Ranma stood poised and calm in his uniform bodysuit surrounded by flames, and after accessing the situation, he began a dance. During his Burning Rangers training, it was emphasized that fire was a living entity. It ate, it drank, it breathed, and it behaved unpredictably and maliciously.
A tendril of flame lashed out at the martial artist, intending to begin its feast on flesh. To its chagrin, it found its flow of energy suddenly cut by a blade hand, stunting it. With a graceful glide, Saotome spun around and lashed out with a wide crescent kick that didn't touch the approaching fire, but extinguished the assailant with its harsh wind trail.
Ranma back flipped into the air and landed in a safer position, though found the fires around him fast approaching. Spinning to his left, Ranma whipped out his right hand with a cry, "REPPUKEN!" An almost invisible rolling disturbance of air cut a path through in which Ranma dashed through. His arms moved in a complex pattern that would make any Wushu practitioner envious; concentrating on keeping his arms and legs cold with the soul of ice, and disallowing any ember to touch him. A particularly large wall of flame lumbered over him. Ranma cupped his hands together and shifted into a horse stance, then thrust them forward, calling out the technique name, "GACHIGACHIHA!" Ranma's ki imposed his will upon the air, commanding exited air molecules to cease all movement temporarily, causing the towering pyre to wink out of existence. A few flakes of ice from frozen particles in the air were all that was left in the wake.
"TOU MAYOKO WANGETSU KEN!" The pigtailed firefighter spread his arms in a wide horizontal arc, a thin line of ice cold ki raced forth, freezing the air around it and slicing through a quarter of the flames around him, snuffing them out of existence. Next move he would use is a variation of the Hiryuu Shoten Ha that Cologne had worked with him on, but he had something new.
Leaping as high as he could into the air, Ranma once again brought his hands to the front of him, and concentrated hard. The leap was to ensure the flame wasn't able to capture him suddenly, as the sudden onrush of air started towards his hands. Ranma began his descend, right into the center of the biggest part of what was left of the inferno. "OKIBI KIREME!!!"
An explosion, loud enough to be considered a sonic boom of a jetfighter rang out, as Ranma struck the ground hard with his hands aimed downward, a nimbus of air spread from him throughout the room. Any of the rest of the fire fell before the explosion of air; it's feral hunger no match for the gale force winds that sought to overwhelm the ancient menace.
Ranma looked around the room, and spotted one lone flame, rather pathetic looking, seeking to intimidate the seasoned firefighter. With but a finger, Ranma shot a thin beam of ice blue ki that callously snuffed out the last of the weakened terror, ending his training exercise.
"Added a couple of new moves, I see Saotome," replied Big from the entryway to the training room.
"Yeah, but that last one is hardly practical at the moment for anything other than a large contained outdoor fire. I got a few ideas for variations of it though."
"That's good to hear, your martial arts talents are a great asset to the Rangers. Why you here so early anyhow."
Ranma threw a half lidded glare at his team captain, which only served to amuse the large black man, "Well, no thanks to you, I ended up spending the night on the couch. Didn't get much sleep so I thought I would come by and get an early morning workout before heading over to Joketzuko."
"Oh? What is it for this time?" inquired Big, always interested in Ranma's duties to his adopted tribe.
"Dunno, but it doesn't sound too important. I should be back before evening if I'm needed for anything."
"Don't worry about it, Blue squad is on guard, we're doing backup today. Oh, BTW, this mail seems to be addressed to you."
"Arigatou," Ranma took the handful of mail, one of the perks of being a Burning Ranger was the fan mail and mail from grateful people he had rescued on his many missions. "Gives me something to read on the way to the village."
"Well you better go get ready, far be it from you to neglect your Matriarch-in-training duties," Big's smirk dropped when Ranma turned a full annoyed glare towards him
"Quiet you, I can still have that kiss of marriage reinstated. T'chi Pei has been rather forlorn since I wouldn't allow her to interfere with the duties of her 'airen'."
"Ahem, well I believe we got a new stock of carbo-polymer torpedoes to load onto the Burning Ship."
Ranma just shook his head as he watched his commander leave to avoid an awkward situation. He had great respect for the African native; he was the most seasoned of all the Burning Rangers on any of the two squads. He was rightfully commander of the Red Squad, and arguably the most mature of them all, other than Chris Parton, commander of the Blue Squad. But sometimes....
_______________________________________________________________________________
Three hours later, Ranma's transport arrived at the designated landing site for his visits to the Joketzuko village. Cologne sat passively on her staff, awaiting her heir.
Onna-Ranma stepped out in her Amazonian garb, complete with leather breast armor. It wasn't necessary, but she always felt that she owed Cologne and her fellow Amazons the respect.
"Ranma, my child, I trust your trip was uneventful?" enquired the current reigning Matriarch.
"Yeah, just got to catch up on some raving fan mail, Kami, I'm so popular," Replied the Red headed woman with a smirk
"I would hope so, it would have to take a multitude of fans to support the weight your ego," mused Cologne almost thoughtfully.
"Heh, that's for su... HEY!"
"That's my heir, quick to lay her life on the line, but slow on the uptake, speaking of which..." Cologne then narrowed her eyes into a glare at Ranma, making her take a step back in slight nervousness.
"Wha? What's wrong this time?"
Ranma managed to block the first attempt, but was defenseless against Cologne's second as there was a meaty sound of tempered wood of her staff meeting with Ranma's head, "I heard about your last mission. Really, Grand Daughter, what were you thinking?"
"Sigh, Big told you?" Ranma asked, rubbing the knot that was beginning to form on her head
"No, Mousse, he said he had to tell someone about your foolishness. Anyhow, you are safe and we have other matters to attend to. Let us make to the village at once."
Along the trail, Cologne made small talk with her protégé to pass the time. It wasn't a far walk, but it was one that did take a bit of time.
"Seriously, do they truly think they can control the weather worldwide? To tamper with nature on such a massive scale is to court disaster."
"Well, they managed to successfully build a prototype that worked perfectly in a test environment, now they just need to finish with the larger scale model. Though I do agree with ya, this isn't something to be taken lightly."
"In any case, we have arrived," Cologne led Ranma into the Tribal Hall, a recently constructed building that Ranma had assisted in paying for and building. Many of the buildings of the village had been modernized due to Ranma's insistence. As Heir to Cologne's matriarchy, she was allowed important decisions to the tribe's welfare. Though many opposed the idea to modernizing the small village. The promise of central air for the meeting hall had won out.
"Huh?" Ranma looked around, just realizing where they had stopped at, "the Tribal Hall? I thought this wasn't important?"
"Oh, it's indeed important, just not urgent. Come now since we need to make an important decision that can't be made without you here."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"I'm to WHAT?!?" The pigtailed woman wasn't pleased with the news.
"Calm down Ranma, it's for the good of the tribe," chided Cologne, though her reprimand had no force behind it. This was going exactly how she expected it after all.
"Old woman, I don't *have* time for this! I have other obligations to...."
"And what... of your obligations to the tribe? As I recall, my protégé, you vowed that if the tribe ever needed you, you would MAKE time."
"Bu-bu-bu... You know you can't do this you hag! Something like, HEY, watch it with that stick!"
A few of the Amazon elders chuckled as Ranma managed to deflect all three attempts at his noggin by Cologne. She defiantly trained him well, much to the present Matriarch's chagrin.
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, you coulda given me some advance warning about this!"
Cologne smiled sweetly in her most innocent way possible, "But then it wouldn't have been such a pleasant surprise!"
"This surprise is anything BUT pleasant, there just ain't no way I gonna be able to handle five trainee warriors on such short notice!"
"Consider it training for when you become the ruler of the tribe," responded Cologne.
"I never said that I WAS gonna be the next Matriarch, I just agreed to train under you!"
"Their living quarters are already set up," Cologne continued as if she didn't her the indignant woman, "they'll stay in the old Nekohatan for the time being. I trust they'll have use of your dojo for practice?"
Ranma sighed, she knew that this was a losing argument, "did Mu Tzu know about this?"
"Why of course, he's 100% behind the idea and will help out in any way he can."
"Right, and what did you blackmail him with," ventured Ranma.
"That's not important. Come, is it that difficult..."
Ranma's pager went off, "Darn, I have an emergency, we'll decide about this later."
"Oh, it's already been decided, they'll be arriving today in Nerima. Your wife already is aware that they are coming.
Ranma facefaulted on her attempt to rush out. She threw a piercing glare that unfazed the Kasumi-like smile plastered on the old woman's face.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Hey, Big, I thought we weren't up for today?" Ranma said through to video comm., suiting herself up at the same time.
"[We weren't, Blue team is handling a code red in the Cyperion Space station, we just got word of a massive chemical fire in France.]"
"[Aye, this one's a hot one, chica. Reports of blue level flames dominating the place,]" Emmanuel's voice sounded its usual laid back tone. Though anyone who knew him could hear the worry laden within it.
"Darn, I'll meet you there then. I'll probably arrive first, but I'll wait until you guys show up to, Ranma out."
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma stood silent as the other three field Rangers arrived onto the ground.
"[Ranma, hola? Okay, here's the sitch. Cause of the fire is unknown, but it spread rapidly throughout the complex. Our task is to evacuate the skeleton crew that was working today that's trapped within the main control room. We can't hail them, but the room is showing thirty plus life signs. From what I gather, the escape protocol can't activate because it's jammed and won't allow the control room to launch to safety. First step is for Courtney and Mousse to get to the control room. You and Big will get down to the base and find out what's keeping it from launching and take care of it.]"
"Got it, our entry point?"
"[The place regulates it's temperatures via a giant water coolant system that circulates throughout the whole plant, you'll be able to enter through the an access pipe just 22 meters north of you. Courtney and Mousse will enter through the top of the structure's air vents, head left for a quarter of a mile, and exit the vent and follow hall 32X forward to the control room. Good luck guys.]"
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're exiting the water channel now," Reported Big, as he and Ranma leapt out of coolant channel, "Which way now?"
"[To your right and down that hall.]"
Ranma and Big rushed down the hall till they came to a forked hall, "'Manuel, which way, now?" asked Ranma.
"[They both lead down to the base of the facility, either way will do.]"
"Hmm, there's no telling which one is gonna impede us the most, Ranma, you take the left passage way, I'll take the right."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're nearing the control room now, you weren't kidding about the flames here!" exclaimed the brunette woman as her and Mousse leapt in different directions as a ball of flame fell in their last position. Fortunately the ventilation shafts were large enough to maneuver to put out the flames, or neither would have made it with their skin still raw.
"Indeed, there were a few close calls at times. How are Ranma and Big progressing, Emmanuel?"
"[They split up for the time being, Ranma's path will allow him to get there a bit after Big, but they're on schedule.]"
"Good, We're to the control room's doors, gonna take me a while to wire these open, I'll let you know when me and Mousse are in, Courtney out."
"I could just use an IDB (integrity destabilizer bomb) to get us in, it would be much faster," commented Mousse as he went to the task of putting out fires that were closing in on their position.
"These doors were made to prevent fire entry, with all the flames around here, keeping them around would be a good idea."
"You are right about that, just try to work a bit faster," replied Mousse nervously, the flames weren't snuffing out as fast as he would have liked them to.
"Well I would if you would stop jabbering, why are you so nervous anyhow cutie? 'Fraid of your goose getting cooked?"
"More like duck flambé," responded the Chinese firefighter.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"This is Ranma."
"[There are some shutter doors to down to your left, but you'll need to find access panel to open them. They're...]"
"No time for that," interrupted Ranma as he rounded the corner and spotted the steel shutter doors. "GATCHIGATCHIHA!"
The Redhead's hands came in contact with the door, instantaneously freezing them to levels where matter ceased movement on an atomic level. The sudden extreme temperature change weakened the doors, allowing a well-executed sidekick to smash through them.
"Save me, SAVE ME!" cried a voice from near where Ranma had entered
Ranma approached the balding guy, "I'm a burning Ranger, I'm here to save you." Ranma's intuition began to nag him, something didn't seem right about this man, "are you part of the worker crew here?"
"No, I'm in the surprise inspection crew. We were sent to review the lab for more funding."
Ranma's left eye began to twitch, "and, pray tell, how many are in this inspection crew?"
"50, bare minimum needed for a facility this size. A few went to the main control deck, the rest of us were sent to look over the rest of the place. "
"SHIIIIIIIIII....."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"[IIIIIOOOOT!!!!!!]"
Emmanuel blinked at Ranma's exclamation, "Problem, Ranma?"
"[Big one, there are a lot other people spread out around here, dunno if we'll have enough time to backtrack them all.]"
"[I just happened upon two, Ranma. Be prepared to receive them in medical, Manuel, slight smoke inhalation. You go on ahead to our objective, I'll scout around for the others.]"
"[Copy that, I'll keep an eye out just in case..]"
"[We're in the control room now, but we have a slight problem here...]," Courtney's voice held a bit of tension.
"And what do you have to add to this little drama, chica?"
"[Okay, two problems.]"
"Oh, this day keeps getting better and better," thought Emmanuel to himself, he really was looking towards a relaxing day just watching some old Mexican wrestling movies, "and they are?"
"[First, the temperature is rising in here. They were working with an experimental gaseous fuel that burns with very little pollutants, which allows it to burn more intensely, and also causes other flammable materials to combust much more effectively. It's not gonna take long before the flames melt their way through and we have more than just one sitting duck here.]"
"[Hey, watch the duck references,]" Shouted Mousse indignantly in the background
"[Second, from what I'm reading here, Ranma's gonna have some opposition when he gets to his destination.]"
"Well we know how Ranma thrives on challenges," Hopefully adding some levity to the situation will make things better, hoped Emmanuel.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"I found another one," Ranma shouted over her comm. unit, but got no response,
"Who, who are you?" Asked the woman on her hands and knees, gasping a bit for oxygen.
"I'm one of the Burning Rangers, I'll have you out in a sec," replied Ranma, "Manuel,"
"Why couldn't I have a handsome hunk rescue me?" Said the woman exasperatedly.
Ranma grimaced at the comment, but ignored it further, "Manuel? Geez, if it's not one thing, it's another." Ranma assumed that there was probably a lot of interference due to the insulation where she was, meaning she wouldn't be able to communicate with the Burning Ship, meaning she wouldn't be able to transport any more.
"Looks like you'll have to come with me Ma'am."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"[I've found another group of them, thankfully for the most part they're staying together. I'm going to need to gather some more energy crystals soon though. How's everyone else doing?]" asked Big.
Emmanuel dry swallowed before telling his commander the news, "Si, well, Mousse y` Courtney don't have much time, with things are muy malo for them and everyone else with them. And Ranma, Ranma I lost contact with a few seconds ago."
Big was silent for a few seconds as he digested the information given to him, "[Ranma can take care of himself, hopefully he'll show up again soon.]"
"Yes, but I won't be able to make his progress until then."
"[Just keep faith in him. Remember, Ranma Saotome never gives up and never fails.]"
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Well, isn't this just peachy?" Ranma muttered to herself, as she spied the four guard droids in front of her goal, all of them active and alert too.
"Are you intending to manually unlock the securing bolts?" enquired the woman; Ranma blinked at this and responded.
"Uh, I guess, is that what I'm going to need to do?"
Ranma's blonde companion sighed in exasperation, "I see you didn't think much about this? I'll tell you what, if you can keep those things.." she pointed to the blue security droids, "busy, I'll unsecure them for you, problem is we won't have much time to get out of here once it launches. If we dally, we'll be flash fried by the thrusters."
Ranma mused over that fact for a bit, and assessed the battle ground, "there, you know where that leads to?" she asked pointing to what looked like to be a maintenance tunnel.
"That's to the ascending tunnel, but we probably won't have time to climb the ladder... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Ranma paused in the middle of stripping off her Ranger outfit, "You're gonna wear this in case anything goes wrong, don't worry about me." Ranma gave the woman her patented smirk. "I'm Ranma Saotome, and I never give up."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"It's starting to get unbearable for most of them," voiced Mousse in concern, everyone but the two Burning Rangers was starting to sweat, if Ranma didn't hurry up soon they may have some stroke victims to deal with, and unfortunately they had very few energy crystals between them, and wouldn't have enough to get more than a couple of people out."
"Saotome, I hope you're not taking this too lightly."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"HEY! TINHEADS!"
If that didn't get their attention, the energy blast fired at the first one's head probably did.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!" The redheaded martial artist, clad only in a black training bra and matching boxers, descended upon the second one, smashing its head in. As she landed, the second two surrounded her, ready to grasp their target and restrained it. Ranma leapt straight into the air for another attack, "KI NO HASAKI KYAKU!"
Ranma landed with a flourish as the final two Robot's heads fell to the ground, their bodies following shortly after. "Heh, piece of cake."
Professor Bergis, the woman accompanying Ranma, stood shock still. She had just seen this woman, without any mechanical enhancements, destroy four level 3 guard droids in less than 10 seconds. Her awe was short lived as the parts sprang to life. "LOOK OUT!!!"
Ranma's battle instincts flared to life as she back flipped quickly from a grasping pair of hands, "What? HEY NO FAIR!!!!"
Ranma watched with no little amount of frustration as two of the robot bodies picked up the heads on the ground, attached them to their proper places, then proceeded to mount the other two robot bodies and merge with them.
The redhead growled and dashed after one of the two four legged centuarian shaped guard droids and performed a sliding kick that took out two of it's legs. When Ranma recovered, she caught a back kick for her troubles that sent her sailing into a wall. Ranma recovered before meeting with the wall, bracing her feet against it, then used the momentum to launch herself at the second one.
"HANEKAERU RYUUSEIKYAKU!" Like it's namesake, Ranma's kick shot through the second robot like a meteor striking a plate glass window, not even giving it time to shatter, but nonetheless doing major damage. Once Ranma landed, she went into the air one more time, turning in mid air, and took aim to finish the job, "SHIN MOUKU TAKABISHA!!!"
The professor ignored the spectacular sight behind her, regardless of how much she wanted to see, and concentrated on her task at hand..
"Is, is it finished yet?" The Redhead asked cautiously, really not wanting an answer to that. She gasped as she watched the first robot's wires snake out and merge with the second one's body parts. Within seconds, a new construct formed, one shaped like a scorpion standing twenty feet tall.
Ranma gritted her teeth and began the battle anew...
_______________________________________________________________________________
"'Manuel, have you heard from Ranma yet?" asked Courtney desperately, one person already fainted, and the room temperature was steadily rising. She could also see the warping of some of the walls, where the heat from outside was beginning to make leeway.
"[Afraid not, Courtney, I don't know what's going on with her.]"
"We can't wait any longer, I'm starting the thrusters again, hopefully we can shake ourselves loose..."
"[But Ranma may be...]"
"I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER! We're good as dead if we don't move and soon," it was a tough decision to make, and she prayed that Ranma wouldn't be caught in the ignition. And if she was, God help her...
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma spun out of the way of a tail strike, then rolled out of the way of a pincher. This incarnation was MUCH faster than the previous two, almost as if it's adjusted to her fighting style. It had formed an energy barrier over itself that kept Ranma's Ki attacks from working against it, and for it's size it was rather maneuverable. To top it all off, it also now had energy blasts from its stinger and claws. Ranma stalled for time by having it chase her around the circular base while the Professor worked. The Redhead then felt the temperature that began to radiate from the rocket spire, and saw the ignitions start up on the balance stabilizers that ringed it.
"I'M FINISHED!" Exclaimed Professor Bergis as she unlatched the final securing bolt; just then the rumble of rockets alerted her to how much time she had. Also her shout drew the attention of the robotic scorpion.
The Professor turned to see a mechanical arachnid's tail heading straight for her. She closed her eyes and screamed as loud as she could, but found her screams drowned out by the angry growl of a rocket.
"If you don't open your eyes, you're gonna miss the ride."
Professor Bergis blinked as she realized she wasn't dead yet, then looked around her, then screamed again.
Ranma was running at inhuman speeds, outracing the inferno behind her. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough as flame enveloped the two.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're taking off!" Shouted Mousse, almost not containing all his enthusiasm.
"Yup! I just hope Ranma will make it back," voiced Courtney quietly. His loss would be way too heavy for everyone.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"REPPUKEN!!!"
A force of wind cut through. She and the doctor only suffered a slight singe as Ranma had flared an aura of ice cold around her that almost burned the doctor as much as the fire.
"Tell me, doctor, how much do you weigh?" Ranma's voice was almost conversational, belaying the seriousness of the situation. The ladder was only twenty yards away, and the shutter door to it was slowly closing in order to prevent the flames from escaping.
"WHAT? YOU HAVE THE GALL TO ASK THAT QUESTION AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!?!?" Shouted the doctor incredulously.
"I'll say about one- twenty five," Ranma guestimated, acting like he didn't hear her reply. Ranma suddenly dropped, sliding on one knee and trailing her leg behind her. She slid under the door in time, but as Ranma had hoped, so did much of the flame.
Ranma came to a stop, and immediately swept her dragging leg around in a circle, bringing it closer to her with every rotation, Her foot leaving a trail of ice crystals behind it. A trail of flame was dragged with her leg, seeming to chase after the foot.
Once Ranma's leg was pulled in tight to her, she leapt, "HIRYUU SHOTEN HA!"
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Burning Ship hovered alongside the control room/escape craft, both awaiting news on the final member of the Burning Rangers.
"[I... I don't think he made it,]" stated Emmanuel gravely.
"NO! Saotome ALWAYS wins!" Shouted Mousse
"But, it's been too long, we should have heard from him by now," said Courtney
"[I got the last of them out, any word on Ranma?]" inquired Big, his voice showing no worries, but a great deal of professionalism and concern.
".....No..." Mousse stated, breaking the momentary silence that followed the question.
Courtney suddenly gasped, drawing Mousse's attention, "WHAT is THAT?"
Mousse spied the phenomenon and chuckled, "That's Ranma."
_______________________________________________________________________________
The whirling funnel shot out of the access tunnel like a cannon of wind. Ranma tightly back flipped out as soon as it escaped, sliding back a good four yards.
"One-twenty two."
Ranma blinked and looked at the doctor, "What?"
"I weigh a hundred and twenty two pounds."
Ranma let out a hearty chuckle that the doctor soon joined in.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma arrived at home, still in female form. She couldn't be concerned about changing back, she was just so spent, she wanted to get home and sleep for a few years. The moment she opened the door, a blur hit her full force, tackling her to the ground.
Ranma groaned before speaking, "Not now Ukyo, Dad's tire... Nabiki?"
"Don't, *kiss* you *kiss* EVER *smooth* do that to *kiss* me AGAIN, MISTER *kiss* SAOTOME!!!" Nabiki didn't finish with the kisses even after speaking.
"Sigh, can this at least wait till I get some hot water?" Ranma baulked at the harsh glare her wife gave him
"No"
Ranma just shrugged as Nabiki forcefully dragged her into the house and upstairs.
A tendril of flame lashed out at the martial artist, intending to begin its feast on flesh. To its chagrin, it found its flow of energy suddenly cut by a blade hand, stunting it. With a graceful glide, Saotome spun around and lashed out with a wide crescent kick that didn't touch the approaching fire, but extinguished the assailant with its harsh wind trail.
Ranma back flipped into the air and landed in a safer position, though found the fires around him fast approaching. Spinning to his left, Ranma whipped out his right hand with a cry, "REPPUKEN!" An almost invisible rolling disturbance of air cut a path through in which Ranma dashed through. His arms moved in a complex pattern that would make any Wushu practitioner envious; concentrating on keeping his arms and legs cold with the soul of ice, and disallowing any ember to touch him. A particularly large wall of flame lumbered over him. Ranma cupped his hands together and shifted into a horse stance, then thrust them forward, calling out the technique name, "GACHIGACHIHA!" Ranma's ki imposed his will upon the air, commanding exited air molecules to cease all movement temporarily, causing the towering pyre to wink out of existence. A few flakes of ice from frozen particles in the air were all that was left in the wake.
"TOU MAYOKO WANGETSU KEN!" The pigtailed firefighter spread his arms in a wide horizontal arc, a thin line of ice cold ki raced forth, freezing the air around it and slicing through a quarter of the flames around him, snuffing them out of existence. Next move he would use is a variation of the Hiryuu Shoten Ha that Cologne had worked with him on, but he had something new.
Leaping as high as he could into the air, Ranma once again brought his hands to the front of him, and concentrated hard. The leap was to ensure the flame wasn't able to capture him suddenly, as the sudden onrush of air started towards his hands. Ranma began his descend, right into the center of the biggest part of what was left of the inferno. "OKIBI KIREME!!!"
An explosion, loud enough to be considered a sonic boom of a jetfighter rang out, as Ranma struck the ground hard with his hands aimed downward, a nimbus of air spread from him throughout the room. Any of the rest of the fire fell before the explosion of air; it's feral hunger no match for the gale force winds that sought to overwhelm the ancient menace.
Ranma looked around the room, and spotted one lone flame, rather pathetic looking, seeking to intimidate the seasoned firefighter. With but a finger, Ranma shot a thin beam of ice blue ki that callously snuffed out the last of the weakened terror, ending his training exercise.
"Added a couple of new moves, I see Saotome," replied Big from the entryway to the training room.
"Yeah, but that last one is hardly practical at the moment for anything other than a large contained outdoor fire. I got a few ideas for variations of it though."
"That's good to hear, your martial arts talents are a great asset to the Rangers. Why you here so early anyhow."
Ranma threw a half lidded glare at his team captain, which only served to amuse the large black man, "Well, no thanks to you, I ended up spending the night on the couch. Didn't get much sleep so I thought I would come by and get an early morning workout before heading over to Joketzuko."
"Oh? What is it for this time?" inquired Big, always interested in Ranma's duties to his adopted tribe.
"Dunno, but it doesn't sound too important. I should be back before evening if I'm needed for anything."
"Don't worry about it, Blue squad is on guard, we're doing backup today. Oh, BTW, this mail seems to be addressed to you."
"Arigatou," Ranma took the handful of mail, one of the perks of being a Burning Ranger was the fan mail and mail from grateful people he had rescued on his many missions. "Gives me something to read on the way to the village."
"Well you better go get ready, far be it from you to neglect your Matriarch-in-training duties," Big's smirk dropped when Ranma turned a full annoyed glare towards him
"Quiet you, I can still have that kiss of marriage reinstated. T'chi Pei has been rather forlorn since I wouldn't allow her to interfere with the duties of her 'airen'."
"Ahem, well I believe we got a new stock of carbo-polymer torpedoes to load onto the Burning Ship."
Ranma just shook his head as he watched his commander leave to avoid an awkward situation. He had great respect for the African native; he was the most seasoned of all the Burning Rangers on any of the two squads. He was rightfully commander of the Red Squad, and arguably the most mature of them all, other than Chris Parton, commander of the Blue Squad. But sometimes....
_______________________________________________________________________________
Three hours later, Ranma's transport arrived at the designated landing site for his visits to the Joketzuko village. Cologne sat passively on her staff, awaiting her heir.
Onna-Ranma stepped out in her Amazonian garb, complete with leather breast armor. It wasn't necessary, but she always felt that she owed Cologne and her fellow Amazons the respect.
"Ranma, my child, I trust your trip was uneventful?" enquired the current reigning Matriarch.
"Yeah, just got to catch up on some raving fan mail, Kami, I'm so popular," Replied the Red headed woman with a smirk
"I would hope so, it would have to take a multitude of fans to support the weight your ego," mused Cologne almost thoughtfully.
"Heh, that's for su... HEY!"
"That's my heir, quick to lay her life on the line, but slow on the uptake, speaking of which..." Cologne then narrowed her eyes into a glare at Ranma, making her take a step back in slight nervousness.
"Wha? What's wrong this time?"
Ranma managed to block the first attempt, but was defenseless against Cologne's second as there was a meaty sound of tempered wood of her staff meeting with Ranma's head, "I heard about your last mission. Really, Grand Daughter, what were you thinking?"
"Sigh, Big told you?" Ranma asked, rubbing the knot that was beginning to form on her head
"No, Mousse, he said he had to tell someone about your foolishness. Anyhow, you are safe and we have other matters to attend to. Let us make to the village at once."
Along the trail, Cologne made small talk with her protégé to pass the time. It wasn't a far walk, but it was one that did take a bit of time.
"Seriously, do they truly think they can control the weather worldwide? To tamper with nature on such a massive scale is to court disaster."
"Well, they managed to successfully build a prototype that worked perfectly in a test environment, now they just need to finish with the larger scale model. Though I do agree with ya, this isn't something to be taken lightly."
"In any case, we have arrived," Cologne led Ranma into the Tribal Hall, a recently constructed building that Ranma had assisted in paying for and building. Many of the buildings of the village had been modernized due to Ranma's insistence. As Heir to Cologne's matriarchy, she was allowed important decisions to the tribe's welfare. Though many opposed the idea to modernizing the small village. The promise of central air for the meeting hall had won out.
"Huh?" Ranma looked around, just realizing where they had stopped at, "the Tribal Hall? I thought this wasn't important?"
"Oh, it's indeed important, just not urgent. Come now since we need to make an important decision that can't be made without you here."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"I'm to WHAT?!?" The pigtailed woman wasn't pleased with the news.
"Calm down Ranma, it's for the good of the tribe," chided Cologne, though her reprimand had no force behind it. This was going exactly how she expected it after all.
"Old woman, I don't *have* time for this! I have other obligations to...."
"And what... of your obligations to the tribe? As I recall, my protégé, you vowed that if the tribe ever needed you, you would MAKE time."
"Bu-bu-bu... You know you can't do this you hag! Something like, HEY, watch it with that stick!"
A few of the Amazon elders chuckled as Ranma managed to deflect all three attempts at his noggin by Cologne. She defiantly trained him well, much to the present Matriarch's chagrin.
"Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, you coulda given me some advance warning about this!"
Cologne smiled sweetly in her most innocent way possible, "But then it wouldn't have been such a pleasant surprise!"
"This surprise is anything BUT pleasant, there just ain't no way I gonna be able to handle five trainee warriors on such short notice!"
"Consider it training for when you become the ruler of the tribe," responded Cologne.
"I never said that I WAS gonna be the next Matriarch, I just agreed to train under you!"
"Their living quarters are already set up," Cologne continued as if she didn't her the indignant woman, "they'll stay in the old Nekohatan for the time being. I trust they'll have use of your dojo for practice?"
Ranma sighed, she knew that this was a losing argument, "did Mu Tzu know about this?"
"Why of course, he's 100% behind the idea and will help out in any way he can."
"Right, and what did you blackmail him with," ventured Ranma.
"That's not important. Come, is it that difficult..."
Ranma's pager went off, "Darn, I have an emergency, we'll decide about this later."
"Oh, it's already been decided, they'll be arriving today in Nerima. Your wife already is aware that they are coming.
Ranma facefaulted on her attempt to rush out. She threw a piercing glare that unfazed the Kasumi-like smile plastered on the old woman's face.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Hey, Big, I thought we weren't up for today?" Ranma said through to video comm., suiting herself up at the same time.
"[We weren't, Blue team is handling a code red in the Cyperion Space station, we just got word of a massive chemical fire in France.]"
"[Aye, this one's a hot one, chica. Reports of blue level flames dominating the place,]" Emmanuel's voice sounded its usual laid back tone. Though anyone who knew him could hear the worry laden within it.
"Darn, I'll meet you there then. I'll probably arrive first, but I'll wait until you guys show up to, Ranma out."
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma stood silent as the other three field Rangers arrived onto the ground.
"[Ranma, hola? Okay, here's the sitch. Cause of the fire is unknown, but it spread rapidly throughout the complex. Our task is to evacuate the skeleton crew that was working today that's trapped within the main control room. We can't hail them, but the room is showing thirty plus life signs. From what I gather, the escape protocol can't activate because it's jammed and won't allow the control room to launch to safety. First step is for Courtney and Mousse to get to the control room. You and Big will get down to the base and find out what's keeping it from launching and take care of it.]"
"Got it, our entry point?"
"[The place regulates it's temperatures via a giant water coolant system that circulates throughout the whole plant, you'll be able to enter through the an access pipe just 22 meters north of you. Courtney and Mousse will enter through the top of the structure's air vents, head left for a quarter of a mile, and exit the vent and follow hall 32X forward to the control room. Good luck guys.]"
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're exiting the water channel now," Reported Big, as he and Ranma leapt out of coolant channel, "Which way now?"
"[To your right and down that hall.]"
Ranma and Big rushed down the hall till they came to a forked hall, "'Manuel, which way, now?" asked Ranma.
"[They both lead down to the base of the facility, either way will do.]"
"Hmm, there's no telling which one is gonna impede us the most, Ranma, you take the left passage way, I'll take the right."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're nearing the control room now, you weren't kidding about the flames here!" exclaimed the brunette woman as her and Mousse leapt in different directions as a ball of flame fell in their last position. Fortunately the ventilation shafts were large enough to maneuver to put out the flames, or neither would have made it with their skin still raw.
"Indeed, there were a few close calls at times. How are Ranma and Big progressing, Emmanuel?"
"[They split up for the time being, Ranma's path will allow him to get there a bit after Big, but they're on schedule.]"
"Good, We're to the control room's doors, gonna take me a while to wire these open, I'll let you know when me and Mousse are in, Courtney out."
"I could just use an IDB (integrity destabilizer bomb) to get us in, it would be much faster," commented Mousse as he went to the task of putting out fires that were closing in on their position.
"These doors were made to prevent fire entry, with all the flames around here, keeping them around would be a good idea."
"You are right about that, just try to work a bit faster," replied Mousse nervously, the flames weren't snuffing out as fast as he would have liked them to.
"Well I would if you would stop jabbering, why are you so nervous anyhow cutie? 'Fraid of your goose getting cooked?"
"More like duck flambé," responded the Chinese firefighter.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"This is Ranma."
"[There are some shutter doors to down to your left, but you'll need to find access panel to open them. They're...]"
"No time for that," interrupted Ranma as he rounded the corner and spotted the steel shutter doors. "GATCHIGATCHIHA!"
The Redhead's hands came in contact with the door, instantaneously freezing them to levels where matter ceased movement on an atomic level. The sudden extreme temperature change weakened the doors, allowing a well-executed sidekick to smash through them.
"Save me, SAVE ME!" cried a voice from near where Ranma had entered
Ranma approached the balding guy, "I'm a burning Ranger, I'm here to save you." Ranma's intuition began to nag him, something didn't seem right about this man, "are you part of the worker crew here?"
"No, I'm in the surprise inspection crew. We were sent to review the lab for more funding."
Ranma's left eye began to twitch, "and, pray tell, how many are in this inspection crew?"
"50, bare minimum needed for a facility this size. A few went to the main control deck, the rest of us were sent to look over the rest of the place. "
"SHIIIIIIIIII....."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"[IIIIIOOOOT!!!!!!]"
Emmanuel blinked at Ranma's exclamation, "Problem, Ranma?"
"[Big one, there are a lot other people spread out around here, dunno if we'll have enough time to backtrack them all.]"
"[I just happened upon two, Ranma. Be prepared to receive them in medical, Manuel, slight smoke inhalation. You go on ahead to our objective, I'll scout around for the others.]"
"[Copy that, I'll keep an eye out just in case..]"
"[We're in the control room now, but we have a slight problem here...]," Courtney's voice held a bit of tension.
"And what do you have to add to this little drama, chica?"
"[Okay, two problems.]"
"Oh, this day keeps getting better and better," thought Emmanuel to himself, he really was looking towards a relaxing day just watching some old Mexican wrestling movies, "and they are?"
"[First, the temperature is rising in here. They were working with an experimental gaseous fuel that burns with very little pollutants, which allows it to burn more intensely, and also causes other flammable materials to combust much more effectively. It's not gonna take long before the flames melt their way through and we have more than just one sitting duck here.]"
"[Hey, watch the duck references,]" Shouted Mousse indignantly in the background
"[Second, from what I'm reading here, Ranma's gonna have some opposition when he gets to his destination.]"
"Well we know how Ranma thrives on challenges," Hopefully adding some levity to the situation will make things better, hoped Emmanuel.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"I found another one," Ranma shouted over her comm. unit, but got no response,
"Who, who are you?" Asked the woman on her hands and knees, gasping a bit for oxygen.
"I'm one of the Burning Rangers, I'll have you out in a sec," replied Ranma, "Manuel,"
"Why couldn't I have a handsome hunk rescue me?" Said the woman exasperatedly.
Ranma grimaced at the comment, but ignored it further, "Manuel? Geez, if it's not one thing, it's another." Ranma assumed that there was probably a lot of interference due to the insulation where she was, meaning she wouldn't be able to communicate with the Burning Ship, meaning she wouldn't be able to transport any more.
"Looks like you'll have to come with me Ma'am."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"[I've found another group of them, thankfully for the most part they're staying together. I'm going to need to gather some more energy crystals soon though. How's everyone else doing?]" asked Big.
Emmanuel dry swallowed before telling his commander the news, "Si, well, Mousse y` Courtney don't have much time, with things are muy malo for them and everyone else with them. And Ranma, Ranma I lost contact with a few seconds ago."
Big was silent for a few seconds as he digested the information given to him, "[Ranma can take care of himself, hopefully he'll show up again soon.]"
"Yes, but I won't be able to make his progress until then."
"[Just keep faith in him. Remember, Ranma Saotome never gives up and never fails.]"
_______________________________________________________________________________
"Well, isn't this just peachy?" Ranma muttered to herself, as she spied the four guard droids in front of her goal, all of them active and alert too.
"Are you intending to manually unlock the securing bolts?" enquired the woman; Ranma blinked at this and responded.
"Uh, I guess, is that what I'm going to need to do?"
Ranma's blonde companion sighed in exasperation, "I see you didn't think much about this? I'll tell you what, if you can keep those things.." she pointed to the blue security droids, "busy, I'll unsecure them for you, problem is we won't have much time to get out of here once it launches. If we dally, we'll be flash fried by the thrusters."
Ranma mused over that fact for a bit, and assessed the battle ground, "there, you know where that leads to?" she asked pointing to what looked like to be a maintenance tunnel.
"That's to the ascending tunnel, but we probably won't have time to climb the ladder... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Ranma paused in the middle of stripping off her Ranger outfit, "You're gonna wear this in case anything goes wrong, don't worry about me." Ranma gave the woman her patented smirk. "I'm Ranma Saotome, and I never give up."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"It's starting to get unbearable for most of them," voiced Mousse in concern, everyone but the two Burning Rangers was starting to sweat, if Ranma didn't hurry up soon they may have some stroke victims to deal with, and unfortunately they had very few energy crystals between them, and wouldn't have enough to get more than a couple of people out."
"Saotome, I hope you're not taking this too lightly."
_______________________________________________________________________________
"HEY! TINHEADS!"
If that didn't get their attention, the energy blast fired at the first one's head probably did.
"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!!!" The redheaded martial artist, clad only in a black training bra and matching boxers, descended upon the second one, smashing its head in. As she landed, the second two surrounded her, ready to grasp their target and restrained it. Ranma leapt straight into the air for another attack, "KI NO HASAKI KYAKU!"
Ranma landed with a flourish as the final two Robot's heads fell to the ground, their bodies following shortly after. "Heh, piece of cake."
Professor Bergis, the woman accompanying Ranma, stood shock still. She had just seen this woman, without any mechanical enhancements, destroy four level 3 guard droids in less than 10 seconds. Her awe was short lived as the parts sprang to life. "LOOK OUT!!!"
Ranma's battle instincts flared to life as she back flipped quickly from a grasping pair of hands, "What? HEY NO FAIR!!!!"
Ranma watched with no little amount of frustration as two of the robot bodies picked up the heads on the ground, attached them to their proper places, then proceeded to mount the other two robot bodies and merge with them.
The redhead growled and dashed after one of the two four legged centuarian shaped guard droids and performed a sliding kick that took out two of it's legs. When Ranma recovered, she caught a back kick for her troubles that sent her sailing into a wall. Ranma recovered before meeting with the wall, bracing her feet against it, then used the momentum to launch herself at the second one.
"HANEKAERU RYUUSEIKYAKU!" Like it's namesake, Ranma's kick shot through the second robot like a meteor striking a plate glass window, not even giving it time to shatter, but nonetheless doing major damage. Once Ranma landed, she went into the air one more time, turning in mid air, and took aim to finish the job, "SHIN MOUKU TAKABISHA!!!"
The professor ignored the spectacular sight behind her, regardless of how much she wanted to see, and concentrated on her task at hand..
"Is, is it finished yet?" The Redhead asked cautiously, really not wanting an answer to that. She gasped as she watched the first robot's wires snake out and merge with the second one's body parts. Within seconds, a new construct formed, one shaped like a scorpion standing twenty feet tall.
Ranma gritted her teeth and began the battle anew...
_______________________________________________________________________________
"'Manuel, have you heard from Ranma yet?" asked Courtney desperately, one person already fainted, and the room temperature was steadily rising. She could also see the warping of some of the walls, where the heat from outside was beginning to make leeway.
"[Afraid not, Courtney, I don't know what's going on with her.]"
"We can't wait any longer, I'm starting the thrusters again, hopefully we can shake ourselves loose..."
"[But Ranma may be...]"
"I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER! We're good as dead if we don't move and soon," it was a tough decision to make, and she prayed that Ranma wouldn't be caught in the ignition. And if she was, God help her...
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma spun out of the way of a tail strike, then rolled out of the way of a pincher. This incarnation was MUCH faster than the previous two, almost as if it's adjusted to her fighting style. It had formed an energy barrier over itself that kept Ranma's Ki attacks from working against it, and for it's size it was rather maneuverable. To top it all off, it also now had energy blasts from its stinger and claws. Ranma stalled for time by having it chase her around the circular base while the Professor worked. The Redhead then felt the temperature that began to radiate from the rocket spire, and saw the ignitions start up on the balance stabilizers that ringed it.
"I'M FINISHED!" Exclaimed Professor Bergis as she unlatched the final securing bolt; just then the rumble of rockets alerted her to how much time she had. Also her shout drew the attention of the robotic scorpion.
The Professor turned to see a mechanical arachnid's tail heading straight for her. She closed her eyes and screamed as loud as she could, but found her screams drowned out by the angry growl of a rocket.
"If you don't open your eyes, you're gonna miss the ride."
Professor Bergis blinked as she realized she wasn't dead yet, then looked around her, then screamed again.
Ranma was running at inhuman speeds, outracing the inferno behind her. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough as flame enveloped the two.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"We're taking off!" Shouted Mousse, almost not containing all his enthusiasm.
"Yup! I just hope Ranma will make it back," voiced Courtney quietly. His loss would be way too heavy for everyone.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"REPPUKEN!!!"
A force of wind cut through. She and the doctor only suffered a slight singe as Ranma had flared an aura of ice cold around her that almost burned the doctor as much as the fire.
"Tell me, doctor, how much do you weigh?" Ranma's voice was almost conversational, belaying the seriousness of the situation. The ladder was only twenty yards away, and the shutter door to it was slowly closing in order to prevent the flames from escaping.
"WHAT? YOU HAVE THE GALL TO ASK THAT QUESTION AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!?!?" Shouted the doctor incredulously.
"I'll say about one- twenty five," Ranma guestimated, acting like he didn't hear her reply. Ranma suddenly dropped, sliding on one knee and trailing her leg behind her. She slid under the door in time, but as Ranma had hoped, so did much of the flame.
Ranma came to a stop, and immediately swept her dragging leg around in a circle, bringing it closer to her with every rotation, Her foot leaving a trail of ice crystals behind it. A trail of flame was dragged with her leg, seeming to chase after the foot.
Once Ranma's leg was pulled in tight to her, she leapt, "HIRYUU SHOTEN HA!"
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Burning Ship hovered alongside the control room/escape craft, both awaiting news on the final member of the Burning Rangers.
"[I... I don't think he made it,]" stated Emmanuel gravely.
"NO! Saotome ALWAYS wins!" Shouted Mousse
"But, it's been too long, we should have heard from him by now," said Courtney
"[I got the last of them out, any word on Ranma?]" inquired Big, his voice showing no worries, but a great deal of professionalism and concern.
".....No..." Mousse stated, breaking the momentary silence that followed the question.
Courtney suddenly gasped, drawing Mousse's attention, "WHAT is THAT?"
Mousse spied the phenomenon and chuckled, "That's Ranma."
_______________________________________________________________________________
The whirling funnel shot out of the access tunnel like a cannon of wind. Ranma tightly back flipped out as soon as it escaped, sliding back a good four yards.
"One-twenty two."
Ranma blinked and looked at the doctor, "What?"
"I weigh a hundred and twenty two pounds."
Ranma let out a hearty chuckle that the doctor soon joined in.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ranma arrived at home, still in female form. She couldn't be concerned about changing back, she was just so spent, she wanted to get home and sleep for a few years. The moment she opened the door, a blur hit her full force, tackling her to the ground.
Ranma groaned before speaking, "Not now Ukyo, Dad's tire... Nabiki?"
"Don't, *kiss* you *kiss* EVER *smooth* do that to *kiss* me AGAIN, MISTER *kiss* SAOTOME!!!" Nabiki didn't finish with the kisses even after speaking.
"Sigh, can this at least wait till I get some hot water?" Ranma baulked at the harsh glare her wife gave him
"No"
Ranma just shrugged as Nabiki forcefully dragged her into the house and upstairs.