"199X…"
The image of an atomic explosion, followed by the deafening roar of a hypersonic boom….
The mushroom cloud that has been forever acquainted with the phenomenon is, once again, associated with the nuclear fallout…
"The Earth was devastated by a nuclear war…"
In once beautiful cities, filled to the brim with life of all kind, lay the twisted remains of steel support beams. Melted statues made of stone, copper and bronze gave idea to the extreme temperatures associated with being within the vicinity of a nuclear explosion.
"Almost all life has ceased to exist…"
The soil, once fertile ground and moist with rainwater was now doing its best impression of deserts and sand. Even the water, once used for such frivolous things as taking daily baths was tainted and radioactive to the degree that pools may have a hundred boiling men floating about and more to come….
"However, Mankind has not…"
For some, the world of today was a science fiction concept; but for those still alive…
Ranma Saotome: Musabetsu No Ken. (Unlimited Fists)
Ranma was suffering from shellshock when he came to.
A beautiful woman with short-cropped blue hair was attending to his physical, and some point in time he had been relieved of all his clothing. Ranma "Eep"ed and covered his private parts. From his place behind the medical bed, Ranma observed the room he was in. The walls were pristine white with medical tools that he never seen before hanging. The bed he had so recently occupied reminded him of Tofu's medical beds, which told him hat he was in some manner of medical facility.
"Where am I?" he asked the lady who was having trouble retaining her laughing fit.
"You're in Juuban Medical, young man. About an hour ago you wandered into town with a dazed look in your eyes." The woman informed, her voice was light and filled with kindness and warmth, a feeling her been sorely lacking in his life.
He took a moment to read the nameplate on her chest, "Mizuno-Sensei (Doctor Mizuno)"
Suddenly, the words clicked. "Juuban?! But that's in Minato Ward! I was just in Nerima!" Ranma shouted in complete disbelief.
The doctor's eyes widened to the size of saucers and she bolted from the room. The muffled shouts of "Get H-VAC over here! We've got our first Nerima survivor!" Shortly after the shout dissipated, the lady returned to the room with a haunted look in her eyes. "We both have to be scanned for radiation poisoning… I hope my daughter is safe-"
Before the sentence could be completed, the building's roofing came down, raining shrapnel through out the room. Ranma had barely enough time to shield the doctor's body with his own, before the dust and fallout from the nuke ripped through the space they used to occupy…
Ruby stretched her slender form and arced her back to work away the kinks from sleeping in the giant, four-post bed. "That was easily the best night's sleep I've ever gotten, she mused aloud.
Since she had been alone the entire day-past, and for the night she was surprised when she got a response. "I'm glad my father was able to do something right for you," came the snide voice of a teenage princess as she strolled into the room.
Ruby, as her new name was, spent a moment eyeing the girl from top to bottom. She was wearing a long-flowing white dress; complete with embroidered precious stones and a platinum tiara, crested with the image a stallion on its rear legs, burning with a blue flame. The girl's figure belayed her grace and screamed that she was dangerous if ever crossed.
"And who would you be, miss?" Ruby questioned, already not liking where the conversation was heading.
"I am Princess-Hime (Princess "Princess"), heir to Utopia, the nation my father is building. I assume you are Ruby?" The young thirteen-year-old spoke with a certainty that forced one to accept that she knew her father. "He's been speaking about getting you for almost as long as he has Pearl."
"Pearl?" Ruby inquired. While she didn't particularly like Ranma - what with him slaughtering her husband and friends just to acquire her - she really didn't want to be some member of a collection or a harem girl.
Princess-Hime nodded and walked out onto the banister. Leaning on her forearms she sighed with longing. "Father has gone crazy I'm afraid. Ever since mother died, back when I was born, he's been looking for replacements," the girl explained and tilted her head back to look at Ruby. "She has to be beautiful, kind and strong enough to stand up for herself, and a good role-model for me."
"A role-model? I thought…" Ruby trailed off. She didn't want to be the one who told the girl her father was a maniacal tyrant, dead-set on kidnapping a woman or two.
Princess-Hime gave a short giggle, sounding like rain on a lake. "Let me guess, you thought he was just some conqueror, seeking your body for his carnal desires?" Ruby had the grace to look down with embarrassment for being found out. Princess gave the older woman a warm smile. "Come with me, there's something I've got to show you,"
With that, the younger grabbed the arm of the elder and both left the room.
"CLOSE THE GATES!"
"CLOSE THE GATES!"
"CLOSE THE GATES!"
Jennifer looked up from where she was in the process of checking over her bike. "Wait!" she called out to the passing crowd of sentries. When none made any effort to give her their attention, she reached out and snagged a passing man's leg.
The poor sap… He went tumbling end over end for a good fifteen meters. After a few quick checks, he determined that he was all right and got up to his feet, hoping no one else saw him trip.
Jennifer rushed to the man before he could run away. "You there!" The man turned his gaze to meet an eighteen-year-old blonde bombshell with crystal blue eyes, and a perfect figure. "Why is the gate being closed?"
It took the man a good few seconds, but he recognized the voice as belonging to Jennifer and mentally kicked himself in the rear. "Miss Jennifer, you've got to get to safety! One of the watchers spotted Ranma heading this way!"
Jennifer blinked owlishly.
With his mistress being out of it, the man grabbed her wrist and ran off towards a bunker.
Ranma stared into the architecture of the city he was approaching. Unlike most others, this one appeared to have sustained the least damage from the fall out, and so, it allowed the buildings to retain their enormous glory.
Ranma couldn't resist from whistling. Now was his second time arriving in this city. The first time he hadn't been recognized until he had left, but this time they would know and be ready for him. 'Just the way I like it!'
Ranma came to a sliding halt, and dismounted his bike calmly. He pulled his reflective sunglasses from his face and smirked at the wall of sentry. "Good day to you all!" Ranma waved with a friendly smile, trying to gain some semblance of trust.
One of the elders to the village came to the fore. "Damien, I thought we made it clear to you that we don't want you around here, the last time we saw you."
Ranma shrugged not losing any of his mirth. "That was then, old man. I came by to claim Jennifer as my bride and this city as my retreat." Ranma held a hand up and formed a ball of red ki, sending tendrils of malevolent energy wafting through the air. "We can do this the easy way, the hard way or my way, old coot."
The elder gritted his teeth. There was a reason he was called Damien, the son of the devil. One of them was because of the cruel manner he enjoyed killing people with…
"FIRE!!" the elder ordered.
Following the old man's wisdom, the sky wept wooden tears, all aimed for Ranma.
Ranma watched as the clear sky darkened and a thousand arrows came down in a steady torrent of screaming banshees. "Damn," he cursed as the shrieks began throwing of his aim and giving him a sense of vertigo.
Jennifer came to as the sound of her best friend, a chubby young man, dressed in a yellow sweater vest over a white dress shirt and a pair navy blue slacks, began talking with the man who had dragged in here.
"You should have taken her out of the village while you had the chance!" her long time friend Mon said.
"If someone were to leave the village, don't you think that Ranma would go after them?"
The chubby man adopted a contemplative look. "Well, I guess you d have a point."
Jennifer rose from the straw bedding she had been set upon and gazed through the bunkers window. "What are Ranma's demands?"
"J-Jennifer!" Mon shouted, surprised his buddy was up and active again. "She's gonna send me to my early grave… Ranma said he wants you as his bride and this city as his retreat…"
Jennifer bit her lower lip. "…"
"Jennifer! You can't seriously be considering his request!"
Jennifer walked out from the room in silence.
The two young men locked gazes. "I'm sure she's not going to give in."
"You don't understand! She's had a crush on Ranma since she was fifteen! Now she has to choose between her dream or the safety of the city…"
The sentry stared at the door that Jennifer had passed through moments ago. "That poor girl…"
Ranma was bathed in the blood of his victims. The stench of fresh-spilled blood lingered through the air, causing those with lesser stomachs to hurl.
The battle had been against the town of Jena from the beginning. The original barrage of arrows had shredded Ranma's clothing and even a few had pierced him. But now… Now they were witnessing first-hand, where Ranma got the title "Damien".
A freak sandstorm blew into the city, blinding the men of Ranma's whereabouts by the third round of arrow fire. It was then that Ranma had begun his killing orgy, slaughtering every man and woman he came upon, laughing hysterically. Through the thick dust a pair of red eyes pulsed, preceding the death of all who looked at it.
Ruby paused to do a double take. The princess had just taken her through the wall structure of a concentration camp, where the sounds of screaming and bullwhips cracking through the air echoed loudly, into a real life oasis of life. In here were people of all kinds, trading goods with printed money and wearing clothes that looked brand new, and the teens wore the latest fad in clothing, which was very little. From what Ruby could tell, girls in bikinis were cute, guys in baggy coats and jeans were hot, and young adults with multiple piercings were abound.
"What happened to the screams of the tortured?" Ruby requested. Not that she wanted to witness such things, but curiosity was getting the best of her.
Princess-Hime giggled at her associate. "Do you like it? Daddy had it installed to scare away bandits if they ever got in here. I'm not sure how it works though; father said something about Psychosynapses, or something like that." The girl shrugged her slender shoulders and led the older woman to follow her further into the compound.
Ranma cackled like a deranged maniac, as he ripped the entrails from a young man defending the village. "Bring me Jennifer! And while you're at it, bring out the old man too!" Ranma added after a few moments thought. After all the old fool had been the one responsible for him killing so many today.
"R-Ranma…"
Ranma froze mid-swing, his knife-edge hand halfway embedded in a new man's sternum. "Ah, Jennifer…" Ranma grinned like a devil; his eyes narrow slits.
Looking at the man who had once saved her from Herakles of Greece, when he decided to make side trip through time and claim a bride. But that is a different story.
The sound of a harp being plucked in a sad lullaby was the only sound within the master chamber of Shin, known to most as King. He was not all that much an impressive sight, standing at just under two meters and having about as much muscle as the average farmer, but his appearance was not what inspired fear and respect, it was his lethal style of combat; for Shin was the master of Nanto Sei Ken, the other side to the killing style known as Hokuto Shin ken. His blonde hair was blown lightly in the wind that passed through his hair.
"Your music is as beautiful as ever, Yuria," Shin praised, hoping to raise the spirit of the woman he so loved.
Yuria was a pale, malnutritioned beauty; though Shin had offered her meals beyond anything his own men had ever seen in their lives. Her lush red hair was now a light purple, and her eyes, once shining with joy and life were now dull and exuded a sense of defeat and depression. "The music represents the sorrow in my heart, Shin." She was like a caged wild bird. Before she was radiant, now she stared out at the world longing in her whole being.
A flash of movement gave attention to the arrival of Shin's right hand lackey, the one that he would always be able to trust. King looked to Joker with fury in his eyes. "What do you want Joker?"
Joker a slender man with feathers that emerged from the collar of his shirt, smiled; his short hair making the smile seem inhuman. "I'm sorry to intrude on your quality time, Master, but I thought you would like to know, Ranma has taken control of Zeed's zone now, and word has spread that he is moving to take The Four Jacks' territory."
Shin knew that the deluded man was in love with him, and quite frankly, it disturbed him. The only reason he kept Joker around was because he had been trained the most in Nanto Sei Ken. "Thank you for the information, you may leave," Shin waved his arm dismissively.
This was the last thing he needed! Ranma – the lout who dared proclaim himself Emperor within King's conquered territories – was expanding at an uncontrolled rate. "Well, we'll just see how he likes dealing with an army at his front gate," Shin trailed off with maniacal laughter and Yuria began to play her sad tune once again…
Saffron, a man-made-god, floated in a lazy spiral through the air, with enormous wings seemed to burn with living flame. Floating as guards to Saffron were Kiima - the woman from earlier – Masara and Koruma.
Ruby took in the majestic sight was much splendor. Unlike the people around who weren't even paying more attention than the clear the ground, she was stuck watching him with an unhinged jaw.
Princess-Hime's face lit up with excitement. "Saff-Kun!" she called and charged forward, tackling the much larger man to the ground. The two of them tumbled end over end for a short distance, before the momentum was spent.
The mass of legs arms and wings began the difficult process of disentangling from each other. Saffron smiled fondly at the bundle of energy in his arms. "And how are you today, Princess?" he asked of the girl.
"Better, now that you're here!" she chirruped in reply. The smile on her face was rivaling the light of the sun.
The sound of a throat being cleared brought the two back to reality… With a blush and speed inherited through years of training, the two were on their feet and a distance apart.
"OH! I can't believe I forgot… This is my father's girlfriend, Ruby."
Ruby rolled her eyes, "More like a slave or trophy for his showcase…" she groused beneath her breath, though Saffron easily heard her.
"It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Ruby. Ranma has spoken often and highly of you." Saffron greeted, giving the woman a flourishing bow. "Perhaps we shall become better acquainted over a hearty meal?" he suggested when the two women's stomachs rumbled…
The Sun sunk planning to hide behind the endless expanse of desert, after shining mercilessly on the dead soil. The air was beginning the last stages of distortion due to the incredible heat.
Lynn continued to squat in the place she last saw Ken, staring into the miles of red earth. The dry wind buffeted at her face and pulled at her hair, yet she showed no signs of noticing it.
To all who had known the girl before, she was now a hollow shell waiting to be broken; the joy and silent laughter she gave before was no more.
The little white puppy she had taken to raising ran up to the girl and whimpered at her feet.
"Ken…" she called out quietly. The echoes of a memory replayed in her mind, "That man isn't coming back" the elder had told her.
For the first time in the day she realized that she wasn't alone. The elder stood a few paces behind her. "You can watch a thousand sunrises, and that man won't return."
"HE WILL!" she protested with certainty. "I know he will!"
The elder looked into the far reaches of the sky and at the gloomy scene of the retreating sun. "Come, the sun is about to set;" the old man said with patience.
"I'll wait for him here."
"Nah! The bandits come out at night," He stood there, his beard being blown about in the wind, watching the images of fear and worry flash across the girl's eyes. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to the present. "Come on," he tried again, still exercising calm and patience.
Ranma pulled his bike to a halt, and sat on its seat sideways, appearing to be waiting on something.
As the Sun ripped its way through the clouded sky, the shadows began to flash back and forth. Howls started sounding through the air and the clatter of feet and metal blades rung high.
Ranma cracked his knuckles, "Well, I was beginning to think you wouldn't show," Ranma addressed with a smirk…
Ten shadows halted their frantic leaping and came to focus as men wearing wolf pelts. From directly behind them a seventeen-foot man, with a scar running down the center of his face and a white beard appeared. "I am sorry to have made you wait, dear-brother," the giant said, bowing in submission to Ranma.
Ranma returned the gesture. "Have you any word yet on the woman I seek?" As much as he could use the small talk, some things were more important, namely getting back what was rightfully his!
The giant nodded his massive head. "Aye… I wasn't able to go there myself, but Guba wrote down the information on a scroll for you. Is there anything else that me and my pack can do for you?" Usually the giant, known only as Oyaji, would spend a good deal of time chatting with Ranma, but things were different now. He knew that if Ranma got wind of the operations he had going then he would want a cut of the profit or make his pack stop.
Ranma shook his head in the negative and retrieved the scroll from Guba. He took a few moments to read what was written on it. "This looks like chicken scratch!" Ranma barked, displaying the scroll for all to see.
Oyaji turned to glare at his son, Guba. "I'm sorry father, but I don't know how to write…" the elder pup replied to the unasked question.
Ranma took a moment picking himself up from his facefault. "Leave it to me to associate with guys who can't think two-steps ahead…" he grumbled, growing irritated. "Just tell me the information, and I'll write it myself!"
Guba nodded and began to relate the location.
Ranma stared on, facing the location Guba had specified. "This place looks like a dump!" Ranma shouted loudly. And indeed it did look like a dump.
What was once a library was now rotting and falling to pieces. Whatever the original color was had turned to an off blue, due to unprotected exposure to the sun. The buildings surrounding were skeletons, displaying their support beams for all the world to see.
"Oh well, time to cut loose," Ranma mused, spending a moment to crack his knuckles loudly, "and have some fun…"
Within the rundown library were over a dozen men practicing the art of trading kicks. The grunts of men sending all of their strength into a single strike, only to retract repeat the process over was heard through the empty halls and spacious rooms.
With a suddenness that caught all the men off guard, the double doors leading into the room was blown open, slamming loudly against the inner wall. Standing in the doorway, his back against the framework was Ranma, his arms crossed at chest-level.
When the initial shock wore off, the men took up defensive stances. "Who the hell are you, and what do you think you're doin' here?" shouted one of the fighters.
Ranma chose to ignore the man's question and presence, in favor of slowly walking up to the man on a dais.
"HEY! Don't you ignore us!" another shouted, followed by two men latching on to Ranma's arms.
Ranma cupped the chin of the young woman with long-flowing pink hair. If the woman felt it or anything she did not give any notion that she did; instead she sat stoically, staring straight ahead. "Oh Emerald, what has befallen you?" Ranma asked with sorrow.
The woman said nothing, though a single tear fell from her eye as she remembered the ordeals she had been forced to live through.
"CRY! WEEP, O YOU DOGS! SHED YOUR TEARS FOR THE DEFILEMENT OF MY LOVE!" Ranma howled into the sky.
Immediately following Ranma's words the howls of wolves in mourning arose and the red-hot sky darkened with storm clouds, shedding tears of its own…
The sound of laughter pervades into the silence of the still air, bringing with it the face of young man with wild blonde hair and a deranged grin.
The young man leaps high into the air, his legs pulled tight, in preparation for a death-delivering kick…
The flash of red hair precedes the face of a beautiful young woman who cries out in concern. "KEN!"
A finger pushes through the skin and the muscle of a well-built chest; bringing out a gurgled cry of pain and suffering. "Die!" The young blonde commands. "STOP IT!" comes the terrified scream of the earlier woman.
The blonde laughs and pierces the other pectoral, driving out a new pained-wail. "GAHHH!"
"KEEENNN!!"
Kenshiro was on his feet and spinning to strike down whatever made itself into the slightest of threats. Ken stood there in an offensive battle stance, his every fiber pulled taut and ready to launch him in the direction he so desired.
Movement…
Ken's instincts screamed for blood, as his veins sung the familiar tune of one who dances with death. Ken's eyes came to rest on the object that set him off; it was a log from his campfire. Immediately Ken forced his body to relax.
He brought a calloused hand to rest on his pectorals, tracing the line between the uppermost scars. "Just a dream…" Ken's visage went somber and he stared into the sky, picturing the image of his smiling fiancée…
"Yuria, where are you?" For a few moments he would swear he could hear the sound of her playing the harp. "Yuria…"
A sound from the distance alerted Ken to an approaching vehicle. Way off in the distance, beyond the normal span of human eyesight, Ken could make out a dust cloud quickly approaching, following in the wake of a heavily modified dunebuggy.
Within a few minutes the dunebuggy was near enough that Ken could make out every little detail; these like the three-foot back wheels, the single headlight on the passenger side, a bit of cloth that extended from the behind the seats and the boy driving it.
A few moments later Bart pulled the vehicle over, smiling proudly at Ken. Or he would have been, had he actually seen where Ken disappeared to. "Huh?" Bart grunted, staring this way and that. "That's funny, where did he go?" Bart scratched at his unruly hair, searching harder.
Something, though Bart didn't know what, made him look behind the buggy, only to jump when he saw Ken poised on the back end of the cart. "KEN!"
Ken's somber visage of earlier was now replaced with a stoic one.
"Ken? Wow, where did you go off to?"
"I thought you were one of Zeed's men." He replied, lying through his teeth. Truth was, he wanted to see how the boy would react. He leapt free of the vehicle, his back to the boy and his cart.
"Hey Ken, do you like the car? Want a lift?" Bart shouted, still viewing the man as his meal ticket. "You've got a long way to go! So, how about it?"
Ken turned a questioning gaze over his shoulder at the boy.
"Don't look so suspicious! I know you think I stole this car, " Bart remarked, ticking his finger. "It's okay! I built it myself from scrap! I'm tellin' ya, I'm a mechanical genius, even if I don't look like one… Think of me as Archimedes or Edison," he praised, tossing his head backing pride.
Until he fell off the car…
The sun continued its merciless beating on Ranma's back as he shielded Emerald while riding his bike at full tilt. He took a moment to look down at the woman's shell of a body. 'To be imprisoned within one's own body…' Ranma mused with sorrow.
All he needed was one more trade negotiation and he would be on his way to acquiring the prize he valued as highly as his daughter.
Truth be told he hated making these business deals over the lives of women, it sickened him to his stomach, which was why this was to be the last for a long while.
A short time later, the buggy and two occupants were driving through the empty sands of a deserted city.
"So, where're ya headed?" Bart asked, wondering just where Ken planned for them to go.
"Nowhere special," Ken replied, keeping his voice distant.
"Oh? Just a drifter wandering around with no place to go, huh?" Bart responded sounding quite impressed. "You know I originally built this car so I could travel with Ranma - he's this awesome fighter that challenges King's army on his own and has never lost once! – but it couldn't keep up with his bike, so he told me to stay in the village for safety. Anyway, my name's Bart; how do you do?"
Ken's eyes flashed and he was suddenly floating in the air…
Bart pulled to a screeching halt, and ran to the edge of the car. "What's wrong Ken?!" He watched as Ken took off at a sprint in the direction of a canyon. "I'm so hungry! Let's hurry up to the next town Ken!"
Ken reached the edge where he had heard the disturbance and peered over the side.
Down below a seasoned old man was backing away from a horde of raiders, each with the symbol of a red spade on their heads, but one, with red hair like a lion's mane, had a J written above his insignia. The sound of bloodthirsty laughter filled air, mixing with the taint of killing intent.
Bart made his up to the location Ken was standing at.
The man was finally backed against the stone wall of the canyon, shaking frailly "Come on Pops, hand it over." The man with the J commanded, speaking like a schoolyard bully.
"Let me go! I've got to get these seeds to my village!" the man pleaded, clutching the sack of seed tightly.
A boot descended on the man, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" He knelt low to the cowering man, "Be quiet and hand it over!"
"Please! When the seeds grow we'll give you as much crop as you could ever want!" the man pleaded, trying to reason with the brute. "Just wait 'til then, I'm begging you!"
The man leveled a bow at the elder and drew back the cord, preparing to kill the old man where he huddled.
"Please, I went through hell to get this many seeds! And I haven't eaten anything in a week…"
"I see, I see. These seeds are that important to you, huh?" the old man nodded. "Then I guess we'll have to eat them then!" The group of over-muscled men cackled haughtily.
"Please I'm begging you, just let me go!"
Bart stood from his perch, arms behind his head, "C'mon Ken, this ain't our fight." For a moment he took on a contemplative look. "Y'know, I could've sworn Ranma got rid of Spade and his gang a while back…" he mused aloud, but shrugged it off as moot.
When Ken began to coil his muscle, Bart was taken aback. He didn't think there were other people as crazy as Ranma and willing to fight single-handedly against King's men.
"Hey Ken, what are you doing?!"
But it was too late and Ken was descending the ravine. Bart bit back a curse as idea struck him.
Ken front rolled through the air, landing upside down with his fingers inside a man's shoulders before flipping to land. Then he landed a kick on a man's face. The two never knew what killed them before their heads exploded.
The leader of the thugs leveled his wrist-mounted bow at the man. "Who the hell are you?!" he thundered.
"Leave the man alone."
"Asshole! Can't you see that I'm the one holding a bow to your head?!"
"Don't try it!" Ken began flexing his fingers, causing the knuckles to pop loudly. "That arrow is just a twig compared to the inheritor of the deadly techniques of Hokuto Shin Ken. You can not defeat me."
"Hokuto Stinkin', my ASS!" The man fired his arrow anyway, "GO TO HELL!" barely missing Ken when he dodged the weapon. "Che!" He grabbed another steel arrow and pulled back on the bow.
Ken began t limber his joints by bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Aim well. If you miss it'll cost you an eye."
"I'll kill you!" He let loose the arrow at full bore.
FWATHAP!
Ken stared around the arrow in his hand, his face as impassive as ever. "Hokuto Shin Ken: Nishi Shinkuu Ha! (North Star: Two-Finger Nil Space Grasp!)" Ken informed his attacker, one moment before reversing the arrows flight path sending it to the fins into Spade's eye.
"RRRRGAHH!" Spade shouted as he fell to the ground and writhed in agony, clutching tightly to his eye.
Ken walked by the man, as if unhearing of the bloodcurdling screams and knelt at the old man's side. "Hey, are you alright?"
The old man looked up into the eyes of his savior a look of joy and sorrow warring for dominance. "The seeds… They took the rice seeds!"
"Rice seeds?" Ken looked over his shoulder at the rapidly departing group of thugs.
Bart came sliding down a slope, kicking up dust the entire way. "Ken, don't get messed up in this stuff anymore than you already have! Those were King's men!"
"King?" Ken gave the boy a questioning look.
"Yeah! They're one of the groups of lunatics that control this area! Now, we're in trouble…"
"Did you say you were an excellent thief?"
Bart posed with pride and gusto. "Yeah, I'm pretty much the next Arsene Lupin! I always get what I'm going after."
(AN: Arsene Lupin is the name of a fictional gentleman thief who appears in a book series of detective fiction / crime fiction novels written by French writer Maurice Leblanc, as well as a number of non-canonical sequels and numerous film, television, stage play and comic book adaptations – which includes the infamous series Lupin III.)
"Then steal those rice seeds back." Ken commanded.
"EEEHHH?" Bart couldn't help but gasp at the incredibly stupid idea Ken just suggested. "We're talkin' about King's men, here!" Bart gesticulated.
Ken sighed in disappointment. "Nothing but talk. Old man wait here, I'll be back with your seeds."
"F-Forgive me…" The old man begged. It was never his plan to endanger a young boy or a healthy man's life! Why did things have to be this way?
"Wait Ken, I'll go with you!" Bart shouted at the retreating form of Ken.
"Go away."
Bart, seeing his whole reason for being leaving, ran up the steep incline and gunned his buggy, then tore through the ravine. "I'll be back with those seeds Ken! Just wait for me!"
Spade sat up, clutching at his missing eye and gritting his teeth.
"You need to rest!" ordered the medic.
"SHUT UP!" Spade smashed the smaller man into the wall sending him to dreamland. "I won't forgive him…" Spade forced his body from his bed. "To hell with his Hokuto STUFF!" the last word yelled, as Spade punched a cement wall to rubble.
Nearing their camp a vehicle came roaring. Every one of the men went white-faced as they recognized the buggy Ranma was so frequently taxied in. "OH SHIT! WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" one of the many thugs shouted. Before any could get to their bikes and haul off, Spade noticed Ranma's absence and gave a sinister grin. "It ain't Ranma, just his brat!"
The men all relaxed considerably. The last time they had a confrontation with Ranma he killed everyone in the slowest manner he could, then brought them to life saying the next time they wee caught on his land, he would make that feel like heaven and a warm bath.
Bart pulled to a stop in front of a nervous Spade. "Heya Spade, do you remember me?" Bart questioned, liking the reaction he was getting.
Spade nodded numbly. "Where's Ranma kid?"
Bart shrugged his shoulders with a goofy grin plastered to his face. "Funny thing that… You see, Ranma wanted me to step up my duties, so he sent me here to do just that."
"W-What the hell do we have that he would want? We ain't done nothin' in three months!" Spade shouted defensively.
"Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. Who knows? Anyway, Ranma aid he wants everything ya got; clothes, food, water, everything! "Well, did say you guys could keep your bikes, but you've got to leave everything else behind."
Spade grit his teeth. 'Knowing Ranma, that Hokuto guy was probably an old friend!' Spade mused. It made a lot of sense, especially when considering the many powerhouses that Ranma associated with.
"Ya heard em boys! Strip and let's get outta here, before Ranma changes his mind!"
As quick as a whip, the mass of burly men stripped to nothing – at Bart's insistence – and hauled off into the desert to find new stomping grounds, preferably with Club and Diamond's gangs.
Ken watched the dust cloud dissipated into the distance as the thugs ventured elsewhere. "Hmm, it would appear that Bart missed them." Ken mused, and readied to take up the mission for himself.
That was when a dust cloud kicked up, nearing his hiding place. Inside Bart was munching on some jerky and had several bags of clothes, armor and food in the backseat.
Ken landed in the passenger seat, arm folded and eyes closed.
"YAH! Ken, don't do that!" Bart shouted, pulling the cart to the side of the road. "Sheesh, nearly gave me a heart attack!" Bart whined, and tossed Ken the sack of rice.
Ken opened the bag and looked within, impressed that Bart was able to procure these rice seeds. "Lupin, huh?"
Bart grinned proudly. "Want some jerky? I also got water!" he held out the items for Ken's inspection.
However, he didn't expect Ken to take and carry them to the old man. "Hey, what are ya doin'? That's our food, the old guy can get his own!"
Ken sent a reproachful glare at Bart, causing the boy to shut his mouth and remain silent.
"I appreciate this, I really do!" the old man clutched his bag of seeds tightly, holding on to his lifeline.
"Are you going to be okay, old man?" Ken held the man upright in his bosom.
"Why didn't ya just eat the rice? If you die, what's the point?!" Bart shouted. Some things he just couldn't understand, thought Ken seemed to.
"No, all the food we have will eventually run out, but with these seeds, we can grow rice again, and harvest it year after year. Like in the old days, when rice grew in fields… There will be no more fighting over food. We can all live in peace again. Tomorrow is more important than today."
Ken stared solemnly into the eyes of the malnourished man "Tomorrow is more important…"
"One day it will be a world without war, one like the old days when flowers grew and people could run through fields of grass. The birds would sing in the skies, and the rivers were full of fish." Memories of the days when he and children tilled the country, and would dance with joy came unbidden to his mind. The sound of laughter was musical and not filled with the desire to taste blood.
"Half a year… It took me half a year to gather this many seeds." He placed the bag into Ken's hands and pleaded that he would take the seeds to his village. It didn't matter tat Ken didn't know which, he trusted that the man would find it and carry through with his wishes.
Ken clutched the bag tightly. "I'll bring these to your village, along with you old man."
"Thank you so very much!"
Back in the village where Lynn waits, a line of merchants wrapping the main thoroughfare waited patiently for a chance to buy some water.
"This cloth made of deer skin is very good isn't it?" questioned a young man, offering the well kept hide, perfectly useable for making new clothing or even as a blanket on cold nights.
The elder of the village nodded and the man smiled joyously as he was led to get his water.
A middle-aged man held up sparkling necklace of pearls, and displayed a showcase of other rare jewels. "Give me water for these?" he requested, feeling assured that they would. After all how many people had jewelry these days?
One of the retainers kicked the jewels across the way. "Jewels ain't worth nothin' these days, you shit!" As the man ran to retrieve the items he spent his life protecting he was told, "Food and water are all that matters anymore!"
"I-I have rice…" Came the voice of the next man.
Lynn was hidden behind the backside of a recycled military transporter, clutching her puppy to her bosom. "If I hide in this truck, then it'll take me far away. Maybe even to where Ken is," she whispered to the puppy.
Ruby and Princess-Hime stared in awe at the falling rain; it was a miracle! Rain hadn't fallen here since the great fallout, and here they were standing under a heavy torrent of clean water.
"Wow, I didn't know it could rain!" Ruby crowed. "Is your father the cause of this?"
"As far as I know, he's never been able to make it rain before," Princess-Hime responded.
Before the conversation could continue a beautiful woman, approximately in her mid-twenties, alighted in their midst. The woman had on a pair of the most realistic set of wings Ruby had ever seen. Obviously Ranma had some great engineers at his disposal.
The young woman gave Princess-Hime a fond smile, but the princess snorted and angled her head away, causing the woman's spirits to fall. "Is your father in?"
"No he's not, now be on your way Kiima of the Phoenix People," the girl returned coldly. To Ruby, who hadn't thought the girl capable of being haughty or cold, was flabbergasted.
Kiima nodded with a downcast look in her eyes, before turning a pointed glare at Ruby. "I shall return in another hour with His Majesty, should Ranma have arrived do inform him." That said, Kiima took to the air and fluttered into the distance.
Ruby watched in utter amazement at the complexity of the wings' engineering. "Wow… Who was that Princess?" Ruby asked with amazement.
The young girl looked over at her company and smiled serenely "She's just some horny old lady that wants my father to bed her," she responded with pep, though the light in her eyes spoke of her feelings on the subject.
Ruby raised an arm to support the girl when Princess-Hime spoke, "Let's get going or we'll be late!"
Ranma pulled the bike to a halt in the midst of a caravan of bikers, and strolled up to a rawhide tent. "Yo Jackal! You in there? It's me, Ranma," Ranma announced, unheeding of the newly recruited men.
The cloth of brown animal hide parted, revealing a muscular man who stood at two meters, much like Ranma and Ken. "Dammit Ranma, how times do I gotta tell ya? All you gotta do its come in," Jackal returned, speaking around the burning cigar in his mouth.
Ranma smirked, "I remember the last time I did that, let's just say I can't look at mice the same way any longer." The two shared a companionable laugh. Ranma turned to Mamiya (Emerald) and led her into the tent with him.
Inside, the tent was well lit, unlike most would assume, and very cool. "So, what brings you by this time old friend?" Jackal took a seat at the far side of the room and offered Ranma the only other available seat.
Ranma let the young woman with pink hair and drop-dead looks sit instead. "You know Jackal, that's what I like about ya; always right to the point!" Ranma praised, pacing around the room in search of rodents. "I need schematics of King's palace in a week's time, can you do it?"
Jackal sat forward, a look of shock on his face, even going so far as to drop the cigar from his mouth. "King's… palace? The one he just built for Yuria?" When Ranam nodded, Jackal wiped his brow of sweat. "That's gonna be costly. Even for you, Ranma,"
Ranma retrieved a scroll from his sleeve.
"How the hell do you do that?" Jackal questioned, always wanting to know the answer. Sure he hid dynamite sticks on his person, but he couldn't hide anything oblong, like scrolls, guns or canisters of water like Ranma.
Ranma smirked and handed the scroll to Jackal. "Trade secret," he offered.
Jackal nodded absently and handled the scroll, testing its weight by casting it back and forth. "So, what is this for?"
Ranma's smirk only grew. "Have you ever of the name Devil Reborn?"
Jackal almost fainted on the spot. "You mean, you know where he is?!"
"Know where he is? I put 'em there!" Ranma returned cockily. "That's a map to his whereabouts. He's in a cell and preprogrammed, all you gotta do is let him look into your eyes, and he'll serve you for life." Ranam explained.
Jackal cackled into the hollow of the tent. "This is great! You've got a deal! I'll have those blueprints to you in two days," he promised, and all knew that Jackal was a man of his word, if nothing more.
In a remote village, covered in the soot of fallout and bathed with the taint of decay, a group of poor and frail people meandered through the streets made of red sand.
The sound of an engine alerted everyone to be on alert for raiders. A sentry peered through binoculars and spotted sight he didn't plan to see again! "Smith is in it! It's old man Smith! Old man Smith is back, and he brought the seeds!"
Cheers rose high and the people gathered at the entry gate.
"Seeds!" Smith shouted, raining the packet with reverence. "I brought back the seeds!"
"YAY!" "Now the village will be saved!" "Now we can grow a harvest and have food forever!"
"Have a rest, old man," a young woman called, leading the village hero to her residence for sleep.
"Thanks for everything, Smith!"
Ken watched with a warm heart as the people thought their lives were saved by a bag of rice seed. "He also brought you-" Ken reached into the backseat and began pulling out clothing, weapons, food and gallons of water, "all of these."
Bart had to do a double-take and still spat out his water in shock! "Hey Ken! What the hell are ya doin'?! That was all our stuff, now what are we gonna eat?"
Ken climbed into the passenger seat and folded his arms over his chest. "Do you hear that Bart? It's the sound of a baby crying."
"Yeah, so what? Babies cry all the time."
"He's hungry because mother can't produce milk without eating herself. Everyone here is starving.
"Okay! I got it…" Bart grumbled, starting his engine. "But we're definitely getting some food in the next town!"
End of CHAPTER TWO
LWH ()
Started 12/20/2007 Completed 12/24/2007