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 Funimation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. Note further that I don't own any of the other 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 1: Fight for survival

A few weeks later…

The hot afternoon sun shone down on two travel-worn figures that made their way through the mountainous area of the Qinghai Province. One of the travellers was a tall and large built middle aged man. Around his head he wore a dirty bandanna, and the glasses the man was wearing had also seen better times. Aside from his apparent over-weight the nearly bald man seemed to be in excellent physical condition.

His companion was of a smaller complexion, but it was apparent by the power and smoothness of his moves that he was not to be taken lightly. The boy had dark, raven hair; and seemed to be around the age of sixteen. Although the boy was alert, which showed in the rapid movements of his eyes with which he scanned the area constantly; he had a decidedly bored expression on his face. Exactly the facial expression that told the observer, that a parent was doing something stupid and should leave it alone. But for the sake of the art the boy carried on and did not complain. Much.

It seemed, as if both travellers had come a long way, and that was in fact the case. Both were on a training trip which lasted as of now 10 long years. Years that had left marks, both visible and invisible. But now a conclusion of the trip was in sight, and the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo were planned as the last stop before their return to Japan. They were both wearing their last sets of training gi's, and those were dusty and torn in several places. The huge backpacks both were carrying had also seen better days and looked like they would fall apart at any given moment.

Ranma, the young boy, stopped and scowled at his father. As said, he did not complain. Much. "Hey pop, are ya sure that ya've read the damn map right? I ain't walkin' one more step if ya can't tell me where we gotta go." he complained.

Genma, his father and sensei, frowned at his son. "Boy, you will do exactly as I say. We have come this far and we will reach the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo. It's only a matter of finding the right path, boy! And besides, when have I ever led us wrong?"

His son snorted. Yeah, right. Pop and never leading them wrong. If he, Ranma, hadn't taken the lead himself more often than not, they'd now probably be Kami-sama knows where. Maybe even in some village populated by crazy chicks or something. "Yeah, right. We've only been lookin' fer more than what? A week? Yer never gonna find the right path, and ya know it!"

Genma waved the complaint of his son away and studied an ancient looking map."Quit your insolent whining, boy and let your father study the map! Hmm, we're here," he mumbled to himself, "then this path must lead us to our destination. Mmmh, so if we take this path we're as good as there."

Ranma shook his head. Knowing his father and his talent regarding map-reading, they could call themselves lucky if they reached civilization by the end of the next millennium. And even that was extremely questionable. "Sure pop and pigs are gonna learn how ta fly under their own power…" he muttered.

His father hadn't heard his comment, as said Genma Saotome was much too absorbed in interpreting the map. But suddenly Genma looked up. "Boy, keep looking for a small path that will lead us to the north in relation to the main path. It might have been overgrown by nature, so use this as training for your senses, boy. Remember, anything and everything is training!"

The pigtailed boy snorted. 'Right, pop. Ya'd even consider having boulders thrown at ya… no, me, training. Stupid pop!' he thought in remembrance of all the 'training exercises' his father had put him through in the past. He still shuddered in remembrance of the worst trainings regimen in existence: the Neko-ken.

Back then, more than ten years ago, a voice in the back of his head had told him, that what his father was forcing him through was a very bad idea, and it had been right. And now the same voice, which he had dubbed his danger sense, was downright screaming at him. He had had his reservations about travelling to the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo; for if even the local sensei warned them, that they should not, at all events, travel there, as great peril would befall them if they did, that did not bode well. Ranma didn’t believe in curses and evil spirits per se, but he could read people. It was an essential ability in a fight. And his senses had told him that the local masters had been honest.

But his father had, as always, thrown caution right out of the window.

"Bah! Those arrogant masters only want to keep us foreigners from their best training grounds so that we can't learn their wisdom and secret techniques. But we have not come this far as to be stopped by such nonsense like warnings about curses and the supernatural. Curses. Honestly! Such nonsense does not exist!" he had said.

Hopefully his father was right. If not... Ranma shuddered to think about it. He didn’t fear anything, but in contrast to his father he had learned to listen to his gut feeling. And that had told him that those locals didn’t want to keep them off of their training grounds, but from making a big mistake. Shrugging Ranma shook his trepidation off and concentrated on the way that lay ahead of them.

Voluntarily the teen tuned his danger sense, which had flared up some time ago, out and kept his eyes open. But aside from a barely changing landscape nothing interesting happened. Nothing that would have justified the feeling he had gotten ever since they had come near to this mountain. Despite the apparently non-hostile environment, Ranma stayed alert; he had no intention of getting his ear chewed off needlessly by pop for 'slacking off'. Pops preaches were always so boring and made him want to puke, so doing some training´ was the better alternative by far.

Further ten more minutes of travelling in silence later, Ranma finally found something interesting. On the right hand some distance ahead of them was indeed something that seemed to be an overgrown path. The path and it was a path as Ranma recognized upon closer examination as they came near, was completely covered by vegetation.

Apparently his father had not seen the hidden path as of yet, and Ranma felt something akin to glee that his senses were apparently better than those of his pop. "Hey pop, do ya see that over there? I'd say that is our path."

Genma looked up from his map with an expression that said 'Why did you interrupt my concentration?’ But honestly, there was not much to be interrupted anyway… "I see it, boy." he finally said. "And why did that take so long?"

Silently Ranma grumbled to himself and wondered if other parents also never praised their children. One word, only one word would have been needed to show that he was proud of his son. But no! The fat oaf only cared for himself and his fat belly. "Maybe cause ya didn't add yer half-blind eyes ta help me?" he muttered.

Meanwhile Genma nodded to himself. This path did really look promising and would finally lead them to their destination. Now they had to get rid of the plants blocking their path. Or rather, Ranma had to. "Boy, your next training exercise is to remove all of the plants that are blocking our path. And now hurry up!" he exclaimed as he sat down in the shadow of a thick tree that was standing a few feet away.

Ranma's grumbling reached new heights as he watched his lazy oaf of a father, who presently extracted a bottle of water from his backpack. "Typical." he muttered. "Stupid pop takes a break and enjoys seeing me sweat. But ya wait, pop, some day I will pay ya back. Some day…"

And thus Ranma went to work. He kept the heavy backpack strapped to his back to make this training exercise´ a workout. The vegetation was quite thick, and a normal man would have had to use a machete to get rid off it. But Ranma had not trained in the Art for nothing since the day he had been able to walk, and thus the plants, small trees and other examples of Chinese vegetation offered little resistance. Five minutes later the path was cleared up and passable, and Ranma looked at his handiwork with satisfaction.

His father got to his feet, strapped his backpack to his back and shot his son an annoyed look. "Boy, you're slacking off. I could have done it in two minutes. Now don’t stand there like a weak, little girl, follow me!"

Cursing up a storm in his mind Ranma followed his father. Sure, his pop could’ve done it in two minutes. He and which army? While Ranma grumbled, the path turned progressively smaller and rockier the further they progressed. Father and son travelled in silence as not to disturb the concentration of the other. Fact that suited Ranma just well, as his pop talked nothing but nonsense anyway as soon as he opened his big mouth.

Suddenly Genma stopped, and Ranma only barely managed not to bump into his father and send him over the edge and down into the valley that lay beneath due to his excellent reaction. "What did ya stop for, pop?" he complained.

Genma ignored his annoyed son and pointed into the distance. "Hah! I have been right, boy. There it is the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo!"

Ranma followed the direction his father indicated. And really, there in the distance, surrounded by a wall of mist, was a valley of pools with bamboo poles reaching out of them. The setting sun was reflected in the pools, and the whole scenery was one of peace and serenity. "Bah!" the Saotome youth muttered, "Even a lazy dog has its day."

His father looked at him indignantly. "Respect your elders, boy! Did I lead us here or did I not?" he demanded.

The pigtailed teen just shrugged. "Gimme sumthin' ta respect and I might do it. And who o' us found the stupid path, pops? Eh?"

Genma waved that away. "That does not matter, boy. Now let us get down to the training grounds before it gets dark!"

Ranma relented and followed his father in face of an occasion to train. And who knew, maybe these training grounds were indeed quite passable. With a final shrug he sped after his already half-running father.

-.-

The descent progressed nicely and was child's play for two experienced martial artists such as Ranma and Genma. An old path was leading all the way down right into the secluded middle of the valley, but seemingly this path had not seen many visitors in a long time.

An unnatural quiet hung over the valley, and it seemed to increase in 'volume' the nearer the two travellers got to the training grounds. It was also curious that the local wildlife seemed to avoid Jusenkyo like the plague. Something was definitely fishy here, and the vibrations in the air made the uneasiness Ranma was feeling grow steadily.

Genma, however, either seemed not to notice it or ignored it like he always ignored any sign of danger. No, Genma was not fearless, not by a long shot, but he believed that he could always run away fast enough should the situation indeed prove to be dangerous. And then there was the boy, who had the duty to defend his honourable father. Should this fail too, well, there was always the Umi-senken.

Ranma was still having a bad feeling about the valley. And his hesitation caused Genma to whirl around towards his son. "Boy, what are you doing there, standing around uselessly like a weak girl? Come on!"

The pigtailed boy shook his head. "Pop, sumthin´s really wrong here. I ain´t got no good feelin´ about this."

Genma snorted. "Feelings are for weak girls and weaklings. Are you, boy?" he taunted, knowing very well how Ranma would react.

And as Genma expected Ranma growled. "I ain´t no weak girl! I ain´t weak at all! I'm the best there is!"

His father nodded. Hook, line, sinker. As usual. "Then prove it, boy. Lets fight." he stated and dropped his backpack on the ground.

Ranma shook off the feeling of uneasiness and did the same. The Saotome youth cracked his knuckles and popped his joints. Then he switched into his trademark ready stance. "Bring it on, old man!" he teased.

Genma nodded. Then he jumped up onto the nearest bamboo pole with surprising ease, and he displayed incredible balance and agility for an over-weight man like him. "Let's get started, boy!"

Father and son jumped into the air simultaneously and met in mid-air above the springs where they exchanged fast-paced blows. It was obvious that Genma was good, but it was even more obvious that Ranma was better. His father did not manage to land a single blow due to Ranma’s air-tight defence.

Genma and Ranma had done some probing and testing like they usually did for warm-up, some punches here, some punches there, but now they had decided to go all out. Both combatants jumped into the air from their respective poles once more, and Genma sent a flying kick to his son’s face, which Ranma blocked with one hand and countered. Genma nearly didn't see the punch that was flying at him with jackhammer speed, but he managed to block it at the very last second.

Both men briefly touched the ground, executed somersaults after this exchange of blows, and landed lightly on bamboo poles once more. Meanwhile a portly man, who was clad in simply Chinese clothes, had arrived on the scene, and he was shouting in broken Japanese for them to stop. "Honoured sirs must stop! Is too too dangerous!" he exclaimed.

But neither Ranma nor Genma paid the warning any mind, and seconds later their fists collided once more in mid air. Both wanted to win at all costs, and some strange Chinese guy wouldn´t stop them. This time Ranma got the better start and executed a punch-kick-roundhouse-kick-punch-combo, and Genma was not able to block the last punch. It had simply been too fast and powerful.

This one sent the bulky man straight towards one of the springs, and Genma landed in it with a huge splash. "Har har, yer monthly bath was overdue anyway, pop!" Ranma exclaimed as he waited for his father to resurface.

What happened next was one of the weirdest happenings in Ranma’s whole life up till now. For instead of his father a huge panda emerged from the spring with a growl.

"Oh no!" the guide exclaimed. "Honoured customer fell into Shonmaoniichuan - Spring of Drowned-Panda. Very tragic story of panda that drown in this spring 2000 year ago. Very very tragic. Now whoever falls into spring take body of panda."

Ranma stared slack-jawed at the animal that had appeared instead of his father. The words the guide had said barely registered. What surprised the pigtailed youth even more was the fact that the panda assumed the trademark stance of his father and attacked immediately. Reality had not reasserted itself in Ranma’s' mind, and thus he was totally unprepared for the hard uppercut that sent him flying.

He barely felt the pain in his jaw as he sailed through the air, the surprise was still prevalent in his mind. Seconds later he felt himself impact against something hard. 'Wood.' Ranma’s still surprised mind realised. 'And quite thick wood.' he added as an afterthought as he broke through the wooden surface. Only the toughness he had acquired over the years saved him from being seriously injured or even kicked. Then Ranma felt another impact as he crashed into just another thick, wooden surface and felt himself break through this one too. Finally he came into contact with the spring itself, and then he knew no more.

Outside the spring the guide was ready to rip his hairs out. Too bad that he had none any more. "Oh no! Honoured customer fall into worst spring ever! Too too bad! Can only pray to gods above!" he exclaimed.

Standing beside the spring a confused panda growfed. What the hell had happened, and why did he have fur? "GROWF GROWL GRUMBL!" Genma-panda exclaimed, then snorted in frustration that he had no way to communicate.

The guide sighed. Changing the stupid, but honoured customer back had to wait. First he had to supervise how things turned out. They could only pray for the poor young honoured customer, the first victim of the spring of drowned legendary space alien.

Inside the spring...

Ranma suddenly found himself in a wide plain and wondered what the hell just had happened. The last thing he remembered was, that a panda had attacked him using his fathers’ trademark stance. Then, after the hit... nothing.

The Saotome youth did not know, but at present he was in his own mind. And he was not alone, the Neko-ken notwithstanding...

"KAKKAROTT!" a voice suddenly bellowed, and Ranma caught sight of a tank of a man. His golden-green hair was standing straight up, and he was wearing golden jewellery around his neck, arms and even his belt. Clothing-wise he wore scuffed white baggy trousers covered by a large red cloth.

The pigtailed martial artist estimated that he was well over seven foot tall, and he was so over muscled that it looked grotesque. But at the same time Ranma sensed that the man was extremely powerful and could not be compared to the stupid body-building jocks he had met on their journey. This man was a lot more dangerous.

"KAKKAROTT!" the man growled out once more, and suddenly green light glowed in the right hand of the man. Ranma knew that it was ki, and one hell of a lot of ki too. He also knew that the giant mustn't land one single blow on him. 'Damn, that guy could squat me like a fly without even tryin´!' he thought.

At the same time the man surveyed him with surprisingly pupil-less eyes, and the mans' yellow-green hair waved in an unseen breeze. Then he growled once more and fired the ki-blast at Ranma. The pigtailed youth had had his guard up, but even though the blast missed him only by inches and exploded with a huge bang in the distance.

Ranma was surprised at the destructive might of the attack, and he asked himself how he should win against someone with that kind of power. Suddenly the huge man shot forward faster than Ranma could follow, and seconds later a punch, which could only be described as playful, connected with his chin.

The pigtailed youth felt immense pain as he flew backwards. After what seemed like hours to him, Ranma finally landed in a heap on the ground, nursing his sore jaw. 'Holy shit, he coulda killed me, but it seems he's only toyin’ with me. If only I had some kinda protection... like a wall o' steel or sumthin...' he thought, as he imagined a huge steel wall.

To his immense surprise exactly that appeared before him, and the insane grin on his enemy's face disappeared and was replaced by confusion. Ranma was as confused, but his mind caught on fast. If what he guessed was right...

His thoughts were interrupted by a threatening growl, and the giant fired one of his huge, green ki-blasts once more. His aim was true, and seconds later the blast impacted against the wall, which was reduced to nothingness.

Ranma stared at it slack-jawed, while the giant grinned insanely once more. 'Damn, if only I could fire those blasts too. I need ta, or I'm gonna be toasted! Now come on, Saotome!'

Ranma tested his theory and imagined himself to be able to create such ki-blasts. And really, moments later a green light appeared in his own right hand, and Ranma willed it to grow while his enemy growled in surprise. Then, Ranma grinned to himself as he realised something 'I am in my own mind! And this guy got somehow sucked inta it. But here I am as strong as I want! This is my mind, and I can do anything!'

After realizing that, Ranma, who still held the ki-blast in his hand, willed himself to grow and also increased his other physical attributes immensely. Admiring the end-result, Ranma nodded to himself. He was now as tall as the giant and of similar built. Smirking slightly, Ranma fired the ki-blast on his surprised target without much further ado.

Now the tables had turned, for Ranma Saotome didn't lose! Especially not in his own mind. And what Ranma didn't knew was, that his body had already been changed by the curse, and due to that he had the same potential as the legendary Super Saiyan Brolly, and more.

The blast hit the giant and exploded with an enormous shockwave, and when the smoke had finally cleared Ranma noticed with satisfaction that his enemy had a look of deep surprise edged in his face, and his opponent was bleeding from several wounds. The mans surprise turned into anger very quickly, and he flared his huge battle-aura of the legendary Super Saiyan.

Ranma was surprised at the sheer amount of power the other man exuded, but only for a moment. 'This is a home match. I can do that too, and better!' he thought and imagined himself with that kind of power. Suddenly he felt an amazing amount of raw power flowing within him, and Ranma started to power up himself.

He didn't know exactly what he was doing, but he reached for his ki like he had learned it from the masters he had come to know during their travels. But at the same time he imagined that he had an endless supply of ki and that he was like the mightiest river in the world: unstoppable.

And his mind-self responded and asserted his powers to his wishes. With a huge yell Ranma powered up himself and reached, how he would learn far later, the status of the legendary Super Saiyan for the first time. Even if only in his mindscape. Brolly and Ranma were battling over the same body, a body which had already been changed into what Ranma had been had he been born as the legendary Super Saiyan.

Normally the soul of a drowned victim remained in the respective pool it had drowned in, but the residual and controlling magic of Jusenkyo had recognized, just how dangerous the creature, which had drowned in that specific pool, really was. Its soul had to be expelled at all costs, and the young man who had fallen into the pool might be the ideal solution.

The curse magic had looked into the mind of the victim, and it knew that he had the potential to achieve victory over the vile space-alien. The semi-awareness of the Jusenkyo magic hoped that the boy would win, otherwise it would have to drown the poor boy completely before the Saiyan could take over the body completely. But for now it would wait and observe.

As Ranma basked in the feeling of absolute power that came with the transformation he suddenly realised what for a terrible power his enemy had. He would have to finish him fast and for good, or he'd end up dead. He was reconciled somewhat by the thought that he'd kind of exorcize an evil spirit, but that didn’t make it any easier. But it had to be done, there was no other way if he wanted to survive.

With a yell he attacked, and the titanic struggle began. He raced forward and tried to cross punch Brolly, but the Saiyan dodged the blow and countered with his own left hook. Despite all his new power and his skill Ranma had no chance of blocking this super-strong blow and sailed away into another direction of the area.

After he had recovered he grinds his teeth and raced forward faster than a bullet. The youth hit Brolly hard in the face. The impact caused the air to tremble. But Brolly's head never moved. Not an inch. And this was when Ranma realised that his enemy had allowed him being hit, for he just smiled insanely, then moved forward nearly too fast for Ranma to see. The pigtailed martial artist reacted instinctively and blocked the incoming knee with his own.

Brolly retreated, and both combatants surveyed each other. If Brolly was somewhat surprised that the former puny kid had somehow achieved the same state as he, he did not show it. Rather the big Saiyan thrived in the battle, and he only wanted to overcome and kill this boy. Brolly didn't know why, but he had to kill him. And as killing was like breathing for Brolly this was something he'd do all too gladly.

Moments later the two titans clashed once more, and neither of them was budging and inch. Ranma shot a roundhouse kick to Brolly's head that found only air, and moved his right hand just in time to block a punch to the abdomen, then his left hand to stop a knee from his nose. Then the pigtailed youth executed a chop-claw-kick combo, but it was just as ineffective before Brolly's air-tight defence as the prior attacks.

Ranma nodded to himself as he did a back flip to avoid a leg-sweep. His opponent was good, and he had been right with his assessment: the muscle-mass did not slow him down one bit. Rather the opposite. The guy was insanely fast! But so was he, and if he wanted he could be even faster.

Willing his power to grow Ranma smirked to himself. This was comparable to the first time when he had touched his own ki for the first time under the guidance of Master Hereka. It had been an incredible feeling, but the power he felt now made that first encounter with his ki look very pale in comparison. He felt that he had an endless well of power inside of himself, and he would use it to banish this crazy green-haired guy from his mind and body.

Bringing his power out Ranma started to power-up even more than before. The whole mindscape seemed to rumble, and Brolly seemed to be worried for the first time in the fight. When Ranma had finished his power-up he looked even more impressive than Brolly, and a determined expression entered his face.

The Saotome youth smirked and steadied himself for the next exchange of blows. In the blink of an eye he zanzokened out of sight and reappeared right before Brolly, nearly too fast for the Saiyan to see.

Brolly barely managed to block the first barrage of punches Ranma had thrown at him, but he was however able to return the favour with a roundhouse-kick-punch-blast combo. Meanwhile Ranma thrived in the power and might he now possess, but not as much as to get cocky. It had been a lesson he had learned the hard way during his ten years of training: never get cocky, for it could cost you the fight and your life.

Now Ranma was really getting down to business, and he was determined to end this fight and expel this intruder out of his body. He leapt into the air, and the combatants exchanged blows at an insanely fast pace. Ranma was now putting all of his amazing new strength behind the attacks, and Brolly sensed by the drastic increase in the attacks strength coming from the boy that his opponent was now determined to end the fight in his favour.

The Saiyan growled as he was barely able to block the last punch that had been aimed for his chin, and for the first time in his life he was now breathing heavily. Ranma was in a much better condition, as he could will his ki-reserves to fill up immediately. Something that Brolly lacked, and not only due to his lack of clear thought.

As if on cue, Ranma increased the tempo even more and hit Brolly's defences with Earth-shattering blows which the Saiyan was now nearly unable to block. His confused and worried face turned into a snarl as he felt that this insolent boy might destroy his unexpected chance to take revenge on Kakkarott.

With a growl Brolly reached into his own ki-reserves and brought out all of his power. For a moment it looked as if the Saiyan was now the stronger one, but with a smirk Ranma upped the ante and powered up even more himself. "Now yer goin' down, ya bastard!" the Saotome youth exclaimed, and let his words follow action.

Suddenly Brolly smirked a wholly unpleasant smirk and levitated. The Saiyan obviously thought, that if he would fly and attack Ranma this way, he'd have one on his opponent. And Ranma was really surprised for a moment, until a calm smirk appeared on his smirk. Brolly, who had been about to shot forwards saw it and growled. What was this annoying pest up to now?

The annoying pest with the name Ranma Saotome had realized, that he only had to will himself to be able to fly, and when he opened his eyes, he noticed that his ki had adjusted itself and was now pushing him off of the ground. Ranma knew instantly that he only had to project his ki into the opposite direction he wanted to fly to, and his smirk grew. 'If only I could do that in reality…' he mused. But now he knew how it was done, and maybe he could try it out once he had his own body back.

Levitating several inches above the ground Ranma's face was graced by a cocky smirk, and suddenly, without warning, he shot forward. Brolly was surprised for a moment, then the tall Saiyan growled, and he sent a flying kick to the incoming Ranma's face, which the youth blocked with one hand and countered with a blow of his own. Ranma was so fast that Brolly nearly didn't see the punch that was flying at him with jackhammer speed, but squeezing his ki-reserves to the utmost he managed to block it at the last moment possible.

Then both combatants took to the air and exchanged blows at a rapid pace. Now Ranma was toying with Brolly, and the Saiyan, as insane as he was, sensed it. With a rumbling growl Brolly sent a fast combination of kicks, punches and energy blasts at Ranma, but the Saotome youth was able to block them all.

But suddenly Brolly twisted in the air and flew straight up towards Ranma and rammed him in the abdomen with both fists. He gave Ranma no time to recover, and drove his knee into his opponents ribs. The teen grunted, but gave no other outside display of pain and instantly upped the ante. He grabbed the leg which Broly had used on him and threw him over his shoulder. The Super Saiyan was too surprised to react when Ranma fell on him in a frenzy of kicks and punches.

Now Ranma had the advantage, and he knew how to use it. In a second he brought down what seemed like hundreds of blows to the vital spots of his opponents body, and although Brolly was insanely tough, his toughness did nothing to absorb the blows and the damage they created sufficiently.

With another growl the tall Saiyan was however able to block the last punch which had been aimed for his forehead, and the bleeding and bruised loony legendary Super Saiyan suddenly head butted Ranma in the face.

He then used Ranma’s momentary distraction to cup his hands to his side and released his trademark green ki-blast right at Ranma at point blank range. Due to his very high power level it was of enormous proportions as well as intensity; and it had the desired effect, as it stunned Ranma long enough for him to up the ante. Or so he thought. Brolly smirked as he aimed a roundhouse-kick for Ranma’s head, but the suped-up Ranma had recovered remarkably fast from the energy attack.

Seemingly unfazed he rejoined the battle with renewed determination and executed a fast punch-blast-kick-blast-combo which Brolly was nearly unable to block. Growing angrier and angrier at the intruder Ranma began to draw more power to himself, and went all out. The Saotome youth prepared himself to fire his own version of the green ki-blast, and he did not care if it would obliterate his opponent completely. This was a fight for his own body, for his very own life!

He had never wanted to come into a situation where he had to kill someone else, but now he had no other choice. This guy was freakin' crazy, and only Kami-sama knew what would happen should this guy gain control of his body! That must never happen!

Moments later Ranma fired the huge ki-blast at Brolly, and his opponent countered this with a blast of his own. The blasts rushed at each other as both men directed the blasts, and the energy attacks suddenly collided in mid-air. Now it would be a question of willpower and energy reserves, and although Brolly’s beam gained ground at first, which would obliterate Ranma and ensure him, Brolly, control of Ranma's body, the human-turned-Saiyan tapped deep into his powers and unlocked even more power.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to drive Brolly’s beam backwards towards his originator, and the insane Saiyan was pushed back inch by inch. Brolly grunted and growled, but regardless of what he did, it was of no use. But the insane legendary Super Saiyan was either too stubborn or too stupid to realise that he had lost. And instead of cancelling out his own blast and jumping over the attack of Ranma, he continued to push against it until it was too late.

All of a sudden Brolly was engulfed by Ranma's stronger ki-blast, and the destructive energy began to slowly disintegrate the insane Saiyan. Brolly struggled against it one last time and tried to absorb the energy with his body, but it was of no use. There was no salvation for Brolly any more, and with a final scream he was completely disintegrated.

After everything was over Ranma sank panting to his knees, and he felt himself return to his normal self once more. Suddenly he felt the overwhelming need to sit down, and obeying his body he did just that. Panting but very happy Ranma thought about something that still held true: Ranma Saotome did not lose. Then, all of a sudden everything went blank, and Ranma knew no more.

to be continued...

Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to everyone for helping me out with suggestions, comments, ideas and c&c in general.