Please take into consideration that this used to be one huge fic and it
was broken into parts. If you wish to find this story in its entirety,
you can find on my webpage
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
Bubblegum Crisis/Ranma 1/2: Just won't die 1 part 9
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 idea 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
unbelievable 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 phalanx 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 seppukku 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 seppukku 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.
"Seppukku?" 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. Our seppukku blasts are those blast I mentioned earlier,
y'know,
about how it's like a nuclear blast minus the radiation."
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 missile 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 regular 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 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 missile 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.
"Shi Shi Hakodan!!!" 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
missile after missile 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 metallic
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 missile, the pain
excruciating. He fell forward onto his knees and hands, feeling this
unbelievable 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 devastating blow to his
face as the boomer used its jumpjets to propel forward and hit him with
the butt of the cannon.
"You motherfucker!!!!" 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 and fired a missile right into Ryoga's chest.
All that did was make Ryoga more angry.
A missile 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
missile at Ryoga, not even caring if the missile hit its brethren, only
to
have Ryoga punch the missile 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 and said, "Shi Shi Hakodan!!! Shi Shi Hakodan!!! Shi Shi
Hakodan!!!
Shi Shi Hakodan!!!" 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 satisfied. Not yet.
As the other boomer continued to open fire, none of the missiles
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 satisfied 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, Ryoga 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 missile in the back, full force, caught totally off-guard. Ranma
would have easily survived that if he had been aware of that missile. His
ki would have protected him somewhat. But that had never happened.
Ryoga was more susceptible to getting hurt when being hit from behind
than
being hit in front but his Bakusai Tenketsu training had made him less
likely to
get knocked out by something like that. Ranma, on the other hand, had
received a
blow that would had easily disoriented Ryoga for several minutes.
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 missile 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 missile 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!"
"Waitaminute, two guys just went to Genom to destroy it?!" Leon asked,
dubiously.
Nene nodded, "But it's actually the factory that makes the boomers that
they wanna destroy."
"God, is that possible?" Leon said, more to himself than anyone, "Man,
I've been away for two weeks and all this happens? What else have I
missed? And where's the lovely Priss? I betcha she missed me."
"Anyway." Sylia said, a bit annoyed, "We better go and stop them."
She turned toward Madigan, "Are you sure it'll self destruct?"
Madigan, bent on revenge toward Genom for their uncaring ways, had
explained everything to the girls when Leon had gone back to his car to
rant and rave to the firestation about what was taking so long.
"What? What self-destruct?" Leon asked curiously, "What are you talking
about?"
Linna turned toward Leon, "Nothin', darling. Just go over to your car
and stand there looking pretty. This doesn't concern you." She turned
toward Madigan, "How do we know you're not lying?"
Madigan was silent. After what she had done, she wouldn't be surprised
if no one trusted her.
"That's easy." Sylia said, "We bring her with us."
The sounds of sirens could be heard getting louder and louder now.
"What are you talking about?!" Leon shouted, very annoyed. He didn't
like being left out of the conversation, even though it had nothing to
do with him.
Nene turned toward her co-worker and said, "Leon, basically, something
bad is going to happen under Genom Tower if we don't do something...and
in order to stop it, we have to get there and stop it from happening."
"You?" Leon said, almost shocked, "How are you girls going to be able
to stop this whatever from happening. I mean, this is Genom we're
talking about. How are you going to be able to get in there, where ever
it is? I'll call for back up. If what you're talking about is true, I
don't think AD Police are gonna sit around and wait for it to happen
before they take action."
"Don't worry, we can take care of ourselves." Akane said.
"You're coming with us!" Sylia said, grabbing Madigan by the arm, "You
better not be lying. I don't care how much you hate Genom now, I still
don't trust you."
"I want to be with Carper!" Madigan said, trying to pull her arm away.
Sylia's grip tightened, "No, you're not! You're coming with us whether
you like it or not!"
"I should never have told you!"
"You bitch!" Sylia slapped Madigan. It felt good, almost too good.
"People are going to die if we don't do something! How can you be so
goddamn heartless?! Maybe we should have let you die in that truck!!"
Sylia gave Madigan's arm a hard yank, letting her know that she wasn't
going to take more protests from her, and that she meant business.
Madigan glanced back around her shoulder to look at Carper.
Sylia, Linna, Akane, and Madigan rushed down the street toward Genom,
but not before Sylia turned toward Nene and said, "Nene, you hafta
evacuate everyone in and around the Tower, in case, god forbid, we don't
make it!"
Nene nodded, "Okay!"
She walked over to Leon's car and reached underneath the driver side
seat and
took out a magnum. She threw it at Sylia where she caught it gracefully,
"Good
luck!" she said as she threw her a box of ammo Leon also kept under his
seat.
"M-my gun!" Leon said, "Why did you give her my gun? Does she know how
to use that thing?"
Nene turned toward Leon and said, "Leon, just trust me when I say she
Does." She picked up the radio, "Now, we've got a city we hafta
evacuate."
Leon shrugged his shoulders, "All right, but boy, am I gonna enjoy
hearing your report after this."
Nene smirked. She would write the report up, telling him everything
about what she knew of Ranma and Ryoga and what they had been doing.
However, she was going to leave out some rather revealing details, like
Genom finding out where the Knight Sabers' headquarters were...
"Oh boy, you definitely will."
Ryoga, badly beaten, bleeding from several wounds, half-dragged Ranma
down the corridor, toward a restroom if this place had one, blood
trailing behind. Ryoga had had the fight of his life, several times, as
he was forced to fight a dozen or so of the same boomers that had hurt
Ranma badly.
Ryoga was limping on a bad leg, one shoulder dislocated, his good arm
being used to drag Ranma. Priss, who was by his side, also hurt. She had
been caught too close to too many explosions that had hit Ryoga. She
wasn't as hurt as Ryoga, but she was a lot less useful fully healed than
a very hurt Ryoga.
"Ranma, you moron, why the hell didja have to go and get yourself
hurt?" Ryoga muttered, "I should just leave you here to bleed to death.
It's your fault you got caught by surprise like that, not mine. But
noooo, you had to get knocked out, you wimp!"
Ranma stirred a bit, moaning in pain, "Ugh..."
"R-Ranma?" Priss said, "A-are you all right?"
Ryoga stopped and looked down at Ranma, "Yeah, wake up now, why
dontcha? After I got rid of all those boomers."
Ranma slowly opened his eyes, "Ugh, w-what...hit...me..."
"Can you get up?" Priss asked, slowly trying to pull Ranma onto his
feet.
He slowly got to his feet, his legs very weak, more supported by Ryoga
and Priss than his own two feet. It took his several tries before he
could stand, somewhat supported. He was seriously disoriented because of
that missile.
"Oh god....m-my...back...it feels like its....on fire." Ranma managed
to say. He was too weak to really care about doing something to help
alleviate the pain. His legs and arms felt like jelly. His head felt
like it was too heavy for his neck to support. He managed to lift his
head just long enough to see something down the corridor.
"Hey...look...it's a....boomer..." he managed to say.
"What?!" Priss said. She looked up, just in time to see a missile
flying straight down the corridor.
"Look out!" Ranma said, pushing Priss out of the way with weak arms
right when the missile struck him in the chest. He was send flying
backwards through the air where he tumbled on the floor, blood
splattering onto the walls everywhere.
Ryoga, having been holding him when the missile struck Ranma, was blown
toward the side, slamming into a wall. He coughed several times, the
wind having been knocked out of him.
He slowly got to his feet, very weak, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"What the hell? I thought I destroyed that computer already..." he
said, holding his rib, which was most likely cracked. He shot a ki-blast
down the corridor and destroyed the boomers. After having done so, he
fell to his knees, very very weak, too tired from expending to much
energy and taking such a beating.
"I can't go on." Ryoga said weakly, falling forward onto his stomach,
unconscious.
"Ryoga!"
Priss was now all alone, Ranma and Ryoga both out cold.
Linna and Akane and Sylia and a reluctant Madigan ran down the street,
running as fast as their legs could take them.
"Which way is the best way to getting down there?" Linna asked.
Madigan quickly answered, "Through elevator nineteen. That will lead
you down to the main corridor which is around two hundred yards away
from the main computer."
There were several hidden booths located throughout MegaTokyo that
acted as if
they were abandoned business booths when they were really elevators that
lead to
Genom's underground factory.
"Two hundred yards?!" Sylia said, "Isn't there one closer?"
Madigan shook her head, "No."
Sylia sighed,
"Boy, this is going to be one hard task..."
Akane smirked, "You could say that again."
Priss, her heart in her throat, dragged Ranma as fast as she could,
not caring that Ranma was very cold beneath her fingers or that his
breathing was rather unsteady. If what Ryoga had said was right, then
none of that would matter as soon as she splashed him with water. She
would then go back for Ryoga.
She continued to drag him down to the corridor and around the corner,
realizing there was no where to go but down for she found herself
standing on a metallic platform suspended a hundred or so feet up the
wall. She looked down into the pit below her and saw a massive pool of
coolant.
"Where the hell am I?!" she said, looking over the safety rail. She
wondered if coolant was a good enough substitute for water.
She didn't have much to wonder for a missile flew right by her head,
missing her by inches, exploding when it hit the wall on the other side
of the vast room. She didn't even need to look behind her to realize
there were boomers behind her.
She looked around and realized there was no place to go but up or
down. She could go up, but she didn't have a jet pack or thrusters or a
hardsuit for that matter so the only other way to go was straight down,
into the pool of coolant.
Taking a deep breath, she hoisted Ranma up over the railing and pushed
him over, jumping over a second later, the landing exploding the moment
she and Ranma crashed into the pool of liquid.
Priss quickly swam through the slimy liquid to the surface and gasped
for air as soon as she reached the top. All she did was managed to gasp
just enough air to scream as she saw several boomers descending
downward, their cannons aimed right at her.
Ranma-chan burst through the surface, gasping for air, screaming, "Hot
water!!! Where's the hot water?!"
Priss looked at Ranma, who was now in his cursed form, "Ranma? Is that
you?"
Ranma-chan looked at Priss, "Where's the hot water?!"
A missile shot into the pool of liquid, narrowly missing Ranma-chan.
Ranma-chan looked up and say the descending boomers. Without even
thinking, Ranma-chan lifted her hand toward the ceiling and shouted,
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!!!!"
A massive whirlwind generated from Ranma-chan's hand, surrounding her,
spiraling up at the descending boomers. The coolant in the pool got
sucked up with the wind, creating this massive reverse whirlpool,
everything funneling upward. Priss, standing in the middle of the pool,
looked around and saw the surrounding liquid twisting around her,
shooting up into the air. It felt as if she was in the middle of a
whirlpool where she could reach out and touch the coolant in every
direction.
Ranma-chan stood right next to her, and turned her attention toward
Priss and
said, "Priss, where's the hot water?"
Priss looked at Ranma, or at what Ranma had become. She couldn't
believe she was looking at a girl now. Ranma had been a guy one moment,
and now he was a girl.
"Yes, this is my curse!" Ranma-chan said exasperated, "I turn into a
girl when hit with water...or anything water based. I don't wanna stay
in this form! I hafta change back! I need some hot water!"
She ignored the upward spinning column of coolant surrounding her and
looked
up. The boomers where no longer there, having been swept up all the way
to the
ceiling and most likely destroyed from the impact.
Ranma-chan grabbed Priss' hand and ran in a random direction, sending
a ki-blast right through the wall of twisting coolant and running right
through it, emerging out on the other side.
Ranma-chan looked around and saw a door and quickly ran for it. She
needed to
find some hot water and fast. She ran right through the door, not
bothering to
waste precious seconds knocking it down, as he half carried Priss with
him.
Ranma-chan looked down the corridor and caught sight of another pool of
coolant. Where the hell was she? She released Priss and ran up to the
pool and
stuck her hand into it. It was freezing, just like the other pool he had
just
been in.
She closed her eyes and began sending all her ki into it, heating it up
at an intense rate.
After a minute or so, the pool began to boil. As soon as it did, Ranma
jumped in.
Priss ran forward to the pool but couldn't get to close because the
pool had been percolating rather violently. If any of the coolant
splashed on her, she would get seriously scolded.
Ranma emerged from the pool, now in his original form, looking a full
ten
years younger than before.
"All right! I'm back in my real form!" he said with a smile. He looked
at Priss, who was totally speechless.
"Where are we?" Ranma said. He waved a hand in front of Priss' face
"Priss, my curse, I'll explain it to you some other time. Where's
Ryoga?"
"H-he was in the corridor, a hundred or so feet above us..." she
finally said. He was still staring at Ranma, unable to comprehend
this...curse.
In the other room, the coolant came crashing down on the floor and
pool, Ranma's whirlwind punch finally having subsided. Ranma turned
toward the other room, "That's the room that leads back up?"
Priss nodded, "The opening is about a hundred or so feet up."
Ranma reached a hand forward "C'mon, let's go back up. Hang on tight."
When Priss unconsciously reached forward and took hold of his hand,
Ranma jerked her toward him and threw her over his shoulder.
He ran into the room and jump as high as he could, propelling off the
wall and continuing to triangle jump until he reached the door that lead
onto the landing that the boomer's destroyed.
"Is that the opening?" Ranma asked, still holding onto Priss, the
fingers of his other arm digging into the wall, holding him up. He was
gesturing toward the opening on the other side of the room.
Priss nodded. She looked at Ranma's fingers and couldn't believe that
he had just dug his fingering into solid concrete and they were holding
him and her both up on a totally vertical wall. She was about to ask how
he could do that but shrieked as Ranma kicked out and jumped right
toward the opening, landing in the corridor.
Ranma let Priss go and started running down the corridor, Priss
following closely behind.
As yet a new batch of boomers emerged in front of the two, Ranma
didn't bother to take cover, sending ki-blast after ki-blast down the
corridor, destroying them easily.
"Where is he?" Ranma asked, still running, not even winded from using
so much energy.
Priss pointed, "Just around that corner."
Ranma rounded the corner and easily caught sight of the unconscious
Ryoga. Ranma kneeled down next to Ryoga and gently tapped his cheek,
"Yo, Ryoga, you still alive?"
Ryoga opened his eyes weakly, "Yeah...."
Ranma chuckled, "Don't worry, buddy. You'll be okay, I've gotcha."
He picked Ryoga up and threw him over his shoulder and turned around
proceeding back down the corridor and toward the pool of coolant he had
been thrown in just before.
Priss, not really knowing what she should do, followed closely behind,
but not before she heard Ryoga mutter something weakly.
"I'm...not...your....buddy..."
Madigan looked out the glass elevator at the underground 'city'
expanding before her as the elevator descended. She could see the route
Ranma
and Ryoga had taken simply by the carnage left behind. She looked toward
the
where the main computer was located and the many corridors surrounding
it. They
would have to traverse through the corridors, which would still be
infested with
boomers so they could make it to the main computer. Of course it would be
infested with boomers, if they weren't then that meant Ranma and Ryoga
had
disabled the main computer...which meant the self destruct would be in
admist a
countdown. Luckily, she didn't hear the countdown on the speakers.
"T-those corridors." Madigan said, pointing, "They lead to the main
computer."
"What are those?" Akane asked, pointing toward these large cylindrical
chambers just on the outside of those corridors.
"They're the coolant ducts that are used to keep everything from
overheating. There's an underground network that circulate the coolant
to every machine throughout the factory." Madigan replied. She pointed
toward the large and looming structure located near the heart of the
'city' and said, "That's where the supercomputer is. We have to make our
way there..."
The girls witnessed an explosion erupted from one of the maze of
corridors down below.
"That's most likely Ranma or Ryoga." Sylia commented. Linna nodded in
agreement.
From down below, bullets flew upward and struck the glass of the
elevator, shattering it. Madigan and Linna quickly fell to the floor,
taking cover, shielding themselves from the glass. Akane backed away
from the glass, crouching low.
Sylia, on the other hand, pulled out the magnum and carefully aimed it
toward to location the bullets where coming from.
"Sylia, what are you doing?! Get down!" Linna shouted to Sylia,
worried that her fried was going to get herself killed.
Sylia pulled the trigger twice.
The firing immediately stopped.
"What happened?" Madigan asked. "Why did it stop firing?"
"I shot out its eyes. It can't hit what it can't see..."
Ranma stopped his fighting, "Did you hear something? I could have
sworn I just hear gunfire from somewhere else..."
Ryoga, now totally healed and younger looking, turned toward Ranma, "I
think
so, I heard it also. How about you, Priss?"
The little time it took for Ryoga to move from the pool of coolant to
the pool
with the heated coolant Ranma had made had made him aged backwards quite
a bit.
Priss said nothing. She was still transfixed on what she had seen when
Ryoga
took his cursed form.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I turned into a piglet." Ryoga muttered, a bit
annoyed.
He preferred people not to know of his curse since the more people knew,
the
better the chance Akane would eventually find out, "But will you please
quit
staring at me like I'm some kinda ghost and pay more attention..."
Priss blinked a few times, "I can't believe it, you turn into a
goddamn piglet..."
The muscles in Ryoga's jaw tensed, "I know! You don't hafta remind
me..."
Ranma snapped a finger in front of Priss' face, causing her to start
and become more concerned with other things than Ryoga's curse.
"W-what is it?" she asked.
He said, "Did you hear something? Like gunfire? I could have sworn I
heard it."
"It's probably your imagination." Priss commented. It was probably the
sounds of more boomers on the way that he heard.
Ryoga shook his head, "I don't think so. I heard it also. What should
we do? Should we go back to the computer or go check it out..."
Priss took a moment to think, "I dunno. Okay, how about this. Ranma'll
go ahead and blow the computer up. Ryoga and I will go check out the
noise, whatever it is."
Even though she had no idea what she was walking into, she didn't feel
nearly
as worried with a totally healed Ryoga around, or a totally healed Ranma
just a
short ways away.
Ranma nodded, "Okay. I'll come looking for you as soon as I blow it
Up."
He turned around and ran down the corridor, dodging the lasers from a
single
boomer that stood in his way and punching its skull in as he ran right
past it,
disappearing around a corner.
"C'mon, let's go." Ryoga said, turning around and heading down the
corridor in the opposite direction.
Sylia jumped out of the way just in time as some massive ball of
energy surged through the opening that lead in to the maze of corridors.
The blast shot forward and struck the wall on the opposite side of the
vast storage room, demolishing it.
"What the hell was that?!" Linna said, taking cover by ducking behind
a large metallic box. Madigan was frightfully by her side, scared out of
her wits. Akane was at Linna's other side.
Sylia peeked around the corner into the dark corridor and shot several
rounds into it, taking cover just in time as another ball of energy shot
out from the darkness.
"Waitaminute!" Akane said, realizing something, "That's Ryoga's!"
"H-how do you know?" Linna asked, not daring to peek her head up over
the box, worried that it would be blown right off if she did do that.
Akane cupped her hands around her mouth and stood up and shouted,
"Ryoga!!! Hold your fire!!! It's me, Akane!!!"
"Akane?" Ryoga emerged into the light of the room. If it weren't for
Sylia having such quick reactions in recognizing him, she would have
blown Ryoga's head off as she caught sight of him running out into the
middle of the room.
Sylia slumped down, her fingers twitching, her knees weak, "Damn, that
was close." She could have almost been killed, and could have almost
killed Ryoga, if that was possible.
Priss emerged out into the light also, giving Sylia a quick start.
Sylia had almost pointed the magnum and pulled the trigger again, almost
mistaking Priss for a boomer. Having come close to being vaporized by
that ball of energy, having been close enough to feel its searing heat
as it whizzed by, was enough to make anyone jumpy.
"Where's Ranma?!" Akane said, hopping over the box to meet Ryoga
halfway.
Ryoga jerked a thumb over his back, "He went to destroy the computer."
"Shit!!" Linna shouted, "We hafta stop him! The whole place will self
destruct if the computer gets destroyed!"
"What?!" Ryoga found himself losing his voice. His throat was starting
to feel dry. If the whole place self destructed, then Akane would surely
die in the blast. He couldn't have that happen...not again.
Ryoga spun around on his heels and quickly ran back into the dark
corridors, praying that his lack of direction doesn't fail him now. He
just prayed that he wouldn't be too late when he got to his destination.
Ryoga was too late. As he emerged out into the main room, he caught
sight of Ranma letting loose a massive ki-blast twice as large as any he
had ever thrown, right at the computer, the one shot needed to finally
destroy it.
"No!!!" Ryoga said, almost falling to his knees as he realized how bad
this situation had just become.
"What? What's wrong?" Ranma asked, looking down at Ryoga.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have twenty minutes' could be heard echoing
throughout the room.
"That's what's gonna happen." Ryoga said, "The whole place is gonna
blow up with us in it..."
"Oh man, that's really really bad!" Ranma said.
The girls rushed into the room.
"W-we're too late." Priss said, resting her hand on her knees as she
gasped for air.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have nineteen minutes and thirty seconds'
Ranma turned toward everyone, 'Get the hell outta here!"
"How? How the hell are we going to get out of here in under twenty
minutes?!" Madigan said, tears starting to form as she realized the
uselessness of running, "It'll take us thirty minutes get out of this
place because the closest elevator was destroyed. The nearest elevator
is over a mile and a half away!"
"If we run hard enough, we can make it!" Ranma said, turning around.
He could run a mile and a half in no problem. He would carry them.
He grabbed the nearest people, Priss and Madigan, "Let's get the hell
outta of here!"
"We have to stop it!" Sylia shouted, pulling her arm away from Ranma's
hand, "If this place blows up, the whole tower above us will collapse
and kill thousands, if not tens of thousands..."
"But there is no way to stop it!!!" Madigan said, numbly. She could
picture herself, dying underneath a mile of terra firma, no longer able
to see Carper again. The thought brought tears to her eyes. She turned
toward Sylia, "It's all your fault!!! Why did you have to bring me?!
Why?!"
"Because we don't trust you, that's why!" Sylia retorted coldly.
"God, what the hell are we gonna do?!" Linna said, panic in her voice.
She didn't want to die. She was too young and pretty to die.
Ranma looked up toward the computer, "Is there a way to stop the self
destruct?"
"No!!" Madigan replied, wishing to god that it wasn't true, "There's
no way to stop the countdown once it's started!"
"Boy, we're really up the creek without a paddle, now aren't we?!"
Ranma commented. He looked at Ryoga, "What do you think we should do?"
"Why the hell are you asking me?!" Ryoga replied vehemently, "You're
the one that cause this!!!"
Ranma was silent. He turned his attention back onto the computer, his
gaze intent, his visage somber "Yes, it is my fault..."
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have nineteen minutes'
"We have to leave!" Linna shouted, "Now!!!"
Sylia turned toward Linna, "How? It'll take us over thirty minutes to
get out of this place! The only way out has been destroyed. We're stuck
in here..."
"I'll stop it..." Ranma said in a low voice, "I'll stop the
countdown..."
"H-how?" Madigan asked in a shaky voice.
"I'll....I'll kill myself...." Ranma said, dead serious.
"What?!" the girls said in unison.
Ranma turned his attention away from everyone, "I'll use my seppukku
blast to destroy this entire room and melt this computer into absolute
nothing...but...but I'll die in the process..."
"No!" Akane spoke in a pleading voice, "You're not going to do that!
There's gotta be another way!"
"There's gotta be another way..." Linna said. She turned toward
Madigan, "C'mon, tell me there's some other way!"
Madigan was silent.
"No one here's going to sacrifice themselves." Sylia said, the calm
port within a storm, "Although we came in her separately, we leave here
together."
Ranma shook his head, "No, I'm staying. I caused this, so I'll take
Responsibility."
"You moron!!!" Akane said, the tear ducts of her eyes forming tears
around her eyes, or were they real tears, "Don't you get it?! You're
going to die!!!"
"I know."
"I don't want you to die!!!" Akane shouted.
Ranma turned toward Akane, "And if I don't do anything, we're all
going to die and the people above us will die also. I-I can't have that
happen. If I can stop this, I will, even if I have to die doing so..."
"You bastard!!" Akane said, slamming both fists into Ranma's chest,
sobbing openly. She looked right into Ranma's eyes and said, "Fine, if
you stay, I'm staying!"
"No, you're not!" Ranma said, "I'm not gonna lettcha die again. Y-
You....you mean too much to me..."
"Well, you're not going to get rid of me." Akane said stubbornly, "I'm
staying, and that's that."
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have eighteen minutes and thirty seconds'
Ranma turned everyone, "Please, leave. You all have nothing to do with
this. You can save yourselves. Just leave and never look back..."
There was a short moment of silence as the entire group contemplated
Ranma's words.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have eighteen minutes,'
"C'mon, get outta here. Go!!" Ranma shouted, "Just get as far away
from here as possible!"
"Why are you doing this?!" Linna asked in a pleading voice. Even
though she didn't really know him all that well, but over the time she
had spent with them, she had gotten rather fond of Ranma and Ryoga and
Akane.
"Because if I don't, you'll die and so will many others." Ranma gave a
soft reply. He turned toward Ryoga, "Ryoga, please, take care of Akane."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Akane said. But before she knew it, Ranma
punched her in the stomach, causing her system to go into shock and
temporarily shut down. It pained Ranma incredibly to having to do
something like that to someone he cared for so much.
Ryoga was very silent. At first, he would have attempted to kill Ranma
for doing something like that to his precious Akane, but he knew Ranma
had done it for her own good. She didn't deserve to die.
"I'm sorry, Akane." Ranma said softly, remorseful for having done
that, but there was no other way. He turned his attention from Akane and
onto the rest of the group, "Go on, get as far away from here as
possible.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes and thirty seconds'
"God, that damn voice is annoying." Ranma muttered. He composed
himself and then said, "Well guys, I guess this is where we say
goodbye..."
Everyone was deathly quiet. No one wanted to say goodbye, not even
Ryoga.
"It's best that you get at least a mile away from here, the farther
the better." Ranma finally said, breaking the silence, "The blast I plan
on using will take up at least a mile in every direction. You'll die if
you're even close to it jus' from the heat."
Ryoga held Akane close to him, her head rest on his shoulder, her arms
falling over his back. He had this sad look on his face, as if he was
about to say something but chose against it.
"C'mon." Linna said, teary eyed, "There's gotta be another way! Why
does he have to die?!"
Ranma replied in a soft voice, "It's the only way. It's either me or
Ryoga, and we need Ryoga to watch over Akane."
"But still." Linna looked up at Ranma with pleading eyes.
Ranma shook his head, "Look, it was fun getting to know all of you,
but there's a time where we must all say goodbye. And I guess this is
the time."
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes'
Ranma sighed, "Man, that's really annoying. Where're the speakers? I'm
gonna blow them up before I can hear that voice again."
"Ranma, you have more things to worry about!" Priss said, fighting
back this overwhelming urge to cry, "You're going to die!"
Ranma nodded, "I know."
"A-aren't you scared?" Priss asked, "You're going to fucking die!!"
Ranma placed his hands on Priss' shoulders to calm her down, his voice
calmer than she, "Yes, I know I'm going to die. As to me dying? No, I'm
not scared. I mean, I've lived a good life. As much as I'd like to
continue on living, I'd much rather die saving everyone's lives than to
have them die along side me."
"But there's gotta be a way!" Priss said, tears now starting to flow.
Ranma smiled, "C'mon, don't worry about me, I-I'll be fine."
"No you won't!" Priss shouted angrily, "You're going to be dead in a
little
over sixteen minutes!!!"
Ryoga grabbed Priss' arm, "Priss, w-we hafta go."
Sylia and Linna and Madigan were silent. They knew that they had to
leave and fast if they wanted to get far enough away from this place.
Priss clenched her teeth for she knew Ryoga was right. She turned away
from Ranma, almost angry at him, "Y-you better survive this!"
Ranma was silent. How was he going to make a promise he could never
keep? There was no way he was going to survive this.....
Sylia looked at Ranma, steeling herself of her emotions, concealing
this ache in her heart "Ranma, I'm glad I got to know you."
"Same here."
"I'll miss you." she said,
Ranma nodded, and half joked, "I'll miss you, too, or at least until I
get vaporized."
Sylia gave a small chuckle. She stepped forward and gently embraced
Ranma, her head pressing into his shoulder as she took a deep breath..
Ranma returned the embrace, "C'mon, don't worry about me."
Sylia broke her embrace and turned her back toward him, "Ranma.....I-
I'll never forget you."
With that said, she walked away. She stepped into the corridor where
she broke down and started crying.
Linna took her turn and stepped forward, "Ranma, I'm never going to
forget you. Ever since you entered my life, it was one surprise after
another." She embraced Ranma and was even bold enough to kiss him on the
lips, wishing she had gotten to known him better. A girl like her could
lose herself being in a place like Ranma's arms.
Ranma was a bit nervous after being kissed by Linna, "Um, er, I-I'm g-
glad I met you."
"Relax, Ranma." Linna said was a sultry smile, "It was just a kiss
goodbye. I know you and Akane belong together."
Ranma was about to say something, but stopped himself. If someone had
said that about him and Akane any other time, he would have denied it.
Why? He did not know. But now was different. He realized that in a just
a short while from now, he would never be.
"You're right." Ranma nodded, "I-I do care about her. And I do believe
we belong together." He chuckled a bit and joked, "Perhaps if you're
lucky, I can be resurrected just like she was."
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have sixteen minutes and thirty seconds'
"I'll never forget you." Linna said, wiping a tear from her eye, as
she turned around and headed for the corridors.
Ranma turned toward Priss, "Go on, Priss, you better get going. You
don't have much time to get as far away from here as possible." He
placed his hands on her shoulders, "You take care now, y'hear?"
Priss nodded. She reached forward and embraced Ranma tightly,
reluctant to let go. When she did, she gave him one last look before she
turned around and ran for the corridor.
All that remained were Madigan and Ryoga and Akane.
Ranma looked at Madigan, "I hope you finally realized that Genom isn't
what it was all cracked up to be."
Madigan nodded, "Yes. But.....I ended up learning the hard way."
"And what about your boyfriend?"
Madigan blushed. There was no real use denying it. And why should she.
After this, she would go to the hospital to see Carper, to accept that
dinner invitation she had declined not too long ago, "Carper's all right.
He got hurt, but he'll be fine."
Ranma smirked, "Well, have a nice life."
Madigan was silent for a short while. Ranma was nothing like the
person she thought he was. He seemed like the kind of person she would
be glad to know, not attempt to hunt down like she did before. As she
stood there, she regretted having done all that she had done.
"C'mon, you better get going." Ryoga told Madigan.
Madigan looked up at Ryoga and nodded, turning around and heading for
the corridor.
All who remained were Ryoga and Akane, Akane out cold.
"You know, I should hit you because you hit Akane like that." Ryoga
said, "But I'll forgive you."
Ranma smirked, "You take care Ryoga, now get outta here, and take care
of Akane, y'hear?"
Ryoga nodded, "Do you think there's any chance you'll survive this?"
A tear fell from his eyes, "No, I won't"
Ryoga's face was sad, also on the brink of crying.
"Can't you believe it, Ryoga? All these years we've known each other
and all we ever did was fight." Ranma began, "I dunno about you, but I
always thought that you and I will end up being the ones to kill each
other. It's almost ironic if you think about it. Us being enemies, and
one of us dying to save the other one's life."
Ryoga was silent for several long moments before he finally spoke,
"Does it bother you?"
Ranma shook his head, "No, not really. All these years after everyone
died, I always wondered why I go on living, training. And for what? It
was to avenge everyone's death, to destroy the company that destroyed my
life. But now........now that I got the chip and the chip would
inevitably bring Genom down, I finally got my revenge. So no, it doesn't
bother me that I'm gonna die. Why? Cause I did fulfilling my goal. Sure,
I would rather live, but I would much rather die saving people than to
die along side 'em."
Ryoga reached a hand out and placed it on Ranma's shoulders, "Ranma,
I'll miss you."
Ranma smirked, "No you won't. You have Akane." He reached out and
gently ran his fingers through Akane's hair. "You take care of her.
Maybe if I feel like it, I'll come back to life and haunt you....."
"Do you promise?"
Ranma almost started to cry. He turned his back toward Ryoga and
Akane, "Go. Get outta here. You don't have much time."
Ryoga was silent for several moments before he finally spoke, "Ranma,
don't worry, I'll take care of her."
With that said, Ryoga, carrying Akane, left the room.
All that remained was Ranma to contemplate his final moments of life.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes'
C&C welcomed ^_^
-OneShot
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html
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