Paste yo

Genma's Problems Ch: 2

Is that a limp I see?

Hi, and thanks for those who've read and even more thanks to the few who've reviewed. On a note from the comments, I've changed parts of the plot. One of the thugs Ranma hit with gunfire survived, Ranma started to chase the van but was pulled off course by a scream from Akane, who the surviving thug had grabbed the leg of.

Ranma sat in the back of the small van, weak shackles half binding him. He was worried, but it wasn't the cuffs that worried him, he could break them easily enough. It was what he would do after he broke the metal bonds. The several men around him were all armed and if one of them were to fire a shot, he was a goner. The seat on which he was positioned stood next to two others and there were another three across from him. On each seat sat a thug, all of whom looked nervous. To tell the truth, Ranma was rather frightened at the fact he was stuck in a small space with five, armed, jumpy goons. All of them were masked with white cloths and combat goggles. They were clad in black, militaristic garbs, although another white cloth was tied around the right arm of each thug. Even through all of the gear, Ranma could still tell these men were nervy, their eyes were darting about and they were twitching and fidgeting. However, there was a sixth thug, not currently visible to Ranma, as a metal plate had been welded between the driver's compartment and the back of the van. Now he looked at it, Ranma could see that these guys must have a thing for welders. The doors at the back of the van had been welded shut for no apparent reason.

The van hurtled down the roads of Nerima, disturbing the unusual peace it had been enjoying for the past few days. It sped down the streets, going at such a speed it was barely able to make the turns the driver willed it to do. After about fifteen minutes driving, if you could call it that, the van arrived at some sort of industrial complex. By the looks of it, the yards had been disused for several years, rust and moss growing over everything in sight. There were several warehouse buildings to the complex, obviously to house either the machinery or produce that this plant had once been in possession of. The van, now at a normal speed, lulled its way down the unused land and proceeded to stop outside one of the warehouses. This warehouse in particular seemed to be the most vandalised out of all the buildings on the park.

The gargantuan doors looming before the van parted, allowing it entrance to the gigantic, derelict storeroom. A few minutes of the van staying motionless passed and Ranma was starting to tire of waiting for something to happen.

"Hey" he said to the goon seated directly beside him "What's the hold up, jerk"

The man, displeased with Ranma's tone, replied in a suitably peeved off manor.

"Shut up you little runt, the boss'll see ya when he wants ta see ya"

"Jeez, I was just asking" he replied in his usual, sarcastic tone.

And with that, so sparked a petty match of insults between the gun toting thug and the pig tailed martial artist...

A couple of miles away, the Tendo household was in uproar. After all, what kind of family wouldn't be at least a little shaken after such events. The remaining Tendo daughter, her father and her father's irresponsible companion were seated in the main room of the house. In front of them lay an injured thug, who Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo looked upon with disgust. Akane however, looked upon him with blunt disinterest. Genma, to the surprise of the others, suddenly jumped up and grabbed the merc by the collar. Using his colossal strength, surpassed only by Ranma, he yanked the fairly built goon and rammed him against the closest wall. Leering close to the criminal's face, Genma began to speak, slowly annunciating each word menacingly.

"You see that man sitting over there?" he asked aggressively, while jerking his free hand back, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

The thug nodded vigorously, hoping to avoid a beating.

"Well, he's the father of the girls your friends kidnapped. Now, imagine what he'd do to you if i handed you over"

Genma looked back at Soun, giving him a sort of cue to look as angry as he could. Soun got the message and started growling at the man about to be quite thoroughly terrified. By now, the terrified mafia git was about ready to squeal on anyone, about anything.

"Well then little man" Genma looked more intimidating now than he ever had before "Talk"

"W-w-w-w-we were just t-t-told to grab the girls and your kid, that's all I know" he said hastily, fearing for his own safety. "Please don't kill me" he said pathetically.

Genma then let the man fall to the ground and started padding towards Soun.

"So this is what they call a thug nowadays" he muttered as he sat down next to Soun.

"Mhm, very pathetic" Soun replied, both friends nodding beside each other in their usual fashion. Akane could only watch as the two aging martial artists sat around and did what they do best; being useless. Also, they were paying no attention to the thug, squirming around a few feet in front of them.

Another hour passed as both parties sat immobile and at a loss.

Ranma had given up on tormenting the thug; he'd gotten bored of it. Then there was the fact that the thug had directly threatened him with a gun. Shortly after that, the side door of the van slid open, revealing the massive, hangar-like space. There was machinery from some bygone industrial era dotted around, though most of the space was taken up by stacked crates and forklifts. There were at least fifty men visible from where Ranma was stood, bustling around checking, organising and stacking crates.

A middle aged man came strolling down between the aisles of boxes. As he walked, the men around him parted, almost fearful of him.

'He's their leader alright' Ranma thought 'But he doesn't look all that terrifying to me'

The man was fairly tall and looked to be in his mid forties, though having not aged well. He had a square jaw line and sunken cheeks, wrinkles scattered all over his face and, he noticed, burn scars. The man had dark hair, though lines of grey were showing quite prominently through. His lips were very thin, making him look as though he were sneering at everything. The garbs he wore, was an expensive looking purple suit, a handkerchief tucked into the breast pocket. He was obviously out to look of a higher standard than all the rest, though he did share the same white cloth around the arm. His, however, was embroidered with a golden thread border.

The leader strolled up to Ranma, but, Ranma noted, with a limp. When he reached the pigtailed martial artist, he lashed out catching Ranma across the mouth. Ranma yelped, as he felt a few of his teeth loosen.

'Damn, this guy's strong, I'd better be careful' Ranma noted.

The man smiled.

"Hello mister Saotome, how are you" He asked in a sarcastic yet mellow Italian accent.

"How do you know my name you freak?!" Ranma yelled in reply.

"I've been conducting a little research is all"

"Oh yeah, about what?!"

"You. Your father. Your friends and of course, your precious little fiancé"

Ranma growled.

"I'd leave them alone if I were you" He snarled.

"Little boy, you are in no position to make threats. After all, you are my captive"

"What about kasu-"

"Kasumi and Nabiki? They're in here with us. But you knew that already didn't you" He mocked "Aw, is little boy Ranma upset"

Ranma's growling intensified.

"Well too bad!" The man struck Ranma again, tearing several of his left molars out entirely.

Ranma spat the teeth, his mouth filling with blood.

"Oh, where are my manners" The man said dryly "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lorenzo Paccino" He spoke slowly, annunciating as if he were talking to a child.

Ranma, knowing if he spoke he would lose more teeth, ignored the insulting tone. He glanced around. On inspection he noticed that many of the goons seemed to be filing out of the warehouse.

"What? Where are they going?" Ranma inquired.

"To arms, little Mr Saotome, to arms. We are on somewhat of an offensive at the moment"

Ranma dropped the question, knowing he would receive no further reply from the twisted man that stood in front of him. Now Ranma thought about it, the man must be a true psychopath, the way he switched moods and levels of aggression like that.

"Even though the majority of those here, Saotome, are leaving" Lorenzo continued "My elite stay here; even a man after my own strength needs protection sometimes. Follow me"

Ranma complied. Lorenzo began walking, leading Ranma to the far side of the humungous storage facility. As they walked two armed guards wearing the same outfits as the men that attacked the house fell into step behind them. They were marked with the same embroidered cloth as Lorenzo, meaning they must be in a fairly high up position. A couple more seconds walking and they reached a flight of metal stairs. The stairs led up to an overlooking booth that gave a full view of the warehouse, allowing the person present to observe the all the inner workings of the facility.

"Up" Lorenzo said simply. Yet again Ranma complied; getting shot at this point wouldn't exactly help the situation. All four of them climbed the stair case in single file, as it was fairly narrow. Ranma was first in line, second being one of the guards, then Lorenzo and finally the second guard. Ranma felt entirely uneasy, more uneasy than someone would normally be in this type of situation. Lorenzo was the only one in the entire facility who didn't behave mechanically; he seemed about as normal as a psychopath can be. All the others he had seen, the workers and guards, seemed off. Every one of them was doing a task at a certain point, though each looked slightly apprehensive about said task, the way a stage actor looks if they've forgotten a part of their lines. A part, but not all of it.

After what seemed like forever, the group reached the top landing of the staircase. The first guard opened the door to the booth, allowing the rest of the group inside. Inside, to Ranma's surprise, lay Nabiki and Kasumi, gagged and bound at the wrists and ankles.

"Go ahead, try to help them" Lorenzo said calmly, though with malice "If you try anything, we kill them, then we shoot you so that you bleed slowly to death, staring at their corpses"

Ranma now rendered powerless, stayed put. He couldn't let any harm come to the Tendou sisters, so the only option he had was to stay put. To stand still and let these deranged men decide his fate...

I hope you enjoyed, please review, all feedback is appreciated. A big thanks to the people who are continuing to read.

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