Wow! Your chapters are getting as large as mine. :)

    Ryouga shrugged, looking over his shoulder for a moment, guided on
the correct path by the dog leading him onwards. "I've been places that
were this quiet before," he said. "But... I've never seen that many
cities this quiet. It is strange. A city... a place this big, and now
it's empty." He grimaced, shivering. "I'm used to quiet, but the... the
emptiness just feels..."

Yep. Best to leave the sentiment unspoken. Allows the readers to fill in the
blanks.

    Not that she could blame them, of course. Rulership of Jurai was not
something one expected to have handed to them that suddenly -- or at
all, in Tenchi's case. The boy was ill equipped,

ill-equipped

    Until Tenchi could officially instate Ayeka and Ryouko as the
Inspector General of Information, and the Supreme Commander of the royal
bodyguard

Royal Bodyguard

    Tsunami schooled her expression, quashing down a sudden and
unexpected surge of panic as the Throne opened a gateway, and the Home
fleet crossed through it. She raised one hand, halfway, as though she
were going to wave to someone on Earth, but instead lowered it. "Why did
I do that?" she mused, nearly silently.

Got the hots for Ranma.

    "Yeah, it's not like there's anyone around to see us."

    Two brightly colored flashes of light later, and the girls had
vanished, sensible and warm clothing vanishing in favor of brightly
colored fuku. "Okay!" Makoto exclaimed. "Once the others get here, we'll
be ready."

    "Ready for what?"

    Makoto rolled her eyes. "To defend the city."

What have they been doing up to this point? It's not like they couldn't
notice things happening around them.

    Jupiter whipped her head around to locate the speaker, but he was
already gone, and Saturn's shrill cry of alarm distracted her. She spun
again, only in time to see a man, or something _like_ a man, though she
didn't have enough time to make out his facial features wrap his arms
around Saturn, lifting her off the sidewalk, and then simply vanish.
Only a half-second later, the storefront where she had been standing
exploded violently, and a mass of black carapace and shattered glass
tumbled through.

Heh. Thought that was going to happen when you said she paused in front of a
storefront.

    With that, he gracefully leapt backwards off of the building,
somersaulting through the air to land in the middle of the street,
creating a three-meter-wide crater and startling the rest of the
cheerleaders back with cries of, "It's a youma!"

One would think they have more important things to worry about than that at
the moment with a Reaver confronting them.

    The girl turned to look at him cautiously, her eyes traversing his
body from head to toe, then back up before she responded, holding her
hands towards him in a ready stance. "I'm Sailor Mars," she declared,
"one of the--"

    The rest of the declaration was cut off as Ranma grabbed her,
lifting her and teleporting across the fire again. Both reavers emerged
from the flame unscathed, charging blindly.

Yeah, I doubt that would stop them at this point.

    One of the girls -- one that reminded Ranma very much of Ukyou,

Don't know why. They look nothing alike.

    Ranma stared upwards, falling through the bay. It wasn't deep, once
she neared the bottom. But then, she had always gauged 'depth' to be a
function of how long she could last without air, not how far from the
surface she was. Not needing to breathe rendered that system moot.

Oh yeah. Forgot about the division. One would think Male Ranma is a bit weak
without his other half.

    As if summoned, two murky black shapes swam through the mud at the
bottom of the bay, and upward. Like sinister, hard-shelled squid. The
things were _far_ too heavy to be able to swim, in Ranma's estimation,
but they didn't seem to let that bother them.

Hmm. So they can swim after all.

    Summoning her blade proved to have an unexpected side effect, as she
shot towards the pair of reavers, ascending towards the ships hungrily.
Not touching the blade, but in a swath wherever she passed it, ice
formed, floating upwards in her wake.

Hmmm

    Ranma descended on the fallen creature like the wrath of some angry
martial arts god, in Ryouga's eyes, snarling and wielding a glowing blue
bar of... something. Whatever it was, it slammed into the reaver's
carapace, and frost began to spread across it immediately, centered
around the point of contact between Ranma's blade and the reaver.
Blue-white motes of light exploded away from the center, turning into
drops of ice, spreading their own frost where they fell.

Nice touch.

    The reaver sank into the ground abruptly, leaving Mousse's chains
lying on the street, and Ranma to rebound upward, seething. Ryouga had
never seen Ranma to look so furious before in his entire life, and
reflexively stepped backwards. Mousse did the same, both of them looking
up towards the boy who had once been their chief rival with a newfound
respect.

And a touch of fear, I'm sure.

    His strike was true, but faster than he could react -- faster than
he thought the reavers _could_ move -- it smashed a limb into him,
striking not with the barbed point, but clubbing him. The crushing blow
knocked the wind out of him, launching him across the street towards a
building.

Ouch. Looks like they are learning.

    The reaver's piercing claw ruptured the gas tank, coating the wound,
and the carapace near it in flaming gasoline. While fire and heat didn't
affect reavers very well, the wound allowed the gasoline to enter its
body, still burning.

Now that might hurt.

    Some of them probably older than mere girls, as Yosho looked.

Not sure what you're trying to say there.

    Ice began to spread from the point of contact instantly, frozen
seawater hardening into a shell encasing the joint, limiting the
reaver's movement. Well, she thought, that changed things. The reaver
seemed stunned, and its partner was still not in a position to react, so
she swiftly struck the next joint, focusing more on cold than strength.

Hmm. Could leave them in an icy cocoon I suppose.

    ***

    "Commodore! There's a blip on sonar, coming up about seventy five
meters astern."

    Norris scowled at the man who had given the information to him.
"More bad news," he muttered. "What is it?"

    "Um, Sir... it looks like... ice."

They can tell on sonar?

    Washuu shook her head before the crew could celebrate, interrupting,
"Sorry, the reavers survived, though you might have stunned them. They
phased and dropped through the ice at the last moment."

    Norris looked around at the crew, and they blinked, having no way to
confirm what she had suggested. "Are you sure?" he asked weakly, hoping
somehow she was wrong.

    "No," Ranma's voice called from Washuu's bracelet. "They sure seem
mad, though. They're heading towards the ship that fired at them."

Uh oh. Too bad. I think they needed to finish them there.

    And they should be, she decided, gathering her energy. The second
reaver was moving too fast; she'd need to get closer to it. She gathered
her energy, preparing for another strike, when she remembered -- too
late -- that she was ignoring the reaver behind her

Yeah. Prettyu basic mistake

    Ranma wheeled, sensing the reaver rearing up behind him, and braced
himself, preparing to leap out of the way. He couldn't afford to dodge
far, though, that would entail leaving everyone else to fend for

themselves.

    But the reaver paused for a moment. Dark, chaotic swirls of power
bled around it, as though it were standing before a blast furnace of
chaos, spattering the unused energy aside. It stood for a single moment
longer before simply exploding, splattering acidic ichor across an
invisible barrier of force behind it, and another, before Ranma.

And that takes care of that. Another one bites the dust.

    That would have to be it, Ranma decided. "That was pretty good," he
said aloud, wondering if he had perhaps abandoned martial arts
cheerleading too quickly. The ability to throw fire around might have
been nice, in the end, though he wasn't sure it would be worth having to
wear a cheerleading outfit. No, he decided, glancing briefly at the
green-skirted girl, when it came right down to it, he had enough
problems trying to sort out honor and love, without adding more
confusion to the situation.

Heh. Like his musings.

    But whatever he was, he didn't seem to have any evil intent. Hotaru
blinked, and the moon cats looked offended when he called them rats, but
everyone bided their silence. Perhaps, she thought, because of the
unreality of the situation. Maybe it was all some strange, odd dream,
and they'd wake up with the problem gone... but no, pinching herself
hurt, and didn't wake her.

No, it certainly wouldn't.

    Venus stood, blinking in surprise, her chain dangling from her
fingers limply. The rest of the senshi fared little better. Killing
youma and the like was not traditionally so... messy. And the crew
standing near them, they seemed to simply take it in stride.

    She eyed Ryu appraisingly. "Ryu?" She asked, "Why did you lie to me?"

    Ryu looked around worriedly, then calmed himself, offering the same
pleasant smile she remembered -- the one that made her knees weak.
"Mako-chan," he said smoothly, "I can explain _everything_. Now, why are
you wearing that silly outfit?"

Oh, nice turn I didn't see coming. So he was the Ranma she knew, not the
original. Heh. Very cute.

    "No," Terry said slowly. "That's very kind of you, but you don't
have to sing for me."

    "Are you sure, Bogard-san?" Eimi asked him yet again. "I know how to
sing, 'To be in Love', among other songs."

That would be fine as long as it wasn't the Reba West versions.

    A soft 'ping' noise sounded from the speakers. "Understood,
Bogard-san, though Atsuko will have the final vote in control, initially."

Methinks she'll choose to save Ranma. :)

    "No, Bogard-san." The image shifted, overlaid with a grainy black
and white image, not a basin, but a short hill. "This image was taken
some weeks before the first news of the 'reavers,' as you call them,
reached us. We believe it's a research facility, though according to the
U.S. military network, they were unaware of its existence." A few roads
and small outbuildings lined the hillside, and a larger heli-pad sat
atop it.

    "Just like area fifty-one," Terry grumbled.

No. Everyone knows Area 51 exists, just that it doesn't 'officially' exist.

    "You are correct, Bogard-san. At this point, that is all that

remains."

    Terry shot a scowl at the screen. "Show me San Francisco," he
ordered. "I have friends there."

Eimi: Try 'had friends.'

    The same soft 'ping' sounded, and the visual display zoomed out to a
map of the entire planet. "This map is realtime, and we are currently
tracking two hundred and fifty seven reavers. We suspect that there are
more we cannot scan, and many are outside of out

our

targeting range." The

map zoomed in on the bay again, rushing in close enough to show a grainy
image of a small crowd standing around the ruptured remnants of a
reaver. "This is unexpected. It would appear as though this one was
destroyed. However, I detect nearly a dozen more headed towards the same
location, and one beneath this very tower. I cannot strike it without
damaging myself."

    Terry grinned wickedly. "Fine," he said. "Do what you can, I'll take
care of the one here."

Heh. Methinks he will, too.

    Hotaru felt a vague shiver down her spine, and turned to look at the
still deserted street behind her. A massive, reaver-sized segment of the
street spontaneously exploded upwards, full of writhing reaver, and
still being pursued by a yowling Ranma. The reaver reached the apex of
its leap, probably a good fifteen meters above the ground, and fell
backwards, but Ranma continued upwards, flashing blue claws carving a
path before him. He hung for a moment, still in the air, above the mass
of the body he had just tunneled through.

Blech.

    He flexed, and the blue flare faded from his left arm, leaving him
with a small blue gem hanging from one ear. "I think I've had worse,
Yosho. Did anything happen?" Yosho shrugged, but not before Saturn
dropped her Glaive, jumping into Ranma's arms. He reflexively caught the
girl, and looked around, bewildered. "Huh?"

    "You're my boyfriend now!" she exclaimed happily. Ranma's face spoke
volumes of incredulity.

Heh. I don't blame him.

    Blue flames ignited about him, not merely a battle-aura, but hot
enough to warp and melt the stairs beneath his feet. He was protected
from his own power, as was the pin that Eimi asked him to wear. But the
reaver was balked, and skittered backwards, crashing through the piles
of discarded computer pieces, junk food, and whatever else Durant had
scattered about before he left.

Poor lunatic is probably toast now.

    He was more than just Terry. He was a _power_. One that would crush
the reaver before him, at any cost.

    Screaming, he flung himself into the abyss, deeper into that
reservoir of strength, and burst into a sudden leap towards the reaver,
absently batting a massive, black, contusion covered limb out of the
way. He landed a kick that cracked its carapace, knocking it back into
the wall, and followed up with another carapace cracking punch.

It's dead, it just hasn't realized it yet.

    But the thing was beyond fighting back, merely able to thrash about
in its death throes, and spurt acidic ichor across the room. Despite all
that, Terry wasn't satisfied. Yelling again, he kicked the unarmored
yellow membrane hidden beneath the thing's armor, tearing it easily and
releasing the entirety of its innards to flow across the floor. One
final, spastic twitch sent a limb slamming into Terry, knocking him free
of the deluge of toxic ichor, to slam into the steel of the staircase.
It conformed to his body, softened by the flames surrounding him.

And that's that.

    Flames that flickered, and died once the battle was over. He
coughed, and tried to get up, but his chest refused to expand enough to
give him a full breath of air, and the steel staircase was wrapped
around him too tightly for him to move.

Oops. It I see the battle took it's toll on him too.

    "Ah, Ranma-san," the voice greeted him. "Bogard-san and Atsuko are
with me, and need your help."

    "I'd love to help," he snapped, "but there's a small army of reavers
here that's kinda going to be keeping me _busy_ for a while!"

Not for much longer.

    For a long moment, there was nothing but silence, and Ranma thought
that whoever he was speaking to had left. But she answered, after a
moment. "I will deal with them for you, Ranma-san. Please advise anyone
with you to hurry to cover -- the positronic laser array may have
unknown localized side-effects.

Like vaporising their carcasses.

    Ranma blinked, reaching the tower, and phasing through it. He took a
step back when he saw Nuku's body, suspended in a vat of green liquid,
though whatever it was, was draining away. A voice -- Eimi's voice, he
decided -- came from the speakers in the room's ceiling. "I'm curious to
know how you did that, but don't have any time left, I'm afraid. Nuku
will be ready to go in a few minutes, Bogard-san is at the bottom of the
stairs."

Aimi: Or at least what's left of him.

    "No," Terry overrode him. "It's time. I'm... I'm going to stay here,
Ranma. My path... it's ended. Take care of your... take care of Nuku..."

Terry: And every other babe you meet because most of them will fall for you.

    After an extended moment of silence, Eimi responded, "I will stay
with Bogard-san."

Nice way to put it.

    "Lotsa stuff," Ranma mumbled, finding the point he wanted, and
jabbing it gently with his finger. Washuu collapsed atop him, asleep
instantly. "That one... makes you go to sleep..." he concluded, drifting
off.

heh. Got her back, I see.

Nice work. Terry finally bit it, as I suspected he would. And now Tenchi's
the emperor and the SM cast is here to hang loose for a while. Should be
interesting.

D.B. Sommer

D.B. Sommer



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