Next chapter for your enjoyment. Great thanks to
Nightman for his amazing pre-reading skills.
_______________________________________________________
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma in any way, shape, or
form.
IMPORTANT: Read author's notes at the end of the
chapter for important
information.
File 05: Past and Present
The secret to success.
Quite possibly the greatest goal anyone hopes to
achieve. It's a hard learned
lesson and not many are able to grasp its meaning.
However, a chosen few have,
and they are the ones who rank among the power elite
of the entire business
world.
Soun Tendo is one of those people. In an era where
technology has reached a
level no one could hope to anticipate, in a world
where looking over your
shoulder was no longer considered being paranoid, and
in a time where the only
choices you have are to stand and fight or be ground
to dust under the might of
a competitor; Soun Tendo had built the greatest
corporate empire the world had
ever seen. He found the secret to success...and it was
right under his nose the
entire time...
"Good morning Mr. Tendo." Dr. Tofu greeted the company
owner as he and a guest
entered the upper-most floor of the Heaven's Star
Bio-Technology division
headquarters. The nerve center of one of Star's most
highly funded divisions
was once located in the central headquarters itself,
however large-scale
expansion had since relocated it to a privately owned
island off the northern
coast of Shikoku.
"Greetings Dr. Tofu. I take it preparations have
already been completed?"
"We just finished prepping the equipment ten minutes
ago. I see you've brought a
guest this time."
"Yes I have. I would like you to meet Mr. Kinnosuke
Kashuoh, head of our network
maintenance and security division." Soun indicated the
somewhat nervous former
hacker standing next to him.
"Uhhhh, h...hi." He waved to the entire staff present.
His presence here was
sudden to say the least. He was going about his
morning schedule when all of a
sudden he had been called into the president's office;
the next thing he knew he
was boarding a chopper headed for this very location.
He still had no idea why.
"Welcome Mr. Kashuoh."
"Great to be here...I think..."
They were actually standing on a balcony running along
the southern wall and
overlooking an extremely large laboratory. Down below
them lay two large,
shallow, circular pits, each one surrounded by a
dizzying array of
processing and computing equipment. One pit contained
a cylindrical submersion
tank; large cables and wires ran directly from the
bottom of the tank and into
the ground. The second pit was lined with several
dozen small lenses running in
a cross pattern along the ground.
"I am sure your wondering why I have brought you
here." Soun grinned as the trio
descended the stairs just to the left of them.
"Yeah, that question has crossed my mind." Kinnosuke
sweatdropped.
"You have been a loyal and dedicated employee for
several years now. When we
came to you you were an ex-con with amazing talent but
with no outlet with which
to use it. You have since worked your way through the
ranks and have become the
head of the very department you used to work for."
Soun recounted his employment
history. "That is why I am granting you access to
knowledge known by only a
select few department heads."
"I'm...honored."
"Do you recognize this Mr. Kashuoh?" Tofu held up a
very small disk as they
approached one of the many workstations around the
lens pit.
"Yeah...isn't that the disk that got nabbed a couple
of weeks ago? I had heard
we
had gotten it back, but I never did find out why it
was so important."
"That's good to hear. If you had then I would have had
to reconsider this entire
proposal, as well as your employment and freedom."
Soun responded. Kinnosuke
inwardly thanked the stars that ignorance was indeed
bliss in this case.
"We're all set. Ready to begin at anytime." A
specialist said. There were only
seven other specialists present since it was only a
demonstration. Usually a
full-scale operation would require a staff number in
the realm of fifteen to
twenty.
"Pay close attention Mr. Kashuoh." Tofu inserted the
disk into an equally small
drive as the lights in the area went dim. There were
familiar sounds of
computers powering on and/or booting up.
"Loading OS."
"Running partition check."
"Running node check."
"Connection continuity is nominal. Not that we need it
right now..."
"Got nothing in the error log. Haven't had a system
crash in the past ten
months, maybe we're actually doing something right
this time."
The multiple staff members each ran through the
multiple phases of the equipment
start-up. Kinnosuke could feel the heat being given
off by the multi-dozen-
processor system.
"Loading S-Protocols." One of the technicians finally
declared and that's where
everything started. The room went completely dark and
the pit was lit up by the
rows of holo-projectors. Raw encrypted code appeared
in mid-air for all to see
and it began to scroll down at an extremely fast rate.
"What do you see Kinnosuke?" Soun asked.
"The cipher, its like nothing I've ever seen
before..." His followed at the same
speed as the scrolling. "It would take a team of
mathematicians decades to
decode something like this..."
"Exactly. When the disk was stolen, the thieves
neglected to take the key." Soun
explained.
"I see. That's why you weren't freaking out when it
vanished. It's useless
without the key..."
"Load the key." Tofu ordered. "What you're going to
see Mr. Kashuoh, is the very
thing that will light the way to the future for all
mankind," Tofu smiled.
The code stopped and vanished. Several seconds later
another code sped by only
to vanish seconds later itself.
"Keycode loaded. Reloading S-Protocols..." Someone
whispered.
This time instead of an indecipherable jumble, a
featureless wire-frame image of
a man appeared. It rotated slowly in 360 degrees and
text began running slowly
on either side of it.
"Bring up files 8021 and 8022." Tofu ordered.
This time two very recognizable images appeared next
to the wire-frame. They all
rotated in synch and message boxes began appearing at
various areas between the
frame and the images; as if comparing the two to the
frame.
"What...is this..." Kinnosuke murmured.
"This, Kinnosuke, is the secret to my success. They
are the sole reason this
company has survived for as long as it has. This is
how I knew in the
beginning..." Soun explained.
"I'm bringing up the newly compiled bio-file. File
8023." Tofu said as he looked
from the holograms to the workstation screen.
Eventually a third image appeared
and under the same conditions as the first two. "As
you can see her statistics
are rapidly approaching that of the base as she grows
older. Total compatibility
with the Protocols will be inevitable within the year.
It is amazing that all
three of them were capable of this, it goes against
all known probability."
"Kinnosuke, what the doctor is about to explain to you
WILL NOT leave this room.
Is that understood?" Soun turned to him, his statement
was deadly serious.
"Y...Yes sir. My lips are completely sealed."
"Good. Dr. Tofu if you will..."
"Mr. Kashuoh, what I am about to explain might take
some time so I do suggest
you pay very close attention to everything I tell you.
I will only explain this
once..." Tofu turned to him. "I am going to explain
what the S-Protocols are,
who created them, how we came to possess them, what
they are used for, and what
we have discovered by using them..."
Kinno stared in wonder at the images floating before
him as Tofu explained their
full meaning to him. Unbeknownst to him Soun had a
prideful gleam in his eyes.
They said it was impossible, especially in ones so
close in generation, for all
three to possess the same ability. They said the odds
of it happening were
incalculable, they said the fact that it happened to
one of them was in itself a
fluke in the laws of nature.
Then, when it did happen, they called it a mistake.
They said that radiation in
the atmosphere, or trace amounts of nuclear fallout
from World War II was the
cause of it. They stood by the fact that such an
occurrence could NEVER happen
naturally. Soun took no shame in believing that it
could have been an act of
God. Perhaps Kimiko and himself had been blessed in
some way, shape, or form.
All he knew was that Kasumi was the first, and she
wasn't the last...
~**~
"NABIKI! AKANE! HURRY OR YOU WILL BE LATE!" Kasumi
called. She was wiping her
hands after cleaning the dishes as she stared at the
nearby clock.
"6...5...4..."
"HI! BYE!" The two blurs raced down the stairs,
grabbed there bags and were out
the door in record time.
"Oh my, they're early." She watched as they sped down
the street. "So young, so
vigorous." She laughed, mostly at the fact that she
wasn't that much older than
them.
The home was overtaken by total stillness when she
noticed something rather odd
about the typical morning's events. Ranma and Ryoga
had been nowhere to be seen,
they did not even put on an appearance at breakfast.
"Ranma! Ryoga!" She called up the stairs and she
received only silence in
response. "They couldn't still be asleep...could
they...?" She wondered.
She slowly stalked up the steps and came before their
closed room door.
"Ranma...Ryoga..." She knocked several times as she
tried once again to gain
some response. She was once again greeted by nothing.
She carefully brought her
ear to the door, but heard nothing the other side save
for a strange humming
noise.
Her hand involuntarily moved to the doorknob. The door
was unlocked surprisingly
enough; it would just be a simple matter of pushing it
open. She knew so little
about the duo, she had already given Nabiki the go
ahead to find as much as she
could about them. She could only imagine what
information could be gleaned if
she just stepped inside.
"But...I promised that I would treat them as part of
the family...and that means
respecting their privacy...at least at home." She
murmured as she let go of the
knob.
A sudden knocking at the front door roused her
attention. A twist on the saying
of being saved by the bell, but it worked either way.
"Yes, how can I..." Kasumi's usual cheery expression
when greeting someone
disappeared when she realized who it was paying a
visit. "Oh...Ken..."
"Kasumi..." Kensuke Odagirii, the blonde-haired son of
Akira Odagirii, and the
person who not too long ago led a small mob to try and
forcibly 'restrain' her.
"We...need to talk..."
***
A calm and peaceful atmosphere blanketed Nerima in the
morning. For some it was
still early in the morning and they had yet to rise
from the nightly slumber.
Others were going about their sunrise routines; going
to work, opening up shop,
cleansing the outside of their homes, or even walking
the occasional pet.
"Hey Nabiki, what's got you? You look tense." Akane
asked as they ran.
Said sister's face was currently a mask of
contemplation. She was having a lot
to think about, mainly on the subject of two fianc�es
whom she was determined to
learn everything about. In her eyes, information was
the greatest power in the
world. She liked having a lot of it at any given time
and having a lack of it
in a certain subject never boded well for her. It was
this drive that caused
her to wind up in her current occupation for Star, but
that is another story all
together...
"Naah, it's nothing." She waved it off.
"Are you still suspicious about those two?" Nabiki
could only guess that her
talent of reading people was rubbing off on her
younger sister.
"Suspicious? Of course not." To depict her only
growing mistrust with such a
general description would not do it justice. Of course
she kept that little fact
to herself.
"Good. I mean if I can learn to live with it, anyone
can."
"Why do you care so much? I thought you were against
the marriage at first, that
and the fact that you've said yourself that you have
no interest in boys."
Nabiki pointed out.
"I don't, at least not in that way, and I still don't
have a good feeling about
this whole marriage thing. It's just that it has been
a long time since anyone
has given me a fight that good, except for Kasumi and
you. I guess that's why he
has me so interested." Akane explained. Nabiki simply
shrugged in response.
Furinkan High School began to come into view. It was
one of the crown jewels of
Nerima. It was most well known for its wide variety of
extra-curricular
activities, some more...unique...than others. In the
end a student would be
hard-pressed not to find something that did not
interest him or her.
As the two entered school grounds they were greeted by
a bevy of activities
going on at once. The track team ran their loops
around the school, the tea
ceremony club performed their morning rituals, and
even the kendo club practiced
their daily drills.
"See ya after class!" Akane waved as they parted ways.
Nabiki did not walk alone for very long before another
female student
discretely began walking beside her.
"Morning Miyo. What do you have for me..."
The long brown haired girl at her side was Miyo Heita,
known around the school
for her interest in the occult and for being an
overall freak. To Nabiki
however she served a far greater purpose.
"Word on the vine is that we're going to be getting
two new students today."
Miyo spoke in a low-pitched whisper. Some people
claimed it was because she
chanted evil spells so many times that her voice stuck
that way. It was no
wonder Nabiki rarely paid attention to rumors unless
they had hard evidence to
back them up.
"The year just started. We're still getting new
students by the day, what's so
special about that?"
"I was thinking the same thing. The reason they're so
special is because no one
knows who they are or even where they came from."
"Is that so..." This was beginning to sound all too
familiar to Nabiki for her
own liking.
"Yeah, a...friend...of mine was able to tap into
school records. He couldn't
find a thing on either of them. No record of having
attended another school
before this one, no prior grades or test scores, and
there's not even an
indication of what grade there in or how old they
are," Miyo shrugged in
complete exacerbation. "It's like they don't exist."
"Odd. How did they get into the school without a
previous record?" Nabiki
wondered.
"No one has been able to figure that one out. They
must have some pretty high-up
connections if they got the entire school board to
look the other way."
"When were they first seen?"
"A student spotted them scoping out the school grounds
early this morning."
That explained to Nabiki why she had not seen hide nor
hair of them all this
morning herself. The only questions that remained were
when they left and why no
one noticed them leave.
The had both since gone through the school and had
just entered their classroom.
The place was abuzz with conversation both meaningless
and interesting. All grew
silent, however, and sat at attention as the teacher
entered the classroom.
"Alright class. Before we begin today I once again
have the honor of introducing
two new students to our class." Their teacher was
Higuma Torajiro, a male
teacher who was still relatively new to Furinkan. He
had so far won over his
students do to his overall nice-guy attitude, which
was in sharp contrast to the
usual tough-as-nails teachers that Furinkan employed.
"I would like to welcome
Ranma Saotome and Ryoga Hibiki."
"Hey...that's them..." Miyo whispered from behind
Nabiki.
At the teacher's announcement the two teenagers
entered the classroom. They were
both in a somewhat dark colored version of the male
uniform. They both stood at
attention at the head of the classroom as Higuma
continued the usual welcoming
procedures.
"Both are age 17 and are just starting there junior
year at our institution.
Pleas make them feel welcome."
"Wow, there both hot."
"Look at his eyes..."
"Ooohh the mysterious type, I like that."
"Don't you have a boyfriend already?"
Nabiki rolled her eyes at the throng of comments and
accompanying giggles being
whispered by the female population of the class. The
males were content to aim
their murderous glares in their direction and make a
mental note to keep a
closer eye on their respective soulmates. Through all
that Nabiki could not help
but wonder at the fact that they all conveniently had
the same class.
"Ranma you can take the seat behind Taichi. Ryoga you
can have the desk next to
Koushirou." Higuma indicated the respective students.
"Alright, now if you will
all open to page 121 in your Calculus books..."
"Why do I get the feeling," Nabiki's eyes followed
Ranma as he walked past. In a
split-second that no one could register, their eyes
met, only to break off just
as quickly. "that this is no coincidence..."
***
"First off I want to apologize, on behalf of my father
and our entire dojo. We
had no right or provocation in attacking you like we
did." Kensuke began as he
and Kasumi walked down the quiet neighborhood street.
Kasumi was never one to hold a grudge except for most
dire of circumstances.
However that did not abate her urge to know the answer
of...
"Why? What would make you think that I would ever be
your enemy?"
"It...wasn't you. It was never you." Kensuke seemed to
be wrestling with
something deep inside before he started again. "Two
months ago, my father was
approached by representatives of Silver Sword."
"I..see." She could already guess where this was going
to head.
"As you know my father's firm as been heavily tied
with Star for as long as
anyone can remember. Now with this contract with the
military that Mr. Tendo is
trying to get, the bond has only grown stronger."
Kensuke explained. "Certain
competitors have not taken a liking to this
arrangement. Sword is quite
obviously the most powerful and...influential of these
individuals."
"Ken, what have they done? Have they been threatening
you?"
Kensuke took a minute before explaining the initial
incident.
"My younger sister, Catherine, you remember her
right?"
"Of course." She also knew the little red-head meant
the world to Kensuke.
"About a week and a half before you came...she was
kidnapped."
"Oh my God..."
"It was...early morning, she was taken while everyone
was sleeping." He
painfully thought back to that morning. It was more
like a living nightmare than
anything else. "She was returned...four hours later,
bound, gagged, and still
asleep. She never even woke-up."
"At least she wasn't hurt..."
"Thankfully no. They did it to prove a point. If we
didn't do exactly as we
said, they could just as easily take her again. Only
next time we have no idea
what those monsters will do." Ken held back his
growing rage. "That's why we
couldn't come to you. That's why we were forced to
attack you. Those bastards
have forced us to stain our honor...I can understand
if you want nothing to do
with us anymore."
"Ken." She put her hand his shoulder to stop him. "I
could never hate you for
something that isn't your fault. At least now we know
what's going on, and my
offer to protect you still stands."
"No...I'm sorry but I agree with my father on one
thing. I will not agree to
anything that would put our family in the most remote
danger." He was quite
adamant in his desicion. "After what happened to
Catherine...I just don't think
we could bear losing her."
"As unfortunate as that is...I understand." Kasumi
sighed.
"There is another reason I've come to see you though."
Ken turned to her. "Ever
since this whole ordeal began my father's firm has
been forced to take more and
more exclusive contracts from Sword. Because of that
we have gained a good
knowledge of their dealings and activities."
"Ken...if this is true they are most likely tracking
your every move. You're
taking a great risk by telling me this."
"I realize that. Don't worry, I've taken precautions
to ensure that I'm not
being bugged or followed. I just want to do something
to put those assholes at
Sword in there place."
"Alright..."
"Recently, and I'm sure you've noticed this as well,
there's been a lull in
Sword's activities with no explanation why," Ken
crossed his arms in
contemplation. "According to records there's been a
large amount of layoffs in
Sword's Field Operation and Security divisions. On top
of that there's been a
noticeable rerouting of monetary and techological
resources to their
Intelligence division as well as some new unnamed
project division."
"We have noticed that Sword has been relatively quiet
as of late. You said
they've terminated a good portion of their Field
Operation and Security
divisions?" Kasumi thought to herself for a moment.
"That would leave them all
but defenseless. If you thought of them as a country,
they have essentially
disbanded there entire military force. Why would they
do something like that?"
"No idea. Details are still sketchy and Sword is
becoming more careful in what
information they allow to pass by our eyes. There is
however, one other thing we
have uncovered," Ken still had a hard time grasping
exactly what this next bit
could mean. "A short time ago we uncovered what looked
to be a dossier. It was a
compilation of certain people and places around the
world, most of these
locations are very discrete with little in the realm
of possible overseas
interests. Sword has recently taken on several new
employees whose names match
that of what we found on the dossier."
"It...sounds like there rebuilding, but what exa..." A
strange feeling, akin to
a static shock across her entire body, suddenly
interrupted Kasumi.
"Miss Tendo? Are you there?" A voice spoke into her
very mind.
"Who is this?" She responded mentally. She turned away
from Ken and scanned
their surroundings, there was no one in her sight.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you Miss Tendo but we have
to request that you report
to Heaven's Star H.Q. ASAP."
"How did you get this frequency?" Kasumi was not the
questioning type, but
receiving a sudden communiqu� out of the blue on a
channel that should be
private was enough to get her questioning everything.
"From your father. Don't worry; he left explicit
instructions only to use it in
extreme emergency. I'm the assistant to the head of
Security."
"Kasumi? Is something wrong?" Ken asked. Her sudden
silence and furrowing of
brow caused him to wonder what brought this change in
the middle of the
conversation.
"I see. What is the problem?" She raised a finger as
she thought to signal to
Ken to remain silent.
"I can't explain over R.F., all I can say is that
situation requires a
representative from Star and from what we've been told
it would be best to call
you."
"Alright. I'm on my way." She could feel the
connection breaking off.
"Kasumi, is something the matter?" Ken tried again.
"I've...just recieved a call. I have to go." Kasumi
sighed. "We're going to have
to continue this some other time. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. I just want to say one thing." Ken
put his hands on her
shoulders. "Something very big is happening within
Sword. My father and I just
want you and Soun to be very careful. You're like
family to us, and we wouldn't
anything to happen to you like we wouldn't want
anything happening to
Catherine."
"We will. I promise. And...thank you." She smiled
before running back into the
direction of her home.
In the midst of it all Kensuke was left wondering only
one thing...
"Recieved a call...how?" She had not used a cell phone
or beeper. She also did
not have a Cybercom or any other visible enhancement.
"Huh, strange..."
***
Lunchtime had since rolled around in a certain
classroom in Furinkan. A portion
of the students had gone outside to enjoy the fresh
air while others had opted
to stay in class and converse with each other. Nabiki
was currently carrying on
a conversation with Miyo while keeping an eye on two
particular individuals who
were keeping to themselves on one side of the
classroom. So far she had not
found anything incriminating in their actions since
they arrived. The only thing
of true peculiarity that she could see was the fact
that Ryoga wore black gloves
over his hands.
"Accessorizing? Doesn't seem the type..." She murmured
to herself.
"Nabiki? Have you heard anything I've said?" Miyo
broke into her train of
thought yet again. She had noticed Nabiki's eyes
averting elsewhere several
times during their supposed to be conversation over
goings on in the school and
everywhere else.
"Oh...yeah...sorry." Nabiki shook her head to get her
thoughts straight.
"What's with you? I've never seen you so distracted."
"I wish I could tell you..." She muttered. "I...gotta
take care of something.
I'll talk to you a little later." Without another word
given or allowed she left
Miyo and walked toward the duo. She knew she was not
going to get anything by
simply standing on the sidelines and watching from a
distance. If anything, she
was going to get into their faces, though more
discretely than described, and
try to probe as much info as she could out of them.
The two had been holding some sort of conversation
between them. However at the
sight of her oncoming approach, it was quickly killed
and a veil of silence rose
between them.
"Hi," she smiled as she sat on a desk across from
them.
"Can we help you?" Ryoga smirked while asking.
"No, of course not. I just thought I'd come over and
say hi, see how you're
doing, maybe talk a little," Nabiki said in as
friendly a tone as she could
muster.
"Right...Never pegged you for one who likes idle
chit-chat," Ranma raised an
eyebrow.
"I don't, but since you two are going to be part of my
family it seems logical
that we get to know each other better. Right?"
"Good point. So...what do ya wanna know?" Ranma
conceded.
Nabiki thought for a moment before answering.
"Okay, how about...how you two first met?"
Ranma and Ryoga both exchanged glances before turning
their gaze back to her.
"Oh c'mon. It's not THAT big a question. I mean, you
weren't born knowing each
other," Nabiki coaxed them. "Dad went into it a
little, but he didn't give many
details."
"Fair enough," Ryoga started. "We met...how many years
has it been?"
"Eleven years," Ranma answered.
"Yup, seems like yesterday still. It was all the way
back in 2nd grade. In a
nice little all-boys school called Odaiba
Elementary..."
~**~
It was the calm before the storm. A deep rumbling
could be heard on just the
other side of the doors. It was like an approaching
hurricane, a force of nature
that could only be predicted but never stopped, a
destructive force that could
only be abated for so long before its fury had to
unleashed.
"We can't keep 'em back for long!" A cafeteria staff
member as well as several
others pushed against the door with all there might.
The sheer combined strength
of their opposition on the other side however was
proving to be far too powerful
for them contain for long.
The kitchen staff worked feverishly to make
preparations for the lunch-time
rush. Everything had to be perfect, if not then they
themselves would be
consumed by the coming storm, never to be heard from
again...
"We're ready on this end! LET 'EM LOOSE!" The kitchen
head yelled.
"On 3..." The member alerted everyone with him.
"1" They all said in unison.
"2"
"3!!"
They ceased their resistance and immediately dove for
cover. The ravenous mob
was finally unleashed. Over one hundred hungry
elementary school boys charged
straight through the doors, tearing them off there
hinges. A miniature
earthquake over came the area as they stampeded in
unison toward the serving
area.
"OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
The through this chaos a lone figure charged headlong
through the masses. Like a
bull he tore through the wall of adolescents,
determined that nothing would
deter him from his goal; the fabled last loaf of sweet
bread. Anyone who dared
get in his way was thrown to the wind, all others were
simply trampled under his
unstoppable charge.
"The last one!" The kitchen yelled as he threw the
last loaf into the air. Over
a dozen greedy hands reached for it, all wanted it,
but only one would gain the
prize.
"It's mine!!" Ryoga yelled as he leapt for it. He
gained impressive height, it
was because of this that he always succeeded.
"Whoa! Excuse me!"
"Next time don't keep your mouth open!"
"Watch your heads!"
"Eh?" Ryoga looked back while in mid-flight to discern
the source of the voice.
When he turned he found a pig-tailed boy leaping quite
nimbly from head to head
of the boys beneath him.
"Coming through!!" The boy yelled as he leapt at
Ryoga.
He did not have time react before Ranma used his face
as a spring board and
catching the last bread in his mouth. He promptly
devoured it in one gulp while
giving a victory sign in response to the collective
groans from the defeated
masses below. Ryoga, in the meantime, was sent
crashing to the ground rather
ungracefully.
"Ranma....Saotome...." Ryoga snarled like some great
beast as he pulled himself
from his own crater-like impression on the floor.
"Oh, Ryoga. Forgot you were there for a second." Ranma
laughed as he noticed his
very pissed off lunchtime rival.
"YOU!!" Ryoga's voice boomed across the cafeteria
catching the attention of
every last person present. "This is last time you deny
me what is rightfully
mine Saotome!!"
"Oh? What are you gonna do about it?" Ranma could
smell a challenge from a mile
away, and this seemed particularly ripe.
"I challenge you to a duel! I will reclaim my lost
honor by defeating you!!" The
six-year old jabbed his finger menacingly.
"When and where..." Ranma smirked, this would be
another win notch to add to his
belt so to speak.
"In the empty lot, after school! You know where it
is!" Ryoga grinned himself.
"Be prepared for your come-down Saotome!!"
"Uhhh, I don't know what significance it had to you
but... it was just a piece
of bread...." Nabiki sweatdropped at what she just
heard.
"Well...at a school like that, hunger dictated our
actions." Ranma explained.
"As he just described, lunchtime was more of a matter
of survival and
determination than just getting something in your
stomach. Though that's what it
boiled down to in the end."
"Yeah, in the beginning...we didn't like each other
much. In fact..." Ryoga
glanced to Ranma. "I hated his guts somethin fierce."
"What changed? You two seem to be more like brothers
now than anything," Nabiki
wondered.
"I was just about to get to that." Ryoga started up
again...
The time had finally arrived. Ryoga stepped onto the
lot, he was determined to
exact his revenge this day. Once that was accomplished
he would once again
relish in the delicacy that was the sweet bread.
"Hey...what the..." Ryoga muttered.
The only thing he found was two sleeping bags, one was
particularly larger than
the other, and two backpacks. He slowly walked over to
them and noticed that
Ranma, his hated rival, was sleeping rather soundly. A
small saliva bubble was
slowly contracting and expanding from his nose as he
slept.
"Wake up." Ryoga demanded as he kicked the bag rather
hard.
"Jus a coupa more minutes momma..." Ranma slurred as
he rolled to find a more
comfortable position.
"I SAID WAKE UP!!!" Ryoga screamed with all his might,
and right into the ear of
Ranma.
"AHHHH!!!" Ranma jumped out of his bag instantly. His
larger companion was also
aroused by the sudden noise and sat up straight, his
eyebrow twitched showing
his irritation at having his slumber disrupted.
"The time for our duel has arrived Saotome!!" Ryoga
yelled to Ranma who was
still in mid-jump.
"RYOGA!! What the heck took you so long?!" Ranma
yelled in response.
"I...had a little trouble finding the lot..." Ryoga
muttered.
"Say what?! You're the one who chose this place! Do
you realize how long I've
been waiting?!" Ranma yelled again after he landed.
"Enough talk! It is time for your defeat Saotome!!"
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second..." Nabiki interjected.
"I thought you said the
duel was for that same afternoon."
"Yeah...that was the plan..." Ryoga scratched the back
of his head.
"Then why did Ranma ask what took you so long? It
couldn't have been that long
since school let out."
"The reason why is because I wound up waiting four
days for him to get there,"
Ranma clarified.
"Four...days?" Nabiki said totally bewildered.
"...and three nights..." Ryoga added reluctantly.
"Yeah, the thing is I was supposed to be gone on the
third night. My dad was
pretty adamant in keeping our schedule, but I was able
to convince him to stay
just one more day. I said it would be a great
opportunity for training," Ranma
shrugged. "I wouldn't have blamed him if he still
decided to leave, but...then I
don't think Ryoga would've been too happy about that."
"Wait...schedule? Dad? What are you talking about?"
Nabiki pressed for details.
"Allow me to continue and I think I clarify a few
things..." Once again Ryoga
took up the tale.
Ryoga eyed his enemies of the day. Ranma was wearing
some sort of red and black
chinese outfit. The larger man behind him was in a
worn-in white gi with a
bandanna covering his head.
"This is boy that challenged you?" Genma asked his
son.
"Yup. Says he's gonna make me pay for humiliating
him," Ranma grinned as he
cracked his knuckles.
"YOU BET I AM!!" Rygoa screamed in righteous fury.
"You have denied me the
sanctity of the sweet bread for the last time! I alone
am the only one worthy
enough to dine of its heavenly flavor, yet time and
again you have sought to rob
me of the one thing that brings me unbridled joy in
the hard day of school!"
Ranma simply raised an eyebrow and gave him a look
that asked if his opponent
was actually sane or not.
"I have kept my wrath in check for this very day
Saotome! Now I shall unleash my
growing torment over your existence! AND YOU SHALL
TASTE NOT OF THE SWEET BREAD,
BUT THE BITTER STING OF DEFEAT!!!"
Ryoga gave an expressionless glare at the snickers he
was recieving from his two
listeners. He tried to keep a straight face, but he
only found himself
succumbing to the laughter as well.
"Alright I admit, all of that coming from a 2nd grader
is pretty hilarious."
Ryoga admitted. "Campy samurai movies were all the
rage back then. I guess I let
it get to me..."
"Well it did help in one area." Ranma explained.
"Ryoga was a pretty smart kid,
his vocabulary was several years ahead of everyone
else there."
"What do you mean 'was'?"
"Okay, okay. What happened next?" Nabiki jumped in.
"Well, the fight I'd always wanted finally started..."
Ryoga jumped back into
memory.
"Do you understand now?" Ryoga rubbed the bridge of
his nose in frustration.
"Yeah, you wanna beat me up for taking your bread
everyday." Ranma said it like
it was the easiest thing in the world to understand.
"Why didn't you just say
that in the beginning?"
A vein bulged out of Ryoga's forehead at the sheer
audacity of his opponent.
"Alright you two. If this will settle things between
you then we will conduct
this like any other match between rivals." Genma
walked in between them.
"Understand?"
"Yeah, yeah lets just get this started." Ranma said
eagerly.
"Are you that anxious to recieve your just due
Saotome?" Ryoga grinned evily.
"This match will be the deciding factor in this little
spat between you. After
this, neither one will dispute the other in possession
of the...sweet bread."
Genma still could not believe that bread was the
source of the rivalry. "Though
remember Ranma, we are leaving right after this is
through, we must resume your
training immediately!"
"Yes sir..." Ranma rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to worry about that. BECAUSE YOU'LL BE
LEAVING HERE IN A FULL
BODY CAST!!!" Ryoga threatened.
"Whichever the outcome. This is the end of it." Genma
made sure to get that
particular point across. "BEGIN!"
Ryoga rushed his opponent in a flurry of wild punches.
Despite having only
trained for a year thus far, Genma was quite impressed
with his son's aptitude
for the Art. He seemed to absorb everything he taught
him like water to a
sponge, he could only hope that he could draw out his
training for such a long
period of time.
"Your never gonna get your venbench at this rate!"
Ranma laughed as he weaved
effortlessly through each blow. He simply sweep of his
foot sent Ryoga crashing
face-first into the ground.
"VenGEANCE you idiot!!" Ryoga jumped back up instantly
and once again made
another unfocused and fruitless attack. "Will you
stand still!!"
"You're just too slow for me Ryoga!" Ranma
side-stepped a grab. A simple knudge
and help from Ryoga's momentum caused him to
completely lose balance and once
again taste the dirt ground.
"You think this is funny?! You won't be laughing for
long!" Ryoga fist slammed
into ground in frustration.
"HAHAHA!! Ya know I thought you'd be lot more fun than
this! I guess I'm just
too..." Ranma never finished his sentence. Genma's
eyes widened at what he had
just seen.
Ranma's head was bent back at the impact of a fist
smashing into his nose. Total
shock was overriden by pain as he clutched his now
bleeding olfactory appendage.
"You...hit...me..." Ranma stumbled back a few steps.
"Of course I hit you! This is a fight remember!" Ryoga
reered back. "Prepare to
get hit again!!"
His fist collided with Ranma's stomach. All the air
that was in his lungs was
forced out in a rush and he collapsed to his knees.
"HA! So how does it feel Saotome!?" Ryoga laughed in
triumph. "All your kung-fu
tricks won't work on me!"
Genma was still trying to discern how the fight had
suddenly turned against his
son. From what he could see Ryoga had probably been in
a few scraps before this,
but other than that he possessed no martial training
whatsoever. Logically he
should not have been able to touch Ranma, let alone
score two direct hits.
"I've trained Ranma to be much tougher than this. A
single punch should not have
been able to make him bleed like that..." Genma
watched Ryoga carefully. "I
wonder...perhaps it was not a mistake staying the
extra day after all..."
"Get up Saotome! I'm not through with you yet!"
"You...little..." Ranma's vision was becoming
overshadowed by a red haze.
"Awww is the baby gonna start crying?" Ryoga taunted
his fallen adversary.
"SCREW THIS!!" Ranma let out feral scream and tackled
Ryoga with all his
strength.
What was supposed an honorable duel between gentlemen,
as much as you could get
with six-year-olds, now degenerated into a backyard
brawl. Complete with rolling
in the dirt, hair-grabbing, eye-poking, and even the
occasional biting.
"Where did I go wrong..." Genma shook his head in
shame. He had not expected for
one so young to be able to keep his composure in the
midst of battle, but he at
least expected a little more control than this.
"ENOUGH!!"
Even after the declaration the two refused to separate
themselves, it was
apparent they would not stop until one of them had
ripped the other to shreds.
Genma stomped over and quite easily picked the two of
them up by there collars,
even in his grasp they continued to claw and swing at
each other.
"I SAID ENOUGH!!" Genma said even more forcifully than
before. The two
immediately fell silent this time. "This has gone far
enough. It's obvious that
this fight is not going to prove anything."
"Oh yeah! Give me five more minutes with this
bastard!!" Ryoga yelled, his eyes
still flickering with fury.
"WATCH YOUR MOUTH!!" Genma yelled, Ryoga did not even
squeak another word.
"Nyaaah." Ranma stuck out his tongue.
"RANMA!" Genma chided once again, Ranma was quieted as
well. "Alright then. I
said that this was going to be settled today and it
will be. Ranma, I want you
to apologize to Ryoga for taking his bread."
"But I...!"
"DO IT!"
"I'm sorry for taking your stupid bread..." Ranma
pouted.
"And you Ryoga. You apologize for being four days late
for a duel you created!"
Genma ordered.
"You're not my dad! I don't have to do anything you
say!" Ryoga crossed his arms
and looked away defiantly.
Genma hoisted him up and forced him to look him in the
face. The glare Ryoga
recieved told him that Genma would have no qualms
about giving him the spanking
he deserved if he did not show some respect for his
elders.
"I'm...sorry...for being so late..." Ryoga finally
said defeatedly.
"That's better. Now I wish to speak with your parents
over something." Genma
sighed. "Where do you live?"
"Right there." Ryoga blinked and pointed to the house
directly next to them.
"Wait...you mean to tell me the empty lot was actually
your backyard?" Nabiki
asked wide eyed and in disbelief.
"Uhhh....yeah it was..." Ryoga coughed.
"And it took you FOUR DAYS to get there?"
"The Hibiki bloodline is not known for its directional
prowess," Ranma
interceded.
"So...whats to keep you from getting lost now?" Nabiki
wondered.
They both chuckled slightly at the question.
"I'm sure you noticed at some point..," Ryoga pointed
to the back of his neck.
"...the plugs?"
"Yes, actually I did notice you had coms. M-2 to be
precise," Nabiki then took
notice of the fact that the plug ports in their necks
were nowhere to be seen,
quite possibly through the use of artificial skin. The
same method she employed.
"Good eye." Ranma complimented.
"Internal GPS. Standard feature on all plugs
nowadays." Ryoga explained and then
tapped his forehead. "Heh, and a godsend for me."
"So what happened next? What did he need to talk to
your parents about?" Nabiki
asked.
"Actually, dad never got the chance..." Ranma told
her.
Nabiki noticed his emphasis and use of the word 'dad'.
She suspected that he
held this Genma person in pretty high regard. That
only made her wonder even
more as to his mysterious absence in lieu of recent
events.
"Yeah, just like Ranma said, my parents weren't
exactly there to be talked
to..." Ryoga once again took up the tale.
After Ryoga unlocked the front door, the trio stepped
inside the modest two-
story home. It was the typical middle-class house, not
too big and not too
small.
"Now behave! Or else..." Genma ordered as he dropped
the two on opposite ends of
the family room couch. The two continued aiming glares
at each other all the
while. "Where are your parents?"
"They're...not here." Ryoga answered reluctantly.
"Well, when will they be back?"
"I don't know..."
Genma raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Where do they work?"
"I don't know okay,...I haven't seen 'em in a couple
of months..."
Ranma hateful expression then softened at the news. He
could not imagine having
to live without parents. Even though he lived on the
road himself he still had
his father to look after him.
"So...you've been living by yourself this entire
time?" Genma knelt down to the
boys level.
"Yeah. So what? I can take care of myself." Ryoga
looked away from Genma's gaze.
"I would think so." Genma thought for a moment.
"So...that would make you the
man of the house?"
"Yeah...yeah it would." Ryoga seemed to puff up
slightly at that.
"I thought so. Therefore this question is for you to
answer." Genma smiled and
stood up.
"What is it?"
"During the fight between yourself and my son I could
not help but notice the
potential for the Art that you have within you." Genma
explained. "It could very
well be the match for Ranma."
The two boys glanced at each other. Ranma's nose had
since stopped bleeding and
his stomach did not lurch anymore. Ryoga was still
dirt smudged from his two
trips into the ground.
"You want me to do all that kung-fu stuff that he
does?"
"Well...if you must put it like that...yes." Genma
rolled his eyes.
"It's not kung-fu ya idiot. It's Anything-Goes! Get it
right!" Ranma yelled.
"I don't care what it is! I don't need it to beat
you!" Ryoga got up and the two
prepared to lay into each other again.
"SILENCE!!" Genma bellowed.
The two immediately halted that particular train of
thought.
"Now, as I was saying. Ryoga, I'm sure you have
noticed that your particularly
strong for your age." Genma pointed out. "Wouldn't you
like to become even
stronger than you are now?"
"Yeah...I guess so..."
"You watch movies don't you?" Genma tried another
tactic.
"Yeah...sometimes."
"I can tell your a fan of all those martial arts
movies that have been coming
out?"
"So what...I like 'em, doesn't mean anything." Ryoga,
for some reason, was
making it to be an insult.
"How would you like to be able to everything they do?
Run up walls, jump fifty
feet into the air, lift giant boulders over your
head..."
"I could do that?" Stars began appearing in Ryoga's
eyes.
"That, and alot more. That is...if you come with me
and my son."
Ryoga thought for all of five seconds. There was no
way he could pass up the
chance to become one of his big-screen heroes. They
could do just about
anything, even walk on fire and beat up a hundred guys
all at once.
"Count me in!"
"Excellent," Genma laughed. "Ranma, say hello to your
new sparring partner. Now
shake hands..." He said that last part with a bit of
menace in his voice, for
them to be precise if they did not comply.
"Hmph. You still won't be a match for me." Ranma
absently extended his hand.
"I can beat you any day of the week." Ryoga did the
same.
And so, this was the beginning of history. Little
could Nabiki imagine, just how
twisted that history would become...
"That's it," Ryoga finished.
"We've been 'rivals' ever since." Ranma added.
"Interesting. Of course...it does raise a couple of
more questions..." Nabiki
feigned thinking.
"Like what?" Ranma asked.
"What happened to Genma? And most importantly, what
happened after Ryoga joined
you?"
The sound of students beginning to re-enter the
classroom caught their ears.
Nabiki sighed at the fact that she had to end her
'interrogation', at least for
the moment...
"Oops, looks like chat time is over." Ryoga shrugged.
"Besides, I get the
feeling you're gonna be pretty busy answering
questions yourself."
"What?" Nabiki looked over her shoulder to where Ryoga
was pointing. There was a
large huddle of girls, all staring at her. The stink
of envy was quite heavy
among the mass of the class's female population.
"Oh..."
"See ya later," Ranma and Ryoga both broke off and
returned to their respective
seats. Nabiki quite reluctantly did the same, knowing
full well what she had
gotten herself into.
"You never said you knew them!"
"Did they say anything about me?"
"What do they like in a girl?"
"I saw you laughing, what jokes do they like?"
"Why me...?" Nabiki hung her head as the questions
continued raining down.
"Odaiba Elementary...its a good a place as any to
start." She thought to
herself. She was going to find everything she could on
them. Nabiki Tendo always
got what she wanted, no matter what.
***
The five story office complex was completely under
siege. Police barricades had
been set up everywhere and officers swarmed like a bee
to a hive. Sniper teams
had been set-up on three other adjacent buildings and
negotiators, S.W.A.T
teams, and riot police were on the bottom dicussing
possible plans of action to
defuse the volatile situation.
"GET ME A DIRECT CONNECTION WITH SNIPER TEAM ONE!" The
head officer of the
proceedings yelled to an underling. "How the hell did
they pull this off to
begin with." He muttered as he looked at a layout of
the building for quite
possibly the hundredth time.
"Excuse me." A new voice and tapping on his shoulder
interrupted his thought
processes.
He turned around to find a very attractive young woman
in a black leather jacket
and pants of the same type. This was actually the
woman's usual dress when out
on field assignments.
"Uhhh...excuse me. This is a restricted zone, I don't
know how you got past the
barricades but I'm going to have ask you to clear the
area." He ordered.
"I'm the representative from Heaven's Star that the
perpetrators have
requested," She explained politely
"You're the one the one they were sending from their
headquarters?" The
policeman asked, believing her to be awfully young for
such a task. "Can I see
some I.D. please?"
"Oh yes, of course," she presented him with her
employee identification.
"Kasumi...Tendo?" His eyes widened slightly. "Wouldn't
that make you Soun
Tendo's daughter?"
"Yes, it would."
"Alright..." He wondered why such an influential man
would send his own daughter
into a situation like this.
"If you could, I would appreciate it if you could
possibly clarify the current
situation?"
"Of course. About eight hours ago a small team of men
took the entire office
complex hostage. If I understand correctly this
building belongs to your
father?"
"Yes, its one of our branch offices."
"That would explain their current demand. They're
stating that they want the one
responsible for assassinating one of their leaders.
>From what we can discern
these men are directly linked to the Yakuza, that
explains why they're armed."
"Assassinating their leader? My father would never
order something like that..."
She murmured as her eyes moved to the roof. "How well
armed are they?"
"There are seven in total. Each is lightly armed,
nothing more than 9mm
automatics. THEY'RE not the problem," The captain
clarified. "The danger is in
the fact they have rigged each floor with a high-yield
explosive device."
"I see. Are their people still inside?"
"No, they allowed us to evacuate the building. These
guys are beyond pros,
probably ex-military, they rigged the bombs so that if
they explode at once the
entire building will collapse on itself. The damage to
the surrounding property
would be astronomical. We can't allow that to happen,"
he then pointed up to the
fourth floor. The windows were blown out and smoke was
billowing from the
inside. "One of our bomb squads attempted to defuse
one of them, it did not go
as planned."
"How do they expect to escape if they detonate the
devices?"
"They came in by a small chopper which they will most
likely use to make their
escape should their demands not be met." He turned his
eyes to the adjacent
buildings. "We have three sniper teams setup on
buildings to the north, west and
east. However, all of the perpetrators have
brainplugs, and the bombs have been
programmed so that should a certain one of their plugs
go offline; they
automatically detonate. Therefore, we cannot risk
taking a shot at any of them."
"I understand. Their only demand was for a Star
representative, so it would be
best if we complied," She advised. "I'll deal with
this myself. Tell your men to
not approach the building or fire for any reason."
Those were her final words
before she began walked toward the besieged structure.
"Everyone out of the way! Let her through!" He yelled
to the confused officers
present.
"Sir, I have the link to the Sniper Team #001 ready,"
A lower ranking officer
handed him a headset.
"I just hope she knows what she's doing..." He
muttered as he fitted the device
over his head.
She could feel the ominousness of the structure as she
approached the front
doors. A feeling of dread permeated the entire
building all due to the events
unfolding inside. As she entered and the glass doors
closed behind her she was
greeted by two pistol barrels aimed at either temple
of her head.
"Hands up. Anything stupid and we blow your brains out
now." One of the two team
members ordered.
She complied without question and the trio began their
short trip to the
rooftop.
Two individuals were perced on top of the eastern
building. The two-man police
sniper team had so far been given no orders other than
to observe the perps.
"Blast it, I can't believe these bastards are mocking
us like this. Standing in
plain sight knowing full well we can't take a crack at
'em." The sniper snarled.
"Until we figure out a way of blocking the signal from
the com to the bombs,
we're stuck here," his spotter told him.
The sniper was laying in a standard prone position. A
small thin needlepoint
fiber-op cable ran straight from the scopeless rifle
and into his right eye
which is actually a Hawkeye implant. A Hawkeye implant
is a Cyclops implant
which has been specially and specifically modified for
use by military and
police snipers. This system allowed the shooter to see
through the gun's eyes,
so to speak, and allowed for far greater precision
accuracy than could be
reached through normal human eyes looking through a
scope. The spotter was
connected to the shooter via a direct peer-to-peer
connection between their
corresponding plugs, which allowed for instanteneous
relay of changing wind
patterns and weather conditions directly from the
spotter, who had direct access
to a weather satellite, to the shooter.
"Sniper Team 1, this is captain Shingure, what is your
current status?" the
familiar voice spoke into the sniper's ear.
"No change yet sir, they've just been standing around
shooting the breeze."
"Wait a minute. I've got movement from the roof
elevator. Someone's coming up,"
The spotter reported while looking through binoculars.
Sure enough three individuals stepped out from the
elevator, one with her hands
up and the other two with pistols to her head and
back.
"One female and two perps." He specified.
"The woman is the Star rep they wanted to see. Do not
attempt to take out any of
the perps, we still don't know which one of them is
connected to the bombs." The
captain ordered.
"We got that already. Just pray my trigger finger
doesn't think differently."
The sniper magnified his vision to get a closer look.
"Well tell your finger that if it screws up it can pay
the multi-billion yen
bill that'll come if those bombs go off because of
it!" The captain yelled into
his ear.
Kasumi scanned the perpetrators as she was led to the
center of the building
rooftop. They were all dressed the same way,
sleeveless shirts, camoflauge
pants, and a pistol in a shoulder holster.
"She the one?" a man in a moustache and shades, and
who was also the leader,
asked another team member to his left.
"No, the survivor said it was a guy who iced
Sankichi," The member responded.
"I assure you that whatever happened to your superior,
it was not the fault of
Heaven's Star or any of its employees," Kasumi
explained.
The leader simply grinned and walked closer to her. He
gave her a rather lurid
once over before speaking again.
"I recognize you. Your Tendo's daughter aren't you?"
"Yes I am. I was sent to try and determine why the
Yakuza have taken such an
aggressive stance against my father's company. You've
made five other attempts,
including this one, over the past week alone." Those
other attempts that Kasumi
stated were all thwarted by the well-manned and armed
Star security teams with
little to no property damage or loss of human life.
This bombing attempt had so
far been the only successful try at disrupting company
operations.
"You heard the man. Your dad had one of our top men
taken out," The leader
explained. "Plowed straight through his security,
murdered him, and blew his
entire estate to shreds."
"Guy is good, we already sent a hit-team after him,
they were sent back in body
bags." The member to the leader's left said.
"The Yakuza do not take the death of its own lightly.
We will take revenge for
Sankichi and the men your guy killed, one way or
another," The leader's eyes,
though covered, moved to her left slightly.
"Once again, I can speak for my father when I say he
would never order an
assassination attempt. Such practices are never
considered by Heaven's Star,"
Kasumi slowly lowered her hands. Despite being in the
midst of seven armed, and
apparently well-trained Yakuza men she was very calm
and showed no outward signs
of fear. Something that a good portion of them took
notice of.
"Then how do you explain the only survivor having
witnessed the assassin stating
that he was from Star?"
"I can't explain that. Perhaps he misheard...or he was
misled..." a sudden
clarification hit her sharply. The lull in Sword's
activity was directly in line
with the Yakuza's sudden call to war against Star, it
could not have been a
coincidence.
"Right. Well it seems the authorities have not taken
our threat seriously
enough," the leader backed away slightly. "We told
them that we wanted the
person responsible for Sankichi's death, instead they
sent you."
"Because there is no one from Star responsible."
"Nonetheless, we are going to have to make an example
now won't we?" He nodded
to someone to her left. One of the men raised his
pistol and took aim at her
head. "Unfortunately it's going to have to be you. Its
a shame, someone as
gorgeous as yourself, it's quite a waste." He smiled.
He fired, and everyone present expected to see a gray
substance explode from the
side of her head and onto the cement. Instead the
bullet came to an impromptu
stop when her hand, moving at a speed they had no hope
of registering, shot up
and caught the still smoking round between two
fingers.
"W...what the fuck....?" The shooter stammered in
complete shock. Everyone else
followed his example.
"I was hoping...," She moved the bullet from her left
hand to her right. "That
this could be resolved without resorting to violence."
"What are you? A pacifist? Sorry but this business has
no room for people like
that," The leader of the Yakuza hit-squad informed
her.
The same man took aim again. Only this time he began
emptying the entire clip in
her direction. To everyone gathered, her arm was
motionless, in reality it was
moving at far past blurring speed. Each bullet was
snatched out of mid-air as if
they were not moving at all. All of the men could do
stand there in horror at
the fact that she was not being hit at all, and
wondered if either the shooter
had incredibly sloppy aim or there guns were loaded
with blanks. After several
seconds the firing stopped, his gun now devoid of
ammunition.
"I believe your friend dropped these." She threw the
collective shells at the
leader's feet.
He could only stand there as dumbfounded as his
colleagues.
"You." Kasumi suddenly pointed to a man slight behind
the leader and to his
right. He looked left and right and then wondered why
she was staring at him.
"You're the one connected to the explosives."
"What..." The leader whirled around to confirm that
Kasumi had indeed implicated
the right person. "How the hell did you..."
"Sniper Team One! Report! I've just gotten an alert of
shots fired up there!
What is going on?!" The captain screamed.
"I...have no goddamned idea sir..." the sniper
reported back bewilderedly.
"How...in the name of God...was she NOT blown away?"
the spotter wondered just
as confused.
"What do you mean? What is happening up there? ANSWER
ME!" The captain's
impatience was apparent.
"I swear...it looked like...she caught the bullet..."
"What the hell is your spotter talking about?!" the
captain yelled into the
sniper's ear.
"Their was a weapon's discharge sir...but...the rep
was unharmed," the sniper
tried explaining in as clear and sane way as he could.
"Then...multiple
discharges...and...the rep...was still unharmed..."
"You are not making any sense! Are you saying the
perps took a shot at the rep?"
the captain tried to clarify things for himself.
"That's what I'm saying sir. It was practically
point-blank range...and she's
still standing..." the sniper suddenly felt his
partner hitting him rather hard
in the shoulder repeatedly. "What is it?!"
"Get your sights back on the roof! Something is up..."
the spotter told him as
he looked through his binoculars.
The sniper did as was told and moved his reticle back
to the roof and magnified.
What caught his eye caused another blink of surprise.
"What is she pointing at..." He murmured.
"I don't know. She did it a couple of seconds ago..."
A realization hit the
spotter suddenly as he followed the finger to its
target. "You don't think...is
he the trigger?!"
"I don't know...there's a good chance, I mean look at
the way the leader is
freakin out.... Get a connection to the other
teams..."
"I don't know how the hell you did that..." the leader
and everyone else present
pulled their pistols and immediately took aim at
Kasumi. "But no way are you
getting the chance to tell the cops."
"This isn't needed. Just surrender and be done with
it. I assure that you will
not be harmed." Kasumi tried negotiating.
"You don't get it. This isn't about being harmed! This
is about getting the job
done, lady, and unfortunately," He cocked the pistol.
"That means giving you a
few dozen more holes to breath through!"
His finger came upon the trigger, but just as he was
about to fire, his target
was no longer where she should have been.
"What the...where did she go!!" He searched
frantically for the woman while his
men did the same.
There was a grunting sound. They all turned their
vision to the east edge of the
building. One of their men was currently falling over,
completely of devoid
consciousness, after having his nose nearly crushed by
the back of Kasumi's
fist.
"What is she...?" Was the last thing the leader
uttered before she vanished
again...
"Holy...How can she move so fast..." the spotter was
moving frantically moving
his scope around.
"I don't know..." the sniper whispered. "Damnit, I
can't keep up..."
Everytime he brought his reticle to where she was she
was already gone. The
precision his Hawkeye provided made it all but
impossible for him to miss a
target. Yet if this woman were to be his prey for some
reason, he would have no
chance in even coming close to making the mark.
"Report! What's going on now?!" the captain blared
into his ear again.
"By the looks of it...all hostiles are being rendered
neutralized sir." The
sniper reported back.
"What? How? I thought I ordered all teams not to take
a shot!"
"None did. The rep is taken out 'em out by herself!"
"Repeat that? What have I told you about drinking on
the job?!"
"I'm completely lucid and sober sir. I'm telling she
is wiping the floor with
all of them by herself."
The last man dropped unpoetically to the floor after
Kasumi removed her fist
from his stomach. She searched for any other hostile
threats and found none.
That was when a sudden flicker of movement alerted her
senses. She whirled
around to find the leader, still conscious somehow,
aiming at straight at her.
"Stupid...stinkin...bitch..." he forced himself to sit
up using an arm and used
the other to aim his gun.
Kasumi was about to make another attempt to
incapacitate him when a glint of
light flashed out of the corner of her eye. She turned
her gaze east and then
all at once remembered the snipers positioned on three
sides.
"NO! DON'T MOVE!!" She screamed to him.
It was too late. His temple exploded in a grisly
display of gore that forced her
to turn her eyes away. The sniper's bullet buried
itself deep into his brain,
destroying any and all of Kasumi's hopes that the
situation could be resolved
without a single loss of life, or at the very least
without a drop of blood
spilled.
"If you just surrendered..." She whispered to herself.
Her attention suddenly turned to the last man still
standing, the trigger. He
was standing frozen, shaking, and proverbially pissing
his pants.
"Nailed him." The sniper wiped his brow.
"That was too close," The spotter checked out the
situation yet again. "We got
one man still up."
"One man still up and running. He's gotta be the
trigger without a doubt." The
sniper spoke directly to the other two teams to the
north and west. "So don't
even think of taking a shot at him, no matter what he
does."
"Calm down. I won't hurt you." Kasumi tried calming
the man. This must have been
his first mission, it was beyond cruel in her eyes to
make the trigger a man who
had probably never even fired a gun before.
"Y...you stay away from me you freak!" His hands were
shaking so much as he
aimed his gun that even if he did fire the bullet
would fly a mile away from
her.
"You have to understand that there is nothing you can
do." She pleaded. "There
are snipers all around you. They know you're the
trigger, but all that means is
that they won't kill you. Please, put the gun down."
His eyes turned to his fallen leader, his brain was
now nothing more than a
splatter on the cement. This caused his anxiety to
increase even more.
"I...I..."
In the instant his eyes were averted, she struck. In
an eye blink her hand had
grasped the wrist of his gun hand and the other tapped
a certain spot on the
back of his head. He instantly fell into a peaceful
slumber, Kasumi caught him
before he fell over and gently lowered him to the
ground.
"Thank God..." She breathed a sigh of relief.
She slowly turned him on his stomach and placed a hand
over his brainplug ports.
Her eyes closed and the final threat came into the
process of being removed.
"Damnit... what in the Devil's name is happening up
there?" the captain paced,
awaiting word from the sniper teams as to just what
was occuring on the roof.
"Sir...I'm getting a report from the bomb squads
inside..." his lower ranking
assistant once again appeared by his side. A comset
was to his ear along with a
confused expression.
"What is it?"
"The bombs...have been deactivated..."
"How?!"
"I don't know sir, the squads aren't responsible. They
are reporting one-by-one
however that the explosives on each floor have been
rendered inactive."
"Miracles never cease do they?" the captain brought
the microphone of his head
to his ear. "All Sniper Teams, report. What's the
situation up top?"
"The threat has been contained sir. One casualty, the
rest are unconscious," the
Team One shooter reported.
"Well now, this went a shitload better than even I
imagined," he murmured to
himself. "All teams pull out. Have the bomb squads
extract the explosives and
send the S.W.A.T team in to confirm containment of the
threat."
His eyes moved forward and he saw Kasumi exiting the
building. Her eyes gazed
downward and she had a weary expression on her face.
"I don't know what you did up there, but on behalf of
our entire department..."
he started as she approached him.
"I told you not to fire..." She interrupted suddenly.
She stopped in front of
him but her eyes were looking elsewhere.
"Uhhh, excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, especially
after what you just did,
but you don't give the orders. By what I understand
that sniper saved your
life."
"You are right about one thing...I don't give the
orders..." She whispered
before leaving the entire scene behind.
"What's with her?" the captain's assistant wondered.
"No idea..."
***
In a dark, dreaded, undisclosed location eight men sat
at a large rectangular
table. One could sense the power the authority
radiating from each one. These
were the leaders of the Yakuza crime syndicate, each
one an extremely wealthy
and powerful individual in their own right, as well as
an influential leader.
"This cannot go on anymore! We have made five attempts
to cripple Heaven's Star
and all have met with failure!" One of the men slammed
his fist into the table.
"At this rate Hung's death will never be avenged." He
aimed his finger at a
chair that was ceremoniously left empty.
"I agree. Star has humiliated us at every turn. If do
not do something now our
name will be forever stained and our enemies will
laugh instead of fear us."
another one added on.
"Star's personnel are far too well-trained and skilled
for use of simple foot-
soldiers. One must call on our elites if we are to win
this war."
One man sat at the head of the table. His hands were
clapsed together and his
brow was furrowed in extreme thought. He gather
everything his allies were
telling him and contemplated a plan of action.
"What is your desicion? We must act quickly, we've no
time to waste," Another
one of the crime lords added.
After several minutes of careful personal deliberation
the Yakuza leader finally
came to a choice.
"Summon the Nightfall. We will show Heaven's Star the
terror of the full might
of the Yakuza..."
To Be Continued......
Author's Notes:
1). It's amazing the kind of inspiration that comes to
you in your dreams. For
example, the entire plot and layout of this chapter,
as well as another I am
currently working on, came to me in a single dream. If
there's anykind of advice
I can give to writers out there it's this, listen to
your dreams; they'll never
steer you wrong.
2). Your probably wondering when I am going to get to
the curses for god's sake.
Trust me, they'll come sooner than you think.
3). I have NO idea if my interpretation of the Yakuza
comes even CLOSE to how
they operate in real-life. They most likely have no
correlation whatsoever. So
if their are any Yakuza out there reading this, please
don't be pissed, I can
honestly place the blame on ignorance.
4). Same thing with the Japanese police force. I most
likely got there normal
procedures all wrong, despite the fact that I read the
recent post on FFML as to
there operating procedures. Hell I don't even know if
they have an equivalent to
a S.W.A.T team or even if it goes by the same name,
most likely not.
5). As always, C&C is highly valued and archived for
later reference. Good and
bad.
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