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 8
"Let go of me!!!" Madigan shouted, straining against the iron bars.
She and Carper had been placed a small cell in what remained of the
Knight Sabers' headquarters. Priss had realized that Madigan and Carper
would be useful to them, thus, she brought them back with her, but not
without a fight. Madigan had been easy to knock out, Carper a bit
harder.
Priss shook her head, "Not until you tell us where that chip is."
Whatever the chip was that Ranma had been talking about, it was
definitely worth pursuing if Ranma seemed hell bent on getting it.
"No!!" Madigan shouted, "I'll never tell you!!!"
Priss' eyes creased, her anger rising, "Do you know idea what kinda
predicament you're in right now? No one knows that either of you two are
in here. Genom may know of our hideout, but there's no one there to send
the boomers after us."
Madigan seemed to become very silent. It was true, she and Carper were
in charge of all the boomers' operations and seeing to them that they
did their job correctly. But she had to lie, "You're wrong about that.
We're not the only ones! Genom will realize that we never came back and
will send boomers out to find us!"
"Yeah, right, like Genom cares about you." Ranma's voice entered the
corridor where Madigan and Carper's cell was.
Priss turned toward Ranma, a bit startled by his sudden appearance.
How had he managed to get in here without a sound. Even though the
headquarters were damaged, some of the systems still worked, security
being one of them.
"Genom doesn't care about you." Ranma said, walking forward to stand
in front of the cell, "If I recall correctly, when we first met, I ended
up saving your life. Don't you remember? You two were in the same room
as me and all those boomers opened fire at me, not even caring about the
fact that you two were standing in front of me."
Madigan's lips pursed. She remembered that clearly. That incident had
given her some doubts as to her importance to Genom. If she weren't
expendable, then the boomers would have never fired, not wanting to hit
her or Carper. But they had...
Ranma turned toward Priss, a smile on his lips, "Guess what, Akane's
all right."
"What?!" Madigan said, shock in her voice, "We sprayed enough bullets
into her
to destroy her!!!"
Ranma turned toward Madigan, almost glowing, his anger growing, "Yes,
you did! And I should have killed you for that!" He reached an arm
forward and gripped Madigan's shirt collar. With a woman like her, it
was best to scare her straight.
"Let go of her!!" Carper shouted, running forward and trying to break
Ranma grip from Madigan's shirt collar. He gripped the wrist of Ranma's
outstretched arm and pulled it backwards, using the steel bars as a
fulcrum on Ranma's elbow, hoping to hyperextend his arm. Ranma's arms
remained still, also like steel bars. As Carper continued to struggle,
Ranma pulled Madigan close to him, leaning forward, their face almost
inches apart, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you!"
Priss gasped. Was Ranma really going to kill her. He wouldn't! Would
he?
Whatever the case, she had to stop him, "Let her go, Ranma!"
Ranma held onto her for one last second before releasing his grip,
Madigan falling backwards on to the ground.
"You asshole!" she spat, "You'll pay for this!"
Ranma turned toward Madigan again, "How? Genom is gonna crumble. You
won't have your precious boomers to protect ya. And exactly why are you
like this anyway? Why do you work for that corporation? They're bad!"
Madigan became silent.
"I mean, are you, like, blind to what they're doing? You know what
that OMS thingie does." Ranma said, "It's being created to control any
and every boomer ever created through some kinda uplink. Meaning, if
Genom wanted to, it could have every boomer on the face of this planet
go berserk at the same time...or worse, have them all coming together to
form some huge army made of everything from military superboomers to
house maintenance drones."
Priss' lips straightened. She had hated Genom, and now she hated it
even more.
"H-how did you find that out?" Madigan dared to ask. What Ranma had
said was correct, every word of it.
Ranma flashed a toothy grin, and pulled a tiny chip out of one of his
pockets, "Cause I got the chip when I brought Akane back to Genom tower
to be taken care of. And while I was there, I did a little searching.
Well, I found it, and I'm positive this is the real one I saw. I also
stole a lotta money while I was at it and hid it."
Madigan lunged forward through the bars and grabbed the chip from
Ranma's hand. She then quickly scurried to the corner, protecting it.
Ranma shook his head, "What's your name?"
"You don't need to know her name." Carper said defensively.
Ranma said, "No, I don't. But just think, you are in a cell. The only
thing you could do is destroy that chip, and I don't really care if you
do. If you do, then that means I'll have to destroy the Tower, and I'm
positive I would have a lot more fun doing so. But either way, Genom is
going down. If you want to try and protect your precious Genom, go right
ahead, but it'll do no good."
Madigan could feel tears starting to form. She had to protect
Genom...Genom was her life. All she did was hug the chip closer to her
bosom, wanting to protect Genom, her life.
Ranma placed his hands on the bars, "I don't understand why you're
protecting Genom. How would you feel if your family was killed because
of Genom, something that could have been easily prevented?"
"I don't have family." she replied, "They all died in the Second Kanto
Earthquake!"
"And how will you feel if you found out that Genom was the cause of
that earthquake?" Ranma's voice remained steady, pounding its point
across, "Thousands of people died in that Nerima Massacre! Don't you get
it! It could have been prevented, but Genom wanted to tests its new
breed of boomers!!!"
Ranma found himself almost getting angry, having to bring back old
memories, memories her preferred to forget.
"You know Genom made those boomers go berserk on purpose!" Ranma
continued, his eyes intensely on Madigan, "Yet you still work for them!
Why? Do you actually enjoy seeing people die?" Ranma turned toward
Priss, "Can you please open the cell, for me?"
Priss looked at Ranma for a moment and then nodded. She pressed a key
code on the panel next to the cell and the locks released. Ranma said
his thanks and then entered the cell. He walked up to Carper and grabbed
him by his neck, "How would you feel if I killed him?"
"Ranma." Priss said, "Let go of him!" She ran into the cell to stop
Ranma.
"Let go of him!!" Madigan said, tears streaming from her eyes, trying
to wrench Ranma's steel grip off of Carper, much to no avail as his grip
remained taut, "Please!!! Let go of him!!!"
"Well, how will you feel if I killed him, someone you cared for?"
Ranma said, "Then you'll probably have no one left in your life. You'll
be all alone..."
Priss reached into the holster she kept in her boots and pulled it
out, pointing toward Ranma, "Let go of him, Ranma. I'll shoot. I can't
stand here idle while you kill him, even if he is scum!"
"He's not scum!!!" Madigan spat defensively, almost sobbing
uncontrollably.
Ranma moved too fast that Priss didn't even realize he had taken her
gun away until she saw him holding it. It happened faster than a blink
of an eye.
"Well? How will you feel?" Ranma said, his emphasis on the last word.
"I-I'll hate you!!!" Madigan said, crying, "I-I'll track you down to
the ends of this earth and kill you!!!"
Ranma nodded as he released his hold of Carper, Carper falling to the
ground, gasping for air. He turned around and handed the gun back to
Priss, who was still amazed at Ranma's speed, before he turned back
toward Madigan, "Well, now you know how I feel..." he said.
At that moment, a missile flew into the corridor and just missed taking
Ranma out with him. It struck the wall at the other end of the corridor,
causing the walls to cave in.
"What the?" was all he managed to say, right before he was struck in
the chest with another missile. He was propelled backwards from the
force and into the wall, and then falling to the floor
Priss quickly rushed to Ranma's side, "Ranma, are you okay?!"
"Ite!!! That's twice I got hit in the chest!!! What's this world
comin' to?! Who's shooting those missiles?"
Ranma's question was answered when the sight of a large and very
menacing boomer rounded the corner of the corridor, coming face to face
with Ranma, a large rocket launcher in its hands, a boomer sent by Genom
alone with many others to retrieve the OMS chip that Ranma had stolen
earlier.
Priss, seeing the boomer, reacted instinctively and pointed her gun
toward the boomer, opening fire.
"That's not gonna do anythin' to it!" Ranma said, getting to his feet.
It
didn't even bother him that the sounds of carnage was heard all about. It
must
mean the headquarters was under attack once again. He rubbed his chest a
bit, as
if he were having some kind of heartburn from eating something spicy, and
then
charged to boomer, narrowly dodging a missile, "If you wanna get rid of
'em,
it's best to hit them with something very very strong....like this!!!"
Ranma slammed and open palm into the boomer's chest, exploding its
artificial spine right out through the back of its exoskeleton.
He turned toward Priss and gave her a smirk.
"What the hell's going on here?!" Priss said, gingerly walking down
the corridor toward the corner, a bit reluctant about peeking around,
scared a missile would take her head out. When she finally did look and
saw nothing, and then turned toward Ranma, she saw him opening the door
to Madigan and Carper's cell.
"You better follow us if you wanna get outta here alive." Ranma said.
"W-what are you doing?!" Priss asked.
Ranma gave her a rather innocent look as he replied, "I'm lettin' them
out.
What does it look like I'm doing?" When he noticed she was about to ask
why, he
continued on to say, "If a missile comes flying down this corridor again,
and
god forbid it explodes near that cell, they're gonna die."
Priss shook her head. What was she going to do with him? Didn't he
realize that those two people he just let out were the ones who were
trying to kill him just a short while ago?
Ranma, with total disregard for his safety, poked his head around the
corner and shouted, "Yo, Ryoga, you still alive?!"
Sounds of mortal combat could be heard echoing through the corridor,
down around a corner at the other end. Ranma and the others could hear
gunfire and explosions.
"Hello? Ryoga? You alive?! Anybody? I hear gunfire, but I don't hear
anybody replying!" Ranma shouted down the corridor.
"Shut up, can't you see I'm busy!!!" came a harsh reply, emphasized
with a ki-blast narrowly missing Ranma's head. The blast stuck a nearby
wall, causing it to partially collapse on Ranma.
Madigan and Carper and Priss watched wide-mouthed as Ranma got up out
of the rubble and brushed the debris out of his hair and clothes. He
then poked his entire upper torso around the corner and extended and arm
forward, sending his own ki-blast back down the corridor as a reply.
"Ha, gotcha!!!" Ranma said, raising an arm in triumph.
"What? You managed to hit a boomer?!" Priss asked.
Ranma turned his attention onto Priss.
"Huh? No, of course not. I managed to hit Ryoga..." he replied with a
chuckle.
Ryoga's head popped around the corner, looming just above Ranma's
head.
"How dare you hit me in the back with that!!!" Ryoga shouted, causing
Ranma to start since his back had been toward him, "That hurt you
know!!!"
Ranma turned toward Ryoga, just in time to see a missile hit Ryoga from
the side. The explosion caused him to go flying bodily into a wall,
slumping to the ground, hurt. Ranma, unfortunately, was caught in the
explosion and engulfed in the flames since he was within such close
proximity to Ryoga during the explosion. Luckily, Ranma was in front of
Priss and Carper and Madigan, leaving them unharmed.
"Ryoga, you moron, look what happened!!!" Ranma said to Ryoga as Ryoga
was slowly getting back onto his feet. Ranma pointed to himself and his
now totally scorched shirt, "If you're gonna get blown up, don't get
blown up near me. You got my shirt ruined."
Ryoga was glowing brightly, "Your shirt?! Your shirt?! I just got hit
with a goddamn missile and you're worried about your shirt!!!"
Ranma got up on his feet, "So what?! I got hit in the chest twice!
Quit your complainin', will ya?!"
A missile flew by Ryoga's head. Ryoga turned toward where the missile
had come
from and shouted, "Damn boomer, can't you see I'm busy?!" And then shot a
massive ki-blast from his hands and down the corridor, totally ravaging
the
boomer that happened to be in its path.
He turned toward Ranma, "Now, you! It's all your fault I got hit in the
first
place!!!"
Ranma peeked his head around the corner toward the dozen or so boomers
coming
down the corridor toward him and Ryoga, "Um, Ryoga, perhaps now is not
the time
to argue..."
He reached forward and grabbed the arm of the still arguing Ryoga and
pulled him around the corner, just in time as a dozen or so missiles flew
right by where Ryoga had once been. Ranma and Ryoga quickly grabbed
Priss and Carper and Madigan, running further down the corridor, away
from the ensuing explosions.
They continued to run down the corridor until they had no where to go,
a dead end that only branched off to a cell. The wall was the same one
Ranma had been slammed into when that missile had hit him in the chest.
"Doesn't that suck..." Ranma commented, "We've got no place to go."
He pointed toward the slightly caved in wall and said, "You see that,
that
was from me when I got hit in the chest...a second time!"
"Will you quite digressing?!" Priss said, "We're trapped!!!"
Ranma turned toward the cell door at his right and reached forward,
gripping one of the bars to open it.
"We're sitting ducks out here." Ranma said, "let's get back in the
cell so well have some cover." When he tried to open it, it wouldn't
move. The cell was automated, and thus, locked every time it was closed
unless opened via typing it in on a key pad right next to it.
"Huh? How come this ain't openin'?" Ranma said.
The boomers rounded the corner, their weapons pointed toward Ranma and
the group.
Madigan, realizing now was her chance to get away since the boomers
won't open fire one their superiors, quickly took the initiative and
grabbed Carper's hand and ran forward. The boomers won't open fire until
the two of them were out of their line of fire.
The muscles in Ranma's arm flexed as he slide the cell door open,
breaking the lock in the process. As the door slid open, he caught sight
of Madigan and Carper making a run for it. He quickly turned toward
Priss and pushed her into the cell. He didn't bother to push Ryoga
because he could stand out in the middle of the corridor for all Ranma
cared.
Ranma quickly ran after the fleeing Madigan and Carper and grabbed the
two of them, one under each arm. As the boomers raised their weapons to
open fire, Ranma had no where to go except straight ahead, right in the
path boomers incoming fire.
Desperate, Ranma did the next best thing. The turned toward the wall
"God, I hope this wall ain't totally concrete!" He then kicked the wall
with all his might, sending it crashing inward. Luckily for him, the
wall wasn't complete concrete and that there was another room on the
other side.
Ranma jumped through the hole he had created just as dozens of missiles
flew right by him. As he still held Madigan and Carper, he ran for the
door on the other end of the room. He knew that in a second or so, a
massive wall of flame was going to rip right through the room from that
hole because Ryoga wouldn't stand there idle as the missiles destroyed
the area by where he and Priss were.
As Ranma reached the halfway point to the door, an explosion ten times
louder than the missiles ripped through the room as a massive ball of
flame shot through the hole, beginning to engulf the entire room.
Seeing that the door was closed, Ranma didn't have the time to stop
and kick it down so he ran right through it, using his shoulder to break
it down. The door flew open to reveal a pair of stairs that lead down to
someplace very dark.
"I ain't goin' down there, it's dark!" Ranma said.
Madigan managed to glance backwards just in time to see the wall of
flame heading straight toward them and shrieked in horror.
Without giving it much thought, Ranma lunged forward down the stairs
and into the darkness, bringing Madigan and Carper down with him.
Everything was quiet for Ranma and Madigan and Carper. And also pitch
dark.
"Hey, you two all right?" Ranma's voice echoed in the room.
"I-I think so." came Madigan's reply.
"Ugh." Carper moaned. He was hurt.
"Damn, I can't see a thing, it's very dark!" Ranma said, "We need some
light.
Hold up."
While in the dark, Ranma raised a hand toward the ceiling and slowly
calling forth his ki, generating a tiny ball of energy. The room became
illuminated by a faint glow, the shadows dancing as the tiny ball
pulsated
with energy.
Ranma had to concentrate on keeping the ki-blast at a minimum. It was
quite ironic that Ranma had to concentrate to make his ki-blasts weaker
instead of stronger. As he stood there, in the faint glow, it looked
like he was some kind of arch angel shedding light down on the world
below.
Madigan quickly scuttled backward as she saw Ranma and what he was
doing. He was generating light from his goddamn hand!!!
"Cool." Ranma said, "That's much better"
He looked around to survey his surroundings and quickly realized he was
in
some kind of storage facility. There were mechanical parts strewn about,
a
motorcycle engine here, a swingarm there, several repair tools in the far
off
corner. He saw Carper laying on his back, a small trickle of blood
flowing down
his forehead.
"C-Carper!" Madigan gasped as she rushed to Carper's side, "A-are you
all
right?!"
"He's hurt." Ranma commented.
"No shit, asshole!" Madigan spat back, "And it's all your fault."
Ranma said in a serious voice, "No, I actually saved him, and you for
that matter. You shouldn't have run."
"And why not?!" Madigan spat back, "We had to get away somehow, and
that was our only chance!"
"Eh? I dunno about you, but I think you were trying to get herself
killed. Why on earth were you running toward those boomers in the first
place?" Ranma said in a rather exasperated voice.
"We were trying to get away!"
"What? Didn't you see those boomers open fire as you ran toward 'em?!"
Ranma replied, almost feeling sorry for Madigan that she still believed
Genom cared for her, "They don't care about you, they were gonna mow you
down because you were in their path!!"
Madigan was silent. She had noticed those boomers opening fire. But
there must have been a reason...
"Will you quite bein' so naive?" Ranma said, "Genom doesn't care about
you! God, what do you want, a boomer to put a bullet through you before
you realize it?!"
Ranma, one hand still producing the light, walked over to where Carper
lay and kneeled down below him. He reached his free hand forward and
placed it on Carper's chest.
"Get away from him!" Madigan shouted, pushing Ranma away.
The ball of energy shot from his fingertips and toward the ceiling
because he momentarily lost his control over it when Madigan pushed him.
The blast, albeit small, hit the ceiling and was strong enough to cause
it to collapse.
Ranma was about to punch the falling debris away but couldn't because
there was no light, thus, he was forced to pull Madigan forward on top
of Carper and he used his own body to shield them from the falling
debris.
It took several moments before the debris stopped falling, burying
them alive. When it did stop, Ranma slowly got back onto his feet,
pushing the rubble off his back.
He raised his hand and produced yet another ball of light, "You done
yet?"
Madigan was silent. She was a bit shaken but all right and so was
Carper.
Ranma reached his free hand forward and placed it on Carper's chest
and closed his eyes.
"W-what are you doing?!" Madigan said protectively, stopping herself
from pushing Ranma away.
Ranma glowed for several moments and then took his hand away. When he
did, Carper seemed to be breathing a bit easier.
"I was using my ki to heal him. He has several cracked ribs but will
be all right." Ranma said, "Gee, a lotta people's been breakin' their
ribs left
and right nowadays."
Madigan looked at Ranma oddly, and then at Carper and noticed Carper
looked better off than before, "H-how did you just heal him?"
"I used my ki." Ranma said matter-of-factly "He'll be all right, but
he'll need some rest..."
Madigan was silent.
"Well, it looks like we're probably gonna be down here for a while
because I
can't blow my way out cause this room cause it's so small and I can't go
about
trying to remove the rubble cause it'll cause way too much dust." Ranma
said
after a short moment, walking around, his hand still raised for light,
looking
for a candle or something to produce some light. Luckily, he found one
and put
the energy ball near it and lit it.
Ranma sat down and sighed.
A very awkward moment ensued, neither Madigan nor Ranma saying
anything. Finally, after a while, Ranma couldn't stand the silence and
decided to break it, "How long have you and Carper going out?"
"G-going out?" Madigan said, rather surprised at the sudden question,
"W-we're n-not going out."
"Yeah, okay, whatever you say." Ranma said, shrugging his shoulders.
Madigan blushed, grateful that the light being produced by the candle
was rather dim.
"Why are you trying to kill me and Ryoga?"
"What?" Madigan was shocked against by such a sudden question.
"Why are you trying to kill us?" Ranma repeated, "We're here trying to
stop Genom yet you're trying to stop us every step of the way. Why? Why
are you still helping Genom out? From what had just happened earlier,
you should realize that Genom could care less about you, yet you still
protect it...why?"
Madigan was very silent. What could she say? What should she say?
Ranma laid down on his back, closing his eyes, "Also, you still have
the OMS chip thingie. I'd like that back sooner or later. But until
then, there's nothing much to do but wait. I'm gonna go to sleep, I
could sure use the rest."
He turned on his side and rested his head on a small box that was used
for gears.
Madigan looked at Ranma. If he was going to try and go to sleep,
perhaps she could kill him while in his sleep. All she would need to do
was find something that she could use as a weapon. She would attempt to
kill him when possible.
"I'm not the bad guy you know..."
For some reason, Madigan never attempted to execute her plan.
"Lemme alone, I'm tired." Ranma said sleepily. He went back to sleep.
The four girls and Akane looked at each other. The situation was quite
odd.
Ranma was on his side in the middle of the room, Madigan and Carper
quietly
sitting in the corner. It had taken several hours to remove all the
rubble that
had collapsed in front of the doorway that lead down to the storage area.
It
would had been quicker with Ryoga's help, but Ryoga couldn't help because
he had
gotten hurt protecting Priss from that explosion he had caused, using his
body
to protect her. He had slept for most of the digging, waking up only near
the
end. It also didn't make it easier that the girl's hardsuits had been
damaged
during their mortal combat with the boomers on the level above while
Ryoga had
gone downstairs for Ranma and Priss, thus, they had to use their bare
hands and
whatever tools they had. Akane had made the job easier but she was only
one
person, afterall.
"C'mon, get up, Ranma. We can't stay here anymore." Sylia said,
wondering if
she should give him a gentle kick but deciding against it.
Ranma slowly sat upright, rubbing his eyes, "What do ya mean? Oh, I
guess after getting attacked for the second time here is a good enough
reason to leave." He hopped on to his feet, awake, and stretched his
well-defined arms out, "I guess it's about time we stop this Genom once
and for all."
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Priss asked, an arm resting on
her hip.
Ranma didn't even need to think. He had planned on doing this earlier,
"Let's attack their factories. If they can't make boomers, then they
can't send 'em out to attack us, ne?" He turned toward Madigan, "Where's
the factory? No, don't tell me. It's probably located someplace that's
very inconvenient...like in some sub level below Genom Tower, ne?"
Madigan bit her lip. How the fuck does he know?! Wait, he's only
guessing...
Ranma pointed toward Madigan, a smile on his lips, "Ha!! It is under
the tower!! And I got it on my first try!!! Damn, I'm good!!"
"And modest, too." Akane added wryly.
"Thanks." Ranma said with a smile.
"You idiot, it was a form of sarcasm!" Akane spat.
Ranma gave a weak smile, "Oh, well, then you're an uncute tomboy for
saying something like that."
"Ranma!!!" Akane said, anger rising.
Ranma cleared his throat, immediately changing the subject, "Ahem, now
that we know where the factory is, let's go attack it."
Ryoga took a step forward, eyeing Ranma cautiously, "Ranma, exactly
how many times have we been to Genom Tower? I mean, why not destroy the
whole tower and get it over with. I mean, it's much easier, right? Why
not do that?"
"Well, Ryoga, if we did destroy the tower, think of all those
buildings that surround the tower. All the falling debris will destroy
'em, and many people will be left without businesses..." Ranma said.
"Like you gave a damn about the people when you went into that fit of
rage." Ryoga said dryly, his brows creasing, remembering how close Ranma
had come to killing millions if he had released that Seppukku ki-blast.
Sylia looked at Priss.
"I missed it." Priss said, putting her hands up, "I have no idea what
Ranma
could have done. When I got there, Ryoga was lying in the middle of the
street
unconscious..."
Ryoga was silent, almost embarrassed that Ranma had managed to knock
him out with that devastating ax kick to his chest. But he didn't blame
Ranma, at least not much. If Ryoga had gone berserk with rage, Ranma's
attempts to stop him would most likely be futile.
Ranma pointed toward Ryoga as he looked at the girls, "All you missed
was my whooping Ryoga's butt in a battle, that's all..."
"Shut up, Ranma!" Ryoga said coldly, "You got lucky during that
battle!!!"
Linna jumped between Ranma and Ryoga, "Boys, boys, no fighting please.
You two fought enough times that we don't need to add yet another fight
to the tally."
Ranma crossed his arms across his chest and jerked a thumb toward
Ryoga, "Perhaps Linna's right. Besides, I have other things to worry
than fightin' with some pig boy."
"You shut up, Ranma!!!"
Ranma ignored Ryoga's statement, "Anyway, let's go attack the Genom
Tower, actually, the sublevels."
"Okay." Ryoga replied.
Ranma and Ryoga both headed for the door. But before doing so, Ranma
walked over to where Madigan, "May I have the chip please?" he said
politely.
"No!"
Ranma chuckled, opening his hands to reveal the chip for Madigan and
Carper to see, "Too late..."
"W-what? H-how did you get it? I was just holding on to it!"
"I'm pretty fast." Ranma said with a smirk. "What can I say...you
shouldn't've blinked." He turned toward Ryoga and said, "Well, let's
get going. We'll go attack the factory and then reveal the chip to
expose Genom for what it truly is."
"Let's get going."
Ranma and Ryoga headed for the door that would inevitably lead to the
elevator that lead to the surface, but not before Ranma made a comment,
"All right, porky, let's get going."
"I'll kill you!!!" could be heard of Ryoga as he and Ranma closed the
door behind them.
"Um, don't they, like, hate each other or something?" Nene asked
Akane, "I mean, what's up with those two? They hate each other, yet they
could work together as a perfect team. Do they hate each other or is it
all for show, for our benefit?"
Akane shook her head and answered after a short while, "They hate
each other. That's for sure. As to why they hate each other, I don't
know, and they don't seem to say anything about it. I remember it being
over something like Ranma stealing Ryoga's bread when they were young."
The four girls looked at Akane dubiously.
"I know, it's weird." Akane said, shrugging her shoulders, "But then
again, the people I've met back then are equally as weird."
"So they hate each other, right?" Priss wanted to confirm.
"Yes." Akane replied curtly, nodding, "I betcha if you put them in a
room together for a long time, they'll most likely kill each other...not
that I would want to find out though since I care for both Ranma and
Ryoga."
"Which one do you care for more?" Linna asked curiously.
Akane was silent. She cared for the both of them.
"Well, I don't wanna put you on the spot, so let's change the
subject." Linna said after she notice Akane's reluctance to answer. She
looked over her shoulder toward Madigan and Carper, who had been quiet
this whole time.
"What should we do with 'em?" Priss asked, almost scowling toward
Madigan as
their eyes locked for a brief moment. Boy, would she like to knock
Madigan's
lights out for all the trouble she and Carper had put Priss and her
friends
through, "If I had my way, I'd throw them back in the cell and leave them
there
to die of starvation...or something along the lines."
"Now now, Priss. Calm down." Nene muttered, "No need to go to
extremes."
As Madigan and Carper remained in the corner of the room, wondering
what their fate would be, Madigan couldn't help but feel this resentment
toward Genom. If they didn't work for Genom.....they wouldn't be in this
mess....right?
"So what do we do with 'em?" Priss asked, eyeing Madigan critically.
When their eyes met, Priss added, "You're not so tough without all those
damn boomers there to protect you, now, are you?!"
"Priss." Sylia called out in a dominating voice, "Enough."
Priss took a deep breath, her eyes resting menacingly on Madigan for
several long moments before she turned toward the door where Ranma and
Ryoga had left.
"Where're you going?" Linna asked.
"With Ranma and Ryoga." she replied, not bothering to stop, "I don't
wanna be in the same room with people like them. And besides, I've been
meaning to exact a form of revenge on Genom for what they've done. And I
want to take it out on all those newly made boomers just waiting to be
destroyed."
"You have no hardsuit." Sylia commented. She knew she couldn't stop
Priss from going, but it wouldn't hurt to try.
Priss actually stopped for a moment to answer Sylia, "I have a grenade
launcher stashed on my bike. I'll use that. And besides, with Ranma and
Ryoga around, I don't think I'll need it much anyway..."
"Priss, has it ever occurred to you that we really don't know who
Ranma and Ryoga really are?" Sylia asked softly, more toward all the
girls in general instead of Priss.
"What do you mean by that?"
Sylia took a short while, thinking of a good way to bring this subject
up with Akane around, "Well, we've seen Ranma and Ryoga fight before,
like the time when they almost killed each other and ended up in the
hospital. Well, they still fight, and those fights are even more
intensive...yet they're not getting hurt as much. Why?"
Akane spoke up, "Well, they do have a tendency to adapting to new
Things."
"I understand what you mean, Akane." Sylia faced Akane, her eyes
regarding, "But what I was wondering how on Earth did they get
so...strong, if that's the word. It came to me as a shock that Ranma
actually grabbed the chip without my or anyone seeing it. How can
someone move that fast? Doesn't it scare anyone?"
"I dunno." Akane replied, wishing she really did know, "But even if
they are strong, as you put it, there's no need to be scared. Ranma and
Ryoga are good people. They may be strong, but they're not the type to
take advantage of it. They may take advantage of it on each other, but
not on regular people. But one thing does bother me, though..."
"What's that?" Linna asked.
"I'm probably right when I say that they could end up killing each
other..."
The door opened and in entered Ryoga.
"R-Ryoga, what are you doing back here? I thought you left." Priss
said, a bit shocked at his sudden appearance, "I was about to follow
along."
Ryoga smiled weakly, "Um, well, I kinda got lost..."
Priss opened the door and peered out. The corridor led straight to the
elevator. And that elevator lead straight outside. How in the world can
he get lost that easily?!
The elevator door opened and Ranma was standing in it, leaning against
the back wall, "Ryoga, you moron, your sense of direction is probably
worse than when we were young."
"Shut up, Ranma!!!"
Priss quickly jumped between the two of them, grabbing Ryoga's hand,
"Is it all right if I come along?"
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, "I guess not. But it is gonna get rather
dangerous, ain't it? You sure?"
Priss nodded.
"All right."
Priss, still holding Ryoga's hand, dragged him with her and into the
elevator. As the door was closing, Priss turned toward Ranma and said,
"What's with you constantly instigating?"
"Eh? What's that mean?"
Priss shook his head, "Nevermind."
When the three left, Sylia wanted to ask Akane some more questions,
questions she hadn't thought of asking until she witnessed this incident
"How come Ryoga has a lousy sense of direction?"
Akane sat down on one of the steps that lead down to the room and said,
"I
really don't know. He's always had a bad sense of direction, even when he
was
young." It felt strange for her to say that last sentence. To her, Ryoga
looked
virtually the same, not somewhere in his forties. And Ranma looked the
same
also. Of course, she knew it was because of the curse. But what was also
strange
was that everything, the fighting, the fiancees, and even the old letch,
felt
like it happened just a few days ago for her.
"I guess that's one of his weaknesses." Linna commented.
"Well, you should see Ranma's." Akane almost chuckled, "He's terrified
of cats."
"C-Cats?!" the girls said. Madigan caught her breath, realizing she
almost spoke out in disbelief.
Akane nodded, "Well, at least he could still be scared of cats. But
then again, maybe over the years, he's gotten over his phobia. But then
again, exactly how he would go about getting over it, I have no idea."
"Perhaps through a process called overflooding the system." Nene
commented, stepping into the conversation.
"Actually, that's the last thing you want happening to Ranma." came a
quick reply.
"Why?"
Akane's gaze went toward Madigan and Carper, knowing that they were
taking a mental note of this conversation, "Well, you've seen how strong
Ranma is. If he's still scared of cats, and he reaches a point where he
his terror overloads, he'll be much much powerful than what you've
witnessed so far. It was all his father's fault. He wanted to teach
Ranma the ultimate techniques, but in doing so, Ranma suffers from
serious psychological problems because of it. That's why he's scared of
cats."
"Ultimate technique?" Sylia said, her voice betraying her fascination.
"It's some kind of ultimate fighting technique." Akane replied.
Madigan shuddered. She had seen Ranma in a fit of rage, and it scared
the hell out of her. And to think that Ranma didn't even use his full
potential when ravaging all those boomers to simply nothing. She and
Carper were the only ones who had witnessed it, making Ranma seem even
more scary now that she realized that Ranma it even stronger than
that...which seemed impossible at first to begin with.
Akane turned toward Madigan, not really caring about the fact that she
was taught to respect her elders. But then again, she never really
respected Genma that much, and these people were pretty much like him in
her book. She said, "If you think you can exploit that weakness, think
again. Even though I should let you try this on him and find out the
hard way, you don't deserve to die...like all those people in Nerima
like Ranma had told me...like my friends...like my family.
Akane could feel this intense sense of resentment toward Madigan, but
managed to keep it under control. Madigan and Carper had nothing to do
with it. All they did was work for the corporation that did this to her.
They were just pawns.
Ranma and Ryoga and Priss were walking down the street when Ranma
spotted someone he recognized. It was Lisa. She was walking home,
carrying a bag of groceries, grateful that her work was finally over,
that she could finally kick back and relax for a change. She had a very
bad day.
"Hey, look, it's Lisa!"
He ran across the street to meet up with the young looking girl. Ryoga
and Priss followed suit. Ryoga greeted her warmly while Priss gave a
curt but rather cold salutation, not knowing who this girl really was.
"She helped fix Akane after she got hurt." Ryoga said to Priss.
"How's Akane?" Lisa asked curiously, already knowing the answer. It
wasn't because she was arrogant, but rather she knew she had done a good
job.
Ranma smirked, "She's fine. She could use a reprogramming cause she's
still a tomboy-"
"I won't stand here and let you say that about Akane!!!" Ryoga spat.
"Anyway." Ranma continued, ignoring Ryoga, "Thanks a lot for all that
you've
done. You brought back the one person I really cared for, not once but
twice,
and I can't thank you enough. You're really great."
Lisa blushed. She could get used to all this positive criticism, "Um,
where are you three headed?"
"Back to Genom Tower." Ranma replied. When Lisa gave him a curious
looked he
knew she wanted to know why, "We plan on destroying the factory that
makes all
those boomers that attack us. We figured it would be best to destroy all
the
annoyances at the source."
Lisa wondered if she should tell them. Afterall, they were going to
attack her
place of work. But then again, she never really liked working for Genom
and
could get a job in no time, what with her skills, "Well, if you wanna
destroy
the factory easily, there's a main computer on the bottom floor that
oversees
the security of the factory. If you destroy it, the factory is
defenseless.
You'll be free to do whatever you want without having to worry about a
laser or
such hitting you from behind."
"Really?" Ranma said, eyes widening, "Cool! That'll make it much much
easier for us. Thanks again."
"What are you going to do after that?" Lisa asked. She knew Ranma
wanted to take Genom down. If she knew of a time, then she would start
looking for another job. But first, she would embezzle the money that
Genom owed her for all that overtime she put in but didn't get paid for.
"I got this OMS chip thingie that I plan on letting the world know of
Genom's plans. That way, Genom'll go down the tubes when the media gets
wind of it. I don't wanna blow the tower up because the debris will most
likely get someone killed." Ranma said in one breath. He reached into
his pocket and handed Lisa the chip, "See, there's the chip."
Lisa looked at the chip for a moment. It was small but rather heavy
for its size. It looked like a regular nanochip, except it looked like
it was made to withstand extreme cold.
"This looks like a chip that would be used on a satellite." Lisa
commented,
eyeing it carefully.
Ranma snapped his fingers, "So that's how they're gonna control all 'em
boomers. They're gonna send it via satellite. All you would need is two,
one for
the western part of the world, the....western hemisphere and another chip
for
the eastern hemisphere."
Priss' heart skipped a beat. God, how can Genom be so damn diabolical
to think
of something like that?! They're monsters! They deserve to die!
"You wanna hold it?" Ranma asked, "I don't want that chip breaking
because
it's useless if it doesn't work..."
"What are you saying, Ranma?!" Priss asked loudly, "W-why are you
giving it to her? That chip is very important!"
"That's why I wanna give it to Lisa here. She can take care of it."
came the
innocent reply.
Lisa hugged the chip close to her bosom, "I'll take real care of it.
You can trust me."
Ranma smiled.
Priss' face faulted. Who was this girl? How can Ranma trust someone so
blindly? And a person from Genom at that?! What is he, out of his mind?
She'll just take the chip and return it back to its rightful place,
Genom's hands!
"Um, when do you plan on exposing Genom?" Lisa asked after a short
moment.
Ranma smirked, "Why? Ya wanna steal from them before it all goes down
the tubes?"
Lisa blushed.
"Huh? Y-you mean I was right?" Ranma asked, "Wow, I must be real good.
But about the money, ya don't really have to worry about it. Ryoga and I
stole a lot from there and stashed it away. You can take that. We plan
on stealing some more anyway. The money is in an abandoned factory in
the southern most part of that artificial island. There should be enough
money in there to buy an island..."
"I only want the money Genom owes me, that's all." Lisa said.
"Well, think of it as a bonus...for helping us out, ne?" Ranma was
almost having fun being so nice, "Anyway, we're gonna get going now.
Don't worry about getting the chip to us. When you see us, just give it
to us. It's not like Ryoga or I are goin' anywhere anyway, right?"
Ranma smiled warmly, "Well, take care, Lisa. See ya."
"Bye."
Lisa watched as Ranma and Ryoga and a reluctant Priss walked off
toward that looming tower jutting up into the sky in the distant
horizon. When they were almost too far away for her to see, Ranma
stopped and to wave goodbye to her before he and his friends continued on
with their journey.
"I trust her." Ranma answered Priss' question.
"How do you know her?"
"From my childhood."
Priss was still curious, "How?"
"She hit me in the face with a brick." Ranma said, turning toward Lisa
to wave goodbye.
Lisa waved back before she carefully put the chip in her coat pocket
and headed toward her apartment. After having seen Ranma again, her day
seemed to be on the up and up. It seemed she was having a better day
than she thought.
It seems seeing Ranma again had made her day.
Ranma looked up at the huge supercomputer, Ryoga and Priss at his side.
It had
taken the three of them well over an hour to reach this point.
"Man, that's one huge computer." Ranma commented, his neck almost
hurting from
being bent back at such an angle. Ranma took it one step further as to
getting
down on his back and looking straight up, "That's better. Now my neck
won't hurt
when I try to look up at the top of this computer. Jeez, I can't even see
the
ceiling. It's so damn high..."
"Get up, Ranma." Priss said, "We get your point."
Ranma got up and said, "Y'know, it's ironic that of all the places
that needs security, the computer that oversees it doesn't have any..."
"Perhaps it was because no one expected us to get this far." Ryoga
commented, looking around at the vast room.
The underground factory wasn't really even a factory. It was more
along the lines of a city located practically two miles underground and
with a mile high roof. The place was huge, at least a mile in any
direction from where they were. Throughout the factory, were other,
smaller factories, each of them specializing in producing certain parts
for certain boomers. The whole place looked like something out of a
science fiction movie, this technologically advanced looking underground
city.
"You have a point." Ranma agreed, "It was a rather risky task getting
here."
Ranma and Ryoga had had the fight of their life, dodging and
destroying everything that stood in their way. They shouldn't have
underestimated Genom. The supercomputer, having realized three intruders
that didn't work for Genom, began creating boomer after boomer, sending
them all after the three as soon as they were created.
As Priss was running through the 'city', she realized that she really
shouldn't have come. She was slowing Ryoga and Ranma down. What was she
thinking? And it didn't help matters any bit that she was without her
hardsuit,
Ryoga having destroyed it when they were in Genom Tower. One direct hit
from a
laser would be fatal for her, while a direct hit on Ranma and Ryoga would
be
nearly impossible, both of them capable of dodging them.
But now, they have reached their destination, the main computer.
"We're under attack again?!?!" Sylia asked, shocked.
Linna nodded, "We have to get the hell outta this truck. We're sitting
ducks!!!"
Everyone was in the Knight Sabers' transport truck, on their way to
Nene's
apartment so they could think of a plan, when bullets started raining
down on
them from everywhere.
Nene shrieked in terror as an arm busted through the ceiling of the
convoy
they were in and slowly started ripping it apart.
"Guys, there's a boomer on the top of the truck and I can't shake him
loose!!!" Mackie's voice filtered through the speaker. He was driving,
swerving
the truck back and forth, hoping to cause the boomer to lose its balance,
much
to no avail. The girls were all having trouble trying to keep their
balance
within the truck.
Madigan and Carper, whom were both handcuffed to the back of the truck,
realized that they were going to be rescued.
"Hurry up!!!" Madigan shouted toward the boomer.
As she said that, the arm pulled back out through the opening, and
after a moment, a boomer came crashing down into the truck from the
opening.
"Shit!!" Linna shouted, scurrying for her hardsuit, "It's inside!!!"
Akane looked around and noticed that none of the girls were in their
hardsuits, all of them vulnerable. She had to do something. Knowing that
she was the only one capable of taking on a boomer in hand to hand
combat, she got into her battle stance, "Hey, you, over here!!"
The boomer's back was toward Akane. It was facing Madigan and Carper.
"Kill them!" Madigan told the boomer. The boomer was holding a mini, a
high
powered rapid fire weapon generally used for helicopters. There was no
way the
girls would be able to dodge those bullets, even if they were in their
hardsuit,
which they were not.
The boomer didn't respond to Madigan's command.
"Kill them now!!!" Madigan gave another order to the boomer, using her
free hand to point toward Akane and the rest standing right behind it.
The boomer raised its mini gun toward Madigan and Carper.
"Oh shit!!!" Carper shouted, realizing the boomer was going to kill
them. They were its target, not the others. He tried to scurry away but
the handcuffs where holding him fast. He couldn't go anywhere.
Madigan was trying the same, shrieking for dear life as she realized
her life would end at any moment.
Akane, realizing the boomer was going to kill Madigan and Carper,
lunged forward and grabbed the boomer's gun arm, pushing it toward the
ceiling as it opened fire. Unfortunately, it was a little too late and
several bullets struck Carper.
Carper fell to his side, motionless, blood falling from his mouth.
"Carper!!!" Madigan shouted as she desperately tried to get to his
side, the handcuffs holding her back.
"No!!!" She tugged at the handcuffs so hard that her wrists started to
bleed
from the strain and pulling.
The boomer continued to open fire, the bullets of the mini gun
riddling the ceiling with holes, as Akane tried desperately to keep it
from aiming at anyone. Unfortunately, its strength was far superior to
that of a sexaroid as its gun arm slowly started to lower back down.
Akane, knowing that it was useless to fight against this thing in
brute strength, resorted to her training. She needed to apply physics
into play.
Without thinking, Akane gripped the boomer's arm and pressed her hip
against the boomer's hip, sending it over her shoulder and crashing
onto the truck floor. Knowing that it would be up on its feet in
moments, Akane sent a elbow crashing down on the boomer's skull, caving
it in. The boomer twitched for several moments before it stopped
functioning.
The truck continued to swerve.
"There's more on the roof!!!" Mackie's voice came from the speaker.
"They're after Madigan and Carper!!" Linna shouted, "Get rid of
them!!" It was the only strategically thing to do. It didn't bother her
to
sacrifice Madigan and Carper's lives for their own.
"No!!!" Akane shouted, "We can't abandon them!!"
"I'm getting rid of 'em." Linna said in a cold cold voice, quite odd
coming
from her. They had been through enough. They didn't need this. This
wasn't their
fight.
Madigan's throat constricted as she saw Linna walking toward her,
stepping over the non-functioning boomer. She knew what was going to
happen. Linna was going to throw them out of the truck and be rid of
them once an for all.
"I-I d-don't want to die!!" Madigan pleaded, tears forming in her
eyes. She looked over toward where Carper lay motionless, his body only
moving because of the swerving truck.
Linna shook her head, "And neither do we. Those boomers are after you,
not us..."
Another boomer came through the opening. Akane did the exact same
thing to it, but this time, slamming it down on top of the other boomer
and caving its skull in.
The truck was hit hard from its side, so hard that it flipped over
onto its side, sliding to a halt.
"Shit, now we're in trouble!" Linna commented, getting up, shaking the
cobwebs from her head.
Akane climbed out of the truck through the opening the boomer had
created and quickly checked her surroundings. There were two boomers
standing on top of the side of the truck. They both carried large
cannons and were aiming their guns toward the truck under their feet.
"Hey, over here!!!" Akane said, waving her hands, hoping to get the
boomers' attention.
They paid her no mind.
Mackie smashed through the front windshield and ran away from the
truck quickly, not bothering to look back until his was a good distance
away.
The boomers started opening fire on the front of the truck. The rest
were in the back.
All of a sudden, one of the boomers exploded,
"What the?!" Akane managed to say, right before the blast from the
impact sent her backwards.
Leon's car skidded to a halt right in front of the truck. The
remaining boomer, realizing that Leon posed an immediate threat, aimed
its cannon toward the car.
Leon, wearing a pair of shades, a large missile launcher resting on his
shoulders, said, "Eat this!"
He pulled the trigger and a missile shot from his launcher, sizzling
through the air and hitting the boomer square in the chest, causing it
to explode into nothing, destroying it.
He dropped his missile launched to the ground and walked toward Akane,
"You okay, miss?"
"Um, yeah, I think so." she said, slowly getting to her feet.
At that moment, Sylia, with Madigan slumped unconscious over her
shoulder, emerged from the opening, followed by Nene and Linna, both of
them half-dragging a bleeding Carper.
"Nene? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Leon said, recognizing
one of his fellow co-workers.
Nene's eyes widened, "L-Leon!"
She recalled that Leon wasn't supposed to be back from his undercover
work
overseas until tomorrow. Why was he back so early?
"No time for talking, we hafta get rid of the suits." Linna said into
Nene's ear.
Nene nodded, "Yeah."
She spotted the rocket launcher on the ground by Leon's car, "Over
there."
Linna, knowing what she had to do, handed Carper over to Nene and
quickly ran for the rocket launcher. She ran right past Leon and picked
up the rocket launcher and aimed it toward the truck.
"W-what are you doing?" Leon said as he noticed Linna picking up his
weapon.
Civilians weren't supposed to be handling AD Police weaponry.
"This." Linna said right before she pulled the trigger.
A rocket shot from the launcher and hit the gas tank of the truck,
sending it up in flames. The explosion was so intense that everyone was
blown backwards from the blast.
Linna looked at Sylia and noticed her nod in acknowledgement at a task
well done, eliminating the hardsuits if there was a chance their identity
was
going to be discovered. Even though Madigan and Carper knew, she
threatened them
with death if they ever revealed their secret identities.
"I seriously hope there was a good reason why you did that." Leon
said, taking off his shades.
"Um, there were boomer's in there. I didn't want them coming out.
That's all." Linna replied glibly.
Leon smirked, "I guess that's a good enough reason as any." He looked
over toward where Carper was and noticed he was badly hurt, "We better
get him to a hospital before he bleeds to death."
He walked over to his car and popped the trunk, taking out a first-aid
kit.
He walked back to where Carper was, Madigan close to his side, and
began to administer pressure on his right shoulder, where he took it
the hardest. He wrapped several bandages around the area and said,
"That'll do for a little while." He looked at Madigan, and his eyes
creased as he commented, "You look familiar."
Madigan said nothing. They had met once when Leon had stormed into
Genom Tower looking for someone to arrest for the death of someone close
to him because a boomer had gone berserk.
"Don't you work for Genom?" Leon asked, his eyes piercing.
Madigan bit her lip. After what had happened, she realized exact what
Ranma had meant that Genom didn't care. Why else would they have sent
boomers out to eliminate her and Carper, because they had failed them?
It was too bad, she didn't learn until a gun was put to her head to make
her realize just how bad Genom was.
"No, I don't." she replied, hiding her sadness, her resentment toward
herself for being so naive about Genom.
"Oh, nevermind." Leon said, turning his attention away from her and
walking toward his car to call the local firehouse to put out the fire
from the burning truck.
Madigan look down toward the ground vindictively, knowing exactly the
hatred everyone shared toward Genom.
"Not anymore."
C&C welcomed ^_^
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