TRTSS37: Hero! – By Ocramed
Disclaimer: Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Star Trek and other properties belong to their respective owners.
Note: This is a multi-genre story.
Part 34: "Ten to One!" (IV)
Meanwhile, out in deep water, the Chinese submarine captain consults with August General-in-Iron, who was the leader of the Great Ten.
"Not that I am against this operation per se," said PRCN Captain Sun Mah, as he scratched his head. "But going against Ranshin Ranstu is not…wise."
Publically, Ranma's alias in well-known, where his real name was not, thanks to the use of several contacts, with some being mundane, with some being alien in origin, and with others being outright supernatural. This allows Ranma to have somewhat of a normal life…such as it is.
"The Committee should not have taken this course of action, sir."
The man dressed in living armor, made from Durlan alien technology turns towards the sea captain.
"Not that your power of persuasion will change anything, but please, elaborate," August asked. Unlike the American superhero Iron Man, the general was permanently stuck in his "costume".
"Please keep in mind that I am speaking strictly as a student of military history," Sun said. "From what I know of Ranshin Ranstsu, he is considerably old. In fact, some say he is one of the gods of the Amatsu-Kami, and had, in fact, fought the Xian, China's own ancient gods, for the return of his wife."
"That superstitious nonsense will not be tolerated here," August said. "I barely tolerate such talk from the Physician and his cohorts as it is, due to the fact that they are fellow 'super-functionaries'…"
Pause.
"Besides, gods are nothing more that enhanced beings with possible extraterrestrial connections."
"Okay, then," Sun said. "What about the fact that Rantsu may have fought in every war since ancient times?"
"It's not uncommon for some family lineages to have male offspring named after an ancient forebear, by passing along a family name," August smirked.
"Sir, I find it hard to believe that each generation there is a martial artist who bears the exact same face and modus operandi."
"It does not matter," said Mother of Champions, as she enters the main deck. Some were surprised that she has gone so long without being pregnant.
"You should not have come up here," August said.
"Considering that we have a mission to accomplish, I say that my presence here is warranted," Mother said. "Besides, it's not like I am with child at the moment."
"For the record, I am against the secondary mission," August said. "We do not need to have any influence on our affairs."
"And considering the fact that Lord Rantsu's wife, the Moon Princess, is destined to become the head-of-state of a future Earth government, from the seat of Crystal Tokyo, my mission is just as important as yours, especially should you fail in YOUR objective, General."
August scoffs. He could not believe what the intelligence reports were, where the direction of Japan's development was concerned. Planners in Beijing always used intelligence data in order to determine the best course of action for the People's Republic of China. Lately, the planners have been coming up with some predictions that have making the Central Planning Committee nervous. In the majority of scenarios, any aggression on China's part to correct a regional hegemony has met with utter failure, and the majority of those scenarios involved the Japanese. In fact, Beijing has learned that Japan has access to technology, military or otherwise, that is more advanced than most nations in the world. This is on top of the fact that Japan also has a sizeable metahuman community that is second only to the United States. As a result, Beijing has been trying to catch up, hence the creation of the "Super-Functionaries", as well as scavenge for alien technology, most recently thanks to the Earth-Zentraedi War and others. Diplomatically, Beijing has accused Tokyo of hiding its advanced weapons research, in violation of the treaty forbidding the Japanese from developing advanced weapons systems.
The reality is that the United States and the Japanese had signed a secondary treaty, a classified compact, which allows the Japanese to develop advance technology, including weapons systems, for UN Spacy and other related organizations and programs…
"But if your plan succeeds, then I do not have to initiate mine," Mother said. "Business can continue as usual."
"Then, let's begin our operation," August said. "We know that Ranshin Rantsu is amongst the passengers on that boat. Once isolated, we can begin MY plan of action. Understood?"
"Clearly."
"No doubt that the Great Ten will face its greatest challenge yet," Sun said with a nod.
Meanwhile, on Cherry Island, the Great Ten's greatest threat was…posing in front of the camera, while the Go-Go's "Vacation" song was playing on the PA speaker at the café.
"That's it," said Ruruna, as she took pictures of Naruru. "This will certainly help with the 'Girls of Juuban Calendar'."
"You know, I am only doing this because you wanted to complete your school project," Naruru said.
"And I appreciate it. I figure that if I'm going to be a model, I should have a backup plan after my career…"
Pause.
"Maybe you should be a model, too."
"Ha, I don't think so," Naruru said. "Besides, I don't have time these days…"
"Hey, girls!" said Naruru's mother Mayumi, as she waved her hands. "We're going to miss the tour!"
"Mom, calm down," Naruru said, as she reaches down to pick up her hand bag, only to have her top come off. "Oops."
"Cover yourself," Ruruna said, as she quickly covered for her friend. "What do you think the boys will think?"
"Don't care," Naruru said, as she fastens her top back on, as she took a glance at her attended audience. "Besides, who cares about me being exposed? It's not like being a girl is special and all…"
Across the courtyard, a young man named Zou Kang drools, while his female companion, named Hu Li Jing, merely shakes her head in disgust.
"This is what happens when a man has a woman's body," Hu said. "That's why I am glad that I come from a dimension where only women are allowed to exist undisturbed-"
Hu then notices Zou, who was still drooling. She then sighs before smacking her companion's head with her gloved palm.
SMACK!
"Huh?" Zou said.
"You were drooling?" Hu said.
"I…I was?" Zou said, as he blinked his eyes. "Oh, no! What have I done?"
"What's with Zou?" asked Yang Kei Ying.
"He saw our target's, er, nude top," Hu said with a smirk.
"Oh, boy," Yang said.
"What is it?" asked the Physician.
"I've been unfaithful to Miss Wu!" Zou laments, as he takes out a picture of himself and a local Beijing reporter. "What have I done?"
"…"
"When are we going to start this mission?" Hu said. "By now, our target KNOWS we are here."
"How do you know that?" asked Xu Tao, as he snacked on his lunch.
"Women's intuition. And besides, men are pigs."
"Riiight."
"Very well," said the Physician, as he quickly forms a series of mudra hand gestures before directing his line of sight towards Ruruna. Jutsus were universal in Eastern mysticism and martial arts, and the Accomplished Perfect Physician was no exception to this.
TING!
"{Ruruna Kobe}," the Physician said, in a hypnotic voice that only Ruruna could hear…
"Huh?" Ruruna said, as she looked away suddenly.
"What's up?" Naruru asked.
"I thought I heard someone calling my name…"
"{Go to the restroom to freshen up}."
"You and Mrs. Osaka go on ahead," Ruruna said. "I got to go the restroom to…freshen up."
"If you want, I can come with you," Naruru said.
"No, I'm okay," Ruruna said, as she begins to walk away. "Besides, I don't want you to peep at me."
"First, I'm a girl half the time anyway," Naruru said. "And secondly…we grew up bathing together. I'm harmless."
"Based upon YOUR reputation, I doubt that," Ruruna said jokingly, before sticking out her tongue.
"Humph. I get NO break in this life…"
Naruru then turned to her mother.
"Mom, where's Naru?" Naruru asked.
"I think she and Beryl are still at the gift shop," Mayumi said while she continued to read her tour guide booklet. She then looked her "daughter".
"I really missed 'Little Beryl-chan'," Mayumi said.
"Mom, we've been over this," Naruru said with a sigh. "Beryl had to live and thrive in the future in order for her to have the normal life me and her father could never have. Besides, Mamoru died, and I didn't want to be a single mother."
"Well, I was a single mother, and I raised you right."
"Mom, I was a teenage mother, for Kami's sake!"
"Well, I could have helped you raise my grand-daughter. Now, Beryl is a grown woman, and I learned that my youngest daughter is really an immortal man who is married to my eldest daughter's best friend…"
Pause.
"And who has many wives and girlfriends."
"Wait, how did you know-?"
"I may not pay attention as much as I would like, but I'm not stupid. When I felt that I was losing my mind with these memory loses, I began to keep a journal."
"Oh," Naruru said, as she was speechless.
There was a moment of silence between mother and child…
"Mom, I-"
"Go and do what you do, since you don't need me."
Naruru sighed, as she turned away from Mayumi. She really didn't need this kind of grief right now…
Mayumi looks up at the departing Naruru. She should be angry how manipulative Naruru has been, even to the point of using methods to make her forget things. But a part of Mayumi was glad to have her daughter back, wart and all.
"Be careful, my darling daughter," Mayumi said with a sigh. "And come back safe…"
Meanwhile, Naruru sneaks off by herself to check on Ruruna.
"Hey, Ruruna," Naruru said, as she enters the ladies' bathroom. "I was just checking on you to see if you are okay-"
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-!
Naruru nimbly dodges the hail of bullets that was intended for her. She performs a cartwheel flip, picks up restroom garbage can while in midair, and then tosses it in the direction of the source of the bullets.
FWOOMP!
Hu Li Jing, aka "Ghost Fox Killer", reveals herself, as she emerges from view, having been previously invisible, in a manner similar to a Yutja alien species, commonly known as "Predators". As the so-called "Killer of Evil Men", she was dressed in a green outfit thatwas right out of a "wuxia" film (i.e. Chinese martial arts cinema typically set during China's Tang Dynasty). The outfit was also complete with a cowl and cape.
"Ah, the trap has been sprung," Naruru said, as she slides into a ready stance.
"I expected a lot more from a womanizer such as you," said Killer, as she slid the chamber of her gun, ready to shoot Naruru. "And you are still mocking the superior gender by posing as one, Lord Rantsu…or should I refer you as 'Ronin'?"
"I expected such nonsense coming from one who is from the Land of the Ghost Fox Women," Naruru said with a smirk.
"How do you know THAT?" Killer said in alarm, as she takes aim with her pair of pistols.
"Even if I was not the 'Sorcerer Supreme', I would have known about your home realm of dead women, victims of violence at the hands of men, thanks to my relationship—such as it is—to the Amazon Nation, particularly to the Joketsuzuko."
"So, you do know," Killer said, as she began to rapidly discharge her hand guns.
Naruru calmly stalks forward, as she uses her arm bracers, made by Asgardian dwarves, which had Rune marks inscribed on them. They were designed to limit Naruru's physical abilities to the level of her opponents, thereby forcing Naruru to rely on her talents, skills and knowledge during combat. The arm bracers could also be used to deflect bullets, even those designed by Eastern alchemy, such as the ones being used by Ghost Fox Killer. This was on top of the fact that Naruru was trained in the Amazon technique known as "Bullets and Bracelets", in which an Amazon could learn how to read the muscle movements of a gun wielding opponent to the point of even deflecting a hail of bullets, which did not require any special powers to utilized.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM-!
TING! TING! TING! TING-!
At the last minute, Naruru deflects a few rounds back towards her opponent, knocking the guns out of her hands.
K-TANG!
"Ah!" Killer said, as she immediately clutched her hands in sympathetic pain.
"Now, be a good girl, and tell me where you and your people took my friend," Naruru said, as she cracked her knuckles.
"You think this will be easy?" Killer said with a smirk. "We've just begun!"
Suddenly, from one of the bathroom stalls, a life-size Jade Tiger emerges, and growls.
GRROOWWRL-!
"Huh?" Naruru said, as she turned to face the new threat.
Seeing how Naruru was distracted, Killer quickly removes her gloves, and grabs Naruru's head.
"Now, womanizer!" Killer said, as she begins to glow. "DIE, and feed the realm of the Ghost Fox Women with your SPIRIT-!"
ZAAAARRRKKKKK!
Tbc.