2096- a lot of things came to pass.  There was the 
first production model of the hand-held laser pistol.  
Females just gained another 1/2 percent on the statistics of 
wealth, putting them at holding 73% of the world's wealth.  
And the first naturalized citizen was elected President of 
the United States.
	All in all it was a year that went down in history, 
but for another reason as well.  It was the year that 
proceeded 2097, the year that went down in infamy.  To 
this very date, 2197, it is known as the date that the world 
collapsed.  I, myself know it well.  I oversee everything that 
happened on Earth since it was created, and I'll probably 
see everything until it is destroyed.   Let me tell you a 
story....

	In the year 2097, there was a major change in the 
Southeast Island of Paliathe.  Since the treaty of 2012, 
Japan and Germany had both agreed to begin down-sizing 
the armament of nuclear weaponry they had at hand.  
Unfortunately, neither one dismantled their weaponry 
adequately enough.
	In the fall of 2015, most of the nuclear warhead 
pieces were deposited at the naval bases of Antinum Bay 
and Orgisour Beach in the Philippine islands.  It was there 
that the weapons were stolen, and there that they began 
their way into the hands of a dictator on Paliathe. 
	For the next eighty-two years, Paliathe had 
remained a quiet island off the coast of Asia.   There was 
absolutely no clue to the fact that they were assembling 
nuclear warheads.  Even though the dictators had changed 
over time, the throne once again passed to one utterly 
without remorse of mercy.
	Those warheads, created by the hands of man by the 
fruits of nature, became the very thing that almost 
destroyed mankind, and rocked nature in its hinges.
	In a radio transmission to the United states, the only 
clue as to the holocaust that would follow occurred.  A lone 
man, traitor to his people on Paliathe, gave warning of the 
nuclear warheads about to go off.  They were all in place at 
strategic points on the world, so there was not much that 
could be done.  But in a final ironic play, the U.S. 
Launched all of its nuclear warheads at Paliathe.  To this 
day, only ocean fills the spot of two hundred miles 
circumference around the island.
	The warheads did go off, and the apocalypse 
followed.  Placed on the spaces between Tectonic Plates, 
they brought upon man an almost natural plague.  Instead 
of being killed by explosions and radiation, as many would 
have suspected, man fell victim to nature itself.
	Tidal wave, earthquakes, violent storms, these were 
the horsemen that the bible talked about.  Since most of the 
life on Earth fell victim as well, famine became the next 
concern, and then disease.  War begot death, and in their 
wake followed famine and pestilence.  Only those most fit 
to survive did.
	After the dawn of destruction, society rose up again.  
It was created as all first civilizations were, on the backs of 
some at the call of others.  The most ruthless and powerful 
came to head the new world, and under them people had to 
learn to obey.
	It wasn't that the world became evil, just harder.  In 
time, physical power gave some room to mental prowess, 
and soon the leaders had to have both as well.  Of course, 
ruthlessness and chaos never did subside.  In fact, 
corruption at this time, is considered the norm.
	After the beginning, society moved forward again.  
They achieved once more, and gained what they worked 
for.  Though the rewards were split among those on top, 
society became something of what it was before the 
apocalypse.  It had advancements, in a primitive world.
	That takes us to 2197, where none of this past 
means anything to a boy on the street trying to survive.  
This boy's only concern was how not to get caught....
*************
R1/2: BURNT LANDS
Chapter One: On the Run

	Ranma darted into the alleyway, his body barely 
sliding past the corner before the familiar zings of laser fire 
came were heard from down the street.  Before the chunks 
of blasted brick had time to hit the floor, Ranma was 
already making his way to the end of the alleyway.
	"Dammit, I gotta be more careful from now on!  
This was by far the closest yet, not to mention the third one 
this week."  he said to himself as he bolted down the 
narrow corridor.  The alley was like a maze, every time he 
was sure he would hit the end, another two directions 
would show up.  Using blind luck as his guide, he 
continued to make his way through the twist and turns.  
	He slowed down a bit to get his bearings.  Talking 
to himself again, he said, "You'd think these guys would 
have something serious to do, but instead they chose to go 
running after me.  I mean, with as much crime as goes on 
in this city, shouldn't they be going after somebody for 
more than petty theft?"
	Taking a right turn, he continues to run for some 
distance, then suddenly stops.  Having run down this hall 
for almost five minutes, he realizes that the police are 
already at the intersection and will be there in a matter of 
moments.  Of course, as much as he'd like to continue 
running, he can't.  He picked the one turn that led to a dead 
end.
	Quickly, Ranma scanned the area for an escape 
route.  There were no doorways in sight, the walls were too 
flat for him to climb, and the wall was too high to jump.  It 
looked like he had no escape this time, but then he looked 
down.
	"Bingo", he said as bent down near the manhole 
cover.  As he pulled off the heavy piece of steel, he thought 
to himself <I wouldn't even be in this mess if it weren't for 
Pop.  I know we had to get the medicine quick, but I 
personally would have preferred working this time.>  With 
the top free, he jumped into the deep hole, letting the 
manhole cover fall into place behind him.
	It took a few moments to get accustomed to the 
light.  Looking around, he felt a gush of relief when he saw 
how narrowly he missed a giant puddle.  In a few moments 
his eyes were focused enough to walk, and he started 
making his way through the sewers.
	<Where are your bright ideas now, Pop?  You just 
had to come up with that plan, steal the drug and save time.  
'Nobody will care,' you said.  'The police won't even 
investigate,' you said.  Of course, you couldn't have known 
the guy we stole it from was one of the top executives in 
this damn country.> His thought cut off quickly as he began 
to feel watched.
	Luck played a great part in keeping him alive as 
long as he was (although it put him in some of the more 
dangerous circumstances to begin with), but his instincts 
did more than its share.  He learned early off to trust his 
instinct, and it never served him wrong so far.  And right 
then, his instincts were telling him that someone was 
nearby.
	Quietly and unobtrusively, Ranma slid his hand 
behind his back.  Moving underneath his shirt, Ranma felt 
the all to familiar coldness of his knife.  He slid the cold 
steel from out of its sheath and moved it into his sleeve.  It 
was almost invisible there, his sleeve covering up the 
blade.
	Ranma tried to sense where the person might be, 
but whoever it could be was too close.  The tunnels were 
deathly quiet, that itself giving Ranma an eerie feeling.  
The problem was, as much as he'd like to continue looking 
for this person, he was on the run.  He continued to proceed 
forward, though slightly slower than before.	
	For a few moments, Ranma moved down the 
corridors while concentrating his senses on his 
surroundings.  He knew there was somebody there, he 
could have almost smelled the person, but it wasn't quite 
enough.  This person was hiding well, and there was no 
way he could find them without stopping.  Suddenly a loud 
splash sounded behind him, and the sounds of several 
cursing men followed.
	It was too close for Ranma's comfort.  Giving up on 
finding the mysterious person, he began to quicken his 
pace.  Almost running down the tunnels, he picked out his 
path at random and hoped it didn't lead to another dead 
end.  
	Running at a tremendous speed, he thought to 
himself <Thank God these guys aren't in shape.  With the 
amount of running I've been doing lately, I would never be 
able to stay ahead of them>.  He kept running, almost four 
miles in less than ten minutes.
	He could still hear them behind him, keeping up 
with his incredible speed, and with a cold feeling he 
realized why.  <They must have gotten chase vehicles 
while they were up there.  That's why they took so long.  I 
won't be able to out run them, those damn things have heat 
signature trackers.  How the hell can I avoid...?>
	Ranma was suddenly pulled backwards, someone's 
hand covered his mouth while the something cold was 
pressed into his back.  Ranma couldn't fool himself into 
thinking even he was fast enough to get out of this.  Even if 
the person's reactions were slow, the gun could be set to go 
off by itself, should Ranma move incorrectly.
	Swallowing hard, Ranma was forced to distract 
himself with thought of what would happen when he was 
brought to trail.  Imprisonment, probably death, awaited 
him, and there wasn't much he could do.  His thought were 
cut off as Ranma felt something slip into his left hand.  
	A deep voice whispered into his ear telling him, 
"Put that on your wrist.  They won't be able to trace your 
heat signature."
	Ranma felt the hand at his mouth loosen, and the 
figure behind him pulled back a little.  Thinking for a 
moment, Ranma decided that he might as well trust him.  
Putting his knife away, Ranma slipped what appeared to be 
a watch onto his wrist.  A moment later, a jolt of cold 
invaded his body.  
	Not sure what had happened, Ranma turned around 
to face the person.  The figure was too dark to see, but 
Ranma could make out a slight nod in the direction of the 
watch.  It took a moment of getting use to, but in a few 
seconds, it felt like he was perfectly normal again.
	They waited there for a few tense moments.  
Looking at the figure, Ranma couldn't help but wonder why 
this person helped him ... or why he trusted this person.  A 
moment after that thought, two forms whizzed by.  Ranma 
was right, they were on motorcycle-like vehicles, adapted 
for the sewers.  In a few more seconds, all of the police 
went by.
	Waiting a few more minutes, Ranma finally decided 
it was alright to go out.  Stepping back into the dim light of 
the sewer, he looked around to see where the police went.  
Finally, he turned around, just as the figure stepped out of 
the darkness.  At last, Ranma was able to see who this 
person was.
	Out of the darkness stepped a young man.  The man 
was slightly taller than Ranma, but also more muscular.  
Though he did have the look of a martial artist, he also 
looked friendly.  His blond hair and blue eyes seemed to 
instill trust, but Ranma could tell by how this man moved 
that he was able to kill.  
	The man pulled his shoulder length hair from his 
eyes, its style almost like Ryoga's.  After a moment the man 
smiled, knowing full well that Ranma had been studying 
him.  "Have you seen enough yet?" he said in a light tone.
	Ranma looked at him again, then dropped his eyes 
to the pistol at this man's waist.  An older style .45 caliber 
revolver, it wasn't the typical weapon carried on the streets.  
"Who are you?  And why did you help me?"
	Several expressions crossed the man's face, but they 
ended with a look of amusement.  "Oh, I'm not really sure.  
I could tell you're running from the law, which is a good 
thing from where I stand.  I could also tell that you know 
how to handle yourself.  I guess I figured it'd be a waste if 
you were to have gotten caught.  Besides, it's not like I was 
placing myself in harm's way."
	Ranma stood there for a moment, deciding exactly 
how to phrase his next words.  "Hmm, I understand that.  In 
fact, that's a pretty good policy.  Who the hell are you 
again?"
	The man couldn't surpress his grin as he realized he 
forgot to answer Ranma.  "The name is Kenshin, Kenshin 
Tendo.  Who are you?"
	"Ranma Saotome." 
	"Pleasure to meet your, Ranma.  Now if you'll 
excuse me, I have to get back to what I was doing."  and 
with that, Kenshin began to walk.
	For a moment Ranma stood there indecisively.  
Making up his mind, he walked after Kenshin.  He caught 
up to him in a few moment, asking Kenshin, "One thing, 
could you tell me how I can get out of here?  Safely, that 
is."
	Kenshin didn't look surprised that Ranma went after 
him; in fact, it was apparent that he expected it.  Thinking 
for a moment, he answered Ranma.  "Sure, um ... just 
follow me.  Where I'm going there should be plenty of 
exits.  Besides, I could use the company."
	Ranma nodded to Kenshin.  It was a while since he 
wasn't always running, even longer since he had a chance 
to talk to somebody.  At the rate this was going, Ranma 
would have had to begin talking to himself to get any 
conversation.  "Well, as long as I get out of here I'm happy.  
Maybe this time I can actually stay out of trouble for a 
while, kind of lie low."
	Talking as they walked, Kenshin asked Ranma, 
"Can you really stay out of trouble if you wanted to?"
	"Well ... maybe not completely.  But if I really 
wanted, I know a few places I could go where I won't have 
to deal with police.  Why are you asking?"
	"No reason, just curious.  Hey, what kind of tattoo 
is that on your shoulder?"  Kenshin asked him, pointing to 
the edge of a prominent design on his right collar bone.
	"Oh, that...." he said, pulling down his shirt a bit, "It 
isn't really on my shoulder.  It's a tattoo of a dragon that 
goes across my chest.  My father had it put on, thank god it 
isn't that big.  It's not really noticeable unless your looking 
for it."
	Kenshin nodded, "Well, it looks nice.  At least, 
what I can see.  You wouldn't mind going on ahead a bit, 
would you?  I have a call of nature to attend to."
	Ranma looked at him for a second, sure that he saw 
an expression flashed on Kenshin's face.  Discounting it as 
the need to go to the bathroom, Ranma nodded and 
continued on.  In a few moments, Kenshin was left behind 
and Ranma was by himself again.
	He strode through the tunnel, examining the thing 
on his wrist along the way.  It looked like a normal digital 
watch, not all to uncommon in these days.  The only 
difference seemed to be the assortment of buttons on the 
sides of the watch, and the unusually big face.
	<Well there's not much else to do, I oughta figure 
out now how this works.  At least before I need it again.> 
he thought.  Picking buttons at random, he began to 
experiment with the features of the watch.
	At first, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly 
when he pressed all of the buttons at the same time, a menu 
came up on the face.  Slightly familiar with this kind of 
menu, Ranma recognized it as a touch screen menu.  With 
all the options listed, he had no problem figuring out what 
it could do.  In a few moments he memorized most  of the 
features.
	Aside from camouflaging a heat signature, it had 
both a locking device (obviously unused) and tracking 
device installed.  There were also other things listed in the 
menu that Ranma couldn't understand, but he figured he'd 
get to later.
	Turning around the bend, he barely noticed the 
voices up ahead.  Quickly he turned his attention away 
from the watch, listening to what was just a short distance 
away.  At first he only heard voices, then the familiar whiz 
of a motor vehicle came to the foreground.  
	<I've been set up.  That son of a ... no, that's not 
right.  He wouldn't have helped me in the first place if he 
was setting me up.  That must be why he left, he knew that 
this thing wouldn't work and he was saving himself.  Well, 
I can't really blame....> his thought suddenly got cut off by 
an all too familiar hand at his mouth.
	Pushing the hand away, Ranma turned far enough 
towards Kenshin to whisper.  "The police are just a few 
kilometers away.  They must have picked up my heat 
signature again.  If I were you, I'd head in the opposite 
direction of where I'm going.  There's no reason for you to 
get caught too."
	Kenshin gave him the same amused look that 
Ranma saw less than an hour ago.  "They haven't picked up 
your sig.  It's me there after, and I was going to say the 
same thing...."
	BAM! An explosion knocked them off their feet as 
half a dozen officers rushed towards them.  At the instant 
he hit the floor, Ranma already was moving for his knife.  
The thoughts <Stupid cops!  Only six of them, I'm gonna 
teach them to be more prepared.> ran through his mind as 
he pulled his knife from its sheath.
	For a second, the officers looked like they were 
winning.  Using both tazers and nightsticks, they attacked 
in more force than anybody could survive.  Then they 
discovered they weren't hitting anybody.  Both Ranma and 
Kenshin were up and dodging all of their blows, and none 
of them had thought to pull a gun.
	Easily dodging the barrage of hits and tazer shocks, 
Ranma began to counter the cops' moves.  Throwing one 
cop into another, then kicking two others in the head, 
Ranma easily tuned the tide of the match.
	Kenshin himself wasn't doing so bad either.  
Though fighting two officers at the same time, he managed 
to put them on the defense.  Then, after several moments of 
combat, one of them went down, soon followed by the 
other.
	They both overlooked their work, glad that they 
managed to come out of it alive.  After a second, they 
looked at each other and smiled.  It seemed that something 
finally came out right for Ranma ... until they heard a click.
	Facing each other with silly grins on their faces, 
they almost missed the soft click of a gun being cocked.  
The smiles melted off their faces, and in a second they 
were looking at the source of the sound.  
	Almost twenty feet away stood an armed and 
unmarked cop.  He wasn't one of the ones in the fight, 
probably staying behind on purpose.  The gun in his hand 
was a new model PL (projectile laser), and it was leveled at 
Ranma.  There was no way Ranma could move in time, and 
as the PL fired, Ranma saw time slow.
	It all happened quickly, but seemed to last an hour.  
In the same moment, three things happened.  The cop shot 
off a round in his gun.  A blur suddenly blocked Ranma's 
view.  The blur fell down, and Ranma threw his knife at the 
guy.   In the next second the cop was down, and Kenshin 
lied at Ranma's feet.
	Looking at the mortally wounded man, Ranma 
knew he owed his life to him.  Somehow, Kenshin 
managed to be in front of him when the laser hit, and that 
was what saved Ranma.  Ranma knelt next to this man, not 
sure what to say.
	Kenshin's eyes had glazed over, the normal 
confidence replaced with a cold knowledge.  He turned his 
head towards Ranma, looking into his eyes as he spoke.  "I 
know, you don't understand but just listen.
	"I knew for a while that this was bound to happen,  
I'm actually more wanted than you are.  The thing is, I need 
your help.  I need you to protect my sister, Akane.  I can't 
hide from those trackers, but you guys can.  I want you to 
promise me, Ranma, that whatever happens, you'll keep her 
safe.
	"You see, we're not important, you and I ... not in 
the grand scheme of things.  Only, she *is*.  It's necessary 
to keep her safe, and I know you can do it.  I see the honor i 
your eyes, if you give me your word, I know I can trust it.  
Please...."
	Ranma stood there shocked for a moment.  He 
didn't want to tie himself to a cause, but he owed this man 
his life.  He nodded.
	"Good, take this." he said, pushing a thin gold 
bracelet on his wrist, "Keep that away from anybody, even 
my sister.  That's the only way she'll go with you.  When it 
has to be used, I know you will be able to do it.  Go now, 
take one of those police cruisers and a gun.  She's at the end 
of the corridor.  I'll make sure nobody follows you."
	Ranma walked away silently, knowing he had to 
fulfill his promise if he was to live with any honor.  On the 
way past, he picked up the cop's weapon and tucked it into 
his belt.  
	Moving up to one of the vehicles, he stepped on 
board and took off.  There was no good-bye, and no 
looking back.  He knew that it was over for Kenshin, and 
he could only repay him at this point.  He sped down the 
tunnels towards the end.
	Suddenly, a gigantic explosion erupted in the 
tunnels.  Thrown off the vehicle, Ranma only had time to 
swear as he was thrown into the wall.  
	Ranma got up again, noting the distinct feeling of 
being a wet girl again.  <Of all the times...> he thought as 
he got back on the bike, <...why now?> And with that, he 
went off to find Akane. 
**************End Chapter One**************     
Please, tell me what you think.  Be it, mistakes I made, grammer errors, or
praise; I can use lots of whatever you guys got.  I took this opporutnity to
send this while the FFML was up, so I haven't done much by way of editing.
I plan to make the rest of this series a bit more exciting and funny, but I
had to get the start done first.  Hope you enjoyed this.

                                                                Joshua
Stevens "Josh"