Title: A Legend reborn

Author name: Trugeta

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ as well as Akira Toriyama and many others. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the trademarks mentioned in this story.

This story takes place after Movie 10 of Dragonball Z and at the beginning of the Ranma series. It's an AU, and reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Chapter 15

The otherworld

King Kais’ planet

King Kai, who currently had some quiet time to himself, which was notoriously hard to obtain what with an always energetic Goku around, felt his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as his antennae deciphered the supernatural signal they were just receiving. “Oh great Kami-sama above… this has to be the most intense concentration of evilness I have ever felt.” he mused.

Incidentally, his fine-tuned senses had picked up on the release of N’Astir from his prison, and the North Kai immediately fathomed the threat this evil entity posed to the universe. The threat Cell and Bojack had posed paled verily in comparison, as this felt like an elite demonic entity had been released. He had never had the misfortune to see one in his long life, and he hadn’t reckoned that he ever would, seeing that the deepest pits of hell had kept quiet for millennia. No Demon Lord had seen the need to come forth, and that had been good so.

The balance of power was kept in equilibrium nowadays, and it had been over 200,000 years since the forces of Heaven and Hell had fought their last devastating battle, which had ultimately led to the order of things as it was nowadays.

But this Demon Lord, and he had to be one if he could sense his presence from this far away, could only be a rogue; his sudden appearance in a remote quadrant of the universe that had shown no activity in a very long time suggested that strongly, for it was a direct violation of the treaty between Heaven and Hell. He’d have to notify his superior, who probably had sensed the same. Or maybe not. His own aesthesia for all supernatural things was that much higher than almost every others’ around here due to his heritage, even than the Grand Kais’, thus it might just be that he had been one of the few who had sensed the creatures’ release.

King Kai frowned as the signal suddenly disappeared, but he had sensed enough to know what was heading their way. He’d have to do research on this demonic entity after he had notified the Grand Kai, and if what his senses told him was true he’d have to warn Earth’ defenders that the largest threat they had ever faced was coming should his gut-feeling turn out to be true. And it probably was. After all, Earth had always been a focal-point for decisive battles, why should it be any different this time around?

Kaio-shins realm

The same was also sensed by the last of the Kaio-shin, and the young looking Supreme Kai’s forehead creased in worry. For a moment he had sensed something his mentors had only described to him, and he had to admit to himself that he had been very lucky to pick up on it at all considering his very limited training. However, the strong signal disappeared as soon as it had appeared.

“A Demon Lord…” the Supreme Kai breathed.

“What did you say, Supreme Kai?” Kibito, the Kais’ loyal bodyguard asked.

“I sensed a Demon Lord, if only for a few seconds. This is very bad, Kibito.”

“What does your Highness propose?”

“Hmm,” Kaio-Shin mused, “I only sensed it for a moment, and I couldn’t even determine its course. Yes, it was moving, and we’ll keep watch, Kibito. This is all we can do at the moment. Oh, and notify the lesser Kai that we are monitoring its proceeding; there’ll be no need for their intervention.”

“Yes, Supreme Kai. Thy will will be done.”

-.-

A new day had started, and to Ranmas joy it begun with a solid spar. Not with his father, mind you. Said individual was still recovering from a run-in with several strange magical girls who'd thought him a 'youma' due to his shapeshifting abilities, and Genma was happy to have escaped with his hide intact.

No, Ranma was sparring with Ryoga-chan; and this spar was a lot more fulfilling than any of the spars he'd had with his father. Both had limited themselves to their normal forms so as not to awaken the complete neighbourhood with an all-out fight in their Super-forms, but the limitation had also other reasons. Ranma had had the thought that the powerlevel of their Super forms might rise if they raised the powerlevel of their normal forms, and Ryo-chan, how she preferred to be called in this form, had agreed.

A healthy breakfast later everyone was ready for school, and Ryo-chan would be registered as a girl due to her continuing female stuff. Aside from that she'd also resigned herself to that fate anyway, for considering the cold-water-magnet-part of the curse she doubted that she'd have lasted a day before changing in front of someone. If someone wanted to stuff the boy-turned-Saiyan-girl into a uniform, well, one visit to Dr. Tofu as soon as unlocking was possible should do the trick in getting an excuse slip.

At school the four first dealt with Kuno, and it was a special treat for the 'new girl' to make Kuno look bad. In the end everyone's belief of his prefs had been strengthened, and Ryo-chan relished in the feeling of having worked off her frustrations in a constructive way. For a change even classes commenced as scheduled, a few Kuno-incidents aside. Ryo-chan had been placed in Akanes class, and at first the youngest Tendo hadn't known what to think of the situation. Was the boy-turned-girl a pervert? Did she look at herself or did she do naughty things to that poor girls body?

That had been until yesterday evening, when her older sisters had taken her to the side.

Flashback

They'd been seated in Kasumis' room, and her older sister had prepared one of her specials, a hot chocolate. With a steaming hot cup in their hands the sisters had sat in companionable silence, until Akane had decided to break the silence. "I'm worried about Ryoga."

"You said that already." Nabiki had said. "What exactly worries you?"

Akane had sighed. "That he can do naughty things with this poor girls body. That he can look at other girls in the locker-room. That he might be a pervert."

Kasumi had smiled gently. "Oneechan, you must stop considering everything that is abnormal as perverted. Ryoga didn't ask to be cursed, yet he's coping very well. Consider, would you turn into a pervert if you changed into a guy? Just because you could look at male parts? I don't think so, for this body would still be yours, as much as your female body is. You can't condemn Ryoga for something that isn't his fault. And she has to look at herself, or how should she wash up and dress, not to mention do the normal bathroom routine?"

"Pervert is as pervert does, sis. Has Ryoga shown any perverted behaviour? If so it has eluded me; and you know how observant I am." Nabiki had said.

"But what if he does naughty things to that poor girls body?" Akane had asked.

"Oh lord, stop that holier-than-thou attitude! Do you know how ridiculous it is to think that girls can't do wrong? Sis, you wouldn't believe what girls do to get their jollies! Girls can be just as perverted as boys, you can trust me on that." Nabiki had said with conviction. "I even have the blackmail material to prove it."

Akane had been baffled. "But... but..."

"Little sis, your image of girls has been put on a pedestal thanks to what Kuno and his horde did. But that's not the truth. Nabiki-oneechan is right, girls can be just as improper as boys. For a fact, there was this girl in our class. She was an open lesbian and tried to seduce other girls. You wouldn't believe how often I'd to turn her down, and that quite forcefully. Akane, you have to accept that girls aren't without fault." Kasumi had said.

"But... but..."

"Besides, sis, what Ryo-chan does to her body is none of our business. She could bring herself to one screaming orgasm after the next for all I care, as long as she doesn't disturb my sleep." Nabiki had stated.

Akane had blushed beat-red. "Nabiki!" she'd exclaimed, scandalised.

"What? Don't tell me you don't know how many girls, yes, girls too, use the little death to relieve some tension? Wake up, sis. We're not living in a nunnery, or a perfect world where all girls are angels and all boys perverted devils; this is the real world." Nabiki had added.

At this point Akane's brain had nearly suffered from complete crash. "Oh my, I need to sit down." she'd said.

"You already are sitting, sis." Nabiki had remarked with a smirk.

"Oh. True." Akane had said.

"Akane," Kasumi had said, "you must adjust your views on what is improper and what not. Urgently. Not only in Ryo-chans case. I know it's hard, but what'll happen if you should ever find Mr. Right? You can hardly interact with males, and this can't be allowed to continue. Please, do me the favour and consider getting professional help."

Nabiki had nodded. "She's right, Akane. What Kuno and the horde did to you is not without long-term effects; one can see that in every day life. You should get help, and if you decide so tell me. I can provide several specialists, and the costs are covered."

"What about my training time? We're finally training for real, and I don't want to miss out on anything." Akane had protested.

Kasumi had smiled. "Just use the hour after school is out. You can eat at school, go to your appointment, get home and start training."

"How long have you been planning?" Akane had asked suspiciously.

Nabiki and Kasumi had shared a smile. "For a long time now, sis. Ranmas arrival and his handling of Kuno finally allows us to put the funds we saved to good use." the eldest Tendo daughter had said.

"We absolutely hated what Kuno did to you, and I saved every last coin I made due to the morning fights. We saw what Kuno and the boys did to you, and we tried to counteract it. Sadly without success. But now the healing can begin, oneechan. Kami-sama knows you deserve it." Nabiki had said and had hugged her sister for all she was worth.

Akane had been absolutely touched, both at the offer in and on itself and because of the behaviour of her sisters. "I will consider it. Promise."

End Flashback

-.-

School had finally ended and the four teens had returned home in a decidedly good mood; Nabiki and Ranma had had as much fun as Ryo-chan and Akane in dealing with Kuno and the Hentai Horde. Together they'd put the whole bunch of perverted boys in place in no time, and when Ryo-chan had demonstrated a strength that rivalled Ranmas' the majority of the boys had soon laid off aside from a few completely hormonally driven idiots who'd received a quick visit to UEO.

Laughter ensued as the stories were exchanged, and the three girls had looks of glee on their faces when Ranma described his handling of Kuno during class. "... and then that idiot got angry at me for saying that his wardrobe has a nice touch for a tootsie. Imagine that." he said with an evil smirk. "Had to punt him when he tried to clean my nose with that stick of his."

Nabiki smirked. "We're very successful with our campaign. Three quarters of the school belief in Kunos prefs, and the horde has already lost nearly three quarters of its members. The rest are apparently hardcore perverts who probably like the pain."

"Yuck. That takes all the fun out of hurting them." Akane commented.

Ryo-chan shook her head in a negative. "Those perverts deserve more than pain. I had to break the hands of two perverts today for groping me, and they're lucky that a teacher was present. Otherwise they'd have to scrub the remains from the wall." she growled.

Ranma looked thoughtful. "Maybe there is a way... I remember a pressure point that causes pain akin to a strong tooth-ache for the whole body. Without counter it lasts for a week. I've heard it’s incredibly painful after a while."

Akane and Ryo-chan smirked. "Just what we need. We can use it on Kuno, and then..."

"No," Nabiki interjected, a grin on her face, "Kuno has to be in top form. If his single brain cell is preoccupied with pain he might ignore the slights to his sexual orientation."

"Hadn't thought of that." Akane grinned as she opened the gate that led to the Tendo compound. "But you're probably right."

"Don't worry, Akane. We'll make him look bad." Ranma assured with a smirk.

"Yeah!" Ryo-chan agreed. She'd really grown to hate the annoying and persistent boy. "We'll crush this cockroach like the bug that he is!"

"True." Ranma agreed. "We... eh, what's he doing here?" he asked, pointing to the sky where a golden glowing silhouette could be seen.

"Who's that, Ranma? I can't tell, he's too far away." Nabiki said.

"Vegeta." Ranma said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I can't stand his attitude." Ryo-chan commented with a scowl.

"Me neither." Akane agreed, scowling too.

"He's a Prince of a warrior race, and under this Friezas rule he had to be cold and ruthless. It was to kill or be killed. With such an environment, can you really fault him?" Ranma asked.

Akane and Ryo-chan looked introspective and seemed to accept this slowly, while Nabiki had already accepted Vegeta's odd behaviour; she was not insane enough to go up against such a powerful man, even if Ranma might offer her protection. No, it was much better to have someone like Vegeta as your ally. And the way it looked he seemed to respect Ranma, something that was very rare in her opinion.

Meanwhile the Saiyan Prince had drawn nearer, and a few seconds later he touched down in the garden, his SSJ-aura winking out of existence. "Brat, onna." he greeted. "My onna has found a solution to your problem, onna." he said towards Ryo-chan. "Catch."

Ryo-chan did and caught the object Vegeta had thrown, looking at it in confusion. "What's that?"

Vegeta snorted. "Obviously a capsule, brat. It contains one of my onnas' new inventions." he said with a shrug. Throw it over there." he commanded, pointing to a vacant spot.

Ryo-chan shrugged and did so. With a poof a quadratic object of about a squaremetre appeared, and its design made it look like one of those old fashioned telephone boxes. However, the lowly humming generator on the backside conveyed that this was absolute high-tech. "What the hell is that?" Ryo-chan asked, uttering the question that was on everyone's mind.

"That's something Gohan and my onna came up with. They call it 'Tardis', and through some technological revolution one can store a very large space in a much smaller one." he said with a shrug that conveyed the message 'don't ask me'. "Kakkarotts first spawn is working at a new form of GR at the moment, and from the look on the face of my onna it must be something else. Stupid onna, won't even tell me." he grumbled.

Everyone just sweatdropped, until curiosity got the better of them; Ryo-chan beat the others to the punch and opened the door. Not expecting much she stepped through, only to gasp in surprise once she'd crossed the threshold. "B… but that… that is…"

"The entrance to a complete house." Vegeta's voice said from behind. "Yes, it surprised even me when I first saw it, brat." he admitted.

Slowly and in wonder the teens explored the house, for that was what it was, the deluxe version of a capsule house, developed and marketed by Capsule Corporation. And it seemed as if Bulma Briefs, with the help of Gohan, had made very impressive progress on the sector.

"Vegeta," Ranma asked after they returned outside, "you mentioned a 'GR'. What is that?"

"GR is short for gravity room, brat. It's something my onna developed for training purposes, and allows its user to raise the gravity within to levels of above 500 g." the Saiyan Prince explained.

"500 g!" Akane yelled. "But everyones' bones would be grind to powder by this much gravity!"

"Not everyones', onna." Vegeta commented. "A Saiyan can stomach a lot more than you humans."

Ranma on his part put a hand to his chin, scratching it. "Yeah, I can see its usefulness. Where can I get one?" he asked with a smirk.

To his surprise Vegeta actually laughed. "Funny that you should ask that, brat. I'm sure you remember that we spoke about erecting a base of training here." Upon Ranma's nod the Saiyan Princes' smirk grew wider. "It appears that Kakkarotts first spawn wants to provide one of his new GRs so that you three can train more efficiently. My onna has agreed to fund this, however, I have a condition."

"State it." Ranma said immediately.

"I will train with you, brats. We'll have regular spars with no holding back, and I will teach you about Saiyan culture. Both of you might not have been born as Saiyans, but the two of you might just be trainable." the Saiyan Prince stated, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh, you're too kind." Ryo-chan groused.

"I know, onna." Vegeta countered with an infuriating smirk. "Oh, before I forget, the onna would like to meet you. Barbeque at C.C. on Saturday, the invitation is extended to you two brats, your two mates," he looked at Ranma, "and their sister. Due time is 6 p.m. Be there." he stated, and floated upwards.

"We will, Vegeta." Ranma answered, acting as a spokesman for the others.

"What about the capsule?" Ryo-chan asked the floating prince.

"Keep it." Vegeta said with a smirk. "The onna wanted you to have it, and who am I to deny her her nookies?"

With a laugh he flared his SSJ-aura and took off, leaving the five teens behind. Slowly reality trickled into the minds of the girls, and Akane screamed. "Wooooot! We've been invited by Bulma Briefs! Do you know how cool that is?"

Nabiki smirked. Contacts to high society were always good, and it was an added bonus that the husband (or whatever Vegeta was) of Bulma Briefs, the richest woman on the planet, had officially taken over the training of her intended. "Oh yes." she said with glittering eyes. "Ranma, we'll have to get you a decent outfit. No protests." she said and put a finger to his lips.

The soft contact served to stave off the protest indeed, but it had also the effect that Ranma concentrated solely on Nabiki; and the former ice-queen found herself entranced by those deep blue eyes that seemed to hypnotise her. Smiling she traced the form of his lips. "We'll get you something really special." she whispered.

"Can't wait." was Ranma's answer.

"I need to buy a new dress too." Kasumi said thoughtfully. "Do you think the colour red would suit me, Ranma-kun? Maybe a dress with spaghetti straps?" she suggested with a wink.

Ranma grinned at her. "I'll have to see it to judge, Kasumi-chan." he remarked slyly.

Akane and Ryo-chan looked at each other, came to an unspoken consent and left the site, as both didn't have the inclination to die of diabetic shock. That flirting had been a tad bit too much. However, it could not be denied that her sisters had seldom looked more alive and happy, and if Ranma could cause them happiness, Akane would be happy for her sisters. Kami-sama knew that they deserved it…

-.-

The rest of the week practically flew by. Ryo-chan had settled in into the Tendo home, which was due to the fact that she didn’t really want to live just by herself in the huge house her family owned when she could be living with friends; her parents might very well be gone for longer still, and seeing as her capsule house needed only a squaremetre of space she had been given one of the broom cupboards, effectively making it the entry to a complete house. Ranma had continued to teach the Anything Goes to the girls (and this included now Ryo-chan as well), and they were improving in leaps and bounds.

Training with Vegeta and Gohan would begin the week after Gohan and Bulma Briefs had revealed their new GR, and Ranma as well as Ryo-chan were really looking forward to that. From what they had heard it should be very interesting, and would also aid them greatly in their training. What they hadn't been looking forward to on the other hand had already happened to them. The two Saiyans had been dragged onto a shopping trip, seeing as Kasumi and Nabiki had made good on their promise very soon, but at least Ranma had not rued it. He had seen some pretty spectacular sights (female ones, of course), and hadn't really known which the prettier one was.

Kasumi had indeed chosen a red cocktail-dress with spaghetti-straps, and said dress hugged her shapely figure like a second skin. The red shoes that went with the dress had rounded the picture off excellently; not that anyone would be looking at her feet anyway, but they did round off the picture nicely.

In addition to that the oldest Tendo daughter had worn her hair open for the first time in long, and she'd looked like a mischievous angel. It was safe to assume that if her appearance had raised Ranmas bloodpressure as much as it had, plus causing a certain other physical reaction, that it would probably have killed a certain long-time admirer.

Nabiki on her part had chosen an elegant royal green cocktail-dress, which had served to accentuate her perfect body in exactly the right ways. Naturally she'd chosen shoes that went perfectly with the dress, and once the middle Tendo girl had twirled around in her dress, ever so 'innocently' flaunting her assets in front of the Saotome youth, his reaction had been predictable. It had all he had been able to do to stop himself from snatching both older Tendo daughters and having his wicked way with them; only due to iron discipline and control had he managed to limit himself to a hormonal grin and a nosebleed.

The final choice to buy the dresses on the girls' part had been made when the sisters had seen Ranmas reaction to their dresses: the Saotome youth had grinned very goofily. Little had the sisters known the real impact the clothing had had on Ranma.

Elegant clothing had also been bought for Ranma and Ryo-chan, but the latter had protested vehemently against wearing a dress. She had agreed to go in her female form for two reasons: A) cold water was a lot more common than hot and changing forms was practically inevitable, B) the others surely wanted to get to know the new Saiyan. In the end she had bought navy-blue slacks and a red T-shirt with an undershirt as a surrogate for a bra; she had been adamant in that she wouldn't buy womens' clothing, despite all attempts on the Tendo sisters to convince her otherwise. It had been Ranma who had convinced them to finally lay off when he had explained that Ryo-chan might be a woman in this form, but that she also and foremost was a fighter/warrior who wouldn't even be caught dead in a dress. Even though she hadn't shown it, Ryo-chan had been grateful for his intervention on her behalf, seeing that Akane had been very, err, convincing.

Finally it had been Ranma's turn, and the girls had had loads of fun in playing dress up with him until his patience had run thin; in the end he had bought adequate evening attire and his standard outfit consisting of black fu pants and a red silk shirt, one of his favourite choices in clothing anyway. Five hours after starting the shopping spree it had finally been time for check-out (due to the fact that the store was about to close), and it hadn't been one second too early for Ranmas taste.

The money for the clothes, which had all been amazingly expensive, had been acquired in a very unorthodox way. Nabiki, like everyone else, had seen just how strong the Super forms of Ranma and Ryo-chan were. Add this fact to the aspect, that the middle Tendo daughter had remembered a Gaijin movie where the hero had turned simple coal into diamonds just through pressure alone, and she had had a working base.

Thus everyone had been surprised beforehand when the way of financing their shopping trip had come up and when Nabiki had just left for the next best supermarket with Ranma in tow; the girls had been even more surprised when the two had returned ten minutes later with two twenty pound sacks of coal. That had been until Nabiki had explained her reasoning for buying the coal. Akane and Kasumi had instantly been all for it (even if only to see if it was possible), but Ranma and Ryo-chan, the 'pressurers' in question, had remained sceptical.

Nonetheless, they'd given it a try; much as they'd expected, the first fifty or so had been crushed to a pulp. Then Ryo-chan had found out how to do it. Just pressuring the coal hadn't been enough, one needed to apply the pressure very equally to get the required and preferred result. The produced diamonds were small indeed, but in producing sufficient numbers Ryo-chan and Ranma had been able to amass a few hundred-thousand yen; however, Ranma and Ryo-chan had vowed not to do it again, as it took a phenomenal amount of concentration and precision. Occasional work as a demolition worker was that much easier, and besides, the money Nabiki had received after selling the diamonds to one of her contacts prior to the shopping would last them for a while. Provided they succeeded in hiding it from the fathers…

The girls had joked how female sure instinct had solved the problem right after their success, and Ryo-chan had accepted the praise. She had gone a long way in accepting the curse plus the fact that she'd probably be female as often as male, which was not lest due to her conversation with Dende, and the fact that the Tendos and Ranma had been very accepting of her. Akane was the only exception, and Ranma, who had wanted to help Ryoga at first had been convinced by his love interests that the two needed to resolve this issue on their own; Ryoga would have to convince Akane on his/her own that he/she was a good person who had not asked to be cursed, but was coping with the situation.

Said Ryo-chan had also thought long and hard about the concept of Ranma as a friend, and after the way he had treated her ever since they had first met as adolescents had made the choice an easy one. Their relationship had changed from being bitter enemies (at least on Ryo-chans part) to a competitive friendship. Competitive in the sense that both gave their all in the spars, friendship in the sense that it was a give and take; Ranma taught Ryo-chans techniques he had mastered and vice versa, and most important, both respected the other. But it was still ways away from being a real friendship, and like everything in life it would have to grow over time.

For Ranma it had still been somewhat awkward what with Ryoga now being a girl half of the (and at the moment most of the) time, but that feeling had soon evaporated; which had not lest been due to the fact that Ryo-chans female Saiyan body was a lot tougher than Ryogas' human male form. But both knew that they'd have to train Ryogas' birthform too…

-.-

The day of the party had finally arrived, and five teens in varying degrees of excitement were standing in front of the front door of Capsule Corp. The three Tendo sisters looked absolutely breathtaking, and as well Nabiki as Kasumi had relished in the secret looks Ranma shot them every other minute; Ranma on his part was quite a looker himself, for with his broad shoulders and generally muscular built he just looked like he had been born to wear the dark-blue tux he was wearing. The girls had even talked him into wearing a bow-tie in combination with his white formal shirt, and he looked presentable indeed. A pair of dark-blue pants and black shoes rounded the picture off perfectly.

Ranma, true to his forwardness, rang the bell; the teens didn't have to wait long until a middle-aged woman with blue hair opened the door. Upon seeing them a smile graced her face. "Hi! I'm Bulma Briefs. And you must be the new blood Vegeta has told me about."

"Yeah." the five teens replied and introduced themselves. "Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. Briefs." Nabiki added, and the other four nodded thankfully.

"Think nothing of it. Anyone who manages to impress his royal highness" this was said very mockingly, "is welcome any day. Now follow me before the barbeque takes place without us. Knowing Vegeta, Gohan and the chibis they may very well have begun to devour all the food already. Ever hungry Saiyans." she muttered with an affectionate smile as she led the youths into the house.

Ranma's stomach as well as Ryo-chans rumbled loudly at the mention of food and not lest due to the delicious smells that were permeating the air. The others exchanged smiles. "Point proven, Mrs. Briefs." Nabiki said.

"Please call me Bulma, you five. 'Mrs. Briefs' makes me feel old." she smiled.

"We're honoured, Mrs... Bulma." Akane said with a bow.

Bulma smiled once again and led the teens through the house; she noticed that Ranma, who she had recognised due to Vegeta's description, and the tailed girl who had introduced herself as Ryo-chan, watched the area avidly, like any good warrior would. She was really looking forward to get the young curse-victim into her lab to run some tests; this way she'd be able to get a very accurate comparison between the male human half and the female Saiyan half and the exact differences between the forms (aside from the gender differences). Provided this particular information proved to be true.

Bulma opened the sliding door that led to the garden area and the terrace, where the barbeques usually took place. All eyes were upon the group instantly, and Ranma realised that the others had probably known of their arrival a lot earlier; he could sense the life-energies of others too if they weren't too far away, but the Z-Fighters, how they were called, could apparently sense a persons ki from a great distance. Quite handy indeed.

Sweeping his eyes over the assembled persons Ranma instantly noticed Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo, who had the strongest ki and stood out like bonfires to his senses. Surprisingly two young boys, who couldn't be older than seven or eight, were the next strongest. Which could mean that they were Saiyans too. Taking a closer look as their group approached the others Ranma discerned that the purple-haired boy had to be of mixed heritage, and that he bore a close resemblance to Vegeta. 'Vegeta's son.' Ranma mused. 'And the other boy looks a lot like Gohan. Must be his brother.'

Aside from Bulma, who led them down the path that led to a huge grill, only one other human female above thirty was present. Gauging from the close resemblance this had to be Gohans' mother, who'd been called ´harpy´ by Piccolo. 'Hmm, she looks to be quite strict. Wonder what'll happen when Gohan tells her his plans.'

"They're here!" Bulma yelled once she was in (human) earshot.

"I knew that a long time ago, onna. Remember who sent you to open the door?" Vegeta smirked.

"That would have been Gohan, who noticed their arrival one second before his royal highness." Bulma smirked back.

"Onna, it was me, the mighty Prince of all Saiyans, who sensed them at the same time as the brat. And it was me who sent you to open the door." Vegeta countered, crossing his arms over the chest with a superior smirk.

Ranma and the girls watched in fascination how Bulma's face grew progressively redder; the other Z-Fighters looked equally amused, only the purple-haired boy was shaking his head, apparently at his parents antics. "Now listen here, monkey prince, you didn't sent me and you know it! You..."

This was where Gohan decided to interrupt. "That's enough already, you two. We have guests."

Bulma on her part seemed to remember that little fact and looked sheepish, but her glare at Vegeta promised that this was far from over. Ranma was amused by this and wondered, if a potential life with Nabiki would be similar; the girl surely had enough fire under her cold mask to make for an interesting life, but the few glimpses he'd gotten on the real Kasumi had shown him that she had a fire too. Inwardly he sighed. He liked both older Tendo girls very much, and deciding on one in about a year would probably be one of the hardest decisions in his life. 'Why can't I have them both?' he lamented mentally before returning his attention to the going-ons. He noticed that the Tendo girls and Ryo-chan were watching Gohan's mother expectantly, and trained his eyes on her too.

"Gohan," said mother spoke up, "as much as you're right about the situation, it was improper that you intervened."

"Yeah, brat, how dare you reprimand the Saiyan Prince!" Vegeta exclaimed, for once agreeing with the 'screechy onna'.

"Simple. I wanted my peace and quiet so that I could fully enjoy the presence of my mate, mother. So screw proper." Gohan answered, much to the surprise of many, but foremost his mother.

"Gohan!" she exclaimed scandalised, "What has gotten into you? You've not studied as much as you should, you've gotten increasingly more rebellious and your room was a chaos! And now you meddle in other peoples affairs! Your explanation better be good!"

Gohan surveyed his mother with a hard look, his instincts telling him that a position of strength was needed and would be lest expected of him. However, a chuckling Saiyan Prince drew all eyes on him. "Its so obvious what has gotten into the brat. Here I thought it a fluke, a temporary thing when I noticed it first, but you have surprised me today, brat. Onna," he said towards Chi-Chi, "your precious little scholar is gone. He finally has become a warrior. And that seems to be thanks to you, brat." he said with a look at Ranma.

"What!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, giving Ranma a glare. "You are responsible that my poor, little Gohan turned into a rude punk?"

Ranma sighed. "Here we go again..." he muttered. "Sure, blame me, why don't you? By the way, I'm Ranma Saotome, scapegoat extraordinaire, and I'm the one who caused Gohan to fight for his mate... ahh, Videl. At least indirectly."

"What!" Chi-Chi exclaimed again, "why didn't you tell me any of this, Gohan Son?"

Gohan kept his face completely impassive. "Because me and Videl," he put an arm around her waist, "have been busy lately." he said, making Videl blush.

"Gohan Son, of all the things to say..." she began her tirade, until what he'd said trickled into her mind, and seconds later a devilish gleam shone in her eyes that scared the poor chibis shitless and made the rest uneasy. "Does that mean... could that really be... yes! Grandchildren!" she screamed, pulling fans out of nowhere and performing the grandchildren dance.

For some strange reason that he couldn't discern that display sent shivers down Ranma's spine...

-.-

Gohan as well as Videl had facefaulted. "No, mother. Not yet anyway. But in my fight with Ranma, which had been caused by the stupidity of his father and not by him, I became complete. I accepted the other part of my heritage, the Saiyan in me. I am and always will be a warrior from now on." he answered adamantly.

That didn't sit very well with Chi-Chi, who'd already pre-planned Gohan's life of becoming a great scholar after highschool and university. "We've discussed it many times before, Gohan. Your fighting days are over. You're going to study the hardest you can and you will become the most intelligent and widely renowned scholar alive." she stated with absoluteness.

"Mom, no. This is my life, not yours. Only because I followed your plans for me up till now it doesn't mean I always agreed with them. I did it because I thought there was no need of being a warrior, because everything remained quiet after Cell and Bojack, but I've been wrong. There's always a need, and that need is even greater now that Videl has become my mate." Gohan explained, pulling Videl closer. "I'll defend her to my last breath, and to do that to the best of my abilities I'll focus on getting a lot more powerful."

"Well spoken, Gohan." Vegeta said, surprising many by using Gohan's first name instead of the usual 'brat' or 'Kakkarotts first spawn'.

It was a sign of respect, and Gohan as well as the other warriors understood it. Chi-Chi however did not. "That's nothing that concerns you, Vegeta." she growled. "This pertains the Son family, and I'll exorcise these strange ideas out of my sons' head! Such foolishness will not be allowed in my home!"

"Okay," Bulma said to Goten and Trunks, "how about we get you two some ice-cream?" she suggested. 'This is going to turn into a pissing match, I just know it…' she thought with mixed feelings.

On the one hand she didn't like that Gohan and Chi-Chi had to get into a fight, but that point had to be cleared once and for all. She on her part had always been of the opinion that a balance between studies and training was needed, but Chi-Chi had never wanted to hear anything of it. Well, it seemed as if she was about to reap what she'd sown, Bulma thought as she led the chibis into the house.

Gohan on his part was not a happy camper, but he tried to remain calm and rational in face of his mothers' attitude. He could however not prevent that his eyes flashed teal due to his newly gained temper. "Mother, just because you never were able to stop dad from leaving it doesn't mean that you can chain me to the house." he said, which made his mother gasp.

Before she could say anything he continued. "I love you, but I have my own life to live, and you must let go. I want to do things my way, and that doesn't include becoming a scholar. It is my decision that I will train, fight and become stronger, for I have chosen the path of the warrior for myself. I am tired of you ordering me around to study, and I will follow the call of my Saiyan side. And nothing you will say can convince me otherwise." he said confidently.

Videl gave Gohan a loving look while said youth received looks filled with respect from Vegeta, Piccolo and Ranma. The latter was downright grinning in anticipation of all the fights they were going to have in training, now that it looked as if Gohan would come out on top. The three Tendo sisters and Ryo-chan wisely stayed out of the happenings and kept neutral expressions seeing as they didn't really know the others too well, but inwardly each girl was of the opinion that someone obviously as powerful as Gohan should not waste his talent.

Chi-Chi was unsurprisingly neither happy nor accepting of Gohan's wishes, not at all; the glare coming from her after grasping that her eldest son meant business was intimidating, to say the least. Her Gohan, her little boy wanted to become a fighter, and not a scholar how she'd decided? How dare he!

As said, Chi-Chi's glare was intimidating, but Gohan matched her glare and did not even flinch. Finally, after long momentsChi-Chi was forced to lower her gaze in face of the intense look Gohan was giving her, which was laced with a strength she'd never seen in him before. Finally she sighed, obviously realising that Gohan would not change his decision in the least. Gohan on his part allowed himself a satisfied smirk. He had won.

Or so he thought, but his mother still had one card left to play. "But… but you're my little boy! I can't allow that you place yourself in harms way, and that will happen if you follow the path of your father. You'll get harmed and maybe even killed, and then?" Chi-Chi asked with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mother," Gohan said in an understanding tone, "I know you only want what's best for me; but I'm old enough to decide for myself. I've reached majority, and even long before that I already had to kill two insanely powerful bad guys to save the Earth. The path of the warrior is fraught with peril, but it's the one I've chosen. The dangers to Earth are not over just because Cell and Bojack are dead." he stated.

Piccolo nodded and decided to add his two cents. "Gohan is right, Chi-Chi. It is his right to decide what he wants to do. It is his life, not yours."

Chi-Chi rounded in on Piccolo and Vegeta faster than they could blink. "You! It is all your fault! My baby wants to train and fight, and only because of you! You and your stupid battles! You turned my son into a monster!" she screeched.

'Ouch, does that harpy have to yell this loudly? I think I have a bad case of sudden deafness because of her incessant yelling.' the poor Namek thought with a wince, holding his pointy ears closed with both hands; and Vegeta was not better off either. 'Damn harpy,' were the Saiyan princes' thoughts, 'I'll never understand how Kakkarott put up with her. Damn, he deserves a medal for that.'

A low growl escaped Gohan's throat, and Videl squeezed his hand. "Will you stop calling me a monster, mother. I am a Super Saiyan, not a 'monster'." he exclaimed and turned SSJ2, protecting Videl by extending his aura around her. "I am more than proud of what I have achieved. This is the pinnacle of a Saiyans' power for which I and others sacrificed much, so quit insulting it!" he stated deadly serious, actually making his mother flinch with his vehemence while Videl looked up at him with pride and love in her eyes; smiling at him she squeezed his hand, and the demi-Saiyan squeezed back, his love for her shining in his teal eyes.

Vegeta butted in too. "Onna, Gohan wants to fight because he is half-Saiyan. The urge to fight is in our blood, as well as the desire to become stronger, as strong as possible. To make one thing perfectly clear, your son has not turned into a monster. He rather has achieved what every Saiyan warrior has been dreaming of, and you should be proud of him and his achievements." the Saiyan Prince stated, which brought him a respectful nod from Gohan.

Ranma, having heard both sides of the argument decided to do what he always did: charge in head first. "Mrs. Son, I know I have no right to say anything, but I've come to know Gohan in our battle and afterwards. He's honourable to a fault, and the born warrior. It would be a catastrophe to let his power and talent go to waste. So consider this: what would you prefer? That Gohan continues his studies and lets his powers slack off due to lack of training, or that he trains to become ever stronger? Imagine what would happen if he was to fight an invading force, for that would be what he would do in order to protect his mate Videl. I know I would fight to my last breath to defend my loved ones, and I’m sure as hell that Gohan would do the same." he said, and Gohan nodded determinedly. "Mrs. Son, do you think he would last a second if he had slacked off?"

One could see that what Ranma had said made Chi-Chi very thoughtful, but it was also obvious that she was not fully convinced yet. It was the Saiyan Prince who once more tried to make Gohan's mother understand. "Onna, it's a Saiyans protectiveness and sense of competition that drives us to train as vigorously as we can so that our power grows. It's ingrained into us to protect our mates, and in order to be able to do that we train and fight so that we get more and more powerful. The strong prevail and are able to procreate, it's as simple as that. Those that grow complacent are doomed to die."

"Chi-Chi, they're right. As much as it annoys me that Gohan wants to protect me because I deem myself capable of doing so on my own, I know that he's a lot stronger than me and can do it better. With the enemies he's faced I know that he can do it, but you must understand that he wants to prepare himself for the worst. You know as well as I do that the worst has a tendency of coming true, don't you?" Videl asked.

The mother of Gohan and Goten nodded ever so slowly. "Yes, but…"

Vegeta interrupted her with a growl. "Onna, what you have to understand is that it is only a question of time as to when the next enemy will emerge, and considering past experiences this one is bound to be even stronger than Cell and Bojack." the Saiyan Prince said. "We're warriors, and we have to be prepared. Why do you think have I trained so hard for the last seven years?"

Gohan nodded. "Mom, Vegeta is right. Peace isn't going to last forever. The universe we live in is an infinite space, and you can surely see that there're other tyrants and would-be-conquerors out there who either want to conquer this wonderful world or blow it up. And we're the only line of defence."

"We might even have been noticed due to our increasing power, onna. In the old days, under Friezas rule, it was common to seek out those planets which proved to be a challenge. Do I have to go into details?" Vegeta asked with a lopsided smirk.

"Mrs. Son, what would Gohan's studies and all the knowledge he has acquired be of use to him if his opponent, who is bent on death and destruction and dumb as a ton of bricks is simply stronger because Gohan lacks in power due to lack of training? Then he would very soon be a dead scholar. Intellectually superior, but dead. As a warrior who has trained his body and powers to the maximum his chances to defend his family and this planet are much better." Ranma added.

"But I don't want that my little boy has to face all these dangers! I don’t want my baby to die!" Chi-Chi wailed.

The oldest son of Goku walked up to his mother, hugged her and stroked her back softly. "Mom, remember what Mirai Trunks told us about his world? The Gohan there had followed his mothers’ wishes and had stopped training in favour of his studies, just like me up till now. And when the Androids appeared and killed everyone he was too weak to prevent it. I'll make a vow here and now that something like that won't happen in this reality, not if we, the Z-fighters can prevent it. And therefore we'll train our hardest."

"But I don't want you to stand in the line of fire, Gohan!" Chi-Chi exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

"Mrs. Son," Kasumi spoke up, her voice strong and firm but also empathising at the same time, "babies are afraid of what's outside their cribs. Should their parents therefore leave them in said cribs? No, of course not. What I want to say is that you can't protect your children from each and every danger, that's impossible. I had to raise my two sisters, I know what I'm talking about. At some point in time you have to let go, and this point is now due."

"The way I see it, Mrs. Son," said Ryo-chan, now adding her own two cents too, "is that Gohan has already decided that he wants to be a warrior, a man with the goal to increase his strength so that he can protect Videl and his eventual family better. He doesn't want to leave this 'duty' to anyone else, and can you fault him for it?"

Chi-Chi's resistance visibly crumbled further. "No, but..."

"Onna," Vegeta growled, "no buts. Do you think I'd leave the protection of my onna and my brat to anyone else? Hardly." he snorted. "Gohan has chosen his mate with everything that entails, and you have no other choice but to accept it."

Gohan nodded. "What Vegeta said. Mom, I want to follow the path of the warrior to spare myself the fate of my future counterpart. If I increase my might through training I won't die as easily as I would as an untrained scholar whose abilities have gotten rusty. We want to be able to defend ourselves and by proxy this world, at our best, in fact. You have to understand that. You also have to understand that neither Goten nor I am babies any more. Little bro is a lot more powerful than I was at his age, and his potential should be fostered, not hindered."

Chi-Chi sighed, her last defences having crumbled. "Gohan, do you really want to become a fighter? Is that really your wish?" she finally asked.

Gohan looked her dead in the eyes, and he hesitated not for a second. "Yes, mother. You must understand that I prefer to be an alive, strong warrior rather than an intellectual, weak scholar who would be killed within the first few minutes of a real fight. Cause if I was to fight and had chosen the way of the scholar, that's what I would, die. And that's exactly what you don't want, right?"

His mother gave the only possible answer. "Yes, Gohan. Of course I want you alive and happy." she sighed.

The eldest Son sibling nodded. "I've thought this through for a long time now. After highschool I will apply for a course of study that interests me, eventually finish my studies and get a job maybe, but that is not a necessity. In fact, I have some nice surprises for you, some of which you'll see soon, and the patents resulting from those should be worth quite a sum. So you see, the financial side would and will be assured. Add to it that I want to be at my strongest to defend my mate and my eventual children. I won't rely on others to do this for me, because it is my duty to do so. Sure, I know that I'm not alone in this," he smiled into the round, and they instantly knew what he meant, whereupon Piccolo and Vegeta sent him approving looks, "but I want to be strong enough to hold my own and win against anyone who dares to threaten my mate."

Then he looked at Videl and back at the others. "I will be there for my mate, and in order to protect her and our future children I will push myself to my limits and beyond to become stronger. As strong as possible. It is as Vegeta said: it is in our blood to fight and become stronger. I can't and won't deny the Saiyan in me any longer." he stated with conviction.

Vegeta smirked and nodded to himself. Now the brat... no, the young man, the Saiyan Prince corrected himself, was behaving more like a Saiyan. He showed that he was willing to protect his mate. And that he was willing to stand up against others to reach his goal. Very promising indeed.

Inwardly Vegeta had always feared that Gohan would give in to the wish of his mother completely and become an intellectual rather than a fighter, which would waste his enormous potential. However, this danger seemed to be gone for good. Excellent! This hopefully meant good fights which would ensure that he'd be adequately prepared for the final battle Kakkarott still owed him.

The Saiyan Princes' respect for Goku's oldest son had grown today. Before this day he would have declared anyone who would have told him that the timid Gohan would stand up against that screechy onna insane. But now it was certainly a different story. Yeah, the Saiyan Prince was proud to have the opportunity to join future battles with Gohan, and Ranma also looked promising and would surely prove to be a challenging opponent...

When Chi-Chi had recovered one more thing remained. "I can accept this, Gohan. But if your brother should join you in training remind him of his studies. He's not allowed to slack off in school just because he has to help save the world." she said with good humour.

Gohan smiled. "Understood, mom. How about we help ourselves to those delicious looking steaks now? I don't know about you guys, but I'm really hungry!"

Smiles and laughter ensued all around, and with that the party had officially begun. With the air being cleared proper introductions were given, and unsurprisingly life-stories were exchanged shortly thereafter. Ranma on his part was very glad that his father was not around, for if he'd been as embarrassed by Chi-chi's children stories as the poor demi-Saiyan, he'd probably have blasted his old man to the moon and back. His respect for Gohan had grown, for the young demi-Saiyan had taken everything with a stoic face until the torture had been over.

He'd seen that Gohan's mate, Videl, had been secretly amused by this, despite the fact that she'd squeezed his hand from time to time. Times like these reminded Ranma of his mother, and the young human-turned-Saiyan asked himself not for the first time if what his father had told him about his mother had been truth. After some contemplation during the food-consumption part of the barbeque he came to the conclusion that he'd ask Nabiki to dig around for info on his mother.

Both Nabiki and Kasumi, who'd chatted with the other girls, sensed his introspective and slightly depressed mood, and both excused themselves to find out what was wrong. With that simple act both had once more proven just why Ranma's instincts had chosen them as his mates.

Kasumi's warm smile as well as Nabiki's care for him that had emerged from under her icy-cold exterior instantly served to cheer him up greatly. But their behaviour also brought up the problem which of the Tendo girls he wanted to be engaged to in the end; he'd have to read up on the marriage laws of Japan, but he was pretty sure that he'd only be allowed to wed one girl. Which was indeed too sad, seeing as he wanted them both. And he'd get what he wanted, for Ranma Saotome did not lose. Not for long, and not permanently, at any rate…

to be continued…

Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general. Special thanks go to the people at Shinjis board.

The Q&A-Section will be posted at my group sometime next week at the latest; I’m primarily concentrating on writing chapters atm. You can expect an update on ‘Chaotic Rebirth’ on Monday, and maybe I’ll get around and update this story again next Thursday. No promises there, though feedback might help.

Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave reviews for the last chapter:

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