Have fun with this one as much as I have had writing it.
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The Wheel of Fire, #28: Shadow Weaver
Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko
Takahashi. And all that other good stuff. Proper
licenses belong to respective properties and
characters. The manga has precedence over material in
the anime.
This file can be freely distributed so long as it
appears in its complete form and proper credit given.
No part may be reproduced for monetary gain without
permission from the author.
Fanart can be found at:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/fanart/index.html
------------------------------------------------
Shion Kagami and Ayame Mishima stood together in the
nearly empty warehouse. The man's watch beeped for a
moment, signaling the passing of midnight, as well as
the lateness of the third member of their conspiracy.
The hacker known as "Warlock" to the outside world
dressed in a tan trench coat with a matching hat and
gloves, appearing straight out of corny detective
movies. In an effort to further conceal his identity
Shion wore a gas mask-like apparatus over his face,
which was in reality a voice synthesizer as well as a
substitute for his glasses. While Ayame knew of his
identity the one who had yet to come did not.
Ayame dressed similarly to her co-conspirator, going
further by throwing on a wig as well. She flipped a
remote control in her right hand bored, and tapped her
left foot impatiently.
"He's late," she noted, her voice distorted beyond
recognition. "Little bastard's selling us out."
"No," corrected Shion, "he's actually hiding. Likely
suspects a trap."
"Loser."
The disguised hacker nodded in reply.
Both conspirators shared very little in common: a
brilliant and distinguished mercenary hacker, and an
unquestioningly-loyal, yet thick-headed rhythmic
gymnastics martial artist. The two often were at odds
with each other over the most trivial matters, ranging
from video games to whoever gets to buy lunch.
And yet, they were very closely connected as well by
but a single thing in common: Chika Hisho, Ayame's
friend and Shion's sister-in-law that may as well be
his biological sister, if he had one. Fierce loyalty
and sibling protectiveness brought the two squabblers
together for but a single purpose: revenge.
Chika is regarded as a very talented and creative
girl by many, and she takes great pride in her work. So
when some of her work was destroyed through the acts of
one Ranma Saotome, there was but one course of action:
teach him a lesson.
The two turned toward the open chain gate at the
entrance of the warehouse to the third of their
conspiracy.
"About time!" Ayame yelled, pushing a button on the
remote control.
As soon as the newcomer stepped within the confines
of the warehouse the chain gate slammed shut. He jumped
startled, just as another gate crashed down from
above, sealing out the air of the docks outside.
"Hey!" complained the skittish man. "That could've
killed me!"
"And if you came any later you WOULD be dead!"
threatened Shion, waving an angry fist in emphasis.
The third conspirator dressed plainly in an all-black
outfit, and hardly bothered to conceal his identity.
He dressed in what appeared to be a school uniform, but
that alone hardly distinguished him, as there were
black bags hanging under his eyes, matching a blank
stare.
"You said this'd be good for me!" Hikaru Gosunkugi
said, waving his arms about. "What is it?!"
Ayame smiled under her mask, pointing the remote
control to the floor. "Watch."
Gosunkugi's jaw dropped in surprise as the floor
separated beneath his feet. He jumped on one half of
the splitting floor as the two others remained on the
other half. A great pit deep into the ground opened up
for all to see, but it was what was kept inside that
awed Gosunkugi the most.
Raising on its own platform from the hidden floor
chamber was a metal monster. Easily twice Gosunkugi's
height and width, it appeared as a cockpit of some
sort resting on two bird-like legs. Two spindly arms
jutted from the sides of the cockpit, ending in what
appeared to be razor-sharp cutting claws. A single
gattling cannon was mounted just under the cockpit,
likely its main weapon.
"It's... it's a battle armor!" he managed to squawk,
speechless.
"We present," Ayame introduced grandly, waving her
hand at the machine, "Mishima Heavy Industries' latest
prototype combat armor suit model AS-00P, or just 'ASP'
for short. The eggheads like to call it 'Petunia.'"
The battle armor's legs folded on itself, lowering
the cockpit for Gosunkugi to see. Ayame moved to point
out its features.
"It comes equipped with jumping booster capabilities,
allowing for a maximum vertical distance of forty
meters, and variable horizontal distance depending on
a running start. Two proboscis claws for quick
snatching and cutting, even for smaller spaces. One
forward-mounted Vulcan cannon with ammunition
cartridges stored below the seat, and automatically
loaded from there."
She leaned over to the control console. Dark panels
and tiny monitors dotted the 45 degree-angled dash,
with a couple of levers on the right side, and a
communication phone on the left. The steering mechanism
was mounted on the sides of the dash in a fashion
similar to a motorcycle, giving Gosunkugi the
impression that he'd be leaning over most of the time.
"Radar, sonar, search lights, point-to-point laser
pulse transmitter, speed adjustment with cruise
control, wide-band broadcast jammer, ejection seat...."
"Ejection seat?" Gosunkugi repeated, confused.
"In case you don't think to JUMP off," Shion said
with amusement.
Ayame continued, "And here we have a panic button."
She turned to Gosunkugi. "Don't ever push it."
"Then why's it there?" he wondered.
"Because it's included in EVERY piece of hardware
Mishima Heavy Industries makes!" Shion yelled. "And it
NEVER works!"
"Not in the way you want it," corrected Ayame,
reaching under the pilot's seat. She produced a tin box
with the mark of a red cross clearly emblazoned on the
lid. "And this is a first aid kit, for any and all
injuries you suffer while on the job."
"Gee, thanks," Gosunkugi said sarcastically. "But
how is all this going to stop Ranma Saotome? He's a
martial artist, and could easily run circles around
this thing! He beat the war suit without problems and
it wasn't even THIS big!"
"BUT," Ayame replied, "it does take that into
account! The prototype model is equipped with an
untested full-envelope shield matrix, which should give
you enough time to pound him."
"Sadly, point-to-point hasn't been developed yet,"
added Shion.
"Untested?" Gosunkugi repeated nervously.
"Theoretically, the generator should develop a
solid-air barrier around the mecha," the hacker
explained. "Solid-air is ki energy attacks on a
fundamental level. Utilizing this Ranma shouldn't be
able to lay a hand on you."
"And if he does?"
"Then you're going to explain to the eggheads at
Mishima Heavy Industries why their latest weapon got
busted," Ayame answered evenly. "We haven't much time,
so you'd better get rid of Ranma quick, or we will let
them get you."
"Them? Who?"
"Oh, you really don't want to know," Shion warned.
Miranda couldn't help but laugh as she sat at the
open-air restaurant, a fresh cup of coffee in her
hand.
"C'mon, I REALLY need that ticket!" Ranma protested,
leaning over the table and drawing stares from the
other guests.
Morning was still young when Miranda decided to go
out for a cup of coffee, only to be intercepted by
Ranma Saotome on the way, who pestered her the entire
trip. She propped her right leg over her left, taking
in her first sip of the warm brew, allowing her
beaten opponent to hang in suspension for a while
longer.
She still had plenty of time, she guessed, checking
her watch. Putting down her cup Miranda straightened
the jacket of her school uniform, which indicated she
belonged to Kolkhoz High, one of Furinkan High's town
rivals. For a moment she missed attending Saint
Hebereke, but only for a moment; her purpose there was
finished, and it brought nothing more than memories of
a beaten enemy.
After all, at Kolkhoz, after easily defeating the
resident martial arts champions, Miranda reigned
supreme.
"What're you going to do with the extra ticket,
anyway?" persisted the male martial artist, who Miranda
finally noted as wearing that same Chinese outfit
rather than a proper school uniform. "C'mon!"
Finally, the humor seemed to drain away from Burning
Eyes. "Can't you take a hint?" she asked forwardly.
"You lost." She leaned back, scooping up her cup of
coffee for another sip.
Ranma slammed a fist down on the table. "It's NOT
about who won or who lost!" he insisted. "I NEED to get
to China!"
"And denying you of such a prize is amusing to me,"
Miranda replied, although she found the charade hardly
humorous. "Why don't you ask your ex-girlfriend...."
"She's NOT my ex-girlfriend," he corrected.
"Whatever," Miranda said, shrugging. "Then why don't
you ask Kodachi Kuno for money? I assume that's why, if
you haven't left already, you're pestering me."
Without warning Miranda brought her propped leg down
hard, rebounding off the head of a short old man,
knocking him out cold. She looked down at the old man
distastefully. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
Ranma looked under the table, but got a shoe in the
face. "What was that for?"
"Aren't you the perverted type?" Miranda teased,
unpropping her leg and picking up the old lecher in her
free hand for all to see.
Happosai shook himself awake from his stupor.
"Aww...!" he complained. "Can't I even have a LITTLE
peek?"
"How's it hangin', old geezer?" Ranma said, edgy.
"Ranma my boy!" he cried in recognition. "I see your
taste has grown ever so!"
"I'm NOT here to look at her," the younger martial
artist corrected.
Miranda leaned forward to him. "Oh? Then why did you
want to look under the table?"
The old man looked at Ranma longingly. "Now, boy,
why'd you have to do it to poor sweet Akane so soon?"
"Do what?!" he asked impatiently.
Happosai ran his fingers in circles in the air, then
made several smooching sounds.
Ranma groaned. "Look, just give me a ticket!" he
said to Miranda. "I'll do ANYTHING!!"
"Anything, huh?" the crimson-eyed girl echoed,
squeezing Happosai tighter in her grip. A smile formed
on her lips, an evil grin.
"Can I make a suggestion?!" Happosai said, suddenly
elated and full of life. He pulled out a bunny suit
from nowhere, and showed it to Ranma, to both the
martial artists' disgust.
"Don't bother, you sick old man!" Miranda yelled,
setting down her cup and getting up out of her seat.
"Hold on, let me join you," Ranma said, getting up in
turn, winding up his arm.
"Is Ranma around?" Hokuto asked Kasumi, standing at
the Tendo home's front door. She drew her cloak
tighter around herself as a breeze passed through the
yard.
"I'm sorry," Kasumi offered, "but he left early this
morning. He even skipped training."
Hokuto sighed. "Then is Akane still here?"
The eldest Tendo girl brightened with a smile. "Why,
yes! She'll be right down in a moment. Won't you come
in?"
Accepting her offer, the cloaked girl slipped out of
her shoes, and waited at the foot of the stairs as
Kasumi went up to fetch Akane. For a moment, she
wondered if she really should go through with what she
planned, but before counterarguments entered her mind
Akane was already on her way down.
"Hokuto!" she greeted. "What a surprise."
"It's about Ranma," Hokuto said, going straight to
the point. "I have to speak with him."
Akane blinked. "He's not here."
The apprentice waved her arms around with a 'duh'
expression. "Do you have any idea where he could have
gone?"
"Beats me," admitted Akane. "He never usually leaves
this early for school. And skipping training, too."
Akane took a step forward as Hokuto turned away.
"What is it? Can I help?"
She shook her head. "What I have to say can't be for
too many ears to hear. He likely suspects what I'm
going to tell him because of our link, but I have to
tell him directly to get no wrong feelings going
around."
"Wrong feelings?" Akane repeated, suddenly suspicious
of the girl. Any girl that said that in relation to
Ranma....
"Don't be jealous," Hokuto insisted, turning her
head to meet Akane's eyes. Not surprisingly, Ranma's
wife jumped in surprise. "He knows, as I know, about
the girls that want him. And despite appearances, you
are the one he loves most of all."
Akane appeared to blush. Hokuto shook her head.
"Perhaps I said too much. I'm sorry, you shouldn't
have heard that."
"N... no, that's okay," Akane replied, "I knew that
already...."
"But, while we stand here and waste time over these
issues, the fact remains that I must speak with him,"
Hokuto said, changing the subject. "Come with me."
"Ah... are you sure?"
"I'm wrong," the apprentice said, "wrong about a lot
of things. Maybe your ears need to hear what I have to
say as well."
Just before Chika could make it out the door for
school Shion stopped her, blocking the door with his
larger body.
"What do you want?" she asked bitterly, drained from
the previous day.
"Look," he said, "I don't know what happens in the
future, nor do I pretend to know, but one thing's for
sure, you're part of it."
"Can the silly speeches!" Chika whined. "I'll be late
for class if you keep up with it!"
Shion adjusted the rim of his glasses nervously, then
produced an envelope from his jacket pocket. "Yeah,
sure, but when you get the time, you might want to take
a look at this."
She took the envelope from her brother-in-law's
hand. "And?"
"Uh, happy birthday?"
"Stupid, it's not my birthday."
"Then consider it an EARLY one! I don't think I'm
going to be around for the REAL one!"
Chika blinked. "What're you talking about?"
"I've gone through all the records last night," he
explained. "Double, triple, quadruple checked. And I
altered all the records in your name."
Once again the girl blinked. "You're kidding...."
"That's right," Shion confirmed, "your name is
officially shorter, Chika Hisho."
Wordlessly, Chika dropped her book bag, a smile
slowly forming on her face. Without warning, she
clamped herself onto Shion in a tight embrace of
happiness.
She laughed quietly.
"That's not all," he said. "I've also recovered a
copy of your video that got destroyed, and I sent it
the way of every major studio in Japan."
"Th... that's great!" Chika cried, squeezing Shion
harder.
But her happiness faded when she saw that he did not
share the joy. "What's the matter?"
"Heh," he coughed nervously. "I took your words to
heart, that's what. I'm going to see her."
"W... wait a minute," she stuttered, "you don't mean
you're going to tell HER?! She'll eat you alive!"
Shion nodded. "If I don't I don't think I'll be able
to live with myself, either. This is something I just
have to do."
"Hey, I'll come with you," she offered.
"No, you'd better go to school," he insisted. "You'll
be late."
Chika lifted up her wrist to glance at her watch.
Panic seized her. "AAAGGHHH!!"
Quickly grabbing her book bag, pushing her way past
Shion, the media specialist was off to school.
Heading in the opposite direction from Furinkan High
Miranda walked, with Ranma alongside her, carrying her
book bag in his arms. The two drew no stares from any
passer-bys, as anyone who looked saw only a happy
couple on their way to school.
If only they knew the truth of the matter.
"I've already hit my peak," Miranda explained to him,
becoming starry-eyed. "Our last fight in the
amphitheater was the recognition I deserved, after so
many years!"
"Yeah, yeah," Ranma muttered. "But what's stoppin'
ya from going higher still?"
"All I asked for from my training was to achieve a
level of recognition that would prove me better than
those around me, and I've done it by defeating you!"
Miranda replied. "Kodachi was a small fish, and you
were the bigger fish. I caught them both."
"So what's it gonna take to get me that ticket?" he
said, driving straight to the point.
"I haven't decided yet," she answered honestly, "not
after that... ick, that old pervert!" Her crimson eyes
flashed toward Ranma for a moment. "What the hell is
wrong with him? You're a guy!"
"Don't ask me," Ranma said with a shrug. "The old
lech's the founder of my style's school."
"You're kidding."
"Nah, really. He's dirty and all, but at least
something good came outta him."
"My sensei at least has better class."
"Speaking of which, who IS he, anyway?"
Miranda waved a finger at him. "Now, now! Don't you
even think of going to him for training!"
"Who's thinkin' nothin'!"
A loud rumble punctuated the confused words.
"What was that?" Burning Eyes wondered, her head
darting around.
Ranma looked up toward the sky. "Get down!" he
yelled, throwing the book bag aside.
He tackled Miranda and the two martial artists were
sent sprawling on the street just before a heavy metal
foot smashed them.
"Damn you, Saotome!" cursed a familiar voice.
Ranma helped Miranda to her feet, and looked up at
the source of the voice. "Gosunkugi?!"
Gosunkugi maneuvered the chicken-legged combat armor
in Ranma's direction, the gattling cannon coming to
bear. "It's been a long time in the making, Saotome!"
he cried. "But now, at last, I'll avenge myself on you
for stealing Akane Tendo away from me!"
"You're also a year too late," Ranma pointed out.
"What kept ya?"
"Never mind that!" screamed the skittish man. "For
defiling Akane in her own home, I'll crush you!"
The martial artist shook his head. "Not you too?!"
"Now I've got a new and improved war suit to deal
with you!" Gosunkugi continued, ignoring Ranma.
"That LAST one blew up on you."
"Never mind that!"
"I hate to break up this MEANINGFUL little
conversation you guys are having," Miranda interrupted,
"but I'm going to be late for class."
"See!" Gosunkugi shouted, pointing at the crimson-
eyed girl. "You cheat on sweet Akane even now!"
"Hey!" Miranda yelled, waving an angry fist in the
air. "He's NOT my boyfriend!"
"That's MY line!" Ranma muttered, nudging Miranda
with his elbow.
"No, you're a guy, and that makes...." she started to
correct, just as Gosunkugi lost his patience.
Several rounds of shots burst through the concrete
street, forcing Ranma and Miranda to run for cover.
Pedestrians and drivers alike ran away from the
monstrous combat armor attacking seemingly at random.
The trail of bullets pursued Ranma, who jumped behind
a parked car. Gosunkugi snarled in frustration, the
shots passing over Ranma's head and beyond the barrier
of the car.
"Geez," the martial artist shouted, "Doncha think
you're overdoing it?!
"You've defiled Akane!" Gosunkugi cried at the top of
his lungs. "You'll pay DEARLY for that!"
"Eh?!"
"You, buster!" Miranda shouted, standing in the
middle of the street. "You freakin' coward! Come on
down here and I'll show you some REAL moves!"
"Stay out of this!" Voodoo Spike yelled.
"Nobody shoots at me!" the crimson-eyed martial
artist replied. "Not without being DEAD!"
She threw off her school uniform, much to the armor
pilot's shock, and little surprise on Ranma's part,
revealing she was wearing her combat dress underneath.
In a flash she stepped into her rubber boots and
fingered her gloves on, flexing her fingers into and
out of a fist.
"The more I hang around here," Ranma said dryly,
"the more it becomes a magical girls' show."
A claw arm from Gosunkugi's battle armor seized
Miranda's left fist, stopping it just before it could
do any damage. The steel-edged claws threatened to dig
into her arm, but the martial artist slashed at the
metal arm with her free hand.
Gosunkugi's armor stepped back a couple steps as
the girl easily severed the claw arm off.
Ranma jumped out of his hiding place, grabbing onto
the remaining claw arm. Pulling back with all his
might he too disarmed the machine.
Tossing the severed claw aside, he looked up to
Gosunkugi. "Between the two of us, your war machine is
toast!"
"No way!" Gosunkugi cried in disbelief. "I couldn't
have lost THIS soon!"
Pulling levers at random, the two severed arms
detached from the cockpit, clattering on the ground
below the battle armor. Emerging in their place were
two smaller cannons, mounted on a direction ball.
Energy spikes formed at the end of the barrels, one
pointed to each martial artist.
"Incoming!" Ranma shouted, running from the energy
burst.
Landing face-first on the pavement, he risked a
glance in Miranda's direction, but she was no longer
there. Hoping she got away from the smoldering crater
in the road, Ranma jumped out of the way of a second
blast.
"Next thing you know it's going to be a Wave Cannon!"
he heard Miranda shout over the explosions. He jumped,
as Ranma realized she was right next to him.
"C'mon, what do you think this is, Dragon Ball?"
Ranma shot back, just as another energy burst fired.
He and Miranda dodged in opposite directions. "What
does Dragon Ball have to do with Wave Cannons?!"
"Nothin'!" Ranma shouted. "Only that thing's pulling
stuff out of its shiny butt!"
"Hey, I LIKE Dragon Ball!" complained the girl.
"It shows!" he persisted, ducking under a high blast.
"Shut up!"
Both threw glances at the battle armor slowly
clamoring their direction, the forward gattling cannon
spinning in readiness. The pilot of the armor spat a
bug out of his mouth, suddenly wondering why there was
no wind shield on the machine.
"You wanna argue about this later?!" Ranma
suggested as the trail of bullets burst to life behind
the two martial artists.
Flipping out of the path of the bullets, Miranda
spat, "Dammit, I'm tired of running!"
She pounced at Gosunkugi, but mere centimeters from
reaching the cockpit Miranda smashed into an invisible
wall.
"It works!" exclaimed Gosunkugi. "It really DOES
work!"
"AAAGGGHHH!!!" screamed Miranda, slashing at the
invisible bubble around the cockpit. "What the hell is
this?!"
Ranma jumped up and threw his own punches at the
cockpit, meeting with the same level of success as
his fellow. "It's some kind of shield!" he deduced.
"You're kidding!" the crimson-eyed girl shouted
back. "They only got this stuff in Anime!"
"Until now!" the pilot corrected with glee.
Ranma jumped on top of the bubble. Gosunkugi stared
upward in shock. "Yeah, so how're you supposed to get
me up here, huh?"
Pulling a lever in the control panel Gosunkugi
maneuvered the battle armor backward, orienting its
head, and Ranma, to smash into the nearest wall.
"He sure showed you," Miranda commented.
The battle armor backed away from the wall, leaving
Ranma depressed into the wall. Gosunkugi leveled the
forward gattling cannon on the martial artist, his
finger on the trigger.
"Wait a minute," Ranma said, shaking his head. "If
there's a barrier around him why would the bullets...?"
Springing off the wall, he rammed his fist in the
midst of the barrels of the cannon, ripping it apart.
"Uh, that's not good," muttered Gosunkugi.
Ranma moved to knock out the ball cannons, but his
fists bounced off. "Don't tell me they're REALLY ki
cannons...!"
Miranda looked up at Gosunkugi, then at Ranma. "This
is some piece of hardware," she praised, "but it's
far from perfect."
She wheeled her leg around and slashed off the
armor's right leg.
Spinning around quickly, Miranda slashed the
remaining leg with her other leg, then bolted from
beneath Gosunkugi's machine.
Ranma jumped off the cockpit just as the feet
collapsed beneath Gosunkugi. Tearing the supports on
the cockpit it bounced around, the invisible barrier
still protecting it.
Gosunkugi looked to his left and right, where Ranma
and Miranda took cautious positions, just out of the
attack radius of the ki cannons. "Oh no," he muttered,
staring down at the panic button in desperation.
"I'm surprised the shield's still up," Miranda
noted, cracking her gloved knuckles.
"I doubt it'll be for long," Ranma added.
"Again, that damn fool Saotome," Gosunkugi muttered
to himself, "has made a fool of me! Well, I'll show
him...!"
He slammed his fist down on the panic button.
Both martial artists stopped in their tracks.
"What is he doing?!" shouted Ranma.
"Ha-hah!" laughed the beaten pilot. "Now, Saotome,
feel the wrath of Hikaru Gosunkugi!"
Miranda pointed a finger at the bottom of the
cockpit, annoyed. "You idiot. Can't you see you're
sitting on a bomb?"
"So nice of you to contain it in your barrier for
us," Ranma added, faking a smile. "We won't have to
clean up the mess you make."
Realization dawned on Gosunkugi, and he looked
under the seat in terror. Wait a minute! The ejection
button!
His eyes darted about the dash, looking for the one
useless button on the entire machine that became the
most useful. Elated that he found the button just as
the engine under his seat began to whine, Voodoo Spike
pushed it.
And slammed his head against the top of the barrier.
Walking away from the doomed cockpit, Ranma and
Miranda walked back to the girl's book bag, which lay
untouched since the start of the battle. A muffled
explosion soon followed, dampened by the ki barrier,
and sending a smoked Gosunkugi flying into the air.
Ranma scooped up the book bag with his foot. "I
believe this is yours?"
Miranda accepted the bag, grabbing her discarded
uniform with her free hand. "You aren't half bad," she
complimented. "Thinking on your feet-- I like that."
"You aren't bad yourself," he replied. "Looks like
I'm not the only one that's quick on his feet."
Throwing on the uniform over her battle dress, she
smiled. "Then perhaps we share more in common than we
originally believed. Care to discuss it over lunch?"
"Lunch? It's only barely past breakfast!"
"You know what I mean! After school! I know this
place that serves really good takoyaki...."
"Shizu," a woman called from outside the priestess's
room, "there's a young man here to see you."
Snorting in annoyance, Shizuka unwrapped the boa
constrictor, Thanatos, from around her neck and lay
him on the floor. "Come in!"
Shion poked his head in, pausing to thank Kyoko for
letting him in. He adjusted his glasses nervously
when he saw the boa constrictor slithering on the
floor of the bedroom, but stepped inside nonetheless,
closing the door behind him.
"You're one of Kuno's friends," Shizuka noted. "You
were there when he brought me to his house."
"Well, yes and no," the hacker answered evasively.
"I'm the brother-in-law of a friend, actually."
"I see," she said, nodding. "What do you want?"
Shion twiddled his fingers. "That's a very dangerous
question, but enough of that. You know one Nabiki
Tendo, correct?"
Shizuka's eyes burned, her full attention on Glasses.
"What about her?"
"Well, she got her hands on something concerning
you...."
"I heard it already. Get to the point."
Shion winced, not because the priestess raised her
voice, but for the lack of it. Her voice was even,
possibly lacking in emotion. Taking a deep breath, he
continued, "You see, it's all true, and the records
exist."
"I figured as much," she replied, in the same cold,
even tone.
No hint of what was yet to come. Shion felt the
cold reptile twist around his leg. "It's all true
because I found them and sold it to her."
He waited for a reaction from the priestess, several
scenarios running through his mind. She could let the
snake kill him, albeit slowly. She could pull out her
shotgun and pump one in his heart. Or....
The snake reached waist level, and the priestess
was rolling her tongue in her mouth.
She took a couple steps closer, her gaze focused
entirely on the eyes hidden behind Shion's glasses.
Stopping in front of him, the priestess just stared
at him.
Spreading her arms out, Shizuka hugged him, burying
her head on his shoulder. The snake twisted around
his master, flicking a forked tongue.
Nervously, Shion's mind raced, not knowing what in
the world to do.
The girl was crying. "Thank you," she whispered.
He felt the tight squeeze of the boa constrictor
leave his leg, and realized it was wrapping itself
around the priestess. "I... uh... I don't know what to
say."
"If it wasn't for you," she continued, ignoring the
hacker's confusion, "I wouldn't have known."
Although the snake left him, Shion remained frozen
in shock.
She lifted her head from Shion's shoulder, and
looked at the boa constrictor, smiling despite tears.
"Thanatos likes you."
"T... that's good to hear," he stuttered.
"He knows you're a good man," she continued, "and
that you mean well and try to do what it is you think
right. And that's why you came here despite your
fears."
"The snake told you that?" Shion asked, puzzled.
Shizuka leaned her head to whisper in his ear: "Not
the part about doing what's right; he thinks you're
an idiot."
She pulled her head back, and saw that the hacker
was smiling, albeit nervously. "No kidding!"
The priestess released him from her embrace, and
half-turned somewhat nervously. "I never caught your
name."
"It's Shion," he answered, "Shion Kagami."
Shizuka offered a crooked smile. "There isn't anyone
named Kagami that's a friend of Kuno's...."
"Of course not!" Shion said, nervousness dying off.
"My sister-in-law's Chika Hisho; we didn't change our
names."
"Ah, her. Good kid."
"I like to think so."
Shizuka laughed. "Well, I'm Shizuka Minazuki, but I
guess you knew that already. You can call me Shizu."
"Shizu it is, then," agreed Shion.
Turning serious, the priestess changed the subject.
"And yet, you seem a very resourceful type, if you
could find something I couldn't."
"Well, yeah, I guess," the hacker answered, turning
on his defense modes.
"Then perhaps you CAN help us," she said quietly.
"I'm no believer in Fate, but something brought you
here... brought US together, in these strange times."
"What do you mean?"
She waved him closer. "Let's start with the Four
Gods...."
"Yes sir," the blonde man said into the telephone
receiver. He sat back in his seat at his desk,
propping his feet on top despite the news he was
giving. "It appears that the prototype ASP was taken
from the warehouse and found destroyed this morning."
A pause. "No, sir, the perpetrators haven't been
found yet. We don't know how the thief got past
security, nor who destroyed the ASP. We're looking into
it right now, and we have someone in custody."
"Yes, sir, it appears to be the pilot of the craft,
from what we gather. We found him near the wreckage
of the ASP, and he's currently being treated for
burns. No, sir, the serum we gave him could not
produce any solid names; it is impossible to track
down the people responsible. I highly doubt it was the
pilot."
"However, we do have a lead. The pilot kept babbling
two names: Ranma Saotome, and Akane. Yes, we have had
dealings with them before. What would you like me to
do about them?"
He waited several moments as he listened to the
receiver. "Yes, they did destroy one of our facilities
a year ago. How many units shall I deploy? Three? Yes,
sir, I assure you that the latest models will be more
than a match for them, given our latest advances in
artificial intelligence systems."
"Thank you, sir."
Hanging up the telephone, thanking Section Command
again to himself, Dr. Philip Taydome sat up in his
chair, and wheeled to the computer terminal at his
side. Punching in several keys, he brought up the
schematics to his three latest battle machine models.
Selecting one of each model, Taydome keyed in his
authorization codes, and waited.
"Well now," he said to himself, "it looks like my
children will avenge their predecessors, Ranma
Saotome."
The first moment Akane could drag Ranma aside during
school was in the lunch period. She dragged him down
the halls by the arm, leading him quickly to one of
the hidden rooms used by the school observer.
"Look, Akane, why's this so important?" he asked,
stomach growling. "I've gotta eat!"
"You can eat while we're doing this," Akane replied,
opening one of the myriad janitorial closets. She
pushed aside the badly-stacked brooms and worked her
way to the locker tucked in the back.
She reached behind the locker and flipped a switch,
unlocking a hidden door in the floor. "This way."
Ranma jumped in first, surprised that there was
light in the hidden room. He jumped in surprise when
he saw Hokuto there, silhouetted by the light behind
her.
"What's she doing here?!" Ranma yelled as Akane
dropped down.
"She's got something to say," Akane explained. "It
sounded important."
Hokuto nodded. "Are you certain we will remain
hidden here?"
"Sure," Akane assured her. "The only other people
that know about these are the observer and Kuno."
"Yeah, to hide out in," Ranma muttered.
"Then it's time I told you the rest of the story,"
the apprentice priestess announced, sitting down on
her knees. She shut off the lamp behind her, casting
the hidden room in complete darkness save for a glow
stick produced from under her cloak.
Both Ranma and Akane gathered around the glow stick
in a three-person circle, seating themselves
comfortably and waiting for Hokuto to gather her
thoughts.
"As you know," she began, "the fate-link I share
with Ranma is due to an intermix between the cursed
Jusenkyo spring and an inherited power of my blood
line. By now I'm certain you're curious as to the
nature of that power."
"Me and everybody else," Ranma replied.
"There's a good rea...."
"Look, cut the long-winded stuff!" suggested the
martial artist. "Do you just LIKE explaining things?"
"Ex... plain?" Hokuto echoed, a blank look on her
face.
"Ranma!" Akane yelled. "Don't fluster her like that,
or we'll be here longer!"
The apprentice produced a scholar's cap from the
folds of her cloak, and put it on her head. "As I was
saying, the reason why I couldn't tell anyone else the
nature of the power-- not even Shizu-- is because of
the potential danger it puts everyone in. But, if I
tell it to Ranma I may as well tell it to you too,
Akane, as you are as much a part of Ranma as he is a
part of you... and as he is a part of me...."
"We get THAT part!" Ranma said impatiently.
Hokuto smacked him across the face with a rolled-up
college diploma. "As I was saying," she continued,
tucking the diploma back into her cloak, "the power my
family possesses is a secret passed successfully
throughout each generation. However, it is unknown why
it manifests only in female members of my family; no
male member of my family ever exerted the same
powers."
She took a deep breath, looking as she was debating
whether or not to go through with this. "The female
wielders of this power were called many things through
the years: Night Walkers, Dream Weavers, Dream Eaters,
Shadow Sorcerers.... But only one name describes what
I am: Shadow Weaver."
"The name implies," Akane thought aloud, "that you
create, control... weave shadows. The other names
sound like you manipulate something, too."
"She controls Fate," Ranma said plainly.
"Then you do know," Hokuto replied, nodding.
"That's where all the arrows point," he added.
"But, how's that possible?!" Akane wondered.
"Every time she's been around," the martial artist
explained, "she's always disappeared when all the real
stuff happens. She's never there when an extra hand is
needed, and she's never around when you need her."
"All true," Hokuto conceded. "That is why I am the
Shadow Weaver."
"The power to control the Fates is no small power,"
the apprentice continued, "so extra care must be taken
such as to minimize the damage we do unto others. Many
loved ones have been shattered by this power, the
Shadow Fact, through irresponsible usage. Shadow Fact
is named as such because it is usually through the
unconscious design that thoughts become reality."
"Had our abilities been known to the general
populace-- even to a select few outside our family--
the consequences would have been dire. The chance of
circumstance, of events momentous enough to change the
world, could have been altered by our power. Japan
could have remained under Tokugawa rule today, or even
have become the victor of World War II. Atomic
technology could remain in its infancy today."
"It's a terrible curse to live with, the Shadow
Fact. Our family has tried to live without want, for
our wants could spell disaster to those around us.
Relationships are fragile because we cannot truly know
if love is for real or in our thoughts. Trust is just
as difficult."
"But it is livable," Hokuto added quickly. "Hundreds
of years of our family has survived without the
temptation of ruination; the single fear is our very
destruction known to be out of our hands."
"The Jusenkyo curse," Ranma guessed.
"To the greater of the combined curses there is no
escape save the termination of the curse," the
apprentice explained. "Upon the termination of one
curse the other, too, ceases. Though it is out of our
control being plagued by a fate-link is the only
avenue of escape from the Shadow Fact, but it is also
often deadly."
"If we cure Ranma, then the Shadow Fact will
disappear from you?" Akane asked.
Hokuto nodded.
"Well, then, if your girls can control Fate," Ranma
said, "why can't your other family help get rid of it
for ya?"
"Because it invites temptation," she answered. "We
cannot control the fate-link once connected, either;
the combined curses are too powerful."
"Our family will not risk twisting Fate for our own
purposes," she concluded flatly. "Now it's up to you."
Ranma raised his hand. "Wait a minute. You're tellin'
me that all this time you could just wave a hand and
make something happen? And you want to give it up? AND
you want me to do it?"
The apprentice nodded. "It's a great burden to bear,
trust me on this. Once started, it cannot be stopped."
"Alright, then," he decided, "I'll bite. But first
I've got to get to China and see Herb; gotta find out
how he cured his curse."
"But how're you going to get there?" Hokuto asked.
"I was going to get tickets from Miranda," he
replied. "She wants to talk after school."
"Wait, Ranma," Akane said, "there may be another
way."
Two pairs of eyes stared at her. "When I was at the
Kunos' I found the Wishbringer. It asked me to put it
back."
"So?" her husband said, bored.
"I think if we put it back to where Kuno got it the
three wishes could be restored," she explained.
Ranma seemed to consider this. "Maybe."
"Wishes must be worded carefully," warned Hokuto.
"I don't see why I gotta rely on that, though," the
martial artist said. "I mean, Kuno had to be the
millionth guy to pull the sword, you know."
"We'll figure it out later," interrupted the
apprentice. "I believe your lunch period is drawing to
a close."
Akane held her watch to the light of the glow stick.
"Ranma, we'd better get moving."
"Yeah, guess so," he agreed. Turning to Hokuto he
said, "Come meet us when we see Miranda at the
takoyaki shop, 'kay? We'll decide what to do then."
So the girl is a Shadow Weaver, the dark one
thought to himself. Then it is more than possible for
all our dreams to come true.
Yes, but she is a slippery one. As soon as her two
comrades left the confines of the 'hidden' room she
disappeared as well, characteristic to her nature, as
the boy put it. A Shadow Weaver indeed; where there
was absence of light there was no shadow, but the
light of the glow stick, no matter how dim, gave enough
to cast a shadow.
The illusion of truth... a powerful weapon. In part
or in whole, the truth nonetheless is very powerful.
All based on information, knowledge-- the true power.
Shadow Weaver knows how to use it well.
If she remains true to her word, and she has thus
far, then an appearance at the shop should be her next
stop. When she finally appears her power will be mine.
"That's generally how it works," finished Shizuka.
Shion had nothing left to say as he sat, back against
the wall, a cup of warm cola in his hand, glasses low.
If knowledge was power, then perhaps it was also a
drug; too much at once could kill a berk.
He lost track of the boa constrictor, aptly named
Thanatos, throughout the entire explanation the
priestess of Genbu gave him, but he was certain it had
better things to do. Catching himself, Shion wondered
when he started to think of the snake as a person with
an opinion.
"And now that you're in the Inner Circle, you can't
back out of it," she added seriously.
"I did it to myself by getting involved with you,"
Shion replied, sipping the warm cola. "Now I'm not so
sure it was a good thing."
"We need your help," Shizuka persisted.
"Just what is it that you want me to do?" he asked.
They heard a knock on the door.
"What is it?" Shizuka yelled.
"It's your friend, Hokuto," she heard Kyoko's mom
say.
"Tell her I'm busy!" the priestess ordered.
But the door opened nonetheless. Hokuto barged into
the bedroom, surprised that Shion was there as well.
Shutting the door behind herself, she said, "Why'd
you bring him into this?"
"I did it myself," Shion answered, before Shizuka
could say anything. "I got in, and I'm not leaving."
"He has information resources that may prove useful
to us," Shizuka added. "I was just going to ask him
when you barged in."
"That can wait," Hokuto insisted. "Ranma, Akane, and
Miranda are going to meet at Hayato's takoyaki shop,
and we need to be there, too."
"What I'm doing is important, too!" Shizuka
countered angrily. "You're not going to make me drop
everything to satisfy your own personal whims; not
this time, Kid!"
"Don't call me 'Kid!'" demanded the apprentice. "I'm
your senior!"
"Look, you," Shion said, getting to his feet. "Leave
Shizu alone."
"Oh, so it's 'Shizu' now?!" Hokuto yelled. "Aren't
you quick? Going on to step five?"
"Shut up!" both Shion and Shizuka shouted.
"He's not my type!" Shizuka added, not noticing the
shattered expression on Shion's face.
"HEY!" all three heard downstairs. "KNOCK IT OFF UP
THERE!!"
Shizuka stared down Hokuto hard. "Get out of my
house."
"It's not your house," the apprentice pointed out
smartly.
"Same difference!" the priestess replied. "Your
little tricks won't work on me anymore. If you want to
run off with Ranma, be my guest. Is it what YOU want,
or what HE wants?"
"Fine, I will!" Hokuto decided. Turning to leave,
she added, "When you stop second-guessing yourself,
and stop calling me 'Kid,' maybe then you can reap the
rewards."
Hokuto slammed the door after herself, leaving Shion
blankly staring at the door and Shizuka shaking her
head with a sigh.
"Now I'm convinced," the priestess of Genbu said
decisively. "She's the one."
Turning to Shion, she said, "Now, here's what I want
you to do...."
Hayato's Takoyaki restaurant stood in the exact spot
where his formal rival, Ukyo Kuonji, held shop, to
which some believed as a perverted revenge. No one
asked Hayato directly, as those who entered the
restaurant were few and far between, many shying away
because of this rumored relationship.
Ranma, Akane, and Miranda sat at a table close to
the right wall, Ranma sitting facing the door and the
other two with their backs to it. He watched Miranda
gobble up a dish in front of him merrily, his hands
folded behind his head, bored.
His eyes drifted to the decorations mounted on the
walls, but any rumor of his supposed revenge would have
been quelled had anyone bothered to look. Beside a
replica of the mask Hayato was forced to wear was a
small memorial to his former rival: a petrified
challenge letter from long past. Ranma hardly pretended
to know what went on between the rival chefs, but it
was good to see there was no hard feelings after all
this time.
"Hokuto sure is late," Akane noted, tapping her
fingers on the table.
"Something's got to be wrong," Ranma thought.
"Well, no sweat, we've got all the details down pat
already," Miranda offered, swallowing takoyaki.
"It's no good unless she's here," the young Saotome
replied. "I expect her popping out of the shadows over
in the corner."
"She'd better not," Akane hoped.
They heard a girl scream outside.
"That's Hokuto!" Ranma shouted, jumping out of his
seat.
"Ranma, wait!" his wife said, turning her head and
watching him exit in a flash.
Miranda got up from her seat, throwing on her
gloves. "Watch my plate, will you?"
The crimson-eyed martial artist soon joined Ranma at
the entrance outside, and glanced to where he was
looking.
Hokuto stood held fast by another man, cloaked in
robes as dark as midnight, yet stood out completely in
the light of day. Mechanical claw-like hands grasped
the apprentice priestess where normal arms should have
been. The face was concealed under the darkness of a
heavy hood, but one could easily make out one large,
circular, red left eye, and what appeared to be a face
plate.
"Sensei!" Miranda shouted in recognition, now fully
in her battle dress.
"Sensei?!" Ranma echoed, looking at Burning Eyes in
shock.
"Miranda!" Sensei yelled back in a metallic,
scrambled voice. "Why do you stand by him?"
"Let Hokuto go!" Ranma demanded.
"Heh, heh," the hooded man laughed. "The Shadow
Weavers are dangerous allies, boy. Why do you consort
with one now?"
"None of your business!" he answered. "Let her go,
or I'll pound you to a bloody pulp!"
"Feisty, aren't you?" Sensei muttered. He tossed
Hokuto aside, then motioned to Miranda. "Watch her, my
student. Your sensei is about to teach this boy a
lesson!"
Miranda nodded to her teacher, rushing to Hokuto's
side. "Careful, Sensei!" she warned. "He's good!"
"So I've seen," acknowledged the hooded warrior.
"Bring it on!" beckoned Ranma.
Both warriors charged, Ranma balling a fist, Sensei
flashing metal talon-like nails. Sensei dodged each
of his opponent's punches easily, but Ranma eluded all
of the slash attacks with the same effort.
"You're a quick learner," realized the hooded man,
"just like Miranda. But Miranda learns much quicker."
"Yeah?" Ranma said. "You've got the same moves as
she does, so you're no better than she is. Minus the
kick attacks, that is."
Sensei flashed a row of talons, reflecting the light
of the sun into Ranma's eyes, momentarily blinding
him. Taking advantage of the new opening, he ran his
hands into the concrete street and ripped out a large
slab. Sensei hurled it at Ranma.
Just as the slab was about to hit him Ranma dodged
out of the way, allowing the slab to shatter behind
him. Blinking the brightness out of his eyes he
continued his aggressive strikes, quickly trying to
gauge his opponent.
He was nowhere to be seen.
"Perhaps I misjudged you, pupil," Sensei said, his
voice seemingly coming from everywhere.
"Oh, so now it's 'pupil' and not 'boy,' eh?" Ranma
shouted sarcastically.
"There are very many things you don't understand,"
the vanished warrior continued. "You place too much
trust in those you don't truly know, and little trust
in those you do know."
"Miranda," he ordered, "take the girl and run!"
"Sensei, why?" the crimson-eyed girl asked. "For
what purpose does this useless girl serve?"
Hokuto eyed Miranda, annoyed.
And then Ranma threw a punch at nothing. Sensei
fell backward, his faceplate shattered by the impact
of Ranma's fist.
"Don't think you're the only one that knows how to
turn invisible," Ranma chastised. "Besides, once I
figured where your voice was coming from...."
"Very brilliant of you," the hooded warrior praised,
reaching into his hood and peeling off the remains of
his faceplate. The voice, however, remained digitally
scrambled. He got up to his feet and faced Ranma.
"Then perhaps you CAN live long enough to resist the
Shadow Weaver."
"What're you talking about?!" demanded Ranma, but
the hooded warrior was already vanishing again.
"I'll be watching," warned Sensei, his voice slowly
disappearing as well.
"He's splitting," Ranma realized, glancing at both
Miranda and Hokuto. Akane and Hayato stood at the
entrance of the restaurant, apparently the only other
witnesses to the spectacle of battle.
Miranda bent down and scooped up one of the larger
fragments of the faceplate. "Sensei...."
"What'd he want, anyway?" demanded Ranma. "He's
definitely an expert, given how he wields those claws
of his."
"Those claws ARE his arms!" Burning Eyes corrected.
She held up the faceplate for the martial artist to
see. "Thanks to you, he's going to die!"
"I don't see how that could tell you," Hokuto noted.
"Sensei never told me the whole story," admitted
Miranda, "but he told me enough. He suffered a nearly-
fatal accident in the past, and the way you see him
now is the result. He can't breathe as well as we can,
and needed this mask to help regulate his breathing."
"So I got him in his weak spot, huh?" Ranma realized.
"Ranma, are you okay?" Akane shouted, rushing to his
side.
"Nah, I'm fine," he brushed off, looking at the
shattered remains of the faceplate. "Although I think
somebody's going to be having it rough for a while."
Smashing the faceplate shard on the street, Miranda
kept her eyes lowered to the ground. "Ranma, you're
going to go to China without me."
"Huh?" came the collective voices of Ranma, Akane,
and Hokuto, surprised.
She produced two plane tickets from under her belt,
and handed them to Ranma. "They only go as far as
Shanghai, so you're going to have to make the rest of
the trip from there. Take Hokuto with you."
"W... why me?" she asked.
"To keep you away from her sensei," Akane realized,
turning to Ranma. "There's only two tickets?"
He nodded. "This is the only way to make sure her
sensei doesn't attack again. He's far more powerful
than I am, that's for sure. I don't think I want to
deal with that until I find Herb."
"Then what're you going to do?" Hokuto asked Akane.
"I'm going to get the Wishbringer from the Kuno
place," she answered. "If there's a chance we can use
that to help Ranma, then we have to take it."
She turned to face Miranda. "I can use your help,
too."
"Perhaps," Burning Eyes considered. Lifting her eyes
to meet Akane's, she said, "But I'll do it under one
condition: when we make our wishes we must use one to
help Sensei, or no deal."
"Sensei is likely to be after the sword, too, if he
figures that part out," Ranma pointed out.
"I owe him that much!" Miranda countered.
"Hey, what's that?" Hokuto asked, pointing past the
three.
All eyes looked down the street, where a large cloud
was forming, and getting larger. A single, dark shape
could be discerned from the blown smoke, and it was
moving at an accelerated rate.
Toward them.
"Who'd I piss-off this time?!" Ranma wondered.
The juggernaut stopped ten meters from the martial
artist's position. Running on treaded wheels, it
appeared to be made completely of metal, vaguely
shaped as a humanoid. Where its arms ended were large
tank-like cannons, and its head resembled a death's
head. Two red eyes flashed in the light of the sun.
"GAIA," whispered Akane in shock.
"Oh, that's great!" scoffed Ranma. "How'd I get on
Taydome's hit list AGAIN?!"
A mounted rocket launcher wheeled over GAIA's
right shoulder, coming to bear on Ranma. Four readied
rockets aimed at the martial artist threateningly.
"Hello, Ranma Saotome!" the machine bellowed.
"Taydome!" he shouted in recognition. "What're you
after THIS time?!"
"I've got a message from Hikaru Gosunkugi!"
Four missiles rocketed toward the grouped people.
"Target sighted!" Taydome exclaimed, switching off
manual control of GAIA. Broadcasting the command
override frequency to the other two units, he cried,
"CRONOS! URANOS! Converge at these coordinates and
prepare to attack!"
The explosions deafened the ears of Ranma as he
alone fled the onslaught of the war machine, being the
obvious target. Not surprisingly, due to its single-
minded nature GAIA completely ignored Hokuto, Akane,
and Miranda, opting to highlight Ranma alone.
This one moves much faster with those tank treads,
Ranma thought, a definite improvement. If this thing
uses the same sort of technology as Gosunkugi's armor
then those big cannons are likely ki cannons as well.
Who knows? Maybe it also has a ki barrier, too.
He risked a pause, and threw a piece of concrete at
GAIA. It bounced off its head without problems.
Okay, so it DOESN'T have one. Not that ki attacks
would do any good against something soulless, but at
least my punches can get it.
He dodged ki bursts charging up to GAIA, attacking
with a flying kick in the machine's face. The metal
hardly cracked, however, and Ranma found that the two
eyes were protected by hard glass shells.
"Clever, you," he muttered under his breath.
The shoulder-mounted rocket launcher finished
reloading, and aimed at Ranma. The martial artist
threw another kick, this time at the launcher, giving
a satisfactory CRACK!
Aiming upward into the sky the four missiles fired
harmlessly into the air, bursting in shards and light
high above.
Jumping on the other side of its head Ranma clamped
his hands over GAIA's eyes while tearing off the
rocket launcher with another solid kick. Denied its
optical sensors GAIA began thrashing about, trying to
locate its target by flailing its cannon arms about in
the air.
"Hey, whoa!" Ranma commanded futily. "Take it easy!"
But the machine finally showed a spark of genius.
Ranma jumped off GAIA in surprise as it fell on its
back, creating a shallow crater in the street.
Just when he thought the machine was turtled, GAIA
wheeled itself back upright under its own power, its
leg mechanisms much stronger than they appeared.
"That's just great," Ranma muttered.
"You don't think you're going to finish this alone,
do you?" Miranda said, suddenly at Ranma's side.
"This guy's a lot tougher than before," he admitted,
"and there was a whole bunch of us last time." Not that
Pantyhose Taro had too much trouble with these by
himself. "Where's Akane and Hokuto?"
"Where it's safe," Burning Eyes assured him, just as
GAIA turned around.
They felt rumbling under their feet, and GAIA failed
to act.
"W... what's that?!" Ranma wondered.
Jumping out of the way, Miranda and Ranma narrowly
avoided a drill bit coming straight up from the street
below. The drill retracted below, and another huge
war machine emerged, rocketing from underground. This
new machine appeared similar to GAIA, but instead of
cannons for arms were drill bits, and a single, larger
drill mounted on its back. The name plate painted
across its left chest place read: "URANOS."
Above, both martial artists saw a third machine.
Landing spectacularly, the third machine, "CRONOS,"
lacked legs, but had one large rocket booster in its
place. Large metal wings folded on itself on its back.
Two shoulder cannons were mounted as weapons, where
the arms ended in capture claws.
"Great, there's a whole bunch of them," Ranma
complained.
"If you've got any good ideas, I'm all ears,"
Miranda said sarcastically.
They bolt and ran, a hail of bullets and ki bursts
chasing after them.
Ducking into an alley, Miranda huffed, "They're
after you, right? Then why am I running?!"
"You got a point," Ranma conceded. If they are after
me... wait a minute!
"Stay here!" he ordered the crimson-eyed girl,
running back out in the open.
"Hey, where're you going?!" she demanded.
"Take care of Akane while I'm gone!" he shouted
back. "I'm going to lead them out of here, then hop on
that plane to China."
"You dumbass!" Miranda shouted. "Don't throw away
your life like that!!"
Who said I was throwing my life away, even now?
Ranma thought, waving the attention of the three
Taydome machines his direction.
Satisfied that the three amigos saw him, Ranma
continued running, this time toward the docks. Bullets
rained down behind him, as the martial artist was much
too quick to get hit by the shots. His eyes darted
here and there, but he could find no source of help.
Finally reaching the docks, satisfied the three
machines were still giving chase, Ranma jumped into
the cold ocean below.
"Damn it!" Taydome cursed from his office, his eyes
on the three monitors for each machine respectively.
Nowhere could the machines pick up a trace of Ranma
Saotome at all.
He flipped on the manual override on GAIA, and
shouted, "You won't get away for long, boy!"
Ranma wrung out his shirt sleeve as she stood soaked
against a dock warehouse, watching as the three
machines split up in different directions to begin
their search for one boy, Ranma Saotome. Too bad Dr.
Taydome never knew he was cursed to turn into a girl.
As soon as he was satisfied the machines were gone,
she made tracks in the direction of the airport,
careful not to tear the wet plane tickets in her
hands. She made it to the terminal without incident,
and high and dry from all the running.
Before she could make it to the ticket counter,
however, Ranma saw that Hokuto was there waiting for
him, as well as Akane.
"This is the safe place?!" Ranma muttered, shaking
her head.
"There isn't much time," Hokuto said. "The next
plane leaves in ten minutes, and we need to be on it.
So say your good-byes and let's go. You have the
tickets, right?"
Ranma waved the tickets for her to see, and the
apprentice accepted them. "Get our seats."
Hokuto nodded, leaving her alone with Akane.
Akane handed Ranma a pot of warm water. "This one's
for the road."
Ranma accepted, pouring the water on herself. In an
instant she was back to a he. "I'm not for long
good-byes, Akane, but... take care of yourself. Those
things are still out there."
"I've got Miranda on my side," she assured him, "and
maybe Kodachi or Shizuka could help, too. Just go, and
come back safe, okay?"
They gave each other a hurried hug, one each of them
knew would be their last for a while. The couple looked
in each other's eyes, and leaned closer.
"Ranma, we've got to go!" they heard Hokuto yell.
"Gotta go," he said awkwardly, breaking out of
Akane's embrace.
"I love you!" she shouted.
"So do I!" he shouted back.
Akane watched her husband, empty kettle of water in
hand, rush to Hokuto, and soon the two disappeared to
catch their plane. Wiping a tear from her eyes, she
whispered, "Finally, Ranma's going to get a cure for
his curse...."
------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes
I'm just having way too much fun with this one, with
all the Anime references dotted here and there.
Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html
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