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fabric itself, instantly erupting into a geyser of flame. A thermobaric
reaction set off an immediate blast wave, knocking away loose rubble and
blasting Mousse's hair back. Rooted in place as he was, due to lowering
his jin to the point where it merged into the ground, he stood and
focused the cone of fire, chemically hotter than the surface of the sun,
towards the human-form Ethereal ahead of him; the shockwave, itself
powerful enough to kill a normal man, would stun it long enough for the
purging flames to finish the job.

The surging flames never even reached the girl, just impotently parting
around another of the impenetrable black barriers.  Even as the smoke
cleared, he could see the alien creature standing behind it, a single
hand raised, palm pressed up against the back of the ebon wall. A moment
later, the barrier dissolved away and the girl lowered her arm to her
side. She was staring at him impassively, her eyes narrowed and
beginning to glow with an eerie white light, her breath coming in slow
gasps.

Mousse ejected a spent pair of tubes from the end of his sleeve.

'Damnit. I got sloppy. I should've coordinated that with a disruptive
psi attack. Now she has glowing eyes. This ...probably isn't good.'

A moment later, a black aura sprang up around the darkly dressed girl,
slowly crackly away like an unholy bonfire.  She then lifted her arms to
her side and began to float an inch above the ground.

"Alright, Mousse.  I was willing to play along for a moment there, but
you've gone too far.  Let's see how you like dealing with your own
favorite tactic."

The ethereal in human form then thrust her hand forward. Black lances of
energy launched forth from her aura, a dozen of the foot long slivers
firing out from her palm in a matter of seconds.  Mousse's eyes widened
as the black missiles began to tear into the ground as she gauged the
distance between them, sending debris flying up in a storm of shrapnel.

"Nabiki! I need those reinforcements!" Mousse wasn't too proud to call
in for more firepower, not against a damned TK-centric Ethereal. Still,
they hadn't been given permission to bypass the Section Seven
restrictions on firearms. Luckily, they'd planned for this. Once it got
rescinded...

But that was later.

Right now consisted of jumping through the debris and dodging as many of
the telekinetic lances as possible.  He didn't dare attempt to tank any
of them, even the ones which missed narrowly slashed through his
fortified robes exposing the mesh of alien allow beneath; she might as
well have been unleashing a rapid fire barrage of geistlances!
Desperately, he internalized his battle aura. He knew his weaknesses
better than anyone else. A telekinetic of this magnitude was not a good
opponent, and India Squad had encountered its share of Class-A
Ethereals. Necessity and survival meant that he had to come up with a
counter, should his weapons either fail or not be available. Kuro
Hakuchouranbu (Flight of the Black Swan) was too risky at the moment.

It would have to be the Kichi Housu (Lucky Phoenix Nest) then.

And he would need to land it before Red Team got involved and ended up
killed. Steeling himself, Mousse ducked under a displaced teller
machine, spitting tickets as it spun through the air. Twirling
gracefully, he took aim.

"Karasu Sansai Ha!"

(Raven Storm Wave)

A metal storm of bladed flechettes shot out from his sleeve as he ran
perpendicular to the telekinetic monster. Predictably, she managed to
stop the storm of blades aimed directly at her with another black
shield. That particular defense was getting ... annoying. Over a hundred
other blades went wide, hitting the ceiling and walls and floor. Mousse
took that moment to depress the concealed trigger for a set of planted
explosives.

Blasts shook the terminal.

The girl, despite appearances, was still mostly human. She also seemed
to be ready for most of his tricks. These were not demolition charges,
however. They were concussive explosives, like the MK3A2. Waves of
overpressure rippled through the air at mach speed, not totally hindered
by what black shields the girl managed to erect. They appeared to be
permeable to normal sonic vibration - like human speech - and what they
did manage to muffle simply went around, transmitted via the air around
them. At the same time, Mousse fully expected the sound from the
explosions to rupture the demonic creature's human ear drums, Jyusenkoyu
cursed human form or not. Even he felt it, despite the flesh-toned ear
protection he wore.

...

Raven was rocked back and forth by the unexpected string of explosions.
Only the fact that Mousse had been forced to set up the explosives in
advance and had not been able to get close enough to Ryouga and herself
to place them within their optimum range, saved her from being
completely deafened.

The shock waves disoriented her, and she could already see the male
Amazon beginning to alter his direction in her mind's eye, preparing to
take advantage of the distraction he'd created. Rather than risk
whatever new torment he had devised, Raven simply sunk into the floor,
leaving the stunned martial artist to attack the innocent ground. A
second later, white tile exploded upwards, a solid claw of living
darkness tearing upwards and catching Mousse in its clutches.

She didn't like it, but she would need to do something drastic.  Who
knew how Ryouga was faring?  They didn't have time to deal with these
people.  It was obvious now that something had been done to her one time
friend. They needed to get on a plane, legally or not, and find their
friends so they could figure this terrible situation out.

"Hidden Weapons Forbidden Skill."

The expanding cloud of smoke seemed to freeze in midair, trembling...

"Kichi Housu."

(Lucky Phoenix Nest)

Before reversing and flying back, towards the center of the tumult.
Debris kicked up by Raven's attack tumbled, bounced off the floor, and
then shot back into the air. A shockwave formed, heading not out, but
in. Caught in a black claw of telekinetic force, Mousse's form
shimmered. Tears grew across the length of his robe, revealing the faint
blue glow of his battle aura underneath. Finally, even the coils of ebon
energy distorted, sucked up the sleeve of the robe.

The aura immediately took on a dark tint.

...

In the center of it all, as streams of dust and debris looped and spun,
sucked into his Inverted Hidden Weapons technique, Mousse felt like
throwing up. That black ki... it wasn't natural. He'd barely managed to
contain even a fraction of it and he could already feel it affecting
him. It seemed impossible. The housu was designed and tested to be his
ultimate counter to the shishi hokoudan and moko takabisha, not to
mention the geistlance and other telekinetic attacks of the alien enemy.
Inside the Inverted Field, any mentally controlled technique was
rendered down and nullified by Fa Nu's artifact.

He saw his enemy appear, staring up at him in surprise.

Mousse landed on both feet, breathing heavily.

"So..." he managed to say, housu still active, still sucking up
everything around him. "You were the greater danger after all....
should've known... the little one is always the real monster..."

...

Raven stared at the martial artist, fascinated by the odd ability he'd
demonstrated.  This strange absorption technique was definitely
something he couldn't do before; it didn't seem like something he should
be able to do at all, really. Still, it didn't seem to be going too well
for him. He looked to be taking on a more pallid pallor, somewhat
similar to her own skin tone, and even his hair seemed to be lightening
from black to a familiar purple. Perhaps he wasn't prepared to deal with
her rather ... unique pedigree?

Well, she had said drastic, after all.

"Alright, Mousse. You think you can handle my power?" she asked, her
aura surged up around her.  "You're welcome to try."

Moving quickly, she lifted her arms then, and focused her considerable
spiritual power through them.  A moment passed, as dark energy gathered
in a sphere before her hands, only to explode out in a massive beam of
crackling black power over four feet in diameter.

"And I said..." He just surged right into the attack. "It doesn't pay to
count me out!!"

Just like with the claw, it twisted before making contact, sucked not
just into his sleeves, but into other tears in his robe. Pressing on,
pushing right through the stream of energy like a bear forcing its way
upstream, he winced only when acrid black smoke began to rise from tears
all across his robe. As the main body of the energy beam finally
receded, he pulled back one arm to - for the first time - reach directly
into the hem of his robe, by the heart.

When his hand re-emerged, having had to manually retrieve something on
his person, it brought with it what looked like some sort of handgun. It
didn't look... normal. The design and shape were slightly off. But the
fact that he had to retrieve it the way he did, implied he couldn't use
both his inverted hidden weapons and regular hidden weapons at the same
time. As he brought the weapon to bear, he intensified the output - or
maybe it was input - of his technique, ripping the black tendrils of
energy off her body as fast as she willed them up.

"About time!" he yelled, discretion and caution thrown to the wind.
"Nabiki! Order them in NOW! Everyone you got!"

Raven had been content to let Mousse play his game, not wanting to hurt
him, but when she heard the shout, she knew she'd wasted too much time.
She couldn't afford to take any more chances.  Mousse was out and out
attempting to kill her, and whatever allies would come to his aid would
doubtless be just as bloodthirsty.  They would not just kill her,
either, but would kill Ryouga as well.  Possibly even track down her
friends, given enough time.

This thought roused a familiar spark of rage deep in her heart.
Somewhere, deep inside her, something was roused, boiled and churned as
it rose to the surface. It was this technique, too. It was ripping
energy out of her as fast as she was bothering to produce it. Yet, from
his pained expression, her power was also clearly taking its toll on
him. His artifact, whatever it was, was impressive, but, in the end it
was a creation of humans.

Her power had a much greater and darker origin.

Suddenly, her aura surged, swelling unnaturally. In an instant, Mousse
was blown back, his absorption technique unable to cope with the sudden
influx of power at the same time he tried to take aim at her. Another
set of glaring red eyes opened up on Raven's face as a destructive dome
of power spread out from her in every direction, scooping up Mousse and
carrying him upwards to smash into the ceiling.  The wall separating her
from Ryouga's fight was also smashed to pieces, and, though she hadn't
intended it, a number of uniformed people that had begun to scurry out
of the woodwork at Mousse's desperate call were all blasted from their
feet as the wave smashed over them as well.

Except two.

A quick shape jumped forward and around, unfazed by the eruption of
malevolent energy. Three quick hops and it crossed the open ruins of the
terminal, jumped, and caught Mousse before he could hit the ground.
Raven's eyes followed the movement, narrowing slightly at what appeared
to be a sword held in this new soldier's hand. No: it was more than
that. This was...?

"Shishi hokoudan."

A screaming ball of black and green ki drilled into her side, the name
of the attack registering a moment before impact. Keyed as she was to
the emotions of her surroundings, she felt the riptide of anger and fear
enter her like a knife. Then the ball dug in, nestled within her own
dark energy, and exploded.

Already filled with anger and fear, the energy echoed within her, rather
than assault her psyche.  If anything, it actually reinforced and
amplified her own rage. The kinetic force of the blast was still enough
to blast her off her feet and send her skidding several yards.
Everything grew silent for a moment as the martial artists stared at the
fallen form of the darkly clad girl.  Most of the sundress she had been
wearing had been torn away, revealing a black leotard underneath.

And then a deep, rumbling growl began to fill the air.

A malevolent weight suddenly settled over the entire terminal, setting
even the nerves of the seasoned warriors on edge. In a dark surge of
motion, the down girl suddenly rose up ... and up!  In a matter of
seconds, the creature was towering over them, twenty, then thirty feet
in height and an unnatural cloak of darkest pitch concealing her from
view.

Concealing all but the four, burning points of light that seethed with a
hatred that no human mind could understand. An instant later, the
furious growl growing in intensity by the second, chairs, teller
machines, pieces of rubble and forgotten pieces of luggage were
enveloped in black energy and rose into the air, whipping through the
air at dangerous speeds.

- - -

Batting aside a flying metal desk, Ryouga surveyed the scene.

Mousse had called in a Class-A telekinetic. The Chinese martial artist
was not known for his understatement. This pseudo-girl wasn't Class-A.
This was 'The Shining' level shit hitting the fan. Even worse than the
Higurashi shrine infestation. A few seconds and Kuno was back, Mousse's
unconscious form slung over his shoulder. He made a quick hand motion
with three fingers.

Alive. Ki reserves low.

He stared back at the towering mass of mental energy. Behind, the Red
Team agents, all PSIA operatives and special forces debriefed
beforehand, hesitated at the growing scene. To them, it must've seemed
like something out of a horror movie. Ryouga watched it with a level
expression. It was monstrous, yes, inhuman even. Cologne would have been
right at home in there.

"Open Fire!" he ordered, secure now that Mousse was clear.

The staccato beat of nine millimeter SMG rounds filled the air as the
stunned, but not panicked, agents moved to try and take cover while
gunning down the monstrosity before them. Ryouga had little illusions as
to their effectiveness against so stubborn a telekinetic barrier.
Unfortunately, Section Seven was still in effect. When this probing
failed, he'd order the officers to switch to laser arms.

"Kuno! Cover!"

He ripped a dozen bandannas from his forehead, and charged them as his
battle aura swept out without restraint. A blanket of boiling green and
black saturated the air, just barely managing to push back the tendrils
of black it came in contact with. Mentally, he was already using the
psi-amp strapped to his right arm to recycle his growing anger,
frustration, fear and depression, into a subconscious mental spiral. As
it crested the peak of his aura's projection, he could almost feel the
circular circulation of ki around his navel.

Letting the bandannas fly, he imprinted more of his aura in the form of
a shishi hokoudan onto the hardened cloth. The blazing disks intercepted
flying chunks of steel and reinforced concrete, blasting them into
clouds of dust with shearing rather than cutting force. With Mousse
tucked away behind the line, already being taken out of danger by one of
Red team, Kuno sprung forward and into the fray, sword slashing.
Multiple kokuzan arcs (Sky Arc Decapitation) neatly diced obstacles
between the fire team and the enemy.

Reaching down, satisfied Red Team had the cover it needed, he retrieved
his laser rifle.

It was time to end this.

- - -

Raven watched all, perceived all of her enemies at the most primal
level.  She could feel their emotions, especially the spiraling well of
hatred that shone so brightly in their midst.  It was intense, and oddly
familiar, but it was like a flickering candle standing in the face of
her own demonic rage.

Humans did not truly understand what fury was, what it meant to truly
hate for hatred's sake.

Numerous other humans were scattered around her, shooting at her with
pathetic weapons.  Rapidly swirling swathes of black energy whipped
around her faster than thought and the small bullets bounced off with no
effect at all. With a thought, all of the guns in the hands of the
uniformed humans suddenly shone black, before being torn from their
hands.  Rather than turn the weapons on their wielders, Raven simply
willed them to compact into useless balls of metal which then dropped to
the floor.

As she was doing this, she was also focusing on the sword wielding
human, also vaguely familiar in this state.  As he focused on slashing
refuse from the air, tendrils of darkness slid along the ground.  In a
flash, the tentacles suddenly shot up, wrapping around the warrior's
limbs and dragging him to the ground.  The swordsman gave a panicked
shout as she began to drag him, inexorably towards herself.

"Unhand me, vile creature!" The swordsman slashed at the tendril, a
blazing arc managing to sever the energy construct. "None may seize the
virtuous leg of Tatewaki Kuno without justly earned injury! Guard
thyself!"

A second later, something went off in midair, and Raven's vision
blurred.

Black energy reached out to try and intercept whatever had just attacked
it. The pinpricks of tiny projectiles were gone, but... there. One of
the humans still had a weapon. A moment of focus, for some reason harder
than before, summoned up to try and crushed the weapon it had overlooked
before. The interference from this human's aura was strong, but with no
other distractions, Raven knew she could punch through.

Another pellet went off in the air, despite one of her black coils
catching it and crushing it. Her vision turned rough, like looking
through a stained glass window. Sense and thought became muddied.
Another pellet shot through the air, and again it was intercepted.
Again, it shattered, releasing both some strange gas - encased in black
energy, she didn't fear that - but another wave of numbness. Even
cocooned as she was, she began to lose feeling in her extremities. Black
energy contorted, as if in pain, before breaking apart.

"Pour it on!" a familiar voice yelled. "Shut this bitch down!"

More of the tiny pinpricks. Bullets. Something else, too. Beams of
light. Less of them, but...

Even as the numbness began to overwhelm her, it also cleared her mind.
The power seemed distant, like something just out of reach, interactive
only with the barest glancing touch of one's fingertips. With it,
though, it took the cauldron of rage and hate and survival-fear. It was
almost like being forced into a meditative state.

A deep growl reverberated in Raven's throat.

Whatever was happening, whatever strange weapons they were using, she
didn't like it. They were annoying, distracting. She didn't want to calm
down! She didn't want to stop! She didn't want to sleep!

- - -

An instant later, the bombardment stopped.  Ryouga bit off a harsh curse
when, in a flash, the towering creature suddenly slid back into the
ground, vanishing from sight. That trick. It was like Pi Lu's ability to
sink into the ground. It would have to be dealt with. He tried to find
her by tracking her aura ... but it was too massive, to encompassing.
It was like he was standing on top of hell itself.

Uneasily, Ryouga turned in place. Unlike last time, the girl didn't
spring back up to attack right away.  Cautious as well, Kuno also rose
to his feet, readying his laser carbine as he looked around uncertainly.
All around them, officers and uniformed police began to shift about
nervously. They likely couldn't sense the malevolence of her aura like
Ryouga and Kuno could, but the more primitive aspects of their minds
were still likely picking up on it on a primal level.

This ... this thing was unlike anything they had ever faced. No
Ethereal, no living Trenchard, possessed this sort of power. Saffron
came immediately to mind, but his blazing aura of mountain destroying
doom wasn't this ominous. It was just powerful. Was this what those
other teams had faced when they brought in Subject-A? Or when the
Americans cleared out Dunwich?

His train of thought was disrupted when a raspy, sinister chuckle began
to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  It wasn't as
bad as Kodachi's, but still, the disembodied laughter sent a tingle down
Ryouga's spine.  Beneath him, the dark aura began to twist and churn as
well, he could almost feel the alien creature's intent, could sense that
something was about to happen.

A sudden shriek split the air, and Ryouga spun, just in time ...

Just in time to see a massive tentacle of midnight black, as thick as a
man's chest, surge out of the ground, scattering a group of operatives
like dominoes, and wrap around one of the main support pillars of the
terminal.  Across the room, another one did likewise grasping another of
the support structures. Throughout the room, like a dark Kraken rising
from the depths, vile tendrils lashed out to encircle key structural
supports in the terminal. The laughter only increased as, an instant
later, the entire terminal began to groan ominously as the telekinetic
constructs began to pull on the supports with impossible strength.

"She's bringing down the building! Take out the tentacles!"  Ryouga
barked frantically.  There would be no way to evacuate all of the
officers in time if this mad creature actually shattered those pillars!
He didn't even bother with the stun grenades, going straight to the
laser rifle itself. Invisible pulses of light skittered over the various
tentacles, burning into them slightly, but not doing nearly enough
damage, fast enough, and there were just too many to deal with! Officers
who had hesitated before reached for laser sidearms, but...

If conventional firepower was lacking, the only option was to augment it
with a psionic assault. If this Ethereal thought it could strike with
impunity from its demesne, it was severely underestimating them. He'd
personally tear it, kicking and screaming, from its supposed sanctuary,
and then give it the butt of his rifle for good measure. Tapping into
the power of his psi-amp, the lieutenant launched the first few mental
feelers -

"Raven, stop!"

A painfully familiar voice suddenly cut through the din of the creaking
concrete.  It was filled with desperation and fear, though, rather than
hatred and spite.  Ryouga spun to see ... himself, running to the center
of the terminal.  It looked like his doppelganger was attempting to stop
its minion - or was it is master? -  from destroying the airport
terminal.

The question was: why?

Ryouga was fairly certain that he could survive the collapse of the
building, and if he could, his alien doppelganger surely could, so why
would it be so worried about it? Had it felt him preparing a counter-
attack? No. That didn't seem possible.

Then, beyond all reason, the quaking actually stopped.  With surprising
speed, the telekinetic constructs all sank back into the ground, as if
they never were.  And then, defying logic even further, the alien girl
reappeared from her unassailable position, resurfacing near the alien
Hibiki. She appeared ... shaken, and collapsed into the alien
doppelganger's arms.  He appeared to be whispering something to her, but
Ryouga couldn't make it out from the distance.

Just what in the world was going on?

He'd known from the beginning that this copy wasn't like the one from
before. It seemed capable of functioning without destroying everything
around it - for the most part, anyway, the explosion from yesterday was
a grim reminder of just how dangerous this thing actually was - and from
snippets of captured dialogue, he and this girl were effectively posing
as normal people.

If it was a terror agent, it was certainly less than ideal one.  It
seemed completely random in its unleashing of mass destruction.  Rather
than just go on a mindless rampage, it blasted a public area, then hid
away.  Then it popped up right in the middle of a high traffic area like
this, perfect for a terrorist attack... and it actually stops the
airport from being destroyed?

Or had it read his own attack, and intervened to protect the girl?

If the 'girl' was even what it appeared to be. It was... it was almost
comical. Despite himself, he could almost imagine the ludicrous
scenario: an Ethereal or Sectoid uses Jyusenkyou water, but ends up
becoming truly human, falling for and freeing some copy of himself. They
try and flee the country, not quite able to suppress their destructive
natures, to live together like Romeo and fucking alien-Juliet. No. No.
This girl, a double-A class threat, by the looks of it, and another him.
Another DAMN him.  If this pair was anything other than a mobile, two
man Terror Site, he would eat his bandanna with a side of Akane's famous
curry.

Still... watching them, he couldn't help but feel this was even worse.
At least if this clone had been like the last abomination, then they'd
be on familiar territory. Watching those two, together... like that...
for a moment his heart wavered and he almost saw, in them, himself and
another girl he'd once tried to protect. It was that thought that
snapped him right out of it. There was no room for that sort of thought.

Duty.

He had a duty. A duty to either incapacitate or destroy the monsters
that threatened mankind. There was no room in that to entertain notions
of sympathy. Not with these things. Focusing on the girl, he tried to
fathom just how she had transformed into that demonic form from before.
No matter what, she couldn't be allowed to do so again. Given what he's
sensed in her ki, however, entering her mind would not be the most
savory of tasks.  Luckily, stunned and weakened as she was, he wouldn't
have to do much more than skirt the edges of her ego.

Focusing his aura into his psi-amp, he attacked.

- - -

In her Ryouga's arms, Raven jerked, as if struck.

At the same time, and without warning, another strange pellet-like
grenade went off. The numbness returned to her, strong enough to muffle
even the words of her companion just inches away, along with a sharper
pain that made it difficult to bring her power to bear. Transforming
like she had, and now reverting, didn't normally leave her this mentally
fatigued. She heard a distance voice and felt herself move through the
air.

- - -

Kuno and Ryouga advanced on the pair, switching ordinance as the clone
started making evasive maneuvers, leaping back and away from the stun
bombs. With the enemy stunned and slowed, the two soldiers unleashed
more pulses of light from the barrels of their weapons, herding him.
Technically, it would only take one solid hit and the beams propagated
at lightspeed. Then the mission would be over and they could go home.

"Kuno! Circle around!" Ryouga ordered. "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

At the end of the blasted terminal, a tunneling breaking point turned a
swatch of tile on the floor into dry sand. Hitting it, too late to stop
his momentum, the doppelganger and his female compatriot slipped and
fell. Kuno, moving around from the side, fired off a trio of rounds on
semi-auto. A nascent black shield, just barely starting to form in
midair, intercepted two of the laser beams. The impact and resulting
explosion of superheated air and atmospheric plasma shattered them like
glass. The third round went slightly wide, slashing open a section of
wall.

...

Raven gasped, pushing harder to protect herself and her Ryouga, hearing
him gape at the near miss. She could feel the conflict in his aura
between flight and fight. Doing what she could, she started to raise a
section of floor to cover them -- only to have it shatter and turn into
dust. Forgoing a more difficult full body or hemispherical shield, she
erected a plain wall of black energy, forcing it out despite another
spike of mental pain. Red tinted tracer rounds splashed against the
barrier, invisible beams ripping jagged holes in it.

"You're strong." She heard the voice, familiar but not his, and tried to
push it out of the edge of her mind. "Too strong. Break."

A trickle of blood ran down her upper lip from her nose, enough to taste
the coppery tang.

...

"Raven!" Ryouga yelled, seeing the blood, still supporting her body.

That was it, he had had enough.

He hadn't wanted to hurt these people ... not - not really.  But they
were trying to kill them! And - and why the Hell was that person over
there wearing his face? It was bizarre enough fighting Mousse and Kuno.
Kuno was supposed to be in Steel city, and Mousse was supposed to be in
freakin' space!  There was no reason for them to be here, let alone with
another Ryouga!

He couldn't fight him here, though, not with Raven weakened like this.
He had no idea what had set her off like that, nearly to the point of
destroying the whole damn building, but it seemed almost guaranteed that
it had something to do with these ... these doppelgangers. Scrambling to
his feet, he took a firm stance, shifting Raven so that he was holding
her against his body with a single arm.

"Raven, I got this... don't strain yourself anymore."

Then, with a flashing swing of his arm, he reached behind his back and
pulled back forward.  The sports bag that had been containing it
shredded to pieces from the force of his swing, revealing the T-Brella
in all its stark white and blue glory.  Glaring at the evil twins, he
waited for Kuno and 'Ryouga' to lift their guns again.

The murderous bastards were more than happy to comply, and began to open
fire again.  Without flinching, Ryouga held the T-Brella out straight
before him. With a single touch of a button, the umbrella snapped open
and a shimmering yellow field of force sprang up to encompass the
canopy, humming quietly. A trio of the odd energy bursts splashed over
the shield - personally designed and installed by Gizmo himself -
harmlessly. The Lost Boy smirked at the shocked expressions on the two
'things' faces, obviously they had not been expecting him to deflect
their advanced weaponry with something as mundane as an umbrella.  All
the more evidence that the other him couldn't really be him.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ryouga turned tail and sprinted
away from the pair.  He smashed through the exit a moment later, a few
errant plasma blasts vaporizing chunks of the wall to his side as he
slid through.  He found himself on the tarmac then, and cursed loudly.
The last thing he needed was a massive, wide open space with nowhere to
hide!

Wait! At the far end of the landing strip, a plane was just starting to
roll, preparing for take off! It looked to be a smaller, private plane,
apparently not interested in the emergency situation that had
encompassed the airport, but if he could get them to it, Raven could get
them on board easily.

Holding his T-Brella behind him, he began to sprint down the runway at
full speed, asphalt smashing messily with each heavy step as he tore
across the tarmac.  A quick glance over his shoulder showed that they
were still being pursued; not really a surprise at all. The Kuno clone
was falling behind, but, if anything, the other Ryouga actually seemed
to be catching up.

"Raven, what in the world is going on?" He barked between breaths.

"I - I'm not certain.  That Ryouga, it feels real ... but - but it feels
poisoned, filled with more poison and hatred then you were even when
under the control of the Headmaster," the young woman tried to explain.

Ryouga nodded to himself.  "So, evil clone, you think?  These guys are
acting psychotic and they have copies of people that couldn't possibly
be here..."

Raven nodded weakly.  "The Headmaster did have access to both your
genetics and your psyches for a long time.  It's quite possible that he
had time to clone you.  It would explain why they're so intent on
finishing us off.  Getting revenge on two of the people that sent him to
prison and wipe out the master copies at the same time."

"Argh!" Ryouga groaned.  "Evil clones?  This kind of thing is only
supposed to happen to Ranma!  ... Actually, I hope there is a copy of
that bastard in the woodwork.  I wouldn't mind a chance to really cut
loose on him!"

"Now isn't the time for - for jokes, Ryouga!  We need to escape!"

He nodded sharply; skillfully defending against another snap shot from
behind, intercepting the shot was only possible by reading the
trajectory of the barrel and using the full size of his umbrella in the
split second between feeling intent and actual firing. He started,
pointing to the small plane picking up speed a hundred yards down the
runway.

"I know!  We just need to reach that plane!"

"That plane?"  Raven asked, straining to see.

In a flash, a lance of light flew past them, flying wide and nearly
invisible in its passing.  He skipped a few steps to the side, a little
panicked at the close call ... only to watch, despondently, as a beam
lingered along an ionized midair path down the runway, having hit at c
and melted through the front landing gear of the small plane. It was a
shot that was far too perfect to have been anything but intentional.  A
second later, the nose of the plane crashed to the ground, its propeller
smashing to scrap as the vehicle ground to a shuddering stop.

"... The plane that's clearly disabled?" Raven deadpanned.

Ryouga let out a curse so vile that a blush sprang up on Raven's cheeks
... and she didn't even speak French. The martial artist skidded to a
stop a moment later, breathing evenly. He stared at the downed plane,
their only means of escape...  It appeared that they had officially run
out of options. Turning back to look over his shoulder, he saw the evil
clones quickly closing the distance.

He sighed, a tired, weary sigh.  "Do you think you're strong enough to
handle Kuno?"

Pushing off from his chest, Raven regained her feet, only slightly
shakily.  She rotated her arm several times, attempting to work out a
kink, then nodded.  "I've got a good idea of how Kuno fights from Beast
Boy.  This clone seems a bit different, but I still think it shouldn't
be a problem. The question is, can you control yourself?"

Ryouga glared at her.  "I thought you said this wasn't the time for
jokes?"

Across the open space of the runway, the droning sound of helicopter
blades and the sudden blast of wind signaled the arrival of yet more
trouble for the displaced duo. Blue and white choppers, police colors,
zeroed in on the two with lights as they moved into position, covering
potential avenues of escape. Rolling back doors on the sides, armed men
took aim at the pair below. Higher up, another aircraft, this one some
form of hoverjet, angled slightly to point its bow down at them. Distant
sirens screamed along one of the highways flanking the airport.

- - -

Cyborg laughed to himself as he rode down the elevator of the
non-police-controlled building.  It sure as heck beat taking the stairs.
Honestly, this whole situation had been a bit of an eye opener.  He'd
taken for granted how good at their jobs the actual career criminals
were back home.  He'd thought he'd been doing a good job, but he was far
more used to the 'stopping crime' aspect of the business as opposed to
the other half - that being, committing it.

Sure, all the tech details had been cake, but he'd forgotten that
hacking systems was only a single part of successfully pulling of a
heist.  Obviously the helicopter which he'd mistaken for a traffic
copter had spotted him early in his climb.  Rewiring cameras was one
thing - not to mention awesome - but there wasn't much he could do to
stop some random guy from just looking at him.

Still, it made him glad that there weren't any super villain types here.
Sure, the cops had found him easy enough, but they didn't actually have
any way of dealing with him. If only he'd managed to contact the others!

If Jinx was about, avoiding the cops would be a breeze... unfortunately,
that wasn't the case.

Moments later, the elevator door slid open and Cyborg charged out.  He
crossed the main lobby in several loud, heavy footsteps and crashed
through the large glass doors without even slowing down.  ... In
retrospect, he supposed he was being a pretty bad guest in this
dimension, doing stuff that he would never do back home, but - but
they'd started it by starting to hunt him down before he'd even done
anything wrong yet!

Well, aside from that thing with the public phone.  ... A sudden thought
struck him.  'Was that why they're after me? ...Naw, can't be.  There's
no way they'd have this kind of force after me just for a little
harmless vandalism.'

By the same time he surged out into the street, a small mob of police
and SWAT officers were pouring out of the Citgroup building as well.
They were some way away, but they were quickly charging towards their
vehicles.  That and that darned helicopter was already shining its
spotlight down on him!

He began to sprint away down the street; his cybernetic legs carrying
him faster than any human had any right to run. But not even the
technological marvels that were his feet could allow him to outrun the
helicopter overhead.  He'd barely made it a half a kilometer when he
heard the roaring of engines en masse.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw a number of the squad cars, lights
flashing and sirens blaring, tearing out onto the road behind him and
speeding in his direction.  Even at his best pace, he couldn't hope to
outrun pursuit vehicles on foot.  And though running through a few
buildings might let him lose the helicopter, it would leave one hell of
a trail for them to follow regardless...

The decision was taken out of his hands within a minute, as the cars
caught up to him.  Half of them actually pulled ahead of him, only to
skid and swerve to a stop, hoping to block off his retreat.  The rest of
the cars did the same, blocking off the side and rear directions as
well. He briefly considered just tromping right over the cars, but he
was starting to see the writing on the wall.  He wasn't going to get out
of here just by running.

Skidding to a stop himself, he spun around a few times as police began
to pour out of their cars and level weapons at him again. Cyborg
frowned, not really paying attention to the shouted orders to get on his
knees and place his hands behind his head.  This wasn't his world; he
didn't belong here. It was only fair that he did everything he could to
get home. Hell, even if he'd gone right up to these guys in the first
place and tried to explain his situation, they just would have called
him insane and locked him up ...and even if they didn't, they didn't
have anywhere near the tech to help him anyway.

Somewhere in the distance, someone shouted something about a 'last
warning' of some sort, but he paid it no mind. Finding his friends was
his only priority here, not playing nice with the locals.  If they'd had
decent enough tech in the first place, he wouldn't have even needed to
go after that damn big transmitter-

A shot rang out, and Cyborg felt a light 'ping' bounce off his shoulder.

Somewhere, deep inside, the final straw drifted down to land on the
poor, overburdened back of the camel.  Growling to himself now, Cyborg
dropped into a low combat crouch and activated the auxiliary armor he'd
installed after his first battle with Ryouga.  Beneath his clothing and
mask, the silvery metallic plates slid down to cover his more vulnerable
areas - not that he was worried any of them had the Bakusai Tenketsu,
but he was just done playing around.

"Alright!" He shouted loudly.  "You guys wanna fight?  Then let's go!"

He was a bit surprised at how quickly they complied as he was suddenly
lit up like a Christmas tree by incoming fire.  Lifting up a hand to
offer a bit more protection to his already covered human eye, he glared
at the cops.  Nothing they had could even scratch his armor... too bad
the same couldn't be said for them.

Lifting his right hand, his sleeve exploded apart as his arm converted
loudly into its sonic cannon mode and began to glow ominously with pale
azure light.  Not even sure what was going on, the cops that noticed -
i.e. the ones standing right in front of him - just stared like deer in
headlights at the sudden appearance of the obvious weapon.

Cyborg locked targeting reticules onto the heavily armed SWAT officers,
the lightly armored police officers... the apparently unarmed
helicopter...

A young woman, apparently out for a late night jog or something, stood
far behind the gathered police, wide eyed shock on her face as she
watched the firefight.  She wasn't the only one, either.  Innocent
bystanders littered the streets in this city that never seemed to sleep.

If he started blasting away...

And these weren't crooks, weren't super powered villains out terrorizing
the city.

That was actually him at the moment.

Cyborg winced harshly at that realization. These guys were just doing
their jobs.  He was the one destroying the city and disrupting satellite
networks. They were just trying to figure out what was going on. They
sure as heck didn't deserve to be blasted into the dirt for that.

Slowly, his aim wavered, the light glowing in the cannon died, and
finally, his weapon shifted back to a simple hand once more.  A moment
later, he lifted both hands above his head and - doing his best to be
heard over the intermittent gunfire - yelled out two words he'd never
imagined having to say before.

"I... surrender."

- - -

The disturbances were felt by one of the Navigators.

Any thinking sentient being could pilot a ship, but Navigators were
created for it. They did not so much pilot the ship as they became it:
their thoughts translated motion and field and weapon, sense and
sensation becoming gravitational wave and quantum flux. They were a mind
within a machine.

This was an alien Navigator.

An empty husk sitting before a dully lit display, mind lost within
psionic circuitry, it was not unusual for a Navigator's body to begin to
atrophy as it stayed at its station, forgetting and forgoing petty
organic necessities like breathing or moving. Yet all were within The
Mind, and the Mind always ultimately unplugged those who began to forget
themselves and their duty.

One particular Navigator had been within his machine for sixty three
Earth-hours. Sectoids had little sensation of taste or even touch, yet
through the machine, it could taste the stellar winds and caress the
flow of gravitons. The experience of existing through the ship's sensors
was more vivid and vibrant than any organic being could imagine. It had
not moved, nor had the ship, but there was no need. Everything within a
hundred kilometers was at its fingertips and on the tip of its tongue.

Thus, the Navigator felt the anomaly.

It tasted strange, new, familiar to one thing and yet different. It felt
at first like a pinprick in space and time, quick and sharp, puncturing
and then withdrawing. It - the Navigator was instantly inundated with
information from the Mind.  This phenomena was similar to the massive
anomaly which had occurred in the planet's southern hemisphere.  That
event had been too brief, too distant from any of their installations to
properly identify. It was why the Ethereal in command of this small
research fleet was currently absent, having been dispatched by the Mind
to investigate.

Senses reached out across miles, seeking, hungry, desirous. Psionics
activated, brushing gently across the general area of the disturbance.
The long distance probe tasted many things at once: hundreds of animals,
trillions of nearly mindless insect species, the dull flavor of plant
life.

One thing stood out. It tasted different, unique, sentient. It was
thinking and reasoning and human. More than just meat. The probe could
not go deeper. It was designed to detect from great distances, like the
beastly sense of smell. This pinprick-human, however, did not seem
normal, mundane. The Navigator and The Mind had sampled untold numbers
of humans over hundreds of thousands of years. It knew the taste of Man
before he even called himself such.

There was no mistaking that this was similar to the earlier anomaly,
only smaller . . . like an echo.  And now a human presence could be
sensed at the epicenter, a human presence which defied categorization.
The Navigator did not possess the faculties to consider what this could
possibly mean. It did not need to.

This pinprick.

This taste.

FIND IT

Within The Mind, there was a quick consensus.

They would all taste it soon.

- - -

The sparse stand of trees stood serenely in the still of the night.  It
had been decades since anything on less than four legs had disturbed
this little patch of forest, and nothing at all moved now, aside from
the gentle breeze rustling the leaves playfully.  Only the gentle light
of the moon filtering through the branches offered any form of
illumination to the otherwise peaceful scene...

A crack of thunder sundered the air, and a sourceless gust of wind
blasted the leaves from the trees mere seconds before a black, swirling
vortex appeared in the air. The vertical whirlwind hung in space,
twisting malevolently for several seconds, before suddenly ejecting a
pink and purple blur.  Mere moments later, the portal shrank in itself
and vanished, leaving the near severed remains of the closest trees to
collapse to the forest floor in a cacophony of crashing and splintering
wood. The unfortunate form bounced, and spun through the trees, bright
flashes of pink sparking off whenever they clipped a branch or skipped
along the ground before, finally, skidding to a stop many yards away.

With a pained groan, Jinx finally dragged herself to her feet. The pink
haired sorceress massaged her aching back and gave herself a small push
to straighten it up fully.  She then took a moment to check herself
over, only to give a grunt of disgust as she noted the sharp tear in the
shoulder of her dress.

"Damnit, I just bought this, too, and Ryouga didn't even notice it..."

Grumbling darkly to herself, Jinx looked around.

". . ."

Quickly fighting down the overpowering urge to swear like a sailor, the
vigilante took a deep breath and calmly smoothed out her dress.  She
then proceeded to kick the nearest sapling, snapping the narrow tree in
half.

"'Hecate damnit, Robin!'"

That - that greasy haired little punk had let her go!  She knew he
wasn't a fan of her, but seriously, letting her fall into a swirling
vortex of doom?  She was sooo gonna have words with that - that snot
blasting Titan!

. . . Snot blasting?

"Damn it, I'm actually missing Gizmo of all people.  I seriously need to
get ditch this solo act."  Honestly, if Ryouga wasn't stringing her
along with his hemming and hawing about actually starting their own
team, she'd just take off and team up with Happosai again.

Oh god, and now she was actually missing Happosai . . .

With a resigned sigh, the pink eyed sorceress leaned against a
convenient tree, only to collapse flat on her face when the seemingly
strong branch snapped like a twig under her elbow. Flipping over onto
her back, she glared darkly at the jagged edges of the snapped branch.

"Ohhh, you. There's no way that I've put on that much weight."

Predictably, the tree did not reply.

"Okay, first things first.  I need to stop talking to myself."  With a
quick roll, she flipped up to her feet.  "Second thing, I need to figure
out where the heck I am."

She'd need to work on step one a little more.  Taking a second to pull
an errant branch out of her elaborately styled hair, Jinx then pulled
out her hexagonal communicator and flipped it open.

"Hey, Ryouga, are you there?  This is Jinx, looking for a pick up."

Silence.  Hmmm, that was odd.  The thing didn't seem to be broken, the
screen was lighting up and everything, but no response.

"Robin?  Cyborg?  ugh . . . Raven?" Her distaste was quite audible with
that last one, but it made no difference in the results.  No one replied
to her call, and she was fairly sure it wasn't just because she wasn't
exactly Miss Popular.

"Okay. Now I'm starting to get worried..."  Her head tilted to the side
as she looked around.  "Still need to work on that 'talking to myself'
thing, too."

A sharp snap from somewhere in the darkness suddenly put the ex-
villainess on alert, but a second later she forced herself to relax.
Honestly, this meta human lifestyle of hers was making her waaay too
paranoid.  She just got dropped god knows where, completely at random,
somewhere on the globe.  The odds of there being anyone even close to
her, let alone anyone that would actually give a crap about her, would
require 'astronomically' bad luck.

"Meh, probably just a squirrel, or a komodo dragon, or something.  Now!
If I was civilization... in which direction would I be?"

Picking a random orientation, Jinx started through the woods - only
wincing in pain once or twice along the way.

- - -

- - -






Abstract --
Tatewaki Kuno
Rank: Squaddie, 1st class

Born Tokyo, Japan, mother: Y. Kuno, father: K. Kuno (see: unofficial
criminal record), sister: K(odachi). Kuno. Presently, mother (deceased);
father (considered low risk, monitored, administration official at
Furinkan, Nerima, Tokyo); sister (maintained at Sanctuary Community
ID304). No other living immediate relatives. Kuno family independently
wealthy - extensive property ownership throughout Japan. Finances
investigated for potential Sirius connections. So far, records clean.

T. Kuno was enrolled at the University of Kyoto on a kendo scholarship
at the time of the Nerima Incident (see: Nerima Abduction Event). Poor
grades dot academic record. Interest in pursuing liberal arts degree.
Practices advanced forms of kendo and "kenjutsu." Comparatively limited
battlefield utility when compared to squadmates' areas of expertise,
see: R. Hibiki (profile), R. Kumon (profile), M. Tzu (profile). Optimal
melee engagement distance noted as 1.3 to 4.5 meters. Some techniques
very well suited for use in breeching and rapid assault scenarios.

Service record as follows: Squad: India (Hibiki, Kumon, Tzu, Kuno) out
of Seiran, under Cptn Ben-Solomon. Assigned rank acting Squaddie (Oct,
2006); Squaddie 1st class (Dec, 2006). Participated in AB17 Alpine Echo
Seven (December, 2006). Fiftieth Kill recorded (January, 2007). Temp
assignment to Luna (2007). (see: Service Record, attached) (see: Psionic
Profile, attached). See: weapons procurement regarding replacement sword
(attached) and gauntlets (on request).

Underwent two month mentor program (Srg. J. Hanley), standard psionic
imprinting (see: psi-gym usage). Note: subject has very high psionic
strength but has progressed very slowly in development of higher
techniques. Nonetheless, not every solider with an integral armor amp
needs to use the thing like a virtuoso. PsiDev have focused on
optimizing psionic defenses.

T. Kuno was not initially expected to be entered into the experimental
'martial arts squads' program, but has fit into India Squad well over
the last few months. Despite some early difficulties adapting, he has
become a rather popular and well liked figure on base. Not expected to
advance to NCO or CO programs. Solid Squaddie material. Has learned to
follow orders and support team. Demonstrates high degree of commitment
and lethality as necessary. Morale and loyalty are considered VERY GOOD.
Because of high innate psionic strength, and existing attachment to
Seiran: India, the Squaddie is recommended for inclusion in CLEANSLATE.
We will need as many 85+ psi-str grunts as possible when we finally put
our boots on Mars.

[signature redacted]

- - -

OUTGOING DATA RECORD
INTERCEPT: 18E-781-77902
DATE: 12.21.2006 01:12:04

T. Kuno (Seiran Mtn) K. Kuno (SC:304)

K: Brother dear.

T: Sister.

K: I have been told that you were wounded in battle.

T: Tis [sic] only a minor inconvenience. I shall resume my duties upon a
swift convalescence.

K: You are as hard to kill as always. Were I there, I would make you a
cup of my special herbal tea.

T: Were you here, and had you made me a cup of tea, I would test it
first on the dog.

K: (laughter)

T: I can not believe it, but I think I actually missed hearing that
laugh of yours.

K: Oh (?). You must truly be in a detestable shape, Brother dear. Are
your injuries that grievous (?).

T: No. No, they are not. I was. I was lucky. But this loss reminds me of
how our family sword was destroyed. Even now I have never forgive myself
for that.

K: (laughter) I always said that hunk of metal was less than a letter
opener. You are better without it (!).

T: Do not say that, Sister. I had wished to bear our family blade to
glory on the battlefield. Instead, in but my first real mission, it was
reduced to nothing. The hilt and little beside remains. My wounds, then
and now, are as nothing compared to the blow to my honor that was losing
that sword.

K: (...) You are truly a fool, Brother dear. How difficult is it to
replace a blade? Do you think one mourns for destroyed (...) what are
they? Those fighting planes? Or some sunken ship? A sheathed sword is
nothing until someone uses it.

T: (...) I know.

T: (...) But. I. I was. Not (...)

K: Brother dear. All you have to do is use a stronger sword. A more
reliable blade. Is that truly so hard? Do you not already have one? You
fight alongside my beloved Ranma-sama. How is he to triumph in my name
without worthwhile subordinates? (laughter)

T: (laughter) I will do that. I can not be showed up by underclassmen
after all (!).

K: Oh yes. Now that I think of it, you fight with those rough vagabonds
I met before. I suspect you must fit in well with such an uncouth band.

T: Our enemies are terrible indeed. Especially (...) well, uncouth or
not, we will strike at them.

K: (...) Yes. I expected as much from you, Brother dear. You were always
thick headed. I still do not fully understand this enemy you have made
but do finish them off quickly. Things are most dull here in this
strange town without any of the usual peasants to play with (...) and I
know my poor Ranma-sama pines for me as I do him. (laughter) Do extend
to my beloved my deepest and dearest wishes, will you, Brother dear?

T: I shall endeavor to do so when next I see him. But what of (...) that
other fool you had your eye on?

K: (laughter) Oh yes, my dear Taro. A beautiful man with the most
fascinating and potentially delightful abilities. But I have not
forgotten my first love. Or given up on my dear, noble Ranma-sama. There
is room in the heart of a Kuno for two loves, is there not? (laughter)

T: (...) Yes. Quite.











##

BROTHER EYE PROTOCOLS
TOP CLEARANCE REQUIRED

SUBJECT: 6138
CODENAME: Raven
REAL NAME: *Unknown*

SPECIES: Human/Unknown Hybrid
HEIGHT: 5'5"
WEIGHT: 105lbs
HAIR COLOR: Violet
EYE COLOR: Violet

KNOWN ABILITIES:  Subject displays powers that correspond to those of a
high calibre telekinetic, or 'hard light construct' manipulators in the
vein of Subject: 005: Codename: Green Lantern.  True nature of powers is
yet to be determined as several secondary abilities do not correspond to
powers demonstrated by other telekinetic psions or energy manipulators.
Subject has demonstrated empathic and telepathic abilities, the latter
usually only manifesting with an obvious display referred to by the
Subject as her 'Soul Self'.  The Subject has also manifested the ability
to phase through solid matter and teleport (extent of distance Subject
is able to traverse is unknown).  Finally, the subject, purportedly,
possesses the ability to heal others, though the limitations of this
power are unknown at this time.

EXPLOITABLE WEAKNESSES: Subject is susceptible to fits of extreme
emotion if pressed.  This shortcoming can and has been used against her
to great affect by Subject: 8839: Codename: Terra.  Highest Probability
of incapacitating Subject is to engage in psychological warfare and
capitalize on the ensuing loss of control. *Special note:  Subject is to
be considered highly dangerous, and caution should be used in handling
her.  The Subject's 'loss of control' is closely linked to a startling
increase in destructive ability.  Only suitably trained or empowered
operatives should attempt capture of the Subject.

KNOWN HISTORY:  The Subject comes from a pocket dimension Designation:
Azarath. Little direct knowledge of the Subject's life during her
adolescence in Azarath is known.  Shortly after entering this dimension,
the Subject approached the Justice League, looking for assistance.  The
Subject explained that an interdimensional incursion from an, if the
Subject's story is to be believed, Omega level threat.  At that time
Subject: 543: Codename: Zatanna informed the Justice League that the
Subject possessed an 'evil' aura, and should not be trusted.  Heeding
her advice, the Subject was denied assistance by the League, and was
turned away.  Shortly thereafter, the Subject became a founding member
of Team Designation: Teen Titans.  Since that time, the Subject has
demonstrated several instances of emotional instability, but has not yet
been categorized as a threat to herself or those around her.  No further
evidence has been provided in concern to the espoused threat concerning
the being referred to as Trigon.  Further research is required.

CURRENT THREAT LEVEL: B

PERSONAL NOTE:  I know it's not like me to question Zatanna... but in
this case I believe she may have been wrong.  Dick's reports of the girl
have painted her as relentlessly determined to help her friends, as well
as the people of Jump City.  More than most, I think I can understand
what it means to have darkness in your heart, but still strive to do
what is right.  And if her story was actually true, a possibility that
seems more probable with every report from Dick, then it might be urgent
to contact her and begin making contingency plans based on her knowledge
of this Trigon.  Though her current threat level is B, based solely on
her array of powers, if her presence in our dimension is somehow linked
to a being as powerful as she described, then it is possible she should
be raised to S rank and watched far more closely.



##