Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi owns Ranma ½ and Palladium Books Rifts: Psyscape by Kevin Siembieda.
It was just after sunset when Ranma and Nodoka entered the part of the Tokyo that had the greatest sightings of the mysterious armored warriors. Both were dressed in everyday clothes, Ranma his usual Chinese design that was made of the same material as his uniform and Nodoka in black pants and purple blouse combination also made out of the same material. The sightings around the city were actually quite numerous. With a little more digging when Ranma was at School during the day, Nodoka discovered that there was at least two different people from the distinctive armor each wore; one like a Samurai and the other like a Knight. Nodoka voiced her findings to Ranma and all he could saw was that the design of the armor was often up to the individual Knight.
The confirmation of more then one individual armored person lent to the possibility that there could be other visitors from around the Megaverse and with them the possibility of more than just 'local' evils. The threats from the Megaverse were varied and incredibly dangerous. The supernatural threats would be challenging but within the experience the Devil Hunters could handle, the threats based on science on the other hand would be beyond what they had experienced before. This made finding out if these new people were Cyber-Knights or not and if not whether they were friendly or not.
Stepping out of the train station and into the Kita Ward of Tokyo. It was still early enough that several people stepped off with them and would be around for a while. Even with all the people around no one noticed Nodoka or Ranma, even if their swords were carried at their sides for easy access. Both Mother and Son had experience hiding in plane sight, Ranma from his training with Genma and Nodoka from her Devil Hunter work. Genma taught Ranma to be a Martial Artist/Thief that could avoid enemies in a crowded street and Nodoka learned to destroy Devils without the public knowing even in plain sight.
Moving through the crowd Ranma and Nodoka were each scanning the area in their own unique ways, Ranma with his See Aura and Empathy and Nodoka with her Ki and Devil Hunter Powers. The Devil Hunter Powers were a unique power that enhanced the abilities of a person so they could do more damage to Devils and Demons. In Nodoka and the rest of the Saotome women the powers were tied in with their Ki. For other Clans it would be tied in with their ways of Hunting Devils.
From Nodoka's research on the sightings of the armored individuals she found that even though there were sightings all over the area there were several reported encounters and sightings in one area. The plan was fairly straightforward, head for that are and try and find some kind of clue or even the individuals themselves. If they turned out to be Cyber-Knights then try and make contact, if not then observe and see what their intentions were.
After a ten minutes of walking Ranma and Nodoka entered the area. "Alright this is the general location," Nodoka informed Ranma. She pulled out a map from her back pocket and handed it to him. "Ranma how far do you're Psionic Powers extend in terms of detection?"
"My See Aura currently has a range of about fifty-six meters or so and my Empathy around ninety meters," Ranma answered. "Empathy doesn't give an exact location and for See Aura to be effective I have to be able looking at the person. What about you Mom? What's your range?"
"Only about one hundred and fifty meters I'm afraid," Nodoka answered. "That limits our range of search I'm afraid and my sensing abilities are more focused on finding Devils and Demons, not humans with powers similar to yours."
"I believe the saying is Needle in a Haystack for this situation," Ranma sighed. "And do you think we should split up, you know to cover more ground?"
"You would be correct in the saying Son," Nodoka agreed. "But I do not think we should just yet. We do not know what these people are truly capable of, only speculation. If they are not friendly then it would be better if we were together if we locate them incase support is needed. For now we will make do with what we have available. Now come along we won't get anything done if we just stand around here."
"Right," Ranma nodded following his Mother.
The pair searched for the next hour while remaining inconspicuous to the public at large. Ranma would every now and then shut off his Empathy, while still maintaining his See Aura, when the emotions from the crowd would start to overwhelm his mental defenses. Nodoka and Ranma would take a quick break when this happened and then once Ranma was rested they would continue. It was during one of these breaks that Nodoka suddenly stiffened and reached to draw her Katana. When Ranma saw this he immediately reactivated his Empathy and reached for his sword as well. If they were in an more isolated location Ranma would have forgone his Chinese Broad Sword and activated his Psi-Sword. Unfortunately a glowing Psionic construct would draw attention to themselves even with their abilities to stay inconspicuous normally.
When his Empathy was brought up Ranma immediately sensed high levels of hate and aggression from near by. Unfortunately even with his Empathy and See Aura on Ranma was not able to pinpoint the source of the emotions. Then suddenly his Sixth Sense, a Psionic Power that alerts him when he is in danger, flared. Without a second thought Ranma grabbed his mother and used Telekinetic Leap to launch them to the rooftop of a four-story building across the street. When they landed both Nodoka and her Son looked to where they were standing only a second ago and saw several bone like spines sticking out of the wall.
Nodoka narrowed her eyes as she with drew her Katana from its sheath and stated to search the area. With experience she acquired from tracing projectile attacks in the line of duty as a Devil Hunter, Nodoka quickly located the source of the bones. They came from a building three buildings down, where seven shadowed figures were standing.
Ranma followed his Mother's gaze and saw the figures as well. He could not make out the detail because of the low light and the group was just out of his See Aura range, but still within his Empathy range. What he sensed was hate directed towards his Mother and surprise directed toward him. "Mom what are those?" Ranma asked. Judging from the level of hate Ranma concluded that she and they had run into each other before.
"Most likely some Bone Oni," Nodoka answered. "About fifteen years ago I and a couple of other Devil Hunters found a nest of them in some old subway tunnels. We cleared them out but some escaped and every now and then some show up trying to seek revenge against me."
"What are their powers?" Ranma asked.
"Projectile Bone Fragments and Bone Weapons," Nodoka answered. "Also they're bodies can be as strong as a rock."
Ranma took the hint and sheathed his and put is on his back. With a few seconds of focus Ranma willed his Psi-Sword into existence. At the same time Nodoka activated some of the special abilities of her sword and it started to glow a soft white light. Apparently the sight of two glowing swords was the signal for the shadowed figures to attack once again because a second barrage of bones came hurling at them.
In a dual display of superb swordsmanship and flexibility both Mother and Son used their unique weapons to parry and dodge the bone projectiles. While he was twisting and bending Ranma targeted one of the enemies and sent a medium powered Mind Bolt at him. The Mind Bolt struck the enemy right in the chest knocking it down. The others seeing their companion fall jumped from their roof to Nodoka and Ranma's location.
When the six figures Ranma finally got a clear view of what they looked like. They stood hunched over with bone like spines coming out of the a hump on their backs. It they were standing erect they would be a head taller then he was. Their arms were extended and heavily muscled with Bone Protrusions sticking out of the elbows and just behind the wrists on top of their forearms. Their skin color varied from ebony black to blood read. Their eyes were small and shifty and colored yellow. Their faces were surprisingly human but with fangs sticking out of their upper and lower lips. From Ranma See Aura he could tell that most were a little weaker then him but two, a red and a black one were actually stronger.
One with black skin spoke. His voice a mix between a grunt and throaty growl, "Hunter and Boy kill brothers, we kill you!" The bones on the Oni started to elongate and change into bladed weapons.
Nodoka and Ranma brought their weapons to bare as the Bone Oni started to close in on them. "Be careful Ranma Bone Oni are very vicious in battle," Nodoka warned.
Ranma nodded not taking his eyes off the Bone Oni for a second. 'Right now their numbers are their biggest advantage. Even if they were to lose one of their group the odds would shift in our favor a lot.' Looking around the roof Ranma searched for a way to help even the odds. What he found were bits of concrete that were broken from the second bone attack behind two of the weaker Oni. 'That will do nicely.' Ranma focused his Psionic Power and made the small bits of damaged roof rise about one and a half meters. Nodoka saw this and eyed her Son letting him now she knew what he was planning. Ranma smirked a little and let loose his attack.
Traveling at hypersonic speeds caused by the Telekinetic Acceleration Attack the bits of concrete sped at the two Bone Oni. In less than a second the Psionic Attack shredded the two Oni from behind. Their screams of pain caused their fellow Bone Oni to shift their attention away from the Psi-Warrior and Devil Hunter. At this lack of attention Nodoka and Ranma charged the Oni with their swords ready to strike them down.
Not far away the pair of armor clad figures that Nodoka and Ranma were looking for previously heard the inhumane scream and rushed off in the direction of the sound. When they arrived at the source of the scream they saw two humans with glowing swords cut two Bone Oni down in one blow and start to fight off the two remaining in close quarters combat. What truly drew their attention was the teenage boy around their age and his particular glowing sword, "A Psi-Sword?" Aki asked. "Is he another Cyber-Knight?"
"I doubt it," Susan answered. Movement from behind the woman caught Susan's attention as one of the Oni started to stand back up. "Damn neither sees that thing getting up." She reached behind and withdrew her rifle and brought it up aiming at the standing Oni. "Lets see how these Oni like a taste of a Pulse Riffle!" Susan sighted the Oni through the scope of the Pulse Riffle and squeezed the trigger. The burst of energy shot out of the barrel at the speed of light across the roof tops impacting the Bone Oni right in the chest burning a massive hole all the way through its back. "Come on lets go!" Shouldering the Pulse Riffle the Cyber-Knight leapt to the next roof towards the battle.
"Right behind you!" Aki said drawing her Vibro-Katana from the sheath on her hip.
At the fight there was a brief pause a flash of yellow light streaked by hitting and killing one of the Bone Oni that was injured but not killed by Ranma's Telekinetic Acceleration Attack. The pause only lasted long enough to see where the shot came from and the subsequent sight of the new arrivals. With the shift in the in the battle the Bone Oni knew that unless they escaped they would be finished. The problem was if they tried to run now they would but down by one of Ranma's long range Psionic Attacks or that armor clad individual's strange weapon. That left them with only one option, try and kill the two they were facing quickly and then disappear into the shadows.
With the only option left to them the Oni started to redouble their attack in desperation. Nodoka being used to fighting this type of enemy only had a small bit of a challenge countering the savage yet highly effective swings of the red Bone Oni she was facing. As the Oni would swing it's sharpened bones at her she would use her sword to parry and redirect the attack and counter with a quick slash. So far all she was able to cut was the Oni's arms as it would block the slashes. Thanks to the special wards placed into her Katana however every one of the slashes to the arm would cause a sever burn to the Oni making it screech in pain. The Oni slashed again and when Nodoka parried the slash the bone sticking out of the elbow elongated and caught Nodoka by surprise. The bone blade slashed across her stomach but did not cut too deep as she was able to step back a just enough. Seeing that the Oni was now off balance Nodoka decided to finish the fight and brought her glowing Katana in an upward slash cutting through the arm, shoulder and head all in one quick slash. With a spray of black blood the Bone Oni dropped to the rooftop in a heap.
While his Mother had experience fighting Bone Oni Ranma did not. This was the reason Ranma had been sliced in his right shoulder early in the fight. After that he activated his Deaden Pain and Psychic Body Field all the while silently cursing his own stupidity for not activating it earlier. As Ranma traded slashes with the Bone Oni he was amazed at the strength of the bone blades. He expected his Psi-Sword to cut through them with minimal effort but they were holding off his slashes, though with each slash a gouge would be cut in the bone. With a downward cut from Ranma and an diangle cut from the both of the arms of the Bone Oni the weapons became locked in a test of strength. Now Ranma was very strong for a human but it terms of physical strength Oni of any kind are still stronger, this was why despite Ranma's Psi-Sword digging into the blades, and he was being driven back. Ranma needed a way for to distract the Oni so he could focus more Inner Strength into his Psi-Sword so it would cut the bones. This was difficult because Ranma was using both his arms and all of his strength to keep the Oni at bay. With the need to hit the Oni to distract it and his limbs occupied Ranma activated yet another Psionic Power, Telekinetic Punch. The invisible hand decked the Oni in the stomach causing it to lose its strength for just a moment. That moment was all Ranma needed as he channeled more Inner Strength into his Psi-Sword increasing its strength. With yell and a powerful downward cut Ranma cut right through the bone blades and then quickly stabbed the Bone Oni in its chest killing it instantly.
With his enemy dead Ranma willed his Psi-Sword away and cut off his Psychic Body Field and activated his Increased Healing. At this point armored girls arrived and quickly separated to help. The Knight came up to Ranma while the Samurai went over to Nodoka. The Knight removed her helmet and introduced herself, "I am Lady Sterling Susan, Cyber-Knight. Here let me treat your wound."
"Saotome Ranma, Mind Melter Psi-Warrior," Ranma answered. "And I'm already using Increased Healing."
"This will help accelerate the healing even more," Susan reached into a pouch at her side and withdrew a small device. "It's a Techno-Wizard healing devise."
Ranma still had his Empathy activated, just incase these new arrivals were hostile, and knew Susan was telling the truth so he nodded and Susan went to work healing the wound. "Thanks for saving my Mom back there."
"No problem," Susan answered. "Is she a Psi-Warrior too?"
"No Devil Hunter," Ranma answered. Susan nodded and went back to work.
Not far away Aki was helping Nodoka. "I am Takata Aki, Cyber-Ronin. I have a devise that can treat that wound."
Nodoka was a bit taken back by the 'Ronin' part but considering the current circumstances and the fact that Aki's friend saved her life she let it slide. "Saotome Nodoka, Devil Hunter. The wound is not bad but it infected. Bone Oni are not known for their hygiene."
"Yeah we have them back home only they can be even nastier," Aki nodded. She took out a device just like Susan was using to on Ranma. After a few seconds she said, "Well there was some bacteria in the wound by this Techno-Wizard healing device killed all of them. The wound should be healed in a few seconds." Nodoka nodded but did not say anything and let Aki do her work.
Once Aki was finished healing Nodoka's woundthey went over to Ranma and Susan. Along the way a pulse from Nodoka's Katana flashed and then it stopped glowing and she reseathed it. They arrived just as Susan was finished healing Ranma. "I suggest we vacate this area," Nodoka said. "No doubt someone will come and investigate all the noise." No sooner then she said that the sounds of voices coming from the other side of the door could be heard. The four teenagers nodded and quickly followed Nodoka as she raced across the roofs at an impressive speed. Just before the door to the roof opened the bodies of the Bone Oni started to rapidly decay and quickly dissolved into dust.