Trials

Disclaimer: I do not own MOTHER 3 or Ranma 1/2. They belong to Shigesato Itoi and Rumiko Takahashi.

Prologue: A Fire in Sunshine Forest.

It came unexpectedly, the only warning were explosions going off randomly in the night.

The forest was ablaze, set afire by who-knows-what.

The town was in a panic, and Thomas, the local Fireman ran through town, warning everyone about the fire. He rushed South to warn the only man who could help.

"FLINT! FLINT! FLINT!" He yelled, slamming hid hand on the door to try to wake him up, "It's a fire! A fire, a fire! The Sunshine Forest is on fire in a huge, firey, flamey fire!"

Inside, the man in question slowly walked towards the door to see what Thomas was yelling about.

"You gotta do something Flint!" Thomas yelled again, knocking even harder to get Flint to open come out, "It's the forest! The forest is on fire!" After a few more knocks, he tried to open the door only to find it was locked. "Geez!" he yelled to himself, "Who would lock their door in a village as peaceful as ours? FLINT!" He tried to open the door once again, pulling as hard as he could. Soon, the doorknob fell off, and he fell backwards onto the ground.

Soon, Flint came out, and Thomas threw the doorknob away to dispose of the evidence, which in turn woke up Flint's dog, Boney. "Ahh, Doorknob! I mean, Flint!" He corrected himself, "This is no time to be dozing off, there's a huge fire in Sunshine Forest! Bad times like this calls for reckless nice guys like you! Please help Flint!"

"What? The forest is on fire?" Flint asked, "Yeah, I'll help!" The two then ran off to town hoping to get to the fire before it got serious. However, they made a quick stop by Mapson to get a map before going into the dangerous forest. The two then exited the twon from the North, and stopped by Leder, who was ringing a bell to warn the people about the fire.

"Hey, Leder!" Thomas said, "Can you see the fire from there?" After an answer of silence, he repeated his question.

"Don't bother," Flint said, "Leder's just as non-talkative as ever." The two continued their journey, heading West and then North until they got to the part of the forest that was covered with smoke. They continued North, past the house of Isaac until they came across the form of Bronson, the town Blacksmith and Sheriff, on the ground.

"Oh, Flint," he paused a second to cough, "Gaah, I've breathed in too much smoke! Lighter and his son Fuel still aren't back yet, and I'm pretty sure their stuck in the forest!" He coughed again, "Don't worry about me, go help them!"

Flint nodded before running off North again, soon coming across a man dressed in a pig suit inspecting a box. The pig man soon typed something into the box, which then opened, releasing some bugs from the inside. He quickly ran off, not even realising that he was being observed. Flint continued on, heading even farther up North until he came across the unconscious form of Lighter.

"Lighter!" Flint yelled while shaking him, "Lighter! You okay?"

Lighter stirred a bit before opening one eye and speaking. "Flint, and Thomas," he began, "D-Damnit! I keep trying to beat these things but more keep comin'!" He coughed hard, "I can't get past 'em!"

"What things?" Flint asked. It was then that a bug behind him slowly shook, startling Flint and Thomas.

"What is that thing?" Thomas asked, "Is it a bug?"

Lighter coughed hard, "Dunno, they're going around the forest, lightin' fires. But never mind that! Fuel's still at home!"

"What?" Thomas yelled, "You left Fuel in your shack? Flint, you go help Fuel, I'll look after Lighter!"

Flint nodded again, and prepared to head off to the shack. However, before he could leave the clearing, he was attacked by the same bugs that knocked Lighter unconscious. Flint, thinking quickly, took the lumber stick Lighter had dropped and swung wildly at the Fireflies, managing to kill all three of them before they could light any more of the forest on fire. He continued North until he came across the shack Lighter and Fuel shared.

"Help!" Flint heard Fuel's voice yell. Flint looked up, and saw Fuel yelling out the window.

"Fuel! Calm down!" he yelled back, but Fuel dissapeared, while a small, mouse-like thing could be seen chasing him. Flint ran to the door and tried to open it, but found it locked. He backed up and rammed into it, knocking the door down and entering the house. Inside, he found the mouse, which had wings attached to it and was flying around the house in a frenzy. The mouse dashed towards him, but Flint tackled it dead-on, managing a lucky shot that sent the mouse into the wall.

The winged rodent quickly squeaked in fear, before flying out the window in a haste. Flint hurried up the stairs, and saw Flint on the ground in a panic. He rushed over, yelling, "Fuel! Are you okay?"

"Mr. Flint!" Fuel yelled. He quickly ran to the older man and Flint led the two out of the attic and down the stairs. However, they barely made it out of the house before it collapsed, covering them in soot.

"Are you okay Fuel?" Flint asked with a quick cough.

"Gah!" Fuel exclaimed, "I'm pitch black and covered in soot, but I'm alive!" He surveyed Flint, "And so are you! Thanks Mr. Pitch Black Flint!"

"Ha-ha," Flint said sarcastically, "very funny, but now we need to get you back to your Dad so he knows your okay. He's probably worried sick!" The two turned to leave, but soon found their exit blocked by the same Fireflies that attacked Flint earlier. "Stay back Fuel!" He commanded the child. Fuel did as he was told while Flint prepared to face off against the beasts.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!" a voice yelled, sending a beight sphere of gold energy into the wave of Fireflies. The beasts quickly panicked, then scattered soon after.

"Well, well," Flint said, "I never thought I would be saved by a youngin' like you... Ranma."

The pigtailed boy in question appeared out of the bushes he had been hiding in with a wide grin, "I'm full of sruprises, 'Mr. Pitch Black Flint.'" He created quotes with his fingers. He quickly grabbed a cloth from his pocket and threw it at Flint, "Wipe yourself off, your pitch black and covered in soot."

"Thanks." Flint said as he accepted the cloth and wiped himself off. Ranma threw another one at Fuel, who did the same.

"Ol' man Wess sent me," Ranma said, "said you might need backup. Looks like he was right."

"Now don't go counting me out already," Flint said, "I can still take on a hotshot like you."

"I'll take you up on your offer sometime," Ranma said, "but now we need to get back to Tazmily, look." He pointed upwards, and Flint followed the direction to see the gathering clouds in the sky. "It'll be raining soon, and I'd rather be dry and, you know, a guy." The three began running back to town, observing that Thomas had already carried Lighter off to seek help, and stopping to clean themselves in the Hot Spring on the way back.

"Flint, Ranma!" Thomas yelled as they arrived at the Prayer Sanctuary, "Being the responsible man I am, I managed to bring Lighter here! Hurry and let him see Fuel!"

Fuel nodded and ran over to his father on the other side of the Sancuary. "Daaad!" he yelled as he saw his father wrapped in bandages and seemingly unconscious.

"Th-That voice..." Lighter spoke, "Is that you, Fuel? You're alright?"

"What about you Dad?" Fuel yelled, "You busted your leg!"

"Oh, this?" Lighter asked, "This ain't nothin'! All I gotta do is twist it like this and..."

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! CONSARNIT!"

"Boss, what in the world are you doing?" Lou, one of his workers, asked.

"Fixing my injuries, obviously!" Lighter snapped back, "What's it look like?"

"Anyways," Thomas said, trying to change the subject, "we sure are lucky Flint and Ranma showed up when they did..."

"Yeah," a man named Ed agreed, "Flint and Lighter have always been quarreling since they were kids. It's enough to make me jealous."

"Thanks, Flint. Thanks, Ranma." Lighter said, "I guess I showed my not-so-tough side today, huh? I owe you guys one for today."

"I think that's the first time I ever heard the boss thank anyone." Lou said.

"Ahaha! You're right." Bronson said, "the only thing that would make this better is if it would start pouring rain!"

"WAIT! DON'T SAY THAT!" Ranma yelled, "NONONONONONONO!" It was too late, as his voice and body changed because of the sudden downpour. "Next time wait untill we all get inside before you do that!" she yelled.

"Uh, sorry..." Bronson said nervously, "At least the rain will probably put out the fire... right?"

"We need to tend to Lighter." Ed quickly said to change the subject, "Let's head back to the village for now."

"There you go, Flint!" Tessie, the nurse of the Yado Inn, announced, "You're all patched up now!"

"It's a good thing you and Fuel only suffered minor injuries..." Thomas said.

"It's been a while since Tazmily's last had rain." Tessie said, "Flint, you should go home and get some nice rest." Flint nodded, before stepping out of the room to do just that. It was then that the door opened and let a certain Pigtailed martial artist inside the room.

"Thanks for the hot water, Tessie." Ranma said, "Mind if I stay here for the night? I don't think this storms gonna stop anytime soon."

"Oh, yes," Tessie said, "that sounds just fine, but you'll have to run it by Jackie. By the way, should I check to see if you have any injuries?"

"Nah, I don't think I have any," Ranma said, "I pretty much just found Flint and Fuel when they got out of the house." He then left to talk to Jackie to reserve a room for the night. However, on the way there he saw Isaac, who was absent during the whole ordeal, talking to Flint near the door.

"Hey, Flint," Ranma said, "is everything alright?"

"I don't know," Flint said, "Hinawa and the kids haven't come back yet, and Isaac here is tellin' me how he saw them a little earlier while he was picking mushrooms."

"But that's not all," Isaac said, "while I was taking a break by the river, I heard loud roars off in the distance... it sounded a little like a Drago roar..." He paused, "After that... I thought I heard... what might've been... sreams..."

"Say Flint..." he asked, "Do you think Hinawa and the kids are at your house?" Ranma and Flint quickly exchanged looks at each other, and made a mad dash towards the house, Ranma not even bothering to comment how she just changed back to a guy.

When the two arrived, they saw a carrier pidgeon asleep at the door, and Flint quickly took the paper the Pidgeon had and unrolled it. "What is it?" Ranma asked.

"It's a letter from Hinawa." Flint answered.

"Dear Flint," Hinawa wrote, "Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived. Claus is daring and full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a but coddled. But neither one seems tired of playing at all."

"My father seems sad to say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so long, but we should be home by this evening. I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountian air is. You're always covered in the smell of sheep back in Tazmily Village, so I really wish you could have been here to take in this air."

"The next time we visit, let's ask Ranma to take care of the sheep so we can all come up here as a family. Claus, Lucas, and I were always thinking about you. When we get home this evening, I'll start cooking some of your favorite Omelets right away."

"With Love, your dearest Hinawa."

"She said they'd be here by evening," Ranma said, "I think it's a little too late for that to be true. What do you think happened?"

"Flint! Ranma!" Isaac's voice announced as he ran up to them, followed by Fuel, "Are they... Oh... they're still not back? With all this rain, they could cath a cold."

"I'll help you guys find them!" Fuel announced.

"They're probably taking shelter from the rain somewhere," Flint deduced, "it's getting late, so we should all go look for them."

"I'll get the other villagers to help!" Isaac said, heading back to town.

"Okay, I'll go tell my Dad then," Fuel said as he followed suit.

"WOOF! WOOF!" Boney, the family dog barked. (Please take me with you, I'm sure I will be helpful!)

Flint didn't understand what he said, but he did understand the message. "Come on, boy!" Flint told his dog. and Boney followed the two into town. The duo continued their mad dash, heading into the forest.

When they arrived at the Prayer Sancuary, they were met by Jonel and Wess. "Oh there you guys are," Jonel said, "I asked everybody to split up and search the forest for the kids and Hinawa. You've been blessed with kind friends. It must be happiness in a way..." with that, Jonel left to continue the search.

"I wanted to join the search, but they forbid me because I'm too old." Wess said, "Flint, Jonel wants you to head towards the cliffs, since the fire died down. Ranma, you get my lazy son over here to help us out. I told him to come here earlier, but he's still asleep, the moron!"

"Got it." Ranma said as she dashed off.

Ranma soon arrived at Wess' house and entered before heading into the basement to see him asleep on his bed. "HEY! OI! DUSTER!" She yelled, attempting to wake him up.

"Five more minutes, Pops." Duster mumbled, still half asleep. A vein popped up on Ranma's forehead, before she grew a wicked grin.

"I said five more minutes, Pops!" Duster said as Ranma dragged him out of the house by his shirt.

"Don't worry," Ranma said, "I'm just gonna take you for a SWIM!" As she said this she threw Duster into the river, causing the honorable thief to wake up and emerge with a gasp.

"RANMA!" he yelled, "Now you're taking after my Dad's training!"

"Shut up," Ranma said, "my own Dad's done much worse than a dunk in the river. But never mind that, Hinawa and the kids are missing, and your Dad needs your help. Go to the Sancuary and ask him what he wants." Duster grumbled a little bit but followed the Redhead's instructions, soon dissapearing from sight. Ranma was about to follow him when she saw something in the distance.

"Is that..." she squinted her eyes to see farther, "OH CRAP- It's Lucas and Claus!"

"Sir, all calibrations to the chimera are complete," a pigmask said to it's commander, "it's ready for activation."

"Good," said the other as they surrounded the deformed beast, now outfitted with unnatural metal parts, "King P says to release it as soon as it is complete, so I say we listen."

"Oh, really now?" a gruff voice announced from behind the two pigmasks, "Mind tellin' me who this King P is and what he plan's on doin'?" Flint announced, causing the captain to squeal in fright and drop his notebook. The other pigmask slowly turned around to come face to face with Flint, who obviously recognized him. "I saw you folks throwin' those little bombs all over the forest, so tell me why."

The pigmask gave some unintelligable babbles before dashing behind the chimera while the captain made a run to the small computer which controlled the monstrosity. "HA!" He cheered to himself, "You won't be getting anything from us! Prepare to fight our Combat Chimera Mk. I: The Reconstructed Caribou!" He pushed a large red button, which sent a shockwave through the chimera, which activated the beast. With a large jump towards it's opponents, the battle had begun.

"Okay, you two," Ranma said as she hefted the boys out of the river, "we need to get you to Tessie before you get a cold or something."

"Mom, dont..." Claus mumbled in his sleep.

"The Drago's too big... run away..." Lucas continued.

"Wait, what?" Ranma asked the boys, but they were already unconscious. "Hinawa," she began, "I hope you didn't do what I think you did..."

"Flint, look out!" Duster shouted as the Reconstructed Caribou dashed towards his friend. His warning didn't reach Flint in time, and he was knocked back by a powerful headbutt from the chimera.

"Oh, no you don't," Duster said as he began a stance, "Honorable Thief School of Martial Arts Technique 17: Wall Staples!" With a staple in each hand he threw them at the beast hoping to pin it to the wall. One staple managed to trap the beast, but not for long.

"Have some of this too!" Flint yelled as he put all his strength into his fist and brought it to the chimera's head, giving it a devastating punch.

WOOF!WOOF! (Last but not least!...) Boney howled as he reached back into his collar... and pulled out a Thunder Bomb.

"AH!" Duster screamed as he held his hands over his head, "Where'd he get that!"

WOOF! WOOF! (Behind your house of course!) Boney answered, rolling the bomb towards the struggling caribou, who had no time to dodge.

KA-BOOM!

The three looked to the cloud of smoke that appeared after the bomb had gone off to see their opponent, on the ground and free of his prison. The beast slowly got up and gave off a howl of rage, signaling it going berserk. Before any of the three could react, it sent them flying with a powerful attack for each.

"HEY! UGLY!" a female voice yelled over the battle, "TAKE THIS! MOKA TAKABISHA!" Ranma yelled as she sent the golden globe of confidence fueled Ki at the Chimera. It took the attack dead-on, a mistake it would regret soon enough.

SMAAAAAAAAAAASH!

The Reconstructed Caribou backed away slowly, it's mechanical body jolting in all directions as sparks began to jump out of it's body. It's wounds began to take it's toll, until finally, it's two eyes went out like a broken lightbulb, and it's bopy went limp and fell on the ground. Ranma took a look at the three fighters, who had recovered from the powerful beast's attack.

"Thought I'd come over and help out." Ranma said, "Looks like you needed it too."

"Yeah, yeah," Flint said, "you can brag like you always do later, but now we need to question these pig wierdos."

"Pig wierdos?" Ranma asked, before turning around and facing the two in question.

"We-We're Pigmasks, fool!" the Captain said, visibly shaking, "And you'll be sorry you messed with King P when we're done with you!" That was the last thing he said before running off, soon followed by his subordinate.

"Pig wierdos indeed." Ranma nodded as sthey began chasing the pigmasks, who had escaped into a small metal ship. Before anyone could try to get inside, the ship began hovering in the air and soon flew away from the land.

"Damn it!" Flint yelled as he threw his hat on the ground, "We lost 'em!"

"Don't worry about it," Ranma said, "those guys'll be back, and when they do, we'll kick their asses."

"What's this?" Duster asked as he picked up the notebook dropped by the commander.

"All the creatures around here suck." badly written notes began, "We need to make them cooler. So the theme will be: Tougher, Rougher, Badder! We'll mix and match this and that to create whole new things no one's ever seen before! I dub it the "Fascinating Chimera Project!". Let's reconstruct and modify stuff slowly and steadily."

"Sounds like wackos," Ranma said, "this is probably why that deer was so... weird."

"Right now we need to find Hinawa and the kids," Flint said, "then we can take this thing back to town and see what we can learn..."

"That reminds me," Ranma said, pounding her fist in her palm, "I found Lucas and Claus in the river and got them to Tessie, and she wanted you to come and see them." Ranma then began running towards the campsite, "Follow me!"

"Alright." Flint siad as he followed the red-head, who led them to a small camp where Lucas and Claus where huddled tightly in blankets near a fire, with Tessie taking care of them. "Lucas! Claus!" Flint yelled, "Are you both okay!"

Everyone cleared the way as the two boys turned towards their father. Lucas had tears in his eyes, ehile Claus was stuck in a look of fear and horror. "Dad..." Lucas began as they both ran up to hug their father. Claus, however was silent.

"I made some Innit Tea, Flint," Tessie said, "Please have some, it will warm you up." She took a look around at everyone, all soaked from searching for the kids and Hinawa, "Here, everyone else should take a break and get warm, too."

"Thanks." Ranma said as she took the teacup, and immediately dumped it over herself, switching back to a man.

"Flint!" Bronson's voice could be heard as everyone sat down around the fire. The man in question stood up, and approached the running blacksmith. "Flint..." Bronson began, "I don't know what to say... But just stay calm and hear me out. I have good news, and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" Bronson hesitated for a second, "No... let me start with the good news first." Everyone gathered closer to hear what the Blacksmith would say.

"I picked up a great Drago Fang," Bronson began, "It'll make a great weapon once I get to work on it. I figured you could probably use it for hunting big game..."

"As for the bad news..." Bronson continued, "The bad news is... It's... It's where I found the Drago Fang... It was... In your..." The forest seemed to mute itself as Bronson spoke the final sentence.

"It was pierced through your wife's heart..."

A thunderclap accompanied the statement, while Flint fell onto the ground, almost in tears. He pounded the ground, enraged at the Drago, enraged at the world, enraged... at himself.

"Flint..." Bronson began, "Just try to stay calm... I think the only reason Lucas and Claus are alive now is because Hinawa sacrificed herself to protect them..."

"Shut it!" Flint growled, "You don't know what it's like..."

Tessie slowly approached the rancher, "Flint..."

Flint did not reply as he smasked her away from him. He slowly walked towards the fire. He took a plank out, still on fire, and began beating the planks with it. Bronson approached Flint, but backed away as Flint tried to hit him with his improvised weapon. He waved the plank around wildly, threatening all who came near and terrifying his sons. Bronson tried to grab the weapon, yelling at Flint to stop his mad attack. However, he was beaten back as Flint knocked him out cold.

"FLINT!" Ranma yelled, snapping the rancher's attention towards him, "STOP RIGHT NOW, OR I'LL MAKE YOU!"

"Quiet, Ranma!" Flint snapped, "You said you wanted to fight me, what time is better than here and now?"

"Flint, put the wood down." Ranma tried again.

"Come over here and make me." Flint commanded. Ranma needed no second thought.

He ran towards Flint, prepared to stop him.

AUTHORS NOTES:

Wow. Already at Hinawa's death.

I might as well start by saying what brought me to create this story. Curiousity.

I wanted to make a Ranma/MOTHER 3 cross, and this was the best way to do it.

Please review, and inform me of any mistakes and wait patiently for the next addition of Trials.

Jonny out.

Oh, wait! I almost forgot the Poll!

Poll:

"Alright, so I asked my two little brothers to guess what Flint's last name is. Whoever guesses a better name will be awarded 5 bucks." Jon began, "Josh, you're up first."

"Well, it's simple." Josh began, "His last name is Locke. You see, Hinawa was originally going to be renamed Amber, but was kept so the pun on their names could stay. Hinawa means 'match' so the pun would be Matchlock and Flintlock guns. Therefore, their last name would be Locke, to keep with the pun."

"Wow, a long but very persuasive argument." Jon continued, "So what's your guess Jake?"

"His last name is Norris." Jake said, "Flint Norris, son of Chuck Norris. 'Nuff said."

"Okay then," Jon said, "let's let the viewers decide this. Which do you think? Locke? Or Norris? Please answer in the poll to properly decide. As for now, Farewell!"