Ranma and The Doctor

Chapter 17

Humanity's Sacrifice

"All units, we are intercepting the human classified as 'Blue Thunder'. Abilities are numerous, though a magical component is forcing all units to admit truths or be burned alive."

"A troublesome opponent." General Strall responded, "Use maximum force."

"Acknowledged."

That moment, Kuno was bombarded with three dozen laser beams, each one true, though a few were deflected by the blade, only to return to him.

"Homing lasers?" He bit his lip as the burns seared his skin, "This may be an opponent too far."

Twirling the blade fast around his body, a shield of light was formed by the reflection of the metal edge.

"Rays of light which burn those they follow, may they return back to cause untold sorrow."

The runes on the sword light up red, and Kuno's body glowed white, as the group around him paused.

"I see, with those skins shed, you no longer give me any reason to fear hurting that person." He walked towards the leader, "You will pay with your lives."

"Fire!" He shouted, and the beams flew towards Kuno, only to bounce off his body to hit directly at the firing Sontarans.

"What?" The leader fell to the ground, shocked by his own weapon changing targets to himself. "Interference from your body?"

Not waiting for any chance for them to retaliate, Kuno lunged in to a group of them and sliced three of them in half, their bodies suffering from different elemental injuries.

"A shame, three useful skins wasted..." The leader mumbled, "Sontarans, regroup, Formation Beta."

As one, all the Sontarans charged together to form a full platoon, as if on ceremony, facing Kuno.

"Do you plan to march directly to your deaths?" He asked, lowering his sword for a moment.

"A soldier never fears death, only glory awaits!" He smirked when he realised that his body wasn't burning, "Sontarans, radio communication only, audible sensors offline!" The leader put on his own helmet to seal the sound from outside.

"Omega Unit, prepare for battle! Positronic Shielding online, weaponry, target that sword." He stood to attention, "For the glory of Sontar!"

"Sontar Ha!" They chanted, as they marched towards Kuno, staring them down from behind his glowing eyes.

"So be it..." The glow flickered, "Come."

Ten minutes later

"Ugh..."

Ryoga spat out some gravel from where he fell, dishevelled and injured. Though the blood still stained his top, he didn't feel any pain, though he noticed a faint crackling sound as he moved his joints.

Blinking once, the Contacts activated and showed him the extent of the damage and repairs made to his body.

"I see, I needed muscle, skin and even bone restoration." He looked to his left and saw the body of Ranma, broken and red, unmoving next to him.

"Still, it wasn't enough..."

After realising that the spot he was in was near to an unused patch of land, somehow shielded from neighbouring properties, he tapped a spot in the ground, spraying earth everywhere.

Picking up Ranma's body, he gently placed the figure into the makeshift grave, even remembering to put the arm accidentally cut off there too. Covering Ranma with the soil, he found a rectangular rock, one which appeared to be left over from building works.

Lifting it up, he placed it at the head of the grave, similar to a plinth.

Not seeing any flowers nearby, Ryoga sighed again, and instead pulled out some synthetic sake from his food storage space, and poured it over the stone.

"Sorry, this is all I can do for you now, Ranma..."

Muttering some prayer to himself, bowing his head and clapping, he turned from the spot and walked on.

Speaking a few keywords he learned from the Contact, he cleaned his clothing by the time he reach a populated region. Technology in the future now meant that within ten seconds any stain could be removed, with a freshly washed and dried smell also, all fully automated using special gases.

Walking out of the steam he created, he went off through the busy market, shutting off the Contact at the same time.

Due to this, he missed two things, one of which would have given him hope, the other dread.

A specific notification of an unusual blue box which had already been detected before was just one block away, humming silently to itself. It was shielded due to many strange structures in that area which were not of natural Earth construction.

Another small indicator in the Contact showed a percentage which was ever increasing, even whilst the Contact was switched off.

Total Conversion: 24 percent... 25 percent...

This figure was going up by one percent every 30 minutes, though it varied at times of battle. At this rate, the 100 percent would be reached in 37.5 hours.

Ryoga, as stated before, did not notice either of these, as he strode on through the streets, determined to leave Nerima behind him, as he wondered off into Old Tokyo.

Meanwhile
Beneath Nerima

There was a flickering blue light into which the lift descended.

"What is this?"

The Doctor stared in amazement at the vast chamber he saw and heading down into. The lift was a transparent tube right through the tip of the dome towards a large city, all Sontaran-built.

"Crude though, as if they struggled to make their own homes habitable, well, they don't really need to sleep, since they removed that small deficiency from their DNA." He could see many signs and banner displaying the Sontaran emblem, as well as declaring the words Ano IR.

"But what does it mean? They aren't a religious lot, but Ano means 'year' in Latin, albeit spelt wrongly. A new era, but of what?"

Noticing that he was reaching the exit, he crouched down.

"Better make myself hidden."

Activating the sonic screwdriver, the lights in the area dimmed slightly, so as to let him off without anyone spotting him.

"Funny, no guards to check who's arriving?"

The buildings looked dilapidated as he peered at them closely, "These have been here for a while, they aren't new." He sniffed the air, "Hmm, clone juice, these are probably the gestation pods, but they're running at a tiny percentage of what they're used to.

Hearing a sound, the Doctor hid in a convenient niche in a wall as a patrol stomped by, stopping just past where he was hidden.

"You say this is where the power brownout originated from?"

"Yes, clone batch 200 to 250 will have bodily deformities, making them unsuitable for combat." The soldier responded neutrally, "We are running at minimum level as it is in preparation, so any deviation will affect this."

"It can't be helped." Another Sontaran, his superior, responded, "Purge the useless bodies, recycle their skin, sinews, bones, anything we can get for the next batch."

"We will need to send Abduction Team Alpha for more cattle." The soldier replied, "Removal of entrails, organs and so forth does take time, and high quality cattle is necessary."

"Team Alpha will join Omega and Beta to form Battle Team Omicron This was decided now." The superior replied, "A quality candidate has been located by General Strall, and the DNA of the subject has been extrapolated. We are working on the ROM section of the brain to make it useful for our purposes, but for now it shall suffice. Their skins will be rewritten with the host DNA."

"And of the clones?"

"Do what I asked before, maximum production will begin upon the order, and new cattle will be instantly overwritten with the new host, with clones for each one."

"I will do as you request, sir." He stood to attention and went to several buildings pressing a series of buttons.

As they all left the area, the Doctor was tweaking the screwdriver, "Okay, this is very bad news, a fully fledged Sontaran clone centre, beneath here, ready for production." He frowned, "I don't like the sound of the cattle."

He moved on and saw two distinct buildings, one highly militarised and another with many guards outside.

"Okay, that one must be the HQ of the big boss, Strall, there's no need for guards outside since everyone must be inside ready for fighting anyway. Now the other..." He pointed the screwdriver there, "There's something in there that they don't want getting out."

He went from building to building, staying in the shadows as he moved closer to the metallic jail.

He saw three Sontarans facing outwards, arms at the ready.

"Well, they're not going to tire soon, they're been engineered that way to stay on alert for a week if need be."

Moving around slowly, he could see that the building only had one way in and out, and no windows.

Thinking further, he sidled up the back of the building to get a closer look.

"There's no way I can knock them out, that port on the back of their necks is weak, but three at once?" He shook his head, "There must be a better way..."

Looking up, he frowned, before stumbling on a solution.

"Who says I need to beat them to get by?" He grabbed the screwdriver and drilled into the walls, made with a cheap metal on the outside, and used them as hand grips, climbing up the wall until he reached the roof.

"I see..." There was a hatch on the top, where a laser grid protected the outside, the same as the one in his jail cell.

He looked inside but couldn't see anything aside from the square of light from the hole, with the shadow of his head obscuring some space.

"Whoever it is, I'm a friend, I'm coming in." He whispered down.

Using the screwdriver to interfere with the lasers, they changed their pattern for five seconds, enough for the Doctor to drop down into the cell. The floor was sticky and felt fairly humid.

"Nice place you got here..." He looked around and then saw a large object in the corner, "I'm the Doctor, and who might you be?"

He smiled as the figure stirred, two large eyes staring back at him, before two large clawed arms dragged him into the darkness.

On the surface

Kuno was bloodied, his powers fading.

"Curses..." His eyes returned to their normal colour as the glow vanished, the lightning veins growing quiet.

"Target is immobilised." The leader spoke, as the lasers held Kuno in place against a wall, curled around his arms and legs. The sword was rattling on the ground, being held down by another ten laser belts. "Commence amputation of limbs for further study."

"You dare to defile my body further?" Kuno struggled to reach for the blade, but it was well out of reach for him.

His fingers twitched, and he knew that he only had enough strength for one more vein. Curses or spells were out of the question since a prerequisite was to stroke the runes on the blade.

"What must I use to escape?"

Thinking back to what he had seen, he flashed upon an answer, "That may work, but it would drain me to the point of exhaustion, and not only once, but it may be required twice..."

He looked down at the sword, and then at the approaching Sontarans, their rifles now sporting white energy chainsaws on the end.

"There is little option, either I die like a butterfly with its wings pinned to the tree, or escape down a hole like a mouse chased by hungry cats."

He closed his eyes, hearing the whirring sound of the saws getting nearer.

"Until we meet again, Sontarans." He opened his eyes and grinned, before his body was covered in red glittery strings, then being sucked into his left arm, which then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" The leader exclaimed, "Spread out!"

Immediately understanding, he looked to the sword, and saw Kuno reappear moments later, his body still surrounded in red strings, grabbing the hilt.

Feeling the sense of power from the ancient runes, he reactivated his teleporter arm, and was taken elsewhere as the Sontaran lasers missed their target.

"Impossible! He had that much energy remaining?" The leader swore in Sontaran, "General Strall, target 'Blue Thunder' has escaped. We are unable to follow his teleportation signal, as it was non-technology based."

"Teleportation, via non-technological means?" There was a pause, "Extremely unfortunate we were unable to procure this science. Regardless, prepare for new orders. Ano IR is to commence now."

"Understood sir, awaiting your orders."

That second
Outside Nerima

The road was quiet, the wind rustled the backpack of Ryoga as he walked along the barren path, only to see the bird messenger on his shoulder to fly off and land in front of him.

It then turned onto a ball of red string, which unravelled to form Kuno, bruised and battered, but still conscious.

"Kuno..." Ryoga saw him and their eyes connected, "Enough, leave me alone..." He side-stepped the man and walked on, only for Kuno to tap his leg with the sword.

"I wish not to fight, but for your assistance in walking." He growled. "I was unable to defeat them, me, the Blue Thunder!"

"Them?" Ryoga stopped and turned his head.

"They were called Sontarans." Kuno released Ryoga and tried to get up himself, "I was outnumbered, and their skills were too great for my own, I failed against their platoon."

"Sontarans..." Ryoga turned to him, "Ranma said that, before she died..."

Kuno's jaw clenched, "Whoever you fought, it was not the person you think it was."

"What do you mean?" Ryoga held out an arm to help steady Kuno.

"They possess the personality and memories of the original, but it is a false impression."

"You mean, I fought a fake?" Ryoga shuddered, "But it was just the same... Like we used to fight and taunt each other, only a lot more lethal at times."

"The outside is that of the person, but inside lies an alien, and they can shed this body like a jacket. They follow instructions from them, and those inside are able to escape if given enough time."

"So, that light..." Ryoga thought back to the forehead line of light, "Was that the moment he got away?"

"The body remains intact, as if an internal pressure is keeping its form, unless the body had already been reduced to a jacket." Kuno pointed back at the town, "I cannot destroy them alone. They have beaten me once already."

"So?" Ryoga moved away to look on into the horizon, "I can't look back, not now."

"If they are not stopped, then Nerima itself will die." Kuno stated simply.

Ryoga growled, clenching his fist and grinding his teeth.

"Is that what you wish on your ancestors?" Kuno asked tiredly.

"Shut up!" Ryoga stomped his foot on the ground, "Damn it... I mourned for Ranma, and it was all just a fake..."

"If that person sounded like they speak, then it was their true words. The occupier of the body does not hold much control over what they say, though this may change later." Kuno started walking, "I am returning, follow me if you want your vengeance."

Feeling his rage peak, Ryoga roared, "Damn you Ranma! I'll get my revenge!" Turning he grabbed Kuno.

"What manner of walking is this?"

"Shut up, Kuno." Ryoga spoke to himself now, "Omega Directive, Restore AI protocol, holographic image and sensory receptors."

The small form of Yuko materialised in front of them, "-oga! Don't!" She had just finished the sentence she started before she was shut off.

"You!" Kuno began, before Ryoga stopped him.

"Enough, she's my friend, leave her alone." The green image of Yuko turned a mild pink before returning to its normal colour. "Yuko, take us back to where you were shut off, Emergency Teleportation Shift, now."

"Ack-Acknowledged!" Happy to be restored, she opened up two dozen windows to extrapolate the coordinates and assign the space they were residing, "Due to Kuno's unusual arm, we are physically moving the entire region around us. You may experience a slight dizzying effect."

A second later, they felt their bodies crushed as they were sucked into a singularity, which travelled at light speed to the requested point, before expanding again.

Ryoga and Kuno fell out, their faces greener.

"Here, take some medicine." She dropped a pill in their laps from the Medical Storage, "It should combat the feeling of your entire body being compressed into a molecule."

After swallowing the pill, they both felt better.

"Yuko, download the data from my Contact and memory banks to update yourself. We're going up against Sontarans, what do you have of them?"

"A great deal, but this is not their usual tactics. Whatever it is they're doing, it's something bigger than we can think of."

"Agreed." Kuno nodded, albeit uncertain of the floating girl, "This is subterfuge, but for such a warmongering race, they must be capable of simply destroying the Earth."

"If that's their goal..." Ryoga smirked, cracking his neck for a good battle, "Yuko, find anything weird, like the feel of that forcefield around the forehead you mentioned, and take us there."

"Will do..." She scanned the region and point out a large cluster, "They are all gathered here and -" She paused, "Wait, it's growing? Exponentially?" She looked at him in horror.

"So, they are multiplying," Kuno frowned, "We have no time to lose, we must kill them all."

"Yep, for once we agree..."

Ryoga and Kuno ran towards the centre of the commotion, preparing themselves as they went along.

Meanwhile
Beneath Nerima

"Look, I can imagine you've been in here for a long time, but I can tell you one thing, I'm not interested in a relationship."

"Shut up you stupid fool." The arm pulled the Doctor off and kept him against the wall, "Keep in the shadow, they don't bother to check the dark."

A tannoy echoed in the chamber above, "Sontarans, the age of Ano IR has begun. Rejoice! Battle Status 1, Team Omicron are according to schedule. Update in one Earth hour."

"Good, they haven't found us, still worried about what this all means," He looked at the figure in the darkness and smiled, "Ahh, I wondered why it reacted..." He looked at the fat beige alien, "What's your name then?"

"Horkatziplan Prathoon," The face quirked, "Do you know me?"

"No, but I met your distant cousins, the Slitheen." He grinned widely.

Spitting on the ground, the Prathoon sounded disgusted, "Slitheen, always thinking too grandiose, but never pulling the plan through with 100 percent success."

"So, why are you stuck here then? Bit early for your time of space exploration, no?"

"Yes, we were scouting this planet for some new form for reselling, resources, produce, even the solar system, but during one of our scouting missions, my crew were taken out by unknown forces, and I was captured." The Prathoon was female by her voice, and the sadness was evident in the way the eyes welled up with tear-drops the size of apples.

"How did they get you, weren't you hidden?"

"Of course we were. But they detected our compression field. The Sontarans took me in, and insisted I create this field for them, improving the technology until it could be placed on any individual, no matter how thin, even children!" She held her arms over her face.

"They had already killed my own crew, my babies, and they expected me to do this now?"

"Calm down..." The Doctor came in to hug her, "I'm sorry, it'll be okay..."

"I refused for the children, but normal adults were necessary." She relaxed from the Doctor's grasp, and sat up firmer, "They wanted more control over the field, to transmit information, and themselves if need be to escape."

"Information, what sort?" He recalled what the Sontaran patrol said, "Wait, I know, the original personality of the person, to fit into society."

"That's right, and I created that for them. The technology is beyond them, only thinking about guns, armour and ammunition. The factory is constructing them in the dozens."

"Then why, if you don't mind my asking, are you still alive?"

"I am the only one who can fix it, so they keep me alive for the broken ones." She sighed, "I have my own space, and they feed me scraps, it's bearable."

The Doctor had a cheeky grin, "Let me guess, you programmed it to randomly produce a faulty compression field, am I right?"

The first smile appeared on the face of the Prathoon, "Naturally, but I can trigger when one would become faulty, even something bigger if need be, and there is also a fail-safe in all of them."

"What would it mean to you if I give you this?" He pulled out the vial, which was now bright blue, churning about in reaction to the Prathoon.

"But that's..." She looked at the Doctor, "You have some left, but she died decades ago!"

"Well, let's just say she and I got a little too chummy, one glass of wine and you lot go wild." He smiled, "What could you do with it?"

"I could reproduce my crew from their DNA I have, and another dozen children..." She caressed the outside of the vial, "I could have a family again."

"Then, let's get to work... Can you activate a fault in the factory?" He pocketed the vial and leaned against the wall.

"Yes, but they'll find you, they always scan the cell, so you'll have to come with me."

"Okay, but how?" He pondered about it until he noticed the mouth of the Prathoon open wide, "Ah, this might be cramped..."

The highly developed compression field in the Prathoon's tongue sucked the Doctor in, and sealed itself up with a camouflaged shield, preventing scanners from locating it.

Pressing the side of a tooth, within which was a hidden transmitter, she waited for the Sontarans to release her to take her to the factory.

The surface

"Targets ahead." Yuko paused, "All identical compression fields, and DNA?"

Once they saw them, they understood immediately.

"They're all Ranma?" Ryoga's Contact was scanning each one, noting the same DNA print, and the forehead zipper hidden from plain sight.

"Yes, I fought and lost to them once they revealed their true forms beneath this shell." Kuno nodded to them, "They are attacking people, look." He pointed unnecessarily, as a person was punched to the ground, only to slowly turn into another Ranma.

"Oh no..." Ryoga understood, "They're spreading Ranma's DNA to other humans..." Checking the fallen person, he saw the zipper activate after ten seconds, "And Sontarans are filling up the body!"

"Agreed." Yuko spoke, her eyes fully widened and scanning anything she could analyse, "Sontarans do not breed, they merely clone themselves. This is beyond their time, and signals a terrible change of fortune if they can accelerate their clone cycles to within a few seconds..."

Kuno readied his sword, "Do we have a strategy?"

"You were defeated in the open..." Yuko brought up a map, "This is close quarters, very useful for hit-and-run techniques."

"I don't know what they're like inside, but fighting Ranma again would be pretty tough on me..." Ryoga covered his face, "I don't think I could handle that so soon..."

"Leave the female figures to me." Kuno activated the sword, bringing up the metal power, "They were subject to my rules and were less equipped to fight hand-to-blade."

"Let me guess," Yuko piped up, "If the Sontarans evacuate their bodies, you want Ryoga to take care of them, right?"

"Sounds fun..." Ryoga grinned hungrily, "I should really express my gratitude to them for what they put me through."

"We should assume that somehow they are injecting or transferring something onto their victims bodies..." Yuko brought up schematics, "There is a small node on the person before he changed, whatever it is enabled the body to change into what it was now."

"It will be very difficult to get past my defences." Kuno made the blade grow to twice its size and width, drawing in spare metal from the surrounding rocks.

"Mine too." The shard glistened menacingly and the Contact even formed target reticules on the suspicious people without a request being made.

"You're forgetting one person..." Yuko had a hand hovering over the L-S Module and her offensive weaponry.

"Let's bring them down." Ryoga gathered his ki.

"Yes, let us show them how we Japanese fight for our honour." Kuno hefted his heavy blade.

The twosome walked into the crowded streets of panicked citizens running away from the redheaded army, their ranks swelling with each passing wave.

Underground

The Prathoon was escorted to the factory producing the compression fields, a red warning light flashing from the outside.

The Sontarans were fully alert, given the new battle status on the surface, and ensured that the Prathoon did not deviate from the path.

Reaching the inside, going past all the neurotechnological implements, the Prathoon made a groaning sound.

"The fault isn't here... It must be in the main core..." She turned to the soldiers, "I told you lot not to come in here! This is a sensitive area and your armour already mangles the frequencies as it is!"

One soldier held his weapon tighter, "We followed your explicit instructions, no soldier has been in here, only at the outlet for the newly created fields."

"Well, someone has!" She raised her arms flamboyantly, "You lot can't come in here, I don't even know how long this will take to fix!" She pointed to the doorway to the centre, "I'm going to check out the core, if you come in, there's no guarantee that you won't be killed from the subspace pockets reacting nastily to your shields and armour."

The soldier baulked beneath their helmets. "We will be waiting outside. You must finish this immediately, or else General Strall may think you are hindering Ano IR."

"Fine..." The Prathoon stomped off into the doorway, looking back out to them, "I'm going to flood these chambers with light radiation. Wait outside the factory, I'm not going anywhere, as you already know..."

Marching out, the Sontarans left the Prathoon in the quiet room with many monitors and switches.

Typing on the special 3D holographic keyboard built for their large fingers, a simple diagnostics cycle had begun, which was suitably loud as the machinery tested itself.

As if vomiting, the Prathoon removed the Doctor from her tongue, who landed on his two feet in the room.

"Nice place you had in there..." He stretched his neck, "Bit stuffy though..." He clapped his hands together, "So, we're in now?"

"Yes, this is the console." She brought up a monitor showing the Sontarans on guard at the exit, "Only one way in and out, guarding it as always."

"So, tell me, what is the fail-safe you have that's secret?"

She turned to the Doctor, her wide eyes showing a gleam and sinister side as she licked her lips, "The program starts an automatic shutdown of all the compression fields, essentially disabling them."

"So they stop getting used?" The Doctor didn't seem impressed, "That's a bit boring, no? Unless there's more to it..."

"Well, the zipper is sealed permanently, thus stopping any escape from within the space." She rubbed her hands together, "The field then begins to destabilise from inside."

"So, the Sontaran doesn't simply burst out of their shell, but..." He looked at the Prathoon with a growing realisation. "No..."

"Oh yes..." She was delirious with happiness, "The field, to maintain structural integrity won't destroy the shell. It begins to restore the inner space of the shell, gradually mind, slowly crushing whatever or whoever is inside, until it returns to nothingness."

"Then, why haven't you done it before now?" He wondered out loud.

The Prathoon seemed quieter now, "The same problem, the only way to activate the fail-safe is to stop all transmissions to within the field, orders, radio communications, everything except the personality of the person, since that remains on the surface of the body."

"So, you need to break the Sontaran network first..." He pointed behind him, "In that large building there, right?"

"Yes, I've only been in there once, to install an industrial size field, for all this land you see. This is merely the inside of a small ship, but the field I created can stock an entire army and clone pods."

"Does the fail-safe work for this large chamber too?"

"No..." She shook her head, "I didn't have time to construct one, or even think of making it, since this was right after I was captured." She looked to the monitors, "Given five minutes, I could easily program it in to detonate an implosion."

"So, you need me to disable their network?" The Doctor held up the screwdriver, "I could check where it is, but they might track my signal."

"Don't worry, they don't have any general scanner running in here, since so few people know about this place. They only have the portable ones to check my cell, and perhaps on their patrols." She pressed a button and brought up a map, "The network is connected to the other part of the compression field system they wanted, which was a personality injector."

The red overlay showed a room deep in the main building.

"I don't have many details about what is inside, this is just from my own memory and a few scans using some prototype devices I sent them."

"It's more than enough for me..." He looked to the door, "Any other way out for someone like me?"

She smiled and moved aside, pulling open a console, and then pushing a grate behind it, "There. That should get you outside." She looked at the monitor again, "Once that network is disrupted I can detect it from here, all I need is a second, and then I'll start the fail-safe."

"How do they store the personality?" The Doctor asked, then wishing he hadn't.

"I don't know what it is now, but before they just downloaded the memory of that person into their databanks, but now that they have started Ano IR, that means they've found someone who is strong enough even as a human to spread themselves further."

"Which means..." He finished for her, "that the person is there, feeding this memory direct to the skins." He grabbed the screwdriver in his mouth, and scuttled off into another crawlspace to escape the factory, before popping out in a secluded area away from prying eyes.

"I'd better hurry..." He held out the probe and started following the signal to the communications network base.

The surface

The Ranma clones moved in formation and attacked anyone in sight, instantly rushing to their sides and punching or kicking them. Due to their increased speed and strength compared to the normal human, they faced almost no opposition, and those that did manage to resist were taken down by one more clone.

The small data transfer device was meant to pierce the skin and allow five seconds of contact to change the DNA of the victim into that of Ranma. The zipper was created and a Sontaran clone inserted directly inside, swelling their numbers massively.

That meant nothing when a large silver shadow sliced through two buildings to cut into five Ranma's, the blood spraying outwards.

"So, we meet again." Kuno put the large blade into the ground, running in to chop more redheads.

"You!" One of the Ranma's shouted out, "Blue Thunder detected, all units, maximum power!"

The blue light flickered as the skins fell off and multiple rifles were aimed at Kuno.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" Another building to the side of them exploded outwards, showering them with rubble and wood as it crashed off their shields or armour if they weren't lucky enough to defend themselves in time.

"Take this!"

Ryoga launched himself through the smoke and pummelled one Sontaran, crushing the helmet with two fists, feeling a satisfying crack beneath it. Using his feet, he kicked off the chest of the now dead alien and whilst in the air he aimed downwards with his arms.

"Unknown hostile!" The Sontarans were now directing their attentions towards him, "Fire!"

A dozen lasers arced over to Ryoga, over for a green shield to appear in front of him, bouncing harmlessly off it.

"Got you covered, Ryoga." Yuko smiled as her hologram generated more defences around him.

"You made me suffer..." Ryoga spoke down to the Sontarans, now reeling at the fact that their weapons were ineffective, "now it's your turn." A large green and white ball appeared in the palms of his hands, "Shi Shi Hokodan!"

The blast crushed and incinerated the Sontarans, not being equipped for such a power.

"Ryoga, you bastard!" Three Ranma's jumped up to meet him in the air.

A blast of fire and wind pushed them away, and Kuno flashed by, "Your opponent is me."

Ranma growled, "Not you again, Kuno..." They launched into a flurry of punches and kicks, but Kuno managed to either dodge, deflect or counter-attack them all.

One of them unzipped, and as the short alien emerged, he was pulverised by Ryoga punching into his chest, the fist emerging from the other side.

Kuno and Ryoga grinned, and went on to fight their assigned enemy each time they appeared.

"Massive Energy build up detected." Yuko declared, "Lasers combined to make upper lever weaponry." She activated the L-S module and offensive measures, "Structure Conversion Tower on minimum strength, Ammunition; Incendiary. Target behind building, Firing in 3... 2... 1..."

Her left arm, instead of being a minigun, was a simple cannon, out of which a ball of light energy was projected and shot into the empty building, smashing into the larger laser the Sontarans had built, blowing it and the surrounding Sontarans into several pieces.

The right hand was still fractured and fizzing from what happened in the present day Nerima, more or less useless in battle.

"Phew..." She returned to her normal size, "I'll keep a lookout for more things like that..." She winked at Ryoga, "I'll protect you."

"Thanks, Yuko." He blushed slightly, "Let's clear out the trash now... There's still more out here." The Nairo shard unfurled outwards.

"Indeed, this is just a small number of them." Kuno changed his giant sword into a smaller icy version, "We have no time to waste."

As the Ranma clones and Sontarans closed in on them, others were still outside of the battle zone, expanding their ranks.

Sontaran Headquarters

The Doctor was outside the building, no obvious cameras trying to spy on intruders.

The probe was bleeping rhythmically, changing speed as he angled it one way.

"There's no way but the entrance..." He held the probe and turned it off, "I have no choice..."

Opening the door a tiny bit, it slid to one side and there was no one in sight. Running in, he crouched behind a series of vats with more clone juice in them.

The probe lit up again, and he followed its signal in the cramped corridors, until he reached one corner.

"One Sontaran," He pressed himself flat against the wall, "Looking at a console only...?"

The tannoy was much louder in here, "Unknown hostile on surface. Blue Thunder has teamed up with another meta-human, codenamed 'P-Chan' by host source. Powers are immense strength, combined with advanced technology."

The Doctor was listening to this in fascination, "There are people capable of fighting the Sontarans, in hand-to-hand combat?"

"Team Omicron, divert half of soldiers to defeating Blue Thunder and P-Chan. Other half, continue propagation."

Not wasting any time, the Doctor pulled out a pipe from the vat nearby and walked slowly towards the Sontaran, before striking it in the back of the neck of the outlet valve.

Stunned, the Sontaran fell to the floor, unconscious from the hit.

Walking further in, the sonic probe detected the room was above, so taking the staircase carefully, he emerged at the top, and two Sontarans were standing outside the room.

"Okay, this is a problem..." Thinking of anything he could do, he noticed a console on the far wall, similar in construction to the one from his cell.

Aiming the probe towards it, he heightened the power of the screwdriver, flicking switches in the wall panel, making it short circuit.

"What was that?" One of them asked, seeing the sparks from the panel.

Soon, the panel burst into flames from the fuses failing to shut off early to prevent an electrical overload. The corridor was shrouded in shadow.

"We have experienced a technical failure." The two Sontarans moved towards the console, trying to douse the flames with an attachment from their rifles, "Maintenance required outside Room 101."

"Nice name... The room where you meet your worst fear." The Doctor mumbled to himself as he slid against the wall, before using the shadow to slip into the room, the door sliding open and closed automatically.

Without even checking the room first, the Doctor locked the door using the sonic screwdriver, activating the dead bolts inside to prevent any unauthorised entry.

"That's all sorted out, now to shut down that -"

The Doctor stopped talking as he turned around, to see two things.

One, a fate he never wished upon anyone to a figure attached to a device, arms and legs splayed, wearing nothing but a futuristic pair of glasses flashing images and sounds. Several electrodes were sticking out of the forehead, connected to the machine and passing through to a thick cable leading up and out of the room through the ceiling. The person was jolting and twitching at sporadic moments, her bloody teeth gritting from anguish.

The colour of the blood matched that of her hair.

"Ranma... I'm so sorry..."

The second part, which the Doctor discounted at first, was a Sontaran soldier without a helmet staring directly at him, a larger rifle in his arms pointed directly at his chest.

"This is as far as you go, Doctor."

The voice was familiar.

"General Strall I presume?"

"Correct." He glanced down, "Your screwdriver, hand it over."

"Must I? It was a present from my mother." He pouted.

"Yes, despite its crudeness, the technology would be helpful to our plans." He took it from the Doctor's hand and walked backwards, keeping the rifle aimed at the timelord throughout, before placing the screwdriver on the central console.

"This must be an important room for you to be holed away in here." The Doctor walked towards the machine holding Ranma up.

"Yes, this is where Ano IR begins and ends." He seemed very proud, "All thanks to this person, Ranma Saotome."

"Since you're so talkative, trapped in this room now," The Doctor scratched his chin, "What is this Ano IR?"

Strall was astonished, "You do not know as of yet, perhaps I have overestimated your intelligence." He stood up taller, which was difficult for someone his size, "A New Order: Insurrection Resurrection. We make the humans believe that their own people are revolting against each other, when in fact the Sontarans will Resurrect, thus creating a New Sontar." He pressed a button on his armour, "At this rate, humans will be erased from history in one Earth Day with our kind spreading over the entire globe."

"I see..." He already guessed at what was happening, but didn't feel the need to comment on it, "What have you done with Ranma?" He touched her hand, and it flinched away from his fingers, struggling even more.

"The prize cattle is merely a host, a template for our plan. The mind is extraordinary, so much information, martial arts techniques, such speed and strength. Unparalleled in the world of humans."

Not wanting to see her in this much agony, the Doctor turned away to face the wall, his back to Ranma and Strall.

"What is that thing you placed on the head?"

"The host is surprisingly determined, and our standard mind-wiper is not suitable, so we are reprogramming the host to be more suitable for our needs." Strall was happy, "A natural at socialising and ingratiating with others, useful when we leave this small island. Refusing direct instructions from us is a problem though, so we are merely telling the body to obey us whenever we wish."

"And once you have fully converted her mind to what you want?"

"Disposal of the cattle, putting them out of their misery is a necessary evil in war, is it not?" He looked at Ranma, "Once we have the organic code for being subservient to our needs, we can download the personality onto our databanks."

A disappointed sigh emanated from Strall's lips, "A pity though, the body was highly sensitive to our prodding and rubbing, perhaps not suited to Sontaran biology, but with the right stimulation an appreciative response can be generated." He smiled with a predatory grin, "While there are no sexual desires within Sontarans, we can surely clone many female slaves made to satisfy and service all soldiers in any way they wish, even as target practice."

The Doctor leapt around on the spot, his face one of fury, "Now you've gone and made me angry. You don't want to see me angry."

Strall was delighted, "Finally, an emotional response, I have missed that." He was laughing, "What can you do, powerless without your useless screwdriver?"

"Am I so powerless?" The Doctor moved in front of Ranma, blocking the view from Strall, just her head appearing above the Doctor's own. He was calm but stern, "Perhaps you should look at that network of yours?"

Startled, Strall glanced back and saw the bright blue light on, flashing randomly, thanks to a program already encoded in the probe before he entered the room. Soon the entire console was shorting out.

"What are you doing? You think that disrupting our network will stop us?" Strall walked back to grab the screwdriver.

"No, but this will..."

Two things happened at the same time. The controls and switches exploded outwards, causing Strall to cover his face from the circuit boards and wires which flew out.

The blast also flung the screwdriver into the air, which landed neatly in the Doctor's outstretched arm.

"I don't fight. That's my way, but it doesn't necessarily have to apply to my friends."

Activating the screwdriver, the brainwasher unlocked and fell off Ranma's face, cracking as it hit the floor.

Her eyes opened, blue with rage as they centred on Strall.

"You...!" He raised the weapon, but saw that she couldn't escape from the shackles, "So, your threat is weak, Doctor, even your screwdriver will have a hard time with those dead bolts."

The console sparked again, but the tannoy system still worked, "General Strall, all soldier skins are in trouble!"

"What?" He was distracted now as he spoke into the room, his voice being transmitted to his men, "What's going on? How are our platoons?"

"Our men, they're dying!"

Ranma smirked, "Just you wait Strall, that punch... I'll return it a hundred-fold. No, make it two-hundred fold..."

She closed her eyes and concentrated, the electrodes in her brain firing up and sending more signals to the surface.

Five minutes earlier
Nerima

The fires raged around them as Kuno began to use water against the Ranma clones, freezing them in place with the wind only to shatter them moments later. The flames lowered due to his efforts.

"Yuko, medkit quickly, that missile of theirs got me." His leg was covered in black, the Nanos working furiously to repair it.

"Got it..." Touching it to the wound, the skin and muscles repaired immediately, but the sheen of the Nanos remained.

Yuko stared at his body, noting the amount of wounds he had received, "Ryoga, 31% of your body is injured, that is the amount of mass the Nanos have a hold of on your skin to repair you."

"It doesn't matter." He lashed out with the Nairo Painkiller and shredded two Sontarans where they stood, "Until this is over, I'll keep fighting..."

Yuko sighed, raising her arm to conjure another forcefield at Ryoga's back to defend against another laser barrage, "Whatever you say, but I'm worried for you."

"Wide Spread, Bakusai Tenketsu!" Jabbing his claw like posture into the ground, the earth became unstable for the shaky Sontarans, "I guess you're right..." Battering three soldiers and throwing one at another group of them, using a blade stuck through its stomach for good measure, "This is a bit tiring... Hope I'm not getting sleepy..."

Kuno stopped attacking as the Ranma clones stepped back, holding their heads, scratching at their foreheads.

"What is this?" He brought up his enhanced sight using the vein, "Some new form of attack?"

The image he saw was of the opening to the compression field sealing up, and the body inside of the skin beating the sides trying to escape, and trying to force open the zipper which was no longer there.

Kuno felt a bit greener seeing the bodies inside get smaller and smaller as the walls around them squashed their bodies into nothingness, leaving just the original organs, bones, muscles, and so on of the redhead.

Ryoga spotted this and the Sontarans he was fighting were trying to figure out what was going on also, as they were out of their skins and unaffected. He saw them report to their leader, but knew that now was the time.

"Shi Shi Hokodan!"

The six Sontarans were smashed against the walls and ground from the ki blast, and the few others were retreating from Ryoga.

"They're preparing another missile volley." Yuko tracked their movements and her eyes grew orange, "Laser sight engaged, targets locked. Full penetration of Sontaran armour. Firing in 3... 2... 1..."

Her eyes blazed yellow as the beams ploughed through the helmets of the Sontarans, killing them instantly.

"Wh-Where the hell am I?"

Ryoga spun around as ten voices spoke as one, all of them redheads.

"Ranma?"

"Ryoga? And Kuno? You're here?" They spoke, walking towards him, before stopping, seeing his stance, "Ah, I get it..." They all looked towards one direction, "They're dead, whatever was inside us..." They winked and leapt onto the buildings, "Well, see you around, Ryoga! Gotta save the day after all!"

Kuno watched also as the Ranma clones all ran away, heading for one particular shop, which had been shut for a long time.

Meanwhile
Beneath Nerima

"Sir, skins are fully autonomous and conscious, Sontarans within deceased." One voice shouted out before making a horrible death gargle.

Strall yelled into his comms unit, "Explain! Where are they going?"

"They're killing us all... They're heading to the lift!" Another spoke, again being silenced by death.

The General stared at the Doctor and Ranma.

"You two, you've spoiled my plans..." He levelled the laser at them, only to hear a loud explosion above them.

"Sounds like some people are dropping in on you." The Doctor smiled, as the ceiling began to crumble above him.

"I will never be defeated!" Strall used the laser to burn through the door and escaped out into the hall, running towards the main battle room.

Five Ranma clones landed in the room around the Doctor. He smiled at them, "My Ranma, you look healthy!"

"Heh, I feel great, "They all answered, "But there's no time to lose!"

They turned to the original Ranma, still held in place. Grabbing each shackle, the clones bent and broke them off, the last one grabbing Ranma as she fell, too weak to stand.

"Take our strength, and kill him..."

The clones moved closer and touched the bare skin of Ranma, allowing their DNA to merge and their entire bodies sucked in to her own, even the cloned clothing.

More clones arrived, doing the same thing for about a minute. The Doctor counted exactly two hundred clones merging with Ranma.

The last one arrived with Ranma's clothes, the red shirt and black trousers, shoes also.

"Sorry, they kept them well hidden..." She dressed Ranma quickly before holding her hands, "Kill him, and get out of here..." Before getting sucked in, she glanced at the Doctor, "Help with those things stuck in the head, it hurts, and might be bad to just pull out like that..."

She winked as her face merged with that of the first Ranma, who stood up, her ki at its maximum.

"Where is Strall?" Ranma spoke, her eyes hidden beneath the shadow created by her fringe.

"He's run off, presumably to fight back harder, or to fall back on normal Sontaran strategy." The Doctor moved closer, using the probe to detect where the interface of the neural needles breached the skull, and used a special remover found elsewhere in the room to take them out, one by one.

Stalking off, Ranma looked through the door and walked on to the only room her clones did not enter, one which was fully armoured and secure.

"This is a Sontaran escape pod..." The Doctor noticed the markings, "He must have escaped a while ago, using this and landed on Earth... No wonder everything was shoddily built, he had to do most of it by himself..."

"Useless..." Ranma stuck her hand into the metal, cutting through it like a bullet through paper, then clenching her fist to grab the pod door and ripping it off its hinges.

A red laser blasted out, but still holding the door, Ranma avoided getting hit.

"As I thought, your own metal protects against accidental firings, no?" Ranma grinned.

"A General is always prepared..." Ranma peeked out and saw Strall slam his hand down on a button there, "Now, say goodbye to your puny island..."

"Hiss..." Ranma's eyes turned feline, and faster than before, she transformed into her Feral guise, her skin becoming black as oil, leaping at Strall.

He fired again with his large rifle, only for Feral Ranma to phase out of sight, using the darkness of the room to reappear by Strall's side. Slashing into his armour, she peeled it away with her bare claws, dismantling his rifle into four pieces just in case.

Strall stared up into her face, the hatred evident by those white eyes, and felt no fear.

"A soldier's duty is to obey. You failed in that role."

Screaming, she began to thrash and tear into his body, only for her to stop and stand up.

Breathing, her body reverted to human standards, the joints restoring, skin lightening, and finally the eyes returning to blue.

"Doctor, can we stop this?" Ranma pointed at the countdown which could only mean one thing.

Aiming the screwdriver at the pad, his lips thinned.

"That's right..." Strall gloated, "Dead locked, for all your wizardry, you cannot even fix things which don't have screws, ripping it open will only set off the self destruct instantly."

"I promised you this, didn't I?" Ranma showed him her fist, glowing with ki, her eyes half-lidded.

"Ranma," The Doctor spoke tiredly, "It's not worth it... Revenge is not the way to move on."

"No..." She replied quietly, "But keeping my honour, my promises, is something I'm not about to give up on."

She crouched over the broken Strall. Grabbing into his wide neck with her left hand, digging in deep, she twisted her body and raised the right fist over and above her head."

"Ahh..." He seemed to be quivering, "This pleasure, this joy... You are the ultimate warrior." He licked his lips, "Let me taste you, more, more..."

Without another word, Ranma slammed the fist into his head, caving in his face and cracking the skull into several shards. The floor was now coated in a viscous material, and her fist was dripping as she stood up.

"What now...?" Ranma's face had a few drops of Strall's blood, but she didn't care.

The door clattered as a large figure tried to squeeze through.

"Doctor, you surprised me... Who were those... Ah!" Prathoon pointed at Ranma, "You! You knocked out the guards outside!"

Ranma cocked her head, "Who are you?" There was still no smile on her face, "You probably saw my clones, they attacked any Sontaran in here."

The Doctor turned, "Strall's set off a self destruction sequence, we have one minute, can you program the collapse of the compression field for this entire base?"

Prathoon grinned, pulling out a small chip, "Did it while I was waiting for you to shut down the network."

"Excellent." The Doctor looked to a dial which could only be non-Sontaran technology, and unscrewed the covering, "Actually, where does it goes in here?"

"Oh, give it to me!" Prathoon was annoyed, and snatched it from him, slotting it into a gap, and connecting two wires into it. "Right, once we leave this space, the field will shut permanently, but if it has been wired to explode, then we need to get rid of the box fast!"

"Better move it then!" Ranma smashed the wall behind them, and grabbed the two of them to land on a lower building, "Where's the way out?"

"There..." The Doctor pointed above, then took in some breath, "But it looks like you broke the lift..."

"No problem..." Ranma dropped the two right beneath the field exit a few dozen metres above them, "Don't move a muscle. When I stop near you, grab on to my legs and hold on tight."

"What is she blabbering on about?" Prathoon mumbled, "We're stuck here now..."

The Doctor watched Ranma run around them, getting gradually closer, "Oh boy, this is going to be a rough ride..."

Ranma felt her body flow naturally, the spiral freeing her spirit as she felt the pain from the past few hours vanish. Seeing the centre approaching she stopped in the middle of the Doctor and Prathoon, and did an uppercut to the portal above.

"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"

The hot winds combined the cold fist, and the tornado shot upwards. Feeling the Doctor and Prathoon grab onto her legs, she lowered her fist and held their other arms.

"We're off now!"

Growing angry, her ki turned hot, and she too joined the tornado, rotating constantly in rhythm with the winds.

"Doctor, you may need to widen the field slightly for all of us to fit at once." Prathoon mentioned.

"Good idea..." Letting go of Ranma's leg, he picked out the screwdriver from inside his pocket and shot at the field.

The blue zipper expanded in width and length, and soon opened up for all three to fly through it, courtesy of the winds.

"Got it!" Prathoon said gleefully as she pulled the box which held the compression field after letting of Ranma's leg.

"Man, you're both really heavy..." She mumbled, before they landed in the old shop which held the entrance to the lift.

"How big of an explosion are we talking about?" The Doctor asked quickly.

"Only a little, but enough to blow up this building with the power behind it."

"Good enough for me!" Ranma hefted the box and charged forwards, kicking the door down in the process. "Haaaah!"

Throwing it with all her remaining adrenaline, it ascended into the sky for about ten more seconds until it exploded outwards, looking more like fireworks than a bomb.

"Phew..." She sighed, "It's over..."

The Doctor looked at them both, "Ranma, stay here and rest. Prathoon, you can't walk about like that. I'll be back soon with the TARDIS."

Slumping to the ground, leaning against the wall, Ranma smiled at last, "Okay Doctor, see you soon."

Running out, he went to where he left the TARDIS.

Prathoon moved back and went behind Ranma, as the latter began to snooze away.

"You poor child, all that mental strain..." She stroked Ranma's head, "It must have been draining on you, transferring your mind to hundreds..." A small red hair ended up on her hand unintentionally, and Prathoon smiled, "A strong woman like you is always wanted. I'll make sure that you live on somehow, without the anguish you're feeling now."

Pocketing the hair into the field inside her mouth, the rasps of the TARDIS echoed around in the small room, as Prathoon picked up the sleeping Ranma.

Meanwhile
Elsewhere in Nerima

Ryoga was lying on the ground, a piece of masonry used as a pillow, the narcolepsy catching him prepared this time, and his sleep was restful despite the Nanos scurrying about his body.

Kuno sat there watching him, just in case of any further attacks, but knew that somehow, everything was over.

"Those fireworks were odd, perhaps a signal to show that it was all clear maybe?"

Several people appeared, curiously, to see the two, Kuno looked at them and saw that they were normal humans, no zippers in his advanced eyesight.

"We're sorry, we couldn't do much more for you all..." He spoke, "Many people were lost, and this is too much devastation for one enemy."

"It's okay..." One person spoke up, as a crowd slowly formed, somehow knowing that they were their saviours, "You did what you could, the police were no help either, only you stood up to them."

Kuno spoke for both Ryoga and Yuko, who was peeking out from beneath Ryoga's neck next to the makeshift pillow.

"We thank you, it was difficult."

A young man walked forwards unafraid of the two strange people, "You are both incredibly strong, I would be honoured if you could join my dojo."

"Sadly, that would be impossible," Kuno knew they would not be there for much longer, "The Blue Thunder does not reside in the same time period for long."

"Blue Thunder?" The man spoke, in awe of the name.

"What is your main focus in training?" Kuno asked.

"Swordsmanship, the family blade is a treasure of our home here in Nerima." He was very sincere and filled with pride.

"It may not be much, but take this..." Kuno pulled out his old bokken, which he somehow still held on to, and threw it to the man, who caught it. "Use it for right, not wrong, and never to draw blood, or you will become like I have..."

"This..." The bokken was old and stained, the wood slightly cracked at the tip, and it looked like it had seen better days, but he was amazed, "I, Soujiro Tatewaki, will not forget this moment!"

Kuno widened his eyes, then only grew as another person entered the clearing.

"Where in the name of the Gods am I now?" She cried out, before fainting, a raggedly rucksack falling heavily to one side. The traveller seemed like a savage, her fangs giving the other people reason to worry.

"What did that man do to you Saotome-kun?" A young woman spoke, as they walked behind the crowd.

"It was weird, he just came up to me and plucked some hair, very strange, do you not think, Tendo-chan?"

"How peculiar, well these foreigners have their own ways..."

"Wait, that girl seems to be in trouble..." The boy ran in to help the traveller, pushing through the onlookers, "Are you okay, miss?"

"Jolyne Hibiki , don't call me miss..." She wheezed, "Water, if you have any..."

"Saotome-kun, I think we have some at home, you do think our parents will mind?"

"No..." The boy lifted Jolyne up, "Help me out here Tendo-chan..."

Kuno watched the scene with amazement, his jaw dropping.

The Tendo spoke again, grabbing the other shoulder of the tired girl, "I'm just worried about Master, he's been especially hard on Father this year, I hope he doesn't arrive for another two weeks..."

Kuno felt his pulse race for some reason, but he had the feeling that this person they spoke of was not normal.

Yuko on the other hand, knew exactly who it was.

Their bodies began to vanish as the strange Nerima residents left the area.

Ten minutes earlier

The Doctor returned to the TARDIS, looking very pleased for himself.

"Well, at least your relative has hair time time around." He placed it in a special jar and sealed it inside the central column for safe keeping.

Ranma was woozy, drifting in an out of a nap, "Oh, really?" Not exactly taking it in, she nodded sleepily.

"I found your ship, Prathoon, it's hidden and cloaked in the hills. Make sure to fly at night and don't mess with the Earth, or you may find me on the wrong side this time." His eyes were cold, recalling what happened in London and Cardiff previously.

"Naturally, I'm going far away from this place," She held up the vial that the Doctor gave her, "I need more crew, and a real family this time."

"Well, when your species are only able to give birth once, it is better to have a second chance sometimes, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes it is..." She looked at the glowing liquid before the whole TARDIS shook.

"We're outside your ship now." He shook her hand, "Take care now."

Ranma woke up and yawned, "Yeah, see ya Prathoon..."

"Goodbye Doctor, Ranma..."

Leaving the TARDIS, she entered her ship, sealing it from intruders.

"Okay, Now that I've removed all Sontaran prisons, items and technology from this city, we can get on our way."

The TARDIS then wailed, and flew upwards, breaking Earth's atmosphere and heading into space, rotating fast.

"What's going on?" Ranma was fully alert now, gripping for dear life against the scaffolding above the column.

"We're heading off?" The Doctor pulled a monitor closer, "The TARDIS is picking up a signal, she's found her child? It's in distress?"

"The Master?" Ranma leapt down, and held on to the console, looking at the same monitor with a gleam in her cat-like pupils. "Okay, let's go and catch him this time!"

"It might be a trap..." The Doctor warned.

"So what, there's nowhere better to go, and if it isn't one, we might be able to get the drop on him."

"Okay, we'll go now." He loaded the coordinates the TARDIS provided, "Right old girl, let's see this beautiful reunion now..."

The time column pumped faster than ever, dragging them to their destination.

One month later
Sol system

Prathoon was orbiting the former planet known as Pluto, just taking some rock samples for fuel using energy extraction.

A small pinging sound excited her, as she went to the DNA extrapolater and growth pod.

"The Doctor really was too generous, this is too much, I could even have two more gestation cycles..."

The first three children came out of the pod, just like her old crew members. "How have you been, memories restored fine?"

"Yes, we're doing good..." He looked behind himself to the pod, "Is someone else coming out?"

"Yes, I have nine more children, but this one is a little special, so treat her like one of us." Prathoon declared happily.

Out trotted a strange figure, very un-Prathoon-like, in fact, one might call it human.

"Huh, what am I doing here?"

"Ranma, isn't that your name?" Prathoon asked kindly.

"Yeah, what about it, mum?" She folded her arms like a spoiled child.

Prathoon was brimming up inside, "You called me mum!"

"Well, you did give birth to me, even though I'm just a clone of someone you met on Earth, same history and everything. Didn't even make me a man again." Ranma sighed, "What am I now, a slave? Just like what that bastard Strall wanted from me..." She shuddered.

"Hardly..." Prathoon moved in to hug Ranma, "Just a daughter unlike any other, I'm sure you just want a bit of sightseeing and travelling, without so much death and sadness, right?"

"Well, it ain't all bad..." She pondered, "But seeing new places is always good, Earth is kinda boring when you've seen the future and a planet of curses." She waved in a random direction, "The original is with the Doctor, so I don't have to worry about problems back home, they can deal with that." She cracked her knuckles, "I can have some fun with this universe now..."

"Then, let the journey commence!" Prathoon took her to the flight deck, "Where do you want to go?"

Ranma looked at the navigational charts, and plotted a course for another star system, "Here we go." She wasn't surprised at knowing the way around Prathoon's ship, having been endowed with the knowledge in the birth pod. "Warp Factor 6, nice mellow pace, should get us there in a day."

Pressing the button, Ranma's face lit up, as her alternative journey through the stars began.

The small ship accelerated before swinging past Pluto, disappearing in a white light off into the darkness of space.

NEXT EPISODE

"Hello Doctor, I would like to play a game..."

"Oh, not this dumb moral, be appreciative of your life nonsense again. It was hard enough the first time around!" He was exasperated.

"Well, I thought you wouldn't like that so much..." The Master cackled, "Anyway, the rules, you alone possess the antidote to a cruel poison that is flooding this ship, which will inevitably kill everyone within one hour. The only way to meet up with any of the survivors is on the bridge, where your TARDIS is waiting."

"What's the catch?" The Doctor asked, wary of the amount of information he was giving.

"Well, every room is a death trap, with only one solution to the puzzle, get it wrong, you die. The others know of this also, and being a prison ship, they're not going to be very happy to negotiate with you if you get to meet up with them at the end."

"Thanks for the warning..." The Doctor growled, pulling out the screwdriver.

"Oh, and the antidote is slow working, taking ten minutes to work on the person you use it on." The Master was gleeful at this point.

Already figuring out the way out of his first room, the Doctor was just half-listening to the the Master, "Riiight..."

"Once a person a has been fully inoculated, the flight controls will no longer be dead locked, and you can stop it from ploughing into a lava planet. This will happen in exactly 1 hour and 5 minutes."

"Ah..." The Doctor stopped now, only to hear the Master's cackle echo as his rumbling TARDIS dematerialised from somewhere else on the ship.

"Oh dear... This is bad news..."

-o-o-

Ranma saw a porthole in the first door, "What's through there, where's the keyhole?"

The glass broke inwards and five flying saw blades with wings flapped through, veering around the room to target Ranma.

"Damn..." she wiped a lick of blood from the glass on her cheek, "Manhacks..."

-o-o-

Kuno held his sword outwards, trying to wedge the door open, only for the room to be bathed in orange.

Seeing to both sides, the walls began to close in on him.

Drawing the sword up, he stuck it into the door itself and roared.

-o-o-

Ryoga stared in extreme confusion, "Yuko are you sure there's no way this could be a door?"

"Positive, in fact this isn't even connected to the ship in a normal way."

"Then this button in the middle...?" He had no choice, as it told him to trust the voice.

Despite his best judgement, he pushed it, only for the wall behind him to pull backwards and open instantly.

Not getting a chance to hold his breath, Ryoga was flung out into the cold vacuum of space.

-
Author's Notes

Long chapter here, left that little clone of Ranma in for good measure, just in case.

It was tough combining all the characters together to make such a massive battle, still, this will only be a small fraction for the finale.

Hope the next episode is a good teaser, about time for a 'stuck on a ship in space' episode. It's a combination of 'Saw' and 'The Cube' (neither of which I have watched, just so you know).

- J