CHAPTER 7: Mirror, Mirror
Ranma and Ukyou were once again in the nexus. Only this time, they
stood on a platform that was part of a huge network of interconnecting
projections that stretched as far as they could see. High above was the
same liquid fire undulating an immense distance away that Ranma
remembered on his last visit to the nexus. He looked down and saw that
he and Ukyou both were translucent and were highlighted with an bluish
aura, larger than he had seen before. The white aura was not projecting
between them but was all around the both of them. Behind him he saw
Shampoo, Mousse, Akane and Ryouga just as he was, only they didn't seem
to be moving.
"{Tori, where are we?}" asked Ranma. Suddenly, Tori jumped over
Ranma's head and from Ukyou's head as if he had been riding piggy back
and coalesced into a single being in front of them.
"{The platform you stepped on back on your Earth was a transfer point
to this part of the nexus. Those strands you see connect different
parts of the nexus to areas scattered throughout both universes. That
strand you see below us glowing bright yellow connects us to Xeng Kyu
Dou Mountain.}" Tori's voice then changed as if he were reminiscing.
"{This is near the center of the nexus. I haven't been here in a long,
long time.}"
"{Ran-chan! Look at the others, they look...frozen. Tori, what's
happened to them?}" asked Ukyou.
"{They are merely suspended in time. They're fine.}" answered Tori.
"{We can move. Why can't they?}" asked Ranma.
"{You are citizens of the nexus due to the two amulets you carry.
They were never prepared in that way; therefore, they will be locked in
time until they return to your Earth.}"
Ranma looked over his companions and noticed their white auras, too.
As he expected white projections extended between Mousse and Shampoo and
also from Ryouga and Akane. Smaller projections extended toward him
from both Shampoo and Akane. Ranma smiled when he saw that Akane's love
for Ryouga was now much larger than for him.
Also, all except Akane had a thin dark band around there aura.
Ryouga, he noticed, had two.
"{Look, Ukyou, Ryouga has two curses. Isn't that right, Tori?}"
"{You are correct, Ranma. Ryouga has his drowned-pig curse from
Jusenkyou and a curse put upon the Hibiki family long ago that makes
them lose their sense of direction and produce fangs.}"
"{Can you remove that, too?}" asked Ukyou.
"{Yes. Yes I can.} With a wave of what could be perceived as an
arm, Tori removed the curses. All participants had normal blue auras
now. "{When they return, they will be weakened as you once were, Ranma,
but they should recover.}"
"{Can you cure Akane of her lack of cooking skills? That's a curse
if I ever saw one.}" asked Ranma half-serious.
Tori just slumped. "{Ranma, I not a miracle worker.}"
*****
Shampoo, Mousse, Ryouga and Akane re-appeared on the platform,
exactly as they had left. To them, in their timeless state, it seemed
that Ranma and Ukyou had mysteriously disappeared off the platform while
they watched. The cave was still bathed in a white light save for the
green glow from a light above some water at the back of the cave, and
the dragon and lava that had been there earlier was gone.
"Ranma! Ukyou! Where are they?" asked Akane.
Ryouga took a step toward where he had last seen Ranma, and fell.
"By all the Kami, I feel so weak." Akane reached down to help him up,
when she saw something odd.
"Ryouga!" Akane shrieked, "Your fangs!"
Ryouga place a finger on his eye teeth and was surprised to find they
were normal, he was also surprised he didn't feel disoriented and knew
the way out of the cave.
"Look!" said Mousse pointing off into the distance. All turned. A
large image was forming. It was a giant three-dimensional image of
Ranma.
"Friends!" the image began, "I have great news. Your curses have
been lifted." Everyone started whooping and cheering. Mousse was so
thrilled that he ran to the small lake in back of the island and jumped
in. He was still Mousse. He was quickly joined by Ryouga and Shampoo
and they began splashing each other with water happily. Akane watched
the fun from the platform, she, too, was relieved.
"Ryouga!" said Ranma's image, "Ukyou and I still have work to do in
the nexus. We will destroy those responsible for all the disasters. I
need you to lead the others out of the cave."
"You mean...me?" asked Ryouga incredulously, he was pointing a
dripping finger at his chest.
"Ranma, you can't be serious." said Akane, drawing a look from
Ryouga.
"Ryouga shouldn't have any trouble." Ranma raised a hand and Ryouga
felt stronger. "Once everyone is off the platform the dragon and lava
will reappear. Just remember that it is not real and do not be afraid
of it. That will weaken it. Ukyou and I will join you outside the cave
later." Then Ranma's image disappeared.
Ryouga successfully lead the others back to the ledge where their
camp was, to the surprise of himself and the others. The dragon and
lava had reappeared just as Ranma said it would, but it didn't seem as
frightening as before. The real fright came when all had stepped
outside to a reddish sky, and looked up to see strange projections
extending from the sun.
*****
Through some *magic* of Tori's, Ranma was able to communicate with
the others who had returned back to Earth and pass on to them advice as
to how to return safely from the cave. Ranma donated some of his ki to
help strengthen Ryouga who had a full third of his own ki removed along
with his two curses. He could see the joy that his *friends* had
experienced when they were informed that their curses were lifted. A
part of him wished he were there to celebrate along with them instead of
in this fiery inferno he found himself in now.
"{Thanks, Tori, for helping my friends out. Now what?}" asked Ranma.
"{Now I need you two and those amulets your carrying to re-awaken the
Starmaster and help remove the Pu-Optuan invasion of your universe.
Follow me.}"
Ranma and Ukyou walked off the platform and followed Tori through the
maze of projections. Though Ranma and Ukyou *walked*, Tori, it seemed,
didn't have legs that moved. He just kind of glided along instead.
As Ranma walked along he could see that the amulet he wore kept
moving in and out of his body as it hung. He felt that if he tilted his
body just right, the amulet would fall through entirely. He looked and
found that the chain that the jewel was hanging from *floated* on his
shoulders and could just as easily slide through his neck.
They arrived at an open area where high above were two huge globes
and a central, smaller globe. Ranma could see that the two globes seem
to be floating as if tethered to the central globe.
"{Ranma, I need you up there in that pod.} Tori lifted an appendage
to indicate one of the large white globes. "{And I need Ukyou in that
one.}" Tori pointed to the other large globe. "{I will be in the
center one.}"
Without waiting for a response, Ranma found himself in a sea of
white, like sitting in a cloud. Though he could stick his hand out of
the globe, something in the globe pulled him toward the center.
"{Tori, I can't see a thing.} said Ukyou.
"{You're in the 'Starmaster`,}" said Tori.
"{The STARMASTER?! I thought the Starmaster was a person.}" said
Ranma.
"{Yeah. So did I.}" Ukyou added.
"{And so you are. When your in the Starmaster, you *are* the
Starmaster.}" responded Tori.
"{Are you saying *we* are the Starmaster you've been waiting for, and
wanted to re-awaken?}" asked Ukyou incredulously.
"{Long ago, my people discovered the twin universes and this
high-dimensional zone (the nexus) that existed between them. They
erected these networks of passageways that are the nexus transport
system in order to travel freely through the nexus and study the both of
them. The Pu-Optuah originally were our allies and helped in its
construction. When we discovered the Pu-Optuah had other plans, plans
to conquer the nexus, we erected this Starmaster equipment that could be
used to keep both universes in balance; and thus, thwart the plans of
the Pu-Optuah. Only those of my universe may operate it.}"
"{But we're not *from* your universe.}" countered Ukyou.
"{That is why we needed the two amulets. Under their power, you
represent *Starmasters* from my universe and are able to operate both
within and outside the nexus. This is why the Pu-Optuah were so
interested in the amulets. It would allow them to operate the
Starmaster outside the nexus and destroy that balance, as well as create
the doorway necessary for a huge invasion force to enter your
universe.}"
"{So where are your people? Why aren't they here to operate
this...this *Starmaster*?}" asked Ukyou.
"{I don't really know. I haven't been contacted by my people since
the last Starmaster was here over 3 millennia ago. Perhaps by operating
this equipment, I can find out. That's why you are here, I can't
operate the Starmaster machinery by myself, I need you two in the other
pods.}"
"{Let me get this straight, you need two more people besides yourself
to operate this machine. Correct?}" asked Ukyou.
"{Correct.}" answered Tori.
"{The last Starmaster died a long time ago. Right?}"
"{Correct.}" answered Tori.
"{So then, where is the other Starmaster? There would've had to have
been three of you, wouldn't there?}"
Tori seem to take his time in answering. "{Strange, I don't seem to
remember him. It's like he never existed.}" There was silence for a
long time.
"{So what do we have to do?}" asked Ranma getting restless.
"{Concentrate on the amulets and their power. The two large pods
represent both universes. Ranma, the pod you are in represents the
universe in which your planet Earth exists. Ukyou, your pod represents
the universe that my people and the Pu-Optuah are from. I, in the
smaller, central pod, will represent the nexus, the area of pseudo-space
that binds the two of you together.}"
Ranma concentrated and meditated on the amulet and the amulet grew in
brightness, strength and power. The amulet melted into his body and
moved toward the center of his being. In an instant the white
cloudiness was pushed aside and he saw a round object as if he were
looking at it from the outside. Within it he saw objects swirling
about: galaxies, groups of galaxies and clusters. He could see dust
particles and black holes in great detail. He could sense and see
everything down to the last atom and in between. He could see millions
of civilizations: some advanced, some fledgling, some dying. He could
see his own planet Earth, see the people in panic because of their dying
sun. See their despair because of the excessive disasters that have
occurred. And he could see the same thing happening on countless other
worlds.
Ukyou was just as enthralled. She could see the other universe which
looked like a reversed image of her own. The laws of this universe were
different: It had five dimensions plus a time dimension. At first, she
had trouble thinking in five dimensions, but the Starmaster's equipment
helped her perceptions. Everything in this universe was based on ki
energy. This, she figured out, is why the Pu-Optuah needed to feed off
of it, because they were made of it. Somehow she realized that this
universe was much smaller and older than the universe she grew up in.
It held vast civilizations with a wealth of knowledge and had
technologies that were baffling to her.
Ranma and Ukyou both felt a shudder and a blackness descend upon
them. Both sensed that whatever had caused the shudder was not in the
universes they were observing.
"{They're dead. They're all dead.}" said Tori in a low melancholy
voice.
Ukyou took a look and confirmed what Tori had just said. She found
evidence of a race of beings that controlled a group of eight galaxies
in a dark corner of her universe. In their place and in their ruins
stood the Pu-Optuah who had somehow conquered and destroyed them despite
being less technologically advanced. She could easily see that they did
it with sheer numbers, like a huge, unstoppable plague.
"{W-who's dead?}" asked Ranma confused.
"{His people. I've just found them. The Pu-Optuah have destroyed
them all. I can see the extent of their devastation and their evil,
it's unbelievable.}" said Ukyou.
"{Yes, I see it here, too.}" Ranma responded, seeing world upon world
reduced to smoldering cinders.
"{The Pu-Optuah do not have the word 'mercy` in their vocabulary.
Such a concept is foreign to them, to their way of thinking.}" said
Tori.
"{How do we fight them? 'Cause as far as I am concerned, they're
dead.}" asked Ranma. A fight was something he could understand.
"{Yeah, I want a piece of them, too. I have a score to settle with
them for taking my father away from me.}" She was openly ready to
strike out in revenge.
"{What you are talking about is genocide. To do that, would make you
as evil as they are.}" Tori warned.
"{B-but we can't just let them continue.}" Ranma insisted.
"{Yeah, they'll destroy everything, and everyone.}" pleaded Ukyou.
"{We can't destroy them all, but there is a favorable alternative.
Look here...and here.}" Ranma saw Tori indicate an area of the universe
that didn't seem quite right, an inflated area in space like an
overblown tire. Somehow he sensed that Tori had shown Ukyou a likewise
anomaly in the universe she was observing.
"{It looks so...round.}" said Ranma.
"{Here it looks flat.}" said Ukyou.
"{These areas are caused by the great number Pu-Optuah that exist in
your universe, Ranma. Their causing both universes to be out of
balance.}"
"{Is there any way to balance them?}" asked Ukyou.
"{That's exactly what I want you two to do. As you are certainly
aware by now, you two are connected together by a link between both your
spirits. Ranma, in the Starmaster equipment, while you are observing
your universe, you *are* that universe. Ukyou, you are, likewise, the
universe you are observing. What I want you two to do is to concentrate
on these areas of imbalance and move the excess from Ranma's universe to
Ukyou's universe. You'll find an interesting side-effect occurs once
you do that.}"
"{How do we do it?}" asked Ukyou.
"{It is kind of like the nexus speech you are using right now, just
concentrate on moving it, and it will happen.}" said Tori.
Ranma and Ukyou concentrated on the imbalanced areas. Like a sudden
surge, Ranma felt the movement of material from one universe through to
the other. The amount of material, Ranma knew, was awesome, and he
could feel the link between him and Ukyou strained by the amount of the
flow. When he recovered enough to look at the result, he was amazed.
The beings that were influenced by the Pu-Optuah were either dead, or
freed from their influence and disoriented. The power drain on the
Earth's sun had disappeared.
"{Ranma, are you okay?}" asked Ukyou, sounding ragged.
"{I feel a little...burned, how about you?}" asked a weary Ranma.
"{Yeah, I know what you mean, but I'm okay... Hey Tori, what happened
to all the Pu-Optuah? I'm registering only a few around their home
world.}" said Ukyou excitedly. Ranma could see that only a few still
remained in his universe.
"{When you moved material from one universe to the other, we changed
the nature of the two universes. Remember I told you before, matter and
energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can be borrowed and
exchanged. In order to move this material, it was necessary to create a
time paradox to reverse another time paradox that occurred 3 millennia
ago. That's when the bulges first started to occur. Any Pu-Optuah that
appeared after this period, ceased to exist as of a few moments ago,
since it was their presence in your universe that cause these imbalances
in the first place.}"
"{Why was there a time paradox 3000 years ago?}" asked Ranma. "{I
don't know, I can't see past it. Whatever it was, it's pretty
hideous.}"
*****
Ranma and Ukyou stepped off the transport pad and found that the
dragon and lava reappeared. Though the noise was ominous, they knew the
secret of the cave, that none of what they saw or heard was real, so
ignored it. The dragon grew quiet because there was very little fear to
feed its terror.
"Hopefully, Ryouga and the others got out safely." said Ranma.
"{That they did.}" said Tori.
Ranma and Ukyou started for the lava bridge when a shadow crept up
behind them carrying a round object. Before Ranma knew it, Ukyou, who
had been holding his hand, dropped to the floor and the sound of booming
laughter sounded in his head, bringing with it a wave of nausea. He
couldn't sense Ukyou through the connection anymore. Ranma turned in
time to see a black cloud carrying a bright ball-like object move toward
the back of the cave. Ranma took off in pursuit. When Ranma crossed
the platform, the lava and dragon disappeared for a moment, until he ran
off of it again.
The cloud ran to the low lake on the other side of the lava island.
High above the lake was a green source of light. The cloud disappeared
into the lake. When Ranma jumped into the water, he found that the
waters were very shallow.
"{Tori? Tori? Where did he go?}" asked Ranma frantically.
"{Syrr disappeared into the nexus transport system. Step out of the
water and I'll explain how it works. First, you need a source of
radiation, like that green glowing light above you. Then you need a
reflective surface. On all reflective surfaces there is a zone where
light is slowed down. In your case, if you hold the amulet while
jumping into this zone, you'll be transported into the nexus transport
system that connects you with various points around both universes and
nexus. Just like the platform you just came from.}"
"{Sounds like 'Alice in Wonderland`. So, all I have to do is jump
into this reflective surface and hold the amulet?}" asked Ranma ready to
jump.
"{Yes.}"
Ranma didn't even wait for the waters to become still, he jumped into
the water while holding the amulet to his chest.
*****
Ranma found himself in a huge cylindrical chamber. All around him
were tiny whirlpools off in every direction. He found that everything
was now multi-dimensional and that each dimension had two vortices
associated with it. Some were dead, others came to life in an instant
and just as quickly blinked out of existence.
"{Tori? How do I know where to go? There are millions of these
doorways.}"
"{Ranma, it is possible to follow Syrr wherever he goes by looking
for a grayish ki field. One aspect of the Pu-Optuah is that they stink,
horribly. They leak a ki residue produced from dead ki that you should
be able to follow. Just look for this trail of smoke.}"
"{Remember, you can go wherever you want and return to this transit
link as long as you have a reflective surface such as a mirror or body
of water, and a source of radiation, such as the sun shining on it. The
mirrored surface must be big enough for you to pass through. This
particular transit link is for your world. There are places that
connect with other transit links, so be careful.}"
Though the chamber had some mists all around it, Ranma was able to
pick out a portal that looked promising. Wasting little time, he jumped
into the swirl.
*****
When Ranma popped out of the mirror, he was in a bedroom. The
morning sun was shining through a window onto the mirror, blinding him
so he could not see the rest of the room. He heard a groaning sound
coming from somewhere. He moved forward and stopped suddenly. He was
now out of the sunlight and could see something moving on a bed. A lit
cigarette was all but ashes in an ashtray, grey smoke hung in the air.
He heard the sound of giggling as if someone was being tickled.
"Stop!" said a female voice from under the covers.
Ranma's eyes grew large when he realized what he had stumbled into.
Oops! He tried to turn around and jump back into the mirror, but his
foot kicked a wineglass that had been dropped on the floor. It tinkled
when it was kicked.
The covers on the bed came down and Ranma could see an
embarrassed-looking blond and a rather large dark-haired man with a
thick moustache staring back at him. The man was not impressed.
"YOU!" the man said with a thick Italian accent.
"Yaahhh!" Ranma tried to jump back in the mirror, but found that the
sun's rays were no longer shining on it. The mirror broke. The man got
up out of the bed and began chasing Ranma around the room while the
blond just pulled the covers up to hide herself. Ranma almost tripped
over a maid's outfit.
Finally, Ranma ran into the bathroom and locked the door. The big
man outside the door began pounding and shouting in Italian. Even
though Ranma didn't speak Italian, he needed no translation to get the
gist of what the man was saying.
The sun was shining onto the bathtub in the restroom. Ranma spotted
and grabbed a small hand mirror off the vanity and directed the sunlight
from the bathtub toward the large mirror above the sink. The man was
starting to break through the door. Before the door hinges gave out,
Ranma jumped into the mirror.
The man burst through the door and his towel fell away. He was
surprised when he found that no one was there, and the bathroom window
was locked.
*****
Ranma slowly raised himself out of the water. He could see that
there were several military jeeps parked next to a pool of water. He
stood up to take a look around. Judging from the appearance of the
area, Ranma was in some type of desert encampment. He could hear the
sounds of distant shelling and fires burning. All around him was packed
sand, fencing and several camouflaged buildings. He could not see any
grey ki field trail in any direction he looked.
Ranma was about to jump back into the pool when the ground was
suddenly strafed in front of him. A second or two later, an alarm
sounded followed by the sound of running footsteps and the shouts of men
in some unknown language.
Ranma just ran. He didn't care which direction, he just ran to try
to avoid the bullets that followed closely at his heels. He could hear
the sound of barking dogs behind him.
Ranma ran and found himself cornered by some high fencing. He was
about to climb the fence, when he saw that the top was lined with barbed
wire. Men were running up behind him.
Ranma just turned toward the fence and yelled, "HIRYUU SHOUTEN-HA!!!"
and got down. The resulting depression field ripped through the fence
and sent a shower of sand into the faces of his pursuers. It bought him
time. Ranma ran through the hole in the fence and behind a building
before those behind him could recover.
He took a moment to rest when one of the distant windows in the
building was shattered and someone began firing at him. He ran off and
just about passed a well when he realized that the sun was directly
overhead. Ranma jumped into the well just in time to avoid being
strafed by a shower of machine-gun fire.
*****
It was way after midnight when the man came staggering down the
street. He swayed from side-to-side as he walked. His shoulder hit up
against a lamppost and he stopped, trying to keep from falling.
Looking down into an adjacent trashcan, he spotted a newspaper, the
pages looked fresh. When he extended his hand to extract the newspaper,
the odor from under his arm was overpowering, even to him. He pulled
the newspaper out and tucked it safely away.
Taking another swig from a bottle wrapped in a paper sack and wiping
his mouth, he continued on down the street. The man came to an
alleyway, this was his favorite spot. It was dark enough at night and
quiet so he could sleep it off. It was also next to a restaurant that
threw out plenty of delicious trash during the day.
Taking refuge inside a cardboard box, he spread the newspapers on top
of him. This was his blanket to keep out the night's chill. He took
his final swig for the night. Just for *medicinal* purposes, he
reminded himself.
He heard a sound and dragged himself up to peer over the box. A mist
was flowing out of the sewers from across the street. There was a
shallow pool of water in the middle of the roadway from when they had
dumped some of the fire hydrants. A radio tower stood high on one
building and he could see its reflection in the water.
The man blinked and looked again, something moved in the water. He
thought he saw a head pop out of the water. Though dark, he thought it
was of a young man with a ponytail. The head looked all around and
popped back into the water.
The man grew scared and pushed his back up against the wall. He was
about to take a drink from the bottle when he stopped and looked at the
bottle.
"I've hat t'much t'drink," said the man, and he threw the bottle away
with a crash. Frightened, he curled up into a ball until he fell
asleep.
*****
Ranma followed the trail into a vortex. The next instant he found
himself on a moving platform that had a piece of cut metal on it. He
looked up and moved in time to avoid the beams of a cutting laser. It
was for certain he was not going to be returning that way.
Ranma looked around and could see the grey ki trail leading through a
set of double doors at the end of the room. He moved cautiously over to
the doors and followed the trail. Opening the door slowly, he saw
people dressed in loose white jumpsuits with cloth over their heads and
faces wearing some type of goggles. All kinds of unidentifiable
equipment dotted both sides of an aisle where these people were working
in a long large room.
"Hey you! Close that door!" someone yelled at him in muffled
English.
"What are you doing here?" someone else yelled when the first had
drawn attention to Ranma. A few seconds later he heard the familiar
sound of an alarm going off. Ranma ran straight down the aisle in the
direction of the grey ki trail. A large man tried to grab him but he
slipped under his grasp.
When Ranma had reach another set of double glass doors at the end of
the work room, he turned and could see two men easily identified as
security guards rushing into the middle of the room in pursuit. Ranma
ran through the double glass doors and down a narrow hallway lit only by
overhead lamps. Despite the pursuing security, Ranma was still
following the grey ki field.
The trail ran through a maze of hallways and double doors. Ranma
kept running into people and objects which lined the hallways as fast as
his legs would carry him. Ranma stopped to catch his breath behind a
door, when he realized that he had somehow lost the security guards that
were pursuing him.
Ranma could see the grey ki field disappearing across the hallway
into a room easily recognized by the sign as the women's restroom.
This is when it would be nice to have my cursed form, he thought. He
continued to observe the door and no one came in or out. Looking both
ways, he sighed, Here goes nuthin'. He walked into the door and
pressed himself to one side looking around the corner. He couldn't hear
any activity though he could clearly see the grey ki field trail leading
into the third stall.
Ranma quietly brought himself next to the stall. He tried the door
without making a sound and found it was locked, so he waited. Around
him he could see an obscured window with the sun shining on it. Across
from him he could see the windows glare in the mirror. He realized that
all he needed to do to get out is to open the window and allow the sun
to fall on the mirror.
When he heard a noise out of the third stall like the rustling of
clothes, he crouched low next to the opposite side that the door would
open. He heard a flush and the lock on the door opening. When the
person was within range, he quickly grabbed her and covered her mouth.
It was a rather pretty Japanese girl about a head shorter than he was.
She mumbled and struggled for a little bit, but stopped when Ranma
radiated calm and tranquility. Her eyes were full of surprise, but she
seemed to be cooperating and had quit her struggles.
"Do you speak Japanese? Can you understand me?" Ranma whispered to
her. She gave a short nod. Ranma couldn't see the grey ki field on the
girl, but could clearly see the trail ending into the third stall.
Ranma concluded that the trail must be old, and the girl just happened
to be in the right place at the wrong time.
Ranma released an arm from around the girl and held a finger up to
his lips. "Shhhh!" The girl nodded in understanding, so he slowly
released her. While the girl stood and watched him intently with a
fightened expression, he went through and checked the other four stalls
and found them empty.
Ranma figured that Syrr must have somehow got away and it would be
better to watch for any new signs of him from the nexus transport
chamber. Again, he raised a finger to his lips and said, "Shhhh!" to
keep the girl calm. Ranma slowly backed up to the window, keeping the
girl in sight. He reached one hand up to try and open the window, it
wouldn't budge. Ranma had to reach both arms up to the window to open
it. Unfortunately, that caused him to lose his attention on the girl
for a moment.
"{Ranma! Look out!}" yelled Tori. Ranma turned just in time to look
in the mirror and see the girl produce a round clear object that he
recognized. He jumped up and around kicking the globe before the girl
(Syrr) could use it.
The girl gave several blood-curdling screams like she was being raped
and disappeared into the mirror that the sun was now shining on. Before
Ranma could get up from the floor, two security guards burst in through
the door with guns drawn.
"Freeze!" one of the guards yelled.
Uh-oh! Ranma slowly got up and raised his hands high above his
head in defeat. One of the guards spotted the ball-shaped object on the
floor and crept over to it. He reached down to grab the object. When
he touched it, the guard dropped to the floor and the globe began to
glow with a bluish tint. The other guard tried to catch his partner and
Ranma took advantage of the distraction to run into the mirror. Ranma
had just passed through the mirror when it was shattered by a bullet
fired by the remaining guard.
*****
Ranma came out of the water onto the beach of an inland lake. All
around him it looked like a tropical paradise with high palms and thick
foliage. Exotic birds chirped and jumped around in the trees. Ranma
saw a grey trail of ki drifting into the underbrush. He took off in
pursuit.
As he ran through the rainforest, plants continued to whip into his
face making progress slow. He could see an open clearing and a huge
slope thick with foliage. The trail led up the slope and he could see
he was on some sort of volcanically-produced island. Using vines, he
pulled himself up and over a ledge, and could see that it was small
island as the blue ocean was visible all around him out to the horizon.
Higher up the grey trail thickened. This trail is fresh, thought
Ranma with renewed hope. He used more vines to pull himself higher
until he found a cave. The trail lead into the cave and the grey ki
field was so thick that he could just barely see into the cave.
Ranma pulled himself to the side wall and the grey field began to
clear. He could see the same Japanese girl he had seen earlier slowly
backing up away from him. Her face, though pretty, was scratched and
scarred from the thick foliage she had passed through. The sun was
shining into the cave and he could now see his reflection and her back
in a mirror. The girl stopped backing up when she was about a foot away
from the mirror. The girl produced a ball that Ranma could see glowing
bright blue.
"{Your in luck, human. I am all out of nodules and this one is
occupied.}" A deep male-like voice boomed in his head. Ranma could
sense that the 'nodule` that Syrr was holding up now had Ukyou's ki in
it.
"{Give me that, you Bastard!}" returned Ranma. He was about to jump
for the nodule when the girl threatened to slam it up against the cave
wall.
"{Nah-ah-aaah! Shall I destroy it for you first, human? It's
obvious she means something to you.}" the deep voice said as the girl
continued to threaten to smash the nodule.
"{NO! No! No! Don't do that.}" Ranma frantically waved hands in
front of him. Ranma was again hit by a wave of nausea and the sound of
booming laughter. The laughter slowly trailed off and was replaced by a
curious expression on the face of the girl, then brightened in
recognition.
"{Congratulations, *Starmaster*. You have been a worthy adversary.
You have destroyed my people and a new universe that took thousands of
your years in the planning. The new universe we would have created
would have been glorious. My people have destroyed whole galaxies and
you, from this third-rate world, come along and destroy us with a mere
thought. Is it really such a small consolation that I take this nodule
with me, as payment for all the troubles you have caused me?}"
Ranma was near tears and found himself dropping to his knees
begging. "Please, please don't take her from me. She is my life!"
Another wave of nausea hit Ranma as more laughter boomed in his head.
"{Yes, yes I know. I can see the fragile tendril that connects her
life to yours. It will be a pleasure to me when I sever it. Just like
I severed the connection with that lightroid friend of yours long ago.}"
"{Ranma! Did you hear that? That means he's one of the prior
Starmasters. And I bet he created the first time paradox to allow his
Pu-Optuan army into this universe! Now it all makes sense to me.}"
shouted Tori.
"{I don't care who he is. I just want Ukyou back.}"
The girl began bouncing the nodule in front of Ranma almost
carelessly, continuing to laugh, almost taunting Ranma to make a move or
a grab for it. While the taunting continued, the sun was starting to
leave the back of the cave and the mirror. When the girl almost dropped
the nodule, Ranma leaped to catch it, but the girl was too quick and
disappeared into the mirror.
Next thing Ranma knew was that he was picking himself up from outside
the cave. An explosion had blown him out onto the ledge. Slowly at
first, Ranma re-climbed the slope and crept into the cave. The cave had
gore all over it and flies were gathering, but surprisingly, the mirror
was still intact.
Ranma started to run, to make the jump to follow, when he was brought
up short. "{RANMA! DON'T!!!}" shouted Tori. "{This passage leads to
the other universe, your body cannot exist in this other universe!
That's why there was an explosion, the woman couldn't exist in that
other universe, but Syrr who could, got away.}"
"{But I have to follow him. I have to try!}" Ranma started to run
again.
"{NO! YOU WILL DIE! You can't save Ukyou this way.}"
Ranma stopped and dropped to his knees in frustration. In anger, he
pounded the cave floor. He picked up a rock and threw it at the mirror
with all his strength and frustration. "YYYAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" The mirror
shattered into a million pieces. Hot tears came down to sting Ranma's
eyes, he was in despair and kept saying, "No!" with a shaking head.
"{Come back, Ranma. We have to care for Ukyou's body,}" Tori's voice
kept repeating. Ranma just sat alone in the cave until the sun made it
entirely dark.
Slowly, Ranma turned and descended from the ledge. He almost slipped
on several occasions on his descent and there was a part of him that
just didn't care anymore. At one point, as he returned through the
forest, he got tired of being stung in the face by the thick foliage and
tried to release a ki blast to clear it. Since his ki blast was based
upon his confidence, the blast became just a fizzle. He returned back
to the inland lake and just dropped into the lake to make the
transition.
*****
When Ranma re-appeared from out of the lake in the back of the cave,
the tears started coming down his face in droves. Like suddenly
re-awakening from some vicious nightmare, his full emotions started
kicking in and Ukyou's loss began to hit him like being slugged in the
belly.
"NO! No! No!" he cried out only to hear his echo return. He
turned. Ukyou's body was on a small platform that hung in the air a few
feet off the ground. It was like one of those magic acts where they run
a ring over a girl suspended in mid-air.
Ranma ran to the small platform and tried to grab onto Ukyou's body,
he was thrown back. A small force-field hung a few inches above her
body and arced when he attempted to contact her. Ranma threw himself
again at the force-field with eyes streaming and was again thrown back
to the point of losing consciousness. He slipped on the ground trying
to get back up and began pounding the ground in agony. He stood up to
launch himself one more time at the platform when Tori stopped him.
"{NO! Ranma don't!}"
"{What have you done to her, you bastard? Can't you leave the dead
in peace?}" Ranma fell to the ground in fresh tears.
"{Ranma, I have preserved Ukyou's body in a suspension field powered
by one of your local stars. This field should hold Ukyou's body right
at the moment of death for billions of years. Almost indefinitely by
your perspective.}"
"{For what purpose? A body means nothing without a soul, and you
know it.}" Ranma cried out.
"{Ranma, Ukyou will always be alive through you. You have to know
that Ukyou died for a purpose: to preserve two universes, and to
destroy the Pu-Optuah wherever they were.}"
"{I don't want to live...can't live in a universe without Ukyou...}"
Just then Ranma was lurched with unbelievable pain. Something deep
inside him felt like it was being torn to pieces, like glass being
shattered in a tornado. Ranma was thrown to the ground like he was
having a seizure.
"{T-Tori...?}" Ranma gasped and doubled over in pain.
"{It's Syrr! He must have opened and consumed Ukyou's ki. You have
to fight it, Ranma!}" The pain Ranma felt was so fantastic that he
could just barely maintain consciousness. "{Fight it, Ranma. Don't
give in to it. Don't let go of Ukyou.}"
With that, Ranma now understood what was happening. Syrr had just
now consumed Ukyou's ki, and Ukyou was experiencing something that went
beyond simple death. Like being constantly chewed and crushed while
maintaining full consciousness, Ukyou's ki was being ripped apart and
she was fighting a losing battle to maintain integrity. The pain was so
terrific, that Ukyou was now totally animalistic with sheer terror.
What was once human thought and reason was replaced by complete animal
madness, caused by an incredible amount of unendurable pain. Ranma felt
every bit of it coming through the connection.
"{Ranma, remember your meditation exercises!}"
Ranma employed the meditation methods Tori taught him to keep out
external and internal distractions. Slowly, he was able to force back
the pain that was coming across the connection he had with Ukyou. With
great effort, he brought himself to his center and concentrated with all
his might on fighting the distraction. He forced himself to breathe in
controlled gulps of air.
A thought occurred to him. Using the Starmaster machinery, he was
able to transport huge energies across both nexus and universes with
controlled thought. Maybe he could do the same here. With all his
strength, he flooded the connection with love. He thought of their
earlier time in the nexus and the evenings that they spent together. He
thought of the joys and splendid memories they experience in childhood.
He thought of her hair, her face and her eyes. He thought of the
euphoria and heaven he experienced every time he kissed her lips.
Ranma forced himself into a lotus position facing Ukyou's body. He
continued to force all his love through the connection. He could feel
Ukyou responding as she paused to take notice through her constant
torture. Though still animalistic in nature, he could sense Ukyou
grasping onto the connection with savage fury, like someone desperately
clinging to a rope while hanging over a huge precipice (like he once
did).
He gave her a thought, "{MOUKO TAKABISHA!}" and kept repeating the
thought. Within a few moments, he could sense the dawning of
understanding coming across the link. He could sense Ukyou pulling
herself together, and building up for a ki blast. Let's see how you
like heartburn, Syrr! Ranma gave a forced laugh.
"{Are you ready, Tori?}" Knowing that Tori already knew what he had
planned.
"{Ready when you are.}" Tori's voice carried joy with it. It
increased Ranma's confidence that he was on the right track.
Ranma pulled his cupped hand in front of him and pointed at Ukyou's
body. "{NOW!}" He felt Ukyou's surge and could sense an explosion as
Syrr was being blown apart. With great determination, Ranma pulled
Ukyou through the link and a blast of blue ki shot out from his cupped
hands, it hit the suspended body in front of him.
"{Well done, Ranma!!!}" said Tori. Ranma ran to the platform and
caught Ukyou in his arms at the instant the suspensor field was released
by Tori.
"AAAAAAAYYYYYYAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Ukyou was screaming at the top of her
lungs, and kept screaming and flailing about. Ranma had to finally fall
on top of her and hang on for dear life as Ukyou tried to recover from
the memories of torture and pain at being consumed by Syrr. Ranma did
his best to radiate calm and tranquility while flooding the connection
with as much love as he could muster. Slowly, Ukyou grabbed and hugged
him in a crushing grasp as she slowly brought her screams to a whimper.
Ranma stayed on top of her until she was calm.
Now, everything that Tori had taught Ranma, suddenly made sense to
him. Tears of joy were streaming in his face as he looked up.
"{Tori?}"
"{Yes, Ranma?}"
"{Thanks!}"
There was a pause, and then, "{Sure thing.}"
*****
Hawaii, six years later.
"We got a letter from Akane!" said Ranma looking up from his desk
where he had been sorting the mail.
"Oh yeah. How are they doing?" Ukyou called from the restroom.
"She says they're doing fine." Ranma reads further. "She says
Ryouga is opening a tourist agency. Says their slogan is 'Get lost in a
world of luxury`."
"Well, I guess he should know." Ukyou giggled walking into the
bedroom.
Ranma grinned and read further. "She's congratulating us on the
birth of our daughter."
Ukyou looked over surprised. "News must travel slowly there."
Ranma returned her gaze. "Yeah, I guess so." Ranma looked over at
Reiko playing in her highchair. Ranma looked back at the letter and
started laughing. "Ha! She wondering if we would like to arrange a
marriage of our daughter to their son."
Ranma and Ukyou looked at each other. "Uh-uh!" they both said in
unison, Ukyou shaking her head no. Ukyou started applying sun lotion to
herself.
Ranma continued, "She says she hasn't heard from Mousse and Shampoo
in a while. Last time she heard from them, one of their sons had to get
glasses."
"Oh, poor thing." Ukyou said applying sun lotion to Reiko's face.
"Kasumi's doing fine with..."
"Ranma?" Ukyou interrupted slipping into her bikini.
"Yeah?" Ranma looked up.
"Let's read that later. I want to take a walk on the beach."
"Yeah sure." He put down the letter and took another look at her and
whistled.
"Mm-mmm! You look delicious." said Ranma eyeing her up and down.
"I'm almost back to my normal weight now." Ukyou started displaying
her figure like she was in a fashion show.
"Come here," Ranma said getting up from the desk. He picked Ukyou up
and spun her around to the amusement of Reiko, who giggled and clapped
her hands softly. They kissed for a moment.
"I don't mind being a girl now, Ran-chan," Ukyou said wrapping her
arms around his shoulders and looking into his eyes.
"Well, I minded being a girl," Ranma responded.
Ukyou giggled. "Yeah, but you weren't one originally."
"Does that mean you'll let me wear the pants in the family?"
"Why yes, Sugar, you wear them so well," said Ukyou giving his
muscles a squeeze and embracing him in a hug.
Ranma put her down after a moment. "Okay. Let's go!"
*****
"Ran-chan?" asked Ukyou walking side-by-side with Ranma in his arm
along the shoreline.
"Yes, love?"
"I think I'm going to open a fifth restaurant right here in Hawaii."
"Uc-chan, let's not talk about business now. Let's enjoy the sunrise
and the morning."
Ukyou brightened. "Okay." She hugged a wrapped Reiko a little closer
to her and heard her coo.
"{I love you!}" said Ranma.
"{Yeah,... I love me, too.}" Ukyou responded.
They continued their walk along the quiet beach, the surf ebbing and
flowing with the tide. Overhead a kite twists and turns pushed by the
morning breeze. Children throw bread crumbs up to waiting seagulls who
swoop down and catch them in their beak. A well-tanned man in a fishing
hat hunts for treasure with a metal detector. Scoring a hit, he reaches
down to dust sand away from a metal chain. At the end of the metal
chain is an ordinary-looking green rock.
*****
THE END
*****