Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: Kyon-kun... denwa.

Author's Notes: Well, it seems in open office (or at least in my installation) you have to select a language in order for spell check to work. I still haven't figured out how to get English to be my default language, but at least when I start a new chapter, I don't have to worry about misspelling too many words. ^_^ There's still grammar, homonyms, and other issues to worry about, though.

Chapter 37 – Things Fall Apart

In the passenger seat of the car, Ranma glared through the windshield at the early rush-hour traffic. 'Dammit, I could run faster than this. Will you get out of my way, you...'

Behind the wheel, Takayama Minami looked at her dour friend. "I know you'd feel better, but you'd just clutter up the road if you did."

Ranma blinked at the older woman. "Did what?"

"Developed telekinesis and used it to blast traffic out of the way. I know I've wished for that on occasion, but the only thing you'd accomplish would be to back up traffic even more." She sighed when the man turned back to glare at the slow moving traffic in front of them. "Look, we're pretty close to the hospital, and I've seen how you can travel cross country. Why don't you get out and roof hop?"

"Because Dr. Toufuu wouldn't tell me what was wrong, and I want as much ki available as possible to help Minako-chan. That fight with Kiima did a pretty good job wiping out my reserves, and I'm not gonna drain what I have left just to get there a few minutes faster..." 'I just wish I knew who to beat up to make Minako-chan better. I hate being this helpless.'

Minami spared another glance at the man beside her. "Just remember that it isn't the doctor's fault. It's the fault of whoever hurt the girl." She shivered when she saw the air above the man shimmer, as if he was radiating tremendous heat.

"It wasn't Akane's fault either. Kiima didn't have the guts to attack me or Minako-chan directly. Instead she brainwashed Akane to do her dirty work for her." Ranma's hands clenched into fists. "I should've torn that bitch apart..."

"That wouldn't have helped Minako-san, Kappei-kun."

"True, but it would mean that Kiima would never again brainwash someone to try and kill their loved ones."

- + - + -

Ono Toufuu waited nervously at Juuban General's main entrance for Ranma to show up. The man was not looking forward to this, and the fact that he felt personally responsible for Minako's condition made it even worse. His wife Kasumi had told him that Ranma had anger problems thanks to the past life. He just hoped that the younger man had mastered himself enough not to hurt him too severely.

Toufuu spotted Ranma's furious aura long before the car he was in approached the hospital. He quickly ran through what Ranma's first words would likely be, and what the proper response should be. He swallowed nervously as Ranma exited the vehicle, the younger man locking gazes with the doctor as he stamped past him. Toufuu hurried to keep pace.

Ranma was silent until they were both alone in the elevator. "Dammit, Doc!" Ranma hissed. "What the hell happened? When I left, Minako-chan was fine!"

"I must say, Ranma," Toufuu said carefully, "You have a peculiar definition of fine."

"You know what I meant, Doc. Her transformation..."

"She has terminal brain cancer, Ranma."

"I know that!"

"And do you remember why my techniques were worthless to help her?"

Toufuu felt the moment Ranma's anger vanished. "What exactly happened, doc?" Ranma asked, his shoulders slumping.

"I was discussing with Dr. Mizuno the difference in the practice of medicine between regular people, and those with 'the gift.' We have no treatment for cancer because cancer is caused when the body's ability to repair itself goes awry. Boosting the body's healing abilities not only doesn't cure cancer, it actually accelerates the progress of the disease. Nearly every method of magical healing does the same thing, and I had no reason to believe that the phenomenal healing abilities of Minako's transformation wouldn't do likewise."

Ranma's complexion took a greenish cast as they stepped out of the elevator. "You mean every time she transformed, she was dying quicker?" He sighed. "She'll never agree to stop. What we're doing is too important."

"True. But there's more. After she transformed back, she wasn't able to breathe, so we had to give her a tracheotomy..."

"That could cost her her voice, doc..."

"I know, but even with an oxygen mask..." Dr. Ono saw that they had reached the girls' hospital room. He stopped his younger friend before Ranma could enter the door. "Kappei... Minako suffered a stroke."

"What?"

"A severe one. She... she probably won't survive the night." He caught the man under his elbow. "And you know her living will won't permit us to take any of the steps..."

Ranma straightened up, though to Toufuu's eyes, the man seemed as lifeless as the girl lying in the hospital room. Ranma slowly opened the door, and stepped into the room...

- + - + -

The first thing Ranma noticed was the slow, quiet beeps coming from the equipment beside Minako's bed. His gaze moved on to the girl's neck, where bandages mercifully concealed the tube inserted into her throat. It was Minako's face that caused Toufuu to steady him a second time. The side closest to Ranma didn't look right. It held none of the animation he was used to seeing when she was awake, nor the peacefulness that graced her expression when she was asleep. Instead, it just hung there, as if someone had carelessly dropped some flesh across her skull.

Sailor Jupiter wasn't in her bed. She had pulled a chair close to Minako's bed, and just huddled there miserably, hugging her knees to her chest, which Ranma knew had to be painful for the girl, given her injuries. Jupiter's red eyes turned towards the door, and she stammered, "I... I called the others. They... I..." The young girl burst out of her chair, and hugged Ranma fiercely, sobbing into his chest. "It's not fair! Why... why..."

Doctor Ono Toufuu quietly closed the door behind him as he left.

- + - + -

Mizuno Ami walked with her friends towards her mother's place of work, still unable to believe how her world had been turned upside down. Last night, they had stayed up far too late, preparing Usagi-chan's costume for a contest she wouldn't be entering now. That morning, they'd gotten up far too early to plan a strategy for confronting one of Ranma-sensei's old enemies. Now, one of her few friends lay dying, and she didn't want to think about what that would do to Minako's fiance.

The last of Ami's few friends sat on a bench in front of the hospital, waiting for them. Hino Rei somberly watched them approach. The girl said nothing as she stood and fell into step beside them. Ami looked at miko out of the corner of her eye, and wondered if she wore the same expressionless mask that Osaka Naru and Rei wore, or whether she looked like Tsukino Usagi, eyes red and cheeks streaked with tears.

Ami's mother was waiting for them at the entrance. The woman didn't say anything, just draped her arm across Ami's shoulders, and led them all into the hospital, and eventually to Minako-chan's room. The young genius was disappointed when her mother didn't follow them in.

Ranma and Sailor Jupiter sat on either side of Minako-chan. At first, Ami almost didn't recognize the young idol singer. The side of her face closest to Sailor Jupiter was almost the face of a stranger. Ami had to look twice just to make sure it was her friend. Ranma also looked strange. He looked old, sitting beside the girl, holding her hand. There was another adult in the room with them, who Ami decided had to be Dr. Ono Toufuu, who sat in one corner of the room, watching.

Usagi made her way around the bed, pulled up a chair, and put her arm around Ranma. Her other hand joined his around Minako's. The black haired didn't say a word, simply leaning against the older man, her tear streaked face staring at Minako's.

- + - + -

Col. Richard Anderson wearily hung up his phone. "Captain, something's come up. Why don't you go get something to eat?"

Captain Amanda Tapping looked up from her work, puzzled. "Sir? I'm fine."

"Don't make me make it an order."

The blonde Air Force officer looked confused. "Okay, sir..." The woman uncertainly got up out of her chair, and, with a final look back, left the room.

The older man waited for a few minutes before making his way to another room, and knocked twice.

The mage Christopher Judge answered the door. "So you've reconsidered my offer after all, Colonel?"

Col. Anderson nodded. "I just got word that the situation's completely changed. If we're going to do this, best to do it now." As the two walked quickly towards the room used to imprison Kiima, Richard added, "Of course, it's possible that she might cooperate..."

"But unlikely. The Phoenix people consider themselves to be above 'ordinary mortals.' I doubt she'll cooperate willingly."

The pair arrived at their destination. "We'll see." He nodded to the two guards, one of whom unlocked and opened Kiima's room.

Unlike the last time he'd visited her, the winged woman was completely cognizant, but in a great deal of pain. "Can you understand me?" The colonel asked in English, the huge black man standing silently behind him.

"Yes," Kiima growled in the same language. "I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for taking me off those painkillers," Kiima spat out. She glanced at Judge. "But you'll get nothing from me. I am Saffron's right hand. When we've wrested what's rightly ours..."

"You know, I don't know how many kinds of stupid you are," Col. Anderson said, interrupting her rant.

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, seriously. Do you even know what you're dealing with?"

"A punk kid who got lucky, and stole the Keys of Ascension from us."

"You're wrong, lady. You're dealing with an Ancient."

Kiima laughed. "You can't be serious. If they even existed, the Ancients died out thousands of years ago. How the hell can Saotome, or Takeda, or whatever that insolent gnat is calling himself these days, be an Ancient?"

"Oh, they existed, all right. After all, they created Saffron and the keys, didn't they?"

Kiima glared at the American colonel. "Sacrilege!"

The man shrugged. "I've seen enough of what little remains of the Ancients over the years to recognize their work when I see it. They achieved heights of magic and technology that far exceeds anything we have today. It's funny, I always assumed that the old myths about them were exaggerated. They were called heroes, giants, demigods, or even outright deities, because of their knowledge and technology, not because they actually were as far above those gifted with magic, as they are above us.

"It's only been a month since I first met Megumi Takeda, and it's been like watching a baby god take her first steps. Did you know she used to carry those Keys of yours around wherever she went? They never left her side. When I found out she was actually thinking of returning them to you..."

He smirked at the expression on Kiima's face. "I think you can pretty much forget that ever happening now. I'm told the girl won't survive the night. As I was saying, when she told me she was thinking of returning those things, I couldn't believe it. Why would anyone surrender such power? Then I realized why. She's outgrown them. Two of the most powerful magical weapons in existence, and they're nothing but toys to her."

Anderson laughed when he saw the Phoenix warrior pale. "You've taken away the girl she loves. You've manipulated someone else she cares dearly about. And you did so at a time where she's struggling against the enemy that destroyed the Ancients."

He leaned forward, and whispered, "If it wasn't for regulations, I'd be the first to join her in wiping your people off the face of the Earth. As it is, I'm seriously considering pulling those two soldiers off guarding you, because I'm not entirely sure she'll care about innocent bystanders when she comes for you.

"Now, she might be inclined to be a little less... shall we say... bloodthirsty if you were a little more willing to cooperate. Say, like, telling us where we can get an impression egg, so that we can cure Mrs. Akane Tendo?"

- + - + -

Ranma was holding Minako's hand when he felt Minako's ki flicker, like a candle that was burning out. It had been doing that for hours. And through it all, Tsukino Usagi had been there, holding the hand that held Minako's, a surprisingly comforting presence that was all that was keeping him from losing it completely.

The slow beep of the machine beside Minako's bed stopped, to be replaced by a continuous whine that froze his heart. Beside him, Usagi stiffened, whispering, "No."

She turned to look at Dr. Ono. "Can't you..." The man shook his head. Crying, she turned back to the still figure lying in the bed, crying out, "MINAKO-CHAN!"

A spark of light emerged from one of the tears running down her face. At the heart of the light was a tiny crystal. Within seconds, a blinding light filled the room. And on the bed, a young idol singer opened her eyes. When Minako turned to meet Ranma's stunned eyes, all Ranma could think was, 'My god, what have we done?'

- + - + -

Hibiki Ryouga smiled when he saw the familiar sign of Ono's Chiropractics, Acupuncture, and Moxibustion. "Hey, we're here," he said as he helped the unfortunate soul down from his back, before ringing the bell. He knew it was late, but he was sure the doctor would be willing to help, despite the hour.

Before he could ring the bell, the ground began to tremble beneath his feet. He grabbed the door's frame, shielding the man he'd saved from any potential falling debris. Inside the clinic, he could hear things breaking as they fell off shelves or toppled over. Seconds later, the quake died away, leaving several million startled people awake to clean up the mess.

- + - + -

A dozen kilometers to the southeast, a homeless man stood frozen in place, long after the tremors died. He smiled as he felt the strange energy clear his mind. For the first time in weeks, he knew what he had to do.

- + - + -

"What is that?" Nephrite asked as he watched bolts of lightning emerge from the cavern walls to strike the building that housed Metaria. "What's happening?"

Beside him, Beryl smiled. "The Ginzuishou. It's been found! Queen Metaria is awakening." She looked at her three generals. "Gather my subjects. It's time to return to the fight!"

- + - + -

Deep in Beryl's dungeon, the prisoner couldn't see the energy that poured into Metaria. He couldn't hear the jubilant shouts that came from the creatures that had once been his people. Nor could he wrap his hands around the hated witch that had tormented him. But despite his captivity, the prisoner smiled.

"Yes, Queen Metaria," Marlowe whispered in the darkness. "Thy will be done."

- + - + -

Author's Notes: After thirty-seven chapters, and about 92,000 words, I've finally reached this point, where PGSM takes a very different turn from the manga and anime versions. And I've yet to reach the halfway point of the NaNoWriMo challenge. Let's see if I can actually get any work done over the weekend...