[Ranma][Fanfic] All Mixed Up-A Prologue

[the DragonBard]

All Mixed Up

Based on the Bet idea

By:

the DragonBard
______________________________________________________

This isn't part of the bet storyline, technically. However, I've combined
several of the bet stories into this one. The nay sayers call the other bet
Ranma's 'over powered" They ain't seen nothing yet!

*******************************************************
Send all C&C to me at drago...@hotmail.com, or at dragonbard@my-
dejanews.com
*******************************************************

Franklin Richards is owned by Marvel Comics, the bet storyline and ideas
are the property of MetroAnime, Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takashai, Lord of
Nightmares is owned by Software Sculptures, ETC. No offense or copywrite
infringement is intended.
_______________________________________________________

Toltiir looked at the two entities who were talking to each other near
the viewing pool. Entities were still hanging around the place even though
the bet was closed. However, these two were stranger than most of the ones
that had visited, and considering some of his visitors, that was saying alot.
One was the Lord of Nightmares, the other a mortal that Toltiir didn't know,
but who seemed to radiate a power level exceeding that of all the normal gods
gathered there. The Lord of Nightmares was, like Shen Long and Titania, the
embodiment of a part of reality. Where Shen Long embodied the essence of
Yang, and Titania the principle of Fey, the Lord of Nightmares embodied chaos.
What's more, the Lord of Nightmares was a Creater, one who had started a
completely independent universe, all on its own. Besides Kami-sama, there
were only a handfull who had ever done that, and not many more who 'could' do
that. Though, if Toltiir was reading that mortals power level right, he might
very well fit the criteria.
"Greetings Toltiir."The Lord of Nightmares said. Toltiir shook his head.
Even though the LoN was his cosmic parent, if you will, that didn't mean they
met each other that often. The Lord of Nightmares was a hands off kind of
entity, while Toltiir got into the mess of things, all the better to drive
everyone crazy. The human, a blond young man, nodded at Toltiir.
"Hello, my names Franklin Richards. I was wondering around the
multiverse when the Spirit of Chaos here met me, and mentioned this bet thing
you had going. I decided that it sounded interesting so I came and watched.
"You know, alot of these timelines are pretty good. But, they just seem
to be missing something. So I've decided to combine a bunch of the smaller
timelines into one. Don't worry, it isn't an entry so I'll continue it on my
own. I need the practice in wide-scale reality manipulation anyway." And
with that said, Franklin nudged a few of the various timelines and changes
into a single reality.
As Toltiir watched, he saw:
An unknowing princess of an alien emprie marry a stupid rogue,

A pair of villians experiment go wrong,

Ranma save the fairy Featherbrite,

Young Ranma and Featherbrite get trapped in a maze of other dimensions.
Growing in power with each new hurdle thrown their way.

Ranma finally returning to his home reality, years after he had left.
But now, the forces of change, chaos, and destiny that plagued his lives have
been strengthend, causing a potential for even greater chaos.

"Hell!" Toltiir breathed. And he had thought some of the 'other'
results were a bit much.
"Yeah. I talked with Origin, a cosmic being from my neck of the woods
and he gave me some ideas for new powers. Says that he glad that one of his
creations has gotten into the superhero bus'. Long story."
"If he survives this, I'll make him my Knight for this dimension." The
Lord of Nightmares commented. The title Knight of the Lord of Nightmares came
with a lot of responsibility, mainly making sure that you survived while
fighting superpowerful demons, gods, sorcerers, and sometimes the kitchen sink
to prevent the end of the world. Basically a normal day in Ranma's life.
"So, what mutant power are you going to give everybody?" Toltiir asked.
It could be quite interesting. Now if this Franklin had a sense of
humor . . .

* * *

Ranma wandered from the camp, only one thought on his young mind: He
wanted to visit Ucchan! Why had the other boy been calling and running after
them? Pops said to forget about him, but they were buddies, and buddies stuck
together. Also, it really hurt to leave another friend behind. Still, at
least they were eatting well with the okonomiyaki cart.
The tinkling of bells caught Ranma's attention. Traveling in forested
areas for most of his life, plus his time spent studying martial arts had
hightend his senses quite a bit. He looked around, trying to find the source.
There, caught in a spider's web, was a pale pink light, and on the web, sat
the large, black, ugly spider who had spun the web. Ranma picked up several
large stones, and threw them at the spider, knocking it off it's perch. A
quick three blows from a tree branch reduced the spider to little bug bits.
"Thank you little boy. Could you please free me?" A tiny bell like
voice asked from the web. Ranma turned, and looked at the butterfly caught in
the web. After quite a bit of work, he finally managed to remove much of the
sticky web.
"What are you anyway?" Ranma asked. It looked a bit like that pixie on
the Aura Battler Dunbine ad he saw once.
"Here, in this land, you call my people yosei, though in other lands we
are called the fey, or faerie. I am called Featherbrite. Thank you son of
Adam."
"Pops Genma." Ranma wasn't certain what to make of this person he was
talking to. She looked like a perfectly proportioned nude woman, with
butterfly wings growing from her back, large eyes, and long pointed ears, not
to mention that she was only as big as his hand.
"Then, son of Genma, as you have freed me, ask me a wish, and if it is
within my power, I will grant it."
"You must not be that powerful, if that spider was going to eat you."
"True, my power is not great compared to many others of my people, but
whatever your wish, I will attempt it." Featherbrite said earnestly. She
looked at the aura of the child in front of her. He had had some very
definite emotional problems, also a very strong aura of power around him.
<What has happend to this child?> Featherbrite wondered. Since faeries were
so long lived, children were rare, and the more benevolent faerie races tended
to treat children kindly as a result, even mortal children.
"Could you take me to my Mother?" Ranma asked.
"If I knew where she was, I might. Tell me, why are you not with your
Mother?"
Ranma gave a highly muddled explanation of his training in the martial
arts.
"Could I wish for you to be my friend?" Ranma asked.
Featherbrite considered this. The child's aura showed that he was in
some serious need of emotional help, and any faerie not of the Unseelie Courts
would go to great lengths to help a child in need. Most of the changelings of
human legend were done because the child was being abused. If she granted the
wish, it would not only allow her to protect Ranma, but grant a wish easily
within her power, killing two birds with one stone. Featherbrite smiled.
"Granted!"

*****A FEW YEARS LATER**********

"So this is where your grandfather and cousin live?" Featherbrite asked.
She was a bit nervous, as she had noticed a spirit of a kind she had never
before encountered, wandering around. Also, there was a tree standing in the
middle of a pond, which she was sure held a dryad. She would try and visit
with it after Ranma went to sleep. As nice as it was to be with Ranma
(especially since she could keep the boy out of the problems his father
caused) she missed the presence of her fellow faerie at times.
She noticed Genma walking down the stone steps from the shrine at the top
of the hill, and with him were two other people. One, a young man trying to
look like he was older than Genma by way of an illusion <A very good illusion
too,> 'Brite mused, <I might not have realized it if faerie glamour wasn't so
common.> The other, a boy of about Ranma's age, but with darker skin, had an
aura of power about him that in some ways exceeded Ranma's. It was also
apparent that he could detect spirits, at least a little. Featherbrite hid.
Maybe she could get Ranma to introduce them after the adults were gone. The
fact that the older-looking man could cast such a good illusion meant that he
might be able to see her through the faerie glamour. It wouldn't do for him
to see her and try to get rid of her. And, if he was familiar with spirits,
he might be able to introduce her to the hamadryad in the old tree.

****Months later.********

Ranma, and his fairy friend, Featherbrite, stepped into the fairy circle.
Over the past few years, they had done this quite often. However, this time
something was different. Like the storms at sea, there are forces that warp
the fabric of reality. Within their safe shell of a universe, mortals are
unaffected, but those who travel beyond these realms, must pay the price for
their travels. Instead of the gateway to the plane of the Faerie Race, they
found themselves in another realm, leaving a confused Genma Saotome to ponder
his son's disappearance.

*****************SIX YEARS LATER*****************

It was an old place, one long held sacred to the people who lived there.
In this place, a ring of stones, laid out in a circle began to glow like
moonlight. The glow began to curl like a mist, obscuring the interior of the
circle. Signs, long dormant, flared to life, and suddenly, all the lights
vanished, revealing a young man and a tiny fairy within the circle.
"We've returned, Ranma." Featherbrite said. The years had not touched
her at all, considering the fact that her people were virtually immortal
unless slain by magic or iron, this was not a surprise.
Ranma reached into the pack at his side, with one hand, and with the
other, he gestured. This caused a ring of mist to appear around them. He
pulled several items from the bag, and having found what he wanted, he stood,
with his hand cupped in the air, and spoke.

Power's of Light, hear as I ask,
Guide me on this simple task.
From thy vantage, tell me true,
Where I must go, what I must do.
This I ask, as boon from you

Oh, you Spirits who see
and know the past,
You who are the first,
and know the last.

I ask you to show me the way home!

With that done, a glowing ball appeared in Ranma's hand. It floated up,
into the air, and then arrowed away. Ranma quickly gathered the things he had
layed out, spread out the carpet he had pulled out of his bag, stepped onto
it, and with a gesture, it and he, floated into the air, following the seeking
spell.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Featherbrite asked.
"Yes, Featherbrite." Ranma sighed. They had this argument so many times
since they had returned to Faerie that it was getting annoying.
"I know that he's a jerk, an idiot, and a thief, but he's still my
father. Anyway," He grinned at her, "He's the only one who knows where my
mother is. I've got to see him before I can find her." Featherbrite had to
agree with that. Though, she privately wondered just what kind of woman would
marry someone like Genma Saotome, and allow him to take their child away.
It was a few hours later. They were flying over a beautiful, green
valley, when Ranma noticed a strange aura of magic in the air. It resembled
the magics of the Mist of Change in the Faerie Realm., chaotic, powerful,
otherworldly. Ranma wasn't too worried, when suddenly, a wave of magical
energy washed over them, disrupting the spells on the carpet. It began to
fall like a lead weight, taking Ranma with it. Ranma and 'Brite, both tried
levitation spells to stop his falling, but the weight and momentum were too
much for Featherbrite, and whatever had interfered with the spells on the
carpet was also also affecting his spells. The best they could do was to
lessen his weight, and slow him down a bit. Ranma threw a spell at the valley
below him, causing several of the pools in the valley to throw guysers into
the air, further slowing him down. Still, the shock as he hit the surface of
the water knocked the wind from him, and he quickly swam to the surface. He
could feel the magic of the water surrounding him, just as he had felt it when
those guysers hit him. Though, after he had first hit the water, he knew it
had touched him in some way, it had done nothing else after the first bit when
he had entered the water. What it had done could wait until later.
"Miss, miss, you did not . . . Oh you 'did' get wet!"
Ranma looked at the source of the voice. It was an older man, chinese,
and a bit chubby. Ranma began a quick inspection of his body, which revealed
that 'he' was now a 'she.' Ranma sighed. <Why can't things ever go right for
me?> He . . She wondered.
Ranma noted that Featherbrite was still flying, so whatever had screwed
up the carpet's magic, and his spells must not have effected fairy magic.
That was a plus. Ranma looked at the man, who was staring at Ranma. Ranma
looked to Featherbrite for an answer, only to see her shaking her head. Ranma
fluttered his wings in annoyance. <What's a matter with them?> He thought to
himself. <This is old hat to 'Brite since faeries shapeshift so much, and the
old guy probably knows all about the magic of this place. . . wait a
second . . . wings?> Ranma looked to his back, and there they were, faerie
wings.
"Hey! Sir!" This got the older man to wake from his stupor.
"Oh sorry. Miss fall in spring of drowned Amazon, tragic story of Amazon
who drown there fighting Musk Dynasty, 350 years ago. Now whoever fall in
spring take form of Amazon. Very cursed spring. Though never see one with
wings and strange eyes before. Spring must be going bad." While the pair
were distracted, Ranma's bag dragged itself, and the magic carpet, from the
pool where they had fallen.
"Does the pools effect you if you touch something that was hit by them?"
The Old man, whom Ranma later found out was the Jusenkyo Guide, shook his
head.
"No. Only change living creatures, and only if fall in pool, or splashed
by water." Ranma nodded.
"So what's the cure?" He asked
"No cure." The Guide said. "Hot water turn you back to normal, but cold
water change you back to cursed form." Featherbrite was holding her head like
she had a headache, a posture that Ranma was thinking of adopting.
"Where you come from, miss?" the Guide asked. "I no see you arrive."
"Let's just say, I 'dropped in,' and leave it at that." Ranma said.
Ranma went to his bag, and pulled out a gold coin. He flipped it to the
Guide.
"Here," he said as the Guide stared at it. "There's another one if you
can tell me what all the curses on these springs are, and as much as you can
about the curse. Especially how it got started."
He turned to the carpet and bag, and began checking the spells on them.
Whatever the source of the curse, it seemed to be faerie magic. Fortuneatly,
Ranma had an expert with him.
"I'm sorry, Ranma." Brite said, as she flew to his shoulder. "This
place has so much Raw Faerie magic, it's like the barriers between our worlds
don't exist. The rules of neither world really apply" Ranma nodded, as if to
himself.
"Any chance you know how to do something about this?" He muttered in a
voice soft enough so that only 'Brite could hear. Featherbrite shook her
head.
"Sorry. Whatever did this is at least as strong as one of the High
Nobility of Faerie. You'd have to find something pretty strong to counter
it." Ranma sighed (he felt he was going to be doing a lot of that for a long
time) he had figured as much, but it was nice to have it confirmed.
Ranma straightend up. The carpet seemed fine, but he would have to let
it dry, and get it away from the chaotic magics of this valley before he would
fly it again. He asked the Guide for some casks that he could spare, and
pulling out some glass vials, began to fill them with water from the pools.
When the Guide brought the casks, he filled those with water from the Pool of
Drowned Amazon, and the pools immediatly around it, the ones he had used to
slow his fall with.
"What you doing, miss?" The Guide asked.
"I'm going to try and find a cure for this curse. Oh, and I'm a guy,
present form not withstanding." The Guide shrugged at this, and began to tell
everything he knew about Jusenkyo. <This guy is very strange,> The Guide
thought to himself. Then thought of the gold coin in his pocket, and the one
he would soon have. <But generous.>

****LATER**********************************************

"Amazon Fighting Tournament going on. Very great honor to win! Become
Village Champion."
Ranma nodded. He had asked for a place where he could eat and rest. It
would take a few hours to completely check out the carpets spells, and to
reestablish the seeking spell he had cast earlier. He had lost it when hit by
Jusenkyo's magic. Speaking of which, he wanted to be as far away as possible
before he did any thing magical.
Ranma turned his attention to the duo fighting in the center of the
clearing. They were on single log, and the object was obviously to knock your
opponent off. Which is exactly what the younger of the two did to her older
(and larger) opponent.
"Uh, Ranma, the bag." Featherbrite whispered into his ear. Ranma turned
to find his bag eating the large pile of food on a table nearby. Ranma
silently prayed to the gods for strength, and good luck.
{"WHAT ARE YOU . . . What's going on here?"} The Champion screamed.
She had obviously just noticed her prize being destroyed. She ran over the
the banquet, when her mind finally caught up to what it was seeing.
{"Excuse me,"} she said, in a 'slightly' more polite manner. {"But your
bag is eatting my prize!!"}
Ranma began to massage his temples. This was beginng to turn out to be a
very trying day.
"Why don't I pay you for all the damage?" Ranma asked. If this kept up,
he was going to have to get into his emergency funds, or see if he could find
the ingredients for a spell to make gold.
{"Xian Pu, claim the bag as your prize!"} A man in the crowd called out.
Xian Pu (better known as Shampoo) was shocked! <Mousse finally had a good
idea!>
{"I claim the bag, since it ate most of my prize!"} Shampoo cried.
"Out of the question. Well, since this was for the winner of the
tournament, why don't I challenge you for it? Winner gets the bag?" Ranma
challenged. He didn't need the agravation, but the bag had everything he
owned. Even the Jusenkyo water that might allow him to cure himself.
{"Ha! You dare to challenge me?!"} The guy was pretty arrogant for a
man, even if he 'was' cute. {"Wait a minute, why are you talking so wierd?"}
"I'm using magic. So, do we fight or not?"
"Ranma, watch out. There's an old woman who I think can see through my
glamour. She also has a powerful aura."
"Thanks 'Brite. I'll watch for any trouble."
Cologne was watching this from a short distance away. The young man had
an Old One with him. Not much could surprise her after all these years, but
the sight of an Old One certainly qualified. Was she his familiar? she
wondered. After a moments thought, she decided against it. While it was
likely he was a mage, the way they were acting seemed friendlier than the
'master-slave' relationship of most wizards and familiars. Though she 'had'
heard of familiars who worked for wizards out of friendship.
{"Shampoo, be careful."} She called out. <Let this be a training
exercise for her,> Cologne thought. <If Shampoo wins, we get a magical
talisman for the cost of a large meal. If Shampoo looses, we get a wizard as
a member of the tribe.> She motioned one of the older Lore Masters to them.
{"No weapons of magic, or spells are allowed in this contest."} She
stated. That had been added a few centuries ago to prevent the apprentice
Lore Masters from running away with a Warriors contest. {"This battle is to
be decided by the skills of the warrior, and the will of the gods."} Lao Xian
continued. {"Do you accept these terms?"} She asked the two. They both
nodded.
The two leapped onto the challenge log. As soon as her feet hit the
bark, Shampoo began to attack. She had been fighting for the entire day, and
didn't want to take the chance of exhaustian being her downfall. Ranma began
to concentrate, sparing as much of his thought into dodging the blows of
Shampoo's bonbori as he could aford. While most of his abilities would fall
under the area of magic, he had been trained for most of his life in martial
arts, and that was before he had taken his 'little trip.' With that thought,
Ranma summonded some of his energy to magnify his physical capabilities, and
simply tripped Shampoo as she tried to rush him. The contest had taken less
than a minute in total. Ranma let go of his technique, since it was
exhausting to use, and watched as Shampoo climbed out of the water.
Cologne looked to Lao Xian, who nodded, and silently indicated that
whatever it was he had done, it wasn't magical, but that he 'did' have an aura
of magic about him. Cologne grinned inside. <Ah real mage! And obviously a
martial artist as well! I'ld marry him myself if it'll get him into the
Village!>
{"Get him!"} Someone in the crowd cried. {"Avenge Shampoo!"} Cologne
was furious. Mousse, interfering again, that fool! The various warriors ran
at Ranma, who grabbed his magic bag, and with a gesture and wave of his hand,
caused a sparkling light to cover the entire group of Amazons. Everyone hit
by the 'fairy dust' fell asleep, while Ranma literally flew into the air.
Cologne pogoed over to Shampoo, who was looking depressed.
"Go after that man, and give him the Kiss of Marriage. I'll catch up to
you later." Shampoo nodded, and set off after her man.
<Finally,> she thought. <Someone other than Mousse to marry!> Several
of the other Elders had similar thoughts, and in an attempt to upstage the
Matriarch, sent their own protege's after the mage.

********THAT NIGHT************************************

Ranma was finishing with setting up camp, when he felt the spells he had
set around the camp go off. The spell they triggered hit the intruder a
second later. When he checked, Ranma found a bonbori, and a plush toy with
purple hair. Ranma shook his head, and put it in his satchel.
"Wonder where 'Brite's got to?" She had flown off, muttering about some
business to attend to.
The other Amazons backed away. After seeing Shampoo turned into a doll
like that, they decided to leave the wizard well alone for the night.
At the crack of dawn, they could see the shadow of a man on a flying
carpet head due East.

*********************IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS************

Toltiir looked at the pair in front of him.
"That has got to be the most mixed-up time line I've ever seen!" He
began to giggle. It was so refreshing to meet someone of such taste!
Franklin grinned, and though it was hard to say, it looked like the Lord of
Nightmares was having fun too.
"That's nothing." Franklin said. "The Lord of Nightmares is going to
have Happi, Herb, and Taro, and Rouge get into things alot earlier this time."
Toltiir began to laugh in earnest, while the two instigaters looked over at
some of the other timelines.
"You know," Franklin mused. "If Ranma was given the right wish hear, he
could make things really fun."
"How do you mean?" Toltiir asked. Anything to keep this going. With the
Bet ended, things might get a bit dull otherwise.
"Oh nothing much, just give Ranma the power cosmic, and Loki's
shapeshifting power, and give Akane and Ryouga the powers of a Saiyan. Maybe
make the rest of the group mutants . . . wait a minute, already did that last
part. Ah, make Xian pu a Jurain, Nabiki an ESPer, Kasumi a sorceress, and an
assorted mix of crazy powers for the rest."
Toltiir grinned. The Lord of Nightmares grinned. Not a good sign.

_______________________________________________________
Well, that was certainly a long one. I know you're wondering, where are
the Tendos? Don't worry, this is just a Prologue, they come in chapter 1.
All right. The bet stories that get combined in this are, A Different
Art, Featherbrite's Tale, X-Scape Nerima, Ranma Muyo, and maybe a bit of King
of Fighters and Dragon's Destiny. C&C is both welcome and appreciated.
I intended this story to be super crazy, and I think that this will work
for that. As soon as I get the time, I'll finish this and the other bet
stories I'm working on.
Speaking of which, sorry it's taking so long, but things are going nuts
at my job, so I don't have that much time for writing at present. Wish I did.
Not to mention the fact that my internet connection is slower than a snail at
times. Ah well.
Here's the various kinds of magic that Ranma and others will be
practicing.

Chinese Sorcery: Ranma creates a pattern using the elements of fire,
earth, water, air, spirit, and wood, to create the spell. He then infuses it
with a portion of his chi and reiki to empower it. Very draining.

Celestial Magic: This is the kind of magic that Dr. Strange practices.
He summons power from one or more supernatural beings or gods whom he has made
deals with, and they lend him the power for his services. Requires less of a
use of personal energies.

Spiritualism: The wizard uses a minor spell to summon spirits to perform
a task for him. Usually used to summon demons, but can also be used for less
malevolent spirits.

Personal Magic: Chi/reiki advanced techniques. Also the ultimate source
for all magic. Sometimes combined chi/reiki called mana. Mana strength
indicates potential for magic.

Ceremonial/Ritual Magic: Magic where physical actions are involved in
the spell casting.

There are others, but these are the ones I'll use mainly. I'm also going to
use these for the Art.

I'll be sending out chapter 1 sometime later. Sorry this is taking a while,
but I've got 'LOTS' of stories. After this, I think I'll work on some of my
older stories. I've left them alone too long. Don't worry, though, I ain't
stopping yet!

---
"To see a world in a
grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a
wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the
palm of your Hand,
And Eternity in an hour."

William Blake (1757-1827)

"Lord, What Fools these Mortals Be."
Shakespeare

-----== Sent via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==-----
http://www.dejanews.com/ Easy access to 50,000+ discussion forums