Ranma 1/2: Ranma of Grayskull Crossover: Masters of the Universe By: Dani Yanega yanega@mindspring.com (please respond to this e-mail address) http://www.mindspring.com/~yanega/index.htm or Visit my Mirror site at: http://www.ranko.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.htm Chapter Seventeen The journey back to Grayskull is uneventful as Skeletor licks his wounds at Snake Mountain. The three warriors return to the castle quickly. Ranma still in a reflective mood over her first visit to King Randor’s court. He-Man, She-Ra and Ranma return to Grayskull Swiftwind and Battlecat with them. They enter Grayskull to find the sorceress waiting for them. A sad smile on her face, at the happy one on Ranma's. Ranma's smile falls at the sadness that appears in the eyes of the sorceress. "Don't worry I'll be over here so much it will be like I never moved out." Ranma tells her with a cocky grin, the sorceress smiles. "GASP!" The sharp intake of breath draws the cohabitants of Grayskull's attention. "I see you found the lovely mosaic Ranma is creating for me. I can't wait till she puts in the dragon. It is quite lovely don't you think." The sorceress asks as she stares down at it mosaic. "It looks alive!" She-Ra tells her reaching down to touch it. "In a small way it is. I believe that the excess energy Ranma had in the awakening of her powers was used to create the Phoenix. The panther came after I teased her that I wanted each the others placed with the Phoenix." The sorceress tells them with a sly smile at the Mystic Warrior. "Ranma I am still working with the Amazons so may keep your locket for a bit longer." Ranma's eyes light up and she nods. "We better get going She-Ra, Queen Angela is waiting for us." He-Man tells his sister as he walks up behind her kneeling form. She-Ra rises and nods. Still looking over her shoulder at the mosaic, the three heroes follow the sorceress. She leads the small group to the doorway to Etheria. She passes her hand over the plaque that has golden spires of about six and in a cluster. In the center of the larger spire is a large circle which looks like an opening. Behind the castle are three moons rising and are in silver. The plaque begins to glow and the door opens. Ranma stares into the door. Just on the other side of the door is what looks like a wall of water. On the other side she can make out another world just outside a large forest. Ranma watches as He-Man, She-Ra, and Swiftwind crosses over to the other world. Ranma looks through the watery wall amazement on her face. "ACK!" Comes from Ranma when Battlecat's head butts her through the door then follows her through, the sorceress laughing as she closes the door. Ranma rises and brushes off her kimono. She slaps her forehead and the others look at her with worry and confusion. They watch as she stares down at the outfit she was wearing when she was meeting with king. She looks up at the others with her a small frown on her lips. "I wanted to change first. I don't want anything to happen to this my mom gave it to me." She tells them with a heavy sigh. "We're sorry Ranma, but you are meeting Queen Angela, I am sure nothing will happen to it." She-Ra tells Ranma, her eyes clouding as memories of missing her mother resurface. The group turns and start to walk towards the forest. Ranma stares in awe of the strange trees. They are as tall as earth trees but that is where the differences end. These trees are on green trunks and the leaves are in the shape of a teardrop and are rainbow in color. With blue being on the bottom and yellow in the top. When Ranma walks into the woods her keen hearing picks up the hush of soft voices. She listens as they whisper around her. They say nothing she can understand but the soft voices make her feel safe and loved something she didn't have unless she was with her mother. She looks around the forest her senses stretching to its limits as she searches for a spirit rift. She uses the information the spirits have given her. "What is this place?" Ranma asks, feeling no rift nearby. "This is Whispering Wood. It is magically protected and when the Horde tried to control Etheria it protected the rebels and it is doing so again." She-Ra tells the Mystic Warrior a tear streaming down her face. Ranma reaches up and wipes the tear from She-Ra's cheek. She looks around the woods, the whispering wind blowing through the trees. Ranma then turns back to his friend a warm but cocky smile adorning her lips. She tilts her head slightly and an errant breeze catches a strand of her fire hair and blows it across her body. "Well this time you got me helping and this Maldar is gonna wish he never came here." Ranma's smile lights the forest while her confidence blazes around her in glowing blue light. She-Ra smiles down at the martial artist her eyes slightly red. She feels the strong arm of He-Man go around her shoulder. Then he pulls her into a tight hug. She-Ra pulls back a smile on her face as Battlecat and Swiftwind try to get in on the hug. "I guess with all this help the Kalcar don't have a chance." She-Ra tells them a small giggle escaping her. "Do you hear that?" Ranma asks as she looks out through the trees toward the edge of the forest. "What?" He-Man asks he follows her gaze. "Look there, smoke!" He-Man points through the trees at a plumb of black smoke. "Let's go investigate!" She-Ra tells them as she mounts her winged Unicorn, Swiftwind, while He-Man climbs onto Battlecat. "PHOENIX WINGS OF FIRE!" Ranma shouts and her golden chi wings appear on her back. "I thought those were replaced by those larger fire wings?" He-Man asks the martial artist as she slowly rises. "Only when I am using the Phoenix power. If I use it now Whispering Wood would go up in flames." Ranma tells him as she flies off toward the smoke, He-Man and She-Ra close behind her. /*\*/*\ The group arrives at a village being burned to the ground. Bodies filling the streets. The heroes stare in stunned horror. Ranma and She-Ra land, She-Ra dismounting from her flying steed. The fire is burning out of control, but it is the eerie silence that makes them shiver. "Not even the Horde was cruel enough to wipe out a whole village." She-Ra whispers her voice cracking with a sob. Ranma starts to head into the small community when He-Man stops her. She turns to face him, the flames in her eyes filling them to over flowing. He-Man shakes his head, his face a mask of distress. He starts to say something but he has no voice. He-Man takes a deep breath and tries again. "They may still be here we will need to get backup before we go chargi.." He- Man is cut off at the scream coming from the village. "MMMOOOOMMMMMMAAAAA! HELP ME!" Ranma's cat aura springs around her so black it almost obscures her from view, her flaming eyes cutting through the blackness. He-Man and She-Ra stares at Ranma then at the spot in which she was. They look around for her but she is gone until a paw touches He-Man and he looks down to see Battlecat looking up. He and his sister follow his gaze in time to see Ranma disappear into the distance. She was jumping from roof to roof, leaving one roof before it collapses to land on the next. "How does she do that!" She-Ra whispers, the twins are soon brought out of their awe by another scream from the child. /*\*/*\ The cat in Ranma pushes her forward its need to protect _its_ offspring foremost in its mind. Ranma jumps to the nearest roof. The first building was still pretty much intact since the fire has not reached it yet. She scans the area sniffing the wind. She picks out the scent she is looking for and jumps to a burning building to the left. Ranma flips and lands on a small section of the roof still there then quickly jumps for the next roof. She pushes off flying over the street between the buildings her keen eyes looking for the child. She lands on the next roof just as the last roof collapses. She turns to stare but another scream from the child urges her on. Ranma hops several more roofs ignoring the dangers in an effort to find the child. She thought about flying over the roofs but her wings tend to draw attention to her and she wants the element of surprise. She lands on a building that just starts to burn and looks down quickly ready to continue to the next roof. A movement catches her catlike eyesight. "YYYYYEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLL!" Ranma's cat aura darkens as jumps roof toward the horror below her. /*\*/*\ She huddles against the wall her eyes wide in horror as the scene plays out in front of her. To her left stands a woman in a red body suit, knee high red boots and a red cape. Her black hair in a ponytail on the top of her head. A funny eye mask perches just above her eyes. She is arguing with a tall sliver robot with a small dome for a head and only has to yellow glowing slits in its face as eyes. On the front is a red 'H' with a black 'K' burnt over it. "JUST KILL HER AND LETS GET GOING!" The woman screams at the robot. "My orders are always to torture before killing just as yours are!" The robot responds its voice grating and if possible cold. The robot walks forward shoving the woman away from it. It raises its foot and begins to lower it toward the little girl cowering against the wall. A scream escapes her lips as she curls into a ball to hide from the horror in front of her. "YYYYYEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLL!" The woman and the robot turn at the cry of what sounds like an angry cat. "What is that?" The woman asks looking for the source of the cry. "It is irrelevant let's us finish with this." The robot places his foot on the head of the little girl and begins to slowly add pressure. The two never notices the four set of eyes that stand and watch in horror the scene that plays before them. The woman looks around nervously she senses there is something wrong but can not figure out what it is. Her attention is drawn back to her robot leader, anger flashing as she has to take orders from the reprogrammed sadistic tin men. Her eyes widen and she stumbles back as the slash marks being to appear on the robot. She looks around for the attacker and when a shadow from above catches her attention as it jumps from a nearby roof. Her eyes go so wide, that those watching fear they may fall out of her head. She gasps and stumbles back against the wall some twenty feet back. She stares at the fire hair shadow demoness, that is still more then forty feet from the robot slashes out. She gasps as four slash marks appear on the robot. Her mind finally points out the black cat aura surrounding the approaching hell spawn. The woman slides down the wall as shock wracks her body. /*\*/*\ He-Man, She-Ra and the animals arrive to the opening of the alley. The four stop in horror as they watch Katra and a Horde robot torture a small one year old little girl. The little girl was very small. She has long blonde hair and green-blue eyes. They watch with horrific fascination as the robot starts to slowly squash the child's head. It starts twisting its foot as it adds pressure. The sound of their swords being drawn can not be heard over the yowling of a cat. The group turns as a movement from above catches their attention. They look up and see Ranma jump from the building her cat aura fully covering her. Her fire hair spreads out around her like a fiery halo. They watch in awe as the girl starts slashing. Battlecat draws the warriors attention to the robot and the two gasp as slashes begin to appear on the robot. They watch as Ranma systematically cuts the robot to shreds. The leg on the girls head is the first to go it falls like metal confetti around the child. The slashes then rake across the robots chest and eyes causing it to fall back on its only remaining leg. The robot struggles to stay upright and manages to balance on one leg after falling back ten feet. They watch as Ranma flips and lands in front of the child her golden aura spreading out through the black one to encase the child in a protective shield. The robot glares at the girl in front of him her fire eyes blazing. Tendrils of fire surrounding her eyes. The robot's eyes change from yellow to red as a deep voice comes from the robot, but does not belong to it. "Well it seems the rebels have brought in another warrior to try and stop me! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Little girl you will be the first to fall to Maldar!" The robot taunts the girl her aura darkening, a cocky grin appears on her face. "Better then you have tried and failed. I am the defeater of Dragon Princes, the killer of evil Gods, I am the Mystic Warrior and I am your downfall." Ranma punctuates each word with a slashing movement of her hands. "You do not impress me with your words _little girl_, I will rule this world, and I will enjoy killing and torturing as many of its inhabitants as I please. When I have this world I will move onto Eternia and finally earth. I will rule the universe when I am through!" The blood lust is evident in Maldar's voice. "Not if I stop you first, you Saffron wanna be!" Ranma knows the reference will be lost on this evil incarnate. She also knows that comparing him to someone unknown to him and making him out to be the weaker power will enrage him. She smiles as she can hear him sputtering through the speaker inside the robot. Ranma decides she has had enough and finishes the conversation with actions instead of words. The robot begins to fall to pieces as each slash of Ranma's hands tears away another piece of its body. The whimpering of the child behind Ranma fueling her anger at the metal demon in front of her. The voice that calls itself Maldar is able to give one final order before becoming a jigsaw puzzle. "STOP HER NOW OR FACE MY WRATH!" A movement to her left causes Ranma to turn her head. She sees the woman stand and pull her visor down over her face. She watches in fascination as the woman turns into a large purple panther. She then stares into eyes that flare with the fire of rage. "Don't even try kitty cat you don't stand a chance!" Ranma snarls at her a swipe of her hand causes scratches to appear on her flanks. "AAAAARRRRGGGG! You'll pay for that wench!" Katra roars and attacks. Katra lunges at the Mystic Warrior but Ranma does not attack back. Her friends watch but their attention is soon taken from the battle in front of them when more of the reprogrammed robots arrive. She-Ra and He-Man move to block the robots Battlecat and Swiftwind move to help. "Swiftwind go get more rebels!" She-Ra commands of her steed. "You need me here!" The animal retorts as it kicks out with its back legs at a robot sneaking up on him. "Yes but the sooner you leave the sooner you can return, NOW GO!" Swiftwind nods and takes flight as Battlecat covers his exit. /*\*/*\ Katra screams in pain as four slashes appear on her hind leg, the pain of tearing flesh and muscles is added to by a burning sensation with the slashes. "AAAAARRRRGGGG! You'll pay for that wench!" Katra snarls as she lunges for the warrior. Ranma turns slightly to meet the coming attack. She doesn't want to hurt her too much but will if it stops harm to the child she is protecting. The large cat flies through the air at the fire hair warrior. Ranma's stance is loose one foot behind the other and her knees slightly bent to take the impact. When the woman turned cat tries to land, Ranma grabs her front paws and redirects her trajectory up and over her head. She spins with the cat and releases her into a several robots coming up behind, that have broken through the wall of Grayskull warriors. Katra hits the three robots knocking them to the ground. She slowly rises her side hurting where she has hit the robots. She stumbles slightly then turns and growls low at the girl before her. Her eyes go wide when she sees Ranma crouching like a cat the black aura around her forming the body of a black panther. She steps back slightly when Ranma steps forward her hand rising for an attack. They stop when an arrow lands in the ground between them and explodes. They look up to see a redheaded man on the top of a building not yet on fire his face a mask of rage. He fires another arrow in front of Katra and the robots forcing them back farther from Ranma. "TAKE THE CHILD AND GET OUT OF HERE! HER SAFETY COMES FIRST!" The man yells at a scowling Ranma, who nods her ascent. Ranma bursts into flames as she releases the Phoenix fire, she turns to her opponent a cruel smile on her face. Katra backs away slightly but her progress is stopped by the robots. "Tell Maldar I am his worse nightmare and I will seek revenge for the deaths he has caused here today!" Ranma growls over the wind churning do to the flame surrounding her. "PHOENIX FIRE STREAM!" Ranma holds out her hand and a plumb of fire explodes from it turning the robots into slag, while Katra jumps clear of the attack. "PROENIX WINGS OF FIRE!" The fire aura suddenly disappears and a golden pair of wings appear on Ranma's back. Ranma turns and gently picks up the frighten child she smiles tenderly at the little girl who doesn't seem to be more then a year old. The girl to frighten to struggle stiffens when Ranma picks her up. Ranma gently caresses the child's cheek and whispers into her ear. "It is alright little one I am going to take care of you and take you somewhere away from all this." The little girl looks into the fire cat eyes of her rescuer fear glowing in her changing green to blue eyes. She lunges forward and wraps her arms tightly around Ranma's neck. Ranma feels the warm wet liquid of the child's tears as they fall against her skin. She wraps her arms tightly around the child then takes to the air. Laser blasts from the battle below trying to take her down. Ranma dodges the blasts as she lets her friends and theirs take care of the battle. Ranma hates to leave a fight undone but the archer is correct the child's safety is paramount. She flies toward the only safe haven she knows. Ranma crests the last building and heads for the trees of Whispering Wood. She keeps her senses extending feeling an ambush could be present but for once her luck is good and she makes it in to the trees. Ranma sees a clearing not to far into the woods and lands there, her wings disappearing. She tries to put the child down but the little girl won't let go of her neck. Ranma smiles and rubs her back gently. Ranma sits down and waits for the others to return knowing Battlecat can lead them to her. /*\*/*\ When the rebels join the fight their rage at what Swiftwind was telling them. They at first could not believe it but the animal was so insistent that they really had no choice. The warriors took arms and began to follow the winged unicorn back to the village. When they arrive they see the horror was not on overstatement and they become sick with the brutality of this new threat. They hear the sounds of battle and head for it. Bo riding Swiftwind arrives to see a fire hair girl fighting Katra while trying to protect a small child. "That is the Mystic Warrior she is a very powerful and skilled fighter!" Swiftwind tells his passenger. "Set me down on that building there, then go help the others. I will help her." Swiftwind lands gently on the building and Bo dismounts. Bo is 5' 11" with fire red hair and thin blue strap round his forehead. His chest is bare, save for the leather strap that crosses his body and hold his magical lyre and quiver of arrows. He wears tight black pants the are tucked into brown boots. He pulls his lyre from his back and strums a few cords which causes the strings to glow in a rainbow of colors. The lyre stretches to become a long bow. He pulls an arrow from the quiver and notches it. He slowly pulls back the string and releases his arrow into the ground near three robots and a purple panther. The explosion forces the group back. He pulls another arrow and notches it, when he sees that he has their attention he tells the one known as the Mystic Warrior to leave with the child. He sees her nod and lets loose with another arrow to drive the enemy back farther. Bo nearly drops his bow when the Mystic Warrior burst into flame. He can barely hear what she tells them over the wind the flames cause. His mouth opens when she shoots a stream of fire more then a foot around at the robots and Katra. He watches Katra leap to safety then nearly falls from the roof as the robots become a bubbling pool. He watches as the fire dies and a pair of golden wings appear and she picks up the child and takes flight. He watches her disappear towards Whispering Wood. His attention is drawn to a scream and he looks down to see Katra transform back to human and collapse in pain. He can see the gashes on her thigh from where he is. When she collapses into unconsciousness he sees most of her hair is missing. It appears to have been burnt away and on most of her back second and some third degree burns. Since she is no threat he turns and leaves to fight with his friends. /*\*/*\ The battle is one of the most brutal that any of the Etherian's can remember. They can not believe this new threat is so sadistic as to wipe out an entire village but the evidence lay before them In the bodies of the villagers. They notice the changes in the robots right away not only in their behavior but with the black 'K' that covers the red 'H' that was there before. They work methodically to destroy the robots as they are now the biggest threat. Those with special powers use them to immobilize the metal men while the warriors destroy them. The magic users also keep the _human_ element of their attackers at bay. When there are no robots left the _human_ soldiers turn tale and run several carrying a wounded Katra with them. The warriors gather together, they are finally able to allow the emotions to wash over them. A pretty pink hair girl wearing a lavender body suit and boots collapses to her knees her startling blue eyes overflowing with tears. A strange woman with a living broom comforts her. The woman is dressed in red and her face is partially hidden by a large brim pointy hat. A girl wearing light and dark blue bodysuit and boots and with long white blue hair approaches the Eternian warriors. Her face as hard as the ice she controls. "She-Ra what is going on?" The girl asks the warrior princess. "I am not sure Frosta but we need to get to Ranma she is protecting the only survivor of this horror." She-Ra tells her as she starts to head off toward where Ranma was. "You won't find her there, She-Ra." The deep voice comes from behind the warriors. She-Ra turns and sees Bo standing behind her. He is leaning on his bow. He is favoring his left leg. She-Ra looks at him her eyebrow raising in a questioning gesture. "This Ranma is the Mystic Warrior correct?" Bo asks the two Eternian protectors. "Yes she is." He-Man tells them stepping forward Battlecat close behind. "I helped her in her fight with Katra and sent her off to safety with the child. She is somewhere in Whispering Wood. I just don't know where." Bo releases his support on his bow when the pink hair girl comes up and helps to support him. "I can find her!" Battlecat growls as he steps forward his eyes narrowing to tiny slits. "You heard the cat lets head back before reinforcements arrive. We also need to plan a way for these poor victims to be buried." He-Man mounts Battlecat, and She-Ra climbs onto Swiftwind. "Glimmer you ride with Bo on Arrow I am not sure he will be able to stay on alone." She-Ra tells the pink hair girl who nods. They then take off for Whispering Wood, Battlecat in the lead. Their faces somber, as they pass what looks to be the entire population of the village. All them littering the streets in tortured heaps.