Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
Sylia jumped out of the way just in time as some massive ball of
energy surged through the opening that lead in to the maze of corridors.
The blast shot forward and struck the wall on the opposite side of the
vast storage room, demolishing it.
"What the hell was that?!" Linna said, taking cover by ducking behind
a large metallic box. Madigan was frightfully by her side, scared out of
her wits. Akane was at Linna's other side.
Sylia peeked around the corner into the dark corridor and shot several
rounds into it, taking cover just in time as another ball of energy shot
out from the darkness.
"Waitaminute!" Akane said, realizing something, "That's Ryoga's!"
"H-how do you know?" Linna asked, not daring to peek her head up over
the box, worried that it would be blown right off if she did do that.
Akane cupped her hands around her mouth and stood up and shouted,
"Ryoga!!! Hold your fire!!! It's me, Akane!!!"
"Akane?" Ryoga emerged into the light of the room. If it weren't for
Sylia having such quick reactions in recognizing him, she would have
blown Ryoga's head off as she caught sight of him running out into the
middle of the room.
Sylia slumped down, her fingers twitching, her knees weak, "Damn, that
was close," She could have almost been killed, and could have almost
killed Ryoga, if that was possible.
Priss emerged out into the light also, giving Sylia a quick start.
Sylia had almost pointed the magnum and pulled the trigger again, almost
mistaking Priss for a boomer. Having come close to being vaporized by
that ball of energy, having been close enough to feel its searing heat
as it whizzed by, was enough to make anyone jumpy.
"Where's Ranma?!" Akane said, hopping over the box to meet Ryoga
halfway.
Ryoga jerked a thumb over his back, "He went to destroy the computer,"
"Shit!!" Linna shouted, "We hafta stop him! The whole place will self
destruct if the computer gets destroyed!"
"What?!" Ryoga found himself losing his voice. His throat was starting
to feel dry. If the whole place self destructed, then Akane would surely
die in the blast. He couldn't have that happen...not again.
Ryoga spun around on his heels and quickly ran back into the dark
corridors, praying that his lack of direction doesn't fail him now. He
just prayed that he wouldn't be too late when he got to his destination.
Ryoga was too late. As he emerged out into the main room, he caught
sight of Ranma letting loose a massive ki-blast twice as large as any he
had ever thrown, right at the computer, the one shot needed to finally
destroy it.
"No!!!" Ryoga said, almost falling to his knees as he realized how bad
this situation had just become.
"What? What's wrong?" Ranma asked, looking down at Ryoga.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have twenty minutes' could be heard echoing
throughout the room.
"That's what's gonna happen," Ryoga said, "The whole place is gonna
blow up with us in it..,"
"Oh man, that's really really bad!" Ranma said.
The girls rushed into the room.
"W-we're too late," Priss said, resting her hand on her knees as she
gasped for air.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have nineteen minutes and thirty seconds'
Ranma turned toward everyone, 'Get the hell outta here!"
"How? How the hell are we going to get out of here in under twenty
minutes?!" Madigan said, tears starting to form as she realized the
uselessness of running, "It'll take us thirty minutes get out of this
place because the closest elevator was destroyed. The nearest elevator
is over a mile and a half away!"
"If we run hard enough, we can make it!" Ranma said, turning around.
He could run a mile and a half in no problem. He would carry them.
He grabbed the nearest people, Priss and Madigan, "Let's get the hell
outta of here!"
"We have to stop it!" Sylia shouted, pulling her arm away from Ranma's
hand, "If this place blows up, the whole tower above us will collapse
and kill thousands, if not tens of thousands..,"
"But there is no way to stop it!!!" Madigan said, numbly. She could
picture herself, dying underneath a mile of terra firma, no longer able
to see Carper again. The thought brought tears to her eyes. She turned
toward Sylia, "It's all your fault!!! Why did you have to bring me?!
Why?!"
"Because we don't trust you, that's why!" Sylia retorted coldly.
"God, what the hell are we gonna do?!" Linna said, panic in her voice.
She didn't want to die. She was too young and pretty to die.
Ranma looked up toward the computer, "Is there a way to stop the self
destruct?"
"No!!" Madigan replied, wishing to god that it wasn't true, "There's
no way to stop the countdown once it's started!"
"Boy, we're really up the creek without a paddle, now aren't we?!"
Ranma commented. He looked at Ryoga, "What do you think we should do?"
"Why the hell are you asking me?!" Ryoga replied vehemently, "You're
the one that cause this!!!"
Ranma was silent. He turned his attention back onto the computer, his
gaze intent, his visage somber "Yes, it is my fault..,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have nineteen minutes'
"We have to leave!" Linna shouted, "Now!!!"
Sylia turned toward Linna, "How? It'll take us over thirty minutes to
get out of this place! The only way out has been destroyed. We're stuck
in here..,"
"I'll stop it..," Ranma said in a low voice, "I'll stop the
countdown..,"
"H-how?" Madigan asked in a shaky voice.
"I'll....I'll kill myself...," Ranma said, dead serious.
"What?!" the girls said in unison.
Ranma turned his attention away from everyone, "I'll use my seppukku
blast to destroy this entire room and melt this computer into absolute
nothing...but...but I'll die in the process..,"
"No!" Akane spoke in a pleading voice, "You're not going to do that!
There's gotta be another way!"
"There's gotta be another way..," Linna said. She turned toward
Madigan, "C'mon, tell me there's some other way!"
Madigan was silent.
"No one here's going to sacrifice themselves," Sylia said, the calm
port within a storm, "Although we came in her separately, we leave here
together,"
Ranma shook his head, "No, I'm staying. I caused this, so I'll take
Responsibility,"
"You moron!!!" Akane said, the tear ducts of her eyes forming tears
around her eyes, or were they real tears, "Don't you get it?! You're
going to die!!!"
"I know,"
"I don't want you to die!!!" Akane shouted.
Ranma turned toward Akane, "And if I don't do anything, we're all
going to die and the people above us will die also. I-I can't have that
happen. If I can stop this, I will, even if I have to die doing so..,"
"You bastard!!" Akane said, slamming both fists into Ranma's chest,
sobbing openly. She looked right into Ranma's eyes and said, "Fine, if
you stay, I'm staying!"
"No, you're not!" Ranma said, "I'm not gonna lettcha die again. Y-
You....you mean too much to me..,"
"Well, you're not going to get rid of me," Akane said stubbornly, "I'm
staying, and that's that,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have eighteen minutes and thirty seconds'
Ranma turned everyone, "Please, leave. You all have nothing to do with
this. You can save yourselves. Just leave and never look back..,"
There was a short moment of silence as the entire group contemplated
Ranma's words.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have eighteen minutes,'
"C'mon, get outta here. Go!!" Ranma shouted, "Just get as far away
from here as possible!"
"Why are you doing this?!" Linna asked in a pleading voice. Even
though she didn't really know him all that well, but over the time she
had spent with them, she had gotten rather fond of Ranma and Ryoga and
Akane.
"Because if I don't, you'll die and so will many others," Ranma gave a
soft reply. He turned toward Ryoga, "Ryoga, please, take care of Akane,"
"I'm not going anywhere!" Akane said. But before she knew it, Ranma
punched her in the stomach, causing her system to go into shock and
temporarily shut down. It pained Ranma incredibly to having to do
something like that to someone he cared for so much.
Ryoga was very silent. At first, he would have attempted to kill Ranma
for doing something like that to his precious Akane, but he knew Ranma
had done it for her own good. She didn't deserve to die.
"I'm sorry, Akane," Ranma said softly, remorseful for having done
that, but there was no other way. He turned his attention from Akane and
onto the rest of the group, "Go on, get as far away from here as
possible.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes and thirty seconds'
"God, that damn voice is annoying," Ranma muttered. He composed
himself and then said, "Well guys, I guess this is where we say
goodbye..,"
Everyone was deathly quiet. No one wanted to say goodbye, not even
Ryoga.
"It's best that you get at least a mile away from here, the farther
the better," Ranma finally said, breaking the silence, "The blast I plan
on using will take up at least a mile in every direction. You'll die if
you're even close to it jus' from the heat,"
Ryoga held Akane close to him, her head rest on his shoulder, her arms
falling over his back. He had this sad look on his face, as if he was
about to say something but chose against it.
"C'mon," Linna said, teary eyed, "There's gotta be another way! Why
does he have to die?!"
Ranma replied in a soft voice, "It's the only way. It's either me or
Ryoga, and we need Ryoga to watch over Akane,"
"But still," Linna looked up at Ranma with pleading eyes.
Ranma shook his head, "Look, it was fun getting to know all of you,
but there's a time where we must all say goodbye. And I guess this is
the time,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes'
Ranma sighed, "Man, that's really annoying. Where're the speakers? I'm
gonna blow them up before I can hear that voice again,"
"Ranma, you have more things to worry about!" Priss said, fighting
back this overwhelming urge to cry, "You're going to die!"
Ranma nodded, "I know,"
"A-aren't you scared?" Priss asked, "You're going to fucking die!!"
Ranma placed his hands on Priss' shoulders to calm her down, his voice
calmer than she, "Yes, I know I'm going to die. As to me dying? No, I'm
not scared. I mean, I've lived a good life. As much as I'd like to
continue on living, I'd much rather die saving everyone's lives than to
have them die along side me,"
"But there's gotta be a way!" Priss said, tears now starting to flow.
Ranma smiled, "C'mon, don't worry about me, I-I'll be fine,"
"No you won't!" Priss shouted angrily, "You're going to be dead in a little
over sixteen minutes!!!"
Ryoga grabbed Priss' arm, "Priss, w-we hafta go,"
Sylia and Linna and Madigan were silent. They knew that they had to
leave and fast if they wanted to get far enough away from this place.
Priss clenched her teeth for she knew Ryoga was right. She turned away
from Ranma, almost angry at him, "Y-you better survive this!"
Ranma was silent. How was he going to make a promise he could never
keep? There was no way he was going to survive this.....
Sylia looked at Ranma, steeling herself of her emotions, concealing
this ache in her heart "Ranma, I'm glad I got to know you,"
"Same here,"
"I'll miss you," she said,
Ranma nodded, and half joked, "I'll miss you, too, or at least until I
get vaporized,"
Sylia gave a small chuckle. She stepped forward and gently embraced
Ranma, her head pressing into his shoulder as she took a deep breath..
Ranma returned the embrace, "C'mon, don't worry about me,"
Sylia broke her embrace and turned her back toward him, "Ranma.....I-
I'll never forget you,"
With that said, she walked away. She stepped into the corridor where
she broke down and started crying.
Linna took her turn and stepped forward, "Ranma, I'm never going to
forget you. Ever since you entered my life, it was one surprise after
another," She embraced Ranma and was even bold enough to kiss him on the
lips, wishing she had gotten to known him better. A girl like her could
lose herself being in a place like Ranma's arms.
Ranma was a bit nervous after being kissed by Linna, "Um, er, I-I'm g-
glad I met you,"
"Relax, Ranma," Linna said was a sultry smile, "It was just a kiss
goodbye. I know you and Akane belong together,"
Ranma was about to say something, but stopped himself. If someone had
said that about him and Akane any other time, he would have denied it.
Why? He did not know. But now was different. He realized that in a just
a short while from now, he would never be.
"You're right," Ranma nodded, "I-I do care about her. And I do believe
we belong together," He chuckled a bit and joked, "Perhaps if you're
lucky, I can be resurrected just like she was,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have sixteen minutes and thirty seconds'
"I'll never forget you," Linna said, wiping a tear from her eye, as
she turned around and headed for the corridors.
Ranma turned toward Priss, "Go on, Priss, you better get going. You
don't have much time to get as far away from here as possible," He
placed his hands on her shoulders, "You take care now, y'hear?"
Priss nodded. She reached forward and embraced Ranma tightly,
reluctant to let go. When she did, she gave him one last look before she
turned around and ran for the corridor.
All that remained were Madigan and Ryoga and Akane.
Ranma looked at Madigan, "I hope you finally realized that Genom isn't
what it was all cracked up to be,"
Madigan nodded, "Yes. But.....I ended up learning the hard way,"
"And what about your boyfriend?"
Madigan blushed. There was no real use denying it. And why should she.
After this, she would go to the hospital to see Carper, to accept that
dinner invitation she had declined not too long ago, "Carper's all right.
He got hurt, but he'll be fine,"
Ranma smirked, "Well, have a nice life,"
Madigan was silent for a short while. Ranma was nothing like the
person she thought he was. He seemed like the kind of person she would
be glad to know, not attempt to hunt down like she did before. As she
stood there, she regretted having done all that she had done.
"C'mon, you better get going," Ryoga told Madigan.
Madigan looked up at Ryoga and nodded, turning around and heading for
the corridor.
All who remained were Ryoga and Akane, Akane out cold.
"You know, I should hit you because you hit Akane like that," Ryoga
said, "But I'll forgive you,"
Ranma smirked, "You take care Ryoga, now get outta here, and take care
of Akane, y'hear?"
Ryoga nodded, "Do you think there's any chance you'll survive this?"
A tear fell from his eyes, "No, I won't"
Ryoga's face was sad, also on the brink of crying.
"Can't you believe it, Ryoga? All these years we've known each other
and all we ever did was fight," Ranma began, "I dunno about you, but I
always thought that you and I will end up being the ones to kill each
other. It's almost ironic if you think about it. Us being enemies, and
one of us dying to save the other one's life,"
Ryoga was silent for several long moments before he finally spoke,
"Does it bother you?"
Ranma shook his head, "No, not really. All these years after everyone
died, I always wondered why I go on living, training. And for what? It
was to avenge everyone's death, to destroy the company that destroyed my
life. But now........now that I got the chip and the chip would
inevitably bring Genom down, I finally got my revenge. So no, it doesn't
bother me that I'm gonna die. Why? Cause I did fulfilling my goal. Sure,
I would rather live, but I would much rather die saving people than to
die along side 'em,"
Ryoga reached a hand out and placed it on Ranma's shoulders, "Ranma,
I'll miss you,"
Ranma smirked, "No you won't. You have Akane," He reached out and
gently ran his fingers through Akane's hair. "You take care of her.
Maybe if I feel like it, I'll come back to life and haunt you....,"
"Do you promise?"
Ranma almost started to cry. He turned his back toward Ryoga and
Akane, "Go. Get outta here. You don't have much time,"
Ryoga was silent for several moments before he finally spoke, "Ranma,
don't worry, I'll take care of her,"
With that said, Ryoga, carrying Akane, left the room.
All that remained was Ranma to contemplate his final moments of life.
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seventeen minutes'
Akane finally awoke, "Where am I?"
"You're about two miles away from the main room," Sylia said.
Akane looked around and noticed two people were missing, "W-where's
Ranma?!"
"Ranma stayed behind," came the reply.
Akane quickly got to her feet, this dreadful feeling in the pit of her
stomach. Perhaps it was her still being unaccustomed to the new body, or
her really feeling sick at the though of what was going to happen.
"No!!! I have to be with him!!!" Akane shouted, tears falling from her
eyes as she broke into a sprint for the main room. She didn't want Ranma
to die. At least not alone.
"I'm also going!" Ryoga said.
"What?!!" Priss said, shock in he voice. She and the others were
located as far away from the main room, over two miles away. It had
taken them twelve minutes to run that far, everyone running as fast as
they could, Ryoga carrying Akane and then Madigan after the first half
mile.
"Don't be stupid!!!" Priss shouted, "You're going to die!"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have seven minutes'
Ryoga looked at Priss, everything coming to him clearly. He knew that
he would gladly follow after Akane, even to his death. He quickly and
skillfully came up with the words to describe how he felt, about having
to live in a world like this, "I-I.....we don't belong here. Ranma and
Akane and I. W-we should have all died many years. It would have been
better that way,"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Linna shot out.
Ryoga, slowly heading for the door, turned around to say his final
words, "Don't you understand? We don't really belong here,"
"You're a coward!!!" Priss shouted.
"What?"
"You're a coward, for running away! For not wanting to go on living!
You may not really fit in, but you're a coward for running away!" she
answered acidly, tears streaming.
Ryoga nodded, "If you think I'm a coward, then so be it. It won't
really matter because I'll be dead not too long from now,"
"W-why?!" Linna said, "Why would you go back to die with Ranma! And
Akane! You can still save yourself!"
"Ranma and I are supposed to be enemies," Ryoga replied, "What Ranma
had said to me earlier really got me thinking. Ranma and I are supposed
to kill each other. If I live, and Ranma dies, then I'll never be able
to live with myself. It didn't occur to me until now, but I don't want
to go on living if.....my friend dies. Yes, Ranma's my friend. He's not
gonna die alone,"
"But he won't, Akane's going to be with him!" Priss said.
"Yes, and I plan on dying with them. Just remember, we should have all
died many years ago. It was just unfortunately that Ranma and I
survived. Now that we will finally get our revenge, we can rest in
peace," Ryoga turned around and ran out of the room. He would have no
problem traversing two miles in under three minutes, now no longer
encumbered with carrying Madigan. It was finding his way there that he
was worried about.
"Ryoga!!!"
The girls remained silent after that, knowing they will never see him,
nor Ranma, nor Akane again. They had all met three people, and had
gotten close to them, close enough to consider them dear friends, only
to lose all three of them in the very end.
Life wasn't fair.
Life will never be fair.
Ranma was shocked to see Akane enter the main room. "What the hell are
you doing back here?!"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have two minutes' Sirens erupted into the room
and throughout the corridor, 'Warning, you have two minutes to
evacuate,' The white lights went off as several different ones came on,
illuminating the room in blood red.
Akane stood defiant, gazing at Ranma intently, tears falling from her
eyes "Ranma, you're not going to die alone,"
"That the hell are you talking about?!" Ranma shouted, "Get the hell
outta here!!! I can't go back on this!!! I have to do it even with you
here!!! You're going to die!!!"
"I have made my decision. I want to die with you,"
Ranma was very very silent. He walked over to the computer and leaned
against it, his face in his hands, his index and thumb pinching the
ridge of his nose, as if he had a migraine. He finally spoke, "You're a
fool. You shouldn't've come back. Even if you ran your fastest, you'll
never get far away from here in time. Why did you come back? Why? You
could have lived. You didn't need to die..,"
Akane nodded, "Yes, I could have lived, but why should I? I don't
wouldn't want to go on living knowing that you died,"
"Goddamnit!!" Ranma said, tears falling, "You could have lived, Akane.
You could have lived..,"
"But I wouldn't want to because I would be without you....,"
Akane started to sob uncontrollably, running forward and falling into
Ranma's embracing arms.
Ranma held Akane tightly.
"I want to be with you, even in death," Akane said, looking up at
Ranma, no regret in her eyes.
Ranma tried to joke, "Well, it looks like you have no choice,"
Ranma and Akane broke their caring embrace just as Ryoga entered the
room, skidding to a halt. He caught sight of Ranma and Akane.
Ranma turned toward Ryoga, "Ryoga...you didn't need to do this,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have one minute and thirty seconds'
Ryoga smirked, "You know I had to do this,"
"I'm not gonna even bother arguing with you on this," Ranma said with
a sigh. For some reason, he knew Ryoga would had come back here, even if
Akane didn't come here. He and Ryoga were alike. Their personalities
kept each other in check and balance. The other would never enjoy life
if the other wasn't there. It was just that way.
Ranma said, "Well, what should we do?"
Ryoga had the most serious face on that Ranma had ever seen.
"We kill each other,"
'Attention, the auto-destruct has been activated. Please evacuate the
premises immediately. You have one minute'
Ranma nodded, "I know. Let's do it,"
He looked at Akane, "Akane, let's hang out when we meet each other on the
other side,"
Ryoga smirked, "Not unless I'm there. If I am, I will do everything in
my power to kill you.....again,"
"I'm lookin' forward to it," Ranma chuckled, "I'm looking forward to
it,"
Ranma smiled one last time, tears falling, and raised his hands toward
Ryoga, his palms facing him. "Are you ready?"
Ryoga did the same, "Yeah"
Akane closed her eyes as she watched the two slowly start glowing. She
didn't need to see them. She could feel their presence, surrounding her.
As soon as she heard the impact of Ranma and Ryoga's blasts hitting each
other, she knew she would become enveloped in the blast, going with them
to a better place.
"Seppukku Mouko Takabisha!!!"
"Seppukku Shi Shi Hakodan!!!"
Ranma and Ryoga released their most powerful and deadly ki-blast at
each other.
"No!!!!!!!" Linna shouted, falling to her knees, crying for the
people she had just lost.
She and the rest were at the top floor of a tower-like build they had found
that overlooked the entire 'city'. They all watched as a perfect sphere of pure
energy and destructive power expanded from the center of the city, enveloping
everything in its path. Several massive walls of fire ripped through the city,
destroying everything in its path, consuming everything. The walls of fire
continued to expand, like ripples in a pond but in every and any direction.
It continued to expand for several moment before it finally stopped,
and then turned dark and began shrinking in on itself, sucking
everything in, tearing buildings from the ground and sucking it into this
black void.
The girls watched in awe at the shear destruction created. It was like
watching an atomic bomb explode.
The ground shuttered in what seemed like an earthquake, causing
everyone to fall to the ground, unable to keep afoot. Everyone realized
that it wasn't the ground shaking, but the sound of the explosion
finally reaching their area. Windows shattered, spraying everywhere, and
buildings rocked on its foundations. It was probably worse than several
jets traveling several feet over the building at mach 4.
When the noise and thunder-like shaking finally subsided, the girls
got to their feet and looked out the glassless window and at the center
of the 'city'.
They saw nothing. Nothing remained except for a large mile deep
crater. It looked like a spherical chunk of the 'city' one mile in
radius had disappeared.
Priss and Linna started sobbing, taking comfort in each other's arms.
"They're gone..," Madigan said, staring in awe and disbelief. Nothing
remained of what had just been. It was just a big empty space in the
center of the 'city'.
Sylia, hiding her emotions, almost failing, nodded.
"Yes, they're gone....,"
It was gently raining when Lisa looked out her apartment window.
Several years had passed since the fall of Genom. When Ranma and Ryoga
hadn't gotten back to her for the chip, she went ahead and made the chip
public knowledge, becoming a national hero for stopping something
terrible from happening. Many people hated her for exposing what seemed
like a respectable company, but as soon as they realized what Genom had
inevitably planned to do, they soon grew to love her. Although Genom had
tried to kill her to get rid of the evidence, the AD Police and Knight
Sabers kept good care of her, keeping her out of harm's way.
Genom fell within a month after the chip was exposed those many years
ago. The entire world went into economic chaos when boomers were taken
off the market, but soon, people managed to go on with their lives,
albeit without the help of boomers anymore. Although it was harder on
everyone, they soon learned how to live without boomers. It was odd,
having to revert back to their old ways, doing work with their own
hands, but people soon adjusted.
"Ranma," she said wistfully, wishing she could see him again. Even
though Ranma had been in her life for a very short time several years
ago, she knew she would never forget him. Her world came crashing down
upon her when she heard that Ranma, along with his friend, Ryoga, had
died saving everyone's life.
She had been hoping she could see Ranma again, despite the fact that
he had Akane. He and Ryoga were very similar to herself, having survived
many hardships.
She placed her hands in her face and started to cry,
"Ranma,"
In the distant horizon, as the rain continued to come down, perched on
what seemed like a cliff a good mile above sea level, a few individuals
gazed down on the city.
Ranma sneezed, "Hm, someone must be talking about me,"
Akane shook her head, exasperated at Ranma's arrogance, "Perhaps you
have a cold,"
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps it was the rain. Together, the
three of them looked down the cliff from where they were perched and
down toward the vast city below them.
"God, I can't believe it, after all these years, we...um, I'm finally
cured," Ranma finally said, giving Ryoga a smirk, "It took long enough
finding that damn Jusenkyo. How long has it been since we've been back
in Japan? Eight years? Nine? Ten? Who knows? But anyway, I'm glad I'm back,"
"Everyone's gonna be surprised when you show up y'know, especially
that Lisa girl," Akane commented. She missed home. She wanted to settle
down. She was even beginning to feel old. Even though she was considered
a machine, sometimes, she wished she could feel like a machine. That
way, she wouldn't experience the sensation of feeling old and tired.
Ranma chuckled, "Perhaps,"
He looked toward the center of MegaTokyo where Genom Tower would be
looming. But now, there was no tower. The entire tower had been taken
down, along with the rest of the megacorporation. Another building had
been erected in its place, but it wasn't a building meant to make
boomers.
"I betcha not," Ryoga muttered, "It was bad enough, what with how
strong we were, but now, what, ten years later, we're at least twice as
strong as what we were back then,"
Ranma turned toward Ryoga, "Well, I guess it goes with the territory
of studying martial arts,"
"What kinda lame excuse is that?" Ryoga asked, looking at Ranma oddly.
"C'mon, let's go pay everyone a visit," Ranma said with a smirk, "God,
are they gonna be surprised that we actually lived,"
"I still don't understand it, why we lived that is," Akane stated, "I
mean, considering how strong those blasts were, we should have been
incinerated,"
"Don't worry your pretty little head over it," Ranma said with a
smile, "I guess we were meant to survive,"
His personality had changed quite a bit over the years. He had become much
more easy-going, never worrying over something for very long, or dwelling on
something that would give him a headache if he tried to understand it.
Ranma took a deep breath, "Man, I can't believe we're finally back in
Japan. I missed this place. I can't wait to get settled down, like what
we've been talking about all that time in China. I can't wait to open up
my own school and start teaching people what I've learned over the years,"
"Man, look at the city," Ryoga said.
"What do you mean?" Akane asked curiously.
"Even though ten years have passed, the whole city looks less
technologically advanced," he commented.
Ranma said, "Well, it's because everything made by Genom was taken
away from everyone. All the technological wonders we saw were all from
Genom. Now that Genom fell, it's as if the entire city have been set
back many years,"
"Yeah," Akane said, "You're right. The entire city looks like our old
neighborhood,"
"And you know what we call that, right?" Ranma asked, eyeing Akane
carefully.
"What?"
"Home,"
<End for now>
I hope you enjoyed reading that because I enjoyed writing this :) Not
much to really say here. I have no real idea why I started writing this
story in the first place. I hope this story wasn't all that confusing,
what with me not bothering to break it into chapters. I was attempting
to write in a different style instead of spending too much time on
indicating the setting and simply jump right into the plotline. The
entire story was unplanned. I simply wrote the story as I went along,
hoping the scenes flowed into one another well enough. Ranma 1/2 and
Bubble Gum Crisis belong to their rightful owners and I would love to
say they both belong to me but no one will believe me ^_-
I'd like to know whatcha think about the story in an overall and
feedback is very welcomed. This story was my first true attempt at
writing a serious crossover. I, myself, believe that this story was a
bit too action oriented. I tried to cut down on it later into the story,
even skipping out fight scenes altogether, but I eventually gave in and
wrote the fight scenes. In case you're wondering, that last scene had
been added in at the last moment. I planned on having it where Ranma and
Ryoga and Akane all die, but I chose against it. There was no real
reason for having them live, but I figured it would be nice to give the
story a nice ending. I'm sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I hate
reading my own fanfics and tend to read over it just once for editing.
<Bye>
Here's a few extra scenes I wanted to add but I figured it was pretty
useless since I made the story obviously conclude:
"Yeah," Akane said, "You're right. The entire city looks like our old
neighborhood,"
"And you know what we call that, right?" Ranma asked, eyeing Akane
carefully.
"What?"
"Home,"
A short time passed as everyone acknowledged.
"Well, let's get go pay everyone a visit," Ranma said, "I don't wanna
catch some kinda cold and die of pneumonia,"
The other two chuckled. After what Ranma had survived, nothing short
of a nuke would stop him.
"Let's go," Ranma said as he leapt high into the air, reaching the
pinnacle of his jump and then beginning his freefall descent down the
cliff as the other two followed.
As the three continued to freefall, Ranma twisted his body around to face the
other two, his hands behind his back.
"Remember all those years ago? When I had to push all of us out the window in
Genom Tower? Doesn't this bring back memories?" he said, forced to shout over
the roaring winds.
"Will you shut up and pay attention?" Akane spat.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders and turned back around, angling his body almost
perpendicular to the ground below, his arms closely to his sides, as he raced
down toward the ground with blinding speed. When he was several feet from
hitting the ground headfirst, he did a front somersault and gracefully landed on
his feet, the speed from which he was falling doing no damage on his joints or
the ground.
The other two landed closely behind him, their landings almost
undetected. It was odd that someone could hit the ground at close to
terminal velocity yet make no noise. Perhaps it was the training. They
had trained for so many years that Ranma didn't even need to rely on his
whirlwind punch to slow his descent.
"Let's go,"
Sylia and the other had remained friends over the years. Although they
didn't share the same closeknit friendship as they did several years
ago, they constantly stayed in contact with each other. It was because
their goal had been reached, the destruction of Genom, that lead them to
slowly drift apart. They no longer wore hardsuits, having retired the
Knight Sabers several years back when they realized there were no more
threat. The rampant boomers that ran through the city weren't of
military design but of regular household use since not everyone wanted
to get rid of their boomers, even though they were considered illegal
nowadays.
Sylia was walking down the street, her dinner in the bag she was
carrying, her other hand holding the umbrella, heading toward her
penthouse.
She stopped for a short moment when she a crowd of people gathered
around an intersection. She didn't even bother to inspect what it was,
knowing that it was probably another household boomer someone had
refused to dismantle that went berserk.
The AD Police could handle it.
For once, they would be useful.
Of course, they would never be as effective fighting any kind of
boomer like Ryoga and Ranma had once.
"Ranma..," she said, softly to herself. She missed him. Although she
knew him for a very short time, she had grown really fond of him. When
she realized that he had died in that explosion, along with Ryoga and
Akane, she was heartbroken. It lead her to realize that she really cared
for him, perhaps not love him, but akin to it.
When she had realized Ranma and the others had died, she had hid her
emotions, but in the end, when she was alone in her penthouse, she found
herself crying to sleep for well over a week.
As Sylia continued to walk away from the crowd, saddened at the memory
of lost friends, she heard someone call her name.
Her heart skipped a beat because she could have sworn she heard
Ranma's voice. Perhaps she missed him that much that her mind was
playing tricks on her and making her think that Ranma was still alive.
She sighed and continued her trek back home, to an empty penthouse.
She stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Ranma walked around Sylia to see her face to face.
Sylia recognized Ranma immediately but didn't believe it at first. He
looked like he was the same age as he was several years ago. It looked
like he remained ageless. He looked like he was somewhere in his
twenties when she knew he was somewhere around fifty or so.
Ranma smiled, "How're ya doing?"
Sylia continued to stare at him. She knew that at any moment, she
would wake up. So, since this was a dream, she might as well live out a
quick fantasy. Before she would wake up, Sylia took the initiative and
dropped her bag of food and umbrella and took a step forward, embracing
Ranma, kissing him.
Ranma's eye bulged as he realized what was happening.
Sylia opened her eyes and gazed up at the shocked Ranma, and at that
moment, she realized that he was real, so real that she could feel his
bodyheat even as it rained.
"R-Ranma? I've missed you," Sylia said, embracing him, resting her head up
against the crook of his shoulder and neck. She held him for several long
moments before she broke away from him, a million questions springing into her
mind, "I-I thought you were dead"
"Um, I-I missed you too," Ranma said, blushing a bit, "Um, well,
I....we all survived," He gestured toward Akane and Ryoga.
Sylia was surprised she hadn't noticed them before. Perhaps it was
because Ranma was the only person she had been focusing on all this
time.
"R-Ryoga. A-Akane," As she looked at them, memories of the times they've
shared together flooded her mind, "Y-you're all alive,"
Akane seemed to glare at Sylia for what she had just done.
Ryoga nodded, "Yep. We've been alive all this time,"
"W-why didn't you let us know?" she asked, very confused. She thought
they were friends.
"Well, we didn't want to show back up here until our......um, my curse
was cured," Ranma said softly, "That's all,"
Sylia was silent. That was a pretty stupid reason. She had lived for
quite a while with this ache in her heart, believing Ranma was dead, and
Ranma was too selfish to let her or anyone else that he had lived. But
still, it didn't really matter. He was back in her life again.
"Well, welcome back," she said, smiling a bit. She almost felt like
crying, but she didn't let her emotions overwhelm her. She looked at
Akane and Ryoga, "You, too. Everyone will be very happy to see you
again,"
Nene sat in front of her console. Another boring day at work. Nothing
fun ever happened anymore now that Genom went under. There were no
longer any calls on some advanced military boomer having gone berserk in
the middle of MegaTokyo. All she ever did was sit in front of her
console and monitor trivial occurrences, like car accidents and
robberies. Although over the years, she could had easily gone up several ranks,
she had declined her promotions, wishing to remain a dispatcher because of she
didn't want any added responsibilities which would lead to added stress.
She sighed, "Another dull day,"
Her co-worker, Janiko, came up to her, a smirk on her lips, "Hey,
Nene, there's someone here to see you. He's waiting out front for you,"
"Who?"
"I dunno, but all I have to say is way to go. He's really really
cute," came the reply, emphasized with a smirk, "A bit shy for me, but
having someone like that could definitely get a girl jealous,"
Nene looked at her co-worker, her eyes creasing. Was this some kind of
joke? No one came to visit her a work, let alone a man, "Why's he here
for me?"
Janiko shrugged her slender shoulders, "I dunno. Why dontcha go ask him
yourself. I'll take over for you while you're gone. Jus' don't take too long, if
you know what I mean," she said with a wink.
Nene blushed a bit as she got up off her seat and proceeded toward the
front entrance. When she reached there, she saw someone that looked
familiar, but his back was turned toward her. The yellow and black
bandanna give him away, "R-Ryoga?"
Ryoga turned around, a bit nervous, "H-hello," He was a quite a sight.
It looked like he hadn't changed one bit over the years, staying young
and very handsome.
"Y-you're a-alive?"
Ryoga nodded, "Yes, we've been alive all this time. We finally came
back to Japan today,"
Nene, in a fit of joy, ran forward and embraced Ryoga. She had changed
over the years, and she didn't really care who was watching. She didn't
even care that Ryoga was wet from the rain outside. She had missed him
and wanted to hold him again after so long. She would ask questions
later.
Steeling herself, Nene cupped her hands on Ryoga's cheeks and stood on
the tips of her toes as she brought her lips up to Ryoga's mouth and
gently kissed him. Oh, how she wanted to do that for so long. He had no
idea what he had done to her. She had even had fantasies about him,
especially after what he had said several years ago, when he asked her
if she wanted to go camping with him in that innocent tone of his. She
had wondered all this time what could have happened if she had offered,
or what she would have wanted to happen.
Ryoga's eyes went glassy, his body limp. It was as if he fainted while
still standing. Nene couldn't help but smirk at the irony here. Here,
standing before her, was a man probably capable of leveling an entire
city, able to throw nuclear-type projectiles from his hands, yet he
couldn't withstand a single kiss.
"Um, Ryoga, you okay?"
Ryoga weakly nodded.
He was okay.....barely.
Priss was onstage singing her newest song when she caught sight of a
familiar face among the crowd.
"R-Ranma?"
The man in the crowd raised his hand and waved at her. Only his face and arm
could be seen over the ocean of people, "Hello,"
Priss turned around toward her band and gestured for them to stop
playing. She couldn't hear anything over the roaring background music.
When they stopped, she gazed right at the man and said into the
microphone, "Is that really you?"
Ranma shouted, "Yeah,"
He continued to wave his hands as he slowly made his way toward the
stage, squeezing between the ocean of people. When he made his way to
the front, the climbed over the fence and tumbled to the floor, rolling
onto his feet where he was met with two towering bouncers. Their biceps
were probably the size of Ranma's head.
"Excuse me," Ranma said to the two bouncers.
The bouncers didn't move. One of them said, "Get away from Priss.
You're not allowed to go onstage. If you don't go back to where you came
from, you're in for a world of hurt,"
Ranma was ignoring them as he walked between them and proceeded to
climb onto the stage.
"Y-you're alive! H-how can that be?" she said, staring at Ranma with
wide eyes.
One of the bouncers grabbed Ranma's arm, "Oh no you don't,"
When he tried to pull Ranma away from Priss, he found himself unable to budge
the young looking man. Even his arm wouldn't move slightly.
"Are you busy?" he asked, "I'll explain everything to you later,"
Priss smirked, "Well, kinda. I was in the middle of a concert," she
gestured to the crowd of people all behind Ranma.
Ranma turned around to face the crowd, "Whoa, that's a lotta people. I
can't believe I managed to make my way all the way from back there to
here,"
One of the bouncers punched Ranma in the back of his head. Afterall,
it would be better to take out the trash when the trash was unconscious
and not fighting back. The bouncer found himself yelping in pain when
his fist collided with something akin to solid steel.
"H-he's a boomer!"
Ranma, having felt the man punch him, turned around to face one of the
bouncers, "Um, do you mind? I'm trying to talk here but it's kinda
annoying with you punching me. Also, I'm not a boomer,"
The other bouncer bumrushed him, shouldering Ranma in his stomach.
Ranma stood where he was, not even winded. The bouncer got hurt more
than Ranma did, for it felt like he rammed his shoulder right into an
iron pole.
"W-what the h-hell are you?!" Priss asked, shocked. She remember
several years ago when she witnessed Ranma's power but it was nowhere
near as shocking as this.
Ranma sighed, "I'm the same person as you know from before. Anyway,
can ya ditch for a short while? Everyone's gonna get together. I already
talked to Sylia and Ryoga, provided he doesn't get lost, is going to
talk to Nene. Akane went to get Linna. It's kinda like a get together
party. What do ya say?" He even smiled.
Priss, almost in shock, nodded.
Ranma's face lit up, "All right. Let's get going"
He turned toward the crowd of people, "Hm, I don't think we'll be able to get
out this way,"
He looked up at a tautly pulled wire that lead to a tiny balcony on the other
side of the huge room, about twenty feet above. There was a window right near
it, "Ah, we'll go out through the window,"
Without even asking, Ranma grabbed Priss and picked her up, leaping
high into the air, landing gracefully on the wire. Priss didn't even
have a chance to shriek before she realized what had happened.
Strangely, considering how protectively Ranma was holding her, Priss
probably wouldn't have shrieked anyway.
Priss looked down and realized that Ranma was standing on a wire.
"Hey, the guy's kidnappin' Priss!!!" someone in the crowd shouted,
pointing toward Ranma.
Ranma, still standing on the wire, still holding Priss, looked down at
the guy, "No, I ain't kidnappin' no one," He didn't even need to
concentrate on remaining on the wire, his balancing becoming second
nature to him. He ran the length of the wire, which was about thirty
feet, not missing a beat.
Ranma stepped onto the balcony where he kicked the window open and
leapt out, gracefully landing on the ground below. He looked up at the
sky and commented, "Hm, it stopped raining. Oh well. Hold on tight,"
Priss didn't argue as she did what she was told and held on tightly,
her arms wrapping around his neck.
"N-not that tight," Ranma choked. When Priss loosened her grip, Ranma
lest high into the air, landing on the roof of a build that was probably
fifty or so feet high.
From there, he proceeded to run off toward the horizon, Priss in his
arms.
Akane and Linna were walking down the street together, chatting like
crazy when Ranma and Priss bumped into them.
When Akane caught sight of Ranma holding Priss in his arms, her eyes
creased. She could feel her blood almost boil. Ranma didn't have to be
that friendly. Sure, he hadn't seen them in years, but they didn't know
each other that well....did they?
Ranma, upon gracefully landing, placed Priss on her own two feet. When
he saw Akane glaring at the two of them, he scratched the back of his
head, "Um, w-we weren't expecting to see you two until Sylia's,"
Akane humphed. She knew he was trying to weasel his way out of this.
"Hold up, hold up," Ranma said, realizing something. "I'm, what,
fifty, sixty, whatever, why do I hafta justify everything I do? So what
if you saw me holdin' Priss? What, are you jealous?"
"M-me? J-jealous?" Akane was almost blushing, "I am not jealous!!"
Without saying another word, she threw a punch at Ranma's face, which
Ranma didn't even bother to move out of the way. However, he was totally
unaffected.
Ranma pretended like his nose was broken, "Y-you broke my nose!"
Akane pulled away, horrified, "W-what?!"
He laughed aloud, "Jus' kidding. Ha, I got ya there didn't I-"
Akane kicked Ranma in the face, hard. He fell backwards onto his back.
He was actually enjoying this as he placed his hands behind his head and
looked up at the sky.
Ryoga happen to have chosen that time to show up.
"What's going on here?" he asked, placing Nene down on the ground.
Nene was blushing, and she blushed even more when she saw Linna and
Priss' eyes raise when they both looked at her.
When no one said anything, Ryoga looked at Ranma, "I betcha it had
something to do with you, Ranma!! Die!!!"
He ran up to where was lying and shot several ki-blasts right into his
chest. The explosion sent everyone reeling backwards, covering their
faces from the extreme light. When the light cleared up, and the girls'
eyes got adjusted again, they caught sight of Ranma sitting Indian style
in the middle of a crater several meters in diameter, Ryoga standing
before him.
Ranma sighed, "Man, Ryoga, why do you always go and jump to
conclusions. I was only kidding around. And I can't believe you took
those cheap shots, shooting those ki-blasts at me like that,"
He got up and brushed the dust off, ignoring Ryoga, and walked over to
the group, "Well, now that we're all here, we're supposed to meet up at
Sylia's,"
"Don't ignore me, Ranma!" Ryoga said, aura flaring. His aura was over
twice as large and bright than what Priss or Nene or Linna had ever
seen.
Akane turned toward the shocked girls and smiled.
"Don't worry, like always, they fight all the time,"
Lisa looked out her window.
Ranma waved back at her.
"R-Ranma?" she said. She could have sworn she had just seen Ranma. Her
mind must be playing tricks. She looked more carefully.
"Nah. That can't be him" she said to herself.
Even though she had told herself that it wasn't him, she couldn't bring her
eyes off that man standing in the middle of the street.
Ranma waved again. He could clearly see Lisa through the window. He
immediately suspected that she couldn't see him through the rain since
it had started raining once again, even harder.
"Lisa, it's me!!! Ranma!!!" he shouted, cupping his hands to his
mouth. He took a step toward Lisa's apartment complex and slipped on the
wet sidewalk, landing flat on his back.
Lisa, seeing someone slip and fall in front of her building, gasped.
The man could've gotten hurt and she needed to help him out. She quickly
grabbed her jacket from her closet and ran out of her apartment,
immediately closing the door behind her, forgetting that she hadn't
brought her keys with her.
Ranma was laughing as the rain poured down on him. It was absolutely
hilarious that he would slip and fall over something like a wet
sidewalk. He had enough balance to run on a thin piece of wire while
carrying Priss in his arms yet he couldn't keep from falling flat on his
back from a wet sidewalk.
He stopped laughing when he saw a pretty face looking down on him.
It was Lisa.
He quickly got to his feet.
"Ranma? Is that you?"
Ranma smiled warmly, "Yep. Ya busy?"
Lisa just stared at him. She couldn't believe who she was looking at,
"B-but I t-thought you were dead,"
He shook his head, "Well, as you can see, I'm not. Everyone's fine. As
a matter of fact, I came here to see if you're busy. We, as in the girls
and Ryoga and I, are having a get together party, and I came to see if
you'd like to come. I'd really appreciate it if you do,"
Lisa, almost lightheaded, turned toward her door, "Well, I guess I'll
have to, now that I locked myself out,"
Ranma looked at the door. He could easily break it down but figured
she wouldn't appreciate it.
"Well, I guess that solves it. You're coming with me to Sylia's"
Lisa gave a yelp of surprise as she found herself being whisked off her
feet.
Ranma smirked.
"C'mon, let's go,"
<The end>
-OneShot
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html
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