YEAH!!!!
It works!!! I'm on the FFML! I'm on the FFML! THE FLASHMAN IS ON
THE FFML!
I'm so happy my modem isn't snarling at me anymore that I'll do this
early and give you chapter three of TRIO. Go ahead. Respond
publicly or privately.. I DON'T CARE!
Just so long as I get C&C that is.
Enjoy.
TRIO:
RISE OF THE ECLIPSE SYNDICATE!
EMERGENCE OF THE INNER FOUR!
___________________________________________________
Blade Bot looked on at the screen in anger. It showed a replay of
the previous nights events with Snatcher. He growled as Ranma
started fighting. Grumbled as Usagi became Sailor Moon and roared as
Gohan struck as a Super Seya-jin. Then he muttered as he heard
Snatchers last words, "Go ahead, you idiot! Tell them about us why
don't you! ARRRRR!"
"It just goes to show you," a cold, low, dark, raspy voice said
behind him, "you should not send a machine to do a magicians job."
Blade Bot didn't turn around as he replied, "What do you know Seer?
"
The being know as Seer replied, "Apparently, more than you."
Seer stepped out of the shadows. Yet, he himself did not take on
anything beyond a shadowy shape with glowing red eyes. This was
because he was a living shadow. Born of magical origin, he and Blade
Bot were the most quarrelsome of the Inner Four due to their beliefs
that each of their ways was superior to the others.
"That is enough," a female voice said, "We don't have time for your
arguing."
"Yes," a fourth, male, slightly distorted voice said, "the way of
the warrior stresses that we must focus our energy on our foes and
not on each other."
Blade Bot and Seer turned towards the voices and they watched as the
other two members of the Inner Four appeared. The first, the male,
was dressed in black samurai armor, with a black helmet with horns.
A katana sword draped on his side. However, he was not a man. He
was a mutant. He was green with scales, his face looked like a
dragons and he had a long tail that swished back and forth. On his
forehead was a small black circle with a white outline. His name was
Samaron.
The fourth was the most normal looking of the bunch. She was human,
with long straight purple hair, dark green eyes, purple lipstick and
a black uniform covering a trim and fit figure. She also had a small
black circle with a white outline on her forehead. She was Lujane
and she was the highest of the Inner Four and the husband of Samaron.
"So everyone," Seer said as he hefted his thumb at Blade Bot, "What
are we going to do about this boobs mistake?"
"It was NOT my mistake," Blade Bot shot back, "That fool Snatcher....
"
"Ah! But who was the one who told Snatcher to go?"
"Enough," Lujane said, "We have no time for your childish squabbling
at the moment. We must deal with these unexpected irritants before
they become serious threats."
Blade Bot let out a snort as he replied, "Yeah right. Like three
kids could hurt us."
Seer said, "Although this is a rare occurrence, I must concur with
my comrade, this little trio will not be a threat to us."
Lujane replied, "I have a bad feeling about them. We must deal with
them now. Samaron, I want you to send one of your Warriors to put an
end to them."
Seer and Blade Bot bowed and took their leave. Lujane looked out
the window of the sky scraper that was the home of the Eclipse
Syndicate and asked, "Samaron?"
"Yes, my love?" the dragon Samurai replied.
"Do you think I was right? I mean, do you think I'm over reacting
to these children?"
"To answer your questions in order, yes and no. The garden that has
its weeds plucked earliest is the one that bloom best. These
children have displayed remarkable power and we also know that one of
them is a member of a very powerful group. If her memory were to
return then that group would know of our existence and would try to
stop us."
Lujane nodded and continued to stare out the window for another
moment before moving off to complete her various duties to the
Eclipse Syndicate.
Samaron watched her go. Watched the way she seemed to glide with
every step. Watched the supple movements of her figure. He smiled
to himself before he moved off. There was no time to enjoy such
sights, he had work to do.
Samaron walked down the cold, dark halls of the Eclipse Syndicates
main headquarters and came upon a door. He entered and inside was a
collection of specially trained and/or super powered warriors that,
as his position as head of the Warriors Department, were under his
command.
All movement stopped as Samaron entered the room. Dead silence
reigned. Finally the member of the Inner Four spoke. "Where is
Crack Shot?" he asked, "The Inner Four have decided to destroy three
little problems and I, in turn, have picked him for the job."
"'Three little problems'?!!" A woman's voice cut in, "I know who
your talking about and I should be the one to go."
Everyone except for Samaron gasped at the audacity of whoever
questioned the authority of Samaron. The samurai himself was not
surprised because he had a very good idea of who had spoken. "My
apologies Warp," he replied, "You are needed with a special project
and the possibility of losing you is unacceptable at this point and
time."
Warp stepped forward angrily. She had removed her mask, showing a
heart shaped face with long curly red hair and flashing green eyes.
If it were not for her gaudy costume, many of the men would have
found her attractive, in fact several of them still did. "I know
Snatcher and I weren't exactly friends," Warp pleaded, "but we were
partners for three years, I owe those three payback."
"Again, I tell you that you are needed with another project and can
not go at this time," Samaron turned and addressed the larger group,
"Now. Where is Crack Shot?"
"In the target range," Warp muttered under her breath like a
petulant child.
Samaron simply nodded and started to move off but turned at the last
second and said, "Warp. If you ever question my authority again.....
" he let the threat trail off and half drew his sword.
Warp gulped and bowed. She had gotten the message loud and clear.
Samaron moved off through the ranks of his warriors. Knowing that
he was through speaking, they had gone back to their constant
training. Samaron caught a glimpse of an extremely muscular Asian
woman bench pressing 12,000 lbs. one handed and with absolutely no
effort. "That is good Brunt," he said as he passed, "but remember
that strength alone can not win all battles."
"Maybe not," Brunt replied behind Samarons back, "but it sure helps
a lot."
Samaron entered a small side room and found who he was looking for.
The room was dark and its only occupant stood in the middle, standing
erect, his arms stiffly at his side. His silver with orange trim
kelvor armor and mask gleamed in the low light. Suddenly, a target
appeared behind him. He turned with a speed that was unbelievable
and his hand was a streak as he drew a laser pistol from his side
holster and fired. The target exploded from the laser pistols impact.
The entire process had taken less then two seconds.
Samaron smiled. Crack Shot could do the job.
In a familiar house......
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!"
The feminine scream was so loud and so long that no one, not even
Usagi, was able to sleep through it. Gohan raced out of his room,
dressed only in a pair of brown jeans, ran down the hall, litteraly
flew up the stairs and was surprised to find out that Usagi, who was
wearing a borrowed night gown, was not the source of the cry.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"I don't know," Usagi replied, "Ranma beat me to the bathroom and
then all of a sudden he starts screaming."
Gohan thought, "That was Ranma?!?"
Then he knocked on the door and asked, "Ranma. Is everything okay
in there?"
"Go away," an unfamiliar female voice shouted in reply.
Gohan was curious as he asked, "Who are you? What are you doing in
there?"
"It's me, Ranma," the voice replied, "At least..... I think it is."
Gohan backed up and tried to ram the door down, but Usagi, who had
seen that the door was unlocked, simply opened it. Gohan could not
stop his charge in time and slipped into the bathroom. He was caught
by a soft pair of arms that were connected to a red headed woman's,
who had her hair done up the same as Ranmas, naked body. It took
Gohan a few seconds to realize the latter and he quickly leaped out
of her arms (and the room) and turned his back, blushing furiously.
Usagi, her curiosity overtaking her, looked in and her eyes popped
even wider than normal at the sight she saw. "Ranma?" she asked,
"Wha... How... Who..."
"I don't know," Ranma-chan shrieked, "I don't know how this happened.
I was just about to take a bath and I splashed my face with some
cold water and then I looked up and I was like this!"
Ranma-chan took a quick step back and tripped on a towel on the
floor. She fell into the bath tubs hot water and when she emerged,
she was he again. Usagi let out an "eep" and then turned around,
blushing a dark red. She grabbed Gohan by the shoulders and spun him
around with a quick cry of, "It'sokayforyoutolooknow!"
Gohan saw the male Ranma and he quickly asked, "How in blazes did
that happen?"
"I think I know," Ranma said, a bit calmer but still shaken, "I
splashed myself with cold water and I turned into the girl. Then I
fell into the tub with hot water and became my old self again. So
I've got a theory to test."
He quickly turned on the sink and splashed himself with cold water.
In an instant he was transformed to Ranma-chan. Gohan turned around,
blushing once more. Then Ranma-chan walked to the bath tub and
splashed herself with some of its hot water. She became he once more.
His theory had been right. He still was a bit shaken by it bit
knowing that it could be controlled relaxed him greatly.
Ranma saw the backs of the other two and he quickly threw on his
pants. "You can turn around now," he chuckled.
"So," Gohan said, "Cold water changes you into a girl and hot water
changes you back into a boy. Man, what the hell ARE we?"
"What do you mean by that?" Usagi asked.
"I mean," Gohan replied, "look at us. Ranma changes sexes when
doused with water at different temperatures. You transform into a
sailor suit, with a killer piece of head wear I might add, and me?
Me, I can fly, I'm super strong and I can get even more powerful when
my hair turns blond."
"I thought that you could only fly as a blond," Usagi said confused.
"Nope," Gohan replied, "That's how I got here so fast. Look down."
Usagi and Ranma looked down and noticed that Gohans feet were
several inches off the ground. "Cool," Ranma commented.
"I think we should find a secluded place today," Gohan continued,
"and try to find out all we can do."
Outside....
On a roof of a nearby building, Crack Shot had arrived. He crouched
and using a pair of high powered binoculars, spied on his prey. "You
won't see what you can do," he thought, "but you will see what I can
do, heh heh heh."
A little later....
"YUCKY," Usagi complained, "Why in the world did you have to pick a
junk yard?"
"Simple," Gohan replied, "This place is deserted and no one will
complain if some of this stuff gets trashed, if you'll pardon my pun.
"
"But it sooooo disgusting," Usagi groaned, "I'm about to lose my
breakfast."
"Which you had plenty of, so quit complaining," Ranma said, "it
could be worse."
"HOW?"
".........."
"You don't know do you?" Usagi said with glee and then her voice
took on a sing song tone," You don't know! You don't know! You
don't know!"
"Aww, quit it Dumpling Head."
"Don't EVER call me that."
"Why not? It suits you."
"Like Macho Jerk and Pig Head fit you?"
Ranma pulled down his lower right eyelid and stuck his tongue out at
Usagi. Usagi answered in kind and they both made a, "Buuuuuu," sound.
Gohan sighed and then suddenly he lifted his head to the sky and
roared. Yellow flame representing his ki aura flared around him, the
ground near him started to crack and crumbled, until finally, the
flames light became blinding, cutting off the squabbling duo and
making them cover their eyes. When the light faded, Gohans hair had
turned blond and the ki aura pulsed around him. Gohan grinned at the
stupefied looks on Ranma and Usagis faces as he said, "I guess this
means I go first."
Gohan jetted off into the sky and flew out over the junk yard. When
he reached the end he turned around and flew to the other end. Then
he flew back to the place the rest of the gang was and landed next to
them before asking, "How long did that take?"
"Were we supposed to be keeping time?" Ranma asked, "Because if we
were, that must have taken less than a second."
Gohan grinned again and then told the others, "I'd stand back if I
were you. This might throw up a bit of rubble and I don't want one
of you getting your hard heads injured."
"HEY," Ranma and Usagi shouted simultaneously," What's that supposed.
..."
Gohan quickly placed his hands together with the palms out and then..
. KA-ZAP! A small ball of ki-energy blasted out and struck a
mountain of garbage. A large portion of the mountain exploded from
the force of the ki-blasts strike and flung rubble outwards. Usagi
and Ranma covered their heads and ducked. "Remind me to never get on
his bad side," Usagi quipped with a smile.
Ranma nodded solemnly but was unable to hold the serious expression
for more than two seconds before they both started to laugh. "Hey
Usagi," Gohan said as he powered down, "it's your turn."
Usagi nodded once and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a
small heart shaped broach with a white crystal in the middle. "Let's
see now," she muttered, "what were the words? Oh yeah! MOON CRYSTAL
POWER! MAKE UP!"
In truth, the transformation was only a split second but during that
brief time, a flutter of ribbons flashed out from the crystal, that
had settled with its broach in the middle of Usagis chest, and
covered her body, transforming into the gloves, shirt, skirt, boots,
and bow of the uniform of Sailor Moon. With the addition of a tiara
that appeared on her forehead and two red globes that formed over her
buns, her transformation was completed.
She quickly took off her tiara and it changed into a glowing gold
discus. She reared back her arm and flung the discus on the cry of,
"MOON TIARA ACTION!!!"
The tiara flew through the air and smashed into the mountain that
Gohan had shot his fireball at. What little of it that was left just
simply disintegrated at the discus's touch.
Ranma didn't see this as he was distracted by a sudden sound behind
him. It sounded like slow and somewhat stealthy, footsteps. He
listened carefully as the steps got closer. Sailor Moon caught her
tiara, turned towards Ranma and started to say, "Hey, you weren't
watch..."
She was cut off as Ranma put a finger to his lips and then jerked
his thumb behind him. Now, never let it be said that Usagi was the
brightest person on earth, however she was bright enough to realize
what Ranma meant. Someone was coming.
Crack Shot climbed the hill slowly and carefully, he knew his
stealth skills weren't the best but he had hoped that the noise those
kids were making would "cover his tracks" as it were. He hadn't know
the black/blond haired kid could fly but, "Hey, all the fancy
strength and speed in the world can't save you from a blaster shot,"
he thought.
TO BE CONTINUED......