Eternally Retold…

Chapter 5

Final Battle

One second later

Akane's despairing screams could be heard through the hearts of everyone, as she futilely tried to pull out Soul Calibur from within Ranma's body. However, without the hilt it was nigh impossible to budge.

"Ranma... No, Ranma..." She started punching the blade, then moved to the tree, knowing that could at least break that now with her bare hands.

Only for Kasumi to hold her gently from behind, halting her movement.

"It's over, Akane..." She had her eyes closed and was also crying, "He's gone, but you saved him..."

"No!" Falling to her knees she cupped her face in her hands, pulling at her hair and scratching her face deliberately, "I wanted him to live, not to kill him!"

"Sometimes..." Cologne limped over before coughing and having to repeat herself, "Sometimes, in order to save a person, you need to do the unthinkable..." She looked at Ranma's body and then Akane, "Though his life wasn't saved, you rescued his soul, and he knew that too."

The guttural roar from behind them startled the group.

Nightmare was moving somehow, his staggered footsteps echoing dully into the ground. The armour was holding itself together with a blue flame, but it was cracking at the seams.

"I will..."

He took another step, as pieces of the armour fell to the ground.

"I will revive!"

The grossly mutated arm pulled out something from its chest, and the others looked on in shock as they saw it was the hilt of Soul Calibur. Though it was melting Nightmare's skin on the palm, the Azure Knight didn't care and moved towards the steaming earth around Soul Edge.

Kasumi saw this and felt faint, "No... We've got to stop him!"

Ryoga, taking up the mantle after Ranma's demise, charged in on Nightmare, but was batted away by the stony hilt of Soul Calibur, having only been armed with his normal umbrella; no one else was in any condition to fight, as it attained its goal.

"At last..." He touched Soul Edge and lifted it up with the other hand, the remainder of Soul Calibur in the other, "Together finally, I can ascend and complete the true form!"

All standing there froze and grew paler. If the incomplete form of Nightmare was this strong, what about its final version?

Both swords started to glow, as they began to merge into one. The armour shifted and pulsated as the inside of it expanded with a fleshy mass. Soon the armour began to crack and splinter at the edges, as the purple grey creature exploded out. The metal was sucked in deep, and soon a monstrous sword was created.

However, at the same time, a bright white and yellow light came from behind the others, as the metal of Soul Calibur glowed and became liquid, melting into floating particles of water, which then moved into Ranma's body, the glow spreading to the rest of her body.

Heat spread from Nightmare's body, as two fiery wings flared out behind him, his roars becoming more beast-like and primal. The combined sword that was made up of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur now looked like a giant slab of metal and meat combined; down the middle the sword was a serrated band of teeth, and the sword snarled on top of the creature holding it.

The loud crack of a tree falling alerted everyone, and the soft tap of feet touching the ground.

A confident smirk rose up, and Akane's heartbeat followed.

"Hey Akane, I'm back..."

The redhead winked and grinned as the world turned dark, causing her to fall into a stance. Everyone else just stared in shock at the change.

The ground became hard and solid, with intricate symbols spreading out everywhere, but a massive eye in the centre, watching everyone. There were no man made buildings or nature-based life either, the only things there were the fighters and the large monster. The area around the edge and in the sky was a mass of stars and galaxies.

The creature in front of everyone growled and stepped towards them, only for Ranma to move in front of them, her glowing silver arm and shin guards gleaming in the darkness. Staring at her new additions, she grinned a toothy smile, looking up at her opponent, full of confidence.

She took on a stance as the enemy bellowed, ready to fight.

"Come on then! Let's do this thing!"

Ranma Vs Night Terror

Charging in first, Ranma, grin still on her face, reached Night Terror in point-blank range and yelled.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

The punches seemed even faster than before, although Night Terror didn't move an inch, nor did it react to pain. The chest area, covered in scales, had caved in slightly, but hadn't been penetrated any deeper.

Opening its mouth, Night Terror tried to bite down onto Ranma's head, only for her to duck and roll away from the gaping maw.

"Hmm, that didn't work too well..." Ranma got up and held her chin, tapping her foot impatiently as the enemy turned slowly to face her, "I would've thought I'd've at least hurt him..." She casually jumped aside as a horizontal swipe of the Complete form of Soul Edge hurtled by for her neck, "Guess I'd better up the stakes!"

Night Terror watched as Ranma began glowing blue, but only chose to slam Soul Edge into the ground, causing a quake and flames shooting out from the ground towards her. Not expecting projectiles from Night Terror, Ranma barely dodged to the side, but the fire licked at her legs and burned them, though the shin guards were emanating a cooling effect.

"Right, no more games..."

Ranma spun around him once and got to his back, "Moko Takabisha!"

The ball of ki collided with the back of Night Terror, but in between the scratching of the ki against the body, she saw that the fiery wings were protecting it.

"Oh shit!"

Moving back a tad, they ploughed straight into Ranma, setting her alight as she screamed, the flames passing straight through her body and burning even her internal organs.

"Ranma..." Akane cried out from the side, only for Genma to hold her back, tears in his eyes as well.

Invigorated by the cry, Ranma smirked, "What, this fire? Doesn't even tickle me!"

Gritting her teeth, she felt Soul Calibur freeze her body for a second to return it to normal temperature, extinguishing the flames.

"Enough of this!"

Ranma ran and ducked under Soul Edge, feeling it shave off a few hairs from her long red pigtail. Roaring with strength, she lifted up Night Terror, feeling her bones creak and buckle under the strain, and threw him off the side of the battlefield.

Sighing with relief, she dusted her hands and turned around.

"Good that's finally over, now how to get back home...?"

She paused at hearing the flapping of wings, and turned just in time for Night Terror to land almost on top of her, but Soul Edge had reached her head in an instant.

Both arms snapped to above her body, and the metal of Soul Edge sparked against the silver of Soul Calibur, millimetres from cleaving her in half. For a few seconds, this continued as both pushed their power into attacking and defending.

Getting an idea, Ranma bent her knees slightly, moving Soul Edge further down, and then jumped up, using the ki to propel herself.

Toppling Night Terror wasn't easy, as it steadied itself in less than a few seconds, but they were all Ranma needed to blast it in the face with another Moko Takabisha.

Having had its mouth open all along, the ki travelled all the way down into its stomach, and damaged it inside the body, searing the lining of its stomach and windpipe.

Staggering away, trying to heal itself, Ranma leapt back and began running, using her ki to send flames rising behind her into a giant spiral.

Night Terror recovered, only to face a fist of revenge from Ranma.

"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"

The tornado took Night Terror into the air, flames from its own wings adding to the power of the vortex. The spectators were struggling to hold on to the edge to prevent being taken in.

Ranma smiled in triumph, only to lose it when Soul Edge absorbed the wind above, leaving Night Terror hovering dozens of metres above, the maw shifting to a gruesome form of a smile of its own.

"No..."

Ranma could only stare as Night Terror slammed into her body, clawed hooves first, bringing up copious amounts of blood as she coughed it up onto them.

"Bastard... Get off me..."

She reached out a hand and tried to squeeze out some energy, but none was forthcoming.

"Dammit... I need more power..."

Her hand glowed blue as her fingers cracked the surface of the hooves, and then she lost the ki, her consciousness flitting between darkness and light.

"Please... Help me, give me strength..."

Ranma whispered to herself, knowing that Soul Calibur was somehow sentient in its own way, but it was the only thing she could do.

Growing colder for a second, the two intertwined images of a man with long white hair, as well as a snowy owl broke into her mind.

"You mean...?" Ranma's eyes widened, as her strength came back to her. "Is that why...?"

Soul Edge was spun around in the air, as Night Terror was preparing to decapitate Ranma where she lay.

"I see..."

She grinned from the sudden influx of old and hidden knowledge. Her fingers, still buried beneath the hard exterior of the hooves, restored their blue colour.

"Moko Takabisha, Ancient Revision!"

Like miniature bullets, the ki blast fired out from her fingertips, ricochetting off the inside of the impervious shell and burning through the flesh of Night Terror.

Screaming in fury and agony, it lifting the feet up to get away from Ranma's attack, but she didn't relinquish her hold, still forcing more ki directly into its body, continuing the blasts.

Sensing the energy of Soul Edge, she looped her legs up to avoid a dismemberment, and propelled herself away from Night Terror.

"I've gotta break that casing..." She looked at the chest of Night Terror, before coming up with an idea, "Right, I forgot, I can use that now..." She glanced back at Akane and Ryoga, winking at them, before charging in.

Recognising that something in its opponent had changed, Night Terror was highly alert to the movement and began slicing the air with Soul Edge, creating an impenetrable barrier of shearing swerves of the lethal blade.

However, Ranma was well adapted to avoiding such fast blows, and passed through them with ease, getting within Night Terror's boundary.

"Let's hope this works..."

She pulled back her fist and then flattened her palm, fingertips first, diving towards the central cavity.

"Bakusai Tenketsu, Ancient Revision!"

The middle finger, the longest of her fingertips, pierced the shell, following by her ring, index, and little finger, ending with her thumb. Each one that broke through splintered the shell, crumbling it into a dozen pieces, exposing the internal pumping heart of flames within.

Her victorious grin was growing brighter, as her enemy looked down on her, it's mouth bright red.

"Uh oh..."

The beam ploughed into her face and chest, pushing her into the ground as she skidded away, still being hit by the laser, before it fizzled out, the mouth closing over the steaming maw.

Shaking, Ranma stood up; her limbs were burned raw, though Soul Calibur was helping to keep the pain at bay, it wouldn't last for long.

"Bastard..." She could see it preparing another one for her, "I'll show you..."

Feeling her body glow blue, she leapt the laser aimed for her body, and angled herself over the edges of the beam, though her feet were clipped as it moved suddenly. Ignoring it, she bounced off the ground and dove feet first towards the heart.

"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken, Ancient Revision!"

The blurs of her feet striking the heart were merging to make it look like one long kick, due to the combined speed.

Night Terror, feeling the agony from the numerous vulnerable hits, delivered an uppercut with the claw, tearing up her left side.

Yet, Ranma was still smiling as she rose into the air, the inky background of space and other unusual phenomena, her body moving erratically yet in a familiar pattern directly above Night Terror.

"Don't you know?" She spoke, "Tornadoes begin in the sky!"

The winds built up around Ranma as the funnel began forming and tunnelling towards the ground.

"Hiryu Shoten Ha, Ancient Revision!"

Fully formed, it landed on Night Terror, pummelling the creature with the high pitched winds.

Shifting her position, Ranma spun clockwise, like the twister, and pulled it in to her, and she aimed straight for Night Terror.

The base of the funnel by now was compressing into the space around it, and resembled less of a tornado, and more of a maelstrom of a cutting wind tunnel, as attacks came from every direction.

Plunging straight into it, just as Night Terror looked up. Ranma roared.

Knowing its time was up, Night Terror growled its own yell and held up Soul Edge. The serrated teeth in the centre of the blade opened up, the maw of Soul Edge ready to bite, and it clamped down on Ranma, a gruesome pair of scissors meant only to devour anything inside it.

Soul Calibur, the icy silver arm guards, were holding the bloody mouth of the Unholy Sword back, Ranma having guarded herself at the last second.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Ranma struggled to keep the sword from swallowing her, or from slicing her in two, "Sorry, but I have to finish this now."

Breaking the hold, but fracturing her the bones in her arms in the process, Soul Calibur fell to her sides and Ranma landed softly, feeling her weapon change by surrounding her fists as she built up her ki one last time.

"Sweet dreams, Night Terror."

Throwing caution to the winds around her, Ranma threw her hands into the Inferno within the heart and shouted.

"Moko Takabisha, Full Power, Ancient Revision!"

The blast between her hands was magnified by Soul Calibur's own power in extinguishing the flames, and squashing the strength of Night Terror.

Thrashing about, it grabbed Ranma and squeezed her around her waist, but as the heart grew smaller and colder, it couldn't exert any pressure on her.

Soon its arm fell limp, and Soul Edge in the other made a loud crash as it too was returned to the ground.

Night Terror opened its mouth and leant forwards, the jaw over Ranma's head and it shut tight.

Nevertheless, it was already too late. Night Terror expired, melting into sand and pouring around Ranma's head, the faint teeth marks on her neck a sign she was a millimetre from losing her head.

The world returned to normal, the broken earth from the battle with Nightmare a welcome, if somewhat depressing, sight to see after that non-land they were in before.

Ranma stood up and turned to see Soul Edge and Soul Calibur standing up in the soil.

Picking up the latter, then kicking down the former, she pointed the tip of the blade at the eye, which moved about in panic.

"Your reign ends here. You won't awake again."

Ranma pushed it into the eye, forcing it deeper, past the protecting tentacles and squeals until two small objects remained on the ground.

Picking them up, Ranma strode over to the others, who were either in too much pain to see, or too tired to congratulate her.

Akane alone stood up, tears in her eyes at seeing Ranma alive, and the old smile on that face coming back.

"Hey Akane," Ranma said casually, "I kinda lost the originals a year ago, but these should do for now..." She opened her hand and Akane gasped, "I never got the chance, because of that challenge from Happosai, but now's better than never." She popped something onto Akane's finger, "Will you marry me?"

Staring down at the beautiful crystal on her ring finger, Akane cried and nodded, "Yes Ranma, I will..."

Smirking back, Ranma closed her eyes, "Thanks again, Akane..."

Ranma fainted into Akane's shoulder, sleeping peacefully, the tiredness from the battle finally reaching her.

Patting Ranma on the back, Akane hugged her and placed Ranma's own ring, a black golden one with a disturbingly similar eye as an embedded gemstone, on the correct finger.

"No, thank you, Ranma..."

Ranma smiled, dreaming of a happy future.

Author's Notes

So, the story is over now, all that remains is the epilogue. Hope you SCIII fans recognised the subtle hint of Ranma's abilities in this chapter. It'll be cleared up in the final piece.

- J