Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong

Bubblegum Crisis/Ranma 1/2: The boomer that just won't die part 3/8


  Nene awoke shortly after having passed out from such a terrifying 
experience. She was shocked when she realized she was flying through the 
air. She immediately looked down and noticed that she must had been 
several hundred feet above the ground, the ground travling passed below 
her at intense speeds. Her first reactiong was to scream, but something 
stopped her. She felt someone's arms wrapped around her, holding her 
gently.
  She looked up and noticed that she was in Ranma's arms as he continued 
to jump from building rooftop to rooftop, jumpiung from one building to 
the next in a single bound. Immediately, her heart leapt into her 
throat. And it wasn't the fact that she was flying through the air 
hundreds of feet above the ground that was causing it.
  "You're awake," Ranma said softly, taking a second to regard the now 
conscious Nene. Before Nene could say anything, Ranma's soft voice 
whispered into her ears "Hold on tight," His arms embraced her tightly, 
so tightly she fould feel his bodyheat radiating into her own body.
  She looked down and saw the ground coming up toward her at extremely 
high speeds as she realized Ranma had leapt off the building and toward 
the ground. Before she could scream, Ranma twisted in mid-air and landed 
safely and quietly on the ground.
  "You okay?" Ranma said as he released his embrace of Nene.
  "W-what happened?" she asked. She remembered seeing debris falling 
down on her, and then Ranma landing on the ground in front of her, and 
then the next minute, she remembered being sent flying through the air 
in Ranma's arms.
  "He's what happened," Ryoga's voice could be heard from behind them.
  Ranma and Nene turned around and caught sight of Ryoga as he gently 
landed behind them, Nene's scooter casually held over one of his 
shoulders. It looked like that scooter was as light as a feather to him. 
In reality, considering how storng Ryoga had gotten, it did feel as 
light as a feather.
  Nene looked at Ryoga for a moment, a bit cautious. She knew this was 
that Ryoga Hibiki that had been found along with Ranma in the middle of 
street after that massive explosion. When she looked at him, aside from 
a few bruises, like Ranma, he didn't looke like he had been hurt at all.
  "It's your fault," Ranma spat toward Ryoga "You're the one who blew up 
the building above her"
  "Well, you're the one who was calling me names," Ryoga retorted, "And 
also-"
  "Let's not start this again," Ranma said, shaking his head. He and 
Ryoga knew they were both at fault. None of this would had happened if 
Ranma had kept his mouth shut, and Ryoga had manged to keep his temper 
under control.
  Ranma decided it was best to change the subject. He looked down at 
Nene "Are you all right?"
  "I'm okay," she replied. Her eyes were on Ryoga as he casually walked 
up to them, the scooter still slung over his shoulder "Um, isn't that 
heavy?"
  Ryoga looked at the scooter he was holding and then gave a weak smile 
as Ranma shook his head "Um, well, it probably is" Even though he had 
grown a lot older, he still wasn't that good with females. He gave a 
weak and forced laugh. He threw the scooter off his back and placed it 
on the ground.
  Nene surveyed her surroundings and realized that they were now 
standing directly in front of the hospital Ranma and Ryoga were supposed 
to be staying in together. 
  "I thought you might need some medical help, that's why I brought ya 
here" Ranma said "But since it seems that you're all right, I guess we 
don't really have anything to worry about...except for that hole" He 
jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the hospital.
  Nene looked up and noticed a massive hole on one side of the huge 
building.
  "That was Ryoga's fault I might add" Ranma seemed quick to say. Indeed 
it was. If Ryoga hadn't lost his temper and thrown one of his ki-blasts, 
there wouldn't be a hole there right now.
  "No it wasn't" Ryoga said, his brow creased "If you had taken that ki-
blast like a man, then that hold wouldn't be there"
  "That's gotta be the single worst excuse I can think of" Ranma 
chuckled. He shrugged his shoulders and proceeded toward the front 
entrance "Well, whatever. I'm goin' back to my room, at least what's 
left of it. 
I don't like stayin' in hospitals. I'm gonna go get my stuff so I can 
leave. I'll see you later, Nene"
  Nene was grateful Ranma's back was turned to her when he had mentioned 
her. She had no idea Ranma would remember her, let alone her name. After 
they had met after having fought each other and finding out they were 
all human, Ranma gave a quick introduction of himself as they did. That 
had been quite a while ago.
  Ryoga looked at Nene curiously "Do you know Ranma?"
  Nene managed to get her blushing under control to look at Ryoga. She 
turned her attention toward him and nodded her head "Yeah. Oh, I never 
introduced myself. I-I'm Nene Romanova"
  Ryoga bowed politely, a bit nervous though "I-I'm Ryoga Hibiki" When 
she noticed Ryoga looking at her curiously, she assumed he was wondering 
how she and Ranma knew each other "Ranma and I met a short while ago. 
It's a long story"
  "Oh did he?" Ryoga said, now looking over Nene's shoulder toward the 
front doors Ranma entered the hospital through "Well, it was nice 
meeting you, Nene. I better get going"
  Nene watched as Ryoga ran passed her and entered the hospital. But 
before the front doors managed to close behind Ryoga after he had passed 
them, she managed to hear him say something.
  "Ranma, how dare you meet some other girl behind Akane's back!!!"

  Syila and the others arrived at the hospital several minutes after 
Ranma and Ryoga had gone back in. Nene had been silent as she gazed at 
the front entrance. It wasn't until Sylia rested a hand on her shoulder 
that caused Nene to stap her back to reality.
  "Are you all right?" Sylia asked. She and Priss and Linna were in 
their hardsuits, even if the suits were slightly damaged from the 
earlier incident where they had been buried under that building. When 
Sylia looked at Nene, she noticed her fiery haired friend had this 
shocked look in her eyes, like she had seen something that was 
impossible.
  "They're monsters!" Nene commented. That was the best word she could 
come up with to describe both Ranma and Ryoga. There was no doubt about 
it.
  Sylia kept quiet. She knew exactly what Nene meant. She, too, believed 
they were monsters, but just not in a bad sense. At least Ranma had no 
real evil intentions, intentions no different from hers or Priss'. She 
was about to speak up for a moment and ask about all that damage they 
had come across on their way to the hospital. She didn't even want to 
think about how that huge hole on the side of the hospital came about.
  Nene pointed over toward her scooter "Y-you see that scooter over 
there? T-that Ryoga guy was carrying it on his shoulder like it weighed 
absolutely nothing.  A-and that wasn't it!!! Ranma was carrying me as he 
jumped from rooftop to rooftop"
  "He was?" Linna asked, her voice showing a bit of eagerness "And why 
was he doing that?"
  "She problaly fainted or something and he thought she was hurt so he 
figured it was best to bring her to the hospital" Priss said wryly. Even 
though the visor was down over Priss' visage, Nene knew Priss must be 
smiling wryly also.
  Nene looked down at the ground, blushing a bit. Priss' words were 
absolutely true. There was no way she could deny it. She could had made 
something up, but it was best she not dwell on the subject much longer.
  "Where're Ranma and this Ryoga guy now?" Sylia asked, raising her 
visor a bit for Nene to see her clearly, but not enough for anyone else 
to identify who one of the Knight Sabers were if they happened to be 
walking by.
  Nene pointed toward the front entrance and replied, "They went back 
into the hospital. R-Ranma said he went in to get some stuff so he could 
leave, and Ryoga followed him inside.
  "They what?!" Sylia said, shock in her voice.
  At that moment, the front door opened and out emerged a young red-
haired girl, clad in a slightly damp red shit and black pants, a dark 
backpack slung over one of her shoulders. In one of her hands, there was 
a little black piglet that had a black and yellow bandanna.
  Sylia quickly flipped her visor down, grateful that Nene was standing 
in front of her, blocking the red-haired girl's view of her. Sylia  
peered over Nene's shoulder toward the young girl. The girl looked like 
she was in her teens.
  Ranma-chan looked at Sylia for a moment, totally silent, but 
remembering that Sylia and the rest had never seen her in her girl form. 
She gave Sylia a innocent smile and a friendly wave "Hiya,"
  Sylia kept quiet. Her hardsuit scanned the young girl, her little 
display screen coming up with gibberish. The young girl must be a 
sexaroid, Sylia thought. It was either that, or the fact that her 
hardsuit had been damaged and her scanners might be on the fritz. But 
she wasn't going to act on those sensors. Even though sexaroids were 
illegal, she had no idea if, indeed, this girl was one. It was most 
likely, since this girl was very pretty.
  Ranma-chan realized what Sylia was trying to do. She knew Sylia was 
trying to find out if she was a boomer. She wished she had hidden her 
aura, but it was too late now. Actually, there was no way she could hide 
her battle aura. She used to be able to back then, but her aura had 
grown so strong there was no real way she could keep it concealed.
  Ranma-chan held her breath as she walked by Sylia and the others. She 
kept her gaze away from the girls, not wanting to make them think she 
recognized any of them. Afterall, they had told her to keep it a secret. 
He gave Ryoga a quick glance and muttered softly "Don't do a thing. Jus' 
keep quiet"
  "What a cute looking piglet" Linna said as she noticed the tiny pet 
the young girl was holding. She walked up to Ranma-chan "Is he your 
pet?"
  Ranma-chan looked down at the piglet she was holding before she 
muttered "I guess so"
  Sylia watched Ranma-chan carefully as Linna continued to give her the 
first-degree.
  "How old is he?" Linna asked, reaching forward to pet the unconscious 
pig. She wondered how nice it would feel if she could touch the piglet 
with her own finers, not the fingers of her hardsuit. She looked down at 
the bandanna the piglet had over its neck and noticed it looked 
familiar. Where had she seen that bandanna before?
  "This pig? I dunno" Ranma -chan said "I think a few months"
  "What's his name?"
  Ranma-chan wondered if it was all right to give away the pig's name. 
He figured it was all right "P-chan" Afterall, Nene had never heard her 
mention that name before. It was safe. She gave the piglet a forced 
stroke to show her supposed affection for her pet. She needed to get out 
of her and fast because if she stayed longer, her identity would be soon 
revealed "Well, I better get goin' now. It was nice talkin' to ya"
  Sylia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. That girl sure had a strange 
speech pattern. She watched as Ranma-chan continued to walk away from 
them. Since there was nothing she could really do, Sylia figured it was 
best to leave the young girl alone. She might be human, afterall.

  Ranma sighed as he ate what would be considered a midnight snack, a 
pork bun. He and Ryoga were now in their original form, both of them 
huddled over a tiny makeshift campfire they had created in the middle of 
an empty stone room. The building they were in was abandoned, and since 
it was made of nothing but stone, they didn't have to worry about that 
campfire they made spreading. It just so happens that it was the same 
building Sylia and the girls stayed in while he was fighting those four 
prototype boomers, after Ranma had found out they were human. He never 
bothered to let Ryoga know about this. Actually, there was no need for 
him to tell them.
  "So how are we gonna get the money to pay for all those damages we 
caused to that hospital?" Ryoga said, taking a large bite into his own 
pork bun. He sighed, wishing there was more. But there wasn't. They had 
no money, and coming across food was very hard. This was a cold world 
and the people didn't seem to be all that eager to give away food to a 
cute little red-haired girl.
  "I have a somewhat decent idea," Ranma started, finishing off his bun 
already "We can try and steal the money from Genom Tower"
  "We're not thieves," Ryoga replied, shock in his voice "Why would you 
even consider something like that?"
  "I know it's not much of a plan, but just hear me out for a moment," 
Ranma said, "First off, I'm dyin' to know what's in that damn building, 
but I never really tried because it's heavily guarded. But if we work 
together, that would make it much easier. And of course, since that's 
the main headquarters for Genom Corporations, they're bound to have some 
money stashed around in there. Besides, think of this as a little 
payback for all they'd done to us. After that, we could leave and use 
all that loot we stole to pay for the damages. We could be like that guy 
who always wore 'em green tights. Forgot his name. It was Robin 
somethin'"
  "That idea doesn't sound too bad," Ryoga said, nodding "And while 
we're at it, we could blow up the whole place"
  Ranma shook his head "Jeez, how many times do I hafta say this. We 
can't. Thousands would be killed if the buildin' collapses"
  Ryoga kept silent.
  "It's best that we go in there, get the money, and perhaps find out 
their dirty secrets so we could expose 'em to the world along the way," 
Ranma said, getting up and walking over to a broken, but opened, window. 
He peered out toward the towering building many miles away that jutted 
up into the horizon, so large that it even blocked the view of the 
moutains behind it "So, what do ya say?"
  Ryoga was silent for several moments "Okay, I'll do it,"
  "But first, I think it's best we teach each other some techniques,"
  
  Ranma and Ryoga were standing in the middle of the abandonned streets. 
Rows of buildings dotted the street, extending in both directions toward 
the distant horizon. The sky was glowing red from the dawning sun. There 
was a slight fog that settled over the abandonned streets.
  "I still don't see why we should teach each other, I think the 
techniques I know are good enough," Ryoga said, a bit cautious. 
  "Jus' watch, I'm pretty sure you'll wanna learn this," Ranma said with 
a smile, pointing toward a lone building several hundred feet down the 
street "Ya see that building over there, I'm gonna disintergrate it. I 
mean absolutely, and utterly destroy it. You won't even notice the 
remains. Heck, there won't be any remains for several hundred yards 
surrounding it. But here's the thing, after I use this, the explosion is 
gonna be so powerful, we HAVE to run away before the rings of fire gets 
to us. You'll see"
  "Hmm, that sounds like quite a technique you have there" Ryoga said, 
rather unimpressed.
  "Anyway, don't go freakin' out when ya see that blast comin' toward 
ya. Run away. If it hits ya, you WILL die. Remember that Shi Shi Hakodan 
ya threw that hit me at point blank range? We both survived. This one, 
even from several hundred feet away, we will die"
  "How would you know we wouldn't survive?" Ryoga said, "I mean, we've 
been through a lot and came out fine"
  "Well, I used this move once," Ranma said, "When I was, like you, on a 
training trip, I used to travel all over the place. I used it on one of 
those Genom buildings that's branched off from Genom Tower. Anyway, I 
used this from around twice distance away from that building I jus' 
pointed toward. I used it just to test it out. I thought the ripples 
wouldn't reach me, but boy, was I wrong. The blast reached me in a few 
seconds. Let's just say that it took me several months to heal after I 
was caught in the blast"
  Ryoga looked bored "Okay, fine. Okay, now show me this super ki-blast 
ya mentioned"
  Ranma smiled, "Get ready for a real show" He faced toward the building 
and extended one hand towad the building "I'm only gonna use one 
hand.because we won't be able to avoid it if I use two hands" 
  He started to glow bright blue as he went into deep concentration. 
  Ryoga watched, his eyes fixed on Ranma as the blue aura grew larger 
and larger. He had never seen someone with an aura quite like Ranma's. 
He couldn't help but admit to himself that Ranma had grown quiet 
formidable over the years.
  "Seppuku Mouko Hokodan!!!"

  Carper entered Madigan's office carrying a small folder.
  "You called, Madigan-sama?" he said, getting seated upon his 
superior's gesture, the folder resting comfortably on his lap. He 
already knew what she wanted him for. She wanted to know more about that 
incident that had occured earlier.
  Madigan was looking out the window, her gaze toward the distant 
horizon. It was now somewhere around noon, a few hours after that 
massive explosion she had felt rumbling throughout the technologically 
advanced city. She had gone up to nearly the top of the tower so she 
would have a better view of the city from her vantage point. She had 
been shocked to see a huge crater roughly a quarter the size of the 
artificial island Genom had created, building an entire town, just to 
leave it abandonned in order to use as a battle ground for their 
prototype boomers.
  "What have you got?" she said, looking down toward the city landscape 
and towering buildings.
  Carper was a bit nervous in replying, but he had to "It seems my 
assumption was correct, it was that superboomer that caused that 
explosion. The superboomer did, indeed, survive that explosion Ryoga 
Hibiki made"
He opened up the folder and took out three pictures. He leaned forward 
and placed the first picture on her desk. 
  Madigan walked up to her desk and picked up the picture. It was a 
blurry picture of the superboomer and Ryoga. They were both next to each 
other, seen from a far off distance. It seemed those cameras Carper had 
instructed to have placed throughout the slums had come in handy. He had 
them put up shortly after the four prototype boomers had been destroyed, 
before they finally found out what had caused their destruction.
  "Isn't that Ryoga?" she asked. She remembered that black and yellow 
bandanna he was wearing "How come he and that superboomer look like 
they're talking to each other? What were they saying?"
  "It's because they are," he replied. He reached into one of his 
pockets and produced a tiny tape deck "Luckily, I had asked that there 
be taps placed throughout the area, and one of 'em managed to record a 
bit of what they were saying. Unforuntately, the tap was too far away to 
pick up any discernible conversationg. He pressed the play button and 
muffled voices echoed through Madigan's spacious office.
  "If we don't know what they're saying, then that recording's useless," 
she replied, her arms crossed over her chest.
  Carper smiled, hoping this would please his superior "I know it's 
useless. But I sent it down to the AudioTech Department to have them try 
and filter out all the background noise. Perhaps we'll they might be 
able to get something"
  Madigan smiled. She had to acknowledge that her assistant seemed to be 
worth his weight in gold "That's good," She noticed two other pictures 
in the open folder "What about those pictures?"
  He handed one of the pictures to her. It was a picture of the a young 
Ryoga Hibiki standing in front of a dojo. He looked like he was 
somewhere in his teens in that picture "This, here, is a picture of that 
Ryoga Hibiki"
  "Uh huh," Madigan said patiently "What have you found out about him?"
  "Very little," Carper said, "All the info I found about him is over 
thirty years old. The only records of him that were ever taken down was 
when he was young. It seems like this Ryoga disappeared off the face of 
the Earth over thirty years, and then appears all of a sudden. Most of 
the information I got about him is pretty trivial, like his eye color, 
bloodtype, height, and weight"
  "So why are you telling me all of this," Madigan said, her brow 
creasing "if it's just trivial information? We need to know more about 
him, like his past"
  "This is the good part," Carper said with a smile. He knew this was 
going to make Madigan happy. He saved this good news for last "In that 
last picture I showed you, did you notice him standing in front of a 
dojo?"
  Madigan picked up the picture and looked at it again. She had missed 
it a first, but it did, indeed, show Ryoga standing in front of a dojo. 
Actually, he was more like standing in front of the outerwall that 
surrounded the school "Yeah, I see it. Why?"
  Carper pointed "You see that sign he's standing below? It says 'School 
of Anything-Goes Martial Arts'. I did a check on that school and found 
out that it belonged in Nerima, the city that was destroyed by our 
rampant boomers. Anyway, I checked into that and found out that Ryoga 
used to visit that dojo quite often. And of course, I did a background 
check on who lived in that house the school was attached to"
  "Go on," Madigan said patiently.
  "Well, it turns out that he visits that place for one reason, one good 
reason," he replied, placing forward his last picture "He's there for a 
girl"
  Madigan looked down at the pciture.
  It was a picture Akane Tendo.

  Ranma moaned a bit as he walked down the streets of what used to be 
and abandonned town. He hadn't anticipated his ki-blast to be that 
powerful. He had been holding back. But then again, he had grown much 
stronger than the last time he used that, which was several years ago.
  "Man, that sucks!" Ranma said,"I can't believe I destroyed half the 
damn town"
  Ryoga was walking along side Ranma "Well, look on the bright side, at 
least it was abandonned"
  Ranma laughed. He couldn't believe Ryoga was saying that. He was the 
last person to look on the bright side. How ironic. Ryoga had always had 
a pessamistic personality, always finding the bad in out of a good 
situation, and here he was, finding the silver lining in Ranma's dark 
cloud.
  "Well, I do have to admit. That's one hell of a ki-blast," Ryoga 
couldn't help but comment. He had no idea Ranma knew something that 
powerful. But it was nice that it was Ranma that knew something like 
that, not some moster that would abuse it "How and where'd you learn 
it?"
  "I don't really wanna talk about it," Ranma started "It bothers me to 
think of the reason why and how I developed that"
  Ryoga looked at Ranma, his eyes somber "Don't worry, I know. Lettme 
see, you developed that blast to kill yourself. You were hoping to use 
that at ground zero and let the blast consume you, leaving nothing 
behind"
  "H-how'd you know?" Ranma said in shocked. 
  "Cause I learned a very similar technique,"

  "I can't believe I listened to you!!!" Ranma said in exasperation., 
about to pull out his hair after he caught sight of a familiar looking 
store. He had just found out that he and Ryoga and been walking around 
in circles. They had passed that store several hours ago, heading toward 
Genom Tower, and now they were back where they started.
  Ranma gazed at Ryoga menacingly. He wished he had never bothered to 
allow Ryoga to lead. He should had known that Ryoga would had never 
gotten over his bad sense of direction. But it was his fault for giving 
him the benefit of the doubt, Ranma believing Ryoga might had changed 
over the many years.
  "I know where I'm going," Ryoga lied. He had no idea where he was. 
Everything looked the same, the street, the stores, everything "We'll be 
there in a little while"
  Ranma shook his head "Man, you're hopeless"
  "You take that back!!!" Ryoga spat, his brow creasing. He wasn't going 
to let Ranma talk to him like that, even if they had agreed to work 
together.
  Ranma sat down on the curb, not bothering to answer "Man, this sucks. 
At this rater we'll never get there on time. It's already ten-thirty at 
night. They had planned to attack at midnight, and he knew they were 
never going to make it "Let's just find a place to stay and we'll go 
there tomorrow. I'll lead of course" 
  "Hm, where are we anyway?" Ryoga looked around.
  "That's strange," Ranma said wryly "I thought you knew where you were 
going. Man, you're so full of it. Why don't you just admit that your 
sense of direction still haven't gotten better over the years. Who're ya 
tryin' to kid?" 
  Ranma looked around for a moment. He and Ryoga were somewhere in the 
slums area of MegaTokyo. As to where, he didn't know. He remembered 
walking these streets once, and had come across a garage where Priss was 
hanging out somewhere around here. She hadn't noticed him. He was about 
to stop by and say hi, but she looked like she was busy working on her 
motorcycle. What was the name of the garage? It was a Raven's something. 
  Ranma rubbed his neck as he sat on the curb. He wished he could take a 
nice warm shower. His body was aching and throbbing from walking for so 
long. 
  "Happousei," Ranma said out of nowhere.
  Ryoga looked at Ranma curiously "Huh?"
  Ranma pointed toward that lingerie store named 'Silky Doll' across the 
street "Look at that lingerie store over there. Happousei would be 
havin' a ball if he came across that store. Good thing he ain't around 
nowadays to see it. I betcha if he were still alive, he'd had gone into 
that store the first time we passed it, and he would probably still be 
in there when we arrive a second time, now"
  Ryoga chuckled. "I wonder how the store owners would try and get rid 
of the little letch"
Together, Ranma and Ryoga bursted into laughter.  

  Sylia was about to close up her store when she heard someone laughing 
outside her store. Wondering who it was, she walked up to the window and 
peered out of it, shocked to see Ranma and that Ryoga Hibiki person she 
had heard about.
  What are they doing here, Sylia thought. She couldn't help but smile 
when she caught sight of Ranma. He looked like a little kid, laughing to 
his heart's content. And Ryoga also, he looked like kid, not a care in 
the world. She wodnered how someone like them could manage to find 
something so funny after having been through so much, like that part 
where they almost killed each other.
  And speaking of that, why are they laughing together? Shouldn't they 
be fighting each other? 
  Sylia shuddered for a moment. She seriously hoped not. If they started 
fighting each other now, her store would be destroyed, and so would all 
the surrounding ones, even Raven's Garage, which would leave the 
entrance to the Knight Sabers' headquaters exposed for everyone to see, 
even Genom.
  Ranma caught sight of the young girl in the window. Hey, that looks 
like Sylia, Ranma thought. He got up to his feet and proceeded toward 
the store. Since he was tired and needed a place to stay, perhaps she 
might be able to tell them a good place to stay.
  "Hey, where're you goin'?" Ryoga asked, noticing Ranma heading toward 
the lingerie store "Hey, why're going in there? Oh no, don't tell me 
you're still the pervert you were back then. I figured you would have 
learned to break that habit"
  "Shut up!" Ranma said, turning around to face Ryoga "I'm not a 
pervert. That person looked familiar. I wanna see if its the same 
person. I wanna see if she'll let us spend the night at her place, so we 
can get some rest. It'll sure beat sleeping on the streets"
   Ryoga shrugged his shoulders and followed closely behind Ranma. He 
didn't really care where he slept. He was used to sleeping under the 
stars "Who's this person you're talkin' about?"
  Ranma ignored him and opened the front door and entered. Inside, he 
caught sight of Sylia "Ha, I was right! I thought I recognized you, 
Sylia" 
  Sylia's heart was beating rapidly. What was going on here? Wasn't 
Ryoga and Ranma enemies? Why aren't they fighting each other? She took a 
cautious step backwards, not really knowing what to do. Although she had 
done a major background check on Ranma and he came out okay, Sylia had 
no idea about that person behind him. Nene had said he was virtually 
unknown. 
  "W-what are you doing here?" she said, calming herself a bit. It 
worked. Although her voice was now steady, her heart wasn't. Ranma would 
never notice "And who's that behind you?" She had to act like she knew 
nothing about that guy, so he wouldn't become suspicious. There might be 
a chance he doesn't know who she really is, provided Ranma kept his 
promise and didn't disclose her secret identity.
  Ryoga gave a rather meek smile and bowed respectfully "Um, I'm Ryoga 
Hibiki. It's nice to meet you"
  "I'm Sylia Stingray"
  Ranma seemed a bit too casual for Sylia's comfort. Didn't he almost 
die fighting that man behind him?  "He and I go back a while," Ranma 
said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. He then proceeded to look 
around the store "Say, this a nice store you have here"
  "How would you know? Not unless you been in one of these store, you 
pervert!" Ryoga muttered, giving Ranma a suspiciouse look.
  Ranma shook his head. Ryoga's attempts at humor was pathetic. He 
ignored the comment and continued to talk to Sylia "Hey, can I ask you 
for a favor?"
  Sylia regarding Ryoga for a moment before turning her attention to 
Ranma. She noticed that Ryoga seemed very nervous being around women's 
clothing. She could see the shade of red flooding to his cheeks. He 
tired to conceal it by turning his back toward her.
  "Um, well, it depends what kinda favor you want" Sylia said, "Keep in 
mind I still don't know who you are" She added that last sentence to 
hide the fact that she had done an extensive background check on Ranma. 
  "Oh, nevermind," Ranma said. He turned around to leave the store. He 
was about to ask Sylia if he could spend the night at her place, and 
hopefully take a nice long shower, but since she barely knew him, there 
was no way she would accept. "C'mon, Ryoga, let's go"
  Sylia, for some reason, didn't let them just leave "Um, what was the 
favor you wanted to ask?" Besides, she was pretty serious. Ranma was 
definitely a person who could take care of himself, and she had noticed 
he was swallowing his pride to ask her for a favor. She should at least 
find out. Who knew, maybe she could help him out. Afterall, he had saved 
Priss' and Linna's life by defeating those two 'Doberman' boomers after 
they managed to damage Linna and Priss' motoslaves "Perhaps I could help 
you out a bit"
  Ranma and Ryoga were already out the door, causing Sylia to follow 
after them into the street to repeat what she said.
  "Hey, you ask her," Ranma said, nudging toward Ryoga.
  "Me? I don't know her," came the reply "Besides, I have no problem 
with sleeping in the streets again"
  At that moment, Sylia realized what Ranma was about to ask her.
  Ranma sighed "Fine," 
  He turned toward Sylia "Um, is there a way we could stay at your place 
for the night? I mean, if you're not comfortable with me and Ryoga bein' 
in your place, we understand. Afterall, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be 
all that fond of me after what I did to ya when we first met"
  Ranma was shocked when Sylia answered.
  "I have no problem with that. Sure"

  "Yes, they're both in my penthouse," Sylia said to Priss and the 
others, speaking into the tiny portable computer that was resting on the 
sink in her bathroom. She was in the bathroom, soaking in the bathtub, 
wondering what Ranma and Ryoga were up to.
  "Why'd you let them come home with you?" Nene said "That's not like 
you Sylia"
  "I wanted to find out more about that Ryoga Hibiki character," Sylia 
said, "And the best way to find out about him is to talk to him 
personally"
  "But you're puttin' yourself in danger," Nene said, "Even though you 
say they look like they're friends, I remember seein' them fight. You're 
gonna get hurt if they do"
  "Let's hope they don't"

  "Wattsa matter, Ryoga?" Ranma said, "I thought you said you wouldn't 
mind sleeping in the streets" He had his back pressed again a door. He 
was in Sylia's penthouse. Ryoga, on the other hand, was outside, in the 
hallway. Ranma had shoved him outside and closed the door behind him.
  Sylia emerged from the bathroom, finished with her bath . She noticed 
someone was missing "Um, where's Ryoga?"
  Ranma opened the door to reveal a fuming Ryoga. He jerked a thumb 
toward him and smiled "Oh, you mean him?" He chuckled a bit.
  "Why you!!!" Ryoga said, his aura glowing "You'll pay for that!!!"
  Sylia's heart skipped a beat. Ryoga looked like he was about to kill 
Ranma. She hadn't anticipated this to happen. She could had sworn they 
wouldn't fight. And she had a good judge of character. How could she be 
worng? This mistake was going to cost her dearly. If Ryoga used one of 
those ki-blasts similar to Ranma's, her entire penthouse would be 
destroyed.
  Ranma held a hand out, causing Ryoga to stop his charge "Hey, didn't 
you forget? No more fighting. And besides, I don't think you're stupid 
enough to throw one of your Shi Shi Hakodans. You'll hurt Sylia. And 
Mackie also."
  Ryoga was silent for a moment. He looked over toward Sylia and 
realized that if he did use his technique, Sylia would be killed in the 
blast. And he knew he wasn't some killer. He would never be able to live 
with blood on his hands.
  Sylia watched, astonished. Ryoga looked like he was about to kill 
Ranma one second, and now he didn't at all look angry. It was as if his 
mood had changed from angry to yielding.
  Ryoga entered the penthouse and sat down in one of the lush couches 
"Hrmph"
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders "Whatever," he then looked at Sylia 
"Well, I guess I'll go take that shower now. Where do you keep your 
towels?"
  "Um, there's a few on the shelf in the bathroom. You can use those," 
she replied.
  "Thanks," was all she heard before the she saw the bathroom door close 
behind Ranma.
  Sylia looked over toward Ryoga, who was still pouting over what had 
happened. Now was the chance to find out some things about him, like who 
he was, or why he was here.
  "Um, Ryoga, can I ask you a few questions?" she started.
  At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Ranma emerged 
  "Uh, how do you turn on the water?"

  Sylia continued to twist and turn in her bed, sleep eluding her. The 
thought that Ranma and Ryoga slept outside her bedroom door seemed to 
make her uneasy. She had never met people, heck, not even boomers, that 
were remotely as powerful at them. And the thought of sleeping under the 
same roof with two people as powerful as Ranma and Ryoga kept making her 
twist and turn in bed. She couldn't shake that feeling on how everything 
might be if they used their powers and fighting abilities for selfish 
reasons. But that wasn't what had really kept her up. It was what Ranma 
had mentioned they planned on doing last night.
  And what was worse, why did they have to be so handsome?
  She had no real love life, and for some reason, she couldn't help be 
feel a bit nervous around their presence, especially Ranma. Of course, 
she never showed it. But then again, maybe that nervous feeling came 
from the fact that she had never met someone like Ranma before.
  A loud crash emerged from the livingroom, as Sylia's heart skipeed a 
beat. She quickly got to her feet and rushed toward the livingroom. When 
she entered the room and turned on the light, she was shocked to see 
what she saw.
  Ranma was sitting in the middle of the livingroom, cluching his foot. 
  "Man, I'd rather get hit by one of Ryoga's ki-blasts than stub my 
toe," he said, wincing in pain. He wanted to get a drink of water when 
he had accidentally bumped into the coffee table.
  Sylia smirked before she started to giggle a bit. Ranma was probably 
capable of brushing off deathblows that would easily kill a man, and 
here he was, unable to brush off something as simple as a stubbed toe. 
It made Sylia look at Ranma in a different light, that he was, albeit 
very strong, still human. She had also noticed this when he needed to 
ask how to turn on the water for the bathtub. It showed that he wasn't 
used to MegaTokyo, that he had lived a very different life before coming 
back to Japan.
  "You do know that's not funny," Ranma said, "These really hurts"

  "So what's the scoop?" Linna asked as she took a sip of her coffee. 
She and the others were in the living room of Sylia's penthouse. It was 
now sometime in the afternoon. Ranma and Ryoga had left several hours 
ago. They were all sitting around the coffee table.
"Man, you don't look so good, sis" Mackie said, noticing the slight 
rings under his sister's eyes "Maybe you should go back to bed for some 
more sleep"
  "There's no time for it now," Sylia said, shrugging off Mackie's 
comment. She leaned took a sip of her own coffee before beginning "I 
found out quite a bit about this Ryoga Hibiki last night. Unfortunately, 
all of this was said by him, so we're not too sure if he's telling the 
truth, or just lying. It turns out that Ryoga also hates Genom"
  "Y-you mean he's like one of us?" Nene said, "Just like Ranma? Then 
why were they both fighting like what I saw by the hospital a few night 
ago?"
  "Well," Sylia replied "it turns out that that Ryoga and Ranma aren't 
all that great of friends. Actually they're enemies. It seems that 
they've put their differences aside for a similar goal, to fight against 
Genom. It also turns out that they intend to attack, yes, attack Genom 
Tower sometime today. They said they needed money. We must find them 
before it's too late"
  "Money?" Priss asked "Why the hell do they need money? Heck, if they 
need it so bad, why not just rob a bank? Surely they'll easily get away 
since the AD Police are pretty useless"
  "Hey," Nene said.
  "There's a reason for that," Sylia conintued, "They said they needed 
the money to pay for all the damages the did to that hospital, and not 
only that, they're hoping to find out some dirty secret to the 
organization that would expose them for what they really are. And 
lastly, they wanted to pay Genom back for destroying their lives"
  "What do you mean by 'destroying their lives'? You mean Ryoga's family 
died in the 'Nerima Massacre' just like Ranma's?" Linna asked. 
  "Well, kind of," Sylia got up off the couch and proceeded toward the 
window "It turns out that Nene's assumption was correct. He and Ranma 
did love that Akane Tendo girl, and after she died, Ryoga was very 
resentful toward Ranma for her death. That explains the hatred for him. 
As for his family, he has none. He hasn't seen his parents ever since he 
left the house at age 14. He's a loner. Anway, it seems this Akane was 
the only family he had or cared about"
  "And of course, since she was killed by those boomers, that should 
explian his hatred toward Genom" Linna finished off for Sylia. She 
smiled, feeling a bit good that she realized that. 
  Sylia was about to continue explaining what else Ryoga had told her, 
when there was a knock on her door.
  "Who could that be?" Mackie said, getting up off the couch and 
proceeding toward the door. He opened it to reveal both Ranma and Ryoga. 
They both looked like they had been badly hurt. There were cuts and 
bruises everywhere. Even though they were bleeding from several places, 
like their lips and arms and choulders, they looked unbothered, like 
nothing had happened.
  "Sorry to bother you again," Ranma began, but soon noticing that Sylia 
wasn't along "Oh, you have company"
  "What are you doing back here?" Sylia asked.
  Ranma gave a weak smile "Well, we just came from Genom Tower and we 
need a place to put all this money. This stuff weighs over a ton, at 
least. And it doesn't help that we're carryin' two crates each" he 
jerked a thumb over toward several large crates behind them. They 
weren't really crates, rather, more like a massive block of yen wrapped 
in an air-tight clear seal.
  All the girls and Mackie stepped outside to see what they had brought 
before they realized exactly how much money they had stolen from Genom. 
  They all said in unison "Oh my god"
Linna's eyes were almost popping out of her socket "Oh my god. There 
must be billions here" She'd never seen this  much money in her life. 
She would be able to buy all the dresses she ever wanted, and boy, she 
wanted a lot of dresses.
  "Man, that place is huge!!!" Ranma said. He looked like a little kid 
bragging to his friends on how great a day he had "It took us over an 
hour just to make to to the floor, where we finally found the money 
vault, which was nowhere near the top floor. Jeez, and you shoulda seen 
all 'em boomers they had running around. There must had been hundreds of 
'em"
  The girls and Mackie listened carefully and intently. None of them had 
actually been inside of Genom Tower to know what kind of place it was, 
or how it was fortified.
  "Man, they had all sorta weird things," Ranma said He had seen some 
really fascinating things while in Genom Building. He and Ryoga had came 
across a room labled 'Largo Resurrection' and had come across this weird 
'OMS' thingie that they forgot what it stood for.
  "Like what did you see?" Sylia asked curiously. She and the rest of 
the other girls had never really seen the inside Genom Tower. The most 
the had seen were Quincy's supposed office, which Largo had trashed, and 
the roof while they were in their hardsuits. Not even in their private 
identities had been beyond the front reception desk.
  Ranma stepped back out into the hallway and took hold of one of the 
crates and hoisted it to the air, Ryoga, who had been silent all this 
time, doing the same. They both tried to enter the penthouse, but 
immediately realized the door was too small.
  "Man, that sucks," Ranma commented, placing the crate back down. He 
hopped onto the crate "Man, considering all the trouble we went through 
to carry these things all the way over here, it's quite ironic that 
something like a door would stop us. Well, back to your question, it's 
kinda hard to say. We were too busy trying to avoid all those big red 
boomers"
  "Big red boomers?" Sylia said, thinking for a moment. All of a sudden, 
her visage went somber "You mean those prototype C-99 combat boomers?" 
She seriously hoped they weren't the boomers she thought they were. 
Those boomers were dangerous. Even though they weren't as heavily armed 
as the C-55s combat boomers, they were capable of being uplinked with 
attack satellites orbitting over Japan.
  Ranma shrugged his shoulders "I dunno. But we managed to blew most of 
'em up though"
  Ryoga sat down on his own crate as he said sarcastically "Boy, aren't 
we a bit modest today?"
  That seemed to shut Ranma up for a moment. Ranma wasn't really the 
type to really brag, but he guessed he got carried away. His veins were 
still coursing with adrenaline. He hadn't had that much fun in many many 
years.
  "Well, all I could say is that we didn't really see much," Ranma said, 
"We only made it to about a quarter of the way up the tower before we 
found a safe where they kept the money. After we busted it open, we 
didn't bother to stay around" He looked at the crate, changing the 
subject "Man, how are we gonna get passed this little obstacle?"
  At that moment, Sylia's penthouse shook horribly, causing everyone but 
Ryoga and Ranma to fall off their feet. Ranma and Ryoga had too much 
sense of balance to be knocked off their feet by something like that.   
  Ranma walked up to the window and looked out, just as a little black 
box smashed through it, landing in the middle of the livingroom.
  Priss realized what the little black box was before anyone else did 
"Oh shit!!! That's a bomb!!! Get the hell outta here!!!"
  Ranma quickly ran to where the bomb had landed and kicked it as hard 
as he could. The force of his kick sent the box flying back out the 
window, exploding in mid-air right in front of the penthouse window. 
Unfortunately, the bomb had been more powerful than he expected that a 
wall of flamed entered into the livingroom through the broken window.
  Luckily, Ryoga had managed to react in time to shove the girl out the 
front door. Ranma and Ryoga were consumed in the blast, but aside from 
some singed clothes, were left unscathed. They quickly rushed out into 
the hallway where the four girls were getting to their feet.
  "I'm sorry, Sylia. I didn't think they were following me," Ranma said, 
terribly sorry. He wanted to kick himself for putting the four girls in 
danger "They're after their money. I thought I lost them, and it seems I 
lead them right to your penthouse"
  The penthouse shook violently again, Ranma and Ryoga managing to keep 
all four girls on their feet.
  "Oh shit, here they come!!!" Priss swore, pointing toward the three C-
55 boomers that had just rounded the corner of the hallway and were 
standing just a short ways down the hallway. 
  They noticed them, their thrusters blazed to life as they came 
rocketing toward Ranma and the group.
  Ranma and Ryoga, as if on instict, rushed forward to meet all three 
boomers in combat. Both of them shoulder rammed the front two boomer to 
stop their forward momentum as the boomers where sent flying backwards 
back down the hallway.
  "We gotta get outta here," Ranma said. He realized that if they fought 
those boomers in the hallway, the four girls would surely get hurt in 
the melee. He wasn't going to risk their safety over something as stupid 
as money. He and Ryoga could go back to Genom to steal it again.
  "Let's get out through the window," Ryoga said, gesturing toward the 
window that bomb had came through "That's the only way out"
  "Well, how 'bout it?" Ranma said.
  Everyone nodded. All four girls knew that they wouldn't stand a chance 
against a boomer. Even though Ranma and Ryoga were capable of fighting 
against them bare-handed, they weren't.
  "Where to?" Ryoga said, looking out the window. He noticed over a 
dozen boomers in the street. This was definitely going to be a hard 
getaway.
  "The Raven's Garage is just east of here" Sylia said. Even though 
Ryoga had no idea of their secret identities, now was not that time to 
be thinking of something like that. Boomers were after them, and they 
neede to protect themselves.
  "Lettme just grab some of that money before we leave,"Linna said, 
running toward the crates. All she wanted was at least one stack of 
bills. She didn't want to leave this place empty handed.
  "Sheesh," Ranma muttered, shaking his head. He looked back down the 
hallway and noticed all three boomers had getten back up "Shit, here 
they come again!!! Horizontal Blast Revised, Hiyru ShotenHa!!!"
  A huge column of wind was sent flying toward the boomers, slamming 
them into the wall as such foce that the wall collapsed under the 
impact. Unfortunately, the girls where caught up in the blast and were 
about to be sent bodily through the new opening in the wall, but Ranma 
and Ryoga grabbed hold of them just in time. Ranma grabbed Sylia and 
Nene while Ryoga grabbed Priss and Nene.
   "Let's get the hell outta here!!!" Ranma said as he carried both 
girls, one arm over each of their waists as they held on to him tightly. 
  "Wait," Ryoga said.
  Ranma didn't hear it in time as he leapt up onto the windowsill and 
noticed dozens of boomers in the street. They, too, noticed him. And 
almost immediately, lasers started flying toward him. Ranma gave a smirk 
as he extended one arm forward "Mouko Takabisha!!!"
  Sylia and Nene got a up close and personal look as a ki-blast shot 
forward from Ranma's extended hand, exploding in the middle of the crowd 
of boomers. They had been so close they could feel the intense heat as 
the blast rocketed from his hand. 
  The entire bulding shook from the impact of the attack as a small 
mushroom-like explosion enveloped the crowd.
  "Hm, that was easier than I thought," Ranam said, noticing that the 
boomers in the street had all been destroyed. All those that survived 
had been severely damaged.
  "We gotta get outta here!" Ryoga shouted, "There's more on the way!" 
He was holding Linna and Priss securely in his arms. Almost a dozen 
boomers were now on their way down the tiny hallway. He would had used 
his Shi Shi Hakodan, but at such a confined space, the girls would get 
hurt.
  "Let's go!!!" Ranma said. He leapt from the window down to the street 
below, Ryoga following closely behind. Upon landing in the middle of the 
street, a barrage of lasers started raining down on them. Boomers had 
been hidden in building adjacent to Sylia's, boomers that Ranma hadn't 
seen.
  Nene was about to break out in a panic and start scream, but all of a 
sudden, she saw the ground fall down from below them. Ranma had leapt up 
into the air again. All Nene could do was yell at the top of her lungs 
as she held on tightly to Ranma around his neck, nearly cutting off his 
air supply.
  Luckily, Sylia had noticed and managed to loosen Nene's grip with one 
hand while the other hand held onto Ranma tightly also. Like Nene, she 
was terrified. Her heart was racing as she saw the ground and buildings 
passing them at intense speeds.
  She took a quick glance backwards and noticed Ryoga closely behind in 
huge leaps, Priss and Linna also holding onto him tightly. When she 
turned her attention forward, she caught sight of a building rushing 
right toward them.
  "Lookout!!!" Sylia shouted, her heart in her throat. They were going 
to crash into that building.
  "Relax," she heard Ranma's calm voice "I got it under control"
  He was right. Ranma was using that building to triangle jump higher 
into the air. He had twisted in mid-air so his feet would hit the 
building first, and as soon as they did, he kicked back out, repelling 
himself upward in another direction. After propelling off, he did the 
same thing again with another building, then that same building he first 
propelled off of, and onto a roof of one of the towering buildings.  
  Sylia felt herself falling as she cluched at Ranma tightly. But soon, 
she realized Ranma had landed on a roof top and was releasing his hold 
of her. He also released Nene, who had fallen to the ground, her 
buckling knees giving out under her weight.
  Ryoga landed on the rooftop seconds later, releasing Priss and Linna. 
They too looked like they were horribly shaken from thast intense flight 
from Sylia's penthouse.
  "Now what?" Priss asked "Where are we going to go? Those boomer back 
there will be here any minute"
  "We'll fight them" Ryoga said. He turned toward the girls as he 
stepped desides Ryoga "You should be safe up here. Ranma and I'll leap 
down to the streets and finish them off down there"
  "What?" Priss said, "You can't do that! There're apartment buildings 
around here. If you start fighting them, and those boomers start firing, 
many innocent people are gonna die"
  "No," Ranma said, "we're not going to do that" 
Sylia looked at Ranma curious. What was he planning? Surely he wasn't 
the type to run away from boomers he could easily defeat "Then what?"
  "Ryoga, you stay here and protect them in case any of those boomers 
arrive here," Ranma said, "I'm goin' back to Genom. I'm going to let 
them capture me"
  "What?" Sylia said. She found her throat getting dry. She had only 
seen Ranma every here and there over the course of the weeks since he 
showed up, but she seemed to have some feeling toward him. Deep down 
inside, even though she's capable of taking care of herself, she felt 
safe around Ranma. She liked having Ranma in her life. And she was sure 
the other girls felt the same also "Don't do that! They're going to kill 
you!"
  Ranma turned around and gave them a weak smile. 
 "Does it really matter?" Ranma said, "This isn't your fight. This is 
between me and Ryoga and Genom. I'm sorry about what happened to your 
place. I truly am. I didn't think we were followed. If it helps you any, 
we managed to stash some of the money away before we went on to your 
place. It's in the same abandonned building we were in after we first 
met. I'm going back into Genom. I know there's some dirty secret in 
there we could expose that'll bring Genom to its knees. And the only way 
to find it is if I go in. Let's just hope I'll suvive their blast"
  "Shit, here they come!" Priss said, pointing toward four incoming 
boomers. And this time, they weren't combat boomers. They were those 
prototype boomers Ranma had taken care of after his accidental battle 
with the Knight Sabers.
  Ranma gave a sad smile before turning around "Goodbye,"
  He then leaped up into the air and proceeded toward the four incoming 
boomers.
  "Ranma!" Sylia was about to try and stop him but Ryoga grabbed her 
arm, preventing her from following them "Let me go!"
  Priss and Nene and Linna all watched Sylia in disbelief. They had 
never really seen Sylia look so stricken with grief in their life. She 
was actually shedding tears.
  "We have to get outta here," Ryoga said, "Ranma'll be all right. He 
can take care of himself"
  He quickly guestered for the girls to make their way into the building 
via the rooftop entrance. The girls gave on last look before entering 
the building. Ryoga gave a quick glance backwards as he saw Ranma being 
consumed in a massive explosion. He knew Ranma had let himself get hit. 
That was the only way they would take him alive...provided he survived 
that blast.
  "He can take care of himself...I hope"

  Madigan was looking down at the unconsious form of Ranma from the 
safety of her office She had just found out that he was just like that 
Ryoga Hibiki person she heard about, that he was human. When the boomers 
had told him that the superboomer seemed to cease functioning, she had 
ordered them to bring it in, so she could examine how something so 
magnificant was created. But when they brough him in, she realized he 
was human simply by the steady rise and fall of his chest.
  When she placed her hand on his neck and found a pulse, that confirmed 
her suspicions. He was indeed human, and a rather handsome looking on at 
that.
  Ranma lay in a bed in the middle of the tiny room. Madigan had had 
that room built espcially for him from a short while ago. She had 
assumed that sooner or later, she would be able to capture that 
superboomer. The room was heavily reinforced with solid steel, the door 
to the room further reingforced. There was no way he would be able to 
get out. He didn't have enough room to use his projectiles, and if he 
did, he would be so close to the blast that he would surely get hurt. 
There was a camera about twenty feet high on the ceiling, allowing 
Madigan a perfect view of Ranma.
  There was a knock at her door, which gave her a quick start. She 
immediately composed herself and allowed Carper to enter. She knew it 
was him. She had told him to give her a report on the human's condition 
and his assessment of him within the half hour.
  "You're not goin' to believe this," Carper said nervously as he sat 
down in one of the chairs. He brought in several sheets of paper full of 
data on Ranma's condition and their evaluation of him.
  "He's human," Madigan said "I'm pretty sure nothing will surprise me 
any more that that" She continued to gaze at the screen, at Ranma's 
motionless form "What've you got?"
  "That's true," he said as he began to shuffle through his reports 
"Well, here's what I got so far. I did a check on his fingerprints and 
it turns out that his name is Ranma Saotome. It seems my assumption that 
the Knight Sabers created him was totally off. Anyway, he used to live 
in the city of Nerima"
  "That should explain his hatred toward Genom," Madigan said, "His 
family or loved ones probably died in the 'Nerima Massacre', right?"
  "Yes," 
  "What else did you learn?" she asked.
  "Okay," Carper started, taking a deep breath "Here's what I got. 
You're not really gonna like this. Remember I had him as a 23-A model 
boomer on the boomer association scale? Well, you could forget about 
that. Right now, he's somewhere in the high 20's, like a 28-C or a 29-B. 
Somewhere around there. I don't want to be the cloud on your parade, but 
I doubt there's anyway to stop him. Conventional means is futile because 
he could dodge the bullets, and he could fight in hand-to-hand better 
than a dozen of our prototype boomers at once. He, by himself, is strong 
enough level this entire city if he really wanted to. He doesn't because 
of the people that could die , which is perfectly resonable since he is, 
afterall, human, and thus, has some form of conscience. Your assumption 
is correct. It turns out that it was him who made pretty much detroyed 
half the entire slums. If it weren't for the fact that he CAN get hurt, 
I'd consider him almost a deity. He's either a demi-god....or, from my 
point of view, a semi-devil. I mean, we're dealing with power levels 
that are off the scale. If he wanted to, he could do whatever he wants, 
and pretty much everyone can't do a thing"
  "Damn," she said. She was wishing it was something else that had 
caused it "What have you got on the auido recording of them"
  "It's useless," Carper replied, "Their conversation was on when they 
were going to attack Genom Tower. But since they already attacked, it's 
useless. If we could have listened to it earlier, we wouldn't had lost 
so many boomers when he and Ryoga attacked since we were caught by 
surprise. Luckily, we managed to get back most of the money, but there 
was still a very large sum missing, and we have no idea where it is"
  "And how goes the project?" Madigan said. All her options were 
exhausted except for this one project, a project so secretive that not 
even Quincy knew about it.
  "You're in for some good news," Carper said.
  "Good, I could sure use some at around now,"
  Carper smiled as he continued "I can't believe how much the project 
had progressed so much. I guess since the arrival of Ranma, and now 
Ryoga, we were forced to become more advanced. Our technology had 
improved almost fifty percent over the past month since Ranma arrived. I 
guess it's from us always trying to stop him. Anyway, the 'Akane Project 
001' is running smoothly. Even though it's extremely experimental, I'm 
very convinced it would work. The DNA we extracted from the bones of 
Akane's skeletal system had remained intact over all these years. Right 
now, we're in the process of decoding all that DNA into downloaded data 
to have put into the sexaroid"
  Madigan nodded. She was pretty surprised also. She was expecting to be 
still on the experimental stages of DNA extraction.
  "Can I ask you a question, Madigan-sama?" Carper said softly.
  She nodded.
  "Why this Akane Tendo person?" He asked "Why not extract the DNA from 
someone like Ghengis Kahn or Aldof Hitler?"
  "We DO plan on doing that as soon as this project is no longer 
considered _eperimental_" she said matter-of-factly "But as of right 
now, we need to try and recreate this Akane Tendo person, to have her 
stop Ranma. It's just perfect timing. Even though we had originally came 
up with this experimental process in order to manipulate Ryoga into 
helping us, having found out that Ranma is, in some way, connected to 
her makes it all the better"
  "But she's going to be a sexaroid," Carper commented, "Aren't you 
worried about her trying to break away from Genom, kinda like those five 
sexaroid that stole that D.D Battlemover a short while ago. If I recall 
correctly one of those sexaroids was named Sylvie"
  "Yes, she will be a sexaroid," she replied, "This is where it's the 
gamble. I believe if we make her human enough, it would have enough of 
an effect on Ranma. If we made her a combat boomer, albeit more 
powerful, I'm pretty sure she would get destroyed as soon as she 
converted to her battle mode. This is just a gamble we're going to have 
to take"
  "Let's hope this gamble works it's the only one we've got"
  
  Ranma's eyes opened slowly. He sat upright and winced in pain as bolts 
of pain surged through his body. But he was glad it didn't hurt as much 
as when Ryoga had hit him with that ki-blast. He surveyed his 
surroundings and realized that he must be somewhere in Genom Tower, 
which gave him a smile. He rubbed his chest where that pojectile had 
struck him. I hope that damn missle didn't leave a mark, Ranma thought.
  He rubbed his shoulder and neck to get the kinks out before he hoped 
off the bed. He walked out to the door and regarded it. He gave a quick 
chuckle as he realized he was being watched. He noticed the tiny camera 
mounted to the ceiling. 
  "I know you're watching me," Ranma said.
  "So you're finally awake," Madigan's voice echoed into the room. It 
was coming from an unknown source. It sounded like it was coming from 
everywhere.
  "Are you goin' to let me out?" Ranma said, leaning back against the 
door, folding his arms across his chest. Although there was no chance, 
he figured he'd at least give asking to be let out a try. It would make 
it a whole lot easier than to bust out of there.
  "We can't do that," Madigan said.
  "Oh well," Ranma said. He turned back around and faced the door "I 
asked"
  He struck the door with an open palm as the impact echoed through the 
room. When he pulled his hand way, there was an indentation against the 
door the size of his palm. The sound reverberated throughout the tiny 
room. He gave it several more strikes before door started to shudder 
under the intense impact of his hand hitting against it.
  He continued to hit it over and over again, a bit impressed that the 
door managed to withstand several of his blows.
  "You're not going to break that down," Madigan's voice entered the 
room.
  Ranma smirked, "Ya wanna make a bet?"
  He cocked his arm back, palm open, and brought it forward, striking 
the door. The door exploded outward, knocked of his hindges. He he 
looked down at the hindges the door had hung on, these huge three inches 
solid steel pipes. He smirked as he casually stepped out of his 
confinement and into the corridors stretching in front of him.  




-OneShot
Jeffrey Keith Wong
http://www.li.net/~jeffwong/index.htm
Site updated May 30th.