174Ranma woke with a start. He and Kasumi had been dozing on the beach while Tsukiko kept watch. A large aura was flaring not far from where they were.
"Do you know who that is, Tsukiko?" he asked his fox companion.
"I don't, Lord Ranma," the fox replied.
"I better check it out," Ranma said. "You two follow me cautiously. Don't get too close."
"Be careful, Ranma," Kasumi said, giving him a quick kiss.
Ranma bounded towards the aura. He encountered Percy standing in the surf facing off against a biker type, who was the one with the large aura.
He smirked. Ryouga would be so mad that he missed this. It was just as well, considering how close they were to the beach.
Grover and Annabeth stood off to the side. Annabeth was holding an open backpack that oozed power. An old-fashioned helm on the biker's motorcycle also glowed with power to his ki sight. The motorcycle had a pennant with a snarling, tusked boar's head with a cutlass and a machine gun crossed behind it.
"Hey now," he said, "you aren't going to start a rumble without me, are you, Percy?" Ranma said.
"Stay out of this, punk," the biker said. "It doesn't concern you and you're in over your head."
Ranma gave his most infuriating smirk. "Heard it before, but Ranma Saotome doesn't lose."
"Saotome, huh? Arty said she took care of you," the biker said.
"And yet here I am," Ranma said.
"You itching for a fight, punk?" the biker asked.
Ranma snorted. "This whole trip has been boring. Bacon breath even took off before I could get a good spar out of him." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, Perce, is this guy Miss Piggy's dad?"
"Yeah, this is Clarisse's dad," Percy responded.
"You know Clarisse?" Ares asked.
Ranma nodded. "Small time bully—got a mouth on her, but not a lot of skill."
"Ranma, you say that about everyone," Percy said.
Ranma shrugged. "Not impressed with you Greeks."
"Why don't you put your fists where you mouth is, punk?" said Ares.
"Sure," Ranma said, "you don't look any tougher than the Flaming Chicken or the Dragon Princess."
That was pure bluster and Ranma knew it. Ares's aura was much bigger than Saffron's or Herb's, but he knew that he had a much better chance of defeating the Greek war god than Percy did.
"Your mouth is going to cost you, Punk," Ares said.
"That's what I keep hearing," Ranma said. "But I got to say, I doubt you can do worse than my pop did to me."
Ares smirked. "You seem to have a thing for pigs. If you lose, I turn you, your wife, and your friends into pigs and I walk off with the Bolt and the Helm. If you win, you get the Bolt and the Helm and your buddy tries to make it back to the Empire State in time."
Ranma's jaw dropped. No way in any of the hells was that going to happen. Ryouga would never let him hear the end of it!
"What's the matter, tough guy?" Ares said with a smirk. "The price too steep for you?"
Ranma controlled his features and shrugged. "It's not like I'm going to lose."
He knew that Ares had more experience and was likely stronger and tougher than he was. He knew he could not outlast him either. He was betting on two things, that being on Earth severely restricted the war god and that he had never had the experience of fighting a high-caliber Eastern martial artist before.
Ares pulled out a short length of thick chain and a large, serrated knife and stalked toward Ranma. Ranma needed to test Ares's speed. He gathered his confidence and shouted, "Fierce Tiger's Pride!"
His ki burst out of his hands and flew towards Ares. The war god raised his beefy arm and blocked the ki ball with a studded leather bracer. The impact jarred the biker, but he kept his feet.
"Not bad, kid," said Ares, "but not good enough."
Ranma nodded to himself. Ares was a power fighter who preferred to block rather than dodge. He did not seem to rely on speed over much.
Ranma put his hands in his pockets and assumed his standard relaxed stance. He let the war god approach.
Ares swung the chain at him and when Ranma dodged, swiped at him with the knife. Ranma admitted that his opponent's form was very good, but he was a power fighter and, after over a year of fighting Ryouga, Ranma knew how to handle power fighters.
He ducked in and use the Roasting Chestnut Fist to hammer the war god's ribs.
He ducked out of range as Ares laughed. "I admit you've got some skills, punk, but you're going to need more if you want to more than tickle me."
Ranma twisted his ring to activate his knuckle dusters. He ducked inside the chain's reach and dodged the knife. He used the Roasting Chestnut Fist to hammer Ares's ribs again. This time, the war god grimaced.
"Okay, you've got some bite to you, but it's not enough," Ares snarled.
Raanma nodded to himself. He knew it would come down to the Ascending Dragon Strike. He only hoped that Ares had not seen it before as he slipped into the Soul of Ice. To distract the war god, Ranma started talking, "Why'd you frame your cousin?"
"Things have been too boring," Ares said as he swung the chain horizontally. Ranma hopped over it and struck Ares in the head. "A good war will liven things up. With Dad and my two uncles at each other's throats, we'll have a war like we haven't seen since the Titanomachy."
"So family doesn't mean much to you?" Ranma said as he kicked the back of Ares's knees.
"Family feuds are the best ones," Ares said. "They really get the blood pumping."
"Why now?" Ranma asked, looking for something to enrage the hot-blooded god.
The war good seemed distracted for the first time in the fight. Ranma got some good shots in, but they did not seem to make an impact on Ares.
"A voice in my dreams. . ." Ares said. "From the pit. . . It told me to act. . . It promised me blood!"
"Kronos," Percy said from his position in the surf. Ranma recognized the name of the Greek Titan of the Harvest, who was overthrown by the eldest of the current Greek gods.
A dark, heavy presence bore down on the beach before fading.
"Don't say that name, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth yelled.
Ranma smirked. He had a lever. Ares was as good as beaten.
"So," he drawled. "The mighty war god is revealed to be the lap dog of his grandpa."
"Ares is the lap dog of no one!" he yelled.
"Yip, yip," Ranma said. "Do you fetch other things for your gramps besides your daddy's and uncle's toys?"
"Shut up!" Ares roared. "I'm going to wipe that smirk off your face by taking your head off your shoulders."
"Catch me if you can!" Ranma called.
He led Ares around in a spiral and threw the uppercut that launched the Ascending Dragon Strike. A huge tornado formed and tossed Ares up into the air. The size of Ares's aura causing the tornado to spin faster than normal. The spectators all withdrew. Ranma had to use his ki to stick to the ground.
Finally, the tornado died down. Ranma could tell that Ares still had plenty of ki, but all of his useable ki was used up. Ares plummeted to the ground. Ranma switched his ring so that the blades protruded from his knuckle dusters.
He pressed the tip of one of the blades against Ares's neck. "Yield," he said.
Ares snarled and Ranma pressed enough for a small amount of shiny black liquid to ooze from his skin.
"I yield," the war god said, "but for this indignity, I curse you so that this weapon will fail you when you need it the most."
Ranma snorted. "This weapon is just a temporary convenience. It's only a matter of time before I replicate its effects with my true weapon."
"That trick won't catch me again," Ares said.
"I don't expect it to," Ranma said, "but I always find a way to win."
He backed off and Ares disappeared in a flash.
"What's your true weapon, Ranma?" Annabeth asked.
"My body, of course," Ranma said with a smirk.
Some bird women approached and talked to Percy. Percy offered them the helm from the motorcycle. The police, who had come during the fight, were convinced through the help of the Mist that Ares had been a kidnapper and that Ranma had helped free the younger kids. Percy and Annabeth managed to scam some airline tickets back to New York for the five of them through a combination of appealing to sympathy and offers of 'reward' appliances from his sleazy step-dad's store.
At the airport terminal, Ranma said goodbye to Tsukiko, who had refused to fly as a pet on an airplane. "Thanks for all your help, Tsukiko," he said. "I couldn't have done it without you."
"It was my pleasure, Lord Ranma," the fox said.
"Will you come see me again?" Ranma asked.
"I would love to," Tsukiko said, "but they won't allow me at your camp. I will find you when you return to Japan."
"I look forward to it," Ranma said. He gave the fox a hug. Kasumi also gave the fox a hug before they entered the airport.
Ranma managed to get tickets at the back of the plane for himself and Kasumi, well away from the other three. When they boarded the plane he ducked into the bathroom and came out a woman. When they left the plane, they made sure they were the last to leave and lingered so that no one would see her change back in the breezeway.
"What took you so long?" Percy complained.
"Surely you don't begrudge me a few minutes relaxing with my husband after a trying ordeal, do you, Mr. Jackson?" Kasumi asked.
Percy quickly shook his head while Annabeth giggled.
They took a taxi to the Empire State Building, but Ranma and Kasumi remained by the taxi.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Percy asked.
Ranma shook his head. "Me and authority figures don't really mesh. I'd really rather avoid the big guy."
"It's for the best, really," Kasumi agreed.
"Good luck!" they both called as the other three entered the building.
They reentered the cab and rode to Camp Half Blood.
The last weeks of camp were pretty tame, other than the furor over Luke's betrayal. The Hermes Cabin had made Kasumi and Ranma nice funeral shrouds that they got to burn—much nicer than the one that the Ares Cabin made for Percy.
The traditional bead for the year had a trident on one side and fox head surrounded by fire on the other side. A two-sided bead was unusual, but this was the first time that two quests had been successfully completed in a summer.
It was time for goodbyes and Ranma and Kasumi were seeing Percy and Annabeth off. Ranma was glad to hear that Percy's mom was alive and free from "Smelly Gabe" who had been abusing her. He was also glad that Annabeth and her dad were giving each other another chance.
"Take care of yourself, Percy," Ranma said. "Don't slack off during the school year. Reconditioning yourself after a long break is a beast."
"I won't," Percy said. "You take care of yourself too."
"I always do," Ranma said with a smirk.
"Will you be back next summer?" Percy asked.
"I don't think so," Ranma said. "No offense to Chiron, but I think I can train Kasumi better on my own. Japan is also better for meeting with a certain person, if you know what I mean."
Percy nodded. He got the hint about Hestia having more freedom out from under the scrutiny of her brother.
"I'd like to keep in touch though," Ranma said. He passed Percy a card. "Here's the address to the Tendou Dojo where we live." He smirked. "If you ever need help saving the world, I'm your man."
Percy smirked in return. "I'll keep you in mind."
Ranma joined Kasumi in saying goodbye to Annabeth. Most of the campers who were leaving had left.
"Did anyone tell you how we were getting back to Japan?" Ranma asked.
Kasumi shook her head, slight concern showing on her face. "When I asked Argus if he was taking us to the airport he shook his head."
Argus's van was the drove away. Now visible was Apollo wearing sunglasses and leaning against a souped-up Ford Mustang. Ranma rolled his eyes at the sun god's dramatic antics.
"I take it we get the special treatment?" Ranma asked.
"In a manner of speaking," Apollo said. "The Big Guy really wants to make sure you leave."
Ranma fake pouted. Kasumi elbowed him in the ribs.
Apollo laughed. "You managed to take down the war god and escape Little Sis's punishment. You make the Council nervous."
Ranma grinned. He knew it should not make him happy, but it did.
"Hey," he said. "If it gets us a trip in your sweet ride, I'd say it's worth it."
Apollo laughed. "It is pretty sweet, isn't it?"
Ranma and Kasumi squeezed into the back seat and rode the Sun back to Japan.
The End.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the contrast between the fights in this chapter and the previous. Yes I know Ares's banner is different in canon, but I like the idea of using a mix of old-fashioned and modern weapons in it.
Ranma Saotome and the Maiden's Daughter ends where the Lightning Thief ends. Will there be a sequel? No. I find writing Ranma's interactions with the Greek gods too difficult for me to attempt this again. Ugh. Writing Mr. D. was a struggle. To be honest, I don't really know the rest of the series that well to begin with. I did have fun with it though and hope you enjoyed it too.
Am I opposed to someone else writing a sequel? It would be pretty hypocritical of me to object to someone writing fan fiction of my fan fiction. If someone does, I would appreciate being dropped a line and mentioned in the disclaimer.
My thoughts on the future of this crossover: Ranma sits out The Sea of Monsters, but eventually makes it back to the West when things really heat up. Eventually, Ranma and Kasumi become part of both the Shinto and Greco-Roman pantheons. I see Kasumi as being the Goddess of the Kitchen in both. Ranma becomes the God/Goddess of Victory in the Shinto pantheon, but becomes the God/Goddess of Unarmed Fighting in the West due to Nike already having dibs.
