Ranma 1/2: ...in the air.
By Scott Baker
(Send all comments, or insults to:)
(digihalo@fwb.gulf.net)
******************
Prologue
******************
"I'm coming out!" yelled Peter from his window. "Give him room! Give him
room!" yelled a negotiator.
Everyone held their breath. Peter Fathe slowly walked out of the apartment.
"Don't move! Don't you dare!" Peter yelled in desperation. He guarded a
small canister pressed against his chest.
"I'll release this! And kill everyone! If you don't back away!" demanded
Peter, his face ghostly pale. Everyone did what he said. "I wan't to see my
wife! NOW!" Peter yelled across to the agents. "Ok, we are bringing her
out!" one of the agents said.
"Peter! What are you doing?" Shelly Fathe said, with an astonished tone.
Peter's face flushed, all the hatred built up in him. "You bitch." he
barely muttered. "Peter. Please just calm down, we can work this all out.
I'm sorry." Mrs. Fathe said in a pleading voice. "That's right Peter, we
are here to help you." Mark Brewer said from a loud speaker. Peter's eyes
became stone, when he heard a fellow co-workers voice. "You, you will not
live through this." Peter said in a chuckle. "This isn't him, this isn't
him at all!" Mrs. Fathe yelled as she wept.
Peter took a look at the large crowd that had gathered. He smiled. Lifted
his arms. He preceded to open the container. "Take him out, carefully" said
an agent. Almost instantly a sniper bullet had taken him out. His face
slowly fell to the concrete. The canister flung open, breaking the inside
tubes.
Silence filled the air.
******************
Chapter 1: The beginning of the end.
******************
The weatherman said it had the possibility to drop down into the teens
tonight. It was
peculiar to dip into the teens this early in the season for Atlanta. The
barely visible clouds rolled
by into a seemingly random pattern. Mark Benson saw these clouds outside
his two story house.
His half-smile faded as a Ford Bronco pulled up into the driveway. "Jim.
What the hell does he
want this late?" His words were cut short by the door bell ringing. He
slowly moved away from
his late night gaze. He opened the door and was greeted to the grim face of
Jim Brewer. Jim's
look was intense, his jet black hair was in a total mess, and his eyes were
bloodshot. "Jim! What
the hell happened to you?" Mark said in astonishment. "Mark, we've got a
problem." Jim said
with chilling words. "What, what is it?" Mark said, his blue eyes
shimmering. "Get dressed. I'll
tell you in the car." Mark said. Jim didn't need another word, he knew
whatever it was, was
serious. He hurried, got his shoes, and left with Mark.
******************
"Ok. Here is the story." Mark said, his voice trembling. Jim listened
continentally. "Do you
remember Peter Fathe?" Mark asked. Jim look was determined to find that
name in his head.
"Er...yeah... I met him at a company party, I think. He works on 5, right?"
Jim wasn't really sure,
but didn't really care.
"Well, he did, he was fired while you were taking leave." Mark said trying
to nudge to the point.
"Fired? For what?" Jim asked. "Well for the past few weeks he had been
careless with a few
samples, and had been endangering his co-workers." Mark's gaze hardened.
"Turns out, he had
been going through a Divorce, and was having a breakdown." "Really?" Jim
asked wanting to
know more. "Well. When he heard the news he finally just lost it. He
snapped. He left with a case
full of specimens of ebola-194 and is now at a standoff with the FBI at
his apartment. "Holy shit."
was the only thing Jim could bring himself to say. "Ebola-194? The
experimental counter-agent?"
"Yes." Mark said with a almost glaring look. "But, why a counter-agent?"
Jim asked. "If you
remember correctly, Jim. This counter-agent was classified to be worse than
it's antagonist. It was
designed to breakup the virus, and stop it's spread. But there is a huge
flaw. It seems that the group
that designed this counter-agent were searching for more results than
practicality. This counter-
agent was originally going to be used commercially too." "The company only
tested it in the lab,
and got great results. But when they finally tested it in the open it goes
crazy." "Why in the hell did
we have this at our lab?" Jim asked astonished. "Well, you see...we were
the unit of disposal for the
substance." said Mark in a sarcastic tone.
Jim turned back to the road as the got closer to the apartment of Peter
Fathe. As they road closer to
the many lights of FBI vehicles illuminated the dark, cold night.
******************
Peter Fathe gazed out the corner of his window. Sweat poured down his
brow. "This is perfect." he said, with stained eyes. His legs weren't very
steady, they shook back and forth.
"How could I be so stupid?" he asked himself. These last few hours had let
him think about what he had done. He slowly opened
the window to get a better view outside. He saw two of his co-workers
walking towards the perimeter of his home.
******************
"You here from the CDC?" asked an FBI agent. "Yeah." Jim said, looking up
at the window of Peter's Apartment. "Does he
still have the samples on him?" asked Jim. "We are pretty sure, he seems to
be negotiating better now." "Really?" asked Jim.
The FBI agent turned to him. "Yeah, at first he was damn near hostile, but
now he seems to have calmed himself down." he
said with slow direct words. "Have there been any negotiations?" asked Mark
as he put a hand on his friend.
"Yeah. He say's he want's to see his wife." said the FBI agent. "Are you
sure that's a good idea?" asked Jim, his head
slanted so he could see the window and agent. "That will be in our best
judgement, sir." the FBI agent said.
"If needbe, we are ready to stick you two in there, to snag those
specimens." Jim turned slowly around from his window-watching, "You want us
to go in there?
We aren't trained for standoffs. There are specially trained units designed
for that! We are practically lab rats!" Jim said in astonishment.
"Well, guys.. you are the best we can get in such short notice." The agent
said with a tone that made Jim's blood crawl.
"Well, this is a perfect way to spend my vacation time!" Mark said in an
overly sarcastic voice. A few seconds later a voice emerged from the
apartment's window. "I'm coming out!"
******************
"Gimme that back!" yelled Ranma from his futon. Mr. Saotome was in another
one of his Get-whatever-my-son-has mood. It was really getting to
Ranma.`"Hah, Son I'll never understand you!" Mr. Saotome said with a slight
grin. "I did that paper all by myself dammit!" Ranma said, furiously. Ranma
chased his father from the halls of the Tendo household. Akane was not
having any of this.. she was needing the much taken away rest. "Those
idiots, won't they ever learn?" she said as she tossed and turned in her
bed. She pulled the covers out and marched out of her room. "SHUT UP!" she
yelled at the incoming bunch. This caught Ranma off guard, he slipped and
started to fall down the stairs. Mr. Saotome was quick to act. He reached
out at his son. But missed. "Ouch." Ranma said after he had fallin to the
second to last step. "Ranma?" Akane asked as she peered over the railing.
"Yeah. Wadda ya want?" Ranma said in a *VERY* irritated voice. Ranma rubbed
the now-many bruises. "You!" Ranma yelled as he suddenly realized his
father still had the Math paper. Akane just shook her head and slammed her
door shut. "Baka" she said in an exasperated voice.
******************
Nabiki Tendo was listening to music via her headset, and reading a
newspaper in her room. She was in a practically 'Nabiki-only' state. She
gazed out the window. It was a peaceful night. Even despite the commotion
that was barely audible from her earphones. She sighed and continued
reading her paper. "Small outbreak of Ebola expands in the US." that
certainly caught Nabiki's eye. She started reading the passage bellow the
caption. [|Conyors, GA.| A standoff occurred over the weekend, in a small
Atlanta, Georgia suburb. It has been said from various sources that this
could be the largest outbreak to hit America in a decade. A unstable man
was held up by the FBI in his apartment after he stole a case of an
experimental ebola controlling agent. In fact this so-called Controlling
agent does worse than what it's suppose to be controlling. After desperate
attempts at controlling the area, to no avail. It seems the virus was
designed to keep the spread of ebola under control, not to actually kill
the virus. The flaw with this counter-agent is that when mixed with
polluted oxygen it goes in a tentacle like state, almost like cancer,
instead of killing the virus, it gets confused and attacks the pollutants
in the oxygen. When breathed it enters your body, and causes small
convolutions over a period of time, that gradually gets worse. It
liquifies the insides, but that's after it breaks your spine. Spreading is
extremely easy, getting near a victim, or being in a tainted place and you
can contract the virus. It is very hard to diagnose, as it seems like
influenza, and turns deadly after 48 hours of contraction. So before they
can get a hold on what you really have, you are already dead. Go to A7 for
further coverage."
Nabiki put down the paper, and took a deep breathe, and looked out the
window once more.
******************
The Tendo household's usual antics were in full effect this morning. The
two Tendo girls, Akane and Nabiki sat comfortably at the breakfast table.
The usual fighting between Father and son could be heard throughout the two
Tendo girls conversation. "...so?" asked Akane confused. Nabiki wasn't in
the mood for people acting dumb. "You see..if it comes here..we die."
Nabiki said in a sarcastic tone. "Well. What's to say it comes here?" asked
Akane intelligently. "Well, you see Akane, little sister, the margin is
wide for this, you know that many business men come from America to here."
Akane just shrugged it off. "Well. Nabiki we can't just stop the world,
because of a silly virus!" Nabiki shook her head in disgust. "Akane. I
wouldn't take this with a grain of salt." Kasumi entered the dinning area
with a big grin on her face. "Ranma, Mr. Saotome. Breakfast!" Ranma marched
in with a silly grin on his face, and Mr. Saotome, now a panda, with a big
frown. "Heh, pop...you're getting old." Ranma took a sitting position near
Akane. "So, Ranma. You ready to die?" asked Akane jokingly. Ranma just
looked around the table bewildered. "What, are you planning to kill me with
your cooking?" Ranma asked defensively. Akane's face turned an angry shade
of red. "BAKA!" Akane smashed him across to the pond. "You stupid girl!"
Ranma yelled back in disgust, sticking out his tongue. Nabiki got up from
the table. "Ranma. Answer the question." Nabiki said in a determined voice.
"Nabiki! I was just joking!" yelled Akane from her daily smashing of Ranma.
"Well, I'm not!" yelled back Nabiki. Ranma now unconscious was not in the
mood for answering questions. "You people must keep better track of the
world around you, when technology grows, it tends to lead to catastrophic
events." Nabiki said, crossing her arms, and gazing out into the pond. "You
must learn to keep yourself in constant fear. Not too much, but just
enough." said Nabiki with stunning seriousness. Soun casually walked into
the room. "Is there something I need to know?" he asked. Nabiki rolled her
eyes.
******************
"Yes, ma'am you may. I need a First Class ticket for Tokyo, on the 13th."
The attendant smiled at the man. "Yes, sir.", "I will be needing a drivers
license, and credit card, Thank you." The man pulled out his wallet, he
handed her what she needed. "Thank you, Mr. Harper." She said in a quiet,
sweet voice. James Harper was glad to be finally getting out of Tennessee
for awhile. He barely ever got to go on 'business trips' they usually had
the more glamorous people doing that.
He took a deep breath. "Well, guess I better be getting back to the
office." He had only 3 days before his flight left. He was glad.
******************
"Where did Bill go?" asked Ryan Hogan. "He went home sick, I believe."
said David Davis his fellow friend, and lead programmer. Ryan was head of
one of the largest software companies in Tennessee. 'W.D. Software', and
was growing tired of Bill leaving early. "I'm sure he just skipped again."
Ryan said in an exasperated tone. "He has to be more responsible. I mean,
just because he's the best damn 3D graphic artist I've ever seen, doesn't
mean he can leave early!" Ryan looked out the window of his large office.
His only view was a oversized parking lot. "Well, David, If he is sick, I
wan't you to check on him." David laughed. "I'm not his mother for god
sakes!" Ryan huffed. "Well, either you check on him, and tell me if he is
sick, or you can find a replacement for Bill." David rolled his eyes.
"Geez. I wasn't hired for this." he said in a gentle sarcastic tone, and
walked out of the office. Ryan watched from his window as David got in his
black BMW.
******************
James Harper walked quickly up the steps of his office. He was anxious to
get his work done, and leave. He clocked in. And got strapped into his
desk. When he saw the note on his computer. "We want the engine done by
tonight - DD." James was pissed. He had barely worked on it, let alone
finished it. "Man..of all the things." he said, he surprised himself, he
had said that quite loud. He smoothed his jet black hair. "Well, guess it's
time to get this off my chest." He turned to his computer and typed
furiously.
******************
David pulled up to Bill Patterson's two story home. David slowly turned
the ignition off his car, and took off his dark sunglasses. "What a total
slob." David thought as he passed by Bill's now overflowing mailbox. David
quietly walked up the porch stairs. David knocked hard on the door. After
three minutes of patiently waiting he turned around and started to leave.
"Bastard" murmured David. The door swung open behind him. David turned
around. "Man. You look like shit!" David exclaimed surprised. "David? Is
that you?" Bill asked confused. His vision clogged. "You look like the
walking dead." David said. Bill couldn't comprehend what David had said.
His head hurt too much. David took a good look at Bill, he noticed the
large bags over his eyes, and how clammy his palms were. He really did look
dead. Bill suddenly violently sneezed right on David. David covered his
face in protection. "Shit man, cover you mouth when you sneeze!" Bill's
looked changed drastically... his head was turning back and forth, his body
felt very light, he started to fall to the brick steps of his porch. David
caught him before he hit the ground.
"Hey. Are you-" David was cut short when Bill's throat contracted, and
vomited on his lap. "Ahh..shit." David said, almost throwing up himself at
the site of it. "I think it's time for you to go see a doctor."
******************
Ryan looked up from his number crunching. The sudden sound of the door
being knock startled him. "Yes, come in." he said in a up tight voice.
"Sir. A fax from Tokyo for you." his personal secretary said, in a tired
voice. "Ok. Thanks, just set in on my desk please." Ryan picked up the Fax,
and began to read. "Rescheduled? to Friday?" Ryan wasn't a bit happy about
this. He pushed the intercom button on his desk. "Lisa, please send James
Harper in."
******************
James Harper casually walked into his bosses office. "Hey James, you may
sit if you want to." James sat down at the only other chair in the room.
"Well James, we are in bit of a predicament. See the Tokyo branch has
rescheduled to Friday." James face turned red with excitement. He had to
act cool, and not like he really wanted to go sooner. "Really sir? But, I
would have to leave now, to get there by Friday..and I'm working on the 3D
engine." Ryan smiled at his remarks. He was glad that at least someone was
working in his company. "Don't worry about it, I'll get David to finish it
up." James had a small smile on his face. "Ok, I will leave right away. I
just hope I can get a ticket this late." Ryan smiled. "I've already got one
ready for you." James nodded. "I'll make you proud at this convention!"
Ryan nodded. "We are all counting on your performance!"
******************
David walked drowsily up the stair of his office. He felt awful. "Dammit.
Got his damn flu bug, my wife is gonna kill me if I get the baby sick."
James walked out the door of W.D. Software almost simultaneously as David
was walking in. "David, I need to speak to you." James said as he spotted
him from the corner of his eye. "Yeah, yeah what?" David asked him. "What's
your problem?" asked James. "Nothing..got the flu from asshole Bill." James
grinned. "Serves him right." James thought. "Well? Wadda you wan't?" David
asked impatient. "Oh, you are going to be finishing the engine for me."
James said with a big smile. "WHAT?" David asked in total disbelief. "Yeah.
Damn Tokyo conference was pushed up to Friday...and I'm leaving now. Ryan
is putting you in charge of the engine." James felt good saying those
words. "Shit." was the only word left in David's vocabulary. James started
to walk off. "Hey." David called back. "What?" asked James. David openly
coughed into James face. "What the hell did you do that for?" James asked
totally pissed. "Well, If I'm going to be doing you engine with this flu,
your going to be going to that conference with this flu!" David chuckled.
"Bastard." James murmured.
"Flight 105 to Tokyo now boarding." a loud speaker blazed. "That's my
flight." James Harper said excitedly. He walked down the terminal onto his
plane.
******************
James found his seat, it was right next to a cute little boy. "Hello.
What's you name?" The boy said with surprising grownupness. "Hello, Son. My
name is Jay." The boy smiled, "Mine is Jimmy." he said in a polite manner.
"So Jimmy. What are you parent's going to Tokyo for?" Jimmy shook his head.
"I donno. But I got crayons if you want some!" James laughed and just
smiled. He was glad to get away from grownups for a change. "To just not
have a care in the world." he thought. He smiled and as the plane took off,
let the smooth vibrations of the plane rock him to sleep.
******************
He awoke to feel nauseated. "Shit, I got his flu." he thought in disgust.
His face was hot an sweaty. The boy beside him was deep asleep. He let out
a big sigh. "Well...I just hope no one catches this flu at the conference."
He said with a frown. His eyes tugged at him, for sleep.
******************
End of chapter 1.
Please note that I will be filling all the plot holes in the next chapter.
And I have no life so It shouldn't take long to get the next part out.
Please C&C! I need help! Any help is appreciated. If you liked it, or you
hated it...please comment. (Please remember that it will eventually evolve
into a Ranma fic..just takes time to set these things up...well it does to
me anyway. Watch for the end of the world in the next chapter!
Regards - Scott