The FFML Refugee List

--------------------------- ListBot Sponsor --------------------------
Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer
    Kuno swaggers forward, holding his bokken at the ready.
    "The questionably honorable Flaming Amarant hath requested that I do him 
a favor in providing information for you, the reader," he states.  "The foul 
sorcerer Saotome, the beautiful Akane Tendo, my beloved Pig-Tailed Goddess, 
my noble self, and all other characters from Ranma 1/2 belong to the great 
Rumiko Takahashi-sama.  Also, he states that the esteemed Heihachi Mishima 
and the redoubtable Bryan Fury are the property of whoever owns them.  Also, 
for this chapter, and this chapter only he has decided to implement elements 
from Mega Man X, but they are going to be used in context, and in context 
only.  He humbly requests that none that read this work of fiction would 
bring forth a lawsuit against him, for he has nowhere near the vast resources 
of the great House Kuno."
    The author steps forward and pats Kuno on the back, saying, "Good job, 
Kuno.  You can go home now."
    "What?!" Kuno exclaims, outraged.  "Foul demon, to deny my right to star 
in your work!  I shall smite thee!!"  He then proceeds to beat the author 
into a bloody pulp, and finally leaves.
    "Owie...," the author mutters.

Flashfyre5 presents,

In association with Digital Wizardry Studios, Minnesota,

A Flaming Amarant production,

Of Gods and Men
Chapter Two


A Ranma 1/2 fanfic with characters from the Tekken series.

" " = speech
< > = thought
/ / = panda sign
<" "> = other language where the norm would be Japanese
* * = sound effect

*   *   *   *   *   *

    "RANMA!!" Akane shrieked, pounding on his chest with all her might.  
"RANMA, NO!"  Her shriek, being one of distress, rather than anger, was quick 
to gain a response from the Tendo household.  She heard the sliding door that 
connected the furo to the changing room slide open, but paid it no mind as 
she continued to hammer on the crystalline shall that Ranma had turned into.
    "Akane, what's wrong?" she heard Nabiki ask from the general direction of 
the doorway.
    "Nabiki!  Get Dr. Tofu NOW!" Akane shouted.  For once, her sister 
hastened to respond, slipping out of the room like water.  Once again alone, 
Akane took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.  Soon, she was able to get 
her body under control, even though her mind was racing at a mile a minute.  
<Saffron's back he's gonna kill Ranma then he's gonna kill me then he's gonna 
burn everyone to death and I 
don'twannadieandIreallydon'twantRanmatodiebecauseIlovehimtoo
much,> she thought, then stopped as the realized what she had just declared 
to herself mentally.  Glancing down at Ranma, she decided to put that thought 
aside for later consideration.
    "Kasumi-chan, what's happening to my baby girl?" she faintly heard her 
father wail from the bathing room.
    "Now, now, Father.  You know that she isn't dressed in there, and it 
isn't your place to see your daughter naked, is it?" Kasumi replied calmly.
    "But Kasumi...," Akane heard her father protest, then sigh.  "I suppose 
you're right."
    "Bless you, Kasumi," Akane whispered, then took a deep breath to calm 
herself.  "God, Ranma, please don't be dead," she said, more to herself than 
anyone else.
    "Akane?" Kasumi's voice called from the other side of the door.
    "Yeah?" Akane replied, carefully keeping her voice under control.
    "Dr. Tofu is here, so I have to leave.  I'd suggest that you put on a 
bathrobe before he gets upstairs," Kasumi advised.
    "Thanks, Kasumi," Akane called, doing just as her sister had suggested.  
    A few seconds later, she heard Dr. Tofu's voice call out to her, "Akane, 
can I come in?"
    "Hurry, Dr. Tofu," she called in reply.  The door burst open, and Tofu 
moved to kneel by Ranma's crystallized form.  "How bad is it, Dr.?" she asked.
    "I can't say for sure, but I can tell that he's still alive," Tofu said.  
Akane gave a profound sigh of relief that she hadn't realized she'd been 
holding.  "However," Tofu continued, "he has somehow become a living chi 
vacuum.  We've got to get him back to my clinic, so I can monitor him, and we 
need to call Cologne.  She knows more than anyone about this sort of thing.  
Have your sister make the call, get dressed, and meet me at the clinic.  I'll 
get Mr. Saotome to help me with Ranma."
    "Right," Akane said, dashing from the furo.

*   *   *   *   *   *

    Ranma looked around at the whiteness that surrounded him.  For a few 
minutes, it hurt his eyes to look at it, but he quickly became accustomed to 
the glare.  An indeterminate amount of time passed as Ranma assessed his 
surroundings.  Gravity seemed to be working normally, but for some reason, 
when he walked, the world seemed to move instead of him.
    "Hello?" he called out tentatively, hoping for a response.  The one he 
got was not one he'd been hoping for.
    "Greetings, landling scum," called out Saffron's haughty voice.
    "Saffron!  What the Hell are you doing here?" Ranma replied, dropping 
into a defensive stance.  Never once did it cross his mind that he still 
didn't know where 'here' was.
    "I assure you, landling, your mind is the last place I want to be.  
However, by divine law, I must present you with three trials.  A failure to 
pass any one of them will mean that your body will become mine," Saffron's 
voice answered.
    "What happens when I win?" Ranma asked.
    "IF you manage to best me in the three trials, I will be banished to the 
ether between worlds for the rest of eternity, and you will take my place on 
Earth," Saffron answered.
    "So, what's the first trial?" Ranma asked.
    "The Trial of Combat," Saffron answered smugly, fading into view about a 
hundred feet away from Ranma.  "Anything goes, the first to submit loses.  I 
am required to remind you that this combat is taking place in your mind, and 
under your terms, so I am at somewhat of a disadvantage.  Now, if you'll 
create a ring for us to fight in, we can begin."
    "A ring?" Ranma asked.  Just as he did, the floor of the Tendo dojo 
appeared under his feet, stretching off to eternity in all directions.  
"Whoa.  Weird," he said, regaining his bearings.
    "Are you ready, landling scum?" Saffron asked, his body blazing with fire.
    "Never more so," Ranma replied.  With that, he charged at Saffron, 
striking at him with an Amagaruken, only to find that Saffron had vanished.  
Just as he realized this, he felt a burning, fiery fist strike him in the 
back, sending him flying.  He twisted in midair and landed well, only to be 
struck full-force with one of Saffron's fireballs.  "AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!" he 
screamed as the magical fire raged around him.  Even so, his mind was at 
work, analyzing what was happening.  <This fire is way hotter than normal 
fire.  It should be hot enough to melt rocks, so why am I still alive?> he 
wondered.  Finally, the flames died down, revealing, despite the pain, Ranma 
had little more than first degree burns on his body.
    "Do you yield, landling?  I could do this all day," Saffron mocked him.  
Meanwhile, Ranma's brain was working overtime to understand what had just 
happened to him.  <Waitaminute, he said that this was all in my mind!  That 
means that I'm in control here!> Ranma suddenly realized.   he thought, 
remembering a character from a video game that Hiroshi had been harping about 
a few days ago.  Suddenly, his body was surrounded by a bright red light as 
heavy armor formed around him.  The boots, stretching up to his knees, were 
fire red with gold trim and white tips on the feet, about three times as wide 
as his normal feet, and augmented with boosters and a rocket pack for flight. 
 Gray-blue bands of some metal covered his thighs or another, while his chest 
was protected with a red, futuristic breastplate, with two green orbs set in 
the middle height wise.  A pair of heavy gauntlets covered his arms, and a 
red and white helm, sporting a bright blue gem in the middle of his forehead, 
covered much of his head.  His pigtail, however, poked out of an oversized 
slot in the back.
    "What the hell?" Saffron exclaimed at the sudden turn of events.
    "Who'd a thunk it?" Ranma muttered, "Those stupid video games actually 
came in useful for once.  Oh well, Zero always was cooler than X."  Louder, 
he called, "Ready to give up, Saffron?  This is my arena, and I control 
everything."
    "Not quite, landling.  I can still kill you, regardless of how well you 
protect yourself," he replied, taking to the air.  Ranma swiftly followed, 
leaving a blazing blue contrail behind him as he soared towards the Phoenix 
Mountain prince.  Suddenly, Saffron called out, "Phoenix Mountain Royalty 
Final Attack: Instant Mortal Annihilation Emperor Sized Blast!"  A fireball 
the size of a house came hurtling towards Ranma, who took it full in the 
chest.  Around him, fires blazed with the intensity of a small sun, but his 
armor protected him, for the most part.  When the fires finally died down, 
Ranma floated just where he'd been before, his face a little singed.
    "All right, Saffron, let's throw out the special attacks and just duke it 
out, you an' me," Ranma said.
    "With pleasure, landling," Saffron said, the Kasferuu materializing in 
his hands.  "You'll find that my frailty vanished with my old body.  That is, 
just before you die!" he shouted, charging towards Ranma and attacking with 
vicious intent and blinding speed.  Floating backwards in response to the 
blazing (literally) assault, Ranma desperately blocked the Kasferuu at 
near-Amagaruken speeds.  Finally sensing an opening, he batted the Kasferuu 
aside one more time and, with his free hand, threw nearly four hundred 
punches into Saffron's gut.  The god, despite his claims of solidarity, 
staggered under the assault.
    Reacting on instinct, Ranma grasped the handle of something attached to 
his back and swung it over his head and across Saffron.  The handle, turning 
out to be the hilt of a beam saber, neatly bisected the fire god.  In a blast 
of flames, each half vanished into smoke, and the world around Ranma went 
black.  He felt his armor vanishing, and the sense of gravity disappearing.
    "Very good, landling," Saffron's voice said, coming out of nowhere and 
everywhere at once.  "But this was only the first trial, and the easiest for 
you.  There will be more, I promise."
    "Bring it on, punk!" Ranma shouted back.  Saffron's disembodied voice 
rose in laughter, then slowly faded away.  With it, so too fled Ranma's 
consciousness.

*   *   *   *   *   *

    Cologne frowned as she looked at Ranma's prone form, lying on Dr. Tofu's 
examination bed.  From what she could tell, Dr. Tofu had been right in 
determining that Ranma was still very much alive and had somehow begun to 
suck in the chi of his surroundings.  Lightly, she tapped the shell 
surrounding Ranma's body with her staff, then touched it herself.
    "Have you discovered anything, Cologne?" Akane asked from close behind 
her.  Ever since she had discovered Ranma in the furo, she had been nearly 
hysterical with fear.  She was certain that Saffron had come to Nerima in 
search of revenge, and that she would be next on his list of victims.
    "Well, the good doctor was correct in his prognosis.  Also, you were 
correct in your suspicions.  The shell surrounding Ranma is indeed the 
substance that Saffron uses to facilitate his transformation.  However, after 
losing a fight to someone like Ranma, Saffron should not have been able to 
recover for at least two more weeks.  Are you certain that Ranma defeated 
Saffron?" Cologne asked, turning to Akane.
    "Absolutely.  I was only a doll, but I could still see.  Ranma froze him 
solid, then shattered him into a million pieces," Akane replied.
    "It sounds to me that Ranma did quite a bit more than defeat the Phoenix 
Mountain Prince," Cologne suggested.
    "Well, yeah, kinda," Akane admitted.  "But Saffron was reborn right after 
the fight, as a hatchling, so I can't really say that Ranma killed him."
    "Sound reasoning, child," Cologne mused.  "Had Saffron not been reborn, I 
would have an answer for you.  However, as things stand, there is no record 
of anything like this ever happening.  I cannot help you."
    "Can't you break him out?" Akane asked.  "The Breaking Point would do it, 
right?"
    Cologne, surprised at Akane's resourcefulness, thought for a minute.  "It 
likely would.  However, I cannot perform the technique on Son-in-law, as much 
as I would like to, and neither can my Great-granddaughter."
    "Why not?" asked Akane.
    "Only my balance of chi keeps me alive.  Right now, Ranma is a vacuum for 
chi.  It would kill me to even attempt the maneuver," Cologne explained.  "As 
for Shampoo, it shames me to admit it, but her natural chi is sorely 
deficient.  She has not even the chi of a large dog, for some reason, and is 
therefore incapable of performing any abilities requiring chi.  That is why I 
so desire for Ranma to marry her."
    "What about Ryoga?" Akane asked.
    "Ryoga wouldn't do it even if YOU asked him, Akane," Nabiki replied 
curtly.  "He hates Ranma with a passion.  He'd just see this as a chance to 
get rid of his biggest rival."
    "That's just because Ranma's always picking on him," Akane retorted.  A 
long moment passed as everyone just stared at her.  "What?!" she exclaimed, 
breaking the lull.
    "In any case, I agree with your sister," Cologne said.  "Ryoga would not 
do it."
    "Then teach me," Akane declared, surprising everyone.
    "Akane, you can't be serious," Nabiki said.
    "I am.  If Shampoo can't do it and Ryoga won't, I'm the nest best thing.  
If I don't at least try, Ranma'll probably die!" Akane exclaimed.
    "Regardless of weather or not you want to learn, it's an Amazon secret," 
Genma said sagely.  "There's no way that Cologne would reveal such an 
important secret to someone not of her tribe."  Soun and Nabiki nodded at the 
wisdom of his statement.
    "I will teach her," Cologne said softly, causing a facefault from 
everyone.
    "Really?" Akane asked, getting back up.  Cologne nodded, causing her to 
start to dance around with Japanese fans, like her father usually did.
    "But- but why?" Nabiki asked, recovering from her facefault.
    "I can't very well let an idiot like Genma be right, can I now?" Cologne 
replied, causing everyone present to facefault again.



***Author's note***

There is no author's note for this chapter.  It has been brutally slaughtered 
by the author who, as he has been up WAY too late writing this (it's not fun 
to get inspired to write at 1:30 in the morning).  If anyone is actually 
reading this, C&C can be directed to Flashfyre5@aol.com.  Otherwise, I'M 
GOING TO BED!!!


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to FFMLRefuge-unsubscribe@listbot.com
-
.---       Patch Monkey's TEMP FFML                ---.
| Administrators - Majordomo-Owner@patchmonkey.net |
| Unsubscribing - majordomo@patchmonkey.net               |
| Put 'unsubscribe ffml' in the body of your e-mail.     |
--------http://www.patchmonkey.net------------