Private Bet #10 Chapter III 
by Shade 

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and affiliates are the 
property of Rumiko Takahashi, Rifts and 
Phase World are owned by Palladium. Other 
references belong to their respective owners. 

Reality Warning: Things get pretty messy from this 
point on. If offended by blood, guts, sexual innuendo,
or other bits of real life read no further.

Many thanks go again to my prereaders: 
The Apprentice, Gregg Sharp, Ammadeau, and Skysaber. 

Constructive C&C is always welcome. 

If you want previous parts and the other Private Bets 
go here -> http://members.xoom.com/Ranma_Tenchi/main.html 

~~~~~~~~ 
2a: The perfect end to a perfect day 
~~~~~~~~
-From the Journal of Erin Tarn

It has been many weeks since last I heard of 
my dear friend and I fear that the worst has befallen 
him. My contacts among the dimensional travelers
have informed me that he has apparently vanished 
without a trace and is now the subject of one of the 
largest manhunts the Megaverse has ever seen. It 
seems that my friend has finally bitten off more 
then he can chew this time. The man I speak of 
is of course Ranma Saotome, quite possibly the 
most interesting and yet at the same time the 
most impossible young man I have ever met. 

It seems strange to feel so strongly about him when 
he spent such a short time with myself and my 
companions. Yet there is an intangible quality to 
that young man that seems to draw others to him
like moths to a flame. Ranma possesses a refreshing 
zest for life that remains undampened despite the 
worst that Fates seems to keep throwing at him. 

I first encountered the poor boy during that little 
mishap with a dimensional rift that landed me in the
strange world known as Wormwood. Such an idealistic 
lad he was, brash and yet possessing an innate sense of 
honesty and a code of honor that I found quite charming, 
as did the other females in my party. Yet Ranma also quickly 
proved his mettle as a formidable fighter when he helped us 
to fend off one of the Horde�s raiding parties. By all rights 
any normal human should have been dead many times over after 
sustaining the amount of blaster fire he did. Yet, amazingly 
enough he came out of the fight with nary a scratch, though 
his rainment wasn�t nearly as fortunate. 

Saotome soon became a welcome addition to our traveling 
party and escorted us through some rather nasty territory. 
Suffice to say within a week we finally managed to reach one 
of the world�s free cities and regretfully parted ways. He was 
our very own knight errant right out of the tales of old, minus 
the shining armor. Ah, if I were only thirty years younger....

There was little hope of ever seeing him again, though I did invite
him to visit me in the city of Lazlo if ever he should happen to 
journey there. As luck would have it, he did go to Lazlo during
the Mechanoid crisis, though I wasn�t present at the time and only 
learned of his appearance through second hand accounts.

I suppose that I should have known better then to believe 
that our paths wouldn�t cross again. The next time I saw that 
pigtail of his was at the Gathering of Heroes. It was hard 
to tell who was more surprised when we ran into each other,
him or me. Once again he had just shown up where he was 
needed most, the only reason he would give for his presence was 
that �It�s a martial artist�s duty to help a just cause�.

His aid in defeating the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
proved invaluable. I personally witnessed his battle with 
Pestilence, which only confirmed my earlier belief that Ranma 
was more then just the superb fighter he claimed to be. In the
fight against the Demon and its minions my friend revealed
several amazing abilities that he used to send the monstrosities 
back to whatever Hellish plane had spawned them. Flight, 
incredible supernatural strength and stamina, reflexes that a 
Juicer would be envious of, a capacity for somehow surviving
even the most grievous injury, and the ability to rapidly discharge 
very powerful beams of energy from his hands at will. When I 
I later confronted him with the evidence he finally capitulated to 
my inquiries as to who and what he really was. 

I must admit, the truth came as quite a shock. Whatever I 
had been subconsciously expecting paled in comparison to 
the reality. I have promised Ranma that I will not reveal his 
secret, even though it pains me that his heroism will never 
be recognized by the rest of the world. 

Something changed between us after that, though I do not think 
he meant to distance himself he did so nonetheless. There was a 
new sadness in his eyes after the fighting was over, but he hid it 
so well that of the surviving heroes of the campaign only myself 
and the mysterious Katrina Sun noticed it. Then one night, during 
one of the many parties being held to celebrate our victory, he 
simply vanished. Though everyone searched the town he was 
nowhere to be found, I knew then that he had gone back to where 
he was most needed.

It would be nearly two years before I saw Ranma again....
~~~~~~~~
-Ristmoth, 9 hours into the attack

After hard fighting that had claimed many lives 
on both sides, the way was finally clear. Alliance 
Battleships had established a solid perimeter for
the vessels carrying their valuable ground troops 
to pass through. The occasional flash and cloud of 
superheated dust on the planet�s surface arose from
the continuing suppression of strategic planetary defenses 
and military bases. Careful precision was necessary for 
the orbital bombardment, the civilian population was
already in uprising against their former masters and 
the fleet had no wish to hit friendly forces.

�The transports are preparing to make 
their drops. Escorts, take your positions.�

The Untamed Stallion, along with her escorting squadron
of fighters was joined by several other older corvettes
and half a dozen Assault Frigates along with their capital 
space patrols to form a protective screen for 
the convoy of slow and quite battered barges. 
The transports were an old design and had been 
mothballed ages ago by the Empire. But now they 
pressed back into service by a Rebellion that 
desperately needed every functioning ship it 
could get.

With only light shields, a few nearly antique 
laser batteries, and practically no armor 
whatsoever, these ships were the equivalent
of big, fat, sitting ducks for even the smallest 
and weakest Kreeghor vessel, hence the need 
for the strong escort. By now, the remaining 
Imperial capital ships that could had already 
fled from the system, while the rest were now 
either expanding spheres of light and heat or dark 
gutted hulks depending on whether or not the 
ship�s engines had been breached. But despite the 
through sweep that Alliance forces had made, 
an occasional squadron of enemy fighters still
managed to slip out from one of the hidden hangers
on the planet�s surface. Just one squadron would be 
more then enough to decimate the transports. 

The anti-fighter defenses on the Untamed Stallion were 
the best in the fleet, her fellow corvettes also mounted 
impressive deterrents as well. If by some chance they 
ran into something larger then just fighters that�s where
the frigates would come in. But their abilities were about 
to be put to the test as the planetary defense forces played 
their final and most lethal trump card. 

�I�m detecting multiple launches coming from the planet�s surface!�

A hundred hidden armored silos belched smoke and flame as their
contents climbed for the upper atmosphere and escape velocity.

�Missiles incoming!�

�Keep them away from the transports at all costs!!�

The Rebel cruisers Vigilant and Liberty quickly moved 
into position to pound the previously concealed launchers
into fine grade powder. That just left the cruise missiles 
heading toward the fleet�s transports as the only visible 
remaining threat for the escorts to deal with.

Sophisticated ECM disabled a few before they 
ever reached space, in an ironic twist sending the 
missiles back toward the base that had launched 
them. The faster escort fighters came within range 
of the deadly swarm first, taking their toll on the
evasive smart bombs with energy cannons and rail 
guns. But there were simply too many of the missiles 
and not enough fighters, despite their best efforts at 
least half of them got through. There was no time for a 
second pass, even as the pilots turned the massive rockets
altered their heading to keep them out of range as 
they continued to close on the helpless transports.

Then the corvettes began launching countering volleys 
of their own, going for multiple fratricide. More explosions 
briefly lit the darkness of space, yet the remaining warheads 
still headed relentlessly toward their targets. Now was the most 
dangerous time as the escorts were forced into close range in order 
for their guns to come into play. Cruise missiles could cross the short 
distances quickly enough that there wouldn�t be enough time 
for an unlucky vessel in its way to even think of evading. With 
few exceptions the ships of the convoy could not hope to survive 
a direct hit from even one of those gigantic warheads. It was a 
grueling trial of the crews� nerves and the gunners� accuracy, there 
was almost no margin for error and casualties started mounting almost
immediately. In the blink of an eye one of the leading corvettes vanished 
in the white hot flare of an antimatter explosion as a missile struck it 
head on.

Onboard the Untamed Stallion Commander Ayla was 
a shouting orders to the rest of the ship, her draconic 
nature evident despite being shapeshifted into a human 
in the sheer force behind her commands.

�Activate the Defense Grid and prep point defense. 
You know the drill ladies, aim straight and shoot fast!�

>From the comlink there was a chorus of affirmatives 
from the various gunners manning the weapons turrets. 

A score of enemy missiles died in the ensuing storm 
of point defense lasers, particle beams, plasma bursts,
and hyper-velocity duranium rail-gun rounds. But more 
were still coming, the Assault Frigate Spirit nearly joined 
the first unfortunate escort in oblivion as its weak point defense 
was overwhelmed by over half a dozen of the guided 
warheads. The first missile was destroyed as was the 
second, but the third and fourth ones got through and 
inflicted a savage punishment on her faltering shields. 
By some quirk of fate the fifth warhead missed completely
and was vaporized by the Untamed Stallion�s guns as 
the missile came around for another attack. The sixth 
warhead punched through Spirit�s weakened variable 
forcefield to explode violently against her hull, crippling 
the valiant escort vessel. The ship�s lights went dark and
the battered hulk was forced to use its remaining engine 
power to limp away. 

Three of the corvettes took up new positions to cover the 
vector left open by the withdrawing frigate. They succeeded
in stopping the missiles coming from that direction, but the
escorts paid the ultimate price for their bravery. All three ships 
were nothing more then expanding clouds of superheated gas 
by the time the fleet�s fighters came screaming back into the fight 
with with full afterburners blazing fiery streaks behind the small craft.

Ten cruise missiles managed to evade the gunners� tracking systems, 
and the defenders were running out of time. In a few moments the 
warheads would reach the transports and a hundred thousand of 
their irreplacable troops would be lost. 

Ayla realized that they had only one option left
if the convoy was to have any chance at all. They 
were the only ship still between the warheads and
the convoy. The missiles couldn�t be allowed to
get pass them, no matter what it took to stop them.
Even though it might cost them their lives, death was 
something each and every member of the crew had 
accepted as a possibility that came with the job.

�Set our ECM to deception mode. Use Alliance 
transponder setting seven.�

Tania winced but responded without hesitation.

�Copy Commander, reconfiguring ECM now.�

The communications officer took a moment to whisper 
a short prayer in her native tongue. Setting seven meant
that they would register to the missile guidence systems 
as a group of three Alliance Starcruisers. In theory 
the command protocols of the warheads should override
control and change the target priority to the more enticing 
false readings. Of course if this worked then that would 
leave the Untamed Stallion with ten really big and very 
nasty smart bombs with anti-matter payloads aimed at it.

She decided to pray a little harder.
~~~~~~~~~
-Juuban

For some reason the Sailor Senshi weren�t as 
glad to see their traditional rescuer as they 
normally would be. Perhaps it was due to the fact 
he was making a total fool of himself on national 
television. It might have something to do with 
his challenging someone who�d just wasted two
of the Negaverse�s finest military commanders 
just few minutes ago. Or it could be that he�d been
late for the scheduled last minute rescue, which 
wasn�t a good thing. Especially for the ones who
were supposed to be rescued. Either way, to say 
they were quite miffed with him would be quite an
understatement.

Ranma rolled his eyes heavenward for a moment and 
then interrupted the cliche inspiration speech. "Lemmee skip 
the preliminary stuff and cut to the chase scene. Are you by 
any chance an Alien Intelligence? A God? A Demon? Some 
powerful supernatural fiend I�ve probably never heard of? 
A mage with a bad taste in overpriced wedding garments? One 
of those master psychics that have lost more then a few marbles?
Or are you packing any 30th century firearms? Carrying a weapon 
of considerable magical power by any chance?�

�Um...no.�

�Then stop bothering me and go get a real job.�

Tuxedo Kamen facefaulted, unfortunately for him 
he was leaning toward the wrong side of the roof at 
the time. The watching Senshi winced as he hit the 
pavement with an audible splat.

Ranma ignored his twitching form as he went to check 
on the unconscious Skuld. His fingers gently probed her 
for injuries with a deftness and throughness that rivaled 
a experienced battlefield medic.

{Hmmm, a light concussion, some bruises on her 
back and along her side and a twisted ankle.}

[Fascinating.]

Uh oh. Whenever she said something like that trouble always
followed sooner or later. He was almost afraid to find out 
what she found so interesting *this* time. 

{What is it?}

[Her psychic energy level is nowhere 
even near a normal human�s. In fact I�m 
pretty sure she�s not even a mortal.]

This wasn�t as bad as the malfunctioning 
thermal detonator or the fairy ring incident, 
but it came close.

{What?! Are you telling me she�s some kind of godling?!!}

[Bingo. This is looking less and less like that quiet 
vacation you kept promising. On the bright side I 
haven�t been this entertained in centuries!]

Ranma winced as the sword burst into telepathic 
laughter. With Ishtar as his partner he never had to worry 
about his ego getting too inflated, she was always there to 
cut him down to size.

{I�m glad one of us is finding this situation funny. Now 
are you going to heal her or is there anything else you�d 
like me to know about?!}

[Well, aside from the fact that those other girls
are some of the sources of those magical 
emanations from last night and that weirdo in
the black tuxedo and hat seems to have recovered,
nothing much.]

{.......Ishtar!}

[Fine, fine. Spoilsport.]

Resting the flat of the blade across the 
young goddess�s chest Ranma watched 
as a soft yellow light flowed from the sword 
into the girl�s body. The most visible of the 
bruises shrunk and vanished, revealing unmarred 
skin. Although he couldn�t see the rest of the effects
of his partner�s healing power, he did note with 
some relief that the girl�s breathing was even and 
untroubled. Ishtar couldn�t do anything about her faint,
that was one of those little medical mysteries like the 
common cold that had never been solved by magic  
or anything else even in the advanced society he�d 
come from. Skuld would have to come out of that 
one on her own. 

He did his best to arrange her more comfortably on 
the ground before turning toward the nearest of the 
strangely dressed girls, which turned out to be Sailor Jupiter. 
She eeped in surprise at how fast he moved and took an 
involuntary step back. Ranma�s action was also misinterpreted 
rather badly by a certain thickheaded masked crusader of justice.

*Thwack*

Something hit Ranma in the back. It turned out to
be a fancy walking cane and had about as much effect on
his Cosmic Armor as a M-60 machine gun on full automatic, 
which is to say absolutely none. The sound of wood 
hitting something considerably harder then mere metal was 
rather annoying though. He decided to just ignore it and hope 
that this weirdo came to his senses, only a complete idiot 
would keep on attacking him.

�Get away from them!!�

*Thwhack**Thwack*

[Well he�s got guts. No brains, but guts.]
~~~~~~
-A few moments later

*thwhack**thwack**thwack*

The cane was looking much the worse for wear.
It was meant as more of a gimmick really, great for 
parrying attacks or polevaulting but leaving 
something to be desired as a melee weapon. The 
cantrips that enchanted the wood were no match 
for Ranma�s skin, let alone his armor.

�*huff* I will *puff*  defeat *gasp* you *wheeze*!�

Tuxedo Kamen resolved to get more exercise after this 
was all over. Normally all he had to do was toss a rose in,
make a pretty speech, maybe make a few fancy moves with 
his cane and �presto� the crisis was over. Consequently he 
had no stamina to speak of, only his pride was keeping him 
going this long. It didn�t help his confidence any that his 
target didn�t even seem to notice his best efforts.

�Those ribs seem to be only bruised Miss....ah... I 
don�t believe I�ve caught your name yet.�

�Mako...err I mean Sailor Jupiter! Yes, 
that�s right, it�s Sailor Jupiter.�

Ranma raised an eyebrow beneath his helm as his patient 
turned bright cherry red with embarrassment and laughed
nervously. 

�Okay... hold still, this should only take a second.�

Once again the Rune weapon�s healing ability went to work.
Almost immediately Jupiter breathed easier as the pinching
soreness eased around her midsection. Even the rest of her
cuts and bruises didn�t hurt as much as they had earlier. She 
wasn�t afraid of this stranger anymore, his kindness just had 
to be genuine. He probably looked just like her old sempai 
underneath that tight armor.

�Thank you.�

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement before 
going to see to the others, he totally missed 
the little hearts floating in the girl�s eyes.

But his path was suddenly blocked by a 
slightly exhausted caped crusader.

�Hey you! Quit ignoring me!!�

�Huh? You�re still here? And still dressed like that?!�

That was the last straw, an outraged Tuxedo Kamen 
threw a wild punch toward the armored form that 
seemed to just keep on mocking him.

A moment later he was nursing severely bruised 
knuckles and doing his best not to scream from 
the pain. That action would be filed under the 
heading of *things you now know not to do*. 

�Knock it off, you�re only hurting yourself Tux-boy.�

�Don�t call me Tux-boy!�

Sailor Jupiter picked that moment to drag Tuxedo Kamen
off in order to explain to him a concept known as �punctuality�.
~~~~~~~~

Shadow and Rowan exchanged 
looks then turned to Zora.

�How much for a DVD of that scene?�

�50,000 yen per disc.�

�We�ll take ten.�
~~~~~~~
-Furinkan High

Akane Tendo was angry. While this was 
not a unusual state for her to be in, the cause of 
her irritable state today was. Ranma Saotome this,
Ranma Saotome that, she was getting sick of hearing 
his name on the lips of what seemed to be every student 
on campus. Even the boys were talking about him, though 
they were only concerned about a.) finding a way to
beat him by tomorrow morning or b.) find a way to 
become his buddies and benefit from it with the girls.  
The only exception to this was the Furinkan Martial 
Arts Club, they wanted to recruit Ranma so that they 
could finally trash Gravitron, Tomebiki, Juuban, and
all the other rival schools.

What was worse, they�d all turned to her for more 
information about him since Nabiki tended to charge 
too much. Akane had enjoyed being the most popular 
person in school and though she�d never admit it, 
being upstaged like that had hit both her vanity and 
pride rather hard. Consequently any residual attraction 
she might have felt toward Ranma was now buried under 
a flood of outrage and annoyance at being practically 
forgotten by the entire school.

�Akane, my love!�

*Wham*

Well, *almost* the entire school.

Just wait till they got back to the dojo,
then she�d show that showoff what a 
�true� martial artist couild do! Turn down 
her offer to spar and fight *her* battles for her 
would he, well she�d have the last laugh!!

*Crack*
*Boom*

That was strange, why was there a storm 
suddenly brewing over the Juuban district?
Today�s forecast had said there�d be clear 
skies all day.
~~~~~~~
-Juuban

Ranma glanced up at the rapidly darkening sky with
some concern, he could sense that the building storm 
wasn�t entirely natural in origin. There was an almost 
electrical feeling in the air, as if every molecule had been 
supercharged with mystic potential. This didn�t bode 
well, already he could feel his own supernatural power 
starting to flare up instinctively in response to the presence 
of so much psychic energy despite his efforts to keep his 
power signature to a minimum. An occasional spark of static 
electricity would briefly snap into existance around Ranma 
where his aura met the increasingly agitated atmosphere. 

Something or someone possessing as much potential 
psychic energy as all these girls combined was close by.
The Cosmoknight had a feeling that it wouldn�t be a good 
idea to stay and find out. He tended to trust his feelings, 
another bit of wisdom from an old friend and teacher.

{Time to go.}

He�d put away Ishtar once she was done healing 
the girls, no sense in tempting fate by leaving her out 
where she might change her mind about them. A jealous 
Rune Weapon was not a pretty sight, especially when 
she could read his thoughts as clearly as a book with glass 
pages. Slipping away shouldn�t be too much of a problem,
it looked like everyone else�s attention was on the little 
squabble taking place in front of him. 

Much to his amusement, after he�d finished healing them 
the girls wearing the colorful fukus had surrounded the poor 
chump in the formal eveningwear and were currently 
berating him within an inch of his life. Ranma had never 
seen a guy that wasn�t already married look so whipped 
before, after this he�d probably never be able to take that 
Tuxedo character seriously ever again.

Ranma was congratulating himself for his cleverness on having 
avoided a potentially sticky situation as he quietly walked 
away. Then a sultry voice stopped him in his tracks and 
brought the others� attention back to him.

�Hold it right there buster.�

A stunning platinum blonde blocked his escape, some idle 
corner of Ranma�s mind noted that it was the same woman 
who�d fallen out of the television. He also noticed that she
seemed to be at least partly responsible for the magical 
saturation of the surrounding area. The small jolts of lightning
that kept popping up around her as she approached him was a 
pretty definite sign of that.

No doubt about it, he was in trouble again.
~~~~~~~
-Tomebiki High

Somehow a television had been smuggled into
class. A certain Shuutaro Mendo might have 
had something to do with that, but there was no 
proof that could be traced back to him. 

�What a babe!!�

The most lecherous boy in the universe soon 
regretted his comment, however true it might 
have been.

�Darling no baka!!!�

Hell hath no fury like an Oni scorned.

*ZAP*
~~~~~~~

(clip to 9b)

*$*$*$*$*$*

Most memorable line in a modern day fantasy novel:

"You belted the Lord of Destruction with a freakin' salami?"

-Unicorn U. 

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