Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong  

Bubblegum Crisis/Ranma 1/2: The boomer that just won't die part 7/8




  "Let go of me!!!" Madigan shouted, straining against the iron bars. 
She and Carper had been placed a small cell in what remained of the 
Knight Sabers' headquarters. Priss had realized that Madgian and Carper 
would be useful to them, thus, she brought them back with her, but not 
without a fight. Madigan had been easy to knock out, Carper a bit 
harder.
  Priss shook her head, "Not until you tell us where that chip is," 
Whatever the chip was that Ranma had been talking about, it was 
definitely worth persuing if Ranma seemed hell bent on getting it.
  "No!!" Madigan shouted "I'll never tell you!!!"
  Priss' eyes creased, her anger rising, "Do you know idea what kinda 
predicament you're in right now?  No on knows that either of you two are 
in here. Genom may know of our hideout, but there's no one there to send 
the boomers after us"
  Madigan seemed to become very silent. It was true, she and Carper were 
in charge of all the boomers' operations and seeing to them that they 
did their job correctly. But she had to lie, "You're wrong about that. 
We're not the only ones! Genom will realize that we never came back and 
will send boomers out to find us!"
  "Yeah, right, like Genom cares about you," Ranma's voice entered the 
corridor where Madigan and Carper's cell was. 
  Priss turned toward Ranma, a bit startled by his sudden appearance. 
How had he managed to get in here without a sound. Even though the 
headquarters were damaged, some of the systems still worked, security 
being one of them.
  "Genom doesn't care about you," Ranma said, walking forward to stand 
in front of the cell, "If I recall correctly, when we first met, I ended 
up saving your life. Don't you remember? You two were in the same room 
as me and all those boomers opened fire at me, not even caring about the 
fact that you two were standing in front of me." 
  Madigan's lips persed. She remembered that clearly. That incident had 
given her some doubts as to her importance to Genom. If she weren't 
expendable, then the boomers would have never fired, not wanting to hit 
her or Carper. But they had...
  Ranma turned toward Priss, a smile on his lips, "Guess what, Akane's 
all right."
  "What?!" Madigan said, shock in her voice "We sprayed enough bullets 
into her to destroy her!!!"
  Ranma turned toward Madigan, almost glowing, his anger growing, "Yes, 
you did! And I should have killed you for that!" He reached an arm 
forward and gripped Madigan's shirt collar. With a woman like her, it 
was best to scare her straight.
  "Let go of her!!" Carper shouted, running forward and trying to break 
Ranma grip from Madigan's shirt collar. He gripped the wrist of Ranma's 
otustretched arm and pulled it backwards, using the steel bars as a 
fulcrum on Ranma's elbow, hoping to hyperextend his arm. Ranma's arms 
remained still, also like steel bars. As Carper continued to struggle, 
Ranma pulled Madigan close to him, leaning forward, there face almost 
inches apart, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you!"
  Priss gasped. Was Ranma really going to kill her. He wouldn't! Would 
he? Whatever the case, she had to stop him "Let her go, Ranma!"
  Ranma held onto her for one last second before releasing his grip, 
Madigan falling backwards on to the ground.
  "You asshole!" she spat, "You'll pay for this!"
  Ranma turned toward Madigan again, "How? Genom is gonna crumble. You 
won't have your precious boomers to protect ya. And exactly why are you 
like this anyway? Why do you work for that corporation? They're bad!"
  Madigan became silent.
  "I mean, are you, like, blind to what they're doing? You know what 
that OMS thingie does." Ranma said, "It's being created to control any 
and every boomer ever created through some kinda uplink. Meaning, if 
Genom wanted to, it could have every boomer on the face of this planet 
go beserk at the same time...or worse, have them all coming together to 
form some huge army made of everything from military superboomers to 
house maintance drones"
  Priss' lips straightened. She had hated Genom, and now she hated it 
even more.
  "H-how did you find that out?" Madigan dared to ask. What Ranma had 
said was correct, every word of it.
  Ranma flashed a toothy grin, and pulled a tiny chip out of one of his 
pockets, "Cause I got the chip when I brought Akane back to Genom tower 
to be taken care of. And while I was there, I did a little searching. 
Well, I found it, and I'm positive this is the real one I saw. I also 
stole a lotta money while I was at it and hid it."
  Madgian lunged forward through the bars and grabbed the chip from 
Ranma's hand. She then quickly scurried to the corner, protecting it.
  Ranma shook his head, "What's your name?"
  "You don't need to know her name," Carper said defensively.
  Ranma said, "No, I don't. But just think, you are in a cell. The only 
thing you could do is destroy that chip, and I don't really care if you 
do. If you do, then that means I'll have to destroy the Tower, and I'm 
positive I would have a lot more fun doing so. But either way, Genom is 
going down. If you want to try and protect your precious Genom, go right 
ahead, but it'll do no good."
  Madigan could feel tears starting to form. She had to protect 
Genom...Genom was her life. All she did was hug the chip closer to her 
bosom, wanting to protect Genom, her life.
  Ranma placed his hands on the bars, "I don't understand why you're 
protecting Genom. How would you feel if your family was killed because 
of Genom, something that could have been easily prevented?"
  "I don't have family," she replied, "They all died in the Second Kanto 
Earthquake!"
  "And how will you feel if you found out that Genom was the cause of 
that earthquake?" Ranma's voice remained steady, pounding its point 
across, "Thousands of people died in that Nerima Massacre! Don't you get 
it! It could have been prevented, but Genom wanted to tests its new 
breed of boomers!!!" 
  Ranma found himself almost getting angry, having to bring back old 
memories, memories her preferred to forget.
  "You know Genom made those boomers go beserk on purpose!" Ranma 
continued, his eyes intensely on Madigan, "Yet you still work for them! 
Why? Do you actually enjoy seeing people die?" Ranma turned toward 
Priss, "Can you please open the cell, for me?"
  Priss looked at Ranma for a moment and then nodded. She pressed a key 
code on the panel next to the cell and the locks released. Ranma said 
his thanks and then entered the cell. He walked up to Carper and grabbed 
him by his neck, "How would you feel if I killed him?"
  "Ranma," Priss said, "Let go of him!" She ran into the cell to stop 
Ranma. 
  "Let go of him!!" Madigan said, tears streaming from her eyes, trying 
to wrench Ranma's steel grip off of Carper, much to no avail as his grip 
remained taut. "Please!!! Let go of him!!!"
  "Well, how will you feel if I killed him, someone you cared for?" 
Ranma said, "Then you'll probably have no one left in your life. You'll 
be all alone..."
  Priss reached into the holdster she kept in her boots and pulled it 
out, pointing toward Ranma, "Let go of him, Ranma. I'll shoot. I can't 
stand here idly while you kill him, even if he is scum!"
  "He's not scum!!!" Madigan spat defensively, almost sobbing 
uncontrolably.
   Ranma moved too fast that Priss didn't even realize he had taken her 
gun away until she saw him holding it. It happened faster than a blink 
of an eye.
  "Well? How will you feel?" Ranma said, his emphasis on the last word.
  "I-I'll hate you!!!" Madigan said, crying, "I-I'll track you down to 
the ends of this earth and kill you!!!"
  Ranma nodded as he realease his hold of Carper, Carper falling to the 
ground, gasping for air. He turned around and handed the gun back to 
Priss, who was still amazed at Ranma's speed, before he turned back 
toward Madigan, "Well, now you know how I feel..." he said.
  At that moment, a missle flew into the corridor and just missed taking 
Ranma out with him. It struck the wall at the other end of the corridor, 
causing the walls to cave in.
  "What the?" was all he managed to say, right before he was struck in 
the chest with another missled. He was propelled backwards from the 
force and into the wall, and then falling to the floor 
  Priss quickly rushed to Ranma's side, "Ranma, are you okay?!"
  "Ite!!! That's twice I got hit in the chest!!! What's this world 
comin' to?! Who's shooting those missles?"
  Ranma's question was answered when the sight of a large and very 
menacing boomer rounded the corner of the corridor, coming face to face 
with Ranma, a large rocket launcher in its hands, a boomer sent by Genom 
alone with many others to retreive the OMS chip that Ranma had stolen 
earlier. 
  Priss, seeing the boomer, reacted instinctively and pointed her gun 
toward the boomer, opening fire.
  "That's not gonna do anythin' to it!" Ranma said, getting to his feet. 
It didn't even bother him that the sounds of carnage was heard all 
about. It must mean the headquarters were under attack once again. He 
rubbed his chest a bit, as if he were having some kind of heartburn from 
eating something spicy, and then charged to boomer, narrowly dodging a 
missle "If you wanna get rid of 'em, it's best to hit them with 
something very very strong....like this!!!"
  Ranma slammed and open palm into the boomer's chest, exploding its 
artificial spine right out through its exoskeleton. 
  He turned toward Priss and gave her a smirk.
  "What the hell's going on here?!" Priss said, gingerly walking down 
the corridor toward the corner, a bit reluctant about peeking around, 
scared a missle would take her head out. When she finally did look and 
saw nothing, and then turned toward Ranma, she saw him opening the door 
to Madigan and Carper's cell.
  "You better follow us if you wanna get outta here alive" Ranma said.
  "W-what are you doing?!" Priss asked.
  Ranma gave her a rather innocent look as he replied "I'm lettin' them 
out. What does it look like I'm doing?" When he noticed she was about to 
ask why, he continued on to say, "If a missle comes flying down this 
corridor again, and god forbid it explodes near that cell, they're gonna 
die."
  Priss shook her head. What was she going to do with him? Didn't he 
realize that those two people he just let out were the ones who were 
trying to kill him just a short while ago? 
  Ranma, with total disregard for his safety, poked his head around the 
corner and shouted "Yo, Ryoga, you still alive?!"
  Sounds of mortal combat could be heard echoing through the corridor, 
down around a corner at the other end. Ranma and the others could hear 
gunfire and explosions.
  "Hello? Ryoga? You alive?! Anybody? I hear gunfire, but I don't hear 
anybody replying!" Ranma shouted down the corridor.
  "Shut up, can't you see I'm busy!!!" came a harsh reply, emphasized 
with a ki-blast narrowly missing Ranma's head. The blast stuck a nearby 
wall, causing it to partially collapse on Ranma.
  Madigan and Carper and Priss watched wide-mouthed as Ranma got up out 
of the rubble and brushed the debris out of his hair and clothes. He 
then poked his entire upper torso around the corner and extended and arm 
forward, sending his own ki-blast back down the corridor as a reply.
  "Ha, gotcha!!!" Ranma said, raising an arm in triumph.
  "What? You managed to hit a boomer?!" Priss asked.
  Ranma turned his attention onto Priss.
  "Huh? No, of course not. I managed to hit Ryoga..." he replied with a 
chuckle.
  Ryoga's head popped around the corner, looming just above Ranma's 
head. 
  "How dare you hit me in the back with that!!!" Ryoga shouted, causing 
Ranma to start since his back had been toward him "That hurt you 
know!!!"
  Ranma turned toward Ryoga, just in time to see a missle hit Ryoga from 
the side. The explosion caused him to go flying bodily into a wall, 
slumping to the ground, hurt. Ranma, unfortunately, was caught in the 
explosion and engulfed in the flames since he was within such close 
proximity to Ryoga during the explosion. Luckily, Ranma was in front of 
Priss and Carper and Madigan, leaving them unharmed.
  "Ryoga, you moron, look what happened!!!" Ranma said to Ryoga as Ryoga 
was slowly getting back onto his feet. Ranma pointed to himself and his 
now totally scorched shirt. "If you're gonna get blown up, don't get 
blown up near me. You got my shirt ruined."
  Ryoga was glowing brightly, "Your shirt?! Your shirt?! I just got hit 
with a goddamn missle and you're worried about your shirt!!!" 
  Ranma got up on his feet, "So what?! I got hit in the chest twice! 
Quit your complainin', will ya?!"
  A missle flew by Ryoga's head. Ryoga turned toward where the missle 
had come from and shouted "Damn boomer, can't you see I'm busy?!" And 
then shot a massive ki-blast from his hands and down the corridor, 
totally ravaging the boomer that happened to be in its path. He turned 
toward Ranma, "Now, you! It's all your fault I got hit in the first 
place!!!"
  Ranma peeked his head around the corner toward the dozen or so boomers 
coming down the corridor toward him and Ryoga "Um, Ryoga, perhaps now is 
not the time to argue..."
  He reached forward and grabbed the arm of the still arguing Ryoga and 
pulled him around the corner, just in time as a dozen or so missles flew 
right by where Ryoga had once been. Ranma and Ryoga  quickly grabbed 
Priss and Carper and Madigan, running further down the corridor, away 
from the ensuing explosions.
  They continued to run down the corridor until they had no where to go, 
a dead end that only branched off to a cell. The wall was the same one 
Ranma had been slammed into when that missle had hit him in the chest.
  "Doesn't that suck..." Ranma commented "We've got no place to go" He 
pointed toward the slightly caved in wall and said, "You see that, that 
was from me when I got hit in the chest...a second time!"
  "Will you quite digressing?!" Priss said, "We're trapped!!!"
  Ranma turned toward the cell door at his right and reached forward, 
gripping one of the bars to open it.
  "We're sitting ducks out here," Ranma said, "let's get back in the 
cell so well have some cover." When he tried to open it, it wouldn't 
move. The cell was automated, and thus, locked everytime it was closed 
unless opened via typing it in on a key pad right next to it.
  "Huh? How come this ain't openin'?" Ranma said.
  The boomers rounded the corner, their weapons pointed toward Ranma and 
the group.
  Madigan, realizing now was her chance to get away since the boomers 
won't open fire one their superiors, quickly took the initiative and 
grabbed Carper's hand and ran forward. The boomers won't open fire until 
the two of them were out of their line of fire.
  The muscles in Ranma's arm flexed as he slide the cell door open, 
breaking the lock in the process. As the door slid open, he caught sight 
of Madigan and Carper making a run for it. He quickly turned toward 
Priss and pushed her into the cell. He didn't bother to push Ryoga 
because he could stand out  in the middle of the corridor for all Ranma 
cared.
  Ranma quickly ran after the fleeing Madigan and Carper and grabbed the 
two of them, one under each arm. As the boomers raised their weapons to 
open fire, Ranma had no where to go except straight ahead, right in the 
path boomers incoming fire.
  Desperate, Ranma did the next best thing. The turned toward the wall 
"God, I hope this wall ain't totally concrete!" He then kicked the wall 
with all his might, sending it crashing inward. Luckily for him, the 
wall wasn't complete concrete and that there was another room on the 
other side.
  Ranma jumped through the hole he had created just as dozens of missles 
flew right by him. As he still held Madigan and Carper, he ran for the 
door on the other end of the room. He knew that in a second or so, a 
massive wall of flame was going to rip right through the room from that 
hole because Ryoga wouldn't stand there idly as the missles destroyed 
the aread by where he and Priss were.
  As Ranma reached the halfway point to the door, an explosion ten times 
louder than the missles ripped through the room as a massive ball of 
flame shot through the hole, beginning to engulf the entire room. 
  Seeing that the door was closed, Ranma didn't have the time to stop 
and kick it down so he ran right through it, using his shoulder to break 
it down. The door flew open to reveal a pair of stairs that lead down to 
someplace very dark.
  "I ain't goin' down there, it's dark!" Ranma said.
  Madigan managed to glance backwards just in time to see the wall of 
flame heading straight toward them and shrieked in horror.
  Without giving it much thought, Ranma lunged forward down the stairs 
and into the darkness, bringing Madigan and Carper with him.
   
  Everything was quiet for Ranma and Madigan and Carper. And also pitch 
dark.
  "Hey, you two all right?" Ranma's voice echoed in the room.  
  "I-I think so," came Madgian's reply.
  "Ugh," Carper moaned. He was hurt.
  "Damn, I can't see a thing, it's very dark!" Ranma said "We need some 
light. Hold up"
  While in the dark, Ranma raised a hand toward the ceiling and slowly 
calling forth his ki, generating a tiny ball of energy. The room became 
luminated by a faint glow, the shadows dancing as the tiny ball pulsated 
with energy.
  Ranma had to concentrate on keeping the ki-blast at a minimum. It was 
quite ironic that Ranma had to concentrate to make his ki-blasts weaker 
instead of stronger.  As he stood there, in the faint glow, it looked 
like he was some kind of arch angel shedding light down on the world 
below. 
  Madigan quickly scuttled backward as she saw Ranma and what he was 
doing. He was generating light from his goddamn hand!!!
  "Cool," Ranma said, "That's much better" He looked around to survey 
his surroundings and quickly realized he was in some kind of storage 
facility. There were mechanical parts strewn about, a motorcycle engine 
here, a swingarm there, several repair tools in the far off corner. He 
saw Carper laying on his back, a small trickle of blood flowing down his 
forehead.
  "C-Carper!" Madigan gasped as she rushed to Carper's side "A-are you 
all right?!"
  "He's hurt," Ranma commented.
  "No shit, asshole!" Madigan spat back "And it's all your fault"
  Ranma said in a serious vioce, "No, I actually saved him, and you for 
that matter. You shouldn't have run."
  "And why not?!" Madigan spat back, "We had to get away somehow, and 
that was our only chance!"
  "Eh? I dunno about you, but I think you were trying to get herself 
killed. Why on earth were you running toward those boomers in the first 
place?" Ranma said in a rather exasperated voice.
  "We were trying to get away!"
  "What? Didn't you see those boomers open fire as you ran toward 'em?!" 
Ranma replied, almost feeling sorry for Madigan that she still believed 
Genom cared for her, "They don't care about you, they were gonna mow you 
down because you were in their path!!"
  Madigan was silent. She had noticed those boomers opening fire. But 
there must have been a reason...
  "Will you quite bein' so na�ve?" Ranma said, "Genom doesn't care about 
you! God, what do you want, a boomer to put a bullet through you before 
you realize it?!"
  Ranma, one hand still producing the light, walked over to where Carper 
lay and kneeled down below him. He reached his free hand forward and 
placed it on Carper's chest.
  "Get away from him!" Madigan shouted, pushing Ranma away.
  The ball of energy shot from his fingertips and toward the ceiling 
because he momentarily lost his control over it when Madigan pushed him. 
The blast, albeit small, hit the ceiling and was strong enough to cause 
it to collapse. 
  Ranma was about to punch the falling debris away but couldn't because 
there was no light, thus, he was forced to pull Madigan forward on top 
of Carper and he used his own body to shield them from the falling 
debris.
  It took several moments before the debris stopped falling., burying 
them alive. When it did stop, Ranma slowly got back onto his feet, 
pushing the rubble of his back.
  He raised his hand and produced yet another ball of light, "You done 
yet?"
  Madigan was silent. She was a bit shaken but all right and so was 
Carper.
  Ranma reached his free hand forward and placed it on Carper's chest 
and closed his eyes.
  "W-what are you doing?!" Madigan said protectively, stopping herself 
from pushing Ranma away.
  Ranma glowed for several moments and then took his hand away. When he 
did, Carper seemed to be breathing a bit easier. 
  "I was using my ki to heal him. He has several cracked ribs but will 
be all right." Ranma said.
  Madigan looked at Ranma oddly, and then at Carper and noticed Carper 
looked better off than before. "H-how did you just heal him?"
  "I used my ki," Ranma said matter-of-factly "He'll be all right, but 
he'll need some rest..."
  Madigan was silent.
  "Well, it looks like we're probably gonna be down here for a while 
because I can't blow my way out cause this room cause it's so small and 
I can't go about trying to remove the rubble cause it'll cause way too 
much dust" Ranma said after a short moment, walking around, his hand 
still raised for light, looking for a candle or something to produce 
some light. Luckily, he found one and put the energy ball near it and 
lit it.
  Ranma sat down and sighed.
  A very awkward moment ensued, neither Madigan nor Ranma saying 
anything. Finally, after a while, Ranma couldn't stand the silence and 
decided to break it "How long have you and Carper going out?"
  "G-going out?" Madigan said, rather surprised at the sudden question, 
"W-we're n-not going out,"
  "Yeah, okay, whatever you say," Ranma said, shrugging his shoulders.
  Madigan blushed, grateful that the light being produced by the candle 
was rather dim.
  "Why are you trying to kill me and Ryoga?"
  "What?" Madigan was shocked against by such a sudden question.
  "Why are you trying to kill us?" Ranma repeated, "We're here trying to 
stop Genom yet you're trying to stop us every step of the way. Why? Why 
are you still helping Genom out? From what had just happened earlier, 
you should realize that Genom could care less about you, yet you still 
protect it...why?"
  Madigan was very silent. What could she say? What should she say?
  Ranma laid down on his back, closing his eyes, "Also, you still have 
the OMS chip thingie. I'd like that back sooner or later. But until 
then, there's nothing much to do but wait. I'm gonna go to sleep, I 
could sure use the rest." 
  He turned on his side and rested his head on a small box that was used 
for gears.
  Madigan looked at Ranma. If he was going to try and go to sleep, 
perhaps she could kill him while in his sleep. All she would need to do 
was find something that she could use as a weapon. She would attempt to 
kill him when possible.
  "I'm not the bad guy you know..."
  For some reason, Madigan never attempted to execute her plan.

  "Lemme alone, I'm tired," Ranma said sleepily. He went back to sleep.
  The four girls and Akane looked at each other. The situation was quite 
odd. Ranma was on his side in the middle of the room, Madigan and Carper 
quietly sitting in the corner. It had taken several hours to remove all 
the ruble that had collapsed in front of the doorway that lead down to 
the starge area. It would had been quicker with Ryoga's help, but Ryoga 
couldn't help because he had gotten hurt protecting Priss from that 
explosion he had caused, using his body to protect her. It also didn't 
make it easier that the girl's hardsuits had been damaged during their 
mortal combat with the boomers on the level above while Ryoga had gone 
down stairs for Ranma and Priss, thus, they had to use their bare hands 
and whatever tools they had.
  "C'mon, get up, Ranma. We can't stay here anymore," Sylia said, 
wondering if she should give hima gentle kick but deciding against it
  Ranma slowly sat upright, rubbing his eyes, "What do ya mean? Oh, I 
guess after getting attacked for the second time here is a good enough 
reason to leave." He hopped on to his feet, awake, and stretched his 
well-defined arms out. "I guess it's about time we stop this Genom once 
and for all,"
  "And how do you suppose we do that?" Priss asked, and arm resting on 
her hip.
  Ranma didn't even need to think. He had planned on doing this earlier, 
"Let's attack their factories. If they can't make boomers, then they 
can't send 'em out to attack us, ne?" He turned toward Madigan, "Where's 
the factory? No, don't tell me. It's probably located someplace that's 
very inconvenient...like in some sub level below Genom Tower, ne?"
  Madigan bit her lip. How the fuck does he know?! Wait, he's only 
guessing...
  Ranma pointed toward Madigan, a smile on his lips, "Ha!! It is under 
the tower!! And I got it on my first try!!! Damn, I'm good!!"
  "And modest, too," Akane added wryly.
  "Thanks," Ranma said with a smile.
  "You idiot, it was a form of sarcasm!" Akane spat.
  Ranma gave a weak smile, "Oh, well, then you're an uncute tomboy for 
saying something like that" 
  "Ranma!!!" Akane said, anger rising.
  Ranma cleared his throat, immediately changing the subject, "Ahem, now 
that we know where the factory is, let's go attack it."
  Ryoga took a step forward, eyeing Ranma cautiously, "Ranma, exactly 
how many times have we been to Genom Tower? I mean, why not destroy the 
whole tower and get it over with. I mean, it's much easier, right? Why 
not do that?"
  "Well, Ryoga, if we did destory the tower, think of all those 
buildings that surround the tower. All the falling debris will destroy 
'em, and many people will be left without businesses..." Ranma said.
  "Like you gave a damn about the people when you went into that fit of 
rage," Ryoga said dryly, his brows creasing, remembering how close Ranma 
had come to killing millions if he had released that Seppukku ki-blast.
  Sylia looked at Priss. 
  "I missed it," Priss said, putting her hands up "I have no idea what 
Ranma could have done. When I got there, Ryoga was lying in the middle 
of the street unconscious..."
  Ryoga was silent, almost embarrassed that Ranma had managed to knock 
him out with that devestating ax kick to his chest. But he didn't blame 
Ranma, at least not much. If Ryoga had gone beserk with rage, Ranma's 
attempts to stop him would most likely be futile.
  Ranma pointed toward Ryoga as he looked at the girls, "All you missed 
was my whooping Ryoga's butt in a battle, that's all..."
  "Shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga said coldly, "You got lucky during that 
battle!!!"
  Linna jumped between Ranma and Ryoga, "Boys, boys, no fighting please. 
You two fought enough times that we don't need to add yet another fight 
to the tally."
  Ranma crossed his arms across his chest and jerked a thumb toward 
Ryoga, "Perhaps Linna's right. Besides, I have other things to worry 
than fightin with some pig boy,"
  "You shut up, Ranma!!!" 
  Ranma ignored Ryoga's statement, "Anyway, let's go attack the Genom 
Tower, actually, the subtlevels."
  "Okay," Ryoga replied.
  Ranma and Ryoga both headed for the door. But before doing so, Ranma 
walked over to where Madigan "May I have the chip please?" he said 
politely.
  "No!"
  Ranma chuckled, opening his hands to reveal the chip for Madigan and 
Carper to see. "Too late..."
  "W-what? H-how did you get it? I was just holding on to it!"
  "I'm pretty fast," Ranma said with a smirk. "What can I say...you 
shouldn't have blinked." He turned toward Ryoga and said, "Well, let's 
get going. We'll go attack the factory and then reveal the chip to 
expose Genom for what it truly is"
  "Let's get going,"
  Ranma and Ryoga headed for the door that would inevitably lead to the 
elevator that lead to the surface, but not before Ranma made a comment, 
"All right, porky, let's get going."
  "I'll kill you!!!" could be heard of Ryoga as he and Ranma closed the 
door behind them.
  "Um, don't they, like, hate each other or something?" Nene asked 
Akane, "I mean, what's up with those two? They hate each other, yet they 
could work together as a perfect team. Do they hate each other or is it 
all for show, for our benefit?"
  Akane shooked her head and answered after a short while, "They hate 
each other. That's for sure. As to why they hate each other, I don't 
know, and they don't seem to say anything about it. I remember it being 
over something like Ranma stealing Ryoga's bread when they were young."
  The four girls looked at Akane dubiously.
  "I know, it's weird," Akane said, shrugging her shoulders, "But then 
again, the people I've met back then are equally as weird."
  "So they hate each other, right?" Priss wanted to confirm.
  "Yes," Akane replied curtly, nodding, "I betcha if you put them in a 
room together for a long time, they'll most likely kill each other...not 
that I would want to find out though since I care for both Ranma and 
Ryoga,"
  "Which one do you care for more?" Linna asked curiously.
  Akane was silent. She cared for the both of them.
  "Well, I don't wanna put you on the spot, so let's change the 
subject," Linna said after she notice Akane's reluctance to answer. She 
looked over her shoulder toward Madigan and Carper, who had been quiet 
this whole time. 
  "What should we do with 'em?" Priss asked, almost scowling toward 
Madigan as their eyes locked for a brief moment. Boy, would she like to 
knock Madigan's lights out for all the trouble she and Carper had put 
Priss and her friends through "If I had my way, I'd throw them back in 
the cell and leave them there to die of starvation...or something along 
the lines,"
  "Now now, Priss. Calm down," Nene muttered "No need to go to 
extremes."
  As Madigan and Carper remained in the corner of the room, wondering 
what their fate would be, Madigan couldn't help but feel this resentment 
toward Genom. If they didn't work for Genom.....they wouldn't be in this 
mess....right?
  "So what do we do with 'em?" Priss asked, eyeing Madigan critically. 
When their eyes met, Priss added, "You're not so tough without all those 
damn boomers there to protect you, now, are you?!" 
  "Priss," Sylia called out in a dominating voice, "Enough,"
  Priss took a deep breath, her eyes resting menacingly on Madigan for 
several long moments before she turned toward the door where Ranma and 
Ryoga had left.
  "Where're you going?" Linna asked.
  "With Ranma and Ryoga," she replied, not bothering to stop, "I don't 
wanna be in the same room with people like them. And besides, I've been 
meaning to exact a form of revenge on Genom for what they've done. And I 
want to take it out on all those newly made boomers just waiting to be 
destroyed."
  "You have no hardsuit," Sylia commented. She knew she couldn't stop 
Priss from going, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
  Priss actually stopped for a moment to answer Sylia, "I have a grenade 
launcher stashed on my bike. I'll use that. And besides, with Ranma and 
Ryoga around, I don't think I'll need it much anyway..."
  "Priss, has it ever occurred to you that we really don't know who 
Ranma and Ryoga really are?" Sylia asked softly, more toward all the 
girls in general instead of Priss.
  "What do you mean by that?"
  Sylia took a short while, thinking of a good way to bring this subject 
up with Akane around, "Well, we've seen Ranma and Ryoga fight before, 
like the time when they almost killed each other and ended up in the 
hospital. Well, they still fight, and those fights are even more 
intensive...yet they're not getting hurt as much. Why?"
  Akane spoke up, "Well, they do have a tendancy to adapting to new 
things."
  "I understand what you mean, Akane." Sylia faced Akane, her eyes 
regarding, "But what I was wondering how on earth did they get 
so...strong, if that's the word. It came to me as a shock that Ranma 
actually grabbed the chip without my or anyone seeing it. How can 
someone move that fast? Doesn't it scare anyone?"
  "I dunno," Akane replied, wishing she really did know. "But even if 
they are strong, as you put it, there's no need to be scared. Ranma and 
Ryoga are good people. They may be strong, but they're not the type to 
take advantage of it. They may take advantage of it on each other, but 
not on regular people. But one thing does bother me, though..."
  "What's that?" Linna asked.
  "I'm probably right when I say that they could end up killing each 
other..."
  The door opened and in entered Ryoga.
  "R-Ryoga, what are you doing back here? I thought you left" Priss 
said, a bit shocked at his sudden appearance. "I was about to follow 
along,"
  Ryoga smiled weakly, "Um, well, I kinda got lost..."
  Priss opened the door and peered out. The corridor led straight to the 
elevator. And that elevator lead straight outside. How in the world can 
he get lost that easily?!
  The elevator door opened and Ranma was standing in it, leaning against 
the back wall, "Ryoga, you moron, your sense of direction is probably 
worse than when we were young."
  "Shut up, Ranma!!!"
  Priss quickly jumped between the two of them, grabbing Ryoga's hand, 
"Is it all right if I come along?"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I guess not. But it is gonna get rather 
dangerous, ain't it? You sure?"
  Priss nodded.
  "All right,"
  Priss, still holding Ryoga's hand, dragged him with her and into the 
elevator. As the door was closing, Priss turned toward Ranma and said, 
"What's with you constantly instigating?"
  "Eh? What's that mean?"
  Priss shook his head, "Nevemind"
  When the three left, Sylia wanted to ask Akane some more questions, 
questions she hadn't thought of asking until she witnessed this incident 
"How come Ryoga has a lousy sense of direction?"
  Akane sat down on one of the steps that lead down to the room "I 
really don't know. He's always had a bad sense of direction, even when 
he was young," It felt strange for her to say that last sentence. To 
her, Ryoga looked virtually the same, not somewhere in his forties. And 
Ranma looked the same also. Of course, she knew it was because of the 
curse. But what was also strange was that everything, the fighting, the 
fiancees, and even the old lech, felt like it happened just a few days 
ago for her.
  "I guess that's one of his weaknesses," Linna commented. 
  "Well, you should see Ranma's" Akane almost chuckled, "He's terrified 
of cats,"
  "C-Cats?!" the girls said. Madigan caught her breath, realizing she 
almost spoke out in disbelief.
  Akane nodded, "Well, at least he could still be scared of cats. But 
then again, maybe over the years, he's gotten over his phobia. But then 
again, exactly how he would go about getting over it, I have no idea."
  "Perhaps through a process called overflooding the system," Nene 
commented, stepping into the conversation.
  "Actually, that's the last thing you want happening to Ranma," came a 
quick reply.
  "Why?"
  Akane's gaze went toward Madigan and Carper, knowing that they were 
taking a mental note of this conversation, "Well, you've seen how strong 
Ranma is. If he's still scared of cats, and he reachs a point where he 
his terror overloads, he'll be much much powerful than what you've 
witnessed so far. It was all his father's fault. He wanted to teach 
Ranma the ultimate techniques, but in doing so, Ranma suffers from 
serious psychological problems because of it. That's why he's scared of 
cats."
  "Ultimate technique?" Sylia said, her voice betraying her fascination. 
  "It's some kind of ultimate fighting technique," Akane replied.
  Madigan shuddered. She had seen Ranma in a fit of rage, and it scared 
the hell out of her. And to think that Ranma didn't even use his full 
potential when ravaging all those boomers to simply nothing. She and 
Carper were the only ones who had witnessed it, making Ranma seem even 
more scary now that she realized that Ranma it even stronger than 
that...which seemed impossible at first to begin with.
  Akane turned toward Madigan, not really caring about the fact that she 
was taught to repect her elders. But then again, she never really 
respected Genma that much, and these people were pretty much like him in 
her book. She said, "If you think you can exploit that weakness, think 
again. Even though I should let you try this on him and find out the 
hard way, you don't deserve to die...like all those people in Nerima 
like Ranma had told me...like my friends...like my family.
  Akane could feel this intense sense of resentment toward Madigan, but 
managed to keep it under control. Madigan and Carper had nothing to do 
with it. All they did was work for the corporation that did this to her. 
  They were just pawns.

  Ranma and Ryoga and Priss were walking down the street when Ranma 
spotted someone he recognized. It was Lisa. She was walking home, 
carrying a bag of groceries, grateful that her work was finally over, 
that she could finally kick back and relax for a change. She had a very 
bad day.
  "Hey, look, it's Lisa!"
  He ran across the street to meet up with the young looking girl. Ryoga 
and Priss followed suit. Ryoga greeted her warmly while Priss gave a 
curt but rather cold salutation, not knowing who this girl really was.
  "She helped fix Akane after she got hurt," Ryoga said to Priss.
  "How's Akane?" Lisa asked curiously, already knowing the answer. It 
wasn't because she was arrogant, but rather she knew she had done a good 
job.
  Ranma smirked, "She's fine. She could use a reprogramming cause she's 
still a tomboy-"
  "I won't stand here and let you say that about Akane!!!" Ryoga spat.
  "Anyway," Ranma continued, ignoring Ryoga, "Thanks a lot for all that 
you've done. You brought back the one person I lo....I really cared for, 
not once but twice, and I can't thank you enough. You're really great"
  Lisa blushed. She could get used to all this positive criticism. "Um, 
where are you three headed?"
  "Back to Genom Tower," Ranma replied. When Lisa gave him a curious 
looked he knew she wanted to know why "We plan on destroying the factory 
that makes all those boomers that attack us. We figured it would be best 
to destroy all the annoyances at the source."
  Lisa wondered if she should tell them. Afterall, they were going to 
attack her place of work. But then again, she never really liked working 
for Genom and could get a job in no time, what with her skills "Well, if 
you wanna destroy the factory easily, there's a main computer on the 
bottom floor that oversees the security of the factory. If you destroy 
it, the factory is defenseless. You'll be free to do whatever you want 
without having to worry about a laser or such hitting you from behind."
  "Really?" Ranma said, eyes widening, "Cool! That'll make it much much 
easier for us. Thanks again."
  "What are you going to do after that?" Lisa asked. She knew Ranma 
wanted to take Genom down. If she knew of a time, then she she start 
looking for another job. But first, she would embezzle the money that 
Genom owed her for all that overtime she put in but didn't get paid for.
  "I got this OMS chip thingie that I plan on letting the world know of 
Genom's plans. That way, Genom'll go down the tubes when the media gets 
wind of it. I don't wanna blow the tower up because the debris will most 
likely get someone killed." Ranma said in one breath. He reached into 
his pocket and handed Lisa the chip, "See, there's the chip."
  Lisa looked at the chip for a moment. It was small but rather heavy 
for its size. It looked like a regular nanochip, except it looked like 
it was made to withstand extreme cold.
  "This looks like a chip that would be used on a satellite" Lisa 
commented, eyeing it carefully.
  Ranma snapped his fingers "So that's how they're gonna controll all 
'em boomers. They're gonna send it via satellite. All you would need is 
two, one for the western part of the world, the....western hemisphere 
and another chip for the eastern hemisphere."
  Priss' heart skipped a beat. God, how can Genom be so damn diobolical 
to think of something like that?! They're mosters! They deserve to die!
  "You wanna hold it?" Ranma asked, "I don't want that chip breaking 
because it's useless if it doesn't work..."
  "What are you saying, Ranma?!" Priss asked loudly, "W-why are you 
giving it to her? That chip is very important!"
  "That's why I wanna give it to Lisa here. She can take care of it" 
came the innocent reply.
  Lisa hugged the chip close to her bosom, "I'll take real care of it. 
You can trust me."
  Ranma smiled. 
  Priss' face faulted. Who was this girl? How can Ranma trust someone so 
blindly? And a person from Genom at that?! What is he, out of his mind? 
She'll just take the chip and return it back to its rightful place, 
Genom's hands!
  "Um, when do you plan on exposing Genom?" Lisa asked after a short 
moment.
  Ranma smirked, "Why? Ya wanna steal from them before it all goes down 
the tubes?"
  Lisa blushed.
  "Huh? Y-you mean I was right?" Ranma asked. "Wow, I must be real good. 
But about the money, ya don't really have to worry about it. Ryoga and I 
stole a lot from there and stashed it away. You can take that. We plan 
on stealing some more anyway. The money is in an abandonned factory in 
the southern most part of that artificial island. There should be enough 
money in there to buy an island..."
  "I only want the money Genom owes me, that's all," Lisa said.
  "Well, think of it as a bonus...for helping us out, ne?" Ranma was 
almost having fun being so nice. "Anyway, we're gonna get going now. 
Don't worry about getting the chip to us. When you see us, just give it 
to us. It's not like Ryoga or I are goin' anywhere anyway, right?"
  Ranma smiled warmly, "Well, take care, Lisa. See ya,"
  "Bye,"
  Lisa watched as Ranma and Ryoga and a reluctant Priss walked off 
toward that looming tower jutting up into the sky in the distant 
horizon. When they were almost too far away for her to see, Ranma 
stopped and to wave goobye to her before he and his friends continued on 
with their journey. 
  "I trust her," Ranma answered Priss' question.
  "How do you know her?"
  "From my childhood,"
   Priss was still curious, "How?"
  "She hit me in the face with a brick," Ranma said, turning toward Lisa 
to wave goodbye.
  Lisa waved back before she carefully put the chip in her coat pocket 
and headed toward her apartment. After having seen Ranma again, her day 
seemed to be on the up and up. It seemed she was having a better day 
than she thought. 
  It seems seeing Ranma again had made her day.
  Unfortunately, she will never see him again.
  Ranma and Ryoga will die before the night's end.

  Ranma looked up at the huge supercomputer, Ryoga and Priss at his 
side.
  "Man, that's one huge computer," Ranma commented, his neck almost 
hurting from being bent back at such an angle. Ranma took it one step 
further as to getting down on his back and looking straight up, "That's 
better. Now my neck won't hurt when I try to look up at the top of this 
computer. Jeez, I can't even see the ceiling. It's so damn high..."
  "Get up, Ranma," Priss said, "We get your point."
  Ranma got up and said, "Y'know, it's ironic that of all the places 
that needs security, the computer that oversees it doesn't have any..."
  "Perhaps it was because no one excpeted us to get this far," Ryoga 
commented, looking around at the vast room.
  The underground factory wasn't really even a factory. It was more 
along the lines of a city located pratically two miles underground and 
with a mile high roof. The place was huge, at least a mile in any 
direction from where they were. Throughout the factory, were other, 
smaller factories, each of them specializing in producing certain parts 
for certain boomers. The whole place looked like something out of a 
science fiction movie, this technologically advanced looking underground 
city.
  "You have a point," Ranma agreed, "It was a rather risky task getting 
here,"
  Ranma and Ryoga had had the fight of their life, dodging and 
destroying everything that stood in their way. They shouldn't have 
underestimated Genom. The supercomputer, having realized three intruders 
that didn't work for Genom, began creating boomer after boomer, sending 
them all after the three as soon as they were created.
  As Priss was running through the 'city', she realized that she really 
shouldn't have come. She was slowing Ryoga and Ranma down. What was she 
thinking? And it didn't help matters any bit that she was without her 
hardsuit, Ryoga having destroyed when they were in Genom Tower. One 
direct hit from a laser would be fatal for her, while a direct hit on 
Ranma and Ryoga would be nearly impossible, both of them capable of 
dodging them.
  But now, they have reached their destination, the main computer.

  "We're under attack again?!?!" Sylia asked, shocked.
  Linna nodded "We have to get the hell outta this truck. We're sitting 
ducks!!!"
  Everyone was in the Knight Sabers' transport truck, on their way to 
Nene's apartment so they could think of a plan, when bullets started 
raining down on them from everywhere.
  Nene shrieked in terror as an arm busted through the ceiling of the 
convoy they were in and slowly started ripping it apart.
  "Guys, there's a boomer on the top of the truck and I can't shake him 
loose!!!" Mackie's voice filtered through the speaker. He was driving, 
swerving the truck back and forth, hoping to cause the boomer to lose 
its balace, much to no avail. The girls were all having trouble trying 
to keep their balance.
  Madigan and Carper, whom were both handcuffed to the back of the 
truck, realized that they were going to be rescued.
  "Hurry up!!!" Madigan shouted toward the boomer.
  As she said that, the arm pulled back out through the opening, and 
after a moment, a boomer came crashing down into the truck from the 
opening.
  "Shit!!" Linna shouted, scurrying for her hardsuit, "It's inside!!!"
  Akane looked around and noticed that none of the girls were in their 
hardsuits, all of them vulnerable. She had to do something. Knowing that 
she was the only one capable of taking on a boomer in hand to hand 
combat, she got into her battle stance "Hey, you, over here!!"
  The boomer's back was ward toward Akane. It was facing Madigan and 
Carper.
  "Kill them!" Madigan told the boomer. The boomer was holding a mini. 
There was no way the girls would be able to dodge those bullets, even if 
they were in their hardsuit, which they were not.
  The boomer didn't respond to Madigan's command.
  "Kill them now!!!" Madigan gave another order to the boomer, using her 
free hand to point toward Akane and the rest standing right behind it.
  The boomer raised its mini gun toward Madigan and Carper.
  "Oh shit!!!" Carper shouted, realizing the boomer was going to kill 
them. They were its target, not the others. He tried to scurry away but 
the handcuffs where holding him fast. He couldn't go anywhere.
  Madigan was trying the same, shrieking for dear life as she realized 
her life would end at any moment.
  Akane, realizing the boomer was going to kill Madigan and Carper, 
lunged forward and grabbed the boomer's gun arm, pushing it toward the 
ceiling as it opened fire. Unfortunately, it was a little too late and 
several bullets struck Carper.
  Carper fell to his side, motionless, blood falling from his mouth.
  "Carper!!!" Madigan shouted as she desperately tried to get to his 
side, the handcuffs holding her back. "No!!!" She tugged at the 
handcuffs so hard that her wrists started to bleed from the strain and 
pulling.
  The boomer continued to open fire, the bullets of the mini gun 
riddling the ceiling with holes, as Akane tried desperately to keep it 
from aiming at anyone. Unfortunately, its strength was far superior to 
that of a sexaroid as its gun arm slowly started to lower back down.
  Akane, knowing that it was useless to fight against this thing in 
brute strength, resorted to her training. She needed to apply physics 
into play. 
  Without thinking, Akane gripped the boomer's arm and pressed her hip 
against the boomer's hip, sending his over her shoulder and crashing 
onto the truck floor. Knowing that it would be up on its feet in 
moments, Akane sent a elbow crashing down on the boomer's skull, caving 
it in. The boomer twitched for several moments before it stopped 
functioning.
  The truck continued to swerve.
  "There's more on the roof!!!" Mackie's voice came from the speaker.
  "They're after Madigan and Carper!!" Linna shouted, "Get rid of 
them!!" It was the only strategical thing to do. It didn't bother her to 
sacrifice Madigan and Carper's lives for their own. 
  "No!!!" Akane shouted, "We can't abandon them!!" 
  "I'm getting rid of 'em" Linna said in a cold cold voice, quite odd 
coming from her. They had been through enough. They didn't need this. 
This wasn't their fight.
  Madigan's throat constricted as she saw Linna walking toward her, 
stepping over the non-functioning boomer. She knew what was going to 
happen. Linna was going to throw them out of the truck and be rid of 
them once an for all. 
  "I-I d-don't want to die!!" Madigan pleaded, tears forming in her 
eyes. She looked over toward where Carper lay motionless, his body only 
moving because of the swerving truck.
  Linna shook her head, "And neither do we. Those boomers are after you, 
not us..."
  Another boomer came through the opening. Akane did the exact same 
thing to it, but this time, slamming it down on top of the other boomer 
and caving its skull in.
  The truck was hit hard from its side, so hard that it flipped over 
onto its side, sliding to a halt.
  "Shit, now we're in trouble!" Linna commented, getting up, shaking the 
cobwebs from her head.
  Akane climbed out of the truck through the opening the boomer had 
created and quickly checked her surroundings. There were two boomers 
standing on top of the side of the truck. They both carried large 
cannons and were aiming their guns toward the truck under their feet.
  "Hey, over here!!!" Akane said, waving her hands, hoping to get the 
boomers' attention.
  They paid her no mind.
  Mackie smashed through the front windshield and ran away from the 
truck quickly, not bothering to look back until his was a good distance 
away.
  The boomers started opening fire on the front of the truck. The rest 
were in the back. 
  All of a sudden, one of the boomers exploded,
  "What the?!" Akane managed to say, right before the blast from the 
impact sent her backwards.
  Leon's car skidded to a halt right in front of the truck. The 
remaining boomer, realizing that Leon posed an immediate threat, aimed 
its cannon toward the car.
  Leon, wearing a pair of shades, a large missle launcher resting on his 
shoulders, said, "Eat this!"
  He pulled the trigger and a missle shot from his launcher, sizzling 
through the air and hitting the boomer square in the chest, causing it 
to explode into nothing, destroying it.
  He dropped his missle launched to the ground and walked toward Akane, 
"You okay, miss?"
  "Um, yeah, I think so," she said, slowly getting to her feet.
  At that moment, Sylia, with Madigan slumped unconscious over her 
shoulder, emerged from the opening, followed by Nene and Linna, both of 
them half-dragging a bleeding Carper.
  "Nene? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Leon said, recognizing 
one of his fellow co-workers.
  Nene's eyes widened, "L-Leon!" She recalled that Leon wasn't supposed 
to be back from his undercover work overseas until tomorrow. Why was he 
back so early?
  "No time for talking, we hafta get rid of the suits," Linna said into 
Nene's ear.
  Nene nodded, "Yeah." She spotted the rocket launcher on the ground by 
Leon's car "Over there,"
  Linna, knowing what she had to do, handed Carper over to Nene and 
quickly ran for the rocket launcher. She ran right past Leon and picked 
up the rocket launcher and aimed it toward the truck.
  "W-what are you doing?" Leon said as he noticed Linna picking up his 
weapon.
  "This," Linna said right before she pulled the trigger. 
  A rocket shot from the launcher and hit the gas tank of the truck, 
sending it up in flames. The explosion was so intense that everyone was 
blown backwards from the blast.
  Linna looked at Sylia and noticed her nod in acknowledgement at a task 
well done, eliminating the hardsuits if there was a chance their 
identity was going to be discovered. Even though Madigan and Carper 
knew, she threaten them with death if they ever revealed their secret 
identities.
  "I seriously hope there was a good reason why you did that," Leon 
said, taking off his shades.
  "Um, there were boomer's in there. I didn't want them coming out. 
That's all" Linna replied glibly.
  Leon smirked, "I guess that's a good enough reason as any," He looked 
over toward where Carper was and noticed he was badly hurt, "We better 
get him to a hospital before he bleeds to death." He walked over to his 
car and popped the trunk, taking out a first-aid kit. 
  He walked back to where Carper was, Madigan close to his side, and 
began to adminished to pressure on his right shoulder, where he took it 
the hardest. He wrapped several bandages around the area and said, 
"That'll do for a little while" He looked at Madigan, and his eyes 
creased as he commented, "You look familiar."
  Madigan said nothing. They had met once when Leon had stormed into 
Genom Tower looking for someone to arrest for the death of someone close 
to him because a boomer had gone beserk.
  "Don't you work for Genom?" Leon asked, his eyes piercing.
  Madigan bit her lip. After what had happened, she realized exact what 
Ranma had meant that Genom didn't care. Why else would they have sent 
boomers out to eliminate her and Carper, because they had failed them? 
It was too bad, she didn't learn until a gun was put to her head to make 
her realize just how bad Genom was. 
  "No, I don't." she replied, hiding her sadness, her resentment toward 
herself for being so na�ve about Genom. 
  "Oh, nevermind," Leon said, turning his attention away from her and 
walking toward his car to call the local firehouse to put out the fire 
from the burning truck.
  Madigan look down toward the ground vidictively, knowing exactly the 
hatred everyone shared toward Genom.
  "Not anymore," 
  
  Ranma raised his hand toward the computer and let a volley of ki-
blasts shoot from his fingertips, every ball of energy hitting the 
computer.
  Ryoga did the same.
  Priss just stood there, not really knowing what to do. Then she 
realized that she had her grenade launcher with her. She reached into 
the pockets of her bike outfit and pulled several parts to the launcher 
and put them together in a matter of seconds. Once appropriately put 
together, Priss began shooting her launcher toward the computer.
  "Hold up!" Ranma said, stopping what he was doing. He turned toward 
Priss and said, "You remember what I taught you and what I taught Sylia? 
Ya wanna take a crack at throwin' a ki-blast?"
  "W-what?" Priss said, shocked.
  Ranma placed his hand on her shoulder, "C'mon, jus' try it. It's fun. 
Yo, Ryoga, quit blowin' that thing up and let her do it."
  "W-what do I d-do?" Priss asked dubiously. "I have no diea what I'm 
supposed to do..."
  "Hold your hand out," Ranma said softly. When she did so, Ranma closed 
his eyes and let his ki flow into Priss' body. 
  As energy flooded into her body, Priss couldn't believe this 
unbelieveable feeling. It was something she had never felt before. She 
could feel this tingling sensation forming in her fingertips, this 
energy all building up and wanting to go somewhere.
  "Jus' picture shooting somethin' from your hand," Ranma then said.
  A massive ki-blast shot from her hands and hit the computer, damaging 
it. The kickback from sending that ball of energy caused Priss to fall 
backwards and onto Ranma.
  Ranma chuckled as he got to his feet, "There ya go. You jus' threw a 
ki-blast. See, it wasn't that hard."
  "Hold shit!" was all Priss could say to comment on what had just 
happened. She couldn't believe what she just did. The damage she caused 
from that single ki-blast was ten time more powerful than all the shells 
she had when she used her grenade launcher.
  Ryoga smirked, "Anyone can learn it. It just take a bit of 
concentration, that's all."
  "H-how long?"
  "Dunno," Ranma said, thinking for a moment, "a few days. But gettin' 
it that powerful will probably take longer,"
  "It'll take much longer than a few days," Ryoga said, "You're looking 
at several decades to learn it."
  "Then how did you learn it in a few days?"
  "We had to..." Ranma replied. He didn't bother to tell her that he 
learned it because Ryoga had learned it before him. He needed to learn 
it because Ryoga would have been able to beat him. 
  Priss said nothing. There was probably something more to it than Ranma 
was letting on. It must have had something to do with Ryoga. 
  Ranma looked up at the badly damaged computer, "You think that's 
enough or should we do some more damage?"
  A phlanax of newly made boomers entered the room, guns hoisted. Ryoga 
shot a single ki blast at the group, destroying them all.
  "Y-you guys are getting stronger," Priss commented.
  Ranma nodded, "Uh huh. With ki, it's like working out at a gym. The 
more you use it, the stronger you get." He walked over to one of the 
boomers. It was no longer functioning, but was still somewhat intact.
  "Hey, Priss, you know how much one of them boomers weigh?" he asked 
curious.
  "I dunno, 'bout two tons. Why?" came a rather curious reply on Priss' 
part.
  Ranma bent over and picked it up with one arm, his fingers digging 
into the boomer's metallic chest. He looked at it for a short time 
before he turned around and threw it at the computer.
  "Nothing much. It's just that I remember a not too long ago, this lady 
asked me to move her car because she thought I was some boomer...and I 
had trouble moving it. But now, it's easy," Ranma replied "I never even 
realized I was getting stronger as time passed. That's all."
  Priss was silent. She was still comprehending the strength it must had 
taken to throw a boomer of that weight across the room. Sure, Ryoga had 
lifted a barbell equal in weight, but he never threw it.  
  "Man, that's one tough computer," Ranma said, looking up at the 
slightly damaged computer. Of course, he could destroy it easily with a 
simple suppuku blast, but he couldn't help but admire how long the 
computer had lasted under such intense attacks like Ryoga's ki-blasts 
and Priss' grenade launcher.
  "Jus' use a suppukku blast," Ryoga muttered.
  "Are you kidding me?! That's overkill! It'll be like opening a piggy 
bank with an atomic bomb!!" Ranma quickly shot back, his glance jumpy. 
He was scared that Ryoga was about to attempt throwing one of those 
blasts.
  "Suppukku?" Priss asked, "What do you mean by that? What's a seppukku 
blast?"
  Ranma looked at Ryoga first, "Don't you dare throw one of those." He 
then turned toward Priss, "Um, well, it's kinda hard to explain. A 
seppukku blast is the strongest ki-blast we know."
  "How strong?" she asked. She felt this shudder surging through her 
body as she realized that Ranma and Ryoga were even stronger than she 
had already witnessed. Even though Akane had mentioned about Ranma being 
far stronger than he really was, she had never really seen Ranma so 
disturbed at the thought of something so powerful.
  Ranma said, "Well, if I'm stronger than I was before, and if only I 
threw that blast, it would probably destroy this whole place. And yes, 
we would all die. If Ryoga and I both threw it...I don't want to even 
imagine how much damage it would cause."
  Priss stood there, staring, wide mouthed.
  Ranma turned around and started throwing regular ki-blasts toward the 
computer, "There's no need to use those anyway. C'mon, Ryoga, what're 
you standing there for? Help out..."
  Ryoga shrugged his shoulders before he did as he was told. He, too, 
started throwing ki-blasts at the computer.
  A rocket flew into the vast room and hit Ranma in the back, 
hard....real hard! The explosion from the missle sent Ranma flying 
forward onto his stomach, sliding on the cold steel floor to a halt 
where he lay motionless.
  Ryoga turned around and caught sight of yet another new batch of 
boomers. But this batch was different. They were unlike anything Priss 
had ever seen. The computer, which had a very advanced AI system, 
realized that its existence was in grave jeopardy and created a heavily 
armed group of boomers, instead of those refgulat batch of military 
boomers. 
  There were three of them.
  "Oh shit," Ryoga swore. Those boomers looked scary, much worse than 
any he had ever seen. He looked at Ranma, who was on the floor 
motionless, and then back at the group. All three were slowly spreading 
apart, making their way around Ryoga, attempting to surround him.
  Priss turned her grenade launcher toward the nearest boomer and pulled 
the trigger. The projectile sailed through the air and hit one of the 
boomers in the chest. It did nothing.
  "What the hell?!" she said, shocked. The boomer took a slug right in 
the chest and was still standing. That slug should have blown its entire 
upper torso off. As she stood there, she realized what had just 
happened. The computer, attempting self preservation, was forced to 
create a new breed of boomers. Like an animal trapped in a corner, it 
got desperate, if that was possible, and was forced to do take drastic 
measures.
  The closest boomer turned toward Priss and raised its cannon.
  Ryoga, realizing what was going to happen if he didn't do something, 
ran toward Priss and grabbed her, leaping up into the air. 
Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough as a missle struck Ryoga right in 
the back. Gritting his teeth, Ryoga twisted in mid-air, still holding 
Priss, and fired a massive ki-blast down on one of the boomers.
  "ShiShi Hokodan!!!" he shouted, the ki-blast shooting forward and 
destroying the boomer.
  But now, the other two boomers opened fire, firing everything they've 
got at their target, some actually hitting, but most missing.
  Ryoga gritted his teeth and he was struck constantly, cursing his lack 
of speed. He was unable to dodge quick enough. His lack of speed was 
only compensated by his brute strength. 
  "That's it!!!" Ryoga said to himself.
  "What? What's it?"
  Ryoga ignored Priss, having more important things to worry about than 
answering questions. He landed on his feet, dropping Priss to the floor 
and charged toward one of the boomers. He crossed his arms and held them 
up in front of him, protecting his face and chest as the boomer shot 
missle after missle toward him, each one hitting him. When Ryoga was 
close enough, he kicked the boomer in the chest, his foot leaving an 
imprint, sending it slamming into the wall...hard, denting the metalic 
wall behind it. He ran forward and kicked the boomer again, sending it 
right through it. 
  Ryoga was struck in the back with yet another missle, the pain 
excruciating. He fell forward onto his knees and hand, feeling this 
unbelieveable rage flooding through his body, this rage that he was 
receiving such punishment from a boomer. 
  He got to his feet and turned toward the boomer, his fangs showing as 
his gritted his teeth in rage, only to receive a devestating blow to his 
face as the boomer used its jumpjets to propel forward and hit him with 
the butt of the cannon. 
  "You mother fucker!!!!" Ryoga shouted, exploding with uncontrolled 
rage "That fucking hurt!!!!"
  Ryoga stood there, receiving yet another skull crushing blow to the 
head by the boomer, but remained unfazed. When the boomer went to land 
yet another blow, Ryoga screamed, "Die!!!" as he reached a hand forward 
and grabbed the boomer's face, lifting it off the ground with ease. The 
boomer raised its cannon anf fired a missle right into Ryoga's chest. 
All that did was make Ryoga more angry.
  A missle flew in through the opening in the wall that boomer had been 
kicked through and struck Ryoga in the back. 
  Ryoga, still holding a boomer in one hand, turned around to face the 
other boomer as it entered the room through the opening, a shoeprint 
embedded on its think armored chest. The foot-imprinted boomer shot a 
missle at Ryoga, not even caring if the missle hit its brethren, only to 
have Ryoga punch the missle head on.
  "Good, you're still alive, you'll pay for that!!!" Ryoga spat. He 
turned toward the boomer he was holding and raised his free hand toward 
its chest. "ShiShi Hokodan!!! ShiShi Hokodan!!! ShiShi Hokodan!!! ShiShi 
Hokodan!!!" He shot four consecutive ki-blasts into the boomers chest. 
The blast sent to boomer flying into the machine, destroyed beyond 
recognition. But Ryoga wasn't satisfyed. Not yet.
  As the other boomer continued to open fire, none of the missles 
harming him, Ryoga walked over toward the computer and pulled the 
ravaged boomer up. He lifted its lifeless exoskeleton and slammed it 
back into the computer, continuing to push forward, pushing so hard that 
he literally walked into the computer before he was satisfyed that the 
boomer would no longer function...ever.
  He turned toward the foot-imprinted boomer and sneered, "Now it's your 
turn!!"
  If that boomer could feel emotions, it would fear its life as it 
continued to fire its cannon at its target.
  Priss watched in awe and almost terror as she saw Ryoga ravage the 
hapless boomer. She watched as Ryoga walked slowly up to the boomer, 
withstanding everything it threw, and grabbed one of its arms.
  Ryoga jerked backward and yanked the boomer's arm right out. He then 
grabbed the other arm and yanked that one out also, picking up the gun 
it dropped as slamming the butt of it into the boomer's face, caving it 
in. The boomer, no longer functioning, froze and started to fall 
backwards, only to have Ryoga reach forward and dig his fingers into its 
chest, preventing it.
  "Oh no you don't!!!" Ryoga said, fangs showing, menacingly.
  He picked the boomer up and proceeded to slam it up against the wall, 
slamming it over and over and over again until it fell completely apart. 
Once it was in pieces, Rygoa wanted to make sure it was dead so he shot 
a ki-blast at the thousands of parts that littered the floor.
  "Ryoga, that's enough, it's dead!" Priss said, scared. She had never 
witness something so horrifying in her life. She couldn't believe what 
she had seen. Ryoga took blast after blast in the chest and back yet 
remained unfazed, controlled by pure rage. But now, now that he had 
destroyed to boomers utterly, he had to calm down. It looked like he was 
about to explode as his ki flared brilliantly.
  Ryoga turned toward Priss.
  "Ryoga, it's me, Priss!" she said. She noticed this unfamiliar look in 
his eyes.
  For one terrifying moment, Ryoga didn't recognize her, but when he 
did, his rage filled face disappeared. "A-are you all right?" he asked, 
noticing that she wasn't bleeding anywhere. He had totally forgotten 
that she was there when he went into that rage. His ki-blasts, if strong 
enough, could have gotten her killed.
  "I-I'm fine," Priss said, her voice a bit shaky.
  Ryoga said, "I'm glad to hear that." As he started to calm down, the 
pain from before was finally starting to register. He winced in pain as 
he felt this excruciating sensation traveling throughout his back, as if 
it were on fire. He ignored it as he looked over toward where Ranma was.
  Ranma remained motionless, a small puddle of blood forming.
  "Hey, Ranma, you alive?" Ryoga said, walking over to him. He felt his 
heart almost drop as he realized Ranma wasn't responding. He just lay 
there, totally motionless. 
  Ryoga kneeled down next to him, "Yo, Ranma, wake up. You okay?" Ryoga 
didn't want to imagine just how bad a condition Ranma was in. Ranma had 
taken a missle in the back, full force, caught totally off-guard. Ranma 
would have easily survived that if he had been aware of that missle. His 
ki would have protected him somewhat. But that had never happened.
  Priss quickly ran up to where Ranma lay and kneeled down next to him, 
ever so gently turning him over onto his back. She was relieved to see 
the steady rise and fall of Ranma's chest.
  "Where can I find some water?" Ryoga said, coldly. 
  "What?"
  "Where can I find some water? Ranma needs water..." Ryoga repeated. He 
knew Ranma, like himself, didn't really want anyone to know of the 
curse, but he knew Ranma would make an exception "It'll heal him. Water 
will heal him....just like it did for me"
  "W-water?" Priss asked, not knowing whether to be shocked at the 
thought of water being able to heal Ranma or Ryoga actually helping out. 
Didn't they hate each other? 
  "Splash him with cold water..." Ryoga said.
  A missle flew in through the door and hit Ryoga yet again. Luckily, he 
caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and managed to shield 
his whole upper body from the explosion. He was sent flying into the 
side of the computer.
  "Goddamn, when will these guys stop coming?!" Ryoga said with a sneer. 
He raised a hand and shot several ki-blast through the pair of doors, 
destroying whatever was standing on the other side. He looked at Ranma 
and said, "Don't worry, Ranma, I'll find you some water, but first, I'm 
gonna get rid of this damn computer,"
  Ryoga closed his eyes and started concentrating. 
  "Ryoga, look out!" Priss shouted, pointing.
  Ryoga opened his eyes, just in time to see a missle flying back in 
through the door and hit him. He quickly got to his feet and shook his 
head and sighed.
  "Man, this has gotta stop!"



-OneShot
Jeffrey Keith Wong
http://www.li.net/~jeffwong/index.htm
Site updated May 30th.