I'm sorry I haven't posted in the past few days. Finals was taking its toll.....
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 6
"It'll take a little while to find out what's in the chip." Nene said.
She and the others were no longer in their hardsuits. She was now sitting in
front of the computer in the Knight Saber's Headquarters, "So I guess you're
going to have to keep yourselves busy for a short time."
"The suit, did you destroy the suit?" Sylia finally asked Ryoga.
Ranma chuckled, "I think he did more than destroy the suit. It's probably
nothing more than a pile of melted metal by now. There's no way Genom would be
able to know that it was Priss' suit."
Sylia smiled, "Good."
"Um, so what should we do?" Ranma asked, scratching the back of his
head.
"Hey, I have an idea, why not have Ranma go through those tests?"
Linna suggested. She was very curious as to how Ranma would do in the
same tests that the girls had taken a while back, "That is, if Sylia lets
us."
"Yeah, that's like a good idea." Priss agreed. She turned toward Sylia
and said, "Well, how about it?"
"Sure."
"I ain't doing no tests, I hate tests." Ranma said.
"It's a different kind of test." Linna turned toward Ranma and said, "These
tests are used to find out your skills, like in your reflexes, strength, and
speed. It'd be nice to actually know to what extent you and Ryoga have when it
comes to these aspects."
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Oh, okay."
He was lead in a windowless room by Linna that had a glass window
where everyone was allowed to watch how he progressed. When she closed
the door behind her, Ranma turned toward the glass and spoke, "Well, now
what?"
"This is a reflex test, you're going to be fighting a hologram as it attacks
you. At random times, a spot will appear and you only have a fraction of a
second to hit it." Sylia's voice filtered into the room through a speaker.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and waited patiently.
After a short while, a weird looking blob with tentacles appeared in front of
Ranma and began attacking.
"What should I do?" he asked, casually dodging each attack.
"Nothing, just continue to dodge until you see a dot and then hit it." Sylia
said.
Ranma continued to dodge until he saw the dot. With lightning speed,
he touched it and the blob disappeared.
"Is that it?" he said.
"What level did he just pass?" Linna was curious.
"He just beat the level you've been stuck on for weeks." Sylia said
with a smirk.
Linna's face faulted. She considered herself to have great reflexes and Ranma
just beat her without breaking a sweat, "Okay, crank the level up all the way to
the highest level. Let's see how he does."
Sure, Linna would never be able to achieve reflexes fast enough to
beat the hardest level, but Ranma would probably have trouble also, or
perhaps lose.
Sylia set the test to the hardest level and pressed a button. A blob
appeared in front of Ranma again and began to attack him. Its attacks
were incredibly fast, of almost lightning speeds.
After a short while of dodging, the blob disappeared.
"What happened?" Priss asked, "Why did it stop attacking him? What
gives?"
Sylia looked at the screen in disbelief, her eyes wide open. The
screen said he had hit the dot. But she had never seen the dot, let
alone Ranma hitting it.
"The screen says he hit the mark." she said.
"Hit it?" Linna said, "How the hell did he hit it? I didn't even see
the dot. When did he have the chance to attack? I didn't even see his
hands move once."
Sylia walked over to a screen. The screen monitored Ranma's moves. She
would play it in slow motion to see when he had hit it, "Let's see."
As Ranma waited in the room, everyone watched the video. It took a few minutes
before they caught sight of Ranma attacking the blob. The attack lasted only one
frame. One frame had his arms by his side, the next frame showed him touching
the dot, and the next frame with his arm back by his side.
"One frame?!" Sylia gasped "His punch lasted one frame!!!"
"So what's wrong with that?" Akane asked.
"The camera moves at a hundred and twenty frames per second." Sylia
said, unable to comprehend Ranma's speed.
Akane shrugged her shoulders, "Well, that's not all that impressive,
the last time I remember, he can punch somewhere around 400 times per
second."
"I have to sit down." Sylia said. This guy CAN'T be human.
Ranma stepped into the room, "What's up? I didn't know what was going
on, so I figured the test was finished."
Akane turned toward Ranma and asked, "Ranma, how fast is your Kashuu
Tenshin Amaguriken?"
Ranma seemed to think for a moment before he responded, "I dunno, I think at
around nine thousand times per second, over ten thousand if I really tried."
"Nine thousand times?!" Priss muttered.
"I'll prove it to ya." Ranma said, "You have any rice around?"
"Yeah, upstairs, why?" Linna said.
"Can you get, say, a three cups worth of uncooked rice and a pair of chopstick
for me please?" Ranma said, "What I'll do is throw the rice into the air and
catch every kernel with the chopsticks before it lands
on the floor. That isn't too hard."
"We believe you." Sylia said, "No need to prove it. But wow, that's fast.
There aren't even guns that can fire as many bullets per second as you do
punches."
"Well, how did I do?" Ranma asked, curious. "I mean reflex-wise."
Sylia took a breath. His speed was incredible. She said, "Well, you
know when your hand touches something really hot by accident and you
immediately pull away? Without even reacting? Well, picture yourself
having reflexes akin to that but on a faster scale."
"That's fast, right?" Ranma asked, a bit confused.
"Um, yeah." Akane said, almost exasperated.
"Let's see how well you do on the strength test." Priss said,
changing the subject.
"Hey, Ryoga, that's your department." Ranma smirked, "Ryoga's the
stronger of the two."
Ryoga blushed a bit, "Thanks, Ranma."
"It's just too bad he's as dumb as he is strong." Ranma couldn't help
but add.
"You take that back!!!" Ryoga said, starting to glow.
Akane elbowed Ranma in the gut and said, "You leave Ryoga alone." The
elbow didn't even faze Ranma, "He is not dumb"
"Thank you, Akane" Ryoga said, his heart thumping. How nice it was to
have Akane consider him not dumb.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and pushed Ryoga into one of the rooms, "Go show
'em how strong you are, pig boy." He emphasized that with a big toothy grin
right before he closed the door behind him.
Ryoga was about to punch the door down when he realized it would most
likely break it down. He took a deep breath and turned toward the glass
window, "What would you like me to do?"
Sylia pointed toward a barbell in the corner of the room and said into
the microphone, "That barbell over there, lift it up over your head."
Ryoga did as he was told.
Sylia then turned the magnetic field generators located below the
floor, and then said, "I just turned on some magnets below the ground.
The iron barbell would be attracted toward the ground due to magnetism,
thus, the barbell will feel heavier. Just continue to lift until you
can't life anymore."
Ryoga nodded, "Okay."
He lifted the barbell over head with ease.
Sylia shook her head. This was more than she expected. Already, the
weight Ryoga was lifting was well over several hundred pounds. Luckily,
the generators would be able to produce several thousand pounds worth of
attraction.
Ryoga didn't even break a sweat lifting the weight when the generators
were producing three fourths its maximum power.
"This is crazy." Linna said, looking at the strength scale, "He's
lifting more weight than we could in our hardsuits."
Sylia turned the generators all the way to its maximum output and
rerouted some more energy into them from several other generator for
more power.
She then spoke into the microphone, "Okay, Ryoga, now it's time for the next
test. But first, I'd like you to pick that barbell up and move it to the other
corner of the room so you would have extra space."
"If the test is over, then why did you put the generators on full power and
then some?" Priss couldn't help but ask.
"Because he won't be expecting it, that's why." Sylia replied, "I want to see
how strong he is even when he isn't trying."
"I think you have your answer there." Linna said, pointing toward
Ryoga.
Ryoga had picked the barbell off the floor with one hand and walked over to
one of the corner. Everyone in the control room except for Akane and Ranma
stared in disbelief.
"You want it here, right?" Ryoga said pointing.
"O-of course." Sylia said after the shock wore off, "As you can tell, the
other corners are occupied."
Ryoga laughed weakly as he scratched his head. But he didn't use his
free arm to scratch his head. He was scratching his head with the same
arm holding the barbell.
"Shit, he has that thing over his head and with one arm." Priss said. She
looked over toward the panel and read the weight being produced by the
generators, "Holy shit, that can't be right. He's holding several tons with one
arm?!"
Ryoga placed the barbell down and said, "Okay, what would you like me
to do now?"
Sylia took a moment to absorb everything in before she said,
"Nevermind. You don't need to do the other test. What we have for use
will be useless in assessing your strength level. You can come on out
now."
Ryoga did as he was told.
"It's all really a matter of ki that determines one's strength." Ranma stated
matter-of-factly.
"Ki?" Sylia asked, "I heard of it. Everyone's got it. It's some form of inner
power that the body generates, right? But what is it really?"
Ranma took a moment to think before replying, "Well, you're right when you
said that everyone has it. Actually, everything has ki. It's just the ability to
use it that differs."
"What do you mean?" Priss asked, thoroughly interested.
"People have the ability generate quite a bit of power." he replied,
"Unfortunately, the hard part is harnessing it. Ryoga and I, we've been
learning to harness this power since we were very young, and over the
years, we both learned how to control and produce more of it."
"That's bullshit." Priss said, skeptic, "Humans can't generate energy, like a
generator or a power plant. That's impossible."
"Actually, it's different." Ranma said, "the energy created by power plants
and generators are...what's the word...external, while ki is generated
internally. Also, internal energy is far stronger than external. Back then, our
ki-blast were all emotional based meaning we would be unable to simply conjure
it outta nowhere unless we felt, in my case, confident, or in Ryoga's case,
depressed. Over time, we both understood ki more and more and eventually, we
learned how to control it and not have to rely on emotions anymore."
The three girls stared at Ranma, unable to comprehend what he was
saying.
"Now, in order to control and summon ki, you have to learn how to breath and
concentrate." Ranma continued, "The more you concentrate, the stronger your ki.
But the thing is, ki is very hard to control. When you're summoning ki, you feel
like your going to explode, so naturally, your instincts tell you to get rid of
it. But instead, ki actually helps you, not hurt you...if used correctly."
"Huh?" Linna muttered.
"I'll show you." he said. He turned toward Ryoga and spoke, "Yo, Ryoga, you up
to doing a little demonstration?"
"Like how?"
"I'll throw a ki blast toward you, and you block it." Ranma said, but
when he saw Ryoga about to refuse, he added, "I won't really be the one
throwing it. I'll let one of the girls throw it."
Ryoga thought about it for a moment, and then he nodded, "Okay, I'll
do it."
"Do what?" Linna asked, "What are you going to do? What are you going to show
us?"
Ranma smiled, "I'll show one of you how to use and manipulate ki. Will one of
you follow me please?"
Sylia said, "I'll do it."
She followed Ranma into the room, closing the door behind her. Ryoga was
already setting himself up to block the ki blast, "Don't you go crazy, Ranma! I
swear, if you hurt me, I'll get you back, ten fold."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get ready." Ranma said to Ryoga. He then turned
toward Sylia and smiled, "You ready?"
"Ready? Ready for what? What do I do?"
"Just do this. Cup your hands together like your holding a tiny invisible
ball. Hold the cupped hands at waistlevel just by your right hip." he said. When
she did as she was told, he continued, "Okay, what I'm going to do is place two
hands on your shoulder and let my own ki flow into you. All that power will
immediately flow to your cupped hands. It'll feel weird, trust me. After a
couple of seconds, you'll have this incredible feeling of energy flowing through
you. When you feel like you can't hold it in anymore, quickly bring your hands
to the front of you, your palms open and facing Ryoga. Don't worry about Ryoga,
he'll know what to do. You understand?"
Sylia nodded. She had no real idea what she was going to do, but she
had heard his instruction clearly and had every intention of following
precisely.
Ranma closed his eyes in concentration as he stood behind Sylia,
placing both his hands on Sylia's shoulders. After a short while, he
started to glow blue.
"What the hell is that?!" Priss said from behind the glass, "God, he's
glowing!!!"
Sylia's heart raced as she anticipated a the energy to flow into her.
She had no idea of the power Ranma sent surging into her body. Every
nerve of her body flowed with energy, ready to explode. She looked down
at her hands and noticed a small ball of pure energy forming between her
fingers.
Sylia started to glow the same color as Ranma. As she stood there, her
hands cupped together, she felt this unbelievable power surging through
her. It felt like she was nothing but pure energy. She felt like she
could take on the world.
She looked down at her hands and noticed that the space between them
were beginning to expand as the energy ball grew larger and larger.
Pretty soon, it looked like she was holding a glowing basket ball. As
tried desperately to hold her hands together, she felt herself unable to
control the energy surging through her. She had to release it somehow.
"Sylia, bring your hands forward and picture a ball of energy shooting
from your hands, and it will." Ranma said.
Sylia did as she was told. When she did, a massive ki blast shot from
her fingertips, rocketing toward Ryoga who was across the room. The
amount of power she sent through her fingertips was nothing like she had
experienced. It felt like she was shooting something akin to a small
sun, equal in power, through the air toward....
"Ryoga!!!" she shouted as she realized the blast would hit him.
Ryoga didn't even flinch as the blast came rocketing toward him. All
he did was stick his index finger forward, striking the energy ball
right before it hit him, causing the ball to shatter into tiny specks of
light and energy, like sparks.
Sylia stood there, unable to move, unable to comprehend what had just
happened.
"Well, that's what you would consider a ki-based projectile." Ranma said.
"God, the amount of energy I felt when I released that felt like it
could destroy this entire room and everything in it." she said.
Ranma nodded, "Yes, it could. And also, that happens to be the weakest
ki blast. The power of your ki expands...what's that word....exponentially...the
longer you hold your position before releasing it."
"That's the weakest?!" Linna said, entering the room. She was looking
at Sylia, wondering if she was all right. She was expecting something to
be wrong with her because Sylia had been glowing blue with some weird
aura a second ago.
"You've gotta be kidding." Priss said, also entering the room, "That's
the weakest? God, then how strong is the strongest?"
"You mean our seppukku blasts?" Ranma asked, "You don't wanna know.
Waaaay too strong."
"How strong?" Linna asked.
Ryoga stepped forward, totally unscathed, "Waaaay strong."
"How strong?!"
"Well, I never really made my absolute strongest, but I know my
weakest seppukku blast can probably take out half of this entire city."
Ranma said matter-of-factly, "Besides, I wouldn't even attempt to throw
something remotely close to my strongest."
"Why not?" Priss asked.
"Well, first, I'll die in the process of generating such a blast. And
if I survive, I'll die because I'll be in the center of the blast. And
second, you can probably kiss the entire city, and anything surrounding
it for a mile or so, goodbye. I don't wanna brag, but I'm pretty sure if
I really really really tried, I can create explosions equal to a nuclear
one, minus the radiation..."
Priss and Linna and Sylia stood there, gaping at Ranma.
Finally, the silence was broken when Linna turned toward her two
female companions and said, "They're goddamn monsters."
"I'm not a monster." Ryoga said, taking a step forward.
"Yes, we are." Ranma said to Ryoga.
"What makes you say that?" Akane asked, concern in her voice.
Ranma's visage changed, "Well, think about it, the both of us could
probably wipe out this entire city without sweating if we wanted to."
"Ah, I see you managed to keep your sense of modesty over the years
Ranma." Akane said wryly.
"Just hear me out, Akane." he replied, causing her to regret having
said that, "I don't know about Ryoga, but I'm starting to believe I'm
getting way too strong for my own good. And it also doesn't help that
we're cursed and can't die naturally."
"What? What did you say?" Sylia said. She could have sworn she heard
Ranma say that he and Ryoga were immortal.
"You're cursed?" Linna said, "What does that mean? What kind of curse
is it?"
Ranma shook his head, "I'm not gonna tell you, only Ryoga and Akane
and I know about it. Everyone else who did, died many years ago. I want
to keep it a secret. Besides, we.....um....I don't want the curse
anymore and would prefer to avoid it as best as possible."
Akane was silent. She knew exactly what curse he was talking about.
But she knew she had heard something else Ranma had said and had to ask
him what he meant by it, "Ranma, can I speak to you for a moment?"
"Sure, what is it?"
Ranma and Akane walked off into the corner of the room where they
could speak in privately. When the girls were out of earshot, she said,
"I heard you said you can't die naturally, what does that mean?"
"That's because I can't."
"What?"
"Has it ever occurred to you that I'm now around Pops age when he
died, yet I still look like I'm very young?" he said. When Akane nodded,
he took a deep breath and continued on, "Well, the curse, it's real
curse is immortality. I can't die naturally. Actually, I can, but it'll
be nearly impossible for me. Every time I go into my cursed form, my true
form ages backwards toward the age when I first got cursed. I mean, if
I'm in my cursed form for, say, one minute, my true form ages back a
couple of years meaning when I revert back, I'm a few years younger."
"Oh my god!"
"We....um....I've found the cure once, but I can't I can't find it
again for some reason. The spring is only about several acres large and
China is huge. I've asked around, but no one's heard of it. Ryoga had
come across it once by accident a short while ago, but when he was
looking for the cure, he got lost. That baka."
"Ryoga, why was he looking for it?"
"Um, er, h-he was...trying to help me out." Ranma quickly lied.
"Well, that's nice of him." she said, turning her shoulder toward
Ryoga and smiling. He always was a kind person. When Ryoga saw Akane
smile at him, he blushed and turned his attention toward the ground,
scratching the back of his head.
"Anyway, I think that's the true meaning of our....my curse." Ranma
said.
"Um, can I come in now?" Ryoga's voice filtered into the room.
"Sure." Priss said.
"We better keep quiet about this. Only you and Ryoga know." Ranma
said. When Akane nodded, she and Ranma walked back over to the group to
greet Ryoga as he entered back into the control room. But when he
stepped into the control room, Nene also enter, but from a different
door.
"We're in trouble." Nene said, "Like in deep shit!"
"What, what do you mean by that?" Priss asked, a bit worried. She had
never seen Nene seem this worried.
"The chip was a tracking device!"
"A tracking device? Are you serious?" Madigan asked. She realized that
if there was a tracking device in that fake chip, then there was a
chance she would know of the Knight Sabers' hideout.
Carper nodded, "Uh huh."
Madigan kissed him again.
He was a genius. Perhaps now, with the knowledge of the Knight Sabers'
headquarters, the tides have turned. The thought of that made her want
to kiss him again. She seemed to like kissing him. How come she never
tried doing this before?
Sure, Carper was very intelligent man, a man girls would find very
attractive, but there was something to him that made her feel this
attraction for him that she had never known, or acknowledged, until now.
It was because he actually cared for her.
A rocket flew in through one of the doors that lead to the ground level. The
rocket hit Ranma in the front, propelling him backwards into a nearby wall. The
impact of the rocket hitting his chest sent him reeling in pain as he curled
himself up in a little ball, wincing in pain.
"Ite!!!" Ranma gritted his teeth, rolling around on the floor, rubbing his
chest like it was on fire.
"Shit, they already found us!" Priss said, her eyes stinging from the smoke
from the rocket. She and the others were already heading toward their weapons
supply.
Ryoga walked over to Ranma and gave him a good kick in his ribs, "I suggest
you get up. Otherwise, you're gonna be in even more pain when more rockets come
through that door."
Ranma sat upright and kicked his leg out, sweeping Ryoga's legs out from under
him, "I'm hurt, you moron. Have some sympathy. Jeez!"
Akane walked over to Ranma and slapped him in the back of his head, "Get a
grip on yourself, you'll live. You're such a baby."
"What?! I just got hit in the chest with a rocket!!! And you're telling me I'm
a baby?!" Ranma got to his feet as if now unscathed, the pain already gone, "I
risked my neck rescuing you from Genom. If it weren't for me, you'd still be
there. I can't believe you called me a baby. Jeez, you're so uncute!"
"Baka!!!" Akane shot out, slapping Ranma in the face. The force caused Ranma
to go flying into a nearby wall violently. She couldn't believe how fast Ranma
had changed from serious and somber to his usual obnoxious self.
"Man, you're even more uncute now than you were over thirty years ago." Ranma
said, "I should take your batteries out so you could never hit me again."
"Don't you dare, you cad!!!" Ryoga said, taking a menacing step forward,
glowing red.
Ranma shot Ryoga a vicious glance, "You stay out of this, pig boy!"
"What the hell are they doing?" Linna asked, donning the tiny gas mask over
her mouth. The smoke had been beginning to sting her lungs. She could have sworn
she heard Ranma and Ryoga and Akane arguing near the front entrance to the
headquarters after she and her friends had ran to the back to retrieve several
high caliber rifles and machine guns.
Linna managed to gasp in shock as she saw Ranma flying bodily by her, slamming
into a nearby locker. She stared in disbelief as Ranma got back up and ran back
toward the front of the headquarters, Ryoga flying bodily into the same locker
Ranma had been slammed into seconds ago.
Are they fighting each other?!
"What's going on here?" Linna shouted toward Ryoga as he was about to rush by
her.
"How dare Ranma hit me like that!!! I'll kill him!!!" Ryoga said to himself,
not even realizing Linna was listening.
"What's going on?" Priss asked, strapping a large rifle across her shoulder.
She had seen Ryoga run right by in a mad rush.
It took a moment before Linna could respond, "T-they're...Ranma and
Ryoga....they're fighting each other!"
"What?" Sylia and Nene said as they stepped forward, their gas masks on.
"They're trying to kill each other!!!"
The girls watched in disbelief as Ranma and Ryoga went at each other with a
vengeance, making their way out the door where that missile had come through,
destroying almost everything in their path...even the dozen or so hapless
boomers waiting outside.
Madigan and Carper were walking down the street together. It was now
nighttime, several hours after they had lost a small army of boomers
that they had sent to the location of that tracking device. As they
walked, they were both pondering on what they were to do now that they
discovered the Knight Sabers' headquarters. Even though they lost well
over a dozen boomers in that preemptive attack, the boomers failed to
accomplish their objectives.
"What do you think we should do?" Madigan asked. She would run her
idea by him after he had offered his idea.
"Well, now that we know about the Knight Sabers' headquarters, we should get
rid of them first, that way, we would be able to concentrate on getting rid of
that superboomer, oh, I mean Ranma. And also get rid of Ryoga while we're at
it." Carper said, a bit hesitant. He was sure Madigan had some idea what made
his seem rather childish.
Madigan's brows raised a bit as she nodded. It was similar to what she had
intended. Unfortunately, he had never mentioned exactly how they would go about
eliminating the Knight Sabers, "And how do you assume we do so? It's easier said
than done, you know."
Carper took a moment to think before he replied, "Well, how about we have
someone stake out the place. Sooner or later, we might be able to find out the
Knight Sabers' secret identity. That way, if we could strike them where they're
most vulnerable, when they are without their hardsuits."
"That's a very good plan." Madigan said with a smirk. She had thought the same
thing also, "And with them gone, we will be able to concentrate on getting rid
of Ranma."
"Which is most likely easier said than done." Carper added, "He's like a
boomer that just won't die. I mean, from one of the reports, he took a goddamn
missile right in the chest. That blast should have obliterated him, but instead,
he got, in a sense, angry, and went berserk, like a boomer."
"Speaking of Ranma going berserk, in what I've been able to see from our heli-
viewcams, that guy went berserk and started attacking everything even Ryoga."
Madigan commented, thinking aloud, "I mean, he went almost insane and started
trying to kill Ryoga. Actually, if I really think about it, it seemed like Ryoga
and Ryoga were trying to kill each other."
Carper looked at Madigan a bit confused and said, "But how could that be. I
mean, they were working together when attacking Genom Tower. What makes them
turn on each other?"
Madigan sighed. She really wished she knew. It would really help them out.
That way, she could have it where Ryoga and Ranma would kill each other off. It
would be akin to killing two birds with one stone.
"God, that Ranma gives me the creeps." Carper commented.
"Oh? How so?" Madigan asked. She also got the creeps thinking about it
also, but was curious as to what spooked Carper.
"Everything." he replied, looking up toward the sky, unaware that Madigan was
looking at him rather intently, "It's scary. Where did he come from? I mean,
sure, he's from Nerima if I remember correctly, but that's not what I was
insinuating. Think about it, the energy he creates is enormous, he incorporates
strategy, and is lethal at close and far ranges. If he were a superboomer like
we first surmised, he would be a perfect military machine. Heck, I'm pretty sure
having one or two superboomers like him sent into battlefields could end wars."
"Or start them." Madigan couldn't help but add. She was starting to
have doubts as to how they were going to stop Ranma.
"Or start them, true." Carper continued, unperturbed, "It's just very
scary if you think about it. Here we are, in MegaTokyo, where
that....human....is running loose, and no one has a clue as to what it
is or is capable of except for a few people."
Madigan said nothing. She was too busy thinking about exactly how she
would go about stopping Ranma. Wanting to keep the conversation light,
she said, "Don't you think you're praising that guy a bit too much?
Don't forget, he's also go weaknesses."
"He seems to be prone to risking his own life saving others." Carper
realized. He couldn't believe he had missed something like that. Of
course, Madigan was keen enough to remember that, unlike him.
"Unfortunately, it isn't much." Madigan continued, "Man, just imagine
him as a superboomer. All you have to do is place one of those
superboomer down in the middle of a war and program it to destroy
anything near it. Missiles won't be able to get close because it would
just intercept them before they explode."
She tried to chuckle, hoping to keep the situation light. But as she continued
to realize this man's capabilities, she started getting more and more doubtful
of stopping it, "Do you have any suggestions, Carper?"
"Me? Well, the best way to stop something that strong is to fight fire with
fire." Carper replied, rather anxious. He was hoping his suggestion would
impress her, "I suggest eliminating Akane first and make it look like Ranma
killed her. Afterall, Ryoga knew Akane from the past. Now, if Ryoga finds this
out, he would probably go into a rage and try and kill Ranma. It's not all that
far fetched because we already know that Ryoga and Ranma seem to have problems
with each other. They already fought each other a few times. I'm pretty sure if
we push the right buttons, they'll try and kill each other. And if we're lucky,
they'll succeed in doing so."
Madigan smiled as she absorbed all that Carper had said. It was a
really good plan. She wondered how he managed to come up with a plan
like that. He was still confident that he could stop Ryoga and Ranma,
and she had to admire that about him. It was one of his redeeming
qualities. That and many others one might add.
At that moment, Madigan's stomach rumbled, for she hadn't eaten since
morning.
Madigan blushed a bit, embarrassed at her lack of control. Sure, she
was hungry, but she couldn't believe her body couldn't wait a bit longer
until she was back at her penthouse, where food was readily available.
Carper knew she was hungry, so he dared to ask, "Um, would you like to
grab a bite to eat? W-we could talk about what we're going to do while
we eat."
Madigan took a moment, wondering if she should accept. She had never
considered going out to eat with a fellow employee, let alone a
subordinate.
Carper realized her hesitation and decided not to press the issue,
"Well, perhaps you could wait until you get home. Um, I also have a lot
of work to do, like explaining to higher ups about my switching the OMS
chip. I'm still pretty sure they thought I was trying to steal it, even
though you made the effort to explain to them that I was not, which I
must thank you."
Madigan blushed a bit, grateful that it was dark out.
At that moment, Ranma rounded the corner and bumped into them. He had been out
taking a stroll, wanting to do something other than sit around.
"I know you." Ranma said, not even caring all that much that he was
now standing in front of the two people who wanted him more dead than
alive. It was perfectly reasonable considering what he had done to
Genom, but he had a perfectly good reason for hating Genom. Heck, he
should hate them because they worked for Genom.
Madigan and Carper caught sight of Ranma and their lives seemed to
flash before their eyes.
"What the?! W-where'd you come from?!" Madigan said, taking a step
backwards in fright, tripping over her feet and flailing her arms
outward to keep her balance.
Ranma casually reached forward and grabbed Madigan's hand to keep her
from falling on her backside. When he grabbed hold of her hand, Carper's
eyes widened.
"Stay away from her!!" he spat, cocking his arm back to punch Ranma,
knowing that it would do absolute nothing. But what else could he do to
get Ranma's attention so he wouldn't harm Madigan?
Ranma didn't even think twice as he used his free hand to catch
Carper's incoming punch.
"Jeez, I was only helping out." Ranma said, releasing Madigan's hand once her
feet were steady. She stared up at him, fright and curiosity in her eyes. She
couldn't move, scared to run, yet even if she could, she probably wouldn't,
"Man, I helped you out the other time. Remember? When all those boomers were
trying to kill us by shooting into that room we were in? Or did you forget
that?"
Carper stepped in front of Madigan, shielding her with his body, as he
faced Ranma, scared out of his wits. He knew there was nothing he could
really do. He and Madigan were at this man's mercy.
Ranma chuckled a bit and said, "Anyway, that wasn't nice with what you
did, switching that chip. Now you know of the girls' location."
"Which'll put you and your 'girls' at a serious disadvantage now." Carper
added with unseen courage.
"I means nothing if you think about it." Ranma said, "If I find that OMS
thingie and expose Genom, then the corporation would go under. Now, if I don't
find it...I'll simply put Genom under the hard way."
Carper and Madigan stood there, still, listening to Ranma's words
intently.
"But it doesn't really matter all that much with me." he said, "I may
seem selfish, but Genom's gonna pay for what they did to me, and I
intend on getting my revenge."
"Revenge?" Madigan asked, "What revenge? What are you talking about?"
Ranma didn't really care who he told. All he knew was that Genom was the cause
of his family and loved ones' death, and that was all that mattered as he said,
"Well, the corporation you two are workin' for killed my family. And I have
every intention of exposing the corporation as my form of revenge. But now that
Genom knows of the Knight Sabers' location, I'm gonna hafta do something even
more extreme."
He left his threat hanging, so Carper and Madigan could surmise what he would
do.
Ranma started circling the two, when he noticed them giving him an odd
look, "What? Do I have something on my face?"
Madigan almost laughed but didn't. Calmly, she asked, "What do you
mean killed your family?"
"Well." Ranma said, "many years ago, I was with my family, enjoying a quite
day when, out of nowhere, missiles flew in through the window and killed my
entire family." His voice was soft. It always hurt to think of what had happened
on that fateful day, that day that changed his life forever.
He sighed, his gaze seemingly towards a far off place.
Madigan and Carper seized the moment and made a break for it, running for
their lives. They got no where before Ranma was already at their side.
"Hold up, where do ya think you're going." Ranma said, "I still have
some more stuff I wanna tell you."
"Why us?" Madigan said, tears almost forming around her eyes. She
couldn't believe she couldn't control her emotions, but she was truly
afraid, afraid that Ranma was going to do something horrible to them.
Ranma took a moment to think of the words, "Why? Well, you think about
it. Genom killed my family. Genom tried to kill me and my friends. Genom
makes their boomers go on a rampage, saying the boomers went berserk,
leaving them not responsible. And it's because of rampaging boomers, my
family was killed. How's that for an explanation?!"
Ranma found himself getting a bit angry at the thought of talking to two
people who could be responsible for his family's death, "Perhaps you're might
have something to do with my family getting killed. Afterall, you work for
Genom." He made his words clear, showing his contempt toward Genom.
Madigan took a timid step backwards. Carper, although very scared, remained
where he was, standing in front of Madigan.
"I don't know how you people at Genom view me and Ryoga." Ranma said, "but I'm
pretty sure it's as a threat because I have every intention of toppling Genom
with that OMS chip I was looking for. But, now, I guess I'm gonna hafta take
that building apart one brick at a time if I hafta."
Madigan gasped. Carper instinctively reached a hand backwards and took hold of
hers. She never pulled her hand away, almost grateful of the warmth of his
hands.
"S-so what are you going to do?" Carper asked.
"Nothing right now." Ranma said, "I'm going to go get some food cause I'm
hungry."
"No, I mean..." Carper was about to rephrase.
"I'm going to hang around." Ranma replied, "When I feel like it, I'm gonna
attack Genom and hopefully get that OMS thingie. I'd rather get rid of Genom
peacefully rather hafta use force. You won't happen to give that thing to me,
would you? I guessed not. Anyway, because Genom knows of the Knight Sabers'
location, I am threatened to have to protect them, and that means the
destruction of Genom."
"What if we promise not to attack them?" Madigan said. She had to do whatever
she could to keep Genom from being attacked. Sure, they would be able to repel
the attack now that they are aware of this, they would sustain heavy damages
like the last time.
"Ha!" Ranma said with a wave of his hand, "I don't trust you. I'm never gonna
trust Genom anymore. I betcha just before you bumped into me, you were trying to
come up with a plan to get rid of me and the girls, ne?"
"No, we were going to go out to dinner." Madigan quickly said what first came
into her head. She blushed as she realized that she had declined dinner with
Carper. Heck, she blushed because she realized what she had just said.
Ranma smirk, "Huh? You mean you two are couples?"
Carper also blushed.
"Are you two....fiancees?" he said, almost shuddering at the word. He
was actually glad he didn't have to really worry about fiancees anymore
but he would rather fiancees to worry about because that would mean they
would be alive today...
"F-fiancees? No!" Madigan said, loosing her cool, "It's none of your
business anyway!"
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "Well, it doesn't really matter to me
anyway."
He turned around to stroll off in a random direction, "Well, before I leave,
I'm just going to tell you a few things. You don't need to follow them if you
don't want. Sooner or later, Ryoga and I will attack Genom to get that OMS chip.
When we find it, I suggest you two start looking for new jobs. If we don't find
it, well, let's just say that Ryoga and I will have some fun developing our ki-
blasts. And one last thing, I seriously suggest you not attack my friends. Ryoga
gets very protective of his friends and if you hurt them, he will go into a
rage."
"Like that rage you went into earlier?" Madigan asked, recalling the
scene she had seen from the heli-viewcam.
"Rage? Me?" Ranma said, a bit surprised, "No way. Ryoga and I always hate each
other. We always fight. We're enemies. But anyway, Ryoga's not as forgiving as
me. He'll most likely hunt you two down and kill you...and I won't be able to
stop him."
Madigan and Carper stood very still, too scared to move.
Ranma changed the subject and said,
"I'm starving, is there a fast food store around here?"
"Ranma!" Ryoga seemed to pop up out of nowhere.
"Hey, pig boy, what's up?" came the reply.
Ryoga started to glow as he said, "You take that back!!!"
Ranma smirked, almost enjoying the teasing. It was so easy to get Ryoga all
ruffled up "Jus' relax. You're gonna pop an artery from all that high blood
pressure. Anyway, I'd like you to meet someone."
"Who?"
"You see these two people here." Ranma began, pointing toward Madigan
and Carper, "They're the one who've been trying to kill us. Ain't this a
small world."
Madigan and Carper took a step back, very frightened. The tension was
so think they could cut it with a knife. This was probably the most
awkward situation they were in ever since either of them started working
at Genom.
Ryoga's eyes narrowed toward the couple, "Um, hello."
Madigan and Carper froze in terror, as if they weren't already scared
enough.
Ranma, pretty much ignoring Madigan and Carper, turned toward Ryoga
and said, "But that doesn't matter. Anyway, ya know of any good food
places around here? I'm starving."
"Um, well, yeah, I passed a restaurant a short while ago." Ryoga answered,
pointed toward a random direction.
Ranma chuckled, "Yeah, you probably passed it somewhere in China, what with
your sense of direction." He then shrugged his shoulders as if uncaring and
proceeded down the street, "Well, I'm gonna go eat. See ya later."
Ryoga watched as Ranma walked down the street disappearing around a corner.
After a few moments, Ryoga realized the crack Ranma had made about him, "Hey,
how dare you make fun of my like that?! Get back here so I can kill you!!!"
Ryoga ran off down the street as Madigan and Carper remained very still. After
several moments, they both seemed to relax, albeit a little.
"Do you think it's all right to move now?" Carper managed to joke.
If Madigan hadn't been so scared in her life, she would have laughed.
Ranma entered the headquarters, a bag of food under his arms. With one arm
carrying the bag, the other one was being used to shove an entire burger into
his mouth, Ranma swallowing it after one bite. As he entered the main room, he
caught sight of all the girls, all of them sitting around a round table, now
staring at him.
"Man, these things are great!" Ranma commented, shoving yet another burger
into his mouth. He didn't bother to mention the stares he got when he order
them, knowing that a massive fight almost broke out between him and Ryoga when
Ryoga had actually managed to find him and catch up to him at the restaurant.
Ryoga actually followed Ranma back into the room, bumping into him since he
stopped since Ryoga was so close behind.
Ranma turned toward Ryoga, a burger hanging from him mouth, his arms around
the bag of food, and kicked Ryoga right in the chest, "Will you quite staying so
damn close?! You've been bumping into me all day since the restaurant!!"
"How dare you kick me!!!!"
Akane looked up at Ranma and sighed, "Ranma, will you quit picking on Ryoga?
When will you ever grow up?"
Ranma turned his attention toward Akane, ignoring the aura that started to
glow behind him as Ryoga got back up onto his feet, filled with rage, "I am
grown up! I'm actually the second oldest person in this room!" He turned around
and kicked Ryoga out of the room and then turned toward Akane, the other girls
staring in disbelief.
He chuckled, "Technically, I'm the oldest person in this room since Ryoga
ain't in here."
Ryoga rushed back into the room once again, "I'm gonna kill you,
Ranma!!!!"
Ranma turned toward Ryoga and quickly reached into his bag of food, pulling
out a container of soda and smiled, "Okay, but if you hit me, this soda will go
flying everywhere and some of it might hit you...staining your lovely, yet dull,
shirt."
Ryoga knew what Ranma was implying. If he attacked, Ranma would splash him
with the drink, thus, changing him into his cursed form, and in front of Akane.
Ranma smiled, "Yeah, I thought not."
He walked up to the desk and sat down, placing his food on the table, laying
it all about. He managed to pull out over a dozen burgers from that bag.
"Y-you're gonna eat all of that?" Linna asked. She looked at the burgers,
assessing them and how much fat content if contained. Sure, the burgers looked
delicious, but if she ate just one of those, it would all go to her thighs.
Ranma shoved the third burger into his mouth, "Uh huh. What, ya want
one?"
Linna shook her head, "No way. I was just curious. That's all."
He finished the third burger and was already shoving the forth one in
his mouth, "You should try one, they're delicious."
"God, Ranma." Akane said, rather angry "Will you show some manners and
not talk with your mouth full?! Jeez, that's so rude!"
"You're only jealous cuz I didn't offer you one!" Ranma replied, "Well, I
didn't offer ya one because you could stand to lose a few pounds."
"What?!?!"
Sylia's eyed Ranma intently, "Ranma, for your information, Akane
doesn't need to eat."
"All the more better for her to lose all that excess weight." Ranma replied,
leaning backwards in his iron chair.
With almost blinding speed, Akane got up off her chair and picked it up,
bringing it down hard on Ranma's face. Since he was leaning backwards, he ended
up falling backwards onto his back.
Ranma, lying on the ground, turns onto his side, propped one of his elbows on
the ground, his head resting on his hand, "What a lame attack..."
"I'll give you a lame attack!!!" Ryoga's voice emanated from behind Ranma,
"How dare you say something like that to Akane!!!"
Ryoga picked his foot up and sent it crashing down on Ranma's head. His foot
came down with such speed that Ranma didn't have time to react, or was perhaps
to distracted to react, hitting Ranma's head with such force that the momentum
caused his head to go smashing into the floor, getting embedded.
"Ha! Take that!" Ryoga said with a triumphant smile, very satisfied. It felt
good to hurt Ranma.
As Nene, Sylia, Linna, and Priss stared in disbelief at what had just
transpired, Ranma sat upright, unscathed, his shirt only a bit rumpled. He
brushed some of the debris out of his hair as he turned toward Ryoga, "You're
right, Ryoga, that was a lame attack."
Ryoga's fuming, tried to kick Ranma right in his face, but had his foot
skillfully caught.
Ranma smiled as he held Ryoga's foot in his hands slowly starting to twist it
so that the motion would cause Ryoga to turn and eventually fall down.
"Leave him alone!!!" Akane said, raining the chair down on Ranma's head again.
"Arghh!!!" Ranma shouted, giving Ryoga's foot a quick jerk, sending Ryoga
falling backwards onto his back, "Why are you always hitting me, Akane?!?"
"I hit you because you're such and insensitive jerk!!!" came a quick reply.
"Well, you're nothing but an uncute tomboy!" Ranma quickly replied, "Man, I
should have your batteries removed so you can't be so violent."
Akane smashed him in the head yet again with the chair, this time, so hard
that the iron chair broke.
The other girls winced at the thought of how painful that would be.
"I guess he had that coming." they all said.
"Man, I don't understand why you're so interested in this ki thing. Didn't I
already show you how it works already?" Ranma said to Linna, almost exasperated.
Nothing had remained of what Akane had done to him earlier with that iron chair,
not even a bruise.
"Well, I'm very curious." Linna said innocently.
"Same here." Priss added. "Besides, Nene never got the chance to see it since
she was busy finding out that that chip had been nothing but a tracking device."
"Show me what?" Nene asked. She and the rest of the group were in the same
room where Ranma had showed Sylia how to throw an energy projectile. The only
difference was that the room was slightly damaged from the boomer attacks not
too long ago. Although the walls were singed and some cracked, the headquarters
still remained in decent and usable condition.
"All right, I'll show you another example of it." Ranma said as he sat down on
the floor, his backside resting on his feet. He then rested his hands on his lap
and closed his eyes, saying "Ki surrounds us. It's everywhere. What you could do
is actually absorb some of my own ki if I allowed it. Priss, why don't you sit
next to me and I'll show you."
Priss shook her head, "I don't really know if I could do it."
"It's very easy. Anyone could do it. Just sit right next to me and I'll
explain to you how you gather ki."
Priss shrugged her shoulders once and then walked up to Ranma and sat next to
him in the same fashion as he was sitting. As she sat close to him, she could
see a faint glow to him that made her almost stare in awe.
"I'm gonna make it where you can see my ki." Ranma said, concentrating. Within
moments, the faint aura surrounding him started to grow bigger and brighter. The
girls stared at Ranma in disbelief, Ryoga not so impressed.
"Bah, is that the best you could do?" he commented wryly.
Ranma opened his eyes, his aura nearly fading to nothing, "Why don't you jus'
shut up? If you think you're so good at this stuff then why don't you try 'n
explain it to 'em?"
Ryoga remained silent. He never really liked trying to explain things to
people all that much.
"Okay then, let's get back to work." Ranma said, closing his eyes once again,
his aura flaring up again, "Priss jus' close your eyes and relax. Make your
breathing steady and slow, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your
mouth."
Priss did as she was told, "I don't feel anything." she said after a few
moments. All she was aware of was her breathing and her sitting right next to
Ranma.
"Okay, now, jus' think of something peaceful, like a waterfall or a gentle
stream."
"Which one?"
"Which ever one ya want. I usually think about a waterfall." Ranma replied in
a calm voice, his eyes still closed.
Ryoga smirked inwardly to himself. Wouldn't it be really funny if he walked up
to Ranma and decked him? But then again, with Ranma's ki surrounding him, Ryoga
wouldn't be able to get near him without him noticing.
Priss closed her eyes, breathing gently, concentrating on a waterfall. As she
did so, and a minute or so passed, she was about to open her eyes to tell Ranma
she felt nothing, but then she slowly started feeling his tingling feeling, as
if adrenaline was surging through her veins. She continued to concentrate
harder, feeling this intense power building within her.
"Oh shit!!" Linna's voice echoed in the room, "Priss is absorbing Ranma's ki!"
"What was that?" Nene said, shock in her voice.
"What?!" Priss said, opening her eyes, breaking her concentration. She looked
toward Ranma, who had now opened his eyes and was shaking his head, a bit
annoyed that she didn't follow the little example to its conclusion.
"Y-you were starting to glow also, Priss." Linna said excitedly, "It was
unbelievable. The aura or whatever surrounding Ranma was slowly starting to flow
toward you, like diffusion, except we could see the energy!"
"D-did that really happen?" she asked.
Sylia and Ryoga nodded, Ryoga saying, "Yep, it sure did. Your eyes were closed
so you didn't see it."
"If you remained concentrating." Ranma began, "you would slowly start feeling
the ki flow toward your fingertips, wanting to be let out. And after a short
while, you'll be able to through a ki blast, even though it's very weak, but a
ki-blast regardless."
"K-ki-blast?" Priss said, her eyes widening, "y-you mean those things you were
throwing at me when we were fighting a while back?"
Ranma nodded, and then said, "Yep, ki-blasts like this!"
He extended a hand toward Ryoga and a ki-blast shot from his hand, rocketing
toward Ryoga. Ryoga took the brunt of the blast full force in the chest, sent
flying bodily through the air and into the wall with a deafening thud. He fell
to his knees, a bit singed.
Ryoga's aura started to glow menacingly, "Why the hell did you do that
you moron!?! You'll pay for that!!!"
Ranma smirked, almost laughing, "What's wrong with you, Ryoga? Why're you
gettin' so angry? Did it actually hurt?"
"What the hell are you talking about?! That blast could've killed me!!!"
"Yeah, but you survived, so don't get all bent outta shape. Quit whining!"
Ranma replied, "I had to give an example anyway..."
The girls stared at Ranma and Ryoga in disbelief. Were they going to fight
each other?! They looked intent on killing each other! Actually, Ryoga looked
intent on killing Ranma while Ranma seemed to be egging Ryoga on into doing so.
"Me? Whining? I'm not gonna be the one whinin' after I'm done with you!" Ryoga
spat, his brows creasing, a growing ball of energy forming in his right hand as
he got to his feet and taking as step toward Ranma's direction.
Akane stepped forward as Ryoga took a step forward, placing a hand on his
chest, "Ryoga, now calm down. There's no need for you two fight."
Ryoga froze in place, his chest flooding with this warm feeling from Akane's
fingertips. He seemed to have forgotten completely about Ranma as he looked down
into Akane's eyes, "All right, but only because you said so."
"I know what Ranma did was wrong, but you're all right, right?" Akane said,
"You know how he is. He's an idiot."
"What did you call me?" Ranma said, knowing full well was Akane had said. He
took a step toward Akane and Ryoga.
"Baka!" Akane said, spinning on her heels, landing a devastating punch right
on Ranma's jaw, "That's for hitting Ryoga like that!"
Ranma stood frozen in place, in mid stride, almost in a state of
unconsciousness.
Akane looked at her hand and noticed that she couldn't move it anymore. Did
she hit him so hard that she broke all the tiny motors of her hand and wrist?
Ryoga followed Akane's gaze toward her hand and noticed that her hand was
damaged, her fingers locked in a fist, unmoving. He looked at Ranma, "How dare
you do this to Akane?!" He ran forward and punched Ranma, hard, sending him
flying bodily toward the other side of the room. He walked over to where Ranma
was and picked him up by one of his legs, hoisting him up, his head a few inches
off the floor, slamming him into the wall like the way a person would swing a
bat with one arm.
"Ryoga! Stop that!" Sylia and Linna and Priss shouted in unison, noticing that
Ryoga looked intent on killing Ranma. Akane was busying looking down at her
damaged hand.
Ryoga slammed Ranma on the floor countless times, each one harder than the
other. And to finish the job, Ryoga held Ranma upright, only to headbutt him
right on his forehead, the back of Ranma's head slamming into the wall behind
him with such impact that it nearly caved inward.
"You asshole, why did you go and do that?!" Priss sat, about to punch Ryoga's
lights out if it weren't for the fact that it wouldn't affect him.
"What?" Ryoga said, acting innocent, "You mean something like this?" He
brought his leg up and forward, slamming it right into Ranma's chest, causing
him get pushed so hard into the wall that he remained embedded bodily in it, his
head hanging low.
"Get away from him!" Linna said, jumping in between Ryoga and Ranma, not
wanting him to hurt Ranma anymore. Sylia and Priss were now trying to gently
pull Ranma out from his concrete confines.
Priss said in a scared voice, "Ranma, are you okay? Speak to us! Open
your eyes!"
Ranma opened his eyes and casually brushed the debris off himself, "Is that
all you've got Ryoga? That was nothin'." He said with a wry smirk. All he had to
do was get rid of that crick in his neck that Ryoga had caused.
That seemed to make Ryoga even more angry for he started calling forth a
wicked ki-blast to finish Ranma off once and for all. But before he could
release one of his more powerful blasts, Ranma lunged forward and executed an
open hand punch to Ryoga's chest, sending him flying backwards and onto his
back.
"Moron! Are ya trying to get all of us killed?!" Ranma said, almost furious
"Why dontcha use your head for a change. There are people in this room. If you
threw a blast that big, not only will hurt the both of us, but also kill
everyone else in this room! God, you must even have the mind of a pig!"
"Die!!!!" Ryoga shouted, getting off the floor, unscathed from Ranma's open
palm attack, and charging Ranma.
"Akane, do something!" Linna shouted toward the sexaroid, whom was still
intent of seeing to the extent of her damaged hand.
Akane, hearing her name, turned toward Linna and said, "Leave them alone. They
do this all the time."
"Why?" Priss asked, wondering if she should run out of the room in a panic or
stay and watch two battle it out.
"I dunno. They seem to hate each other for some reason." Akane said casually
"And to this day, I still have no idea why. I guess it had something to do with
their past when they went to school together or something like that."
Ranma, who was holding onto Ryoga's shirt collar as he did his, turned his
attention away from his opponent and toward Akane, "Actually, that's not true.
Ryoga hates me because I was the one who got him cur-"
Ranma's statement was cut off by a perfectly planted fist right in his mouth.
Ryoga said menacingly "Shut up, Ranma!"
Ranma punched Ryoga hard, sending him flying across the room once again,
slamming into the wall. Ranma then started laughing, "This is great, I haven't
had this much fun in such a long time!"
"This isn't supposed to be fun you idiot! I'm gonna kill you!" Ryoga said in a
cold angry voice.
Ranma's laughter stopped as he took on a solemn countenance and said, "Get
real Ryoga, you know I can't die!"
The girls' attention immediately turned toward Ranma. What did he say?
Ranma noticed that the girls had heard what he had said and quickly changed
the subject "Um, it's gettin' stuffy in here. I'm gonna go out and get some
fresh air."
And with that said, Ranma left the room.
"What was he talking about? Not dying? What did he mean by that?" Priss asked
no one in particular.
No one could answer her questions. Ryoga, on the other hand, refused to
answer.
"Man, this is confusing!" Linna said, a bit frustrated, turning toward Ryoga,
"What the hell are you guys constantly fighting for? What the hell is Ranma?
What did he mean by he can't die?"
Ryoga looked toward the ground, now shy.
"Don't give us the shy and innocent act, Ryoga!" Priss joined in, her hands on
her hips.
He continued to look toward the ground. In his mind, he was thinking something
along the lines of 'Ranma, get back here and save me! I can't handle this!'. But
he remained quiet.
Nene looked at her watch and gasped, "Oh god, I'm gonna be late for work!!!"
She was about to head for the door when Priss said, "Aren't you going to stay
and find out what's going on?"
"I would love to, but I can't be late for work! I've been late three times as
it is!" she replied. She then turned her attention toward Ryoga and said, "If
you see Ranma, tell him thanks for the demonstrations!"
As she ran down the corridor toward her little scooter located in the garage,
Nene said to herself.
"All it did was make us realize how little we know about the two of you."
C&C welcomed ^_^
-OneShot
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html