of that stuff does seem pretty far out there you know? I'd be a fool not to believe in magic, I've seen Solomon Grundy on the tv after all, but some of that is just seems unbelievable. Oh great. here goes a perfectly good lunch." Ivy's tone turned bitter as she spotted the 'popular' girls making their way over to where she and Ranma were sitting.

The girl in the lead came up to them and stared down at where they sat with a cruel smirk on her face. The leader was a long haired platinum blond dressed in a too-tight t-shirt and a pair of bottoms that could only barely be called shorts, giving her a look that most would affectionately refer to, at least until she hit eighteen, as 'jailbait'. Her two cronies, a short-haired brunette and a more natural blond with a ponytail, stood behind with matching sneers. Ranma sighed, he had seen girls and guys like this all too often whenever he had made it in to scholl while he was on his trip, though he didn;t really see any at Furinkan, probably cause it was so crazy already.

"Now what's a good-looking guy like you doing hanging out with Weedy here? Wouldn't it be so much better to hang out with us?" Even her voice had that grating quality that just gets on your nerves. Ivy grit her teeth and snapped right back.

"Oh Lena, finally made your way through the football team then I take it? Let me guess, you going after the basketball guys next?" Lena's face darkened as the lunch crowd tried to keep back laughter. A quick glare to her friends stopped them from lightly snickering behind her back.

"Well at least I've had someone who actually liked me. Unlike some I could say." She turned and faced Ranma as a tick mark developed on Ivy's forehead. " Now how about going somewhere after school with me, I'm sure we could find a place to hang out at, maybe we could hit the mall and get you some new clothes since you just got into town. Besides who wants to hang out with such a loser anyway." Ranma opened his mouth to tell her exactly what he thought of her idea when Ivy abruptly stood up.

Lena turned to face her with a forced smile on her face. She started to say something but shut up as her jaw was slammed closed by an nasty uppercut curtesy of Ivy. Lena fell back with a cry and spray of blood. The entire school was stunned and simply watched as Lena was helped up by her friends and carried off to the school nurse, blood spilling from her mouth. Ivy watched with a cold sense of detachement as Lena stumbled over a step and nearly cracked her head against the ground. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ranma standing there with a big grin on his face.

"Wow, first time I've ever seen someone take off part of another guy's tongue with a punch. That was pretty nice, that punch was good too, for someone without any training at all. Uh it looks like the teach is makin his way over. I'll catch you school alright? Later!" Ivy blinked and suddenly Ranma had dissapeared, she glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of a flash of red disappearing behind the approaching teacher's shoulder.

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**Later:**

Standing outside the school Ivy took a deep breath of the cool evening air. She had called her mother earlier and found that she would be working late, so that meant no ride and that she could go ahead with her plans. She started making her way down the street, while pulling out her laptop and setting up her encryption software, and nearly screamed when someone put their hand on her shoulder. Spinning so fast her hair whipped her self in the face she stared into the bemused blue eyes of the guy she had met earlier. Letting out a loud sigh in relief she loosened her death-grip on her laptop, no need to damage it after all.

"Heh sorry bout that, but it was kinda might fault you got in trouble earlier so I thought I could make it up to you somehow. So where ya headed?" Ivy started to shake her head and tell him to not bother and that she was busy, but caught herself. Maybe he could help her, after all two heads are better than one. A small smile grew on her face.

"Maybe there is something you can do. You see I was going to try and sneak into the Chlorogene Labs down in Southside. I heard that they were doing genetic manipulation experiments with plants from some of my friends. I heard it through the grapevine, you might say." She laughed aloud as Ranma groaned at the bad pun. "I also heard some rumours about the head scientist there doing illegal drug experiments as well, and I could use you as a perfect lookout. So whaddya say, partners?" She asked as she held out her hand. Ranma took it and shook it gently, making sure not to use too much force and hurt her.

"Sure why not? It's not like I got anything better to do."

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**That Evening at the Chlorogene Labs:**

"Get out of here before we call the police! Lousy kids these days..." Muttered the security guard as he slammed the door closed behind him. Ivy looked up from where she had been thrown to the ground and made sure no one was around before pulling out her laptop. '_Okay Ranma should still be looking out around the corner so I got about a minute or two to get this done.' _Typing in the last few pieces of code she quickly grabbed out her mike and started speaking into it, the software already at work masking her voice.

"Temblor. I have a new target for you. I need you to hit the Chlorogene Research Labs, their locate-" A rough voice with a slight southern American accent interrupted her.

"Yea yea its just around the corner from me. But before we discuss that, there seems to be a little, problem, with the money transfers."

"I'm sorry but didn't you just blow the last job? Listen Temblor, if you're interested in getting paid at all you better get over here right now." _'Oh shi-' _Quickly covering up the mike with her hand Ivy let out a low curse. "I said here didn't I? Gah you idiot." She gasped when someone blocked the light in front of her. Looking up she saw it was only Ranma, an eyebrow raised in interest.

"Temblor? Who's that? Sounds like some tough guy." He said with a ghost of a smile. Ivy nodded as she stood up and folded her laptop closed quickly, she really needed to get away before Temblor showed up.

"Yeah a real tough guy, though a bit of a thug. It's kinda suprising all the things you can find on the internet. Now if you don't mind, I think it would be best if we got of here before he arrives. I don't know about you but personally I don't want to end in the ICU." She turned and started to walk away still looking at Ranma before she turned to look where she was going and jumped back in shock. Standing in front of her was a big bear of a man, dressed in a brown trenchcoat with a set of small welding goggles(best description for them) on his forehead. The most interesting and intimidating part of his attire were the two massive metal gauntlets on either hand, on the back of each was a large orb of some sort.

Reaching down he grabbed the laptop out of Ivy's grasp before flipping it open and taking a brief look at the screen. Then he turned back to face the two teens, and as he spoke he punctuated his words by crushing the laptop in one hand. "Well, well. You're not at all what I expected, Boss... Now you see thing is, boss, when you don't pay. You _Pay._ " He started to reach for Ivy but stopped when Ranma stepped in front of him.

"Now now, no goin after my friend. I'm sure we can work something out. Right Ivy?" He looked over his shoulder to see Ivy running towards the labs. He chuckled as he turned back to face Temblor with a sheepish expression on his face. "Heh, or maybe not. You take I.?" He ducked under Temblor's first swing and leaped backwards to avoid the next. "Guess not." Twisting the knobs on the gauntlets Temblor slammed his palms into the ground causing it blow apart in front of Ranma's wide eyes. He started to sprint away from the closing destruction, but missed his footing when a piece of the ground dissapeared, sending him head first into the pavement. Dissoriented he didn't even notice Temblor walk past him and into the labs.

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**Within the Labs:**

Blasting open the doors, even though they were unlocked, Temblor entered the darkened labs. Aparently every one had scrammed the moment he started throwing around his power. Looking around he spotted a table with two plants on it, one a normal tomato plant and the other with tomatos that were larger than grapefruits. The lable on the second plant read #Chloro-Mulch+Venom#. Temblor shrugged but continued on. He stopped when he heard a grinding noise and looked up to see his target on a gantry shoving a large peice of machinery towards him. As it fell he simply batted it away with a swat of his gauntleted hands.

He raised an eyebrow at his target, who had the decency to at least look embaressed, who started running towards the ladder near where Temblor came in. He let her run a few feet before once again slamming his gauntlets to the ground. This time though the ground didn't erupt, instead the entire building shook, sending pipes and pieces of the roof falling. Ranma had just reached the open doors when a falling pipe slammed into the gantry, causing to break and send Ivy falling to the ground. In an instant he dashed towards her, putting as much ki as he could into his legs, willing himself to go faster.

Leaping into the air with as much strength as he could he caught Ivy midair. Unfortunately his momentum carried them onwards. Seeing what was coming Ranma dropped Ivy as gently as he could onto a filter platform, right before he slammed into a wall, bouncing back and landing in massive vat labeled Venom. Ivy started to get up and go towards the vat, but a piece of debris landed on her legs, pinning her in place. Above her, two of the large chemical containers shook ominously.

Temblor approached slowly, relishing in the panic on the teen's face. Slowly he drew back his arm in preparation pulp Ivy. However before he could, he was slammed in the back by the Batman. Off balance he fell onto the ground, his palms discharging their force into the floor and sending one of the containers falling. Ranma groggily raised a soaked red head out of the toxic soup she was in, just in time to see the container that sent her into unconciousness a moment later.

Ivy couldn't see if what had happened to Ranma after the debris fell on her, but she had seen the container fall. Unable to move any of the debris all she could do was watch as the Batman took on the thug she had hired. She had to close her eyes when one of Temblor's blasts hit a gas container and caused it too explode. She bit back a cry of pain when a piece of shrapnel sliced across her arm, she didn't want to remind Temblor that she was still here. She heard a very bad noise and looked up.

"Oh, shit." Those two words eloquently described the situation she was in. Suspended above her was another of the containers. Cracks had started to spread ominously across the surface of the container. She looked around and saw the Batman lying on his back as Temblor stalked towards him. Temblor raised his hands in preparation for the final dual-handed blow to the Batman. Pulling a bola(or is it pair of bolas?) out of his utility belt he threw them so they wrapped around Temblor's gauntlets, slamming them together which caused an explosion due to the feedback. The shockwave blast Temblor backwards into a support column. As he bounced off of the column unconcious he slammed down into the ground, releasing another blast of of energy into the floor.

Ivy let out a scream of terror as the container above her head ruptured, sending its contents in torrent downwards. Her scream lasted just as long as it took for her body to buried underneath the chemical mixture. The Batman had a split-second and used one of his batarangs to hit the control platform for the filter platform, raising it out of the chemicals. He let out a small sigh of relief when the young girl took a hacking breath. Pressing a button on his belt sent a quick message to Commisioner Gordon's pager, he went to see where the other teen had gone.

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**A little later, outside the Labs.**

Temblor was escorted off to an armored car with his arms tied behind his back, his gauntlets on as the police had been unable to remove them. Taking a glance around the Commisioner found a shaded spot near one of the buildings corners. Turning away from the dark spot he adressed it quietly.

"I don't suppose you had any better luck with finding the other teen, did you?" A voice spoke out of the darkness, its tone layered with neutrality and only the slightest amount of audible regret.

"No, that vat he fell into was designed to release all of the chemicals right into the river if necessary. I took a sample and I believe that those rumours of illegal drug manufacturing have their origin here. I sent a snake down the pipes, they're too small for him to have fit through. I did manage to retrieve his clothing however." The Commisioner sighed. That was always the worst part of his job, telling the families that their little baby wasn't making home that night. Sometimes he wondered why ever took this job.

"Well at least you saved one tonight. We still don't know what the effects of those mutagenic chemicals will have on her, but we're hoping for the best. Don't beat yourself up over this, what happened happened and nothing you can do or could have done will change that. Go get some sleep, we'll keep looking for the other one in the meantime." The Commisioner looked behind him and sighed when he noticed no-one was there again.

"Some days, its just one thing after another. I'm just glad my little girl is still too young to get involved in stuff like this. Or maybe that would have made a bit of a difference if she wasn't.*Sigh* I just hope the family doesn't take this too badly." With that he started walking back towards the flashing lights of the police vans.

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**Back at Arkham:**

"Lights out ladies! No talking past curfew or you lose excersize rights, remember?" Shouted the security guard as he passed down the hallway. Ivy waited until he was out of sight before returning to speak to Harley.

"That's really how I got my powers and from there I used them to get revenge on Chlorogene for giving me them. I just really wished that things had been different though. Then maybe Ranma wouldn't have died for nothing." Ivy stared down at her feet in depression. Even if it was only for one day, he was the first guy she ever liked, heck he saved her life even. Even thinking about him now brought a warmth to her heart when she remembered his smile or the feeling of his arms wrapped around her body as he carried her to safety. Humanity... wasn't _all _bad, just most of it. She sat back on her bed as she rested her head on the pillow. Harley watched as she fell asleep, a single tear escaping the green-skinned woman's eye.

'_Hmm... Poor Red's got it baaaaad. Maybe it wasn't the whole power thing that got her like this. Maybe it was losin the guy she was crushin on, that would do it. Now how can Mistah Jay use this...' _Harley went to sleep as her thoughts worked on pleasing her love with some new blackmail information.

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Here ya go. Another New story and hopefully and interesting one.

**Review!**

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**Chapter 2: Chapter 2**

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Here you go, the next chapter and what happened to Ranma. Oh yes and the next chapter of Soul Reaper One Half is being worked on. A cookie to whoever correctly guesses the relationship between the name of the labs and the items stolen, it is a familiar link to those who follow my other stories. Bonus points for the gang identities as well.

Now its time to let the party begin! We'll dance in rivers of blood to the music of a million damned souls in torment! How wonderful!

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_**FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON**_

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**The roof of Gotham Police HQ**

Commisioner James Gordon was not having a good day. First he got rudely awakened at three in the morning for what should have been simple hostage negotiation, as much as a hostage situation can be called simple, only to find out that the captors wer not willing to negotiate at all. The SWAT teams they had sent in had found no sign of the criminals, but what they did find turned even the most hardened veteran's stomach.

Things had really gone downhill in the last couple of years. The disorginization the crime families had been suffering after the death of Carmine Falcone had, while making things a little bit easier for the police, had also allowed others to slip in through the cracks. Two years ago Gotham City had been hit by some of the worst gang violence in its history. Two new gangs had arrived and set up shop in different parts of the city. Taking over the Northside and the docks was an Asian gang going by the Tennouren. And their rivals took over the Souththside, a old crime group from Europe by the name of Gabriella.

The two new gangs had quickly driven what was left of Gotham's old crews into an uneasy truce. The three heads of the old gangs were contained on the Eastside, though the territory was divided up among them. Sal Maroni, Rupert Thorne, and Roland Daggett. The last of the old guard for crime in Gotham.

Ever since the two gangs had arrived violence had erupted between them on a regular basis, right up until last year. Last year both gangs had begun fielding their own version of a 'Death Squad". The Tennouren's Shrike, or Gabriella's Murder Division. Both squads served as a form of detterent, as they were composed of some the nastiest killers either side could find or create.

Following in the two gangs wake were the various scavengers and hangers-on, such as mercenaries or hired assasins. The worst of them were the Jackals, elite and expensive killers that specialized in doing anything for the right price. The only good thing about them was that they kept themselves to a strict code and made sure to keep their conflicts from spilling over into places where innocents might get hurt.

Then tonight out of the blue he was rudely woken up out his hard earned sleep to deal with a developing situation.

It had been some gala one of the richer bussinessmen was hosting at his mansion, just another party for those with too much money and too little to do with it. At some point during the night an unknown number of assailants had slipped inside, permanently silencing any security that they had come across. In fact if it wasn't for one of the security guards taking an illegal break and talking to his girlfriend they would have never know anything was wrong.

As per operational procedure they had set up a police line around the entire property, by about four in the morning. By that point it was already too late. According to the forensics teams, every single one of the guests had been dead for at least two to three hours before the police had ever arrived. It was the first time a crime like that had happened in the Northside in a very long-time.

Since the Jackals had come to Gotham two years ago, crimes like this had become relatively rare. None of the super's wanted to risk upsetting either of the big gangs and so generally stayed in either the East or West-sides. Gordon though was disturbed for a different reason, the killers in this case had been around since **before **the new gangs had arrived, at least since five years ago. From the information they had gathered there were several members of the small group. One who used ranged weapons, a brute force specialist, a getaway man, a fire-head, the mastermind, and a very sick and vicious melee fighter, there was also the occaisonal use of ice and water in their crimes too. This time though, something new had popped up, thus James Gordon had been standing on the roof in the cold autumn air for the last hour.

The sound of light footsteps caused him to turn, only to see a pair of eyes in the shadows to the side of the signal-light. Gordon sighed, he'd long ago given up trying to predict when his enigmatic ally would appear on nights like these, or when he dissappear again. Wordlessly he held out a small folder to the caped figure. He waited patiently as the file was read over before asking the question that had been on his mind since he had checked out the crime scene.

"Do you think it was her?"

"No, though it does seem similar, these were created spontaneously out of inanimate objects, such as the flooring or chairs. Not even Poison Ivy could bring dead things to life, plant based or otherwise." The Batman shook his head as he handed the folder back to Gordon. " Which begs the question, who and how was this person able to create living spikes that impaled seven different guards out of wood flooring? Besides Ivy is still serving time in Arkham."

"Well none of the boys downstairs have any clue as to that one. But we do have a lead to the rest of the gang, all thanks to a fluke. Detective Bullock had been going through some of the old files from last year's Maroni trial, and he found something very interesting. According to some clandestine transactions that had been abruptly terminated from the receiving end, Maroni had been paying off a special unit up until about three years ago. An elite squad that specialized in hard raids. After he read that, Harvey went down to talk up our old friend Sal in the Anvil." Gordon walked over to the edge of the roof and rested both of his hands against the ledge as he looked over the city.

"The old dog didn't mind spilling about them, since they apparently went rogue around the same time the transactions stopped. Apparently they were his heavy duty squad, used for all the dirty jobs he had. They would get in and out of most hard situations they were sent on, Maroni made sure that the jobs they got were the hardest he had. A lot of the times it was real dirty work, but they'd do it. They'd take any job he offered, so long as he paid them. At first they weren't all that special, but over time they really started to scare Maroni. The only reason he said he kept them around for though, was because he was afraid they'd go to a rival gang, so he paid them more and more, while at the same time sending them into riskier and riskier situations. He was also terrified of the chance that if he did send out the order to ice them, that they'd make it out and hunt him down. Even he doesn't know who makes up the squad, except for their leader." Batman nodded his head for Gordon to continue.

"He goes by the name of MAGI, a genius of elctronics of all types, from robots or power generators. According to Maroni's description, he's at least in his mid-twenties to mid-thirties, is thin, and wears large glasses. With his pale skin he's like any usual nerd or basement dweller. But, he has a particular scar running vertically across one eye. We already have an APB out for him, but I for one hope that we don't find him yet."

"Why's that Commisioner?" The Batman asked with his usual gruff tones.

"Because, he just finished up a big job and is probably going to be with the rest of his gang. And I really don't want to start a fight with them if I can help it. *sigh* You know, its been three years now, since that night. It was a lot like tonight, cold, windless, quiet. Like the world was holding its breath in anticipation for something." He stepped away from the edge and looked Batman in the eye.

"Your lucky so far that he's been the only one you've lost. It never gets easier, and its going to be a really long day tommorow for me. Telling families that their little boy isn't coming home, or that little girl's daddy had an incident at work, it just makes things like this all the worse. I hope you find these guys, and when you do, do what ever you can to bring them down." Gordon closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he was once again alone on the roof.

"Good luck old friend." He whispered to the windless air as he turned off the bat-signal and walked back inside. "Three years and we still don't know what happened to that kid... Shame."

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**3 Years Ago. Location: Atlus Robotic Labs.**

A group of figures quietly slipped off the boat that had pulled up to the quayside, the motor idling as they tied it down. Making sure no one had seen them most of the group made their way to the side of the large square building, carefully navigating around any sources of light or security cameras. One had stayed behind and was setting up a crane-like device on the deck of the boat.

The first of the group pulled a pair bolt-cutters out from under a cloak and quickly cut a hole through the chain link fence surrounding the property, the others slipping through behind her. Once they reached the facility one of the taller figures consulted a small device in his hand, the light from it glinting off of his glasses, before pointing to a section of wall. The biggest man nodded, pulling out a welding torch, and lighting the gas with his cigar. The only sound was the hiss of the torch as it cut through the wall.

He slowly cut through the wall, leaving a large square outlined in glowing metal. Satisfied with the cut, the massive figure attached a magnetic clamp to the wall before pulling out the cut section. Sliding it out he moved it to the side of the new doorway into the labs. The big man turned and looked at the others before speaking quietly.

"I don't know about this, if da big boss gets wind of what were doin out here were toast! I mean even we can't take on da entire family!" The tall and gaunt man shrugged.

"Yes, but if we pull this off we can go finally go work for ourselves. We ace this job and no more doing scut work for Maroni. No more dragging ourselves back to him for more jobs. Besides there's no way you can back out now Pyro, not when we're so close to the big time." The big man, Pyro, remained indecisive for a moment more before nodding his head. He ducked his head to avoid touching the still hot metal. As he stepped into the hallway he continued his quiet conversation, loading a shotgun as he did so.

"Yea guess you're right. How'd you know all da badges would be busy tonight anyway? " The glasses wearing man smirked before directing the group down one of the hallways.

"I didn't, that was simply luck on our part. But I figured that with all the focus on the terrorist strikes by that mercenary, Temblor was his name, correct? I figured that the focus would be away from us, that he struck the same night is merely fortuitous coincedince." He sighed and hung his head at the confused expression on Pyro's face.

"It means we got very lucky, you lummox! Now hurry up, we need to get out of here before the alarms go off, my spike to their system won't last forever." Hissed the tall and thin man. The other members of the group nodded and quickly made their way down the halls, taking turns as their boss consulted his map before stopping in a wide open room. In the middle of the room where two large cylinder's, surrounded by bulletproof glass and a score of armed guards of course. Those guards were huddled together in small groups as they tried to figure out why their communications had stopped working.

"Shadow, Silence, its time to earn your pay." The glasses wearing man ordered. The last two of the group, both of whom were wearing concealing cloaks, drew out their weapons. One had a large sniper rifle while the other loosened up a length of chain that ended in a nasty hooked blade. In the other hand was a blade too long to be called a knife but not long enough to be called a shortsword, the edge serrated and vicious looking.

"And remember, No witnesses this time."

With that the one with the chain charged right in, the hook being swung through the air until it wrapped around a guards neck, and with a quick tug, tearing his head off as the sharp edge of the hook sliced right through. The sound of a rattling chain and the spray of blood from their downed ally was the only warning the guards got as the intruder went among them.

The figure danced among them, the guards' wild shots blowing holes through the cloak that trailed the figure, every step taken another guard eliminated. Throat opened here, hamstring and blade through the back of the skull there, broken neck on the backswing, heart literally torn out, and a blade through the eye and into the brain. Another swing of the chain ripped the blade through his chest, the hook latching onto his intestines and tearing them out. Trailing behind the path of devestation and bloodshed were the other two of the party, the larger Pyro silencing any guards who hadn't given in to their wounds yet.

From the doorway the last figure's rifle barked out shots as fleeing guards found no limb to put down as they ran, or no head to see where they were going. Each shot found its target without fail, some even going through several bodies before hitting the original target. The sniper also made sure to eliminate any who might be a threat to the boss as he made his way over to the two cylinders. Looking over the labels he smiled as he read them out loud.

"The Excellen line's models W-06 and W-07. Wonderful, with you things will definitely change around here." He frowned at the bulletproof glass keeping him from his prize.

"Pyro! Get over here and remove this... obstacle." The giant of a man leapt to obey, his eagerness comically similar to that of a loyal puppy.

"You got it Master MAGI!" Pyro flinched as MAGI proceeded to hit him over the head with his fist.

"Fool! You know the weight that name carries, so don't use it so loosely! Now get the stasis-chambers out of here and we can be on our way." Pyro nodded and quickly got out his bag of tools. Ignoring the screams of dying security guards he took out a small satchel and ductaped it onto the glass. Touching the end of his cigar to the fuse he backed away a few steps before leaping for cover behind a body.

There was a loud WHUMP and the last couple guards were knocked off their feet by the shockwave. Silence quickly moved over to them and dispatched them with a quick stab before they could recover. MAGI walked around the corner of the glass wall and into the vault in order to check on the condition of his prizes. After finding them undamaged he gestured over to the other three.

"Shadow, Silence you take W-06. Pyro, W-07. Chop chop, we don't have much time until the police arrive now." Indeed the alarms had already been set off by the concussive force of the small explosion. Pyro grabbed the container and slung it over his shoulder, some of the cables dangling down his back. Shadow and Silence manuevered their container onto a motorized dolly and were pulling it along slowly behind them.

They had made it out of the main building and had just about reached the street when they were forced to stop. Standing in front of them was a massive armored figure, one hand holding a massive cannon and the other a small gatling gun that slipped over the figure's fist. From underneath it's helmet were two glowing red lights that tracked the group of thieves.

MAGI let out a low curse. Of course Atlus Labs had their own Personal Trooper to defend themselves with. But damn it all why did they have to have deployed one of their top models _here _of all places. The Weisreitter Abend was one of three of the Original Generation EF models, and so far only one of each had been made. "Pyro, I need you to put down the container slowly, yes that's it. Now, reach into your bag and pull out the Anti-Robotic-Personnel mine." MAGI bit back a curse at the blank look he received.

"The small disk-shaped object, you insufferable ignoramus!" Hissed MAGI venomously. Flinching slightlyPyro nodded and proceeded to draw out a fist-sized disk about as thick as a phonebook. MAGI directed his words to the pair who had frozen pulling the dolly."Now when I give the signal, Pyro will depress the button in the center of the disk and then will hurl it at the Abend. Then you, Silence, will go for the legs while Shadow aims for head. If we can either blind it or take out its legs we should be able to get away. If not, well lets not think about that."

"Now, on my mark..." The thieves tensed up, ready for action."...GO!" Pryo hurled the disk with all his might, sending it straight at the Abend's head. There was a resounding clang as it bounced off, the noise sending the rest of the gang into action, Shadow and Silence leaping into position. From his position of authority(read as hiding behind Pyro's container) MAGI watched with a frown as the mine disharged a wave of crackling blue energy that failed to even dim the lights of the Abend. '_Something here is off, but what is it?" _The answercame to him as a shot from Shadow's rifle shattered off of the Abend's chestplate, the force of the impact toppling the giant robot over with an earthshaking thud. _'That's it! They turned it on but forgot to activate it, the fools.'_

Sighing to himself as he dusted his pants off, MAGI stood up and called to his companions." Alright, it seems we won. We got lucky twice tonight already, lets not push it. Browning's got the boat ready so lets double-time it!" The gang members nodded and quickly took off down the street. Reaching the boat Pyro put down the container he was holding and jumped onto the deck of the converted barge. Pyro frowned when he found no-one in the bridge or on deck. Looking around he spotted an open hatch on the deck. Walking over to it he shouted down into the hold.

"Yo! Haken, you down there bro?" He heard a clang and a muffled curse before Pyro heard an acknowledgement." While you're down there bring up my bag, we got the stuff." he tilted his head as he listened to the voice shout up from the depths of the boat. "Not that stuff, the _other _stuff. Yea the special things. What you doin down there anyways?" Pyro fell backwards as a large black bag flew up out the hatch, followed closely behind by the man who had thrown it.

Readjusting his black cowboy hat over his grey hair, the man walked over and gave Pyro a hand up." I caught a real interesting fish and was checking it out." Said the grey haired man as he walked over to the crane set up in front of the main cargo hatch. Pressing a few buttons got the crane moving put over the pier. A gentle depressing of the joystick and another press of a button picked up to two containers. Pausing for a moment for the three on the pier to find a place to stand on the crane's claw, Haken quietly brought the cargo over and onto the ship, waiting for hatch to open before setting the cargo into the hold.

Closing the hatch and turning off the crane he stepped past Pyro towards the open hatch."Pyro, get us under way. I have something to discuss with the boss." Haken said quietly as he slipped down into the hold. Pyro looked around furtively before unzipping the bag and pulling out a large bottle of vodka. Zipping the bag shut again he made his way over to the bridge while carressing the bottle in his hands.

* * *

**Within the hold of the Zeit Krokodil.**

Ducking his way underneath a low-hanging pipe and moving to the side of a sparking electrical cable, Haken made his way over to where MAGI had the two containers hooked up to a large monitor. He looked up from where he was connecting a cable when he heard Haken enter the room. "What do you want?"

Haken crossed his arms as he leaned againts the doorjam."I picked up something. Found it in a patch of funny looking water." MAGI put down his tools and directed his full attention towards Haken.

"What do you mean funny? Haha funny? Weird funny? Or Joker haha funny?" Asked MAGI.

"Joker funny. There was this big patch of glowing green and yellow, something, floating down the river. I spotted something inside and went fishing. You won't believe what I caught." Haken motioned for his boss to follow him. The two arrived in front of the door to Haken's quarters in a short time. Stepping inside MAGI was instantly visually assualted by wall to ceiling to wall posters of various models or anime females. MAGI turned and gave the embaressed Haken a piercing stare.

"Although these are your quarters I do expect a little restraint in your, decorating. Now what is it you found." Haken led MAGI past a life-size statue of Kaguya Nanbu and into his bedroom. Once there he indicated the form buried under the blankets. Rolling his eyes MAGI stepped forwards and pulled off the offending covering. He was forced to resist the urge to cause bodily harm to his associate, as all that was on the bed was a young woman. A stunningly beautiful one, albeit, her fiery red hair and pale skin against a deep blue dress that seemed to change shades like a stormy sea.

Turning back to Haken he pointed a finger to the woman on the bed. "What is so important about a little girl you picked up?" His tone was decidely frosty and Haken had to hold back shivers.

"Well you see that dress the little lady has on. Thing is when I pulled her out of the drink she wasn't wearing it." He paused for a moment to run that sentence through his head, before his eyes widened." And I didn't give it to her either!" He said hastily.

"Well then where did it come from? You can't expect me to believe that she made it out of thin air now do you?" Asked MAGI with smirk. He was put off when Haken gave him a nod.

"Yep. After I carried her down here I brought a jug of water and a glass, I figured she'd want something to drink once she woke up. But that's where it gets a little wierd. You see after I set down the jug next her I turned to find a glass for her. When I turned back I was stunned, the water from the jug was flowing upwards, _through the air, _and weaving itself into that dress she has on." MAGI's eyes had widened to the size of saucer's behind his glasses, before a cold smile stole across his face.

"Well I used to discount those tales of meta-humans like Clay-Face and such. But this, this is proof. No this is perfect. With the W models and her on our side we can set ourselves up for life!" A dark and disturbing gleam had come into MAGI's eyes as he stared at the unconscious girl on the bed, his mind awhirl with what he could do with a water manipulater. Oh yes Gotham had better be ready. Things were going to change around here.

* * *

Will our Caped Hero find the dasterdly villains in time to prevent another crime from occuring? What happened to the young woman in the gang's evil clutches? Tune in next time to find out!

As for Ranma's abilities, well the way I understand it, the Venom chemical acts as an accelerant, in the case of Bane it accelerates muscular growth, in Poison Ivy's it accelerated her body's defense mechanism against poisons and toxins to the point of absorbing them. So I figured whatever powers Ranma gained from the Venom bath would have to be based on existing abilities of his. Here ya go. Sorry bout the OC's but I needed a gang to take in Ranma and most of the villains in Batman run solo or just have nameless minions. Well mostly OC's anyway. ;)

**Review!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Chapter 3**

* * *

All right here's the next chapter. And yes, Ranma will be a larger part now, I just needed to set the scene in the last chapter. Congrats to **kajoshin** for correctly guessing where the the relation ship between the W models and the labs. Them, as well as Haken, Kaguya Nanbu, and the Zeit Krokodil all come from Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier, which is published by Atlus.

Also I felt really strange writing Ranma's introduction to the gang. I don't know, it was like a combination of pity, sadness, and guilt. Wierd huh? But I just can't read that section without feeling _something_.

Oh, and for those who care, I have started work on the next chapter of ToT. And I have also picked up a challenge from the author StarEyed2, though you won't see it for a while. Anyway, Enjoy!

* * *

_**FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON**_

* * *

**One Week after the Temblor Incident. Location: Gotham City Docks, Southside.**

A choking gurgle clawed its way out as the gangster fell to the ground, clutching the the fatal wounds to his chest. To his side another gangster crouched, leaning his back against the side of a parked car. The gangster popped his head up over the trunk and snapped off a couple of shots at the shot up car across the street. He ducked back down as he heard a wounded scream.

From atop the rooftop of a nearby warehouse, a figure watched the showdown with cool detachement. Looking out over the city, he blocked out the cacophanous symphony of sirens and gunshots. Several buildings and parked cars along the street were on fire, along with many more in the city itself, lending the night a hellish atmosphere. The flickering of the flames of the old apartment building across the street cast a dark light that reflected off of the watcher's glasses.

The watcher didn't turn as he heard gravel crunch under steel-shod boots. Ignoring the other man on the roof, the watcher looked down the street where another group of street thugs was approaching the firefight already underway. Without turning his head the watcher rasped a question to the waiting man.

"Did you have any difficulties aquiring the information I require?" The other figure took off his hat and ran his hand through his silver hair as he shook his head, even though the watcher couldn't see the motion.

"Nah, wasn't anything I couldn't handle. You were right though, about this being an all-out war, it seems Thorne and Maroni have decided to go at it again. Thing started when one of the Don's got iced. He was choked out while he was sleeping in the middle of his mansion, surrounded by guards." The grey haired man said. The watcher narrowed his eyes as he gazed thoughtfully over the city.

"The death of a Don, by any means, is not that unusual and is hardly the cause for another gang war. What's so special about this one in particular?" He mused aloud. The grey-haired man swallowed nervously and wet his dry lips before he answered slowly/

"Uh, MAGI, sir, it was. I mean, i-it, it was Divino. Someone snuffed out Don Bruglioni." Haken barely resisted the urge to duck for cover as MAGI's head shot up explosively in shock. Haken couldn't really blame him, after all the Bruglioni's were one of the oldest of Gotham's crime families, and most importantly Divino Bruglioni was Sal Maroni's uncle and advisor.

MAGI pivoted slowly around until he was facing Haken, his brow twitching. "So Haken," Haken shuddered, "who is it they thinki might be responsible for the Don's untimely demise?" MAGI asked in a cold tone.

"They don't think it might be anyone, they _know_ who did it. They even have the guy who confessed to it. One of Thorne's boys, an Armiena." MAGI nodded, there was no love lost between the two families and this wasn't the first time blood had been shed. However this time not just the Bruglioni's were involved but also Sal Maroni, as it was his uncle who died. Haken continued on." Thing is, and I looked into it, the guy has an airtight alibi, witnesses and security footage place at a bar for about two hours before, and an hour after the Don was killed."

MAGI frowned at the information. It seemed that someone else was orchestratring events for their own purpose. This was bad, especially considering the fact that the outright war that had sprung up between the two Heads would seriously cripple them. He'd almost think it was an effort on the Police's behalf, weakening the major crime boss' and then capturing them, but that wasn't how the Commisioner would do things. Too much chance of getting innocents caught up in things. MAGI winced as a burning building across the river exploded in a tremendous fireball. At least anymore innocents than already were involved he amended.

MAGI sighed." Well, its not our problem anymore. We worked hard to get out from under Maroni's thumb and this is the perfect opportunity. Keep me informed however, we need to keep an eye out for things that shouldn't be happening." Haken nodded, opening his mouth to respond before closing it as he heard music start to play.

Blinking, it took a few seconds to place the song but when he recognized it he gave MAGI a flat stare. "Really? Sound of My Dreams? Reaaally?" MAGI stared back at him, before turning away as he pulled out his phone.

"Don't judge me." He said sheepishly before flipping open the phone. When he spoke into the phone, it was in his usual commanding tone. "What is it? I thought I told you only to use this for important messages, and asking for me to pick up burgers is not important! I-oh, I see. I apologize, I thought it was Pyro with another inane request of his. We shall be down momentarily. Just get her what she asks for and keep her there until we arrive. Good." Closing the phone with a click he turned to Haken witha smirk on his face.

"It seems that your little Rip Van Winkle is soon to awake from her nap. And I'm sure she will be quite curious as to her whereabouts and what led to such. Come, lets not keep her waiting." He said as he strode past Haken towards the door to the stairs, the grey haired man following closely behind him. Catching the door with his hand, Haken took one last look out over the tormented city before ducking inside, letting the door slam behind him.

* * *

**Within the Warehouse.**

MAGI and Haken walked quickly down the refurbished hallways of the warehouse. The oustide of the building held a dilapidated appearance, one that had made the location perfect. Within though, the building had been completely reconstructed into a fortress, with dead-end hallways and built-in traps for the unwary. The warehouse had been carefully divided into three levels; an upper floor with the gang's personal rooms, the ground floor had been converted into a large lab and a a hidden dock for the Zeit Krokodil, and a basement level for MAGI's secret projects.

Approaching one of the many blank doors, none in the building were labeled in an effort to confuse intruders, MAGI pulled out a small key card. Inserting it into the reader by the side of the door, he waited patiently for the door to unlock, before pushing it open and striding into the room. The room was one of the medical bays MAGI had built after purchasing the building, the money coming from investments and some illegal trading on hacked information. Pure white walls and ceiling, the room had a cold clinical feel to it, empty of any furnishings save rows of monitors and some closets holding medical equipment. Lying serenely on the bed was their patient, the redheaded teen girl that Haken had pulled from the river, still clothed in her dress made of water.

Spotting the patient MAGI barely resisted a face palm, while Haken let out a wolf whistle. Standing next to the bed, holding a medical chart, was a pale-skinned young woman dressed in a stereotypical nurse's uniform, colored in black and white, with long black hair streaked with white. Sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed was a woman who could only be described as the first's twin, though her hair was white with black streaks, and her choice in clothing was a much more sensible feminine business suit. The second twin was ignoring her sister's antics as she was reading a small book, peering over the top of her frameless glasses as the door opened.

The white-haired sister set down her copy of _Field of Dishonor_ as she stood up and walked over to the waiting pair at the door. "She'll be up soon. We were waiting until you arrived to wake her." She said in a calm even voice. MAGI nodded and the white-haired woman turned to her sister, gesturing at one of the machines. The black-haired sister smiled broadly as she happily skipped over to the machine, pressing a small button on it and watching as small pulses of electricity were fired into specific parts of the patients brain that would, for all intents and purposes, jumpstart conciousness. It was something special MAGI had developed after watching too much day-time television one week.

The red-headed teen blinked her eyes as she sat up, rubbing them in an attempt to get rid of the blurriness faster. Taking a look around the room she cocked her head to the side with a confused expression. After a couple of minutes it was obvious that neither she nor anyone else was going to say anything, both MAGI abd Haken content to merely observe. Sighing to herself, the white-streaked woman decided to break the ice, pushing her glasses up with a finger from where they had slid down her nose.

"Excuse me, but could you introduce yourself. We would like to know the identity of the person we saved. Oh and my name is Luciana, but everyone just calls me Shadow. Maybe you could tell us why you were floating down the river too." She said with a smile. however that disappeared when a look of confusion and growing panic raced across the girls face.

"You can't remember your name, can you?" Recieving a nod to the affirmative, Luciana sighed."What can you remember then?" The redhead furrowed her brow in concentration, before speaking slowly and softly, barely above a whisper.

"I-I remember the ground shaking, and a man with glowing hands. There was a fight or something, was I fighting? And someone else I think, someone important. I think I was trying to protect them." Luciana motioned for the girl to continue, while MAGI already had an idea as to her identity. "I remember someone falling, and me catching them. I... Ergh!" The redhead suddenly clutched at her head while the heart rate monitor spiked. "Ivy! There was a girl an' her name was Ivy, I think, and I was trying to save her from glow guy. Then something fell an' hit me on the head. And that's it." The girl stared at her hands intently, as if they would give up the secrets of her memories if she did so long enough.

MAGI and Luciana exchanged quick looks, MAGI gesturing to a corner of the room where the discuss things quietly. Seeing how discomfitted the teen was, Luciana's sister walked over to the bed and pulled the girl into a tight hug. Haken simply leaned against the door with a bored look on his face.

"Do you remember the big story in the news last week?" MAGI asked Luciana quietly, so as not to disturb the distraught redhead. Luciana nodded, it wasn't every day that the Batman was unable to save a ki... Luciana's mouth made a silent 'o' as realization hit. "And you remember what happened with the other teen involved, correct?" Luciana nodded."So if my suspicions are correct, then this one has her own special powers, probably based around water. Unfortunately they never released the missing child's identity to the public, so I will have to a bit of digging around to find it. Considering her amnesia, we could certainly keep her here, but it would have to be done in way that would keep her from trying to leave. Any ideas?"

Luciana put on a thoughtful expression, tapping a finger against her bottom lip. Her face brightened as an idea came to her and she turned back to the redhead. Walking over to the bed, she sat down on the corner of it, leaning on one arm, she used the other to gently tap the redhead on the leg. MAGI stood silently, interested in what she was doing. "Can you tell us anything about your family, names, faces, anything you can remember about them?" She asked kindly. The girl nodded, closing her eyes as she tried hard to remember.

"I remember... a panda? Maybe we had a pet? And lots of tears, and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. And the pain, why is there pain?" The girl said in such an innocent, pleading voice that Luciana's heart broke. She had a good idea why the girl felt that way, after all she and her sister had lived through much the same with their father. "So much pain. Didn't I do it right daddy? Why are you hurting me? No. Not the pit daddy, not again! Please daddy! I'll be good I promise! Don't leave me alone in the pit again! Please!" Anything else the girl might have said was lost as she broke down into heart-renching sobs.

Luciana moved forward quickly, wrapping the girl in a tight embrace. The others watched on with somewhat stunned or dark looks on their faces, Haken and MAGI swearing to have a _long _conversation with the girl's father one day. The girl's small frame shuddered as it was racked with sobs, her arms clinging tightly to the older woman like to her only lifeline. As the redhead cried her tears into the older womans shoulder, Luciana was stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words in her ear. Eventually, after she managed to get her tears mostly under control, she looked up and stared straight into Luciana's eyes, her deep crimson meeting bloodshot blue. "Why, why did daddy do that to me?" The girl's voice was so small and quiet that Luciana barely heard her.

"I don't know little one, sometimes people do bad things for no reason at all. The best you can do is learn from it, get stronger because of it, and stop it whenever you can." Luciana paused, as if she had been struck by sudden inspiration. "Little one, how would like to be part of our family?" The girl's head shot up so fast that Luciana practically felt the whiplash. Luciana couldn't help but chuckle at the look of pure joy on the girls face. Smiling she introduced the rest of gang present.

"Letsee here. I'll be your Aunt Luci, the woman in the nurse's uniform can be your big sister. Her names Natalya, but we all call her Silence, because of how she never makes a sound." The woman in question waved from where she sitting and reading a magazine. " The man with the glasses is our smart uncle MAGI, if he has a different name he's never told us. He likes to think that he takes care of us, but most of the time I end up taking care of him." MAGI chuckled as he inclined his head towards the pair on the bed. Luciana continued on, a smirk stealing its way across her face. "And then there's your uncle Haken, the closet perv." Luciana ignored the sounds of indignant protest and kept on speaking."He's real nice once you get past that though, if a bit a gambler. Oh and your big brother Dimitri is in his room sleeping off another one of his hangovers. We may not be the best family, but we do take care of each other. So how about it?"

If the bone crushing embrace was anyting to go by, then she accepted whole-heartedly.

* * *

**Later that evening:**

Having made sure that she was medically sound, Luciana had taken the redheaded girl to choose her own room. Suprisingly, to Luciana at least, she had chosen a room painted in colours of deep blues and blacks, instead of any of the lighter, more feminine coloured rooms. Apparently MAGI had an idea as to the girl's identity, but had told her he needed confirmation on it, and that it would have to wait until after dinner. She begrudgingly agreed with him, and after getting a room for th girl, she had sent her to shower and get cleaned up.

Which brought her back to the present, since they had pulled the girl out of the river, she had no possessions of her own. Sighing to herself as she looked through an empty closet, Luciana made a mental note to get out sometime with her sister and her new 'niece' and go shopping. She'd have to make sure they stayed away from those damned cosplay stores her sister frequented though, how she managed to find so many in America was something she'd never know.

Any more thoughts she might have devoted to the subject would never be known as a scream ripped through the air, coming from the direction of the bathroom. Pulling out a out a pistol from that had been hidden _somewhere _in her clothes, Luciana cautiously approached the bathroom door. Carefully, she put an ear against the door, but heard nothing save running water from the shower.

Taking a couple steps back she slammed into the door with her shoulder, using her momentum to roll into a crouch, her eyes tracking across the room quickly. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary, she stood up slowly, still holding her pistol at the ready. She moved carefully past the sink towards the shower, the glass fogged up by steam and impossible to see through.

Stopping in front of she tapped on the glass gently, then raised her pistol in reflex. When nothing happened she tapped again. Still recieving no response she leaned over and whispered just loud enough to be heard over the running water.

"Hey kid, you in there?" Getting no sign of response back she repeated the question slightly louder. "Kid, you alright in there? Listen if you don't say anything I'm coming in." She waited patiently for about five seconds before tentatively pushing the shower door open. Opening it fully, her eyes widened and she unconsciously licked her suddenly dry lips. There, standing with a shocked expression in the middle of the shower, was a decently tall but incredibly muscular young man. It took a few seconds for the similarities between his appearance and that of the girl that had entered the bathroom, but once they did...

"Kid, is that you?" Her question was enough to snap the young man out of his shock, sending him scrambling bacwards in a panic.

"No! Don't come near me! I might be contagious!" He shouted as he shrunk into a corner. Luciana blinked, turning off the water before stepping into the shower and crouching in front of the black-haired young man. Reaching forwards, she wrapped him in a hug while telling him that it was alright. She barely registered the sound of footsteps entering the bathroom. It took MAGI a moment to actually register the scene within.

"Shadow are you in here? I was wond- I see I'm interrupting something. Don't feel the need to stop on my account, I'll see myself out." MAGI started backing out of the bathroom slowly, while Luciana had realized what it looked with her holding onto the boy like that and had leapt backwards, incidentally crashing into the shower handle and causing a jet of cold water to soak the frightened boy. The sudden shift in gender was enough to freeze all three people. MAGI decided to vocalize the thought that was running through their minds.

"Well, isn't that interesting." His statement, more the calm tone it was delivered in, caused Luciana's head to snap around. Seeing the fact that there was no shock or suprise evident in his expression, as well as the shower being his suggestion, led to one conclusion in Luciana's mind.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Fixed with a painful glare, MAGI swallowed audibly any thoughts of lying his way dying after taking a look into Luciana's eyes. Meanwhile, the boy-now-girl was tenderly checking over her body in wonder, obviously her mind still in shock.

"Would you believe, that this was completely unexpected? Alright then, you see this was what I needed to be sure of. The girl's name is Ranma Saotome, and she was born male." That snapped the girl in question out of her trance quite quickly, as she considered the information before asking a question of MAGI.

"But then, why doesn't this body feel wrong to me?" MAGI nodded sagely as he considered the question carefully.

"It most likely is because you no longer have your memories and thus, no inclination towards either form. You are for the most part, a blank slate." He postulated, Ranma nodding, it did make sense to her. After all if you had no memories of being a guy and waking up in a girl's body you would believe yourself to be a girl if there were no contradictions. MAGI continued on, though an expression of distate and anger came over his face.

"And it may also be due to your own subconscious thoughts and desires. From what I could dig up of your life beforehand, you lived a chained and brutal existence between fights as a premier martial artist. It's not too hard to believe that you may have considered your female form an escape from the pressures of your life."

Nodding once more, MAGI prepared to step out of the bathroom before a thought struck him. Pulling out a small folder, he tossed it to a confused Luciana with a gesture to a more calm, though still pretty shell-shocked, Ranma. "That my dears, is why I came in here looking for you. Since you seemed so interested in the idea I went ahead and did up all the paper and cyberwork(read:hacking) for it. All it needs is a signature and you will be Ranma Volkova, Luciana's adopted daughter."

* * *

As he left the two stunned and happy young women behind, he couldn't help but feel like he'd done a very good deed. Now he needed to go out and find a puppy to kick. As he walked past Natalya's room, he made a mental note to remind her that she wasn't allowed to keep any of her catgirl outfits anymore, with Ranma staying here that would be a very bad idea.

Slipping into his room and turning on his working music, _Blood in My Eyes _by Dimestore Hoods, he set to the task of reprogramming last week's acquisitions. As he worked he couldn't help but smile, with the way things were going his retirement from crime was looking closer and closer. Now if only he could figure out how the girl had manipulated the water like that, and how to unlock her knowledge of martial arts too.

But that could wait for tommorrow, today he had more important things to worry about. Like how to get rid of the stupid piece of programming known as Code DTD in W-07's systems. Seriously who would install a system of removing the clothing on a gynoid to vent heat, and then linking that to an alteration to her AI that turned her into the quintessential bubbly blonde, though with green hair.

* * *

Well hoped you like that.

Okay so reasoning for Ranma's intro, I figure that without enough context behind the memory fragments he has, that Ranma's training years could easily be misunderstood by both himself and others. Him breaking down like that, both times, is also due in part to him having no effective buffer against the memories. But damn writing that section took a lot out of me.

And its time for me to pitch another Idea to the masses. So recently I had been playing a lot of a certain game, and so , as is the norm for myself, had thought about who a different character would do in the main hero's role. Which led to a clinging plot bunny being born. So what do you people think of a Rune Factory and Ranma cross? Yay or nay? I won't write anything for it for a while, but if you guys might like it I'll put time into thinking about it more. My only problem is who do I pair him with. Hmm so many choices.

**Review!**

* * *

Yeah, so this died a quick death. Anyway, the next chapter was supposed to be about MAGI sending out the gang to retrieve some materials for the device to recover Ranma's memory, and in the process they would run into Mr. Freeze and some of Ranma's new powers would come to light. Just lack of interest killed this one, I think.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: **Grimoire One Half**  
Category: Anime/Manga » Ranma  
Author: Fellgrave  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/General  
Published: 11-10-11, Updated: 01-13-12  
Chapters: 3, Words: 8,450

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**Chapter 1: Prologue: Welcome to Ranma's Life**

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A/N: Well here I am with another story. I don't know if I'm gonna take this too far beyond a one or twoshot at the moment, but I really need to get this plot bunny out of my head. I don't own anything here. And I am still working on Ranma No Kitsune. Im about halfway done the next chapter on it.

Lucifer pops out of the shadows. "How dare you! Go back and work my story! Er I mean the one everyone is reading... Anyway do it or I'll sick Cthulu on you!"

**"Ha, I am the great Fellgrave! Nothing you can do can scare me!"** Lucifer opens a rip in reality from which tentacles start coming out. I jump in and face off against the indescribable horror that is Cthulu. Dodging his tentacles I leap up slam him with a haymaker infused with the power of the Grave, knocking him unconcious. After returning to reality, Lucifer is trembling in my prescence.

"I'll be back, and next I kick your butt for real!" He shouts as he fades away.

"**Anyway. On with the story! And review, cus I can punch out Cthulu. yeaaa...**"

* * *

**Grimoire One Half**

**Prologue:Welcome to Ranma's Fucked up Life.**

**Location: Furinkan High, Class:English, Time:Summer Break.**

_Tick...Tock...Tick..._

_'Oh come on, can't you go any faster? it's not fair for time to go so slowly.'_

_Tick...Tock...Tick..._

_'I mean, look outside, the sun's shining, the sky is clear without a cloud in sight.'_

_Tick...Tock...Tick..._

"MR. SAOTOME! If you showed as much interest in my lessons as you did with that clock perhaps you would actually learn something from them!" The shout, accompanied by the smack of a yardstick on a desk, snapped our pigtailed protagonist from his musings with a start. Scratching the back of his head, he turned from the clock to face the angry, while at the same time cute and humorous, face of his english teacher.

"Um, It's not that I don't try ta pay attention to your lessons, Ms. Hinako. Its just that..."And here did strike that most dreadful of curses, The Curse of the Foot in the Mouth(Dun Dun DUUUN, *cough*),"... half tha time your lessons put me ta sleep and the other I end missin cus of one thing or another." Ranma said with a chuckle. A slight tick had developed on the child teacher's forehead.

"Mr. Saotome, I know it is the last day of school so can you at least take on lesson seriousl-"

_'Yes! School's out!"_Ranma thought as he opened the window and prepared to leapt out only to be stopped by someone grabbing him by the shoulder. Turning around he stared down his teacher, a feat not hard to accomplish considering she was much shorter than him in her chibi-form.

"And where do you think your going young man?"

"Ah man, let me go teach. I mean its summer break so there ain't any reason for me ta stick around right?"

"No reason hmm. Think back, now how many times have you been late for class this year? Or how many times have I caught you napping during one of my lessons?" Demands the tiny teacher as she taps her foot impatiently.

"Umm, once or twice?"Ranma offers as he scratches the back of his head.

"Try seven times late, in a row I might add, and I lost count of how many times I caught you sleeping. So as punishment you have to go help the new librarian get settled."

"We have a library?" Ranma wondered, he also wondered if with all the martial artists in town there might be some techniques hidden in there somewhere.

"Yes, and it is quite disordered and in need of tidying up and reorganizing. I already told Mr Randell that you would help him so no sneeking off."

" Fine, teach." Ranma said downtrodenly as he stepped back from the window. As he turned away and followed Ms. Hinako to library he shivered as he couldn't help but feel as if he was walking towards his execution.

* * *

"And here you go." The door opened into a small room fillled with books, the shelves were stacked full of them and there piles on the floor as well. There was a short round table off to the side with a large book and a music box on it. On the counter where the librarian usually checks out books was a small teddy bear leaning against a plant. "Mr. Randell will be by in a few minutes, he's in a meeting with the Vice-principal right now. While you wait why don't you pick up a book to read. Just be careful of the piles though, they might collapse on you." Ms. Hinako added the last bit with a small smile on her face as she left Ranma alone in the library.

Ranma negotiated his way around a couple of piles as he made his way over to the table. He carefully opened the small music box and listened to it for a while as it played a soft melody that seemed oddly familiar to him. Shrugging it off he pulled out the chair and took a look at the book on the table. '_Dang that thing looks older than the Old Ghoul.' _Flipping it open Ranma found it filled with stories of brave heroes and their foes, illustrated with images of knights and dragons and strange creatures. As he was flipping through the yellow and well worn pages suddenly the story stopped. Furrowing his brow he flipped back until he found the last page with text on it. '_One is fated to fill these barren pages. Know you his name?' _Ranma paused as he looked around before removing a small pen from his stuff space.'_Well, its not like anyone is gonna read it if its unfinished anyway.' _He leaned over the table as he scratched in his name next to the sentence in the book. '_Ran... Ma... Sao... Tome... There! Done.'_

As he put down the last stroke of ink a sudden flash of light burst from the book. As he started to float in the air he tried nearly everything he could to get away. As his conciousness started to slip away from him he had time to try one last burst of ki. While it didn't appear to do anything for him, adding massive amounts of energy into a space-time warp is never a good idea. As the darkness encroached upon him he had time for two thoughts. Thought one:'_I really hate magic artifacts.' _Thought two:'_Dang I'm gonna be late for dinner, I hope Kasumi won't be mad.'_ And with that he slipped into unconciousness and out of his world.

* * *

**Bwahahahaha! This is gonna be good!**

Anyway I have decided to give Ranma a little boost here in this story to survive Ivalice and its dangers. Why you might ask? Because the air render that the white monks learn is like the yama-sen-ken, the aurablast is like the shi-shi-hokodan, and the earth render is like the bakusai tenketsu. And all those abilites, while they do do damage, they don't deal a lot of damage to monsters and other clans. And so I am going to give Ranma a heritage that he will slowly gain access to over the story, unaware for the most part. The options of what heritage though are:

Dark Elf, Drow

Demon, D&D classifications

Devil, D&D classifications

Succubus, deserves its own spot

Dragon, If this wins I'll do a second poll for the type of dragon

Some type of Undead, such as Vampire, Banshee etcetera.

Any other option someone sends to me that I think I can write in.

**Well thanks for reading and Review!**

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**Chapter 2: Chapter 1: A Warriors Call**

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**Read this First...****A/N,V2: **Okay so After the reception to the previous version of this chapter I have reworked most of what I had planned for the story. Some things will stay, such as the Sailor Moon cross, but most of the other stuff will be tossed or reworked. I must also respond to the review from**Rydan fall**. First off have you even played FFT A2? First off the book is stated in the game to be an ancient grimoire of great power, second according to the FFT games and FF XII games, the world we live in is the very far-flung future from where they take place in. Look up Ivalice on the **Final Fantasy Wiki** if you don't believe me. Therefore the events that occur in the games would take place before or during the Silver Millenium, however I am keeping Ivalice as a seperate dimension. Third, **Klesta is a Crushatrice**, which is basically a giant, fat, chicken. I have taken your advice though and I removed most of the extraneous crossovers.

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A/N: So, I guess I'm going to be alternating updating my fics from now on.

/I\Disclaimer/I\ I own no manga, anime, book, nor video game series or characters belonging to those series' that may appear in any form within this work of fiction.

I have squat when it comes to the Sailor Moon timeline, I've only read fanfiction for the series, so I'm gonna wing it with them.

Remember to vote in either the review or the polls for what heritage you want Ranma to have. IF there is a particular character from a manga or game that you would like to see in the fic, just message me or leave a review.

So yeah, that's it. Umm, read and, well you know, **review**.

Oh yea, I now Have a Beta. All Props go to **Maltrazz** for being my guinea pi- I mean volunteer.

And I am going to be writing up a character stat sheet as well. It will follow after every chapter and I will update it as the story goes along. Expect it within a day or two.

* * *

_'_

_~-Destiny, by Sinner Sought-~  
~-Tragedy, by Power Wrought-~_

_'_

_~-The Blind man sees devils in the darkness-~  
~-The Deaf man hears the howling of lost souls-~  
~-And the Dumb man speaks in tongues of impending terrors-~  
~-Chaos has Come-~_

_'_

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**Chapter One: A Warrior's Call**

_The dimensional tear grew much larger than the magic had intended, the extra energy imparted from its target causing it to go beyond the spell's original outcome. The tear widened and caused another to fall in, stealing her and placing her within before sealing itself. The driving force of the magic had still caused the tear to seek out those who would best fulfil the requirements and the need to become something greater than what they were. And so the magic reached out from Nerima, and snaked straight to the center of a small ward that was really quite ordinary. The only thing that made it stand out was a particular group of Defenders of Love and Justice._

* * *

_**Location: Juuban Ward. Tokyo**_

The senshi had hoped that after defeating Mistress Nine they would have some time to rest before the next threat appeared. Unfortunately for them, what they had not been expecting a maddened Jadeite to appear from nowhere and start attacking them. He had been driven insane after being sealed away in the Eternal Sleep. He had escaped when Metallia and Beryl were defeated and spent the time abosorbing the essence out of any youma left in the Dark Kingdom. Having defeated him before they were confident in their skills that had grown so much since they had first fought. They were caught off guard by how much strength he had gained from his insanity and efforts stealing energy from youma.

The battle had been a hard one, even requiring Pluto to step in. And that merely evened the playing field. He had tired the Senshi with repeated bombaardments of various magical attacks. Once they were tired enough he launched his final attack. Creating a meteor of pure magic he cast it down at the Senshi. As they attempted dodged the attack, Jadeite teleported in to seize the already tired Sailor Moon in an attempt to ensure her destrution. His plans were ruined when a rip in space opened beneath her feet and pulled her away. Jadeite only had a moment to scream in frustration before being crushed to death by his own attack. From her space at the end of timePluto rewound the event in the Time Gates, watching once again as her princess was snatched away from danger. She knew that she would be back, Chibi-Usa was still here after all. Chibi-Usa had even found something about the disaster to make her happy. It was probably something she knew from the future though it didn't help Pluto, and neither did the sometimes smug I-know-something-you-don't-know smirk Chibi-Usa got when talking about her future mother or father. But nothing had ever stopped Sailor Moon for long, and Crystal Tokyo was still there, so she had to make it back, eventually...

* * *

**Location: Targ Wood, Klesta's Domain.**

Ranma was in hell.

Ranma's brain, upon regaining consciousness, ran through its usual start-up procedure. Current form? Male, Check. Damages or wounds? None, Check. Current location? Lying on top of something warm,soft and breathing, hand holding on something round on even softer. Che-wai-whaaa?

Ranma's brain immediately dropped to DEFCON Three, possible dangerous situation resulting in a malleting. In order to make sure, his hand lightly squezed the object it was holding, eliciting a soft moan and shudder from the object underneath Ranma. Visual confirmation necessary, his eyes opened to see a young blonde-haired girl unconcious underneath him, and his right hand was grasping her breast. Yes Ranma was in hell.

His mind jumped straight to DEFCON One, and enacted its prepared emergency procedures. He leaped up in the air before cowering underneath a nearby tree. As the awaited malleting was long in coming Ranma dared to open his tighly shut eyes. As he looked around for mad mallet-wielding tomboys, he noiced his current environment.

From what he could tell, he was in a clearing a forest somewhere, a very old forest if the size of some of the trees was anything to go by. He could hear the sounds of a river rushing nearby, though he couldn't see it from where he was standing. As he calmed down, he noticed that aside from the girl he had woken up on top of there was no-one else nearby and he couldn't sense anyone for a long ways out.

He took a moment to study the girl. She of seemed pretty normal to him, other than the unusual blond hair, he could have gone past in the streets any day and not noticed her. At least that was what he thought until he preformed an aura scan on her. He had to shut his eyes from the brightness of her aura, he had never met anyone with that amount of power outside of himself and Saffron. And if what Saffron had said was true then he was a God. Ranma's brow furrowed as he thought over his last battle with the alleged Phoenix God. He had in fact seen the egg left over after his attack and so he was inclined to believe what Saffron had said. That however had brought even more questions though, because this girl obviously hadn't trained all her life like he had, so how could she have that much power.

* * *

Suddenly a nest fell out a tree nearby, startling Ranma out of his thoughts. It was then that he finally registered a strange shaking. He had noticed a slight trembling before, but simply ignored it. By now though, the shaking was enough to cause the trees nearby to shudder slightly. The blonde haired girl in the clearing beg to stir due to the vibrations, only to mutter "five more minutes" under her breath before turning over and going back to sleep.

Ranma started to turn to face her before something moving over the treetops caught his eye. He circled slowly around the tree he was hiding behind before letting out a low curse.'_How the hell did I get back to Ryugenzawa? And since when was there a giant chicken living there?'_

Klesta had sensed that there were trespassers in its domain, and had gone out to run them off. It knew that there were those out there who hunted it, but the prescences it felt had appeared suddenly, much unlike the slow approach of the hunters. Their appearance had also stirred something, some strange innate sense of self-preservation, as there had been a third prescence, one whose nature terrified the crushatrice on some instinctual level. Finally spying the intruders it let out a large battle cry before attacking.

"KWORK!"

* * *

"KWORK!"

Usagi Tsukino was roused out of her sleep in an instant, something that would have drawn screams at an incoming apocalypse from those who didn't know her well enough. After having had to fight for her life too many times to count over the last while after being rudely awoken by her communicator, she had developed a hair trigger response to possible threats, it was triggered so suddenly she nearly had mental whiplash. Opening her eyes she remembered the last few moments before she lost conciousness, sending her into a panic. As she realized that she wasn't going to immediatly be crushed she opened her eyes to see a young man fighting a giant chicken. '_A very handsome young ma-,' _She mentally slapped herself, '_No I have my Mamoru, I can't be going after every good looking guy I see. Is that a giant chicken? Umm roast chicken,'_ Yep a one track mind here folks. _'No time for food. Its attacking that hands- er, man who is not Mamoru! _And so her well-honed mind led her to the most obvious, and in this case incorrect, conlcusion."Ah! Youma!"

* * *

"Ah! Youma!" The shout proved enough to distract Ranma for a moment from his fight as he looked over his shoulder to see who made the noise. Klesta capitalised on Ranma's momentary distraction by charging with sudden speed and slamming into the pig-tailed boy. The impact sent Ranma hurtling into a tree hard enough to knock it over. Usagi stared wide-eyed before rushing over to see what had happened to the boy she had killed, after all, no human could survive a hit like that. Halfway across the clearing she got her third great shock of the day as the boy simply stood up and dusted himself off, while muttering something under his breath about hitting harder than mallet-freaks or pig-boys.

Shaking off her shock she rushed forward to check if he had any wounds. As she looked him over he blinked up at her.

"You don't need ta do that ya know. I'm perfectly fine, a hit like that barely did anything. Heck, Kuno hits harder than that." Sides you should get outta here and find cover. A weak girl like you can't help me with this thing." Usagi's cheeks puffed out in indignation at the insuation that she couldn't care of herself, why if she was transformed she'd have flicked him right into orbit. She opened her mouth to retort only to gasp as the wind was knocked out of her as she was tackled to the ground. She stared at her assualter in question.

"What the heck was that for!" Suddenly there was a giant boom and where they had been standing only a moment before was now a crater filled with several tons of angry avian. Blinking, she shut her mouth after uttering a quiet 'thank you.' Her saviour helped her to her feet before charging towards the bird again, dodging its darting beak strikes and claw swipes. For a giant ball of feathers it was suprisingly agile. Ranma stuck at it repeatedly, but failed to do any visible damage. Finally he leapt up right in front of the beast's head, and with a shout of "Amaguriken!" he unleashed a storm of blows right between the birds eyes. The bird reeled drunkenly from the attack, nearly falling over on its backside before shaking it off and letting out an angry "Kwooork!" Ranma's eyes widened at the site, at worst all he had done was make the thing angrier. If this kept up he would have to unseal the forbidden techniques. As he crouched in preparation to lead the creature away from the girl behind him came the sound of the sun broking through the darkness.

"Oi, Oi! What do we have here?"

* * *

"I still can't believe how cheap were doin' this for. I mean, 250 gil is barely enough to pay us for sweeping up the feathers after we're done. We wouldn't have to do these crap jobs if we were in Camoa Cid, so why do we stay around here?" Cid grunted, he had been wondering the same thing himself. His companion walking on his other side answered for him, her blue hair flowing in the breeze. "We're staying around because no-one would hire a clan with only three members. Speaking of which when are we going to get some new members Cid? Again his only response was a grunt, this time because he had heard something at odds with the normal sounds of the forest. He stopped suddenly, causing the short, thin, dog-like person following him to walk into the large sword strapped to the tall man's back. Rubbing his nose, he peered at his leader from underneath the brim of his hat. "What did we stop for now?"

"I hear the sounds of a fight. It seems someone got to the bird before us. I just hope they don't end up chicken feed. We should see if they need any help. 'Sides, it will make it easier to take down the blasted thing if there's more of us. Come on Ben. You too Lucia."Cid added as he moved swiftly through the forest, the Nu-mou behind him struggling to keep up and the blue haired hume easily keeping pace even with the large rifle slung on her back.

As they neared the fight, the sounds of combat got louder and louder, shouts and angry sqwauks filled the air. Entering the clearing, the trio was greeted to one of the strangest sights they had ever seen. A male hume was attempting to keep Klesta from a female who was lying stunned on the ground. Cid started at the sight of the male leaping up in the air and delivering a rapid attack to the Crushatrice, knocking it back a couple steps. Putting aside his minor disbelief, he focused at the task at hand, that of picking up the bounty on the fat buzzard and a few possible new clan members. His voice boomed out across the clearing, causing the combatants to pause for a moment to regard the new arrivals.

"Oi, Oi! What do we have here? You lot look like you could use a hand. If you join our clan we'll even help you with feather-brains over there!"At his side Ben palmed his face at his leader's antics. Just because they needed more members doesn't mean he can go press-ganging civilians. Lucia only sweatdropped, as she had been brought into the clan in nearly the same way. Although she did still wonder who this Ilua was that Cid sometime called her when he was drunk.

Ranma looked from the strangers to the blonde haired girl on the ground. _'I still don't know her name, dang it.'_ before tilting his head in question to her. The girl shrugged back, obviously not having any better idea of what to do than Ranma did. Ranma looked between the trio and Klesta, calculating his odds of victory. He finally came to a decision even as he thought to himself _'After all, we can just leave once we're done with the bird __anyway.'_

"Sure, we're in. Umm, not that we need help to beat this thing, but it would go a lot faster**." **The tall dark skinned man nodded before he charged down into the clearing, drawing his sword as he went. His companions on the other hand only moved the slightest bit into the clearing, just enough to get a clear line of sight towards Klesta. Ranma, in his life, had seen too many strange things for the dog-like person chanting under his breath to even register on his odd-o-meter. The other girl unslung her rifle off her back before loading it and firing in a single fluid motion. There was a loud *CRACK* and puff of white smoke from the barrel of the rifle as the bullet was propelled at great speeds into the side of Klesta. Jaws dropped as with a flex of muscles the bullet was popped out and the wound quickly healed. Ranma gave voice to the thoughts everyone was sharing.

"Now that's just unfair." The battle was quickly rejoined though, as to stop was to invite disaster.

Cid let loose with another overhead slash with his sword, forcing Klesta to mave to the side and right into a punishing combo of thrusts (sounds dirty) from the Ranma. Klesta backed away from the two, and dodged another bullet from Lucia. As Klesta was dodging the bullets and sword strikes it failed to notice Ranma behind him, before the ground erupted in a spray of razor sharp rock shards. Reeling from the barrage of attacks, Klesta was an easy target, as Ben suddenly raised his arms to the sky as his chanting reached a crescendo. **"By the Thousand Torches of Zarik, BURN!" **From the air above his hands formed a swarm of flaming darts that hurtled towards Klesta, shrieking loudly as they pierced through the air. They smashed into Klesta and the ground around him, exploding into a storm of fire and schorching the earth. Klesta had finally had enough and fled, his body near completely covered in burns and a distinct lack of feathers. Somehow the big bird still managed to fly off and away from its attackers.

* * *

The group watched the injured bird fly off from the clearing, the bluenette pouting about not being able to use her "toy" and Usagi comforting her. After the bird had dissapeared from view Cid turned to take a better look at his new recruits. From what he had seen the male was definately an able fighter, and the blonde girl had an aura of incredible magical power, according to Ben that is.

"Well, from what I've seen, you two look like you'll be perfect for our clan." Ranma raised in hand as he realized something important.

"Thats good and all, but umm. Where are we exactly?" He asked while scratching the back of his head.

"How can you not know where you are? Ah, you must be from one of the other lands. Well you in Targ wood, on the continent of Jylland, in the Land of Ivalice. Where are you from, no wait, I think I know. From your appearance you must be from the lands of the east. But that doesn't matter now since your in the clan, but it would be nice to know your names and a bit about you. Mine's Cid, and I'm the clan head, over there is Quick Ben, Nu-mou mage extraordinaire. If there exists a magic in the world, Ben here knows it. And last but not least is Lucia, our clan's ranged expert. So why don't you tell us a little about yourselves." Cid neglected to mention how Lucia reminded him of his former comrade in arms, right down to the blue lipstick.

The two were put off slightly by the boisterous nature of the clan head, though Ranma simply accepted it, as he was sometimes worse. Shrugging, he decided to go first.

"My name is Ranma Saotome of the Anything Goes school of martial arts. I am one of, if not the, best martial artist I've ever met. I used to live in Nerima, where I was fought over like a prize by an army of fiances that my idiot father engaged me to behind by back." The last part came out as a low growl as he remembered the recent fiascos involving his fiances, least of which was that blasted marriage disaster. And here, he had been thinking that Akane had actually cared for him. I mean she knew what a cure for his meant to him, and yet she hid that she had it from him. It was even adressed to him from the Guide. That was the last straw from her.

Usagi was slightly put off by the amount of venom the pigtailed boy had put into his last sentence. She had also paled slightly when he mentioned he lived in Nerima and was a martial artist, the stories that came out of that ward were unbelievable. She wasn't about to knock the existance of magic or anything, she _was _Sailor Moon after all, but it was impossible for normal humans to do even half the things the stories said they did. She decided that she needed to know more about him before she leapt to any conclusions however, since it looked like she was stuck with him for a while.

"Um, my name's Usagi Tsukino. Uh, I like to sleep in, eat, and I really like Ice cream, but I'm not that good at school and sports stuff or anything else really." '_Cept saving the world, but it's not like I can tell them that.'_ She added to herself silently. "And I guess I'm gonna have to shopping if I'm staying here for a while." She frowned slightly as she looked down at her school uniform, her only link with her life in Juuban, aside from her status as Sailor Moon of course. She wondered if she could still transform, since she wasn't on Earth anymore and she derived some of her magic from her connection to the Earth's moon.

Cid smiled at her in an attempt to cheer her up. "Well, shopping can wait for tommorow, today we celebrate a job well done and friends well met. To the Inn!" He struck a dramatic pose that caused those watching to blink and cough. Cid dropped the pose and slouched down in a pout, even his mustache drooping. Ben walked up to him, and patted him on the back while talking to the others. "He means well, he just tends to go overboard at times. Anyway, onwards to the inn. After that, we can figure out what kind of jobs you're suited for."

Lucia picked up where he left off. " Yeah, and sides if were celebrating than that means a feast and Cid's buying!" Cid felt a chill down his spine at the sudden hungry looks he got from the new recruits, maybe he shouldn't have introduced that after-battle tradition.

* * *

**EndNoteV2**:Alright I got rid of most of the crossovers, but I kept in Lucia. Why? Because she is one of my favorite characters. Not happy? **DEAL WITH IT!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Chapter 2**

* * *

A/N: Eh not much new to say. Dragon and Succubus are tied in the poll with Dark Elf a close third. Well thats it, Enjoy. Oh and a cookie to however can place Cass, the Bar, and Daedulus Blacksmiths, as well as The Lapistier Witches. Oh yea and whatever else I threw in here as well. Heh man there were a lot of cameos in this chap, ah well.

* * *

_I don't have anything for this. Darn._

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

**Location Targ Woods: Stickleback Bar.**

"Oi Cass! Hurry up with the grub, this lot look like they're about ready to start eatin each other if you don't get out here soon! And where's my Laagard Lager?" Cid shouted boisterously, swinging an emtpy tankard in one hand. The barkeep, a smiling, somewhat pudgy man with long black hair tied in a ponytail, came out of the kitchen pushing a cart covered in steaming dishes. Wheeling it over to the table, he set out the platters of food with a agility that belied his girth. Stepping back he and the other diners watched with awe as the massive amount of food dissapeared at a rapid pace into the mouths and stomachs of the three teenagers at the table.

After having enough food to at least put the edge off his hunger, Ranma slowed down to resume the conversation that they had started before the food had arrived.

"So these clans are kinda like bounty hunters, treasure seekers, and other stuff all rolled together right?" He got a nod back from Ben before continuing on. "And each member of the clan has to register for a class and clan and spend time in that class before they get access to the more dangerous classes and abilities?" Another nod. " But some people have their own specific class that only they get, but they still have to get registered so they can buy stuff from the shop. Huh, guess if we're stayin around here, we're gonna have to stick to a clan." This time all he got was a shrug in response.

"So you guys got any interestin stories behind ya? I mean, it seems kinda unlikely you knew each other and all decided to get together like this. If we're sticking around with you guys we might as well know more about each other." Cid and Ben exchanged a quick look with each other before shrugging, the only one actually noticing being Ranma as Usagi and Lucia were still vacuuming away the food on the table. Cid started speaking first.

"I don't like talking much about my past kid. I got a lot of bad memories from back then, and unfortunately some refuse to _Stay_ memories. Back then I did things I'm not proud of, and I don't plan to make the same mistakes. I guess I started this thing because I was bored and as a way to escape my past. Sides, its an enjoyable way to make a living." He nodded his head towards Ben who picked up where he left off.

"Well as I was introduced to you earlier, I am master of all sorts of magics. My specialty though, is being able to combine and dissasemble my magics in order to make new ones. My past is also something I prefer not to discuss openly. Suffice to say, I believe I am the last alive of my friends when we served in my nations army. And like Cid said, I've also done many things I'm not proud of, but this is my attempt at a second chance. And Lucia..." He trailed off expectantly. When no-one said anything he looked over to see her asleep in her seat, a contented smile on her face. One eye twitching he reached over before uttering something under his breath and sending a bolt of electricity arcing through the air, shocking Lucia awake.

"Gah! I'm up! I'm up!" She tool a wide-eyed look around the room and saw the looks of amusement before she remembered where she was a sat back down with a blush across her face. "Sorry about that, its just after hearing them say that to any and everyone who asks you get kinda bored of listening to it after a while. Anyway, my story isn't much. My family has its own clan back home and me and my sister were part of it. At least we were right up until my sister disappeared somewhere in Jylland. I told my parents where I was going and came here, Cid found me and offered me a steady job and I been with him and Ben ever since." Both Cid and Ben had raised there eyebrows when Lucia had mentioned belonging to a clan, apparently they were quite unaware of that fact.

"Oh that's right I forgot to tell you about that. Heh, sorry. Me my sister and both my parents were, are, members of the Lapistier Witches." Ranma watched as the jaws of everyone who had heard hit the floor with a resounding thud. The entire room had gone dead quiet, even Usagi had recognized something important had been said, even if she didn't know what it was. Cid pounded his chest with one hand in an effort to restart his heart before he spoke in a bare whisper.

"You-you're a Lapistier Witch?" Nod. "Holy crap... Thats the most powerful clan in the Carnava, there one of the top clans in the world! The say that the Shadow-Frost Witch took down Cinquluer single-handedly! And the rumours about the Immolation Witch, you say that you're a member of their clan?"

"Uhuh. Hey I heard about mom beating down the Five Fools, but what was that about poppa?" Lucia asked Cid. Instead of answering Ranma asked his own question.

"Um, not to sound ignorant or anything, but aren't all witches supposed to be female?"

"Yeap! I know but me and my sister were born kinda by accident. From what I could gather it involved one night, several barrels of vodka, a couple magical artifacts, some rolls of duct-tape, and a dragon's curse. After nine months me and my sister were born and Vanessa and Fatima were father and mother, respectively." Now the sound of crickets filled the bar. Lucia looked around the room innocently.

"What, it's not like it hasn't happened before. How do you think my cousin was born? Though Aunt Dia never did forgive Auntie Claire for that..." Lucia trailed off with a thoguhtful look on her face. By this point Cid had regained control of himself enough to steer the conversation away from the somewhat uncomfortable subject.

"Why don't you guys finish up so we can go and get registered at the store. I'll go settle up with Cass for the food and see if there are any jobs available for us to take." With that said Cid stood up from the table and made his way over to the bar where Cass eagerly awaited him, his hands cleaning a mug as he stood there. Ranma shrugged and turned back to his plate.

"Hey! Who stole my meat? Usagi!"

"Uwaawaah..."

* * *

**Location: Daedulus Blacksmithing.**

The first thought that popped into Ranma's head upon entering the store was: '_Now _that _is a lot of weapons.' _Followed closely behind by: _'Is that a robot at the cash register?' _Usagi didn't even notice as she was too entranced by all the different clothing and armor that dominated one side of the huge shop. Lucia walked brushed right past them and the golem and stood at the door to the back before shouting.

"Hey Elena! You got customers! Get down here already!" There were sounds of objects clattering to the ground followed by muted curses before a young blond-haired girl emerged from the back, soot stains on her face and arms and a very large hammer held in her hands. Ranma immediately noted the fact that if the girl could swing that around easily he really didn't want to get her mad like he did with Akane.

"Oh hey Lucia. I was just getting your current job finished. Gimme a sec and I'll get 'em out here." The blond dissappeared for a minute and came back with a bundle wrapped in old stained leather. Laying it out on the counter in front of the robot she carefully unwrapped it for Lucia. Opened it revealed a pair of large 6-shot revolvers, the barrels much larger than most guns Ranma had ever seen, even while training with the American Marines stationed in Japan that one time.

"There beautiful eh? I can't wait to get started on your other projects. I never even thought of using cogs as a means for making double-barreled revolvers. Oh yeah, one of your Aunt's stopped by, asked me to make this as your birthday gift." Elena took a piece of paper out of her tool belt, carefully making sure only to grasp it by the corners, and handed it to Lucia. Unrolling it her eyes went wide as she studied what was printed on it. Wordlessly she rolled it back up and handed it back to Elena.

"Did you already get-"

"Started on it? Yeah the moment I got it. Man you're Aunt is a genius! How many do you have anyway? Do you think you could lend some of them to me sometime?" Lucia chuckled, getting over her awe at what she had seen.

"I can try, but Aunt Sarah probably wouldn't approve. Still can't believe her and Jimmy tied the knot, you know? I always did love Auntie Kerrigan, I just hope it ends up well. But she still knows all the best gifts to get me. How long do you think it'll take to finish that?"

Elena responded with a small frown. "A couple of months, at the least, for something that complex. Frankly just getting the recoil system to work is going to be a nightmare, thats not even including the firing caps and the-" The pair both jumped in the air when Cid loudly cleared his throat behind them. He had a twinkle in his eye as he saw them blush at being caught so distracted.

"Now if you two ladies are done, perhaps we could get on with the reason we came here in the first place? Elena, meet Ranma Saotome, and Usagi Tsu... Hey Usagi where'd ya go?" Cid looked around wildly before finding the blond looking through some of the robes. Grabbing her by the ear he dragged her back to ther rest and dropped her on her butt in front of them.

"Ahem, as I was saying. This is Usagi Tsukino. The two of them are new members of, Clan Gully!" Everyone sweatdropped as Cid assumed what he considered a 'heroic pose'. When he no-one said anything he folded up himself and moved pouted, causing some of them to swear they saw a storm cloud follow him as he went. Lucia cleared her throat and picked up for Cid.

"Yeah Like Cid said these two need to be registered and set up with basic equipment 'fore we get a new job." Elena nodded and started circling the two teens from Earth, looking them over like an eagle would a mouse. As she went she was making notes on a small piece of paper she had pulled out of nowhere. Looking over at Lucia she pointed to Ranma.

"This guy, fighter right? Now from what I can see it looks like he is definately a speed over strength guy, so no heavy armour for him. For weapons I'd say something like a double-edged shortsword to start would be best, and some chainmail." Ranma interrupted, he much prefered fighting with his fists after all. But after seeing how little damage he did to the bird thing they had faught he realized he needed some extra firepower.

"Um, I don't think a shortsword would work for me. Cus I've been trained in martial arts by my pops, the only weapon I know how to use with any skill is a katana cus my mom insisted. Sides I'm more than strong enough to use even a big weapon one-handed."

"Hmm, I think I have some katanas in stock. I'll check that later. Anyway for the girl, she obviously isn't that strong physically so I'm guessing a mage type. That means light protection for her, real light. Weapon or no weapon?" Ranma spoke up again at this point.

"I think I'll train her a bit in some of the easier styles. That way she won't need a weapon you know?" Lucia and Elena exchanged nods. Elena gestured over to a small box with a hole in it over on the counter.

"All right all thats left is to get you guys registered. Just stick your hand in the machine by the salesgolem there and it'll match you to a class, or it will tell you what you already are." Usagi went first sticking her hand into the small hole. She was expecting lights or pain or _something _to happen when she stuck her arm in, but she was pleasantly suprised when all she felt was a mild tingling before a sheet of paper popped out. Lucia grabbed it before Elena could, prompting a pout, and started reading it out loud.

"Usagi Tsukino. Gender: Female, doy. Age 17. Class: Heir of Serenity/Sailor Moon." Ranma blinked and looked over at the Usagi who was stunned by the casual reveal of her most well-kept secret. Ranma opened his mouth to say something, before Lucia grabbed his arm and shoved it into the machine. The paper popped out again just as quickly. This time Elena was waiting for it and swiped it before Lucia could, Lucia responded maturely by sticking out her tongue.

"Lets see here. Ranma Saotome. Gender: Male, or Female due to curse. Well isn't that interesting. Age 17. Class..." Elena trailed off her eyes widened to the point of saucers, and she wordlessly handed the sheet over to Lucia. Lucia accepted it with a look of bemused confusion before reading the sheet herself, her own eyes widening and her face paling as all the blood drained. Her voice was quiet and full of awe as she looked at Ranma in a new light.

"Class: God-slayer. Oh my... I can't believe... You-you've actually killed, not just met even, but actually killed a divine being?" Cid had come out of his funk and stared with a dropped jaw at Ranma, much as the rest in the store did, with the exception of Ben, who's eyes had narrowed as he studied Ranma. Ranma on the other hand scratched the back of his head in embaressment at all the looks.

"Heh, yeah I did. Damn Phoenix-god or whatever tried to kill this girl I used to like. Kidnapped her and that whole thing. At the end of the fight it was either me or him so I really pulled out all the stops. I'm just glad he's gone you know? Anyway, why don't we get this new stuff so we can go out and start findin a way back to where me an' Usagi came from." Getting nods the group quickly split up to find what they needed, while Elena went in back to grab whatever katanas she had.

* * *

**Later:**

"See ya later Elena! And tell James I said high next time he's in town!" Lucia shouted as she waved to Elena down the street. She dropped her hand once she was out of sight and turned back to the newly refitted group. She cast a well trained eye over both of the new additions to the team and made sure they had everything as they had gotten into a discussion over something from their home they called 'manga'.

Ranma was dressed similar to his old look, though his old silk pants now had several hidden protection runes woven into the fabric, and his red shirt was replaced by a chainmail one, though were Elena had found one that was colored red she would never know. Completing the look was a black-handled guardless katana in a plain wooden sheath strapped to Ranma's back.

Lucia had managed to find Usagi two sets of clothing, after they had done some experimenting with her transformation magic and found they could store different types of clothing and that the stored types still recieved and granted her the benefits of her old Senshi uniform. Now her normal clothing consisted of a simple knee-length yellow dress and a sleeveless white vest over top. When she transformed her outfit switched into a beautiful gown made out of woven silver and reinforced not only with the Senshi magic but with special runes and seals as well. The gown was actually a gift from Lucia's Aunt Sophia, but she would never wear anything so formal.

And finally Lucia herself, decked out in a pair of black combat pants, an ice-blue shirt and a reinforced black leather jacket. On her back she had slung her rifle, and on each hip she had holstered one of her new revolvers. On the back of her jacket was her personal crest, a pair of crossed pistols behind a frozen skull. All in all they looked pretty damn good she had to say. Well when Usagi was transformed they did.

"Hey Cid you found us a job yet?" The afore mentioned Revgaji turned from where he was staring at the notice board in the town square.

"Aye, got us a big one. I have an old friend who's owes me a few favors up in Camoa, and there's a group of bandits who've taken over the high road. I figure we can hit two very plump birds with one stone so we're heading out tommorow. Rest up all of you, it'll be a bumpy ride. THere are a few other stops we can make on our way, so make sure you're prepared. And if you don't mind I have to go see a man about a bird. I'll see you tommorow." With that said Cid walked off towards the edge of town into the sunset. Blinking the new recruits turned and looked to the other members of the clan.

Ben shrugged. "Eh, you get used to it."

* * *

Whelp there ya go. Enjoy. Next chap will have some action. I promise.

**Review!**

* * *

Too much, too complex, too little interest.


	3. Naruto Beyond Fantasy

Title: **Naruto: Beyond Fantasy**  
Category: Anime/Manga » Naruto  
Author: Fellgrave  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy  
Published: 10-18-12, Updated: 10-18-12  
Chapters: 1, Words: 5,183

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

It was a world of grey, with immense colourless clouds stretching from the ground to the sky, and covering the horizon. And it was in the midst of this endless grey expanse that there was something quite peculiar. It was an island of clear air in the midst of the fog that surrounded everything, but it was not an empty island. In the middle of the clear space there existed what could only be described as an immense clock-tower made of a black metal that seemed to absorb the little light that there was.

It was the design of the clock-tower that made it truly strange, even considering its location. The tower was truly massive, the entirety of it impossible to percieve as it stretched high into the grey skies. It's outside looked as if it was designed by a mad artist, the walls covered with carvings and statues of impossible creatures and shapes that defied mortal perception. And above the large, surprisingly plain steel doors to the tower was a gigantic clock face, its hands a moment away from chiming midnight, the hands held back from striking the time by seven chains made of darkness made manifest, and seven chains made of solid light.

Within the open doors one could see an ever-changing panorama of gears and machinery. But all that failed to cause any interest in the being that currently stood outside the immense tower, once known millenia ago by the peoples of a long dead world as Yggdrasil. The being, who was known by so many names, an untold number created for itself and yet more given as titles for its actions over the ages, stood quietly as it watched the shifting clouds in the distance, as if trying to discnern a pattern to their movements.

The being didn't even twitch as another exited the doors to the tower and walk towards it. The second being, appeared in the form of a young woman dressed as a harlequin in black-accented red, her legs and arms bare so as to show off the myriad of arcane tattoos that were upon her skin. Upon reaching the other being, she cocked her head to the side, sending the bells of her headdress jingling and her short brown hair dancing in the still air.

They stood like that for a while, exactly how long something impossible to determine, part of the nature of the realm they both currently existed in. Finally, after half an eternity, the first being spoke, its voice, like its body, regal and powerful, ever sound spoken with a charisma that any king could only dream of possessing.

"Did you find her?" The second being nodded, once more sending her bells jumping and jingling. The first being was quiet for another moment, its thoughts far away. "Where is she?"

The harlequin dressed being smiled as she twirled around until she stood in front of the first being, who looked upon the second's antics with a cold expression. The harlequin paused and cocked its head to the side, as if listening to words only it could hear. "Little foxy ran away, didn't she. Oh, but you didn't like that, not one bit. So I went to find her, track her, bind her. But poor little Youko Kyuubi,tricky tricky Millenium found her, oh did I find her."

Millenium twirled and flipped acrobatically through the air, tossing a small object down onto the ground, the object exploding into a strange white smoke, within which dance images to match Millenium's continuing narration. "

"Youko was all mad, yes she was, because you went and left us. She should have known, like I knew, that you would be back. Too much left to do, for you. But Youko, poor poor foxy, she went and lost herself within the veil, until she fell out somewhere neither here nor there. But I found her, tricky tricky me, I found her. She was all mad, all mad, like a rabid dog." Millenium giggled to herself.

"So I was going to put her down, but someone else trapped her, bound her, sealed her, in silence, darkness, nothingness. A mortal, who sacrificed himself to bind her, but I'm trickier than him, oh yes. I saw his little plots and secrets in his seal." The first being sighed and rubbed at its temples.

"Get to the point already. Is she still a viable member for the New Conclave or is she not?" Millenium blinked at the other being's harsh tone, before waving a hand and dissipating the cloud of smoke.

"Yep, yep! But tricky tricky Millenium has a plan, a special kind of plan. I know the secrets of seals, and I know the secrets of souls. What a surprise it will be. Millenium can't wait, but even though time can pass, it has lost its hold on us, so we can wait, yes we will. Right, oh little lost one?" Millenium gave the first being a knowing, and quite mad, smirk.

"I suppose we can afford to be patient in this matter, our other plans will still take time to reach fruition. And stop calling me that insufferable name." Millenium simply smiled and ducked under the first being's half-hearted swat of the hand.

"Muu, but Eljared is no fun to say. Besides, you are lost, so why deny the truth?" The first being, Eljared, didn't bother turning away from the spot she had been staring at, her face returning to its solemn and stoic expression. Millenium smirked wider as she gave Eljared a mocking bow, before performing a standing back-flip, and vanishing in midair.

Eljared continued to stare out into the emptiness for a while, before muttering to herself, too quietly for any ears to possibly hear save her own. " But aren't we all lost? And the truth, how can I accept it of myself when all else refuse to see it?" Turning her eyes towards the clock tower, and its chained face, Eljared's voice rose, her tone full of heat, yet without the fire of anger, because the fire will consume all it can as fuel.

"And I will make them see the truth, the truth of their existence, and of those who would chain them, forever keeping them from acheiving all that they could possible acheive. I will show them the truth of this world, and the heavens themselves will tremble. For my name is Elhazzared, the lost paradise, and I was born from the souls of a thousand gods and an untold number of their followers, to show the peoples of the world the truth."

And with that, she turned her eyes from the heavens and vanished herself, though with less flash than Millenium. For in an instant, she simply stood there, and then, she was gone, lost to the eyes of the world.

* * *

"Dammit, you little brat!" At the shout the little brat in question began running faster, dodging and maneuvering through the crowded streets with an unmatched agility, the angry shopkeeper being left behind almost as soon as the boy had gotten into the crowds. It wasn't that the boy disappeared into the mass of people, his bright orange jumpsuit made that nearly impossible in the daylight, but he was simply too fast to keep track of.

Ducking into a nearby alley the blonde haired boy, who was about eight or nine years of age, with his short stature it was hard to tell, slowed once he was sure that he escaped his pursuer. As he popped out of the alley and went back into the streets, at a more sedate pace, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. About a week ago, he had finally gotten to learn something actually useful at the Academy; the Henge jutsu. Best thing of all, not only had he been the first to master it, but he had already created his own totally awesome variation on it, which he had used to great extent on certain members of the public who did not approve of his presence, hence why he had been running.

Caught up in his thoughts and plans of payback using his new jutsu, Naruto wasn't paying as much attention to where he was walking as he should have been, though to be fair, most people gave him a wide berth as he went around town. So while it was a surprise, for both him and those around him, to suddenly walk into an obstacle that had appeared in his path, it wasn't too shocking. Naruto bounced off the obstacle and landed on his butt, the air rushing out of his lungs in a loud huff.

"Are you alright young one?" Naruto blinked and looked up into the concerned face of the young woman he had run into. He gave her an odd look, but mentally shrugged her kindness off as her not knowing who he was.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Naruto Uzumaki." He offered her his hand, which she took and used to help pull him to his feet. He looked down at the ground and noticed that several books, which the young woman obviously had been carrying before he had collided with her, had fallen onto the ground in a heap. "Sorry 'bout this."

For a moment Naruto thought that she was about to burst into an angry rant, like that old lady who lived along the way to the Academy did, based on the way the corners of her mouth were twitching. Noticing his attention, she quickly schooled her features back into a warm smile.

"I'm sorry about that, it was just that you reminded me of a friend's little project." She shook her head in mock sorrow. "Poor Toltiir, should have known better that to get involved with a guy like _him."_ She blinked as she seemed to realize just where she was standing, giving Naruto an apologetic look. "Excuse me, for a moment there I was lost in my memories. My name is Miriel Gia, and it's a pleasure to meet you, young Naruto."

She cocked her head to the side as she studied him, Naruto having to fight the urge to fidget under her stern gaze. "Now the question is, what is young child like you doing out here on his own? Did you lose your parents somewhere?"

Naruto's brow furrowed in a strange mix of emotions. "Kinda, I'm an orphan so I guess I lost 'em before I had 'em." Looking for a change in subject he once again noticed the spilled tomes. Deciding that since she had been nice to him so far, it would only be fair to do her a favor, he bent over and started to pick up the books. "So what's with all these books anyways?"

Miriel took a couple of the books from Naruto's hands and neatly stacked them on the counter of a nearby empty stall. "I'm a scholar, of sorts. I specialize in ancient history as well as various other things. " She gave him a wry look as he handed her another book. "You know, you still haven't answered my question; what's a kid like you doing out here alone?"

Naruto gave her a look of indignity as he hopped to his feet, the last couple of books still in his hands. "Hey! I'm no kid, I'm training to be a totally kick-ass ninja, an then I'll be the Hokage too!" To his surprise, Miriel reacted in a way that was quite unusual for those he told his dream to. Unlike most of the people of the village, who'd simply scoff at his eager declaration, or the Hokage himself, who'd smile sadly and pat him on the back, she didn't react except for cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

"Hokage, hmm? Then you must know some impressive techniques if your going to be the Hokage." Naruto brightened up and rapidly nodded his head, before scanning the surprisingly empty streets. Shrugging off the strangeness of the fact that one of the busier side streets was empty at midday, he gently set down the books he had been holding before he put his hands into the hand-signs for his special technique.

"Here, this one I made myself, " He paused for a moment and gave her a strange look." You won't hurt me or nothin' for this, right? Cus last time I did it Sakura-chan got all mad at me for some reason."

Miriel raised an eyebrow and gave him a quiet chuckle. "No Naruto, I'm asking to see it, and I won't hurt you for doing what I told you to." Naruto gave her a wide smile and cheerful nod, before he focused on the shaping and channeling of his jutsu. He gave a wordless sound of exertion something he had found earlier was the fact that unless you needed your voice or breath for the jutsu, actually announcing your technique was both useless and dangerous.

There was a large pop and Naruto's form was obscured by a cloud of thick white smoke. When it cleared, Miriel was surprised to find a taller, obviously older, and undeniably female blonde in his place. Unlike his usual use of the jutsu, Naruto had decided to keep his jumpsuit on when he transformed, simply reshaping it to match his current form's more mature, stature.

Curious, Miriel reached out and grasped one of Naruto's jumpsuit covered breasts, both freezing in place when Naruto gasped at the contact. The pair looked from where Miriel's hand was clutching and into each other's eyes before moving back to Naruto's chest. Still curious, and feeling a little mischievous, Miriel gave Naruto's cloth covered breast another squeeze, not even blinking when Naruto let out another gasp as her face began to blush crimson.

Like lightning, Miriel snatched her hand back, Naruto taking the opportunity to quickly return back to his original form, though his face still held its bright red cheeks. Miriel laughed quietly at his embarrassed look before changing the subject to something hopefully less awkward. "That's one impressive technique of yours, a solid transformation at your age, that's practically unheard of. Anyway, with that technique, you must be the top student in your class right?" At her words Naruto face twisted in distaste and frustration. He gave her a bitter laugh.

"Nah, the 'great' Uchiha is the top, even though I can kick his butt in the spars and anything practical; but everyone simply treats him better because he's supposed to have that stupid bloodline of his." Naruto kicked at a pebble as he was reminded of why he had cut today's class early. Miriel put a finger to her lips in thought, before pulling a book out from the stack on the stall and quickly leafing through it. While she was doing that, Naruto remembered the books he had put down earlier to perform his technique, and he picked them up again, only to frown as he realized that they were written in a totally different language than what he was familiar with.

With a smile as she found what she was looking for, she tapped Naruto on the shoulder to regain his attention. As his eyes snapped back to her face, his own turning an embarrassed pink for someone having seen his little outburst. Wordlessly she held out her hand and it took Naruto a moment to realize that he still held some of her books in his hands. Blush deepening, he handed them over as he stared at his feet.

He gave a surprised start as he felt her take away the last book, only to put another in his hands. With wide eyes he brought the book in front of his face, before turning his stunned look to a smiling Miriel. She gave a little shrug and reached over to ruffle his hair. "Since you seem so dead-set on being Hokage, why don't you give that little book a quick read. In fact," she once again put a finger to her lips, "I do believe there's a section in there on bloodlines. Of course I'm sure the technique section will be useful; but who knows, maybe you have bloodline of your own, just waiting for the chance to be set free."

Naruto was so absorbed with his gift, so completely stunned that anyone other than the old man would treat him with kindness, that he failed to notice the way Miriel's warm smile twist itself into a cold smirk. When Naruto finally managed to pull himself away from the book, he found that he was completely alone in the streets, Miriel having vanished from his sight as he scanned the horizon for her. He frowned when she failed to materialize; then shrugged and decided to head home, to check out his new gift.

From the shadows of a nearby alley, the being known to some as Miriel Gia watched Naruto take off, her eyes twinkling in the darkness. With a flick of the wrist she shattered the enchantment she had lain of the street, an undetectable barrier that kept any intruders out and unaware of the fact. As she turned and disappeared into the darkness, she sang to herself softly.

"These souls three, I give thee. One for the fires, to forge the two who will be one. And from these two, a gift shall come for you." She paused a moment and looked up into the sky, a wide grin on her face. " Naruto, member of the Conclave. I like it, it sounds... tricky tricky." And the darkness reached up and consumed her form, leaving nothing save the fast fading echoes of her laughter.

* * *

The moment Naruto reached the hole in the wall he called home, he slammed his door shut and quickly locked it. He was trembling with excitement as he ran his fingers across the raised text on the cover, muttering the words of the title under his breath. "The Annals of Anima, a Guide to the Wonders of Gaia."

He cocked his head to the side in curiosity He had never heard of Gaia mentioned by either the Hokage or any of the instructors at the Academy, whenever he was actually there or awake, nor any mention of Anima. With a shrug, he made a note to ask the old man about them later, as he opened it up and paged forwards to the table of contents.

To his surprise, one of the larger sections was one devoted to magic, but after giving it a quick glance he realized that even if it wasn't magic, he couldn't make sense of the text in that section. Frowning, he continued leafing through the book, passing over the section on various arms and armours, as well as the section on geography.

The next section he came across, which he stopped and gave a slightly more thorough look-over, was the section on techniques. For a moment he was confused by all the references to 'ki' in the text, until he remembered Iruka telling the class that people used to call chakra ki. After he recalled that, he was nearly bursting with energy at the number of techniques that he held in his hands.

Before he could get too into the section though, he forced himself to stop and continue going through the book, only stopping once he reached the section on bloodlines, or as the book referred to them, the Legacies of Blood. His eyes widened as he read through them, once again muttering the words of the text aloud, though quietly.

"The most common legacy, if only from its number of variations grouped under the same general structure, is the Elemental Blood-link. Bearers of this legacy possess an increased aptitude towards a specific element or group of elements, depending on their ancestry. It is not unheard of for a two bearers of different elements of this legacy to have a child possessing aptitude towards both of its parents' links. This legacy will most usually show up very early in life, around age five and no later than age eight, though their have been rare cases in which the legacy has remained dormant until puberty, but this is ex-exceedingly rare." Naruto frowned in thought. For the first time in a long while, he was glad that he spent so much time in the depths of the Konoha Archives, one of the few places in the village that, while open to the public and free to access, was essentially deserted save the rare scholar or ninja.

He was frowning because if what the book said was accurate, then that ruled out any elemental bloodlines for him; unless it he was really lucky, which considering his life so far, he was pretty sure wasn't the case. The next bloodline was a disturbing one known as the 'Eyes of Death', which he only gave a passing glance before continuing, Naruto having no desire to learn any more about a bloodline that let it's bearer see the lines of fate running through everyone and everything.

He blinked as he read a bit about the one after the 'Eyes of Death', the so-called 'Eyes of the Soul', which sounded far too similar to how Iruka had described the Hyuuga bya-whatever. Naruto did have to admit, however grudgingly, that being able to see through things, as well as seeing the actual life-force of living beings would be pretty cool.

He couldn't help but smirk as he came to the next entry in line, the 'Eyes of Destiny'. Naruto began to rub his hands together gleefully as he realized that even if the Teme could activate his fancy eyes, he could still beat him because he knew how they worked. According to the book, the Eyes allowed the user to adapt to his opponent's movements, eventually reaching the point where the user could actually anticipate his opponents moves long before he consciously chose, based on patterns or something; Naruto wasn't quite clear on that aspect. But the book did mention that an enemy purposefully holding back could potentially catch the user off guard, because the user would eventually get to used to fight the held back opponent.

Naruto wasn't surprised to find that all the eye-based bloodlines were something you needed to be born with, after all, you either had the eyes or you didn't, so he didn't spend too much time on them. As he eagerly turned the next page, a small folded sheet of paper fell out from between the pages of the book. Giving it a curious look, he set the book down on the table before reaching down to pick up the paper.

Unfolding it carefully, he was surprised to find another small sheet fall out. He gave a quiet sigh as he picked the second paper up off the floor. As he looked it over, he was glad to find that it wasn't folded over, and upon turning it over, that someone had written something in a tight yet flowing script on the back.

Cocking his head to the side, he narrowed his eyes as he tried to make out the small writing. "Dear... blonde kid." Naruto grimaced in annoyance at being called a kid, but continued reading. "Congratulations! If you've gotten this far, then you probably know that your bloodline chances have dwindled. The folded sheet of paper that this not was included within contains a special seal designed to activate latent bloodlines. Simply lay it out on your chest and pump some chakra into it and your good to go. Signed, tricky little Miriel." Naruto gave a small chuckle at the little chibi-Miriel drawn next to the signature near the bottom, hands raised in a victory sign.

Smiling, he put down the note and unfolded the larger sheet of paper, trying in vain to make sense of the ridiculously complex sealing array. He'd come across seals before, from the basic storage seal the old man put in his wallet to the more advanced ones that protected some of the books in the archives, but this one was on a level far beyond any of those. The entire sheet, when fully unfolded, managed to just cover his torso, but the white paper was nearly black from the amount of ink on its surface.

Naruto grabbed the book with one hand, the other still holding the seal, and headed into his bedroom, closing the door behind him with his foot. He put the book on his bedside table before removing his jacket and lying down on his bed. He carefully placed the seal across his torso as it said in Mirel's note, and with crossed fingers, began to channel chakra into it.

For a moment nothing happened and Naruto was sure that he either screwed up applying the seal - which he doubted, considering that it was glowing from his chakra- or he had no bloodline to his name. He was just about to stop channeling his chakra when he felt the beginnings of a strange tingling sensation spread from where he had placed the seal. A moment later he started cursing every man, woman, child, and diety he knew of for ever listening to a stranger who seemed to nice for her own good, as every nerve in his body felt like they were on fire.

He couldn't even scream as his body locked up tight, his muscles frozen in place with the appearance of him straining against invisible bonds. All that came from his throat was a soft rasp as his breath hissed between his clenched teeth. He noticed his vision beginning to darken at the edges as he felt the burning feeling intensify. He had time for one last curse before the darkness claimed him entirely.

* * *

The greatest changes to be wrought from the seal were not to be ones easily noticeable, though certain physical traits would certainly be hard to fail to notice. No, the most important changes began to occur only after Naruto had fallen unconscious, the seal continuing to draw off his chakra to sustain itself during the process.

Within the hyper-dimensional pocket of sub-space that formed the realm within which the prison of the Kyuubi existed, the most startling transformation began. The once dark and damp cavern was cast into dancing by strange multi-coloured tnedrils of energy that appeared to have no point of origin. The tendrils seemed to almost trace the bars of the prison with tender affection, before several of them darted within, hastened by their purpose, the others remaining outside, to slowly alter the framework of the prison itself. As the tendrils reached the prisoner, the eyes of the being known to the Elemental Nations as the Kyuubi snapped open as it felt its body begin to twist and flow in unnatural directions, its sense of self wavering.

The Kyuubi was not the only being within the confines of the pocket of space. The fragment of a certain redheaded kunoichi's soul also began to warp under the seal's ministrations, while the soul of the prison was torn into pieces and used as a fuel for the transformations. Lacking a true awareness towards what was occurring, the soul shard was far easier to mold and shape to seal's specifications, while the Kyuubi resisted the alien attack against it's self, to at least a small extent. Unfortunately for the Kyuubi, the nature of the prison it currently called home greatly limited it's ability to defend itself, which meant it only took a short while longer for the seal to overwhelm the Kyuubi's will.

If the seal was sentient, which it wasn't, even though it possessed a most rudimentary intelligence as necessary to fulfill it's programming, then it would have been cackling aloud as it went about its work. The Kyuubi's soul began to fray at the edges as the seal tore it apart and ripped sections of its mind away, while carefully splicing in the soul of kunoichi.

By the time the seal had finished its work, the Kyuubi was unrecognizable as its former self, the prison holding it back shrinking to reflect its change of stature. As the seal withdrew its energies from the pocket dimension, it made a few last changes, little inserted memories for the new Kyuubi. Within the renewed darkness of the prison, all was quiet, save for the sound of quickened breathing by the dimension's sole occupant.

Within the all-encompassing darkness the sound of breath gradually slowed, as nature of the realm brought a supernatural calm to the prisoner. Amethyst eyes opened a beheld the darkness of the prison, only a few quiet and confused words slipping from dry lips into the suffocating silence. If the seal had heard them and possessed the knowledge and intelligence to make sense of them, it would have erupted in insane laughter.

"N-naruto? W-where are you, son?"

* * *

Why yes, I'm a jerk. Isn't it wonderful?

Hmm, so what do you think? Pretty cool huh? I've been wanting to do this ever since I picked up my copy of Gaia Volume 1: Beyond the Dreams, a sourcebook for the Anima : Beyond Fantasy roleplaying game. Near the back of the book is a section on the members of the New Conclave, a group of extraordinarily powerful individuals united for an obscure purpose by their leader, the woman known as Eljared. And low and behold, one of the more interesting members just so happened to be an incredibly powerful nine-tailed kitsune by the name Youko Kyubi (spelled as it was in the book).

So my thought was, why the hell not? It'd be interesting to see a Naruto with Anima powers, but I couldn't think of a convenient plot device to make that happen, and then I got the above-mentioned book and it all fell into place.

As for Millenium, there is little about how she interacts with other people when she is herself, but she also possesses an unknown number of false identities, so I assume that she at the very least is a good actor, and considering all the controversy over whether or not she is same Millenium as the member of the original Conclave or merely a copycat, I figured she has some quirks.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. And no flames about starting another story. I write how I write, and I will finish most of the ones that I have published.

Not happy with that?

**Deal with it.**

* * *

Too much other things that I'm doing right now. May come back to it later.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: **Soul Reaper One Half**  
Category: Anime/Manga » Ranma  
Author: Fellgrave  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Supernatural  
Published: 01-03-12, Updated: 03-29-12  
Chapters: 2, Words: 7,674

* * *

**Chapter 1: Prologue: The Unforgiving**

* * *

**Here's the (hopefully)fixed grammar version. Enjoy!**

* * *

A/N : Well here I am with **yet** another story. Yeah well at the moment this is just a one shot. I haven't worked out much more than the basic Idea for it at the moment. But man, I hate having all these creative ideas, and yet being unable to build on them effectively. Oh well.

And so you know, I gonna get the next chapter of **Touch of Time** up soon, all thanks to the great response it got. And in other news **Ranma No Kitsune **reached 25000 views! And its only 5 favs away from 100! Woohoo!

And before you ask, yeah I like Kasumi as she is one of my more favorite characters, and I despise most of the others. Can you blame me? And personally while I did like Doc Tofu, he dissapeared from the series to quickly for me to actually get attached at all to him.

**Anyway. On with the story! And review, cus I need them. I sustain myself on your praise. Please Help me.**

* * *

**Shinigami One Half**

**Prologue: The Unforgiving.**

**Location: Tendo Dojo. Midway through Summer.**

All in all it had been just another average day in Nerima.

It had started pleasantly enough, Genma coming down to join the Tendo family for breakfast. When asked where his son was he responded by saying that his son had left a note telling him that he was going on a training run and he'd be back later. Nodoka joined the family shortly after, and having been told of her son's location had nodded and sat down with some tea. The rest had accepted it, not being so unusual of the young martial artist to leave without telling anyone ahead of time for fear of being interrupted.

After breakfast the family broke up to take part in their usual tasks; Genma and Soun retiring to the deck to play a game of shogi (or do they play go?), Nabiki heading out to talk with her contacts and 'associates' and work on her money making plans, Akane went to go break bricks in the dojo, Nodoka taking some more tea and sitting down with the paper to wait for her son, and lastly Kasumi went about the house completing her usual chores.

It was during her daily run through of the room that Genma and Ranma shared that things finally started to feel more like Nerima. It was nothing impressive really, just a small folded slip of paper at the bottom of Ranma's clothing drawer, a drawer that was quite mysteriously empty. Confused Kasumi picked it up and carried it with her as she finished up. Once she was finished cleaning and having put away the last of her supplies into the kitchen pantry she decided open the note and see what it said. She read the first few lines before the note slipped from her suddenly nerveless fingers.

As if from a great distance she could hear the sound of her younger sister coming through the front door. Though she heard her name being called the sounds did not register in her numbed mind. A small part of her noted her sister's calling becoming more and more frantic when she failed to respond. The sudden sound of the kitchen door slamming didn't even break her out of trance, not even feeling the hands of her sister catch her as her legs gave out.

Though she was surrounded by her family, all she could see was images of the pig-tailed boy she thought of as her brother run through her mind. She remembered every time he would come to her for advice, or to get patched up after a fight. She remembered how he would come to her and help her around the house, or help with making dinner for the family, something no-one else did. She remembered how they would share their dreams with each other, sitting on the roof just talking and enjoying the other's company.

And he was gone, just like that. No goodbyes, no hug or chance to say good luck. He was just gone, he left as suddenly as he come two years ago. The reality of the whole situation was finally enough to crack the trance that Kasumi had been shocked into. Her sudden breaking down into tears stunned and frightened those gathered around her, after all nothing, not even the knowledge that her sister had nearly died, had caused her to break down like this. She managed to get out a couple words between her sobs. "Note *sob* in the kitchen*Sob* Ranma *Sob* " Genma sat down next to her a strangely concerned look on his face at the mention of his son's name. In the meantime Nabiki had gone to the kitchen to look for the note.

"What about my son?"

*Sob* "He's, *Sob* He's Gone!* Nodoka took over the questioning, pushing back Genma whose closeness wasn't helping with Kasumi's state of mind.

"What do you mean he's gone! He just went out on a run, he said he'd be right back!" Unfortunately by this point Kasumi was unable to form any coherent answers anymore. And so all attention swung from her to Nabiki when she came back into the room holding the note that had started it all, and she began reading it out loud.

_Dear, hmm well I guess it was either Kasumi who found this while cleaning or pops looking for booze money, so I'm not quite sure who to address this to. Ah well. Dear whoever found this._

_If you found this means that I managed to successfully get out of Nerima. Depending on when you're reading this I'll be anywhere from three to five wards away. I'm gonna make sure that even if Nabiki spent every last dime she has no-one will be able to find me. I'm done with Nerima, done with all the crap I have to deal with day in and day out. No more, from now on, if you guys want someone to blame your problems on, or rescue Akane for you, or sell off for whatever you want, find some other poor soul, cus I ain't takin it anymore._

_You wanna know what really made me leave? Simple. It was all of you that made me. I thought that maybe after Saffron things would change, ya know? But they didn't Each and everyone of you were all still trying to control my_ _life. Well I've had it with all the blackmail, extortion, forcing, guilt-tripping, intimidation, and all the other means you guys use to keep me there. And you know what hurts the most? It's not leaving Akane if thats what you were thinkin or hopin. No, what really hurts is leavin the only person who ever actually cared about me as an actual person rather than meal ticket or shortcut to retirement. If anything, she was the person I think I loved the most, and I'll miss her more than anyone else. _At this Nodoka preened, glad to know that her son still cared for her, even though he did such an unmanly thing, running away from his problems instead of facing them. It didn't even begin to cross her mind that she might very well be one of said problems.

_So I must apologize to her for having done this, leaving her without warning. I hope that eventually she can forgive me. I just want ta thank her for all she did for me, all the times she listened to my troubles and fixed me up after a fight. And I also hope that she can escape the madness that is Nerima, cus sure as hell Nerima doesn't deserve a Saint like her. Even if I only loved her as a sister, I still loved her, even more than my own mother. Actually, I loved her a hell of a lot more than my mother. So Goodbye Kasumi, and I wish you the best of luck._

Nabiki finished reading out the letter with a stunned look on her face. It was obvious to her that Saotome had planned this out long before hand, having started going for the morning runs about a month ago, and that shocked her. She knew that he could be smart when he needed too, mostly in fights, but she was completely overwhelmed by the amount of cunning that went into this plan. She cursed herself for never picking up on the fact that there was mind in that body outside of fights, after all he had in fact managed to pass all of his classes even though he missed or slept through most of them.

Meanwhile the others had differing reactions. Soun and Genma were alternating bemoaning about what an ungrateful son Genma had, and planning ways of finding and bringing him back to get married. Akane's stunned confusion had quickly turned into anger as she raged about "Ranma running off with one of his hussies" and how she hoped that the 'arrogant pervert' never came back. The most suprising was Nodoka, the blood had drained from her face at the last the paragraph and the hands clutching the family sword were trembling. Even though her bloodless face was emotionless and revealed nothing, if one looked into her eyes they could see a veritable storm of cold furious fire swirling within.

Through it all Kasumi simply sat where she was and watched as all of them simply pushed their problems and blame onto Ranma's shoulders, even though they had caused them in the first place. She watched sickened as Nabiki broke out of her shock only to start shouting about how much money she was going to lose now that Ranma was gone. With disgust she watched how petty they all acted, her eyes finally opened to the sick state of her loved ones. As the rest raged at Ranma she began making her own plans of escape, starting with seeing if any of her mother's friends might take her in. '_Hmm, maybe the Kurosaki's will help, after all they own a clinic and I know quite a bit about medicine, I could probably help out. I'll call them up tommorow and see.'_ And so plans were made and remade, to escape or to recapture, well into the night.

So all in all, it was just another run of the mill, average day in Nerima.

* * *

**Meanwhile: Karakura Town. Urahara Shoten.**

A giant of a man stood watching as another man, thinner and wearing a cloak and striped hat, set a small folding sign out in front of the store. The large man's brow was furrowed in confusion as he watched the other's actions.

"Mr. Kisuke do you mind if I ask a question of you?"

"Not at all Tessai old friend. What is on your mind?"

"I was simply wondering what you were doing with a help wanted sign made out of spirit particles. After all its seems pointless as most people can't see it, and since it so very expensive to make such an item. So why, might I ask?" Kisuke chuckled, a small fan open to conceal his large grin.

"You see a long-time acquaintance of mine recently contacted me with some very interesting information. It seems that an absolutely unmissable opportunity is coming this way, and I simply can't pass it up."

"How sure are you about this information, if I may ask?"

"Oh, very sure. Setsuna and I have known each other for a long time and I can trust her with my life if it came down to it." Tessai rasied an eyebrow, such praise was very rare, and he could only ever recall himself or Yoruichi being given as much trust. And yet he had never heard of this 'Setsuna'. Strange. But his friend was a strange and secretive man, so it wasn't suprising.

"Very well, when can we expect this, eh, new employee?"

"Hmm, I'd say right... about... now." Suddenly Tessai sensed the prescence of a hollow appear behind him. Whirling to face it, he stopped when he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. He looked down to see his friend smiling enigmatically with the fan in front of his face, his eyes dancing with anticipation. Tessai turned back and watched as the hollow came around the corner of the street.

He watched as the hollow chased a ghost of a young girl down the street. The girl tripped and fell and that was all it took for the hollow to catch up the last few feet. The grip on Tessai's arm intensified as he tried to move towards the fallen figure. Unable to do anything more, he watched with trepidation as the hollow reached down and picked up the girl with one massive hand.

Opening its jaws wide, the hollow held the girl above its head, savoring the fear as the girl struggled. Before it could deveour the struggling girl though, its head was slammed into the ground via jump kick by a boy with black hair in a pig-tail. Tessai shuddered slightly, as he somehow got the feeling of someone somewhere with a bad fashion sense screaming something that sounded strangely like 'Dynamic Entry'. Pushing his revulsion at the feeling aside, where ever it had come from he'd never know, he watched impressed as a purely human boy dismantled the hollow. Without using a single piece of Reisatsu at that!

The young boy jumped off the hollow's head and took a relaxed stance as the hollow got up and searched around fo its attacker. Finding him it let out a tremendous roar before charging, the asphalt being torn up by its claws as it went. The boy didn't even flinch as the hollow came closer and closer, even when the monster let loose with a haymaker right towards the boys head, instead of leaping away like a normal, or sane, person would do, he simply flowed underneath the punch before letting loose with a solid uppercut to the hollow's jaw, solidly lifting off the ground and sending it flying backwards.

He moved quickly across the ground, looking to all watching as if he gliding across ice, going right underneath the flying Hollow, and then delivering a solid kick straight to the spine, launching it even higher into the air. Tessai's eyes widened as the boy leapt nearly fifty feet straight up in the air, not even a Mod-soul had been known to have such physical capabilties! Ranma quickly proceeded to utterly decimate the hollow, hitting from blind angles and at weak points before spinning the hollow around with another hit and repeating the proccess. Finally he let loose with a rolling axe kick to the head that brought the hollow crashing down headfirst into the ground. The impact cratered the street for several feet and destroyed the hollow's head, releasing it into death's embrace.

* * *

Ranma landed lightly in a crouch, surveying the spot where the hollow had landed. Since he had arrived in the town he had been attacked by the strange creatures twice, and defended several civilians from them a few more times. What he still didn't understand though was how no-one else could see the monsters or those who were being attacked.

As he got up to see if he could find the girl the monster had been chasing, he dropped back into a crouch when someone started clapping behind him. Turning slowly he was greeted with the sight of a man in a black cloak and strange striped hat giving him polite applause. Idly he noticed a very large man in an apron standing next to him and a small sign on the ground. Tentatively stretching out his senses he nearly dropped his jaw in shock at what he found. the auras wer absolutely massive! Both of them outclassed Saffron by a wide margin and even his own reserves fell short of theirs.

"Bravo my young friend that was quite the fight I must say. From the state of your clothing it looks like you've been on the road for a while. Tell me, how would like a place to stay for a while?" The man in the hat asked, now holding up a small fan to conceal his face and lifting a cane in the other hand.

"Um, maybe. Depends how much it costs me. " Ranma looked down at his clothes and silently agreed with the other man's observation. His clothes had definately seen better days, his silk shirt with visible patches and his pants with stitches running up and down them. As he approached the man in the hat he took a closer look at the sign. #Help Wanted: Combat skills necessary. Offering good pay, room and board. Inquire within or ask the man with hat who's waiting for you to finish reading the sign.# Blinking he turned to look at the man who was hiding a smile behind his fan.

"Your sign I take it? I guess I do need a job... But I just got away from a real bad situation and I'm tryin to dissapear. I don't suppose you could help with that, could you? I mean you and your friends power levels here are bigger than Saffron's by a wide margin. But I want to know what I'd need ta do first though, I ain't goin in blind like my pops does."

Now it was Kisuke's turn to be suprised, as he hadn't realised that the boy in front of him could read auras like that. Though he had no idea who this 'Saffron' was, he got the feeling that whoever it was was very powerful. Considering the fact that he and Tessai were keeping their Reisatsu output hidden and controlled his respect for the pig-tailed boy rose another notch.

"Er, yes. I'd need you to come help out at the shop after school, but the main thing I need from you is to keep a close watch on some, how should I put it? Some, responsibilites, no investments of mine that I can't keep track of all the time. I have a feeling that things are about to get very interesting around here." Ranma thought it over a bit before making a decision. He figured he wasn't likely to get a better deal anywhere else, and even though he didn't want to have to go to school he realized that he would need to go if he wanted to do anything later in life. He also picked up the part he said about things getting interesting. If his life was anything to go by, then he most certainly needed to stick around. He still kept up the act of being undecided in an attempt to get something more out of his prospective employer.

Kisuke had noticed his hesitance and threw in the kicker. Setsuna had told him that if he didn't accept right off the bat then this would get him for sure. "Did I mention I have some special techniques that I can teach you if you agree?" He kept secret the fact that they were only shinigami techniques that he could teach, though it was unlikely that the boy would be able to use them without a zanpakuto of his own.

Ranma rapidly nodded his head, causing Kisuke to chuckle at the sudden hungry and eager expression on his face. He put an arm around the pig-tailed boys shoulder as he walked to the shop door. AS he replayed parts of the conversation in his head, his eyes hardened briefly as a frown crossed his face."Oh, and trust me my young friend if you want to dissapear, then Karakura town is the place to dissapear in." And with that the door closed on the shop, with a bang that seemed to echo through infinity, sounding as if a book was being closed, before another was opened.

* * *

Yeah so I'm not entirely sure where to go with this at the moment. I'll work on it when I get ideas though. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2: Chapter 1: In the Middle of the Night**

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A/N: Here ya go. Sorry it took so long but my muse has for all intents and purposes died for this story. I will try and revive it as best I can, but this was originally intended just as a wild idea/one shot. But hey, I'll try my best to continue it.

Oh and Kasumi is not being paired up with Ranma, I have someone special in mind for our pig-tailed hero. It is not one of the conventional girls from either series, though she is from one of them. Huehuehuehue.

* * *

_I feel the cold hand of death,  
and the end drawing near._

_I have seen the God's of men  
and all that they fear._

_Sing to me, songs of the Darkness.  
Farewell to Heaven my Friend._

_Come to me, bury your sorrow  
Temptation awaits the Condemned._

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

Ichigo sighed as walked up the path to his house. Today was officially the strangest in recent memory. Coming from a guy who could see ghosts that was saying something. First thing this morning his father casually dropped the bomb that the daughter of one of his mother's friends was coming to work at the clinic, and that they would be putting her up while she earned up enough to find her own place.

Then when he got to school he got shanghaied into giving a tour of the school for a new student by Mr. Kagine. At least he seemed like a nice guy, and he got along well with his friends so it wasn't a total loss. But Ichigo swore that there was something off about the new guy. Even his introduction to class seemed odd.

**_Congratulations! Its a Flashback!_**

Ichigo had just managed to wiggle his way out of Mr Kagine's grasp by reluctantly agreeing to give a tour of the school for the new student. Folding up the sheet of directions for the tour and storing in his notebook he walked obliviously past a staring Orihime. As he sat down at his desk he studiously ignored the babble coming from his friend Keigo about some fiery-haired goddess he had seen over the weekend. Pulling out his books he sighed as Miss Ochi came in and started calling out attendance.

"Now then, I'm sure most of you have heard already, but today we have a new student joining our class. Please give a warm welcome to Mr. Saotome." At her signal a tall young man dressed in a red Chinese-style shirt and simple black pants came in from the hallway. Ichigo's jaw dropped at how strong the guy looked, those muscles of his were pretty impressive. But the strangest thing was that he didn't look anything like the age everyone else was.

"Now Mr. Saotome has been traveling for a long while and has recently settled down. He recently turned sixteen as well, isn't that wonderful!"

_'No , no that is not wonderful! He looks more like he's nineteen or twenty, not sixteen!' _Was the thought shared by the rest of the class. Ranma took the momentary quiet to speak up, his rough and mature voice setting some of the girls swooning.

"Now I'm sure ya all are wonderin why I look so much older than ya, right? Well I like ta think its all cause of the training I did for the last ten years or so. There ain't a better martial artist alive, at least that I've seen. An' I got the body to prove it." To illustrate his point he flexed his muscles, the motion making his body ripple. Ichigo noticed more than a couple of the girls fainting with blood dripping from their noses.

'_Oh come on, there is no way you can believe that lie, there's no way he's sixteen!' _Ichigo silently directed his thought towards his teacher.

"Ok, that makes sense." Miss Ochi said with a smile and faint blush.

'_No , no it does not make sense! He's better built than Shwarznegger at that age!'_

Miss Ochi pointed to an empty seat to the right of Ichigo. "Why don't you sit there next to Ichigo. Unless, there is anything else you feel the need to add?"

Ranma nodded his head before adressing the rest of the class. "One last thing. My sister might sub in for me when I ain't feelin well. So if ya'll see a cute little red-headed chick around and you want to talk ta her, don't, or things will get, " Ranma emphasized his words by cracking his knuckles, causing the males in the class to gulp." ,very painful for ya."

_**Sigh, they grow up and leave so quickly.**_

Well the tour had gone by quickly enough, just requiring Ichigo to show Ranma a few locations, like the gym and such, though oddly enough he also had to show him where both the male and female bathrooms were located. Ranma didn't seem like _that_ kind of guy so Ichigo simply shrugged it off as being another wierd thing about him.

Then he had to deal with those skateboarder punks, and those ghosts that had tried to follow him home... Suffice to say he was quite tired. Sighing again as he tromped up the path to his house, he couldn't help but thunk he was forgetting something. He froze, his hand hovering over the doorknob as he thought about it. What could he possibly be forgetting? Other than when their guest would be arriving, he couldn't recall anything.

Shrugging the feeling aside, he opened the door. Throwing it open he had about one second to register the blur coming towards him as his father, right before he got knocked to the ground via knee to the head. As he laid on the ground stunned, his father standing imperiously over him, he could't help but think that maybe he should have paid a bit more attention to that feeling of his.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? Dinner is at Seven O' Clock and not a minute later! What do you have to say for yourself, o delinquent son of mine?" Demanded Ichigo's father. Shooting to his feet Ichigo was about to deliver his own angry retort, when he noticed an unfamiliar face watching the interaction with a cheery smile. Swallowing his words, Ichigo instead settled for a quick glare at his father before turning to meet their guest.

"I apologize for Ol' Goat Face over there. He's not usually that active, due to his aging bones and all. Since you've met my family already, you probably know my name's Ichigo." He said with his usual slightly frowning expression. He was taken aback a touch when the demure young woman giggled at his words.

"Well it's just that you and your father remind so much of one of my few friends and his own father. They would always take any opportunity to spar, since they were martial artists. Oh, and my name is Kasumi Tendo, thank you for letting me stay here." Kasumi said with a quick bow. As she raised her head back up she noticed something moving behind Ichigo's shoulder.

Her first thought was that it was a friend of Ichigo's that hadn't been introduced. But then she noticed how he seemed to flit around with ease. Her mouth made a silent O as she realized that the figure behind Ichigo's shoulder wasn't touching the ground. And more than that was the fact that she could see through his body. Involuntarily she let out a quiet sound of suprise. Ichigo twisted around and his jaw dropped, before he palmed his face. Hard.

"Ugh, I thought I left all of you guys behind." He moaned as he hung his head. Sighing he turned to Kasumi and gave another small bow."I'm sorry for not being a proper host, but I've had a long day, and it doesn't look like it will end soon. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he headed up the stairs, the ghost of the poor salaryman following behind him.

Kasumi followed his dejected treck up the stairs with a worried look in her eyes. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned and faced a smiling Isshin, though the smile failed to reach his eyes. "Don't worry too much about him. He's too stubborn to let things get him down for long. Just wait, by tomorrow morning he'll back to his usual charming self." Isshin nodded sagely at his words. His daughters, who had been watching events through the kitchen door, were staring wordlessly at the stranger that had replaced their quirky father. Abruptly, he reached into his coat and pulled out a large binder. "Now then, if your staying a while, its only fair for you to get to know the family. And what better way than with..." He shook the binder in front of Kasumi's nose."... Baby Pictures!"

*SLAM*

Kasumi smiled and clapped her hands as she was led away by a practically glowing Isshin. In the kitchen Karin was rubbing a red spot on her forehead from where it had been slammed into the table. Her sister looked at her with concern as she proceeded to slam her head once more into the table after another particularly loud squeal from the living room.

*SLAM*

"You know sis, that can't be healthy." *SLAM*

* * *

**Later that Evening.**

"Hmm, he handled that rather well, all things considered. I must admit I had not anticipated the prescence of a guest in the household, but it seemed to work out fine anyway. That sword of his was also unforeseen, though considering his massive spiritual reserves not completely unexpected. "

The two figures stood watching from a nearby rooftop as events unfolded. The shorter of the two figures, though not by much, frowned. It galled him not to provide aid, but as the speaker had explained earlier, this had to happen. Seeing the hollow vanquished the taller of the two turned to the other.

"When the time comes, do you think he'll be ready?" The short one cocked his head to side as he considered the question carefully before responding.

"I'm not sure. If I could train him to control that energy of his, concentrate it, as well as how to use that sword, then maybe. He'd need a lot of work though." The taller one nodded, agreeing with the other's assesment. Spotting one of the figures on the street below break off and head away, the shorter one abandoned his post, stepping off the roof and landing in a crouch. He looked up at the other figure with a smirk on his face. "We should hurry back now, you'll have a customer soon and its _such_ bad manners to keep them waiting."

Still smirking, the figure dissapeared from sight, a cloud of dust lifting from his passage. The other figure stared at the empty space before muttering a few choice words concerning employees to witty for their own good. And then, like a ghost in the night, he was gone as well.

* * *

**A week later, Lunch:**

Ranma sighed to himself, or should that be herself? Apparently little old laddle ladies were not a Nerima exclusive product and one lived next door to his new home. At least it kept his classmates from finding out where he worked, though what the new girl was doing there was beyond his knowledge. Though he did wonder about that order she picked up... Ranma shrugged, it wasn't any business of hers.

Apparently some of the guys in his class didn't get the hint when her 'brother' had done his introduction and would need a bit of a refresher. And too make matters worse she had forgotten the lunch Tessai had made her at the shop, while he was no Kasumi, he did make a good bento. Stepping back into the classroom, Ranma carefully wove her way through the mass of students before reaching her desk. Taking her books and lunch carefully out of her stuff space, a trick she'd managed after fighting Mousse so often.

She was just about to dig in when there was some kind of disturbance. Getting out of her seat with the rest of the class she watched with a bemused expression on her face as a female student attempted to climb out the window, only to be stopped by her friend. She was about to go back to her food when she sensed are large ki source nearby.

Her eyebrows rose when she felt said ki source suddenly leave the ground. Looking towards the window, she was suprised when she saw her desk neighbor crouch on the ledge. Peering at him more intently, she noticed the way all of his ki was concentrated in his lower body. She also noticed that it wasn't his normal ki either, it had been changed as if it were someone else's. She had to resist the urge to laugh at how shocked the other students were when he leapt over top of them. Ah if they had spent one day in Furinkan. However something more important was where he had landed.

* * *

The mod-soul that had taken over poor Ichigo's body was in heaven. Well not literally, he didn't want to go back there for a good long while. But here he was, free to do what he wanted and safe from being recycled by his creators in Soul Society. As he casually made his way across the field in front of the school his patented good-lay-dar (what? babe-dar just didn't sound right) suddenly activated. Following the signal he spotted an open window up on the third floor of the school.

Shrugging he easily made the jump up to window, startling those closest to it. He ignored the mutters and whispers of the class as he searched for his target. Outwardly he looked calm but on the inside he was practically exploding in happiness at all the beautiful young women. His jaw dropped as he spotted his target. Sweet merciful Mike! The sheer gravity she held had captured him, drawn him in like a moth to the flame. He easily leapt over the class and settled into a crouch on the desk in front of her.

"Hello, lovely lady. Might I ask your name?" Having said his piece, he gently raised her hand to his lips and gave it a kiss. He felt a chill run down his spine as he let go as the rest of the class had gone deathly quiet. Looking up, he found himself face to face with Female Fury Incarnate. The feeling of certain doom was something new though.

* * *

Ranma's slight frame shuddered as she tried to contain the anger she felt. She hadn't been this pissed off since that fight with the Golden Pair, in fact this feeling was very similar to how she felt after losing her first kiss. She felt like killing someone. And thankfully for the rest of the class the perfect target for her rage had presented himself.

"You... Have... Five seconds... I suggest you... Run..." She ground out, causing the mod-soul to go pale. He nervously started backing his way towards the door, only to stop when he saw Rukia standing there with a shocked look on her face. Taking a moment to look closer, he noticed Rukia's eyes were focused elsewhere. Whirling around quickly he nearly fainted when he saw the redheaded girl surrounded by a visible aura of power. Her blue eyes seemed to be lit from within by some infernal light as various small objects had shrugged off the pull of gravity and were suspended in the air around her. A unseen and unheard wind flowed around her, ruffling her clothes and hair.

"One." As she vanished from sight all of his senses screamed at him to move. Dashing towards the window he barely dodged the hammer blow that cratered the floor where he had stood. He barely noticed his host outside the window as he leapt for safety. Hitting the ground running, he spared a moment to look behind and started running faster when he saw the redheaded devil chasing him.

* * *

Meanwhile in the classroom Keigo was cowering in a corner, having come into the class just after Ichigo, his body at least, had arrived. He was truly hoping that Ranma's sister either wouldn't remember their first meeting or would spend her energy on chasing Ichigo. Of course then he remembered what her brother said and adopted the fetal position as he didn't want to consider what her brother could do if she could crater the floor with a punch.

* * *

Ranma had stopped on the top of a rooftop, since a few moments earlier Ichigo had managed to duck out of sight and had escaped. Staying still, she extended her senses out as far as they could go, until she snagged on his unique ki signature. She was confused as to why there were two of them, but decided to ignore it in favor of getting revenge.

She was about to leave when her cellphone, a neccissity for her job and gift from her boss, rang. Cursing she reached down and grabbed it, answering in a darker than usual tone.

"**WHAT?"** There was no answer for a moment, as Urahara tried to ignore the feeling of his head on the chopping block.

"Unfortunately it seems we mistakenly sold Miss Kuchiki damaged goods. Though I have the means of getting it, we currently are at a loss to the product's location. At the moment the mod-soul is most likely at large within-"

"Ichigo Kurosaki's body. Makes sense, after my introduction he would have never had the guts to do what he did." Ranma angrily cut him off, it explained the oddness in Ichigo's ki flows. Since it wasn't Ichigo's fault she decided that she wouldn't damage his body. Too much at least. "I sensed his location near Karakura Middle School. I'll meet you over there."

"Very well, _Miss _Saotome." She could hear the smirk in Urahara's voice even over the phone as he hung up, sparing him from Ranma's comeback.

Shoving thoughts of getting back at her boss aside for the moment, she gave another cursory scan to make sure the mod-soul was where she had last sensed him. Finding his ki located on the roof of the school, she gave a death's head grin as she leapt towards her target.

Once she reached the building opposite the school, she unleashed the first part of her cunning plan. Pushing as much ki as she could into her legs she jumped skywards, easily outstripping any of the leaps that the mod-soul had made. Once airborne she manuevered herself until she was right on top of the unsuspecting mod-soul.

Of course it was right when she was about to begin her descent that a hollow decided to make its appearance. Cursing, Ranma adjusted her trajectory and directed herself at the hollow. A quick blast of ki started her fall, while multiple smaller bursts kept her on target. Just before impact she used a burst to start herself spinning, right before she impacted the centipede-like hollow in the middle of its back.

She bounced off of it before unleashing another ki blast, this one directed at the hollow itself. It hit the hollow in the chest as it had reared up, the blast knocking it backwards. As the hollow shook its head to clear itself of the dizzyness caused by the concussive force of the ki blast, Ranma cast a look to the mod-soul in Ichigo's body, his desire to help eliminate the hollow warring with his terror of the redhead.

"Come on, I can't take this thing out on my own! I need you to hold it down so I can get it to pass on!" Her shout was enough to make up his mind, a grim expression on his face as he gave her a nod. Ducking under a strike from the hollow, he gave it a kick from behind that sent it tumbling to the ground in front of Ranma. It raised its head up pitifully as if to ask for mercy. Ranma simply smirked at it and shook her head.

"Now how did boss say it went? Oh yeah. _Aeturnum Humanos Animavit Mortem. (1)_" Once she finished her chant she unleashed two vacuum blades at the hollows head. There was a flash of light in the shape of a cross as the hollow disintegrated. Hearing the sounds of someone approaching she turned to face Ichigo and Rukia, both of who had stunned looks on their faces. As she was enjoying their shock she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye.

She vanished from their sight only to reappear several metres away in front of the mod-soul, who had been quietly attempting to crawl away unnoticed. Grabbing him by an arm, Ranma easily lifted him over her head and tossed him in front of Ichigo. Walking over to them, she couldn't help but wag a finger at the mod-soul as if she were berating a small child.

"Now don't you be going anywhere. The boss was quite upset when he found out you escaped." Sensing a group of powerful prescences approaching she smiled as she gestured over to the side of the roof. "In fact, here comes the boss now." The other three turned incredulously to see the staff of the Urahara Shoten. Urahara moved to stand in front of the mod-soul, looking at his roughed up state, one shoulder bloodied up from the hollow, with dissapointment.

"Tsl, tsk. We come all this way and my new employee has you already subdued. Now she's going to want to ask for a justly deserved raise. And we lugged all this equipment here for nothing. Shame that. Well time to go." Before anyone, excluding Ranma, could react, Urahara used his cane to knock out the mod-soul from Ichigo's body, which fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

As Urahara turned to leave Ichigo gathered his wits and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What are you going to do with him?" He wasn't expecting an answer, after all he was in his Shinigami form, so he was stunned when he recieved one.

"I'm going to do what I should have done a long time ago, dispose of him." Urahara answered in a cold tone.

"You can see me?" Ichigo wondered incredulously, taking a nervous step backwards as he looked between him and the smug redhaired girl who had taken out the hollow without breaking a sweat. "Who the hell are you people?"

Urahara tipped his hat as he thought about how to respond. "Hmm, how should I answer that?"

"He's a greedy salesman. Simple as that." Rukia said as she snatched the mod-soul from Urahara's hand.

"Miss Kuchiki! You shouldn't take that!" He shouted while inwardly he was cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings.

"Now why not? Is it your policy to confiscate goods your customers have paid for?" Rukia's honest question stopped Urahara for a moment.

"Well how about a full refund?" He suggested.

"No, that's alright. I'm quite satisfied with my purchase. Besides, you guys are operating outside the law anyway. It's not your job to recall him." Rukia countered with a ghost of a smile.

"This is serious. I wan't be the one to take the fall for you when this gets out." Urahara said with narrowed eyes and a flat tone. Rukia shrugged as she walked over to where Ichigo had already gotten back into his body.

"That's fine with me. Trouble is where I live." She said over her shoulder.

"Very well Miss Kuchiki. Time to go then." Urahara said turning to his staff. As they started to leave Ranma slid up next to him with a wide grin on her face.

"Now that that's done with, what was that you were saying about a raise?" Again Urahara started mentally cursing and bemoaning his lost profits.

* * *

1. According to google translate: Eternal Peaceful Death. I wanted to give Ranma something that would allow him to fight hollow's without having to be a Shinigami. That's not to say that later on he might not become a Shinigami, but at the moment he is just as he was before, with a few new techniques.

Man. Sorry it took so long but here ya go. Next major section will probably be the Quincy Arc, with Ranma playing a large part against the giant hollow who's name escapes me. And then of course he'll play a large part as support for the Soul Society arc, though I'm having problems working out how it will work with him and Yoruichi. Eh, this is a side project anyway, I got time.

**Review!**

* * *

Eh. Too little interest, no idea what I was going to do next.


	5. Codex of Champions

Title: **The Codex of Champions**  
Category: Anime/Manga » Naruto  
Author: Fellgrave  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/General  
Published: 01-24-12, Updated: 06-12-12  
Chapters: 2, Words: 11,708

* * *

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

* * *

A/N: Here ya go, my take on MrWriterWriter's "What Else Was In The Scroll" challenge. This was an idea I was kickin around for a while, ever since Ahri came out really. Thanks to Psudocode Samurai though for his help in refining it a bit as well as doin the beta for it.

(Space for Beta)

Basically its a fusion of one my favorite games and one of my favorite mangas. Pairings is up for suggestions, though I am leaning towards Ahri at the moment, as well as what traits he might take on.

And yes before you ask, I am working on getting out the next chapter of Ranma No Kitsune.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Forest outside Konoha**

Naruto took the large scroll off his back and set it down on the ground. His body quickly followed, it was one heck of a workout to evade all those ninja and get in and out of the Hokage's Mansion like that, plus he was working with practically no sleep for the last couple while he had crammed for the exam.

Naruto looked down at the scroll, a sudden mischeivous glimmer in his eye. '_Well Mizuki-sensei didn't say that I couldn't look inside the scroll. Who knows maybe there's something good in it that I can use to get me promoted to chuunin right away!' _Unrolling it he quickly went to work finding something useful.

"Lets see here, shadow clones? Pass, kunai shadow clones, nope. Lets skip the techniques, maybe there's some kinda magical sword or something in here." Unrolling the scroll further he peered at it intently until he found the section he was looking for

"Ah here we go. Goshiki Zankantou?(1) Nah, sounds way to hard to handle. Some kind of bone-mask-thingy? (2)Weird, who the heck would ever use that...? Henshin Rod? Nope not a girl, thank the Kamis. Magical and sarcastic sword,with no other abilities. Well thats lame, sides who wants something with a weird name like Derflinger(3) anyway. Next... Helloooo what have we here?" Naruto had been about to skip past this, but suddenly felt a strange _pull_ towards a certain spot on the scroll.

"Hmm, the Codex of Champions? Sounds kinda cool, now how do I get it out of the scroll?" Naruto looked all over the scroll for the seal that would release the item before taking a closer look at the actual text. He smacked himself with his palm when he noticed that the words and letters were arranged to form an interconnected seal. Berating himself he pushed some of his chakra into it and winced when something was propelled into his gut with a small flash.

Blinking his eyes clear of the twinkling lightspots, he had smacked his head against the tree when whatever it was hit him, he looked down to see what he was cradling in his hands. Holding it out revealed a large book, the cover decorated with metal in some ornate design. Something about it was off though, yet he couldn't quite figure out what it was. It had a cover for both the front and back, the pages were bound to the spine like some of the other books he had seen when spying on the library. What was it?

"That's it! There's only one page!" Indeed there was only a single page, sandwhiched between two thin pieces of leather. Opening it Naruto tried to read the archaic text on the page, failing to notice as the letters, for lack of a better word, squiggled, changing shape and rearranging themselves on the page.

**#To All Who Attempt To Read This Great Work, Know This. Until The Last Of The Legends Is Found, The Secrets Within Shall Stay Sealed From The World. We Failed In Our Creation Of This Grand Endeavor. But In Our Failure Will Be He Whoever Completes This Work's Greatest Acheivement. Until That Day We Of The League Shall Wait.#**

"Ah man. I can't even find something that works." Naruto whined. He looked back to the scroll, maybe he could find something else in it before Mizuki-sensei arrived. Still holding the book he walked over to the scroll and bent over to pick it up. He nearly jumped out his skin when he heard the sound of someone landing behind him. As he spun around rapidly, he let loose with a kick at chest height as he dropped into a crouch. His eyes widened when he realized the person who had landed behind him was Iruka, and that when he landed he had had to bend his knees in order to reduce the impact of landing. This meant that when Naruto had kicked out he hit Iruka dead straigth to the head, sending him reeling onto the ground.

Jaw dropped, Naruto started to run over to check if his sensei was okay. After he had taken only a couple of steps though, he stopped when he heard a noise. Trying to locate it he turned to find several kunai whistling through the air towards him. Using the only thing he could think of he raised the Codex in front of him in attempt to block the flying knives.

A couple of the kunai bounced off the metal on the cover, but one didn't. That one kunai went straight through the book like a hot knife through butter, and continued right on through Naruto's chest before embedding into the tree. There was a flash of light and a brief sensation of pain and then Naruto knew only darkness.

* * *

**Within Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto woke up with a start, the last thing he remembered was the pain of having a kunai enter his chest. Looking around he found himself in a massive cavern, lying on a section of flat stone. Turning his jaw dropped at what his eyes beheld. In front of him was a massive building, a temple of indeterminate age and majesty. His eyes widened at the sight of massive crystals suspended midair above two columns to either side of the stairs to the entrance.

Shoving aside his awe he felt a strange sensation, like something was tugging at him. Deciding he had nothing else to do he let himself be led up the stairs and into the massive building. As he walked down the marble halls he noticed what looked like statues every once in a while. They were placed with no rhyme nor reason and each seemed to be different. One was of a man who looked similar to some of the ninja he had seen, two katanas strapped to his back and another looked like what he imagined the werewolves of fairy-tales to look like.

The pulling sensation led to him to a set of massive steel doors. He pushed at them with all his might but they refused to budge. He even to a running start and tried to shoulder slam them open. When that failed he stepped back and took a better look at the doors, noticing a small piece of paper taped to one of them. Blinking he walked closer and pulled the slip of paper off the door and read it. After reading it he read it second time and then a third time before proceeding to slam his head against the wall repeatedly. The piece of paper slowly floated to the floor as it landed text side up.

#Note: Pull on doors to open.#

After his bout of self punishment Naruto tugged on the door with all of his strength, dragging it slowly open. Once there was enoguh room for him to enter he slipped between the two doors and into the darkened room beyond. Though he couldn't see very much, the only light being provided by the gap from the opened doors, he made his way to center of the room without incidence. Once he reached the center of the room the doors closed with a slam, sealing him within and removing all light. As he spun around looking for anything he heard a voice speak to him, it sounded as though the voice was coming from every direction at once and it frightened him, not that he would admit it.

**"Ye who seeks admittance to the League must Pass Judgement. Be Warned This Trial Shall Test The Limits Of Your Very Soul. Are Ye Willing?"**

"Hell yeah I'm willing! Naruto Uzumaki ain't afraid of anything! Believe it!"

**"Very well young one. Though Shalt be Judged." **Naruto was about to respond but was unable to when the world fell away around him. He opened his eyes to see his life flashing before them, even things he could not ever remember seeing.

-A rainy night, lightning flashes illuminating the man holding him, a giant beast coming closer.

-That same night in the hospital, a nurse coming with a scalpel looming over him.

-When he was two and the matron at the orphanage left him locked outside, the mob getting closer and closer.

-When he was four, the mob capturing him, dousing his body in gasoline and lighting him on fire.

-His sixth birthday, his body nailed to a wall by kunai and being used as a target for shuriken.

-His ninth year, his entire apartment destroyed and having to go through the winter with just a worn blanket.

All those and more whirled past his eyes as tears streamed down his face. He felt each blow as if they were happening to him right then, yet he did not flinch. He did not cry out in pain nor move a muscle as he was forced to suffer through each of his memories. Finally after what felt like an enternity the whirling stopped and the voice spoke again. This time though the voice was tinged with regret and sadness.

**"It Is Done, The Judgement is complete, young one. We of the League find ourselves hard-pressed to find a better paragon of endurance of hardships than yourself. It is thus our decision that for having completed the Codex and as repayment for the Judgement, we shall allow you access to the Codex, as well as access to the Armory within the Institute of War. However this does not mean all of the Codex's powers are yours to use, you shall have to earn them. We give you one concession though, a guide for your new abilities has been chosen and awaits you outside. Go and use these powers wisely, or not we do not care so long as they are used."**

Without another word the doors soundlessly swung open, bathing the room in light. Now that Naruto could see he was suprised, the room he was in was a simple empty room, just four walls and the doors, nothing else. As he left the room he nearly tripped over something outside. Regaining his balance he looked down to find a beautiful woman just lying there asleep. Naruto felt his mouth go dry as he traced the lines of her body enshrouded by her silver fur blanket' _What's up with that?'_. Stunning long legs gave way to beautiful curves underneath a short white split-skirt for a kimono. Her prodigous bust was covered by a red kimono top that left her shoulders and neck bare. Her long silky black hair ran down her back, her bangs covering what he could see of her face, except for her black fox ears. '_Wait, What?'_

Naruto leaped back as the fox-eared girl stirred, stretching her limbs in a way that served to drive his blood pressure through the roof. As she yawned he stunned to see that she had the exact same pattern of whisker like marks on her cheeks, and in her mouth were sharp looking teeth. She blinked open her eyes and Naruto was struck by how beautiful the golden colour was, at least until he noticed the fact that the pupils were slitted like a fox. Naruto stumbled over his feet in attempt to back away from as she stood up and her blanket turned into nine silver fox tails. One thought ran through his head,'_Oh dear Kami, I was fantasizing about the Kyuubi! Oh Crap, oh crap, oh crap! You know what, if she's gonna kill I might as well go out with a bang.'_

Without any further thinking he leaned forward and gave the semi-asleep girl a kiss, straight on the lips. The girls eyes flew wide open before she let herself go as the sensations filtered into her mind. Opening her mouth she deepened the kiss and used her tails to pull the blond boy closer to her self. After a couple minutes the two seperated due to the need for air. Carefully the Fox-eared girl set the boy down with her tails. She raised an eyebrow at his dazed look before laughing. Naruto snapped out of his trance at the sudden sound and nearly fell into again. '_Wow, her laugh is just as beautiful as she is, and man, that was Some Kiss!'_

The fox-eared girl slowly stopped laughing as she remembered what she was doing here, and what had happened. Her voice was light with laughter while at the same time smooth and silky, drawing another glazed look from Naruto as she started speaking.

"I must say that is the best way to wake up in the morning I have ever experienced. But to the task at hand, I am the guide to the Codex. My name is Ahri and I am known as the Nine-tailed Kitsune." She winced a bit as Naruto's face took on an alarmed expression and his body tensed up. Ahri raised a hand in a placating gesture." Do not fear, I am not the Kyuubi, at least any more. Allow me to explain, I _was _once the Kyuubi, but that was due to a curse. Many many centuries ago I was once a Champion in the League of Legends, a place where the greatest warriors of the world would fight to settle the issues between the great nations instead of wars. During one these great battles I was sent flying into a nexus, a centre of great magical power. Somehow instead of simply being sent into the limbo to await reentering the fight I instead tapped into the flow of magic and started to absorb it. The amount of magic in my body soon ran out of my control and I turned into the monster you know as the Kyuubi No Kitsune. And ever since then I had rampaged all over the world until I was sealed within a newborn infant, thus cutting off my access to the magical currents of the world and returning my body and mind to normal. For all that has happened to you I am deeply sorry."

Naruto stared at her with a stunned look on his face. He searched her face carefully for any hint of trickery but found only a porfound sadness. Ahri looked away, she didn't want to see the disgust and hatred that he was sure to feel for her. She was completely unprepared for the feeling of his arms wrapping around her in a comforting hug, something relatively hard to do considering she was quite a bit taller than him at the moment. Blinking away unshed tears she turned to face Naruto, finding him with a small smile on his face.

"I forgive you, if anything it wasn't your fault so don't worry about it. 'Sides I guess were stuck with each other anyway so it doesn't make any sense to hate you." She nearly broke down completely, of all the things she was expecting, utter and unconditional forgiveness wasn't one of them. Ahri managed a small smile though tears had started to make small tracks down her face. Wiping them away she got back in control of her body and emotions.

"Thank you, thank you so much. I suppose I still need to explain how the Codex works don't I? The Codex is a storehouse for the memories, personalities and souls of the champions of the League. Using the Codex you are able to either summon them out into the world, for however long you desire, or you can temporarily take their abilities to use for yourself. Once you master an ability you can use that ability even if you no longer are using that champion or are using another one. All you have to do is think and the list of available champions will run through your mind. Simply think of picking one and that should be enough to do it."

Naruto face had gone slack with awe and his eyes were closed in concentration. The moment Ahri had finished talking he started thinking about the list in his head. He was somewhat suprised when a selection board with small squares appeared in his mind's eye. Imagining it larger the vision zoomed in, showing that some of the squares were greyed out. Naruto figured those were the locked champions and focused on the ones he could choose. However even though he was looking mainly at the available choices he did notice one glaring omission.

"Hey Ahri how come you aren't here at all? I thought you said you were a champion and stuff."

"Well I can't be chosen because I'm your guide. If was then that would cause problems as this is my physical body sealed within you. All the other champions bodies have long since been rendered unto oblivion." Ahri explained. Suddenly she palmed herself in the face when she remembered what had started the whole thing." Naruto I'm sorry but you must leave for the moment. While time has slowed down since you entered here it is still passing in the outside world and your body is still in danger."

"Oh shit thats right! Double shit, I forgot about Sensei!" Naruto shouted as he started to run around in circles panickedly. Ahri watched him with an amused expression on her face. After a few moments she put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him from moving and making him turn his head to face her.

"As I said, Time moves differently within here. Now when you get out of here, you should be prepared, however attacked you is most likely going to try and finish the job. Now I have the perfect suggestion as to which champion you should use first. You see his name is..." With that the two trailed off into conspirational whispers.

* * *

**Back Outside Naruto's Mind**

Mizuki was ecstatic at the moment. First he had gotten the idiot of a demon to break in and steal the Forbidden scroll for, then he had managed to get nearly the entire ninja force in a panic looking for him. He had more than enough time to get to the meeting place, as he wasn't expecting the fool to be able to steal it and get away so quickly, that he had time to watch the boy as he looked through the scroll. After all if there were any booby traps in it better the demon activated them than he did. But the absolute best part was watching his fool of a teaching partner get his butt handed to him via kick to the head from his favorite student.

Taking care to keep quiet, he quickly let loose with a barrage of kunai at the demon brat. There was no need for a distraction as he was distracted enough by his injured teacher. Mizuki's eyes lit up with joy as he watched his kunai embed itself in the demon brat, he reveled in the spray of blood that erupted as it exited out his back. He sat back on his heels as when both the item the brat had retrieved from the scroll and the brat itself lit up with a blindingly bright glow.

When he reopened his eyes his jaw dropped in shock. Where the ridiculously dressed brat was before was a much more intimidating figure. Dark green armor and black cloak lined with yellow covered him. He wore large metal boots and strapped to his legs were two swords. In his hand was a large single-edged sword, two rings attached via holes near the end of the blade. The oddest thing though, was the set of green goggles he was wearing, as there were seven lenses instead of the normal. The figure looked around for a moment before finding Mizuki's position Mizuki let out a low growl as he noticed the whisker marks on the figure, no, Naruto's face.

Quickly drawing more kunai from his pouches he began tossing them at the brat. So angry that his first attack had failed and intent of the demon brats death he failed to notice the boys mouth begin to move. He never heard the words that came out, nor the strangely older and slightly raspy voice in which they were spoken.

_'__I... Am become one(4). I... shall show you the path... to the end."_

As Mizuki leapt off his the tree branch he had beeen observing things from he let loose with yet another barrage of kunai, before drawing one of the giant fuma shuriken off of his back. Instead of dodging or blocking, Naruto headed straight into the kunai storm, before he suddenly blurred with speed. he dissappeared from sight, reappearing for only a breif moment several feet away from where he last was before dissappearing again. Miuzki had to roll quickly to the side in order to dodge the blade strike that suddenly came out of nowhere. Getting back to his feet he drew another kunai and held the hand opposite the one holding the fuma shuriken.

Mizuki was quite a bit put off by the way the goggles the brat was wearing were whirring as they tracked his movements. He hurled the fuma shuriken like a discus and as soon as he let go he was moving right behind it. Naruto merely leaned backwards and let the fuma shuriken pass right overtop of him. Springing back he unleashed a wuick overhead strike that Mizuki blocked with his kunai. The two quickly started exchanging blows at a breakneck pace, dancing across the clearing to the music of ringing another resounding blow the two seperated from each other, Mizuki heaving in breaths while his opponent stood seemingly unaffected by the fight. Once again the boy spoke, no hint of even the slightest bit of exertion in his voice.

"_My blade is your... defeat. Behold... Wuju Style."_

Mizuki shuddered, the voice had all the cold finality of the grave, with the weight of the Shinigami to carry it through. As he palmed a second kunai, the boy raised his sword until it was pointed right at him. Mizuki was quite confused by the action, right up until the blade suddenly ignited with chakra. Backpeddling rapidly he nearly tripped over a tree root, forcing his arms to windmill frantically in an effort to keep his balance. He was just about to let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that the brat had dissappeared from right in front of him. Looking around he heard sound, not one easily noticable most of the time, but due to the quiet of the forest and the adreneline in his veins in rang out loud and clear. The whisper tickled the hairs on the back of his neck.

"_Do not fear the unknown... fear me."_

Mizuki opened his mouth to respond but all that came out was a choking gurgle as blood gushed out his mouth. Looking down at his chest he saw that at some point he gained two massive slashes across his chest that were fountaining his life sustaining fluids into the air. He turned his head and stared into the reflective goggles of the brat, barely managing to raise his hand in an empty attempt to strike back at his killer before he fell to ground, his body already cooling in the night air.

Looking over the body breifly Naruto remembered about the other person still in the clearing. Hurriedly he made his way over to Iruka, dropping the form of the assumed champion with another small flash of light. He sighed in relief as Iruka sat up and shook his head to clear away the cobwebs. Iurka looked around the clearing, his eyes widening at the sight of Mizuki's corpse lying on the ground. Jaw dropped he turned back to face the concerned look in his students eyes. He chuckled a little, same old Naruto, always worried about everyone else.

"I'm fine Naruto, you can relax. I must say I'm incredibly suprised that you managed to beat Miuzki like that, he was a chuunin after all." Iruka paused for a moment in thought. "Hey Naruto, close your eyes for a moment. I have a gift for you."

* * *

**The Hokage's Office.**

Sarutobi smiled as he watched the young blond tackle his teacher to the ground after receiving his hitai-ate, via his crystal ball. It was definately an interesting night, of that there was no doubt. Naruto stealing the scroll was a bit unexpected, he had been waiting for the blond to show and ask for a means of doing the clones differently well before this point, but not an entirely unwanted event. Mizuki's obvious betrayal however, was definately troubling, with him dead they would have a hard time finding out who he worked for now. And that object Naruto had found, according to village records it had belonged to the village since it was founded, and had been passed down the Senju line for generations before that.

Looking away from the crystal ball he stared at his desk for a moment before realization hit him. With Naruto passing that meant he had to reorder the team structure and fill out the forms for him become a genin. Pulling out a small orang book from his desk drawer he sat back with a small sigh, he could do all that later, for now he needed to work on fixing that weakness of his that Naruto had exploited.

* * *

1. Goshiki Zankantou, can be translated to both Crown Cleaving Sword, or to Colossal Blade Type-5. The weapon of choice for Princess Kaguya Nanbu, google images for her and check out the badassness of that blade.

2. A send up to the master writer Psudocode Samurai and his story Shards.

3. Familiar of Zero. Couldn't think of something actually cool.

4. In chinese Yi means One. It punny.

Yo, FG here. What do you think? I know what you might be saying, "Oh Fellgrave you started yet another story, whatever were you thinking?" Well its just that sometime I get these wicked ideas that I just feel like I have to write. That doesn't mean I've stopped work on my other stories, I will not let any of them end up unfinished, it just means I have something new and interesting to share with you guys.

Speaking of which, I was reading a story by the name of "Dracula's Daughter" by Shritristrang, in which Usagi, instead of being the reincarnation of Sailor Moon, is the reincarnation of Dracula's daughter. Anyway as I was reading it I came up with my own version, kinda. You see my idea is that before Beryl could be banished she was able to use her magic to curse all of the Sailor Senshi, turning them into what they faught hardest against. So each Senshi is cursed into becoming a monster, Usagi becomes a demon queen, Rei is a Kitsune, Ami is...not sure yet, Minako is a succubus, Makoto...again not sure yet, Hotaru=vampire, Michiru is a siren, Setsuna becomes a dragon, and once again I'm not sure about what Haruka becomes. Any ideas would be nice, but this is an idea I probably won't touch for a while, so you can all breath easy about that. Oh yes and the best thing would be that the mooncats and Endymion wouldn't be cursed, just to screw with their heads. Oh yeah and they wouldn't be all goody goody like in Shritistrangs story, they be a lot more vicious and evil. Wee what fun.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Chapter 1**

* * *

A/N: Here ya go, another chapter of Codex of Champions. Sorry it took so long, but I've been busy with school. As for the pairings... Well one is kind of obvious from last chapter, but how I'll get it to work will be a twist for you., and there is one other one that will be made apparent in this chapter. Oh, and lastly all the genin in this story are Sixteen. Why? Because I say so, and because it gives a bit of working room for backstory with a couple of the characters. Enjoy!

And dammit, between the one backstory in this chapter, and the prologue for Mahora One Half, I swear I need get my head checked. Writing stuff like that shouldn't be this easy.

* * *

_Heh, I don't just play with fire babe,  
I soak my matches in gasoline._

_Fellgrave_

* * *

**Naruto's Apartment:**

**/Naruto! Wake up Naruto!/** The addressed blonde grumbled in his sleep as he pulled his pillow over his head to block out the voice. Which, considering the source of the voice, didn't do much. **/Come on, we need to get you ready to meet your new team!/**

Groaning at the insistent voice, Naruto rolled out of bed, sitting on the edge of it as he rubbed his eyes. Looking around the room blearily for the person who had rudely awoken him, His eyes fell on the the hitai-ate he had recieved from Iruka the night before. Grabbing it off the bed post, he stared down at it, his thoughts whirling.'_Then, if that part happened...'_ His hopeful thoughts trailed off.

_**/**_**Yes Naruto, I'm here./ **Came Ahri's mental response. Naruto's face brightened up immensely when he heard her voice. Of course it was at that point that he noticed the time on his clock, sending him panickedly towards his closet in search of clothes.

_Dammit! I'm gonna be late, and I still need to get dressed!' _He paused in front of his closet as he pulled out various pieces of clothing.'_Nope, too small. Too big. Nope too damaged. Nope... Why the Hell do I have a pink shirt with a chibi white cat on it in my closet?_ Naruto tossed that piece of clothing over his shoulder into the trash, making a mental note to burn the thing later. With that done he looked over the few remaining pieces of undamaged clothing he possesed.

He frowned as he looked over his rather limited wardrobe. Laid out next to each other were three versions of his trademark orange jumpsuit, and a white, semistained, shirt and a pair of threadbare pants. Nothing truly suited for a ninja. '_Man,' _He sighed mentally, '_ If only I had some money, then maybe I could get some real clothes instead of this crap.'_

/**Maybe I could help with that./ **Ahri suggested. Naruto smiled before a thought occurred to him.

'_Really? How, since you can't get out of my mindscape?' _He asked. Ahri chuckled at his confusion.

/**I can't get out because I am a soul, and I don't have a physical body to hold me. That's how the Codex works, by allowing your body to temporarily host the soul of one of the Champions. Items though, have no soul and can easily be recreated outside of your mind. It's nearly impossible to create a living, fully functional body, and there are spells built into the Codex to aid in creating items already. There is a way for champions to leave the seal but that can wait for later./**

Naruto's eyes widened, this meant he could have an unlimited supply of weapons, and good ones at that. No more having to scrounge around the training grounds for kunai and shuriken that people forgot. Even better, he could create stuff and sell it. If he sold enough maybe he could get a better apartment. '_So how do I get started?' _He asked Ahri eagerly.

/**Simple, all you need to do is concentrate on the place you were at last night and that should be it. Oh, and we need to go over some more information on the Codex once you're here./**

Nodding rapidly, Naruto assumed a cross-legged position on floor. Closing his eyes he focused his thoughts on the immense halls that he remembered seeing last time he was in his mindscape. He felt a tugging sensation, that distracted him slightly. Making sure to focus on Ahri's words, he incidentally pictured her in the halls. He felt one last tug, and the world around him dissolved into a sea of colours.

* * *

The world eventually reformed and Naruto found himself, to his dismay, several metres off the ground within the halls of his mindscape. Having closed his eyes the moment he had seen where he had appeared he had failed to notice the person underneath him. Well he had right up until they collided. Having his eyes closed due to his fear of hitting the ground, its not the fall thats frightening, its the sudden stop at the end, he might be considered not at fault for his current location. You see as he was thinking about Ahri while entering his mindscape, he was brought to her and because he had lost concentration he ended up in the middle of the air instead of on the floor.

And so he found himself, once again, in a position many men would trade for in heartbeat, of course a heartbeat after that they'd be killed by a furious Kitsune, but still it was quite an enviable position. His lips were on hers in what could loosely be termed a kiss, while one of his hands, which had been placed underneath him to cushion his impact, was grasping something soft. Confused, as he was expecting the cold floor, and also due to the fact he hadn't registered what his lips were pressed up against, he gave the soft object a little squeeze.

He was rewarded for his curiousity by the object giving a shudder and a soft moan into his lips. His eyes snapped open and he found himself staring into Ahri's own golden ones, a twinkle of amusement hiding at the edges of them. As Naruto tried to pull himself away, one of Ahri's tails wrapped itself around his chest and pulled him back down into another kiss, this one far softer than the accidental one they had shared moments earlier. Naruto relaxed and let himself melt into the kiss as Ahri's tails wrapped around the pair, forming a bubble to keep out the outside world.

* * *

The two were rudely brought out of the moment they were sharing by the sound of laughter. To their credit neither so much as flinched, the both of them continuing to share their embrace until they heard some none-to-discreet coughing. The tails that surrounded the pair slipped off to reveal them giving their interrupter twin glares. Said interrupter simply snorted and crossed her arms beneath her breasts as she gave Ahri a look of her own.

"Oh please, I highly doubt you two could do anything to me." Turning to Naruto she gave him a toothy grin. "Well its nice to finally meet our dear host. The name's Shyvana, at your service." Shyvana gave a shallow bow, her long red-hair falling over her face. Straightening up she brushed it past her ear with a gauntleted hand. She was about to say something more, but stopped and turned to Ahri as she remembered something.

"Oh yeah the reason why I was looking for you. I did that headcount like you asked and we have a couple missing." That was enough to snap Ahri out of her annoyance at the black armored redhead as she gave her a look of suprise. Naruto simply looked on with an expression of confusion. Shyvana continued on, ticking off the names on her fingers. "Letsee, Annie, Rammus, Maokai and Wukong are all missing."

Getting to her feet, Ahri frowned as she thought the dilemma over, after all the only way they could have gotten out was if "they found their current incarntations." She didn't even register that she said that last part out loud until Naruto entered the conversation.

"Umm, what do you mean 'incarnations'?" Ahri blinked and turned to face Naruto. He was staring up at her with a look of confusion.

"Well I wasn't going to tell you until later, but there is a way for us champions to leave the confines of the Codex." Ahri would have said more but she was engulfed in a back-breaking embrace from the whiskered blonde. She was barely able to speak through Naruto's crushing grip."Can't... Breathe..."

Realizing what he was doing Naruto quickly let her go and took a step back with a sheepish expression on his face. Ahri heaved in massive gulps of air as she tried to bring life back to her starved lungs. Once she had gotten her wind back, and sent a meaningful glare to a near-hysterical Shyvana, she continued.

"As I was saying, a Champion can leave the Codex, but only under the right circumstances. The creators of the League realized that in the course of our career, something might happen that would either cripple or kill a champion and they wanted a way to allow us to keep competeing. And so they cast a great ritual that bound the souls of all the champions not just to the Codex, but also to the entire world. The ritual made it so that in every generation a person would be born who was our incarnation, and if we died we would be able to merge if our souls were brought together."

Naruto was practically bouncing off the walls as Ahri finished speaking. He was so worried that his one of his few friends would be trapped inside him for good. He stopped as a thought crossed his mind. Turning to Ahri he cocked his head as he considered how to phrase his question.

"Ahri, what happens to the incarnation when you merge?" His voice had a slightly worried tone to it. Ahri's forehead furrowed in thought.

"Well, it usually takes a while to fully merge, but everything that made the person who they were is still there, their memories and the like. The League deemed a way of allowing us to gain knowledge outside of merely training, as various incarnations may have learned different things, such as one being a farmer or such. So every time a champion merges they become slightly different, a combination of the original and their incarnations."

Shyvana nodded her head at Ahri's explanation but decided to add a point of her own. "That means everytime we come back to the codex after our merge we still have all the knowledge and skill from our merge. In fact I believe yo-" Shyvana was cut-off as a furry tail wrapped itself around her mouth. Ahri stood staring at her with a warning glare. Shyvana gave a reluctant nod, to which Ahri responded to by releasing Shyvana. Naruto had, for the most part been too focused on the fact that Ahri could get out to notice the byplay between the two.

Shyvana spat out the last few hairs that had settled on her tongue and gave Ahri a scathing look. Ahri rolled her eyes before turning back to Naruto, who was practically bouncing off the walls at the knowledge that Ahri wouldn't be always be stuck inside his head.

"Now Naruto, there was a reason you were coming in here, correct?" Naruto froze for a moment before his expression brightened, a feat that most would deem near impossible considering his usual attitude towards life.

"Oh yeah, we were gonna get me some awesome new clothes and stuff!"Ahri sighed, but nodded while Shyvana stifled a snort.

"Yes 'awesome clothes' indeed. We should hurry up though, you don't want to miss your team assignment do you?" Ahri asked rhetorically, though it had the intended effect of galvanizing Naruto, sending him running down the hall. Ahri and Shyvana stared as he walked back with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Uh, so where are we going?" At Naruto's honest question Ahri face-palmed while Shyvana burst out laughing.

* * *

After a while the trio had managed to navigate their way through the maze that made up the Institute, stopping outside a set of large iron doors devoid of ornamentation. The doors were far smaller than the ones Naruto went through to be judged, those being well over six times his own height and these being only about three times his height.

Even though these doors didn't look as intimidating as the other gates, Naruto still felt some apprehension towards entering them. Swallowing his nerves he pushed them aside and cautiously entered the room, before his jaw dropped in awe at what he found within.

The room stretched on for what seemed like infinity to Naruto, with every inch of the walls covered in pieces of armour or weapons. There were spears, swords, scythes, sickles, and thousand other weapons of every possible shape and size. Naruto was stunned, having never seen so many weapons before in his life, even when the villagers used to band together on his birthday.

Feeling a tap on his shoulder he turned to face a smirking Shyvana, how gestured towards a larged desk and set of doors off the side. "Come on kid, we don't want to keep ol' Doran waiting." Naruto was about to ask who this 'Doran' guy was, but then he saw the person standing behind the desk.

The man, though that probably wasn't accurate, was a giant mass of... mass. His face was dominated by a bulbous nose and his skin possesed a pinkish tinge to it. When he opened his mouth to speak Naruto could see his teeth were all large and sharp. The man, thing, clutched its belly and gave a boisterous laugh.

"So, this is our little host eh? Not much to look at now is he now?" Shyvana and Ahri snickered at the put-out look on Naruto's face. Doran himself gave a brief chuckle but continued on before Naruto could retort. "But I suppose that's what you came here for. From what Ahri tells me you seem to be sorely lacking in personal vestements, a lack that I will take great pleasure in rectifying."

Stepping out from behind the desk Doran grabbed a reluctant Naruto by the arm and dragged him off behind one of the doors set in the wall. Naruto let out a small sigh of relief when he found himself in a mostly empty room, empty save for a pedestal in the middle of the floor that was semi-surrounded by mirrors. With an absent gesture Naruto found himself standing on the pedestal while Doran rumaged around in a small trunk next to the door.

Finding what he was looking for, Doran drew out of the chest a small black rectangular box bedecked with small glowing lights. Frowning to himself he pressed one of the lights and Naruto found himself dressed in his usual orange jumpsuit. Doran leapt into action as he fussed over Naruto, pulling at his limbs as he looked over his choice in clothes.

"Nonono, this simply will not do." Doran muttered quietly to himself as he let go of Naruto and went back to the trunk. Digging around in it again this time he pulled out a small magazine. He paged through it while giving Naruto an occaisonal glance in comparison and consideration. Once he finished going through the magazine he picked up the box again and pressed a different light.

Naruto blinked as his orange jumpsuit dissapeared and he was left standing in a pair of plain brown cargo pants. He opened his mouth to say something but instead let out a indignant shout as he collapsed under the weight of the suit of large spiked armor that had suddenly appeared on him. Unable to move under the heavy metal he cast Doran a scathing glare, which was returned with a shrug and another press of the button.

Not even looking at his clothes, and failing to notice Doran's wide eyes and blush, Naruto stood up and stretched. The sound of a wolf whistle sent his head snapping around to find Shyvana's head poking through the doorway with a look of amusement. Her eyes gave him a studious look up and down before a smirk set itself on her face.

"Heh, you fill that out quite nicely stud." Still smirking she dissapeared before Naruto could think of a comeback. Wondering at what she meant Naruto looked down and he bit off a scream that threatened to tear through his throat at finding himself in a long flowing violet dress. Face darkening in anger he turned to Doran and took a shaking step forwards. Doran quickly pressed another button and sighed in relief when Naruto ended up in a better set of clothes, it would have been just too much if he had ended up in something like say, Evelynn's straps and strips outfit.

Naruto looked down at his current clothes and gave them a once over in the mirrors. It wasn't bad he had to admit. He had on the same cargo pants from earlier, though they were now a dark camouflage pattern of blacks and dark greys. He had on a grey shirt in a style that reminded him of the style one of the graduates of the year previously wore, Tenten her name was, at least that's what he remembered. Over top of the shirt was a deep red leather jacket that was nearly black. One the back of the jacket was a swirling pattern that greatly resembled a curling fox-tail.

Naruto smiled and leapt over towards Doran, giving him a tight hug. Letting go, he stepped back and gave the shopkeep a face-splitting smile. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" His words ran together as he sped out the door to show Ahri and Shyvana, leaving a bemused and smiling Doran behind. Once again in the Hall of Arms, Naruto searched around before finding Ahri and Shyvana admiring some dresses that were hung up on the wall. Still smiling, he quietly snuck up behind the pair, before wrapping them both in crushing embrace.

Releasing them he gave them their first good look at his new clothes. Ahri had to consciously remind herself not to drool at the delicious figure Naruto cut. Shyvana herself was impressed, the boy actually looked halfway decent now that he wasn't dressed in that eyesore he called clothing, just seeing it once was enough for her.

"Well what do you think? Though I wish there was something orange it doesn't look too bad right?" Naruto asked as he tugged on his jacket self-consciously. His suggestion was met with rapidly assurances to the negative from Ahri.

"No, I think you look perfect just like this." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "By the way, what time is your team arrangement at?" Naruto's eyes widened explosively as he started cursing. Shyvana smirked and took note of a couple of the more colourful phrases for later use. Ahri gave a light chuckle. "Relax Naruto, time moves slower within your mind so you shouldn't be too late if you leave now. Just focus your mind on waking in your room and let your mind follow the feeling."

Naruto gave her a strange look but did as she asked, closing his eyes so that he could picture his room more easily. He was mildly suprised when the mental image arrived so clearly, as if he was staring at his body from the corner of the ceiling. Feeling a strange tugging sensation on the edge of his senses, he instinctively started to resist it, before he remembered Ahri's words from a moments earlier. Giving in to the tugging sensation he felt a moment of dissasociated feelings from his body and the feeling of movement without moving, before his perspective shifted and he felt his consciousness flow into his body.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes and put out a hand to steady himself as the world seemed to swirl around. Shaking his head, he blinked his eyes a couple times and was relieved to find that his sight had gone back to normal. He took a moment to look at his new clothes in wonder before searching his room for his clock. He let out a loud sigh when he found that he still had at least fifteen minutes to make it to class, which he could make easily if he left immediately.

As ran towards the door he grabbed the hitai-ate the Iruka had given him the night before, and tied it loosely onto his arm. He cast one last look back into his apartment, looking to see if he was missing anything. He nearly jumped when Ahri's voice suddenly spoke in his mind.

**/Don't worry and get going already. You don't want to be late do you?/** Naruto gave a rapid shake of the head as he responded mentally.

'_No way! Who the heck would be late for something as important as team meetings?' _Hearing something that sounded suspiciously like a sneeze Naruto gave his apartment a strange look before shrugging and closing the dooor. At the sound of the bolt slamming into place, a pair of forms detached themselves from the shadows in the corner of the room. The older of the two gave the younger a humour filled look.

"You know Kakashi, your quite lucky he was late or else he may have decided to stay and look around for whoever sneezed." The Third Hokage gave a chuckle at the wounded look he recieved. Turning serious the smile dropped from his face as he took a seat at Naruto's table, Kakashi remaining where he was.

"So, what do you think of him?" Kakashi raised a brow at the the sudden change of pace and subject. He sighed and gave a shrug.

"I'm not sure yet. That little trick he did with the change of clothes was interesting, but other than that he seems to be just a plain overbearing kid. Besides, I'm not even his teacher so why are you asking me?" Sarutobi gave another chuckle.

"That 'trick' as you so lightly put it was a power of an artifact made ages before the village was ever founded, and likely from the ages before the Rikudo Sennin as well." Sarutobi smirked at Kakashi's shocked look. "I'm not sure how, but Naruto was able to accidentally tap into it's powers last night to defeat Mizuki. Somehow he managed to absorb the artifact into his own body, not even a deep scan from our medic-nins revealed it anywhere within his body or chakra network. Whatever the artifact is truly capable of is a mystery, even to me."

Kakashi looked somewhat shaken by the fact that The Professor had admitted a lack of knowledge on a subject. "But still, why tell me this?" Sarutobi puffed on his pipe while he contemplated Kakashi's question.

"I need someone who knows in case something happens, either to me or to Naruto." He chuckled at the look on Kakashi's face. "Ah don't give that, even I can get old, and the older I get the less I can do for those I care for. One day I'll have to step down as Hokage and I want to make sure everything is ready before that day comes." With a grunt he pushed himself to his feet. "Now then, I have an appointment with some paperwork and I believe you have a meeting to go to." With that he vanished in a flurry of leaves.

Kakashi spent a moment staring at the spot where his Hokage had stood before speaking to himself. "Why the heck does that always make a pile of leaves, even when indoors? I must find out why, to the library!" And with a smirk Kakashi vanished with his own pile of leaves. Later, when Naruto came back to his room, he'd wonder why there was such a mess when he had made sure that he'd closed his windows.

* * *

**The Academy:**

Naruto ran full tilt down the hallways, grabbing onto the corners and using the walls as springboards to control where he was going. He barely managed to avoid the various obstructions in his path, composed of teachers and their aides, various carts of teaching or janitorial supplies, and the occaison student who was either being punished or was late as , Naruto reached a hand out to open the door to his classroom, momentarily forgetting his current rate of travel.

This period of time, from the moment his hand gained a grip on the door, resulted in the door being pulled open, and Naruto continuing straight past it and down the hallway in a blur. The sound of the door slamming open gained the attention of all those in the classroom and prompted a shared confusion as to what had just occured. Well, almost all of them. For one duo it was just another day at the Academy with Naruto.

Speaking of whom, Naruto had managed to recover from his, miscalculation, and had quickly entered the classroom. To those who knew Naruto, the change in his appearance came as quite a suprise, as it seemed that he would wear that jumpsuit of his until the day the world came to its sad end. Even more suprising was his new attitude, the accident with the door notwithstanding, as he didn't bother to rise to Kiba's usual taunting, instead he chose to ignore him for the most part, other than giving a lazy gesture to the Hitai-ate wrapped around his arm. Naruto scanned the classroom, letting himself smile as he found what he was looking for.

In a blink Naruto vanished from where he had been standing, leaving Kiba staring open-mouthed in mid taunt. A moment later Naruto reappeared sitting in the middle of a large section of empty seats near the back. Considering how many students had actually managed to pass the test and the size of the classroom, the fact that there was a large section of empty seats would be considered quite suspect, save for the pair who had been sitting in the middle, the empty seat between them filled with their boisterous blonde friend.

It wasn't too hard to see the reason for the distance that was kept between the three and the rest of the class, since the names Anko Mitarashi, Kurenai Yuuhi, and Naruto Uzumaki were considered synonymous with "bad influence" or "the devil's own children" by most in Konoha. This was not due to any fault of their own, save being victims of unfortunate timing. Naruto had been born at just the right time to be the one chosen as the container for what had at the time appeared to be a rampaging demon of incredible power. Anko had lost her parents in the desperate fight to delay the 'demon' until it could be sealed away, and then had been stumbled upon by a young Orochimaru who saw the oppurtunity to train his own heir and was probably adopted by the man. His dark descent into madness had been precipitated by self-experimentation in a search for the eternally elusive immortality.

Kurenai's past was no less painful than either of her friends, though she had lived with the love of her parents for a little while at the least. The assault of the 'Kyuubi' had left more than just physical scars on its victims and one of those who had suffered such an unseen wound was Kurenai's father. For a period all seemed normal with him, but as time wore on he became more agressive, as well as seeking escape from the nightmares of the 'Kyuubi' attack that plagued both his sleep and waking hours with the bottle. Kurenai's mother had been a simple civilian woman, one who had been proud to have married one of Konoha's great defenders. That pride had waned as she was forced to start wearing long-sleeved clothing, to cover the bruises from her husband's attentions.

It was on the night of Kurenai's Eighth birthday that her father finally went over the edge. Kurenai had quickly and quietly retreated to her bedroom after a quiet and peaceful dinner with her mother, her father out on work as was usual, Kurenai having learned years before this point that she had no desire to watch her Kaa-san get beat by her father for some imagined slight, or worse, the loud arguements that the two had, most often over her and her future. Kurenai, instead of trying to go immediately to sleep as she would most days, was huddled under her blankets with her desk lamp turned on low next to her, the light illuminating the present her mother had gotten her for her birthday, a copy of '_How the fox stole the Sun' _lying open in front of her.

The sound of the front door slamming open and closed startled Kurenai, causing her to nearly jump out of her bed in suprise. Carefully, she closed and put down the book on her bedside table, making sure not to make a sound as she wanted her parents, her father especially, to believe that she was already asleep. Flicking off her light, she dove back under the covers just as the first sounds of one of her parents arguements reached her ears. Shaking, she cried silent tears as the fight got louder and louder, before it suddenly became quiet with a knife-edge suddeness. Kurenai froze, straining her ears for a sound. In the quiet she could hear her father's slow methodical footsteps as he climbed the stairs. The light that shined from under the bottom of her door was blocked, before the door was slowly pushed open.

Her father stood there, the light from the hallway casting his face into dark shadows, though they weren't dark enough to cover the crazed smile that split his face, nor the twisted expression that dominated the rest of his face. As he took a step forwards Kurenai began shaking with renewed intensity, the only sounds in the room being that of her and her father breathing, and the slow drip drop sound of her mother's blood flowing from her father's hands. Walking until he stood by the side of her bed, her father sat himelf down on the edge, his hand reaching out to stroke Kurenai's hair, unmindful of the blood that began to stain her raven locks.

Her father quickly got tired of merely sitting there and running his hands through Kurenai's hair, his hands, still slick and sticky with her mother's blood, roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled out from under the cover's. Terrified, Kurenai stared wide-eyed into her father's, looking for any trace of the loving man she could remember glimpses of him being, only to find a sick and twisted madness. She tried her best to escape her father's grasp as he began to slowly remove her night clothes, her struggles only seeming to enflame the sick lust that had taken hold of his mind.

Leaning closer, Kurenai's father whispered sweetly into her ears, his words chilling herself to the core of her soul. "Don't worry. Daddy has the perfect present for you. Daddy is going to make you feel real good, it won't hurt a bit." Even after so many years her father's last words made Kurenai sick to the pit of her stomach.

She wasn't entirely sure what happened next, as the terror made everything blur. She was aware of her father reaching out to pull away her pajama bottoms, and then she felt something within herself shatter. The next thing she knew her father had been thrown bodily across the room, his face frozen into an expression of absolute terror as he stared at something beyond the walls of the room. The last thing Kurenai remembered of that night was the sight of her terrified father gouging out his eyes and ripping out his own throat with his bare hands, the spray of blood soaking everything in the room.

She was found the next morning by a member of the Village Police who had been called in to investigate a report about domestic violence by one of the neighbours. After the investigation into what was, publicly, called a murder-suicide by an over-worked and over-stressed ninja, Kurenai was deemed too much of a risk to put with other orphaned children, and so she ended up in the apartment neighbouring Naruto's, which led to their eventual friendship.

As Naruto sat between his two rare friends, soundlessly accepting their quiet congratulations on passing, he couldn't help but hope that they ended up on a team together. After all, considering the fact that they were such good friends it seemed pretty obvious that they would work well together. Naruto's thoughts on the matter were interrupted by Ahri's mental voice, which sounded somewhat dazed.

**/Naruto, can you do something for me?/ **Blinking, Naruto nevertheless gave Ahri the mental version of a nod, as he didn't want to physically do the act, as it might attract unwarranted attention. **/I need you to look at your friend, Kurenai was it? Okay, good. Now, can you superimpose your whisker marks on her face? Alright, now how about giving her a pair of fox ears?/**

_'... the hell?' _Putting aside the variation in clothing, with the mental additions to Kurenai's form she looked startlingly similar to Ahri. In fact, given a few years and Ahri's fox like additions, they could be twins. His eye twitching, he turned away so it wouldn't look like he was staring while he communicated with Ahri.

'_So let me guess, she's your current incarnation?' _Naruto could feel the satisfaction in Ahri's response.

/**Yes, and I must say I wasn't expecting you to have met, let alone befriended, my incarnation so soon. It will take some time for me to have complete my duty as your teacher, but once that is done I should be able to merge at any time./**

Naruto was about to say something in response, but stopped as Iruka entered the classroom. Iruka strode over to his desk and shuffled a sheaf of papers while he waited for the class to quiet. Taking a moment to clear his throat, Iruka gave the class a long sweeping look, meeting as many of his student's eyes as possible.

"Well, I can't say that I won't miss you, but it was definitely interesting teaching all of you. In years past I would give my student's a speech on what to expect and how impressed I've been, but then I remembered how boring and tedious it was to listen to an old guy talk like my old teacher back when I was in the Academy. So today I'll skip that and go right to the team assignments. Team One..."

Naruto zoned out, listening to the voice of one of the champions instruct him in the fine art of Shogi. Aparrently this Swain fellow didn't mind using his knowledge and skills to help Naruto deliver a cruel prank. Naruto refocused on Iruka though when he heard a familiar name being called.

"...and Team Seven will be Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sai Shimura. Your Jounin teacher is Kakashi Hatake." There was a moment of cheering from Sakura when she found out she was on her crush's team, and some confusion for her and the rest of the class as they tried to place Sai's name, before the odd teen, who seemed to easily sink into the background, pointed himself out. Iruka changed sheats and continued on. "Team Eight, Kiba Inazuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Your Jounin teacher is..." Iruka trailed off as he stared at the name on the page, a creepy smile edging its way onto his face.

"Hana Inazuka." For a moment all was silent and if one listened hard enough, they could hear the blood draining from Kiba's face. And deciding that he had had enough of the morning already, Kiba decided to take an unplanned nap. In other words, he fainted like a certain Hyuuga getting hugged by a certain blonde. Iruka chuckled quietly to himself, clearly enjoying the small amount of payback for some of the pranks he had been forced to endure over the time he'd taught this class. Still smiling he read out the next group of names, skipping Team Nine as they were still in service.

"Team Ten is composed of Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akamichi, and Shikamaru Nara. Asuma Sarutobi is your Jounin teacher." Naruto noticed out of the corner of his eye how Kurenai seemed to straighten up at the mention of the team's Jounin teacher. Both he and Anko shared a look, Kurenai had been crushing on one of the older ninja for some time now, specifically the one who had been by her bedside when she awoke in the hospital the morning after her birthday. Now at least they knew his name, though him being the Hokage's son was a bit suprising.

"Ehmm. Team Eleven is Haruka Tenoh, Michiru Kaioh and Hotaru Tomoe. Your Team leader is Setsuna Meiou. Continuing on, Team Twelve is Urd Odinsdottir, Belldandy Odinsdottir, and Skuld Odinsdottir. Your Jounin Leader is Hild Eilíftmyrkur." Iruka changed sheets again while the teams gathered together, though most of them were already sitting next to each other.

With a smile turned over the page and read out the last set of names. "Team Thirteen is Anko Mitarashi, Kurenai Yuuhi, and Naruto Uzumaki." He waited a moment for the cheers of the three friends to quiet before continuing.

"Your Team's Jounin Leader is..." He trailed off as he actually registered the name that was written on the page, before turning over the sheet and searching in vain for a different name. He took a gulp of air before he decided to bite the kunai and read out the last name.

"Your Jounin Leader is..."

* * *

... You'll have to wait till next chapter to find out. Sorry it took so long for me to update but I've been busy with school.

Couple things, first off Kurenai and Anko: Now I wanted to have a way for Ahri to get out of the seal without Naruto having to become some super skilled sealsmaster or such, and I also felt the need to touch upon how similar Kurenai and Ahri appear, at least with Ahri's original skin. And I wanted a way for the champions to have developed various skills outside of those displayed in the game, so this serves for multiple purposes. Also, it gives me a way to have fun later on. How? Go back and reread the section where Shyvana and Ahri are first discussing the incarnations for a clue.

Second, yes that is Shyvana's second alternate skin. Third, Hild's last name is a translation from google translate that should read as 'Eternal Darkness'.

And lastly, don't ya just love cliffies?

* * *

**OMAKE ****Lost Legend #1 :**

Hanabi was hiding in her room, shivering. Ever since her sister had found that stupid little plush teddy bear on the side of the street she had become terrifying. Their spars had become much worse, at least for Hanabi, as Hinata had seemingly developed overnight a twisted sadistic streak that pushed her further than even her infantile crush on the outcast boy had.

The Hyuuga Elders still withheld approval for the elder of Hiashi's daughters, as she also taken up the use of techniques more commonly used by those of the Uchiha clan, namely fire techniques, with a vicious ease. She had also managed to meld elemental chakra with her use of the Hyuuga's Jyuuken style, causing her strikes to not only close off the tenketsu in a person's body, but with enough chakra her strikes could actually destroy the targeted tenketsu entirely.

Hanabi had taken to hiding in her room whenever Hinata was in the compound, only leaving when Hinata left to follow *read stalk* her crush, or to go to school. It was getting to the point that even hearing those six dreaded words would cause her to shiver uncontrollably.

Her blood ran cold as she heard the screen door to her room slide open and her sister's light steps across her floor. Gently lowering the book that was held in front of her face, Hanabi stared into her sister's eyes while trying to ignore the vicious smile that had no right existing on her sister's face. Her sister opened her mouth to speak and Hanabi had already begun to shake before the second syllable was uttered.

"Have you seen my bear Tibbers?"

* * *

Too much I'm doing right now. Spoiler, the Jounin leader was supposed to be Uzuki Yuugao.


	6. UED Subject CRY0

Huh, well this is inspired by Cryo by Omniscientearl, except with Starcraft instead of Mass Effect. Before you ask, Kerrigan still becomes the Queen of Blades, and etc. etc. Thus, the events of Starcraft, Starcraft Brood War, the various novels, and everything else occur normally. The only major changes will be noticeable once things hit the start of Starcraft 2. The only difference is that Mengsk has to find a new personal assassin.

* * *

_And then, upon looking into her eyes, I understood._

_Within them there was no longer anything._

_No pain. No suffering. No love. No compassion. No hope._

_All those things had been consumed._

_Only power remained._

_How beautiful._

_-Arcturus Mengsk on the subject of Ghost X41822N-_

* * *

**Hidden Sons of Korhal Laboratory somewhere on Tarsonis.**

"Dammit, fall back to the Main Labs! We can seal the blast doors and hunker down in there 'til back-up arrives!" The few remaining marines nodded and followed their blonde haired leader's orders quickly, laying down heavy fire against the advancing Zerg swarm as they did so. November 'Nova' Terra grimaced as another one of her soldiers fell to the attacking swarm. It was supposed to be a quick and easy retrieval mission, go in, grab the subject and get out. Unfortunately for her and her team, Mengsk had neglected to mention the time-frame for the rest of his plans concerning the planet.

Raising her rifle she popped off a quick shot that splattered the brain matter of an approaching Hydralisk against the walls. The only reason her and the men under her command had lasted so long was thanks to the fact that the narrow corridors of the laboratory complex made the Swarm's great numbers a weakness rather than their greatest strength. More than one hallway had ended up completely blocked by a mountain of Zerg corpses.

Once again, Nova wondered just what it was that Mengsk needed her to retrieve so badly. She knew that it had something to do with an old UED research project he had 'liberated' from one of their labs, but the specifics of it were never mentioned. And so she and her men had been fighting, and dying, their way through the swarm in the hopes of reaching something none of them knew a single thing about.

The lab was hidden underground, beneath a skyscraper for one of Mengsk's front operations, and was comprised of miles of tunnels connecting to a gigantic central building constructed like an inverted spire right below the public's noses. She had heard that someone had asked why it had been built in such a strange design, and that Mengsk had actually smiled, a real, honest smile, and told them that it was his way of honoring a classic. He refused to say anymore on the subject after that cryptic little remark, and no-one else ever brought the subject up again.

Of course, considering the sheer magnitude of the facility, it was no surprise to Nova that they had been working on certain experiments that might not be well accepted amongst the general public. Among those experiments happened to be several based around captured Zerg subjects. Nova shook her head as she knocked a leaping Zergling from the air before he could land on the back of one of her few remaining soldiers. It was also no surprise to her that some of the subjects had been waiting for the invasion to hit Tarsonis, the subjects breaking out of containment before seizing control of the facility. One of the projects had been on the adaptation and integration mechanism of the swarm, and when the subject they had been researching on escaped, all hell broke loose as it turned the environmental control and vents into a delivery system for an improved version of Zerg infection that quickly worked it's way through all the workers in the lab, transforming them all into in twisted and horrifying mockeries of humanity.

Nova let out a small sigh of relief, the only relaxation she would allow herself, as the solid blast doors slammed shut on the approaching swarm. Even as she slipped down the wall she had taken to leaning against she was preparing herself for when combat would resume. After all, it would only be a matter of time for the doors to break, as she could already hear the sound of one of the Zerg's heavier breeds thundering through the hallways. Not for the first time, she cursed Mengsk and whoever it had been that inspired him to name the research facility the "Hive". You would think that after having met and studied the Zerg someone would have seen the whole connection and changed it, but...no, that was something for a later time. She shouldered her rifle as she took in the remaining members of her command as they spent a few moments recovering.

Huddled around the walls furthest from the large blast doors, the section of the facility they were located in possessing only the one gate to the rest of the facility, which was, all things considered, a rather small thing to be thankful for. Nova let herself give a quiet and bitter chuckle as she observed her team. A small squad of marines whose names she still didn't know; a medic whose nervous twitching seemed to be the first signs of a nervous breakdown; a firebat, someone she was more than glad to have with her in the close confines of the tunnels, even with his lack of concern for those who were nominally his allies; and herself.

If she hadn't already begun to break through the conditioning and mental reprogramming Mengsk and the Confederates had given her, after more than a few missions from him had committing acts that anyone else would have found reprehensible, her current situation would have most certainly started the process. Her memories of her past were still locked away beneath hundreds of hours of work by the best agents of several sides, but she didn't need them to know that unless something implausibly fortuitous occurred within the next few minutes, she and her men would be dead.

"Sir! I mean, Ma'am!" Nova blinked and looked up to find one of the marines waving at her from down the hall. Seeing that he had her attention, he began to gesticulate energetically towards something out of her sight. "Ma'am, you have to see this! I think I found what we're looking for!"

Her eyebrow quirked upwards as the young man gestured for her to follow him before he vanished down the hallway. She groaned as she got to her feet, her body sore from the wringer it had been put through. Turning the corner, she stopped as her vision was filled with an immense white expanse. The hallway she had just come through had opened into a large vault, of which only half could be seen, the other half blocked by several massive walls, connected to the hallway by means of several walkways that were suspended almost twenty metres above the floor. The walkway separated off into several paths that all connected to the wall, each one leading to a large gate painted over with warnings.

The marine that had called her over was standing off to one side near one of the gates, plugging away at one of the terminals. Nova began to move to join him, only to stop as she heard the sound of an incoming transmission begin to ring over her earpiece. She was tempted to let it go, considering the fact that it was most likely to be Mengsk, as he was the only one who knew where she was, but her remaining programming was still strong enough for her to be forced to answer the call.

"I see you have reached the objective, well done agent." Mengsk's voice crackled over the com-link She was tempted to offer some sort of biting retort, but she held her tongue, unwilling to let slip the fact that Mengsk's iron grip on her soul was weakening. "Your mission specifics have been updated, including a map to your extraction point. Upon arrival there will be transport ready to retrieve your team and the objective. Don't disappoint me agent."

For a moment Nova just stood, part of her mind ready to curse Mengsk to the bowels of hell for eternity, while the other part wanted nothing more that to sing his praises for giving her a way to escape from the deathtrap that Tarsonis had become. Instead she settled for checking the escape route before she turned to face the objective, more accurately, the security that surrounded it. According to the schematic included with the updated mission docket, the exit was conveniently placed behind the objective, which itself was protected by massive walls of neo-steel the size and thickness of three marines.

As she checked through the data packet she had received she was more than a little frustrated to notice that the Omega level clearance codes she needed to release the gates were missing. "Marine, I hope you're an officer in disguise, because it seems the commander has failed to supply the necessary passwords to get through the security."

The marine looked up from the terminal with a thoughtful look on his face. "Sorry ma'am, I'm just plain ol' Jones, but I think I might know something even better." Nova blinked in surprise as the marine hastily moved back towards the hallway, his eyes scanning the room in front of the blast doors before settling on where a marine was working the firebat's open gauntlets.

"Hey Genius, get over here, I got a challenge for ya!" The marine in question looked up briefly from his work, his eyes covered in a Ghost's multi-optic visor, and offered a quick nod before turning back and quickly finishing up the last few welds and repairs before placing his tools back into the small bag that hung off his back.

"Ma'am, meet Genius. He's one of the smartest guys I ever met, and there ain't a system he can't get into our out of." Jones introduced Nova as the other marine entered the room, her eyes taking note of the piece of Ghost equipment with curiosity as to her knowledge, no Ghost would ever willingly give up a piece of his equipment, and no marine would ever be allowed to keep such a critical item, at least, any normal marine. As the marine came closer Nova noticed the jagged scars that crisscrossed his face, none of them natural, or at least no naturally evolved creature had been their source. A Zerg beast had made them, though from their age, that shouldn't have been possible, the scars already white with age even the Zerg had only been discovered at most a couple of years ago.

"What are your orders commander?" Nova blinked in suprise at the robotic monotone with which Genius spoke, somehow, it was quite fitting. She shrugged and gestured towards the terminal and sealed doors.

"We need a way through there,and we need it before the Zerg manage to break down the blast doors. Get to work." Genius nodded and offered a mechanical salute as he pulled out a keyboard, properly sized for his armoured fingers, as well as a thick band of fiber optic cables, cables which, to Nova's growing curiosity, appeared to be high quality nano-weave, each of the fibres that comprised the individual cables narrower than a human hair, and more expensive than an production model Arclite Siege Tank.

With surprising dexterity, the marine carefully fed the cables into the terminal's access point, making sure they were in place before he flipped open a small flap on his gauntlet to reveal a keyboard sized for a marine in power armour, as well as a small screen that displayed a quick scrolling cascade of numbers. Without even pausing to orient himself, the marine immediately dove in, his fingers flying across the keys as they beat a staccato beat in the quiet of the lab.

His rhythm broke for a moment as a tremendous impact caused the entire facility to tremble and shake. Jones leaned over and whispered something into Genius' ear, the hacker nodding and quickly typing in a line of code. Almost instantly one of the terminal's monitors turned on, though instead of it's normal password locked screen, it displayed various security feeds. Private Jones leaned closer, his eyes darting from display to display until he found the feed for hallway outside the lab's blast doors.

"Oh_, _oh **SHIT." **The blood had drained from his face as he turned to face Nova as she leaned against the wall next to the room's entrance. "Uh, you might want to go warn the boys, we gotta lot of fight comin' our way." Nova nodded and as she left the room, she heard the private shout as something caught his eye.

"Is that a fuckin' _**Ultralisk?"**_

* * *

Nova grimaced as she and the last few marines, even less in number that when they had retreated into the lab not even an hour previously. As much as they all wished he wasn't, Jones was right, and they received about 200 tons of pure biological fury right in the face. The Ultralisk had sheered through the blast doors as if they were wet paper, and though it could fit its own massive bulk through the substantially smaller entrance, it had opened the way for the hordes of zerglings and infected lab personnel.

Her eyes narrowed as her finger teased the trigger of her personal issue C-20A prototype canister rifle, the high-powered precursor to the HEV commando rifle, the gun bucking against her shoulder as the canister round left the barrel with a flash as the excess electrical energy was dispersed from the circuits, the round traveling through the air with thunder on its heels as it super-heated the air behind it as cut through a line of infected at high-hypersonic speeds, the shock-wave liquefying their bodies it passed through them.

The canister reached the point of maximum speed and traveled for a metres more before it's internal sensor detected the beginning deceleration, the small chip triggering the the minute detonator inside the ultra-pressurized canister of liquid promethium and ethylene oxide mixed with powdered aluminum. Nova had a grim smile on her face as the miniaturized fuel-air bomb exploded, sending fragments of metal burning so hot they burned blue-white.

Unfortunately, though that one shot eliminated nearly four dozen Zerg before the explosion alone, the swarm was essentially endless, while the supplies of ammunition for the Terrans were not. The gaping hole was immediately filled as more Zerg flowed into it like was already done to less than a dozen of her Gehenna rounds, and while she still had the normal rounds for her rifle, both in sniper and assault settings, her remaining allies were not so lucky.

"Commander! Genius is through, we got our ticket outta this joint!" Jones words were a welcome relief and electrified Nova and his fellow soldiers. Nova turned and gave a terse nod to the remaining soldiers as they slowly backed down the hallway towards the vault. Just as they were about to turn the corner, there was a thunderous impact that nearly knocked Nova off her feet, followed by the sound of collapsing stone.

Her eyes wide, the elite Ghost turned to find the impossible. Through sheer brute force, the Ultralisk had broken through the two-feet of blast-crete wall and into the lab, crushing several hapless infected underneath it as it did so. Nova's eyes flicked down to her wrist mounted readout and cursed, her rifle was still cooling down after firing that last round. She gave the juggernaut one last look, the beast giving its head a shake as it recovered from the damage it had caused itself in breaking through the wall, before she quickly fell back to the lab.

She raced down the walkway towards the door where her remaining troops had gathered, her eyes narrowing as she saw the images of Zerg on her heels reflected on the mirrored visors of the marines. With a twitch she peeled off to the side, one grabbing the railing of the walkway for a moment, long enough for her to use her momentum to become airborne.

Beneath her the Zerg were sliced down in a barrage of depleted Uranium bullets. She hit the ground and rolled forwards to minimize the impact from her leap, getting to her feet and bringing her rifle around just in time to snap off another shot that cleared the walkway and the a good portion of the hall as well.

"I've bought us some breathing room!" Nova faced the hallway as she waited for the swarm to regroup and charge again while she barked orders to the marines behind her. "Get that door open before they send in the big one!"

The first of the Zerg emerged from the hallway and found itself abruptly missing its head, having had it turned into a crimson mist that filled the air thanks to one of Nova's less powerful SSE rounds. Behind her, the gate opened with a loud hiss of pressurized hydraulics. She could hear the receding sound of heavy metal boots on neo-steel and blast-crete as the marines retreated. She pulled back herself, just in time to catch sight of the Ultralisk emerging from the hallway as the heavy neo-steel gate slide shut.

She didn't relax once the gate had closed, as the doors to main labs had been even thicker, and as she took in her supply of ammunition, she noticed her hands possessed a slight blue-ish glow. Surprised, she looked around and found that the glow wasn't exclusive to merely herself, in fact it permeated the entire room, and as she searched for the source, she found her marines staring at something in slack-jawed awe.

Floating in the center of the room, suspended above the floor via experimental anti-grav generators, was a massive monolith of ice, its surface covered in condensation and trails of mist. There was no doubt that this was the object they were sent to retrieve, however, considering the fact that it was the size of one of the old Hercules cargo-ships, there was no way in hell that they were getting it out.

She sighed as she felt the ground begin to tremble beneath her feet, the Ultralisk obviously drawing nearer and nearer to the gate. She checked her ammunition one last time before turning to her soldiers. As she began to address them, she uploaded the packet she had received from Mengsk to their heads-up displays. "All of you, I'm sending you the escape path. I'll give you the time you need to get out. Understood?"

The marines, and the sole firebat, exchanged looks, though the effect was somewhat lessened as they all still had their visors down. One of them stepped forward and opened up his helmet, one hand running through grey hair streaked black by greased fingers. "Uh, ma'am, we all appreciate the offer, but we can't run, not knowing that you're down here fighting for us."

Nova smiled at the gesture but shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, but that wasn't a suggestion. I'm ordering you to try and get out of here alive." The marines continued to look uncertain and she pushed forwards. "Besides, most of you are running low on ammo, just like me, but what I have can do a lot more that any of yours. This is my mission, and I have a responsibility to see to it that all those under my command come out unscathed. I've failed so far, so at least give me the satisfaction of having done my best."

The grey -haired marine nodded, his eyes somber as he began to head towards the exit on the opposite side of the room, only to wheel around and offer Nova a salute, his action followed immediately by the others. Nova looked surprised for a moment before a smile ghosted across her face, her own hand rising in a salute of her own.

Nova took up a position in front of monolith and directly across from the gate, her rifle readied in hand, and her mind focused. The sound of hissing hydraulics and pressurized air cut-off as the last of the marines closed the escape door behind them. Nova bowed her head as she consigned her soul to _yomi_, in hopes of Lady Izanagi accepting her soul with open arms. Religion was foreign in most soldiers, though the common troops put a great deal of belief into the Old Earth Norse religion, and Nova was a peculiarity among the atheistic Ghosts with her following of Neo-Shinto, thanks in part to an encounter with a traveling priest on one of her missions.

Her eyes closed as she began to drop into one of the breathing exercises taught to all members of the Ghost Academy, her mind clearing of all thoughts save one as she readied herself for combat, her soul burning with energy that flooded her body and brought life back to tire limbs. Her hands moved with a cold mechanical efficiency, efficiency earned from years upon years of practice, loading and readying her rifle. The gate began to shudder as the Ultralisk on the other side began to hammer away at it, the metal slowly beginning to bow outwards.

The structure of the gate failed spectacularly, torn out of the wall mountings in an ear-piercing shriek that was drowned out by the triumphant roar of the Ultralisk. The slab blew past Nova, the wind from its passage ruffling her hair slightly before it collided with the frozen monolith. The swarm wasted little time as they flowed into the room, the faster Zerglings and Hydralisks weaving around the ponderous Ultralisk with ease.

The first of the smaller Zerg to clear the door had its torso blown out as it leapt forwards, the Hydralisk behind collapsing bonelessly to the ground as it empty eye socket wept blood. The butt of her rifle slammed against her shoulder once, twice, three times, and more until she lost count, the Zerg swarm dying in droves in front of her.

For every half a metre the swarm managed to gain, they paid for it with dozens of quickly cooling bodies, but if there was one thing that the swarm had in abundance, it was bodies to sacrifice. Nova's mind had become focused to a razor's edge as she methodically dealt death with a pull of the trigger. Her sole thought had become a mantra, her psionic nature taking it and the power she was putting into it, and broadcasting it to the entire facility.

Had any of the scientists, of either the Confederacy, or the Sons of Korhal, been present they would have died from intense and instantaneous cerebral hemorrhaging as Nova calmly obliterated every measure of psionic potency recorded. And in her focus, she failed to notice how her power reached out, called out, shouted itself out into the world around her.

And though all were unaware, there was someone listening. Nova's power, focused around her one sole thought, resonated with something, a being made ancient by a strange twist of fate. Something heard her thoughts, and it found within them something familiar, something powerful, and something incredible.

Her thoughts reached a crescendo as the Ultralisk decided it had waited long enough and began to charge. Her focus never wavered, her hand steady and her eyes clear, her gun rising into position. And as she pulled the trigger, she shouted her mantra aloud, for the entire world to hear.

"I WILL NOT LOSE!"

And the world shattered around her.

* * *

Yeah, so the initial idea for this was good, but I couldn't come up with what to do next, thus, the scrap bin. Kind of a shame, I really liked all the sci-fi elements I got to experiment with in it, like Nova's gun and the Gehenna rounds (Can you say OP?).


	7. The Taint of the Void

Inspired by a couple really good fics. Enjoy. Basic premise is this: A person's magic is most often a reflection of their personality, such as a hot-tempered person being fire aligned, someone with a sharp and cutting personality might be air, someone stoic and stubborn earth, etc etc. But, why can't the opposite also be true? Who's to say that a person's personality can't reflect their magic? In which case, how would Louise, who possesses the void, an element of opposition to _everything _have developed? Well, lets find out, shall we?

* * *

_What is the Void?_  
_Simply put, it is an absence._  
_An absence of heat, _  
_an absence of light, _  
_and absence of air, _  
_an absence, of life._

_The Void devours everything, _  
_and what it can't, _  
_it corrupts._

_-Excerpt from Volume One of the outlawed True Nature of Emptiness-_

_To study the Void is to stare into the very Abyss itself.  
I wonder sometimes, is it courage to do so? Or is it just insanity.  
Is there anything to gain from observing nothing?  
Or is the lack of any definable observation in itself a discovery?  
I wonder if the Void is truly empty sometimes, I wonder if there aren't things lurking within.  
For there are moments when I stare into the Abyss, that I feel as if the Abyss is staring back,  
and it terrifies me._

_-Helena Maxwell, author of the True Nature of Emptiness-_

_The Void is nothing, and thus exists Nowhere and Nowhen,  
even Time dares not touch the Void.  
For Death herself holds complete dominion over that realm._

_-Excerpt from Volume Three of the outlawed True Nature of Emptiness-_

* * *

The crowd of students had gathered for the ritual that marked the most important event in a young mage's life; the Summoning of their familiar. For most, all they would receive would be a magical variant of a mundane animal, from birds to cats, to foxes, even moles. Some, the truly lucky or gifted among them, would summon creatures of greater rarity or power, such as salamanders, nymphs, or, and rarest of all, dragons. Or you could summon a giant floating eye called a Bugbear, that was possible too.

But after the many, many years in which the ritual had taken place, never once had a mage failed to summon a familiar. Yet, that was the expectation being held for one young mage in particular, however unfavorable or distasteful the idea might have been for anyone else, among the gathered students. Oh, no-one spoke the words aloud, but even then, everyone _knew_ exactlywhat was going to happen when poor little Louise got her turn in sun.

The more vicious among the students would have grinned like wolves at the use of that exact turn of phrase, as ever since Louise had first arrived at the Academy, she had been more than a little odd, even beyond her inability to accomplish the most basic of magic. A quiet little girl, save for when her lack of physical development was mentioned within earshot; she could easily vanish into the background without anyone noticing; her skin pale from staying indoors as much as possible, so as to avoid the crowds that so enjoyed ridiculing and persecuting her. The persecution itself was not due to her odd personality or appearance, but rather it was due to the strangeness that surrounded her.

When she passed by, students would often break into hushed whispers over the rumors that dogged her footsteps. Quiet words spoken under breath of how the girl could appear from even the smallest shadow without a whisper of notice; how she would find the darkest spot in any room and vanish within, even if it should not have been possible for her to fit in the space and be completely obscured from view. Or of how the shadows of objects and people around her would seem to stretch, to tenderly reach out towards her, as if she was beckoning to them with her mere presence. She had a disturbing knack for appearing out of nowhere, oftentimes right behind someone, and she also seemed to be able to vanish all too easily when being followed, more than once having lead someone down a dead end, only to be seen by someone else minutes later in the other end of the Academy.

The rumours had even reached the ears of the teachers, causing narrowed eyes and suspicious looks to be cast at the rather ghost-like young girl. Nothing reliable and substantial could be found about the girl, even when some of the more enthusiastic teachers took to following her about during their spare time, and the matter was eventually dropped. But that didn't stop the rumours from spreading, and the fact that the teachers felt the need to be involved only prompted more rumours, feeding the rather vicious cycle that only served to alienate the young girl further.

The Springtime Summoning ritual would be her last chance to prove herself, and Louise had devoted hours upon hours to poring over as many books as she could in the Academy's library. She had researched everything she could about summoning, from the common familiar rituals, to the more esoteric elemental spirit summonings, even the rituals used to summon spirits from the Aether to power various types of golems. Nothing in any of the books she had found on those subjects spoke to her however, and so she had delved deeper into the library in search of older, darker tomes.

It was in a shadowed section of the library, a place where light failed to reach and where people feared to tread, even the servants judging on the amount of dust that had gathered on the books and floor, that she found what she was looking for. She found tomes bound in leather made from human flesh on the subject of necromancy, the summoning of spirits from the after-life or from the darkness between worlds to animate unliving flesh, the precursor to the binding of elemental spirits to constructed bodies to form golems. The real treasure was the immense volume the size of her torso devoted entirely to the subject of summoning of beings from beyond Halkeginia; Demons; Devils; Daemons -soul eaters from the plains of Abbadon-; Rakshasa; Proteans; Oni; Divs -corrupted genies, genies themselves fickle beings even at the best of times, exiled to the depths of Gehenna for all eternity, only to be let loose by summoners to corrupt and despoil to their twisted heart's con tent-; Asura; and maddening things that have no right existing in any reality.

Not even the tome itself was the major find during her search of the library, though the borderline blasphemous and heretical work of old Germanian Witch-Queen Iggwilv was packed to near overflowing with an abundance of information; the real wonder she had discovered were a set of old hand-written notes jammed in between the pages of tome. A thick sheaf of parchment sheets, together they detailed a ritual that was without a doubt the most blasphemous thing Louise had ever even heard of, and they were perfect for her purposes.

The ritual appeared similar to the familiar summoning ritual, though only at first glance. If one studied the instructions and diagrams more closely, they would find that, in a radical break from all tradition and accepted knowledge, the ritual was designed to work for anyone; royal, noble, and even commoner. No matter how much she hated to admit her lack of capability in the mystical arts, the fact remained that successfully summoning a familiar using the same generic ritual with the other students was somewhere between her becoming a royal, and her mother giving her a warm hug while saying how much she loved her. Not that her mother didn't love her, but the Duchess de la Valliere wasn't one to openly display emotion.

The name of the original author had worn away until only the runic title of Kaleidoscope remained, and it was to this long forgotten mage that Louise sent her thanks as she stepped up in front of the crowd. A blanketing quiet swept over her audience in an almost visible wave as the students turned to watch her. She studied the summoning array on the ground in front of her for a moment before turning to the supervising teacher.

"Excuse me Professor Colbert," the balding teacher looked surprised at being addressed by the normally silent young girl. "But would it be possible for me to make a few adjustments to the array before I perform the ritual?"

The professor's eyes narrowed as the gathered students broke into hushed whispers. While altering the parameters of the ritual wasn't necessarily unheard of, it was normally only done during extenuating circumstances or in order to prevent external influences such as the environment from influencing the ritual. He spared the sheet of names in his hand a quick glance, and nodded thoughtfully when he found Louise at the bottom of the list.

"Very well," Professor Colbert smiled as Louise brightened up, while a stunned silence settled over the audience. "Since you are the last one to summon their familiar, I will allow it this once."

Even though his voice was light and his words positive, Professor Colbert kept a careful eye on Louise as she pulled out a piece of chalk and set of hand-written diagrams. Settin diagrams to the side of the array, Louise carefully added and altered various lines on the summoning focus used for the ritual. Those students that could see what she was doing were completely mystified, as none of the symbols or alterations she was making made any sense to them. Even Professor Colbert was surprised at the variety of runes and symbols being put in place, many of which he had never seen before. He made a mental note to ask the girl after the ritual where she had found the symbols she was using, as well as how she had devised a way to combine them with the summoning ritual without having asked for assistance from any of the teaching staff.

Louise calmly set down the piece of chalk as she picked up her sheets, checking them and the altered array carefully for any mistakes or missing sections before gesturing to the professor that she was ready to continue. She withdrew wand and began to quietly chant the words of the ritual she had found in the library, completely unaware of the way Professor Colbert's hands tightened on his staff as her voice dropped several octaves, becoming a low ghostly sound that seemed echo across the courtyard in a dead language; or the way the temperature suddenly plummeted, frost forming arcane patterns on her shoes and the edge of her cloak.

_"In the name of the Thirteen Aeons and powers unknown. I call for my other, complete us." _Louise continued to chant quietly as a c hill wind whipped through the courtyard. Her eyes were facing forwards as she poured all of her will and concentration into pronouncing the foreign words properly. The only one in her audience who had the barest inkling of what she was saying was Tabitha, as Louise was using an archaic dialect of old Gallian, but even then she could understand bits and pieces of what was being said. What truly worried the bluenette though, was the fact that Louise was calling on the Aeons, ancient and terrible beings, monstrous things with the powers of gods at their hands from the time before Brimir. Even the Founder himself had only been able to seal a minority of the Aeons, those which were bound to the earth or sea and could not escape his reach, while the others simply vanished from the sight of mortals.

"_I call for you, servant, master, partner, complete us!" _By now even the most oblivious student could tell that something clearly unexpected was occurring. The frost had begun to spread and radiated out from Louise in an irregular circle roughly a meter and a half across, and yet the pink-haired girl continued on unaffected.

"_The other half of my soul, I summon thee from across time, from across space, complete us!"_ Professor Colbert flinched as the summoning circle vanished, only to be replaced by a yawning pit of absolute nothingness from which stretched a malignant presence that had the part of him he had long ago locked away coming to the front. Whatever was on the other side of that emptiness, that hole in the world, it was something so vast, so deeply _evil _that it could be felt even by the most ignorant of his students. The only one who didn't seem to notice was the one who had opened the portal in the first place, Louise still continuing her incantation even though she was less than a foot from the gaping abyss that had emerged in the courtyard.

"_I stand before five doors, I knock twenty five times, five doors, five knocks. Each door shall open to me."_ Her hand rose and she wrapped it against the air, and each time there echoed a thunderous rapport, as if a giant was beating its fist against the gates of Asgard. The students gasped, as while they couldn't see the abyss as it lay directly at Louise's feet, and its own nature aided in hiding it, the five immense doors that appeared floating in midair weren't as easy to miss. Each door was different, save for the fact that they were all immense, many times larger than even the door to the great hall of the Academy.

"_I bear the key of the end, and thus I open the Door of Beginning." _Louise reached out with her hand, and twisted it, as if turning a key in a lock. The first door, the smallest of the five, and furthest to the left, made of stone ancient when the world itself was young, opened and from the opening that appeared in the air there came a wind. Borne by the wind was the scent of age, of something ancient opening its eyes and looking out onto a world greatly changed.

"_I bear the key of weakness, and thus I open the Door of Power." _Another twist of her wrist, and the next door, directly to the right of the previous, this one made of intimidating steel and festooned with brutal looking spikes and studs, opened with a roar, as energy burst from the other side. Magic, pure and uncontained, burned with a brilliant scintillating multi-colored light, the sight causing many students to turn away to protect their eyes.

"_I bear the key of nothingness, and thus I open the Door of Life." _It was the door opposite the first that opened this time, the door made of ivy covered wood, the vibrant greenness of the door seeming to crawl away instead of swinging open, and from beyond emerged another wind, this one carrying with it the feeling of vitality.

"_I bear the key of the soul, and thus I open the Door of Death."_ Louise shivered as she opened the next door in order. At first glance it appeared almost as if were stone carved into a mass of bodies conjoined in the throes of agony, until one looked closer and saw that they were in fact moving. Many of the bodies were missing limbs or sections of their flesh, some of them devoid of anything save their bones, and as the door opened they screamed their torments for all to hear. From beyond the door their came something unknowable, something that moved through the people gathered in the courtyard, touching their very souls and chilling their being.

_"I bear the key of time, and thus I open the Eternal Door." _One last twist of her wrist and the final door, the door in the center and largest of the five, opened. Louise dared turn away and she stared into the immense impossibility of vision that lay beyond. All the others in the courtyard looked anywhere but at what the gate revealed, the sheer inconceivable nature of what lurked on the other side of eternity forcing them to divert their eyes. What the gate displayed was something beyond all bounds of reason, and Louise alone bore witness to it.

She noticed, vaguely, a small dot appear in the distance. The tiny speck of insignificance slowly grew larger, and Louise grinned. This was the clumination of weeks worth of time spent sure that every last piece of the ritual would succeed, and it worked better than her wildest dreams. She could see the spot growing larger, slowly resolving into a more recognizable shape, and she grinned.

As she stared, for a moment she was sure that their eyes met, and in that moment the name of the being she had summoned found its way to her mind, the last remaining piece she needed for finishing the ritual.

_"I who know thy true name, I call for thee..."_

* * *

And I'll just leave it off right there.

Okay, wow. Originally this was supposed to be Louise summoning Seras from a point in the distant future, but once I hit that summoning ritual, it just took on a whole life of its own. As it is now, I can't think of a summon that would to the ritual justice, but if you want to give it a shot, drop me a line. The only things I can think of would be massively overpowered, such as a being from one of the listed types in the tome, but one of the unique ones, such as the Demon Princes(ses), Devil Lords (Ladies), etc.

I have too much on my plate to work on this right now, but if anyone is interested, I do have a short-list of potential summons if you want to continue it. Just PM and I should respond within a day or two.


	8. Project: Dark Eden

**A/N:Hmmm where to start with this one... Oh, I know. This all Bleedman, Doormouse and Ruskbyte's fault. Well, that and too much time spent on Tv Tropes.**

**Anyways, I give you, Project Dark Eden.**

* * *

_A little... destruction... can go a long way to making any day better._

_-Unknown-_

_CHAOS!_

_-Eris-_

* * *

Finally, it would his turn to shine, to rise up and defeat the monstrous beast that was Ranma Saotome. Oh, he knew he could never defeated him in a straight out fight, his lack of athletic ability, something unusual for a student at Furinkan High, was more than made up for with a knack for the occult and an incredibly high pain threshold. Hikaru Gosunkugi had planned everything out to the last detail,upon having come across the shrunken Saotome so many months ago, and after uncovering the reasons behind his unwilling transformation, the change in age that was, he had snuck around within his dearest Akane's home and tenderly retrieved a few samples of the mushrooms for his later use.

But just using the mushrooms alone would not lead him to success, so he had spent many an hour poring through his collection of arcane tomes in search of a spell or ritual with which he could find victory. Finally, mostly thanks to fortuitous coincidence, he come across a rare ritual in one of the stores he frequented, a strange shop that popped up every once in a while in the empty lot near his house. The ritual required the target of the spell to have recently slain a being of incredible power, the spell having been developed by a spiteful young mage whose affections had been spurned for those of a dragon slaying knight. It seemed like the perfect spell for him, though he couldn't help but feel somewhat discomfited by the creepy grin of the shopkeeper as he picked out the scroll and purchased it.

Unfortunately for Gosunkugi, and rather luckily for Ranma, the pig-tailed martial artist had never been forced to the point of killing an opponent, though not for lack of trying on Gosunkugi's part, as many incidents he had taken great pains to arrange in the hopes of causing a fatality. But then he had received the greatest news in a very long time when Ranma had returned from China, having defeated and brutally slain a phoenix-GOD of all things.

And so Gosunkugi dug around the basement in search of the mushrooms he had secreted away. Looking them over he frowned, as the shortest one was still nine-inches long, and considering how strong the martial artist had been even at around six years of age Gosunkugi was leery of trying anything without backup, hence the reason why he was currently standing on the field outside Furinkan with both of Ranma's chief rivals, the third having been dispatched to keep Nabiki from interfering with the proceedings.

Gosunkugi was nervous, as so far it had been all too easily to arrange things, all of Ranma's rivals eagerly agreeing to aid him, even through their great personal dislike for the nervous boy. While Kuno was out distracting Nabiki with an extended business proposal, Ryoga and Mousse had issued Ranma a challenge that would bring him running. Both Ryoga and Mousse were carrying several of the de-aging mushrooms hidden somewhere in their clothing, or in Mousse's case, within their subspace pockets.

Just as the sun was beginning to approach its zenith, the perfect time frame for the ritual to be used, oddly enough considering its purpose, Ranma arrived on the field. Gosunkugi let himself smile as he took notice of the relaxed posture and the easy smile on the pig-tailed boy's face: Ranma was completely unaware of just how big a trap he had just walked into.

Mousse and Ryoga were waiting patiently in the middle of the field, in perfect view of the school and the various entrances to the yard, while Gosunkugi had placed himself behind a tree; it wasn't the best hiding spot, but it didn't need to be, as he had already finished the ritual, leaving only the activation of it for the right moment in time.

Ranma took up a relaxed position in the middle of the field as he watched Ryoga and Mousse carefully for any tricks. "So, what da ya knuckleheads want this time? Cus if all you want is a beat down, I'm more than happy to give ya one. More than happy." The pair looked at each other and, in a move so out of place for them that Ranma should have been worried had he not been so overconfident, wordlessly charged Ranma.

Caught off guard by the lack of shouted challenges, especially from Hibiki "It's All Your Fault" Ryoga, Ranma was put on the defensive right off the bat. Dodging under the first wild blow from Ryoga, his eyes widened in surprise as he was forced to dance backwards in order to avoid getting caught by flurry of thrown knives courtesy of Mousse.

As Ranma retreated backwards, not that he would have called his movements a 'retreat', as saying such would be tantamount to admitting his opponents were being successful against him, he was quickly readjusting his measure of Ryoga and Mousse. When he had first received the letter of challenge, sent by Mousse two days before the challenge was to occur, in order to give him time to grab Ryoga and lead him to the chosen venue, Ranma hadn't been too worried.

Now though, he was, while not truly worried yet, surprised and ecstatic. After the wedding debacle everyone had backed off, sans Kuno, to the extent that he hadn't had a decent match in several weeks. However he was slowly, ever so slowly, becoming nervous, as the pair seemed to be working together far too easily for them not to have something planned. Mousse would box Ranma in with various projectiles while Ryoga would weather the storm of metal before unleashing a series of blows against Ranma.

After the third such sequence of attacks, the pair of rivals suddenly switched tactics, with Ryoga using the Bakusei Tenketsu to herd Ranma into position for Mousse. Once again Ranma was caught off guard by the shocking display of intelligence and cunning from the usually berserker duo. The pair capitalized on the opening the unwitting pig-tailed martial artist offered as both moved in, Mousse releasing a swarm of chains as he leapt towards Ranma's back while Ryoga knocked Ranma backwards with a well positioned Bakusei Tenketsu.

With a grin and a twitch of his arms Mousse ensnared Ranma in the chains, leaving him completely helpless as Ryoga dashed forwards to shove one of the mushrooms into his mouth. Before Ranma could spit it out, he was forced to swallow reflexively as Ryoga punched him in the face. Mousse let the chains loosen as Ranma began to shrink in stature.

Ranma stood stunned as Ryoga and Mousse both stepped back to watch the rest of Gosunkugi's plan unfold. Pulling out the scroll upon which the ritual had been written, Gosunkugi stepped out from behind and tossed it onto the ground in front of Ranma, followed quickly behind by a hamster that Gosunkugi had procured and sacrificed for the ritual. For a moment nothing happened, only the sound of the wind blowing through the field and the deep breathing from the trio of martial artists filling the sudden silence.

Then, just as Ranma began to open his mouth to offer a sarcastic remark over Gosunkugi's plan, as it was obviously him who had set everything up, a small mote of darkness appeared above the open scroll. It was almost unnoticeable, and Ranma would have likely missed it, had it not possessed a small ki void, something that registered incredibly strongly to his well-honed senses.

As Ranma stared intently into the small, swirling vortex of shadows, Ryoga and Mousse began to exchange worried looks. They too had been expecting a sharp retort from Ranma, but instead they were receiving nothing but an oddly intense silence. Showing an usual grasp of reality, the pair turned to follow the direction in which Ranma's eyes seemed to be focused, only to find nothing but empty air.

The first sign that something was wrong was the soft breeze that slowly began to swirl though the school yard, whistling eerily through the branches and leaves of the trees, the sound enhanced as the wind began to rush through the metal gate at the front of the school. Soon, the wind was joined by other small things, empty wrappers and fallen leaves all picked up by the speeding air, only to be carried to and devoured by the void that had been so far hidden from view.

As it began to consume matter, the small spot of emptiness suddenly began to ripple and bubble, rapidly growing larger, increasing in size from a small near-microscopic dot, to an orb of crackling emptiness the size of small car. As the emptiness grew, so too did it's pull on the surroundings, as the only nature abhorred more than a scatterbrained fanfiction author, was a vacuum. By the time the void had reached the rough size of a small dog, it was already picking up small rocks from the ground.

Even before it had reached it's final large state Ryoga, Mousse and Gosunkugi were holding onto anything they could find as an anchor, Ranma having already resigned himself to whatever was going to happen, as he was still restrained by Mousse's chains and weakened due to his change in age. Just as what little stamina Gosunkugi possessed was about to run out, the pressure ceased, the void growing flat and still.

For a moment, none dared to breathe, as if any movement at all would possibly set the emptiness off again. Then, in a display that would have made Stephen Hawking question the validity of the laws of physics, for a moment it seemed to become something inimical to reality, as it became something shaped through non-Euclidean geometrics, before the orb somehow contorted itself into become a two-dimensional circle, a circle that still somehow managed to take up the exact same space as it had while being an orb.

From within the strange space of non-space came a sound that couldn't possibly have come from a human throat, a low rumbling that resounded and echoed through every fiber of being, something that all at once reminded Ranma of the tanks he had once seen passing by while he and his father had traveled through China and North Korea as they made their way to India and the various master's that called that land home, and the crash of thunder overhead.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. YOU WILL GET INTO THE PORTAL. OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Ranma wasn't sure what was stranger: the fact that the rumbles somehow managed to resolve themselves into clearly understandable words; or the fact that the rumbles were asking him to enter the void, which was apparently a portal, though were it led was still unknown. Evidently, either the other's could not understand the rumbles, or they simply decided to ignore them and continue to cling to whatever object they had been using as anchors beforehand. Ranma closed his eyes as a loud burst of air exited the void, in seeming opposition to its nature, and with all the sound of something of tremendous size sighing in exasperation.

VERY WELL. TO QUOTE AN OLD FRIEND. I AM LATE. FOR A **VERY **IMPORTANT DATE. AND SINCE YOU REFUSE TO COME WILLINGLY. I SUPPOSE IT IS THROUGH THE RABBIT HOLE YOU GO.

As if what occurred before was nothing, the trio of martial artists, and Gosunkugi, were torn away from the ground as if the hand of a vengeful Kami had reached down and grabbed them. Ranma closed his eyes as he approached the portal of emptiness, his senses registering the mind-breaking sensation of his skin falling from his body, followed closely behind by the rest of his body. And though he might have tried to show otherwise, Ranma was only human, and thus it was no surprise that he fell unconscious from the overload of pain. To his credit, he did manage to last longer than the other's, none of whom lasted even a millisecond of having their skin begin to remove itself from their bodies.

* * *

A split-second later Ranma returned to consciousness as he was forced to experience the impossible feeling of his body being put back together, from the bones, to the muscles, and finally the skin on top. It was the most disturbing thing that he had ever felt, and that was including the Neko-ken training, but for some reason he still felt mostly sane.

He let out a quiet groan as he opened his eyes and got his feet. At some point in time the chains that had been wrapped around him had been removed from his person, the chains now lying in a small pile at his feet. His jaw dropped as he took in the alien landscape that he found himself in. A part of his mind took note of the limp forms of his sometimes friends, though the majority of his mind was focused on the bizarre nature of his surroundings.

Immense archways carved of strange stone the colour of a darkened bruise were set against a clouded sky of deep reds and purples. Even the ground was a strange pink substance that seemed a cross between stone and something else, something Ranma definitely didn't want to contemplate. He drew in a deep breath as he extended his ki senses into the surroundings, only to choke on air as he felt such power and darkness in the air that Saffron would have been crushed under the mere pressure alone.

Ranma didn't even bother getting into a stance as he turned around to face the sources of the overwhelming force that filled the air. As far as he was above Akane, the trio of beings nearby were above him, something he was willing to admit without question. Sure he had his pride, but he knew that he could have beaten Saffron, as the difference between the two hadn't been that great, but here, he could easily tell that he stood no chance if it came down to a fight.

His first impression of the trio of powerful beings was slightly underwhelming, at least until he studied them more closely. The more intimidating, at least in outward appearance, were the two tall cloaked figures that flanked the third, each possessing a wicked looking scythe clutched in a skeletal hand. The only clear difference for Ranma between the two was the fact that the inside of the cloak of the figure on the left was a deep crimson, while the other's was a pure black - and slightly tattered and worn- cloth.

If it weren't for the fact that her aura completely outstripped the other's in sheer strength and density, then Ranma would have likely written off the third being as simply another young woman he might have passed on the street, even with her somewhat eclectic choice in clothing. A short cropped black t-shirt, combined with a pair of well worn jeans made for a rather interesting look, as the dark colours contrasted her pale skin and the sliver ankh that hung from her neck.

From behind his back Ranma could hear the others begin to stir, which seemed to be a cue of some sort as the cloaked figure on the left stood straighter. Ranma's eyes focused on the female figure in the center of the trio, as for some reason beyond his ken, he could tell that she was the leader. His mouth twitched as he heard Ryoga and Mousse cursing, only to cut off mid-word as they noticed their surroundings, or in Mousse's case, put on their glasses.

He could hear them slowly getting to their feet, though he refused to break his gaze away from the out of place young woman in front of him, the weight of her knowing and intense gaze, left him large amount of doubt about her apparent age versus her actual age. Ryoga was the first to catch sight of Ranma, considering the shout he let out.

"Ranma! This is all your fault!" Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes, and was somewhat surprised to see the dark clothed woman match his actions. He heard the sound of Ryoga beginning to charge him from behind, yet Ranma refused to turn and face him, instead carefully watching as the young appearing woman made a short gesture with her hand.

The large cloaked figure on the left moved into action as he raised his scythe into the air before slamming it butt first into the ground, the action sending out tremors that would have knocked Ranma from his feet, had he not braced himself for the impact when he first caught sight of the scythe's movement.

Behind him he could hear Ryoga and Mousse let out curses as they were forced back to the ground, the tremors also serving to wake Gosunkugi from his unwilling slumber. The gaunt and pale boy opened his eyes and immediately jumped to his feet, a surprising feet for one of his lack of physical abilities, though the sheer terror in his eyes might have made a difference.

The woman laughed quietly as the two figures by her side lifted their blades to rest on their shoulders. Once again the being in the tattered black cloak gave voice to the trio.

GOOD. YOU ARE ALL AWAKE. THE COMPACT HAS BEEN SEALED. IT IS NOW TIME TO PAY YOUR DUES.

Gosunkugi didn't even have time enough to scream, as he found his vision filled with a flash of silver, his body experiencing the strangest sensation of moving in two separate directions, before darkness consumed all. For the other three unwilling travelers, they saw much the same as Gosunkugi had, though only Ranma was able to accurately keep track of the scythe that split the boy in half. The strike had been so quick that it had appeared for a moment that nothing had happened, only for the two halves to slowly begin to slide apart before diverging in a torrent of blood.

The suddenness of the gaunt boy's demise stunned the trio of martial artists, only Ranma having seen death before, having dealt it to Saffron several months previous, but even that had been a relatively clean death as the elemental tornado of absolute zero ki essentially vaporized the Phoenix King from the inside out.

Ranma's eyes narrowed as he calmly began to draw up all the ki reserves he had in his body. Saffron had been tough, but even he had been mortal in the end, but Ranma had severe doubts about the figures in front of him. When it hit the fan, and it was only a matter of time with a pair of short fuses like Ryoga and Mousse with him, he'd need every last shred of power and skill available to him.

THE DEBT HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL. THE CONTRACT HAS ALSO BEEN COMPLETED. ONE SOUL. FOUR ONE WAY TICKETS TO LIMBO. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RETURN TO YOUR WORLD THAN ADDITIONAL PAYMENT AND A NEW CONTRACT MUST BE NEGOTIATED.

"Contract? Like hell I'm gonna just let you kill someone, there has to be some other way out of this place!" A shiver ran down Ranma's spine at how Ryouga's antics seemed to only further amuse their hostess, if the way she raised a hand to hide her growing smile and quiet laughter was worth any measure. The until now quiet cloaked figure on the figure on the left raised hand to stroke a non-existent beard as he considered the pig-cursed boy's words.

"Well, there do be one other way. I doubt dat you be wantin' ta try it though boy. Unless you tink dat you can handle it?" Quietly off to the side, Ranma brought his palm up to meet his forehead as Ryoga puffed out his chest, a boastful grin on the eternally lost boy's face.

"I can handle anything you throw at me. Just try it." For a moment Ryoga felt a brief tremor of trepidation stir in his chest as the skull-like mask the man wore seemed to stretch itself into a flesh-less facsimile of a grin.

"Anyting boy? Oh you gonna regret dat. Here." The cloaked figure, who Ranma finally placed in appearance as similar to the Western version of Death, turned to the side and aimed his scythe towards the ground. Everything was quiet as the six stared at the patch of ground for several long seconds before the Reaper lifted back his scythe to study it closely.

"Now why do you be- ah, now I see deh problem." The skull almost seemed to have a sheepish expression as he grinned at the others. "I forgot to switch on de power." The Reaper turned back to his weapon, conveniently missing the shared facepalms and sweatdrops behind him, his bony finger flicking the small switch near the blade of the scythe.

"Okay, let's try dis one more time. HA!" Once more the Reaper-like figure brought down his scythe, and from the tip eruprted a beam of swirling purple energy that vanished into the ground. Nothing happened for a few moments and Ranma was just about to palm his face again when he felt the earth move beneath his feet. Suddenly, giant columns and walls exploded from beneath the surface, forming a towering edifice that obscured everyone's sight. The ground shook once more and Ranma had to bite his cheek to keep from shouting in surprise as he found the surrounding ground receding from view.

He took a moment to regather his balance before looking around, finding the pair of Reapers and the mysterious woman, as well as Mousse, supported on great towering platforms that allowed them unimpeded view of the roofless edifice the Reaper had summoned. Ryoga stared up at them from the only visible gap in the wall, his eyes wide as he, like Mousse, finally realized just how outclassed they really were. The Reaper who had created the giant structure stepped forwards and leaned over the edge of his platform, his voice echoing loudly as he shouted down at Ryoga.

"Alright boy, all you gotta do, is get through dat maze, do it, an' your free." Before Ryoga could respond the ground beneath his feet rose upwards, propelling him backwards and into the labyrinth. The risen earth continued to move until it sealed off the opening, leaving Ryoga no choice but to try and find his way through the maze. He turned around a corner and let out a scream of terror at the giant monster he found himself face to fang to,

Up on the platforms above, the Reaper chuckled darkly at the sound of quickly receding screams followed by roar-like barks. "Heh, I forgot to mention de little beasties I put in dere, ah well." He grinned, again the feat doing little to Ranma's composure, and turned to the remaining two martial artists, only to be stopped as the other Reaper stepped forward.

YOU HAVE HAD YOUR TURN.

The crimson-lined Reaper pouted but nevertheless took a step back, returning his attention to his creation. The other faced Mousse and Ranma, studying them, though with what Ranma wasn't sure, as beneath his hood there was only darkness.

WHICH OF YOU WILL TAKE MY CHALLENGE? IF YOU SUCCEED, I WILL EVEN CURE YOUR CURSE.

Ranma's eyes widened and it took nearly all of his willpower to keep from leaping at the opportunity. Mousse was nowhere near as strong-willed as Ranma - his pursuit of Shampoo was not so much stubbornness as it was self-delusion on Kuno-levels - and he seized on the chance for a cure with reckless abandon, what happened to Ryoga already gone from his mind.

"I'll do it!" he shouted, causing the trio to shake their heads in bemusement.

VERY WELL. ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS TO FIND WHERE I HAVE HIDDEN THE KEY TO THE PORTAL. ON THE OTHER SIDE WILL BE THE CURE. YOU WILL HAVE THE TIME YOU NEED. ANY QUESTIONS?

Mousse shook his head, too focused on the cure to properly think things through. The ragged Reaper raised his hand and from it issued forth a cloud of energy that formed into a circular opening. Mousse jumped inside without a second thought, the doorway closing and vanishing behind him. Ranma simply sighed and walked over to where the last of his rivals, Kuno aside, had vanished.

"So," he began as he stared at the ragged Reaper, "since he didn't ask any questions, can I ask one for him?" The trio shared a set of curious looks before nodding.

YOU MAY ASK ONE QUESTION.

Ranma nodded and turned to where the vanished portal had floated. "Where's the key?" The question caused the figures to freeze, the young looking woman recovering first with a wide smile on her face. The ragged Reaper reached into his cloak and pulled out a small brass key on a chain.

I HAVE IT. I AM SURPRISED YOUNG ONE. NOT MANY WOULD HAVE ASKED SUCH AN OBVIOUS QUESTION WITH EXPECTATIONS FOR A FAVORABLE RESULT.

Ranma shrugged and turned to properly face the only other entities, monsters in the maze chasing Ryoga not included, present. "Yeah well, fifteen years of dealing with people who like to lie, cheat, and trick you into things helps."

FIFTEEN YEARS? BUT YOU CAN'T BE MORE THAN-

"Oh hush," For the first time, the young-looking woman spoke, her voice soft as the creeping sickness that steals you away in the night" You're just upset that he figured out your trick." She turned and fixed Ranma with a piercing gaze. "Besides, its obvious that he is much older than he looks."

She clapped her hands together and smiled widely as she stepped forwards. "The other's have had their fun, so now it's time for me to offer you a challenge."

The world around Ranma and the woman receded into the distance, until all there was, was darkness. She whistled softly and from the darkness emerged a million doors, each unique in some way, countless darkened cages, an endless number of openings from which stared an infinite number of eyes of all sorts of appearances. Ranma spun around with wide eyes before returning them to the smirking woman.

"My job's done. All you have to do is tell me one thing. Who am I?"

Ranma cocked his head to the side and considered the question. He looked at surroundings more thoroughly. Doors, each leading somewhere, or at the end of some path. Monsters and shadows, things hiding in darkness and trapped in cages. Fears? Thoughts? They could be anything, and yet they were here. And where was here? A place where all things came, where all paths lead, were all doors opened onto?

His eyes narrowed and he let out a sigh.

"Death. You're Death." If anything his words only made the woman's smile that much larger.

"Yes, I am. I

* * *

Man, I hate writing accents and alternate speech patterns.

So, Ranma is de-aged and thrust into the city of horrors that is Endsville. *Griiiiiiins* Man, this is gonna be messed up as hell. Way I figure it, exposure to such concentrated evil, in the forms of Mandy and Grim, is certainly going to warp the easily influenced Ranma. Before you argue that, think about how gullible Ranma is, and how easy it is to get him to do something. With a master manipulator like Mandy pulling his strings... well... things are gonna get heavy.

Also, yes, that is Death of the Endless from Sandman, and DEATH from Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series.. Why is she there when Grim is the representation of death? Plus, she's awesome. This applies to both but, if you take it just from the tv show, then Grim wasn't always the Reaper, but Death would have always been. The way I think of it, Death comes in a multitude of forms, so why should it be constrained to one avatar or personification?

Also, I wonder, and I really do, how are some of the other Grim characters going to react to Ranma. The two I'm thinking of, mainly, are Hoss, who I can easily see overreacting about the curse, and Eris. I mean, with all the chaos jokes in fanon about Ranma... yeah, this is gonna be a blast.

* * *

**As you can see, I had a rough idea where this was going, but it just died on me. Damn that irony.**


	9. Preview:

_I am the warp in my blade.  
With blood of iron and a heart of chaos,  
I have conquered countless foes.  
Not even once have I retreated.  
Not even once have I surrendered.  
I stand alone at the horizon,  
atop a hill of fallen gods.  
My life has been forged by battle.  
Thus my whole life is..._

_Infinite Phantasmal Combat._

* * *

Just a preview for my next fic. Can you guess the crossed series?


	10. Unfinished sci-fi snippet

Little snippet for ya, just to show you all that I'm alive. Unfinished, and my apologies for the wait on my other stories. I've been busy, and sadly uninspired. Plus, what inspiration I have had has been for my original fiction, and that takes precedence over fanfiction, even if I wish sometimes that wasn't so.

* * *

Snip #1

Fire and screams filled the air, as if one were viewing Dante's vision of the Inferno, yet this was only hell in the loosest sense. The screams were drowned out by the sound of exchanging weapon fire, the roars of cannon's unleashing devastation the piercing whine of falling artillery shells, and the thunderous rapport of the titans that dueled each other, unmindful of the tiny forms swarming around their feet. The flames were dull in comparison to the flash of phosphorous grenades exploding, washed out against the backdrop of rolling explosions, and nothing compared to searing brightness of lancing plasma.

But not all of the battle was disorder for there was a small center of controlled chaos. The bridge of the battlecruiser _Wildpferd, _damaged during the fight against the heretic fleet that had encircled their planet and unable to return to space until the damaged sections were repaired, was quiet. At least, relative to the battle raging outside of the ship. The bridge was filled with the noise of computers and technicians communicating with each other as signals came in from all lines to the de facto command center of the Loyalist army.

And in patiently waiting in the midst of it all, like a scorpion readying itself to strike, was the ship's captain, the last senior officer of the punitive fleet sent to deal with the heretic's that had seized control of the important factory planet. The scars on her face indicated a life filled of battle, and not always victorious ones, and more than a few scars made no sense, as how could anyone survive having a hole blown through their chest?

She stared out at the holo-screen displaying the current battlefield situation with the eye of experience. A life of endless battle had shaped her, prepared her for this point. And there was nothing that could stop her.

"Tactical, I want firing solutions on those heretic mechs, and I want them now." Her voice was steel, cold and hard, with a razor edge that demanded, no, deserved obedience and respect. It was the voice of a leader of men, one who people followed instinctively, the voice of a champion.

"Solutions ready!"

"Good, fire on my mark." She stared at the screen, waiting for the opportunity to strike. "Mark!"

Brilliant crimson beams of energy lanced out with painful suddenness, crossing the distance from the battlecruiser to their target in an instant. The heretic titan reeled as it found itself without a leg to stand on, literally as it's limb was severed from the hip. It began to flail its arms wildly like a man losing his balance, only for the titan to completely vanish within the nuclear fireball that erupted as the second shot pierced it's reactor. The captain allowed herself a tight grin before turning back to the ongoing battle.

"Tactical, bring up the next target!"

Again and again, her orders were followed with painstaking efficiency, each shot fired at just the right moment to cause the most damage. Titan after titan fell to her withering fire. Missiles dashed themselves against the ship's point defense system, laser's wasted their energy against her shields. The battle raged on for hours, well into the night, but it never once grew dark. The fires of burning tanks and buildings painted dancing shadows against the mechanical corpses of fallen titans, and still the captain remained stoically in command.

Her staff had rotated off, most of the ones currently filling the bridge those of the fourth shift, the ones who had _started _the battle with the captain, and she remained untouched by it all. Something caught her attention on the display and she stood apbrptly, the action drawing the eyes of the bridge crew as they watched her with surprise.

"Officer Hill, I want you to tell Navigation to lower the ship to fifteen hundred feet and lock in that altitude," she ordered as she quietly began to step down from her command chair. Officer Hill, a large balding man with a rather extravagant handlebar mustache, nodded and immediately leapt onto the com-line to the Navigation center. While the bridge could direct the ship from their position, Fleet command had found that it added additional stress and complications to a captain's position. Most captain's were still required to know how to properly direct their vessel, but the specialized computers and technicians in Navigation were there so that a captain didn't need to.

The door to the grav-lift hissed shut behind her and the officers spared it one last glance before returning to their duties. A minute later one of the officers glanced up as a bright crimson light began to flicker on his screen. Pulling up the alert, he blinked in confusion. "External airlock opened?" He muttered to himself. "But who, why?"

Any further musing about the strange alert were pushed to the wayside as he spotted the same thing that had attracted the captain's attention earlier. There was no doubt in his mind that the solitary figure standing atop the battered and scarred fortifications in the distance was the man they had come to hunt; the leader of the heretic army, Saffron. The captain was said to have some personal vendetta with the powerful being, but her past was shrouded in mystery and censorship courtesy of the military.

He was about to call out their targets location when something happened that stunned him completely. The screen was filled by a crescent wave of energy that appeared like a heat shimmer in the desert, moving so quickly that it had crossed the distance from the ship to where Saffron had stood in less than a heartbeat. The sensor array began screaming as data streamed in, warning klaxons shrieking in the formerly still air as everyone on the bridge watched with rapt attention as the wave crashed down on Saffron's position.

The wave didn't explode, it didn't cut either, but rather it _crushed _the massive fortress effortlessly. The wave hit the immense and ancient fortification and seemed to envelop it, surrounding and obscuring it, like the way a piece of mostly clear plastic muddles your sight when placed over-top a window. For an all too brief moment, the fortress looked almost the same, and then it was gone, consumed and torn apart into its component particles.

* * *

The captain stood calmly as the winds buffeted her body, sending her long auburn hair twisting around her. It had taken her over two centuries to do it, but finally, she had gotten her vengeance for what that monster had done to her family. She tenderly sheathed the katana in her hands as she stared at the desolated battlefield.

"May your soul suffer for all eternity for taking my son from me. And may you forever curse the day you crossed path's with the Saotome clan."

Her final words to her adversary spoken, Nodoka Saotome, age four-hundred and seventy-three, returned inside the vessel of her revenge.

* * *

All right, show of hands, how many of you thought that the captain was Ranma?

To be fair, Ranma was supposed to be in this, but not as the captain. Originally the captains was to be an O.C. and Ranma an incidental ally. This was supposed to be something similar to C.R.Y.0 and the previous dead fic to this one, but mainly it was just a little snippet of something I didn't know what to do with.


End file.

Naruto, Ranma