Please take into consideration that this used to be one huge fic and it was
broken into parts. If you wish to find this story in its entirety, you can find
on my webpage http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
Bubblegum Crisis/Ranma 1/2: Just won't die 1 part 3
"Goddamnit!!!" Madigan swore, "What the hell's going on?!"
She was trying to see the battle on the screen but a cloud of dust had
formed after the building was destroyed as if fell down over the
superboomer. The visibility was next to none as she saw nothing but
dust.
The dust finally began to settle as she caught sight of Ryoga standing
in front of a pile of rubble.
That's it, she thought. That superboomer was defeated in a matter of
seconds. But she wished she didn't think that way when she saw the
rubble explode upward in a hurricane as she caught sight of a massive
blue aura through the dust cloud as it settled again, preventing her
from seeing anything again.
"Shit!!"
"Good, I was hoping you didn't die from something like that." Ryoga
said with a grin, "I want you to suffer."
"You got lucky with that attack." Ranma said, his aura glowing
brightly, "I wasn't expectin' you to use strategy in your fight." He
cracked his knuckles, "I guess that's enough for our warm up. Let's
fight!!!"
He got into his battle stance as Ryoga got into his. They were both
regarding each other carefully, waiting for the other to make the next
move. Ranma slowly started strafing out toward the middle of the street.
He didn't want anymore buildings to be destroyed. The streets were now
empty, all the cars having stopped about a hundred yards back in both
direction, mostly because of the accidents that was caused from the
distractions and destruction of seeing such power being produced.
"Horizontal Wave Bakusai Tenketsu!!!" Ryoga shouted as he slammed an open
palm down on the ground. What happened next caught Ranma by totally
surprise. He was expecting to see the shrapnel of the explosion coming
toward him, but that didn't happen. The ground Ryoga was standing on
didn't explode. Instead, the ground below Ranma exploded.
"What the-" Ranma managed to say right before he was consumed in the
explosion. When the explosion abated, Ranma fell to one of his knees, a
few cuts and bruises covering his arms from when he used them to protect
himself. He began laughing as he slowly got to his feet, "I-Is that all
you've got?!?!"
Ryoga's aura flared brightly as Ranma continued to mock him.
"I thought I was in trouble there for a second." he said, wiping the
dust from his clothes. He smiled wryly at Ryoga, "But you have gotten
stronger over the years, much stronger. I must give you that. You
actually had me worried for a second. Now its my turn!!!"
Ranma held one hand in front of him, palm toward the sky "Mouko
Takabisha!!!" he said as a huge ball of energy formed, hovering just
inches above his hand. While still holding the ball in one hand, Ranma
placed his hand in front of him in the same fashion "Mouko Takabisha!!!"
Ryoga took a step back cautiously as he noticed Ranma smile.
"Here's where it gets interesting." Ranma said with a smile as he threw both
of his ki-blasts at once. Ryoga was caught watching in disbelief as both spheres
of pure energy rocketed toward him at lightning speeds. Both of the blasts
struck Ryoga in the chest, sending him flying into backwards a hundred yards,
smashing into the abandoned cars down at one end of the street.
Ryoga didn't move as Ranma walked up to him, stopping a dozen yards
away.
Ryoga began laughing as he slowly got to his feet, "Man, that felt like a
baby's kick!!! It didn't hurt one bit!!!"
Before he had a chance to react, Ranma lunged forward, "Kashuu Tenshin
Amaguriken!!!" He punched Ryoga well over a thousand times in the
stomach before Ryoga had a chance to react. The impact of the punches
sent him flying backwards another hundred feet, smashing into several
cars in the process.
Ryoga managed to recover in time to roll to his feet just as Ranma was
about to land another thousand punches on him. He wiped a very tiny
trickle of blood from his mouth.
"So, Ranma, you think you can defeat me like you did over forty years
ago?" Ryoga said with a smile, "I don't think so. I've learned a lot
over the years, and that trick won't work on my again. That I promise
you."
"Who says I'm trying? I'm not even using a fraction of my energy."
Ranma replied with a smirk.
Sylia and Priss and Linna hovered down on to a nearby roof as they saw
how much destruction had taken place already. The streets and most of
the buildings were destroyed.
"God." Linna said, "This is horrible. Who would do something like
that?"
"That's who." Priss said pointing toward Ranma and Ryoga as they both
stood in front of one another, slowly circling one another. None of them
were attacking, both of them sizing each other up.
"Who's he fighting?" Linna asked.
Sylia brought the scope of her rifle up to eye level and peered
through it. Her gaze rested on a young looking man sporting a yellow and
black headband. As she looked at him, she wondered if this was another
prototype boomer or another human with powers akin to Ranma's. He looked
human, but there was no telling for sure. As of right now, she considered him a
boomer, "I can't really tell, but I think it's best we pick him off before he
causes anymore damage."
She aimed her rifle toward the boomer's head.
"Hey, what are you doin'?" Linna asked, placing her hand on Sylia's shoulder,
"How do you know if he's a boomer? We can't just going around killing boomers
unless we know for sure."
"I know, but look at all the damage he and Ranma are creating." she replied
"It's best that we get rid of him before something really bad happens, like
their battle spanning all the way down to the coliseum where many could get hurt
or killed.
She aimed her rifle.
Ranma stopped for a second and said, "Hey, Ryoga, exactly why are we
fighting?"
"What do you think?!" he said viciously, his fangs showing, "Akane died
because you couldn't protect her. You should have been the one that died, not
her. I'm here to avenge her death!"
He charged forward toward Ranma, his arm cocked back, ready to punch a hole
through his face, "Now, prepare yourself!!!"
"Wait a minute!" Ranma said, holding his hand in front on him, causing
Ryoga to stop dead in his tracks.
"What?!"
"What about you?" Ranma said, "How come YOU couldn't protect her? YOU
were there also. How come YOU couldn't stop her from gettin' killed,
huh?"
"I was a pig at that time!!" Ryoga said, his obvious resentment now beginning
to show, "I couldn't do anything. It was your fault! You're the one who splashed
me with cold water!!" Tears were now starting to flow from his eyes. He resented
the fact that he couldn't do anything to save his beloved Akane, all because he
was a pig at the time, all because of Ranma, "I would have saved her if I was in
my human form!"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, I would have laid down my life for her!!!" Ryoga said.
"And then what?" Ranma said "You AND Akane would have been killed.
Dontcha get it? It wasn't any of our faults. We were caught unprepared.
We never saw those missiles coming. Even though the two of us HAD to run
away, there was nothing we could do. We, too, would have been killed if
we stayed behind."
Ryoga was silent for several long moments. As much as he hated to
believe it, Ranma was right. Both of them would had been killed. He
wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I'm glad we survived." Ranma said, "That way, we can avenge their
deaths. None of them should have died, not Kasumi, not Nabiki, heck not
even my father should have died, but they did. And they won't rest easy
until we stop the killers that killed them."
"We're cowards!!!" Ryoga shouted, "We should have died along side
them!!! It would have been the honorable thing to do, to die fighting
rather than run away like cowards!!!" Ryoga's aura started growing as
his sense of depression started to delve deeper than it ever had.
"It's not our fault!" Ranma replied, "It's Genom's. They were the one
that created those boomers, and they were the one that didn't do a thing
to stop those boomers when they went berserk all over Nerima. They're the
cause of all of this."
"Genom?" Ryoga said.
"Yeah, Genom is the company that created those boomers that supposedly went
berserk in Nerima." Ranma replied "Even though they denied they had any
involvement in them going berserk, I know, for a fact that they sent those
boomers to Nerima, using it as a testing ground."
Ryoga said nothing. He remembered catching sight of several boomers
right before one of the missiles struck the Tendo's home. He had been
knocked unconscious and had trouble remembering anything else after
that. All that he knew was Akane was dead, and someone was going to pay.
And if it was going to be Genom, then so be it.
"That's Genom tower." Ranma said, pointing up toward the thousand
meter high tower that loomed high above the clouds several miles away
from where they were. Even from the coastline of Japan, Genom tower
could be seen easily.
"If that's the tower, then way aren't you attacking it?!" Ryoga
sneered, "Why dontcha just walk up to the front door and destroy the
entire blasted thing?!"
"I can't!" he replied. He really wanted to but he knew that if he did,
the entire world would plunge into financial chaos. And not only that.
Hundreds of innocent people that lived near the site of the blast would
be killed. And for what, some lousy revenge, "I can't do that."
"Then I will." Ryoga said, turning toward the looming tower. He
brought both hands in front of his body, angled toward the center of
Genom Tower. He intended to collapse the building in a single blast. His
aura grew bright red as he gathered all the depression he had from the
years of living without his beloved Akane.
"No!!!!" Ranma yelled. But it was too late.
"Shi Shi Hakodan!!!"
Ranma, knowing that the blast would kill hundreds, jumped in front of
Ryoga as the ki-blast was shot from his extended hands. The blast that
hit Ranma was so powerful that a huge ring of fire extended from the
impact, like a ripple in a pond, causing both him and Ryoga to be
consumed. The fire consumed everything in its path.
The impact of the blast had been so powerful that every glass window
within a city block away shatter from the vibrations. The buildings that
stood nearby where the explosion was crumbling to the ground from the
violent shaking, as if an earthquake was taking place. Sylia, Priss, and
Linna were all knocked off their feet as they watched the ripple of
flames expanded away from him.
Sylia was forced to drop her sniper rifle in order to avoid the
destructive blast. She and Linna and Priss used their boosters to hover
backwards to a safe distance. But it was too late as the blast struck
the building they were on, causing it to collapse. The three girls were
buried under the pile of rubble.
Both Ranma and Ryoga stood at the center of the explosion, both of
them practically charcoalled black from the flames the ki-blast had
produced. The ground surrounding them was also scorched, all except for
the ground directly behind both Ranma and Ryoga.
Ranma and Ryoga were both looking at each other, both of them deathly
silent. Long moments passed, neither of them saying a word.
Ranma then keeled forward and fell to his knees in front of Ryoga,
blood flowing from his lips, creating a small puddle of red by his
knees.
He fell forward onto his hands, "T-that h-hurt y'know." he managed
to say, blood still trickling from his mouth. He clenched his teeth as
surges of pain consumed every inch of his body. He noticed the hands on
the ground becoming blurry as his vision started to fail him. He was
just moments from unconsciousness.
Ryoga looked down at Ranma, noticing the puddle of blood forming
around his feet. He clenched teeth from the pain surging through him.
He shuddered, wondering how much worse it could had been if he had
actually used one of his more powerful ki-attack. If he had used that,
they would had wiped out more than half of MegaTokyo.
Ryoga was looking at Ranma in absolute disbelief. But soon, the sight
of Ranma started to blur for Ryoga. He, too, keeled over, blood gushing
from his lips. The blast had been too much for the both of them. The
pain was excruciating, too much for any human to endure. His brain was
trying to avoid the pain as his body tried to shut itself down by going
into the deep slumber of unconsciousness.
Ranma and Ryoga lay in a pool of their own blood, both of them unmoving.
"Y-you're right, R-Ranma. T-that did hurt." Ryoga said weakly, right
before passing out
Madigan and Carper were staring at them in disbelief.
"W-what the hell was that?!" the woman said. She had seen the
explosion clearly from the safety of Carper's office, but what scared
the hell out of here was that she felt the entire building shake from
it. The building had been several miles away from the explosion, yet she
felt it. And it disturbed her terribly. She wondered how powerful that
blast must had been if it was capable of shaking a building from that
distance.
Carper glanced out the window of his office. He looked down at the
horizon, noticing the ripple of fire spreading outward away from the
site of the explosion. The ripple of flames seemed to be the size of an
entire city block before it abated. Even from several miles away, he
could see the destruction it had caused quite easily.
The smoke on the screen cleared up, revealing a good view of two
individuals facing one another. From an explosion like that, she was
expecting to see the remains of what was left of the superboomer and
that human. That was why she was shocked to see both that human and
superboomer still standing, the only visible sign of damage among them
being some darkly scorched clothes.
"What the fuck?!" she cursed unlady-like. There were no words to
describe her shock. She had never seen something like this before
"They're both standing!!!"
Carper walked away from the window and looked at the screen again. He
didn't know what to say. He felt a sense of fear that humans were
capable of evoking such power, but he also felt awe from the thought
that the same human could survive a blast like that. And not only that,
but the superboomer survived that also.
"Hey, look at that." Carper said, pointing toward the screen. He noticed the
superboomer falling to its knees, its limbs seemingly no longer functioning.
Madigan and Carper both noticed the superboomer cough up some blood
before it ceased its functioning. The two of them both gasped in relief
as they realized that they no longer had to worry about it anymore, that
it can no longer interfere with Genom's affairs.
Madigan felt this sense of accomplishment at a job well done, even though she
and Carper had nothing to do with getting that Ryoga Hibiki person to fight that
superboomer. Even though the sense of accomplishment did feel good, she felt a
bit disappointed. Someone like Ryoga Hibiki working for Genom would do the
company proud. It was too bad he was consumed in the blast. But then again, if
his death meant the destruction of that superboomer, it was worth it.
Madigan laughed, glad that the situation with that superboomer had
finally been resolved.
"Well, judging from the fingerprints, it turns out that he is human, just like
Ranma." Nene told the other three girls and Mackie over her communicator. She
was at AD Police Headquarters, having stayed late after finding out that AD
Police had responded to that explosion and found two people unconscious in the
middle of the street. Her department thought that they had been an innocent
bystander to that explosion and had taken them to the closest hospital for some
medical treatment. It was now several hours since that battle between Ranma and
Ryoga.
"The person's identified as a Ryoga Hibiki. Place of residence is unknown.
From what I could dig up on his background in such a short notice, I found out
that he and Ranma used to go to school together. I assume they were fighting
each other because of some rivalry between the two of them or perhaps they were
enemies."
"What have you found on the person named Akane, Kasumi, and Nabiki?" Sylia
spoke into the computer. She and Priss and Linna and Mackie were all sitting in
front of the computer screen in Sylia's penthouse. Sylia and the others had been
lucky that Mackie managed to find them before anyone else could. They had gotten
back shortly after having been buried alive under all that rubble. Sylia
remembered hearing the conversation between Ryoga and Ranma. She remembered
hearing those names, and it might prove to be useful in finding out who Ryoga
really was.
Nene smiled. It had taken her quite a lot of effort to search through
all those lists of people either named Kasumi, Nabiki, or Akane, but she
hit the jackpot when she found three people that shared the same
familyname ."I found three of people of that same name, and the same
family name. Their familyname was Tendo, and they resided in Nerima. I
think they were the family Ranma was talking about that died during the
'Nerima Massacre'."
"What about Ryoga Hibiki?" Linna said, now speaking toward the computer screen
"What else have you found out about him?"
"Not much." Nene's voice echoed into the livingroom, "Most of the data based
on him is unknown. Aside from some minor identifications like his name and date
of birth, there's not much else I can find on him. He's a mystery as of right
now. The only thing I can think of is that Ranma and Ryoga are enemies. It's
either that or Genom somehow found a way to hire or manipulate him into fighting
Ranma. I think it's the former. I think Ryoga liked this Akane person, and seems
to have some great resentment toward Ranma because Ranma couldn't protect her"
"I think that sounds romantic, avenging the death of a person you love." Linna
said, sighing. Why couldn't she meet someone like that?
"Now's not the time to be thinking about something like that, Linna." Sylia
said, "We have to find out more about Ryoga. We can't just second guess this
situation." She turned her attention away from Linna and then back onto the
computer screen, "Nene, where were they taken, what hospital?"
"Both were taken to Mizunkan Hospital." Nene said "Why?"
"Well, I think we should pay them both a visit, so we could find out
what's going on here." she replied "What rooms are they in?"
"Hold on one second." Nene said. The sound of her typing quickly on
her keyboard could be heard.
"I don't understand." Linna said to Sylia "Why are we going through
all this trouble to find out who this person is?"
"Yeah." Priss added "It's really none of our business."
"I know that battle between Ranma and this Ryoga person is really none
of our business." Sylia replied, "but imagine what might happen if their battle
happened to make its way down to the coliseum. Many could be killed."
That seemed to make Priss keep quiet. Sylia was right.
Nene's shocked voice echoed into the room
"Oh my god!!! They're sharing the same room!!!"
Ranma opened his eyes slowly, not really knowing where he was. He quickly
realized that he was lying in a bed as he sat upright and surveyed his
surroundings. The room was in was filled with advanced medical equipment, most
of the wires from them attached to his body, as if they were there to observe
his condition. He noticed Ryoga lying in a bed on the other side of the tiny
room.
"Yo, Ryoga." Ranma said, wincing a bit from the pain that shot through
him, "You all right?"
Ryoga slowly open his eyes, facing the direction the voice came from.
When his eyes rested on Ranma, he quickly sat uptight, only to be seized
by a spasm of pain. Ryoga sat still, waiting for the pain to subside,
allowing Ryoga to survey the tiny room.
"W-where are we?" he said, looking down at himself and noticing that
there were bandages wrapped around his chest. He took a deep breath and
felt a bit of pain, realizing that he must have a few bruised ribs.
"I don't know." Ranma said, looking around. He slowly flipped his legs
around the edge of the bed, the wires attached to his body being pulled
taut, as he hopped off. A bolt of pain shot through him "Man, that
hurts....."
Ranma quickly sat back down on the bed and laid back down, not wanting
to really move. He needed some rest, that was all. His body would heal
in no time. But then again, if he wanted to heal even quicker, he could
do something else....
Ryoga chuckled a bit but the spasm of pain caused him to think
otherwise.
"Man, what happened?" he said. He looked at his hands and arms
and noticed that they seemed a bit red, like he had suffered from an
extreme sunburn. Upon seeing that, he remembered what had happened. He
remembered seeing Ranma jump in front of his hands as one of his ki-
blasts shot from his hands.
Ryoga opened his mouth to give Ranma a piece of his mind for doing
something like that, but he stopped when he realized there must had been
a good reason. The both of them could had been killed. Surely, Ranma
wouldn't do something that stupid. Not unless there was a good reason, "I hope
you have a good reason for what you did."
"Yeah, I did." Ranma said, looking up at the ceiling.
"Well, I'm waiting for an explanation."
"Man, I figured over the years, you would at least've learned to think before
you do something that stupid." Ranma started.
"What did you say?!" Ryoga spat, sitting upright, ready to pummel
Ranma for a comment like that. Even though they were sharing the same
room, it didn't mean he needed to put up with stuff like this. He was
about to get up out of bed but stopped when the fit of pain jolted
through him. He realized it was best to just take a rest. He'd pummel
Ranma later, after he healed.
"Do you once think about what would had happened if that blast hit the
building?" Ranma said.
"Yeah, it would've caused some major damage to it." Ryoga said,
"What's your point?"
"It would have also killed the hundreds of people that lived around
that building from the falling debris." Ranma answered, "I'm pretty sure
you don't want to do something like that."
Ryoga was silent for a moment. Ranma was definitely right. Many would
had died if that blast had struck the building. And that was something
he didn't want to live with. He wasn't a murderer. Well, perhaps he
would kill Ranma for letting Akane die, but he would never take the
lives of innocent people.
When Ranma realized that Ryoga was silent, he shook his head "Ah
what's the use of explaining it. You're too pig-headed to understand
something like that. Right, P-chan?"
"Stop calling me P-chan!!!"
Nene's heart was racing as she sped down the highway on her scooter.
She had never pushed her scooter to go this fast before. Sure, Priss
went this fast on a regular basis, but Nene wasn't used to this. The
engine of her scooter sounded like it was going to explode from being
constantly redlined.
She swore to herself, wishing AD Police Headquarters wasn't so close
to the hospital both Ranma and Ryoga were staying. Since it was so
close, she had to be the one to get over there and have the two of them
separated so there were no chance of them fighting each other again. Yeah
right. Like she would be of any use.
Nene saw the giant hospital off in the distance as she got closer and
closer. She was only a mile away from it now. She'd be there in less
than a minute at the speed she was going.
Nene almost fell off her bike going at such a high speed when a huge
blast exploded on the east side of the hospital, the side Ranma and
Ryoga's room were. Her heart dropped as she realized that Ranma and
Ryoga must had already awaken.
She quickly slowed down to a stop, wondering if she should continue
on. Would she be of any use to stopping the fighting between the both of
them? Most likely not. What could she do?
Nene decided it was best she avoid the situation. She jerk the handle
bars toward one direction as the back wheel of her scooter spun. She was
going to get out of there as fast as possible.
A huge explosion occurred some distance away from her, but the impact was so
great she was thrown off her scooter. Nene frightfully looked back in the
direction of the hospital and noticed that the explosions were getting closer.
The first explosion had occurred at the hospital. The second one had occurred a
about a few hundred feet away, in her direction.
"I told you to stop calling me P-chan!!!" Ryoga said as he ran down
the street, closely behind Ranma's trail. He sent a massive ki-blast
toward Ranma, intent on hitting him directing in his back, but Ranma
skillfully dodged it.
Ranma began taking great leaps backwards as he stuck out his tongue
"What's up, P-chan, can't take a joke?! Look at you. Your aim's lousy. I
betcha you couldn't even hit the ground!" He took those words back when
a ki-blast missed hitting him directly in the face by inches. His hair
was singed from the extreme heat as it whizzed by his head.
"How dare you say something like that?!" Ryoga said, his aura glowing.
He leaped high into the air and landed on the roof of one of the
buildings. From his vantage point, he would have an easier shot. Ranma
also lest up onto a roof.
When Ranma noticed Ryoga's growing aura, he realized that there might
still be people around, even if it was late, "Hey, Ryoga, lighten up. I
was only kidding. You're going to get someone killed if you keep this
up."
Anger had prevented Ryoga from hearing as he let loose another ki-
blast, intent on toppling the entire building Ranma stood upon.
"Shi Shi Hakodan!!!" Ryoga shouted.
Ranma lest into the air, landing safely several hundred feet away,
as the building he once stood on crumpled to the ground in a fiery mess
"Hey, Ryoga, stop it already. Enough's enough. You're going to hurt
someone!"
He lest away another several hundred feet as that building was destroyed.
Nene's heart almost stopped when she caught sight of two shadowy figures
leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the few buildings being destroyed in the
process as they were coming directly toward her. She tried to get on her scooter
again, but the shockwaves of the explosions kept knocking her off.
Ranma caught sight of Nene out of the corner of his eye just as the
building behind him exploded. While he was soaring through the air from
one of his bounds, he realized that the falling debris would bury Nene.
"Eek!!!" Ranma heard Nene say, just as he landed against one of the
walls of another building and kicked away from it, using it to recoil
down toward Nene. He landed quickly and let loose one of his own ki-
blasts.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!!!" he said as he sent a hurricane spiraling from his fist,
up toward the heavens. The falling debris was absorbed into the blast and sent
flying in different directions, all of them away from Nene. Unfortunately, Ranma
had forgotten that Nene would also be brought up in his blast.
Ryoga had caught sight of Nene just as Ranma landed on the ground
right near her. He quickly realized what Ranma was trying to save her
with his hurricane blast but noticed Nene was taken up along with the
falling debris. Already having forgotten his anger toward Ranma, Ryoga
lest through the air and caught Nene in mid-flight, twisting in mid-air
so his back would absorb the impact of the debris. Once the ki-blast
subsided, Ryoga found himself falling down toward the terra firma. He
reacted easily by twisting once again in mid-air and landing softly on
his feet, Nene safely in his arms.
Ranma gave Ryoga a quick look. It was about time they finally stopped their
bickering. Their fighting could have gotten Nene killed. And it would had been
over something so petty as teasing. They had to stop going on like this. They
had to stop fighting.
"Truce?" Ranma asked "No more fighting?"
"No more fighting."
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 traveling passed below
her at intense speeds. Her first reaction 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, jumping from one building to
the next in a single bound. Immediately, her heart lest 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 could 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 lest 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 strong 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 look 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 managed 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 brows 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!!!"
Sylia 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 snap 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 probably 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 fingers, 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. And that wasn't the worst of it either.
"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 Ranma 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.
"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 even cute a
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
mountains 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 abandoned 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 abandoned 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 disintegrate 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 toward 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 Hakodan!!!"
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 occurred 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 abandoned 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. Unfortunately, the tap was too far away to pick up any discernible
conversation. 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 her, "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 with a sigh, "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 picture.
It was a picture Akane Tendo.
Ranma moaned a bit as he walked down the streets of what used to be
an abandoned 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 abandoned."
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 pessimistic 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 monster 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 burst into laughter.
C&C welcomed ^_^