Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong	


 
 
  Lisa was startled by the sudden appearance of Ranma. She was in the 
laboratory alone collecting data on the heat resistance of a boomer's 
exoskeleton and on how to improve it. She didn't really want to help 
further the destructiveness of the boomers being created, but she needed 
the money. 
  Ranma entered the lab, Akane in his arms, Ryoga following behind.
  Lisa's heart lest into her throat as she caught sight of Ranma, "R-Ranma. W-
what are you doing here?"
  Ranma gently laid Akane down on the same stainless steel table where Akane had

first came to life, "You've gotta help her! Please!"
  He walked around the table to stand before Lisa, his presence almost 
overwhelming. There was this strange aura surrounding him that she couldn't see,

yet she could feel.
  Lisa gazed down at Akane, shock showing on her face at the sight of 
how damaged Akane was. She could even see the mechanical insides that 
kept her alive, her inner circuitry melted or cut, and her exoskeletal 
armor riddled with bullet holes. It wasn't a pretty sight. And knowing 
that Akane was considered her greatest achievement, made Lisa want to 
cry.
  "Please, help her. I don't know what to do or who to go to but you," 
Ranma said pleadingly.
  "She's taken quite a bit of damage. A majority of all her motors and gears and

circuitry would have to be replaced," Lisa said sullenly. Even though everything

looked bleak for Akane, Lisa wouldn't let Akane cease functioning.......not 
without a fight.
  "Can you help her?" Ryoga asked.
  Lisa nodded, almost glad that her experience gave her the knowledge to do such

a complicated procedure, and to also see Ranma's face turn from pleading to that

of shear relief. She smiled back, glad to be able to tell him she was competent 
enough to save Akane.
  "How much time will you need?" Ranma asked, "I mean, we broke into here
by force, and pretty soon, they'll be swarming this entire floor,"
  "I dunno, about five hours," Lisa said. She didn't really care that she was 
doing this for the enemy of the company she worked for. It didn't really matter 
to her. She cared too much about her work to care about Genom. Actually, she 
didn't really care all that much for Genom. It was the money that kept her from 
leaving, that and her love for working on complicated machinery and bringing 
life into them. It was just that Genom provided both that made it seem 
worthwhile for her, "I can probably do it in four if I tried,"
  Just as Ranma was about to say his thanks, an alarm sounded.
  Ranma smiled, and then said, "Well, it seems that Genom finally 
realized that we're already in the building. We'll keep all those 
boomers distracted while you do your job. Take your time,"
  "B-but how will you be able to stop them for a few hours?" she had to 
ask.
  Ranma smirked, back to his carefree self, and said, "Don't worry. I can keep 
them distracted for much more than the necessary time...since I won't be doin' 
this alone, right Ryoga?"
  Ryoga nodded. Ranma didn't even need to ask for his help. He would do 
anything to help Akane out. And if that meant fighting boomers for an 
extended period of time, then so be it.
  "We'll keep them more than distracted,"
  Lisa watched as Ranma and Ryoga proceeded out of the laboratory, 
leaving her alone to do her work. But as they were leaving, Lisa heard 
the two of them arguing.
  "This time, don't throw your damn Shi Shi Hakodan's like last time. 
Y'hear, pig boy?!"
  "Don't call me that!!!"
  
  Ranma and Ryoga entered the laboratory just as Lisa was finishing her 
final repairs.
  "I can't believe it. You actually headbutted a boomer to death," Ranma said, 
his voice showing that of bewilderment, "But then again, you have a hard head so

that's probably understandable,"
  "You take that back!" Ryoga spat vehemently.    
  Ranma ignored Ryoga and turned toward Lisa, "Is everything okay? We figured we

should check up to see how you were doing,"
  Lisa wiped the sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her lab coat, 
her face a bit dirty from some grease and oil she had to dig through to 
remove and install some parts. She had heard what Ranma had said upon 
entering and wondered if what he said was true, that his friend had 
headbutted a boomer to death. It only took her a moment to realize that 
it was quite possible.
  "I'm not going to ask what that you were talking about before," she 
said "But anyway, Akane is almost all repaired. There's just a few more 
things I have to do and she'll be as good as new, perhaps even better. 
It'll probably take her a while to get used to the new body because I 
pretty much reconstructed an entirely new exoskeleton for her,"
  Lisa walked around to the computer and typed in a few numbers to recalibrate 
the stimulus sensitivity now that the sensory input devices were more precise. 
After that, she fiddling with several other parameters that would help Akane 
function better. Lisa had done things to Akane that she had only dreamed of, too

scared to actually suggest those idea to Genom, scared that they might abuse the

ideas.
  "Akane's going to be fine," Lisa added, smiling, satisfied with herself. The 
bliss that she was experiencing even made her more relaxed. She even bothered to

ask Ranma a question she had been meaning to ask since she first met him. She 
had been very curious as to how Ranma became the way he was.
  "Ranma," she started.
  "Yeah?" Ranma turned his attention from Akane and onto Lisa.
  "There's something I've been meaning to ask you," she said, a bit nervous, 
"Um, this had been bugging me for quite some time, but I guess now is better 
than never,"
  "Sure, what is it?"
  Lisa took a deep breath and then said, "It's just some questions I've 
been meaning to ask. That's all,"
  "Sure, go right ahead and ask," his voice was soft.
  "Where do you live?"
  "I used to live in Nerima District, before those boomers destroyed my 
life. After that, I went to China and trained in the mountains. I came 
back to Japan only recently," came the reply.
  "Did you have a family there?"
  Ranma replied, his voice almost stoic, "I was betrothed to Akane. I lived with

Akane's house with her father and two sister and my pop. They all died during 
that massacre,"
  "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Lisa apologized, "Maybe I should stop 
asking questions,"
  "No. Don't worry about it. Go right ahead and ask. It's not like I'm 
got anywhere to go after this,"
  "Did you and your father get along?"
  Ranma thought about that for a moment, turning toward Ryoga, "Did my pop and I

get along?" When Ryoga shrugged his shoulders, Ranma turned toward Lisa, "I 
don't really know. I mean, there were more times than not that I wanted to kill 
him. Because of him, I ended up getting betroth to several fiancees,"
  Lisa smiled, knowing that all her questioning had finally gave her the 
Answer, "That must mean you're Ranma Saotome, ne?"
  "Yes, how did you know?"
  "When we first met, you said your name was Ranma, and that was it. 
Even though I only had your name, I recognized your face. I've seen you 
before, and it turns out, that I've met you before," Lisa said, 
wondering how Ranma was going to react. When he was about to ask how, 
she continued on, "I lived in the same town as you but I moved shortly 
before the massacre. I once helped you out. If I remember correctly, two 
sisters had come to claim the....what were you heir to...oh yeah, the 
School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Anyway, I remember, when I was 
very young, helping you out with your practicing. You were training 
yourself to be faster. Well, I was one of the little kids who threw 
bricks at you, while you were in your cursed form, yes, I know that 
you're cursed, and I was the one who managed to hit you in the face with 
the brick,"
  Ranma's eyes lit up, "That was you? I remember that day. That was, 
wow, a long long time ago. Yeah, these two illegitimate daughters of 
Akane's father showed up at the school and claimed themselves heir to 
the dojo. What were their names...oh yeah, Natsumi and Kurimi. Well, 
when Akane and I fought, we lost. So, I figured I must train my female 
side to be faster, and one of the tasks was to have it where a bunch 
of little kids threw bricks at me and I had to smash them with my fists 
so they won't hit me. Of course, one hit me in the face, and the next 
thing I remember, I was being pummeled by dozens of school kids. And you 
were the one that hit me in the face with that brick?"
  Lisa looked down at the ground, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to,"
  Ranma laughed aloud, "That's so cool. What a small world!"
  "Well, it was kinda hard not noticing you," Lisa added. 
  "How come you bring this up now?" Ranma asked.
  Lisa replied nervously, "Well, I didn't really know if it was you. I mean, the

name sounded familiar, and so did the face, but it was so long ago. I assumed it

might be you, but I wasn't too sure. That's why I asked you those questions. It 
helped confirm that my assumption was correct,"
  "Well, I guess we finally meet again then. That brick that hit me 
really helped humble me," Ranma said.
  "By the way, how did the match go? I mean, I remember you were doing 
this all so you can have a rematch," she asked, speaking to him as if 
she had known him all his life. It was unbelievable, knowing someone 
like Ranma. And the thought that Ranma remembered her made this day the 
happiest day of her life. Not only did she get to work on and fix her 
pet project and add things to it that she only dreamed of, but she and 
Ranma actually knew each other, albeit slightly.
  Ranma smirked, "We won. We got the dojo back,"
  Lisa, for some reason, knew that Ranma would have won. Now that she knew that 
Ranma was from her past, she could let go of that nagging feeling she had ever 
since she met him. That allowed her to get back to repairing Akane. All she had 
left was activating Akane, which she did, pressing a button, "Well, Akane's been

repaired. She's as good as new, if not better,"
  Ranma smirked and said jokingly, "Hey, maybe you could reprogram her 
not to act so much like an uncute tomboy"
  Akane's eyes opened as she sat upright. She looked around the room to 
survey her surroundings. When her gaze rested on Ranma, her brows 
creased as she got onto her feet and punched Ranma in the face, hard.
  "I heard that!!!"  

  "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.


-OneShot
Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong
http://www.anime.sobhrach.com/~jeffwong/index.html
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