Fanfic / The Return

Well, this is new.

The Return (FF.net version) by Sunshine Temple is ostensibly a Ranma ½/Sailor Moon Crossover Fuku Fic throwing Ranma and the Senshi into the world of secret government agencies, ancient conspiracies and Eldritch Abominations. It is very much of the Darker and Edgier school of fanworks.

The cast of Ranma bear little resemblance to their canon selves beyond names and a few surface similarities; even Ranma's curse doesn't last long. The Senshi fare somewhat better. However it works as its own original story, and no previous knowledge of the original series is required, though it might help.

The story begins when Pluto seeks to replace a suddenly dead Tuxedo Mask with the nearest available candidate for Prince of Earth, Ranma Saotome. Unfortunately Ranma's curse activates in the middle of the rite, and what Pluto gets is a very female Succubus Princess of Earth, Sailor Darkstar. Predictably, Ranma is less than thrilled by this turn of events. Shortly afterward he is recruited into a shadowy organization by secret agent Tendo, Kasumi Tendo, kicking off a twisting tale which may lead Ranma and the Senshi to save the world. Or destroy it.

Imagine Torchwood meets The X-Files, with a dash of Being Human.

Currently The Return clocks in at a hair under three quarters of a million words across 38 chapters. It was started in 2002 and is currently active, if slow updating. The author is presently working on a side story called Blood Debts - a side story crossover with the Dresden Files that promises to reach about 200k words upon completion.

By the same author is And If That Don't Work?, an Evangelion alt-fic which does much the same thing with that franchise.

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Provides Examples Of:

• Absurdly Sharp Claws: The claws of Succubae can cut whatever the plot requires them to.
• A Fate Worse Than Death: Being turned into a succubus, according to many, which is why it's a volunteer emergency procedure, rather than a universal one: the soldiers are free to judge for themselves which fate is worse, and choose accordingly.
• All There in the Manual: The Appendices Section has the background details.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted, Inverted, Averted, and finally beaten up with a big stick.
• Amazon Brigade: Well, yes.
• The Artifact: Happosai, he is included just to complete the checklist of Ranma characters but serves little plot function and sits uncomfortably at odds with the tone of the rest of the series. Thankfully he appears to have been dropped for all purposes bar limited cameos.
  • Also Ranma's curse, since the gender-bending is more than covered due to his being the reincarnation of Queen DarkStar.
• Automobile Opening: In this case a Motorcycle Opening. Like the TV version of the trope, the opening is done with an eye towards cost reduction.
  • It can be download here
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Sometimes it seems that WIC operates this way, given Commander Stillwater, Captain Jarvis, and Colonel Edwards.
• Ax-Crazy: Ryouga, never the most stable of the Ranma characters in the first place, is a total homicidal nutcase in this fic.
• Badass Family: The Tendo-Saotome family, just in a very different way from canon. Eve's family also qualifies...
• Beware My Stinger Tail: The chainsaw-like host of mono-filaments is one of their less squick functions.
• BFG: Morrison and Morgan are thrilled to find out their new physiology allows them to handle even bigger guns.
  • Slight subversion in that while the standard succubus rifle fires a massive 17mm cartridge, the weapon itself is a rather compact, if heavy, bullpup design.
• Black-and-Gray Morality: Lets not kid ourselves, if the bad guys weren't such bastards this would be a Villain Protagonist story.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Trying to map Human morals onto Succubae relationships will only give you a migraine.
• Break the Cutie: This fic is so dedicated to breaking Usagi that it is verging on Humiliation Conga territory.
  • It doesn't help that her powers were significantly Nerfed with no reason yet given.
• Breather Episode: Two, the first is basically an Info Dump on the background of The Company, the second a rather amusing crossover with another Ranma Fuku Fic allowing two different Fan Fic continuities to meet and compare notes.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Eclipse, Yuki, Aurora, Ryouga (twice).
• Brainwash Residue:
  • Nabiki and Akane still have a significant amount of mental contamination after being enslaved and Mind Raped by Alexia and it takes a lot of work to salvage any of their original selves.
  • Ryouga is considered a total write-off.
• Break the Badass: Essentially what Alexia does to Ryouga.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Actually it's more sister and sister incest within The Brood, although in practice it's more like Not Blood Siblings (except they kinda are) with shades of Flirty Step Siblings...did we mention Succubae relationships are complicated.
• Call a Human a "Meatbag": Misako's favourite word to describe humans. She gets better (with prodding).
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Boy, does it ever. Good thing company agents carry at all times, even when lounging around the house in underwear. Right, Morgan?
• Canis Latinicus: For some reason, succubae^note see YMMV for Genius Bonus is the preferred plural form of succubus in this fic. Not only that but the entire succubus language is this, being adapted from an abducted and converted Roman legion.
• Cape Busters: How The Company is presented as at the start.
• The Clan: Succubae Broods have distinct aspects of this, especially DarkStar's, which comprises several human members as well as Succubae. Also have shades of Cannibal Clan as well.
• Clean Up Crew: One the many departments within the company. Probably on triple overtime pay since Ranma joined.
  • They wear dark red trim.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Usagi, although Ranma sees her more as a Dumb Blonde.
• Colonel Badass: Colonel Edwards. Who is so awesome he doesn't even have to be awesome to be awesome!
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Assemblymen have similar Deflector Shields to the heroes, but they glow a radioactive green.
• Combat Pragmatist/Pragmatic Villainy: WIC takes both approaches. Have we mentioned this is a Grey-and-Gray Morality series?
• Comes Great Responsibility: This, combined with the Power of Trust, is how Ranma is recruited to The Company, playing to his Martial Artist's Code.
• Common Ranks: Standard officer ranks apply, enlisted not so much. It's All There in The Manual.
• Dark Is Not Evil: In early installments this is the case, but as the Black-and-Grey Morality becomes more evident it starts to look doubtful.
• Daydream Surprise: The funny and disturbing sequence where it looks like DarkStar has sold out the Senshi and given Usagi's head to the Russian Cyborg Mercs. Leading to a Funny Moment when Ranma snaps back:
  "Oh, just wondering how big that brain of yours is... just thinking about how many explosives I could fit up there."
• Deal with the Devil: DarkStar really seems to like this; she's made offers to the Russian Cyborgs, Mercury, and Usagi. Despite her being the protagonist, it's not really a subversion given that she is a demon and what her offer will cost, especially in what Mercury would have had to pay.
• Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: A wide variety, in addition to the expected "tailored for specific bad guys" and "sample platter of various materials" there are ones designed to retard regeneration and others that punch through Deflector Shields.
• Devil, but No God: Played straight, until Russian cyborgs threaten to pierce the veil.
  • "Which would be worse? An invasion from a place that could be described as Hell or one that could be described as Heaven?"
• '80s Hair: As she gets more demonic, Darkstar's hair goes this way.◊ And The Drake's oft-mentioned Mullet.
• Eldritch Abomination: There are some pretty heavy hints that Sailor Pluto is an avatar of Yog Sothoth or something similar, with a possibly-sinister agenda of her own. Other abominations are believed to be eagerly waiting for a recurring dimensional collision set to happen any time now. Older demons are mentioned as being pretty eldritch too.
• Emergency Transformation: Initially to save Nariko's life, then made company policy in the D-Program (which is strictly voluntary given the potential side-effects).
  • Program members have a special mark on their dog-tags. In the case of mortal-wounding, it serves as consent.
• Evil Costume Switch: Dark Mercury's costume and Venus's evil outfit.
• Evil Laugh: DarkStar's attempt at this is hampered by a missing lung. Good thing she can regenerate.
• Failure-to-Save Murder: DarkStar and Eve tell Usagi that because the bad guys attacked her, in her home, that she should be the one liable and responsible for the civilian casualties, not the evil, murdering, Russian Cyborg mercs.
• Fantastic Arousal: Succubus horns are very sensitive, it's also implied that their tails may act as a pseudo-inseminator. You may now wash your brain.
  • In battle, their tails extend writhing filaments. The phrase "chainsaw-blender" comes up. Definitely not a Clean Cut.
• Fashion-Victim Villain: In-Universe spoofing with Alexia, Aurora, and Dark Mercury, who are all soundly and mercilessly mocked by the heroes for their "evil" fashion sense (or lack thereof).
• First Law of Gender Bending: When it kicks in, it marks the point where pretty much the last of any Original Flavor Ranma is abandoned.
• Fountain of Youth: Pluto gets hit with one of these, leaving her younger than the rest of the Senshi, and also Nabiki who is turned into the youngest member of the brood.
• Gambit Pileup: Setsuna's, Murdoch's, The Company's, and several others, including Queen Serenity (which is a good trick considering she has been dead for millennia).
  • Murdoch eventually admits that he has no idea what's going on, and just occasionally drops cryptic hints to the involved parties that make it look like he caused the latest twist.
  • Murdoch's job seems to be to twist everyone else's schemes into a Gambit Pileup, rather than to further a specific agenda. Fridge Brilliance? Maybe?
• Ghostapo/Stupid Jetpack Hitler: Part of Captain Jarvis' backstory is that his grandparents were involved in something along these lines.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality: The True Companions are fighting an enemy where being tortured and eaten is the best you can hope for if you get captured; the alternative is much worse. To muddy things further, they and their enemies are both after the same thing. Which side are the good guys, and which are the bad guys? Answer: In many ways, the Soviet Cyborg Mercenaries seem less murderous and manipulative than the Brood.
• Groin Attack: DarkStar repeatedly shoots an opponent in the crotch. In a training session, Eve is referred to as punching Ranma somewhere that hurt women just as much as men.
• Guns Akimbo: Ukyo's preferred style.
  • Colonel Edwards also wears two sidearms, but we haven't seen him fight yet, despite his nicknames.
• Happily Married: Succubae are actually strictly monogomous, by their standards. Subverted somewhat, given their strong urges and empathic connections make it extremely easy for succubae to pair up. Single-Target Sexuality, anyone?
• Healing Factor: All the Succubae have one, but DarkStar's is at levels Wolverine would call ridiculous.
• Heroic BSoD: Usagi after the battle in the toy store, complete with Shower of Angst. It's implied Ranma had one of these after being turned into a Succubus before the story starts.
• Horror Hunger: The Succubae hunger for more than just sexual energy. They also hunger for flesh.
• Hufflepuff House: House Vespar. They were a rival clan of Succubae that teamed up with BlackSky and invaded Earth. After DarkStar (a Terran royal that BlackSky had captured and turned) was killed, they were destroyed when BlackSky betrayed them to Serenity. Serenity herself invaded the earth and took it over, while BlackSky retreated and took over Vespar's homelands. At least that's how BlackSky tells it. No description given to Vesper other than that they act like Alexia, the whole We Have Reserves, sending newly-turned minions out to die and all.
• Humanoid Abomination: It looks like DarkStar is heading down this route. Her Grandmother BlacksSky qualified for this trope, several millennia ago. Arguably Sailor Pluto, too.
• I'm a Humanitarian: As well as sex energy, Succubae enjoy the other other other white meat. Though if given a choice... Yuki: "Succubae are great. Amazing flavor and great nutrients and energy."
• Improbably Female Cast: The Brood, The Senshi, and the Russian Cyborgs are all female.
• Inhumanable Alien Rights: Nonhumans have none.
  • Want to stop those military squads busting down your door at midnight and forcing you and your family into stressful positions while they interrogate you, without a warrant? Hah, not a chance; you'll live where you are told (if they allow you live at all) and be subject to random inspections (and possible execution on suspicion and nothing else) at any time.
  • Been Mind Raped, deprived of your property, and forced into servitude? You're more likely to be gunned down rather than rehabilitated.
  • Just new in town and comitted no crime? Well, an off-duty merc can arrange an execution squad for you while you are on the way to do the shopping.
• In Spite of a Nail: The Alt-Ranma from the crossover chapter, not demonic, but still stuck in female form and a Fuku Fic Senshi (and due to be a mother too).
• Invincible Hero: Ever since Alexia, DarkStar has become this. Her superpowered attacks, Wolverine-esque Healing Factor, and shield of self-righteousness make any confrontation a foregone conclusion.
• It Gets Easier: Hoooooo boy. The main character started off highly disturbed with her powers and rather adverse to killing; over time, she changes to where she doesn't bat an eye at graphically killing and eating dozens of people.
• Just Desserts: Basically the fate of any Big Bad dumb enough to get on DarkStar's bad side, most obviously Alexia.
• The Little Detecto: Pattern scanners. Useful items that can not only detect sentient life, but can also discriminate between a human, a disembodied spirit, and a human infected with lycanthropy with no problem (as there's a specific pattern for each.) Not to mention more interesting yet easier to detect things like demons and Sailor Senshi. Used to give a "power reading" too, but that was abandoned after Ranma went over level 12 or so.
• Little Miss Badass: Yuki (Nabiki), who can pass for a middle-schooler despite her succubus-sized chest, wields a pair of cam-assisted folding knives oddly reminiscent of straight razors, and can create an armor-piercing thermobaric weapon with magic.
• Loss of Identity: It seems being turned often leads to significant personality changes; this clearly happens to DarkStar, Misako, Eclipse, and Yuki. Eclipse and Yuki actively try to recover their old personalities, with mixed success.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: At first, Succubization appears to involves just becoming a badass Perky Goth, however as the story progresses and reveals more and more mutations it begins to look more like Body Horror with boobs.
  • And of course the less said about what happens to Minako the better... Squick.
• Lysistrata Gambit: More a Lysistrata Punishment, Nariko punishes Akane this way for mistreating Nabiki.
• Mad Oracle: Shest, the Russian who can walk through walls, has a unique perspective on reality. She wields the Deep Diver system and may or may not know just how dangerous it really is.
• Mandy's Law of Anime Gender Bending: The male characters in this series should be very worried, indeed. Especially given the personality changes that seem to occur. Several mortally-wounded agents, when given the choice, have declined being turned, for just such a reason – they might lose themselves, and there's no going back afterwards.
• Meaningful Rename: Just about all of the main characters get one, examples will eventually be found on the characters page in order to avoid Spoilers.
• The Men in Black: All employees of The Company (the first MIB we are introduced to in the series is Kasumi!).
• Military Brat: Just about all of Morrison's human family but her are active-duty Marines.
• The Mind Is A Play Thing Of The Body: Debatable. There are arguments for and against this, due to the intricacies of being turned (see the discussion page for more). However, there does seem to be something in this, even in the best case scenario. Even if it is just a higher sex drive and less inhibitions.
• Mook Horror Show: The "heroes" are man-eating demons who have Emotion Bomb powers.
  • Played with, when an unregistered brood is attacked by Canadian Special Forces. Though the real Nightmare Fuel hits when Darkstar does arrive: "Please! Kill them now! Don't let Her get them."
• Morality Pet: The broodlings are this. Subverted in that their needs push Ranma away from human values and identity and towards those of a succubus broodmother.
  • Later Ranma is this to Jarvis. The Ice Queen defrosts, but the Cold-Blooded Torture stays.
• Ms. Fanservice: Ranma, of course, but also any other Succubus character, principally Eve.
• Muggles Do It Better: The Demons and Eldritch Abominations have all these fantastic powers, but Humans have inventiveness and are much better at being bastards.
  • Part of why in the eyes of a succubus, humans are the ones bordering on Always Chaotic Evil.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: Eve, Ranma's sister, is suspiciously quick at offering and or encouraging Ranma to just kill Usagi already.
• Mutual Disadvantage: Ranma and Galina have the Mutual Invulnerability variant. Each has a different version: Healing Factor versus Made of Iron, but neither can permanently put the other down. Given the unbalanced power both have this leads rapidly to The Only One Allowed to Defeat You.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Happens after the first time Ranma gives in to her Horror Hunger. It Gets Easier, though.
• My Greatest Failure: Ranma considers hers to be her abandoning and subsequent neglect/mistreatment of Nariko after her conversion.
• Never a Self-Made Woman: Ukyo fills this, unfortunately. She's first introduced as Ryoga's saner partner. Tags along as a Badass Normal on a couple zany adventures, gets mortally wounded, dons the blue shirt, and now decides she's in love with the very same person she was introduced with. They become mates.
• Noble Demon: Subverted. While DarkStar is demonic royalty, she doesn't fit the "noble demon" style: no qualms about killing or eating her enemies, doesn't try to prove she's evil. Related to the Always Chaotic Evil subversion.
  • BlackSky however, fits this to a T, even though she claims to be a Retired Monster.
  • Depends, she might be more Villain with Good Publicity. She's only popped up once.
• Non-Answer: When Ranma asks what gender Cecilia was as a human, she replies, "My name was Casey."
• No Sense of Personal Space: Succubae seem to have this when instigating interaction (including humans), especially within their brood, but when it is humans doing the instigating it is Hates Being Touched (except for the crying succubus rule.)
• No Loves Intersect: Succubae are actually strictly monogomous.
  • Granted, they are sex demons with "many different kinds of sex". But as far as relationships go, things are pretty stable.
• One-Gender Race: Succubae are all female. Kind of.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Usagi and the Senshi; originally seen as desirable by the company as allies, key to staving off the Reality Collapse. Now they're seen in need of protecting and severe training in order to keep them alive until the Stars Are Right.
• Our Demons Are Different: While there's not much info on Pattern D's other than the succubae, one can infer that the Forces of Hell are two parts Tanari (aside from the Always Chaotic Evil hat), one part Fallen Angel, and one part Islamic djinn. Feeds a family of five.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Just reanimated corpses, really.
  • Cyborgs and supposedly golems are stated to be "Pattern V's" as well.
• Pardon My Klingon: Submaternissima: When a broodmother Mind Rapes her spawn and turns them into cannon fodder. See, Alexia. Particularly damning in succubus society as it's a sign of poor parenting. (The literal meaning is quite simply "worst mother EVAH!" The rest is just cultural baggage.)
• Pintsized Powerhouse: Despite being all of 5 foot nothing, DarkStar dominates any room or battlefield.
• Powered Armor: Serenity gains a suit of armor that can be best described as the love-child of Queen Victoria and a battleship, complete with Pimped-Out Dress, Shoulders of Doom, Voice of the Legion, Glowing Eyes of Doom, and Most Common Superpower. Just to add to the confusion, it's actually living armor made out of a liquid metal Minako.
• Power Creep, Power Seep: Usagi and the Senshi are nerfed to the point of uselessness, Ranma (and every other character) are power boosted to the point even normal humans have combat superpowers.
• The Power of Trust: Col. Edwards uses this to bring Ranma onboard; it pays off big time. A lesson Ranma learns to her benefit, and one that Pluto doesn't, to her cost.
• Razor Floss: A succubus' tail can extend dozens of monofilaments. Subverted a bit in that they writhe around, making a decidedly unclean cut.
• Red Shirt: Averted, Ranma takes the loss of even unnamed characters hard.
  • Played straight, in that when an APC blows up we're quickly told the name of the now-dead driver.
• Sinister Surveillance: That the Company is capable of inflicting this on people is actually held as a virtue by the brood. Private secrets breed public problems, is the attitude.
• Shout-Out: Loads of them, including (but not limited to): Stargate, Babylon 5, The Prisoner, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Star Trek, The X-Files, The Poky Little Puppy, Team Fortress 2 and many, many others.
• Stages of Monster Grief: The Company has skilfully guided Ranma all the way to the cusp of stage four (they may not realise how close she is to it, though).
• Staking the Loved One: Done with a twist, Kasumi non-fatally shoots Akane specifically so that Nariko and Ranma will be able to give her an Emergency Transformation
• Stripperiffic: Initially, the Brood dresses this way◊. Somewhat subverted when after a few fights they start dressing with more sense.◊
  • The aversion is then subverted in the when Ranma fights Galina. She comes home perfectly healthy, if a little hungry, her armor however is all but gone. What's the point of wearing bulky armor when it's less Immune to Bullets than you are?
• Supernaturally Young Parent: Sunshine due to the complicated nature of Succubae relationships.
• Sword and Gun: Nariko's preferred loadout. Using an absurdly sharp, demon-metal katana and a 50-cal SSP (Standard Succubus Pistol).
• Super Registration Act: If you are a registered Non-Human and play nice, you are fine; unregistered Non-Humans are fair game.
• Take That!: In-Universe example, Those Two Girls criticise the Senshi for flashy speeches, fanservice-y outfits, themed powers, etc.
• Technicolor Eyes: Becoming a succubus almost guarantees an eye-color change, some pretty outlandish. In fact, the only characters so far to have escaped this fate are Eve and Akane (though her hair changed). They also all have Glowing Eyes of Doom which can lead to Eye Beams. With that in mind, let's rock (again):
  • Ranma – Ranma has purple eyes, started out as a transformation effect but became more and more dominant, pushing out the original blue.
  • Nariko – A sign when Big Sister has been pushed too far.
  • Akane – Keeps her brown eyes.
  • Ukyo – Orange
  • Misako has green eyes – Fitting as she's a Green-Eyed Monster.
  • Yuki – Icy Blue Eyes and Curtains Match the Window
  • Eve – Stays blonde-haired and blue-eyed.
  • Morgan – Goes from brown to Cold Sniper Icy Blue Eyes
  • Badass Moe Morrison – Green, another case of Curtains Match the Window.
• Tempting Fate: When Agent Morrison wonders how he'd feel if he was turned into a Succubus, there are no prizes for guessing what happens in the next chapter. Also Nabiki says she isn't a real target, a rare slip for a normally savvy character.
• Third Law of Gender-Bending: Hammered into the ground with all the subtlety of a drunken elephant on a moped trying to navigate the East Kilbride traffic system. It's commented on too many times to count that Gender Bender Succubae are girlier than cis-female Succubae.
• Those Two Guys: Naoko and Sam, Sunshine's schoolfriends.
• Transplanted Character Fic: On the Ranma side. The Sailor Moon stuff is clearly the same characters, but the Ranma stuff would not be recognizable as such with a few changed names
  • The Sailor Moon half of the fic isn't much better. The characters might be mostly intact but the setting is much Darker and Edgier.
• Traumatic Haircut: Eve cuts off Usagi's Odango to make a point about... er, something. Or possibly just to be a Jerkass. It just came across as pointlessly mean.
• Unorthodox Reload: Nariko can reload her handgun by dropping the empty mag, slicing open a magazine carrier with her tail, slamming her gun onto the falling mag, and finally hitting the slide release. All this while engaging in a sword duel with her right hand.
• What Have I Become?: Mostly absent, Ranma apparently did this before the start of the story, but definitely present with Nabiki and Morrison, despite the latter having volunteered (apparently s/he didn't think it through fully.)
  • Also present in Morgan, though it's harder to spot, since it's not about gender so much as becoming a demon, as well as her being quite possibly the most stoic of all in the two broods. Granted, the author did devote a whole scene to her What Have I Become? moment.
• The Worf Effect: Ryoga is introduced as just slightly below Ranma's demonic power level and looks like he might be a major threat... Naaaaaaah. It's just so he can be beaten up and converted by Alexia.

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