Ranma: Xero
Part 3
Firewall
Genma Saotome looked down at his son and sighed. "So boy, what is your assessment?"
Ranma was currently laying on his futon with an ice pack on his head. He groaned as he removed the bag and looked up at his father. "Of what? This engagement thing?"
"You know full well what I mean boy," replied the elder Saotome with his frown deepening.
"The tomboy has a lot of strength, but her temper could get her killed. Something doesn't seem right about that Kuno girl either," replied the boy as he sat up.
"You may be right, but these girls are under my tutelage now, I cannot let my old friend down." The man paced back and forth across the floor with his head hung low in thought.
"Why didn't he just train them himself? He's your old training buddy isn't he?" grumbled the boy sourly.
"Don't even start that boy, we'd be here anyway if only because of the engagement. Besides, the events have forced him away from the art. I cannot hold him responsible for losing his edge in this situation. There was no one else who could do what he has done."
Ranma nodded and lay back down with his hands behind his head. "So now what? I mean, we have to do something. I don't know what we're supposed to do about those two."
"You'd best learn boy, have you forgotten that you will have students one day? It is your responsibility to carry on the Anything Goes style. I'm glad this happened in a way, now you can learn first hand what it means to be a sensei."
"Yeah, yeah. Like you did such a bang up job pop. I can recall several times where your so called 'training' almost got us both killed."
"And are you not better because of it?" snapped the man in retort. "I think its high time you showed me some respect boy! Come on, we're going back to the dojo!" Genma stalked out the door and Ranma watched him for a moment before standing up and following with a scowl on his face.
Nabiki Tendo sat down at a desk near the back of a crowded office area. She sighed contentedly as she relaxed and flipped through a few folders that sat in the center of the work area. "Daddy, when will you learn that money doesn't grow on trees? Honestly, even these grants have only a limited amount of funds in them."
"Back again I see?" said a familiar voice from behind her.
Nabiki slowly turned in the chair and smiled at the man who stood behind her. He was in his late twenties and was wearing a uniform like everyone else in the office. Like Nabiki's, it was black and red. He had long hair and an unshaven look about him. "Hi Kojiro, still trying to convince my father that we don't need central heating in this building?"
"Ouch Miss Tendo, still nosing about where you're not wanted?" retorted the man with a cheerful smile.
"Oh please, daddy likes that I keep an eye on things around here. It makes him feel like he has control or something," replied the girl with a snide smile as she closed the folder and placed it back on the desk before standing up and letting the man back into his seat.
"Well, after you go to college I'll take great pleasure in working for you," said the man cheerfully.
"I suppose its never to early to start kissing up, ne?" replied the girl as she walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it.
"Hardly, I just can't wait until you oust the ogre from his lair," replied the man with a small wink.
"You're a hopeless flirt you know that?" said the girl as she raised her eyebrow and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"You're one to talk. Now scat; go bother one of the other office moles. I've got work to do," said the man playfully.
Nabiki sighed over dramatically and started off. "Ah, the wonderful world of peons I suppose. I'll see you later?"
"Is Kasumi working in the cafeteria again?" asked the man with his grin widening suddenly.
"Of course, she can't clean house like she used too. What else is she going to do?" said the girl with a small snort of laughter.
"She could be down in the doctor's office causing more injuries," noted the man dryly.
"Daddy put in an alarm system to warn patients when she's coming. It's been quite effective, Tofu still doesn't know what the alarm is for, the poor fool." She turned the corner and walked away.
Kojiro looked down at his desk and smiled. Several of the financial reports were already calculated for him. He had to admit the girl was good with numbers, she was cute too. He sighed and put his head back with a small frown appearing on his face. "If only she was a few years older...Aya would kill me anyway. Oh well." He sat up and started his work.
In the hallway Nabiki smirked as she ran into her older sister. "Hi Kasumi, what are you doing here? I'd think you'd be in the kitchen about now."
"I'm on my way. I'd have been there sooner, but father wanted me to make tea for a meeting he's having right now. They seem like such nice angry old men too."
"An interesting analogy sis," commented the younger girl as they rounded the corner. "Is Akane where I think she is?"
"Of course," replied Kasumi cheerfully. "She's been working real hard on getting better at piloting that robot. I hope she doesn't over do it."
"Of course she will, just like everything else she does," replied Nabiki as she waved her hand and dismissed the matter.
"So, she has a history of this?" said a new voice from behind the girls.
Both girls turned to see Ranma standing behind them with a towel over his shoulder.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," replied the younger girl curtly.
"Nabiki! That isn't very nice!" exclaimed Kasumi with a shocked look on her face.
"Even if it's true?" replied the girl with a confident look on her face.
"Well, it still isn't nice," insisted the elder of the pair.
Nabiki didn't bother to respond she looked at Ranma and smiled again. "Where are you headed?"
"Training hall, Akane isn't the only one in training you know," responded the boy with a smirk on his face.
"As much as she'd like to believe it..." deadpanned Nabiki.
"I've still got to teach pop every once and a while," continued the boy without breaking stride. He continued on his way and rounded the corner leaving the girls alone. They both looked at each other and shrugged before walking on their way.
"Where are you heading Nabiki?" asked Kasumi.
"I dunno, I figure I'll go torture the financial department some more or something."
"Oh, that's where those nice angry old men in the meeting were from," said Kasumi obliviously. "You really should let them work though."
Nabiki hung her head and sighed. "On second thought, I guess I have to go save daddy before he makes a fool of himself again."
Somewhere in the mountains of China...
A red streak slammed into the ground creating a crater in the center of a small remote village. The villagers scattered as debris rained on the ground around them in a panic. Their day had been rudely interrupted by the intrusion of the alien object and they scattered like roaches into the darkness of their homes. A red glow filled the impact crater as the smoke began to clear. One of the braver villagers moved towards the smoking hole and peered into it with a look of fear in his eyes as he waited for something to happen.
"What is it?" called one of the men as he emerged from one of the homes. A few cries of protest from inside were ignored as he slowly stepped outside.
"I can't tell, there's too much smoke," replied the first man as he turned to face him. He saw the man scream in alarm and fall back onto the ground on his back in terror as he tried desperately to make it back into his home. He slowly turned his head and saw something slam into his head.
He never had the chance to scream as the black, metallic, hand engulfed his head and torso crushing him into a red gel easily.
Akane grit her teeth in anger as she jumped from the simulator and fell to her knees pounding the ground in frustration. "Damn her!"
"You should relax more Tendo, you're much too temperamental," said Kodachi as she passed by with a towel draped across her shoulders. She and Akane were both covered in sweat and the collars on their uniforms were undone as they stood off in the center of the large room that was filled with the simulator robots. "It was a good match, but I do worry about you."
Akane looked up at her for a moment with a rage in her eyes and hung her head in defeat. "You're right. I'm still not good enough though..."
"You forget that we will not be facing each other Tendo. We will be fighting together," replied the girl with a smirk on her lips as she turned and walked away.
Akane moved from her knees and sat down placing her hands behind her to hold herself up. She pulled up her right arm and made a fist in front of her face with a questioning gaze. "Why? What am I doing wrong?" After a moment she stood up and walked towards the locker room. "Next time, I'll win for sure."
Ranma dove for his father from the air and grunted as his punch was blocked. He shifted in the air as the elder Saotome snapped a kick at him and grabbed the extended leg using it as a springboard to sail over his head. Genma turned and snapped a punch out that caught Ranma on his shoulder and threw him off balance for a moment, the boy corrected himself and landed in a crouching stance on the ground before standing up again and facing off against his father.
Both combatants were breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Ranma charged again and launched himself into the air, Genma did the same and they met in another flurry of punches and kicks. Sweat drops could be seen shining in the air as they moved by one another through the sunbeams that shined into the dojo through the windows that lined an entire wall of the room. It gave the battle an almost surreal effect as the pair darted in and out of each other's defenses in an acrobatic display.
Finally Genma landed a firm kick that sent Ranma sprawling across the dojo floor. The boy hit hard and bounced once before coming to rest on the mat. He slowly struggled to his hands and knees and glared at the ground in frustration. "Damn, looks like you got me this time pop."
Genma smirked. "You're getting lax Ranma, that was far to easy. We're going to have to step up your training schedule again."
The boy smirked as he looked at his parent. The old man was in the same shape as he was. He had no illusions on how hard it was for his father to best him. He rolled over onto his back and smirked. "Sure thing pop. I could use the extra work almost as much as you."
Genma huffed for a moment, but did not reply. He turned away and started towards the door leaving his son alone. Ranma sat up and looked around the room. A few scattered men and women were still staring at him from the various exercise machines in the room. None of them spoke a word and all were seemingly frozen in shock. The battle itself took only a few minutes and Ranma didn't quite understand what they were all looking at.
He got his reply when one of the women near him started to clap for some reason. The room soon joined in the response and he hung his head with a blush appearing on his cheeks for a moment. "What the heck was that about?"
"What do you want?" cried the old man as he stared up at the huge red demon before him. Flames burned around him, the remains of his once prosperous village. Tears flowed down his eyes as he looked up at the smoke-blackened sky and the thing that had caused the destruction. It was a huge red mechanical beast with what looked like a large flat metal ring on its back that reached over its head and across its shoulders. The head was almost like that of a samurai helmet and two bladed horns jutted from each side, the horn on the left was about half the size of its counterpart.
The thing did not reply; it merely raised its hand with its palm facing forward and shot forth a beam of fire that engulfed the last villager. The man screamed as he burned alive, he rolled desperately across the ground in an effort to extinguish the flame, but it didn't matter. After a few moments he stopped on the ground lying face down, the skeletal ashes simply burned like everything around them.
Hidden inside the surreal glow of the instrument lights inside the cockpit a shadowy figure smiled darkly. A few locks of red hair shifted as the thing inside the massive armor chuckled to itself.
Nabiki turned off the monitor she had been watching and smiled. She had watched the pathetic display of training the pair had attempted earlier. Ranma had insulted Akane while trying to critique her and had promptly been clobbered with a nearby piece of exercise equipment. Genma hadn't really done all that much besides watch her sister and Kodachi spar for a few minutes after that. With what she just saw, her sister was in for a very rude awakening. The pair's training would not be easy, that much she was sure of. Despite being beaten earlier by the boy, her little sister was under the impression that they would be pushovers in training.
"This should be most interesting," she commented to herself. Needless to say, she would have a most interesting time once they started school again. Knowing the two parents, they would force Ranma to go along with his fiancee to school as a way to build a bond. She had no illusions about her father not knowing about her little sister's problems at school. She often wondered why he simply overlooked it though, perhaps he thought of it as the training he could no longer give her? It didn't really matter on the end. Ranma was in for quite a surprise on Monday morning. Whether or not it would be on him or someone else was entirely up in the air right now.
"It's coming from the south," said Cologne to the rest of the counsel.
Murmurs erupted from around the room in distress at the news.
"It would seem Fei Shal was correct yet again," said one of the women with a stern look on her face. This incited even more whispers and murmurs from the crowd of women.
"There is more," said the matriarch from the center of the dusty floor as she patiently waited for silence to return. "It has already destroyed several villages in its path, so we know exactly where it's coming from. Unfortunately, it also means that it's heading straight for us."
"So, we are to assume that it knows that we have the giant here?" said one of the old women in the back of the room.
"It would be best to believe that," agreed Cologne.
"We should expect more attacks then. I told you that we should have left that damn thing where we found it!" cried the old woman with the long pipe.
"Perhaps you were right Sin Ku; but that changes nothing. We can assume that we are now a direct target of the invaders. The Chinese military has failed in any attempts to stop it; they are not willing to poison the land with a missile strike for a single giant. Shampoo is our only defense now. However foolish our decision was, it is now something we must live with. We will send Shampoo to intercept near the mountain pass. All we can do from here is pray."
"Fei."
The redhead snapped its head up inside the cockpit and made a light growling sound.
"They are reacting as expected."
"Understood."
"Do not fail me. If it is the Xero unit you know what to do."
"Yes Admiral," said the thing with a dark gleam in its eyes. "For the Empire."
"For the Empire. Out."
"For me dear Lotus," said Shampoo as she looked nervously around the cockpit around her. "Please be strong for me."
The forest around her was silent, the unit stood proudly with a huge spear in its hands waiting in silence for the oncoming menace. No animal sound could be heard around her signaling the approaching danger. Occasionally she would see something rush by on the ground below. Otherwise complete silence.
She waited like this for what seemed like days. Her gaze never wavered from the foliage around her. Then she saw it, a single wisp of smoke in the distance rising from the trees. It grew with each passing second. She steeled herself and waited, and waited.
Almost a half-hour had passed, the smoke was growing worse, but was not moving any closer. She grunted in anticipation. It could be just a forest fire, or it could be trying to lure her closer. She deliberated for a moment and scowled.
When she reached the clearing only a few minutes later she found something she was not expecting. As she moved closer she began to suspect only a forest fire, she could not be sure though so she pressed on. What she found merely confused her.
It was a small spider-like robot with what looked like a torch burning underneath it. She paused and circled around it a few times as it burned pronounced lines in the ground for some reason. Most of the foliage had been long since burned and it now merely set about drawing something in the dirt. She walked over to the robot and kicked it onto its side. It continued to move about mechanically and did nothing more than squirm about on the ground.
"What is this?"
Her blood suddenly ran cold as she looked down on the ground. Written clearly in Mandarin were words.
"Behind you fool."
Shampoo spun around and held her spear ready. She glanced at the sensors and radar screens around her desperately looking for the hidden enemy. After a moment she relaxed slightly and pulled the spear back up to her side. "What does that mean?" Suddenly a realization hit her.
Mousse walked through the wilderness slowly as he headed home again. He had been back at the clearing checking up on a few things with his equipment. There wasn't much to do there without the robot itself, but he liked the quiet sometimes. He mused as he walked along almost cheerfully. He was kind of glad for the beast. Because of it he had gained some respect within the village, and it also meant he had to spend more time with Shampoo. The fact was, he could only think of one down side, and that was what was happening right now. Shampoo had to face the invader alone, there just wasn't much anyone else could do to help her.
He paused and looked up at the sky adjusting his glasses. "Smoke? It's started already has it?" He sighed and hung his head in worry and frustration. It tore him apart that there was nothing he could do to help his beloved. After a moment of walking along sulking to himself he paused and looked up again. Something about the smoke wasn't quite right. "Oh no!" Mousse broke into a run.
Cologne stood watching Joketsuko burn around her. A cold frown crossed her wizened features as she realized that they had been out maneuvered. "Why? What purpose did such action create? Surely the village was not the target..." She hung her head as she realized that she would probably never know. A ring of fire twenty feet high surrounded the village preventing any escape and their weapons were useless against the thing. Tears flowed down the matriarch's face as she watched her finest warriors get slaughtered. All around her the screams of the dying and burned people of her village filled her ears.
"So, after three thousand years of history...this is how it all ends?" she glared at the demon as it blasted into the homes mercilessly. Streams of fire tore through crowds of fleeing and desperately fighting men and women. "Come demon, I shall not die idly!" She let out a battle cry and jumped at the thing with a rage in her voice.
The giant red mech blasted through the village easily. It crushed houses beneath its feet and shot jets of flames through the flame-throwers inside if it's palms. Occasionally it would idly send another jet towards the ring of flames that surrounded the village keeping them burning to prevent the escape of any of the people. The fuel used in the flames was almost like napalm, only much stronger and longer lasting. It coated anything it sprayed in a flaming gel that insured that they could not douse the flames no matter what they did. It was designed to burn even in the void of space, nothing known could extinguish the fire once it started burning. The pilot smiled as it watched the death around it almost passively. There was no challenge here; it was almost boring... almost.
A single old woman performed a jump that surprised even the monster inside the cockpit. Easily fifteen feet into the air, she extended her staff and screamed in rage as she charged the giant beast.
Fei snorted at the act of courage. "Goodbye." The mech raised its open hand at the old hag.
There was a sudden shower of sparks as a massive purple blur slammed into the red mech sending a line of flame spewing wildly across the remains of the village. Fei grunted as the mech was thrown onto its side on top of an already crushed home. He looked up and saw a spear slam into the ground between the mech's legs. "What have we here?" said the pilot out loud with an amused sounding voice.
Shampoo screamed in rage and thrust her spear missing the torso and slamming it into the ground between its legs in a clumsy strike. The thing sent a kick up that caught her own machine in the gut and sent it flying through the air. She landed on top of the village hall crushing half of it flat in a second.
She gasped as the screen in front of her came to life. None of the others had ever tried to speak with her before. "An X-09? It's more than I expected here. I'm impressed with everything you've managed to do with just that outdated piece of junk. Especially one in such terrible condition." Shampoo could not speak as she simply stared at the being in front of her.
It was a girl, a human looking girl. She was dressed in a zip up black leather vest. A gold chain hung around her neck with what looked like a tooth from some large carnivore hanging from it. Her most shocking feature was her hair, long red locks that hung down covering her eyes from view, from what she could see of them; her gaze was cold and excited.
The alien continued to speak, although not to her directly. "It isn't Xero."
Another voice came through the transmission, someone she could not see, this one clearly masculine. "Destroy it then."
"Affirmative," replied the girl with her dark smile widening. She never took her eyes off of Shampoo during the whole conversation.
"You can try!" screamed the Amazon in challenge as she stood the mech up and took up a ready position.
TBC...
Next time: Fei vs. Shampoo. Ooh, I know you hate me for this one.
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com
Url: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/
Part 3
Firewall
Genma Saotome looked down at his son and sighed. "So boy, what is your assessment?"
Ranma was currently laying on his futon with an ice pack on his head. He groaned as he removed the bag and looked up at his father. "Of what? This engagement thing?"
"You know full well what I mean boy," replied the elder Saotome with his frown deepening.
"The tomboy has a lot of strength, but her temper could get her killed. Something doesn't seem right about that Kuno girl either," replied the boy as he sat up.
"You may be right, but these girls are under my tutelage now, I cannot let my old friend down." The man paced back and forth across the floor with his head hung low in thought.
"Why didn't he just train them himself? He's your old training buddy isn't he?" grumbled the boy sourly.
"Don't even start that boy, we'd be here anyway if only because of the engagement. Besides, the events have forced him away from the art. I cannot hold him responsible for losing his edge in this situation. There was no one else who could do what he has done."
Ranma nodded and lay back down with his hands behind his head. "So now what? I mean, we have to do something. I don't know what we're supposed to do about those two."
"You'd best learn boy, have you forgotten that you will have students one day? It is your responsibility to carry on the Anything Goes style. I'm glad this happened in a way, now you can learn first hand what it means to be a sensei."
"Yeah, yeah. Like you did such a bang up job pop. I can recall several times where your so called 'training' almost got us both killed."
"And are you not better because of it?" snapped the man in retort. "I think its high time you showed me some respect boy! Come on, we're going back to the dojo!" Genma stalked out the door and Ranma watched him for a moment before standing up and following with a scowl on his face.
Nabiki Tendo sat down at a desk near the back of a crowded office area. She sighed contentedly as she relaxed and flipped through a few folders that sat in the center of the work area. "Daddy, when will you learn that money doesn't grow on trees? Honestly, even these grants have only a limited amount of funds in them."
"Back again I see?" said a familiar voice from behind her.
Nabiki slowly turned in the chair and smiled at the man who stood behind her. He was in his late twenties and was wearing a uniform like everyone else in the office. Like Nabiki's, it was black and red. He had long hair and an unshaven look about him. "Hi Kojiro, still trying to convince my father that we don't need central heating in this building?"
"Ouch Miss Tendo, still nosing about where you're not wanted?" retorted the man with a cheerful smile.
"Oh please, daddy likes that I keep an eye on things around here. It makes him feel like he has control or something," replied the girl with a snide smile as she closed the folder and placed it back on the desk before standing up and letting the man back into his seat.
"Well, after you go to college I'll take great pleasure in working for you," said the man cheerfully.
"I suppose its never to early to start kissing up, ne?" replied the girl as she walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it.
"Hardly, I just can't wait until you oust the ogre from his lair," replied the man with a small wink.
"You're a hopeless flirt you know that?" said the girl as she raised her eyebrow and looked back at him over her shoulder.
"You're one to talk. Now scat; go bother one of the other office moles. I've got work to do," said the man playfully.
Nabiki sighed over dramatically and started off. "Ah, the wonderful world of peons I suppose. I'll see you later?"
"Is Kasumi working in the cafeteria again?" asked the man with his grin widening suddenly.
"Of course, she can't clean house like she used too. What else is she going to do?" said the girl with a small snort of laughter.
"She could be down in the doctor's office causing more injuries," noted the man dryly.
"Daddy put in an alarm system to warn patients when she's coming. It's been quite effective, Tofu still doesn't know what the alarm is for, the poor fool." She turned the corner and walked away.
Kojiro looked down at his desk and smiled. Several of the financial reports were already calculated for him. He had to admit the girl was good with numbers, she was cute too. He sighed and put his head back with a small frown appearing on his face. "If only she was a few years older...Aya would kill me anyway. Oh well." He sat up and started his work.
In the hallway Nabiki smirked as she ran into her older sister. "Hi Kasumi, what are you doing here? I'd think you'd be in the kitchen about now."
"I'm on my way. I'd have been there sooner, but father wanted me to make tea for a meeting he's having right now. They seem like such nice angry old men too."
"An interesting analogy sis," commented the younger girl as they rounded the corner. "Is Akane where I think she is?"
"Of course," replied Kasumi cheerfully. "She's been working real hard on getting better at piloting that robot. I hope she doesn't over do it."
"Of course she will, just like everything else she does," replied Nabiki as she waved her hand and dismissed the matter.
"So, she has a history of this?" said a new voice from behind the girls.
Both girls turned to see Ranma standing behind them with a towel over his shoulder.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," replied the younger girl curtly.
"Nabiki! That isn't very nice!" exclaimed Kasumi with a shocked look on her face.
"Even if it's true?" replied the girl with a confident look on her face.
"Well, it still isn't nice," insisted the elder of the pair.
Nabiki didn't bother to respond she looked at Ranma and smiled again. "Where are you headed?"
"Training hall, Akane isn't the only one in training you know," responded the boy with a smirk on his face.
"As much as she'd like to believe it..." deadpanned Nabiki.
"I've still got to teach pop every once and a while," continued the boy without breaking stride. He continued on his way and rounded the corner leaving the girls alone. They both looked at each other and shrugged before walking on their way.
"Where are you heading Nabiki?" asked Kasumi.
"I dunno, I figure I'll go torture the financial department some more or something."
"Oh, that's where those nice angry old men in the meeting were from," said Kasumi obliviously. "You really should let them work though."
Nabiki hung her head and sighed. "On second thought, I guess I have to go save daddy before he makes a fool of himself again."
Somewhere in the mountains of China...
A red streak slammed into the ground creating a crater in the center of a small remote village. The villagers scattered as debris rained on the ground around them in a panic. Their day had been rudely interrupted by the intrusion of the alien object and they scattered like roaches into the darkness of their homes. A red glow filled the impact crater as the smoke began to clear. One of the braver villagers moved towards the smoking hole and peered into it with a look of fear in his eyes as he waited for something to happen.
"What is it?" called one of the men as he emerged from one of the homes. A few cries of protest from inside were ignored as he slowly stepped outside.
"I can't tell, there's too much smoke," replied the first man as he turned to face him. He saw the man scream in alarm and fall back onto the ground on his back in terror as he tried desperately to make it back into his home. He slowly turned his head and saw something slam into his head.
He never had the chance to scream as the black, metallic, hand engulfed his head and torso crushing him into a red gel easily.
Akane grit her teeth in anger as she jumped from the simulator and fell to her knees pounding the ground in frustration. "Damn her!"
"You should relax more Tendo, you're much too temperamental," said Kodachi as she passed by with a towel draped across her shoulders. She and Akane were both covered in sweat and the collars on their uniforms were undone as they stood off in the center of the large room that was filled with the simulator robots. "It was a good match, but I do worry about you."
Akane looked up at her for a moment with a rage in her eyes and hung her head in defeat. "You're right. I'm still not good enough though..."
"You forget that we will not be facing each other Tendo. We will be fighting together," replied the girl with a smirk on her lips as she turned and walked away.
Akane moved from her knees and sat down placing her hands behind her to hold herself up. She pulled up her right arm and made a fist in front of her face with a questioning gaze. "Why? What am I doing wrong?" After a moment she stood up and walked towards the locker room. "Next time, I'll win for sure."
Ranma dove for his father from the air and grunted as his punch was blocked. He shifted in the air as the elder Saotome snapped a kick at him and grabbed the extended leg using it as a springboard to sail over his head. Genma turned and snapped a punch out that caught Ranma on his shoulder and threw him off balance for a moment, the boy corrected himself and landed in a crouching stance on the ground before standing up again and facing off against his father.
Both combatants were breathing heavily and covered in sweat. Ranma charged again and launched himself into the air, Genma did the same and they met in another flurry of punches and kicks. Sweat drops could be seen shining in the air as they moved by one another through the sunbeams that shined into the dojo through the windows that lined an entire wall of the room. It gave the battle an almost surreal effect as the pair darted in and out of each other's defenses in an acrobatic display.
Finally Genma landed a firm kick that sent Ranma sprawling across the dojo floor. The boy hit hard and bounced once before coming to rest on the mat. He slowly struggled to his hands and knees and glared at the ground in frustration. "Damn, looks like you got me this time pop."
Genma smirked. "You're getting lax Ranma, that was far to easy. We're going to have to step up your training schedule again."
The boy smirked as he looked at his parent. The old man was in the same shape as he was. He had no illusions on how hard it was for his father to best him. He rolled over onto his back and smirked. "Sure thing pop. I could use the extra work almost as much as you."
Genma huffed for a moment, but did not reply. He turned away and started towards the door leaving his son alone. Ranma sat up and looked around the room. A few scattered men and women were still staring at him from the various exercise machines in the room. None of them spoke a word and all were seemingly frozen in shock. The battle itself took only a few minutes and Ranma didn't quite understand what they were all looking at.
He got his reply when one of the women near him started to clap for some reason. The room soon joined in the response and he hung his head with a blush appearing on his cheeks for a moment. "What the heck was that about?"
"What do you want?" cried the old man as he stared up at the huge red demon before him. Flames burned around him, the remains of his once prosperous village. Tears flowed down his eyes as he looked up at the smoke-blackened sky and the thing that had caused the destruction. It was a huge red mechanical beast with what looked like a large flat metal ring on its back that reached over its head and across its shoulders. The head was almost like that of a samurai helmet and two bladed horns jutted from each side, the horn on the left was about half the size of its counterpart.
The thing did not reply; it merely raised its hand with its palm facing forward and shot forth a beam of fire that engulfed the last villager. The man screamed as he burned alive, he rolled desperately across the ground in an effort to extinguish the flame, but it didn't matter. After a few moments he stopped on the ground lying face down, the skeletal ashes simply burned like everything around them.
Hidden inside the surreal glow of the instrument lights inside the cockpit a shadowy figure smiled darkly. A few locks of red hair shifted as the thing inside the massive armor chuckled to itself.
Nabiki turned off the monitor she had been watching and smiled. She had watched the pathetic display of training the pair had attempted earlier. Ranma had insulted Akane while trying to critique her and had promptly been clobbered with a nearby piece of exercise equipment. Genma hadn't really done all that much besides watch her sister and Kodachi spar for a few minutes after that. With what she just saw, her sister was in for a very rude awakening. The pair's training would not be easy, that much she was sure of. Despite being beaten earlier by the boy, her little sister was under the impression that they would be pushovers in training.
"This should be most interesting," she commented to herself. Needless to say, she would have a most interesting time once they started school again. Knowing the two parents, they would force Ranma to go along with his fiancee to school as a way to build a bond. She had no illusions about her father not knowing about her little sister's problems at school. She often wondered why he simply overlooked it though, perhaps he thought of it as the training he could no longer give her? It didn't really matter on the end. Ranma was in for quite a surprise on Monday morning. Whether or not it would be on him or someone else was entirely up in the air right now.
"It's coming from the south," said Cologne to the rest of the counsel.
Murmurs erupted from around the room in distress at the news.
"It would seem Fei Shal was correct yet again," said one of the women with a stern look on her face. This incited even more whispers and murmurs from the crowd of women.
"There is more," said the matriarch from the center of the dusty floor as she patiently waited for silence to return. "It has already destroyed several villages in its path, so we know exactly where it's coming from. Unfortunately, it also means that it's heading straight for us."
"So, we are to assume that it knows that we have the giant here?" said one of the old women in the back of the room.
"It would be best to believe that," agreed Cologne.
"We should expect more attacks then. I told you that we should have left that damn thing where we found it!" cried the old woman with the long pipe.
"Perhaps you were right Sin Ku; but that changes nothing. We can assume that we are now a direct target of the invaders. The Chinese military has failed in any attempts to stop it; they are not willing to poison the land with a missile strike for a single giant. Shampoo is our only defense now. However foolish our decision was, it is now something we must live with. We will send Shampoo to intercept near the mountain pass. All we can do from here is pray."
"Fei."
The redhead snapped its head up inside the cockpit and made a light growling sound.
"They are reacting as expected."
"Understood."
"Do not fail me. If it is the Xero unit you know what to do."
"Yes Admiral," said the thing with a dark gleam in its eyes. "For the Empire."
"For the Empire. Out."
"For me dear Lotus," said Shampoo as she looked nervously around the cockpit around her. "Please be strong for me."
The forest around her was silent, the unit stood proudly with a huge spear in its hands waiting in silence for the oncoming menace. No animal sound could be heard around her signaling the approaching danger. Occasionally she would see something rush by on the ground below. Otherwise complete silence.
She waited like this for what seemed like days. Her gaze never wavered from the foliage around her. Then she saw it, a single wisp of smoke in the distance rising from the trees. It grew with each passing second. She steeled herself and waited, and waited.
Almost a half-hour had passed, the smoke was growing worse, but was not moving any closer. She grunted in anticipation. It could be just a forest fire, or it could be trying to lure her closer. She deliberated for a moment and scowled.
When she reached the clearing only a few minutes later she found something she was not expecting. As she moved closer she began to suspect only a forest fire, she could not be sure though so she pressed on. What she found merely confused her.
It was a small spider-like robot with what looked like a torch burning underneath it. She paused and circled around it a few times as it burned pronounced lines in the ground for some reason. Most of the foliage had been long since burned and it now merely set about drawing something in the dirt. She walked over to the robot and kicked it onto its side. It continued to move about mechanically and did nothing more than squirm about on the ground.
"What is this?"
Her blood suddenly ran cold as she looked down on the ground. Written clearly in Mandarin were words.
"Behind you fool."
Shampoo spun around and held her spear ready. She glanced at the sensors and radar screens around her desperately looking for the hidden enemy. After a moment she relaxed slightly and pulled the spear back up to her side. "What does that mean?" Suddenly a realization hit her.
Mousse walked through the wilderness slowly as he headed home again. He had been back at the clearing checking up on a few things with his equipment. There wasn't much to do there without the robot itself, but he liked the quiet sometimes. He mused as he walked along almost cheerfully. He was kind of glad for the beast. Because of it he had gained some respect within the village, and it also meant he had to spend more time with Shampoo. The fact was, he could only think of one down side, and that was what was happening right now. Shampoo had to face the invader alone, there just wasn't much anyone else could do to help her.
He paused and looked up at the sky adjusting his glasses. "Smoke? It's started already has it?" He sighed and hung his head in worry and frustration. It tore him apart that there was nothing he could do to help his beloved. After a moment of walking along sulking to himself he paused and looked up again. Something about the smoke wasn't quite right. "Oh no!" Mousse broke into a run.
Cologne stood watching Joketsuko burn around her. A cold frown crossed her wizened features as she realized that they had been out maneuvered. "Why? What purpose did such action create? Surely the village was not the target..." She hung her head as she realized that she would probably never know. A ring of fire twenty feet high surrounded the village preventing any escape and their weapons were useless against the thing. Tears flowed down the matriarch's face as she watched her finest warriors get slaughtered. All around her the screams of the dying and burned people of her village filled her ears.
"So, after three thousand years of history...this is how it all ends?" she glared at the demon as it blasted into the homes mercilessly. Streams of fire tore through crowds of fleeing and desperately fighting men and women. "Come demon, I shall not die idly!" She let out a battle cry and jumped at the thing with a rage in her voice.
The giant red mech blasted through the village easily. It crushed houses beneath its feet and shot jets of flames through the flame-throwers inside if it's palms. Occasionally it would idly send another jet towards the ring of flames that surrounded the village keeping them burning to prevent the escape of any of the people. The fuel used in the flames was almost like napalm, only much stronger and longer lasting. It coated anything it sprayed in a flaming gel that insured that they could not douse the flames no matter what they did. It was designed to burn even in the void of space, nothing known could extinguish the fire once it started burning. The pilot smiled as it watched the death around it almost passively. There was no challenge here; it was almost boring... almost.
A single old woman performed a jump that surprised even the monster inside the cockpit. Easily fifteen feet into the air, she extended her staff and screamed in rage as she charged the giant beast.
Fei snorted at the act of courage. "Goodbye." The mech raised its open hand at the old hag.
There was a sudden shower of sparks as a massive purple blur slammed into the red mech sending a line of flame spewing wildly across the remains of the village. Fei grunted as the mech was thrown onto its side on top of an already crushed home. He looked up and saw a spear slam into the ground between the mech's legs. "What have we here?" said the pilot out loud with an amused sounding voice.
Shampoo screamed in rage and thrust her spear missing the torso and slamming it into the ground between its legs in a clumsy strike. The thing sent a kick up that caught her own machine in the gut and sent it flying through the air. She landed on top of the village hall crushing half of it flat in a second.
She gasped as the screen in front of her came to life. None of the others had ever tried to speak with her before. "An X-09? It's more than I expected here. I'm impressed with everything you've managed to do with just that outdated piece of junk. Especially one in such terrible condition." Shampoo could not speak as she simply stared at the being in front of her.
It was a girl, a human looking girl. She was dressed in a zip up black leather vest. A gold chain hung around her neck with what looked like a tooth from some large carnivore hanging from it. Her most shocking feature was her hair, long red locks that hung down covering her eyes from view, from what she could see of them; her gaze was cold and excited.
The alien continued to speak, although not to her directly. "It isn't Xero."
Another voice came through the transmission, someone she could not see, this one clearly masculine. "Destroy it then."
"Affirmative," replied the girl with her dark smile widening. She never took her eyes off of Shampoo during the whole conversation.
"You can try!" screamed the Amazon in challenge as she stood the mech up and took up a ready position.
TBC...
Next time: Fei vs. Shampoo. Ooh, I know you hate me for this one.
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