Happy New Year!
"I did not think you would make it here alive. I am impressed."
"Heh. Your little mountain wasn't nothing to me and Herb."
"Are you prepared?"
"Yes," he whispered, as the two combatants faced one another atop
the arena that capped Phoenix Mountain.
"So it begins," the other said in amusement, rustling his wings as
he faced down the red-robed figure.
-----------------------------
End of Elimination
Disclaimer: The primary colors in this story are from Takahashi, Viz
(Ranma 1/2), Pioneer (Tenchi Muyo!), Akira Toriyama (DragonBall Z), and
Kitty Films, Naoko Takeuchi (Sailor Moon).
Additional tinting provided by: Takada Yuuzou, and Kodansha (3x3
Eyes), Takada Yuuzou, and A.D.Vision (Bannou Bunka Nekomusume
Nuku-Nuku), and of course, Tatsuya Egawa (Goldenboy). The easel is mine.
That's all.
Archival notes: Please do not archive.
Notes: This is not in continuity. But pretend it's on a much more
expensive screen than the rest of the series.
-----------------------------
Saffron spread his wings, grinning, as the nascent red aura about
him thickened, vacillating like a candle in a stiff wind, but building
up higher with each second.
Ranma stood opposite him in a relaxed stance, wearing an easy smirk.
"Let's do this," he said, jerking his head at Saffron in a nod.
Saffron returned the nod, leaning forward, and shooting across the
field of battle neatly too quickly for Herb's eyes to follow. Massive
gouts and waves of fire trailed after Saffron, crimson spears of power
making waves of heat that caused Kiima to flinch back, at Herb's side.
Leading his charge, Saffron extended a fist towards Ranma, which
Ranma sidestepped casually, seemingly able to ignore the heat of the
fires. Saffron wheeled about, his winds sweeping forward before him, and
spreading even more of the red streaks of fire towards Ranma.
The boy merely grinned, and vanished, to reappear behind the emperor
of the Phoenix people. "Not bad," he commented.
Growling, Saffron turned about, just in time to catch a vicious
punch into his stomach, launching him back ten meters to tumble across
the ground, twitching and stunned. Ranma lit back on the cooling earth,
and shook his head. "That all you got?" he taunted.
Saffron climbed to his feet, smiling. "Hardly," he retorted.
Ranma's smile vanished, and he carefully asked, "You seem to be
losing, and yet, you are still smiling. Why is that?"
"Because I know something that you do not," Saffron explained,
crossing his arms over his chest.
"And what is that?"
"Unlike you, I've used only a _fraction_ of my true power!"
Ranma's smile returned again, and he laughed quietly. "Is that all?"
"Yes, you see--"
***
Ranma woke from the dream the same way he always did, but for one
significant difference.
This time, breathing hard, drenched with sweat, and staring upward
with unseeing eyes, he remembered them. Every aspect -- what had once
been hidden, suddenly made clear. And it made perfect sense, too.
He sat up, casting about with his eyes and slowly becoming more
aware of his surroundings. Shoji wall panels. Thick blanket kicked off
in his sleep, pooling at his feet, the futon beneath him beaten and worn
from fights long past. "What?" he mumbled, climbing out of the bed in
the otherwise empty room and glancing around in belated confusion.
"What's going on?" he mumbled, scratching his head. Something
felt... different. His link with Ran-oh-ki was gone. "Rat?" he asked
tremulously, unable to feel the link, and when he glanced, the gem in
his wrist was missing. The scratching fingers across his head froze, as
they encountered something he was completely unused to feeling.
A pigtail.
"What the hell?" he mumbled, the rising panic in his chest slowly
fading, as he tried to make sense of the situation.
Experimentally slapping himself yielded minimal pain, but enough to
let him know that this wasn't a dream. And if this wasn't a dream, then....
"It was all a dream," he murmured, finally realizing the truth of
the matter. "No more manga after eating Akane's cooking for me," he
declared, grinning, and running out of the room.
With him gone, an errant breeze swept through the open window, and
the door he had not sealed, rustling a small pile of the manga -- Tenchi
Muyo and Sailor Moon lying half-beneath the blanket he had tossed aside,
with the latest issue of DragonBall Z atop them.
-----------------------------
Author's notes:
It was this, or 50-meter tall naked Tsunami clones and solid white
Juraian issue reavers attacking the Terrafront.
I would like to name the inspirations that made this all possible,
but think that this is mostly dedicated to the following:
This is dedicated with love to all the folks at Delphi who made it
feasible. Keep up your good work.